In the Eastern Seas Part 20

"No, no, no!" answered the stranger; "I have no wife; and as for my children, I cannot say that you would consider them as such. Probably, however, you heard the voices of my family as you pa.s.sed my house."

"Ho, ho! all those birds and beasts, you mean, friend!" said Tarbox.

"Well, as to that, as we have a gentleman on board, the owner of the brig, who has a fancy that way, I do not think he will refuse to have as many as the craft will hold. But it will take some little time, I suspect, to build houses for them; for I suppose they are not tame enough to be allowed to run at liberty about the decks?"

"Not exactly," answered the stranger. "Some of them have rather quarrelsome dispositions, and they would be apt to fall out with each other, and perhaps with the crew. However, a considerable number are turned into mummies, though they fill somewhat large cages altogether; and as I have spent so much of my time in collecting them, I have no intention of leaving them behind. If you can take them, I will go with you; but if not, I must get you to send another vessel to bring me off.

The craft which brought me here must either have been lost in a typhoon or destroyed by pirates, for she did not return at the time appointed; and after waiting month after month, and year after year, I almost gave up all hopes of again seeing a civilised man. I have had visitors, to be sure, on the island; but I did not like their looks, as I thought they were more likely to stick their krisses into me than to carry me away to a civilised place; and therefore I had to keep out of sight.

Still, at last I began to regret not being able to exhibit my treasures to my fellow-men capable of appreciating them; and so I rigged that flagstaff you saw, and hoisted a flag as a signal to any pa.s.sing vessel to put in here. However, most craft, I suppose, keep either along further to the southward, or else to the north of this island; and though I have seen a few pa.s.sing in the horizon, none have come near enough to distinguish my signal."

From the way the stranger spoke, I saw at once that he was a man of superior education, in spite of his strange costume.

"Perhaps, sir," I said, "you would like to come on board and see the owner, Mr Hooker. I am sure he would be delighted to do what he can to a.s.sist you."

"Hooker!" he exclaimed. "Hooker, did you say, young man? Of course I will. If he is the Hooker I know--and from what you say about him, I have little doubt about the matter--I shall be delighted to see him; and I am very sure he will do all he can to a.s.sist me.--Stay, however," he said. "If you will wait a little while, I will accompany you. I must, however, first feed my family, as I may be absent for some time, and they are not accustomed to go without their provisions."

The noise as we pa.s.sed the house had been considerable. As the stranger approached it, however, the cries with which his feathered and four-footed friends greeted him were almost deafening. I might have added, no-footed friends, for he had huge pythons, and snakes of all sorts;--tigers, and other wild beasts; and birds, from long-legged storks down to the smallest of the feathered tribes. He and his man Friday were occupied some time in feeding all these numerous creatures, according to their respective wants. They all appeared to know him, and acknowledge him as their master; and he must have employed considerable time in taming many of them. I will describe them by-and-by.

At length the operation of feeding them was over, and he expressed himself ready to accompany us to the boat. He addressed a few words to his man, Tanda, he called him, adding, as he walked away,--"Don't fear, my lad; I am not going to desert you.--He does not understand that, by the by;" and, turning round again, he spoke to the man in a strange language. He put up his hand to look at the brig. "Well," he said, as he stepped into the boat, "I scarcely expected ever to see a European vessel come near this island."

All hands able to appear on deck were collected at the gangway to gaze at us as we approached. They certainly did regard our companion with looks of astonishment as he stepped up the side.

"Mr Hooker is below, sir," I said. "I will let him know that you are here."

I ran down into the cabin, eager to give the intelligence to my friend.

"He did not give his name," I answered; "but he said he was an old friend of yours."

"An old friend of mine out here? Can it possibly be--and yet I think it must. Beg him to come down. Oh! how I wish I was able to go on sh.o.r.e and help him to get off his valuables! Strange! that is strange!" I heard him say as I left the cabin.

I found the stranger in conversation with Emily and Grace, with whom he seemed greatly interested. He was patting Emily's cheek, and looking with an inquiring glance into her face, when I appeared.

Mr Hooker endeavoured to rise from his chair when the stranger entered.

"Is it possible?" he exclaimed, holding out both his hands.

"Hooker," exclaimed the stranger, "I know you!"

"And Sedgwick," answered the other, "in your somewhat out-of-the-way garb, I know you still, my friend--my master in science--my instructor in knowledge--"

The two friends eagerly shook hands, the stranger sinking down into a chair, and looking eagerly into Mr Hooker's face.

"You will recover, never fear--you will recover," he exclaimed. "You have had a touch of jungle fever; and if you can get on sh.o.r.e for a few days, and live in the open air, instead of in this confined cabin, you will quickly pick up your strength. But, Hooker, I had no idea you were married. Are these young people on board your children? and the lady on deck there, is she your wife?"

"No, no, no," answered Mr Hooker. "The old Dutchwoman is the young girls' governante. And it is extraordinary! Can you think who those children are?"

"Had I not seen the girl I might have been puzzled; for I cannot conjecture what has brought them out here," and he turned round and looked at me. "Yes; I recognise his father too.--Is your father out in these parts?" he asked.

"No, sir," I answered. "They are both dead."

"Both dead, did you say? Your mother dead? For her sake I chiefly longed to return to England; and she gone, boy! Do you know who I am?

I am your uncle! Did you ever hear of your uncle, Tom Sedgwick, the naturalist?"

"Indeed I have," I answered. "And I heard that he had gone away, long ago, to the Eastern Seas, and was supposed to have lost his life."

"That was but natural enough, as I did not appear," answered Mr Sedgwick. "But it is very wonderful that you should have come to the very place where I have been so long living apart from my fellow-creatures. And your sister, what is her name?"

I told him.

"And the other little girl, is she a relation? for I have no difficulty in distinguis.h.i.+ng which is my niece."

"No; she is Captain Davenport's daughter," I answered.

"A nice, pretty little girl. But Emily--I must see Emily again."

I ran to call her. She came down trembling; for she had often heard our mother speak of our uncle, and for her sake had longed to see him. Mr Sedgwick pressed her fondly in his arms.

"Yes, you are the very image of your mother," he said, looking in her face again and again.

Thus, for some time, we sat talking of the past, rather than the present.

"Well, Hooker!" he exclaimed at last, "I wish you were on sh.o.r.e. We must see how you are by to-morrow or next day; and, in the meantime, we must get these young people and their worthy nurse to come to my house and see my wonders. I can easily manage to find accommodation for them; for I built it originally in the expectation of having some companions.

Walter, you will accompany them, as I suppose, Hooker, you can spare him?"

"I have no doubt my skipper can do without him," answered Mr Hooker; "though, I can tell you, he is of no little importance on board, as he acts the part of mate; and a very good seaman he is, too, for his age, and the time he has been at sea."

I asked Mr Hooker if Oliver could accompany us, as I knew he could be spared. "And Merlin too. The old fellow will like a run on sh.o.r.e; and you will let him come also," I said, turning to my uncle.

"He looks too wise an animal to quarrel with any of my friends," he observed; "and I shall be very glad to see him."

Frau Ursula and the young ladies quickly got ready a few things to take on sh.o.r.e. Evening was approaching. However, the old friends had a good deal to talk about before we shoved off. In a short time, we were pretty well at our ease with Mr Sedgwick; and the girls looked forward with delight to the wonders they hoped to see on the island.

We landed at a rather more convenient spot, which Mr Sedgwick pointed out. Roger Trew, who had leave to remain on sh.o.r.e, a.s.sisted in carrying up the beds for the ladies; while Oliver and I took charge of the other articles they required. The boat then pulled back to the brig. The moment Merlin landed he scampered off along the sh.o.r.e, bounding and gambolling just like a young dog, so delighted did he appear to be able to stretch his legs. He then came up to me, and licking my hand, followed close at my heels.

"I do not quite like the look of the weather," observed Mr Sedgwick, glancing back at the sea. "I wish I had told them on board the brig to get out another anchor; or it might have been safer, to be sure, to stand out into the offing. Stay; there will be no harm in giving them a caution."

He went back to the beach and hailed; but the boat was already at a considerable distance, and Tarbox did not appear to hear him.

"Well, I hope it is all right," he observed. "I have often seen this weather, and nothing has come of it. At the same time, it generally looks like this just before a heavy gale; and this open bay is not a good place for a vessel to be caught in when it blows hard."

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

SEDGWICK ISLAND AND ITS WONDERS.

Our uncle introduced us to his house with evident pride. He and his man Tanda had bestowed a great deal of pains on it. It was constructed entirely after the Malay fas.h.i.+on--of wood, bamboo, and matting, though raised higher off the ground than the Malays are accustomed to build theirs. The floors were of split bamboo, sufficiently strong to bear a person's weight, and yet giving a pleasant spring as we pa.s.sed over them. They were kept in their place by long strips of ratan, pa.s.sed transversely between them, much in the way of a cane-bottom chair. Over these mats were spread--not so neatly made, perhaps, as those employed by the wealthy Malays, but still very well done. The walls were made of the palm-leaves which I have before described, fixed in panels, very neat and pleasing to the eye, and perfectly weather-tight. The roof was high pitched, and had broad overhanging eaves, giving it very much the appearance of a Swiss cottage. A broad verandah ran round each side of the house, the rooms opening into it. They were divided from each other by thick mats stretched from the ceiling to the floor, and could be lifted up at pleasure to allow the air to circulate in every direction.

It would have been impossible to build with the materials at hand an abode better suited to the purpose.

"Here, Frau, you and your young ladies shall occupy these two apartments," said my uncle to Frau Ursula, who stood smiling from ear to ear at the polite way in which he addressed her. "You shall have bedsteads brought in directly; and I must leave you to arrange them, while Tanda and I get supper ready. The lads here and the sailor will no doubt a.s.sist us."