Tom Wallis: A Tale of the South Seas

'Well, you mustn't blame me,' said old Sam, more graciously, 'you've got the name anyway; but I must say you don't look like-'

'Like a cut-throat, Captain-' He paused.

'Hawkins, if you please.'

'Captain Hawkins, I'm glad to meet you. Now, can you sell me a few bags of rice and some casks of molasses for my native passengers? I've a hundred and twenty blackbirds on board, bound for Samoa, and I'm afraid I'll run short of rice.'

'I can do that,' said Hawkins, delighted to find that his visitor had no evil intentions.

'Thank you very much.' Then, going to the side, he hailed his boat's crew and told them to pass up a bag of dollars; and when old Sam asked him below to have a glass of wine, he again laughed in his boyish and apparently unaffected manner. 'Certainly, captain, with pleasure. You have passengers, I see,' he added, indicating Mr. de Caen and Tom, but politely ignoring the pile of rifles lying on top of the skylight.

'Yes,' said the skipper, 'Mr. de Cann, of the French Navy lieutenant of the Cyclope and Mr. Tom Wallis-Captain Hayes.'

The moment the visitor heard the words 'French Navy,' a swift gleam of light passed over his handsome face; but he bowed courteously to the officer, and together the three men went below and seated themselves at the table, whilst the steward placed refreshments before them. In less than ten minutes, so engaging was Hayes's outspoken yet polite manner, that both Hawkins and De Caen were laughing and talking with him as if they had known him for months.

'Where are you bound to, sir?' asked Captain Hawkins, again filling his visitor's glass; 'you have a lot of natives on board. Where are they from?'

'I am bound to Samoa. The natives are from various islands to the northward. I recruited them for the German planters in Samoa. They are a very savage lot, and'-here he smiled-'although I hate to have armed men about a ship's deck, we have to keep our weather eye lifting, or we might lose the ship some day. Now, tell me,' he added pleasantly, 'where are you bound to, Captain Hawkins?'

'To the Solomons and Noo Britain, captain;' and then, with an air of pride which he tried hard to conceal, 'We're under charter to the Governor of Noo Caledonia to make a search for relicks human or otherwise of a French transport loaded with exigencies for the garrison and convicts at Noumea.'

'Ah,' said Hayes, quickly, 'so you're looking for the Marengo?'

De Caen and Hawkins sprang to their feet. 'Yes. Do you know anything about her?'

'Yes, I do,' he answered curtly, with a harsh inflexion in his hitherto modulated tones. 'I can tell you all about her, and where to find the ship's company-on a certain condition.'

'What is it?' said De Caen, with a contemptuous shrug of his shoulder; 'is it a question of money?'

An angry flash came from Hayes's blue eyes. 'Be careful how you speak, or you'll get no information from me. I don't want money for putting you on the right course to rescue your countrymen-though I have little cause to love them-your admiral at Tahiti sent a rotten old gunboat to the Paumotus to chase and harry me from one island to another, when I was a legitimate trader. I could have captured that gunboat on two separate occasions, had I desired it, and made a bonfire of her for her confounded meddling. And now that I have said so much, I might as well tell you both, that if I had wanted to do this old hooker of a brig any harm, and had acted up to the reputation I have of being a pirate, I could have knocked you to pieces in half an hour, although you do carry four carronades-I've something better than those.' Then he added, with a hard laugh, 'Perhaps you would like me to show you.'

There was a brief silence, then De Caen said smoothly-

'I am sorry for my remark, Captain Hayes. I did not wish to offend you. But surely no seaman would try to take advantage of shipwrecked people?'

'I do not wish to do them any harm, but I want to do myself a considerable lot of good; and it rests with you entirely whether I tell you where to find them, or let you go and look for them-and a pretty search you will have, I can assure you.'

De Caen thought a moment. 'Anything that it is in my power to do I will do; but surely you will tell me this first, are the survivors in danger?'

Hayes laughed. 'Ah, that's a clever question, and I should not answer it until you have heard my condition, and have given me your answer. But I shall. They are not in danger, and, furthermore, not a single life was lost when the ship was wrecked. This,' he added slowly, and watching old Sam's and De Caen's faces, 'was told me by Commander Goigoux himself when he boarded my vessel a few weeks ago.'

De Caen's face flushed with pleasure. 'I am pleased indeed. Now, sir, tell me what it is you wish me to do.'

'Steady there, if you please, Mr. de Cann,' interrupted Hawkins, 'before you go making any promises. Now look here Captain Hayes without wishing to cast inflections on your mere verbose statement I would like you to show us some proof that you are not playing us a trick, and that you did see Captain Gee-go. I've heard that you are very fond of a joke, and-'

'That is all right, my little bantam. I-'

'Bantam! – you overgrown turkey-cock!' began the old man furiously, when the French officer placed his hand on his arm, and then looked appealingly at Hayes, who was regarding Hawkins with an amused smile.

'For goodness' sake, Captain Hawkins, do not let us quarrel. Captain Hayes, I am sure, would not act so heartlessly.'

'No, indeed I would not. And there, Captain Hawkins, I meant nothing offensive to you. You're a white man to your backbone. I've heard all about you and this fine vessel of yours years ago, from Captain Bannister, who sailed with you as mate when you were in the blackbirding trade-as I am now.'

The fat little man was mollified in an instant. 'Joe Bannister is a good friend of mine but I was never a "blackbirder" – I got my natives honest square and fair-and if you withdraw "bantam" I regret "turkey" both of which are good birds alive or dead;' and he laughed at his own wit as he held out his hand.

Hayes smiled good-naturedly as he grasped it, and then resumed-

'Now the captain, officers, and crew of the transport would be aboard my ship this moment but for three things. In the first place, I had on board two hundred and twenty natives, which are worth nearly two thousand pounds to me delivered in Samoa; and Captain Goigoux would not guarantee me more than fifteen thousand francs for taking him and his men to Noumea; therefore, as a business matter, I could not accept his offer. In the second place, the Governor of New Caledonia might seize me and my ship for some little differences I had with the admiral at Tahiti. To be perfectly plain, I would have brought the shipwrecked people away, but did not want to risk losing both my ship and my liberty for six hundred pounds. But I told Captain Goigoux that I would try to send him assistance; and if you will give me your promise that you will endeavour to get the Governor of New Caledonia to have the orders for my arrest issued by the Governor of Tahiti cancelled, I will tell you where you can find Captain Goigoux and his ship's company. Have I made myself clear to you? I told him then what I tell you now.'

'I will certainly do all in my power for you with the Governor,' said De Caen; 'for such a service as you propose to render me he will be grateful.'

'I hope so,' said Hayes, quietly. 'I have been hunted from one end of the Pacific to the other for five years. I bought land in the Gambier Group, settled down, and would be a rich man by now if the Governor of Tahiti had not driven me out of the Paumotus, and then outlawed me for acts I was driven to commit through the interference of the greedy priests and the persecution of his deputy-governor. Now, about the Marengo. She went ashore in the straits between New Britain and New Ireland, and broke up very quickly. All the boats but two were smashed in the surf, but the crew all got to shore safely, and a number of stores were saved. From the spot where the ship was lost they made their way to Mioko Harbour, in the Duke of York Island, where you will find them. Half of them are down with fever at one time or another, but otherwise they are safe. They built a cutter from the wreck to carry them to Noumea, but she was accidentally burnt, and when I left they were beginning another; but sickness hinders the work, and the natives have twice attacked them.'

He stopped, and then with a twinkle in his eye, as he looked at old Sam, took a letter from his pyjama jacket and went on.

'And here is a letter addressed to the commander of any French ship of war, the naval officer in charge at Noumea, or the French Consul at Sydney or Melbourne. It was written by Captain Goigoux. No doubt you will open it, Mr. de Caen.'

De Caen took the letter from his hand with an eager exclamation, and at once read it.

'I thank you very much, Captain Hayes. You have made our task easy for us. And the Governor will not forget that Captain Goigoux here writes that you gave him many very necessary articles to aid him in building and fitting out the second vessel he is constructing, and would not accept any payment. For myself I thank you very sincerely.'

'And so do I,' said old Sam; 'and believing in the old axleiom that one good turn deserves another I won't charge you for the rice and molasses no one ever said I don't know how to recipercate in the same way a good or bad action, under any circumstances so put up those dollars captain and your good health.'

They drank together, and then Hayes rose to leave, with the remark that he must not delay, as two of his officers and a dozen of his men were suffering from fever, and that with so many dangerous natives on board he had to exercise great care, only letting fifty on deck at a time, and these were carefully watched.

'I have never been caught napping yet,' he added, 'but I'll be honestly glad when I'm rid of my cargo this time; for they are all recruited from the north end of New Ireland, and are as savage a lot of beggars as ever ate roast man. If they came from various islands they would be safe enough, I could play one lot against the other, if any party of them plotted to take the ship; but all coming from one place, I have had an anxious time, with so many of my men sick.'

'Have you plenty of arms, Captain Hayes?' said the master of the Lady Alicia. 'I can spare you ten or a dozen rifles.'

'Thank you, I have plenty; more than we could use-if we have to use them. My brig, as you may have seen, is flush-decked, which is another disadvantage; but I have a white line painted across the after part, and another just above the fore hatch. Whenever one of them steps over either of these lines, he gets a crack on the head from a belaying pin, to make him remember. So far, we have had no serious trouble. I treat them kindly, and none of my officers or men hit a man unless he is obliged to do so for our common safety.'

Old Sam nodded. 'Ay, ay, once let 'em think you're frightened it's a case of bloodshed and murder. But you'll have to be careful, captain.'

Just as they were leaving the cabin, the mate entered.

'The rice and two casks of molasses are in Captain Hayes's boat, sir; but I don't think it safe to lower the other barrels-she won't stand it in such a lumpy sea. She's too deep as she is.'

The two captains went on deck and looked over the side.

'Drop our own whaleboat into the water, Mr. Collier,' said Hawkins, 'and put the two casks into her. Then take a couple of hands with you and get back as quick as you can.'

Hayes thanked him for his good nature. 'I'm sorry to cause you so much trouble. I would have brought another boat as well, but could not spare the hands. Now, won't you come aboard yourself, and have a look at my cargo?'

Old Sam shook his head, and made his usual remark, about not being able to leave his ship when on Government service.

'Can't I go with Mr. Collier, sir?' put in Tom, quickly; 'I'd give anything to go.'

'Would you, my cockerel? Well, I don't know. What do you think, Captain Hayes?'