Part 25 (2/2)

M. LE MINISTRE,--J'ai port la connaissance de mon collgue les informations que vous m'avez fait l'honneur de me transmettre, relativement un personnage dangereux, du nom de Hayston, qui se serait signal par de nombreux actes de dprdation dans les Iles de l'Ocanie. M. l'Amiral de Montaigne rpondant ma communication m'annonce qu'il signalera par le premier courrier cet individu au Commandant en Chef de notre division navale dans l'Ocan Pacifique. Il adressera en outre M. l'Amiral Rebout les instructions ncessaires pour que ce flibustier soit surveill de prs et mis, le cas chant, hors d'tat de poursuivre son industrie criminelle.--Agrez, etc.,

(Signed) DUC DE DECAZES.

M. Adams.

CHAPTER XIII

H.M.S. ROSARIO

As we pulled up alongside we saw her bulwarks forward crowded with the blue-jackets. The Captain's quick eye, which nothing escaped, detected among them the bronzed faces of Dan Gardiner and another trader whom he had left at Providence Island.

”She's come to take me, sure enough,” he said to me. ”The moment I looked at those two fellows they dropped back out of sight. Never mind, come aboard and I'll see it through.”

As soon as we gained the deck he advanced towards a group of officers standing on the quarter-deck, and, raising his hat, said, ”Good morning, gentlemen. I am Captain Hayston of the brig _Leonora_, cast away on this island in the earlier part of the year.”

There was a moment's silence; then a tall man, the captain of the cruiser, stepped out from the others, surveyed Hayston from head to foot, and said, ”Oh, ah, indeed! then you are the very man I am looking for. This is Her Majesty's s.h.i.+p _Rosario_, and you are a prisoner, Mr.

Hayston!”

Hayston simply bowed and said nothing, retiring to the port side, where he was placed under the charge of the sergeant-major of marines, who, as also all others on board, looked with intense curiosity at the man of whose doings they had heard so much in their cruises in the Pacific Ocean.

The man-of-war captain then demanded my name, after which I was considerably staggered by the announcement that he had instructions to apprehend me on the charge of stealing the ketch _E. A. Wilson_, the property of Messrs. Miller and Warne of Samoa.

Hayston at once came forward, and, addressing the captain, said that I had simply brought that vessel to him at Mill, and could produce written instructions from the owners to hand the vessel over to him. To this no answer was returned, and silence was maintained, for the _Rosario_ was now entering the pa.s.sage, and so interested was I at the novel surroundings of a man-of-war under steam, and so lost in admiration of the perfect discipline on board, that for the time being I forgot that the Captain of the _Leonora_ was a prisoner, and that I was also apprehended on a serious charge.

Slowly and gracefully the great s.h.i.+p steamed through the pa.s.sage, and brought up within a cable's length of the king's wharf, where the anchor plunged below to its resting-place on the coral bottom. No sooner had the man-of-war come to anchor than Mr. Morland and the native missionary, who followed him like a shadow, came on board, and were received by Her Majesty's representative. A consultation took place, after which I was separated from my companion, and, without being able to exchange a word of farewell, was hurried down to the gun-room. As I placed my foot on the ladder leading to the ”'tween decks” I turned. He waved his hand to me in farewell. _We never met again!_

While I was detained in the gun-room a mids.h.i.+pman told me that Captain Hayston had been permitted to go on sh.o.r.e, under the charge of an officer, to collect his personal effects and write letters, as he had been informed that I would not be permitted to have any further communication with him.

The mids.h.i.+pman said that Mr. Morland had seemed surprised at Captain Hayston's not being put in irons, and was at that moment collecting evidence in order to formulate a series of charges against him before the captain of the _Rosario_. My informant added, ”If Captain Hayston is such a blood-thirsty ruffian as he is described to be he certainly shows no indication of it.”

Several of the warrant officers now gathered around and pressed me with questions concerning Hayston. One of them jocularly inquired where the Captain's harem was located, adding that it was a pity to separate him from them, and that there was plenty of room on board the _Rosario_ for ladies.

I was burning with anxiety to know on what particular charge Hayston had been arrested, and how the captain of the _Rosario_ had heard of the loss of the _Leonora_. They told me then that the _Rosario_ had been searching for Hayston for some time, under instructions from the Commodore of the Australian Station, to whom representations had been made concerning alleged depredations committed by him (Hayston) in the Line Islands. The _Rosario_ had visited a number of islands, and endeavoured to obtain evidence against Hayston, but that it had resulted in a failure, nearly every one, when it came to the point, declining to make any statement against him. The captain of the man-of-war then decided to proceed to Arrecifos, or Providence Island, which he knew to be one of Hayston's depts. On arrival he learned from the two white men there that so long an interval had pa.s.sed since his last visit that they fancied that the _Leonora_ had been lost.

These two men were taken on board, and the _Rosario_ made for Strong's Island. When within 400 miles she met the little _Matautu_, who signalled a wish to speak. As soon as Captain Warner boarded the man-of-war he informed the commander of the loss of the _Leonora_, and of Hayston's presence on the island. He also handed in several written charges made by himself against Hayston, and, as well as I can remember from what I was told, was about to return to his schooner when the _Morning Star_ hove in sight.

On board of the missionary brig was Mr. Morland, and a consultation then took place between the two captains and this gentleman, who was, of course, delighted to hear of the loss of the _Leonora_, and that Captain Hayston was to be taken prisoner.

The _Matautu_ then bore away on her course, and the _Morning Star_, after landing Mr. Morland at the weather side of the island, went on her way, leaving him ash.o.r.e, perfectly a.s.sured of his own safety and the immediate presence of the _Rosario_ in Chabral harbour.

I could now understand the hints given me by the queen, as well as the expression of triumph on the faces of the missionaries as they returned from their interview with the king.

Presently an officer came down and asked me if I wished to obtain my effects from the sh.o.r.e. I at once sent a message to Kusis to bring me a small chest, in which were my worldly goods, as well as my power of attorney and letters of instructions from former employers in Samoa. I was going to make inquiries about Hayston, when the officer requested me kindly enough not to ask him questions, as he could give me no information. He told me, however, that the captain of the _Rosario_ was at that moment engaged in hearing charges against Hayston made by the king, Mr. Morland, and two or three of the traders from Pleasant Island.

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