bly chivvied about by the white and native inhabitants of the
various islands touched at, the forlorn expedition reach Fiji. Here
fifty of the idealists elected to remain and work for their living
under a Government... But the remaining fifty-eight stuck to the _Percy
Edward_, and her decayed salt junk and putrid water, and their beautiful
ideals; till at last the ship was caught in a hurricane, badly battered
about, lost her foremast, and only escaped foundering by reaching New
Caledonia and settling her keel on the bottom of Noumea harbour. Then
the visionaries began to collect their senses, and denounced the _Percy
Edward_ and the principles of the 'United Brotherhood' as hollow
frauds, and elected to abandon her and go on shore and get a good square
meal. What became of them at Noumea I did not hear, but do know that in
their wanderings they received much charitable assistance from British
shipmasters and missionaries--in some cases their passages were paid
to the United States--the natural and proper country for the ignorant
religious 'crank'."

* Ridan the Devil: T. Fisher Unwin, London.

CHAPTER IX ~ "DANDY," THE SHIP'S DINGO

We anchored under Cape Bedford (North Queensland) one day, and the
skipper and I went on shore to bathe in one of the native-made rocky
water-holes near the Cape. We found a native police patrol camped there,
and the officer asked us if we would like to have a dingo pup for a pet.
His troopers had caught two of them the previous day. We said we should
like to possess a dingo.

"Bring him here, Dandy," said the officer to one of his black troopers,
and Dandy, with a grin on his sooty face, brought to us a lanky-legged
pup about three months old. Its colour was a dirty yellowish red, but
it gave promise of turning out a dog--of a kind. The captain put out
his hand to stroke it, and as quick as lightning it closed its fang-like
teeth upon his thumb. With a bull-like bellow of rage, the skipper was
about to hurl the savage little beast over the cliffs into the sea, when
I stayed his hand.

"He'll make a bully ship-dog," I urged, "just the right kind of pup
to chivvy the niggers over the side when we get to the Louisiades and
Solomons. Please don't choke the little beggar, Ross. 'Twas only fear,
not rage, that made him go for you."

We made a temporary muzzle from a bit of fishing line; bade the officer
good-bye, and went off to the ship.

We were nearly a month beating up to