The Storyteller. A MAN IN A MILLION

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 300, 11 June 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

The Storyteller. A MAN IN A MILLION

CIIAI'TEB VIII. The island of Hooma-Hooma has an evil reputation. It does not seem to flourish any the less green and beautiful on this account, however. How long it has lain under a kind of ban, ic would be impossible for me to say ; probably for one hundred years and over. There always is some small account of truth in tradition, and the ugly rumours about maroonings and hangings, and worse than ever those, which have been handed down from negro sires to negro sons may possibly have had some solid foundation in fact. If you look on a good map you may spy this island, but it is not called Hooma-Hooma, nor do I mean to give any clue to its latitude or its longitude, for the simple reason that there is said to be a treasure on it, which is worth looking for. Anyhow, natives all give HoomaHooma a very wide berth. The few cocoa-nut trees that grow thereon are small and all lean one way to the north-east. The negroes of the adjoining mainland would not touch the fruit, and it is even averred that the produce of the bread fruit tree, which is found here, has killed goats. If this be true, it would kill any creature. Ships and dhows also give the haunted isle a long officing, but for a different reason. It is surrounded on almost every side by shoals, and these shoals are constantly shifting summer after summer, so that charts are worse than useless they are dangerous. Another peculiarity about the island i 3 this : exjept at one part -a kind of bay—currents sweep round it, and there are deep and ugly whirlpools here and there, not always in action, but coming into play with certaiu tides, and like the shoals shifting ground occasionally. Such is Hooma-Homa, and if Captain Kidd, who, once upon a time was well known in these seas, chose this place for a rendezvous, it showed that he was possessed of both wisdom and daring, * * * * Our story now, like the whirlpools round Hooma-Hooma, changes ground and takes us on board a large slave-dhow, that left Zanzibar one squally evening in the monsoon season, about nine months before the riots in that city. The Arab captain of this vessel had good reasons for getting away to sea on this particular night ; he had heard that a British cruiser was lying north at Lamoo, and therefore, now was the time, if ever, to ship a fine cargo of slaves that lav waiting at barracoon in the mangrove woods on the coast far to the south. This captain—a tall and handsome fellow with olive complexion, and hair in brown ringlets, that hung down as far as his waist, and dressed in the long flowing camel's hair robe of the Northern Arabs—was walking near the poop when his second in command cam > up and addressed him. ' We have run down a bidane in the squall, master, and a whits man is hanging by a rope overboard.' " Allah is merciful. Pull him on board.' A minute afterwards, Douglas Irvine was dragged over the side, and, staggering up to the Arab captain, he saluted. -•j'l'm an involuntary passenger," he said. ' Can you land mo anywhere near here ? You shall be handsomely paid.' •Allah-il-Allah. Dog of an infidel, no. You are our slave. Take him below and put him in irons !' This was a terrible reception, but Irvine submitted without a murmur. The hold to which he was led was filthy in the extreme, stiflingly hot, and swarming with cochroaches and earwigs. There was no sleep for the poor fellow this night. How was it all going to end 1 There was only one ending for it, he feared. He would be landed in irons, and marched away into the interior, and sold as a slave to some African potentate; for these kings value white men above everything. But a fate like this was surely worse than death. Death ? Yes, and that reminded him. Even if Yacoob were saved he himself would be reported drowned; Hilda would sorrow for a little time, then her marriage with Clements would drive every thing else out of her head. Flora, he knew, would sorrow for ever and aye. He felt more for her now than he did for himself. For three days the dhow (lew onwards over the wild sea, for it was blowing hard and uncertainly, with many a terrible squall which might have caused a lojs strong vessel to broach and founder. Irvine could scarcely touch the badly-cooked rice that was presented to him, and the very smell of the water would have caused a thirsty dog to turn from it with loathing. On the fourth night the storm increased in violence, and the dhow rolled and pitched to a terrible extent. He heard the thunder, too reverberating high over the shriek of the wind through rigging and stays, while every now and then even the dark hold where he lay was illuminated with the blue forked lightning.

Irvine sat up and listened half in awe. Then he began to think that if the dhow were to founder, it would feel doubly dreadful to sink like a log, shackled and ironed as he was. If free, he could at least have a struggle for his life. The thought made him twist and tug uneasily and nervously at his fetters. He was strong, and tough, an I young, but he could not have believed it possible for even a giant to burst these irons. They did give way nevertheless, and he now felt infinitely less miserable. Suddenly he heard screaming and shouting on deck, and the thud of bare feet rushing hither and thither. Some orders were being given and hurriedly obeyed, but he could not understand the words. But he understood at once what had happened when there came first a sudden shock, followed by a grating thrilling sound under the keel, then the crash of falling masts and breaking timbers. The dhow was aground somewhere and the seas were making a clean breach over her. The noise of the beating, merciless waves was terrific. Surely the strongest dhow that ever floated must speedily go to pieces with such giant forces at play upon her. What should Douglas do ? What could he do? Only pray. Pray and wait for death. Instinct would have made him rush on deck, but the wreckage had fallen across the hatch, and he tried in vain to force his way out. It was a terrible situation. As the time went by the suspense appeared to grow greater and greater. Death was a happy release. But it came not. To make the time seem shorter, he lay repeating to himself the psalms in metre he had learnt when a boy at school. While thus engaged he fell asleep, and when he opened his eyes all was still and quiet around him and long pencils of light were streaming in from above. It was still indeed—the stillness of death ; for he was the only living being on board that doomed dhow. By dint of long and strenous efforts he managed at last to clear away a portion of the wreck, and to creep on deck. The poop was in ruins, masts and cordage in a heap, while the .bulwarks looked like halffinished sheep hurdles. But the sun was shining brightly, and lo ! close in yonder was an island ; its low sandy shore, with the white ribbon of breaking water and the cloudlaud of trees beyond, was inexpressibly lovely. The morning breeze brought hunger. But there in the ruins of the poop, was food in abundance and even pure water. Irvine at like a man who had been long famished, Then he sat down to think and consider. There was no boat, The crew had evidently taken to their little badane and been lost for its timbers were floating about close at hand. The distance to shore was not more than seventy yards. It would be easy to swim, but he feared the sharks. No, he musi construct a raft. Down below, forward, he found an axe, and saw, nails, and a hammer. So he set to work at once. Now at sea nothing is certain except the unexpected, and whde busily engaged sawing through a piece of the mast, he was scarcely surprised to find a hand placed on his shoulder. Ho looked up, dropped his saw as he did so. Beside him stood a great hulking negro, with a smiling face, and looking, on the whole, as innocent and good-natured a Lancashire lad on a fair-day. His cummerburad and wholly hair were wet with salt water that trickled down over his legs and face. " Hallo! my friend. Whore do you hail from ?' " I swimmee here, from cle s'ore, sail.' ' Indeed, are there any more of you on shore V 'I, I'se a free niggah. Any chow-chow V 1 Yes/ I'll give you lots to eat. But you must take a spell of working first. How did you come here, and how did you learn English?' ' I second cook to the barque ' Salah.' I tried to scupper the head cook 'cause he kickee my shin. Den dee captain he kickee me oberboard fo' true ' Here young man de captain say, ' you to handy wid de knife, walk de plank.' ' Well, 'pon my word,' said Irvine, "I don't consider you a very desirable companiou. Never mind, it seems I'm to be Bobinson Crusoe here, for a time, you sha'l be my man Friday.' ' Monday my name, sah.' ( All right. It matters little to me if it were Tuesday. Serve me well, and I'll be a father to you. If you are false, I'll shoot you.' Between them they speedily constructed a raft, and after it had been lowered and moored alongside, they proceeded so provision it. They shoved off at last, and soon managed to gain a footing on the shore. None too soon, however, for already clouds were banking up in the south, and scarcely had they succeeded in landing all the stores and housing them temporarily in an adjoining cave; ere a fresh storm burst over the sea. It soon increased to almost hurricane force, and it was evident nothing more could be done for that day.

Irvine noticed with sorrow, that the raft, which might have been useful another time, was being broken up by tiie waves. Pi"cc by piece it was floated out to sea, and he saw it no more, By sunset Irvine felt both tire 1 and drowsy, so he invited r.is man Monday to supper, or "chow-chow " as the negro called it, then lay down to rest. He placed the revolver on the sand close to his head, but when he awakened at broad-lay light next morning, and found Monday squatting at the entrance of the cave singing low to himself and looking more like a Lancashire la«i—if the Lancashire lads were black—than ever, he felt somewhat ashamed of himself for having suspected him. ' Good morning, Monday.' ' Mawnin, to yon, sail.' ' Monday, where is the dhow V • She go-sah, fo' true.' She had indeed gone for true. Not a vestige of her, not a stick or timber of her was to be scon. Douglas Irvine had little idea then that iie was on tho evil isle of Hooma-Hooma. With the assistance of ids man Monday, he set about at once making the best of the forlorn situation, but while ho was doing so, he could not help remarking to the negro—- ' Some boat or dhow, I suppose, will soon be round to take us off, Monday.' ' Boat or dhow, sah ? No sab, no boat or dhow cber, ehcr come to this unhappy island. We must live here till we have gone dead, sir.' " 'Pon my word, Monday, that is no very pleasing outlook. But why my friend, should no boats visit here f " 'Cause, sah, do island has got plenty obil spirit on it." But after breakfast Monday seemed a new man, and certainly a very much bolder one. Ho gladly assisted Irvine to cut down trees and commence the erection of a hut, for though ho did not believe it at all likely he should be long a prisoner on the island, it was as well to be prepared for eventualities. Besides to work was to banish grief and sorrow. They slept next night and for many nights to come in the cave by the sea-shore. The white sand floor made a bed that was certainly soft enough, and dry enough too. There was one drawback, however, the huge sea-spiders, a species of monster crabs, that came up out of the sea not only in scores but even in hundreds soon after sunset. It was not an agreeable sensation to awake at midnight and find one of these horrible, warty, shelly demons squatting upon one's chest. It was almost impossible to keep them out of the cave. But they left towards morning, making a rattling sound with their claws as they marched seaward, and now and then emitting a kind of cooing noise, though how produced it would be impossible to say. But day after day the hut progressed towards completion. It was a very simple construction, built of barked trees, the interstices filled up with a kind of seaweed that grew on the rocks in great abundance. Then it was thatched with grass and seaweed. The selection of the trees for building the little cottage, and the barking of them, took longer than the actual construction, for Irvine had not been long on the island before he made two discoveries. First ho found out that there were far worse foes here than the sea-spiders, namely, scorpions and centipedes ; secondly, that thoso loathsome and dangerous creatures were never found on certain species of trees. So of these latter alone the dwelling was construe!ed. Irvine also indulged in the luxury of a hammock. This made a safe and comfortable bed at night, and a delightful lounge during the day. What this modern Cruso3 missed most of all, was a book or books to read. However, he made up for the want of these by rambling, gun in hand, all over the island, It contained plenty of feather but no fur except a species of vole that he often shot near a small lake in the interior. Neither he nor Monday could eat the sea-birds that fell to the gun. They tasted oily and fishy, but pigeons were numerous and parrots were frequent visitors. There was many sorts of trees here, especially man-grove and breadfruit. The former would have been but little good in themselves, but on sonic portions of this mysterious island they grew, not only close to the sea, but in the sea at high water, so that many sorts of shell-fish clung to their roots. Among the pools of water left when the sea receded, several varieties of edible fish were found and there was also a kind of bush, the leaves of which made a very good substitute for tea. So a whole month passed away, but never a dhow or vessel of any kind was sighted. What was the reason of it ? Irvine wondered. Surely there must be some truth, after all, in what the negro said, that no one came near the island because of its evil reputation. Three months went by. Irvine cat a notch in one tree every morning, and another in another tree once a week, an I thus managed to keep some tally of the time. Life was becoming sadly irksome now, but still in friendly boat or ship appeared. A large collection of dry wood was kept constantly in the cave, ready for the two to drag out and

light up in case help, in the shape of a vessel did appear some day on the horizon. Another month and still another and the monotony of existence had become a burden now. There were days that Irvine did nothing save lie dreamingly in the mouth of the cave and gaze seaward. But one forenoon a ship did heave in sight. ' Quick, Monday, quick! Look look, 't is a British cruiser. Bring out the wood. Quick, min, quick !' The vessel was evidently a man-o'-wnr, under easy canvas and heading slowly away north. While Monday built the pile close down by the water's edge, Irvine hurried away to a hollow in a rock close by, where turf was always~kcpt smouldering, and in a few moments thi dense smoke curled up into the blue sky. The vessel was about a league from the shore, and no human voice could have reached it, nevertheless, as he rushed about waving his jacket aloft, Irvine shouted again and again till hoarse and tired. But the vessel sailed on and on and took no notice. If the signalman had observed the smoke at all, he must have thought it was raised by natives, and that the affair was therefore not worth reporting, The island seemed drearier than ever now, but still the star of hope shone on. One day while ho reclined at the cave's mouth as usual, a bright idea occurcd to him. Why it had not dawned on him before was a puzzle. ' I sav, Monday,' he cried, " bring me a sherbet bottle or two.' Monday did as required. Irvine put them in the sun to dry, and meanwhile, tearing a leaf from his note-book, he wrote thereon as brief and effective a description of the ' evil isle' as possible, and of his own long imprisonment therein, and praying for relief to be sent to him ere it was too late. He made a copy of this note, then rolling the pieces of paper up, put them each in one of the 'bottles- The bottles were corked and sealed with gum from a tree so as to be perfectly airtight. And now, with a heart beating with joyful emotion he approached the water and threw one in as far as he could. The other he despatched from the other side of the island ; and that evening, before he turned into his hammock, he knelt in the stirlight and prayed for a blessing on this mode of seeking deliverance from his terrible imprisonment. (To be continued).