“Do not wait for me,” said Owen. “I suppose you’ll make the best of your way along, the shore until you get abreast of the ship, unless you can find a native boat before then to take you off to her?”
“That’s what I propose doing,” answered Langton; “but I will not leave you until you regain your strength.”
In a few minutes Owen declared himself able to walk.
“Before we start let us try to find out whether any natives are near; they may be able to help us,” said Langton.
They shouted at the top of their voices, but no reply was heard. They did so, believing that all the natives were friendly in that region.
“We must get help without delay,” said Langton. “That we may have a double chance, I suggest, Owen, that you try to make your way back to Gorontello, which cannot be more than three or four miles off, while I go down towards the ship. If I fall in with a native boat, I will go off at once; if not, I will make a signal from the shore with a big bonfire, and Mr Leigh is pretty sure to send in a boat to learn the cause. You must, in the meantime, endeavour to obtain a boat. You are certain to find some one to interpret for you; promise a handsome reward to those who succeed in discovering the captain and the rest.”
The plan was no sooner arranged than acted on. Owen, as fast as his legs could carry him, started along the shore in one direction, and Langton in the other. Sometimes Owen found the sand smooth enough, but at others he came to rough rocks, over which he had to climb. Now and then he saw a light on his left twinkling in the distance, but he passed no human habitation. Again and again, however, he shouted, hoping that some fisherman’s boat might be concealed among the rocks. No one came near him, and he concluded that the people had retired for the night to their homes. Often, overcome by fatigue, he felt inclined to stop, but remembering that the lives of his captain and shipmates were at stake, he pushed on, now running at full speed along the sand, and now climbing over the rough ground.
At length, greatly to his joy, he saw some lights ahead, they showed that he was approaching the town. “I hope that all the people have not gone to bed. It will be a hard matter to rouse them up,” he thought. “The lights show that some are up at all events.” At length he got among the houses, or rather huts, for few of the buildings deserved a grander name. Some of the natives came out and stared at him, but he could not make them understand what he wanted. They did not, probably, recognise him as one of the smartly dressed officers who had paid a visit to the sultan in the morning. They saw, however, that he was a stranger. At last one made signs to him that he would show him where a person lived who could understand what he said; so Owen fancied was the meaning of the native’s gesticulations. “Yes, quick,” answered Owen.
The native led the way along several rows of huts, until they reached the door of a building of superior pretensions with a broad verandah overlooking the harbour. Owen at once called out—
