CHAPTER IX.— (Continued )

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2000, 2 May 1885, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHAPTER IX.— (Continued )

The plot made rapid headway, Rod after we had passed the Cape I diacovered it had come to a head, and that the fate of the owner and the officers was sealed. My mate, when he had every detail arranged, and there waa no possibility of destroying his plans, revealed all to me. I waa horrified. I had made the most solemn vows, and registered them with the Almighty, that never again would I transgress the laws of God and man, which in the past I had done, but when I was temporarily insane. And here now I was placed in the position of an accessory with out the power to avert the blow. It Beemed to me God had not only forsaken, but was pursuing me with his vengeance to the last, and that I could surrender •11 hope. I The plot was not revealed to me until the night when it waa to ba put into execution, so much did my mate distrust me. He saw I repented of the paßt. Aa for him he never knew what repentance was, for to him there was no such thing as sin or conscience. When he found I declined to a be partner in this terrible iniquity, that I refused every offer he made, he told off two of his minions to keep me a prisoner in the forecastle until all was over. I was tied down and rendered helpless. His last words were as he went out, " If I had not resolved to have no blood ohed, I would put you out of the way, and let the shark feed upon your carcase." One word here upon companions. The greatest mistakes a young man oan make is to associate with bad men or women. If he is at all generous or impulsive, they will destroy him, while they themselves escape, at leaßt, for a time. I firmly believe, had I not met this man, or had I ehaken him off at an early period, I would now be a wealthy and ree- j pected man irf my native land. But he led ine'to my ruin by these very qualities which in other hands would have been a blessing to myself and the world. While I lay in that dark and evil smelling place that terrible night, I suffered agonies that cannot be described. Above all, I was concerned about the iate of the owner'a sister, a merechild.whomhehad.ather earnest request, brought with him for company, and to see the Btrange new world to which he waa going. Sne was very beautiful, though still immature. You iuve seen Orinora. She is a copy of that lovely woman. I knew that my mate waa a man of t!is most hideous passions, and I had seen him leer upon the child in a manner that made me inclined to knock him down. As for myself, though I could not but admire her, our positions were ao far apart that I did not think of her for one moment in the way of love. Besides, I was u married man, and I had reflolved to be true to my wife, though sho had deserted me in my sore distress. For that, however, I did not blame her ; it was no doubt the work of her friends— my enemies. And I felt deeply for the young owner, for he was a most likeable fellow ; and it seemed bo cruel to blast hia life and destroy him at fcaid early period. I can pass that awful night over with a very brief review. All who were loyal to the owner were captured and placed in irons. The young owner resisted — he had arms in hia cabin— and he was shot dead. At midflight I heard the splash of hia corpse as it was thrown over the Bide. The horrors, the horrors of that night 1 to me, lying helpless in the forecastle while this was going on ! I was released in the morning, and went on deck to breathe the air, which seemed to uao now full of murder and all that waa evil. Oh I what a mockery nature waa that day. Tho atmosphere was clear, the air cool and life-giving— it gave none to the dead owner, whose corpse was now rising and falling with the Pacific surge— the ship wan dancing over the quiet sea, whose waves curled gently around her ; the cky was like a sapphire. Nature had no stnpathy with the dark deeda of the night I found that a man who had once been firßt mute of a vessel was now the captain, having under him good seamen as olficers, and my mate personated the owner, as he well could do. I could hardly recognise himself ftad the officers, such a change did dress make, £0 thoroughly gentlemanlike they appeared. And bo they ought ; but they were the devil's gentlemen. I now saw their scheme was perlectly feasible and that, unless something extraordinary occurred, they would oarry it out. The prit oners were confined to their rooms except the young l»dy, Stella Blake, whom I flaw walking on the deck, wearing an air of the deepest dejection. I found they had kept from her the death of her brother, and had promised she would lea him as aoon as was

convenient. I longed to speak to and comfort her — if comfort was possible — but I waa unable, for she did not know me save by si'.ht, and, of courso, looked on me aa a mutineer. The ship had been headed off the coast, and waa now in search of some ialand out of the ordinary track on which to maroon tho prisoners. The sbam captain had sailed in thepo sea 3 before, and waa able to make such an island without any trouble. My mate and his ofliaera wore cunning enough. The majority of the men wiahad to at once broach the spirits, but this they were not allowed to do, it being necessary to keep up appearances until the cargo was sold. After that they could have their fling as long aa they liked. I think nearly ten days elapsed before we sighted Ai island which met the mutineers' viewa. In the meantime my mate was assiduous in uij attentions to Stella, but she rejected him with horror. She was continually begging to see her brother, but the conditions proposed to her were impossible, and made her at last cease to ask for him. She knew of tha intention to maroon, and fihe thought dhe would then be with him. To what extremitiea my mate would have proceeded with thia unhappy lady I cannot tel), for he stuck at nothing to gratify hia passions, but she was saved by the crew. The majority of them were new to such terrible deeda, and they took the deatn of ihe owner, though it occurred— in open fight, qreatJy to heart. They therefore insisted that the girl should not be molested, and that the prisoners should bo lnnded on an island where they would obtain subsiatonce, be safe from the natives, and have a ohance of ultimate reacue. Perchance this would have nave been of no avail, but for the captain, who was a cool, calculating man, and had no inimal passions ; his besetting sin was a lust for gold. He put his foot down and would allow nothing that would add to the criminality of the mutineers ; especially a deed uhat would set the wholo world against chem. I At last we sighted a pleasant looking island, which the oaptain declared fulfilled ill the conditions insisted upon by the portion of the crew whioh had some conscience left. It was quite a fairy looking place, and even Stella was delighted with it as a refuge. Ihe natives were peaceable and good tempered, and vessels called at stated intervals to obtain produce. I heard the captain tell my mate the prisoners would have to remain tally three months on the island before one of theso vessels came. A proposition had been made at first to land the captives on the coast of Chili, but the fear that they would make their way to Valparaiao and give the alarm made the crew abandon it. It waa a glorious day when the prisoners vere brought up to enter the boat, which waa in readiness, filled with necessaries. We had hove to oft a part of the island, which was uninhabited, but they could soon make 'heir way to the native settlements. I oan remember as if it had happened but an hour ago, Stela standing near the gangway, waiting to welcome her brotner, the brother that never came. "My brother, my brother, where is he ? " she cried in agony, when the prisoners were all on deck and preparing to go into the boat. And then ahe had to be told the dreadful truth, when ahe fainted. In that condition she waa put into the boat, which ■>oon pulled away, and the vessel once more made sail, and we soon lost Bight of the laland. It was only then I realised what an effect this girl had upon me ; that I understood she had obtained possession of my heart. I trembled at the thought : it was sin to me, desecration to her."