Five minutes later the boat, which was crowded with natives, went about like a top, and then Tully—as fine a sailor man as ever put hand to a rope—brought her alongside in such a manner that I could not but admire and envy the little blackguard's skill.
The boat itself was kept in fine order, and was painted like all the king's miniature fleet—white outside, and bright salmon inside. One glance at his boat's crew showed me that they were all armed—in a flashy melodramatic style, like the Red Indians of a comic opera, each naked native having a brace of revolvers buckled to a broad leather belt around his waist, from which also hung a French navy cutlass in a leather sheath. They were all big, stalwart fellows, though no one of them was as tough a customer to deal with as our Tepi, who eyed them with undisguised enmity as he caught and made fast the line they heaved aboard.
Little Tully, red-headed, red-bearded, unwashed, and as dirty generally as a pig from his own County Down, jumped on board and extended his filthy paw to me effusively.
“Wal, now, I jest am surprised to see you, Jim Sherry,” he said with the “Down East” drawl he affected—he called himself an American—“why, we haven't seen one another fer quite a stretch. Naow, tell me, where air you from and where air you goin'?” “From Tarawa, and bound to Taputeuea” (an island a hundred miles to the south), I replied curtly, my temper rising, as suddenly catching sight of Lucia and Niâbon, he stared rudely at the former, then grinned and held out his hand to her. She touched it coldly with ill-disguised aversion.
“Why, you too, Mrs. Krause! Wal, this is surprisin'. And where are you goin'? Where's the boss?” “Mr. Krause is on Tarawa,” she replied quickly, “and he has chartered Mr. Sherry's boat to take me to Drummond's Island” (Taputeuea), “where there is a German barque loading for Samoa.” The latter part of her remark was quite true, and Tully knew it.
“That is so, the Wandrahm. She's been lying there nigh on four months. And so you goin' ter Samoa, eh? Wal, I wish I was goin' there myself; but I've got a rosy berth here—I'm boss of King Apinoka's fleet of trading boats, an' live like a fightin' cock.”
I was about to ask him to have a glass of grog, just out of mere civility and island custom, when Tematau and Tepi made a sudden movement, and turning, I saw that they were trying to prevent three or four of Tolly's boat's crew from coming on board.
“Tell your men to keep to their boat, please,” I said sharply. “My two men don't understand the ways of these Apamama people, and they'll be quarrelling presently.”