"Where is he?" asked Elizabeth anxiously.
"He go fetch water," said Maku. "He say mus' have water, so he go down all-same fetch some."
"Why did you let him? Why didn't you wake us?" cried Elizabeth in great distress.
"He say mus' go," persisted the old chief. "He say you do lot fo' he, he do little t'ing fo' you."
Tommy ran to the edge of the plantation to look for the missionary. Her sisters heard her give a low cry, and next moment she came running back to them, her eyes ablaze with excitement.
"A ship! A ship!" she cried.
The startling news was almost overwhelming. For a moment the girls stood as though rooted to the ground, then they rushed forward, following Tommy, who had already darted back towards the edge. Their hearts leapt within them as they saw, far out at sea, a line of black smoke, and beneath it the low hull of a steamer.
"Is she coming this way?" said Mary anxiously.
"Oh, I do hope so," said Elizabeth. "We must make a signal. Let us tie our handkerchiefs together; Fangati can climb one of the trees with it."
In a few moments Fangati had climbed a tall stem, and tied the three knotted handkerchiefs to a branch projecting towards the sea. Then the girls remembered Mr. Corke, whom in their momentary excitement they had forgotten. There was no sound from below; the natives had certainly not yet seen him, or shouts would have announced their delight.