ticulate cry to Mr Monke, who^ turning, was also
transfixed with astonishment A lady! a white
lady 1 It was the last object either had thought to
see, and she stood before them, and quite close,
having advanced into the room, and being brought
to a standstill by a roar of surprise from the aston-
ished natives.
James further approached her, and she put out
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162 TALKS FROM ""BLAGKWOOa*
both her handa^ which he took inToltuitaxily betwaen
his own lough pahna Thexe were tearo in her eyeo^
and it was with difficulty she spoka At last she
cried, ^' Oh, you are English, are you not f '^ *^ Tes,"
answered James, ** this is an English house, and we
are both English, Mr Monke and L" Monke now
came forward and told James to take the girl into
the dining-room and attend to her, while he would
go on with the work.
So the pair thus oddly brought together went out
of the dark and now dose-smelling cargo-store into
the light and cheerful dining-room of the factory,
and there James found a Dutchman leaning out of
one of the windows, and talking at the top of his
voice to a number of hammock-bearers outsida
Senhor Thoolen explained that he had conducted
the lady to Eabooka She had landed from the
steamer that had passed down the coast two nights
before. "The steamer is past Eabooka, then)''
queried James. " Tes, but it is to call on its return
from the south." Mees M'Gibbon had come out to
her brother, and was forwarded by the Dutch house
to the nearest English factory. He, Senhor Thoolen,
had instructions to return with all speed, and would
make his farewell if the Senhor English would pro-
vide him with four fresh bearers for his hammock.
" M'Gibbon I " ejaculated James, as he heard her
name pronounced. Was it possible that she could
be the sister of the notorious Bill SfGibbon, well
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THE 6T0BT 07 JAMES BASKIB. 158
known on all fhe coast betwixt the Congo and the
Gaboon t ''M<6ibbonl" again said James to him-
self— « Yankee in manner, a Scotchman by birth, an
ex -soldier of the American war, whose face was
scarred by the mark of a bullet-wound through the
cheeky a swaggerer, a drunkard by reputation. Could
so fair a being be of the same flesh and blood as he t
And if so, how had he allowed her to come to so
strange a land f It was cruel of him. And James
poured out his inquiries in Portuguese to the Dutch-
man, who, surprised, shook his head slowly, and did
not know any more about the matter than that the
$enhora had landed from the steamer, and that he
had been ordered to deliver her safe and sound at
Kabooka, which he had dona " But," and he drew
James to one side, '' is she not beautiful, — loovdyf
And he grasped James hard by the arm, and his
little eyes twinkled knowingly as he turned them
up in his head until nothing but the white of them
was seen, and kept them so long inverted that they
began to look like fixtures.
The sooner he was out of the way the better,
thought James ; and sent for the bearers he wanted.
Then the girl, who had stood by wondering, stag-
gered the lad by asking simply to see her brother.
James tried to explain. "Is he not heref" she
asked, trembling violently. Nothing had been heard
of him, confessed James. But Mr Monke would be
only too glad to receive her until a messenger could
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154 TALBS ntOM "" BLACKWOOD*
be sent to hinL If she could trost herself to stay
at Eabooka, that would be the best way. It might
be a week or more before the messenger could re-
turn ; but she might be sure he would go as quickly
as possible. It was of no use. By some misappre-
hension she had expected to meet her brother, and
her disappointment was too great She sat down
and burst into tears. She had already heard enough
of the country on her passage out to know that
probably she was the only Englishwoman in the
land, and the thought frightened her. By the sight
of her distress James was distracted He did not
know what to do. Smelling-salts, perfumecf, he
thought of; but there were none within a thousand
miles of him. All he said to her seemed at first
to increase her grief. He contented himself with
cursing, to himself, the absent M'Gibbon. And yet
he was conscious that he rejoiced at his absence.
At last she calmed down a little, and following up
his advantage, he sat down beside her and soothed
her as well as he was able in his awkward way ;
and she, becoming gradually interested in what he
said, told him in return how and why she had been
brought to the coast.
Her profession at home had been that of a gover-
ness. Her only brother had never taken any notice
of her ; but having lost a situation she had been in,
and not being able to obtain another, she had written
to his agents in England Afllriwg \\m^ as hfft only
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TH8 STOfiT OF JAMES BABEKB. 155
relation, to help her, and for a reply they had paid
her passage out to him.
This surprised and puzzled James veiy much.
What kind of life did MKjibbon imagine she would
lead on the coast f What could she expect to do
there, and in its climate, if it did not kill herf As
these thoughts ran through his mind, Margaret — ^for
that was her name — plied him with questions as to
her brother and his surroundings; and though the
sympathetic lad gave her as good an account of the
man as he could, and of his house and the place it
was in, yet he could not help showing some of his
anxiety to her, which she perceived, and he felt that
she seemed to look to him for helpi Mr Monke found
the two together, and alone ; and he smiled in spite
of his curiosity to know the wherefore of the appear-
ance of this waif from the civilised world. Upon
being told, he was as much astonished as James had
been, and then he was grave. There was something
more than curious in the fact that a man like
M'Gibbon should bring this young and educated girl
out to the coast. She would undoubtedly be a re-
straint upon him, which his rough disposition could
not but feel irksome. And, like James, Monke
thought. What of the girl's fate in a spot far from
any other woman )
However, he could do no more for her than to
assure her that she was as welcome as possible until
her brother came for her; and he despatched a
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156 TALIS FROM ''BLACKWOOD."
messenger to him at his factory on the Bay of Donde
"with the news of his sister's anival and a letter from
her. Then the two men, leaving Margaret alone for
a time, went back to their work as if no unexpected
interruption had come to the routine of their solitary
lives, — at least the elder one did. As for James,
already something led his thoughts astray.
That night, when the work was again done, Monke
sat on his verandah in the shade and watched the
two young people as they talked together, entirely
forgetful of him, and already fast friends. Thoughts
of far-off days many years past came to the man in-
voluntarily. And James happened to rise and go
out with the girl into the bright moonlight The
two strolled away together, and then they came back
and stood by the verandah covering. Presently the
lad turned his face up to the great orb, whose strong
pure light brought out his every feature. There was
an expression on his face which had never been there
before, thought the elder man ; and he leaned for-
ward in his chair, breathless and startled in spite of
himself, for the moment The look of the lad had
suddenly reminded him of some one, and he gazed,
utterly transfixed, until James came on to the ver-
andah again, when he dropped back into his chair
with a sigL "It was the expression, the very
expression," he murmured to himself, half-afirighted.
" Bah 1 the idea was nonsense," he muttered, recov-
ering. It was only the effect of time and circtmi-
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cm BTOBT OF JAMES BABKKR. 157
sUnce on his imagination, and he tried to dismiss
the lad from his thoughts.
Yet that night the vision of a face came to him
again and again, so that he could not sleep, and he
rose and went outside. Just as he reached the edge
of the yeiandah, he gave a little cry of surprise and
partly of terror. There, before him in the moonlight,
was the very face that had haunted him. But the
next moment he recognised James ; and, to cover his
emotion, he asked the lad roughly what he did out so
late, and on getting no answer, ordered him off to bed.
The sudden advent of the girl had unduly disturbed
both the lad and himself, Monke concluded, and the
sooner she was away the better. It was no business
of his how her brother would behave to her; and
with this decision he tried to sleep.
Nevertheless, not even James became more at-
tentive to Margaret during her enforced stay than
Monke. It was wonderful how readily he, so dis-
inclined to be disturbed or roused, put himself about
to accommodate her. He insisted on giving up his
own room to her, and had all his bachelor belongings
removed out of it into a little dark room. He found
in his trunks collars and neckties of bygone fashions,
and white drill-coats, and adorned himself, to the
great envy of James, who possessed no such evidence
of refinement, and had, to his great disgust, to appear
at table in his usual costume of shirt and trousers
and an old pilot coat
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168
All the native women about the facUaj were
banished with the exception of one, who had Btiict in-
junctions to wait upon the senhora and do nothing else.
James, whose duty it was to superintend the household
airangements of the factory, endeavoured to make up
for his want of a white coat by extreme nicety in the
supply of the tabla He held long consultations with
the cook and the cook's mate. He shot and dressed
a bullock. He bribed the native hunters, with the
result that little deer not much laiger than hares,
red-legged partridges, green pigeons, and other deli-
cacies, were served every day after fresh oysters from
the river. And for vegetables there were green com,
yams, and large red peppers. He went on board
the steamer on its return ; and after seeing two tons
of ivory safely stowed away on board, returned
with as many loaves of the ship's white bread, and
bottles of pickles and sauces, and potted meats, as he
could buy from the steward. At this improved fare
Monke chuckled to himself, and wished the girl
would stay a very long time to stimulate Mr Jamas
in his arrangements.
And to Margaret's great distress, a whole week
passed away without any news from her brother.
The first intimation that was received of the message
being delivered, was the reappearance of the man
who had carried it, as he crawled through the open
doorway of the dining-room. Beside him strode one
of the head-men of the factory, whose brazen bangles
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THX 8I0S7 OF JAHBB BABESR. 159
and heaTj ooial necklet rattled as. he pointed with
angry gesticulation to the head of the messenger,
which was bound up with a piece of blue "baft
His story was soon told. He had delivered his
'' book " (letter) on the third day after leaving Ka-
booka^ and on its presentation had been paid his
doth. While resting after his quick journey, he had
been summoned before the '' mundella " (white man),
who had struck at him and cut him — and the man's
hands were lifted tenderly to his head Then he had
been seized, tied up, and lashed — and he turned his
back to his audience and remained kneeling in that
attituda However, a cross-examination conducted
through the head-man elicited the fact that Zinga,
the bearer, had received two extra bottles of rum
over and above his allowance, and as to what had
happened after receiving those bottles of rum his
memory was defective. He had been flogged, he
explained. But that he had been drunk was sus-
pected, and his case was dismissed amid many groans
and complaints of ii\justice from him, which were
summarily cut short by the head-man, who, when he
found nothing was to be made out of Zinga by way
of going shares in compensation for ii\]uries received,
laid his wand across the poor creature's sore back
without compunction, and drove him out of the
door.
The treatment the messenger had received gave
Margaret but a poor idea of her brother. He had
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160 TALKS ntOM ''BULCKWOOD*
been teiriUy seyere with the poor n^gio, die thoog^i^
and his continned silence in regard to herself filled
her with vague alarm. However, bj James's advice,
she tried to be hopeful, and was rewarded in two
days by the sight of a white hammock, which was
carried into the yard of the factory amid a great
noise, and came to a sadden halt before the door.
Out of the hammock rolled MKjibbon, and as he
lighted on his feet he was conscious that a pair of
soft arms were about his neck, and that a face so
sweet, that it seemed to him a vision, was upturned
to his own bronzed and bearded countenanca It
was a face set in a frame of soft hair and gemmed by
a pair of eyes of the colour of the ocean that rolled
not fifty yards from him. So taken aback was the
rough man with the beauty before him, that he
kissed the face on the brow, and then, as if ashamed
of the emotion he displayed, he thrust his sister a
little way from him and stood looking at her through
his grey eyes.
" By G 1 " he exclaimed, partly in admiration
and partly to himself. ''How old are youf " he added,
quickly.
" Twenty, "Will," she replied, wonderingly.
''Tou are too young and too good-looking to be
buried on this d d coast^" he answered. "Fve
made a mistake to send for you."
She trembled a little as she heard what he said,
and she was bitterly disappointed by his manner;
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THB 6T0BT OF J1MS8 BABKKB. 161
but she bravely replied, " So long as yon are near me,
Will, what need I caief " and so saying clasped her
hands caressingly on his arm. M'Gibbon hastily with-
drew it, and muttering, " Well, as you are here, youll
have to stay," he went on to the verandah where
Monke stood surveying him. That gentleman gave
him the very tips of his fingers to shake, and was
frigidly polite to him. There was not one thing in
common between them save the fact that they had
both failed in life: but Monke, though he had
blundeied, knew how and why he had blundered,
and that his self-exile on the African coast was of his
own doing. Whereas the other was a coarse bully,
who had sinned, and would sin again. He felt most
uncomfortable under the keen eyes of the trader, par-
ticularly when the latter chided him in lus most sar-
castic manner for his want of attention to his sister,
and let him know he thought him most unfeeling.
Then there was that matter of Zinga. But as for
Zinga^ MKribbon swore that if he caught the rascal
he would repeat the flogging he had given him ; for
he had been discovered in an attempt at theft. And
as in principle theft, or attempt at theft, was never
allowed to go unpunished by the traders, Monke said
no more on the subject, but privately sent a message
to the erring Zinga to the effect that it would be as
well to keep out of the white man's way for a little
while to avoid unpleasant consequences, — a hint which
Zinga at once took, and disappeared to his own village.
T.B. — ^V. L
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163 TALES FROM "BLACKWOOD."
Jame8» MK)ibbon treated with the greatest cortneaa^
despite the lad's care for his sister, of which he was
informed "by Monka The lad was but an " assistant ''
or trader's servant in the man's eye& Nevertheless,
when the little coasting schooner that was to convey
the brother and sister to their destination dropped
anchor in the bay, James was the first to go on board
to make its little three-cornered den of a cabin, with
its curtained berths and its single-peaked skylight^ fit
for her reception. In fact^ he turned the skipper out
of his cabin, much to that seaman's disgust at having
to make way so unexpectedly for a woman. But when
Margaret stood upon his quarter-deck, as he called
it — ^three steps and overboard — ^he, in his own vernac-
ular, clapped a stopper on his jawing tackle, and bowed
her below.
Before she went down, James took her hand to say
*' good-bye;" and so beautiful did she look to the
foolish boy, as she stood on the moving deck with the
blue sky and the rolling sea behind her — ^things dear
to him — that he was hardly able to say the word.
But presently the rough growl of the skipper gave the
order to up anchor, and the f oresheet was loosened,
and James went over the side. But when a little way
off he bade the crew of his boat lie on their oars^ and
they waited beside the low black hull of the schooner,
as it dipped to the swell into the clear water, until the
clank of the windlass^ on board ceased, and her head
pointed seaward. By the time James reached the
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THX 8T0B7 OF JAMBS BABKEB. 16S
ihoie die was alieady a f aivoff speck upon the water,
and before long had Tanished out of sight — but not
ont of mind.
For three months nothing more was heard of
Margaret^ and her stay at Kabooka had come to be
regarded as a faroff remembranca Monke's leave of
absence had now come, and with it his substitute.
To him Monke praised James's zeal and judgment,
and recommended the lad strongly; but to his sur-
prise, when he told James of what he had said for
him, he found him uneasy and dissatisfied. James
did not like to offend his friend, that was evident^
but there was something on his mind which turned
that friend's kind words to gall, and Monke questioned
him until he confessed that he too was going away
from Kabooka. Monke turned on the lad, astonished.
''Whatr' exclaimed he, ''that silly notion again 1
Do not think of going home for many yeazs^ more
than you've been here."
'' I was not thinking of home," answered James *
''I have no home," he added, simply.
''What, then)" asked Monke.
James placed a letter in his friend's hands, and on
opening it Monke found it contained the offer from
M'Gibbon of a situation on tenns no better than the
lad was receiving. The trader looked straight into
James's face, and read hun at once.
"It is that girl you are thinking o^ you young
fool," he said.
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164 TALES FROM " BLACKWOOD."*
James did not reply.
" For the chance of seeing her you would sacrifice
your prospects with the firm f Bah, it is the utmost
silliness," and Monke laughed outright The result
of this was that James walked away seemingly not
the less determined. Monke, seeing that ridicule
would have no effect upon the lad, strode after him,
caught him by the shoulder, and, turning him round,
endeavoured to reason with him, but to no purpose.
'* Yet you are as changeable as you can well be,"
said he at last. " Not long ago you wished to leave
the coast to go to England with me, and now you
wish to leave me to go to this M'Gibbon for a longer
term of years than would see you master here. I am
disappointed with you. However, you are nothing
to me, to be sure," and Monke shrugged his shoulders,
and turned away. '^If you choose to make a fool of
yourself, do so. Accept this berth," he added, with
rising anger, '* but do not call me your friend again."
''I have accepted it^" said James, quietly.
Then the two &ced each other ; and Monke, in his
anger, was about to say something bitter regarding
the ingratitude that had been displayed towards him,
when the pleading look that filled the lad's eyes struck
his imagination with such force that he stepped back
a pace or two almost in dismay, and was silent
Eecovering himself with an effort, he laid a kindly
hand on the lad, for he could not be rough with him
now. "Very well, James, have your own way," ho
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THX STOBT 07 JAMES BABKIH. 160
said ; and without speaking more, went etnight to Ids
bedroom and sat down^ amid the preparations for his
departure. Placing his head between his handa^ he
fell into a deep reverie. He was more affected than
he thought he could be. Was it possible f he reflected.
Na He knew the lad's story, as James had often
told it to him, — ^How his father and mother were dead ;
how he had been brought up by an uncle, a labourer
in a bonded dock warehouse ; how the child's earliest
recollections were of the greasy, narrow, and filthy
streets, close to the river, of a great town, and among
the tall smoke - begrimed warehouses which over-
shadowed everything near them, except the flaunt-
ing gin-palaces, fed by the sailors, labourers, waggon-
ers, and loafers, who pushed in and out of their greasy
swing-doors in two almost never-ceasing streams ; how
three golden balls, poised aloft, were the only signs
that rivalled those of the drinking-places ; how the
rumble and jolt of countless waggons, bearing mer-
chandise in value untold, sounded from grey dawn to
late night along those very streets, whose darkness,
squalor, and wretchedness the lad had suddenly ex-
changed for the blue sea, the breezy sky, and the strong
rushing wind, as he found himself on board shipi
These facts Monke knew, and they were common-
place and trite enough, and hardly to be twisted into
any romance about James any more than the not less
simple story of the little native boy, who on his
knees was busily packing the great white man's boxes
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166 TALKS nOM '^BLkCKWOGI^J*
as neatly as could be, his black eyes sparkling fha
while in anticipation of receiving an old shiit or eoat
in a present Botii he got, though what possible use
the garments could be to such a mite of naked ho-
manity, whose sole attire was a narrow strip of cbth
over his loins, was not apparent But he roea and
salaamed for them gracefully.
A few days after this Monke had embarked, and
James had set out on his journey by knd, and the
factory was left in other hands, to the great outwasd
grief and lamentation of the head-men, who had cer^
tainly received enough parting gifts to console them,
but who thought it politic to impress upon the new-
comers a sense of the ineffable goodness of the white
men who had gone^ and the miserable inferiority of
their successorfli
At Donde all James's regret at losing his only
friend was at once swept away by the mere sight of
Margaret, who received him with an eagerness which
brought a sparkle to his eye& But he perceived at
once that she looked pale and thin, and not at all so
strong as when she had arrived on the coasts and
there was in addition a wistfulness in her eyes which
told his eager and concerned glance that something
more than fading health affected her. He had not
been many days in Donde before he found out that
she had always been neglected and left alone in that
solitary spot It, like Eabooka, was a bay ; but a
beautiful one. It was land-locked, and surrounded
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THE 8T0BT OF JAHXB BABKIB. 167
by flteep hilki wooded down to a tiny ship of eiicolar
beach, upon which theie was scarcely a ripple, so
smooth was the water. It was so nearly round in
shape^ that from most parts of it appeared a half circle
of the dense vegetation of the valleys and the more
scattered hardwood forests on the hillsides, some of
which were reflected in the pool of water, as it were,
for the height of the hills dwarfed the size of the bay,
so that it appeared much smaller than it really was^
and not until one took boat and tried to reach an
opposite shore was its size revealed. To the south-
west a narrow opening led to the sea. The soil of the
countiy was heavy and rich, and consequently the
chief trade was in the products of it, — palm-oil, ker-
nels, and earth-nuts. Of this trade MKribbon ought
to have had the better share, for his only opponent
was a Portuguese of the name of Joao Chaves, who
lived in a mat-house surrounded by woods. But, as
James soon found out, the Portuguese had the better
trade, and what was more curious, the Scotchman,
instead of being jealous of Chaves, spent no little
time with him, to the neglect of his own busineaa
Moreover, he was always assisting him with goods^
for which he received apparently no return.
James could not account for all this. The Portu-
guese was known to him as one of the many convicts
who are deported to West Africa by the Lisbon
Government, and after a time are allowed to go at
large^ provided they do not return to Portugal What
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168 TALIS FBOM ** BLACKWOOD.''
partietilar crime Chaves had committed James did
not know ; but his face, to the lad's eye, was not a