Louis Becke

“ One night we were close to a little island called Mokil [2] , and Taplin and I were awakened by a loud cry on deck; my two countrymen were calling on him to help them. He sprang on deck, pistol in hand, and, behold! the schooner was laid to the wind with the land close to, and the boat alongside, and the three white men were binding my countrymen with ropes, because they would not get into the boat.
“‘Help us, O friend!’ they called to my husband in their own tongue; ‘the white men say that if we go not ashore here at Mokil they will kill us. Help us—for they mean evil to thee and Nerida. ”

“ I felt Captain Warren touch my arm as he rose and went outside. I followed.
••••••
“L——” said Warren, “can’t we do something for Taplin ourselves? Isn’t there a station anywhere about Tonga or Wallis Island that would suit him?”
“Would he come, Warren? He—or, rather, that pretty wife of his—seems bent upon going away in the schooner to the Carolines.”
“Aye,” said the skipper, “that’s it. If it were any other vessel I wouldn’t care.” Then suddenly: “That fellow Motley (the supercargo) is a d—— scoundrel—capable of any villainy where a woman is concerned. ”

“ That night, as the Palestine sped noiselessly before the trade wind to the westward she told me, in the old Funafuti tongue, the tragedy of the Alida.
••••••
“The schooner,” she said, “sailed very quickly, for on the fifteenth day out from Funafuti we saw the far-off peaks of Strong’s Island. I was glad, for Kusaie is not many days’ sail from Ponape—and I hated to be on the ship. The man with the blue eyes filled me with fear when he looked at me; and he and the captain and mate were for ever talking amongst themselves in whispers. ”

“ I’ve done pretty well here, although the people I trade for are—well, you know what they are.”
“Aye,” assented old Humphreys, “there isn’t one of ’em but what is the two ends and bight of a—scoundrel; and that supercargo with the yaller moustache and womany hands is the worst of the lot. I wonder if he’s aboard this trip? I don’t let him inside my house; I’ve got too many daughters, and they all think him a fine man.”
••••••
Nerida, Taplin’s wife, came out to us from an inner room. ”

“ THE FATE OF THE ALIDA The other day, in an Australian paper, I read something that set me thinking of Taplin—of Taplin and his wife, and the fate of the Alida. This is what I read:—
“News has reached Tahiti that a steamer had arrived at Toulon with two noted prisoners on board. These men, who are brothers named Rorique, long ago left Tahiti on an island-trading trip, and when the vessel got to sea they murdered the captain, a passenger, the supercargo (Mr Gibson, of Sydney) , and two sailors, and threw their bodies overboard. ”

“ Juan and Liro were kind to me, and when my child was born, five months after we landed, they cared for me tenderly, so that I soon became strong and well.
“Only two ships did we ever see, but they passed far-off like clouds upon the sea-rim; and we thought to live and die there by ourselves. ”

“ Sometimes it comes to a man with long, long years of wandering to and fro; and you will see it deepen when, by some idle, chance word, you move the memories of a forgotten past—ere he had even dreamed of the existence of the South Sea Islands and for ever dissevered himself from all links and associations of the outside world.
••••••
“Yes,” he answered, “I am nearly ready. I saw the schooner at daylight, and knew it was the Alida.”
“Where do you think of going to, Taplin?” I asked.
“Back to the Carolines. Nerida belongs down that way, you know ”

“ Warren, still seated on the table, swung his foot nonchalantly to and fro, and then began at Riedermann.
“Why, how’s this, Captain Riedermann? Don’t you back up your supercargo’s little quarrels, or have you left your pistol on board? Ah, no, you haven’t. I can see it there right enough. Modesty forbids you putting a bullet into a man in the presence of a lady, eh?” Then slewing round again, he addressed Motley: “By God! sir, it is well for you that we are in a white man’s house, and that that man is my friend and took away that pistol from your treacherous hand ”