<h2><SPAN name="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII. <br/><span class="cheaderfont">A STRANGE STORY.</span></SPAN></h2>
<p>Wal Jessop hastily explained to Meri that it was
their intention to go in pursuit of the white man,
and the chief said he would accompany them. The
meeting came to an end, the savages dispersing to
their various huts.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[260]</span></p>
<p>Meri, beckoning to Wal and Edgar to follow him,
led the way across the marum into the forest beyond.
They were soon in richly-wooded country, and found
progress difficult. Edgar constantly stumbled over
some tangled, twisted root that lay hidden in his
path; thorns, growing on some of the bushes, pricked
him and tore his clothes, and Wal Jessop was in no
better plight. Meri, however, did not appear to mind
the thorns, but walked on at a rapid pace.</p>
<p>They continued their tramp for some time, but saw
nothing of the white man who had so quickly and
mysteriously disappeared.</p>
<p>When they halted to rest Wal Jessop questioned
Meri, and learned that the white man had been on
the island for some time. He came in a trading
vessel, and was left behind, either wilfully or through
his own desire. The natives regarded him with
superstition, and thought him scarcely human. Meri
himself was evidently a believer in the white man’s
powers over the natives for good or evil.</p>
<p>On resuming their search they came upon a pathway
evidently cut in the bush, and along this Meri
led them.</p>
<p>He halted at the entrance to a small clearing, and
here they saw a strange sight.</p>
<p>Standing straight up from the ground were several
large trunks of trees, that had been hollowed out and
rudely carved in the shape of hideous heads at the
top. They appeared to be idols, and Meri regarded
them with a look of awe.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[261]</span></p>
<p>‘This is a Sing-Sing ground,’ said Wal; ‘I have
heard of them before, but never seen one. This is
where their gods live, and it is regarded as a sacred
grove. If the white man is here it easily accounts
for the fear with which he is regarded. No native
would remain here alone; in fact, they dare not
venture except upon special occasions. I’ll ask Meri
about it.’</p>
<p>Wal questioned the chief, who said he could enter
the sacred grove as chief of his tribe, and they walked
into the clearing. Raising his club Meri struck one
of the hollow trunks a blow, and it echoed through
the forest with a sound like a drum.</p>
<p>Edgar looked into the hollow of each tree, but saw
nothing. Presently a tall figure glided into the grove,
and stood still regarding them.</p>
<p>They were at once convinced it was the unfortunate
captain of the <em>Distant Shore</em> standing before them,
but he showed no sign that he recognised them.</p>
<p>He was strangely altered from the fine, stalwart
seaman they had known as Captain Manton of the
<em>Distant Shore</em>. His figure was gaunt and thin, and
his arms and hands were mere skin and bone. His
hair was white, his beard of the same hue, and
his eyes looked vacantly from under his bushy eyebrows.
He wore an old coat, which reached to his
knees, and his legs and feet were bare. As he
advanced slowly towards them Meri fell back, but
Edgar and Wal stood their ground.</p>
<p>‘Begone!’ said this ghost-like figure of Captain<span class="pagenum">[262]</span>
Manton. ‘This is no place for you. Begone, and
leave me in peace! I harm no one. I am quite
alone—alone in a world of my own, peopled with the
ghosts of the drowned!’</p>
<p>Edgar stepped forward, and, looking him straight
in the eyes, said:</p>
<p>‘Do you not know me, Captain Manton? I am
Edgar Foster. I was saved from the wreck with your
daughter Eva.’</p>
<p>At the mention of Eva’s name a momentary light
of intelligence came into the man’s eyes, but it
quickly died away, and left them dull and vacant.</p>
<p>‘Poor fellow!’ said Edgar sorrowfully; ‘his brain
has given way under the strain. He must have
suffered severely.’</p>
<p>‘Do you think he is mad?’ asked Wal.</p>
<p>‘Not a dangerous form of madness,’ replied Edgar;
‘but I have no doubt he is not in his right mind. We
must humour him, and question him. He has a
strange story to relate, if he can be persuaded to tell
it, and if he remembers all he has gone through.’</p>
<p>Edgar took the unfortunate man by the hand, and
persuaded him to sit down.</p>
<p>Meri looked on, his curiosity evidently being
excited.</p>
<p>Edgar tried as gently and simply as possible to
lead the wandering mind of the captain back to
the wreck of the <em>Distant Shore</em>, and found, to his
delight, that he succeeded in rousing his dormant
memory.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[263]</span></p>
<p>Captain Manton began to talk in a strange,
monotonous way. He was evidently recapitulating
what had happened to him after the wreck of the
<em>Distant Shore</em>, and he seemed almost unconscious of
anyone being present.</p>
<p>From time to time during the course of the strange
tale he related Edgar refreshed his weak memory.</p>
<p>‘If we can lead him on to tell us everything,’ said
Edgar, ‘he may recognise us in the end.’</p>
<p>‘I hope so,’ said Wal; ‘it is terrible to see him
like this, but it may be caused through not having
any white men to converse with.’</p>
<p>Captain Manton—for, indeed, it was that unfortunate
seaman—commenced by telling them, in a somewhat
incoherent way, that he was on a big ship when
it went on to the rocks and crashed to pieces.</p>
<p>‘It was the captain’s fault,’ he said; ‘he ought to
have made for a harbour; he is responsible for all our
deaths.’</p>
<p>‘You were saved,’ said Edgar. ‘You are not dead,
and you ought to be thankful. It was not the
captain’s fault, for he was a brave man, and a good
seaman. I knew him well, and he was incapable of
a cowardly action.’</p>
<p>‘I knew him once,’ said Captain Manton, ‘but it
must have been a very long time ago. He’s dead
now, and you say I am alive. Strange how little I
remember of Manton, for I must have known him
well.’</p>
<p>‘You did,’ said Edgar. ‘Have you forgotten?<span class="pagenum">[264]</span>
Can you not remember that you are Captain Manton,
and that I saved your daughter Eva?’</p>
<p>‘Eva,’ said Manton, with a deep sigh, ‘I know
the name very well—Eva; yes, I once knew little
Eva.’</p>
<p>He spoke in such pathetic tones that both Edgar
and Wal Jessop were affected.</p>
<p>Suddenly Manton began to talk rapidly.</p>
<p>‘I remember now,’ he said; ‘the captain went
down with the ship. I was tossed about on the rocks—washed
on and then off again. A huge wave rolled
me back into the sea, and I clutched a broken spar.
The captain clutched that spar, too, but I pushed
him off—ah, ah! I pushed him off because there was
only room for one; but he came up again and sat
beside me, and I had not strength to push him off
again. He did not try to push me off. Out to sea
we were taken, and then I recollect nothing until I
awoke on board a small craft, and the captain was
not there. He must have fallen off the spar, and
been drowned. I was starved on the boat, for they
had very little to eat. When they landed on some
island, they went away and left me. The natives
were kind to me and gave me food. I have lived
here many years. I do no one any harm, and I want
to stay here. You will not take me away?’ he said
suddenly, turning to Edgar and Wal, with an imploring
look in his eyes.</p>
<p>Edgar evaded the question, and said:</p>
<p>‘I will tell you what happened on the night the<span class="pagenum">[265]</span>
<em>Distant Shore</em> was wrecked, and how Wal Jessop
here saved me and your daughter Eva.’</p>
<p>‘My daughter Eva!’ said Manton, with a soft smile—‘my
daughter Eva!’</p>
<p>He lingered fondly over the name, and Edgar said
to Wal:</p>
<p>‘I believe if I relate all that took place he will
remember. His sufferings have caused loss of
memory, that is all.’</p>
<p>‘I hope so,’ said Wal; ‘it is pitiable to find him
like this.’</p>
<p>Edgar then told him as briefly as possible all that
took place at the wreck of the <em>Distant Shore</em>. As he
described how Wal Jessop found himself and Eva
on the rocks, and at great risk got them to the top of
the cliffs, Manton’s eyes brightened, and he listened
with intense interest.</p>
<p>‘Eva is now a beautiful little girl,’ said Edgar, ‘and
she has been expecting to see you. We have always
told her you would come back to her, and I am sure
you will do so. You remember me now, do you not?’
said Edgar; ‘and also your good friend in Sydney,
Wal Jessop?’</p>
<p>‘Ay, you’ll remember me, skipper,’ said Wal, in a
hearty voice; ‘I’ve towed you safely into port many
a time. Come, give me a grip of your hand, and say
you know me.’</p>
<p>Manton looked, first at Edgar, and then at Wal
Jessop. He was wrestling with the memories of the
past that had so long been absent from him. Gradually<span class="pagenum">[266]</span>
they saw his memory was recovering its power.
The mind was only clouded, and brighter days would
chase the gloom away.</p>
<p>‘My God! can it be true?’ said Manton, as he
gazed at them. ‘Am I dreaming, or am I mad?
Can this be Edgar Foster, and my old mate, Wal
Jessop? Where am I, and how did I come here?’</p>
<p>He was wrestling with his memory, and gradually
drawing it back to life. With the return of reason
he failed to comprehend what had happened to him,
and why he was on this wild island in the New
Hebrides.</p>
<p>‘True, true, true!’ he murmured; ‘they are indeed
my friends!</p>
<p>He grasped their hands, and his frame shook with
the intense emotion he felt. He was in a very weak
state, and the reaction was too much for him. The
change from darkness to light overpowered him, and
he sank back in a dead faint.</p>
<p>Meri, when he saw Manton fall back, to all appearance
dead, sprang forward and brandished his club
in a savage manner. He thought Edgar and Wal
must have practised some witchcraft upon this white
man, who had been so long amongst them.</p>
<p>Wal Jessop, leaving Manton in Edgar’s care, explained,
as well as he could, what had happened.
Meri looked displeased when Wal said they would
take Manton away with them, and said evil would
fall upon their tribe if they allowed him to go.</p>
<p>It was some time before Manton recovered, and<span class="pagenum">[267]</span>
when he did so he was too weak to walk. Wal Jessop
persuaded Meri to return with him to the village, and
obtain help to carry Manton to the beach.</p>
<p>Edgar remained with the captain, and did all in
his power to cheer him. He knew it would be some
time before they returned, and Manton was not in a
fit state to be left alone. With the return of his
memory he had become nervous and excited. For
the first time since that fatal night when the <em>Distant
Shore</em> was wrecked, he began to remember clearly
what had taken place.</p>
<p>Edgar saw what it was preyed upon his mind, and
said:</p>
<p>‘Everyone will be glad to hear you have been
saved in such a strange and marvellous way. You
will be heartily welcomed in Sydney when we return;
and think of little Eva waiting and watching for
you.’</p>
<p>‘The ship was lost,’ said Manton in a hollow voice,
‘and I am responsible. Did all on board perish with
the exception of three?’</p>
<p>‘Yes,’ said Edgar; ‘but you were not to blame.
Everyone praised your conduct, for I told them how
you stood by your ship, and went down with her.
Nothing could have saved her. You did all that
man could do.’</p>
<p>‘And my poor wife?’ he moaned.</p>
<p>Edgar was silent. He knew words would avail
nothing.</p>
<p>‘How did you find me?’ asked Manton.</p>
<p><span class="pagenum">[268]</span></p>
<p>Edgar related how his father received a letter, and
his own determination to set out in quest of him in
order to ascertain the truth.</p>
<p>‘And you did this for my sake?’ said Manton.</p>
<p>‘I must not take too much credit for that,’ said
Edgar. ‘A love of adventure prompted me, and,
although I hardly credited your being alive, yet I
knew it was not impossible.’</p>
<p>‘And where am I, and how long have I been
here?’ asked Manton wonderingly.</p>
<p>‘You are on the island of Tana, in the New
Hebrides,’ said Edgar. ‘You were no doubt picked
up by a schooner on its way to the South Seas from
Sydney.’</p>
<p>‘It is all very strange,’ said Manton. ‘I must
have been near to death when I was rescued from
the sea.’</p>
<p>‘Your sufferings were so great that your mind
became deranged,’ said Edgar. ‘With complete rest,
and amongst your friends, you will speedily recover.’</p>
<p>Manton shook his head despondingly. He was in
a melancholy mood, and his mind was not quite
balanced. As Edgar looked at him his heart was
full of pity for him, and he fervently hoped it would
not be many weeks before Captain Manton was fully
recovered both in mind and body.</p>
<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
<p><span class="pagenum">[269]</span></p>
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