Pomigo's Xmas Adventure

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21355, 24 December 1934, Page 15 (Supplement)

Pomigo's Xmas Adventure

The British gunboat, Marlin, on her way from the Chinese coast to. New Zealand waters, arrived off Residency Island late at night on Christmas Eve. Residency Island was the largest of the Lonely Islands, a few tiny specks of land in the empty vastness of the Pacific Ocean. They were governed by New Zealand, and on Residency Island lived the Administrator and his family; also some 1200 natives, a mixture of all the native races of the South Seas, and not a very nice mixture at that. The Marlin dropped anchor, and awaited the arrival of Christmas Day. The ship had been decorated for the occasion. Everyone was happy but Pongo. The big African ape, the mascot and pet of the ship, simply couldn't understand it. For the past twelve months the Marlin, stripped for action and ready for any emergency, had patrolled the Chinese waters. Now, suddenly, the neat and trim, but bare-look-ing craft had blossomed out into little fascinating coloured pieces of cloth that flapped alarmingly in your face when you tried to steal them, and very bright, but very peculiar flowers that burnt your nose when you tried to smell them. As if that wasn't bad enough, a group of sailors on the after-deck were now, at this time of night, making weird noises. As a matter of fact they were singing choruses, accompanied by a concertina, a violin, a"nd a saxophone. Pongo felt.he could put up with the singing, but the instruments were disturbing to an ape of quiet tastes and more or less good behaviour. The saxophone was a mystery. It looked like one of those little guns that spat death very quickly, but the noise was different —and worse. The concertina, of course, was some kind of wailing banana that you could crumple up and pull out again. But the violin was the worst; it sounded like cats, and Pongo hated cats. On the officers' deck sat the Commander, Lieutenant Marshall, and Pip Carey, the midshipman, looking down into the placid waters, and listening lazily to the singing. Pongo perched on the rail, and said nasty things to himself about these noises in monkeylanguage.

"I suppose, sir," said Lieutenant | Marshall to the Commander, "we'll be going ashore to-morrow?" "Yes," replied the Commander. "You' and I, Mr Marshall—and Mr Carey, if he cares to come—will pay a visit to the Administrator. And I've given the men eight hours' shore-leave; they will go farther round the island to a sandy beach." "Thank you, sir," spoke up Pip. "May Pongo come too?" The Commander smiled faintly. "Well, Mr Carey, Pongo is your special charge. If you can guarantee his good behaviour—" "He'll be good, sir," said Pip, "with me." "H'm! . . . I've been thinking of something, Mr Marshall. The Administrator and his wife have one child, a tiny girl of five or six. She must be a lonely little mite. There are no other white people, no other white playmates for her, and once in three months only does the government supply-ship call. I have been thinking that I should like to give that little girl a great big surprise. I—well—l'd like to take a Father Christmas ashore with me, and I was -wondering. ..."

(By Norman Berrowj

"Me, sir?" baid the Lieutenant, startled. "I'm afraid I'm not very good at that sort of thing. I've lever had much to do with children, and I'm a bit shy of them." "I've got an idea, sir," said Pip. "Why not dress up Pongo as Father Christmas?" "Pongo—?" "Yes, sir. I could manage him." "But " said the Commander. Then he sank back in his chair. "Well, he will certainly make an original Father Christmas. He'll probably climb the tree and eat the toys. . . . Well, all right, Mr Carey, we'll try him. He should cause some fun, anyway." Next morning they were all up early, and after breakfast the Lieutenant and Pip dressed Pongo in Father Christmas's clothes. The ape submitted because his friends were doing it, but when they put the big high boots on him, he promptly ; kicked them off again.

"I suppose it's cruel to make him wear boots," said the Lieutenant. So he tied them together and slung them round Pongo's neck. Then they set oft' for the chore. Colonel Gray and his wife, and their little ' daughter, Joan, were delighted to see them. Joan was rather scared of Pongo at first, which was not altogether surprising. Pongo in his red, fur-trimmed clothes, with the red, fur-trimmed cap on his head, and the big black boots round his neck, and wearing a long white beard, was the queerest object she had ever seen in her short life. But when she got over her first fright she grew very fond of Pongo, and the two roamed all over the house and garden. In the big living-room they set up the Christmas tree, and Father Christmas gave away, generally to the wrong people, all sorts of wonderful toys and presents. Then there was a great Christmas dinner; cold turkey and ham and tongue, trifles and sweets and cakes, and, yes, real ice-cream, made by Mrs Gray herself. Pongo sat in a corner and ate a huge feed of bananas, sweet potatoes, and cocoanuts. Then they pulled crackers, and put on paper hats, until the humans looked nearly as funny as the ape.

Afterwards the grown-ups went out and sat on the long, cool verandah, and Joan was taken away to her bedroom for a little sleep in the heat of the afternoon. Pongo climbed a tree outside her window, curled up. and went to sleep. The afternoon passed slowly away. Suddenly, during a long silence, while ihe people on the verandah wei e dozing, the silence was broken by a shrill, terrified scream from somewhere inside the house. The sailors leapt to their i'eet, wide awake on the instant. "Joan . . . . " gasped Mrs Gray. She turned and ran into the house. Colonel Gray followed her, while tho Commander. Lieutenant Marshall, and Pip rushed round to the side of the house. There, at Joan's wide-open window, they came face to face with Colonel and Mrs Gray. "Joan " said Mrs Gray, her face white with terror. "She's gone ..." "It's that scoundrel, Malimi," barked the Colonel. "He's kidnapped her ..." He jumped out through the window, and pulling a little silver

whistle from the brea=t-pocket of his tunic, he blew three short blasts. "We'll go after her," he said to his wife. "You stay here. I'll arrange a guard for you." From the barracks just across a sort of compound came running a regiment of native police. They carried rifles, and they were buckline on belts and equipment as they ran. Pip looked up into the tree that Pongo had climbed, but there was no sign of him. Leaving some men behind, Colonel Gray and the sailors placed themselves at the head of the native police, and rushed off in the trail of Malimi. Now this Malimi had been the very savage chief of a savage tribe, and the Administrator had deposed him on account of his cruel practices. Thereupon Malimi had taken to the bush, vowing vengeance on Colonel Gray, and awaiting his chance. Colonel Gray led his men across a wide paddock and into a track that led into the heart of the bush. But presently the track split into two, and here the rescue party was puzzled. Which way had Malimi gone? Suddenly Pip, who had gone a little way along one of the tracks, gave a great shout. ".Lapk!" he cried.

The others followed his pointing finger, and there, on a bush at the side of the track, lay Father Christmas's red coat. "Pongo!" exclaimed Lieutenant Marshall. He's following Malimi, and he dropped that coat there. Come on, Colonel, we're on the right road." Deeper and deeper into the bush they pressed until again they came to a dividing of the ways. The Colonel split his men, and little parties followed every track. This time the Commander noticed a peculiar growth on one of the trees, and looking at it closely he discovered the growth to be Father Christmas's boots. Evidently Pongo was keep- . ing close to Malimi, and dropping things as he felt them getting in the way. Colonel Gray formed his men together again into one party, and they pressed on into the thick gloom. Once more the path divided. It split into three, but this time there was nothing lying about to show which way Malimi had gone. So the Colonel split his men into three parties, and they went down the tnree new tracks. And here Lieutenant Marshall had a brain-wave. He stopped suddenly and returned to the spot where the tracks joined. He called Colonel Gray to him. "Listen, sir," he said urgently. "This Malimi is something of an outlaw, isn't he? That means ha would have some secret hidingplace, and I don't think any of the tracks would lead to it. But if you look here you can see where that long grass has been trampled down, and there is a branch broken off that busn. Somebody has been along there just recently, and that somebody must be Malimi." „ T "By Jove!" said the Colonel. I believe you're right. We'll try that way." It was slow work. They had to look carefully for the marks of tie men who had been that way before them. And then, just when they felt they were getting lost and on the wrong track, they heard trie noise of shouting, and also a peculiar roaring sound. "I know that noise," said Lieutenant Marshall. "That's PoI and he's very peeved about something." They rushed on in the direction of the noise, and suddenly tney found themselves in a little clearing. Malimi was there with about twelve of his outlaw follower?. -Jo s ]} was there, lying on a big rock, av.a tied up, scared out of her ni? "' Pongo was there. With his red still jambed on his round skull, t.w red breeches on his powerful !'"--,• and the long white beard sideways so that it hung bel r '" iv --> ear, he was struggling for :, l' ~ ''l' 1 knew with these men who mc-rii -o harm his little friend. ! As the rescue party entered tu3 clearing. Malimi broke free fii.:fi the clutches of Pongo. who y.v.s ; busy enough with the ether twelve. I He picked up a long soear and bai- ! anced it to hurl it into the back of the ape, who. of course, did not know what was going on bcumd h;M- ---! The Commander 'of the Marl in ■ was ordinarily a man of few words, ; but quick actions. He snatched a . rifle from on- of the native police--1 men, jerked it to his shoulder, siw " fired. Malimi's fell frors' W hand; he and his followers <"er3 quickly overpowered and taken s prisoners. The native policemen : led them awav. Pongo was dressed . once again in Father Christmas'* ) clothes, in which, bv the way, he 3 looked verv pleased proud i and he carried little .To-" *" i the house where M" Grav waj , j waiting anxiously for th e m And j he had a simply enormous Chn st * 'mas tea.