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Dick at once set to work to make himself useful, and soon gained Motakee's confidence, so that he allowed us both to roam about as we chose. The victory gained by our friends over the Typees, the tribe they had attacked, had put them in excellent humour. They had burned down their villages, destroyed their fruit trees, and carried off their canoes.
"Away you go," cried one of the big boys, who expected to see me and the rest tumble down on our noses. Off we started. In an instant I felt as much at home as I had been when making my escape from Motakee's village, and, as might be supposed, away I went.
Trusting to Motakee's protection, I felt inclined to rush forward and plead for them, but Dick held me back. "You will do no good, Charley," he said, "and one of those savages may in a moment give you a tap with his club, and kill you, as an idle boy does a fly." The five poor fellows stood collected together, looking pale as death, but they were as brave as any of the men on board.
Having ascertained that the coast was clear, she told us to hurry off into the wood, and to make our way as fast as we could to Motakee's village, promising, if she could, to put her people on a wrong scent, should they think of pursuing us. We did as she had advised.
The direct path from village to village was very much shorter than the road I was compelled to take, as I had to make wide circuits to avoid observation. I was now at a considerable distance from Motakee's village, and I hoped, even should I be seen by any of the natives, there was not much risk of being sent back. This made me less cautious than before.
Though Moola that was her name was very old and dry and withered, from the expression of her countenance and the way in which he treated her, I was led to suppose that she was Motakee's mother. Such, indeed, was the case. She spoke kindly to me, and I had no reason to fear that I should be ill-treated.