The heart of the young Maroon, though by nature bold and brave, was for
a moment impressed with fear. He had known the myal-man of Mount
Welcome--never very intimately--but enough to identify his person.
Indeed, once seen, Chakra was a man to be remembered.
Cubina had, like every one else for miles around, heard of the trial of
the Coromantee conjuror, and his condemnation to exposure on the Jumbe
Rock. The peculiar mode of his execution--the cruel sentence--the
celebrity of the scene where the criminal had been compelled to pass the
last miserable hours of his existence--all combined to render his death
even more notorious than his life; and few there were in the western end
of the Island who had not heard of the myal-man of Mount Welcome, and
the singular mode of atonement that justice had demanded him to make for
his crimes.
In common with others, Cubina believed him dead. No wonder, then, that
the heart of the Maroon should for a moment misgive him on seeing Chakra
seated in a canoe, and paddling himself across the calm surface of the
lagoon!
Under any circumstances, the sight of the Coromantee was not calculated
to beget confidence in the beholder; but his unexpected appearance just
then produced within the mind of the Maroon a feeling somewhat stronger
than astonishment, and for some seconds he stood upon the cliff overcome
by a feeling of awe.
Very soon, however, he remembered the statement which his lieutenant had
made, and which Quaco had put in the form of an asseveration.
Quaco, like most of his colour, a firm believer in "Duppy" and "Jumbe,"
had believed it to be Chakra's ghost he had seen; and under the terror
with which the sight had inspired him, instead of making an attempt to
pursue the apparition, and prove whether it was flesh and blood, or only
"empty air," he had used his utmost speed to get away from the spot,
leaving the myal-man's ghost full master of the ground.
Cubina, less given to superstitious inclinings, only for a moment
permitted himself to be mystified with the idea of a "Duppy." Quaco's
experience, along with the presence of the penn-keeper and his
companion--there evidently for a purpose--guided him to the conclusion
that what he saw in the canoe was no spiritual Chakra, but Chakra in the
flesh.
How the Coromantee came to be still living and moving, the Maroon could
not so easily comprehend; but Cubina possessed acute reasoning powers,
and the presence of the Jew, evidently _en rapport_ with the restored
conjuror, went far towards explaining the mystery of the latter's
resurrection.
Satisfied that he saw Chakra himself, the Maroon placed himself in a
position to watch the movements both of the men in the canoe, and those
who had summoned him across the lagoon.
In another moment the canoe was lost sight of. It had passed under the
bushes at the bottom of the cliff, where it was not visible from above.
Voices now ascended, which could be heard, but not distinctly.
Cubina could distinguish three voices taking part in the conversation--
Chakra's, the Jew's, and, at longer intervals, the shrill treble of the
slave Cynthia.
He bent his ear, and listened with keen attention--in hopes of hearing
what they said. He could only catch an occasional word. The roar of
the cascade rising along with the voices hindered him from hearing them
distinctly; and, notwithstanding his earnest desire to do so, he was
unable to make out the matter of the conversation.
Only for a short while was he kept waiting. The _trialogue_ came to a
close, followed by a brief interval of silence--at the end of which the
canoe once more made its appearance upon the open water of the lagoon.
Two persons only were in it, Chakra and the Jew. Cynthia had stayed by
the bottom of the cliff.
Cubina made this observation with some chagrin. It was a circumstance
that promised to frustrate the design he had suddenly conceived: of
following the myal-man to his lair. This he desired to do, in order to
make himself acquainted with the hiding-place of the remarkable runaway.
That it was down in the Duppy's Hole there could be no doubt; and
therefore the Maroon might at any time find him there.
This reflection would have contented him; but, on seeing the Jew ferried
across the lagoon, he conjectured that he and Chakra were bent upon the
completion of some horrid plot, which, by following, he, Cubina, might
overhear, and, perhaps, be enabled to counteract.
The Maroon was aware of the difficulty of descending into the Duppy's
Hole. He knew there was but one way--by the bushes that clustered along
the face of the cliff at his feet. Once, while on the chase, he and his
followers, aided by a rope-ladder, had gone down; and, in search of
game, had explored the wooded covert beyond. At that time, however,
Chakra had not been _executed_; and the hunter had found no trace of
human presence in the solitary place.
He knew that he could follow the canoe by swimming; as in this way he
had crossed before, but now that Cynthia barred the way, it would be
impossible for him to reach the water unobserved.
To follow the conspirators further was out of the question. His chance
was cut off by the interposition of the mulatta. He could only remain
on the cliff and await their return.
He was reflecting upon what course to pursue, when a rustling sound
reached him from below. It was made by some one moving among the bushes
that grew against the face of the precipice.
He caught one of the branches; and, supporting himself by it, craned his
neck over the cliff. His eye fell upon the brilliant chequer of a
_bandanna_, visible among the leaves. It was the toque upon the head of
Cynthia. It was in motion; and he could see that she was ascending by
the tree stairway he had already observed.
Without staying to witness the ascent, he turned back into the underwood
by the side of the path; and, crouching down, he waited to see what the
woman intended doing. Perhaps her part in the performance had been
played out--at least, for that night--and she was on her way homeward?
That was what Cubina conjectured, as well as just what he would have
wished.
His conjecture proved correct. The mulatta, on mounting to the crest of
the cliff, stopped only for a moment, to adjust upon her arm a basket
she had brought up--from the half-open lid of which protruded the neck
of a bottle. Then, casting her eyes forward, she struck off into the
shadowy forest path, and was soon out of sight.
The moment after she had passed him, the Maroon glided silently forward
to the edge of the cliff, and commenced descending the stair. Such feat
was nothing to him; and in a few seconds he had reached the edge of the
lagoon.
Here he paused--to make sure that the canoe had arrived at its
destination, and that its late occupants had disembarked from it.
After a moment spent in this _reconnoissance_--looking sharply, and
listening with all his ears--he became satisfied that the coast was
clear; and, letting himself stealthily into the water, he swam for the
opposite shore of the lagoon.
Upon only about two-thirds of the surface of the lagoon did the
moonlight fall--the cliff casting its shadow upon the other third.
Keeping within the boundaries of this shadow, and swimming as silently
as a fish, Cubina succeeded in reaching the opposite shore, without
perceiving any sign that he had been observed.
Under the heavy timber, with which the upper half of the ravine was
covered, the darkness was as deep as if not a ray of moonlight came down
from the sky. Only on the stream itself, and here and there through a
break in the umbrageous forest, could the moonbeams reach the surface of
the earth. Elsewhere, from cliff to cliff, the obscurity was complete.
Cubina conjectured, and correctly, that there was a path leading from
the anchorage of the canoe; and to find this was his first purpose.
Keeping around the edge of the lagoon, he soon came upon the craft--
empty, and anchored under a tree.
The moonlight, entering here from the open water, showed him the
_embouchure_ of the path, where it entered the underwood; and, without
losing a moment's time, he commenced moving along it.
Silently as a cat he stole onward, at intervals pausing to listen; but
he could only bear the hissing sound of the upper cascade--to which he
was now making approach.
There was a space in front of the waterfall, where the trees stood
thinly, and this opening was soon reached.
On arriving at its edge the Maroon again stopped to reconnoitre.
Scarcely a second of time did he need to pause. Light flashed in his
eyes through the interstices of what appeared to be a sort of grating.
It was the bamboo door of the obeah hut. Voices, too, reverberated
through the bars.
Within were the men upon whom it was his purpose to play eavesdropper.
In another instant Cubina was cowering under the cotton-tree, close up
to the doorpost.
Volume Two, Chapter XXXI.