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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:39:13 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:39:13 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12190-0.txt b/12190-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..40d4846 --- /dev/null +++ b/12190-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12410 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12190 *** + + THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN + + BY FRANK R. STOCKTON + + 1910 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I An Introductory Disaster + + II A New Face in Camp + + III A Change of Lodgings + + IV Another New Face + + V The Rackbirds + + VI Three Weld Beasts + + VII Gone! + + VIII The Alarm + + IX An Amazing Narration + + X The Captain Explores + + XI A New Hemisphere + + XII A Tradition and a Waistcoat + + XIII "Mine!" + + XIV A Pile of Fuel + + XV The Cliff-Maka Scheme + + XVI On a Business Basis + + XVII "A Fine Thing, No Matter What Happens" + + XVIII Mrs. Cliff is Amazed + + XIX Left Behind + + XX At the Rackbirds' Cove + + XXI In the Caves + + XXII A Pack-Mule + + XXIII His Present Share + + XXVI His Fortune under his Feet + + + + +THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN + + + + +CHAPTER I + +AN INTRODUCTORY DISASTER + + +Early in the spring of the year 1884 the three-masted schooner _Castor_, +from San Francisco to Valparaiso, was struck by a tornado off the coast +of Peru. The storm, which rose with frightful suddenness, was of short +duration, but it left the _Castor_ a helpless wreck. Her masts had +snapped off and gone overboard, her rudder-post had been shattered by +falling wreckage, and she was rolling in the trough of the sea, with her +floating masts and spars thumping and bumping her sides. + +The _Castor_ was an American merchant-vessel, commanded by Captain Philip +Horn, an experienced navigator of about thirty-five years of age. Besides +a valuable cargo, she carried three passengers--two ladies and a boy. One +of these, Mrs. William Cliff, a lady past middle age, was going to +Valparaiso to settle some business affairs of her late husband, a New +England merchant. The other lady was Miss Edna Markham, a school-teacher +who had just passed her twenty-fifth year, although she looked older. +She was on her way to Valparaiso to take an important position in an +American seminary. Ralph, a boy of fifteen, was her brother, and she was +taking him with her simply because she did not want to leave him alone in +San Francisco. These two had no near relations, and the education of the +brother depended upon the exertions of the sister. Valparaiso was not the +place she would have selected for a boy's education, but there they could +be together, and, under the circumstances, that was a point of prime +importance. + +But when the storm had passed, and the sky was clear, and the mad waves +had subsided into a rolling swell, there seemed no reason to believe that +any one on board the _Castor_ would ever reach Valparaiso. The vessel had +been badly strained by the wrenching of the masts, her sides had been +battered by the floating wreckage, and she was taking in water rapidly. +Fortunately, no one had been injured by the storm, and although the +captain found it would be a useless waste of time and labor to attempt to +work the pumps, he was convinced, after a careful examination, that the +ship would float some hours, and that there would, therefore, be time for +those on board to make an effort to save not only their lives, but some +of their property. + +All the boats had been blown from their davits, but one of them was +floating, apparently uninjured, a short distance to leeward, one of the +heavy blocks by which it had been suspended having caught in the cordage +of the topmast, so that it was securely moored. Another boat, a small +one, was seen, bottom upward, about an eighth of a mile to leeward. Two +seamen, each pushing an oar before him, swam out to the nearest boat, +and having got on board of her, and freed her from her entanglements, +they rowed out to the capsized boat, and towed it to the schooner. When +this boat had been righted and bailed out, it was found to be in good +condition. + +The sea had become almost quiet, and there was time enough to do +everything orderly and properly, and in less than three hours after the +vessel had been struck, the two boats, containing all the crew and the +passengers, besides a goodly quantity of provisions and water, and such +valuables, clothing, rugs, and wraps as room could be found for, were +pulling away from the wreck. + +The captain, who, with his passengers, was in the larger boat, was aware +that he was off the coast of Peru, but that was all he certainly knew of +his position. The storm had struck the ship in the morning, before he had +taken his daily observation, and his room, which was on deck, had been +carried away, as well as every nautical instrument on board. He did not +believe that the storm had taken him far out of his course, but of this +he could not be sure. All that he knew with certainty was that to the +eastward lay the land, and eastward, therefore, they pulled, a little +compass attached to the captain's watch-guard being their only guide. + +For the rest of that day and that night, and the next day and the next +night, the two boats moved eastward, the people on board suffering but +little inconvenience, except from the labor of continuous rowing, at +which everybody, excepting the two ladies, took part, even Ralph +Markham being willing to show how much of a man he could be with an +oar in his hand. + +The weather was fine, and the sea was almost smooth, and as the captain +had rigged up in his boat a tent-like covering of canvas for the ladies, +they were, as they repeatedly declared, far more comfortable than they +had any right to expect. They were both women of resource and courage. +Mrs. Cliff, tall, thin in face, with her gray hair brushed plainly over +her temples, was a woman of strong frame, who would have been perfectly +willing to take an oar, had it been necessary. To Miss Markham this boat +trip would have been a positive pleasure, had it not been for the +unfortunate circumstances which made it necessary. + +On the morning of the third day land was sighted, but it was afternoon +before they reached it. Here they found themselves on a portion of the +coast where the foot-hills of the great mountains stretch themselves +almost down to the edge of the ocean. To all appearances, the shore was +barren and uninhabited. + +The two boats rowed along the coast a mile or two to the southward, but +could find no good landing-place, but reaching a spot less encumbered +with rocks than any other portion of the coast they had seen, Captain +Horn determined to try to beach his boat there. The landing was +accomplished in safety, although with some difficulty, and that night was +passed in a little encampment in the shelter of some rocks scarcely a +hundred yards from the sea. + +The next morning Captain Horn took counsel with his mates, and considered +the situation. They were on an uninhabited portion of the coast, and it +was not believed that there was any town or settlement near enough to be +reached by walking over such wild country, especially with ladies in the +party. It was, therefore, determined to seek succor by means of the sea. +They might be near one of the towns or villages along the coast of Peru, +and, in any case, a boat manned by the best oarsmen of the party, and +loaded as lightly as possible, might hope, in the course of a day or two, +to reach some port from which a vessel might be sent out to take off the +remainder of the party. + +But first Captain Horn ordered a thorough investigation to be made of the +surrounding country, and in an hour or two a place was found which he +believed would answer very well for a camping-ground until assistance +should arrive. This was on a little plateau about a quarter of a mile +back from the ocean, and surrounded on three sides by precipices, and on +the side toward the sea the ground sloped gradually downward. To this +camping-ground all of the provisions and goods were carried, excepting +what would be needed by the boating party. + +When this work had been accomplished, Captain Horn appointed his first +mate to command the expedition, deciding to remain himself in the camp. +When volunteers were called for, it astonished the captain to see how +many of the sailors desired to go. + +The larger boat pulled six oars, and seven men, besides the mate Rynders, +were selected to go in her. As soon as she could be made ready she was +launched and started southward on her voyage of discovery, the mate +having first taken such good observation of the landmarks that he felt +sure he would have no difficulty in finding the spot where he left his +companions. The people in the little camp on the bluff now consisted of +Captain Horn, the two ladies, the boy Ralph, three sailors,--one an +Englishman, and the other two Americans from Cape Cod,--and a jet-black +native African, known as Maka. + +Captain Horn had not cared to keep many men with him in the camp, because +there they would have little to do, and all the strong arms that could be +spared would be needed in the boat. The three sailors he had retained +were men of intelligence, on whom he believed he could rely in case of +emergency, and Maka was kept because he was a cook. He had been one of +the cargo of a slave-ship which had been captured by a British cruiser +several years before, when on its way to Cuba, and the unfortunate +negroes had been landed in British Guiana. It was impossible to return +them to Africa, because none of them could speak English, or in any way +give an idea as to what tribes they belonged, and if they should be +landed anywhere in Africa except among their friends, they would be +immediately reënslaved. For some years they lived in Guiana, in a little +colony by themselves, and then, a few of them having learned some +English, they made their way to Panama, where they obtained employment as +laborers on the great canal. Maka, who was possessed of better +intelligence than most of his fellows, improved a good deal in his +English, and learned to cook very well, and having wandered to San +Francisco, had been employed for two or three voyages by Captain Horn. +Maka was a faithful and willing servant, and if he had been able to +express himself more intelligibly, his merits might have been better +appreciated. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A NEW FACE IN CAMP + + +The morning after the departure of the boat, Captain Horn, in company +with the Englishman Davis, each armed with a gun, set out on a tour of +investigation, hoping to be able to ascend the rocky hills at the back of +the camp, and find some elevated point commanding a view over the ocean. +After a good deal of hard climbing they reached such a point, but the +captain found that the main object was really out of his reach. He could +now plainly see that a high rocky point to the southward, which stretched +some distance out to sea, would cut off all view of the approach of +rescuers coming from that direction, until they were within a mile or two +of his landing-place. Back from the sea the hills grew higher, until they +blended into the lofty stretches of the Andes, this being one of the few +points where the hilly country extends to the ocean. + +The coast to the north curved a little oceanward, so that a much more +extended view could be had in that direction, but as far as he could see +by means of a little pocket-glass which the boy Ralph had lent him, the +captain could discover no signs of habitation, and in this direction the +land seemed to be a flat desert. When he returned to camp, about noon, +he had made up his mind that the proper thing to do was to make himself +and his companions as comfortable as possible and patiently await the +return of his mate with succor. + +Captain Horn was very well satisfied with his present place of +encampment. Although rain is unknown in this western portion of Peru, +which is, therefore, in general desolate and barren, there are parts of +the country that are irrigated by streams which flow from the snow-capped +peaks of the Andes, and one of these fertile spots the captain seemed to +have happened upon. On the plateau there grew a few bushes, while the +face of the rock in places was entirely covered by hanging vines. This +fertility greatly puzzled Captain Horn, for nowhere was to be seen any +stream of water, or signs of there ever having been any. But they had +with them water enough to last for several days, and provisions for a +much longer time, and the captain felt little concern on this account. + +As for lodgings, there were none excepting the small tent which he had +put up for the ladies, but a few nights in the open air in that dry +climate would not hurt the male portion of the party. + +In the course of the afternoon, the two American sailors came to Captain +Horn and asked permission to go to look for game. The captain had small +hopes of their finding anything suitable for food, but feeling sure that +if they should be successful, every one would be glad of a little fresh +meat, he gave his permission, at the same time requesting the men to do +their best in the way of observation, if they should get up high enough +to survey the country, and discover some signs of habitation, if such +existed in that barren region. It would be a great relief to the captain +to feel that there was some spot of refuge to which, by land or water, +his party might make its way in case the water and provisions gave out +before the return of the mate. + +As to the men who went off in the boat, the captain expected to see but a +few of them again. One or two might return with the mate, in such vessel +as he should obtain in which to come for them, but the most of them, if +they reached a seaport, would scatter, after the manner of seamen. + +The two sailors departed, promising, if they could not bring back fish or +fowl, to return before dark, with a report of the lay of the land. + +It was very well that Maka did not have to depend on these hunters for +the evening meal, for night came without them, and the next morning they +had not returned. The captain was very much troubled. The men must be +lost, or they had met with some accident. There could be no other reason +for their continued absence. They had each a gun, and plenty of powder +and shot, but they had taken only provisions enough for a single meal. + +Davis offered to go up the hills to look for the missing men. He had +lived for some years in the bush in Australia, and he thought that +there was a good chance of his discovering their tracks. But the +captain shook his head. + +"You are just as likely to get lost, or to fall over a rock, as anybody +else," he said, "and it is better to have two men lost than three. But +there is one thing that you can do. You can go down to the beach, and +make your way southward as far as possible. There you can find your way +back, and if you take a gun, and fire it every now and then, you may +attract the attention of Shirley and Burke, if they are on the hills +above, and perhaps they may even be able to see you as you walk along. If +they are alive, they will probably see or hear you, and fire in answer. +It is a very strange thing that we have not heard a shot from them." + +Ralph begged to accompany the Englishman, for he was getting very +restless, and longed for a ramble and scramble. But neither the captain +nor his sister would consent to this, and Davis started off alone. + +"If you can round the point down there," said the captain to him, "do it, +for you may see a town or houses not far away on the other side. But +don't take any risks. At all events, make your calculations so that you +will be back here before dark." + +The captain and Ralph assisted the two ladies to a ledge of rock near the +camp from which they could watch the Englishman on his way. They saw him +reach the beach, and after going on a short distance he fired his gun, +after which he pressed forward, now and then stopping to fire again. Even +from their inconsiderable elevation they could see him until he must have +been more than a mile away, and he soon after vanished from their view. + +As on the previous day darkness came without the two American sailors, so +now it came without the Englishman, and in the morning he had not +returned. Of course, every mind was filled with anxiety in regard to the +three sailors, but Captain Horn's soul was racked with apprehensions of +which he did not speak. The conviction forced itself upon him that the +men had been killed by wild beasts. He could imagine no other reason why +Davis should not have returned. He had been ordered not to leave the +beach, and, therefore, could not lose his way. He was a wary, careful +man, used to exploring rough country, and he was not likely to take any +chances of disabling himself by a fall while on such an expedition. + +Although he knew that the great jaguar was found in Peru, as well as +the puma and black bear, the captain had not supposed it likely that +any of these creatures frequented the barren western slopes of the +mountains, but he now reflected that there were lions in the deserts of +Africa, and that the beasts of prey in South America might also be +found in its deserts. + +A great responsibility now rested upon Captain Horn. He was the only man +left in camp who could be depended upon as a defender,--for Maka was +known to be a coward, and Ralph was only a boy,--and it was with a +shrinking of the heart that he asked himself what would be the +consequences if a couple of jaguars or other ferocious beasts were to +appear upon that unprotected plateau in the night, or even in the +daytime. He had two guns, but he was only one man. These thoughts were +not cheerful, but the captain's face showed no signs of alarm, or even +unusual anxiety, and, with a smile on his handsome brown countenance, he +bade the ladies good morning as if he were saluting them upon a +quarter-deck. + +"I have been thinking all night about those three men," said Miss +Markham, "and I have imagined something which may have happened. Isn't +it possible that they may have discovered at a distance some inland +settlement which could not be seen by the party in the boat, and that +they thought it their duty to push their way to it, and so get +assistance for us? In that case, you know, they would probably be a long +time coming back." + +"That is possible," said the captain, glad to hear a hopeful supposition, +but in his heart he had no faith in it whatever. If Davis had seen a +village, or even a house, he would have come back to report it, and if +the others had found human habitation, they would have had ample time to +return, either by land or by sea. + +The restless Ralph, who had chafed a good deal because he had not been +allowed to leave the plateau in search of adventure, now found a vent for +his surplus energy, for the captain appointed him fire-maker. The camp +fuel was not abundant, consisting of nothing but some dead branches and +twigs from the few bushes in the neighborhood. These Ralph collected with +great energy, and Maka had nothing to complain of in regard to fuel for +his cooking. + +Toward the end of that afternoon, Ralph prepared to make a fire for the +supper, and he determined to change the position of the fireplace and +bring it nearer the rocks, where he thought it would burn better. It did +burn better--so well, indeed, that some of the dry leaves of the vines +that there covered the face of the rocks took fire. Ralph watched with +interest the dry leaves blaze and the green ones splutter, and then he +thought it would be a pity to scorch those vines, which were among the +few green things about them, and he tried to put out the fire. But this +he could not do, and, when he called Maka, the negro was not able to +help him. The fire had worked its way back of the green vines, and seemed +to have found good fuel, for it was soon crackling away at a great rate, +attracting the rest of the party. + +"Can't we put it out?" cried Miss Markham. "It is a pity to ruin those +beautiful vines." + +The captain smiled and shook his head. "We cannot waste our valuable +water on that conflagration," said he. "There is probably a great mass +of dead vines behind the green outside. How it crackles and roars! That +dead stuff must be several feet thick. All we can do is to let it burn. +It cannot hurt us. It cannot reach your tent, for there are no vines +over there." + +The fire continued to roar and blaze, and to leap up the face of the +rock. + +"It is wonderful," said Mrs. Cliff, "to think how those vines must have +been growing and dying, and new ones growing and dying, year after year, +nobody knows how many ages." + +"What is most wonderful to me," said the captain, "is that the vines ever +grew there at all, or that these bushes should be here. Nothing can grow +in this region, unless it is watered by a stream from the mountains, and +there is no stream here." + +Miss Markham was about to offer a supposition to the effect that perhaps +the precipitous wall of rock which surrounded the little plateau, and +shielded it from the eastern sun, might have had a good effect upon the +vegetation, when suddenly Ralph, who had a ship's biscuit on the end of a +sharp stick, and was toasting it in the embers of a portion of the burnt +vines, sprang back with a shout. + +"Look out!" he cried. "The whole thing's coming down!" And, sure enough, +in a moment a large portion of the vines, which had been clinging to the +rock, fell upon the ground in a burning mass. A cloud of smoke and dust +arose, and when it had cleared away the captain and his party saw upon +the perpendicular side of the rock, which was now revealed to them as if +a veil had been torn away from in front of it, an enormous face cut out +of the solid stone. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A CHANGE OF LODGINGS + + +The great face stared down upon the little party gathered beneath it. Its +chin was about eight feet above the ground, and its stony countenance +extended at least that distance up the cliff. Its features were in low +relief, but clear and distinct, and a smoke-blackened patch beneath one +of its eyes gave it a sinister appearance. From its wide-stretching mouth +a bit of half-burnt vine hung, trembling in the heated air, and this +element of motion produced the impression on several of the party that +the creature was about to open its lips. + +Mrs. Cliff gave a little scream,--she could not help it,--and Maka sank +down on his knees, his back to the rock, and covered his face with his +hands. Ralph was the first to speak. + +"There have been heathen around here," he said. "That's a regular idol." + +"You are right," said the captain. "That is a bit of old-time work. That +face was cut by the original natives." + +The two ladies were so interested, and even excited, that they seized +each other by the hands. Here before their faces was a piece of sculpture +doubtless done by the people of ancient Peru, that people who were +discovered by Pizarro; and this great idol, or whatever it was, had +perhaps never before been seen by civilized eyes. It was wonderful, and +in the conjecture and exclamation of the next half-hour everything else +was forgotten, even the three sailors. + +Because the captain was the captain, it was natural that every one +should look to him for some suggestion as to why this great stone face +should have been carved here on this lonely and desolate rock. But he +shook his head. + +"I have no ideas about it," he said, "except that it must have been +some sort of a landmark. It looks out toward the sea, and perhaps the +ancient inhabitants put it there so that people in ships, coming near +enough to the coast, should know where they were. Perhaps it was +intended to act as a lighthouse to warn seamen off a dangerous coast. +But I must say that I do not see how it could do that, for they would +have had to come pretty close to the shore to see it, unless they had +better glasses than we have." + +The sun was now near the horizon, and Maka was lifted to his feet by the +captain, and ordered to stop groaning in African, and go to work to get +supper on the glowing embers of the vines. He obeyed, of course, but +never did he turn his face upward to that gaunt countenance, which +grinned and winked and frowned whenever a bit of twig blazed up, or the +coals were stirred by the trembling negro. + +After supper and until the light had nearly faded from the western sky, +the two ladies sat and watched that vast face upon the rocks, its +features growing more and more solemn as the light decreased. + +"I wish I had a long-handled broom," said Mrs. Cliff, "for if the dust +and smoke and ashes of burnt leaves were brushed from off its nose and +eyebrows, I believe it would have a rather gracious expression." + +As for the captain, he went walking about on the outlying portion of the +plateau, listening and watching. But it was not stone faces he was +thinking of. That night he did not sleep at all, but sat until day-break, +with a loaded gun across his knees, and another one lying on the ground +beside him. + +When Miss Markham emerged from the rude tent the next morning, and came +out into the bright light of day, the first thing she saw was her +brother Ralph, who looked as if he had been sweeping a chimney or +cleaning out an ash-hole. + +"What on earth has happened to you!" she cried. "How did you get yourself +so covered with dirt and ashes?" + +"I got up ever so long ago," he replied, "and as the captain is asleep +over there, and there was nobody to talk to, I thought I would go and try +to find the back of his head"--pointing to the stone face above them. +"But he hasn't any. He is a sham." + +"What do you mean?" asked his sister. + +"You see, Edna," said the boy, "I thought I would try if I could find any +more faces, and so I got a bit of stone, and scratched away some of the +burnt vines that had not fallen, and there I found an open place in the +rock on this side of the face. Step this way, and you can see it. It's +like a narrow doorway. I went and looked into it, and saw that it led +back of the big face, and I went in to see what was there." + +"You should never have done that, Ralph," cried his sister. "There might +have been snakes in that place, or precipices, or nobody knows what. +What could you expect to see in the dark?" + +"It wasn't so dark as you might think," said he. "After my eyes got used +to the place I could see very well. But there was nothing to see--just +walls on each side. There was more of the passageway ahead of me, but I +began to think of snakes myself, and as I did not have a club or anything +to kill them with, I concluded I wouldn't go any farther. It isn't so +very dirty in there. Most of this I got on myself scraping down the burnt +vines. Here comes the captain. He doesn't generally oversleep himself +like this. If he will go with me, we will explore that crack." + +When Captain Horn heard of the passage into the rock, he was much more +interested than Ralph had expected him to be, and, without loss of time, +he lighted a lantern and, with the boy behind him, set out to investigate +it. But before entering the cleft, the captain stationed Maka at a place +where he could view all the approaches to the plateau, and told him if he +saw any snakes or other dangerous things approaching, to run to the +opening and call him. Now, snakes were among the few things that Maka was +not afraid of, and so long as he thought these were the enemies to be +watched, he would make a most efficient sentinel. + +When Captain Horn had cautiously advanced a couple of yards into the +interior of the rock, he stopped, raised his lantern, and looked about +him. The passage was about two feet wide, the floor somewhat lower than +the ground outside, and the roof but a few feet above his head. It was +plainly the work of man, and not a natural crevice in the rocks. Then +the captain put the lantern behind him, and stared into the gloom ahead +of them. As Ralph had said, it was not so dark as might have been +expected. In fact, about twenty feet forward there was a dim light on the +right-hand wall. + +The captain, still followed by Ralph, now moved on until they came to +this lighted place, and found it was an open doorway. Both heads +together, they peeped in, and saw it was an opening like a doorway into a +chamber about fifteen feet square and with very high walls. They scarcely +needed the lantern to examine it, for a jagged opening in the roof let in +a good deal of light. + +Passing into this chamber, keeping a good watch out for pitfalls as he +moved on, and forgetting, in his excitement, that he might go so far that +he could not hear Maka, should he call, the captain saw to the right +another open doorway, on the other side of which was another chamber, +about the size of the one they had first entered. One side of this was a +good deal broken away, and through a fracture three or four feet wide the +light entered freely, as if from the open air. But when the two explorers +peered through the ragged aperture, they did not look into the open air, +but into another chamber, very much larger than the others, with high, +irregular walls, but with scarcely any roof, almost the whole of the +upper part being open to the sky. + +A mass of broken rocks on the floor of this apartment showed that the +roof had fallen in. The captain entered it and carefully examined it. A +portion of the floor was level and unobstructed by rocks, and in the +walls there was not the slightest sign of a doorway, except the one by +which he had entered from the adjoining chamber. + +"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Here is a suite of rooms. Isn't this grand? You +and I can have that first one, Maka can sleep in the hall to keep out +burglars, and Edna and Mrs. Cliff can have the middle room, and this open +place here can be their garden, where they can take tea and sew. These +rocks will make splendid tables and chairs." + +The captain stood, breathing hard, a sense of relief coming over him like +the warmth of fire. He had thought of what Ralph had said before the boy +had spoken. Here was safety from wild beasts--here was immunity from the +only danger he could imagine to those under his charge. It might be days +yet before the mate returned,--he knew the probable difficulties of +obtaining a vessel, even when a port should be reached,--but they would +be safe here from the attacks of ferocious animals, principally to be +feared in the night. They might well be thankful for such a good place as +this in which to await the arrival of succor, if succor came before their +water gave out. There were biscuits, salt meat, tea, and other things +enough to supply their wants for perhaps a week longer, provided the +three sailors did not return, but the supply of water, although they were +very economical of it, must give out in a day or two. "But," thought the +captain, "Rynders may be back before that, and, on the other hand, a +family of jaguars might scent us out to-night." + +"You are right, my boy," said he, speaking to Ralph. "Here is a suite of +rooms, and we will occupy them just as you have said. They are dry and +airy, and it will be far better for us to sleep here than out of doors." + +As they returned, Ralph was full of talk about the grand find. But the +captain made no answers to his remarks--his mind was busy contriving some +means of barricading the narrow entrance at night. + +When breakfast was over, and the entrance to the rocks had been made +cleaner and easier by the efforts of Maka and Ralph, the ladies were +conducted to the suite of rooms which Ralph had described in such glowing +terms. Both were filled with curiosity to see these apartments, +especially Miss Markham, who was fairly well read in the history of South +America, and who had already imagined that the vast mass of rock by which +they had camped might be in reality a temple of the ancient Peruvians, to +which the stone face was a sacred sentinel. But when the three apartments +had been thoroughly explored she was disappointed. + +"There is not a sign or architectural adornment, or anything that seems +to have the least religious significance, or significance of any sort," +she said. "These are nothing but three stone rooms, with their roofs more +or less broken in. They do not even suggest dungeons." + +As for Mrs. Cliff, she did not hesitate to say that she should prefer to +sleep in the open air. + +"It would be dreadful," she said, "to awaken in the night and think of +those great stone walls about me." + +Even Ralph remarked that, on second thought, he believed he would rather +sleep out of doors, for he liked to look up and see the stars before he +went to sleep. + +At first the captain was a little annoyed to find that this place of +safety, the discovery of which had given him such satisfaction and +relief, was looked upon with such disfavor by those who needed it so very +much, but then the thought came to him, "Why should they care about a +place of safety, when they have no idea of danger?" He did not now +hesitate to settle the matter in the most straightforward and honest way. +Having a place of refuge to offer, the time had come to speak of the +danger. And so, standing in the larger apartment, and addressing his +party, he told them of the fate he feared had overtaken the three +sailors, and how anxious he had been lest the same fate should come upon +some one or all of them. + +Now vanished every spark of opposition to the captain's proffered +lodgings. + +"If we should be here but one night longer," cried Mrs. Cliff, echoing +the captain's thought, "let us be safe." + +In the course of the day the two rooms were made as comfortable as +circumstances would allow with the blankets, shawls, and canvas which had +been brought on shore, and that night they all slept in the rock +chambers, the captain having made a barricade for the opening of the +narrow passage with the four oars, which he brought up from the boat. +Even should these be broken down by some wild beast, Captain Horn felt +that, with his two guns at the end of the narrow passage, he might defend +his party from the attacks of any of the savage animals of the country. + +The captain slept soundly that night, for he had had but a nap of an +hour or two on the previous morning, and, with Maka stretched in the +passage outside the door of his room, he knew that he would have timely +warning of danger, should any come. But Mrs. Cliff did not sleep well, +spending a large part of the night imagining the descent of active +carnivora down the lofty and perpendicular walls of the large adjoining +apartment. + +The next day was passed rather wearily by most of the party in looking +out for signs of a vessel with the returning mate. Ralph had made a flag +which he could wave from a high point near by, in case he should see a +sail, for it would be a great misfortune should Mr. Rynders pass them +without knowing it. + +To the captain, however, came a new and terrible anxiety. He had looked +into the water-keg, and saw that it held but a few quarts. It had not +lasted as long as he had expected, for this was a thirsty climate. + +The next night Mrs. Cliff slept, having been convinced that not even a +cat could come down those walls. The captain woke very early, and when he +went out he found, to his amazement, that the barricade had been removed, +and he could not see Maka. He thought at first that perhaps the negro had +gone down to the sea-shore to get some water for washing purposes, but an +hour passed, and Maka did not return. The whole party went down to the +beach, for the captain insisted upon all keeping together. They shouted, +they called, they did whatever they could to discover the lost African, +but all without success. + +They returned to camp, disheartened and depressed. This new loss had +something terrible in it. What it meant no one could conjecture. There +was no reason why Maka should run away, for there was no place to run to, +and it was impossible that any wild beast should have removed the oars +and carried off the negro. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ANOTHER NEW FACE + + +As the cook had gone, Mrs. Cliff and Miss Markham prepared breakfast, and +then they discovered how little water there was. + +There was something mysterious about the successive losses of his men +which pressed heavily upon the soul of Captain Horn, but the want of +water pressed still more heavily. Ralph had just asked his permission to +go down to the beach and bathe in the sea, saying that as he could not +have all the water he wanted to drink, it might make him feel better to +take a swim in plenty of water. The boy was not allowed to go so far from +camp by himself, but the captain could not help thinking how this poor +fellow would probably feel the next day if help had not arrived, and of +the sufferings of the others, which, by that time, would have begun. +Still, as before, he spoke hopefully, and the two women, as brave as he, +kept up good spirits, and although they each thought of the waterless +morrow, they said nothing about it. + +As for Ralph, he confidently expected the return of the men in the +course of the day, as he had done in the course of each preceding day, +and two or three times an hour he was at his post of observation, ready +to wave his flag. + +Even had he supposed that it would be of any use to go to look for Maka, +a certain superstitious feeling would have prevented the captain from +doing so. If he should go out, and not return, there would be little hope +for those two women and the boy. But he could not help feeling that +beyond the rocky plateau which stretched out into the sea to the +southward, and which must be at least two miles away, there might be seen +some signs of habitation, and, consequently, of a stream. If anything of +the sort could be seen, it might become absolutely necessary for the +party to make their way toward it, either by land or sea, no matter how +great the fatigue or the danger, and without regard to the fate of those +who had left camp before them. + +About half an hour afterwards, when the captain had mounted some rocks +near by, from which he thought he might get a view of the flat region to +the north on which he might discover the missing negro, Ralph, who was +looking seaward, gave a start, and then hurriedly called to his sister +and Mrs. Cliff, and pointed to the beach. There was the figure of a man +which might well be Maka, but, to their amazement and consternation, he +was running, followed, not far behind, by another man. The figures +rapidly approached, and it was soon seen that the first man was Maka, but +that the second figure was not one of the sailors who had left them. +Could he be pursuing Maka? What on earth did it mean? + +For some moments Ralph stood dumfounded, and then ran in the direction +in which the captain had gone, and called to him. + +At the sound of his voice the second figure stopped and turned as if he +were about to run, but Maka--they were sure it was Maka--seized him by +the arm and held him. Therefore this newcomer could not be pursuing their +man. As the two now came forward, Maka hurrying the other on, Ralph and +his two companions were amazed to see that this second man was also an +African, a negro very much like Maka, and as they drew nearer, the two +looked as if they might have been brothers. + +The captain had wandered farther than he had intended, but after several +shouts from Ralph he came running back, and reached the camp-ground just +as the two negroes arrived. + +At the sight of this tall man bounding toward him the strange negro +appeared to be seized with a wild terror. He broke away from Maka, and +ran first in this direction and then in that, and perceiving the cleft in +the face of the rock, he blindly rushed into it, as a rat would rush into +a hole. Instantly Maka was after him, and the two were lost to view. + +When the captain had been told of the strange thing which had happened, +he stood without a word. Another African! This was a puzzle too great for +his brain. + +"Are you sure it was not a native of these parts?" said he, directly. +"You know, they are very dark." + +"No!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff and her companions almost in the same breath, +"it was an African, exactly like Maka." + +At this moment a wild yell was heard from the interior of the rocks, +then another and another. Without waiting to consider anything, or hear +any more, the captain dashed into the narrow passage, Ralph close behind +him. They ran into the room in which they had slept. They looked on all +sides, but saw nothing. Again, far away, they heard another yell, and +they ran out again into the passage. + +This narrow entry, as the investigating Ralph had already discovered, +continued for a dozen yards past the doorway which led to the chambers, +but there it ended in a rocky wall about five feet high. Above this was +an aperture extending to the roof of the passage, but Ralph, having a +wholesome fear of snakes, had not cared to climb over the wall to see +what was beyond. + +When the captain and Ralph had reached the end of the passage, they heard +another cry, and there could be no doubt that it came through the +aperture by which they stood. Instantly Ralph scrambled to the top of the +wall, pushed himself head foremost through the opening, and came down on +the other side, partly on his hands and partly on his feet. Had the +captain been first, he would not have made such a rash leap, but now he +did not hesitate a second. He instantly followed the boy, taking care, +however, to let himself down on his feet. + +The passage on the other side of the dividing wall seemed to be the same +as that they had just left, although perhaps a little lighter. After +pushing on for a short distance, they found that the passage made a turn +to the right, and then in a few moments the captain and Ralph emerged +into open space. What sort of space it was they could not comprehend. + +"It seemed to me," said Ralph, afterwards, "as if I had fallen into the +sky at night. I was afraid to move, for fear I should tumble into +astronomical distances." + +The captain stared about him, apparently as much confounded by the +situation as was the boy. But his mind was quickly brought to the +consideration of things which he could understand. Almost at his feet was +Maka, lying on his face, his arms and head over the edge of what might be +a bank or a bottomless precipice, and yelling piteously. Making a step +toward him, the captain saw that he had hold of another man, several feet +below him, and that he could not pull him up. + +"Hold on tight, Maka," he cried, and then, taking hold of the African's +shoulders, he gave one mighty heave, lifted both men, and set them on +their feet beside him. + +Ralph would have willingly sacrificed the rest of his school-days to be +able to perform such a feat as that. But the Africans were small, and the +captain was wildly excited. + +Well might he be excited. He was wet! The strange man whom he had pulled +up had stumbled against him, and he was dripping with water. Ralph was by +the captain, tightly gripping his arm, and, without speaking, they both +stood gazing before them and around them. + +At their feet, stretching away in one direction, farther than they could +see, and what at first sight they had taken to be air, was a body of +water--a lake! Above them were rocks, and, as far as they could see to +the right, the water seemed to be overhung by a cavernous roof. But in +front of them, on the other side of the lake, which here did not seem to +be more than a hundred feet wide, there was a great upright opening in +the side of the cave, through which they could see the distant mountains +and a portion of the sky. + +"Water!" said Ralph, in a low tone, as if he had been speaking in church, +and then, letting go of the captain's arm, he began to examine the ledge, +but five or six feet wide, on which they stood. At his feet the water was +at least a yard below them, but a little distance on he saw that the +ledge shelved down to the surface of the lake, and in a moment he had +reached this spot, and, throwing himself down on his breast, he plunged +his face into the water and began drinking like a thirsty horse. +Presently he rose to his knees with a great sigh of satisfaction. + +"Oh, captain," he cried, "it is cold and delicious. I believe that in one +hour more I should have died of thirst." + +But the captain did not answer, nor did he move from the spot where he +stood. His thoughts whirled around in his mind like chaff in a +winnowing-machine. Water! A lake in the bosom of the rocks! Half an hour +ago he must have been standing over it as he scrambled up the hillside. +Visions that he had had of the morrow, when all their eyes should be +standing out of their faces, like the eyes of shipwrecked sailors he had +seen in boats, came back to him, and other visions of his mate and his +men toiling southward for perhaps a hundred miles without reaching a port +or a landing, and then the long, long delay before a vessel could be +procured. And here was water! + +Ralph stood beside him for an instant. "Captain," he cried, "I am +going to get a pail, and take some to Edna and Mrs. Cliff." And then +he was gone. + +Recalled thus to the present, the captain stepped back. He must do +something--he must speak to some one. He must take some advantage of this +wonderful, this overpowering discovery. But before he could bring his +mind down to its practical workings, Maka had clutched him by the coat. + +"Cap'n," he said, "I must tell you. I must speak it. I must tell you now, +quick. Wait! Don't go!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RACKBIRDS + + +The new African was sitting on the ground, as far back from the edge of +the ledge as he could get, shivering and shaking, for the water was cold. +He had apparently reached the culmination and termination of his fright. +After his tumble into the water, which had happened because he had been +unable to stop in his mad flight, he had not nerve enough left to do +anything more, no matter what should appear to scare him, and there was +really no reason why he should be afraid of this big white man, who did +not even look at him or give him a thought. + +Maka's tale, which he told so rapidly and incoherently that he was +frequently obliged to repeat portions of it, was to the following effect: +He had thought a great deal about the scarcity of water, and it had +troubled him so that he could not sleep. What a dreadful thing it would +be for those poor ladies and the captain and the boy to die because they +had no water! His recollections of experiences in his native land made +him well understand that streams of water are to be looked for between +high ridges, and the idea forced itself upon him very strongly that on +the other side of the ridge to the south there might be a stream. He +knew the captain would not allow him to leave the camp if he asked +permission, and so he rose very early, even before it was light, and +going down to the shore, made his way along the beach--on the same route, +in fact, that the Englishman Davis had taken. He was a good deal +frightened sometimes, he said, by the waves, which dashed up as if they +would pull him into the water. When he reached the point of the rocky +ridge, he had no difficulty whatever in getting round it, as he could +easily keep away from the water by climbing over the rocks. + +He found that the land on the other side began to recede from the ocean, +and that there was a small sandy beach below him. This widened until it +reached another and smaller point of rock, and beyond this Maka believed +he would find the stream for which he was searching. And while he was +considering whether he should climb over it or wade around it, suddenly a +man jumped down from the rock, almost on top of him. This man fell down +on his back, and was at first so frightened that he did not try to move. +Maka's wits entirely deserted him, he said, and he did not know anything, +except that most likely he was going to die. + +But on looking at the man on the ground, he saw that he was an African +like himself, and in a moment he recognized him as one of his +fellow-slaves, with whom he had worked in Guiana, and also for a short +time on the Panama Canal. This made him think that perhaps he was not +going to die, and he went up to the other man and spoke to him. Then +the other man thought perhaps he was not going to die, and he sat up +and spoke. + +When the other man told his tale, Maka agreed with him that it would be +far better to die of thirst than to go on any farther to look for water, +and, turning, he ran back, followed by the other, and they never stopped +to speak to each other until they had rounded the great bluff, and were +making their way along the beach toward the camp. Then his fellow-African +told Maka a great deal more, and Maka told everything to the captain. + +The substance of the tale was this: A mile farther up the bay than Maka +had gone, there was a little stream that ran down the ravine. About a +quarter of a mile up this stream there was a spot where, it appeared from +the account, there must be a little level ground suitable for +habitations. Here were five or six huts, almost entirely surrounded by +rocks, and in these lived a dozen of the most dreadful men in the whole +world. This Maka assured the captain, his eyes wet with tears as he +spoke. It must truly be so, because the other African had told him things +which proved it. + +A little farther up the stream, on the other side of the ravine, there +was a cave, a very small one, and so high up in the face of the rock +that it could only be reached by a ladder. In this lived five black men, +members of the company of slaves who had gone from Guiana to the +isthmus, and who had been brought down there about a year before by two +wicked men, who had promised them well-paid work in a lovely country. +They had, however, been made actual slaves in this barren and doleful +place, and had since worked for the cruel men who had beguiled them +into a captivity worse than the slavery to which they had been +originally destined. + +Eight of them had come down from the isthmus, but, at various times +since, three of them had been killed by accident, or shot while trying to +run away. The hardships of these poor fellows were very great, and Maka's +voice shook as he spoke of them. They were kept in the cave all the time, +except when they were wanted for some sort of work, when a ladder was put +up by the side of the rock, and such as were required were called to come +down. Without a ladder no one could get in or out of the cave. One man +who had tried to slip down at night fell and broke his neck. + +The Africans were employed in cooking and other rough domestic or menial +services, and sometimes all of them were taken down to the shore of the +bay, where they saw small vessels, and they were employed in carrying +goods from one of these to another, and were also obliged to carry +provisions and heavy kegs up the ravine to the houses of the wicked men. +The one whom he had brought with him, Maka said, had that day escaped +from his captors. One of the Rackbirds, whom in some way the negro had +offended, had sworn to kill him before night, and feeling sure that this +threat would be carried out, the poor fellow had determined to run away, +no matter what the consequences. He had chosen the way by the ocean, in +order that he might jump in and drown himself if he found that he was +likely to be overtaken, but apparently his escape had not yet been +discovered. + +Maka was going on to tell something more about the wicked men, when +the captain interrupted him. "Can this friend of yours speak +English?" he asked. + +"Only one, two words," replied Maka. + +"Ask him if he knows the name of that band of men." + +"Yes," said Maka, presently, "he know, but he no can speak it." + +"Are they called the Rackbirds?" asked Captain Horn. + +The shivering negro had been listening attentively, and now half rose and +nodded his head violently, and then began to speak rapidly in African. + +"Yes," said Maka, "he says that is name they are called." + +At this moment Ralph appeared upon the scene, and the second African, +whose name was something like Mok, sprang to his feet as if he were about +to flee for his life. But as there was no place to flee to, except into +the water or into the arms of Ralph, he stood still, trembling. A few +feet to the left the shelf ended in a precipitous rock, and on the right, +as has been said, it gradually descended into the water, the space on +which the party stood not being more than twenty feet long and five or +six feet wide. When he saw Ralph, the captain suddenly stopped the +question he was about to ask, and said in an undertone to Maka: + +"Not a word to the boy. I will tell." + +"Oh," cried Ralph, "you do not know what a lively couple there is out +there. I found that my sister and Mrs. Cliff had made up their minds that +they would perish in about two days, and Mrs. Cliff had been making her +will with a lead-pencil, and now they are just as high up as they were +low down before. They would not let me come to get them some water, +though I kept telling them they never tasted anything like it in their +whole lives, because they wanted to hear everything about everything. My +sister will be wild to come to this lake before long, even if Mrs. Cliff +does not care to try it. And when you are ready to come to them, and +bring Maka, they want to know who that other colored man is, and how Maka +happened to find him. I truly believe their curiosity goes ahead of their +thirst." And so saying he went down to the lake to fill a pail he had +brought with him. + +The captain told Ralph to hurry back to the ladies, and that he would be +there in a few minutes. Captain Horn knew a great deal about the +Rackbirds. They were a band of desperadoes, many of them outlaws and +criminals. They had all come down from the isthmus, to which they had +been attracted by the great canal works, and after committing various +outrages and crimes, they had managed to get away without being shot or +hung. Captain Horn had frequently heard of them in the past year or two, +and it was generally supposed that they had some sort of rendezvous or +refuge on this coast, but there had been no effort made to seek them out. +He had frequently heard of crimes committed by them at points along the +coast, which showed that they had in their possession some sort of +vessel. At one time, when he had stopped at Lima, he had heard that there +was talk of the government's sending out a police or military expedition +against these outlaws, but he had never known of anything of the sort +being done. + +Everything that, from time to time, had been told Captain Horn about +the Rackbirds showed that they surpassed in cruelty and utter vileness +any other bandits, or even savages, of whom he had ever heard. Among +other news, he had been told that the former leader of the band, which +was supposed to be composed of men of many nationalities, was a French +Canadian, who had been murdered by his companions because, while robbing +a plantation in the interior,--they had frequently been known to cross +the desert and the mountains,--he had forborne to kill an old man +because as the trembling graybeard looked up at him he had reminded him +of his father. Some of the leading demons of the band determined that +they could not have such a fool as this for their leader, and he was +killed while asleep. + +Now the band was headed by a Spaniard, whose fiendishness was of a +sufficiently high order to satisfy the most exacting of his fellows. +These and other bits of news about the Rackbirds had been told by one of +the band who had escaped to Panama after the murder of the captain, +fearing that his own talents for baseness did not reach the average +necessary for a Rackbird. + +When he had made his landing from the wreck, Captain Horn never gave a +thought to the existence of this band of scoundrels. In fact, he had +supposed, when he had thought of the matter, that their rendezvous must +be far south of this point. + +But now, standing on that shelf of rock, with his eyes fixed on the water +without seeing it, he knew that the abode of this gang of wretches was +within a comparatively short distance of this spot in which he and his +companions had taken refuge, and he knew, too, that there was every +reason to suppose that some of them would soon be in pursuit of the negro +who had run away. + +Suddenly another dreadful thought struck him. Wild beasts, indeed! + +He turned quickly to Maka. "Does that man know anything about Davis and +the two sailors? Were they killed?" he asked. + +Maka shook his head and said that he had already asked his companion that +question, but Mok had said that he did not know. All he knew was that +those wicked men killed everybody they could kill. + +The captain shut his teeth tightly together. "That was it," he said. "I +could not see how it could be jaguars, although I could think of nothing +else. But these bloodthirsty human beasts! I see it now." He moved toward +the passage. "If that dirty wretch had not run away," he thought, "we +might have stayed undiscovered here until a vessel came. But they will +track his footsteps upon the sand--they are bound to do that." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THREE WILD BEASTS + + +When the captain joined the two ladies and the boy, who were impatiently +waiting for him on the plateau, he had made up his mind to tell them the +bad news. Terrible as was the necessity, it could not be helped. It was +very hard for him to meet those three radiant faces, and to hear them +talk about the water that had been discovered. + +"Now," said Mrs. Cliff, "I see no reason why we should not live here in +peace and comfort until Mr. Rynders chooses to come back for us. And I +have been thinking, captain, that if somebody--and I am sure Ralph would +be very good at it--could catch some fish, it would help out very much. +We are getting a little short of meat, but as for the other things, we +have enough to last for days and days. But we won't talk of that now. We +want to hear where that other colored man came from. Just look at him as +he sits there with Maka by those embers. One might think he would shiver +himself to pieces. Was he cast ashore from a wreck?" + +The captain stood silent for a moment, and then, briefly but plainly, and +glossing over the horrors of the situation as much as he could, he told +them about the Rackbirds. Not one of the little party interrupted the +captain's story, but their faces grew paler and paler as he proceeded. + +When he had finished, Mrs. Cliff burst into tears. "Captain," she cried, +"let us take the boat and row away from this dreadful place. We should +not lose a minute. Let us go now!" + +But the captain shook his head. "That would not do," he said. "On this +open sea they could easily see us. They have boats, and could row much +faster than we could." + +"Then," exclaimed the excited woman, "we could turn over the boat, and +all sink to the bottom together." + +To this the captain made no answer. "You must all get inside as quickly +as you can," he said. "Maka, you and that other fellow carry in +everything that has been left out here. Be quick. Go up, Ralph, and take +the flag down, and then run in." + +When the others had entered the narrow passage, the captain followed. +Fortunately, he had two guns, each double-barrelled, and if but a few of +the Rackbirds came in pursuit of the escaped negro, he might be a match +for them in that narrow passage. + +Shortly after the party had retired within the rocks, Miss Markham came +to the captain, who was standing at the door of the first apartment. +"Captain Horn," said she, "Mrs. Cliff is in a state of nervous fear, and +I have been trying to quiet her. Can you say anything that might give her +a little courage? Do you really think there is any chance of our escape +from this new danger?" + +"Yes," said the captain, "there is a chance. Rynders may come back +before the Rackbirds discover us, and even if two or three of them +find out our retreat, I may be able to dispose of them, and thus give +us a little more time. That is our only ground of hope. Those men are +bound to come here sooner or later, and everything depends upon the +return of Rynders." + +"But," urged Miss Markham, "perhaps they may not come so far as this +to look for the runaway. The waves may have washed out his footsteps +upon the sand. There may be no reason why they should come up to +this plateau." + +The captain smiled a very sombre smile. "If any of them should come this +way," he said, "it is possible that they might not think it worth while +to cease their search along the beach and come up to this particular +spot, were it not that our boat is down there. That is the same thing as +if we had put out a sign to tell them where we are. The boat is hauled up +on shore, but they could not fail to see it." + +"Captain," said Miss Markham, "do you think those Rackbirds killed the +three sailors?" + +"I am very much afraid of it," he answered. "If they did, they must have +known that these poor fellows were survivors of a shipwreck, and I +suppose they stole up behind them and shot them down or stabbed them. If +that were so, I wonder why they have not sooner been this way, looking +for the wreck, or, at least, for other unfortunates who may have reached +shore. I suppose, if they are making this sort of a search, they went +southward. But all that, of course, depends upon whether they really saw +Davis and the two other men. If they did not, they could have no reason +for supposing there were any shipwrecked people on the coast." + +"But that thought is of no use to us," said Miss Markham, her eyes upon +the ground, "for, of course, they will be coming after the black man. +Captain," she continued quickly, "is there anything I can do? I can +fire a gun." + +He looked at her for a moment. "That will not be necessary," he said. +"But there is something you can do. Have you a pistol?" + +"Yes," said she, "I have. I put it in my pocket as soon as I came into +the cave. Here it is." + +The captain took the pistol from her hands and examined it. "Five +chambers," he said, "all charged. Be very careful of it,"--handing it +back to her. "I will put your brother and Mrs. Cliff in your charge. At +the slightest hint of danger, you must keep together in the middle room. +I will stand between you and the rascals as long as I can, but if I am +killed, you must do what you think best." + +"I will," said she, and she put the pistol back in her pocket. + +The captain was very much encouraged by the brave talk of this young +woman, and it really seemed as if he now had some one to stand by him, +some one with whom he could even consult. + +"I have carefully examined this cavern," said the captain, after a +moment's pause, "and there are only two ways by which those men could +possibly get in. You need not be afraid that any one can scramble down +the walls of that farthest apartment. That could not be done, though they +might be able to fire upon any one in it. But in the middle room you +will be perfectly secure from gunshots. I shall keep Maka on guard a +little back from the entrance to the passage. He will lie on the ground, +and can hear footsteps long before they reach us. It is barely possible +that some of them might enter by the great cleft in the cave on the other +side of the lake, but in that case they would have to swim across, and I +shall station that new African on the ledge of which you have heard, and +if he sees any of them coming in that direction, I know he will give very +quick warning. I hardly think, though, that they would trust themselves +to be picked off while swimming." + +"And you?" said she. + +"Oh, I shall keep my eyes on all points," said he, "as far as I can. I +begin to feel a spirit of fight rising up within me. If I thought I could +keep them off until Rynders gets here, I almost wish they would then +come. I would like to kill a lot of them." + +"Suppose," said Edna Markham, after a moment's reflection, "that they +should see Mr. Rynders coming back, and should attack him." + +"I hardly think they would do that," replied the captain. "He will +probably come in a good-sized vessel, and I don't think they are the kind +of men for open battle. They are midnight sneaks and assassins. Now, I +advise all of you to go and get something to eat. It would be better for +us not to try to do any cooking, and so make a smoke." + +The captain did not wish to talk any more. Miss Markham's last remark had +put a new fear into his mind. Suppose the Rackbirds had lured Rynders and +his men on shore? Those sailors had but few arms among them. They had +not thought, when they left, that there would be any necessity for +defence against their fellow-beings. + +When Edna Markham told Mrs. Cliff what the captain had said about their +chances, and what he intended to do for their protection, the older woman +brightened up a good deal. + +"I have great faith in the captain," she declared, "and if he thinks it +is worth while to make a fight, I believe he will make a good one. If +they should be firing, and Mr. Rynders is approaching the coast, even if +it should be night, he would lose no time in getting to us." + +Toward the close of that afternoon three wild beasts came around the +point of the bluff and made their way northward along the beach. They +were ferocious creatures with shaggy hair and beards. Two of them carried +guns, and each of them had a knife in his belt. When they came to a broad +bit of beach above the reach of the waves, they were very much surprised +at some footsteps they saw. They were the tracks of two men, instead of +those of the one they were looking for. This discovery made them very +cautious. They were eager to kill the escaped African before he got far +enough away to give information of their retreat, for they knew not at +what time an armed force in search of them might approach the coast. But +they were very wary about running into danger. There was somebody with +that black fellow--somebody who wore boots. + +After a time they came to the boat. The minute they saw this, each +miscreant crouched suddenly upon the sand, and, with cocked guns, they +listened. Then, hearing nothing, they carefully examined the boat. It +was empty--there were not even oars in it. + +Looking about them, they saw a hollow behind some rocks. To this they +ran, crouching close to the ground, and there they sat and consulted. + +It was between two and three o'clock the next morning that Maka's eyes, +which had not closed for more than twenty hours, refused to keep open any +longer, and with his head on the hard, rocky ground of the passage in +which he lay, the poor African slept soundly. On the shelf at the edge of +the lake, the other African, Mok, sat crouched on his heels, his eyes +wide open. Whether he was asleep or not it would have been difficult to +determine, but if any one had appeared in the great cleft on the other +side of the lake, he would have sprung to his feet with a yell--his fear +of the Rackbirds was always awake. + +Inside the first apartment was Captain Horn, fast asleep, his two guns by +his side. He had kept watch until an hour before, but Ralph had insisted +upon taking his turn, and, as the captain knew he could not keep awake +always, he allowed the boy to take a short watch. But now Ralph was +leaning back against one of the walls, snoring evenly and steadily. In +the next room sat Edna Markham, wide awake. She knew of the arrangement +made with Ralph, and she knew the boy's healthy, sleepy nature, so that +when he went on watch she went on watch. + +Outside of the cave were three wild beasts. One of them was crouching on +the farther end of the plateau. Another, on the lower ground a little +below, stood, gun in hand, and barely visible in the starlight. A third, +barefooted, and in garments dingy as the night, and armed only with a +knife, crept softly toward the entrance of the cave. There he stopped +and listened. He could plainly hear the breathing of the sleepers. He +tried to separate these sounds one from another, so that he should be +able to determine how many persons were sleeping inside, but this he +could not do. Then his cat-like eyes, becoming more and more accustomed +to the darkness within the entrance, saw the round head of Maka close +upon the ground. + +The soul of the listening fiend laughed within him. "Pretty watchers they +are," he said to himself. "Not three hours after midnight, and they are +all snoring!" Then, as stealthily and as slowly as he had come, he +slipped away, and joining the others, they all glided through the +darkness down to the beach, and then set off at their best speed back to +their rendezvous. + +After they had discovered that there were people in the cave, they had +not thought of entering. They were not fully armed, and they did not +know how many persons were inside. But they knew one thing, and that was +that these shipwrecked people--for that was what they must be--kept a +very poor watch, and if the whole band came on the following night, the +affair would probably be settled with but very little trouble, no matter +how large the party in the cave might be. It was not necessary to look +any further for the escaped negro. Of course, he had been picked up by +these people. + +The three beasts reached their camp about daybreak, and everybody was +soon awakened and the tale was told. + +"It is a comfort," said the leader, lighting the stump of a black pipe +which he thrust under his great mustache, and speaking in his native +tongue, which some of them understood, and others did not, "to know that +to-night's work is all cut out for us. Now we can take it easy to-day, +and rest our bones. The order of the day is to keep close. No straggling, +nor wandering. Keep those four niggers up in the pigeonhole. We will do +our own cooking to-day, for we can't afford to run after any more of +them. Lucky the fellow who got away can't speak English, for he can't +tell anything about us, any more than if he was an ape. So snooze to-day, +if you want to. I will give you work to do for to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GONE! + + +That morning, when the party in the cavern had had their breakfast, with +some hot tea made on a spiritlamp which Mrs. Cliff had brought, and had +looked cautiously out at the sunlit landscape, and the sea beyond, +without seeing any signs or hearing any sound of wicked men, there came +a feeling of relief. There was, indeed, no great ground for such a +feeling, but as the Rackbirds had not come the day before nor during the +night, perhaps they would not come at all. It might be they did not care +whether the black man ran away or not. But Captain Horn did not relax +his precautions. He would take no chances, and would keep up a watch day +and night. + +When, on the night before, the time had come for Ralph's watch to end, +his sister had awakened him, and when the captain, in his turn, was +aroused, he had not known that it was not the boy who had kept watch +during his sleep. + +In the course of the morning Mrs. Cliff and Edna, having been filled +with an intense desire to see the wonderful subterranean lake, had been +helped over the rocky barrier, and had stood at the edge of the water, +looking over to where it was lighted by the great chasm in the side of +the rocks, and endeavoring to peer into the solemn, cavernous distance +into which it extended on the right. Edna said nothing, but stood +gazing at the wonderful scene--the dark, mysterious waters before her, +the arched cavern above her, and the picture of the bright sky and the +tops of the distant mountains, framed by the sides of the great opening +which stretched itself upward like a cathedral window on the other side +of the lake. + +"It frightens me," said Mrs. Cliff. "To be sure, this water was our +salvation, for we should have been dead by this time, pirates or no +pirates, if we had not found it. But it is terrifying, for all that. We +do not know how far it stretches out into the blackness, and we do not +know how far down it goes. It may be thousands of feet deep, for all we +know. Don't go so near the edge, Ralph. It makes me shudder." + +When the little party had returned to the cavern, the captain and the two +ladies had a long talk about the lake. They all agreed that the existence +of this great reservoir of water was sufficient to account for the +greenness and fertility of the little plateau outside. Even if no +considerable amount of water trickled through the cracks in the rocks, +the moisture which arose from the surface of the water found its way out +into the surrounding atmosphere, and had nourished the bushes and vines. + +For some time they discussed their new-found water-supply, and they were +all glad to have something to think about and talk about besides the +great danger which overhung them. + +"If it could only have been the lake without the Rackbirds," said +Mrs. Cliff. + +"Let us consider that that is the state of the case," remarked Edna. "We +have the lake, and so far we have not had any Rackbirds." + +It was now nearly noon, and the captain looked around for Ralph, but did +not see him. He went to search for him, and finding that the boy had not +passed Maka, who was on watch, he concluded he must have gone to the +lake. There was no reason why the restless youth should not seek to +enliven his captivity by change of scene, but Captain Horn felt unwilling +to have any one in his charge out of sight for any length of time, so he +went to look for Ralph. + +He found no one on the rocky shelf. As there had been little reason to +expect a water attack at this hour, Mok had been relieved from guard for +a meal and a nap. But as Ralph was not here, where could he be? A second +glance, however, showed the captain the boy's clothes lying close by, +against the upright side of the rock, and at that moment he heard a cry. +His eyes flashed out toward the sound. There on the other side of the +water, sitting on a bit of projecting rock not far from the great opening +in the cave, he saw Ralph. At first the captain stood dumb with +amazement, and he was just about to call out, when Ralph shouted again. + +"I swam over," he said, "but I can't get back. I've got the cramps. +Can't you make some sort of a raft, and come over to me! The water's +awfully cold." + +Raft, indeed! There was no material or time for anything of the kind. If +the boy dropped off that bit of rock, he would be drowned, and the +captain did not hesitate a moment. Throwing aside his jacket and slipping +off his shoes, he let himself down into the water and struck out in +Ralph's direction. The water was, indeed, very cold, but the captain was +a strong swimmer, and it would not take him very long to cross the lake +at this point, where its width was not much more than a hundred feet. As +he neared the other side he did not make immediately for Ralph. He +thought it would be wise to rest a little before attempting to take the +boy back, and so he made for another point of rock, a little nearer the +opening, urging the boy, as he neared him, to sit firmly and keep up a +good heart. + +"All right," said Ralph. "I see what you are after. That is a +better place than this, and if you land there I think I can +scramble over to you." + +"Don't move," said the captain. "Sit where you are until I tell you +what to do." + +The captain had not made more than two or three strokes after speaking +when his right hand struck against something hard, just below the surface +of the water. He involuntarily grasped it. It was immovable, and it felt +like a tree, a few inches in diameter, standing perpendicularly in the +lake. Wondering what this could be, he took hold of it with his other +hand, and finding that it supported him, he let his feet drop, when, to +his surprise, he found that they rested on something with a rounded +surface, and the idea instantly came into his mind that it was a +submerged tree, the trunk lying horizontally, from which this upright +branch projected. This might be as good a resting-place as the rock to +which he had been going, and standing on it, with his head well out of +the water, he turned to speak to Ralph. At that moment his feet slipped +from the slimy object on which he stood, and he fell backward into the +water, still grasping, however, his upright support. But this did not +remain upright more than an instant, but yielded to his weight, and the +end of it which he held went down with him. As he sank, the captain, in +his first bewilderment, did not loosen his grasp upon what had been his +support, and which still prevented him from sinking rapidly. But in a +moment his senses came to him, he let go, and a few downward strokes +brought him to the surface of the water. Then he struck out for the point +of rock for which he had been aiming, and he was soon mounted upon it. + +"Hi!" shouted Ralph, who had been so frightened by the captain's sudden +sinking that he nearly fell off his narrow seat, "I thought something had +pulled you down." + +The captain did not explain. He was spluttering a little after his +involuntary dive, and he wanted to get back as soon as possible, and so +wasted no breath in words. In a few minutes he felt himself ready for the +return trip, and getting into the water, he swam to Ralph. Following the +directions given him, the boy let himself down into the water behind the +captain, and placed his hands upon the latter's hips, firmly grasping the +waistband of his trousers. Then urging the boy not to change his +position, nor attempt to take hold of him in any other way, the captain +struck out across the lake, Ralph easily floating behind him. + +When they stood upon the shelf on the other side, and Ralph, having +rubbed himself down with the captain's jacket, put on his clothes, +Captain Horn rather sternly inquired of him how he came to do such a +foolish and wicked thing as to run the risk of drowning himself in the +lake at a time when his sister and his friends had already trouble enough +on their minds. + +Ralph was sorry, of course, that the captain had to come after him, and +get himself wet, but he explained that he wanted to do something for the +good of the party, and it had struck him that it would be a very sensible +thing to investigate the opening on the other side of the lake. If he +could get out of that great gap, he might find some way of climbing out +over the top of the rocks and get to the place where his flag was, and +then, if he saw Mr. Rynders coming, he could wave it. It would be a great +thing if the people in the vessel which they all expected should see that +flag the moment they came in sight of the coast. They might get to shore +an hour or two sooner than if they had not seen it. + +"If the cramp in this leg had kept off five minutes longer," he said, "I +would have reached that big hole, and then, if I could have climbed over +the top of the rocks, I could have come down on the other side to the +front door, and asked Maka to get me my clothes, so I would not have had +to swim back at all." + +"That will do," said the captain. "And now that you are dressed, you can +go inside and get me that woollen shirt and trousers that I use for a +pillow, for I must take off these wet things." + +When the boy came back with the clothes, the captain told him that he +need not say anything to his sister or Mrs. Cliff about the great danger +he had been in, but before he had finished his injunction Ralph +interrupted him. + +"Oh, I have told them that already," said he. "They wanted to know where +I had been, and it did not take a minute to tell them what a splendid +swimmer you are, and how you came over after me without taking as much as +two seconds to think about it. And I let them know, too, that it was a +mighty dangerous thing for you to do. If I had been one of those fellows +who were not used to the water, and who would grab hold of any one who +came to save them, we might both have gone to the bottom together." + +The captain smiled grimly. "It is hard to get ahead of a boy," he said +to himself. + +It was late that afternoon when Captain Horn, with Ralph and the two +ladies, were standing on the rocks in the inner apartment, trying to +persuade themselves that they were having a cosey cup of tea together, +when suddenly a scrambling sound of footsteps was heard, and Maka dashed +through the two adjoining apartments and appeared before them. Instantly +the captain was on his feet, his gun, which had been lying beside him, in +his hand. Up sprang the others, mute, with surprise and fear on their +faces. Maka, who was in a state of great excitement, and seemed unable to +speak, gasped out the one word, "Gone!" + +"What do you mean?" cried the captain. + +Maka ran back toward the passage, and pointed inward. Instantly the +captain conjectured what he meant. Mok, the second African, had been +stationed to watch the lake approach, and he had deserted! Now the hot +thought flashed upon the captain that the rascal had been a spy. The +Rackbirds had known that there were shipwrecked people in these caves. +How could they help knowing it, if they had killed Davis and the others? +But, cowardly hounds as they were, they had been afraid to attack the +place until they knew how many people were in it, what arms they had, and +in what way the place could best be assailed. This Mok had found out +everything. If the boy could swim across the lake, that black man could +do it, and he had gone out through the cleft, and was probably now making +his report to the gang. + +All this flashed through the captain's brain in a few seconds. He set his +teeth together. He was ashamed that he had allowed himself to be so +tricked. That African, probably one of the gang, and able to speak +English, should have been kept a prisoner. What a fool he had been to +treat the black-hearted and black-bodied wretch as one of themselves, and +actually to put him on guard! + +Of course, it was of no use to go to look for him, and the captain had +put down his gun, and was just about to turn to speak to the others, when +Maka seized him by the coat. The negro seemed wildly excited and still +unable to speak. But it was plain that he wanted the captain to follow +him along the passage. There was no use in asking questions, and the +captain followed, and behind him came Ralph, Edna, and Mrs. Cliff. + +Maka was about to climb over the rocky partition which divided the +passage, but the captain stopped him. "Stay here," said he, "and watch +the passage. I will see what is the matter over there." And then he and +Ralph jumped over and hurried to the lake. As they came out on the little +platform of rock, on which the evening light, coming through the great; +cleft, still rendered objects visible, they saw Mok crouching on his +heels, his eyes wide open as usual. + +The captain was stupefied. That African not gone! If it were not he, +who had gone? + +Then the captain felt a tight clutch upon his arm, and Ralph pulled +him around. Casting eyes outward, the captain saw that it was the lake +that had gone! + +As he and Ralph stood there, stupefied and staring, they saw, by the dim +light which came through the opening on the other side of the cavern, a +great empty rocky basin. The bottom of this, some fifteen or twenty feet +below them, wet and shining, with pools of water here and there, was +plainly visible in the space between them and the open cleft, but farther +on all was dark. There was every reason to suppose, however, that all the +water had gone from the lake. Why or how this had happened, they did not +even ask themselves. They simply stood and stared. + +In a few minutes they were joined by Edna, who had become so anxious at +their absence and silence that she had clambered over the wall, and came +running to them. By the time she reached them it was much darker than +when they had arrived, but she could see that the lake had gone. That +was enough. + +"What do you suppose it means?" she said presently. "Are we over +some awful subterranean cavern in which things sink out of sight in +an instant?" + +"It is absolutely unaccountable," said the captain. "But we must go back +to Mrs. Cliff. I hear her calling. And if Maka has come to his senses, +perhaps he can tell us something." + +But Maka had very little to tell. To the captain's questions he could +only say that a little while before, Mok had come running to him, and +told him that, being thirsty, he had gone down to the edge of the lake to +get a drink, and found that there was no water, only a great hole, and +then he had run to tell Maka, and when Maka had gone back with him, so +greatly surprised that he had deserted his post without thinking about +it, he found that what Mok had said was true, and that there was nothing +there but a great black hole. Mok must have been asleep when the water +went away, but it was gone, and that was all he knew about it. + +There was something so weird and mysterious about this absolute and +sudden disappearance of this great body of water that Mrs. Cliff became +very nervous and frightened. + +"This is a temple of the devil," she said, "and that is his face outside. +You do not know what may happen next. This rocky floor on which we stand +may give way, and we may all go down into unknown depths. I can't think +of staying here another minute. It is dark now. Let us slip away down to +the beach, and take the boat, and row away from this horrible region +where human devils and every other kind seem to own the country." + +"Oh, no," said the captain, "we can't consider such wild schemes as that. +I have been thinking that perhaps there may be some sort of a tide in +this lake, and in the morning we may find the water just as it was. And, +at any rate, it has not entirely deserted us, for in these pools at the +bottom we can find water enough for us to drink." + +"I suppose I would not mind such things so much," said Mrs. Cliff, "if +they happened out of doors. But being shut up in this cave with magical +lakes, and expecting every minute to see a lot of bloodthirsty pirates +bursting in upon us, is enough to shake the nerves of anybody." + +"Captain," said Ralph, "I suppose you will not now object to letting me +go in the morning to explore that opening. I can walk across the bottom +of the lake without any danger, you know." + +"Don't you try to do anything of the kind," said the captain, "without my +permission." + +"No, indeed!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "Supposing the water were to suddenly +rise just as you were half-way across. Now that I think of it, there are +springs and bodies of water which rise and fall this way, some of them in +our own Western country, but none of them are as large as this. What if +it should rise in the night and flood the cave while we are asleep?" + +"Why, dear Mrs. Cliff," said Edna, "I am not afraid of the water's rising +or of the earth's sinking. Don't let us frighten ourselves with +imaginations like that. Perhaps there may not even be any real thing to +be afraid of, but if there should be, let us keep courage for that." + +The disappearance of the lake gave the captain an uneasiness of which the +others had not thought. He saw it would be comparatively easy for the +Rackbirds to gain access to the place through the cleft in the eastern +wall of the lake cavern. If they should discover that aperture, the +cavern might be attacked from the rear and the front at the same time, +and then the captain feared his guns would not much avail. + +Of course, during the darkness which would soon prevail there was no +reason to expect a rear attack, and the captain satisfied himself with +leaving Mok at his former post, with instructions to give the alarm if +he heard the slightest sound, and put Maka, as before, in the outer +passage. As for himself, he took an early nap in the evening, because +at the very first break of dawn it would be necessary for him to be on +the alert. + +He did not know how much he had depended upon the lake as a barrier of +defence, but now that it had gone, he felt that the dangers which +threatened them from the Rackbirds were doubled. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE ALARM + + +It was still dark when the captain woke, and he struck a match to look at +his watch. It was three o'clock. + +"Is that you, captain?" said a voice from the next room. "Is it time for +you to begin watch again?" + +"Yes," said the captain, "it is about time. How do you happen to be +awake, Miss Markham? Ralph! I believe the boy is snoring." + +"Of course he is," said Edna, speaking in a low voice. "We cannot expect +such a boy to keep awake, and so I have been on watch. It was easy enough +for me to keep my eyes open." + +"It is too bad," said the captain, and then, listening for a moment, he +said: "I truly believe that Maka is snoring, too, and as for that black +fellow over there, I suspect that he sleeps all the time. Miss Markham, +you have been the only person awake." + +"Why shouldn't I be?" said she. "I am sure that a woman is just as good +as a man for keeping watch." + +"If they should come," thought the captain, as he again sat in the dark, +"I must not try to fight them in the passage. That would have been my +best chance, but now some of them might pick me off from behind. No, I +must fight them in this chamber. I can put everybody else in the middle +apartment. Perhaps before to-morrow night it might be well to bring some +of those loose rocks here and build a barricade. I wish I had thought of +that before." + +The captain sat and listened and thought. His listening brought him no +return, and his thinking brought him too much. The most mournful ideas of +what might happen if more than two or three of the desperadoes attacked +the place crowded into his mind. If they came, they came to rob, and they +were men who left behind them no living witnesses of their whereabouts or +their crimes. And if two or three should come, and be repulsed, it would +not be long before the rest would arrive. In fact, the only real hope +they had was founded on the early return of Rynders--that is, if Rynders +and his men were living. + +The captain waited and listened, but nothing came but daylight. As +soon as he was able to discern objects outside the opening on the +plateau, he awoke Maka, and, leaving him on guard, he made his way to +the lake cavern. + +Here the light was beginning to come freely through the chasm which faced +nearly east. Mok was sitting with his eyes open, and showed that he was +alive by a little grunt when the captain approached. If there were such a +thing here as a subterranean tide, it had not risen. There was no water +where the lake had been. + +Gazing across the empty basin, the captain felt a strong desire to go +over, climb up to the opening, and discover whether or not the cavern +was accessible on that side. It would be very important for him to know +this, and it would not take long for him to make an investigation. One +side of the rocky shelf which has been before mentioned sloped down to +the lake, and the captain was just about to descend this when he heard a +cry from the passage, and, at the same moment, a shout from Mok which +seemed to be in answer to it. Instantly the captain turned and dashed +into the passage, and, leaping over the barrier, found Maka standing near +the entrance. + +As soon as the negro saw him, he began to beckon wildly for him to come +on. But there was no need now of keeping quiet and beckoning. The first +shout had aroused everybody inside, and the two ladies and Ralph were +already in the passage. The captain, however, made them keep back, while +he and Maka, on their hands and knees, crawled toward the outer opening. +From this point one could see over the plateau, and the uneven ground +beyond, down to the beach and the sea; but there was still so little +light upon this western slope that at first the captain could not see +anything noticeable in the direction in which Maka was pointing. But in a +few moments his mariner eyes asserted themselves, and he saw some black +spots on the strip of beach, which seemed to move. Then he knew they were +moving, and moving toward him--coming up to the cave! They were men! + +"Sit here," said the captain to Maka, and then, with his gun in his hand, +he rushed back to the rest of the party. + +"They seem to be coming," said he, speaking as calmly as he could, "but +we have discovered them in good time, and I shall have some shots at +them before they reach here. Let us hope that they will never get here at +all. You two," said he to Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, "are to be under command +of Miss Markham. You must do exactly what she tells you to." Then, +turning to Edna, he said, "You have your pistol ready?" + +"Yes," said she, "I am ready." + +Without another word, the captain took his other gun and all his +ammunition, and went back into the passage. Here he found Mok, who had +come to see what was the matter. Motioning the negro to go back to his +post, the captain, with his loaded guns, went again to the entrance. +Looking out, he could now plainly see the men. There were four of them. +It was lighter down toward the sea, for the rocks still threw a heavy +shadow over the plateau. The sight sent a thrill of brave excitement +through the captain. + +"If they come in squads of four," thought he, "I may be a match for them. +They can't see me, and I can see them. If I could trust Maka to load a +gun, I would have a better chance, but if I could pick off two, or even +one, that might stop the others and give me time to reload. Come on, you +black-hearted scoundrels," he muttered through his teeth, as he knelt +outside the cave, one gun partly raised, and the other on the ground +beside him. "If I could only know that none of your band could come in at +that hole in the back of the cave, I'd call the odds even." + +The dawn grew brighter, and the four men drew nearer. They came slowly, +one considerably ahead of the others. Two or three times they stopped and +appeared to be consulting, and then again moved slowly forward straight +toward the plateau. + +When the leading man was nearly within gunshot, the captain's face began +to burn, and his pulses to throb hard and fast. + +"The sooner I pick off the head one," he thought, "the better chance I +have at the others." + +He brought his gun to his shoulder, and was slowly lowering the barrel to +the line of aim, when suddenly something like a great black beast rushed +past him, pushing up his arm and nearly toppling him over. It came from +the cave, and in a second it was out on the plateau. Then it gave a leap +upward, and rushed down toward the sea. Utterly astounded, the captain +steadied himself and turned to Maka. + +"What was that?" he exclaimed. + +The African was on his feet, his body bent forward, his eyes peering out +into the distance. + +"Mok!" said he. "Look! Look!" + +It was Mok who had rushed out of the cave. He was running toward the four +men. He reached them, he threw up his arms, he sprang upon the first man. +Then he left him, and jumped upon the others. Then Maka gave a little cry +and sprang forward, but in the same instant the captain seized him. + +"Stop!" he cried. "What is it?" + +The African shouted: "Mok's people! Mok knowed them. Look! +Look--see! Mok!" + +The party was now near enough and the day was bright enough for the +captain to see that on the lower ground beyond the plateau there were +five black men in a state of mad excitement. He could hear them jabbering +away at a great rate. So far as he could discover, they were all +unarmed, and as they stood there gesticulating, the captain might have +shot them down in a bunch, if he had chosen. + +"Go," said he to Maka, "go down there and see what it all means." + +The captain now stepped back into the passage. He could see Miss Markham +and Ralph peering out of the doorway of the first compartment. + +"There does not seem to be any danger so far," said he. "Some more +Africans have turned up. Maka has gone to meet them. We shall find out +about them in a few minutes," and he turned back to the entrance. + +He saw that the six black fellows were coming toward him, and, as he had +thought, they carried no guns. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +AN AMAZING NARRATION + + +When the captain had gone out again into the open air, he was followed by +the rest of the party, for, if there were no danger, they all wanted to +see what was to be seen. What they saw was a party of six black men on +the plateau, Maka in the lead. There could be no doubt that the newcomers +were the remainder of the party of Africans who had been enslaved by the +Rackbirds, and the desire of the captain and his companions to know how +they had got away, and what news they brought, was most intense. + +Maka now hurried forward, leading one of the strangers. "Great things +they tell," said he. "This Cheditafa. He speak English good as me. He +tell you." + +"The first thing I want," cried the captain, "is some news of those +Rackbirds. Have they found we are here? Will they be coming after these +men, or have they gone off somewhere else? Tell me this, and be quick." + +"Oh, yes," cried Maka, "they found out we here. But Cheditafa tell +you--he tell you everything. Great things!" + +"Very well, then," said the captain. "Let him begin and be quick +about it." + +The appearance of Cheditafa was quite as miserable as that of poor Mok, +but his countenance was much more intelligent, and his English, although +very much broken, was better even than Maka's, and he was able to make +himself perfectly understood. He spoke briefly, and this is the substance +of his story: + +About the middle of the afternoon of the day before, a wonderful thing +happened. The Rackbirds had had their dinner, which they had cooked +themselves, and they were all lying down in their huts or in the shadows +of the rocks, either asleep, or smoking and telling stories. Cheditafa +knew why they were resting. The Rackbirds had no idea that he understood +English, for he had been careful to keep this fact from them after he +found out what sort of men they were,--and this knowledge had come very +soon to him,--and they spoke freely before him. He had heard some of the +men who had been out looking for Mok, and who had come back early that +morning, tell about some shipwrecked people in a cave up the coast, and +had heard all the plans which had been made for the attack upon them +during the night. He also knew why he and his fellows had been cooped up +in the cave in the rock in which they lived, all that day, and had not +been allowed to come down and do any work. + +They were lying huddled in their little cave, feeling very hungry and +miserable, and whispering together,--for if they spoke out or made any +noise, one of the men below would be likely to fire a load of shot at +them,--when suddenly a strange thing happened. + +They heard a great roar like a thousand bulls, which came from the +higher part of the ravine, and peeping out, they saw what seemed like a +wall of rock stretching across the little valley. But in a second they +saw it was not rock--it was water, and before they could take two breaths +it had reached them. Then it passed on, and they saw only the surface of +a furious and raging stream, the waves curling and dashing over each +other, and reaching almost up to the floor of their cave. + +They were so frightened that they pressed back as far as they could get, +and even tried to climb up the sides of the rocky cavity, so fearful were +they that the water would dash in upon them. But the raging flood roared +and surged outside, and none of it came into their cave. Then the sound +of it became not quite so loud, and grew less and less. But still +Cheditafa and his companions were so frightened and so startled by this +awful thing, happening so suddenly, as if it had been magic, that it was +some time--he did not know how long--before they lifted their faces from +the rocks against which they were pressing them. + +Then Cheditafa crept forward and looked out. The great waves and the +roaring water were gone. There was no water to be seen, except the brook +which always ran at the bottom of the ravine, and which now seemed not +very much bigger than it had been that morning. + +But the little brook was all there was in the ravine, except the bare +rocks, wet and glistening. There were no huts, no Rackbirds, nothing. +Even the vines and bushes which had been growing up the sides of the +stream were all gone. Not a weed, not a stick, not a clod of earth, was +left--nothing but a great, rocky ravine, washed bare and clean. + +Edna Markham stepped suddenly forward and seized the captain by the arm. +"It was the lake," she cried. "The lake swept down that ravine!" + +"Yes," said the captain, "it must have been. But listen--let us hear +more. Go on," he said to Cheditafa, who proceeded to tell how he and his +companions looked out for a long time, but they saw nor heard nothing of +any living creature. It would be easy enough for anybody to come back up +the ravine, but nobody came. + +They had now grown so hungry that they could have almost eaten each +other. They felt they must get out of the cave and go to look for food. +It would be better to be shot than to sit there and starve. + +Then they devised a plan by which they could get down. The smallest man +got out of the cave and let himself hang, holding to the outer edge of +the floor with his hands. Then another man put his feet over the edge of +the rock, and let the hanging man take hold of them. The other two each +seized an arm of the second man, and lowered the two down as far as they +could reach. When they had done this, the bottom man dropped, and did not +hurt himself. Then they had to pull up the second man, for the fall would +have been too great for him. + +After that they had to wait a long time, while the man who had got out +went to look for something by which the others could help themselves +down--the ladder they had used having been carried away with everything +else. After going a good way down the ravine to a place where it grew +much wider, with the walls lower, he found things that had been thrown up +on the sides, and among these was the trunk of a young tree, which, +after a great deal of hard work, he brought back to the cave, and by the +help of this they all scrambled down. + +They hurried down the ravine, and as they approached the lower part, +where it became wider before opening into the little bay into which the +stream ran, they found that the flood, as it had grown shallower and +spread itself out, had left here and there various things which it had +brought down from the camp--bits of the huts, articles of clothing, and +after a while they came to a Rackbird, quite dead, and hanging upon a +point of projecting rock. Farther on they found two or three more bodies +stranded, and later in the day some Rackbirds who had been washed out to +sea came back with the tide, and were found upon the beach. It was +impossible, Cheditafa said, for any of them to have escaped from that +raging torrent, which hurled them against the rocks as it carried them +down to the sea. + +But the little party of hungry Africans did not stop to examine anything +which had been left. What they wanted was something to eat, and they +knew where to get it. About a quarter of a mile back from the beach was +the storehouse of the Rackbirds, a sort of cellar which they had made in +a sand-hill. As the Africans had carried the stores over from the vessel +which had brought them, and had afterwards taken to the camp such +supplies as were needed from time to time, of course they knew where to +find them, and they lost no time in making a hearty meal. + +According to Cheditafa's earnest assertions, they had never eaten as +they had eaten then. He believed that the reason they had been left +without food was that the Rackbirds were too proud to wait on black +men, and had concluded to let them suffer until they had returned from +their expedition, and the negroes could be let down to attend to their +own wants. + +After they had eaten, the Africans went to a spot which commanded a view +up the ravine, as well as the whole of the bay, and there they hid +themselves, and watched as long as it was daylight, so that if any of +the Rackbirds had escaped they could see them. But they saw nothing, and +being very anxious to find good white people who would take care of +them, they started out before dawn that morning to look for the +shipwrecked party about whom Cheditafa had heard the Rackbirds talking, +and with whom they hoped to find their companion Mok, and thus it was +that they were here. + +"And those men were coming to attack us last night?" asked the captain. +"You are sure of that?" + +"Yes," said Cheditafa, "it was last night. They not know how many you +are, and all were coming." + +"And some of them had already been here?" + +"Yes," replied the African. "One day before, three went out to look for +Mok, and they found his track and more track, and they waited in the +black darkness, and then came here, and they heard you all sleep and +snore that night. They were to come again, and if they--" + +"And yesterday afternoon the lake came down and swept them out of +existence!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES + + +Captain Horn had heard the story of Cheditafa, he walked away from the +rest of the party, and stood, his eyes upon the ground, still +mechanically holding his gun. He now knew that the great danger he had +feared had been a real one, and far greater than he had imagined. A +systematic attack by all the Rackbirds would have swept away his single +resistance as the waters had swept them and their camp away. As to parley +or compromise with those wretches, he knew that it would have been +useless to think of it. They allowed no one to go forth from their hands +to reveal the place of their rendezvous. + +But although he was able to appreciate at its full force the danger with +which they had been threatened, his soul could not immediately adjust +itself to the new conditions. It had been pressed down so far that it +could not easily rise again. He felt that he must make himself believe in +the relief which had come to them, and, turning sharply, he called out to +Cheditafa: + +"Man, since you have been in this part of the country, have you ever +seen or heard of any wild beasts here? Are there any jaguars or pumas?" + +The African shook his head. "No, no," said he, "no wild beasts. Everybody +sleep out of doors. No think of beasts--no snakes." + +The captain dropped his gun upon the ground. "Miss Markham!" he +exclaimed. "Mrs. Cliff! I truly believe we are out of all +danger--that we--" + +But the two ladies had gone inside, and heard him not. They appreciated +to the full the danger from which they had been delivered. Ralph, too, +had gone. The captain saw him on his post of observation, jamming the end +of his flagpole down between two rocks. + +"Hello!" cried the boy, seeing the captain looking up at him, "we might +as well have this flying here all the time. There is nobody to hurt us +now, and we want people to know where we are." + +The captain walked by the little group of Africans, who were sitting on +the ground, talking in their native tongue, and entered the passage. He +climbed over the barrier, and went to the lake. He did not wish to talk +to anybody, but he felt that he must do something, and now was a good +time to carry out his previous intention to cross over the empty bed of +the lake and to look out of the opening on the other side. There was no +need now to do this for purposes of vigilance, but he thought that if he +could get out on the other side of the cave he might discover some clew +to the disappearance of the lake. + +He had nearly crossed the lake bottom, when suddenly he stopped, gazing +at something which stood before him, and which was doubtless the object +he had struck when swimming. The sun was now high and the cave well +lighted, and with a most eager interest the captain examined the slimy +and curious object on which his feet had rested when it was submerged, +and from which he had fallen. It was not the horizontal trunk of a tree +with a branch projecting from it at right angles. It was nothing that was +natural or had grown. It was plainly the work of man. It was a machine. + +At first the captain thought it was made of wood, but afterwards he +believed it to be of metal of some sort. The horizontal portion of it +was a great cylinder, so near the bottom of the lake that he could +almost touch it with his hands, and it was supported by a massive +framework. From this projected a long limb or bar, which was now almost +horizontal, but which the captain believed to be the thick rod which had +stood upright when he clutched it, and which had yielded to his weight +and had gone down with him. He knew now what it was: it was a handle +that had turned. + +He hurried to the other end of the huge machine, where it rested against +the rocky wall of the cavern. There he saw in the shadow, but plain +enough now that he was near it, a circular aperture, a yard or more in +diameter. Inside of this was something which looked like a solid wheel, +very thick, and standing upright in the opening. It was a valve. The +captain stepped back and gazed for some minutes at this great machine +which the disappearance of the water had revealed. It was easy for him to +comprehend it now. + +"When I slipped and sank," he said to himself, "I pulled down that lever, +and I opened the water-gate and let out the lake." + +The captain was a man whose mind was perfectly capable of appreciating +novel and strange impressions, but with him such impressions always +connected themselves, in one way or another, with action: he could not +stand and wonder at the wonderful which had happened--it always suggested +something he must do. What he now wanted to do was to climb up to the +great aperture which lighted the cavern, and see what was outside. He +could not understand how the lake could have gone from its basin without +the sound of the rushing waters being heard by any one of the party. + +With some difficulty, he climbed up to the cleft and got outside. Here he +had a much better view of the topography of the place than he had yet +been able to obtain. So far as he had explored, his view toward the +interior of the country had been impeded by rocks and hills. Here he had +a clear view from the mountains to the sea, and the ridge which he had +before seen to the southward he could now examine to greater advantage. +It was this long chain of rocks which had concealed them from their +enemies, and on the other side of which must be the ravine in which the +Rackbirds had made their camp. + +Immediately below the captain was a little gorge, not very deep nor wide, +and from its general trend toward the east and south the captain was sure +that it formed the upper part of the ravine of the Rackbirds. At the +bottom of it there trickled a little stream. To the northeast ran another +line of low rock, which lost itself in the distance before it blended +into the mountains, and at the foot of this must run the stream which had +fed the lake. + +In their search for water, game, or fellow-beings, no one had climbed +these desolate rocks, apparently dry and barren. But still the captain +was puzzled as to the way the water had gone out of the lake. He did not +believe that it had flowed through the ravine below. There were no signs +that there had been a flood down there. Little vines and plants were +growing in chinks of the rocks close to the water. And, moreover, had a +vast deluge rushed out almost beneath the opening which lighted the cave, +it must have been heard by some of the party. He concluded, therefore, +that the water had escaped through a subterranean channel below the rocks +from which he looked down. + +He climbed down the sides of the gorge, and walked along its bottom for +two or three hundred yards, until around a jutting point of rock he saw +that the sides of the defile separated for a considerable distance, and +then, coming together again below, formed a sort of amphitheatre. The +bottom of this was a considerable distance below him, and he did not +descend into it, but he saw plainly that it had recently contained water, +for pools and puddles were to be seen everywhere. + +At the other end of it, where the rocks again approached each other, was +probably a precipice. After a few minutes' cogitation, Captain Horn felt +sure that he understood the whole matter: a subway from the lake led to +this amphitheatre, and thus there had been no audible rush of the waters +until they reached this point, where they poured in and filled this great +basin, the lower end of which was probably stopped up by accumulations of +sand and deposits, which even in that country of scant vegetation had +accumulated in the course of years. When the waters of the lake had +rushed into the amphitheatre, this natural dam had held them for a while, +but then, giving way before the great pressure, the whole body of water +had suddenly rushed down the ravine to the sea. + +"Yes," said the captain, "now I understand how it happened that although +I opened the valve at noon, the water did not reach the Rackbirds until +some hours later, and then it came suddenly and all at once, which would +not have been the case had it flowed steadily from the beginning through +the outlet made for it." + +When the captain had returned and reported his discoveries, and he and +his party had finished their noonday meal, which they ate outside on the +plateau, with the fire burning and six servants to wait on them, Mrs. +Cliff said: + +"And now, captain, what are we going to do? Now that our danger is past, +I suppose the best thing for us is to stay here in quiet and +thankfulness, and wait for Mr. Rynders. But, with the provisions we have, +we can't wait very long. When there were but five of us, we might have +made the food hold out for a day or two longer, but now that we are ten, +we shall soon be without anything to eat." + +"I have been talking to Maka about that," said the captain, "and he says +that Cheditafa reports all sorts of necessary things in the Rackbirds' +storehouse, and he proposes that he and the rest of the black fellows go +down there and bring us some supplies. They are used to carrying these +stores, and six of them can bring us enough to last a good while. Now +that everything is safe over there, I can see that Maka is very anxious +to go, and, in fact, I would like to go myself. But although there +doesn't seem to be any danger at present, I do not want to leave you." + +"As for me," said Miss Markham, "I want to go there. There is nothing I +like better than exploring." + +"That's to my taste, too," said the captain, "but it will be better for +us to wait here and see what Maka has to say when he gets back. Perhaps, +if Mr. Rynders doesn't turn up pretty soon, we will all make a trip down +there. Where is Ralph? I don't want him to go with the men." + +"He is up there on his lookout, as he calls it," said his sister, "with +his spy-glass." + +"Very good," said the captain. "I will send the men off immediately. Maka +wants to go now, and they can come back by the light of the young moon. +When they have loads to carry, they like to travel at night. We shall +have to get our own supper, and that will give Ralph something to do." + +The party of Africans had not gone half-way from the plateau to the beach +before they were discovered by the boy on the outlook rock, and he came +rushing down to report that the darkies were running away. When he was +told the business on which they had gone, he was very much disappointed +that he was not allowed to go with them, and, considerably out of temper, +retired to his post of observation, where, as it appeared, he was +dividing his time between the discovery of distant specks on the horizon +line of the ocean and imaginary jaguars and pumas on the foot-hills. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A NEW HEMISPHERE + + +With a tin pail in his hand, the captain now went to the cavern of the +lake. He wished very much to procure some better water than the last that +had been brought, and which Mok must have dipped up from a very shallow +puddle. It was possible, the captain thought, that by going farther into +the cavern he might find a deeper pool in which water still stood, and if +he could not do this, he could get water from the little stream in the +ravine. More than this, the captain wished very much to take another look +at the machine by which he had let out the water. His mind had been so +thoroughly charged with the sense of danger that, until this had faded +away, he had not been able to take the interest in the artificial +character of the lake which it deserved. + +As the captain advanced into the dimmer recesses of the cavern, he soon +found a pool of water a foot or more in depth, and having filled his pail +at this, he set it down and walked on to see what was beyond. His eyes +having now conformed themselves to the duskiness of the place, he saw +that the cavern soon made a turn to the left, and gazing beyond him, he +judged that the cave was very much wider here, and he also thought that +the roof was higher. But he did not pay much attention to the dimensions +of the cavern, for he began to discern, at first dimly and then quite +plainly, a large object which rose from the bottom of the basin. He +advanced eagerly, peering at what seemed to be a sort of dome-like +formation of a lighter color than the rocks about him, and apparently +about ten feet high. + +Carefully feeling his way for fear of pitfalls, the captain drew close to +the object, and placed his hand upon it. He believed it to be of stone, +and moving his hand over it, he thought he could feel joints of masonry. +It was clearly a structure built by men. Captain Horn searched his +pockets for a match, but found none, and he hastened back to the cave to +get the lantern, passing, without noticing it, the pail which he had +filled with water. He would have brought the lantern with him when he +first came, but they had no oil except what it contained, and this they +had husbanded for emergencies. But now the captain wanted light--he cared +not what might happen afterwards. In a very short time, with the lantern +in his hand, which lighted up the cave for a considerable distance about +him, the captain again stood at the foot of the subterranean dome. + +He walked around it. He raised and lowered his lantern, and examined it +from top to bottom. It was one half a sphere of masonry, built in a +most careful manner, and, to all appearances, as solid as a great stone +ball, half sunken in the ground. Its surface was smooth, excepting for +two lines of protuberances, each a few inches in height, and about a +foot from each other. These rows of little humps were on opposite +sides of the dome, and from the bottom nearly to the top. It was plain +they were intended to serve as rude ladders by which the top of the +mound could be gained. + +The captain stepped back, held up his lantern, and gazed in every +direction. He could now see the roof of the cavern, and immediately above +him he perceived what he was sure were regular joints of masonry, but on +the sides of the cave he saw nothing of the sort. For some minutes he +stood and reflected, his brain in a whirl. Presently he exclaimed: + +"Yes, this cave is man's work! I am sure of it. It is not natural. I +wondered how there could be such a cave on the top of a hill. It was +originally a gorge, and they have roofed it over, and the bottom of the +basin has been cut out to make it deeper. It was made so that it could be +filled up with water, and roofed over so that nobody should know there +was any water here, unless they came on it by means of the passage from +our caves. That passage must have been blocked up. As for the great +opening in the side of the cave, the rocks have fallen in there--that is +easy enough to see. Yes, men made this cave and filled it with water, and +if the water were high enough to cover the handle of that machine, as it +was when I struck it, it must also have been high enough to cover up this +stone mound. The lake was intended to cover and hide that mound. And +then, to make the hiding of it doubly sure, the men who built all this +totally covered up the lake so that nobody would know it was here. And +then they built that valve apparatus, which was also submerged, so that +they could let out the water when they wanted to get at this stone +thing, whatever it is. What a scheme to hide anything! Even if anybody +discovered the lake, which would not be likely until some part of the +cave fell in, they would not know it was anything but a lake when they +did see it. And as for letting off the water, nobody but the people who +knew about it could possibly do that, unless somebody was fool enough to +take the cold bath I was obliged to take, and even then it would have +been one chance in a hundred that he found the lever, and would know how +to turn it when he did find it. This whole thing is the work of the +ancient South Americans, and I imagine that this stone mound is the tomb +of one of their kings." + +At this moment the captain heard something, and turned to listen. It +was a voice--the voice of a boy. It was Ralph calling to him. Instantly +the captain turned and hurried away, and as he went he extinguished his +lantern. When he reached his pail of water he picked it up, and was +very soon joined by Ralph, who was coming to meet him over the bottom +of the lake. + +"I have been looking for you everywhere, captain," said he. "What have +you been after? More water? And you took a lantern to find it, eh? And +you have been ever so far into the cave. Why didn't you call me? Let me +have the lantern. I want to go to explore." + +But the captain did not give him the lantern, nor did he allow him to go +to explore. + +"No, sir," said he. "What we've got to do is to hurry outside and help +get supper. We must wait on ourselves to-night." + +When supper was over, that evening, and the little party was sitting out +on the plateau, gazing over the ocean at the sunlit sky, Mrs. Cliff +declared that she wished they could bring their bedding and spread it on +the ground out there, and sleep. + +"It is dry enough," she said, "and warm enough, and if there is really +nothing to fear from animals or men, I don't want ever to go inside of +those caves again. I had such horrible fears and ideas when I was +sitting trembling in those dismal vaults, expecting a horde of human +devils to burst in upon us at any moment, that the whole place is +horrible to me. Anyway, if I knew that I had to be killed, I would +rather be killed out here." + +The captain smiled. "I don't think we will give up the caves just yet. I, +for one, most certainly want to go in there again." And then he told the +story of the stone mound which he had discovered. + +"And you believe," cried Mrs. Cliff, leaning forward, "that it is really +the tomb of an ancient king?" + +"If it isn't that, I don't know what it can be," said the captain. + +"The grave of a king!" cried Ralph. "A mummy! With inscriptions and +paintings! Oh, captain, let's go open it this minute, before those +blackies get back." + +The captain shook his head. "Don't be in such a hurry," he said. "It will +not be an easy job to open that mound, and we shall need the help of the +blackies, as you call them, if we do it at all." + +"Do it at all!" cried Ralph. "I'll never leave this place until I do it +myself, if there is nobody else to help." + +Miss Markham sat silent. She was the only one of the company who had +studied the history of South America, and she did not believe that the +ancient inhabitants of that country buried their kings in stone tombs, or +felt it necessary to preserve their remains in phenomenal secrecy and +security. She had read things, however, about the ancient peoples of this +country which now made her eyes sparkle and her heart beat quickly. But +she did not say anything. This was a case in which it would be better to +wait to see what would happen. + +"Captain!" cried Ralph, "let's go to see the thing. What is the use of +waiting? Edna and Mrs. Cliff won't mind staying here while you take me to +see it. We can go in ten minutes." + +"No," said Mrs. Cliff, "there may be no danger, but I am not going +to be left here with the sun almost down, and you two out of sight +and hearing." + +"Let us all go," said Edna. + +The captain considered for a moment. "Yes," said he, "let us all +go. As we shall have to take a lantern anyway, this is as good a +time as another." + +It was not an easy thing for the two ladies to get over the wall at the +end of the passage, and to make their way over the rough and slippery +bottom of the lake basin, now lighted only by the lantern which the +captain carried. But in the course of time, with a good deal of help from +their companions, they reached the turning of the cave and stood before +the stone mound. + +"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Why, captain, you are like Columbus! You have +discovered a new hemisphere." + +"It is like one of the great ant-hills of Africa," said Mrs. Cliff, +"but, of course, this was not built by ants I wonder if it is possible +that it can be the abode of water-snakes." + +Edna stood silent for a few moments, and then she said, "Captain, do +you suppose that this dome was entirely covered by water when the lake +was full?" + +"I think so," said he. "Judging from what I know of the depth of the +lake, I am almost sure of it." + +"Ralph!" suddenly cried Mrs. Cliff, "don't try to do that. The thing may +break under you, and nobody knows what you would fall into. Come down." + +But Ralph paid no attention to her words. He was half-way up the side of +the mound when she began to speak, and on its top when she had finished. + +"Captain," he cried, "hand me up the lantern. I want to see if there is +a trap-door into this affair. Don't be afraid, Mrs. Cliff. It's as solid +as a rock." + +The captain did not hand up the lantern, but holding it carefully in one +hand, he ascended the dome by means of the row of protuberances on the +other side, and crouched down beside Ralph on the top of it. + +"Oh, ho!" said he, as he moved the lantern this way and that, "here is a +square slab fitted into the very top." + +"Yes," said Ralph, "and it's got different mortar around the edges." + +"That is not mortar," said the captain. "I believe it is some sort of +resin. Here, hold the lantern, and be careful of it." The captain took +his jack-knife out of his pocket, and with the large blade began to dig +into the substance which filled the joint around the slab, which was +about eighteen inches square. "It is resin," said he, "or something like +it, and it comes out very easily. This slab is intended to be moved." + +"Indeed it is!" exclaimed Ralph, "and we're intended to move it. Here, +captain, I'll help you. I've got a knife. Let's dig out that stuff and +lift up the lid before the darkies come back. If we find any dead bodies +inside this tomb, they will frighten those fellows to death, if they +catch sight of them." + +"Very good," said the captain. "I shall be only too glad to get this slab +up, if I can, but I am afraid we shall want a crowbar and more help. It's +a heavy piece of stone, and I see no way of getting at it." + +"This isn't stone in the middle of the slab," said Ralph. "It's a lot +more resinous stuff. I had the lantern over it and did not see it. Let's +take it out." + +There was a circular space in the centre of the stone, about eight inches +in diameter, which seemed to be covered with resin. After a few minutes' +work with the jack-knives this substance was loosened and came out in two +parts, showing a bowl-like depression in the slab, which had been so cut +as to leave a little bar running from side to side of it. + +"A handle!" cried Ralph. + +"That is what it is," said Captain Horn. "If it is intended to be lifted, +I ought to be able to do it. Move down a little with the lantern, and +give me room." + +The captain now stood on the top of the mound, with the slab between his +feet, and stooping down, he took hold of the handle with both hands. He +was a powerful man, but he could not lift the stone. His first effort, +however, loosened it, and then he began to move it from side to side, +still pulling upward, until at last he could feel it rising. Then, with +a great heave, he lifted it entirely out of the square aperture in which +it had been fitted, and set it on one side. + +In an instant, Ralph, lantern in hand, was gazing down into the +opening. "Hello!" he cried, "there is something on fire in there. Oh, +no," he added quickly, correcting himself, "it's only the reflection +from our light." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A TRADITION AND A WAISTCOAT + + +Captain Horn, his face red with exertion and excitement, stood gazing +down into the square aperture at his feet. On the other edge of the +opening knelt Ralph, holding the lantern so that it would throw its light +into the hole. In a moment, before the boy had time to form a question, +he was pushed gently to one side, and his sister Edna, who had clambered +up the side of the mound, knelt beside him. She peered down into the +depths beneath, and then she drew back and looked up at the captain. His +whole soul was in his downward gaze, and he did not even see her. + +Then there came a voice from below. "What is it?" cried Mrs. Cliff. "What +are you all looking at! Do tell me." + +With half-shut eyes, Edna let herself down the side of the mound, and +when her feet touched the ground, she made a few tottering steps toward +Mrs. Cliff, and placing her two hands on her companion's shoulders, she +whispered, "I thought it was. It is gold! It is the gold of the Incas." +And then she sank senseless at the feet of the older woman. + +Mrs. Cliff did not know that Miss Markham had fainted. She simply stood +still and exclaimed, "Gold! What does it mean?" + +"What is it all about?" exclaimed Ralph. "It looks like petrified honey. +This never could have been a beehive." + +Without answering, Captain Horn knelt at the edge of the aperture, and +taking the lantern from the boy, he let it down as far as it would go, +which was only a foot or two. + +"Ralph," he said hoarsely, as he drew himself back, "hold this lantern +and get down out of my way. I must cover this up, quick." And seizing the +stone slab by the handle, he lifted it as if it had been a pot-lid, and +let it down into its place. "Now," said he, "get down, and let us all go +away from this place. Those negroes may be back at any moment." + +When Ralph found that his sister had fainted, and that Mrs. Cliff did not +know it, there was a little commotion at the foot of the mound. But some +water in a pool near by soon revived Edna, and in ten minutes the party +was on the plateau outside the caverns. The new moon was just beginning +to peep over the rocks behind them, and the two ladies had seated +themselves on the ground. Ralph was pouring out question after question, +to which nobody paid any attention, and Captain Horn, his hands thrust +into his pockets, walked backward and forward, his face flushed and his +breath coming heavily, and, with his eyes upon the ground, he seemed to +think himself entirely alone among those desolate crags. + +"Can any of you tell me what it means?" cried Mrs. Cliff. "Edna, do you +understand it? Tell me quickly, some of you!" + +"I believe I know what it means," said Edna, her voice trembling as she +spoke. "I thought I knew as soon as I heard of the mound covered up by +the lake, but I did not dare to say anything, because if my opinion +should be correct it would be so wonderful, so astounding, my mind could +hardly take hold of it." + +"But what is it?" cried Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, almost in one breath. + +"I scarcely know what to say," said Edna, "my mind is in such a whirl +about it, but I will tell you something of what I have read of the +ancient history of Peru, and then you will understand my fancies about +this stone mound. When the Spaniards, under Pizarro, came to this +country, their main object, as we all know, was booty. They especially +wished to get hold of the wonderful treasures of the Incas, the ancient +rulers of Peru. This was the reason of almost all the cruelties and +wickedness of the invaders. The Incas tried various ways of preserving +their treasures from the clutch of the Spaniards, and I have read of a +tradition that they drained a lake, probably near Cuzco, the ancient +capital, and made a strong cellar, or mound, at the bottom of it in which +to hide their gold. They then let the water in again, and the tradition +also says that this mound has never been discovered." + +"Do you believe," cried the captain, "that the mound back there in the +cavern is the place where the Incas stored their gold?" + +"I do not believe it is the place I read about," said Miss Markham, "for +that, as I said, must have been near Cuzco. But there is no reason why +there should not have been other places of concealment. This was far +away from the capital, but that would make the treasure so much the +safer. The Spaniards would never have thought of going to such a lonely, +deserted place as this, and the Incas would not have spared any time or +trouble necessary to securely hide their treasures." + +"If you are right," cried the captain, "this is, indeed, astounding! +Treasure in a mound of stone--a mound covered by water, which could be +let off! The whole shut up in a cave which must have originally been as +dark as pitch! When we come to think of it," he continued excitedly, "it +is an amazing hiding-place, no matter what was put into the mound." + +"And do you mean," almost screamed Mrs. Cliff, "that that stone thing +down there is filled with the wealth of the Incas!--the fabulous gold we +read about?" + +"I do not know what else it can be," replied Edna. "What I saw when I +looked down into the hole was surely gold." + +"Yes," said the captain, "it was gold--gold in small bars." + +"Why didn't you get a piece, captain?" asked Ralph. "Then we could be +sure about it. If that thing is nearly filled, there must be tons of it." + +"I did not think," said the captain. "I could not think. I was afraid +somebody would come." + +"And now tell me this," cried Mrs. Cliff. "Whom does this gold belong to? +That is what I want to know. Whose is if?" + +"Come, come!" said the captain, "let us stop talking about this thing, +and thinking about it. We shall all be maniacs if we don't quiet +ourselves a little, and, besides, it cannot be long before those black +fellows come back, and we do not want to be speaking about it then. +To-morrow we will examine the mound and see what it is we have +discovered. In the meantime, let us quiet our minds and get a good +night's sleep, if we can. This whole affair is astounding, but we must +not let it make us crazy before we understand it." + +Miss Markham was a young woman very capable of controlling herself. It +was true she had been more affected in consequence of the opening of the +mound than any of the others, but that was because she understood, or +thought she understood, what the discovery meant, and to the others it +was something which at first they could not appreciate. Now she saw the +good common sense of the captain's remarks, and said no more that evening +on the subject of the stone mound. + +But Mrs. Cliff and Ralph could not be quiet. They must talk, and as the +captain walked away that they might not speak to him, they talked to +each other. + +It was nearly an hour after this that Captain Horn, standing on the outer +end of the plateau, saw some black dots moving on the moonlit beach. They +moved very slowly, and it was a long time--at least, it seemed so to the +captain--before Maka and his companions reached the plateau. + +The negroes were heavily loaded with bags and packages, and they were +glad to deposit their burdens on the ground. + +"Hi!" cried the captain, who spoke as if he had been drinking champagne, +"you brought a good cargo, Maka, and now don't let us hear any tales of +what you have seen until we have had supper--supper for everybody. You +know what you have got, Maka. Let us have the best things, and let every +one of you take a hand in making a fire and cooking. What we want is a +first-class feast." + +"I got 'em," said Maka, who understood English a good deal better +than he could speak it,--"ham, cheese, lots things. All want +supper--good supper." + +While the meal was being prepared, Captain Horn walked over to Mrs. Cliff +and Ralph. "Now, I beg of you," he said, "don't let these men know we +have found anything. This is a very important matter. Don't talk about +it, and if you can't keep down your excitement, let them think it is the +prospect of good victuals, and plenty of them, that has excited you." + +After supper Maka and Cheditafa were called upon to tell their story, but +they said very little. They had gone to the place where the Rackbirds had +kept their stores, and had selected what Maka considered would be most +desirable, including some oil for the lantern, and had brought away as +much as they could carry. This was all. + +When the rest of his party had gone inside, hoping to get their minds +quiet enough to sleep, and the captain was preparing to follow them, Maka +arose from the spot on the open plateau where the tired negroes had +stretched themselves for the night, and said: + +"Got something tell you alone. Come out here." + +When the two had gone to a spot a little distance from the cavern +entrance, where the light of the moon, now nearly set, enabled objects to +be seen with some distinctness, Maka took from inside his shirt a small +piece of clothing. "Look here," said he. "This belong to Davis." + +The captain took the garment in his hand. It was a waistcoat made of +plaid cloth, yellow, green, and red, and most striking in pattern, and +Captain Horn instantly recognized it as the waistcoat of Davis, the +Englishman. + +"He dead," said Maka, simply. + +The captain nodded. He had no doubt of it. + +"Where did you find it?" he asked. + +"Sticking on rock," said the African. "Lots things down there. Some one +place, some another place. Didn't know other things, but know this. +Davis' waistcoat. No mistake that. Him wear it all time." + +"You are a good fellow, Maka," said the captain, "not to speak of this +before the ladies. Now go and sleep. There is no need of a guard +to-night." + +The captain went inside, procured his gun, and seated himself outside, +with his back against a rock. There he sat all night, without once +closing his eyes. He was not afraid that anything would come to molest +them, but it was just as well to have the gun. As for sleeping, that was +impossible. He had heard and seen too much that day. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +"MINE!" + + +Captain Horn and his party sat down together the next morning on the +plateau to drink their hot coffee and eat their biscuit and bacon, and it +was plain that the two ladies, as well as the captain, had had little +sleep the night before. Ralph declared that he had been awake ever so +long, endeavoring to calculate how many cubic feet of gold there would be +in that mound if it were filled with the precious metal. "But as I did +not know how much a cubic foot of gold is worth," said he, "and as we +might find, after all, that there is only a layer of gold on top, and +that all the rest is Incas' bones, I gave it up." + +The captain was very grave--graver, Miss Markham thought, than the +discovery of gold ought to make a man. + +"We won't worry ourselves with calculations," said he. "As soon as I can +get rid of those black fellows, we will go to see what is really in that +tomb, or storehouse, or whatever it is. We will make a thorough +investigation this time." + +When the men had finished eating, the captain sent them all down to look +for driftwood. The stock of wood on the plateau was almost exhausted, +and he was glad to think of some reasonable work which would take them +away from the cavern. + +As soon as they had gone, the captain rose to get the lantern, and called +Ralph to accompany him to the mound. + +When they were left alone, Edna said to Mrs. Cliff, "Let us go over there +to that shady rock, where we can look out for a ship with Mr. Rynders in +it, and let us talk about our neighbors in America. Let us try to forget, +for a time, all about what the captain is going to investigate. If we +keep on thinking and talking of it, our minds will not be in a fit +condition to hear what he will have to tell us. It may all come to +nothing, you know, and no matter what it comes to, let us keep quiet, and +give our nerves a little rest." + +"That is excellent advice," said Mrs. Cliff. But when they were +comfortably seated in the shade, she said: "I have been thinking, Edna, +that the possession of vast treasures did not weaken the minds of those +Incas, I supposed, until yesterday, that the caverns here were intended +for some sort of temple for religious ceremonies, and that the great face +on the rock out here was an idol. But now I do not believe that. All +openings into the cave must once have been closed up, but it would not do +to hide the place so that no one could ever find it again, so they carved +that great head on the rocks. Nobody, except those who had hid the +treasure, would know what the face meant." + +Edna gave a little smile and sighed. "I see it is of no use to try to get +that mound out of our minds," she said. + +"Out of our minds!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "If one of the Rothschilds +were to hand you a check for the whole of his fortune, would you expect +to get that out of your mind?" + +"Such a check," said Edna, "would be a certain fortune. We have not heard +yet what this is." + +"I think we are the two meekest and humblest people in the whole world!" +exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, walking up and down the sand. "I don't believe any +other two persons would be content to wait here until somebody should +come and tell them whether they were millionaires or not. But, of course, +somebody must stay outside to keep those colored people from swarming +into the cave when they come back." + +It was not long after this that Mrs. Cliff and Edna heard the sound of +quickly advancing feet, and in a few moments they were joined by Ralph +and the captain. + +"Your faces shine like gold," cried Edna. "What have you found?" + +"Found!" cried Ralph. "Why, Edna, we've got--" + +"Be quiet, Ralph," exclaimed Edna. "I want to hear what the captain has +to say. Captain, what is in the mound?" + +"We went to the mound," said he, speaking very rapidly, "and when we got +to the top and lifted off that stone lid--upon my soul, ladies, I believe +there is gold enough in that thing to ballast a ship. It isn't filled +quite up to the top, and, of course, I could not find out how deep the +gold goes down; but I worked a hole in it as far down as my arm would +reach, and found nothing but gold bars like this." Then, glancing around +to see that none of the Africans were returning, he took from his pocket +a yellow object about three inches in length and an inch in diameter, +shaped like a rough prism, cast in a rudely constructed mortar or mould. +"I brought away just one of them," he said, "and then I shut down the +lid, and we came away." + +"And is this gold?" exclaimed Edna, eagerly seizing the bar. "Are you +sure of it, captain?" + +"I am as sure of it as I am that I have a head on my shoulders," said he, +"although when I was diving down into that pile I was not quite sure of +that. No one would ever put anything but gold in such a hiding-place. And +then, anybody can see it is gold. Look here: I scraped that spot with my +knife. I wanted to test it before I showed it to you. See how it shines! +I could easily cut into it. I believe it is virgin gold, not hardened +with any alloy." + +"And that mound full of it!" cried Mrs. Cliff. + +"I can't say about that," said the captain. "But if the gold is no +deeper than my arm went down into it, and all pure metal at that, +why--bless my soul!--it would make anybody crazy to try to calculate how +much it is worth." + +"Now, then," exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "whom does all this gold belong to? We +have found it, but whose is it?" + +"That is a point to be considered," said the captain. "What is +your opinion?" + +"I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about it," said Mrs. +Cliff. "Of course, that would have been all wasted, though, if it had +turned out to be nothing but brass, but then, I could not help it, and +this is the conclusion I have come to: In the first place, it does not +belong to the people who govern Peru now. They are descendants of the +very Spaniards that the Incas hid their treasure from, and it would be a +shame and a wickedness to let them have it. It would better stay there +shut up for more centuries. Then, again, it would not be right to give it +to the Indians, or whatever they call themselves, though they are +descendants of the ancient inhabitants, for the people of Spanish blood +would not let them keep it one minute, and they would get it, after all. +And, besides, how could such treasures be properly divided among a race +of wretched savages? It would be preposterous, even if they should be +allowed to keep it. They would drink themselves to death, and it would +bring nothing but misery upon them. The Incas, in their way, were good, +civilized people, and it stands to reason that the treasure they hid away +should go to other good, civilized people when the Incas had departed +from the face of the earth. Think of the good that could be done with +such wealth, should it fall into the proper hands! Think of the good to +the poor people of Peru, with the right kind of mission work done among +them! I tell you all that the responsibility of this discovery is as +great as its value in dollars. What do you think about it, Edna?" + +"I think this," said Miss Markham: "so far as any of us have anything to +do with it, it belongs to Captain Horn. He discovered it, and it is his." + +"The whole of it?" cried Ralph. + +"Yes," said his sister, firmly, "the whole of it, so far as we are +concerned. What he chooses to do with it is his affair, and whether he +gets every bar of gold, or only a reward from the Peruvian government, +it is his, to do what he pleases with it." + +"Now, Edna, I am amazed to hear you speak of the Peruvian government," +cried Mrs. Cliff. "It would be nothing less than a crime to let them have +it, or even know of it." + +"What do you think, captain?" asked Edna. + +"I am exactly of your opinion, Miss Markham," he said. "That treasure +belongs to me. I discovered it, and it is for me to decide what is to be +done with it." + +"Now, then," exclaimed Ralph, his face very red, "I differ with you! We +are all partners in this business, and it isn't fair for any one to have +everything." + +"And I am not so sure, either," said Mrs. Cliff, "that the captain +ought to decide what is to be done with this treasure. Each of us +should have a voice." + +"Mrs. Cliff, Miss Markham, and Ralph," said the captain, "I have a few +words to say to you, and I must say them quickly, for I see those black +fellows coming. That treasure in the stone mound is mine. I discovered +the mound, and no matter what might have been in it, the contents would +have been mine. All that gold is just as much mine as if I dug it in a +gold-mine in California, and we won't discuss that question any further. +What I want to say particularly is that it may seem very selfish in me +to claim the whole of that treasure, but I assure you that that is the +only thing to be done. I know you will all agree to that when you see +the matter in the proper light, and I have told you my plans about it. I +intended to claim all that treasure, if it turned out to be treasure. I +made up my mind to that last night, and I am very glad Miss Markham +told me her opinion of the rights of the thing before I mentioned it. +Now, I have just got time to say a few words more. If there should be +any discussion about the ownership of this gold and the way it ought to +be divided, there would be trouble, and perhaps bloody trouble. There +are those black fellows coming up here, and two of them speak English. +Eight of my men went away in a boat, and they may come back at any time. +And then, there were those two Cape Cod men, who went off first. They +may have reached the other side of the mountains, and may bring us +assistance overland. As for Davis, I know he will never come back. Maka +brought me positive proof that he was killed by the Rackbirds. Now, you +see my point. That treasure is mine. I have a right to it, and I stand +by that right. There must be no talk as to what is to be done with it. I +shall decide what is right, and I shall do it, and no man shall have a +word to say about it. In a case like this there must be a head, and I am +the head." + +The captain had been speaking rapidly and very earnestly, but now his +manner changed a little. Placing his hand on Ralph's shoulder, he said: +"Now don't be afraid, my boy, that you and your sister or Mrs. Cliff will +be left in the lurch. If there were only us four, there would be no +trouble at all, but if there is any talk of dividing, there may be a lot +of men to deal with, and a hard lot, too. And now, not a word before +these men.--Maka, that is a fine lot of fire-wood you have brought. It +will last us a long time." + +The African shrugged his shoulders. "Hope not," he said. "Hope Mr. +Rynders come soon. Don't want make many fires." + +As Captain Horn walked away toward Ralph's lookout, he could not account +to himself for the strange and unnatural state of his feelings. He ought +to have been very happy because he had discovered vast treasures. Instead +of that his mind was troubled and he was anxious and fearful. One reason +for his state of mind was his positive knowledge of the death of Davis. +He had believed him dead because he had not come back, but now that he +knew the truth, the shock seemed as great as if he had not suspected it. +He had liked the Englishman better than any of his seamen, and he was a +man he would have been glad to have had with him now. The Cape Cod men +had been with him but a short time, and he was not well acquainted with +them. It was likely, too, that they were dead also, for they had not +taken provisions with them. But so long as he did not really know this, +the probability could not lower his spirits. + +But when he came to analyze his feelings, which he did with the vigorous +directness natural to him, he knew what was the source of his anxiety and +disquietude. He actually feared the return of Rynders and his men! This +feeling annoyed and troubled him. He felt that it was unworthy of him. He +knew that he ought to long for the arrival of his mate, for in no other +way could the party expect help, and if help did not arrive before the +provisions of the Rackbirds were exhausted, the whole party would most +likely perish. Moreover, when Rynders and his men came back, they would +come to rare good fortune, for there was enough gold for all of them. + +But, in spite of these reasonable conclusions, the captain was afraid +that Rynders and his men would return. + +"If they come here," he said to himself, "they will know of that gold, +for I cannot expect to keep such fellows out of the cavern, and if they +know of it, it will be their gold, not mine. I know men, especially those +men, well enough for that." + +And so, fearing that he might see them before he was ready for them,--and +how he was going to make himself ready for them he did not know,--he +stood on the lookout and scanned the ocean for Rynders and his men. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A PILE OF FUEL + +Four days had passed, and nothing had happened. The stone mound in the +lake had not been visited, for there had been no reason for sending the +black men away, and with one of them nearer than a mile the captain would +not even look at his treasure. There was no danger that they would +discover the mound, for they were not allowed to take the lantern, and no +one of them would care to wander into the dark, sombre depths of the +cavern without a light. + +The four white people, who, with a fair habitation in the rocks, with +plenty of plain food to eat, with six servants to wait on them, and a +climate which was continuously delightful, except in the middle of the +day, and with all fear of danger from man or beast removed from their +minds, would have been content to remain here a week or two longer and +await the arrival of a vessel to take them away, were now in a restless +and impatient condition of mind. They were all eager to escape from the +place. Three of them longed for the return of Rynders, but the other one +steadily hoped that they might get away before his men came back. + +How to do this, or how to take with him the treasure of the Incas, was a +puzzling question with which the captain racked his brains by day and by +night. At last he bethought himself of the Rackbirds' vessel. He +remembered that Maka had told him that provisions were brought to them by +a vessel, and there was every reason to suppose that when these +miscreants went on some of their marauding expeditions they travelled by +sea. Day by day he had thought that he would go and visit the Rackbirds' +storehouse and the neighborhood thereabout, but day by day he had been +afraid that in his absence Rynders might arrive, and when he came he +wanted to be there to meet him. + +But now the idea of the boat made him brave this possible contingency, +and early one morning, with Cheditafa and two other of the black fellows, +he set off along the beach for the mouth of the little stream which, +rising somewhere in the mountains, ran down to the cavern where it had +once widened and deepened into a lake, and then through the ravine of the +Rackbirds on to the sea. When he reached his destination, Captain Horn +saw a great deal to interest him. + +Just beyond the second ridge of rock which Maka had discovered, the +stream ran into a little bay, and the shores near its mouth showed +evident signs that they had recently been washed by a flood. On points of +rock and against the sides of the sand mounds, he saw bits of debris from +the Rackbirds' camp. Here were sticks which had formed the timbers of +their huts; there were pieces of clothing and cooking-utensils; and here +and there, partly buried by the shifting sands, were seen the bodies of +Rackbirds, already desiccated by the dry air and the hot sun of the +region. But the captain saw no vessel. + +"Dat up here," said Cheditafa. "Dey hide dat well. Come 'long, captain." + +Following his black guide, the captain skirted a little promontory of +rocks, and behind it found a cove in which, well concealed, lay the +Rackbirds' vessel. It was a sloop of about twenty tons, and from the +ocean, or even from the beach, it could not be seen. But as the captain +stood and gazed upon this craft his heart sank. It had no masts nor +sails, and it was a vessel that could not be propelled by oars. + +Wading through the shallow water,--for it was now low tide,--the captain +climbed on board. The deck was bare, without a sign of spar or sail, and +when, with Cheditafa's help, he had forced the entrance of the little +companionway, and had gone below, he found that the vessel had been +entirely stripped of everything that could be carried away, and when he +went on deck again he saw that even the rudder had been unshipped and +removed. Cheditafa could give him no information upon this state of +things, but after a little while Captain Horn imagined the cause for this +dismantled condition of the sloop. The Rackbirds' captain could not trust +his men, he said to himself, and he made it impossible for any of them to +escape or set out on an expedition for themselves. It was likely that the +masts and sails had been carried up to the camp, from which place it +would have been impossible to remove them without the leader knowing it. + +When he spoke to Cheditafa on the subject, the negro told him that after +the little ship came in from one of its voyages he and his companions had +always carried the masts, sails, and a lot of other things up to the +camp. But there was nothing of the sort there now. Every spar and sail +must have been carried out to sea by the flood, for if they had been left +on the shores of the stream the captain would have seen them. + +This was hard lines for Captain Horn. If the Rackbirds' vessel had been +in sailing condition, everything would have been very simple and easy for +him. He could have taken on board not only his own party, but a large +portion of the treasure, and could have sailed away as free as a bird, +without reference to the return of Rynders and his men. A note tied to a +pole set up in a conspicuous place on the beach would have informed Mr. +Rynders of their escape from the place, and it was not likely that any of +the party would have thought it worth while to go farther on shore. But +it was of no use to think of getting away in this vessel. In its present +condition it was absolutely useless. + +While the captain had been thinking and considering the matter, Cheditafa +had been wandering about the coast exploring. Presently Captain Horn saw +him running toward him, accompanied by the two other negroes. + +"'Nother boat over there," cried Cheditafa, as the captain approached +him,--"'nother boat, but badder than this. No good. Cook with it, +that's all." + +The captain followed Cheditafa across the little stream, and a hundred +yards or so along the shore, and over out of reach of the tide, piled +against a low sand mound, he saw a quantity of wood, all broken into +small pieces, and apparently prepared, as Cheditafa had suggested, for +cooking-fires. It was also easy to see that these pieces of wood had +once been part of a boat, perhaps of a wreck thrown up on shore. The +captain approached the pile of wood and picked up some of the pieces. As +he held in his hand a bit of gunwale, not much more than a foot in +length, his eyes began to glisten and his breath came quickly. Hastily +pulling out several pieces from the mass of debris, he examined them +thoroughly. Then he stepped back, and let the piece of rudder he was +holding drop to the sand. + +"Cheditafa," said he, speaking huskily, "this is one of the Castor's +boats. This is a piece of the boat in which Rynders and the men set out." + +The negro looked at the captain and seemed frightened by the expression +on his face. For a moment he did not speak, and then in a trembling voice +he asked, "Where all them now?" + +The captain shook his head, but said nothing. That pile of fragments was +telling him a tale which gradually became plainer and plainer to him, and +which he believed as if Rynders himself had been telling it to him. His +ship's boat, with its eight occupants, had never gone farther south than +the mouth of the little stream. That they had been driven on shore by the +stress of weather the captain did not believe. There had been no high +winds or storms since their departure. Most likely they had been induced +to land by seeing some of the Rackbirds on shore, and they had naturally +rowed into the little cove, for assistance from their fellow-beings was +what they were in search of. But no matter how they happened to land, +the Rackbirds would never let them go away again to carry news of the +whereabouts of their camp. Almost unarmed, these sailors must have fallen +easy victims to the Rackbirds. + +It was not unlikely that the men had been shot down from ambush without +having had any intercourse or conversation with the cruel monsters to +whom they had come to seek relief, for had there been any talk between +them, Rynders would have told of his companions left on shore, and these +would have been speedily visited by the desperadoes. For the destruction +of the boat there was reason enough: the captain of the Rackbirds gave +his men no chance to get away from him. + +With a heart of lead, Captain Horn turned to look at his negro +companions, and saw them all sitting together on the sands, chattering +earnestly, and holding up their hands with one or more fingers extended, +as if they were counting. Cheditafa came forward. + +"When all your men go away from you?" he asked. + +The captain reflected a moment, and then answered, "About two weeks ago." + +"That's right! That's right!" exclaimed the negro, nodding violently as +he spoke. "We talk about that. We count days. It's just ten days and +three days, and Rackbirds go 'way, and leave us high up in rock-hole, +with no ladder. After a while we hear guns, guns, guns. Long time guns +shooting. When they come back, it almost dark, and they want supper +bad. All time they eat supper, they talk 'bout shooting sharks. Shot +lots sharks, and chuck them into the water. Sharks in water already +before they is shot. We say then it no sharks they shot. Now we say it +must been--" + +The captain turned away. He did not want to hear any more. There was no +possible escape from the belief that Rynders and all his men had been +shot down, and robbed, if they had anything worth taking, and then their +bodies carried out to sea, most likely in their own boat, and thrown +overboard. + +There was nothing more at this dreadful place that Captain Horn wished to +see, to consider, or to do, and calling the negroes to follow him, he set +out on his return. + +During the dreary walk along the beach the captain's depression of +spirits was increased by the recollection of his thoughts about the +sailors and the treasure. He had hoped that these men would not come back +in time to interfere with his disposal, in his own way, of the gold he +had found. They would not come back now, but the thought did not lighten +his heart. But before he reached the caves, he had determined to throw +off the gloom and sadness which had come upon him. Under the +circumstances, grief for what had happened was out of place. He must keep +up a good heart, and help his companions to keep up good hearts. Now he +must do something, and, like a soldier in battle, he must not think of +the comrade who had fallen beside him, but of the enemy in front of him. + +When he reached the caves he found supper ready, and that evening he said +nothing to his companions of the important discoveries he had made, +contenting himself with a general statement of the proofs that the +Rackbirds and their camp had been utterly destroyed by the flood. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE CLIFF-MAKA SCHEME + +The next morning Captain Horn arose with a plan of action in his mind, +and he was now ready, not only to tell the two ladies and Ralph +everything he had discovered, but also what he was going to do. The +announcement of the almost certain fate of Rynders and his men filled his +hearers with horror, and the statement of the captain's plans did not +tend to raise their spirits. + +"You see," said he, "there is nothing now for us to wait for here. As to +being taken off by a passing vessel, there is no chance of that whatever. +We have gone over that matter before. Nor can we get away overland, for +some of us would die on the way. As to that little boat down there, we +cannot all go to sea in her, but in it I must go out and seek for help." + +"And leave us here!" cried Mrs. Cliff. "Do not think of that, captain! +Whatever happens, let us all keep together." + +"That cannot be," he said. "I must go because I am the only seaman among +you, and I will take four of those black fellows with me. I do not +apprehend any danger unless we have to make a surf landing, and even +then they can all swim like fishes, while I am very well able to take +care of myself in the water. I shall sail down the coast until I come to +a port, and there put in. Then I will get a vessel of some sort and come +back for you. I shall leave with you two of these negroes--Cheditafa, who +seems to be a highly respectable old person, and can speak English, and +Mok, who, although he can't talk to you, can understand a great deal that +is said to him. Apart from his being such an abject coward, he seems to +be a good, quiet fellow, willing to do what he is told. On the whole, I +think he has the best disposition of the four black dummies, begging +their pardons. I will take the three others, with Maka as head man and +interpreter. If I should be cast on shore by a storm, I could swim +through the surf to the dry land, but I could not undertake to save any +one else. If this misfortune should happen, we could make our way on foot +down the coast." + +"But suppose you should meet some Rackbirds?" cried Ralph. + +"I have no fear of that," answered the captain. "I do not believe there +is another set of such scoundrels on this hemisphere. So, as soon as I +can get that boat in order, and rig up a mast and a sail for her, I +shall provision her well and set out. Of course, I do not want to leave +you all here, but there is no help for it, and I don't believe you need +have the slightest fear of harm. Later, we will plan what is to be done +by you and by me, and get everything clear and straight. The first thing +is to get the boat ready, and I shall go to work on that to-day. I will +also take some of the negroes down to the Rackbirds' camp, and bring +away more stores." + +"Oh, let me go!" cried Ralph. "It is the cruellest thing in the world to +keep me cooped up here. I never go anywhere, and never do anything." + +But the captain shook his head. "I am sorry, my boy," said he, "to keep +you back so much, but it cannot be helped. When I go away, I shall make +it a positive condition that you do not leave your sister and Mrs. +Cliff, and I do not want you to begin now." A half-hour afterwards, when +the captain and his party had set out, Ralph came to his sister and sat +down by her. + +"Do you know," said he, "what I think of Captain Horn? I think he is a +brave man, and a man who knows what to do when things turn up suddenly, +but, for all that, I think he is a tyrant. He does what he pleases, and +he makes other people do what he pleases, and consults nobody." + +"My dear Ralph," said Edna, "if you knew how glad I am we have such a man +to manage things, you would not think in that way. A tyrant is just what +we want in our situation, provided he knows what ought to be done, and I +think that Captain Horn does know." + +"That's just like a woman," said Ralph. "I might have expected it." + +During the rest of that day and the morning of the next, everybody in +the camp worked hard and did what could be done to help the captain +prepare for his voyage, and even Ralph, figuratively speaking, put his +hand to the oar. + +The boat was provisioned for a long voyage, though the captain hoped to +make a short one, and at noon he announced that he would set out late +that afternoon. + +"It will be flood-tide, and I can get away from the coast better then +than if the tide were coming in." + +"How glad I should be to hear you speak in that way," said Mrs. Cliff, +"if we were only going with you! But to be left here seems like a death +sentence all around. You may be lost at sea while we perish on shore." + +"I do not expect anything of the sort!" exclaimed Edna. "With Ralph and +two men to defend us, we can stay here a long time. As for the captain's +being lost, I do not think of it for a moment. He knows how to manage a +boat too well for that." + +"I don't like it at all! I don't like it at all!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. +"I don't expect misfortunes any more than other people do, but our +common sense tells us they may come, and we ought to be prepared for +them. Of course, you are a good sailor, captain, but if it should happen +that you should never come back, or even if it should be a very long +time before you come back, how are we going to know what we ought to do? +As far as I know the party you leave behind you, we would all be of +different opinions if any emergency arose. As long as you are with us, I +feel that, no matter what happens, the right thing will be done. But if +you are away--" + +At this moment Mrs. Cliff was interrupted by the approach of Maka, who +wished very much to speak to the captain. As the negro was not a man who +would be likely to interrupt a conversation except for an important +reason, the captain followed him to a little distance. There he found, to +his surprise, that although he had left one person to speak to another, +the subject was not changed. + +"Cap'n," said Maka, "when you go 'way, who's boss?" + +The captain frowned, and yet he could not help feeling interested in this +anxiety regarding his successor. "Why do you ask that?" he said. "What +difference does it make who gives you your orders when I am gone?" + +Maka shook his head. "Big difference," he said. "Cheditafa don' like boy +for boss. He wan' me tell you, if boy is boss, he don' wan' stay. He wan' +go 'long you." + +"You can tell Cheditafa," said the captain, quickly, "that if I want him +to stay he'll stay, and if I want him to go he'll go. He has nothing to +say about that. So much for him. Now, what do you think?" + +"Like boy," said Maka, "but not for boss." + +The captain was silent for a moment. Here was a matter which really +needed to be settled. If he had felt that he had authority to do as he +pleased, he would have settled it in a moment. + +"Cap'n big man. He know everyt'ing," said Maka. "But when cap'n go 'way, +boy t'ink he big man. Boy know nothin'. Better have woman for boss." + +Captain Horn could not help being amused. "Which woman?" he asked. + +"I say old one. Cheditafa say young one." + +The captain was not a man who would readily discuss his affairs with any +one, especially with such a man as Maka; but now the circumstances were +peculiar, and he wanted to know the opinions of these men he was about to +leave behind him. + +"What made you and Cheditafa think that way?" he asked. + +"I t'ink old one know more," replied the negro, "and Cheditafa t'ink wife +make bes' boss when cap'n gone, and young one make bes' wife." + +"You impertinent black scoundrels!" exclaimed the captain, taking a step +toward Maka, who bounced backward a couple of yards. "What do you mean by +talking about Miss Markham and me in that way? I'll--" But there he +paused. It would not be convenient to knock the heads off these men at +this time. "Cheditafa must be a very great fool," said he, speaking more +quietly. "Does he suppose I could call anybody my wife just for the sake +of giving you two men a boss?" + +"Oh, Cheditafa know!" exclaimed Maka, but without coming any nearer +the captain. "He know many, many t'ings, but he 'fraid come tell +you hisself." + +"I should think he would be," replied the captain, "and I wonder you are +not afraid, too." + +"Oh, I is, I is," said Maka. "I's all w'ite inside. But somebody got +speak boss 'fore he go 'way. If nobody speak, den you go 'way--no boss. +All crooked. Nobody b'long to anybody. Den maybe men come down from +mountain, or maybe men come in boat, and dey say, 'Who's all you people? +Who you b'long to?' Den dey say dey don' b'long nobody but demselves. +Den, mos' like, de w'ite ones gets killed for dey clothes and dey money. +And Cheditafa and me we gets tuck somew'ere to be slaves. But if we say, +'Dat lady big Cap'n Horn's wife--all de t'ings and de people b'long to +big he'--hi! dey men hands off--dey shake in de legs. Everybody know big +Cap'n Horn." + +The captain could not help laughing. "I believe you are as big a fool as +Cheditafa," said he. "Don't you know I can't make a woman my wife just by +calling her so?" + +"Don' mean dat!" exclaimed Maka. "Cheditafa don' mean dat. He make all +right. He priest in he own country. He marry people. He marry you 'fore +you go, all right. He talk 'bout dat mos' all night, but 'fraid come +tell cap'n." + +The absurdity of this statement was so great that it made the captain +laugh instead of making him angry; but before he could say anything more +to Maka, Mrs. Cliff approached him. "You must excuse me, captain," she +said, "but really the time is very short, and I have a great deal to say +to you, and if you have finished joking with that colored man, I wish you +would talk with me." + +"You will laugh, too," said the captain, "when you hear what he said to +me." And in a few words he told her what Maka had proposed. + +Instead of laughing, Mrs. Cliff stood staring at him in silent amazement. + +"I see I have shocked you," said the captain, "but you must remember that +that is only a poor heathen's ignorant vagary. Please say nothing about +it, especially to Miss Markham." + +"Say nothing about it!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "I wish I had a thousand +tongues to talk of it. Captain, do you really believe that Cheddy man is +a priest, or what goes for one in his own country? If he is, he ought to +marry you and Edna." + +The captain frowned, with an air of angry impatience. "I could excuse +that poor negro, madam," he said, "when he made such a proposition to +me, but I must say I did not expect anything of the kind from you. Do you +think, even if we had a bishop with us, that I would propose to marry any +woman in the world for the sake of making her what that fellow called the +'boss' of this party?" + +It was now Mrs. Cliff's turn to be impatient. "That boss business is a +very small matter," she replied, "although, of course, somebody must be +head while you are gone, and it was about this that I came to see you. +But after hearing what that colored man said, I want to speak of +something far more important, which I have been thinking and thinking +about, and to which I could see no head or tail until a minute ago. +Before I go on, I want you to answer me this question: If you are lost +at sea, and never come back, what is to become of that treasure? It is +yours now, as you let us know plainly enough, but whose will it be if +you should die? It may seem like a selfish and sordid thing for me to +talk to you in this way just before you start on such an expedition, but +I am a business woman,--since my husband's death I have been obliged to +be that,--and I look at things with a business eye. Have you considered +this matter?" + +"Yes, I have," answered the captain, "very seriously." + +"And so have I," said Mrs. Cliff. "Whether Edna has or not I don't +know, for she has said nothing to me. Now, we are not related to you, +and, of course, have no claim upon you in that way, but I do think +that, as we have all suffered together, and gone through dangers +together, we all ought to share, in some degree at least, in good +things as well as bad ones." + +"Mrs. Cliff," said the captain, speaking very earnestly, "you need not +say anything more on that subject. I have taken possession of that +treasure, and I intend to hold it, in order that I may manage things in +my own way, and avoid troublesome disputes. But I have not the slightest +idea of keeping it all for myself. I intend that everybody who has had +any concern in this expedition shall have a share in it. I have thought +over the matter a great deal, and intended, before I left, to tell you +and Miss Markham what I have decided upon. Here is a paper I have drawn +up. It is my will. It is written in lead-pencil and may not be legal, +but it is the best I can do. I have no relatives, except a few second +cousins somewhere out in the Northwest, and I don't want them to have +anything to do directly with my property, for they would be sure to make +trouble. Here, as you see, I leave to you, Miss Markham, and Ralph all +the property, of every kind and description, of which I may die +possessed. This, of course, would cover all treasure you may be able to +take away from this place, and which, without this will, might be claimed +by some of my distant relatives, if they should ever chance to hear the +story of my discovery. + +"Besides this, I have written here, on another page of this note-book, a +few private directions as to how I want the treasure disposed of. I say +nothing definite, and mention no exact sums, but, in a general way, I +have left everything in the hands of you two ladies. I know that you will +make a perfectly just and generous disposition of what you may get." + +"That is all very kind and good of you," said Mrs. Cliff, "but I cannot +believe that such a will would be of much service. If you have relatives +you are afraid of,--and I see you have,--if Edna Markham were your widow, +then by law she would get a good part of it, even if she did not get it +all, and if Edna got it, we would be perfectly satisfied." + +"It is rather a grim business to talk about Miss Markham being my widow," +said the captain, "especially under such circumstances. It strikes me +that the kind of marriage you propose would be a good deal flimsier than +this will." + +"It does not strike me so," said she. "A mere confession before witnesses +by a man and woman that they are willing to take each other for husband +and wife is often a legal ceremony, and if there is any kind of a +religious person present to perform the ceremony, it helps, and in a case +like this no stone should be left unturned. You see, you have assumed a +great deal of responsibility about this. You have stated--and if we were +called upon to testify, Miss Markham and I would have to acknowledge that +you have so stated--that you claimed this treasure as your discovery, and +that it all belonged to you. So, you see, if we keep our consciences +clear,--and no matter what happens, we are going to do that,--we might be +obliged to testify every cent of it away from ourselves. But if Edna were +your wife, it would be all right." + +The captain stood silent for a few moments, his hands thrust into his +pockets, and a queer smile on his face. "Mrs. Cliff," said he, presently, +"do you expect me to go to Miss Markham and gravely propose this scheme +which you and that half-tamed African have concocted?" + +"I think it would be better," said Mrs. Cliff, "if I were to prepare her +mind for it. I will go speak to her now." + +"No," said he, quickly, "don't you do that. If the crazy idea is to be +mentioned to her at all, I want to do it myself, and in my own way. I +will go to her now. I have had my talk with you, and I must have one +with her." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ON A BUSINESS BASIS + + +Captain Horn found Edna at the entrance to the caves, busily employed in +filling one of the Rackbirds' boxes with ship-biscuit. + +"Miss Markham," said he, "I wish to have a little business talk with you +before I leave. Where is Ralph?" + +"He is down at the boat," she answered. + +"Very good," said he. "Will you step this way?" + +When they were seated together in the shade of some rocks, he stated to +Edna what he had planned in case he should lose his life in his intended +expedition, and showed her the will he had made, and also the directions +for herself and Mrs. Cliff. Edna listened very attentively, occasionally +asking for an explanation, but offering no opinion. When he had finished, +she was about to say something, but he interrupted her. + +"Of course, I want to know your opinion about all this," he said, "but +not yet. I have more to say. There has been a business plan proposed +by two members of our party which concerns me, and when anything is +told concerning me, I want to know how it is told, or, if possible, +tell it myself." + +And then, as concisely as possible, he related to her Maka's anxiety in +regard to the boss question, and his method of disposing of the +difficulty, and afterwards Mrs. Cliff's anxiety about the property, in +case of accident to himself, and her method of meeting the contingency. + +During this recital Edna Markham said not one word. To portions of the +narrative she listened with an eager interest; then her expression +became hard, almost stern; and finally her cheeks grew red, but +whether with anger or some other emotion the captain did not know. +When he had finished, she looked steadily at him for a few moments, +and then she said: + +"Captain Horn, what you have told me are the plans and opinions of +others. It seems to me that you are now called upon to say something for +yourself." + +"I am quite ready to do that," he answered. "A half-hour ago I had never +thought of such a scheme as I have laid before you. When I heard it, I +considered it absurd, and mentioned it to you only because I was afraid I +would be misrepresented. But since putting the matter to you, even while +I have been just now talking, I have grown to be entirely in favor of it. +But I want you to thoroughly understand my views on the subject. If this +marriage is to be performed, it will be strictly a business affair, +entered into for the purpose of securing to you and others a fortune, +large or small, which, without this marriage, might be taken from you. In +other words," said he, "you are to be looked upon in this affair in the +light of my prospective widow." + +For a moment the flush on the face of the young woman faded away, but it +quickly returned. Apparently involuntarily, she rose to her feet. Turning +to the captain, who also rose, she said: + +"But there is another way in which the affair would have to be looked at. +Suppose I should not become your widow? Suppose you should not be lost at +sea, and should come back safely?" + +The captain drew a deep breath, and folded his arms upon his chest. "Miss +Markham," said he, "if this marriage should take place, it would be +entirely different from other marriages. If I should not return, and it +should be considered legal, it may make you all rich and happy. If it +should not hold good, we can only think we have done our best. But as to +anything beyond this, or to any question of my return, or any other +question in connection with the matter, our minds should be shut and +locked. This matter is a business proposition, and as such I lay it +before you. If we adopt it, we do so for certain reasons, and beyond +those reasons neither of us is qualified to go. We should keep our eyes +fixed upon the main point, and think of nothing else." + +"Something else must be looked at," said Edna. "It is just as likely that +you will come back as that you will be lost at sea." + +"This plan is based entirely on the latter supposition," replied the +captain. "It has nothing to do with the other. If we consider it at all, +we must consider it in that light." + +"But we must consider it in the other light," she said. She was now quite +pale, and her face had a certain sternness about it. + +"I positively refuse to do that," he said. "I will not think about it, +or say one word about it. I will not even refer to any future settlement +of that question. The plan I present rests entirely upon my non-return." + +"But if you do return?" persisted Edna. + +The captain smiled and shook his head. "You must excuse me," he said, +"but I can say nothing about that." + +She looked steadily at him for a few moments, and then she said: "Very +well, we will say nothing about it. As to the plan which has been +devised to give us, in case of accident to you, a sound claim to the +treasure which has been found here, and to a part of which I consider I +have a right, I consent to it. I do this believing that I should share +in the wonderful treasures in that cave. I have formed prospects for my +future which would make my life a thousand times better worth living +than I ever supposed it would be, and I do not wish to interfere with +those prospects. I want them to become realities. Therefore, I consent +to your proposition, and I will marry you upon a business basis, before +you leave." + +"Your hand upon it," said the captain; and she gave him a hand so cold +that it chilled his own. "Now I will go talk to Maka and Cheditafa," he +said. "Of course, we understand that it may be of no advantage to have +this coal-black heathen act as officiating clergyman, but it can do no +harm, and we must take the chances. I have a good deal to do, and no time +to lose if I am to get away on the flood-tide this afternoon. Will it +suit you if I get everything ready to start, and we then have the +ceremony?" + +"Oh, certainly," replied Edna. "Any spare moment will suit me." + +When he had gone, Edna Markham sat down on the rock again. With her hands +clasped in her lap, she gazed at the sand at her feet. + +"Without a minute to think of it," she said to herself, +presently,--"without any consideration at all. And now it is done! It +was not like me. I do not know myself. But yes!" she exclaimed, speaking +so that any one near might have heard her, "I do know myself. I said it +because I was afraid, if I did not say it then, I should never be able +to say it." + +If Captain Horn could have seen her then, a misty light, which no man can +mistake, shining in her eyes as she gazed out over everything into +nothing, he might not have been able to confine his proposition to a +strictly business basis. + +She sat a little longer, and then she hurried away to finish the work on +which she had been engaged; but when Mrs. Cliff came to look for her, she +did not find her packing provisions for the captain's cruise, but sitting +alone in one of the inner caves. + +"What, crying!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "Now, let me tell you, my dear +child, I do not feel in the least like crying. The captain has told me +that everything is all right between you, and the more I think of it, the +more firmly I believe that it is the grandest thing that could have +happened. For some reason or other, and I am sure I cannot tell you why, +I do not believe at all that the captain is going to be shipwrecked in +that little boat. Before this I felt sure we should never see him again, +but now I haven't a doubt that he will get somewhere all right, and that +he will come back all right, and if he does it will be a grand match. +Why, Edna child, if Captain Horn never gets away with a stick of that +gold, it will be a most excellent match. Now, I believe in my heart," she +continued, sitting down by Edna, "that when you accepted Captain Horn you +expected him to come back. Tell me isn't that true?" + +At that instant Miss Markham gave a little start. "Mrs. Cliff," she +exclaimed, "there is Ralph calling me. Won't you go and tell him all +about it? Hurry, before he comes in here." + +When Ralph Markham heard what had happened while he was down at the +beach, he grew so furiously angry that he could not find words in which +to express himself. + +"That Captain Horn," he cried, when speech came to him, "is the most +despotic tyrant on the face of the earth! He tells people what they are +to do, and they simply go and do it. The next thing he will do is to tell +you to adopt me as a son. Marry Edna! My sister! And I not know it! And +she, just because he asks her, must go and marry him. Well, that is just +like a woman." + +With savage strides he was about marching back to the beach, when Mrs. +Cliff stopped him. + +"Now, don't make everybody unhappy, Ralph," she said, "but just listen to +me. I want to tell you all about this matter." + +It took about a quarter of an hour to make clear to the ruffled mind of +Ralph the powerful, and in Mrs. Cliffs eyes the imperative, reasons for +the sudden and unpremeditated matrimonial arrangements of the morning. +But before she had finished, the boy grew quieter, and there appeared +upon his face some expressions of astute sagacity. + +"Well," said he, "when you first put this business to me, it was tail +side up, but now you've got heads up it looks a little different. He will +be drowned, as like as not, and then I suppose we can call our souls our +own, and if, besides that, we can call a lot of those chunks of gold our +own, we ought not to grumble. All right. I won't forbid the banns. But, +between you and me, I think the whole thing is stuff and nonsense. What +ought I to call him? Brother Horn?" + +"Now, don't say anything like that, Ralph," urged Mrs. Cliff, "and don't +make yourself disagreeable in any way. This is a very serious time for +all of us, and I am sure that you will not do anything which will hurt +your sister's feelings." + +"Oh, don't be afraid," said Ralph. "I'm not going to hurt anybody's +feelings. But when I first meet that man, I hope I may be able to keep +him from knowing what I think of him." + +Five minutes later Ralph heard the voice of Captain Horn calling him. The +voice came from the opening in the caves, and instantly Ralph turned and +walked toward the beach. Again came the voice, louder than before: +"Ralph, I want you." The boy stopped, put his hands in his pockets, and +shrugged his shoulders, then he slowly turned. + +"If I were bigger," he said to himself, "I'd thrash him on the spot. Then +I'd feel easier in my mind, and things could go on as they pleased. But +as I am not six feet high yet, I suppose I might as well go to see what +he wants." + +"Ralph," said the captain, as soon as the boy reached him, "I see Mrs. +Cliff has been speaking to you, and so you know about the arrangements +that have been made. But I have a great deal to do before I can start, +and I want you to help me. I am now going to the mound in the cave to get +out some of that gold, and I don't want anybody but you to go with me. I +have just sent all the negroes down to the beach to carry things to the +boat, and we must be quick about our business. You take this leather bag. +It is Mrs. Cliff's, but I think it is strong enough. The lantern is +lighted, so come on." + +To dive into a treasure mound Ralph would have followed a much more +ruthless tyrant than Captain Horn, and although he made no remarks, he +went willingly enough. When they had climbed the mound, and the captain +had lifted the stone from the opening in the top, Ralph held the lantern +while the captain, reaching down into the interior, set himself to work +to fill the bag with the golden ingots. As the boy gazed down upon the +mass of dull gold, his heart swelled within him. His feeling of +indignant resentment began to disappear rapidly before the growing +consciousness that he was to be the brother-in-law of the owner of all +that wealth. As soon as the bag was filled, the stone was replaced, and +the two descended from the mound, the captain carefully holding the +heavy bag under his arm, for he feared the weight might break the +handle. Then, extinguishing the lantern as soon as they could see their +way without it, they reached the innermost cave before any of the +negroes returned. Neither Mrs. Cliff nor Edna was there, and the +captain placed his burden behind a piece of rock. + +"Captain," said the boy, his eyes glistening, "there must be a fortune in +that bag!" + +The captain laughed. "Oh, no," said he, "not a very large one. I have had +a good deal of experience with gold in California, and I suppose each one +of those little bars is worth from two hundred and fifty to three hundred +dollars." What we have represents a good deal of money. But now, Ralph, I +have something very important to say to you. I am going to appoint you +sole guardian and keeper of that treasure. You are very young to have +such a responsibility put upon you, but I know you will feel the +importance of your duty, and that you will not be forgetful or negligent +about it. The main thing is to keep those two negroes, and anybody who +may happen to come here, away from the mound. Do what you can to prevent +any one exploring the cave, and don't let the negroes go there for water. +They now know the way over the rocks to the stream. + +"If I should not come back, or a ship should come along and take you off +before I return, you must all be as watchful as cats about that gold. +Don't let anybody see a piece of it. You three must carry away with you +as much as you can, but don't let any one know you are taking it. Of +course, I expect to come back and attend to the whole business, but if I +should not be heard from for a long time,--and if that is the case, you +may be sure I am lost,--and you should get away, I will trust to your +sister and you to get up an expedition to come back for it." + +Ralph drew himself up as high as circumstances would permit. "Captain," +said he, "you may count on me. I'll keep an eye on those black fellows, +and on anybody else who may come here." + +"Very good," said the captain. "I am sure you will never forget that you +are the guardian of all our fortunes." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"A FINE THING, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS" + + +After the noonday meal, on the day of Captain Horn's departure, Mrs. +Cliff went apart with Maka and Cheditafa, and there endeavored to find +out, as best she might, the ideas and methods of the latter in regard to +the matrimonial service. In spite of the combined efforts of the two, +with their limited command of English, to make her understand how these +things were done in the forests and wilds of the Dark Continent, she +could not decide whether the forms of the Episcopal Church, those of the +Baptists, or those of the Quakers, could be more easily assimilated with +the previous notions of Cheditafa on the subject. But having been married +herself, she thought she knew very well what was needed, and so, without +endeavoring to persuade the negro priest that his opinions regarding the +marriage rites were all wrong, or to make him understand what sort of a +wedding she would have had if they had all been in their own land, she +endeavored to impress upon his mind the forms and phrases of a very +simple ceremony, which she believed would embody all that was necessary. + +Cheditafa was a man of considerable intelligence, and the feeling that +he was about to perform such an important ceremony for the benefit of +such a great man as Captain Horn filled his soul with pride and a strong +desire to acquit himself creditably in this honorable function, and he +was able before very long to satisfy Mrs. Cliff that, with Maka's +assistance as prompting clerk, he might be trusted to go through the +ceremony without serious mistake. + +She was strongly of the opinion that if she conducted the marriage +ceremony it would be far better in every way than such a performance by a +coal-black heathen; but as she knew that her offices would not count for +anything in a civilized world, whereas the heathen ministry might be +considered satisfactory, she accepted the situation, and kept her +opinions to herself. + +The wedding took place about six o'clock in the afternoon, on the plateau +in front of the great stone face, at a spot where the projecting rocks +cast a shade upon the heated ground. Cheditafa, attired in the best suit +of clothes which could be made up from contributions from all his +fellow-countrymen present, stood on the edge of the line of shadow, his +hands clasped, his head slightly bowed, his bright eyes glancing from +side to side, and his face filled with an expression of anxiety to +observe everything and make no mistakes. Maka stood near him, and behind +the two, in the brilliant sunlight, were grouped the other negroes, all +very attentive and solemn, looking a little frightened, as if they were +not quite sure that sacrifices were not customary on such occasions. + +Captain Horn stood, tall and erect, his jacket a little torn, but with an +air of earnest dignity upon his handsome, sunburnt features, which, with +his full dark beard and rather long hair, gave him the appearance of an +old-time chieftain about to embark upon some momentous enterprise. By his +side was Edna Markham, pale, and dressed in the simple gown in which she +had left the ship, but as beautiful, in the eyes of Mrs. Cliff, as if she +had been arrayed in orange-blossoms and white satin. + +[Illustration: Reverently the two answered the simple questions which +were put to them.] + +Reverently the two answered the simple questions which were put to them, +and made the necessary promises, and slowly and carefully, and in very +good English, Cheditafa pronounced them man and wife. Mrs. Cliff then +produced a marriage certificate, written with a pencil, as nearly as she +could remember, in the words of her own document of that nature, on a +leaf torn from the captain's note-book, and to this she signed +Cheditafa's name, to which the African, under her directions, affixed his +mark. Then Ralph and Mrs. Cliff signed as witnesses, and the certificate +was delivered to Edna. + +"Now," said the captain, "I will go aboard." + +The whole party, Edna and the captain a little in the lead, walked down +to the beach, where the boat lay, ready to be launched. During the short +walk Captain Horn talked rapidly and earnestly to Edna, confining his +remarks, however, to directions and advice as to what should be done +until he returned, or, still more important, as to what should be done if +he did not return at all. + +When they reached the beach, the captain shook hands with Edna, Mrs. +Cliff, and Ralph, and then, turning to Cheditafa, he informed him that +that lady, pointing to Edna, was now the mistress of himself and Mok, and +that every word of command she gave them must be obeyed exactly as if he +had given it to them himself. He was shortly coming back, he said, and +when he saw them again, their reward should depend entirely upon the +reports he should receive of their conduct. + +"But I know," said he, "that you are a good man, and that I can trust +you, and I will hold you responsible for Mok." + +This was the end of the leave-taking. The captain stepped into his boat +and took the oars. Then the four negroes, two on a side, ran out the +little craft as far as possible through the surf, and then, when they had +scrambled on board, the captain pulled out into smooth water. + +Hoisting his little sail, and seating himself in the stern, with the +tiller in his hand, he brought the boat round to the wind. Once he turned +toward shore and waved his hat, and then he sailed away toward the +western sky. + +Mrs. Cliff and Ralph walked together toward the caves, leaving Edna alone +upon the beach. + +"Well," said Ralph, "this is the first wedding I ever saw, but I must say +it is rather different from my idea of that sort of thing. I thought that +people always kissed at such affairs, and there was general jollification +and cake, but this seemed more like a newfangled funeral, with the dear +departed acting as his own Charon and steering himself across the Styx." + +"He might have kissed her," said Mrs. Cliff, thoughtfully. "But you see, +Ralph, everything had to be very different from ordinary weddings. It was +a very peculiar case." + +"I should hope so," said the boy,--"the uncommoner the better. In fact, +I shouldn't call it a wedding at all. It seemed more like taking a first +degree in widowhood." + +"Ralph," said Mrs. Cliff, "that is horrible. Don't you ever say anything +like that again. I hope you are not going to distress your sister with +such remarks." + +"You need not say anything about Edna!" he exclaimed. "I shall not worry +her with any criticisms of the performance. The fact is, she will need +cheering up, and if I can do it I will. She's captain now, and I'll stand +up for her like a good fellow." + +Edna stood on the beach, gazing out on the ocean illuminated by the rays +of the setting sun, keeping her eyes fixed on the captain's boat until it +became a mere speck. Then, when it had vanished entirely among the lights +and shades of the evening sea, she still stood a little while and +watched. Then she turned and slowly walked up to the plateau. Everything +there was just as she had known it for weeks. The great stone face seemed +to smile in the last rays of the setting sun. Mrs. Cliff came to meet +her, her face glowing with smiles, and Ralph threw his arms around her +neck and kissed her, without, however, saying a word about that sort of +thing having been omitted in the ceremony of the afternoon. + +"My dear Edna," exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "from the bottom of my heart I +congratulate you! No matter how we look at it, a rare piece of good +fortune has come to you." + +Edna gazed at her for a moment, and then she answered quietly, "Oh, yes, +it was a fine thing, no matter what happens. If he does not come back, I +shall make a bold stroke for widowhood; and if he does come back, he is +bound, after all this, to give me a good share of that treasure. So, you +see, we have done the best we can do to be rich and happy, if we are not +so unlucky as to perish among these rocks and sand." + +"She is almost as horrible as Ralph," thought Mrs. Cliff, "but she will +get over it." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MRS. CLIFF IS AMAZED + +After the captain set sail in his little boat, the party which he +left behind him lived on in an uneventful, uninteresting manner, +which, gradually, day by day, threw a shadow over the spirits of each +one of them. + +Ralph, who always slept in the outer chamber of the caves, had been a +very faithful guardian of the captain's treasure. No one, not even +himself, had gone near it, and he never went up to the rocky promontory +on which he had raised his signal-pole without knowing that the two +negroes were at a distance from the caves, or within his sight. + +For a day or two after the captain's departure Edna was very quiet, with +a fancy for going off by herself. But she soon threw off this dangerous +disposition, and took up her old profession of teacher, with Ralph as the +scholar, and mathematics as the study. They had no books nor even paper, +but the rules and principles of her specialty were fresh in her mind, and +with a pointed stick on a smooth stretch of sand diagrams were drawn and +problems worked out. + +This occupation was a most excellent thing for Edna and her brother, but +it did not help Mrs. Cliff to endure with patience the weary days of +waiting. She had nothing to read, nothing to do, very often no one to +talk to, and she would probably have fallen into a state of nervous +melancholy had not Edna persuaded her to devote an hour or two each day +to missionary work with Mok and Cheditafa. This Mrs. Cliff cheerfully +undertook. She was a conscientious woman, and her methods of teaching +were peculiar. She had an earnest desire to do the greatest amount of +good with these poor, ignorant negroes, but, at the same time, she did +not wish to do injury to any one else. The conviction forced itself upon +her that if she absolutely converted Cheditafa from the errors of his +native religion, she might in some way invalidate the marriage ceremony +which he had performed. + +"If he should truly come to believe," she said to herself, "that he had +no right to marry the captain and Edna, his conscience might make him +go back on the whole business, and everything that we have done would +be undone. I don't want him to remain a heathen any longer than it can +possibly be helped, but I must be careful not to set his priesthood +entirely aside until Edna's position is fixed and settled. When the +captain comes back, and we all get home, they must be married +regularly; but if he never comes back, then I must try to make +Cheditafa understand that the marriage is just as binding as any other +kind, and that any change of religious opinion that he may undergo will +have no effect upon it." + +Accordingly, while she confined her religious teachings to very general +principles, her moral teachings were founded upon the strictest code, and +included cleanliness and all the household virtues, not excepting the +proper care of such garments as an indigent human being in a tropical +climate might happen to possess. + +In spite, however, of this occupation, Mrs. Cliffs spirits were not +buoyant. "I believe," she thought, "things would have been more cheerful +if they had not married; but then, of course, we ought to be willing to +sacrifice cheerfulness at present to future prosperity." + +It was more than a month after the departure of the captain that Ralph, +from his point of observation, perceived a sail upon the horizon. He had +seen sails there before, but they never grew any larger, and generally +soon disappeared, for it would lengthen the course of any +coasting-vessel to approach this shore. But the sail that Ralph saw now +grew larger and larger, and, with the aid of his little spy-glass, it +was not long before he made up his mind that it was coming toward him. +Then up went his signal-flag, and, with a loud hurrah, down went he to +shout out the glad news. + +Twenty minutes later it was evident to the anxiously peering eyes of +every one of the party that the ship was actually approaching the shore, +and in the heart of each one of them there was a bounding delight in the +feeling that, after all these days of weary waiting, the captain was +coming back. + +As the ship drew nearer and nearer, she showed herself to be a large +vessel--a handsome bark. About half a mile from the shore, she lay to, +and very soon a boat was lowered. + +Edna's heart beat rapidly and her face flushed as, with Ralph's +spy-glass to her eyes, she scanned the people in the boat as it pulled +away from the ship. + +"Can you make out the captain?" cried Ralph, at her side. + +She shook her head, and handed him the glass. For full five minutes the +boy peered through it, and then he lowered the glass. + +"Edna," said he, "he isn't in it." + +"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "do you mean to say that the captain is not +in that boat?" + +"I am sure of it," said Ralph. "And if he isn't in the boat, of course he +is not on the ship. Perhaps he did not have anything to do with that +vessel's coming here. It may have been tacking in this direction, and so +come near enough for people to see my signal." + +"Don't suppose things," said Edna, a little sharply. "Wait until the boat +comes in, and then we will know all about it.--Here, Cheditafa," said +she, "you and Mok go out into the water and help run that boat ashore as +soon as it is near enough." + +It was a large boat containing five men, and when it had been run up on +the sand, and its occupants had stepped out, the man at the tiller, who +proved to be the second mate of the bark, came forward and touched his +hat. As he did so, no sensible person could have imagined that he had +accidentally discovered them. His manner plainly showed that he had +expected to find them there. The conviction that this was so made the +blood run cold in Edna's veins. Why had not the captain come himself? + +The man in command of the boat advanced toward the two ladies, looking +from one to the other as he did so. Then, taking a letter from the +pocket of his jacket, he presented it to Edna. + +"Mrs. Horn, I believe," he said. "Here is a letter from your husband." + +Now, it so happened that to Mrs. Cliff, to Edna, and to Ralph this +recognition of matrimonial status seemed to possess more force and value +than the marriage ceremony itself. + +Edna's face grew as red as roses as she took the letter. + +"From my husband," she said; and then, without further remark, she +stepped aside to read it. + +But Mrs. Cliff and Ralph could not wait for the reading of the letter. +They closed upon the mate, and, each speaking at the same moment, +demanded of him what had happened to Captain Horn, why he had not come +himself, where he was now, was this ship to take them away, and a dozen +similar questions. The good mariner smiled at their impatience, but could +not wonder at it, and proceeded to tell them all he knew about Captain +Horn and his plans. + +The captain, he said, had arrived at Callao some time since, and +immediately endeavored to get a vessel in which to go after the party +he had left, but was unable to do so. There was nothing in port which +answered his purpose. The captain seemed to be very particular about +the craft in which he would be willing to trust his wife and the rest +of the party. + +"And after having seen Mrs. Horn," the mate politely added, "and you two, +I don't wonder he was particular. When Captain Horn found that the bark +out there, the Mary Bartlett, would sail in a week for Acapulco, Mexico, +he induced the agents of the company owning her to allow her to stop to +take off the shipwrecked party and carry them to that port, from which +they could easily get to the United States." + +"But why, in the name of common sense," almost screamed Mrs. Cliff, +"didn't he come himself? Why should he stay behind, and send a ship to +take us off?" + +"That, madam," said the mate, "I do not know. I have met Captain Horn +before, for he is well known on this coast, and I know he is a man who +understands how to attend to his own business, and, therefore, I suppose +he has good reasons for what he has done--which reasons, no doubt, he has +mentioned in his letter to his wife. All I can tell you is that, after he +had had a good deal of trouble with the agents, we were at last ordered +to touch here. He could not give us the exact latitude and longitude of +this spot, but as his boat kept on a straight westward course after he +left here, he got a good idea of the latitude from the Mexican brig which +he boarded three days afterwards. Then he gave us a plan of the coast, +which helped us very much, and soon after we got within sight of land, +our lookout spied that signal you put up. So here we are; and I have +orders to take you all off just as soon as possible, for we must not lie +here a minute longer than is necessary. I do not suppose that, under the +circumstances, you have much baggage to take away with you, and I shall +have to ask you to get ready to leave as soon as you can." + +"All right," cried Ralph. "It won't take us long to get ready." + +But Mrs. Cliff answered never a word. In fact, the injunction to +prepare to leave had fallen unheeded upon her ear. Her mind was +completely occupied entirely with one question: Why did not the captain +come himself? + +She hastened to Edna, who had finished reading the letter, and now stood +silent, holding it in her hand. + +"What does he say?" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "What are his reasons for +staying away? What does he tell you about his plans? Read us the letter. +You can leave out all the loving and confidential parts, but give us his +explanations. I never was so anxious to know anything in all my life." + +"I will read you the whole of it," said Edna. "Here, Ralph." + +Her brother came running up. "That man is in an awful hurry to get away," +he said. "We ought to go up to the caves and get our things." + +"Stay just where you are," said Mrs. Cliff. "Before we do anything +else, we must know what Captain Horn intends to do, and what he wants +us to do." + +"That's so!" cried Ralph, suddenly remembering his guardianship. "We +ought to know what he says about leaving that mound. Read away, Edna." + +The three stood at some little distance from the sailors, who were now +talking with Cheditafa, and Edna read the letter aloud: + +"Lima, May 14, 1884. + +"MY DEAR WIFE: I reached this city about ten days ago. When I left you +all I did not sail down the coast, but stood directly out to sea. My +object was to reach a shipping-port, and to do this my best plan was to +get into the track of coasting-vessels. This plan worked well, and in +three days we were picked up by a Mexican guano brig, and were taken to +Callao, which is the port of Lima. We all arrived in good health and +condition. + +"This letter will be brought to you by the bark Mary Bartlett, which +vessel I have engaged to stop for you, and take you and the whole party +to Acapulco, which is the port of the City of Mexico, from which place I +advise you to go as soon as possible to San Francisco. I have paid the +passage of all of you to Acapulco, and I inclose a draft for one thousand +dollars for your expenses. I would advise you to go to the Palmetto +Hotel, which is a good family house, and I will write to you there and +send another draft. In fact, I expect you will find my letter when you +arrive, for the mail-steamer will probably reach San Francisco before you +do. Please write to me as soon as you get there, and address me here, +care of Nasco, Parmley & Co." + +An exclamation of impatience here escaped from Mrs. Cliff. In her +opinion, the reasons for the non-appearance of the captain should, have +been the first thing in the letter. + +"When I reached Lima, which is six miles from Callao," the letter +continued, "I disposed of some of the property I brought with me, and +expect to sell it all before long. Being known as a Californian, I find +no difficulty in disposing of my property, which is in demand here, and +in a very short time I shall have turned the whole of it into drafts or +cash. There is a vessel expected here shortly which I shall be able to +charter, and as soon as I can do so I shall sail in her to attend to the +disposition of the rest of my property. I shall write as frequently as +possible, and keep you informed of my operations. + +"Of course, you understand that I could not go on the Mary Bartlett to +join you and accompany you to Acapulco, for that would have involved too +great a loss of time. My business must be attended to without delay, and +I can get the vessel I want here. + +"The people of the _Mary Bartlett_ will not want to wait any longer than +can be helped, so you would all better get your baggage together as soon +as possible and go on board. The two negroes will bring down your +baggage, so there will be no need for any of the sailors to go up to the +caves. Tell Ralph not to forget the charge I gave him if they do go up. +When you have taken away your clothes, you can leave just as they are the +cooking-utensils, the blankets, and _everything else._ I will write to +you much more fully by mail. Cannot do so now. I hope you may all have a +quick and safe voyage, and that I may hear from you immediately after you +reach Acapulco. I hope most earnestly that you have all kept well, and +that no misfortune has happened to any of you. I shall wait with anxiety +your letter from Acapulco. Let Ralph write and make his report. I will +ask you to stay in San Francisco until more letters have passed and plans +are arranged. Until further notice, please give Mrs. Cliff one fourth of +all moneys I send. I cannot insist, of course, upon her staying in San +Francisco, but I would advise her to do so until things are more settled. + +"In haste, your husband, + +"Philip Horn." + +"Upon my word!" ejaculated Mrs. Cliff, "a most remarkable letter! It +might have been written to a clerk! No one would suppose it the first +letter of a man to his bride! Excuse me, Edna, for speaking so plainly, +but I must say I am shocked. He is very particular to call you his wife +and say he is your husband, and in that way he makes the letter a +valuable piece of testimony if he never turns up, but--well, no matter." + +"He is mighty careful," said Ralph, "not to say anything about the gold. +He speaks of his property as if it might be Panama stock or something +like that. He is awfully wary." + +"You see," said Edna, speaking in a low voice, "this letter was sent by +private hands, and by people who were coming to the spot where his +property is, and, of course, it would not do to say anything that would +give any hint of the treasure here. When he writes by mail, he can speak +more plainly." + +"I hope he may speak more plainly in another way," said Mrs. Cliff. "And +now let us go up and get our things together. I am a good deal more +amazed by the letter than I was by the ship." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +LEFT BEHIND + + +"Ralph," said Edna, as they were hurrying up to the caves, "you must do +everything you can to keep those sailors from wandering into the lake +basin. They are very different from the negroes, and will want to explore +every part of it." + +"Oh, I have thought of all that," said Ralph, "and I am now going to run +ahead and smash the lantern. They won't be so likely to go poking around +in the dark." + +"But they may have candles or matches," said Edna. "We must try to keep +them out of the big cave." + +Ralph did not stop to answer, but ran as fast as his legs would carry him +to the plateau. The rest of the party followed, Edna first, then the +negroes, and after them Mrs. Cliff, who could not imagine why Edna should +be in such a hurry. The sailors, having secured their boat, came +straggling after the rest. + +When Edna reached the entrance to the caves, she was met by her brother, +so much out of breath that he could hardly speak. + +"You needn't go to your room to get your things," he exclaimed. "I have +gathered them all up, your bag, too, and I have tumbled them over the +wall in the entrance back here. You must get over as quick as you can. +That will be your room now, and I will tell the sailors, if they go +poking around, that you are in there getting ready to leave, and then, of +course, they can't pass along the passage." + +"That is a fine idea," said Edna, as she followed him. "You are getting +very sharp-witted, Ralph." + +"Now, then," said he, as he helped her over the wall, "take just as long +as you can to get your things ready." + +"It can't take me very long," said Edna. "I have no clothes to change, +and only a few things to put in my bag. I don't believe you have got them +all, anyway." + +"But you must make it take a long time," said he. "You must not get +through until every sailor has gone. You and I must be the last ones to +leave the caves." + +"All right," said Edna, as she disappeared behind the wall. + +When Mrs. Cliff arrived, she was met by Ralph, who explained the state of +affairs, and although that lady was a good deal annoyed at the scattered +condition in which she found her effects, she accepted the situation. + +The mate and his men were much interested in the caves and the great +stone face, and, as might have been expected, every one of them wanted to +know where the narrow passage led. But as Ralph was on hand to inform +them that it was the entrance to Mrs. Horn's apartment, they could do no +more than look along its dusky length, and perhaps wonder why Mrs. Horn +should have selected a cave which must be dark, when there were others +which were well lighted. + +Mrs. Cliff was soon ready, and explained to the inquiring mate her +notion that these caves were used for religious purposes, and that +the stone face was an ancient idol. In fact, the good lady believed +this, but she did not state that she thought it likely that the +sculptured countenance was a sort of a cashier idol, whose duty it +was to protect treasure. + +Edna, behind the stone barrier, had put her things in her bag, though she +was not sure she had found all of them in the gloom, and she waited a +long time, so it seemed to her, for Ralph's summons to come forth. But +although the boy came to the wall several times, ostensibly to ask if she +were not ready, yet he really told her to stay where she was, for the +sailors were not yet gone. But at last he came with the welcome news that +every one had departed, and they soon came out into the daylight. + +"If anything is lost, charge it to me," said Ralph to Mrs. Cliff and his +sister, as they hurried away. "I can tell you, if I had not thought of +that way of keeping those sailors out of the passage, they would have +swarmed over that lake bed, each one of them with a box of matches in his +pocket; and if they had found that mound, I wouldn't give two cents for +the gold they would have left in it. It wouldn't have been of any use to +tell them it was the captain's property. They would have been there, and +he wasn't, and I expect the mate would have been as bad as any of them." + +"You are a good fellow, Ralph," said Mrs. Cliff, "and I hope you will +grow up to be an administrator, or something of the kind. I don't +suppose there was ever another boy in the world who had so much wealth +in charge." + +"You can't imagine," exclaimed Ralph, "how I hate to go away and leave +it! There is no knowing when the captain will get here, nor who will drop +in on the place before he does. I tell you, Edna, I believe it would be a +good plan for me to stay here with those two black fellows, and wait for +the captain. You two could go on the ship, and write to him. I am sure he +would be glad to know I am keeping guard here, and I don't know any +better fun than to be on hand when he unearths the treasure. There's no +knowing what is at the bottom of that mound." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Edna. "You can put that idea out of your head +instantly. I would not think of going away and leaving you here. If the +captain had wanted you to stay, he would have said so." + +"If the captain wanted!" sarcastically exclaimed Ralph. "I am tired of +hearing what the captain wants. I hope the time will soon come when those +yellow bars of gold will be divided up, and then I can do what I like +without considering what he likes." + +Mrs. Cliff could not help a sigh. "Dear me!" said she, "I do most +earnestly hope that time may come. But we are leaving it all behind us, +and whether we will ever hear of it again nobody knows." + +One hour after this Edna and Mrs. Cliff were standing on the deck of the +Mary Bartlett, watching the plateau of the great stone face as it slowly +sank into the horizon. + +"Edna," said the elder lady, "I have liked you ever since I have known +you, and I expect to like you as long as I live, but I must say that, for +an intelligent person, you have the most colorless character I have ever +seen. Whatever comes to pass, you receive it as quietly and calmly as if +it were just what you expected and what you happened to want, and yet, as +long as I have known you, you have not had anything you wanted." + +"You are mistaken there," said Edna. "I have got something I want." + +"And what may that be?" asked the other. + +"Captain Horn," said Edna. + +Mrs. Cliff laughed a little scornfully. "If you are ever going to get any +color out of your possession of him," she said, "he's got to very much +change the style of his letter-writing. He has given you his name and +some of his money, and may give you more, but I must say I am very much +disappointed in Captain Horn." + +Edna turned suddenly upon her companion. "Color!" she exclaimed, but she +did not finish her remark, for Ralph came running aft. + +"A queer thing has happened," said he: "a sailor is missing, and he is +one of the men who went on shore for us. They don't know what's become of +him, for the mate is sure he brought all his men back with him, and so am +I, for I counted them to see that there were no stragglers left, and all +the people who were in that boat came on board. They think he may have +fallen overboard after the ship sailed, but nobody heard a splash." + +"Poor fellow!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "and he was one of those who came +to save us!" + +At this moment a wet and bedraggled sailor, almost exhausted with a swim +of nearly a mile, staggered upon the beach, and fell down upon the sand +near the spot from which the Mary Bartlett's boat had recently been +pushed off. When, an hour before, he had slipped down the side of the +ship, he had swum under water as long as his breath held out, and had +dived again as soon as he had filled his lungs. Then he had floated on +his back, paddling along with little but his face above the surface of +the waves, until he had thought it safe to turn over and strike out for +land. It had been a long pull, and the surf had treated him badly, but he +was safe on shore at last, and in a few minutes he was sound asleep, +stretched upon the sand. + +Toward the end of the afternoon he awoke and rose to his feet. The warm +sand, the desiccating air, and the sun had dried his clothes, and his nap +had refreshed him. He was a sharp-faced, quick-eyed man, a Scotchman, and +the first thing he did was to shade his face with his hands and look out +over the sea. Then he turned, with a shrug of his shoulders and a grunt. + +"She's gone," said he, "and I will be up to them caves." After a dozen +steps he gave another shrug. "Humph!" said he, "those fools! Do they +think everybody is blind? They left victuals, they left cooking-things. +Blasted careful they were to leave matches and candles in a tin box. I +watched them. If everybody else was blind, I kenned they expected +somebody was comin' back. That captain, that blasted captain, I'll wager! +Wi' sae much business on his hands, he couldna sail wi' us to show us +where his wife was stranded!" + +For fifty yards more he plodded along, looking from side to side at the +rocks and sand. + +"A dreary place and lonely," thought he, "and I can peer out things at me +ease. I'll find out what's at the end o' that dark alley. They were so +fearsome that we'd go into her room. Her room, indeed! When the other +woman had a big lighted cave! They expected somebody to come back, did +they? Well, blast their eyes, he's here!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +AT THE RACKBIRDS' COVE + + +It was about six weeks after the _Mary Bartlett_ had sailed away from +that desolate spot on the coast of Peru from which she had taken the +shipwrecked party, that the great stone face might have seen, if its +wide-open eyes had been capable of vision, a small schooner beating in +toward shore. This vessel, which was manned by a Chilian captain, a +mate, and four men, and was a somewhat dirty and altogether disagreeable +craft, carried Captain Horn, his four negroes, and three hundred and +thirty bags of guano. + +In good truth the captain was coming back to get the gold, or as much of +it as he could take away with him. But his apparent purpose was to +establish on this desert coast a depot for which he would have nothing to +pay for rent and storage, and where he would be able to deposit, from +time to time, such guano as he had been able to purchase at a bargain at +two of the guano islands, until he should have enough to make it worth +while for a large vessel, trading with the United States or Mexico, to +touch here and take on board his accumulated stock of odorous +merchandise. + +It would be difficult--in fact, almost impossible--to land a cargo at +the point near the caves where the captain and his party first ran their +boats ashore, nor did the captain in the least desire to establish his +depot at a point so dangerously near the golden object of his +undertaking. But the little bay which had been the harbor of the +Rackbirds exactly suited his purpose, and here it was that he intended to +land his bags of guano. He had brought with him on the vessel suitable +timber with which to build a small pier, and he carried also a lighter, +or a big scow, in which the cargo would be conveyed from the anchored +schooner to the pier. + +It seemed quite evident that the captain intended to establish himself in +a somewhat permanent manner as a trader in guano. He had a small tent and +a good stock of provisions, and, from the way he went to work and set his +men to work, it was easy to see that he had thoroughly planned and +arranged all the details of his enterprise. + +It was nearly dark when the schooner dropped her anchor, and early the +next morning all available hands were set to work to build the pier, and, +when it was finished, the landing of the cargo was immediately begun. +Some of the sailors wandered about a little, when they had odd moments to +spare, but they had seen such dreary coasts before, and would rather rest +than ramble. But wherever they did happen to go, not one of them ever got +away from the eye of Captain Horn. + +The negroes evinced no desire to visit the cave, and Maka had been +ordered by the captain to say nothing about it to the sailors. There was +no difficulty in obeying this order, for these rough fellows, as much +landsmen as mariners, had a great contempt for the black men, and had +little to do with them. As Captain Horn informed Maka, he had heard from +his friends, who had arrived in safety at Acapulco; therefore there was +no need for wasting time in visiting their old habitation. + +In that dry and rainless region a roof to cover the captain's stock in +trade was not necessary, and the bags were placed upon a level spot on +the sands, in long double rows, each bag on end, gently leaning +against its opposite neighbor, and between the double rows there was +room to walk. + +The Chilian captain was greatly pleased with this arrangement. "I see +well," said he, in bad Spanish, "that this business is not new to you. A +ship's crew can land and carry away these bags without tumbling over each +other. It is a grand thing to have a storehouse with a floor as wide as +many acres." + +A portion of the bags, however, were arranged in a different manner. They +were placed in a circle two bags deep, inclosing a space about ten feet +in diameter. This, Captain Horn explained, he intended as a sort of +little fort, in which the man left in charge could defend himself and the +property, in case marauders should land upon the coast. + +"You don't intend," exclaimed the Chilian captain, "that you will leave a +guard here! Nobody would have cause to come near the spot from either +land or sea, and you might well leave your guano here for a year or more, +and come back and find it." + +"No," said Captain Horn, "I can't trust to that. A coasting-vessel might +put in here for water. Some of them may know that there is a stream +here, and with this convenient pier, and a cargo ready to their hands, my +guano would be in danger. No, sir. I intend to send you off to-morrow, if +the wind is favorable, for the second cargo for which we have contracted, +and I shall stay here and guard my warehouse." + +"What!" exclaimed the Chilian, "alone?" + +"Why not?" said Captain Horn. "Our force is small, and we can only spare +one man. In loading the schooner on this trip, I would be the least +useful man on board, and, besides, do you think there is any one among +you who would volunteer to stay here instead of me?" + +The Chilian laughed and shook his head. "But what can one man do," said +he, "to defend all this, if there should be need?" + +"Oh, I don't intend to defend it," said the other. "The point is to have +somebody here to claim it in case a coaster should touch here. I don't +expect to be murdered for the sake of a lot of guano. But I shall keep my +two rifles and other arms inside that little fort, and if I should see +any signs of rascality I shall jump inside and talk over the guano-bags, +and I am a good shot." + +The Chilian shrugged his shoulders. "If I stayed here alone," said he, "I +should be afraid of nothing but the devil, and I am sure he would come to +me, with all his angels. But you are different from me." + +"Yes," said Captain Horn, "I don't mind the devil. I have often camped +out by myself, and I have not seen him yet." + +When Maka heard that the captain intended staying alone, he was greatly +disturbed. If the captain had not built the little fort with the +guano-bags, he would have begged to be allowed to remain with him, but +those defensive works had greatly alarmed him, for they made him believe +that the captain feared that some of the Rackbirds might come back. He +had had a great deal of talk with the other negroes about those bandits, +and he was fully impressed with their capacity for atrocity. It grieved +his soul to think that the captain would stay here alone, but the captain +was a man who could defend himself against half a dozen Rackbirds, while +he knew very well that he would not be a match for half a one. With tears +in his eyes, he begged Captain Horn not to stay, for Rackbirds would not +steal guano, even if any of them should return. + +But his entreaties were of no avail. Captain Horn explained the matter to +him, and tried to make him understand that it was as a claimant, more +than as a defender of his property, that he remained, and that there was +not the smallest reason to suspect any Rackbirds or other source of +danger. The negro saw that the captain had made up his mind, and +mournfully joined his fellows. In half an hour, however, he came back to +the captain and offered to stay with him until the schooner should +return. If Captain Horn had known the terrible mental struggle which had +preceded this offer, he would have been more grateful to Maka than he had +ever yet been to any human being, but he did not know it, and declined +the proposition pleasantly but firmly. + +"You are wanted on the schooner," said he, "for none of the rest can +cook, and you are not wanted here, so you must go with the others; and +when you come back with the second load of guano, it will not be long +before the ship which I have engaged to take away the guano will touch +here, and then we will all go north together." + +Maka smiled, and tried to be satisfied. He and the other negroes had been +greatly grieved that the captain had not seen fit to go north from +Callao, and take them with him. Their one desire was to get away from +this region, so full of horrors to them, as soon as possible. But they +had come to the conclusion that, as the captain had lost his ship, he +must be poor, and that it was necessary for him to make a little money +before he returned to the land of his home. + +Fortune was on the captain's side the next day, for the wind was +favorable, and the captain of the schooner was very willing to start. If +that crew, with nothing to do, had been compelled by adverse weather to +remain in that little cove for a day or more, it might have been very +difficult indeed for Captain Horn to prevent them from wandering into the +surrounding country, and what might have happened had they chanced to +wander into the cave made the captain shudder to conjecture. + +He had carefully considered this danger, and on the voyage he had made +several plans by which he could keep the men at work, in case they were +obliged to remain in the cove after the cargo had been landed. Happily, +however, none of these schemes was necessary, and the next day, with a +western wind, and at the beginning of the ebb-tide, the schooner sailed +away for another island where Captain Horn had purchased guano, leaving +him alone upon the sandy beach, apparently as calm and cool as usual, but +actually filled with turbulent delight at seeing them depart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +IN THE GATES + + +When the topmasts of the Chilian schooner had disappeared below the +horizon line, with no reason to suppose that the schooner would put back +again, Captain Horn started for the caves. Had he obeyed his instincts, +he would have begun to stroll along the beach as soon as the vessel had +weighed anchor. But even now, as he hurried on, he walked prudently, +keeping close to the water, so that the surf might wash out his footsteps +as fast as he made them. He climbed over the two ridges to the north of +Rackbirds' Cove, and then made his way along the stretch of sand which +extended to the spot where the party had landed when he first reached +this coast. He stopped and looked about him, and then, in fancy, he saw +Edna standing upon the beach, her face pale, her eyes large and +supernaturally dark, and behind her Mrs. Cliff and the boy and the two +negroes. Not until this moment had he felt that he was alone. But now +there came a great desire to speak and be spoken to, and yet that very +morning he had spoken and listened as much as had suited him. + +As he walked up the rising ground toward the caves, that ground he had +traversed so often when this place had been, to all intents and purposes, +his home, where there had been voices and movement and life, the sense of +desertion grew upon him--not only desertion of the place, but of himself. +When he had opened his eyes, that morning, his overpowering desire had +been that not an hour of daylight should pass before he should be left +alone, and yet now his heart sank at the feeling that he was here and no +one was with him. + +When the captain had approached within a few yards of the great stone +face, his brows were slowly knitted. + +"This is carelessness," he said to himself. "I did not expect it of +them. I told them to leave the utensils, but I did not suppose that +they would leave them outside. No matter how much they were hurried in +going away, they should have put these things into the caves. A passing +Indian might have been afraid to go into that dark hole, but to leave +those tin things there is the same as hanging out a sign to show that +people lived inside." + +Instantly the captain gathered up the tin pan and tin plates, and looked +about him to see if there was anything else which should be put out of +sight. He did find something else. It was a little, short, black, wooden +pipe which was lying on a stone. He picked it up in surprise. Neither +Maka nor Cheditafa smoked, and it could not have belonged to the boy. + +"Perhaps," thought the captain, "one of the sailors from the _Mary +Bartlett_ may have left it. Yes, that must have been the case. But +sailors do not often leave their pipes behind them, nor should the +officer in charge have allowed them to lounge about and smoke. But it +must have been one of those sailors who left it here. I am glad I am the +one to find these things." + +The captain now entered the opening to the caves. Passing along until he +reached the room which he had once occupied, there he saw his rough +pallet on the ground, drawn close to the door, however. + +The captain knew that the rest of his party had gone away in a great +hurry, but to his orderly mariner's mind it seemed strange that they +should have left things in such disorder. + +He could not stop to consider these trifles now, however, and going to +the end of the passage, he climbed over the low wall and entered the cave +of the lake. When he lighted the lantern he had brought with him, he saw +it as he had left it, dry, or even drier than before, for the few pools +which had remained after the main body of water had run off had +disappeared, probably evaporated. He hurried on toward the mound in the +distant recess of the cave. On the way, his foot struck something which +rattled, and holding down his lantern to see what it was, he perceived an +old tin cup. + +"Confound it!" he exclaimed. "This is too careless! Did the boy intend to +make a regular trail from the outside entrance to the mound? I suppose he +brought that cup here to dip up water, and forgot it. I must take it with +me when I go back." + +He went on, throwing the light of the lantern on the ground before him, +for he had now reached a part of the cave which was entirely dark. +Suddenly something on the ground attracted his attention. It was +bright--it shone as if it were a little pale flame of a candle. He +sprang toward it, he picked it up. It was one of the bars of gold he had +seen in the mound. + +"Could I have dropped this?" he ejaculated. He slipped the little bar +into his pocket, and then, his heart beginning to beat rapidly, he +advanced, with his lantern close to the rocky floor. Presently he saw two +other pieces of gold, and then, a little farther on, the end of a candle, +so small that it could scarcely have been held by the fingers. He picked +up this and stared at it. It was a commonplace candle-end, but the sight +of it sent a chill through him from head to foot. It must have been +dropped by some one who could hold it no longer. + +He pressed on, his light still sweeping the floor. He found no more gold +nor pieces of candle, but here and there he perceived the ends of burnt +wooden matches. Going on, he found more matches, two or three with the +heads broken off and unburnt. In a few moments the mound loomed up out of +the darkness like a spectral dome, and, looking no more upon the ground, +the captain ran toward it. By means of the stony projections he quickly +mounted to the top, and there the sight he saw almost made him drop his +lantern. The great lid of the mound had been moved and was now awry, +leaving about one half of the opening exposed. + +In one great gasp the captain's breath seemed to leave him, but he was a +man of strong nerves, and quickly recovered himself; but even then he did +not lift his lantern so that he could look into the interior of the +mound. For a few moments he shut his eyes. He did not dare even to look. +But then his courage came back, and holding his lantern over the opening, +he gazed down into the mound, and it seemed to his rapid glance that +there was as much gold in it as when he last saw it. + +The discovery that the treasure was still there had almost as much effect +upon the captain as if he had found the mound empty. He grew so faint +that he felt he could not maintain his hold upon the top of the mound, +and quickly descended, half sliding, to the bottom. There he sat down, +his lantern by his side. When his strength came back to him,--and he +could not have told any one how long it was before this happened,--the +first thing he did was to feel for his box of matches, and finding them +safe in his waistcoat pocket, he extinguished the lantern. He must not be +discovered, if there should be any one to discover him. + +Now the captain began to think as fiercely and rapidly as a man's mind +could be made to work. Some one had been there. Some one had taken away +gold from that mound--how much or how little, it did not matter. Some one +besides himself had had access to the treasure! + +His suspicions fell upon Ralph, chiefly because his most earnest desire +at that moment was that Ralph might be the offender. If he could have +believed that he would have been happy. It must have been that the boy +was not willing to go away and leave all that gold, feeling that perhaps +he and his sister might never possess any of it, and that just before +leaving he had made a hurried visit to the mound. But the more the +captain thought of this, the less probable it became. He was almost sure +that Ralph could not have lifted that great mass of stone which formed +the lid covering the opening of the mound, for it had required all his +own strength to do it; and then, if anything of this sort had really +happened, the letters he had received from Edna and the boy must have +been most carefully written with the intention to deceive him. + +[Illustration: Holding his lantern over the opening he gazed down into +the mound.] + +The letter from Edna, which in tone and style was a close imitation of +his own to her, had been a strictly business communication. It told +everything which happened after the arrival of the Mary Bartlett, and +gave him no reason to suppose that any one could have had a chance to +pillage the mound. Ralph's letter had been even more definite. It was +constructed like an official report, and when the captain had read it, he +had thought that the boy had probably taken great pride in its +preparation. It was as guardian of the treasure mound that Ralph wrote, +and his remarks were almost entirely confined to this important trust. + +He briefly reported to the captain that, since his departure, no one had +been in the recess of the cave where the mound was situated, and he +described in detail the plan by which he had established Edna behind the +wall in the passage, so as to prevent any of the sailors from the ship +from making explorations. He also stated that everything had been left in +as high a condition of safety as it was possible to leave it, but that, +if his sister had been willing, he would most certainly have remained +behind, with the two negroes, until the captain's return. + +Much as he wished to think otherwise, Captain Horn could not prevail upon +himself to believe that Ralph could have written such a letter after a +dishonorable and reckless visit to the mound. + +It was possible that one or both of the negroes had discovered the +mound, but it was difficult to believe that they would have dared to +venture into that awful cavern, even if the vigilance of Edna, Mrs. +Cliff, and the boy had given them an opportunity, and Edna had written +that the two men had always slept outside the caves, and had had no call +to enter them. Furthermore, if Cheditafa had found the treasure, why +should he keep it a secret? He would most probably have considered it an +original discovery, and would have spoken of it to the others. Why +should he be willing that they should all go away and leave so much +wealth behind them? The chief danger, in case Cheditafa had found the +treasure, was that he would talk about it in Mexico or the United +States. But, in spite of the hazards to which such disclosures might +expose his fortunes, the captain would have preferred that the black men +should have been pilferers than that other men should have been +discoverers. But who else could have discovered it? Who could have been +there? Who could have gone away? + +There was but one reasonable supposition, and that was that one or more +of the Rackbirds, who had been away from their camp at the time when +their fellow-miscreants were swept away by the flood, had come back, and +in searching for their comrades, or some traces of them, had made their +way to the caves. It was quite possible, and further it was quite +probable, that the man or men who had found that mound might still be +here or in the neighborhood. As soon as this idea came into the mind of +the captain, he prepared for action. This was a question which must be +resolved if he could do it, and without loss of time. Lighting his +lantern,--for in that black darkness it was impossible for him to find +his way without it, although it might make him a mark for some concealed +foe,--the captain quickly made his way out of the lake cavern, and, +leaving his lantern near the little wall, he proceeded, with a loaded +pistol in his hand, to make an examination of the caves which he and his +party had occupied. + +He had already looked into the first compartment, but stopping at the +pallet which lay almost at the passage of the doorway, he stood and +regarded it. Then he stepped over it, and looked around the little +room. The pallet of blankets and rugs which Ralph had used was not +there. Then the captain stepped into the next room, and, to his +surprise, he found this as bare of everything as if it had never been +used as a sleeping-apartment. He now hurried back to the first room, +and examined the pallet, which, when he had first been looking at it, +he had thought to be somewhat different from what it had been when he +had used it. He now found that it was composed of all the rugs and +blankets which had previously made up the beds of all the party. The +captain ground his teeth. + +"There can be no doubt of it," he said. "Some one has been here since +they left, and has slept in these caves." + +At this moment he remembered the innermost cave, the large compartment +which was roofless, and which, in his excitement, he had forgotten. +Perhaps the man who slept on the pallet was in there at this minute. How +reckless he had been! To what danger he had exposed himself! With his +pistol cocked, the captain advanced cautiously toward the innermost +compartment. Putting his head in at the doorway, he glanced up, down, and +around. He called out, "Who's here?" and then he entered, and looked +around, and behind each of the massive pieces of rock with which the +floor was strewn. No one answered, and he saw no one. But he saw +something which made him stare. + +On the ground, at one side of the entrance to this compartment, were five +or six pieces of rock about a foot high, placed in a small circle so that +their tops came near enough together to support a tin kettle which was +resting upon them. Under the kettle, in the centre of the rocks, was a +pile of burnt leaves and sticks. + +"Here he has cooked his meals," said the captain--for the pallet made up +of all the others had convinced him that it had been one man who had been +here after his party had left. "He stayed long enough to cook his meals +and sleep," thought the captain. "I'll look into this provision +business." Passing through the other rooms, he went to a deep niche in +the wall of the entrance passage where his party had kept their stores, +and where Edna had written him they had left provisions enough for the +immediate use of himself and the men who should return. Here he found tin +cans tumbled about at the bottom of the niche, and every one of them +absolutely empty. On a little ledge stood a tin box in which they had +kept the matches and candles. The box was open, but there was nothing in +it. On the floor near by was a tin biscuit-box, crushed nearly flat, as +if some one had stamped upon it. + +"He has eaten everything that was left," said the captain, "and he has +been starved out. Very likely, too, he got out of water, for, of +course, those pools would dry up, and it is not likely he found the +stream outside." + +Now the captain let down the hammer of his revolver, and put it in his +belt. He felt sure that the man was not here. Being out of provisions, he +had to go away, but where he had gone to was useless to conjecture. Of +another thing the captain was now convinced: the intruder had not been a +Rackbird, for, while waiting for the disappearance of the Chilian +schooner, he had gone over to the concealed storehouse of the bandits, +and had found it just as he had left it on his last visit, with a +considerable quantity of stores remaining in it. If the man had known of +the Rackbirds' camp and this storehouse, it would not have been necessary +for him to consume every crumb and vestige of food which had been left in +these caves. + +"No," said the captain, "it could not have been a Rackbird, but who he +was, and where he has gone, is beyond my comprehension." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A PACK-MULE + + +When Captain Horn felt quite sure that it was not Ralph, that it was not +Cheditafa, that it was not a Rackbird, who had visited the treasure +mound, he stood and reflected. What had happened was a great +misfortune,--possibly it was a great danger,--but it was no use standing +there thinking about it. His reason could not help him; it had done for +him all that it could, and it would be foolish to waste time in looking +for the man, for it was plain enough that he had gone away. Of course, he +had taken some gold with him, but that did not matter much. The danger +was that he or others might come back for more, but this could not be +prevented, and it was needless to consider it. The captain had come to +this deserted shore for a purpose, and it was his duty, without loss of +time, to go to work and carry out that purpose. If in any way he should +be interfered with, he would meet that interference as well as he could, +but until it came he would go on with his work. Having come to this +conclusion, he got over the wall, lighted his lantern, and proceeded to +the mound. + +On his way he passed the tin cup, which he had forgotten to pick up, but +now he merely kicked it out of the way. "If the man comes back," he +thought, "he knows the way. There is no need of concealing anything." + +When the captain had reached the top of the mound, he moved the stone lid +so that the aperture was entirely uncovered. Then he looked down upon the +mass of dull yellow bars. He could not perceive any apparent diminution +of their numbers. + +"He must have filled his pockets," the captain thought, "and so full that +some of them dropped out. Well, let him go, and if he ventures back here, +we shall have it out between us. In the meantime, I will do what I can." + +The captain now took from the pocket of his jacket two small canvas bags, +which he had had made for this purpose, and proceeded to fill one of them +with the gold bars, lifting the bag, every now and then, to try its +weight. When he thought it heavy enough, he tied up the end very firmly, +and then packed the other, as nearly as possible, to the same extent. +Then he got down, and laying one of the bags over each shoulder, he +walked about to see if he could easily bear their weight. + +"That is about right," he said to himself. "I will count them when I take +them out." Then, putting them down, he went up for his lantern. He was +about to close the lid of the mound, but he reflected that this would be +of no use. It had been open nobody knew how long, and might as well +remain so. He was coming back as often as he could, and it would be a tax +upon his strength to lift that heavy lid every time. So he left the +treasures of the Incas open to the air under the black roof of the +cavern, and, with his lantern in his hand and a bag of gold on each +shoulder, he left the cave of the lake, and then, concealing his lantern, +he walked down to the sea. + +Before he reached it he had thoroughly scanned the ocean, but not a sign +of a ship could be seen. Walking along the sands, and keeping, as +before, close to the curving line of water thrown up by the surf, he +said to himself: + +"I must have my eyes and ears open, but I am not going to be nervous or +fidgety. I came here to be a pack-mule, and I intend to be a pack-mule +until something stops me, and if that something is one man, he can look +out for himself." + +The bags were heavy and their contents were rough and galling to the +shoulders, but the captain was strong and his muscles were tough, and as +he walked he planned a pair of cushions which he would wear under his +golden epaulets in his future marches. + +When the captain had covered the two miles of beach and climbed the two +rocky ridges, and reached his tent, it was long after noon, and throwing +his two bags on the ground and covering them with a blanket, he proceeded +to prepare his dinner. He laid out a complete working-plan, and one of +the rules he had made was that, if possible, nothing should interfere +with his regular meals and hours of sleep. The work he had set for +himself was arduous in the extreme, and calculated to tax his energies to +the utmost, and he must take very good care of his health and strength. +In thinking over the matter, he had feared that the greed of gold might +possess him, and that, in his anxiety to carry away as much as he could, +he might break down, and everything be lost. + +Even now he found himself calculating how much gold he had brought away +in the two bags, and what would be its value in coined money, multiplying +and estimating with his food untouched and his eyes fixed on the distant +sea. Suddenly he clenched his fist and struck it on his knee. + +"I must stop this," he said. "I shall be upset if I don't. I will not +count the bars in those bags. I will not make any more estimates. A rough +guess now and then I cannot help, but what I have to do is to bring away +all the gold I can. It will be time enough to find out what it is worth +when it is safe somewhere in North America." + +When the captain had finished his meal, he went to his tent, and opened +one of the trunks which he had brought with him, and which were supposed +to contain the clothes and personal effects he had bought in Lima. This +trunk, however, was entirely filled with rolls of cheap cotton cloth, +coarse and strong, but not heavy. With a pair of shears he proceeded to +cut from one of these some pieces, rather more than a foot square. Then, +taking from his canvas bags as many of the gold bars as he thought would +weigh twelve or fifteen pounds, trying not to count them as he did so, he +made a little package of them, tying the corners of the cloth together +with a strong cord. When five of these bundles had been prepared, his +gold was exhausted, and then he carried the small bundles out to the +guano-bags. + +He had bought his guano in bulk, and it had been put into bags under his +own supervision, for it was only in bags that the ship which was to take +it north would receive it. The bags were new and good, and Captain Horn +believed that each of them could be made twelve or fifteen pounds heavier +without attracting the attention of those who might have to lift them, +for they were very heavy as it was. + +He now opened a bag of guano, and thrusting a stick down into its +contents, he twisted it about until he had made a cavity which enabled +him, with a little trouble, to thrust one of the packages of gold down +into the centre of the bag. Then he pressed the guano down firmly, and +sewed up the bag again, being provided with needles and an abundance of +necessary cord. When this was done, the bag containing the gold did not +differ in appearance from the others, and the captain again assured +himself that the additional weight would not be noticed by a common +stevedore, especially if all the bags were about the same weight. At this +thought he stopped work and looked out toward the sea, his mind +involuntarily leaping out toward calculations based upon the happy chance +of his being able to load all the bags; but he checked himself. "Stop +that," he said. "Go to work!" + +Five guano-bags were packed, each with its bundle of gold, but the task +was a disagreeable, almost a distressing, one, for the strong ammoniacal +odor sometimes almost overpowered the captain, who had a great dislike +for such smells. But he never drew back, except now and then to turn his +head and take a breath of purer air. He was trying to make his fortune, +and when men are doing that, their likes and dislikes must stand aside. + +When this task was finished, the captain took up his two empty canvas +bags and went back to the caves, returning late in the afternoon, loaded +rather more heavily than before. From the experiences of the morning, he +believed that, with some folded pieces of cloth on each shoulder, he +could carry without discomfort a greater weight than his first ones. The +gold he now brought was made up into six bundles, and then the captain +rested from his labors. He felt that he could do a much better day's work +than this, but this day had been very much broken up, and he was still +somewhat awkward. + +Day after day Captain Horn labored at his new occupation, and a toilsome +occupation it was, which no one who did not possess great powers of +endurance, and great hopes from the results of his work, could have +undergone. In about a month the schooner was to be expected with another +load of guano, and the captain felt that he must, if possible, finish his +task before she came back. In a few days he found that, by practice and +improvements in his system of work, he was able to make four trips a day +between the cove of the Rackbirds and the caves. He rose very early in +the morning, and made two trips before dinner. Sometimes he thought he +might do more, but he restrained himself. It would not do for him to get +back too tired to sleep. + +During this time in which his body was so actively employed, his mind was +almost as active, and went out on all sorts of excursions, some of them +beneficial and some of them otherwise. Sometimes the thought came to him, +as he plodded along bearing his heavy bags, that he was no more than a +common thief, carrying away treasures which did not belong to him. Then, +of course, he began to reason away these uncomfortable reflections. If +this treasure did not belong to him, to whom did it belong? Certainly not +to the descendants of those Spaniards from whom the original owners had +striven so hard to conceal it. If the spirits of the Incas could speak, +they would certainly declare in his favor over that of the children of +the men who, in blood and torture, had obliterated them and their +institutions. Sometimes such arguments entirely satisfied the captain; +but if they did not entirely satisfy him, he put the whole matter aside, +to be decided upon after he should safely reach the United States with +such treasure as he might be able to take with him. + +"Then," he thought, "we can do what we think is right. I shall listen to +all that may be said by our party, and shall act justly. But what I do +not take away with me has no chance whatever of ever falling into the +proper hands." + +But no matter how he might terminate such reflections, the captain always +blamed himself for allowing his mind to occupy itself with them. He had +fully decided that this treasure belonged to him, and there was no real +reason for his thinking of such things, except that he had no one to talk +to, and in such cases a man's thoughts are apt to run wild. + +Often and often he wondered what the others were thinking about this +affair, and whether or not they would all be able to keep the secret +until he returned. He was somewhat afraid of Mrs. Cliff. He believed her +to be an honorable woman who would not break her word, but still he did +not know all her ideas in regard to her duty. She might think there was +some one to whom she ought to confide what had happened, and what was +expected to happen, and if she should do this, there was no reason why +he should not, some day, descry a ship in the offing with +treasure-hunters on board. + +Ralph gave him no concern at all, except that he was young, and the +captain could foretell the weather much better than the probable actions +of a youth. + +But these passing anxieties never amounted to suspicions. It was far +better to believe in Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, and he would do it; and every +time he thought of the two, he determined to believe in them. As to Edna, +there was no question about believing in her. He did so without +consideration for or against belief. + +The captain did not like his solitary life. How happy he would have been +if they could all have remained here; if the guano could have been +brought without the crew of the schooner knowing that there were people +in the caves; if the negroes could have carried the bags of gold; if +every night, after having superintended their labors, he could have gone +back to the caves, which, with the comforts he could have brought from +Lima, would have made a very habitable home; if--But these were +reflections which were always doomed to banishment as soon as the captain +became aware of the enthralment of their charm, and sturdily onward, +endeavoring to fix his mind upon some better sailor's knot with which to +tie up his bundles, or to plant his feet where his tracks would soon be +obliterated by the incoming waves, the strong man trudged, bearing +bravely the burden of his golden hopes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +HIS PRESENT SHARE + + +With four trips a day from the caves to the cove, taking time for rests, +for regular meals, and for sleep, and not working on Sundays,--for he +kept a diary and an account of days,--the captain succeeded in a little +over three weeks in loading his bags of guano, each with a package of +golden bars, some of which must have weighed as much as fifteen pounds. + +When this work had been accomplished, he began to consider the return of +the schooner. But he had no reason to expect her yet, and he determined +to continue his work. Each day he brought eight canvas bags of gold from +the caves, and making them up into small bundles, he buried them in the +sand under his tent. When a full month had elapsed since the departure +of the schooner, he began to be very prudent, keeping a careful lookout +seaward, as he walked the beach, and never entering the caves without +mounting a high point of the rocks and thoroughly scanning the ocean. +If, when bearing his burden of gold, he should have seen a sail, he +would have instantly stopped and buried his bags in the sand, wherever +he might be. + +Day after day passed, and larger and larger grew the treasure stored in +the sands under the tent, but no sail appeared. Sometimes the captain +could not prevent evil fancies coming to him. What if the ship should +never come back? What if no vessel should touch here for a year or two? +And why should a vessel ever touch? When the provisions he had brought +and those left in the Rackbirds' storehouse had been exhausted, what +could he do but lie down here and perish?--another victim added to the +millions who had already perished from the thirst of gold. He thought of +his little party in San Francisco. They surely would send in search of +him, if he did not appear in a reasonable time. But he felt this hope +was a vain one. In a letter to Edna, written from Lima, he had told her +she must not expect to hear from him for a long time, for, while he was +doing the work he contemplated, it would be impossible for him to +communicate with her. + +She would have no reason to suppose that he would start on such an +expedition without making due arrangements for safety and support, and +so would hesitate long before she would commission a vessel to touch +at this point in search of him. If he should starve here, he would die +months before any reasonable person, who knew as much of his affairs +as did Edna, would think the time had arrived to send a relief +expedition for him. + +But he did not starve. Ten days overdue, at last the Chilian +schooner appeared and anchored in the cove. She had now no white men +on board but the captain and his mate, for the negroes had improved +so much in seamanship that the economical captain had dispensed with +his Chilian crew. + +Captain Horn was delighted to be able to speak again to a fellow-being, +and it pleased him far better to see Maka than any of the others. + +"You no eat 'nough, cap'n," said the black man, as he anxiously scanned +the countenance of Captain Horn, which, although the captain was in +better physical condition than perhaps he had ever been in his life, was +thinner than when Maka had seen it last. "When I cook for you, you not so +long face," the negro continued. "Didn't us leave you 'nough to eat? Did +you eat 'em raw?" + +The captain laughed. "I have had plenty to eat," he said, "and I never +felt better. If I had not taken exercise, you would have found me as fat +as a porpoise." + +The interview with the Chilian captain was not so cordial, for Captain +Horn found that the Chilian had not brought him a full cargo of bags of +guano, and, by searching questions, he discovered that this was due +entirely to unnecessary delay in beginning to load the vessel. The +Chilian declared he would have taken on board all the guano which +Captain Horn had purchased at the smaller island, had he not begun to +fear that Captain Horn would suffer if he did not soon return to him, +and when he thought it was not safe to wait any longer, he had sailed +with a partial cargo. + +Captain Horn was very angry, for every bag of guano properly packed with +gold bars meant, at a rough estimate, between two and three thousand +dollars if it safely reached a gold-market, and now he found himself with +at least one hundred bags less than he had expected to pack. There was no +time to repair this loss, for the English vessel, the _Finland,_ from +Callao to Acapulco, which the captain had engaged to stop at this point +on her next voyage northward, might be expected in two or three weeks, +certainly sooner than the Chilian could get back to the guano island and +return. In fact, there was barely time for that vessel to reach Callao +before the departure of the _Finland_, on board of which the captain +wished his negroes to be placed, that they might go home with him. + +"If I had any men to work my vessel," said the Chilian, who had grown +surly in consequence of the fault-finding, "I'd leave your negroes here, +and cut loose from the whole business. I've had enough of it." + +"That serves you right for discharging your own men in order that you +might work your vessel with mine," said Captain Horn. He had intended to +insist that the negroes should ship again with the Chilian, but he knew +that it would be more difficult to find reasons for this than on the +previous voyage, and he was really more than glad to find that the matter +had thus arranged itself. + +Talking with Captain Horn, the Chilian mate, who had had no +responsibility in this affair, and who was, consequently, not out of +humor, proposed that he should go back with them, and take the English +vessel at Callao. + +"I can't risk it," said Captain Horn. "If your schooner should meet +with head winds or any other bad luck, and the _Finland_ should leave +before I got there, there would be a pretty kettle of fish, and if she +touched here and found no one in charge, I don't believe she would take +away a bag." + +"Do you think they will be sure to touch here?" asked the mate. "Have +they got the latitude and longitude? It didn't seem so bad before to +leave you behind, because we were coming back, but now it strikes me it +is rather a risky piece of business for you." + +"No," said Captain Horn. "I am acquainted with the skipper of the +_Finland,_ and I left a letter for him telling him exactly how the matter +stood, and he knows that I trust him to pick me up. I do not suppose he +will expect to find me here all alone, but if he gives me the slip, I +would be just as likely to starve to death if I had some men with me as +if I were alone. The _Finland_ will stop--I am sure of that." + +With every reason for the schooner's reaching Callao as soon as possible, +and very little reason, considering the uncordial relations of the two +captains, for remaining in the cove, the Chilian set sail the morning +after he had discharged his unsavory cargo. Maka had begged harder than +before to be allowed to remain with Captain Horn, but the latter had made +him understand, as well as he could, the absolute necessity of the +schooner reaching Callao in good time, and the absolute impossibility of +any vessel doing anything in good time without a cook. Therefore, after a +personal inspection of the stores left behind, both in the tent and in +the Rackbirds' storehouse, which latter place he visited with great +secrecy, Maka, with a sad heart, was obliged to leave the only real +friend he had on earth. + +When, early the next morning, Captain Horn began to pack the newly +arrived bags with the bundles of gold which he had buried in the sand, he +found that the bags were not at all in the condition of those the +filling of which he had supervised himself. Some of these were more +heavily filled than others, and many were badly fastened up. This, of +course, necessitated a good deal of extra work, but the captain sadly +thought that probably he would have more time than he needed to do all +that was necessary to get this second cargo into fair condition for +transportation. He had checked off his little bundles as he had buried +them, and there were nearly enough to fill all the bags. In fact, he had +to make but three more trips in order to finish the business. + +When the work was done, and everything was ready for the arrival of the +_Finland_, the captain felt that he had good reason to curse the +conscienceless Chilian whose laziness or carelessness had not only caused +him the loss of perhaps a quarter of a million of dollars, but had given +him days--how many he could not know--with nothing to do; and which of +these two evils might prove the worse, the captain could not readily +determine. + +As Captain Horn walked up and down the long double rows of bags which +contained what he hoped would become his fortune, he could not prevent a +feeling of resentful disappointment when he thought of the small +proportion borne by the gold in these bags to the treasure yet remaining +in the mound. On his last visit to the mound he had carefully examined +its interior, and although, of course, there was a great diminution in +its contents, there was no reason to believe that the cavity of the mound +did not extend downward to the floor of the cave, and that it remained +packed with gold bars to the depth of several feet. It seemed silly, +crazy, in fact, almost wicked, for him to sail away in the _Finland_ and +leave all that gold behind, and yet, how could he possibly take away any +more of it? + +He had with him a trunk nearly empty, in which he might pack some +blankets and other stuff with some bags of gold stowed away between them, +but more than fifty pounds added to the weight of the trunk and its +contents would make it suspiciously heavy, and what was fifty pounds out +of that vast mass? But although he puzzled his brains for the greater +part of a day, trying to devise some method by which he could take away +more gold without exciting the suspicions of the people on board the +English vessel, there was no plan that entered his mind that did not +contain elements of danger, and the danger was an appalling one. If the +crew of the _Finland_, or the crew of any other vessel, should, on this +desert coast, get scent of a treasure mound of gold ingots, he might as +well attempt to reason with wild beasts as to try to make them understand +that that treasure belonged to him. If he could get away with any of it, +or even with his life, he ought to be thankful. + +The captain was a man who, since he had come to an age of maturity, had +been in the habit of turning his mind this way and that as he would turn +the helm of his vessel, and of holding it to the course he had +determined upon, no matter how strong the wind or wave, how dense the +fog, or how black the night. But never had he stood to his helm as he +now stood to a resolve. + +"I will bring away a couple of bags," said he, "to put in my trunk, and +then, I swear to myself, I will not think another minute about carrying +away any more of that gold than what is packed in these guano-bags. If I +can ever come back, I will come back, but what I have to do now is to get +away with what I have already taken out of the mound, and also to get +away with sound reason and steady nerves." + +The next day there was not a sail on the far horizon, and the captain +brought away two bags of gold. These, with some clothes, he packed in his +empty trunk. + +"Now," said he, "this is my present share. If I permit myself to think of +taking another bar, I shall be committing a crime." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +HIS FORTUNE UNDER HIS FEET + + +Notwithstanding the fact that the captain had, for the present, closed +his account with the treasure in the lake cave, and had determined not to +give another thought to further drafts upon it, he could not prevent all +sorts of vague and fragmentary plans for getting more of the gold from +thrusting themselves upon him; but his hand was strong upon the tiller of +his mind, and his course did not change a point. He now began to consider +in what condition he should leave the caves. Once he thought he would go +there and take away everything which might indicate that the caves had +been inhabited, but this notion he discarded. + +"There are a good many people," he thought, "who know that we lived +there, and if that man who was there afterwards should come back, I would +prefer that he should not notice any changes, unless, indeed,"--and his +eyes glistened as a thought darted into his mind,--"unless, indeed, he +should find a lake where he left a dry cave. Good! I'll try it." + +With his hands in his pockets, the captain stood a few moments and +thought, and then he went to work. From the useless little vessel which, +had belonged to the Rackbirds he gathered some bits of old rope, and +having cut these into short pieces, he proceeded to pick them into what +sailors call oakum. + +Early the next morning, his two canvas bags filled with this, he started +for the caves. When he reached the top of the mound, and was just about +to hold his lantern so as to take a final glance into its interior, he +suddenly turned away his head and shut his eyes. + +"No," he said. "If I do that, it is ten to one I'll jump inside, and what +might happen next nobody knows." + +He put the lantern aside, lifted the great lid into its place, and +then, with a hammer and a little chisel which he had brought with him +from the tools which had been used for the building of the pier, he +packed the crevices about the lid with oakum. With a mariner's skill he +worked, and when his job was finished, it would have been difficult for +a drop of water to have found its way into the dome, no matter if it +rose high above it. + +It was like leaving behind a kingdom and a throne, the command of armies +and vast navies, the domination of power, of human happenings; but he +came away. + +When he reached the portion of the cave near the great gap which opened +to the sky opposite the entrance to the outer caves, the captain walked +across the dry floor to the place where was situated the outlet through +which the waters of the lake had poured out into the Rackbirds' valley. + +The machine which controlled this outlet was situated under the +overhanging ledge of the cave, and was in darkness, so that the captain +was obliged to use his lantern. He soon found the great lever which he +had clutched when he had swum to the rescue of Ralph, and which had gone +down with him and so opened the valve and permitted egress of the water, +and which now lay with its ten feet or more of length horizontally near +the ground. Near by was the great pipe, with its circular blackness +leading into the depths below. + +"That stream outside," said the captain, "must run in here somewhere, +although I cannot see nor hear it, and it must be stopped off by this +valve or another one connected with it, so that if I can get this lever +up again, I should shut it off from the stream outside and turn it in +here. Then, if that fellow comes back, he will have to swim to the +mound, and run a good chance of getting drowned if he does it, and if +anybody else comes here, I think it will be as safe as the ancient +Peruvians once made it." + +With this he took hold of the great lever and attempted to raise it. But +he found the operation a very difficult one. The massive bar was of +metal, but probably not iron, and although it was not likely that it had +rusted, it was very hard to move in its socket. The captain's weight had +brought it down easily, but this weight could not now be applied, and he +could only attempt to lift it. + +When it had first been raised, it was likely that a dozen slaves had +seized it and forced it into an upright position. The captain pushed up +bravely, and, a few inches at a time, he elevated the end of the great +lever. Frequently he stopped to rest, and it was over an hour before the +bar stood up as it had been when first he felt it under the water. + +When this was done, he went into the other caves, looked about to see +that everything was in the condition in which he had found it, and that +he had left nothing behind him during his many visits. When he was +satisfied on these points, he went back to the lake cave to see if any +water had run in. He found everything as dry as when he had left it, nor +could he hear any sound of running or dripping water. Considering the +matter, however, he concluded that there might be some sort of an outside +reservoir which must probably fill up before the water ran into the cave, +and so he came away. + +"I will give it time," he thought, "and come back to-morrow to see if it +is flooded." + +That night, as he lay on his little pallet, looking through the open +front of his tent at the utter darkness of the night, the idea struck him +that it was strange that he was not afraid to stay here alone. He was a +brave man,--he knew that very well,--and yet it seemed odd to him that, +under the circumstances, he should have so little fear. But his reason +soon gave him a good answer. He had known times when he had been very +much afraid, and among these stood preeminent the time when he had +expected an attack from the Rackbirds. But then his fear was for others. +When he was by himself it was a different matter. It was not often that +he did not feel able to take care of his own safety. If there were any +danger now, it was in the daytime, when some stray Rackbirds might come +back, or the pilferer of the mound might return with companions. But if +any such came, he had his little fort, two pistols, and a repeating +rifle. At night he felt absolutely safe. There was no danger that could +come by land or sea through the blackness of the night. + +Suddenly he sat up. His forehead was moist with perspiration. A shiver +ran through him, not of cold, but of fear. Never in his life had he been +so thoroughly frightened; never before had he felt his hands and legs +tremble. Involuntarily he rose and stood up in the tent. He was +terrified, not by anything real, but by the thought of what might happen +if that lake cave should fill up with water, and if the ancient valves, +perhaps weakened by his moving them backward and forward, should give way +under the great pressure, and, for a second time, a torrent of water +should come pouring down the Rackbirds' ravine! + +As the captain trembled with fear, it was not for himself, for he could +listen for the sound of the rushing waters, and could dash away to the +higher ground behind him; but it was for his treasure-bags, his fortune, +his future! His soul quaked. His first impulse was to rush out and carry +every bag to higher ground. But this idea was absurd. The night was too +dark, and the bags too heavy and too many. Then he thought of hurrying +away to the caves to see if the lake had risen high enough to be +dangerous. But what could he do if it had? In his excitement, he could +not stand still and do nothing. He took hold of one end of his trunk and +pulled it out of his tent, and, stumbling and floundering over the +inequalities of the ground, he at last got it to a place which he +supposed would be out of reach of a sudden flood, and the difficulties of +this little piece of work assured him of the utter futility of +attempting to move the bags in the darkness. He had a lantern, but that +would be of little service on such a night and for such a work. + +He went back into his tent, and tried to prevail upon himself that he +ought to go to sleep--that it was ridiculous to beset himself with +imaginary dangers, and to suffer from them as much as if they had been +real ones. But such reasoning was vain, and he sat up or walked about +near his tent all night, listening and listening, and trying to think of +the best thing to do if he should hear a coming flood. + +As soon as it was light, he hurried to the caves, and when he reached the +old bed of the lake, he found there was not a drop of water in it. + +"The thing doesn't work!" he cried joyfully. "Fool that I am, I might +have known that although a man might open a valve two or three +centuries old, he should not expect to shut it up again. I suppose I +smashed it utterly." + +His revulsion of feeling was so great that he began to laugh at his own +absurdity, and then he laughed at his merriment. + +"If any one should see me now," he thought, "they would surely think I +had gone crazy over my wealth. Well, there is no danger from a flood, +but, to make all things more than safe, I will pull down this handle, if +it will come. Anyway, I do not want it seen." + +The great bar came down much easier than it had gone up, moving, in fact, +the captain thought, as if some of its detachments were broken, and when +it was down as far as it would go, he came away. + +"Now," said he, "I have done with this cave for this trip. If possible, I +shall think of it no more." + +When he was getting some water from the stream to make some coffee for +his breakfast, he stopped and clenched his fist. "I am more of a fool +than I thought I was," he said. "This solitary business is not good for +me. If I had thought last night of coming here to see if this little +stream were still running, and kept its height, I need not have troubled +myself about the lake in the cave. Of course, if the water were running +into the caves, it would not be running here until the lake had filled. +And, besides, it would take days for that great lake to fill. Well, I am +glad that nobody but myself knows what an idiot I have been." + +When he had finished his breakfast, Captain Horn went to work. There was +to be no more thinking, no more plans, no more fanciful anxieties, no +more hopes of doing something better than he had done. Work he would, and +when one thing was done, he would find another. The first thing he set +about was the improvement of the pier which had been built for the +landing of the guano. There was a good deal of timber left unused, and he +drove down new piles, nailed on new planking, and extended the little +pier considerably farther into the waters of the cove. When this was +done, he went to work on the lighter, which was leaky, and bailed it out, +and calked the seams, taking plenty of time, and doing his work in the +most thorough manner. He determined that after this was done, and he +could find nothing better to do, he would split up the little vessel +which the Rackbirds had left rudderless, mastless, and useless, and make +kindling-wood of it. + +But this was not necessary. He had barely finished his work on the +lighter, when, one evening, he saw against the sun-lighted sky the +topmasts of a vessel, and the next morning the _Finland_ lay anchored off +the cove, and two boats came ashore, out of one of which Maka was the +first to jump. + +In five hours the guano had been transferred to the ship, and, twenty +minutes later, the _Finland_, with Captain Horn on board, had set sail +for Acapulco. The captain might have been better pleased if his +destination had been San Francisco, but, after all, it is doubtful if +there could have been a man who was better pleased. He walked the deck of +a good ship with a fellow-mariner with whom he could talk as much as he +pleased, and under his feet were the bags containing the thousands of +little bars for which he had worked so hard. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +AT THE PALMETTO HOTEL + + +For about four months the persons who made up what might be considered as +Captain Horn's adopted family had resided in the Palmetto Hotel, in San +Francisco. At the time we look upon them, however, Mrs. Cliff was not +with them, having left San Francisco some weeks previously. + +Edna was now a very different being from the young woman she had been. +Her face was smoother and fuller, and her eyes seemed to have gained a +richer brown. The dark masses of her hair appeared to have wonderfully +grown and thickened, but this was due to the loose fashion in which it +was coiled upon her head, and it would have been impossible for any one +who had known her before not to perceive that she was greatly changed. +The lines upon her forehead, which had come, not from age, but from +earnest purpose and necessity of action, together with a certain +intensity of expression which would naturally come to a young woman who +had to make her way in the world, not only for herself, but for her young +brother, and a seriousness born of some doubts, some anxieties, and some +ambiguous hopes, had all entirely disappeared as if they had been +morning mists rolling away from a summer landscape. Under the rays of a +sun of fortune, shining, indeed, but mildly, she had ripened into a +physical beauty which was her own by right of birth, but of which a few +more years of struggling responsibility would have forever deprived her. + +After the receipt of her second remittance, Edna and her party had taken +the best apartments in the hotel. The captain had requested this, for he +did not know how long they might remain there, and he wanted them to have +every comfort. He had sent them as much money as he could spare from the +sale, in Lima, of the gold he had carried with him when he first left +the caves, but his expenses in hiring ships and buying guano were heavy. +Edna, however, had received frequent remittances while the captain was at +the Rackbirds' cove, through an agent in San Francisco. These, she +supposed, came from further sales of gold, but, in fact, they had come +from the sale of investments which the captain had made in the course of +his fairly successful maritime career. In his last letter from Lima he +had urged them all to live well on what he sent them, considering it as +their share of the first division of the treasure in the mound. If his +intended projects should succeed, the fortunes of all of them would be +reconstructed upon a new basis as solid and as grand as any of them had +ever had reason to hope for. But if he should fail, they, the party in +San Francisco, would be as well off, or, perhaps, better circumstanced +than when they had started for Valparaiso. He did not mention the fact +that he himself would be poorer, for he had lost the _Castor_, in which +he was part-owner, and had invested nearly all his share of the proceeds +of the sale of the gold in ship hire, guano purchases, and other +necessary expenses. + +Edna was waiting in San Francisco to know what would be the next scene in +the new drama of her life. Captain Horn had written before he sailed from +Lima in the Chilian schooner for the guano islands and the Rackbirds' +cove, and he had, to some extent, described his plans for carrying away +treasure from the mound; but since that she had not heard from him until +about ten days before, when he wrote from Acapulco, where he had arrived +in safety with his bags of guano and their auriferous enrichments. He had +written in high spirits, and had sent her a draft on San Francisco so +large in amount that it had fairly startled her, for he wrote that he had +merely disposed of some of the gold he had brought in his baggage, and +had not yet done anything with that contained in the guano-bags. He had +hired a storehouse, as if he were going regularly into business, and from +which he would dispose of his stock of guano after he had restored it to +its original condition. To do all this, and to convert the gold into +negotiable bank deposits or money, would require time, prudence, and even +diplomacy. He had already sold in the City of Mexico as much of the gold +from his trunk as he could offer without giving rise to too many +questions, and if he had not been known as a California trader, he might +have found some difficulties even in that comparatively small +transaction. + +The captain had written that to do all he had to do he would be obliged +to remain in Acapulco or the City of Mexico--how long he could not tell, +for much of the treasure might have to be shipped to the United States, +and his plans for all this business were not yet arranged. + +Before this letter had been received, Mrs. Cliff had believed it to be +undesirable to remain longer in San Francisco, and had gone to her home +in a little town in Maine. With Edna and Ralph, she had waited and waited +and waited, but at last had decided that Captain Horn was dead. In her +mind, she had allowed him all the time that she thought was necessary to +go to the caves, get gold, and come to San Francisco, and as that time +had long elapsed, she had finally given him up as lost. She knew the +captain was a brave man and an able sailor, but the adventure he had +undertaken was strange and full of unknown perils, and if it should so +happen that she should hear that he had gone to the bottom in a small +boat overloaded with gold, she would not have been at all surprised. + +Of course, she said nothing of these suspicions to Edna or Ralph, nor did +she intend ever to mention them to any one. If Edna, who in so strange a +way had been made a wife, should, in some manner perhaps equally +extraordinary, be made a widow, she would come back to her, she would do +everything she could to comfort her; but now she did not seem to be +needed in San Francisco, and her New England home called to her through +the many voices of her friends. As to the business which had taken Mrs. +Cliff to South America, that must now be postponed, but it could not but +be a satisfaction to her that she was going back with perhaps as much +money as she would have had if her affairs in Valparaiso had been +satisfactorily settled. + +Edna and Ralph had come to be looked upon at the Palmetto Hotel as +persons of distinction. They lived quietly, but they lived well, and +their payments were always prompt. They were the wife and brother-in-law +of Captain Philip Horn, who was known to be a successful man, and who +might be a rich one. But what seemed more than anything else to +distinguish them from the ordinary hotel guests was the fact that they +were attended by two personal servants, who, although, of course, they +could not be slaves, seemed to be bound to them as if they had been born +into their service. + +Cheditafa, in a highly respectable suit of clothes which might have been +a cross between the habiliments of a Methodist minister and those of a +butler, was a person of imposing aspect. Mrs. Cliff had insisted, when +his new clothes were ordered, that there should be something in them +which should indicate the clergyman, for the time might come when it +would be necessary that he should be known in this character; and the +butler element was added because it would harmonize in a degree with his +duties as Edna's private attendant. The old negro, with his sober face, +and woolly hair slightly touched with gray, was fully aware of the +importance of his position as body-servant to Mrs. Horn, but his sense of +the responsibility of that position far exceeded any other sentiments of +which his mind was capable. Perhaps it was the fact that he had made Edna +Mrs. Horn which gave him the feeling that he must never cease to watch +over her and to serve her in every possible way. Had the hotel taken +fire, he would have rushed through the flames to save her. Had robbers +attacked her, they must have taken his life before they took her purse. +When she drove out in the city or suburbs, he always sat by the side of +the driver, and when she walked in the streets, he followed her at a +respectful distance. + +Proud as he was of the fact that he had been the officiating clergyman at +the wedding of Captain Horn and this grand lady, he had never mentioned +the matter to any one, for many times, and particularly just before she +left San Francisco, Mrs. Cliff had told him, in her most impressive +manner, that if he informed any one that he had married Captain Horn and +Miss Markham, great trouble would come of it. What sort of trouble, it +was not necessary to explain to him, but she was very earnest in assuring +him that the marriage of a Christian by a heathen was something which was +looked upon with great disfavor in this country, and unless Cheditafa +could prove that he had a perfect right to perform the ceremony, it might +be bad for him. When Captain Horn had settled his business affairs and +should come back, everything would be made all right, and nobody need +feel any more fear, but until then he must not speak of what he had done. + +If Captain Horn should never come back, Mrs. Cliff thought that Edna +would then be truly his widow, and his letters would prove it, but that +she was really his wife until the two had marched off together to a +regular clergyman, the good lady could not entirely admit. Her position +was not logical, but she rested herself firmly upon it. + +The other negro, Mok, could speak no more English than when we first met +him, but he could understand some things which were said to him, and was +very quick, indeed, to catch the meanings of signs, motions, and +expressions of countenance. At first Edna did not know what to do with +this negro, but Ralph solved the question by taking him as a valet, and +day by day he became more useful to the youth, who often declared that he +did not know how he used to get along without a valet. Mok was very fond +of fine clothes, and Ralph liked to see him smartly dressed, and he +frequently appeared of more importance than Cheditafa. He was devoted to +his young master, and was so willing to serve him that Ralph often found +great difficulty in finding him something to do. + +Edna and Ralph had a private table, at which Cheditafa and Mok assisted +in waiting, and Mrs. Cliff had taught both of them how to dust and keep +rooms in order. Sometimes Ralph sent Mok to a circulating library. Having +once been shown the place, and made to understand that he must deliver +there the piece of paper and the books to be returned, he attended to the +business as intelligently as if he had been a trained dog, and brought +back the new books with a pride as great as if he had selected them. The +fact that Mok was an absolute foreigner, having no knowledge whatever of +English, and that he was possessed of an extraordinary activity, which +enabled him, if the gate of the back yard of the hotel happened to be +locked, to go over the eight-foot fence with the agility of a monkey, had +a great effect in protecting him from impositions by other servants. +When a black negro cannot speak English, but can bound like an +india-rubber ball, it may not be safe to trifle with him. As for trifling +with Cheditafa, no one would think of such a thing; his grave and +reverend aspect was his most effectual protection. + +As to Ralph, he had altered in appearance almost as much as his sister. +His apparel no longer indicated the boy, and as he was tall and large for +his years, the fashionable suit he wore, his gay scarf with its sparkling +pin, and his brightly polished boots, did not appear out of place upon +him. But Edna often declared that she had thought him a great deal +better-looking in the scanty, well-worn, but more graceful garments in +which he had disported himself on the sands of Peru. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE CAPTAIN'S LETTER + + +On a sofa in her well-furnished parlor reclined Edna, and on a table near +by lay several sheets of closely written letter-paper. She had been +reading, and now she was thinking--thinking very intently, which in these +days was an unusual occupation with her. During her residence in San +Francisco she had lived quietly but cheerfully. She had supplied herself +abundantly with books, she had visited theatres and concerts, she had +driven around the city, she had taken water excursions, she had visited +interesting places in the neighborhood, and she had wandered among the +shops, purchasing, in moderation, things that pleased her. For company +she had relied chiefly on her own little party, although there had been +calls from persons who knew Captain Horn. Some of these people were +interesting, and some were not, but they all went away thinking that the +captain was a wonderfully fortunate man. + +One thing which used to be a pleasure to Edna she refrained from +altogether, and that was the making of plans. She had put her past life +entirely behind her. She was beginning a new existence--what sort of an +existence she could not tell, but she was now living with the +determinate purpose of getting the greatest good out of her life, +whatever it might be. + +Already she had had much, but in every respect her good fortunes were but +preliminary to something else. Her marriage was but the raising of the +curtain--the play had not yet begun. The money she was spending was but +an earnest of something more expected. Her newly developed physical +beauty, which she could not fail to appreciate, would fade away again, +did it not continue to be nourished by that which gave it birth. But what +she had, she had, and that she would enjoy. When Captain Horn should +return, she would know what would happen next. This could not be a +repetition of the life she was leading at the Palmetto Hotel, but +whatever the new life might be, she would get from it all that it might +contain for her. She did not in the least doubt the captain's return, for +she believed in him so thoroughly that she felt--she knew--he would come +back and tell her of his failure or his success, and what she was to do +next. But now she was thinking. She could not help it, for her tranquil +mind had been ruffled. + +Her cogitations were interrupted by the entrance of Ralph. + +"I say, Edna," said he, throwing himself into an easy-chair, and placing +his hat upon another near by, "was that a returned manuscript that +Cheditafa brought you this morning? You haven't been writing for the +magazines, have you?" + +"That was a letter from Captain Horn," she said. + +"Whew!" he exclaimed. "It must be a whopper! What does he say? When is he +coming here? Give me some of the points of it. But, by the way, Edna, +before you begin, I will say that I think it is about time he should +write. Since the letter in which he told about the guano-bags and sent +you that lot of money--let me see, how long ago was that?" + +"It was ten days ago," said his sister. + +"Is that so? I thought it was longer than that. But no matter. Since that +letter came, I have been completely upset. I want to know what I am to +do, and, whatever I am to do, I want to get at it. From what the captain +wrote, and from what I remember of the size and weight of those gold +bars, he must have got away with more than a million dollars--perhaps a +million and a half. Now, what part of that is mine? What am I to do with +it? When am I to begin to prepare myself for the life I am to lead when I +get it? All this I want to know, and, more than that, I want to know what +you are going to do. Now, if I had got to Acapulco, or any other +civilized spot, with a million dollars in solid gold, it would not have +been ten days before I should have written to my family,--for I suppose +that is what we are,--and should have told them what I was going to do, +and how much they might count on. But I hope now that letter does tell?" + +"The best thing to do," said Edna, taking up the letter from the table, +"is to read it to you. But before I begin I want to say something, and +that is that it is very wrong of you to get into these habits of +calculating about what may come to you. What is to come will come, and +you might as well wait for it without upsetting your mind by all sorts of +wild anticipations; and, besides this, you must remember that you are +not of age, and that I am your guardian, and whatever fortune may now +come to you will be under my charge until you are twenty-one." + +"Oh, I don't care about that," said Ralph. "We will have no trouble +about agreeing what is the best thing for me to do. But now go ahead +with the letter." + +"'I am going to tell you'" (at the beginning of the second paragraph) +"'of a very strange thing which happened to me since I last wrote. I will +first state that after my guano-bags had all been safely stored in the +warerooms I have hired, I had a heavy piece of work getting the packages +of gold out of the bags, and in packing the bars in small, stout boxes I +found in the City of Mexico and had sent down here. In looking around for +boxes which would suit my purpose, I discovered these, which had been +used for stereotype plates. They were stamped on the outside, and just +what I wanted, being about as heavy after I packed them with gold as they +were when they were filled with type-metal. This packing I had to do +principally at night, when I was supposed to be working in a little +office attached to the rooms. As soon as this was done, I sent all the +boxes to a safe-deposit bank in Mexico, and there the greater part of +them are yet. Some I have shipped to the mint in San Francisco, some have +gone North, and I am getting rid of the rest as fast as I can. + +"'The gold bars, cast in a form novel to all dealers, have excited a good +deal of surprise and questioning, but for this I care very little. My +main object is to get the gold separated as many miles as possible from +the guano, for if the two should be connected in the mind of any one who +knew where the guano was last shipped from, I might have cause for +anxiety. But as the bars bear no sort of mark to indicate that they were +cast by ancient Peruvians, and, so far as I can remember,--and I have +visited several museums in South America,--these castings are not like +any others that have come down to us from the times of the Incas, the +gold must have been cast in this simple form merely for convenience in +transportation and packing. Some people may think it is California gold, +some may think it comes from South America, but, whatever they think, +they know it is pure gold, and they have no right to doubt that it +belongs to me. Of course, if I were a stranger it might be different, but +wherever I have dealt I am known, or I send a good reference. And now I +will come to the point of this letter. + +"'Three days ago I was in my office, waiting to see a man to whom I hoped +to sell my stock of guano, when a man came in,--but not the one I +expected to see,--and if a ghost had appeared before me, I could not have +been more surprised. I do not know whether or not you remember the two +American sailors who were the first to go out prospecting, after Mr. +Rynders and his men left us, and who did not return. This man was one of +them--Edward Shirley by name.'" + +"I remember him perfectly!" cried Ralph. "And the other fellow was George +Burke. On board the _Castor_ I used to talk to them more than to any of +the other sailors." + +"'But astonished as I was,'" Edna went on to read, "'Shirley did not seem +at all surprised, but came forward and shook hands most heartily. He said +he had read in a newspaper that I had been rescued, and was doing +business in Acapulco, and he had come down on purpose to find me. I told +him how we had given up him and his mate for lost, and then, as he had +read a very slim account of our adventures, I told him the whole story, +taking great care, as you may guess, not to say anything about the +treasure mound. He did not ask any questions as to why I did not come +back with the rest of you, but was greatly troubled when he heard of the +murders of every man of our crew except himself and Burke and Maka. + +"'When I had finished, he told me his story, which I will condense as +much as possible. When he and Burke started out, they first began to +make their way along the slope of the rocky ridge which ended in our +caves, but they found this very hard work, so they soon went down to the +sandy country to the north. Here they shot some little beast or other, +and while they were hunting another one, up hill and down dale, they +found night was coming on, and they were afraid to retrace their steps +for fear they might come to trouble in the darkness. So they ate what +they had with them, and camped, and the next morning the mountains to the +east seemed to be so near them that they thought it much easier to push +on instead of coming back to us. They thought that when they got to the +fertile country they would find a settlement, and then they might be able +to do something for the rest of the party, and it would be much wiser to +go ahead than to turn back. But they found themselves greatly mistaken. +Mountains in the distance, seen over a plain, appear very much nearer +than they are, and these two poor fellows walked and walked, until they +were pretty nearly dead. The story is a long one as Shirley told it to +me, but just as they were about giving up entirely, they were found by a +little party of natives, who had seen them from a long distance and had +come to them. + +"'After a great deal of trouble,--I believe they had to carry Burke a +good part of the way,--the natives got them to their huts at the foot of +the mountains, and took care of them. These people told Shirley--he knows +a little Spanish--that it was a piece of rare good luck that they found +them, for it was very seldom they went so far out into the desert. + +"'In a day or two the two men went on to a little village in the +mountains, and there they tried to get up an expedition to come to our +assistance. They knew that we had food enough to last for a week or two, +but after that we must be starved out. But nobody would do anything, and +then they went on to another town to see what they could do there.'" + +"Good fellows!" exclaimed Ralph. + +"Indeed, they were," said Edna. "But wait until you hear what they did +next. + +"'Nobody in this small town,'" she read on, "'was willing to join Burke +and Shirley in their proposed expedition, and no wonder; for crossing +those deserts is a dangerous thing, and most people said it would be +useless anyway, as it would be easier for us to get away by sea than by +land. At this time Burke was taken sick, and for a week or two Shirley +thought he was going to die. Of course, they had to stay where they were, +and it was a long time before Burke was able to move about. Then they +might have gone into the interior until they came to a railroad, and so +have got away, for they had money with them, but Shirley told me they +could not bear to do that without knowing what had become of us. They did +not believe there was any hope for us, unless the mate had come back with +assistance, and they had not much faith in that, for if a storm had come +up, such as had wrecked the Castor, it would be all over with Mr. +Rynders's boat. + +"'But even if we had perished on that desolate coast, they wanted to +know it and carry the news to our friends, and so they both determined, +if the thing could be done, to get back to the coast and find out what +had become of us. They went again to the little village where they had +been taken by the natives who found them, and there, by promises of big +pay,--at least, large for those poor Peruvians,--they induced six of +them to join in an expedition to the caves. They did not think they had +any reason to suppose they would find any one alive, but still, besides +the provisions necessary for the party there and back, they carried +something extra. + +"'Well, they journeyed for two days, and then there came up a +wind-storm, hot and dry, filling the air with sand and dust, so that +they could not see where they were going, and the natives said they +ought all to go back, for it was dangerous to try to keep on in such a +storm. But our two men would not give up so soon, and they made a camp +in a sheltered place, and determined to press on in the morning, when +they might expect the storm to be over. But in the morning they found +that every native had deserted them. The wind had gone down, and the +fellows must have started back before it was light. Then Shirley and +Burke did not know what to do. They believed that they were nearer the +coast than the mountains, and as they had plenty of provisions,--for the +natives had left them nearly everything,--they thought they would try to +push on, for a while at least. + +"'There was a bit of rising ground to the east, and they thought if they +could get on the top of that they might get a sight of the ocean, and +then discover how far away it was. They reached the top of the rising +ground, and they did not see the ocean, but a little ahead of them, in a +smooth stretch of sand, was something which amazed them a good deal more +than if it had been the sea. It was a pair of shoes sticking up out of +the sand. They were an old pair, and appeared to have legs to them. They +went to the spot, and found that these shoes belonged to a man who was +entirely covered by sand, with the exception of his feet, and dead, of +course. They got the sand off of him, and found he was a white man, in +sailor's clothes. First they had thought he might be one of our party, +but they soon perceived that this was a mistake, for they had never seen +the man before. He was dried up until he was nothing but a skeleton with +skin over it, but they could have recognized him if they had known him +before. From what they had heard of the rainless climate of the Peruvian +coast, and the way it had of drying up dead animals of all sorts, they +imagined that this man might have been there for years. He was lying on +his back, with his arms folded around a bundle, and when they tried to +move this bundle, they found it was very heavy. It was something wrapped +up in a blanket and tied with a cord, and when they opened the bundle, +they were pretty nearly struck dumb; for they saw it held, as Shirley +expressed it, about a peck of little hunks of gold. + +"'They were utterly astounded by this discovery, and utterly unable to +make head or tail of it. What that man, apparently an English sailor, had +been doing out in the middle of this desert with a bundle of gold, and +where he got it, and who he was, and where he was going to, and how long +he had been dead, were things beyond their guessing. They dragged the +body out of its burrow in the sand, and examined the pockets, but there +was nothing in the trousers but an old knife. In the pocket of the shirt, +however, were about a dozen matches, wrapped up in an old envelope. This +was addressed, in a very bad hand, to A. McLeish, Callao, Peru, but they +could not make out the date of the postmark. These things were all there +was about the man that could possibly identify him, for his few clothes +were such as any sailor would wear, and were very old and dirty. + +"'But the gold was there. They examined it and scraped it, and they were +sure it was pure gold. There was no doubt in their minds as to what they +would do about this. They would certainly carry it away with them. But +before they did so, Burke wanted to hunt around and see if they could not +find more of it, for the mass of metal was so heavy he did not believe +the sailor could have carried it very far. But after examining the +country as far as the eye could reach, Shirley would not agree to this. +They could see nothing but wide-stretching sands, and no place where it +seemed worth while to risk their lives hunting for treasure. Their best +plan was to get away with what they had found, and now the point was +whether or not they should press on to the coast or go back; but as they +could see no signs of the sea, they soon came to the conclusion that the +best thing to do if they wanted to save their lives and their treasure +was to get back to the mountains. + +"'I forgot to say that as soon as Shirley began to talk about the dead +man and his gold, I left the warehouse in charge of Maka, and took him to +my hotel, where he told me the rest of his story in a room with the door +locked. I must try to take as many reefs in what followed as I can. I +don't believe that the finding of the gold made any difference in their +plans, for, of course, it would have been foolish for them to try to get +to us by themselves. They cut the blanket in half and made up the gold +into two packages, and then they started back for the mountains, taking +with them all the provisions they could carry in addition to the gold, +and leaving their guns behind them. Shirley said their loads got heavier +and heavier as they ploughed through the sand, and it took them three +days to cover the ground they had gone over before in two. When they got +to the village, they found scarcely a man in the place, for the fellows +who had deserted them were frightened, and kept out of sight. They stayed +there all night, and then they went on with their bundles to the next +village, where they succeeded in getting a couple of travelling-bags, +into which they put their gold, so that they might appear to be carrying +their clothes. + +"'After a good deal of travel they reached Callao, and there they made +inquiries for A. McLeish, but nobody knew of him. Of course, he was a +sailor who had had a letter sent there. They went up to Lima and sold a +few pieces of the gold, but, before they did it, they got a heavy hammer +and pounded them up, so that no one would know what their original shape +was. Shirley said he could not say exactly why they did this, but that +they thought, on the whole, it would be safer. Then they went to San +Francisco on the first vessel that sailed. They must have had a good deal +of talk on the voyage in regard to the gold, and it was in consequence of +their discussions that Shirley wanted so much to find me. They had +calculated, judging by the pieces they had sold, that the gold they had +with them was worth about twelve thousand dollars, and they both thought +they ought to do the right thing about it. In the first place, they tried +in San Francisco to find out something about McLeish, but no one knew of +such a man. They then began to consider some persons they did know about. +They had heard in Lima that some of the people of the _Castor_ had been +rescued, and if any of them were hard up, as most likely they were, +Shirley and Burke thought that by rights they ought to have some of the +treasure that they had found. Shirley said at first they had gone on the +idea that each of them would have six thousand dollars and could go into +business for himself, but after a while they thought this would be a mean +thing to do. They had all been shipwrecked together, and two of them had +had a rare piece of good luck, and they thought it no more than honorable +to share this good luck with the others, so they concluded the best thing +to do was to see me about it. Burke left this business to Shirley, +because he wanted to go to see his sister who lives in St. Louis. + +"'They had not formed any fixed plan of division, but they believed that, +as they had had the trouble, and, in fact, the danger, of getting the +gold, they should have the main share, but they considered that they had +enough to help out any of the original party who might be hard up for +money." Of course, we must always remember," said Shirley, in finishing +up his story, "that if we can find the heirs of McLeish, the money +belongs to them. But, even in that case, Burke and I think we ought to +keep a good share of it to pay us for getting it away from that beastly +desert." Here I interrupted him. "Don't you trouble yourself any more +about McLeish," I said. "That money did not belong to him. He stole it." +"How do you know that, and who did he steal it from?" cried Shirley. +"He stole it from me," said I. + +"'At this point Shirley gave such a big jump backward that his chair +broke beneath him, and he went crashing to the floor. He had made a start +a good deal like that when I told him how the Rackbirds had been swept +out of existence when I had opened the flood-gate that let out the waters +of the lake, and I had heard the chair crack then. Now, while he had been +telling me about his finding that man in the sand, with his load of gold, +I had been listening, but I had also been thinking, and almost any man +can think faster than another one can talk, and so by this time I had +made up my mind what I was going to say to Shirley. I would tell him all +about my finding the gold in the mound. It touched me to think that these +poor fellows, who did all that they could to help us escape, and then, +when they got safely home, started immediately to find us in order that +they might give us some of that paltry twelve thousand dollars--give to +us, who are actually millionaires, and who may be richer yet! It would +not do to let any of the crew get ahead of their captain in fair dealing, +and that was one reason why I determined to tell him. Then, there was +another point. Ever since I have been here, selling and storing the gold +I brought away, I have had a heavy load on my mind, and that was the +thought of leaving all the rest of the gold in that mound for the next +person who might come along and find it. + +"'I devised plan after plan of getting more of it, but none of them would +work. Two things were certain: One was that I could not get any more away +by myself. I had already done the best I could and all I could in that +line. And the second thing was that if I should try for any more of the +treasure, I must have people to help me. The plan that suited me best was +to buy a small vessel, man it, go down there, load up with the gold, and +sail away. There would be no reasonable chance that any one would be +there to hinder me, and I would take in the cargo just as if it were +guano, or anything else. Then I would go boldly to Europe. I have looked +into the matter, and I have found that the best thing I can do, if I +should get that gold, would be to transport it to Paris, where I could +distribute it better than I could from any other point. But the trouble +was, where could I get the crew to help me? I have four black men, and I +think I could trust them, as far as honesty goes, but they would not be +enough to work the ship, and I could not think of any white men with whom +I would trust my life and that gold in the same vessel. But now they +seemed to pop up right in front of me. + +"'I knew Shirley and Burke pretty well when they were on the _Castor_, +and after what Shirley told me I knew them better, and I believed they +were my men. To be sure, they might fail me, for they are only human, but +I had to have somebody to help me, and I did not believe there were any +other two men who would be less likely to fail me. So by the time Shirley +had finished his yarn I was ready to tell him the whole thing, and +propose to him and Burke to join me in going down after the rest of the +treasure and taking it to France.'" + +At this point Ralph sprang to his feet, his eyes flashing. "Edna!" he +cried, "I say that your Captain Horn is treating me shamefully. In the +first place, he let me come up here to dawdle about, doing nothing, when +I ought to have been down there helping him get more of that treasure. I +fancy he might have trusted me, and if I had been with him, we should +have brought away nearly twice as much gold, and at this minute we +should be twice as well off as we are. But this last is a thousand times +worse. Here he is, going off on one of the most glorious adventures of +this century, and he leaves me out. What does he take me for? Does he +think I am a girl? When he was thinking of somebody to go with him, why +didn't he think of me, and why doesn't he think of me now? He has no +right to leave me out!" + +"I look at the matter in a different light," said his sister. "Captain +Horn has no right to take you off on such a dangerous adventure, and, +more than that, he has no right to take you from me, and leave me alone +in the world. He once made you the guardian of all that treasure, and now +he considers you as my guardian. You did not desert the first trust, and +I am sorry to think you want to desert the other." + +"That's all very fine," said Ralph. "You blow hot and you blow cold at +the same time. When you want me to keep quiet and do what I am told, you +tell me I am not of age, and that you are my guardian; and when you want +me to stay here and make myself useful, you tell me I am wonderfully +trusty, and that I must be your guardian." + +Edna smiled. "That is pretty good reasoning," she said, "but there isn't +any reasoning needed in this case. No matter what Captain Horn may say or +do, I would not let you go away from me." + +Ralph sat down again. "There is some sense in what you say," he said. "If +the captain should come to grief, and I were with him, we would both be +gone. Then you would have nobody left to you. But that does not entirely +clear him. Even if he thought I ought not to go with him, he ought to +have said something about it, and put in a word or so about his being +sorry. Is there any more of the letter?" + +"Yes," said Edna, "there is more of it," and she began to read again: + +"'I intended to stop here and give you the rest of the matter in another +letter, but now, as I have a good chance to write, I think it is better +to keep on, although this letter is already as long as the pay-roll of +the navy. When I told Shirley about the gold, he made a bounce pretty +nearly as big as the others, but this time I had him in a stout +arm-chair, and he did no damage. He had in his pocket one of the gold +bars he spoke of, and I had one of mine in my trunk, and when we put them +together they were as like as two peas. What I told him dazed him at +first, and he did not seem properly to understand what it all meant, but, +after a little, a fair view of it came to him, and for hours we talked +over the matter. Who the man was who had gone there after we left did not +matter, for he could never come back again. + +"'We decided that what we should do was to go and get that gold as soon +as possible, and Shirley agreed to go with me. He believed we could trust +Burke to join us, and, with my four black men,--who have really become +good sailors,--we would have a crew of seven men altogether, with which +we could work a fair-sized brig to Havre or some other French port. +Before he went away our business was settled. He agreed to go with me as +first mate, to do his best to help me get that gold to France, to +consider the whole treasure as mine, because I had discovered it,--I +explained the reason to him, as I did to you,--and to accept as regular +pay one hundred dollars a day, from then until we should land the cargo +in a European port, and then to leave it to me how much more I would give +him. I told him there were a lot of people to be considered, and I was +going to try to make the division as fair as possible, and he said he was +willing to trust it to me. + +"'If we did not get the gold, he was to have eighteen dollars a month +for the time he sailed with me, and if we got safely back, I would give +him his share of what I had already secured. He was quite sure that Burke +would make the same agreement, and we telegraphed him to come +immediately. I am going to be very careful about Burke, however, and +sound him well before I tell him anything. + +"'Yesterday we found our vessel. She arrived in port a few days ago, and +is now unloading. She is a small brig, and I think she will do; in fact, +she has got to do. By the time Burke gets here I think we shall be ready +to sail. Up to that time we shall be as busy as men can be, and it will +be impossible for me to go to San Francisco. I must attend to the +shipping of the treasure I have stored in the City of Mexico. I shall +send some to one place and some to another, but want it all turned into +coin or bonds before I start. Besides, I must be on hand to see Burke the +moment he arrives. I am not yet quite sure about him, and if Shirley +should let anything slip while I was away our looked-for fortune might be +lost to us.' + +"And that," said Edna, "is all of the letter that I need read, except +that he tells me he expects to write again before he starts, and that +his address after he sails will be Wraxton, Fuguet & Co., American +bankers in Paris." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +EDNA MAKES HER PLANS + + +When she had finished reading the many pages of the letter, Edna leaned +back on the sofa and closed her eyes. Ralph sat upright in his chair and +gazed intently before him. + +"So we are not to see the captain again," he said presently. "But I +suppose that when a man has a thing to do, the best thing is to go +and do it." + +"Yes," said his sister, "that is the best thing." + +"And what are we to do?" + +"I am now trying to decide," she answered. + +"Doesn't he say anything about it?" + +"Not a word," replied Edna. "I suppose he considered he had made his +letter long enough." + +About an hour after this, when the two met again, Edna said: "I have been +writing to Captain Horn, and am going to write to Mrs. Cliff. I have +decided what we shall do. I am going to France." + +"To France!" cried Ralph. "Both of us?" + +"Yes, both of us. I made up my mind about this since I saw you." + +"What are you going to France for?" he exclaimed. "Come, let us have it +all--quick." + +"I am going to France," said his sister, "because Captain Horn is going +there, and when he arrives, I wish to be there to meet him. There is no +reason for our staying here--" + +"Indeed, there is not," interpolated Ralph, earnestly. + +"If we must go anywhere to wait," continued his sister, "I should +prefer Paris." + +"Edna," cried Ralph, "you are a woman of solid sense, and if the +captain wants his gold divided up, he should get you to do it. And now, +when are we going, and is Mrs. Cliff to go? What are you going to do +with the two darkies?" + +"We shall start East as soon as the captain sails," replied his sister, +"and I do not know what Mrs. Cliff will do until I hear from her, and as +for Cheditafa and Mok, we shall take them with us." + +"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Mok for my valet in Paris. That's the best thing +I have got out of the caves yet." + +Captain Horn was a strong man, prompt in action, and no one could know +him long without being assured of these facts. But although Edna's +outward personality was not apt to indicate quickness of decision and +vigor of purpose, that quickness and vigor were hers quite as much as the +captain's when occasion demanded, and occasion demanded them now. The +captain had given no indication of what he would wish her to do during +the time which would be occupied by his voyage to Peru, his work there, +and his subsequent long cruise around South America to Europe. She +expected that in his next letter he would say something about this, but +she wished first to say something herself. + +She did not know this bold sailor as well as she loved him, and she was +not at all sure that the plans he might make for her during his absence +would suit her disposition or her purposes. Consequently, she resolved to +submit her plans to him before he should write again. Above everything +else, she wished to be in that part of the world at which Captain Horn +might be expected to arrive when his present adventure should be +accomplished. She did not wish to be sent for to go to France. She did +not wish to be told that he was coming to America. Wherever he might +land, there she would be. + +The point that he might be unsuccessful, and might never leave South +America, did not enter into her consideration. She was acting on the +basis that he was a man who was likely to succeed in his endeavors. If +she should come to know that he had not succeeded, then her actions would +be based upon the new circumstances. + +Furthermore, she had now begun to make plans for her future life. She had +been waiting for Captain Horn to come to her, and to find out what he +intended to do. Now she knew he was not coming to her for a long time, +and was aware of what he intended to do, and she made her own plans. Of +course, she dealt only with the near future. All beyond that was vague, +and she could not touch it even with her thoughts. When sending his +remittances, the captain had written that she and Mrs. Cliff must +consider the money he sent her as income to be expended, not as principal +to be put away or invested. He had made provisions for the future of all +of them, in case he should not succeed in his present project, and what +he had not set aside with that view he had devoted to his own +operations, and to the maintenance, for a year, of Edna, Ralph, and Mrs. +Cliff, in such liberal and generous fashion as might please them, and he +had apportioned the remittances in a way which he deemed suitable. As +Edna disbursed the funds, she knew that this proportion was three +quarters for herself and Ralph, and one quarter for Mrs. Cliff. + +"He divides everything into four parts," she thought, "and gives me +his share." + +Acting on her principle of getting every good thing out of life that +life could give her, and getting it while life was able to give it to +her, there was no doubt in regard to her desires. Apart from her wish to +go where the captain expected to go, she considered that every day now +spent in America was a day lost. If her further good fortune should +never arrive, and the money in hand should be gone, she wished, before +that time came, to engraft upon her existence a period of life in +Europe--life of such freedom and opportunity as never before she had had +a right to dream of. + +Across this golden outlook there came a shadow. If he had wished to come +to her, she would have waited for him anywhere, or if he had wished her +to go to him, she would have gone anywhere. But it seemed as if that mass +of gold, which brought them together, must keep them apart, a long time +certainly, perhaps always. Nothing that had happened had had any element +of certainty about it, and the future was still less certain. If he had +come to her before undertaking the perilous voyage now before him, there +would have been a certainty in her life which would have satisfied her +forever. But he did not come. It was plainly his intention to have +nothing to do with the present until the future should be settled, so far +as he could settle it. + +In a few days after she had written to Captain Horn, informing him of the +plans she had made to go to France, Edna received an answer which +somewhat disappointed her. If the captain's concurrence in her proposed +foreign sojourn had not been so unqualified and complete, if he had +proposed even some slight modification, if he had said anything which +would indicate that he felt he had authority to oppose her movements if +he did not approve of them,--in fact, even if he had opposed her +plan,--she would have been better pleased. But he wrote as if he were her +financial agent, and nothing more. The tone of his letter was kind, the +arrangements he said he had made in regard to the money deposited in San +Francisco showed a careful concern for her pleasure and convenience, but +nothing in his letter indicated that he believed himself possessed in any +way of the slightest control over her actions. There was nothing like a +sting in that kind and generous letter, but when she had read it, the +great longing of Edna's heart turned and stung her. But she would give no +sign of this wound. She was a brave woman, and could wait still longer. + +The captain informed her that everything was going well with his +enterprise--that Burke had arrived, and had agreed to take part in the +expedition, and that he expected that his brig, the _Miranda_, would be +ready in less than a week. He mentioned again that he was extremely busy +with his operations, but he did not say that he was sorry he was unable +to come to take leave of her. He detailed in full the arrangements he had +made, and then placed in her hands the entire conduct of the financial +affairs of the party until she should hear from him again. When he +arrived in France, he would address her in care of his bankers, but in +regard to two points only did he now say anything which seemed like a +definite injunction or even request. He asked Edna to urge upon Mrs. +Cliff the necessity of saying nothing about the discovery of the gold, +for if it should become known anywhere from Greenland to Patagonia, he +might find a steamer lying off the Rackbirds' cove when his slow +sailing-vessel should arrive there. The other request was that Edna keep +the two negroes with her if this would not prove inconvenient. But if +this plan would at all trouble her, he asked that they be sent to him +immediately. + +In answer to this letter, Edna merely telegraphed the captain, informing +him that she would remain in San Francisco until she had heard that he +had sailed when she would immediately start for the East, and for France, +with Ralph and the two negroes. + +Three days after this she received a telegram from Captain Horn, stating +that he would sail in an hour, and the next day she and her little party +took a train for New York. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +"HOME, SWEET HOME" + + +On the high-street of the little town of Plainton, Maine, stood the neat +white house of Mrs. Cliff, with its green shutters, its porchless front +door, its pretty bit of flower-garden at the front and side, and its neat +back yard, sacred once a week to that virtue which is next to godliness. + +Mrs. Cliff's husband had been the leading merchant in Plainton, and +having saved some money, he had invested it in an enterprise of a friend +who had gone into business in Valparaiso. On Mr. Cliff's death his widow +had found herself with an income smaller than she had expected, and that +it was necessary to change in a degree her style of living. The +hospitalities of her table, once so well known throughout the circle of +her friends, must be curtailed, and the spare bedroom must be less +frequently occupied. The two cows and the horse were sold, and in every +way possible the household was placed on a more economical basis. She had +a good house, and an income on which, with care and prudence, she could +live, but this was all. + +In this condition of her finances it was not strange that Mrs. Cliff had +thought a good deal about the investments in Valparaiso, from which she +had not heard for a long time. Her husband had been dead for three years, +and although she had written several times to Valparaiso, she had +received no answer whatever, and being a woman of energy, she had finally +made up her mind that the proper thing to do was to go down and see after +her affairs. It had not been easy for her to get together the money for +this long journey,--in fact, she had borrowed some of it,--and so, to +lessen her expenses, she had taken passage in the _Castor_ from San +Francisco. + +She was a housewife of high degree, and would not have thought of +leaving--perhaps for months--her immaculate window-panes and her spotless +floors and furniture, had she not also left some one to take care of +them. A distant cousin, Miss Willy Croup, had lived with her since her +husband's death, and though this lady was willing to stay during Mrs. +Cliff's absence, Mrs. Cliff considered her too quiet and inoffensive to +be left in entire charge of her possessions, and Miss Betty Handshall, a +worthy maiden of fifty, a little older than Willy, and a much more +determined character, was asked to come and live in Mrs. Cliffs house +until her return. + +Betty was the only person in Plainton who lived on an annuity, and she +was rather proud of her independent fortune, but as her annuity was very +small, and as this invitation meant a considerable reduction in her +expenses, she was very glad to accept it. Consequently, Mrs. Cliff had +gone away feeling that she had left her house in the hands of two women +almost as neat as herself and even more frugal. + +When Mrs. Cliff left Edna and Ralph in San Francisco, and went home, +nearly all the people in the little town who were worth considering +gathered in and around her house to bid her welcome. They had heard of +her shipwreck, but the details had been scanty and unsatisfactory, and +the soul of the town throbbed with curiosity to know what had really +happened to her. For the first few hours of her return Mrs. Cliff was in +a state of heavenly ecstasy. Everything was so tidy, everything was so +clean, every face beamed with such genial amity, her native air was so +intoxicating, that she seemed to be in a sort of paradise. But when her +friends and neighbors began to ask questions, she felt herself gradually +descending into a region which, for all she knew, might resemble +purgatory. + +Of course, there was a great deal that was wonderful and startling to +relate, and as Mrs. Cliff was a good story-teller, she thrilled the +nerves of her hearers with her descriptions of the tornado at sea and the +Rackbirds on land, and afterwards filled the eyes of many of the women +with tears of relief as she told of their escapes, their quiet life at +the caves, and their subsequent rescue by the _Mary Bartlett_. But it was +the cross-examinations which caused the soul of the narrator to sink. Of +course, she had been very careful to avoid all mention of the gold mound, +but this omission in her narrative proved to be a defect which she had +not anticipated. As she had told that she had lost everything except a +few effects she had carried with her from the _Castor_, it was natural +enough that people should want to know how she had been enabled to come +home in such good fashion. + +They had expected her to return in a shabby, or even needy, condition, +and now they had stories of delightful weeks at a hotel in San Francisco, +and beheld their poor shipwrecked neighbor dressed more handsomely than +they had ever seen her, and with a new trunk standing in the lower hall +which must contain something. + +Mrs. Cliff began by telling the truth, and from this course she did not +intend to depart. She said that the captain of the _Castor_ was a just +and generous man, and, as far as was in his power, he had reimbursed the +unfortunate passengers for their losses. But as every one knows the +richest steamship companies are seldom so generous to persons who may be +cast away during transportation as to offer them long sojourns at hotels, +with private parlors and private servants, and to send them home in +drawing-room cars, with cloaks trimmed with real sealskin, the questions +became more and more direct, and all Mrs. Cliff could do was to stand +with her back against the captain's generosity, as if it had been a rock, +and rely upon it for defence. + +But when the neighbors had all gone home, and the trunk had to be opened, +so that it could be lightened before being carried up-stairs, the remarks +of Willy and Betty cut clean to the soul of the unfortunate possessor of +its contents. Of course, the captain had not actually given her this +thing, and that thing, and the other, or the next one, but he had allowed +her a sum of money, and she had expended it according to her own +discretion. How much that sum of money might have been, Willy and Betty +did not dare to ask,--for there were limits to Mrs. Cliff's +forbearance,--but when they went to bed, they consulted together. + +If it had not been for the private parlor and the drawing-room car, they +would have limited Captain Horn's generosity to one hundred dollars. But, +under the circumstances, that sum would have been insufficient. It must +have been nearly, if not quite, two hundred. As for Mrs. Cliff, she went +to bed regretting that her reservations had not been more extended, and +that she had not given the gold mound in the cave more company. She hated +prevarications and concealments, but if she must conceal something, she +should have concealed more. When the time came when she would be free to +tell of her good fortune, even if it should be no more than she already +possessed, then she would explain everything, and proudly demand of her +friends and neighbors to put their fingers on a single untruth that she +had told them. + +For the next day or two, Mrs. Cliff's joy in living again in her own home +banished all other feelings, and as she was careful to say nothing to +provoke more questions, and as those which were still asked became +uncertain of aim and scattering, her regrets at her want of reticence +began to fade. But, no matter what she did, where she went, or what she +looked at, Mrs. Cliff carried about with her a millstone. It did not hang +from her neck, but it was in her pocket. It was not very heavy, but it +was a burden to her. It was her money--which she wanted to spend, but +dared not. + +On leaving San Francisco, Edna had wished to give her the full amount +which the captain had so far sent her, but Mrs. Cliff declined to receive +the whole. She did not see any strong reason to believe that the captain +would ever send any more, and as she had a home, and Ralph and Edna had +not, she would not take all the money that was due her, feeling that they +might come to need it more than she would. But even with this generous +self-denial she found herself in Plainton with a balance of some +thousands of dollars in her possession, and as much more in Edna's hands, +which the latter had insisted that she would hold subject to order. What +would the neighbors think of Captain Horn's abnormal bounteousness if +they knew this? + +With what a yearning, aching heart Mrs. Cliff looked upon the little +picket-fence which ran across the front of her property! How beautiful +that fence would be with a new coat of paint, and how perfectly well she +could afford it! And there was the little shed that should be over the +back door, which would keep the sun from the kitchen in summer, and in +winter the snow. There was this in one room, and that in another. There +were new dishes which could exist only in her mind. How much domestic +gratification there was within her reach, but toward which she did not +dare to stretch out her hand! + +There was poor old Mrs. Bradley, who must shortly leave the home in which +she had lived nearly all her life, because she could no longer afford to +pay the rent. There had been an attempt to raise enough money by +subscription to give the old lady her home for another year, but this had +not been very successful. Mrs. Cliff could easily have supplied the +deficit, and it would have given her real pleasure to do so,--for she had +almost an affection for the old lady,--but when she asked to be allowed +to subscribe, she did not dare to give more than one dollar, which was +the largest sum upon the list, and even then Betty had said that, under +the circumstances, she could not have been expected to give anything. + +When she went out into the little barn at the rear of the house, and saw +the empty cow-stable, how she longed for fresh cream, and butter of her +own making! And when she gazed upon her little phaeton, which she had not +sold because no one wanted it, and reflected that her good, brown horse +could doubtless be bought back for a moderate sum, she almost wished that +she had come home as poor as people thought she ought to be. + +Now and then she ordered something done or spent some money in a way that +excited the astonishment of Willy Croup--the sharper-witted Betty had +gone home, for, of course, Mrs. Cliff could not be expected to be able to +afford her company now. But in attempting to account for these +inconsiderable extravagances, Mrs. Cliff was often obliged to content +herself with admitting that while she had been abroad she might have +acquired some of those habits of prodigality peculiar to our Western +country. This might be a sufficient excuse for the new bottom step to the +side door, but how could she account for the pair of soft, warm +Californian blankets which were at the bottom of the trunk, and which she +had not yet taken out even to air? + +Matters had gone on in this way for nearly a month,--every day Mrs. Cliff +had thought of some new expenditure which she could well afford, and +every night she wished that she dared to put her money in the town bank +and so be relieved from the necessity of thinking so much about +door-locks and window-fastenings,--when there came a letter from Edna, +informing her of the captain's safe arrival in Acapulco with the cargo of +guano and gold, and inclosing a draft which first made Mrs. Cliff turn +pale, and then compelled her to sit down on the floor and cry. The letter +related in brief the captain's adventures, and stated his intention of +returning for the gold. + +"To think of it!" softly sobbed Mrs. Cliff, after she had carefully +closed her bedroom door. "With this and what I am to get, I believe I +could buy the bank, and yet I can only sit here and try to think of some +place to hide this dangerous piece of paper." + +The draft was drawn by a San Francisco house upon a Boston bank, and Edna +had suggested that it might be well for Mrs. Cliff to open an account in +the latter city. But the poor lady knew that would never do. A +bank-account in Boston would soon become known to the people of Plainton, +and what was the use of having an account anywhere if she could not draw +from it? Edna had not failed to reiterate the necessity of keeping the +gold discovery an absolute secret, and every word she said upon this +point increased Mrs. Cliff's depression. + +"If it were only for a fixed time, a month or three months, or even six +months," the poor lady said to herself, "I might stand it. It would be +hard to do without all the things I want, and be afraid even to pay the +money I borrowed to go to South America, but if I knew when the day was +certainly coming when I could hold up my head and let everybody know just +what I am, and take my proper place in the community, then I might wait. +But nobody knows how long it will take the captain to get away with that +gold. He may have to make ever so many voyages. He may meet with wrecks, +and dear knows what. It may be years before they are ready to tell me I +am a free woman, and may do what I please with my own. I may die in +poverty, and leave Mr. Cliff's nephews to get all the good of the draft +and the money in my trunk up-stairs. I suppose they would think it came +from Valparaiso, and that I had been hoarding it. It's all very well for +Edna. She is going to Europe, where Ralph will be educated, I suppose, +and where she can live as she pleases, and nobody will ask her any +questions, and she need not answer them, if they should. But I must stay +here, in debt, and in actual want of the comforts of life, making believe +to pinch and to save, until a sea-captain thousands and thousands of +miles away shall feel that he is ready to let me put my hand in my pocket +and spend my riches." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +A COMMITTEE OF LADIES + + +It was about a week after the receipt of Edna's letter that Willy Croup +came to Mrs. Cliff's bedroom, where that lady had been taking a +surreptitious glance at her Californian blankets, to tell her that there +were three ladies down in the parlor who wished to see her. + +"It's the minister's wife, and Mrs. Hembold, and old Miss Shott," said +Willy. "They are all dressed up, and I suppose they have come for +something particular, so you'd better fix up a little afore you go down." + +In her present state of mind, Mrs. Cliff was ready to believe that +anybody who came to see her would certainly want to know something which +she could not tell them, and she went down fearfully. But these ladies +did not come to ask questions. They came to make statements. Mrs. Perley, +the minister's wife, opened the interview by stating that, while she was +sorry to see Mrs. Cliff looking so pale and worried, she was very glad, +at the same time, to be able to say something which might, in some +degree, relieve her anxiety and comfort her mind, by showing her that she +was surrounded by friends who could give her their heartfelt sympathy in +her troubles, and perhaps do a little more. + +"We all know," said Mrs. Perley, "that you have had misfortunes, and +that they have been of a peculiar kind, and none of them owing to your +own fault." + +"We can't agree exactly to that," interpolated Miss Shott, "but I won't +interrupt." + +"We all know," continued Mrs. Perley, "that it was a great loss and +disappointment to you not to be able to get down to Valparaiso and settle +your affairs there, for we are aware that you need whatever money is due +you from that quarter. And we understand, too, what a great blow it was +to you to be shipwrecked, and lose all your baggage except a hand-bag." + +Miss Shott was about to say something here, but Mrs. Hembold touched her +on the arm, and she waited. + +"It grieves us very much," continued the minister's wife, "to think that +our dear friend and neighbor should come home from her wanderings and +perils and privations, and find herself in what must be, although we do +not wish to pry into your private affairs, something of an embarrassed +condition. We have all stayed at home with our friends and our families, +and we have had no special prosperity, but neither have we met with +losses, and it grieves us to think that you, who were once as prosperous +as any of us, should now feel--I should say experience--in any manner the +pressure of privation." + +"I don't understand," said Mrs. Cliff, sitting up very straight in her +chair. "Privation? What does that mean?" + +"It may not be exactly that," said Mrs. Perley, quickly, "and we all know +very well, Mrs. Cliff, that you are naturally sensitive on a point like +this. But you have come back shipwrecked and disappointed in your +business, and we want to show you that, while we would not hurt your +feelings for anything in the world, we would like to help you a little, +if we can, just as we would hope you would help us if we were in any +embarrassment." + +"I must say, however--" remarked Miss Shott; but she was again silenced +by Mrs. Hembold, and the minister's wife went on. + +"To come straight to the point," said she, "for a good while we have been +wanting to do something, and we did not know what to do. But a few days +ago we became aware, through Miss Willy Croup, that what was most needed +in this house is blankets. She said, in fact, that the blankets you had +were the same you bought when you were first married, that some of them +had been worn out and given to your poorer neighbors, and that now you +were very short of blankets, and, with cold weather coming on, she did +not consider that the clothing on your own bed was sufficient. She even +went so far as to say that the blankets she used were very thin, and that +she did not think they were warm enough for winter. So, some of us have +agreed together that we would testify our friendship and our sympathy by +presenting you with a pair of good, warm blankets for your own bed; then +those you have could go to Willy Croup, and you both would be comfortable +all winter. Of course, what we have done has not been upon an expensive +scale. We have had many calls upon us,--poor old Mrs. Bradley, for +one,--and we could not afford to spend much money. But we have bought you +a good pair of blankets, which are warm and serviceable, and we hope you +will not be offended, and we do not believe that you will be, for you +know our motives, and all that we ask is that when you are warm and +comfortable under our little gift, you will sometimes think of us. The +blankets are out in the hall, and I have no doubt that Miss Willy Croup +will bring them in." + +Mrs. Cliff's eyes filled with tears. She wanted to speak, but how could +she speak! But she was saved from further embarrassment, for when Willy, +who had been standing in the doorway, had gone to get the blankets, Miss +Shott could be restrained no longer. + +"I am bound to say," she began, "that, while I put my money in with the +rest to get those blankets,--and am very glad to be able to do it, Mrs. +Cliff,--I don't think that we ought to do anything which would look as if +we were giving our countenances to useless extravagances in persons, even +if they are our friends, who, with but small means, think they must live +like rich people, simply because they happen to be travelling among them. +It is not for me to allude to hotels in towns where there are good +boarding-houses, to vestibule cars and fur-trimmed cloaks; but I will say +that when I am called upon to help my friends who need it, I will do it +as quick as anybody, but I also feel called upon by my conscience to lift +up my voice against spending for useless things what little money a +person may have, when that person needs that money for--well, for things +I shall not mention. And now that I have said my say, I am just as glad +to help give you those blankets, Mrs. Cliff, as anybody else is." + +Every one in the room knew that the thing she would not mention was the +money Mrs. Cliff had borrowed for her passage. Miss Shott had not lent +any of it, but her brother, a retired carpenter and builder, had, and as +his sister expected to outlive him, although he was twelve years younger +than she was, she naturally felt a little sore upon this point. + +Now Mrs. Cliff was herself again. She was not embarrassed. She was +neither pale nor trembling. With a stern severity, not unknown to her +friends and neighbors in former days, she rose to her feet. + +"Nancy Shott," said she, "I don't know anything that makes me feel more +at home than to hear you talk like that. You are the same woman that +never could kiss a baby without wanting to spank it at the same time. I +know what is the matter with you. You are thinking of that money I +borrowed from your brother. Well, I borrowed that for a year, and the +time is not up yet; but when it is, I'll pay it, every cent of it, and +interest added. I knew what I was about when I borrowed it, and I know +what I am about now, and if I get angry and pay it before it becomes due, +he will lose that much interest, and he can charge it to you. That is all +I have to say to you. + +"As for you, Mrs. Perley, and the other persons who gave me these +blankets, I want you to feel that I am just as grateful as if--just as +grateful as I can be, and far more for the friendliness than for the +goods. I won't say anything more about that, and it isn't necessary, but +I must say one thing. I am ready to take the blankets, and to thank you +from the bottom of my heart, but I will not have them unless the money +Miss Shott put in is given back to her. Whatever that was, I will make it +up myself, and I hope I may be excused for saying that I don't believe it +will break me." + +Now there was a scene. Miss Shott rose in anger and marched out of the +house. Mrs. Perley and the other lady expostulated with Mrs. Cliff for +a time, but they knew her very well, and soon desisted. Twenty-five +cents was handed to Mrs. Perley to take the place of the sum +contributed by Miss Shott, and the ladies departed, and the blankets +were taken up-stairs. Mrs. Cliff gave one glance at them as Willy +Croup spread them out. + +"If those women could see my Californian blankets!" she said to herself, +but to Willy she said, "They are very nice, and you may put them away." + +Then she went to her own room and went to bed. This last shock was too +much for her nerves to bear. In the afternoon Willy brought her some tea, +but the poor lady would not get up. So long as she stayed in bed, people +could be kept away from her, but there was nowhere else where she could +be in peace. + +All night she lay and thought and thought and thought. What should she +do? She could not endure this condition of things. There was only one +relief that presented itself to her: she might go to Mr. Perley, her +minister, and confide everything to him. He would tell her what she +ought to do. + +"But," she thought, "suppose he should say it should all go to the +Peruvians!" And then she had more thinking to do, based upon this +contingency, which brought on a headache, and she remained in bed all +the next day. + +The next morning, Willy Croup, who had begun to regret that she had ever +said anything about blankets,--but how could she have imagined that +anybody could be so cut up at what that old Shott woman had +said?--brought Mrs. Cliff a letter. + +This was from Edna, stating that she and Ralph and the two negroes had +just arrived in New York, from which point they were to sail for Havre. +Edna wished very much to see Mrs. Cliff before she left the country, and +wrote that if it would be convenient for that lady, she would run up to +Plainton and stay a day or two with her. There would be time enough for +this before the steamer sailed. When she read this brief note, Mrs. Cliff +sprang out of bed. + +"Edna come here!" she exclaimed. "That would be simply ruin! But I must +see her. I must tell her everything, and let her help me." + +As soon as she was dressed, she went down-stairs and told Willy that she +would start for New York that very afternoon. She had received a letter +from Mrs. Horn, and it was absolutely necessary to see her before she +sailed. With only a small leather bag in her hand, and nearly all her +ready money and her peace-destroying draft sewed up inside the body of +her dress, she left Plainton, and when her friends and neighbors heard +that she had gone, they could only ascribe such a sudden departure to the +strange notions she had imbibed in foreign parts. When Plainton people +contemplated a journey, they told everybody about it, and took plenty of +time to make preparations; but South Americans and Californians would +start anywhere at a moment's notice. People had thought that Mrs. Cliff +was too old to be influenced by association in that way, but it was plain +that they had been mistaken, and there were those who were very much +afraid that even if the poor lady had got whatever ought to be coming to +her from the Valparaiso business, it would have been of little use to +her. Her old principles of economy and prudence must have been terribly +shaken. This very journey to New York would probably cost twenty dollars! + +When Mrs. Cliff entered Edna's room in a New York hotel, the latter was +startled, almost frightened. She had expected her visitor, for she had +had a telegram, but she scarcely recognized at the first glance the pale +and haggard woman who had come to her. + +"Sick!" exclaimed poor Mrs. Cliff, as she sank upon a sofa. "Yes, I am +sick, but not in body, only in heart. Well, it is hard to tell you what +is the matter. The nearest I can get to it is that it is wealth struck +in, as measles sometimes strike in when they ought to come out properly, +and one is just as dangerous as the other." + +When Mrs. Cliff had had something to eat and drink, and had begun to tell +her tale, Edna listened with great interest and sympathy. But when the +good lady had nearly finished, and was speaking of her resolution to +confide everything to Mr. Perley, Edna's gaze at her friend became very +intent, and her hands tightly grasped the arms of the chair in which she +was sitting. + +"Mrs. Cliff," said she, when the other had finished, "there is but one +thing for you to do: you must go to Europe with us." + +"Now!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "In the steamer you have engaged passage +in? Impossible! I could not go home and settle up everything and come +back in time." + +"But you must not go home," said Edna. "You must not think of it. Your +troubles would begin again as soon as you got there. You must stay here +and go when we do." + +Mrs. Cliff stared at her. "But I have only a bag and the clothes I have +on. I am not ready for a voyage. And there's the house, with nobody but +Willy in it. Don't you see it would be impossible for me to go?" + +"What you need for the passage," said Edna, "you can buy here in a few +hours, and everything else you can get on the other side a great deal +cheaper and better than here. As to your house, you can write to that +other lady to go there and stay with Miss Croup until you come back. I +tell you, Mrs. Cliff, that all these things have become mere trifles to +you. I dare say you could buy another house such as you own in Plainton, +and scarcely miss the money. Compared to your health and happiness, the +loss of that house, even if it should burn up while you are away, would +be as a penny thrown to a beggar." + +"And there is my new trunk," said Mrs. Cliff, "with my blankets and ever +so many things locked up in it." + +"Let it stay there," said Edna. "You will not need the blankets, and I +don't believe any one will pick the lock." + +"But how shall I explain my running away in such a fashion? What will +they all think?" + +"Simply write," said Edna, "that you are going to Europe as companion +to Mrs. Horn. If they think you are poor, that will explain everything. +And you may add, if you choose, that Mrs. Horn is so anxious to have +you, she will take no denial, and it is on account of her earnest +entreaties that you are unable to go home and take leave in a proper +way of your friends." + +It was half an hour afterwards that Mrs. Cliff said: "Well, Edna, I will +go with you. But I can tell you this: I would gladly give up all the +mountains and palaces I may see in Europe, if I could go back to Plainton +this day, deposit my money in the Plainton bank, and then begin to live +according to my means. That would be a joy that nothing else on this +earth could give me." + +Edna laughed. "All you have to do," she said, "is to be patient and wait +awhile, and then, when you go back like a queen to Plainton, you will +have had your mountains and your palaces besides." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +AT THE HÔTEL BOILEAU + + +It was early in December,--two months after the departure of Edna and her +little party from New York,--and they were all comfortably domiciled in +the Hotel Boileau, in a quiet street, not far from the Boulevard des +Italiens. This house, to which they came soon after their arrival in +Paris, might be considered to belong to the family order, but its grade +was much higher than that of the hotel in which they had lived in San +Francisco. As in the former place, they had private apartments, a private +table, and the service of their own colored men, in addition to that of +the hotel servants. But their salon was large and beautifully furnished, +their meals were cooked by a French chef, every one, from the lordly +porter to the quick-footed chambermaid, served them with a courteous +interest, and Mrs. Cliff said that although their life in the two hotels +seemed to be in the main the same sort of life, they were, in reality, as +different as an old, dingy mahogany bureau, just dragged from an attic, +and that same piece of furniture when it had been rubbed down, oiled, and +varnished. And Ralph declared that, so far as he knew anything about it, +there was nothing like the air of Paris to bring out the tones and +colorings and veinings of hotel life. But the greatest difference between +the former and the present condition of this little party lay in the fact +that in San Francisco its principal member was Mrs. Philip Horn, while in +Paris it was Miss Edna Markham. + +This change of name had been the result of nights of thought and hours of +consultation. In San Francisco Edna felt herself to be Mrs. Horn as truly +as if they had been married at high noon in one of the city churches, but +although she could see no reason to change her faith in the reality of +her conjugal status, she had begun to fear that Captain Horn might have +different views upon the subject. This feeling had been brought about by +the tone of his letters. If he should die, those letters might prove that +she was then his widow, but it was plain that he did not wish to impress +upon her mind that she was now his wife. + +If she had remained in San Francisco, Edna would have retained the +captain's name. There she was a stranger, and Captain Horn was well +known. His agents knew her as Mrs. Horn, the people of the _Mary +Bartlett_ knew her as such, and she should not have thought of resigning +it. But in Paris the case was very different. There she had friends, and +expected to make more, and in that city she was quite sure that Captain +Horn was very little known. + +Edna's Parisian friends, were all Americans, and some of them people of +consideration, one of her old schoolmates being the wife of a secretary +of the American legation. Could she appear before these friends as Mrs. +Captain Philip Horn, feeling that not only was she utterly unable to +produce Captain Horn, but that she might never be able to do so? Should +the captain not return, and should she have proofs of his death, or +sufficient reason to believe it, she might then do as she pleased about +claiming her place as his widow. But should he return, he should not find +that she had trammelled and impeded his plans and purposes by announcing +herself as his wife. She did not expect ever to live in San Francisco +again, and in no other place need she be known as Mrs. Horn. + +As to the business objects of her exceptional marriage, they were, in a +large degree, already attained. The money Captain Horn had remitted to +her in San Francisco was a sum so large as to astound her, and when she +reached Paris she lost no time in depositing her funds under her maiden +name. For the sake of security, some of the money was sent to a London +banker, and in Paris she did not deposit with the banking house which +Captain Horn had mentioned. But directions were left with that house that +if a letter ever came to Mrs. Philip Horn, it was to be sent to her in +care of Mrs. Cliff, and, to facilitate the reception of such a letter, +Mrs. Cliff made Wraxton, Fuguet & Co. her bankers, and all her letters +were addressed to them. But at Edna's bankers she was known as Miss +Markham, and her only Parisian connection with the name of Horn was +through Mrs. Cliff. + +The amount of money now possessed by Edna was, indeed, a very fair +fortune for her, without regarding it, as Captain Horn had requested, as +a remittance to be used as a year's income. In his letters accompanying +his remittances the captain had always spoken of them as her share of the +gold brought away, and in this respect he treated her exactly as he +treated Mrs. Cliff, and in only one respect had she any reason to infer +that the money was in any manner a contribution from himself. In making +her divisions according to his directions, her portion was so much +greater than that of the others, Edna imagined Captain Horn sent her his +share as well as her own. But of this she did not feel certain, and +should he succeed in securing the rest of the gold in the mound, she did +not know what division he would make. Consequently, this little thread of +a tie between herself and the captain, woven merely of some hypothetical +arithmetic, was but a cobweb of a thread. The resumption of her maiden +name had been stoutly combated by both Mrs. Cliff and Ralph. The first +firmly insisted upon the validity of the marriage, so long as the captain +did not appear, but she did not cease to insist that the moment he did +appear, there should be another ceremony. + +"But," said Edna, "you know that Cheditafa's ceremony was performed +simply for the purpose of securing to me, in case of his loss on that +boat trip, a right to claim the benefit of his discovery. If he should +come back, he can give me all the benefit I have a right to claim from +that discovery, just as he gives you your share, without the least +necessity of a civilized marriage. Now, would you advise me to take a +step which would seem to force upon him the necessity for such a +marriage?" + +"No," said Mrs. Cliff. "But all your reasoning is on a wrong basis. I +haven't the least doubt in the world---I don't see how any one can have a +doubt--that the captain intends to come back and claim you as his wife; +and if anything more be necessary to make you such, as I consider there +would be, he would be as ready as anybody to do it. And, Edna, if you +could see yourself, not merely as you look in the glass, but as he would +see you, you would know that he would be as ready as any of us would wish +him to be. And how will he feel, do you suppose, when he finds that you +renounce him and are going about under your maiden name?" + +In her heart Edna answered that she hoped he might feel very much as she +had felt when he did not come to see her in San Francisco, but to Mrs. +Cliff she said she had no doubt that he would fully appreciate her +reasons for assuming her old name. + +Ralph's remarks were briefer, and more to the point. + +"He married you," he said, "the best way he could under the +circumstances, and wrote to you as his wife, and in San Francisco you +took his name. Now, if he comes back and says you are not his wife, I'll +kill him." + +"If I were you, Ralph," said his sister, "I wouldn't do that. In fact, I +may say I would disapprove of any such proceeding." + +"Oh, you can laugh," said he, "but it makes no difference to me. I shall +take the matter into my own hands if he repudiates that contract." + +"But suppose I give him no chance to repudiate it?" said Edna. "Suppose +he finds me Miss Edna Markham, and finds, also, that I wish to continue +to be that lady? If what has been done has any force at all, it can +easily be set aside by law." + +Ralph rose and walked up and down the floor, his hands thrust deep into +his pockets. + +"That's just like a woman," he said. "They are always popping up new and +different views of things, and that is a view I hadn't thought of. Is +that what you intend to do?" + +"No," said Edna, "I do not intend to do anything. All I wish is to hold +myself in such a position that I can act when the time comes to act." + +Ralph took the whole matter to bed with him in order to think over it. He +did a great deal more sleeping than thinking, but in the morning he told +Edna he believed she was right. + +"But one thing is certain," he said: "even if that heathen marriage +should not be considered legal, it was a solemn ceremony of engagement, +and nobody can deny that. It was something like a caveat which people get +before a regular patent is issued for an invention, and if you want him +to do it, he should stand up and do it; but if you don't, that's your +business. But let me give you a piece of advice: wherever you go and +whatever you do, until this matter is settled, be sure to carry around +that two-legged marriage certificate called Cheditafa. He can speak a +good deal of English now, if there should be any dispute." + +"Dispute!" cried Edna, indignantly. "What are you thinking of? Do you +suppose I would insist or dispute in such a matter? I thought you knew me +better than that." + +Ralph sighed. "If you could understand how dreadfully hard it is to know +you," he said, "you wouldn't be so severe on a poor fellow if he happened +to make a mistake now and then." + +When Mrs. Cliff found that Edna had determined upon her course, she +ceased her opposition, and tried, good woman as she was, to take as +satisfactory a view of the matter as she could find reason for. + +"It would be a little rough," she said, "if your friends were to meet you +as Mrs. Horn, and you would be obliged to answer questions. I have had +experience in that sort of thing. And looking at it in that light, I +don't know but what you are right, Edna, in defending yourself against +questions until you are justified in answering them. To have to admit +that you are not Mrs. Horn after you had said you were, would be +dreadful, of course. But the other would be all plain sailing. You would +go and be married properly, and that would be the end of it. And even if +you were obliged to assert your claims as his widow, there would be no +objection to saying that there had been reasons for not announcing the +marriage. But there is another thing. How are you going to explain your +prosperous condition to your friends? When I was in Plainton, I thought +of you as so much better off than myself in this respect, for over here +there would be no one to pry into your affairs. I did not know you had +friends in Paris." + +"All that need not trouble me in the least," said Edna. "When I went to +school with Edith Southall, who is now Mrs. Sylvester, my father was in a +very good business, and we lived handsomely. It was not until I was +nearly grown up that he failed and died, and then Ralph and I went to +Cincinnati, and my life of hard work began. So you see there is no reason +why my friends in Paris should ask any questions, or I should make +explanations." + +"I wish it were that way in Plainton," said Mrs. Cliff, with a sigh. "I +would go back there the moment another ship started from France." + +So it was Miss Edna Markham of New York who took apartments at the Hotel +Boileau, and it was she who called upon the wife of the American +secretary of legation. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +WAITING + + +For several weeks after their arrival, the members of the little party +had but one common object,--to see and enjoy the wonders and beauties of +Paris,--and in their sight-seeing they nearly always went together, +sometimes taking Cheditafa and Mok with them. But as time went on, their +different dispositions began to assert themselves, and in their daily +pursuits they gradually drifted apart. + +Mrs. Cliff was not a cultivated woman, but she had a good, common-sense +appreciation of art in its various forms. She would tramp with untiring +step through the galleries of the Louvre, but when she had seen a +gallery, she did not care to visit it again. She went to the theatre and +the opera because she wanted to see how they acted and sang in France, +but she did not wish to go often to a place where she could not +understand a word that was spoken. + +Ralph was now under the charge of a tutor, Professor Barré by name, who +took a great interest in this American boy, whose travels and experiences +had given him a precocity which the professor had never met with in any +of his other scholars. Ralph would have much preferred to study Paris +instead of books, and the professor, who was able to give a great deal of +time to his pupil, did not altogether ignore this natural instinct of a +youthful heart. In consequence, the two became very good friends, and +Ralph was the best-satisfied member of the party. + +It was in regard to social affairs that the lives of Edna and Mrs. Cliff +diverged most frequently. Through the influence of Mrs. Sylvester, a +handsome woman with a vivacious intelligence which would have made her +conspicuous in any society, Edna found that social engagements, not only +in diplomatic circles and in those of the American colony, but, to some +extent, in Parisian society, were coming upon her much more rapidly than +she had expected. The secretary's wife was proud of her countrywoman, and +glad to bring her forward in social functions. Into this new life Edna +entered as if it had been a gallery she had not yet visited, or a museum +which she saw for the first time. She studied it, and enjoyed the study. + +But only in a limited degree did Mrs. Cliff enjoy society in Paris. To be +sure, it was only in a limited degree that she had been asked to do it. +Even with a well-filled purse and all the advantages of Paris at her +command, she was nothing more than a plain and highly respectable woman +from a country town in Maine. More than this silks and velvets could not +make her, and more than this she did not wish to be. As Edna's friend and +companion, she had been kindly received at the legation, but after +attending two or three large gatherings, she concluded that she would +wait until her return to Plainton before she entered upon any further +social exercises. But she was not at all dissatisfied or homesick. She +preferred Plainton to all places in the world, but that little town +should not see her again until she could exhibit her Californian blankets +to her friends, and tell them where she got the money to buy them. + +"Blankets!" she said to herself. "I am afraid they will hardly notice +them when they see the other things I shall take back there." + +With society, especially such society as she could not enjoy, Mrs. Cliff +could easily dispense. So long as the shops of Paris were open to her, +the delights of these wonderful marts satisfied the utmost cravings of +her heart; and as she had a fine mind for bargaining, and plenty of time +on her hands, she was gradually accumulating a well-chosen stock of +furnishings and adornments, not only for her present house in Plainton, +but for the large and handsome addition to it which she intended to build +on an adjoining lot. These schemes for establishing herself in Plainton, +as a wealthy citizen, did not depend on the success of Captain Horn's +present expedition. What Mrs. Cliff already possessed was a fortune +sufficient for the life she desired to lead in her native town. What she +was waiting for was the privilege of going back and making that fortune +known. As to the increase of her fortune she had but small belief. If it +should come, she might change her plans, but the claims of the native +Peruvians should not be forgotten. Even if the present period of secrecy +should be terminated by the news of the non-success of Captain Horn, she +intended to include, among her expenses, a periodical remittance to some +charitable association in Peru for the benefit of the natives. + +The Christmas holidays passed, January was half gone, and Edna had +received no news from Captain Horn. She had hoped that before leaving +South. America and beginning his long voyage across the Atlantic, he +would touch at some port from which he might send her a letter, which, +coming by steamer, would reach her before she could expect the arrival of +the brig. But no letter had come. She had arranged with a commercial +agency to telegraph to her the moment the Miranda should arrive in any +French port, but no message had come, and no matter what else she was +doing, it seemed to Edna as if she were always expecting such a message. +Sometimes she thought that this long delay must mean disaster, and at +such times she immediately set to work to reason out the matter. From +Acapulco to Cape Horn, up through the South Atlantic and the North +Atlantic to France, was a long voyage for a sailing-vessel, and to the +time necessary for this she must add days, and perhaps weeks, of labor at +the caves, besides all sorts of delays on the voyage. Like Ralph, she had +an unbounded faith in the captain. He might not bring her one bar of +gold, he might meet with all sorts of disasters, but, whenever her mind +was in a healthy condition, she expected him to come to France, as he had +said he would. + +She now began to feel that she was losing a great deal of time. Paris was +all very well, but it was not everything. When news should come to her, +it might be necessary for her to go to America. She could not tell what +would be necessary, and she might have to leave Europe with nothing but +Paris to remember. There was no good objection to travel on the +Continent, for, if the _Miranda_ should arrive while she was not in +Paris, she would not be so far away that a telegram could not quickly +bring her back. So she listened to Mrs. Cliff and her own desires, and +the party journeyed to Italy, by the way of Geneva and Bern. + +Ralph was delighted with the change, for Professor Barré, his tutor, had +consented to go with them, and, during these happy days in Italy, he was +the preceptor of the whole party. They went to but few places that he had +not visited before, and they saw but little that he could not talk about +to their advantage. But, no matter what they did, every day Edna expected +a message, and every day, except Sunday, she went to the banker's to look +over the maritime news in the newspapers, and she so arranged her affairs +that she could start for France at an hour's notice. + +But although Edna had greatly enjoyed the Italian journey, it came to an +end at last, and it was with feelings of satisfaction that she settled +down again in Paris. Here she was in the centre of things, ready for +news, ready for arrivals, ready to go anywhere or do anything that might +be necessary, and, more than that, there was a delightful consciousness +that she had seen something of Switzerland and Italy, and without having +missed a telegram by being away. + +The party did not return to the Hotel Boileau. Edna now had a much +better idea of the Continental menage than she had brought with her from +America, and she believed that she had not been living up to the +standard that Captain Horn had desired. She wished in every way to +conform to his requests, and one of these had been that she should +consider the money he had sent her as income, and not as property. It +was hard for her to fulfil this injunction, for her mind was as +practical as that of Mrs. Cliff, and she could not help considering the +future, and the probability of never receiving an addition to the funds +she now had on deposit in London and Paris. But her loyalty to the man +who had put her into possession of that money was superior to her +feelings of prudence and thrift. When he came to Paris, he should find +her living as he wanted her to live. It was not necessary to spend all +she had, but, whether he came back poor or rich, he should see that she +had believed in him and in his success. + +The feeling of possible disaster had almost left her. The fears that had +come to her had caused her to reason upon the matter, and the more she +reasoned, the better she convinced herself that a long period of waiting +without news was to be expected in the case of an adventure such as that +in which Captain Horn was engaged. There was, perhaps, another reason for +her present state of mind--a reason which she did not recognize: she had +become accustomed to waiting. + +It was at a grand hotel that the party now established themselves, the +space, the plate-glass, the gilt, and the general splendor of which made +Ralph exclaim in wonder and admiration. + +"You would better look out, Edna," said he, "or it will not be long +before we find ourselves living over in the Latin Quarter, and taking our +meals at a restaurant where you pay a sou for the use of the napkins." + +Edna's disposition demanded that her mode of life should not be +ostentatious, but she conformed in many ways to the style of her hotel. +There were returns of hospitality. There was a liveried coachman when +they drove. There was a general freshening of wardrobes, and even +Cheditafa and Mok had new clothes, designed by an artist to suit their +positions. + +If Captain Horn should come to Paris, he should not find that she had +doubted his success, or him. + +After the return from Italy, Mrs. Cliff began to chafe and worry under +her restrictions. She had obtained from Europe all she wanted at present, +and there was so much, in Plainton she was missing. Oh, if she could only +go there and avow her financial condition! She lay awake at night, +thinking of the opportunities that were slipping from her. From the +letters that Willy Croup wrote her, she knew that people were coming to +the front in Plainton who ought to be on the back seats, and that she, +who could occupy, if she chose, the best place, was thought of only as a +poor widow who was companion to a lady who was travelling. It made her +grind her teeth to think of the way that Miss Shott was talking of her, +and it was not long before she made up her mind that she ought to speak +to Edna on the subject, and she did so. + +"Go home!" exclaimed the latter. "Why, Mrs. Cliff, that would be +impossible just now. You could not go to Plainton without letting people +know where you got your money." + +"Of course I couldn't," said Mrs. Cliff, "and I wouldn't. There have +been times when I have yearned so much for my home that I thought it +might be possible for me to go there and say that the Valparaiso affair +had turned out splendidly, and that was how I got my money. But I +couldn't do it. I could not stand up before my minister and offer to +refurnish the parsonage parlor, with such a lie as that on my lips. But +there is no use in keeping back the real truth any longer. It is more +than eight months since Captain Horn started out for that treasure, and +it is perfectly reasonable to suppose either that he has got it; or that +he never will get it, and in either one of these cases it will not do +any injury to anybody if we let people know about the money we have, and +where it came from." + +"But it may do very great injury," said Edna. "Captain Horn may have been +able to take away only a part of it, and may now be engaged in getting +the rest. There are many things which may have happened, and if we should +now speak of that treasure, it might ruin all his plans." + +"If he has half of it," said Mrs. Cliff, "he ought to be satisfied with +that, and not keep us here on pins and needles until he gets the rest. Of +course, I do not want to say anything that would pain you, Edna, and I +won't do it, but people can't help thinking, and I think that we have +waited as long as our consciences have any right to ask us to wait." + +"I know what you mean," replied Edna, "but it does not give me pain. I do +not believe that Captain Horn has perished, and I certainly expect soon +to hear from him." + +"You have been expecting that a long time," said the other. + +"Yes, and I shall expect it for a good while yet. I have made up my mind +that I shall not give up my belief that Captain Horn is alive, and will +come or write to us, until we have positive news of his death, or until +one year has passed since he left Acapulco. Considering what he has done +for us, Mrs. Cliff, I think it very little for us to wait one year before +we betray the trust he has placed in us, and, merely for the sake of +carrying out our own plans a little sooner, utterly ruin the plans he has +made, and which he intends as much for our benefit as for his own." + +Mrs. Cliff said no more, but she thought that was all very well for Edna, +who was enjoying herself in a way that suited her, but it was very +different for her. + +In her heart of hearts, Mrs. Cliff now believed they would never see +Captain Horn again. "For if he were alive," she said to herself, "he +would certainly have contrived in some way or other to send some sort of +a message. With the whole world covered with post routes and +telegraph-wires, it would be simply impossible for Captain Horn and those +two sailors to keep absolutely silent and unheard of for such a long +time--unless," she continued, hesitating even in her thoughts, "they +don't want to be heard from." But the good lady would not allow her mind +to dwell on that proposition; it was too dreadful! + +And so Edna waited and waited, hoping day by day for good news from +Captain Horn; and so Mrs. Cliff waited and waited, hoping for news from +Captain Horn--good news, if possible, but in any case something certain +and definite, something that would make them know what sort of life they +were to lead in this world, and make them free to go and live it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +A MARINER'S WITS TAKE A LITTLE FLIGHT + + +When Captain Horn, in the brig _Miranda_, with the American sailors Burke +and Shirley, and the four negroes, left Acapulco on the 16th of +September, he might have been said to have sailed "in ballast," as the +only cargo he carried was a large number of coffee-bags. He had cleared +for Rio Janeiro, at which port he intended to touch and take on board a +small cargo of coffee, deeming it better to arrive in France with +something more than the auriferous mineral matter with which he hoped to +replace a large portion of discarded ballast. The unusual cargo of empty +coffee-bags was looked upon by the customs officials as a bit of Yankee +thrift, it being likely enough that the captain could obtain coffee-bags +in Mexico much cheaper than in Rio Janeiro. + +The voyage to the Peruvian coast was a slow one, the _Miranda_ proving to +be anything but a clipper, and the winds were seldom in her favor. But at +last she rounded Aguja Point, and the captain shaped his course toward +the coast and the Rackbirds' cove, the exact position of which was now +dotted on his chart. + +A little after noon on a quiet October day, they drew near enough to +land to recognize the coast-line and the various landmarks of the +locality. The negroes were filled with surprise, and afterwards with +fright, for they had had no idea that they were going near the scene of +their former horrible captivity. From time to time, they had debated +among themselves the intentions of Captain Horn in regard to them, and +now the idea seized them that perhaps he was going to leave them where he +had found them. But, through Maka, who at first was as much frightened as +the rest, the captain succeeded in assuring them that he was merely going +to stop as near as possible to the cave where he had stayed so long, to +get some of his property which it had been impossible to take away when +the rest of the party left. Maka had great confidence in the captain's +word, and he was able to infuse a good deal of this into the minds of the +three other negroes. + +Captain Horn had been in considerable doubt in regard to the best method +of shipping the treasure; should he be so fortunate as to find it as he +had left it. The cove was a quiet harbor in which the small boats could +easily ply between the vessel and the shore, but, in this case, the gold +must be carried by tedious journeys along the beach. On the other hand, +if the brig lay too near the entrance to the caves, the treasure-laden +boats must be launched through the surf, and, in case of high seas, this +operation might be hazardous; consequently, he determined to anchor in +the Rackbirds' cove and submit to the delay and inconvenience of the +land transportation of the gold. + +When the captain and Shirley went ashore in a boat, nothing was seen to +indicate that any one had visited the spot since the last cargo of guano +had been shipped. This was a relief, but when the captain had wandered +through the place, and even examined the storehouse of the Rackbirds, he +found, to his regret, that it was too late for him to visit the caves +that day. This was the occasion of a night of wakefulness and +unreasonable anxiety--unreasonable, as the captain assured himself over +and over again, but still impossible to dissipate. No man who has spent +weeks in pursuit of a royal treasure, in a vessel that at times seemed +hardly to creep, could fail to be anxious and excited when he is +compelled to pause within a few miles of that treasure. + +But early in the morning the captain started for the caves. He took with +him Shirley and Maka, leaving the brig in charge of Burke. The captain +placed great confidence in Shirley, who was a quiet, steady man. In fact, +he trusted every one on the ship, for there was nothing else to do. If +any of them should prove false to him, he hoped to be able to defend +himself against them, and it would be more than foolish to trouble his +mind with apprehensions until there should be some reason for them. But +there was a danger to be considered, quite different from the criminal +cupidity which might be provoked by companionship with the heap of gold, +and this was the spirit of angry disappointment which might be looked for +should no heap of gold be found. At the moment of such possible +disappointment, the captain wanted to have with him a man not given to +suspicions and resentments. + +In fact, the captain thought, as the little party strode along the +beach, that if he should find the mound empty,--and he could not drive +from his mind that once he had found it uncovered,--he wished to have +with him some one who would back him up a little in case he should lower +his lantern into a goldless void. + +As they walked up the plateau in the path worn principally by his own +feet, and the captain beheld the great stone face against the wall of +rock, his mind became quieter. He slackened his pace, and even began to +concoct some suitable remarks to make to Shirley in case of evil fortune. + +Shirley looked about him with great interest. He had left the place +before the great stone face had been revealed by the burning of the +vines, and he would have been glad to stop for a minute and examine it. +But although Captain Horn had convinced himself that he was in no hurry, +he could not allow delay. Lighting a lantern, they went through the +passageway and entered the great cave of the lake, leaving Maka rummaging +around with eager delight through the rocky apartments where he had once +been a member of a domestic household. + +When they reached the mound, the captain handed his lantern to Shirley, +telling him to hold it high, and quickly clambered to the top. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "The lid is just as I left it. Come up!" + +In a moment Shirley was at his side, and the captain with his +pocket-knife began to pick out the oakum which he had packed around the +edges of the lid, for otherwise it would have been impossible for him to +move it. Then he stood up and raised the lid, putting it to one side. + +"Give me the lantern!" he shouted, and, stooping, lie lowered it and +looked in. The gold in the mound was exactly as he had left it. + +"Hurrah!" he cried. "Now you take a look!" And he handed the lantern to +his companion. + +Shirley crawled a little nearer the opening and looked into it, then +lowered the lantern and put his head down so that it almost disappeared. +He remained in this position for nearly a minute, and the captain gazed +at him with a beaming face. His whole system, relieved from the +straining bonds of doubt and fear and hope, was basking in a flood of +ecstatic content. + +Suddenly Shirley began to swear. He was not a profane man, and seldom +swore, but now the oaths rolled from him in a manner that startled +the captain. + +"Get up," said he. "Haven't you seen enough?" + +Shirley raised his head, but still kept his eyes on the treasure beneath +him, and swore worse than before. The captain was shocked. + +"What is the matter with you?" said he. "Give me the lantern. I don't see +anything to swear at." + +Shirley did not hand him the lantern, but the captain took it from him, +and then he saw that the man was very pale. + +"Look out!" he cried. "You'll slip down and break your bones." + +In fact, Shirley's strength seemed to have forsaken him, and he was on +the point of either slipping down the side of the mound or tumbling into +the open cavity. The captain put down the lantern and moved quickly to +his side, and, with some difficulty, managed to get him safely to the +ground. He seated him with his back against the mound, and then, while he +was unscrewing the top of a whiskey flask, Shirley began to swear again +in a most violent and rapid way. + +"He has gone mad," thought the captain. "The sight of all that gold has +crazed him." + +"Stop that," he said to the other, "and take a drink." + +Shirley broke off a string of oaths in the middle, and took a pull at the +flask. This was of service to him, for he sat quiet for a minute or two, +during which time the captain brought down the lantern. Looking up at +him, Shirley said in a weak voice: + +"Captain, is what I saw all so?" + +"Yes," was the reply, "it's all so." + +"Then," said the other, "help me out of this. I want to get out into +common air." + +The captain raised Shirley to his feet, and, with the lantern in one +hand, he assisted him to walk. But it was not easy. The man appeared to +take no interest in his movements, and staggered and leaned upon the +captain as if he were drunk. + +As soon as they came out of the utter darkness and had reached the +lighter part of the cave, the captain let Shirley sit down, and +went for Maka. + +"The first mate has been taken sick," said he to the negro, "and you must +come help me get him out into the open air." + +When the negro saw Shirley in a state of semi-collapse, he began to +tremble from head to foot, but he obeyed orders, and, with a great deal +of trouble, the two got the sailor outside of the caves and gave him +another drink of whiskey. + +Maka had his own ideas about this affair. There was no use telling him +Mr. Shirley was sick--at least, that he was afflicted by any common +ailment. He and his fellows knew very well that there were devils back +in the blackness of that cave, and if the captain did not mind them, it +was because they were taking care of the property, whatever it was, +that he kept back here, and for which he had now returned. With what +that property was, and how it happened to be there, the mind of the +negro did not concern itself. Of course, it must be valuable, or the +captain would not have come to get it, but that was his business. He +had taken the first mate into that darkness, and the sight of the +devils had nearly killed him, and now the negro's mind was filled with +but one idea, and that was that the captain might take him in there and +make him see devils. + +After a time Shirley felt very much better, and able to walk. + +"Now, captain," said he, "I am all right, but I tell you what we must do: +I'll go to the ship, and I'll take charge of her, and I'll do whatever +has got to be done on shore. Yes, and, what's more, I'll help do the +carrying part of the business,--it would be mean to sneak out of +that,--and I'll shoulder any sort of a load that's put out on the sand in +the daylight. But, captain, I don't want to do anything to make me look +into that hole. I can't stand it, and that is the long and short of it. I +am sorry that Maka saw me in such a plight--it's bad for discipline; but +it can't be helped." + +"Never mind," cried the captain, whose high spirits would have overlooked +almost anything at that moment. "Come, let us go back and have our +breakfast. That will set you up, and I won't ask you to go into the caves +again, if you don't want to." + +"Don't let's talk about it," said Shirley, setting off. "I'd rather get +my mind down to marlin-spikes and bilge-water." + +As the captain walked back to the cove, he said to himself: + +"I expect it struck Shirley harder than it did the rest of us because +he knew what he was looking at, and the first time we saw it we were +not sure it was gold, as it might have been brass. But Shirley knew, +for he had already had a lot of those bars, and had turned them into +money. By George! I don't wonder that a poor fellow who had struggled +for life with a small bag of that gold was knocked over when he saw a +wagon-load of it." + +Maka, closely following the others, had listened with eagerness to what +had been said, and had been struck with additional horror when he heard +Shirley request that he might not again be asked to look into that hole. +Suddenly the captain and Shirley were startled by a deep groan behind +them, and, turning, saw the negro sitting upon the sand, his knees drawn +up to his face, and groaning grievously. + +"What's the matter?" cried the captain. + +"I sick," said Maka. "Sick same as Mr. Shirley." + +"Get up and come along," said the captain, laughing. He saw that +something was really ailing the black fellow, for he trembled from head +to foot, and his face had the hue of a black horse recently clipped. But +he thought it best not to treat the matter seriously. "Come along," said +he. "I am not going to give you any whiskey." And then, struck by a +sudden thought, he asked, "Are you afraid that you have got to go into +that cave?" + +"Yes, sir," said Maka, who had risen to his feet. "It make me pretty near +die dead to think that." + +"Well, don't die any more," said the captain. "You sha'n't go anywhere +that you have not been before." + +The pupils of Maka's eyes, which had been turned up nearly out of sight, +were now lowered. "All right, cap'n," said he. "I lot better now." + +This little incident was not unpleasant to the captain. If the negroes +were afraid to go into the blackness of the caves, it would make fewer +complications in this matter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE "MIRANDA" TAKES IN CARGO + + +The next day the work of removing the treasure from the caves to the +vessel began in good earnest. The Miranda was anchored not far from the +little pier, which was found in good order, and Shirley, with one negro, +was left on board, while the captain and Burke took the three others, +loaded with coffee-bags, to the caves. + +For the benefit of the minds of the black men, the captain had instructed +Maka to assure them that they would not be obliged to go anywhere where +it was really dark. But it was difficult to decide how to talk to Burke. +This man was quite different from Shirley. He was smaller, but stout and +strong, with a dark complexion, and rather given to talk. The captain +liked him well enough, his principal objection to him being that he was +rather too willing to give advice. But, whatever might be the effect of +the treasure on Burke, the captain determined that he should not be +surprised by it. He had tried that on Shirley, and did not want to try it +again on anybody. So he conversed freely about the treasure and the +mound, and, as far as possible, described its appearance and contents. +But he need not have troubled himself about the effect of the sight of a +wagon-load of gold upon Burke's mind. He was glad to see it, and whistled +cheerfully as he looked down into the mound. + +"How far do you think it goes down?" said he to the captain. + +"Don't know," was the reply. "We can't tell anything about that until we +get it out." + +"All right," said Burke. "The quicker we do it, the better." + +The captain got into the mound with a lantern, for the gold was now too +low for him to reach it from above, and having put as many bars into a +coffee-bag as a man could carry, he passed it up to Burke, who slid it +down to the floor, where another lantern had been left. When five bags +had been made ready, the captain came out, and he and Burke put each bag +into another, and these were tied up firmly at each end, for a single +coffee-bag was not considered strong enough to hold the weighty +treasure. Then the two carried the bags into the part of the cave which +was lighted by the great fissure, and called the negroes. Then, each +taking a bag on his shoulder, the party returned to the cove. On the +next trip, Shirley decided to go with the captain, for he said he did +not care for anything if he did not have to look down into the mound, +for that was sure to make him dizzy. Maka's place was taken by the negro +who had been previously left in the vessel. Day by day the work went on, +but whoever might be relieved, and whatever arrangements might be made, +the captain always got into the mound and handed out the gold. Whatever +discovery should be made when the bottom of the deposit was reached, he +wanted to be there to make it. + +The operations were conducted openly, and without any attempt at secrecy +or concealment. The lid of the mound was not replaced when they left it, +and the bags of gold were laid on the pier until it was convenient to +take them to the vessel. When they were put on board, they were lowered +into the hold, and took the place of a proportionate amount of ballast, +which was thrown out. + +All the negroes now spoke and understood a little English. They might +think that those bags were filled with gold, or they might think that +they contained a mineral substance, useful for fertilizer; but if by +questioning or by accidental information they found out what was the load +under which they toiled along the beach, the captain was content. There +was no reason why he should fear these men more than he feared Burke and +Shirley. All of them were necessary to him, and he must trust them. +Several times when he was crouched down in the interior of the mound, +filling a bag with gold, he thought how easy it would be for one of the +sailors to shoot him from above, and for them, or perhaps only one of +them, to become the owner of all that treasure. But then, he could be +shot in one place almost as well as in another, and if the negroes should +be seized with the gold fever, and try to cut white throats at midnight, +they would be more likely to attempt it after the treasure had been +secured and the ship had sailed than now. In any case, nothing could be +gained by making them feel that they were suspected and distrusted. +Therefore it was that when, one day, Maka said to the captain that the +little stones in the bags had begun to make his shoulder tender, the +captain showed him how to fold an empty sack and put it between the bags +and his back, and then also told him that what he carried was not stones, +but lumps of gold. + +"All yourn, cap'n!" asked Maka. + +"Yes, all mine," was the reply. + +That night Maka told his comrades that when the captain got to the end of +this voyage, he would be able to buy a ship bigger than the _Castor_, and +that they would not have to sail in that little brig any more, and that +he expected to be cook on the new vessel, and have a fine suit of clothes +in which to go on shore. + +For nearly a month the work went on, but the contents of the mound +diminished so slowly that the captain, and, in fact, the two sailors, +also, became very impatient. Only about forty pounds could be carried by +each man on a trip, and the captain saw plainly that it would not do to +urge greater rapidity or more frequent trips, for in that case there +would be sure to be breakdowns. The walk from the cove to the caves was +a long one, and rocky barriers had to be climbed, and although now but +one man was left on board the vessel, only thirty bags a day were stored +in its hold. This was very slow work. Consultations were held, and it +was determined that some quicker method of transportation must be +adopted. The idea that they could be satisfied with what they already +had seemed to enter the mind of none of them. It was a foregone +conclusion that their business there was to carry away all the gold that +was in the mound. + +A new plan, though rather a dangerous one, was now put into operation. +The brig was brought around opposite the plateau which led to the caves, +and anchored just outside the line of surf, where bottom was found at a +moderate depth. Then the bags were carried in the boats to the vessel. A +line connected each boat with the ship, and the negroes were half the +time in the water, assisting the boats backward and forward through the +surf. Now work went on very much more rapidly. The men had all become +accustomed to carrying the heavy bags, and could run with them down the +plateau. The boats were hauled to and from the vessel, and the bags were +hoisted on board by means of blocks and tackle and a big basket. Once the +side of the basket gave way, and several bags went down to the bottom of +the sea, never to be seen again. But there was no use in crying over +spilt gold, and this was the only accident. + +The winds were generally from the south and east, and, therefore, there +was no high surf; and this new method of working was so satisfactory that +they all regretted they had not adopted it from the first, +notwithstanding the risk. But the captain had had no idea that it would +take so long for five men to carry that treasure a distance of two miles, +taking forty pounds at a time. + +At night everybody went on board the brig, and she lay to some distance +from the shore, so as to be able to run out to sea in case of bad +weather, but no such weather came. + +It was two months since the brig had dropped anchor in the Rackbirds' +cove when the contents of the mound got so low that the captain could not +hand up the bags without the assistance of a ladder, which he made from +some stuff on board the brig. By rough measurement, he found that he +should now be near the level of the outside floor of the cave, and he +worked with great caution, for the idea, first broached by Ralph, that +this mass of gold might cover something more valuable than itself, had +never left him. + +But as he worked steadily, filling bag after bag, he found that, although +he had reached at the outer edge of the floor of the mound what seemed to +be a pavement of stone, there was still a considerable depth of gold in +the centre of the floor. Now he worked faster, telling Shirley, who was +outside, that he would not come out until he had reached the floor of the +mound, which was evidently depressed in the centre after the fashion of a +saucer. Working with feverish haste, the captain handed up bag after bag, +until every little bar of gold had been removed from the mound. + +The bottom of the floor was covered with a fine dust, which had sifted +down in the course of ages from the inside coating of the mound, but it +was not deep enough to conceal a bar of gold, and, with his lantern and +his foot, the captain made himself sure that not a piece was left. Then +his whole soul and body thrilled with a wild purpose, and, moving the +ladder from the centre of the floor, he stooped to brush away the dust. +If there should be a movable stone there! If this stone should cover a +smaller cavity beneath the great one, what might he not discover within +it? His mind whirled before the ideas which now cast themselves at him, +when suddenly he stood up and set his teeth hard together. + +"I will not," he said. "I will not look for a stone with a crack around +it. We have enough already. Why should we run the risk of going crazy by +trying to get more? I will not!" And he replaced the ladder. + +"What's the matter in there?" called Shirley, from outside. "Who're you +talking to?" + +The captain came out of the opening in the mound, pulled up the ladder +and handed it to Shirley, and then he was about to replace the lid upon +the mound. But what was the use of doing that, he thought. There would be +no sense in closing it. He would leave it open. + +"I was talking to myself," he said to Shirley, when he had descended. "It +sounded crack-brained, I expect." + +"Yes, it did," answered the other. "And I am glad these are the last bags +we have to tie up and take out. I should not have wondered if the whole +three of us had turned into lunatics. As for me, I have tried hard to +stop thinking about the business, and I have found that the best thing I +could do was to try and consider the stuff in these bags as coal--good, +clean, anthracite coal. Whenever I carried a bag, I said to myself, +'Hurry up, now, with this bag of coal.' A ship-load of coal, you know, is +not worth enough to turn a man's head." + +"That was not a bad idea," said the captain. "But now the work is done, +and we will soon get used to thinking of it without being excited about +it. There is absolutely no reason why we should not be as happy and +contented as if we had each made a couple of thousand dollars apiece on a +good voyage." + +"That's so," said Shirley, "and I'm going to try to think it." + +When the last bag had been put on board, Burke and the captain were +walking about the caves looking here and there to take a final leave of +the place. Whatever the captain considered of value as a memento of the +life they had led here had been put on board. + +"Captain," said Burke, "did you take all the gold out of that mound?" + +"Every bit of it," was the reply. + +"You didn't leave a single lump for manners?" + +"No," said the captain. "I thought it better that whoever discovered that +empty mound after us should not know what had been in it. You see, we +will have to circulate these bars of gold pretty extensively, and we +don't want anybody to trace them back to the place where they came from. +When the time comes, we will make everything plain and clear, but we will +want to do it ourselves, and in our own way." + +"There is sense in that," said Burke. "There's another thing I want to +ask you, captain. I've been thinking a great deal about that mound, and +it strikes me that there might be a sub-cellar under it, a little one, +most likely, with something else in it--rings and jewels, and nobody +knows what not. Did you see if there was any sign of a trap-door?" + +"No," said the captain, "I did not. I wanted to do it,--you do not know +how much,--but I made up my mind it would be the worst kind of folly to +try and get anything else out of that mound. We have now all that is good +for us to have. The only question is whether or not we have not more than +is good for us. I was not sure that I should not find something, if I +looked for it, which would make me as sick as Shirley was the first time +he looked into the mound. No, sir; we have enough, and it is the part of +sensible men to stop when they have enough." + +Burke shook his head. "If I'd been there," he said, "I should have looked +for a crack in that floor." + +When the brig weighed anchor, she did not set out for the open sea, but +proceeded back to the Rackbirds' cove, where she anchored again. Before +setting out, the next day, on his voyage to France, the captain wished to +take on board a supply of fresh water. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +BURKE AND HIS CHISEL + + +That night George Burke went off his watch at twelve o'clock, and a few +minutes after he had been relieved, he did something he had never done +before--he deserted his ship. With his shoes and a little bundle of +clothes on his head, he very quietly slipped down a line he had fastened +astern. It was a very dark night, and he reached the water unseen, and as +quietly as if he had been an otter going fishing. First swimming, and +then wading, he reached the shore. As soon as he was on land, he dressed, +and then went for a lantern, a hammer, and a cold-chisel, which he had +left at a convenient spot. + +Without lighting the lantern, he proceeded as rapidly as possible to the +caves. His path was almost invisible, but having travelled that way so +often, he knew it as well as he knew his alphabet. Not until he was +inside the entrance to the caves did he light his lantern. Then he +proceeded, without loss of time, to the stone mound. He knew that the +ladder had been left there, and, with a little trouble, he found it, +where Shirley had put it, behind some rocks on the floor of the cave. By +the aid of this he quickly descended into the mound, and then, moving +the foot of the ladder out of the way, he vigorously began to brush away +the dust from the stone pavement. When this was done, he held up the +lantern and carefully examined the central portion of the floor, and very +soon he discovered what he had come to look for. A space about three feet +square was marked off on the pavement of the mound by a very perceptible +crevice. The other stones of the pavement were placed rather irregularly, +but some of them had been cut to allow this single square stone to be set +in the centre. + +"That's a trap-door," said Burke. "There can't be any doubt about that." +And immediately he set to work to get it open. + +There was no ring, nor anything by which he could lift it; but if he +could get his heavy chisel under it, he was sure he could raise it until +he could get hold of it with his hands. So he began to drive his chisel +vigorously down into the cracks at various places. This was not difficult +to do, and, trying one side after another, he got the chisel down so far +that he could use it as a lever. But with all his strength he could not +raise the stone. + +At last, while working at one corner, he broke out a large piece of the +pavement, eight or nine inches long, and found that it had covered a +metal bar about an inch in diameter. With his lantern he carefully +examined this rod, and found that it was not iron, but appeared to be +made of some sort of bronze. + +"Now, what is this?" said Burke to himself. "It's either a hinge or a +bolt. It doesn't look like a hinge, for it wouldn't be any use for it to +run so far into the rest of the pavement, and if it is a bolt, I don't +see how they got at it to move it. I'll see where it goes to." And he +began to cut away more of the pavement toward the wall of the dome. The +pieces of stone came up without much trouble, and as far as he cut he +found the metal rod. + +"By George!" said he, "I believe it goes outside of the mound! They +worked it from outside!" + +Putting the ladder in place, he ran up with his lantern and tools, and +descended to the outside floor. Then he examined the floor of the cave +where the rod must run if it came outside the mound. He found a line of +flat stones, each about a foot square, extending from the mound toward +the western side of the cave. + +"Oh, ho!" he cried, and on his knees he went to work, soon forcing up one +of these stones, and under it was the metal rod, lying in a groove +considerably larger than itself. Burke now followed the line of stones to +the western side of the cave, where the roof was so low he could scarcely +stand up under it. To make sure, he took up another stone, and still +found the rod. + +"I see what this means," said he. "That bolt is worked from clean +outside, and I've got to find the handle of it. If I can't do that, I'll +go back and cut through that bolt, if my chisel will do it." + +He now went back to a point on the line of stones about midway between +the side of the cave and the mound, and then, walking forward as nearly +as possible in a straight line, which would be at right angles with the +metal rod, he proceeded until he had reached the entrance to the +passageway which led to the outer caves, carefully counting his steps as +he went. Then he turned squarely about, entered the passage, and walked +along it until he came to the door of the room which had once been +occupied by Captain Horn. + +"I'll try it inside first," said Burke to himself, "and then I'll +go outside." + +He walked through the rooms, turning to the right about ten feet when he +came to the middle apartment,--for the door here was not opposite to the +others,--but coming back again to his line of march as soon as he was on +the other side. He proceeded until he reached the large cave, open at the +top, which was the last of these compartments. This was an extensive +cavern, the back part being, however, so much impeded by rocks that had +fallen from the roof that it was difficult for him to make any progress, +and the numbering of his steps depended very much upon calculation. But +when he reached the farthest wall, Burke believed that he had gone about +as great a distance as he had stepped off in the cave of the lake. + +"But how in the mischief," thought he, "am I to find anything here?" He +held up his lantern and looked about. "I can't move these rocks to see +what is under them." + +As he gazed around, he noticed that the southeast corner seemed to be +more regular than the rest of the wall of the cave. In fact, it was +almost a right-angled corner, and seemed to have been roughly cut into +that shape. Instantly Burke was in the corner. He found the eastern wall +quite smooth for a space about a foot wide and extending about two yards +from the floor. In this he perceived lines of crevice marking out a +rectangular space some six inches wide and four feet in height. + +"Ha, ha!" cried Burke. "The handle is on the other side of that slab, +I'll bet my head!" And putting down the lantern, he went to work. + +With his hammer and chisel he had forced the top of the slab in less than +two minutes, and soon he pulled it outward and let it drop on the floor. +Inside the narrow, perpendicular cavity which was now before him, he saw +an upright metal bar. + +"The handle of the bolt!" cried Burke. "Now I can unfasten the +trap-door." And taking hold of the top of the bar, he pulled back with +all his force. At first he could not move it, but suddenly the resistance +ceased, and he pulled the bar forward until it stood at an angle of +forty-five degrees from the wall. Further than this Burke could not move +it, although he tugged and bore down on it with all his weight. + +"All right," said he, at last. "I guess that's as far as she'll come. +Anyway, I'm off to see if I've drawn that bolt. If I have, I'll have that +trap-door open, if I have to break my back lifting it." + +With his best speed Burke ran through the caves to the mound, and, +mounting by means of the stone projections, he was about to descend by +the ladder, when, to his utter amazement, he saw no ladder. He had left +it projecting at least two feet through the opening in the top of the +mound, and now he could see nothing of it. + +What could this mean? Going up a little higher, he held up his lantern +and looked within, but saw no signs of the ladder. + +"By George!" he cried, "has anybody followed me and pulled out +that ladder?" + +Lowering the lantern farther into the mound, he peered in. Below, and +immediately under him, was a black hole, about three feet square. +Burke was so startled that he almost dropped the lantern. But he was a +man of tough nerve, and maintained his clutch upon it. But he drew +back. It required some seconds to catch his breath. Presently he +looked down again. + +"I see," said he. "That trap-door was made to fall down, and not to lift +up, and when I pulled the bolt, down it went, and the ladder, being on +top of it, slipped into that hole. Heavens!" he said, as a cold sweat +burst out over him at the thought, "suppose I had made up my mind to cut +that bolt! Where would I have gone to?" + +It was not easy to frighten Burke, but now he trembled, and his back was +chilled. But he soon recovered sufficiently to do something, and going +down to the floor of the cave, he picked up a piece of loose stone, and +returning to the top of the mound, he looked carefully over the edge of +the opening, and let the stone drop into the black hole beneath. With all +the powers of his brain he listened, and it seemed to him like half a +minute before he heard a faint sound, far, far below. At this moment he +was worse frightened than he had ever been in his life. He clambered down +to the foot of the mound, and sat down on the floor. + +"What in the name of all the devils does it mean?" said he; and he set +himself to work to think about it, and found this a great deal harder +labor than cutting stone. + +"There was only one thing," he said to himself, at last, "that they could +have had that for. The captain says that those ancient fellows put their +gold there keep it from the Spaniards, and they must have rigged up this +devilish contrivance to work if they found the Spaniards had got on the +track of their treasure. Even if the Spaniards had let off the water and +gone to work to get the gold out, one of the Incas' men in the corner of +that other cave, which most likely was all shut up and not discoverable, +would have got hold of that bar, given it a good pull, and let down all +the gold, and what Spaniards might happen to be inside, to the very +bottom of that black hole. By George! it would have been a pretty trick! +The bottom of that mound is just like a funnel, and every stick of gold +would have gone down. But, what is more likely, they would have let it +out before the Spaniards had a chance to open the top, and then, if the +ancients had happened to lick the Spaniards, they could have got all that +gold up again. It might have taken ten or twenty years, but then, the +ancients had all the time they wanted." + +After these reflections, Burke sat for a few moments, staring at the +lantern. "But, by George!" said he again, speaking aloud, though in low +tones, "it makes my blood run cold to think of the captain working day +after day, as hard as he could, right over that horrible trap-door. +Suppose he had moved the bolt in some way! Suppose somebody outside had +found that slab in the wall and had fooled with the bar! Then, there is +another thing. Suppose, while they were living here, he or the boy had +found that bar before he found the dome, and had pulled out the concern +to see what it was! Bless me! in that case we should all be as poor as +rats! Bat I must not stop here, or the next watch will be called before I +get back. But one thing I'll do before I go. I'll put back that lid. +Somebody might find the dome in the dark, and tumble into it. Why, if a +wandering rat should make a slip, and go down into that black hole, it +would be enough to make a fellow's blood run cold if he knew of it." + +Without much trouble Burke replaced the lid, and then, without further +delay, he left the caves. As he hurried along the beach, he debated +within himself whether or not he should tell Captain Horn what he had +discovered. + +"It will be mighty hard on his nerves," said he, "if he comes to know how +he squatted and worked for days and weeks over that diabolical trap that +opens downward. He's a strong man, but he's got enough on his nerves as +it is. No, I won't tell him. He is going to do the handsome thing by us, +and it would be mean for me to do the unhandsome thing by him. By George! +I don't believe he could sleep for two or three nights if he knew what I +know! No, sir! You just keep your mouth shut until we are safe and sound +in some civilized spot, with the whole business settled, and Shirley and +me discharged. Then I will tell the captain about it, so that nobody need +ever trouble his mind about coming back to look for gold rings and royal +mummies. If I don't get back before my watch is called, I'll brazen it +out somehow. We've got to twist discipline a little when we are all hard +at work at a job like this." + +He left his shoes on the sand of the cove, and swam to the ship without +taking time to undress. He slipped over the taffrail, and had scarcely +time to get below and change his clothes before his watch was called. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE CAPTAIN WRITES A LETTER + + +On the afternoon of the next day, the Miranda, having taken in water, set +sail, and began her long voyage to Rio Janeiro, and thence to France. + +Now that his labors were over, and the treasure of the Incas safely +stored in the hold of the brig, where it was ignominiously acting as +ballast, Captain Horn seated himself comfortably in the shade of a sail +and lighted his pipe. He was tired of working, tired of thinking, tired +of planning--tired in mind, body, and even soul; and the thought that +his work was done, and that he was actually sailing away with his great +prize, came to him like a breeze from the sea after a burning day. He +was not as happy as he should have been. He knew that he was too tired +to be as happy as his circumstances demanded, but after a while he would +attend better to that business. Now he was content to smoke his pipe, +and wait, and listen to the distant music from all the different kinds +of enjoyment which, in thought, were marching toward him. It was true he +was only beginning his long voyage to the land where he hoped to turn +his gold into available property. It was true that he might be murdered +that night, or some other night, and that when the brig, with its +golden cargo, reached port, he might not be in command of her. It was +true that a hundred things might happen to prevent the advancing +enjoyments from ever reaching him. But ill-omened chances threaten +everything that man is doing, or ever can do, and he would not let the +thought of them disturb him now. + +Everybody on board the Miranda was glad to rest and be happy, according +to his methods and his powers of anticipation. As to any present +advantage from their success, there was none. The stones and sand they +had thrown out had ballasted the brig quite as well as did the gold they +now carried. This trite reflection forced itself upon the mind of Burke. + +"Captain," said he, "don't you think it would be a good idea to touch +somewhere and lay in a store of fancy groceries and saloon-cabin grog? If +we can afford to be as jolly as we please, I don't see why we shouldn't +begin now." + +But the captain shook his head. "It would be a dangerous thing," he said, +"to put into any port on the west coast of South America with our present +cargo on board. We can't make it look like ballast, as I expected we +could, for all that bagging gives it a big bulk, and if the custom-house +officers came on board, it would not do any good to tell them we are +sailing in ballast, if they happened to want to look below." + +"Well, that may be so," said Burke. "But what I'd like would be to meet a +first-class, double-quick steamer, and buy her, put our treasure on +board, and then clap on all steam for France." + +"All right," said the captain, "but we'll talk about that when we meet a +steamer for sale." + +After a week had passed, and he had begun to feel the advantages of rest +and relief from anxiety, Captain Horn regretted nothing so much as that +the _Miranda_ was not a steamer, ploughing her swift way over the seas. +It must be a long, long time before he could reach those whom he supposed +and hoped were waiting for him in France. It had already been a long, +long time since they had heard from him. He did not fear that they would +suffer because he did not come. He had left them money enough to prevent +anything of that sort. He did not know whether or not they were longing +to hear from him, but he did know that he wanted them to hear from him. +He must yet sail about three thousand miles in the Pacific Ocean, and +then about two thousand more in the Atlantic, before he reached Rio +Janeiro, the port for which he had cleared. From there it would be nearly +five thousand miles to France, and he did not dare to calculate how long +it would take the brig to reach her final destination. + +This course of thought determined him to send a letter, which would reach +Paris long before he could arrive there. If they should know that he was +on his way home, all might be well, or, at least, better than if they +knew nothing about him. It might be a hazardous thing to touch at a port +on this coast, but he believed that, if he managed matters properly, he +might get a letter ashore without making it necessary for any meddlesome +custom-house officers to come aboard and ask questions. Accordingly, he +decided to stop at Valparaiso. He thought it likely that if he did not +meet a vessel going into port which would lay to and take his letter, he +might find some merchantman, anchored in the roadstead, to which he +could send a boat, and on which he was sure to find some one who would +willingly post his letter. + +He wrote a long letter to Edna--a straightforward, business-like +missive, as his letters had always been, in which, in language which she +could understand, but would carry no intelligible idea to any +unauthorized person who might open the letter, he gave her an account of +what he had done, and which was calculated to relieve all apprehensions, +should it be yet a long time before he reached her. He promised to write +again whenever there was an opportunity of sending her a letter, and +wrote in such a friendly and encouraging manner that he felt sure there +would be no reason for any disappointment or anxiety regarding him and +the treasure. + +Burke and Shirley were a little surprised when they found that the +captain had determined to stop at Valparaiso, a plan so decidedly opposed +to what he had before said on the subject. But when they found it was for +the purpose of sending a letter to his wife, and that he intended, if +possible, barely to touch and go, they said nothing more, nor did Burke +make any further allusions to improvement in their store of provisions. + +When, at last, the captain found himself off Valparaiso, it was on a +dark, cloudy evening and nothing could be done until the next morning, +and they dropped anchor to wait until dawn. + +As soon as it was light, the captain saw that a British steamer was +anchored about a mile from the _Miranda_, and he immediately sent a boat, +with Shirley and two of the negroes, to ask the officer on duty to post +his letter when he sent on shore. In a little more than an hour Shirley +returned, with the report that the first mate of the steamer knew Captain +Horn and would gladly take charge of his letter. + +The boat was quickly hauled to the davits, and all hands were called to +weigh anchor and set sail. But all hands did not respond to the call. One +of the negroes, a big, good-natured fellow, who, on account of his +unpronounceable African name, had been dubbed "Inkspot," was not to be +found. This was a very depressing thing, under the circumstances, and it, +almost counterbalanced the pleasure the captain felt in having started a +letter on its way to his party in France. + +It seemed strange that Inkspot should have deserted the vessel, for it +was a long way to the shore, and, besides, what possible reason could he +have for leaving his fellow-Africans and taking up his lot among absolute +strangers? The crew had all worked together so earnestly and faithfully +that the captain had come to believe in them and trust them to an extent +to which he had never before trusted seamen. + +The officers held a consultation as to what was to be done, and they very +quickly arrived at a decision. To remain at anchor, to send a boat on +shore to look for the missing negro, would be dangerous and useless. +Inquiries about the deserter would provoke inquiries about the brig, and +if Inkspot really wished to run away from the vessel, it would take a +long time to find him and bring him back. The right course was quite +plain to every one. Having finished the business which brought them +there, they must up anchor and sail away as soon as possible. As for the +loss of the man, they must bear that as well as they could. Whether he +had been drowned, eaten by a shark, or had safely reached the shore, he +was certainly lost to them. + +At the best, their crew had been small enough, but six men had sailed a +brig, and six men could do it again. + +So the anchor was weighed, the sails were set, and before a northeast +wind the _Miranda_ went out to sea as gayly as the nature of her build +permitted, which is not saying much. It was a good wind, however, and +when the log had been thrown, the captain remarked that the brig was +making better time than she had made since they left Acapulco. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +A HORSE-DEALER APPEARS ON THE SCENE + + +When the brig _Miranda_ was lying at anchor in the Rackbirds' cove, and +Mr. George Burke had silently left her in order to go on shore and pursue +some investigations in which he was interested, his departure from the +brig had not been, as he supposed, unnoticed. The big, good-natured +African, known as Inkspot, had been on watch, and, being himself so very +black that he was not generally noticeable in the dark, was standing on a +part of the deck from which, without being noticed himself, he saw a +person get over the taffrail and slip into the water. He knew this person +to be the second mate, and having a high respect and some fear of his +superiors, he did not consider it his business to interfere with him. He +saw a head above the water, moving toward the shore, but it soon +disappeared in the darkness. Toward the end of his watch, he had seen Mr. +Burke climb up the vessel's side as silently as he had gone down it, and +disappear below. + +When Inkspot went to his hammock, which he did very shortly afterwards, +he reflected to the best of his ability upon what he had seen. Why did +Mr. Burke slip away from the ship so silently, and come back in the same +way? He must have gone ashore, and why did he want no one to know that he +had gone? He must have gone to do something he ought not to do, and +Inkspot could think of nothing wrong that Mr. Burke would like to do, +except to drink whiskey. Captain Horn was very particular about using +spirits on board, and perhaps Mr. Burke liked whiskey, and could not get +it. Inkspot knew about the storehouse of the Rackbirds, but he did not +know what it had contained, or what had been left there. Maka had said +something about the whiskey having been poured out on the sand, but that +might have been said just to keep people away from the place. If there +were no whiskey there, why did Mr. Burke go on shore? + +Now, it so happened that Inkspot knew a good deal about whiskey. Before +he had gone into the service of the Rackbirds, he had, at different +times, been drunk, and he had the liveliest and most pleasant +recollections of these experiences. It had been a long time since he had +had enough whiskey to make him feel happy. This had probably been the +case with Mr. Burke, and he had gone on shore, and most likely had had +some very happy hours, and had come back without any one knowing where he +had gone. The consequence of this train of thought was that Inkspot +determined that he would go on shore, the next night, and hunt for +whiskey. He could do it quite as well as Mr. Burke had done it, perhaps +even better. But the _Miranda_ did not remain in the cove the next night, +and poor Inkspot looked with longing eyes upon the slowly departing spot +on the sands where he knew the Rackbirds' storehouse was located. + +The days and nights went on, and in the course of time the _Miranda_ +anchored in the harbor of Valparaiso; and, when this happened, Inkspot +determined that now would be his chance to go on shore and get a good +drink of whiskey--he had money enough for that. He could see the lights +of El Puerto, or the Old Town, glittering and beckoning, and they did +not appear to be very far off. It would be nothing for him to swim as +far as that. + +Inkspot went off his watch at midnight, and he went into the water at +fifty minutes to one. He wore nothing but a dark-gray shirt and a pair of +thin trousers, and if any one had seen his head and shoulders, it is not +likely, unless a good light had been turned on them, that they would have +been supposed to be portions of a human form. + +Inkspot was very much at home in the water, and he could swim like a dog +or a deer. But it was a long, long swim to those glittering and +beckoning lights. At last, however, he reached a pier, and having rested +himself on the timbers under it, he cautiously climbed to the top. The +pier was deserted, and he walked to the end of it, and entered the town. +He knew nothing of Valparaiso, except that it was a large city where +sailors went, and he was quite sure he could find a shop where they sold +whiskey. Then he would have a glass--perhaps two--perhaps three--after +which he would return to the brig, as Mr. Burke had done. Of course, he +would have to do much more swimming than had been necessary for the +second mate, but then, he believed himself to be a better swimmer than +that gentleman, and he expected to get back a great deal easier than he +came, because the whiskey would make him strong and happy, and he could +play with the waves. + +Inkspot did find a shop, and a dirty one it was--but they sold whiskey +inside, and that was enough for him. With the exception of Maka, he was +the most intelligent negro among the captain's crew, and he had picked up +some words of English and some of Spanish. But it was difficult for him +to express an idea with these words. Among these words, however, was one +which he pronounced better than any of the others, and which had always +been understood whenever he used it,--whether in English or Spanish, no +matter what the nationality might be of the person addressed,--and that +word was "whiskey." + +Inkspot had one glass, and then another, a third, and a fourth, and then +his money gave out--at least, the man who kept the shop insisted, in +words that any one could understand, that the silver the big negro had +fished out of his dripping pockets would pay for no more drinks. But +Inkspot had had enough to make him happy. His heart was warm, and his +clothes were getting drier. He went out into the glorious night. It was +dark and windy, and the sky was cloudy, but to him all things were +glorious. He sat down on the pavement in the cosey corner of two walls, +and there he slept luxuriously until a policeman came along and arrested +him for being drunk in the street. + +It was two days before Inkspot got out of the hands of the police. Then +he was discharged because the authorities did not desire to further +trouble themselves with a stupid fellow who could give no account of +himself, and had probably wandered from a vessel in port. The first +thing he did was to go out to the water's edge and look out over the +harbor, but although he saw many ships, his sharp eyes told him that not +one of them was the brig he had left. + +After an hour or two of wandering up and down the waterside, he became +sure that there was no vessel in that harbor waiting for him to swim to +her. Then he became equally certain that he was very hungry. It was not +long, however, before a good, strong negro like Inkspot found employment. +It was not necessary for him to speak very much Spanish, or any other +language, to get a job at carrying things up a gang-plank, and, in pay +for this labor, he willingly took whatever was given him. + +That night, with very little money in his pocket, Inkspot entered a +tavern, a low place, but not so low as the one he had patronized on his +arrival in Valparaiso. He had had a meagre supper, and now possessed +but money enough to pay for one glass of whiskey, and having procured +this, he seated himself on a stool in a corner, determined to protract +his enjoyment as long as possible. Where he would sleep that night he +knew not, but it was not yet bedtime, and he did not concern himself +with the question. + +Near by, at a table, were seated four men, drinking, smoking, and +talking. Two of these were sailors. Another, a tall, dark man with a +large nose, thin at the bridge and somewhat crooked below, was dressed in +very decent shore clothes, but had a maritime air about him, +notwithstanding. The fourth man, as would have been evident to any one +who understood Spanish, was a horse-dealer, and the conversation, when +Inkspot entered the place, was entirely about horses. But Inkspot did +not know this, as he understood so few of the words that he heard, and he +would not have been interested if he had understood them. The +horse-dealer was the principal spokesman, but he would have been a poor +representative of the shrewdness of his class, had he been trying to sell +horses to sailors. He was endeavoring to do nothing of the kind. These +men were his friends, and he was speaking to them, not of the good +qualities of his animals, but of the credulous natures of his customers. +To illustrate this, he drew from his pocket a small object which he had +received a few days before for some horses which might possibly be worth +their keep, although he would not be willing to guarantee this to any one +at the table. The little object which he placed on the table was a piece +of gold about two inches long, and shaped like an irregular prism. + +This, he said, he had received in trade from a man in Santiago, who had +recently come down from Lima. The man had bought it from a jeweller, who +had others, and who said he understood they had come from California. The +jeweller had owed the man money, and the latter had taken this, not as a +curiosity, for it was not much of a curiosity, as they could all see, but +because the jeweller told him exactly how much it was worth, and because +it was safer than money to carry, and could be changed into current coin +in any part of the world. The point of the horse-dealer's remarks was, +however, the fact that not only had he sold his horses to the man from +Lima for very much more than they were worth, but he had made him believe +that this lump of gold was not worth as much as he had been led to +suppose, that the jeweller had cheated him, and that Californian gold +was not easily disposed of in Chili or Peru, for it was of a very +inferior quality to the gold of South America. So he had made his trade, +and also a profit, not only on the animals he delivered, but on the pay +he received. He had had the little lump weighed and tested, and knew +exactly how much it was worth. + +When the horse-dealer had finished this pleasant tale, he laughed +loudly, and the three other men laughed also because they had keen wits +and appreciated a good story of real life. But their laughter was +changed to astonishment--almost fright--when a big black negro bounded +out of a dark corner and stood by the table, one outstretched ebony +finger pointing to the piece of gold. Instantly the horse dealer +snatched his treasure and thrust it into his pocket, and almost at the +same moment each man sprung to his feet and put his hand on his favorite +weapon. But the negro made no attempt to snatch the gold, nor did there +seem to be any reason to apprehend an attack from him. He stood slapping +his thighs with his hands, his mouth in a wide grin, and his eyes +sparkling in apparent delight. + +"What is the matter with you?" shouted the horse-dealer. "What do +you want?" + +Inkspot did not understand what had been said to him, nor could he have +told what he wanted, for he did not know. At that moment he knew nothing, +he comprehended nothing, but he felt as a stranger in a foreign land +would feel should he hear some words in his native tongue. The sight of +that piece of gold had given to Inkspot, by one quick flash, a view of +his negro friends and companions, of Captain Horn and his two white men, +of the brig he had left, of the hammock in which he had slept--of all, in +fact, that he now cared for on earth. + +He had seen pieces of gold like that. Before all the treasure had been +carried from the caves to the _Miranda_, the supply of coffee-bags had +given out, and during the last days of the loading it had been necessary +to tie up the gold in pieces of sail-cloth, after the fashion of a +wayfarer's bundle. Before these had been put on board, their fastening +had been carefully examined, and some of them had been opened and retied. +Thus all the negroes had seen the little bars, for, as they knew the bags +contained gold, there was no need of concealing from them the shape and +size of the contents. + +So, when, sitting in his gloomy corner, his spirits slowly rising under +the influence of his refreshment, which he had just finished, he saw +before him an object which recalled to him the life and friends of which +he had bereft himself, Inkspot's nature took entire possession of him, +and he bounded to the table in ecstatic recognition of the bit of metal. + +The men now swore at Inkspot, but as they saw he was unarmed, and not +inclined to violence, they were not afraid of him, but they wondered at +him. The horse-dealer took the piece of gold out of his pocket and held +it in his hand. + +"Did you ever see anything like that before?" he asked. He was a shrewd +man, the horse-dealer, and really wanted to know what was the matter with +the negro. + +Inkspot did not answer, but jabbered in African. + +"Try him in English," suggested the thin-nosed man, and this the +horse-dealer did. + +Many of the English words Inkspot understood. He had seen things like +that. Yes, yes! Great heaps! Heaps! Bags! Bags! He carried them! Throwing +an imaginary package over his shoulder, he staggered under it across the +floor. Heaps! Piles! Bags! Days and days and days he carried many bags! +Then, in a state of exalted mental action, produced by his recollections +and his whiskey, he suddenly conceived a scorn for a man who prized so +highly just one of these lumps, and who was nearly frightened out of his +wits if a person merely pointed to it. He shrugged his shoulders, he +spread out the palms of his hands toward the piece of gold, he turned +away his head and walked off sniffing. Then he came back and pointed to +it, and, saying "One!" he laughed, and then he said "One!" and laughed +again. Suddenly he became possessed with a new idea. His contemptuous +manner dropped from him, and in eager excitement he leaned forward and +exclaimed: + +"Cap' 'Or?" + +The four men looked at each other and at him in wonder, and asked what, +in the name of his satanic majesty, the fellow was driving at. This +apparent question, now repeated over and over again in turn to each of +them, they did not understand at all. But they could comprehend that the +negro had carried bags of lumps like that. This was very interesting. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE "ARATO" + +The subject of the labors of an African Hercules, mythical as these +labors might be, was so interesting to the four men who had been drinking +and smoking in the tavern, that they determined to pursue it as far as +their ignorance of the African's language, and his ignorance of English +and Spanish, would permit. In the first place, they made him sit down +with them, and offered him something to drink. It was not whiskey, but +Inkspot liked it very much, and felt all sorts of good effects from it. +In fact, it gave him a power of expressing himself by gestures and single +words in a manner wonderful. After a time, the men gave him something to +eat, for they imagined he might be hungry, and this also helped him very +much, and his heart went out to these new friends. Then he had a little +more to drink, but only a little, for the horse-dealer and the thin-nosed +man, who superintended the entertainment, were very sagacious, and did +not want him to drink too much. + +In the course of an hour, these four men, listening and watching keenly +and earnestly, had become convinced that this black man had been on a +ship which carried bags of gold similar to the rude prism possessed by +the horse-dealer, that he had left that vessel for the purpose of +obtaining refreshments on shore and had not been able to get back to it, +thereby indicating that the vessel had not stopped long at the place +where he had left it, and which place must have been, of course, +Valparaiso. Moreover, they found out to their full satisfaction where +that vessel was going to; for Maka had talked a great deal about Paris, +which he pronounced in English fashion, where Cheditafa and Mok were, and +the negroes had looked forward to this unknown spot as a heavenly port, +and Inkspot could pronounce the word "Paris" almost as plainly as if it +were a drink to which he was accustomed. + +But where the vessel was loaded with the gold, they could not find out. +No grimace that Inkspot could make, nor word that he could say, gave them +an idea worth dwelling upon. He said some words which made them believe +that the vessel had cleared from Acapulco, but it was foolish to suppose +that any vessel had been loaded there with bags of gold carried on men's +shoulders. The ship most probably came from California, and had touched +at the Mexican port. And she was now bound for Paris. That was natural +enough. Paris was a very good place to which to take gold. Moreover, she +had probably touched at some South American port, Callao perhaps, and +this was the way the little pieces of gold had been brought into the +country, the Californians probably having changed them for stores. + +The words "Cap' 'Or," often repeated by the negro, and always in a +questioning tone, puzzled them very much. They gave up its solution, and +went to work to try to make out the name of the vessel upon which the +bags had been loaded. But here Inkspot could not help them. They could +not make him understand what it was they wanted him to say. At last, the +horse-dealer proposed to the others, who, he said, knew more about such +things than he did, that they should repeat the name of every +sailing-vessel on that coast of which they had ever heard--for Inkspot +had made them understand that his ship had sails, and no steam. This they +did, and presently one of the sailors mentioned the name _Miranda_, which +belonged to a brig he knew of which plied on the coast. At this, Inkspot +sprang to his feet and clapped his hands. + +_"Miran'a! Miran'a.'"_ he cried. And then followed the words, "Cap' 'Or! +Cap' 'Or!" in eagerly excited tones. + +Suddenly the thin-nosed man, whom the others called Cardatas, +leaned forward. + +"Cap'n Horn?" said he. + +Inkspot clapped his hands again, and exclaimed: + +"Ay, ay! Cap' 'Or! Cap' 'Or!" + +He shouted the words so loudly that the barkeeper, at the other end of +the room, called out gruffly that they'd better keep quiet, or they would +have somebody coming in. + +"There you have it!" exclaimed Cardatas, in Spanish. "It's Cap'n Horn +that the fool's been trying to say. Cap'n Horn of the brig _Miranda_. We +are getting on finely." + +"I have heard of a Cap'n Horn," said one of the sailors. "He's a Yankee +skipper from California. He has sailed from this port, I know." + +"And he touched here three days ago, according to the negro," said +Cardatas, addressing the horse-dealer. "What do you say to that, Nunez? +From what we know, I don't think it will be hard to find out more." + +Nunez agreed with him, and thought it might pay to find out more. Soon +after this, being informed that it was time to shut up the place, the +four men went out, taking Inkspot with them. They would not neglect this +poor fellow. They would give him a place to sleep, and in the morning he +should have something to eat. It would be very unwise to let him go from +them at present. + +The next morning Inkspot strolled about the wharves of Valparaiso, in +company with the two sailors, who never lost sight of him, and he had +rather a pleasant time, for they gave him as much to eat and drink as was +good for him, and made him understand as well as they could that it would +not be long before they would help him to return to the brig _Miranda_ +commanded by Captain Horn. + +In the meantime, the horse-dealer, Nunez, went to a newspaper office, and +there procured a file of a Mexican paper, for the negro had convinced +them that his vessel had sailed from Acapulco. Turning over the back +numbers week after week, and week after week, Nunez searched in the +maritime news for the information that the _Miranda_ had cleared from a +Mexican port. He had gone back so far that he had begun to consider it +useless to make further search, when suddenly he caught the name +_Miranda_. There it was. The brig _Miranda_ had cleared from Acapulco +September 16, bound for Rio Janeiro in ballast. Nunez counted the months +on his fingers. + +"Five months ago!" he said to himself. "That's not this trip, surely. +But I will talk to Cardatas about that." And taking from his pocket a +little note-book in which he recorded his benefactions in the line of +horse trades, he carefully copied the paragraph concerning the _Miranda_. + +When Nunez met Cardatas in the afternoon, the latter also had news. He +had discovered that the arrival of the _Miranda_ had not been registered, +but he had been up and down the piers, asking questions, and he had found +a mate of a British steamer, then discharging her cargo, who told him +that the _Miranda_, commanded by Captain Horn, had anchored in the harbor +three days back, during the night, and that early the next morning +Captain Horn had sent him a letter which he wished posted, and that very +soon afterwards the brig had put out to sea. Cardatas wished to know much +more, but the mate, who had had but little conversation with Shirley, +could only tell him that the brig was then bound from Acapulco to Rio +Janeiro in ballast, which he thought rather odd, but all he could add was +that he knew Captain Horn, and he was a good man, and that if he were +sailing in ballast, he supposed he knew what he was about. + +Nunez then showed Cardatas the note he had made, and remarked that, of +course, it could not refer to the present voyage of the brig, for it +could not take her five months to come from Acapulco to this port. + +"No," said the other, musing, "it oughtn't to, but, on the other hand, +it is not likely she is on her second voyage to Rio, and both times in +ballast. That's all stuff about ballast. No man would be such a fool as +to sail pretty nigh all around this continent in ballast. He could find +some cargo in Mexico that he could sell when he got to port. Besides, if +that black fellow don't lie,--and he don't know enough to lie,--she's +bound for Paris. It's more likely she means to touch at Rio and take +over some cargo. But why, in the devil's name, should she sail from +Acapulco in ballast? It looks to me as if bags of gold might make very +good ballast." + +"That's just what I was thinking," said Nunez. + +"And what's more," said the other, "I'll bet she brought it down from +California with her when she arrived at Acapulco. I don't believe she +originally cleared from there." + +"It looks that way," said Nunez, "but how do you account for such a +long voyage?" + +"I've been talking to Sanchez about that _Miranda_," said Cardatas. "He +has heard that she is an old tub, and a poor sailer, and in that case +five months is not such a very slow voyage. I have known of slower +voyages than that." + +"And now what are you going to do about it?" asked Nunez. + +"The first thing I want to do is to pump that black fellow a +little more." + +"A good idea," said Nunez, "and we'll go and do it." + +Poor Inkspot was pumped for nearly an hour, but not much was got out of +him. The only feature of his information that was worth anything was the +idea that he managed to convey that ballast, consisting of stones and +bags of sand, had been taken out of the brig and thrown away, and bags of +gold put in their places. Where this transfer had taken place, the negro +could not make his questioners understand, and he was at last remanded to +the care of Sanchez and the other sailor. + +"The black fellow can't tell us much," said Cardatas to Nunez, as they +walked away together, "but he has stuck to his story well, and there +can't be any use of his lying about it. And there is another thing. What +made the brig touch here just long enough to leave a letter, and that +after a voyage of five months? That looks as if they were afraid some of +their people would go on shore and talk." + +"In that case," said Nunez, "I should say there is something shady about +the business. Perhaps this captain has slipped away from his partners up +there in California, or somebody who has been up to a trick has hired him +to take the gold out of the country. If he does carry treasure, it isn't +a fair and square thing. If it had been fair, the gold would have been +sent in the regular way, by a steamer. It's no crime to send gold from +California to France, or any other place." + +"I agree with you," said Cardatas, as he lighted his twenty-seventh +cigarette. + +Nunez did not smoke, but he mused as he walked along. + +"If she has gold on board," said he, presently, "it must be a good deal." + +"Yes," said the other. "They wouldn't take so much trouble for a small +lot. Of course, there can't be enough of it to take the place of all the +ballast, but it must weigh considerable." + +Here the two men were joined by an acquaintance, and their special +conversation ceased. That night they met again. + +"What are you going to do about this?" asked Nunez. "We can't keep on +supporting that negro." + +"What is to be done?" asked the other, his sharp eyes fixed upon his +companion's face. + +"Would it pay to go over to Rio and meet that brig when she arrives +there? If we could get on board and have a talk with her captain, he +might be willing to act handsomely when he found out we know something +about him and his ship. And if he won't do that, we might give +information, and have his vessel held until the authorities in California +can be communicated with. Then I should say we ought to make something." + +"I don't think much of that plan," said Cardatas. "I don't believe she's +going to touch at Rio. If she's afraid to go into port here, why +shouldn't she be afraid to go into port there? No. It would be stupid for +us to go to Rio and sit down and wait for her." + +"Then," answered the other, a little angrily, "what can be done?" + +"We can go after her," said Cardatas. + +The other sneered. "That would be more stupid than the other," said he. +"She left here four days ago, and we could never catch up with her, even +if we could find such a pin-point of a vessel on the great Pacific." + +Cardatas laughed. "You don't know much about navigation," said he, "but +that's not to be expected. With a good sailing-vessel I could go after +her, and overhaul her somewhere in the Straits of Magellan. With such a +cargo, I am sure she would make for the Straits. That Captain Horn is +said to be a good sailor, and the fact that he is in command of such a +tub as the _Miranda_ is a proof that there is something underhand about +his business." + +"And if we should overhaul her?" said the other. + +"Well," was the reply, "we might take along a dozen good fellows, and as +the _Miranda_ has only three men on board,--I don't count negroes worth +anything,--I don't see why we couldn't induce the captain to talk +reasonably to us. As for a vessel, there's the _Arato_." + +"Your vessel?" said the other. + +"Yes, I own a small share in her, and she's here in port now, waiting +for a cargo." + +"I forget what sort of a craft she is," said Nunez. + +"She's a schooner," said the other, "and she can sail two miles to the +_Miranda's_ one in any kind of weather. If I had money enough, I could +get the _Arato_, put a good crew on board, and be at sea and on the wake +of that brig in twenty-four hours." + +"And how much money would be needed?" asked the other. + +"That remains to be calculated," replied Cardatas. Then the two went to +work to calculate, and spent an hour or two at it. + +When they parted, Nunez had not made up his mind that the plan of +Cardatas was a good one, but he told him to go ahead and see what could +be done about getting the _Arato_ and a reliable crew, and that he would +talk further to him about the matter. + +That night Nunez took a train for Santiago, and on his arrival there, the +next morning, he went straight to the shop of the jeweller of whom had +been obtained the piece of gold in his possession. Here he made some +cautious inquiries, and found the jeweller very ready to talk about the +piece of gold that Nunez showed him. The jeweller said that he had had +four pieces of the gold in his possession, and that he had bought them in +Lima to use in his business. They had originally come from California, +and were very fine gold. He had been a little curious about it on account +of the shape of the pieces, and had been told that they had been brought +into the country by an American sea-captain, who had seemed to have a +good many of them. The jeweller thought it very likely that these pieces +of gold passed for currency in California, for he had heard that at one +time the people there had had to make their own currency, and that they +often paid for merchandise in so many penny-weights and ounces of gold +instead of using coin. The jeweller was himself very glad to do business +in this way, for he liked the feel of a lump of gold. + +After explaining that his reason for making these inquiries was his fear +that the piece of gold he had accepted in trade because he also liked the +feel of lumps of gold, might not be worth what he had given for it, Nunez +thanked the jeweller, left him, and returned to Valparaiso. He went +straight to his friend Cardatas, and said that he would furnish the +capital to fit out the _Arato_ for the projected trip. + +It was not in twenty-four hours, but in forty-eight, that the schooner +_Arato_ cleared from Valparaiso for Callao in ballast. She had a good set +of sails, and a crew of ten men besides the captain. She also had on +board a passenger, Nunez by name, and a tall negro, who doubtless could +turn his hand to some sort of work on board, and whom it would have been +very indiscreet to leave behind. + +Once outside the harbor, the _Arato_ changed her mind about going to +Callao, and sailed southward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE COAST OF PATAGONIA + + +For about ten days after the brig _Miranda_ left Valparaiso she had good +winds and fair weather, and her progress was satisfactory to all on +board, but at the end of that time she entered upon a season of head +winds and bad weather. The vessel behaved very well in the stormy days +that followed, but she made very little headway. Her course was now laid +toward the Gulf of Penas, after reaching which she would sail along the +protected waterways between the chain of islands which lie along the +coast and the mainland, and which lead into the Straits of Magellan. + +When the weather at last changed and the sea became smoother, it was +found that the working and straining of the masts during the violent +weather had opened some of the seams of the brig, and that she was taking +in water. She was a good vessel, but she was an old one, and she had had +a rough time of it. The captain thanked his stars that she had not begun +to leak before the storm. + +The short-handed crew went to work at the pumps, but, after two days' +hard labor, it was found that the water in the hold steadily gained upon +the pumps, and there was no doubt that the _Miranda_ was badly strained. +According to a report from Burke, the water came in forward, aft, and +midships. Matters were now getting very serious, and the captain and his +two mates consulted together, while the three negroes pumped. It was +plain to all of them that if the water kept on gaining, it would not be +long before the brig must go to the bottom. To keep her afloat until they +reached a port would be impossible. To reach the shore in the boats was +quite possible, for they were not a hundred miles from land. But to carry +their treasure to land in two small boats was a thing which need not even +be considered. + +All agreed that there was but one thing to be done. The brig must be +headed to land, and if she could be kept afloat until she neared one of +the great islands which lie along the Patagonian coast, she might be run +into some bay or protected cove, where she could be beached, or where, if +she should sink, it might be in water so shallow that all hope of getting +at her treasure would not have to be abandoned. In any case, the sooner +they got to the shore, the better for them. So the brig's bow was turned +eastward, and the pumps were worked harder than ever. There was a good +wind, and, considering that the _Miranda_ was steadily settling deeper +and deeper, she made very fair progress, and in less than two days after +she had changed her course, land was sighted. Not long after, Captain +Horn began to hope that if the wind held, and the brig could keep above +water for an hour or so, he could double a small headland which now +showed itself plainly a couple of miles away, and might be able to beach +his vessel. + +What a dreary, depressing hope it was that now possessed the souls of +Captain Horn, of Burke and Shirley, and of even the three negroes! After +all the hardships, the labor, and the anxieties, after all the joy of +success and escape from danger, after all happy chances which had come in +various ways and from various directions, after the sweet delights of +rest, after the super-exultation of anticipation which no one on board +had been able to banish from his mind, there was nothing left to them now +but the eager desire that their vessel might keep afloat until she could +find some friendly sands on which she might be run, or some shallow water +in which she might sink and rest there on the wild Patagonian coast, +leaving them far from human beings of any kind, far from help, far, +perhaps, from rescue and even safety. + +To this one object each man gave his entire energy, his mind, and his +body. Steadily went the pumps, steadily the captain kept his eyes fixed +upon the approaching headland, and upon the waters beyond, and steadily, +little by little, the _Miranda_ sunk lower and lower into the sea. + +At last the headland was reached, and on its ocean side the surf beat +high. Keeping well away to avoid shoals or a bar, the _Miranda_ passed +the southern point of the headland, and slowly sailed into a little bay. +To the left lay the rocky ridge which formed the headland, and less than +half a mile away could be seen the shining sands of the smooth beach. +Toward this beach the _Miranda_ was now headed, every sail upon her set, +and every nerve upon her strung to its tightest. They went in upon a +flood-tide. If he had believed that the brig would float so long, +Captain Horn would have waited an hour until the tide was high, so that +he might run his vessel farther up upon the beach, but he could not wait, +and with a strong west wind he steered straight for the sands. + +There was a hissing under the bows, and a shock which ran through the +vessel from stem to stern, and then grinding and grinding and grinding +until all motion ceased, and a gentle surf began to curl itself against +the stern of the brig. + +Every halliard was let go, and down came every sail by the run, and then +the brig _Miranda_ ended this voyage, and all others, upon the shore of a +desolate Patagonian island. + +Between the vessel and dry land there was about a hundred feet of water, +but this would be much less when the tide went out. Beyond the beach was +a stretch of sandy hillocks, or dunes, and back of these was a mass of +scrubby thicket, with here and there a low tree, and still farther back +was seen the beginning of what might be a forest. It was a different +coast from the desolate shores of Peru. + +Burke came aft to the captain. + +"Here we are, sir," said he, "and what's to happen next?" + +"Happen!" exclaimed the captain. "We must not wait for things to happen! +What we've got to do is to step around lively, and get the gold out of +this brig before the wind changes and drives her out into deep water." + +Burke put his hands into his pockets. "Is there any good of it, captain?" +said he. "Will we be any better off with the bags on that shore than we +would be if they were sunk in this bay?" + +"Good of it!" exclaimed the captain. "Don't talk that way, Burke. If we +can get it on shore, there is a chance for us. But if it goes to the +bottom, out in deep water, there is none. There is no time to talk now. +What we must do is to go to work." + +"Yes," said Burke, "whatever happens, it is always work. But I'm in for +it, as long as I hold together. But we've got to look out that some of +those black fellows don't drop over the bow, and give us the slip." + +"They'll starve if they do," said the captain, "for not a biscuit, or a +drop of water, goes ashore until the gold is out of the hold." + +Burke shook his head. "We'll do what we can, captain," said he, "but that +hold's a regular fishpond, and we'll have to dive for the bags." + +"All right," said the captain, "dive let it be." + +The work of removing the gold began immediately. Tackle was rigged. The +negroes went below to get out the bags, which were hauled up to the deck +in a tub. When a moderate boat-load had been taken out, a boat was +lowered and manned, and the bags passed down to it. + +In the first boat the captain went ashore. He considered it wise to land +the treasure as fast as it could be taken out of the hold, for no one +could know at what time, whether on account of wind from shore or waves +from the sea, the vessel might slip out into deep water. This was a +slower method than if everybody had worked at getting the gold on deck, +and then everybody had worked at getting it ashore, but it was a safer +plan than the other, for if an accident should occur, if the brig should +be driven off the sand, they would have whatever they had already +landed. As this thought passed through the mind of the captain, he could +not help a dismal smile. + +"Have!" said he to himself. "It may be that we shall have it as that poor +fellow had his bag of gold, when he lay down on his back to die there in +the wild desert." + +But no one would have imagined that such an idea had come into the +captain's mind. He worked as earnestly, and as steadily, as if he had +been landing an ordinary cargo at an ordinary dock. + +The captain and the men in the boat carried the bags high up on the +beach, out of any danger from tide or surf, and laid them in a line along +the sand. The captain ordered this because it would be easier to handle +them afterwards--if it should ever be necessary to handle them--than if +they had been thrown into piles. If they should conclude to bury them, it +would be easier and quicker to dig a trench along the line, and tumble +them in, than to make the deep holes that would otherwise be necessary. + +Until dark that day, and even after dark, they worked, stopping only for +necessary eating and drinking. The line of bags upon the shore had grown +into a double one, and it became necessary for the men, sometimes the +white and sometimes the black, to stoop deeper and deeper into the water +of the hold to reach the bags. But they worked on bravely. In the early +dawn of the next morning they went to work again. Not a negro had given +the ship the slip, nor were there any signs that one of them had thought +of such a thing. + +Backward and forward through the low surf went the boat, and longer and +wider and higher grew the mass of bags upon the beach. + +It was the third day after they had reached shore that the work was +finished. Every dripping bag had been taken out of the hold, and the +captain had counted them all as they had been put ashore, and verified +the number by the record in his pocket-book. + +When the lower tiers of bags had been reached, they had tried pumping out +the water, but this was of little use. The brig had keeled over on her +starboard side, and early in the morning of the third day, when the tide +was running out, a hole had been cut in that side of the vessel, out of +which a great portion of the water she contained had run. It would all +come in again, and more of it, when the tide rose, but they were sure +they could get through their work before that, and they were right. The +bags now lay upon the beach in the shape of a long mound, not more than +three feet high, and about four rows wide at the bottom and two at the +top. The captain had superintended the arrangement of the bags, and had +so shaped the mass that it somewhat resembled in form the dunes of sand +which lay behind it. No matter what might be their next step, it would +probably be advisable to conceal the bags, and the captain had thought +that the best way to do this would be to throw sand over the long mound, +in which work the prevailing western winds would be likely to assist, and +thus make it look like a natural sand-hill. Burke and Shirley were in +favor of burial, but the consideration of this matter was deferred, for +there was more work to be done, which must be attended to immediately. + +Now provisions, water, and everything else that might be of value was +taken out of the brig and carried to shore. Two tents were constructed +out of sails and spars, and the little party established themselves +upon the beach. What would be their next work they knew not, but they +must first rest from their long season of heavy labor. The last days +had been harder even than the days of storm and the days of pumping. +They had eaten hurriedly and slept but little. Regular watches and +irregular watches had been kept--watches against storm, which might +sweep the brig with all on board out to sea, watches against desertion, +watches against they knew not what. As chief watcher, the captain had +scarcely slept at all. + +It had been dreary work, unrelieved by hope, uncheered by prospect of +success; for not one of them, from the captain down, had any definite +idea as to what was to be done after they had rested enough to act. + +But they rested, and they went so far as to fill their pipes and stretch +themselves upon the sand. When night came on, chilly and dark, they +gathered driftwood and dead branches from the thicket and built a +camp-fire. They sat around it, and smoked their pipes, but they did not +tell stories, nor did they talk very much. They were glad to rest, they +were glad to keep warm, but that was all. The only really cheerful thing +upon the beach was the fire, which leaped high and blazed merrily as the +dried wood was heaped upon it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +SHIRLEY SPIES A SAIL + + +When the _Arato_ changed her mind about going to Callao, and sailed +southward some five days after the _Miranda_ had started on the same +course, she had very good weather for the greater part of a week, and +sailed finely. Cardatas, who owned a share in her, had sailed upon her as +first mate, but he had never before commanded her. He was a good +navigator, however, and well fitted for the task he had undertaken. He +was a sharp fellow, and kept his eyes on everybody, particularly upon +Nunez, who, although a landsman, and in no wise capable of sailing a +ship, was perfectly capable of making plans regarding any vessel in which +he was interested, especially when such a vessel happened to be sailing +in pursuit of treasure, the value of which was merely a matter of +conjecture. It was not impossible that the horse-dealer, who had embarked +money in this venture, might think that one of the mariners on board +might be able to sail the schooner as well as Cardatas, and would not +expect so large a share of the profits should the voyage be successful. +But when the storms came on, Nunez grew sick and unhappy, and retired +below, and he troubled the mind of Cardatas no more for the present. + +The _Arato_ sailed well with a fair wind, but in many respects she was +not as good a sea-boat in a storm as the _Miranda_ had proved to be, and +she had been obliged to lie to a great deal through the days and nights +of high winds and heavy seas. Having never had, until now, the +responsibility of a vessel upon him, Cardatas was a good deal more +cautious and prudent, perhaps, than Captain Horn would have been had he +been in command of the _Arato_. Among other methods of precaution which +Cardatas thought it wise to take, he steered well out from the coast, and +thus greatly lengthened his course, and at last, when a clearing sky +enabled him to take an observation, he found himself so far to the +westward that he changed his course entirely and steered for the +southeast. + +Notwithstanding all these retarding circumstances, Cardatas did not +despair of overhauling the _Miranda_. He was sure she would make for the +Straits, and he did not in the least doubt that, with good winds, he +could overtake her before she reached them, and even if she did get out +of them, he could still follow her. His belief that the _Arato_ could +sail two miles to the _Miranda's_ one was still unshaken. The only real +fear he had was that the _Miranda_ might have foundered in the storm. If +that should happen to be the case, their voyage would be a losing one, +indeed, but he said nothing of his fears to Nunez. + +The horse-dealer was now on deck again, in pretty fair condition, but he +was beginning to be despondent. After such an awful storm, and in all +that chaos of waves, what chance was there of finding a little brig such +as they were after? + +"But vessels sail in regular courses," Cardatas said to him. "They don't +go meandering all over the ocean. If they are bound for any particular +place, they go there on the shortest safe line they can lay down on the +map. We can go on that line, too, although we may be thrown out of it by +storms. But we can strike it again, and then all we have to do is to keep +on it as straight as we can, and we are bound to overtake another vessel +on the same course, provided we sail faster than she does. It is all +plain enough, don't you see?" + +Nunez could not help seeing, but he was a little cross, nevertheless. The +map and the ocean were wonderfully different. + +The wind had changed, and the _Arato_ did not make very good sailing on +her southeastern course. High as was her captain's opinion of her, she +never had sailed, nor ever could sail, two miles to the _Miranda's_ one, +although she was a good deal faster than the brig. But she was fairly +well handled, and in due course of time she approached so near the coast +that her lookout sighted land, which land Cardatas, consulting his +chart, concluded must be one of the Patagonian islands to the north of +the Gulf of Penas. + +As night came on, Cardatas determined to change his course somewhat to +the south, as he did not care to trust himself too near the coast, +when suddenly the lookout reported a light on the port bow. Cardatas +had sailed down this coast before, but he had never heard of a +lighthouse in the region, and with his glass he watched the light. But +he could not make it out. It was a strange light, for sometimes it was +bright and sometimes dull, then it would increase greatly and almost +fade away again. + +"It looks like a fire on shore," said he, and some of the other men who +took the glass agreed with him. + +"And what does that mean?" asked Nunez. + +"I don't know," replied Cardatas, curtly. "How should I? But one thing I +do know, and that is that I shall lie to until morning, and then we can +feel our way near to the coast and see what it does mean." + +"But what do you want to know for?" asked Nunez. "I suppose somebody on +shore has built a fire. Is there any good stopping for that? We have lost +a lot of time already." + +"I am going to lie to, anyway," said Cardatas. "When we are on such +business as ours, we should not pass anything without understanding it." + +Cardatas had always supposed that these islands were uninhabited, and he +could not see why anybody should be on one of them making a fire, unless +it were a case of shipwreck. If a ship had been wrecked, it was not at +all impossible that the _Miranda_ might be the unfortunate vessel. In any +case, it would be wise to lie to, and look into the matter by daylight. +If the _Miranda_ had gone down at sea, and her crew had reached land in +boats, the success of the _Arato's_ voyage would be very dubious. And +should this misfortune have happened, he must be careful about Nunez when +he came to hear of it. When he turned into his hammock that night, +Cardatas had made up his mind that, if he should discover that the +_Miranda_ had gone to the bottom, it would be a very good thing if +arrangements could be made for Nunez to follow her. + +That night the crew of the Miranda slept well and enjoyed the first real +rest they had had since the storm. No watch was kept, for they all +thought it would be an unnecessary hardship. The captain awoke at early +dawn, and, as he stepped out of the tent, he glanced over sea and land. +There were no signs of storm, the brig had not slipped out into deep +water, their boats were still high and dry upon the beach, and there was +something encouraging in the soft, early light and the pleasant morning +air. He was surprised, however, to find that he was not the first man +out. On a piece of higher ground, a little back from the tents, Shirley +was standing, a glass to his eye. + +"What do you see?" cried the captain. + +"A sail!" returned Shirley. + +At this every man in the tents came running out. Even to the negroes the +words, "A sail," had the startling effect which they always have upon +ship-wrecked men. + +The effect upon Captain Horn was a strange one, and he could scarcely +understand it himself. It was amazing that succor, if succor it should +prove to be, had arrived so quickly after their disaster. But +not-withstanding the fact that he would be overjoyed to be taken off that +desolate coast, he could not help a strong feeling of regret that a sail +had appeared so soon. If they had had time to conceal their treasure, all +might have been well. With the bags of gold buried in a trench, or +covered with sand so as to look like a natural mound, he and his sailors +might have been taken off merely as shipwrecked sailors, and carried to +some port where he might charter another vessel and come back after his +gold. But now he knew that whoever landed on this beach must know +everything, for it would be impossible to conceal the contents of that +long pile of bags, and what consequences might follow upon such knowledge +it was impossible for him to imagine. Burke had very much the same idea. + +"By George, captain!" said he, "it is a great pity that she came along so +soon. What do you say? Shall we signal her or not? We want to get away, +but it would be beastly awkward for anybody to come ashore just now. I +wish we had buried the bags as fast as we brought them ashore." + +The captain did not answer. Perhaps it might be as well not to signal +her. And yet, this might be their only chance of rescue! + +"What do you say to jumping into the boats and rowing out to meet them?" +asked Burke. "We'd have to leave the bags uncovered, but we might get to +a port, charter some sort of a craft, and get back for the bags before +any other vessel came so near the coast." + +"I don't see what made this one come so near," said Shirley, "unless it +was our fire last night. She might have thought that was a signal." + +"I shouldn't wonder," said the captain, who held the glass. "But we +needn't trouble ourselves about going out in boats, for she is making +straight for land." + +"That's so," said Shirley, who could now see this for himself, for the +light was rapidly growing stronger. "She must have seen our fire last +night. Shall I hoist a signal?" + +"No," said the captain. "Wait!" + +They waited to see what this vessel was going to do. Perhaps she was only +tacking. But what fool of a skipper would run so close to the shore for +the sake of tacking! They watched her eagerly, but not one of the white +men would have been wholly disappointed if the schooner, which they could +now easily make out, had changed her course and gone off on a long tack +to the southwest. + +But she was not tacking. She came rapidly on before a stiff west wind. +There was no need of getting out boats to go to meet her. She was south +of the headland, but was steering directly toward it. They could see what +sort of craft she was--a long schooner, painted green, with all sails +set. Very soon they could see the heads of the men on board. Then she +came nearer and nearer to land, until she was less than half a mile from +shore. Then she shot into the wind; her sails fluttered; she lay almost +motionless, and her head-sails were lowered. + +"That's just as if they were coming into port," said Burke. + +"Yes," said Shirley, "I expect they intend to drop anchor." + +This surmise was correct, for, as he spoke, the anchor went down +with a splash. + +"They're very business-like," said Burke. "Look at them. They are +lowering a boat." + +"A boat!" exclaimed Shirley, "They're lowering two of them." + +The captain knit his brows. This was extraordinary action on the part of +the vessel. Why did she steer so straight for land? Why did she so +quickly drop anchor and put out two boats? Could it be that this vessel +had been on their track? Could it be that the Peruvian government--But he +could not waste time in surmise as to what might be. They must act, not +conjecture. + +It was not a minute before the captain made up his mind how they should +act. Five men were in each boat, and with a glass it was easy to see that +some of them carried guns. + +"Get your rifles!" cried he to Shirley and Burke, and he rushed +for his own. + +The arms and ammunition had been all laid ready in the tent, and in a +moment each one of the white men had a rifle and a belt of cartridges. +For the blacks there were no guns, as they would not have known how to +use them, but they ran about in great excitement, each with his knife +drawn, blindly ready to do whatever should be ordered. The poor negroes +were greatly frightened. They had but one idea about the approaching +boats: they believed that the men in them were Rackbirds coming to wreak +vengeance upon them. The same idea had come into the mind of the captain. +Some of the Rackbirds had gone back to the cove. They had known that +there had been people there. They had made investigations, and found the +cave and the empty mound, and in some way had discovered that the +_Miranda_ had gone off with its contents. Perhaps the black fellow who +had deserted the vessel at Valparaiso had betrayed them. He hurriedly +mentioned his suspicions to his companions. + +"I shouldn't wonder," said Burke, "if that Inkspot had done it. Perhaps +he could talk a good deal better than we thought. But I vow I wouldn't +have supposed that he would be the man to go back on us. I thought he was +the best of the lot." + +"Get behind that wall of bags," cried the captain, "every one of you. +Whoever they are, we will talk to them over a breastwork." + +"I think we shall have to do more than talk," said Burke, "for a blind +man could see that there are guns in those boats." + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +THE BATTLE OF THE GOLDEN WALL + + +The five men now got behind the barrier of bags, but, before following +them, Captain Horn, with the butt of his rifle, drew a long, deep furrow +in the sand about a hundred feet from the breastwork of bags, and +parallel with it. Then he quickly joined the others. + +The three white men stationed themselves a little distance apart, and +each moved a few of the top bags so as to get a good sight between them, +and not expose themselves too much. + +As the boats came on, the negroes crouched on the sand, entirely out of +sight, while Shirley and Burke each knelt down behind the barrier, with +his rifle laid in a crevice in the top. The captain's rifle was in his +hand, but he did not yet prepare for action. He stooped down, but his +head was sufficiently above the barrier to observe everything. + +The two boats came rapidly on, and were run up on the beach, and the men +jumped out and drew them up, high and safe. Then, without the slightest +hesitation, the ten of them, each with a gun in his hand, advanced in a +body toward the line of bags. + +"Ahoy!" shouted the captain, suddenly rising from behind the barrier. +"Who are you, and what do you want?" He said this in English, but +immediately repeated it in Spanish. + +"Ahoy, there!" cried Cardatas. "Are you Captain Horn?" + +"Yes, I am," said the captain, "and you must halt where you are. The +first man who passes that line is shot." + +Cardatas laughed, and so did some of the others, but they all stopped. + +"We'll stop here a minute to oblige you," said Cardatas, "but we've got +something to say to you, and you might as well listen to it." + +Shirley and Burke did not understand a word of these remarks, for they +did not know Spanish, but each of them kept his eye running along the +line of men who still stood on the other side of the furrow the captain +had made in the sand, and if one of them had raised his gun to fire at +their skipper, it is probable that he would have dropped. Shirley and +Burke had been born and bred in the country; they were hunters, and were +both good shots. It was on account of their fondness for sport that they +had been separated from the rest of their party on the first day of the +arrival of the people from the _Castor_ at the caves. + +"What have you to say?" said the captain. "Speak quickly." + +Cardatas did not immediately answer, for Nunez was excitedly talking to +him. The soul of the horse-dealer had been inflamed by the sight of the +bags. He did not suppose it possible that they could all contain gold, +but he knew they must be valuable, or they would not have been carried +up there, and he was advising a rush for the low wall. + +"We will see what we can do with them, first," said Cardatas to Nunez. +"Some of us may be shot if we are in too great a hurry. They are well +defended where they are, and we may have to get round into their rear. +Then we can settle their business very well, for the negro said there +were only three white men. But first let us talk to them. We may manage +them without running any risks." + +Cardatas turned toward the captain, and at the same time Burke said: + +"Captain, hadn't you better squat down a little? You're making a very +fine mark of yourself." + +But the captain still stood up to listen to Cardatas. + +"I'll tell you what we've come for," said the latter. "We are not +officers of the law, but we are the same thing. We know all about you and +the valuable stuff you've run away with, and we've been offered a reward +to bring back those bags, and to bring you back, too, dead or alive, and +here we are, ready to do it. It was good luck for us that your vessel +came to grief, but we should have got you, even if she hadn't. We were +sure to overhaul you in the Straits. We know all about you and that old +hulk, but we are fair and square people, and we're sailors, and we don't +want to take advantage of anybody, especially of sailors who have had +misfortunes. Now, the reward the Californian government has offered us is +not a very big one, and I think you can do better by us, so if you'll +agree to come out from behind that breastwork and talk to us fair and +square, your two white men and your three negroes,--you see, we know all +about you,--I think we can make a bargain that'll suit all around. The +government of California hasn't any claim on us, and we don't see why we +should serve it any more than we should serve you, and it will be a good +deal better for you to be content with half the treasure you've gone off +with, or perhaps a little more than that, and let us have the rest. We +will take you off on our vessel, and land you at any port you want to go +to, and you can take your share of the bags ashore with you. Now, that's +what I call a fair offer, and I think you will say so, too." + +Captain Horn was much relieved by part of this speech. He had had a +slight fear, when Cardatas began, that these men might have been sent out +by the Peruvian government, but now he saw they were a set of thieves, +whether Rackbirds or not, doing business on their own account. + +"The Californian government has nothing to do with me," cried Captain +Horn, "and it never had anything to do with you, either. When you say +that, you lie! I am not going to make any bargain with you, or have +anything to do with you. My vessel is wrecked, but we can take care of +ourselves. And now I'll give you five minutes to get to your boats, and +the quicker you go, the better for you!" + +At this, Nunez stepped forward, his face red with passion. "Look here, +you Yankee thief," he cried, "we'll give you just one minute to come out +from behind that pile of bags. If you don't come, we'll--" + +But if he said any more, Captain Horn did not hear it, for at that moment +Burke cried: "Drop, captain!" And the captain dropped. + +Stung by the insult he had received, and unable to resist the +temptation of putting an end to the discussion by shooting Captain Horn, +Cardatas raised his rifle to his shoulder, and almost in the same +instant that the captain's body disappeared behind the barrier, he +fired. But the bullet had scarcely left his barrel when another ball, +from Shirley's gun, struck Cardatas under his uplifted left arm, and +stretched him on the sand. + +A shock ran through the attacking party, and instinctively they retreated +several yards. So suddenly had they lost their leader that, for a few +moments, they did not seem to understand the situation. But, on a shout +from one of them to look out for themselves, every man dropped flat upon +the beach, behind a low bank of sand scarcely a foot high. This was not +much protection, but it was better than standing up as marks for the +rifles behind the barrier. + +The men from the _Arato_ were very much surprised by what had happened. +They had expected to have an easy job with the crew of the _Miranda_. As +soon as the sailor Sanchez had seen the stranded brig, he had recognized +her, and Cardatas, as well as the rest of them, had thought that there +would be nothing to do but to go on shore with a party of well-armed men, +and possess themselves of whatever treasure she had brought to this +deserted coast. But to find her crew strongly intrenched and armed had +very much amazed them. + +Nunez's anger had disappeared, and his accustomed shrewdness had taken +its place, for he now saw that very serious business was before them. He +was not much of a soldier, but he knew enough to understand that in the +plan proposed by Cardatas lay their only hope of success. It would be +ridiculous to lie there and waste their ammunition on that wall of bags. +He was lying behind the others, and raised his head just enough to tell +them what they should do. + +"We must get into their rear," he said. "We must creep along the sand +until we reach those bushes up there, and then we can get behind them. +I'll go first, and you can follow me." + +At, this, he began to work himself along the beach, somewhat after the +fashion of an earthworm. But the men paid no attention to him. There was +little discipline among them, and they had no respect for the +horse-dealer as a commander, so they remained on the sands, eagerly +talking among themselves. Some of them were frightened, and favored a +rush for the boats. But this advice brought down curses from the others. +What were three men to nine, that they should run away? + +Burke now became tired of waiting to see what would happen next, and +putting his hat on a little stick, he raised it a short distance above +the breastwork. Instantly one of the more excitable men from the _Arato_ +fired at it. + +"Very good," said Burke. "They want to keep it up, do they? Now, +captain," he continued, "we can see the backs and legs of most of them. +Shall we fire at them? That will be just as good as killing them. They +mean fight--that's easy to see." + +But the captain was not willing to follow Burke's advice. + +"I don't want to wound or maim them," he replied. "Let's give them a +volley just over their heads, and let them see what we are prepared to +do. Now, then, when I give the word!" + +In a few moments three shots rang out from the intrenchment, and the +bullets went whistling over the prostrate bodies of the men on the sand. +But these tactics did not have the effect Captain Horn hoped for. They +led to no waving of handkerchiefs, nor any show of an intention to treat +with an armed and intrenched foe. Instead of that, the man Sanchez sprang +to his feet and cried: + +"Come on, boys! Over the wall and at them before they can reload!" + +At this all the men sprang up and dashed toward the line of bags, Nunez +with them. Somebody might get hurt in this wild charge, but he must reach +the treasure as soon as the others. He must not fail in that. But Sanchez +made a great mistake when he supposed that Captain Horn and his men +fought with such arms as the muzzle-loading rifles and shot-guns which +the _Arato's_ men had thought quite sufficient to bring with them for the +work they had to do. Captain Horn, when he had fitted out the _Miranda_, +had supplied himself and his two white men with fine repeating rifles, +and the _Arato's_ men had scarcely crossed the line which had been drawn +on the sand before there were three shots from the barrier, and three of +the enemy dropped. Even the captain made a good shot this time. + +At this the attacking party stopped, and some of them shouted, "To the +boats!" Nunez said nothing, for he was dead. There had been much +straggling in the line, and Shirley had singled him out as one of the +leaders. Before one of them had turned or a retreat begun, Burke's rifle +flashed, and another man fell over against a companion, and then down +upon the sand. The distance was very short, and a bad shot was almost +impossible for a good hunter. + +Now there was no hesitation. The five men who had life and legs, turned +and dashed for the boats. But the captain did not intend, now, that they +should escape, and rifle after rifle cracked from the barricade, and +before they reached the boats, four of the flying party had fallen. The +fifth man stumbled over one of his companions, who dropped in front of +him, then rose to his feet, threw down his gun, and, turning his face +toward the shore, held up his hands high above his head. + +"I surrender!" he cried, and, still with his arms above his head, and his +face whiter than the distant sands, he slowly walked toward the barrier. + +The captain rose. "Halt!" he cried, and the man stood stock-still. "Now, +my men," cried the captain, turning to Burke and Shirley, "keep your eyes +on that fellow until we reach him, and if he moves, shoot him." + +The three white men, followed by the negroes, ran down to the man, and +when they had reached him, they carefully searched him to see if he had +any concealed weapons. + +After glancing rapidly over the bodies which lay upon the sand, the +captain turned to his men. + +"Come on, every one of you," he shouted, "and run out that boat," +pointing to the largest one that had brought the _Arato's_ men ashore. + +Shirley and Burke looked at him in surprise. + +"We want that vessel!" he cried, in answer. "Be quick!" And taking hold +of the boat himself, he helped the others push it off the sand. "Now, +then," he continued, "Shirley, you and Burke get into the bow, with your +rifles. Tumble in, you black fellows, and each take an oar. You," he said +in Spanish to the prisoner, "get in and take an oar, too." + +The captain took the tiller. Shirley and Burke pushed the boat into +deep water, and jumped aboard. The oars dipped, and they were off, +regardless of the low surf which splashed its crest over the gunwale as +the boat turned. + +"Tell me, you rascal," said the captain to the prisoner, who was tugging +at his oar as hard as the others, "how many men are aboard that +schooner?" + +"Only two, I swear to you, Señor Capitan; there were twelve of us in +all." + +The men left on the schooner had evidently watched the proceedings on +shore, and were taking measures accordingly. + +"They've slipped their anchor, and the tide is running out!" shouted the +captain. "Pull! Pull!" + +"They're running up their jib!" cried Burke. "Lay to, you fellows, or +I'll throw one of you overboard, and take his place!" + +The captured man was thoroughly frightened. They were great fighters, +these men he had fallen among, and he pulled as though he were rowing to +rescue his dearest friend. The black fellows bent to their oars like +madmen. They were thoroughly excited. They did not know what they were +rowing: for they only knew they were acting under the orders of their +captain, who had just killed nine Rackbirds, and their teeth and their +eyes flashed as their oars dipped and bent. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE "ARATO" ANCHORS NEARER SHORE + + +On went the boat, each one of the oarsmen pulling with all his force, the +captain in the stern, shouting and encouraging them, and Shirley and +Burke crouched in the bow, each with his rifle in hand. Up went the jib +of the _Arato_. She gently turned about as she felt the influence of the +wind, and then the captain believed the men on board were trying to get +up the foresail. + +"Are you sure there are only two of the crew on that schooner?" said the +captain to the prisoner. "Now, it isn't worth while to lie to me." + +"Only two," said the man. "I swear to it. Only two, Señor Capitan." + +The foresail did not go up, for one of the men had to run to the wheel, +and as the vessel's head got slowly around, it seemed as if she might +sail away from the boat, even with nothing but the jib set. But the +schooner gained headway very slowly, and the boat neared her rapidly. +Now the man at the wheel gave up all hope of sailing away from his +pursuers. He abandoned the helm, and in a few moments two heads and two +guns showed over the rail, and two shots rang out. But the schooner was +rolling, and the aim was bad. Shirley and Burke fired at the two heads +as soon as they saw them, but the boat was rising and pitching, and +their shots were also bad. + +For a minute there was no more firing, and then one of the heads and one +of the guns were seen again. Shirley was ready, and made his +calculations, and, as the boat rose, he drew a bead upon the top of the +rail where he saw the head, and had scarcely pulled his trigger when he +saw a good deal more than a head, for a man sprung up high in the air and +then fell backward. + +The captain now ordered his men to rest on their oars, for, if the other +man on board should show himself, they could get a better shot at him +than if they were nearer. But the man did not show himself, and, on +consideration of his probable tactics, it seemed extremely dangerous to +approach the vessel. Even here they were in danger, but should they +attempt to board her, they could not tell from what point he might fire +down upon them, and some of them would surely be shot before they could +get a chance at him, and the captain did not wish to sacrifice any of his +men, even for a vessel, if it could be helped. There seemed to be no hope +of safely gaining their object, except to wait until the man should +become tired and impatient, and expose himself. + +Suddenly, to the amazement of every one in the boat, for all heads were +turned toward the schooner, a man appeared, boldly running over her deck. +Shirley and Burke instantly raised their rifles, but dropped them again. +There was a shout from Maka, and an exclamation from the prisoner. Then +the man on deck stooped close to the rail and was lost to their sight, +but almost instantly he reappeared again, holding in front of him a +struggling pair of legs, feet uppermost. Then, upon the rail, appeared a +man's head and body; but it only remained there for an instant, for his +legs were raised still higher by the person behind him, and were then +propelled outward with such force that he went headlong overboard. Then +the man on deck sprang to the top of the rail, regardless of the rolling +of the vessel in the gentle swell, and waved his hands above his head. + +"Inkspot!" shouted the captain. "Pull away, you fellows! Pull!" + +The tall, barefooted negro sprang to the deck from his perilous position, +and soon reappeared with a line ready to throw to the boat. + +In a few minutes they reached the vessel, and the boat was quickly made +fast, and very soon they were on board. When he saw his old friends and +associates upon the deck, Inkspot retired a little distance and fell upon +his knees. + +"You black rascal!" roared Burke, "you brought these cut-throat +scoundrels down upon us! You--" + +"That will do," said the captain. "There is no time for that sort of +thing now. We will talk to him afterwards. Mr. Shirley, call all hands +and get up sail. I am going to take this schooner inside the headland. +We can find safe anchorage in the bay. We can sail over the same course +we went on with the _Miranda_, and she drew more water than this vessel." + +In an hour the _Arato_, moored by her spare anchor, lay in the little +bay, less than two hundred yards from shore. It gave the shipwrecked men +a wild delight to find themselves again upon the decks of a seaworthy +vessel, and everybody worked with a will, especially the prisoner and +Inkspot. And when the last sail had been furled, it became evident to all +hands on board that they wanted their breakfast, and this need was +speedily supplied by Maka and Inkspot from the _Arato's_ stores. + +That afternoon the captain went on shore with the negroes and the Chilian +prisoner, and the bodies of the nine men who had fallen in the attack +upon the wall of gold were buried where they lay. This was a very +different climate from that of the Peruvian coast, where the desiccating +air speedily makes a mummy of any dead body upon its arid sands. + +When this work had been accomplished, the party returned to the _Arato_, +and the captain ordered Inkspot and the prisoner to be brought aft to be +tried by court martial. The big negro had been wildly and vociferously +received by his fellow-countrymen, who, upon every possible occasion, had +jabbered together in their native tongue, but Captain Horn had, so far, +said nothing to him. + +The captain had been greatly excited from the moment he had seen the sail +in the offing. In his dire distress, on this almost desolate shore, he +had beheld what might prove to be speedy relief, and, much as he had +needed it, he had hoped that it might not come so soon. He had been +apprehensive and anxious when he supposed friendly aid might be +approaching, and he had been utterly astounded when he was forced to +believe that they were armed men who were rowing to shore, and must be +enemies. He had fought a terrible fight. He had conquered the scoundrels +who had come for his life and his treasure, and, best of all, he had +secured a vessel which would carry him and his men and his fortune to +France. He had endeavored to keep cool and think only of the work that +was immediately in hand, and he had no wish to ask anybody why or how +things had happened. They had happened, and that was all in all to him. +But now he was ready to make all necessary inquiries, and he began with +Inkspot. Maka being interpreter, the examination was easily carried on. + +The story of the negro was a very interesting one. He told of his +adventures on shore, and how kind the men had been to him until they went +on board the _Arato_, and how then they treated him as if he had been a +dog--how he had been made to do double duty in all sorts of disagreeable +work, and how, after they had seen the light on the beach, he had been +put into the hold and tied hand and foot. While down there in the dark he +had heard the firing on shore, and, after a long while, the firing from +the deck, and other shots near by. All this had so excited him that he +managed to get one hand loose from his cords, and then had speedily +unfastened the rest, and had quietly crept to a hatchway, where he could +watch what was going on without showing himself. He had seen the two men +on deck, ready to fire on the approaching boat. He had recognized Captain +Horn and the people of the _Miranda_ in the boat. And then, when there +was but one man left on deck, and the boat was afraid to come nearer, he +had rushed up behind him and tumbled him overboard. + +One thing only did Inkspot omit: he did not say that it was Mr. Burke's +example that had prompted him to go ashore for refreshments. When the +story had been told, and all questions asked and answered, the captain +turned to Burke and Shirley and asked their opinions upon the case. +Shirley was in favor of putting the negro in irons. He had deserted them, +and had nearly cost them their lives by the stories he had told on shore. +Burke, to the captain's surprise,--for the second mate generally dealt +severely with nautical transgressions,--was in favor of clemency. + +"To be sure," said he, "the black scoundrel did get us into trouble. But +then, don't you see, he has got us out of it. If these beastly fellows +hadn't been led by him to come after our money, we would not have had +this schooner, and how we should have got those bags away without +her,--to say nothing of ourselves,--is more than I can fathom. It is my +belief that no craft ever comes within twenty miles of this coast, if she +can help it. So I vote for letting him off. He didn't intend to do us any +harm, and he didn't intend to do us any good, but it seems to me that the +good he did do rises higher above the water-line than the harm. So I say, +let him off. We need another hand about as much as we need anything." + +"And so say I," said the captain. "Maka, you can tell him we forgive him, +because we believe that he is really a good fellow and didn't intend any +harm, and he can turn in with the rest of you on his old watch. And now +bring up that Chilian fellow." + +The prisoner, who gave his name as Anton Garta, was now examined in +regard to the schooner _Arato_, her extraordinary cruise, and the people +who had devised it. Garta was a fellow of moderate intelligence, and +still very much frightened, and having little wit with which to concoct +lies, and no reason for telling them, he answered the questions put to +him as correctly as his knowledge permitted. He said that about two +months before he had been one of the crew of the _Arato_, and Manuel +Cardatas was second mate, and he had been very glad to join her on this +last cruise because he was out of a job. He thought she was going to +Callao for a cargo, and so did the rest of the crew. They did not even +know there were guns on board until they were out at sea. Then, when they +had turned southward, their captain and Señor Nunez told them that they +were going in pursuit of a treasure ship commanded by a Yankee captain, +who had run away with ever so much money from California, and that they +were sure to overhaul this ship, and that they would all be rich. + +The guns were given to them, and they had had some practice with them, +and thought that Cardatas intended, should the _Miranda_ be overhauled, +to run alongside of her as near as was safe, and begin operations by +shooting everybody that could be seen on deck. He was not sure that this +was his plan, but they all had thought it was. After the storm the men +had become dissatisfied, and said they did not believe it was possible to +overhaul any vessel after so much delay, and when they had gone so far +out of their course; and Señor Nunez, who had hired the vessel, was in +doubt as to whether it would be of any use to continue the cruise. But +when Cardatas had talked to him, Señor Nunez had come among them and +promised them good rewards, whether they sighted their prize or not, if +they would work faithfully for ten days more. The men had agreed to do +this, but when they had seen the light on shore, they had made an +agreement among themselves that, if this should be nothing but a fire +built by savages or shipwrecked people of no account, they would not work +the schooner any farther south. They would put Cardatas and Nunez in +irons, if necessary, and take the _Arato_ back to Valparaiso. There were +men among them who could navigate. But when they got near enough to shore +to see that the stranded vessel was the _Miranda_, there was no more +insubordination. + +As for himself, Garta said he was a plain, common sailor, who went on +board the _Arato_ because he wanted a job. If he had known the errand on +which she was bound, he would never have approached within a league of +her. This he vowed, by all the saints. As to the ownership of the vessel +Garta could tell but little. He had heard that Cardatas had a share in +her, and thought that probably the other owners lived in Valparaiso, but +he could give no positive information on this subject. He said that every +man of the boat's crew was in a state of wild excitement when they saw +that long pile of bags, which they knew must contain treasure of some +sort, and it was because of this state of mind, most likely, that +Cardatas lost his temper and got himself shot, and so opened the fight. +Cardatas was a cunning fellow, and, if he had not been upset by the sight +of those bags, Garta believed that he would have regularly besieged +Captain Horn's party, and must have overcome them in the end. He was +anxious to have the captain believe that, when he had said there were +only two men on board, he had totally forgotten the negro, who had been +left below. + +When Garta's examination had been finished, the captain sent him +forward, and then repeated his story in brief to Shirley and Burke, +for, as the prisoner had spoken in Spanish, they had understood but +little of it. + +"I don't see that it makes much difference," said Burke, "as to what his +story is. We've got to get rid of him in some way. We don't want to +carry him about with us. We might leave him here, with a lot of grub and +a tent. That would be all he deserves." + +"I should put him in irons, to begin with," said Shirley, "and then we +can consider what to do with him when we have time." + +"I shall not leave him on shore," said the captain, "for that would +simply be condemning him to starvation; and as for putting him in irons, +that would deprive us of an able seaman. I suppose, if we took him to +France, he would have to be sent to Chili for trial, and that would be of +no use, unless we went there as witnesses. It is a puzzling question to +know what to do with him." + +"It is that," said Burke, "and it is a great pity he wasn't shot with +the others." + +"Well," said the captain, "we've got a lot of work before us, and we want +hands, so I think it will be best to let him turn in with the rest, and +make him pay for his passage, wherever we take him. The worst he can do +is to desert, and if he does that, he will settle his own business, and +we shall have no more trouble with him." + +"I don't like him," said Shirley. "I don't think we ought to have such a +fellow going about freely on board." + +"I am not afraid he will hurt any of us," said the captain, "and I +am sure he will not corrupt the negroes. They hate him. It is easy to +see that." + +"Yes," said Burke, with a laugh. "They think he is a Rackbird, and it is +just as well to let them keep on thinking so." + +"Perhaps he is," thought the captain, but he did not speak this +thought aloud. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +INKSPOT HAS A DREAM OF HEAVEN + + +The next day the work of loading the _Arato_ with the bags of gold was +begun, and it was a much slower and more difficult business than the +unloading of the _Miranda_, for the schooner lay much farther out from +the beach. But there were two men more than on the former occasion, and +the captain did not push the work. There was no need now for +extraordinary haste, and although they all labored steadily, regular +hours of work and rest were adhered to. The men had carried so many bags +filled with hard and uneven lumps that the shoulders of some of them were +tender, and they had to use cushions of canvas under their loads. But the +boats went backward and forward, and the bags were hoisted on board and +lowered into the hold, and the wall of gold grew smaller and smaller. + +"Captain," said Burke, one day, as they were standing by a pile of bags +waiting for the boat to come ashore, "do you think it is worth it! By +George! we have loaded and unloaded these blessed bags all down the +western coast of South America, and if we've got to unload and load them +all up the east coast, I say, let's take what we really need, and leave +the rest." + +"I've been at the business a good deal longer than you have," said the +captain, "and I'm not tired of it yet. When I took away my first cargo, +you must remember that I carried each bag on my own shoulders, and it +took me more than a month to do it, and even all that is only a drop in +the bucket compared to what most men who call themselves rich have to do +before they make their money." + +"All right," said Burke, "I'll stop growling. But look here, captain. +How much do you suppose one of these bags is worth, and how many are +there in all? I don't want to be inquisitive, but it would be a sort of +comfort to know." + +"No, it wouldn't," said the captain, quickly. "It would be anything else +but a comfort. I know how many bags there are, but as to what they are +worth, I don't know, and I don't want to know. I once set about +calculating it, but I didn't get very far with the figures. I need all my +wits to get through with this business, and I don't think anything would +be more likely to scatter them than calculating what this gold is worth. +It would be a good deal better for you--and for me, too--to consider, as +Shirley does, that these bags are all filled with good, clean, anthracite +coal. That won't keep us from sleeping." + +"Shirley be hanged!" said Burke, "He and you may be able to do that, but +I can't. I've got a pretty strong mind, and if you were to tell me that +when we get to port, and you discharge this crew, I can walk off with all +the gold eagles or twenty-franc pieces I can carry, I think I could stand +it without losing my mind." + +"All right," said the captain, "If we get this vessel safely to France, +I will give you a good chance to try your nerves." + +Day by day the work went on, and at last the _Arato_ took the place of +the _Miranda_ as a modern _Argo_. + +During the reëmbarkation of the treasure, the captain, as well as Shirley +and Burke, had kept a sharp eye on Garta. The two mates were afraid he +might run away, but, had he done so, the captain would not have regretted +it very much. He would gladly have parted with one of the bags in order +to get rid of this encumbrance. But the prisoner had no idea of running +away. He knew that the bags were filled with treasure, but as he could +now do nothing with any of it that he might steal, he did not try to +steal any. If he had thoughts of the kind, he knew this was no time for +dishonest operation. He had always been a hardworking sailor, with a good +appetite, and he worked hard now, and ate well. + +The _Miranda's_ stores had not been injured by water, and when they had +been put on board, the _Arato_ was well fitted out for a long voyage. +Leaving the _Miranda_ on the beach, with nothing in her of much value, +the _Arato_, which had cleared for Callao, and afterwards set out on a +wild piratical cruise, now made a third start, and set sail for a voyage +to France. They had good weather and tolerably fair winds, and before +they entered the Straits of Magellan the captain had formulated a plan +for the disposition of Garta. + +"I don't know anything better to do with him," said he to Shirley and +Burke, "than to put him ashore at the Falkland Islands. We don't want to +take him to France, for we would not know what to do with him after we +got him there, and, as likely as not, he would swear a lot of lies +against us as soon as he got on shore. We can run within a league of +Stanley harbor, and then, if the weather is good enough, we can put him +in a boat, with something to eat and drink, and let him row himself into +port. We can give him money enough to support himself until he can +procure work." + +"But suppose there is a man-of-war in there," said Shirley, "he might say +things that would send her after us. He might not know where to say we +got our treasure, but he could say we had stolen a Chilian vessel." + +"I had thought of that," said the captain, "but nothing such a vagrant as +he is could say ought to give any cruiser the right to interfere with us +when we are sailing under the American flag. And when I go to France, +nobody shall say that I stole a vessel, for, if the owners of the _Arato_ +can be found, they shall be well paid for what use we have made of their +schooner. I'll send her back to Valparaiso and let her be claimed." + +"It is a ticklish business," said Burke, "but I don't know what else can +be done. It is a great pity I didn't know he was going to surrender when +we had that fight." + +They had been in the Straits less than a week when Inkspot dreamed he +was in heaven. His ecstatic visions became so strong and vivid that they +awakened him, when he was not long in discovering the cause which had +produced them. The dimly lighted and quiet forecastle was permeated by a +delightful smell of spirituous liquor. Turning his eyes from right to +left, in his endeavors to understand this unusual odor of luxury, +Inkspot perceived the man Garta standing on the other side of the +forecastle, with a bottle in one hand and a cork in the other, and, as +he looked, Garta raised the bottle to his mouth, threw back his head, +and drank. + +Inkspot greatly disliked this man. He had been one of the fellows who had +ill-treated him when the _Arato_ sailed under Cardatas, and he fully +agreed with his fellow-blacks that the scoundrel should have been shot. +But now his feelings began to undergo a change. A man with a bottle of +spirits might prove to be an angel of mercy, a being of beneficence, and +if he would share with a craving fellow-being his rare good fortune, why +should not all feelings of disapprobation be set aside? Inkspot could see +no reason why they should not be, and softly slipping from his hammock, +he approached Garta. + +"Give me. Give me, just little," he whispered. + +Garta turned with a half-suppressed oath, and seeing who the suppliant +was, he seized the bottle in his left hand, and with his right struck +poor Inkspot a blow in the face. Without a word the negro stepped back, +and then Garta put the bottle into a high, narrow opening in the side of +the forecastle, and closed a little door upon it, which fastened with a +snap. This little locker, just large enough to hold one bottle, had been +made by one of the former crew of the _Arato_ solely for the purpose of +concealing spirits, and was very ingeniously contrived. Its door was a +portion of the side of the forecastle, and a keyhole was concealed behind +a removable knot. Garta had not opened the locker before, for the reason +that he had been unable to find the key. He knew it had been concealed +in the forecastle, but it had taken him a long time to find it. Now his +secret was discovered, and he was enraged. Going over to the hammock, +where Inkspot had again ensconced himself, he leaned over the negro and +whispered: + +"If you ever say a word of that bottle to anybody, I'll put a knife into +you! No matter what they do to me, I'll settle with you." + +Inkspot did not understand all this, but he knew it was a threat, and he +well understood the language of a blow in the face. After a while he went +to sleep, but, if he smelt again the odor of the contents of the bottle, +he had no more heavenly dreams. + +The next day Captain Horn found himself off the convict settlement of +Punta Arenas, belonging to the Chilian government. This was the first +port he had approached since he had taken command of the _Arato_, but he +felt no desire nor need to touch at it. In fact, the vicinity of Punta +Arenas seemed of no importance whatever, until Shirley came to him and +reported that the man Garta was nowhere to be found. Captain Horn +immediately ordered a search and inquiry to be made, but no traces of the +prisoner could be discovered, nor could anybody tell anything about him. +Burke and Inkspot had been on watch with him from four to eight, but they +could give no information whatever concerning him. No splash nor cries +for help had been heard, so that he could not have fallen overboard, and +it was generally believed that, when he knew himself to be in the +vicinity of a settlement, he had quietly slipped into the water and had +swum for Punta Arenas. Burke suggested that most likely he had formerly +been a resident of the place, and liked it better than being taken off +to unknown regions in the schooner. And Shirley considered this very +probable, for he said the man had always looked like a convict to him. + +At all events, Garta was gone, and there was no one to say how long he +had been gone. So, under full sail, the _Arato_ went on her way. It was a +relief to get rid of the prisoner, and the only harm which could come of +his disappearance was that he might report that his ship had been stolen +by the men who were sailing her, and that some sort of a vessel might be +sent in pursuit of the _Arato_, and, if this should be the case, the +situation would be awkward. But days passed on, the schooner sailed out +of the Straits, and no vessel was seen pursuing her. + +To the northeast Captain Horn set his course. He would not stop at Rio +Janeiro, for the _Arato_ had no papers for that port. He would not lie to +off Stanley harbor, for he had now nobody to send ashore. But he would +sail boldly for France, where he would make no pretensions that his +auriferous cargo was merely ballast. He was known at Marseilles. He had +business relations with bankers in Paris. He was a Californian and an +American citizen, and he would merely be bringing to France a vessel +freighted with gold, which, by the aid of his financial advisers, would +be legitimately cared for and disposed of. + +One night, before the _Arato_ reached the Falkland Islands, Maka, who was +on watch, heard a queer sound in the forecastle, and looking down the +companionway, he saw, by the dim light of the swinging lantern, a man +with a hatchet, endeavoring to force the blade of it into the side of the +vessel. Maka quickly perceived that the man was Inkspot, and as he could +not imagine what he was doing, he quietly watched him. Inkspot worked +with as little noise as possible, but he was evidently bent upon forcing +off one of the boards on the side of the forecastle. At first Maka +thought that his fellow-African was trying to sink the ship by opening a +seam, but he soon realized that this notion was absurd, and so he let +Inkspot go on, being very curious to know what he was doing. In a few +minutes he knew. With a slight noise, not enough to waken a sound +sleeper, a little door flew open, and almost immediately Inkspot held a +bottle in his hand. + +Maka slipped swiftly and softly to the side of the big negro, but he was +not quick enough. Inkspot had the neck of the bottle in his mouth and the +bottom raised high in the air. But, before Maka could seize him by the +arm, the bottle had come down from its elevated position, and a doleful +expression crept over the face of Inkspot. There had been scarcely a +teaspoonful of liquor left in the bottle. Inkspot looked at Maka, and +Maka looked at him. In an African whisper, the former now ordered the +disappointed negro to put the bottle back, to shut up the locker, and +then to get into his hammock and go to sleep as quickly as he could, for +if Mr. Shirley, who was on watch on deck, found out what he had been +doing, Inkspot would wish he had never been born. + +The next day, when they had an opportunity for an African conversation, +Inkspot assured his countryman that he had discovered the little locker +by smelling the whiskey through the boards, and that, having no key, he +had determined to force it open with a hatchet. Maka could not help +thinking that Inkspot had a wonderful nose for an empty bottle, and +could scarcely restrain from a shudder at the thought of what might +have happened had the bottle been full. But he did not report the +occurrence. Inkspot was a fellow-African, and he had barely escaped +punishment for his former misdeed. It would be better to keep his mouth +shut, and he did. + +Against the north winds, before the south winds, and on the winds from +the east and the west, through fair weather and through foul, the _Arato_ +sailed up the South Atlantic. It was a long, long voyage, but the +schooner was skilfully navigated and sailed well. Sometimes she sighted +great merchant-steamers plying between Europe and South America, +freighted with rich cargoes, and proudly steaming away from the little +schooner, whose dark-green hull could scarcely be distinguished from the +color of the waves. And why should not the captain of this humble little +vessel sometimes have said to himself, as he passed a big three-master or +a steamer: + +"What would they think if they knew that, if I chose to do it, I could +buy every ship, and its cargo, that I shall meet between here and +Gibraltar!" + +"Captain," said Shirley, one day, "what do you think about the right and +wrong of this?" + +"What do you mean?" asked Captain Horn. + +"I mean," replied Shirley, "taking away the gold we have on board. We've +had pretty easy times lately, and I've been doing a good deal of +thinking, and sometimes I have wondered where we got the right to clap +all this treasure into bags and sail away with it." + +"So you have stopped thinking the bags are all filled with anthracite +coal," said the captain. + +"Yes," said the other. "We are getting on toward the end of this voyage, +and it is about time to give up that fancy. I always imagine, when I am +near the end of a voyage, what I am going to do when I go ashore, and if +I have any real right to some of the gold down under our decks, I shall +do something very different from anything I ever did before." + +"I hope you don't mean going on a spree," said Burke, who was standing +near. "That would be something entirely different." + +"I thought," said the captain, "that you both understood this business, +but I don't mind going over it again. There is no doubt in my mind that +this gold originally belonged to the Incas, who then owned Peru, and they +put it into that mound to keep it from the Spaniards, whose descendants +now own Peru, and who rule it without much regard to the descendants of +the ancient Peruvians. Now, when I discovered the gold, and began to have +an idea of how valuable the find was, I knew that the first thing to do +was to get it out of that place and away from the country. Whatever is to +be done in the way of fair play and fair division must be done somewhere +else, and not there. If I had informed the government of what I had +found, this gold would have gone directly into the hands of the +descendants of the people from whom its original owners did their very +best to keep it, and nobody else would have had a dollar's worth of it. +If we had stood up for our rights to a reward for finding it, ten to one +we would all have been clapped into prison." + +"I suppose by that," said Burke, "that you looked upon the stone mound in +the cave as a sort of will left by those old Peruvians, and you made +yourself an executor to carry out the intentions of the testators, as +the lawyers say." + +"But we can set it down as dead certain," interrupted Shirley, "that the +testators didn't mean us to have it." + +"No," said the captain, "nor do I mean that we shall have all of it. I +intend to have the question of the ownership of this gold decided by +people who are able and competent to decide such a question, and who will +be fair and honest to all parties. But whatever is agreed upon, and +whatever is done with the treasure, I intend to charge a good price--a +price which shall bear a handsome proportion to the value of the +gold--for my services, and all our services. Some of this charge I have +already taken, and I intend to have a great deal more. We have worked +hard and risked much to get this treasure--" + +"Yes," thought Burke, as he remembered the trap at the bottom of the +mound. "You risked a great deal more than you ever supposed you did." + +"And we are bound to be well paid for it," continued the captain. "No +matter where this gold goes, I shall have a good share of it, and this I +am going to divide among our party, according to a fair scale. How does +that strike you, Shirley?" + +"If the business is going to be conducted as you say, captain," replied +the first mate, "I say it will be all fair and square, and I needn't +bother my head with any more doubts about it. But there is one thing I +wish you would tell me: how much do you think I will be likely to get out +of this cargo, when you divide?" + +"Mr. Shirley," said the captain, "when I give you your share of this +cargo, you can have about four bags of anthracite coal, weighing a little +over one hundred pounds, which, at the rate of six dollars a ton, would +bring you between thirty and forty cents. Will that satisfy you? Of +course, this is only a rough guess at a division, but I want to see how +it falls in with your ideas." + +Shirley laughed. "I guess you're right, captain," said he. "It will be +better for me to keep on thinking we are carrying coal. That won't +bother my head." + +"That's so," said Burke. "Your brain can't stand that sort of badger. I'd +hate to go ashore with you at Marseilles with your pocket full and your +skull empty. As for me, I can stand it first-rate. I have already built +two houses on Cape Cod,--in my head, of course,--and I'll be hanged if I +know which one I am going to live in and which one I am going to put my +mother in." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +MOK AS A VOCALIST + + +It would have been very comfortable to the mind of Edna, during her +waiting days in Paris, had she known there was a letter to her from +Captain Horn, in a cottage in the town of Sidmouth, on the south coast of +Devonshire. Had she known this, she would have chartered French trains, +Channel steamers, English trains, flies, anything and everything which +would have taken her the quickest to the little town of Sidmouth. Had she +known that he had written to her the first chance he had had, all her +doubts and perplexities would have vanished in an instant. Had she read +the letter, she might have been pained to find that it was not such a +letter as she would wish to have, and she might have grieved that it +might still be a long time before she could expect to hear from him +again, or to see him, but she would have waited--have waited patiently, +without any doubts or perplexities. + +This letter, with a silver coin,--much more than enough to pay any +possible postage,--had been handed by Shirley to the first mate of the +British steamer, in the harbor of Valparaiso, and that officer had given +it to a seaman, who was going on shore, with directions to take it to +the post-office, and pay for the postage out of the silver coin, and +whatever change there might be, he should keep it for his trouble. On the +way to the post-office, this sailor stopped to refresh himself, and +meeting with a fellow-mariner in the place of refreshment, he refreshed +him also. And by the time the two had refreshed themselves to their +satisfaction, there was not much left of the silver coin--not enough to +pay the necessary postage to France. + +"But," said the seaman to himself, "it doesn't matter a bit. We are bound +for Liverpool, and I'll take the letter there myself, and then I'll send +it over to Paris for tuppence ha'penny, which I will have then, and +haven't now. And I bet another tuppence that it will go sooner than if I +posted it here, for it may be a month before a mail-steamer leaves the +other side of this beastly continent. Anyway, I'm doing the best I can." + +He put the letter in the pocket of his pea-jacket, and the bottom of that +pocket being ripped, the letter went down between the outside cloth and +the lining of the pea-jacket to the very bottom of the garment, where it +remained until the aforesaid seaman had reached England, and had gone +down to see his family, who lived in the cottage in Sidmouth. And there +he had hung up his pea-jacket on a nail, in a little room next to the +kitchen, and there his mother had found it, and sewed on two buttons, and +sewed up the rips in the bottoms of two pockets. Shortly after this, the +sailor, happening to pass a post-office box, remembered the letter he had +brought to England. He went to his pea-jacket and searched it, but could +find no letter. He must have lost it--he hoped after he had reached +England, and no doubt whoever found it would put a tuppence ha'penny +stamp on it and stick it into a box. Anyway, he had done all he could. + +One pleasant spring evening, the negro Mok sat behind a table in the +well-known beer-shop called the "Black Cat." He had before him a +half-emptied beer-glass, and in front of him was a pile of three small +white dishes. These signified that Mok had had three glasses of beer, and +when he should finish the one in his hand, and should order another, the +waiter would bring with it another little white plate, which he would put +on the table, on the pile already there, and which would signify that the +African gentleman must pay for four glasses of beer. + +Mok was enjoying himself very much. It was not often that he had such an +opportunity to sample the delights of Paris. His young master, Ralph, had +given him strict orders never to go out at night, or in his leisure +hours, unless accompanied by Cheditafa. The latter was an extremely +important and sedate personage. The combined dignity of a butler and a +clergyman were more than ever evident in his person, and he was a painful +drawback to the more volatile Mok. Mok had very fine clothes, which it +rejoiced him to display. He had a fine appetite for everything fit to eat +and drink. He had money in his pockets, and it delighted him to see +people and to see things, although he might not know who they were or +what they were. He knew nothing of French, and his power of expressing +himself in English had not progressed very far. But on this evening, in +the jolly precincts of the Black Cat, he did not care whether the people +used language or not. He did not care what they did, so that he could +sit there and enjoy himself. When he wanted more beer, the waiter +understood him, and that was enough. + +The jet-black negro, gorgeously arrayed in the livery Ralph had chosen +for him, and with his teeth and eyeballs whiter than the pile of plates +before him, was an object of great interest to the company in the +beer-shop. They talked to him, and although he did not understand them, +or answer them, they knew he was enjoying himself. And when the landlord +rang a big bell, and a pale young man, wearing a high hat, and sitting at +a table opposite him, threw into his face an expression of exalted +melancholy, and sang a high-pitched song, Mok showed how he appreciated +the performance by thumping more vigorously on the table than any of the +other people who applauded the singer. + +Again and again the big bell was rung, and there were other songs and +choruses, and then the company turned toward Mok and called on him to +sing. He did not understand them, but he laughed and pounded his fist +upon the table. But when the landlord came down to his table, and rang +the bell in front of him, that sent an informing idea into the African +head. He had noticed that every time the bell had been rung, somebody had +sung, and now he knew what was wanted of him. He had had four glasses of +beer, and he was an obliging fellow, so he nodded his head violently, and +everybody stopped doing what they had been doing, and prepared to listen. + +Mok's repertoire of songs could not be expected to be large. In fact, he +only knew one musical composition, and that was an African hymn which +Cheditafa had taught him. This he now proceeded to execute. He threw +back his head, as some of the others had done, and emitted a succession +of grunts, groans, yelps, barks, squeaks, yells, and rattles which +utterly electrified the audience. Then, as if his breath filled his whole +body, and quivering and shaking like an angry squirrel when it chatters +and barks, Mok sang louder and more wildly, until the audience, unable to +restrain themselves, burst into laughter, and applauded with canes, +sticks, and fists. But Mok kept on. He had never imagined he could sing +so well. There was only one person in that brasserie who did not applaud +the African hymn, but no one paid so much attention to it as this man, +who had entered the Black Cat just as Mok had begun. + +He was a person of medium size, with a heavy mustache, and a face +darkened by a beard of several days' growth. He was rather roughly +dressed, and wore a soft felt hat. He was a Rackbird. + +This man had formerly belonged to the band of desperadoes which had been +swept away by a sudden flood on the coast of Peru. He had accompanied his +comrades on the last marauding expedition previous to that remarkable +accident, but he had not returned with them. He had devised a little +scheme of his own, which had detained him longer than he had expected, +and he was not ready to go back with them. It would have been difficult +for him to reach the camp by himself, and, after what he had done, he did +not very much desire to go, there as he would probably have been shot as +a deserter; for Captain Raminez was a savage fellow, and more than +willing to punish transgressions against his orders. This deserter, +Banker by name, was an American, who had been a gold-digger, a gambler, +a rough, and a dead shot in California, and he was very well able to take +care of himself in any part of the world. + +He had made his way up to Panama, and had stayed there as long as it was +safe for him to do so, and had eventually reached Paris. He did not like +this city half so well as he liked London, but in the latter city he +happened to be wanted, and he was not wanted in Paris. It was generally +the case that he stayed where he was not wanted. + +Of course, Banker knew nothing of the destruction of his band, and the +fact that he had not heard from them since he left them gave him not the +slightest regret. But what did astonish him beyond bounds was to sit at a +table in the Black Cat, in Paris, and see before him, dressed like the +valet of a Spanish grandee, a coal-black negro who had once been his +especial and particular slave and drudge, a fellow whom he had kicked and +beaten and sworn at, and whom he no doubt would have shot had he stayed +much longer with his lawless companions, the Rackbirds. There was no +mistaking this black man. He well remembered his face, and even the tones +of his voice. He had never heard him sing, but he had heard him howl, and +it seemed almost impossible that he should meet him in Paris. And yet, he +was sure that the man who was bellowing and bawling to the delight of the +guests of the Black Cat was one of the African wretches who had been +entrapped and enslaved by the Rackbirds. + +But if Banker had been astonished by Mok, he was utterly amazed and +confounded when, some five minutes later, the door of the brasserie was +suddenly opened, and another of the slaves of the Rackbirds, with whose +face he was also perfectly familiar, hurriedly entered. + +Cheditafa, who had been sent on an errand that evening, had missed Mok +on his return. Ralph was away in Brussels with the professor, so that +his valet, having most of his time on his hands, had thought to take a +holiday during Cheditafa's absence, and had slipped off to the Black +Cat, whose pleasures he had surreptitiously enjoyed before, but never to +such an extent as on this occasion. Cheditafa knew he had been there, +and when he started out to look for him, it was to the Black Cat that he +went first. + +Before he had quite reached the door, Cheditafa had been shocked and +angered to hear his favorite hymn sung in a beer-shop by that reprobate +and incompetent Mok, and he had rushed in, and in a minute seized the +blatant vocalist by the collar, and ordered him instantly to shut his +mouth and pay his reckoning. Then, in spite of the shouts of +disapprobation which arose on every side, he led away the negro as if he +had been a captured dog with his tail between his legs. + +Mok could easily have thrown Cheditafa across the street, but his respect +and reverence for his elder and superior were so great that he obeyed his +commands without a word of remonstrance. + +Now up sprang Banker, who was in such a hurry to go that he forgot to pay +for his beer, and when he performed this duty, after having been abruptly +reminded of it by a waiter, he was almost too late to follow the two +black men, but not quite too late. He was an adept in the tracking of +his fellow-beings, and it was not long before he was quietly following +Mok and Cheditafa, keeping at some distance behind them, but never +allowing them to get out of his sight. + +In the course of a moderate walk he saw them enter the Hotel Grenade. +This satisfied the wandering Rackbird. If the negroes went into that +hotel at that time of night, they must live there, and he could suspend +operations until morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +MR. BANKER'S SPECULATION + + +That night Banker was greatly disturbed by surmises and conjectures +concerning the presence of the two negroes in the French capital. He knew +Cheditafa quite as well as he knew Mok, and it was impossible that he +should be mistaken. It is seldom that any one sees a native African in +Paris, and he was positive that the men he had seen, dressed in expensive +garments, enjoying themselves like gentlemen of leisure, and living at a +grand hotel, were the same negroes he had last seen in rags and shreds, +lodged in a cave in the side of a precipice, toiling and shuddering under +the commands of a set of desperadoes on a desert coast in South America. +There was only one way in which he could explain matters, and that was +that the band had had some great success, and that one or more of its +members had come to Paris, and had brought the two negroes with them as +servants. But of one thing he had no doubts, and that was that he would +follow up the case. He had met with no successes of late, but if any of +his former comrades had, he wanted to meet those dear old friends. In +Paris he was not afraid of anything they might say about his desertion. + +Very early in the morning Banker was in front of the Hotel Grenade. He +did not loiter there; he did not wander up and down like a vagrant, or +stand about like a spy. It was part of his business to be able to be +present in various places almost at the same time, and not to attract +notice in any of them. It was not until after ten o'clock that he saw +anything worthy of his observation, and then a carriage drove up to the +front entrance, and on the seat beside the driver sat Cheditafa, erect, +solemn, and respectable. Presently the negro got down and opened the door +of the carriage. In a few moments a lady, a beautiful lady, handsomely +dressed, came out of the hotel and entered the carriage. Then Cheditafa +shut the door and got up beside the driver again. It was a fine thing to +have such a footman as this one, so utterly different from the ordinary +groom or footman, so extremely _distingué_! + +As the carriage rolled off, Banker walked after it, but not in such a way +as to attract attention, and then he entered a cab and told the _cocher_ +to drive to the Bon Marché. Of course, he did not know where the lady was +going to, but at present she was driving in the direction of that +celebrated mart, and he kept his eye upon her carriage, and if she had +turned out of the Boulevard and away from the Seine, he would have +ordered his driver to turn also and go somewhere else. He did not dare to +tell the man to follow the carriage. He was shaved, and his clothes had +been put in as good order as possible, but he knew that he did not look +like a man respectable enough to give such an order without exciting +suspicion. + +But the carriage did go to the Bon Marché, and there also went the cab, +the two vehicles arriving at almost the same time. Banker paid his fare +with great promptness, and was on the pavement in time to see the +handsomely dressed lady descend and enter the establishment. As she went +in, he took one look at the back of her bonnet. It had a little green +feather in it. Then he turned quickly upon Cheditafa, who had shut the +carriage door and was going around behind it in order to get up on the +other side. + +"Look here," whispered Banker, seizing the clerical butler by the +shoulder, "who is that lady? Quick, or I'll put a knife in you." + +At these words Cheditafa's heart almost stopped beating, and as he +quickly turned he saw that he looked into the face of a man, an awfully +wicked man, who had once helped to grind the soul out of him, in that +dreadful cave by the sea. The poor negro was so frightened that he +scarcely knew whether he was in Paris or Peru. + +"Who is she?" whispered again the dreadful Rackbird. + +"Come, come!" shouted the coachman from his seat, "we must move on." + +"Quick! Who is she?" hissed Banker. + +"She?" replied the quaking negro. "She is the captain's wife. She is--" +But he could say no more, for a policeman was ordering the carriage to +move on, for it stopped the way, and the coachman was calling +impatiently. Banker could not afford to meet a policeman. He released his +hold on Cheditafa and retired unnoticed. An instant afterward he entered +the Bon Marché. + +Cheditafa climbed up to the side of the driver, but he missed his +foothold several times, and came near falling to the ground. In all Paris +there was no footman on a carriage who looked less upright, less sedate, +and less respectable than this poor, frightened black man. + +Through the corridors and passageways of the vast establishment went +Banker. But he did not have to go far. He saw at a counter a little green +feather in the back of a bonnet. Quietly he approached that counter, and +no sooner had the attendant turned aside to get something that had been +asked for than Banker stepped close to the side of the lady, and leaning +forward, said in a very low but polite voice: + +"I am so glad to find the captain's wife. I have been looking for her." + +He was almost certain, from her appearance, that she was an American, and +so he spoke in English. + +Edna turned with a start. She saw beside her a man with his hat off, a +rough-looking man, but a polite one, and a man who looked like a sailor. + +"The captain!" she stammered. "Have you--do you bring me anything! +A letter?" + +"Yes, madam," said he. "I have a letter and a message for you." + +"Give them to me quickly!" said she, her face burning. + +"I cannot," he said. "I cannot give them to you here. I have much to say +to you, and much to tell you, and I was ordered to say it in private." + +Edna was astounded. Her heart sank. Captain Horn must be in trouble, else +why such secrecy? But she must know everything, and quickly. Where could +she meet the man? He divined her thought. + +"The Gardens of the Tuileries," said he. "Go there now, please. I will +meet you, no matter in what part of it you are." And so saying, he +slipped away unnoticed. + +When the salesman came to her, Edna did not remember what she had asked +to see, but whatever he brought she did not want, and going out, she had +her carriage called, and ordered her coachman to take her to the Gardens +of the Tuileries. She was so excited that she did not wait for Cheditafa +to get down, but opened the door herself, and stepped in quickly, even +before the porter of the establishment could attend to her. + +When she reached the Gardens, and Cheditafa opened the carriage door for +her, she thought he must have a fit of chills and fever. But she had no +time to consider this, and merely told him that she was going to walk in +the Gardens, and the carriage must wait. + +It was some time before Edna met the man with whom she had made this +appointment. He had seen her alight, and although he did not lose sight +of her, he kept away from her, and let her walk on until she was entirely +out of sight of the carriage. As soon as Edna perceived Banker, she +walked directly toward him. She had endeavored to calm herself, but he +could see that she was much agitated. + +"How in the devil's name," he thought to himself, "did Raminez ever come +to marry such a woman as this? She's fit for a queen. But they say he +used to be a great swell in Spain before he got into trouble, and I +expect he's put on his old airs again, and an American lady will marry +anybody that's a foreign swell. And how neatly she played into my hand! +She let me know right away that she wanted a letter, which means, of +course, that Raminez is not with her." + +"Give me the letter, if you please," said Edna. + +"Madam," said Banker, with a bow, "I told you I had a letter and a +message. I must deliver the message first." + +"Then be quick with it," said she. + +"I will," said Banker. "Our captain has had great success lately, you +know, but he is obliged to keep a little in the background for the +present, as you will see by your letter, and as it is a very particular +letter, indeed, he ordered me to bring it to you." + +Edna's heart sank. "What has happened?" said she. "Why--" + +"Oh, you will find all that in the letter," said Banker. "The captain has +written out everything, full and clear. He told me so himself. But I must +get through with my message. It is not from him. It is from me. As I just +said, he ordered me to bring you this letter, and it was a hard thing to +do, and a risky thing to do. But I undertook the job of giving it to you, +in private, without anybody's knowing you had received it." + +"What!" exclaimed Edna. "Nobody to know!" + +"Oh, that is all explained," said he, hurriedly. "I can't touch on that. +My affair is this: The captain sent me with the letter, and I have been +to a lot of trouble to get it to you. Now, he is not going to pay me for +all this,--if he thanks me, it will be more than I expect,--and I am +going to be perfectly open and honest with you, and say that as the +captain won't pay me, I expect you to do it; or, putting it in another +way, before I hand you the letter I brought you, I want you to make me a +handsome present." + +"You rascal!" exclaimed Edna. "How dare you impose on me in this way?" + +It humiliated and mortified her to think that the captain was obliged to +resort to such a messenger as this. But all sorts of men become sailors, +and although her pride revolted against the attempted imposition, the man +had a letter written to her by Captain Horn, and she must have it. + +"How much do you want?" said she. + +"I don't mind your calling me names," said Banker. "The captain has made +a grand stroke, you know, and everything about you is very fine, while I +haven't three francs to jingle together. I want one thousand dollars." + +"Five thousand francs!" exclaimed Edna. "Absurd! I have not that much +money with me. I haven't but a hundred francs, but that ought to +satisfy you." + +"Oh, no," said Banker, "not at all. But don't trouble yourself. You have +not the money, and I have not the letter. The letter is in my lodgings. I +was not fool enough to bring it with me, and have you call a policeman to +arrest me, and take it for nothing. But if you will be here in two hours, +with five thousand francs, and will promise me, upon your honor, that you +will bring no one with you, and will not call the police as soon as you +have the letter, I will be here with it." + +"Yes," said Edna, "I promise." + +She felt humbled and ashamed as she said it, but there was nothing +else to do. In spite of her feelings, in spite of the cost, she must +have the letter. + +"Very good," said Banker, and he departed. + +Banker had no lodgings in particular, but he went to a brasserie and +procured writing materials. He had some letters in his pocket,--old, +dirty letters which had been there for a long time,--and one of them was +from Raminez, which had been written when they were both in California, +and which Banker had kept because it contained an unguarded reference to +Raminez's family in Spain, and Banker had thought that the information +might some day be useful to him. He was a good penman, this +Rackbird,--he was clever in many ways,--and he could imitate handwriting +very well, and he set himself to work to address an envelope in the +handwriting of Raminez. + +For some time he debated within himself as to what title he should use in +addressing the lady. Should it be "Señora" or "Madame"? He inclined to +the first appellation, but afterwards thought that as the letter was to +go to her in France, and that as most likely she understood French, and +not Spanish, Raminez would probably address her in the former language, +and therefore he addressed the envelope to "Madame Raminez, by private +hand." As to the writing of a letter he did not trouble himself at all. +He simply folded up two sheets of paper and put them in the envelope, +sealing it tightly. Now he was prepared, and after waiting until the +proper time had arrived he proceeded to the Gardens. + +Edna drove to her hotel in great agitation. She was angry, she was +astounded, she was almost frightened. What could have happened to +Captain Horn? + +But two things encouraged and invigorated her: he was alive, and he had +written to her. That was everything, and she would banish all +speculations and fears until she had read his letter, and, until she had +read it, she must keep the matter a secret--she must not let anybody +imagine that she had heard anything, or was about to hear anything. By +good fortune, she had five thousand francs in hand, and, with these in +her pocket-book, she ordered her carriage half an hour before the time +appointed. + +When Cheditafa heard the order, he was beset by a new consternation. He +had been greatly troubled when his mistress had gone to the Gardens the +first time--not because there was anything strange in that, for any lady +might like to walk in such a beautiful place, but because she was alone, +and, with a Rackbird in Paris, his lady ought never to be alone. She had +come out safely, and he had breathed again, and now, now she wanted to go +back! He must tell her about that Rackbird man. He had been thinking and +thinking about telling her all the way back to the hotel, but he had +feared to frighten her, and he had also been afraid to say that he had +done what he had been ordered not to do, and had told some one that she +was the captain's wife. But when he had reached the Gardens, he felt that +he must say something--she must not walk about alone. Accordingly, as +Edna stepped out of the carriage, he began to speak to her, but, contrary +to her usual custom, she paid no attention to him, simply telling him to +wait until she came back. + +Edna was obliged to wander about for some time before Banker appeared. + +"Now, then, madam," said he, "don't let us waste any time on this +business. Have you the money with you?" + +"I have," said she. "But before I give it to you, I tell you that I do so +under protest, and that this conduct of yours shall be reported. I +consider it a most shameful thing, and I do not willingly pay you for +what, no doubt, you have been sufficiently paid before." + +"That's all very well," said Banker. "I don't mind a bit what you say to +me. I don't mind your being angry--in fact, I think you ought to be. In +your place, I would be angry. But if you will hand me the money--" + +"Silence!" exclaimed Edna. "Not another word. Where is my letter?" + +"Here it is," said Banker, drawing the letter he had prepared from his +pocket, and holding it in such a position that she could read the +address. "You see, it is marked, 'by private hand,' and this is the +private hand that has brought it to you. Now, if you will count out the +money, and will hand it to me, I will give you the letter. That is +perfectly fair, isn't it?" + +Edna leaned forward and looked at it. When she saw the superscription, +she was astonished, and stepped back. + +"What do you mean?" she exclaimed, and was about to angrily assert that +she was not Madame Raminez, when Banker interrupted her. The sight of her +pocket-book within two feet of his hands threw him into a state of +avaricious excitement. + +"I want you to give me that money, and take your letter!" he said +savagely. "I can't stand here fooling." + +[Illustration: "I want you to give me that money, and take your letter!" +he said savagely.] + +Edna firmly gripped her pocket-book, and was about to scream, but there +was no occasion for it. It had been simply impossible for Cheditafa to +remain on the carriage and let her go into the Gardens alone; he had +followed her, and, behind some bushes, he had witnessed the interview +between her and Banker. He saw that the man was speaking roughly to her +and threatening her. Instantly he rushed toward the two, and at the very +top of his voice he yelled: + +"Rackbird! Rackbird! Police!" + +Startled out of her senses, Edna stepped back, while Banker turned in +fury toward the negro, and clapped his hand to his hip pocket. But +Cheditafa's cries had been heard, and down the broad avenue Banker saw +two gendarmes running toward him. It would not do to wait here and +meet them. + +"You devil!" he cried, turning to Cheditafa, "I'll have your blood before +you know it. As for you, madam, you have broken your word! I'll be even +with you!" And, with this, he dashed away. + +When the gendarmes reached the spot, they waited to ask no questions, but +immediately pursued the flying Banker. Cheditafa was about to join in the +chase, but Edna stopped him. + +"Come to the carriage--quick!" she said. "I do not wish to stay here and +talk to those policemen." Hurrying out of the Gardens, she drove away. + +The ex-Rackbird was a very hard man to catch. He had had so much +experience in avoiding arrest that his skill in that direction was +generally more than equal to the skill, in the opposite direction, of the +ordinary detective. A good many people and two other gendarmes joined in +the chase after the man in the slouch-hat, who had disappeared like a +mouse or a hare around some shrubbery. It was not long before the +pursuers were joined by a man in a white cap, who asked several questions +as to what they were running after, but he did not seem to take a +sustained interest in the matter, and soon dropped out and went about his +business. He did not take his slouch-hat out of his pocket, for he +thought it would be better to continue to wear his white cap for a time. + +When the police were obliged to give up the pursuit, they went back to +the Gardens to talk to the lady and her servant who, in such strange +words, had called to them, but they were not there. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +MENTAL TURMOILS + + +Edna went home faint, trembling, and her head in a whirl. When she had +heard Cheditafa shout "Rackbird," the thought flashed into her mind that +the captain had been captured in the caves by some of these brigands who +had not been destroyed, that this was the cause of his silence, and that +he had written to her for help. But she considered that the letter could +not be meant for her, for under no circumstance would he have written to +her as Madame Raminez--a name of which she had never heard. This thought +gave her a little comfort, but not much. As soon as she reached the +hotel, she had a private talk with Cheditafa, and what the negro told her +reassured her greatly. + +He did not make a very consecutive tale, but he omitted nothing. He told +her of his meeting with the Rackbird in front of the Bon Marché, and he +related every word of their short conversation. He accounted for this +Rackbird's existence by saying that he had not been at the camp when the +water came down. In answer to a question from Edna, he said that the +captain of the band was named Raminez, and that he had known him by that +name when he first saw him in Panama, though in the Rackbirds' camp he +was called nothing but "the captain." + +"And you only told him I was the captain's wife?" asked Edna. "You didn't +say I was Captain Horn's wife?" + +Cheditafa tried his best to recollect, and he felt very sure that he had +simply said she was the captain's wife. + +When his examination was finished, Cheditafa burst into an earnest +appeal to his mistress not to go out again alone while she stayed in +Paris. He said that this Rackbird was an awfully wicked man, and that he +would kill all of them if he could. If the police caught him, he wanted +to go and tell them what a bad man he was. He did not believe the police +had caught him. This man could run like a wild hare, and policemen's +legs were so stiff. + +Edna assured him that she would take good care of herself, and, after +enjoining upon him not to say a word to any one of what had happened +until she told him to, she sent him away. + +When Edna sat in council with herself upon the events of the morning, she +was able to make some very fair conjectures as to what had happened. The +scoundrel she met had supposed her to be the wife of the Rackbirds' +captain. Having seen and recognized Cheditafa, it was natural enough for +him to suppose that the negro had been brought to Paris by some of the +band. All this seemed to be good reasoning, and she insisted to herself +over and over again that she was quite sure that Captain Horn had nothing +to do with the letter which the man had been intending to give her. + +That assurance relieved her of one great trouble, but there were others +left. Here was a member of a band of bloody ruffians,--and perhaps he had +companions,--who had sworn vengeance against her and her faithful +servant, and Cheditafa's account of this man convinced her that he would +be ready enough to carry out such vengeance. She scarcely believed that +the police had caught him. For she had seen how he could run, and he had +the start of them. But even if they had, on what charge would he be held? +He ought to be confined or deported, but she did not wish to institute +proceedings and give evidence. She did not know what might be asked, or +said, or done, if she deposed that the man was a member of the Rackbird +band, and brought Cheditafa as a witness. + +In all this trouble and perplexity she had no one to whom she could turn +for advice and assistance. If she told Mrs. Cliff there was a Rackbird in +Paris, and that he had been making threats, she was sure that good lady +would fly to her home in Plainton, Maine, where she would have iron bars +put to all the windows, and double locks to her doors. + +In this great anxiety and terror--for, although Edna was a brave woman, +it terrified her to think that a wild and reckless villain, purple with +rage, had shaken his fist at her, and vowed he would kill Cheditafa--she +could not think of a soul she could trust. + +Her brother, fortunately, was still in Belgium with his +tutor--fortunately, she thought, because, if he knew of the affair, he +would be certain to plunge himself into danger. And to whom could she +apply for help without telling too much of her story? + +Mrs. Cliff felt there was something in the air. "You seem queer," said +she. "You seem unusually excited and ready to laugh. It isn't natural. +And Cheditafa looks very ashy. I saw him just a moment ago, and it seems +to me a dose of quinine would do him good. It may be that it is a sort of +spring fever which is affecting people, and I am not sure but that +something of the kind is the matter with me. At any rate, there is that +feeling in my spine and bones which I always have when things are about +to happen, or when there is malaria in the air." + +Edna felt she must endeavor in all possible ways to prevent Mrs. Cliff +from finding out that the curses of a wicked Rackbird were in the air, +but she herself shuddered when she thought that one or more of the cruel +desperadoes, whose coming they had dreaded and waited for through that +fearful night in the caves of Peru, were now to be dreaded and feared in +the metropolis of France. If Edna shuddered at this, what would Mrs. +Cliff do if she knew it? + +As for the man with the white cap, who had walked slowly away about his +business that morning when he grew tired of following the gendarmes, he +was in a terrible state of mind. He silently raged and stormed and +gnashed his teeth, and swore under his breath most awfully and +continuously. Never had he known such cursed luck. One thousand dollars +had been within two feet of his hand! He knew that the lady had that sum +in her pocket-book. He was sure she spoke truthfully. Her very +denunciation of him was a proof that she had not meant to deceive him. +She hesitated a moment, but she would have given him the money. In a few +seconds more he would have made her take the letter and give him the +price she promised. But in those few seconds that Gehenna-born baboon +had rushed in and spoiled everything. He was not enraged against the +lady, but he was enraged against himself because he had not snatched the +wallet before he ran, and he was infuriated to a degree which resembled +intoxication when he thought of Cheditafa and what he had done. The more +he thought, the more convinced he became that the lady had not brought +the negro with her to spy on him. If she had intended to break her word, +she would have brought a gendarme, not that ape. + +No, the beastly blackamoor had done the business on his own account. He +had sneaked after the lady, and when he saw the gendarmes coming, he had +thought it a good chance to pay off old scores. + +"Pay off!" growled Banker, in a tone which made a shop-girl, who was +walking in front of him carrying a band-box, jump so violently that she +dropped the box. "Pay off! I'll pay him!" And for a quarter of a mile he +vowed that the present purpose of his life was the annihilation, the +bloody annihilation, of that vile dog, whom he had trampled into the dirt +of the Pacific coast, and who now, decked in fine clothes, had arisen in +Paris to balk him of his fortune. + +It cut Banker very deeply when he thought how neat and simple had been +the plan which had almost succeeded. He had had a notion, when he went +away to prepare the letter for the captain's wife, that he would write in +it a brief message which would mean nothing, but would make it necessary +for her to see him again and to pay him again. But he had abandoned this. +He might counterfeit an address, but it was wiser not to try his hand +upon a letter. The more he thought about Raminez, the less he desired to +run the risk of meeting him, even in Paris. So he considered that if he +made this one bold stroke and got five thousand francs, he would retire, +joyful and satisfied. But now! Well, he had a purpose: the annihilation +of Cheditafa was at present his chief object in life. + +Banker seldom stayed in one place more than a day at a time, and before +he went to a new lodging, that night, he threw away his slouch-hat, which +he had rammed into his pocket, for he would not want it again. He had his +hair cut short and his face neatly shaved, and when he went to his room, +he trimmed his mustache in such a way that it greatly altered the cast of +his countenance. He was not the penniless man he had represented himself +to be, who had not three francs to jingle together, for he was a billiard +sharper and gambler of much ability, and when he appeared in the street, +the next morning, he was neatly dressed in a suit of second-hand clothes +which were as quiet and respectable as any tourist of limited means could +have desired. With Baedeker's "Paris" in his hand, and with a long knife +and a slung-shot concealed in his clothes, he went forth to behold the +wonders of the great city. + +He did not seem to care very much whether he saw the sights by day or by +night, for from early morning until ten or eleven o'clock in the evening, +he was an energetic and interested wayfarer, confining his observations, +however, to certain quarters of the city which best suited his +investigations. One night he gawkily strolled into the Black Cat, and one +day he boldly entered the Hotel Grenade and made some inquiries of the +porter regarding the price of accommodations, which, however, he +declared were far above his means. That day he saw Mok in the courtyard, +and once, in passing, he saw Edna come out and enter her carriage with an +elderly lady, and they drove away, with Cheditafa on the box. + +Under his dark sack-coat Banker wore a coarse blouse, and in the pocket +of this undergarment he had a white cap. He was a wonderful man to move +quietly out of people's way, and there were places in every neighborhood +where, even in the daytime, he could cast off the dark coat and the derby +hat without attracting attention. + +It was satisfactory to think, as he briskly passed on, as one who has +much to see in a little time, that the incident in the Tuileries Gardens +had not yet caused the captain's wife to change her quarters. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +A PROBLEM + + +It was a little more than a week after Edna's adventure in the Gardens, +and about ten o'clock in the morning, that something happened--something +which proved that Mrs. Cliff was entirely right when she talked about the +feeling in her bones. Edna received a letter from Captain Horn, which was +dated at Marseilles. + +As she stood with the letter in her hand, every nerve tingling, every +vein throbbing, and every muscle as rigid as if it had been cast in +metal, she could scarcely comprehend that it had really come--that she +really held it. After all this waiting and hoping and trusting, here was +news from Captain Horn--news by his own hand, now, here, this minute! + +Presently she regained possession of herself, and, still standing, she +tore open the letter. It was a long one of several sheets, and she read +it twice. The first time, standing where she had received it, she skimmed +over page after page, running her eye from top to bottom until she had +reached the end and the signature, but her quick glance found not what +she looked for. Then the hand holding the letter dropped by her side. +After all this waiting and hoping and trusting, to receive such a +letter! It might have been written by a good friend, a true and generous +friend, but that was all. It was like the other letters he had written. +Why should they not have been written to Mrs. Cliff? + +Now she sat down to read it over again. She first looked at the envelope. +Yes, it was really directed to "Mrs. Philip Horn." That was something, +but it could not have been less. It had been brought by a messenger from +Wraxton, Fuguet & Co., and had been delivered to Mrs. Cliff. That lady +had told the messenger to take the letter to Edna's salon, and she was +now lying in her own chamber, in a state of actual ague. Of course, she +would not intrude upon Edna at such a moment as this. She would wait +until she was called. Whether her shivers were those of ecstasy, +apprehension, or that nervous tremulousness which would come to any one +who beholds an uprising from the grave, she did not know, but she surely +felt as if there were a ghost in the air. + +The second reading of the letter was careful and exact. The captain had +written a long account of what had happened after he had left Valparaiso. +His former letter, he wrote, had told her what had happened before that +time. He condensed everything as much as possible, but the letter was a +very long one. It told wonderful things--things which ought to have +interested any one. But to Edna it was as dry as a meal of stale crusts. +It supported her in her fidelity and allegiance as such a meal would have +supported a half-famished man, but that was all. Her soul could not live +on such nutriment as this. + +He had not begun the letter "My dear Wife," as he had done before. It +was not necessary now that his letters should be used as proof that she +was his widow! He had plunged instantly into the subject-matter, and had +signed it after the most friendly fashion. He was not even coming to her! +There was so much to do which must be done immediately, and could not be +done without him. He had telegraphed to his bankers, and one of the firm +and several clerks were already with him. There were great difficulties +yet before him, in which he needed the aid of financial counsellors and +those who had influence with the authorities. His vessel, the _Arato_, +had no papers, and he believed no cargo of such value had ever entered a +port of France as that contained in the little green-hulled schooner +which he had sailed into the harbor of Marseilles. This cargo must be +landed openly. It must be shipped to various financial centres, and what +was to be done required so much prudence, knowledge, and discretion that +without the aid of the house of Wraxton, Fuguet & Co., he believed his +difficulties would have been greater than when he stood behind the wall +of gold on the shore of the Patagonian island. + +He did not even ask her to come to him. In a day or so, he wrote, it +might be necessary for him to go to Berlin, and whether or not he would +travel to London from the German capital, he could not say, and for this +reason he could not invite any of them to come down to him. + +"Any of us!" exclaimed Edna. + +For more than an hour Mrs. Cliff lay in the state of palpitation which +pervaded her whole organization, waiting for Edna to call her. And at +last she could wait no longer, and rushed into the salon where Edna sat +alone, the letter in her hand. + +"What does he say?" she cried, "Is he well? Where is he? Did he get +the gold?" + +Edna looked at her for a moment without answering. "Yes," she said +presently, "he is well. He is in Marseilles. The gold--" And for a moment +she did not remember whether or not the captain had it. + +"Oh, do say something!" almost screamed Mrs. Cliff. "What is it? Shall I +read the letter? What does he say?" + +This recalled Edna to herself. "No," said she, "I will read it to you." +And she read it aloud, from beginning to end, carefully omitting those +passages which Mrs. Cliff would have been sure to think should have been +written in a manner in which they were not written. + +"Well!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, who, in alternate horror, pity, and +rapture, had listened, pale and open-mouthed, to the letter. "Captain +Horn is consistent to the end! Whatever happens, he keeps away from us! +But that will not be for long, and--oh, Edna!"--and, as she spoke, she +sprang from her chair and threw her arms around the neck of her +companion, "he's got the gold!" And, with this, the poor lady sank +insensible upon the floor. + +"The gold!" exclaimed Edna, before she even stooped toward her fainting +friend. "Of what importance is that wretched gold!" + +An hour afterwards Mrs. Cliff, having been restored to her usual +condition, came again into Edna's room, still pale and in a state of +excitement. + +"Now, I suppose," she exclaimed, "we can speak out plainly, and tell +everybody everything. And I believe that will be to me a greater delight +than any amount of money could possibly be." + +"Speak out!" cried Edna, "of course we cannot. We have no more right to +speak out now than we ever had. Captain Horn insisted that we should not +speak of these affairs until he came, and he has not yet come." + +"No, indeed!" said Mrs. Cliff, "that seems to be the one thing he cannot +do. He can do everything but come here. And are we to tell nobody that he +has arrived in France?--not even that much?" + +"I shall tell Ralph," replied Edna. "I shall write to him to come here as +soon as possible, but that is all until the captain arrives, and we know +everything that has been done, and is to be done. I don't wish any one, +except you and me and Ralph, even to know that I have heard from him." + +"Not Cheditafa? Not the professor? Nor any of your friends?" + +"Of course not," said Edna, a little impatiently. "Don't you see how +embarrassing, how impossible it would be for me to tell them anything, if +I did not tell them everything? And what is there for me to tell them? +When we have seen Captain Horn, we shall all know who we are, and what we +are, and then we can speak out to the world, and I am sure I shall be +glad enough to do it." + +"For my part," said Mrs. Cliff, "I think we all know who we are now. I +don't think anybody could tell us. And I think it would have been a great +deal better--" + +"No, it wouldn't!" exclaimed Edna. "Whatever you were going to say, I +know it wouldn't have been better. We could have done nothing but what we +have done. We had no right to speak of Captain Horn's affairs, and having +accepted his conditions, with everything else that he has given us, we +are bound to observe them until he removes them. So we shall not talk any +more about that." + +Poor Mrs. Cliff sighed. "So I must keep myself sealed and locked up, just +the same as ever?" + +"Yes," replied Edna, "the same as ever. But it cannot be for long. As +soon as the captain has made his arrangements, we shall hear from him, +and then everything will be told." + +"Made his arrangements!" repeated Mrs. Cliff. "That's another thing I +don't like. It seems to me that if everything were just as it ought to +be, there wouldn't be so many arrangements to make, and he wouldn't have +to be travelling to Berlin, and to London, and nobody knows where else. I +wonder if people are giving him any trouble about it! We have had all +sorts of troubles already, and now that the blessed end seems almost +under our fingers, I hope we are not going to have more of it." + +"Our troubles," said Edna, "are nothing. It is Captain Horn who +should talk in that way. I don't think that, since the day we left +San Francisco, anybody could have supposed that we were in any sort +of trouble." + +"I don't mean outside circumstances," said Mrs. Cliff. "But I suppose we +have all got souls and consciences inside of us, and when they don't know +what to do, of course we are bound to be troubled, especially as they +don't know what to tell us, and we don't know whether or not to mind +them when they do speak. But you needn't be afraid of me. I shall keep +quiet--that is, as long as I can. I can't promise forever." + +Edna wrote to Ralph, telling him of the captain's letter, and urging him +to come to Paris as soon as possible. It was scarcely necessary to speak +to him of secrecy, for the boy was wise beyond his years. She did speak +of it, however, but very circumspectly. She knew that her brother would +never admit that there was any reason for the soul-rending anxiety with +which she waited the captain's return. But whatever happened, or whatever +he might think about what should happen, she wanted Ralph with her. She +felt herself more truly alone than she had ever been in her life. + +During the two days which elapsed before Ralph reached Paris from +Brussels, Edna had plenty of time to think, and she did not lose any of +it. What Mrs. Cliff had said about people giving trouble, and about her +conscience, and all that, had touched her deeply. What Captain Horn had +said about the difficulties he had encountered on reaching Marseilles, +and what he had said about the cargo of the _Arato_ being probably more +valuable than any which had ever entered that port, seemed to put an +entirely new face upon the relations between her and the owner of this +vast wealth, if, indeed, he were able to establish that ownership. The +more she thought of this point, the more contemptible appeared her own +position--that is, the position she had assumed when she and the captain +stood together for the last time on the shore of Peru. If that gold truly +belonged to him, if he had really succeeded in his great enterprise, +what right had she to insist that he should accept her as a condition of +his safe arrival in a civilized land with this matchless prize, with no +other right than was given her by that very indefinite contract which had +been entered into, as she felt herself forced to believe, only for her +benefit in case he should not reach a civilized land alive? + +The disposition of this great wealth was evidently an anxiety and a +burden, but in her heart she believed that the greatest of his anxieties +was caused by his doubt in regard to the construction she might now place +upon that vague, weird ceremony on the desert coast of Peru. + +The existence of such a doubt was the only thing that could explain the +tone of his letters. He was a man of firmness and decision, and when he +had reached a conclusion, she knew he would state it frankly, without +hesitation. But she also knew that he was a man of a kind and tender +heart, and it was easy to understand how that disposition had influenced +his action. By no word or phrase, except such as were necessary to +legally protect her in the rights he wished to give her in case of his +death, had he written anything to indicate that he or she were not both +perfectly free to plan out the rest of their lives as best suited them. + +In a certain way, his kindness was cruelty. It threw too much upon her. +She believed that if she were to assume that a marriage ceremony +performed by a black man from the wilds of Africa, was as binding, at +least, as a solemn engagement, he would accept her construction and all +its consequences. She also believed that if she declared that ceremony +to be of no value whatever, now that the occasion had passed, he would +agree with that conclusion. Everything depended upon her. It was too +hard for her. + +To exist in this state of uncertainty was impossible for a woman of +Edna's organization. At any hour Captain Horn might appear. How should +she receive him? What had she to say to him? + +For the rest of that day and the whole of the night, her mind never left +this question: "What am I to say to him?" She had replied to his letter +by a telegram, and simply signed herself "Edna." It was easy enough to +telegraph anywhere, and even to write, without assuming any particular +position in regard to him. But when he came, she must know what to do and +what to say. She longed for Ralph's coming, but she knew he could not +help her. He would say but one thing--that which he had always said. In +fact, he would be no better than Mrs. Cliff. But he was her own flesh and +blood, and she longed for him. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +A MAN-CHIMPANZEE + + +Since the affair with the Rackbird, Cheditafa had done his duty more +earnestly than ever before. He said nothing to Mok about the Rackbird. He +had come to look upon his fellow-African as a very low creature, not much +better than a chimpanzee. During Ralph's absence Mok had fallen into all +sorts of irregular habits, going out without leave whenever he got a +chance, and disporting himself generally in a very careless and +unservant-like manner. + +On the evening that Ralph was expected from Brussels, Mok was missing. +Cheditafa could not find him in any of the places where he ought to +have been, so he must be out of doors somewhere, and Cheditafa went to +look for him. + +This was the first time that Cheditafa had gone into the streets alone at +night since the Rackbird incident in the Tuileries Gardens. As he was the +custodian of Mok, and responsible for him, he did not wish to lose sight +of him, especially on this evening. + +It so happened that when Cheditafa went out of the hotel, his +appearance was noticed by Mr. Banker. There was nothing remarkable +about this, for the evening was the time when the ex-Rackbird gave +the most attention to the people who came out of the hotel. When he +saw Cheditafa, his soul warmed within him. Here was the reward of +patience and steadfastness--everything comes to those who wait. + +A half-hour before, Banker had seen Mok leave the hotel and make his way +toward the Black Cat. He did not molest the rapidly walking negro. He +would not have disturbed him for anything. But his watchfulness became so +eager and intense that he almost, but not quite, exposed himself to the +suspicion of a passing gendarme. He now expected Cheditafa, for the +reason that the manner of the younger negro indicated that he was playing +truant. It was likely that the elder man would go after him, and this was +exactly what happened. + +Banker allowed the old African to go his way without molestation, for the +brightly lighted neighborhood of the hotel was not adapted to his +projected performance. But he followed him warily, and, when they reached +a quiet street, Banker quickened his pace, passed Cheditafa, and, +suddenly turning, confronted him. Then, without a word having been said, +there flashed upon the mind of the African everything that had happened, +not only in the Tuileries Gardens, but in the Rackbirds' camp, and at the +same time a prophetic feeling of what was about to happen. + +By a few quick pulls and jerks, Banker had so far removed his disguise +that Cheditafa knew him the instant that his eyes fell upon him. His +knees trembled, his eyeballs rolled so that nothing but their whites +could be seen, and he gave himself up to death. Then spoke out the +terrible Rackbird. + +What he said need not be recorded here, but every word of superheated +vengeance, with which he wished to torture the soul of his victim before +striking him to the earth, went straight to the soul of Cheditafa, as if +it had been a white-hot iron. His chin fell upon his breast. He had but +one hope, and that was that he would be killed quickly. He had seen +people killed in the horrible old camp, and the man before him he +believed to be the worst Rackbird of them all. + +When Banker had finished stabbing and torturing the soul of the +African, he drew a knife from under his coat, and down fell Cheditafa +on his knees. + +The evening was rainy and dark, and the little street was nearly +deserted. Banker, who could look behind and before him without making +much show of turning his head, had made himself sure of this before he +stepped in front of Cheditafa. But while he had been pouring out his +torrent of heart-shrivelling vituperation, he had ceased to look before +and behind him, and had not noticed a man coming down the street in the +opposite direction to that in which they had been going. + +This was Mok, who was much less of a fool than Cheditafa took him for. He +had calculated that he would have time to go to the Black Cat and drink +two glasses of beer before Ralph was likely to appear, and he also made +up his mind that two glasses were as much as he could dispose of without +exciting the suspicions of the young man. Therefore, he had attended to +the business that had taken him out of doors on that rainy night, and was +returning to the hotel with a lofty consciousness of having done wrong in +a very wise and satisfactory manner. + +He wore india-rubber overshoes, because the pavements were wet, and also +because this sort of foot-gear suited him better than hard, unyielding +sole-leather. Had he had his own way, he would have gone bare-footed, but +that would have created comment in the streets of Paris--he had sense +enough to know that. + +When he first perceived, by the dim light of a street lamp, two persons +standing together on his side of the street, his conscience, without any +reason for it, suggested that he cross over and pass by without +attracting attention. To wrong-doers attention is generally unwelcome. + +Mok not only trod with the softness and swiftness of a panther, but he +had eyes like that animal, and if there were any light at all, those +eyes could make good use of it. As he neared the two men, he saw that +one was scolding the other. Then he saw the other man drop down on his +knees. Then, being still nearer, he perceived that the man on his knees +was Cheditafa. Then he saw the man in front of him draw a knife from +under his coat. + +As a rule, Mok was a coward, but two glasses of beer were enough to turn +his nature in precisely the opposite direction. A glass less would have +left him timorous, a glass more would have made him foolhardy and silly. +He saw that somebody was about to stab his old friend. In five long, +noiseless steps, or leaps, he was behind that somebody, and had seized +the arm which held the knife. + +With a movement as quick as the stroke of a rattlesnake, Banker turned +upon the man who had clutched his arm, and when he saw that it was Mok, +his fury grew tornado-like. With a great oath, and a powerful plunge +backward, he endeavored to free his arm from the grasp of the negro. But +he did not do it. Those black fingers were fastened around his wrist as +though they had been fetters forged to fit him. And in the desperate +struggle the knife was dropped. + +In a hand-to-hand combat with a chimpanzee, a strong man would have but +little chance of success, and Mok, under the influence of two glasses of +beer, was a man-chimpanzee. When Banker swore, and when he turned so that +the light of the street lamp fell upon his face, Mok recognized him. He +knew him for a Rackbird of the Rackbirds--as the cruel, black-eyed savage +who had beaten him, trodden upon him, and almost crushed the soul out of +him, in that far-away camp by the sea. How this man should have suddenly +appeared in Paris, why he came there, and what he was going to do, +whether he was alone, or with his band concealed in the neighboring +doorways, Mok did not trouble his mind to consider. He held in his brazen +grip a creature whom he considered worse than the most devilish of +African devils, a villain who had been going to kill Cheditafa. + +Every nerve under his black skin, every muscle that covered his bones, +and the two glasses of beer, sung out to him that the Rackbird could not +get away from him, and that the great hour of vengeance had arrived. + +Banker had a pistol, but he had no chance to draw it. The arms of the +wild man were around him. His feet slipped from under him, and instantly +the two were rolling on the wet pavement. But only for an instant. Banker +was quick and light and strong to such a degree that no man but a +man-chimpanzee could have overpowered him in a struggle like that. Both +were on their feet almost as quickly as they went down, but do what he +would, Banker could not get out his pistol. + +Those long black arms, one of them now bared to the shoulder, were about +him ever. He pulled, and tugged, and swerved. He half threw him one +instant, half lifted the next, but never could loosen the grasp of that +fierce creature, whose whole body seemed as tough and elastic as the +shoes he wore. + +Together they fell, together they rolled in the dirty slime, together +they rose as if they had been shot up by a spring, and together they went +down again, rolling over each other, pulling, tearing, striking, gasping, +and panting. + +Cheditafa had gone. The moment of Mok's appearance, he had risen and +fled. There were now people in the street. Some had come out of their +houses, hearing the noise of the struggle, for Banker wore heavy shoes. +There were also one or two pedestrians who had stopped, unwilling to pass +men who were engaged in such a desperate conflict. + +No one interfered. It would have seemed as prudent to step between two +tigers. Such a bounding, whirling, tumbling, rolling, falling, and rising +contest had never been seen in that street, except between cats. It +seemed that the creatures would dash themselves through the windows of +the houses. + +It was not long before Cheditafa came back with two policemen, all +running, and then the men who lay in the street, spinning about as if +moving on pivots, were seized and pulled apart. At first the officers +of the law appeared at a loss to know what had happened, and who had +been attacked. What was this black creature from the Jardin des +Plantes? But Banker's coat had been torn from his back, and his pistol +stood out in bold relief in his belt, and Cheditafa pointed to the +breathless bandit, and screamed: "Bad man! Bad man! Try to kill me! +This good Mok save my life!" + +Two more policemen now came hurrying up, for other people had given the +alarm, and it was not considered necessary to debate the question as to +who was the aggressor in this desperate affair. Cheditafa, Mok, and +Banker were all taken to the police station. + +As Cheditafa was known to be in the service of the American lady at the +Hotel Grenade, the _portier_ of that establishment was sent for, and +having given his testimony to the good character of the two negroes, they +were released upon his becoming surety for their appearance when wanted. + +As for Banker, there was no one to go security. He was committed +for trial. + + * * * * * + +When Ralph went to his room, that night, he immediately rang for his +valet. Mok, who had reached the hotel from the police station but a few +minutes before, answered the summons. When Ralph turned about and beheld +the black man, his hair plastered with mud, his face plastered with mud, +and what clothes he had on muddy, torn, and awry, with one foot wearing a +great overshoe and the other bare, with both black arms entirely denuded +of sleeves, with eyes staring from his head, and his whole form quivering +and shaking, the young man started as if some afrit of the "Arabian +Nights" had come at this dark hour to answer his call. + +To the eager questions which poured upon him when his identity became +apparent, Mok could make no intelligible answer. He did not possess +English enough for that. But Cheditafa was quickly summoned, and he +explained everything. He explained it once, twice, three times, and then +he and Mok were sent away, and told to go to bed, and under no +circumstances to mention to their mistress what had happened, or to +anybody who might mention it to her. And this Cheditafa solemnly +promised for both. + +The clock struck one as Ralph still sat in his chair, wondering what +all this meant, and what might be expected to happen next. To hear +that a real, live Rackbird was in Paris, that this outlaw had +threatened his sister, that the police had been watching for him, that +he had sworn to kill Cheditafa, and that night had tried to do it, +amazed him beyond measure. + +At last he gave up trying to conjecture what it meant. It was foolish to +waste his thoughts in that way. To-morrow he must find out. He could +understand very well why his sister had kept him in ignorance of the +affair in the Gardens. She had feared danger to him. She knew that he +would be after that scoundrel more hotly than any policeman. But what the +poor girl must have suffered! It was terrible to think of. + +The first thing he would do would be to take very good care that she +heard nothing of the attack on Cheditafa. He would go to the police +office early the next morning and look into this matter. He did not +think that it would be necessary for Edna to know anything about +it, except that the Rackbird had been arrested and she need no +longer fear him. + +When Ralph reached the police station, the next day, he found there the +portier of the hotel, together with Cheditafa and Mok. + +After Banker's examination, to which he gave no assistance by admissions +of any sort, he was remanded for trial, and he was held merely for his +affair with the negroes, no charge having been made against him for his +attempt to obtain money from their mistress, or his threats in her +direction. As the crime for which he had been arrested gave reason +enough for condign punishment of the desperado, Ralph saw, and made +Cheditafa see, it would be unnecessary as well as unpleasant to drag +Edna into the affair. + +That afternoon Mr. Banker, who had recovered his breath and had collected +his ideas, sent for the police magistrate and made a confession. He said +he had been a member of a band of outlaws, but having grown disgusted +with their evil deeds, had left them. He had become very poor, and having +heard that the leader of the band had made a fortune by a successful +piece of rascality, and had married a fine lady, and was then in Paris, +he had come to this city to meet him, and to demand in the name of their +old comradeship some assistance in his need. He had found his captain's +wife. She had basely deceived him after having promised to help him, and +he had been insulted and vilely treated by that old negro, who was once a +slave in the Rackbirds' camp in Peru, and who had been brought here with +the other negro by the captain. He also freely admitted that he had +intended to punish the black fellow, though he had no idea whatever of +killing him. If he had had such an idea, it would have been easy enough +for him to put his knife into him when he met him in that quiet street. +But he had not done so, but had contented himself with telling him what +he thought of him, and with afterwards frightening him with his knife. +And then the other fellow had come up, and there had been a fight. +Therefore, although he admitted that his case was a great misdemeanor, +and that he had been very disorderly, he boldly asserted that he had +contemplated no murder. But what he wished particularly to say to the +magistrate was that the captain of the Rackbirds would probably soon +arrive in Paris, and that he ought to be arrested. No end of important +results might come from such an arrest. He was quite sure that the great +stroke of fortune which had enabled the captain's family to live in Paris +in such fine style ought to be investigated. The captain had never made +any money by simple and straightforward methods of business. + +All this voluntary testimony was carefully taken down, and although the +magistrate did not consider it necessary to believe any of it, the +arrival of Captain Horn was thenceforth awaited with interest by the +police of Paris. + +It was not very plain how Miss Markham of the Hotel Grenade, who was well +known as a friend of a member of the American legation, could be the wife +of a South American bandit. But then, there might be reasons why she +wished to retain her maiden name for the present, and she might not know +her husband as a bandit. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +ENTER CAPTAIN HORN + + +It was less than a week after the tumbling match in the street between +Banker and Mok, and about eleven o'clock in the morning, when a brief +note, written on a slip of paper and accompanied by a card, was brought +to Edna from Mrs. Cliff. On the card was written the name of Captain +Philip Horn, and the note read thus: + +"He is here. He sent his card to me. Of course, you +will see him. Oh, Edna! don't do anything foolish when +you see him! Don't go and throw away everything +worth living for in this world! Heaven help you!" + +This note was hurriedly written, but Edna read it at a glance. + +"Bring the gentleman here," she said to the man. + +Now, with all her heart, Edna blessed herself and thanked herself that, +at last, she had been strong enough and brave enough to determine what +she ought to do when she met the captain. That very morning, lying awake +in her bed, she had determined that she would meet him in the same spirit +as that in which he had written to her. She would be very strong. She +would not assume anything. She would not accept the responsibility of +deciding the situation, which responsibility she believed he thought it +right she should assume. She would not have it. If he appeared before her +as the Captain Horn of his letters, he should go away as the man who had +written those letters. If he had come here on business, she would show +him that she was a woman of business. + +As she stood waiting, with her eyes upon his card, which lay upon the +table, and Mrs. Cliffs note crumpled up in one hand, she saw the captain +for some minutes before it was possible for him to reach her. She saw him +on board the _Castor_, a tall, broad-shouldered sailor, with his hands in +the pockets of his pea-jacket. She saw him by the caves in Peru, his +flannel shirt and his belted trousers faded by the sun and water, torn +and worn, and stained by the soil on which they so often sat, with his +long hair and beard, and the battered felt hat, which was the last thing +she saw as his boat faded away in the distance, when she stood watching +it from the sandy beach. She saw him as she had imagined him after she +had received his letter, toiling barefooted along the sands, carrying +heavy loads upon his shoulders, living alone night and day on a dreary +desert coast, weary, perhaps haggard, but still indomitable. She saw him +in storm, in shipwreck, in battle, and as she looked upon him thus with +the eyes of her brain, there were footsteps outside her door. + +As Captain Horn came through the long corridors and up the stairs, +following the attendant, he saw the woman he was about to meet, and saw +her before he met her. He saw her only in one aspect--that of a tall, too +thin, young woman, clad in a dark-blue flannel suit, unshapely, +streaked, and stained, her hair bound tightly round her head and covered +by an old straw hat with a faded ribbon. This picture of her as he had +left her standing on the beach, at the close of that afternoon when his +little boat pulled out into the Pacific, was as clear and distinct as +when he had last seen it. + +A door was opened before him, and he entered Edna's salon. For a moment +he stopped in the doorway. He did not see the woman he had come to meet. +He saw before him a lady handsomely and richly dressed in a Parisian +morning costume--a lady with waving masses of dark hair above a lovely +face, a lady with a beautiful white hand, which was half raised as he +appeared in the doorway. + +She stood with her hand half raised. She had never seen the man before +her. He was a tall, imposing gentleman, in a dark suit, over which he +wore a light-colored overcoat. One hand was gloved, and in the other he +held a hat. His slightly curling brown beard and hair were trimmed after +the fashion of the day, and his face, though darkened by the sun, showed +no trace of toil, or storm, or anxious danger. He was a tall, +broad-shouldered gentleman, with an air of courtesy, an air of dignity, +an air of forbearance, which were as utterly unknown to her as everything +else about him, except his eyes--those were the same eyes she had seen on +board the _Castor_ and on the desert sands. + +Had it not been for the dark eyes which looked so steadfastly at him, +Captain Horn, would have thought that he had been shown into the wrong +room. But he now knew there was no mistake, and he entered. Edna raised +her hand and advanced to meet him. + +He shook hands with her exactly as he had written to her, and she shook +hands with him just as she had telegraphed to him. Much of her natural +color had left her face. As he had never seen this natural color, under +the sun-brown of the Pacific voyage, he did not miss it. + +Instantly she began to speak. How glad she was that she had prepared +herself to speak as she would have spoken to any other good friend! So +she expressed her joy at seeing him again, well and successful after +all these months of peril, toil, and anxiety, and they sat down near +each other. + +He looked at her steadfastly, and asked her many things about Ralph, Mrs. +Cliff, and the negroes, and what had happened since he left San +Francisco. He listened with a questioning intentness as she spoke. She +spoke rapidly and concisely as she answered his questions and asked him +about himself. She said little about the gold. One might have supposed +that he had arrived at Marseilles with a cargo of coffee. At the same +time, there seemed to be, on Edna's part, a desire to lengthen out her +recital of unimportant matters. She now saw that the captain knew she did +not care to talk of these things. She knew that he was waiting for an +opportunity to turn the conversation into another channel,--waiting with +an earnestness that was growing more and more apparent,--and as she +perceived this, and as she steadily talked to him, she assured herself, +with all the vehemence of which her nature was capable, that she and this +man were two people connected by business interests, and that she was +ready to discuss that business in a business way as soon as he could +speak. But still she did not yet give him the chance to speak. + +The captain sat there, with his blue eyes fixed upon her, and, as she +looked at him, she knew him to be the personification of honor and +magnanimity, waiting until he could see that she was ready for him to +speak, ready to listen if she should speak, ready to meet her on any +ground--a gentleman, she thought, above all the gentlemen in the world. +And still she went on talking about Mrs. Cliff and Ralph. + +Suddenly the captain rose. Whether or not he interrupted her in the +middle of a sentence, he did not know, nor did she know. He put his hat +upon a table and came toward her. He stood in front of her and looked +down at her. She looked up at him, but he did not immediately speak. She +could not help standing silently and looking up at him when he stood and +looked down upon her in that way. Then he spoke. + +"Are you my wife?" said he. + +"By all that is good and blessed in heaven or earth, I am," she answered. + +Standing there, and looking up into his eyes, there was no other answer +for her to make. + + * * * * * + +Seldom has a poor, worn, tired, agitated woman kept what was to her a +longer or more anxious watch upon a closed door than Mrs. Cliff kept that +day. If even Ralph had appeared, she would have decoyed him into her own +room, and locked him up there, if necessary. + +In about an hour after Mrs. Cliff began her watch, a tall man walked +rapidly out of the salon and went down the stairs, and then a woman came +running across the hall and into Mrs. Cliff's room, closing the door +behind her. Mrs. Cliff scarcely recognized this woman. She had Edna's +hair and face, but there was a glow and a glory on her countenance such +as Mrs. Cliff had never seen, or expected to see until, in the hereafter, +she should see it on the face of an angel. + +"He has loved me," said Edna, with her arms around her old friend's neck, +"ever since we had been a week on the _Castor_." + +Mrs. Cliff shivered and quivered with joy. She could not say anything, +but over and over again she kissed the burning cheeks of her friend. +At last they stood apart, and, when Mrs. Cliff was calm enough to +speak, she said: + +"Ever since we were on the _Castor!_ Well, Edna, you must admit that +Captain Horn is uncommonly good at keeping things to himself." + +"Yes," said the other, "and he always kept it to himself. He never let it +go away from him. He had intended to speak to me, but he wanted to wait +until I knew him better, and until we were in a position where he +wouldn't seem to be taking advantage of me by speaking. And when you +proposed that marriage by Cheditafa, he was very much troubled and +annoyed. It was something so rough and jarring, and so discordant with +what he had hoped, that at first he could not bear to think of it. But he +afterwards saw the sense of your reasoning, and agreed simply because it +would be to my advantage in case he should lose his life in his +undertaking. And we will be married to-morrow at the embassy." + +"To-morrow!" cried Mrs. Cliff. "So soon?" + +"Yes," replied Edna. "The captain has to go away, and I am going +with him." + +"That is all right," said Mrs. Cliff. "Of course I was a little surprised +at first. But how about the gold? How much was there of it? And what is +he going to do with it?" + +"He scarcely mentioned the gold," replied Edna. "We had more precious +things to talk about. When he sees us all together, you and I and Ralph, +he will tell us what he has done, and what he is going to do, and--" + +"And we can say what we please?" cried Mrs. Cliff. + +"Yes," said Edna,--"to whomever we please." + +"Thank the Lord!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "That is almost as good as +being married." + + * * * * * + +On his arrival in Paris the night before, Captain Horn had taken +lodgings at a hotel not far from the Hotel Grenade, and the first thing +he did the next morning was to visit Edna. He had supposed, of course, +that she was at the same hotel in which Mrs. Cliff resided, which +address he had got from Wraxton, in Marseilles, and he had expected to +see the elderly lady first, and to get some idea of how matters stood +before meeting Edna. He was in Paris alone. He had left Shirley and +Burke, with the negroes, in Marseilles. He had wished to do nothing, to +make no arrangements for any one, until he had seen Edna, and had found +out what his future life was to be. + +Now, as he walked back to his hotel, that future life lay before him +radiant and resplendent. No avenue in Paris, or in any part of the world, +blazing with the lights of some grand festival, ever shone with such +glowing splendor as the future life of Captain Horn now shone and +sparkled before him, as he walked and walked, on and on, and crossed the +river into the Latin Quarter, before he perceived that his hotel was a +mile or more behind him. + +From the moment that the _Arato_ had left the Straits of Magellan, and +Captain Horn had had reason to believe that he had left his dangers +behind him, the prow of his vessel had been set toward the Strait of +Gibraltar, and every thought of his heart toward Edna. Burke and Shirley +both noticed a change in him. After he left the Rackbirds' cove, until he +had sailed into the South Atlantic, his manner had been quiet, alert, +generally anxious, and sometimes stern. But now, day by day, he appeared +to be growing into a different man. He was not nervous, nor apparently +impatient, but it was easy to see that within him there burned a steady +purpose to get on as fast as the wind would blow them northward. + +Day by day, as he walked the deck of his little vessel, one might have +thought him undergoing a transformation from the skipper of a schooner +into the master of a great ship, into the captain of a swift Atlantic +liner, into the commander of a man-of-war, into the commodore on board a +line-of-battle ship. It was not an air of pride or assumed superiority +that he wore, it was nothing assumed, it was nothing of which he was not +entirely aware. It was the gradual growth within him, as health grows +into a man recovering from a sickness, of the consciousness of power. +The source of that consciousness lay beneath him, as he trod the deck of +the _Arato_. + +This consciousness, involuntary, and impossible to resist, had nothing +definite about it. It had nothing which could wholly satisfy the soul of +this man, who kept his eyes and his thoughts so steadfastly toward the +north. He knew that there were but few things in the world that his power +could not give him, but there was one thing upon which it might have no +influence whatever, and that one thing was far more to him than all other +things in this world. + +Sometimes, as he sat smoking beneath the stars, he tried to picture to +himself the person who might be waiting and watching for him in Paris, +and to try to look upon her as she must really be; for, after her life in +San Francisco and Paris, she could not remain the woman she had been at +the caves on the coast of Peru. But, do what he would, he could make no +transformation in the picture which was imprinted on the retina of his +soul. There he saw a woman still young, tall, and too thin, in a suit of +blue flannel faded and worn, with her hair bound tightly around her head +and covered by a straw hat with a faded ribbon. But it was toward this +figure that he was sailing, sailing, sailing, as fast as the winds of +heaven would blow his vessel onward. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +A GOLDEN AFTERNOON + + +When Ralph met Captain Horn that afternoon, there rose within him a +sudden, involuntary appreciation of the captain's worthiness to possess a +ship-load of gold and his sister Edna. Before that meeting there had been +doubts in the boy's mind in regard to this worthiness. He believed that +he had thoroughly weighed and judged the character and capacities of the +captain of the _Castor_, and he had said to himself, in his moments of +reflection, that although Captain Horn was a good man, and a brave man, +and an able man in many ways, there were other men in the world who were +better fitted for the glorious double position into which this fortunate +mariner had fallen. + +But now, as Ralph sat and gazed upon his sister's lover and heard him +talk, and as he turned from him to Edna's glowing eyes, he acknowledged, +without knowing it, the transforming power of those two great +alchemists,--gold and love,--and from the bottom of his heart he approved +the match. + +Upon Mrs. Cliff the first sight of Captain Horn had been a little +startling, and had she not hastened to assure herself that the compact +with Edna was a thing fixed and settled, she might have been possessed +with the fear that perhaps this gentleman might have views for his +future life very different from those upon which she had set her heart. +But even if she had not known of the compact of the morning, all danger +of that fear would have passed in the moment that the captain took her +by the hand. + +To find his three companions of the wreck and desert in such high state +and flourishing condition so cheered and uplifted the soul of the captain +that he could talk of nothing else. And now he called for Cheditafa and +Mok--those two good fellows whose faithfulness he should never forget. +But when they entered, bending low, with eyes upturned toward the lofty +presence to which they had been summoned, the captain looked inquiringly +at Edna. As he came in that afternoon, he had seen both the negroes in +the courtyard, and, in the passing thought he had given to them, had +supposed them to be attendants of some foreign potentate from Barbary or +Morocco. Cheditafa and Mok! The ragged, half-clad negroes of the +sea-beach--a parson-butler of sublimated respectability, a liveried +lackey of rainbow and gold! It required minutes to harmonize these +presentments in the mind of Captain Horn. + +When the audience of the two Africans--for such it seemed to be--had +lasted long enough, Edna was thinking of dismissing them, when it became +plain to her that there was something which Cheditafa wished to say or +do. She looked at him inquiringly, and he came forward. + +For a long time the mind of the good African had been exercised upon the +subject of the great deed he had done just before the captain had sailed +away from the Peruvian coast. In San Francisco and Paris he had asked +many questions quietly, and apparently without purpose, concerning the +marriage ceremonies of America and other civilized countries. He had not +learned enough to enable him, upon an emergency, to personate an orthodox +clergyman, but he had found out this and that--little things, perhaps, +but things which made a great impression upon him--which had convinced +him that in the ceremony he had performed there had been much +remissness--how much, he did not clearly know. But about one thing that +had been wanting he had no doubts. + +Advancing toward Edna and the captain, who sat near each other, Cheditafa +took from his pocket a large gold ring, which he had purchased with his +savings. "There was a thing we didn't do," he said, glancing from one to +the other. "It was the ring part--nobody thinked of that. Will captain +take it now, and put it on the lady?" + +Edna and the captain looked at each other. For a moment no one spoke. +Then Edna said, "Take it." The captain rose and took the ring from the +hand of Cheditafa, and Edna stood beside him. Then he took her hand, and +reverently placed the ring upon her fourth finger. Fortunately, it +fitted. It had not been without avail that Cheditafa had so often scanned +with a measuring eye the rings upon the hands of his mistress. + +A light of pleasure shone in the eyes of the old negro. Now he had done +his full duty--now all things had been made right. As he had seen the +priests stand in the churches of Paris, he now stood for a moment with +his hands outspread. "Very good," he said, "that will do." Then, followed +by Mok, he bowed himself out of the room. + +For some moments there was silence in the salon. Nobody thought of +laughing, or even smiling. In the eyes of Mrs. Cliff there were a few +tears. She was the first to speak. "He is a good man," said she, "and he +now believes that he has done everything that ought to be done. But you +will be married to-morrow, all the same, of course." + +"Yes," said Edna. "But it will be with this ring." + +"Yes," said the captain, "with that ring. You must always wear it." + +"And now," said Mrs. Cliff, when they had all reseated themselves, +"you must really tell us your story, captain. You know I have heard +nothing yet." + +And so he told his story--much that Edna had heard before, a great deal +she had not heard. About the treasure, almost everything he said was new +to her. Mrs. Cliff was very eager on this point. She wanted every detail. + +"How about the ownership of it?" she said. "After all, that is the +great point. What do people here think of your right to use that gold +as your own?" + +The captain smiled. "That is not an easy question to answer, but I think +we shall settle it very satisfactorily. Of course, the first thing to do +is to get it safely entered and stored away in the great money centres +over here. A good portion of it, in fact, is to be shipped to +Philadelphia to be coined. Of course, all that business is in the hands +of my bankers. The fact that I originally sailed from California was a +great help to us. To ascertain my legal rights in the case was the main +object of my visit to London. There Wraxton and I put the matter before +three leading lawyers in that line of business, and although their +opinions differed somewhat, and although we have not yet come to a final +conclusion as to what should be done, the matter is pretty well +straightened out as far as we are concerned. Of course, the affair is +greatly simplified by the fact that there is no one on the other side to +be a claimant of the treasure, but we consider it as if there were a +claimant, or two of them, in fact. These can be no other than the present +government of Peru, and that portion of the population of the country +which is native to the soil, and the latter, if our suppositions are +correct, are the only real heirs to the treasure which I discovered. But +what are the laws of Peru in regard to treasure-trove, or what may be the +disposition of the government toward the native population and their +rights, of course we cannot find out now. That will take time. But of one +thing we are certain: I am entitled to a fair remuneration for the +discovery of this treasure, just the same as if I claimed salvage for +having brought a wrecked steamer into port. On this point the lawyers are +all agreed. I have, therefore, made my claim, and shall stand by it with +enough legal force behind me to support me in any emergency. + +"But it is not believed that either the Peruvian government, or the +natives acting as a body, if it shall be possible for them to act in that +way, will give us any trouble. We have the matter entirely in our own +hands. They do not know of the existence of this treasure, or that they +have any rights to it, until we inform them of the fact, and without our +assistance it will be almost impossible for them to claim anything or +prove anything. Therefore, it will be good policy and common sense for +them to acknowledge that we are acting honestly, and, more than that, +generously, and to agree to take what we offer them, and that we shall +keep what is considered by the best legal authorities to be our rights. + +"As soon as possible, an agent will be sent to Peru to attend to the +matter. But this matter is in the hands of my lawyers, although, of +course, I shall not keep out of the negotiations." + +"And how much percentage, captain?" asked Mrs. Cliff. "What part do they +think you ought to keep?" + +"We have agreed," said he, "upon twenty per cent. of the whole. After +careful consideration and advice, I made that claim. I shall retain it. +Indeed, it is already secured to me, no matter what may happen to the +rest of the treasure." + +"Twenty per cent.!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "And that is all that you get?" + +"Yes," said the captain, "it is what I get--and by that is meant what is +to be divided among us all. I make the claim, but I make it for every one +who was on the _Castor_ when she was wrecked, and for the families of +those who are not alive--for every one, in fact, who was concerned in +this matter." + +The countenance of Mrs. Cliff had been falling, and now it went down, +down, again. After all the waiting, after all the anxiety, it had come to +this: barely twenty per cent., to be divided among ever so many +people--twenty-five or thirty, for all she knew. Only this, after the +dreams she had had, after the castles she had built! Of course, she had +money now, and she would have some more, and she had a great many useful +and beautiful things which she had bought, and she could go back to +Plainton in very good circumstances. But that was not what she had been +waiting for, and hoping for, and anxiously trembling for, ever since she +had found that the captain had really reached France with the treasure. + +"Captain," she said, and her voice was as husky as if she had been +sitting in a draught, "I have had so many ups and so many downs, and have +been turned so often this way and that, I cannot stand this state of +uncertainty any longer. It may seem childish and weak, but I must know +something. Can you give me any idea how much you are to have, or, at +least, how much I shall have, and let me make myself satisfied with +whatever it is? Do you think that I shall be able to go back to Plainton +and take my place as a leading citizen there? I don't mind in the least +asking that before you three. I thought I was justified in making that my +object in life, and I have made it my object. Now, if I have been +mistaken all this time, I would like to know it. Don't find fault with +me. I have waited, and waited, and waited--" + +"Well," interrupted the captain, "you need not wait any longer. The sum +that I have retained shall be divided as soon as possible, and I shall +divide it in as just a manner as I can, and I am ready to hear appeals +from any one who is not satisfied. Of course, I shall keep the largest +share of it--that is my right. I found it, and I secured it. And this +lady here," pointing to Edna, "is to have the next largest share in her +own right, because she was the main object which made me work so hard and +brave everything to get that treasure here. And then the rest will share +according to rank, as we say on board ship." + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" murmured Mrs. Cliff, "he never comes to any +point. We never know anything clear and distinct. This is not any +answer at all." + +"The amount I claim," continued the captain, who did not notice that Mrs. +Cliff was making remarks to herself, "is forty million dollars." + +Everybody started, and Mrs. Cliff sprang up as if a torpedo had been +fired beneath her. + +"Forty million dollars!" she exclaimed. "I thought you said you would +only have twenty per cent.?" + +"That is just what it is," remarked the captain, "as nearly as we can +calculate. Forty million dollars is about one fifth of the value of the +cargo I brought to France in the _Arato_. And as to your share, Mrs. +Cliff, I think, if you feel like it, you will be able to buy the town of +Plainton; and if that doesn't make you a leading citizen in it, I don't +know what else you can do." + + + + +CHAPTER L + +A CASE OF RECOGNITION + + +Every one in our party at the Hotel Grenade rose very early the next +morning. That day was to be one of activity and event. Mrs. Cliff, who +had not slept one wink during the night, but who appeared almost +rejuvenated by the ideas which had come to her during her sleeplessness, +now entered a protest against the proposed marriage at the American +legation. She believed that people of the position which Edna and the +captain should now assume ought to be married in a church, with all +proper ceremony and impressiveness, and urged that the wedding be +postponed for a few days, until suitable arrangements could be made. + +But Edna would not listen to this. The captain was obliged, by +appointment, to be in London on the morrow, and he could not know how +long he might be detained there, and now, wherever he went, she wished to +go with him. He wanted her to be with him, and she was going. Moreover, +she fancied a wedding at the legation. There were all sorts of +regulations concerning marriage in France, and to these neither she nor +the captain cared to conform, even if they had time enough for the +purpose. At the American legation they would be in point of law upon +American soil, and there they could be married as Americans, by an +American minister. + +After that Mrs. Cliff gave up. She was so happy she was ready to agree to +anything, or to believe in anything, and she went to work with heart and +hand to assist Edna in getting ready for the great event. + +Mrs. Sylvester, the wife of the secretary, received a note from Edna +which brought her to the hotel as fast as horses were allowed to travel +in the streets of Paris, and arrangements were easily made for the +ceremony to take place at four o'clock that afternoon. + +The marriage was to be entirely private. No one was to be present but +Mrs. Cliff, Ralph, and Mrs. Sylvester. Nothing was said to Cheditafa of +the intended ceremony. After what had happened, they all felt that it +would be right to respect the old negro's feelings and sensibilities. +Mrs. Cliff undertook, after a few days had elapsed, to explain the whole +matter to Cheditafa, and to tell him that what he had done had not been +without importance and real utility, but that it had actually united his +master and mistress by a solemn promise before witnesses, which in some +places, and under certain circumstances, would be as good a marriage as +any that could be performed, but that a second ceremony had taken place +in order that the two might be considered man and wife in all places and +under all circumstances. + +The captain had hoped to see Shirley and Burke before he left Paris, but +that was now impossible, and, on his way to his hotel, after breakfasting +at the Hotel Grenade, he telegraphed to them to come to him in London. +He had just sent his telegram when he was touched on the arm, and, +turning, saw standing by him two police officers. Their manner was very +civil, but they promptly informed him, the speaker using very fair +English, that he must accompany them to the presence of a police +magistrate. + +The captain was astounded. The officers could or would give him no +information in regard to the charge against him, or whether it was a +charge at all. They only said that he must come with them, and that +everything would be explained at the police station. The captain's brow +grew black. What this meant he could not imagine, but he had no time to +waste in imaginations. It would be foolish to demand explanations of the +officers, or to ask to see the warrant for their action. He would not +understand French warrants, and the quicker he went to the magistrate and +found out what this thing meant, the better. He only asked time to send a +telegram to Mr. Wraxton, urging him to attend him instantly at the police +station, and then he went with the officers. + +On the way, Captain Horn turned over matters in his mind. He could think +of no cause for this detention, except it might be something which had +turned up in connection with his possession of the treasure, or perhaps +the entrance of the _Arato_, without papers, at the French port. But +anything of this kind Wraxton could settle as soon as he could be made +acquainted with it. The only real trouble was that he was to be married +at four o'clock, and it was now nearly two. + +At the police station, Captain Horn met with a fresh annoyance. The +magistrate was occupied with important business and could not attend to +him at present. This made the captain very impatient, and he sent +message after message to the magistrate, but to no avail. And Wraxton did +not come. In fact, it was too soon to expect him. + +The magistrate had good reason for delay. He did not wish to have +anything to do with the gentleman who had been taken in custody until his +accuser, Banker by name, had been brought to this station from his place +of confinement, where he was now held under a serious charge. + +Ten minutes, twenty minutes, twenty-five minutes, passed, and the +magistrate did not appear. Wraxton did not come. The captain had never +been so fiercely impatient. He did not know to whom to apply in this +serious emergency. He did not wish Edna to know of his trouble until he +found out the nature of it, and if he sent word to the legation, he was +afraid that the news would speedily reach her. Wraxton was his man, +whatever the charge might be. He would be his security for any amount +which might be named, and the business might be settled afterwards, if, +indeed, it were not all a mistake of some sort. + +But Wraxton did not appear. Suddenly the captain thought of one man who +might be of service to him in this emergency. There was no time for +delay. Some one must come, and come quickly, who could identify him, and +the only man he could think of was Professor Barré, Ralph's tutor. He had +met that gentleman the evening before. He could vouch for him, and he +could certainly be trusted not to alarm Edna unnecessarily. He believed +the professor could be found at the hotel, and he instantly sent a +messenger to him with a note. + +It took a good deal of time to bring the prisoner Banker to the station, +and Professor Barré arrived there before him. The professor was amazed to +find Captain Horn under arrest, and unable to give any reason for this +state of things. But it was not long before the magistrate appeared, and +it so happened that he was acquainted with Barré, who was a well-known +man in Paris, and, after glancing at the captain, he addressed himself to +the professor, speaking in French. The latter immediately inquired the +nature of the charges against Captain Horn, using the same language. + +"Ah! you know him?" said the magistrate. "He has been accused of being +the leader of a band of outlaws--a man who has committed murders and +outrages without number, one who should not be suffered to go at large, +one who should be confined until the authorities of Peru, where his +crimes were committed, have been notified." + +The professor stared, but could not comprehend what he had heard. + +"What is it?" inquired Captain Horn. "Can you not speak English?" + +No, this Parisian magistrate could not speak English, but the professor +explained the charge. + +"It is the greatest absurdity!" exclaimed the captain. "Ralph told me +that a man, evidently once one of that band of outlaws in Peru, had been +arrested for assaulting Cheditafa, and this charge must be part of his +scheme of vengeance for that arrest. I could instantly prove everything +that is necessary to know about me if my banker, Mr. Wraxton, were here. +I have sent for him, but he has not come. I have not a moment to waste +discussing this matter." The captain gazed anxiously toward the door, +and for a few moments the three men stood in silence. + +The situation was a peculiar one. The professor thought of sending to the +Hotel Grenade, but he hesitated. He said to himself: "The lady's +testimony would be of no avail. If he is the man the bandit says he is, +of course she does not know it. His conduct has been very strange, and +for a long time she certainly knew very little about him. I don't see how +even his banker could become surety for him if he were here, and he +doesn't seem inclined to come. Anybody may have a bank-account." + +The professor stood looking on the ground. The captain looked at him, +and, by that power to read the thoughts of others which an important +emergency often gives to a man, he read, or believed he did, the thoughts +of Barré. He did not blame the man for his doubts. Any one might have +such doubts. A stranger coming to France with a cargo of gold must expect +suspicion, and here was more--a definite charge. + +At this moment there came a message from the banking house: Mr. Wraxton +had gone to Brussels that morning. Fuguet did not live in Paris, and the +captain had never seen him. There were clerks whom he had met in +Marseilles, but, of course, they could only say that he was the man known +as Captain Horn. + +The captain ground his teeth, and then, suddenly turning, he interrupted +the conversation between the magistrate and Barré. He addressed the +latter and asked, "Will you tell me what this officer has been saying +about me?" + +"He says," answered Barré, "that he believes you know nobody in Paris +except the party at the Hotel Grenade, and that, of course, you may have +deceived them in regard to your identity--that they have been here a long +time, and you have been absent, and you have not been referred to by +them, which seems strange." + +"Has he not found out that Wraxton knows me?" + +"He says," answered Barré, "that you have not visited that banking house +since you came to Paris, and that seems strange also. Every traveller +goes to his banker as soon as he arrives." + +"I did not need to go there," said the captain. "I was occupied with +other matters. I had just met my wife after a long absence." + +"I don't wonder," said the professor, bowing, "that your time was +occupied. It is very unfortunate that your banker cannot come to +you or send." + +The captain did not answer. This professor doubted him, and why should he +not? As the captain considered the case, it grew more and more serious. +That his marriage should be delayed on account of such a preposterous and +outrageous charge against him was bad enough. It would be a terrible blow +to Edna. For, although he knew that she would believe in him, she could +not deny, if she were questioned, that in this age of mail and telegraph +facilities she had not heard from him for nearly a year, and it would be +hard for her to prove that he had not deceived her. But the most +unfortunate thing of all was the meeting with the London lawyers the next +day. These men were engaged in settling a very important question +regarding the ownership of the treasure he had brought to France, and +his claims upon it, and if they should hear that he had been charged with +being the captain of a band of murderers and robbers, they might well +have their suspicions of the truth of his story of the treasure. In fact, +everything might be lost, and the affair might end by his being sent a +prisoner to Peru, to have the case investigated there. What might happen +then was too terrible to think of. He turned abruptly to the professor. + +"I see that you don't believe in me," he said, "but I see that you are a +man, and I believe in you. You are acquainted with this magistrate. Use +your influence with him to have this matter settled quickly. Do as much +as that for me." + +"What is it that you ask me to do?" said the other. + +"It is this," replied the captain. "I have never seen this man who says +he was a member of the Rackbirds' band. In fact, I never saw any of those +wretches except dead ones. He has never met me. He knows nothing about +me. His charge is simply a piece of revenge. The only connection he can +make between me and the Rackbirds is that he knew two negroes were once +the servants of his band, and that they are now the servants of my wife. +Having never seen me, he cannot know me. Please ask the magistrate to +send for some other men in plain clothes to come into this room, and then +let the prisoner be brought here, and asked to point out the man he +charges with the crime of being the captain of the Rackbirds." + +The professor's face brightened, and without answer he turned to the +magistrate, and laid this proposition before him. The officer shook his +head. This would be a very irregular method of procedure. There were +formalities which should not be set aside. The deposition of Banker +should be taken before witnesses. But the professor was interested in +Captain Horn's proposed plan. In an emergency of the sort, when time was +so valuable, he thought it should be tried before anything else was done. +He talked very earnestly to the magistrate, who at last yielded. + +In a few minutes three respectable men were brought in from outside, and +then a policeman was sent for Banker. + +When that individual entered the waiting-room, his eyes ran rapidly over +the company assembled there. After the first glance, he believed that he +had never seen one of them before. But he said nothing; he waited to hear +what would be said to him. This was said quickly. Banker spoke French, +and the magistrate addressed him directly. + +"In this room," he said, "stands the man you have accused as a robber and +a murderer, as the captain of the band to which you admit you once +belonged. Point him out immediately." + +Banker's heart was not in the habit of sinking, but it went down a little +now. Could it be possible that any one there had ever led him to deeds of +violence and blood? He looked again at each man in the room, very +carefully this time. Of course, that rascal Raminez would not come to +Paris without disguising himself, and no disguise could be so effectual +as the garb of a gentleman. But if Raminez were there, he should not +escape him by any such tricks. Banker half shut his eyes, and again went +over every countenance. Suddenly he smiled. + +"My captain," he said presently, "is not dressed exactly as he was when +I last saw him. He is in good clothes now, and that made it a little hard +for me to recognize him at first. But there is no mistaking his nose and +his eyebrows. I know him as well as if we had been drinking together last +night. There he stands!" And, with his right arm stretched out, he +pointed directly to Professor Barré. + +At these words there was a general start, and the face of the magistrate +grew scarlet with anger. As for the professor himself, he knit his brows, +and looked at Banker in amazement. + +"You scoundrel! You liar! You beast!" cried the officer. "To accuse this +well-known and honorable gentleman, and say that he is a leader of a band +of robbers! You are an impostor, a villain, and if you had been +confronted with this other gentleman alone, you would have sworn that he +was a bandit chief!" + +Banker made no answer, but still kept his eyes fixed upon the professor. +Now Captain Horn spoke: "That fellow had to say something, and he made a +very wild guess of it," he said to Barré. "I think the matter may now be +considered settled. Will you suggest as much to the magistrate? Truly, I +have not a moment to spare." + +Banker listened attentively to these words, and his eyes sparkled. + +"You needn't try any of your tricks on me, you scoundrel Raminez," he +said, shaking his fist at the professor. "I know you. I know you better +than I did when I first spoke. If you wanted to escape me, you ought to +have shaved off your eyebrows when you trimmed your hair and your +beard. But I will be after you yet. The tales you have told here won't +help you." + +"Take him away!" shouted the magistrate. "He is a fiend!" + +Banker was hurried from the room by two policemen. + +To the profuse apologies of the magistrate Captain Horn had no time to +listen; he accepted what he heard of them as a matter of course, and only +remarked that, as he was not the man against whom the charges had been +brought, he must hurry away to attend to a most important appointment. +The professor went with him into the street. + +"Sir," said the captain, addressing Barré, "you have been of the most +important service to me, and I heartily acknowledge the obligation. Had +it not been that you were good enough to exert your influence with the +magistrate, that rascal would have sworn through thick and thin that I +had been his captain." + +Then, looking at his watch, he said, "It is twenty-five minutes to four. +I shall take a cab and go directly to the legation. I was on my way to my +hotel, but there is no time for that now," and, after shaking hands with +the professor, he hailed a cab. + +Captain Horn reached the legation but a little while after the party from +the Hotel Grenade had arrived, and in due time he stood up beside Edna in +one of the parlors of the mansion, and he and she were united in marriage +by the American minister. The services were very simple, but the +congratulations of the little company assembled could not have been more +earnest and heartfelt. + +"Now," said Mrs. Cliff, in the ear of Edna, "if we knew that that gold +was all to be sunk in the ocean to-morrow, we still ought to be the +happiest people on earth." + +She was a true woman, Mrs. Cliff, and at that moment she meant +what she said. + +It had been arranged that the whole party should return to the Hotel +Grenade, and from there the newly married couple should start for the +train which would take them to Calais; and, as he left the legation +promptly, the captain had time to send to his own hotel for his effects. +The direct transition from the police station to the bridal altar had +interfered with his ante-hymeneal preparations, but the captain was +accustomed to interference with preparations, and had long learned to +dispense with them when occasion required. + +"I don't believe," said the minister's wife to her husband, when +the bridal party had left, "that you ever before married such a +handsome couple." + +"The fact is," said he, "that I never before saw standing together such a +fine specimen of a man and such a beautiful, glowing, radiant woman." + +"I don't see why you need say that," said she, quickly. "You and I stood +up together." + +"Yes," he replied, with a smile, "but I wasn't a spectator." + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +BANKER DOES SOME IMPORTANT BUSINESS + + +When Banker went back to the prison cell, he was still firmly convinced +that he had been overreached by his former captain, Raminez; and, +although he knew it not, there were good reasons for his convictions. +Often had he noticed, in the Rackbirds' camp, a peculiar form of the +eyebrows which surmounted the slender, slightly aquiline nose of his +chief. Whenever Raminez was anxious, or beginning to be angered, his +brow would slightly knit, and the ends of his eyebrows would approach +each other, curling upward and outward as they did so. This was an +action of the eyebrows which was peculiar to the Darcias of Granada, +from which family the professor's father had taken a wife, and had +brought her to Paris. A sister of this wife had afterwards married a +Spanish gentleman named Blanquotè, whose second son, having fallen into +disgrace in Spain, had gone to America, where he changed his name to +Raminez, and performed a number of discreditable deeds, among which was +the deception of several of his discreditable comrades in regard to his +family. They could not help knowing that he came from Spain, and he made +them all believe that his real name was Raminez. There had been three +of them, besides Banker, who had made it the object of their lives to +wait for the opportunity to obtain blackmail from his family, by +threatened declarations of his deeds. + +This most eminent scoundrel, whose bones now lay at the bottom of the +Pacific Ocean, had inherited from his grandfather that same trick of the +eyebrows above his thin and slightly aquiline nose which Banker had +observed upon the countenance of the professor in the police station, and +who had inherited it from the same Spanish gentleman. + +The next day Banker received a visitor. It was Professor Barré. As this +gentleman entered the cell, followed by two guards, who remained near the +door, Banker looked up in amazement. He had expected a message, but had +not dreamed that he should see the man himself. + +"Captain," he exclaimed, as he sprang to his feet, "this is truly good +of you. I see you are the same old trump as ever, and do not bear +malice." He spoke in Spanish, for such had been the language in common +use in camp. + +The professor paid no attention to these words. "I came here," he said, +"to demand of you why you made that absurd and malicious charge against +me the other day. Such charges are not passed over in France, but I will +give you a chance to explain yourself." + +Banker looked at him admiringly. "He plays the part well," he said to +himself. "He is a great gun. There is no use of my charging against him. +I will not try it, but I shall let him see where I stand." + +"Captain," said he, "I have nothing to explain, except that I was +stirred up a good deal and lost my temper. I oughtn't to have made that +charge against you. Of course, it could not be of any good to me, and I +am perfectly ready to meet you on level ground. I will take back +everything I have already said, and, if necessary, I will prove that I +made a mistake and never saw you before, and I only ask in return that +you get me out of this and give me enough to make me comfortable. That +won't take much, you know, and you seem to be in first-class condition +these days. There! I have put it to you fair and square, and saved you +the trouble of making me any offers. You stand by me, and I'll stand by +you. I am ready to swear until I am black in the face that you never were +in Peru, and that I never saw you until the other day, when I made that +mistake about you on account of the queer fashion of your eyebrows, which +looked just like those of a man who really had been my captain, and that +I now see you are two entirely different men. I will make a good tale of +it, captain, and I will stick to it--you can rely on that. By all the +saints, I hope those two fellows at the door don't understand Spanish!" + +The professor had made himself sure that the guards who accompanied him +spoke nothing but French. Without referring to Banker's proposed bargain, +he said to him, "Was the captain of the bandits under whom you served a +Spaniard?" + +"Yes, you were a Spaniard," said Banker. + +"From what part of Spain did he come?" + +"You let out several times that you once lived in Granada." + +"What was that captain's real name?" asked the professor. + +"Your name was Raminez--unless, indeed," and here his face clouded a +little, "unless, indeed, you tricked us. But I have pumped you well on +that point, and, drunk or sober, it was always Raminez." + +"Raminez, then, a Spaniard of my appearance," said the professor, "was +your captain when you were in a band called the Rackbirds, which had its +rendezvous on the coast of Peru?" + +"Yes, you were all that," said Banker. + +"Very well, then," said Barré. "I have nothing more to say to you at +present," and he turned and left the cell. The guards followed, and the +door was closed. + +Banker remained dumb with amazement. When he had regained his power of +thought and speech, he fell into a state of savage fury, which could be +equalled by nothing living, except, perhaps, by a trapped wildcat, and +among his objurgations, as he strode up and down his cell, the most +prominent referred to the new and incomprehensible trick which this +prince of human devils had just played upon him. That he had been talking +to his old captain he did not doubt for a moment, and that that captain +had again got the better of him he doubted no less. + +It may be stated here that, the evening before, the professor had had a +long talk with Ralph regarding the Rackbirds and their camp. Professor +Barré had heard something of the matter before, but many of the details +were new to him. + +When Ralph left him, the professor gave himself up to reflections upon +what he had heard, and he gradually came to believe that there might +be some reason for his identification as the bandit captain by the +man Banker. + +For five or six years there had been inquiries on foot concerning the +second son of Señor Blanquotè of Granada, whose elder brother had died +without heirs, and who, if now living, would inherit Blanquotè's estates. +It was known that this man had led a wild and disgraceful career, and it +was also ascertained that he had gone to America, and had been known on +the Isthmus of Panama and elsewhere by the name of Raminez. Furthermore, +Professor Barré had been frequently told by his mother that when he was a +boy she had noticed, while on a visit to Spain, that he and this cousin +very much resembled each other. + +It is not necessary to follow out the legal steps and inquiries, based +upon the information which he had had from Ralph and from Banker, which +were now made by the professor. It is sufficient to state that he was +ultimately able to prove that the Rackbird chief known as Raminez was, in +reality, Tomaso Blanquotè, that he had perished on the coast of Peru, and +that he, the professor, was legal heir to the Blanquotè estates. + +Barré had not been able to lead his pupil to as high a place in the +temple of knowledge as he had hoped, but, through his acquaintance with +that pupil, he himself had become possessed of a castle in Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER LII + +THE CAPTAIN TAKES HIS STAND + + +It was now July, and the captain and Edna had returned to Paris. The +world had been very beautiful during their travels in England, and +although the weather was beginning to be warm, the world was very +beautiful in Paris. In fact, to these two it would have been beautiful +almost anywhere. Even the desolate and arid coast of Peru would have been +to them as though it were green with herbage and bright with flowers. + +The captain's affairs were not yet definitely arranged, for the final +settlement would depend upon negotiations which would require time, but +there was never in the world a man more thoroughly satisfied than he. And +whatever happened, he had enough; and he had Edna. His lawyers had made a +thorough investigation into the matter of his rights to the treasure he +had discovered and brought to Europe, and they had come to a conclusion +which satisfied them. This decision was based upon equity and upon the +laws and usages regarding treasure-trove. + +The old Roman law upon the subject, still adhered to by some of the Latin +countries of Europe, gave half of a discovered treasure to the finder, +and half to the crown or state, and it was considered that a good legal +stand could be taken in the present instance upon the application of this +ancient law to a country now governed by the descendants of Spaniards. + +Whether or not the present government of Peru, if the matter should be +submitted to it, would take this view of the case, was a subject of +conjecture, of course, but the captain's counsel strongly advised him to +take position upon the ground that he was entitled to half the treasure. +Under present circumstances, when Captain Horn was so well prepared to +maintain his rights, it was thought that the Peruvian authorities might +easily be made to see the advisability of accepting a great advantage +freely offered, instead of endeavoring to obtain a greater advantage, in +regard to which it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to legally +prove anything or to claim anything. + +Therefore, it was advised that a commission should be sent to Lima to +open negotiations upon the subject, with instructions to make no +admissions in regard to the amount of the treasure, its present places of +deposit, or other particulars, until the Peruvian government should +consent to a satisfactory arrangement. + +To this plan Captain Horn consented, determining, however, that, if the +negotiations of his commission should succeed, he would stipulate that at +least one half the sum paid to Peru should be devoted to the advantage of +the native inhabitants of that country, to the establishment of schools, +hospitals, libraries, and benefactions of the kind. If the commission +should not succeed, he would then attend to the matter in his own way. + +Thus, no matter what happened, he would still insist upon his claim +to one fifth of the total amount as his pay for the discovery of the +treasure, and in this claim his lawyers assured him he could be +fully secured. + +Other matters were in a fair way of settlement. The captain had made +Shirley and Burke his agents through whom he would distribute to the +heirs of the crew of the _Castor_ their share of the treasure which had +been apportioned to them, and the two sailors had already gone to America +upon this mission. How to dispose of the _Arato_ had been a difficult +question, upon which the captain had taken legal advice. That she had +started out from Valparaiso with a piratical crew, that those pirates had +made an attack upon him and his men, and that, in self-defence, he had +exterminated them, made no difference in his mind, or that of his +counsellors, as to the right of the owners of the vessel to the return of +their property. But a return of the vessel itself would be difficult and +hazardous. Whoever took it to Valparaiso would be subject to legal +inquiry as to the fate of the men who had hired it, and it would be, +indeed, cruel and unjust to send out a crew in this vessel, knowing that +they would be arrested when they arrived in port. Consequently, he +determined to sell the _Arato_, and to add to the amount obtained what +might be considered proper on account of her detention, and to send this +sum to Valparaiso, to be paid to the owners of the _Arato_. + +The thoughts of all our party were now turned toward America. As time +went on, the captain and Edna might have homes in different parts of the +world, but their first home was to be in their native land. + +Mrs. Cliff was wild to reach her house, that she might touch it with the +magician's wand of which she was now the possessor, that she might touch +not only it, but that she might touch and transform the whole of +Plainton, and, more than all, that with it she might touch and transform +herself. She had bought all she wanted. Paris had yielded to her +everything she asked of it, and no ship could sail too fast which should +carry her across the ocean. + +The negroes were all attached to the captain's domestic family. Maka and +Cheditafa were not such proficient attendants as the captain might have +employed, but he desired to have these two near him, and intended to keep +them there as long as they would stay. Although Mok and the three other +Africans had much to learn in regard to the duties of domestic servants, +there would always be plenty of people to teach them. + + * * * * * + +In his prison cell Banker sat, lay down, or walked about, cursing his +fate and wondering what was meant by the last dodge of that rascal +Raminez. He never found out precisely, but he did find out that the visit +of Professor Barré to his cell had been of service to him. + +That gentleman, when he became certain that he should so greatly profit +by the fact that an ex-brigand had pointed him out as an ex-captain of +brigands, had determined to do what he could for the fellow who had +unconsciously rendered him the service. So he employed a lawyer to attend +to Banker's case, and as it was not difficult to prove that the accused +had not even touched Cheditafa, but had only threatened to maltreat him, +and that the fight which caused his arrest was really begun by Mok, it +was not thought necessary to inflict a very heavy punishment. In fact, it +was suggested in the court that it was Mok who should be put on trial. + +So Banker went for a short term to prison, where he worked hard and +earned his living, and when he came out he thought it well to leave +Paris, and he never found out the nature of the trick which he supposed +his old chief had played upon him. + +The trial of Banker delayed the homeward journey of Captain Horn and his +party, for Cheditafa and Mok were needed as witnesses, but did not delay +it long. It was early in August, when the danger from floating icebergs +had almost passed, and when an ocean journey is generally most pleasant, +that nine happy people sailed from Havre for New York. Captain Horn and +Edna had not yet fully planned their future life, but they knew that they +had enough money to allow them to select any sphere of life toward which +ordinary human ambitions would be apt to point, and if they never +received another bar of the unapportioned treasure, they would not only +be preeminently satisfied with what fortune had done for them, but would +be relieved of the great responsibilities which greater fortune must +bring with it. + +As for Mrs. Cliff, her mind was so full of plans for the benefit of her +native town that she could talk and think of nothing else, and could +scarcely be induced to take notice of a spouting whale, which was +engaging the attention of all the passengers and the crew. + +The negroes were perfectly content. They were accustomed to the sea, and +did not mind the motion of the vessel. They had but little money in +their pockets, and had no reason to expect they would ever have much +more, but they knew that as long as they lived they would have everything +that they wanted, that the captain thought was good for them, and to a +higher earthly paradise their souls did not aspire. Cheditafa would serve +his mistress, Maka would serve the captain, and Mok would wear fine +clothes and serve his young master Ralph, whenever, haply, he should have +the chance. + +As for Inkspot, he doubted whether or not he should ever have all the +whiskey he wanted, but he had heard that in the United States that +delectable fluid was very plentiful, and he thought that perhaps in that +blessed country that blessed beverage might not produce the undesirable +effects which followed its unrestricted use in other lands. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII + +A LITTLE GLEAM AFAR + + +It was late in the autumn of that year, and upon a lonely moor in +Scotland, that a poor old woman stood shivering in the cold wind. She was +outside of a miserable little hut, in the doorway of which stood two men. + +For five or six years she had lived alone in that little hut. + +It was a very poor place, but it kept out the wind and the rain and the +snow, and it was a home to her, and for the greater part of these years +in which she had lived there alone, she had received, at irregular and +sometimes long intervals, sums of money, often very small and never +large, from her son, who was a sailorman upon seas of which she did not +even know the name. + +But for many months no money had come from this wandering son, and it was +very little that she had been able to earn. Sometimes she might have +starved, had it not been for the charity of others almost as poor as she. +As for rent, it had been due for a long time, and at last it had been due +so long that her landlord felt that further forbearance would be not only +unprofitable, but that it would serve as a bad example to his other +tenants. Consequently, he had given orders to eject the old woman from +her hut. She was now a pauper, and there were places where paupers would +be taken care of. + +The old woman stood sadly shivering. Her poor old eyes, a little dimmed +with tears, were directed southward toward the far-away vanishing-point +of the rough and narrow road which meandered over the moor and lost +itself among the hills. + +She was waiting for the arrival of a cart which a poor neighbor had +promised to borrow, to take her and her few belongings to the nearest +village, where there was a good road over which she might walk to a place +where paupers were taken care of. A narrow stream, which roared and +rushed around or over many a rock, ran at several points close to the +road, and, swelled by heavy rains, had overflowed it to the depth of a +foot or more. The old woman and the two men in the doorway of the hut +stood and waited for the cart to come. + +As they waited, heavy clouds began to rise in the north, and there was +already a drizzle of rain. At last they saw a little black spot upon the +road, which soon proved to be a cart drawn by a rough pony. On it came, +until they could almost hear it splashing through the water where the +stream had passed its bounds, or rattling over the rough stones in other +places. But, to their surprise, there were two persons in the cart. +Perhaps the boy Sawney had with him a traveller who was on his way north. + +This was true. Sawney had picked up a traveller who was glad to find a +conveyance going across the moor to his destination. This man was a +quick-moving person in a heavy waterproof coat with its collar turned up +over his ears. + +As soon as the cart stopped, near the hut, he jumped down and approached +the two men in the doorway. + +"Is that the widow McLeish?" he said, pointing to the old woman. + +They assured him that he was correct, and he approached her. + +"You are Mrs. Margaret McLeish?" said he. + +She looked at him in a vague sort of way and nodded. "That's me," said +she. "Is it pay for the cart you're after? If that's it, I must walk." + +"Had you a son, Mrs. McLeish?" said the man. + +"Ay," said she, and her face brightened a little. + +"And what was his name?" + +"Andy," was the answer. + +"And his calling?" + +"A sailorman." + +"Well, then," said the traveller in the waterproof, "there is no doubt +that you are the person I came here to see. I was told I should find you +here, and here you are. I may as well tell you at once, Mrs. McLeish, +that your son is dead." + +"That is no news," she answered. "I knew that he must be dead." + +"But I didn't come here only to tell you that. There is money coming +to you through him--enough to make you comfortable for the rest of +your life." + +"Money!" exclaimed the old woman. "To me?" + +The two men who had been standing in the doorway of the hut drew near, +and Sawney jumped down from the cart. The announcement made by the +traveller was very interesting. + +"Yes," said the man in the waterproof, pulling his collar up a little +higher, for the rain was increasing, "you are to have one hundred and +four pounds a year, Mrs. McLeish, and that's two pounds a week, you know, +and you will have it as long as you live." + +"Two pounds a week!" cried the old woman, her eyes shining out of her +weazened old face like two grouse eggs in a nest. "From my Andy?" + +"Yes, from your son," said the traveller. And as the rain was now much +more than a drizzle, and as the wind was cold, he made his tale as short +as possible. + +He told her that her son had died far away in South America, and, from +what he had gained there, one hundred and four pounds a year would be +coming to her, and that she might rely on this as long as she lived. He +did not state--for he was not acquainted with all the facts--that Shirley +and Burke, when they were in San Francisco hunting up the heirs of the +Castor's crew, had come upon traces of the A. McLeish whose body they had +found in the desert, lying flat on its back, with a bag of gold clasped +to its breast--that they had discovered, by means of the agent through +whom McLeish had been in the habit of forwarding money to his mother, the +address of the old woman, and, without saying anything to Captain Horn, +they had determined to do something for her. + +The fact that they had profited by the gold her son had carried away from +the cave, was the main reason for this resolution, and although, as +Shirley said, it might appear that the Scotch sailor was a thief, it was +true, after all, he had as much right to a part of the gold he had taken +as Captain Horn could have. Therefore, as they had possessed themselves +of his treasure, they thought it but right that they should provide for +his mother. So they bought an annuity for her in Edinburgh, thinking this +better than sending her the total amount which they considered to be her +share, not knowing what manner of woman she might be, and they arranged +that an agent should be sent to look her up, and announce to her her good +fortune. It had taken a long time to attend to all these matters, and it +was now late in the autumn. + +"You must not stand out in the rain, Mrs. McLeish," said one of the men, +and he urged her to come back into the hut. He said he would build a fire +for her, and she and the gentleman from Edinburgh could sit down and talk +over matters. No doubt there would be some money in hand, he said, out of +which the rent could be paid, and, even if this should not be the case, +he knew the landlord would be willing to wait a little under the +circumstances. + +"Is there money in hand for me?" asked the old woman. + +"Yes," said the traveller. "The annuity was to begin with October, and it +is now the first of November, so there is eight pounds due to you." + +"Eight pounds!" she exclaimed, after a moment's thought. "It must be more +than that. There's thirty-one days in October!" + +"That's all right, Mrs. McLeish," said the traveller. "I will pay you the +right amount. But I really think you had better come into your house, for +it is going to be a bad afternoon, and I must get away as soon as I can. +I will go, as I came, in the cart, for you won't want it now." + +Mrs. McLeish stood up as straight as she could, and glanced from the +traveller to the two men who had put her out of her home. Then, in the +strongest terms her native Gaelic would afford, she addressed these two +men. She assured them that, sooner than enter that contemptible little +hut again, she would sleep out on the bare moor. She told them to go to +their master and tell him that she did not want his house, and that he +could live in it himself, if he chose--that she was going in the cart to +Killimontrick, and she would take lodgings in the inn there until she +could get a house fit for the habitation of the mother of a man like her +son Andy; and that if their master had anything to say about the rent +that was due, they could tell him that he had satisfied himself by +turning her out of her home, and if he wanted anything more, he could +whistle for it, or, if he didn't choose to do that, he could send his +factor to whistle for it in the main street of Killimontrick. + +"Come, Sawney boy, put my two bundles in the cart, and then help me in. +The gentleman will drive, and I'll sit on the seat beside him, and you +can sit behind in the straw, and--you're sure it's two pounds a week, +sir?" she said to the traveller, who told her that she was right, and +then she continued to Sawney, "I'll make your mother a present which will +help the poor old thing through the winter, and I'm sure she needs it." + +With a heavier load than he had brought, the pony's head was turned +homeward, and the cart rattled away over the rough stones, and splashed +through the water on the roadway, and in the dark cloud which hung over +the highest mountain beyond the moor, there came a little glint of +lighter sky, as if some lustre from the Incas' gold had penetrated even +into this gloomy region. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Captain Horn +by Frank Richard Stockton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12190 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..88c4b6c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12190 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12190) diff --git a/old/12190-8.txt b/old/12190-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..00ad3a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12190-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12834 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Adventures of Captain Horn, by Frank Richard Stockton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Adventures of Captain Horn + +Author: Frank Richard Stockton + +Release Date: April 29, 2004 [EBook #12190] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN + + BY FRANK R. STOCKTON + + 1910 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I An Introductory Disaster + + II A New Face in Camp + + III A Change of Lodgings + + IV Another New Face + + V The Rackbirds + + VI Three Weld Beasts + + VII Gone! + + VIII The Alarm + + IX An Amazing Narration + + X The Captain Explores + + XI A New Hemisphere + + XII A Tradition and a Waistcoat + + XIII "Mine!" + + XIV A Pile of Fuel + + XV The Cliff-Maka Scheme + + XVI On a Business Basis + + XVII "A Fine Thing, No Matter What Happens" + + XVIII Mrs. Cliff is Amazed + + XIX Left Behind + + XX At the Rackbirds' Cove + + XXI In the Caves + + XXII A Pack-Mule + + XXIII His Present Share + + XXVI His Fortune under his Feet + + + + +THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN + + + + +CHAPTER I + +AN INTRODUCTORY DISASTER + + +Early in the spring of the year 1884 the three-masted schooner _Castor_, +from San Francisco to Valparaiso, was struck by a tornado off the coast +of Peru. The storm, which rose with frightful suddenness, was of short +duration, but it left the _Castor_ a helpless wreck. Her masts had +snapped off and gone overboard, her rudder-post had been shattered by +falling wreckage, and she was rolling in the trough of the sea, with her +floating masts and spars thumping and bumping her sides. + +The _Castor_ was an American merchant-vessel, commanded by Captain Philip +Horn, an experienced navigator of about thirty-five years of age. Besides +a valuable cargo, she carried three passengers--two ladies and a boy. One +of these, Mrs. William Cliff, a lady past middle age, was going to +Valparaiso to settle some business affairs of her late husband, a New +England merchant. The other lady was Miss Edna Markham, a school-teacher +who had just passed her twenty-fifth year, although she looked older. +She was on her way to Valparaiso to take an important position in an +American seminary. Ralph, a boy of fifteen, was her brother, and she was +taking him with her simply because she did not want to leave him alone in +San Francisco. These two had no near relations, and the education of the +brother depended upon the exertions of the sister. Valparaiso was not the +place she would have selected for a boy's education, but there they could +be together, and, under the circumstances, that was a point of prime +importance. + +But when the storm had passed, and the sky was clear, and the mad waves +had subsided into a rolling swell, there seemed no reason to believe that +any one on board the _Castor_ would ever reach Valparaiso. The vessel had +been badly strained by the wrenching of the masts, her sides had been +battered by the floating wreckage, and she was taking in water rapidly. +Fortunately, no one had been injured by the storm, and although the +captain found it would be a useless waste of time and labor to attempt to +work the pumps, he was convinced, after a careful examination, that the +ship would float some hours, and that there would, therefore, be time for +those on board to make an effort to save not only their lives, but some +of their property. + +All the boats had been blown from their davits, but one of them was +floating, apparently uninjured, a short distance to leeward, one of the +heavy blocks by which it had been suspended having caught in the cordage +of the topmast, so that it was securely moored. Another boat, a small +one, was seen, bottom upward, about an eighth of a mile to leeward. Two +seamen, each pushing an oar before him, swam out to the nearest boat, +and having got on board of her, and freed her from her entanglements, +they rowed out to the capsized boat, and towed it to the schooner. When +this boat had been righted and bailed out, it was found to be in good +condition. + +The sea had become almost quiet, and there was time enough to do +everything orderly and properly, and in less than three hours after the +vessel had been struck, the two boats, containing all the crew and the +passengers, besides a goodly quantity of provisions and water, and such +valuables, clothing, rugs, and wraps as room could be found for, were +pulling away from the wreck. + +The captain, who, with his passengers, was in the larger boat, was aware +that he was off the coast of Peru, but that was all he certainly knew of +his position. The storm had struck the ship in the morning, before he had +taken his daily observation, and his room, which was on deck, had been +carried away, as well as every nautical instrument on board. He did not +believe that the storm had taken him far out of his course, but of this +he could not be sure. All that he knew with certainty was that to the +eastward lay the land, and eastward, therefore, they pulled, a little +compass attached to the captain's watch-guard being their only guide. + +For the rest of that day and that night, and the next day and the next +night, the two boats moved eastward, the people on board suffering but +little inconvenience, except from the labor of continuous rowing, at +which everybody, excepting the two ladies, took part, even Ralph +Markham being willing to show how much of a man he could be with an +oar in his hand. + +The weather was fine, and the sea was almost smooth, and as the captain +had rigged up in his boat a tent-like covering of canvas for the ladies, +they were, as they repeatedly declared, far more comfortable than they +had any right to expect. They were both women of resource and courage. +Mrs. Cliff, tall, thin in face, with her gray hair brushed plainly over +her temples, was a woman of strong frame, who would have been perfectly +willing to take an oar, had it been necessary. To Miss Markham this boat +trip would have been a positive pleasure, had it not been for the +unfortunate circumstances which made it necessary. + +On the morning of the third day land was sighted, but it was afternoon +before they reached it. Here they found themselves on a portion of the +coast where the foot-hills of the great mountains stretch themselves +almost down to the edge of the ocean. To all appearances, the shore was +barren and uninhabited. + +The two boats rowed along the coast a mile or two to the southward, but +could find no good landing-place, but reaching a spot less encumbered +with rocks than any other portion of the coast they had seen, Captain +Horn determined to try to beach his boat there. The landing was +accomplished in safety, although with some difficulty, and that night was +passed in a little encampment in the shelter of some rocks scarcely a +hundred yards from the sea. + +The next morning Captain Horn took counsel with his mates, and considered +the situation. They were on an uninhabited portion of the coast, and it +was not believed that there was any town or settlement near enough to be +reached by walking over such wild country, especially with ladies in the +party. It was, therefore, determined to seek succor by means of the sea. +They might be near one of the towns or villages along the coast of Peru, +and, in any case, a boat manned by the best oarsmen of the party, and +loaded as lightly as possible, might hope, in the course of a day or two, +to reach some port from which a vessel might be sent out to take off the +remainder of the party. + +But first Captain Horn ordered a thorough investigation to be made of the +surrounding country, and in an hour or two a place was found which he +believed would answer very well for a camping-ground until assistance +should arrive. This was on a little plateau about a quarter of a mile +back from the ocean, and surrounded on three sides by precipices, and on +the side toward the sea the ground sloped gradually downward. To this +camping-ground all of the provisions and goods were carried, excepting +what would be needed by the boating party. + +When this work had been accomplished, Captain Horn appointed his first +mate to command the expedition, deciding to remain himself in the camp. +When volunteers were called for, it astonished the captain to see how +many of the sailors desired to go. + +The larger boat pulled six oars, and seven men, besides the mate Rynders, +were selected to go in her. As soon as she could be made ready she was +launched and started southward on her voyage of discovery, the mate +having first taken such good observation of the landmarks that he felt +sure he would have no difficulty in finding the spot where he left his +companions. The people in the little camp on the bluff now consisted of +Captain Horn, the two ladies, the boy Ralph, three sailors,--one an +Englishman, and the other two Americans from Cape Cod,--and a jet-black +native African, known as Maka. + +Captain Horn had not cared to keep many men with him in the camp, because +there they would have little to do, and all the strong arms that could be +spared would be needed in the boat. The three sailors he had retained +were men of intelligence, on whom he believed he could rely in case of +emergency, and Maka was kept because he was a cook. He had been one of +the cargo of a slave-ship which had been captured by a British cruiser +several years before, when on its way to Cuba, and the unfortunate +negroes had been landed in British Guiana. It was impossible to return +them to Africa, because none of them could speak English, or in any way +give an idea as to what tribes they belonged, and if they should be +landed anywhere in Africa except among their friends, they would be +immediately reënslaved. For some years they lived in Guiana, in a little +colony by themselves, and then, a few of them having learned some +English, they made their way to Panama, where they obtained employment as +laborers on the great canal. Maka, who was possessed of better +intelligence than most of his fellows, improved a good deal in his +English, and learned to cook very well, and having wandered to San +Francisco, had been employed for two or three voyages by Captain Horn. +Maka was a faithful and willing servant, and if he had been able to +express himself more intelligibly, his merits might have been better +appreciated. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A NEW FACE IN CAMP + + +The morning after the departure of the boat, Captain Horn, in company +with the Englishman Davis, each armed with a gun, set out on a tour of +investigation, hoping to be able to ascend the rocky hills at the back of +the camp, and find some elevated point commanding a view over the ocean. +After a good deal of hard climbing they reached such a point, but the +captain found that the main object was really out of his reach. He could +now plainly see that a high rocky point to the southward, which stretched +some distance out to sea, would cut off all view of the approach of +rescuers coming from that direction, until they were within a mile or two +of his landing-place. Back from the sea the hills grew higher, until they +blended into the lofty stretches of the Andes, this being one of the few +points where the hilly country extends to the ocean. + +The coast to the north curved a little oceanward, so that a much more +extended view could be had in that direction, but as far as he could see +by means of a little pocket-glass which the boy Ralph had lent him, the +captain could discover no signs of habitation, and in this direction the +land seemed to be a flat desert. When he returned to camp, about noon, +he had made up his mind that the proper thing to do was to make himself +and his companions as comfortable as possible and patiently await the +return of his mate with succor. + +Captain Horn was very well satisfied with his present place of +encampment. Although rain is unknown in this western portion of Peru, +which is, therefore, in general desolate and barren, there are parts of +the country that are irrigated by streams which flow from the snow-capped +peaks of the Andes, and one of these fertile spots the captain seemed to +have happened upon. On the plateau there grew a few bushes, while the +face of the rock in places was entirely covered by hanging vines. This +fertility greatly puzzled Captain Horn, for nowhere was to be seen any +stream of water, or signs of there ever having been any. But they had +with them water enough to last for several days, and provisions for a +much longer time, and the captain felt little concern on this account. + +As for lodgings, there were none excepting the small tent which he had +put up for the ladies, but a few nights in the open air in that dry +climate would not hurt the male portion of the party. + +In the course of the afternoon, the two American sailors came to Captain +Horn and asked permission to go to look for game. The captain had small +hopes of their finding anything suitable for food, but feeling sure that +if they should be successful, every one would be glad of a little fresh +meat, he gave his permission, at the same time requesting the men to do +their best in the way of observation, if they should get up high enough +to survey the country, and discover some signs of habitation, if such +existed in that barren region. It would be a great relief to the captain +to feel that there was some spot of refuge to which, by land or water, +his party might make its way in case the water and provisions gave out +before the return of the mate. + +As to the men who went off in the boat, the captain expected to see but a +few of them again. One or two might return with the mate, in such vessel +as he should obtain in which to come for them, but the most of them, if +they reached a seaport, would scatter, after the manner of seamen. + +The two sailors departed, promising, if they could not bring back fish or +fowl, to return before dark, with a report of the lay of the land. + +It was very well that Maka did not have to depend on these hunters for +the evening meal, for night came without them, and the next morning they +had not returned. The captain was very much troubled. The men must be +lost, or they had met with some accident. There could be no other reason +for their continued absence. They had each a gun, and plenty of powder +and shot, but they had taken only provisions enough for a single meal. + +Davis offered to go up the hills to look for the missing men. He had +lived for some years in the bush in Australia, and he thought that +there was a good chance of his discovering their tracks. But the +captain shook his head. + +"You are just as likely to get lost, or to fall over a rock, as anybody +else," he said, "and it is better to have two men lost than three. But +there is one thing that you can do. You can go down to the beach, and +make your way southward as far as possible. There you can find your way +back, and if you take a gun, and fire it every now and then, you may +attract the attention of Shirley and Burke, if they are on the hills +above, and perhaps they may even be able to see you as you walk along. If +they are alive, they will probably see or hear you, and fire in answer. +It is a very strange thing that we have not heard a shot from them." + +Ralph begged to accompany the Englishman, for he was getting very +restless, and longed for a ramble and scramble. But neither the captain +nor his sister would consent to this, and Davis started off alone. + +"If you can round the point down there," said the captain to him, "do it, +for you may see a town or houses not far away on the other side. But +don't take any risks. At all events, make your calculations so that you +will be back here before dark." + +The captain and Ralph assisted the two ladies to a ledge of rock near the +camp from which they could watch the Englishman on his way. They saw him +reach the beach, and after going on a short distance he fired his gun, +after which he pressed forward, now and then stopping to fire again. Even +from their inconsiderable elevation they could see him until he must have +been more than a mile away, and he soon after vanished from their view. + +As on the previous day darkness came without the two American sailors, so +now it came without the Englishman, and in the morning he had not +returned. Of course, every mind was filled with anxiety in regard to the +three sailors, but Captain Horn's soul was racked with apprehensions of +which he did not speak. The conviction forced itself upon him that the +men had been killed by wild beasts. He could imagine no other reason why +Davis should not have returned. He had been ordered not to leave the +beach, and, therefore, could not lose his way. He was a wary, careful +man, used to exploring rough country, and he was not likely to take any +chances of disabling himself by a fall while on such an expedition. + +Although he knew that the great jaguar was found in Peru, as well as +the puma and black bear, the captain had not supposed it likely that +any of these creatures frequented the barren western slopes of the +mountains, but he now reflected that there were lions in the deserts of +Africa, and that the beasts of prey in South America might also be +found in its deserts. + +A great responsibility now rested upon Captain Horn. He was the only man +left in camp who could be depended upon as a defender,--for Maka was +known to be a coward, and Ralph was only a boy,--and it was with a +shrinking of the heart that he asked himself what would be the +consequences if a couple of jaguars or other ferocious beasts were to +appear upon that unprotected plateau in the night, or even in the +daytime. He had two guns, but he was only one man. These thoughts were +not cheerful, but the captain's face showed no signs of alarm, or even +unusual anxiety, and, with a smile on his handsome brown countenance, he +bade the ladies good morning as if he were saluting them upon a +quarter-deck. + +"I have been thinking all night about those three men," said Miss +Markham, "and I have imagined something which may have happened. Isn't +it possible that they may have discovered at a distance some inland +settlement which could not be seen by the party in the boat, and that +they thought it their duty to push their way to it, and so get +assistance for us? In that case, you know, they would probably be a long +time coming back." + +"That is possible," said the captain, glad to hear a hopeful supposition, +but in his heart he had no faith in it whatever. If Davis had seen a +village, or even a house, he would have come back to report it, and if +the others had found human habitation, they would have had ample time to +return, either by land or by sea. + +The restless Ralph, who had chafed a good deal because he had not been +allowed to leave the plateau in search of adventure, now found a vent for +his surplus energy, for the captain appointed him fire-maker. The camp +fuel was not abundant, consisting of nothing but some dead branches and +twigs from the few bushes in the neighborhood. These Ralph collected with +great energy, and Maka had nothing to complain of in regard to fuel for +his cooking. + +Toward the end of that afternoon, Ralph prepared to make a fire for the +supper, and he determined to change the position of the fireplace and +bring it nearer the rocks, where he thought it would burn better. It did +burn better--so well, indeed, that some of the dry leaves of the vines +that there covered the face of the rocks took fire. Ralph watched with +interest the dry leaves blaze and the green ones splutter, and then he +thought it would be a pity to scorch those vines, which were among the +few green things about them, and he tried to put out the fire. But this +he could not do, and, when he called Maka, the negro was not able to +help him. The fire had worked its way back of the green vines, and seemed +to have found good fuel, for it was soon crackling away at a great rate, +attracting the rest of the party. + +"Can't we put it out?" cried Miss Markham. "It is a pity to ruin those +beautiful vines." + +The captain smiled and shook his head. "We cannot waste our valuable +water on that conflagration," said he. "There is probably a great mass +of dead vines behind the green outside. How it crackles and roars! That +dead stuff must be several feet thick. All we can do is to let it burn. +It cannot hurt us. It cannot reach your tent, for there are no vines +over there." + +The fire continued to roar and blaze, and to leap up the face of the +rock. + +"It is wonderful," said Mrs. Cliff, "to think how those vines must have +been growing and dying, and new ones growing and dying, year after year, +nobody knows how many ages." + +"What is most wonderful to me," said the captain, "is that the vines ever +grew there at all, or that these bushes should be here. Nothing can grow +in this region, unless it is watered by a stream from the mountains, and +there is no stream here." + +Miss Markham was about to offer a supposition to the effect that perhaps +the precipitous wall of rock which surrounded the little plateau, and +shielded it from the eastern sun, might have had a good effect upon the +vegetation, when suddenly Ralph, who had a ship's biscuit on the end of a +sharp stick, and was toasting it in the embers of a portion of the burnt +vines, sprang back with a shout. + +"Look out!" he cried. "The whole thing's coming down!" And, sure enough, +in a moment a large portion of the vines, which had been clinging to the +rock, fell upon the ground in a burning mass. A cloud of smoke and dust +arose, and when it had cleared away the captain and his party saw upon +the perpendicular side of the rock, which was now revealed to them as if +a veil had been torn away from in front of it, an enormous face cut out +of the solid stone. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A CHANGE OF LODGINGS + + +The great face stared down upon the little party gathered beneath it. Its +chin was about eight feet above the ground, and its stony countenance +extended at least that distance up the cliff. Its features were in low +relief, but clear and distinct, and a smoke-blackened patch beneath one +of its eyes gave it a sinister appearance. From its wide-stretching mouth +a bit of half-burnt vine hung, trembling in the heated air, and this +element of motion produced the impression on several of the party that +the creature was about to open its lips. + +Mrs. Cliff gave a little scream,--she could not help it,--and Maka sank +down on his knees, his back to the rock, and covered his face with his +hands. Ralph was the first to speak. + +"There have been heathen around here," he said. "That's a regular idol." + +"You are right," said the captain. "That is a bit of old-time work. That +face was cut by the original natives." + +The two ladies were so interested, and even excited, that they seized +each other by the hands. Here before their faces was a piece of sculpture +doubtless done by the people of ancient Peru, that people who were +discovered by Pizarro; and this great idol, or whatever it was, had +perhaps never before been seen by civilized eyes. It was wonderful, and +in the conjecture and exclamation of the next half-hour everything else +was forgotten, even the three sailors. + +Because the captain was the captain, it was natural that every one +should look to him for some suggestion as to why this great stone face +should have been carved here on this lonely and desolate rock. But he +shook his head. + +"I have no ideas about it," he said, "except that it must have been +some sort of a landmark. It looks out toward the sea, and perhaps the +ancient inhabitants put it there so that people in ships, coming near +enough to the coast, should know where they were. Perhaps it was +intended to act as a lighthouse to warn seamen off a dangerous coast. +But I must say that I do not see how it could do that, for they would +have had to come pretty close to the shore to see it, unless they had +better glasses than we have." + +The sun was now near the horizon, and Maka was lifted to his feet by the +captain, and ordered to stop groaning in African, and go to work to get +supper on the glowing embers of the vines. He obeyed, of course, but +never did he turn his face upward to that gaunt countenance, which +grinned and winked and frowned whenever a bit of twig blazed up, or the +coals were stirred by the trembling negro. + +After supper and until the light had nearly faded from the western sky, +the two ladies sat and watched that vast face upon the rocks, its +features growing more and more solemn as the light decreased. + +"I wish I had a long-handled broom," said Mrs. Cliff, "for if the dust +and smoke and ashes of burnt leaves were brushed from off its nose and +eyebrows, I believe it would have a rather gracious expression." + +As for the captain, he went walking about on the outlying portion of the +plateau, listening and watching. But it was not stone faces he was +thinking of. That night he did not sleep at all, but sat until day-break, +with a loaded gun across his knees, and another one lying on the ground +beside him. + +When Miss Markham emerged from the rude tent the next morning, and came +out into the bright light of day, the first thing she saw was her +brother Ralph, who looked as if he had been sweeping a chimney or +cleaning out an ash-hole. + +"What on earth has happened to you!" she cried. "How did you get yourself +so covered with dirt and ashes?" + +"I got up ever so long ago," he replied, "and as the captain is asleep +over there, and there was nobody to talk to, I thought I would go and try +to find the back of his head"--pointing to the stone face above them. +"But he hasn't any. He is a sham." + +"What do you mean?" asked his sister. + +"You see, Edna," said the boy, "I thought I would try if I could find any +more faces, and so I got a bit of stone, and scratched away some of the +burnt vines that had not fallen, and there I found an open place in the +rock on this side of the face. Step this way, and you can see it. It's +like a narrow doorway. I went and looked into it, and saw that it led +back of the big face, and I went in to see what was there." + +"You should never have done that, Ralph," cried his sister. "There might +have been snakes in that place, or precipices, or nobody knows what. +What could you expect to see in the dark?" + +"It wasn't so dark as you might think," said he. "After my eyes got used +to the place I could see very well. But there was nothing to see--just +walls on each side. There was more of the passageway ahead of me, but I +began to think of snakes myself, and as I did not have a club or anything +to kill them with, I concluded I wouldn't go any farther. It isn't so +very dirty in there. Most of this I got on myself scraping down the burnt +vines. Here comes the captain. He doesn't generally oversleep himself +like this. If he will go with me, we will explore that crack." + +When Captain Horn heard of the passage into the rock, he was much more +interested than Ralph had expected him to be, and, without loss of time, +he lighted a lantern and, with the boy behind him, set out to investigate +it. But before entering the cleft, the captain stationed Maka at a place +where he could view all the approaches to the plateau, and told him if he +saw any snakes or other dangerous things approaching, to run to the +opening and call him. Now, snakes were among the few things that Maka was +not afraid of, and so long as he thought these were the enemies to be +watched, he would make a most efficient sentinel. + +When Captain Horn had cautiously advanced a couple of yards into the +interior of the rock, he stopped, raised his lantern, and looked about +him. The passage was about two feet wide, the floor somewhat lower than +the ground outside, and the roof but a few feet above his head. It was +plainly the work of man, and not a natural crevice in the rocks. Then +the captain put the lantern behind him, and stared into the gloom ahead +of them. As Ralph had said, it was not so dark as might have been +expected. In fact, about twenty feet forward there was a dim light on the +right-hand wall. + +The captain, still followed by Ralph, now moved on until they came to +this lighted place, and found it was an open doorway. Both heads +together, they peeped in, and saw it was an opening like a doorway into a +chamber about fifteen feet square and with very high walls. They scarcely +needed the lantern to examine it, for a jagged opening in the roof let in +a good deal of light. + +Passing into this chamber, keeping a good watch out for pitfalls as he +moved on, and forgetting, in his excitement, that he might go so far that +he could not hear Maka, should he call, the captain saw to the right +another open doorway, on the other side of which was another chamber, +about the size of the one they had first entered. One side of this was a +good deal broken away, and through a fracture three or four feet wide the +light entered freely, as if from the open air. But when the two explorers +peered through the ragged aperture, they did not look into the open air, +but into another chamber, very much larger than the others, with high, +irregular walls, but with scarcely any roof, almost the whole of the +upper part being open to the sky. + +A mass of broken rocks on the floor of this apartment showed that the +roof had fallen in. The captain entered it and carefully examined it. A +portion of the floor was level and unobstructed by rocks, and in the +walls there was not the slightest sign of a doorway, except the one by +which he had entered from the adjoining chamber. + +"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Here is a suite of rooms. Isn't this grand? You +and I can have that first one, Maka can sleep in the hall to keep out +burglars, and Edna and Mrs. Cliff can have the middle room, and this open +place here can be their garden, where they can take tea and sew. These +rocks will make splendid tables and chairs." + +The captain stood, breathing hard, a sense of relief coming over him like +the warmth of fire. He had thought of what Ralph had said before the boy +had spoken. Here was safety from wild beasts--here was immunity from the +only danger he could imagine to those under his charge. It might be days +yet before the mate returned,--he knew the probable difficulties of +obtaining a vessel, even when a port should be reached,--but they would +be safe here from the attacks of ferocious animals, principally to be +feared in the night. They might well be thankful for such a good place as +this in which to await the arrival of succor, if succor came before their +water gave out. There were biscuits, salt meat, tea, and other things +enough to supply their wants for perhaps a week longer, provided the +three sailors did not return, but the supply of water, although they were +very economical of it, must give out in a day or two. "But," thought the +captain, "Rynders may be back before that, and, on the other hand, a +family of jaguars might scent us out to-night." + +"You are right, my boy," said he, speaking to Ralph. "Here is a suite of +rooms, and we will occupy them just as you have said. They are dry and +airy, and it will be far better for us to sleep here than out of doors." + +As they returned, Ralph was full of talk about the grand find. But the +captain made no answers to his remarks--his mind was busy contriving some +means of barricading the narrow entrance at night. + +When breakfast was over, and the entrance to the rocks had been made +cleaner and easier by the efforts of Maka and Ralph, the ladies were +conducted to the suite of rooms which Ralph had described in such glowing +terms. Both were filled with curiosity to see these apartments, +especially Miss Markham, who was fairly well read in the history of South +America, and who had already imagined that the vast mass of rock by which +they had camped might be in reality a temple of the ancient Peruvians, to +which the stone face was a sacred sentinel. But when the three apartments +had been thoroughly explored she was disappointed. + +"There is not a sign or architectural adornment, or anything that seems +to have the least religious significance, or significance of any sort," +she said. "These are nothing but three stone rooms, with their roofs more +or less broken in. They do not even suggest dungeons." + +As for Mrs. Cliff, she did not hesitate to say that she should prefer to +sleep in the open air. + +"It would be dreadful," she said, "to awaken in the night and think of +those great stone walls about me." + +Even Ralph remarked that, on second thought, he believed he would rather +sleep out of doors, for he liked to look up and see the stars before he +went to sleep. + +At first the captain was a little annoyed to find that this place of +safety, the discovery of which had given him such satisfaction and +relief, was looked upon with such disfavor by those who needed it so very +much, but then the thought came to him, "Why should they care about a +place of safety, when they have no idea of danger?" He did not now +hesitate to settle the matter in the most straightforward and honest way. +Having a place of refuge to offer, the time had come to speak of the +danger. And so, standing in the larger apartment, and addressing his +party, he told them of the fate he feared had overtaken the three +sailors, and how anxious he had been lest the same fate should come upon +some one or all of them. + +Now vanished every spark of opposition to the captain's proffered +lodgings. + +"If we should be here but one night longer," cried Mrs. Cliff, echoing +the captain's thought, "let us be safe." + +In the course of the day the two rooms were made as comfortable as +circumstances would allow with the blankets, shawls, and canvas which had +been brought on shore, and that night they all slept in the rock +chambers, the captain having made a barricade for the opening of the +narrow passage with the four oars, which he brought up from the boat. +Even should these be broken down by some wild beast, Captain Horn felt +that, with his two guns at the end of the narrow passage, he might defend +his party from the attacks of any of the savage animals of the country. + +The captain slept soundly that night, for he had had but a nap of an +hour or two on the previous morning, and, with Maka stretched in the +passage outside the door of his room, he knew that he would have timely +warning of danger, should any come. But Mrs. Cliff did not sleep well, +spending a large part of the night imagining the descent of active +carnivora down the lofty and perpendicular walls of the large adjoining +apartment. + +The next day was passed rather wearily by most of the party in looking +out for signs of a vessel with the returning mate. Ralph had made a flag +which he could wave from a high point near by, in case he should see a +sail, for it would be a great misfortune should Mr. Rynders pass them +without knowing it. + +To the captain, however, came a new and terrible anxiety. He had looked +into the water-keg, and saw that it held but a few quarts. It had not +lasted as long as he had expected, for this was a thirsty climate. + +The next night Mrs. Cliff slept, having been convinced that not even a +cat could come down those walls. The captain woke very early, and when he +went out he found, to his amazement, that the barricade had been removed, +and he could not see Maka. He thought at first that perhaps the negro had +gone down to the sea-shore to get some water for washing purposes, but an +hour passed, and Maka did not return. The whole party went down to the +beach, for the captain insisted upon all keeping together. They shouted, +they called, they did whatever they could to discover the lost African, +but all without success. + +They returned to camp, disheartened and depressed. This new loss had +something terrible in it. What it meant no one could conjecture. There +was no reason why Maka should run away, for there was no place to run to, +and it was impossible that any wild beast should have removed the oars +and carried off the negro. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ANOTHER NEW FACE + + +As the cook had gone, Mrs. Cliff and Miss Markham prepared breakfast, and +then they discovered how little water there was. + +There was something mysterious about the successive losses of his men +which pressed heavily upon the soul of Captain Horn, but the want of +water pressed still more heavily. Ralph had just asked his permission to +go down to the beach and bathe in the sea, saying that as he could not +have all the water he wanted to drink, it might make him feel better to +take a swim in plenty of water. The boy was not allowed to go so far from +camp by himself, but the captain could not help thinking how this poor +fellow would probably feel the next day if help had not arrived, and of +the sufferings of the others, which, by that time, would have begun. +Still, as before, he spoke hopefully, and the two women, as brave as he, +kept up good spirits, and although they each thought of the waterless +morrow, they said nothing about it. + +As for Ralph, he confidently expected the return of the men in the +course of the day, as he had done in the course of each preceding day, +and two or three times an hour he was at his post of observation, ready +to wave his flag. + +Even had he supposed that it would be of any use to go to look for Maka, +a certain superstitious feeling would have prevented the captain from +doing so. If he should go out, and not return, there would be little hope +for those two women and the boy. But he could not help feeling that +beyond the rocky plateau which stretched out into the sea to the +southward, and which must be at least two miles away, there might be seen +some signs of habitation, and, consequently, of a stream. If anything of +the sort could be seen, it might become absolutely necessary for the +party to make their way toward it, either by land or sea, no matter how +great the fatigue or the danger, and without regard to the fate of those +who had left camp before them. + +About half an hour afterwards, when the captain had mounted some rocks +near by, from which he thought he might get a view of the flat region to +the north on which he might discover the missing negro, Ralph, who was +looking seaward, gave a start, and then hurriedly called to his sister +and Mrs. Cliff, and pointed to the beach. There was the figure of a man +which might well be Maka, but, to their amazement and consternation, he +was running, followed, not far behind, by another man. The figures +rapidly approached, and it was soon seen that the first man was Maka, but +that the second figure was not one of the sailors who had left them. +Could he be pursuing Maka? What on earth did it mean? + +For some moments Ralph stood dumfounded, and then ran in the direction +in which the captain had gone, and called to him. + +At the sound of his voice the second figure stopped and turned as if he +were about to run, but Maka--they were sure it was Maka--seized him by +the arm and held him. Therefore this newcomer could not be pursuing their +man. As the two now came forward, Maka hurrying the other on, Ralph and +his two companions were amazed to see that this second man was also an +African, a negro very much like Maka, and as they drew nearer, the two +looked as if they might have been brothers. + +The captain had wandered farther than he had intended, but after several +shouts from Ralph he came running back, and reached the camp-ground just +as the two negroes arrived. + +At the sight of this tall man bounding toward him the strange negro +appeared to be seized with a wild terror. He broke away from Maka, and +ran first in this direction and then in that, and perceiving the cleft in +the face of the rock, he blindly rushed into it, as a rat would rush into +a hole. Instantly Maka was after him, and the two were lost to view. + +When the captain had been told of the strange thing which had happened, +he stood without a word. Another African! This was a puzzle too great for +his brain. + +"Are you sure it was not a native of these parts?" said he, directly. +"You know, they are very dark." + +"No!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff and her companions almost in the same breath, +"it was an African, exactly like Maka." + +At this moment a wild yell was heard from the interior of the rocks, +then another and another. Without waiting to consider anything, or hear +any more, the captain dashed into the narrow passage, Ralph close behind +him. They ran into the room in which they had slept. They looked on all +sides, but saw nothing. Again, far away, they heard another yell, and +they ran out again into the passage. + +This narrow entry, as the investigating Ralph had already discovered, +continued for a dozen yards past the doorway which led to the chambers, +but there it ended in a rocky wall about five feet high. Above this was +an aperture extending to the roof of the passage, but Ralph, having a +wholesome fear of snakes, had not cared to climb over the wall to see +what was beyond. + +When the captain and Ralph had reached the end of the passage, they heard +another cry, and there could be no doubt that it came through the +aperture by which they stood. Instantly Ralph scrambled to the top of the +wall, pushed himself head foremost through the opening, and came down on +the other side, partly on his hands and partly on his feet. Had the +captain been first, he would not have made such a rash leap, but now he +did not hesitate a second. He instantly followed the boy, taking care, +however, to let himself down on his feet. + +The passage on the other side of the dividing wall seemed to be the same +as that they had just left, although perhaps a little lighter. After +pushing on for a short distance, they found that the passage made a turn +to the right, and then in a few moments the captain and Ralph emerged +into open space. What sort of space it was they could not comprehend. + +"It seemed to me," said Ralph, afterwards, "as if I had fallen into the +sky at night. I was afraid to move, for fear I should tumble into +astronomical distances." + +The captain stared about him, apparently as much confounded by the +situation as was the boy. But his mind was quickly brought to the +consideration of things which he could understand. Almost at his feet was +Maka, lying on his face, his arms and head over the edge of what might be +a bank or a bottomless precipice, and yelling piteously. Making a step +toward him, the captain saw that he had hold of another man, several feet +below him, and that he could not pull him up. + +"Hold on tight, Maka," he cried, and then, taking hold of the African's +shoulders, he gave one mighty heave, lifted both men, and set them on +their feet beside him. + +Ralph would have willingly sacrificed the rest of his school-days to be +able to perform such a feat as that. But the Africans were small, and the +captain was wildly excited. + +Well might he be excited. He was wet! The strange man whom he had pulled +up had stumbled against him, and he was dripping with water. Ralph was by +the captain, tightly gripping his arm, and, without speaking, they both +stood gazing before them and around them. + +At their feet, stretching away in one direction, farther than they could +see, and what at first sight they had taken to be air, was a body of +water--a lake! Above them were rocks, and, as far as they could see to +the right, the water seemed to be overhung by a cavernous roof. But in +front of them, on the other side of the lake, which here did not seem to +be more than a hundred feet wide, there was a great upright opening in +the side of the cave, through which they could see the distant mountains +and a portion of the sky. + +"Water!" said Ralph, in a low tone, as if he had been speaking in church, +and then, letting go of the captain's arm, he began to examine the ledge, +but five or six feet wide, on which they stood. At his feet the water was +at least a yard below them, but a little distance on he saw that the +ledge shelved down to the surface of the lake, and in a moment he had +reached this spot, and, throwing himself down on his breast, he plunged +his face into the water and began drinking like a thirsty horse. +Presently he rose to his knees with a great sigh of satisfaction. + +"Oh, captain," he cried, "it is cold and delicious. I believe that in one +hour more I should have died of thirst." + +But the captain did not answer, nor did he move from the spot where he +stood. His thoughts whirled around in his mind like chaff in a +winnowing-machine. Water! A lake in the bosom of the rocks! Half an hour +ago he must have been standing over it as he scrambled up the hillside. +Visions that he had had of the morrow, when all their eyes should be +standing out of their faces, like the eyes of shipwrecked sailors he had +seen in boats, came back to him, and other visions of his mate and his +men toiling southward for perhaps a hundred miles without reaching a port +or a landing, and then the long, long delay before a vessel could be +procured. And here was water! + +Ralph stood beside him for an instant. "Captain," he cried, "I am +going to get a pail, and take some to Edna and Mrs. Cliff." And then +he was gone. + +Recalled thus to the present, the captain stepped back. He must do +something--he must speak to some one. He must take some advantage of this +wonderful, this overpowering discovery. But before he could bring his +mind down to its practical workings, Maka had clutched him by the coat. + +"Cap'n," he said, "I must tell you. I must speak it. I must tell you now, +quick. Wait! Don't go!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RACKBIRDS + + +The new African was sitting on the ground, as far back from the edge of +the ledge as he could get, shivering and shaking, for the water was cold. +He had apparently reached the culmination and termination of his fright. +After his tumble into the water, which had happened because he had been +unable to stop in his mad flight, he had not nerve enough left to do +anything more, no matter what should appear to scare him, and there was +really no reason why he should be afraid of this big white man, who did +not even look at him or give him a thought. + +Maka's tale, which he told so rapidly and incoherently that he was +frequently obliged to repeat portions of it, was to the following effect: +He had thought a great deal about the scarcity of water, and it had +troubled him so that he could not sleep. What a dreadful thing it would +be for those poor ladies and the captain and the boy to die because they +had no water! His recollections of experiences in his native land made +him well understand that streams of water are to be looked for between +high ridges, and the idea forced itself upon him very strongly that on +the other side of the ridge to the south there might be a stream. He +knew the captain would not allow him to leave the camp if he asked +permission, and so he rose very early, even before it was light, and +going down to the shore, made his way along the beach--on the same route, +in fact, that the Englishman Davis had taken. He was a good deal +frightened sometimes, he said, by the waves, which dashed up as if they +would pull him into the water. When he reached the point of the rocky +ridge, he had no difficulty whatever in getting round it, as he could +easily keep away from the water by climbing over the rocks. + +He found that the land on the other side began to recede from the ocean, +and that there was a small sandy beach below him. This widened until it +reached another and smaller point of rock, and beyond this Maka believed +he would find the stream for which he was searching. And while he was +considering whether he should climb over it or wade around it, suddenly a +man jumped down from the rock, almost on top of him. This man fell down +on his back, and was at first so frightened that he did not try to move. +Maka's wits entirely deserted him, he said, and he did not know anything, +except that most likely he was going to die. + +But on looking at the man on the ground, he saw that he was an African +like himself, and in a moment he recognized him as one of his +fellow-slaves, with whom he had worked in Guiana, and also for a short +time on the Panama Canal. This made him think that perhaps he was not +going to die, and he went up to the other man and spoke to him. Then +the other man thought perhaps he was not going to die, and he sat up +and spoke. + +When the other man told his tale, Maka agreed with him that it would be +far better to die of thirst than to go on any farther to look for water, +and, turning, he ran back, followed by the other, and they never stopped +to speak to each other until they had rounded the great bluff, and were +making their way along the beach toward the camp. Then his fellow-African +told Maka a great deal more, and Maka told everything to the captain. + +The substance of the tale was this: A mile farther up the bay than Maka +had gone, there was a little stream that ran down the ravine. About a +quarter of a mile up this stream there was a spot where, it appeared from +the account, there must be a little level ground suitable for +habitations. Here were five or six huts, almost entirely surrounded by +rocks, and in these lived a dozen of the most dreadful men in the whole +world. This Maka assured the captain, his eyes wet with tears as he +spoke. It must truly be so, because the other African had told him things +which proved it. + +A little farther up the stream, on the other side of the ravine, there +was a cave, a very small one, and so high up in the face of the rock +that it could only be reached by a ladder. In this lived five black men, +members of the company of slaves who had gone from Guiana to the +isthmus, and who had been brought down there about a year before by two +wicked men, who had promised them well-paid work in a lovely country. +They had, however, been made actual slaves in this barren and doleful +place, and had since worked for the cruel men who had beguiled them +into a captivity worse than the slavery to which they had been +originally destined. + +Eight of them had come down from the isthmus, but, at various times +since, three of them had been killed by accident, or shot while trying to +run away. The hardships of these poor fellows were very great, and Maka's +voice shook as he spoke of them. They were kept in the cave all the time, +except when they were wanted for some sort of work, when a ladder was put +up by the side of the rock, and such as were required were called to come +down. Without a ladder no one could get in or out of the cave. One man +who had tried to slip down at night fell and broke his neck. + +The Africans were employed in cooking and other rough domestic or menial +services, and sometimes all of them were taken down to the shore of the +bay, where they saw small vessels, and they were employed in carrying +goods from one of these to another, and were also obliged to carry +provisions and heavy kegs up the ravine to the houses of the wicked men. +The one whom he had brought with him, Maka said, had that day escaped +from his captors. One of the Rackbirds, whom in some way the negro had +offended, had sworn to kill him before night, and feeling sure that this +threat would be carried out, the poor fellow had determined to run away, +no matter what the consequences. He had chosen the way by the ocean, in +order that he might jump in and drown himself if he found that he was +likely to be overtaken, but apparently his escape had not yet been +discovered. + +Maka was going on to tell something more about the wicked men, when +the captain interrupted him. "Can this friend of yours speak +English?" he asked. + +"Only one, two words," replied Maka. + +"Ask him if he knows the name of that band of men." + +"Yes," said Maka, presently, "he know, but he no can speak it." + +"Are they called the Rackbirds?" asked Captain Horn. + +The shivering negro had been listening attentively, and now half rose and +nodded his head violently, and then began to speak rapidly in African. + +"Yes," said Maka, "he says that is name they are called." + +At this moment Ralph appeared upon the scene, and the second African, +whose name was something like Mok, sprang to his feet as if he were about +to flee for his life. But as there was no place to flee to, except into +the water or into the arms of Ralph, he stood still, trembling. A few +feet to the left the shelf ended in a precipitous rock, and on the right, +as has been said, it gradually descended into the water, the space on +which the party stood not being more than twenty feet long and five or +six feet wide. When he saw Ralph, the captain suddenly stopped the +question he was about to ask, and said in an undertone to Maka: + +"Not a word to the boy. I will tell." + +"Oh," cried Ralph, "you do not know what a lively couple there is out +there. I found that my sister and Mrs. Cliff had made up their minds that +they would perish in about two days, and Mrs. Cliff had been making her +will with a lead-pencil, and now they are just as high up as they were +low down before. They would not let me come to get them some water, +though I kept telling them they never tasted anything like it in their +whole lives, because they wanted to hear everything about everything. My +sister will be wild to come to this lake before long, even if Mrs. Cliff +does not care to try it. And when you are ready to come to them, and +bring Maka, they want to know who that other colored man is, and how Maka +happened to find him. I truly believe their curiosity goes ahead of their +thirst." And so saying he went down to the lake to fill a pail he had +brought with him. + +The captain told Ralph to hurry back to the ladies, and that he would be +there in a few minutes. Captain Horn knew a great deal about the +Rackbirds. They were a band of desperadoes, many of them outlaws and +criminals. They had all come down from the isthmus, to which they had +been attracted by the great canal works, and after committing various +outrages and crimes, they had managed to get away without being shot or +hung. Captain Horn had frequently heard of them in the past year or two, +and it was generally supposed that they had some sort of rendezvous or +refuge on this coast, but there had been no effort made to seek them out. +He had frequently heard of crimes committed by them at points along the +coast, which showed that they had in their possession some sort of +vessel. At one time, when he had stopped at Lima, he had heard that there +was talk of the government's sending out a police or military expedition +against these outlaws, but he had never known of anything of the sort +being done. + +Everything that, from time to time, had been told Captain Horn about +the Rackbirds showed that they surpassed in cruelty and utter vileness +any other bandits, or even savages, of whom he had ever heard. Among +other news, he had been told that the former leader of the band, which +was supposed to be composed of men of many nationalities, was a French +Canadian, who had been murdered by his companions because, while robbing +a plantation in the interior,--they had frequently been known to cross +the desert and the mountains,--he had forborne to kill an old man +because as the trembling graybeard looked up at him he had reminded him +of his father. Some of the leading demons of the band determined that +they could not have such a fool as this for their leader, and he was +killed while asleep. + +Now the band was headed by a Spaniard, whose fiendishness was of a +sufficiently high order to satisfy the most exacting of his fellows. +These and other bits of news about the Rackbirds had been told by one of +the band who had escaped to Panama after the murder of the captain, +fearing that his own talents for baseness did not reach the average +necessary for a Rackbird. + +When he had made his landing from the wreck, Captain Horn never gave a +thought to the existence of this band of scoundrels. In fact, he had +supposed, when he had thought of the matter, that their rendezvous must +be far south of this point. + +But now, standing on that shelf of rock, with his eyes fixed on the water +without seeing it, he knew that the abode of this gang of wretches was +within a comparatively short distance of this spot in which he and his +companions had taken refuge, and he knew, too, that there was every +reason to suppose that some of them would soon be in pursuit of the negro +who had run away. + +Suddenly another dreadful thought struck him. Wild beasts, indeed! + +He turned quickly to Maka. "Does that man know anything about Davis and +the two sailors? Were they killed?" he asked. + +Maka shook his head and said that he had already asked his companion that +question, but Mok had said that he did not know. All he knew was that +those wicked men killed everybody they could kill. + +The captain shut his teeth tightly together. "That was it," he said. "I +could not see how it could be jaguars, although I could think of nothing +else. But these bloodthirsty human beasts! I see it now." He moved toward +the passage. "If that dirty wretch had not run away," he thought, "we +might have stayed undiscovered here until a vessel came. But they will +track his footsteps upon the sand--they are bound to do that." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THREE WILD BEASTS + + +When the captain joined the two ladies and the boy, who were impatiently +waiting for him on the plateau, he had made up his mind to tell them the +bad news. Terrible as was the necessity, it could not be helped. It was +very hard for him to meet those three radiant faces, and to hear them +talk about the water that had been discovered. + +"Now," said Mrs. Cliff, "I see no reason why we should not live here in +peace and comfort until Mr. Rynders chooses to come back for us. And I +have been thinking, captain, that if somebody--and I am sure Ralph would +be very good at it--could catch some fish, it would help out very much. +We are getting a little short of meat, but as for the other things, we +have enough to last for days and days. But we won't talk of that now. We +want to hear where that other colored man came from. Just look at him as +he sits there with Maka by those embers. One might think he would shiver +himself to pieces. Was he cast ashore from a wreck?" + +The captain stood silent for a moment, and then, briefly but plainly, and +glossing over the horrors of the situation as much as he could, he told +them about the Rackbirds. Not one of the little party interrupted the +captain's story, but their faces grew paler and paler as he proceeded. + +When he had finished, Mrs. Cliff burst into tears. "Captain," she cried, +"let us take the boat and row away from this dreadful place. We should +not lose a minute. Let us go now!" + +But the captain shook his head. "That would not do," he said. "On this +open sea they could easily see us. They have boats, and could row much +faster than we could." + +"Then," exclaimed the excited woman, "we could turn over the boat, and +all sink to the bottom together." + +To this the captain made no answer. "You must all get inside as quickly +as you can," he said. "Maka, you and that other fellow carry in +everything that has been left out here. Be quick. Go up, Ralph, and take +the flag down, and then run in." + +When the others had entered the narrow passage, the captain followed. +Fortunately, he had two guns, each double-barrelled, and if but a few of +the Rackbirds came in pursuit of the escaped negro, he might be a match +for them in that narrow passage. + +Shortly after the party had retired within the rocks, Miss Markham came +to the captain, who was standing at the door of the first apartment. +"Captain Horn," said she, "Mrs. Cliff is in a state of nervous fear, and +I have been trying to quiet her. Can you say anything that might give her +a little courage? Do you really think there is any chance of our escape +from this new danger?" + +"Yes," said the captain, "there is a chance. Rynders may come back +before the Rackbirds discover us, and even if two or three of them +find out our retreat, I may be able to dispose of them, and thus give +us a little more time. That is our only ground of hope. Those men are +bound to come here sooner or later, and everything depends upon the +return of Rynders." + +"But," urged Miss Markham, "perhaps they may not come so far as this +to look for the runaway. The waves may have washed out his footsteps +upon the sand. There may be no reason why they should come up to +this plateau." + +The captain smiled a very sombre smile. "If any of them should come this +way," he said, "it is possible that they might not think it worth while +to cease their search along the beach and come up to this particular +spot, were it not that our boat is down there. That is the same thing as +if we had put out a sign to tell them where we are. The boat is hauled up +on shore, but they could not fail to see it." + +"Captain," said Miss Markham, "do you think those Rackbirds killed the +three sailors?" + +"I am very much afraid of it," he answered. "If they did, they must have +known that these poor fellows were survivors of a shipwreck, and I +suppose they stole up behind them and shot them down or stabbed them. If +that were so, I wonder why they have not sooner been this way, looking +for the wreck, or, at least, for other unfortunates who may have reached +shore. I suppose, if they are making this sort of a search, they went +southward. But all that, of course, depends upon whether they really saw +Davis and the two other men. If they did not, they could have no reason +for supposing there were any shipwrecked people on the coast." + +"But that thought is of no use to us," said Miss Markham, her eyes upon +the ground, "for, of course, they will be coming after the black man. +Captain," she continued quickly, "is there anything I can do? I can +fire a gun." + +He looked at her for a moment. "That will not be necessary," he said. +"But there is something you can do. Have you a pistol?" + +"Yes," said she, "I have. I put it in my pocket as soon as I came into +the cave. Here it is." + +The captain took the pistol from her hands and examined it. "Five +chambers," he said, "all charged. Be very careful of it,"--handing it +back to her. "I will put your brother and Mrs. Cliff in your charge. At +the slightest hint of danger, you must keep together in the middle room. +I will stand between you and the rascals as long as I can, but if I am +killed, you must do what you think best." + +"I will," said she, and she put the pistol back in her pocket. + +The captain was very much encouraged by the brave talk of this young +woman, and it really seemed as if he now had some one to stand by him, +some one with whom he could even consult. + +"I have carefully examined this cavern," said the captain, after a +moment's pause, "and there are only two ways by which those men could +possibly get in. You need not be afraid that any one can scramble down +the walls of that farthest apartment. That could not be done, though they +might be able to fire upon any one in it. But in the middle room you +will be perfectly secure from gunshots. I shall keep Maka on guard a +little back from the entrance to the passage. He will lie on the ground, +and can hear footsteps long before they reach us. It is barely possible +that some of them might enter by the great cleft in the cave on the other +side of the lake, but in that case they would have to swim across, and I +shall station that new African on the ledge of which you have heard, and +if he sees any of them coming in that direction, I know he will give very +quick warning. I hardly think, though, that they would trust themselves +to be picked off while swimming." + +"And you?" said she. + +"Oh, I shall keep my eyes on all points," said he, "as far as I can. I +begin to feel a spirit of fight rising up within me. If I thought I could +keep them off until Rynders gets here, I almost wish they would then +come. I would like to kill a lot of them." + +"Suppose," said Edna Markham, after a moment's reflection, "that they +should see Mr. Rynders coming back, and should attack him." + +"I hardly think they would do that," replied the captain. "He will +probably come in a good-sized vessel, and I don't think they are the kind +of men for open battle. They are midnight sneaks and assassins. Now, I +advise all of you to go and get something to eat. It would be better for +us not to try to do any cooking, and so make a smoke." + +The captain did not wish to talk any more. Miss Markham's last remark had +put a new fear into his mind. Suppose the Rackbirds had lured Rynders and +his men on shore? Those sailors had but few arms among them. They had +not thought, when they left, that there would be any necessity for +defence against their fellow-beings. + +When Edna Markham told Mrs. Cliff what the captain had said about their +chances, and what he intended to do for their protection, the older woman +brightened up a good deal. + +"I have great faith in the captain," she declared, "and if he thinks it +is worth while to make a fight, I believe he will make a good one. If +they should be firing, and Mr. Rynders is approaching the coast, even if +it should be night, he would lose no time in getting to us." + +Toward the close of that afternoon three wild beasts came around the +point of the bluff and made their way northward along the beach. They +were ferocious creatures with shaggy hair and beards. Two of them carried +guns, and each of them had a knife in his belt. When they came to a broad +bit of beach above the reach of the waves, they were very much surprised +at some footsteps they saw. They were the tracks of two men, instead of +those of the one they were looking for. This discovery made them very +cautious. They were eager to kill the escaped African before he got far +enough away to give information of their retreat, for they knew not at +what time an armed force in search of them might approach the coast. But +they were very wary about running into danger. There was somebody with +that black fellow--somebody who wore boots. + +After a time they came to the boat. The minute they saw this, each +miscreant crouched suddenly upon the sand, and, with cocked guns, they +listened. Then, hearing nothing, they carefully examined the boat. It +was empty--there were not even oars in it. + +Looking about them, they saw a hollow behind some rocks. To this they +ran, crouching close to the ground, and there they sat and consulted. + +It was between two and three o'clock the next morning that Maka's eyes, +which had not closed for more than twenty hours, refused to keep open any +longer, and with his head on the hard, rocky ground of the passage in +which he lay, the poor African slept soundly. On the shelf at the edge of +the lake, the other African, Mok, sat crouched on his heels, his eyes +wide open. Whether he was asleep or not it would have been difficult to +determine, but if any one had appeared in the great cleft on the other +side of the lake, he would have sprung to his feet with a yell--his fear +of the Rackbirds was always awake. + +Inside the first apartment was Captain Horn, fast asleep, his two guns by +his side. He had kept watch until an hour before, but Ralph had insisted +upon taking his turn, and, as the captain knew he could not keep awake +always, he allowed the boy to take a short watch. But now Ralph was +leaning back against one of the walls, snoring evenly and steadily. In +the next room sat Edna Markham, wide awake. She knew of the arrangement +made with Ralph, and she knew the boy's healthy, sleepy nature, so that +when he went on watch she went on watch. + +Outside of the cave were three wild beasts. One of them was crouching on +the farther end of the plateau. Another, on the lower ground a little +below, stood, gun in hand, and barely visible in the starlight. A third, +barefooted, and in garments dingy as the night, and armed only with a +knife, crept softly toward the entrance of the cave. There he stopped +and listened. He could plainly hear the breathing of the sleepers. He +tried to separate these sounds one from another, so that he should be +able to determine how many persons were sleeping inside, but this he +could not do. Then his cat-like eyes, becoming more and more accustomed +to the darkness within the entrance, saw the round head of Maka close +upon the ground. + +The soul of the listening fiend laughed within him. "Pretty watchers they +are," he said to himself. "Not three hours after midnight, and they are +all snoring!" Then, as stealthily and as slowly as he had come, he +slipped away, and joining the others, they all glided through the +darkness down to the beach, and then set off at their best speed back to +their rendezvous. + +After they had discovered that there were people in the cave, they had +not thought of entering. They were not fully armed, and they did not +know how many persons were inside. But they knew one thing, and that was +that these shipwrecked people--for that was what they must be--kept a +very poor watch, and if the whole band came on the following night, the +affair would probably be settled with but very little trouble, no matter +how large the party in the cave might be. It was not necessary to look +any further for the escaped negro. Of course, he had been picked up by +these people. + +The three beasts reached their camp about daybreak, and everybody was +soon awakened and the tale was told. + +"It is a comfort," said the leader, lighting the stump of a black pipe +which he thrust under his great mustache, and speaking in his native +tongue, which some of them understood, and others did not, "to know that +to-night's work is all cut out for us. Now we can take it easy to-day, +and rest our bones. The order of the day is to keep close. No straggling, +nor wandering. Keep those four niggers up in the pigeonhole. We will do +our own cooking to-day, for we can't afford to run after any more of +them. Lucky the fellow who got away can't speak English, for he can't +tell anything about us, any more than if he was an ape. So snooze to-day, +if you want to. I will give you work to do for to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GONE! + + +That morning, when the party in the cavern had had their breakfast, with +some hot tea made on a spiritlamp which Mrs. Cliff had brought, and had +looked cautiously out at the sunlit landscape, and the sea beyond, +without seeing any signs or hearing any sound of wicked men, there came +a feeling of relief. There was, indeed, no great ground for such a +feeling, but as the Rackbirds had not come the day before nor during the +night, perhaps they would not come at all. It might be they did not care +whether the black man ran away or not. But Captain Horn did not relax +his precautions. He would take no chances, and would keep up a watch day +and night. + +When, on the night before, the time had come for Ralph's watch to end, +his sister had awakened him, and when the captain, in his turn, was +aroused, he had not known that it was not the boy who had kept watch +during his sleep. + +In the course of the morning Mrs. Cliff and Edna, having been filled +with an intense desire to see the wonderful subterranean lake, had been +helped over the rocky barrier, and had stood at the edge of the water, +looking over to where it was lighted by the great chasm in the side of +the rocks, and endeavoring to peer into the solemn, cavernous distance +into which it extended on the right. Edna said nothing, but stood +gazing at the wonderful scene--the dark, mysterious waters before her, +the arched cavern above her, and the picture of the bright sky and the +tops of the distant mountains, framed by the sides of the great opening +which stretched itself upward like a cathedral window on the other side +of the lake. + +"It frightens me," said Mrs. Cliff. "To be sure, this water was our +salvation, for we should have been dead by this time, pirates or no +pirates, if we had not found it. But it is terrifying, for all that. We +do not know how far it stretches out into the blackness, and we do not +know how far down it goes. It may be thousands of feet deep, for all we +know. Don't go so near the edge, Ralph. It makes me shudder." + +When the little party had returned to the cavern, the captain and the two +ladies had a long talk about the lake. They all agreed that the existence +of this great reservoir of water was sufficient to account for the +greenness and fertility of the little plateau outside. Even if no +considerable amount of water trickled through the cracks in the rocks, +the moisture which arose from the surface of the water found its way out +into the surrounding atmosphere, and had nourished the bushes and vines. + +For some time they discussed their new-found water-supply, and they were +all glad to have something to think about and talk about besides the +great danger which overhung them. + +"If it could only have been the lake without the Rackbirds," said +Mrs. Cliff. + +"Let us consider that that is the state of the case," remarked Edna. "We +have the lake, and so far we have not had any Rackbirds." + +It was now nearly noon, and the captain looked around for Ralph, but did +not see him. He went to search for him, and finding that the boy had not +passed Maka, who was on watch, he concluded he must have gone to the +lake. There was no reason why the restless youth should not seek to +enliven his captivity by change of scene, but Captain Horn felt unwilling +to have any one in his charge out of sight for any length of time, so he +went to look for Ralph. + +He found no one on the rocky shelf. As there had been little reason to +expect a water attack at this hour, Mok had been relieved from guard for +a meal and a nap. But as Ralph was not here, where could he be? A second +glance, however, showed the captain the boy's clothes lying close by, +against the upright side of the rock, and at that moment he heard a cry. +His eyes flashed out toward the sound. There on the other side of the +water, sitting on a bit of projecting rock not far from the great opening +in the cave, he saw Ralph. At first the captain stood dumb with +amazement, and he was just about to call out, when Ralph shouted again. + +"I swam over," he said, "but I can't get back. I've got the cramps. +Can't you make some sort of a raft, and come over to me! The water's +awfully cold." + +Raft, indeed! There was no material or time for anything of the kind. If +the boy dropped off that bit of rock, he would be drowned, and the +captain did not hesitate a moment. Throwing aside his jacket and slipping +off his shoes, he let himself down into the water and struck out in +Ralph's direction. The water was, indeed, very cold, but the captain was +a strong swimmer, and it would not take him very long to cross the lake +at this point, where its width was not much more than a hundred feet. As +he neared the other side he did not make immediately for Ralph. He +thought it would be wise to rest a little before attempting to take the +boy back, and so he made for another point of rock, a little nearer the +opening, urging the boy, as he neared him, to sit firmly and keep up a +good heart. + +"All right," said Ralph. "I see what you are after. That is a +better place than this, and if you land there I think I can +scramble over to you." + +"Don't move," said the captain. "Sit where you are until I tell you +what to do." + +The captain had not made more than two or three strokes after speaking +when his right hand struck against something hard, just below the surface +of the water. He involuntarily grasped it. It was immovable, and it felt +like a tree, a few inches in diameter, standing perpendicularly in the +lake. Wondering what this could be, he took hold of it with his other +hand, and finding that it supported him, he let his feet drop, when, to +his surprise, he found that they rested on something with a rounded +surface, and the idea instantly came into his mind that it was a +submerged tree, the trunk lying horizontally, from which this upright +branch projected. This might be as good a resting-place as the rock to +which he had been going, and standing on it, with his head well out of +the water, he turned to speak to Ralph. At that moment his feet slipped +from the slimy object on which he stood, and he fell backward into the +water, still grasping, however, his upright support. But this did not +remain upright more than an instant, but yielded to his weight, and the +end of it which he held went down with him. As he sank, the captain, in +his first bewilderment, did not loosen his grasp upon what had been his +support, and which still prevented him from sinking rapidly. But in a +moment his senses came to him, he let go, and a few downward strokes +brought him to the surface of the water. Then he struck out for the point +of rock for which he had been aiming, and he was soon mounted upon it. + +"Hi!" shouted Ralph, who had been so frightened by the captain's sudden +sinking that he nearly fell off his narrow seat, "I thought something had +pulled you down." + +The captain did not explain. He was spluttering a little after his +involuntary dive, and he wanted to get back as soon as possible, and so +wasted no breath in words. In a few minutes he felt himself ready for the +return trip, and getting into the water, he swam to Ralph. Following the +directions given him, the boy let himself down into the water behind the +captain, and placed his hands upon the latter's hips, firmly grasping the +waistband of his trousers. Then urging the boy not to change his +position, nor attempt to take hold of him in any other way, the captain +struck out across the lake, Ralph easily floating behind him. + +When they stood upon the shelf on the other side, and Ralph, having +rubbed himself down with the captain's jacket, put on his clothes, +Captain Horn rather sternly inquired of him how he came to do such a +foolish and wicked thing as to run the risk of drowning himself in the +lake at a time when his sister and his friends had already trouble enough +on their minds. + +Ralph was sorry, of course, that the captain had to come after him, and +get himself wet, but he explained that he wanted to do something for the +good of the party, and it had struck him that it would be a very sensible +thing to investigate the opening on the other side of the lake. If he +could get out of that great gap, he might find some way of climbing out +over the top of the rocks and get to the place where his flag was, and +then, if he saw Mr. Rynders coming, he could wave it. It would be a great +thing if the people in the vessel which they all expected should see that +flag the moment they came in sight of the coast. They might get to shore +an hour or two sooner than if they had not seen it. + +"If the cramp in this leg had kept off five minutes longer," he said, "I +would have reached that big hole, and then, if I could have climbed over +the top of the rocks, I could have come down on the other side to the +front door, and asked Maka to get me my clothes, so I would not have had +to swim back at all." + +"That will do," said the captain. "And now that you are dressed, you can +go inside and get me that woollen shirt and trousers that I use for a +pillow, for I must take off these wet things." + +When the boy came back with the clothes, the captain told him that he +need not say anything to his sister or Mrs. Cliff about the great danger +he had been in, but before he had finished his injunction Ralph +interrupted him. + +"Oh, I have told them that already," said he. "They wanted to know where +I had been, and it did not take a minute to tell them what a splendid +swimmer you are, and how you came over after me without taking as much as +two seconds to think about it. And I let them know, too, that it was a +mighty dangerous thing for you to do. If I had been one of those fellows +who were not used to the water, and who would grab hold of any one who +came to save them, we might both have gone to the bottom together." + +The captain smiled grimly. "It is hard to get ahead of a boy," he said +to himself. + +It was late that afternoon when Captain Horn, with Ralph and the two +ladies, were standing on the rocks in the inner apartment, trying to +persuade themselves that they were having a cosey cup of tea together, +when suddenly a scrambling sound of footsteps was heard, and Maka dashed +through the two adjoining apartments and appeared before them. Instantly +the captain was on his feet, his gun, which had been lying beside him, in +his hand. Up sprang the others, mute, with surprise and fear on their +faces. Maka, who was in a state of great excitement, and seemed unable to +speak, gasped out the one word, "Gone!" + +"What do you mean?" cried the captain. + +Maka ran back toward the passage, and pointed inward. Instantly the +captain conjectured what he meant. Mok, the second African, had been +stationed to watch the lake approach, and he had deserted! Now the hot +thought flashed upon the captain that the rascal had been a spy. The +Rackbirds had known that there were shipwrecked people in these caves. +How could they help knowing it, if they had killed Davis and the others? +But, cowardly hounds as they were, they had been afraid to attack the +place until they knew how many people were in it, what arms they had, and +in what way the place could best be assailed. This Mok had found out +everything. If the boy could swim across the lake, that black man could +do it, and he had gone out through the cleft, and was probably now making +his report to the gang. + +All this flashed through the captain's brain in a few seconds. He set his +teeth together. He was ashamed that he had allowed himself to be so +tricked. That African, probably one of the gang, and able to speak +English, should have been kept a prisoner. What a fool he had been to +treat the black-hearted and black-bodied wretch as one of themselves, and +actually to put him on guard! + +Of course, it was of no use to go to look for him, and the captain had +put down his gun, and was just about to turn to speak to the others, when +Maka seized him by the coat. The negro seemed wildly excited and still +unable to speak. But it was plain that he wanted the captain to follow +him along the passage. There was no use in asking questions, and the +captain followed, and behind him came Ralph, Edna, and Mrs. Cliff. + +Maka was about to climb over the rocky partition which divided the +passage, but the captain stopped him. "Stay here," said he, "and watch +the passage. I will see what is the matter over there." And then he and +Ralph jumped over and hurried to the lake. As they came out on the little +platform of rock, on which the evening light, coming through the great; +cleft, still rendered objects visible, they saw Mok crouching on his +heels, his eyes wide open as usual. + +The captain was stupefied. That African not gone! If it were not he, +who had gone? + +Then the captain felt a tight clutch upon his arm, and Ralph pulled +him around. Casting eyes outward, the captain saw that it was the lake +that had gone! + +As he and Ralph stood there, stupefied and staring, they saw, by the dim +light which came through the opening on the other side of the cavern, a +great empty rocky basin. The bottom of this, some fifteen or twenty feet +below them, wet and shining, with pools of water here and there, was +plainly visible in the space between them and the open cleft, but farther +on all was dark. There was every reason to suppose, however, that all the +water had gone from the lake. Why or how this had happened, they did not +even ask themselves. They simply stood and stared. + +In a few minutes they were joined by Edna, who had become so anxious at +their absence and silence that she had clambered over the wall, and came +running to them. By the time she reached them it was much darker than +when they had arrived, but she could see that the lake had gone. That +was enough. + +"What do you suppose it means?" she said presently. "Are we over +some awful subterranean cavern in which things sink out of sight in +an instant?" + +"It is absolutely unaccountable," said the captain. "But we must go back +to Mrs. Cliff. I hear her calling. And if Maka has come to his senses, +perhaps he can tell us something." + +But Maka had very little to tell. To the captain's questions he could +only say that a little while before, Mok had come running to him, and +told him that, being thirsty, he had gone down to the edge of the lake to +get a drink, and found that there was no water, only a great hole, and +then he had run to tell Maka, and when Maka had gone back with him, so +greatly surprised that he had deserted his post without thinking about +it, he found that what Mok had said was true, and that there was nothing +there but a great black hole. Mok must have been asleep when the water +went away, but it was gone, and that was all he knew about it. + +There was something so weird and mysterious about this absolute and +sudden disappearance of this great body of water that Mrs. Cliff became +very nervous and frightened. + +"This is a temple of the devil," she said, "and that is his face outside. +You do not know what may happen next. This rocky floor on which we stand +may give way, and we may all go down into unknown depths. I can't think +of staying here another minute. It is dark now. Let us slip away down to +the beach, and take the boat, and row away from this horrible region +where human devils and every other kind seem to own the country." + +"Oh, no," said the captain, "we can't consider such wild schemes as that. +I have been thinking that perhaps there may be some sort of a tide in +this lake, and in the morning we may find the water just as it was. And, +at any rate, it has not entirely deserted us, for in these pools at the +bottom we can find water enough for us to drink." + +"I suppose I would not mind such things so much," said Mrs. Cliff, "if +they happened out of doors. But being shut up in this cave with magical +lakes, and expecting every minute to see a lot of bloodthirsty pirates +bursting in upon us, is enough to shake the nerves of anybody." + +"Captain," said Ralph, "I suppose you will not now object to letting me +go in the morning to explore that opening. I can walk across the bottom +of the lake without any danger, you know." + +"Don't you try to do anything of the kind," said the captain, "without my +permission." + +"No, indeed!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "Supposing the water were to suddenly +rise just as you were half-way across. Now that I think of it, there are +springs and bodies of water which rise and fall this way, some of them in +our own Western country, but none of them are as large as this. What if +it should rise in the night and flood the cave while we are asleep?" + +"Why, dear Mrs. Cliff," said Edna, "I am not afraid of the water's rising +or of the earth's sinking. Don't let us frighten ourselves with +imaginations like that. Perhaps there may not even be any real thing to +be afraid of, but if there should be, let us keep courage for that." + +The disappearance of the lake gave the captain an uneasiness of which the +others had not thought. He saw it would be comparatively easy for the +Rackbirds to gain access to the place through the cleft in the eastern +wall of the lake cavern. If they should discover that aperture, the +cavern might be attacked from the rear and the front at the same time, +and then the captain feared his guns would not much avail. + +Of course, during the darkness which would soon prevail there was no +reason to expect a rear attack, and the captain satisfied himself with +leaving Mok at his former post, with instructions to give the alarm if +he heard the slightest sound, and put Maka, as before, in the outer +passage. As for himself, he took an early nap in the evening, because +at the very first break of dawn it would be necessary for him to be on +the alert. + +He did not know how much he had depended upon the lake as a barrier of +defence, but now that it had gone, he felt that the dangers which +threatened them from the Rackbirds were doubled. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE ALARM + + +It was still dark when the captain woke, and he struck a match to look at +his watch. It was three o'clock. + +"Is that you, captain?" said a voice from the next room. "Is it time for +you to begin watch again?" + +"Yes," said the captain, "it is about time. How do you happen to be +awake, Miss Markham? Ralph! I believe the boy is snoring." + +"Of course he is," said Edna, speaking in a low voice. "We cannot expect +such a boy to keep awake, and so I have been on watch. It was easy enough +for me to keep my eyes open." + +"It is too bad," said the captain, and then, listening for a moment, he +said: "I truly believe that Maka is snoring, too, and as for that black +fellow over there, I suspect that he sleeps all the time. Miss Markham, +you have been the only person awake." + +"Why shouldn't I be?" said she. "I am sure that a woman is just as good +as a man for keeping watch." + +"If they should come," thought the captain, as he again sat in the dark, +"I must not try to fight them in the passage. That would have been my +best chance, but now some of them might pick me off from behind. No, I +must fight them in this chamber. I can put everybody else in the middle +apartment. Perhaps before to-morrow night it might be well to bring some +of those loose rocks here and build a barricade. I wish I had thought of +that before." + +The captain sat and listened and thought. His listening brought him no +return, and his thinking brought him too much. The most mournful ideas of +what might happen if more than two or three of the desperadoes attacked +the place crowded into his mind. If they came, they came to rob, and they +were men who left behind them no living witnesses of their whereabouts or +their crimes. And if two or three should come, and be repulsed, it would +not be long before the rest would arrive. In fact, the only real hope +they had was founded on the early return of Rynders--that is, if Rynders +and his men were living. + +The captain waited and listened, but nothing came but daylight. As +soon as he was able to discern objects outside the opening on the +plateau, he awoke Maka, and, leaving him on guard, he made his way to +the lake cavern. + +Here the light was beginning to come freely through the chasm which faced +nearly east. Mok was sitting with his eyes open, and showed that he was +alive by a little grunt when the captain approached. If there were such a +thing here as a subterranean tide, it had not risen. There was no water +where the lake had been. + +Gazing across the empty basin, the captain felt a strong desire to go +over, climb up to the opening, and discover whether or not the cavern +was accessible on that side. It would be very important for him to know +this, and it would not take long for him to make an investigation. One +side of the rocky shelf which has been before mentioned sloped down to +the lake, and the captain was just about to descend this when he heard a +cry from the passage, and, at the same moment, a shout from Mok which +seemed to be in answer to it. Instantly the captain turned and dashed +into the passage, and, leaping over the barrier, found Maka standing near +the entrance. + +As soon as the negro saw him, he began to beckon wildly for him to come +on. But there was no need now of keeping quiet and beckoning. The first +shout had aroused everybody inside, and the two ladies and Ralph were +already in the passage. The captain, however, made them keep back, while +he and Maka, on their hands and knees, crawled toward the outer opening. +From this point one could see over the plateau, and the uneven ground +beyond, down to the beach and the sea; but there was still so little +light upon this western slope that at first the captain could not see +anything noticeable in the direction in which Maka was pointing. But in a +few moments his mariner eyes asserted themselves, and he saw some black +spots on the strip of beach, which seemed to move. Then he knew they were +moving, and moving toward him--coming up to the cave! They were men! + +"Sit here," said the captain to Maka, and then, with his gun in his hand, +he rushed back to the rest of the party. + +"They seem to be coming," said he, speaking as calmly as he could, "but +we have discovered them in good time, and I shall have some shots at +them before they reach here. Let us hope that they will never get here at +all. You two," said he to Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, "are to be under command +of Miss Markham. You must do exactly what she tells you to." Then, +turning to Edna, he said, "You have your pistol ready?" + +"Yes," said she, "I am ready." + +Without another word, the captain took his other gun and all his +ammunition, and went back into the passage. Here he found Mok, who had +come to see what was the matter. Motioning the negro to go back to his +post, the captain, with his loaded guns, went again to the entrance. +Looking out, he could now plainly see the men. There were four of them. +It was lighter down toward the sea, for the rocks still threw a heavy +shadow over the plateau. The sight sent a thrill of brave excitement +through the captain. + +"If they come in squads of four," thought he, "I may be a match for them. +They can't see me, and I can see them. If I could trust Maka to load a +gun, I would have a better chance, but if I could pick off two, or even +one, that might stop the others and give me time to reload. Come on, you +black-hearted scoundrels," he muttered through his teeth, as he knelt +outside the cave, one gun partly raised, and the other on the ground +beside him. "If I could only know that none of your band could come in at +that hole in the back of the cave, I'd call the odds even." + +The dawn grew brighter, and the four men drew nearer. They came slowly, +one considerably ahead of the others. Two or three times they stopped and +appeared to be consulting, and then again moved slowly forward straight +toward the plateau. + +When the leading man was nearly within gunshot, the captain's face began +to burn, and his pulses to throb hard and fast. + +"The sooner I pick off the head one," he thought, "the better chance I +have at the others." + +He brought his gun to his shoulder, and was slowly lowering the barrel to +the line of aim, when suddenly something like a great black beast rushed +past him, pushing up his arm and nearly toppling him over. It came from +the cave, and in a second it was out on the plateau. Then it gave a leap +upward, and rushed down toward the sea. Utterly astounded, the captain +steadied himself and turned to Maka. + +"What was that?" he exclaimed. + +The African was on his feet, his body bent forward, his eyes peering out +into the distance. + +"Mok!" said he. "Look! Look!" + +It was Mok who had rushed out of the cave. He was running toward the four +men. He reached them, he threw up his arms, he sprang upon the first man. +Then he left him, and jumped upon the others. Then Maka gave a little cry +and sprang forward, but in the same instant the captain seized him. + +"Stop!" he cried. "What is it?" + +The African shouted: "Mok's people! Mok knowed them. Look! +Look--see! Mok!" + +The party was now near enough and the day was bright enough for the +captain to see that on the lower ground beyond the plateau there were +five black men in a state of mad excitement. He could hear them jabbering +away at a great rate. So far as he could discover, they were all +unarmed, and as they stood there gesticulating, the captain might have +shot them down in a bunch, if he had chosen. + +"Go," said he to Maka, "go down there and see what it all means." + +The captain now stepped back into the passage. He could see Miss Markham +and Ralph peering out of the doorway of the first compartment. + +"There does not seem to be any danger so far," said he. "Some more +Africans have turned up. Maka has gone to meet them. We shall find out +about them in a few minutes," and he turned back to the entrance. + +He saw that the six black fellows were coming toward him, and, as he had +thought, they carried no guns. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +AN AMAZING NARRATION + + +When the captain had gone out again into the open air, he was followed by +the rest of the party, for, if there were no danger, they all wanted to +see what was to be seen. What they saw was a party of six black men on +the plateau, Maka in the lead. There could be no doubt that the newcomers +were the remainder of the party of Africans who had been enslaved by the +Rackbirds, and the desire of the captain and his companions to know how +they had got away, and what news they brought, was most intense. + +Maka now hurried forward, leading one of the strangers. "Great things +they tell," said he. "This Cheditafa. He speak English good as me. He +tell you." + +"The first thing I want," cried the captain, "is some news of those +Rackbirds. Have they found we are here? Will they be coming after these +men, or have they gone off somewhere else? Tell me this, and be quick." + +"Oh, yes," cried Maka, "they found out we here. But Cheditafa tell +you--he tell you everything. Great things!" + +"Very well, then," said the captain. "Let him begin and be quick +about it." + +The appearance of Cheditafa was quite as miserable as that of poor Mok, +but his countenance was much more intelligent, and his English, although +very much broken, was better even than Maka's, and he was able to make +himself perfectly understood. He spoke briefly, and this is the substance +of his story: + +About the middle of the afternoon of the day before, a wonderful thing +happened. The Rackbirds had had their dinner, which they had cooked +themselves, and they were all lying down in their huts or in the shadows +of the rocks, either asleep, or smoking and telling stories. Cheditafa +knew why they were resting. The Rackbirds had no idea that he understood +English, for he had been careful to keep this fact from them after he +found out what sort of men they were,--and this knowledge had come very +soon to him,--and they spoke freely before him. He had heard some of the +men who had been out looking for Mok, and who had come back early that +morning, tell about some shipwrecked people in a cave up the coast, and +had heard all the plans which had been made for the attack upon them +during the night. He also knew why he and his fellows had been cooped up +in the cave in the rock in which they lived, all that day, and had not +been allowed to come down and do any work. + +They were lying huddled in their little cave, feeling very hungry and +miserable, and whispering together,--for if they spoke out or made any +noise, one of the men below would be likely to fire a load of shot at +them,--when suddenly a strange thing happened. + +They heard a great roar like a thousand bulls, which came from the +higher part of the ravine, and peeping out, they saw what seemed like a +wall of rock stretching across the little valley. But in a second they +saw it was not rock--it was water, and before they could take two breaths +it had reached them. Then it passed on, and they saw only the surface of +a furious and raging stream, the waves curling and dashing over each +other, and reaching almost up to the floor of their cave. + +They were so frightened that they pressed back as far as they could get, +and even tried to climb up the sides of the rocky cavity, so fearful were +they that the water would dash in upon them. But the raging flood roared +and surged outside, and none of it came into their cave. Then the sound +of it became not quite so loud, and grew less and less. But still +Cheditafa and his companions were so frightened and so startled by this +awful thing, happening so suddenly, as if it had been magic, that it was +some time--he did not know how long--before they lifted their faces from +the rocks against which they were pressing them. + +Then Cheditafa crept forward and looked out. The great waves and the +roaring water were gone. There was no water to be seen, except the brook +which always ran at the bottom of the ravine, and which now seemed not +very much bigger than it had been that morning. + +But the little brook was all there was in the ravine, except the bare +rocks, wet and glistening. There were no huts, no Rackbirds, nothing. +Even the vines and bushes which had been growing up the sides of the +stream were all gone. Not a weed, not a stick, not a clod of earth, was +left--nothing but a great, rocky ravine, washed bare and clean. + +Edna Markham stepped suddenly forward and seized the captain by the arm. +"It was the lake," she cried. "The lake swept down that ravine!" + +"Yes," said the captain, "it must have been. But listen--let us hear +more. Go on," he said to Cheditafa, who proceeded to tell how he and his +companions looked out for a long time, but they saw nor heard nothing of +any living creature. It would be easy enough for anybody to come back up +the ravine, but nobody came. + +They had now grown so hungry that they could have almost eaten each +other. They felt they must get out of the cave and go to look for food. +It would be better to be shot than to sit there and starve. + +Then they devised a plan by which they could get down. The smallest man +got out of the cave and let himself hang, holding to the outer edge of +the floor with his hands. Then another man put his feet over the edge of +the rock, and let the hanging man take hold of them. The other two each +seized an arm of the second man, and lowered the two down as far as they +could reach. When they had done this, the bottom man dropped, and did not +hurt himself. Then they had to pull up the second man, for the fall would +have been too great for him. + +After that they had to wait a long time, while the man who had got out +went to look for something by which the others could help themselves +down--the ladder they had used having been carried away with everything +else. After going a good way down the ravine to a place where it grew +much wider, with the walls lower, he found things that had been thrown up +on the sides, and among these was the trunk of a young tree, which, +after a great deal of hard work, he brought back to the cave, and by the +help of this they all scrambled down. + +They hurried down the ravine, and as they approached the lower part, +where it became wider before opening into the little bay into which the +stream ran, they found that the flood, as it had grown shallower and +spread itself out, had left here and there various things which it had +brought down from the camp--bits of the huts, articles of clothing, and +after a while they came to a Rackbird, quite dead, and hanging upon a +point of projecting rock. Farther on they found two or three more bodies +stranded, and later in the day some Rackbirds who had been washed out to +sea came back with the tide, and were found upon the beach. It was +impossible, Cheditafa said, for any of them to have escaped from that +raging torrent, which hurled them against the rocks as it carried them +down to the sea. + +But the little party of hungry Africans did not stop to examine anything +which had been left. What they wanted was something to eat, and they +knew where to get it. About a quarter of a mile back from the beach was +the storehouse of the Rackbirds, a sort of cellar which they had made in +a sand-hill. As the Africans had carried the stores over from the vessel +which had brought them, and had afterwards taken to the camp such +supplies as were needed from time to time, of course they knew where to +find them, and they lost no time in making a hearty meal. + +According to Cheditafa's earnest assertions, they had never eaten as +they had eaten then. He believed that the reason they had been left +without food was that the Rackbirds were too proud to wait on black +men, and had concluded to let them suffer until they had returned from +their expedition, and the negroes could be let down to attend to their +own wants. + +After they had eaten, the Africans went to a spot which commanded a view +up the ravine, as well as the whole of the bay, and there they hid +themselves, and watched as long as it was daylight, so that if any of +the Rackbirds had escaped they could see them. But they saw nothing, and +being very anxious to find good white people who would take care of +them, they started out before dawn that morning to look for the +shipwrecked party about whom Cheditafa had heard the Rackbirds talking, +and with whom they hoped to find their companion Mok, and thus it was +that they were here. + +"And those men were coming to attack us last night?" asked the captain. +"You are sure of that?" + +"Yes," said Cheditafa, "it was last night. They not know how many you +are, and all were coming." + +"And some of them had already been here?" + +"Yes," replied the African. "One day before, three went out to look for +Mok, and they found his track and more track, and they waited in the +black darkness, and then came here, and they heard you all sleep and +snore that night. They were to come again, and if they--" + +"And yesterday afternoon the lake came down and swept them out of +existence!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES + + +Captain Horn had heard the story of Cheditafa, he walked away from the +rest of the party, and stood, his eyes upon the ground, still +mechanically holding his gun. He now knew that the great danger he had +feared had been a real one, and far greater than he had imagined. A +systematic attack by all the Rackbirds would have swept away his single +resistance as the waters had swept them and their camp away. As to parley +or compromise with those wretches, he knew that it would have been +useless to think of it. They allowed no one to go forth from their hands +to reveal the place of their rendezvous. + +But although he was able to appreciate at its full force the danger with +which they had been threatened, his soul could not immediately adjust +itself to the new conditions. It had been pressed down so far that it +could not easily rise again. He felt that he must make himself believe in +the relief which had come to them, and, turning sharply, he called out to +Cheditafa: + +"Man, since you have been in this part of the country, have you ever +seen or heard of any wild beasts here? Are there any jaguars or pumas?" + +The African shook his head. "No, no," said he, "no wild beasts. Everybody +sleep out of doors. No think of beasts--no snakes." + +The captain dropped his gun upon the ground. "Miss Markham!" he +exclaimed. "Mrs. Cliff! I truly believe we are out of all +danger--that we--" + +But the two ladies had gone inside, and heard him not. They appreciated +to the full the danger from which they had been delivered. Ralph, too, +had gone. The captain saw him on his post of observation, jamming the end +of his flagpole down between two rocks. + +"Hello!" cried the boy, seeing the captain looking up at him, "we might +as well have this flying here all the time. There is nobody to hurt us +now, and we want people to know where we are." + +The captain walked by the little group of Africans, who were sitting on +the ground, talking in their native tongue, and entered the passage. He +climbed over the barrier, and went to the lake. He did not wish to talk +to anybody, but he felt that he must do something, and now was a good +time to carry out his previous intention to cross over the empty bed of +the lake and to look out of the opening on the other side. There was no +need now to do this for purposes of vigilance, but he thought that if he +could get out on the other side of the cave he might discover some clew +to the disappearance of the lake. + +He had nearly crossed the lake bottom, when suddenly he stopped, gazing +at something which stood before him, and which was doubtless the object +he had struck when swimming. The sun was now high and the cave well +lighted, and with a most eager interest the captain examined the slimy +and curious object on which his feet had rested when it was submerged, +and from which he had fallen. It was not the horizontal trunk of a tree +with a branch projecting from it at right angles. It was nothing that was +natural or had grown. It was plainly the work of man. It was a machine. + +At first the captain thought it was made of wood, but afterwards he +believed it to be of metal of some sort. The horizontal portion of it +was a great cylinder, so near the bottom of the lake that he could +almost touch it with his hands, and it was supported by a massive +framework. From this projected a long limb or bar, which was now almost +horizontal, but which the captain believed to be the thick rod which had +stood upright when he clutched it, and which had yielded to his weight +and had gone down with him. He knew now what it was: it was a handle +that had turned. + +He hurried to the other end of the huge machine, where it rested against +the rocky wall of the cavern. There he saw in the shadow, but plain +enough now that he was near it, a circular aperture, a yard or more in +diameter. Inside of this was something which looked like a solid wheel, +very thick, and standing upright in the opening. It was a valve. The +captain stepped back and gazed for some minutes at this great machine +which the disappearance of the water had revealed. It was easy for him to +comprehend it now. + +"When I slipped and sank," he said to himself, "I pulled down that lever, +and I opened the water-gate and let out the lake." + +The captain was a man whose mind was perfectly capable of appreciating +novel and strange impressions, but with him such impressions always +connected themselves, in one way or another, with action: he could not +stand and wonder at the wonderful which had happened--it always suggested +something he must do. What he now wanted to do was to climb up to the +great aperture which lighted the cavern, and see what was outside. He +could not understand how the lake could have gone from its basin without +the sound of the rushing waters being heard by any one of the party. + +With some difficulty, he climbed up to the cleft and got outside. Here he +had a much better view of the topography of the place than he had yet +been able to obtain. So far as he had explored, his view toward the +interior of the country had been impeded by rocks and hills. Here he had +a clear view from the mountains to the sea, and the ridge which he had +before seen to the southward he could now examine to greater advantage. +It was this long chain of rocks which had concealed them from their +enemies, and on the other side of which must be the ravine in which the +Rackbirds had made their camp. + +Immediately below the captain was a little gorge, not very deep nor wide, +and from its general trend toward the east and south the captain was sure +that it formed the upper part of the ravine of the Rackbirds. At the +bottom of it there trickled a little stream. To the northeast ran another +line of low rock, which lost itself in the distance before it blended +into the mountains, and at the foot of this must run the stream which had +fed the lake. + +In their search for water, game, or fellow-beings, no one had climbed +these desolate rocks, apparently dry and barren. But still the captain +was puzzled as to the way the water had gone out of the lake. He did not +believe that it had flowed through the ravine below. There were no signs +that there had been a flood down there. Little vines and plants were +growing in chinks of the rocks close to the water. And, moreover, had a +vast deluge rushed out almost beneath the opening which lighted the cave, +it must have been heard by some of the party. He concluded, therefore, +that the water had escaped through a subterranean channel below the rocks +from which he looked down. + +He climbed down the sides of the gorge, and walked along its bottom for +two or three hundred yards, until around a jutting point of rock he saw +that the sides of the defile separated for a considerable distance, and +then, coming together again below, formed a sort of amphitheatre. The +bottom of this was a considerable distance below him, and he did not +descend into it, but he saw plainly that it had recently contained water, +for pools and puddles were to be seen everywhere. + +At the other end of it, where the rocks again approached each other, was +probably a precipice. After a few minutes' cogitation, Captain Horn felt +sure that he understood the whole matter: a subway from the lake led to +this amphitheatre, and thus there had been no audible rush of the waters +until they reached this point, where they poured in and filled this great +basin, the lower end of which was probably stopped up by accumulations of +sand and deposits, which even in that country of scant vegetation had +accumulated in the course of years. When the waters of the lake had +rushed into the amphitheatre, this natural dam had held them for a while, +but then, giving way before the great pressure, the whole body of water +had suddenly rushed down the ravine to the sea. + +"Yes," said the captain, "now I understand how it happened that although +I opened the valve at noon, the water did not reach the Rackbirds until +some hours later, and then it came suddenly and all at once, which would +not have been the case had it flowed steadily from the beginning through +the outlet made for it." + +When the captain had returned and reported his discoveries, and he and +his party had finished their noonday meal, which they ate outside on the +plateau, with the fire burning and six servants to wait on them, Mrs. +Cliff said: + +"And now, captain, what are we going to do? Now that our danger is past, +I suppose the best thing for us is to stay here in quiet and +thankfulness, and wait for Mr. Rynders. But, with the provisions we have, +we can't wait very long. When there were but five of us, we might have +made the food hold out for a day or two longer, but now that we are ten, +we shall soon be without anything to eat." + +"I have been talking to Maka about that," said the captain, "and he says +that Cheditafa reports all sorts of necessary things in the Rackbirds' +storehouse, and he proposes that he and the rest of the black fellows go +down there and bring us some supplies. They are used to carrying these +stores, and six of them can bring us enough to last a good while. Now +that everything is safe over there, I can see that Maka is very anxious +to go, and, in fact, I would like to go myself. But although there +doesn't seem to be any danger at present, I do not want to leave you." + +"As for me," said Miss Markham, "I want to go there. There is nothing I +like better than exploring." + +"That's to my taste, too," said the captain, "but it will be better for +us to wait here and see what Maka has to say when he gets back. Perhaps, +if Mr. Rynders doesn't turn up pretty soon, we will all make a trip down +there. Where is Ralph? I don't want him to go with the men." + +"He is up there on his lookout, as he calls it," said his sister, "with +his spy-glass." + +"Very good," said the captain. "I will send the men off immediately. Maka +wants to go now, and they can come back by the light of the young moon. +When they have loads to carry, they like to travel at night. We shall +have to get our own supper, and that will give Ralph something to do." + +The party of Africans had not gone half-way from the plateau to the beach +before they were discovered by the boy on the outlook rock, and he came +rushing down to report that the darkies were running away. When he was +told the business on which they had gone, he was very much disappointed +that he was not allowed to go with them, and, considerably out of temper, +retired to his post of observation, where, as it appeared, he was +dividing his time between the discovery of distant specks on the horizon +line of the ocean and imaginary jaguars and pumas on the foot-hills. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A NEW HEMISPHERE + + +With a tin pail in his hand, the captain now went to the cavern of the +lake. He wished very much to procure some better water than the last that +had been brought, and which Mok must have dipped up from a very shallow +puddle. It was possible, the captain thought, that by going farther into +the cavern he might find a deeper pool in which water still stood, and if +he could not do this, he could get water from the little stream in the +ravine. More than this, the captain wished very much to take another look +at the machine by which he had let out the water. His mind had been so +thoroughly charged with the sense of danger that, until this had faded +away, he had not been able to take the interest in the artificial +character of the lake which it deserved. + +As the captain advanced into the dimmer recesses of the cavern, he soon +found a pool of water a foot or more in depth, and having filled his pail +at this, he set it down and walked on to see what was beyond. His eyes +having now conformed themselves to the duskiness of the place, he saw +that the cavern soon made a turn to the left, and gazing beyond him, he +judged that the cave was very much wider here, and he also thought that +the roof was higher. But he did not pay much attention to the dimensions +of the cavern, for he began to discern, at first dimly and then quite +plainly, a large object which rose from the bottom of the basin. He +advanced eagerly, peering at what seemed to be a sort of dome-like +formation of a lighter color than the rocks about him, and apparently +about ten feet high. + +Carefully feeling his way for fear of pitfalls, the captain drew close to +the object, and placed his hand upon it. He believed it to be of stone, +and moving his hand over it, he thought he could feel joints of masonry. +It was clearly a structure built by men. Captain Horn searched his +pockets for a match, but found none, and he hastened back to the cave to +get the lantern, passing, without noticing it, the pail which he had +filled with water. He would have brought the lantern with him when he +first came, but they had no oil except what it contained, and this they +had husbanded for emergencies. But now the captain wanted light--he cared +not what might happen afterwards. In a very short time, with the lantern +in his hand, which lighted up the cave for a considerable distance about +him, the captain again stood at the foot of the subterranean dome. + +He walked around it. He raised and lowered his lantern, and examined it +from top to bottom. It was one half a sphere of masonry, built in a +most careful manner, and, to all appearances, as solid as a great stone +ball, half sunken in the ground. Its surface was smooth, excepting for +two lines of protuberances, each a few inches in height, and about a +foot from each other. These rows of little humps were on opposite +sides of the dome, and from the bottom nearly to the top. It was plain +they were intended to serve as rude ladders by which the top of the +mound could be gained. + +The captain stepped back, held up his lantern, and gazed in every +direction. He could now see the roof of the cavern, and immediately above +him he perceived what he was sure were regular joints of masonry, but on +the sides of the cave he saw nothing of the sort. For some minutes he +stood and reflected, his brain in a whirl. Presently he exclaimed: + +"Yes, this cave is man's work! I am sure of it. It is not natural. I +wondered how there could be such a cave on the top of a hill. It was +originally a gorge, and they have roofed it over, and the bottom of the +basin has been cut out to make it deeper. It was made so that it could be +filled up with water, and roofed over so that nobody should know there +was any water here, unless they came on it by means of the passage from +our caves. That passage must have been blocked up. As for the great +opening in the side of the cave, the rocks have fallen in there--that is +easy enough to see. Yes, men made this cave and filled it with water, and +if the water were high enough to cover the handle of that machine, as it +was when I struck it, it must also have been high enough to cover up this +stone mound. The lake was intended to cover and hide that mound. And +then, to make the hiding of it doubly sure, the men who built all this +totally covered up the lake so that nobody would know it was here. And +then they built that valve apparatus, which was also submerged, so that +they could let out the water when they wanted to get at this stone +thing, whatever it is. What a scheme to hide anything! Even if anybody +discovered the lake, which would not be likely until some part of the +cave fell in, they would not know it was anything but a lake when they +did see it. And as for letting off the water, nobody but the people who +knew about it could possibly do that, unless somebody was fool enough to +take the cold bath I was obliged to take, and even then it would have +been one chance in a hundred that he found the lever, and would know how +to turn it when he did find it. This whole thing is the work of the +ancient South Americans, and I imagine that this stone mound is the tomb +of one of their kings." + +At this moment the captain heard something, and turned to listen. It +was a voice--the voice of a boy. It was Ralph calling to him. Instantly +the captain turned and hurried away, and as he went he extinguished his +lantern. When he reached his pail of water he picked it up, and was +very soon joined by Ralph, who was coming to meet him over the bottom +of the lake. + +"I have been looking for you everywhere, captain," said he. "What have +you been after? More water? And you took a lantern to find it, eh? And +you have been ever so far into the cave. Why didn't you call me? Let me +have the lantern. I want to go to explore." + +But the captain did not give him the lantern, nor did he allow him to go +to explore. + +"No, sir," said he. "What we've got to do is to hurry outside and help +get supper. We must wait on ourselves to-night." + +When supper was over, that evening, and the little party was sitting out +on the plateau, gazing over the ocean at the sunlit sky, Mrs. Cliff +declared that she wished they could bring their bedding and spread it on +the ground out there, and sleep. + +"It is dry enough," she said, "and warm enough, and if there is really +nothing to fear from animals or men, I don't want ever to go inside of +those caves again. I had such horrible fears and ideas when I was +sitting trembling in those dismal vaults, expecting a horde of human +devils to burst in upon us at any moment, that the whole place is +horrible to me. Anyway, if I knew that I had to be killed, I would +rather be killed out here." + +The captain smiled. "I don't think we will give up the caves just yet. I, +for one, most certainly want to go in there again." And then he told the +story of the stone mound which he had discovered. + +"And you believe," cried Mrs. Cliff, leaning forward, "that it is really +the tomb of an ancient king?" + +"If it isn't that, I don't know what it can be," said the captain. + +"The grave of a king!" cried Ralph. "A mummy! With inscriptions and +paintings! Oh, captain, let's go open it this minute, before those +blackies get back." + +The captain shook his head. "Don't be in such a hurry," he said. "It will +not be an easy job to open that mound, and we shall need the help of the +blackies, as you call them, if we do it at all." + +"Do it at all!" cried Ralph. "I'll never leave this place until I do it +myself, if there is nobody else to help." + +Miss Markham sat silent. She was the only one of the company who had +studied the history of South America, and she did not believe that the +ancient inhabitants of that country buried their kings in stone tombs, or +felt it necessary to preserve their remains in phenomenal secrecy and +security. She had read things, however, about the ancient peoples of this +country which now made her eyes sparkle and her heart beat quickly. But +she did not say anything. This was a case in which it would be better to +wait to see what would happen. + +"Captain!" cried Ralph, "let's go to see the thing. What is the use of +waiting? Edna and Mrs. Cliff won't mind staying here while you take me to +see it. We can go in ten minutes." + +"No," said Mrs. Cliff, "there may be no danger, but I am not going +to be left here with the sun almost down, and you two out of sight +and hearing." + +"Let us all go," said Edna. + +The captain considered for a moment. "Yes," said he, "let us all +go. As we shall have to take a lantern anyway, this is as good a +time as another." + +It was not an easy thing for the two ladies to get over the wall at the +end of the passage, and to make their way over the rough and slippery +bottom of the lake basin, now lighted only by the lantern which the +captain carried. But in the course of time, with a good deal of help from +their companions, they reached the turning of the cave and stood before +the stone mound. + +"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Why, captain, you are like Columbus! You have +discovered a new hemisphere." + +"It is like one of the great ant-hills of Africa," said Mrs. Cliff, +"but, of course, this was not built by ants I wonder if it is possible +that it can be the abode of water-snakes." + +Edna stood silent for a few moments, and then she said, "Captain, do +you suppose that this dome was entirely covered by water when the lake +was full?" + +"I think so," said he. "Judging from what I know of the depth of the +lake, I am almost sure of it." + +"Ralph!" suddenly cried Mrs. Cliff, "don't try to do that. The thing may +break under you, and nobody knows what you would fall into. Come down." + +But Ralph paid no attention to her words. He was half-way up the side of +the mound when she began to speak, and on its top when she had finished. + +"Captain," he cried, "hand me up the lantern. I want to see if there is +a trap-door into this affair. Don't be afraid, Mrs. Cliff. It's as solid +as a rock." + +The captain did not hand up the lantern, but holding it carefully in one +hand, he ascended the dome by means of the row of protuberances on the +other side, and crouched down beside Ralph on the top of it. + +"Oh, ho!" said he, as he moved the lantern this way and that, "here is a +square slab fitted into the very top." + +"Yes," said Ralph, "and it's got different mortar around the edges." + +"That is not mortar," said the captain. "I believe it is some sort of +resin. Here, hold the lantern, and be careful of it." The captain took +his jack-knife out of his pocket, and with the large blade began to dig +into the substance which filled the joint around the slab, which was +about eighteen inches square. "It is resin," said he, "or something like +it, and it comes out very easily. This slab is intended to be moved." + +"Indeed it is!" exclaimed Ralph, "and we're intended to move it. Here, +captain, I'll help you. I've got a knife. Let's dig out that stuff and +lift up the lid before the darkies come back. If we find any dead bodies +inside this tomb, they will frighten those fellows to death, if they +catch sight of them." + +"Very good," said the captain. "I shall be only too glad to get this slab +up, if I can, but I am afraid we shall want a crowbar and more help. It's +a heavy piece of stone, and I see no way of getting at it." + +"This isn't stone in the middle of the slab," said Ralph. "It's a lot +more resinous stuff. I had the lantern over it and did not see it. Let's +take it out." + +There was a circular space in the centre of the stone, about eight inches +in diameter, which seemed to be covered with resin. After a few minutes' +work with the jack-knives this substance was loosened and came out in two +parts, showing a bowl-like depression in the slab, which had been so cut +as to leave a little bar running from side to side of it. + +"A handle!" cried Ralph. + +"That is what it is," said Captain Horn. "If it is intended to be lifted, +I ought to be able to do it. Move down a little with the lantern, and +give me room." + +The captain now stood on the top of the mound, with the slab between his +feet, and stooping down, he took hold of the handle with both hands. He +was a powerful man, but he could not lift the stone. His first effort, +however, loosened it, and then he began to move it from side to side, +still pulling upward, until at last he could feel it rising. Then, with +a great heave, he lifted it entirely out of the square aperture in which +it had been fitted, and set it on one side. + +In an instant, Ralph, lantern in hand, was gazing down into the +opening. "Hello!" he cried, "there is something on fire in there. Oh, +no," he added quickly, correcting himself, "it's only the reflection +from our light." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A TRADITION AND A WAISTCOAT + + +Captain Horn, his face red with exertion and excitement, stood gazing +down into the square aperture at his feet. On the other edge of the +opening knelt Ralph, holding the lantern so that it would throw its light +into the hole. In a moment, before the boy had time to form a question, +he was pushed gently to one side, and his sister Edna, who had clambered +up the side of the mound, knelt beside him. She peered down into the +depths beneath, and then she drew back and looked up at the captain. His +whole soul was in his downward gaze, and he did not even see her. + +Then there came a voice from below. "What is it?" cried Mrs. Cliff. "What +are you all looking at! Do tell me." + +With half-shut eyes, Edna let herself down the side of the mound, and +when her feet touched the ground, she made a few tottering steps toward +Mrs. Cliff, and placing her two hands on her companion's shoulders, she +whispered, "I thought it was. It is gold! It is the gold of the Incas." +And then she sank senseless at the feet of the older woman. + +Mrs. Cliff did not know that Miss Markham had fainted. She simply stood +still and exclaimed, "Gold! What does it mean?" + +"What is it all about?" exclaimed Ralph. "It looks like petrified honey. +This never could have been a beehive." + +Without answering, Captain Horn knelt at the edge of the aperture, and +taking the lantern from the boy, he let it down as far as it would go, +which was only a foot or two. + +"Ralph," he said hoarsely, as he drew himself back, "hold this lantern +and get down out of my way. I must cover this up, quick." And seizing the +stone slab by the handle, he lifted it as if it had been a pot-lid, and +let it down into its place. "Now," said he, "get down, and let us all go +away from this place. Those negroes may be back at any moment." + +When Ralph found that his sister had fainted, and that Mrs. Cliff did not +know it, there was a little commotion at the foot of the mound. But some +water in a pool near by soon revived Edna, and in ten minutes the party +was on the plateau outside the caverns. The new moon was just beginning +to peep over the rocks behind them, and the two ladies had seated +themselves on the ground. Ralph was pouring out question after question, +to which nobody paid any attention, and Captain Horn, his hands thrust +into his pockets, walked backward and forward, his face flushed and his +breath coming heavily, and, with his eyes upon the ground, he seemed to +think himself entirely alone among those desolate crags. + +"Can any of you tell me what it means?" cried Mrs. Cliff. "Edna, do you +understand it? Tell me quickly, some of you!" + +"I believe I know what it means," said Edna, her voice trembling as she +spoke. "I thought I knew as soon as I heard of the mound covered up by +the lake, but I did not dare to say anything, because if my opinion +should be correct it would be so wonderful, so astounding, my mind could +hardly take hold of it." + +"But what is it?" cried Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, almost in one breath. + +"I scarcely know what to say," said Edna, "my mind is in such a whirl +about it, but I will tell you something of what I have read of the +ancient history of Peru, and then you will understand my fancies about +this stone mound. When the Spaniards, under Pizarro, came to this +country, their main object, as we all know, was booty. They especially +wished to get hold of the wonderful treasures of the Incas, the ancient +rulers of Peru. This was the reason of almost all the cruelties and +wickedness of the invaders. The Incas tried various ways of preserving +their treasures from the clutch of the Spaniards, and I have read of a +tradition that they drained a lake, probably near Cuzco, the ancient +capital, and made a strong cellar, or mound, at the bottom of it in which +to hide their gold. They then let the water in again, and the tradition +also says that this mound has never been discovered." + +"Do you believe," cried the captain, "that the mound back there in the +cavern is the place where the Incas stored their gold?" + +"I do not believe it is the place I read about," said Miss Markham, "for +that, as I said, must have been near Cuzco. But there is no reason why +there should not have been other places of concealment. This was far +away from the capital, but that would make the treasure so much the +safer. The Spaniards would never have thought of going to such a lonely, +deserted place as this, and the Incas would not have spared any time or +trouble necessary to securely hide their treasures." + +"If you are right," cried the captain, "this is, indeed, astounding! +Treasure in a mound of stone--a mound covered by water, which could be +let off! The whole shut up in a cave which must have originally been as +dark as pitch! When we come to think of it," he continued excitedly, "it +is an amazing hiding-place, no matter what was put into the mound." + +"And do you mean," almost screamed Mrs. Cliff, "that that stone thing +down there is filled with the wealth of the Incas!--the fabulous gold we +read about?" + +"I do not know what else it can be," replied Edna. "What I saw when I +looked down into the hole was surely gold." + +"Yes," said the captain, "it was gold--gold in small bars." + +"Why didn't you get a piece, captain?" asked Ralph. "Then we could be +sure about it. If that thing is nearly filled, there must be tons of it." + +"I did not think," said the captain. "I could not think. I was afraid +somebody would come." + +"And now tell me this," cried Mrs. Cliff. "Whom does this gold belong to? +That is what I want to know. Whose is if?" + +"Come, come!" said the captain, "let us stop talking about this thing, +and thinking about it. We shall all be maniacs if we don't quiet +ourselves a little, and, besides, it cannot be long before those black +fellows come back, and we do not want to be speaking about it then. +To-morrow we will examine the mound and see what it is we have +discovered. In the meantime, let us quiet our minds and get a good +night's sleep, if we can. This whole affair is astounding, but we must +not let it make us crazy before we understand it." + +Miss Markham was a young woman very capable of controlling herself. It +was true she had been more affected in consequence of the opening of the +mound than any of the others, but that was because she understood, or +thought she understood, what the discovery meant, and to the others it +was something which at first they could not appreciate. Now she saw the +good common sense of the captain's remarks, and said no more that evening +on the subject of the stone mound. + +But Mrs. Cliff and Ralph could not be quiet. They must talk, and as the +captain walked away that they might not speak to him, they talked to +each other. + +It was nearly an hour after this that Captain Horn, standing on the outer +end of the plateau, saw some black dots moving on the moonlit beach. They +moved very slowly, and it was a long time--at least, it seemed so to the +captain--before Maka and his companions reached the plateau. + +The negroes were heavily loaded with bags and packages, and they were +glad to deposit their burdens on the ground. + +"Hi!" cried the captain, who spoke as if he had been drinking champagne, +"you brought a good cargo, Maka, and now don't let us hear any tales of +what you have seen until we have had supper--supper for everybody. You +know what you have got, Maka. Let us have the best things, and let every +one of you take a hand in making a fire and cooking. What we want is a +first-class feast." + +"I got 'em," said Maka, who understood English a good deal better +than he could speak it,--"ham, cheese, lots things. All want +supper--good supper." + +While the meal was being prepared, Captain Horn walked over to Mrs. Cliff +and Ralph. "Now, I beg of you," he said, "don't let these men know we +have found anything. This is a very important matter. Don't talk about +it, and if you can't keep down your excitement, let them think it is the +prospect of good victuals, and plenty of them, that has excited you." + +After supper Maka and Cheditafa were called upon to tell their story, but +they said very little. They had gone to the place where the Rackbirds had +kept their stores, and had selected what Maka considered would be most +desirable, including some oil for the lantern, and had brought away as +much as they could carry. This was all. + +When the rest of his party had gone inside, hoping to get their minds +quiet enough to sleep, and the captain was preparing to follow them, Maka +arose from the spot on the open plateau where the tired negroes had +stretched themselves for the night, and said: + +"Got something tell you alone. Come out here." + +When the two had gone to a spot a little distance from the cavern +entrance, where the light of the moon, now nearly set, enabled objects to +be seen with some distinctness, Maka took from inside his shirt a small +piece of clothing. "Look here," said he. "This belong to Davis." + +The captain took the garment in his hand. It was a waistcoat made of +plaid cloth, yellow, green, and red, and most striking in pattern, and +Captain Horn instantly recognized it as the waistcoat of Davis, the +Englishman. + +"He dead," said Maka, simply. + +The captain nodded. He had no doubt of it. + +"Where did you find it?" he asked. + +"Sticking on rock," said the African. "Lots things down there. Some one +place, some another place. Didn't know other things, but know this. +Davis' waistcoat. No mistake that. Him wear it all time." + +"You are a good fellow, Maka," said the captain, "not to speak of this +before the ladies. Now go and sleep. There is no need of a guard +to-night." + +The captain went inside, procured his gun, and seated himself outside, +with his back against a rock. There he sat all night, without once +closing his eyes. He was not afraid that anything would come to molest +them, but it was just as well to have the gun. As for sleeping, that was +impossible. He had heard and seen too much that day. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +"MINE!" + + +Captain Horn and his party sat down together the next morning on the +plateau to drink their hot coffee and eat their biscuit and bacon, and it +was plain that the two ladies, as well as the captain, had had little +sleep the night before. Ralph declared that he had been awake ever so +long, endeavoring to calculate how many cubic feet of gold there would be +in that mound if it were filled with the precious metal. "But as I did +not know how much a cubic foot of gold is worth," said he, "and as we +might find, after all, that there is only a layer of gold on top, and +that all the rest is Incas' bones, I gave it up." + +The captain was very grave--graver, Miss Markham thought, than the +discovery of gold ought to make a man. + +"We won't worry ourselves with calculations," said he. "As soon as I can +get rid of those black fellows, we will go to see what is really in that +tomb, or storehouse, or whatever it is. We will make a thorough +investigation this time." + +When the men had finished eating, the captain sent them all down to look +for driftwood. The stock of wood on the plateau was almost exhausted, +and he was glad to think of some reasonable work which would take them +away from the cavern. + +As soon as they had gone, the captain rose to get the lantern, and called +Ralph to accompany him to the mound. + +When they were left alone, Edna said to Mrs. Cliff, "Let us go over there +to that shady rock, where we can look out for a ship with Mr. Rynders in +it, and let us talk about our neighbors in America. Let us try to forget, +for a time, all about what the captain is going to investigate. If we +keep on thinking and talking of it, our minds will not be in a fit +condition to hear what he will have to tell us. It may all come to +nothing, you know, and no matter what it comes to, let us keep quiet, and +give our nerves a little rest." + +"That is excellent advice," said Mrs. Cliff. But when they were +comfortably seated in the shade, she said: "I have been thinking, Edna, +that the possession of vast treasures did not weaken the minds of those +Incas, I supposed, until yesterday, that the caverns here were intended +for some sort of temple for religious ceremonies, and that the great face +on the rock out here was an idol. But now I do not believe that. All +openings into the cave must once have been closed up, but it would not do +to hide the place so that no one could ever find it again, so they carved +that great head on the rocks. Nobody, except those who had hid the +treasure, would know what the face meant." + +Edna gave a little smile and sighed. "I see it is of no use to try to get +that mound out of our minds," she said. + +"Out of our minds!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "If one of the Rothschilds +were to hand you a check for the whole of his fortune, would you expect +to get that out of your mind?" + +"Such a check," said Edna, "would be a certain fortune. We have not heard +yet what this is." + +"I think we are the two meekest and humblest people in the whole world!" +exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, walking up and down the sand. "I don't believe any +other two persons would be content to wait here until somebody should +come and tell them whether they were millionaires or not. But, of course, +somebody must stay outside to keep those colored people from swarming +into the cave when they come back." + +It was not long after this that Mrs. Cliff and Edna heard the sound of +quickly advancing feet, and in a few moments they were joined by Ralph +and the captain. + +"Your faces shine like gold," cried Edna. "What have you found?" + +"Found!" cried Ralph. "Why, Edna, we've got--" + +"Be quiet, Ralph," exclaimed Edna. "I want to hear what the captain has +to say. Captain, what is in the mound?" + +"We went to the mound," said he, speaking very rapidly, "and when we got +to the top and lifted off that stone lid--upon my soul, ladies, I believe +there is gold enough in that thing to ballast a ship. It isn't filled +quite up to the top, and, of course, I could not find out how deep the +gold goes down; but I worked a hole in it as far down as my arm would +reach, and found nothing but gold bars like this." Then, glancing around +to see that none of the Africans were returning, he took from his pocket +a yellow object about three inches in length and an inch in diameter, +shaped like a rough prism, cast in a rudely constructed mortar or mould. +"I brought away just one of them," he said, "and then I shut down the +lid, and we came away." + +"And is this gold?" exclaimed Edna, eagerly seizing the bar. "Are you +sure of it, captain?" + +"I am as sure of it as I am that I have a head on my shoulders," said he, +"although when I was diving down into that pile I was not quite sure of +that. No one would ever put anything but gold in such a hiding-place. And +then, anybody can see it is gold. Look here: I scraped that spot with my +knife. I wanted to test it before I showed it to you. See how it shines! +I could easily cut into it. I believe it is virgin gold, not hardened +with any alloy." + +"And that mound full of it!" cried Mrs. Cliff. + +"I can't say about that," said the captain. "But if the gold is no +deeper than my arm went down into it, and all pure metal at that, +why--bless my soul!--it would make anybody crazy to try to calculate how +much it is worth." + +"Now, then," exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "whom does all this gold belong to? We +have found it, but whose is it?" + +"That is a point to be considered," said the captain. "What is +your opinion?" + +"I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about it," said Mrs. +Cliff. "Of course, that would have been all wasted, though, if it had +turned out to be nothing but brass, but then, I could not help it, and +this is the conclusion I have come to: In the first place, it does not +belong to the people who govern Peru now. They are descendants of the +very Spaniards that the Incas hid their treasure from, and it would be a +shame and a wickedness to let them have it. It would better stay there +shut up for more centuries. Then, again, it would not be right to give it +to the Indians, or whatever they call themselves, though they are +descendants of the ancient inhabitants, for the people of Spanish blood +would not let them keep it one minute, and they would get it, after all. +And, besides, how could such treasures be properly divided among a race +of wretched savages? It would be preposterous, even if they should be +allowed to keep it. They would drink themselves to death, and it would +bring nothing but misery upon them. The Incas, in their way, were good, +civilized people, and it stands to reason that the treasure they hid away +should go to other good, civilized people when the Incas had departed +from the face of the earth. Think of the good that could be done with +such wealth, should it fall into the proper hands! Think of the good to +the poor people of Peru, with the right kind of mission work done among +them! I tell you all that the responsibility of this discovery is as +great as its value in dollars. What do you think about it, Edna?" + +"I think this," said Miss Markham: "so far as any of us have anything to +do with it, it belongs to Captain Horn. He discovered it, and it is his." + +"The whole of it?" cried Ralph. + +"Yes," said his sister, firmly, "the whole of it, so far as we are +concerned. What he chooses to do with it is his affair, and whether he +gets every bar of gold, or only a reward from the Peruvian government, +it is his, to do what he pleases with it." + +"Now, Edna, I am amazed to hear you speak of the Peruvian government," +cried Mrs. Cliff. "It would be nothing less than a crime to let them have +it, or even know of it." + +"What do you think, captain?" asked Edna. + +"I am exactly of your opinion, Miss Markham," he said. "That treasure +belongs to me. I discovered it, and it is for me to decide what is to be +done with it." + +"Now, then," exclaimed Ralph, his face very red, "I differ with you! We +are all partners in this business, and it isn't fair for any one to have +everything." + +"And I am not so sure, either," said Mrs. Cliff, "that the captain +ought to decide what is to be done with this treasure. Each of us +should have a voice." + +"Mrs. Cliff, Miss Markham, and Ralph," said the captain, "I have a few +words to say to you, and I must say them quickly, for I see those black +fellows coming. That treasure in the stone mound is mine. I discovered +the mound, and no matter what might have been in it, the contents would +have been mine. All that gold is just as much mine as if I dug it in a +gold-mine in California, and we won't discuss that question any further. +What I want to say particularly is that it may seem very selfish in me +to claim the whole of that treasure, but I assure you that that is the +only thing to be done. I know you will all agree to that when you see +the matter in the proper light, and I have told you my plans about it. I +intended to claim all that treasure, if it turned out to be treasure. I +made up my mind to that last night, and I am very glad Miss Markham +told me her opinion of the rights of the thing before I mentioned it. +Now, I have just got time to say a few words more. If there should be +any discussion about the ownership of this gold and the way it ought to +be divided, there would be trouble, and perhaps bloody trouble. There +are those black fellows coming up here, and two of them speak English. +Eight of my men went away in a boat, and they may come back at any time. +And then, there were those two Cape Cod men, who went off first. They +may have reached the other side of the mountains, and may bring us +assistance overland. As for Davis, I know he will never come back. Maka +brought me positive proof that he was killed by the Rackbirds. Now, you +see my point. That treasure is mine. I have a right to it, and I stand +by that right. There must be no talk as to what is to be done with it. I +shall decide what is right, and I shall do it, and no man shall have a +word to say about it. In a case like this there must be a head, and I am +the head." + +The captain had been speaking rapidly and very earnestly, but now his +manner changed a little. Placing his hand on Ralph's shoulder, he said: +"Now don't be afraid, my boy, that you and your sister or Mrs. Cliff will +be left in the lurch. If there were only us four, there would be no +trouble at all, but if there is any talk of dividing, there may be a lot +of men to deal with, and a hard lot, too. And now, not a word before +these men.--Maka, that is a fine lot of fire-wood you have brought. It +will last us a long time." + +The African shrugged his shoulders. "Hope not," he said. "Hope Mr. +Rynders come soon. Don't want make many fires." + +As Captain Horn walked away toward Ralph's lookout, he could not account +to himself for the strange and unnatural state of his feelings. He ought +to have been very happy because he had discovered vast treasures. Instead +of that his mind was troubled and he was anxious and fearful. One reason +for his state of mind was his positive knowledge of the death of Davis. +He had believed him dead because he had not come back, but now that he +knew the truth, the shock seemed as great as if he had not suspected it. +He had liked the Englishman better than any of his seamen, and he was a +man he would have been glad to have had with him now. The Cape Cod men +had been with him but a short time, and he was not well acquainted with +them. It was likely, too, that they were dead also, for they had not +taken provisions with them. But so long as he did not really know this, +the probability could not lower his spirits. + +But when he came to analyze his feelings, which he did with the vigorous +directness natural to him, he knew what was the source of his anxiety and +disquietude. He actually feared the return of Rynders and his men! This +feeling annoyed and troubled him. He felt that it was unworthy of him. He +knew that he ought to long for the arrival of his mate, for in no other +way could the party expect help, and if help did not arrive before the +provisions of the Rackbirds were exhausted, the whole party would most +likely perish. Moreover, when Rynders and his men came back, they would +come to rare good fortune, for there was enough gold for all of them. + +But, in spite of these reasonable conclusions, the captain was afraid +that Rynders and his men would return. + +"If they come here," he said to himself, "they will know of that gold, +for I cannot expect to keep such fellows out of the cavern, and if they +know of it, it will be their gold, not mine. I know men, especially those +men, well enough for that." + +And so, fearing that he might see them before he was ready for them,--and +how he was going to make himself ready for them he did not know,--he +stood on the lookout and scanned the ocean for Rynders and his men. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A PILE OF FUEL + +Four days had passed, and nothing had happened. The stone mound in the +lake had not been visited, for there had been no reason for sending the +black men away, and with one of them nearer than a mile the captain would +not even look at his treasure. There was no danger that they would +discover the mound, for they were not allowed to take the lantern, and no +one of them would care to wander into the dark, sombre depths of the +cavern without a light. + +The four white people, who, with a fair habitation in the rocks, with +plenty of plain food to eat, with six servants to wait on them, and a +climate which was continuously delightful, except in the middle of the +day, and with all fear of danger from man or beast removed from their +minds, would have been content to remain here a week or two longer and +await the arrival of a vessel to take them away, were now in a restless +and impatient condition of mind. They were all eager to escape from the +place. Three of them longed for the return of Rynders, but the other one +steadily hoped that they might get away before his men came back. + +How to do this, or how to take with him the treasure of the Incas, was a +puzzling question with which the captain racked his brains by day and by +night. At last he bethought himself of the Rackbirds' vessel. He +remembered that Maka had told him that provisions were brought to them by +a vessel, and there was every reason to suppose that when these +miscreants went on some of their marauding expeditions they travelled by +sea. Day by day he had thought that he would go and visit the Rackbirds' +storehouse and the neighborhood thereabout, but day by day he had been +afraid that in his absence Rynders might arrive, and when he came he +wanted to be there to meet him. + +But now the idea of the boat made him brave this possible contingency, +and early one morning, with Cheditafa and two other of the black fellows, +he set off along the beach for the mouth of the little stream which, +rising somewhere in the mountains, ran down to the cavern where it had +once widened and deepened into a lake, and then through the ravine of the +Rackbirds on to the sea. When he reached his destination, Captain Horn +saw a great deal to interest him. + +Just beyond the second ridge of rock which Maka had discovered, the +stream ran into a little bay, and the shores near its mouth showed +evident signs that they had recently been washed by a flood. On points of +rock and against the sides of the sand mounds, he saw bits of debris from +the Rackbirds' camp. Here were sticks which had formed the timbers of +their huts; there were pieces of clothing and cooking-utensils; and here +and there, partly buried by the shifting sands, were seen the bodies of +Rackbirds, already desiccated by the dry air and the hot sun of the +region. But the captain saw no vessel. + +"Dat up here," said Cheditafa. "Dey hide dat well. Come 'long, captain." + +Following his black guide, the captain skirted a little promontory of +rocks, and behind it found a cove in which, well concealed, lay the +Rackbirds' vessel. It was a sloop of about twenty tons, and from the +ocean, or even from the beach, it could not be seen. But as the captain +stood and gazed upon this craft his heart sank. It had no masts nor +sails, and it was a vessel that could not be propelled by oars. + +Wading through the shallow water,--for it was now low tide,--the captain +climbed on board. The deck was bare, without a sign of spar or sail, and +when, with Cheditafa's help, he had forced the entrance of the little +companionway, and had gone below, he found that the vessel had been +entirely stripped of everything that could be carried away, and when he +went on deck again he saw that even the rudder had been unshipped and +removed. Cheditafa could give him no information upon this state of +things, but after a little while Captain Horn imagined the cause for this +dismantled condition of the sloop. The Rackbirds' captain could not trust +his men, he said to himself, and he made it impossible for any of them to +escape or set out on an expedition for themselves. It was likely that the +masts and sails had been carried up to the camp, from which place it +would have been impossible to remove them without the leader knowing it. + +When he spoke to Cheditafa on the subject, the negro told him that after +the little ship came in from one of its voyages he and his companions had +always carried the masts, sails, and a lot of other things up to the +camp. But there was nothing of the sort there now. Every spar and sail +must have been carried out to sea by the flood, for if they had been left +on the shores of the stream the captain would have seen them. + +This was hard lines for Captain Horn. If the Rackbirds' vessel had been +in sailing condition, everything would have been very simple and easy for +him. He could have taken on board not only his own party, but a large +portion of the treasure, and could have sailed away as free as a bird, +without reference to the return of Rynders and his men. A note tied to a +pole set up in a conspicuous place on the beach would have informed Mr. +Rynders of their escape from the place, and it was not likely that any of +the party would have thought it worth while to go farther on shore. But +it was of no use to think of getting away in this vessel. In its present +condition it was absolutely useless. + +While the captain had been thinking and considering the matter, Cheditafa +had been wandering about the coast exploring. Presently Captain Horn saw +him running toward him, accompanied by the two other negroes. + +"'Nother boat over there," cried Cheditafa, as the captain approached +him,--"'nother boat, but badder than this. No good. Cook with it, +that's all." + +The captain followed Cheditafa across the little stream, and a hundred +yards or so along the shore, and over out of reach of the tide, piled +against a low sand mound, he saw a quantity of wood, all broken into +small pieces, and apparently prepared, as Cheditafa had suggested, for +cooking-fires. It was also easy to see that these pieces of wood had +once been part of a boat, perhaps of a wreck thrown up on shore. The +captain approached the pile of wood and picked up some of the pieces. As +he held in his hand a bit of gunwale, not much more than a foot in +length, his eyes began to glisten and his breath came quickly. Hastily +pulling out several pieces from the mass of debris, he examined them +thoroughly. Then he stepped back, and let the piece of rudder he was +holding drop to the sand. + +"Cheditafa," said he, speaking huskily, "this is one of the Castor's +boats. This is a piece of the boat in which Rynders and the men set out." + +The negro looked at the captain and seemed frightened by the expression +on his face. For a moment he did not speak, and then in a trembling voice +he asked, "Where all them now?" + +The captain shook his head, but said nothing. That pile of fragments was +telling him a tale which gradually became plainer and plainer to him, and +which he believed as if Rynders himself had been telling it to him. His +ship's boat, with its eight occupants, had never gone farther south than +the mouth of the little stream. That they had been driven on shore by the +stress of weather the captain did not believe. There had been no high +winds or storms since their departure. Most likely they had been induced +to land by seeing some of the Rackbirds on shore, and they had naturally +rowed into the little cove, for assistance from their fellow-beings was +what they were in search of. But no matter how they happened to land, +the Rackbirds would never let them go away again to carry news of the +whereabouts of their camp. Almost unarmed, these sailors must have fallen +easy victims to the Rackbirds. + +It was not unlikely that the men had been shot down from ambush without +having had any intercourse or conversation with the cruel monsters to +whom they had come to seek relief, for had there been any talk between +them, Rynders would have told of his companions left on shore, and these +would have been speedily visited by the desperadoes. For the destruction +of the boat there was reason enough: the captain of the Rackbirds gave +his men no chance to get away from him. + +With a heart of lead, Captain Horn turned to look at his negro +companions, and saw them all sitting together on the sands, chattering +earnestly, and holding up their hands with one or more fingers extended, +as if they were counting. Cheditafa came forward. + +"When all your men go away from you?" he asked. + +The captain reflected a moment, and then answered, "About two weeks ago." + +"That's right! That's right!" exclaimed the negro, nodding violently as +he spoke. "We talk about that. We count days. It's just ten days and +three days, and Rackbirds go 'way, and leave us high up in rock-hole, +with no ladder. After a while we hear guns, guns, guns. Long time guns +shooting. When they come back, it almost dark, and they want supper +bad. All time they eat supper, they talk 'bout shooting sharks. Shot +lots sharks, and chuck them into the water. Sharks in water already +before they is shot. We say then it no sharks they shot. Now we say it +must been--" + +The captain turned away. He did not want to hear any more. There was no +possible escape from the belief that Rynders and all his men had been +shot down, and robbed, if they had anything worth taking, and then their +bodies carried out to sea, most likely in their own boat, and thrown +overboard. + +There was nothing more at this dreadful place that Captain Horn wished to +see, to consider, or to do, and calling the negroes to follow him, he set +out on his return. + +During the dreary walk along the beach the captain's depression of +spirits was increased by the recollection of his thoughts about the +sailors and the treasure. He had hoped that these men would not come back +in time to interfere with his disposal, in his own way, of the gold he +had found. They would not come back now, but the thought did not lighten +his heart. But before he reached the caves, he had determined to throw +off the gloom and sadness which had come upon him. Under the +circumstances, grief for what had happened was out of place. He must keep +up a good heart, and help his companions to keep up good hearts. Now he +must do something, and, like a soldier in battle, he must not think of +the comrade who had fallen beside him, but of the enemy in front of him. + +When he reached the caves he found supper ready, and that evening he said +nothing to his companions of the important discoveries he had made, +contenting himself with a general statement of the proofs that the +Rackbirds and their camp had been utterly destroyed by the flood. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE CLIFF-MAKA SCHEME + +The next morning Captain Horn arose with a plan of action in his mind, +and he was now ready, not only to tell the two ladies and Ralph +everything he had discovered, but also what he was going to do. The +announcement of the almost certain fate of Rynders and his men filled his +hearers with horror, and the statement of the captain's plans did not +tend to raise their spirits. + +"You see," said he, "there is nothing now for us to wait for here. As to +being taken off by a passing vessel, there is no chance of that whatever. +We have gone over that matter before. Nor can we get away overland, for +some of us would die on the way. As to that little boat down there, we +cannot all go to sea in her, but in it I must go out and seek for help." + +"And leave us here!" cried Mrs. Cliff. "Do not think of that, captain! +Whatever happens, let us all keep together." + +"That cannot be," he said. "I must go because I am the only seaman among +you, and I will take four of those black fellows with me. I do not +apprehend any danger unless we have to make a surf landing, and even +then they can all swim like fishes, while I am very well able to take +care of myself in the water. I shall sail down the coast until I come to +a port, and there put in. Then I will get a vessel of some sort and come +back for you. I shall leave with you two of these negroes--Cheditafa, who +seems to be a highly respectable old person, and can speak English, and +Mok, who, although he can't talk to you, can understand a great deal that +is said to him. Apart from his being such an abject coward, he seems to +be a good, quiet fellow, willing to do what he is told. On the whole, I +think he has the best disposition of the four black dummies, begging +their pardons. I will take the three others, with Maka as head man and +interpreter. If I should be cast on shore by a storm, I could swim +through the surf to the dry land, but I could not undertake to save any +one else. If this misfortune should happen, we could make our way on foot +down the coast." + +"But suppose you should meet some Rackbirds?" cried Ralph. + +"I have no fear of that," answered the captain. "I do not believe there +is another set of such scoundrels on this hemisphere. So, as soon as I +can get that boat in order, and rig up a mast and a sail for her, I +shall provision her well and set out. Of course, I do not want to leave +you all here, but there is no help for it, and I don't believe you need +have the slightest fear of harm. Later, we will plan what is to be done +by you and by me, and get everything clear and straight. The first thing +is to get the boat ready, and I shall go to work on that to-day. I will +also take some of the negroes down to the Rackbirds' camp, and bring +away more stores." + +"Oh, let me go!" cried Ralph. "It is the cruellest thing in the world to +keep me cooped up here. I never go anywhere, and never do anything." + +But the captain shook his head. "I am sorry, my boy," said he, "to keep +you back so much, but it cannot be helped. When I go away, I shall make +it a positive condition that you do not leave your sister and Mrs. +Cliff, and I do not want you to begin now." A half-hour afterwards, when +the captain and his party had set out, Ralph came to his sister and sat +down by her. + +"Do you know," said he, "what I think of Captain Horn? I think he is a +brave man, and a man who knows what to do when things turn up suddenly, +but, for all that, I think he is a tyrant. He does what he pleases, and +he makes other people do what he pleases, and consults nobody." + +"My dear Ralph," said Edna, "if you knew how glad I am we have such a man +to manage things, you would not think in that way. A tyrant is just what +we want in our situation, provided he knows what ought to be done, and I +think that Captain Horn does know." + +"That's just like a woman," said Ralph. "I might have expected it." + +During the rest of that day and the morning of the next, everybody in +the camp worked hard and did what could be done to help the captain +prepare for his voyage, and even Ralph, figuratively speaking, put his +hand to the oar. + +The boat was provisioned for a long voyage, though the captain hoped to +make a short one, and at noon he announced that he would set out late +that afternoon. + +"It will be flood-tide, and I can get away from the coast better then +than if the tide were coming in." + +"How glad I should be to hear you speak in that way," said Mrs. Cliff, +"if we were only going with you! But to be left here seems like a death +sentence all around. You may be lost at sea while we perish on shore." + +"I do not expect anything of the sort!" exclaimed Edna. "With Ralph and +two men to defend us, we can stay here a long time. As for the captain's +being lost, I do not think of it for a moment. He knows how to manage a +boat too well for that." + +"I don't like it at all! I don't like it at all!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. +"I don't expect misfortunes any more than other people do, but our +common sense tells us they may come, and we ought to be prepared for +them. Of course, you are a good sailor, captain, but if it should happen +that you should never come back, or even if it should be a very long +time before you come back, how are we going to know what we ought to do? +As far as I know the party you leave behind you, we would all be of +different opinions if any emergency arose. As long as you are with us, I +feel that, no matter what happens, the right thing will be done. But if +you are away--" + +At this moment Mrs. Cliff was interrupted by the approach of Maka, who +wished very much to speak to the captain. As the negro was not a man who +would be likely to interrupt a conversation except for an important +reason, the captain followed him to a little distance. There he found, to +his surprise, that although he had left one person to speak to another, +the subject was not changed. + +"Cap'n," said Maka, "when you go 'way, who's boss?" + +The captain frowned, and yet he could not help feeling interested in this +anxiety regarding his successor. "Why do you ask that?" he said. "What +difference does it make who gives you your orders when I am gone?" + +Maka shook his head. "Big difference," he said. "Cheditafa don' like boy +for boss. He wan' me tell you, if boy is boss, he don' wan' stay. He wan' +go 'long you." + +"You can tell Cheditafa," said the captain, quickly, "that if I want him +to stay he'll stay, and if I want him to go he'll go. He has nothing to +say about that. So much for him. Now, what do you think?" + +"Like boy," said Maka, "but not for boss." + +The captain was silent for a moment. Here was a matter which really +needed to be settled. If he had felt that he had authority to do as he +pleased, he would have settled it in a moment. + +"Cap'n big man. He know everyt'ing," said Maka. "But when cap'n go 'way, +boy t'ink he big man. Boy know nothin'. Better have woman for boss." + +Captain Horn could not help being amused. "Which woman?" he asked. + +"I say old one. Cheditafa say young one." + +The captain was not a man who would readily discuss his affairs with any +one, especially with such a man as Maka; but now the circumstances were +peculiar, and he wanted to know the opinions of these men he was about to +leave behind him. + +"What made you and Cheditafa think that way?" he asked. + +"I t'ink old one know more," replied the negro, "and Cheditafa t'ink wife +make bes' boss when cap'n gone, and young one make bes' wife." + +"You impertinent black scoundrels!" exclaimed the captain, taking a step +toward Maka, who bounced backward a couple of yards. "What do you mean by +talking about Miss Markham and me in that way? I'll--" But there he +paused. It would not be convenient to knock the heads off these men at +this time. "Cheditafa must be a very great fool," said he, speaking more +quietly. "Does he suppose I could call anybody my wife just for the sake +of giving you two men a boss?" + +"Oh, Cheditafa know!" exclaimed Maka, but without coming any nearer +the captain. "He know many, many t'ings, but he 'fraid come tell +you hisself." + +"I should think he would be," replied the captain, "and I wonder you are +not afraid, too." + +"Oh, I is, I is," said Maka. "I's all w'ite inside. But somebody got +speak boss 'fore he go 'way. If nobody speak, den you go 'way--no boss. +All crooked. Nobody b'long to anybody. Den maybe men come down from +mountain, or maybe men come in boat, and dey say, 'Who's all you people? +Who you b'long to?' Den dey say dey don' b'long nobody but demselves. +Den, mos' like, de w'ite ones gets killed for dey clothes and dey money. +And Cheditafa and me we gets tuck somew'ere to be slaves. But if we say, +'Dat lady big Cap'n Horn's wife--all de t'ings and de people b'long to +big he'--hi! dey men hands off--dey shake in de legs. Everybody know big +Cap'n Horn." + +The captain could not help laughing. "I believe you are as big a fool as +Cheditafa," said he. "Don't you know I can't make a woman my wife just by +calling her so?" + +"Don' mean dat!" exclaimed Maka. "Cheditafa don' mean dat. He make all +right. He priest in he own country. He marry people. He marry you 'fore +you go, all right. He talk 'bout dat mos' all night, but 'fraid come +tell cap'n." + +The absurdity of this statement was so great that it made the captain +laugh instead of making him angry; but before he could say anything more +to Maka, Mrs. Cliff approached him. "You must excuse me, captain," she +said, "but really the time is very short, and I have a great deal to say +to you, and if you have finished joking with that colored man, I wish you +would talk with me." + +"You will laugh, too," said the captain, "when you hear what he said to +me." And in a few words he told her what Maka had proposed. + +Instead of laughing, Mrs. Cliff stood staring at him in silent amazement. + +"I see I have shocked you," said the captain, "but you must remember that +that is only a poor heathen's ignorant vagary. Please say nothing about +it, especially to Miss Markham." + +"Say nothing about it!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "I wish I had a thousand +tongues to talk of it. Captain, do you really believe that Cheddy man is +a priest, or what goes for one in his own country? If he is, he ought to +marry you and Edna." + +The captain frowned, with an air of angry impatience. "I could excuse +that poor negro, madam," he said, "when he made such a proposition to +me, but I must say I did not expect anything of the kind from you. Do you +think, even if we had a bishop with us, that I would propose to marry any +woman in the world for the sake of making her what that fellow called the +'boss' of this party?" + +It was now Mrs. Cliff's turn to be impatient. "That boss business is a +very small matter," she replied, "although, of course, somebody must be +head while you are gone, and it was about this that I came to see you. +But after hearing what that colored man said, I want to speak of +something far more important, which I have been thinking and thinking +about, and to which I could see no head or tail until a minute ago. +Before I go on, I want you to answer me this question: If you are lost +at sea, and never come back, what is to become of that treasure? It is +yours now, as you let us know plainly enough, but whose will it be if +you should die? It may seem like a selfish and sordid thing for me to +talk to you in this way just before you start on such an expedition, but +I am a business woman,--since my husband's death I have been obliged to +be that,--and I look at things with a business eye. Have you considered +this matter?" + +"Yes, I have," answered the captain, "very seriously." + +"And so have I," said Mrs. Cliff. "Whether Edna has or not I don't +know, for she has said nothing to me. Now, we are not related to you, +and, of course, have no claim upon you in that way, but I do think +that, as we have all suffered together, and gone through dangers +together, we all ought to share, in some degree at least, in good +things as well as bad ones." + +"Mrs. Cliff," said the captain, speaking very earnestly, "you need not +say anything more on that subject. I have taken possession of that +treasure, and I intend to hold it, in order that I may manage things in +my own way, and avoid troublesome disputes. But I have not the slightest +idea of keeping it all for myself. I intend that everybody who has had +any concern in this expedition shall have a share in it. I have thought +over the matter a great deal, and intended, before I left, to tell you +and Miss Markham what I have decided upon. Here is a paper I have drawn +up. It is my will. It is written in lead-pencil and may not be legal, +but it is the best I can do. I have no relatives, except a few second +cousins somewhere out in the Northwest, and I don't want them to have +anything to do directly with my property, for they would be sure to make +trouble. Here, as you see, I leave to you, Miss Markham, and Ralph all +the property, of every kind and description, of which I may die +possessed. This, of course, would cover all treasure you may be able to +take away from this place, and which, without this will, might be claimed +by some of my distant relatives, if they should ever chance to hear the +story of my discovery. + +"Besides this, I have written here, on another page of this note-book, a +few private directions as to how I want the treasure disposed of. I say +nothing definite, and mention no exact sums, but, in a general way, I +have left everything in the hands of you two ladies. I know that you will +make a perfectly just and generous disposition of what you may get." + +"That is all very kind and good of you," said Mrs. Cliff, "but I cannot +believe that such a will would be of much service. If you have relatives +you are afraid of,--and I see you have,--if Edna Markham were your widow, +then by law she would get a good part of it, even if she did not get it +all, and if Edna got it, we would be perfectly satisfied." + +"It is rather a grim business to talk about Miss Markham being my widow," +said the captain, "especially under such circumstances. It strikes me +that the kind of marriage you propose would be a good deal flimsier than +this will." + +"It does not strike me so," said she. "A mere confession before witnesses +by a man and woman that they are willing to take each other for husband +and wife is often a legal ceremony, and if there is any kind of a +religious person present to perform the ceremony, it helps, and in a case +like this no stone should be left unturned. You see, you have assumed a +great deal of responsibility about this. You have stated--and if we were +called upon to testify, Miss Markham and I would have to acknowledge that +you have so stated--that you claimed this treasure as your discovery, and +that it all belonged to you. So, you see, if we keep our consciences +clear,--and no matter what happens, we are going to do that,--we might be +obliged to testify every cent of it away from ourselves. But if Edna were +your wife, it would be all right." + +The captain stood silent for a few moments, his hands thrust into his +pockets, and a queer smile on his face. "Mrs. Cliff," said he, presently, +"do you expect me to go to Miss Markham and gravely propose this scheme +which you and that half-tamed African have concocted?" + +"I think it would be better," said Mrs. Cliff, "if I were to prepare her +mind for it. I will go speak to her now." + +"No," said he, quickly, "don't you do that. If the crazy idea is to be +mentioned to her at all, I want to do it myself, and in my own way. I +will go to her now. I have had my talk with you, and I must have one +with her." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ON A BUSINESS BASIS + + +Captain Horn found Edna at the entrance to the caves, busily employed in +filling one of the Rackbirds' boxes with ship-biscuit. + +"Miss Markham," said he, "I wish to have a little business talk with you +before I leave. Where is Ralph?" + +"He is down at the boat," she answered. + +"Very good," said he. "Will you step this way?" + +When they were seated together in the shade of some rocks, he stated to +Edna what he had planned in case he should lose his life in his intended +expedition, and showed her the will he had made, and also the directions +for herself and Mrs. Cliff. Edna listened very attentively, occasionally +asking for an explanation, but offering no opinion. When he had finished, +she was about to say something, but he interrupted her. + +"Of course, I want to know your opinion about all this," he said, "but +not yet. I have more to say. There has been a business plan proposed +by two members of our party which concerns me, and when anything is +told concerning me, I want to know how it is told, or, if possible, +tell it myself." + +And then, as concisely as possible, he related to her Maka's anxiety in +regard to the boss question, and his method of disposing of the +difficulty, and afterwards Mrs. Cliff's anxiety about the property, in +case of accident to himself, and her method of meeting the contingency. + +During this recital Edna Markham said not one word. To portions of the +narrative she listened with an eager interest; then her expression +became hard, almost stern; and finally her cheeks grew red, but +whether with anger or some other emotion the captain did not know. +When he had finished, she looked steadily at him for a few moments, +and then she said: + +"Captain Horn, what you have told me are the plans and opinions of +others. It seems to me that you are now called upon to say something for +yourself." + +"I am quite ready to do that," he answered. "A half-hour ago I had never +thought of such a scheme as I have laid before you. When I heard it, I +considered it absurd, and mentioned it to you only because I was afraid I +would be misrepresented. But since putting the matter to you, even while +I have been just now talking, I have grown to be entirely in favor of it. +But I want you to thoroughly understand my views on the subject. If this +marriage is to be performed, it will be strictly a business affair, +entered into for the purpose of securing to you and others a fortune, +large or small, which, without this marriage, might be taken from you. In +other words," said he, "you are to be looked upon in this affair in the +light of my prospective widow." + +For a moment the flush on the face of the young woman faded away, but it +quickly returned. Apparently involuntarily, she rose to her feet. Turning +to the captain, who also rose, she said: + +"But there is another way in which the affair would have to be looked at. +Suppose I should not become your widow? Suppose you should not be lost at +sea, and should come back safely?" + +The captain drew a deep breath, and folded his arms upon his chest. "Miss +Markham," said he, "if this marriage should take place, it would be +entirely different from other marriages. If I should not return, and it +should be considered legal, it may make you all rich and happy. If it +should not hold good, we can only think we have done our best. But as to +anything beyond this, or to any question of my return, or any other +question in connection with the matter, our minds should be shut and +locked. This matter is a business proposition, and as such I lay it +before you. If we adopt it, we do so for certain reasons, and beyond +those reasons neither of us is qualified to go. We should keep our eyes +fixed upon the main point, and think of nothing else." + +"Something else must be looked at," said Edna. "It is just as likely that +you will come back as that you will be lost at sea." + +"This plan is based entirely on the latter supposition," replied the +captain. "It has nothing to do with the other. If we consider it at all, +we must consider it in that light." + +"But we must consider it in the other light," she said. She was now quite +pale, and her face had a certain sternness about it. + +"I positively refuse to do that," he said. "I will not think about it, +or say one word about it. I will not even refer to any future settlement +of that question. The plan I present rests entirely upon my non-return." + +"But if you do return?" persisted Edna. + +The captain smiled and shook his head. "You must excuse me," he said, +"but I can say nothing about that." + +She looked steadily at him for a few moments, and then she said: "Very +well, we will say nothing about it. As to the plan which has been +devised to give us, in case of accident to you, a sound claim to the +treasure which has been found here, and to a part of which I consider I +have a right, I consent to it. I do this believing that I should share +in the wonderful treasures in that cave. I have formed prospects for my +future which would make my life a thousand times better worth living +than I ever supposed it would be, and I do not wish to interfere with +those prospects. I want them to become realities. Therefore, I consent +to your proposition, and I will marry you upon a business basis, before +you leave." + +"Your hand upon it," said the captain; and she gave him a hand so cold +that it chilled his own. "Now I will go talk to Maka and Cheditafa," he +said. "Of course, we understand that it may be of no advantage to have +this coal-black heathen act as officiating clergyman, but it can do no +harm, and we must take the chances. I have a good deal to do, and no time +to lose if I am to get away on the flood-tide this afternoon. Will it +suit you if I get everything ready to start, and we then have the +ceremony?" + +"Oh, certainly," replied Edna. "Any spare moment will suit me." + +When he had gone, Edna Markham sat down on the rock again. With her hands +clasped in her lap, she gazed at the sand at her feet. + +"Without a minute to think of it," she said to herself, +presently,--"without any consideration at all. And now it is done! It +was not like me. I do not know myself. But yes!" she exclaimed, speaking +so that any one near might have heard her, "I do know myself. I said it +because I was afraid, if I did not say it then, I should never be able +to say it." + +If Captain Horn could have seen her then, a misty light, which no man can +mistake, shining in her eyes as she gazed out over everything into +nothing, he might not have been able to confine his proposition to a +strictly business basis. + +She sat a little longer, and then she hurried away to finish the work on +which she had been engaged; but when Mrs. Cliff came to look for her, she +did not find her packing provisions for the captain's cruise, but sitting +alone in one of the inner caves. + +"What, crying!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "Now, let me tell you, my dear +child, I do not feel in the least like crying. The captain has told me +that everything is all right between you, and the more I think of it, the +more firmly I believe that it is the grandest thing that could have +happened. For some reason or other, and I am sure I cannot tell you why, +I do not believe at all that the captain is going to be shipwrecked in +that little boat. Before this I felt sure we should never see him again, +but now I haven't a doubt that he will get somewhere all right, and that +he will come back all right, and if he does it will be a grand match. +Why, Edna child, if Captain Horn never gets away with a stick of that +gold, it will be a most excellent match. Now, I believe in my heart," she +continued, sitting down by Edna, "that when you accepted Captain Horn you +expected him to come back. Tell me isn't that true?" + +At that instant Miss Markham gave a little start. "Mrs. Cliff," she +exclaimed, "there is Ralph calling me. Won't you go and tell him all +about it? Hurry, before he comes in here." + +When Ralph Markham heard what had happened while he was down at the +beach, he grew so furiously angry that he could not find words in which +to express himself. + +"That Captain Horn," he cried, when speech came to him, "is the most +despotic tyrant on the face of the earth! He tells people what they are +to do, and they simply go and do it. The next thing he will do is to tell +you to adopt me as a son. Marry Edna! My sister! And I not know it! And +she, just because he asks her, must go and marry him. Well, that is just +like a woman." + +With savage strides he was about marching back to the beach, when Mrs. +Cliff stopped him. + +"Now, don't make everybody unhappy, Ralph," she said, "but just listen to +me. I want to tell you all about this matter." + +It took about a quarter of an hour to make clear to the ruffled mind of +Ralph the powerful, and in Mrs. Cliffs eyes the imperative, reasons for +the sudden and unpremeditated matrimonial arrangements of the morning. +But before she had finished, the boy grew quieter, and there appeared +upon his face some expressions of astute sagacity. + +"Well," said he, "when you first put this business to me, it was tail +side up, but now you've got heads up it looks a little different. He will +be drowned, as like as not, and then I suppose we can call our souls our +own, and if, besides that, we can call a lot of those chunks of gold our +own, we ought not to grumble. All right. I won't forbid the banns. But, +between you and me, I think the whole thing is stuff and nonsense. What +ought I to call him? Brother Horn?" + +"Now, don't say anything like that, Ralph," urged Mrs. Cliff, "and don't +make yourself disagreeable in any way. This is a very serious time for +all of us, and I am sure that you will not do anything which will hurt +your sister's feelings." + +"Oh, don't be afraid," said Ralph. "I'm not going to hurt anybody's +feelings. But when I first meet that man, I hope I may be able to keep +him from knowing what I think of him." + +Five minutes later Ralph heard the voice of Captain Horn calling him. The +voice came from the opening in the caves, and instantly Ralph turned and +walked toward the beach. Again came the voice, louder than before: +"Ralph, I want you." The boy stopped, put his hands in his pockets, and +shrugged his shoulders, then he slowly turned. + +"If I were bigger," he said to himself, "I'd thrash him on the spot. Then +I'd feel easier in my mind, and things could go on as they pleased. But +as I am not six feet high yet, I suppose I might as well go to see what +he wants." + +"Ralph," said the captain, as soon as the boy reached him, "I see Mrs. +Cliff has been speaking to you, and so you know about the arrangements +that have been made. But I have a great deal to do before I can start, +and I want you to help me. I am now going to the mound in the cave to get +out some of that gold, and I don't want anybody but you to go with me. I +have just sent all the negroes down to the beach to carry things to the +boat, and we must be quick about our business. You take this leather bag. +It is Mrs. Cliff's, but I think it is strong enough. The lantern is +lighted, so come on." + +To dive into a treasure mound Ralph would have followed a much more +ruthless tyrant than Captain Horn, and although he made no remarks, he +went willingly enough. When they had climbed the mound, and the captain +had lifted the stone from the opening in the top, Ralph held the lantern +while the captain, reaching down into the interior, set himself to work +to fill the bag with the golden ingots. As the boy gazed down upon the +mass of dull gold, his heart swelled within him. His feeling of +indignant resentment began to disappear rapidly before the growing +consciousness that he was to be the brother-in-law of the owner of all +that wealth. As soon as the bag was filled, the stone was replaced, and +the two descended from the mound, the captain carefully holding the +heavy bag under his arm, for he feared the weight might break the +handle. Then, extinguishing the lantern as soon as they could see their +way without it, they reached the innermost cave before any of the +negroes returned. Neither Mrs. Cliff nor Edna was there, and the +captain placed his burden behind a piece of rock. + +"Captain," said the boy, his eyes glistening, "there must be a fortune in +that bag!" + +The captain laughed. "Oh, no," said he, "not a very large one. I have had +a good deal of experience with gold in California, and I suppose each one +of those little bars is worth from two hundred and fifty to three hundred +dollars." What we have represents a good deal of money. But now, Ralph, I +have something very important to say to you. I am going to appoint you +sole guardian and keeper of that treasure. You are very young to have +such a responsibility put upon you, but I know you will feel the +importance of your duty, and that you will not be forgetful or negligent +about it. The main thing is to keep those two negroes, and anybody who +may happen to come here, away from the mound. Do what you can to prevent +any one exploring the cave, and don't let the negroes go there for water. +They now know the way over the rocks to the stream. + +"If I should not come back, or a ship should come along and take you off +before I return, you must all be as watchful as cats about that gold. +Don't let anybody see a piece of it. You three must carry away with you +as much as you can, but don't let any one know you are taking it. Of +course, I expect to come back and attend to the whole business, but if I +should not be heard from for a long time,--and if that is the case, you +may be sure I am lost,--and you should get away, I will trust to your +sister and you to get up an expedition to come back for it." + +Ralph drew himself up as high as circumstances would permit. "Captain," +said he, "you may count on me. I'll keep an eye on those black fellows, +and on anybody else who may come here." + +"Very good," said the captain. "I am sure you will never forget that you +are the guardian of all our fortunes." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"A FINE THING, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS" + + +After the noonday meal, on the day of Captain Horn's departure, Mrs. +Cliff went apart with Maka and Cheditafa, and there endeavored to find +out, as best she might, the ideas and methods of the latter in regard to +the matrimonial service. In spite of the combined efforts of the two, +with their limited command of English, to make her understand how these +things were done in the forests and wilds of the Dark Continent, she +could not decide whether the forms of the Episcopal Church, those of the +Baptists, or those of the Quakers, could be more easily assimilated with +the previous notions of Cheditafa on the subject. But having been married +herself, she thought she knew very well what was needed, and so, without +endeavoring to persuade the negro priest that his opinions regarding the +marriage rites were all wrong, or to make him understand what sort of a +wedding she would have had if they had all been in their own land, she +endeavored to impress upon his mind the forms and phrases of a very +simple ceremony, which she believed would embody all that was necessary. + +Cheditafa was a man of considerable intelligence, and the feeling that +he was about to perform such an important ceremony for the benefit of +such a great man as Captain Horn filled his soul with pride and a strong +desire to acquit himself creditably in this honorable function, and he +was able before very long to satisfy Mrs. Cliff that, with Maka's +assistance as prompting clerk, he might be trusted to go through the +ceremony without serious mistake. + +She was strongly of the opinion that if she conducted the marriage +ceremony it would be far better in every way than such a performance by a +coal-black heathen; but as she knew that her offices would not count for +anything in a civilized world, whereas the heathen ministry might be +considered satisfactory, she accepted the situation, and kept her +opinions to herself. + +The wedding took place about six o'clock in the afternoon, on the plateau +in front of the great stone face, at a spot where the projecting rocks +cast a shade upon the heated ground. Cheditafa, attired in the best suit +of clothes which could be made up from contributions from all his +fellow-countrymen present, stood on the edge of the line of shadow, his +hands clasped, his head slightly bowed, his bright eyes glancing from +side to side, and his face filled with an expression of anxiety to +observe everything and make no mistakes. Maka stood near him, and behind +the two, in the brilliant sunlight, were grouped the other negroes, all +very attentive and solemn, looking a little frightened, as if they were +not quite sure that sacrifices were not customary on such occasions. + +Captain Horn stood, tall and erect, his jacket a little torn, but with an +air of earnest dignity upon his handsome, sunburnt features, which, with +his full dark beard and rather long hair, gave him the appearance of an +old-time chieftain about to embark upon some momentous enterprise. By his +side was Edna Markham, pale, and dressed in the simple gown in which she +had left the ship, but as beautiful, in the eyes of Mrs. Cliff, as if she +had been arrayed in orange-blossoms and white satin. + +[Illustration: Reverently the two answered the simple questions which +were put to them.] + +Reverently the two answered the simple questions which were put to them, +and made the necessary promises, and slowly and carefully, and in very +good English, Cheditafa pronounced them man and wife. Mrs. Cliff then +produced a marriage certificate, written with a pencil, as nearly as she +could remember, in the words of her own document of that nature, on a +leaf torn from the captain's note-book, and to this she signed +Cheditafa's name, to which the African, under her directions, affixed his +mark. Then Ralph and Mrs. Cliff signed as witnesses, and the certificate +was delivered to Edna. + +"Now," said the captain, "I will go aboard." + +The whole party, Edna and the captain a little in the lead, walked down +to the beach, where the boat lay, ready to be launched. During the short +walk Captain Horn talked rapidly and earnestly to Edna, confining his +remarks, however, to directions and advice as to what should be done +until he returned, or, still more important, as to what should be done if +he did not return at all. + +When they reached the beach, the captain shook hands with Edna, Mrs. +Cliff, and Ralph, and then, turning to Cheditafa, he informed him that +that lady, pointing to Edna, was now the mistress of himself and Mok, and +that every word of command she gave them must be obeyed exactly as if he +had given it to them himself. He was shortly coming back, he said, and +when he saw them again, their reward should depend entirely upon the +reports he should receive of their conduct. + +"But I know," said he, "that you are a good man, and that I can trust +you, and I will hold you responsible for Mok." + +This was the end of the leave-taking. The captain stepped into his boat +and took the oars. Then the four negroes, two on a side, ran out the +little craft as far as possible through the surf, and then, when they had +scrambled on board, the captain pulled out into smooth water. + +Hoisting his little sail, and seating himself in the stern, with the +tiller in his hand, he brought the boat round to the wind. Once he turned +toward shore and waved his hat, and then he sailed away toward the +western sky. + +Mrs. Cliff and Ralph walked together toward the caves, leaving Edna alone +upon the beach. + +"Well," said Ralph, "this is the first wedding I ever saw, but I must say +it is rather different from my idea of that sort of thing. I thought that +people always kissed at such affairs, and there was general jollification +and cake, but this seemed more like a newfangled funeral, with the dear +departed acting as his own Charon and steering himself across the Styx." + +"He might have kissed her," said Mrs. Cliff, thoughtfully. "But you see, +Ralph, everything had to be very different from ordinary weddings. It was +a very peculiar case." + +"I should hope so," said the boy,--"the uncommoner the better. In fact, +I shouldn't call it a wedding at all. It seemed more like taking a first +degree in widowhood." + +"Ralph," said Mrs. Cliff, "that is horrible. Don't you ever say anything +like that again. I hope you are not going to distress your sister with +such remarks." + +"You need not say anything about Edna!" he exclaimed. "I shall not worry +her with any criticisms of the performance. The fact is, she will need +cheering up, and if I can do it I will. She's captain now, and I'll stand +up for her like a good fellow." + +Edna stood on the beach, gazing out on the ocean illuminated by the rays +of the setting sun, keeping her eyes fixed on the captain's boat until it +became a mere speck. Then, when it had vanished entirely among the lights +and shades of the evening sea, she still stood a little while and +watched. Then she turned and slowly walked up to the plateau. Everything +there was just as she had known it for weeks. The great stone face seemed +to smile in the last rays of the setting sun. Mrs. Cliff came to meet +her, her face glowing with smiles, and Ralph threw his arms around her +neck and kissed her, without, however, saying a word about that sort of +thing having been omitted in the ceremony of the afternoon. + +"My dear Edna," exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "from the bottom of my heart I +congratulate you! No matter how we look at it, a rare piece of good +fortune has come to you." + +Edna gazed at her for a moment, and then she answered quietly, "Oh, yes, +it was a fine thing, no matter what happens. If he does not come back, I +shall make a bold stroke for widowhood; and if he does come back, he is +bound, after all this, to give me a good share of that treasure. So, you +see, we have done the best we can do to be rich and happy, if we are not +so unlucky as to perish among these rocks and sand." + +"She is almost as horrible as Ralph," thought Mrs. Cliff, "but she will +get over it." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MRS. CLIFF IS AMAZED + +After the captain set sail in his little boat, the party which he +left behind him lived on in an uneventful, uninteresting manner, +which, gradually, day by day, threw a shadow over the spirits of each +one of them. + +Ralph, who always slept in the outer chamber of the caves, had been a +very faithful guardian of the captain's treasure. No one, not even +himself, had gone near it, and he never went up to the rocky promontory +on which he had raised his signal-pole without knowing that the two +negroes were at a distance from the caves, or within his sight. + +For a day or two after the captain's departure Edna was very quiet, with +a fancy for going off by herself. But she soon threw off this dangerous +disposition, and took up her old profession of teacher, with Ralph as the +scholar, and mathematics as the study. They had no books nor even paper, +but the rules and principles of her specialty were fresh in her mind, and +with a pointed stick on a smooth stretch of sand diagrams were drawn and +problems worked out. + +This occupation was a most excellent thing for Edna and her brother, but +it did not help Mrs. Cliff to endure with patience the weary days of +waiting. She had nothing to read, nothing to do, very often no one to +talk to, and she would probably have fallen into a state of nervous +melancholy had not Edna persuaded her to devote an hour or two each day +to missionary work with Mok and Cheditafa. This Mrs. Cliff cheerfully +undertook. She was a conscientious woman, and her methods of teaching +were peculiar. She had an earnest desire to do the greatest amount of +good with these poor, ignorant negroes, but, at the same time, she did +not wish to do injury to any one else. The conviction forced itself upon +her that if she absolutely converted Cheditafa from the errors of his +native religion, she might in some way invalidate the marriage ceremony +which he had performed. + +"If he should truly come to believe," she said to herself, "that he had +no right to marry the captain and Edna, his conscience might make him +go back on the whole business, and everything that we have done would +be undone. I don't want him to remain a heathen any longer than it can +possibly be helped, but I must be careful not to set his priesthood +entirely aside until Edna's position is fixed and settled. When the +captain comes back, and we all get home, they must be married +regularly; but if he never comes back, then I must try to make +Cheditafa understand that the marriage is just as binding as any other +kind, and that any change of religious opinion that he may undergo will +have no effect upon it." + +Accordingly, while she confined her religious teachings to very general +principles, her moral teachings were founded upon the strictest code, and +included cleanliness and all the household virtues, not excepting the +proper care of such garments as an indigent human being in a tropical +climate might happen to possess. + +In spite, however, of this occupation, Mrs. Cliffs spirits were not +buoyant. "I believe," she thought, "things would have been more cheerful +if they had not married; but then, of course, we ought to be willing to +sacrifice cheerfulness at present to future prosperity." + +It was more than a month after the departure of the captain that Ralph, +from his point of observation, perceived a sail upon the horizon. He had +seen sails there before, but they never grew any larger, and generally +soon disappeared, for it would lengthen the course of any +coasting-vessel to approach this shore. But the sail that Ralph saw now +grew larger and larger, and, with the aid of his little spy-glass, it +was not long before he made up his mind that it was coming toward him. +Then up went his signal-flag, and, with a loud hurrah, down went he to +shout out the glad news. + +Twenty minutes later it was evident to the anxiously peering eyes of +every one of the party that the ship was actually approaching the shore, +and in the heart of each one of them there was a bounding delight in the +feeling that, after all these days of weary waiting, the captain was +coming back. + +As the ship drew nearer and nearer, she showed herself to be a large +vessel--a handsome bark. About half a mile from the shore, she lay to, +and very soon a boat was lowered. + +Edna's heart beat rapidly and her face flushed as, with Ralph's +spy-glass to her eyes, she scanned the people in the boat as it pulled +away from the ship. + +"Can you make out the captain?" cried Ralph, at her side. + +She shook her head, and handed him the glass. For full five minutes the +boy peered through it, and then he lowered the glass. + +"Edna," said he, "he isn't in it." + +"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "do you mean to say that the captain is not +in that boat?" + +"I am sure of it," said Ralph. "And if he isn't in the boat, of course he +is not on the ship. Perhaps he did not have anything to do with that +vessel's coming here. It may have been tacking in this direction, and so +come near enough for people to see my signal." + +"Don't suppose things," said Edna, a little sharply. "Wait until the boat +comes in, and then we will know all about it.--Here, Cheditafa," said +she, "you and Mok go out into the water and help run that boat ashore as +soon as it is near enough." + +It was a large boat containing five men, and when it had been run up on +the sand, and its occupants had stepped out, the man at the tiller, who +proved to be the second mate of the bark, came forward and touched his +hat. As he did so, no sensible person could have imagined that he had +accidentally discovered them. His manner plainly showed that he had +expected to find them there. The conviction that this was so made the +blood run cold in Edna's veins. Why had not the captain come himself? + +The man in command of the boat advanced toward the two ladies, looking +from one to the other as he did so. Then, taking a letter from the +pocket of his jacket, he presented it to Edna. + +"Mrs. Horn, I believe," he said. "Here is a letter from your husband." + +Now, it so happened that to Mrs. Cliff, to Edna, and to Ralph this +recognition of matrimonial status seemed to possess more force and value +than the marriage ceremony itself. + +Edna's face grew as red as roses as she took the letter. + +"From my husband," she said; and then, without further remark, she +stepped aside to read it. + +But Mrs. Cliff and Ralph could not wait for the reading of the letter. +They closed upon the mate, and, each speaking at the same moment, +demanded of him what had happened to Captain Horn, why he had not come +himself, where he was now, was this ship to take them away, and a dozen +similar questions. The good mariner smiled at their impatience, but could +not wonder at it, and proceeded to tell them all he knew about Captain +Horn and his plans. + +The captain, he said, had arrived at Callao some time since, and +immediately endeavored to get a vessel in which to go after the party +he had left, but was unable to do so. There was nothing in port which +answered his purpose. The captain seemed to be very particular about +the craft in which he would be willing to trust his wife and the rest +of the party. + +"And after having seen Mrs. Horn," the mate politely added, "and you two, +I don't wonder he was particular. When Captain Horn found that the bark +out there, the Mary Bartlett, would sail in a week for Acapulco, Mexico, +he induced the agents of the company owning her to allow her to stop to +take off the shipwrecked party and carry them to that port, from which +they could easily get to the United States." + +"But why, in the name of common sense," almost screamed Mrs. Cliff, +"didn't he come himself? Why should he stay behind, and send a ship to +take us off?" + +"That, madam," said the mate, "I do not know. I have met Captain Horn +before, for he is well known on this coast, and I know he is a man who +understands how to attend to his own business, and, therefore, I suppose +he has good reasons for what he has done--which reasons, no doubt, he has +mentioned in his letter to his wife. All I can tell you is that, after he +had had a good deal of trouble with the agents, we were at last ordered +to touch here. He could not give us the exact latitude and longitude of +this spot, but as his boat kept on a straight westward course after he +left here, he got a good idea of the latitude from the Mexican brig which +he boarded three days afterwards. Then he gave us a plan of the coast, +which helped us very much, and soon after we got within sight of land, +our lookout spied that signal you put up. So here we are; and I have +orders to take you all off just as soon as possible, for we must not lie +here a minute longer than is necessary. I do not suppose that, under the +circumstances, you have much baggage to take away with you, and I shall +have to ask you to get ready to leave as soon as you can." + +"All right," cried Ralph. "It won't take us long to get ready." + +But Mrs. Cliff answered never a word. In fact, the injunction to +prepare to leave had fallen unheeded upon her ear. Her mind was +completely occupied entirely with one question: Why did not the captain +come himself? + +She hastened to Edna, who had finished reading the letter, and now stood +silent, holding it in her hand. + +"What does he say?" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "What are his reasons for +staying away? What does he tell you about his plans? Read us the letter. +You can leave out all the loving and confidential parts, but give us his +explanations. I never was so anxious to know anything in all my life." + +"I will read you the whole of it," said Edna. "Here, Ralph." + +Her brother came running up. "That man is in an awful hurry to get away," +he said. "We ought to go up to the caves and get our things." + +"Stay just where you are," said Mrs. Cliff. "Before we do anything +else, we must know what Captain Horn intends to do, and what he wants +us to do." + +"That's so!" cried Ralph, suddenly remembering his guardianship. "We +ought to know what he says about leaving that mound. Read away, Edna." + +The three stood at some little distance from the sailors, who were now +talking with Cheditafa, and Edna read the letter aloud: + +"Lima, May 14, 1884. + +"MY DEAR WIFE: I reached this city about ten days ago. When I left you +all I did not sail down the coast, but stood directly out to sea. My +object was to reach a shipping-port, and to do this my best plan was to +get into the track of coasting-vessels. This plan worked well, and in +three days we were picked up by a Mexican guano brig, and were taken to +Callao, which is the port of Lima. We all arrived in good health and +condition. + +"This letter will be brought to you by the bark Mary Bartlett, which +vessel I have engaged to stop for you, and take you and the whole party +to Acapulco, which is the port of the City of Mexico, from which place I +advise you to go as soon as possible to San Francisco. I have paid the +passage of all of you to Acapulco, and I inclose a draft for one thousand +dollars for your expenses. I would advise you to go to the Palmetto +Hotel, which is a good family house, and I will write to you there and +send another draft. In fact, I expect you will find my letter when you +arrive, for the mail-steamer will probably reach San Francisco before you +do. Please write to me as soon as you get there, and address me here, +care of Nasco, Parmley & Co." + +An exclamation of impatience here escaped from Mrs. Cliff. In her +opinion, the reasons for the non-appearance of the captain should, have +been the first thing in the letter. + +"When I reached Lima, which is six miles from Callao," the letter +continued, "I disposed of some of the property I brought with me, and +expect to sell it all before long. Being known as a Californian, I find +no difficulty in disposing of my property, which is in demand here, and +in a very short time I shall have turned the whole of it into drafts or +cash. There is a vessel expected here shortly which I shall be able to +charter, and as soon as I can do so I shall sail in her to attend to the +disposition of the rest of my property. I shall write as frequently as +possible, and keep you informed of my operations. + +"Of course, you understand that I could not go on the Mary Bartlett to +join you and accompany you to Acapulco, for that would have involved too +great a loss of time. My business must be attended to without delay, and +I can get the vessel I want here. + +"The people of the _Mary Bartlett_ will not want to wait any longer than +can be helped, so you would all better get your baggage together as soon +as possible and go on board. The two negroes will bring down your +baggage, so there will be no need for any of the sailors to go up to the +caves. Tell Ralph not to forget the charge I gave him if they do go up. +When you have taken away your clothes, you can leave just as they are the +cooking-utensils, the blankets, and _everything else._ I will write to +you much more fully by mail. Cannot do so now. I hope you may all have a +quick and safe voyage, and that I may hear from you immediately after you +reach Acapulco. I hope most earnestly that you have all kept well, and +that no misfortune has happened to any of you. I shall wait with anxiety +your letter from Acapulco. Let Ralph write and make his report. I will +ask you to stay in San Francisco until more letters have passed and plans +are arranged. Until further notice, please give Mrs. Cliff one fourth of +all moneys I send. I cannot insist, of course, upon her staying in San +Francisco, but I would advise her to do so until things are more settled. + +"In haste, your husband, + +"Philip Horn." + +"Upon my word!" ejaculated Mrs. Cliff, "a most remarkable letter! It +might have been written to a clerk! No one would suppose it the first +letter of a man to his bride! Excuse me, Edna, for speaking so plainly, +but I must say I am shocked. He is very particular to call you his wife +and say he is your husband, and in that way he makes the letter a +valuable piece of testimony if he never turns up, but--well, no matter." + +"He is mighty careful," said Ralph, "not to say anything about the gold. +He speaks of his property as if it might be Panama stock or something +like that. He is awfully wary." + +"You see," said Edna, speaking in a low voice, "this letter was sent by +private hands, and by people who were coming to the spot where his +property is, and, of course, it would not do to say anything that would +give any hint of the treasure here. When he writes by mail, he can speak +more plainly." + +"I hope he may speak more plainly in another way," said Mrs. Cliff. "And +now let us go up and get our things together. I am a good deal more +amazed by the letter than I was by the ship." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +LEFT BEHIND + + +"Ralph," said Edna, as they were hurrying up to the caves, "you must do +everything you can to keep those sailors from wandering into the lake +basin. They are very different from the negroes, and will want to explore +every part of it." + +"Oh, I have thought of all that," said Ralph, "and I am now going to run +ahead and smash the lantern. They won't be so likely to go poking around +in the dark." + +"But they may have candles or matches," said Edna. "We must try to keep +them out of the big cave." + +Ralph did not stop to answer, but ran as fast as his legs would carry him +to the plateau. The rest of the party followed, Edna first, then the +negroes, and after them Mrs. Cliff, who could not imagine why Edna should +be in such a hurry. The sailors, having secured their boat, came +straggling after the rest. + +When Edna reached the entrance to the caves, she was met by her brother, +so much out of breath that he could hardly speak. + +"You needn't go to your room to get your things," he exclaimed. "I have +gathered them all up, your bag, too, and I have tumbled them over the +wall in the entrance back here. You must get over as quick as you can. +That will be your room now, and I will tell the sailors, if they go +poking around, that you are in there getting ready to leave, and then, of +course, they can't pass along the passage." + +"That is a fine idea," said Edna, as she followed him. "You are getting +very sharp-witted, Ralph." + +"Now, then," said he, as he helped her over the wall, "take just as long +as you can to get your things ready." + +"It can't take me very long," said Edna. "I have no clothes to change, +and only a few things to put in my bag. I don't believe you have got them +all, anyway." + +"But you must make it take a long time," said he. "You must not get +through until every sailor has gone. You and I must be the last ones to +leave the caves." + +"All right," said Edna, as she disappeared behind the wall. + +When Mrs. Cliff arrived, she was met by Ralph, who explained the state of +affairs, and although that lady was a good deal annoyed at the scattered +condition in which she found her effects, she accepted the situation. + +The mate and his men were much interested in the caves and the great +stone face, and, as might have been expected, every one of them wanted to +know where the narrow passage led. But as Ralph was on hand to inform +them that it was the entrance to Mrs. Horn's apartment, they could do no +more than look along its dusky length, and perhaps wonder why Mrs. Horn +should have selected a cave which must be dark, when there were others +which were well lighted. + +Mrs. Cliff was soon ready, and explained to the inquiring mate her +notion that these caves were used for religious purposes, and that +the stone face was an ancient idol. In fact, the good lady believed +this, but she did not state that she thought it likely that the +sculptured countenance was a sort of a cashier idol, whose duty it +was to protect treasure. + +Edna, behind the stone barrier, had put her things in her bag, though she +was not sure she had found all of them in the gloom, and she waited a +long time, so it seemed to her, for Ralph's summons to come forth. But +although the boy came to the wall several times, ostensibly to ask if she +were not ready, yet he really told her to stay where she was, for the +sailors were not yet gone. But at last he came with the welcome news that +every one had departed, and they soon came out into the daylight. + +"If anything is lost, charge it to me," said Ralph to Mrs. Cliff and his +sister, as they hurried away. "I can tell you, if I had not thought of +that way of keeping those sailors out of the passage, they would have +swarmed over that lake bed, each one of them with a box of matches in his +pocket; and if they had found that mound, I wouldn't give two cents for +the gold they would have left in it. It wouldn't have been of any use to +tell them it was the captain's property. They would have been there, and +he wasn't, and I expect the mate would have been as bad as any of them." + +"You are a good fellow, Ralph," said Mrs. Cliff, "and I hope you will +grow up to be an administrator, or something of the kind. I don't +suppose there was ever another boy in the world who had so much wealth +in charge." + +"You can't imagine," exclaimed Ralph, "how I hate to go away and leave +it! There is no knowing when the captain will get here, nor who will drop +in on the place before he does. I tell you, Edna, I believe it would be a +good plan for me to stay here with those two black fellows, and wait for +the captain. You two could go on the ship, and write to him. I am sure he +would be glad to know I am keeping guard here, and I don't know any +better fun than to be on hand when he unearths the treasure. There's no +knowing what is at the bottom of that mound." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Edna. "You can put that idea out of your head +instantly. I would not think of going away and leaving you here. If the +captain had wanted you to stay, he would have said so." + +"If the captain wanted!" sarcastically exclaimed Ralph. "I am tired of +hearing what the captain wants. I hope the time will soon come when those +yellow bars of gold will be divided up, and then I can do what I like +without considering what he likes." + +Mrs. Cliff could not help a sigh. "Dear me!" said she, "I do most +earnestly hope that time may come. But we are leaving it all behind us, +and whether we will ever hear of it again nobody knows." + +One hour after this Edna and Mrs. Cliff were standing on the deck of the +Mary Bartlett, watching the plateau of the great stone face as it slowly +sank into the horizon. + +"Edna," said the elder lady, "I have liked you ever since I have known +you, and I expect to like you as long as I live, but I must say that, for +an intelligent person, you have the most colorless character I have ever +seen. Whatever comes to pass, you receive it as quietly and calmly as if +it were just what you expected and what you happened to want, and yet, as +long as I have known you, you have not had anything you wanted." + +"You are mistaken there," said Edna. "I have got something I want." + +"And what may that be?" asked the other. + +"Captain Horn," said Edna. + +Mrs. Cliff laughed a little scornfully. "If you are ever going to get any +color out of your possession of him," she said, "he's got to very much +change the style of his letter-writing. He has given you his name and +some of his money, and may give you more, but I must say I am very much +disappointed in Captain Horn." + +Edna turned suddenly upon her companion. "Color!" she exclaimed, but she +did not finish her remark, for Ralph came running aft. + +"A queer thing has happened," said he: "a sailor is missing, and he is +one of the men who went on shore for us. They don't know what's become of +him, for the mate is sure he brought all his men back with him, and so am +I, for I counted them to see that there were no stragglers left, and all +the people who were in that boat came on board. They think he may have +fallen overboard after the ship sailed, but nobody heard a splash." + +"Poor fellow!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "and he was one of those who came +to save us!" + +At this moment a wet and bedraggled sailor, almost exhausted with a swim +of nearly a mile, staggered upon the beach, and fell down upon the sand +near the spot from which the Mary Bartlett's boat had recently been +pushed off. When, an hour before, he had slipped down the side of the +ship, he had swum under water as long as his breath held out, and had +dived again as soon as he had filled his lungs. Then he had floated on +his back, paddling along with little but his face above the surface of +the waves, until he had thought it safe to turn over and strike out for +land. It had been a long pull, and the surf had treated him badly, but he +was safe on shore at last, and in a few minutes he was sound asleep, +stretched upon the sand. + +Toward the end of the afternoon he awoke and rose to his feet. The warm +sand, the desiccating air, and the sun had dried his clothes, and his nap +had refreshed him. He was a sharp-faced, quick-eyed man, a Scotchman, and +the first thing he did was to shade his face with his hands and look out +over the sea. Then he turned, with a shrug of his shoulders and a grunt. + +"She's gone," said he, "and I will be up to them caves." After a dozen +steps he gave another shrug. "Humph!" said he, "those fools! Do they +think everybody is blind? They left victuals, they left cooking-things. +Blasted careful they were to leave matches and candles in a tin box. I +watched them. If everybody else was blind, I kenned they expected +somebody was comin' back. That captain, that blasted captain, I'll wager! +Wi' sae much business on his hands, he couldna sail wi' us to show us +where his wife was stranded!" + +For fifty yards more he plodded along, looking from side to side at the +rocks and sand. + +"A dreary place and lonely," thought he, "and I can peer out things at me +ease. I'll find out what's at the end o' that dark alley. They were so +fearsome that we'd go into her room. Her room, indeed! When the other +woman had a big lighted cave! They expected somebody to come back, did +they? Well, blast their eyes, he's here!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +AT THE RACKBIRDS' COVE + + +It was about six weeks after the _Mary Bartlett_ had sailed away from +that desolate spot on the coast of Peru from which she had taken the +shipwrecked party, that the great stone face might have seen, if its +wide-open eyes had been capable of vision, a small schooner beating in +toward shore. This vessel, which was manned by a Chilian captain, a +mate, and four men, and was a somewhat dirty and altogether disagreeable +craft, carried Captain Horn, his four negroes, and three hundred and +thirty bags of guano. + +In good truth the captain was coming back to get the gold, or as much of +it as he could take away with him. But his apparent purpose was to +establish on this desert coast a depot for which he would have nothing to +pay for rent and storage, and where he would be able to deposit, from +time to time, such guano as he had been able to purchase at a bargain at +two of the guano islands, until he should have enough to make it worth +while for a large vessel, trading with the United States or Mexico, to +touch here and take on board his accumulated stock of odorous +merchandise. + +It would be difficult--in fact, almost impossible--to land a cargo at +the point near the caves where the captain and his party first ran their +boats ashore, nor did the captain in the least desire to establish his +depot at a point so dangerously near the golden object of his +undertaking. But the little bay which had been the harbor of the +Rackbirds exactly suited his purpose, and here it was that he intended to +land his bags of guano. He had brought with him on the vessel suitable +timber with which to build a small pier, and he carried also a lighter, +or a big scow, in which the cargo would be conveyed from the anchored +schooner to the pier. + +It seemed quite evident that the captain intended to establish himself in +a somewhat permanent manner as a trader in guano. He had a small tent and +a good stock of provisions, and, from the way he went to work and set his +men to work, it was easy to see that he had thoroughly planned and +arranged all the details of his enterprise. + +It was nearly dark when the schooner dropped her anchor, and early the +next morning all available hands were set to work to build the pier, and, +when it was finished, the landing of the cargo was immediately begun. +Some of the sailors wandered about a little, when they had odd moments to +spare, but they had seen such dreary coasts before, and would rather rest +than ramble. But wherever they did happen to go, not one of them ever got +away from the eye of Captain Horn. + +The negroes evinced no desire to visit the cave, and Maka had been +ordered by the captain to say nothing about it to the sailors. There was +no difficulty in obeying this order, for these rough fellows, as much +landsmen as mariners, had a great contempt for the black men, and had +little to do with them. As Captain Horn informed Maka, he had heard from +his friends, who had arrived in safety at Acapulco; therefore there was +no need for wasting time in visiting their old habitation. + +In that dry and rainless region a roof to cover the captain's stock in +trade was not necessary, and the bags were placed upon a level spot on +the sands, in long double rows, each bag on end, gently leaning +against its opposite neighbor, and between the double rows there was +room to walk. + +The Chilian captain was greatly pleased with this arrangement. "I see +well," said he, in bad Spanish, "that this business is not new to you. A +ship's crew can land and carry away these bags without tumbling over each +other. It is a grand thing to have a storehouse with a floor as wide as +many acres." + +A portion of the bags, however, were arranged in a different manner. They +were placed in a circle two bags deep, inclosing a space about ten feet +in diameter. This, Captain Horn explained, he intended as a sort of +little fort, in which the man left in charge could defend himself and the +property, in case marauders should land upon the coast. + +"You don't intend," exclaimed the Chilian captain, "that you will leave a +guard here! Nobody would have cause to come near the spot from either +land or sea, and you might well leave your guano here for a year or more, +and come back and find it." + +"No," said Captain Horn, "I can't trust to that. A coasting-vessel might +put in here for water. Some of them may know that there is a stream +here, and with this convenient pier, and a cargo ready to their hands, my +guano would be in danger. No, sir. I intend to send you off to-morrow, if +the wind is favorable, for the second cargo for which we have contracted, +and I shall stay here and guard my warehouse." + +"What!" exclaimed the Chilian, "alone?" + +"Why not?" said Captain Horn. "Our force is small, and we can only spare +one man. In loading the schooner on this trip, I would be the least +useful man on board, and, besides, do you think there is any one among +you who would volunteer to stay here instead of me?" + +The Chilian laughed and shook his head. "But what can one man do," said +he, "to defend all this, if there should be need?" + +"Oh, I don't intend to defend it," said the other. "The point is to have +somebody here to claim it in case a coaster should touch here. I don't +expect to be murdered for the sake of a lot of guano. But I shall keep my +two rifles and other arms inside that little fort, and if I should see +any signs of rascality I shall jump inside and talk over the guano-bags, +and I am a good shot." + +The Chilian shrugged his shoulders. "If I stayed here alone," said he, "I +should be afraid of nothing but the devil, and I am sure he would come to +me, with all his angels. But you are different from me." + +"Yes," said Captain Horn, "I don't mind the devil. I have often camped +out by myself, and I have not seen him yet." + +When Maka heard that the captain intended staying alone, he was greatly +disturbed. If the captain had not built the little fort with the +guano-bags, he would have begged to be allowed to remain with him, but +those defensive works had greatly alarmed him, for they made him believe +that the captain feared that some of the Rackbirds might come back. He +had had a great deal of talk with the other negroes about those bandits, +and he was fully impressed with their capacity for atrocity. It grieved +his soul to think that the captain would stay here alone, but the captain +was a man who could defend himself against half a dozen Rackbirds, while +he knew very well that he would not be a match for half a one. With tears +in his eyes, he begged Captain Horn not to stay, for Rackbirds would not +steal guano, even if any of them should return. + +But his entreaties were of no avail. Captain Horn explained the matter to +him, and tried to make him understand that it was as a claimant, more +than as a defender of his property, that he remained, and that there was +not the smallest reason to suspect any Rackbirds or other source of +danger. The negro saw that the captain had made up his mind, and +mournfully joined his fellows. In half an hour, however, he came back to +the captain and offered to stay with him until the schooner should +return. If Captain Horn had known the terrible mental struggle which had +preceded this offer, he would have been more grateful to Maka than he had +ever yet been to any human being, but he did not know it, and declined +the proposition pleasantly but firmly. + +"You are wanted on the schooner," said he, "for none of the rest can +cook, and you are not wanted here, so you must go with the others; and +when you come back with the second load of guano, it will not be long +before the ship which I have engaged to take away the guano will touch +here, and then we will all go north together." + +Maka smiled, and tried to be satisfied. He and the other negroes had been +greatly grieved that the captain had not seen fit to go north from +Callao, and take them with him. Their one desire was to get away from +this region, so full of horrors to them, as soon as possible. But they +had come to the conclusion that, as the captain had lost his ship, he +must be poor, and that it was necessary for him to make a little money +before he returned to the land of his home. + +Fortune was on the captain's side the next day, for the wind was +favorable, and the captain of the schooner was very willing to start. If +that crew, with nothing to do, had been compelled by adverse weather to +remain in that little cove for a day or more, it might have been very +difficult indeed for Captain Horn to prevent them from wandering into the +surrounding country, and what might have happened had they chanced to +wander into the cave made the captain shudder to conjecture. + +He had carefully considered this danger, and on the voyage he had made +several plans by which he could keep the men at work, in case they were +obliged to remain in the cove after the cargo had been landed. Happily, +however, none of these schemes was necessary, and the next day, with a +western wind, and at the beginning of the ebb-tide, the schooner sailed +away for another island where Captain Horn had purchased guano, leaving +him alone upon the sandy beach, apparently as calm and cool as usual, but +actually filled with turbulent delight at seeing them depart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +IN THE GATES + + +When the topmasts of the Chilian schooner had disappeared below the +horizon line, with no reason to suppose that the schooner would put back +again, Captain Horn started for the caves. Had he obeyed his instincts, +he would have begun to stroll along the beach as soon as the vessel had +weighed anchor. But even now, as he hurried on, he walked prudently, +keeping close to the water, so that the surf might wash out his footsteps +as fast as he made them. He climbed over the two ridges to the north of +Rackbirds' Cove, and then made his way along the stretch of sand which +extended to the spot where the party had landed when he first reached +this coast. He stopped and looked about him, and then, in fancy, he saw +Edna standing upon the beach, her face pale, her eyes large and +supernaturally dark, and behind her Mrs. Cliff and the boy and the two +negroes. Not until this moment had he felt that he was alone. But now +there came a great desire to speak and be spoken to, and yet that very +morning he had spoken and listened as much as had suited him. + +As he walked up the rising ground toward the caves, that ground he had +traversed so often when this place had been, to all intents and purposes, +his home, where there had been voices and movement and life, the sense of +desertion grew upon him--not only desertion of the place, but of himself. +When he had opened his eyes, that morning, his overpowering desire had +been that not an hour of daylight should pass before he should be left +alone, and yet now his heart sank at the feeling that he was here and no +one was with him. + +When the captain had approached within a few yards of the great stone +face, his brows were slowly knitted. + +"This is carelessness," he said to himself. "I did not expect it of +them. I told them to leave the utensils, but I did not suppose that +they would leave them outside. No matter how much they were hurried in +going away, they should have put these things into the caves. A passing +Indian might have been afraid to go into that dark hole, but to leave +those tin things there is the same as hanging out a sign to show that +people lived inside." + +Instantly the captain gathered up the tin pan and tin plates, and looked +about him to see if there was anything else which should be put out of +sight. He did find something else. It was a little, short, black, wooden +pipe which was lying on a stone. He picked it up in surprise. Neither +Maka nor Cheditafa smoked, and it could not have belonged to the boy. + +"Perhaps," thought the captain, "one of the sailors from the _Mary +Bartlett_ may have left it. Yes, that must have been the case. But +sailors do not often leave their pipes behind them, nor should the +officer in charge have allowed them to lounge about and smoke. But it +must have been one of those sailors who left it here. I am glad I am the +one to find these things." + +The captain now entered the opening to the caves. Passing along until he +reached the room which he had once occupied, there he saw his rough +pallet on the ground, drawn close to the door, however. + +The captain knew that the rest of his party had gone away in a great +hurry, but to his orderly mariner's mind it seemed strange that they +should have left things in such disorder. + +He could not stop to consider these trifles now, however, and going to +the end of the passage, he climbed over the low wall and entered the cave +of the lake. When he lighted the lantern he had brought with him, he saw +it as he had left it, dry, or even drier than before, for the few pools +which had remained after the main body of water had run off had +disappeared, probably evaporated. He hurried on toward the mound in the +distant recess of the cave. On the way, his foot struck something which +rattled, and holding down his lantern to see what it was, he perceived an +old tin cup. + +"Confound it!" he exclaimed. "This is too careless! Did the boy intend to +make a regular trail from the outside entrance to the mound? I suppose he +brought that cup here to dip up water, and forgot it. I must take it with +me when I go back." + +He went on, throwing the light of the lantern on the ground before him, +for he had now reached a part of the cave which was entirely dark. +Suddenly something on the ground attracted his attention. It was +bright--it shone as if it were a little pale flame of a candle. He +sprang toward it, he picked it up. It was one of the bars of gold he had +seen in the mound. + +"Could I have dropped this?" he ejaculated. He slipped the little bar +into his pocket, and then, his heart beginning to beat rapidly, he +advanced, with his lantern close to the rocky floor. Presently he saw two +other pieces of gold, and then, a little farther on, the end of a candle, +so small that it could scarcely have been held by the fingers. He picked +up this and stared at it. It was a commonplace candle-end, but the sight +of it sent a chill through him from head to foot. It must have been +dropped by some one who could hold it no longer. + +He pressed on, his light still sweeping the floor. He found no more gold +nor pieces of candle, but here and there he perceived the ends of burnt +wooden matches. Going on, he found more matches, two or three with the +heads broken off and unburnt. In a few moments the mound loomed up out of +the darkness like a spectral dome, and, looking no more upon the ground, +the captain ran toward it. By means of the stony projections he quickly +mounted to the top, and there the sight he saw almost made him drop his +lantern. The great lid of the mound had been moved and was now awry, +leaving about one half of the opening exposed. + +In one great gasp the captain's breath seemed to leave him, but he was a +man of strong nerves, and quickly recovered himself; but even then he did +not lift his lantern so that he could look into the interior of the +mound. For a few moments he shut his eyes. He did not dare even to look. +But then his courage came back, and holding his lantern over the opening, +he gazed down into the mound, and it seemed to his rapid glance that +there was as much gold in it as when he last saw it. + +The discovery that the treasure was still there had almost as much effect +upon the captain as if he had found the mound empty. He grew so faint +that he felt he could not maintain his hold upon the top of the mound, +and quickly descended, half sliding, to the bottom. There he sat down, +his lantern by his side. When his strength came back to him,--and he +could not have told any one how long it was before this happened,--the +first thing he did was to feel for his box of matches, and finding them +safe in his waistcoat pocket, he extinguished the lantern. He must not be +discovered, if there should be any one to discover him. + +Now the captain began to think as fiercely and rapidly as a man's mind +could be made to work. Some one had been there. Some one had taken away +gold from that mound--how much or how little, it did not matter. Some one +besides himself had had access to the treasure! + +His suspicions fell upon Ralph, chiefly because his most earnest desire +at that moment was that Ralph might be the offender. If he could have +believed that he would have been happy. It must have been that the boy +was not willing to go away and leave all that gold, feeling that perhaps +he and his sister might never possess any of it, and that just before +leaving he had made a hurried visit to the mound. But the more the +captain thought of this, the less probable it became. He was almost sure +that Ralph could not have lifted that great mass of stone which formed +the lid covering the opening of the mound, for it had required all his +own strength to do it; and then, if anything of this sort had really +happened, the letters he had received from Edna and the boy must have +been most carefully written with the intention to deceive him. + +[Illustration: Holding his lantern over the opening he gazed down into +the mound.] + +The letter from Edna, which in tone and style was a close imitation of +his own to her, had been a strictly business communication. It told +everything which happened after the arrival of the Mary Bartlett, and +gave him no reason to suppose that any one could have had a chance to +pillage the mound. Ralph's letter had been even more definite. It was +constructed like an official report, and when the captain had read it, he +had thought that the boy had probably taken great pride in its +preparation. It was as guardian of the treasure mound that Ralph wrote, +and his remarks were almost entirely confined to this important trust. + +He briefly reported to the captain that, since his departure, no one had +been in the recess of the cave where the mound was situated, and he +described in detail the plan by which he had established Edna behind the +wall in the passage, so as to prevent any of the sailors from the ship +from making explorations. He also stated that everything had been left in +as high a condition of safety as it was possible to leave it, but that, +if his sister had been willing, he would most certainly have remained +behind, with the two negroes, until the captain's return. + +Much as he wished to think otherwise, Captain Horn could not prevail upon +himself to believe that Ralph could have written such a letter after a +dishonorable and reckless visit to the mound. + +It was possible that one or both of the negroes had discovered the +mound, but it was difficult to believe that they would have dared to +venture into that awful cavern, even if the vigilance of Edna, Mrs. +Cliff, and the boy had given them an opportunity, and Edna had written +that the two men had always slept outside the caves, and had had no call +to enter them. Furthermore, if Cheditafa had found the treasure, why +should he keep it a secret? He would most probably have considered it an +original discovery, and would have spoken of it to the others. Why +should he be willing that they should all go away and leave so much +wealth behind them? The chief danger, in case Cheditafa had found the +treasure, was that he would talk about it in Mexico or the United +States. But, in spite of the hazards to which such disclosures might +expose his fortunes, the captain would have preferred that the black men +should have been pilferers than that other men should have been +discoverers. But who else could have discovered it? Who could have been +there? Who could have gone away? + +There was but one reasonable supposition, and that was that one or more +of the Rackbirds, who had been away from their camp at the time when +their fellow-miscreants were swept away by the flood, had come back, and +in searching for their comrades, or some traces of them, had made their +way to the caves. It was quite possible, and further it was quite +probable, that the man or men who had found that mound might still be +here or in the neighborhood. As soon as this idea came into the mind of +the captain, he prepared for action. This was a question which must be +resolved if he could do it, and without loss of time. Lighting his +lantern,--for in that black darkness it was impossible for him to find +his way without it, although it might make him a mark for some concealed +foe,--the captain quickly made his way out of the lake cavern, and, +leaving his lantern near the little wall, he proceeded, with a loaded +pistol in his hand, to make an examination of the caves which he and his +party had occupied. + +He had already looked into the first compartment, but stopping at the +pallet which lay almost at the passage of the doorway, he stood and +regarded it. Then he stepped over it, and looked around the little +room. The pallet of blankets and rugs which Ralph had used was not +there. Then the captain stepped into the next room, and, to his +surprise, he found this as bare of everything as if it had never been +used as a sleeping-apartment. He now hurried back to the first room, +and examined the pallet, which, when he had first been looking at it, +he had thought to be somewhat different from what it had been when he +had used it. He now found that it was composed of all the rugs and +blankets which had previously made up the beds of all the party. The +captain ground his teeth. + +"There can be no doubt of it," he said. "Some one has been here since +they left, and has slept in these caves." + +At this moment he remembered the innermost cave, the large compartment +which was roofless, and which, in his excitement, he had forgotten. +Perhaps the man who slept on the pallet was in there at this minute. How +reckless he had been! To what danger he had exposed himself! With his +pistol cocked, the captain advanced cautiously toward the innermost +compartment. Putting his head in at the doorway, he glanced up, down, and +around. He called out, "Who's here?" and then he entered, and looked +around, and behind each of the massive pieces of rock with which the +floor was strewn. No one answered, and he saw no one. But he saw +something which made him stare. + +On the ground, at one side of the entrance to this compartment, were five +or six pieces of rock about a foot high, placed in a small circle so that +their tops came near enough together to support a tin kettle which was +resting upon them. Under the kettle, in the centre of the rocks, was a +pile of burnt leaves and sticks. + +"Here he has cooked his meals," said the captain--for the pallet made up +of all the others had convinced him that it had been one man who had been +here after his party had left. "He stayed long enough to cook his meals +and sleep," thought the captain. "I'll look into this provision +business." Passing through the other rooms, he went to a deep niche in +the wall of the entrance passage where his party had kept their stores, +and where Edna had written him they had left provisions enough for the +immediate use of himself and the men who should return. Here he found tin +cans tumbled about at the bottom of the niche, and every one of them +absolutely empty. On a little ledge stood a tin box in which they had +kept the matches and candles. The box was open, but there was nothing in +it. On the floor near by was a tin biscuit-box, crushed nearly flat, as +if some one had stamped upon it. + +"He has eaten everything that was left," said the captain, "and he has +been starved out. Very likely, too, he got out of water, for, of +course, those pools would dry up, and it is not likely he found the +stream outside." + +Now the captain let down the hammer of his revolver, and put it in his +belt. He felt sure that the man was not here. Being out of provisions, he +had to go away, but where he had gone to was useless to conjecture. Of +another thing the captain was now convinced: the intruder had not been a +Rackbird, for, while waiting for the disappearance of the Chilian +schooner, he had gone over to the concealed storehouse of the bandits, +and had found it just as he had left it on his last visit, with a +considerable quantity of stores remaining in it. If the man had known of +the Rackbirds' camp and this storehouse, it would not have been necessary +for him to consume every crumb and vestige of food which had been left in +these caves. + +"No," said the captain, "it could not have been a Rackbird, but who he +was, and where he has gone, is beyond my comprehension." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A PACK-MULE + + +When Captain Horn felt quite sure that it was not Ralph, that it was not +Cheditafa, that it was not a Rackbird, who had visited the treasure +mound, he stood and reflected. What had happened was a great +misfortune,--possibly it was a great danger,--but it was no use standing +there thinking about it. His reason could not help him; it had done for +him all that it could, and it would be foolish to waste time in looking +for the man, for it was plain enough that he had gone away. Of course, he +had taken some gold with him, but that did not matter much. The danger +was that he or others might come back for more, but this could not be +prevented, and it was needless to consider it. The captain had come to +this deserted shore for a purpose, and it was his duty, without loss of +time, to go to work and carry out that purpose. If in any way he should +be interfered with, he would meet that interference as well as he could, +but until it came he would go on with his work. Having come to this +conclusion, he got over the wall, lighted his lantern, and proceeded to +the mound. + +On his way he passed the tin cup, which he had forgotten to pick up, but +now he merely kicked it out of the way. "If the man comes back," he +thought, "he knows the way. There is no need of concealing anything." + +When the captain had reached the top of the mound, he moved the stone lid +so that the aperture was entirely uncovered. Then he looked down upon the +mass of dull yellow bars. He could not perceive any apparent diminution +of their numbers. + +"He must have filled his pockets," the captain thought, "and so full that +some of them dropped out. Well, let him go, and if he ventures back here, +we shall have it out between us. In the meantime, I will do what I can." + +The captain now took from the pocket of his jacket two small canvas bags, +which he had had made for this purpose, and proceeded to fill one of them +with the gold bars, lifting the bag, every now and then, to try its +weight. When he thought it heavy enough, he tied up the end very firmly, +and then packed the other, as nearly as possible, to the same extent. +Then he got down, and laying one of the bags over each shoulder, he +walked about to see if he could easily bear their weight. + +"That is about right," he said to himself. "I will count them when I take +them out." Then, putting them down, he went up for his lantern. He was +about to close the lid of the mound, but he reflected that this would be +of no use. It had been open nobody knew how long, and might as well +remain so. He was coming back as often as he could, and it would be a tax +upon his strength to lift that heavy lid every time. So he left the +treasures of the Incas open to the air under the black roof of the +cavern, and, with his lantern in his hand and a bag of gold on each +shoulder, he left the cave of the lake, and then, concealing his lantern, +he walked down to the sea. + +Before he reached it he had thoroughly scanned the ocean, but not a sign +of a ship could be seen. Walking along the sands, and keeping, as +before, close to the curving line of water thrown up by the surf, he +said to himself: + +"I must have my eyes and ears open, but I am not going to be nervous or +fidgety. I came here to be a pack-mule, and I intend to be a pack-mule +until something stops me, and if that something is one man, he can look +out for himself." + +The bags were heavy and their contents were rough and galling to the +shoulders, but the captain was strong and his muscles were tough, and as +he walked he planned a pair of cushions which he would wear under his +golden epaulets in his future marches. + +When the captain had covered the two miles of beach and climbed the two +rocky ridges, and reached his tent, it was long after noon, and throwing +his two bags on the ground and covering them with a blanket, he proceeded +to prepare his dinner. He laid out a complete working-plan, and one of +the rules he had made was that, if possible, nothing should interfere +with his regular meals and hours of sleep. The work he had set for +himself was arduous in the extreme, and calculated to tax his energies to +the utmost, and he must take very good care of his health and strength. +In thinking over the matter, he had feared that the greed of gold might +possess him, and that, in his anxiety to carry away as much as he could, +he might break down, and everything be lost. + +Even now he found himself calculating how much gold he had brought away +in the two bags, and what would be its value in coined money, multiplying +and estimating with his food untouched and his eyes fixed on the distant +sea. Suddenly he clenched his fist and struck it on his knee. + +"I must stop this," he said. "I shall be upset if I don't. I will not +count the bars in those bags. I will not make any more estimates. A rough +guess now and then I cannot help, but what I have to do is to bring away +all the gold I can. It will be time enough to find out what it is worth +when it is safe somewhere in North America." + +When the captain had finished his meal, he went to his tent, and opened +one of the trunks which he had brought with him, and which were supposed +to contain the clothes and personal effects he had bought in Lima. This +trunk, however, was entirely filled with rolls of cheap cotton cloth, +coarse and strong, but not heavy. With a pair of shears he proceeded to +cut from one of these some pieces, rather more than a foot square. Then, +taking from his canvas bags as many of the gold bars as he thought would +weigh twelve or fifteen pounds, trying not to count them as he did so, he +made a little package of them, tying the corners of the cloth together +with a strong cord. When five of these bundles had been prepared, his +gold was exhausted, and then he carried the small bundles out to the +guano-bags. + +He had bought his guano in bulk, and it had been put into bags under his +own supervision, for it was only in bags that the ship which was to take +it north would receive it. The bags were new and good, and Captain Horn +believed that each of them could be made twelve or fifteen pounds heavier +without attracting the attention of those who might have to lift them, +for they were very heavy as it was. + +He now opened a bag of guano, and thrusting a stick down into its +contents, he twisted it about until he had made a cavity which enabled +him, with a little trouble, to thrust one of the packages of gold down +into the centre of the bag. Then he pressed the guano down firmly, and +sewed up the bag again, being provided with needles and an abundance of +necessary cord. When this was done, the bag containing the gold did not +differ in appearance from the others, and the captain again assured +himself that the additional weight would not be noticed by a common +stevedore, especially if all the bags were about the same weight. At this +thought he stopped work and looked out toward the sea, his mind +involuntarily leaping out toward calculations based upon the happy chance +of his being able to load all the bags; but he checked himself. "Stop +that," he said. "Go to work!" + +Five guano-bags were packed, each with its bundle of gold, but the task +was a disagreeable, almost a distressing, one, for the strong ammoniacal +odor sometimes almost overpowered the captain, who had a great dislike +for such smells. But he never drew back, except now and then to turn his +head and take a breath of purer air. He was trying to make his fortune, +and when men are doing that, their likes and dislikes must stand aside. + +When this task was finished, the captain took up his two empty canvas +bags and went back to the caves, returning late in the afternoon, loaded +rather more heavily than before. From the experiences of the morning, he +believed that, with some folded pieces of cloth on each shoulder, he +could carry without discomfort a greater weight than his first ones. The +gold he now brought was made up into six bundles, and then the captain +rested from his labors. He felt that he could do a much better day's work +than this, but this day had been very much broken up, and he was still +somewhat awkward. + +Day after day Captain Horn labored at his new occupation, and a toilsome +occupation it was, which no one who did not possess great powers of +endurance, and great hopes from the results of his work, could have +undergone. In about a month the schooner was to be expected with another +load of guano, and the captain felt that he must, if possible, finish his +task before she came back. In a few days he found that, by practice and +improvements in his system of work, he was able to make four trips a day +between the cove of the Rackbirds and the caves. He rose very early in +the morning, and made two trips before dinner. Sometimes he thought he +might do more, but he restrained himself. It would not do for him to get +back too tired to sleep. + +During this time in which his body was so actively employed, his mind was +almost as active, and went out on all sorts of excursions, some of them +beneficial and some of them otherwise. Sometimes the thought came to him, +as he plodded along bearing his heavy bags, that he was no more than a +common thief, carrying away treasures which did not belong to him. Then, +of course, he began to reason away these uncomfortable reflections. If +this treasure did not belong to him, to whom did it belong? Certainly not +to the descendants of those Spaniards from whom the original owners had +striven so hard to conceal it. If the spirits of the Incas could speak, +they would certainly declare in his favor over that of the children of +the men who, in blood and torture, had obliterated them and their +institutions. Sometimes such arguments entirely satisfied the captain; +but if they did not entirely satisfy him, he put the whole matter aside, +to be decided upon after he should safely reach the United States with +such treasure as he might be able to take with him. + +"Then," he thought, "we can do what we think is right. I shall listen to +all that may be said by our party, and shall act justly. But what I do +not take away with me has no chance whatever of ever falling into the +proper hands." + +But no matter how he might terminate such reflections, the captain always +blamed himself for allowing his mind to occupy itself with them. He had +fully decided that this treasure belonged to him, and there was no real +reason for his thinking of such things, except that he had no one to talk +to, and in such cases a man's thoughts are apt to run wild. + +Often and often he wondered what the others were thinking about this +affair, and whether or not they would all be able to keep the secret +until he returned. He was somewhat afraid of Mrs. Cliff. He believed her +to be an honorable woman who would not break her word, but still he did +not know all her ideas in regard to her duty. She might think there was +some one to whom she ought to confide what had happened, and what was +expected to happen, and if she should do this, there was no reason why +he should not, some day, descry a ship in the offing with +treasure-hunters on board. + +Ralph gave him no concern at all, except that he was young, and the +captain could foretell the weather much better than the probable actions +of a youth. + +But these passing anxieties never amounted to suspicions. It was far +better to believe in Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, and he would do it; and every +time he thought of the two, he determined to believe in them. As to Edna, +there was no question about believing in her. He did so without +consideration for or against belief. + +The captain did not like his solitary life. How happy he would have been +if they could all have remained here; if the guano could have been +brought without the crew of the schooner knowing that there were people +in the caves; if the negroes could have carried the bags of gold; if +every night, after having superintended their labors, he could have gone +back to the caves, which, with the comforts he could have brought from +Lima, would have made a very habitable home; if--But these were +reflections which were always doomed to banishment as soon as the captain +became aware of the enthralment of their charm, and sturdily onward, +endeavoring to fix his mind upon some better sailor's knot with which to +tie up his bundles, or to plant his feet where his tracks would soon be +obliterated by the incoming waves, the strong man trudged, bearing +bravely the burden of his golden hopes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +HIS PRESENT SHARE + + +With four trips a day from the caves to the cove, taking time for rests, +for regular meals, and for sleep, and not working on Sundays,--for he +kept a diary and an account of days,--the captain succeeded in a little +over three weeks in loading his bags of guano, each with a package of +golden bars, some of which must have weighed as much as fifteen pounds. + +When this work had been accomplished, he began to consider the return of +the schooner. But he had no reason to expect her yet, and he determined +to continue his work. Each day he brought eight canvas bags of gold from +the caves, and making them up into small bundles, he buried them in the +sand under his tent. When a full month had elapsed since the departure +of the schooner, he began to be very prudent, keeping a careful lookout +seaward, as he walked the beach, and never entering the caves without +mounting a high point of the rocks and thoroughly scanning the ocean. +If, when bearing his burden of gold, he should have seen a sail, he +would have instantly stopped and buried his bags in the sand, wherever +he might be. + +Day after day passed, and larger and larger grew the treasure stored in +the sands under the tent, but no sail appeared. Sometimes the captain +could not prevent evil fancies coming to him. What if the ship should +never come back? What if no vessel should touch here for a year or two? +And why should a vessel ever touch? When the provisions he had brought +and those left in the Rackbirds' storehouse had been exhausted, what +could he do but lie down here and perish?--another victim added to the +millions who had already perished from the thirst of gold. He thought of +his little party in San Francisco. They surely would send in search of +him, if he did not appear in a reasonable time. But he felt this hope +was a vain one. In a letter to Edna, written from Lima, he had told her +she must not expect to hear from him for a long time, for, while he was +doing the work he contemplated, it would be impossible for him to +communicate with her. + +She would have no reason to suppose that he would start on such an +expedition without making due arrangements for safety and support, and +so would hesitate long before she would commission a vessel to touch +at this point in search of him. If he should starve here, he would die +months before any reasonable person, who knew as much of his affairs +as did Edna, would think the time had arrived to send a relief +expedition for him. + +But he did not starve. Ten days overdue, at last the Chilian +schooner appeared and anchored in the cove. She had now no white men +on board but the captain and his mate, for the negroes had improved +so much in seamanship that the economical captain had dispensed with +his Chilian crew. + +Captain Horn was delighted to be able to speak again to a fellow-being, +and it pleased him far better to see Maka than any of the others. + +"You no eat 'nough, cap'n," said the black man, as he anxiously scanned +the countenance of Captain Horn, which, although the captain was in +better physical condition than perhaps he had ever been in his life, was +thinner than when Maka had seen it last. "When I cook for you, you not so +long face," the negro continued. "Didn't us leave you 'nough to eat? Did +you eat 'em raw?" + +The captain laughed. "I have had plenty to eat," he said, "and I never +felt better. If I had not taken exercise, you would have found me as fat +as a porpoise." + +The interview with the Chilian captain was not so cordial, for Captain +Horn found that the Chilian had not brought him a full cargo of bags of +guano, and, by searching questions, he discovered that this was due +entirely to unnecessary delay in beginning to load the vessel. The +Chilian declared he would have taken on board all the guano which +Captain Horn had purchased at the smaller island, had he not begun to +fear that Captain Horn would suffer if he did not soon return to him, +and when he thought it was not safe to wait any longer, he had sailed +with a partial cargo. + +Captain Horn was very angry, for every bag of guano properly packed with +gold bars meant, at a rough estimate, between two and three thousand +dollars if it safely reached a gold-market, and now he found himself with +at least one hundred bags less than he had expected to pack. There was no +time to repair this loss, for the English vessel, the _Finland,_ from +Callao to Acapulco, which the captain had engaged to stop at this point +on her next voyage northward, might be expected in two or three weeks, +certainly sooner than the Chilian could get back to the guano island and +return. In fact, there was barely time for that vessel to reach Callao +before the departure of the _Finland_, on board of which the captain +wished his negroes to be placed, that they might go home with him. + +"If I had any men to work my vessel," said the Chilian, who had grown +surly in consequence of the fault-finding, "I'd leave your negroes here, +and cut loose from the whole business. I've had enough of it." + +"That serves you right for discharging your own men in order that you +might work your vessel with mine," said Captain Horn. He had intended to +insist that the negroes should ship again with the Chilian, but he knew +that it would be more difficult to find reasons for this than on the +previous voyage, and he was really more than glad to find that the matter +had thus arranged itself. + +Talking with Captain Horn, the Chilian mate, who had had no +responsibility in this affair, and who was, consequently, not out of +humor, proposed that he should go back with them, and take the English +vessel at Callao. + +"I can't risk it," said Captain Horn. "If your schooner should meet +with head winds or any other bad luck, and the _Finland_ should leave +before I got there, there would be a pretty kettle of fish, and if she +touched here and found no one in charge, I don't believe she would take +away a bag." + +"Do you think they will be sure to touch here?" asked the mate. "Have +they got the latitude and longitude? It didn't seem so bad before to +leave you behind, because we were coming back, but now it strikes me it +is rather a risky piece of business for you." + +"No," said Captain Horn. "I am acquainted with the skipper of the +_Finland,_ and I left a letter for him telling him exactly how the matter +stood, and he knows that I trust him to pick me up. I do not suppose he +will expect to find me here all alone, but if he gives me the slip, I +would be just as likely to starve to death if I had some men with me as +if I were alone. The _Finland_ will stop--I am sure of that." + +With every reason for the schooner's reaching Callao as soon as possible, +and very little reason, considering the uncordial relations of the two +captains, for remaining in the cove, the Chilian set sail the morning +after he had discharged his unsavory cargo. Maka had begged harder than +before to be allowed to remain with Captain Horn, but the latter had made +him understand, as well as he could, the absolute necessity of the +schooner reaching Callao in good time, and the absolute impossibility of +any vessel doing anything in good time without a cook. Therefore, after a +personal inspection of the stores left behind, both in the tent and in +the Rackbirds' storehouse, which latter place he visited with great +secrecy, Maka, with a sad heart, was obliged to leave the only real +friend he had on earth. + +When, early the next morning, Captain Horn began to pack the newly +arrived bags with the bundles of gold which he had buried in the sand, he +found that the bags were not at all in the condition of those the +filling of which he had supervised himself. Some of these were more +heavily filled than others, and many were badly fastened up. This, of +course, necessitated a good deal of extra work, but the captain sadly +thought that probably he would have more time than he needed to do all +that was necessary to get this second cargo into fair condition for +transportation. He had checked off his little bundles as he had buried +them, and there were nearly enough to fill all the bags. In fact, he had +to make but three more trips in order to finish the business. + +When the work was done, and everything was ready for the arrival of the +_Finland_, the captain felt that he had good reason to curse the +conscienceless Chilian whose laziness or carelessness had not only caused +him the loss of perhaps a quarter of a million of dollars, but had given +him days--how many he could not know--with nothing to do; and which of +these two evils might prove the worse, the captain could not readily +determine. + +As Captain Horn walked up and down the long double rows of bags which +contained what he hoped would become his fortune, he could not prevent a +feeling of resentful disappointment when he thought of the small +proportion borne by the gold in these bags to the treasure yet remaining +in the mound. On his last visit to the mound he had carefully examined +its interior, and although, of course, there was a great diminution in +its contents, there was no reason to believe that the cavity of the mound +did not extend downward to the floor of the cave, and that it remained +packed with gold bars to the depth of several feet. It seemed silly, +crazy, in fact, almost wicked, for him to sail away in the _Finland_ and +leave all that gold behind, and yet, how could he possibly take away any +more of it? + +He had with him a trunk nearly empty, in which he might pack some +blankets and other stuff with some bags of gold stowed away between them, +but more than fifty pounds added to the weight of the trunk and its +contents would make it suspiciously heavy, and what was fifty pounds out +of that vast mass? But although he puzzled his brains for the greater +part of a day, trying to devise some method by which he could take away +more gold without exciting the suspicions of the people on board the +English vessel, there was no plan that entered his mind that did not +contain elements of danger, and the danger was an appalling one. If the +crew of the _Finland_, or the crew of any other vessel, should, on this +desert coast, get scent of a treasure mound of gold ingots, he might as +well attempt to reason with wild beasts as to try to make them understand +that that treasure belonged to him. If he could get away with any of it, +or even with his life, he ought to be thankful. + +The captain was a man who, since he had come to an age of maturity, had +been in the habit of turning his mind this way and that as he would turn +the helm of his vessel, and of holding it to the course he had +determined upon, no matter how strong the wind or wave, how dense the +fog, or how black the night. But never had he stood to his helm as he +now stood to a resolve. + +"I will bring away a couple of bags," said he, "to put in my trunk, and +then, I swear to myself, I will not think another minute about carrying +away any more of that gold than what is packed in these guano-bags. If I +can ever come back, I will come back, but what I have to do now is to get +away with what I have already taken out of the mound, and also to get +away with sound reason and steady nerves." + +The next day there was not a sail on the far horizon, and the captain +brought away two bags of gold. These, with some clothes, he packed in his +empty trunk. + +"Now," said he, "this is my present share. If I permit myself to think of +taking another bar, I shall be committing a crime." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +HIS FORTUNE UNDER HIS FEET + + +Notwithstanding the fact that the captain had, for the present, closed +his account with the treasure in the lake cave, and had determined not to +give another thought to further drafts upon it, he could not prevent all +sorts of vague and fragmentary plans for getting more of the gold from +thrusting themselves upon him; but his hand was strong upon the tiller of +his mind, and his course did not change a point. He now began to consider +in what condition he should leave the caves. Once he thought he would go +there and take away everything which might indicate that the caves had +been inhabited, but this notion he discarded. + +"There are a good many people," he thought, "who know that we lived +there, and if that man who was there afterwards should come back, I would +prefer that he should not notice any changes, unless, indeed,"--and his +eyes glistened as a thought darted into his mind,--"unless, indeed, he +should find a lake where he left a dry cave. Good! I'll try it." + +With his hands in his pockets, the captain stood a few moments and +thought, and then he went to work. From the useless little vessel which, +had belonged to the Rackbirds he gathered some bits of old rope, and +having cut these into short pieces, he proceeded to pick them into what +sailors call oakum. + +Early the next morning, his two canvas bags filled with this, he started +for the caves. When he reached the top of the mound, and was just about +to hold his lantern so as to take a final glance into its interior, he +suddenly turned away his head and shut his eyes. + +"No," he said. "If I do that, it is ten to one I'll jump inside, and what +might happen next nobody knows." + +He put the lantern aside, lifted the great lid into its place, and +then, with a hammer and a little chisel which he had brought with him +from the tools which had been used for the building of the pier, he +packed the crevices about the lid with oakum. With a mariner's skill he +worked, and when his job was finished, it would have been difficult for +a drop of water to have found its way into the dome, no matter if it +rose high above it. + +It was like leaving behind a kingdom and a throne, the command of armies +and vast navies, the domination of power, of human happenings; but he +came away. + +When he reached the portion of the cave near the great gap which opened +to the sky opposite the entrance to the outer caves, the captain walked +across the dry floor to the place where was situated the outlet through +which the waters of the lake had poured out into the Rackbirds' valley. + +The machine which controlled this outlet was situated under the +overhanging ledge of the cave, and was in darkness, so that the captain +was obliged to use his lantern. He soon found the great lever which he +had clutched when he had swum to the rescue of Ralph, and which had gone +down with him and so opened the valve and permitted egress of the water, +and which now lay with its ten feet or more of length horizontally near +the ground. Near by was the great pipe, with its circular blackness +leading into the depths below. + +"That stream outside," said the captain, "must run in here somewhere, +although I cannot see nor hear it, and it must be stopped off by this +valve or another one connected with it, so that if I can get this lever +up again, I should shut it off from the stream outside and turn it in +here. Then, if that fellow comes back, he will have to swim to the +mound, and run a good chance of getting drowned if he does it, and if +anybody else comes here, I think it will be as safe as the ancient +Peruvians once made it." + +With this he took hold of the great lever and attempted to raise it. But +he found the operation a very difficult one. The massive bar was of +metal, but probably not iron, and although it was not likely that it had +rusted, it was very hard to move in its socket. The captain's weight had +brought it down easily, but this weight could not now be applied, and he +could only attempt to lift it. + +When it had first been raised, it was likely that a dozen slaves had +seized it and forced it into an upright position. The captain pushed up +bravely, and, a few inches at a time, he elevated the end of the great +lever. Frequently he stopped to rest, and it was over an hour before the +bar stood up as it had been when first he felt it under the water. + +When this was done, he went into the other caves, looked about to see +that everything was in the condition in which he had found it, and that +he had left nothing behind him during his many visits. When he was +satisfied on these points, he went back to the lake cave to see if any +water had run in. He found everything as dry as when he had left it, nor +could he hear any sound of running or dripping water. Considering the +matter, however, he concluded that there might be some sort of an outside +reservoir which must probably fill up before the water ran into the cave, +and so he came away. + +"I will give it time," he thought, "and come back to-morrow to see if it +is flooded." + +That night, as he lay on his little pallet, looking through the open +front of his tent at the utter darkness of the night, the idea struck him +that it was strange that he was not afraid to stay here alone. He was a +brave man,--he knew that very well,--and yet it seemed odd to him that, +under the circumstances, he should have so little fear. But his reason +soon gave him a good answer. He had known times when he had been very +much afraid, and among these stood preeminent the time when he had +expected an attack from the Rackbirds. But then his fear was for others. +When he was by himself it was a different matter. It was not often that +he did not feel able to take care of his own safety. If there were any +danger now, it was in the daytime, when some stray Rackbirds might come +back, or the pilferer of the mound might return with companions. But if +any such came, he had his little fort, two pistols, and a repeating +rifle. At night he felt absolutely safe. There was no danger that could +come by land or sea through the blackness of the night. + +Suddenly he sat up. His forehead was moist with perspiration. A shiver +ran through him, not of cold, but of fear. Never in his life had he been +so thoroughly frightened; never before had he felt his hands and legs +tremble. Involuntarily he rose and stood up in the tent. He was +terrified, not by anything real, but by the thought of what might happen +if that lake cave should fill up with water, and if the ancient valves, +perhaps weakened by his moving them backward and forward, should give way +under the great pressure, and, for a second time, a torrent of water +should come pouring down the Rackbirds' ravine! + +As the captain trembled with fear, it was not for himself, for he could +listen for the sound of the rushing waters, and could dash away to the +higher ground behind him; but it was for his treasure-bags, his fortune, +his future! His soul quaked. His first impulse was to rush out and carry +every bag to higher ground. But this idea was absurd. The night was too +dark, and the bags too heavy and too many. Then he thought of hurrying +away to the caves to see if the lake had risen high enough to be +dangerous. But what could he do if it had? In his excitement, he could +not stand still and do nothing. He took hold of one end of his trunk and +pulled it out of his tent, and, stumbling and floundering over the +inequalities of the ground, he at last got it to a place which he +supposed would be out of reach of a sudden flood, and the difficulties of +this little piece of work assured him of the utter futility of +attempting to move the bags in the darkness. He had a lantern, but that +would be of little service on such a night and for such a work. + +He went back into his tent, and tried to prevail upon himself that he +ought to go to sleep--that it was ridiculous to beset himself with +imaginary dangers, and to suffer from them as much as if they had been +real ones. But such reasoning was vain, and he sat up or walked about +near his tent all night, listening and listening, and trying to think of +the best thing to do if he should hear a coming flood. + +As soon as it was light, he hurried to the caves, and when he reached the +old bed of the lake, he found there was not a drop of water in it. + +"The thing doesn't work!" he cried joyfully. "Fool that I am, I might +have known that although a man might open a valve two or three +centuries old, he should not expect to shut it up again. I suppose I +smashed it utterly." + +His revulsion of feeling was so great that he began to laugh at his own +absurdity, and then he laughed at his merriment. + +"If any one should see me now," he thought, "they would surely think I +had gone crazy over my wealth. Well, there is no danger from a flood, +but, to make all things more than safe, I will pull down this handle, if +it will come. Anyway, I do not want it seen." + +The great bar came down much easier than it had gone up, moving, in fact, +the captain thought, as if some of its detachments were broken, and when +it was down as far as it would go, he came away. + +"Now," said he, "I have done with this cave for this trip. If possible, I +shall think of it no more." + +When he was getting some water from the stream to make some coffee for +his breakfast, he stopped and clenched his fist. "I am more of a fool +than I thought I was," he said. "This solitary business is not good for +me. If I had thought last night of coming here to see if this little +stream were still running, and kept its height, I need not have troubled +myself about the lake in the cave. Of course, if the water were running +into the caves, it would not be running here until the lake had filled. +And, besides, it would take days for that great lake to fill. Well, I am +glad that nobody but myself knows what an idiot I have been." + +When he had finished his breakfast, Captain Horn went to work. There was +to be no more thinking, no more plans, no more fanciful anxieties, no +more hopes of doing something better than he had done. Work he would, and +when one thing was done, he would find another. The first thing he set +about was the improvement of the pier which had been built for the +landing of the guano. There was a good deal of timber left unused, and he +drove down new piles, nailed on new planking, and extended the little +pier considerably farther into the waters of the cove. When this was +done, he went to work on the lighter, which was leaky, and bailed it out, +and calked the seams, taking plenty of time, and doing his work in the +most thorough manner. He determined that after this was done, and he +could find nothing better to do, he would split up the little vessel +which the Rackbirds had left rudderless, mastless, and useless, and make +kindling-wood of it. + +But this was not necessary. He had barely finished his work on the +lighter, when, one evening, he saw against the sun-lighted sky the +topmasts of a vessel, and the next morning the _Finland_ lay anchored off +the cove, and two boats came ashore, out of one of which Maka was the +first to jump. + +In five hours the guano had been transferred to the ship, and, twenty +minutes later, the _Finland_, with Captain Horn on board, had set sail +for Acapulco. The captain might have been better pleased if his +destination had been San Francisco, but, after all, it is doubtful if +there could have been a man who was better pleased. He walked the deck of +a good ship with a fellow-mariner with whom he could talk as much as he +pleased, and under his feet were the bags containing the thousands of +little bars for which he had worked so hard. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +AT THE PALMETTO HOTEL + + +For about four months the persons who made up what might be considered as +Captain Horn's adopted family had resided in the Palmetto Hotel, in San +Francisco. At the time we look upon them, however, Mrs. Cliff was not +with them, having left San Francisco some weeks previously. + +Edna was now a very different being from the young woman she had been. +Her face was smoother and fuller, and her eyes seemed to have gained a +richer brown. The dark masses of her hair appeared to have wonderfully +grown and thickened, but this was due to the loose fashion in which it +was coiled upon her head, and it would have been impossible for any one +who had known her before not to perceive that she was greatly changed. +The lines upon her forehead, which had come, not from age, but from +earnest purpose and necessity of action, together with a certain +intensity of expression which would naturally come to a young woman who +had to make her way in the world, not only for herself, but for her young +brother, and a seriousness born of some doubts, some anxieties, and some +ambiguous hopes, had all entirely disappeared as if they had been +morning mists rolling away from a summer landscape. Under the rays of a +sun of fortune, shining, indeed, but mildly, she had ripened into a +physical beauty which was her own by right of birth, but of which a few +more years of struggling responsibility would have forever deprived her. + +After the receipt of her second remittance, Edna and her party had taken +the best apartments in the hotel. The captain had requested this, for he +did not know how long they might remain there, and he wanted them to have +every comfort. He had sent them as much money as he could spare from the +sale, in Lima, of the gold he had carried with him when he first left +the caves, but his expenses in hiring ships and buying guano were heavy. +Edna, however, had received frequent remittances while the captain was at +the Rackbirds' cove, through an agent in San Francisco. These, she +supposed, came from further sales of gold, but, in fact, they had come +from the sale of investments which the captain had made in the course of +his fairly successful maritime career. In his last letter from Lima he +had urged them all to live well on what he sent them, considering it as +their share of the first division of the treasure in the mound. If his +intended projects should succeed, the fortunes of all of them would be +reconstructed upon a new basis as solid and as grand as any of them had +ever had reason to hope for. But if he should fail, they, the party in +San Francisco, would be as well off, or, perhaps, better circumstanced +than when they had started for Valparaiso. He did not mention the fact +that he himself would be poorer, for he had lost the _Castor_, in which +he was part-owner, and had invested nearly all his share of the proceeds +of the sale of the gold in ship hire, guano purchases, and other +necessary expenses. + +Edna was waiting in San Francisco to know what would be the next scene in +the new drama of her life. Captain Horn had written before he sailed from +Lima in the Chilian schooner for the guano islands and the Rackbirds' +cove, and he had, to some extent, described his plans for carrying away +treasure from the mound; but since that she had not heard from him until +about ten days before, when he wrote from Acapulco, where he had arrived +in safety with his bags of guano and their auriferous enrichments. He had +written in high spirits, and had sent her a draft on San Francisco so +large in amount that it had fairly startled her, for he wrote that he had +merely disposed of some of the gold he had brought in his baggage, and +had not yet done anything with that contained in the guano-bags. He had +hired a storehouse, as if he were going regularly into business, and from +which he would dispose of his stock of guano after he had restored it to +its original condition. To do all this, and to convert the gold into +negotiable bank deposits or money, would require time, prudence, and even +diplomacy. He had already sold in the City of Mexico as much of the gold +from his trunk as he could offer without giving rise to too many +questions, and if he had not been known as a California trader, he might +have found some difficulties even in that comparatively small +transaction. + +The captain had written that to do all he had to do he would be obliged +to remain in Acapulco or the City of Mexico--how long he could not tell, +for much of the treasure might have to be shipped to the United States, +and his plans for all this business were not yet arranged. + +Before this letter had been received, Mrs. Cliff had believed it to be +undesirable to remain longer in San Francisco, and had gone to her home +in a little town in Maine. With Edna and Ralph, she had waited and waited +and waited, but at last had decided that Captain Horn was dead. In her +mind, she had allowed him all the time that she thought was necessary to +go to the caves, get gold, and come to San Francisco, and as that time +had long elapsed, she had finally given him up as lost. She knew the +captain was a brave man and an able sailor, but the adventure he had +undertaken was strange and full of unknown perils, and if it should so +happen that she should hear that he had gone to the bottom in a small +boat overloaded with gold, she would not have been at all surprised. + +Of course, she said nothing of these suspicions to Edna or Ralph, nor did +she intend ever to mention them to any one. If Edna, who in so strange a +way had been made a wife, should, in some manner perhaps equally +extraordinary, be made a widow, she would come back to her, she would do +everything she could to comfort her; but now she did not seem to be +needed in San Francisco, and her New England home called to her through +the many voices of her friends. As to the business which had taken Mrs. +Cliff to South America, that must now be postponed, but it could not but +be a satisfaction to her that she was going back with perhaps as much +money as she would have had if her affairs in Valparaiso had been +satisfactorily settled. + +Edna and Ralph had come to be looked upon at the Palmetto Hotel as +persons of distinction. They lived quietly, but they lived well, and +their payments were always prompt. They were the wife and brother-in-law +of Captain Philip Horn, who was known to be a successful man, and who +might be a rich one. But what seemed more than anything else to +distinguish them from the ordinary hotel guests was the fact that they +were attended by two personal servants, who, although, of course, they +could not be slaves, seemed to be bound to them as if they had been born +into their service. + +Cheditafa, in a highly respectable suit of clothes which might have been +a cross between the habiliments of a Methodist minister and those of a +butler, was a person of imposing aspect. Mrs. Cliff had insisted, when +his new clothes were ordered, that there should be something in them +which should indicate the clergyman, for the time might come when it +would be necessary that he should be known in this character; and the +butler element was added because it would harmonize in a degree with his +duties as Edna's private attendant. The old negro, with his sober face, +and woolly hair slightly touched with gray, was fully aware of the +importance of his position as body-servant to Mrs. Horn, but his sense of +the responsibility of that position far exceeded any other sentiments of +which his mind was capable. Perhaps it was the fact that he had made Edna +Mrs. Horn which gave him the feeling that he must never cease to watch +over her and to serve her in every possible way. Had the hotel taken +fire, he would have rushed through the flames to save her. Had robbers +attacked her, they must have taken his life before they took her purse. +When she drove out in the city or suburbs, he always sat by the side of +the driver, and when she walked in the streets, he followed her at a +respectful distance. + +Proud as he was of the fact that he had been the officiating clergyman at +the wedding of Captain Horn and this grand lady, he had never mentioned +the matter to any one, for many times, and particularly just before she +left San Francisco, Mrs. Cliff had told him, in her most impressive +manner, that if he informed any one that he had married Captain Horn and +Miss Markham, great trouble would come of it. What sort of trouble, it +was not necessary to explain to him, but she was very earnest in assuring +him that the marriage of a Christian by a heathen was something which was +looked upon with great disfavor in this country, and unless Cheditafa +could prove that he had a perfect right to perform the ceremony, it might +be bad for him. When Captain Horn had settled his business affairs and +should come back, everything would be made all right, and nobody need +feel any more fear, but until then he must not speak of what he had done. + +If Captain Horn should never come back, Mrs. Cliff thought that Edna +would then be truly his widow, and his letters would prove it, but that +she was really his wife until the two had marched off together to a +regular clergyman, the good lady could not entirely admit. Her position +was not logical, but she rested herself firmly upon it. + +The other negro, Mok, could speak no more English than when we first met +him, but he could understand some things which were said to him, and was +very quick, indeed, to catch the meanings of signs, motions, and +expressions of countenance. At first Edna did not know what to do with +this negro, but Ralph solved the question by taking him as a valet, and +day by day he became more useful to the youth, who often declared that he +did not know how he used to get along without a valet. Mok was very fond +of fine clothes, and Ralph liked to see him smartly dressed, and he +frequently appeared of more importance than Cheditafa. He was devoted to +his young master, and was so willing to serve him that Ralph often found +great difficulty in finding him something to do. + +Edna and Ralph had a private table, at which Cheditafa and Mok assisted +in waiting, and Mrs. Cliff had taught both of them how to dust and keep +rooms in order. Sometimes Ralph sent Mok to a circulating library. Having +once been shown the place, and made to understand that he must deliver +there the piece of paper and the books to be returned, he attended to the +business as intelligently as if he had been a trained dog, and brought +back the new books with a pride as great as if he had selected them. The +fact that Mok was an absolute foreigner, having no knowledge whatever of +English, and that he was possessed of an extraordinary activity, which +enabled him, if the gate of the back yard of the hotel happened to be +locked, to go over the eight-foot fence with the agility of a monkey, had +a great effect in protecting him from impositions by other servants. +When a black negro cannot speak English, but can bound like an +india-rubber ball, it may not be safe to trifle with him. As for trifling +with Cheditafa, no one would think of such a thing; his grave and +reverend aspect was his most effectual protection. + +As to Ralph, he had altered in appearance almost as much as his sister. +His apparel no longer indicated the boy, and as he was tall and large for +his years, the fashionable suit he wore, his gay scarf with its sparkling +pin, and his brightly polished boots, did not appear out of place upon +him. But Edna often declared that she had thought him a great deal +better-looking in the scanty, well-worn, but more graceful garments in +which he had disported himself on the sands of Peru. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE CAPTAIN'S LETTER + + +On a sofa in her well-furnished parlor reclined Edna, and on a table near +by lay several sheets of closely written letter-paper. She had been +reading, and now she was thinking--thinking very intently, which in these +days was an unusual occupation with her. During her residence in San +Francisco she had lived quietly but cheerfully. She had supplied herself +abundantly with books, she had visited theatres and concerts, she had +driven around the city, she had taken water excursions, she had visited +interesting places in the neighborhood, and she had wandered among the +shops, purchasing, in moderation, things that pleased her. For company +she had relied chiefly on her own little party, although there had been +calls from persons who knew Captain Horn. Some of these people were +interesting, and some were not, but they all went away thinking that the +captain was a wonderfully fortunate man. + +One thing which used to be a pleasure to Edna she refrained from +altogether, and that was the making of plans. She had put her past life +entirely behind her. She was beginning a new existence--what sort of an +existence she could not tell, but she was now living with the +determinate purpose of getting the greatest good out of her life, +whatever it might be. + +Already she had had much, but in every respect her good fortunes were but +preliminary to something else. Her marriage was but the raising of the +curtain--the play had not yet begun. The money she was spending was but +an earnest of something more expected. Her newly developed physical +beauty, which she could not fail to appreciate, would fade away again, +did it not continue to be nourished by that which gave it birth. But what +she had, she had, and that she would enjoy. When Captain Horn should +return, she would know what would happen next. This could not be a +repetition of the life she was leading at the Palmetto Hotel, but +whatever the new life might be, she would get from it all that it might +contain for her. She did not in the least doubt the captain's return, for +she believed in him so thoroughly that she felt--she knew--he would come +back and tell her of his failure or his success, and what she was to do +next. But now she was thinking. She could not help it, for her tranquil +mind had been ruffled. + +Her cogitations were interrupted by the entrance of Ralph. + +"I say, Edna," said he, throwing himself into an easy-chair, and placing +his hat upon another near by, "was that a returned manuscript that +Cheditafa brought you this morning? You haven't been writing for the +magazines, have you?" + +"That was a letter from Captain Horn," she said. + +"Whew!" he exclaimed. "It must be a whopper! What does he say? When is he +coming here? Give me some of the points of it. But, by the way, Edna, +before you begin, I will say that I think it is about time he should +write. Since the letter in which he told about the guano-bags and sent +you that lot of money--let me see, how long ago was that?" + +"It was ten days ago," said his sister. + +"Is that so? I thought it was longer than that. But no matter. Since that +letter came, I have been completely upset. I want to know what I am to +do, and, whatever I am to do, I want to get at it. From what the captain +wrote, and from what I remember of the size and weight of those gold +bars, he must have got away with more than a million dollars--perhaps a +million and a half. Now, what part of that is mine? What am I to do with +it? When am I to begin to prepare myself for the life I am to lead when I +get it? All this I want to know, and, more than that, I want to know what +you are going to do. Now, if I had got to Acapulco, or any other +civilized spot, with a million dollars in solid gold, it would not have +been ten days before I should have written to my family,--for I suppose +that is what we are,--and should have told them what I was going to do, +and how much they might count on. But I hope now that letter does tell?" + +"The best thing to do," said Edna, taking up the letter from the table, +"is to read it to you. But before I begin I want to say something, and +that is that it is very wrong of you to get into these habits of +calculating about what may come to you. What is to come will come, and +you might as well wait for it without upsetting your mind by all sorts of +wild anticipations; and, besides this, you must remember that you are +not of age, and that I am your guardian, and whatever fortune may now +come to you will be under my charge until you are twenty-one." + +"Oh, I don't care about that," said Ralph. "We will have no trouble +about agreeing what is the best thing for me to do. But now go ahead +with the letter." + +"'I am going to tell you'" (at the beginning of the second paragraph) +"'of a very strange thing which happened to me since I last wrote. I will +first state that after my guano-bags had all been safely stored in the +warerooms I have hired, I had a heavy piece of work getting the packages +of gold out of the bags, and in packing the bars in small, stout boxes I +found in the City of Mexico and had sent down here. In looking around for +boxes which would suit my purpose, I discovered these, which had been +used for stereotype plates. They were stamped on the outside, and just +what I wanted, being about as heavy after I packed them with gold as they +were when they were filled with type-metal. This packing I had to do +principally at night, when I was supposed to be working in a little +office attached to the rooms. As soon as this was done, I sent all the +boxes to a safe-deposit bank in Mexico, and there the greater part of +them are yet. Some I have shipped to the mint in San Francisco, some have +gone North, and I am getting rid of the rest as fast as I can. + +"'The gold bars, cast in a form novel to all dealers, have excited a good +deal of surprise and questioning, but for this I care very little. My +main object is to get the gold separated as many miles as possible from +the guano, for if the two should be connected in the mind of any one who +knew where the guano was last shipped from, I might have cause for +anxiety. But as the bars bear no sort of mark to indicate that they were +cast by ancient Peruvians, and, so far as I can remember,--and I have +visited several museums in South America,--these castings are not like +any others that have come down to us from the times of the Incas, the +gold must have been cast in this simple form merely for convenience in +transportation and packing. Some people may think it is California gold, +some may think it comes from South America, but, whatever they think, +they know it is pure gold, and they have no right to doubt that it +belongs to me. Of course, if I were a stranger it might be different, but +wherever I have dealt I am known, or I send a good reference. And now I +will come to the point of this letter. + +"'Three days ago I was in my office, waiting to see a man to whom I hoped +to sell my stock of guano, when a man came in,--but not the one I +expected to see,--and if a ghost had appeared before me, I could not have +been more surprised. I do not know whether or not you remember the two +American sailors who were the first to go out prospecting, after Mr. +Rynders and his men left us, and who did not return. This man was one of +them--Edward Shirley by name.'" + +"I remember him perfectly!" cried Ralph. "And the other fellow was George +Burke. On board the _Castor_ I used to talk to them more than to any of +the other sailors." + +"'But astonished as I was,'" Edna went on to read, "'Shirley did not seem +at all surprised, but came forward and shook hands most heartily. He said +he had read in a newspaper that I had been rescued, and was doing +business in Acapulco, and he had come down on purpose to find me. I told +him how we had given up him and his mate for lost, and then, as he had +read a very slim account of our adventures, I told him the whole story, +taking great care, as you may guess, not to say anything about the +treasure mound. He did not ask any questions as to why I did not come +back with the rest of you, but was greatly troubled when he heard of the +murders of every man of our crew except himself and Burke and Maka. + +"'When I had finished, he told me his story, which I will condense as +much as possible. When he and Burke started out, they first began to +make their way along the slope of the rocky ridge which ended in our +caves, but they found this very hard work, so they soon went down to the +sandy country to the north. Here they shot some little beast or other, +and while they were hunting another one, up hill and down dale, they +found night was coming on, and they were afraid to retrace their steps +for fear they might come to trouble in the darkness. So they ate what +they had with them, and camped, and the next morning the mountains to the +east seemed to be so near them that they thought it much easier to push +on instead of coming back to us. They thought that when they got to the +fertile country they would find a settlement, and then they might be able +to do something for the rest of the party, and it would be much wiser to +go ahead than to turn back. But they found themselves greatly mistaken. +Mountains in the distance, seen over a plain, appear very much nearer +than they are, and these two poor fellows walked and walked, until they +were pretty nearly dead. The story is a long one as Shirley told it to +me, but just as they were about giving up entirely, they were found by a +little party of natives, who had seen them from a long distance and had +come to them. + +"'After a great deal of trouble,--I believe they had to carry Burke a +good part of the way,--the natives got them to their huts at the foot of +the mountains, and took care of them. These people told Shirley--he knows +a little Spanish--that it was a piece of rare good luck that they found +them, for it was very seldom they went so far out into the desert. + +"'In a day or two the two men went on to a little village in the +mountains, and there they tried to get up an expedition to come to our +assistance. They knew that we had food enough to last for a week or two, +but after that we must be starved out. But nobody would do anything, and +then they went on to another town to see what they could do there.'" + +"Good fellows!" exclaimed Ralph. + +"Indeed, they were," said Edna. "But wait until you hear what they did +next. + +"'Nobody in this small town,'" she read on, "'was willing to join Burke +and Shirley in their proposed expedition, and no wonder; for crossing +those deserts is a dangerous thing, and most people said it would be +useless anyway, as it would be easier for us to get away by sea than by +land. At this time Burke was taken sick, and for a week or two Shirley +thought he was going to die. Of course, they had to stay where they were, +and it was a long time before Burke was able to move about. Then they +might have gone into the interior until they came to a railroad, and so +have got away, for they had money with them, but Shirley told me they +could not bear to do that without knowing what had become of us. They did +not believe there was any hope for us, unless the mate had come back with +assistance, and they had not much faith in that, for if a storm had come +up, such as had wrecked the Castor, it would be all over with Mr. +Rynders's boat. + +"'But even if we had perished on that desolate coast, they wanted to +know it and carry the news to our friends, and so they both determined, +if the thing could be done, to get back to the coast and find out what +had become of us. They went again to the little village where they had +been taken by the natives who found them, and there, by promises of big +pay,--at least, large for those poor Peruvians,--they induced six of +them to join in an expedition to the caves. They did not think they had +any reason to suppose they would find any one alive, but still, besides +the provisions necessary for the party there and back, they carried +something extra. + +"'Well, they journeyed for two days, and then there came up a +wind-storm, hot and dry, filling the air with sand and dust, so that +they could not see where they were going, and the natives said they +ought all to go back, for it was dangerous to try to keep on in such a +storm. But our two men would not give up so soon, and they made a camp +in a sheltered place, and determined to press on in the morning, when +they might expect the storm to be over. But in the morning they found +that every native had deserted them. The wind had gone down, and the +fellows must have started back before it was light. Then Shirley and +Burke did not know what to do. They believed that they were nearer the +coast than the mountains, and as they had plenty of provisions,--for the +natives had left them nearly everything,--they thought they would try to +push on, for a while at least. + +"'There was a bit of rising ground to the east, and they thought if they +could get on the top of that they might get a sight of the ocean, and +then discover how far away it was. They reached the top of the rising +ground, and they did not see the ocean, but a little ahead of them, in a +smooth stretch of sand, was something which amazed them a good deal more +than if it had been the sea. It was a pair of shoes sticking up out of +the sand. They were an old pair, and appeared to have legs to them. They +went to the spot, and found that these shoes belonged to a man who was +entirely covered by sand, with the exception of his feet, and dead, of +course. They got the sand off of him, and found he was a white man, in +sailor's clothes. First they had thought he might be one of our party, +but they soon perceived that this was a mistake, for they had never seen +the man before. He was dried up until he was nothing but a skeleton with +skin over it, but they could have recognized him if they had known him +before. From what they had heard of the rainless climate of the Peruvian +coast, and the way it had of drying up dead animals of all sorts, they +imagined that this man might have been there for years. He was lying on +his back, with his arms folded around a bundle, and when they tried to +move this bundle, they found it was very heavy. It was something wrapped +up in a blanket and tied with a cord, and when they opened the bundle, +they were pretty nearly struck dumb; for they saw it held, as Shirley +expressed it, about a peck of little hunks of gold. + +"'They were utterly astounded by this discovery, and utterly unable to +make head or tail of it. What that man, apparently an English sailor, had +been doing out in the middle of this desert with a bundle of gold, and +where he got it, and who he was, and where he was going to, and how long +he had been dead, were things beyond their guessing. They dragged the +body out of its burrow in the sand, and examined the pockets, but there +was nothing in the trousers but an old knife. In the pocket of the shirt, +however, were about a dozen matches, wrapped up in an old envelope. This +was addressed, in a very bad hand, to A. McLeish, Callao, Peru, but they +could not make out the date of the postmark. These things were all there +was about the man that could possibly identify him, for his few clothes +were such as any sailor would wear, and were very old and dirty. + +"'But the gold was there. They examined it and scraped it, and they were +sure it was pure gold. There was no doubt in their minds as to what they +would do about this. They would certainly carry it away with them. But +before they did so, Burke wanted to hunt around and see if they could not +find more of it, for the mass of metal was so heavy he did not believe +the sailor could have carried it very far. But after examining the +country as far as the eye could reach, Shirley would not agree to this. +They could see nothing but wide-stretching sands, and no place where it +seemed worth while to risk their lives hunting for treasure. Their best +plan was to get away with what they had found, and now the point was +whether or not they should press on to the coast or go back; but as they +could see no signs of the sea, they soon came to the conclusion that the +best thing to do if they wanted to save their lives and their treasure +was to get back to the mountains. + +"'I forgot to say that as soon as Shirley began to talk about the dead +man and his gold, I left the warehouse in charge of Maka, and took him to +my hotel, where he told me the rest of his story in a room with the door +locked. I must try to take as many reefs in what followed as I can. I +don't believe that the finding of the gold made any difference in their +plans, for, of course, it would have been foolish for them to try to get +to us by themselves. They cut the blanket in half and made up the gold +into two packages, and then they started back for the mountains, taking +with them all the provisions they could carry in addition to the gold, +and leaving their guns behind them. Shirley said their loads got heavier +and heavier as they ploughed through the sand, and it took them three +days to cover the ground they had gone over before in two. When they got +to the village, they found scarcely a man in the place, for the fellows +who had deserted them were frightened, and kept out of sight. They stayed +there all night, and then they went on with their bundles to the next +village, where they succeeded in getting a couple of travelling-bags, +into which they put their gold, so that they might appear to be carrying +their clothes. + +"'After a good deal of travel they reached Callao, and there they made +inquiries for A. McLeish, but nobody knew of him. Of course, he was a +sailor who had had a letter sent there. They went up to Lima and sold a +few pieces of the gold, but, before they did it, they got a heavy hammer +and pounded them up, so that no one would know what their original shape +was. Shirley said he could not say exactly why they did this, but that +they thought, on the whole, it would be safer. Then they went to San +Francisco on the first vessel that sailed. They must have had a good deal +of talk on the voyage in regard to the gold, and it was in consequence of +their discussions that Shirley wanted so much to find me. They had +calculated, judging by the pieces they had sold, that the gold they had +with them was worth about twelve thousand dollars, and they both thought +they ought to do the right thing about it. In the first place, they tried +in San Francisco to find out something about McLeish, but no one knew of +such a man. They then began to consider some persons they did know about. +They had heard in Lima that some of the people of the _Castor_ had been +rescued, and if any of them were hard up, as most likely they were, +Shirley and Burke thought that by rights they ought to have some of the +treasure that they had found. Shirley said at first they had gone on the +idea that each of them would have six thousand dollars and could go into +business for himself, but after a while they thought this would be a mean +thing to do. They had all been shipwrecked together, and two of them had +had a rare piece of good luck, and they thought it no more than honorable +to share this good luck with the others, so they concluded the best thing +to do was to see me about it. Burke left this business to Shirley, +because he wanted to go to see his sister who lives in St. Louis. + +"'They had not formed any fixed plan of division, but they believed that, +as they had had the trouble, and, in fact, the danger, of getting the +gold, they should have the main share, but they considered that they had +enough to help out any of the original party who might be hard up for +money." Of course, we must always remember," said Shirley, in finishing +up his story, "that if we can find the heirs of McLeish, the money +belongs to them. But, even in that case, Burke and I think we ought to +keep a good share of it to pay us for getting it away from that beastly +desert." Here I interrupted him. "Don't you trouble yourself any more +about McLeish," I said. "That money did not belong to him. He stole it." +"How do you know that, and who did he steal it from?" cried Shirley. +"He stole it from me," said I. + +"'At this point Shirley gave such a big jump backward that his chair +broke beneath him, and he went crashing to the floor. He had made a start +a good deal like that when I told him how the Rackbirds had been swept +out of existence when I had opened the flood-gate that let out the waters +of the lake, and I had heard the chair crack then. Now, while he had been +telling me about his finding that man in the sand, with his load of gold, +I had been listening, but I had also been thinking, and almost any man +can think faster than another one can talk, and so by this time I had +made up my mind what I was going to say to Shirley. I would tell him all +about my finding the gold in the mound. It touched me to think that these +poor fellows, who did all that they could to help us escape, and then, +when they got safely home, started immediately to find us in order that +they might give us some of that paltry twelve thousand dollars--give to +us, who are actually millionaires, and who may be richer yet! It would +not do to let any of the crew get ahead of their captain in fair dealing, +and that was one reason why I determined to tell him. Then, there was +another point. Ever since I have been here, selling and storing the gold +I brought away, I have had a heavy load on my mind, and that was the +thought of leaving all the rest of the gold in that mound for the next +person who might come along and find it. + +"'I devised plan after plan of getting more of it, but none of them would +work. Two things were certain: One was that I could not get any more away +by myself. I had already done the best I could and all I could in that +line. And the second thing was that if I should try for any more of the +treasure, I must have people to help me. The plan that suited me best was +to buy a small vessel, man it, go down there, load up with the gold, and +sail away. There would be no reasonable chance that any one would be +there to hinder me, and I would take in the cargo just as if it were +guano, or anything else. Then I would go boldly to Europe. I have looked +into the matter, and I have found that the best thing I can do, if I +should get that gold, would be to transport it to Paris, where I could +distribute it better than I could from any other point. But the trouble +was, where could I get the crew to help me? I have four black men, and I +think I could trust them, as far as honesty goes, but they would not be +enough to work the ship, and I could not think of any white men with whom +I would trust my life and that gold in the same vessel. But now they +seemed to pop up right in front of me. + +"'I knew Shirley and Burke pretty well when they were on the _Castor_, +and after what Shirley told me I knew them better, and I believed they +were my men. To be sure, they might fail me, for they are only human, but +I had to have somebody to help me, and I did not believe there were any +other two men who would be less likely to fail me. So by the time Shirley +had finished his yarn I was ready to tell him the whole thing, and +propose to him and Burke to join me in going down after the rest of the +treasure and taking it to France.'" + +At this point Ralph sprang to his feet, his eyes flashing. "Edna!" he +cried, "I say that your Captain Horn is treating me shamefully. In the +first place, he let me come up here to dawdle about, doing nothing, when +I ought to have been down there helping him get more of that treasure. I +fancy he might have trusted me, and if I had been with him, we should +have brought away nearly twice as much gold, and at this minute we +should be twice as well off as we are. But this last is a thousand times +worse. Here he is, going off on one of the most glorious adventures of +this century, and he leaves me out. What does he take me for? Does he +think I am a girl? When he was thinking of somebody to go with him, why +didn't he think of me, and why doesn't he think of me now? He has no +right to leave me out!" + +"I look at the matter in a different light," said his sister. "Captain +Horn has no right to take you off on such a dangerous adventure, and, +more than that, he has no right to take you from me, and leave me alone +in the world. He once made you the guardian of all that treasure, and now +he considers you as my guardian. You did not desert the first trust, and +I am sorry to think you want to desert the other." + +"That's all very fine," said Ralph. "You blow hot and you blow cold at +the same time. When you want me to keep quiet and do what I am told, you +tell me I am not of age, and that you are my guardian; and when you want +me to stay here and make myself useful, you tell me I am wonderfully +trusty, and that I must be your guardian." + +Edna smiled. "That is pretty good reasoning," she said, "but there isn't +any reasoning needed in this case. No matter what Captain Horn may say or +do, I would not let you go away from me." + +Ralph sat down again. "There is some sense in what you say," he said. "If +the captain should come to grief, and I were with him, we would both be +gone. Then you would have nobody left to you. But that does not entirely +clear him. Even if he thought I ought not to go with him, he ought to +have said something about it, and put in a word or so about his being +sorry. Is there any more of the letter?" + +"Yes," said Edna, "there is more of it," and she began to read again: + +"'I intended to stop here and give you the rest of the matter in another +letter, but now, as I have a good chance to write, I think it is better +to keep on, although this letter is already as long as the pay-roll of +the navy. When I told Shirley about the gold, he made a bounce pretty +nearly as big as the others, but this time I had him in a stout +arm-chair, and he did no damage. He had in his pocket one of the gold +bars he spoke of, and I had one of mine in my trunk, and when we put them +together they were as like as two peas. What I told him dazed him at +first, and he did not seem properly to understand what it all meant, but, +after a little, a fair view of it came to him, and for hours we talked +over the matter. Who the man was who had gone there after we left did not +matter, for he could never come back again. + +"'We decided that what we should do was to go and get that gold as soon +as possible, and Shirley agreed to go with me. He believed we could trust +Burke to join us, and, with my four black men,--who have really become +good sailors,--we would have a crew of seven men altogether, with which +we could work a fair-sized brig to Havre or some other French port. +Before he went away our business was settled. He agreed to go with me as +first mate, to do his best to help me get that gold to France, to +consider the whole treasure as mine, because I had discovered it,--I +explained the reason to him, as I did to you,--and to accept as regular +pay one hundred dollars a day, from then until we should land the cargo +in a European port, and then to leave it to me how much more I would give +him. I told him there were a lot of people to be considered, and I was +going to try to make the division as fair as possible, and he said he was +willing to trust it to me. + +"'If we did not get the gold, he was to have eighteen dollars a month +for the time he sailed with me, and if we got safely back, I would give +him his share of what I had already secured. He was quite sure that Burke +would make the same agreement, and we telegraphed him to come +immediately. I am going to be very careful about Burke, however, and +sound him well before I tell him anything. + +"'Yesterday we found our vessel. She arrived in port a few days ago, and +is now unloading. She is a small brig, and I think she will do; in fact, +she has got to do. By the time Burke gets here I think we shall be ready +to sail. Up to that time we shall be as busy as men can be, and it will +be impossible for me to go to San Francisco. I must attend to the +shipping of the treasure I have stored in the City of Mexico. I shall +send some to one place and some to another, but want it all turned into +coin or bonds before I start. Besides, I must be on hand to see Burke the +moment he arrives. I am not yet quite sure about him, and if Shirley +should let anything slip while I was away our looked-for fortune might be +lost to us.' + +"And that," said Edna, "is all of the letter that I need read, except +that he tells me he expects to write again before he starts, and that +his address after he sails will be Wraxton, Fuguet & Co., American +bankers in Paris." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +EDNA MAKES HER PLANS + + +When she had finished reading the many pages of the letter, Edna leaned +back on the sofa and closed her eyes. Ralph sat upright in his chair and +gazed intently before him. + +"So we are not to see the captain again," he said presently. "But I +suppose that when a man has a thing to do, the best thing is to go +and do it." + +"Yes," said his sister, "that is the best thing." + +"And what are we to do?" + +"I am now trying to decide," she answered. + +"Doesn't he say anything about it?" + +"Not a word," replied Edna. "I suppose he considered he had made his +letter long enough." + +About an hour after this, when the two met again, Edna said: "I have been +writing to Captain Horn, and am going to write to Mrs. Cliff. I have +decided what we shall do. I am going to France." + +"To France!" cried Ralph. "Both of us?" + +"Yes, both of us. I made up my mind about this since I saw you." + +"What are you going to France for?" he exclaimed. "Come, let us have it +all--quick." + +"I am going to France," said his sister, "because Captain Horn is going +there, and when he arrives, I wish to be there to meet him. There is no +reason for our staying here--" + +"Indeed, there is not," interpolated Ralph, earnestly. + +"If we must go anywhere to wait," continued his sister, "I should +prefer Paris." + +"Edna," cried Ralph, "you are a woman of solid sense, and if the +captain wants his gold divided up, he should get you to do it. And now, +when are we going, and is Mrs. Cliff to go? What are you going to do +with the two darkies?" + +"We shall start East as soon as the captain sails," replied his sister, +"and I do not know what Mrs. Cliff will do until I hear from her, and as +for Cheditafa and Mok, we shall take them with us." + +"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Mok for my valet in Paris. That's the best thing +I have got out of the caves yet." + +Captain Horn was a strong man, prompt in action, and no one could know +him long without being assured of these facts. But although Edna's +outward personality was not apt to indicate quickness of decision and +vigor of purpose, that quickness and vigor were hers quite as much as the +captain's when occasion demanded, and occasion demanded them now. The +captain had given no indication of what he would wish her to do during +the time which would be occupied by his voyage to Peru, his work there, +and his subsequent long cruise around South America to Europe. She +expected that in his next letter he would say something about this, but +she wished first to say something herself. + +She did not know this bold sailor as well as she loved him, and she was +not at all sure that the plans he might make for her during his absence +would suit her disposition or her purposes. Consequently, she resolved to +submit her plans to him before he should write again. Above everything +else, she wished to be in that part of the world at which Captain Horn +might be expected to arrive when his present adventure should be +accomplished. She did not wish to be sent for to go to France. She did +not wish to be told that he was coming to America. Wherever he might +land, there she would be. + +The point that he might be unsuccessful, and might never leave South +America, did not enter into her consideration. She was acting on the +basis that he was a man who was likely to succeed in his endeavors. If +she should come to know that he had not succeeded, then her actions would +be based upon the new circumstances. + +Furthermore, she had now begun to make plans for her future life. She had +been waiting for Captain Horn to come to her, and to find out what he +intended to do. Now she knew he was not coming to her for a long time, +and was aware of what he intended to do, and she made her own plans. Of +course, she dealt only with the near future. All beyond that was vague, +and she could not touch it even with her thoughts. When sending his +remittances, the captain had written that she and Mrs. Cliff must +consider the money he sent her as income to be expended, not as principal +to be put away or invested. He had made provisions for the future of all +of them, in case he should not succeed in his present project, and what +he had not set aside with that view he had devoted to his own +operations, and to the maintenance, for a year, of Edna, Ralph, and Mrs. +Cliff, in such liberal and generous fashion as might please them, and he +had apportioned the remittances in a way which he deemed suitable. As +Edna disbursed the funds, she knew that this proportion was three +quarters for herself and Ralph, and one quarter for Mrs. Cliff. + +"He divides everything into four parts," she thought, "and gives me +his share." + +Acting on her principle of getting every good thing out of life that +life could give her, and getting it while life was able to give it to +her, there was no doubt in regard to her desires. Apart from her wish to +go where the captain expected to go, she considered that every day now +spent in America was a day lost. If her further good fortune should +never arrive, and the money in hand should be gone, she wished, before +that time came, to engraft upon her existence a period of life in +Europe--life of such freedom and opportunity as never before she had had +a right to dream of. + +Across this golden outlook there came a shadow. If he had wished to come +to her, she would have waited for him anywhere, or if he had wished her +to go to him, she would have gone anywhere. But it seemed as if that mass +of gold, which brought them together, must keep them apart, a long time +certainly, perhaps always. Nothing that had happened had had any element +of certainty about it, and the future was still less certain. If he had +come to her before undertaking the perilous voyage now before him, there +would have been a certainty in her life which would have satisfied her +forever. But he did not come. It was plainly his intention to have +nothing to do with the present until the future should be settled, so far +as he could settle it. + +In a few days after she had written to Captain Horn, informing him of the +plans she had made to go to France, Edna received an answer which +somewhat disappointed her. If the captain's concurrence in her proposed +foreign sojourn had not been so unqualified and complete, if he had +proposed even some slight modification, if he had said anything which +would indicate that he felt he had authority to oppose her movements if +he did not approve of them,--in fact, even if he had opposed her +plan,--she would have been better pleased. But he wrote as if he were her +financial agent, and nothing more. The tone of his letter was kind, the +arrangements he said he had made in regard to the money deposited in San +Francisco showed a careful concern for her pleasure and convenience, but +nothing in his letter indicated that he believed himself possessed in any +way of the slightest control over her actions. There was nothing like a +sting in that kind and generous letter, but when she had read it, the +great longing of Edna's heart turned and stung her. But she would give no +sign of this wound. She was a brave woman, and could wait still longer. + +The captain informed her that everything was going well with his +enterprise--that Burke had arrived, and had agreed to take part in the +expedition, and that he expected that his brig, the _Miranda_, would be +ready in less than a week. He mentioned again that he was extremely busy +with his operations, but he did not say that he was sorry he was unable +to come to take leave of her. He detailed in full the arrangements he had +made, and then placed in her hands the entire conduct of the financial +affairs of the party until she should hear from him again. When he +arrived in France, he would address her in care of his bankers, but in +regard to two points only did he now say anything which seemed like a +definite injunction or even request. He asked Edna to urge upon Mrs. +Cliff the necessity of saying nothing about the discovery of the gold, +for if it should become known anywhere from Greenland to Patagonia, he +might find a steamer lying off the Rackbirds' cove when his slow +sailing-vessel should arrive there. The other request was that Edna keep +the two negroes with her if this would not prove inconvenient. But if +this plan would at all trouble her, he asked that they be sent to him +immediately. + +In answer to this letter, Edna merely telegraphed the captain, informing +him that she would remain in San Francisco until she had heard that he +had sailed when she would immediately start for the East, and for France, +with Ralph and the two negroes. + +Three days after this she received a telegram from Captain Horn, stating +that he would sail in an hour, and the next day she and her little party +took a train for New York. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +"HOME, SWEET HOME" + + +On the high-street of the little town of Plainton, Maine, stood the neat +white house of Mrs. Cliff, with its green shutters, its porchless front +door, its pretty bit of flower-garden at the front and side, and its neat +back yard, sacred once a week to that virtue which is next to godliness. + +Mrs. Cliff's husband had been the leading merchant in Plainton, and +having saved some money, he had invested it in an enterprise of a friend +who had gone into business in Valparaiso. On Mr. Cliff's death his widow +had found herself with an income smaller than she had expected, and that +it was necessary to change in a degree her style of living. The +hospitalities of her table, once so well known throughout the circle of +her friends, must be curtailed, and the spare bedroom must be less +frequently occupied. The two cows and the horse were sold, and in every +way possible the household was placed on a more economical basis. She had +a good house, and an income on which, with care and prudence, she could +live, but this was all. + +In this condition of her finances it was not strange that Mrs. Cliff had +thought a good deal about the investments in Valparaiso, from which she +had not heard for a long time. Her husband had been dead for three years, +and although she had written several times to Valparaiso, she had +received no answer whatever, and being a woman of energy, she had finally +made up her mind that the proper thing to do was to go down and see after +her affairs. It had not been easy for her to get together the money for +this long journey,--in fact, she had borrowed some of it,--and so, to +lessen her expenses, she had taken passage in the _Castor_ from San +Francisco. + +She was a housewife of high degree, and would not have thought of +leaving--perhaps for months--her immaculate window-panes and her spotless +floors and furniture, had she not also left some one to take care of +them. A distant cousin, Miss Willy Croup, had lived with her since her +husband's death, and though this lady was willing to stay during Mrs. +Cliff's absence, Mrs. Cliff considered her too quiet and inoffensive to +be left in entire charge of her possessions, and Miss Betty Handshall, a +worthy maiden of fifty, a little older than Willy, and a much more +determined character, was asked to come and live in Mrs. Cliffs house +until her return. + +Betty was the only person in Plainton who lived on an annuity, and she +was rather proud of her independent fortune, but as her annuity was very +small, and as this invitation meant a considerable reduction in her +expenses, she was very glad to accept it. Consequently, Mrs. Cliff had +gone away feeling that she had left her house in the hands of two women +almost as neat as herself and even more frugal. + +When Mrs. Cliff left Edna and Ralph in San Francisco, and went home, +nearly all the people in the little town who were worth considering +gathered in and around her house to bid her welcome. They had heard of +her shipwreck, but the details had been scanty and unsatisfactory, and +the soul of the town throbbed with curiosity to know what had really +happened to her. For the first few hours of her return Mrs. Cliff was in +a state of heavenly ecstasy. Everything was so tidy, everything was so +clean, every face beamed with such genial amity, her native air was so +intoxicating, that she seemed to be in a sort of paradise. But when her +friends and neighbors began to ask questions, she felt herself gradually +descending into a region which, for all she knew, might resemble +purgatory. + +Of course, there was a great deal that was wonderful and startling to +relate, and as Mrs. Cliff was a good story-teller, she thrilled the +nerves of her hearers with her descriptions of the tornado at sea and the +Rackbirds on land, and afterwards filled the eyes of many of the women +with tears of relief as she told of their escapes, their quiet life at +the caves, and their subsequent rescue by the _Mary Bartlett_. But it was +the cross-examinations which caused the soul of the narrator to sink. Of +course, she had been very careful to avoid all mention of the gold mound, +but this omission in her narrative proved to be a defect which she had +not anticipated. As she had told that she had lost everything except a +few effects she had carried with her from the _Castor_, it was natural +enough that people should want to know how she had been enabled to come +home in such good fashion. + +They had expected her to return in a shabby, or even needy, condition, +and now they had stories of delightful weeks at a hotel in San Francisco, +and beheld their poor shipwrecked neighbor dressed more handsomely than +they had ever seen her, and with a new trunk standing in the lower hall +which must contain something. + +Mrs. Cliff began by telling the truth, and from this course she did not +intend to depart. She said that the captain of the _Castor_ was a just +and generous man, and, as far as was in his power, he had reimbursed the +unfortunate passengers for their losses. But as every one knows the +richest steamship companies are seldom so generous to persons who may be +cast away during transportation as to offer them long sojourns at hotels, +with private parlors and private servants, and to send them home in +drawing-room cars, with cloaks trimmed with real sealskin, the questions +became more and more direct, and all Mrs. Cliff could do was to stand +with her back against the captain's generosity, as if it had been a rock, +and rely upon it for defence. + +But when the neighbors had all gone home, and the trunk had to be opened, +so that it could be lightened before being carried up-stairs, the remarks +of Willy and Betty cut clean to the soul of the unfortunate possessor of +its contents. Of course, the captain had not actually given her this +thing, and that thing, and the other, or the next one, but he had allowed +her a sum of money, and she had expended it according to her own +discretion. How much that sum of money might have been, Willy and Betty +did not dare to ask,--for there were limits to Mrs. Cliff's +forbearance,--but when they went to bed, they consulted together. + +If it had not been for the private parlor and the drawing-room car, they +would have limited Captain Horn's generosity to one hundred dollars. But, +under the circumstances, that sum would have been insufficient. It must +have been nearly, if not quite, two hundred. As for Mrs. Cliff, she went +to bed regretting that her reservations had not been more extended, and +that she had not given the gold mound in the cave more company. She hated +prevarications and concealments, but if she must conceal something, she +should have concealed more. When the time came when she would be free to +tell of her good fortune, even if it should be no more than she already +possessed, then she would explain everything, and proudly demand of her +friends and neighbors to put their fingers on a single untruth that she +had told them. + +For the next day or two, Mrs. Cliff's joy in living again in her own home +banished all other feelings, and as she was careful to say nothing to +provoke more questions, and as those which were still asked became +uncertain of aim and scattering, her regrets at her want of reticence +began to fade. But, no matter what she did, where she went, or what she +looked at, Mrs. Cliff carried about with her a millstone. It did not hang +from her neck, but it was in her pocket. It was not very heavy, but it +was a burden to her. It was her money--which she wanted to spend, but +dared not. + +On leaving San Francisco, Edna had wished to give her the full amount +which the captain had so far sent her, but Mrs. Cliff declined to receive +the whole. She did not see any strong reason to believe that the captain +would ever send any more, and as she had a home, and Ralph and Edna had +not, she would not take all the money that was due her, feeling that they +might come to need it more than she would. But even with this generous +self-denial she found herself in Plainton with a balance of some +thousands of dollars in her possession, and as much more in Edna's hands, +which the latter had insisted that she would hold subject to order. What +would the neighbors think of Captain Horn's abnormal bounteousness if +they knew this? + +With what a yearning, aching heart Mrs. Cliff looked upon the little +picket-fence which ran across the front of her property! How beautiful +that fence would be with a new coat of paint, and how perfectly well she +could afford it! And there was the little shed that should be over the +back door, which would keep the sun from the kitchen in summer, and in +winter the snow. There was this in one room, and that in another. There +were new dishes which could exist only in her mind. How much domestic +gratification there was within her reach, but toward which she did not +dare to stretch out her hand! + +There was poor old Mrs. Bradley, who must shortly leave the home in which +she had lived nearly all her life, because she could no longer afford to +pay the rent. There had been an attempt to raise enough money by +subscription to give the old lady her home for another year, but this had +not been very successful. Mrs. Cliff could easily have supplied the +deficit, and it would have given her real pleasure to do so,--for she had +almost an affection for the old lady,--but when she asked to be allowed +to subscribe, she did not dare to give more than one dollar, which was +the largest sum upon the list, and even then Betty had said that, under +the circumstances, she could not have been expected to give anything. + +When she went out into the little barn at the rear of the house, and saw +the empty cow-stable, how she longed for fresh cream, and butter of her +own making! And when she gazed upon her little phaeton, which she had not +sold because no one wanted it, and reflected that her good, brown horse +could doubtless be bought back for a moderate sum, she almost wished that +she had come home as poor as people thought she ought to be. + +Now and then she ordered something done or spent some money in a way that +excited the astonishment of Willy Croup--the sharper-witted Betty had +gone home, for, of course, Mrs. Cliff could not be expected to be able to +afford her company now. But in attempting to account for these +inconsiderable extravagances, Mrs. Cliff was often obliged to content +herself with admitting that while she had been abroad she might have +acquired some of those habits of prodigality peculiar to our Western +country. This might be a sufficient excuse for the new bottom step to the +side door, but how could she account for the pair of soft, warm +Californian blankets which were at the bottom of the trunk, and which she +had not yet taken out even to air? + +Matters had gone on in this way for nearly a month,--every day Mrs. Cliff +had thought of some new expenditure which she could well afford, and +every night she wished that she dared to put her money in the town bank +and so be relieved from the necessity of thinking so much about +door-locks and window-fastenings,--when there came a letter from Edna, +informing her of the captain's safe arrival in Acapulco with the cargo of +guano and gold, and inclosing a draft which first made Mrs. Cliff turn +pale, and then compelled her to sit down on the floor and cry. The letter +related in brief the captain's adventures, and stated his intention of +returning for the gold. + +"To think of it!" softly sobbed Mrs. Cliff, after she had carefully +closed her bedroom door. "With this and what I am to get, I believe I +could buy the bank, and yet I can only sit here and try to think of some +place to hide this dangerous piece of paper." + +The draft was drawn by a San Francisco house upon a Boston bank, and Edna +had suggested that it might be well for Mrs. Cliff to open an account in +the latter city. But the poor lady knew that would never do. A +bank-account in Boston would soon become known to the people of Plainton, +and what was the use of having an account anywhere if she could not draw +from it? Edna had not failed to reiterate the necessity of keeping the +gold discovery an absolute secret, and every word she said upon this +point increased Mrs. Cliff's depression. + +"If it were only for a fixed time, a month or three months, or even six +months," the poor lady said to herself, "I might stand it. It would be +hard to do without all the things I want, and be afraid even to pay the +money I borrowed to go to South America, but if I knew when the day was +certainly coming when I could hold up my head and let everybody know just +what I am, and take my proper place in the community, then I might wait. +But nobody knows how long it will take the captain to get away with that +gold. He may have to make ever so many voyages. He may meet with wrecks, +and dear knows what. It may be years before they are ready to tell me I +am a free woman, and may do what I please with my own. I may die in +poverty, and leave Mr. Cliff's nephews to get all the good of the draft +and the money in my trunk up-stairs. I suppose they would think it came +from Valparaiso, and that I had been hoarding it. It's all very well for +Edna. She is going to Europe, where Ralph will be educated, I suppose, +and where she can live as she pleases, and nobody will ask her any +questions, and she need not answer them, if they should. But I must stay +here, in debt, and in actual want of the comforts of life, making believe +to pinch and to save, until a sea-captain thousands and thousands of +miles away shall feel that he is ready to let me put my hand in my pocket +and spend my riches." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +A COMMITTEE OF LADIES + + +It was about a week after the receipt of Edna's letter that Willy Croup +came to Mrs. Cliff's bedroom, where that lady had been taking a +surreptitious glance at her Californian blankets, to tell her that there +were three ladies down in the parlor who wished to see her. + +"It's the minister's wife, and Mrs. Hembold, and old Miss Shott," said +Willy. "They are all dressed up, and I suppose they have come for +something particular, so you'd better fix up a little afore you go down." + +In her present state of mind, Mrs. Cliff was ready to believe that +anybody who came to see her would certainly want to know something which +she could not tell them, and she went down fearfully. But these ladies +did not come to ask questions. They came to make statements. Mrs. Perley, +the minister's wife, opened the interview by stating that, while she was +sorry to see Mrs. Cliff looking so pale and worried, she was very glad, +at the same time, to be able to say something which might, in some +degree, relieve her anxiety and comfort her mind, by showing her that she +was surrounded by friends who could give her their heartfelt sympathy in +her troubles, and perhaps do a little more. + +"We all know," said Mrs. Perley, "that you have had misfortunes, and +that they have been of a peculiar kind, and none of them owing to your +own fault." + +"We can't agree exactly to that," interpolated Miss Shott, "but I won't +interrupt." + +"We all know," continued Mrs. Perley, "that it was a great loss and +disappointment to you not to be able to get down to Valparaiso and settle +your affairs there, for we are aware that you need whatever money is due +you from that quarter. And we understand, too, what a great blow it was +to you to be shipwrecked, and lose all your baggage except a hand-bag." + +Miss Shott was about to say something here, but Mrs. Hembold touched her +on the arm, and she waited. + +"It grieves us very much," continued the minister's wife, "to think that +our dear friend and neighbor should come home from her wanderings and +perils and privations, and find herself in what must be, although we do +not wish to pry into your private affairs, something of an embarrassed +condition. We have all stayed at home with our friends and our families, +and we have had no special prosperity, but neither have we met with +losses, and it grieves us to think that you, who were once as prosperous +as any of us, should now feel--I should say experience--in any manner the +pressure of privation." + +"I don't understand," said Mrs. Cliff, sitting up very straight in her +chair. "Privation? What does that mean?" + +"It may not be exactly that," said Mrs. Perley, quickly, "and we all know +very well, Mrs. Cliff, that you are naturally sensitive on a point like +this. But you have come back shipwrecked and disappointed in your +business, and we want to show you that, while we would not hurt your +feelings for anything in the world, we would like to help you a little, +if we can, just as we would hope you would help us if we were in any +embarrassment." + +"I must say, however--" remarked Miss Shott; but she was again silenced +by Mrs. Hembold, and the minister's wife went on. + +"To come straight to the point," said she, "for a good while we have been +wanting to do something, and we did not know what to do. But a few days +ago we became aware, through Miss Willy Croup, that what was most needed +in this house is blankets. She said, in fact, that the blankets you had +were the same you bought when you were first married, that some of them +had been worn out and given to your poorer neighbors, and that now you +were very short of blankets, and, with cold weather coming on, she did +not consider that the clothing on your own bed was sufficient. She even +went so far as to say that the blankets she used were very thin, and that +she did not think they were warm enough for winter. So, some of us have +agreed together that we would testify our friendship and our sympathy by +presenting you with a pair of good, warm blankets for your own bed; then +those you have could go to Willy Croup, and you both would be comfortable +all winter. Of course, what we have done has not been upon an expensive +scale. We have had many calls upon us,--poor old Mrs. Bradley, for +one,--and we could not afford to spend much money. But we have bought you +a good pair of blankets, which are warm and serviceable, and we hope you +will not be offended, and we do not believe that you will be, for you +know our motives, and all that we ask is that when you are warm and +comfortable under our little gift, you will sometimes think of us. The +blankets are out in the hall, and I have no doubt that Miss Willy Croup +will bring them in." + +Mrs. Cliff's eyes filled with tears. She wanted to speak, but how could +she speak! But she was saved from further embarrassment, for when Willy, +who had been standing in the doorway, had gone to get the blankets, Miss +Shott could be restrained no longer. + +"I am bound to say," she began, "that, while I put my money in with the +rest to get those blankets,--and am very glad to be able to do it, Mrs. +Cliff,--I don't think that we ought to do anything which would look as if +we were giving our countenances to useless extravagances in persons, even +if they are our friends, who, with but small means, think they must live +like rich people, simply because they happen to be travelling among them. +It is not for me to allude to hotels in towns where there are good +boarding-houses, to vestibule cars and fur-trimmed cloaks; but I will say +that when I am called upon to help my friends who need it, I will do it +as quick as anybody, but I also feel called upon by my conscience to lift +up my voice against spending for useless things what little money a +person may have, when that person needs that money for--well, for things +I shall not mention. And now that I have said my say, I am just as glad +to help give you those blankets, Mrs. Cliff, as anybody else is." + +Every one in the room knew that the thing she would not mention was the +money Mrs. Cliff had borrowed for her passage. Miss Shott had not lent +any of it, but her brother, a retired carpenter and builder, had, and as +his sister expected to outlive him, although he was twelve years younger +than she was, she naturally felt a little sore upon this point. + +Now Mrs. Cliff was herself again. She was not embarrassed. She was +neither pale nor trembling. With a stern severity, not unknown to her +friends and neighbors in former days, she rose to her feet. + +"Nancy Shott," said she, "I don't know anything that makes me feel more +at home than to hear you talk like that. You are the same woman that +never could kiss a baby without wanting to spank it at the same time. I +know what is the matter with you. You are thinking of that money I +borrowed from your brother. Well, I borrowed that for a year, and the +time is not up yet; but when it is, I'll pay it, every cent of it, and +interest added. I knew what I was about when I borrowed it, and I know +what I am about now, and if I get angry and pay it before it becomes due, +he will lose that much interest, and he can charge it to you. That is all +I have to say to you. + +"As for you, Mrs. Perley, and the other persons who gave me these +blankets, I want you to feel that I am just as grateful as if--just as +grateful as I can be, and far more for the friendliness than for the +goods. I won't say anything more about that, and it isn't necessary, but +I must say one thing. I am ready to take the blankets, and to thank you +from the bottom of my heart, but I will not have them unless the money +Miss Shott put in is given back to her. Whatever that was, I will make it +up myself, and I hope I may be excused for saying that I don't believe it +will break me." + +Now there was a scene. Miss Shott rose in anger and marched out of the +house. Mrs. Perley and the other lady expostulated with Mrs. Cliff for +a time, but they knew her very well, and soon desisted. Twenty-five +cents was handed to Mrs. Perley to take the place of the sum +contributed by Miss Shott, and the ladies departed, and the blankets +were taken up-stairs. Mrs. Cliff gave one glance at them as Willy +Croup spread them out. + +"If those women could see my Californian blankets!" she said to herself, +but to Willy she said, "They are very nice, and you may put them away." + +Then she went to her own room and went to bed. This last shock was too +much for her nerves to bear. In the afternoon Willy brought her some tea, +but the poor lady would not get up. So long as she stayed in bed, people +could be kept away from her, but there was nowhere else where she could +be in peace. + +All night she lay and thought and thought and thought. What should she +do? She could not endure this condition of things. There was only one +relief that presented itself to her: she might go to Mr. Perley, her +minister, and confide everything to him. He would tell her what she +ought to do. + +"But," she thought, "suppose he should say it should all go to the +Peruvians!" And then she had more thinking to do, based upon this +contingency, which brought on a headache, and she remained in bed all +the next day. + +The next morning, Willy Croup, who had begun to regret that she had ever +said anything about blankets,--but how could she have imagined that +anybody could be so cut up at what that old Shott woman had +said?--brought Mrs. Cliff a letter. + +This was from Edna, stating that she and Ralph and the two negroes had +just arrived in New York, from which point they were to sail for Havre. +Edna wished very much to see Mrs. Cliff before she left the country, and +wrote that if it would be convenient for that lady, she would run up to +Plainton and stay a day or two with her. There would be time enough for +this before the steamer sailed. When she read this brief note, Mrs. Cliff +sprang out of bed. + +"Edna come here!" she exclaimed. "That would be simply ruin! But I must +see her. I must tell her everything, and let her help me." + +As soon as she was dressed, she went down-stairs and told Willy that she +would start for New York that very afternoon. She had received a letter +from Mrs. Horn, and it was absolutely necessary to see her before she +sailed. With only a small leather bag in her hand, and nearly all her +ready money and her peace-destroying draft sewed up inside the body of +her dress, she left Plainton, and when her friends and neighbors heard +that she had gone, they could only ascribe such a sudden departure to the +strange notions she had imbibed in foreign parts. When Plainton people +contemplated a journey, they told everybody about it, and took plenty of +time to make preparations; but South Americans and Californians would +start anywhere at a moment's notice. People had thought that Mrs. Cliff +was too old to be influenced by association in that way, but it was plain +that they had been mistaken, and there were those who were very much +afraid that even if the poor lady had got whatever ought to be coming to +her from the Valparaiso business, it would have been of little use to +her. Her old principles of economy and prudence must have been terribly +shaken. This very journey to New York would probably cost twenty dollars! + +When Mrs. Cliff entered Edna's room in a New York hotel, the latter was +startled, almost frightened. She had expected her visitor, for she had +had a telegram, but she scarcely recognized at the first glance the pale +and haggard woman who had come to her. + +"Sick!" exclaimed poor Mrs. Cliff, as she sank upon a sofa. "Yes, I am +sick, but not in body, only in heart. Well, it is hard to tell you what +is the matter. The nearest I can get to it is that it is wealth struck +in, as measles sometimes strike in when they ought to come out properly, +and one is just as dangerous as the other." + +When Mrs. Cliff had had something to eat and drink, and had begun to tell +her tale, Edna listened with great interest and sympathy. But when the +good lady had nearly finished, and was speaking of her resolution to +confide everything to Mr. Perley, Edna's gaze at her friend became very +intent, and her hands tightly grasped the arms of the chair in which she +was sitting. + +"Mrs. Cliff," said she, when the other had finished, "there is but one +thing for you to do: you must go to Europe with us." + +"Now!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "In the steamer you have engaged passage +in? Impossible! I could not go home and settle up everything and come +back in time." + +"But you must not go home," said Edna. "You must not think of it. Your +troubles would begin again as soon as you got there. You must stay here +and go when we do." + +Mrs. Cliff stared at her. "But I have only a bag and the clothes I have +on. I am not ready for a voyage. And there's the house, with nobody but +Willy in it. Don't you see it would be impossible for me to go?" + +"What you need for the passage," said Edna, "you can buy here in a few +hours, and everything else you can get on the other side a great deal +cheaper and better than here. As to your house, you can write to that +other lady to go there and stay with Miss Croup until you come back. I +tell you, Mrs. Cliff, that all these things have become mere trifles to +you. I dare say you could buy another house such as you own in Plainton, +and scarcely miss the money. Compared to your health and happiness, the +loss of that house, even if it should burn up while you are away, would +be as a penny thrown to a beggar." + +"And there is my new trunk," said Mrs. Cliff, "with my blankets and ever +so many things locked up in it." + +"Let it stay there," said Edna. "You will not need the blankets, and I +don't believe any one will pick the lock." + +"But how shall I explain my running away in such a fashion? What will +they all think?" + +"Simply write," said Edna, "that you are going to Europe as companion +to Mrs. Horn. If they think you are poor, that will explain everything. +And you may add, if you choose, that Mrs. Horn is so anxious to have +you, she will take no denial, and it is on account of her earnest +entreaties that you are unable to go home and take leave in a proper +way of your friends." + +It was half an hour afterwards that Mrs. Cliff said: "Well, Edna, I will +go with you. But I can tell you this: I would gladly give up all the +mountains and palaces I may see in Europe, if I could go back to Plainton +this day, deposit my money in the Plainton bank, and then begin to live +according to my means. That would be a joy that nothing else on this +earth could give me." + +Edna laughed. "All you have to do," she said, "is to be patient and wait +awhile, and then, when you go back like a queen to Plainton, you will +have had your mountains and your palaces besides." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +AT THE HÔTEL BOILEAU + + +It was early in December,--two months after the departure of Edna and her +little party from New York,--and they were all comfortably domiciled in +the Hotel Boileau, in a quiet street, not far from the Boulevard des +Italiens. This house, to which they came soon after their arrival in +Paris, might be considered to belong to the family order, but its grade +was much higher than that of the hotel in which they had lived in San +Francisco. As in the former place, they had private apartments, a private +table, and the service of their own colored men, in addition to that of +the hotel servants. But their salon was large and beautifully furnished, +their meals were cooked by a French chef, every one, from the lordly +porter to the quick-footed chambermaid, served them with a courteous +interest, and Mrs. Cliff said that although their life in the two hotels +seemed to be in the main the same sort of life, they were, in reality, as +different as an old, dingy mahogany bureau, just dragged from an attic, +and that same piece of furniture when it had been rubbed down, oiled, and +varnished. And Ralph declared that, so far as he knew anything about it, +there was nothing like the air of Paris to bring out the tones and +colorings and veinings of hotel life. But the greatest difference between +the former and the present condition of this little party lay in the fact +that in San Francisco its principal member was Mrs. Philip Horn, while in +Paris it was Miss Edna Markham. + +This change of name had been the result of nights of thought and hours of +consultation. In San Francisco Edna felt herself to be Mrs. Horn as truly +as if they had been married at high noon in one of the city churches, but +although she could see no reason to change her faith in the reality of +her conjugal status, she had begun to fear that Captain Horn might have +different views upon the subject. This feeling had been brought about by +the tone of his letters. If he should die, those letters might prove that +she was then his widow, but it was plain that he did not wish to impress +upon her mind that she was now his wife. + +If she had remained in San Francisco, Edna would have retained the +captain's name. There she was a stranger, and Captain Horn was well +known. His agents knew her as Mrs. Horn, the people of the _Mary +Bartlett_ knew her as such, and she should not have thought of resigning +it. But in Paris the case was very different. There she had friends, and +expected to make more, and in that city she was quite sure that Captain +Horn was very little known. + +Edna's Parisian friends, were all Americans, and some of them people of +consideration, one of her old schoolmates being the wife of a secretary +of the American legation. Could she appear before these friends as Mrs. +Captain Philip Horn, feeling that not only was she utterly unable to +produce Captain Horn, but that she might never be able to do so? Should +the captain not return, and should she have proofs of his death, or +sufficient reason to believe it, she might then do as she pleased about +claiming her place as his widow. But should he return, he should not find +that she had trammelled and impeded his plans and purposes by announcing +herself as his wife. She did not expect ever to live in San Francisco +again, and in no other place need she be known as Mrs. Horn. + +As to the business objects of her exceptional marriage, they were, in a +large degree, already attained. The money Captain Horn had remitted to +her in San Francisco was a sum so large as to astound her, and when she +reached Paris she lost no time in depositing her funds under her maiden +name. For the sake of security, some of the money was sent to a London +banker, and in Paris she did not deposit with the banking house which +Captain Horn had mentioned. But directions were left with that house that +if a letter ever came to Mrs. Philip Horn, it was to be sent to her in +care of Mrs. Cliff, and, to facilitate the reception of such a letter, +Mrs. Cliff made Wraxton, Fuguet & Co. her bankers, and all her letters +were addressed to them. But at Edna's bankers she was known as Miss +Markham, and her only Parisian connection with the name of Horn was +through Mrs. Cliff. + +The amount of money now possessed by Edna was, indeed, a very fair +fortune for her, without regarding it, as Captain Horn had requested, as +a remittance to be used as a year's income. In his letters accompanying +his remittances the captain had always spoken of them as her share of the +gold brought away, and in this respect he treated her exactly as he +treated Mrs. Cliff, and in only one respect had she any reason to infer +that the money was in any manner a contribution from himself. In making +her divisions according to his directions, her portion was so much +greater than that of the others, Edna imagined Captain Horn sent her his +share as well as her own. But of this she did not feel certain, and +should he succeed in securing the rest of the gold in the mound, she did +not know what division he would make. Consequently, this little thread of +a tie between herself and the captain, woven merely of some hypothetical +arithmetic, was but a cobweb of a thread. The resumption of her maiden +name had been stoutly combated by both Mrs. Cliff and Ralph. The first +firmly insisted upon the validity of the marriage, so long as the captain +did not appear, but she did not cease to insist that the moment he did +appear, there should be another ceremony. + +"But," said Edna, "you know that Cheditafa's ceremony was performed +simply for the purpose of securing to me, in case of his loss on that +boat trip, a right to claim the benefit of his discovery. If he should +come back, he can give me all the benefit I have a right to claim from +that discovery, just as he gives you your share, without the least +necessity of a civilized marriage. Now, would you advise me to take a +step which would seem to force upon him the necessity for such a +marriage?" + +"No," said Mrs. Cliff. "But all your reasoning is on a wrong basis. I +haven't the least doubt in the world---I don't see how any one can have a +doubt--that the captain intends to come back and claim you as his wife; +and if anything more be necessary to make you such, as I consider there +would be, he would be as ready as anybody to do it. And, Edna, if you +could see yourself, not merely as you look in the glass, but as he would +see you, you would know that he would be as ready as any of us would wish +him to be. And how will he feel, do you suppose, when he finds that you +renounce him and are going about under your maiden name?" + +In her heart Edna answered that she hoped he might feel very much as she +had felt when he did not come to see her in San Francisco, but to Mrs. +Cliff she said she had no doubt that he would fully appreciate her +reasons for assuming her old name. + +Ralph's remarks were briefer, and more to the point. + +"He married you," he said, "the best way he could under the +circumstances, and wrote to you as his wife, and in San Francisco you +took his name. Now, if he comes back and says you are not his wife, I'll +kill him." + +"If I were you, Ralph," said his sister, "I wouldn't do that. In fact, I +may say I would disapprove of any such proceeding." + +"Oh, you can laugh," said he, "but it makes no difference to me. I shall +take the matter into my own hands if he repudiates that contract." + +"But suppose I give him no chance to repudiate it?" said Edna. "Suppose +he finds me Miss Edna Markham, and finds, also, that I wish to continue +to be that lady? If what has been done has any force at all, it can +easily be set aside by law." + +Ralph rose and walked up and down the floor, his hands thrust deep into +his pockets. + +"That's just like a woman," he said. "They are always popping up new and +different views of things, and that is a view I hadn't thought of. Is +that what you intend to do?" + +"No," said Edna, "I do not intend to do anything. All I wish is to hold +myself in such a position that I can act when the time comes to act." + +Ralph took the whole matter to bed with him in order to think over it. He +did a great deal more sleeping than thinking, but in the morning he told +Edna he believed she was right. + +"But one thing is certain," he said: "even if that heathen marriage +should not be considered legal, it was a solemn ceremony of engagement, +and nobody can deny that. It was something like a caveat which people get +before a regular patent is issued for an invention, and if you want him +to do it, he should stand up and do it; but if you don't, that's your +business. But let me give you a piece of advice: wherever you go and +whatever you do, until this matter is settled, be sure to carry around +that two-legged marriage certificate called Cheditafa. He can speak a +good deal of English now, if there should be any dispute." + +"Dispute!" cried Edna, indignantly. "What are you thinking of? Do you +suppose I would insist or dispute in such a matter? I thought you knew me +better than that." + +Ralph sighed. "If you could understand how dreadfully hard it is to know +you," he said, "you wouldn't be so severe on a poor fellow if he happened +to make a mistake now and then." + +When Mrs. Cliff found that Edna had determined upon her course, she +ceased her opposition, and tried, good woman as she was, to take as +satisfactory a view of the matter as she could find reason for. + +"It would be a little rough," she said, "if your friends were to meet you +as Mrs. Horn, and you would be obliged to answer questions. I have had +experience in that sort of thing. And looking at it in that light, I +don't know but what you are right, Edna, in defending yourself against +questions until you are justified in answering them. To have to admit +that you are not Mrs. Horn after you had said you were, would be +dreadful, of course. But the other would be all plain sailing. You would +go and be married properly, and that would be the end of it. And even if +you were obliged to assert your claims as his widow, there would be no +objection to saying that there had been reasons for not announcing the +marriage. But there is another thing. How are you going to explain your +prosperous condition to your friends? When I was in Plainton, I thought +of you as so much better off than myself in this respect, for over here +there would be no one to pry into your affairs. I did not know you had +friends in Paris." + +"All that need not trouble me in the least," said Edna. "When I went to +school with Edith Southall, who is now Mrs. Sylvester, my father was in a +very good business, and we lived handsomely. It was not until I was +nearly grown up that he failed and died, and then Ralph and I went to +Cincinnati, and my life of hard work began. So you see there is no reason +why my friends in Paris should ask any questions, or I should make +explanations." + +"I wish it were that way in Plainton," said Mrs. Cliff, with a sigh. "I +would go back there the moment another ship started from France." + +So it was Miss Edna Markham of New York who took apartments at the Hotel +Boileau, and it was she who called upon the wife of the American +secretary of legation. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +WAITING + + +For several weeks after their arrival, the members of the little party +had but one common object,--to see and enjoy the wonders and beauties of +Paris,--and in their sight-seeing they nearly always went together, +sometimes taking Cheditafa and Mok with them. But as time went on, their +different dispositions began to assert themselves, and in their daily +pursuits they gradually drifted apart. + +Mrs. Cliff was not a cultivated woman, but she had a good, common-sense +appreciation of art in its various forms. She would tramp with untiring +step through the galleries of the Louvre, but when she had seen a +gallery, she did not care to visit it again. She went to the theatre and +the opera because she wanted to see how they acted and sang in France, +but she did not wish to go often to a place where she could not +understand a word that was spoken. + +Ralph was now under the charge of a tutor, Professor Barré by name, who +took a great interest in this American boy, whose travels and experiences +had given him a precocity which the professor had never met with in any +of his other scholars. Ralph would have much preferred to study Paris +instead of books, and the professor, who was able to give a great deal of +time to his pupil, did not altogether ignore this natural instinct of a +youthful heart. In consequence, the two became very good friends, and +Ralph was the best-satisfied member of the party. + +It was in regard to social affairs that the lives of Edna and Mrs. Cliff +diverged most frequently. Through the influence of Mrs. Sylvester, a +handsome woman with a vivacious intelligence which would have made her +conspicuous in any society, Edna found that social engagements, not only +in diplomatic circles and in those of the American colony, but, to some +extent, in Parisian society, were coming upon her much more rapidly than +she had expected. The secretary's wife was proud of her countrywoman, and +glad to bring her forward in social functions. Into this new life Edna +entered as if it had been a gallery she had not yet visited, or a museum +which she saw for the first time. She studied it, and enjoyed the study. + +But only in a limited degree did Mrs. Cliff enjoy society in Paris. To be +sure, it was only in a limited degree that she had been asked to do it. +Even with a well-filled purse and all the advantages of Paris at her +command, she was nothing more than a plain and highly respectable woman +from a country town in Maine. More than this silks and velvets could not +make her, and more than this she did not wish to be. As Edna's friend and +companion, she had been kindly received at the legation, but after +attending two or three large gatherings, she concluded that she would +wait until her return to Plainton before she entered upon any further +social exercises. But she was not at all dissatisfied or homesick. She +preferred Plainton to all places in the world, but that little town +should not see her again until she could exhibit her Californian blankets +to her friends, and tell them where she got the money to buy them. + +"Blankets!" she said to herself. "I am afraid they will hardly notice +them when they see the other things I shall take back there." + +With society, especially such society as she could not enjoy, Mrs. Cliff +could easily dispense. So long as the shops of Paris were open to her, +the delights of these wonderful marts satisfied the utmost cravings of +her heart; and as she had a fine mind for bargaining, and plenty of time +on her hands, she was gradually accumulating a well-chosen stock of +furnishings and adornments, not only for her present house in Plainton, +but for the large and handsome addition to it which she intended to build +on an adjoining lot. These schemes for establishing herself in Plainton, +as a wealthy citizen, did not depend on the success of Captain Horn's +present expedition. What Mrs. Cliff already possessed was a fortune +sufficient for the life she desired to lead in her native town. What she +was waiting for was the privilege of going back and making that fortune +known. As to the increase of her fortune she had but small belief. If it +should come, she might change her plans, but the claims of the native +Peruvians should not be forgotten. Even if the present period of secrecy +should be terminated by the news of the non-success of Captain Horn, she +intended to include, among her expenses, a periodical remittance to some +charitable association in Peru for the benefit of the natives. + +The Christmas holidays passed, January was half gone, and Edna had +received no news from Captain Horn. She had hoped that before leaving +South. America and beginning his long voyage across the Atlantic, he +would touch at some port from which he might send her a letter, which, +coming by steamer, would reach her before she could expect the arrival of +the brig. But no letter had come. She had arranged with a commercial +agency to telegraph to her the moment the Miranda should arrive in any +French port, but no message had come, and no matter what else she was +doing, it seemed to Edna as if she were always expecting such a message. +Sometimes she thought that this long delay must mean disaster, and at +such times she immediately set to work to reason out the matter. From +Acapulco to Cape Horn, up through the South Atlantic and the North +Atlantic to France, was a long voyage for a sailing-vessel, and to the +time necessary for this she must add days, and perhaps weeks, of labor at +the caves, besides all sorts of delays on the voyage. Like Ralph, she had +an unbounded faith in the captain. He might not bring her one bar of +gold, he might meet with all sorts of disasters, but, whenever her mind +was in a healthy condition, she expected him to come to France, as he had +said he would. + +She now began to feel that she was losing a great deal of time. Paris was +all very well, but it was not everything. When news should come to her, +it might be necessary for her to go to America. She could not tell what +would be necessary, and she might have to leave Europe with nothing but +Paris to remember. There was no good objection to travel on the +Continent, for, if the _Miranda_ should arrive while she was not in +Paris, she would not be so far away that a telegram could not quickly +bring her back. So she listened to Mrs. Cliff and her own desires, and +the party journeyed to Italy, by the way of Geneva and Bern. + +Ralph was delighted with the change, for Professor Barré, his tutor, had +consented to go with them, and, during these happy days in Italy, he was +the preceptor of the whole party. They went to but few places that he had +not visited before, and they saw but little that he could not talk about +to their advantage. But, no matter what they did, every day Edna expected +a message, and every day, except Sunday, she went to the banker's to look +over the maritime news in the newspapers, and she so arranged her affairs +that she could start for France at an hour's notice. + +But although Edna had greatly enjoyed the Italian journey, it came to an +end at last, and it was with feelings of satisfaction that she settled +down again in Paris. Here she was in the centre of things, ready for +news, ready for arrivals, ready to go anywhere or do anything that might +be necessary, and, more than that, there was a delightful consciousness +that she had seen something of Switzerland and Italy, and without having +missed a telegram by being away. + +The party did not return to the Hotel Boileau. Edna now had a much +better idea of the Continental menage than she had brought with her from +America, and she believed that she had not been living up to the +standard that Captain Horn had desired. She wished in every way to +conform to his requests, and one of these had been that she should +consider the money he had sent her as income, and not as property. It +was hard for her to fulfil this injunction, for her mind was as +practical as that of Mrs. Cliff, and she could not help considering the +future, and the probability of never receiving an addition to the funds +she now had on deposit in London and Paris. But her loyalty to the man +who had put her into possession of that money was superior to her +feelings of prudence and thrift. When he came to Paris, he should find +her living as he wanted her to live. It was not necessary to spend all +she had, but, whether he came back poor or rich, he should see that she +had believed in him and in his success. + +The feeling of possible disaster had almost left her. The fears that had +come to her had caused her to reason upon the matter, and the more she +reasoned, the better she convinced herself that a long period of waiting +without news was to be expected in the case of an adventure such as that +in which Captain Horn was engaged. There was, perhaps, another reason for +her present state of mind--a reason which she did not recognize: she had +become accustomed to waiting. + +It was at a grand hotel that the party now established themselves, the +space, the plate-glass, the gilt, and the general splendor of which made +Ralph exclaim in wonder and admiration. + +"You would better look out, Edna," said he, "or it will not be long +before we find ourselves living over in the Latin Quarter, and taking our +meals at a restaurant where you pay a sou for the use of the napkins." + +Edna's disposition demanded that her mode of life should not be +ostentatious, but she conformed in many ways to the style of her hotel. +There were returns of hospitality. There was a liveried coachman when +they drove. There was a general freshening of wardrobes, and even +Cheditafa and Mok had new clothes, designed by an artist to suit their +positions. + +If Captain Horn should come to Paris, he should not find that she had +doubted his success, or him. + +After the return from Italy, Mrs. Cliff began to chafe and worry under +her restrictions. She had obtained from Europe all she wanted at present, +and there was so much, in Plainton she was missing. Oh, if she could only +go there and avow her financial condition! She lay awake at night, +thinking of the opportunities that were slipping from her. From the +letters that Willy Croup wrote her, she knew that people were coming to +the front in Plainton who ought to be on the back seats, and that she, +who could occupy, if she chose, the best place, was thought of only as a +poor widow who was companion to a lady who was travelling. It made her +grind her teeth to think of the way that Miss Shott was talking of her, +and it was not long before she made up her mind that she ought to speak +to Edna on the subject, and she did so. + +"Go home!" exclaimed the latter. "Why, Mrs. Cliff, that would be +impossible just now. You could not go to Plainton without letting people +know where you got your money." + +"Of course I couldn't," said Mrs. Cliff, "and I wouldn't. There have +been times when I have yearned so much for my home that I thought it +might be possible for me to go there and say that the Valparaiso affair +had turned out splendidly, and that was how I got my money. But I +couldn't do it. I could not stand up before my minister and offer to +refurnish the parsonage parlor, with such a lie as that on my lips. But +there is no use in keeping back the real truth any longer. It is more +than eight months since Captain Horn started out for that treasure, and +it is perfectly reasonable to suppose either that he has got it; or that +he never will get it, and in either one of these cases it will not do +any injury to anybody if we let people know about the money we have, and +where it came from." + +"But it may do very great injury," said Edna. "Captain Horn may have been +able to take away only a part of it, and may now be engaged in getting +the rest. There are many things which may have happened, and if we should +now speak of that treasure, it might ruin all his plans." + +"If he has half of it," said Mrs. Cliff, "he ought to be satisfied with +that, and not keep us here on pins and needles until he gets the rest. Of +course, I do not want to say anything that would pain you, Edna, and I +won't do it, but people can't help thinking, and I think that we have +waited as long as our consciences have any right to ask us to wait." + +"I know what you mean," replied Edna, "but it does not give me pain. I do +not believe that Captain Horn has perished, and I certainly expect soon +to hear from him." + +"You have been expecting that a long time," said the other. + +"Yes, and I shall expect it for a good while yet. I have made up my mind +that I shall not give up my belief that Captain Horn is alive, and will +come or write to us, until we have positive news of his death, or until +one year has passed since he left Acapulco. Considering what he has done +for us, Mrs. Cliff, I think it very little for us to wait one year before +we betray the trust he has placed in us, and, merely for the sake of +carrying out our own plans a little sooner, utterly ruin the plans he has +made, and which he intends as much for our benefit as for his own." + +Mrs. Cliff said no more, but she thought that was all very well for Edna, +who was enjoying herself in a way that suited her, but it was very +different for her. + +In her heart of hearts, Mrs. Cliff now believed they would never see +Captain Horn again. "For if he were alive," she said to herself, "he +would certainly have contrived in some way or other to send some sort of +a message. With the whole world covered with post routes and +telegraph-wires, it would be simply impossible for Captain Horn and those +two sailors to keep absolutely silent and unheard of for such a long +time--unless," she continued, hesitating even in her thoughts, "they +don't want to be heard from." But the good lady would not allow her mind +to dwell on that proposition; it was too dreadful! + +And so Edna waited and waited, hoping day by day for good news from +Captain Horn; and so Mrs. Cliff waited and waited, hoping for news from +Captain Horn--good news, if possible, but in any case something certain +and definite, something that would make them know what sort of life they +were to lead in this world, and make them free to go and live it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +A MARINER'S WITS TAKE A LITTLE FLIGHT + + +When Captain Horn, in the brig _Miranda_, with the American sailors Burke +and Shirley, and the four negroes, left Acapulco on the 16th of +September, he might have been said to have sailed "in ballast," as the +only cargo he carried was a large number of coffee-bags. He had cleared +for Rio Janeiro, at which port he intended to touch and take on board a +small cargo of coffee, deeming it better to arrive in France with +something more than the auriferous mineral matter with which he hoped to +replace a large portion of discarded ballast. The unusual cargo of empty +coffee-bags was looked upon by the customs officials as a bit of Yankee +thrift, it being likely enough that the captain could obtain coffee-bags +in Mexico much cheaper than in Rio Janeiro. + +The voyage to the Peruvian coast was a slow one, the _Miranda_ proving to +be anything but a clipper, and the winds were seldom in her favor. But at +last she rounded Aguja Point, and the captain shaped his course toward +the coast and the Rackbirds' cove, the exact position of which was now +dotted on his chart. + +A little after noon on a quiet October day, they drew near enough to +land to recognize the coast-line and the various landmarks of the +locality. The negroes were filled with surprise, and afterwards with +fright, for they had had no idea that they were going near the scene of +their former horrible captivity. From time to time, they had debated +among themselves the intentions of Captain Horn in regard to them, and +now the idea seized them that perhaps he was going to leave them where he +had found them. But, through Maka, who at first was as much frightened as +the rest, the captain succeeded in assuring them that he was merely going +to stop as near as possible to the cave where he had stayed so long, to +get some of his property which it had been impossible to take away when +the rest of the party left. Maka had great confidence in the captain's +word, and he was able to infuse a good deal of this into the minds of the +three other negroes. + +Captain Horn had been in considerable doubt in regard to the best method +of shipping the treasure; should he be so fortunate as to find it as he +had left it. The cove was a quiet harbor in which the small boats could +easily ply between the vessel and the shore, but, in this case, the gold +must be carried by tedious journeys along the beach. On the other hand, +if the brig lay too near the entrance to the caves, the treasure-laden +boats must be launched through the surf, and, in case of high seas, this +operation might be hazardous; consequently, he determined to anchor in +the Rackbirds' cove and submit to the delay and inconvenience of the +land transportation of the gold. + +When the captain and Shirley went ashore in a boat, nothing was seen to +indicate that any one had visited the spot since the last cargo of guano +had been shipped. This was a relief, but when the captain had wandered +through the place, and even examined the storehouse of the Rackbirds, he +found, to his regret, that it was too late for him to visit the caves +that day. This was the occasion of a night of wakefulness and +unreasonable anxiety--unreasonable, as the captain assured himself over +and over again, but still impossible to dissipate. No man who has spent +weeks in pursuit of a royal treasure, in a vessel that at times seemed +hardly to creep, could fail to be anxious and excited when he is +compelled to pause within a few miles of that treasure. + +But early in the morning the captain started for the caves. He took with +him Shirley and Maka, leaving the brig in charge of Burke. The captain +placed great confidence in Shirley, who was a quiet, steady man. In fact, +he trusted every one on the ship, for there was nothing else to do. If +any of them should prove false to him, he hoped to be able to defend +himself against them, and it would be more than foolish to trouble his +mind with apprehensions until there should be some reason for them. But +there was a danger to be considered, quite different from the criminal +cupidity which might be provoked by companionship with the heap of gold, +and this was the spirit of angry disappointment which might be looked for +should no heap of gold be found. At the moment of such possible +disappointment, the captain wanted to have with him a man not given to +suspicions and resentments. + +In fact, the captain thought, as the little party strode along the +beach, that if he should find the mound empty,--and he could not drive +from his mind that once he had found it uncovered,--he wished to have +with him some one who would back him up a little in case he should lower +his lantern into a goldless void. + +As they walked up the plateau in the path worn principally by his own +feet, and the captain beheld the great stone face against the wall of +rock, his mind became quieter. He slackened his pace, and even began to +concoct some suitable remarks to make to Shirley in case of evil fortune. + +Shirley looked about him with great interest. He had left the place +before the great stone face had been revealed by the burning of the +vines, and he would have been glad to stop for a minute and examine it. +But although Captain Horn had convinced himself that he was in no hurry, +he could not allow delay. Lighting a lantern, they went through the +passageway and entered the great cave of the lake, leaving Maka rummaging +around with eager delight through the rocky apartments where he had once +been a member of a domestic household. + +When they reached the mound, the captain handed his lantern to Shirley, +telling him to hold it high, and quickly clambered to the top. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "The lid is just as I left it. Come up!" + +In a moment Shirley was at his side, and the captain with his +pocket-knife began to pick out the oakum which he had packed around the +edges of the lid, for otherwise it would have been impossible for him to +move it. Then he stood up and raised the lid, putting it to one side. + +"Give me the lantern!" he shouted, and, stooping, lie lowered it and +looked in. The gold in the mound was exactly as he had left it. + +"Hurrah!" he cried. "Now you take a look!" And he handed the lantern to +his companion. + +Shirley crawled a little nearer the opening and looked into it, then +lowered the lantern and put his head down so that it almost disappeared. +He remained in this position for nearly a minute, and the captain gazed +at him with a beaming face. His whole system, relieved from the +straining bonds of doubt and fear and hope, was basking in a flood of +ecstatic content. + +Suddenly Shirley began to swear. He was not a profane man, and seldom +swore, but now the oaths rolled from him in a manner that startled +the captain. + +"Get up," said he. "Haven't you seen enough?" + +Shirley raised his head, but still kept his eyes on the treasure beneath +him, and swore worse than before. The captain was shocked. + +"What is the matter with you?" said he. "Give me the lantern. I don't see +anything to swear at." + +Shirley did not hand him the lantern, but the captain took it from him, +and then he saw that the man was very pale. + +"Look out!" he cried. "You'll slip down and break your bones." + +In fact, Shirley's strength seemed to have forsaken him, and he was on +the point of either slipping down the side of the mound or tumbling into +the open cavity. The captain put down the lantern and moved quickly to +his side, and, with some difficulty, managed to get him safely to the +ground. He seated him with his back against the mound, and then, while he +was unscrewing the top of a whiskey flask, Shirley began to swear again +in a most violent and rapid way. + +"He has gone mad," thought the captain. "The sight of all that gold has +crazed him." + +"Stop that," he said to the other, "and take a drink." + +Shirley broke off a string of oaths in the middle, and took a pull at the +flask. This was of service to him, for he sat quiet for a minute or two, +during which time the captain brought down the lantern. Looking up at +him, Shirley said in a weak voice: + +"Captain, is what I saw all so?" + +"Yes," was the reply, "it's all so." + +"Then," said the other, "help me out of this. I want to get out into +common air." + +The captain raised Shirley to his feet, and, with the lantern in one +hand, he assisted him to walk. But it was not easy. The man appeared to +take no interest in his movements, and staggered and leaned upon the +captain as if he were drunk. + +As soon as they came out of the utter darkness and had reached the +lighter part of the cave, the captain let Shirley sit down, and +went for Maka. + +"The first mate has been taken sick," said he to the negro, "and you must +come help me get him out into the open air." + +When the negro saw Shirley in a state of semi-collapse, he began to +tremble from head to foot, but he obeyed orders, and, with a great deal +of trouble, the two got the sailor outside of the caves and gave him +another drink of whiskey. + +Maka had his own ideas about this affair. There was no use telling him +Mr. Shirley was sick--at least, that he was afflicted by any common +ailment. He and his fellows knew very well that there were devils back +in the blackness of that cave, and if the captain did not mind them, it +was because they were taking care of the property, whatever it was, +that he kept back here, and for which he had now returned. With what +that property was, and how it happened to be there, the mind of the +negro did not concern itself. Of course, it must be valuable, or the +captain would not have come to get it, but that was his business. He +had taken the first mate into that darkness, and the sight of the +devils had nearly killed him, and now the negro's mind was filled with +but one idea, and that was that the captain might take him in there and +make him see devils. + +After a time Shirley felt very much better, and able to walk. + +"Now, captain," said he, "I am all right, but I tell you what we must do: +I'll go to the ship, and I'll take charge of her, and I'll do whatever +has got to be done on shore. Yes, and, what's more, I'll help do the +carrying part of the business,--it would be mean to sneak out of +that,--and I'll shoulder any sort of a load that's put out on the sand in +the daylight. But, captain, I don't want to do anything to make me look +into that hole. I can't stand it, and that is the long and short of it. I +am sorry that Maka saw me in such a plight--it's bad for discipline; but +it can't be helped." + +"Never mind," cried the captain, whose high spirits would have overlooked +almost anything at that moment. "Come, let us go back and have our +breakfast. That will set you up, and I won't ask you to go into the caves +again, if you don't want to." + +"Don't let's talk about it," said Shirley, setting off. "I'd rather get +my mind down to marlin-spikes and bilge-water." + +As the captain walked back to the cove, he said to himself: + +"I expect it struck Shirley harder than it did the rest of us because +he knew what he was looking at, and the first time we saw it we were +not sure it was gold, as it might have been brass. But Shirley knew, +for he had already had a lot of those bars, and had turned them into +money. By George! I don't wonder that a poor fellow who had struggled +for life with a small bag of that gold was knocked over when he saw a +wagon-load of it." + +Maka, closely following the others, had listened with eagerness to what +had been said, and had been struck with additional horror when he heard +Shirley request that he might not again be asked to look into that hole. +Suddenly the captain and Shirley were startled by a deep groan behind +them, and, turning, saw the negro sitting upon the sand, his knees drawn +up to his face, and groaning grievously. + +"What's the matter?" cried the captain. + +"I sick," said Maka. "Sick same as Mr. Shirley." + +"Get up and come along," said the captain, laughing. He saw that +something was really ailing the black fellow, for he trembled from head +to foot, and his face had the hue of a black horse recently clipped. But +he thought it best not to treat the matter seriously. "Come along," said +he. "I am not going to give you any whiskey." And then, struck by a +sudden thought, he asked, "Are you afraid that you have got to go into +that cave?" + +"Yes, sir," said Maka, who had risen to his feet. "It make me pretty near +die dead to think that." + +"Well, don't die any more," said the captain. "You sha'n't go anywhere +that you have not been before." + +The pupils of Maka's eyes, which had been turned up nearly out of sight, +were now lowered. "All right, cap'n," said he. "I lot better now." + +This little incident was not unpleasant to the captain. If the negroes +were afraid to go into the blackness of the caves, it would make fewer +complications in this matter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE "MIRANDA" TAKES IN CARGO + + +The next day the work of removing the treasure from the caves to the +vessel began in good earnest. The Miranda was anchored not far from the +little pier, which was found in good order, and Shirley, with one negro, +was left on board, while the captain and Burke took the three others, +loaded with coffee-bags, to the caves. + +For the benefit of the minds of the black men, the captain had instructed +Maka to assure them that they would not be obliged to go anywhere where +it was really dark. But it was difficult to decide how to talk to Burke. +This man was quite different from Shirley. He was smaller, but stout and +strong, with a dark complexion, and rather given to talk. The captain +liked him well enough, his principal objection to him being that he was +rather too willing to give advice. But, whatever might be the effect of +the treasure on Burke, the captain determined that he should not be +surprised by it. He had tried that on Shirley, and did not want to try it +again on anybody. So he conversed freely about the treasure and the +mound, and, as far as possible, described its appearance and contents. +But he need not have troubled himself about the effect of the sight of a +wagon-load of gold upon Burke's mind. He was glad to see it, and whistled +cheerfully as he looked down into the mound. + +"How far do you think it goes down?" said he to the captain. + +"Don't know," was the reply. "We can't tell anything about that until we +get it out." + +"All right," said Burke. "The quicker we do it, the better." + +The captain got into the mound with a lantern, for the gold was now too +low for him to reach it from above, and having put as many bars into a +coffee-bag as a man could carry, he passed it up to Burke, who slid it +down to the floor, where another lantern had been left. When five bags +had been made ready, the captain came out, and he and Burke put each bag +into another, and these were tied up firmly at each end, for a single +coffee-bag was not considered strong enough to hold the weighty +treasure. Then the two carried the bags into the part of the cave which +was lighted by the great fissure, and called the negroes. Then, each +taking a bag on his shoulder, the party returned to the cove. On the +next trip, Shirley decided to go with the captain, for he said he did +not care for anything if he did not have to look down into the mound, +for that was sure to make him dizzy. Maka's place was taken by the negro +who had been previously left in the vessel. Day by day the work went on, +but whoever might be relieved, and whatever arrangements might be made, +the captain always got into the mound and handed out the gold. Whatever +discovery should be made when the bottom of the deposit was reached, he +wanted to be there to make it. + +The operations were conducted openly, and without any attempt at secrecy +or concealment. The lid of the mound was not replaced when they left it, +and the bags of gold were laid on the pier until it was convenient to +take them to the vessel. When they were put on board, they were lowered +into the hold, and took the place of a proportionate amount of ballast, +which was thrown out. + +All the negroes now spoke and understood a little English. They might +think that those bags were filled with gold, or they might think that +they contained a mineral substance, useful for fertilizer; but if by +questioning or by accidental information they found out what was the load +under which they toiled along the beach, the captain was content. There +was no reason why he should fear these men more than he feared Burke and +Shirley. All of them were necessary to him, and he must trust them. +Several times when he was crouched down in the interior of the mound, +filling a bag with gold, he thought how easy it would be for one of the +sailors to shoot him from above, and for them, or perhaps only one of +them, to become the owner of all that treasure. But then, he could be +shot in one place almost as well as in another, and if the negroes should +be seized with the gold fever, and try to cut white throats at midnight, +they would be more likely to attempt it after the treasure had been +secured and the ship had sailed than now. In any case, nothing could be +gained by making them feel that they were suspected and distrusted. +Therefore it was that when, one day, Maka said to the captain that the +little stones in the bags had begun to make his shoulder tender, the +captain showed him how to fold an empty sack and put it between the bags +and his back, and then also told him that what he carried was not stones, +but lumps of gold. + +"All yourn, cap'n!" asked Maka. + +"Yes, all mine," was the reply. + +That night Maka told his comrades that when the captain got to the end of +this voyage, he would be able to buy a ship bigger than the _Castor_, and +that they would not have to sail in that little brig any more, and that +he expected to be cook on the new vessel, and have a fine suit of clothes +in which to go on shore. + +For nearly a month the work went on, but the contents of the mound +diminished so slowly that the captain, and, in fact, the two sailors, +also, became very impatient. Only about forty pounds could be carried by +each man on a trip, and the captain saw plainly that it would not do to +urge greater rapidity or more frequent trips, for in that case there +would be sure to be breakdowns. The walk from the cove to the caves was +a long one, and rocky barriers had to be climbed, and although now but +one man was left on board the vessel, only thirty bags a day were stored +in its hold. This was very slow work. Consultations were held, and it +was determined that some quicker method of transportation must be +adopted. The idea that they could be satisfied with what they already +had seemed to enter the mind of none of them. It was a foregone +conclusion that their business there was to carry away all the gold that +was in the mound. + +A new plan, though rather a dangerous one, was now put into operation. +The brig was brought around opposite the plateau which led to the caves, +and anchored just outside the line of surf, where bottom was found at a +moderate depth. Then the bags were carried in the boats to the vessel. A +line connected each boat with the ship, and the negroes were half the +time in the water, assisting the boats backward and forward through the +surf. Now work went on very much more rapidly. The men had all become +accustomed to carrying the heavy bags, and could run with them down the +plateau. The boats were hauled to and from the vessel, and the bags were +hoisted on board by means of blocks and tackle and a big basket. Once the +side of the basket gave way, and several bags went down to the bottom of +the sea, never to be seen again. But there was no use in crying over +spilt gold, and this was the only accident. + +The winds were generally from the south and east, and, therefore, there +was no high surf; and this new method of working was so satisfactory that +they all regretted they had not adopted it from the first, +notwithstanding the risk. But the captain had had no idea that it would +take so long for five men to carry that treasure a distance of two miles, +taking forty pounds at a time. + +At night everybody went on board the brig, and she lay to some distance +from the shore, so as to be able to run out to sea in case of bad +weather, but no such weather came. + +It was two months since the brig had dropped anchor in the Rackbirds' +cove when the contents of the mound got so low that the captain could not +hand up the bags without the assistance of a ladder, which he made from +some stuff on board the brig. By rough measurement, he found that he +should now be near the level of the outside floor of the cave, and he +worked with great caution, for the idea, first broached by Ralph, that +this mass of gold might cover something more valuable than itself, had +never left him. + +But as he worked steadily, filling bag after bag, he found that, although +he had reached at the outer edge of the floor of the mound what seemed to +be a pavement of stone, there was still a considerable depth of gold in +the centre of the floor. Now he worked faster, telling Shirley, who was +outside, that he would not come out until he had reached the floor of the +mound, which was evidently depressed in the centre after the fashion of a +saucer. Working with feverish haste, the captain handed up bag after bag, +until every little bar of gold had been removed from the mound. + +The bottom of the floor was covered with a fine dust, which had sifted +down in the course of ages from the inside coating of the mound, but it +was not deep enough to conceal a bar of gold, and, with his lantern and +his foot, the captain made himself sure that not a piece was left. Then +his whole soul and body thrilled with a wild purpose, and, moving the +ladder from the centre of the floor, he stooped to brush away the dust. +If there should be a movable stone there! If this stone should cover a +smaller cavity beneath the great one, what might he not discover within +it? His mind whirled before the ideas which now cast themselves at him, +when suddenly he stood up and set his teeth hard together. + +"I will not," he said. "I will not look for a stone with a crack around +it. We have enough already. Why should we run the risk of going crazy by +trying to get more? I will not!" And he replaced the ladder. + +"What's the matter in there?" called Shirley, from outside. "Who're you +talking to?" + +The captain came out of the opening in the mound, pulled up the ladder +and handed it to Shirley, and then he was about to replace the lid upon +the mound. But what was the use of doing that, he thought. There would be +no sense in closing it. He would leave it open. + +"I was talking to myself," he said to Shirley, when he had descended. "It +sounded crack-brained, I expect." + +"Yes, it did," answered the other. "And I am glad these are the last bags +we have to tie up and take out. I should not have wondered if the whole +three of us had turned into lunatics. As for me, I have tried hard to +stop thinking about the business, and I have found that the best thing I +could do was to try and consider the stuff in these bags as coal--good, +clean, anthracite coal. Whenever I carried a bag, I said to myself, +'Hurry up, now, with this bag of coal.' A ship-load of coal, you know, is +not worth enough to turn a man's head." + +"That was not a bad idea," said the captain. "But now the work is done, +and we will soon get used to thinking of it without being excited about +it. There is absolutely no reason why we should not be as happy and +contented as if we had each made a couple of thousand dollars apiece on a +good voyage." + +"That's so," said Shirley, "and I'm going to try to think it." + +When the last bag had been put on board, Burke and the captain were +walking about the caves looking here and there to take a final leave of +the place. Whatever the captain considered of value as a memento of the +life they had led here had been put on board. + +"Captain," said Burke, "did you take all the gold out of that mound?" + +"Every bit of it," was the reply. + +"You didn't leave a single lump for manners?" + +"No," said the captain. "I thought it better that whoever discovered that +empty mound after us should not know what had been in it. You see, we +will have to circulate these bars of gold pretty extensively, and we +don't want anybody to trace them back to the place where they came from. +When the time comes, we will make everything plain and clear, but we will +want to do it ourselves, and in our own way." + +"There is sense in that," said Burke. "There's another thing I want to +ask you, captain. I've been thinking a great deal about that mound, and +it strikes me that there might be a sub-cellar under it, a little one, +most likely, with something else in it--rings and jewels, and nobody +knows what not. Did you see if there was any sign of a trap-door?" + +"No," said the captain, "I did not. I wanted to do it,--you do not know +how much,--but I made up my mind it would be the worst kind of folly to +try and get anything else out of that mound. We have now all that is good +for us to have. The only question is whether or not we have not more than +is good for us. I was not sure that I should not find something, if I +looked for it, which would make me as sick as Shirley was the first time +he looked into the mound. No, sir; we have enough, and it is the part of +sensible men to stop when they have enough." + +Burke shook his head. "If I'd been there," he said, "I should have looked +for a crack in that floor." + +When the brig weighed anchor, she did not set out for the open sea, but +proceeded back to the Rackbirds' cove, where she anchored again. Before +setting out, the next day, on his voyage to France, the captain wished to +take on board a supply of fresh water. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +BURKE AND HIS CHISEL + + +That night George Burke went off his watch at twelve o'clock, and a few +minutes after he had been relieved, he did something he had never done +before--he deserted his ship. With his shoes and a little bundle of +clothes on his head, he very quietly slipped down a line he had fastened +astern. It was a very dark night, and he reached the water unseen, and as +quietly as if he had been an otter going fishing. First swimming, and +then wading, he reached the shore. As soon as he was on land, he dressed, +and then went for a lantern, a hammer, and a cold-chisel, which he had +left at a convenient spot. + +Without lighting the lantern, he proceeded as rapidly as possible to the +caves. His path was almost invisible, but having travelled that way so +often, he knew it as well as he knew his alphabet. Not until he was +inside the entrance to the caves did he light his lantern. Then he +proceeded, without loss of time, to the stone mound. He knew that the +ladder had been left there, and, with a little trouble, he found it, +where Shirley had put it, behind some rocks on the floor of the cave. By +the aid of this he quickly descended into the mound, and then, moving +the foot of the ladder out of the way, he vigorously began to brush away +the dust from the stone pavement. When this was done, he held up the +lantern and carefully examined the central portion of the floor, and very +soon he discovered what he had come to look for. A space about three feet +square was marked off on the pavement of the mound by a very perceptible +crevice. The other stones of the pavement were placed rather irregularly, +but some of them had been cut to allow this single square stone to be set +in the centre. + +"That's a trap-door," said Burke. "There can't be any doubt about that." +And immediately he set to work to get it open. + +There was no ring, nor anything by which he could lift it; but if he +could get his heavy chisel under it, he was sure he could raise it until +he could get hold of it with his hands. So he began to drive his chisel +vigorously down into the cracks at various places. This was not difficult +to do, and, trying one side after another, he got the chisel down so far +that he could use it as a lever. But with all his strength he could not +raise the stone. + +At last, while working at one corner, he broke out a large piece of the +pavement, eight or nine inches long, and found that it had covered a +metal bar about an inch in diameter. With his lantern he carefully +examined this rod, and found that it was not iron, but appeared to be +made of some sort of bronze. + +"Now, what is this?" said Burke to himself. "It's either a hinge or a +bolt. It doesn't look like a hinge, for it wouldn't be any use for it to +run so far into the rest of the pavement, and if it is a bolt, I don't +see how they got at it to move it. I'll see where it goes to." And he +began to cut away more of the pavement toward the wall of the dome. The +pieces of stone came up without much trouble, and as far as he cut he +found the metal rod. + +"By George!" said he, "I believe it goes outside of the mound! They +worked it from outside!" + +Putting the ladder in place, he ran up with his lantern and tools, and +descended to the outside floor. Then he examined the floor of the cave +where the rod must run if it came outside the mound. He found a line of +flat stones, each about a foot square, extending from the mound toward +the western side of the cave. + +"Oh, ho!" he cried, and on his knees he went to work, soon forcing up one +of these stones, and under it was the metal rod, lying in a groove +considerably larger than itself. Burke now followed the line of stones to +the western side of the cave, where the roof was so low he could scarcely +stand up under it. To make sure, he took up another stone, and still +found the rod. + +"I see what this means," said he. "That bolt is worked from clean +outside, and I've got to find the handle of it. If I can't do that, I'll +go back and cut through that bolt, if my chisel will do it." + +He now went back to a point on the line of stones about midway between +the side of the cave and the mound, and then, walking forward as nearly +as possible in a straight line, which would be at right angles with the +metal rod, he proceeded until he had reached the entrance to the +passageway which led to the outer caves, carefully counting his steps as +he went. Then he turned squarely about, entered the passage, and walked +along it until he came to the door of the room which had once been +occupied by Captain Horn. + +"I'll try it inside first," said Burke to himself, "and then I'll +go outside." + +He walked through the rooms, turning to the right about ten feet when he +came to the middle apartment,--for the door here was not opposite to the +others,--but coming back again to his line of march as soon as he was on +the other side. He proceeded until he reached the large cave, open at the +top, which was the last of these compartments. This was an extensive +cavern, the back part being, however, so much impeded by rocks that had +fallen from the roof that it was difficult for him to make any progress, +and the numbering of his steps depended very much upon calculation. But +when he reached the farthest wall, Burke believed that he had gone about +as great a distance as he had stepped off in the cave of the lake. + +"But how in the mischief," thought he, "am I to find anything here?" He +held up his lantern and looked about. "I can't move these rocks to see +what is under them." + +As he gazed around, he noticed that the southeast corner seemed to be +more regular than the rest of the wall of the cave. In fact, it was +almost a right-angled corner, and seemed to have been roughly cut into +that shape. Instantly Burke was in the corner. He found the eastern wall +quite smooth for a space about a foot wide and extending about two yards +from the floor. In this he perceived lines of crevice marking out a +rectangular space some six inches wide and four feet in height. + +"Ha, ha!" cried Burke. "The handle is on the other side of that slab, +I'll bet my head!" And putting down the lantern, he went to work. + +With his hammer and chisel he had forced the top of the slab in less than +two minutes, and soon he pulled it outward and let it drop on the floor. +Inside the narrow, perpendicular cavity which was now before him, he saw +an upright metal bar. + +"The handle of the bolt!" cried Burke. "Now I can unfasten the +trap-door." And taking hold of the top of the bar, he pulled back with +all his force. At first he could not move it, but suddenly the resistance +ceased, and he pulled the bar forward until it stood at an angle of +forty-five degrees from the wall. Further than this Burke could not move +it, although he tugged and bore down on it with all his weight. + +"All right," said he, at last. "I guess that's as far as she'll come. +Anyway, I'm off to see if I've drawn that bolt. If I have, I'll have that +trap-door open, if I have to break my back lifting it." + +With his best speed Burke ran through the caves to the mound, and, +mounting by means of the stone projections, he was about to descend by +the ladder, when, to his utter amazement, he saw no ladder. He had left +it projecting at least two feet through the opening in the top of the +mound, and now he could see nothing of it. + +What could this mean? Going up a little higher, he held up his lantern +and looked within, but saw no signs of the ladder. + +"By George!" he cried, "has anybody followed me and pulled out +that ladder?" + +Lowering the lantern farther into the mound, he peered in. Below, and +immediately under him, was a black hole, about three feet square. +Burke was so startled that he almost dropped the lantern. But he was a +man of tough nerve, and maintained his clutch upon it. But he drew +back. It required some seconds to catch his breath. Presently he +looked down again. + +"I see," said he. "That trap-door was made to fall down, and not to lift +up, and when I pulled the bolt, down it went, and the ladder, being on +top of it, slipped into that hole. Heavens!" he said, as a cold sweat +burst out over him at the thought, "suppose I had made up my mind to cut +that bolt! Where would I have gone to?" + +It was not easy to frighten Burke, but now he trembled, and his back was +chilled. But he soon recovered sufficiently to do something, and going +down to the floor of the cave, he picked up a piece of loose stone, and +returning to the top of the mound, he looked carefully over the edge of +the opening, and let the stone drop into the black hole beneath. With all +the powers of his brain he listened, and it seemed to him like half a +minute before he heard a faint sound, far, far below. At this moment he +was worse frightened than he had ever been in his life. He clambered down +to the foot of the mound, and sat down on the floor. + +"What in the name of all the devils does it mean?" said he; and he set +himself to work to think about it, and found this a great deal harder +labor than cutting stone. + +"There was only one thing," he said to himself, at last, "that they could +have had that for. The captain says that those ancient fellows put their +gold there keep it from the Spaniards, and they must have rigged up this +devilish contrivance to work if they found the Spaniards had got on the +track of their treasure. Even if the Spaniards had let off the water and +gone to work to get the gold out, one of the Incas' men in the corner of +that other cave, which most likely was all shut up and not discoverable, +would have got hold of that bar, given it a good pull, and let down all +the gold, and what Spaniards might happen to be inside, to the very +bottom of that black hole. By George! it would have been a pretty trick! +The bottom of that mound is just like a funnel, and every stick of gold +would have gone down. But, what is more likely, they would have let it +out before the Spaniards had a chance to open the top, and then, if the +ancients had happened to lick the Spaniards, they could have got all that +gold up again. It might have taken ten or twenty years, but then, the +ancients had all the time they wanted." + +After these reflections, Burke sat for a few moments, staring at the +lantern. "But, by George!" said he again, speaking aloud, though in low +tones, "it makes my blood run cold to think of the captain working day +after day, as hard as he could, right over that horrible trap-door. +Suppose he had moved the bolt in some way! Suppose somebody outside had +found that slab in the wall and had fooled with the bar! Then, there is +another thing. Suppose, while they were living here, he or the boy had +found that bar before he found the dome, and had pulled out the concern +to see what it was! Bless me! in that case we should all be as poor as +rats! Bat I must not stop here, or the next watch will be called before I +get back. But one thing I'll do before I go. I'll put back that lid. +Somebody might find the dome in the dark, and tumble into it. Why, if a +wandering rat should make a slip, and go down into that black hole, it +would be enough to make a fellow's blood run cold if he knew of it." + +Without much trouble Burke replaced the lid, and then, without further +delay, he left the caves. As he hurried along the beach, he debated +within himself whether or not he should tell Captain Horn what he had +discovered. + +"It will be mighty hard on his nerves," said he, "if he comes to know how +he squatted and worked for days and weeks over that diabolical trap that +opens downward. He's a strong man, but he's got enough on his nerves as +it is. No, I won't tell him. He is going to do the handsome thing by us, +and it would be mean for me to do the unhandsome thing by him. By George! +I don't believe he could sleep for two or three nights if he knew what I +know! No, sir! You just keep your mouth shut until we are safe and sound +in some civilized spot, with the whole business settled, and Shirley and +me discharged. Then I will tell the captain about it, so that nobody need +ever trouble his mind about coming back to look for gold rings and royal +mummies. If I don't get back before my watch is called, I'll brazen it +out somehow. We've got to twist discipline a little when we are all hard +at work at a job like this." + +He left his shoes on the sand of the cove, and swam to the ship without +taking time to undress. He slipped over the taffrail, and had scarcely +time to get below and change his clothes before his watch was called. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE CAPTAIN WRITES A LETTER + + +On the afternoon of the next day, the Miranda, having taken in water, set +sail, and began her long voyage to Rio Janeiro, and thence to France. + +Now that his labors were over, and the treasure of the Incas safely +stored in the hold of the brig, where it was ignominiously acting as +ballast, Captain Horn seated himself comfortably in the shade of a sail +and lighted his pipe. He was tired of working, tired of thinking, tired +of planning--tired in mind, body, and even soul; and the thought that +his work was done, and that he was actually sailing away with his great +prize, came to him like a breeze from the sea after a burning day. He +was not as happy as he should have been. He knew that he was too tired +to be as happy as his circumstances demanded, but after a while he would +attend better to that business. Now he was content to smoke his pipe, +and wait, and listen to the distant music from all the different kinds +of enjoyment which, in thought, were marching toward him. It was true he +was only beginning his long voyage to the land where he hoped to turn +his gold into available property. It was true that he might be murdered +that night, or some other night, and that when the brig, with its +golden cargo, reached port, he might not be in command of her. It was +true that a hundred things might happen to prevent the advancing +enjoyments from ever reaching him. But ill-omened chances threaten +everything that man is doing, or ever can do, and he would not let the +thought of them disturb him now. + +Everybody on board the Miranda was glad to rest and be happy, according +to his methods and his powers of anticipation. As to any present +advantage from their success, there was none. The stones and sand they +had thrown out had ballasted the brig quite as well as did the gold they +now carried. This trite reflection forced itself upon the mind of Burke. + +"Captain," said he, "don't you think it would be a good idea to touch +somewhere and lay in a store of fancy groceries and saloon-cabin grog? If +we can afford to be as jolly as we please, I don't see why we shouldn't +begin now." + +But the captain shook his head. "It would be a dangerous thing," he said, +"to put into any port on the west coast of South America with our present +cargo on board. We can't make it look like ballast, as I expected we +could, for all that bagging gives it a big bulk, and if the custom-house +officers came on board, it would not do any good to tell them we are +sailing in ballast, if they happened to want to look below." + +"Well, that may be so," said Burke. "But what I'd like would be to meet a +first-class, double-quick steamer, and buy her, put our treasure on +board, and then clap on all steam for France." + +"All right," said the captain, "but we'll talk about that when we meet a +steamer for sale." + +After a week had passed, and he had begun to feel the advantages of rest +and relief from anxiety, Captain Horn regretted nothing so much as that +the _Miranda_ was not a steamer, ploughing her swift way over the seas. +It must be a long, long time before he could reach those whom he supposed +and hoped were waiting for him in France. It had already been a long, +long time since they had heard from him. He did not fear that they would +suffer because he did not come. He had left them money enough to prevent +anything of that sort. He did not know whether or not they were longing +to hear from him, but he did know that he wanted them to hear from him. +He must yet sail about three thousand miles in the Pacific Ocean, and +then about two thousand more in the Atlantic, before he reached Rio +Janeiro, the port for which he had cleared. From there it would be nearly +five thousand miles to France, and he did not dare to calculate how long +it would take the brig to reach her final destination. + +This course of thought determined him to send a letter, which would reach +Paris long before he could arrive there. If they should know that he was +on his way home, all might be well, or, at least, better than if they +knew nothing about him. It might be a hazardous thing to touch at a port +on this coast, but he believed that, if he managed matters properly, he +might get a letter ashore without making it necessary for any meddlesome +custom-house officers to come aboard and ask questions. Accordingly, he +decided to stop at Valparaiso. He thought it likely that if he did not +meet a vessel going into port which would lay to and take his letter, he +might find some merchantman, anchored in the roadstead, to which he +could send a boat, and on which he was sure to find some one who would +willingly post his letter. + +He wrote a long letter to Edna--a straightforward, business-like +missive, as his letters had always been, in which, in language which she +could understand, but would carry no intelligible idea to any +unauthorized person who might open the letter, he gave her an account of +what he had done, and which was calculated to relieve all apprehensions, +should it be yet a long time before he reached her. He promised to write +again whenever there was an opportunity of sending her a letter, and +wrote in such a friendly and encouraging manner that he felt sure there +would be no reason for any disappointment or anxiety regarding him and +the treasure. + +Burke and Shirley were a little surprised when they found that the +captain had determined to stop at Valparaiso, a plan so decidedly opposed +to what he had before said on the subject. But when they found it was for +the purpose of sending a letter to his wife, and that he intended, if +possible, barely to touch and go, they said nothing more, nor did Burke +make any further allusions to improvement in their store of provisions. + +When, at last, the captain found himself off Valparaiso, it was on a +dark, cloudy evening and nothing could be done until the next morning, +and they dropped anchor to wait until dawn. + +As soon as it was light, the captain saw that a British steamer was +anchored about a mile from the _Miranda_, and he immediately sent a boat, +with Shirley and two of the negroes, to ask the officer on duty to post +his letter when he sent on shore. In a little more than an hour Shirley +returned, with the report that the first mate of the steamer knew Captain +Horn and would gladly take charge of his letter. + +The boat was quickly hauled to the davits, and all hands were called to +weigh anchor and set sail. But all hands did not respond to the call. One +of the negroes, a big, good-natured fellow, who, on account of his +unpronounceable African name, had been dubbed "Inkspot," was not to be +found. This was a very depressing thing, under the circumstances, and it, +almost counterbalanced the pleasure the captain felt in having started a +letter on its way to his party in France. + +It seemed strange that Inkspot should have deserted the vessel, for it +was a long way to the shore, and, besides, what possible reason could he +have for leaving his fellow-Africans and taking up his lot among absolute +strangers? The crew had all worked together so earnestly and faithfully +that the captain had come to believe in them and trust them to an extent +to which he had never before trusted seamen. + +The officers held a consultation as to what was to be done, and they very +quickly arrived at a decision. To remain at anchor, to send a boat on +shore to look for the missing negro, would be dangerous and useless. +Inquiries about the deserter would provoke inquiries about the brig, and +if Inkspot really wished to run away from the vessel, it would take a +long time to find him and bring him back. The right course was quite +plain to every one. Having finished the business which brought them +there, they must up anchor and sail away as soon as possible. As for the +loss of the man, they must bear that as well as they could. Whether he +had been drowned, eaten by a shark, or had safely reached the shore, he +was certainly lost to them. + +At the best, their crew had been small enough, but six men had sailed a +brig, and six men could do it again. + +So the anchor was weighed, the sails were set, and before a northeast +wind the _Miranda_ went out to sea as gayly as the nature of her build +permitted, which is not saying much. It was a good wind, however, and +when the log had been thrown, the captain remarked that the brig was +making better time than she had made since they left Acapulco. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +A HORSE-DEALER APPEARS ON THE SCENE + + +When the brig _Miranda_ was lying at anchor in the Rackbirds' cove, and +Mr. George Burke had silently left her in order to go on shore and pursue +some investigations in which he was interested, his departure from the +brig had not been, as he supposed, unnoticed. The big, good-natured +African, known as Inkspot, had been on watch, and, being himself so very +black that he was not generally noticeable in the dark, was standing on a +part of the deck from which, without being noticed himself, he saw a +person get over the taffrail and slip into the water. He knew this person +to be the second mate, and having a high respect and some fear of his +superiors, he did not consider it his business to interfere with him. He +saw a head above the water, moving toward the shore, but it soon +disappeared in the darkness. Toward the end of his watch, he had seen Mr. +Burke climb up the vessel's side as silently as he had gone down it, and +disappear below. + +When Inkspot went to his hammock, which he did very shortly afterwards, +he reflected to the best of his ability upon what he had seen. Why did +Mr. Burke slip away from the ship so silently, and come back in the same +way? He must have gone ashore, and why did he want no one to know that he +had gone? He must have gone to do something he ought not to do, and +Inkspot could think of nothing wrong that Mr. Burke would like to do, +except to drink whiskey. Captain Horn was very particular about using +spirits on board, and perhaps Mr. Burke liked whiskey, and could not get +it. Inkspot knew about the storehouse of the Rackbirds, but he did not +know what it had contained, or what had been left there. Maka had said +something about the whiskey having been poured out on the sand, but that +might have been said just to keep people away from the place. If there +were no whiskey there, why did Mr. Burke go on shore? + +Now, it so happened that Inkspot knew a good deal about whiskey. Before +he had gone into the service of the Rackbirds, he had, at different +times, been drunk, and he had the liveliest and most pleasant +recollections of these experiences. It had been a long time since he had +had enough whiskey to make him feel happy. This had probably been the +case with Mr. Burke, and he had gone on shore, and most likely had had +some very happy hours, and had come back without any one knowing where he +had gone. The consequence of this train of thought was that Inkspot +determined that he would go on shore, the next night, and hunt for +whiskey. He could do it quite as well as Mr. Burke had done it, perhaps +even better. But the _Miranda_ did not remain in the cove the next night, +and poor Inkspot looked with longing eyes upon the slowly departing spot +on the sands where he knew the Rackbirds' storehouse was located. + +The days and nights went on, and in the course of time the _Miranda_ +anchored in the harbor of Valparaiso; and, when this happened, Inkspot +determined that now would be his chance to go on shore and get a good +drink of whiskey--he had money enough for that. He could see the lights +of El Puerto, or the Old Town, glittering and beckoning, and they did +not appear to be very far off. It would be nothing for him to swim as +far as that. + +Inkspot went off his watch at midnight, and he went into the water at +fifty minutes to one. He wore nothing but a dark-gray shirt and a pair of +thin trousers, and if any one had seen his head and shoulders, it is not +likely, unless a good light had been turned on them, that they would have +been supposed to be portions of a human form. + +Inkspot was very much at home in the water, and he could swim like a dog +or a deer. But it was a long, long swim to those glittering and +beckoning lights. At last, however, he reached a pier, and having rested +himself on the timbers under it, he cautiously climbed to the top. The +pier was deserted, and he walked to the end of it, and entered the town. +He knew nothing of Valparaiso, except that it was a large city where +sailors went, and he was quite sure he could find a shop where they sold +whiskey. Then he would have a glass--perhaps two--perhaps three--after +which he would return to the brig, as Mr. Burke had done. Of course, he +would have to do much more swimming than had been necessary for the +second mate, but then, he believed himself to be a better swimmer than +that gentleman, and he expected to get back a great deal easier than he +came, because the whiskey would make him strong and happy, and he could +play with the waves. + +Inkspot did find a shop, and a dirty one it was--but they sold whiskey +inside, and that was enough for him. With the exception of Maka, he was +the most intelligent negro among the captain's crew, and he had picked up +some words of English and some of Spanish. But it was difficult for him +to express an idea with these words. Among these words, however, was one +which he pronounced better than any of the others, and which had always +been understood whenever he used it,--whether in English or Spanish, no +matter what the nationality might be of the person addressed,--and that +word was "whiskey." + +Inkspot had one glass, and then another, a third, and a fourth, and then +his money gave out--at least, the man who kept the shop insisted, in +words that any one could understand, that the silver the big negro had +fished out of his dripping pockets would pay for no more drinks. But +Inkspot had had enough to make him happy. His heart was warm, and his +clothes were getting drier. He went out into the glorious night. It was +dark and windy, and the sky was cloudy, but to him all things were +glorious. He sat down on the pavement in the cosey corner of two walls, +and there he slept luxuriously until a policeman came along and arrested +him for being drunk in the street. + +It was two days before Inkspot got out of the hands of the police. Then +he was discharged because the authorities did not desire to further +trouble themselves with a stupid fellow who could give no account of +himself, and had probably wandered from a vessel in port. The first +thing he did was to go out to the water's edge and look out over the +harbor, but although he saw many ships, his sharp eyes told him that not +one of them was the brig he had left. + +After an hour or two of wandering up and down the waterside, he became +sure that there was no vessel in that harbor waiting for him to swim to +her. Then he became equally certain that he was very hungry. It was not +long, however, before a good, strong negro like Inkspot found employment. +It was not necessary for him to speak very much Spanish, or any other +language, to get a job at carrying things up a gang-plank, and, in pay +for this labor, he willingly took whatever was given him. + +That night, with very little money in his pocket, Inkspot entered a +tavern, a low place, but not so low as the one he had patronized on his +arrival in Valparaiso. He had had a meagre supper, and now possessed +but money enough to pay for one glass of whiskey, and having procured +this, he seated himself on a stool in a corner, determined to protract +his enjoyment as long as possible. Where he would sleep that night he +knew not, but it was not yet bedtime, and he did not concern himself +with the question. + +Near by, at a table, were seated four men, drinking, smoking, and +talking. Two of these were sailors. Another, a tall, dark man with a +large nose, thin at the bridge and somewhat crooked below, was dressed in +very decent shore clothes, but had a maritime air about him, +notwithstanding. The fourth man, as would have been evident to any one +who understood Spanish, was a horse-dealer, and the conversation, when +Inkspot entered the place, was entirely about horses. But Inkspot did +not know this, as he understood so few of the words that he heard, and he +would not have been interested if he had understood them. The +horse-dealer was the principal spokesman, but he would have been a poor +representative of the shrewdness of his class, had he been trying to sell +horses to sailors. He was endeavoring to do nothing of the kind. These +men were his friends, and he was speaking to them, not of the good +qualities of his animals, but of the credulous natures of his customers. +To illustrate this, he drew from his pocket a small object which he had +received a few days before for some horses which might possibly be worth +their keep, although he would not be willing to guarantee this to any one +at the table. The little object which he placed on the table was a piece +of gold about two inches long, and shaped like an irregular prism. + +This, he said, he had received in trade from a man in Santiago, who had +recently come down from Lima. The man had bought it from a jeweller, who +had others, and who said he understood they had come from California. The +jeweller had owed the man money, and the latter had taken this, not as a +curiosity, for it was not much of a curiosity, as they could all see, but +because the jeweller told him exactly how much it was worth, and because +it was safer than money to carry, and could be changed into current coin +in any part of the world. The point of the horse-dealer's remarks was, +however, the fact that not only had he sold his horses to the man from +Lima for very much more than they were worth, but he had made him believe +that this lump of gold was not worth as much as he had been led to +suppose, that the jeweller had cheated him, and that Californian gold +was not easily disposed of in Chili or Peru, for it was of a very +inferior quality to the gold of South America. So he had made his trade, +and also a profit, not only on the animals he delivered, but on the pay +he received. He had had the little lump weighed and tested, and knew +exactly how much it was worth. + +When the horse-dealer had finished this pleasant tale, he laughed +loudly, and the three other men laughed also because they had keen wits +and appreciated a good story of real life. But their laughter was +changed to astonishment--almost fright--when a big black negro bounded +out of a dark corner and stood by the table, one outstretched ebony +finger pointing to the piece of gold. Instantly the horse dealer +snatched his treasure and thrust it into his pocket, and almost at the +same moment each man sprung to his feet and put his hand on his favorite +weapon. But the negro made no attempt to snatch the gold, nor did there +seem to be any reason to apprehend an attack from him. He stood slapping +his thighs with his hands, his mouth in a wide grin, and his eyes +sparkling in apparent delight. + +"What is the matter with you?" shouted the horse-dealer. "What do +you want?" + +Inkspot did not understand what had been said to him, nor could he have +told what he wanted, for he did not know. At that moment he knew nothing, +he comprehended nothing, but he felt as a stranger in a foreign land +would feel should he hear some words in his native tongue. The sight of +that piece of gold had given to Inkspot, by one quick flash, a view of +his negro friends and companions, of Captain Horn and his two white men, +of the brig he had left, of the hammock in which he had slept--of all, in +fact, that he now cared for on earth. + +He had seen pieces of gold like that. Before all the treasure had been +carried from the caves to the _Miranda_, the supply of coffee-bags had +given out, and during the last days of the loading it had been necessary +to tie up the gold in pieces of sail-cloth, after the fashion of a +wayfarer's bundle. Before these had been put on board, their fastening +had been carefully examined, and some of them had been opened and retied. +Thus all the negroes had seen the little bars, for, as they knew the bags +contained gold, there was no need of concealing from them the shape and +size of the contents. + +So, when, sitting in his gloomy corner, his spirits slowly rising under +the influence of his refreshment, which he had just finished, he saw +before him an object which recalled to him the life and friends of which +he had bereft himself, Inkspot's nature took entire possession of him, +and he bounded to the table in ecstatic recognition of the bit of metal. + +The men now swore at Inkspot, but as they saw he was unarmed, and not +inclined to violence, they were not afraid of him, but they wondered at +him. The horse-dealer took the piece of gold out of his pocket and held +it in his hand. + +"Did you ever see anything like that before?" he asked. He was a shrewd +man, the horse-dealer, and really wanted to know what was the matter with +the negro. + +Inkspot did not answer, but jabbered in African. + +"Try him in English," suggested the thin-nosed man, and this the +horse-dealer did. + +Many of the English words Inkspot understood. He had seen things like +that. Yes, yes! Great heaps! Heaps! Bags! Bags! He carried them! Throwing +an imaginary package over his shoulder, he staggered under it across the +floor. Heaps! Piles! Bags! Days and days and days he carried many bags! +Then, in a state of exalted mental action, produced by his recollections +and his whiskey, he suddenly conceived a scorn for a man who prized so +highly just one of these lumps, and who was nearly frightened out of his +wits if a person merely pointed to it. He shrugged his shoulders, he +spread out the palms of his hands toward the piece of gold, he turned +away his head and walked off sniffing. Then he came back and pointed to +it, and, saying "One!" he laughed, and then he said "One!" and laughed +again. Suddenly he became possessed with a new idea. His contemptuous +manner dropped from him, and in eager excitement he leaned forward and +exclaimed: + +"Cap' 'Or?" + +The four men looked at each other and at him in wonder, and asked what, +in the name of his satanic majesty, the fellow was driving at. This +apparent question, now repeated over and over again in turn to each of +them, they did not understand at all. But they could comprehend that the +negro had carried bags of lumps like that. This was very interesting. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE "ARATO" + +The subject of the labors of an African Hercules, mythical as these +labors might be, was so interesting to the four men who had been drinking +and smoking in the tavern, that they determined to pursue it as far as +their ignorance of the African's language, and his ignorance of English +and Spanish, would permit. In the first place, they made him sit down +with them, and offered him something to drink. It was not whiskey, but +Inkspot liked it very much, and felt all sorts of good effects from it. +In fact, it gave him a power of expressing himself by gestures and single +words in a manner wonderful. After a time, the men gave him something to +eat, for they imagined he might be hungry, and this also helped him very +much, and his heart went out to these new friends. Then he had a little +more to drink, but only a little, for the horse-dealer and the thin-nosed +man, who superintended the entertainment, were very sagacious, and did +not want him to drink too much. + +In the course of an hour, these four men, listening and watching keenly +and earnestly, had become convinced that this black man had been on a +ship which carried bags of gold similar to the rude prism possessed by +the horse-dealer, that he had left that vessel for the purpose of +obtaining refreshments on shore and had not been able to get back to it, +thereby indicating that the vessel had not stopped long at the place +where he had left it, and which place must have been, of course, +Valparaiso. Moreover, they found out to their full satisfaction where +that vessel was going to; for Maka had talked a great deal about Paris, +which he pronounced in English fashion, where Cheditafa and Mok were, and +the negroes had looked forward to this unknown spot as a heavenly port, +and Inkspot could pronounce the word "Paris" almost as plainly as if it +were a drink to which he was accustomed. + +But where the vessel was loaded with the gold, they could not find out. +No grimace that Inkspot could make, nor word that he could say, gave them +an idea worth dwelling upon. He said some words which made them believe +that the vessel had cleared from Acapulco, but it was foolish to suppose +that any vessel had been loaded there with bags of gold carried on men's +shoulders. The ship most probably came from California, and had touched +at the Mexican port. And she was now bound for Paris. That was natural +enough. Paris was a very good place to which to take gold. Moreover, she +had probably touched at some South American port, Callao perhaps, and +this was the way the little pieces of gold had been brought into the +country, the Californians probably having changed them for stores. + +The words "Cap' 'Or," often repeated by the negro, and always in a +questioning tone, puzzled them very much. They gave up its solution, and +went to work to try to make out the name of the vessel upon which the +bags had been loaded. But here Inkspot could not help them. They could +not make him understand what it was they wanted him to say. At last, the +horse-dealer proposed to the others, who, he said, knew more about such +things than he did, that they should repeat the name of every +sailing-vessel on that coast of which they had ever heard--for Inkspot +had made them understand that his ship had sails, and no steam. This they +did, and presently one of the sailors mentioned the name _Miranda_, which +belonged to a brig he knew of which plied on the coast. At this, Inkspot +sprang to his feet and clapped his hands. + +_"Miran'a! Miran'a.'"_ he cried. And then followed the words, "Cap' 'Or! +Cap' 'Or!" in eagerly excited tones. + +Suddenly the thin-nosed man, whom the others called Cardatas, +leaned forward. + +"Cap'n Horn?" said he. + +Inkspot clapped his hands again, and exclaimed: + +"Ay, ay! Cap' 'Or! Cap' 'Or!" + +He shouted the words so loudly that the barkeeper, at the other end of +the room, called out gruffly that they'd better keep quiet, or they would +have somebody coming in. + +"There you have it!" exclaimed Cardatas, in Spanish. "It's Cap'n Horn +that the fool's been trying to say. Cap'n Horn of the brig _Miranda_. We +are getting on finely." + +"I have heard of a Cap'n Horn," said one of the sailors. "He's a Yankee +skipper from California. He has sailed from this port, I know." + +"And he touched here three days ago, according to the negro," said +Cardatas, addressing the horse-dealer. "What do you say to that, Nunez? +From what we know, I don't think it will be hard to find out more." + +Nunez agreed with him, and thought it might pay to find out more. Soon +after this, being informed that it was time to shut up the place, the +four men went out, taking Inkspot with them. They would not neglect this +poor fellow. They would give him a place to sleep, and in the morning he +should have something to eat. It would be very unwise to let him go from +them at present. + +The next morning Inkspot strolled about the wharves of Valparaiso, in +company with the two sailors, who never lost sight of him, and he had +rather a pleasant time, for they gave him as much to eat and drink as was +good for him, and made him understand as well as they could that it would +not be long before they would help him to return to the brig _Miranda_ +commanded by Captain Horn. + +In the meantime, the horse-dealer, Nunez, went to a newspaper office, and +there procured a file of a Mexican paper, for the negro had convinced +them that his vessel had sailed from Acapulco. Turning over the back +numbers week after week, and week after week, Nunez searched in the +maritime news for the information that the _Miranda_ had cleared from a +Mexican port. He had gone back so far that he had begun to consider it +useless to make further search, when suddenly he caught the name +_Miranda_. There it was. The brig _Miranda_ had cleared from Acapulco +September 16, bound for Rio Janeiro in ballast. Nunez counted the months +on his fingers. + +"Five months ago!" he said to himself. "That's not this trip, surely. +But I will talk to Cardatas about that." And taking from his pocket a +little note-book in which he recorded his benefactions in the line of +horse trades, he carefully copied the paragraph concerning the _Miranda_. + +When Nunez met Cardatas in the afternoon, the latter also had news. He +had discovered that the arrival of the _Miranda_ had not been registered, +but he had been up and down the piers, asking questions, and he had found +a mate of a British steamer, then discharging her cargo, who told him +that the _Miranda_, commanded by Captain Horn, had anchored in the harbor +three days back, during the night, and that early the next morning +Captain Horn had sent him a letter which he wished posted, and that very +soon afterwards the brig had put out to sea. Cardatas wished to know much +more, but the mate, who had had but little conversation with Shirley, +could only tell him that the brig was then bound from Acapulco to Rio +Janeiro in ballast, which he thought rather odd, but all he could add was +that he knew Captain Horn, and he was a good man, and that if he were +sailing in ballast, he supposed he knew what he was about. + +Nunez then showed Cardatas the note he had made, and remarked that, of +course, it could not refer to the present voyage of the brig, for it +could not take her five months to come from Acapulco to this port. + +"No," said the other, musing, "it oughtn't to, but, on the other hand, +it is not likely she is on her second voyage to Rio, and both times in +ballast. That's all stuff about ballast. No man would be such a fool as +to sail pretty nigh all around this continent in ballast. He could find +some cargo in Mexico that he could sell when he got to port. Besides, if +that black fellow don't lie,--and he don't know enough to lie,--she's +bound for Paris. It's more likely she means to touch at Rio and take +over some cargo. But why, in the devil's name, should she sail from +Acapulco in ballast? It looks to me as if bags of gold might make very +good ballast." + +"That's just what I was thinking," said Nunez. + +"And what's more," said the other, "I'll bet she brought it down from +California with her when she arrived at Acapulco. I don't believe she +originally cleared from there." + +"It looks that way," said Nunez, "but how do you account for such a +long voyage?" + +"I've been talking to Sanchez about that _Miranda_," said Cardatas. "He +has heard that she is an old tub, and a poor sailer, and in that case +five months is not such a very slow voyage. I have known of slower +voyages than that." + +"And now what are you going to do about it?" asked Nunez. + +"The first thing I want to do is to pump that black fellow a +little more." + +"A good idea," said Nunez, "and we'll go and do it." + +Poor Inkspot was pumped for nearly an hour, but not much was got out of +him. The only feature of his information that was worth anything was the +idea that he managed to convey that ballast, consisting of stones and +bags of sand, had been taken out of the brig and thrown away, and bags of +gold put in their places. Where this transfer had taken place, the negro +could not make his questioners understand, and he was at last remanded to +the care of Sanchez and the other sailor. + +"The black fellow can't tell us much," said Cardatas to Nunez, as they +walked away together, "but he has stuck to his story well, and there +can't be any use of his lying about it. And there is another thing. What +made the brig touch here just long enough to leave a letter, and that +after a voyage of five months? That looks as if they were afraid some of +their people would go on shore and talk." + +"In that case," said Nunez, "I should say there is something shady about +the business. Perhaps this captain has slipped away from his partners up +there in California, or somebody who has been up to a trick has hired him +to take the gold out of the country. If he does carry treasure, it isn't +a fair and square thing. If it had been fair, the gold would have been +sent in the regular way, by a steamer. It's no crime to send gold from +California to France, or any other place." + +"I agree with you," said Cardatas, as he lighted his twenty-seventh +cigarette. + +Nunez did not smoke, but he mused as he walked along. + +"If she has gold on board," said he, presently, "it must be a good deal." + +"Yes," said the other. "They wouldn't take so much trouble for a small +lot. Of course, there can't be enough of it to take the place of all the +ballast, but it must weigh considerable." + +Here the two men were joined by an acquaintance, and their special +conversation ceased. That night they met again. + +"What are you going to do about this?" asked Nunez. "We can't keep on +supporting that negro." + +"What is to be done?" asked the other, his sharp eyes fixed upon his +companion's face. + +"Would it pay to go over to Rio and meet that brig when she arrives +there? If we could get on board and have a talk with her captain, he +might be willing to act handsomely when he found out we know something +about him and his ship. And if he won't do that, we might give +information, and have his vessel held until the authorities in California +can be communicated with. Then I should say we ought to make something." + +"I don't think much of that plan," said Cardatas. "I don't believe she's +going to touch at Rio. If she's afraid to go into port here, why +shouldn't she be afraid to go into port there? No. It would be stupid for +us to go to Rio and sit down and wait for her." + +"Then," answered the other, a little angrily, "what can be done?" + +"We can go after her," said Cardatas. + +The other sneered. "That would be more stupid than the other," said he. +"She left here four days ago, and we could never catch up with her, even +if we could find such a pin-point of a vessel on the great Pacific." + +Cardatas laughed. "You don't know much about navigation," said he, "but +that's not to be expected. With a good sailing-vessel I could go after +her, and overhaul her somewhere in the Straits of Magellan. With such a +cargo, I am sure she would make for the Straits. That Captain Horn is +said to be a good sailor, and the fact that he is in command of such a +tub as the _Miranda_ is a proof that there is something underhand about +his business." + +"And if we should overhaul her?" said the other. + +"Well," was the reply, "we might take along a dozen good fellows, and as +the _Miranda_ has only three men on board,--I don't count negroes worth +anything,--I don't see why we couldn't induce the captain to talk +reasonably to us. As for a vessel, there's the _Arato_." + +"Your vessel?" said the other. + +"Yes, I own a small share in her, and she's here in port now, waiting +for a cargo." + +"I forget what sort of a craft she is," said Nunez. + +"She's a schooner," said the other, "and she can sail two miles to the +_Miranda's_ one in any kind of weather. If I had money enough, I could +get the _Arato_, put a good crew on board, and be at sea and on the wake +of that brig in twenty-four hours." + +"And how much money would be needed?" asked the other. + +"That remains to be calculated," replied Cardatas. Then the two went to +work to calculate, and spent an hour or two at it. + +When they parted, Nunez had not made up his mind that the plan of +Cardatas was a good one, but he told him to go ahead and see what could +be done about getting the _Arato_ and a reliable crew, and that he would +talk further to him about the matter. + +That night Nunez took a train for Santiago, and on his arrival there, the +next morning, he went straight to the shop of the jeweller of whom had +been obtained the piece of gold in his possession. Here he made some +cautious inquiries, and found the jeweller very ready to talk about the +piece of gold that Nunez showed him. The jeweller said that he had had +four pieces of the gold in his possession, and that he had bought them in +Lima to use in his business. They had originally come from California, +and were very fine gold. He had been a little curious about it on account +of the shape of the pieces, and had been told that they had been brought +into the country by an American sea-captain, who had seemed to have a +good many of them. The jeweller thought it very likely that these pieces +of gold passed for currency in California, for he had heard that at one +time the people there had had to make their own currency, and that they +often paid for merchandise in so many penny-weights and ounces of gold +instead of using coin. The jeweller was himself very glad to do business +in this way, for he liked the feel of a lump of gold. + +After explaining that his reason for making these inquiries was his fear +that the piece of gold he had accepted in trade because he also liked the +feel of lumps of gold, might not be worth what he had given for it, Nunez +thanked the jeweller, left him, and returned to Valparaiso. He went +straight to his friend Cardatas, and said that he would furnish the +capital to fit out the _Arato_ for the projected trip. + +It was not in twenty-four hours, but in forty-eight, that the schooner +_Arato_ cleared from Valparaiso for Callao in ballast. She had a good set +of sails, and a crew of ten men besides the captain. She also had on +board a passenger, Nunez by name, and a tall negro, who doubtless could +turn his hand to some sort of work on board, and whom it would have been +very indiscreet to leave behind. + +Once outside the harbor, the _Arato_ changed her mind about going to +Callao, and sailed southward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE COAST OF PATAGONIA + + +For about ten days after the brig _Miranda_ left Valparaiso she had good +winds and fair weather, and her progress was satisfactory to all on +board, but at the end of that time she entered upon a season of head +winds and bad weather. The vessel behaved very well in the stormy days +that followed, but she made very little headway. Her course was now laid +toward the Gulf of Penas, after reaching which she would sail along the +protected waterways between the chain of islands which lie along the +coast and the mainland, and which lead into the Straits of Magellan. + +When the weather at last changed and the sea became smoother, it was +found that the working and straining of the masts during the violent +weather had opened some of the seams of the brig, and that she was taking +in water. She was a good vessel, but she was an old one, and she had had +a rough time of it. The captain thanked his stars that she had not begun +to leak before the storm. + +The short-handed crew went to work at the pumps, but, after two days' +hard labor, it was found that the water in the hold steadily gained upon +the pumps, and there was no doubt that the _Miranda_ was badly strained. +According to a report from Burke, the water came in forward, aft, and +midships. Matters were now getting very serious, and the captain and his +two mates consulted together, while the three negroes pumped. It was +plain to all of them that if the water kept on gaining, it would not be +long before the brig must go to the bottom. To keep her afloat until they +reached a port would be impossible. To reach the shore in the boats was +quite possible, for they were not a hundred miles from land. But to carry +their treasure to land in two small boats was a thing which need not even +be considered. + +All agreed that there was but one thing to be done. The brig must be +headed to land, and if she could be kept afloat until she neared one of +the great islands which lie along the Patagonian coast, she might be run +into some bay or protected cove, where she could be beached, or where, if +she should sink, it might be in water so shallow that all hope of getting +at her treasure would not have to be abandoned. In any case, the sooner +they got to the shore, the better for them. So the brig's bow was turned +eastward, and the pumps were worked harder than ever. There was a good +wind, and, considering that the _Miranda_ was steadily settling deeper +and deeper, she made very fair progress, and in less than two days after +she had changed her course, land was sighted. Not long after, Captain +Horn began to hope that if the wind held, and the brig could keep above +water for an hour or so, he could double a small headland which now +showed itself plainly a couple of miles away, and might be able to beach +his vessel. + +What a dreary, depressing hope it was that now possessed the souls of +Captain Horn, of Burke and Shirley, and of even the three negroes! After +all the hardships, the labor, and the anxieties, after all the joy of +success and escape from danger, after all happy chances which had come in +various ways and from various directions, after the sweet delights of +rest, after the super-exultation of anticipation which no one on board +had been able to banish from his mind, there was nothing left to them now +but the eager desire that their vessel might keep afloat until she could +find some friendly sands on which she might be run, or some shallow water +in which she might sink and rest there on the wild Patagonian coast, +leaving them far from human beings of any kind, far from help, far, +perhaps, from rescue and even safety. + +To this one object each man gave his entire energy, his mind, and his +body. Steadily went the pumps, steadily the captain kept his eyes fixed +upon the approaching headland, and upon the waters beyond, and steadily, +little by little, the _Miranda_ sunk lower and lower into the sea. + +At last the headland was reached, and on its ocean side the surf beat +high. Keeping well away to avoid shoals or a bar, the _Miranda_ passed +the southern point of the headland, and slowly sailed into a little bay. +To the left lay the rocky ridge which formed the headland, and less than +half a mile away could be seen the shining sands of the smooth beach. +Toward this beach the _Miranda_ was now headed, every sail upon her set, +and every nerve upon her strung to its tightest. They went in upon a +flood-tide. If he had believed that the brig would float so long, +Captain Horn would have waited an hour until the tide was high, so that +he might run his vessel farther up upon the beach, but he could not wait, +and with a strong west wind he steered straight for the sands. + +There was a hissing under the bows, and a shock which ran through the +vessel from stem to stern, and then grinding and grinding and grinding +until all motion ceased, and a gentle surf began to curl itself against +the stern of the brig. + +Every halliard was let go, and down came every sail by the run, and then +the brig _Miranda_ ended this voyage, and all others, upon the shore of a +desolate Patagonian island. + +Between the vessel and dry land there was about a hundred feet of water, +but this would be much less when the tide went out. Beyond the beach was +a stretch of sandy hillocks, or dunes, and back of these was a mass of +scrubby thicket, with here and there a low tree, and still farther back +was seen the beginning of what might be a forest. It was a different +coast from the desolate shores of Peru. + +Burke came aft to the captain. + +"Here we are, sir," said he, "and what's to happen next?" + +"Happen!" exclaimed the captain. "We must not wait for things to happen! +What we've got to do is to step around lively, and get the gold out of +this brig before the wind changes and drives her out into deep water." + +Burke put his hands into his pockets. "Is there any good of it, captain?" +said he. "Will we be any better off with the bags on that shore than we +would be if they were sunk in this bay?" + +"Good of it!" exclaimed the captain. "Don't talk that way, Burke. If we +can get it on shore, there is a chance for us. But if it goes to the +bottom, out in deep water, there is none. There is no time to talk now. +What we must do is to go to work." + +"Yes," said Burke, "whatever happens, it is always work. But I'm in for +it, as long as I hold together. But we've got to look out that some of +those black fellows don't drop over the bow, and give us the slip." + +"They'll starve if they do," said the captain, "for not a biscuit, or a +drop of water, goes ashore until the gold is out of the hold." + +Burke shook his head. "We'll do what we can, captain," said he, "but that +hold's a regular fishpond, and we'll have to dive for the bags." + +"All right," said the captain, "dive let it be." + +The work of removing the gold began immediately. Tackle was rigged. The +negroes went below to get out the bags, which were hauled up to the deck +in a tub. When a moderate boat-load had been taken out, a boat was +lowered and manned, and the bags passed down to it. + +In the first boat the captain went ashore. He considered it wise to land +the treasure as fast as it could be taken out of the hold, for no one +could know at what time, whether on account of wind from shore or waves +from the sea, the vessel might slip out into deep water. This was a +slower method than if everybody had worked at getting the gold on deck, +and then everybody had worked at getting it ashore, but it was a safer +plan than the other, for if an accident should occur, if the brig should +be driven off the sand, they would have whatever they had already +landed. As this thought passed through the mind of the captain, he could +not help a dismal smile. + +"Have!" said he to himself. "It may be that we shall have it as that poor +fellow had his bag of gold, when he lay down on his back to die there in +the wild desert." + +But no one would have imagined that such an idea had come into the +captain's mind. He worked as earnestly, and as steadily, as if he had +been landing an ordinary cargo at an ordinary dock. + +The captain and the men in the boat carried the bags high up on the +beach, out of any danger from tide or surf, and laid them in a line along +the sand. The captain ordered this because it would be easier to handle +them afterwards--if it should ever be necessary to handle them--than if +they had been thrown into piles. If they should conclude to bury them, it +would be easier and quicker to dig a trench along the line, and tumble +them in, than to make the deep holes that would otherwise be necessary. + +Until dark that day, and even after dark, they worked, stopping only for +necessary eating and drinking. The line of bags upon the shore had grown +into a double one, and it became necessary for the men, sometimes the +white and sometimes the black, to stoop deeper and deeper into the water +of the hold to reach the bags. But they worked on bravely. In the early +dawn of the next morning they went to work again. Not a negro had given +the ship the slip, nor were there any signs that one of them had thought +of such a thing. + +Backward and forward through the low surf went the boat, and longer and +wider and higher grew the mass of bags upon the beach. + +It was the third day after they had reached shore that the work was +finished. Every dripping bag had been taken out of the hold, and the +captain had counted them all as they had been put ashore, and verified +the number by the record in his pocket-book. + +When the lower tiers of bags had been reached, they had tried pumping out +the water, but this was of little use. The brig had keeled over on her +starboard side, and early in the morning of the third day, when the tide +was running out, a hole had been cut in that side of the vessel, out of +which a great portion of the water she contained had run. It would all +come in again, and more of it, when the tide rose, but they were sure +they could get through their work before that, and they were right. The +bags now lay upon the beach in the shape of a long mound, not more than +three feet high, and about four rows wide at the bottom and two at the +top. The captain had superintended the arrangement of the bags, and had +so shaped the mass that it somewhat resembled in form the dunes of sand +which lay behind it. No matter what might be their next step, it would +probably be advisable to conceal the bags, and the captain had thought +that the best way to do this would be to throw sand over the long mound, +in which work the prevailing western winds would be likely to assist, and +thus make it look like a natural sand-hill. Burke and Shirley were in +favor of burial, but the consideration of this matter was deferred, for +there was more work to be done, which must be attended to immediately. + +Now provisions, water, and everything else that might be of value was +taken out of the brig and carried to shore. Two tents were constructed +out of sails and spars, and the little party established themselves +upon the beach. What would be their next work they knew not, but they +must first rest from their long season of heavy labor. The last days +had been harder even than the days of storm and the days of pumping. +They had eaten hurriedly and slept but little. Regular watches and +irregular watches had been kept--watches against storm, which might +sweep the brig with all on board out to sea, watches against desertion, +watches against they knew not what. As chief watcher, the captain had +scarcely slept at all. + +It had been dreary work, unrelieved by hope, uncheered by prospect of +success; for not one of them, from the captain down, had any definite +idea as to what was to be done after they had rested enough to act. + +But they rested, and they went so far as to fill their pipes and stretch +themselves upon the sand. When night came on, chilly and dark, they +gathered driftwood and dead branches from the thicket and built a +camp-fire. They sat around it, and smoked their pipes, but they did not +tell stories, nor did they talk very much. They were glad to rest, they +were glad to keep warm, but that was all. The only really cheerful thing +upon the beach was the fire, which leaped high and blazed merrily as the +dried wood was heaped upon it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +SHIRLEY SPIES A SAIL + + +When the _Arato_ changed her mind about going to Callao, and sailed +southward some five days after the _Miranda_ had started on the same +course, she had very good weather for the greater part of a week, and +sailed finely. Cardatas, who owned a share in her, had sailed upon her as +first mate, but he had never before commanded her. He was a good +navigator, however, and well fitted for the task he had undertaken. He +was a sharp fellow, and kept his eyes on everybody, particularly upon +Nunez, who, although a landsman, and in no wise capable of sailing a +ship, was perfectly capable of making plans regarding any vessel in which +he was interested, especially when such a vessel happened to be sailing +in pursuit of treasure, the value of which was merely a matter of +conjecture. It was not impossible that the horse-dealer, who had embarked +money in this venture, might think that one of the mariners on board +might be able to sail the schooner as well as Cardatas, and would not +expect so large a share of the profits should the voyage be successful. +But when the storms came on, Nunez grew sick and unhappy, and retired +below, and he troubled the mind of Cardatas no more for the present. + +The _Arato_ sailed well with a fair wind, but in many respects she was +not as good a sea-boat in a storm as the _Miranda_ had proved to be, and +she had been obliged to lie to a great deal through the days and nights +of high winds and heavy seas. Having never had, until now, the +responsibility of a vessel upon him, Cardatas was a good deal more +cautious and prudent, perhaps, than Captain Horn would have been had he +been in command of the _Arato_. Among other methods of precaution which +Cardatas thought it wise to take, he steered well out from the coast, and +thus greatly lengthened his course, and at last, when a clearing sky +enabled him to take an observation, he found himself so far to the +westward that he changed his course entirely and steered for the +southeast. + +Notwithstanding all these retarding circumstances, Cardatas did not +despair of overhauling the _Miranda_. He was sure she would make for the +Straits, and he did not in the least doubt that, with good winds, he +could overtake her before she reached them, and even if she did get out +of them, he could still follow her. His belief that the _Arato_ could +sail two miles to the _Miranda's_ one was still unshaken. The only real +fear he had was that the _Miranda_ might have foundered in the storm. If +that should happen to be the case, their voyage would be a losing one, +indeed, but he said nothing of his fears to Nunez. + +The horse-dealer was now on deck again, in pretty fair condition, but he +was beginning to be despondent. After such an awful storm, and in all +that chaos of waves, what chance was there of finding a little brig such +as they were after? + +"But vessels sail in regular courses," Cardatas said to him. "They don't +go meandering all over the ocean. If they are bound for any particular +place, they go there on the shortest safe line they can lay down on the +map. We can go on that line, too, although we may be thrown out of it by +storms. But we can strike it again, and then all we have to do is to keep +on it as straight as we can, and we are bound to overtake another vessel +on the same course, provided we sail faster than she does. It is all +plain enough, don't you see?" + +Nunez could not help seeing, but he was a little cross, nevertheless. The +map and the ocean were wonderfully different. + +The wind had changed, and the _Arato_ did not make very good sailing on +her southeastern course. High as was her captain's opinion of her, she +never had sailed, nor ever could sail, two miles to the _Miranda's_ one, +although she was a good deal faster than the brig. But she was fairly +well handled, and in due course of time she approached so near the coast +that her lookout sighted land, which land Cardatas, consulting his +chart, concluded must be one of the Patagonian islands to the north of +the Gulf of Penas. + +As night came on, Cardatas determined to change his course somewhat to +the south, as he did not care to trust himself too near the coast, +when suddenly the lookout reported a light on the port bow. Cardatas +had sailed down this coast before, but he had never heard of a +lighthouse in the region, and with his glass he watched the light. But +he could not make it out. It was a strange light, for sometimes it was +bright and sometimes dull, then it would increase greatly and almost +fade away again. + +"It looks like a fire on shore," said he, and some of the other men who +took the glass agreed with him. + +"And what does that mean?" asked Nunez. + +"I don't know," replied Cardatas, curtly. "How should I? But one thing I +do know, and that is that I shall lie to until morning, and then we can +feel our way near to the coast and see what it does mean." + +"But what do you want to know for?" asked Nunez. "I suppose somebody on +shore has built a fire. Is there any good stopping for that? We have lost +a lot of time already." + +"I am going to lie to, anyway," said Cardatas. "When we are on such +business as ours, we should not pass anything without understanding it." + +Cardatas had always supposed that these islands were uninhabited, and he +could not see why anybody should be on one of them making a fire, unless +it were a case of shipwreck. If a ship had been wrecked, it was not at +all impossible that the _Miranda_ might be the unfortunate vessel. In any +case, it would be wise to lie to, and look into the matter by daylight. +If the _Miranda_ had gone down at sea, and her crew had reached land in +boats, the success of the _Arato's_ voyage would be very dubious. And +should this misfortune have happened, he must be careful about Nunez when +he came to hear of it. When he turned into his hammock that night, +Cardatas had made up his mind that, if he should discover that the +_Miranda_ had gone to the bottom, it would be a very good thing if +arrangements could be made for Nunez to follow her. + +That night the crew of the Miranda slept well and enjoyed the first real +rest they had had since the storm. No watch was kept, for they all +thought it would be an unnecessary hardship. The captain awoke at early +dawn, and, as he stepped out of the tent, he glanced over sea and land. +There were no signs of storm, the brig had not slipped out into deep +water, their boats were still high and dry upon the beach, and there was +something encouraging in the soft, early light and the pleasant morning +air. He was surprised, however, to find that he was not the first man +out. On a piece of higher ground, a little back from the tents, Shirley +was standing, a glass to his eye. + +"What do you see?" cried the captain. + +"A sail!" returned Shirley. + +At this every man in the tents came running out. Even to the negroes the +words, "A sail," had the startling effect which they always have upon +ship-wrecked men. + +The effect upon Captain Horn was a strange one, and he could scarcely +understand it himself. It was amazing that succor, if succor it should +prove to be, had arrived so quickly after their disaster. But +not-withstanding the fact that he would be overjoyed to be taken off that +desolate coast, he could not help a strong feeling of regret that a sail +had appeared so soon. If they had had time to conceal their treasure, all +might have been well. With the bags of gold buried in a trench, or +covered with sand so as to look like a natural mound, he and his sailors +might have been taken off merely as shipwrecked sailors, and carried to +some port where he might charter another vessel and come back after his +gold. But now he knew that whoever landed on this beach must know +everything, for it would be impossible to conceal the contents of that +long pile of bags, and what consequences might follow upon such knowledge +it was impossible for him to imagine. Burke had very much the same idea. + +"By George, captain!" said he, "it is a great pity that she came along so +soon. What do you say? Shall we signal her or not? We want to get away, +but it would be beastly awkward for anybody to come ashore just now. I +wish we had buried the bags as fast as we brought them ashore." + +The captain did not answer. Perhaps it might be as well not to signal +her. And yet, this might be their only chance of rescue! + +"What do you say to jumping into the boats and rowing out to meet them?" +asked Burke. "We'd have to leave the bags uncovered, but we might get to +a port, charter some sort of a craft, and get back for the bags before +any other vessel came so near the coast." + +"I don't see what made this one come so near," said Shirley, "unless it +was our fire last night. She might have thought that was a signal." + +"I shouldn't wonder," said the captain, who held the glass. "But we +needn't trouble ourselves about going out in boats, for she is making +straight for land." + +"That's so," said Shirley, who could now see this for himself, for the +light was rapidly growing stronger. "She must have seen our fire last +night. Shall I hoist a signal?" + +"No," said the captain. "Wait!" + +They waited to see what this vessel was going to do. Perhaps she was only +tacking. But what fool of a skipper would run so close to the shore for +the sake of tacking! They watched her eagerly, but not one of the white +men would have been wholly disappointed if the schooner, which they could +now easily make out, had changed her course and gone off on a long tack +to the southwest. + +But she was not tacking. She came rapidly on before a stiff west wind. +There was no need of getting out boats to go to meet her. She was south +of the headland, but was steering directly toward it. They could see what +sort of craft she was--a long schooner, painted green, with all sails +set. Very soon they could see the heads of the men on board. Then she +came nearer and nearer to land, until she was less than half a mile from +shore. Then she shot into the wind; her sails fluttered; she lay almost +motionless, and her head-sails were lowered. + +"That's just as if they were coming into port," said Burke. + +"Yes," said Shirley, "I expect they intend to drop anchor." + +This surmise was correct, for, as he spoke, the anchor went down +with a splash. + +"They're very business-like," said Burke. "Look at them. They are +lowering a boat." + +"A boat!" exclaimed Shirley, "They're lowering two of them." + +The captain knit his brows. This was extraordinary action on the part of +the vessel. Why did she steer so straight for land? Why did she so +quickly drop anchor and put out two boats? Could it be that this vessel +had been on their track? Could it be that the Peruvian government--But he +could not waste time in surmise as to what might be. They must act, not +conjecture. + +It was not a minute before the captain made up his mind how they should +act. Five men were in each boat, and with a glass it was easy to see that +some of them carried guns. + +"Get your rifles!" cried he to Shirley and Burke, and he rushed +for his own. + +The arms and ammunition had been all laid ready in the tent, and in a +moment each one of the white men had a rifle and a belt of cartridges. +For the blacks there were no guns, as they would not have known how to +use them, but they ran about in great excitement, each with his knife +drawn, blindly ready to do whatever should be ordered. The poor negroes +were greatly frightened. They had but one idea about the approaching +boats: they believed that the men in them were Rackbirds coming to wreak +vengeance upon them. The same idea had come into the mind of the captain. +Some of the Rackbirds had gone back to the cove. They had known that +there had been people there. They had made investigations, and found the +cave and the empty mound, and in some way had discovered that the +_Miranda_ had gone off with its contents. Perhaps the black fellow who +had deserted the vessel at Valparaiso had betrayed them. He hurriedly +mentioned his suspicions to his companions. + +"I shouldn't wonder," said Burke, "if that Inkspot had done it. Perhaps +he could talk a good deal better than we thought. But I vow I wouldn't +have supposed that he would be the man to go back on us. I thought he was +the best of the lot." + +"Get behind that wall of bags," cried the captain, "every one of you. +Whoever they are, we will talk to them over a breastwork." + +"I think we shall have to do more than talk," said Burke, "for a blind +man could see that there are guns in those boats." + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +THE BATTLE OF THE GOLDEN WALL + + +The five men now got behind the barrier of bags, but, before following +them, Captain Horn, with the butt of his rifle, drew a long, deep furrow +in the sand about a hundred feet from the breastwork of bags, and +parallel with it. Then he quickly joined the others. + +The three white men stationed themselves a little distance apart, and +each moved a few of the top bags so as to get a good sight between them, +and not expose themselves too much. + +As the boats came on, the negroes crouched on the sand, entirely out of +sight, while Shirley and Burke each knelt down behind the barrier, with +his rifle laid in a crevice in the top. The captain's rifle was in his +hand, but he did not yet prepare for action. He stooped down, but his +head was sufficiently above the barrier to observe everything. + +The two boats came rapidly on, and were run up on the beach, and the men +jumped out and drew them up, high and safe. Then, without the slightest +hesitation, the ten of them, each with a gun in his hand, advanced in a +body toward the line of bags. + +"Ahoy!" shouted the captain, suddenly rising from behind the barrier. +"Who are you, and what do you want?" He said this in English, but +immediately repeated it in Spanish. + +"Ahoy, there!" cried Cardatas. "Are you Captain Horn?" + +"Yes, I am," said the captain, "and you must halt where you are. The +first man who passes that line is shot." + +Cardatas laughed, and so did some of the others, but they all stopped. + +"We'll stop here a minute to oblige you," said Cardatas, "but we've got +something to say to you, and you might as well listen to it." + +Shirley and Burke did not understand a word of these remarks, for they +did not know Spanish, but each of them kept his eye running along the +line of men who still stood on the other side of the furrow the captain +had made in the sand, and if one of them had raised his gun to fire at +their skipper, it is probable that he would have dropped. Shirley and +Burke had been born and bred in the country; they were hunters, and were +both good shots. It was on account of their fondness for sport that they +had been separated from the rest of their party on the first day of the +arrival of the people from the _Castor_ at the caves. + +"What have you to say?" said the captain. "Speak quickly." + +Cardatas did not immediately answer, for Nunez was excitedly talking to +him. The soul of the horse-dealer had been inflamed by the sight of the +bags. He did not suppose it possible that they could all contain gold, +but he knew they must be valuable, or they would not have been carried +up there, and he was advising a rush for the low wall. + +"We will see what we can do with them, first," said Cardatas to Nunez. +"Some of us may be shot if we are in too great a hurry. They are well +defended where they are, and we may have to get round into their rear. +Then we can settle their business very well, for the negro said there +were only three white men. But first let us talk to them. We may manage +them without running any risks." + +Cardatas turned toward the captain, and at the same time Burke said: + +"Captain, hadn't you better squat down a little? You're making a very +fine mark of yourself." + +But the captain still stood up to listen to Cardatas. + +"I'll tell you what we've come for," said the latter. "We are not +officers of the law, but we are the same thing. We know all about you and +the valuable stuff you've run away with, and we've been offered a reward +to bring back those bags, and to bring you back, too, dead or alive, and +here we are, ready to do it. It was good luck for us that your vessel +came to grief, but we should have got you, even if she hadn't. We were +sure to overhaul you in the Straits. We know all about you and that old +hulk, but we are fair and square people, and we're sailors, and we don't +want to take advantage of anybody, especially of sailors who have had +misfortunes. Now, the reward the Californian government has offered us is +not a very big one, and I think you can do better by us, so if you'll +agree to come out from behind that breastwork and talk to us fair and +square, your two white men and your three negroes,--you see, we know all +about you,--I think we can make a bargain that'll suit all around. The +government of California hasn't any claim on us, and we don't see why we +should serve it any more than we should serve you, and it will be a good +deal better for you to be content with half the treasure you've gone off +with, or perhaps a little more than that, and let us have the rest. We +will take you off on our vessel, and land you at any port you want to go +to, and you can take your share of the bags ashore with you. Now, that's +what I call a fair offer, and I think you will say so, too." + +Captain Horn was much relieved by part of this speech. He had had a +slight fear, when Cardatas began, that these men might have been sent out +by the Peruvian government, but now he saw they were a set of thieves, +whether Rackbirds or not, doing business on their own account. + +"The Californian government has nothing to do with me," cried Captain +Horn, "and it never had anything to do with you, either. When you say +that, you lie! I am not going to make any bargain with you, or have +anything to do with you. My vessel is wrecked, but we can take care of +ourselves. And now I'll give you five minutes to get to your boats, and +the quicker you go, the better for you!" + +At this, Nunez stepped forward, his face red with passion. "Look here, +you Yankee thief," he cried, "we'll give you just one minute to come out +from behind that pile of bags. If you don't come, we'll--" + +But if he said any more, Captain Horn did not hear it, for at that moment +Burke cried: "Drop, captain!" And the captain dropped. + +Stung by the insult he had received, and unable to resist the +temptation of putting an end to the discussion by shooting Captain Horn, +Cardatas raised his rifle to his shoulder, and almost in the same +instant that the captain's body disappeared behind the barrier, he +fired. But the bullet had scarcely left his barrel when another ball, +from Shirley's gun, struck Cardatas under his uplifted left arm, and +stretched him on the sand. + +A shock ran through the attacking party, and instinctively they retreated +several yards. So suddenly had they lost their leader that, for a few +moments, they did not seem to understand the situation. But, on a shout +from one of them to look out for themselves, every man dropped flat upon +the beach, behind a low bank of sand scarcely a foot high. This was not +much protection, but it was better than standing up as marks for the +rifles behind the barrier. + +The men from the _Arato_ were very much surprised by what had happened. +They had expected to have an easy job with the crew of the _Miranda_. As +soon as the sailor Sanchez had seen the stranded brig, he had recognized +her, and Cardatas, as well as the rest of them, had thought that there +would be nothing to do but to go on shore with a party of well-armed men, +and possess themselves of whatever treasure she had brought to this +deserted coast. But to find her crew strongly intrenched and armed had +very much amazed them. + +Nunez's anger had disappeared, and his accustomed shrewdness had taken +its place, for he now saw that very serious business was before them. He +was not much of a soldier, but he knew enough to understand that in the +plan proposed by Cardatas lay their only hope of success. It would be +ridiculous to lie there and waste their ammunition on that wall of bags. +He was lying behind the others, and raised his head just enough to tell +them what they should do. + +"We must get into their rear," he said. "We must creep along the sand +until we reach those bushes up there, and then we can get behind them. +I'll go first, and you can follow me." + +At, this, he began to work himself along the beach, somewhat after the +fashion of an earthworm. But the men paid no attention to him. There was +little discipline among them, and they had no respect for the +horse-dealer as a commander, so they remained on the sands, eagerly +talking among themselves. Some of them were frightened, and favored a +rush for the boats. But this advice brought down curses from the others. +What were three men to nine, that they should run away? + +Burke now became tired of waiting to see what would happen next, and +putting his hat on a little stick, he raised it a short distance above +the breastwork. Instantly one of the more excitable men from the _Arato_ +fired at it. + +"Very good," said Burke. "They want to keep it up, do they? Now, +captain," he continued, "we can see the backs and legs of most of them. +Shall we fire at them? That will be just as good as killing them. They +mean fight--that's easy to see." + +But the captain was not willing to follow Burke's advice. + +"I don't want to wound or maim them," he replied. "Let's give them a +volley just over their heads, and let them see what we are prepared to +do. Now, then, when I give the word!" + +In a few moments three shots rang out from the intrenchment, and the +bullets went whistling over the prostrate bodies of the men on the sand. +But these tactics did not have the effect Captain Horn hoped for. They +led to no waving of handkerchiefs, nor any show of an intention to treat +with an armed and intrenched foe. Instead of that, the man Sanchez sprang +to his feet and cried: + +"Come on, boys! Over the wall and at them before they can reload!" + +At this all the men sprang up and dashed toward the line of bags, Nunez +with them. Somebody might get hurt in this wild charge, but he must reach +the treasure as soon as the others. He must not fail in that. But Sanchez +made a great mistake when he supposed that Captain Horn and his men +fought with such arms as the muzzle-loading rifles and shot-guns which +the _Arato's_ men had thought quite sufficient to bring with them for the +work they had to do. Captain Horn, when he had fitted out the _Miranda_, +had supplied himself and his two white men with fine repeating rifles, +and the _Arato's_ men had scarcely crossed the line which had been drawn +on the sand before there were three shots from the barrier, and three of +the enemy dropped. Even the captain made a good shot this time. + +At this the attacking party stopped, and some of them shouted, "To the +boats!" Nunez said nothing, for he was dead. There had been much +straggling in the line, and Shirley had singled him out as one of the +leaders. Before one of them had turned or a retreat begun, Burke's rifle +flashed, and another man fell over against a companion, and then down +upon the sand. The distance was very short, and a bad shot was almost +impossible for a good hunter. + +Now there was no hesitation. The five men who had life and legs, turned +and dashed for the boats. But the captain did not intend, now, that they +should escape, and rifle after rifle cracked from the barricade, and +before they reached the boats, four of the flying party had fallen. The +fifth man stumbled over one of his companions, who dropped in front of +him, then rose to his feet, threw down his gun, and, turning his face +toward the shore, held up his hands high above his head. + +"I surrender!" he cried, and, still with his arms above his head, and his +face whiter than the distant sands, he slowly walked toward the barrier. + +The captain rose. "Halt!" he cried, and the man stood stock-still. "Now, +my men," cried the captain, turning to Burke and Shirley, "keep your eyes +on that fellow until we reach him, and if he moves, shoot him." + +The three white men, followed by the negroes, ran down to the man, and +when they had reached him, they carefully searched him to see if he had +any concealed weapons. + +After glancing rapidly over the bodies which lay upon the sand, the +captain turned to his men. + +"Come on, every one of you," he shouted, "and run out that boat," +pointing to the largest one that had brought the _Arato's_ men ashore. + +Shirley and Burke looked at him in surprise. + +"We want that vessel!" he cried, in answer. "Be quick!" And taking hold +of the boat himself, he helped the others push it off the sand. "Now, +then," he continued, "Shirley, you and Burke get into the bow, with your +rifles. Tumble in, you black fellows, and each take an oar. You," he said +in Spanish to the prisoner, "get in and take an oar, too." + +The captain took the tiller. Shirley and Burke pushed the boat into +deep water, and jumped aboard. The oars dipped, and they were off, +regardless of the low surf which splashed its crest over the gunwale as +the boat turned. + +"Tell me, you rascal," said the captain to the prisoner, who was tugging +at his oar as hard as the others, "how many men are aboard that +schooner?" + +"Only two, I swear to you, Señor Capitan; there were twelve of us in +all." + +The men left on the schooner had evidently watched the proceedings on +shore, and were taking measures accordingly. + +"They've slipped their anchor, and the tide is running out!" shouted the +captain. "Pull! Pull!" + +"They're running up their jib!" cried Burke. "Lay to, you fellows, or +I'll throw one of you overboard, and take his place!" + +The captured man was thoroughly frightened. They were great fighters, +these men he had fallen among, and he pulled as though he were rowing to +rescue his dearest friend. The black fellows bent to their oars like +madmen. They were thoroughly excited. They did not know what they were +rowing: for they only knew they were acting under the orders of their +captain, who had just killed nine Rackbirds, and their teeth and their +eyes flashed as their oars dipped and bent. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE "ARATO" ANCHORS NEARER SHORE + + +On went the boat, each one of the oarsmen pulling with all his force, the +captain in the stern, shouting and encouraging them, and Shirley and +Burke crouched in the bow, each with his rifle in hand. Up went the jib +of the _Arato_. She gently turned about as she felt the influence of the +wind, and then the captain believed the men on board were trying to get +up the foresail. + +"Are you sure there are only two of the crew on that schooner?" said the +captain to the prisoner. "Now, it isn't worth while to lie to me." + +"Only two," said the man. "I swear to it. Only two, Señor Capitan." + +The foresail did not go up, for one of the men had to run to the wheel, +and as the vessel's head got slowly around, it seemed as if she might +sail away from the boat, even with nothing but the jib set. But the +schooner gained headway very slowly, and the boat neared her rapidly. +Now the man at the wheel gave up all hope of sailing away from his +pursuers. He abandoned the helm, and in a few moments two heads and two +guns showed over the rail, and two shots rang out. But the schooner was +rolling, and the aim was bad. Shirley and Burke fired at the two heads +as soon as they saw them, but the boat was rising and pitching, and +their shots were also bad. + +For a minute there was no more firing, and then one of the heads and one +of the guns were seen again. Shirley was ready, and made his +calculations, and, as the boat rose, he drew a bead upon the top of the +rail where he saw the head, and had scarcely pulled his trigger when he +saw a good deal more than a head, for a man sprung up high in the air and +then fell backward. + +The captain now ordered his men to rest on their oars, for, if the other +man on board should show himself, they could get a better shot at him +than if they were nearer. But the man did not show himself, and, on +consideration of his probable tactics, it seemed extremely dangerous to +approach the vessel. Even here they were in danger, but should they +attempt to board her, they could not tell from what point he might fire +down upon them, and some of them would surely be shot before they could +get a chance at him, and the captain did not wish to sacrifice any of his +men, even for a vessel, if it could be helped. There seemed to be no hope +of safely gaining their object, except to wait until the man should +become tired and impatient, and expose himself. + +Suddenly, to the amazement of every one in the boat, for all heads were +turned toward the schooner, a man appeared, boldly running over her deck. +Shirley and Burke instantly raised their rifles, but dropped them again. +There was a shout from Maka, and an exclamation from the prisoner. Then +the man on deck stooped close to the rail and was lost to their sight, +but almost instantly he reappeared again, holding in front of him a +struggling pair of legs, feet uppermost. Then, upon the rail, appeared a +man's head and body; but it only remained there for an instant, for his +legs were raised still higher by the person behind him, and were then +propelled outward with such force that he went headlong overboard. Then +the man on deck sprang to the top of the rail, regardless of the rolling +of the vessel in the gentle swell, and waved his hands above his head. + +"Inkspot!" shouted the captain. "Pull away, you fellows! Pull!" + +The tall, barefooted negro sprang to the deck from his perilous position, +and soon reappeared with a line ready to throw to the boat. + +In a few minutes they reached the vessel, and the boat was quickly made +fast, and very soon they were on board. When he saw his old friends and +associates upon the deck, Inkspot retired a little distance and fell upon +his knees. + +"You black rascal!" roared Burke, "you brought these cut-throat +scoundrels down upon us! You--" + +"That will do," said the captain. "There is no time for that sort of +thing now. We will talk to him afterwards. Mr. Shirley, call all hands +and get up sail. I am going to take this schooner inside the headland. +We can find safe anchorage in the bay. We can sail over the same course +we went on with the _Miranda_, and she drew more water than this vessel." + +In an hour the _Arato_, moored by her spare anchor, lay in the little +bay, less than two hundred yards from shore. It gave the shipwrecked men +a wild delight to find themselves again upon the decks of a seaworthy +vessel, and everybody worked with a will, especially the prisoner and +Inkspot. And when the last sail had been furled, it became evident to all +hands on board that they wanted their breakfast, and this need was +speedily supplied by Maka and Inkspot from the _Arato's_ stores. + +That afternoon the captain went on shore with the negroes and the Chilian +prisoner, and the bodies of the nine men who had fallen in the attack +upon the wall of gold were buried where they lay. This was a very +different climate from that of the Peruvian coast, where the desiccating +air speedily makes a mummy of any dead body upon its arid sands. + +When this work had been accomplished, the party returned to the _Arato_, +and the captain ordered Inkspot and the prisoner to be brought aft to be +tried by court martial. The big negro had been wildly and vociferously +received by his fellow-countrymen, who, upon every possible occasion, had +jabbered together in their native tongue, but Captain Horn had, so far, +said nothing to him. + +The captain had been greatly excited from the moment he had seen the sail +in the offing. In his dire distress, on this almost desolate shore, he +had beheld what might prove to be speedy relief, and, much as he had +needed it, he had hoped that it might not come so soon. He had been +apprehensive and anxious when he supposed friendly aid might be +approaching, and he had been utterly astounded when he was forced to +believe that they were armed men who were rowing to shore, and must be +enemies. He had fought a terrible fight. He had conquered the scoundrels +who had come for his life and his treasure, and, best of all, he had +secured a vessel which would carry him and his men and his fortune to +France. He had endeavored to keep cool and think only of the work that +was immediately in hand, and he had no wish to ask anybody why or how +things had happened. They had happened, and that was all in all to him. +But now he was ready to make all necessary inquiries, and he began with +Inkspot. Maka being interpreter, the examination was easily carried on. + +The story of the negro was a very interesting one. He told of his +adventures on shore, and how kind the men had been to him until they went +on board the _Arato_, and how then they treated him as if he had been a +dog--how he had been made to do double duty in all sorts of disagreeable +work, and how, after they had seen the light on the beach, he had been +put into the hold and tied hand and foot. While down there in the dark he +had heard the firing on shore, and, after a long while, the firing from +the deck, and other shots near by. All this had so excited him that he +managed to get one hand loose from his cords, and then had speedily +unfastened the rest, and had quietly crept to a hatchway, where he could +watch what was going on without showing himself. He had seen the two men +on deck, ready to fire on the approaching boat. He had recognized Captain +Horn and the people of the _Miranda_ in the boat. And then, when there +was but one man left on deck, and the boat was afraid to come nearer, he +had rushed up behind him and tumbled him overboard. + +One thing only did Inkspot omit: he did not say that it was Mr. Burke's +example that had prompted him to go ashore for refreshments. When the +story had been told, and all questions asked and answered, the captain +turned to Burke and Shirley and asked their opinions upon the case. +Shirley was in favor of putting the negro in irons. He had deserted them, +and had nearly cost them their lives by the stories he had told on shore. +Burke, to the captain's surprise,--for the second mate generally dealt +severely with nautical transgressions,--was in favor of clemency. + +"To be sure," said he, "the black scoundrel did get us into trouble. But +then, don't you see, he has got us out of it. If these beastly fellows +hadn't been led by him to come after our money, we would not have had +this schooner, and how we should have got those bags away without +her,--to say nothing of ourselves,--is more than I can fathom. It is my +belief that no craft ever comes within twenty miles of this coast, if she +can help it. So I vote for letting him off. He didn't intend to do us any +harm, and he didn't intend to do us any good, but it seems to me that the +good he did do rises higher above the water-line than the harm. So I say, +let him off. We need another hand about as much as we need anything." + +"And so say I," said the captain. "Maka, you can tell him we forgive him, +because we believe that he is really a good fellow and didn't intend any +harm, and he can turn in with the rest of you on his old watch. And now +bring up that Chilian fellow." + +The prisoner, who gave his name as Anton Garta, was now examined in +regard to the schooner _Arato_, her extraordinary cruise, and the people +who had devised it. Garta was a fellow of moderate intelligence, and +still very much frightened, and having little wit with which to concoct +lies, and no reason for telling them, he answered the questions put to +him as correctly as his knowledge permitted. He said that about two +months before he had been one of the crew of the _Arato_, and Manuel +Cardatas was second mate, and he had been very glad to join her on this +last cruise because he was out of a job. He thought she was going to +Callao for a cargo, and so did the rest of the crew. They did not even +know there were guns on board until they were out at sea. Then, when they +had turned southward, their captain and Señor Nunez told them that they +were going in pursuit of a treasure ship commanded by a Yankee captain, +who had run away with ever so much money from California, and that they +were sure to overhaul this ship, and that they would all be rich. + +The guns were given to them, and they had had some practice with them, +and thought that Cardatas intended, should the _Miranda_ be overhauled, +to run alongside of her as near as was safe, and begin operations by +shooting everybody that could be seen on deck. He was not sure that this +was his plan, but they all had thought it was. After the storm the men +had become dissatisfied, and said they did not believe it was possible to +overhaul any vessel after so much delay, and when they had gone so far +out of their course; and Señor Nunez, who had hired the vessel, was in +doubt as to whether it would be of any use to continue the cruise. But +when Cardatas had talked to him, Señor Nunez had come among them and +promised them good rewards, whether they sighted their prize or not, if +they would work faithfully for ten days more. The men had agreed to do +this, but when they had seen the light on shore, they had made an +agreement among themselves that, if this should be nothing but a fire +built by savages or shipwrecked people of no account, they would not work +the schooner any farther south. They would put Cardatas and Nunez in +irons, if necessary, and take the _Arato_ back to Valparaiso. There were +men among them who could navigate. But when they got near enough to shore +to see that the stranded vessel was the _Miranda_, there was no more +insubordination. + +As for himself, Garta said he was a plain, common sailor, who went on +board the _Arato_ because he wanted a job. If he had known the errand on +which she was bound, he would never have approached within a league of +her. This he vowed, by all the saints. As to the ownership of the vessel +Garta could tell but little. He had heard that Cardatas had a share in +her, and thought that probably the other owners lived in Valparaiso, but +he could give no positive information on this subject. He said that every +man of the boat's crew was in a state of wild excitement when they saw +that long pile of bags, which they knew must contain treasure of some +sort, and it was because of this state of mind, most likely, that +Cardatas lost his temper and got himself shot, and so opened the fight. +Cardatas was a cunning fellow, and, if he had not been upset by the sight +of those bags, Garta believed that he would have regularly besieged +Captain Horn's party, and must have overcome them in the end. He was +anxious to have the captain believe that, when he had said there were +only two men on board, he had totally forgotten the negro, who had been +left below. + +When Garta's examination had been finished, the captain sent him +forward, and then repeated his story in brief to Shirley and Burke, +for, as the prisoner had spoken in Spanish, they had understood but +little of it. + +"I don't see that it makes much difference," said Burke, "as to what his +story is. We've got to get rid of him in some way. We don't want to +carry him about with us. We might leave him here, with a lot of grub and +a tent. That would be all he deserves." + +"I should put him in irons, to begin with," said Shirley, "and then we +can consider what to do with him when we have time." + +"I shall not leave him on shore," said the captain, "for that would +simply be condemning him to starvation; and as for putting him in irons, +that would deprive us of an able seaman. I suppose, if we took him to +France, he would have to be sent to Chili for trial, and that would be of +no use, unless we went there as witnesses. It is a puzzling question to +know what to do with him." + +"It is that," said Burke, "and it is a great pity he wasn't shot with +the others." + +"Well," said the captain, "we've got a lot of work before us, and we want +hands, so I think it will be best to let him turn in with the rest, and +make him pay for his passage, wherever we take him. The worst he can do +is to desert, and if he does that, he will settle his own business, and +we shall have no more trouble with him." + +"I don't like him," said Shirley. "I don't think we ought to have such a +fellow going about freely on board." + +"I am not afraid he will hurt any of us," said the captain, "and I +am sure he will not corrupt the negroes. They hate him. It is easy to +see that." + +"Yes," said Burke, with a laugh. "They think he is a Rackbird, and it is +just as well to let them keep on thinking so." + +"Perhaps he is," thought the captain, but he did not speak this +thought aloud. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +INKSPOT HAS A DREAM OF HEAVEN + + +The next day the work of loading the _Arato_ with the bags of gold was +begun, and it was a much slower and more difficult business than the +unloading of the _Miranda_, for the schooner lay much farther out from +the beach. But there were two men more than on the former occasion, and +the captain did not push the work. There was no need now for +extraordinary haste, and although they all labored steadily, regular +hours of work and rest were adhered to. The men had carried so many bags +filled with hard and uneven lumps that the shoulders of some of them were +tender, and they had to use cushions of canvas under their loads. But the +boats went backward and forward, and the bags were hoisted on board and +lowered into the hold, and the wall of gold grew smaller and smaller. + +"Captain," said Burke, one day, as they were standing by a pile of bags +waiting for the boat to come ashore, "do you think it is worth it! By +George! we have loaded and unloaded these blessed bags all down the +western coast of South America, and if we've got to unload and load them +all up the east coast, I say, let's take what we really need, and leave +the rest." + +"I've been at the business a good deal longer than you have," said the +captain, "and I'm not tired of it yet. When I took away my first cargo, +you must remember that I carried each bag on my own shoulders, and it +took me more than a month to do it, and even all that is only a drop in +the bucket compared to what most men who call themselves rich have to do +before they make their money." + +"All right," said Burke, "I'll stop growling. But look here, captain. +How much do you suppose one of these bags is worth, and how many are +there in all? I don't want to be inquisitive, but it would be a sort of +comfort to know." + +"No, it wouldn't," said the captain, quickly. "It would be anything else +but a comfort. I know how many bags there are, but as to what they are +worth, I don't know, and I don't want to know. I once set about +calculating it, but I didn't get very far with the figures. I need all my +wits to get through with this business, and I don't think anything would +be more likely to scatter them than calculating what this gold is worth. +It would be a good deal better for you--and for me, too--to consider, as +Shirley does, that these bags are all filled with good, clean, anthracite +coal. That won't keep us from sleeping." + +"Shirley be hanged!" said Burke, "He and you may be able to do that, but +I can't. I've got a pretty strong mind, and if you were to tell me that +when we get to port, and you discharge this crew, I can walk off with all +the gold eagles or twenty-franc pieces I can carry, I think I could stand +it without losing my mind." + +"All right," said the captain, "If we get this vessel safely to France, +I will give you a good chance to try your nerves." + +Day by day the work went on, and at last the _Arato_ took the place of +the _Miranda_ as a modern _Argo_. + +During the reëmbarkation of the treasure, the captain, as well as Shirley +and Burke, had kept a sharp eye on Garta. The two mates were afraid he +might run away, but, had he done so, the captain would not have regretted +it very much. He would gladly have parted with one of the bags in order +to get rid of this encumbrance. But the prisoner had no idea of running +away. He knew that the bags were filled with treasure, but as he could +now do nothing with any of it that he might steal, he did not try to +steal any. If he had thoughts of the kind, he knew this was no time for +dishonest operation. He had always been a hardworking sailor, with a good +appetite, and he worked hard now, and ate well. + +The _Miranda's_ stores had not been injured by water, and when they had +been put on board, the _Arato_ was well fitted out for a long voyage. +Leaving the _Miranda_ on the beach, with nothing in her of much value, +the _Arato_, which had cleared for Callao, and afterwards set out on a +wild piratical cruise, now made a third start, and set sail for a voyage +to France. They had good weather and tolerably fair winds, and before +they entered the Straits of Magellan the captain had formulated a plan +for the disposition of Garta. + +"I don't know anything better to do with him," said he to Shirley and +Burke, "than to put him ashore at the Falkland Islands. We don't want to +take him to France, for we would not know what to do with him after we +got him there, and, as likely as not, he would swear a lot of lies +against us as soon as he got on shore. We can run within a league of +Stanley harbor, and then, if the weather is good enough, we can put him +in a boat, with something to eat and drink, and let him row himself into +port. We can give him money enough to support himself until he can +procure work." + +"But suppose there is a man-of-war in there," said Shirley, "he might say +things that would send her after us. He might not know where to say we +got our treasure, but he could say we had stolen a Chilian vessel." + +"I had thought of that," said the captain, "but nothing such a vagrant as +he is could say ought to give any cruiser the right to interfere with us +when we are sailing under the American flag. And when I go to France, +nobody shall say that I stole a vessel, for, if the owners of the _Arato_ +can be found, they shall be well paid for what use we have made of their +schooner. I'll send her back to Valparaiso and let her be claimed." + +"It is a ticklish business," said Burke, "but I don't know what else can +be done. It is a great pity I didn't know he was going to surrender when +we had that fight." + +They had been in the Straits less than a week when Inkspot dreamed he +was in heaven. His ecstatic visions became so strong and vivid that they +awakened him, when he was not long in discovering the cause which had +produced them. The dimly lighted and quiet forecastle was permeated by a +delightful smell of spirituous liquor. Turning his eyes from right to +left, in his endeavors to understand this unusual odor of luxury, +Inkspot perceived the man Garta standing on the other side of the +forecastle, with a bottle in one hand and a cork in the other, and, as +he looked, Garta raised the bottle to his mouth, threw back his head, +and drank. + +Inkspot greatly disliked this man. He had been one of the fellows who had +ill-treated him when the _Arato_ sailed under Cardatas, and he fully +agreed with his fellow-blacks that the scoundrel should have been shot. +But now his feelings began to undergo a change. A man with a bottle of +spirits might prove to be an angel of mercy, a being of beneficence, and +if he would share with a craving fellow-being his rare good fortune, why +should not all feelings of disapprobation be set aside? Inkspot could see +no reason why they should not be, and softly slipping from his hammock, +he approached Garta. + +"Give me. Give me, just little," he whispered. + +Garta turned with a half-suppressed oath, and seeing who the suppliant +was, he seized the bottle in his left hand, and with his right struck +poor Inkspot a blow in the face. Without a word the negro stepped back, +and then Garta put the bottle into a high, narrow opening in the side of +the forecastle, and closed a little door upon it, which fastened with a +snap. This little locker, just large enough to hold one bottle, had been +made by one of the former crew of the _Arato_ solely for the purpose of +concealing spirits, and was very ingeniously contrived. Its door was a +portion of the side of the forecastle, and a keyhole was concealed behind +a removable knot. Garta had not opened the locker before, for the reason +that he had been unable to find the key. He knew it had been concealed +in the forecastle, but it had taken him a long time to find it. Now his +secret was discovered, and he was enraged. Going over to the hammock, +where Inkspot had again ensconced himself, he leaned over the negro and +whispered: + +"If you ever say a word of that bottle to anybody, I'll put a knife into +you! No matter what they do to me, I'll settle with you." + +Inkspot did not understand all this, but he knew it was a threat, and he +well understood the language of a blow in the face. After a while he went +to sleep, but, if he smelt again the odor of the contents of the bottle, +he had no more heavenly dreams. + +The next day Captain Horn found himself off the convict settlement of +Punta Arenas, belonging to the Chilian government. This was the first +port he had approached since he had taken command of the _Arato_, but he +felt no desire nor need to touch at it. In fact, the vicinity of Punta +Arenas seemed of no importance whatever, until Shirley came to him and +reported that the man Garta was nowhere to be found. Captain Horn +immediately ordered a search and inquiry to be made, but no traces of the +prisoner could be discovered, nor could anybody tell anything about him. +Burke and Inkspot had been on watch with him from four to eight, but they +could give no information whatever concerning him. No splash nor cries +for help had been heard, so that he could not have fallen overboard, and +it was generally believed that, when he knew himself to be in the +vicinity of a settlement, he had quietly slipped into the water and had +swum for Punta Arenas. Burke suggested that most likely he had formerly +been a resident of the place, and liked it better than being taken off +to unknown regions in the schooner. And Shirley considered this very +probable, for he said the man had always looked like a convict to him. + +At all events, Garta was gone, and there was no one to say how long he +had been gone. So, under full sail, the _Arato_ went on her way. It was a +relief to get rid of the prisoner, and the only harm which could come of +his disappearance was that he might report that his ship had been stolen +by the men who were sailing her, and that some sort of a vessel might be +sent in pursuit of the _Arato_, and, if this should be the case, the +situation would be awkward. But days passed on, the schooner sailed out +of the Straits, and no vessel was seen pursuing her. + +To the northeast Captain Horn set his course. He would not stop at Rio +Janeiro, for the _Arato_ had no papers for that port. He would not lie to +off Stanley harbor, for he had now nobody to send ashore. But he would +sail boldly for France, where he would make no pretensions that his +auriferous cargo was merely ballast. He was known at Marseilles. He had +business relations with bankers in Paris. He was a Californian and an +American citizen, and he would merely be bringing to France a vessel +freighted with gold, which, by the aid of his financial advisers, would +be legitimately cared for and disposed of. + +One night, before the _Arato_ reached the Falkland Islands, Maka, who was +on watch, heard a queer sound in the forecastle, and looking down the +companionway, he saw, by the dim light of the swinging lantern, a man +with a hatchet, endeavoring to force the blade of it into the side of the +vessel. Maka quickly perceived that the man was Inkspot, and as he could +not imagine what he was doing, he quietly watched him. Inkspot worked +with as little noise as possible, but he was evidently bent upon forcing +off one of the boards on the side of the forecastle. At first Maka +thought that his fellow-African was trying to sink the ship by opening a +seam, but he soon realized that this notion was absurd, and so he let +Inkspot go on, being very curious to know what he was doing. In a few +minutes he knew. With a slight noise, not enough to waken a sound +sleeper, a little door flew open, and almost immediately Inkspot held a +bottle in his hand. + +Maka slipped swiftly and softly to the side of the big negro, but he was +not quick enough. Inkspot had the neck of the bottle in his mouth and the +bottom raised high in the air. But, before Maka could seize him by the +arm, the bottle had come down from its elevated position, and a doleful +expression crept over the face of Inkspot. There had been scarcely a +teaspoonful of liquor left in the bottle. Inkspot looked at Maka, and +Maka looked at him. In an African whisper, the former now ordered the +disappointed negro to put the bottle back, to shut up the locker, and +then to get into his hammock and go to sleep as quickly as he could, for +if Mr. Shirley, who was on watch on deck, found out what he had been +doing, Inkspot would wish he had never been born. + +The next day, when they had an opportunity for an African conversation, +Inkspot assured his countryman that he had discovered the little locker +by smelling the whiskey through the boards, and that, having no key, he +had determined to force it open with a hatchet. Maka could not help +thinking that Inkspot had a wonderful nose for an empty bottle, and +could scarcely restrain from a shudder at the thought of what might +have happened had the bottle been full. But he did not report the +occurrence. Inkspot was a fellow-African, and he had barely escaped +punishment for his former misdeed. It would be better to keep his mouth +shut, and he did. + +Against the north winds, before the south winds, and on the winds from +the east and the west, through fair weather and through foul, the _Arato_ +sailed up the South Atlantic. It was a long, long voyage, but the +schooner was skilfully navigated and sailed well. Sometimes she sighted +great merchant-steamers plying between Europe and South America, +freighted with rich cargoes, and proudly steaming away from the little +schooner, whose dark-green hull could scarcely be distinguished from the +color of the waves. And why should not the captain of this humble little +vessel sometimes have said to himself, as he passed a big three-master or +a steamer: + +"What would they think if they knew that, if I chose to do it, I could +buy every ship, and its cargo, that I shall meet between here and +Gibraltar!" + +"Captain," said Shirley, one day, "what do you think about the right and +wrong of this?" + +"What do you mean?" asked Captain Horn. + +"I mean," replied Shirley, "taking away the gold we have on board. We've +had pretty easy times lately, and I've been doing a good deal of +thinking, and sometimes I have wondered where we got the right to clap +all this treasure into bags and sail away with it." + +"So you have stopped thinking the bags are all filled with anthracite +coal," said the captain. + +"Yes," said the other. "We are getting on toward the end of this voyage, +and it is about time to give up that fancy. I always imagine, when I am +near the end of a voyage, what I am going to do when I go ashore, and if +I have any real right to some of the gold down under our decks, I shall +do something very different from anything I ever did before." + +"I hope you don't mean going on a spree," said Burke, who was standing +near. "That would be something entirely different." + +"I thought," said the captain, "that you both understood this business, +but I don't mind going over it again. There is no doubt in my mind that +this gold originally belonged to the Incas, who then owned Peru, and they +put it into that mound to keep it from the Spaniards, whose descendants +now own Peru, and who rule it without much regard to the descendants of +the ancient Peruvians. Now, when I discovered the gold, and began to have +an idea of how valuable the find was, I knew that the first thing to do +was to get it out of that place and away from the country. Whatever is to +be done in the way of fair play and fair division must be done somewhere +else, and not there. If I had informed the government of what I had +found, this gold would have gone directly into the hands of the +descendants of the people from whom its original owners did their very +best to keep it, and nobody else would have had a dollar's worth of it. +If we had stood up for our rights to a reward for finding it, ten to one +we would all have been clapped into prison." + +"I suppose by that," said Burke, "that you looked upon the stone mound in +the cave as a sort of will left by those old Peruvians, and you made +yourself an executor to carry out the intentions of the testators, as +the lawyers say." + +"But we can set it down as dead certain," interrupted Shirley, "that the +testators didn't mean us to have it." + +"No," said the captain, "nor do I mean that we shall have all of it. I +intend to have the question of the ownership of this gold decided by +people who are able and competent to decide such a question, and who will +be fair and honest to all parties. But whatever is agreed upon, and +whatever is done with the treasure, I intend to charge a good price--a +price which shall bear a handsome proportion to the value of the +gold--for my services, and all our services. Some of this charge I have +already taken, and I intend to have a great deal more. We have worked +hard and risked much to get this treasure--" + +"Yes," thought Burke, as he remembered the trap at the bottom of the +mound. "You risked a great deal more than you ever supposed you did." + +"And we are bound to be well paid for it," continued the captain. "No +matter where this gold goes, I shall have a good share of it, and this I +am going to divide among our party, according to a fair scale. How does +that strike you, Shirley?" + +"If the business is going to be conducted as you say, captain," replied +the first mate, "I say it will be all fair and square, and I needn't +bother my head with any more doubts about it. But there is one thing I +wish you would tell me: how much do you think I will be likely to get out +of this cargo, when you divide?" + +"Mr. Shirley," said the captain, "when I give you your share of this +cargo, you can have about four bags of anthracite coal, weighing a little +over one hundred pounds, which, at the rate of six dollars a ton, would +bring you between thirty and forty cents. Will that satisfy you? Of +course, this is only a rough guess at a division, but I want to see how +it falls in with your ideas." + +Shirley laughed. "I guess you're right, captain," said he. "It will be +better for me to keep on thinking we are carrying coal. That won't +bother my head." + +"That's so," said Burke. "Your brain can't stand that sort of badger. I'd +hate to go ashore with you at Marseilles with your pocket full and your +skull empty. As for me, I can stand it first-rate. I have already built +two houses on Cape Cod,--in my head, of course,--and I'll be hanged if I +know which one I am going to live in and which one I am going to put my +mother in." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +MOK AS A VOCALIST + + +It would have been very comfortable to the mind of Edna, during her +waiting days in Paris, had she known there was a letter to her from +Captain Horn, in a cottage in the town of Sidmouth, on the south coast of +Devonshire. Had she known this, she would have chartered French trains, +Channel steamers, English trains, flies, anything and everything which +would have taken her the quickest to the little town of Sidmouth. Had she +known that he had written to her the first chance he had had, all her +doubts and perplexities would have vanished in an instant. Had she read +the letter, she might have been pained to find that it was not such a +letter as she would wish to have, and she might have grieved that it +might still be a long time before she could expect to hear from him +again, or to see him, but she would have waited--have waited patiently, +without any doubts or perplexities. + +This letter, with a silver coin,--much more than enough to pay any +possible postage,--had been handed by Shirley to the first mate of the +British steamer, in the harbor of Valparaiso, and that officer had given +it to a seaman, who was going on shore, with directions to take it to +the post-office, and pay for the postage out of the silver coin, and +whatever change there might be, he should keep it for his trouble. On the +way to the post-office, this sailor stopped to refresh himself, and +meeting with a fellow-mariner in the place of refreshment, he refreshed +him also. And by the time the two had refreshed themselves to their +satisfaction, there was not much left of the silver coin--not enough to +pay the necessary postage to France. + +"But," said the seaman to himself, "it doesn't matter a bit. We are bound +for Liverpool, and I'll take the letter there myself, and then I'll send +it over to Paris for tuppence ha'penny, which I will have then, and +haven't now. And I bet another tuppence that it will go sooner than if I +posted it here, for it may be a month before a mail-steamer leaves the +other side of this beastly continent. Anyway, I'm doing the best I can." + +He put the letter in the pocket of his pea-jacket, and the bottom of that +pocket being ripped, the letter went down between the outside cloth and +the lining of the pea-jacket to the very bottom of the garment, where it +remained until the aforesaid seaman had reached England, and had gone +down to see his family, who lived in the cottage in Sidmouth. And there +he had hung up his pea-jacket on a nail, in a little room next to the +kitchen, and there his mother had found it, and sewed on two buttons, and +sewed up the rips in the bottoms of two pockets. Shortly after this, the +sailor, happening to pass a post-office box, remembered the letter he had +brought to England. He went to his pea-jacket and searched it, but could +find no letter. He must have lost it--he hoped after he had reached +England, and no doubt whoever found it would put a tuppence ha'penny +stamp on it and stick it into a box. Anyway, he had done all he could. + +One pleasant spring evening, the negro Mok sat behind a table in the +well-known beer-shop called the "Black Cat." He had before him a +half-emptied beer-glass, and in front of him was a pile of three small +white dishes. These signified that Mok had had three glasses of beer, and +when he should finish the one in his hand, and should order another, the +waiter would bring with it another little white plate, which he would put +on the table, on the pile already there, and which would signify that the +African gentleman must pay for four glasses of beer. + +Mok was enjoying himself very much. It was not often that he had such an +opportunity to sample the delights of Paris. His young master, Ralph, had +given him strict orders never to go out at night, or in his leisure +hours, unless accompanied by Cheditafa. The latter was an extremely +important and sedate personage. The combined dignity of a butler and a +clergyman were more than ever evident in his person, and he was a painful +drawback to the more volatile Mok. Mok had very fine clothes, which it +rejoiced him to display. He had a fine appetite for everything fit to eat +and drink. He had money in his pockets, and it delighted him to see +people and to see things, although he might not know who they were or +what they were. He knew nothing of French, and his power of expressing +himself in English had not progressed very far. But on this evening, in +the jolly precincts of the Black Cat, he did not care whether the people +used language or not. He did not care what they did, so that he could +sit there and enjoy himself. When he wanted more beer, the waiter +understood him, and that was enough. + +The jet-black negro, gorgeously arrayed in the livery Ralph had chosen +for him, and with his teeth and eyeballs whiter than the pile of plates +before him, was an object of great interest to the company in the +beer-shop. They talked to him, and although he did not understand them, +or answer them, they knew he was enjoying himself. And when the landlord +rang a big bell, and a pale young man, wearing a high hat, and sitting at +a table opposite him, threw into his face an expression of exalted +melancholy, and sang a high-pitched song, Mok showed how he appreciated +the performance by thumping more vigorously on the table than any of the +other people who applauded the singer. + +Again and again the big bell was rung, and there were other songs and +choruses, and then the company turned toward Mok and called on him to +sing. He did not understand them, but he laughed and pounded his fist +upon the table. But when the landlord came down to his table, and rang +the bell in front of him, that sent an informing idea into the African +head. He had noticed that every time the bell had been rung, somebody had +sung, and now he knew what was wanted of him. He had had four glasses of +beer, and he was an obliging fellow, so he nodded his head violently, and +everybody stopped doing what they had been doing, and prepared to listen. + +Mok's repertoire of songs could not be expected to be large. In fact, he +only knew one musical composition, and that was an African hymn which +Cheditafa had taught him. This he now proceeded to execute. He threw +back his head, as some of the others had done, and emitted a succession +of grunts, groans, yelps, barks, squeaks, yells, and rattles which +utterly electrified the audience. Then, as if his breath filled his whole +body, and quivering and shaking like an angry squirrel when it chatters +and barks, Mok sang louder and more wildly, until the audience, unable to +restrain themselves, burst into laughter, and applauded with canes, +sticks, and fists. But Mok kept on. He had never imagined he could sing +so well. There was only one person in that brasserie who did not applaud +the African hymn, but no one paid so much attention to it as this man, +who had entered the Black Cat just as Mok had begun. + +He was a person of medium size, with a heavy mustache, and a face +darkened by a beard of several days' growth. He was rather roughly +dressed, and wore a soft felt hat. He was a Rackbird. + +This man had formerly belonged to the band of desperadoes which had been +swept away by a sudden flood on the coast of Peru. He had accompanied his +comrades on the last marauding expedition previous to that remarkable +accident, but he had not returned with them. He had devised a little +scheme of his own, which had detained him longer than he had expected, +and he was not ready to go back with them. It would have been difficult +for him to reach the camp by himself, and, after what he had done, he did +not very much desire to go, there as he would probably have been shot as +a deserter; for Captain Raminez was a savage fellow, and more than +willing to punish transgressions against his orders. This deserter, +Banker by name, was an American, who had been a gold-digger, a gambler, +a rough, and a dead shot in California, and he was very well able to take +care of himself in any part of the world. + +He had made his way up to Panama, and had stayed there as long as it was +safe for him to do so, and had eventually reached Paris. He did not like +this city half so well as he liked London, but in the latter city he +happened to be wanted, and he was not wanted in Paris. It was generally +the case that he stayed where he was not wanted. + +Of course, Banker knew nothing of the destruction of his band, and the +fact that he had not heard from them since he left them gave him not the +slightest regret. But what did astonish him beyond bounds was to sit at a +table in the Black Cat, in Paris, and see before him, dressed like the +valet of a Spanish grandee, a coal-black negro who had once been his +especial and particular slave and drudge, a fellow whom he had kicked and +beaten and sworn at, and whom he no doubt would have shot had he stayed +much longer with his lawless companions, the Rackbirds. There was no +mistaking this black man. He well remembered his face, and even the tones +of his voice. He had never heard him sing, but he had heard him howl, and +it seemed almost impossible that he should meet him in Paris. And yet, he +was sure that the man who was bellowing and bawling to the delight of the +guests of the Black Cat was one of the African wretches who had been +entrapped and enslaved by the Rackbirds. + +But if Banker had been astonished by Mok, he was utterly amazed and +confounded when, some five minutes later, the door of the brasserie was +suddenly opened, and another of the slaves of the Rackbirds, with whose +face he was also perfectly familiar, hurriedly entered. + +Cheditafa, who had been sent on an errand that evening, had missed Mok +on his return. Ralph was away in Brussels with the professor, so that +his valet, having most of his time on his hands, had thought to take a +holiday during Cheditafa's absence, and had slipped off to the Black +Cat, whose pleasures he had surreptitiously enjoyed before, but never to +such an extent as on this occasion. Cheditafa knew he had been there, +and when he started out to look for him, it was to the Black Cat that he +went first. + +Before he had quite reached the door, Cheditafa had been shocked and +angered to hear his favorite hymn sung in a beer-shop by that reprobate +and incompetent Mok, and he had rushed in, and in a minute seized the +blatant vocalist by the collar, and ordered him instantly to shut his +mouth and pay his reckoning. Then, in spite of the shouts of +disapprobation which arose on every side, he led away the negro as if he +had been a captured dog with his tail between his legs. + +Mok could easily have thrown Cheditafa across the street, but his respect +and reverence for his elder and superior were so great that he obeyed his +commands without a word of remonstrance. + +Now up sprang Banker, who was in such a hurry to go that he forgot to pay +for his beer, and when he performed this duty, after having been abruptly +reminded of it by a waiter, he was almost too late to follow the two +black men, but not quite too late. He was an adept in the tracking of +his fellow-beings, and it was not long before he was quietly following +Mok and Cheditafa, keeping at some distance behind them, but never +allowing them to get out of his sight. + +In the course of a moderate walk he saw them enter the Hotel Grenade. +This satisfied the wandering Rackbird. If the negroes went into that +hotel at that time of night, they must live there, and he could suspend +operations until morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +MR. BANKER'S SPECULATION + + +That night Banker was greatly disturbed by surmises and conjectures +concerning the presence of the two negroes in the French capital. He knew +Cheditafa quite as well as he knew Mok, and it was impossible that he +should be mistaken. It is seldom that any one sees a native African in +Paris, and he was positive that the men he had seen, dressed in expensive +garments, enjoying themselves like gentlemen of leisure, and living at a +grand hotel, were the same negroes he had last seen in rags and shreds, +lodged in a cave in the side of a precipice, toiling and shuddering under +the commands of a set of desperadoes on a desert coast in South America. +There was only one way in which he could explain matters, and that was +that the band had had some great success, and that one or more of its +members had come to Paris, and had brought the two negroes with them as +servants. But of one thing he had no doubts, and that was that he would +follow up the case. He had met with no successes of late, but if any of +his former comrades had, he wanted to meet those dear old friends. In +Paris he was not afraid of anything they might say about his desertion. + +Very early in the morning Banker was in front of the Hotel Grenade. He +did not loiter there; he did not wander up and down like a vagrant, or +stand about like a spy. It was part of his business to be able to be +present in various places almost at the same time, and not to attract +notice in any of them. It was not until after ten o'clock that he saw +anything worthy of his observation, and then a carriage drove up to the +front entrance, and on the seat beside the driver sat Cheditafa, erect, +solemn, and respectable. Presently the negro got down and opened the door +of the carriage. In a few moments a lady, a beautiful lady, handsomely +dressed, came out of the hotel and entered the carriage. Then Cheditafa +shut the door and got up beside the driver again. It was a fine thing to +have such a footman as this one, so utterly different from the ordinary +groom or footman, so extremely _distingué_! + +As the carriage rolled off, Banker walked after it, but not in such a way +as to attract attention, and then he entered a cab and told the _cocher_ +to drive to the Bon Marché. Of course, he did not know where the lady was +going to, but at present she was driving in the direction of that +celebrated mart, and he kept his eye upon her carriage, and if she had +turned out of the Boulevard and away from the Seine, he would have +ordered his driver to turn also and go somewhere else. He did not dare to +tell the man to follow the carriage. He was shaved, and his clothes had +been put in as good order as possible, but he knew that he did not look +like a man respectable enough to give such an order without exciting +suspicion. + +But the carriage did go to the Bon Marché, and there also went the cab, +the two vehicles arriving at almost the same time. Banker paid his fare +with great promptness, and was on the pavement in time to see the +handsomely dressed lady descend and enter the establishment. As she went +in, he took one look at the back of her bonnet. It had a little green +feather in it. Then he turned quickly upon Cheditafa, who had shut the +carriage door and was going around behind it in order to get up on the +other side. + +"Look here," whispered Banker, seizing the clerical butler by the +shoulder, "who is that lady? Quick, or I'll put a knife in you." + +At these words Cheditafa's heart almost stopped beating, and as he +quickly turned he saw that he looked into the face of a man, an awfully +wicked man, who had once helped to grind the soul out of him, in that +dreadful cave by the sea. The poor negro was so frightened that he +scarcely knew whether he was in Paris or Peru. + +"Who is she?" whispered again the dreadful Rackbird. + +"Come, come!" shouted the coachman from his seat, "we must move on." + +"Quick! Who is she?" hissed Banker. + +"She?" replied the quaking negro. "She is the captain's wife. She is--" +But he could say no more, for a policeman was ordering the carriage to +move on, for it stopped the way, and the coachman was calling +impatiently. Banker could not afford to meet a policeman. He released his +hold on Cheditafa and retired unnoticed. An instant afterward he entered +the Bon Marché. + +Cheditafa climbed up to the side of the driver, but he missed his +foothold several times, and came near falling to the ground. In all Paris +there was no footman on a carriage who looked less upright, less sedate, +and less respectable than this poor, frightened black man. + +Through the corridors and passageways of the vast establishment went +Banker. But he did not have to go far. He saw at a counter a little green +feather in the back of a bonnet. Quietly he approached that counter, and +no sooner had the attendant turned aside to get something that had been +asked for than Banker stepped close to the side of the lady, and leaning +forward, said in a very low but polite voice: + +"I am so glad to find the captain's wife. I have been looking for her." + +He was almost certain, from her appearance, that she was an American, and +so he spoke in English. + +Edna turned with a start. She saw beside her a man with his hat off, a +rough-looking man, but a polite one, and a man who looked like a sailor. + +"The captain!" she stammered. "Have you--do you bring me anything! +A letter?" + +"Yes, madam," said he. "I have a letter and a message for you." + +"Give them to me quickly!" said she, her face burning. + +"I cannot," he said. "I cannot give them to you here. I have much to say +to you, and much to tell you, and I was ordered to say it in private." + +Edna was astounded. Her heart sank. Captain Horn must be in trouble, else +why such secrecy? But she must know everything, and quickly. Where could +she meet the man? He divined her thought. + +"The Gardens of the Tuileries," said he. "Go there now, please. I will +meet you, no matter in what part of it you are." And so saying, he +slipped away unnoticed. + +When the salesman came to her, Edna did not remember what she had asked +to see, but whatever he brought she did not want, and going out, she had +her carriage called, and ordered her coachman to take her to the Gardens +of the Tuileries. She was so excited that she did not wait for Cheditafa +to get down, but opened the door herself, and stepped in quickly, even +before the porter of the establishment could attend to her. + +When she reached the Gardens, and Cheditafa opened the carriage door for +her, she thought he must have a fit of chills and fever. But she had no +time to consider this, and merely told him that she was going to walk in +the Gardens, and the carriage must wait. + +It was some time before Edna met the man with whom she had made this +appointment. He had seen her alight, and although he did not lose sight +of her, he kept away from her, and let her walk on until she was entirely +out of sight of the carriage. As soon as Edna perceived Banker, she +walked directly toward him. She had endeavored to calm herself, but he +could see that she was much agitated. + +"How in the devil's name," he thought to himself, "did Raminez ever come +to marry such a woman as this? She's fit for a queen. But they say he +used to be a great swell in Spain before he got into trouble, and I +expect he's put on his old airs again, and an American lady will marry +anybody that's a foreign swell. And how neatly she played into my hand! +She let me know right away that she wanted a letter, which means, of +course, that Raminez is not with her." + +"Give me the letter, if you please," said Edna. + +"Madam," said Banker, with a bow, "I told you I had a letter and a +message. I must deliver the message first." + +"Then be quick with it," said she. + +"I will," said Banker. "Our captain has had great success lately, you +know, but he is obliged to keep a little in the background for the +present, as you will see by your letter, and as it is a very particular +letter, indeed, he ordered me to bring it to you." + +Edna's heart sank. "What has happened?" said she. "Why--" + +"Oh, you will find all that in the letter," said Banker. "The captain has +written out everything, full and clear. He told me so himself. But I must +get through with my message. It is not from him. It is from me. As I just +said, he ordered me to bring you this letter, and it was a hard thing to +do, and a risky thing to do. But I undertook the job of giving it to you, +in private, without anybody's knowing you had received it." + +"What!" exclaimed Edna. "Nobody to know!" + +"Oh, that is all explained," said he, hurriedly. "I can't touch on that. +My affair is this: The captain sent me with the letter, and I have been +to a lot of trouble to get it to you. Now, he is not going to pay me for +all this,--if he thanks me, it will be more than I expect,--and I am +going to be perfectly open and honest with you, and say that as the +captain won't pay me, I expect you to do it; or, putting it in another +way, before I hand you the letter I brought you, I want you to make me a +handsome present." + +"You rascal!" exclaimed Edna. "How dare you impose on me in this way?" + +It humiliated and mortified her to think that the captain was obliged to +resort to such a messenger as this. But all sorts of men become sailors, +and although her pride revolted against the attempted imposition, the man +had a letter written to her by Captain Horn, and she must have it. + +"How much do you want?" said she. + +"I don't mind your calling me names," said Banker. "The captain has made +a grand stroke, you know, and everything about you is very fine, while I +haven't three francs to jingle together. I want one thousand dollars." + +"Five thousand francs!" exclaimed Edna. "Absurd! I have not that much +money with me. I haven't but a hundred francs, but that ought to +satisfy you." + +"Oh, no," said Banker, "not at all. But don't trouble yourself. You have +not the money, and I have not the letter. The letter is in my lodgings. I +was not fool enough to bring it with me, and have you call a policeman to +arrest me, and take it for nothing. But if you will be here in two hours, +with five thousand francs, and will promise me, upon your honor, that you +will bring no one with you, and will not call the police as soon as you +have the letter, I will be here with it." + +"Yes," said Edna, "I promise." + +She felt humbled and ashamed as she said it, but there was nothing +else to do. In spite of her feelings, in spite of the cost, she must +have the letter. + +"Very good," said Banker, and he departed. + +Banker had no lodgings in particular, but he went to a brasserie and +procured writing materials. He had some letters in his pocket,--old, +dirty letters which had been there for a long time,--and one of them was +from Raminez, which had been written when they were both in California, +and which Banker had kept because it contained an unguarded reference to +Raminez's family in Spain, and Banker had thought that the information +might some day be useful to him. He was a good penman, this +Rackbird,--he was clever in many ways,--and he could imitate handwriting +very well, and he set himself to work to address an envelope in the +handwriting of Raminez. + +For some time he debated within himself as to what title he should use in +addressing the lady. Should it be "Señora" or "Madame"? He inclined to +the first appellation, but afterwards thought that as the letter was to +go to her in France, and that as most likely she understood French, and +not Spanish, Raminez would probably address her in the former language, +and therefore he addressed the envelope to "Madame Raminez, by private +hand." As to the writing of a letter he did not trouble himself at all. +He simply folded up two sheets of paper and put them in the envelope, +sealing it tightly. Now he was prepared, and after waiting until the +proper time had arrived he proceeded to the Gardens. + +Edna drove to her hotel in great agitation. She was angry, she was +astounded, she was almost frightened. What could have happened to +Captain Horn? + +But two things encouraged and invigorated her: he was alive, and he had +written to her. That was everything, and she would banish all +speculations and fears until she had read his letter, and, until she had +read it, she must keep the matter a secret--she must not let anybody +imagine that she had heard anything, or was about to hear anything. By +good fortune, she had five thousand francs in hand, and, with these in +her pocket-book, she ordered her carriage half an hour before the time +appointed. + +When Cheditafa heard the order, he was beset by a new consternation. He +had been greatly troubled when his mistress had gone to the Gardens the +first time--not because there was anything strange in that, for any lady +might like to walk in such a beautiful place, but because she was alone, +and, with a Rackbird in Paris, his lady ought never to be alone. She had +come out safely, and he had breathed again, and now, now she wanted to go +back! He must tell her about that Rackbird man. He had been thinking and +thinking about telling her all the way back to the hotel, but he had +feared to frighten her, and he had also been afraid to say that he had +done what he had been ordered not to do, and had told some one that she +was the captain's wife. But when he had reached the Gardens, he felt that +he must say something--she must not walk about alone. Accordingly, as +Edna stepped out of the carriage, he began to speak to her, but, contrary +to her usual custom, she paid no attention to him, simply telling him to +wait until she came back. + +Edna was obliged to wander about for some time before Banker appeared. + +"Now, then, madam," said he, "don't let us waste any time on this +business. Have you the money with you?" + +"I have," said she. "But before I give it to you, I tell you that I do so +under protest, and that this conduct of yours shall be reported. I +consider it a most shameful thing, and I do not willingly pay you for +what, no doubt, you have been sufficiently paid before." + +"That's all very well," said Banker. "I don't mind a bit what you say to +me. I don't mind your being angry--in fact, I think you ought to be. In +your place, I would be angry. But if you will hand me the money--" + +"Silence!" exclaimed Edna. "Not another word. Where is my letter?" + +"Here it is," said Banker, drawing the letter he had prepared from his +pocket, and holding it in such a position that she could read the +address. "You see, it is marked, 'by private hand,' and this is the +private hand that has brought it to you. Now, if you will count out the +money, and will hand it to me, I will give you the letter. That is +perfectly fair, isn't it?" + +Edna leaned forward and looked at it. When she saw the superscription, +she was astonished, and stepped back. + +"What do you mean?" she exclaimed, and was about to angrily assert that +she was not Madame Raminez, when Banker interrupted her. The sight of her +pocket-book within two feet of his hands threw him into a state of +avaricious excitement. + +"I want you to give me that money, and take your letter!" he said +savagely. "I can't stand here fooling." + +[Illustration: "I want you to give me that money, and take your letter!" +he said savagely.] + +Edna firmly gripped her pocket-book, and was about to scream, but there +was no occasion for it. It had been simply impossible for Cheditafa to +remain on the carriage and let her go into the Gardens alone; he had +followed her, and, behind some bushes, he had witnessed the interview +between her and Banker. He saw that the man was speaking roughly to her +and threatening her. Instantly he rushed toward the two, and at the very +top of his voice he yelled: + +"Rackbird! Rackbird! Police!" + +Startled out of her senses, Edna stepped back, while Banker turned in +fury toward the negro, and clapped his hand to his hip pocket. But +Cheditafa's cries had been heard, and down the broad avenue Banker saw +two gendarmes running toward him. It would not do to wait here and +meet them. + +"You devil!" he cried, turning to Cheditafa, "I'll have your blood before +you know it. As for you, madam, you have broken your word! I'll be even +with you!" And, with this, he dashed away. + +When the gendarmes reached the spot, they waited to ask no questions, but +immediately pursued the flying Banker. Cheditafa was about to join in the +chase, but Edna stopped him. + +"Come to the carriage--quick!" she said. "I do not wish to stay here and +talk to those policemen." Hurrying out of the Gardens, she drove away. + +The ex-Rackbird was a very hard man to catch. He had had so much +experience in avoiding arrest that his skill in that direction was +generally more than equal to the skill, in the opposite direction, of the +ordinary detective. A good many people and two other gendarmes joined in +the chase after the man in the slouch-hat, who had disappeared like a +mouse or a hare around some shrubbery. It was not long before the +pursuers were joined by a man in a white cap, who asked several questions +as to what they were running after, but he did not seem to take a +sustained interest in the matter, and soon dropped out and went about his +business. He did not take his slouch-hat out of his pocket, for he +thought it would be better to continue to wear his white cap for a time. + +When the police were obliged to give up the pursuit, they went back to +the Gardens to talk to the lady and her servant who, in such strange +words, had called to them, but they were not there. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +MENTAL TURMOILS + + +Edna went home faint, trembling, and her head in a whirl. When she had +heard Cheditafa shout "Rackbird," the thought flashed into her mind that +the captain had been captured in the caves by some of these brigands who +had not been destroyed, that this was the cause of his silence, and that +he had written to her for help. But she considered that the letter could +not be meant for her, for under no circumstance would he have written to +her as Madame Raminez--a name of which she had never heard. This thought +gave her a little comfort, but not much. As soon as she reached the +hotel, she had a private talk with Cheditafa, and what the negro told her +reassured her greatly. + +He did not make a very consecutive tale, but he omitted nothing. He told +her of his meeting with the Rackbird in front of the Bon Marché, and he +related every word of their short conversation. He accounted for this +Rackbird's existence by saying that he had not been at the camp when the +water came down. In answer to a question from Edna, he said that the +captain of the band was named Raminez, and that he had known him by that +name when he first saw him in Panama, though in the Rackbirds' camp he +was called nothing but "the captain." + +"And you only told him I was the captain's wife?" asked Edna. "You didn't +say I was Captain Horn's wife?" + +Cheditafa tried his best to recollect, and he felt very sure that he had +simply said she was the captain's wife. + +When his examination was finished, Cheditafa burst into an earnest +appeal to his mistress not to go out again alone while she stayed in +Paris. He said that this Rackbird was an awfully wicked man, and that he +would kill all of them if he could. If the police caught him, he wanted +to go and tell them what a bad man he was. He did not believe the police +had caught him. This man could run like a wild hare, and policemen's +legs were so stiff. + +Edna assured him that she would take good care of herself, and, after +enjoining upon him not to say a word to any one of what had happened +until she told him to, she sent him away. + +When Edna sat in council with herself upon the events of the morning, she +was able to make some very fair conjectures as to what had happened. The +scoundrel she met had supposed her to be the wife of the Rackbirds' +captain. Having seen and recognized Cheditafa, it was natural enough for +him to suppose that the negro had been brought to Paris by some of the +band. All this seemed to be good reasoning, and she insisted to herself +over and over again that she was quite sure that Captain Horn had nothing +to do with the letter which the man had been intending to give her. + +That assurance relieved her of one great trouble, but there were others +left. Here was a member of a band of bloody ruffians,--and perhaps he had +companions,--who had sworn vengeance against her and her faithful +servant, and Cheditafa's account of this man convinced her that he would +be ready enough to carry out such vengeance. She scarcely believed that +the police had caught him. For she had seen how he could run, and he had +the start of them. But even if they had, on what charge would he be held? +He ought to be confined or deported, but she did not wish to institute +proceedings and give evidence. She did not know what might be asked, or +said, or done, if she deposed that the man was a member of the Rackbird +band, and brought Cheditafa as a witness. + +In all this trouble and perplexity she had no one to whom she could turn +for advice and assistance. If she told Mrs. Cliff there was a Rackbird in +Paris, and that he had been making threats, she was sure that good lady +would fly to her home in Plainton, Maine, where she would have iron bars +put to all the windows, and double locks to her doors. + +In this great anxiety and terror--for, although Edna was a brave woman, +it terrified her to think that a wild and reckless villain, purple with +rage, had shaken his fist at her, and vowed he would kill Cheditafa--she +could not think of a soul she could trust. + +Her brother, fortunately, was still in Belgium with his +tutor--fortunately, she thought, because, if he knew of the affair, he +would be certain to plunge himself into danger. And to whom could she +apply for help without telling too much of her story? + +Mrs. Cliff felt there was something in the air. "You seem queer," said +she. "You seem unusually excited and ready to laugh. It isn't natural. +And Cheditafa looks very ashy. I saw him just a moment ago, and it seems +to me a dose of quinine would do him good. It may be that it is a sort of +spring fever which is affecting people, and I am not sure but that +something of the kind is the matter with me. At any rate, there is that +feeling in my spine and bones which I always have when things are about +to happen, or when there is malaria in the air." + +Edna felt she must endeavor in all possible ways to prevent Mrs. Cliff +from finding out that the curses of a wicked Rackbird were in the air, +but she herself shuddered when she thought that one or more of the cruel +desperadoes, whose coming they had dreaded and waited for through that +fearful night in the caves of Peru, were now to be dreaded and feared in +the metropolis of France. If Edna shuddered at this, what would Mrs. +Cliff do if she knew it? + +As for the man with the white cap, who had walked slowly away about his +business that morning when he grew tired of following the gendarmes, he +was in a terrible state of mind. He silently raged and stormed and +gnashed his teeth, and swore under his breath most awfully and +continuously. Never had he known such cursed luck. One thousand dollars +had been within two feet of his hand! He knew that the lady had that sum +in her pocket-book. He was sure she spoke truthfully. Her very +denunciation of him was a proof that she had not meant to deceive him. +She hesitated a moment, but she would have given him the money. In a few +seconds more he would have made her take the letter and give him the +price she promised. But in those few seconds that Gehenna-born baboon +had rushed in and spoiled everything. He was not enraged against the +lady, but he was enraged against himself because he had not snatched the +wallet before he ran, and he was infuriated to a degree which resembled +intoxication when he thought of Cheditafa and what he had done. The more +he thought, the more convinced he became that the lady had not brought +the negro with her to spy on him. If she had intended to break her word, +she would have brought a gendarme, not that ape. + +No, the beastly blackamoor had done the business on his own account. He +had sneaked after the lady, and when he saw the gendarmes coming, he had +thought it a good chance to pay off old scores. + +"Pay off!" growled Banker, in a tone which made a shop-girl, who was +walking in front of him carrying a band-box, jump so violently that she +dropped the box. "Pay off! I'll pay him!" And for a quarter of a mile he +vowed that the present purpose of his life was the annihilation, the +bloody annihilation, of that vile dog, whom he had trampled into the dirt +of the Pacific coast, and who now, decked in fine clothes, had arisen in +Paris to balk him of his fortune. + +It cut Banker very deeply when he thought how neat and simple had been +the plan which had almost succeeded. He had had a notion, when he went +away to prepare the letter for the captain's wife, that he would write in +it a brief message which would mean nothing, but would make it necessary +for her to see him again and to pay him again. But he had abandoned this. +He might counterfeit an address, but it was wiser not to try his hand +upon a letter. The more he thought about Raminez, the less he desired to +run the risk of meeting him, even in Paris. So he considered that if he +made this one bold stroke and got five thousand francs, he would retire, +joyful and satisfied. But now! Well, he had a purpose: the annihilation +of Cheditafa was at present his chief object in life. + +Banker seldom stayed in one place more than a day at a time, and before +he went to a new lodging, that night, he threw away his slouch-hat, which +he had rammed into his pocket, for he would not want it again. He had his +hair cut short and his face neatly shaved, and when he went to his room, +he trimmed his mustache in such a way that it greatly altered the cast of +his countenance. He was not the penniless man he had represented himself +to be, who had not three francs to jingle together, for he was a billiard +sharper and gambler of much ability, and when he appeared in the street, +the next morning, he was neatly dressed in a suit of second-hand clothes +which were as quiet and respectable as any tourist of limited means could +have desired. With Baedeker's "Paris" in his hand, and with a long knife +and a slung-shot concealed in his clothes, he went forth to behold the +wonders of the great city. + +He did not seem to care very much whether he saw the sights by day or by +night, for from early morning until ten or eleven o'clock in the evening, +he was an energetic and interested wayfarer, confining his observations, +however, to certain quarters of the city which best suited his +investigations. One night he gawkily strolled into the Black Cat, and one +day he boldly entered the Hotel Grenade and made some inquiries of the +porter regarding the price of accommodations, which, however, he +declared were far above his means. That day he saw Mok in the courtyard, +and once, in passing, he saw Edna come out and enter her carriage with an +elderly lady, and they drove away, with Cheditafa on the box. + +Under his dark sack-coat Banker wore a coarse blouse, and in the pocket +of this undergarment he had a white cap. He was a wonderful man to move +quietly out of people's way, and there were places in every neighborhood +where, even in the daytime, he could cast off the dark coat and the derby +hat without attracting attention. + +It was satisfactory to think, as he briskly passed on, as one who has +much to see in a little time, that the incident in the Tuileries Gardens +had not yet caused the captain's wife to change her quarters. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +A PROBLEM + + +It was a little more than a week after Edna's adventure in the Gardens, +and about ten o'clock in the morning, that something happened--something +which proved that Mrs. Cliff was entirely right when she talked about the +feeling in her bones. Edna received a letter from Captain Horn, which was +dated at Marseilles. + +As she stood with the letter in her hand, every nerve tingling, every +vein throbbing, and every muscle as rigid as if it had been cast in +metal, she could scarcely comprehend that it had really come--that she +really held it. After all this waiting and hoping and trusting, here was +news from Captain Horn--news by his own hand, now, here, this minute! + +Presently she regained possession of herself, and, still standing, she +tore open the letter. It was a long one of several sheets, and she read +it twice. The first time, standing where she had received it, she skimmed +over page after page, running her eye from top to bottom until she had +reached the end and the signature, but her quick glance found not what +she looked for. Then the hand holding the letter dropped by her side. +After all this waiting and hoping and trusting, to receive such a +letter! It might have been written by a good friend, a true and generous +friend, but that was all. It was like the other letters he had written. +Why should they not have been written to Mrs. Cliff? + +Now she sat down to read it over again. She first looked at the envelope. +Yes, it was really directed to "Mrs. Philip Horn." That was something, +but it could not have been less. It had been brought by a messenger from +Wraxton, Fuguet & Co., and had been delivered to Mrs. Cliff. That lady +had told the messenger to take the letter to Edna's salon, and she was +now lying in her own chamber, in a state of actual ague. Of course, she +would not intrude upon Edna at such a moment as this. She would wait +until she was called. Whether her shivers were those of ecstasy, +apprehension, or that nervous tremulousness which would come to any one +who beholds an uprising from the grave, she did not know, but she surely +felt as if there were a ghost in the air. + +The second reading of the letter was careful and exact. The captain had +written a long account of what had happened after he had left Valparaiso. +His former letter, he wrote, had told her what had happened before that +time. He condensed everything as much as possible, but the letter was a +very long one. It told wonderful things--things which ought to have +interested any one. But to Edna it was as dry as a meal of stale crusts. +It supported her in her fidelity and allegiance as such a meal would have +supported a half-famished man, but that was all. Her soul could not live +on such nutriment as this. + +He had not begun the letter "My dear Wife," as he had done before. It +was not necessary now that his letters should be used as proof that she +was his widow! He had plunged instantly into the subject-matter, and had +signed it after the most friendly fashion. He was not even coming to her! +There was so much to do which must be done immediately, and could not be +done without him. He had telegraphed to his bankers, and one of the firm +and several clerks were already with him. There were great difficulties +yet before him, in which he needed the aid of financial counsellors and +those who had influence with the authorities. His vessel, the _Arato_, +had no papers, and he believed no cargo of such value had ever entered a +port of France as that contained in the little green-hulled schooner +which he had sailed into the harbor of Marseilles. This cargo must be +landed openly. It must be shipped to various financial centres, and what +was to be done required so much prudence, knowledge, and discretion that +without the aid of the house of Wraxton, Fuguet & Co., he believed his +difficulties would have been greater than when he stood behind the wall +of gold on the shore of the Patagonian island. + +He did not even ask her to come to him. In a day or so, he wrote, it +might be necessary for him to go to Berlin, and whether or not he would +travel to London from the German capital, he could not say, and for this +reason he could not invite any of them to come down to him. + +"Any of us!" exclaimed Edna. + +For more than an hour Mrs. Cliff lay in the state of palpitation which +pervaded her whole organization, waiting for Edna to call her. And at +last she could wait no longer, and rushed into the salon where Edna sat +alone, the letter in her hand. + +"What does he say?" she cried, "Is he well? Where is he? Did he get +the gold?" + +Edna looked at her for a moment without answering. "Yes," she said +presently, "he is well. He is in Marseilles. The gold--" And for a moment +she did not remember whether or not the captain had it. + +"Oh, do say something!" almost screamed Mrs. Cliff. "What is it? Shall I +read the letter? What does he say?" + +This recalled Edna to herself. "No," said she, "I will read it to you." +And she read it aloud, from beginning to end, carefully omitting those +passages which Mrs. Cliff would have been sure to think should have been +written in a manner in which they were not written. + +"Well!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, who, in alternate horror, pity, and +rapture, had listened, pale and open-mouthed, to the letter. "Captain +Horn is consistent to the end! Whatever happens, he keeps away from us! +But that will not be for long, and--oh, Edna!"--and, as she spoke, she +sprang from her chair and threw her arms around the neck of her +companion, "he's got the gold!" And, with this, the poor lady sank +insensible upon the floor. + +"The gold!" exclaimed Edna, before she even stooped toward her fainting +friend. "Of what importance is that wretched gold!" + +An hour afterwards Mrs. Cliff, having been restored to her usual +condition, came again into Edna's room, still pale and in a state of +excitement. + +"Now, I suppose," she exclaimed, "we can speak out plainly, and tell +everybody everything. And I believe that will be to me a greater delight +than any amount of money could possibly be." + +"Speak out!" cried Edna, "of course we cannot. We have no more right to +speak out now than we ever had. Captain Horn insisted that we should not +speak of these affairs until he came, and he has not yet come." + +"No, indeed!" said Mrs. Cliff, "that seems to be the one thing he cannot +do. He can do everything but come here. And are we to tell nobody that he +has arrived in France?--not even that much?" + +"I shall tell Ralph," replied Edna. "I shall write to him to come here as +soon as possible, but that is all until the captain arrives, and we know +everything that has been done, and is to be done. I don't wish any one, +except you and me and Ralph, even to know that I have heard from him." + +"Not Cheditafa? Not the professor? Nor any of your friends?" + +"Of course not," said Edna, a little impatiently. "Don't you see how +embarrassing, how impossible it would be for me to tell them anything, if +I did not tell them everything? And what is there for me to tell them? +When we have seen Captain Horn, we shall all know who we are, and what we +are, and then we can speak out to the world, and I am sure I shall be +glad enough to do it." + +"For my part," said Mrs. Cliff, "I think we all know who we are now. I +don't think anybody could tell us. And I think it would have been a great +deal better--" + +"No, it wouldn't!" exclaimed Edna. "Whatever you were going to say, I +know it wouldn't have been better. We could have done nothing but what we +have done. We had no right to speak of Captain Horn's affairs, and having +accepted his conditions, with everything else that he has given us, we +are bound to observe them until he removes them. So we shall not talk any +more about that." + +Poor Mrs. Cliff sighed. "So I must keep myself sealed and locked up, just +the same as ever?" + +"Yes," replied Edna, "the same as ever. But it cannot be for long. As +soon as the captain has made his arrangements, we shall hear from him, +and then everything will be told." + +"Made his arrangements!" repeated Mrs. Cliff. "That's another thing I +don't like. It seems to me that if everything were just as it ought to +be, there wouldn't be so many arrangements to make, and he wouldn't have +to be travelling to Berlin, and to London, and nobody knows where else. I +wonder if people are giving him any trouble about it! We have had all +sorts of troubles already, and now that the blessed end seems almost +under our fingers, I hope we are not going to have more of it." + +"Our troubles," said Edna, "are nothing. It is Captain Horn who +should talk in that way. I don't think that, since the day we left +San Francisco, anybody could have supposed that we were in any sort +of trouble." + +"I don't mean outside circumstances," said Mrs. Cliff. "But I suppose we +have all got souls and consciences inside of us, and when they don't know +what to do, of course we are bound to be troubled, especially as they +don't know what to tell us, and we don't know whether or not to mind +them when they do speak. But you needn't be afraid of me. I shall keep +quiet--that is, as long as I can. I can't promise forever." + +Edna wrote to Ralph, telling him of the captain's letter, and urging him +to come to Paris as soon as possible. It was scarcely necessary to speak +to him of secrecy, for the boy was wise beyond his years. She did speak +of it, however, but very circumspectly. She knew that her brother would +never admit that there was any reason for the soul-rending anxiety with +which she waited the captain's return. But whatever happened, or whatever +he might think about what should happen, she wanted Ralph with her. She +felt herself more truly alone than she had ever been in her life. + +During the two days which elapsed before Ralph reached Paris from +Brussels, Edna had plenty of time to think, and she did not lose any of +it. What Mrs. Cliff had said about people giving trouble, and about her +conscience, and all that, had touched her deeply. What Captain Horn had +said about the difficulties he had encountered on reaching Marseilles, +and what he had said about the cargo of the _Arato_ being probably more +valuable than any which had ever entered that port, seemed to put an +entirely new face upon the relations between her and the owner of this +vast wealth, if, indeed, he were able to establish that ownership. The +more she thought of this point, the more contemptible appeared her own +position--that is, the position she had assumed when she and the captain +stood together for the last time on the shore of Peru. If that gold truly +belonged to him, if he had really succeeded in his great enterprise, +what right had she to insist that he should accept her as a condition of +his safe arrival in a civilized land with this matchless prize, with no +other right than was given her by that very indefinite contract which had +been entered into, as she felt herself forced to believe, only for her +benefit in case he should not reach a civilized land alive? + +The disposition of this great wealth was evidently an anxiety and a +burden, but in her heart she believed that the greatest of his anxieties +was caused by his doubt in regard to the construction she might now place +upon that vague, weird ceremony on the desert coast of Peru. + +The existence of such a doubt was the only thing that could explain the +tone of his letters. He was a man of firmness and decision, and when he +had reached a conclusion, she knew he would state it frankly, without +hesitation. But she also knew that he was a man of a kind and tender +heart, and it was easy to understand how that disposition had influenced +his action. By no word or phrase, except such as were necessary to +legally protect her in the rights he wished to give her in case of his +death, had he written anything to indicate that he or she were not both +perfectly free to plan out the rest of their lives as best suited them. + +In a certain way, his kindness was cruelty. It threw too much upon her. +She believed that if she were to assume that a marriage ceremony +performed by a black man from the wilds of Africa, was as binding, at +least, as a solemn engagement, he would accept her construction and all +its consequences. She also believed that if she declared that ceremony +to be of no value whatever, now that the occasion had passed, he would +agree with that conclusion. Everything depended upon her. It was too +hard for her. + +To exist in this state of uncertainty was impossible for a woman of +Edna's organization. At any hour Captain Horn might appear. How should +she receive him? What had she to say to him? + +For the rest of that day and the whole of the night, her mind never left +this question: "What am I to say to him?" She had replied to his letter +by a telegram, and simply signed herself "Edna." It was easy enough to +telegraph anywhere, and even to write, without assuming any particular +position in regard to him. But when he came, she must know what to do and +what to say. She longed for Ralph's coming, but she knew he could not +help her. He would say but one thing--that which he had always said. In +fact, he would be no better than Mrs. Cliff. But he was her own flesh and +blood, and she longed for him. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +A MAN-CHIMPANZEE + + +Since the affair with the Rackbird, Cheditafa had done his duty more +earnestly than ever before. He said nothing to Mok about the Rackbird. He +had come to look upon his fellow-African as a very low creature, not much +better than a chimpanzee. During Ralph's absence Mok had fallen into all +sorts of irregular habits, going out without leave whenever he got a +chance, and disporting himself generally in a very careless and +unservant-like manner. + +On the evening that Ralph was expected from Brussels, Mok was missing. +Cheditafa could not find him in any of the places where he ought to +have been, so he must be out of doors somewhere, and Cheditafa went to +look for him. + +This was the first time that Cheditafa had gone into the streets alone at +night since the Rackbird incident in the Tuileries Gardens. As he was the +custodian of Mok, and responsible for him, he did not wish to lose sight +of him, especially on this evening. + +It so happened that when Cheditafa went out of the hotel, his +appearance was noticed by Mr. Banker. There was nothing remarkable +about this, for the evening was the time when the ex-Rackbird gave +the most attention to the people who came out of the hotel. When he +saw Cheditafa, his soul warmed within him. Here was the reward of +patience and steadfastness--everything comes to those who wait. + +A half-hour before, Banker had seen Mok leave the hotel and make his way +toward the Black Cat. He did not molest the rapidly walking negro. He +would not have disturbed him for anything. But his watchfulness became so +eager and intense that he almost, but not quite, exposed himself to the +suspicion of a passing gendarme. He now expected Cheditafa, for the +reason that the manner of the younger negro indicated that he was playing +truant. It was likely that the elder man would go after him, and this was +exactly what happened. + +Banker allowed the old African to go his way without molestation, for the +brightly lighted neighborhood of the hotel was not adapted to his +projected performance. But he followed him warily, and, when they reached +a quiet street, Banker quickened his pace, passed Cheditafa, and, +suddenly turning, confronted him. Then, without a word having been said, +there flashed upon the mind of the African everything that had happened, +not only in the Tuileries Gardens, but in the Rackbirds' camp, and at the +same time a prophetic feeling of what was about to happen. + +By a few quick pulls and jerks, Banker had so far removed his disguise +that Cheditafa knew him the instant that his eyes fell upon him. His +knees trembled, his eyeballs rolled so that nothing but their whites +could be seen, and he gave himself up to death. Then spoke out the +terrible Rackbird. + +What he said need not be recorded here, but every word of superheated +vengeance, with which he wished to torture the soul of his victim before +striking him to the earth, went straight to the soul of Cheditafa, as if +it had been a white-hot iron. His chin fell upon his breast. He had but +one hope, and that was that he would be killed quickly. He had seen +people killed in the horrible old camp, and the man before him he +believed to be the worst Rackbird of them all. + +When Banker had finished stabbing and torturing the soul of the +African, he drew a knife from under his coat, and down fell Cheditafa +on his knees. + +The evening was rainy and dark, and the little street was nearly +deserted. Banker, who could look behind and before him without making +much show of turning his head, had made himself sure of this before he +stepped in front of Cheditafa. But while he had been pouring out his +torrent of heart-shrivelling vituperation, he had ceased to look before +and behind him, and had not noticed a man coming down the street in the +opposite direction to that in which they had been going. + +This was Mok, who was much less of a fool than Cheditafa took him for. He +had calculated that he would have time to go to the Black Cat and drink +two glasses of beer before Ralph was likely to appear, and he also made +up his mind that two glasses were as much as he could dispose of without +exciting the suspicions of the young man. Therefore, he had attended to +the business that had taken him out of doors on that rainy night, and was +returning to the hotel with a lofty consciousness of having done wrong in +a very wise and satisfactory manner. + +He wore india-rubber overshoes, because the pavements were wet, and also +because this sort of foot-gear suited him better than hard, unyielding +sole-leather. Had he had his own way, he would have gone bare-footed, but +that would have created comment in the streets of Paris--he had sense +enough to know that. + +When he first perceived, by the dim light of a street lamp, two persons +standing together on his side of the street, his conscience, without any +reason for it, suggested that he cross over and pass by without +attracting attention. To wrong-doers attention is generally unwelcome. + +Mok not only trod with the softness and swiftness of a panther, but he +had eyes like that animal, and if there were any light at all, those +eyes could make good use of it. As he neared the two men, he saw that +one was scolding the other. Then he saw the other man drop down on his +knees. Then, being still nearer, he perceived that the man on his knees +was Cheditafa. Then he saw the man in front of him draw a knife from +under his coat. + +As a rule, Mok was a coward, but two glasses of beer were enough to turn +his nature in precisely the opposite direction. A glass less would have +left him timorous, a glass more would have made him foolhardy and silly. +He saw that somebody was about to stab his old friend. In five long, +noiseless steps, or leaps, he was behind that somebody, and had seized +the arm which held the knife. + +With a movement as quick as the stroke of a rattlesnake, Banker turned +upon the man who had clutched his arm, and when he saw that it was Mok, +his fury grew tornado-like. With a great oath, and a powerful plunge +backward, he endeavored to free his arm from the grasp of the negro. But +he did not do it. Those black fingers were fastened around his wrist as +though they had been fetters forged to fit him. And in the desperate +struggle the knife was dropped. + +In a hand-to-hand combat with a chimpanzee, a strong man would have but +little chance of success, and Mok, under the influence of two glasses of +beer, was a man-chimpanzee. When Banker swore, and when he turned so that +the light of the street lamp fell upon his face, Mok recognized him. He +knew him for a Rackbird of the Rackbirds--as the cruel, black-eyed savage +who had beaten him, trodden upon him, and almost crushed the soul out of +him, in that far-away camp by the sea. How this man should have suddenly +appeared in Paris, why he came there, and what he was going to do, +whether he was alone, or with his band concealed in the neighboring +doorways, Mok did not trouble his mind to consider. He held in his brazen +grip a creature whom he considered worse than the most devilish of +African devils, a villain who had been going to kill Cheditafa. + +Every nerve under his black skin, every muscle that covered his bones, +and the two glasses of beer, sung out to him that the Rackbird could not +get away from him, and that the great hour of vengeance had arrived. + +Banker had a pistol, but he had no chance to draw it. The arms of the +wild man were around him. His feet slipped from under him, and instantly +the two were rolling on the wet pavement. But only for an instant. Banker +was quick and light and strong to such a degree that no man but a +man-chimpanzee could have overpowered him in a struggle like that. Both +were on their feet almost as quickly as they went down, but do what he +would, Banker could not get out his pistol. + +Those long black arms, one of them now bared to the shoulder, were about +him ever. He pulled, and tugged, and swerved. He half threw him one +instant, half lifted the next, but never could loosen the grasp of that +fierce creature, whose whole body seemed as tough and elastic as the +shoes he wore. + +Together they fell, together they rolled in the dirty slime, together +they rose as if they had been shot up by a spring, and together they went +down again, rolling over each other, pulling, tearing, striking, gasping, +and panting. + +Cheditafa had gone. The moment of Mok's appearance, he had risen and +fled. There were now people in the street. Some had come out of their +houses, hearing the noise of the struggle, for Banker wore heavy shoes. +There were also one or two pedestrians who had stopped, unwilling to pass +men who were engaged in such a desperate conflict. + +No one interfered. It would have seemed as prudent to step between two +tigers. Such a bounding, whirling, tumbling, rolling, falling, and rising +contest had never been seen in that street, except between cats. It +seemed that the creatures would dash themselves through the windows of +the houses. + +It was not long before Cheditafa came back with two policemen, all +running, and then the men who lay in the street, spinning about as if +moving on pivots, were seized and pulled apart. At first the officers +of the law appeared at a loss to know what had happened, and who had +been attacked. What was this black creature from the Jardin des +Plantes? But Banker's coat had been torn from his back, and his pistol +stood out in bold relief in his belt, and Cheditafa pointed to the +breathless bandit, and screamed: "Bad man! Bad man! Try to kill me! +This good Mok save my life!" + +Two more policemen now came hurrying up, for other people had given the +alarm, and it was not considered necessary to debate the question as to +who was the aggressor in this desperate affair. Cheditafa, Mok, and +Banker were all taken to the police station. + +As Cheditafa was known to be in the service of the American lady at the +Hotel Grenade, the _portier_ of that establishment was sent for, and +having given his testimony to the good character of the two negroes, they +were released upon his becoming surety for their appearance when wanted. + +As for Banker, there was no one to go security. He was committed +for trial. + + * * * * * + +When Ralph went to his room, that night, he immediately rang for his +valet. Mok, who had reached the hotel from the police station but a few +minutes before, answered the summons. When Ralph turned about and beheld +the black man, his hair plastered with mud, his face plastered with mud, +and what clothes he had on muddy, torn, and awry, with one foot wearing a +great overshoe and the other bare, with both black arms entirely denuded +of sleeves, with eyes staring from his head, and his whole form quivering +and shaking, the young man started as if some afrit of the "Arabian +Nights" had come at this dark hour to answer his call. + +To the eager questions which poured upon him when his identity became +apparent, Mok could make no intelligible answer. He did not possess +English enough for that. But Cheditafa was quickly summoned, and he +explained everything. He explained it once, twice, three times, and then +he and Mok were sent away, and told to go to bed, and under no +circumstances to mention to their mistress what had happened, or to +anybody who might mention it to her. And this Cheditafa solemnly +promised for both. + +The clock struck one as Ralph still sat in his chair, wondering what +all this meant, and what might be expected to happen next. To hear +that a real, live Rackbird was in Paris, that this outlaw had +threatened his sister, that the police had been watching for him, that +he had sworn to kill Cheditafa, and that night had tried to do it, +amazed him beyond measure. + +At last he gave up trying to conjecture what it meant. It was foolish to +waste his thoughts in that way. To-morrow he must find out. He could +understand very well why his sister had kept him in ignorance of the +affair in the Gardens. She had feared danger to him. She knew that he +would be after that scoundrel more hotly than any policeman. But what the +poor girl must have suffered! It was terrible to think of. + +The first thing he would do would be to take very good care that she +heard nothing of the attack on Cheditafa. He would go to the police +office early the next morning and look into this matter. He did not +think that it would be necessary for Edna to know anything about +it, except that the Rackbird had been arrested and she need no +longer fear him. + +When Ralph reached the police station, the next day, he found there the +portier of the hotel, together with Cheditafa and Mok. + +After Banker's examination, to which he gave no assistance by admissions +of any sort, he was remanded for trial, and he was held merely for his +affair with the negroes, no charge having been made against him for his +attempt to obtain money from their mistress, or his threats in her +direction. As the crime for which he had been arrested gave reason +enough for condign punishment of the desperado, Ralph saw, and made +Cheditafa see, it would be unnecessary as well as unpleasant to drag +Edna into the affair. + +That afternoon Mr. Banker, who had recovered his breath and had collected +his ideas, sent for the police magistrate and made a confession. He said +he had been a member of a band of outlaws, but having grown disgusted +with their evil deeds, had left them. He had become very poor, and having +heard that the leader of the band had made a fortune by a successful +piece of rascality, and had married a fine lady, and was then in Paris, +he had come to this city to meet him, and to demand in the name of their +old comradeship some assistance in his need. He had found his captain's +wife. She had basely deceived him after having promised to help him, and +he had been insulted and vilely treated by that old negro, who was once a +slave in the Rackbirds' camp in Peru, and who had been brought here with +the other negro by the captain. He also freely admitted that he had +intended to punish the black fellow, though he had no idea whatever of +killing him. If he had had such an idea, it would have been easy enough +for him to put his knife into him when he met him in that quiet street. +But he had not done so, but had contented himself with telling him what +he thought of him, and with afterwards frightening him with his knife. +And then the other fellow had come up, and there had been a fight. +Therefore, although he admitted that his case was a great misdemeanor, +and that he had been very disorderly, he boldly asserted that he had +contemplated no murder. But what he wished particularly to say to the +magistrate was that the captain of the Rackbirds would probably soon +arrive in Paris, and that he ought to be arrested. No end of important +results might come from such an arrest. He was quite sure that the great +stroke of fortune which had enabled the captain's family to live in Paris +in such fine style ought to be investigated. The captain had never made +any money by simple and straightforward methods of business. + +All this voluntary testimony was carefully taken down, and although the +magistrate did not consider it necessary to believe any of it, the +arrival of Captain Horn was thenceforth awaited with interest by the +police of Paris. + +It was not very plain how Miss Markham of the Hotel Grenade, who was well +known as a friend of a member of the American legation, could be the wife +of a South American bandit. But then, there might be reasons why she +wished to retain her maiden name for the present, and she might not know +her husband as a bandit. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +ENTER CAPTAIN HORN + + +It was less than a week after the tumbling match in the street between +Banker and Mok, and about eleven o'clock in the morning, when a brief +note, written on a slip of paper and accompanied by a card, was brought +to Edna from Mrs. Cliff. On the card was written the name of Captain +Philip Horn, and the note read thus: + +"He is here. He sent his card to me. Of course, you +will see him. Oh, Edna! don't do anything foolish when +you see him! Don't go and throw away everything +worth living for in this world! Heaven help you!" + +This note was hurriedly written, but Edna read it at a glance. + +"Bring the gentleman here," she said to the man. + +Now, with all her heart, Edna blessed herself and thanked herself that, +at last, she had been strong enough and brave enough to determine what +she ought to do when she met the captain. That very morning, lying awake +in her bed, she had determined that she would meet him in the same spirit +as that in which he had written to her. She would be very strong. She +would not assume anything. She would not accept the responsibility of +deciding the situation, which responsibility she believed he thought it +right she should assume. She would not have it. If he appeared before her +as the Captain Horn of his letters, he should go away as the man who had +written those letters. If he had come here on business, she would show +him that she was a woman of business. + +As she stood waiting, with her eyes upon his card, which lay upon the +table, and Mrs. Cliffs note crumpled up in one hand, she saw the captain +for some minutes before it was possible for him to reach her. She saw him +on board the _Castor_, a tall, broad-shouldered sailor, with his hands in +the pockets of his pea-jacket. She saw him by the caves in Peru, his +flannel shirt and his belted trousers faded by the sun and water, torn +and worn, and stained by the soil on which they so often sat, with his +long hair and beard, and the battered felt hat, which was the last thing +she saw as his boat faded away in the distance, when she stood watching +it from the sandy beach. She saw him as she had imagined him after she +had received his letter, toiling barefooted along the sands, carrying +heavy loads upon his shoulders, living alone night and day on a dreary +desert coast, weary, perhaps haggard, but still indomitable. She saw him +in storm, in shipwreck, in battle, and as she looked upon him thus with +the eyes of her brain, there were footsteps outside her door. + +As Captain Horn came through the long corridors and up the stairs, +following the attendant, he saw the woman he was about to meet, and saw +her before he met her. He saw her only in one aspect--that of a tall, too +thin, young woman, clad in a dark-blue flannel suit, unshapely, +streaked, and stained, her hair bound tightly round her head and covered +by an old straw hat with a faded ribbon. This picture of her as he had +left her standing on the beach, at the close of that afternoon when his +little boat pulled out into the Pacific, was as clear and distinct as +when he had last seen it. + +A door was opened before him, and he entered Edna's salon. For a moment +he stopped in the doorway. He did not see the woman he had come to meet. +He saw before him a lady handsomely and richly dressed in a Parisian +morning costume--a lady with waving masses of dark hair above a lovely +face, a lady with a beautiful white hand, which was half raised as he +appeared in the doorway. + +She stood with her hand half raised. She had never seen the man before +her. He was a tall, imposing gentleman, in a dark suit, over which he +wore a light-colored overcoat. One hand was gloved, and in the other he +held a hat. His slightly curling brown beard and hair were trimmed after +the fashion of the day, and his face, though darkened by the sun, showed +no trace of toil, or storm, or anxious danger. He was a tall, +broad-shouldered gentleman, with an air of courtesy, an air of dignity, +an air of forbearance, which were as utterly unknown to her as everything +else about him, except his eyes--those were the same eyes she had seen on +board the _Castor_ and on the desert sands. + +Had it not been for the dark eyes which looked so steadfastly at him, +Captain Horn, would have thought that he had been shown into the wrong +room. But he now knew there was no mistake, and he entered. Edna raised +her hand and advanced to meet him. + +He shook hands with her exactly as he had written to her, and she shook +hands with him just as she had telegraphed to him. Much of her natural +color had left her face. As he had never seen this natural color, under +the sun-brown of the Pacific voyage, he did not miss it. + +Instantly she began to speak. How glad she was that she had prepared +herself to speak as she would have spoken to any other good friend! So +she expressed her joy at seeing him again, well and successful after +all these months of peril, toil, and anxiety, and they sat down near +each other. + +He looked at her steadfastly, and asked her many things about Ralph, Mrs. +Cliff, and the negroes, and what had happened since he left San +Francisco. He listened with a questioning intentness as she spoke. She +spoke rapidly and concisely as she answered his questions and asked him +about himself. She said little about the gold. One might have supposed +that he had arrived at Marseilles with a cargo of coffee. At the same +time, there seemed to be, on Edna's part, a desire to lengthen out her +recital of unimportant matters. She now saw that the captain knew she did +not care to talk of these things. She knew that he was waiting for an +opportunity to turn the conversation into another channel,--waiting with +an earnestness that was growing more and more apparent,--and as she +perceived this, and as she steadily talked to him, she assured herself, +with all the vehemence of which her nature was capable, that she and this +man were two people connected by business interests, and that she was +ready to discuss that business in a business way as soon as he could +speak. But still she did not yet give him the chance to speak. + +The captain sat there, with his blue eyes fixed upon her, and, as she +looked at him, she knew him to be the personification of honor and +magnanimity, waiting until he could see that she was ready for him to +speak, ready to listen if she should speak, ready to meet her on any +ground--a gentleman, she thought, above all the gentlemen in the world. +And still she went on talking about Mrs. Cliff and Ralph. + +Suddenly the captain rose. Whether or not he interrupted her in the +middle of a sentence, he did not know, nor did she know. He put his hat +upon a table and came toward her. He stood in front of her and looked +down at her. She looked up at him, but he did not immediately speak. She +could not help standing silently and looking up at him when he stood and +looked down upon her in that way. Then he spoke. + +"Are you my wife?" said he. + +"By all that is good and blessed in heaven or earth, I am," she answered. + +Standing there, and looking up into his eyes, there was no other answer +for her to make. + + * * * * * + +Seldom has a poor, worn, tired, agitated woman kept what was to her a +longer or more anxious watch upon a closed door than Mrs. Cliff kept that +day. If even Ralph had appeared, she would have decoyed him into her own +room, and locked him up there, if necessary. + +In about an hour after Mrs. Cliff began her watch, a tall man walked +rapidly out of the salon and went down the stairs, and then a woman came +running across the hall and into Mrs. Cliff's room, closing the door +behind her. Mrs. Cliff scarcely recognized this woman. She had Edna's +hair and face, but there was a glow and a glory on her countenance such +as Mrs. Cliff had never seen, or expected to see until, in the hereafter, +she should see it on the face of an angel. + +"He has loved me," said Edna, with her arms around her old friend's neck, +"ever since we had been a week on the _Castor_." + +Mrs. Cliff shivered and quivered with joy. She could not say anything, +but over and over again she kissed the burning cheeks of her friend. +At last they stood apart, and, when Mrs. Cliff was calm enough to +speak, she said: + +"Ever since we were on the _Castor!_ Well, Edna, you must admit that +Captain Horn is uncommonly good at keeping things to himself." + +"Yes," said the other, "and he always kept it to himself. He never let it +go away from him. He had intended to speak to me, but he wanted to wait +until I knew him better, and until we were in a position where he +wouldn't seem to be taking advantage of me by speaking. And when you +proposed that marriage by Cheditafa, he was very much troubled and +annoyed. It was something so rough and jarring, and so discordant with +what he had hoped, that at first he could not bear to think of it. But he +afterwards saw the sense of your reasoning, and agreed simply because it +would be to my advantage in case he should lose his life in his +undertaking. And we will be married to-morrow at the embassy." + +"To-morrow!" cried Mrs. Cliff. "So soon?" + +"Yes," replied Edna. "The captain has to go away, and I am going +with him." + +"That is all right," said Mrs. Cliff. "Of course I was a little surprised +at first. But how about the gold? How much was there of it? And what is +he going to do with it?" + +"He scarcely mentioned the gold," replied Edna. "We had more precious +things to talk about. When he sees us all together, you and I and Ralph, +he will tell us what he has done, and what he is going to do, and--" + +"And we can say what we please?" cried Mrs. Cliff. + +"Yes," said Edna,--"to whomever we please." + +"Thank the Lord!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "That is almost as good as +being married." + + * * * * * + +On his arrival in Paris the night before, Captain Horn had taken +lodgings at a hotel not far from the Hotel Grenade, and the first thing +he did the next morning was to visit Edna. He had supposed, of course, +that she was at the same hotel in which Mrs. Cliff resided, which +address he had got from Wraxton, in Marseilles, and he had expected to +see the elderly lady first, and to get some idea of how matters stood +before meeting Edna. He was in Paris alone. He had left Shirley and +Burke, with the negroes, in Marseilles. He had wished to do nothing, to +make no arrangements for any one, until he had seen Edna, and had found +out what his future life was to be. + +Now, as he walked back to his hotel, that future life lay before him +radiant and resplendent. No avenue in Paris, or in any part of the world, +blazing with the lights of some grand festival, ever shone with such +glowing splendor as the future life of Captain Horn now shone and +sparkled before him, as he walked and walked, on and on, and crossed the +river into the Latin Quarter, before he perceived that his hotel was a +mile or more behind him. + +From the moment that the _Arato_ had left the Straits of Magellan, and +Captain Horn had had reason to believe that he had left his dangers +behind him, the prow of his vessel had been set toward the Strait of +Gibraltar, and every thought of his heart toward Edna. Burke and Shirley +both noticed a change in him. After he left the Rackbirds' cove, until he +had sailed into the South Atlantic, his manner had been quiet, alert, +generally anxious, and sometimes stern. But now, day by day, he appeared +to be growing into a different man. He was not nervous, nor apparently +impatient, but it was easy to see that within him there burned a steady +purpose to get on as fast as the wind would blow them northward. + +Day by day, as he walked the deck of his little vessel, one might have +thought him undergoing a transformation from the skipper of a schooner +into the master of a great ship, into the captain of a swift Atlantic +liner, into the commander of a man-of-war, into the commodore on board a +line-of-battle ship. It was not an air of pride or assumed superiority +that he wore, it was nothing assumed, it was nothing of which he was not +entirely aware. It was the gradual growth within him, as health grows +into a man recovering from a sickness, of the consciousness of power. +The source of that consciousness lay beneath him, as he trod the deck of +the _Arato_. + +This consciousness, involuntary, and impossible to resist, had nothing +definite about it. It had nothing which could wholly satisfy the soul of +this man, who kept his eyes and his thoughts so steadfastly toward the +north. He knew that there were but few things in the world that his power +could not give him, but there was one thing upon which it might have no +influence whatever, and that one thing was far more to him than all other +things in this world. + +Sometimes, as he sat smoking beneath the stars, he tried to picture to +himself the person who might be waiting and watching for him in Paris, +and to try to look upon her as she must really be; for, after her life in +San Francisco and Paris, she could not remain the woman she had been at +the caves on the coast of Peru. But, do what he would, he could make no +transformation in the picture which was imprinted on the retina of his +soul. There he saw a woman still young, tall, and too thin, in a suit of +blue flannel faded and worn, with her hair bound tightly around her head +and covered by a straw hat with a faded ribbon. But it was toward this +figure that he was sailing, sailing, sailing, as fast as the winds of +heaven would blow his vessel onward. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +A GOLDEN AFTERNOON + + +When Ralph met Captain Horn that afternoon, there rose within him a +sudden, involuntary appreciation of the captain's worthiness to possess a +ship-load of gold and his sister Edna. Before that meeting there had been +doubts in the boy's mind in regard to this worthiness. He believed that +he had thoroughly weighed and judged the character and capacities of the +captain of the _Castor_, and he had said to himself, in his moments of +reflection, that although Captain Horn was a good man, and a brave man, +and an able man in many ways, there were other men in the world who were +better fitted for the glorious double position into which this fortunate +mariner had fallen. + +But now, as Ralph sat and gazed upon his sister's lover and heard him +talk, and as he turned from him to Edna's glowing eyes, he acknowledged, +without knowing it, the transforming power of those two great +alchemists,--gold and love,--and from the bottom of his heart he approved +the match. + +Upon Mrs. Cliff the first sight of Captain Horn had been a little +startling, and had she not hastened to assure herself that the compact +with Edna was a thing fixed and settled, she might have been possessed +with the fear that perhaps this gentleman might have views for his +future life very different from those upon which she had set her heart. +But even if she had not known of the compact of the morning, all danger +of that fear would have passed in the moment that the captain took her +by the hand. + +To find his three companions of the wreck and desert in such high state +and flourishing condition so cheered and uplifted the soul of the captain +that he could talk of nothing else. And now he called for Cheditafa and +Mok--those two good fellows whose faithfulness he should never forget. +But when they entered, bending low, with eyes upturned toward the lofty +presence to which they had been summoned, the captain looked inquiringly +at Edna. As he came in that afternoon, he had seen both the negroes in +the courtyard, and, in the passing thought he had given to them, had +supposed them to be attendants of some foreign potentate from Barbary or +Morocco. Cheditafa and Mok! The ragged, half-clad negroes of the +sea-beach--a parson-butler of sublimated respectability, a liveried +lackey of rainbow and gold! It required minutes to harmonize these +presentments in the mind of Captain Horn. + +When the audience of the two Africans--for such it seemed to be--had +lasted long enough, Edna was thinking of dismissing them, when it became +plain to her that there was something which Cheditafa wished to say or +do. She looked at him inquiringly, and he came forward. + +For a long time the mind of the good African had been exercised upon the +subject of the great deed he had done just before the captain had sailed +away from the Peruvian coast. In San Francisco and Paris he had asked +many questions quietly, and apparently without purpose, concerning the +marriage ceremonies of America and other civilized countries. He had not +learned enough to enable him, upon an emergency, to personate an orthodox +clergyman, but he had found out this and that--little things, perhaps, +but things which made a great impression upon him--which had convinced +him that in the ceremony he had performed there had been much +remissness--how much, he did not clearly know. But about one thing that +had been wanting he had no doubts. + +Advancing toward Edna and the captain, who sat near each other, Cheditafa +took from his pocket a large gold ring, which he had purchased with his +savings. "There was a thing we didn't do," he said, glancing from one to +the other. "It was the ring part--nobody thinked of that. Will captain +take it now, and put it on the lady?" + +Edna and the captain looked at each other. For a moment no one spoke. +Then Edna said, "Take it." The captain rose and took the ring from the +hand of Cheditafa, and Edna stood beside him. Then he took her hand, and +reverently placed the ring upon her fourth finger. Fortunately, it +fitted. It had not been without avail that Cheditafa had so often scanned +with a measuring eye the rings upon the hands of his mistress. + +A light of pleasure shone in the eyes of the old negro. Now he had done +his full duty--now all things had been made right. As he had seen the +priests stand in the churches of Paris, he now stood for a moment with +his hands outspread. "Very good," he said, "that will do." Then, followed +by Mok, he bowed himself out of the room. + +For some moments there was silence in the salon. Nobody thought of +laughing, or even smiling. In the eyes of Mrs. Cliff there were a few +tears. She was the first to speak. "He is a good man," said she, "and he +now believes that he has done everything that ought to be done. But you +will be married to-morrow, all the same, of course." + +"Yes," said Edna. "But it will be with this ring." + +"Yes," said the captain, "with that ring. You must always wear it." + +"And now," said Mrs. Cliff, when they had all reseated themselves, +"you must really tell us your story, captain. You know I have heard +nothing yet." + +And so he told his story--much that Edna had heard before, a great deal +she had not heard. About the treasure, almost everything he said was new +to her. Mrs. Cliff was very eager on this point. She wanted every detail. + +"How about the ownership of it?" she said. "After all, that is the +great point. What do people here think of your right to use that gold +as your own?" + +The captain smiled. "That is not an easy question to answer, but I think +we shall settle it very satisfactorily. Of course, the first thing to do +is to get it safely entered and stored away in the great money centres +over here. A good portion of it, in fact, is to be shipped to +Philadelphia to be coined. Of course, all that business is in the hands +of my bankers. The fact that I originally sailed from California was a +great help to us. To ascertain my legal rights in the case was the main +object of my visit to London. There Wraxton and I put the matter before +three leading lawyers in that line of business, and although their +opinions differed somewhat, and although we have not yet come to a final +conclusion as to what should be done, the matter is pretty well +straightened out as far as we are concerned. Of course, the affair is +greatly simplified by the fact that there is no one on the other side to +be a claimant of the treasure, but we consider it as if there were a +claimant, or two of them, in fact. These can be no other than the present +government of Peru, and that portion of the population of the country +which is native to the soil, and the latter, if our suppositions are +correct, are the only real heirs to the treasure which I discovered. But +what are the laws of Peru in regard to treasure-trove, or what may be the +disposition of the government toward the native population and their +rights, of course we cannot find out now. That will take time. But of one +thing we are certain: I am entitled to a fair remuneration for the +discovery of this treasure, just the same as if I claimed salvage for +having brought a wrecked steamer into port. On this point the lawyers are +all agreed. I have, therefore, made my claim, and shall stand by it with +enough legal force behind me to support me in any emergency. + +"But it is not believed that either the Peruvian government, or the +natives acting as a body, if it shall be possible for them to act in that +way, will give us any trouble. We have the matter entirely in our own +hands. They do not know of the existence of this treasure, or that they +have any rights to it, until we inform them of the fact, and without our +assistance it will be almost impossible for them to claim anything or +prove anything. Therefore, it will be good policy and common sense for +them to acknowledge that we are acting honestly, and, more than that, +generously, and to agree to take what we offer them, and that we shall +keep what is considered by the best legal authorities to be our rights. + +"As soon as possible, an agent will be sent to Peru to attend to the +matter. But this matter is in the hands of my lawyers, although, of +course, I shall not keep out of the negotiations." + +"And how much percentage, captain?" asked Mrs. Cliff. "What part do they +think you ought to keep?" + +"We have agreed," said he, "upon twenty per cent. of the whole. After +careful consideration and advice, I made that claim. I shall retain it. +Indeed, it is already secured to me, no matter what may happen to the +rest of the treasure." + +"Twenty per cent.!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "And that is all that you get?" + +"Yes," said the captain, "it is what I get--and by that is meant what is +to be divided among us all. I make the claim, but I make it for every one +who was on the _Castor_ when she was wrecked, and for the families of +those who are not alive--for every one, in fact, who was concerned in +this matter." + +The countenance of Mrs. Cliff had been falling, and now it went down, +down, again. After all the waiting, after all the anxiety, it had come to +this: barely twenty per cent., to be divided among ever so many +people--twenty-five or thirty, for all she knew. Only this, after the +dreams she had had, after the castles she had built! Of course, she had +money now, and she would have some more, and she had a great many useful +and beautiful things which she had bought, and she could go back to +Plainton in very good circumstances. But that was not what she had been +waiting for, and hoping for, and anxiously trembling for, ever since she +had found that the captain had really reached France with the treasure. + +"Captain," she said, and her voice was as husky as if she had been +sitting in a draught, "I have had so many ups and so many downs, and have +been turned so often this way and that, I cannot stand this state of +uncertainty any longer. It may seem childish and weak, but I must know +something. Can you give me any idea how much you are to have, or, at +least, how much I shall have, and let me make myself satisfied with +whatever it is? Do you think that I shall be able to go back to Plainton +and take my place as a leading citizen there? I don't mind in the least +asking that before you three. I thought I was justified in making that my +object in life, and I have made it my object. Now, if I have been +mistaken all this time, I would like to know it. Don't find fault with +me. I have waited, and waited, and waited--" + +"Well," interrupted the captain, "you need not wait any longer. The sum +that I have retained shall be divided as soon as possible, and I shall +divide it in as just a manner as I can, and I am ready to hear appeals +from any one who is not satisfied. Of course, I shall keep the largest +share of it--that is my right. I found it, and I secured it. And this +lady here," pointing to Edna, "is to have the next largest share in her +own right, because she was the main object which made me work so hard and +brave everything to get that treasure here. And then the rest will share +according to rank, as we say on board ship." + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" murmured Mrs. Cliff, "he never comes to any +point. We never know anything clear and distinct. This is not any +answer at all." + +"The amount I claim," continued the captain, who did not notice that Mrs. +Cliff was making remarks to herself, "is forty million dollars." + +Everybody started, and Mrs. Cliff sprang up as if a torpedo had been +fired beneath her. + +"Forty million dollars!" she exclaimed. "I thought you said you would +only have twenty per cent.?" + +"That is just what it is," remarked the captain, "as nearly as we can +calculate. Forty million dollars is about one fifth of the value of the +cargo I brought to France in the _Arato_. And as to your share, Mrs. +Cliff, I think, if you feel like it, you will be able to buy the town of +Plainton; and if that doesn't make you a leading citizen in it, I don't +know what else you can do." + + + + +CHAPTER L + +A CASE OF RECOGNITION + + +Every one in our party at the Hotel Grenade rose very early the next +morning. That day was to be one of activity and event. Mrs. Cliff, who +had not slept one wink during the night, but who appeared almost +rejuvenated by the ideas which had come to her during her sleeplessness, +now entered a protest against the proposed marriage at the American +legation. She believed that people of the position which Edna and the +captain should now assume ought to be married in a church, with all +proper ceremony and impressiveness, and urged that the wedding be +postponed for a few days, until suitable arrangements could be made. + +But Edna would not listen to this. The captain was obliged, by +appointment, to be in London on the morrow, and he could not know how +long he might be detained there, and now, wherever he went, she wished to +go with him. He wanted her to be with him, and she was going. Moreover, +she fancied a wedding at the legation. There were all sorts of +regulations concerning marriage in France, and to these neither she nor +the captain cared to conform, even if they had time enough for the +purpose. At the American legation they would be in point of law upon +American soil, and there they could be married as Americans, by an +American minister. + +After that Mrs. Cliff gave up. She was so happy she was ready to agree to +anything, or to believe in anything, and she went to work with heart and +hand to assist Edna in getting ready for the great event. + +Mrs. Sylvester, the wife of the secretary, received a note from Edna +which brought her to the hotel as fast as horses were allowed to travel +in the streets of Paris, and arrangements were easily made for the +ceremony to take place at four o'clock that afternoon. + +The marriage was to be entirely private. No one was to be present but +Mrs. Cliff, Ralph, and Mrs. Sylvester. Nothing was said to Cheditafa of +the intended ceremony. After what had happened, they all felt that it +would be right to respect the old negro's feelings and sensibilities. +Mrs. Cliff undertook, after a few days had elapsed, to explain the whole +matter to Cheditafa, and to tell him that what he had done had not been +without importance and real utility, but that it had actually united his +master and mistress by a solemn promise before witnesses, which in some +places, and under certain circumstances, would be as good a marriage as +any that could be performed, but that a second ceremony had taken place +in order that the two might be considered man and wife in all places and +under all circumstances. + +The captain had hoped to see Shirley and Burke before he left Paris, but +that was now impossible, and, on his way to his hotel, after breakfasting +at the Hotel Grenade, he telegraphed to them to come to him in London. +He had just sent his telegram when he was touched on the arm, and, +turning, saw standing by him two police officers. Their manner was very +civil, but they promptly informed him, the speaker using very fair +English, that he must accompany them to the presence of a police +magistrate. + +The captain was astounded. The officers could or would give him no +information in regard to the charge against him, or whether it was a +charge at all. They only said that he must come with them, and that +everything would be explained at the police station. The captain's brow +grew black. What this meant he could not imagine, but he had no time to +waste in imaginations. It would be foolish to demand explanations of the +officers, or to ask to see the warrant for their action. He would not +understand French warrants, and the quicker he went to the magistrate and +found out what this thing meant, the better. He only asked time to send a +telegram to Mr. Wraxton, urging him to attend him instantly at the police +station, and then he went with the officers. + +On the way, Captain Horn turned over matters in his mind. He could think +of no cause for this detention, except it might be something which had +turned up in connection with his possession of the treasure, or perhaps +the entrance of the _Arato_, without papers, at the French port. But +anything of this kind Wraxton could settle as soon as he could be made +acquainted with it. The only real trouble was that he was to be married +at four o'clock, and it was now nearly two. + +At the police station, Captain Horn met with a fresh annoyance. The +magistrate was occupied with important business and could not attend to +him at present. This made the captain very impatient, and he sent +message after message to the magistrate, but to no avail. And Wraxton did +not come. In fact, it was too soon to expect him. + +The magistrate had good reason for delay. He did not wish to have +anything to do with the gentleman who had been taken in custody until his +accuser, Banker by name, had been brought to this station from his place +of confinement, where he was now held under a serious charge. + +Ten minutes, twenty minutes, twenty-five minutes, passed, and the +magistrate did not appear. Wraxton did not come. The captain had never +been so fiercely impatient. He did not know to whom to apply in this +serious emergency. He did not wish Edna to know of his trouble until he +found out the nature of it, and if he sent word to the legation, he was +afraid that the news would speedily reach her. Wraxton was his man, +whatever the charge might be. He would be his security for any amount +which might be named, and the business might be settled afterwards, if, +indeed, it were not all a mistake of some sort. + +But Wraxton did not appear. Suddenly the captain thought of one man who +might be of service to him in this emergency. There was no time for +delay. Some one must come, and come quickly, who could identify him, and +the only man he could think of was Professor Barré, Ralph's tutor. He had +met that gentleman the evening before. He could vouch for him, and he +could certainly be trusted not to alarm Edna unnecessarily. He believed +the professor could be found at the hotel, and he instantly sent a +messenger to him with a note. + +It took a good deal of time to bring the prisoner Banker to the station, +and Professor Barré arrived there before him. The professor was amazed to +find Captain Horn under arrest, and unable to give any reason for this +state of things. But it was not long before the magistrate appeared, and +it so happened that he was acquainted with Barré, who was a well-known +man in Paris, and, after glancing at the captain, he addressed himself to +the professor, speaking in French. The latter immediately inquired the +nature of the charges against Captain Horn, using the same language. + +"Ah! you know him?" said the magistrate. "He has been accused of being +the leader of a band of outlaws--a man who has committed murders and +outrages without number, one who should not be suffered to go at large, +one who should be confined until the authorities of Peru, where his +crimes were committed, have been notified." + +The professor stared, but could not comprehend what he had heard. + +"What is it?" inquired Captain Horn. "Can you not speak English?" + +No, this Parisian magistrate could not speak English, but the professor +explained the charge. + +"It is the greatest absurdity!" exclaimed the captain. "Ralph told me +that a man, evidently once one of that band of outlaws in Peru, had been +arrested for assaulting Cheditafa, and this charge must be part of his +scheme of vengeance for that arrest. I could instantly prove everything +that is necessary to know about me if my banker, Mr. Wraxton, were here. +I have sent for him, but he has not come. I have not a moment to waste +discussing this matter." The captain gazed anxiously toward the door, +and for a few moments the three men stood in silence. + +The situation was a peculiar one. The professor thought of sending to the +Hotel Grenade, but he hesitated. He said to himself: "The lady's +testimony would be of no avail. If he is the man the bandit says he is, +of course she does not know it. His conduct has been very strange, and +for a long time she certainly knew very little about him. I don't see how +even his banker could become surety for him if he were here, and he +doesn't seem inclined to come. Anybody may have a bank-account." + +The professor stood looking on the ground. The captain looked at him, +and, by that power to read the thoughts of others which an important +emergency often gives to a man, he read, or believed he did, the thoughts +of Barré. He did not blame the man for his doubts. Any one might have +such doubts. A stranger coming to France with a cargo of gold must expect +suspicion, and here was more--a definite charge. + +At this moment there came a message from the banking house: Mr. Wraxton +had gone to Brussels that morning. Fuguet did not live in Paris, and the +captain had never seen him. There were clerks whom he had met in +Marseilles, but, of course, they could only say that he was the man known +as Captain Horn. + +The captain ground his teeth, and then, suddenly turning, he interrupted +the conversation between the magistrate and Barré. He addressed the +latter and asked, "Will you tell me what this officer has been saying +about me?" + +"He says," answered Barré, "that he believes you know nobody in Paris +except the party at the Hotel Grenade, and that, of course, you may have +deceived them in regard to your identity--that they have been here a long +time, and you have been absent, and you have not been referred to by +them, which seems strange." + +"Has he not found out that Wraxton knows me?" + +"He says," answered Barré, "that you have not visited that banking house +since you came to Paris, and that seems strange also. Every traveller +goes to his banker as soon as he arrives." + +"I did not need to go there," said the captain. "I was occupied with +other matters. I had just met my wife after a long absence." + +"I don't wonder," said the professor, bowing, "that your time was +occupied. It is very unfortunate that your banker cannot come to +you or send." + +The captain did not answer. This professor doubted him, and why should he +not? As the captain considered the case, it grew more and more serious. +That his marriage should be delayed on account of such a preposterous and +outrageous charge against him was bad enough. It would be a terrible blow +to Edna. For, although he knew that she would believe in him, she could +not deny, if she were questioned, that in this age of mail and telegraph +facilities she had not heard from him for nearly a year, and it would be +hard for her to prove that he had not deceived her. But the most +unfortunate thing of all was the meeting with the London lawyers the next +day. These men were engaged in settling a very important question +regarding the ownership of the treasure he had brought to France, and +his claims upon it, and if they should hear that he had been charged with +being the captain of a band of murderers and robbers, they might well +have their suspicions of the truth of his story of the treasure. In fact, +everything might be lost, and the affair might end by his being sent a +prisoner to Peru, to have the case investigated there. What might happen +then was too terrible to think of. He turned abruptly to the professor. + +"I see that you don't believe in me," he said, "but I see that you are a +man, and I believe in you. You are acquainted with this magistrate. Use +your influence with him to have this matter settled quickly. Do as much +as that for me." + +"What is it that you ask me to do?" said the other. + +"It is this," replied the captain. "I have never seen this man who says +he was a member of the Rackbirds' band. In fact, I never saw any of those +wretches except dead ones. He has never met me. He knows nothing about +me. His charge is simply a piece of revenge. The only connection he can +make between me and the Rackbirds is that he knew two negroes were once +the servants of his band, and that they are now the servants of my wife. +Having never seen me, he cannot know me. Please ask the magistrate to +send for some other men in plain clothes to come into this room, and then +let the prisoner be brought here, and asked to point out the man he +charges with the crime of being the captain of the Rackbirds." + +The professor's face brightened, and without answer he turned to the +magistrate, and laid this proposition before him. The officer shook his +head. This would be a very irregular method of procedure. There were +formalities which should not be set aside. The deposition of Banker +should be taken before witnesses. But the professor was interested in +Captain Horn's proposed plan. In an emergency of the sort, when time was +so valuable, he thought it should be tried before anything else was done. +He talked very earnestly to the magistrate, who at last yielded. + +In a few minutes three respectable men were brought in from outside, and +then a policeman was sent for Banker. + +When that individual entered the waiting-room, his eyes ran rapidly over +the company assembled there. After the first glance, he believed that he +had never seen one of them before. But he said nothing; he waited to hear +what would be said to him. This was said quickly. Banker spoke French, +and the magistrate addressed him directly. + +"In this room," he said, "stands the man you have accused as a robber and +a murderer, as the captain of the band to which you admit you once +belonged. Point him out immediately." + +Banker's heart was not in the habit of sinking, but it went down a little +now. Could it be possible that any one there had ever led him to deeds of +violence and blood? He looked again at each man in the room, very +carefully this time. Of course, that rascal Raminez would not come to +Paris without disguising himself, and no disguise could be so effectual +as the garb of a gentleman. But if Raminez were there, he should not +escape him by any such tricks. Banker half shut his eyes, and again went +over every countenance. Suddenly he smiled. + +"My captain," he said presently, "is not dressed exactly as he was when +I last saw him. He is in good clothes now, and that made it a little hard +for me to recognize him at first. But there is no mistaking his nose and +his eyebrows. I know him as well as if we had been drinking together last +night. There he stands!" And, with his right arm stretched out, he +pointed directly to Professor Barré. + +At these words there was a general start, and the face of the magistrate +grew scarlet with anger. As for the professor himself, he knit his brows, +and looked at Banker in amazement. + +"You scoundrel! You liar! You beast!" cried the officer. "To accuse this +well-known and honorable gentleman, and say that he is a leader of a band +of robbers! You are an impostor, a villain, and if you had been +confronted with this other gentleman alone, you would have sworn that he +was a bandit chief!" + +Banker made no answer, but still kept his eyes fixed upon the professor. +Now Captain Horn spoke: "That fellow had to say something, and he made a +very wild guess of it," he said to Barré. "I think the matter may now be +considered settled. Will you suggest as much to the magistrate? Truly, I +have not a moment to spare." + +Banker listened attentively to these words, and his eyes sparkled. + +"You needn't try any of your tricks on me, you scoundrel Raminez," he +said, shaking his fist at the professor. "I know you. I know you better +than I did when I first spoke. If you wanted to escape me, you ought to +have shaved off your eyebrows when you trimmed your hair and your +beard. But I will be after you yet. The tales you have told here won't +help you." + +"Take him away!" shouted the magistrate. "He is a fiend!" + +Banker was hurried from the room by two policemen. + +To the profuse apologies of the magistrate Captain Horn had no time to +listen; he accepted what he heard of them as a matter of course, and only +remarked that, as he was not the man against whom the charges had been +brought, he must hurry away to attend to a most important appointment. +The professor went with him into the street. + +"Sir," said the captain, addressing Barré, "you have been of the most +important service to me, and I heartily acknowledge the obligation. Had +it not been that you were good enough to exert your influence with the +magistrate, that rascal would have sworn through thick and thin that I +had been his captain." + +Then, looking at his watch, he said, "It is twenty-five minutes to four. +I shall take a cab and go directly to the legation. I was on my way to my +hotel, but there is no time for that now," and, after shaking hands with +the professor, he hailed a cab. + +Captain Horn reached the legation but a little while after the party from +the Hotel Grenade had arrived, and in due time he stood up beside Edna in +one of the parlors of the mansion, and he and she were united in marriage +by the American minister. The services were very simple, but the +congratulations of the little company assembled could not have been more +earnest and heartfelt. + +"Now," said Mrs. Cliff, in the ear of Edna, "if we knew that that gold +was all to be sunk in the ocean to-morrow, we still ought to be the +happiest people on earth." + +She was a true woman, Mrs. Cliff, and at that moment she meant +what she said. + +It had been arranged that the whole party should return to the Hotel +Grenade, and from there the newly married couple should start for the +train which would take them to Calais; and, as he left the legation +promptly, the captain had time to send to his own hotel for his effects. +The direct transition from the police station to the bridal altar had +interfered with his ante-hymeneal preparations, but the captain was +accustomed to interference with preparations, and had long learned to +dispense with them when occasion required. + +"I don't believe," said the minister's wife to her husband, when +the bridal party had left, "that you ever before married such a +handsome couple." + +"The fact is," said he, "that I never before saw standing together such a +fine specimen of a man and such a beautiful, glowing, radiant woman." + +"I don't see why you need say that," said she, quickly. "You and I stood +up together." + +"Yes," he replied, with a smile, "but I wasn't a spectator." + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +BANKER DOES SOME IMPORTANT BUSINESS + + +When Banker went back to the prison cell, he was still firmly convinced +that he had been overreached by his former captain, Raminez; and, +although he knew it not, there were good reasons for his convictions. +Often had he noticed, in the Rackbirds' camp, a peculiar form of the +eyebrows which surmounted the slender, slightly aquiline nose of his +chief. Whenever Raminez was anxious, or beginning to be angered, his +brow would slightly knit, and the ends of his eyebrows would approach +each other, curling upward and outward as they did so. This was an +action of the eyebrows which was peculiar to the Darcias of Granada, +from which family the professor's father had taken a wife, and had +brought her to Paris. A sister of this wife had afterwards married a +Spanish gentleman named Blanquotè, whose second son, having fallen into +disgrace in Spain, had gone to America, where he changed his name to +Raminez, and performed a number of discreditable deeds, among which was +the deception of several of his discreditable comrades in regard to his +family. They could not help knowing that he came from Spain, and he made +them all believe that his real name was Raminez. There had been three +of them, besides Banker, who had made it the object of their lives to +wait for the opportunity to obtain blackmail from his family, by +threatened declarations of his deeds. + +This most eminent scoundrel, whose bones now lay at the bottom of the +Pacific Ocean, had inherited from his grandfather that same trick of the +eyebrows above his thin and slightly aquiline nose which Banker had +observed upon the countenance of the professor in the police station, and +who had inherited it from the same Spanish gentleman. + +The next day Banker received a visitor. It was Professor Barré. As this +gentleman entered the cell, followed by two guards, who remained near the +door, Banker looked up in amazement. He had expected a message, but had +not dreamed that he should see the man himself. + +"Captain," he exclaimed, as he sprang to his feet, "this is truly good +of you. I see you are the same old trump as ever, and do not bear +malice." He spoke in Spanish, for such had been the language in common +use in camp. + +The professor paid no attention to these words. "I came here," he said, +"to demand of you why you made that absurd and malicious charge against +me the other day. Such charges are not passed over in France, but I will +give you a chance to explain yourself." + +Banker looked at him admiringly. "He plays the part well," he said to +himself. "He is a great gun. There is no use of my charging against him. +I will not try it, but I shall let him see where I stand." + +"Captain," said he, "I have nothing to explain, except that I was +stirred up a good deal and lost my temper. I oughtn't to have made that +charge against you. Of course, it could not be of any good to me, and I +am perfectly ready to meet you on level ground. I will take back +everything I have already said, and, if necessary, I will prove that I +made a mistake and never saw you before, and I only ask in return that +you get me out of this and give me enough to make me comfortable. That +won't take much, you know, and you seem to be in first-class condition +these days. There! I have put it to you fair and square, and saved you +the trouble of making me any offers. You stand by me, and I'll stand by +you. I am ready to swear until I am black in the face that you never were +in Peru, and that I never saw you until the other day, when I made that +mistake about you on account of the queer fashion of your eyebrows, which +looked just like those of a man who really had been my captain, and that +I now see you are two entirely different men. I will make a good tale of +it, captain, and I will stick to it--you can rely on that. By all the +saints, I hope those two fellows at the door don't understand Spanish!" + +The professor had made himself sure that the guards who accompanied him +spoke nothing but French. Without referring to Banker's proposed bargain, +he said to him, "Was the captain of the bandits under whom you served a +Spaniard?" + +"Yes, you were a Spaniard," said Banker. + +"From what part of Spain did he come?" + +"You let out several times that you once lived in Granada." + +"What was that captain's real name?" asked the professor. + +"Your name was Raminez--unless, indeed," and here his face clouded a +little, "unless, indeed, you tricked us. But I have pumped you well on +that point, and, drunk or sober, it was always Raminez." + +"Raminez, then, a Spaniard of my appearance," said the professor, "was +your captain when you were in a band called the Rackbirds, which had its +rendezvous on the coast of Peru?" + +"Yes, you were all that," said Banker. + +"Very well, then," said Barré. "I have nothing more to say to you at +present," and he turned and left the cell. The guards followed, and the +door was closed. + +Banker remained dumb with amazement. When he had regained his power of +thought and speech, he fell into a state of savage fury, which could be +equalled by nothing living, except, perhaps, by a trapped wildcat, and +among his objurgations, as he strode up and down his cell, the most +prominent referred to the new and incomprehensible trick which this +prince of human devils had just played upon him. That he had been talking +to his old captain he did not doubt for a moment, and that that captain +had again got the better of him he doubted no less. + +It may be stated here that, the evening before, the professor had had a +long talk with Ralph regarding the Rackbirds and their camp. Professor +Barré had heard something of the matter before, but many of the details +were new to him. + +When Ralph left him, the professor gave himself up to reflections upon +what he had heard, and he gradually came to believe that there might +be some reason for his identification as the bandit captain by the +man Banker. + +For five or six years there had been inquiries on foot concerning the +second son of Señor Blanquotè of Granada, whose elder brother had died +without heirs, and who, if now living, would inherit Blanquotè's estates. +It was known that this man had led a wild and disgraceful career, and it +was also ascertained that he had gone to America, and had been known on +the Isthmus of Panama and elsewhere by the name of Raminez. Furthermore, +Professor Barré had been frequently told by his mother that when he was a +boy she had noticed, while on a visit to Spain, that he and this cousin +very much resembled each other. + +It is not necessary to follow out the legal steps and inquiries, based +upon the information which he had had from Ralph and from Banker, which +were now made by the professor. It is sufficient to state that he was +ultimately able to prove that the Rackbird chief known as Raminez was, in +reality, Tomaso Blanquotè, that he had perished on the coast of Peru, and +that he, the professor, was legal heir to the Blanquotè estates. + +Barré had not been able to lead his pupil to as high a place in the +temple of knowledge as he had hoped, but, through his acquaintance with +that pupil, he himself had become possessed of a castle in Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER LII + +THE CAPTAIN TAKES HIS STAND + + +It was now July, and the captain and Edna had returned to Paris. The +world had been very beautiful during their travels in England, and +although the weather was beginning to be warm, the world was very +beautiful in Paris. In fact, to these two it would have been beautiful +almost anywhere. Even the desolate and arid coast of Peru would have been +to them as though it were green with herbage and bright with flowers. + +The captain's affairs were not yet definitely arranged, for the final +settlement would depend upon negotiations which would require time, but +there was never in the world a man more thoroughly satisfied than he. And +whatever happened, he had enough; and he had Edna. His lawyers had made a +thorough investigation into the matter of his rights to the treasure he +had discovered and brought to Europe, and they had come to a conclusion +which satisfied them. This decision was based upon equity and upon the +laws and usages regarding treasure-trove. + +The old Roman law upon the subject, still adhered to by some of the Latin +countries of Europe, gave half of a discovered treasure to the finder, +and half to the crown or state, and it was considered that a good legal +stand could be taken in the present instance upon the application of this +ancient law to a country now governed by the descendants of Spaniards. + +Whether or not the present government of Peru, if the matter should be +submitted to it, would take this view of the case, was a subject of +conjecture, of course, but the captain's counsel strongly advised him to +take position upon the ground that he was entitled to half the treasure. +Under present circumstances, when Captain Horn was so well prepared to +maintain his rights, it was thought that the Peruvian authorities might +easily be made to see the advisability of accepting a great advantage +freely offered, instead of endeavoring to obtain a greater advantage, in +regard to which it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to legally +prove anything or to claim anything. + +Therefore, it was advised that a commission should be sent to Lima to +open negotiations upon the subject, with instructions to make no +admissions in regard to the amount of the treasure, its present places of +deposit, or other particulars, until the Peruvian government should +consent to a satisfactory arrangement. + +To this plan Captain Horn consented, determining, however, that, if the +negotiations of his commission should succeed, he would stipulate that at +least one half the sum paid to Peru should be devoted to the advantage of +the native inhabitants of that country, to the establishment of schools, +hospitals, libraries, and benefactions of the kind. If the commission +should not succeed, he would then attend to the matter in his own way. + +Thus, no matter what happened, he would still insist upon his claim +to one fifth of the total amount as his pay for the discovery of the +treasure, and in this claim his lawyers assured him he could be +fully secured. + +Other matters were in a fair way of settlement. The captain had made +Shirley and Burke his agents through whom he would distribute to the +heirs of the crew of the _Castor_ their share of the treasure which had +been apportioned to them, and the two sailors had already gone to America +upon this mission. How to dispose of the _Arato_ had been a difficult +question, upon which the captain had taken legal advice. That she had +started out from Valparaiso with a piratical crew, that those pirates had +made an attack upon him and his men, and that, in self-defence, he had +exterminated them, made no difference in his mind, or that of his +counsellors, as to the right of the owners of the vessel to the return of +their property. But a return of the vessel itself would be difficult and +hazardous. Whoever took it to Valparaiso would be subject to legal +inquiry as to the fate of the men who had hired it, and it would be, +indeed, cruel and unjust to send out a crew in this vessel, knowing that +they would be arrested when they arrived in port. Consequently, he +determined to sell the _Arato_, and to add to the amount obtained what +might be considered proper on account of her detention, and to send this +sum to Valparaiso, to be paid to the owners of the _Arato_. + +The thoughts of all our party were now turned toward America. As time +went on, the captain and Edna might have homes in different parts of the +world, but their first home was to be in their native land. + +Mrs. Cliff was wild to reach her house, that she might touch it with the +magician's wand of which she was now the possessor, that she might touch +not only it, but that she might touch and transform the whole of +Plainton, and, more than all, that with it she might touch and transform +herself. She had bought all she wanted. Paris had yielded to her +everything she asked of it, and no ship could sail too fast which should +carry her across the ocean. + +The negroes were all attached to the captain's domestic family. Maka and +Cheditafa were not such proficient attendants as the captain might have +employed, but he desired to have these two near him, and intended to keep +them there as long as they would stay. Although Mok and the three other +Africans had much to learn in regard to the duties of domestic servants, +there would always be plenty of people to teach them. + + * * * * * + +In his prison cell Banker sat, lay down, or walked about, cursing his +fate and wondering what was meant by the last dodge of that rascal +Raminez. He never found out precisely, but he did find out that the visit +of Professor Barré to his cell had been of service to him. + +That gentleman, when he became certain that he should so greatly profit +by the fact that an ex-brigand had pointed him out as an ex-captain of +brigands, had determined to do what he could for the fellow who had +unconsciously rendered him the service. So he employed a lawyer to attend +to Banker's case, and as it was not difficult to prove that the accused +had not even touched Cheditafa, but had only threatened to maltreat him, +and that the fight which caused his arrest was really begun by Mok, it +was not thought necessary to inflict a very heavy punishment. In fact, it +was suggested in the court that it was Mok who should be put on trial. + +So Banker went for a short term to prison, where he worked hard and +earned his living, and when he came out he thought it well to leave +Paris, and he never found out the nature of the trick which he supposed +his old chief had played upon him. + +The trial of Banker delayed the homeward journey of Captain Horn and his +party, for Cheditafa and Mok were needed as witnesses, but did not delay +it long. It was early in August, when the danger from floating icebergs +had almost passed, and when an ocean journey is generally most pleasant, +that nine happy people sailed from Havre for New York. Captain Horn and +Edna had not yet fully planned their future life, but they knew that they +had enough money to allow them to select any sphere of life toward which +ordinary human ambitions would be apt to point, and if they never +received another bar of the unapportioned treasure, they would not only +be preeminently satisfied with what fortune had done for them, but would +be relieved of the great responsibilities which greater fortune must +bring with it. + +As for Mrs. Cliff, her mind was so full of plans for the benefit of her +native town that she could talk and think of nothing else, and could +scarcely be induced to take notice of a spouting whale, which was +engaging the attention of all the passengers and the crew. + +The negroes were perfectly content. They were accustomed to the sea, and +did not mind the motion of the vessel. They had but little money in +their pockets, and had no reason to expect they would ever have much +more, but they knew that as long as they lived they would have everything +that they wanted, that the captain thought was good for them, and to a +higher earthly paradise their souls did not aspire. Cheditafa would serve +his mistress, Maka would serve the captain, and Mok would wear fine +clothes and serve his young master Ralph, whenever, haply, he should have +the chance. + +As for Inkspot, he doubted whether or not he should ever have all the +whiskey he wanted, but he had heard that in the United States that +delectable fluid was very plentiful, and he thought that perhaps in that +blessed country that blessed beverage might not produce the undesirable +effects which followed its unrestricted use in other lands. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII + +A LITTLE GLEAM AFAR + + +It was late in the autumn of that year, and upon a lonely moor in +Scotland, that a poor old woman stood shivering in the cold wind. She was +outside of a miserable little hut, in the doorway of which stood two men. + +For five or six years she had lived alone in that little hut. + +It was a very poor place, but it kept out the wind and the rain and the +snow, and it was a home to her, and for the greater part of these years +in which she had lived there alone, she had received, at irregular and +sometimes long intervals, sums of money, often very small and never +large, from her son, who was a sailorman upon seas of which she did not +even know the name. + +But for many months no money had come from this wandering son, and it was +very little that she had been able to earn. Sometimes she might have +starved, had it not been for the charity of others almost as poor as she. +As for rent, it had been due for a long time, and at last it had been due +so long that her landlord felt that further forbearance would be not only +unprofitable, but that it would serve as a bad example to his other +tenants. Consequently, he had given orders to eject the old woman from +her hut. She was now a pauper, and there were places where paupers would +be taken care of. + +The old woman stood sadly shivering. Her poor old eyes, a little dimmed +with tears, were directed southward toward the far-away vanishing-point +of the rough and narrow road which meandered over the moor and lost +itself among the hills. + +She was waiting for the arrival of a cart which a poor neighbor had +promised to borrow, to take her and her few belongings to the nearest +village, where there was a good road over which she might walk to a place +where paupers were taken care of. A narrow stream, which roared and +rushed around or over many a rock, ran at several points close to the +road, and, swelled by heavy rains, had overflowed it to the depth of a +foot or more. The old woman and the two men in the doorway of the hut +stood and waited for the cart to come. + +As they waited, heavy clouds began to rise in the north, and there was +already a drizzle of rain. At last they saw a little black spot upon the +road, which soon proved to be a cart drawn by a rough pony. On it came, +until they could almost hear it splashing through the water where the +stream had passed its bounds, or rattling over the rough stones in other +places. But, to their surprise, there were two persons in the cart. +Perhaps the boy Sawney had with him a traveller who was on his way north. + +This was true. Sawney had picked up a traveller who was glad to find a +conveyance going across the moor to his destination. This man was a +quick-moving person in a heavy waterproof coat with its collar turned up +over his ears. + +As soon as the cart stopped, near the hut, he jumped down and approached +the two men in the doorway. + +"Is that the widow McLeish?" he said, pointing to the old woman. + +They assured him that he was correct, and he approached her. + +"You are Mrs. Margaret McLeish?" said he. + +She looked at him in a vague sort of way and nodded. "That's me," said +she. "Is it pay for the cart you're after? If that's it, I must walk." + +"Had you a son, Mrs. McLeish?" said the man. + +"Ay," said she, and her face brightened a little. + +"And what was his name?" + +"Andy," was the answer. + +"And his calling?" + +"A sailorman." + +"Well, then," said the traveller in the waterproof, "there is no doubt +that you are the person I came here to see. I was told I should find you +here, and here you are. I may as well tell you at once, Mrs. McLeish, +that your son is dead." + +"That is no news," she answered. "I knew that he must be dead." + +"But I didn't come here only to tell you that. There is money coming +to you through him--enough to make you comfortable for the rest of +your life." + +"Money!" exclaimed the old woman. "To me?" + +The two men who had been standing in the doorway of the hut drew near, +and Sawney jumped down from the cart. The announcement made by the +traveller was very interesting. + +"Yes," said the man in the waterproof, pulling his collar up a little +higher, for the rain was increasing, "you are to have one hundred and +four pounds a year, Mrs. McLeish, and that's two pounds a week, you know, +and you will have it as long as you live." + +"Two pounds a week!" cried the old woman, her eyes shining out of her +weazened old face like two grouse eggs in a nest. "From my Andy?" + +"Yes, from your son," said the traveller. And as the rain was now much +more than a drizzle, and as the wind was cold, he made his tale as short +as possible. + +He told her that her son had died far away in South America, and, from +what he had gained there, one hundred and four pounds a year would be +coming to her, and that she might rely on this as long as she lived. He +did not state--for he was not acquainted with all the facts--that Shirley +and Burke, when they were in San Francisco hunting up the heirs of the +Castor's crew, had come upon traces of the A. McLeish whose body they had +found in the desert, lying flat on its back, with a bag of gold clasped +to its breast--that they had discovered, by means of the agent through +whom McLeish had been in the habit of forwarding money to his mother, the +address of the old woman, and, without saying anything to Captain Horn, +they had determined to do something for her. + +The fact that they had profited by the gold her son had carried away from +the cave, was the main reason for this resolution, and although, as +Shirley said, it might appear that the Scotch sailor was a thief, it was +true, after all, he had as much right to a part of the gold he had taken +as Captain Horn could have. Therefore, as they had possessed themselves +of his treasure, they thought it but right that they should provide for +his mother. So they bought an annuity for her in Edinburgh, thinking this +better than sending her the total amount which they considered to be her +share, not knowing what manner of woman she might be, and they arranged +that an agent should be sent to look her up, and announce to her her good +fortune. It had taken a long time to attend to all these matters, and it +was now late in the autumn. + +"You must not stand out in the rain, Mrs. McLeish," said one of the men, +and he urged her to come back into the hut. He said he would build a fire +for her, and she and the gentleman from Edinburgh could sit down and talk +over matters. No doubt there would be some money in hand, he said, out of +which the rent could be paid, and, even if this should not be the case, +he knew the landlord would be willing to wait a little under the +circumstances. + +"Is there money in hand for me?" asked the old woman. + +"Yes," said the traveller. "The annuity was to begin with October, and it +is now the first of November, so there is eight pounds due to you." + +"Eight pounds!" she exclaimed, after a moment's thought. "It must be more +than that. There's thirty-one days in October!" + +"That's all right, Mrs. McLeish," said the traveller. "I will pay you the +right amount. But I really think you had better come into your house, for +it is going to be a bad afternoon, and I must get away as soon as I can. +I will go, as I came, in the cart, for you won't want it now." + +Mrs. McLeish stood up as straight as she could, and glanced from the +traveller to the two men who had put her out of her home. Then, in the +strongest terms her native Gaelic would afford, she addressed these two +men. She assured them that, sooner than enter that contemptible little +hut again, she would sleep out on the bare moor. She told them to go to +their master and tell him that she did not want his house, and that he +could live in it himself, if he chose--that she was going in the cart to +Killimontrick, and she would take lodgings in the inn there until she +could get a house fit for the habitation of the mother of a man like her +son Andy; and that if their master had anything to say about the rent +that was due, they could tell him that he had satisfied himself by +turning her out of her home, and if he wanted anything more, he could +whistle for it, or, if he didn't choose to do that, he could send his +factor to whistle for it in the main street of Killimontrick. + +"Come, Sawney boy, put my two bundles in the cart, and then help me in. +The gentleman will drive, and I'll sit on the seat beside him, and you +can sit behind in the straw, and--you're sure it's two pounds a week, +sir?" she said to the traveller, who told her that she was right, and +then she continued to Sawney, "I'll make your mother a present which will +help the poor old thing through the winter, and I'm sure she needs it." + +With a heavier load than he had brought, the pony's head was turned +homeward, and the cart rattled away over the rough stones, and splashed +through the water on the roadway, and in the dark cloud which hung over +the highest mountain beyond the moor, there came a little glint of +lighter sky, as if some lustre from the Incas' gold had penetrated even +into this gloomy region. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Captain Horn +by Frank Richard Stockton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN *** + +***** This file should be named 12190-8.txt or 12190-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/1/9/12190/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Adventures of Captain Horn + +Author: Frank Richard Stockton + +Release Date: April 29, 2004 [EBook #12190] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN + + BY FRANK R. STOCKTON + + 1910 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I An Introductory Disaster + + II A New Face in Camp + + III A Change of Lodgings + + IV Another New Face + + V The Rackbirds + + VI Three Weld Beasts + + VII Gone! + + VIII The Alarm + + IX An Amazing Narration + + X The Captain Explores + + XI A New Hemisphere + + XII A Tradition and a Waistcoat + + XIII "Mine!" + + XIV A Pile of Fuel + + XV The Cliff-Maka Scheme + + XVI On a Business Basis + + XVII "A Fine Thing, No Matter What Happens" + + XVIII Mrs. Cliff is Amazed + + XIX Left Behind + + XX At the Rackbirds' Cove + + XXI In the Caves + + XXII A Pack-Mule + + XXIII His Present Share + + XXVI His Fortune under his Feet + + + + +THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN + + + + +CHAPTER I + +AN INTRODUCTORY DISASTER + + +Early in the spring of the year 1884 the three-masted schooner _Castor_, +from San Francisco to Valparaiso, was struck by a tornado off the coast +of Peru. The storm, which rose with frightful suddenness, was of short +duration, but it left the _Castor_ a helpless wreck. Her masts had +snapped off and gone overboard, her rudder-post had been shattered by +falling wreckage, and she was rolling in the trough of the sea, with her +floating masts and spars thumping and bumping her sides. + +The _Castor_ was an American merchant-vessel, commanded by Captain Philip +Horn, an experienced navigator of about thirty-five years of age. Besides +a valuable cargo, she carried three passengers--two ladies and a boy. One +of these, Mrs. William Cliff, a lady past middle age, was going to +Valparaiso to settle some business affairs of her late husband, a New +England merchant. The other lady was Miss Edna Markham, a school-teacher +who had just passed her twenty-fifth year, although she looked older. +She was on her way to Valparaiso to take an important position in an +American seminary. Ralph, a boy of fifteen, was her brother, and she was +taking him with her simply because she did not want to leave him alone in +San Francisco. These two had no near relations, and the education of the +brother depended upon the exertions of the sister. Valparaiso was not the +place she would have selected for a boy's education, but there they could +be together, and, under the circumstances, that was a point of prime +importance. + +But when the storm had passed, and the sky was clear, and the mad waves +had subsided into a rolling swell, there seemed no reason to believe that +any one on board the _Castor_ would ever reach Valparaiso. The vessel had +been badly strained by the wrenching of the masts, her sides had been +battered by the floating wreckage, and she was taking in water rapidly. +Fortunately, no one had been injured by the storm, and although the +captain found it would be a useless waste of time and labor to attempt to +work the pumps, he was convinced, after a careful examination, that the +ship would float some hours, and that there would, therefore, be time for +those on board to make an effort to save not only their lives, but some +of their property. + +All the boats had been blown from their davits, but one of them was +floating, apparently uninjured, a short distance to leeward, one of the +heavy blocks by which it had been suspended having caught in the cordage +of the topmast, so that it was securely moored. Another boat, a small +one, was seen, bottom upward, about an eighth of a mile to leeward. Two +seamen, each pushing an oar before him, swam out to the nearest boat, +and having got on board of her, and freed her from her entanglements, +they rowed out to the capsized boat, and towed it to the schooner. When +this boat had been righted and bailed out, it was found to be in good +condition. + +The sea had become almost quiet, and there was time enough to do +everything orderly and properly, and in less than three hours after the +vessel had been struck, the two boats, containing all the crew and the +passengers, besides a goodly quantity of provisions and water, and such +valuables, clothing, rugs, and wraps as room could be found for, were +pulling away from the wreck. + +The captain, who, with his passengers, was in the larger boat, was aware +that he was off the coast of Peru, but that was all he certainly knew of +his position. The storm had struck the ship in the morning, before he had +taken his daily observation, and his room, which was on deck, had been +carried away, as well as every nautical instrument on board. He did not +believe that the storm had taken him far out of his course, but of this +he could not be sure. All that he knew with certainty was that to the +eastward lay the land, and eastward, therefore, they pulled, a little +compass attached to the captain's watch-guard being their only guide. + +For the rest of that day and that night, and the next day and the next +night, the two boats moved eastward, the people on board suffering but +little inconvenience, except from the labor of continuous rowing, at +which everybody, excepting the two ladies, took part, even Ralph +Markham being willing to show how much of a man he could be with an +oar in his hand. + +The weather was fine, and the sea was almost smooth, and as the captain +had rigged up in his boat a tent-like covering of canvas for the ladies, +they were, as they repeatedly declared, far more comfortable than they +had any right to expect. They were both women of resource and courage. +Mrs. Cliff, tall, thin in face, with her gray hair brushed plainly over +her temples, was a woman of strong frame, who would have been perfectly +willing to take an oar, had it been necessary. To Miss Markham this boat +trip would have been a positive pleasure, had it not been for the +unfortunate circumstances which made it necessary. + +On the morning of the third day land was sighted, but it was afternoon +before they reached it. Here they found themselves on a portion of the +coast where the foot-hills of the great mountains stretch themselves +almost down to the edge of the ocean. To all appearances, the shore was +barren and uninhabited. + +The two boats rowed along the coast a mile or two to the southward, but +could find no good landing-place, but reaching a spot less encumbered +with rocks than any other portion of the coast they had seen, Captain +Horn determined to try to beach his boat there. The landing was +accomplished in safety, although with some difficulty, and that night was +passed in a little encampment in the shelter of some rocks scarcely a +hundred yards from the sea. + +The next morning Captain Horn took counsel with his mates, and considered +the situation. They were on an uninhabited portion of the coast, and it +was not believed that there was any town or settlement near enough to be +reached by walking over such wild country, especially with ladies in the +party. It was, therefore, determined to seek succor by means of the sea. +They might be near one of the towns or villages along the coast of Peru, +and, in any case, a boat manned by the best oarsmen of the party, and +loaded as lightly as possible, might hope, in the course of a day or two, +to reach some port from which a vessel might be sent out to take off the +remainder of the party. + +But first Captain Horn ordered a thorough investigation to be made of the +surrounding country, and in an hour or two a place was found which he +believed would answer very well for a camping-ground until assistance +should arrive. This was on a little plateau about a quarter of a mile +back from the ocean, and surrounded on three sides by precipices, and on +the side toward the sea the ground sloped gradually downward. To this +camping-ground all of the provisions and goods were carried, excepting +what would be needed by the boating party. + +When this work had been accomplished, Captain Horn appointed his first +mate to command the expedition, deciding to remain himself in the camp. +When volunteers were called for, it astonished the captain to see how +many of the sailors desired to go. + +The larger boat pulled six oars, and seven men, besides the mate Rynders, +were selected to go in her. As soon as she could be made ready she was +launched and started southward on her voyage of discovery, the mate +having first taken such good observation of the landmarks that he felt +sure he would have no difficulty in finding the spot where he left his +companions. The people in the little camp on the bluff now consisted of +Captain Horn, the two ladies, the boy Ralph, three sailors,--one an +Englishman, and the other two Americans from Cape Cod,--and a jet-black +native African, known as Maka. + +Captain Horn had not cared to keep many men with him in the camp, because +there they would have little to do, and all the strong arms that could be +spared would be needed in the boat. The three sailors he had retained +were men of intelligence, on whom he believed he could rely in case of +emergency, and Maka was kept because he was a cook. He had been one of +the cargo of a slave-ship which had been captured by a British cruiser +several years before, when on its way to Cuba, and the unfortunate +negroes had been landed in British Guiana. It was impossible to return +them to Africa, because none of them could speak English, or in any way +give an idea as to what tribes they belonged, and if they should be +landed anywhere in Africa except among their friends, they would be +immediately reenslaved. For some years they lived in Guiana, in a little +colony by themselves, and then, a few of them having learned some +English, they made their way to Panama, where they obtained employment as +laborers on the great canal. Maka, who was possessed of better +intelligence than most of his fellows, improved a good deal in his +English, and learned to cook very well, and having wandered to San +Francisco, had been employed for two or three voyages by Captain Horn. +Maka was a faithful and willing servant, and if he had been able to +express himself more intelligibly, his merits might have been better +appreciated. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A NEW FACE IN CAMP + + +The morning after the departure of the boat, Captain Horn, in company +with the Englishman Davis, each armed with a gun, set out on a tour of +investigation, hoping to be able to ascend the rocky hills at the back of +the camp, and find some elevated point commanding a view over the ocean. +After a good deal of hard climbing they reached such a point, but the +captain found that the main object was really out of his reach. He could +now plainly see that a high rocky point to the southward, which stretched +some distance out to sea, would cut off all view of the approach of +rescuers coming from that direction, until they were within a mile or two +of his landing-place. Back from the sea the hills grew higher, until they +blended into the lofty stretches of the Andes, this being one of the few +points where the hilly country extends to the ocean. + +The coast to the north curved a little oceanward, so that a much more +extended view could be had in that direction, but as far as he could see +by means of a little pocket-glass which the boy Ralph had lent him, the +captain could discover no signs of habitation, and in this direction the +land seemed to be a flat desert. When he returned to camp, about noon, +he had made up his mind that the proper thing to do was to make himself +and his companions as comfortable as possible and patiently await the +return of his mate with succor. + +Captain Horn was very well satisfied with his present place of +encampment. Although rain is unknown in this western portion of Peru, +which is, therefore, in general desolate and barren, there are parts of +the country that are irrigated by streams which flow from the snow-capped +peaks of the Andes, and one of these fertile spots the captain seemed to +have happened upon. On the plateau there grew a few bushes, while the +face of the rock in places was entirely covered by hanging vines. This +fertility greatly puzzled Captain Horn, for nowhere was to be seen any +stream of water, or signs of there ever having been any. But they had +with them water enough to last for several days, and provisions for a +much longer time, and the captain felt little concern on this account. + +As for lodgings, there were none excepting the small tent which he had +put up for the ladies, but a few nights in the open air in that dry +climate would not hurt the male portion of the party. + +In the course of the afternoon, the two American sailors came to Captain +Horn and asked permission to go to look for game. The captain had small +hopes of their finding anything suitable for food, but feeling sure that +if they should be successful, every one would be glad of a little fresh +meat, he gave his permission, at the same time requesting the men to do +their best in the way of observation, if they should get up high enough +to survey the country, and discover some signs of habitation, if such +existed in that barren region. It would be a great relief to the captain +to feel that there was some spot of refuge to which, by land or water, +his party might make its way in case the water and provisions gave out +before the return of the mate. + +As to the men who went off in the boat, the captain expected to see but a +few of them again. One or two might return with the mate, in such vessel +as he should obtain in which to come for them, but the most of them, if +they reached a seaport, would scatter, after the manner of seamen. + +The two sailors departed, promising, if they could not bring back fish or +fowl, to return before dark, with a report of the lay of the land. + +It was very well that Maka did not have to depend on these hunters for +the evening meal, for night came without them, and the next morning they +had not returned. The captain was very much troubled. The men must be +lost, or they had met with some accident. There could be no other reason +for their continued absence. They had each a gun, and plenty of powder +and shot, but they had taken only provisions enough for a single meal. + +Davis offered to go up the hills to look for the missing men. He had +lived for some years in the bush in Australia, and he thought that +there was a good chance of his discovering their tracks. But the +captain shook his head. + +"You are just as likely to get lost, or to fall over a rock, as anybody +else," he said, "and it is better to have two men lost than three. But +there is one thing that you can do. You can go down to the beach, and +make your way southward as far as possible. There you can find your way +back, and if you take a gun, and fire it every now and then, you may +attract the attention of Shirley and Burke, if they are on the hills +above, and perhaps they may even be able to see you as you walk along. If +they are alive, they will probably see or hear you, and fire in answer. +It is a very strange thing that we have not heard a shot from them." + +Ralph begged to accompany the Englishman, for he was getting very +restless, and longed for a ramble and scramble. But neither the captain +nor his sister would consent to this, and Davis started off alone. + +"If you can round the point down there," said the captain to him, "do it, +for you may see a town or houses not far away on the other side. But +don't take any risks. At all events, make your calculations so that you +will be back here before dark." + +The captain and Ralph assisted the two ladies to a ledge of rock near the +camp from which they could watch the Englishman on his way. They saw him +reach the beach, and after going on a short distance he fired his gun, +after which he pressed forward, now and then stopping to fire again. Even +from their inconsiderable elevation they could see him until he must have +been more than a mile away, and he soon after vanished from their view. + +As on the previous day darkness came without the two American sailors, so +now it came without the Englishman, and in the morning he had not +returned. Of course, every mind was filled with anxiety in regard to the +three sailors, but Captain Horn's soul was racked with apprehensions of +which he did not speak. The conviction forced itself upon him that the +men had been killed by wild beasts. He could imagine no other reason why +Davis should not have returned. He had been ordered not to leave the +beach, and, therefore, could not lose his way. He was a wary, careful +man, used to exploring rough country, and he was not likely to take any +chances of disabling himself by a fall while on such an expedition. + +Although he knew that the great jaguar was found in Peru, as well as +the puma and black bear, the captain had not supposed it likely that +any of these creatures frequented the barren western slopes of the +mountains, but he now reflected that there were lions in the deserts of +Africa, and that the beasts of prey in South America might also be +found in its deserts. + +A great responsibility now rested upon Captain Horn. He was the only man +left in camp who could be depended upon as a defender,--for Maka was +known to be a coward, and Ralph was only a boy,--and it was with a +shrinking of the heart that he asked himself what would be the +consequences if a couple of jaguars or other ferocious beasts were to +appear upon that unprotected plateau in the night, or even in the +daytime. He had two guns, but he was only one man. These thoughts were +not cheerful, but the captain's face showed no signs of alarm, or even +unusual anxiety, and, with a smile on his handsome brown countenance, he +bade the ladies good morning as if he were saluting them upon a +quarter-deck. + +"I have been thinking all night about those three men," said Miss +Markham, "and I have imagined something which may have happened. Isn't +it possible that they may have discovered at a distance some inland +settlement which could not be seen by the party in the boat, and that +they thought it their duty to push their way to it, and so get +assistance for us? In that case, you know, they would probably be a long +time coming back." + +"That is possible," said the captain, glad to hear a hopeful supposition, +but in his heart he had no faith in it whatever. If Davis had seen a +village, or even a house, he would have come back to report it, and if +the others had found human habitation, they would have had ample time to +return, either by land or by sea. + +The restless Ralph, who had chafed a good deal because he had not been +allowed to leave the plateau in search of adventure, now found a vent for +his surplus energy, for the captain appointed him fire-maker. The camp +fuel was not abundant, consisting of nothing but some dead branches and +twigs from the few bushes in the neighborhood. These Ralph collected with +great energy, and Maka had nothing to complain of in regard to fuel for +his cooking. + +Toward the end of that afternoon, Ralph prepared to make a fire for the +supper, and he determined to change the position of the fireplace and +bring it nearer the rocks, where he thought it would burn better. It did +burn better--so well, indeed, that some of the dry leaves of the vines +that there covered the face of the rocks took fire. Ralph watched with +interest the dry leaves blaze and the green ones splutter, and then he +thought it would be a pity to scorch those vines, which were among the +few green things about them, and he tried to put out the fire. But this +he could not do, and, when he called Maka, the negro was not able to +help him. The fire had worked its way back of the green vines, and seemed +to have found good fuel, for it was soon crackling away at a great rate, +attracting the rest of the party. + +"Can't we put it out?" cried Miss Markham. "It is a pity to ruin those +beautiful vines." + +The captain smiled and shook his head. "We cannot waste our valuable +water on that conflagration," said he. "There is probably a great mass +of dead vines behind the green outside. How it crackles and roars! That +dead stuff must be several feet thick. All we can do is to let it burn. +It cannot hurt us. It cannot reach your tent, for there are no vines +over there." + +The fire continued to roar and blaze, and to leap up the face of the +rock. + +"It is wonderful," said Mrs. Cliff, "to think how those vines must have +been growing and dying, and new ones growing and dying, year after year, +nobody knows how many ages." + +"What is most wonderful to me," said the captain, "is that the vines ever +grew there at all, or that these bushes should be here. Nothing can grow +in this region, unless it is watered by a stream from the mountains, and +there is no stream here." + +Miss Markham was about to offer a supposition to the effect that perhaps +the precipitous wall of rock which surrounded the little plateau, and +shielded it from the eastern sun, might have had a good effect upon the +vegetation, when suddenly Ralph, who had a ship's biscuit on the end of a +sharp stick, and was toasting it in the embers of a portion of the burnt +vines, sprang back with a shout. + +"Look out!" he cried. "The whole thing's coming down!" And, sure enough, +in a moment a large portion of the vines, which had been clinging to the +rock, fell upon the ground in a burning mass. A cloud of smoke and dust +arose, and when it had cleared away the captain and his party saw upon +the perpendicular side of the rock, which was now revealed to them as if +a veil had been torn away from in front of it, an enormous face cut out +of the solid stone. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A CHANGE OF LODGINGS + + +The great face stared down upon the little party gathered beneath it. Its +chin was about eight feet above the ground, and its stony countenance +extended at least that distance up the cliff. Its features were in low +relief, but clear and distinct, and a smoke-blackened patch beneath one +of its eyes gave it a sinister appearance. From its wide-stretching mouth +a bit of half-burnt vine hung, trembling in the heated air, and this +element of motion produced the impression on several of the party that +the creature was about to open its lips. + +Mrs. Cliff gave a little scream,--she could not help it,--and Maka sank +down on his knees, his back to the rock, and covered his face with his +hands. Ralph was the first to speak. + +"There have been heathen around here," he said. "That's a regular idol." + +"You are right," said the captain. "That is a bit of old-time work. That +face was cut by the original natives." + +The two ladies were so interested, and even excited, that they seized +each other by the hands. Here before their faces was a piece of sculpture +doubtless done by the people of ancient Peru, that people who were +discovered by Pizarro; and this great idol, or whatever it was, had +perhaps never before been seen by civilized eyes. It was wonderful, and +in the conjecture and exclamation of the next half-hour everything else +was forgotten, even the three sailors. + +Because the captain was the captain, it was natural that every one +should look to him for some suggestion as to why this great stone face +should have been carved here on this lonely and desolate rock. But he +shook his head. + +"I have no ideas about it," he said, "except that it must have been +some sort of a landmark. It looks out toward the sea, and perhaps the +ancient inhabitants put it there so that people in ships, coming near +enough to the coast, should know where they were. Perhaps it was +intended to act as a lighthouse to warn seamen off a dangerous coast. +But I must say that I do not see how it could do that, for they would +have had to come pretty close to the shore to see it, unless they had +better glasses than we have." + +The sun was now near the horizon, and Maka was lifted to his feet by the +captain, and ordered to stop groaning in African, and go to work to get +supper on the glowing embers of the vines. He obeyed, of course, but +never did he turn his face upward to that gaunt countenance, which +grinned and winked and frowned whenever a bit of twig blazed up, or the +coals were stirred by the trembling negro. + +After supper and until the light had nearly faded from the western sky, +the two ladies sat and watched that vast face upon the rocks, its +features growing more and more solemn as the light decreased. + +"I wish I had a long-handled broom," said Mrs. Cliff, "for if the dust +and smoke and ashes of burnt leaves were brushed from off its nose and +eyebrows, I believe it would have a rather gracious expression." + +As for the captain, he went walking about on the outlying portion of the +plateau, listening and watching. But it was not stone faces he was +thinking of. That night he did not sleep at all, but sat until day-break, +with a loaded gun across his knees, and another one lying on the ground +beside him. + +When Miss Markham emerged from the rude tent the next morning, and came +out into the bright light of day, the first thing she saw was her +brother Ralph, who looked as if he had been sweeping a chimney or +cleaning out an ash-hole. + +"What on earth has happened to you!" she cried. "How did you get yourself +so covered with dirt and ashes?" + +"I got up ever so long ago," he replied, "and as the captain is asleep +over there, and there was nobody to talk to, I thought I would go and try +to find the back of his head"--pointing to the stone face above them. +"But he hasn't any. He is a sham." + +"What do you mean?" asked his sister. + +"You see, Edna," said the boy, "I thought I would try if I could find any +more faces, and so I got a bit of stone, and scratched away some of the +burnt vines that had not fallen, and there I found an open place in the +rock on this side of the face. Step this way, and you can see it. It's +like a narrow doorway. I went and looked into it, and saw that it led +back of the big face, and I went in to see what was there." + +"You should never have done that, Ralph," cried his sister. "There might +have been snakes in that place, or precipices, or nobody knows what. +What could you expect to see in the dark?" + +"It wasn't so dark as you might think," said he. "After my eyes got used +to the place I could see very well. But there was nothing to see--just +walls on each side. There was more of the passageway ahead of me, but I +began to think of snakes myself, and as I did not have a club or anything +to kill them with, I concluded I wouldn't go any farther. It isn't so +very dirty in there. Most of this I got on myself scraping down the burnt +vines. Here comes the captain. He doesn't generally oversleep himself +like this. If he will go with me, we will explore that crack." + +When Captain Horn heard of the passage into the rock, he was much more +interested than Ralph had expected him to be, and, without loss of time, +he lighted a lantern and, with the boy behind him, set out to investigate +it. But before entering the cleft, the captain stationed Maka at a place +where he could view all the approaches to the plateau, and told him if he +saw any snakes or other dangerous things approaching, to run to the +opening and call him. Now, snakes were among the few things that Maka was +not afraid of, and so long as he thought these were the enemies to be +watched, he would make a most efficient sentinel. + +When Captain Horn had cautiously advanced a couple of yards into the +interior of the rock, he stopped, raised his lantern, and looked about +him. The passage was about two feet wide, the floor somewhat lower than +the ground outside, and the roof but a few feet above his head. It was +plainly the work of man, and not a natural crevice in the rocks. Then +the captain put the lantern behind him, and stared into the gloom ahead +of them. As Ralph had said, it was not so dark as might have been +expected. In fact, about twenty feet forward there was a dim light on the +right-hand wall. + +The captain, still followed by Ralph, now moved on until they came to +this lighted place, and found it was an open doorway. Both heads +together, they peeped in, and saw it was an opening like a doorway into a +chamber about fifteen feet square and with very high walls. They scarcely +needed the lantern to examine it, for a jagged opening in the roof let in +a good deal of light. + +Passing into this chamber, keeping a good watch out for pitfalls as he +moved on, and forgetting, in his excitement, that he might go so far that +he could not hear Maka, should he call, the captain saw to the right +another open doorway, on the other side of which was another chamber, +about the size of the one they had first entered. One side of this was a +good deal broken away, and through a fracture three or four feet wide the +light entered freely, as if from the open air. But when the two explorers +peered through the ragged aperture, they did not look into the open air, +but into another chamber, very much larger than the others, with high, +irregular walls, but with scarcely any roof, almost the whole of the +upper part being open to the sky. + +A mass of broken rocks on the floor of this apartment showed that the +roof had fallen in. The captain entered it and carefully examined it. A +portion of the floor was level and unobstructed by rocks, and in the +walls there was not the slightest sign of a doorway, except the one by +which he had entered from the adjoining chamber. + +"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Here is a suite of rooms. Isn't this grand? You +and I can have that first one, Maka can sleep in the hall to keep out +burglars, and Edna and Mrs. Cliff can have the middle room, and this open +place here can be their garden, where they can take tea and sew. These +rocks will make splendid tables and chairs." + +The captain stood, breathing hard, a sense of relief coming over him like +the warmth of fire. He had thought of what Ralph had said before the boy +had spoken. Here was safety from wild beasts--here was immunity from the +only danger he could imagine to those under his charge. It might be days +yet before the mate returned,--he knew the probable difficulties of +obtaining a vessel, even when a port should be reached,--but they would +be safe here from the attacks of ferocious animals, principally to be +feared in the night. They might well be thankful for such a good place as +this in which to await the arrival of succor, if succor came before their +water gave out. There were biscuits, salt meat, tea, and other things +enough to supply their wants for perhaps a week longer, provided the +three sailors did not return, but the supply of water, although they were +very economical of it, must give out in a day or two. "But," thought the +captain, "Rynders may be back before that, and, on the other hand, a +family of jaguars might scent us out to-night." + +"You are right, my boy," said he, speaking to Ralph. "Here is a suite of +rooms, and we will occupy them just as you have said. They are dry and +airy, and it will be far better for us to sleep here than out of doors." + +As they returned, Ralph was full of talk about the grand find. But the +captain made no answers to his remarks--his mind was busy contriving some +means of barricading the narrow entrance at night. + +When breakfast was over, and the entrance to the rocks had been made +cleaner and easier by the efforts of Maka and Ralph, the ladies were +conducted to the suite of rooms which Ralph had described in such glowing +terms. Both were filled with curiosity to see these apartments, +especially Miss Markham, who was fairly well read in the history of South +America, and who had already imagined that the vast mass of rock by which +they had camped might be in reality a temple of the ancient Peruvians, to +which the stone face was a sacred sentinel. But when the three apartments +had been thoroughly explored she was disappointed. + +"There is not a sign or architectural adornment, or anything that seems +to have the least religious significance, or significance of any sort," +she said. "These are nothing but three stone rooms, with their roofs more +or less broken in. They do not even suggest dungeons." + +As for Mrs. Cliff, she did not hesitate to say that she should prefer to +sleep in the open air. + +"It would be dreadful," she said, "to awaken in the night and think of +those great stone walls about me." + +Even Ralph remarked that, on second thought, he believed he would rather +sleep out of doors, for he liked to look up and see the stars before he +went to sleep. + +At first the captain was a little annoyed to find that this place of +safety, the discovery of which had given him such satisfaction and +relief, was looked upon with such disfavor by those who needed it so very +much, but then the thought came to him, "Why should they care about a +place of safety, when they have no idea of danger?" He did not now +hesitate to settle the matter in the most straightforward and honest way. +Having a place of refuge to offer, the time had come to speak of the +danger. And so, standing in the larger apartment, and addressing his +party, he told them of the fate he feared had overtaken the three +sailors, and how anxious he had been lest the same fate should come upon +some one or all of them. + +Now vanished every spark of opposition to the captain's proffered +lodgings. + +"If we should be here but one night longer," cried Mrs. Cliff, echoing +the captain's thought, "let us be safe." + +In the course of the day the two rooms were made as comfortable as +circumstances would allow with the blankets, shawls, and canvas which had +been brought on shore, and that night they all slept in the rock +chambers, the captain having made a barricade for the opening of the +narrow passage with the four oars, which he brought up from the boat. +Even should these be broken down by some wild beast, Captain Horn felt +that, with his two guns at the end of the narrow passage, he might defend +his party from the attacks of any of the savage animals of the country. + +The captain slept soundly that night, for he had had but a nap of an +hour or two on the previous morning, and, with Maka stretched in the +passage outside the door of his room, he knew that he would have timely +warning of danger, should any come. But Mrs. Cliff did not sleep well, +spending a large part of the night imagining the descent of active +carnivora down the lofty and perpendicular walls of the large adjoining +apartment. + +The next day was passed rather wearily by most of the party in looking +out for signs of a vessel with the returning mate. Ralph had made a flag +which he could wave from a high point near by, in case he should see a +sail, for it would be a great misfortune should Mr. Rynders pass them +without knowing it. + +To the captain, however, came a new and terrible anxiety. He had looked +into the water-keg, and saw that it held but a few quarts. It had not +lasted as long as he had expected, for this was a thirsty climate. + +The next night Mrs. Cliff slept, having been convinced that not even a +cat could come down those walls. The captain woke very early, and when he +went out he found, to his amazement, that the barricade had been removed, +and he could not see Maka. He thought at first that perhaps the negro had +gone down to the sea-shore to get some water for washing purposes, but an +hour passed, and Maka did not return. The whole party went down to the +beach, for the captain insisted upon all keeping together. They shouted, +they called, they did whatever they could to discover the lost African, +but all without success. + +They returned to camp, disheartened and depressed. This new loss had +something terrible in it. What it meant no one could conjecture. There +was no reason why Maka should run away, for there was no place to run to, +and it was impossible that any wild beast should have removed the oars +and carried off the negro. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ANOTHER NEW FACE + + +As the cook had gone, Mrs. Cliff and Miss Markham prepared breakfast, and +then they discovered how little water there was. + +There was something mysterious about the successive losses of his men +which pressed heavily upon the soul of Captain Horn, but the want of +water pressed still more heavily. Ralph had just asked his permission to +go down to the beach and bathe in the sea, saying that as he could not +have all the water he wanted to drink, it might make him feel better to +take a swim in plenty of water. The boy was not allowed to go so far from +camp by himself, but the captain could not help thinking how this poor +fellow would probably feel the next day if help had not arrived, and of +the sufferings of the others, which, by that time, would have begun. +Still, as before, he spoke hopefully, and the two women, as brave as he, +kept up good spirits, and although they each thought of the waterless +morrow, they said nothing about it. + +As for Ralph, he confidently expected the return of the men in the +course of the day, as he had done in the course of each preceding day, +and two or three times an hour he was at his post of observation, ready +to wave his flag. + +Even had he supposed that it would be of any use to go to look for Maka, +a certain superstitious feeling would have prevented the captain from +doing so. If he should go out, and not return, there would be little hope +for those two women and the boy. But he could not help feeling that +beyond the rocky plateau which stretched out into the sea to the +southward, and which must be at least two miles away, there might be seen +some signs of habitation, and, consequently, of a stream. If anything of +the sort could be seen, it might become absolutely necessary for the +party to make their way toward it, either by land or sea, no matter how +great the fatigue or the danger, and without regard to the fate of those +who had left camp before them. + +About half an hour afterwards, when the captain had mounted some rocks +near by, from which he thought he might get a view of the flat region to +the north on which he might discover the missing negro, Ralph, who was +looking seaward, gave a start, and then hurriedly called to his sister +and Mrs. Cliff, and pointed to the beach. There was the figure of a man +which might well be Maka, but, to their amazement and consternation, he +was running, followed, not far behind, by another man. The figures +rapidly approached, and it was soon seen that the first man was Maka, but +that the second figure was not one of the sailors who had left them. +Could he be pursuing Maka? What on earth did it mean? + +For some moments Ralph stood dumfounded, and then ran in the direction +in which the captain had gone, and called to him. + +At the sound of his voice the second figure stopped and turned as if he +were about to run, but Maka--they were sure it was Maka--seized him by +the arm and held him. Therefore this newcomer could not be pursuing their +man. As the two now came forward, Maka hurrying the other on, Ralph and +his two companions were amazed to see that this second man was also an +African, a negro very much like Maka, and as they drew nearer, the two +looked as if they might have been brothers. + +The captain had wandered farther than he had intended, but after several +shouts from Ralph he came running back, and reached the camp-ground just +as the two negroes arrived. + +At the sight of this tall man bounding toward him the strange negro +appeared to be seized with a wild terror. He broke away from Maka, and +ran first in this direction and then in that, and perceiving the cleft in +the face of the rock, he blindly rushed into it, as a rat would rush into +a hole. Instantly Maka was after him, and the two were lost to view. + +When the captain had been told of the strange thing which had happened, +he stood without a word. Another African! This was a puzzle too great for +his brain. + +"Are you sure it was not a native of these parts?" said he, directly. +"You know, they are very dark." + +"No!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff and her companions almost in the same breath, +"it was an African, exactly like Maka." + +At this moment a wild yell was heard from the interior of the rocks, +then another and another. Without waiting to consider anything, or hear +any more, the captain dashed into the narrow passage, Ralph close behind +him. They ran into the room in which they had slept. They looked on all +sides, but saw nothing. Again, far away, they heard another yell, and +they ran out again into the passage. + +This narrow entry, as the investigating Ralph had already discovered, +continued for a dozen yards past the doorway which led to the chambers, +but there it ended in a rocky wall about five feet high. Above this was +an aperture extending to the roof of the passage, but Ralph, having a +wholesome fear of snakes, had not cared to climb over the wall to see +what was beyond. + +When the captain and Ralph had reached the end of the passage, they heard +another cry, and there could be no doubt that it came through the +aperture by which they stood. Instantly Ralph scrambled to the top of the +wall, pushed himself head foremost through the opening, and came down on +the other side, partly on his hands and partly on his feet. Had the +captain been first, he would not have made such a rash leap, but now he +did not hesitate a second. He instantly followed the boy, taking care, +however, to let himself down on his feet. + +The passage on the other side of the dividing wall seemed to be the same +as that they had just left, although perhaps a little lighter. After +pushing on for a short distance, they found that the passage made a turn +to the right, and then in a few moments the captain and Ralph emerged +into open space. What sort of space it was they could not comprehend. + +"It seemed to me," said Ralph, afterwards, "as if I had fallen into the +sky at night. I was afraid to move, for fear I should tumble into +astronomical distances." + +The captain stared about him, apparently as much confounded by the +situation as was the boy. But his mind was quickly brought to the +consideration of things which he could understand. Almost at his feet was +Maka, lying on his face, his arms and head over the edge of what might be +a bank or a bottomless precipice, and yelling piteously. Making a step +toward him, the captain saw that he had hold of another man, several feet +below him, and that he could not pull him up. + +"Hold on tight, Maka," he cried, and then, taking hold of the African's +shoulders, he gave one mighty heave, lifted both men, and set them on +their feet beside him. + +Ralph would have willingly sacrificed the rest of his school-days to be +able to perform such a feat as that. But the Africans were small, and the +captain was wildly excited. + +Well might he be excited. He was wet! The strange man whom he had pulled +up had stumbled against him, and he was dripping with water. Ralph was by +the captain, tightly gripping his arm, and, without speaking, they both +stood gazing before them and around them. + +At their feet, stretching away in one direction, farther than they could +see, and what at first sight they had taken to be air, was a body of +water--a lake! Above them were rocks, and, as far as they could see to +the right, the water seemed to be overhung by a cavernous roof. But in +front of them, on the other side of the lake, which here did not seem to +be more than a hundred feet wide, there was a great upright opening in +the side of the cave, through which they could see the distant mountains +and a portion of the sky. + +"Water!" said Ralph, in a low tone, as if he had been speaking in church, +and then, letting go of the captain's arm, he began to examine the ledge, +but five or six feet wide, on which they stood. At his feet the water was +at least a yard below them, but a little distance on he saw that the +ledge shelved down to the surface of the lake, and in a moment he had +reached this spot, and, throwing himself down on his breast, he plunged +his face into the water and began drinking like a thirsty horse. +Presently he rose to his knees with a great sigh of satisfaction. + +"Oh, captain," he cried, "it is cold and delicious. I believe that in one +hour more I should have died of thirst." + +But the captain did not answer, nor did he move from the spot where he +stood. His thoughts whirled around in his mind like chaff in a +winnowing-machine. Water! A lake in the bosom of the rocks! Half an hour +ago he must have been standing over it as he scrambled up the hillside. +Visions that he had had of the morrow, when all their eyes should be +standing out of their faces, like the eyes of shipwrecked sailors he had +seen in boats, came back to him, and other visions of his mate and his +men toiling southward for perhaps a hundred miles without reaching a port +or a landing, and then the long, long delay before a vessel could be +procured. And here was water! + +Ralph stood beside him for an instant. "Captain," he cried, "I am +going to get a pail, and take some to Edna and Mrs. Cliff." And then +he was gone. + +Recalled thus to the present, the captain stepped back. He must do +something--he must speak to some one. He must take some advantage of this +wonderful, this overpowering discovery. But before he could bring his +mind down to its practical workings, Maka had clutched him by the coat. + +"Cap'n," he said, "I must tell you. I must speak it. I must tell you now, +quick. Wait! Don't go!" + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE RACKBIRDS + + +The new African was sitting on the ground, as far back from the edge of +the ledge as he could get, shivering and shaking, for the water was cold. +He had apparently reached the culmination and termination of his fright. +After his tumble into the water, which had happened because he had been +unable to stop in his mad flight, he had not nerve enough left to do +anything more, no matter what should appear to scare him, and there was +really no reason why he should be afraid of this big white man, who did +not even look at him or give him a thought. + +Maka's tale, which he told so rapidly and incoherently that he was +frequently obliged to repeat portions of it, was to the following effect: +He had thought a great deal about the scarcity of water, and it had +troubled him so that he could not sleep. What a dreadful thing it would +be for those poor ladies and the captain and the boy to die because they +had no water! His recollections of experiences in his native land made +him well understand that streams of water are to be looked for between +high ridges, and the idea forced itself upon him very strongly that on +the other side of the ridge to the south there might be a stream. He +knew the captain would not allow him to leave the camp if he asked +permission, and so he rose very early, even before it was light, and +going down to the shore, made his way along the beach--on the same route, +in fact, that the Englishman Davis had taken. He was a good deal +frightened sometimes, he said, by the waves, which dashed up as if they +would pull him into the water. When he reached the point of the rocky +ridge, he had no difficulty whatever in getting round it, as he could +easily keep away from the water by climbing over the rocks. + +He found that the land on the other side began to recede from the ocean, +and that there was a small sandy beach below him. This widened until it +reached another and smaller point of rock, and beyond this Maka believed +he would find the stream for which he was searching. And while he was +considering whether he should climb over it or wade around it, suddenly a +man jumped down from the rock, almost on top of him. This man fell down +on his back, and was at first so frightened that he did not try to move. +Maka's wits entirely deserted him, he said, and he did not know anything, +except that most likely he was going to die. + +But on looking at the man on the ground, he saw that he was an African +like himself, and in a moment he recognized him as one of his +fellow-slaves, with whom he had worked in Guiana, and also for a short +time on the Panama Canal. This made him think that perhaps he was not +going to die, and he went up to the other man and spoke to him. Then +the other man thought perhaps he was not going to die, and he sat up +and spoke. + +When the other man told his tale, Maka agreed with him that it would be +far better to die of thirst than to go on any farther to look for water, +and, turning, he ran back, followed by the other, and they never stopped +to speak to each other until they had rounded the great bluff, and were +making their way along the beach toward the camp. Then his fellow-African +told Maka a great deal more, and Maka told everything to the captain. + +The substance of the tale was this: A mile farther up the bay than Maka +had gone, there was a little stream that ran down the ravine. About a +quarter of a mile up this stream there was a spot where, it appeared from +the account, there must be a little level ground suitable for +habitations. Here were five or six huts, almost entirely surrounded by +rocks, and in these lived a dozen of the most dreadful men in the whole +world. This Maka assured the captain, his eyes wet with tears as he +spoke. It must truly be so, because the other African had told him things +which proved it. + +A little farther up the stream, on the other side of the ravine, there +was a cave, a very small one, and so high up in the face of the rock +that it could only be reached by a ladder. In this lived five black men, +members of the company of slaves who had gone from Guiana to the +isthmus, and who had been brought down there about a year before by two +wicked men, who had promised them well-paid work in a lovely country. +They had, however, been made actual slaves in this barren and doleful +place, and had since worked for the cruel men who had beguiled them +into a captivity worse than the slavery to which they had been +originally destined. + +Eight of them had come down from the isthmus, but, at various times +since, three of them had been killed by accident, or shot while trying to +run away. The hardships of these poor fellows were very great, and Maka's +voice shook as he spoke of them. They were kept in the cave all the time, +except when they were wanted for some sort of work, when a ladder was put +up by the side of the rock, and such as were required were called to come +down. Without a ladder no one could get in or out of the cave. One man +who had tried to slip down at night fell and broke his neck. + +The Africans were employed in cooking and other rough domestic or menial +services, and sometimes all of them were taken down to the shore of the +bay, where they saw small vessels, and they were employed in carrying +goods from one of these to another, and were also obliged to carry +provisions and heavy kegs up the ravine to the houses of the wicked men. +The one whom he had brought with him, Maka said, had that day escaped +from his captors. One of the Rackbirds, whom in some way the negro had +offended, had sworn to kill him before night, and feeling sure that this +threat would be carried out, the poor fellow had determined to run away, +no matter what the consequences. He had chosen the way by the ocean, in +order that he might jump in and drown himself if he found that he was +likely to be overtaken, but apparently his escape had not yet been +discovered. + +Maka was going on to tell something more about the wicked men, when +the captain interrupted him. "Can this friend of yours speak +English?" he asked. + +"Only one, two words," replied Maka. + +"Ask him if he knows the name of that band of men." + +"Yes," said Maka, presently, "he know, but he no can speak it." + +"Are they called the Rackbirds?" asked Captain Horn. + +The shivering negro had been listening attentively, and now half rose and +nodded his head violently, and then began to speak rapidly in African. + +"Yes," said Maka, "he says that is name they are called." + +At this moment Ralph appeared upon the scene, and the second African, +whose name was something like Mok, sprang to his feet as if he were about +to flee for his life. But as there was no place to flee to, except into +the water or into the arms of Ralph, he stood still, trembling. A few +feet to the left the shelf ended in a precipitous rock, and on the right, +as has been said, it gradually descended into the water, the space on +which the party stood not being more than twenty feet long and five or +six feet wide. When he saw Ralph, the captain suddenly stopped the +question he was about to ask, and said in an undertone to Maka: + +"Not a word to the boy. I will tell." + +"Oh," cried Ralph, "you do not know what a lively couple there is out +there. I found that my sister and Mrs. Cliff had made up their minds that +they would perish in about two days, and Mrs. Cliff had been making her +will with a lead-pencil, and now they are just as high up as they were +low down before. They would not let me come to get them some water, +though I kept telling them they never tasted anything like it in their +whole lives, because they wanted to hear everything about everything. My +sister will be wild to come to this lake before long, even if Mrs. Cliff +does not care to try it. And when you are ready to come to them, and +bring Maka, they want to know who that other colored man is, and how Maka +happened to find him. I truly believe their curiosity goes ahead of their +thirst." And so saying he went down to the lake to fill a pail he had +brought with him. + +The captain told Ralph to hurry back to the ladies, and that he would be +there in a few minutes. Captain Horn knew a great deal about the +Rackbirds. They were a band of desperadoes, many of them outlaws and +criminals. They had all come down from the isthmus, to which they had +been attracted by the great canal works, and after committing various +outrages and crimes, they had managed to get away without being shot or +hung. Captain Horn had frequently heard of them in the past year or two, +and it was generally supposed that they had some sort of rendezvous or +refuge on this coast, but there had been no effort made to seek them out. +He had frequently heard of crimes committed by them at points along the +coast, which showed that they had in their possession some sort of +vessel. At one time, when he had stopped at Lima, he had heard that there +was talk of the government's sending out a police or military expedition +against these outlaws, but he had never known of anything of the sort +being done. + +Everything that, from time to time, had been told Captain Horn about +the Rackbirds showed that they surpassed in cruelty and utter vileness +any other bandits, or even savages, of whom he had ever heard. Among +other news, he had been told that the former leader of the band, which +was supposed to be composed of men of many nationalities, was a French +Canadian, who had been murdered by his companions because, while robbing +a plantation in the interior,--they had frequently been known to cross +the desert and the mountains,--he had forborne to kill an old man +because as the trembling graybeard looked up at him he had reminded him +of his father. Some of the leading demons of the band determined that +they could not have such a fool as this for their leader, and he was +killed while asleep. + +Now the band was headed by a Spaniard, whose fiendishness was of a +sufficiently high order to satisfy the most exacting of his fellows. +These and other bits of news about the Rackbirds had been told by one of +the band who had escaped to Panama after the murder of the captain, +fearing that his own talents for baseness did not reach the average +necessary for a Rackbird. + +When he had made his landing from the wreck, Captain Horn never gave a +thought to the existence of this band of scoundrels. In fact, he had +supposed, when he had thought of the matter, that their rendezvous must +be far south of this point. + +But now, standing on that shelf of rock, with his eyes fixed on the water +without seeing it, he knew that the abode of this gang of wretches was +within a comparatively short distance of this spot in which he and his +companions had taken refuge, and he knew, too, that there was every +reason to suppose that some of them would soon be in pursuit of the negro +who had run away. + +Suddenly another dreadful thought struck him. Wild beasts, indeed! + +He turned quickly to Maka. "Does that man know anything about Davis and +the two sailors? Were they killed?" he asked. + +Maka shook his head and said that he had already asked his companion that +question, but Mok had said that he did not know. All he knew was that +those wicked men killed everybody they could kill. + +The captain shut his teeth tightly together. "That was it," he said. "I +could not see how it could be jaguars, although I could think of nothing +else. But these bloodthirsty human beasts! I see it now." He moved toward +the passage. "If that dirty wretch had not run away," he thought, "we +might have stayed undiscovered here until a vessel came. But they will +track his footsteps upon the sand--they are bound to do that." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THREE WILD BEASTS + + +When the captain joined the two ladies and the boy, who were impatiently +waiting for him on the plateau, he had made up his mind to tell them the +bad news. Terrible as was the necessity, it could not be helped. It was +very hard for him to meet those three radiant faces, and to hear them +talk about the water that had been discovered. + +"Now," said Mrs. Cliff, "I see no reason why we should not live here in +peace and comfort until Mr. Rynders chooses to come back for us. And I +have been thinking, captain, that if somebody--and I am sure Ralph would +be very good at it--could catch some fish, it would help out very much. +We are getting a little short of meat, but as for the other things, we +have enough to last for days and days. But we won't talk of that now. We +want to hear where that other colored man came from. Just look at him as +he sits there with Maka by those embers. One might think he would shiver +himself to pieces. Was he cast ashore from a wreck?" + +The captain stood silent for a moment, and then, briefly but plainly, and +glossing over the horrors of the situation as much as he could, he told +them about the Rackbirds. Not one of the little party interrupted the +captain's story, but their faces grew paler and paler as he proceeded. + +When he had finished, Mrs. Cliff burst into tears. "Captain," she cried, +"let us take the boat and row away from this dreadful place. We should +not lose a minute. Let us go now!" + +But the captain shook his head. "That would not do," he said. "On this +open sea they could easily see us. They have boats, and could row much +faster than we could." + +"Then," exclaimed the excited woman, "we could turn over the boat, and +all sink to the bottom together." + +To this the captain made no answer. "You must all get inside as quickly +as you can," he said. "Maka, you and that other fellow carry in +everything that has been left out here. Be quick. Go up, Ralph, and take +the flag down, and then run in." + +When the others had entered the narrow passage, the captain followed. +Fortunately, he had two guns, each double-barrelled, and if but a few of +the Rackbirds came in pursuit of the escaped negro, he might be a match +for them in that narrow passage. + +Shortly after the party had retired within the rocks, Miss Markham came +to the captain, who was standing at the door of the first apartment. +"Captain Horn," said she, "Mrs. Cliff is in a state of nervous fear, and +I have been trying to quiet her. Can you say anything that might give her +a little courage? Do you really think there is any chance of our escape +from this new danger?" + +"Yes," said the captain, "there is a chance. Rynders may come back +before the Rackbirds discover us, and even if two or three of them +find out our retreat, I may be able to dispose of them, and thus give +us a little more time. That is our only ground of hope. Those men are +bound to come here sooner or later, and everything depends upon the +return of Rynders." + +"But," urged Miss Markham, "perhaps they may not come so far as this +to look for the runaway. The waves may have washed out his footsteps +upon the sand. There may be no reason why they should come up to +this plateau." + +The captain smiled a very sombre smile. "If any of them should come this +way," he said, "it is possible that they might not think it worth while +to cease their search along the beach and come up to this particular +spot, were it not that our boat is down there. That is the same thing as +if we had put out a sign to tell them where we are. The boat is hauled up +on shore, but they could not fail to see it." + +"Captain," said Miss Markham, "do you think those Rackbirds killed the +three sailors?" + +"I am very much afraid of it," he answered. "If they did, they must have +known that these poor fellows were survivors of a shipwreck, and I +suppose they stole up behind them and shot them down or stabbed them. If +that were so, I wonder why they have not sooner been this way, looking +for the wreck, or, at least, for other unfortunates who may have reached +shore. I suppose, if they are making this sort of a search, they went +southward. But all that, of course, depends upon whether they really saw +Davis and the two other men. If they did not, they could have no reason +for supposing there were any shipwrecked people on the coast." + +"But that thought is of no use to us," said Miss Markham, her eyes upon +the ground, "for, of course, they will be coming after the black man. +Captain," she continued quickly, "is there anything I can do? I can +fire a gun." + +He looked at her for a moment. "That will not be necessary," he said. +"But there is something you can do. Have you a pistol?" + +"Yes," said she, "I have. I put it in my pocket as soon as I came into +the cave. Here it is." + +The captain took the pistol from her hands and examined it. "Five +chambers," he said, "all charged. Be very careful of it,"--handing it +back to her. "I will put your brother and Mrs. Cliff in your charge. At +the slightest hint of danger, you must keep together in the middle room. +I will stand between you and the rascals as long as I can, but if I am +killed, you must do what you think best." + +"I will," said she, and she put the pistol back in her pocket. + +The captain was very much encouraged by the brave talk of this young +woman, and it really seemed as if he now had some one to stand by him, +some one with whom he could even consult. + +"I have carefully examined this cavern," said the captain, after a +moment's pause, "and there are only two ways by which those men could +possibly get in. You need not be afraid that any one can scramble down +the walls of that farthest apartment. That could not be done, though they +might be able to fire upon any one in it. But in the middle room you +will be perfectly secure from gunshots. I shall keep Maka on guard a +little back from the entrance to the passage. He will lie on the ground, +and can hear footsteps long before they reach us. It is barely possible +that some of them might enter by the great cleft in the cave on the other +side of the lake, but in that case they would have to swim across, and I +shall station that new African on the ledge of which you have heard, and +if he sees any of them coming in that direction, I know he will give very +quick warning. I hardly think, though, that they would trust themselves +to be picked off while swimming." + +"And you?" said she. + +"Oh, I shall keep my eyes on all points," said he, "as far as I can. I +begin to feel a spirit of fight rising up within me. If I thought I could +keep them off until Rynders gets here, I almost wish they would then +come. I would like to kill a lot of them." + +"Suppose," said Edna Markham, after a moment's reflection, "that they +should see Mr. Rynders coming back, and should attack him." + +"I hardly think they would do that," replied the captain. "He will +probably come in a good-sized vessel, and I don't think they are the kind +of men for open battle. They are midnight sneaks and assassins. Now, I +advise all of you to go and get something to eat. It would be better for +us not to try to do any cooking, and so make a smoke." + +The captain did not wish to talk any more. Miss Markham's last remark had +put a new fear into his mind. Suppose the Rackbirds had lured Rynders and +his men on shore? Those sailors had but few arms among them. They had +not thought, when they left, that there would be any necessity for +defence against their fellow-beings. + +When Edna Markham told Mrs. Cliff what the captain had said about their +chances, and what he intended to do for their protection, the older woman +brightened up a good deal. + +"I have great faith in the captain," she declared, "and if he thinks it +is worth while to make a fight, I believe he will make a good one. If +they should be firing, and Mr. Rynders is approaching the coast, even if +it should be night, he would lose no time in getting to us." + +Toward the close of that afternoon three wild beasts came around the +point of the bluff and made their way northward along the beach. They +were ferocious creatures with shaggy hair and beards. Two of them carried +guns, and each of them had a knife in his belt. When they came to a broad +bit of beach above the reach of the waves, they were very much surprised +at some footsteps they saw. They were the tracks of two men, instead of +those of the one they were looking for. This discovery made them very +cautious. They were eager to kill the escaped African before he got far +enough away to give information of their retreat, for they knew not at +what time an armed force in search of them might approach the coast. But +they were very wary about running into danger. There was somebody with +that black fellow--somebody who wore boots. + +After a time they came to the boat. The minute they saw this, each +miscreant crouched suddenly upon the sand, and, with cocked guns, they +listened. Then, hearing nothing, they carefully examined the boat. It +was empty--there were not even oars in it. + +Looking about them, they saw a hollow behind some rocks. To this they +ran, crouching close to the ground, and there they sat and consulted. + +It was between two and three o'clock the next morning that Maka's eyes, +which had not closed for more than twenty hours, refused to keep open any +longer, and with his head on the hard, rocky ground of the passage in +which he lay, the poor African slept soundly. On the shelf at the edge of +the lake, the other African, Mok, sat crouched on his heels, his eyes +wide open. Whether he was asleep or not it would have been difficult to +determine, but if any one had appeared in the great cleft on the other +side of the lake, he would have sprung to his feet with a yell--his fear +of the Rackbirds was always awake. + +Inside the first apartment was Captain Horn, fast asleep, his two guns by +his side. He had kept watch until an hour before, but Ralph had insisted +upon taking his turn, and, as the captain knew he could not keep awake +always, he allowed the boy to take a short watch. But now Ralph was +leaning back against one of the walls, snoring evenly and steadily. In +the next room sat Edna Markham, wide awake. She knew of the arrangement +made with Ralph, and she knew the boy's healthy, sleepy nature, so that +when he went on watch she went on watch. + +Outside of the cave were three wild beasts. One of them was crouching on +the farther end of the plateau. Another, on the lower ground a little +below, stood, gun in hand, and barely visible in the starlight. A third, +barefooted, and in garments dingy as the night, and armed only with a +knife, crept softly toward the entrance of the cave. There he stopped +and listened. He could plainly hear the breathing of the sleepers. He +tried to separate these sounds one from another, so that he should be +able to determine how many persons were sleeping inside, but this he +could not do. Then his cat-like eyes, becoming more and more accustomed +to the darkness within the entrance, saw the round head of Maka close +upon the ground. + +The soul of the listening fiend laughed within him. "Pretty watchers they +are," he said to himself. "Not three hours after midnight, and they are +all snoring!" Then, as stealthily and as slowly as he had come, he +slipped away, and joining the others, they all glided through the +darkness down to the beach, and then set off at their best speed back to +their rendezvous. + +After they had discovered that there were people in the cave, they had +not thought of entering. They were not fully armed, and they did not +know how many persons were inside. But they knew one thing, and that was +that these shipwrecked people--for that was what they must be--kept a +very poor watch, and if the whole band came on the following night, the +affair would probably be settled with but very little trouble, no matter +how large the party in the cave might be. It was not necessary to look +any further for the escaped negro. Of course, he had been picked up by +these people. + +The three beasts reached their camp about daybreak, and everybody was +soon awakened and the tale was told. + +"It is a comfort," said the leader, lighting the stump of a black pipe +which he thrust under his great mustache, and speaking in his native +tongue, which some of them understood, and others did not, "to know that +to-night's work is all cut out for us. Now we can take it easy to-day, +and rest our bones. The order of the day is to keep close. No straggling, +nor wandering. Keep those four niggers up in the pigeonhole. We will do +our own cooking to-day, for we can't afford to run after any more of +them. Lucky the fellow who got away can't speak English, for he can't +tell anything about us, any more than if he was an ape. So snooze to-day, +if you want to. I will give you work to do for to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +GONE! + + +That morning, when the party in the cavern had had their breakfast, with +some hot tea made on a spiritlamp which Mrs. Cliff had brought, and had +looked cautiously out at the sunlit landscape, and the sea beyond, +without seeing any signs or hearing any sound of wicked men, there came +a feeling of relief. There was, indeed, no great ground for such a +feeling, but as the Rackbirds had not come the day before nor during the +night, perhaps they would not come at all. It might be they did not care +whether the black man ran away or not. But Captain Horn did not relax +his precautions. He would take no chances, and would keep up a watch day +and night. + +When, on the night before, the time had come for Ralph's watch to end, +his sister had awakened him, and when the captain, in his turn, was +aroused, he had not known that it was not the boy who had kept watch +during his sleep. + +In the course of the morning Mrs. Cliff and Edna, having been filled +with an intense desire to see the wonderful subterranean lake, had been +helped over the rocky barrier, and had stood at the edge of the water, +looking over to where it was lighted by the great chasm in the side of +the rocks, and endeavoring to peer into the solemn, cavernous distance +into which it extended on the right. Edna said nothing, but stood +gazing at the wonderful scene--the dark, mysterious waters before her, +the arched cavern above her, and the picture of the bright sky and the +tops of the distant mountains, framed by the sides of the great opening +which stretched itself upward like a cathedral window on the other side +of the lake. + +"It frightens me," said Mrs. Cliff. "To be sure, this water was our +salvation, for we should have been dead by this time, pirates or no +pirates, if we had not found it. But it is terrifying, for all that. We +do not know how far it stretches out into the blackness, and we do not +know how far down it goes. It may be thousands of feet deep, for all we +know. Don't go so near the edge, Ralph. It makes me shudder." + +When the little party had returned to the cavern, the captain and the two +ladies had a long talk about the lake. They all agreed that the existence +of this great reservoir of water was sufficient to account for the +greenness and fertility of the little plateau outside. Even if no +considerable amount of water trickled through the cracks in the rocks, +the moisture which arose from the surface of the water found its way out +into the surrounding atmosphere, and had nourished the bushes and vines. + +For some time they discussed their new-found water-supply, and they were +all glad to have something to think about and talk about besides the +great danger which overhung them. + +"If it could only have been the lake without the Rackbirds," said +Mrs. Cliff. + +"Let us consider that that is the state of the case," remarked Edna. "We +have the lake, and so far we have not had any Rackbirds." + +It was now nearly noon, and the captain looked around for Ralph, but did +not see him. He went to search for him, and finding that the boy had not +passed Maka, who was on watch, he concluded he must have gone to the +lake. There was no reason why the restless youth should not seek to +enliven his captivity by change of scene, but Captain Horn felt unwilling +to have any one in his charge out of sight for any length of time, so he +went to look for Ralph. + +He found no one on the rocky shelf. As there had been little reason to +expect a water attack at this hour, Mok had been relieved from guard for +a meal and a nap. But as Ralph was not here, where could he be? A second +glance, however, showed the captain the boy's clothes lying close by, +against the upright side of the rock, and at that moment he heard a cry. +His eyes flashed out toward the sound. There on the other side of the +water, sitting on a bit of projecting rock not far from the great opening +in the cave, he saw Ralph. At first the captain stood dumb with +amazement, and he was just about to call out, when Ralph shouted again. + +"I swam over," he said, "but I can't get back. I've got the cramps. +Can't you make some sort of a raft, and come over to me! The water's +awfully cold." + +Raft, indeed! There was no material or time for anything of the kind. If +the boy dropped off that bit of rock, he would be drowned, and the +captain did not hesitate a moment. Throwing aside his jacket and slipping +off his shoes, he let himself down into the water and struck out in +Ralph's direction. The water was, indeed, very cold, but the captain was +a strong swimmer, and it would not take him very long to cross the lake +at this point, where its width was not much more than a hundred feet. As +he neared the other side he did not make immediately for Ralph. He +thought it would be wise to rest a little before attempting to take the +boy back, and so he made for another point of rock, a little nearer the +opening, urging the boy, as he neared him, to sit firmly and keep up a +good heart. + +"All right," said Ralph. "I see what you are after. That is a +better place than this, and if you land there I think I can +scramble over to you." + +"Don't move," said the captain. "Sit where you are until I tell you +what to do." + +The captain had not made more than two or three strokes after speaking +when his right hand struck against something hard, just below the surface +of the water. He involuntarily grasped it. It was immovable, and it felt +like a tree, a few inches in diameter, standing perpendicularly in the +lake. Wondering what this could be, he took hold of it with his other +hand, and finding that it supported him, he let his feet drop, when, to +his surprise, he found that they rested on something with a rounded +surface, and the idea instantly came into his mind that it was a +submerged tree, the trunk lying horizontally, from which this upright +branch projected. This might be as good a resting-place as the rock to +which he had been going, and standing on it, with his head well out of +the water, he turned to speak to Ralph. At that moment his feet slipped +from the slimy object on which he stood, and he fell backward into the +water, still grasping, however, his upright support. But this did not +remain upright more than an instant, but yielded to his weight, and the +end of it which he held went down with him. As he sank, the captain, in +his first bewilderment, did not loosen his grasp upon what had been his +support, and which still prevented him from sinking rapidly. But in a +moment his senses came to him, he let go, and a few downward strokes +brought him to the surface of the water. Then he struck out for the point +of rock for which he had been aiming, and he was soon mounted upon it. + +"Hi!" shouted Ralph, who had been so frightened by the captain's sudden +sinking that he nearly fell off his narrow seat, "I thought something had +pulled you down." + +The captain did not explain. He was spluttering a little after his +involuntary dive, and he wanted to get back as soon as possible, and so +wasted no breath in words. In a few minutes he felt himself ready for the +return trip, and getting into the water, he swam to Ralph. Following the +directions given him, the boy let himself down into the water behind the +captain, and placed his hands upon the latter's hips, firmly grasping the +waistband of his trousers. Then urging the boy not to change his +position, nor attempt to take hold of him in any other way, the captain +struck out across the lake, Ralph easily floating behind him. + +When they stood upon the shelf on the other side, and Ralph, having +rubbed himself down with the captain's jacket, put on his clothes, +Captain Horn rather sternly inquired of him how he came to do such a +foolish and wicked thing as to run the risk of drowning himself in the +lake at a time when his sister and his friends had already trouble enough +on their minds. + +Ralph was sorry, of course, that the captain had to come after him, and +get himself wet, but he explained that he wanted to do something for the +good of the party, and it had struck him that it would be a very sensible +thing to investigate the opening on the other side of the lake. If he +could get out of that great gap, he might find some way of climbing out +over the top of the rocks and get to the place where his flag was, and +then, if he saw Mr. Rynders coming, he could wave it. It would be a great +thing if the people in the vessel which they all expected should see that +flag the moment they came in sight of the coast. They might get to shore +an hour or two sooner than if they had not seen it. + +"If the cramp in this leg had kept off five minutes longer," he said, "I +would have reached that big hole, and then, if I could have climbed over +the top of the rocks, I could have come down on the other side to the +front door, and asked Maka to get me my clothes, so I would not have had +to swim back at all." + +"That will do," said the captain. "And now that you are dressed, you can +go inside and get me that woollen shirt and trousers that I use for a +pillow, for I must take off these wet things." + +When the boy came back with the clothes, the captain told him that he +need not say anything to his sister or Mrs. Cliff about the great danger +he had been in, but before he had finished his injunction Ralph +interrupted him. + +"Oh, I have told them that already," said he. "They wanted to know where +I had been, and it did not take a minute to tell them what a splendid +swimmer you are, and how you came over after me without taking as much as +two seconds to think about it. And I let them know, too, that it was a +mighty dangerous thing for you to do. If I had been one of those fellows +who were not used to the water, and who would grab hold of any one who +came to save them, we might both have gone to the bottom together." + +The captain smiled grimly. "It is hard to get ahead of a boy," he said +to himself. + +It was late that afternoon when Captain Horn, with Ralph and the two +ladies, were standing on the rocks in the inner apartment, trying to +persuade themselves that they were having a cosey cup of tea together, +when suddenly a scrambling sound of footsteps was heard, and Maka dashed +through the two adjoining apartments and appeared before them. Instantly +the captain was on his feet, his gun, which had been lying beside him, in +his hand. Up sprang the others, mute, with surprise and fear on their +faces. Maka, who was in a state of great excitement, and seemed unable to +speak, gasped out the one word, "Gone!" + +"What do you mean?" cried the captain. + +Maka ran back toward the passage, and pointed inward. Instantly the +captain conjectured what he meant. Mok, the second African, had been +stationed to watch the lake approach, and he had deserted! Now the hot +thought flashed upon the captain that the rascal had been a spy. The +Rackbirds had known that there were shipwrecked people in these caves. +How could they help knowing it, if they had killed Davis and the others? +But, cowardly hounds as they were, they had been afraid to attack the +place until they knew how many people were in it, what arms they had, and +in what way the place could best be assailed. This Mok had found out +everything. If the boy could swim across the lake, that black man could +do it, and he had gone out through the cleft, and was probably now making +his report to the gang. + +All this flashed through the captain's brain in a few seconds. He set his +teeth together. He was ashamed that he had allowed himself to be so +tricked. That African, probably one of the gang, and able to speak +English, should have been kept a prisoner. What a fool he had been to +treat the black-hearted and black-bodied wretch as one of themselves, and +actually to put him on guard! + +Of course, it was of no use to go to look for him, and the captain had +put down his gun, and was just about to turn to speak to the others, when +Maka seized him by the coat. The negro seemed wildly excited and still +unable to speak. But it was plain that he wanted the captain to follow +him along the passage. There was no use in asking questions, and the +captain followed, and behind him came Ralph, Edna, and Mrs. Cliff. + +Maka was about to climb over the rocky partition which divided the +passage, but the captain stopped him. "Stay here," said he, "and watch +the passage. I will see what is the matter over there." And then he and +Ralph jumped over and hurried to the lake. As they came out on the little +platform of rock, on which the evening light, coming through the great; +cleft, still rendered objects visible, they saw Mok crouching on his +heels, his eyes wide open as usual. + +The captain was stupefied. That African not gone! If it were not he, +who had gone? + +Then the captain felt a tight clutch upon his arm, and Ralph pulled +him around. Casting eyes outward, the captain saw that it was the lake +that had gone! + +As he and Ralph stood there, stupefied and staring, they saw, by the dim +light which came through the opening on the other side of the cavern, a +great empty rocky basin. The bottom of this, some fifteen or twenty feet +below them, wet and shining, with pools of water here and there, was +plainly visible in the space between them and the open cleft, but farther +on all was dark. There was every reason to suppose, however, that all the +water had gone from the lake. Why or how this had happened, they did not +even ask themselves. They simply stood and stared. + +In a few minutes they were joined by Edna, who had become so anxious at +their absence and silence that she had clambered over the wall, and came +running to them. By the time she reached them it was much darker than +when they had arrived, but she could see that the lake had gone. That +was enough. + +"What do you suppose it means?" she said presently. "Are we over +some awful subterranean cavern in which things sink out of sight in +an instant?" + +"It is absolutely unaccountable," said the captain. "But we must go back +to Mrs. Cliff. I hear her calling. And if Maka has come to his senses, +perhaps he can tell us something." + +But Maka had very little to tell. To the captain's questions he could +only say that a little while before, Mok had come running to him, and +told him that, being thirsty, he had gone down to the edge of the lake to +get a drink, and found that there was no water, only a great hole, and +then he had run to tell Maka, and when Maka had gone back with him, so +greatly surprised that he had deserted his post without thinking about +it, he found that what Mok had said was true, and that there was nothing +there but a great black hole. Mok must have been asleep when the water +went away, but it was gone, and that was all he knew about it. + +There was something so weird and mysterious about this absolute and +sudden disappearance of this great body of water that Mrs. Cliff became +very nervous and frightened. + +"This is a temple of the devil," she said, "and that is his face outside. +You do not know what may happen next. This rocky floor on which we stand +may give way, and we may all go down into unknown depths. I can't think +of staying here another minute. It is dark now. Let us slip away down to +the beach, and take the boat, and row away from this horrible region +where human devils and every other kind seem to own the country." + +"Oh, no," said the captain, "we can't consider such wild schemes as that. +I have been thinking that perhaps there may be some sort of a tide in +this lake, and in the morning we may find the water just as it was. And, +at any rate, it has not entirely deserted us, for in these pools at the +bottom we can find water enough for us to drink." + +"I suppose I would not mind such things so much," said Mrs. Cliff, "if +they happened out of doors. But being shut up in this cave with magical +lakes, and expecting every minute to see a lot of bloodthirsty pirates +bursting in upon us, is enough to shake the nerves of anybody." + +"Captain," said Ralph, "I suppose you will not now object to letting me +go in the morning to explore that opening. I can walk across the bottom +of the lake without any danger, you know." + +"Don't you try to do anything of the kind," said the captain, "without my +permission." + +"No, indeed!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "Supposing the water were to suddenly +rise just as you were half-way across. Now that I think of it, there are +springs and bodies of water which rise and fall this way, some of them in +our own Western country, but none of them are as large as this. What if +it should rise in the night and flood the cave while we are asleep?" + +"Why, dear Mrs. Cliff," said Edna, "I am not afraid of the water's rising +or of the earth's sinking. Don't let us frighten ourselves with +imaginations like that. Perhaps there may not even be any real thing to +be afraid of, but if there should be, let us keep courage for that." + +The disappearance of the lake gave the captain an uneasiness of which the +others had not thought. He saw it would be comparatively easy for the +Rackbirds to gain access to the place through the cleft in the eastern +wall of the lake cavern. If they should discover that aperture, the +cavern might be attacked from the rear and the front at the same time, +and then the captain feared his guns would not much avail. + +Of course, during the darkness which would soon prevail there was no +reason to expect a rear attack, and the captain satisfied himself with +leaving Mok at his former post, with instructions to give the alarm if +he heard the slightest sound, and put Maka, as before, in the outer +passage. As for himself, he took an early nap in the evening, because +at the very first break of dawn it would be necessary for him to be on +the alert. + +He did not know how much he had depended upon the lake as a barrier of +defence, but now that it had gone, he felt that the dangers which +threatened them from the Rackbirds were doubled. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE ALARM + + +It was still dark when the captain woke, and he struck a match to look at +his watch. It was three o'clock. + +"Is that you, captain?" said a voice from the next room. "Is it time for +you to begin watch again?" + +"Yes," said the captain, "it is about time. How do you happen to be +awake, Miss Markham? Ralph! I believe the boy is snoring." + +"Of course he is," said Edna, speaking in a low voice. "We cannot expect +such a boy to keep awake, and so I have been on watch. It was easy enough +for me to keep my eyes open." + +"It is too bad," said the captain, and then, listening for a moment, he +said: "I truly believe that Maka is snoring, too, and as for that black +fellow over there, I suspect that he sleeps all the time. Miss Markham, +you have been the only person awake." + +"Why shouldn't I be?" said she. "I am sure that a woman is just as good +as a man for keeping watch." + +"If they should come," thought the captain, as he again sat in the dark, +"I must not try to fight them in the passage. That would have been my +best chance, but now some of them might pick me off from behind. No, I +must fight them in this chamber. I can put everybody else in the middle +apartment. Perhaps before to-morrow night it might be well to bring some +of those loose rocks here and build a barricade. I wish I had thought of +that before." + +The captain sat and listened and thought. His listening brought him no +return, and his thinking brought him too much. The most mournful ideas of +what might happen if more than two or three of the desperadoes attacked +the place crowded into his mind. If they came, they came to rob, and they +were men who left behind them no living witnesses of their whereabouts or +their crimes. And if two or three should come, and be repulsed, it would +not be long before the rest would arrive. In fact, the only real hope +they had was founded on the early return of Rynders--that is, if Rynders +and his men were living. + +The captain waited and listened, but nothing came but daylight. As +soon as he was able to discern objects outside the opening on the +plateau, he awoke Maka, and, leaving him on guard, he made his way to +the lake cavern. + +Here the light was beginning to come freely through the chasm which faced +nearly east. Mok was sitting with his eyes open, and showed that he was +alive by a little grunt when the captain approached. If there were such a +thing here as a subterranean tide, it had not risen. There was no water +where the lake had been. + +Gazing across the empty basin, the captain felt a strong desire to go +over, climb up to the opening, and discover whether or not the cavern +was accessible on that side. It would be very important for him to know +this, and it would not take long for him to make an investigation. One +side of the rocky shelf which has been before mentioned sloped down to +the lake, and the captain was just about to descend this when he heard a +cry from the passage, and, at the same moment, a shout from Mok which +seemed to be in answer to it. Instantly the captain turned and dashed +into the passage, and, leaping over the barrier, found Maka standing near +the entrance. + +As soon as the negro saw him, he began to beckon wildly for him to come +on. But there was no need now of keeping quiet and beckoning. The first +shout had aroused everybody inside, and the two ladies and Ralph were +already in the passage. The captain, however, made them keep back, while +he and Maka, on their hands and knees, crawled toward the outer opening. +From this point one could see over the plateau, and the uneven ground +beyond, down to the beach and the sea; but there was still so little +light upon this western slope that at first the captain could not see +anything noticeable in the direction in which Maka was pointing. But in a +few moments his mariner eyes asserted themselves, and he saw some black +spots on the strip of beach, which seemed to move. Then he knew they were +moving, and moving toward him--coming up to the cave! They were men! + +"Sit here," said the captain to Maka, and then, with his gun in his hand, +he rushed back to the rest of the party. + +"They seem to be coming," said he, speaking as calmly as he could, "but +we have discovered them in good time, and I shall have some shots at +them before they reach here. Let us hope that they will never get here at +all. You two," said he to Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, "are to be under command +of Miss Markham. You must do exactly what she tells you to." Then, +turning to Edna, he said, "You have your pistol ready?" + +"Yes," said she, "I am ready." + +Without another word, the captain took his other gun and all his +ammunition, and went back into the passage. Here he found Mok, who had +come to see what was the matter. Motioning the negro to go back to his +post, the captain, with his loaded guns, went again to the entrance. +Looking out, he could now plainly see the men. There were four of them. +It was lighter down toward the sea, for the rocks still threw a heavy +shadow over the plateau. The sight sent a thrill of brave excitement +through the captain. + +"If they come in squads of four," thought he, "I may be a match for them. +They can't see me, and I can see them. If I could trust Maka to load a +gun, I would have a better chance, but if I could pick off two, or even +one, that might stop the others and give me time to reload. Come on, you +black-hearted scoundrels," he muttered through his teeth, as he knelt +outside the cave, one gun partly raised, and the other on the ground +beside him. "If I could only know that none of your band could come in at +that hole in the back of the cave, I'd call the odds even." + +The dawn grew brighter, and the four men drew nearer. They came slowly, +one considerably ahead of the others. Two or three times they stopped and +appeared to be consulting, and then again moved slowly forward straight +toward the plateau. + +When the leading man was nearly within gunshot, the captain's face began +to burn, and his pulses to throb hard and fast. + +"The sooner I pick off the head one," he thought, "the better chance I +have at the others." + +He brought his gun to his shoulder, and was slowly lowering the barrel to +the line of aim, when suddenly something like a great black beast rushed +past him, pushing up his arm and nearly toppling him over. It came from +the cave, and in a second it was out on the plateau. Then it gave a leap +upward, and rushed down toward the sea. Utterly astounded, the captain +steadied himself and turned to Maka. + +"What was that?" he exclaimed. + +The African was on his feet, his body bent forward, his eyes peering out +into the distance. + +"Mok!" said he. "Look! Look!" + +It was Mok who had rushed out of the cave. He was running toward the four +men. He reached them, he threw up his arms, he sprang upon the first man. +Then he left him, and jumped upon the others. Then Maka gave a little cry +and sprang forward, but in the same instant the captain seized him. + +"Stop!" he cried. "What is it?" + +The African shouted: "Mok's people! Mok knowed them. Look! +Look--see! Mok!" + +The party was now near enough and the day was bright enough for the +captain to see that on the lower ground beyond the plateau there were +five black men in a state of mad excitement. He could hear them jabbering +away at a great rate. So far as he could discover, they were all +unarmed, and as they stood there gesticulating, the captain might have +shot them down in a bunch, if he had chosen. + +"Go," said he to Maka, "go down there and see what it all means." + +The captain now stepped back into the passage. He could see Miss Markham +and Ralph peering out of the doorway of the first compartment. + +"There does not seem to be any danger so far," said he. "Some more +Africans have turned up. Maka has gone to meet them. We shall find out +about them in a few minutes," and he turned back to the entrance. + +He saw that the six black fellows were coming toward him, and, as he had +thought, they carried no guns. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +AN AMAZING NARRATION + + +When the captain had gone out again into the open air, he was followed by +the rest of the party, for, if there were no danger, they all wanted to +see what was to be seen. What they saw was a party of six black men on +the plateau, Maka in the lead. There could be no doubt that the newcomers +were the remainder of the party of Africans who had been enslaved by the +Rackbirds, and the desire of the captain and his companions to know how +they had got away, and what news they brought, was most intense. + +Maka now hurried forward, leading one of the strangers. "Great things +they tell," said he. "This Cheditafa. He speak English good as me. He +tell you." + +"The first thing I want," cried the captain, "is some news of those +Rackbirds. Have they found we are here? Will they be coming after these +men, or have they gone off somewhere else? Tell me this, and be quick." + +"Oh, yes," cried Maka, "they found out we here. But Cheditafa tell +you--he tell you everything. Great things!" + +"Very well, then," said the captain. "Let him begin and be quick +about it." + +The appearance of Cheditafa was quite as miserable as that of poor Mok, +but his countenance was much more intelligent, and his English, although +very much broken, was better even than Maka's, and he was able to make +himself perfectly understood. He spoke briefly, and this is the substance +of his story: + +About the middle of the afternoon of the day before, a wonderful thing +happened. The Rackbirds had had their dinner, which they had cooked +themselves, and they were all lying down in their huts or in the shadows +of the rocks, either asleep, or smoking and telling stories. Cheditafa +knew why they were resting. The Rackbirds had no idea that he understood +English, for he had been careful to keep this fact from them after he +found out what sort of men they were,--and this knowledge had come very +soon to him,--and they spoke freely before him. He had heard some of the +men who had been out looking for Mok, and who had come back early that +morning, tell about some shipwrecked people in a cave up the coast, and +had heard all the plans which had been made for the attack upon them +during the night. He also knew why he and his fellows had been cooped up +in the cave in the rock in which they lived, all that day, and had not +been allowed to come down and do any work. + +They were lying huddled in their little cave, feeling very hungry and +miserable, and whispering together,--for if they spoke out or made any +noise, one of the men below would be likely to fire a load of shot at +them,--when suddenly a strange thing happened. + +They heard a great roar like a thousand bulls, which came from the +higher part of the ravine, and peeping out, they saw what seemed like a +wall of rock stretching across the little valley. But in a second they +saw it was not rock--it was water, and before they could take two breaths +it had reached them. Then it passed on, and they saw only the surface of +a furious and raging stream, the waves curling and dashing over each +other, and reaching almost up to the floor of their cave. + +They were so frightened that they pressed back as far as they could get, +and even tried to climb up the sides of the rocky cavity, so fearful were +they that the water would dash in upon them. But the raging flood roared +and surged outside, and none of it came into their cave. Then the sound +of it became not quite so loud, and grew less and less. But still +Cheditafa and his companions were so frightened and so startled by this +awful thing, happening so suddenly, as if it had been magic, that it was +some time--he did not know how long--before they lifted their faces from +the rocks against which they were pressing them. + +Then Cheditafa crept forward and looked out. The great waves and the +roaring water were gone. There was no water to be seen, except the brook +which always ran at the bottom of the ravine, and which now seemed not +very much bigger than it had been that morning. + +But the little brook was all there was in the ravine, except the bare +rocks, wet and glistening. There were no huts, no Rackbirds, nothing. +Even the vines and bushes which had been growing up the sides of the +stream were all gone. Not a weed, not a stick, not a clod of earth, was +left--nothing but a great, rocky ravine, washed bare and clean. + +Edna Markham stepped suddenly forward and seized the captain by the arm. +"It was the lake," she cried. "The lake swept down that ravine!" + +"Yes," said the captain, "it must have been. But listen--let us hear +more. Go on," he said to Cheditafa, who proceeded to tell how he and his +companions looked out for a long time, but they saw nor heard nothing of +any living creature. It would be easy enough for anybody to come back up +the ravine, but nobody came. + +They had now grown so hungry that they could have almost eaten each +other. They felt they must get out of the cave and go to look for food. +It would be better to be shot than to sit there and starve. + +Then they devised a plan by which they could get down. The smallest man +got out of the cave and let himself hang, holding to the outer edge of +the floor with his hands. Then another man put his feet over the edge of +the rock, and let the hanging man take hold of them. The other two each +seized an arm of the second man, and lowered the two down as far as they +could reach. When they had done this, the bottom man dropped, and did not +hurt himself. Then they had to pull up the second man, for the fall would +have been too great for him. + +After that they had to wait a long time, while the man who had got out +went to look for something by which the others could help themselves +down--the ladder they had used having been carried away with everything +else. After going a good way down the ravine to a place where it grew +much wider, with the walls lower, he found things that had been thrown up +on the sides, and among these was the trunk of a young tree, which, +after a great deal of hard work, he brought back to the cave, and by the +help of this they all scrambled down. + +They hurried down the ravine, and as they approached the lower part, +where it became wider before opening into the little bay into which the +stream ran, they found that the flood, as it had grown shallower and +spread itself out, had left here and there various things which it had +brought down from the camp--bits of the huts, articles of clothing, and +after a while they came to a Rackbird, quite dead, and hanging upon a +point of projecting rock. Farther on they found two or three more bodies +stranded, and later in the day some Rackbirds who had been washed out to +sea came back with the tide, and were found upon the beach. It was +impossible, Cheditafa said, for any of them to have escaped from that +raging torrent, which hurled them against the rocks as it carried them +down to the sea. + +But the little party of hungry Africans did not stop to examine anything +which had been left. What they wanted was something to eat, and they +knew where to get it. About a quarter of a mile back from the beach was +the storehouse of the Rackbirds, a sort of cellar which they had made in +a sand-hill. As the Africans had carried the stores over from the vessel +which had brought them, and had afterwards taken to the camp such +supplies as were needed from time to time, of course they knew where to +find them, and they lost no time in making a hearty meal. + +According to Cheditafa's earnest assertions, they had never eaten as +they had eaten then. He believed that the reason they had been left +without food was that the Rackbirds were too proud to wait on black +men, and had concluded to let them suffer until they had returned from +their expedition, and the negroes could be let down to attend to their +own wants. + +After they had eaten, the Africans went to a spot which commanded a view +up the ravine, as well as the whole of the bay, and there they hid +themselves, and watched as long as it was daylight, so that if any of +the Rackbirds had escaped they could see them. But they saw nothing, and +being very anxious to find good white people who would take care of +them, they started out before dawn that morning to look for the +shipwrecked party about whom Cheditafa had heard the Rackbirds talking, +and with whom they hoped to find their companion Mok, and thus it was +that they were here. + +"And those men were coming to attack us last night?" asked the captain. +"You are sure of that?" + +"Yes," said Cheditafa, "it was last night. They not know how many you +are, and all were coming." + +"And some of them had already been here?" + +"Yes," replied the African. "One day before, three went out to look for +Mok, and they found his track and more track, and they waited in the +black darkness, and then came here, and they heard you all sleep and +snore that night. They were to come again, and if they--" + +"And yesterday afternoon the lake came down and swept them out of +existence!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES + + +Captain Horn had heard the story of Cheditafa, he walked away from the +rest of the party, and stood, his eyes upon the ground, still +mechanically holding his gun. He now knew that the great danger he had +feared had been a real one, and far greater than he had imagined. A +systematic attack by all the Rackbirds would have swept away his single +resistance as the waters had swept them and their camp away. As to parley +or compromise with those wretches, he knew that it would have been +useless to think of it. They allowed no one to go forth from their hands +to reveal the place of their rendezvous. + +But although he was able to appreciate at its full force the danger with +which they had been threatened, his soul could not immediately adjust +itself to the new conditions. It had been pressed down so far that it +could not easily rise again. He felt that he must make himself believe in +the relief which had come to them, and, turning sharply, he called out to +Cheditafa: + +"Man, since you have been in this part of the country, have you ever +seen or heard of any wild beasts here? Are there any jaguars or pumas?" + +The African shook his head. "No, no," said he, "no wild beasts. Everybody +sleep out of doors. No think of beasts--no snakes." + +The captain dropped his gun upon the ground. "Miss Markham!" he +exclaimed. "Mrs. Cliff! I truly believe we are out of all +danger--that we--" + +But the two ladies had gone inside, and heard him not. They appreciated +to the full the danger from which they had been delivered. Ralph, too, +had gone. The captain saw him on his post of observation, jamming the end +of his flagpole down between two rocks. + +"Hello!" cried the boy, seeing the captain looking up at him, "we might +as well have this flying here all the time. There is nobody to hurt us +now, and we want people to know where we are." + +The captain walked by the little group of Africans, who were sitting on +the ground, talking in their native tongue, and entered the passage. He +climbed over the barrier, and went to the lake. He did not wish to talk +to anybody, but he felt that he must do something, and now was a good +time to carry out his previous intention to cross over the empty bed of +the lake and to look out of the opening on the other side. There was no +need now to do this for purposes of vigilance, but he thought that if he +could get out on the other side of the cave he might discover some clew +to the disappearance of the lake. + +He had nearly crossed the lake bottom, when suddenly he stopped, gazing +at something which stood before him, and which was doubtless the object +he had struck when swimming. The sun was now high and the cave well +lighted, and with a most eager interest the captain examined the slimy +and curious object on which his feet had rested when it was submerged, +and from which he had fallen. It was not the horizontal trunk of a tree +with a branch projecting from it at right angles. It was nothing that was +natural or had grown. It was plainly the work of man. It was a machine. + +At first the captain thought it was made of wood, but afterwards he +believed it to be of metal of some sort. The horizontal portion of it +was a great cylinder, so near the bottom of the lake that he could +almost touch it with his hands, and it was supported by a massive +framework. From this projected a long limb or bar, which was now almost +horizontal, but which the captain believed to be the thick rod which had +stood upright when he clutched it, and which had yielded to his weight +and had gone down with him. He knew now what it was: it was a handle +that had turned. + +He hurried to the other end of the huge machine, where it rested against +the rocky wall of the cavern. There he saw in the shadow, but plain +enough now that he was near it, a circular aperture, a yard or more in +diameter. Inside of this was something which looked like a solid wheel, +very thick, and standing upright in the opening. It was a valve. The +captain stepped back and gazed for some minutes at this great machine +which the disappearance of the water had revealed. It was easy for him to +comprehend it now. + +"When I slipped and sank," he said to himself, "I pulled down that lever, +and I opened the water-gate and let out the lake." + +The captain was a man whose mind was perfectly capable of appreciating +novel and strange impressions, but with him such impressions always +connected themselves, in one way or another, with action: he could not +stand and wonder at the wonderful which had happened--it always suggested +something he must do. What he now wanted to do was to climb up to the +great aperture which lighted the cavern, and see what was outside. He +could not understand how the lake could have gone from its basin without +the sound of the rushing waters being heard by any one of the party. + +With some difficulty, he climbed up to the cleft and got outside. Here he +had a much better view of the topography of the place than he had yet +been able to obtain. So far as he had explored, his view toward the +interior of the country had been impeded by rocks and hills. Here he had +a clear view from the mountains to the sea, and the ridge which he had +before seen to the southward he could now examine to greater advantage. +It was this long chain of rocks which had concealed them from their +enemies, and on the other side of which must be the ravine in which the +Rackbirds had made their camp. + +Immediately below the captain was a little gorge, not very deep nor wide, +and from its general trend toward the east and south the captain was sure +that it formed the upper part of the ravine of the Rackbirds. At the +bottom of it there trickled a little stream. To the northeast ran another +line of low rock, which lost itself in the distance before it blended +into the mountains, and at the foot of this must run the stream which had +fed the lake. + +In their search for water, game, or fellow-beings, no one had climbed +these desolate rocks, apparently dry and barren. But still the captain +was puzzled as to the way the water had gone out of the lake. He did not +believe that it had flowed through the ravine below. There were no signs +that there had been a flood down there. Little vines and plants were +growing in chinks of the rocks close to the water. And, moreover, had a +vast deluge rushed out almost beneath the opening which lighted the cave, +it must have been heard by some of the party. He concluded, therefore, +that the water had escaped through a subterranean channel below the rocks +from which he looked down. + +He climbed down the sides of the gorge, and walked along its bottom for +two or three hundred yards, until around a jutting point of rock he saw +that the sides of the defile separated for a considerable distance, and +then, coming together again below, formed a sort of amphitheatre. The +bottom of this was a considerable distance below him, and he did not +descend into it, but he saw plainly that it had recently contained water, +for pools and puddles were to be seen everywhere. + +At the other end of it, where the rocks again approached each other, was +probably a precipice. After a few minutes' cogitation, Captain Horn felt +sure that he understood the whole matter: a subway from the lake led to +this amphitheatre, and thus there had been no audible rush of the waters +until they reached this point, where they poured in and filled this great +basin, the lower end of which was probably stopped up by accumulations of +sand and deposits, which even in that country of scant vegetation had +accumulated in the course of years. When the waters of the lake had +rushed into the amphitheatre, this natural dam had held them for a while, +but then, giving way before the great pressure, the whole body of water +had suddenly rushed down the ravine to the sea. + +"Yes," said the captain, "now I understand how it happened that although +I opened the valve at noon, the water did not reach the Rackbirds until +some hours later, and then it came suddenly and all at once, which would +not have been the case had it flowed steadily from the beginning through +the outlet made for it." + +When the captain had returned and reported his discoveries, and he and +his party had finished their noonday meal, which they ate outside on the +plateau, with the fire burning and six servants to wait on them, Mrs. +Cliff said: + +"And now, captain, what are we going to do? Now that our danger is past, +I suppose the best thing for us is to stay here in quiet and +thankfulness, and wait for Mr. Rynders. But, with the provisions we have, +we can't wait very long. When there were but five of us, we might have +made the food hold out for a day or two longer, but now that we are ten, +we shall soon be without anything to eat." + +"I have been talking to Maka about that," said the captain, "and he says +that Cheditafa reports all sorts of necessary things in the Rackbirds' +storehouse, and he proposes that he and the rest of the black fellows go +down there and bring us some supplies. They are used to carrying these +stores, and six of them can bring us enough to last a good while. Now +that everything is safe over there, I can see that Maka is very anxious +to go, and, in fact, I would like to go myself. But although there +doesn't seem to be any danger at present, I do not want to leave you." + +"As for me," said Miss Markham, "I want to go there. There is nothing I +like better than exploring." + +"That's to my taste, too," said the captain, "but it will be better for +us to wait here and see what Maka has to say when he gets back. Perhaps, +if Mr. Rynders doesn't turn up pretty soon, we will all make a trip down +there. Where is Ralph? I don't want him to go with the men." + +"He is up there on his lookout, as he calls it," said his sister, "with +his spy-glass." + +"Very good," said the captain. "I will send the men off immediately. Maka +wants to go now, and they can come back by the light of the young moon. +When they have loads to carry, they like to travel at night. We shall +have to get our own supper, and that will give Ralph something to do." + +The party of Africans had not gone half-way from the plateau to the beach +before they were discovered by the boy on the outlook rock, and he came +rushing down to report that the darkies were running away. When he was +told the business on which they had gone, he was very much disappointed +that he was not allowed to go with them, and, considerably out of temper, +retired to his post of observation, where, as it appeared, he was +dividing his time between the discovery of distant specks on the horizon +line of the ocean and imaginary jaguars and pumas on the foot-hills. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A NEW HEMISPHERE + + +With a tin pail in his hand, the captain now went to the cavern of the +lake. He wished very much to procure some better water than the last that +had been brought, and which Mok must have dipped up from a very shallow +puddle. It was possible, the captain thought, that by going farther into +the cavern he might find a deeper pool in which water still stood, and if +he could not do this, he could get water from the little stream in the +ravine. More than this, the captain wished very much to take another look +at the machine by which he had let out the water. His mind had been so +thoroughly charged with the sense of danger that, until this had faded +away, he had not been able to take the interest in the artificial +character of the lake which it deserved. + +As the captain advanced into the dimmer recesses of the cavern, he soon +found a pool of water a foot or more in depth, and having filled his pail +at this, he set it down and walked on to see what was beyond. His eyes +having now conformed themselves to the duskiness of the place, he saw +that the cavern soon made a turn to the left, and gazing beyond him, he +judged that the cave was very much wider here, and he also thought that +the roof was higher. But he did not pay much attention to the dimensions +of the cavern, for he began to discern, at first dimly and then quite +plainly, a large object which rose from the bottom of the basin. He +advanced eagerly, peering at what seemed to be a sort of dome-like +formation of a lighter color than the rocks about him, and apparently +about ten feet high. + +Carefully feeling his way for fear of pitfalls, the captain drew close to +the object, and placed his hand upon it. He believed it to be of stone, +and moving his hand over it, he thought he could feel joints of masonry. +It was clearly a structure built by men. Captain Horn searched his +pockets for a match, but found none, and he hastened back to the cave to +get the lantern, passing, without noticing it, the pail which he had +filled with water. He would have brought the lantern with him when he +first came, but they had no oil except what it contained, and this they +had husbanded for emergencies. But now the captain wanted light--he cared +not what might happen afterwards. In a very short time, with the lantern +in his hand, which lighted up the cave for a considerable distance about +him, the captain again stood at the foot of the subterranean dome. + +He walked around it. He raised and lowered his lantern, and examined it +from top to bottom. It was one half a sphere of masonry, built in a +most careful manner, and, to all appearances, as solid as a great stone +ball, half sunken in the ground. Its surface was smooth, excepting for +two lines of protuberances, each a few inches in height, and about a +foot from each other. These rows of little humps were on opposite +sides of the dome, and from the bottom nearly to the top. It was plain +they were intended to serve as rude ladders by which the top of the +mound could be gained. + +The captain stepped back, held up his lantern, and gazed in every +direction. He could now see the roof of the cavern, and immediately above +him he perceived what he was sure were regular joints of masonry, but on +the sides of the cave he saw nothing of the sort. For some minutes he +stood and reflected, his brain in a whirl. Presently he exclaimed: + +"Yes, this cave is man's work! I am sure of it. It is not natural. I +wondered how there could be such a cave on the top of a hill. It was +originally a gorge, and they have roofed it over, and the bottom of the +basin has been cut out to make it deeper. It was made so that it could be +filled up with water, and roofed over so that nobody should know there +was any water here, unless they came on it by means of the passage from +our caves. That passage must have been blocked up. As for the great +opening in the side of the cave, the rocks have fallen in there--that is +easy enough to see. Yes, men made this cave and filled it with water, and +if the water were high enough to cover the handle of that machine, as it +was when I struck it, it must also have been high enough to cover up this +stone mound. The lake was intended to cover and hide that mound. And +then, to make the hiding of it doubly sure, the men who built all this +totally covered up the lake so that nobody would know it was here. And +then they built that valve apparatus, which was also submerged, so that +they could let out the water when they wanted to get at this stone +thing, whatever it is. What a scheme to hide anything! Even if anybody +discovered the lake, which would not be likely until some part of the +cave fell in, they would not know it was anything but a lake when they +did see it. And as for letting off the water, nobody but the people who +knew about it could possibly do that, unless somebody was fool enough to +take the cold bath I was obliged to take, and even then it would have +been one chance in a hundred that he found the lever, and would know how +to turn it when he did find it. This whole thing is the work of the +ancient South Americans, and I imagine that this stone mound is the tomb +of one of their kings." + +At this moment the captain heard something, and turned to listen. It +was a voice--the voice of a boy. It was Ralph calling to him. Instantly +the captain turned and hurried away, and as he went he extinguished his +lantern. When he reached his pail of water he picked it up, and was +very soon joined by Ralph, who was coming to meet him over the bottom +of the lake. + +"I have been looking for you everywhere, captain," said he. "What have +you been after? More water? And you took a lantern to find it, eh? And +you have been ever so far into the cave. Why didn't you call me? Let me +have the lantern. I want to go to explore." + +But the captain did not give him the lantern, nor did he allow him to go +to explore. + +"No, sir," said he. "What we've got to do is to hurry outside and help +get supper. We must wait on ourselves to-night." + +When supper was over, that evening, and the little party was sitting out +on the plateau, gazing over the ocean at the sunlit sky, Mrs. Cliff +declared that she wished they could bring their bedding and spread it on +the ground out there, and sleep. + +"It is dry enough," she said, "and warm enough, and if there is really +nothing to fear from animals or men, I don't want ever to go inside of +those caves again. I had such horrible fears and ideas when I was +sitting trembling in those dismal vaults, expecting a horde of human +devils to burst in upon us at any moment, that the whole place is +horrible to me. Anyway, if I knew that I had to be killed, I would +rather be killed out here." + +The captain smiled. "I don't think we will give up the caves just yet. I, +for one, most certainly want to go in there again." And then he told the +story of the stone mound which he had discovered. + +"And you believe," cried Mrs. Cliff, leaning forward, "that it is really +the tomb of an ancient king?" + +"If it isn't that, I don't know what it can be," said the captain. + +"The grave of a king!" cried Ralph. "A mummy! With inscriptions and +paintings! Oh, captain, let's go open it this minute, before those +blackies get back." + +The captain shook his head. "Don't be in such a hurry," he said. "It will +not be an easy job to open that mound, and we shall need the help of the +blackies, as you call them, if we do it at all." + +"Do it at all!" cried Ralph. "I'll never leave this place until I do it +myself, if there is nobody else to help." + +Miss Markham sat silent. She was the only one of the company who had +studied the history of South America, and she did not believe that the +ancient inhabitants of that country buried their kings in stone tombs, or +felt it necessary to preserve their remains in phenomenal secrecy and +security. She had read things, however, about the ancient peoples of this +country which now made her eyes sparkle and her heart beat quickly. But +she did not say anything. This was a case in which it would be better to +wait to see what would happen. + +"Captain!" cried Ralph, "let's go to see the thing. What is the use of +waiting? Edna and Mrs. Cliff won't mind staying here while you take me to +see it. We can go in ten minutes." + +"No," said Mrs. Cliff, "there may be no danger, but I am not going +to be left here with the sun almost down, and you two out of sight +and hearing." + +"Let us all go," said Edna. + +The captain considered for a moment. "Yes," said he, "let us all +go. As we shall have to take a lantern anyway, this is as good a +time as another." + +It was not an easy thing for the two ladies to get over the wall at the +end of the passage, and to make their way over the rough and slippery +bottom of the lake basin, now lighted only by the lantern which the +captain carried. But in the course of time, with a good deal of help from +their companions, they reached the turning of the cave and stood before +the stone mound. + +"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Why, captain, you are like Columbus! You have +discovered a new hemisphere." + +"It is like one of the great ant-hills of Africa," said Mrs. Cliff, +"but, of course, this was not built by ants I wonder if it is possible +that it can be the abode of water-snakes." + +Edna stood silent for a few moments, and then she said, "Captain, do +you suppose that this dome was entirely covered by water when the lake +was full?" + +"I think so," said he. "Judging from what I know of the depth of the +lake, I am almost sure of it." + +"Ralph!" suddenly cried Mrs. Cliff, "don't try to do that. The thing may +break under you, and nobody knows what you would fall into. Come down." + +But Ralph paid no attention to her words. He was half-way up the side of +the mound when she began to speak, and on its top when she had finished. + +"Captain," he cried, "hand me up the lantern. I want to see if there is +a trap-door into this affair. Don't be afraid, Mrs. Cliff. It's as solid +as a rock." + +The captain did not hand up the lantern, but holding it carefully in one +hand, he ascended the dome by means of the row of protuberances on the +other side, and crouched down beside Ralph on the top of it. + +"Oh, ho!" said he, as he moved the lantern this way and that, "here is a +square slab fitted into the very top." + +"Yes," said Ralph, "and it's got different mortar around the edges." + +"That is not mortar," said the captain. "I believe it is some sort of +resin. Here, hold the lantern, and be careful of it." The captain took +his jack-knife out of his pocket, and with the large blade began to dig +into the substance which filled the joint around the slab, which was +about eighteen inches square. "It is resin," said he, "or something like +it, and it comes out very easily. This slab is intended to be moved." + +"Indeed it is!" exclaimed Ralph, "and we're intended to move it. Here, +captain, I'll help you. I've got a knife. Let's dig out that stuff and +lift up the lid before the darkies come back. If we find any dead bodies +inside this tomb, they will frighten those fellows to death, if they +catch sight of them." + +"Very good," said the captain. "I shall be only too glad to get this slab +up, if I can, but I am afraid we shall want a crowbar and more help. It's +a heavy piece of stone, and I see no way of getting at it." + +"This isn't stone in the middle of the slab," said Ralph. "It's a lot +more resinous stuff. I had the lantern over it and did not see it. Let's +take it out." + +There was a circular space in the centre of the stone, about eight inches +in diameter, which seemed to be covered with resin. After a few minutes' +work with the jack-knives this substance was loosened and came out in two +parts, showing a bowl-like depression in the slab, which had been so cut +as to leave a little bar running from side to side of it. + +"A handle!" cried Ralph. + +"That is what it is," said Captain Horn. "If it is intended to be lifted, +I ought to be able to do it. Move down a little with the lantern, and +give me room." + +The captain now stood on the top of the mound, with the slab between his +feet, and stooping down, he took hold of the handle with both hands. He +was a powerful man, but he could not lift the stone. His first effort, +however, loosened it, and then he began to move it from side to side, +still pulling upward, until at last he could feel it rising. Then, with +a great heave, he lifted it entirely out of the square aperture in which +it had been fitted, and set it on one side. + +In an instant, Ralph, lantern in hand, was gazing down into the +opening. "Hello!" he cried, "there is something on fire in there. Oh, +no," he added quickly, correcting himself, "it's only the reflection +from our light." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A TRADITION AND A WAISTCOAT + + +Captain Horn, his face red with exertion and excitement, stood gazing +down into the square aperture at his feet. On the other edge of the +opening knelt Ralph, holding the lantern so that it would throw its light +into the hole. In a moment, before the boy had time to form a question, +he was pushed gently to one side, and his sister Edna, who had clambered +up the side of the mound, knelt beside him. She peered down into the +depths beneath, and then she drew back and looked up at the captain. His +whole soul was in his downward gaze, and he did not even see her. + +Then there came a voice from below. "What is it?" cried Mrs. Cliff. "What +are you all looking at! Do tell me." + +With half-shut eyes, Edna let herself down the side of the mound, and +when her feet touched the ground, she made a few tottering steps toward +Mrs. Cliff, and placing her two hands on her companion's shoulders, she +whispered, "I thought it was. It is gold! It is the gold of the Incas." +And then she sank senseless at the feet of the older woman. + +Mrs. Cliff did not know that Miss Markham had fainted. She simply stood +still and exclaimed, "Gold! What does it mean?" + +"What is it all about?" exclaimed Ralph. "It looks like petrified honey. +This never could have been a beehive." + +Without answering, Captain Horn knelt at the edge of the aperture, and +taking the lantern from the boy, he let it down as far as it would go, +which was only a foot or two. + +"Ralph," he said hoarsely, as he drew himself back, "hold this lantern +and get down out of my way. I must cover this up, quick." And seizing the +stone slab by the handle, he lifted it as if it had been a pot-lid, and +let it down into its place. "Now," said he, "get down, and let us all go +away from this place. Those negroes may be back at any moment." + +When Ralph found that his sister had fainted, and that Mrs. Cliff did not +know it, there was a little commotion at the foot of the mound. But some +water in a pool near by soon revived Edna, and in ten minutes the party +was on the plateau outside the caverns. The new moon was just beginning +to peep over the rocks behind them, and the two ladies had seated +themselves on the ground. Ralph was pouring out question after question, +to which nobody paid any attention, and Captain Horn, his hands thrust +into his pockets, walked backward and forward, his face flushed and his +breath coming heavily, and, with his eyes upon the ground, he seemed to +think himself entirely alone among those desolate crags. + +"Can any of you tell me what it means?" cried Mrs. Cliff. "Edna, do you +understand it? Tell me quickly, some of you!" + +"I believe I know what it means," said Edna, her voice trembling as she +spoke. "I thought I knew as soon as I heard of the mound covered up by +the lake, but I did not dare to say anything, because if my opinion +should be correct it would be so wonderful, so astounding, my mind could +hardly take hold of it." + +"But what is it?" cried Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, almost in one breath. + +"I scarcely know what to say," said Edna, "my mind is in such a whirl +about it, but I will tell you something of what I have read of the +ancient history of Peru, and then you will understand my fancies about +this stone mound. When the Spaniards, under Pizarro, came to this +country, their main object, as we all know, was booty. They especially +wished to get hold of the wonderful treasures of the Incas, the ancient +rulers of Peru. This was the reason of almost all the cruelties and +wickedness of the invaders. The Incas tried various ways of preserving +their treasures from the clutch of the Spaniards, and I have read of a +tradition that they drained a lake, probably near Cuzco, the ancient +capital, and made a strong cellar, or mound, at the bottom of it in which +to hide their gold. They then let the water in again, and the tradition +also says that this mound has never been discovered." + +"Do you believe," cried the captain, "that the mound back there in the +cavern is the place where the Incas stored their gold?" + +"I do not believe it is the place I read about," said Miss Markham, "for +that, as I said, must have been near Cuzco. But there is no reason why +there should not have been other places of concealment. This was far +away from the capital, but that would make the treasure so much the +safer. The Spaniards would never have thought of going to such a lonely, +deserted place as this, and the Incas would not have spared any time or +trouble necessary to securely hide their treasures." + +"If you are right," cried the captain, "this is, indeed, astounding! +Treasure in a mound of stone--a mound covered by water, which could be +let off! The whole shut up in a cave which must have originally been as +dark as pitch! When we come to think of it," he continued excitedly, "it +is an amazing hiding-place, no matter what was put into the mound." + +"And do you mean," almost screamed Mrs. Cliff, "that that stone thing +down there is filled with the wealth of the Incas!--the fabulous gold we +read about?" + +"I do not know what else it can be," replied Edna. "What I saw when I +looked down into the hole was surely gold." + +"Yes," said the captain, "it was gold--gold in small bars." + +"Why didn't you get a piece, captain?" asked Ralph. "Then we could be +sure about it. If that thing is nearly filled, there must be tons of it." + +"I did not think," said the captain. "I could not think. I was afraid +somebody would come." + +"And now tell me this," cried Mrs. Cliff. "Whom does this gold belong to? +That is what I want to know. Whose is if?" + +"Come, come!" said the captain, "let us stop talking about this thing, +and thinking about it. We shall all be maniacs if we don't quiet +ourselves a little, and, besides, it cannot be long before those black +fellows come back, and we do not want to be speaking about it then. +To-morrow we will examine the mound and see what it is we have +discovered. In the meantime, let us quiet our minds and get a good +night's sleep, if we can. This whole affair is astounding, but we must +not let it make us crazy before we understand it." + +Miss Markham was a young woman very capable of controlling herself. It +was true she had been more affected in consequence of the opening of the +mound than any of the others, but that was because she understood, or +thought she understood, what the discovery meant, and to the others it +was something which at first they could not appreciate. Now she saw the +good common sense of the captain's remarks, and said no more that evening +on the subject of the stone mound. + +But Mrs. Cliff and Ralph could not be quiet. They must talk, and as the +captain walked away that they might not speak to him, they talked to +each other. + +It was nearly an hour after this that Captain Horn, standing on the outer +end of the plateau, saw some black dots moving on the moonlit beach. They +moved very slowly, and it was a long time--at least, it seemed so to the +captain--before Maka and his companions reached the plateau. + +The negroes were heavily loaded with bags and packages, and they were +glad to deposit their burdens on the ground. + +"Hi!" cried the captain, who spoke as if he had been drinking champagne, +"you brought a good cargo, Maka, and now don't let us hear any tales of +what you have seen until we have had supper--supper for everybody. You +know what you have got, Maka. Let us have the best things, and let every +one of you take a hand in making a fire and cooking. What we want is a +first-class feast." + +"I got 'em," said Maka, who understood English a good deal better +than he could speak it,--"ham, cheese, lots things. All want +supper--good supper." + +While the meal was being prepared, Captain Horn walked over to Mrs. Cliff +and Ralph. "Now, I beg of you," he said, "don't let these men know we +have found anything. This is a very important matter. Don't talk about +it, and if you can't keep down your excitement, let them think it is the +prospect of good victuals, and plenty of them, that has excited you." + +After supper Maka and Cheditafa were called upon to tell their story, but +they said very little. They had gone to the place where the Rackbirds had +kept their stores, and had selected what Maka considered would be most +desirable, including some oil for the lantern, and had brought away as +much as they could carry. This was all. + +When the rest of his party had gone inside, hoping to get their minds +quiet enough to sleep, and the captain was preparing to follow them, Maka +arose from the spot on the open plateau where the tired negroes had +stretched themselves for the night, and said: + +"Got something tell you alone. Come out here." + +When the two had gone to a spot a little distance from the cavern +entrance, where the light of the moon, now nearly set, enabled objects to +be seen with some distinctness, Maka took from inside his shirt a small +piece of clothing. "Look here," said he. "This belong to Davis." + +The captain took the garment in his hand. It was a waistcoat made of +plaid cloth, yellow, green, and red, and most striking in pattern, and +Captain Horn instantly recognized it as the waistcoat of Davis, the +Englishman. + +"He dead," said Maka, simply. + +The captain nodded. He had no doubt of it. + +"Where did you find it?" he asked. + +"Sticking on rock," said the African. "Lots things down there. Some one +place, some another place. Didn't know other things, but know this. +Davis' waistcoat. No mistake that. Him wear it all time." + +"You are a good fellow, Maka," said the captain, "not to speak of this +before the ladies. Now go and sleep. There is no need of a guard +to-night." + +The captain went inside, procured his gun, and seated himself outside, +with his back against a rock. There he sat all night, without once +closing his eyes. He was not afraid that anything would come to molest +them, but it was just as well to have the gun. As for sleeping, that was +impossible. He had heard and seen too much that day. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +"MINE!" + + +Captain Horn and his party sat down together the next morning on the +plateau to drink their hot coffee and eat their biscuit and bacon, and it +was plain that the two ladies, as well as the captain, had had little +sleep the night before. Ralph declared that he had been awake ever so +long, endeavoring to calculate how many cubic feet of gold there would be +in that mound if it were filled with the precious metal. "But as I did +not know how much a cubic foot of gold is worth," said he, "and as we +might find, after all, that there is only a layer of gold on top, and +that all the rest is Incas' bones, I gave it up." + +The captain was very grave--graver, Miss Markham thought, than the +discovery of gold ought to make a man. + +"We won't worry ourselves with calculations," said he. "As soon as I can +get rid of those black fellows, we will go to see what is really in that +tomb, or storehouse, or whatever it is. We will make a thorough +investigation this time." + +When the men had finished eating, the captain sent them all down to look +for driftwood. The stock of wood on the plateau was almost exhausted, +and he was glad to think of some reasonable work which would take them +away from the cavern. + +As soon as they had gone, the captain rose to get the lantern, and called +Ralph to accompany him to the mound. + +When they were left alone, Edna said to Mrs. Cliff, "Let us go over there +to that shady rock, where we can look out for a ship with Mr. Rynders in +it, and let us talk about our neighbors in America. Let us try to forget, +for a time, all about what the captain is going to investigate. If we +keep on thinking and talking of it, our minds will not be in a fit +condition to hear what he will have to tell us. It may all come to +nothing, you know, and no matter what it comes to, let us keep quiet, and +give our nerves a little rest." + +"That is excellent advice," said Mrs. Cliff. But when they were +comfortably seated in the shade, she said: "I have been thinking, Edna, +that the possession of vast treasures did not weaken the minds of those +Incas, I supposed, until yesterday, that the caverns here were intended +for some sort of temple for religious ceremonies, and that the great face +on the rock out here was an idol. But now I do not believe that. All +openings into the cave must once have been closed up, but it would not do +to hide the place so that no one could ever find it again, so they carved +that great head on the rocks. Nobody, except those who had hid the +treasure, would know what the face meant." + +Edna gave a little smile and sighed. "I see it is of no use to try to get +that mound out of our minds," she said. + +"Out of our minds!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "If one of the Rothschilds +were to hand you a check for the whole of his fortune, would you expect +to get that out of your mind?" + +"Such a check," said Edna, "would be a certain fortune. We have not heard +yet what this is." + +"I think we are the two meekest and humblest people in the whole world!" +exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, walking up and down the sand. "I don't believe any +other two persons would be content to wait here until somebody should +come and tell them whether they were millionaires or not. But, of course, +somebody must stay outside to keep those colored people from swarming +into the cave when they come back." + +It was not long after this that Mrs. Cliff and Edna heard the sound of +quickly advancing feet, and in a few moments they were joined by Ralph +and the captain. + +"Your faces shine like gold," cried Edna. "What have you found?" + +"Found!" cried Ralph. "Why, Edna, we've got--" + +"Be quiet, Ralph," exclaimed Edna. "I want to hear what the captain has +to say. Captain, what is in the mound?" + +"We went to the mound," said he, speaking very rapidly, "and when we got +to the top and lifted off that stone lid--upon my soul, ladies, I believe +there is gold enough in that thing to ballast a ship. It isn't filled +quite up to the top, and, of course, I could not find out how deep the +gold goes down; but I worked a hole in it as far down as my arm would +reach, and found nothing but gold bars like this." Then, glancing around +to see that none of the Africans were returning, he took from his pocket +a yellow object about three inches in length and an inch in diameter, +shaped like a rough prism, cast in a rudely constructed mortar or mould. +"I brought away just one of them," he said, "and then I shut down the +lid, and we came away." + +"And is this gold?" exclaimed Edna, eagerly seizing the bar. "Are you +sure of it, captain?" + +"I am as sure of it as I am that I have a head on my shoulders," said he, +"although when I was diving down into that pile I was not quite sure of +that. No one would ever put anything but gold in such a hiding-place. And +then, anybody can see it is gold. Look here: I scraped that spot with my +knife. I wanted to test it before I showed it to you. See how it shines! +I could easily cut into it. I believe it is virgin gold, not hardened +with any alloy." + +"And that mound full of it!" cried Mrs. Cliff. + +"I can't say about that," said the captain. "But if the gold is no +deeper than my arm went down into it, and all pure metal at that, +why--bless my soul!--it would make anybody crazy to try to calculate how +much it is worth." + +"Now, then," exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "whom does all this gold belong to? We +have found it, but whose is it?" + +"That is a point to be considered," said the captain. "What is +your opinion?" + +"I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about it," said Mrs. +Cliff. "Of course, that would have been all wasted, though, if it had +turned out to be nothing but brass, but then, I could not help it, and +this is the conclusion I have come to: In the first place, it does not +belong to the people who govern Peru now. They are descendants of the +very Spaniards that the Incas hid their treasure from, and it would be a +shame and a wickedness to let them have it. It would better stay there +shut up for more centuries. Then, again, it would not be right to give it +to the Indians, or whatever they call themselves, though they are +descendants of the ancient inhabitants, for the people of Spanish blood +would not let them keep it one minute, and they would get it, after all. +And, besides, how could such treasures be properly divided among a race +of wretched savages? It would be preposterous, even if they should be +allowed to keep it. They would drink themselves to death, and it would +bring nothing but misery upon them. The Incas, in their way, were good, +civilized people, and it stands to reason that the treasure they hid away +should go to other good, civilized people when the Incas had departed +from the face of the earth. Think of the good that could be done with +such wealth, should it fall into the proper hands! Think of the good to +the poor people of Peru, with the right kind of mission work done among +them! I tell you all that the responsibility of this discovery is as +great as its value in dollars. What do you think about it, Edna?" + +"I think this," said Miss Markham: "so far as any of us have anything to +do with it, it belongs to Captain Horn. He discovered it, and it is his." + +"The whole of it?" cried Ralph. + +"Yes," said his sister, firmly, "the whole of it, so far as we are +concerned. What he chooses to do with it is his affair, and whether he +gets every bar of gold, or only a reward from the Peruvian government, +it is his, to do what he pleases with it." + +"Now, Edna, I am amazed to hear you speak of the Peruvian government," +cried Mrs. Cliff. "It would be nothing less than a crime to let them have +it, or even know of it." + +"What do you think, captain?" asked Edna. + +"I am exactly of your opinion, Miss Markham," he said. "That treasure +belongs to me. I discovered it, and it is for me to decide what is to be +done with it." + +"Now, then," exclaimed Ralph, his face very red, "I differ with you! We +are all partners in this business, and it isn't fair for any one to have +everything." + +"And I am not so sure, either," said Mrs. Cliff, "that the captain +ought to decide what is to be done with this treasure. Each of us +should have a voice." + +"Mrs. Cliff, Miss Markham, and Ralph," said the captain, "I have a few +words to say to you, and I must say them quickly, for I see those black +fellows coming. That treasure in the stone mound is mine. I discovered +the mound, and no matter what might have been in it, the contents would +have been mine. All that gold is just as much mine as if I dug it in a +gold-mine in California, and we won't discuss that question any further. +What I want to say particularly is that it may seem very selfish in me +to claim the whole of that treasure, but I assure you that that is the +only thing to be done. I know you will all agree to that when you see +the matter in the proper light, and I have told you my plans about it. I +intended to claim all that treasure, if it turned out to be treasure. I +made up my mind to that last night, and I am very glad Miss Markham +told me her opinion of the rights of the thing before I mentioned it. +Now, I have just got time to say a few words more. If there should be +any discussion about the ownership of this gold and the way it ought to +be divided, there would be trouble, and perhaps bloody trouble. There +are those black fellows coming up here, and two of them speak English. +Eight of my men went away in a boat, and they may come back at any time. +And then, there were those two Cape Cod men, who went off first. They +may have reached the other side of the mountains, and may bring us +assistance overland. As for Davis, I know he will never come back. Maka +brought me positive proof that he was killed by the Rackbirds. Now, you +see my point. That treasure is mine. I have a right to it, and I stand +by that right. There must be no talk as to what is to be done with it. I +shall decide what is right, and I shall do it, and no man shall have a +word to say about it. In a case like this there must be a head, and I am +the head." + +The captain had been speaking rapidly and very earnestly, but now his +manner changed a little. Placing his hand on Ralph's shoulder, he said: +"Now don't be afraid, my boy, that you and your sister or Mrs. Cliff will +be left in the lurch. If there were only us four, there would be no +trouble at all, but if there is any talk of dividing, there may be a lot +of men to deal with, and a hard lot, too. And now, not a word before +these men.--Maka, that is a fine lot of fire-wood you have brought. It +will last us a long time." + +The African shrugged his shoulders. "Hope not," he said. "Hope Mr. +Rynders come soon. Don't want make many fires." + +As Captain Horn walked away toward Ralph's lookout, he could not account +to himself for the strange and unnatural state of his feelings. He ought +to have been very happy because he had discovered vast treasures. Instead +of that his mind was troubled and he was anxious and fearful. One reason +for his state of mind was his positive knowledge of the death of Davis. +He had believed him dead because he had not come back, but now that he +knew the truth, the shock seemed as great as if he had not suspected it. +He had liked the Englishman better than any of his seamen, and he was a +man he would have been glad to have had with him now. The Cape Cod men +had been with him but a short time, and he was not well acquainted with +them. It was likely, too, that they were dead also, for they had not +taken provisions with them. But so long as he did not really know this, +the probability could not lower his spirits. + +But when he came to analyze his feelings, which he did with the vigorous +directness natural to him, he knew what was the source of his anxiety and +disquietude. He actually feared the return of Rynders and his men! This +feeling annoyed and troubled him. He felt that it was unworthy of him. He +knew that he ought to long for the arrival of his mate, for in no other +way could the party expect help, and if help did not arrive before the +provisions of the Rackbirds were exhausted, the whole party would most +likely perish. Moreover, when Rynders and his men came back, they would +come to rare good fortune, for there was enough gold for all of them. + +But, in spite of these reasonable conclusions, the captain was afraid +that Rynders and his men would return. + +"If they come here," he said to himself, "they will know of that gold, +for I cannot expect to keep such fellows out of the cavern, and if they +know of it, it will be their gold, not mine. I know men, especially those +men, well enough for that." + +And so, fearing that he might see them before he was ready for them,--and +how he was going to make himself ready for them he did not know,--he +stood on the lookout and scanned the ocean for Rynders and his men. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A PILE OF FUEL + +Four days had passed, and nothing had happened. The stone mound in the +lake had not been visited, for there had been no reason for sending the +black men away, and with one of them nearer than a mile the captain would +not even look at his treasure. There was no danger that they would +discover the mound, for they were not allowed to take the lantern, and no +one of them would care to wander into the dark, sombre depths of the +cavern without a light. + +The four white people, who, with a fair habitation in the rocks, with +plenty of plain food to eat, with six servants to wait on them, and a +climate which was continuously delightful, except in the middle of the +day, and with all fear of danger from man or beast removed from their +minds, would have been content to remain here a week or two longer and +await the arrival of a vessel to take them away, were now in a restless +and impatient condition of mind. They were all eager to escape from the +place. Three of them longed for the return of Rynders, but the other one +steadily hoped that they might get away before his men came back. + +How to do this, or how to take with him the treasure of the Incas, was a +puzzling question with which the captain racked his brains by day and by +night. At last he bethought himself of the Rackbirds' vessel. He +remembered that Maka had told him that provisions were brought to them by +a vessel, and there was every reason to suppose that when these +miscreants went on some of their marauding expeditions they travelled by +sea. Day by day he had thought that he would go and visit the Rackbirds' +storehouse and the neighborhood thereabout, but day by day he had been +afraid that in his absence Rynders might arrive, and when he came he +wanted to be there to meet him. + +But now the idea of the boat made him brave this possible contingency, +and early one morning, with Cheditafa and two other of the black fellows, +he set off along the beach for the mouth of the little stream which, +rising somewhere in the mountains, ran down to the cavern where it had +once widened and deepened into a lake, and then through the ravine of the +Rackbirds on to the sea. When he reached his destination, Captain Horn +saw a great deal to interest him. + +Just beyond the second ridge of rock which Maka had discovered, the +stream ran into a little bay, and the shores near its mouth showed +evident signs that they had recently been washed by a flood. On points of +rock and against the sides of the sand mounds, he saw bits of debris from +the Rackbirds' camp. Here were sticks which had formed the timbers of +their huts; there were pieces of clothing and cooking-utensils; and here +and there, partly buried by the shifting sands, were seen the bodies of +Rackbirds, already desiccated by the dry air and the hot sun of the +region. But the captain saw no vessel. + +"Dat up here," said Cheditafa. "Dey hide dat well. Come 'long, captain." + +Following his black guide, the captain skirted a little promontory of +rocks, and behind it found a cove in which, well concealed, lay the +Rackbirds' vessel. It was a sloop of about twenty tons, and from the +ocean, or even from the beach, it could not be seen. But as the captain +stood and gazed upon this craft his heart sank. It had no masts nor +sails, and it was a vessel that could not be propelled by oars. + +Wading through the shallow water,--for it was now low tide,--the captain +climbed on board. The deck was bare, without a sign of spar or sail, and +when, with Cheditafa's help, he had forced the entrance of the little +companionway, and had gone below, he found that the vessel had been +entirely stripped of everything that could be carried away, and when he +went on deck again he saw that even the rudder had been unshipped and +removed. Cheditafa could give him no information upon this state of +things, but after a little while Captain Horn imagined the cause for this +dismantled condition of the sloop. The Rackbirds' captain could not trust +his men, he said to himself, and he made it impossible for any of them to +escape or set out on an expedition for themselves. It was likely that the +masts and sails had been carried up to the camp, from which place it +would have been impossible to remove them without the leader knowing it. + +When he spoke to Cheditafa on the subject, the negro told him that after +the little ship came in from one of its voyages he and his companions had +always carried the masts, sails, and a lot of other things up to the +camp. But there was nothing of the sort there now. Every spar and sail +must have been carried out to sea by the flood, for if they had been left +on the shores of the stream the captain would have seen them. + +This was hard lines for Captain Horn. If the Rackbirds' vessel had been +in sailing condition, everything would have been very simple and easy for +him. He could have taken on board not only his own party, but a large +portion of the treasure, and could have sailed away as free as a bird, +without reference to the return of Rynders and his men. A note tied to a +pole set up in a conspicuous place on the beach would have informed Mr. +Rynders of their escape from the place, and it was not likely that any of +the party would have thought it worth while to go farther on shore. But +it was of no use to think of getting away in this vessel. In its present +condition it was absolutely useless. + +While the captain had been thinking and considering the matter, Cheditafa +had been wandering about the coast exploring. Presently Captain Horn saw +him running toward him, accompanied by the two other negroes. + +"'Nother boat over there," cried Cheditafa, as the captain approached +him,--"'nother boat, but badder than this. No good. Cook with it, +that's all." + +The captain followed Cheditafa across the little stream, and a hundred +yards or so along the shore, and over out of reach of the tide, piled +against a low sand mound, he saw a quantity of wood, all broken into +small pieces, and apparently prepared, as Cheditafa had suggested, for +cooking-fires. It was also easy to see that these pieces of wood had +once been part of a boat, perhaps of a wreck thrown up on shore. The +captain approached the pile of wood and picked up some of the pieces. As +he held in his hand a bit of gunwale, not much more than a foot in +length, his eyes began to glisten and his breath came quickly. Hastily +pulling out several pieces from the mass of debris, he examined them +thoroughly. Then he stepped back, and let the piece of rudder he was +holding drop to the sand. + +"Cheditafa," said he, speaking huskily, "this is one of the Castor's +boats. This is a piece of the boat in which Rynders and the men set out." + +The negro looked at the captain and seemed frightened by the expression +on his face. For a moment he did not speak, and then in a trembling voice +he asked, "Where all them now?" + +The captain shook his head, but said nothing. That pile of fragments was +telling him a tale which gradually became plainer and plainer to him, and +which he believed as if Rynders himself had been telling it to him. His +ship's boat, with its eight occupants, had never gone farther south than +the mouth of the little stream. That they had been driven on shore by the +stress of weather the captain did not believe. There had been no high +winds or storms since their departure. Most likely they had been induced +to land by seeing some of the Rackbirds on shore, and they had naturally +rowed into the little cove, for assistance from their fellow-beings was +what they were in search of. But no matter how they happened to land, +the Rackbirds would never let them go away again to carry news of the +whereabouts of their camp. Almost unarmed, these sailors must have fallen +easy victims to the Rackbirds. + +It was not unlikely that the men had been shot down from ambush without +having had any intercourse or conversation with the cruel monsters to +whom they had come to seek relief, for had there been any talk between +them, Rynders would have told of his companions left on shore, and these +would have been speedily visited by the desperadoes. For the destruction +of the boat there was reason enough: the captain of the Rackbirds gave +his men no chance to get away from him. + +With a heart of lead, Captain Horn turned to look at his negro +companions, and saw them all sitting together on the sands, chattering +earnestly, and holding up their hands with one or more fingers extended, +as if they were counting. Cheditafa came forward. + +"When all your men go away from you?" he asked. + +The captain reflected a moment, and then answered, "About two weeks ago." + +"That's right! That's right!" exclaimed the negro, nodding violently as +he spoke. "We talk about that. We count days. It's just ten days and +three days, and Rackbirds go 'way, and leave us high up in rock-hole, +with no ladder. After a while we hear guns, guns, guns. Long time guns +shooting. When they come back, it almost dark, and they want supper +bad. All time they eat supper, they talk 'bout shooting sharks. Shot +lots sharks, and chuck them into the water. Sharks in water already +before they is shot. We say then it no sharks they shot. Now we say it +must been--" + +The captain turned away. He did not want to hear any more. There was no +possible escape from the belief that Rynders and all his men had been +shot down, and robbed, if they had anything worth taking, and then their +bodies carried out to sea, most likely in their own boat, and thrown +overboard. + +There was nothing more at this dreadful place that Captain Horn wished to +see, to consider, or to do, and calling the negroes to follow him, he set +out on his return. + +During the dreary walk along the beach the captain's depression of +spirits was increased by the recollection of his thoughts about the +sailors and the treasure. He had hoped that these men would not come back +in time to interfere with his disposal, in his own way, of the gold he +had found. They would not come back now, but the thought did not lighten +his heart. But before he reached the caves, he had determined to throw +off the gloom and sadness which had come upon him. Under the +circumstances, grief for what had happened was out of place. He must keep +up a good heart, and help his companions to keep up good hearts. Now he +must do something, and, like a soldier in battle, he must not think of +the comrade who had fallen beside him, but of the enemy in front of him. + +When he reached the caves he found supper ready, and that evening he said +nothing to his companions of the important discoveries he had made, +contenting himself with a general statement of the proofs that the +Rackbirds and their camp had been utterly destroyed by the flood. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE CLIFF-MAKA SCHEME + +The next morning Captain Horn arose with a plan of action in his mind, +and he was now ready, not only to tell the two ladies and Ralph +everything he had discovered, but also what he was going to do. The +announcement of the almost certain fate of Rynders and his men filled his +hearers with horror, and the statement of the captain's plans did not +tend to raise their spirits. + +"You see," said he, "there is nothing now for us to wait for here. As to +being taken off by a passing vessel, there is no chance of that whatever. +We have gone over that matter before. Nor can we get away overland, for +some of us would die on the way. As to that little boat down there, we +cannot all go to sea in her, but in it I must go out and seek for help." + +"And leave us here!" cried Mrs. Cliff. "Do not think of that, captain! +Whatever happens, let us all keep together." + +"That cannot be," he said. "I must go because I am the only seaman among +you, and I will take four of those black fellows with me. I do not +apprehend any danger unless we have to make a surf landing, and even +then they can all swim like fishes, while I am very well able to take +care of myself in the water. I shall sail down the coast until I come to +a port, and there put in. Then I will get a vessel of some sort and come +back for you. I shall leave with you two of these negroes--Cheditafa, who +seems to be a highly respectable old person, and can speak English, and +Mok, who, although he can't talk to you, can understand a great deal that +is said to him. Apart from his being such an abject coward, he seems to +be a good, quiet fellow, willing to do what he is told. On the whole, I +think he has the best disposition of the four black dummies, begging +their pardons. I will take the three others, with Maka as head man and +interpreter. If I should be cast on shore by a storm, I could swim +through the surf to the dry land, but I could not undertake to save any +one else. If this misfortune should happen, we could make our way on foot +down the coast." + +"But suppose you should meet some Rackbirds?" cried Ralph. + +"I have no fear of that," answered the captain. "I do not believe there +is another set of such scoundrels on this hemisphere. So, as soon as I +can get that boat in order, and rig up a mast and a sail for her, I +shall provision her well and set out. Of course, I do not want to leave +you all here, but there is no help for it, and I don't believe you need +have the slightest fear of harm. Later, we will plan what is to be done +by you and by me, and get everything clear and straight. The first thing +is to get the boat ready, and I shall go to work on that to-day. I will +also take some of the negroes down to the Rackbirds' camp, and bring +away more stores." + +"Oh, let me go!" cried Ralph. "It is the cruellest thing in the world to +keep me cooped up here. I never go anywhere, and never do anything." + +But the captain shook his head. "I am sorry, my boy," said he, "to keep +you back so much, but it cannot be helped. When I go away, I shall make +it a positive condition that you do not leave your sister and Mrs. +Cliff, and I do not want you to begin now." A half-hour afterwards, when +the captain and his party had set out, Ralph came to his sister and sat +down by her. + +"Do you know," said he, "what I think of Captain Horn? I think he is a +brave man, and a man who knows what to do when things turn up suddenly, +but, for all that, I think he is a tyrant. He does what he pleases, and +he makes other people do what he pleases, and consults nobody." + +"My dear Ralph," said Edna, "if you knew how glad I am we have such a man +to manage things, you would not think in that way. A tyrant is just what +we want in our situation, provided he knows what ought to be done, and I +think that Captain Horn does know." + +"That's just like a woman," said Ralph. "I might have expected it." + +During the rest of that day and the morning of the next, everybody in +the camp worked hard and did what could be done to help the captain +prepare for his voyage, and even Ralph, figuratively speaking, put his +hand to the oar. + +The boat was provisioned for a long voyage, though the captain hoped to +make a short one, and at noon he announced that he would set out late +that afternoon. + +"It will be flood-tide, and I can get away from the coast better then +than if the tide were coming in." + +"How glad I should be to hear you speak in that way," said Mrs. Cliff, +"if we were only going with you! But to be left here seems like a death +sentence all around. You may be lost at sea while we perish on shore." + +"I do not expect anything of the sort!" exclaimed Edna. "With Ralph and +two men to defend us, we can stay here a long time. As for the captain's +being lost, I do not think of it for a moment. He knows how to manage a +boat too well for that." + +"I don't like it at all! I don't like it at all!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. +"I don't expect misfortunes any more than other people do, but our +common sense tells us they may come, and we ought to be prepared for +them. Of course, you are a good sailor, captain, but if it should happen +that you should never come back, or even if it should be a very long +time before you come back, how are we going to know what we ought to do? +As far as I know the party you leave behind you, we would all be of +different opinions if any emergency arose. As long as you are with us, I +feel that, no matter what happens, the right thing will be done. But if +you are away--" + +At this moment Mrs. Cliff was interrupted by the approach of Maka, who +wished very much to speak to the captain. As the negro was not a man who +would be likely to interrupt a conversation except for an important +reason, the captain followed him to a little distance. There he found, to +his surprise, that although he had left one person to speak to another, +the subject was not changed. + +"Cap'n," said Maka, "when you go 'way, who's boss?" + +The captain frowned, and yet he could not help feeling interested in this +anxiety regarding his successor. "Why do you ask that?" he said. "What +difference does it make who gives you your orders when I am gone?" + +Maka shook his head. "Big difference," he said. "Cheditafa don' like boy +for boss. He wan' me tell you, if boy is boss, he don' wan' stay. He wan' +go 'long you." + +"You can tell Cheditafa," said the captain, quickly, "that if I want him +to stay he'll stay, and if I want him to go he'll go. He has nothing to +say about that. So much for him. Now, what do you think?" + +"Like boy," said Maka, "but not for boss." + +The captain was silent for a moment. Here was a matter which really +needed to be settled. If he had felt that he had authority to do as he +pleased, he would have settled it in a moment. + +"Cap'n big man. He know everyt'ing," said Maka. "But when cap'n go 'way, +boy t'ink he big man. Boy know nothin'. Better have woman for boss." + +Captain Horn could not help being amused. "Which woman?" he asked. + +"I say old one. Cheditafa say young one." + +The captain was not a man who would readily discuss his affairs with any +one, especially with such a man as Maka; but now the circumstances were +peculiar, and he wanted to know the opinions of these men he was about to +leave behind him. + +"What made you and Cheditafa think that way?" he asked. + +"I t'ink old one know more," replied the negro, "and Cheditafa t'ink wife +make bes' boss when cap'n gone, and young one make bes' wife." + +"You impertinent black scoundrels!" exclaimed the captain, taking a step +toward Maka, who bounced backward a couple of yards. "What do you mean by +talking about Miss Markham and me in that way? I'll--" But there he +paused. It would not be convenient to knock the heads off these men at +this time. "Cheditafa must be a very great fool," said he, speaking more +quietly. "Does he suppose I could call anybody my wife just for the sake +of giving you two men a boss?" + +"Oh, Cheditafa know!" exclaimed Maka, but without coming any nearer +the captain. "He know many, many t'ings, but he 'fraid come tell +you hisself." + +"I should think he would be," replied the captain, "and I wonder you are +not afraid, too." + +"Oh, I is, I is," said Maka. "I's all w'ite inside. But somebody got +speak boss 'fore he go 'way. If nobody speak, den you go 'way--no boss. +All crooked. Nobody b'long to anybody. Den maybe men come down from +mountain, or maybe men come in boat, and dey say, 'Who's all you people? +Who you b'long to?' Den dey say dey don' b'long nobody but demselves. +Den, mos' like, de w'ite ones gets killed for dey clothes and dey money. +And Cheditafa and me we gets tuck somew'ere to be slaves. But if we say, +'Dat lady big Cap'n Horn's wife--all de t'ings and de people b'long to +big he'--hi! dey men hands off--dey shake in de legs. Everybody know big +Cap'n Horn." + +The captain could not help laughing. "I believe you are as big a fool as +Cheditafa," said he. "Don't you know I can't make a woman my wife just by +calling her so?" + +"Don' mean dat!" exclaimed Maka. "Cheditafa don' mean dat. He make all +right. He priest in he own country. He marry people. He marry you 'fore +you go, all right. He talk 'bout dat mos' all night, but 'fraid come +tell cap'n." + +The absurdity of this statement was so great that it made the captain +laugh instead of making him angry; but before he could say anything more +to Maka, Mrs. Cliff approached him. "You must excuse me, captain," she +said, "but really the time is very short, and I have a great deal to say +to you, and if you have finished joking with that colored man, I wish you +would talk with me." + +"You will laugh, too," said the captain, "when you hear what he said to +me." And in a few words he told her what Maka had proposed. + +Instead of laughing, Mrs. Cliff stood staring at him in silent amazement. + +"I see I have shocked you," said the captain, "but you must remember that +that is only a poor heathen's ignorant vagary. Please say nothing about +it, especially to Miss Markham." + +"Say nothing about it!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "I wish I had a thousand +tongues to talk of it. Captain, do you really believe that Cheddy man is +a priest, or what goes for one in his own country? If he is, he ought to +marry you and Edna." + +The captain frowned, with an air of angry impatience. "I could excuse +that poor negro, madam," he said, "when he made such a proposition to +me, but I must say I did not expect anything of the kind from you. Do you +think, even if we had a bishop with us, that I would propose to marry any +woman in the world for the sake of making her what that fellow called the +'boss' of this party?" + +It was now Mrs. Cliff's turn to be impatient. "That boss business is a +very small matter," she replied, "although, of course, somebody must be +head while you are gone, and it was about this that I came to see you. +But after hearing what that colored man said, I want to speak of +something far more important, which I have been thinking and thinking +about, and to which I could see no head or tail until a minute ago. +Before I go on, I want you to answer me this question: If you are lost +at sea, and never come back, what is to become of that treasure? It is +yours now, as you let us know plainly enough, but whose will it be if +you should die? It may seem like a selfish and sordid thing for me to +talk to you in this way just before you start on such an expedition, but +I am a business woman,--since my husband's death I have been obliged to +be that,--and I look at things with a business eye. Have you considered +this matter?" + +"Yes, I have," answered the captain, "very seriously." + +"And so have I," said Mrs. Cliff. "Whether Edna has or not I don't +know, for she has said nothing to me. Now, we are not related to you, +and, of course, have no claim upon you in that way, but I do think +that, as we have all suffered together, and gone through dangers +together, we all ought to share, in some degree at least, in good +things as well as bad ones." + +"Mrs. Cliff," said the captain, speaking very earnestly, "you need not +say anything more on that subject. I have taken possession of that +treasure, and I intend to hold it, in order that I may manage things in +my own way, and avoid troublesome disputes. But I have not the slightest +idea of keeping it all for myself. I intend that everybody who has had +any concern in this expedition shall have a share in it. I have thought +over the matter a great deal, and intended, before I left, to tell you +and Miss Markham what I have decided upon. Here is a paper I have drawn +up. It is my will. It is written in lead-pencil and may not be legal, +but it is the best I can do. I have no relatives, except a few second +cousins somewhere out in the Northwest, and I don't want them to have +anything to do directly with my property, for they would be sure to make +trouble. Here, as you see, I leave to you, Miss Markham, and Ralph all +the property, of every kind and description, of which I may die +possessed. This, of course, would cover all treasure you may be able to +take away from this place, and which, without this will, might be claimed +by some of my distant relatives, if they should ever chance to hear the +story of my discovery. + +"Besides this, I have written here, on another page of this note-book, a +few private directions as to how I want the treasure disposed of. I say +nothing definite, and mention no exact sums, but, in a general way, I +have left everything in the hands of you two ladies. I know that you will +make a perfectly just and generous disposition of what you may get." + +"That is all very kind and good of you," said Mrs. Cliff, "but I cannot +believe that such a will would be of much service. If you have relatives +you are afraid of,--and I see you have,--if Edna Markham were your widow, +then by law she would get a good part of it, even if she did not get it +all, and if Edna got it, we would be perfectly satisfied." + +"It is rather a grim business to talk about Miss Markham being my widow," +said the captain, "especially under such circumstances. It strikes me +that the kind of marriage you propose would be a good deal flimsier than +this will." + +"It does not strike me so," said she. "A mere confession before witnesses +by a man and woman that they are willing to take each other for husband +and wife is often a legal ceremony, and if there is any kind of a +religious person present to perform the ceremony, it helps, and in a case +like this no stone should be left unturned. You see, you have assumed a +great deal of responsibility about this. You have stated--and if we were +called upon to testify, Miss Markham and I would have to acknowledge that +you have so stated--that you claimed this treasure as your discovery, and +that it all belonged to you. So, you see, if we keep our consciences +clear,--and no matter what happens, we are going to do that,--we might be +obliged to testify every cent of it away from ourselves. But if Edna were +your wife, it would be all right." + +The captain stood silent for a few moments, his hands thrust into his +pockets, and a queer smile on his face. "Mrs. Cliff," said he, presently, +"do you expect me to go to Miss Markham and gravely propose this scheme +which you and that half-tamed African have concocted?" + +"I think it would be better," said Mrs. Cliff, "if I were to prepare her +mind for it. I will go speak to her now." + +"No," said he, quickly, "don't you do that. If the crazy idea is to be +mentioned to her at all, I want to do it myself, and in my own way. I +will go to her now. I have had my talk with you, and I must have one +with her." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ON A BUSINESS BASIS + + +Captain Horn found Edna at the entrance to the caves, busily employed in +filling one of the Rackbirds' boxes with ship-biscuit. + +"Miss Markham," said he, "I wish to have a little business talk with you +before I leave. Where is Ralph?" + +"He is down at the boat," she answered. + +"Very good," said he. "Will you step this way?" + +When they were seated together in the shade of some rocks, he stated to +Edna what he had planned in case he should lose his life in his intended +expedition, and showed her the will he had made, and also the directions +for herself and Mrs. Cliff. Edna listened very attentively, occasionally +asking for an explanation, but offering no opinion. When he had finished, +she was about to say something, but he interrupted her. + +"Of course, I want to know your opinion about all this," he said, "but +not yet. I have more to say. There has been a business plan proposed +by two members of our party which concerns me, and when anything is +told concerning me, I want to know how it is told, or, if possible, +tell it myself." + +And then, as concisely as possible, he related to her Maka's anxiety in +regard to the boss question, and his method of disposing of the +difficulty, and afterwards Mrs. Cliff's anxiety about the property, in +case of accident to himself, and her method of meeting the contingency. + +During this recital Edna Markham said not one word. To portions of the +narrative she listened with an eager interest; then her expression +became hard, almost stern; and finally her cheeks grew red, but +whether with anger or some other emotion the captain did not know. +When he had finished, she looked steadily at him for a few moments, +and then she said: + +"Captain Horn, what you have told me are the plans and opinions of +others. It seems to me that you are now called upon to say something for +yourself." + +"I am quite ready to do that," he answered. "A half-hour ago I had never +thought of such a scheme as I have laid before you. When I heard it, I +considered it absurd, and mentioned it to you only because I was afraid I +would be misrepresented. But since putting the matter to you, even while +I have been just now talking, I have grown to be entirely in favor of it. +But I want you to thoroughly understand my views on the subject. If this +marriage is to be performed, it will be strictly a business affair, +entered into for the purpose of securing to you and others a fortune, +large or small, which, without this marriage, might be taken from you. In +other words," said he, "you are to be looked upon in this affair in the +light of my prospective widow." + +For a moment the flush on the face of the young woman faded away, but it +quickly returned. Apparently involuntarily, she rose to her feet. Turning +to the captain, who also rose, she said: + +"But there is another way in which the affair would have to be looked at. +Suppose I should not become your widow? Suppose you should not be lost at +sea, and should come back safely?" + +The captain drew a deep breath, and folded his arms upon his chest. "Miss +Markham," said he, "if this marriage should take place, it would be +entirely different from other marriages. If I should not return, and it +should be considered legal, it may make you all rich and happy. If it +should not hold good, we can only think we have done our best. But as to +anything beyond this, or to any question of my return, or any other +question in connection with the matter, our minds should be shut and +locked. This matter is a business proposition, and as such I lay it +before you. If we adopt it, we do so for certain reasons, and beyond +those reasons neither of us is qualified to go. We should keep our eyes +fixed upon the main point, and think of nothing else." + +"Something else must be looked at," said Edna. "It is just as likely that +you will come back as that you will be lost at sea." + +"This plan is based entirely on the latter supposition," replied the +captain. "It has nothing to do with the other. If we consider it at all, +we must consider it in that light." + +"But we must consider it in the other light," she said. She was now quite +pale, and her face had a certain sternness about it. + +"I positively refuse to do that," he said. "I will not think about it, +or say one word about it. I will not even refer to any future settlement +of that question. The plan I present rests entirely upon my non-return." + +"But if you do return?" persisted Edna. + +The captain smiled and shook his head. "You must excuse me," he said, +"but I can say nothing about that." + +She looked steadily at him for a few moments, and then she said: "Very +well, we will say nothing about it. As to the plan which has been +devised to give us, in case of accident to you, a sound claim to the +treasure which has been found here, and to a part of which I consider I +have a right, I consent to it. I do this believing that I should share +in the wonderful treasures in that cave. I have formed prospects for my +future which would make my life a thousand times better worth living +than I ever supposed it would be, and I do not wish to interfere with +those prospects. I want them to become realities. Therefore, I consent +to your proposition, and I will marry you upon a business basis, before +you leave." + +"Your hand upon it," said the captain; and she gave him a hand so cold +that it chilled his own. "Now I will go talk to Maka and Cheditafa," he +said. "Of course, we understand that it may be of no advantage to have +this coal-black heathen act as officiating clergyman, but it can do no +harm, and we must take the chances. I have a good deal to do, and no time +to lose if I am to get away on the flood-tide this afternoon. Will it +suit you if I get everything ready to start, and we then have the +ceremony?" + +"Oh, certainly," replied Edna. "Any spare moment will suit me." + +When he had gone, Edna Markham sat down on the rock again. With her hands +clasped in her lap, she gazed at the sand at her feet. + +"Without a minute to think of it," she said to herself, +presently,--"without any consideration at all. And now it is done! It +was not like me. I do not know myself. But yes!" she exclaimed, speaking +so that any one near might have heard her, "I do know myself. I said it +because I was afraid, if I did not say it then, I should never be able +to say it." + +If Captain Horn could have seen her then, a misty light, which no man can +mistake, shining in her eyes as she gazed out over everything into +nothing, he might not have been able to confine his proposition to a +strictly business basis. + +She sat a little longer, and then she hurried away to finish the work on +which she had been engaged; but when Mrs. Cliff came to look for her, she +did not find her packing provisions for the captain's cruise, but sitting +alone in one of the inner caves. + +"What, crying!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "Now, let me tell you, my dear +child, I do not feel in the least like crying. The captain has told me +that everything is all right between you, and the more I think of it, the +more firmly I believe that it is the grandest thing that could have +happened. For some reason or other, and I am sure I cannot tell you why, +I do not believe at all that the captain is going to be shipwrecked in +that little boat. Before this I felt sure we should never see him again, +but now I haven't a doubt that he will get somewhere all right, and that +he will come back all right, and if he does it will be a grand match. +Why, Edna child, if Captain Horn never gets away with a stick of that +gold, it will be a most excellent match. Now, I believe in my heart," she +continued, sitting down by Edna, "that when you accepted Captain Horn you +expected him to come back. Tell me isn't that true?" + +At that instant Miss Markham gave a little start. "Mrs. Cliff," she +exclaimed, "there is Ralph calling me. Won't you go and tell him all +about it? Hurry, before he comes in here." + +When Ralph Markham heard what had happened while he was down at the +beach, he grew so furiously angry that he could not find words in which +to express himself. + +"That Captain Horn," he cried, when speech came to him, "is the most +despotic tyrant on the face of the earth! He tells people what they are +to do, and they simply go and do it. The next thing he will do is to tell +you to adopt me as a son. Marry Edna! My sister! And I not know it! And +she, just because he asks her, must go and marry him. Well, that is just +like a woman." + +With savage strides he was about marching back to the beach, when Mrs. +Cliff stopped him. + +"Now, don't make everybody unhappy, Ralph," she said, "but just listen to +me. I want to tell you all about this matter." + +It took about a quarter of an hour to make clear to the ruffled mind of +Ralph the powerful, and in Mrs. Cliffs eyes the imperative, reasons for +the sudden and unpremeditated matrimonial arrangements of the morning. +But before she had finished, the boy grew quieter, and there appeared +upon his face some expressions of astute sagacity. + +"Well," said he, "when you first put this business to me, it was tail +side up, but now you've got heads up it looks a little different. He will +be drowned, as like as not, and then I suppose we can call our souls our +own, and if, besides that, we can call a lot of those chunks of gold our +own, we ought not to grumble. All right. I won't forbid the banns. But, +between you and me, I think the whole thing is stuff and nonsense. What +ought I to call him? Brother Horn?" + +"Now, don't say anything like that, Ralph," urged Mrs. Cliff, "and don't +make yourself disagreeable in any way. This is a very serious time for +all of us, and I am sure that you will not do anything which will hurt +your sister's feelings." + +"Oh, don't be afraid," said Ralph. "I'm not going to hurt anybody's +feelings. But when I first meet that man, I hope I may be able to keep +him from knowing what I think of him." + +Five minutes later Ralph heard the voice of Captain Horn calling him. The +voice came from the opening in the caves, and instantly Ralph turned and +walked toward the beach. Again came the voice, louder than before: +"Ralph, I want you." The boy stopped, put his hands in his pockets, and +shrugged his shoulders, then he slowly turned. + +"If I were bigger," he said to himself, "I'd thrash him on the spot. Then +I'd feel easier in my mind, and things could go on as they pleased. But +as I am not six feet high yet, I suppose I might as well go to see what +he wants." + +"Ralph," said the captain, as soon as the boy reached him, "I see Mrs. +Cliff has been speaking to you, and so you know about the arrangements +that have been made. But I have a great deal to do before I can start, +and I want you to help me. I am now going to the mound in the cave to get +out some of that gold, and I don't want anybody but you to go with me. I +have just sent all the negroes down to the beach to carry things to the +boat, and we must be quick about our business. You take this leather bag. +It is Mrs. Cliff's, but I think it is strong enough. The lantern is +lighted, so come on." + +To dive into a treasure mound Ralph would have followed a much more +ruthless tyrant than Captain Horn, and although he made no remarks, he +went willingly enough. When they had climbed the mound, and the captain +had lifted the stone from the opening in the top, Ralph held the lantern +while the captain, reaching down into the interior, set himself to work +to fill the bag with the golden ingots. As the boy gazed down upon the +mass of dull gold, his heart swelled within him. His feeling of +indignant resentment began to disappear rapidly before the growing +consciousness that he was to be the brother-in-law of the owner of all +that wealth. As soon as the bag was filled, the stone was replaced, and +the two descended from the mound, the captain carefully holding the +heavy bag under his arm, for he feared the weight might break the +handle. Then, extinguishing the lantern as soon as they could see their +way without it, they reached the innermost cave before any of the +negroes returned. Neither Mrs. Cliff nor Edna was there, and the +captain placed his burden behind a piece of rock. + +"Captain," said the boy, his eyes glistening, "there must be a fortune in +that bag!" + +The captain laughed. "Oh, no," said he, "not a very large one. I have had +a good deal of experience with gold in California, and I suppose each one +of those little bars is worth from two hundred and fifty to three hundred +dollars." What we have represents a good deal of money. But now, Ralph, I +have something very important to say to you. I am going to appoint you +sole guardian and keeper of that treasure. You are very young to have +such a responsibility put upon you, but I know you will feel the +importance of your duty, and that you will not be forgetful or negligent +about it. The main thing is to keep those two negroes, and anybody who +may happen to come here, away from the mound. Do what you can to prevent +any one exploring the cave, and don't let the negroes go there for water. +They now know the way over the rocks to the stream. + +"If I should not come back, or a ship should come along and take you off +before I return, you must all be as watchful as cats about that gold. +Don't let anybody see a piece of it. You three must carry away with you +as much as you can, but don't let any one know you are taking it. Of +course, I expect to come back and attend to the whole business, but if I +should not be heard from for a long time,--and if that is the case, you +may be sure I am lost,--and you should get away, I will trust to your +sister and you to get up an expedition to come back for it." + +Ralph drew himself up as high as circumstances would permit. "Captain," +said he, "you may count on me. I'll keep an eye on those black fellows, +and on anybody else who may come here." + +"Very good," said the captain. "I am sure you will never forget that you +are the guardian of all our fortunes." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +"A FINE THING, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS" + + +After the noonday meal, on the day of Captain Horn's departure, Mrs. +Cliff went apart with Maka and Cheditafa, and there endeavored to find +out, as best she might, the ideas and methods of the latter in regard to +the matrimonial service. In spite of the combined efforts of the two, +with their limited command of English, to make her understand how these +things were done in the forests and wilds of the Dark Continent, she +could not decide whether the forms of the Episcopal Church, those of the +Baptists, or those of the Quakers, could be more easily assimilated with +the previous notions of Cheditafa on the subject. But having been married +herself, she thought she knew very well what was needed, and so, without +endeavoring to persuade the negro priest that his opinions regarding the +marriage rites were all wrong, or to make him understand what sort of a +wedding she would have had if they had all been in their own land, she +endeavored to impress upon his mind the forms and phrases of a very +simple ceremony, which she believed would embody all that was necessary. + +Cheditafa was a man of considerable intelligence, and the feeling that +he was about to perform such an important ceremony for the benefit of +such a great man as Captain Horn filled his soul with pride and a strong +desire to acquit himself creditably in this honorable function, and he +was able before very long to satisfy Mrs. Cliff that, with Maka's +assistance as prompting clerk, he might be trusted to go through the +ceremony without serious mistake. + +She was strongly of the opinion that if she conducted the marriage +ceremony it would be far better in every way than such a performance by a +coal-black heathen; but as she knew that her offices would not count for +anything in a civilized world, whereas the heathen ministry might be +considered satisfactory, she accepted the situation, and kept her +opinions to herself. + +The wedding took place about six o'clock in the afternoon, on the plateau +in front of the great stone face, at a spot where the projecting rocks +cast a shade upon the heated ground. Cheditafa, attired in the best suit +of clothes which could be made up from contributions from all his +fellow-countrymen present, stood on the edge of the line of shadow, his +hands clasped, his head slightly bowed, his bright eyes glancing from +side to side, and his face filled with an expression of anxiety to +observe everything and make no mistakes. Maka stood near him, and behind +the two, in the brilliant sunlight, were grouped the other negroes, all +very attentive and solemn, looking a little frightened, as if they were +not quite sure that sacrifices were not customary on such occasions. + +Captain Horn stood, tall and erect, his jacket a little torn, but with an +air of earnest dignity upon his handsome, sunburnt features, which, with +his full dark beard and rather long hair, gave him the appearance of an +old-time chieftain about to embark upon some momentous enterprise. By his +side was Edna Markham, pale, and dressed in the simple gown in which she +had left the ship, but as beautiful, in the eyes of Mrs. Cliff, as if she +had been arrayed in orange-blossoms and white satin. + +[Illustration: Reverently the two answered the simple questions which +were put to them.] + +Reverently the two answered the simple questions which were put to them, +and made the necessary promises, and slowly and carefully, and in very +good English, Cheditafa pronounced them man and wife. Mrs. Cliff then +produced a marriage certificate, written with a pencil, as nearly as she +could remember, in the words of her own document of that nature, on a +leaf torn from the captain's note-book, and to this she signed +Cheditafa's name, to which the African, under her directions, affixed his +mark. Then Ralph and Mrs. Cliff signed as witnesses, and the certificate +was delivered to Edna. + +"Now," said the captain, "I will go aboard." + +The whole party, Edna and the captain a little in the lead, walked down +to the beach, where the boat lay, ready to be launched. During the short +walk Captain Horn talked rapidly and earnestly to Edna, confining his +remarks, however, to directions and advice as to what should be done +until he returned, or, still more important, as to what should be done if +he did not return at all. + +When they reached the beach, the captain shook hands with Edna, Mrs. +Cliff, and Ralph, and then, turning to Cheditafa, he informed him that +that lady, pointing to Edna, was now the mistress of himself and Mok, and +that every word of command she gave them must be obeyed exactly as if he +had given it to them himself. He was shortly coming back, he said, and +when he saw them again, their reward should depend entirely upon the +reports he should receive of their conduct. + +"But I know," said he, "that you are a good man, and that I can trust +you, and I will hold you responsible for Mok." + +This was the end of the leave-taking. The captain stepped into his boat +and took the oars. Then the four negroes, two on a side, ran out the +little craft as far as possible through the surf, and then, when they had +scrambled on board, the captain pulled out into smooth water. + +Hoisting his little sail, and seating himself in the stern, with the +tiller in his hand, he brought the boat round to the wind. Once he turned +toward shore and waved his hat, and then he sailed away toward the +western sky. + +Mrs. Cliff and Ralph walked together toward the caves, leaving Edna alone +upon the beach. + +"Well," said Ralph, "this is the first wedding I ever saw, but I must say +it is rather different from my idea of that sort of thing. I thought that +people always kissed at such affairs, and there was general jollification +and cake, but this seemed more like a newfangled funeral, with the dear +departed acting as his own Charon and steering himself across the Styx." + +"He might have kissed her," said Mrs. Cliff, thoughtfully. "But you see, +Ralph, everything had to be very different from ordinary weddings. It was +a very peculiar case." + +"I should hope so," said the boy,--"the uncommoner the better. In fact, +I shouldn't call it a wedding at all. It seemed more like taking a first +degree in widowhood." + +"Ralph," said Mrs. Cliff, "that is horrible. Don't you ever say anything +like that again. I hope you are not going to distress your sister with +such remarks." + +"You need not say anything about Edna!" he exclaimed. "I shall not worry +her with any criticisms of the performance. The fact is, she will need +cheering up, and if I can do it I will. She's captain now, and I'll stand +up for her like a good fellow." + +Edna stood on the beach, gazing out on the ocean illuminated by the rays +of the setting sun, keeping her eyes fixed on the captain's boat until it +became a mere speck. Then, when it had vanished entirely among the lights +and shades of the evening sea, she still stood a little while and +watched. Then she turned and slowly walked up to the plateau. Everything +there was just as she had known it for weeks. The great stone face seemed +to smile in the last rays of the setting sun. Mrs. Cliff came to meet +her, her face glowing with smiles, and Ralph threw his arms around her +neck and kissed her, without, however, saying a word about that sort of +thing having been omitted in the ceremony of the afternoon. + +"My dear Edna," exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "from the bottom of my heart I +congratulate you! No matter how we look at it, a rare piece of good +fortune has come to you." + +Edna gazed at her for a moment, and then she answered quietly, "Oh, yes, +it was a fine thing, no matter what happens. If he does not come back, I +shall make a bold stroke for widowhood; and if he does come back, he is +bound, after all this, to give me a good share of that treasure. So, you +see, we have done the best we can do to be rich and happy, if we are not +so unlucky as to perish among these rocks and sand." + +"She is almost as horrible as Ralph," thought Mrs. Cliff, "but she will +get over it." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +MRS. CLIFF IS AMAZED + +After the captain set sail in his little boat, the party which he +left behind him lived on in an uneventful, uninteresting manner, +which, gradually, day by day, threw a shadow over the spirits of each +one of them. + +Ralph, who always slept in the outer chamber of the caves, had been a +very faithful guardian of the captain's treasure. No one, not even +himself, had gone near it, and he never went up to the rocky promontory +on which he had raised his signal-pole without knowing that the two +negroes were at a distance from the caves, or within his sight. + +For a day or two after the captain's departure Edna was very quiet, with +a fancy for going off by herself. But she soon threw off this dangerous +disposition, and took up her old profession of teacher, with Ralph as the +scholar, and mathematics as the study. They had no books nor even paper, +but the rules and principles of her specialty were fresh in her mind, and +with a pointed stick on a smooth stretch of sand diagrams were drawn and +problems worked out. + +This occupation was a most excellent thing for Edna and her brother, but +it did not help Mrs. Cliff to endure with patience the weary days of +waiting. She had nothing to read, nothing to do, very often no one to +talk to, and she would probably have fallen into a state of nervous +melancholy had not Edna persuaded her to devote an hour or two each day +to missionary work with Mok and Cheditafa. This Mrs. Cliff cheerfully +undertook. She was a conscientious woman, and her methods of teaching +were peculiar. She had an earnest desire to do the greatest amount of +good with these poor, ignorant negroes, but, at the same time, she did +not wish to do injury to any one else. The conviction forced itself upon +her that if she absolutely converted Cheditafa from the errors of his +native religion, she might in some way invalidate the marriage ceremony +which he had performed. + +"If he should truly come to believe," she said to herself, "that he had +no right to marry the captain and Edna, his conscience might make him +go back on the whole business, and everything that we have done would +be undone. I don't want him to remain a heathen any longer than it can +possibly be helped, but I must be careful not to set his priesthood +entirely aside until Edna's position is fixed and settled. When the +captain comes back, and we all get home, they must be married +regularly; but if he never comes back, then I must try to make +Cheditafa understand that the marriage is just as binding as any other +kind, and that any change of religious opinion that he may undergo will +have no effect upon it." + +Accordingly, while she confined her religious teachings to very general +principles, her moral teachings were founded upon the strictest code, and +included cleanliness and all the household virtues, not excepting the +proper care of such garments as an indigent human being in a tropical +climate might happen to possess. + +In spite, however, of this occupation, Mrs. Cliffs spirits were not +buoyant. "I believe," she thought, "things would have been more cheerful +if they had not married; but then, of course, we ought to be willing to +sacrifice cheerfulness at present to future prosperity." + +It was more than a month after the departure of the captain that Ralph, +from his point of observation, perceived a sail upon the horizon. He had +seen sails there before, but they never grew any larger, and generally +soon disappeared, for it would lengthen the course of any +coasting-vessel to approach this shore. But the sail that Ralph saw now +grew larger and larger, and, with the aid of his little spy-glass, it +was not long before he made up his mind that it was coming toward him. +Then up went his signal-flag, and, with a loud hurrah, down went he to +shout out the glad news. + +Twenty minutes later it was evident to the anxiously peering eyes of +every one of the party that the ship was actually approaching the shore, +and in the heart of each one of them there was a bounding delight in the +feeling that, after all these days of weary waiting, the captain was +coming back. + +As the ship drew nearer and nearer, she showed herself to be a large +vessel--a handsome bark. About half a mile from the shore, she lay to, +and very soon a boat was lowered. + +Edna's heart beat rapidly and her face flushed as, with Ralph's +spy-glass to her eyes, she scanned the people in the boat as it pulled +away from the ship. + +"Can you make out the captain?" cried Ralph, at her side. + +She shook her head, and handed him the glass. For full five minutes the +boy peered through it, and then he lowered the glass. + +"Edna," said he, "he isn't in it." + +"What!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "do you mean to say that the captain is not +in that boat?" + +"I am sure of it," said Ralph. "And if he isn't in the boat, of course he +is not on the ship. Perhaps he did not have anything to do with that +vessel's coming here. It may have been tacking in this direction, and so +come near enough for people to see my signal." + +"Don't suppose things," said Edna, a little sharply. "Wait until the boat +comes in, and then we will know all about it.--Here, Cheditafa," said +she, "you and Mok go out into the water and help run that boat ashore as +soon as it is near enough." + +It was a large boat containing five men, and when it had been run up on +the sand, and its occupants had stepped out, the man at the tiller, who +proved to be the second mate of the bark, came forward and touched his +hat. As he did so, no sensible person could have imagined that he had +accidentally discovered them. His manner plainly showed that he had +expected to find them there. The conviction that this was so made the +blood run cold in Edna's veins. Why had not the captain come himself? + +The man in command of the boat advanced toward the two ladies, looking +from one to the other as he did so. Then, taking a letter from the +pocket of his jacket, he presented it to Edna. + +"Mrs. Horn, I believe," he said. "Here is a letter from your husband." + +Now, it so happened that to Mrs. Cliff, to Edna, and to Ralph this +recognition of matrimonial status seemed to possess more force and value +than the marriage ceremony itself. + +Edna's face grew as red as roses as she took the letter. + +"From my husband," she said; and then, without further remark, she +stepped aside to read it. + +But Mrs. Cliff and Ralph could not wait for the reading of the letter. +They closed upon the mate, and, each speaking at the same moment, +demanded of him what had happened to Captain Horn, why he had not come +himself, where he was now, was this ship to take them away, and a dozen +similar questions. The good mariner smiled at their impatience, but could +not wonder at it, and proceeded to tell them all he knew about Captain +Horn and his plans. + +The captain, he said, had arrived at Callao some time since, and +immediately endeavored to get a vessel in which to go after the party +he had left, but was unable to do so. There was nothing in port which +answered his purpose. The captain seemed to be very particular about +the craft in which he would be willing to trust his wife and the rest +of the party. + +"And after having seen Mrs. Horn," the mate politely added, "and you two, +I don't wonder he was particular. When Captain Horn found that the bark +out there, the Mary Bartlett, would sail in a week for Acapulco, Mexico, +he induced the agents of the company owning her to allow her to stop to +take off the shipwrecked party and carry them to that port, from which +they could easily get to the United States." + +"But why, in the name of common sense," almost screamed Mrs. Cliff, +"didn't he come himself? Why should he stay behind, and send a ship to +take us off?" + +"That, madam," said the mate, "I do not know. I have met Captain Horn +before, for he is well known on this coast, and I know he is a man who +understands how to attend to his own business, and, therefore, I suppose +he has good reasons for what he has done--which reasons, no doubt, he has +mentioned in his letter to his wife. All I can tell you is that, after he +had had a good deal of trouble with the agents, we were at last ordered +to touch here. He could not give us the exact latitude and longitude of +this spot, but as his boat kept on a straight westward course after he +left here, he got a good idea of the latitude from the Mexican brig which +he boarded three days afterwards. Then he gave us a plan of the coast, +which helped us very much, and soon after we got within sight of land, +our lookout spied that signal you put up. So here we are; and I have +orders to take you all off just as soon as possible, for we must not lie +here a minute longer than is necessary. I do not suppose that, under the +circumstances, you have much baggage to take away with you, and I shall +have to ask you to get ready to leave as soon as you can." + +"All right," cried Ralph. "It won't take us long to get ready." + +But Mrs. Cliff answered never a word. In fact, the injunction to +prepare to leave had fallen unheeded upon her ear. Her mind was +completely occupied entirely with one question: Why did not the captain +come himself? + +She hastened to Edna, who had finished reading the letter, and now stood +silent, holding it in her hand. + +"What does he say?" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "What are his reasons for +staying away? What does he tell you about his plans? Read us the letter. +You can leave out all the loving and confidential parts, but give us his +explanations. I never was so anxious to know anything in all my life." + +"I will read you the whole of it," said Edna. "Here, Ralph." + +Her brother came running up. "That man is in an awful hurry to get away," +he said. "We ought to go up to the caves and get our things." + +"Stay just where you are," said Mrs. Cliff. "Before we do anything +else, we must know what Captain Horn intends to do, and what he wants +us to do." + +"That's so!" cried Ralph, suddenly remembering his guardianship. "We +ought to know what he says about leaving that mound. Read away, Edna." + +The three stood at some little distance from the sailors, who were now +talking with Cheditafa, and Edna read the letter aloud: + +"Lima, May 14, 1884. + +"MY DEAR WIFE: I reached this city about ten days ago. When I left you +all I did not sail down the coast, but stood directly out to sea. My +object was to reach a shipping-port, and to do this my best plan was to +get into the track of coasting-vessels. This plan worked well, and in +three days we were picked up by a Mexican guano brig, and were taken to +Callao, which is the port of Lima. We all arrived in good health and +condition. + +"This letter will be brought to you by the bark Mary Bartlett, which +vessel I have engaged to stop for you, and take you and the whole party +to Acapulco, which is the port of the City of Mexico, from which place I +advise you to go as soon as possible to San Francisco. I have paid the +passage of all of you to Acapulco, and I inclose a draft for one thousand +dollars for your expenses. I would advise you to go to the Palmetto +Hotel, which is a good family house, and I will write to you there and +send another draft. In fact, I expect you will find my letter when you +arrive, for the mail-steamer will probably reach San Francisco before you +do. Please write to me as soon as you get there, and address me here, +care of Nasco, Parmley & Co." + +An exclamation of impatience here escaped from Mrs. Cliff. In her +opinion, the reasons for the non-appearance of the captain should, have +been the first thing in the letter. + +"When I reached Lima, which is six miles from Callao," the letter +continued, "I disposed of some of the property I brought with me, and +expect to sell it all before long. Being known as a Californian, I find +no difficulty in disposing of my property, which is in demand here, and +in a very short time I shall have turned the whole of it into drafts or +cash. There is a vessel expected here shortly which I shall be able to +charter, and as soon as I can do so I shall sail in her to attend to the +disposition of the rest of my property. I shall write as frequently as +possible, and keep you informed of my operations. + +"Of course, you understand that I could not go on the Mary Bartlett to +join you and accompany you to Acapulco, for that would have involved too +great a loss of time. My business must be attended to without delay, and +I can get the vessel I want here. + +"The people of the _Mary Bartlett_ will not want to wait any longer than +can be helped, so you would all better get your baggage together as soon +as possible and go on board. The two negroes will bring down your +baggage, so there will be no need for any of the sailors to go up to the +caves. Tell Ralph not to forget the charge I gave him if they do go up. +When you have taken away your clothes, you can leave just as they are the +cooking-utensils, the blankets, and _everything else._ I will write to +you much more fully by mail. Cannot do so now. I hope you may all have a +quick and safe voyage, and that I may hear from you immediately after you +reach Acapulco. I hope most earnestly that you have all kept well, and +that no misfortune has happened to any of you. I shall wait with anxiety +your letter from Acapulco. Let Ralph write and make his report. I will +ask you to stay in San Francisco until more letters have passed and plans +are arranged. Until further notice, please give Mrs. Cliff one fourth of +all moneys I send. I cannot insist, of course, upon her staying in San +Francisco, but I would advise her to do so until things are more settled. + +"In haste, your husband, + +"Philip Horn." + +"Upon my word!" ejaculated Mrs. Cliff, "a most remarkable letter! It +might have been written to a clerk! No one would suppose it the first +letter of a man to his bride! Excuse me, Edna, for speaking so plainly, +but I must say I am shocked. He is very particular to call you his wife +and say he is your husband, and in that way he makes the letter a +valuable piece of testimony if he never turns up, but--well, no matter." + +"He is mighty careful," said Ralph, "not to say anything about the gold. +He speaks of his property as if it might be Panama stock or something +like that. He is awfully wary." + +"You see," said Edna, speaking in a low voice, "this letter was sent by +private hands, and by people who were coming to the spot where his +property is, and, of course, it would not do to say anything that would +give any hint of the treasure here. When he writes by mail, he can speak +more plainly." + +"I hope he may speak more plainly in another way," said Mrs. Cliff. "And +now let us go up and get our things together. I am a good deal more +amazed by the letter than I was by the ship." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +LEFT BEHIND + + +"Ralph," said Edna, as they were hurrying up to the caves, "you must do +everything you can to keep those sailors from wandering into the lake +basin. They are very different from the negroes, and will want to explore +every part of it." + +"Oh, I have thought of all that," said Ralph, "and I am now going to run +ahead and smash the lantern. They won't be so likely to go poking around +in the dark." + +"But they may have candles or matches," said Edna. "We must try to keep +them out of the big cave." + +Ralph did not stop to answer, but ran as fast as his legs would carry him +to the plateau. The rest of the party followed, Edna first, then the +negroes, and after them Mrs. Cliff, who could not imagine why Edna should +be in such a hurry. The sailors, having secured their boat, came +straggling after the rest. + +When Edna reached the entrance to the caves, she was met by her brother, +so much out of breath that he could hardly speak. + +"You needn't go to your room to get your things," he exclaimed. "I have +gathered them all up, your bag, too, and I have tumbled them over the +wall in the entrance back here. You must get over as quick as you can. +That will be your room now, and I will tell the sailors, if they go +poking around, that you are in there getting ready to leave, and then, of +course, they can't pass along the passage." + +"That is a fine idea," said Edna, as she followed him. "You are getting +very sharp-witted, Ralph." + +"Now, then," said he, as he helped her over the wall, "take just as long +as you can to get your things ready." + +"It can't take me very long," said Edna. "I have no clothes to change, +and only a few things to put in my bag. I don't believe you have got them +all, anyway." + +"But you must make it take a long time," said he. "You must not get +through until every sailor has gone. You and I must be the last ones to +leave the caves." + +"All right," said Edna, as she disappeared behind the wall. + +When Mrs. Cliff arrived, she was met by Ralph, who explained the state of +affairs, and although that lady was a good deal annoyed at the scattered +condition in which she found her effects, she accepted the situation. + +The mate and his men were much interested in the caves and the great +stone face, and, as might have been expected, every one of them wanted to +know where the narrow passage led. But as Ralph was on hand to inform +them that it was the entrance to Mrs. Horn's apartment, they could do no +more than look along its dusky length, and perhaps wonder why Mrs. Horn +should have selected a cave which must be dark, when there were others +which were well lighted. + +Mrs. Cliff was soon ready, and explained to the inquiring mate her +notion that these caves were used for religious purposes, and that +the stone face was an ancient idol. In fact, the good lady believed +this, but she did not state that she thought it likely that the +sculptured countenance was a sort of a cashier idol, whose duty it +was to protect treasure. + +Edna, behind the stone barrier, had put her things in her bag, though she +was not sure she had found all of them in the gloom, and she waited a +long time, so it seemed to her, for Ralph's summons to come forth. But +although the boy came to the wall several times, ostensibly to ask if she +were not ready, yet he really told her to stay where she was, for the +sailors were not yet gone. But at last he came with the welcome news that +every one had departed, and they soon came out into the daylight. + +"If anything is lost, charge it to me," said Ralph to Mrs. Cliff and his +sister, as they hurried away. "I can tell you, if I had not thought of +that way of keeping those sailors out of the passage, they would have +swarmed over that lake bed, each one of them with a box of matches in his +pocket; and if they had found that mound, I wouldn't give two cents for +the gold they would have left in it. It wouldn't have been of any use to +tell them it was the captain's property. They would have been there, and +he wasn't, and I expect the mate would have been as bad as any of them." + +"You are a good fellow, Ralph," said Mrs. Cliff, "and I hope you will +grow up to be an administrator, or something of the kind. I don't +suppose there was ever another boy in the world who had so much wealth +in charge." + +"You can't imagine," exclaimed Ralph, "how I hate to go away and leave +it! There is no knowing when the captain will get here, nor who will drop +in on the place before he does. I tell you, Edna, I believe it would be a +good plan for me to stay here with those two black fellows, and wait for +the captain. You two could go on the ship, and write to him. I am sure he +would be glad to know I am keeping guard here, and I don't know any +better fun than to be on hand when he unearths the treasure. There's no +knowing what is at the bottom of that mound." + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Edna. "You can put that idea out of your head +instantly. I would not think of going away and leaving you here. If the +captain had wanted you to stay, he would have said so." + +"If the captain wanted!" sarcastically exclaimed Ralph. "I am tired of +hearing what the captain wants. I hope the time will soon come when those +yellow bars of gold will be divided up, and then I can do what I like +without considering what he likes." + +Mrs. Cliff could not help a sigh. "Dear me!" said she, "I do most +earnestly hope that time may come. But we are leaving it all behind us, +and whether we will ever hear of it again nobody knows." + +One hour after this Edna and Mrs. Cliff were standing on the deck of the +Mary Bartlett, watching the plateau of the great stone face as it slowly +sank into the horizon. + +"Edna," said the elder lady, "I have liked you ever since I have known +you, and I expect to like you as long as I live, but I must say that, for +an intelligent person, you have the most colorless character I have ever +seen. Whatever comes to pass, you receive it as quietly and calmly as if +it were just what you expected and what you happened to want, and yet, as +long as I have known you, you have not had anything you wanted." + +"You are mistaken there," said Edna. "I have got something I want." + +"And what may that be?" asked the other. + +"Captain Horn," said Edna. + +Mrs. Cliff laughed a little scornfully. "If you are ever going to get any +color out of your possession of him," she said, "he's got to very much +change the style of his letter-writing. He has given you his name and +some of his money, and may give you more, but I must say I am very much +disappointed in Captain Horn." + +Edna turned suddenly upon her companion. "Color!" she exclaimed, but she +did not finish her remark, for Ralph came running aft. + +"A queer thing has happened," said he: "a sailor is missing, and he is +one of the men who went on shore for us. They don't know what's become of +him, for the mate is sure he brought all his men back with him, and so am +I, for I counted them to see that there were no stragglers left, and all +the people who were in that boat came on board. They think he may have +fallen overboard after the ship sailed, but nobody heard a splash." + +"Poor fellow!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "and he was one of those who came +to save us!" + +At this moment a wet and bedraggled sailor, almost exhausted with a swim +of nearly a mile, staggered upon the beach, and fell down upon the sand +near the spot from which the Mary Bartlett's boat had recently been +pushed off. When, an hour before, he had slipped down the side of the +ship, he had swum under water as long as his breath held out, and had +dived again as soon as he had filled his lungs. Then he had floated on +his back, paddling along with little but his face above the surface of +the waves, until he had thought it safe to turn over and strike out for +land. It had been a long pull, and the surf had treated him badly, but he +was safe on shore at last, and in a few minutes he was sound asleep, +stretched upon the sand. + +Toward the end of the afternoon he awoke and rose to his feet. The warm +sand, the desiccating air, and the sun had dried his clothes, and his nap +had refreshed him. He was a sharp-faced, quick-eyed man, a Scotchman, and +the first thing he did was to shade his face with his hands and look out +over the sea. Then he turned, with a shrug of his shoulders and a grunt. + +"She's gone," said he, "and I will be up to them caves." After a dozen +steps he gave another shrug. "Humph!" said he, "those fools! Do they +think everybody is blind? They left victuals, they left cooking-things. +Blasted careful they were to leave matches and candles in a tin box. I +watched them. If everybody else was blind, I kenned they expected +somebody was comin' back. That captain, that blasted captain, I'll wager! +Wi' sae much business on his hands, he couldna sail wi' us to show us +where his wife was stranded!" + +For fifty yards more he plodded along, looking from side to side at the +rocks and sand. + +"A dreary place and lonely," thought he, "and I can peer out things at me +ease. I'll find out what's at the end o' that dark alley. They were so +fearsome that we'd go into her room. Her room, indeed! When the other +woman had a big lighted cave! They expected somebody to come back, did +they? Well, blast their eyes, he's here!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +AT THE RACKBIRDS' COVE + + +It was about six weeks after the _Mary Bartlett_ had sailed away from +that desolate spot on the coast of Peru from which she had taken the +shipwrecked party, that the great stone face might have seen, if its +wide-open eyes had been capable of vision, a small schooner beating in +toward shore. This vessel, which was manned by a Chilian captain, a +mate, and four men, and was a somewhat dirty and altogether disagreeable +craft, carried Captain Horn, his four negroes, and three hundred and +thirty bags of guano. + +In good truth the captain was coming back to get the gold, or as much of +it as he could take away with him. But his apparent purpose was to +establish on this desert coast a depot for which he would have nothing to +pay for rent and storage, and where he would be able to deposit, from +time to time, such guano as he had been able to purchase at a bargain at +two of the guano islands, until he should have enough to make it worth +while for a large vessel, trading with the United States or Mexico, to +touch here and take on board his accumulated stock of odorous +merchandise. + +It would be difficult--in fact, almost impossible--to land a cargo at +the point near the caves where the captain and his party first ran their +boats ashore, nor did the captain in the least desire to establish his +depot at a point so dangerously near the golden object of his +undertaking. But the little bay which had been the harbor of the +Rackbirds exactly suited his purpose, and here it was that he intended to +land his bags of guano. He had brought with him on the vessel suitable +timber with which to build a small pier, and he carried also a lighter, +or a big scow, in which the cargo would be conveyed from the anchored +schooner to the pier. + +It seemed quite evident that the captain intended to establish himself in +a somewhat permanent manner as a trader in guano. He had a small tent and +a good stock of provisions, and, from the way he went to work and set his +men to work, it was easy to see that he had thoroughly planned and +arranged all the details of his enterprise. + +It was nearly dark when the schooner dropped her anchor, and early the +next morning all available hands were set to work to build the pier, and, +when it was finished, the landing of the cargo was immediately begun. +Some of the sailors wandered about a little, when they had odd moments to +spare, but they had seen such dreary coasts before, and would rather rest +than ramble. But wherever they did happen to go, not one of them ever got +away from the eye of Captain Horn. + +The negroes evinced no desire to visit the cave, and Maka had been +ordered by the captain to say nothing about it to the sailors. There was +no difficulty in obeying this order, for these rough fellows, as much +landsmen as mariners, had a great contempt for the black men, and had +little to do with them. As Captain Horn informed Maka, he had heard from +his friends, who had arrived in safety at Acapulco; therefore there was +no need for wasting time in visiting their old habitation. + +In that dry and rainless region a roof to cover the captain's stock in +trade was not necessary, and the bags were placed upon a level spot on +the sands, in long double rows, each bag on end, gently leaning +against its opposite neighbor, and between the double rows there was +room to walk. + +The Chilian captain was greatly pleased with this arrangement. "I see +well," said he, in bad Spanish, "that this business is not new to you. A +ship's crew can land and carry away these bags without tumbling over each +other. It is a grand thing to have a storehouse with a floor as wide as +many acres." + +A portion of the bags, however, were arranged in a different manner. They +were placed in a circle two bags deep, inclosing a space about ten feet +in diameter. This, Captain Horn explained, he intended as a sort of +little fort, in which the man left in charge could defend himself and the +property, in case marauders should land upon the coast. + +"You don't intend," exclaimed the Chilian captain, "that you will leave a +guard here! Nobody would have cause to come near the spot from either +land or sea, and you might well leave your guano here for a year or more, +and come back and find it." + +"No," said Captain Horn, "I can't trust to that. A coasting-vessel might +put in here for water. Some of them may know that there is a stream +here, and with this convenient pier, and a cargo ready to their hands, my +guano would be in danger. No, sir. I intend to send you off to-morrow, if +the wind is favorable, for the second cargo for which we have contracted, +and I shall stay here and guard my warehouse." + +"What!" exclaimed the Chilian, "alone?" + +"Why not?" said Captain Horn. "Our force is small, and we can only spare +one man. In loading the schooner on this trip, I would be the least +useful man on board, and, besides, do you think there is any one among +you who would volunteer to stay here instead of me?" + +The Chilian laughed and shook his head. "But what can one man do," said +he, "to defend all this, if there should be need?" + +"Oh, I don't intend to defend it," said the other. "The point is to have +somebody here to claim it in case a coaster should touch here. I don't +expect to be murdered for the sake of a lot of guano. But I shall keep my +two rifles and other arms inside that little fort, and if I should see +any signs of rascality I shall jump inside and talk over the guano-bags, +and I am a good shot." + +The Chilian shrugged his shoulders. "If I stayed here alone," said he, "I +should be afraid of nothing but the devil, and I am sure he would come to +me, with all his angels. But you are different from me." + +"Yes," said Captain Horn, "I don't mind the devil. I have often camped +out by myself, and I have not seen him yet." + +When Maka heard that the captain intended staying alone, he was greatly +disturbed. If the captain had not built the little fort with the +guano-bags, he would have begged to be allowed to remain with him, but +those defensive works had greatly alarmed him, for they made him believe +that the captain feared that some of the Rackbirds might come back. He +had had a great deal of talk with the other negroes about those bandits, +and he was fully impressed with their capacity for atrocity. It grieved +his soul to think that the captain would stay here alone, but the captain +was a man who could defend himself against half a dozen Rackbirds, while +he knew very well that he would not be a match for half a one. With tears +in his eyes, he begged Captain Horn not to stay, for Rackbirds would not +steal guano, even if any of them should return. + +But his entreaties were of no avail. Captain Horn explained the matter to +him, and tried to make him understand that it was as a claimant, more +than as a defender of his property, that he remained, and that there was +not the smallest reason to suspect any Rackbirds or other source of +danger. The negro saw that the captain had made up his mind, and +mournfully joined his fellows. In half an hour, however, he came back to +the captain and offered to stay with him until the schooner should +return. If Captain Horn had known the terrible mental struggle which had +preceded this offer, he would have been more grateful to Maka than he had +ever yet been to any human being, but he did not know it, and declined +the proposition pleasantly but firmly. + +"You are wanted on the schooner," said he, "for none of the rest can +cook, and you are not wanted here, so you must go with the others; and +when you come back with the second load of guano, it will not be long +before the ship which I have engaged to take away the guano will touch +here, and then we will all go north together." + +Maka smiled, and tried to be satisfied. He and the other negroes had been +greatly grieved that the captain had not seen fit to go north from +Callao, and take them with him. Their one desire was to get away from +this region, so full of horrors to them, as soon as possible. But they +had come to the conclusion that, as the captain had lost his ship, he +must be poor, and that it was necessary for him to make a little money +before he returned to the land of his home. + +Fortune was on the captain's side the next day, for the wind was +favorable, and the captain of the schooner was very willing to start. If +that crew, with nothing to do, had been compelled by adverse weather to +remain in that little cove for a day or more, it might have been very +difficult indeed for Captain Horn to prevent them from wandering into the +surrounding country, and what might have happened had they chanced to +wander into the cave made the captain shudder to conjecture. + +He had carefully considered this danger, and on the voyage he had made +several plans by which he could keep the men at work, in case they were +obliged to remain in the cove after the cargo had been landed. Happily, +however, none of these schemes was necessary, and the next day, with a +western wind, and at the beginning of the ebb-tide, the schooner sailed +away for another island where Captain Horn had purchased guano, leaving +him alone upon the sandy beach, apparently as calm and cool as usual, but +actually filled with turbulent delight at seeing them depart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +IN THE GATES + + +When the topmasts of the Chilian schooner had disappeared below the +horizon line, with no reason to suppose that the schooner would put back +again, Captain Horn started for the caves. Had he obeyed his instincts, +he would have begun to stroll along the beach as soon as the vessel had +weighed anchor. But even now, as he hurried on, he walked prudently, +keeping close to the water, so that the surf might wash out his footsteps +as fast as he made them. He climbed over the two ridges to the north of +Rackbirds' Cove, and then made his way along the stretch of sand which +extended to the spot where the party had landed when he first reached +this coast. He stopped and looked about him, and then, in fancy, he saw +Edna standing upon the beach, her face pale, her eyes large and +supernaturally dark, and behind her Mrs. Cliff and the boy and the two +negroes. Not until this moment had he felt that he was alone. But now +there came a great desire to speak and be spoken to, and yet that very +morning he had spoken and listened as much as had suited him. + +As he walked up the rising ground toward the caves, that ground he had +traversed so often when this place had been, to all intents and purposes, +his home, where there had been voices and movement and life, the sense of +desertion grew upon him--not only desertion of the place, but of himself. +When he had opened his eyes, that morning, his overpowering desire had +been that not an hour of daylight should pass before he should be left +alone, and yet now his heart sank at the feeling that he was here and no +one was with him. + +When the captain had approached within a few yards of the great stone +face, his brows were slowly knitted. + +"This is carelessness," he said to himself. "I did not expect it of +them. I told them to leave the utensils, but I did not suppose that +they would leave them outside. No matter how much they were hurried in +going away, they should have put these things into the caves. A passing +Indian might have been afraid to go into that dark hole, but to leave +those tin things there is the same as hanging out a sign to show that +people lived inside." + +Instantly the captain gathered up the tin pan and tin plates, and looked +about him to see if there was anything else which should be put out of +sight. He did find something else. It was a little, short, black, wooden +pipe which was lying on a stone. He picked it up in surprise. Neither +Maka nor Cheditafa smoked, and it could not have belonged to the boy. + +"Perhaps," thought the captain, "one of the sailors from the _Mary +Bartlett_ may have left it. Yes, that must have been the case. But +sailors do not often leave their pipes behind them, nor should the +officer in charge have allowed them to lounge about and smoke. But it +must have been one of those sailors who left it here. I am glad I am the +one to find these things." + +The captain now entered the opening to the caves. Passing along until he +reached the room which he had once occupied, there he saw his rough +pallet on the ground, drawn close to the door, however. + +The captain knew that the rest of his party had gone away in a great +hurry, but to his orderly mariner's mind it seemed strange that they +should have left things in such disorder. + +He could not stop to consider these trifles now, however, and going to +the end of the passage, he climbed over the low wall and entered the cave +of the lake. When he lighted the lantern he had brought with him, he saw +it as he had left it, dry, or even drier than before, for the few pools +which had remained after the main body of water had run off had +disappeared, probably evaporated. He hurried on toward the mound in the +distant recess of the cave. On the way, his foot struck something which +rattled, and holding down his lantern to see what it was, he perceived an +old tin cup. + +"Confound it!" he exclaimed. "This is too careless! Did the boy intend to +make a regular trail from the outside entrance to the mound? I suppose he +brought that cup here to dip up water, and forgot it. I must take it with +me when I go back." + +He went on, throwing the light of the lantern on the ground before him, +for he had now reached a part of the cave which was entirely dark. +Suddenly something on the ground attracted his attention. It was +bright--it shone as if it were a little pale flame of a candle. He +sprang toward it, he picked it up. It was one of the bars of gold he had +seen in the mound. + +"Could I have dropped this?" he ejaculated. He slipped the little bar +into his pocket, and then, his heart beginning to beat rapidly, he +advanced, with his lantern close to the rocky floor. Presently he saw two +other pieces of gold, and then, a little farther on, the end of a candle, +so small that it could scarcely have been held by the fingers. He picked +up this and stared at it. It was a commonplace candle-end, but the sight +of it sent a chill through him from head to foot. It must have been +dropped by some one who could hold it no longer. + +He pressed on, his light still sweeping the floor. He found no more gold +nor pieces of candle, but here and there he perceived the ends of burnt +wooden matches. Going on, he found more matches, two or three with the +heads broken off and unburnt. In a few moments the mound loomed up out of +the darkness like a spectral dome, and, looking no more upon the ground, +the captain ran toward it. By means of the stony projections he quickly +mounted to the top, and there the sight he saw almost made him drop his +lantern. The great lid of the mound had been moved and was now awry, +leaving about one half of the opening exposed. + +In one great gasp the captain's breath seemed to leave him, but he was a +man of strong nerves, and quickly recovered himself; but even then he did +not lift his lantern so that he could look into the interior of the +mound. For a few moments he shut his eyes. He did not dare even to look. +But then his courage came back, and holding his lantern over the opening, +he gazed down into the mound, and it seemed to his rapid glance that +there was as much gold in it as when he last saw it. + +The discovery that the treasure was still there had almost as much effect +upon the captain as if he had found the mound empty. He grew so faint +that he felt he could not maintain his hold upon the top of the mound, +and quickly descended, half sliding, to the bottom. There he sat down, +his lantern by his side. When his strength came back to him,--and he +could not have told any one how long it was before this happened,--the +first thing he did was to feel for his box of matches, and finding them +safe in his waistcoat pocket, he extinguished the lantern. He must not be +discovered, if there should be any one to discover him. + +Now the captain began to think as fiercely and rapidly as a man's mind +could be made to work. Some one had been there. Some one had taken away +gold from that mound--how much or how little, it did not matter. Some one +besides himself had had access to the treasure! + +His suspicions fell upon Ralph, chiefly because his most earnest desire +at that moment was that Ralph might be the offender. If he could have +believed that he would have been happy. It must have been that the boy +was not willing to go away and leave all that gold, feeling that perhaps +he and his sister might never possess any of it, and that just before +leaving he had made a hurried visit to the mound. But the more the +captain thought of this, the less probable it became. He was almost sure +that Ralph could not have lifted that great mass of stone which formed +the lid covering the opening of the mound, for it had required all his +own strength to do it; and then, if anything of this sort had really +happened, the letters he had received from Edna and the boy must have +been most carefully written with the intention to deceive him. + +[Illustration: Holding his lantern over the opening he gazed down into +the mound.] + +The letter from Edna, which in tone and style was a close imitation of +his own to her, had been a strictly business communication. It told +everything which happened after the arrival of the Mary Bartlett, and +gave him no reason to suppose that any one could have had a chance to +pillage the mound. Ralph's letter had been even more definite. It was +constructed like an official report, and when the captain had read it, he +had thought that the boy had probably taken great pride in its +preparation. It was as guardian of the treasure mound that Ralph wrote, +and his remarks were almost entirely confined to this important trust. + +He briefly reported to the captain that, since his departure, no one had +been in the recess of the cave where the mound was situated, and he +described in detail the plan by which he had established Edna behind the +wall in the passage, so as to prevent any of the sailors from the ship +from making explorations. He also stated that everything had been left in +as high a condition of safety as it was possible to leave it, but that, +if his sister had been willing, he would most certainly have remained +behind, with the two negroes, until the captain's return. + +Much as he wished to think otherwise, Captain Horn could not prevail upon +himself to believe that Ralph could have written such a letter after a +dishonorable and reckless visit to the mound. + +It was possible that one or both of the negroes had discovered the +mound, but it was difficult to believe that they would have dared to +venture into that awful cavern, even if the vigilance of Edna, Mrs. +Cliff, and the boy had given them an opportunity, and Edna had written +that the two men had always slept outside the caves, and had had no call +to enter them. Furthermore, if Cheditafa had found the treasure, why +should he keep it a secret? He would most probably have considered it an +original discovery, and would have spoken of it to the others. Why +should he be willing that they should all go away and leave so much +wealth behind them? The chief danger, in case Cheditafa had found the +treasure, was that he would talk about it in Mexico or the United +States. But, in spite of the hazards to which such disclosures might +expose his fortunes, the captain would have preferred that the black men +should have been pilferers than that other men should have been +discoverers. But who else could have discovered it? Who could have been +there? Who could have gone away? + +There was but one reasonable supposition, and that was that one or more +of the Rackbirds, who had been away from their camp at the time when +their fellow-miscreants were swept away by the flood, had come back, and +in searching for their comrades, or some traces of them, had made their +way to the caves. It was quite possible, and further it was quite +probable, that the man or men who had found that mound might still be +here or in the neighborhood. As soon as this idea came into the mind of +the captain, he prepared for action. This was a question which must be +resolved if he could do it, and without loss of time. Lighting his +lantern,--for in that black darkness it was impossible for him to find +his way without it, although it might make him a mark for some concealed +foe,--the captain quickly made his way out of the lake cavern, and, +leaving his lantern near the little wall, he proceeded, with a loaded +pistol in his hand, to make an examination of the caves which he and his +party had occupied. + +He had already looked into the first compartment, but stopping at the +pallet which lay almost at the passage of the doorway, he stood and +regarded it. Then he stepped over it, and looked around the little +room. The pallet of blankets and rugs which Ralph had used was not +there. Then the captain stepped into the next room, and, to his +surprise, he found this as bare of everything as if it had never been +used as a sleeping-apartment. He now hurried back to the first room, +and examined the pallet, which, when he had first been looking at it, +he had thought to be somewhat different from what it had been when he +had used it. He now found that it was composed of all the rugs and +blankets which had previously made up the beds of all the party. The +captain ground his teeth. + +"There can be no doubt of it," he said. "Some one has been here since +they left, and has slept in these caves." + +At this moment he remembered the innermost cave, the large compartment +which was roofless, and which, in his excitement, he had forgotten. +Perhaps the man who slept on the pallet was in there at this minute. How +reckless he had been! To what danger he had exposed himself! With his +pistol cocked, the captain advanced cautiously toward the innermost +compartment. Putting his head in at the doorway, he glanced up, down, and +around. He called out, "Who's here?" and then he entered, and looked +around, and behind each of the massive pieces of rock with which the +floor was strewn. No one answered, and he saw no one. But he saw +something which made him stare. + +On the ground, at one side of the entrance to this compartment, were five +or six pieces of rock about a foot high, placed in a small circle so that +their tops came near enough together to support a tin kettle which was +resting upon them. Under the kettle, in the centre of the rocks, was a +pile of burnt leaves and sticks. + +"Here he has cooked his meals," said the captain--for the pallet made up +of all the others had convinced him that it had been one man who had been +here after his party had left. "He stayed long enough to cook his meals +and sleep," thought the captain. "I'll look into this provision +business." Passing through the other rooms, he went to a deep niche in +the wall of the entrance passage where his party had kept their stores, +and where Edna had written him they had left provisions enough for the +immediate use of himself and the men who should return. Here he found tin +cans tumbled about at the bottom of the niche, and every one of them +absolutely empty. On a little ledge stood a tin box in which they had +kept the matches and candles. The box was open, but there was nothing in +it. On the floor near by was a tin biscuit-box, crushed nearly flat, as +if some one had stamped upon it. + +"He has eaten everything that was left," said the captain, "and he has +been starved out. Very likely, too, he got out of water, for, of +course, those pools would dry up, and it is not likely he found the +stream outside." + +Now the captain let down the hammer of his revolver, and put it in his +belt. He felt sure that the man was not here. Being out of provisions, he +had to go away, but where he had gone to was useless to conjecture. Of +another thing the captain was now convinced: the intruder had not been a +Rackbird, for, while waiting for the disappearance of the Chilian +schooner, he had gone over to the concealed storehouse of the bandits, +and had found it just as he had left it on his last visit, with a +considerable quantity of stores remaining in it. If the man had known of +the Rackbirds' camp and this storehouse, it would not have been necessary +for him to consume every crumb and vestige of food which had been left in +these caves. + +"No," said the captain, "it could not have been a Rackbird, but who he +was, and where he has gone, is beyond my comprehension." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A PACK-MULE + + +When Captain Horn felt quite sure that it was not Ralph, that it was not +Cheditafa, that it was not a Rackbird, who had visited the treasure +mound, he stood and reflected. What had happened was a great +misfortune,--possibly it was a great danger,--but it was no use standing +there thinking about it. His reason could not help him; it had done for +him all that it could, and it would be foolish to waste time in looking +for the man, for it was plain enough that he had gone away. Of course, he +had taken some gold with him, but that did not matter much. The danger +was that he or others might come back for more, but this could not be +prevented, and it was needless to consider it. The captain had come to +this deserted shore for a purpose, and it was his duty, without loss of +time, to go to work and carry out that purpose. If in any way he should +be interfered with, he would meet that interference as well as he could, +but until it came he would go on with his work. Having come to this +conclusion, he got over the wall, lighted his lantern, and proceeded to +the mound. + +On his way he passed the tin cup, which he had forgotten to pick up, but +now he merely kicked it out of the way. "If the man comes back," he +thought, "he knows the way. There is no need of concealing anything." + +When the captain had reached the top of the mound, he moved the stone lid +so that the aperture was entirely uncovered. Then he looked down upon the +mass of dull yellow bars. He could not perceive any apparent diminution +of their numbers. + +"He must have filled his pockets," the captain thought, "and so full that +some of them dropped out. Well, let him go, and if he ventures back here, +we shall have it out between us. In the meantime, I will do what I can." + +The captain now took from the pocket of his jacket two small canvas bags, +which he had had made for this purpose, and proceeded to fill one of them +with the gold bars, lifting the bag, every now and then, to try its +weight. When he thought it heavy enough, he tied up the end very firmly, +and then packed the other, as nearly as possible, to the same extent. +Then he got down, and laying one of the bags over each shoulder, he +walked about to see if he could easily bear their weight. + +"That is about right," he said to himself. "I will count them when I take +them out." Then, putting them down, he went up for his lantern. He was +about to close the lid of the mound, but he reflected that this would be +of no use. It had been open nobody knew how long, and might as well +remain so. He was coming back as often as he could, and it would be a tax +upon his strength to lift that heavy lid every time. So he left the +treasures of the Incas open to the air under the black roof of the +cavern, and, with his lantern in his hand and a bag of gold on each +shoulder, he left the cave of the lake, and then, concealing his lantern, +he walked down to the sea. + +Before he reached it he had thoroughly scanned the ocean, but not a sign +of a ship could be seen. Walking along the sands, and keeping, as +before, close to the curving line of water thrown up by the surf, he +said to himself: + +"I must have my eyes and ears open, but I am not going to be nervous or +fidgety. I came here to be a pack-mule, and I intend to be a pack-mule +until something stops me, and if that something is one man, he can look +out for himself." + +The bags were heavy and their contents were rough and galling to the +shoulders, but the captain was strong and his muscles were tough, and as +he walked he planned a pair of cushions which he would wear under his +golden epaulets in his future marches. + +When the captain had covered the two miles of beach and climbed the two +rocky ridges, and reached his tent, it was long after noon, and throwing +his two bags on the ground and covering them with a blanket, he proceeded +to prepare his dinner. He laid out a complete working-plan, and one of +the rules he had made was that, if possible, nothing should interfere +with his regular meals and hours of sleep. The work he had set for +himself was arduous in the extreme, and calculated to tax his energies to +the utmost, and he must take very good care of his health and strength. +In thinking over the matter, he had feared that the greed of gold might +possess him, and that, in his anxiety to carry away as much as he could, +he might break down, and everything be lost. + +Even now he found himself calculating how much gold he had brought away +in the two bags, and what would be its value in coined money, multiplying +and estimating with his food untouched and his eyes fixed on the distant +sea. Suddenly he clenched his fist and struck it on his knee. + +"I must stop this," he said. "I shall be upset if I don't. I will not +count the bars in those bags. I will not make any more estimates. A rough +guess now and then I cannot help, but what I have to do is to bring away +all the gold I can. It will be time enough to find out what it is worth +when it is safe somewhere in North America." + +When the captain had finished his meal, he went to his tent, and opened +one of the trunks which he had brought with him, and which were supposed +to contain the clothes and personal effects he had bought in Lima. This +trunk, however, was entirely filled with rolls of cheap cotton cloth, +coarse and strong, but not heavy. With a pair of shears he proceeded to +cut from one of these some pieces, rather more than a foot square. Then, +taking from his canvas bags as many of the gold bars as he thought would +weigh twelve or fifteen pounds, trying not to count them as he did so, he +made a little package of them, tying the corners of the cloth together +with a strong cord. When five of these bundles had been prepared, his +gold was exhausted, and then he carried the small bundles out to the +guano-bags. + +He had bought his guano in bulk, and it had been put into bags under his +own supervision, for it was only in bags that the ship which was to take +it north would receive it. The bags were new and good, and Captain Horn +believed that each of them could be made twelve or fifteen pounds heavier +without attracting the attention of those who might have to lift them, +for they were very heavy as it was. + +He now opened a bag of guano, and thrusting a stick down into its +contents, he twisted it about until he had made a cavity which enabled +him, with a little trouble, to thrust one of the packages of gold down +into the centre of the bag. Then he pressed the guano down firmly, and +sewed up the bag again, being provided with needles and an abundance of +necessary cord. When this was done, the bag containing the gold did not +differ in appearance from the others, and the captain again assured +himself that the additional weight would not be noticed by a common +stevedore, especially if all the bags were about the same weight. At this +thought he stopped work and looked out toward the sea, his mind +involuntarily leaping out toward calculations based upon the happy chance +of his being able to load all the bags; but he checked himself. "Stop +that," he said. "Go to work!" + +Five guano-bags were packed, each with its bundle of gold, but the task +was a disagreeable, almost a distressing, one, for the strong ammoniacal +odor sometimes almost overpowered the captain, who had a great dislike +for such smells. But he never drew back, except now and then to turn his +head and take a breath of purer air. He was trying to make his fortune, +and when men are doing that, their likes and dislikes must stand aside. + +When this task was finished, the captain took up his two empty canvas +bags and went back to the caves, returning late in the afternoon, loaded +rather more heavily than before. From the experiences of the morning, he +believed that, with some folded pieces of cloth on each shoulder, he +could carry without discomfort a greater weight than his first ones. The +gold he now brought was made up into six bundles, and then the captain +rested from his labors. He felt that he could do a much better day's work +than this, but this day had been very much broken up, and he was still +somewhat awkward. + +Day after day Captain Horn labored at his new occupation, and a toilsome +occupation it was, which no one who did not possess great powers of +endurance, and great hopes from the results of his work, could have +undergone. In about a month the schooner was to be expected with another +load of guano, and the captain felt that he must, if possible, finish his +task before she came back. In a few days he found that, by practice and +improvements in his system of work, he was able to make four trips a day +between the cove of the Rackbirds and the caves. He rose very early in +the morning, and made two trips before dinner. Sometimes he thought he +might do more, but he restrained himself. It would not do for him to get +back too tired to sleep. + +During this time in which his body was so actively employed, his mind was +almost as active, and went out on all sorts of excursions, some of them +beneficial and some of them otherwise. Sometimes the thought came to him, +as he plodded along bearing his heavy bags, that he was no more than a +common thief, carrying away treasures which did not belong to him. Then, +of course, he began to reason away these uncomfortable reflections. If +this treasure did not belong to him, to whom did it belong? Certainly not +to the descendants of those Spaniards from whom the original owners had +striven so hard to conceal it. If the spirits of the Incas could speak, +they would certainly declare in his favor over that of the children of +the men who, in blood and torture, had obliterated them and their +institutions. Sometimes such arguments entirely satisfied the captain; +but if they did not entirely satisfy him, he put the whole matter aside, +to be decided upon after he should safely reach the United States with +such treasure as he might be able to take with him. + +"Then," he thought, "we can do what we think is right. I shall listen to +all that may be said by our party, and shall act justly. But what I do +not take away with me has no chance whatever of ever falling into the +proper hands." + +But no matter how he might terminate such reflections, the captain always +blamed himself for allowing his mind to occupy itself with them. He had +fully decided that this treasure belonged to him, and there was no real +reason for his thinking of such things, except that he had no one to talk +to, and in such cases a man's thoughts are apt to run wild. + +Often and often he wondered what the others were thinking about this +affair, and whether or not they would all be able to keep the secret +until he returned. He was somewhat afraid of Mrs. Cliff. He believed her +to be an honorable woman who would not break her word, but still he did +not know all her ideas in regard to her duty. She might think there was +some one to whom she ought to confide what had happened, and what was +expected to happen, and if she should do this, there was no reason why +he should not, some day, descry a ship in the offing with +treasure-hunters on board. + +Ralph gave him no concern at all, except that he was young, and the +captain could foretell the weather much better than the probable actions +of a youth. + +But these passing anxieties never amounted to suspicions. It was far +better to believe in Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, and he would do it; and every +time he thought of the two, he determined to believe in them. As to Edna, +there was no question about believing in her. He did so without +consideration for or against belief. + +The captain did not like his solitary life. How happy he would have been +if they could all have remained here; if the guano could have been +brought without the crew of the schooner knowing that there were people +in the caves; if the negroes could have carried the bags of gold; if +every night, after having superintended their labors, he could have gone +back to the caves, which, with the comforts he could have brought from +Lima, would have made a very habitable home; if--But these were +reflections which were always doomed to banishment as soon as the captain +became aware of the enthralment of their charm, and sturdily onward, +endeavoring to fix his mind upon some better sailor's knot with which to +tie up his bundles, or to plant his feet where his tracks would soon be +obliterated by the incoming waves, the strong man trudged, bearing +bravely the burden of his golden hopes. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +HIS PRESENT SHARE + + +With four trips a day from the caves to the cove, taking time for rests, +for regular meals, and for sleep, and not working on Sundays,--for he +kept a diary and an account of days,--the captain succeeded in a little +over three weeks in loading his bags of guano, each with a package of +golden bars, some of which must have weighed as much as fifteen pounds. + +When this work had been accomplished, he began to consider the return of +the schooner. But he had no reason to expect her yet, and he determined +to continue his work. Each day he brought eight canvas bags of gold from +the caves, and making them up into small bundles, he buried them in the +sand under his tent. When a full month had elapsed since the departure +of the schooner, he began to be very prudent, keeping a careful lookout +seaward, as he walked the beach, and never entering the caves without +mounting a high point of the rocks and thoroughly scanning the ocean. +If, when bearing his burden of gold, he should have seen a sail, he +would have instantly stopped and buried his bags in the sand, wherever +he might be. + +Day after day passed, and larger and larger grew the treasure stored in +the sands under the tent, but no sail appeared. Sometimes the captain +could not prevent evil fancies coming to him. What if the ship should +never come back? What if no vessel should touch here for a year or two? +And why should a vessel ever touch? When the provisions he had brought +and those left in the Rackbirds' storehouse had been exhausted, what +could he do but lie down here and perish?--another victim added to the +millions who had already perished from the thirst of gold. He thought of +his little party in San Francisco. They surely would send in search of +him, if he did not appear in a reasonable time. But he felt this hope +was a vain one. In a letter to Edna, written from Lima, he had told her +she must not expect to hear from him for a long time, for, while he was +doing the work he contemplated, it would be impossible for him to +communicate with her. + +She would have no reason to suppose that he would start on such an +expedition without making due arrangements for safety and support, and +so would hesitate long before she would commission a vessel to touch +at this point in search of him. If he should starve here, he would die +months before any reasonable person, who knew as much of his affairs +as did Edna, would think the time had arrived to send a relief +expedition for him. + +But he did not starve. Ten days overdue, at last the Chilian +schooner appeared and anchored in the cove. She had now no white men +on board but the captain and his mate, for the negroes had improved +so much in seamanship that the economical captain had dispensed with +his Chilian crew. + +Captain Horn was delighted to be able to speak again to a fellow-being, +and it pleased him far better to see Maka than any of the others. + +"You no eat 'nough, cap'n," said the black man, as he anxiously scanned +the countenance of Captain Horn, which, although the captain was in +better physical condition than perhaps he had ever been in his life, was +thinner than when Maka had seen it last. "When I cook for you, you not so +long face," the negro continued. "Didn't us leave you 'nough to eat? Did +you eat 'em raw?" + +The captain laughed. "I have had plenty to eat," he said, "and I never +felt better. If I had not taken exercise, you would have found me as fat +as a porpoise." + +The interview with the Chilian captain was not so cordial, for Captain +Horn found that the Chilian had not brought him a full cargo of bags of +guano, and, by searching questions, he discovered that this was due +entirely to unnecessary delay in beginning to load the vessel. The +Chilian declared he would have taken on board all the guano which +Captain Horn had purchased at the smaller island, had he not begun to +fear that Captain Horn would suffer if he did not soon return to him, +and when he thought it was not safe to wait any longer, he had sailed +with a partial cargo. + +Captain Horn was very angry, for every bag of guano properly packed with +gold bars meant, at a rough estimate, between two and three thousand +dollars if it safely reached a gold-market, and now he found himself with +at least one hundred bags less than he had expected to pack. There was no +time to repair this loss, for the English vessel, the _Finland,_ from +Callao to Acapulco, which the captain had engaged to stop at this point +on her next voyage northward, might be expected in two or three weeks, +certainly sooner than the Chilian could get back to the guano island and +return. In fact, there was barely time for that vessel to reach Callao +before the departure of the _Finland_, on board of which the captain +wished his negroes to be placed, that they might go home with him. + +"If I had any men to work my vessel," said the Chilian, who had grown +surly in consequence of the fault-finding, "I'd leave your negroes here, +and cut loose from the whole business. I've had enough of it." + +"That serves you right for discharging your own men in order that you +might work your vessel with mine," said Captain Horn. He had intended to +insist that the negroes should ship again with the Chilian, but he knew +that it would be more difficult to find reasons for this than on the +previous voyage, and he was really more than glad to find that the matter +had thus arranged itself. + +Talking with Captain Horn, the Chilian mate, who had had no +responsibility in this affair, and who was, consequently, not out of +humor, proposed that he should go back with them, and take the English +vessel at Callao. + +"I can't risk it," said Captain Horn. "If your schooner should meet +with head winds or any other bad luck, and the _Finland_ should leave +before I got there, there would be a pretty kettle of fish, and if she +touched here and found no one in charge, I don't believe she would take +away a bag." + +"Do you think they will be sure to touch here?" asked the mate. "Have +they got the latitude and longitude? It didn't seem so bad before to +leave you behind, because we were coming back, but now it strikes me it +is rather a risky piece of business for you." + +"No," said Captain Horn. "I am acquainted with the skipper of the +_Finland,_ and I left a letter for him telling him exactly how the matter +stood, and he knows that I trust him to pick me up. I do not suppose he +will expect to find me here all alone, but if he gives me the slip, I +would be just as likely to starve to death if I had some men with me as +if I were alone. The _Finland_ will stop--I am sure of that." + +With every reason for the schooner's reaching Callao as soon as possible, +and very little reason, considering the uncordial relations of the two +captains, for remaining in the cove, the Chilian set sail the morning +after he had discharged his unsavory cargo. Maka had begged harder than +before to be allowed to remain with Captain Horn, but the latter had made +him understand, as well as he could, the absolute necessity of the +schooner reaching Callao in good time, and the absolute impossibility of +any vessel doing anything in good time without a cook. Therefore, after a +personal inspection of the stores left behind, both in the tent and in +the Rackbirds' storehouse, which latter place he visited with great +secrecy, Maka, with a sad heart, was obliged to leave the only real +friend he had on earth. + +When, early the next morning, Captain Horn began to pack the newly +arrived bags with the bundles of gold which he had buried in the sand, he +found that the bags were not at all in the condition of those the +filling of which he had supervised himself. Some of these were more +heavily filled than others, and many were badly fastened up. This, of +course, necessitated a good deal of extra work, but the captain sadly +thought that probably he would have more time than he needed to do all +that was necessary to get this second cargo into fair condition for +transportation. He had checked off his little bundles as he had buried +them, and there were nearly enough to fill all the bags. In fact, he had +to make but three more trips in order to finish the business. + +When the work was done, and everything was ready for the arrival of the +_Finland_, the captain felt that he had good reason to curse the +conscienceless Chilian whose laziness or carelessness had not only caused +him the loss of perhaps a quarter of a million of dollars, but had given +him days--how many he could not know--with nothing to do; and which of +these two evils might prove the worse, the captain could not readily +determine. + +As Captain Horn walked up and down the long double rows of bags which +contained what he hoped would become his fortune, he could not prevent a +feeling of resentful disappointment when he thought of the small +proportion borne by the gold in these bags to the treasure yet remaining +in the mound. On his last visit to the mound he had carefully examined +its interior, and although, of course, there was a great diminution in +its contents, there was no reason to believe that the cavity of the mound +did not extend downward to the floor of the cave, and that it remained +packed with gold bars to the depth of several feet. It seemed silly, +crazy, in fact, almost wicked, for him to sail away in the _Finland_ and +leave all that gold behind, and yet, how could he possibly take away any +more of it? + +He had with him a trunk nearly empty, in which he might pack some +blankets and other stuff with some bags of gold stowed away between them, +but more than fifty pounds added to the weight of the trunk and its +contents would make it suspiciously heavy, and what was fifty pounds out +of that vast mass? But although he puzzled his brains for the greater +part of a day, trying to devise some method by which he could take away +more gold without exciting the suspicions of the people on board the +English vessel, there was no plan that entered his mind that did not +contain elements of danger, and the danger was an appalling one. If the +crew of the _Finland_, or the crew of any other vessel, should, on this +desert coast, get scent of a treasure mound of gold ingots, he might as +well attempt to reason with wild beasts as to try to make them understand +that that treasure belonged to him. If he could get away with any of it, +or even with his life, he ought to be thankful. + +The captain was a man who, since he had come to an age of maturity, had +been in the habit of turning his mind this way and that as he would turn +the helm of his vessel, and of holding it to the course he had +determined upon, no matter how strong the wind or wave, how dense the +fog, or how black the night. But never had he stood to his helm as he +now stood to a resolve. + +"I will bring away a couple of bags," said he, "to put in my trunk, and +then, I swear to myself, I will not think another minute about carrying +away any more of that gold than what is packed in these guano-bags. If I +can ever come back, I will come back, but what I have to do now is to get +away with what I have already taken out of the mound, and also to get +away with sound reason and steady nerves." + +The next day there was not a sail on the far horizon, and the captain +brought away two bags of gold. These, with some clothes, he packed in his +empty trunk. + +"Now," said he, "this is my present share. If I permit myself to think of +taking another bar, I shall be committing a crime." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +HIS FORTUNE UNDER HIS FEET + + +Notwithstanding the fact that the captain had, for the present, closed +his account with the treasure in the lake cave, and had determined not to +give another thought to further drafts upon it, he could not prevent all +sorts of vague and fragmentary plans for getting more of the gold from +thrusting themselves upon him; but his hand was strong upon the tiller of +his mind, and his course did not change a point. He now began to consider +in what condition he should leave the caves. Once he thought he would go +there and take away everything which might indicate that the caves had +been inhabited, but this notion he discarded. + +"There are a good many people," he thought, "who know that we lived +there, and if that man who was there afterwards should come back, I would +prefer that he should not notice any changes, unless, indeed,"--and his +eyes glistened as a thought darted into his mind,--"unless, indeed, he +should find a lake where he left a dry cave. Good! I'll try it." + +With his hands in his pockets, the captain stood a few moments and +thought, and then he went to work. From the useless little vessel which, +had belonged to the Rackbirds he gathered some bits of old rope, and +having cut these into short pieces, he proceeded to pick them into what +sailors call oakum. + +Early the next morning, his two canvas bags filled with this, he started +for the caves. When he reached the top of the mound, and was just about +to hold his lantern so as to take a final glance into its interior, he +suddenly turned away his head and shut his eyes. + +"No," he said. "If I do that, it is ten to one I'll jump inside, and what +might happen next nobody knows." + +He put the lantern aside, lifted the great lid into its place, and +then, with a hammer and a little chisel which he had brought with him +from the tools which had been used for the building of the pier, he +packed the crevices about the lid with oakum. With a mariner's skill he +worked, and when his job was finished, it would have been difficult for +a drop of water to have found its way into the dome, no matter if it +rose high above it. + +It was like leaving behind a kingdom and a throne, the command of armies +and vast navies, the domination of power, of human happenings; but he +came away. + +When he reached the portion of the cave near the great gap which opened +to the sky opposite the entrance to the outer caves, the captain walked +across the dry floor to the place where was situated the outlet through +which the waters of the lake had poured out into the Rackbirds' valley. + +The machine which controlled this outlet was situated under the +overhanging ledge of the cave, and was in darkness, so that the captain +was obliged to use his lantern. He soon found the great lever which he +had clutched when he had swum to the rescue of Ralph, and which had gone +down with him and so opened the valve and permitted egress of the water, +and which now lay with its ten feet or more of length horizontally near +the ground. Near by was the great pipe, with its circular blackness +leading into the depths below. + +"That stream outside," said the captain, "must run in here somewhere, +although I cannot see nor hear it, and it must be stopped off by this +valve or another one connected with it, so that if I can get this lever +up again, I should shut it off from the stream outside and turn it in +here. Then, if that fellow comes back, he will have to swim to the +mound, and run a good chance of getting drowned if he does it, and if +anybody else comes here, I think it will be as safe as the ancient +Peruvians once made it." + +With this he took hold of the great lever and attempted to raise it. But +he found the operation a very difficult one. The massive bar was of +metal, but probably not iron, and although it was not likely that it had +rusted, it was very hard to move in its socket. The captain's weight had +brought it down easily, but this weight could not now be applied, and he +could only attempt to lift it. + +When it had first been raised, it was likely that a dozen slaves had +seized it and forced it into an upright position. The captain pushed up +bravely, and, a few inches at a time, he elevated the end of the great +lever. Frequently he stopped to rest, and it was over an hour before the +bar stood up as it had been when first he felt it under the water. + +When this was done, he went into the other caves, looked about to see +that everything was in the condition in which he had found it, and that +he had left nothing behind him during his many visits. When he was +satisfied on these points, he went back to the lake cave to see if any +water had run in. He found everything as dry as when he had left it, nor +could he hear any sound of running or dripping water. Considering the +matter, however, he concluded that there might be some sort of an outside +reservoir which must probably fill up before the water ran into the cave, +and so he came away. + +"I will give it time," he thought, "and come back to-morrow to see if it +is flooded." + +That night, as he lay on his little pallet, looking through the open +front of his tent at the utter darkness of the night, the idea struck him +that it was strange that he was not afraid to stay here alone. He was a +brave man,--he knew that very well,--and yet it seemed odd to him that, +under the circumstances, he should have so little fear. But his reason +soon gave him a good answer. He had known times when he had been very +much afraid, and among these stood preeminent the time when he had +expected an attack from the Rackbirds. But then his fear was for others. +When he was by himself it was a different matter. It was not often that +he did not feel able to take care of his own safety. If there were any +danger now, it was in the daytime, when some stray Rackbirds might come +back, or the pilferer of the mound might return with companions. But if +any such came, he had his little fort, two pistols, and a repeating +rifle. At night he felt absolutely safe. There was no danger that could +come by land or sea through the blackness of the night. + +Suddenly he sat up. His forehead was moist with perspiration. A shiver +ran through him, not of cold, but of fear. Never in his life had he been +so thoroughly frightened; never before had he felt his hands and legs +tremble. Involuntarily he rose and stood up in the tent. He was +terrified, not by anything real, but by the thought of what might happen +if that lake cave should fill up with water, and if the ancient valves, +perhaps weakened by his moving them backward and forward, should give way +under the great pressure, and, for a second time, a torrent of water +should come pouring down the Rackbirds' ravine! + +As the captain trembled with fear, it was not for himself, for he could +listen for the sound of the rushing waters, and could dash away to the +higher ground behind him; but it was for his treasure-bags, his fortune, +his future! His soul quaked. His first impulse was to rush out and carry +every bag to higher ground. But this idea was absurd. The night was too +dark, and the bags too heavy and too many. Then he thought of hurrying +away to the caves to see if the lake had risen high enough to be +dangerous. But what could he do if it had? In his excitement, he could +not stand still and do nothing. He took hold of one end of his trunk and +pulled it out of his tent, and, stumbling and floundering over the +inequalities of the ground, he at last got it to a place which he +supposed would be out of reach of a sudden flood, and the difficulties of +this little piece of work assured him of the utter futility of +attempting to move the bags in the darkness. He had a lantern, but that +would be of little service on such a night and for such a work. + +He went back into his tent, and tried to prevail upon himself that he +ought to go to sleep--that it was ridiculous to beset himself with +imaginary dangers, and to suffer from them as much as if they had been +real ones. But such reasoning was vain, and he sat up or walked about +near his tent all night, listening and listening, and trying to think of +the best thing to do if he should hear a coming flood. + +As soon as it was light, he hurried to the caves, and when he reached the +old bed of the lake, he found there was not a drop of water in it. + +"The thing doesn't work!" he cried joyfully. "Fool that I am, I might +have known that although a man might open a valve two or three +centuries old, he should not expect to shut it up again. I suppose I +smashed it utterly." + +His revulsion of feeling was so great that he began to laugh at his own +absurdity, and then he laughed at his merriment. + +"If any one should see me now," he thought, "they would surely think I +had gone crazy over my wealth. Well, there is no danger from a flood, +but, to make all things more than safe, I will pull down this handle, if +it will come. Anyway, I do not want it seen." + +The great bar came down much easier than it had gone up, moving, in fact, +the captain thought, as if some of its detachments were broken, and when +it was down as far as it would go, he came away. + +"Now," said he, "I have done with this cave for this trip. If possible, I +shall think of it no more." + +When he was getting some water from the stream to make some coffee for +his breakfast, he stopped and clenched his fist. "I am more of a fool +than I thought I was," he said. "This solitary business is not good for +me. If I had thought last night of coming here to see if this little +stream were still running, and kept its height, I need not have troubled +myself about the lake in the cave. Of course, if the water were running +into the caves, it would not be running here until the lake had filled. +And, besides, it would take days for that great lake to fill. Well, I am +glad that nobody but myself knows what an idiot I have been." + +When he had finished his breakfast, Captain Horn went to work. There was +to be no more thinking, no more plans, no more fanciful anxieties, no +more hopes of doing something better than he had done. Work he would, and +when one thing was done, he would find another. The first thing he set +about was the improvement of the pier which had been built for the +landing of the guano. There was a good deal of timber left unused, and he +drove down new piles, nailed on new planking, and extended the little +pier considerably farther into the waters of the cove. When this was +done, he went to work on the lighter, which was leaky, and bailed it out, +and calked the seams, taking plenty of time, and doing his work in the +most thorough manner. He determined that after this was done, and he +could find nothing better to do, he would split up the little vessel +which the Rackbirds had left rudderless, mastless, and useless, and make +kindling-wood of it. + +But this was not necessary. He had barely finished his work on the +lighter, when, one evening, he saw against the sun-lighted sky the +topmasts of a vessel, and the next morning the _Finland_ lay anchored off +the cove, and two boats came ashore, out of one of which Maka was the +first to jump. + +In five hours the guano had been transferred to the ship, and, twenty +minutes later, the _Finland_, with Captain Horn on board, had set sail +for Acapulco. The captain might have been better pleased if his +destination had been San Francisco, but, after all, it is doubtful if +there could have been a man who was better pleased. He walked the deck of +a good ship with a fellow-mariner with whom he could talk as much as he +pleased, and under his feet were the bags containing the thousands of +little bars for which he had worked so hard. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +AT THE PALMETTO HOTEL + + +For about four months the persons who made up what might be considered as +Captain Horn's adopted family had resided in the Palmetto Hotel, in San +Francisco. At the time we look upon them, however, Mrs. Cliff was not +with them, having left San Francisco some weeks previously. + +Edna was now a very different being from the young woman she had been. +Her face was smoother and fuller, and her eyes seemed to have gained a +richer brown. The dark masses of her hair appeared to have wonderfully +grown and thickened, but this was due to the loose fashion in which it +was coiled upon her head, and it would have been impossible for any one +who had known her before not to perceive that she was greatly changed. +The lines upon her forehead, which had come, not from age, but from +earnest purpose and necessity of action, together with a certain +intensity of expression which would naturally come to a young woman who +had to make her way in the world, not only for herself, but for her young +brother, and a seriousness born of some doubts, some anxieties, and some +ambiguous hopes, had all entirely disappeared as if they had been +morning mists rolling away from a summer landscape. Under the rays of a +sun of fortune, shining, indeed, but mildly, she had ripened into a +physical beauty which was her own by right of birth, but of which a few +more years of struggling responsibility would have forever deprived her. + +After the receipt of her second remittance, Edna and her party had taken +the best apartments in the hotel. The captain had requested this, for he +did not know how long they might remain there, and he wanted them to have +every comfort. He had sent them as much money as he could spare from the +sale, in Lima, of the gold he had carried with him when he first left +the caves, but his expenses in hiring ships and buying guano were heavy. +Edna, however, had received frequent remittances while the captain was at +the Rackbirds' cove, through an agent in San Francisco. These, she +supposed, came from further sales of gold, but, in fact, they had come +from the sale of investments which the captain had made in the course of +his fairly successful maritime career. In his last letter from Lima he +had urged them all to live well on what he sent them, considering it as +their share of the first division of the treasure in the mound. If his +intended projects should succeed, the fortunes of all of them would be +reconstructed upon a new basis as solid and as grand as any of them had +ever had reason to hope for. But if he should fail, they, the party in +San Francisco, would be as well off, or, perhaps, better circumstanced +than when they had started for Valparaiso. He did not mention the fact +that he himself would be poorer, for he had lost the _Castor_, in which +he was part-owner, and had invested nearly all his share of the proceeds +of the sale of the gold in ship hire, guano purchases, and other +necessary expenses. + +Edna was waiting in San Francisco to know what would be the next scene in +the new drama of her life. Captain Horn had written before he sailed from +Lima in the Chilian schooner for the guano islands and the Rackbirds' +cove, and he had, to some extent, described his plans for carrying away +treasure from the mound; but since that she had not heard from him until +about ten days before, when he wrote from Acapulco, where he had arrived +in safety with his bags of guano and their auriferous enrichments. He had +written in high spirits, and had sent her a draft on San Francisco so +large in amount that it had fairly startled her, for he wrote that he had +merely disposed of some of the gold he had brought in his baggage, and +had not yet done anything with that contained in the guano-bags. He had +hired a storehouse, as if he were going regularly into business, and from +which he would dispose of his stock of guano after he had restored it to +its original condition. To do all this, and to convert the gold into +negotiable bank deposits or money, would require time, prudence, and even +diplomacy. He had already sold in the City of Mexico as much of the gold +from his trunk as he could offer without giving rise to too many +questions, and if he had not been known as a California trader, he might +have found some difficulties even in that comparatively small +transaction. + +The captain had written that to do all he had to do he would be obliged +to remain in Acapulco or the City of Mexico--how long he could not tell, +for much of the treasure might have to be shipped to the United States, +and his plans for all this business were not yet arranged. + +Before this letter had been received, Mrs. Cliff had believed it to be +undesirable to remain longer in San Francisco, and had gone to her home +in a little town in Maine. With Edna and Ralph, she had waited and waited +and waited, but at last had decided that Captain Horn was dead. In her +mind, she had allowed him all the time that she thought was necessary to +go to the caves, get gold, and come to San Francisco, and as that time +had long elapsed, she had finally given him up as lost. She knew the +captain was a brave man and an able sailor, but the adventure he had +undertaken was strange and full of unknown perils, and if it should so +happen that she should hear that he had gone to the bottom in a small +boat overloaded with gold, she would not have been at all surprised. + +Of course, she said nothing of these suspicions to Edna or Ralph, nor did +she intend ever to mention them to any one. If Edna, who in so strange a +way had been made a wife, should, in some manner perhaps equally +extraordinary, be made a widow, she would come back to her, she would do +everything she could to comfort her; but now she did not seem to be +needed in San Francisco, and her New England home called to her through +the many voices of her friends. As to the business which had taken Mrs. +Cliff to South America, that must now be postponed, but it could not but +be a satisfaction to her that she was going back with perhaps as much +money as she would have had if her affairs in Valparaiso had been +satisfactorily settled. + +Edna and Ralph had come to be looked upon at the Palmetto Hotel as +persons of distinction. They lived quietly, but they lived well, and +their payments were always prompt. They were the wife and brother-in-law +of Captain Philip Horn, who was known to be a successful man, and who +might be a rich one. But what seemed more than anything else to +distinguish them from the ordinary hotel guests was the fact that they +were attended by two personal servants, who, although, of course, they +could not be slaves, seemed to be bound to them as if they had been born +into their service. + +Cheditafa, in a highly respectable suit of clothes which might have been +a cross between the habiliments of a Methodist minister and those of a +butler, was a person of imposing aspect. Mrs. Cliff had insisted, when +his new clothes were ordered, that there should be something in them +which should indicate the clergyman, for the time might come when it +would be necessary that he should be known in this character; and the +butler element was added because it would harmonize in a degree with his +duties as Edna's private attendant. The old negro, with his sober face, +and woolly hair slightly touched with gray, was fully aware of the +importance of his position as body-servant to Mrs. Horn, but his sense of +the responsibility of that position far exceeded any other sentiments of +which his mind was capable. Perhaps it was the fact that he had made Edna +Mrs. Horn which gave him the feeling that he must never cease to watch +over her and to serve her in every possible way. Had the hotel taken +fire, he would have rushed through the flames to save her. Had robbers +attacked her, they must have taken his life before they took her purse. +When she drove out in the city or suburbs, he always sat by the side of +the driver, and when she walked in the streets, he followed her at a +respectful distance. + +Proud as he was of the fact that he had been the officiating clergyman at +the wedding of Captain Horn and this grand lady, he had never mentioned +the matter to any one, for many times, and particularly just before she +left San Francisco, Mrs. Cliff had told him, in her most impressive +manner, that if he informed any one that he had married Captain Horn and +Miss Markham, great trouble would come of it. What sort of trouble, it +was not necessary to explain to him, but she was very earnest in assuring +him that the marriage of a Christian by a heathen was something which was +looked upon with great disfavor in this country, and unless Cheditafa +could prove that he had a perfect right to perform the ceremony, it might +be bad for him. When Captain Horn had settled his business affairs and +should come back, everything would be made all right, and nobody need +feel any more fear, but until then he must not speak of what he had done. + +If Captain Horn should never come back, Mrs. Cliff thought that Edna +would then be truly his widow, and his letters would prove it, but that +she was really his wife until the two had marched off together to a +regular clergyman, the good lady could not entirely admit. Her position +was not logical, but she rested herself firmly upon it. + +The other negro, Mok, could speak no more English than when we first met +him, but he could understand some things which were said to him, and was +very quick, indeed, to catch the meanings of signs, motions, and +expressions of countenance. At first Edna did not know what to do with +this negro, but Ralph solved the question by taking him as a valet, and +day by day he became more useful to the youth, who often declared that he +did not know how he used to get along without a valet. Mok was very fond +of fine clothes, and Ralph liked to see him smartly dressed, and he +frequently appeared of more importance than Cheditafa. He was devoted to +his young master, and was so willing to serve him that Ralph often found +great difficulty in finding him something to do. + +Edna and Ralph had a private table, at which Cheditafa and Mok assisted +in waiting, and Mrs. Cliff had taught both of them how to dust and keep +rooms in order. Sometimes Ralph sent Mok to a circulating library. Having +once been shown the place, and made to understand that he must deliver +there the piece of paper and the books to be returned, he attended to the +business as intelligently as if he had been a trained dog, and brought +back the new books with a pride as great as if he had selected them. The +fact that Mok was an absolute foreigner, having no knowledge whatever of +English, and that he was possessed of an extraordinary activity, which +enabled him, if the gate of the back yard of the hotel happened to be +locked, to go over the eight-foot fence with the agility of a monkey, had +a great effect in protecting him from impositions by other servants. +When a black negro cannot speak English, but can bound like an +india-rubber ball, it may not be safe to trifle with him. As for trifling +with Cheditafa, no one would think of such a thing; his grave and +reverend aspect was his most effectual protection. + +As to Ralph, he had altered in appearance almost as much as his sister. +His apparel no longer indicated the boy, and as he was tall and large for +his years, the fashionable suit he wore, his gay scarf with its sparkling +pin, and his brightly polished boots, did not appear out of place upon +him. But Edna often declared that she had thought him a great deal +better-looking in the scanty, well-worn, but more graceful garments in +which he had disported himself on the sands of Peru. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +THE CAPTAIN'S LETTER + + +On a sofa in her well-furnished parlor reclined Edna, and on a table near +by lay several sheets of closely written letter-paper. She had been +reading, and now she was thinking--thinking very intently, which in these +days was an unusual occupation with her. During her residence in San +Francisco she had lived quietly but cheerfully. She had supplied herself +abundantly with books, she had visited theatres and concerts, she had +driven around the city, she had taken water excursions, she had visited +interesting places in the neighborhood, and she had wandered among the +shops, purchasing, in moderation, things that pleased her. For company +she had relied chiefly on her own little party, although there had been +calls from persons who knew Captain Horn. Some of these people were +interesting, and some were not, but they all went away thinking that the +captain was a wonderfully fortunate man. + +One thing which used to be a pleasure to Edna she refrained from +altogether, and that was the making of plans. She had put her past life +entirely behind her. She was beginning a new existence--what sort of an +existence she could not tell, but she was now living with the +determinate purpose of getting the greatest good out of her life, +whatever it might be. + +Already she had had much, but in every respect her good fortunes were but +preliminary to something else. Her marriage was but the raising of the +curtain--the play had not yet begun. The money she was spending was but +an earnest of something more expected. Her newly developed physical +beauty, which she could not fail to appreciate, would fade away again, +did it not continue to be nourished by that which gave it birth. But what +she had, she had, and that she would enjoy. When Captain Horn should +return, she would know what would happen next. This could not be a +repetition of the life she was leading at the Palmetto Hotel, but +whatever the new life might be, she would get from it all that it might +contain for her. She did not in the least doubt the captain's return, for +she believed in him so thoroughly that she felt--she knew--he would come +back and tell her of his failure or his success, and what she was to do +next. But now she was thinking. She could not help it, for her tranquil +mind had been ruffled. + +Her cogitations were interrupted by the entrance of Ralph. + +"I say, Edna," said he, throwing himself into an easy-chair, and placing +his hat upon another near by, "was that a returned manuscript that +Cheditafa brought you this morning? You haven't been writing for the +magazines, have you?" + +"That was a letter from Captain Horn," she said. + +"Whew!" he exclaimed. "It must be a whopper! What does he say? When is he +coming here? Give me some of the points of it. But, by the way, Edna, +before you begin, I will say that I think it is about time he should +write. Since the letter in which he told about the guano-bags and sent +you that lot of money--let me see, how long ago was that?" + +"It was ten days ago," said his sister. + +"Is that so? I thought it was longer than that. But no matter. Since that +letter came, I have been completely upset. I want to know what I am to +do, and, whatever I am to do, I want to get at it. From what the captain +wrote, and from what I remember of the size and weight of those gold +bars, he must have got away with more than a million dollars--perhaps a +million and a half. Now, what part of that is mine? What am I to do with +it? When am I to begin to prepare myself for the life I am to lead when I +get it? All this I want to know, and, more than that, I want to know what +you are going to do. Now, if I had got to Acapulco, or any other +civilized spot, with a million dollars in solid gold, it would not have +been ten days before I should have written to my family,--for I suppose +that is what we are,--and should have told them what I was going to do, +and how much they might count on. But I hope now that letter does tell?" + +"The best thing to do," said Edna, taking up the letter from the table, +"is to read it to you. But before I begin I want to say something, and +that is that it is very wrong of you to get into these habits of +calculating about what may come to you. What is to come will come, and +you might as well wait for it without upsetting your mind by all sorts of +wild anticipations; and, besides this, you must remember that you are +not of age, and that I am your guardian, and whatever fortune may now +come to you will be under my charge until you are twenty-one." + +"Oh, I don't care about that," said Ralph. "We will have no trouble +about agreeing what is the best thing for me to do. But now go ahead +with the letter." + +"'I am going to tell you'" (at the beginning of the second paragraph) +"'of a very strange thing which happened to me since I last wrote. I will +first state that after my guano-bags had all been safely stored in the +warerooms I have hired, I had a heavy piece of work getting the packages +of gold out of the bags, and in packing the bars in small, stout boxes I +found in the City of Mexico and had sent down here. In looking around for +boxes which would suit my purpose, I discovered these, which had been +used for stereotype plates. They were stamped on the outside, and just +what I wanted, being about as heavy after I packed them with gold as they +were when they were filled with type-metal. This packing I had to do +principally at night, when I was supposed to be working in a little +office attached to the rooms. As soon as this was done, I sent all the +boxes to a safe-deposit bank in Mexico, and there the greater part of +them are yet. Some I have shipped to the mint in San Francisco, some have +gone North, and I am getting rid of the rest as fast as I can. + +"'The gold bars, cast in a form novel to all dealers, have excited a good +deal of surprise and questioning, but for this I care very little. My +main object is to get the gold separated as many miles as possible from +the guano, for if the two should be connected in the mind of any one who +knew where the guano was last shipped from, I might have cause for +anxiety. But as the bars bear no sort of mark to indicate that they were +cast by ancient Peruvians, and, so far as I can remember,--and I have +visited several museums in South America,--these castings are not like +any others that have come down to us from the times of the Incas, the +gold must have been cast in this simple form merely for convenience in +transportation and packing. Some people may think it is California gold, +some may think it comes from South America, but, whatever they think, +they know it is pure gold, and they have no right to doubt that it +belongs to me. Of course, if I were a stranger it might be different, but +wherever I have dealt I am known, or I send a good reference. And now I +will come to the point of this letter. + +"'Three days ago I was in my office, waiting to see a man to whom I hoped +to sell my stock of guano, when a man came in,--but not the one I +expected to see,--and if a ghost had appeared before me, I could not have +been more surprised. I do not know whether or not you remember the two +American sailors who were the first to go out prospecting, after Mr. +Rynders and his men left us, and who did not return. This man was one of +them--Edward Shirley by name.'" + +"I remember him perfectly!" cried Ralph. "And the other fellow was George +Burke. On board the _Castor_ I used to talk to them more than to any of +the other sailors." + +"'But astonished as I was,'" Edna went on to read, "'Shirley did not seem +at all surprised, but came forward and shook hands most heartily. He said +he had read in a newspaper that I had been rescued, and was doing +business in Acapulco, and he had come down on purpose to find me. I told +him how we had given up him and his mate for lost, and then, as he had +read a very slim account of our adventures, I told him the whole story, +taking great care, as you may guess, not to say anything about the +treasure mound. He did not ask any questions as to why I did not come +back with the rest of you, but was greatly troubled when he heard of the +murders of every man of our crew except himself and Burke and Maka. + +"'When I had finished, he told me his story, which I will condense as +much as possible. When he and Burke started out, they first began to +make their way along the slope of the rocky ridge which ended in our +caves, but they found this very hard work, so they soon went down to the +sandy country to the north. Here they shot some little beast or other, +and while they were hunting another one, up hill and down dale, they +found night was coming on, and they were afraid to retrace their steps +for fear they might come to trouble in the darkness. So they ate what +they had with them, and camped, and the next morning the mountains to the +east seemed to be so near them that they thought it much easier to push +on instead of coming back to us. They thought that when they got to the +fertile country they would find a settlement, and then they might be able +to do something for the rest of the party, and it would be much wiser to +go ahead than to turn back. But they found themselves greatly mistaken. +Mountains in the distance, seen over a plain, appear very much nearer +than they are, and these two poor fellows walked and walked, until they +were pretty nearly dead. The story is a long one as Shirley told it to +me, but just as they were about giving up entirely, they were found by a +little party of natives, who had seen them from a long distance and had +come to them. + +"'After a great deal of trouble,--I believe they had to carry Burke a +good part of the way,--the natives got them to their huts at the foot of +the mountains, and took care of them. These people told Shirley--he knows +a little Spanish--that it was a piece of rare good luck that they found +them, for it was very seldom they went so far out into the desert. + +"'In a day or two the two men went on to a little village in the +mountains, and there they tried to get up an expedition to come to our +assistance. They knew that we had food enough to last for a week or two, +but after that we must be starved out. But nobody would do anything, and +then they went on to another town to see what they could do there.'" + +"Good fellows!" exclaimed Ralph. + +"Indeed, they were," said Edna. "But wait until you hear what they did +next. + +"'Nobody in this small town,'" she read on, "'was willing to join Burke +and Shirley in their proposed expedition, and no wonder; for crossing +those deserts is a dangerous thing, and most people said it would be +useless anyway, as it would be easier for us to get away by sea than by +land. At this time Burke was taken sick, and for a week or two Shirley +thought he was going to die. Of course, they had to stay where they were, +and it was a long time before Burke was able to move about. Then they +might have gone into the interior until they came to a railroad, and so +have got away, for they had money with them, but Shirley told me they +could not bear to do that without knowing what had become of us. They did +not believe there was any hope for us, unless the mate had come back with +assistance, and they had not much faith in that, for if a storm had come +up, such as had wrecked the Castor, it would be all over with Mr. +Rynders's boat. + +"'But even if we had perished on that desolate coast, they wanted to +know it and carry the news to our friends, and so they both determined, +if the thing could be done, to get back to the coast and find out what +had become of us. They went again to the little village where they had +been taken by the natives who found them, and there, by promises of big +pay,--at least, large for those poor Peruvians,--they induced six of +them to join in an expedition to the caves. They did not think they had +any reason to suppose they would find any one alive, but still, besides +the provisions necessary for the party there and back, they carried +something extra. + +"'Well, they journeyed for two days, and then there came up a +wind-storm, hot and dry, filling the air with sand and dust, so that +they could not see where they were going, and the natives said they +ought all to go back, for it was dangerous to try to keep on in such a +storm. But our two men would not give up so soon, and they made a camp +in a sheltered place, and determined to press on in the morning, when +they might expect the storm to be over. But in the morning they found +that every native had deserted them. The wind had gone down, and the +fellows must have started back before it was light. Then Shirley and +Burke did not know what to do. They believed that they were nearer the +coast than the mountains, and as they had plenty of provisions,--for the +natives had left them nearly everything,--they thought they would try to +push on, for a while at least. + +"'There was a bit of rising ground to the east, and they thought if they +could get on the top of that they might get a sight of the ocean, and +then discover how far away it was. They reached the top of the rising +ground, and they did not see the ocean, but a little ahead of them, in a +smooth stretch of sand, was something which amazed them a good deal more +than if it had been the sea. It was a pair of shoes sticking up out of +the sand. They were an old pair, and appeared to have legs to them. They +went to the spot, and found that these shoes belonged to a man who was +entirely covered by sand, with the exception of his feet, and dead, of +course. They got the sand off of him, and found he was a white man, in +sailor's clothes. First they had thought he might be one of our party, +but they soon perceived that this was a mistake, for they had never seen +the man before. He was dried up until he was nothing but a skeleton with +skin over it, but they could have recognized him if they had known him +before. From what they had heard of the rainless climate of the Peruvian +coast, and the way it had of drying up dead animals of all sorts, they +imagined that this man might have been there for years. He was lying on +his back, with his arms folded around a bundle, and when they tried to +move this bundle, they found it was very heavy. It was something wrapped +up in a blanket and tied with a cord, and when they opened the bundle, +they were pretty nearly struck dumb; for they saw it held, as Shirley +expressed it, about a peck of little hunks of gold. + +"'They were utterly astounded by this discovery, and utterly unable to +make head or tail of it. What that man, apparently an English sailor, had +been doing out in the middle of this desert with a bundle of gold, and +where he got it, and who he was, and where he was going to, and how long +he had been dead, were things beyond their guessing. They dragged the +body out of its burrow in the sand, and examined the pockets, but there +was nothing in the trousers but an old knife. In the pocket of the shirt, +however, were about a dozen matches, wrapped up in an old envelope. This +was addressed, in a very bad hand, to A. McLeish, Callao, Peru, but they +could not make out the date of the postmark. These things were all there +was about the man that could possibly identify him, for his few clothes +were such as any sailor would wear, and were very old and dirty. + +"'But the gold was there. They examined it and scraped it, and they were +sure it was pure gold. There was no doubt in their minds as to what they +would do about this. They would certainly carry it away with them. But +before they did so, Burke wanted to hunt around and see if they could not +find more of it, for the mass of metal was so heavy he did not believe +the sailor could have carried it very far. But after examining the +country as far as the eye could reach, Shirley would not agree to this. +They could see nothing but wide-stretching sands, and no place where it +seemed worth while to risk their lives hunting for treasure. Their best +plan was to get away with what they had found, and now the point was +whether or not they should press on to the coast or go back; but as they +could see no signs of the sea, they soon came to the conclusion that the +best thing to do if they wanted to save their lives and their treasure +was to get back to the mountains. + +"'I forgot to say that as soon as Shirley began to talk about the dead +man and his gold, I left the warehouse in charge of Maka, and took him to +my hotel, where he told me the rest of his story in a room with the door +locked. I must try to take as many reefs in what followed as I can. I +don't believe that the finding of the gold made any difference in their +plans, for, of course, it would have been foolish for them to try to get +to us by themselves. They cut the blanket in half and made up the gold +into two packages, and then they started back for the mountains, taking +with them all the provisions they could carry in addition to the gold, +and leaving their guns behind them. Shirley said their loads got heavier +and heavier as they ploughed through the sand, and it took them three +days to cover the ground they had gone over before in two. When they got +to the village, they found scarcely a man in the place, for the fellows +who had deserted them were frightened, and kept out of sight. They stayed +there all night, and then they went on with their bundles to the next +village, where they succeeded in getting a couple of travelling-bags, +into which they put their gold, so that they might appear to be carrying +their clothes. + +"'After a good deal of travel they reached Callao, and there they made +inquiries for A. McLeish, but nobody knew of him. Of course, he was a +sailor who had had a letter sent there. They went up to Lima and sold a +few pieces of the gold, but, before they did it, they got a heavy hammer +and pounded them up, so that no one would know what their original shape +was. Shirley said he could not say exactly why they did this, but that +they thought, on the whole, it would be safer. Then they went to San +Francisco on the first vessel that sailed. They must have had a good deal +of talk on the voyage in regard to the gold, and it was in consequence of +their discussions that Shirley wanted so much to find me. They had +calculated, judging by the pieces they had sold, that the gold they had +with them was worth about twelve thousand dollars, and they both thought +they ought to do the right thing about it. In the first place, they tried +in San Francisco to find out something about McLeish, but no one knew of +such a man. They then began to consider some persons they did know about. +They had heard in Lima that some of the people of the _Castor_ had been +rescued, and if any of them were hard up, as most likely they were, +Shirley and Burke thought that by rights they ought to have some of the +treasure that they had found. Shirley said at first they had gone on the +idea that each of them would have six thousand dollars and could go into +business for himself, but after a while they thought this would be a mean +thing to do. They had all been shipwrecked together, and two of them had +had a rare piece of good luck, and they thought it no more than honorable +to share this good luck with the others, so they concluded the best thing +to do was to see me about it. Burke left this business to Shirley, +because he wanted to go to see his sister who lives in St. Louis. + +"'They had not formed any fixed plan of division, but they believed that, +as they had had the trouble, and, in fact, the danger, of getting the +gold, they should have the main share, but they considered that they had +enough to help out any of the original party who might be hard up for +money." Of course, we must always remember," said Shirley, in finishing +up his story, "that if we can find the heirs of McLeish, the money +belongs to them. But, even in that case, Burke and I think we ought to +keep a good share of it to pay us for getting it away from that beastly +desert." Here I interrupted him. "Don't you trouble yourself any more +about McLeish," I said. "That money did not belong to him. He stole it." +"How do you know that, and who did he steal it from?" cried Shirley. +"He stole it from me," said I. + +"'At this point Shirley gave such a big jump backward that his chair +broke beneath him, and he went crashing to the floor. He had made a start +a good deal like that when I told him how the Rackbirds had been swept +out of existence when I had opened the flood-gate that let out the waters +of the lake, and I had heard the chair crack then. Now, while he had been +telling me about his finding that man in the sand, with his load of gold, +I had been listening, but I had also been thinking, and almost any man +can think faster than another one can talk, and so by this time I had +made up my mind what I was going to say to Shirley. I would tell him all +about my finding the gold in the mound. It touched me to think that these +poor fellows, who did all that they could to help us escape, and then, +when they got safely home, started immediately to find us in order that +they might give us some of that paltry twelve thousand dollars--give to +us, who are actually millionaires, and who may be richer yet! It would +not do to let any of the crew get ahead of their captain in fair dealing, +and that was one reason why I determined to tell him. Then, there was +another point. Ever since I have been here, selling and storing the gold +I brought away, I have had a heavy load on my mind, and that was the +thought of leaving all the rest of the gold in that mound for the next +person who might come along and find it. + +"'I devised plan after plan of getting more of it, but none of them would +work. Two things were certain: One was that I could not get any more away +by myself. I had already done the best I could and all I could in that +line. And the second thing was that if I should try for any more of the +treasure, I must have people to help me. The plan that suited me best was +to buy a small vessel, man it, go down there, load up with the gold, and +sail away. There would be no reasonable chance that any one would be +there to hinder me, and I would take in the cargo just as if it were +guano, or anything else. Then I would go boldly to Europe. I have looked +into the matter, and I have found that the best thing I can do, if I +should get that gold, would be to transport it to Paris, where I could +distribute it better than I could from any other point. But the trouble +was, where could I get the crew to help me? I have four black men, and I +think I could trust them, as far as honesty goes, but they would not be +enough to work the ship, and I could not think of any white men with whom +I would trust my life and that gold in the same vessel. But now they +seemed to pop up right in front of me. + +"'I knew Shirley and Burke pretty well when they were on the _Castor_, +and after what Shirley told me I knew them better, and I believed they +were my men. To be sure, they might fail me, for they are only human, but +I had to have somebody to help me, and I did not believe there were any +other two men who would be less likely to fail me. So by the time Shirley +had finished his yarn I was ready to tell him the whole thing, and +propose to him and Burke to join me in going down after the rest of the +treasure and taking it to France.'" + +At this point Ralph sprang to his feet, his eyes flashing. "Edna!" he +cried, "I say that your Captain Horn is treating me shamefully. In the +first place, he let me come up here to dawdle about, doing nothing, when +I ought to have been down there helping him get more of that treasure. I +fancy he might have trusted me, and if I had been with him, we should +have brought away nearly twice as much gold, and at this minute we +should be twice as well off as we are. But this last is a thousand times +worse. Here he is, going off on one of the most glorious adventures of +this century, and he leaves me out. What does he take me for? Does he +think I am a girl? When he was thinking of somebody to go with him, why +didn't he think of me, and why doesn't he think of me now? He has no +right to leave me out!" + +"I look at the matter in a different light," said his sister. "Captain +Horn has no right to take you off on such a dangerous adventure, and, +more than that, he has no right to take you from me, and leave me alone +in the world. He once made you the guardian of all that treasure, and now +he considers you as my guardian. You did not desert the first trust, and +I am sorry to think you want to desert the other." + +"That's all very fine," said Ralph. "You blow hot and you blow cold at +the same time. When you want me to keep quiet and do what I am told, you +tell me I am not of age, and that you are my guardian; and when you want +me to stay here and make myself useful, you tell me I am wonderfully +trusty, and that I must be your guardian." + +Edna smiled. "That is pretty good reasoning," she said, "but there isn't +any reasoning needed in this case. No matter what Captain Horn may say or +do, I would not let you go away from me." + +Ralph sat down again. "There is some sense in what you say," he said. "If +the captain should come to grief, and I were with him, we would both be +gone. Then you would have nobody left to you. But that does not entirely +clear him. Even if he thought I ought not to go with him, he ought to +have said something about it, and put in a word or so about his being +sorry. Is there any more of the letter?" + +"Yes," said Edna, "there is more of it," and she began to read again: + +"'I intended to stop here and give you the rest of the matter in another +letter, but now, as I have a good chance to write, I think it is better +to keep on, although this letter is already as long as the pay-roll of +the navy. When I told Shirley about the gold, he made a bounce pretty +nearly as big as the others, but this time I had him in a stout +arm-chair, and he did no damage. He had in his pocket one of the gold +bars he spoke of, and I had one of mine in my trunk, and when we put them +together they were as like as two peas. What I told him dazed him at +first, and he did not seem properly to understand what it all meant, but, +after a little, a fair view of it came to him, and for hours we talked +over the matter. Who the man was who had gone there after we left did not +matter, for he could never come back again. + +"'We decided that what we should do was to go and get that gold as soon +as possible, and Shirley agreed to go with me. He believed we could trust +Burke to join us, and, with my four black men,--who have really become +good sailors,--we would have a crew of seven men altogether, with which +we could work a fair-sized brig to Havre or some other French port. +Before he went away our business was settled. He agreed to go with me as +first mate, to do his best to help me get that gold to France, to +consider the whole treasure as mine, because I had discovered it,--I +explained the reason to him, as I did to you,--and to accept as regular +pay one hundred dollars a day, from then until we should land the cargo +in a European port, and then to leave it to me how much more I would give +him. I told him there were a lot of people to be considered, and I was +going to try to make the division as fair as possible, and he said he was +willing to trust it to me. + +"'If we did not get the gold, he was to have eighteen dollars a month +for the time he sailed with me, and if we got safely back, I would give +him his share of what I had already secured. He was quite sure that Burke +would make the same agreement, and we telegraphed him to come +immediately. I am going to be very careful about Burke, however, and +sound him well before I tell him anything. + +"'Yesterday we found our vessel. She arrived in port a few days ago, and +is now unloading. She is a small brig, and I think she will do; in fact, +she has got to do. By the time Burke gets here I think we shall be ready +to sail. Up to that time we shall be as busy as men can be, and it will +be impossible for me to go to San Francisco. I must attend to the +shipping of the treasure I have stored in the City of Mexico. I shall +send some to one place and some to another, but want it all turned into +coin or bonds before I start. Besides, I must be on hand to see Burke the +moment he arrives. I am not yet quite sure about him, and if Shirley +should let anything slip while I was away our looked-for fortune might be +lost to us.' + +"And that," said Edna, "is all of the letter that I need read, except +that he tells me he expects to write again before he starts, and that +his address after he sails will be Wraxton, Fuguet & Co., American +bankers in Paris." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +EDNA MAKES HER PLANS + + +When she had finished reading the many pages of the letter, Edna leaned +back on the sofa and closed her eyes. Ralph sat upright in his chair and +gazed intently before him. + +"So we are not to see the captain again," he said presently. "But I +suppose that when a man has a thing to do, the best thing is to go +and do it." + +"Yes," said his sister, "that is the best thing." + +"And what are we to do?" + +"I am now trying to decide," she answered. + +"Doesn't he say anything about it?" + +"Not a word," replied Edna. "I suppose he considered he had made his +letter long enough." + +About an hour after this, when the two met again, Edna said: "I have been +writing to Captain Horn, and am going to write to Mrs. Cliff. I have +decided what we shall do. I am going to France." + +"To France!" cried Ralph. "Both of us?" + +"Yes, both of us. I made up my mind about this since I saw you." + +"What are you going to France for?" he exclaimed. "Come, let us have it +all--quick." + +"I am going to France," said his sister, "because Captain Horn is going +there, and when he arrives, I wish to be there to meet him. There is no +reason for our staying here--" + +"Indeed, there is not," interpolated Ralph, earnestly. + +"If we must go anywhere to wait," continued his sister, "I should +prefer Paris." + +"Edna," cried Ralph, "you are a woman of solid sense, and if the +captain wants his gold divided up, he should get you to do it. And now, +when are we going, and is Mrs. Cliff to go? What are you going to do +with the two darkies?" + +"We shall start East as soon as the captain sails," replied his sister, +"and I do not know what Mrs. Cliff will do until I hear from her, and as +for Cheditafa and Mok, we shall take them with us." + +"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Mok for my valet in Paris. That's the best thing +I have got out of the caves yet." + +Captain Horn was a strong man, prompt in action, and no one could know +him long without being assured of these facts. But although Edna's +outward personality was not apt to indicate quickness of decision and +vigor of purpose, that quickness and vigor were hers quite as much as the +captain's when occasion demanded, and occasion demanded them now. The +captain had given no indication of what he would wish her to do during +the time which would be occupied by his voyage to Peru, his work there, +and his subsequent long cruise around South America to Europe. She +expected that in his next letter he would say something about this, but +she wished first to say something herself. + +She did not know this bold sailor as well as she loved him, and she was +not at all sure that the plans he might make for her during his absence +would suit her disposition or her purposes. Consequently, she resolved to +submit her plans to him before he should write again. Above everything +else, she wished to be in that part of the world at which Captain Horn +might be expected to arrive when his present adventure should be +accomplished. She did not wish to be sent for to go to France. She did +not wish to be told that he was coming to America. Wherever he might +land, there she would be. + +The point that he might be unsuccessful, and might never leave South +America, did not enter into her consideration. She was acting on the +basis that he was a man who was likely to succeed in his endeavors. If +she should come to know that he had not succeeded, then her actions would +be based upon the new circumstances. + +Furthermore, she had now begun to make plans for her future life. She had +been waiting for Captain Horn to come to her, and to find out what he +intended to do. Now she knew he was not coming to her for a long time, +and was aware of what he intended to do, and she made her own plans. Of +course, she dealt only with the near future. All beyond that was vague, +and she could not touch it even with her thoughts. When sending his +remittances, the captain had written that she and Mrs. Cliff must +consider the money he sent her as income to be expended, not as principal +to be put away or invested. He had made provisions for the future of all +of them, in case he should not succeed in his present project, and what +he had not set aside with that view he had devoted to his own +operations, and to the maintenance, for a year, of Edna, Ralph, and Mrs. +Cliff, in such liberal and generous fashion as might please them, and he +had apportioned the remittances in a way which he deemed suitable. As +Edna disbursed the funds, she knew that this proportion was three +quarters for herself and Ralph, and one quarter for Mrs. Cliff. + +"He divides everything into four parts," she thought, "and gives me +his share." + +Acting on her principle of getting every good thing out of life that +life could give her, and getting it while life was able to give it to +her, there was no doubt in regard to her desires. Apart from her wish to +go where the captain expected to go, she considered that every day now +spent in America was a day lost. If her further good fortune should +never arrive, and the money in hand should be gone, she wished, before +that time came, to engraft upon her existence a period of life in +Europe--life of such freedom and opportunity as never before she had had +a right to dream of. + +Across this golden outlook there came a shadow. If he had wished to come +to her, she would have waited for him anywhere, or if he had wished her +to go to him, she would have gone anywhere. But it seemed as if that mass +of gold, which brought them together, must keep them apart, a long time +certainly, perhaps always. Nothing that had happened had had any element +of certainty about it, and the future was still less certain. If he had +come to her before undertaking the perilous voyage now before him, there +would have been a certainty in her life which would have satisfied her +forever. But he did not come. It was plainly his intention to have +nothing to do with the present until the future should be settled, so far +as he could settle it. + +In a few days after she had written to Captain Horn, informing him of the +plans she had made to go to France, Edna received an answer which +somewhat disappointed her. If the captain's concurrence in her proposed +foreign sojourn had not been so unqualified and complete, if he had +proposed even some slight modification, if he had said anything which +would indicate that he felt he had authority to oppose her movements if +he did not approve of them,--in fact, even if he had opposed her +plan,--she would have been better pleased. But he wrote as if he were her +financial agent, and nothing more. The tone of his letter was kind, the +arrangements he said he had made in regard to the money deposited in San +Francisco showed a careful concern for her pleasure and convenience, but +nothing in his letter indicated that he believed himself possessed in any +way of the slightest control over her actions. There was nothing like a +sting in that kind and generous letter, but when she had read it, the +great longing of Edna's heart turned and stung her. But she would give no +sign of this wound. She was a brave woman, and could wait still longer. + +The captain informed her that everything was going well with his +enterprise--that Burke had arrived, and had agreed to take part in the +expedition, and that he expected that his brig, the _Miranda_, would be +ready in less than a week. He mentioned again that he was extremely busy +with his operations, but he did not say that he was sorry he was unable +to come to take leave of her. He detailed in full the arrangements he had +made, and then placed in her hands the entire conduct of the financial +affairs of the party until she should hear from him again. When he +arrived in France, he would address her in care of his bankers, but in +regard to two points only did he now say anything which seemed like a +definite injunction or even request. He asked Edna to urge upon Mrs. +Cliff the necessity of saying nothing about the discovery of the gold, +for if it should become known anywhere from Greenland to Patagonia, he +might find a steamer lying off the Rackbirds' cove when his slow +sailing-vessel should arrive there. The other request was that Edna keep +the two negroes with her if this would not prove inconvenient. But if +this plan would at all trouble her, he asked that they be sent to him +immediately. + +In answer to this letter, Edna merely telegraphed the captain, informing +him that she would remain in San Francisco until she had heard that he +had sailed when she would immediately start for the East, and for France, +with Ralph and the two negroes. + +Three days after this she received a telegram from Captain Horn, stating +that he would sail in an hour, and the next day she and her little party +took a train for New York. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +"HOME, SWEET HOME" + + +On the high-street of the little town of Plainton, Maine, stood the neat +white house of Mrs. Cliff, with its green shutters, its porchless front +door, its pretty bit of flower-garden at the front and side, and its neat +back yard, sacred once a week to that virtue which is next to godliness. + +Mrs. Cliff's husband had been the leading merchant in Plainton, and +having saved some money, he had invested it in an enterprise of a friend +who had gone into business in Valparaiso. On Mr. Cliff's death his widow +had found herself with an income smaller than she had expected, and that +it was necessary to change in a degree her style of living. The +hospitalities of her table, once so well known throughout the circle of +her friends, must be curtailed, and the spare bedroom must be less +frequently occupied. The two cows and the horse were sold, and in every +way possible the household was placed on a more economical basis. She had +a good house, and an income on which, with care and prudence, she could +live, but this was all. + +In this condition of her finances it was not strange that Mrs. Cliff had +thought a good deal about the investments in Valparaiso, from which she +had not heard for a long time. Her husband had been dead for three years, +and although she had written several times to Valparaiso, she had +received no answer whatever, and being a woman of energy, she had finally +made up her mind that the proper thing to do was to go down and see after +her affairs. It had not been easy for her to get together the money for +this long journey,--in fact, she had borrowed some of it,--and so, to +lessen her expenses, she had taken passage in the _Castor_ from San +Francisco. + +She was a housewife of high degree, and would not have thought of +leaving--perhaps for months--her immaculate window-panes and her spotless +floors and furniture, had she not also left some one to take care of +them. A distant cousin, Miss Willy Croup, had lived with her since her +husband's death, and though this lady was willing to stay during Mrs. +Cliff's absence, Mrs. Cliff considered her too quiet and inoffensive to +be left in entire charge of her possessions, and Miss Betty Handshall, a +worthy maiden of fifty, a little older than Willy, and a much more +determined character, was asked to come and live in Mrs. Cliffs house +until her return. + +Betty was the only person in Plainton who lived on an annuity, and she +was rather proud of her independent fortune, but as her annuity was very +small, and as this invitation meant a considerable reduction in her +expenses, she was very glad to accept it. Consequently, Mrs. Cliff had +gone away feeling that she had left her house in the hands of two women +almost as neat as herself and even more frugal. + +When Mrs. Cliff left Edna and Ralph in San Francisco, and went home, +nearly all the people in the little town who were worth considering +gathered in and around her house to bid her welcome. They had heard of +her shipwreck, but the details had been scanty and unsatisfactory, and +the soul of the town throbbed with curiosity to know what had really +happened to her. For the first few hours of her return Mrs. Cliff was in +a state of heavenly ecstasy. Everything was so tidy, everything was so +clean, every face beamed with such genial amity, her native air was so +intoxicating, that she seemed to be in a sort of paradise. But when her +friends and neighbors began to ask questions, she felt herself gradually +descending into a region which, for all she knew, might resemble +purgatory. + +Of course, there was a great deal that was wonderful and startling to +relate, and as Mrs. Cliff was a good story-teller, she thrilled the +nerves of her hearers with her descriptions of the tornado at sea and the +Rackbirds on land, and afterwards filled the eyes of many of the women +with tears of relief as she told of their escapes, their quiet life at +the caves, and their subsequent rescue by the _Mary Bartlett_. But it was +the cross-examinations which caused the soul of the narrator to sink. Of +course, she had been very careful to avoid all mention of the gold mound, +but this omission in her narrative proved to be a defect which she had +not anticipated. As she had told that she had lost everything except a +few effects she had carried with her from the _Castor_, it was natural +enough that people should want to know how she had been enabled to come +home in such good fashion. + +They had expected her to return in a shabby, or even needy, condition, +and now they had stories of delightful weeks at a hotel in San Francisco, +and beheld their poor shipwrecked neighbor dressed more handsomely than +they had ever seen her, and with a new trunk standing in the lower hall +which must contain something. + +Mrs. Cliff began by telling the truth, and from this course she did not +intend to depart. She said that the captain of the _Castor_ was a just +and generous man, and, as far as was in his power, he had reimbursed the +unfortunate passengers for their losses. But as every one knows the +richest steamship companies are seldom so generous to persons who may be +cast away during transportation as to offer them long sojourns at hotels, +with private parlors and private servants, and to send them home in +drawing-room cars, with cloaks trimmed with real sealskin, the questions +became more and more direct, and all Mrs. Cliff could do was to stand +with her back against the captain's generosity, as if it had been a rock, +and rely upon it for defence. + +But when the neighbors had all gone home, and the trunk had to be opened, +so that it could be lightened before being carried up-stairs, the remarks +of Willy and Betty cut clean to the soul of the unfortunate possessor of +its contents. Of course, the captain had not actually given her this +thing, and that thing, and the other, or the next one, but he had allowed +her a sum of money, and she had expended it according to her own +discretion. How much that sum of money might have been, Willy and Betty +did not dare to ask,--for there were limits to Mrs. Cliff's +forbearance,--but when they went to bed, they consulted together. + +If it had not been for the private parlor and the drawing-room car, they +would have limited Captain Horn's generosity to one hundred dollars. But, +under the circumstances, that sum would have been insufficient. It must +have been nearly, if not quite, two hundred. As for Mrs. Cliff, she went +to bed regretting that her reservations had not been more extended, and +that she had not given the gold mound in the cave more company. She hated +prevarications and concealments, but if she must conceal something, she +should have concealed more. When the time came when she would be free to +tell of her good fortune, even if it should be no more than she already +possessed, then she would explain everything, and proudly demand of her +friends and neighbors to put their fingers on a single untruth that she +had told them. + +For the next day or two, Mrs. Cliff's joy in living again in her own home +banished all other feelings, and as she was careful to say nothing to +provoke more questions, and as those which were still asked became +uncertain of aim and scattering, her regrets at her want of reticence +began to fade. But, no matter what she did, where she went, or what she +looked at, Mrs. Cliff carried about with her a millstone. It did not hang +from her neck, but it was in her pocket. It was not very heavy, but it +was a burden to her. It was her money--which she wanted to spend, but +dared not. + +On leaving San Francisco, Edna had wished to give her the full amount +which the captain had so far sent her, but Mrs. Cliff declined to receive +the whole. She did not see any strong reason to believe that the captain +would ever send any more, and as she had a home, and Ralph and Edna had +not, she would not take all the money that was due her, feeling that they +might come to need it more than she would. But even with this generous +self-denial she found herself in Plainton with a balance of some +thousands of dollars in her possession, and as much more in Edna's hands, +which the latter had insisted that she would hold subject to order. What +would the neighbors think of Captain Horn's abnormal bounteousness if +they knew this? + +With what a yearning, aching heart Mrs. Cliff looked upon the little +picket-fence which ran across the front of her property! How beautiful +that fence would be with a new coat of paint, and how perfectly well she +could afford it! And there was the little shed that should be over the +back door, which would keep the sun from the kitchen in summer, and in +winter the snow. There was this in one room, and that in another. There +were new dishes which could exist only in her mind. How much domestic +gratification there was within her reach, but toward which she did not +dare to stretch out her hand! + +There was poor old Mrs. Bradley, who must shortly leave the home in which +she had lived nearly all her life, because she could no longer afford to +pay the rent. There had been an attempt to raise enough money by +subscription to give the old lady her home for another year, but this had +not been very successful. Mrs. Cliff could easily have supplied the +deficit, and it would have given her real pleasure to do so,--for she had +almost an affection for the old lady,--but when she asked to be allowed +to subscribe, she did not dare to give more than one dollar, which was +the largest sum upon the list, and even then Betty had said that, under +the circumstances, she could not have been expected to give anything. + +When she went out into the little barn at the rear of the house, and saw +the empty cow-stable, how she longed for fresh cream, and butter of her +own making! And when she gazed upon her little phaeton, which she had not +sold because no one wanted it, and reflected that her good, brown horse +could doubtless be bought back for a moderate sum, she almost wished that +she had come home as poor as people thought she ought to be. + +Now and then she ordered something done or spent some money in a way that +excited the astonishment of Willy Croup--the sharper-witted Betty had +gone home, for, of course, Mrs. Cliff could not be expected to be able to +afford her company now. But in attempting to account for these +inconsiderable extravagances, Mrs. Cliff was often obliged to content +herself with admitting that while she had been abroad she might have +acquired some of those habits of prodigality peculiar to our Western +country. This might be a sufficient excuse for the new bottom step to the +side door, but how could she account for the pair of soft, warm +Californian blankets which were at the bottom of the trunk, and which she +had not yet taken out even to air? + +Matters had gone on in this way for nearly a month,--every day Mrs. Cliff +had thought of some new expenditure which she could well afford, and +every night she wished that she dared to put her money in the town bank +and so be relieved from the necessity of thinking so much about +door-locks and window-fastenings,--when there came a letter from Edna, +informing her of the captain's safe arrival in Acapulco with the cargo of +guano and gold, and inclosing a draft which first made Mrs. Cliff turn +pale, and then compelled her to sit down on the floor and cry. The letter +related in brief the captain's adventures, and stated his intention of +returning for the gold. + +"To think of it!" softly sobbed Mrs. Cliff, after she had carefully +closed her bedroom door. "With this and what I am to get, I believe I +could buy the bank, and yet I can only sit here and try to think of some +place to hide this dangerous piece of paper." + +The draft was drawn by a San Francisco house upon a Boston bank, and Edna +had suggested that it might be well for Mrs. Cliff to open an account in +the latter city. But the poor lady knew that would never do. A +bank-account in Boston would soon become known to the people of Plainton, +and what was the use of having an account anywhere if she could not draw +from it? Edna had not failed to reiterate the necessity of keeping the +gold discovery an absolute secret, and every word she said upon this +point increased Mrs. Cliff's depression. + +"If it were only for a fixed time, a month or three months, or even six +months," the poor lady said to herself, "I might stand it. It would be +hard to do without all the things I want, and be afraid even to pay the +money I borrowed to go to South America, but if I knew when the day was +certainly coming when I could hold up my head and let everybody know just +what I am, and take my proper place in the community, then I might wait. +But nobody knows how long it will take the captain to get away with that +gold. He may have to make ever so many voyages. He may meet with wrecks, +and dear knows what. It may be years before they are ready to tell me I +am a free woman, and may do what I please with my own. I may die in +poverty, and leave Mr. Cliff's nephews to get all the good of the draft +and the money in my trunk up-stairs. I suppose they would think it came +from Valparaiso, and that I had been hoarding it. It's all very well for +Edna. She is going to Europe, where Ralph will be educated, I suppose, +and where she can live as she pleases, and nobody will ask her any +questions, and she need not answer them, if they should. But I must stay +here, in debt, and in actual want of the comforts of life, making believe +to pinch and to save, until a sea-captain thousands and thousands of +miles away shall feel that he is ready to let me put my hand in my pocket +and spend my riches." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +A COMMITTEE OF LADIES + + +It was about a week after the receipt of Edna's letter that Willy Croup +came to Mrs. Cliff's bedroom, where that lady had been taking a +surreptitious glance at her Californian blankets, to tell her that there +were three ladies down in the parlor who wished to see her. + +"It's the minister's wife, and Mrs. Hembold, and old Miss Shott," said +Willy. "They are all dressed up, and I suppose they have come for +something particular, so you'd better fix up a little afore you go down." + +In her present state of mind, Mrs. Cliff was ready to believe that +anybody who came to see her would certainly want to know something which +she could not tell them, and she went down fearfully. But these ladies +did not come to ask questions. They came to make statements. Mrs. Perley, +the minister's wife, opened the interview by stating that, while she was +sorry to see Mrs. Cliff looking so pale and worried, she was very glad, +at the same time, to be able to say something which might, in some +degree, relieve her anxiety and comfort her mind, by showing her that she +was surrounded by friends who could give her their heartfelt sympathy in +her troubles, and perhaps do a little more. + +"We all know," said Mrs. Perley, "that you have had misfortunes, and +that they have been of a peculiar kind, and none of them owing to your +own fault." + +"We can't agree exactly to that," interpolated Miss Shott, "but I won't +interrupt." + +"We all know," continued Mrs. Perley, "that it was a great loss and +disappointment to you not to be able to get down to Valparaiso and settle +your affairs there, for we are aware that you need whatever money is due +you from that quarter. And we understand, too, what a great blow it was +to you to be shipwrecked, and lose all your baggage except a hand-bag." + +Miss Shott was about to say something here, but Mrs. Hembold touched her +on the arm, and she waited. + +"It grieves us very much," continued the minister's wife, "to think that +our dear friend and neighbor should come home from her wanderings and +perils and privations, and find herself in what must be, although we do +not wish to pry into your private affairs, something of an embarrassed +condition. We have all stayed at home with our friends and our families, +and we have had no special prosperity, but neither have we met with +losses, and it grieves us to think that you, who were once as prosperous +as any of us, should now feel--I should say experience--in any manner the +pressure of privation." + +"I don't understand," said Mrs. Cliff, sitting up very straight in her +chair. "Privation? What does that mean?" + +"It may not be exactly that," said Mrs. Perley, quickly, "and we all know +very well, Mrs. Cliff, that you are naturally sensitive on a point like +this. But you have come back shipwrecked and disappointed in your +business, and we want to show you that, while we would not hurt your +feelings for anything in the world, we would like to help you a little, +if we can, just as we would hope you would help us if we were in any +embarrassment." + +"I must say, however--" remarked Miss Shott; but she was again silenced +by Mrs. Hembold, and the minister's wife went on. + +"To come straight to the point," said she, "for a good while we have been +wanting to do something, and we did not know what to do. But a few days +ago we became aware, through Miss Willy Croup, that what was most needed +in this house is blankets. She said, in fact, that the blankets you had +were the same you bought when you were first married, that some of them +had been worn out and given to your poorer neighbors, and that now you +were very short of blankets, and, with cold weather coming on, she did +not consider that the clothing on your own bed was sufficient. She even +went so far as to say that the blankets she used were very thin, and that +she did not think they were warm enough for winter. So, some of us have +agreed together that we would testify our friendship and our sympathy by +presenting you with a pair of good, warm blankets for your own bed; then +those you have could go to Willy Croup, and you both would be comfortable +all winter. Of course, what we have done has not been upon an expensive +scale. We have had many calls upon us,--poor old Mrs. Bradley, for +one,--and we could not afford to spend much money. But we have bought you +a good pair of blankets, which are warm and serviceable, and we hope you +will not be offended, and we do not believe that you will be, for you +know our motives, and all that we ask is that when you are warm and +comfortable under our little gift, you will sometimes think of us. The +blankets are out in the hall, and I have no doubt that Miss Willy Croup +will bring them in." + +Mrs. Cliff's eyes filled with tears. She wanted to speak, but how could +she speak! But she was saved from further embarrassment, for when Willy, +who had been standing in the doorway, had gone to get the blankets, Miss +Shott could be restrained no longer. + +"I am bound to say," she began, "that, while I put my money in with the +rest to get those blankets,--and am very glad to be able to do it, Mrs. +Cliff,--I don't think that we ought to do anything which would look as if +we were giving our countenances to useless extravagances in persons, even +if they are our friends, who, with but small means, think they must live +like rich people, simply because they happen to be travelling among them. +It is not for me to allude to hotels in towns where there are good +boarding-houses, to vestibule cars and fur-trimmed cloaks; but I will say +that when I am called upon to help my friends who need it, I will do it +as quick as anybody, but I also feel called upon by my conscience to lift +up my voice against spending for useless things what little money a +person may have, when that person needs that money for--well, for things +I shall not mention. And now that I have said my say, I am just as glad +to help give you those blankets, Mrs. Cliff, as anybody else is." + +Every one in the room knew that the thing she would not mention was the +money Mrs. Cliff had borrowed for her passage. Miss Shott had not lent +any of it, but her brother, a retired carpenter and builder, had, and as +his sister expected to outlive him, although he was twelve years younger +than she was, she naturally felt a little sore upon this point. + +Now Mrs. Cliff was herself again. She was not embarrassed. She was +neither pale nor trembling. With a stern severity, not unknown to her +friends and neighbors in former days, she rose to her feet. + +"Nancy Shott," said she, "I don't know anything that makes me feel more +at home than to hear you talk like that. You are the same woman that +never could kiss a baby without wanting to spank it at the same time. I +know what is the matter with you. You are thinking of that money I +borrowed from your brother. Well, I borrowed that for a year, and the +time is not up yet; but when it is, I'll pay it, every cent of it, and +interest added. I knew what I was about when I borrowed it, and I know +what I am about now, and if I get angry and pay it before it becomes due, +he will lose that much interest, and he can charge it to you. That is all +I have to say to you. + +"As for you, Mrs. Perley, and the other persons who gave me these +blankets, I want you to feel that I am just as grateful as if--just as +grateful as I can be, and far more for the friendliness than for the +goods. I won't say anything more about that, and it isn't necessary, but +I must say one thing. I am ready to take the blankets, and to thank you +from the bottom of my heart, but I will not have them unless the money +Miss Shott put in is given back to her. Whatever that was, I will make it +up myself, and I hope I may be excused for saying that I don't believe it +will break me." + +Now there was a scene. Miss Shott rose in anger and marched out of the +house. Mrs. Perley and the other lady expostulated with Mrs. Cliff for +a time, but they knew her very well, and soon desisted. Twenty-five +cents was handed to Mrs. Perley to take the place of the sum +contributed by Miss Shott, and the ladies departed, and the blankets +were taken up-stairs. Mrs. Cliff gave one glance at them as Willy +Croup spread them out. + +"If those women could see my Californian blankets!" she said to herself, +but to Willy she said, "They are very nice, and you may put them away." + +Then she went to her own room and went to bed. This last shock was too +much for her nerves to bear. In the afternoon Willy brought her some tea, +but the poor lady would not get up. So long as she stayed in bed, people +could be kept away from her, but there was nowhere else where she could +be in peace. + +All night she lay and thought and thought and thought. What should she +do? She could not endure this condition of things. There was only one +relief that presented itself to her: she might go to Mr. Perley, her +minister, and confide everything to him. He would tell her what she +ought to do. + +"But," she thought, "suppose he should say it should all go to the +Peruvians!" And then she had more thinking to do, based upon this +contingency, which brought on a headache, and she remained in bed all +the next day. + +The next morning, Willy Croup, who had begun to regret that she had ever +said anything about blankets,--but how could she have imagined that +anybody could be so cut up at what that old Shott woman had +said?--brought Mrs. Cliff a letter. + +This was from Edna, stating that she and Ralph and the two negroes had +just arrived in New York, from which point they were to sail for Havre. +Edna wished very much to see Mrs. Cliff before she left the country, and +wrote that if it would be convenient for that lady, she would run up to +Plainton and stay a day or two with her. There would be time enough for +this before the steamer sailed. When she read this brief note, Mrs. Cliff +sprang out of bed. + +"Edna come here!" she exclaimed. "That would be simply ruin! But I must +see her. I must tell her everything, and let her help me." + +As soon as she was dressed, she went down-stairs and told Willy that she +would start for New York that very afternoon. She had received a letter +from Mrs. Horn, and it was absolutely necessary to see her before she +sailed. With only a small leather bag in her hand, and nearly all her +ready money and her peace-destroying draft sewed up inside the body of +her dress, she left Plainton, and when her friends and neighbors heard +that she had gone, they could only ascribe such a sudden departure to the +strange notions she had imbibed in foreign parts. When Plainton people +contemplated a journey, they told everybody about it, and took plenty of +time to make preparations; but South Americans and Californians would +start anywhere at a moment's notice. People had thought that Mrs. Cliff +was too old to be influenced by association in that way, but it was plain +that they had been mistaken, and there were those who were very much +afraid that even if the poor lady had got whatever ought to be coming to +her from the Valparaiso business, it would have been of little use to +her. Her old principles of economy and prudence must have been terribly +shaken. This very journey to New York would probably cost twenty dollars! + +When Mrs. Cliff entered Edna's room in a New York hotel, the latter was +startled, almost frightened. She had expected her visitor, for she had +had a telegram, but she scarcely recognized at the first glance the pale +and haggard woman who had come to her. + +"Sick!" exclaimed poor Mrs. Cliff, as she sank upon a sofa. "Yes, I am +sick, but not in body, only in heart. Well, it is hard to tell you what +is the matter. The nearest I can get to it is that it is wealth struck +in, as measles sometimes strike in when they ought to come out properly, +and one is just as dangerous as the other." + +When Mrs. Cliff had had something to eat and drink, and had begun to tell +her tale, Edna listened with great interest and sympathy. But when the +good lady had nearly finished, and was speaking of her resolution to +confide everything to Mr. Perley, Edna's gaze at her friend became very +intent, and her hands tightly grasped the arms of the chair in which she +was sitting. + +"Mrs. Cliff," said she, when the other had finished, "there is but one +thing for you to do: you must go to Europe with us." + +"Now!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "In the steamer you have engaged passage +in? Impossible! I could not go home and settle up everything and come +back in time." + +"But you must not go home," said Edna. "You must not think of it. Your +troubles would begin again as soon as you got there. You must stay here +and go when we do." + +Mrs. Cliff stared at her. "But I have only a bag and the clothes I have +on. I am not ready for a voyage. And there's the house, with nobody but +Willy in it. Don't you see it would be impossible for me to go?" + +"What you need for the passage," said Edna, "you can buy here in a few +hours, and everything else you can get on the other side a great deal +cheaper and better than here. As to your house, you can write to that +other lady to go there and stay with Miss Croup until you come back. I +tell you, Mrs. Cliff, that all these things have become mere trifles to +you. I dare say you could buy another house such as you own in Plainton, +and scarcely miss the money. Compared to your health and happiness, the +loss of that house, even if it should burn up while you are away, would +be as a penny thrown to a beggar." + +"And there is my new trunk," said Mrs. Cliff, "with my blankets and ever +so many things locked up in it." + +"Let it stay there," said Edna. "You will not need the blankets, and I +don't believe any one will pick the lock." + +"But how shall I explain my running away in such a fashion? What will +they all think?" + +"Simply write," said Edna, "that you are going to Europe as companion +to Mrs. Horn. If they think you are poor, that will explain everything. +And you may add, if you choose, that Mrs. Horn is so anxious to have +you, she will take no denial, and it is on account of her earnest +entreaties that you are unable to go home and take leave in a proper +way of your friends." + +It was half an hour afterwards that Mrs. Cliff said: "Well, Edna, I will +go with you. But I can tell you this: I would gladly give up all the +mountains and palaces I may see in Europe, if I could go back to Plainton +this day, deposit my money in the Plainton bank, and then begin to live +according to my means. That would be a joy that nothing else on this +earth could give me." + +Edna laughed. "All you have to do," she said, "is to be patient and wait +awhile, and then, when you go back like a queen to Plainton, you will +have had your mountains and your palaces besides." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +AT THE HOTEL BOILEAU + + +It was early in December,--two months after the departure of Edna and her +little party from New York,--and they were all comfortably domiciled in +the Hotel Boileau, in a quiet street, not far from the Boulevard des +Italiens. This house, to which they came soon after their arrival in +Paris, might be considered to belong to the family order, but its grade +was much higher than that of the hotel in which they had lived in San +Francisco. As in the former place, they had private apartments, a private +table, and the service of their own colored men, in addition to that of +the hotel servants. But their salon was large and beautifully furnished, +their meals were cooked by a French chef, every one, from the lordly +porter to the quick-footed chambermaid, served them with a courteous +interest, and Mrs. Cliff said that although their life in the two hotels +seemed to be in the main the same sort of life, they were, in reality, as +different as an old, dingy mahogany bureau, just dragged from an attic, +and that same piece of furniture when it had been rubbed down, oiled, and +varnished. And Ralph declared that, so far as he knew anything about it, +there was nothing like the air of Paris to bring out the tones and +colorings and veinings of hotel life. But the greatest difference between +the former and the present condition of this little party lay in the fact +that in San Francisco its principal member was Mrs. Philip Horn, while in +Paris it was Miss Edna Markham. + +This change of name had been the result of nights of thought and hours of +consultation. In San Francisco Edna felt herself to be Mrs. Horn as truly +as if they had been married at high noon in one of the city churches, but +although she could see no reason to change her faith in the reality of +her conjugal status, she had begun to fear that Captain Horn might have +different views upon the subject. This feeling had been brought about by +the tone of his letters. If he should die, those letters might prove that +she was then his widow, but it was plain that he did not wish to impress +upon her mind that she was now his wife. + +If she had remained in San Francisco, Edna would have retained the +captain's name. There she was a stranger, and Captain Horn was well +known. His agents knew her as Mrs. Horn, the people of the _Mary +Bartlett_ knew her as such, and she should not have thought of resigning +it. But in Paris the case was very different. There she had friends, and +expected to make more, and in that city she was quite sure that Captain +Horn was very little known. + +Edna's Parisian friends, were all Americans, and some of them people of +consideration, one of her old schoolmates being the wife of a secretary +of the American legation. Could she appear before these friends as Mrs. +Captain Philip Horn, feeling that not only was she utterly unable to +produce Captain Horn, but that she might never be able to do so? Should +the captain not return, and should she have proofs of his death, or +sufficient reason to believe it, she might then do as she pleased about +claiming her place as his widow. But should he return, he should not find +that she had trammelled and impeded his plans and purposes by announcing +herself as his wife. She did not expect ever to live in San Francisco +again, and in no other place need she be known as Mrs. Horn. + +As to the business objects of her exceptional marriage, they were, in a +large degree, already attained. The money Captain Horn had remitted to +her in San Francisco was a sum so large as to astound her, and when she +reached Paris she lost no time in depositing her funds under her maiden +name. For the sake of security, some of the money was sent to a London +banker, and in Paris she did not deposit with the banking house which +Captain Horn had mentioned. But directions were left with that house that +if a letter ever came to Mrs. Philip Horn, it was to be sent to her in +care of Mrs. Cliff, and, to facilitate the reception of such a letter, +Mrs. Cliff made Wraxton, Fuguet & Co. her bankers, and all her letters +were addressed to them. But at Edna's bankers she was known as Miss +Markham, and her only Parisian connection with the name of Horn was +through Mrs. Cliff. + +The amount of money now possessed by Edna was, indeed, a very fair +fortune for her, without regarding it, as Captain Horn had requested, as +a remittance to be used as a year's income. In his letters accompanying +his remittances the captain had always spoken of them as her share of the +gold brought away, and in this respect he treated her exactly as he +treated Mrs. Cliff, and in only one respect had she any reason to infer +that the money was in any manner a contribution from himself. In making +her divisions according to his directions, her portion was so much +greater than that of the others, Edna imagined Captain Horn sent her his +share as well as her own. But of this she did not feel certain, and +should he succeed in securing the rest of the gold in the mound, she did +not know what division he would make. Consequently, this little thread of +a tie between herself and the captain, woven merely of some hypothetical +arithmetic, was but a cobweb of a thread. The resumption of her maiden +name had been stoutly combated by both Mrs. Cliff and Ralph. The first +firmly insisted upon the validity of the marriage, so long as the captain +did not appear, but she did not cease to insist that the moment he did +appear, there should be another ceremony. + +"But," said Edna, "you know that Cheditafa's ceremony was performed +simply for the purpose of securing to me, in case of his loss on that +boat trip, a right to claim the benefit of his discovery. If he should +come back, he can give me all the benefit I have a right to claim from +that discovery, just as he gives you your share, without the least +necessity of a civilized marriage. Now, would you advise me to take a +step which would seem to force upon him the necessity for such a +marriage?" + +"No," said Mrs. Cliff. "But all your reasoning is on a wrong basis. I +haven't the least doubt in the world---I don't see how any one can have a +doubt--that the captain intends to come back and claim you as his wife; +and if anything more be necessary to make you such, as I consider there +would be, he would be as ready as anybody to do it. And, Edna, if you +could see yourself, not merely as you look in the glass, but as he would +see you, you would know that he would be as ready as any of us would wish +him to be. And how will he feel, do you suppose, when he finds that you +renounce him and are going about under your maiden name?" + +In her heart Edna answered that she hoped he might feel very much as she +had felt when he did not come to see her in San Francisco, but to Mrs. +Cliff she said she had no doubt that he would fully appreciate her +reasons for assuming her old name. + +Ralph's remarks were briefer, and more to the point. + +"He married you," he said, "the best way he could under the +circumstances, and wrote to you as his wife, and in San Francisco you +took his name. Now, if he comes back and says you are not his wife, I'll +kill him." + +"If I were you, Ralph," said his sister, "I wouldn't do that. In fact, I +may say I would disapprove of any such proceeding." + +"Oh, you can laugh," said he, "but it makes no difference to me. I shall +take the matter into my own hands if he repudiates that contract." + +"But suppose I give him no chance to repudiate it?" said Edna. "Suppose +he finds me Miss Edna Markham, and finds, also, that I wish to continue +to be that lady? If what has been done has any force at all, it can +easily be set aside by law." + +Ralph rose and walked up and down the floor, his hands thrust deep into +his pockets. + +"That's just like a woman," he said. "They are always popping up new and +different views of things, and that is a view I hadn't thought of. Is +that what you intend to do?" + +"No," said Edna, "I do not intend to do anything. All I wish is to hold +myself in such a position that I can act when the time comes to act." + +Ralph took the whole matter to bed with him in order to think over it. He +did a great deal more sleeping than thinking, but in the morning he told +Edna he believed she was right. + +"But one thing is certain," he said: "even if that heathen marriage +should not be considered legal, it was a solemn ceremony of engagement, +and nobody can deny that. It was something like a caveat which people get +before a regular patent is issued for an invention, and if you want him +to do it, he should stand up and do it; but if you don't, that's your +business. But let me give you a piece of advice: wherever you go and +whatever you do, until this matter is settled, be sure to carry around +that two-legged marriage certificate called Cheditafa. He can speak a +good deal of English now, if there should be any dispute." + +"Dispute!" cried Edna, indignantly. "What are you thinking of? Do you +suppose I would insist or dispute in such a matter? I thought you knew me +better than that." + +Ralph sighed. "If you could understand how dreadfully hard it is to know +you," he said, "you wouldn't be so severe on a poor fellow if he happened +to make a mistake now and then." + +When Mrs. Cliff found that Edna had determined upon her course, she +ceased her opposition, and tried, good woman as she was, to take as +satisfactory a view of the matter as she could find reason for. + +"It would be a little rough," she said, "if your friends were to meet you +as Mrs. Horn, and you would be obliged to answer questions. I have had +experience in that sort of thing. And looking at it in that light, I +don't know but what you are right, Edna, in defending yourself against +questions until you are justified in answering them. To have to admit +that you are not Mrs. Horn after you had said you were, would be +dreadful, of course. But the other would be all plain sailing. You would +go and be married properly, and that would be the end of it. And even if +you were obliged to assert your claims as his widow, there would be no +objection to saying that there had been reasons for not announcing the +marriage. But there is another thing. How are you going to explain your +prosperous condition to your friends? When I was in Plainton, I thought +of you as so much better off than myself in this respect, for over here +there would be no one to pry into your affairs. I did not know you had +friends in Paris." + +"All that need not trouble me in the least," said Edna. "When I went to +school with Edith Southall, who is now Mrs. Sylvester, my father was in a +very good business, and we lived handsomely. It was not until I was +nearly grown up that he failed and died, and then Ralph and I went to +Cincinnati, and my life of hard work began. So you see there is no reason +why my friends in Paris should ask any questions, or I should make +explanations." + +"I wish it were that way in Plainton," said Mrs. Cliff, with a sigh. "I +would go back there the moment another ship started from France." + +So it was Miss Edna Markham of New York who took apartments at the Hotel +Boileau, and it was she who called upon the wife of the American +secretary of legation. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +WAITING + + +For several weeks after their arrival, the members of the little party +had but one common object,--to see and enjoy the wonders and beauties of +Paris,--and in their sight-seeing they nearly always went together, +sometimes taking Cheditafa and Mok with them. But as time went on, their +different dispositions began to assert themselves, and in their daily +pursuits they gradually drifted apart. + +Mrs. Cliff was not a cultivated woman, but she had a good, common-sense +appreciation of art in its various forms. She would tramp with untiring +step through the galleries of the Louvre, but when she had seen a +gallery, she did not care to visit it again. She went to the theatre and +the opera because she wanted to see how they acted and sang in France, +but she did not wish to go often to a place where she could not +understand a word that was spoken. + +Ralph was now under the charge of a tutor, Professor Barre by name, who +took a great interest in this American boy, whose travels and experiences +had given him a precocity which the professor had never met with in any +of his other scholars. Ralph would have much preferred to study Paris +instead of books, and the professor, who was able to give a great deal of +time to his pupil, did not altogether ignore this natural instinct of a +youthful heart. In consequence, the two became very good friends, and +Ralph was the best-satisfied member of the party. + +It was in regard to social affairs that the lives of Edna and Mrs. Cliff +diverged most frequently. Through the influence of Mrs. Sylvester, a +handsome woman with a vivacious intelligence which would have made her +conspicuous in any society, Edna found that social engagements, not only +in diplomatic circles and in those of the American colony, but, to some +extent, in Parisian society, were coming upon her much more rapidly than +she had expected. The secretary's wife was proud of her countrywoman, and +glad to bring her forward in social functions. Into this new life Edna +entered as if it had been a gallery she had not yet visited, or a museum +which she saw for the first time. She studied it, and enjoyed the study. + +But only in a limited degree did Mrs. Cliff enjoy society in Paris. To be +sure, it was only in a limited degree that she had been asked to do it. +Even with a well-filled purse and all the advantages of Paris at her +command, she was nothing more than a plain and highly respectable woman +from a country town in Maine. More than this silks and velvets could not +make her, and more than this she did not wish to be. As Edna's friend and +companion, she had been kindly received at the legation, but after +attending two or three large gatherings, she concluded that she would +wait until her return to Plainton before she entered upon any further +social exercises. But she was not at all dissatisfied or homesick. She +preferred Plainton to all places in the world, but that little town +should not see her again until she could exhibit her Californian blankets +to her friends, and tell them where she got the money to buy them. + +"Blankets!" she said to herself. "I am afraid they will hardly notice +them when they see the other things I shall take back there." + +With society, especially such society as she could not enjoy, Mrs. Cliff +could easily dispense. So long as the shops of Paris were open to her, +the delights of these wonderful marts satisfied the utmost cravings of +her heart; and as she had a fine mind for bargaining, and plenty of time +on her hands, she was gradually accumulating a well-chosen stock of +furnishings and adornments, not only for her present house in Plainton, +but for the large and handsome addition to it which she intended to build +on an adjoining lot. These schemes for establishing herself in Plainton, +as a wealthy citizen, did not depend on the success of Captain Horn's +present expedition. What Mrs. Cliff already possessed was a fortune +sufficient for the life she desired to lead in her native town. What she +was waiting for was the privilege of going back and making that fortune +known. As to the increase of her fortune she had but small belief. If it +should come, she might change her plans, but the claims of the native +Peruvians should not be forgotten. Even if the present period of secrecy +should be terminated by the news of the non-success of Captain Horn, she +intended to include, among her expenses, a periodical remittance to some +charitable association in Peru for the benefit of the natives. + +The Christmas holidays passed, January was half gone, and Edna had +received no news from Captain Horn. She had hoped that before leaving +South. America and beginning his long voyage across the Atlantic, he +would touch at some port from which he might send her a letter, which, +coming by steamer, would reach her before she could expect the arrival of +the brig. But no letter had come. She had arranged with a commercial +agency to telegraph to her the moment the Miranda should arrive in any +French port, but no message had come, and no matter what else she was +doing, it seemed to Edna as if she were always expecting such a message. +Sometimes she thought that this long delay must mean disaster, and at +such times she immediately set to work to reason out the matter. From +Acapulco to Cape Horn, up through the South Atlantic and the North +Atlantic to France, was a long voyage for a sailing-vessel, and to the +time necessary for this she must add days, and perhaps weeks, of labor at +the caves, besides all sorts of delays on the voyage. Like Ralph, she had +an unbounded faith in the captain. He might not bring her one bar of +gold, he might meet with all sorts of disasters, but, whenever her mind +was in a healthy condition, she expected him to come to France, as he had +said he would. + +She now began to feel that she was losing a great deal of time. Paris was +all very well, but it was not everything. When news should come to her, +it might be necessary for her to go to America. She could not tell what +would be necessary, and she might have to leave Europe with nothing but +Paris to remember. There was no good objection to travel on the +Continent, for, if the _Miranda_ should arrive while she was not in +Paris, she would not be so far away that a telegram could not quickly +bring her back. So she listened to Mrs. Cliff and her own desires, and +the party journeyed to Italy, by the way of Geneva and Bern. + +Ralph was delighted with the change, for Professor Barre, his tutor, had +consented to go with them, and, during these happy days in Italy, he was +the preceptor of the whole party. They went to but few places that he had +not visited before, and they saw but little that he could not talk about +to their advantage. But, no matter what they did, every day Edna expected +a message, and every day, except Sunday, she went to the banker's to look +over the maritime news in the newspapers, and she so arranged her affairs +that she could start for France at an hour's notice. + +But although Edna had greatly enjoyed the Italian journey, it came to an +end at last, and it was with feelings of satisfaction that she settled +down again in Paris. Here she was in the centre of things, ready for +news, ready for arrivals, ready to go anywhere or do anything that might +be necessary, and, more than that, there was a delightful consciousness +that she had seen something of Switzerland and Italy, and without having +missed a telegram by being away. + +The party did not return to the Hotel Boileau. Edna now had a much +better idea of the Continental menage than she had brought with her from +America, and she believed that she had not been living up to the +standard that Captain Horn had desired. She wished in every way to +conform to his requests, and one of these had been that she should +consider the money he had sent her as income, and not as property. It +was hard for her to fulfil this injunction, for her mind was as +practical as that of Mrs. Cliff, and she could not help considering the +future, and the probability of never receiving an addition to the funds +she now had on deposit in London and Paris. But her loyalty to the man +who had put her into possession of that money was superior to her +feelings of prudence and thrift. When he came to Paris, he should find +her living as he wanted her to live. It was not necessary to spend all +she had, but, whether he came back poor or rich, he should see that she +had believed in him and in his success. + +The feeling of possible disaster had almost left her. The fears that had +come to her had caused her to reason upon the matter, and the more she +reasoned, the better she convinced herself that a long period of waiting +without news was to be expected in the case of an adventure such as that +in which Captain Horn was engaged. There was, perhaps, another reason for +her present state of mind--a reason which she did not recognize: she had +become accustomed to waiting. + +It was at a grand hotel that the party now established themselves, the +space, the plate-glass, the gilt, and the general splendor of which made +Ralph exclaim in wonder and admiration. + +"You would better look out, Edna," said he, "or it will not be long +before we find ourselves living over in the Latin Quarter, and taking our +meals at a restaurant where you pay a sou for the use of the napkins." + +Edna's disposition demanded that her mode of life should not be +ostentatious, but she conformed in many ways to the style of her hotel. +There were returns of hospitality. There was a liveried coachman when +they drove. There was a general freshening of wardrobes, and even +Cheditafa and Mok had new clothes, designed by an artist to suit their +positions. + +If Captain Horn should come to Paris, he should not find that she had +doubted his success, or him. + +After the return from Italy, Mrs. Cliff began to chafe and worry under +her restrictions. She had obtained from Europe all she wanted at present, +and there was so much, in Plainton she was missing. Oh, if she could only +go there and avow her financial condition! She lay awake at night, +thinking of the opportunities that were slipping from her. From the +letters that Willy Croup wrote her, she knew that people were coming to +the front in Plainton who ought to be on the back seats, and that she, +who could occupy, if she chose, the best place, was thought of only as a +poor widow who was companion to a lady who was travelling. It made her +grind her teeth to think of the way that Miss Shott was talking of her, +and it was not long before she made up her mind that she ought to speak +to Edna on the subject, and she did so. + +"Go home!" exclaimed the latter. "Why, Mrs. Cliff, that would be +impossible just now. You could not go to Plainton without letting people +know where you got your money." + +"Of course I couldn't," said Mrs. Cliff, "and I wouldn't. There have +been times when I have yearned so much for my home that I thought it +might be possible for me to go there and say that the Valparaiso affair +had turned out splendidly, and that was how I got my money. But I +couldn't do it. I could not stand up before my minister and offer to +refurnish the parsonage parlor, with such a lie as that on my lips. But +there is no use in keeping back the real truth any longer. It is more +than eight months since Captain Horn started out for that treasure, and +it is perfectly reasonable to suppose either that he has got it; or that +he never will get it, and in either one of these cases it will not do +any injury to anybody if we let people know about the money we have, and +where it came from." + +"But it may do very great injury," said Edna. "Captain Horn may have been +able to take away only a part of it, and may now be engaged in getting +the rest. There are many things which may have happened, and if we should +now speak of that treasure, it might ruin all his plans." + +"If he has half of it," said Mrs. Cliff, "he ought to be satisfied with +that, and not keep us here on pins and needles until he gets the rest. Of +course, I do not want to say anything that would pain you, Edna, and I +won't do it, but people can't help thinking, and I think that we have +waited as long as our consciences have any right to ask us to wait." + +"I know what you mean," replied Edna, "but it does not give me pain. I do +not believe that Captain Horn has perished, and I certainly expect soon +to hear from him." + +"You have been expecting that a long time," said the other. + +"Yes, and I shall expect it for a good while yet. I have made up my mind +that I shall not give up my belief that Captain Horn is alive, and will +come or write to us, until we have positive news of his death, or until +one year has passed since he left Acapulco. Considering what he has done +for us, Mrs. Cliff, I think it very little for us to wait one year before +we betray the trust he has placed in us, and, merely for the sake of +carrying out our own plans a little sooner, utterly ruin the plans he has +made, and which he intends as much for our benefit as for his own." + +Mrs. Cliff said no more, but she thought that was all very well for Edna, +who was enjoying herself in a way that suited her, but it was very +different for her. + +In her heart of hearts, Mrs. Cliff now believed they would never see +Captain Horn again. "For if he were alive," she said to herself, "he +would certainly have contrived in some way or other to send some sort of +a message. With the whole world covered with post routes and +telegraph-wires, it would be simply impossible for Captain Horn and those +two sailors to keep absolutely silent and unheard of for such a long +time--unless," she continued, hesitating even in her thoughts, "they +don't want to be heard from." But the good lady would not allow her mind +to dwell on that proposition; it was too dreadful! + +And so Edna waited and waited, hoping day by day for good news from +Captain Horn; and so Mrs. Cliff waited and waited, hoping for news from +Captain Horn--good news, if possible, but in any case something certain +and definite, something that would make them know what sort of life they +were to lead in this world, and make them free to go and live it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +A MARINER'S WITS TAKE A LITTLE FLIGHT + + +When Captain Horn, in the brig _Miranda_, with the American sailors Burke +and Shirley, and the four negroes, left Acapulco on the 16th of +September, he might have been said to have sailed "in ballast," as the +only cargo he carried was a large number of coffee-bags. He had cleared +for Rio Janeiro, at which port he intended to touch and take on board a +small cargo of coffee, deeming it better to arrive in France with +something more than the auriferous mineral matter with which he hoped to +replace a large portion of discarded ballast. The unusual cargo of empty +coffee-bags was looked upon by the customs officials as a bit of Yankee +thrift, it being likely enough that the captain could obtain coffee-bags +in Mexico much cheaper than in Rio Janeiro. + +The voyage to the Peruvian coast was a slow one, the _Miranda_ proving to +be anything but a clipper, and the winds were seldom in her favor. But at +last she rounded Aguja Point, and the captain shaped his course toward +the coast and the Rackbirds' cove, the exact position of which was now +dotted on his chart. + +A little after noon on a quiet October day, they drew near enough to +land to recognize the coast-line and the various landmarks of the +locality. The negroes were filled with surprise, and afterwards with +fright, for they had had no idea that they were going near the scene of +their former horrible captivity. From time to time, they had debated +among themselves the intentions of Captain Horn in regard to them, and +now the idea seized them that perhaps he was going to leave them where he +had found them. But, through Maka, who at first was as much frightened as +the rest, the captain succeeded in assuring them that he was merely going +to stop as near as possible to the cave where he had stayed so long, to +get some of his property which it had been impossible to take away when +the rest of the party left. Maka had great confidence in the captain's +word, and he was able to infuse a good deal of this into the minds of the +three other negroes. + +Captain Horn had been in considerable doubt in regard to the best method +of shipping the treasure; should he be so fortunate as to find it as he +had left it. The cove was a quiet harbor in which the small boats could +easily ply between the vessel and the shore, but, in this case, the gold +must be carried by tedious journeys along the beach. On the other hand, +if the brig lay too near the entrance to the caves, the treasure-laden +boats must be launched through the surf, and, in case of high seas, this +operation might be hazardous; consequently, he determined to anchor in +the Rackbirds' cove and submit to the delay and inconvenience of the +land transportation of the gold. + +When the captain and Shirley went ashore in a boat, nothing was seen to +indicate that any one had visited the spot since the last cargo of guano +had been shipped. This was a relief, but when the captain had wandered +through the place, and even examined the storehouse of the Rackbirds, he +found, to his regret, that it was too late for him to visit the caves +that day. This was the occasion of a night of wakefulness and +unreasonable anxiety--unreasonable, as the captain assured himself over +and over again, but still impossible to dissipate. No man who has spent +weeks in pursuit of a royal treasure, in a vessel that at times seemed +hardly to creep, could fail to be anxious and excited when he is +compelled to pause within a few miles of that treasure. + +But early in the morning the captain started for the caves. He took with +him Shirley and Maka, leaving the brig in charge of Burke. The captain +placed great confidence in Shirley, who was a quiet, steady man. In fact, +he trusted every one on the ship, for there was nothing else to do. If +any of them should prove false to him, he hoped to be able to defend +himself against them, and it would be more than foolish to trouble his +mind with apprehensions until there should be some reason for them. But +there was a danger to be considered, quite different from the criminal +cupidity which might be provoked by companionship with the heap of gold, +and this was the spirit of angry disappointment which might be looked for +should no heap of gold be found. At the moment of such possible +disappointment, the captain wanted to have with him a man not given to +suspicions and resentments. + +In fact, the captain thought, as the little party strode along the +beach, that if he should find the mound empty,--and he could not drive +from his mind that once he had found it uncovered,--he wished to have +with him some one who would back him up a little in case he should lower +his lantern into a goldless void. + +As they walked up the plateau in the path worn principally by his own +feet, and the captain beheld the great stone face against the wall of +rock, his mind became quieter. He slackened his pace, and even began to +concoct some suitable remarks to make to Shirley in case of evil fortune. + +Shirley looked about him with great interest. He had left the place +before the great stone face had been revealed by the burning of the +vines, and he would have been glad to stop for a minute and examine it. +But although Captain Horn had convinced himself that he was in no hurry, +he could not allow delay. Lighting a lantern, they went through the +passageway and entered the great cave of the lake, leaving Maka rummaging +around with eager delight through the rocky apartments where he had once +been a member of a domestic household. + +When they reached the mound, the captain handed his lantern to Shirley, +telling him to hold it high, and quickly clambered to the top. + +"Good!" he exclaimed. "The lid is just as I left it. Come up!" + +In a moment Shirley was at his side, and the captain with his +pocket-knife began to pick out the oakum which he had packed around the +edges of the lid, for otherwise it would have been impossible for him to +move it. Then he stood up and raised the lid, putting it to one side. + +"Give me the lantern!" he shouted, and, stooping, lie lowered it and +looked in. The gold in the mound was exactly as he had left it. + +"Hurrah!" he cried. "Now you take a look!" And he handed the lantern to +his companion. + +Shirley crawled a little nearer the opening and looked into it, then +lowered the lantern and put his head down so that it almost disappeared. +He remained in this position for nearly a minute, and the captain gazed +at him with a beaming face. His whole system, relieved from the +straining bonds of doubt and fear and hope, was basking in a flood of +ecstatic content. + +Suddenly Shirley began to swear. He was not a profane man, and seldom +swore, but now the oaths rolled from him in a manner that startled +the captain. + +"Get up," said he. "Haven't you seen enough?" + +Shirley raised his head, but still kept his eyes on the treasure beneath +him, and swore worse than before. The captain was shocked. + +"What is the matter with you?" said he. "Give me the lantern. I don't see +anything to swear at." + +Shirley did not hand him the lantern, but the captain took it from him, +and then he saw that the man was very pale. + +"Look out!" he cried. "You'll slip down and break your bones." + +In fact, Shirley's strength seemed to have forsaken him, and he was on +the point of either slipping down the side of the mound or tumbling into +the open cavity. The captain put down the lantern and moved quickly to +his side, and, with some difficulty, managed to get him safely to the +ground. He seated him with his back against the mound, and then, while he +was unscrewing the top of a whiskey flask, Shirley began to swear again +in a most violent and rapid way. + +"He has gone mad," thought the captain. "The sight of all that gold has +crazed him." + +"Stop that," he said to the other, "and take a drink." + +Shirley broke off a string of oaths in the middle, and took a pull at the +flask. This was of service to him, for he sat quiet for a minute or two, +during which time the captain brought down the lantern. Looking up at +him, Shirley said in a weak voice: + +"Captain, is what I saw all so?" + +"Yes," was the reply, "it's all so." + +"Then," said the other, "help me out of this. I want to get out into +common air." + +The captain raised Shirley to his feet, and, with the lantern in one +hand, he assisted him to walk. But it was not easy. The man appeared to +take no interest in his movements, and staggered and leaned upon the +captain as if he were drunk. + +As soon as they came out of the utter darkness and had reached the +lighter part of the cave, the captain let Shirley sit down, and +went for Maka. + +"The first mate has been taken sick," said he to the negro, "and you must +come help me get him out into the open air." + +When the negro saw Shirley in a state of semi-collapse, he began to +tremble from head to foot, but he obeyed orders, and, with a great deal +of trouble, the two got the sailor outside of the caves and gave him +another drink of whiskey. + +Maka had his own ideas about this affair. There was no use telling him +Mr. Shirley was sick--at least, that he was afflicted by any common +ailment. He and his fellows knew very well that there were devils back +in the blackness of that cave, and if the captain did not mind them, it +was because they were taking care of the property, whatever it was, +that he kept back here, and for which he had now returned. With what +that property was, and how it happened to be there, the mind of the +negro did not concern itself. Of course, it must be valuable, or the +captain would not have come to get it, but that was his business. He +had taken the first mate into that darkness, and the sight of the +devils had nearly killed him, and now the negro's mind was filled with +but one idea, and that was that the captain might take him in there and +make him see devils. + +After a time Shirley felt very much better, and able to walk. + +"Now, captain," said he, "I am all right, but I tell you what we must do: +I'll go to the ship, and I'll take charge of her, and I'll do whatever +has got to be done on shore. Yes, and, what's more, I'll help do the +carrying part of the business,--it would be mean to sneak out of +that,--and I'll shoulder any sort of a load that's put out on the sand in +the daylight. But, captain, I don't want to do anything to make me look +into that hole. I can't stand it, and that is the long and short of it. I +am sorry that Maka saw me in such a plight--it's bad for discipline; but +it can't be helped." + +"Never mind," cried the captain, whose high spirits would have overlooked +almost anything at that moment. "Come, let us go back and have our +breakfast. That will set you up, and I won't ask you to go into the caves +again, if you don't want to." + +"Don't let's talk about it," said Shirley, setting off. "I'd rather get +my mind down to marlin-spikes and bilge-water." + +As the captain walked back to the cove, he said to himself: + +"I expect it struck Shirley harder than it did the rest of us because +he knew what he was looking at, and the first time we saw it we were +not sure it was gold, as it might have been brass. But Shirley knew, +for he had already had a lot of those bars, and had turned them into +money. By George! I don't wonder that a poor fellow who had struggled +for life with a small bag of that gold was knocked over when he saw a +wagon-load of it." + +Maka, closely following the others, had listened with eagerness to what +had been said, and had been struck with additional horror when he heard +Shirley request that he might not again be asked to look into that hole. +Suddenly the captain and Shirley were startled by a deep groan behind +them, and, turning, saw the negro sitting upon the sand, his knees drawn +up to his face, and groaning grievously. + +"What's the matter?" cried the captain. + +"I sick," said Maka. "Sick same as Mr. Shirley." + +"Get up and come along," said the captain, laughing. He saw that +something was really ailing the black fellow, for he trembled from head +to foot, and his face had the hue of a black horse recently clipped. But +he thought it best not to treat the matter seriously. "Come along," said +he. "I am not going to give you any whiskey." And then, struck by a +sudden thought, he asked, "Are you afraid that you have got to go into +that cave?" + +"Yes, sir," said Maka, who had risen to his feet. "It make me pretty near +die dead to think that." + +"Well, don't die any more," said the captain. "You sha'n't go anywhere +that you have not been before." + +The pupils of Maka's eyes, which had been turned up nearly out of sight, +were now lowered. "All right, cap'n," said he. "I lot better now." + +This little incident was not unpleasant to the captain. If the negroes +were afraid to go into the blackness of the caves, it would make fewer +complications in this matter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +THE "MIRANDA" TAKES IN CARGO + + +The next day the work of removing the treasure from the caves to the +vessel began in good earnest. The Miranda was anchored not far from the +little pier, which was found in good order, and Shirley, with one negro, +was left on board, while the captain and Burke took the three others, +loaded with coffee-bags, to the caves. + +For the benefit of the minds of the black men, the captain had instructed +Maka to assure them that they would not be obliged to go anywhere where +it was really dark. But it was difficult to decide how to talk to Burke. +This man was quite different from Shirley. He was smaller, but stout and +strong, with a dark complexion, and rather given to talk. The captain +liked him well enough, his principal objection to him being that he was +rather too willing to give advice. But, whatever might be the effect of +the treasure on Burke, the captain determined that he should not be +surprised by it. He had tried that on Shirley, and did not want to try it +again on anybody. So he conversed freely about the treasure and the +mound, and, as far as possible, described its appearance and contents. +But he need not have troubled himself about the effect of the sight of a +wagon-load of gold upon Burke's mind. He was glad to see it, and whistled +cheerfully as he looked down into the mound. + +"How far do you think it goes down?" said he to the captain. + +"Don't know," was the reply. "We can't tell anything about that until we +get it out." + +"All right," said Burke. "The quicker we do it, the better." + +The captain got into the mound with a lantern, for the gold was now too +low for him to reach it from above, and having put as many bars into a +coffee-bag as a man could carry, he passed it up to Burke, who slid it +down to the floor, where another lantern had been left. When five bags +had been made ready, the captain came out, and he and Burke put each bag +into another, and these were tied up firmly at each end, for a single +coffee-bag was not considered strong enough to hold the weighty +treasure. Then the two carried the bags into the part of the cave which +was lighted by the great fissure, and called the negroes. Then, each +taking a bag on his shoulder, the party returned to the cove. On the +next trip, Shirley decided to go with the captain, for he said he did +not care for anything if he did not have to look down into the mound, +for that was sure to make him dizzy. Maka's place was taken by the negro +who had been previously left in the vessel. Day by day the work went on, +but whoever might be relieved, and whatever arrangements might be made, +the captain always got into the mound and handed out the gold. Whatever +discovery should be made when the bottom of the deposit was reached, he +wanted to be there to make it. + +The operations were conducted openly, and without any attempt at secrecy +or concealment. The lid of the mound was not replaced when they left it, +and the bags of gold were laid on the pier until it was convenient to +take them to the vessel. When they were put on board, they were lowered +into the hold, and took the place of a proportionate amount of ballast, +which was thrown out. + +All the negroes now spoke and understood a little English. They might +think that those bags were filled with gold, or they might think that +they contained a mineral substance, useful for fertilizer; but if by +questioning or by accidental information they found out what was the load +under which they toiled along the beach, the captain was content. There +was no reason why he should fear these men more than he feared Burke and +Shirley. All of them were necessary to him, and he must trust them. +Several times when he was crouched down in the interior of the mound, +filling a bag with gold, he thought how easy it would be for one of the +sailors to shoot him from above, and for them, or perhaps only one of +them, to become the owner of all that treasure. But then, he could be +shot in one place almost as well as in another, and if the negroes should +be seized with the gold fever, and try to cut white throats at midnight, +they would be more likely to attempt it after the treasure had been +secured and the ship had sailed than now. In any case, nothing could be +gained by making them feel that they were suspected and distrusted. +Therefore it was that when, one day, Maka said to the captain that the +little stones in the bags had begun to make his shoulder tender, the +captain showed him how to fold an empty sack and put it between the bags +and his back, and then also told him that what he carried was not stones, +but lumps of gold. + +"All yourn, cap'n!" asked Maka. + +"Yes, all mine," was the reply. + +That night Maka told his comrades that when the captain got to the end of +this voyage, he would be able to buy a ship bigger than the _Castor_, and +that they would not have to sail in that little brig any more, and that +he expected to be cook on the new vessel, and have a fine suit of clothes +in which to go on shore. + +For nearly a month the work went on, but the contents of the mound +diminished so slowly that the captain, and, in fact, the two sailors, +also, became very impatient. Only about forty pounds could be carried by +each man on a trip, and the captain saw plainly that it would not do to +urge greater rapidity or more frequent trips, for in that case there +would be sure to be breakdowns. The walk from the cove to the caves was +a long one, and rocky barriers had to be climbed, and although now but +one man was left on board the vessel, only thirty bags a day were stored +in its hold. This was very slow work. Consultations were held, and it +was determined that some quicker method of transportation must be +adopted. The idea that they could be satisfied with what they already +had seemed to enter the mind of none of them. It was a foregone +conclusion that their business there was to carry away all the gold that +was in the mound. + +A new plan, though rather a dangerous one, was now put into operation. +The brig was brought around opposite the plateau which led to the caves, +and anchored just outside the line of surf, where bottom was found at a +moderate depth. Then the bags were carried in the boats to the vessel. A +line connected each boat with the ship, and the negroes were half the +time in the water, assisting the boats backward and forward through the +surf. Now work went on very much more rapidly. The men had all become +accustomed to carrying the heavy bags, and could run with them down the +plateau. The boats were hauled to and from the vessel, and the bags were +hoisted on board by means of blocks and tackle and a big basket. Once the +side of the basket gave way, and several bags went down to the bottom of +the sea, never to be seen again. But there was no use in crying over +spilt gold, and this was the only accident. + +The winds were generally from the south and east, and, therefore, there +was no high surf; and this new method of working was so satisfactory that +they all regretted they had not adopted it from the first, +notwithstanding the risk. But the captain had had no idea that it would +take so long for five men to carry that treasure a distance of two miles, +taking forty pounds at a time. + +At night everybody went on board the brig, and she lay to some distance +from the shore, so as to be able to run out to sea in case of bad +weather, but no such weather came. + +It was two months since the brig had dropped anchor in the Rackbirds' +cove when the contents of the mound got so low that the captain could not +hand up the bags without the assistance of a ladder, which he made from +some stuff on board the brig. By rough measurement, he found that he +should now be near the level of the outside floor of the cave, and he +worked with great caution, for the idea, first broached by Ralph, that +this mass of gold might cover something more valuable than itself, had +never left him. + +But as he worked steadily, filling bag after bag, he found that, although +he had reached at the outer edge of the floor of the mound what seemed to +be a pavement of stone, there was still a considerable depth of gold in +the centre of the floor. Now he worked faster, telling Shirley, who was +outside, that he would not come out until he had reached the floor of the +mound, which was evidently depressed in the centre after the fashion of a +saucer. Working with feverish haste, the captain handed up bag after bag, +until every little bar of gold had been removed from the mound. + +The bottom of the floor was covered with a fine dust, which had sifted +down in the course of ages from the inside coating of the mound, but it +was not deep enough to conceal a bar of gold, and, with his lantern and +his foot, the captain made himself sure that not a piece was left. Then +his whole soul and body thrilled with a wild purpose, and, moving the +ladder from the centre of the floor, he stooped to brush away the dust. +If there should be a movable stone there! If this stone should cover a +smaller cavity beneath the great one, what might he not discover within +it? His mind whirled before the ideas which now cast themselves at him, +when suddenly he stood up and set his teeth hard together. + +"I will not," he said. "I will not look for a stone with a crack around +it. We have enough already. Why should we run the risk of going crazy by +trying to get more? I will not!" And he replaced the ladder. + +"What's the matter in there?" called Shirley, from outside. "Who're you +talking to?" + +The captain came out of the opening in the mound, pulled up the ladder +and handed it to Shirley, and then he was about to replace the lid upon +the mound. But what was the use of doing that, he thought. There would be +no sense in closing it. He would leave it open. + +"I was talking to myself," he said to Shirley, when he had descended. "It +sounded crack-brained, I expect." + +"Yes, it did," answered the other. "And I am glad these are the last bags +we have to tie up and take out. I should not have wondered if the whole +three of us had turned into lunatics. As for me, I have tried hard to +stop thinking about the business, and I have found that the best thing I +could do was to try and consider the stuff in these bags as coal--good, +clean, anthracite coal. Whenever I carried a bag, I said to myself, +'Hurry up, now, with this bag of coal.' A ship-load of coal, you know, is +not worth enough to turn a man's head." + +"That was not a bad idea," said the captain. "But now the work is done, +and we will soon get used to thinking of it without being excited about +it. There is absolutely no reason why we should not be as happy and +contented as if we had each made a couple of thousand dollars apiece on a +good voyage." + +"That's so," said Shirley, "and I'm going to try to think it." + +When the last bag had been put on board, Burke and the captain were +walking about the caves looking here and there to take a final leave of +the place. Whatever the captain considered of value as a memento of the +life they had led here had been put on board. + +"Captain," said Burke, "did you take all the gold out of that mound?" + +"Every bit of it," was the reply. + +"You didn't leave a single lump for manners?" + +"No," said the captain. "I thought it better that whoever discovered that +empty mound after us should not know what had been in it. You see, we +will have to circulate these bars of gold pretty extensively, and we +don't want anybody to trace them back to the place where they came from. +When the time comes, we will make everything plain and clear, but we will +want to do it ourselves, and in our own way." + +"There is sense in that," said Burke. "There's another thing I want to +ask you, captain. I've been thinking a great deal about that mound, and +it strikes me that there might be a sub-cellar under it, a little one, +most likely, with something else in it--rings and jewels, and nobody +knows what not. Did you see if there was any sign of a trap-door?" + +"No," said the captain, "I did not. I wanted to do it,--you do not know +how much,--but I made up my mind it would be the worst kind of folly to +try and get anything else out of that mound. We have now all that is good +for us to have. The only question is whether or not we have not more than +is good for us. I was not sure that I should not find something, if I +looked for it, which would make me as sick as Shirley was the first time +he looked into the mound. No, sir; we have enough, and it is the part of +sensible men to stop when they have enough." + +Burke shook his head. "If I'd been there," he said, "I should have looked +for a crack in that floor." + +When the brig weighed anchor, she did not set out for the open sea, but +proceeded back to the Rackbirds' cove, where she anchored again. Before +setting out, the next day, on his voyage to France, the captain wished to +take on board a supply of fresh water. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +BURKE AND HIS CHISEL + + +That night George Burke went off his watch at twelve o'clock, and a few +minutes after he had been relieved, he did something he had never done +before--he deserted his ship. With his shoes and a little bundle of +clothes on his head, he very quietly slipped down a line he had fastened +astern. It was a very dark night, and he reached the water unseen, and as +quietly as if he had been an otter going fishing. First swimming, and +then wading, he reached the shore. As soon as he was on land, he dressed, +and then went for a lantern, a hammer, and a cold-chisel, which he had +left at a convenient spot. + +Without lighting the lantern, he proceeded as rapidly as possible to the +caves. His path was almost invisible, but having travelled that way so +often, he knew it as well as he knew his alphabet. Not until he was +inside the entrance to the caves did he light his lantern. Then he +proceeded, without loss of time, to the stone mound. He knew that the +ladder had been left there, and, with a little trouble, he found it, +where Shirley had put it, behind some rocks on the floor of the cave. By +the aid of this he quickly descended into the mound, and then, moving +the foot of the ladder out of the way, he vigorously began to brush away +the dust from the stone pavement. When this was done, he held up the +lantern and carefully examined the central portion of the floor, and very +soon he discovered what he had come to look for. A space about three feet +square was marked off on the pavement of the mound by a very perceptible +crevice. The other stones of the pavement were placed rather irregularly, +but some of them had been cut to allow this single square stone to be set +in the centre. + +"That's a trap-door," said Burke. "There can't be any doubt about that." +And immediately he set to work to get it open. + +There was no ring, nor anything by which he could lift it; but if he +could get his heavy chisel under it, he was sure he could raise it until +he could get hold of it with his hands. So he began to drive his chisel +vigorously down into the cracks at various places. This was not difficult +to do, and, trying one side after another, he got the chisel down so far +that he could use it as a lever. But with all his strength he could not +raise the stone. + +At last, while working at one corner, he broke out a large piece of the +pavement, eight or nine inches long, and found that it had covered a +metal bar about an inch in diameter. With his lantern he carefully +examined this rod, and found that it was not iron, but appeared to be +made of some sort of bronze. + +"Now, what is this?" said Burke to himself. "It's either a hinge or a +bolt. It doesn't look like a hinge, for it wouldn't be any use for it to +run so far into the rest of the pavement, and if it is a bolt, I don't +see how they got at it to move it. I'll see where it goes to." And he +began to cut away more of the pavement toward the wall of the dome. The +pieces of stone came up without much trouble, and as far as he cut he +found the metal rod. + +"By George!" said he, "I believe it goes outside of the mound! They +worked it from outside!" + +Putting the ladder in place, he ran up with his lantern and tools, and +descended to the outside floor. Then he examined the floor of the cave +where the rod must run if it came outside the mound. He found a line of +flat stones, each about a foot square, extending from the mound toward +the western side of the cave. + +"Oh, ho!" he cried, and on his knees he went to work, soon forcing up one +of these stones, and under it was the metal rod, lying in a groove +considerably larger than itself. Burke now followed the line of stones to +the western side of the cave, where the roof was so low he could scarcely +stand up under it. To make sure, he took up another stone, and still +found the rod. + +"I see what this means," said he. "That bolt is worked from clean +outside, and I've got to find the handle of it. If I can't do that, I'll +go back and cut through that bolt, if my chisel will do it." + +He now went back to a point on the line of stones about midway between +the side of the cave and the mound, and then, walking forward as nearly +as possible in a straight line, which would be at right angles with the +metal rod, he proceeded until he had reached the entrance to the +passageway which led to the outer caves, carefully counting his steps as +he went. Then he turned squarely about, entered the passage, and walked +along it until he came to the door of the room which had once been +occupied by Captain Horn. + +"I'll try it inside first," said Burke to himself, "and then I'll +go outside." + +He walked through the rooms, turning to the right about ten feet when he +came to the middle apartment,--for the door here was not opposite to the +others,--but coming back again to his line of march as soon as he was on +the other side. He proceeded until he reached the large cave, open at the +top, which was the last of these compartments. This was an extensive +cavern, the back part being, however, so much impeded by rocks that had +fallen from the roof that it was difficult for him to make any progress, +and the numbering of his steps depended very much upon calculation. But +when he reached the farthest wall, Burke believed that he had gone about +as great a distance as he had stepped off in the cave of the lake. + +"But how in the mischief," thought he, "am I to find anything here?" He +held up his lantern and looked about. "I can't move these rocks to see +what is under them." + +As he gazed around, he noticed that the southeast corner seemed to be +more regular than the rest of the wall of the cave. In fact, it was +almost a right-angled corner, and seemed to have been roughly cut into +that shape. Instantly Burke was in the corner. He found the eastern wall +quite smooth for a space about a foot wide and extending about two yards +from the floor. In this he perceived lines of crevice marking out a +rectangular space some six inches wide and four feet in height. + +"Ha, ha!" cried Burke. "The handle is on the other side of that slab, +I'll bet my head!" And putting down the lantern, he went to work. + +With his hammer and chisel he had forced the top of the slab in less than +two minutes, and soon he pulled it outward and let it drop on the floor. +Inside the narrow, perpendicular cavity which was now before him, he saw +an upright metal bar. + +"The handle of the bolt!" cried Burke. "Now I can unfasten the +trap-door." And taking hold of the top of the bar, he pulled back with +all his force. At first he could not move it, but suddenly the resistance +ceased, and he pulled the bar forward until it stood at an angle of +forty-five degrees from the wall. Further than this Burke could not move +it, although he tugged and bore down on it with all his weight. + +"All right," said he, at last. "I guess that's as far as she'll come. +Anyway, I'm off to see if I've drawn that bolt. If I have, I'll have that +trap-door open, if I have to break my back lifting it." + +With his best speed Burke ran through the caves to the mound, and, +mounting by means of the stone projections, he was about to descend by +the ladder, when, to his utter amazement, he saw no ladder. He had left +it projecting at least two feet through the opening in the top of the +mound, and now he could see nothing of it. + +What could this mean? Going up a little higher, he held up his lantern +and looked within, but saw no signs of the ladder. + +"By George!" he cried, "has anybody followed me and pulled out +that ladder?" + +Lowering the lantern farther into the mound, he peered in. Below, and +immediately under him, was a black hole, about three feet square. +Burke was so startled that he almost dropped the lantern. But he was a +man of tough nerve, and maintained his clutch upon it. But he drew +back. It required some seconds to catch his breath. Presently he +looked down again. + +"I see," said he. "That trap-door was made to fall down, and not to lift +up, and when I pulled the bolt, down it went, and the ladder, being on +top of it, slipped into that hole. Heavens!" he said, as a cold sweat +burst out over him at the thought, "suppose I had made up my mind to cut +that bolt! Where would I have gone to?" + +It was not easy to frighten Burke, but now he trembled, and his back was +chilled. But he soon recovered sufficiently to do something, and going +down to the floor of the cave, he picked up a piece of loose stone, and +returning to the top of the mound, he looked carefully over the edge of +the opening, and let the stone drop into the black hole beneath. With all +the powers of his brain he listened, and it seemed to him like half a +minute before he heard a faint sound, far, far below. At this moment he +was worse frightened than he had ever been in his life. He clambered down +to the foot of the mound, and sat down on the floor. + +"What in the name of all the devils does it mean?" said he; and he set +himself to work to think about it, and found this a great deal harder +labor than cutting stone. + +"There was only one thing," he said to himself, at last, "that they could +have had that for. The captain says that those ancient fellows put their +gold there keep it from the Spaniards, and they must have rigged up this +devilish contrivance to work if they found the Spaniards had got on the +track of their treasure. Even if the Spaniards had let off the water and +gone to work to get the gold out, one of the Incas' men in the corner of +that other cave, which most likely was all shut up and not discoverable, +would have got hold of that bar, given it a good pull, and let down all +the gold, and what Spaniards might happen to be inside, to the very +bottom of that black hole. By George! it would have been a pretty trick! +The bottom of that mound is just like a funnel, and every stick of gold +would have gone down. But, what is more likely, they would have let it +out before the Spaniards had a chance to open the top, and then, if the +ancients had happened to lick the Spaniards, they could have got all that +gold up again. It might have taken ten or twenty years, but then, the +ancients had all the time they wanted." + +After these reflections, Burke sat for a few moments, staring at the +lantern. "But, by George!" said he again, speaking aloud, though in low +tones, "it makes my blood run cold to think of the captain working day +after day, as hard as he could, right over that horrible trap-door. +Suppose he had moved the bolt in some way! Suppose somebody outside had +found that slab in the wall and had fooled with the bar! Then, there is +another thing. Suppose, while they were living here, he or the boy had +found that bar before he found the dome, and had pulled out the concern +to see what it was! Bless me! in that case we should all be as poor as +rats! Bat I must not stop here, or the next watch will be called before I +get back. But one thing I'll do before I go. I'll put back that lid. +Somebody might find the dome in the dark, and tumble into it. Why, if a +wandering rat should make a slip, and go down into that black hole, it +would be enough to make a fellow's blood run cold if he knew of it." + +Without much trouble Burke replaced the lid, and then, without further +delay, he left the caves. As he hurried along the beach, he debated +within himself whether or not he should tell Captain Horn what he had +discovered. + +"It will be mighty hard on his nerves," said he, "if he comes to know how +he squatted and worked for days and weeks over that diabolical trap that +opens downward. He's a strong man, but he's got enough on his nerves as +it is. No, I won't tell him. He is going to do the handsome thing by us, +and it would be mean for me to do the unhandsome thing by him. By George! +I don't believe he could sleep for two or three nights if he knew what I +know! No, sir! You just keep your mouth shut until we are safe and sound +in some civilized spot, with the whole business settled, and Shirley and +me discharged. Then I will tell the captain about it, so that nobody need +ever trouble his mind about coming back to look for gold rings and royal +mummies. If I don't get back before my watch is called, I'll brazen it +out somehow. We've got to twist discipline a little when we are all hard +at work at a job like this." + +He left his shoes on the sand of the cove, and swam to the ship without +taking time to undress. He slipped over the taffrail, and had scarcely +time to get below and change his clothes before his watch was called. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +THE CAPTAIN WRITES A LETTER + + +On the afternoon of the next day, the Miranda, having taken in water, set +sail, and began her long voyage to Rio Janeiro, and thence to France. + +Now that his labors were over, and the treasure of the Incas safely +stored in the hold of the brig, where it was ignominiously acting as +ballast, Captain Horn seated himself comfortably in the shade of a sail +and lighted his pipe. He was tired of working, tired of thinking, tired +of planning--tired in mind, body, and even soul; and the thought that +his work was done, and that he was actually sailing away with his great +prize, came to him like a breeze from the sea after a burning day. He +was not as happy as he should have been. He knew that he was too tired +to be as happy as his circumstances demanded, but after a while he would +attend better to that business. Now he was content to smoke his pipe, +and wait, and listen to the distant music from all the different kinds +of enjoyment which, in thought, were marching toward him. It was true he +was only beginning his long voyage to the land where he hoped to turn +his gold into available property. It was true that he might be murdered +that night, or some other night, and that when the brig, with its +golden cargo, reached port, he might not be in command of her. It was +true that a hundred things might happen to prevent the advancing +enjoyments from ever reaching him. But ill-omened chances threaten +everything that man is doing, or ever can do, and he would not let the +thought of them disturb him now. + +Everybody on board the Miranda was glad to rest and be happy, according +to his methods and his powers of anticipation. As to any present +advantage from their success, there was none. The stones and sand they +had thrown out had ballasted the brig quite as well as did the gold they +now carried. This trite reflection forced itself upon the mind of Burke. + +"Captain," said he, "don't you think it would be a good idea to touch +somewhere and lay in a store of fancy groceries and saloon-cabin grog? If +we can afford to be as jolly as we please, I don't see why we shouldn't +begin now." + +But the captain shook his head. "It would be a dangerous thing," he said, +"to put into any port on the west coast of South America with our present +cargo on board. We can't make it look like ballast, as I expected we +could, for all that bagging gives it a big bulk, and if the custom-house +officers came on board, it would not do any good to tell them we are +sailing in ballast, if they happened to want to look below." + +"Well, that may be so," said Burke. "But what I'd like would be to meet a +first-class, double-quick steamer, and buy her, put our treasure on +board, and then clap on all steam for France." + +"All right," said the captain, "but we'll talk about that when we meet a +steamer for sale." + +After a week had passed, and he had begun to feel the advantages of rest +and relief from anxiety, Captain Horn regretted nothing so much as that +the _Miranda_ was not a steamer, ploughing her swift way over the seas. +It must be a long, long time before he could reach those whom he supposed +and hoped were waiting for him in France. It had already been a long, +long time since they had heard from him. He did not fear that they would +suffer because he did not come. He had left them money enough to prevent +anything of that sort. He did not know whether or not they were longing +to hear from him, but he did know that he wanted them to hear from him. +He must yet sail about three thousand miles in the Pacific Ocean, and +then about two thousand more in the Atlantic, before he reached Rio +Janeiro, the port for which he had cleared. From there it would be nearly +five thousand miles to France, and he did not dare to calculate how long +it would take the brig to reach her final destination. + +This course of thought determined him to send a letter, which would reach +Paris long before he could arrive there. If they should know that he was +on his way home, all might be well, or, at least, better than if they +knew nothing about him. It might be a hazardous thing to touch at a port +on this coast, but he believed that, if he managed matters properly, he +might get a letter ashore without making it necessary for any meddlesome +custom-house officers to come aboard and ask questions. Accordingly, he +decided to stop at Valparaiso. He thought it likely that if he did not +meet a vessel going into port which would lay to and take his letter, he +might find some merchantman, anchored in the roadstead, to which he +could send a boat, and on which he was sure to find some one who would +willingly post his letter. + +He wrote a long letter to Edna--a straightforward, business-like +missive, as his letters had always been, in which, in language which she +could understand, but would carry no intelligible idea to any +unauthorized person who might open the letter, he gave her an account of +what he had done, and which was calculated to relieve all apprehensions, +should it be yet a long time before he reached her. He promised to write +again whenever there was an opportunity of sending her a letter, and +wrote in such a friendly and encouraging manner that he felt sure there +would be no reason for any disappointment or anxiety regarding him and +the treasure. + +Burke and Shirley were a little surprised when they found that the +captain had determined to stop at Valparaiso, a plan so decidedly opposed +to what he had before said on the subject. But when they found it was for +the purpose of sending a letter to his wife, and that he intended, if +possible, barely to touch and go, they said nothing more, nor did Burke +make any further allusions to improvement in their store of provisions. + +When, at last, the captain found himself off Valparaiso, it was on a +dark, cloudy evening and nothing could be done until the next morning, +and they dropped anchor to wait until dawn. + +As soon as it was light, the captain saw that a British steamer was +anchored about a mile from the _Miranda_, and he immediately sent a boat, +with Shirley and two of the negroes, to ask the officer on duty to post +his letter when he sent on shore. In a little more than an hour Shirley +returned, with the report that the first mate of the steamer knew Captain +Horn and would gladly take charge of his letter. + +The boat was quickly hauled to the davits, and all hands were called to +weigh anchor and set sail. But all hands did not respond to the call. One +of the negroes, a big, good-natured fellow, who, on account of his +unpronounceable African name, had been dubbed "Inkspot," was not to be +found. This was a very depressing thing, under the circumstances, and it, +almost counterbalanced the pleasure the captain felt in having started a +letter on its way to his party in France. + +It seemed strange that Inkspot should have deserted the vessel, for it +was a long way to the shore, and, besides, what possible reason could he +have for leaving his fellow-Africans and taking up his lot among absolute +strangers? The crew had all worked together so earnestly and faithfully +that the captain had come to believe in them and trust them to an extent +to which he had never before trusted seamen. + +The officers held a consultation as to what was to be done, and they very +quickly arrived at a decision. To remain at anchor, to send a boat on +shore to look for the missing negro, would be dangerous and useless. +Inquiries about the deserter would provoke inquiries about the brig, and +if Inkspot really wished to run away from the vessel, it would take a +long time to find him and bring him back. The right course was quite +plain to every one. Having finished the business which brought them +there, they must up anchor and sail away as soon as possible. As for the +loss of the man, they must bear that as well as they could. Whether he +had been drowned, eaten by a shark, or had safely reached the shore, he +was certainly lost to them. + +At the best, their crew had been small enough, but six men had sailed a +brig, and six men could do it again. + +So the anchor was weighed, the sails were set, and before a northeast +wind the _Miranda_ went out to sea as gayly as the nature of her build +permitted, which is not saying much. It was a good wind, however, and +when the log had been thrown, the captain remarked that the brig was +making better time than she had made since they left Acapulco. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +A HORSE-DEALER APPEARS ON THE SCENE + + +When the brig _Miranda_ was lying at anchor in the Rackbirds' cove, and +Mr. George Burke had silently left her in order to go on shore and pursue +some investigations in which he was interested, his departure from the +brig had not been, as he supposed, unnoticed. The big, good-natured +African, known as Inkspot, had been on watch, and, being himself so very +black that he was not generally noticeable in the dark, was standing on a +part of the deck from which, without being noticed himself, he saw a +person get over the taffrail and slip into the water. He knew this person +to be the second mate, and having a high respect and some fear of his +superiors, he did not consider it his business to interfere with him. He +saw a head above the water, moving toward the shore, but it soon +disappeared in the darkness. Toward the end of his watch, he had seen Mr. +Burke climb up the vessel's side as silently as he had gone down it, and +disappear below. + +When Inkspot went to his hammock, which he did very shortly afterwards, +he reflected to the best of his ability upon what he had seen. Why did +Mr. Burke slip away from the ship so silently, and come back in the same +way? He must have gone ashore, and why did he want no one to know that he +had gone? He must have gone to do something he ought not to do, and +Inkspot could think of nothing wrong that Mr. Burke would like to do, +except to drink whiskey. Captain Horn was very particular about using +spirits on board, and perhaps Mr. Burke liked whiskey, and could not get +it. Inkspot knew about the storehouse of the Rackbirds, but he did not +know what it had contained, or what had been left there. Maka had said +something about the whiskey having been poured out on the sand, but that +might have been said just to keep people away from the place. If there +were no whiskey there, why did Mr. Burke go on shore? + +Now, it so happened that Inkspot knew a good deal about whiskey. Before +he had gone into the service of the Rackbirds, he had, at different +times, been drunk, and he had the liveliest and most pleasant +recollections of these experiences. It had been a long time since he had +had enough whiskey to make him feel happy. This had probably been the +case with Mr. Burke, and he had gone on shore, and most likely had had +some very happy hours, and had come back without any one knowing where he +had gone. The consequence of this train of thought was that Inkspot +determined that he would go on shore, the next night, and hunt for +whiskey. He could do it quite as well as Mr. Burke had done it, perhaps +even better. But the _Miranda_ did not remain in the cove the next night, +and poor Inkspot looked with longing eyes upon the slowly departing spot +on the sands where he knew the Rackbirds' storehouse was located. + +The days and nights went on, and in the course of time the _Miranda_ +anchored in the harbor of Valparaiso; and, when this happened, Inkspot +determined that now would be his chance to go on shore and get a good +drink of whiskey--he had money enough for that. He could see the lights +of El Puerto, or the Old Town, glittering and beckoning, and they did +not appear to be very far off. It would be nothing for him to swim as +far as that. + +Inkspot went off his watch at midnight, and he went into the water at +fifty minutes to one. He wore nothing but a dark-gray shirt and a pair of +thin trousers, and if any one had seen his head and shoulders, it is not +likely, unless a good light had been turned on them, that they would have +been supposed to be portions of a human form. + +Inkspot was very much at home in the water, and he could swim like a dog +or a deer. But it was a long, long swim to those glittering and +beckoning lights. At last, however, he reached a pier, and having rested +himself on the timbers under it, he cautiously climbed to the top. The +pier was deserted, and he walked to the end of it, and entered the town. +He knew nothing of Valparaiso, except that it was a large city where +sailors went, and he was quite sure he could find a shop where they sold +whiskey. Then he would have a glass--perhaps two--perhaps three--after +which he would return to the brig, as Mr. Burke had done. Of course, he +would have to do much more swimming than had been necessary for the +second mate, but then, he believed himself to be a better swimmer than +that gentleman, and he expected to get back a great deal easier than he +came, because the whiskey would make him strong and happy, and he could +play with the waves. + +Inkspot did find a shop, and a dirty one it was--but they sold whiskey +inside, and that was enough for him. With the exception of Maka, he was +the most intelligent negro among the captain's crew, and he had picked up +some words of English and some of Spanish. But it was difficult for him +to express an idea with these words. Among these words, however, was one +which he pronounced better than any of the others, and which had always +been understood whenever he used it,--whether in English or Spanish, no +matter what the nationality might be of the person addressed,--and that +word was "whiskey." + +Inkspot had one glass, and then another, a third, and a fourth, and then +his money gave out--at least, the man who kept the shop insisted, in +words that any one could understand, that the silver the big negro had +fished out of his dripping pockets would pay for no more drinks. But +Inkspot had had enough to make him happy. His heart was warm, and his +clothes were getting drier. He went out into the glorious night. It was +dark and windy, and the sky was cloudy, but to him all things were +glorious. He sat down on the pavement in the cosey corner of two walls, +and there he slept luxuriously until a policeman came along and arrested +him for being drunk in the street. + +It was two days before Inkspot got out of the hands of the police. Then +he was discharged because the authorities did not desire to further +trouble themselves with a stupid fellow who could give no account of +himself, and had probably wandered from a vessel in port. The first +thing he did was to go out to the water's edge and look out over the +harbor, but although he saw many ships, his sharp eyes told him that not +one of them was the brig he had left. + +After an hour or two of wandering up and down the waterside, he became +sure that there was no vessel in that harbor waiting for him to swim to +her. Then he became equally certain that he was very hungry. It was not +long, however, before a good, strong negro like Inkspot found employment. +It was not necessary for him to speak very much Spanish, or any other +language, to get a job at carrying things up a gang-plank, and, in pay +for this labor, he willingly took whatever was given him. + +That night, with very little money in his pocket, Inkspot entered a +tavern, a low place, but not so low as the one he had patronized on his +arrival in Valparaiso. He had had a meagre supper, and now possessed +but money enough to pay for one glass of whiskey, and having procured +this, he seated himself on a stool in a corner, determined to protract +his enjoyment as long as possible. Where he would sleep that night he +knew not, but it was not yet bedtime, and he did not concern himself +with the question. + +Near by, at a table, were seated four men, drinking, smoking, and +talking. Two of these were sailors. Another, a tall, dark man with a +large nose, thin at the bridge and somewhat crooked below, was dressed in +very decent shore clothes, but had a maritime air about him, +notwithstanding. The fourth man, as would have been evident to any one +who understood Spanish, was a horse-dealer, and the conversation, when +Inkspot entered the place, was entirely about horses. But Inkspot did +not know this, as he understood so few of the words that he heard, and he +would not have been interested if he had understood them. The +horse-dealer was the principal spokesman, but he would have been a poor +representative of the shrewdness of his class, had he been trying to sell +horses to sailors. He was endeavoring to do nothing of the kind. These +men were his friends, and he was speaking to them, not of the good +qualities of his animals, but of the credulous natures of his customers. +To illustrate this, he drew from his pocket a small object which he had +received a few days before for some horses which might possibly be worth +their keep, although he would not be willing to guarantee this to any one +at the table. The little object which he placed on the table was a piece +of gold about two inches long, and shaped like an irregular prism. + +This, he said, he had received in trade from a man in Santiago, who had +recently come down from Lima. The man had bought it from a jeweller, who +had others, and who said he understood they had come from California. The +jeweller had owed the man money, and the latter had taken this, not as a +curiosity, for it was not much of a curiosity, as they could all see, but +because the jeweller told him exactly how much it was worth, and because +it was safer than money to carry, and could be changed into current coin +in any part of the world. The point of the horse-dealer's remarks was, +however, the fact that not only had he sold his horses to the man from +Lima for very much more than they were worth, but he had made him believe +that this lump of gold was not worth as much as he had been led to +suppose, that the jeweller had cheated him, and that Californian gold +was not easily disposed of in Chili or Peru, for it was of a very +inferior quality to the gold of South America. So he had made his trade, +and also a profit, not only on the animals he delivered, but on the pay +he received. He had had the little lump weighed and tested, and knew +exactly how much it was worth. + +When the horse-dealer had finished this pleasant tale, he laughed +loudly, and the three other men laughed also because they had keen wits +and appreciated a good story of real life. But their laughter was +changed to astonishment--almost fright--when a big black negro bounded +out of a dark corner and stood by the table, one outstretched ebony +finger pointing to the piece of gold. Instantly the horse dealer +snatched his treasure and thrust it into his pocket, and almost at the +same moment each man sprung to his feet and put his hand on his favorite +weapon. But the negro made no attempt to snatch the gold, nor did there +seem to be any reason to apprehend an attack from him. He stood slapping +his thighs with his hands, his mouth in a wide grin, and his eyes +sparkling in apparent delight. + +"What is the matter with you?" shouted the horse-dealer. "What do +you want?" + +Inkspot did not understand what had been said to him, nor could he have +told what he wanted, for he did not know. At that moment he knew nothing, +he comprehended nothing, but he felt as a stranger in a foreign land +would feel should he hear some words in his native tongue. The sight of +that piece of gold had given to Inkspot, by one quick flash, a view of +his negro friends and companions, of Captain Horn and his two white men, +of the brig he had left, of the hammock in which he had slept--of all, in +fact, that he now cared for on earth. + +He had seen pieces of gold like that. Before all the treasure had been +carried from the caves to the _Miranda_, the supply of coffee-bags had +given out, and during the last days of the loading it had been necessary +to tie up the gold in pieces of sail-cloth, after the fashion of a +wayfarer's bundle. Before these had been put on board, their fastening +had been carefully examined, and some of them had been opened and retied. +Thus all the negroes had seen the little bars, for, as they knew the bags +contained gold, there was no need of concealing from them the shape and +size of the contents. + +So, when, sitting in his gloomy corner, his spirits slowly rising under +the influence of his refreshment, which he had just finished, he saw +before him an object which recalled to him the life and friends of which +he had bereft himself, Inkspot's nature took entire possession of him, +and he bounded to the table in ecstatic recognition of the bit of metal. + +The men now swore at Inkspot, but as they saw he was unarmed, and not +inclined to violence, they were not afraid of him, but they wondered at +him. The horse-dealer took the piece of gold out of his pocket and held +it in his hand. + +"Did you ever see anything like that before?" he asked. He was a shrewd +man, the horse-dealer, and really wanted to know what was the matter with +the negro. + +Inkspot did not answer, but jabbered in African. + +"Try him in English," suggested the thin-nosed man, and this the +horse-dealer did. + +Many of the English words Inkspot understood. He had seen things like +that. Yes, yes! Great heaps! Heaps! Bags! Bags! He carried them! Throwing +an imaginary package over his shoulder, he staggered under it across the +floor. Heaps! Piles! Bags! Days and days and days he carried many bags! +Then, in a state of exalted mental action, produced by his recollections +and his whiskey, he suddenly conceived a scorn for a man who prized so +highly just one of these lumps, and who was nearly frightened out of his +wits if a person merely pointed to it. He shrugged his shoulders, he +spread out the palms of his hands toward the piece of gold, he turned +away his head and walked off sniffing. Then he came back and pointed to +it, and, saying "One!" he laughed, and then he said "One!" and laughed +again. Suddenly he became possessed with a new idea. His contemptuous +manner dropped from him, and in eager excitement he leaned forward and +exclaimed: + +"Cap' 'Or?" + +The four men looked at each other and at him in wonder, and asked what, +in the name of his satanic majesty, the fellow was driving at. This +apparent question, now repeated over and over again in turn to each of +them, they did not understand at all. But they could comprehend that the +negro had carried bags of lumps like that. This was very interesting. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +THE "ARATO" + +The subject of the labors of an African Hercules, mythical as these +labors might be, was so interesting to the four men who had been drinking +and smoking in the tavern, that they determined to pursue it as far as +their ignorance of the African's language, and his ignorance of English +and Spanish, would permit. In the first place, they made him sit down +with them, and offered him something to drink. It was not whiskey, but +Inkspot liked it very much, and felt all sorts of good effects from it. +In fact, it gave him a power of expressing himself by gestures and single +words in a manner wonderful. After a time, the men gave him something to +eat, for they imagined he might be hungry, and this also helped him very +much, and his heart went out to these new friends. Then he had a little +more to drink, but only a little, for the horse-dealer and the thin-nosed +man, who superintended the entertainment, were very sagacious, and did +not want him to drink too much. + +In the course of an hour, these four men, listening and watching keenly +and earnestly, had become convinced that this black man had been on a +ship which carried bags of gold similar to the rude prism possessed by +the horse-dealer, that he had left that vessel for the purpose of +obtaining refreshments on shore and had not been able to get back to it, +thereby indicating that the vessel had not stopped long at the place +where he had left it, and which place must have been, of course, +Valparaiso. Moreover, they found out to their full satisfaction where +that vessel was going to; for Maka had talked a great deal about Paris, +which he pronounced in English fashion, where Cheditafa and Mok were, and +the negroes had looked forward to this unknown spot as a heavenly port, +and Inkspot could pronounce the word "Paris" almost as plainly as if it +were a drink to which he was accustomed. + +But where the vessel was loaded with the gold, they could not find out. +No grimace that Inkspot could make, nor word that he could say, gave them +an idea worth dwelling upon. He said some words which made them believe +that the vessel had cleared from Acapulco, but it was foolish to suppose +that any vessel had been loaded there with bags of gold carried on men's +shoulders. The ship most probably came from California, and had touched +at the Mexican port. And she was now bound for Paris. That was natural +enough. Paris was a very good place to which to take gold. Moreover, she +had probably touched at some South American port, Callao perhaps, and +this was the way the little pieces of gold had been brought into the +country, the Californians probably having changed them for stores. + +The words "Cap' 'Or," often repeated by the negro, and always in a +questioning tone, puzzled them very much. They gave up its solution, and +went to work to try to make out the name of the vessel upon which the +bags had been loaded. But here Inkspot could not help them. They could +not make him understand what it was they wanted him to say. At last, the +horse-dealer proposed to the others, who, he said, knew more about such +things than he did, that they should repeat the name of every +sailing-vessel on that coast of which they had ever heard--for Inkspot +had made them understand that his ship had sails, and no steam. This they +did, and presently one of the sailors mentioned the name _Miranda_, which +belonged to a brig he knew of which plied on the coast. At this, Inkspot +sprang to his feet and clapped his hands. + +_"Miran'a! Miran'a.'"_ he cried. And then followed the words, "Cap' 'Or! +Cap' 'Or!" in eagerly excited tones. + +Suddenly the thin-nosed man, whom the others called Cardatas, +leaned forward. + +"Cap'n Horn?" said he. + +Inkspot clapped his hands again, and exclaimed: + +"Ay, ay! Cap' 'Or! Cap' 'Or!" + +He shouted the words so loudly that the barkeeper, at the other end of +the room, called out gruffly that they'd better keep quiet, or they would +have somebody coming in. + +"There you have it!" exclaimed Cardatas, in Spanish. "It's Cap'n Horn +that the fool's been trying to say. Cap'n Horn of the brig _Miranda_. We +are getting on finely." + +"I have heard of a Cap'n Horn," said one of the sailors. "He's a Yankee +skipper from California. He has sailed from this port, I know." + +"And he touched here three days ago, according to the negro," said +Cardatas, addressing the horse-dealer. "What do you say to that, Nunez? +From what we know, I don't think it will be hard to find out more." + +Nunez agreed with him, and thought it might pay to find out more. Soon +after this, being informed that it was time to shut up the place, the +four men went out, taking Inkspot with them. They would not neglect this +poor fellow. They would give him a place to sleep, and in the morning he +should have something to eat. It would be very unwise to let him go from +them at present. + +The next morning Inkspot strolled about the wharves of Valparaiso, in +company with the two sailors, who never lost sight of him, and he had +rather a pleasant time, for they gave him as much to eat and drink as was +good for him, and made him understand as well as they could that it would +not be long before they would help him to return to the brig _Miranda_ +commanded by Captain Horn. + +In the meantime, the horse-dealer, Nunez, went to a newspaper office, and +there procured a file of a Mexican paper, for the negro had convinced +them that his vessel had sailed from Acapulco. Turning over the back +numbers week after week, and week after week, Nunez searched in the +maritime news for the information that the _Miranda_ had cleared from a +Mexican port. He had gone back so far that he had begun to consider it +useless to make further search, when suddenly he caught the name +_Miranda_. There it was. The brig _Miranda_ had cleared from Acapulco +September 16, bound for Rio Janeiro in ballast. Nunez counted the months +on his fingers. + +"Five months ago!" he said to himself. "That's not this trip, surely. +But I will talk to Cardatas about that." And taking from his pocket a +little note-book in which he recorded his benefactions in the line of +horse trades, he carefully copied the paragraph concerning the _Miranda_. + +When Nunez met Cardatas in the afternoon, the latter also had news. He +had discovered that the arrival of the _Miranda_ had not been registered, +but he had been up and down the piers, asking questions, and he had found +a mate of a British steamer, then discharging her cargo, who told him +that the _Miranda_, commanded by Captain Horn, had anchored in the harbor +three days back, during the night, and that early the next morning +Captain Horn had sent him a letter which he wished posted, and that very +soon afterwards the brig had put out to sea. Cardatas wished to know much +more, but the mate, who had had but little conversation with Shirley, +could only tell him that the brig was then bound from Acapulco to Rio +Janeiro in ballast, which he thought rather odd, but all he could add was +that he knew Captain Horn, and he was a good man, and that if he were +sailing in ballast, he supposed he knew what he was about. + +Nunez then showed Cardatas the note he had made, and remarked that, of +course, it could not refer to the present voyage of the brig, for it +could not take her five months to come from Acapulco to this port. + +"No," said the other, musing, "it oughtn't to, but, on the other hand, +it is not likely she is on her second voyage to Rio, and both times in +ballast. That's all stuff about ballast. No man would be such a fool as +to sail pretty nigh all around this continent in ballast. He could find +some cargo in Mexico that he could sell when he got to port. Besides, if +that black fellow don't lie,--and he don't know enough to lie,--she's +bound for Paris. It's more likely she means to touch at Rio and take +over some cargo. But why, in the devil's name, should she sail from +Acapulco in ballast? It looks to me as if bags of gold might make very +good ballast." + +"That's just what I was thinking," said Nunez. + +"And what's more," said the other, "I'll bet she brought it down from +California with her when she arrived at Acapulco. I don't believe she +originally cleared from there." + +"It looks that way," said Nunez, "but how do you account for such a +long voyage?" + +"I've been talking to Sanchez about that _Miranda_," said Cardatas. "He +has heard that she is an old tub, and a poor sailer, and in that case +five months is not such a very slow voyage. I have known of slower +voyages than that." + +"And now what are you going to do about it?" asked Nunez. + +"The first thing I want to do is to pump that black fellow a +little more." + +"A good idea," said Nunez, "and we'll go and do it." + +Poor Inkspot was pumped for nearly an hour, but not much was got out of +him. The only feature of his information that was worth anything was the +idea that he managed to convey that ballast, consisting of stones and +bags of sand, had been taken out of the brig and thrown away, and bags of +gold put in their places. Where this transfer had taken place, the negro +could not make his questioners understand, and he was at last remanded to +the care of Sanchez and the other sailor. + +"The black fellow can't tell us much," said Cardatas to Nunez, as they +walked away together, "but he has stuck to his story well, and there +can't be any use of his lying about it. And there is another thing. What +made the brig touch here just long enough to leave a letter, and that +after a voyage of five months? That looks as if they were afraid some of +their people would go on shore and talk." + +"In that case," said Nunez, "I should say there is something shady about +the business. Perhaps this captain has slipped away from his partners up +there in California, or somebody who has been up to a trick has hired him +to take the gold out of the country. If he does carry treasure, it isn't +a fair and square thing. If it had been fair, the gold would have been +sent in the regular way, by a steamer. It's no crime to send gold from +California to France, or any other place." + +"I agree with you," said Cardatas, as he lighted his twenty-seventh +cigarette. + +Nunez did not smoke, but he mused as he walked along. + +"If she has gold on board," said he, presently, "it must be a good deal." + +"Yes," said the other. "They wouldn't take so much trouble for a small +lot. Of course, there can't be enough of it to take the place of all the +ballast, but it must weigh considerable." + +Here the two men were joined by an acquaintance, and their special +conversation ceased. That night they met again. + +"What are you going to do about this?" asked Nunez. "We can't keep on +supporting that negro." + +"What is to be done?" asked the other, his sharp eyes fixed upon his +companion's face. + +"Would it pay to go over to Rio and meet that brig when she arrives +there? If we could get on board and have a talk with her captain, he +might be willing to act handsomely when he found out we know something +about him and his ship. And if he won't do that, we might give +information, and have his vessel held until the authorities in California +can be communicated with. Then I should say we ought to make something." + +"I don't think much of that plan," said Cardatas. "I don't believe she's +going to touch at Rio. If she's afraid to go into port here, why +shouldn't she be afraid to go into port there? No. It would be stupid for +us to go to Rio and sit down and wait for her." + +"Then," answered the other, a little angrily, "what can be done?" + +"We can go after her," said Cardatas. + +The other sneered. "That would be more stupid than the other," said he. +"She left here four days ago, and we could never catch up with her, even +if we could find such a pin-point of a vessel on the great Pacific." + +Cardatas laughed. "You don't know much about navigation," said he, "but +that's not to be expected. With a good sailing-vessel I could go after +her, and overhaul her somewhere in the Straits of Magellan. With such a +cargo, I am sure she would make for the Straits. That Captain Horn is +said to be a good sailor, and the fact that he is in command of such a +tub as the _Miranda_ is a proof that there is something underhand about +his business." + +"And if we should overhaul her?" said the other. + +"Well," was the reply, "we might take along a dozen good fellows, and as +the _Miranda_ has only three men on board,--I don't count negroes worth +anything,--I don't see why we couldn't induce the captain to talk +reasonably to us. As for a vessel, there's the _Arato_." + +"Your vessel?" said the other. + +"Yes, I own a small share in her, and she's here in port now, waiting +for a cargo." + +"I forget what sort of a craft she is," said Nunez. + +"She's a schooner," said the other, "and she can sail two miles to the +_Miranda's_ one in any kind of weather. If I had money enough, I could +get the _Arato_, put a good crew on board, and be at sea and on the wake +of that brig in twenty-four hours." + +"And how much money would be needed?" asked the other. + +"That remains to be calculated," replied Cardatas. Then the two went to +work to calculate, and spent an hour or two at it. + +When they parted, Nunez had not made up his mind that the plan of +Cardatas was a good one, but he told him to go ahead and see what could +be done about getting the _Arato_ and a reliable crew, and that he would +talk further to him about the matter. + +That night Nunez took a train for Santiago, and on his arrival there, the +next morning, he went straight to the shop of the jeweller of whom had +been obtained the piece of gold in his possession. Here he made some +cautious inquiries, and found the jeweller very ready to talk about the +piece of gold that Nunez showed him. The jeweller said that he had had +four pieces of the gold in his possession, and that he had bought them in +Lima to use in his business. They had originally come from California, +and were very fine gold. He had been a little curious about it on account +of the shape of the pieces, and had been told that they had been brought +into the country by an American sea-captain, who had seemed to have a +good many of them. The jeweller thought it very likely that these pieces +of gold passed for currency in California, for he had heard that at one +time the people there had had to make their own currency, and that they +often paid for merchandise in so many penny-weights and ounces of gold +instead of using coin. The jeweller was himself very glad to do business +in this way, for he liked the feel of a lump of gold. + +After explaining that his reason for making these inquiries was his fear +that the piece of gold he had accepted in trade because he also liked the +feel of lumps of gold, might not be worth what he had given for it, Nunez +thanked the jeweller, left him, and returned to Valparaiso. He went +straight to his friend Cardatas, and said that he would furnish the +capital to fit out the _Arato_ for the projected trip. + +It was not in twenty-four hours, but in forty-eight, that the schooner +_Arato_ cleared from Valparaiso for Callao in ballast. She had a good set +of sails, and a crew of ten men besides the captain. She also had on +board a passenger, Nunez by name, and a tall negro, who doubtless could +turn his hand to some sort of work on board, and whom it would have been +very indiscreet to leave behind. + +Once outside the harbor, the _Arato_ changed her mind about going to +Callao, and sailed southward. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE COAST OF PATAGONIA + + +For about ten days after the brig _Miranda_ left Valparaiso she had good +winds and fair weather, and her progress was satisfactory to all on +board, but at the end of that time she entered upon a season of head +winds and bad weather. The vessel behaved very well in the stormy days +that followed, but she made very little headway. Her course was now laid +toward the Gulf of Penas, after reaching which she would sail along the +protected waterways between the chain of islands which lie along the +coast and the mainland, and which lead into the Straits of Magellan. + +When the weather at last changed and the sea became smoother, it was +found that the working and straining of the masts during the violent +weather had opened some of the seams of the brig, and that she was taking +in water. She was a good vessel, but she was an old one, and she had had +a rough time of it. The captain thanked his stars that she had not begun +to leak before the storm. + +The short-handed crew went to work at the pumps, but, after two days' +hard labor, it was found that the water in the hold steadily gained upon +the pumps, and there was no doubt that the _Miranda_ was badly strained. +According to a report from Burke, the water came in forward, aft, and +midships. Matters were now getting very serious, and the captain and his +two mates consulted together, while the three negroes pumped. It was +plain to all of them that if the water kept on gaining, it would not be +long before the brig must go to the bottom. To keep her afloat until they +reached a port would be impossible. To reach the shore in the boats was +quite possible, for they were not a hundred miles from land. But to carry +their treasure to land in two small boats was a thing which need not even +be considered. + +All agreed that there was but one thing to be done. The brig must be +headed to land, and if she could be kept afloat until she neared one of +the great islands which lie along the Patagonian coast, she might be run +into some bay or protected cove, where she could be beached, or where, if +she should sink, it might be in water so shallow that all hope of getting +at her treasure would not have to be abandoned. In any case, the sooner +they got to the shore, the better for them. So the brig's bow was turned +eastward, and the pumps were worked harder than ever. There was a good +wind, and, considering that the _Miranda_ was steadily settling deeper +and deeper, she made very fair progress, and in less than two days after +she had changed her course, land was sighted. Not long after, Captain +Horn began to hope that if the wind held, and the brig could keep above +water for an hour or so, he could double a small headland which now +showed itself plainly a couple of miles away, and might be able to beach +his vessel. + +What a dreary, depressing hope it was that now possessed the souls of +Captain Horn, of Burke and Shirley, and of even the three negroes! After +all the hardships, the labor, and the anxieties, after all the joy of +success and escape from danger, after all happy chances which had come in +various ways and from various directions, after the sweet delights of +rest, after the super-exultation of anticipation which no one on board +had been able to banish from his mind, there was nothing left to them now +but the eager desire that their vessel might keep afloat until she could +find some friendly sands on which she might be run, or some shallow water +in which she might sink and rest there on the wild Patagonian coast, +leaving them far from human beings of any kind, far from help, far, +perhaps, from rescue and even safety. + +To this one object each man gave his entire energy, his mind, and his +body. Steadily went the pumps, steadily the captain kept his eyes fixed +upon the approaching headland, and upon the waters beyond, and steadily, +little by little, the _Miranda_ sunk lower and lower into the sea. + +At last the headland was reached, and on its ocean side the surf beat +high. Keeping well away to avoid shoals or a bar, the _Miranda_ passed +the southern point of the headland, and slowly sailed into a little bay. +To the left lay the rocky ridge which formed the headland, and less than +half a mile away could be seen the shining sands of the smooth beach. +Toward this beach the _Miranda_ was now headed, every sail upon her set, +and every nerve upon her strung to its tightest. They went in upon a +flood-tide. If he had believed that the brig would float so long, +Captain Horn would have waited an hour until the tide was high, so that +he might run his vessel farther up upon the beach, but he could not wait, +and with a strong west wind he steered straight for the sands. + +There was a hissing under the bows, and a shock which ran through the +vessel from stem to stern, and then grinding and grinding and grinding +until all motion ceased, and a gentle surf began to curl itself against +the stern of the brig. + +Every halliard was let go, and down came every sail by the run, and then +the brig _Miranda_ ended this voyage, and all others, upon the shore of a +desolate Patagonian island. + +Between the vessel and dry land there was about a hundred feet of water, +but this would be much less when the tide went out. Beyond the beach was +a stretch of sandy hillocks, or dunes, and back of these was a mass of +scrubby thicket, with here and there a low tree, and still farther back +was seen the beginning of what might be a forest. It was a different +coast from the desolate shores of Peru. + +Burke came aft to the captain. + +"Here we are, sir," said he, "and what's to happen next?" + +"Happen!" exclaimed the captain. "We must not wait for things to happen! +What we've got to do is to step around lively, and get the gold out of +this brig before the wind changes and drives her out into deep water." + +Burke put his hands into his pockets. "Is there any good of it, captain?" +said he. "Will we be any better off with the bags on that shore than we +would be if they were sunk in this bay?" + +"Good of it!" exclaimed the captain. "Don't talk that way, Burke. If we +can get it on shore, there is a chance for us. But if it goes to the +bottom, out in deep water, there is none. There is no time to talk now. +What we must do is to go to work." + +"Yes," said Burke, "whatever happens, it is always work. But I'm in for +it, as long as I hold together. But we've got to look out that some of +those black fellows don't drop over the bow, and give us the slip." + +"They'll starve if they do," said the captain, "for not a biscuit, or a +drop of water, goes ashore until the gold is out of the hold." + +Burke shook his head. "We'll do what we can, captain," said he, "but that +hold's a regular fishpond, and we'll have to dive for the bags." + +"All right," said the captain, "dive let it be." + +The work of removing the gold began immediately. Tackle was rigged. The +negroes went below to get out the bags, which were hauled up to the deck +in a tub. When a moderate boat-load had been taken out, a boat was +lowered and manned, and the bags passed down to it. + +In the first boat the captain went ashore. He considered it wise to land +the treasure as fast as it could be taken out of the hold, for no one +could know at what time, whether on account of wind from shore or waves +from the sea, the vessel might slip out into deep water. This was a +slower method than if everybody had worked at getting the gold on deck, +and then everybody had worked at getting it ashore, but it was a safer +plan than the other, for if an accident should occur, if the brig should +be driven off the sand, they would have whatever they had already +landed. As this thought passed through the mind of the captain, he could +not help a dismal smile. + +"Have!" said he to himself. "It may be that we shall have it as that poor +fellow had his bag of gold, when he lay down on his back to die there in +the wild desert." + +But no one would have imagined that such an idea had come into the +captain's mind. He worked as earnestly, and as steadily, as if he had +been landing an ordinary cargo at an ordinary dock. + +The captain and the men in the boat carried the bags high up on the +beach, out of any danger from tide or surf, and laid them in a line along +the sand. The captain ordered this because it would be easier to handle +them afterwards--if it should ever be necessary to handle them--than if +they had been thrown into piles. If they should conclude to bury them, it +would be easier and quicker to dig a trench along the line, and tumble +them in, than to make the deep holes that would otherwise be necessary. + +Until dark that day, and even after dark, they worked, stopping only for +necessary eating and drinking. The line of bags upon the shore had grown +into a double one, and it became necessary for the men, sometimes the +white and sometimes the black, to stoop deeper and deeper into the water +of the hold to reach the bags. But they worked on bravely. In the early +dawn of the next morning they went to work again. Not a negro had given +the ship the slip, nor were there any signs that one of them had thought +of such a thing. + +Backward and forward through the low surf went the boat, and longer and +wider and higher grew the mass of bags upon the beach. + +It was the third day after they had reached shore that the work was +finished. Every dripping bag had been taken out of the hold, and the +captain had counted them all as they had been put ashore, and verified +the number by the record in his pocket-book. + +When the lower tiers of bags had been reached, they had tried pumping out +the water, but this was of little use. The brig had keeled over on her +starboard side, and early in the morning of the third day, when the tide +was running out, a hole had been cut in that side of the vessel, out of +which a great portion of the water she contained had run. It would all +come in again, and more of it, when the tide rose, but they were sure +they could get through their work before that, and they were right. The +bags now lay upon the beach in the shape of a long mound, not more than +three feet high, and about four rows wide at the bottom and two at the +top. The captain had superintended the arrangement of the bags, and had +so shaped the mass that it somewhat resembled in form the dunes of sand +which lay behind it. No matter what might be their next step, it would +probably be advisable to conceal the bags, and the captain had thought +that the best way to do this would be to throw sand over the long mound, +in which work the prevailing western winds would be likely to assist, and +thus make it look like a natural sand-hill. Burke and Shirley were in +favor of burial, but the consideration of this matter was deferred, for +there was more work to be done, which must be attended to immediately. + +Now provisions, water, and everything else that might be of value was +taken out of the brig and carried to shore. Two tents were constructed +out of sails and spars, and the little party established themselves +upon the beach. What would be their next work they knew not, but they +must first rest from their long season of heavy labor. The last days +had been harder even than the days of storm and the days of pumping. +They had eaten hurriedly and slept but little. Regular watches and +irregular watches had been kept--watches against storm, which might +sweep the brig with all on board out to sea, watches against desertion, +watches against they knew not what. As chief watcher, the captain had +scarcely slept at all. + +It had been dreary work, unrelieved by hope, uncheered by prospect of +success; for not one of them, from the captain down, had any definite +idea as to what was to be done after they had rested enough to act. + +But they rested, and they went so far as to fill their pipes and stretch +themselves upon the sand. When night came on, chilly and dark, they +gathered driftwood and dead branches from the thicket and built a +camp-fire. They sat around it, and smoked their pipes, but they did not +tell stories, nor did they talk very much. They were glad to rest, they +were glad to keep warm, but that was all. The only really cheerful thing +upon the beach was the fire, which leaped high and blazed merrily as the +dried wood was heaped upon it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +SHIRLEY SPIES A SAIL + + +When the _Arato_ changed her mind about going to Callao, and sailed +southward some five days after the _Miranda_ had started on the same +course, she had very good weather for the greater part of a week, and +sailed finely. Cardatas, who owned a share in her, had sailed upon her as +first mate, but he had never before commanded her. He was a good +navigator, however, and well fitted for the task he had undertaken. He +was a sharp fellow, and kept his eyes on everybody, particularly upon +Nunez, who, although a landsman, and in no wise capable of sailing a +ship, was perfectly capable of making plans regarding any vessel in which +he was interested, especially when such a vessel happened to be sailing +in pursuit of treasure, the value of which was merely a matter of +conjecture. It was not impossible that the horse-dealer, who had embarked +money in this venture, might think that one of the mariners on board +might be able to sail the schooner as well as Cardatas, and would not +expect so large a share of the profits should the voyage be successful. +But when the storms came on, Nunez grew sick and unhappy, and retired +below, and he troubled the mind of Cardatas no more for the present. + +The _Arato_ sailed well with a fair wind, but in many respects she was +not as good a sea-boat in a storm as the _Miranda_ had proved to be, and +she had been obliged to lie to a great deal through the days and nights +of high winds and heavy seas. Having never had, until now, the +responsibility of a vessel upon him, Cardatas was a good deal more +cautious and prudent, perhaps, than Captain Horn would have been had he +been in command of the _Arato_. Among other methods of precaution which +Cardatas thought it wise to take, he steered well out from the coast, and +thus greatly lengthened his course, and at last, when a clearing sky +enabled him to take an observation, he found himself so far to the +westward that he changed his course entirely and steered for the +southeast. + +Notwithstanding all these retarding circumstances, Cardatas did not +despair of overhauling the _Miranda_. He was sure she would make for the +Straits, and he did not in the least doubt that, with good winds, he +could overtake her before she reached them, and even if she did get out +of them, he could still follow her. His belief that the _Arato_ could +sail two miles to the _Miranda's_ one was still unshaken. The only real +fear he had was that the _Miranda_ might have foundered in the storm. If +that should happen to be the case, their voyage would be a losing one, +indeed, but he said nothing of his fears to Nunez. + +The horse-dealer was now on deck again, in pretty fair condition, but he +was beginning to be despondent. After such an awful storm, and in all +that chaos of waves, what chance was there of finding a little brig such +as they were after? + +"But vessels sail in regular courses," Cardatas said to him. "They don't +go meandering all over the ocean. If they are bound for any particular +place, they go there on the shortest safe line they can lay down on the +map. We can go on that line, too, although we may be thrown out of it by +storms. But we can strike it again, and then all we have to do is to keep +on it as straight as we can, and we are bound to overtake another vessel +on the same course, provided we sail faster than she does. It is all +plain enough, don't you see?" + +Nunez could not help seeing, but he was a little cross, nevertheless. The +map and the ocean were wonderfully different. + +The wind had changed, and the _Arato_ did not make very good sailing on +her southeastern course. High as was her captain's opinion of her, she +never had sailed, nor ever could sail, two miles to the _Miranda's_ one, +although she was a good deal faster than the brig. But she was fairly +well handled, and in due course of time she approached so near the coast +that her lookout sighted land, which land Cardatas, consulting his +chart, concluded must be one of the Patagonian islands to the north of +the Gulf of Penas. + +As night came on, Cardatas determined to change his course somewhat to +the south, as he did not care to trust himself too near the coast, +when suddenly the lookout reported a light on the port bow. Cardatas +had sailed down this coast before, but he had never heard of a +lighthouse in the region, and with his glass he watched the light. But +he could not make it out. It was a strange light, for sometimes it was +bright and sometimes dull, then it would increase greatly and almost +fade away again. + +"It looks like a fire on shore," said he, and some of the other men who +took the glass agreed with him. + +"And what does that mean?" asked Nunez. + +"I don't know," replied Cardatas, curtly. "How should I? But one thing I +do know, and that is that I shall lie to until morning, and then we can +feel our way near to the coast and see what it does mean." + +"But what do you want to know for?" asked Nunez. "I suppose somebody on +shore has built a fire. Is there any good stopping for that? We have lost +a lot of time already." + +"I am going to lie to, anyway," said Cardatas. "When we are on such +business as ours, we should not pass anything without understanding it." + +Cardatas had always supposed that these islands were uninhabited, and he +could not see why anybody should be on one of them making a fire, unless +it were a case of shipwreck. If a ship had been wrecked, it was not at +all impossible that the _Miranda_ might be the unfortunate vessel. In any +case, it would be wise to lie to, and look into the matter by daylight. +If the _Miranda_ had gone down at sea, and her crew had reached land in +boats, the success of the _Arato's_ voyage would be very dubious. And +should this misfortune have happened, he must be careful about Nunez when +he came to hear of it. When he turned into his hammock that night, +Cardatas had made up his mind that, if he should discover that the +_Miranda_ had gone to the bottom, it would be a very good thing if +arrangements could be made for Nunez to follow her. + +That night the crew of the Miranda slept well and enjoyed the first real +rest they had had since the storm. No watch was kept, for they all +thought it would be an unnecessary hardship. The captain awoke at early +dawn, and, as he stepped out of the tent, he glanced over sea and land. +There were no signs of storm, the brig had not slipped out into deep +water, their boats were still high and dry upon the beach, and there was +something encouraging in the soft, early light and the pleasant morning +air. He was surprised, however, to find that he was not the first man +out. On a piece of higher ground, a little back from the tents, Shirley +was standing, a glass to his eye. + +"What do you see?" cried the captain. + +"A sail!" returned Shirley. + +At this every man in the tents came running out. Even to the negroes the +words, "A sail," had the startling effect which they always have upon +ship-wrecked men. + +The effect upon Captain Horn was a strange one, and he could scarcely +understand it himself. It was amazing that succor, if succor it should +prove to be, had arrived so quickly after their disaster. But +not-withstanding the fact that he would be overjoyed to be taken off that +desolate coast, he could not help a strong feeling of regret that a sail +had appeared so soon. If they had had time to conceal their treasure, all +might have been well. With the bags of gold buried in a trench, or +covered with sand so as to look like a natural mound, he and his sailors +might have been taken off merely as shipwrecked sailors, and carried to +some port where he might charter another vessel and come back after his +gold. But now he knew that whoever landed on this beach must know +everything, for it would be impossible to conceal the contents of that +long pile of bags, and what consequences might follow upon such knowledge +it was impossible for him to imagine. Burke had very much the same idea. + +"By George, captain!" said he, "it is a great pity that she came along so +soon. What do you say? Shall we signal her or not? We want to get away, +but it would be beastly awkward for anybody to come ashore just now. I +wish we had buried the bags as fast as we brought them ashore." + +The captain did not answer. Perhaps it might be as well not to signal +her. And yet, this might be their only chance of rescue! + +"What do you say to jumping into the boats and rowing out to meet them?" +asked Burke. "We'd have to leave the bags uncovered, but we might get to +a port, charter some sort of a craft, and get back for the bags before +any other vessel came so near the coast." + +"I don't see what made this one come so near," said Shirley, "unless it +was our fire last night. She might have thought that was a signal." + +"I shouldn't wonder," said the captain, who held the glass. "But we +needn't trouble ourselves about going out in boats, for she is making +straight for land." + +"That's so," said Shirley, who could now see this for himself, for the +light was rapidly growing stronger. "She must have seen our fire last +night. Shall I hoist a signal?" + +"No," said the captain. "Wait!" + +They waited to see what this vessel was going to do. Perhaps she was only +tacking. But what fool of a skipper would run so close to the shore for +the sake of tacking! They watched her eagerly, but not one of the white +men would have been wholly disappointed if the schooner, which they could +now easily make out, had changed her course and gone off on a long tack +to the southwest. + +But she was not tacking. She came rapidly on before a stiff west wind. +There was no need of getting out boats to go to meet her. She was south +of the headland, but was steering directly toward it. They could see what +sort of craft she was--a long schooner, painted green, with all sails +set. Very soon they could see the heads of the men on board. Then she +came nearer and nearer to land, until she was less than half a mile from +shore. Then she shot into the wind; her sails fluttered; she lay almost +motionless, and her head-sails were lowered. + +"That's just as if they were coming into port," said Burke. + +"Yes," said Shirley, "I expect they intend to drop anchor." + +This surmise was correct, for, as he spoke, the anchor went down +with a splash. + +"They're very business-like," said Burke. "Look at them. They are +lowering a boat." + +"A boat!" exclaimed Shirley, "They're lowering two of them." + +The captain knit his brows. This was extraordinary action on the part of +the vessel. Why did she steer so straight for land? Why did she so +quickly drop anchor and put out two boats? Could it be that this vessel +had been on their track? Could it be that the Peruvian government--But he +could not waste time in surmise as to what might be. They must act, not +conjecture. + +It was not a minute before the captain made up his mind how they should +act. Five men were in each boat, and with a glass it was easy to see that +some of them carried guns. + +"Get your rifles!" cried he to Shirley and Burke, and he rushed +for his own. + +The arms and ammunition had been all laid ready in the tent, and in a +moment each one of the white men had a rifle and a belt of cartridges. +For the blacks there were no guns, as they would not have known how to +use them, but they ran about in great excitement, each with his knife +drawn, blindly ready to do whatever should be ordered. The poor negroes +were greatly frightened. They had but one idea about the approaching +boats: they believed that the men in them were Rackbirds coming to wreak +vengeance upon them. The same idea had come into the mind of the captain. +Some of the Rackbirds had gone back to the cove. They had known that +there had been people there. They had made investigations, and found the +cave and the empty mound, and in some way had discovered that the +_Miranda_ had gone off with its contents. Perhaps the black fellow who +had deserted the vessel at Valparaiso had betrayed them. He hurriedly +mentioned his suspicions to his companions. + +"I shouldn't wonder," said Burke, "if that Inkspot had done it. Perhaps +he could talk a good deal better than we thought. But I vow I wouldn't +have supposed that he would be the man to go back on us. I thought he was +the best of the lot." + +"Get behind that wall of bags," cried the captain, "every one of you. +Whoever they are, we will talk to them over a breastwork." + +"I think we shall have to do more than talk," said Burke, "for a blind +man could see that there are guns in those boats." + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +THE BATTLE OF THE GOLDEN WALL + + +The five men now got behind the barrier of bags, but, before following +them, Captain Horn, with the butt of his rifle, drew a long, deep furrow +in the sand about a hundred feet from the breastwork of bags, and +parallel with it. Then he quickly joined the others. + +The three white men stationed themselves a little distance apart, and +each moved a few of the top bags so as to get a good sight between them, +and not expose themselves too much. + +As the boats came on, the negroes crouched on the sand, entirely out of +sight, while Shirley and Burke each knelt down behind the barrier, with +his rifle laid in a crevice in the top. The captain's rifle was in his +hand, but he did not yet prepare for action. He stooped down, but his +head was sufficiently above the barrier to observe everything. + +The two boats came rapidly on, and were run up on the beach, and the men +jumped out and drew them up, high and safe. Then, without the slightest +hesitation, the ten of them, each with a gun in his hand, advanced in a +body toward the line of bags. + +"Ahoy!" shouted the captain, suddenly rising from behind the barrier. +"Who are you, and what do you want?" He said this in English, but +immediately repeated it in Spanish. + +"Ahoy, there!" cried Cardatas. "Are you Captain Horn?" + +"Yes, I am," said the captain, "and you must halt where you are. The +first man who passes that line is shot." + +Cardatas laughed, and so did some of the others, but they all stopped. + +"We'll stop here a minute to oblige you," said Cardatas, "but we've got +something to say to you, and you might as well listen to it." + +Shirley and Burke did not understand a word of these remarks, for they +did not know Spanish, but each of them kept his eye running along the +line of men who still stood on the other side of the furrow the captain +had made in the sand, and if one of them had raised his gun to fire at +their skipper, it is probable that he would have dropped. Shirley and +Burke had been born and bred in the country; they were hunters, and were +both good shots. It was on account of their fondness for sport that they +had been separated from the rest of their party on the first day of the +arrival of the people from the _Castor_ at the caves. + +"What have you to say?" said the captain. "Speak quickly." + +Cardatas did not immediately answer, for Nunez was excitedly talking to +him. The soul of the horse-dealer had been inflamed by the sight of the +bags. He did not suppose it possible that they could all contain gold, +but he knew they must be valuable, or they would not have been carried +up there, and he was advising a rush for the low wall. + +"We will see what we can do with them, first," said Cardatas to Nunez. +"Some of us may be shot if we are in too great a hurry. They are well +defended where they are, and we may have to get round into their rear. +Then we can settle their business very well, for the negro said there +were only three white men. But first let us talk to them. We may manage +them without running any risks." + +Cardatas turned toward the captain, and at the same time Burke said: + +"Captain, hadn't you better squat down a little? You're making a very +fine mark of yourself." + +But the captain still stood up to listen to Cardatas. + +"I'll tell you what we've come for," said the latter. "We are not +officers of the law, but we are the same thing. We know all about you and +the valuable stuff you've run away with, and we've been offered a reward +to bring back those bags, and to bring you back, too, dead or alive, and +here we are, ready to do it. It was good luck for us that your vessel +came to grief, but we should have got you, even if she hadn't. We were +sure to overhaul you in the Straits. We know all about you and that old +hulk, but we are fair and square people, and we're sailors, and we don't +want to take advantage of anybody, especially of sailors who have had +misfortunes. Now, the reward the Californian government has offered us is +not a very big one, and I think you can do better by us, so if you'll +agree to come out from behind that breastwork and talk to us fair and +square, your two white men and your three negroes,--you see, we know all +about you,--I think we can make a bargain that'll suit all around. The +government of California hasn't any claim on us, and we don't see why we +should serve it any more than we should serve you, and it will be a good +deal better for you to be content with half the treasure you've gone off +with, or perhaps a little more than that, and let us have the rest. We +will take you off on our vessel, and land you at any port you want to go +to, and you can take your share of the bags ashore with you. Now, that's +what I call a fair offer, and I think you will say so, too." + +Captain Horn was much relieved by part of this speech. He had had a +slight fear, when Cardatas began, that these men might have been sent out +by the Peruvian government, but now he saw they were a set of thieves, +whether Rackbirds or not, doing business on their own account. + +"The Californian government has nothing to do with me," cried Captain +Horn, "and it never had anything to do with you, either. When you say +that, you lie! I am not going to make any bargain with you, or have +anything to do with you. My vessel is wrecked, but we can take care of +ourselves. And now I'll give you five minutes to get to your boats, and +the quicker you go, the better for you!" + +At this, Nunez stepped forward, his face red with passion. "Look here, +you Yankee thief," he cried, "we'll give you just one minute to come out +from behind that pile of bags. If you don't come, we'll--" + +But if he said any more, Captain Horn did not hear it, for at that moment +Burke cried: "Drop, captain!" And the captain dropped. + +Stung by the insult he had received, and unable to resist the +temptation of putting an end to the discussion by shooting Captain Horn, +Cardatas raised his rifle to his shoulder, and almost in the same +instant that the captain's body disappeared behind the barrier, he +fired. But the bullet had scarcely left his barrel when another ball, +from Shirley's gun, struck Cardatas under his uplifted left arm, and +stretched him on the sand. + +A shock ran through the attacking party, and instinctively they retreated +several yards. So suddenly had they lost their leader that, for a few +moments, they did not seem to understand the situation. But, on a shout +from one of them to look out for themselves, every man dropped flat upon +the beach, behind a low bank of sand scarcely a foot high. This was not +much protection, but it was better than standing up as marks for the +rifles behind the barrier. + +The men from the _Arato_ were very much surprised by what had happened. +They had expected to have an easy job with the crew of the _Miranda_. As +soon as the sailor Sanchez had seen the stranded brig, he had recognized +her, and Cardatas, as well as the rest of them, had thought that there +would be nothing to do but to go on shore with a party of well-armed men, +and possess themselves of whatever treasure she had brought to this +deserted coast. But to find her crew strongly intrenched and armed had +very much amazed them. + +Nunez's anger had disappeared, and his accustomed shrewdness had taken +its place, for he now saw that very serious business was before them. He +was not much of a soldier, but he knew enough to understand that in the +plan proposed by Cardatas lay their only hope of success. It would be +ridiculous to lie there and waste their ammunition on that wall of bags. +He was lying behind the others, and raised his head just enough to tell +them what they should do. + +"We must get into their rear," he said. "We must creep along the sand +until we reach those bushes up there, and then we can get behind them. +I'll go first, and you can follow me." + +At, this, he began to work himself along the beach, somewhat after the +fashion of an earthworm. But the men paid no attention to him. There was +little discipline among them, and they had no respect for the +horse-dealer as a commander, so they remained on the sands, eagerly +talking among themselves. Some of them were frightened, and favored a +rush for the boats. But this advice brought down curses from the others. +What were three men to nine, that they should run away? + +Burke now became tired of waiting to see what would happen next, and +putting his hat on a little stick, he raised it a short distance above +the breastwork. Instantly one of the more excitable men from the _Arato_ +fired at it. + +"Very good," said Burke. "They want to keep it up, do they? Now, +captain," he continued, "we can see the backs and legs of most of them. +Shall we fire at them? That will be just as good as killing them. They +mean fight--that's easy to see." + +But the captain was not willing to follow Burke's advice. + +"I don't want to wound or maim them," he replied. "Let's give them a +volley just over their heads, and let them see what we are prepared to +do. Now, then, when I give the word!" + +In a few moments three shots rang out from the intrenchment, and the +bullets went whistling over the prostrate bodies of the men on the sand. +But these tactics did not have the effect Captain Horn hoped for. They +led to no waving of handkerchiefs, nor any show of an intention to treat +with an armed and intrenched foe. Instead of that, the man Sanchez sprang +to his feet and cried: + +"Come on, boys! Over the wall and at them before they can reload!" + +At this all the men sprang up and dashed toward the line of bags, Nunez +with them. Somebody might get hurt in this wild charge, but he must reach +the treasure as soon as the others. He must not fail in that. But Sanchez +made a great mistake when he supposed that Captain Horn and his men +fought with such arms as the muzzle-loading rifles and shot-guns which +the _Arato's_ men had thought quite sufficient to bring with them for the +work they had to do. Captain Horn, when he had fitted out the _Miranda_, +had supplied himself and his two white men with fine repeating rifles, +and the _Arato's_ men had scarcely crossed the line which had been drawn +on the sand before there were three shots from the barrier, and three of +the enemy dropped. Even the captain made a good shot this time. + +At this the attacking party stopped, and some of them shouted, "To the +boats!" Nunez said nothing, for he was dead. There had been much +straggling in the line, and Shirley had singled him out as one of the +leaders. Before one of them had turned or a retreat begun, Burke's rifle +flashed, and another man fell over against a companion, and then down +upon the sand. The distance was very short, and a bad shot was almost +impossible for a good hunter. + +Now there was no hesitation. The five men who had life and legs, turned +and dashed for the boats. But the captain did not intend, now, that they +should escape, and rifle after rifle cracked from the barricade, and +before they reached the boats, four of the flying party had fallen. The +fifth man stumbled over one of his companions, who dropped in front of +him, then rose to his feet, threw down his gun, and, turning his face +toward the shore, held up his hands high above his head. + +"I surrender!" he cried, and, still with his arms above his head, and his +face whiter than the distant sands, he slowly walked toward the barrier. + +The captain rose. "Halt!" he cried, and the man stood stock-still. "Now, +my men," cried the captain, turning to Burke and Shirley, "keep your eyes +on that fellow until we reach him, and if he moves, shoot him." + +The three white men, followed by the negroes, ran down to the man, and +when they had reached him, they carefully searched him to see if he had +any concealed weapons. + +After glancing rapidly over the bodies which lay upon the sand, the +captain turned to his men. + +"Come on, every one of you," he shouted, "and run out that boat," +pointing to the largest one that had brought the _Arato's_ men ashore. + +Shirley and Burke looked at him in surprise. + +"We want that vessel!" he cried, in answer. "Be quick!" And taking hold +of the boat himself, he helped the others push it off the sand. "Now, +then," he continued, "Shirley, you and Burke get into the bow, with your +rifles. Tumble in, you black fellows, and each take an oar. You," he said +in Spanish to the prisoner, "get in and take an oar, too." + +The captain took the tiller. Shirley and Burke pushed the boat into +deep water, and jumped aboard. The oars dipped, and they were off, +regardless of the low surf which splashed its crest over the gunwale as +the boat turned. + +"Tell me, you rascal," said the captain to the prisoner, who was tugging +at his oar as hard as the others, "how many men are aboard that +schooner?" + +"Only two, I swear to you, Senor Capitan; there were twelve of us in +all." + +The men left on the schooner had evidently watched the proceedings on +shore, and were taking measures accordingly. + +"They've slipped their anchor, and the tide is running out!" shouted the +captain. "Pull! Pull!" + +"They're running up their jib!" cried Burke. "Lay to, you fellows, or +I'll throw one of you overboard, and take his place!" + +The captured man was thoroughly frightened. They were great fighters, +these men he had fallen among, and he pulled as though he were rowing to +rescue his dearest friend. The black fellows bent to their oars like +madmen. They were thoroughly excited. They did not know what they were +rowing: for they only knew they were acting under the orders of their +captain, who had just killed nine Rackbirds, and their teeth and their +eyes flashed as their oars dipped and bent. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +THE "ARATO" ANCHORS NEARER SHORE + + +On went the boat, each one of the oarsmen pulling with all his force, the +captain in the stern, shouting and encouraging them, and Shirley and +Burke crouched in the bow, each with his rifle in hand. Up went the jib +of the _Arato_. She gently turned about as she felt the influence of the +wind, and then the captain believed the men on board were trying to get +up the foresail. + +"Are you sure there are only two of the crew on that schooner?" said the +captain to the prisoner. "Now, it isn't worth while to lie to me." + +"Only two," said the man. "I swear to it. Only two, Senor Capitan." + +The foresail did not go up, for one of the men had to run to the wheel, +and as the vessel's head got slowly around, it seemed as if she might +sail away from the boat, even with nothing but the jib set. But the +schooner gained headway very slowly, and the boat neared her rapidly. +Now the man at the wheel gave up all hope of sailing away from his +pursuers. He abandoned the helm, and in a few moments two heads and two +guns showed over the rail, and two shots rang out. But the schooner was +rolling, and the aim was bad. Shirley and Burke fired at the two heads +as soon as they saw them, but the boat was rising and pitching, and +their shots were also bad. + +For a minute there was no more firing, and then one of the heads and one +of the guns were seen again. Shirley was ready, and made his +calculations, and, as the boat rose, he drew a bead upon the top of the +rail where he saw the head, and had scarcely pulled his trigger when he +saw a good deal more than a head, for a man sprung up high in the air and +then fell backward. + +The captain now ordered his men to rest on their oars, for, if the other +man on board should show himself, they could get a better shot at him +than if they were nearer. But the man did not show himself, and, on +consideration of his probable tactics, it seemed extremely dangerous to +approach the vessel. Even here they were in danger, but should they +attempt to board her, they could not tell from what point he might fire +down upon them, and some of them would surely be shot before they could +get a chance at him, and the captain did not wish to sacrifice any of his +men, even for a vessel, if it could be helped. There seemed to be no hope +of safely gaining their object, except to wait until the man should +become tired and impatient, and expose himself. + +Suddenly, to the amazement of every one in the boat, for all heads were +turned toward the schooner, a man appeared, boldly running over her deck. +Shirley and Burke instantly raised their rifles, but dropped them again. +There was a shout from Maka, and an exclamation from the prisoner. Then +the man on deck stooped close to the rail and was lost to their sight, +but almost instantly he reappeared again, holding in front of him a +struggling pair of legs, feet uppermost. Then, upon the rail, appeared a +man's head and body; but it only remained there for an instant, for his +legs were raised still higher by the person behind him, and were then +propelled outward with such force that he went headlong overboard. Then +the man on deck sprang to the top of the rail, regardless of the rolling +of the vessel in the gentle swell, and waved his hands above his head. + +"Inkspot!" shouted the captain. "Pull away, you fellows! Pull!" + +The tall, barefooted negro sprang to the deck from his perilous position, +and soon reappeared with a line ready to throw to the boat. + +In a few minutes they reached the vessel, and the boat was quickly made +fast, and very soon they were on board. When he saw his old friends and +associates upon the deck, Inkspot retired a little distance and fell upon +his knees. + +"You black rascal!" roared Burke, "you brought these cut-throat +scoundrels down upon us! You--" + +"That will do," said the captain. "There is no time for that sort of +thing now. We will talk to him afterwards. Mr. Shirley, call all hands +and get up sail. I am going to take this schooner inside the headland. +We can find safe anchorage in the bay. We can sail over the same course +we went on with the _Miranda_, and she drew more water than this vessel." + +In an hour the _Arato_, moored by her spare anchor, lay in the little +bay, less than two hundred yards from shore. It gave the shipwrecked men +a wild delight to find themselves again upon the decks of a seaworthy +vessel, and everybody worked with a will, especially the prisoner and +Inkspot. And when the last sail had been furled, it became evident to all +hands on board that they wanted their breakfast, and this need was +speedily supplied by Maka and Inkspot from the _Arato's_ stores. + +That afternoon the captain went on shore with the negroes and the Chilian +prisoner, and the bodies of the nine men who had fallen in the attack +upon the wall of gold were buried where they lay. This was a very +different climate from that of the Peruvian coast, where the desiccating +air speedily makes a mummy of any dead body upon its arid sands. + +When this work had been accomplished, the party returned to the _Arato_, +and the captain ordered Inkspot and the prisoner to be brought aft to be +tried by court martial. The big negro had been wildly and vociferously +received by his fellow-countrymen, who, upon every possible occasion, had +jabbered together in their native tongue, but Captain Horn had, so far, +said nothing to him. + +The captain had been greatly excited from the moment he had seen the sail +in the offing. In his dire distress, on this almost desolate shore, he +had beheld what might prove to be speedy relief, and, much as he had +needed it, he had hoped that it might not come so soon. He had been +apprehensive and anxious when he supposed friendly aid might be +approaching, and he had been utterly astounded when he was forced to +believe that they were armed men who were rowing to shore, and must be +enemies. He had fought a terrible fight. He had conquered the scoundrels +who had come for his life and his treasure, and, best of all, he had +secured a vessel which would carry him and his men and his fortune to +France. He had endeavored to keep cool and think only of the work that +was immediately in hand, and he had no wish to ask anybody why or how +things had happened. They had happened, and that was all in all to him. +But now he was ready to make all necessary inquiries, and he began with +Inkspot. Maka being interpreter, the examination was easily carried on. + +The story of the negro was a very interesting one. He told of his +adventures on shore, and how kind the men had been to him until they went +on board the _Arato_, and how then they treated him as if he had been a +dog--how he had been made to do double duty in all sorts of disagreeable +work, and how, after they had seen the light on the beach, he had been +put into the hold and tied hand and foot. While down there in the dark he +had heard the firing on shore, and, after a long while, the firing from +the deck, and other shots near by. All this had so excited him that he +managed to get one hand loose from his cords, and then had speedily +unfastened the rest, and had quietly crept to a hatchway, where he could +watch what was going on without showing himself. He had seen the two men +on deck, ready to fire on the approaching boat. He had recognized Captain +Horn and the people of the _Miranda_ in the boat. And then, when there +was but one man left on deck, and the boat was afraid to come nearer, he +had rushed up behind him and tumbled him overboard. + +One thing only did Inkspot omit: he did not say that it was Mr. Burke's +example that had prompted him to go ashore for refreshments. When the +story had been told, and all questions asked and answered, the captain +turned to Burke and Shirley and asked their opinions upon the case. +Shirley was in favor of putting the negro in irons. He had deserted them, +and had nearly cost them their lives by the stories he had told on shore. +Burke, to the captain's surprise,--for the second mate generally dealt +severely with nautical transgressions,--was in favor of clemency. + +"To be sure," said he, "the black scoundrel did get us into trouble. But +then, don't you see, he has got us out of it. If these beastly fellows +hadn't been led by him to come after our money, we would not have had +this schooner, and how we should have got those bags away without +her,--to say nothing of ourselves,--is more than I can fathom. It is my +belief that no craft ever comes within twenty miles of this coast, if she +can help it. So I vote for letting him off. He didn't intend to do us any +harm, and he didn't intend to do us any good, but it seems to me that the +good he did do rises higher above the water-line than the harm. So I say, +let him off. We need another hand about as much as we need anything." + +"And so say I," said the captain. "Maka, you can tell him we forgive him, +because we believe that he is really a good fellow and didn't intend any +harm, and he can turn in with the rest of you on his old watch. And now +bring up that Chilian fellow." + +The prisoner, who gave his name as Anton Garta, was now examined in +regard to the schooner _Arato_, her extraordinary cruise, and the people +who had devised it. Garta was a fellow of moderate intelligence, and +still very much frightened, and having little wit with which to concoct +lies, and no reason for telling them, he answered the questions put to +him as correctly as his knowledge permitted. He said that about two +months before he had been one of the crew of the _Arato_, and Manuel +Cardatas was second mate, and he had been very glad to join her on this +last cruise because he was out of a job. He thought she was going to +Callao for a cargo, and so did the rest of the crew. They did not even +know there were guns on board until they were out at sea. Then, when they +had turned southward, their captain and Senor Nunez told them that they +were going in pursuit of a treasure ship commanded by a Yankee captain, +who had run away with ever so much money from California, and that they +were sure to overhaul this ship, and that they would all be rich. + +The guns were given to them, and they had had some practice with them, +and thought that Cardatas intended, should the _Miranda_ be overhauled, +to run alongside of her as near as was safe, and begin operations by +shooting everybody that could be seen on deck. He was not sure that this +was his plan, but they all had thought it was. After the storm the men +had become dissatisfied, and said they did not believe it was possible to +overhaul any vessel after so much delay, and when they had gone so far +out of their course; and Senor Nunez, who had hired the vessel, was in +doubt as to whether it would be of any use to continue the cruise. But +when Cardatas had talked to him, Senor Nunez had come among them and +promised them good rewards, whether they sighted their prize or not, if +they would work faithfully for ten days more. The men had agreed to do +this, but when they had seen the light on shore, they had made an +agreement among themselves that, if this should be nothing but a fire +built by savages or shipwrecked people of no account, they would not work +the schooner any farther south. They would put Cardatas and Nunez in +irons, if necessary, and take the _Arato_ back to Valparaiso. There were +men among them who could navigate. But when they got near enough to shore +to see that the stranded vessel was the _Miranda_, there was no more +insubordination. + +As for himself, Garta said he was a plain, common sailor, who went on +board the _Arato_ because he wanted a job. If he had known the errand on +which she was bound, he would never have approached within a league of +her. This he vowed, by all the saints. As to the ownership of the vessel +Garta could tell but little. He had heard that Cardatas had a share in +her, and thought that probably the other owners lived in Valparaiso, but +he could give no positive information on this subject. He said that every +man of the boat's crew was in a state of wild excitement when they saw +that long pile of bags, which they knew must contain treasure of some +sort, and it was because of this state of mind, most likely, that +Cardatas lost his temper and got himself shot, and so opened the fight. +Cardatas was a cunning fellow, and, if he had not been upset by the sight +of those bags, Garta believed that he would have regularly besieged +Captain Horn's party, and must have overcome them in the end. He was +anxious to have the captain believe that, when he had said there were +only two men on board, he had totally forgotten the negro, who had been +left below. + +When Garta's examination had been finished, the captain sent him +forward, and then repeated his story in brief to Shirley and Burke, +for, as the prisoner had spoken in Spanish, they had understood but +little of it. + +"I don't see that it makes much difference," said Burke, "as to what his +story is. We've got to get rid of him in some way. We don't want to +carry him about with us. We might leave him here, with a lot of grub and +a tent. That would be all he deserves." + +"I should put him in irons, to begin with," said Shirley, "and then we +can consider what to do with him when we have time." + +"I shall not leave him on shore," said the captain, "for that would +simply be condemning him to starvation; and as for putting him in irons, +that would deprive us of an able seaman. I suppose, if we took him to +France, he would have to be sent to Chili for trial, and that would be of +no use, unless we went there as witnesses. It is a puzzling question to +know what to do with him." + +"It is that," said Burke, "and it is a great pity he wasn't shot with +the others." + +"Well," said the captain, "we've got a lot of work before us, and we want +hands, so I think it will be best to let him turn in with the rest, and +make him pay for his passage, wherever we take him. The worst he can do +is to desert, and if he does that, he will settle his own business, and +we shall have no more trouble with him." + +"I don't like him," said Shirley. "I don't think we ought to have such a +fellow going about freely on board." + +"I am not afraid he will hurt any of us," said the captain, "and I +am sure he will not corrupt the negroes. They hate him. It is easy to +see that." + +"Yes," said Burke, with a laugh. "They think he is a Rackbird, and it is +just as well to let them keep on thinking so." + +"Perhaps he is," thought the captain, but he did not speak this +thought aloud. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +INKSPOT HAS A DREAM OF HEAVEN + + +The next day the work of loading the _Arato_ with the bags of gold was +begun, and it was a much slower and more difficult business than the +unloading of the _Miranda_, for the schooner lay much farther out from +the beach. But there were two men more than on the former occasion, and +the captain did not push the work. There was no need now for +extraordinary haste, and although they all labored steadily, regular +hours of work and rest were adhered to. The men had carried so many bags +filled with hard and uneven lumps that the shoulders of some of them were +tender, and they had to use cushions of canvas under their loads. But the +boats went backward and forward, and the bags were hoisted on board and +lowered into the hold, and the wall of gold grew smaller and smaller. + +"Captain," said Burke, one day, as they were standing by a pile of bags +waiting for the boat to come ashore, "do you think it is worth it! By +George! we have loaded and unloaded these blessed bags all down the +western coast of South America, and if we've got to unload and load them +all up the east coast, I say, let's take what we really need, and leave +the rest." + +"I've been at the business a good deal longer than you have," said the +captain, "and I'm not tired of it yet. When I took away my first cargo, +you must remember that I carried each bag on my own shoulders, and it +took me more than a month to do it, and even all that is only a drop in +the bucket compared to what most men who call themselves rich have to do +before they make their money." + +"All right," said Burke, "I'll stop growling. But look here, captain. +How much do you suppose one of these bags is worth, and how many are +there in all? I don't want to be inquisitive, but it would be a sort of +comfort to know." + +"No, it wouldn't," said the captain, quickly. "It would be anything else +but a comfort. I know how many bags there are, but as to what they are +worth, I don't know, and I don't want to know. I once set about +calculating it, but I didn't get very far with the figures. I need all my +wits to get through with this business, and I don't think anything would +be more likely to scatter them than calculating what this gold is worth. +It would be a good deal better for you--and for me, too--to consider, as +Shirley does, that these bags are all filled with good, clean, anthracite +coal. That won't keep us from sleeping." + +"Shirley be hanged!" said Burke, "He and you may be able to do that, but +I can't. I've got a pretty strong mind, and if you were to tell me that +when we get to port, and you discharge this crew, I can walk off with all +the gold eagles or twenty-franc pieces I can carry, I think I could stand +it without losing my mind." + +"All right," said the captain, "If we get this vessel safely to France, +I will give you a good chance to try your nerves." + +Day by day the work went on, and at last the _Arato_ took the place of +the _Miranda_ as a modern _Argo_. + +During the reembarkation of the treasure, the captain, as well as Shirley +and Burke, had kept a sharp eye on Garta. The two mates were afraid he +might run away, but, had he done so, the captain would not have regretted +it very much. He would gladly have parted with one of the bags in order +to get rid of this encumbrance. But the prisoner had no idea of running +away. He knew that the bags were filled with treasure, but as he could +now do nothing with any of it that he might steal, he did not try to +steal any. If he had thoughts of the kind, he knew this was no time for +dishonest operation. He had always been a hardworking sailor, with a good +appetite, and he worked hard now, and ate well. + +The _Miranda's_ stores had not been injured by water, and when they had +been put on board, the _Arato_ was well fitted out for a long voyage. +Leaving the _Miranda_ on the beach, with nothing in her of much value, +the _Arato_, which had cleared for Callao, and afterwards set out on a +wild piratical cruise, now made a third start, and set sail for a voyage +to France. They had good weather and tolerably fair winds, and before +they entered the Straits of Magellan the captain had formulated a plan +for the disposition of Garta. + +"I don't know anything better to do with him," said he to Shirley and +Burke, "than to put him ashore at the Falkland Islands. We don't want to +take him to France, for we would not know what to do with him after we +got him there, and, as likely as not, he would swear a lot of lies +against us as soon as he got on shore. We can run within a league of +Stanley harbor, and then, if the weather is good enough, we can put him +in a boat, with something to eat and drink, and let him row himself into +port. We can give him money enough to support himself until he can +procure work." + +"But suppose there is a man-of-war in there," said Shirley, "he might say +things that would send her after us. He might not know where to say we +got our treasure, but he could say we had stolen a Chilian vessel." + +"I had thought of that," said the captain, "but nothing such a vagrant as +he is could say ought to give any cruiser the right to interfere with us +when we are sailing under the American flag. And when I go to France, +nobody shall say that I stole a vessel, for, if the owners of the _Arato_ +can be found, they shall be well paid for what use we have made of their +schooner. I'll send her back to Valparaiso and let her be claimed." + +"It is a ticklish business," said Burke, "but I don't know what else can +be done. It is a great pity I didn't know he was going to surrender when +we had that fight." + +They had been in the Straits less than a week when Inkspot dreamed he +was in heaven. His ecstatic visions became so strong and vivid that they +awakened him, when he was not long in discovering the cause which had +produced them. The dimly lighted and quiet forecastle was permeated by a +delightful smell of spirituous liquor. Turning his eyes from right to +left, in his endeavors to understand this unusual odor of luxury, +Inkspot perceived the man Garta standing on the other side of the +forecastle, with a bottle in one hand and a cork in the other, and, as +he looked, Garta raised the bottle to his mouth, threw back his head, +and drank. + +Inkspot greatly disliked this man. He had been one of the fellows who had +ill-treated him when the _Arato_ sailed under Cardatas, and he fully +agreed with his fellow-blacks that the scoundrel should have been shot. +But now his feelings began to undergo a change. A man with a bottle of +spirits might prove to be an angel of mercy, a being of beneficence, and +if he would share with a craving fellow-being his rare good fortune, why +should not all feelings of disapprobation be set aside? Inkspot could see +no reason why they should not be, and softly slipping from his hammock, +he approached Garta. + +"Give me. Give me, just little," he whispered. + +Garta turned with a half-suppressed oath, and seeing who the suppliant +was, he seized the bottle in his left hand, and with his right struck +poor Inkspot a blow in the face. Without a word the negro stepped back, +and then Garta put the bottle into a high, narrow opening in the side of +the forecastle, and closed a little door upon it, which fastened with a +snap. This little locker, just large enough to hold one bottle, had been +made by one of the former crew of the _Arato_ solely for the purpose of +concealing spirits, and was very ingeniously contrived. Its door was a +portion of the side of the forecastle, and a keyhole was concealed behind +a removable knot. Garta had not opened the locker before, for the reason +that he had been unable to find the key. He knew it had been concealed +in the forecastle, but it had taken him a long time to find it. Now his +secret was discovered, and he was enraged. Going over to the hammock, +where Inkspot had again ensconced himself, he leaned over the negro and +whispered: + +"If you ever say a word of that bottle to anybody, I'll put a knife into +you! No matter what they do to me, I'll settle with you." + +Inkspot did not understand all this, but he knew it was a threat, and he +well understood the language of a blow in the face. After a while he went +to sleep, but, if he smelt again the odor of the contents of the bottle, +he had no more heavenly dreams. + +The next day Captain Horn found himself off the convict settlement of +Punta Arenas, belonging to the Chilian government. This was the first +port he had approached since he had taken command of the _Arato_, but he +felt no desire nor need to touch at it. In fact, the vicinity of Punta +Arenas seemed of no importance whatever, until Shirley came to him and +reported that the man Garta was nowhere to be found. Captain Horn +immediately ordered a search and inquiry to be made, but no traces of the +prisoner could be discovered, nor could anybody tell anything about him. +Burke and Inkspot had been on watch with him from four to eight, but they +could give no information whatever concerning him. No splash nor cries +for help had been heard, so that he could not have fallen overboard, and +it was generally believed that, when he knew himself to be in the +vicinity of a settlement, he had quietly slipped into the water and had +swum for Punta Arenas. Burke suggested that most likely he had formerly +been a resident of the place, and liked it better than being taken off +to unknown regions in the schooner. And Shirley considered this very +probable, for he said the man had always looked like a convict to him. + +At all events, Garta was gone, and there was no one to say how long he +had been gone. So, under full sail, the _Arato_ went on her way. It was a +relief to get rid of the prisoner, and the only harm which could come of +his disappearance was that he might report that his ship had been stolen +by the men who were sailing her, and that some sort of a vessel might be +sent in pursuit of the _Arato_, and, if this should be the case, the +situation would be awkward. But days passed on, the schooner sailed out +of the Straits, and no vessel was seen pursuing her. + +To the northeast Captain Horn set his course. He would not stop at Rio +Janeiro, for the _Arato_ had no papers for that port. He would not lie to +off Stanley harbor, for he had now nobody to send ashore. But he would +sail boldly for France, where he would make no pretensions that his +auriferous cargo was merely ballast. He was known at Marseilles. He had +business relations with bankers in Paris. He was a Californian and an +American citizen, and he would merely be bringing to France a vessel +freighted with gold, which, by the aid of his financial advisers, would +be legitimately cared for and disposed of. + +One night, before the _Arato_ reached the Falkland Islands, Maka, who was +on watch, heard a queer sound in the forecastle, and looking down the +companionway, he saw, by the dim light of the swinging lantern, a man +with a hatchet, endeavoring to force the blade of it into the side of the +vessel. Maka quickly perceived that the man was Inkspot, and as he could +not imagine what he was doing, he quietly watched him. Inkspot worked +with as little noise as possible, but he was evidently bent upon forcing +off one of the boards on the side of the forecastle. At first Maka +thought that his fellow-African was trying to sink the ship by opening a +seam, but he soon realized that this notion was absurd, and so he let +Inkspot go on, being very curious to know what he was doing. In a few +minutes he knew. With a slight noise, not enough to waken a sound +sleeper, a little door flew open, and almost immediately Inkspot held a +bottle in his hand. + +Maka slipped swiftly and softly to the side of the big negro, but he was +not quick enough. Inkspot had the neck of the bottle in his mouth and the +bottom raised high in the air. But, before Maka could seize him by the +arm, the bottle had come down from its elevated position, and a doleful +expression crept over the face of Inkspot. There had been scarcely a +teaspoonful of liquor left in the bottle. Inkspot looked at Maka, and +Maka looked at him. In an African whisper, the former now ordered the +disappointed negro to put the bottle back, to shut up the locker, and +then to get into his hammock and go to sleep as quickly as he could, for +if Mr. Shirley, who was on watch on deck, found out what he had been +doing, Inkspot would wish he had never been born. + +The next day, when they had an opportunity for an African conversation, +Inkspot assured his countryman that he had discovered the little locker +by smelling the whiskey through the boards, and that, having no key, he +had determined to force it open with a hatchet. Maka could not help +thinking that Inkspot had a wonderful nose for an empty bottle, and +could scarcely restrain from a shudder at the thought of what might +have happened had the bottle been full. But he did not report the +occurrence. Inkspot was a fellow-African, and he had barely escaped +punishment for his former misdeed. It would be better to keep his mouth +shut, and he did. + +Against the north winds, before the south winds, and on the winds from +the east and the west, through fair weather and through foul, the _Arato_ +sailed up the South Atlantic. It was a long, long voyage, but the +schooner was skilfully navigated and sailed well. Sometimes she sighted +great merchant-steamers plying between Europe and South America, +freighted with rich cargoes, and proudly steaming away from the little +schooner, whose dark-green hull could scarcely be distinguished from the +color of the waves. And why should not the captain of this humble little +vessel sometimes have said to himself, as he passed a big three-master or +a steamer: + +"What would they think if they knew that, if I chose to do it, I could +buy every ship, and its cargo, that I shall meet between here and +Gibraltar!" + +"Captain," said Shirley, one day, "what do you think about the right and +wrong of this?" + +"What do you mean?" asked Captain Horn. + +"I mean," replied Shirley, "taking away the gold we have on board. We've +had pretty easy times lately, and I've been doing a good deal of +thinking, and sometimes I have wondered where we got the right to clap +all this treasure into bags and sail away with it." + +"So you have stopped thinking the bags are all filled with anthracite +coal," said the captain. + +"Yes," said the other. "We are getting on toward the end of this voyage, +and it is about time to give up that fancy. I always imagine, when I am +near the end of a voyage, what I am going to do when I go ashore, and if +I have any real right to some of the gold down under our decks, I shall +do something very different from anything I ever did before." + +"I hope you don't mean going on a spree," said Burke, who was standing +near. "That would be something entirely different." + +"I thought," said the captain, "that you both understood this business, +but I don't mind going over it again. There is no doubt in my mind that +this gold originally belonged to the Incas, who then owned Peru, and they +put it into that mound to keep it from the Spaniards, whose descendants +now own Peru, and who rule it without much regard to the descendants of +the ancient Peruvians. Now, when I discovered the gold, and began to have +an idea of how valuable the find was, I knew that the first thing to do +was to get it out of that place and away from the country. Whatever is to +be done in the way of fair play and fair division must be done somewhere +else, and not there. If I had informed the government of what I had +found, this gold would have gone directly into the hands of the +descendants of the people from whom its original owners did their very +best to keep it, and nobody else would have had a dollar's worth of it. +If we had stood up for our rights to a reward for finding it, ten to one +we would all have been clapped into prison." + +"I suppose by that," said Burke, "that you looked upon the stone mound in +the cave as a sort of will left by those old Peruvians, and you made +yourself an executor to carry out the intentions of the testators, as +the lawyers say." + +"But we can set it down as dead certain," interrupted Shirley, "that the +testators didn't mean us to have it." + +"No," said the captain, "nor do I mean that we shall have all of it. I +intend to have the question of the ownership of this gold decided by +people who are able and competent to decide such a question, and who will +be fair and honest to all parties. But whatever is agreed upon, and +whatever is done with the treasure, I intend to charge a good price--a +price which shall bear a handsome proportion to the value of the +gold--for my services, and all our services. Some of this charge I have +already taken, and I intend to have a great deal more. We have worked +hard and risked much to get this treasure--" + +"Yes," thought Burke, as he remembered the trap at the bottom of the +mound. "You risked a great deal more than you ever supposed you did." + +"And we are bound to be well paid for it," continued the captain. "No +matter where this gold goes, I shall have a good share of it, and this I +am going to divide among our party, according to a fair scale. How does +that strike you, Shirley?" + +"If the business is going to be conducted as you say, captain," replied +the first mate, "I say it will be all fair and square, and I needn't +bother my head with any more doubts about it. But there is one thing I +wish you would tell me: how much do you think I will be likely to get out +of this cargo, when you divide?" + +"Mr. Shirley," said the captain, "when I give you your share of this +cargo, you can have about four bags of anthracite coal, weighing a little +over one hundred pounds, which, at the rate of six dollars a ton, would +bring you between thirty and forty cents. Will that satisfy you? Of +course, this is only a rough guess at a division, but I want to see how +it falls in with your ideas." + +Shirley laughed. "I guess you're right, captain," said he. "It will be +better for me to keep on thinking we are carrying coal. That won't +bother my head." + +"That's so," said Burke. "Your brain can't stand that sort of badger. I'd +hate to go ashore with you at Marseilles with your pocket full and your +skull empty. As for me, I can stand it first-rate. I have already built +two houses on Cape Cod,--in my head, of course,--and I'll be hanged if I +know which one I am going to live in and which one I am going to put my +mother in." + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +MOK AS A VOCALIST + + +It would have been very comfortable to the mind of Edna, during her +waiting days in Paris, had she known there was a letter to her from +Captain Horn, in a cottage in the town of Sidmouth, on the south coast of +Devonshire. Had she known this, she would have chartered French trains, +Channel steamers, English trains, flies, anything and everything which +would have taken her the quickest to the little town of Sidmouth. Had she +known that he had written to her the first chance he had had, all her +doubts and perplexities would have vanished in an instant. Had she read +the letter, she might have been pained to find that it was not such a +letter as she would wish to have, and she might have grieved that it +might still be a long time before she could expect to hear from him +again, or to see him, but she would have waited--have waited patiently, +without any doubts or perplexities. + +This letter, with a silver coin,--much more than enough to pay any +possible postage,--had been handed by Shirley to the first mate of the +British steamer, in the harbor of Valparaiso, and that officer had given +it to a seaman, who was going on shore, with directions to take it to +the post-office, and pay for the postage out of the silver coin, and +whatever change there might be, he should keep it for his trouble. On the +way to the post-office, this sailor stopped to refresh himself, and +meeting with a fellow-mariner in the place of refreshment, he refreshed +him also. And by the time the two had refreshed themselves to their +satisfaction, there was not much left of the silver coin--not enough to +pay the necessary postage to France. + +"But," said the seaman to himself, "it doesn't matter a bit. We are bound +for Liverpool, and I'll take the letter there myself, and then I'll send +it over to Paris for tuppence ha'penny, which I will have then, and +haven't now. And I bet another tuppence that it will go sooner than if I +posted it here, for it may be a month before a mail-steamer leaves the +other side of this beastly continent. Anyway, I'm doing the best I can." + +He put the letter in the pocket of his pea-jacket, and the bottom of that +pocket being ripped, the letter went down between the outside cloth and +the lining of the pea-jacket to the very bottom of the garment, where it +remained until the aforesaid seaman had reached England, and had gone +down to see his family, who lived in the cottage in Sidmouth. And there +he had hung up his pea-jacket on a nail, in a little room next to the +kitchen, and there his mother had found it, and sewed on two buttons, and +sewed up the rips in the bottoms of two pockets. Shortly after this, the +sailor, happening to pass a post-office box, remembered the letter he had +brought to England. He went to his pea-jacket and searched it, but could +find no letter. He must have lost it--he hoped after he had reached +England, and no doubt whoever found it would put a tuppence ha'penny +stamp on it and stick it into a box. Anyway, he had done all he could. + +One pleasant spring evening, the negro Mok sat behind a table in the +well-known beer-shop called the "Black Cat." He had before him a +half-emptied beer-glass, and in front of him was a pile of three small +white dishes. These signified that Mok had had three glasses of beer, and +when he should finish the one in his hand, and should order another, the +waiter would bring with it another little white plate, which he would put +on the table, on the pile already there, and which would signify that the +African gentleman must pay for four glasses of beer. + +Mok was enjoying himself very much. It was not often that he had such an +opportunity to sample the delights of Paris. His young master, Ralph, had +given him strict orders never to go out at night, or in his leisure +hours, unless accompanied by Cheditafa. The latter was an extremely +important and sedate personage. The combined dignity of a butler and a +clergyman were more than ever evident in his person, and he was a painful +drawback to the more volatile Mok. Mok had very fine clothes, which it +rejoiced him to display. He had a fine appetite for everything fit to eat +and drink. He had money in his pockets, and it delighted him to see +people and to see things, although he might not know who they were or +what they were. He knew nothing of French, and his power of expressing +himself in English had not progressed very far. But on this evening, in +the jolly precincts of the Black Cat, he did not care whether the people +used language or not. He did not care what they did, so that he could +sit there and enjoy himself. When he wanted more beer, the waiter +understood him, and that was enough. + +The jet-black negro, gorgeously arrayed in the livery Ralph had chosen +for him, and with his teeth and eyeballs whiter than the pile of plates +before him, was an object of great interest to the company in the +beer-shop. They talked to him, and although he did not understand them, +or answer them, they knew he was enjoying himself. And when the landlord +rang a big bell, and a pale young man, wearing a high hat, and sitting at +a table opposite him, threw into his face an expression of exalted +melancholy, and sang a high-pitched song, Mok showed how he appreciated +the performance by thumping more vigorously on the table than any of the +other people who applauded the singer. + +Again and again the big bell was rung, and there were other songs and +choruses, and then the company turned toward Mok and called on him to +sing. He did not understand them, but he laughed and pounded his fist +upon the table. But when the landlord came down to his table, and rang +the bell in front of him, that sent an informing idea into the African +head. He had noticed that every time the bell had been rung, somebody had +sung, and now he knew what was wanted of him. He had had four glasses of +beer, and he was an obliging fellow, so he nodded his head violently, and +everybody stopped doing what they had been doing, and prepared to listen. + +Mok's repertoire of songs could not be expected to be large. In fact, he +only knew one musical composition, and that was an African hymn which +Cheditafa had taught him. This he now proceeded to execute. He threw +back his head, as some of the others had done, and emitted a succession +of grunts, groans, yelps, barks, squeaks, yells, and rattles which +utterly electrified the audience. Then, as if his breath filled his whole +body, and quivering and shaking like an angry squirrel when it chatters +and barks, Mok sang louder and more wildly, until the audience, unable to +restrain themselves, burst into laughter, and applauded with canes, +sticks, and fists. But Mok kept on. He had never imagined he could sing +so well. There was only one person in that brasserie who did not applaud +the African hymn, but no one paid so much attention to it as this man, +who had entered the Black Cat just as Mok had begun. + +He was a person of medium size, with a heavy mustache, and a face +darkened by a beard of several days' growth. He was rather roughly +dressed, and wore a soft felt hat. He was a Rackbird. + +This man had formerly belonged to the band of desperadoes which had been +swept away by a sudden flood on the coast of Peru. He had accompanied his +comrades on the last marauding expedition previous to that remarkable +accident, but he had not returned with them. He had devised a little +scheme of his own, which had detained him longer than he had expected, +and he was not ready to go back with them. It would have been difficult +for him to reach the camp by himself, and, after what he had done, he did +not very much desire to go, there as he would probably have been shot as +a deserter; for Captain Raminez was a savage fellow, and more than +willing to punish transgressions against his orders. This deserter, +Banker by name, was an American, who had been a gold-digger, a gambler, +a rough, and a dead shot in California, and he was very well able to take +care of himself in any part of the world. + +He had made his way up to Panama, and had stayed there as long as it was +safe for him to do so, and had eventually reached Paris. He did not like +this city half so well as he liked London, but in the latter city he +happened to be wanted, and he was not wanted in Paris. It was generally +the case that he stayed where he was not wanted. + +Of course, Banker knew nothing of the destruction of his band, and the +fact that he had not heard from them since he left them gave him not the +slightest regret. But what did astonish him beyond bounds was to sit at a +table in the Black Cat, in Paris, and see before him, dressed like the +valet of a Spanish grandee, a coal-black negro who had once been his +especial and particular slave and drudge, a fellow whom he had kicked and +beaten and sworn at, and whom he no doubt would have shot had he stayed +much longer with his lawless companions, the Rackbirds. There was no +mistaking this black man. He well remembered his face, and even the tones +of his voice. He had never heard him sing, but he had heard him howl, and +it seemed almost impossible that he should meet him in Paris. And yet, he +was sure that the man who was bellowing and bawling to the delight of the +guests of the Black Cat was one of the African wretches who had been +entrapped and enslaved by the Rackbirds. + +But if Banker had been astonished by Mok, he was utterly amazed and +confounded when, some five minutes later, the door of the brasserie was +suddenly opened, and another of the slaves of the Rackbirds, with whose +face he was also perfectly familiar, hurriedly entered. + +Cheditafa, who had been sent on an errand that evening, had missed Mok +on his return. Ralph was away in Brussels with the professor, so that +his valet, having most of his time on his hands, had thought to take a +holiday during Cheditafa's absence, and had slipped off to the Black +Cat, whose pleasures he had surreptitiously enjoyed before, but never to +such an extent as on this occasion. Cheditafa knew he had been there, +and when he started out to look for him, it was to the Black Cat that he +went first. + +Before he had quite reached the door, Cheditafa had been shocked and +angered to hear his favorite hymn sung in a beer-shop by that reprobate +and incompetent Mok, and he had rushed in, and in a minute seized the +blatant vocalist by the collar, and ordered him instantly to shut his +mouth and pay his reckoning. Then, in spite of the shouts of +disapprobation which arose on every side, he led away the negro as if he +had been a captured dog with his tail between his legs. + +Mok could easily have thrown Cheditafa across the street, but his respect +and reverence for his elder and superior were so great that he obeyed his +commands without a word of remonstrance. + +Now up sprang Banker, who was in such a hurry to go that he forgot to pay +for his beer, and when he performed this duty, after having been abruptly +reminded of it by a waiter, he was almost too late to follow the two +black men, but not quite too late. He was an adept in the tracking of +his fellow-beings, and it was not long before he was quietly following +Mok and Cheditafa, keeping at some distance behind them, but never +allowing them to get out of his sight. + +In the course of a moderate walk he saw them enter the Hotel Grenade. +This satisfied the wandering Rackbird. If the negroes went into that +hotel at that time of night, they must live there, and he could suspend +operations until morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +MR. BANKER'S SPECULATION + + +That night Banker was greatly disturbed by surmises and conjectures +concerning the presence of the two negroes in the French capital. He knew +Cheditafa quite as well as he knew Mok, and it was impossible that he +should be mistaken. It is seldom that any one sees a native African in +Paris, and he was positive that the men he had seen, dressed in expensive +garments, enjoying themselves like gentlemen of leisure, and living at a +grand hotel, were the same negroes he had last seen in rags and shreds, +lodged in a cave in the side of a precipice, toiling and shuddering under +the commands of a set of desperadoes on a desert coast in South America. +There was only one way in which he could explain matters, and that was +that the band had had some great success, and that one or more of its +members had come to Paris, and had brought the two negroes with them as +servants. But of one thing he had no doubts, and that was that he would +follow up the case. He had met with no successes of late, but if any of +his former comrades had, he wanted to meet those dear old friends. In +Paris he was not afraid of anything they might say about his desertion. + +Very early in the morning Banker was in front of the Hotel Grenade. He +did not loiter there; he did not wander up and down like a vagrant, or +stand about like a spy. It was part of his business to be able to be +present in various places almost at the same time, and not to attract +notice in any of them. It was not until after ten o'clock that he saw +anything worthy of his observation, and then a carriage drove up to the +front entrance, and on the seat beside the driver sat Cheditafa, erect, +solemn, and respectable. Presently the negro got down and opened the door +of the carriage. In a few moments a lady, a beautiful lady, handsomely +dressed, came out of the hotel and entered the carriage. Then Cheditafa +shut the door and got up beside the driver again. It was a fine thing to +have such a footman as this one, so utterly different from the ordinary +groom or footman, so extremely _distingue_! + +As the carriage rolled off, Banker walked after it, but not in such a way +as to attract attention, and then he entered a cab and told the _cocher_ +to drive to the Bon Marche. Of course, he did not know where the lady was +going to, but at present she was driving in the direction of that +celebrated mart, and he kept his eye upon her carriage, and if she had +turned out of the Boulevard and away from the Seine, he would have +ordered his driver to turn also and go somewhere else. He did not dare to +tell the man to follow the carriage. He was shaved, and his clothes had +been put in as good order as possible, but he knew that he did not look +like a man respectable enough to give such an order without exciting +suspicion. + +But the carriage did go to the Bon Marche, and there also went the cab, +the two vehicles arriving at almost the same time. Banker paid his fare +with great promptness, and was on the pavement in time to see the +handsomely dressed lady descend and enter the establishment. As she went +in, he took one look at the back of her bonnet. It had a little green +feather in it. Then he turned quickly upon Cheditafa, who had shut the +carriage door and was going around behind it in order to get up on the +other side. + +"Look here," whispered Banker, seizing the clerical butler by the +shoulder, "who is that lady? Quick, or I'll put a knife in you." + +At these words Cheditafa's heart almost stopped beating, and as he +quickly turned he saw that he looked into the face of a man, an awfully +wicked man, who had once helped to grind the soul out of him, in that +dreadful cave by the sea. The poor negro was so frightened that he +scarcely knew whether he was in Paris or Peru. + +"Who is she?" whispered again the dreadful Rackbird. + +"Come, come!" shouted the coachman from his seat, "we must move on." + +"Quick! Who is she?" hissed Banker. + +"She?" replied the quaking negro. "She is the captain's wife. She is--" +But he could say no more, for a policeman was ordering the carriage to +move on, for it stopped the way, and the coachman was calling +impatiently. Banker could not afford to meet a policeman. He released his +hold on Cheditafa and retired unnoticed. An instant afterward he entered +the Bon Marche. + +Cheditafa climbed up to the side of the driver, but he missed his +foothold several times, and came near falling to the ground. In all Paris +there was no footman on a carriage who looked less upright, less sedate, +and less respectable than this poor, frightened black man. + +Through the corridors and passageways of the vast establishment went +Banker. But he did not have to go far. He saw at a counter a little green +feather in the back of a bonnet. Quietly he approached that counter, and +no sooner had the attendant turned aside to get something that had been +asked for than Banker stepped close to the side of the lady, and leaning +forward, said in a very low but polite voice: + +"I am so glad to find the captain's wife. I have been looking for her." + +He was almost certain, from her appearance, that she was an American, and +so he spoke in English. + +Edna turned with a start. She saw beside her a man with his hat off, a +rough-looking man, but a polite one, and a man who looked like a sailor. + +"The captain!" she stammered. "Have you--do you bring me anything! +A letter?" + +"Yes, madam," said he. "I have a letter and a message for you." + +"Give them to me quickly!" said she, her face burning. + +"I cannot," he said. "I cannot give them to you here. I have much to say +to you, and much to tell you, and I was ordered to say it in private." + +Edna was astounded. Her heart sank. Captain Horn must be in trouble, else +why such secrecy? But she must know everything, and quickly. Where could +she meet the man? He divined her thought. + +"The Gardens of the Tuileries," said he. "Go there now, please. I will +meet you, no matter in what part of it you are." And so saying, he +slipped away unnoticed. + +When the salesman came to her, Edna did not remember what she had asked +to see, but whatever he brought she did not want, and going out, she had +her carriage called, and ordered her coachman to take her to the Gardens +of the Tuileries. She was so excited that she did not wait for Cheditafa +to get down, but opened the door herself, and stepped in quickly, even +before the porter of the establishment could attend to her. + +When she reached the Gardens, and Cheditafa opened the carriage door for +her, she thought he must have a fit of chills and fever. But she had no +time to consider this, and merely told him that she was going to walk in +the Gardens, and the carriage must wait. + +It was some time before Edna met the man with whom she had made this +appointment. He had seen her alight, and although he did not lose sight +of her, he kept away from her, and let her walk on until she was entirely +out of sight of the carriage. As soon as Edna perceived Banker, she +walked directly toward him. She had endeavored to calm herself, but he +could see that she was much agitated. + +"How in the devil's name," he thought to himself, "did Raminez ever come +to marry such a woman as this? She's fit for a queen. But they say he +used to be a great swell in Spain before he got into trouble, and I +expect he's put on his old airs again, and an American lady will marry +anybody that's a foreign swell. And how neatly she played into my hand! +She let me know right away that she wanted a letter, which means, of +course, that Raminez is not with her." + +"Give me the letter, if you please," said Edna. + +"Madam," said Banker, with a bow, "I told you I had a letter and a +message. I must deliver the message first." + +"Then be quick with it," said she. + +"I will," said Banker. "Our captain has had great success lately, you +know, but he is obliged to keep a little in the background for the +present, as you will see by your letter, and as it is a very particular +letter, indeed, he ordered me to bring it to you." + +Edna's heart sank. "What has happened?" said she. "Why--" + +"Oh, you will find all that in the letter," said Banker. "The captain has +written out everything, full and clear. He told me so himself. But I must +get through with my message. It is not from him. It is from me. As I just +said, he ordered me to bring you this letter, and it was a hard thing to +do, and a risky thing to do. But I undertook the job of giving it to you, +in private, without anybody's knowing you had received it." + +"What!" exclaimed Edna. "Nobody to know!" + +"Oh, that is all explained," said he, hurriedly. "I can't touch on that. +My affair is this: The captain sent me with the letter, and I have been +to a lot of trouble to get it to you. Now, he is not going to pay me for +all this,--if he thanks me, it will be more than I expect,--and I am +going to be perfectly open and honest with you, and say that as the +captain won't pay me, I expect you to do it; or, putting it in another +way, before I hand you the letter I brought you, I want you to make me a +handsome present." + +"You rascal!" exclaimed Edna. "How dare you impose on me in this way?" + +It humiliated and mortified her to think that the captain was obliged to +resort to such a messenger as this. But all sorts of men become sailors, +and although her pride revolted against the attempted imposition, the man +had a letter written to her by Captain Horn, and she must have it. + +"How much do you want?" said she. + +"I don't mind your calling me names," said Banker. "The captain has made +a grand stroke, you know, and everything about you is very fine, while I +haven't three francs to jingle together. I want one thousand dollars." + +"Five thousand francs!" exclaimed Edna. "Absurd! I have not that much +money with me. I haven't but a hundred francs, but that ought to +satisfy you." + +"Oh, no," said Banker, "not at all. But don't trouble yourself. You have +not the money, and I have not the letter. The letter is in my lodgings. I +was not fool enough to bring it with me, and have you call a policeman to +arrest me, and take it for nothing. But if you will be here in two hours, +with five thousand francs, and will promise me, upon your honor, that you +will bring no one with you, and will not call the police as soon as you +have the letter, I will be here with it." + +"Yes," said Edna, "I promise." + +She felt humbled and ashamed as she said it, but there was nothing +else to do. In spite of her feelings, in spite of the cost, she must +have the letter. + +"Very good," said Banker, and he departed. + +Banker had no lodgings in particular, but he went to a brasserie and +procured writing materials. He had some letters in his pocket,--old, +dirty letters which had been there for a long time,--and one of them was +from Raminez, which had been written when they were both in California, +and which Banker had kept because it contained an unguarded reference to +Raminez's family in Spain, and Banker had thought that the information +might some day be useful to him. He was a good penman, this +Rackbird,--he was clever in many ways,--and he could imitate handwriting +very well, and he set himself to work to address an envelope in the +handwriting of Raminez. + +For some time he debated within himself as to what title he should use in +addressing the lady. Should it be "Senora" or "Madame"? He inclined to +the first appellation, but afterwards thought that as the letter was to +go to her in France, and that as most likely she understood French, and +not Spanish, Raminez would probably address her in the former language, +and therefore he addressed the envelope to "Madame Raminez, by private +hand." As to the writing of a letter he did not trouble himself at all. +He simply folded up two sheets of paper and put them in the envelope, +sealing it tightly. Now he was prepared, and after waiting until the +proper time had arrived he proceeded to the Gardens. + +Edna drove to her hotel in great agitation. She was angry, she was +astounded, she was almost frightened. What could have happened to +Captain Horn? + +But two things encouraged and invigorated her: he was alive, and he had +written to her. That was everything, and she would banish all +speculations and fears until she had read his letter, and, until she had +read it, she must keep the matter a secret--she must not let anybody +imagine that she had heard anything, or was about to hear anything. By +good fortune, she had five thousand francs in hand, and, with these in +her pocket-book, she ordered her carriage half an hour before the time +appointed. + +When Cheditafa heard the order, he was beset by a new consternation. He +had been greatly troubled when his mistress had gone to the Gardens the +first time--not because there was anything strange in that, for any lady +might like to walk in such a beautiful place, but because she was alone, +and, with a Rackbird in Paris, his lady ought never to be alone. She had +come out safely, and he had breathed again, and now, now she wanted to go +back! He must tell her about that Rackbird man. He had been thinking and +thinking about telling her all the way back to the hotel, but he had +feared to frighten her, and he had also been afraid to say that he had +done what he had been ordered not to do, and had told some one that she +was the captain's wife. But when he had reached the Gardens, he felt that +he must say something--she must not walk about alone. Accordingly, as +Edna stepped out of the carriage, he began to speak to her, but, contrary +to her usual custom, she paid no attention to him, simply telling him to +wait until she came back. + +Edna was obliged to wander about for some time before Banker appeared. + +"Now, then, madam," said he, "don't let us waste any time on this +business. Have you the money with you?" + +"I have," said she. "But before I give it to you, I tell you that I do so +under protest, and that this conduct of yours shall be reported. I +consider it a most shameful thing, and I do not willingly pay you for +what, no doubt, you have been sufficiently paid before." + +"That's all very well," said Banker. "I don't mind a bit what you say to +me. I don't mind your being angry--in fact, I think you ought to be. In +your place, I would be angry. But if you will hand me the money--" + +"Silence!" exclaimed Edna. "Not another word. Where is my letter?" + +"Here it is," said Banker, drawing the letter he had prepared from his +pocket, and holding it in such a position that she could read the +address. "You see, it is marked, 'by private hand,' and this is the +private hand that has brought it to you. Now, if you will count out the +money, and will hand it to me, I will give you the letter. That is +perfectly fair, isn't it?" + +Edna leaned forward and looked at it. When she saw the superscription, +she was astonished, and stepped back. + +"What do you mean?" she exclaimed, and was about to angrily assert that +she was not Madame Raminez, when Banker interrupted her. The sight of her +pocket-book within two feet of his hands threw him into a state of +avaricious excitement. + +"I want you to give me that money, and take your letter!" he said +savagely. "I can't stand here fooling." + +[Illustration: "I want you to give me that money, and take your letter!" +he said savagely.] + +Edna firmly gripped her pocket-book, and was about to scream, but there +was no occasion for it. It had been simply impossible for Cheditafa to +remain on the carriage and let her go into the Gardens alone; he had +followed her, and, behind some bushes, he had witnessed the interview +between her and Banker. He saw that the man was speaking roughly to her +and threatening her. Instantly he rushed toward the two, and at the very +top of his voice he yelled: + +"Rackbird! Rackbird! Police!" + +Startled out of her senses, Edna stepped back, while Banker turned in +fury toward the negro, and clapped his hand to his hip pocket. But +Cheditafa's cries had been heard, and down the broad avenue Banker saw +two gendarmes running toward him. It would not do to wait here and +meet them. + +"You devil!" he cried, turning to Cheditafa, "I'll have your blood before +you know it. As for you, madam, you have broken your word! I'll be even +with you!" And, with this, he dashed away. + +When the gendarmes reached the spot, they waited to ask no questions, but +immediately pursued the flying Banker. Cheditafa was about to join in the +chase, but Edna stopped him. + +"Come to the carriage--quick!" she said. "I do not wish to stay here and +talk to those policemen." Hurrying out of the Gardens, she drove away. + +The ex-Rackbird was a very hard man to catch. He had had so much +experience in avoiding arrest that his skill in that direction was +generally more than equal to the skill, in the opposite direction, of the +ordinary detective. A good many people and two other gendarmes joined in +the chase after the man in the slouch-hat, who had disappeared like a +mouse or a hare around some shrubbery. It was not long before the +pursuers were joined by a man in a white cap, who asked several questions +as to what they were running after, but he did not seem to take a +sustained interest in the matter, and soon dropped out and went about his +business. He did not take his slouch-hat out of his pocket, for he +thought it would be better to continue to wear his white cap for a time. + +When the police were obliged to give up the pursuit, they went back to +the Gardens to talk to the lady and her servant who, in such strange +words, had called to them, but they were not there. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +MENTAL TURMOILS + + +Edna went home faint, trembling, and her head in a whirl. When she had +heard Cheditafa shout "Rackbird," the thought flashed into her mind that +the captain had been captured in the caves by some of these brigands who +had not been destroyed, that this was the cause of his silence, and that +he had written to her for help. But she considered that the letter could +not be meant for her, for under no circumstance would he have written to +her as Madame Raminez--a name of which she had never heard. This thought +gave her a little comfort, but not much. As soon as she reached the +hotel, she had a private talk with Cheditafa, and what the negro told her +reassured her greatly. + +He did not make a very consecutive tale, but he omitted nothing. He told +her of his meeting with the Rackbird in front of the Bon Marche, and he +related every word of their short conversation. He accounted for this +Rackbird's existence by saying that he had not been at the camp when the +water came down. In answer to a question from Edna, he said that the +captain of the band was named Raminez, and that he had known him by that +name when he first saw him in Panama, though in the Rackbirds' camp he +was called nothing but "the captain." + +"And you only told him I was the captain's wife?" asked Edna. "You didn't +say I was Captain Horn's wife?" + +Cheditafa tried his best to recollect, and he felt very sure that he had +simply said she was the captain's wife. + +When his examination was finished, Cheditafa burst into an earnest +appeal to his mistress not to go out again alone while she stayed in +Paris. He said that this Rackbird was an awfully wicked man, and that he +would kill all of them if he could. If the police caught him, he wanted +to go and tell them what a bad man he was. He did not believe the police +had caught him. This man could run like a wild hare, and policemen's +legs were so stiff. + +Edna assured him that she would take good care of herself, and, after +enjoining upon him not to say a word to any one of what had happened +until she told him to, she sent him away. + +When Edna sat in council with herself upon the events of the morning, she +was able to make some very fair conjectures as to what had happened. The +scoundrel she met had supposed her to be the wife of the Rackbirds' +captain. Having seen and recognized Cheditafa, it was natural enough for +him to suppose that the negro had been brought to Paris by some of the +band. All this seemed to be good reasoning, and she insisted to herself +over and over again that she was quite sure that Captain Horn had nothing +to do with the letter which the man had been intending to give her. + +That assurance relieved her of one great trouble, but there were others +left. Here was a member of a band of bloody ruffians,--and perhaps he had +companions,--who had sworn vengeance against her and her faithful +servant, and Cheditafa's account of this man convinced her that he would +be ready enough to carry out such vengeance. She scarcely believed that +the police had caught him. For she had seen how he could run, and he had +the start of them. But even if they had, on what charge would he be held? +He ought to be confined or deported, but she did not wish to institute +proceedings and give evidence. She did not know what might be asked, or +said, or done, if she deposed that the man was a member of the Rackbird +band, and brought Cheditafa as a witness. + +In all this trouble and perplexity she had no one to whom she could turn +for advice and assistance. If she told Mrs. Cliff there was a Rackbird in +Paris, and that he had been making threats, she was sure that good lady +would fly to her home in Plainton, Maine, where she would have iron bars +put to all the windows, and double locks to her doors. + +In this great anxiety and terror--for, although Edna was a brave woman, +it terrified her to think that a wild and reckless villain, purple with +rage, had shaken his fist at her, and vowed he would kill Cheditafa--she +could not think of a soul she could trust. + +Her brother, fortunately, was still in Belgium with his +tutor--fortunately, she thought, because, if he knew of the affair, he +would be certain to plunge himself into danger. And to whom could she +apply for help without telling too much of her story? + +Mrs. Cliff felt there was something in the air. "You seem queer," said +she. "You seem unusually excited and ready to laugh. It isn't natural. +And Cheditafa looks very ashy. I saw him just a moment ago, and it seems +to me a dose of quinine would do him good. It may be that it is a sort of +spring fever which is affecting people, and I am not sure but that +something of the kind is the matter with me. At any rate, there is that +feeling in my spine and bones which I always have when things are about +to happen, or when there is malaria in the air." + +Edna felt she must endeavor in all possible ways to prevent Mrs. Cliff +from finding out that the curses of a wicked Rackbird were in the air, +but she herself shuddered when she thought that one or more of the cruel +desperadoes, whose coming they had dreaded and waited for through that +fearful night in the caves of Peru, were now to be dreaded and feared in +the metropolis of France. If Edna shuddered at this, what would Mrs. +Cliff do if she knew it? + +As for the man with the white cap, who had walked slowly away about his +business that morning when he grew tired of following the gendarmes, he +was in a terrible state of mind. He silently raged and stormed and +gnashed his teeth, and swore under his breath most awfully and +continuously. Never had he known such cursed luck. One thousand dollars +had been within two feet of his hand! He knew that the lady had that sum +in her pocket-book. He was sure she spoke truthfully. Her very +denunciation of him was a proof that she had not meant to deceive him. +She hesitated a moment, but she would have given him the money. In a few +seconds more he would have made her take the letter and give him the +price she promised. But in those few seconds that Gehenna-born baboon +had rushed in and spoiled everything. He was not enraged against the +lady, but he was enraged against himself because he had not snatched the +wallet before he ran, and he was infuriated to a degree which resembled +intoxication when he thought of Cheditafa and what he had done. The more +he thought, the more convinced he became that the lady had not brought +the negro with her to spy on him. If she had intended to break her word, +she would have brought a gendarme, not that ape. + +No, the beastly blackamoor had done the business on his own account. He +had sneaked after the lady, and when he saw the gendarmes coming, he had +thought it a good chance to pay off old scores. + +"Pay off!" growled Banker, in a tone which made a shop-girl, who was +walking in front of him carrying a band-box, jump so violently that she +dropped the box. "Pay off! I'll pay him!" And for a quarter of a mile he +vowed that the present purpose of his life was the annihilation, the +bloody annihilation, of that vile dog, whom he had trampled into the dirt +of the Pacific coast, and who now, decked in fine clothes, had arisen in +Paris to balk him of his fortune. + +It cut Banker very deeply when he thought how neat and simple had been +the plan which had almost succeeded. He had had a notion, when he went +away to prepare the letter for the captain's wife, that he would write in +it a brief message which would mean nothing, but would make it necessary +for her to see him again and to pay him again. But he had abandoned this. +He might counterfeit an address, but it was wiser not to try his hand +upon a letter. The more he thought about Raminez, the less he desired to +run the risk of meeting him, even in Paris. So he considered that if he +made this one bold stroke and got five thousand francs, he would retire, +joyful and satisfied. But now! Well, he had a purpose: the annihilation +of Cheditafa was at present his chief object in life. + +Banker seldom stayed in one place more than a day at a time, and before +he went to a new lodging, that night, he threw away his slouch-hat, which +he had rammed into his pocket, for he would not want it again. He had his +hair cut short and his face neatly shaved, and when he went to his room, +he trimmed his mustache in such a way that it greatly altered the cast of +his countenance. He was not the penniless man he had represented himself +to be, who had not three francs to jingle together, for he was a billiard +sharper and gambler of much ability, and when he appeared in the street, +the next morning, he was neatly dressed in a suit of second-hand clothes +which were as quiet and respectable as any tourist of limited means could +have desired. With Baedeker's "Paris" in his hand, and with a long knife +and a slung-shot concealed in his clothes, he went forth to behold the +wonders of the great city. + +He did not seem to care very much whether he saw the sights by day or by +night, for from early morning until ten or eleven o'clock in the evening, +he was an energetic and interested wayfarer, confining his observations, +however, to certain quarters of the city which best suited his +investigations. One night he gawkily strolled into the Black Cat, and one +day he boldly entered the Hotel Grenade and made some inquiries of the +porter regarding the price of accommodations, which, however, he +declared were far above his means. That day he saw Mok in the courtyard, +and once, in passing, he saw Edna come out and enter her carriage with an +elderly lady, and they drove away, with Cheditafa on the box. + +Under his dark sack-coat Banker wore a coarse blouse, and in the pocket +of this undergarment he had a white cap. He was a wonderful man to move +quietly out of people's way, and there were places in every neighborhood +where, even in the daytime, he could cast off the dark coat and the derby +hat without attracting attention. + +It was satisfactory to think, as he briskly passed on, as one who has +much to see in a little time, that the incident in the Tuileries Gardens +had not yet caused the captain's wife to change her quarters. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +A PROBLEM + + +It was a little more than a week after Edna's adventure in the Gardens, +and about ten o'clock in the morning, that something happened--something +which proved that Mrs. Cliff was entirely right when she talked about the +feeling in her bones. Edna received a letter from Captain Horn, which was +dated at Marseilles. + +As she stood with the letter in her hand, every nerve tingling, every +vein throbbing, and every muscle as rigid as if it had been cast in +metal, she could scarcely comprehend that it had really come--that she +really held it. After all this waiting and hoping and trusting, here was +news from Captain Horn--news by his own hand, now, here, this minute! + +Presently she regained possession of herself, and, still standing, she +tore open the letter. It was a long one of several sheets, and she read +it twice. The first time, standing where she had received it, she skimmed +over page after page, running her eye from top to bottom until she had +reached the end and the signature, but her quick glance found not what +she looked for. Then the hand holding the letter dropped by her side. +After all this waiting and hoping and trusting, to receive such a +letter! It might have been written by a good friend, a true and generous +friend, but that was all. It was like the other letters he had written. +Why should they not have been written to Mrs. Cliff? + +Now she sat down to read it over again. She first looked at the envelope. +Yes, it was really directed to "Mrs. Philip Horn." That was something, +but it could not have been less. It had been brought by a messenger from +Wraxton, Fuguet & Co., and had been delivered to Mrs. Cliff. That lady +had told the messenger to take the letter to Edna's salon, and she was +now lying in her own chamber, in a state of actual ague. Of course, she +would not intrude upon Edna at such a moment as this. She would wait +until she was called. Whether her shivers were those of ecstasy, +apprehension, or that nervous tremulousness which would come to any one +who beholds an uprising from the grave, she did not know, but she surely +felt as if there were a ghost in the air. + +The second reading of the letter was careful and exact. The captain had +written a long account of what had happened after he had left Valparaiso. +His former letter, he wrote, had told her what had happened before that +time. He condensed everything as much as possible, but the letter was a +very long one. It told wonderful things--things which ought to have +interested any one. But to Edna it was as dry as a meal of stale crusts. +It supported her in her fidelity and allegiance as such a meal would have +supported a half-famished man, but that was all. Her soul could not live +on such nutriment as this. + +He had not begun the letter "My dear Wife," as he had done before. It +was not necessary now that his letters should be used as proof that she +was his widow! He had plunged instantly into the subject-matter, and had +signed it after the most friendly fashion. He was not even coming to her! +There was so much to do which must be done immediately, and could not be +done without him. He had telegraphed to his bankers, and one of the firm +and several clerks were already with him. There were great difficulties +yet before him, in which he needed the aid of financial counsellors and +those who had influence with the authorities. His vessel, the _Arato_, +had no papers, and he believed no cargo of such value had ever entered a +port of France as that contained in the little green-hulled schooner +which he had sailed into the harbor of Marseilles. This cargo must be +landed openly. It must be shipped to various financial centres, and what +was to be done required so much prudence, knowledge, and discretion that +without the aid of the house of Wraxton, Fuguet & Co., he believed his +difficulties would have been greater than when he stood behind the wall +of gold on the shore of the Patagonian island. + +He did not even ask her to come to him. In a day or so, he wrote, it +might be necessary for him to go to Berlin, and whether or not he would +travel to London from the German capital, he could not say, and for this +reason he could not invite any of them to come down to him. + +"Any of us!" exclaimed Edna. + +For more than an hour Mrs. Cliff lay in the state of palpitation which +pervaded her whole organization, waiting for Edna to call her. And at +last she could wait no longer, and rushed into the salon where Edna sat +alone, the letter in her hand. + +"What does he say?" she cried, "Is he well? Where is he? Did he get +the gold?" + +Edna looked at her for a moment without answering. "Yes," she said +presently, "he is well. He is in Marseilles. The gold--" And for a moment +she did not remember whether or not the captain had it. + +"Oh, do say something!" almost screamed Mrs. Cliff. "What is it? Shall I +read the letter? What does he say?" + +This recalled Edna to herself. "No," said she, "I will read it to you." +And she read it aloud, from beginning to end, carefully omitting those +passages which Mrs. Cliff would have been sure to think should have been +written in a manner in which they were not written. + +"Well!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, who, in alternate horror, pity, and +rapture, had listened, pale and open-mouthed, to the letter. "Captain +Horn is consistent to the end! Whatever happens, he keeps away from us! +But that will not be for long, and--oh, Edna!"--and, as she spoke, she +sprang from her chair and threw her arms around the neck of her +companion, "he's got the gold!" And, with this, the poor lady sank +insensible upon the floor. + +"The gold!" exclaimed Edna, before she even stooped toward her fainting +friend. "Of what importance is that wretched gold!" + +An hour afterwards Mrs. Cliff, having been restored to her usual +condition, came again into Edna's room, still pale and in a state of +excitement. + +"Now, I suppose," she exclaimed, "we can speak out plainly, and tell +everybody everything. And I believe that will be to me a greater delight +than any amount of money could possibly be." + +"Speak out!" cried Edna, "of course we cannot. We have no more right to +speak out now than we ever had. Captain Horn insisted that we should not +speak of these affairs until he came, and he has not yet come." + +"No, indeed!" said Mrs. Cliff, "that seems to be the one thing he cannot +do. He can do everything but come here. And are we to tell nobody that he +has arrived in France?--not even that much?" + +"I shall tell Ralph," replied Edna. "I shall write to him to come here as +soon as possible, but that is all until the captain arrives, and we know +everything that has been done, and is to be done. I don't wish any one, +except you and me and Ralph, even to know that I have heard from him." + +"Not Cheditafa? Not the professor? Nor any of your friends?" + +"Of course not," said Edna, a little impatiently. "Don't you see how +embarrassing, how impossible it would be for me to tell them anything, if +I did not tell them everything? And what is there for me to tell them? +When we have seen Captain Horn, we shall all know who we are, and what we +are, and then we can speak out to the world, and I am sure I shall be +glad enough to do it." + +"For my part," said Mrs. Cliff, "I think we all know who we are now. I +don't think anybody could tell us. And I think it would have been a great +deal better--" + +"No, it wouldn't!" exclaimed Edna. "Whatever you were going to say, I +know it wouldn't have been better. We could have done nothing but what we +have done. We had no right to speak of Captain Horn's affairs, and having +accepted his conditions, with everything else that he has given us, we +are bound to observe them until he removes them. So we shall not talk any +more about that." + +Poor Mrs. Cliff sighed. "So I must keep myself sealed and locked up, just +the same as ever?" + +"Yes," replied Edna, "the same as ever. But it cannot be for long. As +soon as the captain has made his arrangements, we shall hear from him, +and then everything will be told." + +"Made his arrangements!" repeated Mrs. Cliff. "That's another thing I +don't like. It seems to me that if everything were just as it ought to +be, there wouldn't be so many arrangements to make, and he wouldn't have +to be travelling to Berlin, and to London, and nobody knows where else. I +wonder if people are giving him any trouble about it! We have had all +sorts of troubles already, and now that the blessed end seems almost +under our fingers, I hope we are not going to have more of it." + +"Our troubles," said Edna, "are nothing. It is Captain Horn who +should talk in that way. I don't think that, since the day we left +San Francisco, anybody could have supposed that we were in any sort +of trouble." + +"I don't mean outside circumstances," said Mrs. Cliff. "But I suppose we +have all got souls and consciences inside of us, and when they don't know +what to do, of course we are bound to be troubled, especially as they +don't know what to tell us, and we don't know whether or not to mind +them when they do speak. But you needn't be afraid of me. I shall keep +quiet--that is, as long as I can. I can't promise forever." + +Edna wrote to Ralph, telling him of the captain's letter, and urging him +to come to Paris as soon as possible. It was scarcely necessary to speak +to him of secrecy, for the boy was wise beyond his years. She did speak +of it, however, but very circumspectly. She knew that her brother would +never admit that there was any reason for the soul-rending anxiety with +which she waited the captain's return. But whatever happened, or whatever +he might think about what should happen, she wanted Ralph with her. She +felt herself more truly alone than she had ever been in her life. + +During the two days which elapsed before Ralph reached Paris from +Brussels, Edna had plenty of time to think, and she did not lose any of +it. What Mrs. Cliff had said about people giving trouble, and about her +conscience, and all that, had touched her deeply. What Captain Horn had +said about the difficulties he had encountered on reaching Marseilles, +and what he had said about the cargo of the _Arato_ being probably more +valuable than any which had ever entered that port, seemed to put an +entirely new face upon the relations between her and the owner of this +vast wealth, if, indeed, he were able to establish that ownership. The +more she thought of this point, the more contemptible appeared her own +position--that is, the position she had assumed when she and the captain +stood together for the last time on the shore of Peru. If that gold truly +belonged to him, if he had really succeeded in his great enterprise, +what right had she to insist that he should accept her as a condition of +his safe arrival in a civilized land with this matchless prize, with no +other right than was given her by that very indefinite contract which had +been entered into, as she felt herself forced to believe, only for her +benefit in case he should not reach a civilized land alive? + +The disposition of this great wealth was evidently an anxiety and a +burden, but in her heart she believed that the greatest of his anxieties +was caused by his doubt in regard to the construction she might now place +upon that vague, weird ceremony on the desert coast of Peru. + +The existence of such a doubt was the only thing that could explain the +tone of his letters. He was a man of firmness and decision, and when he +had reached a conclusion, she knew he would state it frankly, without +hesitation. But she also knew that he was a man of a kind and tender +heart, and it was easy to understand how that disposition had influenced +his action. By no word or phrase, except such as were necessary to +legally protect her in the rights he wished to give her in case of his +death, had he written anything to indicate that he or she were not both +perfectly free to plan out the rest of their lives as best suited them. + +In a certain way, his kindness was cruelty. It threw too much upon her. +She believed that if she were to assume that a marriage ceremony +performed by a black man from the wilds of Africa, was as binding, at +least, as a solemn engagement, he would accept her construction and all +its consequences. She also believed that if she declared that ceremony +to be of no value whatever, now that the occasion had passed, he would +agree with that conclusion. Everything depended upon her. It was too +hard for her. + +To exist in this state of uncertainty was impossible for a woman of +Edna's organization. At any hour Captain Horn might appear. How should +she receive him? What had she to say to him? + +For the rest of that day and the whole of the night, her mind never left +this question: "What am I to say to him?" She had replied to his letter +by a telegram, and simply signed herself "Edna." It was easy enough to +telegraph anywhere, and even to write, without assuming any particular +position in regard to him. But when he came, she must know what to do and +what to say. She longed for Ralph's coming, but she knew he could not +help her. He would say but one thing--that which he had always said. In +fact, he would be no better than Mrs. Cliff. But he was her own flesh and +blood, and she longed for him. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +A MAN-CHIMPANZEE + + +Since the affair with the Rackbird, Cheditafa had done his duty more +earnestly than ever before. He said nothing to Mok about the Rackbird. He +had come to look upon his fellow-African as a very low creature, not much +better than a chimpanzee. During Ralph's absence Mok had fallen into all +sorts of irregular habits, going out without leave whenever he got a +chance, and disporting himself generally in a very careless and +unservant-like manner. + +On the evening that Ralph was expected from Brussels, Mok was missing. +Cheditafa could not find him in any of the places where he ought to +have been, so he must be out of doors somewhere, and Cheditafa went to +look for him. + +This was the first time that Cheditafa had gone into the streets alone at +night since the Rackbird incident in the Tuileries Gardens. As he was the +custodian of Mok, and responsible for him, he did not wish to lose sight +of him, especially on this evening. + +It so happened that when Cheditafa went out of the hotel, his +appearance was noticed by Mr. Banker. There was nothing remarkable +about this, for the evening was the time when the ex-Rackbird gave +the most attention to the people who came out of the hotel. When he +saw Cheditafa, his soul warmed within him. Here was the reward of +patience and steadfastness--everything comes to those who wait. + +A half-hour before, Banker had seen Mok leave the hotel and make his way +toward the Black Cat. He did not molest the rapidly walking negro. He +would not have disturbed him for anything. But his watchfulness became so +eager and intense that he almost, but not quite, exposed himself to the +suspicion of a passing gendarme. He now expected Cheditafa, for the +reason that the manner of the younger negro indicated that he was playing +truant. It was likely that the elder man would go after him, and this was +exactly what happened. + +Banker allowed the old African to go his way without molestation, for the +brightly lighted neighborhood of the hotel was not adapted to his +projected performance. But he followed him warily, and, when they reached +a quiet street, Banker quickened his pace, passed Cheditafa, and, +suddenly turning, confronted him. Then, without a word having been said, +there flashed upon the mind of the African everything that had happened, +not only in the Tuileries Gardens, but in the Rackbirds' camp, and at the +same time a prophetic feeling of what was about to happen. + +By a few quick pulls and jerks, Banker had so far removed his disguise +that Cheditafa knew him the instant that his eyes fell upon him. His +knees trembled, his eyeballs rolled so that nothing but their whites +could be seen, and he gave himself up to death. Then spoke out the +terrible Rackbird. + +What he said need not be recorded here, but every word of superheated +vengeance, with which he wished to torture the soul of his victim before +striking him to the earth, went straight to the soul of Cheditafa, as if +it had been a white-hot iron. His chin fell upon his breast. He had but +one hope, and that was that he would be killed quickly. He had seen +people killed in the horrible old camp, and the man before him he +believed to be the worst Rackbird of them all. + +When Banker had finished stabbing and torturing the soul of the +African, he drew a knife from under his coat, and down fell Cheditafa +on his knees. + +The evening was rainy and dark, and the little street was nearly +deserted. Banker, who could look behind and before him without making +much show of turning his head, had made himself sure of this before he +stepped in front of Cheditafa. But while he had been pouring out his +torrent of heart-shrivelling vituperation, he had ceased to look before +and behind him, and had not noticed a man coming down the street in the +opposite direction to that in which they had been going. + +This was Mok, who was much less of a fool than Cheditafa took him for. He +had calculated that he would have time to go to the Black Cat and drink +two glasses of beer before Ralph was likely to appear, and he also made +up his mind that two glasses were as much as he could dispose of without +exciting the suspicions of the young man. Therefore, he had attended to +the business that had taken him out of doors on that rainy night, and was +returning to the hotel with a lofty consciousness of having done wrong in +a very wise and satisfactory manner. + +He wore india-rubber overshoes, because the pavements were wet, and also +because this sort of foot-gear suited him better than hard, unyielding +sole-leather. Had he had his own way, he would have gone bare-footed, but +that would have created comment in the streets of Paris--he had sense +enough to know that. + +When he first perceived, by the dim light of a street lamp, two persons +standing together on his side of the street, his conscience, without any +reason for it, suggested that he cross over and pass by without +attracting attention. To wrong-doers attention is generally unwelcome. + +Mok not only trod with the softness and swiftness of a panther, but he +had eyes like that animal, and if there were any light at all, those +eyes could make good use of it. As he neared the two men, he saw that +one was scolding the other. Then he saw the other man drop down on his +knees. Then, being still nearer, he perceived that the man on his knees +was Cheditafa. Then he saw the man in front of him draw a knife from +under his coat. + +As a rule, Mok was a coward, but two glasses of beer were enough to turn +his nature in precisely the opposite direction. A glass less would have +left him timorous, a glass more would have made him foolhardy and silly. +He saw that somebody was about to stab his old friend. In five long, +noiseless steps, or leaps, he was behind that somebody, and had seized +the arm which held the knife. + +With a movement as quick as the stroke of a rattlesnake, Banker turned +upon the man who had clutched his arm, and when he saw that it was Mok, +his fury grew tornado-like. With a great oath, and a powerful plunge +backward, he endeavored to free his arm from the grasp of the negro. But +he did not do it. Those black fingers were fastened around his wrist as +though they had been fetters forged to fit him. And in the desperate +struggle the knife was dropped. + +In a hand-to-hand combat with a chimpanzee, a strong man would have but +little chance of success, and Mok, under the influence of two glasses of +beer, was a man-chimpanzee. When Banker swore, and when he turned so that +the light of the street lamp fell upon his face, Mok recognized him. He +knew him for a Rackbird of the Rackbirds--as the cruel, black-eyed savage +who had beaten him, trodden upon him, and almost crushed the soul out of +him, in that far-away camp by the sea. How this man should have suddenly +appeared in Paris, why he came there, and what he was going to do, +whether he was alone, or with his band concealed in the neighboring +doorways, Mok did not trouble his mind to consider. He held in his brazen +grip a creature whom he considered worse than the most devilish of +African devils, a villain who had been going to kill Cheditafa. + +Every nerve under his black skin, every muscle that covered his bones, +and the two glasses of beer, sung out to him that the Rackbird could not +get away from him, and that the great hour of vengeance had arrived. + +Banker had a pistol, but he had no chance to draw it. The arms of the +wild man were around him. His feet slipped from under him, and instantly +the two were rolling on the wet pavement. But only for an instant. Banker +was quick and light and strong to such a degree that no man but a +man-chimpanzee could have overpowered him in a struggle like that. Both +were on their feet almost as quickly as they went down, but do what he +would, Banker could not get out his pistol. + +Those long black arms, one of them now bared to the shoulder, were about +him ever. He pulled, and tugged, and swerved. He half threw him one +instant, half lifted the next, but never could loosen the grasp of that +fierce creature, whose whole body seemed as tough and elastic as the +shoes he wore. + +Together they fell, together they rolled in the dirty slime, together +they rose as if they had been shot up by a spring, and together they went +down again, rolling over each other, pulling, tearing, striking, gasping, +and panting. + +Cheditafa had gone. The moment of Mok's appearance, he had risen and +fled. There were now people in the street. Some had come out of their +houses, hearing the noise of the struggle, for Banker wore heavy shoes. +There were also one or two pedestrians who had stopped, unwilling to pass +men who were engaged in such a desperate conflict. + +No one interfered. It would have seemed as prudent to step between two +tigers. Such a bounding, whirling, tumbling, rolling, falling, and rising +contest had never been seen in that street, except between cats. It +seemed that the creatures would dash themselves through the windows of +the houses. + +It was not long before Cheditafa came back with two policemen, all +running, and then the men who lay in the street, spinning about as if +moving on pivots, were seized and pulled apart. At first the officers +of the law appeared at a loss to know what had happened, and who had +been attacked. What was this black creature from the Jardin des +Plantes? But Banker's coat had been torn from his back, and his pistol +stood out in bold relief in his belt, and Cheditafa pointed to the +breathless bandit, and screamed: "Bad man! Bad man! Try to kill me! +This good Mok save my life!" + +Two more policemen now came hurrying up, for other people had given the +alarm, and it was not considered necessary to debate the question as to +who was the aggressor in this desperate affair. Cheditafa, Mok, and +Banker were all taken to the police station. + +As Cheditafa was known to be in the service of the American lady at the +Hotel Grenade, the _portier_ of that establishment was sent for, and +having given his testimony to the good character of the two negroes, they +were released upon his becoming surety for their appearance when wanted. + +As for Banker, there was no one to go security. He was committed +for trial. + + * * * * * + +When Ralph went to his room, that night, he immediately rang for his +valet. Mok, who had reached the hotel from the police station but a few +minutes before, answered the summons. When Ralph turned about and beheld +the black man, his hair plastered with mud, his face plastered with mud, +and what clothes he had on muddy, torn, and awry, with one foot wearing a +great overshoe and the other bare, with both black arms entirely denuded +of sleeves, with eyes staring from his head, and his whole form quivering +and shaking, the young man started as if some afrit of the "Arabian +Nights" had come at this dark hour to answer his call. + +To the eager questions which poured upon him when his identity became +apparent, Mok could make no intelligible answer. He did not possess +English enough for that. But Cheditafa was quickly summoned, and he +explained everything. He explained it once, twice, three times, and then +he and Mok were sent away, and told to go to bed, and under no +circumstances to mention to their mistress what had happened, or to +anybody who might mention it to her. And this Cheditafa solemnly +promised for both. + +The clock struck one as Ralph still sat in his chair, wondering what +all this meant, and what might be expected to happen next. To hear +that a real, live Rackbird was in Paris, that this outlaw had +threatened his sister, that the police had been watching for him, that +he had sworn to kill Cheditafa, and that night had tried to do it, +amazed him beyond measure. + +At last he gave up trying to conjecture what it meant. It was foolish to +waste his thoughts in that way. To-morrow he must find out. He could +understand very well why his sister had kept him in ignorance of the +affair in the Gardens. She had feared danger to him. She knew that he +would be after that scoundrel more hotly than any policeman. But what the +poor girl must have suffered! It was terrible to think of. + +The first thing he would do would be to take very good care that she +heard nothing of the attack on Cheditafa. He would go to the police +office early the next morning and look into this matter. He did not +think that it would be necessary for Edna to know anything about +it, except that the Rackbird had been arrested and she need no +longer fear him. + +When Ralph reached the police station, the next day, he found there the +portier of the hotel, together with Cheditafa and Mok. + +After Banker's examination, to which he gave no assistance by admissions +of any sort, he was remanded for trial, and he was held merely for his +affair with the negroes, no charge having been made against him for his +attempt to obtain money from their mistress, or his threats in her +direction. As the crime for which he had been arrested gave reason +enough for condign punishment of the desperado, Ralph saw, and made +Cheditafa see, it would be unnecessary as well as unpleasant to drag +Edna into the affair. + +That afternoon Mr. Banker, who had recovered his breath and had collected +his ideas, sent for the police magistrate and made a confession. He said +he had been a member of a band of outlaws, but having grown disgusted +with their evil deeds, had left them. He had become very poor, and having +heard that the leader of the band had made a fortune by a successful +piece of rascality, and had married a fine lady, and was then in Paris, +he had come to this city to meet him, and to demand in the name of their +old comradeship some assistance in his need. He had found his captain's +wife. She had basely deceived him after having promised to help him, and +he had been insulted and vilely treated by that old negro, who was once a +slave in the Rackbirds' camp in Peru, and who had been brought here with +the other negro by the captain. He also freely admitted that he had +intended to punish the black fellow, though he had no idea whatever of +killing him. If he had had such an idea, it would have been easy enough +for him to put his knife into him when he met him in that quiet street. +But he had not done so, but had contented himself with telling him what +he thought of him, and with afterwards frightening him with his knife. +And then the other fellow had come up, and there had been a fight. +Therefore, although he admitted that his case was a great misdemeanor, +and that he had been very disorderly, he boldly asserted that he had +contemplated no murder. But what he wished particularly to say to the +magistrate was that the captain of the Rackbirds would probably soon +arrive in Paris, and that he ought to be arrested. No end of important +results might come from such an arrest. He was quite sure that the great +stroke of fortune which had enabled the captain's family to live in Paris +in such fine style ought to be investigated. The captain had never made +any money by simple and straightforward methods of business. + +All this voluntary testimony was carefully taken down, and although the +magistrate did not consider it necessary to believe any of it, the +arrival of Captain Horn was thenceforth awaited with interest by the +police of Paris. + +It was not very plain how Miss Markham of the Hotel Grenade, who was well +known as a friend of a member of the American legation, could be the wife +of a South American bandit. But then, there might be reasons why she +wished to retain her maiden name for the present, and she might not know +her husband as a bandit. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +ENTER CAPTAIN HORN + + +It was less than a week after the tumbling match in the street between +Banker and Mok, and about eleven o'clock in the morning, when a brief +note, written on a slip of paper and accompanied by a card, was brought +to Edna from Mrs. Cliff. On the card was written the name of Captain +Philip Horn, and the note read thus: + +"He is here. He sent his card to me. Of course, you +will see him. Oh, Edna! don't do anything foolish when +you see him! Don't go and throw away everything +worth living for in this world! Heaven help you!" + +This note was hurriedly written, but Edna read it at a glance. + +"Bring the gentleman here," she said to the man. + +Now, with all her heart, Edna blessed herself and thanked herself that, +at last, she had been strong enough and brave enough to determine what +she ought to do when she met the captain. That very morning, lying awake +in her bed, she had determined that she would meet him in the same spirit +as that in which he had written to her. She would be very strong. She +would not assume anything. She would not accept the responsibility of +deciding the situation, which responsibility she believed he thought it +right she should assume. She would not have it. If he appeared before her +as the Captain Horn of his letters, he should go away as the man who had +written those letters. If he had come here on business, she would show +him that she was a woman of business. + +As she stood waiting, with her eyes upon his card, which lay upon the +table, and Mrs. Cliffs note crumpled up in one hand, she saw the captain +for some minutes before it was possible for him to reach her. She saw him +on board the _Castor_, a tall, broad-shouldered sailor, with his hands in +the pockets of his pea-jacket. She saw him by the caves in Peru, his +flannel shirt and his belted trousers faded by the sun and water, torn +and worn, and stained by the soil on which they so often sat, with his +long hair and beard, and the battered felt hat, which was the last thing +she saw as his boat faded away in the distance, when she stood watching +it from the sandy beach. She saw him as she had imagined him after she +had received his letter, toiling barefooted along the sands, carrying +heavy loads upon his shoulders, living alone night and day on a dreary +desert coast, weary, perhaps haggard, but still indomitable. She saw him +in storm, in shipwreck, in battle, and as she looked upon him thus with +the eyes of her brain, there were footsteps outside her door. + +As Captain Horn came through the long corridors and up the stairs, +following the attendant, he saw the woman he was about to meet, and saw +her before he met her. He saw her only in one aspect--that of a tall, too +thin, young woman, clad in a dark-blue flannel suit, unshapely, +streaked, and stained, her hair bound tightly round her head and covered +by an old straw hat with a faded ribbon. This picture of her as he had +left her standing on the beach, at the close of that afternoon when his +little boat pulled out into the Pacific, was as clear and distinct as +when he had last seen it. + +A door was opened before him, and he entered Edna's salon. For a moment +he stopped in the doorway. He did not see the woman he had come to meet. +He saw before him a lady handsomely and richly dressed in a Parisian +morning costume--a lady with waving masses of dark hair above a lovely +face, a lady with a beautiful white hand, which was half raised as he +appeared in the doorway. + +She stood with her hand half raised. She had never seen the man before +her. He was a tall, imposing gentleman, in a dark suit, over which he +wore a light-colored overcoat. One hand was gloved, and in the other he +held a hat. His slightly curling brown beard and hair were trimmed after +the fashion of the day, and his face, though darkened by the sun, showed +no trace of toil, or storm, or anxious danger. He was a tall, +broad-shouldered gentleman, with an air of courtesy, an air of dignity, +an air of forbearance, which were as utterly unknown to her as everything +else about him, except his eyes--those were the same eyes she had seen on +board the _Castor_ and on the desert sands. + +Had it not been for the dark eyes which looked so steadfastly at him, +Captain Horn, would have thought that he had been shown into the wrong +room. But he now knew there was no mistake, and he entered. Edna raised +her hand and advanced to meet him. + +He shook hands with her exactly as he had written to her, and she shook +hands with him just as she had telegraphed to him. Much of her natural +color had left her face. As he had never seen this natural color, under +the sun-brown of the Pacific voyage, he did not miss it. + +Instantly she began to speak. How glad she was that she had prepared +herself to speak as she would have spoken to any other good friend! So +she expressed her joy at seeing him again, well and successful after +all these months of peril, toil, and anxiety, and they sat down near +each other. + +He looked at her steadfastly, and asked her many things about Ralph, Mrs. +Cliff, and the negroes, and what had happened since he left San +Francisco. He listened with a questioning intentness as she spoke. She +spoke rapidly and concisely as she answered his questions and asked him +about himself. She said little about the gold. One might have supposed +that he had arrived at Marseilles with a cargo of coffee. At the same +time, there seemed to be, on Edna's part, a desire to lengthen out her +recital of unimportant matters. She now saw that the captain knew she did +not care to talk of these things. She knew that he was waiting for an +opportunity to turn the conversation into another channel,--waiting with +an earnestness that was growing more and more apparent,--and as she +perceived this, and as she steadily talked to him, she assured herself, +with all the vehemence of which her nature was capable, that she and this +man were two people connected by business interests, and that she was +ready to discuss that business in a business way as soon as he could +speak. But still she did not yet give him the chance to speak. + +The captain sat there, with his blue eyes fixed upon her, and, as she +looked at him, she knew him to be the personification of honor and +magnanimity, waiting until he could see that she was ready for him to +speak, ready to listen if she should speak, ready to meet her on any +ground--a gentleman, she thought, above all the gentlemen in the world. +And still she went on talking about Mrs. Cliff and Ralph. + +Suddenly the captain rose. Whether or not he interrupted her in the +middle of a sentence, he did not know, nor did she know. He put his hat +upon a table and came toward her. He stood in front of her and looked +down at her. She looked up at him, but he did not immediately speak. She +could not help standing silently and looking up at him when he stood and +looked down upon her in that way. Then he spoke. + +"Are you my wife?" said he. + +"By all that is good and blessed in heaven or earth, I am," she answered. + +Standing there, and looking up into his eyes, there was no other answer +for her to make. + + * * * * * + +Seldom has a poor, worn, tired, agitated woman kept what was to her a +longer or more anxious watch upon a closed door than Mrs. Cliff kept that +day. If even Ralph had appeared, she would have decoyed him into her own +room, and locked him up there, if necessary. + +In about an hour after Mrs. Cliff began her watch, a tall man walked +rapidly out of the salon and went down the stairs, and then a woman came +running across the hall and into Mrs. Cliff's room, closing the door +behind her. Mrs. Cliff scarcely recognized this woman. She had Edna's +hair and face, but there was a glow and a glory on her countenance such +as Mrs. Cliff had never seen, or expected to see until, in the hereafter, +she should see it on the face of an angel. + +"He has loved me," said Edna, with her arms around her old friend's neck, +"ever since we had been a week on the _Castor_." + +Mrs. Cliff shivered and quivered with joy. She could not say anything, +but over and over again she kissed the burning cheeks of her friend. +At last they stood apart, and, when Mrs. Cliff was calm enough to +speak, she said: + +"Ever since we were on the _Castor!_ Well, Edna, you must admit that +Captain Horn is uncommonly good at keeping things to himself." + +"Yes," said the other, "and he always kept it to himself. He never let it +go away from him. He had intended to speak to me, but he wanted to wait +until I knew him better, and until we were in a position where he +wouldn't seem to be taking advantage of me by speaking. And when you +proposed that marriage by Cheditafa, he was very much troubled and +annoyed. It was something so rough and jarring, and so discordant with +what he had hoped, that at first he could not bear to think of it. But he +afterwards saw the sense of your reasoning, and agreed simply because it +would be to my advantage in case he should lose his life in his +undertaking. And we will be married to-morrow at the embassy." + +"To-morrow!" cried Mrs. Cliff. "So soon?" + +"Yes," replied Edna. "The captain has to go away, and I am going +with him." + +"That is all right," said Mrs. Cliff. "Of course I was a little surprised +at first. But how about the gold? How much was there of it? And what is +he going to do with it?" + +"He scarcely mentioned the gold," replied Edna. "We had more precious +things to talk about. When he sees us all together, you and I and Ralph, +he will tell us what he has done, and what he is going to do, and--" + +"And we can say what we please?" cried Mrs. Cliff. + +"Yes," said Edna,--"to whomever we please." + +"Thank the Lord!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "That is almost as good as +being married." + + * * * * * + +On his arrival in Paris the night before, Captain Horn had taken +lodgings at a hotel not far from the Hotel Grenade, and the first thing +he did the next morning was to visit Edna. He had supposed, of course, +that she was at the same hotel in which Mrs. Cliff resided, which +address he had got from Wraxton, in Marseilles, and he had expected to +see the elderly lady first, and to get some idea of how matters stood +before meeting Edna. He was in Paris alone. He had left Shirley and +Burke, with the negroes, in Marseilles. He had wished to do nothing, to +make no arrangements for any one, until he had seen Edna, and had found +out what his future life was to be. + +Now, as he walked back to his hotel, that future life lay before him +radiant and resplendent. No avenue in Paris, or in any part of the world, +blazing with the lights of some grand festival, ever shone with such +glowing splendor as the future life of Captain Horn now shone and +sparkled before him, as he walked and walked, on and on, and crossed the +river into the Latin Quarter, before he perceived that his hotel was a +mile or more behind him. + +From the moment that the _Arato_ had left the Straits of Magellan, and +Captain Horn had had reason to believe that he had left his dangers +behind him, the prow of his vessel had been set toward the Strait of +Gibraltar, and every thought of his heart toward Edna. Burke and Shirley +both noticed a change in him. After he left the Rackbirds' cove, until he +had sailed into the South Atlantic, his manner had been quiet, alert, +generally anxious, and sometimes stern. But now, day by day, he appeared +to be growing into a different man. He was not nervous, nor apparently +impatient, but it was easy to see that within him there burned a steady +purpose to get on as fast as the wind would blow them northward. + +Day by day, as he walked the deck of his little vessel, one might have +thought him undergoing a transformation from the skipper of a schooner +into the master of a great ship, into the captain of a swift Atlantic +liner, into the commander of a man-of-war, into the commodore on board a +line-of-battle ship. It was not an air of pride or assumed superiority +that he wore, it was nothing assumed, it was nothing of which he was not +entirely aware. It was the gradual growth within him, as health grows +into a man recovering from a sickness, of the consciousness of power. +The source of that consciousness lay beneath him, as he trod the deck of +the _Arato_. + +This consciousness, involuntary, and impossible to resist, had nothing +definite about it. It had nothing which could wholly satisfy the soul of +this man, who kept his eyes and his thoughts so steadfastly toward the +north. He knew that there were but few things in the world that his power +could not give him, but there was one thing upon which it might have no +influence whatever, and that one thing was far more to him than all other +things in this world. + +Sometimes, as he sat smoking beneath the stars, he tried to picture to +himself the person who might be waiting and watching for him in Paris, +and to try to look upon her as she must really be; for, after her life in +San Francisco and Paris, she could not remain the woman she had been at +the caves on the coast of Peru. But, do what he would, he could make no +transformation in the picture which was imprinted on the retina of his +soul. There he saw a woman still young, tall, and too thin, in a suit of +blue flannel faded and worn, with her hair bound tightly around her head +and covered by a straw hat with a faded ribbon. But it was toward this +figure that he was sailing, sailing, sailing, as fast as the winds of +heaven would blow his vessel onward. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +A GOLDEN AFTERNOON + + +When Ralph met Captain Horn that afternoon, there rose within him a +sudden, involuntary appreciation of the captain's worthiness to possess a +ship-load of gold and his sister Edna. Before that meeting there had been +doubts in the boy's mind in regard to this worthiness. He believed that +he had thoroughly weighed and judged the character and capacities of the +captain of the _Castor_, and he had said to himself, in his moments of +reflection, that although Captain Horn was a good man, and a brave man, +and an able man in many ways, there were other men in the world who were +better fitted for the glorious double position into which this fortunate +mariner had fallen. + +But now, as Ralph sat and gazed upon his sister's lover and heard him +talk, and as he turned from him to Edna's glowing eyes, he acknowledged, +without knowing it, the transforming power of those two great +alchemists,--gold and love,--and from the bottom of his heart he approved +the match. + +Upon Mrs. Cliff the first sight of Captain Horn had been a little +startling, and had she not hastened to assure herself that the compact +with Edna was a thing fixed and settled, she might have been possessed +with the fear that perhaps this gentleman might have views for his +future life very different from those upon which she had set her heart. +But even if she had not known of the compact of the morning, all danger +of that fear would have passed in the moment that the captain took her +by the hand. + +To find his three companions of the wreck and desert in such high state +and flourishing condition so cheered and uplifted the soul of the captain +that he could talk of nothing else. And now he called for Cheditafa and +Mok--those two good fellows whose faithfulness he should never forget. +But when they entered, bending low, with eyes upturned toward the lofty +presence to which they had been summoned, the captain looked inquiringly +at Edna. As he came in that afternoon, he had seen both the negroes in +the courtyard, and, in the passing thought he had given to them, had +supposed them to be attendants of some foreign potentate from Barbary or +Morocco. Cheditafa and Mok! The ragged, half-clad negroes of the +sea-beach--a parson-butler of sublimated respectability, a liveried +lackey of rainbow and gold! It required minutes to harmonize these +presentments in the mind of Captain Horn. + +When the audience of the two Africans--for such it seemed to be--had +lasted long enough, Edna was thinking of dismissing them, when it became +plain to her that there was something which Cheditafa wished to say or +do. She looked at him inquiringly, and he came forward. + +For a long time the mind of the good African had been exercised upon the +subject of the great deed he had done just before the captain had sailed +away from the Peruvian coast. In San Francisco and Paris he had asked +many questions quietly, and apparently without purpose, concerning the +marriage ceremonies of America and other civilized countries. He had not +learned enough to enable him, upon an emergency, to personate an orthodox +clergyman, but he had found out this and that--little things, perhaps, +but things which made a great impression upon him--which had convinced +him that in the ceremony he had performed there had been much +remissness--how much, he did not clearly know. But about one thing that +had been wanting he had no doubts. + +Advancing toward Edna and the captain, who sat near each other, Cheditafa +took from his pocket a large gold ring, which he had purchased with his +savings. "There was a thing we didn't do," he said, glancing from one to +the other. "It was the ring part--nobody thinked of that. Will captain +take it now, and put it on the lady?" + +Edna and the captain looked at each other. For a moment no one spoke. +Then Edna said, "Take it." The captain rose and took the ring from the +hand of Cheditafa, and Edna stood beside him. Then he took her hand, and +reverently placed the ring upon her fourth finger. Fortunately, it +fitted. It had not been without avail that Cheditafa had so often scanned +with a measuring eye the rings upon the hands of his mistress. + +A light of pleasure shone in the eyes of the old negro. Now he had done +his full duty--now all things had been made right. As he had seen the +priests stand in the churches of Paris, he now stood for a moment with +his hands outspread. "Very good," he said, "that will do." Then, followed +by Mok, he bowed himself out of the room. + +For some moments there was silence in the salon. Nobody thought of +laughing, or even smiling. In the eyes of Mrs. Cliff there were a few +tears. She was the first to speak. "He is a good man," said she, "and he +now believes that he has done everything that ought to be done. But you +will be married to-morrow, all the same, of course." + +"Yes," said Edna. "But it will be with this ring." + +"Yes," said the captain, "with that ring. You must always wear it." + +"And now," said Mrs. Cliff, when they had all reseated themselves, +"you must really tell us your story, captain. You know I have heard +nothing yet." + +And so he told his story--much that Edna had heard before, a great deal +she had not heard. About the treasure, almost everything he said was new +to her. Mrs. Cliff was very eager on this point. She wanted every detail. + +"How about the ownership of it?" she said. "After all, that is the +great point. What do people here think of your right to use that gold +as your own?" + +The captain smiled. "That is not an easy question to answer, but I think +we shall settle it very satisfactorily. Of course, the first thing to do +is to get it safely entered and stored away in the great money centres +over here. A good portion of it, in fact, is to be shipped to +Philadelphia to be coined. Of course, all that business is in the hands +of my bankers. The fact that I originally sailed from California was a +great help to us. To ascertain my legal rights in the case was the main +object of my visit to London. There Wraxton and I put the matter before +three leading lawyers in that line of business, and although their +opinions differed somewhat, and although we have not yet come to a final +conclusion as to what should be done, the matter is pretty well +straightened out as far as we are concerned. Of course, the affair is +greatly simplified by the fact that there is no one on the other side to +be a claimant of the treasure, but we consider it as if there were a +claimant, or two of them, in fact. These can be no other than the present +government of Peru, and that portion of the population of the country +which is native to the soil, and the latter, if our suppositions are +correct, are the only real heirs to the treasure which I discovered. But +what are the laws of Peru in regard to treasure-trove, or what may be the +disposition of the government toward the native population and their +rights, of course we cannot find out now. That will take time. But of one +thing we are certain: I am entitled to a fair remuneration for the +discovery of this treasure, just the same as if I claimed salvage for +having brought a wrecked steamer into port. On this point the lawyers are +all agreed. I have, therefore, made my claim, and shall stand by it with +enough legal force behind me to support me in any emergency. + +"But it is not believed that either the Peruvian government, or the +natives acting as a body, if it shall be possible for them to act in that +way, will give us any trouble. We have the matter entirely in our own +hands. They do not know of the existence of this treasure, or that they +have any rights to it, until we inform them of the fact, and without our +assistance it will be almost impossible for them to claim anything or +prove anything. Therefore, it will be good policy and common sense for +them to acknowledge that we are acting honestly, and, more than that, +generously, and to agree to take what we offer them, and that we shall +keep what is considered by the best legal authorities to be our rights. + +"As soon as possible, an agent will be sent to Peru to attend to the +matter. But this matter is in the hands of my lawyers, although, of +course, I shall not keep out of the negotiations." + +"And how much percentage, captain?" asked Mrs. Cliff. "What part do they +think you ought to keep?" + +"We have agreed," said he, "upon twenty per cent. of the whole. After +careful consideration and advice, I made that claim. I shall retain it. +Indeed, it is already secured to me, no matter what may happen to the +rest of the treasure." + +"Twenty per cent.!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "And that is all that you get?" + +"Yes," said the captain, "it is what I get--and by that is meant what is +to be divided among us all. I make the claim, but I make it for every one +who was on the _Castor_ when she was wrecked, and for the families of +those who are not alive--for every one, in fact, who was concerned in +this matter." + +The countenance of Mrs. Cliff had been falling, and now it went down, +down, again. After all the waiting, after all the anxiety, it had come to +this: barely twenty per cent., to be divided among ever so many +people--twenty-five or thirty, for all she knew. Only this, after the +dreams she had had, after the castles she had built! Of course, she had +money now, and she would have some more, and she had a great many useful +and beautiful things which she had bought, and she could go back to +Plainton in very good circumstances. But that was not what she had been +waiting for, and hoping for, and anxiously trembling for, ever since she +had found that the captain had really reached France with the treasure. + +"Captain," she said, and her voice was as husky as if she had been +sitting in a draught, "I have had so many ups and so many downs, and have +been turned so often this way and that, I cannot stand this state of +uncertainty any longer. It may seem childish and weak, but I must know +something. Can you give me any idea how much you are to have, or, at +least, how much I shall have, and let me make myself satisfied with +whatever it is? Do you think that I shall be able to go back to Plainton +and take my place as a leading citizen there? I don't mind in the least +asking that before you three. I thought I was justified in making that my +object in life, and I have made it my object. Now, if I have been +mistaken all this time, I would like to know it. Don't find fault with +me. I have waited, and waited, and waited--" + +"Well," interrupted the captain, "you need not wait any longer. The sum +that I have retained shall be divided as soon as possible, and I shall +divide it in as just a manner as I can, and I am ready to hear appeals +from any one who is not satisfied. Of course, I shall keep the largest +share of it--that is my right. I found it, and I secured it. And this +lady here," pointing to Edna, "is to have the next largest share in her +own right, because she was the main object which made me work so hard and +brave everything to get that treasure here. And then the rest will share +according to rank, as we say on board ship." + +"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" murmured Mrs. Cliff, "he never comes to any +point. We never know anything clear and distinct. This is not any +answer at all." + +"The amount I claim," continued the captain, who did not notice that Mrs. +Cliff was making remarks to herself, "is forty million dollars." + +Everybody started, and Mrs. Cliff sprang up as if a torpedo had been +fired beneath her. + +"Forty million dollars!" she exclaimed. "I thought you said you would +only have twenty per cent.?" + +"That is just what it is," remarked the captain, "as nearly as we can +calculate. Forty million dollars is about one fifth of the value of the +cargo I brought to France in the _Arato_. And as to your share, Mrs. +Cliff, I think, if you feel like it, you will be able to buy the town of +Plainton; and if that doesn't make you a leading citizen in it, I don't +know what else you can do." + + + + +CHAPTER L + +A CASE OF RECOGNITION + + +Every one in our party at the Hotel Grenade rose very early the next +morning. That day was to be one of activity and event. Mrs. Cliff, who +had not slept one wink during the night, but who appeared almost +rejuvenated by the ideas which had come to her during her sleeplessness, +now entered a protest against the proposed marriage at the American +legation. She believed that people of the position which Edna and the +captain should now assume ought to be married in a church, with all +proper ceremony and impressiveness, and urged that the wedding be +postponed for a few days, until suitable arrangements could be made. + +But Edna would not listen to this. The captain was obliged, by +appointment, to be in London on the morrow, and he could not know how +long he might be detained there, and now, wherever he went, she wished to +go with him. He wanted her to be with him, and she was going. Moreover, +she fancied a wedding at the legation. There were all sorts of +regulations concerning marriage in France, and to these neither she nor +the captain cared to conform, even if they had time enough for the +purpose. At the American legation they would be in point of law upon +American soil, and there they could be married as Americans, by an +American minister. + +After that Mrs. Cliff gave up. She was so happy she was ready to agree to +anything, or to believe in anything, and she went to work with heart and +hand to assist Edna in getting ready for the great event. + +Mrs. Sylvester, the wife of the secretary, received a note from Edna +which brought her to the hotel as fast as horses were allowed to travel +in the streets of Paris, and arrangements were easily made for the +ceremony to take place at four o'clock that afternoon. + +The marriage was to be entirely private. No one was to be present but +Mrs. Cliff, Ralph, and Mrs. Sylvester. Nothing was said to Cheditafa of +the intended ceremony. After what had happened, they all felt that it +would be right to respect the old negro's feelings and sensibilities. +Mrs. Cliff undertook, after a few days had elapsed, to explain the whole +matter to Cheditafa, and to tell him that what he had done had not been +without importance and real utility, but that it had actually united his +master and mistress by a solemn promise before witnesses, which in some +places, and under certain circumstances, would be as good a marriage as +any that could be performed, but that a second ceremony had taken place +in order that the two might be considered man and wife in all places and +under all circumstances. + +The captain had hoped to see Shirley and Burke before he left Paris, but +that was now impossible, and, on his way to his hotel, after breakfasting +at the Hotel Grenade, he telegraphed to them to come to him in London. +He had just sent his telegram when he was touched on the arm, and, +turning, saw standing by him two police officers. Their manner was very +civil, but they promptly informed him, the speaker using very fair +English, that he must accompany them to the presence of a police +magistrate. + +The captain was astounded. The officers could or would give him no +information in regard to the charge against him, or whether it was a +charge at all. They only said that he must come with them, and that +everything would be explained at the police station. The captain's brow +grew black. What this meant he could not imagine, but he had no time to +waste in imaginations. It would be foolish to demand explanations of the +officers, or to ask to see the warrant for their action. He would not +understand French warrants, and the quicker he went to the magistrate and +found out what this thing meant, the better. He only asked time to send a +telegram to Mr. Wraxton, urging him to attend him instantly at the police +station, and then he went with the officers. + +On the way, Captain Horn turned over matters in his mind. He could think +of no cause for this detention, except it might be something which had +turned up in connection with his possession of the treasure, or perhaps +the entrance of the _Arato_, without papers, at the French port. But +anything of this kind Wraxton could settle as soon as he could be made +acquainted with it. The only real trouble was that he was to be married +at four o'clock, and it was now nearly two. + +At the police station, Captain Horn met with a fresh annoyance. The +magistrate was occupied with important business and could not attend to +him at present. This made the captain very impatient, and he sent +message after message to the magistrate, but to no avail. And Wraxton did +not come. In fact, it was too soon to expect him. + +The magistrate had good reason for delay. He did not wish to have +anything to do with the gentleman who had been taken in custody until his +accuser, Banker by name, had been brought to this station from his place +of confinement, where he was now held under a serious charge. + +Ten minutes, twenty minutes, twenty-five minutes, passed, and the +magistrate did not appear. Wraxton did not come. The captain had never +been so fiercely impatient. He did not know to whom to apply in this +serious emergency. He did not wish Edna to know of his trouble until he +found out the nature of it, and if he sent word to the legation, he was +afraid that the news would speedily reach her. Wraxton was his man, +whatever the charge might be. He would be his security for any amount +which might be named, and the business might be settled afterwards, if, +indeed, it were not all a mistake of some sort. + +But Wraxton did not appear. Suddenly the captain thought of one man who +might be of service to him in this emergency. There was no time for +delay. Some one must come, and come quickly, who could identify him, and +the only man he could think of was Professor Barre, Ralph's tutor. He had +met that gentleman the evening before. He could vouch for him, and he +could certainly be trusted not to alarm Edna unnecessarily. He believed +the professor could be found at the hotel, and he instantly sent a +messenger to him with a note. + +It took a good deal of time to bring the prisoner Banker to the station, +and Professor Barre arrived there before him. The professor was amazed to +find Captain Horn under arrest, and unable to give any reason for this +state of things. But it was not long before the magistrate appeared, and +it so happened that he was acquainted with Barre, who was a well-known +man in Paris, and, after glancing at the captain, he addressed himself to +the professor, speaking in French. The latter immediately inquired the +nature of the charges against Captain Horn, using the same language. + +"Ah! you know him?" said the magistrate. "He has been accused of being +the leader of a band of outlaws--a man who has committed murders and +outrages without number, one who should not be suffered to go at large, +one who should be confined until the authorities of Peru, where his +crimes were committed, have been notified." + +The professor stared, but could not comprehend what he had heard. + +"What is it?" inquired Captain Horn. "Can you not speak English?" + +No, this Parisian magistrate could not speak English, but the professor +explained the charge. + +"It is the greatest absurdity!" exclaimed the captain. "Ralph told me +that a man, evidently once one of that band of outlaws in Peru, had been +arrested for assaulting Cheditafa, and this charge must be part of his +scheme of vengeance for that arrest. I could instantly prove everything +that is necessary to know about me if my banker, Mr. Wraxton, were here. +I have sent for him, but he has not come. I have not a moment to waste +discussing this matter." The captain gazed anxiously toward the door, +and for a few moments the three men stood in silence. + +The situation was a peculiar one. The professor thought of sending to the +Hotel Grenade, but he hesitated. He said to himself: "The lady's +testimony would be of no avail. If he is the man the bandit says he is, +of course she does not know it. His conduct has been very strange, and +for a long time she certainly knew very little about him. I don't see how +even his banker could become surety for him if he were here, and he +doesn't seem inclined to come. Anybody may have a bank-account." + +The professor stood looking on the ground. The captain looked at him, +and, by that power to read the thoughts of others which an important +emergency often gives to a man, he read, or believed he did, the thoughts +of Barre. He did not blame the man for his doubts. Any one might have +such doubts. A stranger coming to France with a cargo of gold must expect +suspicion, and here was more--a definite charge. + +At this moment there came a message from the banking house: Mr. Wraxton +had gone to Brussels that morning. Fuguet did not live in Paris, and the +captain had never seen him. There were clerks whom he had met in +Marseilles, but, of course, they could only say that he was the man known +as Captain Horn. + +The captain ground his teeth, and then, suddenly turning, he interrupted +the conversation between the magistrate and Barre. He addressed the +latter and asked, "Will you tell me what this officer has been saying +about me?" + +"He says," answered Barre, "that he believes you know nobody in Paris +except the party at the Hotel Grenade, and that, of course, you may have +deceived them in regard to your identity--that they have been here a long +time, and you have been absent, and you have not been referred to by +them, which seems strange." + +"Has he not found out that Wraxton knows me?" + +"He says," answered Barre, "that you have not visited that banking house +since you came to Paris, and that seems strange also. Every traveller +goes to his banker as soon as he arrives." + +"I did not need to go there," said the captain. "I was occupied with +other matters. I had just met my wife after a long absence." + +"I don't wonder," said the professor, bowing, "that your time was +occupied. It is very unfortunate that your banker cannot come to +you or send." + +The captain did not answer. This professor doubted him, and why should he +not? As the captain considered the case, it grew more and more serious. +That his marriage should be delayed on account of such a preposterous and +outrageous charge against him was bad enough. It would be a terrible blow +to Edna. For, although he knew that she would believe in him, she could +not deny, if she were questioned, that in this age of mail and telegraph +facilities she had not heard from him for nearly a year, and it would be +hard for her to prove that he had not deceived her. But the most +unfortunate thing of all was the meeting with the London lawyers the next +day. These men were engaged in settling a very important question +regarding the ownership of the treasure he had brought to France, and +his claims upon it, and if they should hear that he had been charged with +being the captain of a band of murderers and robbers, they might well +have their suspicions of the truth of his story of the treasure. In fact, +everything might be lost, and the affair might end by his being sent a +prisoner to Peru, to have the case investigated there. What might happen +then was too terrible to think of. He turned abruptly to the professor. + +"I see that you don't believe in me," he said, "but I see that you are a +man, and I believe in you. You are acquainted with this magistrate. Use +your influence with him to have this matter settled quickly. Do as much +as that for me." + +"What is it that you ask me to do?" said the other. + +"It is this," replied the captain. "I have never seen this man who says +he was a member of the Rackbirds' band. In fact, I never saw any of those +wretches except dead ones. He has never met me. He knows nothing about +me. His charge is simply a piece of revenge. The only connection he can +make between me and the Rackbirds is that he knew two negroes were once +the servants of his band, and that they are now the servants of my wife. +Having never seen me, he cannot know me. Please ask the magistrate to +send for some other men in plain clothes to come into this room, and then +let the prisoner be brought here, and asked to point out the man he +charges with the crime of being the captain of the Rackbirds." + +The professor's face brightened, and without answer he turned to the +magistrate, and laid this proposition before him. The officer shook his +head. This would be a very irregular method of procedure. There were +formalities which should not be set aside. The deposition of Banker +should be taken before witnesses. But the professor was interested in +Captain Horn's proposed plan. In an emergency of the sort, when time was +so valuable, he thought it should be tried before anything else was done. +He talked very earnestly to the magistrate, who at last yielded. + +In a few minutes three respectable men were brought in from outside, and +then a policeman was sent for Banker. + +When that individual entered the waiting-room, his eyes ran rapidly over +the company assembled there. After the first glance, he believed that he +had never seen one of them before. But he said nothing; he waited to hear +what would be said to him. This was said quickly. Banker spoke French, +and the magistrate addressed him directly. + +"In this room," he said, "stands the man you have accused as a robber and +a murderer, as the captain of the band to which you admit you once +belonged. Point him out immediately." + +Banker's heart was not in the habit of sinking, but it went down a little +now. Could it be possible that any one there had ever led him to deeds of +violence and blood? He looked again at each man in the room, very +carefully this time. Of course, that rascal Raminez would not come to +Paris without disguising himself, and no disguise could be so effectual +as the garb of a gentleman. But if Raminez were there, he should not +escape him by any such tricks. Banker half shut his eyes, and again went +over every countenance. Suddenly he smiled. + +"My captain," he said presently, "is not dressed exactly as he was when +I last saw him. He is in good clothes now, and that made it a little hard +for me to recognize him at first. But there is no mistaking his nose and +his eyebrows. I know him as well as if we had been drinking together last +night. There he stands!" And, with his right arm stretched out, he +pointed directly to Professor Barre. + +At these words there was a general start, and the face of the magistrate +grew scarlet with anger. As for the professor himself, he knit his brows, +and looked at Banker in amazement. + +"You scoundrel! You liar! You beast!" cried the officer. "To accuse this +well-known and honorable gentleman, and say that he is a leader of a band +of robbers! You are an impostor, a villain, and if you had been +confronted with this other gentleman alone, you would have sworn that he +was a bandit chief!" + +Banker made no answer, but still kept his eyes fixed upon the professor. +Now Captain Horn spoke: "That fellow had to say something, and he made a +very wild guess of it," he said to Barre. "I think the matter may now be +considered settled. Will you suggest as much to the magistrate? Truly, I +have not a moment to spare." + +Banker listened attentively to these words, and his eyes sparkled. + +"You needn't try any of your tricks on me, you scoundrel Raminez," he +said, shaking his fist at the professor. "I know you. I know you better +than I did when I first spoke. If you wanted to escape me, you ought to +have shaved off your eyebrows when you trimmed your hair and your +beard. But I will be after you yet. The tales you have told here won't +help you." + +"Take him away!" shouted the magistrate. "He is a fiend!" + +Banker was hurried from the room by two policemen. + +To the profuse apologies of the magistrate Captain Horn had no time to +listen; he accepted what he heard of them as a matter of course, and only +remarked that, as he was not the man against whom the charges had been +brought, he must hurry away to attend to a most important appointment. +The professor went with him into the street. + +"Sir," said the captain, addressing Barre, "you have been of the most +important service to me, and I heartily acknowledge the obligation. Had +it not been that you were good enough to exert your influence with the +magistrate, that rascal would have sworn through thick and thin that I +had been his captain." + +Then, looking at his watch, he said, "It is twenty-five minutes to four. +I shall take a cab and go directly to the legation. I was on my way to my +hotel, but there is no time for that now," and, after shaking hands with +the professor, he hailed a cab. + +Captain Horn reached the legation but a little while after the party from +the Hotel Grenade had arrived, and in due time he stood up beside Edna in +one of the parlors of the mansion, and he and she were united in marriage +by the American minister. The services were very simple, but the +congratulations of the little company assembled could not have been more +earnest and heartfelt. + +"Now," said Mrs. Cliff, in the ear of Edna, "if we knew that that gold +was all to be sunk in the ocean to-morrow, we still ought to be the +happiest people on earth." + +She was a true woman, Mrs. Cliff, and at that moment she meant +what she said. + +It had been arranged that the whole party should return to the Hotel +Grenade, and from there the newly married couple should start for the +train which would take them to Calais; and, as he left the legation +promptly, the captain had time to send to his own hotel for his effects. +The direct transition from the police station to the bridal altar had +interfered with his ante-hymeneal preparations, but the captain was +accustomed to interference with preparations, and had long learned to +dispense with them when occasion required. + +"I don't believe," said the minister's wife to her husband, when +the bridal party had left, "that you ever before married such a +handsome couple." + +"The fact is," said he, "that I never before saw standing together such a +fine specimen of a man and such a beautiful, glowing, radiant woman." + +"I don't see why you need say that," said she, quickly. "You and I stood +up together." + +"Yes," he replied, with a smile, "but I wasn't a spectator." + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +BANKER DOES SOME IMPORTANT BUSINESS + + +When Banker went back to the prison cell, he was still firmly convinced +that he had been overreached by his former captain, Raminez; and, +although he knew it not, there were good reasons for his convictions. +Often had he noticed, in the Rackbirds' camp, a peculiar form of the +eyebrows which surmounted the slender, slightly aquiline nose of his +chief. Whenever Raminez was anxious, or beginning to be angered, his +brow would slightly knit, and the ends of his eyebrows would approach +each other, curling upward and outward as they did so. This was an +action of the eyebrows which was peculiar to the Darcias of Granada, +from which family the professor's father had taken a wife, and had +brought her to Paris. A sister of this wife had afterwards married a +Spanish gentleman named Blanquote, whose second son, having fallen into +disgrace in Spain, had gone to America, where he changed his name to +Raminez, and performed a number of discreditable deeds, among which was +the deception of several of his discreditable comrades in regard to his +family. They could not help knowing that he came from Spain, and he made +them all believe that his real name was Raminez. There had been three +of them, besides Banker, who had made it the object of their lives to +wait for the opportunity to obtain blackmail from his family, by +threatened declarations of his deeds. + +This most eminent scoundrel, whose bones now lay at the bottom of the +Pacific Ocean, had inherited from his grandfather that same trick of the +eyebrows above his thin and slightly aquiline nose which Banker had +observed upon the countenance of the professor in the police station, and +who had inherited it from the same Spanish gentleman. + +The next day Banker received a visitor. It was Professor Barre. As this +gentleman entered the cell, followed by two guards, who remained near the +door, Banker looked up in amazement. He had expected a message, but had +not dreamed that he should see the man himself. + +"Captain," he exclaimed, as he sprang to his feet, "this is truly good +of you. I see you are the same old trump as ever, and do not bear +malice." He spoke in Spanish, for such had been the language in common +use in camp. + +The professor paid no attention to these words. "I came here," he said, +"to demand of you why you made that absurd and malicious charge against +me the other day. Such charges are not passed over in France, but I will +give you a chance to explain yourself." + +Banker looked at him admiringly. "He plays the part well," he said to +himself. "He is a great gun. There is no use of my charging against him. +I will not try it, but I shall let him see where I stand." + +"Captain," said he, "I have nothing to explain, except that I was +stirred up a good deal and lost my temper. I oughtn't to have made that +charge against you. Of course, it could not be of any good to me, and I +am perfectly ready to meet you on level ground. I will take back +everything I have already said, and, if necessary, I will prove that I +made a mistake and never saw you before, and I only ask in return that +you get me out of this and give me enough to make me comfortable. That +won't take much, you know, and you seem to be in first-class condition +these days. There! I have put it to you fair and square, and saved you +the trouble of making me any offers. You stand by me, and I'll stand by +you. I am ready to swear until I am black in the face that you never were +in Peru, and that I never saw you until the other day, when I made that +mistake about you on account of the queer fashion of your eyebrows, which +looked just like those of a man who really had been my captain, and that +I now see you are two entirely different men. I will make a good tale of +it, captain, and I will stick to it--you can rely on that. By all the +saints, I hope those two fellows at the door don't understand Spanish!" + +The professor had made himself sure that the guards who accompanied him +spoke nothing but French. Without referring to Banker's proposed bargain, +he said to him, "Was the captain of the bandits under whom you served a +Spaniard?" + +"Yes, you were a Spaniard," said Banker. + +"From what part of Spain did he come?" + +"You let out several times that you once lived in Granada." + +"What was that captain's real name?" asked the professor. + +"Your name was Raminez--unless, indeed," and here his face clouded a +little, "unless, indeed, you tricked us. But I have pumped you well on +that point, and, drunk or sober, it was always Raminez." + +"Raminez, then, a Spaniard of my appearance," said the professor, "was +your captain when you were in a band called the Rackbirds, which had its +rendezvous on the coast of Peru?" + +"Yes, you were all that," said Banker. + +"Very well, then," said Barre. "I have nothing more to say to you at +present," and he turned and left the cell. The guards followed, and the +door was closed. + +Banker remained dumb with amazement. When he had regained his power of +thought and speech, he fell into a state of savage fury, which could be +equalled by nothing living, except, perhaps, by a trapped wildcat, and +among his objurgations, as he strode up and down his cell, the most +prominent referred to the new and incomprehensible trick which this +prince of human devils had just played upon him. That he had been talking +to his old captain he did not doubt for a moment, and that that captain +had again got the better of him he doubted no less. + +It may be stated here that, the evening before, the professor had had a +long talk with Ralph regarding the Rackbirds and their camp. Professor +Barre had heard something of the matter before, but many of the details +were new to him. + +When Ralph left him, the professor gave himself up to reflections upon +what he had heard, and he gradually came to believe that there might +be some reason for his identification as the bandit captain by the +man Banker. + +For five or six years there had been inquiries on foot concerning the +second son of Senor Blanquote of Granada, whose elder brother had died +without heirs, and who, if now living, would inherit Blanquote's estates. +It was known that this man had led a wild and disgraceful career, and it +was also ascertained that he had gone to America, and had been known on +the Isthmus of Panama and elsewhere by the name of Raminez. Furthermore, +Professor Barre had been frequently told by his mother that when he was a +boy she had noticed, while on a visit to Spain, that he and this cousin +very much resembled each other. + +It is not necessary to follow out the legal steps and inquiries, based +upon the information which he had had from Ralph and from Banker, which +were now made by the professor. It is sufficient to state that he was +ultimately able to prove that the Rackbird chief known as Raminez was, in +reality, Tomaso Blanquote, that he had perished on the coast of Peru, and +that he, the professor, was legal heir to the Blanquote estates. + +Barre had not been able to lead his pupil to as high a place in the +temple of knowledge as he had hoped, but, through his acquaintance with +that pupil, he himself had become possessed of a castle in Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER LII + +THE CAPTAIN TAKES HIS STAND + + +It was now July, and the captain and Edna had returned to Paris. The +world had been very beautiful during their travels in England, and +although the weather was beginning to be warm, the world was very +beautiful in Paris. In fact, to these two it would have been beautiful +almost anywhere. Even the desolate and arid coast of Peru would have been +to them as though it were green with herbage and bright with flowers. + +The captain's affairs were not yet definitely arranged, for the final +settlement would depend upon negotiations which would require time, but +there was never in the world a man more thoroughly satisfied than he. And +whatever happened, he had enough; and he had Edna. His lawyers had made a +thorough investigation into the matter of his rights to the treasure he +had discovered and brought to Europe, and they had come to a conclusion +which satisfied them. This decision was based upon equity and upon the +laws and usages regarding treasure-trove. + +The old Roman law upon the subject, still adhered to by some of the Latin +countries of Europe, gave half of a discovered treasure to the finder, +and half to the crown or state, and it was considered that a good legal +stand could be taken in the present instance upon the application of this +ancient law to a country now governed by the descendants of Spaniards. + +Whether or not the present government of Peru, if the matter should be +submitted to it, would take this view of the case, was a subject of +conjecture, of course, but the captain's counsel strongly advised him to +take position upon the ground that he was entitled to half the treasure. +Under present circumstances, when Captain Horn was so well prepared to +maintain his rights, it was thought that the Peruvian authorities might +easily be made to see the advisability of accepting a great advantage +freely offered, instead of endeavoring to obtain a greater advantage, in +regard to which it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to legally +prove anything or to claim anything. + +Therefore, it was advised that a commission should be sent to Lima to +open negotiations upon the subject, with instructions to make no +admissions in regard to the amount of the treasure, its present places of +deposit, or other particulars, until the Peruvian government should +consent to a satisfactory arrangement. + +To this plan Captain Horn consented, determining, however, that, if the +negotiations of his commission should succeed, he would stipulate that at +least one half the sum paid to Peru should be devoted to the advantage of +the native inhabitants of that country, to the establishment of schools, +hospitals, libraries, and benefactions of the kind. If the commission +should not succeed, he would then attend to the matter in his own way. + +Thus, no matter what happened, he would still insist upon his claim +to one fifth of the total amount as his pay for the discovery of the +treasure, and in this claim his lawyers assured him he could be +fully secured. + +Other matters were in a fair way of settlement. The captain had made +Shirley and Burke his agents through whom he would distribute to the +heirs of the crew of the _Castor_ their share of the treasure which had +been apportioned to them, and the two sailors had already gone to America +upon this mission. How to dispose of the _Arato_ had been a difficult +question, upon which the captain had taken legal advice. That she had +started out from Valparaiso with a piratical crew, that those pirates had +made an attack upon him and his men, and that, in self-defence, he had +exterminated them, made no difference in his mind, or that of his +counsellors, as to the right of the owners of the vessel to the return of +their property. But a return of the vessel itself would be difficult and +hazardous. Whoever took it to Valparaiso would be subject to legal +inquiry as to the fate of the men who had hired it, and it would be, +indeed, cruel and unjust to send out a crew in this vessel, knowing that +they would be arrested when they arrived in port. Consequently, he +determined to sell the _Arato_, and to add to the amount obtained what +might be considered proper on account of her detention, and to send this +sum to Valparaiso, to be paid to the owners of the _Arato_. + +The thoughts of all our party were now turned toward America. As time +went on, the captain and Edna might have homes in different parts of the +world, but their first home was to be in their native land. + +Mrs. Cliff was wild to reach her house, that she might touch it with the +magician's wand of which she was now the possessor, that she might touch +not only it, but that she might touch and transform the whole of +Plainton, and, more than all, that with it she might touch and transform +herself. She had bought all she wanted. Paris had yielded to her +everything she asked of it, and no ship could sail too fast which should +carry her across the ocean. + +The negroes were all attached to the captain's domestic family. Maka and +Cheditafa were not such proficient attendants as the captain might have +employed, but he desired to have these two near him, and intended to keep +them there as long as they would stay. Although Mok and the three other +Africans had much to learn in regard to the duties of domestic servants, +there would always be plenty of people to teach them. + + * * * * * + +In his prison cell Banker sat, lay down, or walked about, cursing his +fate and wondering what was meant by the last dodge of that rascal +Raminez. He never found out precisely, but he did find out that the visit +of Professor Barre to his cell had been of service to him. + +That gentleman, when he became certain that he should so greatly profit +by the fact that an ex-brigand had pointed him out as an ex-captain of +brigands, had determined to do what he could for the fellow who had +unconsciously rendered him the service. So he employed a lawyer to attend +to Banker's case, and as it was not difficult to prove that the accused +had not even touched Cheditafa, but had only threatened to maltreat him, +and that the fight which caused his arrest was really begun by Mok, it +was not thought necessary to inflict a very heavy punishment. In fact, it +was suggested in the court that it was Mok who should be put on trial. + +So Banker went for a short term to prison, where he worked hard and +earned his living, and when he came out he thought it well to leave +Paris, and he never found out the nature of the trick which he supposed +his old chief had played upon him. + +The trial of Banker delayed the homeward journey of Captain Horn and his +party, for Cheditafa and Mok were needed as witnesses, but did not delay +it long. It was early in August, when the danger from floating icebergs +had almost passed, and when an ocean journey is generally most pleasant, +that nine happy people sailed from Havre for New York. Captain Horn and +Edna had not yet fully planned their future life, but they knew that they +had enough money to allow them to select any sphere of life toward which +ordinary human ambitions would be apt to point, and if they never +received another bar of the unapportioned treasure, they would not only +be preeminently satisfied with what fortune had done for them, but would +be relieved of the great responsibilities which greater fortune must +bring with it. + +As for Mrs. Cliff, her mind was so full of plans for the benefit of her +native town that she could talk and think of nothing else, and could +scarcely be induced to take notice of a spouting whale, which was +engaging the attention of all the passengers and the crew. + +The negroes were perfectly content. They were accustomed to the sea, and +did not mind the motion of the vessel. They had but little money in +their pockets, and had no reason to expect they would ever have much +more, but they knew that as long as they lived they would have everything +that they wanted, that the captain thought was good for them, and to a +higher earthly paradise their souls did not aspire. Cheditafa would serve +his mistress, Maka would serve the captain, and Mok would wear fine +clothes and serve his young master Ralph, whenever, haply, he should have +the chance. + +As for Inkspot, he doubted whether or not he should ever have all the +whiskey he wanted, but he had heard that in the United States that +delectable fluid was very plentiful, and he thought that perhaps in that +blessed country that blessed beverage might not produce the undesirable +effects which followed its unrestricted use in other lands. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII + +A LITTLE GLEAM AFAR + + +It was late in the autumn of that year, and upon a lonely moor in +Scotland, that a poor old woman stood shivering in the cold wind. She was +outside of a miserable little hut, in the doorway of which stood two men. + +For five or six years she had lived alone in that little hut. + +It was a very poor place, but it kept out the wind and the rain and the +snow, and it was a home to her, and for the greater part of these years +in which she had lived there alone, she had received, at irregular and +sometimes long intervals, sums of money, often very small and never +large, from her son, who was a sailorman upon seas of which she did not +even know the name. + +But for many months no money had come from this wandering son, and it was +very little that she had been able to earn. Sometimes she might have +starved, had it not been for the charity of others almost as poor as she. +As for rent, it had been due for a long time, and at last it had been due +so long that her landlord felt that further forbearance would be not only +unprofitable, but that it would serve as a bad example to his other +tenants. Consequently, he had given orders to eject the old woman from +her hut. She was now a pauper, and there were places where paupers would +be taken care of. + +The old woman stood sadly shivering. Her poor old eyes, a little dimmed +with tears, were directed southward toward the far-away vanishing-point +of the rough and narrow road which meandered over the moor and lost +itself among the hills. + +She was waiting for the arrival of a cart which a poor neighbor had +promised to borrow, to take her and her few belongings to the nearest +village, where there was a good road over which she might walk to a place +where paupers were taken care of. A narrow stream, which roared and +rushed around or over many a rock, ran at several points close to the +road, and, swelled by heavy rains, had overflowed it to the depth of a +foot or more. The old woman and the two men in the doorway of the hut +stood and waited for the cart to come. + +As they waited, heavy clouds began to rise in the north, and there was +already a drizzle of rain. At last they saw a little black spot upon the +road, which soon proved to be a cart drawn by a rough pony. On it came, +until they could almost hear it splashing through the water where the +stream had passed its bounds, or rattling over the rough stones in other +places. But, to their surprise, there were two persons in the cart. +Perhaps the boy Sawney had with him a traveller who was on his way north. + +This was true. Sawney had picked up a traveller who was glad to find a +conveyance going across the moor to his destination. This man was a +quick-moving person in a heavy waterproof coat with its collar turned up +over his ears. + +As soon as the cart stopped, near the hut, he jumped down and approached +the two men in the doorway. + +"Is that the widow McLeish?" he said, pointing to the old woman. + +They assured him that he was correct, and he approached her. + +"You are Mrs. Margaret McLeish?" said he. + +She looked at him in a vague sort of way and nodded. "That's me," said +she. "Is it pay for the cart you're after? If that's it, I must walk." + +"Had you a son, Mrs. McLeish?" said the man. + +"Ay," said she, and her face brightened a little. + +"And what was his name?" + +"Andy," was the answer. + +"And his calling?" + +"A sailorman." + +"Well, then," said the traveller in the waterproof, "there is no doubt +that you are the person I came here to see. I was told I should find you +here, and here you are. I may as well tell you at once, Mrs. McLeish, +that your son is dead." + +"That is no news," she answered. "I knew that he must be dead." + +"But I didn't come here only to tell you that. There is money coming +to you through him--enough to make you comfortable for the rest of +your life." + +"Money!" exclaimed the old woman. "To me?" + +The two men who had been standing in the doorway of the hut drew near, +and Sawney jumped down from the cart. The announcement made by the +traveller was very interesting. + +"Yes," said the man in the waterproof, pulling his collar up a little +higher, for the rain was increasing, "you are to have one hundred and +four pounds a year, Mrs. McLeish, and that's two pounds a week, you know, +and you will have it as long as you live." + +"Two pounds a week!" cried the old woman, her eyes shining out of her +weazened old face like two grouse eggs in a nest. "From my Andy?" + +"Yes, from your son," said the traveller. And as the rain was now much +more than a drizzle, and as the wind was cold, he made his tale as short +as possible. + +He told her that her son had died far away in South America, and, from +what he had gained there, one hundred and four pounds a year would be +coming to her, and that she might rely on this as long as she lived. He +did not state--for he was not acquainted with all the facts--that Shirley +and Burke, when they were in San Francisco hunting up the heirs of the +Castor's crew, had come upon traces of the A. McLeish whose body they had +found in the desert, lying flat on its back, with a bag of gold clasped +to its breast--that they had discovered, by means of the agent through +whom McLeish had been in the habit of forwarding money to his mother, the +address of the old woman, and, without saying anything to Captain Horn, +they had determined to do something for her. + +The fact that they had profited by the gold her son had carried away from +the cave, was the main reason for this resolution, and although, as +Shirley said, it might appear that the Scotch sailor was a thief, it was +true, after all, he had as much right to a part of the gold he had taken +as Captain Horn could have. Therefore, as they had possessed themselves +of his treasure, they thought it but right that they should provide for +his mother. So they bought an annuity for her in Edinburgh, thinking this +better than sending her the total amount which they considered to be her +share, not knowing what manner of woman she might be, and they arranged +that an agent should be sent to look her up, and announce to her her good +fortune. It had taken a long time to attend to all these matters, and it +was now late in the autumn. + +"You must not stand out in the rain, Mrs. McLeish," said one of the men, +and he urged her to come back into the hut. He said he would build a fire +for her, and she and the gentleman from Edinburgh could sit down and talk +over matters. No doubt there would be some money in hand, he said, out of +which the rent could be paid, and, even if this should not be the case, +he knew the landlord would be willing to wait a little under the +circumstances. + +"Is there money in hand for me?" asked the old woman. + +"Yes," said the traveller. "The annuity was to begin with October, and it +is now the first of November, so there is eight pounds due to you." + +"Eight pounds!" she exclaimed, after a moment's thought. "It must be more +than that. There's thirty-one days in October!" + +"That's all right, Mrs. McLeish," said the traveller. "I will pay you the +right amount. But I really think you had better come into your house, for +it is going to be a bad afternoon, and I must get away as soon as I can. +I will go, as I came, in the cart, for you won't want it now." + +Mrs. McLeish stood up as straight as she could, and glanced from the +traveller to the two men who had put her out of her home. Then, in the +strongest terms her native Gaelic would afford, she addressed these two +men. She assured them that, sooner than enter that contemptible little +hut again, she would sleep out on the bare moor. She told them to go to +their master and tell him that she did not want his house, and that he +could live in it himself, if he chose--that she was going in the cart to +Killimontrick, and she would take lodgings in the inn there until she +could get a house fit for the habitation of the mother of a man like her +son Andy; and that if their master had anything to say about the rent +that was due, they could tell him that he had satisfied himself by +turning her out of her home, and if he wanted anything more, he could +whistle for it, or, if he didn't choose to do that, he could send his +factor to whistle for it in the main street of Killimontrick. + +"Come, Sawney boy, put my two bundles in the cart, and then help me in. +The gentleman will drive, and I'll sit on the seat beside him, and you +can sit behind in the straw, and--you're sure it's two pounds a week, +sir?" she said to the traveller, who told her that she was right, and +then she continued to Sawney, "I'll make your mother a present which will +help the poor old thing through the winter, and I'm sure she needs it." + +With a heavier load than he had brought, the pony's head was turned +homeward, and the cart rattled away over the rough stones, and splashed +through the water on the roadway, and in the dark cloud which hung over +the highest mountain beyond the moor, there came a little glint of +lighter sky, as if some lustre from the Incas' gold had penetrated even +into this gloomy region. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Captain Horn +by Frank Richard Stockton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HORN *** + +***** This file should be named 12190.txt or 12190.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/1/9/12190/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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