The Strange White Woman of Majuro | Page 3

them to keep a bit to starboard, as there was a big coral boulder right in front of the spot they were steering for.
' "Aye, aye, " answered the man steering, and he did as I told him. In another minute or two the boat shot up on the beach, and we crowded round them.
' "Stand back, please, " says the officer, speaking in a curious hurried kind of way, and then I saw that he had a pistol in his left hand, and that the men with him looked white and scared, and seemed to take no notice of us.
'But they didn't give us much time to wonder at their looks. Two of the men jumped out, and then we saw that there was another person in the boat--a woman. She was sitting on the bottom boards, lying against the stem sheets, and seemed to be either asleep or dead. The officer helping them, they lifted her up out of the boat and carried her ashore. Then the officer turns to me, and I saw that though he tried to speak quietly, he was in a devil of a flurry over something.
' "What's all this?" I said; "what's the matter? What have you got this pistol in your hand for, and what is the matter with this woman?"
'He put the pistol out of sight pretty quick, and then, speaking so rapidly that I could hardly follow him, said that the lady was the captain's wife. She had been taken ill very suddenly, and her husband, seeing my house so close to, had determined to send her ashore, and see if anything could be done for her.
"'That's mighty queer, " I said. "Why didn't he come with her himself? Look here, I don't believe all this. How the devil did he know that even though the house is here, a white man lives in it? And I want to have a look at the woman's face. She might be dead for all I know."
'By this time my wife and one of Rotau's wives had gone up to the woman, and I saw that although she wasn't dead she looked very like it, for her eyes were closed, and she seemed quite unconscious of all that was going on. She was young about twenty-five or so-and was rather pretty.
' "Please take her to your house, " says the officer, "and as soon as we have towed the ship out of danger the captain will come ashore and see you."
' "Hold on, " says I, and I grabbed him by the arm. 'Do you mean to say you're going off in this fashion, without telling me anything further? Who are you, anyway? What is the ship's name?"
'He hesitated just a second, and then said, "The Inca Prince, Captain Broughton; but I can't stay to talk now. The captain himself will tell you about it in the morning. As you see, his wife is very ill. You will at least not refuse to help in the matter?"
'And then, before I could stop him, he jumped back out of my reach into the boat, and the four sailors, two of whom were
natives of some sort, shoved off, and away they went again.
' "You'd better tell the captain to come ashore at once I called out after them; but although he heard me plainly enough he took no notice of me beyond waving his hand.
'Well, we carried the woman up to the house and placed her in a chair, and the moment that my wife took off the woollen wrapper that covered her head and shoulders she cried out that there was blood running down her neck. And it didn't take me long to discover that the woman was dying from a bullet wound in the back of her head.
'We did all that we possibly could for the poor thing, but she never regained consciousness, and towards sunrise she died quietly. There was nothing about her clothing to show who she was, but she wore rings such as would belong to a woman of some position. She appeared to be twenty-six years of age, as I said; and when she was being prepared for her grave I took particular notice of her personal appearance. That she had been murdered I could not doubt, and perhaps some day, even after all these years, the crime may come to light.'
'But what became of the ship?' asked the mate of the Indiana.
'Out of sight by eight o'clock in the morning. As soon as I saw what was the matter with the woman I knew that we need not expect to see anyone from the ship back again. The boats towed her, I suppose, all night, and just before daylight a breeze sprang up, which soon took her away