A hideous wooden idol was brought on board, wrapped in leaves and feathers, and upon it the chief and his head people swore safety to us whether he lived or died, making us the guests of their land.There were, however, two provisos made, or as such we understood them.These seemed to be that we should offer no insult or injury to their god, and secondly, that we should not set foot on the island in the lake.It was not till afterwards that it occurred to me that this must refer to the mountain top which appeared in the inland sheet of water.To those stipulations we made no answer.Indeed, the Orofenans did all the talking.Finally, they ratified their oaths by a man who, Isuppose, was a head priest, cutting his arm and rubbing the blood from it on the lips of the idol; also upon those of the chief.Ishould add that Bastin had retired as soon as he saw that false god appear, of which I was glad, since I felt sure that he would make a scene.
The operation took place that afternoon and on the ship, for when once Marama had made up his mind to trust us he did so very thoroughly.It was performed on deck in the presence of an awed multitude who watched from the shore, and when they saw Bickley appear in a clean nightshirt and wash his hands, uttered a groan of wonder.Evidently they considered it a magical and religious ceremony; indeed ever afterwards they called Bickley the Great Priest, or sometimes the Great Healer in later days.This was a grievance to Bastin who considered that he had been robbed of his proper title, especially when he learned that among themselves he was only known as "the Bellower," because of the loud voice in which he addressed them.Nor did Bickley particularly appreciate the compliment.
With my help he administered the chloroform, which was done under shelter of a sail for fear lest the people should think that we were smothering their chief.Then the operation went on to a satisfactory conclusion.I omit the details, but an electric battery and a red-hot wire came into play.
"There," said Bickley triumphantly when he had finished tying the vessels and made everything neat and tidy with bandages, "Iwas afraid he might bleed to death, but I don't think there is any fear of that now, for I have made a real job of it." Then advancing with the horrid tumour in his hands he showed it in triumph to the crowd beneath, who groaned again and threw themselves on to their faces.Doubtless now it is the most sacred relic of Orofena.
When Marama came out of the anesthetic, Bickley gave him something which sent him to sleep for twelve hours, during all which time his people waited beneath.This was our dangerous period, for our difficulty was to persuade them that he was not dead, although Bickley had assured them that he would sleep for a time while the magic worked.Still, I was very glad when he woke up on the following morning, and two or three of his leading men could see that he was alive.The rest was lengthy but simple, consisting merely in keeping him quiet and on a suitable diet until there was no fear of the wound opening.We achieved it somehow with the help of an intelligent native woman who, Isuppose, was one of his wives, and five days later were enabled to present him healed, though rather tottery, to his affectionate subjects.
It was a great scene, which may be imagined.They bore him away in a litter with the native woman to watch him and another to carry the relic preserved in a basket, and us they acclaimed as gods.Thenceforward we had nothing to fear in Orofena--except Bastin, though this we did not know at the time.
All this while we had been living on our ship and growing very bored there, although we employed the empty hours in conversation with selected natives, thereby improving our knowledge of the language.Bickley had the best of it, since already patients began to arrive which occupied him.One of the first was that man whom Tommy had bitten.He was carried to us in an almost comatose state, suffering apparently from the symptoms of snake poisoning.
Afterward it turned out that he conceived Tommy to be a divine but most venomous lizard that could make a very horrible noise, and began to suffer as one might do from the bite of such a creature.Nothing that Bickley could do was enough to save him and ultimately he died in convulsions, a circumstance that enormously enhanced Tommy's reputation.To tell the truth, we took advantage of it to explain that Tommy was in fact a supernatural animal, a sort of tame demon which only harmed people who had malevolent intentions towards those he served or who tried to steal any of their possessions or to intrude upon them at inconvenient hours, especially in the dark.So terrible was he, indeed, that even the skill of the Great Priest, i.e., Bickley, could not avail to save any whom once he had bitten in his rage.Even to be barked at by him was dangerous and conveyed a curse that might last for generations.
All this we set out when Bastin was not there.He had wandered off, as he said, to look for shells, but as we knew, to practise religious orations in the Polynesian tongue with the waves for audience, as Demosthenes is said to have done to perfect himself as a political orator.Personally I admit that I relied more on the terrors of Tommy to safeguard us from theft and other troubles than I did upon those of the native taboo and the priestly oaths.
