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- 2951
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- CHAPTER XXVII.
In Which The Past History Of The Parki Is Concluded
Still days, days, days sped by; and steering now this way, now that, to
avoid the green treacherous shores, which frequently rose into view,
the Parki went to and fro in the sea; till at last, it seemed hard to
tell, in what watery world she floated. Well knowing the risks they
ran, Samoa desponded. But blessed be ignorance. For in the day of his
despondency, the lively old lass his wife bade him be of stout heart,
cheer up, and steer away manfully for the setting sun; following which,
they must inevitably arrive at her own dear native island, where all
their cares would be over. So squaring their yards, away they glided;
far sloping down the liquid sphere.
Upon the afternoon of the day we caught sight of them in our boat, they
had sighted a cluster of low islands, which put them in no small panic,
because of their resemblance to those where the massacre had taken
place. Whereas, they must have been full five hundred leagues from that
fearful vicinity. However, they altered their course to avoid it; and a
little before sunset, dropping the islands astern, resumed their
previous track. But very soon after, they espied our little sea-goat,
bounding over the billows from afar.
This they took for a canoe giving chase to them. It renewed and
augmented their alarm.
And when at last they perceived that the strange object was a boat,
their fears, instead of being allayed, only so much the more increased.
For their wild superstitions led them to conclude, that a white man’s
craft coming upon them so suddenly, upon the open sea, and by night,
could be naught but a phantom. Furthermore, marking two of us in the
Chamois, they fancied us the ghosts of the Cholos. A conceit which
effectually damped Samoa’s courage, like my Viking’s, only proof
against things tangible. So seeing us bent upon boarding the
brigantine; after a hurried over-turning of their chattels, with a view
of carrying the most valuable aloft for safe keeping, they secreted
what they could; and together made for the fore-top; the man with a
musket, the woman with a bag of beads. Their endeavoring to secure
these treasures against ghostly appropriation originated in no real
fear, that otherwise they would be stolen: it was simply incidental to
the vacant panic into which they were thrown. No reproach this, to
Belisarius’ heart of game; for the most intrepid Feegee warrior, he who
has slain his hecatombs, will not go ten yards in the dark alone, for
fear of ghosts.
Their purpose was to remain in the top until daylight; by which time,
they counted upon the withdrawal of their visitants; who, sure enough,
at last sprang on board, thus verifying their worst apprehensions.
They watched us long and earnestly. But curious to tell, in that very
strait of theirs, perched together in that airy top, their domestic
differences again broke forth; most probably, from their being suddenly
forced into such very close contact.
However that might be, taking advantage of our descent into the cabin,
Samoa, in desperation fled from his wife, and one-armed as he was,
sailor-like, shifted himself over by the fore and aft-stays to the
main-top, his musket being slung to his back. And thus divided, though
but a few yards intervened, the pair were as much asunder as if at the
opposite Poles.
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