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Arthur Conan Doyle - "The New Revelation"

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Chapter LXVI

Before we wind up this history, it will be as well to state to my young
readers how it was that Captain Osborn made his appearance at so
fortunate a moment. It will be recollected how a brig came off the
island some months before this, and the great disappointment that the
party on the island experienced in her not making her appearance again.
The fact was, that those on board of the brig had not only seen their
signals, but had read the name of the "Pacific" upon the flag hoisted;
but the heavy gale which came on drove them so far to the southward,
that the master of the brig did not consider that he should do his duty
to his owners, if he lost so much time in beating up for the island
again. He therefore decided upon making all sail for Sydney, to which
port he was bound.

When Captain Osborn was put into the boat by Mackintosh and the seamen
of the Pacific, he was still insensible; but he gradually recovered,
and after a stormy night, Captain Osborn was so far recovered as to
hear from Mackintosh what had taken place, and why it was that he found
himself in an open boat at sea. The next morning the wind moderated,
and they were fortunate enough to fall in with a vessel bound to Van
Diemen's Land, which took them all on board.

From the account given by Mackintosh, Captain Osborn had no doubt in
his mind but that the Seagrave family had perished, and the loss of the
vessel, with them on board, was duly reported to the owners. When at
Van Diemen's Land, Captain Osborn was so much taken with the beauty and
fertility of the country, and perhaps not so well inclined to go to sea
again after such danger as he had incurred in the last voyage, that he
resolved to purchase land and settle there. He did so, and had already
stocked his farm with cattle, and had gone round to Sydney in a
schooner to await the arrival of a large order from England which he
had sent for, when the brig arrived and reported the existence of some
white people on the small island, and also that they had hoisted a flag
with the name Pacific worked on it.

Captain Osborn, hearing this, went to the master of the brig, and
questioned him. He found the latitude and longitude of the island to be
not far from that of the ship when she was deserted, and he was now
convinced that, by some miracle, the Seagrave family had been
preserved. He therefore went to the Governor of New South Wales, and
made him acquainted with the facts which had been established, and the
Governor instantly replied, that the government armed schooner was at
his service, if he would himself go in quest of his former shipmates.
Inconvenient as the absence at that time was to Captain Osborn, he at
once acquiesced, and in a few days the schooner sailed for her
destination. She arrived off the island on the same morning that the
fleet of canoes with the savages effected their landing, and when
William made the remark to Ready as they were hastening into the
stockade, that there was another vessel under sail off the
garden-point, had Ready had time to put his eye to the telescope, he
would have discovered that it was the schooner.

The schooner stood in to the reefs, and then hauled off again, that she
might send her boat in to sound for an anchorage. The boat, when
sounding, perceived the canoes and the savages, and afterwards heard
the report of firearms on the first attack. On her return on board the
schooner, they stated what they had seen and heard, and their idea that
the white people on the island were being attacked by the savages. As
the boat did not return on board till near dusk, they had not time to
canvas, the question when the night attack was made, and they again
heard the firing of the muskets. This made Captain Osborn most anxious
to land as soon as possible, but as the savages were in such numbers,
and the crew of the schooner did not consist of more than twenty-five
men, the commander considered it was rash to make the attempt. He did,
however, show the utmost anxiety to bring his schooner to an anchor, so
as to protect his men, and then agreed that they should land.

The boat had reported deep water and good anchorage close to the
garden-point, and every preparation was made for running at daylight on
the following morning; but unfortunately, it fell calm for the best
part of the day, and it was not until the morning after, just as the
savages were making their last attack upon the stockade, that she could
get in. As soon as she did, she opened the fire of her carronades, and
the result is already known.

My readers must, if they can, imagine the joy of Mr. and Mrs. Seagrave
when they beheld their old friend Captain Osborn. All danger was now
over; the party who had landed with him went out under the command of
the mate, to ascertain if there were any more of the savages to be
found; but, except the dead and dying, all had escaped in some of the
smaller canoes. Captain Osborn remained with the Seagraves, and they
informed him of the state of poor old Ready, whom William had gone to
attend as soon as Captain Osborn was engaged with his father and
mother. Captain Osborn hurried out to see him; Ready knew his voice,
for his eyes were already so dim that he could not see.

"That is Captain Osborn, I know," said Ready in a faint voice. "You
have come in good time, sir; I knew you would come, and I always said
so: you have the thanks of a dying man."

"I hope it is not so bad as that, Ready; we have a surgeon on board,
and I will send for him at once."

"No surgeon can help me, sir," replied Ready; "another hour of time
will not pass before I shall be in Eternity."

The old man then joined his hands across his breast, and remained for
some time in silent prayer. Then he bade them farewell in a faint
voice, which at last was changed to a mere whisper. They still
remained, in silence and in tears, standing round him, William only
kneeling and holding his hand, when the old man's head fell back, and
he was no more!

"It is all over," said Mr. Seagrave mournfully, "and he has, I have no
doubt, gone to receive the reward of a good and just man. `Happy are
those who die in the Lord.'"

Mr. Seagrave then led away his wife and children, leaving Juno and
William. William closed his eyes, and Juno went and fetched the ship's
ensign, which they laid over the body, after which they joined the rest
of the party in the house.

It was decided that the following day should be passed in packing up
and getting on board their luggage, and that the day after the family
should embark. William then mentioned the wish of poor old Ready as to
his burial. The commander of the schooner immediately gave directions
for a coffin to be made, and for his men to dig the grave at the spot
that William should point out.



Chapter LXVII

The hurry and bustle of preparing for their departure from the island,
and the rapid succession of events which had been crowded together
within so very few days, had not allowed time for much thought or
reflection to Mr. and Mrs. Seagrave and William; at length, however,
every preparation had been made, and they were no longer urged by the
commander of the schooner to hasten their packing up and arrangements;
for everything had been sent on board during the afternoon, and it was
proposed that they should sail on the following day.

Now they had time to feel, and bitterly did they lament the loss of
their old friend, and deplore that he had not survived to sail with
them to Sydney. They had always indulged the hope that one day they
should be taken off the island, and in that hope they had ever looked
forward to old Ready becoming a part of their future household. Now
that their wishes had been granted - so much was the feeling of joy and
gratitude mingled with regret - that could he have been restored to
them, they felt as if they would have gladly remained on the island.

Captain Osborn, the commander, and the crew of the schooner had taken
leave of them for the night, and had gone on board, having made
arrangements for the interment of Ready, previous to their sailing, on
the following day. The children had been put to bed, and Juno had
quitted the house; Mr. and Mrs. Seagrave and William were sitting
together in their now half-dismantled room, when Juno entered; the poor
girl had evidently been weeping.

"Well, Juno," observed Mr. Seagrave, with a view to break the silence
which had continued for some time previous to her entrance, "are you
not glad to leave the island?"

"One time I think I would be very glad, but now I not care much,"
replied Juno. "Island very nice place, all very happy till savage come.
Suppose they not kill old Ready, I not care."

"Yes, indeed," said Mrs. Seagrave, "it is a sad blow to us all; I did
hope to have fostered the good old man, and to have been able to have
shown him our gratitude, but--"

"It is the will of Heaven that it should be otherwise," continued Mr.
Seagrave; "I would give half that I am possessed of, that he had not
perished."

"Oh, Massa!" said Juno, "I sit by him just now; I take off the flag and
look at his face, so calm, look so happy, so good, I almost tink he
smile at me, and then I cry. Oh! Massa Tommy, all because you idle
boy."

"It adds much to my regret," replied Mr. Seagrave, "that his life
should have been sacrificed through the thoughtlessness of one of my
own children; what a lesson it will be to Tommy when he is old enough
to comprehend the consequences of his conduct."

"That he must not know, papa," said William, who had been leaning
mournfully over the table; "one of Ready's last injunctions was that
Tommy was never to be told of it."

"His last wishes shall be religiously attended to, my dear boy,"
replied Mr. Seagrave; "for what do we not owe to that good old man?
When others deserted us and left us to perish, he remained with us to
share our fate. By his skill we were saved and landed in safety. He
provided for our wants, added to our comforts, instructed us how to
make the best use of our means. Without his precautions we should have
perished by the spears of the savages. What an example of Christian
fortitude and humility did he ever show us! and indeed, I may truly
say, that by his example, sinful as I must ever be, I have become, I
trust, a better man. Would that he were now sitting by us, - but the
Lord's will be done!"

"I feel as if I had lost a stay or prop," replied Mrs. Seagrave. "So
accustomed have I been to look to him for advice since we have been on
this island. Had he not been thus snatched from us - had he been spared
to us a few years, and had we been permitted to surround his death-bed,
and close his eyes in peace--" and Mrs. Seagrave wept upon the shoulder
of her husband.

After a time, Mrs. Seagrave recovered herself; but silence ensued, only
broken by an occasional sob from poor Juno. William's heart was too
full; he could not for a long while utter a word; at last he said in a
low voice:

"I feel that, next to my dear father and mother, I have lost my best
friend. I cannot forgive myself for allowing him to go for the water;
it was my duty to go, and I ought to have gone."

"And yet we could have ill spared you, my dear boy; you might have
perished," replied Mrs. Seagrave.

"It would have been as God willed," replied William; "I might have
perished, or I might not."

"We never know what the morrow may bring forth," said Mr. Seagrave, "or
what may be in store for us. Had not this misfortune happened, had old
Ready been spared to us, how joyfully should I and all of you have
quitted this island, full of anticipation, and indulging in worldly
prospects. What a check have I received! I now am all thought and
anxiety. I have said to myself, `we have been happy on this island; our
wants have been supplied; even our comforts have been great. We have
been under no temptations, for we have been isolated from the world; am
I so sure that I shall be as happy in future as I have been? Am I
confident, now my long-wished-for return to the world is about to take
place, that I shall have no cause to lament that I ever quitted this
peaceful, quiet spot?' I feel that it is a duty to my family that I
should return to society, but I am far from feeling that our happiness
may be increased. We have, however, a plain precept to follow, which
is, to do our duty in that state of life to which it has pleased God to
call us."

"Yes," replied Mrs. Seagrave; "I feel the truth of all you have just
said. We are in his hands; let us put our trust in him."

"We will," replied Mr. Seagrave; "but it is late, and we have to rise
early to-morrow morning. This is the last evening which we shall pass
on this island; let us return our thanks for the happiness we have
enjoyed here. We thought to have quitted this spot in joy, - it is his
will that we should leave it in sorrow."

Mr. Seagrave took down the Bible, and after he had read a chapter, he
poured forth a prayer suited to their feelings, and they all retired to
repose.

The next morning they were up early, and packed up the few articles
which still remained to go on board. Mr. Seagrave read the prayers, and
they went to breakfast. Few words were exchanged, for there was a
solemn grief upon all of them. They waited for the arrival of Captain
Osborn and the crew of the schooner to attend the funeral of poor old
Ready. William, who had gone out occasionally to look at the vessel,
now came in, and said that two boats were pulling on shore. A few
minutes afterwards, Captain Osborn and the commander of the schooner
soon made their appearance. The coffin had been brought on shore; the
body of Ready was put into it, and it was screwed down.

In half an hour all was prepared, and the family were summoned from the
house. The coffin, covered with the Union Jack as a pall, was raised on
the shoulders of six of the seamen, and they bore it to the grave,
followed by Mrs. Seagrave and the children, the commander of the
schooner, and several of the men. Mr. Seagrave read the funeral
service, the grave was filled up, and they all walked back in silence.
At the request of William, the commander of the schooner had ordered
the carpenter to prepare an oak paling to put round the grave, and a
board on which was written the name of the deceased and day of his
death. As soon as this had been fixed up, William, with a deep sigh,
followed the commander of the schooner to the house to announce that
all was finished, and that the boat waited for them to embark.

"Come, my dear," said Mr. Seagrave to his wife.

"I will, I will," replied Mrs. Seagrave, "but I don't know how it is,
now that the hour is come, I really feel such pain at quitting this
dear island. Had it not been for poor Ready's death, I really do think
I should wish to remain."

"I don't doubt but that you feel sorrow, my dear, but we must not keep
Captain Osborn waiting."

As Mr. Seagrave was aware that the commander of the schooner was
anxious to get clear of the islands before night, he now led his wife
down to the boat. They all embarked, and were soon on the deck of the
schooner, from whence they continued to fix their eyes upon the island,
while the men were heaving up the anchor. At last sail was made upon
the vessel, the garden-point was cleared, and, as they ran away with a
fair wind, each object on the shore became more indistinct. Still their
eyes were turned in that direction.

As they ran down to the westward, they passed the cove where they had
first landed, and Mr. Seagrave directed Mrs. Seagrave's attention to
it. She remained for some time looking at it in silence, and then said
as she turned away:

"We shall never be more happy than we were on that island, Seagrave."

"It will indeed be well, my dear, if we never are less happy," replied
her husband.

The schooner now ran fast through the water, and the island was every
minute less distinct; after a time, the land was below the horizon, and
the tops of the cocoa-nut trees only to be seen; these gradually
disappeared. Juno watched on, and when at last nothing could be seen,
she waved her handkerchief in the direction of the island, as if to bid
it farewell, and then went down below to hide her grief.

The wind continued fair, and, after a favourable passage of little more
than four weeks, they arrived at Sydney Cove, the port to which they
were bound when they embarked from England on board of the good ship
Pacific.

P.S. - As my young readers will probably wish to know a little more
about the Seagrave family, I will inform them that Mr. Seagrave, like
the patriarch Job after his tribulation, found his flocks and herds
greatly increased on his arrival at Sydney. Mr. and Mrs. Seagrave lived
to see all their children grown up. William inherited the greater part
of the property from his father, after having for many years assisted
him in the management of it. Tommy, notwithstanding all his scrapes,
grew up a very fine fellow, and entered the army. Caroline married a
young clergyman, and made him an excellent wife; little Albert went
into the navy, and is at present a commander.

Juno is still alive, and lives at Seagrave plantation with William, and
her greatest pleasure is to take his children on her knee, and tell
them long stories about the island, and make them cry when she goes
through the history of old Ready's death and burial.

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