Manon, unaware that this was less than half the lead that Gregory secretly intended to give him and anxious to carry out her promise to Lacost to delay them if possible, began to press them to spend a day or two at her island on their way to Ttnjoa. As she did so, it suddenly struck her that Olinda would not at all like the idea of visiting the place where her husband had been killed. But Gregory said he thought it an excellent idea, and to her surprise Olinda said she would like to do so in order to make arrangements for Valentim's grave to be remade and properly tended.
That evening the four of them dined at the Grand Pacific, but the party was somewhat marred by James' being unusually silent and appearing to be far from happy. When rallied on it, he excused himself by saying that he did not feel very well, which they put down to an after effect of the tossing they had had that afternoon, and thought no more of it.
Next morning they did their final shopping. At lunchtime Olinda telephoned Gregory to let him know that the yacht's trial run had been successful and at four o'clock that afternoon he and Manon went aboard with their baggage.
Olinda showed them to their cabins, then they returned with Manon to the saloon. James was sitting there, slumped on a settee, looking thoroughly miserable. Suddenly he came to his feet, stared at Gregory and cried:
`I'm not going! And neither are you. I won't let you. This cursed gold has brought us nothing but trouble. Let it stay where it is. Or let Lacost have it. I don't give a damn. Roboumo had the White Witch curse Valentim and the curse worked. He died at the full of the moon. Roboumo will have her curse us. Both of us. And we'll die there in Tujoa. I'm through with this business. Through with it. The whole thing is off.'
17 ?None but the Brave Deserve the Fair
Gregory and Olinda stared at James aghast. Manon regarded him only with curiosity while fighting down an inclination to give a laugh of delight. James' unexpected declaration that he meant to throw in his hand solved all her problems. Not only would it leave Lacost a free field to secure the gold, but Gregory would not now go to Tujoa and risk his life disputing possession of it with the Colons. Instead, she could get him back to her island, with nothing to distract his mind from herself, and with a far better chance of persuading him to marry her. Even should she fail in that she would, as Pierre’s financial backer, come in for a large enough share of the treasure to be freed from her worries about money. Still better, now that he would become a wealthy man he provided, in addition to being an insatiable lover, an admirable second string as a potential husband.
For almost a minute there ensued an intense silence, then Gregory burst out, `James! You cannot mean this! You can't be serious?
'I am,' James retorted sharply. `I have been worrying myself sick about this for days ever since I learned of Valentim's death. I'll have no more to do with it.'
`But damn it, man, we can't let those murdering devils get away with it! I don't give a fig for the money I've put into the venture, but I care a lot about being licked at the post solely because my partner lacks the will power to resist occult blackmail; and that is what it amounts to.'
`And I care too,' Olinda followed up, her dark eyes flashing.’ Like Gregory, the money side of it means nothing to me.
But I am now the holder of the licence. Valentim paid for it with his life. As I did not love him I feel no desperate urge to be avenged on his murderers. All the same, I'm not prepared to sit still and see them profit from their crime.'
`I… I feel that I'm letting both of you down,’ James stammered. `But I just can't help myself. I don't want to die.'
`Die!' Gregory snapped angrily. `Just because an old witch doctor has performed some mumbo jumbo? What nonsense
'It's not nonsense. Valentim is far from being the only man that I've known to die as the result of a curse.' `Were any of the others white men?'
`No'
`Did any of them die suddenly, as the result of a heart attack or, apparently, an accident?
'Well, no. They just sickened and died.'
`There you are, then. This was no case of a man gradually losing vitality, then dying because he knew that a curse had been put upon him… De Carvalho was murdered killed in cold blood while perfectly fit and with all his faculties an entirely different matter.'
Gregory had not previously disclosed to Manon that he knew de Carvalho to have been murdered; so she gave a gasp of simulated surprise, as James retorted swiftly.
`That is neither here nor there. The fact remains that he met his end on the day of the full moon just as the White Witch had decreed.'
`I don't believe for one moment that she had anything to do with it. You know perfectly well that we had already agreed that, sooner or later, Lacost would do de Carvalho in. That he killed him on the day he did is pure coincidence.'
,You may think so, but I don't. And I know much more about what goes on in these islands than you do. In Europe and the United States people may no longer believe in the Black Art, but Draunikau still works here in the South Seas.'
`I am not contesting that, but of one thing I am certain: it can affect only people who are afraid of it.'
`All right, then,' James gave a sullen shrug. `There you have the truth of the matter. I am backing out because I am afraid.'
`Oh, James!' Olinda exclaimed reproachfully. `You mustn't say that. I'm sure you are not a coward.'
He turned sad eyes to her. `I don't think I am in a physical sense, but I am about this.'
`I won't believe it,' she protested. `It is quite understandable that the natives in these islands should still be affected by magic and curses; but you are an educated man, so should be capable of resisting that sort of thing.'
`I would have expected more sympathy from you, Olinda,' he murmured with evident distress. 'After all, magical practices are an everyday occurrence in Brazil. They call it Macumba there, don't they, and nearly everyone goes in fear of the Macumba priests.'
`The ignorant masses do, and plenty of other weak minded superstitious people. But not those of the class to which I belong. That is, provided they lead normal lives and have sane, well balanced brains. Only fools would deny the existence of occult powers, but that does not mean that one should allow oneself to become dominated by them.'
`I'm not. In the ordinary way I never give a thought to such things.'
`Then, for God's sake, stop doing so now,' Gregory put in. `All you have to do is to exercise a little will power. Keep your mind on normal things and ignore this other business.'
`That's right.' Olinda backed him up. `I entirely agree with everything Gregory has said. If you allow your primitive instincts to get the upper hand, and start imagining things, evil people with occult powers can do what they like with you. But if you treat them as if they don't exist they can't possibly do you any harm.'
`You really believe that?' James asked hesitantly. `Indeed I do.'
For a moment they were silent, then Gregory said, 'Now listen, James. Surely you are sufficiently sophisticated to appreciate that the human brain is like a wireless set, and can be tuned in to many wave lengths. If you are stupid enough, and stubborn enough, to keep thinking of the awful things
that, with the aid of the White Witch, Roboumo might possibly do to you, that will be giving them a chance to pull off something pretty nasty. But if you have the guts to switch to another wave length their curses will prove as futile as stones thrown against a brick wall.'
James looked miserably from Gregory to Olinda and back again. `That's all very well; and you may be right. But nothing will convince me that Valentim's death was not due to the White Witch's curse. And if we go on with this business she'll curse us and we'll die too, so how can I stop thinking of that?'
`If you can't ignore it, James, fight it.' Olinda spoke with great earnestness. `It is either that, or to go on thinking about it, but with defiance not in fear. If you don't you will fall undue her evil influence for ever, and she will ruin your whole life.'
`But I have no occult power, so ho
w can I defy the White Witch?'
`Everyone has occult power. What you mean is that you have never attempted to use yours.' Olinda paused for a moment, then went on. `I am not suggesting that without prolonged instruction and training you could perform any great magic’s. But the exertion of will power to influence others is in itself an occult phenomenon. You also seem to have forgotten that these people are your subjects, and that they are in rebellion against you. As a Ratu and a ruling Prince, it is no less than your duty to pit your will against theirs and subdue them.'
`If only I could,' James moaned. `But I can't! I can't! They would get the better of it and inflict on me some horrible death. I just haven't the courage to challenge them. It's too much to ask.'
`Then you are a coward, and not fit to rule.' Olinda sadly shook her head. Her voice became almost a wail as she added, `I'd never have believed it. How terribly I have let myself be misled.' Suddenly she burst into tears and ran from the saloon.
James started after her,, then, utterly stricken, collapsed on the settee and buried his face in his hands. His great shoulders began to heave and tears trickled between his fingers.
Manon had remained a silent observer throughout this unhappy scene. Gregory now signed to her to leave the cabin. Much relieved that James had not been persuaded to alter his mind, she was inwardly smiling, but before going up on deck she gave Gregory one of those expressive French grimaces in which raised eyebrows and down turned mouth portray both puzzlement and sympathy.
As soon as she had gone, Gregory laid a hand on James' shoulder and said, `Don't take Olinda’s outburst too badly. When she has had a little time to think things over I'm sure she'll come round and understand your point of view.'
`No!' sobbed James. `No, I'm sure she won't. She meant what she said about being disappointed in me. I love her so dearly, and now I've lost her love. Oh, this is terrible… terrible.'
In spite of what Gregory had said, he thought the odds were that James was right. At a loss for words to console him, he sat down on the settee and began vaguely to philosophise, in the hope of distracting his young friend's attention from his grief.
`If a man lived to be as old as Methuselah he could still not count on predicting every time what a woman's reaction to an act of his would be. That is because each one is an individual, with a different upbringing, past experience, background, morals, instincts and so on. But there are certain general principles that apply to most. Flattery in moderation never fails to go down well and, of course, generosity. Honesty, earnestness and endeavour they may respect, but they would far rather have a man who makes them laugh. Their attitude towards courage is illogical. They admire a man for his past deeds of valour, but if he wants to go out and fight again they do their utmost to restrain him. On the other hand, should he be faced with a challenge and refuse it, they send him straight to the bottom of the class.'
James suddenly looked up and said bitterly, `That's where Olinda has sent me, and I've got to get back to the top. I've got to. But how am I going to do it.
`My dear boy, with tine best will in the world I can't give you any answer to that one, except to change your mind about facing up to this curse unless..
`Unless, what?' James asked eagerly.
`Well, there is another way; and I suppose if I felt as scared of the White Witch as you do, I should take it. You could return to Tujoa and put bullets through her and her pal Roboumo; then you could cheerfully go ahead with getting up the gold without anything to fear.'
`I wish I could.' James shook his head. 'But it's not possible. I'd never be able to get past Roboumo's body guard. And, even if I did succeed in that, everyone would be after me for murder.'
They fell silent for a few minutes, then Gregory remarked, `I don't know much about these matters, but I've always understood that there were ways in which curses could be turned aside and deflected back on to their originator.'
`You're right. And that is a by no means uncommon practice. If a man knows himself to have been cursed he seeks out a more powerful witch doctor and, whatever it costs him, pays the man to channel the curse on to his enemy.'
`Then why shouldn't you do that?'
`Because I know of no witch doctor more powerful than Roboumo. In fact, with the aid of the White Witch he has made himself the most powerful Draunikau wizard in all the South Seas.'
`What about trying your own hand at out magicking him?' Gregory suggested.
`How could I? Such an idea is crazy. I wouldn't even know how to start.'
`Perhaps I could help you. Of course, this sort of thing is right outside my field. But I do know a bit about the sort of games that witches and warlocks used to get up to in Europe in the Middle Ages. We'll get hold of some wax and model two little figures of a man and a woman. On them we will
scratch the names Roboumo and White Witch. Then we'll stick needles in the places where their livers would be and let them melt slowly in front of a fire.'
`Do you really think that would have any effect? '
Gregory shrugged. `God alone knows. Naturally, I couldn't guarantee anything. With a bit of luck the two of them might be suffering all sorts of pain and grief come morning. But it's a long odds bet, because I expect the sorcerer who does the job would have to mutter all sorts of gibberish over the images while they were melting, to make the curse effective. What we really want is for you to turn up in Tujoa with some sort of trick up your sleeve that will make everyone believe that you have become a more powerful magician than Roboumo. For instance, when a white man first killed here at a distance by banging off his musket, or showed that he could talk to his pals many miles away through the magic box that we call a wireless set.'
For a few minutes James considered this, then suddenly he jumped to his feet and cried, `I have it l I've got it! I'll do a fire walk.'
Gregory stared up at him. `Good God, man! How could you? It's you who are being crazy now. You'd be burned to a cinder.'
`Why should I be?' James demanded. `If the men of Beqa can do it, why shouldn't I? No training is required. The Chief there told me so. Only twenty four hours of abstinence and concentration to gain faith in one's ability to walk over the hot stones without being burned. Nowhere else in the Pacific, or in the world, for that matter, do men perform this feat. If I could come safely through a trial on Beqa I could do another fire walk in Tujoa, with my Council of Elders as witnesses. After that I would be publicly acclaimed as a more powerful magician than Roboumo, and could defy him with impunity.'
Silently, Gregory marvelled that a well educated man who could not bring himself to face the nebulous possibility of being harmed by an evil occultist should be willing to face the very real danger of becoming crippled for life through attempting to walk on red hot stones. After a moment he said:
'Well, James. you are a braver man than I am. Far braver. But if you can pull this off it will be a great spiritual victory and once and for all you will have destroyed the evil influence that Roboumo has over your people. Even should you fail, I feel sure that your having undertaken this ordeal will restore Olinda’s faith in your courage.'
As Gregory had predicted, within half an hour James had regained Olinda’s good graces. Manon, on learning of James' intentions, had to admit uneasily to herself that she had counted her chickens before they were hatched, but she could still hope that his brash audacity would result in his being so badly burned that he would be put out of the game for good. His decision to do the fire walk necessitated a change of plan as, instead of putting in two days at her island, they would spend them lying off Beqa; but she consoled herself with the thought that the delay still gave Lacost the lead that she had done her best to secure for him.
James, now keyed up with nervous tension, was anxious to face his ordeal as soon as possible, so that evening the yacht left harbour as planned, but set a course for Bega instead of the Mamanucas.
When they arrived off the island darkness had fallen and, as the waking hours of the inhabitants w
ere governed by the sun, it was decided that they should not go ashore that night. Then, over dinner, James declared firmly that he did not want the others to come ashore at all; the reason he gave being that, should he fail the test it would be bad enough for him to have to confess it later, but more than he could bear that they should actually witness his failure.
To that they all readily agreed, and Gregory suggested that to fill in the two days that James would be ashore the rest of them should amuse themselves by big game fishing in nearby waters.
It was now the dark quarter of the moon, but the sky was cloudless and the stars showed at their brightest. In countless millions, from tiny pinpoints of light to steadily gleaming beacons, they spangled the entire vault of the heavens, casting a soft radiance on the scene as the yacht rocked gently at her moorings.
The night was made for lovers, and when James and Olinda went arm in arm to the after part of the deck, Gregory and Manon tactfully settled themselves forward of the deckhouse, just under the bridge.
Next day Olinda confided to Gregory that she had spent three hours doing her utmost to dissuade James from risking mutilation by doing the fire walk, but even when she had offered to tear up the licence and forget about the gold he had refused to be deflected from his purpose. For a moment Gregory was tempted to point out to her that it was she who had driven the young Ratu into this situation where he must either prove his courage or forfeit her love, but she was obviously so distressed and anxious that he refrained, then did his best to assure her that the friendly old Chief of Beqa would see to it that James came to no serious harm.
Meanwhile, at first light, James had gone off in the yacht's speed boat to within half a mile of the coast, then had been taken on to a native paddled craft and carried ashore. As he had not returned by the time the others had finished a late breakfast, it could be taken as certain that the old Vunivalu of Beqa had agreed to allow him to attempt the fire walk. The anchor was hauled up and the yacht headed for the deeper waters to the west.
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