Chapter 19

"Nay, shrink not from the word 'farewell!'
As if 'twere friendship's final knell;
Such fears may prove but vain:
So changeful is life's fleeting day,
Whene'er we sever--hope may say,
We part--to meet again."

Bernard Barton.

The Abraham went under short canvas, and she was just three days,
running dead before the wind, ere she came in sight of Waally's islands.
Heaving-to to windward of the group, the canoes all passed into their
respective harbours, leaving the schooner in the offing, with the
hostages on board, waiting for the fulfilment of the treaty. The next
day, Waally himself re-appeared, bringing with him Dickinson, Harris,
Johnson, Edwards and Bright, the five seamen of the Rancocus that had so
long been captives in his hands. It went hard with that savage chief to
relinquish these men, but he loved his son even more than he loved
power. As for the men themselves, language cannot portray their delight.
They were not only rejoiced to be released, but their satisfaction was
heightened on finding into whose hands they had fallen. These men had
all kept themselves free from wives, and returned to their _colour_,
that word being now more appropriate than _colours,_ or ensign,
unshackled by any embarrassing engagements. They at once made the
Abraham a power in that part of the world. With twelve able seamen, all
strong, athletic and healthy men, to handle his craft, and with his two
carronades and a long six, the governor felt as if he might interfere
with the political relations of the adjoining states with every prospect
of being heard. Waally was, probably, of the same opinion, for he made a
great effort to extend the treaty so far as to overturn Ooroony
altogether, and thus secure to their two selves the control of all that
region. Woolston inquired of Waally, in what he should be benefited by
such a policy? when the wily savage told him, with the gravest face
imaginable, that he, Mark, might retain, in addition to his territories
at the Reef, Rancocus Island! The governor thanked his fellow potentate
for this hint, and now took occasion to assure him that, in future, each
and all of Waally's canoes must keep away from Rancocus Island
altogether; that island belonged to him, and if any more expeditions
visited it, the call should be returned at Waally's habitations. This
answer brought on an angry discussion, in which Waally, once or twice,
forgot himself a little; and when he took his leave, it was not in the
best humour possible.

Mark now deliberated on the state of things around him. Jones knew
Ooroony well, having been living in his territories until they were
overrun by his powerful enemy, and the governor sent him to find that
chief, using a captured