CHAPTER VII
REMINISCENCES
'A most fortunate coincidence, Grinson, that you happened to be tattooedwith the totem mark of these strange people,' said Trentham. 'But forthat we might all have gone into the pot in turn.'
The four men were seated in a hut placed at their disposal by the chief,appeasing their famishment with a variety of more or less unfamiliarfoods.
'Ay, ay, sir!' returned the boatswain; 'though I never heard it called atotem mark afore. True, my head was spinning like a teetotum when 'twasdone, and if I 'd been a teetotaller--upon my word, sir, 'tis theremarkablest thing I ever heard on. Ephraim, me lad, you can bear meout: wasn't that the only time you ever saw me squiffed?'
'Which time was that, Mr. Grinson?' asked Meek.
'Why, the time I had this 'ere teetotum mark pricked into my biceps.'
'I 'm bound to say as how that was one of the times you was a trifleovercome, though nothing to what you might have been.'
'True, if I 'd been overripe they couldn't 'a done it, nor if I 'd hadnothing at all, which it shows the good o' moderation, gentlemen. I wasjust comfortable; you know--when you 're pleased with everything andeverybody. 'Twas like this. I was never like most sailormen, as getstattooed their first voyage, and ever after has the sins o' their youthstaring 'em in the face--like Ephraim, poor lad.'
Meek looked guiltily at his long bony wrists and tried to draw hissleeves down over the blue anchors tattooed on them.
'No,' Grinson went on, 'I was never a man for show. Well, somemessmates of mine didn't understand my modest spirit, and laid theirheads together for to give me the hall-mark as proves a seaman sterling,you may say. Ben Trouncer was at the bottom of it: the slyest sea-dogof a fellow you ever set eyes on. He come to me one night when Ihappened to be alone, all but Ephraim, in the bar-parlour of the "JollySailors," and says, "Going to the meeting on Wednesday, Josy?" says he."What meeting?" says I. "You don't mean to tell me you don't know!"says he. "I 'd never have believed it. All the others are going;meeting to form a sailors' goose club," says he. "Fust I heard of it,"says I. "What's a goose club?" "Why," says he, "you pay so much aweek, and at Christmas every sailor-man gets a goose, wherever heis--Melbourne, Shanghai, Buenos Ayres, anywhere you like. Fancy you notknowing of it! Why, they all expect you to be made treasurer of theclub. Let's have another pot, and I 'll tell you all I knows."
'Well, Ben went on talking like a gramophone as won't run down--aboutsubscriptions and foreign agents, and what a heap of money there 'd beto take charge of, and he hoped I 'd be made treasurer, because some of'em wanted a scag called Joe Pettigrew, a fellow you wouldn't trust withthe price of a pot of four-half, which I agreed with, and said if Joewas made treasurer he 'd get no subscriptions out of me. "Well," saysBen, "Joe 's the only man I 'm afraid of, and I 'll tell you why. Themas wants him are going to propose that no one as ain't tattooed is to beedible for membership--see? Just to keep you out, 'cos they know thereain't a speck of blue about you." "Ho!" says I. "That 's their game.Well, they can make Joe treasurer, and he 'll pinch all your money, butnot mine, 'cos I can't join, not if I want to."
'Well, he calls for another pot and goes on talking, and by long andshort he worked me up to believe as how the whole thing would bust up ifI wasn't treasurer, and the picture he drored of the sailorman goingwithout his Christmas goose was worse than onions for tickling youreyeballs. Then he told me how I 'd take the wind out o' Joe's sails ifI had a nice fat goose tattooed on my shoulder out of sight, and springit on 'em when they was cocksure I wasn't edible for membership. Havinghad three or four pots, the notion tickled my fancy, and I had it doneby a Jap as was the cleverest hand at tattooing you ever set eyes on.Ben had left him in the bar till he talked me over.
'Well, I went to the meeting, and Joe and his mates sniggered when theysaw me. Ben proposed the club; carried unanimous. Some one elseproposed about the tattooing; carried unanimous. Then Ben proposed mefor treasurer. Up jumps one of Joe's friends and said I couldn't betreasurer, 'cos I couldn't even be a member, not being tattooed. "Ho!"says I, "who says I ain't tattooed?" They laughed. "Who don't knowthat?" says they. "Ho!" says I, "you knows a lot," and I stripped andshowed 'em the finest goose as ever hung in Leadenhall Market.
'WHO SAYS I AIN'T TATTOOED?']
'Well, after that they made me treasurer, unanimous, even Joe voting forme, which it surprised me at the time. Then Ben said that, me beingtreasurer, 'twas for me to propose what the subscription should be."Right," says I. "Then I propose three-pence a week." I was fairflabbergasted when Ben got up and spun a long yarn which I couldn't makehead or tail on, and ended by proposing they didn't have no subscriptionat all. Carried unanimous. It was a plant, you see, gentlemen. I wasfair done. There never was no goose club, and only one goose, and thatwas me, my mother said when I told her all about it.'
'And your goose is a bird of paradise,' said Trentham.
'A bird of---- Ho, here 's ugly mug! What might he want now?'
In the open doorway stood the interpreter.
'Chief he say white man fella come alonga him,' said the man, looking atTrentham.
'A royal command,' remarked Trentham, rising. 'I 'll try to get him toprovide us with guides to Wilhelmshafen.'
Some ten minutes after Trentham's departure the rest were startled by along-drawn howl, like the sound of hundreds of men hooting an unpopularspeaker.
'Blue murder!' exclaimed Grinson, as he hurried with the others to thedoorway. The noise came from beyond the stockade. The gate was shut,and the natives within the enclosure were strolling about with noappearance of concern. Trentham was not visible.
'I 'm afeard they 've took Mr. Trentham instead,' said Meeklugubriously.
'Nonsense!' cried Hoole. 'That wasn't a cry of delight. But I 'll justrun across to the chief's house; Mr. Trentham is probably there.'
At the entrance of the house he was stopped by two natives, armed withspears, who stood there on guard.
'You there, Trentham?' he called into the interior.
'Yes; I 'll be with you shortly,' came the answer.
Reassured, Hoole returned to the hut.
'It's all right, Meek,' he said. 'Don't get the wind up.'
'No, Ephraim, me lad,' said Grinson, 'don't strain at your anchor. 'Tisyour great fault.'
It was half an hour or so before Trentham rejoined them.
'The strangest story I 've ever heard,' he said. 'It wasn't easy tomake out that fellow's pidgin English, but I 'll tell you what Iunderstand of it. Long ago, soon after the beginning of the world, abig ship came ashore after a great storm. (That's our wreck, ofcourse.) The ship's white chief, a great medicine-man, had come toassist the forefathers of this tribe, then at war with many powerfulneighbours. By the power of his fire magic--blunderbusses, nodoubt--their enemies were defeated; but I suppose his ammunition gaveout, for, as the chief put it, the fire magic was lost.
'The ship's captain was evidently a Frenchman. Finding it impossible toleave the island, he and his crew settled down and took wives among thetribe, and became the ruling caste. The present chief is probably thegreat-grandson of the Frenchman; he has no idea how old he is, or howmany generations come between him and his ancestor. From the portrait ofLouis XVI. we saw in the cabin, it's pretty clear that this happened ahundred and twenty odd years ago. In that time, of course, the Frenchstock has degenerated; as you heard, they 've retained a word or two ofthe French language, and they 've tried to keep themselves select bybanishing from their inner enclosure all who take after the aboriginesin feature, retaining only those who have something of the European castof face. That, as I understood the story, has led to trouble. It's acase of plebs and patricians over again. The patricians are graduallyweakening, the plebs becoming stronger; and the chief seems to bedecidedly jumpy; his authority is waning. You heard that howl just now?'
'We did,' replied Hoole. 'Meek made su
re you 'd been thrown to thedogs.'
Trentham smiled.
'The fact is, the plebs were disappointed of their feast. They arecannibals; the patricians are not. A big fellow came up as spokesman ofthe plebs, and declared they must have one of us four. Grinson isprotected by his goose, and the chief wouldn't give them you, Hoole, orme, because we know French. But he suggested that we might dispensewith Meek.'
'Me, sir!' cried Meek.
'Yes. I gathered that the chief was anxious to conciliate his ratherunruly subjects, and I had a good deal of difficulty in begging you off,pointing out (I hope you don't mind) that you are rather lean andscraggy----'
'Danged if that ain't too bad!' cried Meek with unwonted vehemence.
'Well, really, I thought it the best way to get you off.'
''Tis not that I mind, sir--not at all, and I 'm obliged to you. I wasalways skin and bone, no matter what I eat----'
'Like the lean cattle in the Bible, Ephraim,' said Grinson, 'what ate upthe fat uns and you 'd never have knowed it.'
'True, so I was born,' Meek went on, 'and so I must be. But the idea ofeating me, just because I never had no goose pricked on my arm nor can'tparly-voo! Danged if there 's any justice in this world--not a morsel.'
'Well, you 're safe now, anyway,' said Hoole, smiling. 'Did you hearanything about Hahn, Trentham?'
'Yes. It appears that the numbers here have recently been increased bythe influx of people from one or two small coast villages that have beendestroyed by the Germans. This place, being farther from the sea, hasescaped as yet; but the chief is rather alarmed, and has scoutingparties constantly out to give warning if the white men from the shipapproach. Apparently Hahn fell into the hands of one of those parties.The chief told me that a white man had been taken down to the shore tobe sacrificed in the hope of averting disaster. The sacrificial partyhas not returned yet, and I thought it wiser to say nothing about therescue of the victim; it wouldn't tend to make us popular with theplebs. The worst of it is, the chief seems to think we 'll be useful tohim. When I talked about his helping us to get away he suddenly becamedeaf, and I couldn't help judging from his manner that he wants to keepus, either to prop him up against his troublesome people, or to protecthim from the Germans. We had better humour him for the moment. At anyrate we shall get food. By and by we can take our bearings, possiblymake or get hold of a canoe. It's no good our attempting to make ourway overland to Wilhelmshafen through a country infested by cannibals.'
'And precious little good our staying to help him against the Germanswith nothing but a revolver and our knives,' said Hoole. 'Still, there's nothing else for it. If we can gain the people's confidence they mayhelp us in the end--especially if the Raider clears off, and I guess itwon't remain in these waters for ever. But it's deuced unpleasant.'
'Ay, and there 's neither justice nor mercy in this world,' sighed Meek.'Eat me! Br-r-r!'