CHAPTER NINETEEN.
AN EXPLORATION AND AN ACCIDENT.
For the first few days of their stay on what they styled Pirate Island,our castaways were too much taken up with the wondrous and variedcontents of the robbers' cave, and the information Meerta and Letta hadto give, to pay much regard to the island itself, or the prospect theyhad of quitting it. But when their interest and curiosity began toabate, and the excitement to decrease, they naturally bethought them ofthe nature and resources of their now home.
Of course they did not for a moment regard it in the light of _home_.It was merely a resting-place,--a refuge, where, after their escape fromthe sea, they should spend a few weeks, perhaps months, until a passingvessel should take them off. They did not know, at that time, that theislet was far removed from the usual track of ships, and that, like thePitcairn Islanders, they might be doomed to spend many years, perchancea lifetime, on it. Indeed, a considerable time elapsed before theywould admit to themselves that there was a possibility of such a fate,although they knew, both from Meerta and Letta, that no ship of anykind, save that of the pirates, had been seen for the last eighteenmonths, and the few sails that did chance to appear, were merely seenfor a few hours like sea-gulls on the horizon, from which they arose andinto which they vanished.
Having then, as we have said, bethought them of examining the resourcesand nature of the island, they one morning organised an expedition. Bythat time the sailor, although by no means fit for it, insisted that hewas sufficiently restored to accompany them. Letta, who was active andstrong like a small gazelle, besides being acquainted with the wholeregion, agreed to act as guide. Stumps, having sprained his ankleslightly, remained at the cave, for the purpose, as he said, of helpingMeerta with the garden, but Jim Slagg gave him credit for laziness.
"You see," said Sam Shipton, as Letta led them down the ruggedmountain-side, "we may as well make ourselves comfortable while weremain here, and I'm inclined to think that a hut, however rough, downin one of these charming valleys, will be more agreeable than the gloomycavern on the mountain-top."
"Not so sure o' that, doctor," said Johnson; "the cave is at all eventsdry, and a good stronghold in case of a visit from pirates."
"But pirates what have bin blow'd to atoms," said Slagg, "ain't likelyto turn up again, are they?"
"That's so, lad; but some of their friends might pay us a visit, youknow."
"I think not," rejoined Sam; "there is honour among thieves here, nodoubt, as elsewhere. I daresay it is well-known among the fraternitythat the island belongs to a certain set, and the rest will thereforelet it alone. What think you, Robin?"
"I'm inclined to agree with you, Sam, but perhaps Letta is the bestauthority on that point. Did you ever see any other set of pirates landhere, little one, except your--your own set?"
"Only once," answered the child, "another set came, but they only stayedone day. They looked at everything, looked at me an' Meerta an' laughedvery much. An' they ate and drank a good deal, and fought a little; butthey took nothing away, and never came back."
"I thought so," rejoined Sam; "now, all we've got to do is to hoist aflag on the highest peak of the mountain, and when a vessel comes totake us off, load her with as much of the booty as she can carry--andthen, hurrah for old England!"
"Hooray!" echoed Jim Slagg, "them's exactly my sentiments."
"But the booty is not ours to take," objected Robin.
"Whose is it, then?" asked Sam; "the rightful owners we don't know, andthe wrongful owners are defunct."
"I tell 'ee what it is, mates," said Johnson, "the whole o' the booty ismine, 'cause why? it was me as blowed up the owners, so I'm entitled toit by conquest, an' you needn't go to fightin' over it. If you behaveyourselves, I'll divide it equally among us, share an' share alike."
"It seems to me, Johnson," said Robin, "that in strict justice the bootybelongs to Letta, Meerta, and blind Bungo, as the natural heirs o' thepirates."
"But they're not the heirs, they are part of the booty," said theseaman, "and, as sitch, falls to be divided among us."
"If that's so," said Slagg, "then I claim Letta for my share, and you,Johnson, can have your pick of Meerta and blind Bungo."
"Nay, Letta is mine, because I was the first to discover her," saidRobin. "Whom will you go with, Letta?"
"With you, of course," replied the child quite earnestly. "Haven't youpromised to take me back to mamma?"
"Indeed I have, little one, and if I ever get the chance, assuredly Iwill," said Robin, with equal earnestness.
"I say, doctor," said Johnson to Sam, sitting down on a mossy bank,"I'll stop here and wait for you. That rib ain't all square yet."
"Wilful man," said Sam, "didn't I advise you not to come? There, liedown and take it easy. We'll bring you some fruit on our return."
By this time the party had reached the valley in which the lakelet lay,and beautiful indeed was the scene which presented itself as they passedunder the grateful shade of the palm-trees. Everywhere, rich tropicalvegetation met their gaze, through the openings in which the sunshinepoured like streams of fire. On the little lake numerous flocks ofducks and other fowl were seen swimming in sportive mood, while anoccasional splash told of fish of some sort below the surface.
Leaving the sailor in a position whence he could observe them for a longdistance, the rest of the party pushed on. During their rambles theyfound the valley to be much richer in vegetation, and more beautiful,than the distant view from the mountain-top had led them to expect.Small though the valley was, it contained, among other trees, thecocoa-nut palm, the bread-fruit, banana, and sandal-wood. There werealso pine-apples, wild rice, and custard-apples, some of which latterdelicious fruit, being ripe, was gathered and carried back to Johnson,whom they found sound asleep and much refreshed on their return.
The expedition proved that, barren though the island appeared from thesea, it contained quite enough of the good things of this life to renderit a desirable abode for man.
On the coast, too, where the raft had been cast ashore, were discovereda variety of shell-fish, some of which, especially the oysters, werefound to be excellent food. And some of the sea-fowl turned out to bevery good eating, though a little fishy, while their eggs were as goodas those of the domestic fowl.
"It seems to me," said Robin to Letta one day when they were out on aramble together, "that this is quite a little paradise."
"I don't know what paradise is like," said the child.
"Well, no more do I," returned Robin, with a laugh, "but of courseeverybody understands that it is the place where everything is perfect,and where happiness is complete."
"It cannot be like paradise without mamma," said Letta, shaking herpretty head sadly. "I would not go to heaven unless mamma was there."
Robin was silent for some time, as he thought of his own mother and thetalks he used to have with her on this same subject.
"Letta," he said at length, earnestly, "Jesus will be in heaven. It wasHis Spirit who taught you to love mamma--as you do, so you are sure tomeet her there with Him."
"Nobody _taught_ me to love mamma," returned the child quietly; "Icouldn't help it."
"True, little one, but it was God who made you to--`couldn't help it.'"
Letta was puzzled by this reply. She raised her bright eyes inquiringlyinto Robin's honest face, and said, "But you've promised to take me toher, you know."
"Yes, dear little one, but you must not misunderstand me," replied theyouth somewhat sadly. "I promise that, God helping me, I will do thebest I can to find out where your mother is; but you must remember thatI have very little to go on. I don't even know your mother's name, orthe place where you were taken from. By the way, an idea has justoccurred to me. Have you any clothes at the cave?"
"Of course I have," answered Letta, with a merry laugh.
"Yes; but I mean the clothes that you had on when you first came here."
"I don't know; Meerta knows. Why?"
"Because your name may be marked on them. Come, let us go back at onceand see. Besides, we are wasting time, for you know I was sent out toshoot some ducks for dinner."
Rising as he spoke, Robin shouldered the shotgun which had been suppliedfrom the robbers' armoury, and, descending with his little companiontowards the lake, soon began to stalk the birds as carefully as if hehad been trained to the work by a Red Indian. Stooping low, he glidedswiftly through the bushes, until he came within a hundred yards of themargin of the lakelet, where a group of some thirty or forty fat duckswere feeding. Letta had fallen behind, and sat down to watch.
The distance being too great for a shot, and the bushes beyond the spotwhich he had reached being too thin to conceal him, Robin lay flat down,and began to advance through the long grass after the fashion of asnake, pushing his gun before him. It was a slow and tedious process,but Robin's spirit was patient and persevering. He screwed himself, asit were, to within sixty yards of the flock, and then fired both barrelsalmost simultaneously. Seven dead birds remained behind when theaffrighted flock took wing.
"It is not very scientific shooting," said Robin, apologetically, to hisfair companion, as she assisted him to tie their legs together; "but ourobject just now is food, not sport."
On the way back to the cavern they had to pass over a narrow ledge, onone side of which a precipice descended towards the valley, while theother side rose upwards like a wall. It was not necessarily a dangerousplace. They had passed it often before in safety, none of the partybeing troubled with giddiness; but at this time Robin had unfortunatelyhung his bundle of ducks on the side which had to brush past the rockywall. As he passed, the bunch struck a projection and threw him off hisbalance. In the effort to recover himself he dislodged a piece of rockunder his left foot, and, without even a cry, went headlong over theprecipice!
Poor Letta stood rooted to the spot, too horrified to scream. She sawher friend, on whom all her hopes were built, go crashing through thefoliage immediately below the precipice edge, and disappear. It was thefirst terrible shock she had ever received. With a convulsive shuddershe ran by a dangerously steep route towards the foot of the precipice.
But Robin had not yet met his doom, although he had descended full sixtyfeet. His fall was broken by several leafy trees, through which he wentlike an avalanche; and a thick solid bush receiving him at the foot,checked his descent entirely, and slid him quietly off its boughs on tothe grass, where he lay, stunned, indeed, but otherwise uninjured.
Poor Letta of course was horrified, on reaching the spot, to find thatRobin could not speak, and was to all appearance dead. In an agony ofterror she shrieked, and shook him and called him by name--to awakenhim, as she afterwards said; but Robin's sleep was too deep at thatmoment to be dispelled by such measures. Letta therefore sprang up andran as fast as she could to the cavern to tell the terrible news andfetch assistance.
Robin, however, was not left entirely alone in his extremity. It sochanced that a remarkably small monkey was seated among the boughs of aneighbouring tree, eating a morsel of fruit, when Letta's first screamsounded through the grove. Cocking up one ear, it arrested its littlehand on the way to its lesser mouth, and listened. Its little blackface was corrugated with the wrinkles of care--it might be of fun, wecannot tell. The only large features of the creature were its eyes, andthese seemed to blaze, while the brows rose high, as if in surprise.
On hearing the second scream the small monkey laid hold of a bough withits tail, swung itself off, and caught another with its feet, sprangtwenty feet, more or less, to the ground, which it reached on its hands,tumbled a somersault inadvertently, and went skipping over the ground ata great rate in the direction of the cries.
When it reached the spot, however, Letta had fled, but Robin still laymotionless on his back. It was evident that the small monkey looked onthe prostrate youth with alarm and suspicion, yet with an intensecuriosity that no sense of danger could restrain. It walked slowly andinquiringly round him several times, each time drawing closer, while itscrouched back and trailing tail betokened abject humility. Then itventured to put out a small black hand and touch him, drawing it backagain as if it had got an electric shock. Then it ventured to touch himagain, with less alarm. After that it went close up, and gazed in hisface.
Familiarity, says the proverb, breeds contempt. The truth of proverbscan be verified by monkeys as well as men. Seeing that nothing came ofits advances, that small monkey finally leaped on Robin's chest, satdown thereon, and stared into his open mouth. Still the youth movednot, whereupon the monkey advanced a little and laid its paw upon hisnose! Either the touch was more effective than Letta's shaking, or timewas bringing Robin round, for he felt his nose tickled, and gave way toa tremendous sneeze. It blew the monkey clean off its legs, and sent itshrieking into a neighbouring tree. As Robin still lay quiet, themonkey soon recovered, and returned to its former position, where,regardless of consequences, it again laid hold of the nose.
This time consciousness returned. Robin opened his eyes with a stare ofdreamy astonishment. The monkey replied with a stare of indignantsurprise. Robin's eyebrows rose still higher. So did those of themonkey as it leaped back a foot, and formed its mouth into a little O ofremonstrance. Robin's mouth expanded; he burst into an uncontrollablefit of laughter, and the monkey was again on the eve of flight, whenvoices were heard approaching, and, next instant, Letta came runningforward, followed at some distance by Sam and the others.
"Oh! my dear, sweet, exquisite darling!" exclaimed Letta.
It did much for the poor youth's recovery, the hearing himself addressedin such endearing terms, but he experienced a relapse when the monkey,responding to the endearments, ran with obvious joy into the child'sbosom, and submitted to a warm embrace.
"Oh, you darling!" repeated Letta; "where have you been? why did you goaway? I thought you were dead. Naughty thing!"
Recollecting Robin with a shock of self-reproach, she dropped the monkeyand ran to him.
"It is an old friend, I see," he said with a languid smile, as she cameup.
"Yes, yes; an old pet. I had lost him for a long time. But you're notkilled? Oh! I'm _so_ glad."
"Killed!" repeated Sam, who was down on his knees carefully examiningthe patient; "I should think not. He's not even bruised--only stunned alittle. Where did you fall from, Robin--the tree top?"
"No; from the edge of the precipice."
"What! from the ledge sixty or seventy feet up there? Impossible! Youwould certainly have been killed if you had fallen from that."
"So I certainly should," returned Robin, "if God had not in his mercygrown trees and shrubs there, expressly, among other purposes, to saveme."
In this reply Robin's mind was running on previous conversations whichhe had had with his friend on predestination.
The idea of shrubs and trees having been expressly grown on an island ofthe Southern Seas to save an English boy, seemed doubtful to Sam. Hedid not, however, express his doubts at the time, but reserved thesubject for a future "theological discussion."
Meanwhile, Slagg, Stumps, and Johnson, having spread some palm brancheson a couple of stout poles, laid our hero thereon, and bore him insafety to the pirates' cave, where, for several days, he lay on one ofthe luxurious couches, tenderly nursed by Letta and the old woman, who,although she still pathetically maintained that the "roberts an pyritswasn't all so bad as each oder," was quite willing to admit that herpresent visitors were preferable, and that, upon the whole, she wasrather fond of them.