Mother Carey's Chicken Part 56

"Very," said the captain.

"And the maleo birds are regular lumps, if we shoot any."

"So I suppose, my boy. There, don't beat about the bush. We can find our way, of course. You are tired with yesterday's exertions, so why don't you frankly say that you would rather stay?"

"But I wouldn't rather stay, father. I only thought it would be much pleasanter to ride."

"Ah, to be sure!" said Mr Gregory grimly, and with a sarcastic smile.

"Widgeon, run round the corner and call a couple of hansom cabs."

The men laughed and Mark flushed up.

"Couldn't we ride as well in a boat as in a hansom cab, Mr Gregory?" he said.

"Done!" cried Gregory, giving his leg a slap. "Here, captain, we had better take second grades. Of course: why not row round?"

"Why not, indeed?" said the captain smiling. "I daresay we can keep in the smooth lagoon all the way; and when we cannot, we can land and continue afoot. Did you notice the water, Mark?"

"Yes, father; it was exactly like this all the way, only, I think, the line of breakers comes in nearer."

"Here, launch the boat, my lads," cried the captain; and she was run down, the guns, ammunition, and provisions placed in the stern, and ten minutes later they were all riding easily over the blue waters of the smooth lagoon, the men bending to their oars, tiring their arms perhaps, but saving their legs, as the gig ran easily over the bright surface.

It was a glorious ride, and they had not gone twenty yards before there was a rush along the sands and then a plunge as Bruff came swimming after them; while Jack, chattering loudly, came cantering down toward the edge of the water, and then ran along the sands.

"We may as well take him in," said the captain; and giving orders for the men to cease pulling, they waited till Bruff came alongside, Billy Widgeon receiving orders to help him in at the bows, where he was allowed to have his customary shake and go off like a water firework as the drops flew in all directions, glittering in the sun.

"Now, men, give way again," said the captain.

The men obeyed rather unwillingly, and Jack, who was being left, ran along by the edge of the water shrieking and chattering to be taken with them, Bruff answering with a burst of barks.

"He'll soon go back," said Gregory.

Billy Widgeon looked appealingly at Mark.

"Let's have him with us, father; he'll be quiet enough."

"But I want to get on, my lad."

"Begging your pardon, sir," said Billy Widgeon respectfully; "me and my mate here's willing, and he won't weigh heavy in the boat."

"Run in and take him," said the captain shortly; when one man backed, the other pulled, the bows of the gig were run in to the sand; and Jack leaped on board, chattering in duet with the dog's excited fit of barking; after which, as they continued their way, Bruff seemed disposed for a gambol; but Jack was decidedly stand-offish, from the fact that he was comfortably dry, while the dog was most unpleasantly wet.

They soon settled down, however, and the journey continued, with the sh.o.r.e presenting a succession of lovely pictures which could be enjoyed from the boat far more than while trudging over the sand. Groves of cocoa-nut trees, and beyond them the dense green of the jungle, with, as they progressed, piled-up rocks, black, dark-brown, and glorious with parasitical and creeping growths.

Then every here and there, through some opening where the trees were a little lower, glimpses of the conical mountain appeared, always with the film of vapour hanging about its point, and inviting an ascent to see what wonders it had to show.

When weary of gazing at the sh.o.r.e there was a submarine forest to inspect beneath them where the sea-weed waved and the corals and other sea-growths stood up in the tiny valleys and gorges which the rock displayed. Sea-anemones waved their tentacles as they looked like tempting flowers which invited the tiny fish and crustaceans to inspect their beauties, and at the slightest touch of one of these waving petals fell paralysed, or were drawn into the all-absorbing mouth that took the place of the nectary in a flower.

Every stroke of the oars, too, sent the brilliant little fish scurrying away in shoals--fish that were gorgeous beyond description, and were to the water what the sun-birds were to the air.

All at once the men ceased rowing and allowed the boat to stop.

"What is it?" said the captain.

Billy Widgeon, who had been looking out seaward, pointed with his oar to something glistening on the top of the water, and then, giving a whispered hint to his companion, the latter gave one st.u.r.dy tug at his oar and then raised it and let the boat glide on, curving in a semicircle toward the object on the water.

"A sea-serpent!" whispered Mark.

"Yes, and a real one," said Gregory as they all watched the creature lying basking and evidently asleep in the hot sunshine.

Setting aside its shape, which always seems repellent, it was beautiful in the extreme, being marked with broad bands of orange upon a purple ground; and as it lay there on the blue water it seemed hard to believe that it could be dangerous.

"We're not on a collecting expedition," whispered the captain, taking up his gun; "but I should like to have that to show to people who say there are no serpents in the sea. What's that, Gregory--ten-feet long?"

"Twelve at least. Aim at his head."

He was too late, for the captain's piece was already at his shoulder, and as he drew trigger the charge struck the serpent about a third of its length from the head, making it heave up out of the water, while a convulsion ran through it, and then it lay motionless upon the surface.

"Dead!" cried Mark excitedly; and he made a dash to check Bruff, but too late, for the dog plunged over the side and swam towards the serpent.

"Stop him, Billy!" cried Mark; and the little sailor, who had laid in his oar and stood ready with the boat-hook, made a s.n.a.t.c.h at the dog's collar, but did not succeed in gaffing him, and Bruff swam on.

"It's dead, Mark," said the captain; and then, more quickly than it takes to describe it, Bruff made a s.n.a.t.c.h at the nearest portion of the snake--its tail--caught it in his teeth, and was in the act of turning to drag it after him back to the boat, when there was a rush in the water, the creature heaved itself up, and quick as lightning threw itself round the dog, and they saw its head raised and darted down at the dog's neck.

Instantaneously as it had constricted poor Bruff, it untwined itself as rapidly; and as in his wonder and alarm Bruff uttered a furious bark, he unloosed his hold upon the slimy creature's tail, before he could recover from his surprise and make a fresh attempt at seizure the serpent had dived and was gone.

"Did you see the snake strike him?" said the captain.

"Yes; and they are terribly poisonous."

"Said to be," said the captain, "but I never knew anyone bitten."

"I have," said the mate in a low voice, "two cases; and both people died."

"Call the dog on board," said the captain; and in obedience to his master's call the dog swam alongside and was hauled in, to stand barking with his paws resting on the bows after his regular shake.

They all looked hard at the dog, but his only concern seemed to be as to where the serpent had gone; and that was very evident, for as the water grew quiescent they could see it about eight feet below them swimming slowly with an undulating motion in and out among the weeds and corals, apparently none the worse for having been perforated with small-shot.

"Couldn't we get it?" said Mark, glancing at the boat-hook.

"No," said his father decisively; "and even if we could, I think we are better without its company. Go on."

The oars dipped again and the boat glided rapidly over the calm waters, while Mark spent his time between gazing at the beauties of the sh.o.r.e, with its many changes, rocky points, and nooks, and watching Bruff, who exhibited no signs of suffering from the venom of the serpent's bite.

It was a long pull for the men, and from time to time the captain and mate exchanged places to give them a rest; but it was far more easy for all than toiling over the heated sands, while, as far as they could judge, there seemed every probability of their being able to row on as far as they liked, the broad ca.n.a.l-shaped lagoon being continued right onward--the reef of coral only varying a little by coming nearer at times, and always acting as a barrier to break the heavy swell.

At last Mark caught sight of that for which he had long been watching, having made out the sheltering rocks where he had slept quite early in their journey. The sight for which he had attentively watched was a set of specks far off upon the yellow sands, and as soon as they came in sight he pointed them out to his father.

"Well, I see nothing," said the captain; "but wait a moment."