‘Ay, you’ll remember me, skipper,’ said Wal, in a hearty voice; ‘I’ve towed you safely into port many a time. Come, give me a grip of your hand, and say you know me.’
Manton looked, first at Edgar, and then at Wal Jessop. He was wrestling with the memories of the past that had so long been absent from him. Gradually they saw his memory was recovering its power. The mind was only clouded, and brighter days would chase the gloom away.
‘My God! can it be true?’ said Manton, as he gazed at them. ‘Am I dreaming, or am I mad? Can this be Edgar Foster, and my old mate, Wal Jessop? Where am I, and how did I come here?’
He was wrestling with his memory, and gradually drawing it back to life. With the return of reason he failed to comprehend what had happened to him, and why he was on this wild island in the New Hebrides.
‘True, true, true!’ he murmured; ‘they are indeed my friends!
He grasped their hands, and his frame shook with the intense emotion he felt. He was in a very weak state, and the reaction was too much for him. The change from darkness to light overpowered him, and he sank back in a dead faint.
Meri, when he saw Manton fall back, to all appearance dead, sprang forward and brandished his club in a savage manner. He thought Edgar and Wal must have practised some witchcraft upon this white man, who had been so long amongst them.
Wal Jessop, leaving Manton in Edgar’s care, explained, as well as he could, what had happened. Meri looked displeased when Wal said they would take Manton away with them, and said evil would fall upon their tribe if they allowed him to go.
It was some time before Manton recovered, and when he did so he was too weak to walk. Wal Jessop persuaded Meri to return with him to the village, and obtain help to carry Manton to the beach.
Edgar remained with the captain, and did all in his power to cheer him. He knew it would be some time before they returned, and Manton was not in a fit state to be left alone. With the return of his memory he had become nervous and excited. For the first time since that fatal night when the _Distant Shore_ was wrecked, he began to remember clearly what had taken place.
Edgar saw what it was preyed upon his mind, and said: