two natives werelocked in a death grip, and a single glance told us that they were Maruand Soma. The Raretongan had chased Leith's brown lieutenant on to thepath, and now they were struggling like demons in the mad endeavour tothrust each other into the depths.
"Quick!" cried Holman. "The rope!"
He slipped the line around his waist as the pair moved to the edge. Maruwas dragging the big savage with a strength that was surprising, but itwas a certainty that if Soma went over the edge the Raretongan wouldkeep him company.
Holman slipped down upon the Ledge, but before he could reach them adusty, bleeding figure stumbled through the entrance to the cavern, aknife flashed in the sunlight, and Maru was drawn back into safety asSoma released his grip. The newcomer was Kaipi!
"He kill Toni!" he cried. "Toni all same brother to me. Toni work withme long time Suva."
Toni, the pupil of the Maori, who had instructed him on Levuka wharf asto the way out of Black Fernando's hell, had been avenged at last.
It was a happy reunion we held upon the edge of the pit. Edith andBarbara bound up the wounds of the two faithful natives, and themuscular Raretongan was so touched with their tender ministrations thathe foraged in his tattered sulu, and with tears of gratitude in his bigbrown eyes he handed back to Barbara the emerald ring with which she hadcaused him to desert from Leith's service.
"Me want no pay from you!" he cried. "Me work for you all samenothing!"
We learned that the one-eyed white man and the last of the Wizards ofthe Centipede had been dispatched by Maru and Kaipi, and we alsoreceived the news that the four carriers had bolted back to the yacht.The latter piece of information somewhat dampened our spirits. We feltthat Leith and Newmarch were friends, and we wondered what the silent,thin-faced captain would do when he heard the story of Black Fernando'sdiscomfiture.
On account of Kaipi's weak state we camped that evening on the same spotthat we had occupied on the second night upon the Isle of Tears, and atdaybreak next morning we set out for the little bay. We were all happy.The Professor was as pleased as a boy on his vacation, and he hadreturned again to his task of taking notes. The two girls were radiant;Kaipi was joyful because the murdered Toni had been revenged, and Maruwas in the seventh heaven of delight because Barbara had informed himthat he could go to San Francisco with the party as a reward for hisdevotion. As for Holman and myself, we forgot the loneliness of theplace in our joy. The same trees peered at us, the same cablelike vinesgripped our legs, and the same weird rock masses blocked our paths, butlove was in our hearts, and morbid thoughts were chased away.
On the afternoon of the second day from the pit we reached the shore ofthe little bay, but _The Waif_ was not there. Newmarch had evidentlydiscovered that Leith had not been quite successful in the carrying outof his plans, and fearful of his own share in the business, he hadbolted with the yacht. The South Sea breeds piratical thoughts, and fromour own knowledge of the captain we guessed that in his particular casethose thoughts would be easily generated.
"He thinks he'll save his own skin by clearing out," said Holman, "butI'm satisfied that Dame Justice is an expert with the lariat. If he'snot in jail before three months are out, my name is not Will Holman."
It was the missionary schooner _Messenger of Light_ that saw our beaconupon the island on the fourth day after we had reached the spot where wehad landed from _The Waif_. The beautiful white vessel hove to outsidethe entrance to the little bay, a boat came ashore, and twenty minutesafter they had first sighted our signal we were on the way toWellington, New Zealand.
"And the 'Frisco boats call there," murmured Barbara, "Joy! Joy! Joy!"
The moon was whitening the sleeping Pacific when Edith and I stoodlooking over the taffrail as the _Messenger of Light_ swept on hercourse. From nearby came the voice of Professor Herndon relating hisexperiences to a missionary who was returning from the Marquesas. A softisland melody was wafted from the fo'c'stle, and the night was alivewith all the witchery of the tropics.
"Edith," I whispered, as I took her hand, "I am a common sailorman, butif you could love me I--I--"
I stopped in confusion, and as she had done on a former occasion, shecame to the rescue of my stammering tongue.
"You are a big, true man," she murmured. "If you had not come with us weshould not have returned from that awful place. God let you listen tothat song of the White Waterfall so that we might be saved."
Some minutes afterward she released herself from my arms. "Let us findWill and Barbara," she said softly. "We will share each other'shappiness."
And as I followed her across the poop, a tremendous surge of joy rose upand filled my heart. The whole world was clean and good, and in myglorious exultation I whispered a prayer for the soul of John Leith,alias Black Fernando.
THE END
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