now it happened that one morning at about eight o’clock when the fishermen were about to launch out into the deep in their regular quest for food that a sudden cry of “sail ho!” was raised and re-echoed until all the islanders heard it. a large sailing ship was standing in towards the bay with the obvious intention of communicating, and immediately everybody was on the alert. for in spite of their happy care-free life, which left little to be desired by them, there were certain needs which they had inherited, such as clothes, tea, sugar, flour, and tools, which the presence of a ship always brought vividly to their remembrance. and in consequence they were always ready to barter their simple commodities: fruit, vegetables, eggs, fowls, pigs, fish, etc., for whatever they could induce the visitors to part with except liquor and tobacco.
so a boat was hurriedly launched, manned by the stoutest rowers, with philip at the steer oar, and c. b. at the stroke, while the rest of the islanders busied themselves collecting such produce as they hoped the ship might be in want of. fowls and eggs and fruit and milk and pigs, fresh food such as ships in that day were so often glad of. as the boat dashed alongside in splendid style the rowers noted that the ship was thronged with passengers of a curious type to them, hundreds of yellow faces peered[pg 47] over the side and an incessant high pitched babblement of voices went on, utterly unintelligible to the islanders. philip grabbed a rope thrown to him and was about to spring on board when he caught sight of those rows of parchment-like faces and paused, looking doubtfully at his boat’s crew.
the captain, however, gazing cynically down upon him, said: “what’s the matter with you? afraid of a few chinamen, are ye? come on board and don’t be such a fool.”
philip flushed darkly under his tan, and then saying quietly, “don’t make the warp fast,” swung himself lightly on board, where, standing on the rail holding on by the main top-mast backstays, he surveyed the strange scene beneath him on the vessel’s deck. she was crowded with yellow men, who wandered aimlessly about or squatted in groups gibbering away. to add to the confusion there were hundreds of canaries in cages which were hung about, and they were all singing at once, each doing his little best to drown the clamour of his neighbours.
raising his voice almost to a shout the captain addressed philip with the question: “have you godly beach-combers got any fresh provisions to sell? i’m fifty days out from macao bound to callao, and my passengers are beginning to die like flies. i don’t know what’s the matter with ’em, unless it is the foul grub that was put aboard for ’em by the compradore, though i never heard before that any grub was foul enough to poison a chink.”
philip replied calmly: “we have plenty of produce, sir, which we shall be glad to exchange with you for tools, clothes, books or anything of that sort. but we don’t want money, it’s of no use to us.”
and he recapitulated the articles available for supply at once, to which the captain replied: “all[pg 48] right, come on aft and i’ll have some stuff brought up to show you.” so philip most willingly sprang down on the deck and followed the captain aft to the cabin. here he was first offered some rum, which he courteously refused, much to the captain’s amusement. then in obedience to the captain’s commands a heap of clothing was brought up out of the slop chest and a few rusty tools of various sorts, including half a dozen coal shovels, at sight of which philip’s eyes glistened, for these were sorely needed on the island. there were no books available at all, only a heap of old newspapers which philip did not look twice at, for what did the news of the world matter to these children of nature?
then having selected such goods as they needed as far as the limited supply before him would allow, philip suggested that they should be put in his boat and that the captain should accompany him ashore and see what they had got to offer in exchange, which goods they would bring back with the captain to the ship. to this the captain answered that he should prefer philip to bring such stuff as he had ready, pass it on board and make his bargain there, as he, the captain, did not want to leave the ship.
philip rose and looking the captain steadfastly in the face, said: “no sir, on several occasions when we, trusting that other people would act as we always do to one another, have brought our produce on board a passing ship, we have been compelled to take whatever the captain has chosen to give us or nothing at all, because we were completely at his mercy. now we are always ready to give of our substance to help ships in distress, expecting no payment, but we are sorely in need of certain things, and can only get them by selling our stuff. and if we are cheated it is hard for us to bear, knowing as we[pg 49] do that we would never cheat anybody for any consideration whatever.”
at this modest and dignified remark the captain flew into an assumed rage and cried, “you stuck up hypocritical half nigger, half mutineer, how dare you talk to an english gentleman like that! i’ve half a mind to have you flung overboard, only i know you can’t be drowned. don’t come any of your palaver over me, for it won’t do. i understand you fellows through and through.”
philip smiled sadly, but without showing a trace of surprise or fear, then saying, “i’m sorry, sir, that we can’t come to terms,” turned to leave the saloon.
this was too much for the captain, who roared “here! where ye goin’, ye black thief?” (many a bronzed englishman is darker than philip was.) “come back here!”
but philip strode to the deck, leapt on the rail, and shouting, “let go, boys,” plunged feet foremost into the sea. in a moment the boat, released, was at his side and he had climbed on board.
overhead, the captain, standing on the rail, was crying, “don’t be silly, i was only trying to bluff you, it’s all in the way of business. come up alongside; i’ll come with you and bring the stuff ashore. good heavens! what a rum lot these kanakas are, to be sure.”
by this time philip had taken hasty counsel with his friends and had decided to take the captain on shore if he would come, but that none of them would board that awful ship again under any pretence. so they sheered alongside, caught again the rope that was flung them and received a heap of goods, the captain and two men following. then they headed for the beach with a sigh of relief, for the very proximity of the ship was hateful to them. they[pg 50] soon reached the landing place, the captain and his two henchmen looking very white as the ably handled boat was deftly guided stern foremost over the immense breakers, and stepping ashore uncertainly as the ready arms of the islanders were held out to them.
but no sooner had they landed than the captain and his two men began to swagger and ogle the women and girls who crowded down to the beach intent upon welcome. c. b. was close beside the skipper as he reached forward to clasp a beautiful girl near him by the waist. lithe as a leopard the boy sprang between the maiden and the captain, crying as he did so: “that’s my sister, sir, and anyhow you mustn’t touch our girls; you are not good enough!”
well, wasn’t that foolish man angry? he made a sweeping motion with his arm as if to brush an insect from his path, but c. b. seized him by both hands and held him so firmly that he was unable to move, saying at the same time, “please behave yourself, sir; we won’t hurt you, but you must not go on ugly like this.” the two men who were with the captain looked frightened—for they were thinking of massacres in the south seas of which they had often heard and doubtless expected something of the kind. the skipper however knew better, and acted worse, for he raged like a madman, the islanders standing round looking grave and stem while all the women folk slipped away. when he had cursed himself out of breath c. b. spoke again: “now, sir, if you are ready we’ll take you back to your ship. we want to trade badly enough, but it’s almost paying too dearly for the privilege, having men like you among us. we are very sorry for you, but wish you would go.”
[pg 51]
no one of the islanders added anything, for they felt as if c. b. had exactly expressed what they would say and for a few moments there was a dead silence. then the captain said in a curiously subdued voice: “i don’t know but what you’re right after all, young fellow, whoever you are, and i apologize. i didn’t intend to act so ugly, believe me. and now if you’ll bring along your produce we’ll trade, for i ought to be getting back to my ship.” immediately following upon his words, and without an order being given, there was a dispersal of the islanders, who soon reappeared laden with all the things they had to sell: vegetables, fruit, eggs, fowls and pigs, all that sailors most eagerly desire after a long voyage.
it was an easy market, for there was practically no haggling, and when all the goods that the captain had brought were exhausted, the kindly folk presented him with the rest of the produce which was left, an act of generosity which deepened the tan on his face as he, even he, realized what a contrast there was between his behaviour and theirs. but i do not know that he was so very much to blame after all, for it was probably the first time he had come across practical primitive christianity in full operation. however, as he turned to leave the beach again he held out his hand to c. b., saying: “youngster, i’m ashamed of myself, that’s all i can say. i shall remember to-day as long as i live. and i want to tell that splendid fellow the same, the man whom i spoke so badly to in my saloon.”
“oh, you mean my father,” said c. b. “here he is!” and philip stepped forward, a gentle smile on his face, and his hand outstretched, saying as he came, “don’t bother about me, sir, i’m only sorry that you should be afflicted with such a hasty temper and disbelief in the goodness of anybody. but please[pg 52] say no more. if you are ready to go on board we are ready to take you.”
“ah, i don’t wonder you want to get rid of me,” murmured the skipper sorrowfully; “how you’ve put up with me so long i don’t know. all i know is that you’ve made me feel as i’ve never done before, and i’d love to stay here and take a few lessons from you good folks how to live. but i must get back to the hog-trough again, i suppose. come along, the sooner i get aboard the better,” and he strode firmly towards the boat.
philip and his son looked at each other for a moment irresolutely, the same thought in each of their minds, should they ask him to stay and see their dear old pastor who would speak words of comfort to his tortured soul? but the time had passed, all hands were in the boat save the steersman, and philip sprang to his place while the waiting crowd ran the buoyant craft out into the foaming surf and the long oars drove her strenuously through the tormented waters, forcing her out to the smooth sea beyond. once out of the surf the rowers settled down into the long, regular swing of deep sea oarsmen, and they rapidly neared the vessel. she lay lazily rolling to the heavy swell with her mainyard to the mast, but not a sign of life about her, for all the crowd on board. but as the boat swung alongside the mate sprang on to the rail and shouted his orders, a rope was flung, the side ladder lowered and the skipper climbed aboard, saying as he did so, “come up, mr. boat-steerer, and i’ll treat ye different, see if i don’t.”
but philip gravely declined. he did not care to run any such risks, knowing from much previous experience how soon such impressions as the captain had received are apt to change with a different scene.[pg 53] and the captain did not repeat his invitation. turning to the mate he ordered all dispatch to be made in getting the stores on board, then abruptly left the side and the boat’s crew saw him no more. in a very few minutes the boat was cleared and as soon as she was empty philip shouted, “cast off that rope.” it was done and with a powerful sweep of the steer oar they swept away from the ship’s side, and shipping their oars bent to them with a will, every man of them feeling glad to put an increasing distance between them and the hive of evil they felt the ship to be.
and as they did so they saw the mainyard swing, heard the wailing cries of the sailors as they trimmed the sails to the light breeze and with a sense of utter relief watched her glide off towards the open sea. then philip raised his beautiful voice in the grand old song of satisfaction: “o god, our help in ages past,” in which his crew joined, as was their wont, in sweetest concord. by the time she reached the beach the ship was almost hull down on the horizon and never, as far as log-books or signalling stations can tell, was she reported again.
that night there was another great family gathering of the islanders, first for equitable division of the articles bought, and next for the usual thanksgiving in that they had suffered no harm at the hands of their visitors. for even these gentle, happy children of love were suspicious of all contact with the outer world, they always feared the worst, knowing how utterly foreign to their ideas of brotherly love and unity of heart were the majority of even the few people who touched at their island. how hard it is for us, who, whether we like it or not, are bound to feel doubtful of professors of christianity, when we realize the deeds and hear the words of so many of them, to[pg 54] understand the feelings of this primitive people, among whom the commandment to love one another had become an ingrained principle. many of us with the best will in the world to believe in them find ourselves saying, “ah well, they are exceptionally favoured by their situation and history. if they only lived as we do, among civilized heathen, professing to be christians and yet denying the power of god to do his will among us they would be as lukewarm and half hearted as most of us are.”
something of this kind must have entered into c. b.’s thoughts that night. for after the young ones had gone to sleep he and his father and mother sat on the stoop in front of their house discussing in their simple way the events of the day and their bearing upon what they knew of life until suddenly the young man said, “mother, sometimes i think that it’s all very well for us to be as happy and loving and fond of god as we are here where everybody is like-minded, but what if one of us should be suddenly flung out of this among people like those we’ve seen to-day? how should we stand it, do you think? i don’t quite know how to put it, but what i mean is, are we good because we are shut in with goodness and have no temptations to be had, or are we good because we really love good and hate evil? and should we be thus good if everybody around us was bad?”
his gentle mother made answer, “dear son, why worry your head about such things. if i understand god’s word at all it tells me that if i live for god and with him for the present the future has nothing to do with me. but i believe that wherever he puts me he will provide me with grace to meet every form of evil. i do not find, though, that if i go voluntarily where there is evil i get any [pg 55]promise of being made proof against it. at any rate i know that i love god and all his ways as far as i know anything, and i can’t imagine myself happy in any other condition. and i am quite content with that, blessing him for putting me where i am, in the midst of people who love him also.”
philip who had been sitting, as was usual with him when unemployed, gazing into vacancy with his thoughts far away, suddenly aroused himself and said in a dreamy voice—
“i don’t believe that all the people who don’t know god are unhappy, but i’m sure that most of them are, judging from those i’ve mixed with on my travels. and i’m quite sure that if people were taught in christian lands as we are here, if they were brought up to look upon god as a personal friend always near, and one that no one who knows him could be afraid of, there would be an enormous number of people more loving him and knowing him than there are. i kept my eyes open and listened also while i was in america and australia, and i went to all sorts of places where they said god was worshipped, and i got entirely bewildered.
“for it seemed to me that what they called religion was a thing which hadn’t anything to do with their lives at all. they went to church or chapel or meeting on sundays, and said so many prayers or listened to what the preacher had to say, not at all because they loved god, but because they thought that if they didn’t do these things they would be punished for ever and ever by being in a place called hell, always burning and never burnt up. as for loving god as a man loves a good father or mother, or loving jesus as one loves a dear elder brother who has always been our ideal man since we were toddlers, the thing didn’t seem to strike them in any way.[pg 56] and in some of the churches i went into i could hardly help laughing, it all seemed so funny, all a big show to please god who made all the glorious world we live in and the wonders in heaven above. when i asked them if they thought god minded how they dressed or walked or smelt (i didn’t like the smoky smelly stuff at all), they got angry and said i was an ignorant heathen, which of course didn’t hurt me a bit because i knew i wasn’t. but i did try to show them in the bible how plainly god had said as to little toddling children that all this outward show was of no value in his sight, that it was the heart and life that really mattered. only they said then that i was so stupid it was waste of time arguing with me.”
c. b. did not remember ever having heard his father talk for so long a time without stopping before, and he was tremendously impressed by what he had heard. nevertheless, there was a growing, deepening desire in his mind to go and see this curious world, to test the reality of his own love of god in contact with the extraordinary conditions which his father said obtained in the great struggling masses of people who belonged to professedly christian countries. he felt, in fact, like the inhabitant of another planet in the old story who was smitten with a strong desire to come to earth and see for himself whether what he had heard was true, and if there were even stranger things to be found in this wonderful little world than he had heard of.
no word of this growing craving escaped the young man, but daily, almost hourly, in the midst of his simple toils, he thought over the possibilities of his getting personally acquainted with the outside world, until the longing to do so was the strongest factor in his life. he grew graver, more self-centred, and all[pg 57] his intimates noticed it, for it was so complete a change from his previous liveliness. still, nobody mentioned the matter to him, none felt it their business to interfere with him, more especially as he was if anything more energetic than ever in performing his share of the work, and if it may be said, where all alike were kind and unselfish, was more thoughtful of others than ever he had been.
so the days and weeks and months glided away in most uneventful fashion among the happy islanders. there were births hailed with decorous joy and earnest praise for god’s good gifts, two or three deaths, met by all as the natural termination of an earthly probation and the commencement of real life. as such these events were no occasions for wild outbursts of grief. tears were shed of course when the bereaved ones remembered that in this life the dear companion would be seen no more, but these were speedily dried at the thought of the short time which would pass before reunion came, and then separation would be an impossibility. for these people, strange as it may seem to us, acted as if what they believed were real to them, and not some cunningly devised fable, in which they had to profess belief in order to hoodwink god into letting them into heaven. a heaven, by the way, which they believed to be a glorified earth wherein there should be no physical, moral, or mental evil.
for of all three of these, although they themselves were in so wonderful a measure free from them, they had experience from without. as, for instance, when one day after a long spell of perfect peace, not a sail being sighted nor any whaling done, the lookout man on the cliff reported something in the offing, either a dead whale, a boat, or a piece of wreckage. in any case something quite well worth while[pg 58] investigating, and so a boat with c. b. as boat steerer put off to see what the waif might be. it was an hour’s strenuous pull before they reached the object, but some time before c. b.’s eyes had made it out to be a boat, apparently derelict.
but when they drew up alongside of the wanderer a simultaneous groan of pity burst from them, for the sight they saw chilled their blood. there were four ghastly objects lying across the thwarts that had once been men but now looked like mummified corpses. burnt black by the sun, every bone showing clearly beneath the strained withered skin, hair and beards like weeds, and lying in the bottom of the boat sundry awful fragments of humanity that told their own horrible tale of cannibalism. and a foul stench arose from the boat which befouled the pure air and made the visitors feel deathly sick.
it was no time, however, to give way to any weakness of that sort, especially as they had nothing with them in the way of restoratives, supposing that any life remained in these pitiful relics of human beings. so they made the strange boat fast to their own, and turning shoreward laid to their oars with all their might. fortunately it was an almost perfectly calm day, so that the passage through the breakers was accomplished with little difficulty, and when they reached the beach there were scores of willing hands ready to help. they lifted the poor wrecks ashore tenderly, finding that two of them still breathed, and immediately carried them off to where hot milk and the juice of fresh fruit could be administered to them. very gently and patiently they strove to coax back the fast departing life into those frail bundles of bones, and were at last rewarded by hearing some words in a tongue that none[pg 59] of them could understand issuing from the cracked lips of one of the men.
their curiosity was restrained, however, by the absolute necessity of keeping the poor creatures quiet if the flickering sparks of life were to be kept glowing, and presently they were delighted by seeing both the rescued ones fall into a deep sleep. then they turned their attention to the burial of the dead in their little graveyard with all the sweet and simple solemnity they used in their own interments. but the dreadful evidences of cannibalism in the boat could not be forgotten, much as they tried to excuse and extenuate, for all of them felt that nothing would ever have induced them to act in the same manner. still, these children of peace would not condemn, despite their horror, and their pity was immense.
long and earnest were the consultations and speculations on the circumstances which had led to the casting away of these poor waifs, but when the time had come for retiring for the night only one possible solution of the mystery had been arrived at—that these were survivors of some terrible shipwreck, and all thanked god that such a frightful experience had never been theirs. and so in this good and peaceful atmosphere of peace and love the little community went to their happy rest.