Lentala of The South Seas 7

Lentala of The South Seas 7

"Oh, yes!"

 

"Very much?"

 

Christopher solemnly nodded.

 

"If--if we want to go away with you and your people, would you take us?"

 

"Oh, yes!"

 

"And be kind to us?"

 

"Me?" He turned to me, and so did Beelo.

 

"Yes, Christopher."

 

"_He_ will," was the answer.

 

Beelo, seized with one of his unexpected whirlwinds, threw his arms

round Christopher, and laughed.

 

I turned him about, and, holding both his hands, looked smilingly into

his brilliant eyes.

 

"Show me the way to serve you and your sister, Beelo," I said. "I alone,

or Christopher and I together, will obey any instructions from you; we

will do whatever you say, go wherever you direct,--cut ourselves off

from every protection except yours. Isn't our trust complete?"

 

"Yes, Yoseph--Choseph," he banteringly answered. Then, in a flash, "I

mean Mr. Tudor."

 

"Joseph--to you," I returned.

 

He put his mouth through contortions over the F, and finally, with a

restful gasp, blurted out:

 

"Choseph!"

 

His gentleness overwhelmed me, and I, being naturally affectionate, and

timid only with women, forgot my feeling of constraint toward him, and

caught him in my arms. But he did not have for me the pressure and the

laughter that he had given Christopher. On the contrary, he resisted and

then sprang away.

 

I wondered what thoughts were perplexing him as he stood off, regarding

me in his odd little quizzical fashion, and was astounded when he said:

 

"Lentala says that Annabel is beautiful and lovely." I could not imagine

what had suggested Annabel to him at this particular moment, but I

hastily agreed. He seemed not altogether pleased, but went on:

 

"You like her very much?"

 

"Yes; very much indeed."

 

He looked a little sullen, but soon recovered, and broke out in a very

rush of gay spirits. In a short time he suddenly became grave.

 

"I must go," he said. With a gentle, pleading look at me, he asked:

"Won't you be a Senatra? Christopher will help you."

 

"Yes, Beelo,--anything you wish."

 

"Very well. I will come every day for--maybe three days, and teach

Christopher. You will watch us. When you and Christopher are alone, he

will teach you. But you must dress every time as a Senatra!"

 

"Of course." My relief was great. For some incomprehensible reason I

did not wish the boy to train me, for that would have necessitated a

disagreeable loss of dignity before him.

 

"Good! And in three or four days,"--an oddly embarrassed __EXPRESSION__

rose in his face,--"would you like to go with me--you and dear old

Christopher--to see--the beautiful--the kind--the true--Lentala?" He was

mocking.

 

"Yes!" I answered, and made an effort to catch him; but he darted away,

showering a cascade of laughter behind him.

 

So I was right in supposing that Beelo had been preparing us to

penetrate the mysteries beyond the valley ramparts, and lift the veil

behind which our fate was hidden.

 

"Christopher!" I cried in my joy, seizing him by the shoulder; "do you

understand?"

 

"Yes, sir."

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER V.--The Opening of a Pit.

 

--Insolence and Rebellion in Camp. A Riot Averted. I Train for a

Dangerous Rôle. Plotting Among Us for the Destruction of the Colony.--

 

 

WHEN Christopher began my training and pursued it with such amazing

thoroughness, my feeling of being ridiculous disappeared. My love of

adventure in these preparations was mingled with other emotions,--the

fascination of hazard, a ===wish to risk everything for the colony,

and a strong desire to see Lentala and solve the mystery of her whole

conduct. Beelo was a will-o'-the-wisp.

 

Complications arose in camp. Although I had taken care to exercise my

authority in a bland way, it became necessary at times to be severe. My

greatest difficulty was inability to find the source of a disaffection

working insidiously among the young men. Captain Mason had not observed

it, lacking my opportunity, and I decided to be more positive and to

find evidence before laying the matter before him.

 

I was intimately thrown with the men by directing the work on the farm.

The labor was exhausting on account of the heat. For this reason, and

because some men could bear the work better than others, and liked it,

I called out only volunteers; but selfishness on the part of some who

shirked brought grumbling. At first I had supposed that this was the

origin of the dissatisfaction, but presently a deeper cause appeared to

be in operation. As a test, and to secure fairness, I adopted a system

of levying on all the able-bodied men and requiring each to do his share

in turn.

 

In that way I came down on Rawley, who had never volunteered. When I

informed him one evening that his turn in the fields would come next

day, he stared at me in insolent silence.

 

That incident alone was not significant, but it made me alert, and I

instructed Christopher to keep a strict and secret watch on the camp. A

present necessity was to force the issue with Rawley, whose bearing was

a threat to the harmony and safety of the colony.

 

He had not taken the trouble to absent himself from the tables when I

called out the tale of men for the fields next morning, but lounged at

indolent unconcern. Annabel was not visible. Mr. Vancouver, sitting near

Rawley, had a suspiciously waiting air.

 

The young man did not rise with the others and prepare to go, but merely

stared at me. I went near and said in a low voice:

 

"These men will resent your refusal."

 

"Are you threatening me?" he said under his breath.

 

"Give my remark whatever construction you please," I answered.

 

He could not hide his anger and fear, for a glance showed him a

disquieting __EXPRESSION__ in the faces of the forty men waiting. Mr.

Vancouver looked surprised and irritated as he studied them. The men

in whom rebellion was stirring were such as he had always directed and

commanded,--artisans, mechanics, clerks, sturdy and spirited every one,

and loving fair play.

 

"Save yourself further trouble," Rawley drawled in an effort to be

nonchalant. "I'll go--if I feel like it, and when I'm ready."

 

Although the men could not hear him, they understood, and a murmur

arose. One of them angrily said: "He's too good to work."

 

Then came the outbreak.

 

"Put him under arrest! Duck him in the river! The snob!"

 

Annabel suddenly appeared. The men at once desisted, and she understood

the situation at a glance. Her astonishment grew as her look of angry

reproach at Rawley passed to her father and found him silent and pale,

as though for the first time he had seen the spirit of the common

American.

 

She came to me and said: "Don't make trouble now. Be patient. You can

find a way."

 

I turned to the men.

 

"Gentlemen," I said, "I must remind you that you have not been empowered

by the colony to enforce its discipline. In this instance it is my

task alone, and I propose to handle it as I think best, without your

assistance, unless I call on you for it. Your attitude and remarks

just now were rebellious, and, if allowed by those in authority, would

disrupt us and place us at the mercy of savages. Leave this matter to

me, and depend on me to see it properly adjusted. Mr. Vancouver needs

Mr. Rawley today. Now to our work." My speech affected the men in two

quite different ways. Some, with a submissive glance at Mr. Vancouver

who was watching me curiously, were instantly satisfied; others looked

a little confused and rebellious, and were not cheerful in their

obedience. They appeared a trifle uneasy, as though something might

be afoot and they had not been informed. All of this sharpened my

alertness.

 

After the day's work I had doubts as to whether I should report the

incident to Captain Mason, who had not been present. I felt that

something of an underground nature was at work, and that Mr. Vancouver

was its focus. I could make allowance for a man shattered by adversity,

but I supposed that Mr. Vancouver might have gathered himself up during

the weeks we had been held as prisoners.

 

It turned out that he had. When Christopher came to give me my drill in

the forest near the camp that day he brought disturbing information.

Mr. Vancouver and Rawley, in order to be alone, had gone into the forest

after I left for the fields, and talked. All that Christopher could

learn was that Mr. Vancouver was carrying on secret negotiations with

the king, and that a messenger from the palace was expected at a certain place within the forest in an hour.