Blown to Bits | Page 8

your
time and enjoy yourself. By the way, it will save you wastin' time if
you ask that little girl, Kathy Holbein, to show you the best places to
sketch, for she's a born genius with her pencil and brush."
"No, thank you, father," returned Nigel. "I want no little girl to bother
me while I'm sketching--even though she be a born genius--for I think I
possess genius enough myself to select the best points for sketching,
and to get along fairly well without help. At least I'll try what I can do."
"Please yourself, lad. Nevertheless, I think you wouldn't find poor
Kathy a bother; she's too modest for that--moreover, she could manage
a boat and pull a good oar when I was here last, and no doubt she has
improved since."
"Nevertheless, I'd rather be alone," persisted Nigel. "But why do you
call her poor Kathy? She seems to be quite as strong and as jolly as the
rest of her brothers and sisters."
"Ah, poor thing, these are not her brothers and sisters," returned the

captain in a gentler tone. "Kathy is only an adopted child, and an
orphan. Her name, Kathleen, is not a Dutch one. She came to these
islands in a somewhat curious way. Sit down here and I'll tell 'ee the
little I know about her."
Father and son sat down on a mass of coral rock that had been washed
up on the beach during some heavy gale, and for a few minutes gazed
in silence on the beautiful lagoon, in which not only the islets, but the
brilliant moon and even the starry hosts were mirrored faithfully.
"About thirteen years ago," said the captain, "two pirate junks in the
Sunda Straits attacked a British barque, and, after a fight, captured her.
Some o' the crew were killed in action, some were taken on board the
junks to be held to ransom, I s'pose, and some, jumping into the sea to
escape if possible by swimming, were probably drowned, for they were
a considerable distance from land. It was one o' these fellows, however,
who took to the water that managed to land on the Java shore, more
dead than alive. He gave information about the affair, and was the
cause of a gun-boat, that was in these waters at the time, bein' sent off
in chase o' the pirate junks.
"This man who swam ashore was a Lascar. He said that the chief o' the
pirates, who seemed to own both junks, was a big ferocious Malay with
only one eye--he might have added with no heart at all, if what he said
o' the scoundrel was true, for he behaved with horrible cruelty to the
crew o' the barque. After takin' all he wanted out of his prize he scuttled
her, and then divided the people that were saved alive between the two
junks. There were several passengers in the vessel; among them a
young man--a widower--with a little daughter, four year old or so. He
was bound for Calcutta. Being a very powerful man he fought like a
lion to beat the pirates off, but he was surrounded and at last knocked
down by a blow from behind. Then his arms were made fast and he was
sent wi' the rest into the biggest junk.
"This poor fellow recovered his senses about the time the pirates were
dividin' the prisoners among them. He seemed dazed at first, so said the
Lascar, but as he must have bin in a considerable funk himself I suspect
his observations couldn't have bin very correct. Anyhow, he said he

was sittin' near the side o' the junk beside this poor man, whose name
he never knew, but who seemed to be an Englishman from his language,
when a wild scream was heard in the other junk. It was the little girl
who had caught sight of her father and began to understand that she
was going to be separated from him. At the sound o' her voice he
started up, and, looking round like a wild bull, caught sight o' the little
one on the deck o' the other junk, just as they were hoistin' sail to take
advantage of a breeze that had sprung up.
"Whether it was that they had bound the man with a piece o' bad rope,
or that the strength o' Samson had been given to him, the Lascar could
not tell, but he saw the Englishman snap the rope as if it had bin a bit o'
pack-thread, and jump overboard. He swam for the junk where his little
girl was. If he had possessed the strength of a dozen Samsons it would
have availed him nothin', for the big sail had caught the breeze and got
way on