They were too close to the goats to venture upon much whispering, and
the decision was soon arrived at that they were to divide, and each make
the best of his way up the ridge till there was an opportunity for a
close easy shot; then without waiting that shot was to be sent whizzing
from the bow, the probability being that as there was no report, the
goats would not be much alarmed, and another chance might be afforded.
"Think we must have one this time, Mr Jack," whispered Ned, and they
started from behind the great block which now sheltered them, each
taking his own side.
From that moment Jack had no eyes for his companion, his attention was
centred upon the great father of the herd, to the left of which the two
half-grown kids were browsing upon the tender young shoots of the
bush-like growth.
It was nervous work, for every now and then the old goat raised his head
on high to take a long careful look round, and when he did, Jack
remained motionless where he had crawled. Directly he saw the tips of
the horns lowered he began to creep again, taking advantage of every
tree-trunk, stone, or bush, and always getting nearer, though still far
too distant to risk a shot. His hands trembled and were wet with
perspiration, and again and again he felt that he must be seen, and
expected to hear the beating of the animals' hoofs as they dashed off,
but the great curved horns, sweeping back like those of an ibex, were
still visible, and he crawled slowly on, forgetting all about Ned and
his progress.
At last, after many minutes devoted to the struggle upward, he reached a
spot sufficiently elevated to give him a view of the volcano whose
crater rose above the ridge, and forming; a background for the big goat,
which stood out plainly about forty yards away even now, and offering
itself for a shot, easy enough with a rifle, but very doubtful with a
bow and arrow. The lad was in a capital position, but unfortunately the
slope beyond offered no cover, and to have moved from it meant to be
seen at once, while, more unfortunately still, the two kids, which
should have shown themselves nearer, were now completely hidden by a
clump of dense growth twenty yards from where he lay.
"If I could only have got there," thought Jack, "how easy it would be."
But to have moved would have been to send the whole herd careering away,
and all he could do was to wait and see if the kids would at last come
from behind the shrubs.
"They may come nearer," he thought, and he softly fitted an arrow to the
bowstring, and waited for his opportunity, for he could do no more.
There he rested, bow and arrow held ready, in a very awkward position
for shooting, but he dared not move, for at the slightest movement even
of his companions, the goat raised his head, and several times gave an
angry stamp with one of his fore-feet.
"I wonder where Ned is now," thought the boy, and he hoped that he was
having better fortune, and he glanced cautiously in the direction where
he must be, but all was still; butterflies were flitting about, birds
darted by, and the old goat, the only one of the herd now visible, still
browsed or watched.
Jack glanced away to his left to see if he could take and creep round to
a better position, but there was less cover than where he was; and after
waiting impatiently for what seemed to be over a quarter of an hour, the
lad determined to risk all, and creep to the clump in front, if only a
few inches at a time, bearing to his left in the hope of getting it
between him and the old goat, and bearing still more off till he could
get his shot at the young.
All at once, in the midst of the soft hum of insects and the cropping
sound made by the invisible goats, Jack heard a peculiar bleating noise
away to his right.
Jack looked quickly round, expecting to see an easy shot, and the big
goat looked too, and took a step or two forward. Then the bleating
began again and ended suddenly in a peculiar smothered way, as if the
creature which uttered it had been suddenly strangled.
The big goat looked puzzled, raised his head higher, and stared in the
direction of the sound, stamped angrily, and uttered an angry, defiant
_ba-a-a-a-a_!
At the cry Jack's heart leaped, for a kid that he had not previously
seen sprang into sight, and stood within thirty yards of the watcher,
side on, offering an easy shot, while the rest of the herd trotted
hurriedly up to their leader.
_Twang_! Jack's arrow had sped after he had drawn it to the head, and
as he was in the act of springing up to see if the shaft had taken
effect, something heavy pitched on to his shoulders, throwing him face
forward among the thick growth, and a pair of black hands clasped his
neck and throat.
It was all done so suddenly that he was half stunned. The stalker had
been stalked, and as he was twisted round by the man who had leaped upon
him, and who now sat upon his chest, half-a-dozen more black faces
appeared, their owners grinning with triumph. Jack yelled with all his
might--
"Run for it, Ned. Savages. Run!"
The warning was all in vain, for the next minute four more blacks
appeared, dragging the man after them bound hand and foot, and looking
purple in the face, and scratched as if he had been engaged in a severe
struggle.
"There you are, Mr Jack," he panted. "They've 'most killed me. Jumped
upon me just as I had a splendid chance. On my back. Five to one, the
cowards. And then they come behind you, and can't hit fair. Are you
hurt?"
"Not much. Oh, Ned, and I thought we had got away from them."
"Yes, but they must have been on the look-out, sir."
The blacks were standing round them, spear in hand, ready to strike if
an attempt was made to escape, and Jack said so.
"Oh yes, sir, they'd let go at us if we tried to run, but it's of no use
to do that, for they'd bring us down at once. There, we may as well
look it straight in the face and make the best of it."
"We can't, Ned," said Jack dismally; "there is no best to it. I only
wish I knew what they were going to do with us. Only fancy, after us
taking all that trouble to get away!"
The bewailings were brought to an end by a stalwart black clapping him
on the shoulder and saying something as he pointed over the ridge.
"Ugh! you ugly, mop-headed Day and Martin dummy," cried Ned. "If I
hadn't a better language than that I'd hold my tongue. No use to kick,
Mr Jack; suppose we must go on."
Jack was already stepping forward, urged by another powerfully-built
fellow, who showed his teeth and pricked him forward with the point of
the spear he carried.
It was a blunt, clumsy weapon, the point being merely the wood of which
it was formed, hardened by thrusting in the fire, but the hand which
held it was powerful, and the prod received severe, though the skin was
not pierced. Jack uttered no cry, neither did he shrink, but turned
round so fiercely upon the black that the fellow started back.
"Well done, Mr Jack, sir," cried Ned excitedly; "that did me good. I
like that, sir. Let 'em see that you're Briton to the backbone, and
though they've tied me up again with these bits of cane, Britons never
shall be slaves. Here, ugly: come and stand in front and I'll kick
you."
It was waste of words, but the blacks understood that it was meant
defiantly, and they lowered their spears and signed to their prisoners
to go on.
"Oh yes," cried Ned proudly, "we'll go on. Can't help ourselves, can
we, Mr Jack? But don't be down-hearted, sir. They haven't killed us,
and perhaps after all they may take us where we want to go down to the
shore."
But as they tramped on, with one of their captors leading the way, and
the rest behind, keeping an eye upon the cane bonds which now held both
prisoners' wrists behind, their way proved to be diagonally up the slope
of the volcano, and the tramp was kept up for hours beneath the broiling
heat of the sun, while it seemed to Jack that every now and then hot
sulphurous puffs of wind escaped from the stony ground over which they
passed. The trees grew rapidly fewer and less in size, till there were
only scattered bushes, and higher still these were dwarfed into wiry
grasses and tufts of a heather-like growth, with lichens and dried-up
mosses.
"Try and hold up, Mr Jack sir, they must halt soon to eat and drink.
My word, if we weren't prisoners, I'd say what a view we get from up
here. See anything of the yacht?"
"No, Ned; she's inside the reef, and we can't see that."
"No, sir, you're right. `Britons never shall be slaves,' but all the
same I feel just as if I was being driven to market. That's it, they're
taking us somewhere to sell us, I know; wonder how many cocoanuts we
shall fetch, or p'r'aps it'll be shells. Thirsty, sir?"
"I don't know, Ned, I haven't thought about it. I suppose I am, and
hungry and very tired; but I've been thinking about whether we shall
ever see the yacht again."
"Oh yes, sir. Never say die. Life's all ups and downs. Sir John ain't
forsaking us, you may be sure, and any moment we may see him and a lot
of our jolly Jack Tars coming round the corner, and the doctor with 'em,
ready to give these black brutes a dose of leaden pills. Ah! and
they'll have to take 'em too, whether they like 'em or no. Don't you be
down."
"I'm not, Ned. I keep trying to think that it's all adventure and
experience."
"That's it, sir. Do to talk about when we get back to old England."
Twice over, as the diagonal ascent grew steeper, the blacks halted for
about half-an-hour, and the prisoners were glad to lie down in the
shelter of one of the lava blocks with which the slope was strewn, the
cool air which came from the sea being fresh and invigorating; and the
second time Ned suddenly exclaimed--
"Not going to take us up to the top, are they, and pitch us into the
fire?"
"Not likely, Ned," replied Jack; "but we little expected to make the
ascent like this."
"With our hands tied behind us, sir."
"I believe they are going this way so as to avoid the forest, and as
soon as we get a little farther round they will begin to descend on the
other side."
Jack's idea proved to be correct, for upon reaching a spot where nothing
but a friable slope of fine ashes kept them from the summit, the leader
suddenly leaped down into a hollow which was scored into the mountain
side, and began to descend, followed by the rest.
"Due west," said Jack thoughtfully. "Why, Ned, we shall reach the shore
far from where we left the yacht."
"If it goes straight down, sir; but is it west?"
"Yes, we are going straight for the sun now, and this gash in the
mountain grows deeper. Look."
"Yes, that's right, sir; but I do wish we could get to some water now.
It's a dry journey from here to the shore, and you're beginning to be
done up."
"Yes, Ned," said Jack wearily; "I am beginning to be done up now."