United States or Botswana ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
While the teacher translated this, he approached as near to where Avatea was standing as possible, without creating suspicion, and whispered to her a few words in the native language.
"Is she?" cried Jack, with a vehement shout, spurning the teacher aside, and dashing over two natives who stood in his way, while he rushed towards the heap, sprang up its side, and seized Avatea by the arm.
"Yis, it am me," was the reply. "All right! Now, then, gently. Help me to shove off the canoe," whispered Jack to the teacher; "and Peterkin, do you shove these blankets aboard, we may want them before long. Avatea, step into the middle; that's right." "Is all ready?" whispered the teacher. "Not quite," replied Peterkin. "Here, Ralph, lay hold o' this pair of oars, and stow them away if you can.
A quarter of an hour sufficed to bring us to the overhanging cliff under whose black shadow our little canoe lay, with her bow in the water ready to be launched, and most of her cargo already stowed away. As the keel of our little boat grated on the sand, a hand was laid upon the bow, and a dim form was seen. "Ha!" said Peter kin in a whisper, as he stepped upon the beach, "is that you, Avatea?"
Why, girl, what's wrong with you? You look just like a black owl blinking in the sunshine!" Avatea smiled. "I sleepy," she said; and as if to prove the truth of this, she laid her head on the edge of the canoe and fell fast asleep. "That's uncommon sharp practice," said Peterkin with a broad grin. "Don't you think we should awake her to make her eat something first?
He concluded by shaking hands with us warmly, and performing the ceremony of rubbing noses. This was indeed good news to us, and we could hardly find words to express our gratitude to the chief and to the missionary. "And what of Avatea?" inquired Jack. The missionary replied by pointing to a group of natives in the midst of whom the girl stood.
We had not stood more than five minutes under the gloomy shade of the thick foliage when a dark figure glided noiselessly up to us. "Ah! here you are," said Jack, as Avatea approached. "Now, then, tell her what we've come about, and don't waste time." "I understan' leetl English," said Avatea, in a low voice.
Avatea, who, during the whole of the foregoing scene, had stood leaning against the tree perfectly passive, and seemingly quite uninterested in all that was going on, replied by a single rapid glance of her dark eye, which was instantly cast down again on the ground at her feet.
The time soon drew near when we were to quit the islands of the South Seas; and strange though it may appear, we felt deep regret at parting with the natives of the island of Mango: for after they embraced the Christian faith, they sought, by showing us the utmost kindness, to compensate for the harsh treatment we had experienced at their hands: and we felt a growing affection for the native teachers and the missionary, and especially for Avatea and her husband.
After some further consultation, the teacher suggested that it was time to return, so we bade Avatea good-night, and having appointed to meet at the cliff where the canoe lay on the following night, just after dark, we hastened away we to row on board the schooner with muffled oars, Avatea to glide back to her prison-hut among the Mango savages.
Word Of The Day