the last man.
one morning john adams, instead of going to work in his garden, as was his wont, took down his musket from its accustomed pegs above the door, and sallied forth into the woods behind the village. he had not gone far when he heard a rustling of the leaves, and looking back, beheld the graceful form of sally bounding towards him.
“are you going to shoot, father?” she said, on coming up.
the young people of the village had by this time got into the habit of calling adams “father,” and regarded him as the head of the community; not because of his age, for at this time he was only between thirty and forty years, but because of his sedate, quiet character, and a certain air of elderly wisdom which distinguished him. even edward young, who was about the same age, but more juvenile both in feeling and appearance, felt the influence of his solid, unpretending temperament, and laughingly acknowledged him king of pitcairn.
“no, dear, i’m not goin’ to shoot,” said adams, in reply, “i’m only going up to christian’s outlook to try if i can find somethin’ there, an’ i always like to have the old blunderbuss with me. it feels sort of company, you know, an’ minds me of old times; but you’ll not understand what i mean, sall.”
“no, because i’ve no old times to mind about,” said sally, with a peculiar smile. “may i go with you, father?”
“of course you may. come along, lass.”
adams held out his strong hand. sally put her peculiarly small one into it, and the two went slowly up the mountain-track together.
on reaching the top of a little knoll or plateau, they stopped, and turned to look back. they could see over the tops of the palm-groves from that place. the track by which they had ascended was visible here and there, winding among the flowering shrubs and trees. the village lay far below, like a gem in a setting of bright green, which contrasted pleasantly with the warm clouds and the blue sea beyond. the sun was bright and the air was calm—so calm that the voices of the children at play came up to them distinctly in silvery ripples.
“how comes it, sall, that you’ve deserted your post to-day?”
“because the guard has been relieved; same as you say they do on board a man-of-war. i left the sprawlers in charge of bessy mills, and the staggerers are shut into the green. you see, i’m feeling a little tired to-day, and thought i would like to have a quiet walk in the woods.”
she finished this explanation with a little sigh.
“dear, dear me!” exclaimed adams, with a look of amused surprise, “you’re not becomin’ sentimental are you, sally?”
“what is sentimental, father!”
“why, it’s a—it’s a sort of a feelin’—a sensation, you know, a kind of all-overishness, that—d’ye see—”
he stopped short and stared with a perplexed air at the girl, who burst into a merry laugh.
“that’s one of your puzzlers, i think,” she said, looking up slyly from the corners of her eyes.
“well, sall, that is a puzzler,” returned adams, with a self-condemning shake of the head. “i never before felt so powerfully the want o’ dictionary knowledge. i’ll be shot if i can tell you what sentimental is, though i know what it is as well as i know what six-water grog or plum-duff is. we must ask mr young to explain it. he’s bin to school, you know, an’ that’s more than i have—more’s the pity.”
“well,” said sally, as they proceeded on their way, “whatever senti—senti—”
“mental,” said adams.
“whatever sentimental is, i’m not that, because i’m just the same as ever i was, for i often want to be quiet and alone, and i often am quiet and alone in the bush.”
“and what do you think about, sall, when you’re alone in the bush?” said the seaman, looking down with more interest than usual at the innocent face beside him.
“oh, about heaps and heaps of things. i couldn’t tell you in a month all i think about; but one thing i think most about is a man-of-war.”
“a man-of-war, sall?”
“yes; i would give anything to see a man-of-war, what you’ve so often told us about, with all its masts and sails, and bunks and guns and anchors, and officers and men. i often wonder so much what new faces would be like. you see i’m so used to the faces of yourself and mr young, and mainmast and susannah, and toc and matt and dan and—”
“just say the rest o’ the youngsters, dear,” interrupted adams. “there’s no use in goin’ over ’em all by name.”
“well, i’m so used to them that i can’t fancy how any other faces can be different, and yet i heard mr young say the other day that there’s no two faces in the world exactly alike, and you know there must be hundreds and hundreds of faces in the world.”
“ay, there’s thousands and thousands—for the matter o’ that, there’s millions and millions of ’em—an it’s quite true that you can’t ever pick out two that would fit into the same mould. of course,” continued adams, in an argumentative tone, “i’m not goin’ for to say but that you could find a dozen men any day with hook noses an’ black eyes an’ lanky hair, just as you can find another dozen with turn-up noses an’ grey eyes an’ carroty hair; but what i mean to say is, that you won’t find no two of ’em that han’t got a difference of some sort somewheres. it’s very odd, but it’s a fact.”
“another puzzler,” said sally, with a laugh.
“just so. but what else do you think about, sall?”
“sometimes i think about those fine ladies you’ve told us of, who drive about in grand carriages with horses. oh, these horses; what i would give to see horses! have they got tails, father?”
“tails!” cried adams, with a laugh, “of course they have; long hairy ones, and manes too; that’s hair down the back o’ their necks, dear. see here, fetch me that bit of red stone and i’ll draw you a horse.”
sally brought the piece of red stone, and her companion, sitting down beside a smooth rock, from which he wiped the dust with the sleeve of his shirt, began, slowly and with compressed lips, frowning eyebrows, and many a hard-drawn sigh, to draw the portrait of a horse.
adams was not an artist. the drawing might have served almost equally well for an ass, or even for a cow, but sally watched it with intense interest.
“you see, dear,” said the artist, commenting as the work proceeded, “this is his head, with a turn-up—there—like that, for his nose. a little too bluff, no doubt, but no matter. then comes the ears, two of ’em, somewhat longish—so, not exactly fore an’ aft, as i’ve made ’em, but ath’ort ships, so to speak, only i never could understand how painters manage to make one thing look as if it was behind another. i can’t get behind the one ear to put on the other one nohow.”
“a puzzler!” ejaculated sally.
“just so. well, you have them both, anyhow, only fore an’ aft, as i said before. well, then comes his back with a hollow—so, for people to sit in when they go cruisin’ about on shore; then here’s his legs—somethin’ like that, the fore ones straight an’ the aft ones crooked.”
“has he only two legs,” asked sally, in surprise, “one before an’ one behind?”
“no, dear, he’s got four, but i’ve the same difficulty wi’ them that i had wi’ the ears—one behind the other, you know. however, there you have ’em—so, in the fore-an’-aft style. then he’s got hoofs at the end o’ the legs, like the goats, you know, only not split up the middle, though why they’re not split is more than i can tell; an’ there’s a sort o’ curl behind, a little above it—the fetlock i think they call it, but that’s far beyond my powers o’ drawin’.”
“but you’ve forgot the tail,” said sally.
“so i have; think o’ that now, to forget his tail! he’d never do that himself if he was alive. it sticks out from hereabouts. there you have it, flowin’ quite graceful down a’most to his heels. now, sally, that’s a horse, an’ not much to boast of after all in the way of a likeness, though i say it that shouldn’t.”
“how i should like to see a real one!” said the girl, gazing intently at the wild caricature, while her instructor looked on with a benignant smile.
“then i often think of the poor people mr young is so fond of telling us stories about,” continued sally, as they resumed their upward path, “though i’m much puzzled about them. why are they poor? why are they not rich like other people?”
“there’s a many reasons why, dear,” continued adams, whose knowledge of political economy was limited; “some of ’em don’t work, an’ some of ’em won’t work, and some of ’em can’t work, an’ what between one thing an’ another, there’s a powerful lot of ’em everywhere.”
sally, whose thirst for knowledge was great, continued to ply poor john adams with questions regarding the poor, until he became so involved in “puzzlers” that he was fain to change the subject, and for a time they talked pleasantly on many themes. then they came to the steep parts of the mountains, and relapsed into silence. on reaching another plateau or flat knoll, where they turned to survey the magnificent panorama spread out before them, sally said, slowly—
“sometimes when i’m alone in the bush i think of god. mr young has been talking to me about him lately, and i am wondering and wanting to know more about him. do you know anything about him, father?”
john adams had looked at his simple interrogator with surprise and not a little perplexity.
“well, to tell you the honest truth,” said he, “i can’t say that i do know much about him, more shame to me; an’ some talks i’ve had lately with mr young have made me see that i know even less than i thought i did. but we’ll ask mr young to explain these matters to us when we return home. as it happens. i’ve come up here to search for the very book that tells us about god—his own book, the bible. mr christian used to read it, an’ kept it in his cave.”
soon afterwards the man and child reached the cave referred to. on entering, they were surprised to find young himself there before them. he was reading the bible, and adams could not help recalling his previous visit, when he had found poor fletcher christian similarly occupied.
“i didn’t know you was here, mr young, else i wouldn’t have disturbed you,” said adams. “i just came up to see if i could find the book, for it seems to me that if you agree to carry out your notion of turnin’ schoolmaster, it would be as well to have the school-book down beside us.”
“my notion of turning schoolmaster,” said young, with a faint smile; “it was your notion, adams. however, i’ve no objection to fall in with it, and i quite agree about carrying the bible home with us, for, to say truth, i don’t feel the climbing of the mountain as easy as i used to.”
again the faint smile played on the midshipman’s lips for a moment or two.
“i’m sorry to hear you say that, sir,” said adams, with a look of concern.
“and it can’t be age, you know,” continued young, in a tone of pleasantry, “for i’m not much above thirty. i suspect it’s that asthmatic affection that has troubled me of late. however,” he added, in a heartier tone, “it won’t do to get downhearted about that. come, what say you to begin school at once? we’ll put you at the bottom of the class, being so stupid, and we’ll put sally at the top. will you join, sall?”
we need scarcely say that sally, who was always ready for anything, whether agreeable to her or otherwise, assented heartily to the proposition, and then and there began to learn to read out of the bible, with john adams for a class-fellow.
of course it was uphill work at first. it was found that adams could blunder on pretty well with the small words, but made sad havoc among the long ones. still his condition was pronounced hopeful. as to sally, she seemed to take up the letters at the first sitting, and even began to form some correct notion of the power of syllables. after a short trial, young said that that was quite enough for the first day, and then went on to read a passage or two from the bible himself.
and now, for the first time, otaheitan sally heard the old, old story of the love of god to man in the gift of jesus christ. the name of jesus was, indeed, not quite unfamiliar to her; but it was chiefly as an oath that her associations presented it to her. now she learned that it was the name of immanuel, god with us, the just one, who died that sinful man might be justified and saved from the power of sin.
she did not, indeed, learn all this at that time; but she had her receptive mind opened to the first lessons of the glorious truth on than summer evening on the mountain-top.
from this date forward, edward young became a real schoolmaster; for he not only taught adams to read better than he had ever yet read, but he daily assembled all the children, except the very little ones, and gave them instruction in reading out of the word of god. in all this john adams gave him hearty assistance, and, when not acting as a pupil, did good service in teaching the smaller children their letters.
but young went a step further.
“john adams,” said he, one morning, “it has been much on my mind of late that god has spared you and me in order that we may teach these women and children the way of salvation through jesus christ.”
“it may be as you say, sir,” returned adams, “but i can’t exactly feel that i’m fit to say much to ’em about that. i can only give the little uns their a b c, an’ p’r’aps a little figurin’. but i’ll go in with you, mr young, an’ do my best.”
“thank you, adams, thank you. i feel sure that you will do well, and that god will bless our efforts. do you know, john, i think my difficulties about the way are somewhat cleared up. it’s simpler than i thought. the whole work of our salvation is already accomplished by our blessed lord jesus. all we have got to do is, not to refuse it. you see, whatever i know about it is got from the bible, an’ you can judge of that as well as i. besides the passages that i have already shown you about believing, i find this, ‘come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and i will give you rest;’ and this, ‘whosoever will, let him come;’ and this, ‘turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die.’ so you see there’s no doubt the offer is made to every one who will; and then it is written that the holy spirit is able to make us willing. if god entreats us to ‘come,’ and provides the ‘way,’ what is it that hinders but unwillingness? indeed, the word says as much, for i find it written, ‘ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.’”
“what you say seems very true, sir,” replied adams, knitting his brows and shaking his head dubiously; “but then, sir, do you mean to say a man’s good behaviour has nothin’ to do with his salvation at all?”
“nothing whatever, john, as far as i can make out from the bible—at least, not in the matter of procuring his salvation. as a consequence of salvation, yes. why, is it not said by the lord, ‘if ye love me, keep my commandments?’ what could be plainer or stronger than that? if i won’t behave myself because of love to my lord, i’ll not do it on any lower ground.”
still john adams shook his head. he admitted that the arguments of his friend did seem unanswerable, but,—in short, he became an illustration of the truth of the proverb, ‘a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.’ he had promised, however, to render all the aid in his power, and he was not the man to draw back from his word. when, therefore, edward young proposed to read daily prayers out of the church of england prayer-book, which had been taken from the bounty with the bible and carteret’s voyages, he made no objection; and he was similarly ‘agreeable,’ as he expressed it, when young further proposed to have service forenoon and afternoon on sundays.
for some months these various occupations and duties were carried on with great vigour, much to the interest of all concerned, the native women being quite as tractable scholars as the children.
we cannot tell now whether it was the extra labour thus undertaken by young, or some other cause, that threw him into bad health; but certain it is, that a very few months later, he began to feel his strength give way, and a severe attack of his old complaint, asthma, at last obliged him to give up the work for a time. it is equally certain that at this important period in the history of the lonely island, the ‘good seed’ was sown in ‘good ground,’ for young had laboured in the name of the lord jesus, and the promise regarding such work is sure: “your labour is not in vain in the lord.”
“i must knock under for a time, john,” he said, with a wearied look, on the occasion of his ceasing to work. he had of late taken to calling adams by his christian name, and the latter had been made unaccountably uneasy thereby.
“never mind, sir,” said the bluff seaman, in an encouraging tone. “you just rest yourself for a bit, an’ i’ll carry on the school business, sunday services an’ all. i ain’t much of a parson, no doubt, but i’ll do my best, and a man can’t do no more.”
“all right, john, i hand it over to you. a short time of loafing about and taking it easy will set me all to rights again, and i’ll resume office as fresh as ever.”
alas! poor edward young’s day of labour was ended. he never more resumed office on earth.
shortly after the above conversation he had another and extremely violent attack of asthma. it prostrated him completely, so that for several days he could not speak. afterwards he became a little better, but it was evident to every one that he was dying, and it was touching to see the earnest way in which the tearful women, who were so fond of him, vied with each other in seeking to relieve his sufferings.
john adams sat by his bedside almost continually at last. he seemed to require neither food nor rest, but kept watching on hour after hour, sometimes moistening the patient’s lips with water, sometimes reading a few verses out of the bible to him.
“john,” said the poor invalid one afternoon, faintly, “your hand. i’m going—john—to be—for ever with the lord—the dear lord!”
there was a long pause, then—
“you’ll—carry on—the work, john; not in your own strength, john—in his?”
adams promised earnestly in a choking voice, and the sick man seemed to sink to rest with a smile on his lips. he never spoke again. next day he was buried under the palm-trees, far from the home of his childhood, from the land which had condemned him as a heartless mutineer.
