BIGGLES IN THE SOUTH SEAS

by Captain W. E. Johns

XIV. OUT OF THE DEPTHS (Pages 209 – 223)

“When Ginger had been dragged down to the bed of the lagoon he knew that nothing short of a miracle could save him”. Ginger feels something wrap around his legs. Then next thing he knows is that he is face down on coral as a heavy weight rises and falls on his back and pumps water out of his mouth and nose. Ginger twists and sees a star-spangled sky and hears Full Moon. Ginger vomits water. Full Moon says she was on the schooner hidden under a sail and when Ginger was thrown overboard, she swam down and cut him free. She says that Shell-Breaker has taken the dinghy and gone to Rutuona. Ginger tells Full Moon he thinks she is wonderful and he says “Well, I reckon you’re a brick”. “What is brick?” inquired Full Moon curiously. Ginger could not find an adequate answer. “Never Mind,” he said. Ginger says that one day he is going to give himself the pleasure of shooting Castanelli. Ginger and Full Moon walk hand in hand slowly up the moonlit coral to the top of the reef where they see Castanelli’s schooner sailing towards the entrance to the lagoon. Castanelli had left, but now he is back. A yell on the schooner tells them that they had been seen. Shots ring out and then a longboat is racing across the lagoon. Ginger and Full Moon have got to hide. “The Corsican had already revealed himself to be a cold-blooded murderer, so in the event of capture Ginger knew what to expect”. The only place they could be safe was in their secret grotto. They pick up coconuts as they go as they may have to be there for several days. As they round the cove by the grotto, they see one of Castanelli’s crew swim ashore and remain. Ginger and Full Moon hide. Castanelli comes and sits and smokes innumerable cigars. Ginger “hated him so much that had he possessed a weapon he would have shot him and risked the consequences”. Waiting until daylight starts to break, Ginger and Full Moon try and sneak behind Castanelli and the native to get to their grotto, but the native turns and sees them. Ginger and Full Moon run and dive into the water as Castanelli shoots at them. They both get into the grotto and take refuge. Night falls and they eat some coconut. Full Moon draws her knife. “I cut Atanelli’s throat bymeby” she announced casually. “Maybe I eat him,” she added pensively as an afterthought. Ginger laughs.