Fever? Brain heat? The poor fellow turned cold with horror, and
hurried back, careless of any impending danger that there might be, into
the rough hut within whose shades he could dimly make out the figure of
his comrade, who appeared to be sleeping heavily, but not well, for he
was muttering.
"I say, Dick," he whispered, "how's your wound?"
There was no reply.
"Dick," he continued, "your wound doesn't hurt much, does it?"
Still there was no reply, and beginning to realise now that his own
brain was clear, and that he really had been fast asleep, wearied-out
beyond the power of watching by the previous night's exertions, he sank
down upon one knee to lay his hand upon Roberts's forehead, when,
feeling that it was burning, and that at the slightest touch the poor
fellow started with pain, he began to master himself.
"What fancies one does get into one's head at a time like this! Of
course I've been asleep, and no wonder. I was done up; but, thank
heaven, I'm all right and able to think and act, while poor Dick's
feverish and bad with his wound."
"Asleep, Dick?" he whispered again; and once more he laid his hand upon
the poor fellow's brow, but with no fresh result. His comrade was
insensible, and as Murray bent over the mutterer a fresh chill of horror
ran through him as he thought of his position.
Suppose he grew worse, and no help came. What should he do? The idea
was horrible. Suppose he were to--
He determined not to dwell upon the thought, and drawing a deep breath,
he whispered to himself, now full of excitement--
"That's not the way to do any good," he said. "It's only playing the
coward and thinking of one's self. I'm playing with shadows."
And setting his teeth, the middy sprang to his feet and stole quickly
and silently to the doorway to peer out and listen as he gazed at the
scene of beauty that opened out before him.
The rough plantation was mingled with wild growth, both of which, the
cultivated and the natural, were flourishing luxuriantly. Wondrous
creepers tangled themselves in the boughs which sheltered the hut from
the morning sunshine, and bell-flowers of exquisite beauty hung in the
pure limpid air; and as his eyes roamed here and there in search of
danger, a couple of ruby-crested humming birds darted into a patch of
sunshine, and chased one another round, sparkling, flashing and
quivering in the light, till one of them darted away and seemed to
suspend itself in front of one of the most beautiful bells, so as to
probe the honied depth of the great blossom like a gigantic bee.
The lad snatched himself from this to gaze in a fresh direction, for all
at once there was a prolonged whistle; but at its repetition he knew
that it was no human utterance; and when fresh bird-calls came from the
verdant tangle beyond the plantation, he felt encouraged by the feeling
that even if there were no friends forcing their way towards the
wild-looking hut in the forest, no enemy could be near, for the birds
that played about were too bold.
The next thought which came to the lad's eager, busy brain was of Tom
May and his intent of the previous night to go in search of him. "But I
can't go now," he thought, and, satisfied himself now that there was as
far as he could make out no immediate danger, he hurried back to the
side of Roberts, to try and take in his position and promptly decide
upon his actions.
This was soon done.
There was water at hand; rough vessels in which to fetch it; and after a
moment's thought as to whether he should carry his companion out into
the light, a smile crossed his lips as he thought of the old legend
about carrying the well to the pitcher, and making use of his unsheathed
cutlass, a few strokes resulted in his hacking away a portion of the
rough leafy thatching and admitting a broad band of light right across
his comrade's reclining figure.
A few touches convinced the amateur surgeon that the injury was too
tightly bound, and after removing the covering he set to work and bathed
the wound with the soft cool water till the temperature was reduced,
re-bound it tenderly, and soon after had the satisfaction of noting that
his patient's irritation and evident pain had grown less, while when he
raised his head and applied the freshly-drawn nut-full of water to the
poor lad's lips he drank with avidity, and then sank back with a sigh of
relief. The muttering grew less frequent, and he sank into a quiet
sleep.
It was Murray's turn to sigh now that he had achieved thus much; but it
was not with relief, for he was dripping with perspiration, the heat was
dense within the hut, and a sense of faint weariness stole over him of
so strange a nature that it seemed to him that his senses were passing
away.
"I am going to be bad now," he thought, feeling that perhaps in spite of
pluck and effort his time had come.
"What will poor Roberts do?" he felt in a queer, strange way, and
somehow it never seemed in the midst of the feeble dizzy sensation that
he was of any consequence himself.
"How hot!" he muttered feebly, and he made an effort to crawl out of the
hut, and then on and on almost unconsciously until he had dragged
himself to where a bright ray of light flashed from the glowing surface
of the clear amber water and played upon the great, green, glossy leaves
of a banana plant, one from whose greeny-yellow bunch of fruit he had
plucked the night before.
That all seemed dream-like, but it did not trouble him, for his nature
had prompted him to thrust forward his lips till they touched the water
just where the ray shot forth glowing light and life as well, for he
drank and drank, and as he imbibed the fluid, which looked like fire but
tasted like water, the feeling of faintness grew less, his senses began
to return, and he drew back to lie over with a sigh and gaze dreamily at
the great arum-like leaves of the banana and the huge bunch of green and
yellow finger-shaped fruit.
"Finger-like--thumb-like," he muttered, "just as if it was so many huge
hands resting one upon the other."
Murray sighed at his fancy, closed his eyes for a few moments to dream
about the refreshing water, and soon after opened them again to let them
gaze up the curve of a tree till it rose higher and higher, perfectly
straight now, and ended by resting his vision amidst the great fount of
green leaves which started from the crown and curved outwards.
There was a curious clump of fruit there, flowers too, and small and
large nuts; huge, semi-triangular and rounded masses of fibre, and he
looked at the high-up cluster, realising the while that hanging far
above him, where they would fall in front of the hut, was an abundance
of good satisfying food in the shape of pulpy nut, milk and cream, as
well as sweet water that he might drink; so that the occupant of that
humble hut might partake, but which was out of his reach, for the fruit
would not fall and he could not climb.
Murray lay thinking, as his senses grew stronger, of how blessed by
nature the black who lived in that hut must be, with a home that he
could easily construct, and with such ripe fruits ready to his hand with
hardly a care in the production; and then somehow the feeling of envy
seemed to turn to equally profound pity, as it flashed into his mind
that the poor wretch paid for it at the cost of labour, misery, and
despair forced upon him by some of the vilest wretches that lived
beneath the sun.
"Slavery!" muttered the lad, and again slavery mingled with the thoughts
of the horrible sufferings inflicted aboard the slave-ships--sufferings
that he and those with him were there to check and sweep away.
As these thoughts flooded the lad's brain, he at the same time grew
clearer and began to think of Tom May and Titely, of where they were,
and whether they would come to him and Roberts. He even pictured to
himself the former, big, hulking, and strong, coming staggering into
sight with his wounded comrade upon his back. Then his thoughts floated
away to Mr Anderson and his men. How had they got on? he asked
himself. Would the captain soon come with their vessel and by means of
a few shots sweep the place clear of the slave-hunting miscreants?
The midshipman's brain was fast growing clearer still, and all at once
he found himself gazing in imagination at the faithful black, shiny of
face, and clothed in white. Would he find him and his wounded comrade
and guide them back to the boats, or only perhaps to where he hoped Mr
Anderson was holding out at Plantation Cottage? And as he thought,
strangely enough it seemed to Murray in his faint, dreamy state, he
stretched out one hand to separate the great green leaves of the banana
near at hand so as to open a way for him to look beyond the great plant
through the plantation and see if the blacks were coming.
Then somehow, half unconsciously, the middy's hand closed upon something
soft to the touch and smooth--something that he plucked and peeled and
ate, and then plucked and ate again and again, till he began to grow
less faint, and refreshed as well as clear of brain, ending by feeling
strengthened and ready to crawl back into the hut, half wondering at
what had happened, until he fully realised it all and was able to tell
himself that he had been thoroughly exhausted and was now refreshed as
well as rested and ready to take fresh steps to help his less fortunate
comrade.
"Asleep still, Dick, old chap?" he whispered cheerfully.
But there was no reply, and after bathing the poor fellow's injury again
and watching him anxiously by the clear light that struck through the
roof, Murray rose to his feet, feeling more and more refreshed and ready
to act. He was encouraged, too, by the growing restfulness that came
like a soft flood through his senses.
"Well," he said to himself, "there's nothing wrong with me now. I was
completely done up. It's of no use to despair, for it is only cowardly.
I'm in a bad position, but it might be worse, even as poor old Dick's
is horribly bad, but as soon as I got to work I found that I could make
him better. It was a very simple thing to do, and if I could make him
better when he was so bad, now he is better I ought to be able to make
him better still."
But first of all he tried to settle thoroughly within himself what it
was his prime duty to do.
"Nature says to me, Try and save your own life. But then that seems to
be so horribly selfish and unnatural. I am fairly healthy and strong
now that I have got over that bit of a fit--bit of a fainting fit, I
suppose."
Here the lad pulled himself up short to think a little more.
"Fainting fit," he said to himself. "That sounds like being a girl. I
don't know, though: men faint as well as women when they are exhausted
by pain or by bleeding. Well, I was exhausted, and now I'm strengthened
and mustn't let myself get so weak again, and what's more, I mustn't let
poor Dick grow so weak. Oh, if old Reston were only here with his
bottles of stuff! But I don't know; perhaps I can get on without them,
for it isn't as if the poor chap was bad of a fever. Fever there is, of
course, but it's only the fever that comes from a wound, and wounds heal
by themselves. So I'm not going to despair.
"I'm sure of one thing," he continued, after a little more thought, "as
I'm so much better I don't want any doctoring, and it's my duty to
attend to poor old Dick, and I'm going to do it. It's very horrible to
be in such a hole as this, but I know that the first luff won't rest
until he has found every one of his party, and the captain won't rest
till he has found his officer, and--"
Frank Murray's cogitations were at an end, for just as he had come to
the conclusion that matters were far better than he expected, and that
all he had to do was to devote himself to his comrade's recovery, which
was already on the way, he started suddenly, for he was conscious of a
slight rustling noise somewhere apparently at the back of the hut, a
sound as of some animal forcing its way through the dense growth which
shut the building in upon three sides.
Murray's heart began to beat fast as he listened, for the noise was
repeated, and though there was caution connected with the movement, the
sound was of such a nature that he was not long in doubt as to its
cause.
It was, as far as the lad could determine, a man forcing his way through
the jungle at the back; and then, just as it came close at hand, so
close that the rough walls of the hut seemed to quiver, the sound ceased
again, and in the midst of the deep silence which ensued, the lad felt
convinced that he was being watched by some one who was peeping through
the wall opposite to where he crouched over his sleeping companion; and
he waited in agony for some fresh movement, ready to spring up with his
cutlass gripped in his hand.
His excitement seemed to grow till he could bear it no longer, and he
rose to his feet, and stepped softly to the side of the door, just as
there was a louder rustle than ever, and some one bounded out of the
thicket right to the front of the doorway, stared into the darkness for
a brief moment, and then turned and ran along the edge of the rough
plantation, disappearing amongst a clump of maize-stalks. Murray was
beginning to breathe freely, in the hope that in the brief glance he had
not been seen in the darkness within, when his heart sank once more, for
he recalled the hole he had hacked in the thatch--a hole which must have
flooded the place with light.
At that moment there was the soft pad of footsteps again, and to his
horror, in company with the rustle of the tall corn stalks, the figure
of the black, who now seemed to be herculean in build, dashed into
sight, armed, as the middy could see, with a heavy machete, and coming
rapidly straight for the door of the hut.