I fancied he would greet us affectionately after all the dangers we had encountered; but in this I was mistaken.
"Well, have you two infants got enough of skylarkin'?" he asked in a severe tone, and Phil cried:—
"Skylarking! If you have any idea we've been enjoying ourselves, it would please me well for you to have a turn at such fun."
"Don't wag your tongues about nothin'; but tell me where you've been, an' what you count on doin' with them niggers."
We made a short story of our adventures, for we were so nearly exhausted that it seemed impossible we could remain on our feet another moment; but the time had not yet come when we might indulge in rest.
"You're to go aboard that the captain may speak with you, an' I reckon them two fellers had better keep close behind."
"Can't we speak with the captain in the morning?" I asked, hoping to be allowed a long trick below in my hammock.
"Not a bit of it. After givin' us all to understand that you'd come to grief, an' bein' the means of havin' half a dozen men trampin' over these bloomin' mountains in search of you, the least to be done is to make a report in proper shape."
Without further protest we followed the old sailor, our Typee guards keeping close behind us, and as we walked toward the shore I asked Master Hackett for an account of the day's doings.
"There ain't much of a yarn to it," he replied laughingly. "Our men did the most of the business, an' might have worked the traverse alone, accordin' to all accounts. They marched over the mountains, drivin' the Typees before 'em, until comin' to a kind of fort, where it's said no less than four thousand of the niggers made a stand. Then the Yankees an' the 6-pounder got in their work. It wasn't any great shakes of a battle, 'cause it was so soon over. We drove 'em right an' left, an' wound up the business by pullin' the fort apart. I reckon all the natives on this 'ere island think we're the toughest fighters they ever struck. Our people came in about three o'clock, an' since then we've had visits from this gang an' that, all claimin' to be our best friends. When them as have been sent out to search for you get back, they'll be feelin' sore 'cause a couple of worthless infants have caused 'em so much hard labor."