A _Cache_.--The Black Forest.--A Site for the Hut--The Eagles.--Gerald's
Accident.--A Subterranean Grotto.--The Pitcher Plant.--A Potato
Ground.--The Fig-tree.--Australian Jumbles.--The Hungry Guest.
They began at last to be weary of the monotonous voyaging, and were
glad, one morning, on ascending the banks, to see a change of scenery.
The reedy swamps were replaced by rich grassy slopes, where tall trees
and bright creeping blossoms, the fragrant golden flower of the _Acacia_
and the balmy odor from various trees of the _Eucalyptus_ kind,
encouraged them to hope that they might find a retreat in such a
pleasant region.
"Halloo!" cried Wilkins. "Just all on ye step here, and take a good look
at this here tree. We're not the first white folks as has had a look
round hereabout. As sure as you're there, Mr. Arthur, there's a _catch_,
as they call 't, under this same tree. Look ye, I kenned it all as soon
as ever I set eyes on that there criss-cross, cut wi' an honest steel
blade, I'se warrant it; and says I to mysel', our own folks has been
here, and we'll just try a bit at their diggings; that's wi' yer leave,
Mr. Arthur."
Arthur hesitated; he certainly neither wished to commit, nor to connive
at, a robbery; but he considered some information worth knowing might be
found in the _cache_. He therefore sent to the canoes for shells,
spades, and knives; and all the young men began to dig with as much
earnestness and anxiety as if they had been the gold-diggers in the
south of the country.
"If we were to find a great nugget of gold," said Gerald.
"I would rather find a good saw," said Jack.
"Or an iron kettle," suggested Margaret.
"I should like a telescope," said Hugh.
"Now, nurse, what will you have?" asked Arthur.
"Well then, Mr. Arthur, honey, if I must speak," answered nurse, "I
would say a barrel of flour; but just as God pleases."
"I feel it! I feel it!" cried Gerald, flinging away his knife in his
ecstasy. "It is something hard."
"Be very careful," said Arthur. "We must not damage the hidden stores.
Whatever can it be? here are canisters and bags."
"It'll be tea and sugar," cried Ruth, clapping her hands with delight.
"Nay, nay, lass, what need for folks to bury tea and sugar?" said
Wilkins. "Here's summut a deal better--powder and shot. And see here,
Mr. Arthur, ye're a scholar; this'll be like her Majesty's ship's name
on 'em."
"There is, indeed," replied Arthur, "and the date when they were placed
here, which is three years ago. I fear the owners will never return to
claim them now."
"All the better for us," said Wilkins. "There's nought here a bit worse,
and it's all fair, ye ken, Mr. Arthur. Finders, keepers, all t' world
round."
Arthur looked inquiringly at his father.
"The wisdom of the world, Wilkins," said Mr. Mayburn, "is not always the
wisdom of God. But, in the case of this treasure-trove, Arthur, as the
ammunition is certainly the property of her Majesty, lying useless
here, I do think--Margaret, am I right?--I am of opinion that we may
appropriate a part of this valuable deposit; leaving in the place a
written acknowledgment of the loan. Then, if God spares us to have the
opportunity, we must report our trespass to the Government."
"I think you are right, dear papa," said Margaret; "but the temptation
is so great, that perhaps we are none of us in a state to give impartial
judgment."
Wilkins, without listening to a word of the discussion, had taken on
himself the responsibility of the offence, and was already actively
engaged in moving off the bags and canisters to the boats.
"Not more than we may need, remember, Wilkins," said Margaret.
"And who's to say what we may need, miss," answered the man. "We've
mony a hundred mile to trot yet, and some uglier customers than t' black
fellows to come on afore we've done, and that's them hang-gallows
bush-rangers."
"We will compromise with our conscience," said Arthur, "by taking away
half the store; and papa's portable writing-case will supply us with the
means of making a brief statement and an apology."
The note was written, enclosed in a bark case, and attached to one of
the bags left in the hole; the soil was then restored, and the turf
carefully replaced, so that no trace of the _cache_ might attract the
natives.
"They'd make a bonny kettle of fish, if they did come on 't," said
Wilkins; "for ten to one they'd fling t' powder on t' fire, and then
there'd not be mony on 'em left to talk about it."
"We must take especial care to guard our cargo against fire," said
Arthur; "and we have also another enemy to fear--the water--which might
soon render our treasure useless. Therefore, the sooner we leave the
boats, and 'take to the bush,' as Wilkins says, the better. This country
certainly looks pleasant; but I should prefer a more woody and sheltered
spot."
"If you look directly south, Arthur," said Hugh, "you will see a black
spot, which, I take it, must be a thick forest. It would make a good
land-mark for us, if we leave the river. What do you say? must we aim
for it?"
Arthur directed his attention to Hugh's black forest, which certainly
stood in the way they wished to go; and as there was no appearance of
smoke, or even of former fires on the plains, there was some reason to
think the district might not be frequented by the savages. These
considerations decided them to abandon once more the easy
canoe-voyaging, and, with the weighty addition to their burdens of the
ammunition from the _cache_, they slowly set out. The plain was covered
with rich high grass that would have fed thousands of cattle, but was
now only tenanted by herds of graceful kangaroos and small detachments
of tall stalking emus. The trees were populated with swarms of parrots,
cockatoos, pheasants, and small warblers, and the air rang with their
mingled notes, cheerful at least, if not harmonious.
When the dark wood became fully visible to them, Margaret observed that
Baldabella seemed startled and uneasy, and frequently paused as if
reluctant to proceed. But when, after an hour's walk, the sombre thick
forest spread before them, half a mile across, the woman turned round to
Margaret with trembling limbs, and said in a faltering voice, pointing
to the forest, "Good miss, no go; bad spirit kill all people; good
master, Baldabella, all die. Bad spirit very angry, say no people go
here."
Margaret tried to reason with the terrified woman, who had now turned
round to flee with her child; she appeared to be agitated in the highest
degree, and when the child clung to Margaret, who turned to follow the
rest, the distressed mother, wringing her hands, wailed in the most
pathetic manner; till at length, with an air of sudden resolution, she
drew herself up, with her usual dignity, and said,--
"Baldabella die, not leave good friends," and walked calmly on by the
side of Margaret.
Arthur had learned previously that the natives regarded a dark wood with
superstitious awe; but he now concluded that Baldabella had some
acquaintance with this particular spot, and that it was an object of
fear to the natives. This was a circumstance which would render it still
more desirable to the travellers as a place of seclusion; and when they
came up close to the gloomy forest, they did not wonder at the
superstitious dread of the ignorant savages. It seemed as if neither man
nor beast, nor even the light of heaven, could penetrate the mysterious
spot. Lofty trees, resembling the pine, the chestnut and the cypress, as
closely ranged as it was possible for nature to plant them, were so
interwoven and matted together, for the height of eight or ten feet with
coiled thorny shrubs and creeping plants, that they formed an
impenetrable fortress that seemed to defy the impotent attacks of man.
"I wonder which of us is the favored prince who is to 'cut his bright
way through,' this enchanted wood," said Gerald. "Here's an adventure,
Hugh! Now for knives and axes!"
"Do not be too hasty, boys," said Arthur. "It would be prudent to make
the circuit of the wood first, in order to select the most accessible
point. Besides," continued he, as they walked on, "I think we must
proceed with caution. We will cut a low tunnel, the entrance to which
can be easily closed, if we find it possible to remain here for a short
season; and thus we shall leave no trace of our presence."
"I shall be well content to remain here," said Mr. Mayburn, "amidst
these noble and curious trees and shrubs. To study their varieties will
sufficiently occupy and amuse me."
"And I shall be satisfied to live in a hut," said Margaret, "however
rude it may be, where we can have rest and peace; where we can repair
our tattered garments, and perhaps make new boots to replace these worn
fragments. But I fear our abode in the forest must be gloomy and
depressing."
"We can build a nest in the trees," said Gerald, "as the people did in
the Swiss Family Robinson, and live in the cheerful society of parrots
and cockatoos. That looks like the very fig-tree the family inhabited;
let us choose it. See, it is covered with ripe figs that look very
tempting. I should like to climb for some."
"The fig-tree will not fly away, Gerald," said Arthur, "and just now we
must all have more important employment. We must immediately commence
our tunnel, for the air is more sultry than ever, and I have fancied
more than once that I have heard the distant roll of thunder. I
sincerely wish we had a shelter at hand. I must call on you, my
friends, to halt at once. We will try this point."
The part of the wood before which they had arrived, though quite
impervious, was less thorny than any part they had yet passed, and
therefore more easy to work, and they began to cut down the entangled
brushwood for about four feet in height, and wide enough to admit the
passage of one person only. The lopped branches were carefully
collected, to be removed to the interior of the wood, when the path was
completed; but their labor was long and tedious, for the forest could
not be less than fifty yards in breadth. Fortunately after piercing it
for twenty yards, they found the underwood less rank and entangled, and
were satisfied with trampling it down to make the road smoother for the
women.
This wood terminated finally in a glade of extraordinary beauty, richly
clothed with grass and studded with the gorgeous flowers of the tropical
regions. This glade spread before them level for some distance, then
gradually sloped upwards, thickly grown with wild oats, and then with
brush, to a great height, the whole forming an isolated mountain, which
was apparently flat at the summit.
The young boys declared this must be the very abode of enchantment; and
as the ascent was a succession of green terraces, they were all able,
with some fatigue, but with little difficulty, to attain the highest
ridge, when they saw, with some astonishment, that a few feet below them
lay a basin or crater, covered with verdure--tall grass mingled with the
usual thick brush.
After gazing on it for a few minutes, Hugh said, "What a capital place
for our hut. Margaret cannot call this height gloomy, for, by mounting
the ridge, we can look over the forest and survey the whole country
round us. Then the flowers are so gay and pleasant, and we shall see
multitudes of birds. Do look, papa, at those two superb eagles that are
soaring above our heads, and that doubtless have their eyrie somewhere
in this mountain."
But while they were gazing at the birds, O'Brien, who stood at some
distance from them, was making ready his bow, and before they were aware
of it he had skilfully sent an arrow into one of the eagles, which fell
fluttering and screaming among the brushwood.
"Victory! victory!" he cried, looking round for Mr. Mayburn. "Did you
see me shoot the eagle, papa?"
"I saw and admired the magnificent creatures, Gerald," answered Mr.
Mayburn; "and I deeply grieved to see one fall by your hand. It was no
victory, but a wanton cruelty. You have destroyed the noble bird for no
useful purpose, and my heart is afflicted to observe the distress of the
attached mate. See how he circles round the spot which has left him
bereaved and lamenting. I am forcibly reminded of the powerful words of
one of our modern classical poets, who, in describing such a tragical
bereavement, writes,--
'She whom he mourns
Lies dying, with the arrow in her side,
In some far stony gorge, out of his ken,
A heap of fluttering feathers: never more
Shall the lake glass her flying over it;
Never the black and dripping precipices
Echo her stormy scream as she sails by!'"
"I thought you would have liked to possess the bird, papa," said Gerald,
"and I am really sorry for the widowed mate. I feel quite uncomfortable
to see the old fellow soaring round me and uttering, I have no doubt,
violent abuse. But I may as well recover my game, that you may gratify
your curiosity by examining an Australian eagle."
"I saw it fall just behind yon yellow-flowered shrub, which looks so
like our own English furze," said Hugh.
Gerald dashed forward into the bush to search for his prize, while
Margaret and her father examined with great satisfaction the rich
table-land, and Jack pointed out a favorable site for a wattled,
bark-roofed hut, which, he asserted, might be easily constructed in a
couple of days. But while they were discussing this important affair,
they were alarmed by a loud cry from Gerald, "Help, help! the enchanter
has got me! Come, Arthur, by yourself, and throw me a rope!"
All were in alarm, and where to throw the rope was the question, for the
boy was not to be seen. Arthur and Jack, with a pole and ropes, stepped
lightly over the bushes, expecting to find Gerald plunged in a marsh.
His cries directed them to a spot, where they saw only his head and one
arm clinging to a bush.
"Take care what you are about," said he; "I have slipped into a hole,
and perhaps there may be more like it. You had better just slide the
pole along till I can catch it, and then, perhaps, I may manage to raise
myself. The worst is, I hear that furious eagle, fluttering and hissing
just below me, and I am every moment in fear lest she should attack me,
and peck my legs to revenge her wrongs."
With the aid of the rope and the pole, and the exertions of his friends,
Gerald scrambled to a safe spot in the bushes, and then they all took a
survey of the cave, or grotto, that lay below; and were so much
interested by it, that they resolved to explore it at once. Jack
volunteered to make the first expedition, and began by attaching the
rope to a stout bush to facilitate his descent, and taking with him the
pole to test the security of the ground below.
The floor of the cave was not more than twelve feet below the opening,
and Jack looked round to find himself in a large grotto, floored with
dry white sand; the rocky sides were garlanded with creeping plants, and
it was lighted by many apertures above, similar to that through which
Gerald had fallen, and, like that, almost covered with brushwood. Dark
branch-caves ran from this airy grotto, into which they penetrated for a
few yards, to satisfy themselves that it was uninhabited; and, from the
observations he made, Arthur could not but believe the whole was of
volcanic origin, and, in fact, a portion of the crater of an exhausted
volcano.
"We may find a capital magazine here for the powder," said Jack; "and
this light part will make a kitchen for the women folks while we are
building the hut Think you, Mr. Arthur, I should make them a ladder?
They'll hardly like swinging down by a rope."
Arthur thought they would certainly not like such a mode of descent, and
the ladder was decided on. Then he ventured to draw near the screaming
eagle to endeavor to extract the arrow from his wing, but the bird made
such fierce returns for his kindness, that he was compelled to retreat,
and wait for a more favorable moment for the operation; and in the mean
time, the youths ascended to report the discovery of the cave.
Wilkins had been employed in cutting down and bringing up the ascent a
quantity of the wild oats, and Margaret and her father were found
standing by a pool of clear water, which, though now somewhat shallow,
would doubtless contain an abundant supply after the rain. Around this
pond Mr. Mayburn had found many new and beautiful flowers, and, as soon
as he was satisfied of O'Brien's safety, he hastened to point out one of
his most valued acquisitions.
"Observe, my dear children," said he, "one of the most curious plants
ever discovered, _Cephalotus follicularis_, one of the pitcher-plants,
so named from the peculiar-form of the delicate white blossoms. You
perceive that these _pitchers_ on the strong footstalk contain water--in
this are some drowned insects. Hence, some writers have asserted that
these flowers are used by the larger insects of prey as receptacles for
their food. But we must see that this accumulated moisture is to
preserve the plant in its beauty during the long dry season."
"Could we not plant potatoes here?" asked Margaret. "In this genial
climate we might soon raise a crop, and our stock is now very low."
"Of course we can, Meggie," said Hugh. "I understand the habits of our
_solanum_. This light, dry, fresh soil will exactly suit it. Come,
Gerald, let us lose no time in marking off and clearing our
potato-ground, before the rains stop us. That will be more useful than
shooting eagles."
They were all gratified with the discovery of the cave, and anxious to
see it, but were induced to wait till a ladder was made, which was to be
commenced as soon as a party had returned to the wood to fill up the
mouth of the tunnel. For this purpose they used part of the lopped
branches, which they arranged so artfully, that no one could suspect a
breach had been made. The remainder of the brushwood was to be conveyed
up the mountain for firewood.
After this, Hugh and Gerald made a foray in an immense fig-tree,
dispersing the feathered tenants, and carrying off a large stock of the
ripe fruit. The rest returned, laden with firewood and wild oats. Then
Jenny made them some tea, and cakes of bruised oats, mixed with the
plentiful but insipid juice of the figs. These cakes were baked in the
ashes, and much enjoyed by the ever keenly hungry boys, who named the
dark hard biscuits Australian jumbles.
Before night should put an end to their labors, Jack and the young boys
cut down a slender tree, resembling the pine, to make a ladder; and
Margaret, with the help of Wilkins, pared off the turf, dug a large plot
of ground, and planted it with potatoes. Then, worn out with a day of
extreme toil, the wayfarers rested beneath a threatening sky, in the
heated atmosphere which indicated an approaching storm.
A few drops of rain at daybreak roused up the whole family to prompt
activity.
"It's no time to start and build to-day," said Wilkins. "Wait a bit;
here's a storm ower our heads; or, if ye want work, what say ye to
sinking yon bit pond a foot deeper? it holds nought, and when t' rain
falls it'll overflow and half drown us, if we don't mind."
Arthur thought it was a more prudent plan to dig another pond or
reservoir, rather deeper than the original one, and make a channel
between the two. They should thus secure a supply of water, and prevent
their potato ground from being washed away by a sudden flood.
"And, now that the ladder is finished," said Margaret, "it would be
better that papa and I should descend at once into this subterranean
grotto, and make it ready for our temporary abode, till you are able to
build a hut; for there is certainly a prospect of rain falling to-day."
"Come along," cried Gerald, "that I may usher you into my
newly-discovered dominions. Now, Ruth, we shall have you safe; you will
have few opportunities of committing mischief when you are below the
earth. Come and descend into the burning mountain, and take care you
don't fight with my eagle."
"Oh! master, is't true--is't a burning mountain?" asked Ruth, in terror.
"It has been a volcano," answered Mr. Mayburn, "but, in all probability,
exhausted, hundreds of years ago. It is now, as you see, a beautiful
wilderness."
Ruth did not regard the beauty of the spot; she saw only, in her mind's
eye, the red flames pouring from Mount Vesuvius, as depicted in a gaudy
picture-book she had seen in her childhood.
"Oh, please, Miss Marget," she exclaimed, "stay up here! don't go down
into that hole; it'll, maybe, break out again, and we'll all be burnt
alive."
But Margaret remonstrated, the boys laughed and Jenny scolded; and,
finally, Jack brought Ruth down to the range of subterranean apartments,
where Margaret and Jenny soon planned dormitories, kitchen, and
store-rooms. A large alcove was to be the chapel, and the light bowery
grotto beneath the entrance was to be the drawing-room,--at least, till
the heavy rains should compel them to seek more effectual shelter. Here
they collected stones for seats, and rolled into the midst a large piece
of rock for a table, upon which was spread the breakfast of tea and
oat-cakes, at present their only provision.
Mr. Mayburn was delighted to have the opportunity of inspecting so
nearly the wounded, but still fierce eagle, with its shining black
plumage; and he judged it was that known as _Aquila Fucoso_. It was in
vain, however, to attempt a close examination till Wilkins and Jack,
after some struggling, and a few severe pecks, succeeded in holding it
till Arthur extracted the arrow from the wing, and saw that nature would
probably heal the wound in a few days. In the mean time the bird was
starving, for it rejected with disdain the farinaceous food offered to
it; and Hugh and Gerald promised, as soon as the reservoir was
completed, to set out and shoot some small birds or opossums, for their
hungry guest.