ife could realise what was
happening, Banderah had run to the beach, swam to the boat, seized the
painter, gained the shore again, and pulled her along till opposite
the trader's house, just as Blount and Taya, supporting Mrs. Deighton
between them, were leaving the house to meet him.

In twenty minutes more they were close to the _Starlight_, and saw that
her crew were weighing the anchor. On the after deck stood the mate and
steward with rifles in their hands.

"What in the name of God is wrong?" said the mate, as the boat ranged up
alongside, and the missionary and his wife were assisted on deck.

"Don't ask now, man. Get your anchor up as quick as you can and put to
sea. Your captain and the two passengers are all dead. Clear out at once
if you don't want the ship to be taken."

"I thought something was wrong when I saw the native dragging the boat
along. Lend us a hand to get under weigh, will you?" and the mate sprang
forward.

In another five minutes the _Starlight's_ anchor was up, and then Blount
and Banderah, with a hurried farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Deighton, sprang
into the boat and pushed off.

"May God bless and keep you," called out the missionary to Blount, "and
may we meet again soon;" then sinking on his knees beside his wife, he
raised his face to heaven, and the trader saw that tears were streaming
down his worn and rugged cheeks.

Blount never heard of the missionary and his wife again. Long,
long afterwards he did hear that some wreckage of a vessel like the
_Starlight_ had been found on Rennel Island, and that sovereigns were
discovered among the pools and crevices of the reef for many years
after. Whether she ran ashore or drifted there dismasted--for a heavy
gale set in a week after she left Mayou--is one of those mysteries of
the sea that will never be solved.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tapu Of Banderah, by Louis Becke

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