COMPLETE TALES

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 12, 14 January 1905, Page 13

COMPLETE TALES

BY LOUIS BECKE. Author of "Rodman the Boat-Stecrer,"' Etc,

The Montiara, barque, of Sydney, from »v Now Hebrides i" Samoa, with a cargo f •]„■>- liihoui was lyiiur breulmed upon oi "j,,:'.' -■':';'-- with the pitch bubbling up .UirL *r*™>. Ten miles away . | .., vl .. i ;i (!i [he verdured slopes of I-,, 'inland---Fiiiuna mkl Aloii—which, 1 lioiir iwiiTi , had rlinn* , :i vivid and ell!hlntim! i-Tifii. « ,,r «' "" w '-hanging to a ""^V,'!,' ■ "b'lU tiri.,-k, Jo'un Maudaley. lh ; duet mau-. mm- »!• on deck from the m a.v hold. and. walkiiij! .luickly alt, joinI the iMPlein oil ill!' [looii. l-ackenhani." In- warily, us he ■ iv hi- broad i-traw hai ;iml lannt'd race. "thiTP's another poor devil jurt oul --"' : " of the ,nta boy- Thirteen in twenty-one uays! j u -|\.<- %vc ? .H :i It.•.■/.<■ MlM.n they'll toiiD to die like rotten sheep. Look here. let of =ay thirty up on deck at once. It will at ~" vr :hc reat • uon,c more

W The -, n,rn ,onkod into f ' aHi oth <* r ' p tor a few moments in i-ilence, then ftu-kpnhii'ii -pi'kc. .., t - s terribly risky. Maiidsley. There .Tpoiriy men in thr -hip besides yot :ui! 1. and il would simply be Urn* Tjmia il,,d IVnt « ww «' T, ' !] fSTo oat oar throats iU idt-..k C thp ship. fvhal chunce should we havo. uW man. evrn only < d"ZMi ot < liPnl lf thn y Jacw our weakness? Can't you pet the tekmentx.-'onie upondeck?-' ••Tfo They are sulky and savage, and Bwoid rath<-r die down there with suffoeatjon There are now quit* half-a-dozen of them sickening. Tried to fret one foiicw np on his feet to bring him on deck. Igft his eonntrymei looked so threatenmc tiat 1 had to desist." '- vnv of the Tan3O and Pentecost boys

■•>,"o- it wffild be a deireed good thing fo r v? ii *' h< f wcrr ' rhe 7 Jrr thp cron-d who are ben'on misdhiff. So far. only the Bank*' plunders have been attacked, r ,mi they arethe 1.-asi dangerous nf the lot. Eomethinjr tiust he done. Packenbam. AlWK UktusJii measles was a baby s enmoteint, didi't you: 1 say. old man. look Mt for tb deck for a hi) and send for tome cofl'fJ. I've £TOl a bit of a twister erarin" on Oh. this is a. lovely trip! All hands bt> fi w down with fever, measles Gmonsr p : car?o - —the greater portion of whic) is only -.railing its rhanco to rut our th-fi&ts ; and a beastly, furious r-alm 1.0 boobring -ume eoffpp. quick." a.« Mautbley. with cbattpeth and >haking limbs, crawled U p Vtwenn tht upended wings of the skyIjgl,. :ind drawing his knees t< 1 his ch"-r., on his sick-, whilst the captain covered iiin , . with rugs and blanks until tli« ngup fii was pxn and the ipe-rarking agoniej. oi i iio lever l>eg-an. The steward brought the coffee, and' imdsicy raisi-J himself on his elbow, and iugln iigbt oi the captain standing over

"Hang you, L'arki-nJucu. what (he ilevil you doing li'Ti-':' , lie chattered, irt (querulous, irritable tune--: "I'm all right. You £0 and get that "Ivicen de--k ladder Dp —if the Diggers men at< > make a ru.-h. one man with a guv won't -top Vni. Take v look. bciuvN ui-t. viii! .-t:c v>hat they're icing. It i: w:i-Ti't murder to do .-o in arch wpathoi-. I'd dap liie hatnii'.-e! rm."

The skipper of uhe Montitira was well 3iC(i t>) hi.- inaie'- language, lor 11n* two Tren were old and tried comrades; and in all matter- concerning natives. I'ackentram gave way to his subordinate; far Maadsley was not only his chief offitcr. bat "reaTiiter" as well, and no m.in ■sho ever sailed the T'acifie had more ntrve aad a grpaler knowledge of native eustoin and character, nor had displayed it so often in the face of the deadliest danger.

Packenbam -wuLked alcng to the main fieck and looked the hatchway, bat toe fast rlarknes»-prevent-isd him from discerning more than the lecunrbera figures of his "cargo." with here- and there the gleam of a surrpptibons pipo or a eiga.ret,;c of neproh-ead ttftacco rolled in a dried bajvana leivi. A Sailor, armed with a revolver ;md cutlass. Was padrg to and fru ;icto.-;h Ihc fcr'ani r.nd o ! the batch"Warj", u,nd preKnrtJy Packejthani motiouwl him to haul ■fcp the lighL ladder. This was done wilhOTit noise: and then the c-apta.in to the dwk-honse, a*id. putXing his iwad in. at the door, addressed thf. oc«ipaiits (six A.B.s) which it contained.

■"TTrre. l <»ay, you fellow*, can't you skate off a brt. of fever? Why. t-ltere's the-mate. who is ntir;* l,Uan any of you, mid whose Wcib are going likr a <\attongin at fall sperd. damping a, jig on the Poop to irJmsflL <'o.me, buck tip, my Lute/" ,

Tnr boefenrorn. a. taJl, sniVnv-faced Akwri crawkxl slowly out cf 4us ban-k.

"Pro filing , a brt more lit. sir. T can fete tie whf-ci. if a l.n-py.r- enrn-s. if 1 ■carrt do anything else." Thatv; right. Bill. Here, strike a %ht first, and let rne. look *t you felK>ws. MtPTWETd looking after yon all cgbt. ehf 5

te:-;, sir." __j_swered one of t.he men "**th a jp-oan, "we has got all we wants, *"": but v_e doesn't like bcin' here 4 by wnaelvcs. Tommy Samoa there"— pomtins to a native aea.nxaji Ivmg on the .ranking of the deck honse. "rolled in a m_t—«aays that if tho.se Tarma men "Wke a rush, ill of us chaps will have our throats arttrd. and we"]] b- blue shares' "f 4 aforf> 'vc kno wed where we was." -Inst, what Maudfdey said." muttered ■ -lekenltam to himself, then he added MTOd. -You needn't be srrared ; tlie tattchway ladder is hauled up. and " w s a man on the lookout, not ten away. Have you your arms by yon?" J J " v <**. sir." Well. what, the blazes are you maksong abnnt? You stand" a better a good, strong dook-bouse than «o the rest of us." ■J* 1 ™ Wising tl_» lamp he surveyed the Pfa-ce. es-imined tlie men's ca_biiies and Md tb< * n wenL " n his usuat -"i&niy round along, the dock of ihe di--««e-snntten ship. Ten minutes later Jwjwmed Maud„ley. wbo was now sit™B up, clad only in lus pyjama trou--ra and present; Lis throbbing head Xc 7 eh n , h hii a= 1l1 " fe> ' er ran i , ~,o u£ n his hoiling veins. aci:!" he began excitedly, "there's an „ aa air "■' aJoft - Look over lho «" and youT] see we're moving. Does stir, H_trry?" * Wnl^aj 1 DOt yet '" answered the looked aloft, and then ***** tfffc Mftndale y j a __

FAVOURITE I

coming sure enough, and a breeze means everything to us; we can run into Sinpavi Bay on Fofcuraa. One of the two French priests there is a doctor, and we can put, the sick people ashore at aaiy rate." -Mnudsh-v gave an irritated laugh. "Don't be a fool. I know you're not a brute; but why the deuce don't you think of what you're saying? There's a thousand natives on Fotuna, and it would bo a-low-down dirty thing for us to do lo dump these measly brutes of our-; among them. W we did, the jdiajiccs are that there wouldn't be another imtive left alive on the island in j, muntli. Now. this is ray idea; if we can gvi up imd'T the lee of Alofi, we can aix-hor. There is no one living there— at least that F know of-—as the island i.-s only used by the Fotuna people tor their yam plantations, and they seldom go there. There's grind holding ground under the west point—ten miles away from Votuna." ] Pa<?kerihnni nodrled. "1 mv; nro a.head." "Well, as soon as we get there, Ist us land the whole lot-—Tanna boys. Pr-n----tfcost boys, and the Banks Islanders. Plenty of cocoa nuts, yams, and tarn, and. above all, a- tine stream of running water. They'll bo as right as rain there; and then while you find the I hands disinfert the hold and the rest jof the ship, I'll start off for Singavi in the boat with a couple of hands and see if the French priest—the medicine-man f'-110-w —will come, back with mc. By Heaven, Pack, he'll have to come. We mustn't let these poor fellows die like rotten And I daresay he can give us some quinine "for the hands; the last was used, yesterday."

"Lox>k here. Maudsley; you give the word, and I'll do whatever you say must be done. Hurrah! here's the breeze now, a.nd no mistake—but nearly dead ahnad.'"

"Never mind that," said Maudsley, languidly: ""we can't pirk up the anfhorage to-nipht. but we'll be near rnonph ;it daylight. Try and fix that wLtisail, Pack, s<j that some of this cool breeze goes down into the hold."

I'ackenham, with the three seamen who were able to work, and th-e steward, set to and trimmed the sails, and under the bright light of myriad stars the little barque glided over the silent sea.

An hour before the dawn, Maudsley, who was feeling better, had taken thp whoel, whilst Paekpnham and the other? were ranging the cable ready for an HiorLug. Th« clang and thump of the heavy irrju links as they fell on deck seemed to put new life into the crew, and even those who were lying sick in the house, came out into the cooling morniriLr air. and with weakened anns and trembling knees helped to flake Unchain along, ship-shape. • hit;: .is they had finished, and a? the first yellow lights of the ris-in«j sun were i!:s;x-ning the thick mists of Srho-riTon Mountains on Fo'.una Island, the stewiird eanic r-oftlv up to Maudsley and touched his arru. "The scrorJ matp is dead, sir." '■Maudsk-y'K hands gripped the spokes of the wheel tightly, and then lie ran his <■ y-e aloft before he answerod. "Was he conscious, steward?""Yes, sir. he wns—ju-st at the last, lie arst fur you, sir: an , when I told 'im that you was at the wheel, an' the skipper an' Ihc rest of the hands were gettin' ready for anehorin'. ho. say to mc, 'Don't call the mate, steward, but tell ; im as there's a letter under my pi Her for some one as he's a-heard mc j. speak in' of.' An' without another word, sir, he turns on his side, an' dies nice and qmet."'

"AU right, steward. "Go below and get mo a stilT glass of brandy. Ajid look, while 1 think of it, put that letter of Mr Button's in the captain's cabin. liurrv up now, Trm Jittle Cockney svvLib, and bring mc that brandy—l want it." The steward disappeared without a wonl, and soon came on <leek again wiili litilf ft tumblerful of liquor. The. chief mate, his hand now quite steady, took the phis-;. "Thank you. steward. You're no Goekrrey .swab, but a good little chap. TltereVi a t/wenty dollar gold piece in the (op after-drawer of my locker — that's for you. You see I've got the fever pretty b.id this thnc. and as like as not I'll slip my cable—you know what that mfans, my Bor-ough Roaxl fried-freh eating friend, don't, you, though yiiifn- uo sailor man? .Sometimes it moans Joeing to hell .suddenly, instead of having a parson to 'ready' you up for it. though :n like as not, he'll tell you fba' you'll appear as white. ;is snow before. Ibe Throne. Clear nut, hang you! What the devil Luv you staring «(,'.' The skipper will ■vra.nl his coffee presently."

'1 ho Reward, an under-sized, foontshouldered old man. placed bis hand on t,he edge of the skylight, and looked int.o Maudslrv's fare.

"You're wry ill, sir. T can see thatCan't 1 call one of the hiinis, sir, to take the wJ>pel?"

"No. you e-an't. <3o below and get that Twenty-dollar pierr> and stow it away—and slap a .rtopper on your jawtackle, you silly old fool!" . Presently Packenham came aft, and tfluod bretide him. ■'We're all ready fo'ard, Maudy." '"Kigtii you are. Pa«k. WeUl go about presently; another half hour will briirg us close enough, I think, though 1 can't see where we arc. very well as yet. Take a cast of the J-cad, wilJ you. old man, us soon :is we arc in stays'! 011, God! Look there!" and he sprang down off to the main hatch and tried, to beat ba<rk tlic upward rush" of threescore or more of naked savages with his clenched ■fists. (

Packenham and the three seamen ran' j to hit i!id: and then began a deadly struggle--the white men trying to hurl buck ilir «ivap;i's into the hold in.jtpad ol using their revolvers. But in Jess than ten seconds one of the sailors was thrown down upon hi.-i back" and his brains dashed out with a tomahawk; 1 hen, And not till then, was a shot fired. I'nekcnhum was the first to bring his piiitol inio play, and none too aoon, for a huge lanna man had seized him by the beard with I)is left hand, and in another moment would have driven a knife into his heart. The sharp crack of the heavy Colt was followed by another and ano- , ther, and each time a native went down; j then came the loud reports of the sea- I men's caTbmes, and the lust of slanghte ■

Uopvnghfc Story.) MAUDSLETS LAST CRUISE.

had seized upon them all, a?, Hinging asidd their lirearms, they drew their heavy cutlasses, and slashed and cut and stabbed the naked ligures vi the now maddened islanders. L'p to this time not more than thirty had succeeded in actually gaining the deck by means of the ladder they had so cunningly made and placed in position; and "i these eight or ten were lying either dead or dying, as many more had been hurled below, and the rest, when they saw Packenham cut down two of their number, and the boatswain smash the skull of a third with the butt of his carbine, turned and fled for'ard. Souk , of them ran the fore-rigging , and these were picked oil" one by one by Tommy Samoa and the other seamen, when Maudsley struck their weapons from their hands, and fiercely bade them cease sueli useless slaughter.

"On with the hatches." he said, ingly, as he stooped over the combings, and pulled up the ladder the natives had placed in position—a mere bamboo polo, witn half a dozen cross-pioces L-.shed to it with cinnet—"on with the ha'.ehes, men. They'll give in now, but we must lake no further risks, and there, must be no more of this bloody work.' .

As the hatches were being put on, Maudsley leant over and looked at the savages below. They had all gathered as far aft as possible, believing that the whice men, now daylight had come, would open fire on them.

Maudsley bade them to remain quiet; their lives would be spared, he said, if they obeyed him. Then he called to those of their number who were aloft, and told them to come down and go below. They stared at him sullenly and refused.

"Then stay there, you brutes," he sajd with a curse; '"they can't hurt us, Packenham, up there. Now let us get to anchor."

A cut from a tomahawk had laid open his cheek, and Packenham, who himself had a knife-thrust through * the arm, quickly bound it up, and then Maudsley again went aft to the whoel and brought thf barque to an anchor under a high wooded bluff on the western point of Alifi Island, and in water as calm as that of a mountain lake. The bodies of the dead natives were then thrown overboard, and that of the white sailor carried aft and laid beside the second mate's cabin.

Then, when those of the crew who had been wounded had had t heir hurts attended to by the eaptaiu and steward, the ensanguined decks were washed down. coiTce and biscuits were served out., and went for'ard, and again urged the Tauna men who were aloft to come down. "If we are to die, we can die here,"' was their sullen answer. The white man was losing patience, the wound on his lace made him feel sick and faint, end a sudden spasm of ague shook his frame. lie took his pistol from his belt.

i promise you that no harm shall be done to you if you come down quickly, and go into the hold with your countrymen. Have I ever lied to you?"

"No," replied the oldest man of the four —a wild-eyed, vicious-faced brute, with his hair twisted into counties? tiny • •urls. which hung in a greasy tangle down h'.s neck and cheeks.

•'Then do as I bid you. or I shall kill you from where I ptand—quick!" and he raised his right hand.

Slowly and suspiciously they descended, still grasping their blood-stained knives and tomahawks. As they reached the deck, they stopped and glared about them with the ferocity and fear of hunted boars.

"Keep back there, men." said Maudslev to the crew, who were standing near the mainhatch, "they'll want a bit of coaxing. Hang a line over the fro'ard end of the hatch so that they can get down." Then putting his revolver back into his pouch, he unbuckled the belt and laid it down on the windlass.

'"Now, come with mc, men of Tanna," he said quietly, 'no one shall hurt you. See, T hold no weapon in niv hand, and the rest of the white men. too, have laid down their guns.'" Beckoning to them to follow, he walked to the hatchway, then turned and f;w,ed them.

"Now listen. Take hold of rope and go down one by one. And tell your countrymen and the men of Pentecost, lhat if they sit down quietly until the sun Li high in the sky, they shnll have food ami water given t hem. Then when all the badness is out of their mind-, they shall come on deck, ten at a lime, and the smell of blood will no longer Ijo in our nostrils. But before food and water is given, every tomahawk, and every club must lx» brought on deck to mc by two men. Now give mc thesr," and he reached his hands out for the weapons they themselves carried.

Two heAVT butc-lier knives, and one tomahawk were, after a little hesitation, given up. and were at once thrown over 7hc side, and the three disarmed savages went below; the fourth man— he with the greasy curls—still clutched his tomahawk tightly. "Come, be quick." said Maudsley. "give it to mc." ''Take it, white men!" and the native, swinging the keen-edged weapon swiftly above his head, struck it deep into the officers side, and with a yell of triumph ho sprang over the side and swam for the ?hore —only to throw up bis arms and sink, as Packenham sent a bullet through his head before he was twenty yards away from the ship.

"I'm done for. Packenham, old man. . No, don't carry nip aft, time's too short. There's a letter for poor Belton's girl. Pack, which you must give to her. Tell her she must forgive mc for tempting him to ship on this cruise—my last cruise, old man." Very gently they lifted and carried him aft. and quickly rigged an awning, for the sun was blaming hot and fiercely ■upon the vessel's decks. Then Paekenham. with the quick-falling tears coursing down his bronzed and bearded face, knelt beside the dying man and took his hand. Maudsley opened his eyes and smiled at hie captain and gave a faint answering pressure. "Don't you worry, old fellow. Somehow 1 don't much care. But it wa-s hard for poor Belton to die —-he was a bright young shaver, and a gentleman. I've got my gruel this time, and I'm not going to make a song over it. I'm no lose to any one." Then in slow, laboured words he told Packenham what should be done. Th«

sick natives should be put ashore as soon as possible: the rest disarmed and kept confined till aid could be obtained from the white traders in Fotuna, who would find him native sailors to j help to sail the barque to Samoa. No- j thing escaped hhn, nothing was forgot- j ten in his seaman's mind that bore j upon the ship and her safety. ; "How does she lie, old man?" he j asked presently. 'Snug as possible, Jack," answered the captain brokenly. "Plenty of room to swing if the wind | comes from the westward?" ■ j "Plenty, Jack, old man, I've sent the j boat to Singavi for the French priest- | She should be back by noon." Maudsley shook his head. "I don't want any* doctoring, Pack. That buck j sent it home properly." Suddenly, by j a mighty effort he half raised himself, i '"'Steward, boatswain, come here; I ; want you fellows to witness that T have | said that all money coming to mc for | this cruise is to be paid 1o Captain , Paekenham." Then he sank back again. . and motioned to the captain to come , driver. ! "Jack," he whispered, "send it all to , Bplton's girl." Paekenham bent liis head, and then : Maudslpy, flip liecrnitei , , gave a long, | heavy and closed his eyes—his lust I cruise was ended.