Page:The land of enchantment (1907, Cassell).djvu/89

 “Well, Ben?” said Charlie, interrogatively.

“Well, Master Charles, what’s our bearings?”

“Why, Ben, ‘and then a most remarkable thing happened.’”

“Right you are, Master Charles, a remarkable thing did happen. Maybe you've noticed a moth fluttering round a candle?”

“Oh, yes, Ben, yes.”

“Now can you tell me why, I wonder?”

“Because it is attracted by the light.”

“Right you are again, Master Charles. Well, it’s the same with the fishes. When the yellow gold and the ruby gems began a-shining like so many fiery suns, the sharks and the saw-fish, the porpoises and the dolphins, the whales, and all the other leviathans of the deep, came a-crowding round, hustling each other to get nearer to the light. Thousands and thousands of fishes were soon jammed between us and the enemy, so that the ‘pray-yous’ couldn’t budge an inch to get at us, while the pirates shaded their squinny eyes, and even then couldn’t see us for the blinding glare. Where we mariners would have been without our blue spectacles I leave you to judge.

“We now felt a bit more comfortable, and dinner being ready, we fell to with a will on salt junk and plum duff, for after our exertions we were all pretty peckish. By-and-by the captain drew me aside again. ‘Ben,’ says he, ‘it’s getting late, and what shall we do when the sun goes down? I’m a-thinking the cannibal pirates will make short work of us then.’”

“But why should he think that?” said Charlie.

“Well, you see, Master Charles, directly the sun goes down in those parts it is as dark as pitch, there being no twilight, so that the yellow gold and the ruby gems would cease to sparkle, the leviathans of the deep would clap on all sail, and the Dyaks would board us before we could say, ‘Jack Robinson.’

“‘Now, this is what I would suggest,’ says I. ‘There’s lots of lumin- ous paint aboard and plenty of ugly masks. Let us put on the masks, daubed with luminous paint, and if that doesn’t give the heathen a scare, my name’s not Benjamin.’

“‘Ben,’ says the skipper, ‘you’re a man of resource. Shiver my timbers, but it’s a dodge worth trying.’

“So we got the masks out of the hold and fell to work a-painting them. By-and-by, down goes the sun, on go the masks, and then you never saw a frightfuller ship’s crew than we were, each with a face