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- Herausgeber: LVL Editions
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
It was night at Tahiti, in the Society Islands. The trade-wind had died away, and a bright flood of shimmering moonlight poured down upon the slumbering waters of a little harbour a few miles distant from Matavai Bay, and the white curve or beach that fringed the darkened line of palms shone and glistened like a belt of ivory under the effulgence of its rays. For nearly half a mile the broad sweep of dazzling sand showed no interruption nor break upon its surface save at one spot; there it ran out into a long narrow point, on which, under a small cluster of graceful cocos, growing almost at the water's edge, a canoe was drawn up. Seated upon the platform of the outrigger, and conversing in low tones, were a man and woman. The man was an European, dressed in the uniform of a junior naval officer at the end of the last century. He was of medium height, with a dark, gipsy-like complexion and wavy brown hair, and as he drew the woman's face to him and kissed her, her skin showed not so dark as his. The woman, or rather girl, was a pure-blooded native, wearing only the island pareu of tappa cloth about her loins and a snow-white teputa or poncho of the same material over her gracefully-rounded shoulders. The white man's right arm was round her waist, she held his left hand in hers, and with her head against his bosom looked up into his face with all the passionate ardour of a woman who loves. For a few moments the man ceased speaking and looked anxiously over his shoulder at a number of white tents, pitched in a grove of breadfruit trees some few hundred yards away. As he looked, the moonlight shone upon the musket barrel of a sentry, whose head could just be discerned above the beach as he paced slowly to and fro before the tents. Bending her head of wavy, glossy black hair, the girl pressed her lips softly upon the white man's hand, and raising her face again, her eyes followed his, and as she noticed his intent look, a curious, alarmed expression came into her own lustrous orbs. "What is it?" she murmured. "Does the soldier see us?" The man smiled reassuringly and shook his head; then still clasping the girl's waist within his arm, he gazed earnestly into her beautiful face and sighed and muttered to himself.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
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Table of contents
PART I
Chapter I The Heart of a Savage
Chapter II The Cutting of the Cable
Chapter III White Men and Brown Women
Chapter IV The First Sailing of the "Bounty"
Chapter V The Last Straw
Chapter VI The Rubicon
Chapter VII Mutiny
Chapter VIII "Hurrah for Tahiti!"
Chapter IX The Council in the Cabin
Chapter X Pipiri the Areoi
Chapter XI Together Again
Chapter XII The End of Pipiri
Chapter XIII Farewell to Tubuai
Chapter XIV The Last Sailing of the "Bounty"
PART II
Chapter XV The Search for a Resting-Place
Chapter XVI The Flight of the Kanápu
Chapter XVII The Story of Afita
Chapter XVIII Bounty Bay
Chapter XIX Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water
Chapter XX Mahina's First-Born
Chapter XXI The First to Die
Chapter XXII A Loyal Friend
Chapter XXIII The Oppressor
Chapter XXIV The Quarrel
Chapter XXV The Revolt of Talalu
Chapter XXVI Nahi's Message
Chapter XXVII Alrema's Song
Chapter XXVIII "His Heart's Desire"
Chapter XXIX The Tongue of a Woman
Chapter XXX After the Storm
Chapter XXXI "Mine the Hand!"
Chapter XXXII Nahi's Revenge
Chapter XXXIII The Brew of Death
Chapter XXXIV "Try to Forget the Past"
Chapter XXXV The Last Shot on Afita.
PART I
Chapter I The Heart of a Savage
IT was night at Tahiti, in the Society Islands. The trade-wind had died away, and a bright flood of shimmering moonlight poured down upon the slumbering waters of a little harbour a few miles distant from Matavai Bay, and the white curve or beach that fringed the darkened line of palms shone and glistened like a belt of ivory under the effulgence of its rays. For nearly half a mile the broad sweep of dazzling sand showed no interruption nor break upon its surface save at one spot; there it ran out into a long narrow point, on which, under a small cluster of graceful cocos, growing almost at the water's edge, a canoe was drawn up.
Seated upon the platform of the outrigger, and conversing in low tones, were a man and woman.
The man was an European, dressed in the uniform of a junior naval officer at the end of the last century. He was of medium height, with a dark, gipsy-like complexion and wavy brown hair, and as he drew the woman's face to him and kissed her, her skin showed not so dark as his.
The woman, or rather girl, was a pure-blooded native, wearing only the island pareu of tappa cloth about her loins and a snow-white teputa or poncho of the same material over her gracefully-rounded shoulders. The white man's right arm was round her waist, she held his left hand in hers, and with her head against his bosom looked up into his face with all the passionate ardour of a woman who loves.
For a few moments the man ceased speaking and looked anxiously over his shoulder at a number of white tents, pitched in a grove of breadfruit trees some few hundred yards away.
As he looked, the moonlight shone upon the musket barrel of a sentry, whose head could just be discerned above the beach as he paced slowly to and fro before the tents.
Bending her head of wavy, glossy black hair, the girl pressed her lips softly upon the white man's hand, and raising her face again, her eyes followed his, and as she noticed his intent look, a curious, alarmed expression came into her own lustrous orbs.
"What is it?" she murmured. "Does the soldier see us?"
The man smiled reassuringly and shook his head; then still clasping the girl's waist within his arm, he gazed earnestly into her beautiful face and sighed and muttered to himself.
"Mahina," he said hesitatingly in the Tahitian tongue and speaking very softly, "you are a beautiful woman."
The girl's lips parted in a tender smile, her eyes glowed with a soft, happy light, and again she took his hand in hers and kissed it passionately.
"My white lover," she murmured, "would that I could tell thee in thine own tongue how I love thee. But the language of Peretane is hard to the lips of us of Tahiti; yet, in a little time, when thou hast learned mine, thou wilt know all the great love that is in my heart for thee, and then thou shalt tell me all that is in thine for me."
The man drew her slender figure to his bosom again; although he spoke her tongue but indifferently and she knew little of his, the ardent love which shone in her eyes and illumined her whole face, made her meaning plain enough. For a minute or so he remained silent, then again the girl's eyes sought his and her hand trembled as she noted the troubled, anxious look deepening upon his features.
"Kirisiani," she said, stroking his sun-bronzed cheek, "what is in thy mind to make this cloud come to thine eyes?"
"Mahina," he answered in English, "the time is near now for us to part"; then seeing that the girl did not quite comprehend, he repeated his words in the native language.
"And wilt thou leave me who loveth thee, to sail away with the white Arii, thy enemy?"
"How can I help it? Am I not the King's officer? Did I yield to my love for thee and let the ship sail without me, then in mine own land I should be held up to scorn as a false man, and those of my name would be shamed."
The girl slowly bent her head and put her hands over her face; then came a sudden, silent gush of tears. For a while she sobbed softly, as only women sob when some bright dream of love and happiness passes away for ever. Then with a quick movement she freed herself from the man's encircling arms, flung herself upon her knees on the sand, raised her tear-dimmed, starlike eyes to his, and spoke.
"Yet thou knowest we love thee; and if thou wilt remain with us my people will take thee to their hearts, and thou shalt become a chief among us. For see, I, Mahina, am of good blood, and there is no other woman in the land that loves thee as I do. And thou shalt have as many slaves as Tina, our chief, and like him, be carried upon men's shoulders wherever thou goest, so that thy feet shall not touch the ground."
The man took her hands from his knees and, passing his arms around her, tenderly lifted her up to her seat again. Then with his forehead resting upon his hand he sat and thought.
"No, Mahina. It cannot be as thou desirest; for I am the King's servant, an Arii, and it would be death to me were I to yield to my love for thee and flee from the ship like one of the common sailors. Some day I may return--when I am no longer serving in a King's ship."
He was on the point of rising and bidding her return to her home in the native village which lay some distance back from the cluster of tents, when she sprang to her feet and stood before him with one hand pressed to her panting bosom.
Barely eighteen years of age, her tall, slender figure, as she stood in the flood of moonlight, showed all the grace and beauty of perfect womanhood. Unlike the generality of the Polynesian women (who possess in their youth a faultless symmetry of figure rivalled by no other race in the world, yet too often have somewhat flattened faces), her features were absolutely perfect in their oval regularity and beauty, and through the olive skin of her cheek there now glowed a dusky red, and her lover saw that her frame was shaking with over-mastering passion as she strove to speak. Only once before had Fletcher Christian seen her look like this--when some of her girlish companions had coupled his name with that of Nuia, the sister of Tina, the chief.
"Mahina," said her lover, stepping forward and essaying to take her hand.
She drew quickly back, and made an almost threatening gesture.
Christian paused irresolutely, for the look of scorn and fury in the girl's eyes daunted and shamed him. Then he spoke.
"Mahina, this is folly. Why art thou so angered with me?"
"Thou false white man!" she answered, and the strange, hoarse break in her young voice startled him--its melody and sweetness were changed into the jarring accents of rage and wounded pride; "touch me no more," and here a quick, sobbing note sounded in her throat. "Am I nothing to thee? Is all my beauty so soon dead to thee, and wilt thou put such shame upon me?"
"Nay, Mahina, but listen--"
"Why should I listen to thee, now that thou art about to cast me off? Dost thou think that I am a Tahitian woman, to be played with till thou hast tired of me; and then be given, with a laugh, to some other white man on the ship--as I have seen done? Did I not tell thee once that though I was born in this land of Tahiti my mother's mother came from the far distant island of Afita--the island that springs up like a steep rock from the blue depths of the unknown sea? And by her was my mother taught to despise these dog-eaters of Tahiti; and as my mother was taught, so she taught me."
For the hundredth time since he had fallen under the spell of the girl's beauty and succumbed to the witchery of her ways and to the sound of her melting voice, her white lover again felt that her presence would overcome his resolution to part with her and return to his hateful duty; and for the hundredth time he struggled to resist a fascination he knew was fatal. So, not daring to look into the danger- depths of her now tear-dimmed eyes, he spoke again with seeming calm, but yet his face paled and flushed and paled again at the sound of his own cold words. He loved her, he said, but how could he escape from the ship? The punishment would be death.
"Death," she said; "nay, not so, my lover, but life for us both. Listen to me, and I will show thee that we shall never part again. And heed not the hot words of anger that leapt from my heart"; and then with all the eloquence of her passionate nature she unfolded to him a plan of escape, and as she spoke her eyes and hands and lips came to the aid of her soft, low voice.
"Mahina," and he turned from her abruptly and walked to and fro upon the sand, with working face and clenched hands, "let this end, girl; I cannot do as you wish."
"Ah," and again the tender voice became harsh and the red spark came into the dark eyes, "then there is some painted woman in thine own land whom thou lovest--a woman such as is she whom we saw on the ship--and it is for her thou hast cast me off."
"Why, you pretty fool," said the man in English, with a laugh, as he took her hand, "are you like your mother--offended at a silly jest? Did not you cry with the other girls, 'Huaheine no Peretane maitai,' and when you were told that it was but a figure of wax did you not laugh with them?"
"Ay," replied the girl, and her voice had a sullen tone, "but how know I that this image, which thou sayest was made by one of the sailors of the ship, is not the image of one thou lovest in Peretane? And my mother hath told me that this image of the woman with the hair like the sun and eyes like the ocean blue is carried on the ship as a spell to keep the white men's hearts hard to us women of Tahiti."
"Nay," said the man, in Tahitian, "I tell thee no lies, Mahina; 'twas but a silly jest of the sailors. The thing was the waxen head and shoulders of a woman, and the sailors, to make the people laugh, made unto it a body and wrapped it in garments and made pretence that it was an Englishwoman. Thy countrymen knew it was but a jest--but thy mother, who, lacking keen vision, for she is old, was foolish enough to believe in it; so when she placed presents of mats and food at its feet, all who saw laughed at her; and because she was angered at this hath she told thee this silly tale."
"Then, if the thing lives not, how is it that the man who showed it to our people carries it with him?"
"Thou silly little one! know that in my country there be men who are workers and dressers of men's and women's hair, and such images as that which thou hast seen are placed outside their dwellings so that men may know their trade. And this man on the ship dresses and curls and whitens the false heads of hair that some of us wear by placing them on the head of the image--for then is his task easy."
"Ah," she said in a whisper, "forgive me; but tell me that thou wilt not leave me."
"No, no, Mahina, tempt me not again; it cannot be. Good-night. Go to thy mother's house--and try to forget me." Then, not daring to look into her agonised face, he hurriedly embraced her and walked quickly towards the tents.
"Go," said the girl, as she sank down with her black mantle of hair falling over her shoulders, "go, then, and see Mahina no more. It is because I am not white that thou leavest me here with hunger in my heart for thee." And as she heard the sound of his footsteps over the loose pebbles some distance away, followed by the sentry's challenge, she lay prone upon the sand and wet it with a flood of anguished tears.
* * * * *
Chapter II The Cutting of the Cable
SCARCE two cables' lengths away from the dark fringe of palms which lined the white, shimmering beach, the Bounty lay motionless upon the placid, reef-sheltered waters of the quiet little bay, her hempen cable hanging straight up and down from hawse-pipe to anchor, fifteen fathoms below her forefoot. From the cabin windows a light in the captain's berth shot a dulled gleam upon the darkened water under her cumbrous stern, which the bright rays of moonlight had not yet touched, for though the moon was full it was not high, and the ship lay head to the south-eastward, with her bows toward the verdured slopes of Orohena Mountain, whose mist-capped summit towered seven thousand feet to the sky. Aloft, the ship's black spars stood silhouetted against the snow-white canvas bent in readiness for her departure; for in a day or two her long stay at Tahiti would come to an end, and the bows of the little barque would be turned southward for her voyage to the West Indies.
In the great cabin, the chief entrance to which was from the main deck, the moon--rays sent a stream of light through the open doors, and showed a strange sight to see on shipboard.
Instead of being fitted up like a King's ship, or indeed as a merchantman, the whole cabin space was filled with young breadfruit plants. Reaching fore and aft from the cabin doors to the transoms were five tiers of stout shelving, built to receive the pots in which the plants were placed; while sloping upwards towards the after part of the quarter deck from the transoms themselves were five tiers more. Nearly all the plants were fully-leaved, and a stray moonbeam now and then pierced its way through them to strike against and illumine the dark mahogany doors of the rooms on either side of this strangely furnished cabin.
Nearly nine months before, the Bounty, of 215 tons burden, had left Spithead for Tahiti under the command of Lieutenant William Bligh, who had been sailing--master with the great navigator Cook in the Resolution. The ship which Bligh now commanded was specially fitted to convey specimens of the breadfruit tree from Tahiti--the Otaheite of Cook--to the West Indies, in the hope that the tree would there take root and flourish and furnish as bountiful a food supply to the negroes of those islands as it did to the light, copper-coloured people of the isles of the Pacific.
Of the forty-six persons who sailed from Spithead in the Bounty, all, save Fletcher Christian, the senior master's mate, and a guard of four men who were on shore, were at that moment on board; and all, except the anchor watch, were deep in slumber.
Walking to and fro on the forepart of the upper deck was Edward Young, a square-built, dark-complexioned man of twenty-two, and midshipman in charge of the watch. For nearly an hour he had thus paced the deck, glancing now at cloud--capped Orohena, six miles away, and now at the white tents of the shore party with the dark figure of the sentry in the foreground. Presently he stopped and looked intently towards another part of the beach where, an hour before, he had seen two figures seated upon a canoe which was drawn up on the hard, white sand; they were gone, but his quick eye discerned the smaller of the two disappear among the coconut groves towards the village of Papawa, while the taller person walked quickly over to the largest of the four tents and entered it.
"Ah," he said to himself, and an amused smile flitted over his sallow features, "Master Fletcher and Mahina, as I thought. He's badly love-smitten with that girl...no wonder he doesn't grumble at doing duty over the breadfruit plants on shore, with such a woman as that to sit by his side and charm him with her sweet prattle... Better to be at that than doing this cursed dog-trot up and down in the moonlight...and yet 'tis dangerous...aye, as dangerous for him as it is for me to linger among these people so long."
He sighed, and then baring his left arm, looked at a name tatooed upon it lengthwise; then with an angry gesture of contempt, pulled down his sleeve, and resumed his walk to and fro.
"Dangerous! Aye, indeed it is! Else why should I, a King's officer, and as proud a man as Fletcher Christian--whom I call a fool--commit such folly as this? What would my fine uncle say did he know that I had gone so far as to promise this girl, whose name is on my arm, never to leave her. And though I do leave her, is it less dishonourable for me to beguile her with lies because my skin is white and hers is brown? Well, in a week or so, poor Alrema will have to learn to forget me."
A cool breath of air touched his cheek, and looking shoreward he saw the plumèd palm-tops swaying gently to and fro; then again a smart puff rippled the glassy surface of the water between the ship and the shore and swept seaward; and Young saw the black wall of a rain squall come fleeting down from the dark shadow of the mountain.
Calling to the watch to stand-by, the young officer picked up his oil-skin, which one of the men brought him, put it on, and waited for the squall to strike the ship. Quickly it loomed down upon the line of palms, the black cloud paling to a misty white as it drew nearer; then it rustled, then fiercely shook the waving branches and drenched them with an ice-cold shower ere it hummed and whistled through the Bounty's cordage and sent her sharply astern, to tauten up her cable as rigid as an iron bar.
"Pretty stiff while it lasts, Tom," said one of the anchor watch to a messmate, as, ten minutes afterwards, the tail end of the squall passed and the bright moonlight again played upon the soaking decks. "Damme, but I'd like to see a stiffer one come along and part the cable, eh?"
As the droning hum of the squall ceased and the palm branches hung pendulous to rest again, a woman, nude, except for the narrow girdle of leaves around her waist, raised herself from the foot of a coconut tree behind which she had crouched, and looked at the ship. In her right hand was an open clasp knife. She leant her back against the tree and gazed steadily at the Bounty for nearly a minute, then with an angry exclamation cast the knife from her into the sea.
"Fool that I was! Why did I not cut the rope through? Even though the young Arii had seen me he would not have raised his hand to harm me, for he too would gladly see the ship cast away and broken upon the reef, so that he need not leave my cousin Alrema."
An hour later, when daylight broke, Edward Young, after calling the ship's company, again went to the bows to take a look at the cable. It was his last duty before reporting to his relief that all was well, and then turning in. As he peered over the low bows of the vessel he saw the hemp cable stretching away down into the clear depths of the calm water. In a moment his sailor's eye saw that all the strands of the cable but one were parted.
His sallow face turned white, then flushed again, and quickly walking aft he knocked at the door of the state room occupied by Lieutenant William Bligh.
"Who is it?" inquired a sharp, imperious voice; then ere the young man had given his name the cabin door opened and a man of medium height, little more than thirty years old, stood facing the midshipman. His features were clear cut and refined and of singular whiteness--remarkable in one whose occupation was the sea--and his complexion contrasted strikingly with the jet black of his hair.
"The cable is nearly chafed through, sir, or the strands have parted. There was a strong squall just before daylight and the ship strained very heavily upon it. I think--"
"Keep your opinions to yourself. You are a damned careless fellow, and not fit even to keep anchor watch. Where is it chafed?"
"About a fathom below the water, sir," answered the young man with an unsteady voice and an angry gleam in his dark eyes. "When I looked just now it was tautened out, and I saw that only one strand remained."
"Bah," said the commander with a contemptuous laugh; "and you have the audacity to attempt to screen your carelessness by telling me it has chafed--a couple of fathoms down from the hawse-pipe and in fifteen fathoms of water! The fact is, some of the natives have been off in a canoe and cut it under your nose. You ought to have prevented it. Were you asleep on your watch, Mr. Young? Answer me quickly."
"I was not, sir," answered the young man quietly, steadying his voice; "and I will swear that no canoe has come near the ship since I took charge of the deck. I believe she brought up to her anchor so suddenly during the squall that the jerk caused the cable to part."
"That will do. I will see to this matter myself. You are all alike-- every one of you. There is not an officer in the ship that I can trust. Order my boat away."
The angry, red flush in the commander's pale cheeks and the steady glitter in his light blue eyes boded ill to the young officer, whose own dark features were dyed deep with repressed passion; but by a powerful effort he overcame the desire to hurl back his superior officer's taunts, and saluting the captain with a hand which trembled with rage, he withdrew.
In a quarter of an hour Bligh stepped out of his boat on to the beach. Before he had walked a dozen paces he was met with smiles of welcome by Moana and Tina, two of the leading chiefs, as had ever been the case during the many weeks of the Bounty's stay at the island.
But instead of the outstretched hand of friendship the angry officer gave them but a cold inclination of his head, and passed them by. At the entrance to the principal tent stood Fletcher Christian, who saluted as the commander approached.
"Mr. Christian," and the moment the master's mate heard the sharp, fierce ring in his captain's tones, his jaw set firmly and his eye looked steadily into Bligh's, "Mr. Christian, the cable has been cut. Most providentially, however, despite the criminal negligence of Mr. Young, the officer of the watch, one strand was not severed. That, fortunately, held the ship; otherwise she would now be lying on the reef. I am determined that the culprit shall be found and made an example of--as, by God! he shall."
"Very good, sir. Shall I send word for Tina and the other chiefs to come to you?"
"Why so, sir? What reason have you to jump to the conclusion that this piece of villainy is the work of the natives?"
"I cannot imagine, sir, who else should be suspected."
"That is a matter of opinion. I have mine. But as you have made the suggestion I will at least put your uncalled-for suspicions to the test of investigation."
"Pardon me, sir--" began Christian, when Bligh cut him short with an imperious gesture.
"Send for Tina."
In another minute a tall, stout, but handsome native whose speaking countenance expressed the most timid deference and respect, joined the captain and Christian.
"Tina," said Bligh, fixing his keen eyes upon the chief's face, which already showed the deepest concern, "what does this mean? My ship's cable has been cut. Some of your people have done it. Let them be found instantly."
Like the simple child of nature that he was, the chief clasped his hands beseechingly together, and the quick tears welled up into his dark eyes ere he could speak.
"What man is there of mine, oh friend of Tuti and friend of Tina, who would do thee or thine such wrong as this?" and then with the utmost distress depicted on his face he beckoned to him a fine, handsome woman of about thirty, and hurriedly spoke a few words to her. As she quickly walked away to do his bidding, he turned to Bligh, and in pleading accents besought him to wait a little till his wife Aitia returned.
The captain of the Bounty nodded, seated himself upon a stool which the sentry brought to him, and waited. The chief's house was but a short distance from the tents and soon the woman returned carrying with her a framed picture of a naval officer. It was a portrait of Captain Cook, painted by Webber in 1777, which the great navigator had presented to the Tahitians, and which they treated with as much reverence as if it were a god.
"See," said the chief, taking the picture from Aitia's hand, and the accents of perfect truth rang in his voice, "see, this is Tuti," and he held it out towards the two officers; "would I, Tina, whom he knew as Umu his friend, and whose eyes love to look upon this, his face which speaketh not, would I tell thee lies? Nay, oh chief, it is my mind that none of my people have done this thing; but yet who can tell the wickedness that cometh into the hearts of men at times? And so now will I speak and seek if there be a man among my people with such an evil heart, and if there be then will I myself slay him before thee, so that the bitterness that is in my heart and thine shall die away and be forgotten."
And then, before the officer could frame a reply to the chief's impassioned speech, Aitia was at his feet, the tears streaming down her face while she repeated her husband's protestations of love and affection for all who came from the land of Peretane.
The earnest manner of the chief had its effect upon the quick, impulsive temper of Bligh--a man who could change in a moment from the violence of intemperate passion to the most winning amiability of manner.
In more gentle tones he replied that he was satisfied that Tina would do his best to discover who had cut the cable, although if the culprit were found he hoped he would not go so far in punishing him as to take his life. Then he turned to Christian, and altering the suave tone in which he had addressed the chief, curtly ordered him to take the boat's crews and load the boats with plants.
Merely touching his hat, the master's mate repeated the order to the coxswain of the boat near by and turned away.
In an instant Bligh's pale cheek flushed angrily, and he sprang to his feet.
"What the devil do you mean by receiving my order in that manner? Why don't you answer me when I address you? By heavens, sir, I will teach you the respect due to your superior officer!"
Christian turned and faced him; and Bligh, hot and furious as was his mood now, could not but notice the repressed passion in his eyes and the paleness that blanched his tanned cheeks, and realise that Fletcher Christian was not a man to drive to desperation.
For a moment the younger man did not answer, then the pallor of his countenance purpled with the sudden rush of blood to his face, the thick black eyebrows came together and his forehead showed two deep furrows as he replied--and in his voice there was no attempt to disguise the bitterness of heart within him--
"I treat you, sir, with all the respect that the rules of the Service demand; with the same courtesy"--and here his tones rang with contemptuous sarcasm--"I answer you as you show to me. Nothing, sir, shall induce me to forget that I am compelled by my duty to adopt that courtesy and respect. But, sir, beyond that I will take care to be no more civil to you than your treatment of me demands or justifies."
"Beware, sir; you are treading on dangerous ground--you are mutinous! I've half a mind to make a prisoner of you and keep you under arrest until we reach England. By heavens, sir, I'll stand none of your insolence and misconduct! You and every other officer of the ship shall be brought up to the mark and learn your duties."
But the master's mate made no reply, and walked quietly away after the boat's crew; and Bligh, his frame trembling with passion, went towards the house of Tina the chief.
Aided by the willing hands of the natives, men and women, who had stood by listening with deep concern to the angry discussion between the two officers, the boats' crews soon loaded their boats, and Christian was left alone. Suddenly he felt a hand placed upon his and a voice murmured--
"Kirisiani, dost know who cut the rope?"
He started, and turned to meet the beautiful face of the girl he had talked with during the night.
"Hush, Mahina, tell me not, else must I tell his name to the captain--and that means death."
She laughed. "Thou knowest that it was I who did it. And yet tell of it if thou so desirest. What is death to me, my beloved, if thou leavest me? Listen--I will tell thee all. So that I might keep thee near me always, and my eyes look into thine, from sunrise to dark, and my hand lie in thine through the silence of the night, I swam to the ship as the wind and rain swept down from the dark valleys of Orohena, and cut the rope."
"Mahina, Mahina, 'twas well for thee that the chief of the ship is no friend of mine--even now hot words passed between us--else would I tell him 'twas thee. With us, who are servants of the King of Britain, no woman's love must count--our love to him is first of all. Forget that thou hast ever seen me."
She flung her arms round his neck and drew his face down to hers. "Thou art mine--if thou leavest in the ship then will I curse thee and die."
Ere he could say more, with an angry sob she had gone.
* * * * *
Chapter III White Men and Brown Women
TWO days had passed, and now as the departure of the ship drew near the natives redoubled their kindnesses to the Bounty's people. Christian, with his morbid mind brooding over the scene between himself and his commander, did his duty in a dull, mechanical way and scarce spoke even to Edward Young, the one man to whom his gloomy nature sometimes relaxed. The parting, too, between Mahina and himself had had its effect upon him and he now clearly saw that, untutored savage as she was, she was yet a tender, loving woman whose heart he had cruelly tortured. "But," he reasoned with himself, "it cannot be helped. She will never see me again, poor child. She will soon cast me out of her memory."
A mile or two away from where the Bounty rode at anchor, at a little village called Torea, Mahina and Nuia, the handsome sister of Tina the chief, sat together with their arms clasped round each other's waists. Mahina's eyes were wet with tears, but yet there was shining through them the light of radiant happiness.
"See, Nuia, how I have wronged thee! Always, always was my heart wrung by the idle words of those who said that Kirisiani wavered in his love between thee and me."
Nuia laughed, and her bright, starlike eyes looked honestly into those of her friend.
"It is false. True, I once coveted him; but soon I saw it was for thee alone that he cared. And then it was that Steua told me he loved me, and 'tis he alone that I care for now; and gladly will I help thee to keep thy lover, even as do I desire to keep mine. And listen now, while I tell thee how this shall be done."
Then Nuia told her friend how some of the seamen with whom the women had tender relations had declared for days their intention of deserting to the mountains and there remaining until the Bounty sailed. The women had promised to assist them, even though they knew Tina would resent the act bitterly. They trusted, however, that after Bligh was gone, the chief's love for his sister would procure their pardon. Only the previous day Nuia and Alrema and two other girls named Ohuna and Ahi, who were devoted to two seamen named Millward and Churchill, had arranged to steal the ship's cutter during the night, land some miles down the coast where they would be met by Nuia and her companions, and make their way over the mountains to Taravao--the peninsula that connects the district of Taiarapu with Tahiti. Here they were to conceal themselves till "the wrath of Tina had ceased."
"To-night, oh friend of my heart," said Nuia, placing her cheek against the bare bosom of her friend and embracing her lovingly, "this shall be done. Alrema's lover, Etuati, who hateth the chief of the ship as bitterly as does thy Kirisiani, to-night again keepeth the watch. He hath taken the hands of these men in his and sworn to turn away his face when they steal the boat; and to-night, perhaps, will my Steua escape from the ship and come to me. Then, one by one, all those of the white men that hate to leave this land of ours will hide away, and the Arii Pirai will trouble not, for in Taravao it will be hard for him to seek them?"
A fierce light shone in Mahina's eyes. "True, how could he? And yet it would please me better could I see Pirai dead. For ever is he saying bitter words to the man I love."
Nuia looked at her companion for a moment, then rose, and, going to a corner of the house, reached her hand up to the thatch; then she took down a pistol and gave it to her friend.
"See, this is the little gun that Pirai the captain gave to my brother Tina. To-night Alrema gives it to her lover, who hath sworn to kill Pirai some day for the foul words he ever gives him, even as he speaks foul words to thy lover."
Then the two girls separated--Nuia to give the pistol into Alrema's hand for Young, and Mahina to watch for her lover, should Christian come ashore in the evening.
At one o'clock next morning Edward Young was again keeping anchor watch. It was dark and rainy and no one else was to be seen on deck but the sentry--John Millward. Presently Young felt a hand on his shoulder, and heard the voice of Churchill, the ship's corporal--"Mr. Young!"
"For heaven's sake be careful, Churchill! Are you all ready?"
"Yes, we've got the second cutter alongside. Muspratt is in her. We've eight muskets and six bags of powder and ball. Five of the muskets and some ammunition will be hidden by Alrema, who will be watching for you to escape. Why don't you come now, sir? There are half a dozen others ready to do so!"
"No, no, not now. I must get away alone. Alrema will let you know when."
"Goodbye, sir," whispered Churchill.
The midshipman pressed his hand, and the corporal stepped softly along the deck, till he reached the spot where Millward the sentry stood, peering anxiously out into the gloom which enveloped the ship. A quick gesture from Churchill, and the two figures dropped quietly over the side and were gone.
For some minutes Young looked for the boat through the darkness, as those in her pulled with muffled oars towards the shore.
"That's satisfactory," muttered the young man to himself; "that's something for our amiable and worthy commander to think over at breakfast."
Lieutenant Bligh did think over it at breakfast; and soon Young was in irons and awaiting a promised flogging for "being asleep on his watch and allowing the damned scoundrels to desert," as his commander forcibly expressed it.
Four days afterwards, as Christian made his rounds of the ship he came upon Young, still in leg irons, waiting, with deadly hatred in his heart, for Bligh to visit him.
In the bosom of his shirt lay Tina's pistol, and as the figures of Christian and a seaman darkened the entrance to the stuffy cabin his fingers clutched the weapon savagely.
"They are all taken, Young," muttered his superior officer; "they gave themselves up to Bligh this morning, and are now on board. I wish with all my heart I could set you free, for Bligh swears he will flog you."
"And I swear, Christian, that he shall die if he attempts it. My God! are we Englishmen or slaves?"
Christian shook his head gloomingly, and with a pitying look at the young man, went on deck, passing on his way the manacled figures of the three captured men. They lay together in the sail locker, their backs raw and bleeding from the four dozen lashes which they had each received in the morning.
Their dreams of and dash for liberty had been brief. Landing at the spot agreed upon, Nuia and her two friends, Ohuna and Ahi, met them with the warmest demonstrations of affection and loyalty; then they learned with alarm that Oripah and Tamiri, two of Tina's subsidiary chiefs, had forbidden the people in any way to aid or shelter them; and that Tina himself had bitterly reproached his sister Nuia for her share in the conspiracy--for by some means the whole plan of escape had been made known to him. Then after a hurried discussion the three deserters, accompanied by Ahi and another girl named Tahinia, set out again for Tetuaroa, a group of low-lying coral islands twenty-eight miles from where the Bounty lay. There they hoped to be free from interference; for the chief of the islands, Miti, was related to Tahinia.
But when half-way across a furious squall drove them back to the mainland. Landing at a village called Tetaha the deserters remained hidden till they were surprised by Bligh and a boat's crew; and although they were prepared to fight to the last, the girls, to their surprise, begged them to surrender.
"Milwa," said Nuia to Millward, the moment they saw Bligh approaching, accompanied by his boat's crew and Tina, "waste neither these men's blood nor thine. Yield--and I, Nuia, swear that the ship shall not take thee away."
Relying on the repeated assurances of the girls, who wept in the earnestness of their beseechings, the three deserters came out of the house and stood before Bligh and his party.
"Surrender, you villains!" he cried.
"Aye, aye, sir, we surrender," an [...]
