L. Frank Baum

“ Then, just as we were approaching the dangerous district Captain Steele had spoken of to me, the sky lowered, a stiff breeze came out of the northwest and the waves began to pile up as only the waves of the South Pacific can.
By night it was blowing a gale; but our passengers, with the exception of Lucia and Alfonso, had taken to their berths long before this. The Seagull behaves beautifully in a storm. An ordinary gale does not disturb her coolness in the least. She merely tosses her head, takes the bit in her teeth, so to speak, and prances a trifle instead of gliding. ”

“ You are United State. Well, United State forbid any merchant ship to carry arms to friendly state for starting revolution. If I hire you to do so I get you in trouble, and myself in trouble. I want no quarrel with United State, for when I am myself President of Colombia I must stand well with other powers. So it is same with every nation. I cannot hire a ship. ”

“ Your own people cannot resist them for long; yet they are more terrible in a fight than any we have ever met. There are perhaps as many persons in your ship as I have fingers and toes; there are more Faytans than the hairs of my head. In time, in spite of your stinging weapons, which the King says are called guns, we shall surely capture you all. But if there is much fighting many of my warriors will have died before we conquer and destroy the pale-skins. I do not wish to have my warriors die. ”

“ Away from Faytan every stranger is safe. He is nothing to us then. But when a stranger comes to Faytan the law decrees his death. There is no escape.”
“Does the law say in what manner we are to die?” I inquired.
“No. The King determines that. But it is our custom to grant our prisoners the easiest death of which we have knowledge, which is by drowning. The only demand of the law is that every invader shall die. There is no desire on our part to be cruel.” ”

“ To be shipwrecked upon a barren island is not wholly unknown to mankind but may well be regarded at all times with foreboding and horror.
“Come, then,” said the elder De Jiminez; “let us walk to the forest yonder. We shall find better shelter there, if nothing more.”
“Wait a moment, please!” I exclaimed, for I had been watching Bryonia and Nux, who stood apart eagerly conversing together.
“Why should we wait?” demanded Alfonso, annoyed at my interference.
“Because these blacks are natives of the South Seas,” I replied, “and they think they recognize this island. ”

“ My joy was equaled by the chagrin of my enemies when we saw Joe was safe with his comrades and being complimented on all sides, while the ladies waved their handkerchiefs to him from the deck of the ship.
We were a silent party. I, because I was so disappointed and disgusted at my hard luck that I could almost have cried, and the others because their prettily conceived plan of attack had been thwarted and their warriors mowed down by scores.
“It is useless, your Majesty,” announced the Crooked One, regretfully; “the weapons of the pale-skins are too bitter for us to face. ”

“ Our riches lie in our pearls; not because they could be exchanged for so many other things, but because they bring us good luck, and the vast collection we have keeps the Pearl God here among us, and thus insures his protection. We are now prosperous and do not miss your great inventions because we have never had them. But if we allowed you to go away and return with more of your people, think what would happen! Our happy life would become one of turmoil and eagerness to gain worldly goods. Some of my people would want more than their share, and that would lead to envy and quarrels. ”

“ Also I have a duty to perform—to instruct you in the truth concerning the great world outside of Faytan, of which I find you are very ignorant. I must show you how far behind other nations you are; how much you have yet to learn. You cannot gain this information from your own people, who are as ignorant as you are; you must gain it from me, before I am put to death. You say proudly that you rule a great country, but there is a way for you to make it a far greater country. You say your people are happy and prosperous, but I can teach you how to give them many comforts they are now without. ”

“ I asked, thinking I would like a conference with Señor de Jiminez.
“He is writing a speech to deliver before the Colombian Congress when he becomes president,” replied Alfonso with a smile. “Poor father! He doesn’t know what despair means. I’m sure he has no real conception of our present position.”
“I wish,” said Joe, musingly, as he stared out over the island, “that I could see into that forest yonder. I wonder if it’s full of watching natives, or if they’re all lying snug in the big Pearl City we’ve heard about.” ”

“ I returned, coolly. “For my part, I expect to live a long time yet.”
“You do not understand,” he persisted gently. “It is the law of the island—the law of my forefathers—that all strangers who land upon Faytan shall be put to death.”
“A cruel law,” I remarked; “and an unjust one.”
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“It is to protect us from invasion,” he explained in a kindly tone. “This is the richest island in all the world, and the most favored by nature. My people are the bravest and strongest of mankind. No other nation can at all compare with this, for we are protected and favored by the powerful Pearl God.” ”

“ I asserted. “They have conquered all the known world. The reason Faytan has not yet been conquered by us is that until the storm drove us upon your coast we did not know such an island existed.”
He bowed gravely.
“That proves how wise my forefathers were in making our laws,” said he. “We have been left in peace because the restless pale-skins, who love to conquer what does not belong to them, did not know where to find Faytan. Had we permitted any to leave our shores alive you would then have heard of us. ”

“ THE PEARL PEOPLE
“This is a terrible experience,” said De Jiminez in a gloomy voice. “A nation’s fate has been decided by a South Sea typhoon!”
“All is not lost,” replied Little Jim, attempting to console him. “The ship is high on the rocks yonder, and all the arms and ammunition may yet be saved. Perhaps the natives of this island are civilized and friendly, and will care for us until we can find another ship to take us to Colombia.” ”

“ Lucia discovered us at about the time we began assembling the airship, and was so fascinated by the proposition that she remained constantly by our side, watching every move we made. She made no remarks, but her dark eyes missed no detail, and whenever Alfonso instructed us she listened as carefully as we did. It seemed queer for a girl to take such an interest in a flying machine—a thing that some men do not care to fool with. ”

“ Toward evening Ned and his men left the ship and began their tedious climb over the rocky point to the cove where we had left the boats. I saw that all of them were well armed and warned them of the warlike disposition of the natives. The sea was now smooth enough to render the journey around by boat practical, and as we had seen no sign of any inhabitants, so far, we hoped we were as yet unobserved. But that thick forest ahead of us might be harboring a hundred watching eyes. ”

“ The Pearl Temple was also the Royal Palace, for as the king was the sole priest of the Pearl God it was fitting that his abode should be in this sacred place. Seldom has a nation placed the supreme power, both religious and political, in the hands of one person. It is concrete autocracy and usually a priesthood protects a country from its king while the king protects it from the priests. ”

“ He hesitated a moment.
“I wish, Mars Sam,” he said in a low voice, speaking his native tongue, “that the lady passengers had not showed themselves.”
“Oh, that’s it!” I exclaimed. “Are the natives partial to white women, Bry?”
“I know other chiefs,” he said, “and I know they like to take women of other nations for wives. In my own island it is like that. I think if we were only warriors the Faytans would drive us away, or let us take the boats out. That is the only way I can explain the strange manner in which they are acting.” ”

“ I continued, “you will perhaps get in case you win. But if you lose you remain unnoticed. There are lots of Central and South American republics, and plenty of revolutions in them at all times. To be frank with you, Alfonso, the people of more important nations are weary of reading about them.”
He hardly knew what to reply, but his humiliation was of short duration. After strutting up and down the deck a few turns he rejoined us and said:
“You may sneer at Colombia—and at her great revolution—but you cannot sneer at the family of De Jiminez. We are very ancient.” ”

“ At five o’clock it was high tide, so we ran the Seagull as far upon the sandy beach as she would go, using the engines to propel her, and then the natives swarmed into the water and braced her sides securely with long poles. As the tide receded it left us high and dry, and by daybreak our men were able to begin work. They found several planks badly sprung and one gaping hole torn in the bottom by the sharp rocks as we slid into the sea during the earthquake at Faytan. ”

“ Nux and I, we once live on island near here. Twice the young men of my people make a war party to conquer Pearl People. The first time none ever came back. The second time Nux and I we go with them. We have many hundred fighting men—warriors. We come to other side of island, where is big city. Pearl People see us and send many hundred boats to meet us on the water. We make brave fight. All our warriors die. Nux and me, we bound and put in bottom of canoe. Pearl People king say he take us to city and kill us with fire to honor his great Pearl God, who win him the fight. ”

“ Death by drowning may be a merciful mode of execution, but I do not think any condemned person can look with composure upon death in any form. For my part I took a sudden aversion to water, although I had always loved it before.
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First we drew up before the royal barge, in which sat the young king upon a high seat. Around this place, and indeed all around the clear space in the bay, were clustered hundreds of boats, so densely packed that their sides touched. Every boat had as many passengers as it would hold, but the natives were quiet and no shouts nor jeering did I hear. ”

“ I was very uneasy about my old chum, for the earthquake was likely to have created as much havoc at the Pearl City as it had at this end of the island.
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My father had gone into the hold with the carpenter and Ned to examine the condition of the ship. The little damage we had sustained from the typhoon which had tossed the ship to her elevated perch had already been repaired—quite foolishly we thought. But the Seagull was still dear to the heart of Captain Steele, and he took as much care of her now that she was useless as when she was proudly riding the waves. ”

“ If King Attero listens to anyone, he will listen to me.”
“And you will try to save us?”
“If you will do what I am about to ask.”
I reflected.
“There seems no way to evade the law,” said I. “The law is as old as Faytan, I am told, and demands the death of every stranger landing upon your shores. The King has himself informed us that he is powerless to evade the law, even if he desired to.”
The Crooked One smiled sardonically.
“Who makes the laws of Faytan?” he demanded.
“The King’s forefathers made this law, it seems,” I returned.
“True. Only the King can make a law in Faytan. ”

“ Crash after crash succeeded, and the thunder was deafening, while around us the lightning darted like angry serpents. They have terrible storms in these tropics, at times, and it is no unusual thing for an island to suddenly disappear and never be heard of again. The tempest we now experienced was so extraordinary that I believe it awed even the natives.
I could hear the sea pounding against the rocks and wondered if the boats patrolling the reefs could survive. ”

“ The elder lady was Señora de Alcantara of Bogota, and the younger her daughter Lucia. At once Madam inquired in an eager tone:
“Well, De Jiminez, have you succeeded in getting a ship?”
“I think so,” he replied, glancing at me a bit doubtfully. “The only thing still to be settled is the matter of terms. I have not much money left to satisfy the owners, who have no confidence in their being able to collect when we arrive at Colombia. ”