His hospitable hosts, knowing his anxiety to put to sea again, did not persuade him to wait till morning; but, calling their servants, bade them carry down and fill the mission boat with fruit and vegetables for the use of the ship's company. Then, as there were still some hours before them, supper was proceeded with, and the rest of the evening was spent on the verandah.
At last the time came to say farewell. The moon had risen, and sent a long steady blade of light down the strait, the breeze was blowing fresh and cool and rustling the line of palms in the mission garden, and the two boats with their crews were waiting on the beach.
'Come, my friends,' said the older of the two missionaries to his guests, 'let us go. My brother Garnier and myself are not so old that we cannot walk down with you to the boat.'
As the little procession left the mission it was joined by some hundreds of young women and lads, who pressed forward to say good-bye to Mrs. Casalle and Solepa; many of them were unable to restrain their tears, and Tom could not help remarking upon their warm-hearted impulsiveness to Captain Herrendeen, adding that Hayes had told him that the Fotuna natives were inclined to be saucy and domineering.
'Ah,' said the old priest, who overheard him, 'but Captain Hayes did not understand the changes we have made here of late years. The Fotunans were always a more suspicious and irritable people than the other Polynesians; even now they do not take quickly to strangers like the Samoans or Tahitians, but that is because there is a strain of Papuan blood in them. And it is not more than twenty years ago since my predecessor, Père Channel, was beaten to death by their clubs here at Alō.'
They reached the boats, and then, almost in silence, Tom and Mrs. Casalle bade the good old men farewell.
'Farewell, madame; farewell, Tom!' murmured Père Serge, who was almost afraid to trust his own voice, as he took their hands in his; 'may Heaven protect you both! You have both suffered much, but now happiness is near to you. Think of us sometimes, living out our quiet lives on this lonely little island. And to you farewell, captain, and to you, sir, and to you,' as he held out his hand to Herrendeen, the second mate, and Maori Bill; 'may your voyage be a very happy, a very prosperous one! Perhaps in a year or two you may come to Fotuna again, and tell me that you have killed many whales.'
Another hand-grasp, and Mrs. Casalle and the captain took their seats in the whaler's boat, Bill--who contrived to get Solepa and Tom with him--took charge of the other, and the word was given to push off.
The priests, surrounded by their flock, stood watching on the beach, and then, as the boats cleared the reef and headed southward, Tom and the captain stood up and waved their hats. For some minutes the two black-garbed figures remained stationary, silhouetted against the white background of moonlit beach; then they turned and disappeared under the shadow of the palms.
When the boats were a few hundred yards beyond the barrier-reef the oars were taken in, the sails hoisted, and soon both were slipping quickly over the water, which, though ruffled by the gentle breeze, was very smooth. The mission boat, however, being both clumsy and heavily laden, dropped behind considerably, and gradually the voices of her native crew, who were singing merrily as they sailed, grew indistinct.