It must tell,instead,of our house,where,toward seven at night,the catechist came suddenly in with his pleased air of being welcome;armed besides with a considerable bunch of keys.These he proceeded to try on the sea-chests,drawing each in turn from its place against the wall.Heads of strangers appeared in the doorway and volunteered suggestions.All in vain.Either they were the wrong keys or the wrong boxes,or the wrong man was trying them.
For a little Taniera fumed and fretted;then had recourse to the more summary method of the hatchet;one of the chests was broken open,and an armful of clothing,male and female,baled out and handed to the strangers on the verandah.
These were Francois,his wife,and their child.About eight a.m.,in the midst of the lagoon,their cutter had capsized in jibbing.
They got her righted,and though she was still full of water put the child on board.The mainsail had been carried away,but the jib still drew her sluggishly along,and Francois and the woman swam astern and worked the rudder with their hands.The cold was cruel;the fatigue,as time went on,became excessive;and in that preserve of sharks,fear hunted them.Again and again,Francois,the half-breed,would have desisted and gone down;but the woman,whole blood of an amphibious race,still supported him with cheerful words.I am reminded of a woman of Hawaii who swam with her husband,I dare not say how many miles,in a high sea,and came ashore at last with his dead body in her arms.It was about five in the evening,after nine hours'swimming,that Francois and his wife reached land at Rotoava.The gallant fight was won,and instantly the more childish side of native character appears.They had supped,and told and retold their story,dripping as they came;the flesh of the woman,whom Mrs.Stevenson helped to shift,was cold as stone;and Francois,having changed to a dry cotton shirt and trousers,passed the remainder of the evening on my floor and between open doorways,in a thorough draught.Yet Francois,the son of a French father,speaks excellent French himself and seems intelligent.