CHAPTER V
THE ISLAND COME TRUE
Feeling that Peter was on his way back, the Neverland had again wokeinto life. We ought to use the pluperfect and say wakened, but woke isbetter and was always used by Peter.
In his absence things are usually quiet on the island. The fairies takean hour longer in the morning, the beasts attend to their young, theredskins feed heavily for six days and nights, and when pirates and lostboys meet they merely bite their thumbs at each other. But with thecoming of Peter, who hates lethargy, they are all under way again: ifyou put your ear to the ground now, you would hear the whole islandseething with life.
On this evening the chief forces of the island were disposed asfollows. The lost boys were out looking for Peter, the pirates were outlooking for the lost boys, the redskins were out looking for thepirates, and the beasts were out looking for the redskins. They weregoing round and round the island, but they did not meet because all weregoing at the same rate.
All wanted blood except the boys, who liked it as a rule, but to-nightwere out to greet their captain. The boys on the island vary, of course,in numbers, according as they get killed and so on; and when they seemto be growing up, which is against the rules, Peter thins them out; butat this time there were six of them, counting the twins as two. Let uspretend to lie here among the sugar-cane and watch them as they steal byin single file, each with his hand on his dagger.
They are forbidden by Peter to look in the least like him, and they wearthe skins of bears slain by themselves, in which they are so round andfurry that when they fall they roll. They have therefore become verysure-footed.
The first to pass is Tootles, not the least brave but the mostunfortunate of all that gallant band. He had been in fewer adventuresthan any of them, because the big things constantly happened just whenhe had stepped round the corner; all would be quiet, he would take theopportunity of going off to gather a few sticks for firewood, and thenwhen he returned the others would be sweeping up the blood. Thisill-luck had given a gentle melancholy to his countenance, but insteadof souring his nature had sweetened it, so that he was quite thehumblest of the boys. Poor kind Tootles, there is danger in the air foryou to-night. Take care lest an adventure is now offered you, which, ifaccepted, will plunge you in deepest woe. Tootles, the fairy Tink who isbent on mischief this night is looking for a tool, and she thinks youthe most easily tricked of the boys. 'Ware Tinker Bell.
Would that he could hear us, but we are not really on the island, and hepasses by, biting his knuckles.
Next comes Nibs, the gay and debonair, followed by Slightly, who cutswhistles out of the trees and dances ecstatically to his own tunes.Slightly is the most conceited of the boys. He thinks he remembers thedays before he was lost, with their manners and customs, and this hasgiven his nose an offensive tilt. Curly is fourth; he is a pickle, andso often has he had to deliver up his person when Peter said sternly,'Stand forth the one who did this thing,' that now at the command hestands forth automatically whether he has done it or not. Last come theTwins, who cannot be described because we should be sure to bedescribing the wrong one. Peter never quite knew what twins were, andhis band were not allowed to know anything he did not know, so these twowere always vague about themselves, and did their best to givesatisfaction by keeping close together in an apologetic sort of way.
The boys vanish in the gloom, and after a pause, but not a long pause,for things go briskly on the island, come the pirates on their track. Wehear them before they are seen, and it is always the same dreadful song:
'Avast belay, yo ho, heave to, A-pirating we go, And if we're parted by a shot We're sure to meet below!'
A more villainous-looking lot never hung in a row on Execution dock.Here, a little in advance, ever and again with his head to the groundlistening, his great arms bare, pieces of eight in his ears asornaments, is the handsome Italian Cecco, who cut his name in letters ofblood on the back of the governor of the prison at Gao. That giganticblack behind him has had many names since he dropped the one with whichdusky mothers still terrify their children on the banks of theGuadjo-mo. Here is Bill Jukes, every inch of him tattooed, the same BillJukes who got six dozen on the _Walrus_ from Flint before he would dropthe bag of moidores; and Cookson, said to be Black Murphy's brother (butthis was never proved); and Gentleman Starkey, once an usher in a publicschool and still dainty in his ways of killing; and Skylights (Morgan'sSkylights); and the Irish bo'sun Smee, an oddly genial man who stabbed,so to speak, without offence, and was the only Nonconformist in Hook'screw; and Noodler, whose hands were fixed on backwards; and Robt.Mullins and Alf Mason and many another ruffian long known and feared onthe Spanish Main.
In the midst of them, the blackest and largest jewel in that darksetting, reclined James Hook, or as he wrote himself, Jas. Hook, of whomit is said he was the only man that the Sea-Cook feared. He lay at hisease in a rough chariot drawn and propelled by his men, and instead of aright hand he had the iron hook with which ever and anon he encouragedthem to increase their pace. As dogs this terrible man treated andaddressed them, and as dogs they obeyed him. In person he was cadaverousand blackavized, and his hair was dressed in long curls, which at alittle distance looked like black candles, and gave a singularlythreatening expression to his handsome countenance. His eyes were of theblue of the forget-me-not, and of a profound melancholy, save when hewas plunging his hook into you, at which time two red spots appeared inthem and lit them up horribly. In manner, something of the grandseigneur still clung to him, so that he even ripped you up with an air,and I have been told that he was a _raconteur_ of repute. He was nevermore sinister than when he was most polite, which is probably the truesttest of breeding; and the elegance of his diction, even when he wasswearing, no less than the distinction of his demeanour, showed him oneof a different caste from his crew. A man of indomitable courage, it wassaid of him that the only thing he shied at was the sight of his ownblood, which was thick and of an unusual colour. In dress he somewhataped the attire associated with the name of Charles II., having heard itsaid in some earlier period of his career that he bore a strangeresemblance to the ill-fated Stuarts; and in his mouth he had a holderof his own contrivance which enabled him to smoke two cigars at once.But undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his iron claw.
Let us now kill a pirate, to show Hook's method. Skylights will do. Asthey pass, Skylights lurches clumsily against him, ruffling his lacecollar; the hook shoots forth, there is a tearing sound and one screech,then the body is kicked aside, and the pirates pass on. He has not eventaken the cigars from his mouth.
Such is the terrible man against whom Peter Pan is pitted. Which willwin?
On the trail of the pirates, stealing noiselessly down the war-path,which is not visible to inexperienced eyes, come the redskins, everyone of them with his eyes peeled. They carry tomahawks and knives, andtheir naked bodies gleam with paint and oil. Strung around them arescalps, of boys as well as of pirates, for these are the Piccaninnytribe, and not to be confused with the softer-hearted Delawares or theHurons. In the van, on all fours, is Great Big Little Panther, a braveof so many scalps that in his present position they somewhat impede hisprogress. Bringing up the rear, the place of greatest danger, comesTiger Lily, proudly erect, a princess in her own right. She is the mostbeautiful of dusky Dianas and the belle of the Piccaninnies, coquettish,cold and amorous by turns; there is not a brave who would not have thewayward thing to wife, but she staves off the altar with a hatchet.Observe how they pass over fallen twigs without making the slightestnoise. The only sound to be heard is their somewhat heavy breathing. Thefact is that they are all a little fat just now after the heavy gorging,but in time they will work this off. For the moment, however, itconstitutes their chief danger.
The redskins disappear as they have come like shadows, and soon theirplace is taken by the beasts, a great and motley procession: lions,tigers, bears, and the innumerable smaller savage things that flee fromthem, for every kind of beast, and, more particularly; all theman-eaters, live cheek by jowl on the favoured island. Their tongues arehanging out, they are hungry to-night.
When they have passed, comes the last figure of all, a giganticcrocodile. We shall see for whom she is looking presently.
The crocodile passes, but soon the boys appear again, for the processionmust continue indefinitely until one of the parties stops or changes itspace. Then quickly they will be on top of each other.
All are keeping a sharp look-out in front, but none suspects that thedanger may be creeping up from behind. This shows how real the islandwas.
The first to fall out of the moving circle was the boys. They flungthemselves down on the sward, close to their underground home.
'I do wish Peter would come back,' every one of them said nervously,though in height and still more in breadth they were all larger thantheir captain.
'I am the only one who is not afraid of the pirates,' Slightly said, inthe tone that prevented his being a general favourite; but perhaps somedistant sound disturbed him, for he added hastily, 'but I wish he wouldcome back, and tell us whether he has heard anything more aboutCinderella.'
They talked of Cinderella, and Tootles was confident that his mothermust have been very like her.
It was only in Peter's absence that they could speak of mothers, thesubject being forbidden by him as silly.
'All I remember about my mother,' Nibs told them, 'is that she oftensaid to father, Oh, how I wish I had a cheque-book of my own. I don'tknow what a cheque-book is, but I should just love to give my motherone.'
While they talked they heard a distant sound. You or I, not being wildthings of the woods, would have heard nothing, but they heard it, and itwas the grim song:
'Yo ho, yo ho, the pirate life, The flag o' skull and bones, A merry hour, a hempen rope, And hey for Davy Jones.'
At once the lost boys--but where are they? They are no longer there.Rabbits could not have disappeared more quickly.
I will tell you where they are. With the exception of Nibs, who hasdarted away to reconnoitre, they are already in their home under theground, a very delightful residence of which we shall see a good dealpresently. But how have they reached it? for there is no entrance to beseen, not so much as a pile of brushwood, which if removed woulddisclose the mouth of a cave. Look closely, however, and you may notethat there are here seven large trees, each having in its hollow trunk ahole as large as a boy. These are the seven entrances to the home underthe ground, for which Hook has been searching in vain these many moons.Will he find it to-night?
As the pirates advanced, the quick eye of Starkey sighted Nibsdisappearing through the wood, and at once his pistol flashed out. Butan iron claw gripped his shoulder.
'Captain, let go,' he cried, writhing.
Now for the first time we hear the voice of Hook. It was a black voice.'Put back that pistol first,' it said threateningly.
'It was one of those boys you hate. I could have shot him dead.'
'Ay, and the sound would have brought Tiger Lily's redskins upon us. Doyou want to lose your scalp?'
'Shall I after him, captain,' asked pathetic Smee, 'and tickle him withJohnny Corkscrew?' Smee had pleasant names for everything, and hiscutlass was Johnny Corkscrew, because he wriggled it in the wound. Onecould mention many lovable traits in Smee. For instance, after killing,it was his spectacles he wiped instead of his weapon.
'Johnny's a silent fellow,' he reminded Hook.
'Not now, Smee,' Hook said darkly. 'He is only one, and I want tomischief all the seven. Scatter and look for them.'
The pirates disappeared among the trees, and in a moment their captainand Smee were alone. Hook heaved a heavy sigh; and I know not why itwas, perhaps it was because of the soft beauty of the evening, butthere came over him a desire to confide to his faithful bo'sun the storyof his life. He spoke long and earnestly, but what it was all aboutSmee, who was rather stupid, did not know in the least.
Anon he caught the word Peter.
'Most of all,' Hook was saying passionately, 'I want their captain,Peter Pan. 'Twas he cut off my arm.' He brandished the hookthreateningly. 'I've waited long to shake his hand with this. Oh, I'lltear him.'
'And yet,' said Smee, 'I have often heard you say that hook was worth ascore of hands, for combing the hair and other homely uses.'
'Ay,' the captain answered, 'if I was a mother I would pray to have mychildren born with this instead of that,' and he cast a look of prideupon his iron hand and one of scorn upon the other. Then again hefrowned.
'Peter flung my arm,' he said, wincing, 'to a crocodile that happened tobe passing by.'
'I have often,' said Smee, 'noticed your strange dread of crocodiles.'
'Not of crocodiles,' Hook corrected him, 'but of that one crocodile.' Helowered his voice. 'It liked my arm so much, Smee, that it has followedme ever since, from sea to sea and from land to land, licking its lipsfor the rest of me.'
'In a way,' said Smee, 'it's a sort of compliment.'
'I want no such compliments,' Hook barked petulantly. 'I want Peter Pan,who first gave the brute its taste for me.'
He sat down on a large mushroom, and now there was a quiver in hisvoice. 'Smee,' he said huskily, 'that crocodile would have had me beforethis, but by a lucky chance it swallowed a clock which goes tick tickinside it, and so before it can reach me I hear the tick and bolt.' Helaughed, but in a hollow way.
'Some day,' said Smee, 'the clock will run down, and then he'll getyou.'
Hook wetted his dry lips. 'Ay,' he said, 'that's the fear that hauntsme.'
Since sitting down he had felt curiously warm. 'Smee,' he said, 'thisseat is hot.' He jumped up. 'Odds bobs, hammer and tongs I'm burning.'
They examined the mushroom, which was of a size and solidity unknown onthe mainland; they tried to pull it up, and it came away at once intheir hands, for it had no root. Stranger still, smoke began at once toascend. The pirates looked at each other. 'A chimney!' they bothexclaimed.
They had indeed discovered the chimney of the home under the ground. Itwas the custom of the boys to stop it with a mushroom when enemies werein the neighbourhood.
Not only smoke came out of it. There came also children's voices, for sosafe did the boys feel in their hiding-place that they were gailychattering. The pirates listened grimly, and then replaced the mushroom.They looked around them and noted the holes in the seven trees.
'Did you hear them say Peter Pan's from home?' Smee whispered, fidgetingwith Johnny Corkscrew.
Hook nodded. He stood for a long time lost in thought, and at last acurdling smile lit up his swarthy face. Smee had been waiting for it.'Unrip your plan, captain,' he cried eagerly.
'To return to the ship,' Hook replied slowly through his teeth, 'andcook a large rich cake of a jolly thickness with green sugar on it.There can be but one room below, for there is but one chimney. The sillymoles had not the sense to see that they did not need a door apiece.That shows they have no mother. We will leave the cake on the shore ofthe mermaids' lagoon. These boys are always swimming about there,playing with the mermaids. They will find the cake and they will gobbleit up, because, having no mother, they don't know how dangerous 'tis toeat rich damp cake.' He burst into laughter, not hollow laughter now,but honest laughter. 'Aha, they will die.'
Smee had listened with growing admiration.
'It's the wickedest, prettiest policy ever I heard of,' he cried, and intheir exultation they danced and sang:
'Avast, belay, when I appear, By fear they're overtook; Nought's left upon your bones when you Have shaken claws with Cook.'
They began the verse, but they never finished it, for another soundbroke in and stilled them. It was at first such a tiny sound that a leafmight have fallen on it and smothered it, but as it came nearer it wasmore distinct.
Tick tick tick tick.
Hook stood shuddering, one foot in the air.
'The crocodile,' he gasped, and bounded away, followed by his bo'sun.
It was indeed the crocodile. It had passed the redskins, who were now onthe trail of the other pirates. It oozed on after Hook.
Once more the boys emerged into the open; but the dangers of the nightwere not yet over, for presently Nibs rushed breathless into theirmidst, pursued by a pack of wolves. The tongues of the pursuers werehanging out; the baying of them was horrible.
'Save me, save me!' cried Nibs, falling on the ground.
'But what can we do, what can we do?'
It was a high compliment to Peter that at that dire moment theirthoughts turned to him.
'What would Peter do?' they cried simultaneously.
Almost in the same breath they added, 'Peter would look at them throughhis legs.'
And then, 'Let us do what Peter would do.'
It is quite the most successful way of defying wolves, and as one boythey bent and looked through their legs. The next moment is the longone; but victory came quickly, for as the boys advanced upon them inthis terrible attitude, the wolves dropped their tails and fled.
Now Nibs rose from the ground, and the others thought that his staringeyes still saw the wolves. But it was not wolves he saw.
'I have seen a wonderfuller thing,' he cried, as they gathered round himeagerly. 'A great white bird. It is flying this way.'
'What kind of a bird, do you think?'
'I don't know,' Nibs said, awestruck, 'but it looks so weary, and as itflies it moans, Poor Wendy.'
'Poor Wendy?'
'I remember,' said Slightly instantly, 'there are birds called Wendies.'
'See, it comes,' cried Curly, pointing to Wendy in the heavens.
Wendy was now almost overhead, and they could hear her plaintive cry.But more distinct came the shrill voice of Tinker Bell. The jealousfairy had now cast off all disguise of friendship, and was darting ather victim from every direction, pinching savagely each time shetouched.
'Hullo, Tink,' cried the wondering boys.
Tink's reply rang out: 'Peter wants you to shoot the Wendy.'
It was not in their nature to question when Peter ordered. 'Let us dowhat Peter wishes,' cried the simple boys. 'Quick, bows and arrows.'
All but Tootles popped down their trees. He had a bow and arrow withhim, and Tink noted it, and rubbed her little hands.
'Quick, Tootles, quick,' she screamed. 'Peter will be so pleased.'
Tootles excitedly fitted the arrow to his bow. 'Out of the way, Tink,'he shouted; and then he fired, and Wendy fluttered to the ground with anarrow in her breast.