Mary of Marion Isle

Chapter XVII Exploration

By the help of a spade and a pick–axe that were among the various stores, Andrew with much labour dug a grave between two rocks on the top of a knoll not far from the hut. He could not finish it in a day as he hoped to do, because of the great stones mixed with the earth, which must be levered out one by one. So when night came on he was obliged to return to the hut and spend the hours of darkness in the cold company of poor Jacks.

The fellowship was not cheerful. Jacks alive had been a good but commonplace little man not calculated to excite emotion in anyone; but Jacks dead was very different. Somehow, lying beneath that blanket his stillness and smallness as revealed by the light of the candle (for of these, too, as of matches, there was a stock in tin boxes) oppressed him, accustomed though he was as a doctor to the sight of the dead.

All the old problems rose in his mind, those simple, elementary problems which we thrust aside in the busy course of life, that yet have a way of asserting themselves on such an occasion. There lay what had been Jacks, but where was the real Jacks? Had he gone far away and entered on the heritage of some new, unimaginable state, or was he perhaps still here, watching and wondering, but unable to communicate his thoughts because of the wall of mental death that had been built between them?

Or perhaps was this little lump of clay all that was left of Jacks; was his story told, his part in existence finished? Andrew did not know. As a scientist the last seemed to be the most probable solution; for any other he must rely upon faith in religion and miracle. Religion, and to some extent instinct, told him that this miracle happens, that the dead do live again, but in what fashion and where there was no proof. Certainly if they did not, the lot of man was very cruel, doomed as he was to know much trouble and little joy, to be haunted by fears and griefs and at last to suffer the fate which the law decrees for the worst of criminals—to be executed, and often with the complication of prolonged torture. No, no, Jacks must still be living somewhere among the multitudes who had also lived. Perhaps he would meet those whom he, Andrew, had lost, his mother and the beloved child, and be able to tell them all about him. No, that could not be, since with what distress they would listen to such a tale, unless they had reached a state in which feeling had disappeared with every other human attribute. Perhaps they were all asleep and would sleep until everyone whom they had loved had joined them in their sleep. This at least would be more merciful than knowledge. All he could hope was that under new conditions Jacks was happy. If so, he who was left behind did not share that state.

His nerves became affected. He thought of dragging the body outside the hut, but refrained because he felt sure that it was just the kind of thing that Jacks would have resented. Then, being very anxious to ascertain the exact cause of his death, he thought of performing a post–mortem on him which would have been a congenial, professional occupation. Suddenly he remembered, however, that once at the hospital he had heard Jacks say, when some such business was going on, that he hoped no one would ever cut him up and leave bits of his inside about. So Andrew abandoned that idea also and, the society of Jacks becoming intolerable, he left the hut.

Outside it was sleeting and blowing, also sea–elephants, or seals, or both, were roaring, so that altogether the noises were weird and melancholy. Yet they were better than the silence of Jacks, and since it was too cold to keep still, he walked up and down there for hours, listening to them, until the dawn came indeed. Then for a while he stood lost in contemplation of the wild glory of the sea; the dark and limitless ocean, the white lines of ceaseless breakers, the red rays of the sun striking across them or on to the hilly heath–land of the island, the countless flocks of birds screaming upon the rocks or sailing out to sea in wedges and triangles to seek their food from God.

After this he returned to the hut where he noted with a primitive and childlike feeling of surprise that Jacks was exactly as he had left him, found some food which he ate outside, and proceeded to the grave to resume his labours.

It was afternoon before these were finished, which mattered little as he had plenty of time upon his hands. Indeed, but that he did not wish to spend another night in the company of Jacks, he would have prolonged them till the morrow and dug the grave to the orthodox depth. As it was he stopped at about four feet; then having washed himself in a stream of fresh water that ran down the rocks near by, went to fetch the body. His purpose was to bury it clothed as it was, but feeling that there were articles in the pockets, he searched these and extracted from them quite a collection of Jacks' personal belongings.

There were his purse containing twenty–six pounds in gold, his white–handled pocket–knife with which he continually cleaned his nails, his fountain–pens—two of them—and a pencil, his gold chain and watch which had stopped, the keys of the private despatch–boxes and of his—Andrew's—own desk that now lay at the bottom of the sea, and some other sundries. Also in the breast–pocket there was a handsomely bound Church–service printed in small but clear type on India paper, so that it was not bulky, which from the worn state of the morocco binding he concluded Jacks must always have carried about with him, although he had never or seldom spoken of religious matters.

Andrew opened it idly and saw inscribed on the title–page, "To dear Samuel from Jane," while underneath was written in a rather schoolgirlish hand, "I hope, dear, we shall read our prayers out of this book together for all the years of our life. J." There was no date, but in the pocket of the cover was an envelope, and in the envelope a photograph of a young woman with a pretty, rather pathetic little face and fluffy hair, who wore a large locket on her breast, doubtless the picture of Jane.

So Jacks had a romance, although of this, too, he had never said anything. With a strange curiosity Andrew fell to wondering who Jane might be, also whether she were alive or dead. Was Jacks perchance a widower, or had he mayhap been jilted—like himself? He did not know and he never would know, since Jacks lay there so silent and incapable of answering queries in any voice audible to the world. This was the beginning and the end of something that had been, or still was of intense importance to two insignificant inhabitants of this great earth, living or dead, or living and dead. It was pathetic, but then to those who can feel and see, an infinite minority be it admitted, everything is pathetic, since when it is not merely comic, the world is the home of pathos rounded off by tragedy.

Only the beasts escape, reflected Andrew, since they cannot feel grief and are unaware of the impending tragedy. At this moment a most mournful bellowing close by caused him to look out of the hut. There on a neighbouring rock he saw a sea–lion cow that appeared to be weeping, since he thought he perceived tears running down its cheeks, and was certainly wailing. By its side lay a dead calf that had come to its end he knew not how. Nor was this all, for a little further off a sea–lion bull was engaged in the deliberate and delighted slaughter of another bull, a grey animal that, owing to age and the loss of one tusk, was unable to stand up against its younger adversary. So the beasts also knew the pathos and the pain of life, and as is suggested by their fear of all that is strange and may hurt them, probably are acquainted with its ultimate tragedy.

Filled with such thoughts as these, which came home to him with added force in those sad circumstances and in that solitude, Andrew slowly and with great toil half–dragged and half–carried the body of Jacks up the mound, and by help of a rope let it down into the grave that he had dug.

Then, by an afterthought, he went back and fetched the Prayer Book that he had found in the dead man's pocket, and from it read the Burial Service over him from the first words to the last, throwing earth upon the body at the appropriate moment. He had a good voice and read well and with feeling to an audience of king–penguins which, with their usual tameness and curiosity in a place where they were never disturbed by the cruelties of man, had waddled up to the grave, round which they stood like a circle of white–robed choristers. Very curious was the scene, and very strange sounded the solemn words as to the resurrection and the life and the inspired periods of St. Paul, uttered in that fearful solitude over the dead, unseeing face of his friend, and beneath the enormous arch of the desolate heavens.

At length it was done, and in the dying light, with the wind–driven clouds fired by the sunset drifting over him, he filled in the grave—first a bit of torn sail over the body, then earth, then stones, then more earth, and after it more stones arranged to the accustomed churchyard shape, as well as he could fit them in that gloom.

At last all was done and Andrew went back to the hut, hung up the great–coat in which Jacks had died that he had removed from his body as too valuable to be lost, and by the light of his candle ate some food. After this was finished, utterly exhausted in body and mind, he flung himself down to sleep.

Such was the beginning of Andrew's very strange life upon that desert isle. Of the first two months of it little need be said. He lived, that is all, and indeed in the end became more or less accustomed to his circumstances. To supplement his stores he caught fish, using a kind of mussel for bait. At first he went out to a rock to do this, but there the fish were so big that they carried away his hooks or broke his line and rarely could he land one of them. After this experience, for economy's sake he contented himself with the smaller fry that inhabited the shallower, inshore pools, which after all furnished all he wanted for his food. Also he shot some rabbits with one of the guns from the stores, and occasionally a kid, for there were wild goats upon the island, doubtless the progeny of some that had been left there by a ship perhaps generations before.

On one of these goat–hunting expeditions, to his surprise among some rocks he put up a large cat, which rushed away carrying a kitten in its mouth. Going to the spot he found another kitten, coal–black in hue, that appeared to be about a month old, and caught it with some difficulty. This kitten he carried home in his pocket. At first it refused food and was wild, but ultimately hunger drove it to take some fish, after which Andrew fed it regularly with this and shredded rabbit's flesh. In the end the creature grew very fond of him and became his great companion, its ancestors doubtless having been domesticated. Indeed, it slept on his bed at night and ran about after him like a dog. Having no other society, this cat was soon very dear to him.

Thus week added itself to week and to his surprise Andrew, who had always been a delicate man, found himself growing quite strong and putting on weight. The pure, germless air of that cold place and the simple, natural life he led agreed with him thoroughly. Nor did he suffer so much from the solitude as might have been expected. He had always wanted leisure to think, and here he had time and to spare. He reflected on many things; at first principally on those that had to do with politics and social problems, or on scientific theories that had interested him in the past. By degrees, however, all matters connected with the world from which he was cut off began to lose their interest for him, so that he could only bring his mind to bear on them with difficulty. After all, what did they matter to a kind of Robinson Crusoe cast away upon a desert island? Soon to him what may be called the eternal verities became the only subjects worthy of consideration. He thought of life and death, of God and the ultimate destiny of man. The only book he had was poor Jack's Church–service, but as in addition to the prayers this contained all the Lessons and, above everything, the Psalms, he found it enough to satisfy his mind in the intervals of his work, musings, and sleep. For here he slept long and soundly, which he had never done before.

In short, on the whole Andrew was not unhappy. At first, in the early morning and at sunset, also at intervals during the day, he would climb the tall hill behind the hut and search the horizon for any sign of a ship. Also he fixed a piece of canvas to an oar and set it up upon the highest point as a signal of distress, till in a fierce gale it was blown away, after which he never troubled to replace it. Indeed, his visits to the hilltop became rarer by degrees, until at length they ceased altogether.

It was a waste of time to look for non–existent ships when he always seemed to be busy; moreover, he began to cease to care about being rescued at all. In that great loneliness he learned how little the world concerned him, and even thought with a shudder of his Governorship and his Staff, yes, and of his daily efforts to make himself agreeable to Clara and to talk to her about matters that did not attract him. Of course he could not say if Clara still existed, or the Staff either, but somehow he thought that this was so. To begin with, it was impossible to imagine her as dead; also, if they had all perished in the shipwreck, he felt sure that search vessels would have visited the island, whereas had they been rescued, as was in fact the case, Jacks and himself being accounted for, no one would have troubled.

The sub–Arctic winter wore away and the spring came. It was a very cold spring, only now rain fell instead of snow, also the screaming sea–birds began to mate and a great herd of seals arrived from somewhere, apparently to produce their young. The brown tussocks of coarse grass too turned green, and in certain spots appeared a fleshy–leaved plant which, from the description the captain had given of it, he recognized as the Kerguelen cabbage. Some of this he took home and boiled, to find that it was excellent, if rather strong in taste. As no ill results followed, he ate largely of this cabbage, which gave a healthy variety to his food of flesh and fish.

One day, when for a marvel it was quite fine, restlessness overcame him, begetting a desire to explore the island. So he started early, carrying his gun which would shoot either ball or shot, and a certain number of cartridges; also he took a bag of food in case he should be benighted, and since he did not like to leave it alone, put the cat into the big inner pocket of his coat, where in fact it was accustomed to travel when he went far afield. Thus laden, guided by his compass, he set out towards the north–east with a view of reaching the other side of the island, if that were possible.

As soon as he gained the higher land Andrew found the going very rough indeed. Either he had to struggle through matted tufts of a shrub–like growth, or he got on to patches of sharp stones and what seemed to be lava rocks, or he came across swamps full of duck and a kind of snipe, which must be skirted round. Indeed, it was midday before he reached the highest point, which was marked by a tall hill with precipitous sides, and then he had travelled but a few miles. Forcing a path along the base of this hill, suddenly he perceived the ocean on the other side of the island and in it, at a distance of twelve or fifteen miles from the shore, other rocky and forbidding–looking land. This made him almost certain that he must be on the Prince Edward Islands, since the captain of the Neptune had spoken of two of them.

At first he was minded to be content with this discovery and to return, but ultimately determined to push right across the island and to come back on the morrow. So having rested a while and fed himself and the cat, which he had named Josky after his landlady in Justice Street, Andrew struggled on, encountering the same obstacles, only of an even worse character.

About four in the afternoon he reached the edge of a plateau whence the ground fell steeply for several hundred feet, terminating in cliffs that enclosed a large, protected, and by comparison, tranquil–looking bay that was bordered by a belt of flat soil of fertile appearance. Beyond this bay was a foaming Race caused, apparently, by the tide rushing between the two islands.

Looking at this prospect Andrew suddenly became aware of a strange thing, namely that a little line of smoke was mounting upwards from this flat land bordered by the rocky beach. The curl of smoke floating on still air is so common a sight that at first it excited no wonder in him, who had come from a land of smoke. Then suddenly he remembered and started so violently that the cat, Josky, mewed in protest in his pocket.

How could there be smoke upon this island? Seals and sea–lions do not make fires; only men make fires, therefore where there are fires there must be men. In short, the place must be inhabited by other human beings besides himself. He felt like Robinson Crusoe when he discovered the footprints upon the sand; indeed, the idea occurred to him, also that the circumstances were not dissimilar, except that Crusoe had been wrecked upon a warm island and he upon one that was cold.

So after all he was not alone; down there by the smoke there would be company. His heart beat with joy at the thought—for a few moments. But then he began to wonder what company, and it stilled again. Probably some rude and brutalized sailors were dwelling there, horrible, coarse–mouthed men. It would be better to continue to live alone than to mix with such as they must be, since once they met he would scarcely be able to escape their society. Retreat was the wisest policy, and he turned to go before he was discovered. And yet he hesitated. After all, he was human, and those who had made that fire must be human, too, and in his circumstances he said with the ancients that nothing human was far from him. At any rate, he would creep down and look since, because of the overhanging nature of the cliff, he could not see the fire itself; only the smoke was visible.

Andrew found a path down the steep declivity in front of him. It was a difficult path, for in places the weather–worn rocks were almost sheer and there were several hundred feet to go. At length he reached their base in safety and found himself standing amidst bushes which grew high in the rich soil washed down from above, as a result of the decomposition of the lava rocks. To his right was a great projecting elbow of boulders seventy feet long or more, which cut him off from the place whence the smoke rose. He crept to the end of these boulders and peeped round them.

The first thing that he saw was what appeared to be a field of springing corn roughly fenced about with stones. Advancing himself a little, he perceived upon the land side of the corn several goats wandering, one of which seemed to have a stone clog tied to its leg, also a number of penguins sitting solemnly and quite at their ease, and lastly a great black–winged albatross supporting itself awkwardly upon its webbed feet and engaged in preening its feathers with its fierce–looking, hooked beak. It reminded him forcibly of that very sea–fowl which had guided him to the island, especially when it stretched out its wings and he saw that certain of its feathers were missing, although now these seemed to be growing again.

Again he advanced a few steps so as to get a better view, and came to a sudden halt. For there, in front of what seemed to be the mouth of a cave, was the fire, made, he guessed, of dried seaweed which burned brightly with a bluish flame. Nor was this all. By the fire, which here in the gathering gloom of night, for now the sun was setting, shone strongly upon her, knelt a woman clad in skins and apparently engaged in prayer. At any rate, she was speaking in a rich, low voice and her large eyes were lifted towards heaven, like those of one who prayed. Keeping in the shadow of the boulders, he crept nearer with a beating heart, and listened. She was praying, for he caught the words, "Our Father" and "temptation" and "deliver us from evil" spoken in curious, broken English, mixed with certain elementary sounds, as though the speaker were using a language half–forgotten, or with which she was imperfectly acquainted.

The thing was amazing, so much so that he forgot himself and advanced out of the shadow. Soft as were his footsteps upon the damp soil, the woman heard them more quickly than any civilized person would have done, and looked towards him. Now he saw her every feature, and indeed, all the rest of her in the strong light of the seaweed fire, and became aware that she was beautiful exceedingly, quite young also, perhaps one or two–and–twenty years of age. She was a fair woman, although the weather had tanned her face to a rich and healthy brown, through which shone the colour on her cheeks, much as it does on a russet apple. Also her lips were intensely red. The face itself was rather oval but most feminine, and all about it hung long locks of chestnut–coloured hair. Her eyes were large and very blue and her skin was white as milk, for this he could see between the edges of her fur garment, which was fastened with a thong that had come untied. Her head was small but shapely and the chestnut hair, parted in the middle, grew low down upon her forehead. For the rest she was a tall and finely made woman, though somewhat slender, and straight as an arrow, while about her was an unmistakable air of breeding; for instance, her hands and feet which were bare were delicate and long, though rough from hard use.

In that first glance two other things about her caught his attention. The first of these was that on her rounded neck lay a string of medium–sized but somewhat discoloured pearls, while attached to her robe was a little bunch of flowers, apparently of the geranium tribe. Even then it struck Andrew as strange and touching that in her desolate circumstances this castaway, for such she must be, should still adorn herself with flowers.

Now she saw him clearly and searched him all over with a quick glance of her large eyes, which wore a look like to that of a frightened animal. Then she gave a little scream, as though something about him had alarmed her, and turning swiftly, fled into a cave of which the mouth was behind her, and there vanished.

Andrew stood for a while, not knowing what to do.

"I seem to have intruded here," he said aloud, having contracted the habit of speaking to himself during his long weeks of solitude, "but heavens! what an adventure. I wonder if Lady Crusoe lives alone, or if Robinson will presently appear and attack me. I don't see any sign of him yet, or of the family either."

Then he grew silent and again reflected for a while, till at length he became aware that he was hungry, also growing cold, and that the seaweed fire was very attractive.

"Perhaps she won't mind if I warm myself and eat something," he thought, and in a gingerly and deprecating manner drew near the fire and seated himself upon a flat stone with his back to the cave.

This place he chose with deliberation because he did not want to seem to spy upon its occupant, although it had occurred to him that if Robinson were in that cave, he might have him at a disadvantage. Then he took some food from his bag and began to eat without noticing the taste of it, since his mind was occupied otherwise than with his creature wants. The cat, Josky, in his pocket, being more self–centred, woke up and, smelling the meat, began to mew, whereon he abstracted it and gave it its portion. Also several of the solemn–looking birds that were seated about, regarding him with an idle but piercing curiosity, drew near as though they too expected to be fed.

"Lady Crusoe seems to keep a menagerie," murmured Andrew to himself.

Just at that moment he heard a sound behind him, a rushing sound of swift feet.

"Robinson, I expect!" he ejaculated.

Before he could do anything, however, he saw a hand thrust past him a round, polished, flat platter of stone on which lay a large baked fish wrapped in rushes. Also two boiled penguin's eggs rolled to his feet. He rose to make his acknowledgments of this delicate and timely attention, but before he could turn round, with another rush the giver had vanished into the blackness of the cave. So he sat down again and, helped by Josky, ate some of the fish, also one of the eggs.

By now the darkness had begun to gather; so that there might be more light, Andrew took the liberty of throwing seaweed on to the fire from a pile which was at hand. Then he filled and lit his pipe, sat down again and waited, his nerves all tingling with excitement.

Would Lady Crusoe come out again, he wondered, or had she perhaps packed herself up for the night, with or without Robinson. If she did not come, upon one point he was clear, he would not go. J'y suis j'y reste should be his motto. There he would stop till the morning—till any number of following mornings if need were—since surely she must emerge at last, unless, indeed, that cave had a back door.

In fact, it was necessary for him to find out about this beauteous young creature clad in skins. Hitherto he had never been a curious man. People and things bored him too much, but now, perhaps for the first time in his life, he felt himself devoured by an insatiable desire for information. Nothing in the world had ever excited him so much, except perhaps to know what happened to us when we went out of the world. Even the problem of the fate of his fellow–passengers on the Neptune, which had haunted him day and night, paled in his mind before this new and attractive riddle.

Yes, whatever chanced, however bad the weather might be, there he would remain, or at least in the immediate neighbourhood, until an answer to it was forthcoming.