A DISAPPOINTMENT.
Each hour increased the anxiety of Captain Seaworth and his officers.
There was every reason to believe the pirates would return, and perhaps
very soon. It was not the custom of Malays to acknowledge themselves
vanquished so quickly, and doubtless they had the fullest information
concerning the movements of the colonists from the numberless small proas
or sampans which can be met in any direction under the guise of honest
traders.
Now that the colonists had returned, it was to be expected the pirates
would avenge themselves for the injuries inflicted by the Reynard, and
it was more than probable these reprisals would be made at the earliest
possible moment. As Mr. Clark suggested:
“This time there will be no warning given. The weapon we found serves to
notify any of their friends we may have with us to be on the alert, and
when the scoundrels come again it will be with the utmost secrecy.”
The ship which brought the natives from Batavia must also be taken back,
and there were hardly more than sufficient able-bodied men left after
the battle to work both crafts into port. If, therefore, the pirates
should attack while the vessels were at anchor, it would be possible to
make only the slightest show of defense. The Malays could easily finish
that which Goliah had begun, and the massacre would be complete.
“Since we have decided to visit the cave,” Captain Seaworth said, as
the council of war was brought to a close, “I believe it should be done
without loss of time. The apes have received such a punishment as will
probably prevent them from renewing hostilities until after they have
recovered somewhat from the effects of the battle, and the journey can be
made more safely to-morrow morning than twelve hours later.”
“You might also continue, captain, by saying that it would be safer to go
now than wait eighteen hours,” Mr. Clark said.
Instead of replying, Captain Seaworth looked at Philip questioningly, and
the latter said, after a brief time of thought:
“I am of the opinion that the attempt should be made at once. We can
return by sunset, and it will then be possible to take advantage of the
night-breeze to get under way.”
There was no necessity for any further discussion, and preparations for
the journey were begun without delay.
As a matter of course it was necessary to leave behind as many of the
able-bodied men as would be sufficient to work the boats, because it was
unsafe to moor the little crafts where the apes might destroy or set
them adrift, and after the crew had been told off for this purpose there
were but twenty-two uninjured ones to go in search of the treasure.
Few as these were in number, they made a formidable host because of their
weapons. Each carried a repeating-rifle, two revolvers, and a cutlass,
with ammunition enough to continue a spirited engagement for at least an
hour.
The afternoon was not more than half spent when the little party was
conveyed from the ship to the shore, and, forming in a column of fours,
marched up the southern avenue to the ruins of the village, each man on
the alert for the slightest suspicious sound which should betoken the
coming of the enemy.
During the march they took note of one singular fact—the absence of any
dead or wounded apes.
It was in this avenue that they had seen scores of the enemy fall before
the discharge of the cannon, and it was not probable they had killed
less than a hundred. On the foliage were stains of blood, and the broken
surface of the road showed where the soil had absorbed the life-blood of
many a human being as well as animal; but there were no other traces of
the fray. Several times did Captain Seaworth and Philip leave the ranks
to penetrate a short distance among the underbrush, but without gaining
any information as to the disposition of the dead.
On arriving at the ruins of the village it was found deserted, like the
avenue, and the treasure-seekers continued on their way to the grotto.
This last portion of the journey was supposed to be the most dangerous,
and yet they reached the mouth of the cavern without having been molested.
The work of carrying away the treasure which had seemed so dangerous
now appeared to be a very simple task, and Philip, followed by his
companions, marched boldly into the grotto without a thought of danger,
when suddenly a shower of stones came from the tunnel with such effect
that three of the party were stricken down.
Naturally the first thought of the men was to return the fire; but on
raising their weapons there were no adversaries to be seen. As Philip
and the chimpanzees had barricaded the passage, so now had Goliah, and a
narrow slit at the top of the wall through which the volley of stones had
been sent was the only aperture visible.
To aim at this opening would simply be a waste of ammunition, since
the bullets could only strike the top of the tunnel, and this Philip
understood in a very few seconds.
There was no necessity, however, for him to advise the beating of a
retreat. Each man in turn, on finding himself confronted by a shower of
stones when no enemy was visible, took refuge outside the grotto, some
of the more thoughtful carrying the wounded with them; and here the
gold-hunters took counsel together.
“We can now understand why there were no wounded to be seen,” Captain
Seaworth said. “The big baboon has profited by Mr. Garland’s example
and fortified himself in this place, where he has most likely set up a
hospital. The question now is, Can we dislodge him with the force at our
command?”
“To that question I say, most emphatically, No,” Philip replied. “The
passage is so long, the amount of rock in the chambers so great, that a
thousand men would hardly be sufficient to vanquish the apes while they
remain in a position which is almost impregnable.”
“Do you mean that we cannot recover the treasure?” Mr. Clark asked in
surprise.
“You can answer that as well as I,” was Philip’s reply. “The tunnel is
not less than forty feet long, and through it but two men can pass at a
time. At the further end we may safely say there are not less than five
hundred apes, who can procure plenty of their peculiar ammunition by
overturning the stalactites; and from your experience in monkey warfare
do you fancy, now our party is reduced to nineteen, that we can effect an
entrance?”
“It may be that only a few of the baboon’s followers have taken refuge
here,” Mr. Clark suggested; and the captain replied, quickly:
“There can be little doubt but that they are all within the chamber,
otherwise we should most certainly have been attacked while coming up the
road. Mr. Garland has described the structure of this place so well that
we can fully understand the condition of affairs, and I see no possible
chance of recovering the treasure until the apes have retreated.”
“Which is the same as saying that we must abandon all hope of getting it,
since it would be hardly less than madness to remain here in view of the
fact that the pirates may return at any moment,” Mr. Clark added.
“Exactly so, gentlemen but at the same time I leave it to you to say
whether we shall go, or remain in the faint hope of being able to
dislodge the baboon army.”
However eager the party might be to gain possession of the vast treasure
which they knew to be in the cavern, all were forced to confess that
under present circumstances it was impossible to obtain it, and with one
accord the march to the sea was taken up.
Already had the night-wind begun to blow. The ships were rising and
falling on the swelling sea, tugging at their cables as if impatient to
be away, while far on the horizon toward the south could be seen, by the
naked eye, a tiny smudge of black which betokened the coming of some
craft, for no land lay within the range of vision in that direction.
“Ahoy on the Reynard!” Captain Seaworth shouted, and in the absence of
any officer the surgeon answered the hail.
“Have the lookouts reported a sail in the vicinity?”
“Ay, ay, sir. A fleet of proas coming from the southward. Most likely the
pirates whom we met before.”
This was sufficient to settle the question of treasure-seeking, if that
which had been seen at the grotto was not convincing; and although Goliah
had wrought so much destruction, to him they were now probably indebted
for their lives, since, if it had been possible to enter the subterranean
chamber, they would have remained several hours, in which time the Malays
could have approached so near as to render flight impossible.
In less than thirty minutes both ships were under way, every sail set
and drawing, and before the island of apes had faded in the distance the
pirate fleet was lost to view.
The scheme of colonizing the island was a failure. It had cost the lives
of many, the limbs of not a few, and all the property brought from New
York, while absolutely nothing had been accomplished.
The port of Batavia was made without incident, and, after only so long
a stay as was necessary to settle up certain business matters connected
with the corporation, the Reynard set sail for the home port.
To-day Philip Garland is in New York, and with him are the two
chimpanzees; but whether he ever returns to the island, of which he
was once king, in search of the vast treasure known to be there, is a
question he only can answer, and at the present time he has not decided.
[THE END.]