CAPTAIN DICK.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume VIII, Issue 6, 1 September 1903, Page 412

CAPTAIN DICK.

I think their home was one of the happiest I ever entered, and at my time of life, fifty -three years last May, I have heard of and seen many happy homes. Dick Williams was his name, but we all knew him as Captain Dick. He was not a lail man, but his figure was square and well knit, his face was full of quiet resolve, lit up by his merry blue eyes, his beard was; short and curly and brown. He was every-'ineh a man, as all who had sailed with him could tell you. He owned a little schooner, and traded among the islands, and generally went to Sydney for the hurricane months.

When a few days off Sydney on one of these trips, the Cakobau ran into a Southerly buster. They -vere hove to for a day, the sea threatened to engulf them. It was eight bells, Capt. Dick and bis two. passengers were just going to partake of a hasty meal at the hatch ; Capt. Dick looked over the stern and noticed something had been carried

away from the rudder. Not for one moment did his brave heart, fail him ;he turned to his companions with a laugh :

" Boys, we'll have to run. for it after tucker/ And Jim Quin, one of the passengers, afterwards told me, that the Captain ate as hearty a meal as if he had been in the " Royal " at Levuka beach ; then, run they did, and reached Port Jackson quicker than an ocean liner.

How the girls of Levuka used to welcome the sight of that' little schooner coming round Vagada«:e bluff, loaded with copra and island fruit. And the lasses got so jealous of each other if one could say : '' I saw the Cakobau first, Capt. Dick gave me this/ and the happy owner would hold up some pretty island trophy of shells or bright red seeds, strung together by skilful bative fingers. Years went by ; Capt. Dick had grown from a lad to a man of thirty-five, just as gay and

winning' as ever, but the girls sighed for him in vain. They had made up their minds he was a confirmed bachelor, and many of them had secured homes of their own. Every one loved him, and the little inn on the beach was always crowded on the first night the " Cakobau '"' anchored, and many a rattling old sea chanty would float up to my little cot, such as :

'The sailor's sweetheart's in every port, 0 Ki— o, 0 Ri—o !

They sometimes ai c tall and sometimes short, And we're bound for Rio Grande,

Then away, love, away, away down Eio,

Then fare you well, my pi'etty young girl, We're bound for the Rio Grande.

Then away, love, away, away down Rio,

Thon favp you well, my pretty young girl, We're bound for the Rio Grande."

One day, the mail steamer, which came to the port once a month, left behind to our amazement a passenger ; s<uch a thing seldom occurred, for the person was a slight giri of seventeen. Of course, men often visited us, globe-trotters, or, perhaps, a new woman to air the gar-

ments she dare not masquerade in elsewhere. But this gentle, timidlooking girl with those great brown eyes, who and what was she ? I must go and ask Mrs. Gotten, the landlady of the inn, for I dearly love a bit of gossip.

Her name was Alice Tyson, she came down to Fiji to be a governess in a planter's family ; however, the rough life and the planter's native family did not agree with her. From the first we saw that Capt. Dick had lost his heart at last, and I was not a bit surprised when, one day, he came to me and said :

" Mrs. Howard, you'll take her m until I get our house fixed up a bit, won't you ? Ido love, the dear little girl so, and she is awfully unhappy with those half-breeds."

" Why, of course I will, Capt. Dick/ I said, for the strong man's voice trembled as he spoke.

" You see, Allie was taken in by the advertisement, her people failed in the big bank boom/ he continned. " Well, Fll bring her now, it's awfully good of you, it will be

ripping; when we are neighbours ; I must give you a kiss, you're like a mother to me, you see 1 lost mine when I was a small boy." "Get away, you eheekyboy ! -'' I exclaimed, as I wiped my eyos with the corner of my apron. " Dearie, dearie, me," I sighed, " what a fine lad he is ! I wish I was young again, that I do • " We'll marry this day week," he said, as he stuffed his black pipe with tobacco, and, as usual, stole my box of matches off the lampstand, " then we'll clear North to

Rotuma for our honeymoon." Puff went the pipe, " Good Lord, I am happy ! " he murmured between -Jie puffs. "So long, dear mother, for that's what you've always been to me."

Well, they married. I watched the schooner glide cat of -Hhe sunlit harbour beyond Wakaya to other islands, bearing two more united souls on this stormy sea of life, yei. all looked so fair for their future. And I dropped on my kneea and prayed for the two I loved.

For nearly -two years I went in and out of their little home like a mother. Alice always went to sen with her husband jfpr the first year. She was the little Raft's queen., she loved to lie on^i^ie deck and hear the masts creak, and her husband's cheery voice ringj^sut in storm or calm : " 'Bout ship/'* or to listen to him at night singing his -favourite song, " Her bright smile haunts me still." She felt so brave and strong when he was near, poor little girl.

" Cari't take her this time, of course,:, Mrs. Howard ? Eh, matie, can I ? " said Dick, as cheerfully as possible, turning from me to her. A sob from Allie was the only answer.

" But, I say, little one," he continued, his eyes glowing with love and tenderness, " think of what you'll have to show me when I return." Allie beamed through !her tears. And a big brown hand clasped the little one tightly. " Only a month, dearest, and 1 shall be back." A few minutes later Capt. Dick had gone.

" It's blowing hard, to-night, Mrs. Howard/ moaned a weak little voice.

" You just lie down, dearie, and keep Capt. Dick's little son warm, his father ought to be in to-morrow with this breeze ; tut, child, it's only a fair wind.'" I tried to comfort the poor girl in her nervous state, but it was no good, the plaintive little voice would not rest.

" I dreamt I saw my Dick, holding out his arms to me, and I was trying to reach him, and all the time he seemed to be going further away : I know something is going to happen ! " she sobbed.

At' last, thank God, she slept, I threw .myself on ..a. couch by her. How the wind howled. " 0 God, keep him safe for his wife's sake," I murmured, as I fell into an uneasy sleep. I seemed to hear voices in my sleep, but they only lulled me into deeper slumber.

What was that ? I woke with a

start. A figure of a man by Allies bed.

round. " Bah ! only a dream," T. said to myself. But how still the bed was ! I grasped the post and shuddered. Allie lay, her lips moving as il in prayer, with Dick's little son sleeping his innocent baby sleep by his unconscious mother.

" Dick, 0 Heavens, how you frightened me ! " Allie was sitting up in bed, her little face burning with fever. " Dick/ she cried. "My Dick, and I knew it, I saw you do down, you've come for me, my darling."

He did not move. I was wide awake now.

The little schooner was never seen again, but one of her boats and some copra were washed upon the beach. No one will know her fate until the sea gives up its dead. Although ill for a long time, Allie lived, and her baby comforted Yier greatly, for, however bitter the trials of this life, they do not often kill. By all means let Allie think she dreamt the vision of that awful night, she is so young. But, as i live, I saw my Captain Dick !

" Dick ! how did you get in, my boy ? " I cried. "I'm sure I locked both doors. Look at your little son, lie down, Allie dear. You did startle us, you naughty boy, why don't you speak, Dick ? "

He turned and looked. But it was the face of the dead ! I knew no more until I rose from the floor where I had fallen. How stiff and cold T felt ! I looked fearful W