Tom Wallis: A Tale of the South Seas

With eyes gleaming with excitement, Tom sprang to the captain's side just as the door was shut.

'Casalle, Mrs. Casalle! Did you say Casalle, sir,' he said, 'of the Bandolier?'

'Yes, Casalle, that is the lady's name. She and her servant are my passengers. Her husband's ship was the Bandolier, and ran on to Middleton Reef, and nearly all hands were lost-'

'No, they were not!' Tom shouted. 'Captain Casalle and a lot of his men and his little girl came to Port Kooringa in a boat. I saw them; I saw them, captain, I tell you! They came to our house. They-'

Herrendeen raised his hand tremblingly. 'Steady, my boy, steady, for God's sake! She's a poor little weak sort of thing, and this news might kill her right out. Are you certain?'

'I am certain, captain,' replied Tom, with an irrepressible sob of joy; 'I am certain-Captain Casalle! the Bandolier! and all the rest of it! There can be no mistake. He told Foster and I that his wife was drowned with the second mate, two men, and a Samoan girl.'

Captain Herrendeen's voice quavered as he put out his hand to Tom. 'Say, let us tell it to her quietly. William, and you, mister, just go on deck awhile.'

The Maori and Charlie at once went on deck, and left Tom and Captain Herrendeen alone. The captain sat down with his hand to his brow for a minute or so, and then looked at Tom with a strange smile on his face.

'I've been dreaming, my boy; but it's all ended now, and I'm glad, real glad.'

He rose from his seat and tapped gently at the cabin door from which the woman's voice had issued.

'Mrs. Casalle,' he called softly, 'will you dress and come out? I have some real, downright good news for you.'

'Good news, Captain Herrendeen,' said the same musical voice Tom had heard before; 'I think I know what it is-you have found the leak, and we are bearing away for Samoa.'

'Better than that, Mrs. Casalle,' said the captain, turning to Tom, with a smile; 'just you come out, quick.'

There was a murmur of two female voices; then the cabin door opened, and a slenderly-built, pale-faced, dark-haired woman came out, followed by a young native girl.

'What is your good news, Captain Herrendeen?' she said, with a faint smile, as she bowed to Tom, who, boy-like, was too confused to speak for the moment.

'Sit down here, Mrs. Casalle,' and the captain led her to a seat. 'This young man here will tell you something that will do your heart good, something-now just you sit here beside me; and there … hold on. Now, young fellow-'

Tom, trying to conceal his nervousness, and yet look dignified at the same time, came forward and took her hand.

'Mrs. Casalle, I am Tom Wallis. Captain Casalle and your little girl are safe. They came to Port Kooringa in one of the boats belonging to the Bandolier.'

She looked at him in a half-dazed sort of way, and then fainted off quietly into Captain Herrendeen's arms.

'She'll be all right presently,' said the captain. 'Here, bear a hand, Solepa. I guess you know what to do better than me.'

'Oh yes, I know, I know,' answered the native girl, quickly; 'she have faint like this plenty of time. You can go, sir. She will soon get better now with me.'

Leaving Mrs. Casalle with her attendant, the captain returned to the main cabin.

'Now, Mr. Wallis, you'll have to sit up and keep me company for an hour or two, until the poor little woman feels better; steward, get a spare bunk ready for Mr. Chester; and let the red-haired man turn in here until breakfast time.'

'You have made up your mind that we're going to Fotuna with you, then, captain?' said Tom, with a smile.

'Of course I have; and of course you have, too? Come, a day or two won't matter much to you, and during that time I'll have talked you round, and get you to come on to Samoa with me. You have just saved the little woman's life, and she'll want to talk to you for about a week, anyway. Come, promise me.'

Neither Tom nor Bill could refuse such a request, and then presently the captain, putting his hand on the former's shoulder, asked him if he was too tired to tell him about the rescue of the captain of the Bandolier.

'Not a bit,' answered Tom; 'and then I want to know how Mrs. Casalle was saved. I heard her husband say that she, the second mate, two seamen, and the nurse were all drowned.'

'Only one hand was drowned. Mrs. Casalle, the second mate, the Samoan girl, and the other sailor managed to cling on to the swamped boat, which they succeeded in clearing of water after a while. They drifted about all night, and about seven o'clock in the morning found themselves quite close to Elizabeth Reef. They had no oars, but by breaking up the bottom boards of the boat they managed to get on shore, lived there on birds' eggs for nearly a week, and there I found them. Then I sailed to and examined Middleton Reef, but found no trace of any other survivors. She and the girl have been with me ever since, waiting to get back to Samoa; the second mate and men are with me, too.'

At sunrise Solepa, the native girl, whose brown face was radiant with smiles, came on deck.

'If you please, captain, will dis gentleman come now and talk to her? She is better.'

Tom went below, and found Mrs. Casalle waiting for him. She was deathly pale, but tried hard to speak calmly.

'You are sure, quite sure,' she said tremblingly, as she grasped Tom's hand convulsively; 'my husband and my child! You saw them?'

Pitying her intensely, Tom told her the whole story. She did not faint again-only laid her head on Solepa's bosom and wept tears of joy and thankfulness.

Just as Tom rose to leave her, the native girl beckoned him to come back.

'Did you see any Samoa men in that boat, sir?' she asked quietly. 'I did have my brother on board. His name was Salu. I 'fraid he was drown'.'

'There were thirteen men in the boat,' said Tom, 'but I cannot tell you if any of them were Samoans. There were only three or four white men, though; so very likely your brother was there. I hope so,' he added kindly.

Solepa smiled sadly. 'I hope so. But if he is drown' I will not cry no more now, for we shall see the captain and little Nita again.'

CHAPTER XVII

BACK TO FOTUNA

That morning after breakfast, as the Adventurer heeled her weather-beaten sides over the trade wind, and the clanking pumps sent a stream of clear water through the lee scuppers, Tom and Bill on the one part, and Herrendeen on the other part, made a bargain.

Mrs. Casalle had come on deck and was reclining in a cane lounge, with Solepa sitting at her feet fondling her hands and looking into her mistress's face, as she talked volubly to her in Samoan. With her new-found happiness shining in her eyes, and tinting her pale cheeks, Mrs. Casalle seemed to scarcely heed the girl's prattle-she was trying to hear the good-natured argument going on between Tom, the Maori, and the captain. The two hours' talk she had had with Tom had not satisfied her; she wanted to hear his story over and over again; to hear him tell her how he had carried 'the little one' up from the beach and placed her in Kate Gorman's arms; to question him again about her husband and how he looked, and about Port Kooringa, and his own father and brother, and Kate-and then to lie down and think of God's goodness to her in sparing husband and child to meet her again. Oh, if she could but know where they were now!

She closed her eyes for a moment, and tried to think how many long, long months would pass before she would hear those loved voices and see those dear faces again. The breeze played with her soft hair under the wide Panama hat she wore, and then she heard Herrendeen's tones.

'Now, let us go and tell Mrs. Casalle.'

She sat up with extended hands-one for Herrendeen, the other for Tom-'What is it you are going to tell me, captain? Only one thing in the world can make me happier than I am now.'

'And I reckon you shall have that one thing before long,' said the captain, knowing what she meant, and pressing her hand between both his own. 'Now here is what we have to say. Young Mr. Wallis here, and Bill-this is Mr. William Chester, Mrs. Casalle, one of the best men in the world that ever gripped a whale lance-and we have been talking. They wanted to go in their boat to Fiji, and I said it was just flyin' in the face of Providence.'

'But you will not-surely you will not?' she said to Tom, excitedly; 'think of the dangers of a boat voyage-the risks, the terrible risks. I am a sailor's wife-and I know.'

Tom smiled. 'There is not much risk for us, Mrs. Casalle. We could easily reach Fiji in another day or two. Why, Captain Casalle and thirteen men made a voyage of 400 miles in bad weather to Port Kooringa! But, as I told you, I was anxious to get to Fiji because we thought that from there we could sooner get a ship to Australia. And my poor father and brother-'

Her eyes filled at once. 'Ah, of course! I did not think of that. See how selfish and thoughtless my own happiness makes me! Forgive me; but oh, do not go away in the boat; do not, do not, I beg of you! You are safer here. In a boat you run such awful risks.'

'Just what I said, Mrs. Casalle,' broke in Herrendeen. 'I say that this young man, who has had enough escapes from death to last an or'nary person all his life, and has a father and brother, has no business to think of scooting around the Pacific in a whaleboat when he has a good solid deck under his feet. And so he isn't going to do it. He's just coming along with us to Samoa.'

'I am so glad; perhaps we may meet my husband and child there.'