Louis Becke

“ No sooner did they land, than Tepuaka and his friend, the fat little white man, Opataia, walked to the house of his daughter, thy wife, Tui, but all of his men he bade remain here in the village.
“'See,' said one of these men of Niuafou to us vauntingly, 'see what has come to pass! Tuilagi refused to take for her husband the good and pious man Opataia, but fled with this common white man, who is no better than a heathen. And then what comes? This bad white man is caught by his countrymen and put in a prison with chains upon his body. ”

“ I am your husband's friend; but, be quick!”
Still, with a wondering look upon her beautiful face, the girl advanced to the door, said something in the island tongue to the crowd of curious natives, and then gently closed the door.
“This is a rum go!” said the sergeant of marines to himself, as he saw the door shut to. “What the devil has the girl been doing? Are the bracelets for her, I wonder?”
“Tui,” said Lieutenant Carteret, the moment they were alone, “time presses. You speak English so well as to thoroughly understand that which I am now about to tell you?” ”

“ Then, when my ship has gone, you—you and he—you must promise me this, Tui—must leave this island as quickly as possible; so that when Obadiah Howlman sends another warship here—as he will do—they may not discover that I am a liar and have been false to my duty.”
“Oh, sir, is this true? Surely you would not tell a lie to a poor native girl like me?”
“Go, my girl”—and Carteret placed a kindly hand on her shoulder—“go quickly to Parker—I know very well that he is not far off. He will believe what I say.” ”

“ The stranger was a short, fat, coarse-looking man with little pig-like eyes and scanty tufts of black beard and whiskers growing in irregular patches on his cheeks and chin, like clumps of gorse on clayey banks. ”

“ But you and your wife must get away from this island soon after the Spitfire leaves. That infernal sweep, Howlman, will be sure to send another man-of-war after you——”
“Listen to me, sir. I, too, have a plan. You shall not ruin yourself for me. You are only a very young man, sir, and have the world before you. I dread nothing but the temporary separation from Tui here. ”

“ Be careful what you are doing in this business. The fellow who informed is a sort of hanger-on to the missionaries here. They don't think much of him, but seem to put up with the swab as a necessary evil. He confessed that jealousy had something to do with the matter, and I could see the Admiral wanted to kick him out of the cabin. Make sure that this man Barcom is a deserter, or there will be the devil to pay if he should prove to be an American citizen, or anything of that kind.—Yours, CHARLES Hayling.”
“You see why they have left the matter to us, Carteret. ”

“ Carteret and his marines were being conducted up a steep and rugged path towards the white trader's house, which was situated quite apart from the native village, while the bluejackets were left in the boat, remarking to each other that this white man was a most cursed unfriendly sort of a chap not to come down to the beach when he saw a man-of-war's boat ashore.
“Don't you be such a fool, Tom,” said the coxswain to one of the men. “You're always a-jumpin' at conclusions too rapid. ”

“ A white woman who is dead now taught me to read and write English, and my husban' always talk English to me.”
“Good. Then listen to me, my girl. I am Lieutenant Carteret, of H.M.S. Spitfire—that ship out there—sent here with the ship's police to arrest a deserter from the Flycatcher on this station five years ago. This is the man's photograph. He is said to be your husband, and calls himself George Barcom. Now, when I was an officer of the Flycatcher, I knew a man named Charles Parker”—her face went a deadly pallor—“who deserted the ship at the Yasawa Group in Fiji. ”

“ Since I have lived in these islands the Lord has prospered me in my worldly affairs, and I am in a position far above taking payment in money for doing my duty. I am, I trust, walking in the Light, and do not want to obtain wealth—which is but of this world—for performing such duty. ”

“ Carteret hesitated a moment, then answered “No.” Then turning to the sergeant of marines, he said, “Let your men fall still further back, sergeant This is a delicate matter, and I don't want this confounded crowd of natives, many of whom understand English, to hear what I have to say to this woman. Send a man down to the boat, and tell the coxswain that I shall have to wait for some time. If the ship makes a signal, the boat can go off and tell the captain that I shall have to wait ”