CHAPTER SEVEN.
MASTER CORRIE CAUGHT NAPPING--SNAKES IN THE GRASS.
The Sabbath morning which succeeded the events we have just narrateddawned on the settlement of Sandy Cove in unclouded splendour, and thedeep repose of nature was still unbroken by the angry passions and theviolent strife of man, although from the active preparations of theprevious night it might have been expected that those who dwelt on theisland would not have an opportunity of enjoying the rest of that day.
Everything in and about the settlement was eminently suggestive ofpeace. The cattle lay sleepily in the shade of the trees; the sea wasstill calm like glass. Men had ceased from their daily toil; and theonly sounds that broke the quiet of the morning were the chattering ofthe parrots and other birds in the cocoanut groves; and the cries ofseafowl, as they circled in the air, or dropt on the surface of the seain quest of fish.
The British frigate lay at anchor in the same place which she hadhitherto occupied, and the _Foam_ still floated in the sequestered bayon the other side of the island. In neither vessel was there theslightest symptom of preparation; and to one who knew not the true stateof matters, the idea of war being about to break forth was the last thatwould have occurred.
But this deceitful quiet was only the calm that precedes the storm. Onevery hand men were busily engaged in making preparation to break thatSabbath day in the most frightful manner, or were calmly, butresolutely, awaiting attack. On board the ship-of-war, indeed, therewas little doing, for, her business being to fight, she was always in astate of readiness for action. Her signal guns, fired the previousnight, had recalled Montague to tell him of the threatened attack by thesavages. A few brief orders were given, and they were prepared forwhatever might occur. In the village, too, the arrangements to repelattack having been made, white men and native converts alike rested withtheir arms placed in convenient proximity to their hands.
In a wild and densely-wooded part of the island, far removed from thoseportions which we have yet had occasion to describe, a band offiendish-looking men were making arrangements for one of thoseunprovoked assaults which savages are so prone to make on those whosettle near them.
They were all of them in a state of almost complete nudity, but thecomplicated tattooing on their dark skins gave them the appearance ofbeing more clothed than they really were. Their arms consisted chieflyof enormous clubs of hardwood, spears, and bows; and, in order tofacilitate their escape should they chance to be grasped in ahand-to-hand conflict, they had covered their bodies with oil, whichglistened in the sunshine as they moved about their village.
Conspicuous among these truly savage warriors was the form of Keona,with his right arm bound up in a sort of sling. Pain and disappointedrevenge had rendered this man's face more than usually diabolical as hewent about among his fellows, inciting them to revenge the insult andinjury done to them through his person by the whites. There was somereluctance, however, on the part of a few of the chiefs to renew a warthat had been terminated, or rather, been slumbering, only for a fewmonths.
Keona's influence, too, was not great among his kindred, and had it notbeen that one or two influential chiefs sided with him, his own effortsto relight the still smoking torch of war would have been unavailing.
As it was, the natives soon worked themselves up into a sufficientlyexcited state to engage in any desperate expedition. It was while allthis was doing in the native camp, that Keona, having gone to thenearest mountain top to observe what was going on in the settlement, hadfallen in with and been chased by some of those men belonging to the_Foam_, who had been sent on shore to escape being pressed into theservice of the king of England.
The solitary exception to this general state of preparation for war wasthe household of Frederick Mason. Having taken such precautionary stepsthe night before as he deemed expedient, and having consulted with OleThorwald, the general commanding, who had posted scouts in all themountain passes, and had seen the war-canoes drawn up in a row on thestrand, the pastor retired to his study and spent the greater part ofthe night in preparing to preach the gospel of peace on the morrow, andin committing the care of his flock and his household to Him who is the"God of battles" as well as the "Prince of peace."
It is not to be supposed that Mr Mason contemplated the probablerenewal of hostilities without great anxiety. For himself, we needscarcely say, he had no fears, but his heart sank when he thought of hisgentle Alice falling into the hands of savages. As the night passedaway without any alarms, his anxiety began to subside, and when Sundaymorning dawned, he lay down on a couch to snatch a few hours' reposebefore the labours of the day began.
The first object that greeted the pastor's eyes on awaking in themorning was a black visage, and a pair of glittering eyes gazing at himthrough the half open door with an expression of the utmostastonishment.
He leaped up with lightning, speed and darted towards the intruder, butchecked himself suddenly and smiled, as poor Poopy uttered a scream,and, falling on her knees, implored for mercy.
"My poor girl, I fear I have frightened you by my violence," said he,sitting down on his couch and yawning sleepily; "but I was dreaming,Poopy; and when I saw your black face peeping at me, I took you at firstfor one of the wild fellows on the other side of the mountains. Youhave come to sweep and arrange my study, I suppose."
"Why, mass'r, you no hab go to bed yet," said Poopy, still feeling andexpressing surprise at her master's unwonted irregularity. "Is youill?"
"Not at all, my good girl, only a little tired. It is not a time for meto take much rest when the savages are said to be about to attack us."
"When is they coming?" inquired the girl, meekly. The pastor smiled ashe replied,--"That is best known to themselves, Poopy. Do you think itlikely that murderers or thieves would send to let us know when theywere coming?"
"Hee! hee!" laughed Poopy, with an immense display of teeth and gums.
"Is Alice awake?" inquired Mr Mason.
"No, her be sound 'sleep wid her two eye shut tight up, dis fashion, andher mout' wide open--so."
The representations of Alice's condition, as given by her maid, althoughhideously unlike the beautiful object they were meant to call up to thefather's mind, were sufficiently expressive and comprehensible.
"Go wake her, my girl, and let us have breakfast as soon as you can.Has Will Corrie been here this morning?"
"Hims bin here all night," replied the girl, with a broad grin--(and thebreadth of Poopy's _broad_ grin was almost appalling!)
"What mean you? has he slept in this house all night?"
"Yes--eh! no," said Poopy.
"Yes, no," exclaimed Mr Mason. "Come, Poopy, don't be stupid, explainyourself."
"Hee! hee! hee! yes, ho! ho!" laughed Poopy, as if the idea ofexplaining herself was about the richest joke she had listened to sinceshe was born. "Hee! hee! me no can 'splain, but you com here and see."
So saying, she conducted her wondering master to the front door of thecottage, where, across the threshold, directly under the porch, lay theform of the redoubted Corrie, fast asleep, and armed to the teeth!
In order to explain the cause of this remarkable apparition, we think itjustifiable to state to the reader, in confidence, that young MasterCorrie was deeply in love with the fair Alice. With all his recklessdrollery of disposition, the boy was intensely romantic andenthusiastic; and, feeling that the unsettled condition of the timesendangered the welfare of his lady-love, he resolved, like a trueknight, to arm himself and guard the threshold of her door with his ownbody.
In the deep silence of the night he buckled on a sabre, the blade ofwhich, by reason of its having been broken, was barely eight incheslong, and the hilt whereof was battered and rusty. He also stuck a hugebrass-mounted cavalry pistol in his belt, in the virtue of which he hadgreat faith, having only two days before shot with it a green-headedparrot at a distance of two yards. The distance was not great, to besure, but it was enough for his purpose--intending, as he did, to me
ethis foe, when the moment of action should come, in close conflict, andthrust the muzzle of his weapon down the said foe's throat beforecondescending to draw the trigger.
Thus prepared for the worst, he sallied out on tiptoe, intending tomount guard at the missionary's door, and return to his own proper couchbefore the break of day.
But alas for poor Corrie's powers of endurance! no sooner had heextended his chubby form on the door-mat, earnestly wishing, but notexpecting, that Alice would come out and find him there, than he fellfast asleep, while engaged in the hopeless task of counting the starryhost--a duty which he had imposed on himself in the hope that he mightthereby be kept awake. Once asleep he slept on, as a matter of course,with his broad little chest heaving gently; his round little visagebeaming upwards like a terrestrial moon; his left arm under his head inlieu of a pillow, (by consequence of which _it_ was fast asleep also,)and his right hand grasping the hilt of the broken sabre.
As for Corrie's prostrate body affording protection to Alice--the entiresavage population might have stepped across it, one by one, and mighthave stepped back again, bearing away into slavery the fair maiden, withher father and all the household furniture to boot, without in the leastdisturbing the deep slumbers of the youthful knight. At least we maysafely come to this conclusion from the fact that Mr Mason shook him,first gently and then violently, for full five minutes before he couldget him to speak; and even then he only gave utterance, in very sleepytones, and half-formed words, to the remark--
"Oh! don' borer me. It aint b'kfust-t'm' yet?"
"Ho! Corrie, Corrie," shouted Mr Mason, giving the victim a shake thatthreatened to dislocate his neck, "get up, my boy--rouse up!"
"Hallo! hy! murder! Come on you vill--eh! Mr Mason--I beg pardon,sir," stammered Corrie, as he at length became aware of his condition,and blushed deeply; "I--I really, Mr Mason, I merely came to watchwhile you were all asleep, as there are savages about, you know--and ha!ha! ha!--oh! dear me!" (Corrie exploded at this point, unable tocontain himself at the sight of the missionary's gaze of astonishment,)"Wot a sight for a Sunday mornin' too!"
The hilarity of the boy was catching, for at this point a vociferous"hee! hee!" burst from the sable Poopy; the clear laugh of Alice, too,came ringing through the passage, and Mr Mason himself finally joinedin the chorus.
"Come, sir knight," exclaimed the latter, on recovering his gravity,"this is no guise for a respectable man to be seen in on Sunday morning;come in and lay down your arms. You have done very well as a soldierfor this occasion; let us see if you can do your duty equally well as achurch-officer. Have you the keys."
"No, they are at home."
"Then run and get them, my boy, and leave your pistol behind you. Idare say the savages won't attack during the daytime."
Corrie did as he was desired, and the pastor went, after breakfast, tospend a short time with Alice on a neighbouring eminence, from whichcould be obtained a fine view of the settlement, with its little churchand the calm bay on which floated the frigate, sheltered by theencircling coral reef from the swell of the ocean.
Here it was Mr Mason's wont to saunter with Alice every Sunday morning,to read a chapter of the Bible together, and converse about that happyland where one so dear to both of them now dwelt with their Saviour.Here, also, the child's maid was sometimes privileged to join them. Onthis particular morning, however, they were not the only spectators ofthe beautiful view from that hill, for, closely hidden in the bushes--not fifty yards from the spot where they sat--lay a band of armedsavages who had escaped the vigilance of the scouts, and had come by anunguarded pass to the settlement.
They might easily have slain or secured the missionary and his householdwithout alarming the people in the village, but their plan of attackforbade such a premature proceeding. The trio therefore finished theirchapter and their morning prayer undisturbed, little dreaming of thenumber of glittering eyes that watched their proceedings.