"Gone on board, sir? Who gone on board?"
"Mr Jack and his man."
"Haven't been down here, sir. Arn't lost 'em, have you?"
The doctor made no reply.
"Here," he cried, "take these birds, and you two who have been resting
come back with me. Lenny, I want you, and you come too," he continued
to another of the men.
The other two who had come down from the mountain slope were eager to
return, but the doctor ordered them to take charge of the boat, and
without pausing a minute shouldered his gun and turned to follow the
path they had taken that morning, with better hope of success.
"I dare say we came close by them somewhere," he said to Lenny. "I
hardly see though how we could have missed them."
"Strikes me, sir, as I know how it was," said the man.
"You think you know?"
"Yes, sir, but it's only thinking, and mayn't be right."
"Tell me what you think," cried the doctor impatiently.
"It was hot, sir, steamy hot under the trees, and Mr Jack is young and
none too strong, and Ned arn't quite got over his trouble."
"Yes, of course. Well, go on."
"Well, sir, they must have trudged after us till they were tired out,
and then sat down to wait for us, and went to sleep."
"I hope that's it, Lenny," said the doctor as they struggled on, up and
up, amongst tree, bush, and rock, while, to add to their difficulty, a
complete change came on with tropic rapidity, a black curtain of clouds
swept across the sky, and in an incredibly short time the lightning
flickered for a few minutes through the trees, and then came in blinding
flashes, accompanied more than followed by peal upon peal of thunder
which seemed to shake the island to its foundation.
Worse still was to follow. Just as the lightning was flashing and
quivering among the trees, and the thunder was at its loudest, the rain
came down. It had approached from the sea with, a dull hissing sound
which grew louder and louder, till with startling force the wind which
bore it on its wings flung it as it were with a tremendous force upon
the mountain slope, whipping the boughs and tearing the leaves from the
twigs, pouring away with terrific violence, and rushing downward into
the gully, which soon became filled with a roaring torrent which swept
all before it.
This was the first example the doctor had encountered of the power of a
tropical storm, and he was glad to shelter himself and his four
companions beneath an overhanging ledge of lava rock--a poor protection,
but such as it was it saved them from much of the force of the storm.
The downpour ceased as suddenly as it had commenced, the tempest
sweeping over the island to pass on to the ocean and be dissipated
there, so that in little more than an hour the sun was shining down
through the trees again, where the drenched earth was spangled as it
were with jewels.
But the task of continuing the search was now made excessively
difficult. The ground was slippery in the extreme, save where the lava
had been washed bare, and at almost every step the water-laden boughs
poured down a fresh shower upon them. The labour was terrible, for now
it was as if they were forcing their way through a bath of hot vapour
which was enervating in the extreme.
But they struggled on hour after hour, vainly seeking for some trace of
the missing ones--a task which would have baffled the keenest-eyed Red
Indian, for the rain had swept away every footprint, and when at rare
intervals a broken branch or torn-off leaf-covered twig was found, it
was as likely to have been the work of the storm as of any one passing
through.
Faint with an exhaustion he would not own to, the doctor was still
urging or cheering his men on, when the dull concussion of a gun and the
following echoes announced that those on the yacht were impatient for
their return.
"Signal to come back, sir," said Lenny despondently.
"Yes, but we can't go back without finding them first," said the doctor
angrily. "Who is to face Sir John Meadows and tell him we have failed
in our duty of protecting his son?"
No one answered, and the silence was broken by the dull thud of another
gun.
"It is of no use, I can't return while it is light, but the summons must
be answered. Here, Lenny, go back and tell Sir John what has happened,
and that we are searching in every direction."
"Me, sir?" cried the man with a look of horror; "I couldn't do it, sir."
"You must. You have been out all day, and must be done up."
"Me, sir! My mate's ever so much worse nor me. Send him."
"G'orn with you," cried the other sailor who had been with them since
the first start; "why I arn't half so done as he is, sir."
"I want you to go, Lenny," said the doctor sternly. "I dare say you
will find another boat waiting. Send the men up to help the search.
But there is no need to send that message, Sir John is sure to have come
himself."
"Mean it, sir? I'm to go?" said Lenny.
"Yes, of course."
"Well, sir, I'd sooner keep on hunting for the poor lad all night than
face Sir John; but if you say I am to do it, why do it I must."
"Go then," said the doctor, "and mind, you are not to attempt to
return."
"Arks your pardon, sir, but it'll be 'bout two hours 'fore I get down to
the boat."
"No, no; not half that time," cried the doctor.
"We've come a long way, sir. What do you say, mates?"
"All two hours," was the reply.
"Yes, sir, you've been so anxious 'bout it you arn't noticed how the
time goes, and as I was going to say, by the time I get down to the boat
it will be black as the inside o' one o' the coal-bunkers."
The doctor stood gazing at the man wildly.
"There won't be no more searching then."
"You're right, you're right," groaned the doctor. "There, stop with us.
Come what may the poor fellows must be found."
_Bang_! went a signal gun again, and the echoes rolled away up the
mountain, growing fainter and fainter, while the lovely grove, full of
dazzling light and darkest shade, resplendent in its beauty, and with
the air fragrant with the freshened odour of leaf and flower, seemed to
Doctor Instow the most horrible solitude to which man had ever been
condemned.
"There they go again," said one of the men, as once more a gun was
fired.
"Forward," cried the doctor, rousing himself from his utter despondency.
"Which way, sir?" asked Lenny.
"Any way, my lads. System is of no use here. We must trust to chance."
"Think he can have got over into the next gully, sir?" said Lenny.
"No, no, impossible. It would take a party of strong men to cut a way
through, and they would not make the clearance in a week. Forward!
Open out and keep on giving a hail from time to time."
Another signal gun for their recall was fired.
"We can't help it," said the doctor. "Forward, my lads. We must find
them now."
It was not until the occasional glimpses of the sky they caught told him
by their altered colour that the night was close at hand, that the
doctor once more halted, and then gave the order for the party to return
as well as they could upon their tracks.
And now as they staggered more than walked wearily back a shot was fired
every few minutes, and a short halt made to listen for a response.
But none came, and they struggled on through the darkness, the rapidness
of the descent of the ground and the roar of the torrent at their side
being their only guides, for the darkness beneath the trees was now
intense.
How long they had been going downward no one could have said, as they
kept now in line, following each other closely, with Lenny first, when
after stumble and fall at every few yards, as the doctor's gun flashed
and the report rang out, it was at length answered from higher up on
their left.
"At last!" cried the doctor, rousing himself from the feeling of
exhaustion which seemed to have deadened all his energies. "Bear to the
left, Lenny, for a few minutes, and then I'll fire again."
"Ay, ay, sir!" said the man huskily, and in a very short time he
stumbled and fell, rolling down a precipitous part.
"Hurt?" cried the doctor.
"Dunno, sir," said the man with a groan. "Feels like it; but don't you
mind me, you fire again."
The doctor cocked his piece and raised it to fire in the air, when a
shot rang out again, apparently about a hundred yards away, the flash
before the report being plainly seen.
"Ahoy!" yelled Lenny hoarsely, and this was answered faintly.
"That's Ned," growled Lenny. "No, no; not his voice," cried the doctor.
"Mind how you go down there."
The words were useless, for the men were too much worn out to study
anything, and they let themselves slide down, only too glad to get to
the bottom.
"Ahoy!" came now, and as they answered there was a breaking and rustling
heard among the trees, shouts and sharp orders could be heard, and in a
few minutes the two parties encountered.
"Have you found him?" cried the doctor, for he had known for some
moments that he was wrong.
"Found him!" came back in the voice of Sir John, full of agony. "Is not
Jack with you?"
The doctor's answer was a groan before he announced what had happened.
A few minutes' conversation followed between Sir John and the mate,
before the former said sharply, in a tone which cut the doctor to the
heart--
"Can you give me no idea where you missed them first?"
"Not the slightest," said the doctor bitterly. "We are completely
lost."
There was silence for a few moments before Sir John spoke again.
"Go on down to the mouth of the gully," he said sharply, "and make the
best of your way on board."
"What are you going to do?" said the doctor.
"Stop here till daylight, and then continue the search. Better make a
fire, my lads."
"Yes," cried the mate. "It may guide them to us."
"I must stay," said the doctor.
"I do not want you," said Sir John coldly, "and you are too tired to be
of any use."
"I suppose so," said the doctor bitterly, "but I must stay all the
same."
"Then back with you, my men," said Sir John.
"Keep on downward near the stream, and you must come upon the boat."
There was a dead silence.
"Well," said the mate sharply, "why don't you go?"
"Dunno 'bout the others," said Lenny softly. "I'm ready to make a
start, but I can't. It's my legs won't go."
"That's about it with me," said another of the men; and the result was
that the mate told them to sit by the fire that was made, and rest for
an hour before starting back. But when the hour had elapsed the poor
fellows were plunged in a stupor-like sleep from which they could not be
aroused.