The Island of Gold Part 22

"A wild, heroic shout was the only reply.

"'Thank you,' said Smithson, 'for that expression of feeling! and I will only add that these ladies, especially the younger, were, all the way out, the light and life of our poor, lost yacht, and that, by their winning ways, they made themselves beloved both fore and aft.'

"'Now, lads,' cried James, and as he spoke he seemed a head taller than I had ever seen him, 'if we've got to fight, why, then, we'll fight.

But against these terrible savages we can't fight with porridge-sticks.

Luckily, in our cargo we have a hundred good rifles, and that is two for each of us; and we have revolvers, too, and plenty of ammunition. All good, mind you; for I chose the whole cargo myself. So now, bo's'n, pipe up the guns; and this afternoon, men, and every day till we touch at the Unfortunate Islands, I'll put you through your drill--which, bein' an old navy man, I fancy I'm capable of doing. Are you all willing?'

"The cheer that shook the ship from stem to stern was a truly British one. It was their only answer, and the only answer needed or required.

"So the drilling was commenced, and entered into with great spirit.

After all, this drill was merely preparation for 'possible 'ventualities,' as honest James called it, for fighting would be our very last resort, and we earnestly prayed that we might not be driven to it.

"At last, and early one morning, just as the sun was beginning to pencil the feathery clouds with gold and green and crimson, land was discovered on the lee bow.

"I brought the big telescope which James had named Mons Meg to bear upon it. Then I handed Meg to Smithson. He looked at the land long and earnestly, and glanced up at me with beaming face.

"'That's the princ.i.p.al island, Captain Halcott,' he said; 'the king's own. How well we have hit it!'

"That same forenoon we cast anchor in Treachery Bay, close to the spot where the yacht had lain not many weeks before.

"Our sails were furled in quite a business-like way. We wanted to show the savages that we were not one whit afraid of them, that we had come to stay for a short spell, and hadn't the remotest intention of running away.

"That you may better understand the shape or configuration of this strange island, gentlemen, here I show you a rough sketch-map. This will enable you also to follow more easily our subsequent adventures in the fastnesses of these terrible savages.

"Rude and simple though this plan is, a word or two will suffice to explain it. The island trends west and east, and is not more than sixteen miles long by about ten to twelve in width. It is divided into two almost equal parts by a very rapid and dark-rolling river, which rushes through rocky gorges with inconceivable speed, forming many a thundering cataract as it fights its way to the sea. It is fed from the waters that flow from the mountains, and, probably, by subterranean springs. The whole western portion of the island, with the exception of some green woods around the bay, is pretty low, but covered throughout with the remains of a black and burned forest. This forest is supposed by the natives to be inhabited by fearsome demons and witches, and is never visited, except for the purpose of sorcery by the medicine-men of the tribe, and to bury the dead. In the centre of the eastern portion of the island, which is beautifully clad with woodlands, and rugged and wild in the extreme, is a lake with one small, lonely isle; and around this the mountains tower their highest, but are clad to their very summits with forest trees, many of them bearing the most luscious of fruits, and all draped with wild flowers, and sweetly haunted by bird and bee.

"The only things else in the map I wish to draw your attention to, gentlemen, are the parallel lines. These mark the spot where was the only bridge leading into the fastnesses of these savages, and the only mode of communication with the lower land and bay, without walking round by the head of the river, or following its course to the sea and crossing in a boat.

"This bridge was primitive in the extreme, consisting merely of three straight tree stems, and a rude life-line composed of the twisted withes of a kind of willow.

"I have sad reason to remember that bridge, and shall not forget it while life lasts.

"I have said nothing in my story yet about Lord Augustus Fitzmantle.

But it is time to do so. Lord Augustus was our cook's mate. It is well to give a n.i.g.g.e.r boy a high-sounding name, and, if possible, a t.i.tle.

He always tries to act up to it. Lord Augustus was very, very black.

The other n.i.g.g.e.rs were black enough certainly, but they looked brown beside his merry, laughing little lordship. Yes, always laughing, always showing those white teeth of his and rolling his expressive eyes, and good-tempered all day long. Even a kick from the cook only made him rub a little and laugh the more. Lord Augustus wore a string of sky-blue beads about his neck, and on warm days he wore very little else. But if Lord Augustus was black, he was also bright. The sunshine glittered and glanced on his rounded arms and cheeks, and he had sunshine in his heart as well. It goes without saying he was the pet of the _Sea Flower_ and everybody's friend, and though all hands teased as well as petted him, he took it all in good part.

"So long as Lord Fitzmantle kept his mouth shut, and didn't show those flashing teeth of his, he was as invisible as Jack the Giant Killer on a dark night.

"Seeing our independence, the savages for hours held aloof. At last a white-headed, fearful-looking old man paddled alongside in a dug-out.

From the fact that he had a huge snake coiled around his chest and neck, I took him to be the medicine-man, or sorcerer, of the tribe, and I was not mistaken.

"He was certainly no beauty as he sat there grinning in his dark dug-out. His face was covered with scars in circles and figures, so, too, was his chest; his eyes were the colour of bra.s.s; his teeth crimson, and filed into the form of triangles. But he climbed boldly on board when beckoned to, and we loaded him with gifts of pretty beads, and engirdled his loins with red cloth, then sent him grinning away.

"This treatment had the desired effect, and in half an hour's time the bay was alive with the boats and canoes of the head-hunters. Each of their tall, gondola-like prows bore a grinning skull, the cheek bones daubed with a kind of crimson clay, and the sockets filled with awful clay eyes--not a pretty sight.

"Presently the king himself came off, and we received him with great ceremony, and gave him many gifts. To show our strength, James drew up his men in battle array, and to the terror of all in the boats, they fired their guns, taking aim at some brown and ugly kites that flew around. When several of these fell dead, the alarm of the king knew no bounds. But he soon recovered; and when, a little later on, I with a dozen of my best men went on sh.o.r.e, the king placed a poor slave girl on the beach and made signs for us to shoot. I would sooner have shot the king himself.

"Lord Augustus came with us, and we soon found that he understood much that the king said, and could therefore act as our interpreter.

"It is needless to say that the men of the lost yacht were kept out of sight.

"Our walk that day was but a brief one. The king did not seem to want us ever to cross the bridge. On climbing a hill, however, I could see all over the wild and beautiful country. I pointed to the lake and little island, and was given to understand that the medicine-men dwelt there. But from the shiftiness of the savage's eyes, I concluded at once that, if they were alive, that was the prison isle of the unhappy ladies. The king dined with us next day, and we considered it policy to let him have a modic.u.m of fire-water. His heart warmed, and not only did he permit our party to cross the bridge, but to visit his palace.

The sights of horror around it I will not dare to depict, but, much to my joy, I noticed from the king's veranda the flutter of white dresses on the little prison isle.

"My mind was made up, and that night I dispatched Lord Augustus on sh.o.r.e with a note. It was a most hazardous expedition, and none save the boy could have undertaken it with any hope of success. In my letter I had told the ladies to be of good cheer; there would be a glimmer of moonlight in a week's time, and that then we should attempt their rescue; anyhow they were to be prepared.

"Three whole days elapsed, and yet no Lord Augustus appeared, but on the night of the fourth, when we had given him up for lost, he swam off to the ship. Poor boy, he had hardly eaten food, save fruit, since he had left, and his adventure had been a thrilling one. Yet he was laughing all over just the same.

"Yes, he had managed to give the note, and had brought back a message.

The ladies had not, strange to say, been subjected to either insult or injury by the king. They were well fed on fruit and milk and cooked fowls, but were guarded day and night by priests.

"The most startling portion of the message, however, was this: in a fortnight's time a great feast and sacrifice were to take place, and during that they knew not what might occur. They begged that the boy might be sent again, and with him a sleeping-powder, which they might administer to the priests on the night of the attempted rescue. I confess my heart beat high with anxiety when the boy told us all this, for not one word of his message had he forgotten.

"I consulted now with James and Smithson. Would it not be as well, I advanced, to attempt to rescue the ladies by force?

"This was at once vetoed. Both James and the captain of the yacht knew more of savage nature than I did, and they most strongly affirmed that any show of force would a.s.suredly result in the putting to death of the two unhappy ladies we had come to rescue.

"So it was finally agreed that stratagem, not force, must be resorted to, in the first place, at all events. So a night was chosen, and on the previous evening faithful Lord Fitzmantle was dispatched once more, taking with him a powder for the medicine-men, or priests.

"To our great joy and relief, the messenger returned before daylight with the news that all would be ready, and that they, the ladies, would be found at midnight in a cave by the banks of the lake, if they were successful in escaping in a canoe from the island.

"'And you know this cave, Fitz?' I asked.

"Fitz's eyes snapped and twinkled right merrily.

"'I done know him, him foh true, sah!' he said, which signified that he had a perfect knowledge of the position of the cave.

"As I speak to you even now, gentlemen, a portion of the anxiety I felt on that terrible night when, with m.u.f.fled oars, our boat left the ship, comes stealing over my senses. I could not tell then why my feelings should be worked up to so high a pitch, for I'd been in many a danger and difficulty before. But so it was.

"The king had dined with us, and we sent home with him a supply of fire-water, which has worked such ruin among many savage races. But surely on this occasion we were partially justified in doing so. We knew, therefore, that the king and some of his princ.i.p.al officers were safe enough for one night.

"The largest boat was cautiously lowered about an hour before midnight, when everything was still as the grave on the island; a long and plaintive howl, however, being borne on the gentle breeze towards us every now and then, telling us that sentries were here and there in the woods.

"We were fifteen men in all, including James and myself, and excluding our little black guide, Lord Fitzmantle. During the nights of terror he had spent in hill and forest he had surveyed the country well, and so we could safely trust to him.

"We rowed with m.u.f.fled oars to the beach near the haunted forest, and drew up our boat under some banana-trees; then, silent as the red men of the North American forests, we made our way towards the bridge.

"The moon was about five days old, and served to give us all the light we desired. We took advantage of every bush and thicket, and finally, when within seventy yards of the river--the hustling and roaring of which we could distinctly hear--we dispatched little Fitz to reconnoitre.

"He returned in a few minutes and reported all safe, and no one on watch upon the bridge.

"We marched now in Indian file, taking care not even to snap a twig, lest we should arouse the slumbering foe. I do not know how long we took to reach the cave. To me, in my terror and anxiety, it seemed a year. They were there, and safe.