Фредерик Марриет
Masterman Ready
“No, they do not make any nests, further than scratching a round hole, about half an inch deep, in the soil, and there they lay their eggs, sitting quite close to one another; they will soon be here, and begin to lay, and then we will come and take the eggs, if we want any, for they are not bad eating.”
“Why, Ready, what a quantity of good things we have found out already! This has been a very fortunate expedition of ours.”
“Yes, it has; and we may thank God for his goodness, who thus provides for us so plentifully in the wilderness.”
“Do you know, Ready, I cannot help thinking that we ought to have built our house here.”
“Not so, William; we have not the pure water, recollect, and we have not the advantages of the sandy beach, where we have our turtle- and fish-pond. No; we may feed our stock here; we may gather the fruit, taking our share of it with the poor birds; we may get our yams, and every other good provided for us; but our house and home must be where it is now.”
“You are right, Ready; but it will be a long walk.”
“Not when we are accustomed to it, and have made a beaten path; besides, we may bring the boat round, perhaps.”
Then they walked along the sea-side for about a quarter of a mile, until they came to where the rocks were not so high, and there they discovered a little basin, completely formed in the rocks, with a narrow entrance.
“See, William, what a nice little harbour for our boat! we may here load it with yams and take it round to the bay, provided we can find an entrance through the reefs on the southern side of it, which we have not looked for yet, because we have not required it.”
“Yes, Ready—it is, indeed, a nice, smooth little place for the boat. What is that thing on the bottom, there?” said William, pointing in the direction.
“That is a sea crawfish, quite as good eating as a lobster. I wonder if I could make a lobster-pot; we should catch plenty, and very good they are.”
“And what are those little rough things on the rock?”
“They are a very nice little sort of oyster; not like those we have in England, but much better—they are so delicate.”
“Why, Ready, we have two more good things for our table, again,” replied William; “how rich we shall be!”
“Yes; but we have to catch them, recollect: there is nothing to be had in this world without labour.”
“Ready,” said William, “we have good three hours’ daylight; suppose we go back and tell what we have seen: my mother will be so glad to see us.”
“I agree with you, William. We have done well for one day; and may safely go back again, and remain for another week. There are no fruits at present, and all I care about are the yams; I should like to protect them from the pigs. But let us go home and talk the matter over with Mr Seagrave.”
They found out the spot where they had left their knapsacks and hatchets, and again took their path through the cocoa-nut trees, following the blaze which they had made in the morning. One hour before sunset they arrived at the house, where they found Mr and Mrs Seagrave sitting outside, and Juno standing on the beach with the two children, who were amusing themselves with picking up the shells which were strewed about. William gave a very clear account of all they had seen, and showed his father the specimens of the plants which he had collected.
“This,” said Mr Seagrave, “is a well-known plant; and I wonder Ready did not recognise it; it is hemp.”
“I never saw it except in the shape of rope,” replied Ready. “I know the seed well enough.”
“Well, if we require it, I can tell you how to dress it,” replied Mr Seagrave. “Now, William, what is the next?”
“This odd-looking, rough thing.”
“That’s the egg-plant: it bears fruit of a blue colour. I am told they eat it in the hot countries.”
“Yes, sir, they do; they fry it with pepper and salt; they call it bringal. I think it must be that.”
“I do not doubt but you are right,” replied Mr Seagrave. “Why, William, you should know this.”
“It is like the grape-vine.”
“Yes, and it is so; it is the wild grape; we shall eat them by and bye.”
“I have only one more, papa: what is this?”
“You don’t know it, because it has sprung up so high, William; but it is the common mustard plant,—what we use in England, and is sold as mustard and cress. I think you have now made a famous day’s work of it; and we have much to thank God for.”
As soon as they had returned to the house, a consultation was held as to their future proceedings; and, after some debate, it was agreed that it would be advisable that they should take the boat out of the sand; and, as soon as it was ready, examine the reef on the southward, to see if they could find a passage through it, as it would take a long while to go round it; and, as soon as that was accomplished, Mr Seagrave, Ready, William, and Juno should all go through the wood, carrying with them a tent to pitch on the newly-discovered piece of ground: and that they should set up a flag-staff at the little harbour, to point out its position. Of course, that would be a hard day’s work; but that they would, nevertheless, return the same night, and not leave Mrs Seagrave alone with the children. Having accomplished this, Ready and William would then put the wheels and axle in the boat, and other articles required, such as saw, hatchets, and spades, and row round to the south side of the island, to find the little harbour. As soon as they had landed them, and secured the boat, they would then return by the path through the wood.
The next job would be to rail in the yam plantation to keep off the pigs, and, at the same time, to drive the sheep and goats through the wood, that they might feed on the new pasture ground. Ready and William were then to cut down cocoa-nut trees sufficient for the paling, fix up the posts, and when that was done, Mr Seagrave was to come to them and assist them in railing it in, and drawing the timber. This they expected would be all done in about a month; and during that time, as Mrs Seagrave and Juno would be, for the greatest part of it, left at the house, they were to employ themselves in clearing the garden of weeds, and making preparation for fencing it in.
As soon as this important work had been completed, the boat would return to the bay with a load of prickly pears for the garden fence, and then they were to direct their attention to the stores which had been saved from the wreck, and were lying in the cove where they had first landed. When they had examined them, and brought round what were required, and secured them in the storehouse, they would then have a regular survey of the island by land and by water. But man proposes and God disposes, as will be shown by the interruption of their intended projects which we shall have to narrate in the ensuing chapter.
Chapter Forty Three.
As usual, Ready was the first up on the following morning, and having greeted Juno, who followed him out of the house, he set off on his accustomed rounds, to examine into the stock and their other possessions. He was standing in the garden at the point. First he thought that it would be necessary to get ready some sticks for the peas, which were now seven or eight inches out of the ground; he had proceeded a little farther, to where the calivances, or French haricot beans, had been sown, and had decided upon the propriety of hoeing up the earth round them, as they were a very valuable article of food, that would keep, and afford many a good dish during the rainy or winter season. He had gone on to ascertain if the cucumber seeds had shown themselves above-ground, and was pleased to find that they were doing well. He said to himself, “We have no vinegar, that I know of, but we can preserve them in salt and water, as they do in Russia; it will be a change, at all events;” and then he raised his eyes and looked out to the offing, and, as usual, scanned the horizon. He thought he saw a ship to the north-east, and he applied his telescope to his eye. He was not mistaken—it was a vessel.
The old man’s heart beat quick; he dropped his telescope on his arm, and fetched some heavy breaths before he could recover from the effect of this unexpected sight. After a minute, he again put his telescope to his eye, and then made her out to be a brig, under top-sails and top-gallant sails, steering directly for the island.
Ready walked to the rocky point, from which they fished, and sat down to reflect. Could it be that the vessel had been sent after them, or that she had by mere chance come among the islands? He decided after a short time that it must be chance, for none could know that they were saved, much less that they were on the island. Her steering towards the island must then be either that she required water or something else; perhaps she would alter her course and pass by them. “At all events,” thought the old man, “we are in the hands of God, who will, at his own time and in his own way, do with us as he thinks fit. I will not at present say anything to Mr and Mrs Seagrave. It would be cruel to raise hopes which might end in disappointment. A few hours will decide. And yet I cannot do without help—I must trust William.”
Ready rose, examined the vessel with his telescope, and then walked towards the house. William was up, and the remainder of the family were stirring.
“William,” said Ready to him, as they walked away from the house, “I have a secret to tell you, which you will at once see the necessity of not telling to anyone at present. A few hours will decide the question.” William readily gave his promise. “There is a vessel off the island; she may be the means of rescuing us, or she may pass without seeing us. It would be too cruel a disappointment to your father and mother, if the latter were the case.”
William stared at Ready, and for a moment could not speak, his excitement was so great.
“Oh, Ready, how grateful I am! I trust that we may be taken away, for you have no idea how my poor father suffers in silence—and so does my mother.”
“I know it, William, I know it, and it is natural; they do their best to control their yearnings, and they can do no more. But now we must be quick, and at work before breakfast. But stop, I will show you the vessel.”
Ready caught the vessel in the field of the telescope, which he leant against the trunk of a cocoa-nut, and William put his eye to the glass.
“Do you see her?”
“Oh yes, Ready, and she is coming this way.”
“Yes, she is steering right for the island. I will put the telescope down here, and we will go about our work.”
William and Ready went to the storehouse for the axe. Ready selected a very slight cocoa-nut tree nearest to the beach, which he cut down, and as soon as the top was taken off with the assistance of William he carried it down to the point.
“Now, William, go for a shovel and dig a hole here, that we may fix it up as a flag-staff. When all is ready, I will go for a small block and some rope for halyards to hoist up the flags as soon as the vessel is likely to see them. At breakfast-time, I shall propose that you and I get the boat out of the sand and examine her, and give Mr Seagrave some work indoors.”
“But the flags, Ready; they are round my mother’s bed. How shall we get them?”
“Suppose I say that it is time that the house should be well cleaned, and that the canvas hangings of the beds should be taken out to be aired this fine day. Ask your father to take the direction of the work while we dig out the boat; that will employ them all inside the house.”
“Yes, that will do, Ready.”
During breakfast-time, Ready observed that he intended to get the boat out of the sand, and that William should assist him.
“And what am I to do, Ready?” said Mr Seagrave.
“Why, sir, I think, now that the rains are over, it would not be a bad thing if we were to air bedding, as they say at sea; it is a fine, warm day; and if all the bedding was taken out of the house and well shaken, and then left out to air, it would be a very good job over; for you see, sir, I have thought more than once that the house does smell a little close.”
“It will be a very good thing, Ready,” observed Mrs Seagrave; “and, at the same time, Juno and I will give the house a thorough cleaning and sweeping.”
“Had we not better have the canvas screens down, and air them too?”
“Yes,” replied Ready; “we had better air everything. We will assist in taking down the screens and flags, and spread them out to air, and then, if Mr Seagrave has no objection, we will leave him to superintend and assist Madam and Juno.”
“With all my heart,” replied Mr Seagrave. “We have done breakfast, and will begin as soon as you please.”
Ready and William took down the canvas screens and flags, and went out of the cottage with them; they spread out the canvas at some distance from the house, and then William went down to the beach with the flags, while Ready procured the block and small rope to hoist them up with.
Ready’s stratagem answered well. Without being perceived by those in the cottage, the flag-staff was raised, and fixed in the ground, and the flags all ready for hoisting; then Ready and William returned to the fuel-stack, and each carried down as much stuff as they could hold, that they might make a smoke to attract the notice of those on board of the vessel. All this did not occupy much more than an hour, during which the brig continued her course steadily towards the island. When Ready first saw her the wind was light, but latterly the breeze had increased very much, and at last the brig took in her top-gallant sails. The horizon behind the vessel, which had been quite clear, was now banked up with clouds, and the waves curled in white foam over the reefs of rocks extending from the island.
“The breeze is getting up strong, William,” said Ready, “and she will soon be down, if she is not frightened at the reefs, which she can see plainer now the water is rough, than she could before.”
“I trust she will not be afraid,” replied William. “How far do you think she is off now?”
“About five miles; not more. The wind has hauled round more to the southward, and it is banking up fast, I see. I fear that we shall have another smart gale; however, it won’t last long. Come, let us hoist the flags; we must not lose a chance; the flags will blow nice and clear for them to see them.”
William and Ready hoisted up the ensign first, and below it the flag, with the ship’s name, Pacific, in large letters upon it. “Now then,” said Ready, as he made fast the halyards, “let us strike a light and make a smoke; that will attract their notice.”
As soon as the cocoa-nut leaves were lighted, Ready and William threw water upon them, so as to damp them and procure a heavy column of smoke. The vessel approached rapidly, and they were watching her in silent suspense, when they perceived Mr and Mrs Seagrave, Juno carrying Albert, with Tommy and Caroline running down as fast as they could to the beach. The fact was, that Tommy, tired of work, had gone out of the house and walked towards the beach; there he perceived, first, the flags hoisted, and then he detected the vessel off the island. He immediately ran back to the house, crying out, “Papa! Mamma! Captain Osborn come back—come back in a big ship.” At this announcement, Mr and Mrs Seagrave ran out of the house, perceived the vessel and the flags flying, and ran as fast as they could down to where William and Ready were standing by the flag-staff.
“Oh! Ready, why did you not tell us this before?” exclaimed Mr Seagrave.
“I wish you had not known it now, sir,” replied Ready; “but, however, it can’t be helped; it was done out of kindness, Mr Seagrave.”
“Yes, indeed it was, papa.”
Mrs Seagrave dropped down on the rock, and burst into tears. Mr Seagrave was equally excited.
“Does she see us, Ready?” exclaimed he at last.
“No, sir, not yet, and I waited till she did, before I made it known to you,” replied Ready.
“She is altering her course, Ready,” said William.
“Yes, sir, she has hauled to the wind; she is afraid of coming too near to the reefs.”
“Surely she is not leaving us!” exclaimed Mrs Seagrave.
“No, madam; but she does not see us yet.”
“She does! she does!” cried William, throwing up his hat; “see, she hoists her ensign.”
“Very true, sir; she does see us. Thanks be to God!”
Mr Seagrave embraced his wife, who threw herself sobbing into his arms, kissed his children with rapture, and wrung old Ready’s hand. He was almost frantic with joy. William was equally delighted.
As soon as they were a little more composed, Ready observed: “Mr Seagrave, that they have seen us is certain, and what we must now do is to get our own boat out of the sand. We know the passage through the reefs, and they do not. I doubt if they will, however, venture to send a boat on shore, until the wind moderates a little. You see, sir, it is blowing up very strong just now.”
“But you don’t think it will blow harder, Ready?”
“I am sorry to say, sir, that I do. It looks very threatening to the southward, and until the gale is over, they will not venture near an island so surrounded with rocks. It would be very imprudent if they did. However, sir, a few hours will decide.”
“But, surely,” said Mrs Seagrave, “even if it does blow, they will not leave the island without taking us off. They will come after the gale is over.”
“Yes, madam, if they can, I do think they will; but God knows, some men have hard hearts, and feel little for the misery of others.”
The brig had, in the meantime, kept away again, as if she was running in; but very soon afterwards she hauled to the wind, with her head to the northward, and stood away from the island.
“She is leaving us,” exclaimed William, mournfully.
“Hard-hearted wretches!” said Mr Seagrave, with indignation.
“You are wrong to say that, sir,” replied Ready: “excuse me, Mr Seagrave, for being so bold; but the fact is, that if I was in command of that vessel, I should do just as they have done. The gale rises fast, and it would be very dangerous for them to remain where they now are. It does not at all prove that they intend to leave us; they but consult their own safety, and, when the gale is over, we shall, I trust, see them again.”
No reply was made to Ready’s judicious remarks. The Seagraves only saw that the vessel was leaving them, and their hearts sank. They watched her in silence, and as she gradually diminished to the view, so did their hopes depart from them. The wind was now fierce, and a heavy squall, with rain, obscured the offing, and the vessel was no longer to be distinguished. Mr Seagrave turned to his wife, and mournfully offered her his arm. They walked away from the beach without speaking; the remainder of the party, with the exception of old Ready, followed them. Ready remained some time with his eyes in the direction where the vessel was last seen. At last he hauled down the ensign and flag, and, throwing them over his shoulder, followed the disconsolate party to the house.
Chapter Forty Four.
When Ready arrived, he found them all plunged in such deep distress, that he did not consider it advisable to say anything. The evening closed in; it was time to retire. The countenance of Mr Seagrave was not only gloomy, but morose. The hour for retiring to rest had long passed when Ready broke the silence by saying, “Surely, you do not intend to sit up all night, Mr Seagrave?”
“Oh, no! there’s no use sitting up now,” replied Mr Seagrave, rising up impatiently. “Come, my dear, let us go to bed.”
Mrs Seagrave rose, and retired behind the canvas screen. Her husband seemed as if he was about to follow her, when Ready, without speaking, laid the Bible on the table before him. Mr Seagrave did not appear to notice it; but William touched his father’s arm, pointed to the book, and then went inside of the screen, and led out his mother.
“God forgive me!” exclaimed Mr Seagrave. “In my selfishness and discontent I had forgotten—”
“Yes, sir, you had forgotten those words, ‘Come unto me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’”
“I am ashamed of myself,” said Mrs Seagrave, bursting into tears.
Mr Seagrave opened the Bible, and read the psalm. As soon as he had closed the book, “good night” were all the words that passed, and they all retired to rest.
During the night, the wind howled and the rain beat down. The children slept soundly, but Mr and Mrs Seagrave, Ready, and William were awake during the whole of the night, listening to the storm, and occupied with their own thoughts.
Ready was dressed before daylight, and out on the beach before the sun had risen. The gale was at its height; and after a careful survey with his telescope, he could see nothing of the vessel. He remained on the beach till breakfast-time, when he was summoned by William, and returned to the house. He found Mr and Mrs Seagrave up, and more composed than they were the evening before; and they welcomed him warmly.
“I fear, Ready,” said Mr Seagrave, “that you have no good news for us.”
“No, sir; nor can you expect any good news until after the gale is over. The vessel could not remain here during the gale—that is certain; and there is no saying what the effects of the gale may be. She may lie to, and not be far from us when the gale is over; or she may be obliged to scud before the gale, and run some hundred miles from us. Then comes the next chance. I think, by her running for the island, that she was short of water; the question is, then, whether she may not find it necessary to run for the port she is bound to, or water at some other place. A captain of a vessel is bound to do his best for the owners. At the same time I do think, that if she can with propriety come back for us she will. The question is, first, whether she can; and, secondly, whether the captain is a humane man, and will do so at his own inconvenience.”
“There is but poor comfort in all that,” replied Mr Seagrave.
“It is useless holding out false hopes, sir,” replied Ready; “but even if the vessel continues her voyage, we have much to be thankful for.”
“In what, Ready?”
“Why, sir, no one knew whether we were in existence or not, and probably we never should have been searched for; but now we have made it known, and by the ship’s name on the flag they know who we are, and, if they arrive safe in port, will not fail to communicate the intelligence to your friends. Is not that a great deal to be thankful for? We may not be taken off by this vessel, but we have every hope that another will be sent out to us.”
“Very true, Ready; I ought to have seen that before; but my despair and disappointment were yesterday so great, that it almost took away my reason.”
The gale continued during the day, and showed no symptoms of abatement, when they again retired for the night. The following day Ready was up early, as usual, and William accompanied him to the beach.
“I don’t think that it blows so hard as it did, Ready.”
“No, William, it does not; the gale is breaking, and by night, I have no doubt, will be over. It is, however, useless looking for the vessel, as she must be a long way from this. It would take her a week, perhaps, to come back to us if she was to try to do so, unless the wind should change to the northward or westward.”
“Ready! Ready!” exclaimed William, pointing to the south-east part of the reef; “what is that? Look! it’s a boat.”
Ready put his telescope to his eye. “It’s a canoe, William, and there are people in it.”
“Why, where can they have come from? See! they are among the breakers; they will be lost. Let us go towards them, Ready.”
They hastened along the beach to the spot nearest to where the canoe was tossing on the surf, and watched it as it approached the shore.
“William, this canoe must have been blown off from the large island, which lies out there;” and Ready again looked through his telescope: “there are two people in it, and they are islanders. Poor things! they struggle hard for their lives, and seem much exhausted; but they have passed through the most dangerous part of the reef.”
“Yes,” replied William, “they will soon be in smoother water; but the surf on the beach is very heavy.”
“They won’t mind that, if their strength don’t fail them—they manage the canoe beautifully.”
During this conversation the canoe had rapidly come towards the land. In a moment or two afterwards, it passed through the surf and grounded on the beach. The two people in it had just strength enough left to paddle through the surf, and then they dropped down in the bottom of the canoe, quite exhausted.
“Let’s drag the canoe higher up, William. Poor creatures! they are nearly dead.”
While dragging it up, Ready observed that the occupants were both women: their faces were tattooed all over; otherwise they were young, and might have been good-looking.
“Shall I run up and get something for them, Ready?”
“Do, William; ask Juno to give you some of whatever there is for breakfast; anything warm.”
William soon returned with some thin oatmeal porridge, which Juno had been preparing for breakfast; and a few spoonfuls being forced down the throats of the two natives they gradually revived. William then left Ready, and went up to acquaint his father and mother with this unexpected event.
William soon returned with Mr Seagrave, and as the women were now able to sit up, they hauled up the canoe as far as they could, to prevent her being beat to pieces. They found nothing in the canoe, except a piece of matting and the two paddles which had been used by the natives.
“You see, sir,” said Ready, “it is very clear that these two poor women, having been left in charge of the canoe, have been blown off from the shore of one of the islands to the south-east; they must have been contending with the gale ever since the day before yesterday, and, as it appears, without food or water. It’s a mercy that they gained this island.”
“It is so,” replied Mr Seagrave; “but to tell the truth, I am not over pleased at their arrival. It proves what we were not sure of before, that we have very near neighbours, who may probably pay us a very unwelcome visit.”
“That may be, sir,” replied Ready; “still these two poor creatures being thrown on shore here does not make the matter worse, or the danger greater. Perhaps it may turn to our advantage; for if these women learn to speak English before any other islanders visit us, they will interpret for us, and be the means, perhaps, of saving our lives.”
“Would their visit be so dangerous, then, Ready?”
“Why, sir, a savage is a savage, and, like a child, wishes to obtain whatever he sees; especially he covets what he may turn to use, such as iron, etcetera. If they came, and we concealed a portion, and gave up the remainder of our goods, we might escape; but still there is no trusting to them, and I would infinitely prefer defending ourselves against numbers to trusting to their mercy.”
“But how can we defend ourselves against a multitude?”
“We must be prepared, sir: if we can fortify ourselves, with our muskets we would be more than a match for hundreds.”
Mr Seagrave turned away. After a pause he said, “It is not very pleasant to be now talking of defending ourselves against savages, when we hoped two days ago to be leaving the island. Oh, that that brig would make its appearance again!”
“The wind is going down fast, sir,” observed Ready; “it will be fine weather before the evening. We may look out for her; at all events, for the next week I shall not give up all hopes.”
“A whole week, Ready! Alas! how true it is, that hope deferred maketh the heart sick.”
“It is a severe trial, Mr Seagrave; but we must submit when we are chastened. We had better get these poor creatures up to the house, and let them recover themselves.”
Ready then beckoned to them to get on their feet, which they both did, although with some difficulty. He then went in advance, making a sign for them to follow; they understood him, and made the attempt, but were so weak, that they would have fallen if they had not been supported by Mr Seagrave and William.
It required a long time for them to arrive at the house. Mrs Seagrave, who knew what had happened, received them very kindly, and Juno had a mess ready, which she put before them. They ate a little and then lay down, and were soon sound asleep.
“It is fortunate for us that they are women,” observed Mr Seagrave: “we should have had great difficulty had they been men.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Ready; “but still we must not trust women too much at first, for they are savages.”
“Where shall we put them to-night, Ready?”
“Why, sir, I have been thinking about that. I wish we had a shed close to us; but as we have not, we must let them sleep in the storehouse.”
We must now pass over a space of fifteen days, in which there was nothing done. The expectation of the vessel returning was still alive, although each day decreased these hopes. Every morning Ready and William were at the beach with the telescope, and the whole of the day was passed in surmises, hopes, and fears. In fact, the appearance of the vessel and the expectation of leaving the island had completely overturned all the regularity and content of our island party. No other subject was broached—not any of the work proposed was begun, as it was useless to do anything if they were to leave the island. After the first week had passed, they felt that every day their chances were more adverse, and at the end of the fortnight all hopes were very unwillingly abandoned.
The Indian women had, in the meantime, recovered their fatigues, and appeared to be very mild and tractable. Whatever they were able to do, they did cheerfully, and had already gained a few words of English. The party to explore was again talked over, and arranged for the following Monday, when a new misfortune fell on them, which disconcerted all their arrangements.
