Fitz had been in the pantry eating plum-duff, or whatever else came handy. The pantry was a favourite resort with Lord Fitzmantle, and Janeira never failed to put after-dinner tit-bits away in a corner for his especial delectation.
“Now, Jane, you shall draw some rum, and, Fitz, you must take it for’ard. Here is the key, Jane; and, Fitz, just tell them for’ard to drink the healths of those aft, and sing as much as they choose to-night.”
“Far away then, Tandy and Nelda,” said Halcott, resuming his narrative, “to the west of this island, farther away almost than the imagination can grasp, so solitary and wide is this great ocean, there used to be a small island called Saint Queeba. Who first found it out, or named it, I cannot tell you, Tandy, but I believe our own brig was the first that ever visited it in a black-birding expedition.
“The population seemed to be about three thousand, and of these we took away at least one hundred and fifty. The poor creatures appeared to have no fear of white men, and so we concealed our revolvers and entered into friendly intercourse with them.
“The island was a long way from any other, and this probably accounted for its never having been black-birded before.
“We returned from Australia almost immediately again after landing our recruits, and I for one felt sure the natives would welcome us.
“So we brought extra-showy cloth and the brightest beads we could procure.
“They did welcome us, and we soon had about half a cargo of real volunteers.
“We were only waiting for others to come from the interior; for the wind was fair just then, and we were all anxious to proceed to sea.
“The very evening before the arrival of the blacks, however, the wind went suddenly down, although, strangely enough, at a great altitude we could see scores of small black clouds scurrying across the sky. Finally, some of these circled round and round, and combined to form a dark blue canopy that gradually lowered itself towards the island.