第18章

And it was a very necessary precaution, too, for sometimes it rained for days at a stretch.The rain never kept me indoors, however, and I took exercise just the same, as I didn't bother about clothes, and rather enjoyed the shower bath.I was always devising means of making life more tolerable, and amongst other things I made a sort of swing, which I found extremely useful in beguiling time.I would also practise jumping with long poles.

One day I captured a young pelican, and trained him to accompany me in my walks and assist me in my fishing operations.He also acted as a decoy.Frequently I would hide myself in some grass, whilst my pet bird walked a few yards away to attract his fellows.

Presently he would be joined by a whole flock, many of which Ilassoed, or shot with my bow and arrows.

But for my dog--my almost human Bruno--I think I must have died.Iused to talk to him precisely as though he were a human being.We were absolutely inseparable.I preached long sermons to him from Gospel texts.I told him in a loud voice all about my early life and school-days at Montreux; I recounted to him all my adventures, from the fatal meeting with poor Peter Jensen in Singapore, right up to the present; I sang little chansons to him, and among these he had his favourites as well as those he disliked cordially.If he did not care for a song, he would set up a pitiful howl.I feel convinced that this constant communing aloud with my dog saved my reason.Bruno seemed always to be in such good spirits that Inever dreamed of anything happening to him; and his quiet, sympathetic companionship was one of the greatest blessings I knew throughout many weird and terrible years.As I talked to him he would sit at my feet, looking so intelligently at me that I fancied he understood every word of what I was saying.

When the religious mania was upon me, I talked over all sorts of theological subjects with my Bruno, and it seemed to relieve me, even though I never received any enlightenment from him upon the knotty point that would be puzzling me at that particular time.

What delighted him most of all was for me to tell him that I loved him very dearly, and that he was even more valuable to me than the famous dogs of St.Bernard were to benighted travellers in the snow.

I knew very little about musical instruments, but as I had often longed for something to make a noise with, if only to drown the maddening crash of the eternal surf, I fashioned a drum out of a small barrel, with sharks' skin stretched tightly over the open ends.This I beat with a couple of sticks as an accompaniment to my singing, and as Bruno occasionally joined in with a howl of disapproval or a yell of joy, the effect must have been picturesque if not musical.I was ready to do almost anything to drown that ceaseless cr-ash, cr-ash of the breakers on the beach, from whose melancholy and monotonous roar I could never escape for a single moment throughout the whole of the long day.However, I escaped its sound when I lay down to sleep at night by a very simple plan.

As I was stone-deaf in the right ear I always slept on the left side.

Seven weary months had passed away, when one morning, on scanning the horizon, I suddenly leaped into the air and screamed: "My God!

A sail! A sail!" I nearly became delirious with excitement, but, alas! the ship was too far out to sea to notice my frantic signals.

My island lay very low, and all that I could make out of the vessel in the distance was her sails.She must have been fully five miles away, yet, in my excitement, I ran up and down the miserable beach, shouting in a frenzy and waving my arms in the hope of attracting the attention of some one on board; but it was all in vain.The ship, which I concluded was a pearler, kept steadily on her way, and eventually disappeared below the horizon.

Never can I hope to describe the gnawing pain at my heart as, hoarse and half mad, I sank exhausted on the sand, watching the last vestige of the ship disappearing.Altogether, I saw five ships pass in this way during my sojourn on the island, but they were always too far out at sea to notice my signals.One of these vessels I knew to be a man-o'-war flying the British ensign.Itried to rig up a longer flag-staff, as I thought the original one not high enough for its purpose.Accordingly I spliced a couple of long poles together, but to my disappointment found them too heavy to raise in the air.Bruno always joined in my enthusiasm when a sail was in sight; in fact, he was generally the first to detect it, and he would bark and drag at me until he had drawn my attention to the new hope.And I loved him for his tender sympathy in my paroxysms of regret and disappointment.The hairy head would rub coaxingly against my arm, the warm tongue licking my hand, and the faithful brown eyes gazing at me with a knowledge and sympathy that were more than human--these I feel sure saved me again and again.I might mention that, although my boat was absolutely useless for the purpose of escape, I did not neglect her altogether, but sailed her about the enclosed lagoon by way of practice in the handling of her sails.This was also a welcome recreation.