BUT the change of heart in the Bag-jagderags was really sincere. The
Doctor had made a great impression on them—a deeper one than even he
himself realized at the time. In fact I sometimes think that that
speech of his from the palace-steps had more effect upon the Indians of
Spidermonkey Island than had any of his great deeds which, great though
they were, were always magnified and exaggerated when the news of them
was passed from mouth to mouth.
A sick girl was brought to him as he reached the place where the boats
lay. She turned out to have some quite simple ailment which he quickly
gave the remedy for. But this increased his popularity still more. And
when he stepped into his canoe, the people all around us actually burst
into tears. It seems (I learned this afterwards) that they thought he
was going away across the sea, for good, to the mysterious foreign
lands from which he had come.
Some of the chieftains spoke to the Popsipetels as we pushed off. What
they said I did not understand; but we noticed that several canoes
filled with Bag-jagderags followed us at a respectful distance all the
way back to Popsipetel.
The Doctor had determined to return by the other shore, so that we
should be thus able to make a complete trip round the island’s shores.
Shortly after we started, while still off the lower end of the island,
we sighted a steep point on the coast where the sea was in a great
state of turmoil, white with soapy froth. On going nearer, we found
that this was caused by our friendly whales who were still faithfully
working away with their noses against the end of the island, driving us
northward. We had been kept so busy with the war that we had forgotten
all about them. But as we paused and watched their mighty tails lashing
and churning the sea, we suddenly realized that we had not felt cold
in quite a long while. Speeding up our boat lest the island be carried
away from us altogether, we passed on up the coast; and here and there
we noticed that the trees on the shore already looked greener and more
healthy. Spidermonkey Island was getting back into her home climates.
About halfway to Popsipetel we went ashore and spent two or three days
exploring the central part of the island. Our Indian paddlers took us
up into the mountains, very steep and high in this region, overhanging
the sea. And they showed us what they called the Whispering Rocks.
This was a very peculiar and striking piece of scenery. It was like a
great vast basin, or circus, in the mountains, and out of the centre of
it there rose a table of rock with an ivory chair upon it. All around
this the mountains went up like stairs, or theatre-seats, to a great
height—except at one narrow end which was open to a view of the sea.
You could imagine it a council-place or concert-hall for giants, and
the rock table in the centre the stage for performers or the stand for
the speaker.
[Illustration: “Working away with their noses against the end of the
island”]
We asked our guides why it was called the Whispering Rocks; and they
said, “Go down into it and we will show you.”
The great bowl was miles deep and miles wide. We scrambled down the
rocks and they showed us how, even when you stood far, far apart from
one another, you merely had to whisper in that great place and every
one in the theatre could hear you. This was, the Doctor said, on
account of the echoes which played backwards and forwards between the
high walls of rock.
Our guides told us that it was here, in days long gone by when the
Popsipetels owned the whole of Spidermonkey Island, that the kings
were crowned. The ivory chair upon the table was the throne in which
they sat. And so great was the big theatre that all the Indians in the
island were able to get seats in it to see the ceremony.
They showed us also an enormous hanging stone perched on the edge of
a volcano’s crater—the highest summit in the whole island. Although
it was very far below us, we could see it quite plainly; and it looked
wobbly enough to be pushed off its perch with the hand. There was a
legend among the people, they said, that when the greatest of all
Popsipetel kings should be crowned in the ivory chair, this hanging
stone would tumble into the volcano’s mouth and go straight down to the
centre of the earth.
[Illustration: “The Whispering Rocks”]
The Doctor said he would like to go and examine it closer.
And when we were come to the lip of the volcano (it took us half a
day to get up to it) we found the stone was unbelievably large—big
as a cathedral. Underneath it we could look right down into a black
hole which seemed to have no bottom. The Doctor explained to us that
volcanoes sometimes spurted up fire from these holes in their tops; but
that those on floating islands were always cold and dead.
“Stubbins,” he said, looking up at the great stone towering above us,
“do you know what would most likely happen if that boulder should fall
in?”
“No,” said I, “what?”
“You remember the air-chamber which the porpoises told us lies under
the centre of the island?”
“Yes.”
“Well, this stone is heavy enough, if it fell into the volcano, to
break through into that air-chamber from above. And once it did, the
air would escape and the floating island would float no more. It would
sink.”
“But then everybody on it would be drowned, wouldn’t they?” said Bumpo.
“Oh no, not necessarily. That would depend on the depth of the sea
where the sinking took place. The island might touch bottom when it
had only gone down, say, a hundred feet. But there would be lots of it
still sticking up above the water then, wouldn’t there?”
“Yes,” said Bumpo, “I suppose there would. Well, let us hope that the
ponderous fragment does _not_ lose its equilibriosity, for I don’t
believe it would stop at the centre of the earth—more likely it would
fall right through the world and come out the other side.”
Many other wonders there were which these men showed us in the central
regions of their island. But I have not time or space to tell you of
them now.
Descending towards the shore again, we noticed that we were still
being watched, even here among the highlands, by the Bag-jagderags
who had followed us. And when we put to sea once more a boatload of
them proceeded to go ahead of us in the direction of Popsipetel.
Having lighter canoes, they traveled faster than our party; and we
judged that they should reach the village—if that was where they were
going—many hours before we could.
The Doctor was now becoming anxious to see how Long Arrow was getting
on, so we all took turns at the paddles and went on traveling by
moonlight through the whole night.
We reached Popsipetel just as the dawn was breaking.
To our great surprise we found that not only we, but the whole village
also, had been up all night. A great crowd was gathered about the dead
chief’s house. And as we landed our canoes upon the beach we saw a
large number of old men, the seniors of the tribe, coming out at the
main door.
We inquired what was the meaning of all this; and were told that the
election of a new chief had been going on all through the whole night.
Bumpo asked the name of the new chief; but this, it seemed, had not yet
been given out. It would be announced at mid-day.
As soon as the Doctor had paid a visit to Long Arrow and seen that he
was doing nicely, we proceeded to our own house at the far end of the
village. Here we ate some breakfast and then lay down to take a good
rest.
Rest, indeed, we needed; for life had been strenuous and busy for us
ever since we had landed on the island. And it wasn’t many minutes
after our weary heads struck the pillows that the whole crew of us were
sound asleep.
_THE NINTH CHAPTER_