Bunyip Land Part 53

From where we stood we could see a group of the savages standing not thirty yards from us, their presence being first made plain by their eager talking, and I pressed the doctor's arm and pointed.

"Yes," he whispered; "but we are in the shadow."

From huts to right and left we could hear talking, but that in front of us was silent, and I began wondering whether it was the one that had been my prison. But it was impossible to tell, everything seemed so different in the faint light cast by the stars. I could not even make out the tree where Jimmy had been tied.

All at once a sensation as of panic seized me, for the group of blacks set up a loud shout, and came running towards where we were.

I was sure they saw us, and with a word of warning to the doctor I turned and should have fled but for two hands that were laid upon my shoulders, pressing me down, the doctor crouching likewise.

At first I thought it was Jimmy, but turning my head I found that it was Ti-hi, whose hand now moved from my shoulder to my lips.

I drew a breath full of relief the next moment, for in place of dashing down upon us the blacks rushed into the hut behind which we were standing, crowding it; and there was nothing now but a wall of dried and interwoven palm leaves between us and our fierce enemies.

Here a loud altercation seemed to ensue, angry voices being heard; and several times over I thought there was going to be a fight. I could not comprehend a word, but the tones of voice were unmistakably those of angry men, and it was easy to tell when one left off and another began.

We dared not stir, for now it seemed to be so light that if we moved from the shadow of the hut we should be seen, while the fact of one of us stepping upon a dead twig and making it snap would be enough to bring half the village upon us, at a time when we wanted to employ strategy and not force.

The burst of talking in the hut ended all at once, and there was a dead silence, as if those within were listening intently.

We held our breath and listened too, trembling with excitement, for all at once we heard a voice utter a few words, and then there was a faint sound of rustling, with the cracking noise made by a joint, as if some one had risen to a standing position.

Were the savages coming round to our side and about to leap upon us?

Perhaps they were even then stealing from both ends; and my heart in the terrible excitement kept on a heavy dull throb, which seemed to beat right up into my throat.

The moments pa.s.sed away, though, and at last I began to breathe more freely. It was evident that the savages had quitted the hut.

In this belief I laid my hand upon the doctor's arm, and was about to speak, when close by us, as it seemed, but really from within the wall of the hut, there came the low muttering of a voice, and I knew that some one had been left behind.

The doctor pressed my hand, and I shivered as I felt how narrow an escape we had had.

We wanted, of course, to move, but it seemed impossible, and so we stayed, waiting to see if the black had made any discovery.

After what seemed to me an interminable time I heard a slight rustling sound, and almost at the same moment there was a hand upon my arm, and directly after a warm pair of lips upon my ear:

"Jimmy no find um fader yet! Take um out o' place place! Put um somewhere; no know tell!"

I placed my lips to his ear in turn and whispered that there was some one left in the hut.

"Jimmy go see," he said softly; and before I could stay him he was gone.

"What is it?" whispered the doctor; and I told him.

The doctor drew his pistol--I heard him in the darkness--and grasped my arm, as if to be ready for flight; but just then I heard a voice in the hut which made me start with joy. Then there was a rustling sound, and Jimmy came round the corner of the hut.

"All rightums!" he whispered. "Find somebody's fader!"

"You here again, my boy!" whispered a familiar voice.

"Yes!" I said, catching the speaker's arm; and then, "Doctor," I said, "this is the prisoner who saved me--and set Jimmy free!"

"Doctor!" said the poor fellow in a low puzzled voice, as if his mind were wandering. "Yes, I am the doctor! They made me their doctor when--the fever--when--oh! my boy, my boy! why did you come back?" he cried excitedly, as if his brain were once more clear.

"To fetch you and--the other prisoner!" I said.

"Mr Carstairs?" he said earnestly. "Hush, hush! They are coming back--to kill me, perhaps! I must go."

He slipped away from us before we could stop him, and while we were debating as to whether we had not better rush in and fight in his defence, the savages crowded into the hut, and once more there was a loud buzz of voices.

These were checked by one deeper, slower, and more stern than the others, which were silenced; and after a minute or two, we heard our friend the Englishman respond in a deprecating voice, and apparently plead for mercy.

Then the chief savage spoke again in stern tones, there was a buzz of voices once more, and the savages seemed to file out and cross the opening towards the other side of the village.

We dared not move, but remained there listening, not knowing but that a guard might have been left; but at the end of a minute or two our friend was back at our side, to say excitedly:

"I want to help you, but my head--I forget--I cannot speak sometimes--I cannot think. It is all dark here--here--in my mind. Why have you come?"

"We are friends," said the doctor. "Where is Mr Carstairs?"

"Carstairs?--Mr Carstairs?" he said. "Ah--"

He began to speak volubly in the savage tongue now, tantalising me so that I grasped his arm, exclaiming fiercely:

"Speak English. Where is my father?"

I could hardly see his face, but there was light enough to tell that he turned towards me, and he stopped speaking, and seemed to be endeavouring to comprehend what I said.

"My father--the prisoner," I said again, with my lips now to his ear.

"Prisoner? Yes. At the great hut--the chief's hut--"

He began speaking again volubly, and then stopped and bent his head.

"At the chief's hut?" said the doctor excitedly. "Wait a moment or two to give him time to collect himself, then ask him again."

The poor dazed creature turned to the doctor now, and bent towards him, holding him by the arm this time.

"Chief's hut? Yes: right across. There."

He pointed in the direction the savages seemed to have taken, and from whence we could hear the voices rising and falling in busy speech.

My heart leaped, for we knew now definitely where he whom we sought was kept, and the longing, impatient sensation there came upon me to be face to face with him was so strong that I could hardly contain myself.

"Let us get round there at once," I whispered, "Here, Jimmy."

There was no answer: Jimmy had crept away.