CHAPTER XXVII
A GIRL WHO LAUGHED
It was towards nightfall of the day on which d.i.c.kory had escaped from the pirates at the spring that he found himself on a piece of high ground in an open place in the forest, and here he determined to spend the night. With his dirk he cut a quant.i.ty of palmetto leaves and made himself a very comfortable bed, on which he was soon asleep, fearing no pirates.
In the morning he rose early from his green couch, ate the few biscuits which were left in his pockets, and, putting on his shoes and stockings, started forth upon, what might have been supposed to be, an aimless tramp.
But it was not aimless. d.i.c.kory had a most wholesome dread of that indomitable apostle of cruelty and wickedness, the pirate Blackbeard. He believed that it would be quite possible for that savage being to tie up his beard in tails, to blacken his face with powder, to hang more pistols from his belt and around his neck, and swear that the Revenge should never leave her anchorage until her first lieutenant had been captured and brought back to her. So he had an aim, and that was to get away as far as possible from the spot where he had landed on the island.
He did not believe that his pursuers, if there were any upon his track, could have travelled in the night, for it had been pitchy black; and, as he now had a good start of them, he thought he might go so far that they would give up the search. Then he hoped to be able to keep himself alive until he was reasonably sure that the Revenge had hoisted anchor and sailed away, when it was his purpose to make his way back to the spring and wait for some other vessel which would take him away.
With his shoes on he travelled more easily, although not so swiftly, and after an hour of very rough walking he heard a sound which made him stop instantly and listen. At first he thought it might be the wind in the trees, but soon his practised ear told him that it was the sound of the surf upon the beach. Without the slightest hesitation, he made his way as quickly as possible towards the sound of the sea.
In less than half an hour he found himself upon a stretch of sand which extended from the forest to the sea, and upon which the waves were throwing themselves in long, crested lines. With a cry of joy he ran out upon the beach, and with outstretched arms he welcomed the sea as if it had been an old and well-tried friend.
But d.i.c.kory"s grat.i.tude and joy had nothing to found itself upon. The sea might far better have been his enemy than his friend, for if he had thought about it, the sandy beach would have been the road by which a portion of the pirate"s men would have marched to cut off his flight, or they would have accomplished the same end in boats.
But d.i.c.kory thought of no enemy and his heart was cheered. He pressed on along the beach. The walking was so much better now that he made good progress, and the sun had not reached its zenith when he found himself on the sh.o.r.e of a small stream which came down from some higher land in the interior and here poured itself into the sea. He walked some distance by this stream, in order to get some water which might be free from brackishness, and then, with very little trouble, he crossed it.
Before him was a knoll of moderate height, and covered with low foliage.
Mounting this, he found that he had an extended view over the interior of the island. In the background there stretched a wide savanna, and at the distance of about half a mile he saw, very near a little cl.u.s.ter of trees, a thin column of smoke. His eyes rounded and he stared and stared. He now perceived, from behind the leaves, the end of a thatched roof.
"People!" d.i.c.kory exclaimed, and his heart beat fast with joy. Why his heart should be joyful he could not have told himself except that there was no earthly reason to believe that the persons who were making that fire near that thatched-roof house were pirates. To go to this house, whatever it might be, to take his chances there instead of remaining alone in the wide forest, was our young man"s instant determination. But before he started there was something else he thought of. He took off his coat, and with a bunch of leaves he brushed it. Then he arranged the plumes of his hat and brushed some mud from them, gave himself a general shake, and was ready to make a start. All this by a fugitive pursued by savage pirates on a desert island! But d.i.c.kory was a young man, and he wore the uniform of a naval officer.
After a brisk walk, which was somewhat longer than he had supposed it would be, d.i.c.kory reached the house behind the trees. At a short distance burned the fire whose smoke he had seen. Over the fire hung an iron pot. Oh, blessed pot! A gentle breeze blew from the fire towards d.i.c.kory, and from the heavenly odour which was borne upon it he knew that something good to eat was cooking in that pot.
A man came quickly from behind the house. He was tall, with a beard a little gray, and his scanty attire was of the most nondescript fashion.
With amazement upon his face, he spoke to d.i.c.kory in English.
"What, sir," he cried, "has a man-of-war touched at this island?"
d.i.c.kory could not help smiling, for the man"s countenance told him how he had been utterly astounded, and even stupefied, by the sight of a gentleman in naval uniform in the interior of that island, an almost desert region.
"No man-of-war has touched here," said d.i.c.kory, "and I don"t belong to one. I wear these clothes because I am compelled to do so, having no others. Yesterday afternoon I escaped from some pirates who stopped for water, and since leaving them I have made my way to this spot."
The man stepped forth quickly and stretched out his hand.
"Bless you! Bless you!" he cried. "You are the first human being, other than my family, that I have seen for two years."
A little girl now came from behind the house, and when her eyes fell upon d.i.c.kory and his c.o.c.ked hat she screamed with terror and ran indoors. A woman appeared at the door, evidently the man"s wife. She had a pleasant face, but her clothes riveted d.i.c.kory"s attention. It would be impossible to describe them even if one were gazing upon them. It will be enough to say that they covered her. Her amazement more than equalled that of her husband; she stood and stared, but could not speak.
"From the spring at the end of the island," cried the man, "to this house since yesterday afternoon! I have always supposed that no one could get here from the spring by land. I call that way impa.s.sable. You are safe here, sir, I am sure. Pirates would not follow very far through those forests and mora.s.ses; they would be afraid they would never get back to their ship. But I will find out for certain if you have reason, sir, to fear pursuit by boat or otherwise."
And then, stepping around to the other end of the house, he called, "Lucilla!"
"You are hungry, sir," said the woman; "presently you shall share our meal, which is almost cooked."
Now the man returned.
"This is not a time for questions, sir," he said, "either from you or from us. You must eat and you must rest, then we can talk. We shall not any of us apologize for our appearance, and you will not expect it when you have heard our story. But I can a.s.sure you, sir, that we do not look nearly so strange to you as you appear to us. Never before, sir, did I see in this climate, and on sh.o.r.e, a man attired in such fashion."
d.i.c.kory smiled. "I will tell you the tale of it," he said, "when we have eaten; I admit that I am famished."
The man was now called away, and when he returned he said to d.i.c.kory: "Fear nothing, sir; your ship is no longer at the anchorage by the spring. She has sailed away, wisely concluding, I suppose, that pursuit of you would be folly, and even madness."
The dinner was an exceedingly plain one, spread upon a rude table under a tree. The little girl, who had overcome her fear of "the soldier" as she considered him, made one of the party.
During the meal d.i.c.kory briefly told his story, confining it to a mere statement of his escape from the pirates.
"Blackbeard!" exclaimed the man. "Truly you did well to get away from him, no matter into what forests you plunged or upon what desert island you lost yourself. At any moment he might have turned upon you and cut you to pieces to amuse himself. I have heard the most horrible stories of Blackbeard."
"He treated me very well," said d.i.c.kory, "but I know from his own words that he reserved me for a most horrible fate."
"What!" exclaimed the man, "and he told you? He is indeed a demon!"
"Yes," said d.i.c.kory, "he said over and over again that he was going to take me to England to marry me to his daughter."
At this the wife could not refrain from a smile. "Matrimony is not generally considered a horrible fate," said she; "perhaps his daughter may be a most comely and estimable young person. Girls do not always resemble their fathers."
"Do not mention it," exclaimed d.i.c.kory, with a shudder; "that was one reason that I ran away; I preferred any danger from man or beast to that he was taking me to."
"He is engaged to be married," thought the woman; "it is easy enough to see that."
"Now tell me your story, I pray you," said d.i.c.kory. "But first, I would like very much to know how you found out that Blackbeard"s ship was not at her anchorage?"
"That"s a simple thing," said the man. "Of course you did not observe, for you could not, that from its eastern point where lies the spring, this island stretches in a long curve to the south, reaching northward again about this spot. Consequently, there is a little bay to the east of us, across which we can see the anchoring ground of such ships as may stop here for water. Your way around the land curve of the island was a long one, but the distance straight across the bay is but a few miles.
Upon a hill not far from here there is a very tall tree, which overtops all the other trees, and to the upper branches of this tree my daughter, who is a great climber, frequently ascends with a small gla.s.s, and is thus able to report if there is a vessel at the anchorage."
"What!" exclaimed d.i.c.kory, "that little girl?"
"Oh, no!" said the man; "it is my other daughter, who is a grown young woman."
"She is not here now," said the mother. And this piece of unnecessary information was given in tones which might indicate that the young lady had stepped around to visit a neighbour.
"It is important," said the man, "that I should know if vessels have anch.o.r.ed here, for if they be merchantmen I sometimes do business with them."
"Business!" said d.i.c.kory. "That sounds extremely odd. Pray tell me how you came to be here."
"My name is Mander," said the other, "and about two years ago I was on my way from England to Barbadoes, where, with my wife and two girls, I expected to settle. We were captured by a pirate ship and marooned upon this island. I will say, to the pirate captain"s credit, that he was a good sort of man considering his profession. He sailed across the bay on purpose to find a suitable place to land us, and he left with us some necessary articles, such as axes and tools, kitchen utensils, and a gun with some ammunition. Then he sailed away, leaving us here, and here we have since lived. Under the circ.u.mstances, we have no right to complain, for had we been taken by an ordinary pirate it is likely that our bones would now be lying at the bottom of the ocean.
"Here I have worked hard and have made myself a home, such as it is.
There are wild cattle upon the distant savannas, and I trap game and birds, cultivate the soil to a certain extent, and if we had clothes I might say we would be in better circ.u.mstances than many a respectable family in England. Sometimes when a merchantman anchors here and I have hides or anything else which we can barter for things we need, I row over the bay in a canoe which I have made, and have thus very much bettered our condition. But in no case have I been able to provide my family with suitable clothes."
"Why did you not get some of these merchant ships to carry you away?"
asked d.i.c.kory.
The man shook his head. "There is no place," he said sadly, "to which I can in reason ask a ship to carry me and my family. We have no money, no property whatever. In any other place I would be far poorer than I am here. My children are not uneducated; my wife and I have done our best for them in that respect, and we have some books with us. So, as you see, it would be rash in me to leave a home which, rude as it is, shelters and supports my family, to go as paupers and strangers to some other land."