Lumi's Lagoon.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 231, 26 September 1908, Page 16

Lumi's Lagoon.

CHAPTER L * ON A WIDE. "WIDE SEA. I moved uneasily, and opened my eyes: then 1 think 1 must have lain st—f for a minute or two before 1 reme_ib—'edwhere i was. I had been staring at it. and yet for the moment 1 hadn't reeugm.-ed the deep vioiet-blue sky that sparkled overhead with a thousand stars. At 1 put out my hand. It touched tiie ?ide of the boat; then it all came back to mc at once, and I remembered. 1 was in the whaleboat with Bill, and there was nobody else there but ourselve-s. I moved, and sat up. I felt stiff from lying cramped up in the bottom 01" the boat, so lung, but that didn't matter much, and besides it was the third —ght now. and 1 was getting used to it. 1 looked round fur Bill, but there was no sign of him except a dark heap in the bottom of the boat, near the stern; he must be having a sleep at last. It was quite time too, for Bill had never closed his eyes since the Nan-cie-Beile ran on the reef and went down, and that was three nights before. Nobody but Bill could have stood it half so long: but then Bill wasn't like anybody else. He was by far the biggest and strongest man on board the Nancie-Belle, tor one tiling, and some of them were big and strong too. j Bill was second mate on board. The sailors didn't call him Bill, of course, : but the captain did, and since we had been together in the whaleboat he had told mc to call him so, too. 1 should never had been saved that night we were wrecked if it hadn't been for him, and I don't believe anybody else but Bill could have saved mc. My berth j was below, and when I awoke the water | was nearly up to the edge of the I bunk. 1 knew something was wrong in a moment, for 1 could hear voices shouting on deck; but what f Tightened ' mc most was the sound og the water ; rushing and gurgling all round mc in ■ the dark. 1 started up. and tried to , get out of the bunk, but as soon as my ! foot went over the side it went down ' and down, as if there was no bottom, : ' and 1 could feel the water rush past, j so that 1 had to draw it in again and ; shout for help. I thought 1 should ; never be heard in spite of all I could do. The shouts ou deck grew louder, till they sounded as if the sailors were ' getting into the boats; they had for- j; gotten mc. 1 felt desperate, but I began to put on my clothes while I was shouting, !'' trying all the time to hope that sonic- ! body would hear mc before it was quite too late. I had almost given up hoping, and was wondering whether mother t\ ould ever hear about it, when I heard a voice that seemed to come from somewhere near the main hatch—-"Is that you. below there, youngster? Can't ye get out V It was Bill's voice, and I thought '.' there might be just a chance yet—'"No," I I scjen mcd—"The water's ail round mc, ' and it's deep. It's coming into the berth. Oh, help mc, if 3-ou can.'' There was another shout in BIB' 3 great deep voice—"Hold hard there, mates. Here's that youngster below. Ye ca_t le_ve him behind." Next moment I heard the hatches being torn off, and then a faint light came in. The voice came down again— "Now then, youngster, shout again, so's 1 can make some sort of a landfall. I ain't a-sayin' but what it's dark, neither."" I shouted my hardest; then there was a splash, and in a second or two more a dark bead came up alongside my berth. "Well, I ain't a-sayin' but what this a pretty close shave for a beginner, neither; nor I won't say a-s ye're altogether out o' the wood yet; but what 1 says is, we'd best be movin' lively— an" don't you forget it." I couldn't a stroke, but Bill threw an arm round mc, and dragged mc out of the berth into the water. —[y head went under, and 1 thought I was drowning but before it got very bad I came up with a rush and I could see stars overhead. I hadn't done gasping when Bill lifted mc with one hand over his head and tumbled mc out on the deck. Next moment he had swung himself up too. '"Now, then, youngster,*" he shouted, € "you come along," as he dragged mc after him to the poop deck. Tien lie stopped. "Well, I'm. blowed,** he exclaimed in & deep, fierce voice—" "The confounded lubbers: if they ain't gone and left us. So_ay." "Oh. can't we get them to come back?" 1 exclaimed, feeling for the moment as if things were as bad as ever. Bill stood for a moment staring into the darkness; then he turned away — "No Sonny," he said, bitterly." better not. They won't hey no Inck —not a I hep'orth. You an' —teH be a heap safer without m Now Sonny, you | bear a hand an' look lively. I ain't | a-sayin' but what theer's time yet to get the wh_—boat afloat afore she goes d own. ** If it had been anybody but Bill we Ehould never have got it done. 1 helpexl all I co—.d_ but I was only a. boy on my first voyage, so I couldn't do much. I hadn't time to get frightened, though we had no time to spare, for the ship was getting lower in the water every minute. Bill made _c slide down the rope, and told mc to stand by to cast the boat loose the moment he gave the word. Then he brought a keg of water and some other things in a bag, and lowered them down, telling mc to stow them away while he got some more. He •hadn't been gone half a minute when the boat gave a lurch, as if somebody had : given a strong pull at the tow rope. I gave a strat, and looked up, and there j was the Nancy Belle going down. I gave j one shout, and the same moment I heard ! Bill's voice: "fast her off, youngster. Quick's the word now." j I let the rope go, and stood staring upwards iti despair. Where was Bill? I hadn't let go a moment too soon, for the brig seemed to plunge forward, leaving m- astern. Her ruder rose dripping close in front of mc, and then leaned away over from mc. It was only for a few seconds, and then it came back with a rush, and 1 thought the stern would strike the boat. I gave one yell of tcr- . ror, and next moment Bill leaped from the stern in to the boat. j He dropped what he had in his hand, and picked up the mast of the boat that j lay in the bottom with the sail rolled i round it. Then he gave her one tremendous shove off that, sent mc staggering into the bottom of the boat. Nothing less treatlendous than that shove could have say-ed us, for even as it was we rocked a_d plunged and spun round

By OWEN HALL. I 1

and round for two or three —'mites, so that I lay trembling where I had fallen, expecting every minute to capsize. That was three nights ago, and Bill had been steering with an oar every minute of the time since then. No wonder he had clewed up the sail and fallen asleep at last. There had been a breeze when I went to sleep, but it had fallen nearly calm, and as I listened almost unconsciously to the low whispering sob of the long swell I seemed to hear again, far off, the hollow wash of the sea on the reef, just as I heard it that night when Bill shook his fist at it as we left it behind. By this time I was sitting on the thwart, wondering whether 1 wasn't strong enough to take a turn with the steering oar while Bill was asleep. Then 1 went over again all that had happened, and wondered how long it would be before we fell in with some vessel, or perhaps reached land, and what it would be like if we did. I must have sat dreaming there for a good while, for when I raised my head at last and looked around I saw that it would be daylight soon. Far away at the edge of the sea there was a gleam of white light that began to throw streaks of misty grey up into the sk}-. and made the stars look dim. I knew it for the first of the dawn, and I was glad of it; but it wasn't that which made mc start to my feet with a cry. Not far away, at the very edge of the grey water, I had seen something. 1 stared at it in wonder, for it was the very last thing I had expected to see, but there was no mistake. It was a : tree. CHAPTER nL. : HOW WE REACHED THE ISLANDS. : Yes, it was a tree. 1 had sprung to my feet, and was staring with nil my might at the unexpected , sight when 1 heard Bill move. " Hallo, youngster." he growled, in his , usual deep voice, sitting up and looking round him over the dark sea, " what's the , bloomin' row? " " Look Bill 1 Look at that! " I exclaimed, pointing eagerly to the white line , of dawn on the horizon. Bill rose to his feet, and, resting a hand ; against the mast, swept the line of the horizon with a long, steady gaze. When he came to the tree he paused for a moment, and gave a low whistle; but he said nothing till he had searched the rest of the hali-circle with the same de- ■ liberate look. " So ye spotted it, did ye, sonny ? " he , said at last. " Well, I ain't a-sayin' but what yell make a fairish look-out one o' . them days, neither." " But it's a tree, isn't it, Bill?" '" To be sure, sonny, an' a coacy-nue at ' that, yo bet 3-er life." " But, Bill, they don't grow in the eea, do they ? " Bill laughed. "No youngster, I can't say—leastways, not far certain like — as ever 1 see trees a-growin' in thesea — specially coacy-nuts." And Bill laughed again. " Well, then, Bill," I persisted, sturdily, , " where's the land '>. " -__, that's talkin', now, that is? Tell 'cc what, sonny, you cast loose this 'ere canvas, and' it so be as a breeze comes along I ain't a-sayin' but what yell see that there coacy-nut closer afore sundown." I I lost no time in casting loose the sail, and Bill had only just got out the steering oar when we felt the first of the breeze. I sat in the bow and watched the sun rise slowly out of the sea, but 1 don't think my eyes ever wandered from the little speck, low down at the edge of the water, where the solitary plume of leaves stood 1 out against the sky, till it was swallowed up in a blaze of gold, so dazzling that I could face it no longer. The breeze wasn't strong, but it was steady. Hour after hour—it seemed to mc, as I watched it, that 1 might have said, minute by minute —that mysterious tree rose slowly, inch by inch, Irom the water, till at last something dark seemed to gather round it, and spread in an irregular grey line along the sea to the east. After a while 1 was able to make out land, with little hills and hollows, and trees that seemed to grow while I looked at them, till at last 1 felt sure it was an island. Bill was able to eat just as usual, but somehow the biscuits seemed to choke mc when I tried, and I didn't feel hungry. I was thirsty, though, and 1 was glad when Bill, in answer to my appeal for a second drink, said, with a laugh, " Fire away, youngster. 1 ain't a-sayin' but what it'll hold out now till we fetches coaky-nut point, and wheer there's coakynuts theer's always something to drink, ye may bet on that safe." We said hardly anything, but I sat and watched the island as we got nearer, wondering what we should find there. ; Would there be pirates, i almost hoped 1 there would, for that would be fun. i glanced at Bill, and I thought he was I bigger, and stronger, too, than any of the I pirates in the stories 1 had read. Peri haps 1 could help a little, too —boys some- ' times did in my stories. I wasn't very big, but 1 thought I might do something 1 don't know how many stories 1 made up i that day, and in every one of them Bill got the better of the pirates, and 1 helped him. Then 1 heard Bill call mc: " _ook-ee here, sonny,"' he shouted, " I ain't a-sayin' but what we're gettin' on, and we'll hey this 'ere island aboard of us in a brace o' shakes. I'm thinkin' taint far from time we was a-layin down a bit of a course if we ain't a-goin' to get in shoal water. - ' " Will there be reefs here. Bill ?" 1 asked, an unpleasant recollection of the loss of the Nancie Belle coming over mc as I looked at the island before us. " Well, now. youngster, I ain't a-sayin' but what theer might be reefs; but, bless , ye. reefs ain't the wust things ye may ; come across hereabouts, sonny —not by j chalks, they ain't, sonny." I "Do you mean pirates, Bill?" I ex- ' claimed, as his words brought back my ; dreams of adventure to my mind. I "Well, sonny, I ain't a-sayin' pirates, not altogether. Ye see, pirates has gone out 0' fashion 'cept in stories nowadays; but if theer ain't pirates theer's niggurs, which is most as good, and maybe even livelier—an' don't you forget it neither." " Niggurs ? " It was rather a comedown from pirates to niggers. "Do you mean that niggers would try to kill us, ; Bill ? " 1 asked, a little anxiously. "Kill us, sonny? Well, come to that, I killin' ain't not to say a comfortable word, is it, sonny ? No, nor 'taint always 1 a comfortable thing—not altogether—so ; I've heerd. But, bless ye, niggurs ain't noways pertickler—leastways not them as I've met hereabouts—you bet." " I wish I had a pistol, Bill," I said, with all the resolution I could muster, " but if you'll tell mc what to do I'll help yo_ all I can.*'

Sill laid his hand on my shoulder with an approving gesture. " 1 knowed ye was the right sort, sonny. You an' me'll weather this gaie, and. don't you forget it, neither." There was an easy confidence in Bill's voice that raised my spirits, which, in spite of all I could do. had been just a little depressed, and 1 turned to look at the land ahead of us with increased interest. The sun was sinking low, and had passed behind a cloud, and the line of coast seemed all at once to have come closer, and lay spread before us, as if it had been on a chart. The tall palm tree I had first seen stood on a high bluff not very far ahead, and between us and the lower line of the shore, which ran northward till it ended in a steep round hill, there was a ele— r white line across the water that looked like silver. " Yes. Bill," 1 shouted, " there's a reef, and there must be niggers, too, for I can see smoke." I had jumped on the thwart, and stood pointing to a spot where a slender column of smoke was rising slowly among the trees. " Right ye was. sonny. Niggurs ain't to say scarce hereabouts —not much, they ain't; nor I ain't a-sayin* as what 1 objects to them a-lightin' of fires, neither — not mc." I let my arm drop to my side, a little ashamed of my excitement. " But, Bill," I said, uneasily, " how can we tell whether they mean to kill us or not ? " " Now, that's talkin', sonny, that is. What 1 says is, give 'em the chance. Ye're most sure to find out if so be as ye gives ! em a chance —an' don't you forget it, ; neither." f didn't feel as if f should forget it just then, and 1 confess the prospect didn't look so much like fun as it had seemed j when we were farther away from it. I sat and watched the shore, especially the ' part of it nearest the place where the smoke was rising, without saying any more. Then the sun broke through the '■ cloud, lighting up the woods and the high bluff, the tall palm tree, and the round hill with a blaze of red light. " Now, then, sonny," Bill called out, suddenly, " I ain't a-sayin' but what ye might go forrard now an' keep a look-out ; ou that thecr_ reef. 1 ain't rightly sure j but what you an' me's had about enough ' o' reefs for a bit. 'Taint far from high water by now, 1 reckon, an' if ye see a bit ' o' smooth water on that thnnderin' white line you just give mc a holier, will ye ? " I was glad of something to do at last, . and i was soon perched in the bow, star- ! ing with all my eyes at the long white ' line of breakers, from which the boom and the crash of bursting waters came across the swell in a deep, continuous roar. It was strange, too, for where we were the swell was low, and the surface of the water as smooth as gloss, till it seemed to gather itself together as it ncared the line of reef, on which it hurled itself in a flashing smother of white spray. The sun was all but dipping in the ocean, and as yet, look as carefully as I could, 1 had seen nothing that looked like a passage through the'dazzling white line. Then Bill's voice growlad; " Can't ye see nothing yet, sonny? " "No, Bill; but f think it looks smoother near the point; perhaps there's a passage there 1 " •" Coaky-nut pint? Well, youngster, I ain't a-sayin' but what ye may be right, , neither; leastways, we'll hey a look afore it's too dark to tell a niggur from a , coaky-nut tree." , Bill hauled the sheet and changed the course, so that we ran along the reef not a hundred yards.. away. We* yfet'e close enough now to see the shore distinctly, though every minute the shadows under under the trees seemed to grow darker, and though 1 hadn't seen anything that even looked like a man I had —Ileal the woods already with natives waiting to kill us as soon as ever we came ashore. • Suddenly a strange sound came from the shore. It came from somewhere . among the trees, though somehow I couldn't even guess, the spot, and then it died away to a lower note, that made mc shiver. I looked back at Bill. He had heard it, too, for I saw that be was leaning forward, and his eyes looked brighter ! than ever as they searched along the shore. *■ What was it, Bill?" I asked, doing my best to speak as if I wasn't afraid. "' Well, sonny, 1 ain't a-sayin' but what it might 'a been a niggur a-hollerin'. I reckon he was a-lettin' of the others know as we was a-comin'. Theer ain't no harm in that, neither, is theer? " " No, Bill. Only it sounded queer, I thought." " Queer ? Well, now, I ain't a-sayin' as it's what ye might hear at the opery — not by no means, sonny. But hold on a bit. I'm a-going to make a try for to get through this 'ecr bloomin' reef, an' then we'll see." 1 had almost forgotten the ref in the excitement caused by that cry, and Bill's words had scarcely had time to recall mc j before I felt the whaleboat swing sharply j to the breeze, and could see, right ahead, a little strip of darker water, where the white belt that encircled the shore seem- ! ed to be broken in two. We had- | ! n't far to go, and the wholeboat secm,ed to skim the water, and leap from one | to another of the long swells that were \ rushing towards the shore. The roar of ! the breakers, as they reared up and fell j with a crash on the rocky wall, was deaf- j ening, and yet at the moment I hardly noticed it. My eyes were fixed on the narrow strip of heaving water that lay j like a black ribbon between the rollers that writhed and foamed as they were dashed into silver spray upon the reef. We were rushing towards it like a racehorse. Then, in a moment, the ribbon had disappeared, and there was nothing but the white water that tossed and foamed on every side, and the dash of the spray as it fell in showers on our sail. For a moment or two I shut my eyes as we tossed and staggered among the waves, and when I opened them the water had grown suddenly smooth, and the shore, with its waving palm trees and its sloping beach of coral sand, stretched out before us. I drew a long breath of relief, and at the same moment a cry like the one we i had heard before rose from the point where the tall cocoa-nut palm was bend- | ing before the breeze. 1 could see nobody, j but there could be no mistake—it was a native signal. I had often heard and imitated the call of the Australian blacks, I and somehow, when that cry came wailing ' along the shore, 1 raised my hand to my mouth, and without a moment's thought, I answered it with a long " Coo-ce." 1 looked at Bill, uncertain whether I had done wrong, but I was met with one of his deep laughs. " Right ye was, sonny. Hurroar for Australy. Give it 'em again, youngster," I Bill exclaimed, as he glanced along the beach as if in search of a landing. "They'll : understand that lingo as well as anything. ; I ain't a-sayin' but what I'd like to see 'em now, though they ain't not to say handsome." I obeyed him, and the wild call was echoed back from the point. The reply came suddenly, and I started. It was a shrill " Coo-ee." (To be continued daily.) I