win and Cuffy

Jarwin and Cuffy, by R.M.
Ballantyne

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Title: Jarwin and Cuffy
Author: R.M. Ballantyne
Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21742]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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AND CUFFY ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

JARWIN AND CUFFY, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.
CHAPTER ONE.
ADRIFT ON THE OCEAN.

On a certain morning, not very long ago, the sun, according to his
ancient and admirable custom, rose at a very early hour, and casting his
bright beams far and wide over the Pacific, lighted up the yellow sands
and the verdant hills of one of the loveliest of the islands of that mighty
sea.
It was early morning, as we have said, and there was plenty of life--
animal as well as vegetable--to be seen on land and sea, and in the
warm, hazy atmosphere. But there were no indications of man's
presence in that beautiful scene. The air was perfectly calm, yet the
gentle swell of the ocean terminated in great waves, which came rolling
in like walls of glass, and fell on the coral-reef like rushing
snow-wreaths with a roar as loud as thunder.
Thousands of sea-birds screamed and circled in the sky. Fish leaped
high out of their native element into the air, as if they wished to catch
the gulls, while the gulls, seemingly smitten with a similar desire, dived
into the water as if they wished to catch the fish. It might have been
observed, however, that while the fish never succeeded in catching the
gulls, the latter very frequently caught the fish, and, without taking the
trouble to kill them, bolted them down alive.
Cocoanut-palms cast the shadows of their long stems and graceful tops
upon the beach, while, farther inland, a dense forest of tropical
plants--bread-fruit trees, bananas, etcetera--rose up the mountain-sides.
Here and there open patches might be seen, that looked like fields and
lawns, but there were no cottages or villas. Droves of pigs rambled
about the valleys and on the hill-sides, but they were wild pigs. No man
tended them. The bread-fruits, the cocoanuts, the bananas, the plantains,
the plums, all were beautiful and fit for food, but no man owned them
or used them, for, like many other spots in that sea of coral isles and
savage men, the island was uninhabited.
In all the wide expanse of ocean that surrounded that island, there was
nothing visible save one small, solitary speck on the far-off horizon. It
might have been mistaken for a seagull, but it was in reality a raft--a
mass of spars and planks rudely bound together with ropes. A boat's
mast rose from the centre of it, on which hung a rag of sail, and a small

red flag drooped motionless from its summit. There were a few casks
on the highest part of the raft, but no living soul was visible.
Nevertheless, it was not without tenants. In a hollow between two of
the spars, under the shadow of one of the casks, lay the form of a man.
The canvas trousers, cotton shirt, blue jacket, and open necktie,
bespoke him a sailor, but it seemed as though there were nothing left
save the dead body of the unfortunate tar, so pale and thin and ghastly
were his features. A terrier dog lay beside him, so shrunken that it
looked like a mere scrap of door-matting. Both man and dog were
apparently dead, but they were not so in reality, for, after lying about an
hour quite motionless, the man slowly opened his eyes.
Ah, reader, it would have touched your heart to have seen those eyes!
They were so deep set, as if in dark caverns, and so unnaturally large.
They gazed round in a vacant way for a few moments, until they fell on
the dog. Then a gleam of fire shot through them, and their owner raised
his large, gaunt, wasted frame on one elbow, while he gazed with a
look of eagerness, which was perfectly awful, at his dumb companion.
"Not dead yet!" he said, drawing a long sigh.
There was a strange, incongruous mixture of satisfaction and discontent
in the remark, which was muttered in a faint whisper.
Another gleam shot through the large eyes. It was not a pleasant look.
Slowly, and as if with difficulty, the man drew a clasp-knife from his
pocket, and opened it. As he did so, his brows lowered and his