The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Call Of The South, by Louis Becke

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Title: The Call Of The South
1908

Author: Louis Becke

Release Date: March 22, 2008 [EBook #24895]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CALL OF THE SOUTH ***

Produced by David Widger

THE CALL OF THE SOUTH

By Louis Becke

London, John Milne, 1908

CHAPTER I ~ PAUL, THE DIVER

"Feeling any better to-day, Paul?"

"Guess I'm getting round," and the big, bronzed-faced man raised
his eyes to mine as he lay under the awning on the after deck of his
pearling lugger. I sat down beside him and began to talk.

A mile away the white beach of a little, land-locked bay shimmered under
the morning sun, and the drooping fronds of the cocos hung listless and
silent, waiting for the rising of the south-east trade.

"Paul," I said, "it is very hot here. Come on shore with me to the
native village, where it is cooler, and I will make you a big drink of
lime-juice."

I helped him to rise--for he was weak from a bad attack of New Guinea
fever--and two of our native crew assisted him over the side into my
whaleboat. A quarter of an hour later we were seated on mats under the
shade of a great wild mango tree, drinking lime-juice and listening to
the lazy hum of the surf upon the reef, and the soft _croo, croo_ of
many "crested" pigeons in the branches above.

The place was a little bay in Callie Harbour on Admiralty Island in the
South Pacific; and Paul Fremont was one of our European divers. I was in
charge of the supply schooner which was tender to our fleet of pearling
luggers, and was the one man among us to whom the silent, taciturn Paul
would talk--sometimes.

And only sometimes, for usually Paul was too much occupied in his work
to say more than "Good-morning, boss," or "Good night," when, after he
had been disencumbered of his diving gear, he went aft to rest and smoke
his pipe. But one day, however, he went down in twenty-six fathoms,
stayed too long, and was brought up unconscious. The mate and I saw the
signals go up for assistance, hurried on board his lugger, and were just
in time to save his l