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Orlando descended, and the negro, turning away with a deeply injured expression, walked majestically to the stern to watch the boat. Waroonga had prepared himself for the enterprise by stripping off every article of clothing save a linen cloth round his loins, and he carried nothing whatever with him except a small copy of God's Word printed in the language of the islanders.
Decency and propriety not being recognised, apparently, among infants, the brown baby who had been named Zariffa at baptism landed in what may be styled Adamite costume. Then Waroonga built himself a bamboo house, and set up a school.
Surprise at this mode of proceeding caused the natives to receive him with less violence than before. Their curiosity led them to listen to what he had to say. Then a chief named Tomeo took him by the shoulders, placed his nose against that of Waroonga and rubbed it.
Now, during all this time, Betsy Waroonga remained quite inconsolable about her husband. "But my dear, you know he is quite safe," her friend Marie Zeppa would say to her, "for he is doing the Master's work among Christian men." "I knows that," Betsy would reply, "an' I'm comforted a leetle when I think so; but what for not Zeppa git a canoe ready an' take me to him?
"If you wish to go to them in peace, do not go to them with arms," said Waroonga. "Surely you would not advise me to send an unarmed party among armed sav children?" returned the captain, with a look of surprise, while Orlando regarded his friend with mingled amusement and curiosity. "No. You best send no party at all. Jis' go round the island, put down angker, an' leave the rest to me."
In like manner Ebony understood a little of the Ratinga tongue, but could not speak much of it, and Waroonga, who himself spoke uncommonly bad, though fluent, English, interpreted when necessary. "Well, you mus' know," said Ebony, "dat jus before I goes to bed las' night I heat a little too much supper " "You doos that every night" interrupted Buttchee, with a grin.
He got one leg in easily enough, but when he attempted to put in the other, not being accustomed to the feat, he staggered and had to let the leg down. Raising it a second time, he made a successful plunge, got the foot in, lost his balance, made a frantic effort to disengage his foot, and fell to the ground. "Sit down, my friend, and try it again," said Waroonga, encouragingly.
Thus, with the approval of Madame Zeppa and Betsy Waroonga, these five representatives of Ratinga embarked on board the British man-of-war, and left the island. We left the poor madman, Antonio Zeppa, wandering aimlessly up into the mountains of Sugar-loaf Island.
"Depend upon it, this is another pirate," said Orlando, when Waroonga reported to him the result of his visit. "What would you advise us to do?" asked Waroonga. Lest the reader should be surprised at this question, we must remind him that Orlando had, in the course of these three years, grown up almost to manhood.
Fust he hoed into massa's house an' shook hands with missis, also wid Missis Waroonga wot happined to be wid her, an' hims so frindly dat he nigh shookt de bonnit off her head. Den dey talk 'bout good many t'ings, an' after a while de cappin turn full on massa, an say, "`I's told Missr Zeppa dat you's got dat willain Rosco de pirit here.
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