CHAPTER III
THE PRICE OF SUCCESS
It was a lovely evening; lovely as evening can be in the isle-strewn, iridescent seas beneath the Southern Cross. The sun, setting behind the ship which came sailing out of the radiant west, threw his magic mantle over the rolling clouds which lay in inky masses where the ocean touched them in the distant east, filling their hollows with crimson, fringing their pinnacles and battlements with ruddy gold. Fronting the dreamy horizon, Wari-Kauri, Rangi-Haute, and Rangatira[[1]] slumbered peacefully in the rosy light, while great Te Wenga's gloomy bosom caught and kept the fire-tipped shafts. Northwards, the uprising cones of basalt reflected the flames in the sky. Southwards, green-black forest and fern-grown gully blazed for a moment ere they paled away in the dusk. Ahead, the surges, fearful of the night, curled and broke with ceaseless thunder upon the reefs, flinging high their snowy crests to snatch yet one more glory from the day, and falling back, a shower of jewels of ineffable hues. Astern, as if to guide the gliding ship, long paths of crimson light streamed from the sinking sun, and shot aslant in wavering lines from sky to sea, from sea to shore. And as the Stella slipped to her moorings, the rattle of the chain, the splash of the falling anchor, broke in upon the sweet peace; day, affrighted, fled with the sun, and night, fearing no terrors, brooded upon sea and land.
[[1]] The Chatham Islands, a group lying some 300 miles east of New Zealand. Wari-Kauri is Chatham Island proper.
As the Stella neared the shore, a boat, manned by Maori prisoners, put off to give what help might be required. In the stern sat a man who instantly attracted George's attention, and, curiously enough, the young Englishman seemed at the same moment to become the object of profound interest on the part of the Maori, who stared at him as if fascinated.
George had seen many Maoris and admired them; but this one attracted him strangely, and, certainly, no one looking at the man would have taken him for a convict. His face was handsome, notwithstanding the intricate designs carved upon it from brow to chin; his eyes bright, and so restless that they conveyed the impression of incessantly shooting points of light. His figure was strong, though not massive, and much more symmetrical than is usual among his countrymen, who are generally short legged and long-bodied.
Altogether he was a remarkable man, and he moved among his companions with a stateliness and an air of condescension which, but for his impressive appearance, would have seemed ludicrously incongruous. As his furtive brown eyes, glancing this way and that, encountered those of George, frankly full of interest and admiration, they fell for an instant, and then, seeing that the Englishman was about to advance and speak to him, he clambered hastily over the side and dropped back into the boat.
'That is an uncommonly fine-looking fellow,' thought George. 'I wonder what he has done to be cooped up along with those evil-faced rascals. Not that his own expression is particularly engaging; but he has not the cut of a convict. And what a figure! I should like to see more of him.'
It is sometimes unwise to express a wish without previous consideration, and had George dreamed that he was to be taken at his word, or even faintly imagined how much more he was to see of this splendid Maori before all was done, he would have borrowed the wishing-cap once more, and had himself carried back to Sydney without delay.
But George was troubled with no sinister anticipations, and he was up and on deck betimes next morning, for there was much to be done, and he was not one to shirk that part of his contract which included hard work. The men had quickly discovered this, and, in consequence, every one on board liked him, while George, on his side, liked every one. He gave himself no airs, being sure of his own position, but respected himself and others, and did loyally what he had agreed to do. As a natural result he gained the respect and goodwill of those with whom he was associated.