"That is a secret, Mr Rayner," he replied, "which I must not divulge, even to you; but you would not doubt my word, I am sure. That must be sufficient for the present; and I must request you not to make the matter a subject of conversation among your messmates. They would not enter into my feelings as you do."
I found, however, that Mr Yallop had been equally confidential to Tommy Peck, though he had not ventured to talk of his hopes either to Mudge or Stanford. Tom and I, on comparing notes, came to the conclusion that the boatswain was under a hallucination; though, as it was a very harmless one, and afforded him intense satisfaction without in any way interfering with his duty, we agreed that it was as well to let him enjoy it. He was, indeed, a first-rate seaman and an excellent boatswain, though he handled the rope"s end pretty freely when any of the ship"s boys or ordinary seamen neglected their duty. He was a broadly built man, with enormous black whiskers; and no one would have supposed that he possessed a single grain of romance in his composition.
He had an eagle eye, and a sun-burned, weather-beaten countenance; but I believe he had as tender a heart as any man in the ship.
Nothing of importance occurred till we sighted the island against which we had so nearly run. Standing in with the lead going, we found good anchorage in a wide bay, protected by a high point of land on one side and a reef on the other. The captain wishing to survey the island, and the weather being fine, he ordered his gig to be manned, and, much to my satisfaction, told me to be ready to accompany him. We took a supply of provisions for the day, as we did not expect to be back till late in the evening.
While the first lieutenant and master were surveying the bay in which the ship lay, and the coast in its immediate neighbourhood, we pulled round to the opposite side of the island. We had as yet seen no natives, but as cocoa-nut trees were visible on sh.o.r.e, we concluded that some parts of it were inhabited. The centre was of considerable height, and was evidently of volcanic origin, the highest point being apparently a volcano, though no smoke or fire was seen proceeding from it.
We had been pulling on for three or four hours, keeping at some distance from the sh.o.r.e, to avoid the reefs which ran off it, as the captain wished to make the whole circuit during the day, when, just as we had doubled the point, we saw right ahead, some way from the sh.o.r.e, a small canoe with a flag flying at her bow. The commander ordered the men to give way, fearing that the natives in the canoe, when they saw us, would attempt to escape, and he specially wished to gain information from them. (Tamaku, I should have said, formed one of the crew, having been taken to act as interpreter.) There appeared to be no one on board the canoe, which was at anchor; but as we drew nearer we saw the head of a person rise up above the gunwale, when, as it seemed, he for the first time caught sight of us. He gazed towards the gig with astonishment, though without uttering any cry of alarm.
"He has an unusually white skin for a native," observed the captain; "indeed, he must be, I am sure, a European."
The boy, for his features showed that he was very young, took something from the bottom of the canoe, as we drew near, and kneeling down in the bow in a suppliant manner, held out his hand towards us. The commander, anxious not to alarm him, ordered the gig to pull round and back in quietly astern, while, standing up, he leaned forward to examine what the boy had got in his hand. Just at that moment another head rose above the gunwale of the canoe from the outside; but that was black as jet; and what should I see but d.i.c.ky Popo"s astonished countenance, his ivory teeth gleaming whitely as his mouth distended from ear to ear.
"Oh, ky! cappen--and you, Ma.s.sa Rayner--where you come from?" he exclaimed, as he rested on his elbows before getting into the canoe.
So interested was the captain in the appearance of the white boy,--more even than in the number of beautiful pearls he held in his hand,--that he scarcely recognised Popo.
"Who are you, and where do you come from?" asked the commander.
The lad only shook his head, as if he did not understand his question-- still keeping his hand extended, with the pearls in it.
"He no speakee English," said Popo, who had just scrambled into the canoe.
"Why, d.i.c.ky Popo," cried the commander, "you here, my boy!"
I could not resist shaking Popo by the hand, so delighted was I to see him.
"Yes, ma.s.sa cappen; me no drownee," he answered.
"That"s very evident," said the commander; "and I shall be glad to know how you escaped. But first I want you to set the mind of this poor lad at rest, as he seems in a great fright. Tell him we are friends, and will do him no harm, for he does not understand what I say to him."
Popo, more by signs than words, quickly succeeded in tranquillising the lad.
"Who is he?" asked the commander, "for his skin is as white as ours; and I cannot suppose that he is a native."
"He not say who he is," answered Popo; "but by-and-by perhaps talkee more."
"Well, we must wait patiently," said the commander. "Ask him if he has any objection to accompany us; and if he is ready to come we will take you and him into the gig, while we tow the canoe astern." After a few more signs and incomprehensible words had pa.s.sed between Popo and the white boy, they both stepped into the gig; the latter still holding the pearls in his hand, which, as soon as he was seated, he again offered to the commander, who this time received them, and after examining them put them into his pocket. The canoe was then made fast to the gig astern, and we continued our course round the island.
The commander was engaged in noting its headlands and bays and other features, and could not give his attention to the lad; but I lost no time in trying to learn from Popo how he had escaped,--also drawing from him anything he knew about the white boy. On the first point he quickly enlightened me.
On falling overboard, he had caught sight of the life-buoy which Peck had providentially let go; and being a good swimmer, he had reached it, and climbing up, had made himself fast to it. With a feeling of dismay he saw the ship sailing on, but he did not gave way to despair, as after some time he discovered that the life-buoy was drifting towards the land. Still, he knew that, should it be driven among the breakers, he should in all probability be dashed to pieces on the rocks. However, as he told me, he hoped for the best, and clung on, finding himself getting nearer and nearer the sh.o.r.e.
When morning broke, he found that he was not more than a few cable-lengths from the beach. As the light increased he looked out anxiously, and, much to his satisfaction, saw that he was drifting towards a sandy bay. He cast off the lashings which had hitherto secured him, that he might swim on sh.o.r.e, knowing that the life-buoy would in all probability be rolled over and over.
It now advanced but little; and he was on the point of parting from it and beginning to swim, when he saw several natives come down to the beach, and among them a white lad. The former stood gazing at him, apparently indifferent to the rude breakers; the lad, however, directly afterwards began to launch a small canoe which lay on the beach, and jumping into it and actively working the paddle, made his way through the breakers towards him. Popo being quite sure that he came as a friend, left the life-buoy as soon as he drew near, and with a few strokes reached the bow of the canoe, over which he soon scrambled; when the boy at once paddled back to the beach, carrying him safely through the breakers. The savages, who were as brown as those he had before seen, gathered round him and examined his skin with much curiosity, supposing, he observed, that he had got on a black coat. They then made him and the white boy stand together, grinning at the contrast which their colours presented, and evidently satisfied that they themselves were the just medium.
Popo, who was very hungry, now made signs that he wanted something to eat. His new friend, hastening away, quickly returned from a hut at no great distance with some food, which the brown savages did not prevent his giving him. Popo soon found, however, that although his life was to be spared he was to be treated as a slave, as the white boy appeared to be.
After remaining on the beach a short time, the savages led him to their village, which consisted of a number of low huts. The women had been preparing their morning meal, after which some of the men went out to kill birds, while others occupied themselves in a taro plantation on some level ground to the rear of their village. Popo, meantime, who could scarcely keep his eyes open, was conducted by his white friend to a hut, where the latter spread a mat for him, and made signs that he might lie down. Scarcely had he done so when he fell fast asleep.
The next day, the weather being finer, many of the men went off in their canoes; Popo and the white boy being taken out in that of the chief.
Popo found that they were engaged in diving for pearl-oysters. The white lad appeared to be among the best of their divers. He fearlessly plunged overboard with a net and a small axe--the net being attached to the boat by a line; and when his net was hauled up it was invariably full of oysters. The chief made signs to Popo that he must do the same.
Though he was a good swimmer, he had never been accustomed to diving; but the white boy showed him how he could accomplish the feat, and after some practice he was able to go down, and succeeded almost as well as his companion.
Since he had been there, three vessels had come and purchased all the pearls which had been collected, when he and the white boy had been carried off some way from the sh.o.r.e, so that they might not communicate with the crews. After each visit paid by the pearl-traders, all the men in the village had become excessively tipsy; and on the first two occasions they, fearing that they might be ill-treated, had run off and hidden themselves, though they did not escape punishment. Popo had begun to learn his companion"s language; which he spoke, however, in a way very different from the natives. They were thus able to communicate with each other.
Only the day before our arrival another trader had gone away, and at the present time every man in the village was drunk. As the old chief had on previous occasions beaten them, when he came to himself, for not having some pearls ready for him, they had come off in the canoe by themselves, and were engaged in fishing,--for so it may be called,--when we found them.
Such is an outline of the account Popo gave me.
All the time I was talking to Popo, the lad had his eyes fixed intently on me, as if he was endeavouring to understand what we were saying.
"And you, Popo," I asked; "are you glad to escape from the savages?"
"Yes, ma.s.sa; dat I am," answered Popo.
"And do you think your companion is the same?" I added, looking towards him.
"Yes, yes," said the white boy, looking up at me.
"Why, you must be English; you have thoroughly understood what I said,"
I exclaimed.
"Me tink so too," observed Popo.
The commander, who had been listening to what we had been saying, now called Tamaku aft, and desired him to try if he could understand the white boy, who after he had last spoken seemed abashed, and could not be got to utter a word. Tamaku at once began to ask him questions, which he answered with apparent readiness in the same language, differing but slightly in sound.
"Can you make out how he came to be among the natives?" asked the commander, when Tamaku and the boy had ceased speaking.
"He not know much," answered the Kanaka; "long time wid dem--say dey find him in a boat at sea, and bring him here and make him slavey."
"Try and find out his name," said the commander; "whether it is Tom or d.i.c.k, or Jack or Harry."
Scarcely had he uttered the last word when the boy exclaimed, "Harry!
Harry! dat my name," and seemed almost overcome by hearing it uttered.
"Well, Harry, my boy, can"t you talk a little more English? Since you remember your name, tell us something about your father and mother, or any of your other friends," continued the commander.
"Father--mother," repeated the boy, with a look of pleasure, as if they were words once familiar to his tongue.
"Well done, my boy," exclaimed the commander, pleased with the result of his experiment; "you"ll remember more words by-and-by, when you get on board. And we"ll not yet pay your drunken friends a visit to let them wish you good-bye."
It was difficult to say whether the boy understood him; but, at all events, the commander"s kind tone of voice gave him confidence, and he seemed contented and happy.
As we had only just time to get round the island, the commander did not put on sh.o.r.e anywhere; also, with so small a party, he thought it imprudent to go among the natives, who might prove hostile--especially if they found that he was carrying off their slaves. Popo and the white boy appeared well-pleased at this; and it was evident that the latter had no great affection for those among whom he had lived so long.
Frequently during the remainder of the day we heard the boy saying to himself, "Yes, yes--Harry--father--mother," as if pleased with the sound of those long-forgotten words. Then I was nearly certain that I heard him muttering to himself a verse of a child"s hymn; but the words were indistinct.