Gascoyne, The Sandal Wood Trader

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Gascoyne, The Sandal Wood Trader

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Title: Gascoyne, The Sandal Wood Trader A Tale of the Pacific
Author: R. M. Ballantyne
Release Date: April 23, 2005 [EBook #15689]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: The next moment he leveled the pistol at the savage's head and fired.]

GASCOYNE,
THE SANDAL-WOOD TRADER
A TALE OF THE PACIFIC.
By R.M. BALLANTYNE.
_Author of "Erling the Bold," "The Red Eric," "Deep Down," etc._
A.L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
52-58 Duane Street, New York.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The Schooner
CHAPTER II.
Bumpus is Fiery and Philosophical--Murderous Designs Frustrated
CHAPTER III.
A Rough Walk Enlivened by Rambling Talk--Bumpus is "Agreeable"
CHAPTER IV.
The Missionary--Suspicions, Surprises, and Surmises
CHAPTER V.
The Pastor's Household--Preparations for War
CHAPTER VI.
Suspicions Allayed and Reawakened
CHAPTER VII.
Master Corrie Caught Napping--Snakes in the Grass
CHAPTER VIII.
A Surprise--A Battle and a Fire
CHAPTER IX.
Baffled and Perplexed--Plans for a Rescue
CHAPTER X.
The Pursuit--Poopy, Led on by Love and Hate, Rushes to the Rescue
CHAPTER XI.
A Ghost--A Terrible Combat Ending in a Dreadful Plunge
CHAPTER XII.
Dangerous Navigation and Doubtful Pilotage--Montague is Hot, Gascoyne Sarcastic
CHAPTER XIII.
Doings on Board the "Foam"
CHAPTER XIV.
Greater Mysteries than Ever--A Bold Move and Clever Escape
CHAPTER XV.
Remarkable Doings of Poopy--Extraordinary Case of Resuscitation
CHAPTER XVI.
A Wild Chase--Hope, Disappointment, and Despair--The Sandal-wood Trader Outwits the Man-of-War
CHAPTER XVII.
The Escape
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Goat's Pass--An Attack, a Bloodless Victory, and a Sermon
CHAPTER XIX.
Sorrow and Sympathy--The Widow Becomes a Pleader, and her Son Engages in Single Combat
CHAPTER XX.
Mysterious Consultations and Plans--Gascoyne Astonishes his Friends, and makes an Unexpected Confession
CHAPTER XXI.
A Terrible Doom for an Innocent Man
CHAPTER XXII.
The Rendezvous--An Episode--Peculiar Circumstances, and other Matters
CHAPTER XXIII.
Plans Partially Carried out--The Cutter's Fate, and a Serious Misfortune
CHAPTER XXIV.
An Unexpected Meeting--Doings on the Isle of Palms--Gascoyne's Despair
CHAPTER XXV.
Surly Dick--The Rescue
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Capture and the Fire
CHAPTER XXVII.
Pleading for Life
CHAPTER XXVIII.
A Peculiar Confidant--More Difficulties, and Various Plans to Overcome Them
CHAPTER XXIX.
Bumpus is Perplexed--Mysterious Communings, and a Curious Leave-taking
CHAPTER XXX.
More Leave-Taking--Deep Designs--Bumpus in a New Capacity
CHAPTER XXXI.
The Ambush--The Escape--Retributive Justice--And Conclusion

GASCOYNE,
THE SANDAL-WOOD TRADER.
CHAPTER I.
THE SCHOONER.
The great Pacific is the scene of our story. On a beautiful morning, many years ago, a little schooner might have been seen floating, light and graceful as a seamew, on the breast of the slumbering ocean. She was one of those low, black-hulled vessels, with raking, taper masts, trimly-cut sails, and elegant form, which we are accustomed to associate with the idea of a yacht or a pirate.
She might have been the former, as far as appearance went; for the sails and deck were white as snow, and every portion of brass and copper above her water-line shone in the hot sun with dazzling brilliancy. But pleasure-seekers were not wont, in those days, to take such distant flights, or to venture into such dangerous seas,--dangerous alike from the savage character of the islanders, and the numerous coral reefs that lie hidden a few feet below the surface of the waves.
Still less probable did it seem that the vessel in question could belong to the lawless class of craft to which we have referred; for, although she had what may be styled a wicked aspect, and was evidently adapted for swift sailing, neither large guns nor small arms of any kind were visible.
Whatever her nature or her object, she was reduced, at the time we introduce her to the reader, to a state of inaction by the dead calm which prevailed. The sea resembled a sheet of clear glass. Not a cloud broke the softness of the sky, in which the sun glowed hotter and hotter as it rose towards the zenith. The sails of the schooner hung idly from the yards; her reflected image was distorted, but scarcely broken, by the long, gentle swell; her crew, with the exception of the watch, were asleep either on deck or down below; and so deep was the universal silence, that, as the vessel rose and fell with a slow, quiet motion, the pattering of the reef-points on her sails forcibly attracted the listener's attention, as does the ticking of a clock in the deep silence of night. A few sea-birds rested on the water, as if in the enjoyment of the profound peace that reigned around; and far away on the horizon might be seen the tops of the palm trees that grow on one of those coral islands which lie scattered in thousands, like beautiful gems, on the surface of that bright blue sea.
Among the men who lay sleeping in various easy, off-hand attitudes on the schooner's deck, was one who merits special attention--not only because of