of sandstone cliff towering before him, it gradually dawned upon Dick
that the enormous mass of rock upon which he was gazing must be that
upon the opposite face of which were those wonderful sculptured pictures
which Earle was doubtless at that moment busily engaged in
photographing, and the thought caused him to regard the cliff with some
interest. There were no sculptures upon it, but as Dick allowed his
gaze to wander over the face of the cliff his quick eye detected a sort
of crack some twenty feet above the surface of the ground, out of which,
as he lay regarding it, there came fluttering one of those splendid
butterflies, a specimen or two of which he was so eager to obtain; and
he at once made up his mind that as soon as the Indians had broken up
the buck and carried it away, he would explore that crack, which looked
wide enough to allow him to squeeze his body through, and access to
which seemed possible by way of a number of narrow ridges and
projections in the face of the rock. Accordingly, as soon as the
Indians had done their work and departed--Dick having informed them that
he proposed to remain in the basin for a while and examine it
thoroughly--he slung his rifle over his shoulder and started to climb
the rock, reaching the crack with but little difficulty.
He found that the aperture was considerably larger than it had appeared
to be when viewed from below and squeezed through it with ease, to find
himself in the mouth of what looked like a cave, the dimensions of
which, however, it was not possible to ascertain, for within a couple of
yards of the entrance he found himself in darkness. But he saw enough
to stimulate his curiosity and determine him to see more; and with this
object he descended to the plain and, hunting about among the bushes,
soon secured a sufficiency of dry twigs and branches to serve as
torches. With these and a bit of dry moss he returned to the aperture
in the face of the cliff, where, before entering, he ignited the moss
with the aid of a powerful burning-glass which he habitually carried
about in his pocket, and then, blowing the moss into flame, kindled one
of his torches.
At first sight the cave appeared to be of very circumscribed dimensions,
being only just high enough for Dick to stand upright in it, while he
could touch both its sides at the same moment with his outstretched
hands. But it extended back toward the heart of the cliff, and as the
lad cautiously groped his way inward the crack gradually widened until
at length he found himself traversing a spacious tunnel, piercing
steadily deeper and deeper into the heart of the cliff. Determined now
to see the full extent of the cave, and beginning to wonder whether
perchance it pierced right through the rock, Dick pushed steadily on,
oblivious of the fact that his stock of torches was rapidly diminishing;
and when at length this fact was forced upon his attention by the
necessity to kindle the last torch, it was far too late for him to think
of returning, and feeling by this time convinced that there must surely
be another outlet at no great distance, he set his teeth and pushed on,
hoping to reach that other outlet before his last torch should be
consumed. But the hope was vain, for in less than ten minutes Dick
found himself in profound darkness, with still no indication of any
other outlet than that by which he had entered.
Thus far the lad had gone without any difficulty; the tunnel-like
passage which he had traversed for a distance of, as he estimated,
nearly a mile, had been without pitfalls or complications of any kind,
and he believed it would be possible for him to return by the way he had
come without difficulty, even in the dark. He halted to consider the
matter, debating within himself whether he should risk everything by
pushing on, or whether he should go groping his way back over that long
stretch of rough, rocky road in the darkness. There could be no
question as to which was the more prudent of the two plans; but there
was a vein of obstinacy in Cavendish's character; he hated to confess
himself beaten, and a light draught of warm air coming from the
direction toward which he had been heading decided him to take the more
risky course of pressing onward.
Accordingly, he resumed his course, holding his rifle horizontally
before him to guard himself against the chance of collision with unseen
obstacles, while he carefully felt the ground before him with one foot
before throwing his weight upon it. Proceeding thus cautiously, in
about a quarter of an hour he became aware of a faint glimmer of
greenish light on the walls of the tunnel on either hand, and a few
minutes later emerged into what appeared to be a great chamber, or
cavern, the interior of which was just sufficiently illuminated by the
light entering through another tunnel on its opposite side, to reveal
the fact that the vertical walls of the chamber were, like the cliff
which was occupying Earle's attention, covered with sculptures from the
floor upward as high as the light had power to reach. But it was
altogether too feeble to reveal anything of the details of the
sculptures, and with a mere glance about him Dick crossed the floor of
the cavern--mechanically noting as he did so, that it was smooth and
level--and passed into the opposite tunnel, entering which, he at once
became aware that his journey was practically ended, for at a distance
of but a few yards there appeared before him an irregular opening, into
which, through a thick, screen of shimmering foliage, the light of day
was streaming. A minute later, and he was once more in the open air,
forcing his way through a tangle of bushes which effectually masked the
opening from which he had just emerged.
Dick's first act, after forcing a passage for himself through the screen
of bushes, was to look about him, when he found, not very greatly to his
surprise, that he was within a short half-mile of the camp, the tunnel
through which he had journeyed piercing the great mass of sandstone from
one side to the other. Then, knowing that Earle would wish to examine
the sculptured chamber, he sought some means of identifying the position
of the opening, and soon found it in a peculiarly shaped projection in
the face of the rock almost immediately above. This done, he made the
best of his way to Earle, who was busy with his camera, and informed the
American of his morning's adventure.
As Dick had anticipated, Earle manifested the utmost interest in the
story of the cavern with sculptured walls, going even to the length of
announcing his determination to visit it immediately after lunch. Dick
accordingly proceeded to the camp and, summoning four of the Indians,
instructed them to prepare a goodly supply of torches for the occasion.
When, some two hours later, the friends, accompanied by a couple of
Indians--one to hold a pair of blazing torches aloft, and the other to
carry the reserve supply--stood in the cavern and glanced about them,
they at once became aware that they had stumbled upon a very remarkable
and interesting monument. For the cavern, a great circular chamber,
measuring forty-three paces in diameter--was, beyond all doubt, an
ancient temple, as was made clearly manifest by the character of the
sculptures on the walls. These depicted a number of different religious
ceremonies, intermingled with subjects which seemed to be allegorical,
but apart from the exceedingly curious scenes depicted, the most
remarkable circumstance connected with the sculptures was that they were
of a totally different character from those on the cliff outside, being
much more crude in design and execution, and apparently of far earlier
date. The fact, however, above all others, which stamped the cavern as
a temple, was the presence of a hideously carved life-size idol,
enshrined in a most elaborately carved niche, with a great block of
stone before it which had evidently served as an altar.
The idol was a nude male figure, squatted cross-legged on a bench in the
niche, its only decoration being a necklace with pendant attached. This
ornament escaped the notice of the observers until they came to study
the detail of the sculptured niche, when the glint of metal and a sheen
of green rays attracted their attention and caused them to inspect it
closely. The inspection ended in Earle taking possession of the thing,
and subsequent examination revealed the fact that the chain was wrought
out of pure gold, while the pendant consisted of a lozenge-shaped plate
of gold nearly a quarter of an inch thick, chased all over both surfaces
with strangely shaped markings or characters surrounding a great
emerald. It was an unique ornament, if only from the barbaric character
of its design and execution, while the emerald rendered it valuable, and
Earle at once placed it round his own neck for safe keeping, voluntarily
proposing to pay Dick its intrinsic value upon their return to
civilisation, as his share in the profits of the discovery. He would
fain have photographed the interior of the cavern but was reluctantly
forced to forgo the gratification of this desire, from inability to
produce artificial light of the necessary actinic value. But, to
compensate for this disappointment, he spent no less than three days in
the cavern, making sketches and voluminous notes.
At length, Earle having completed his photographs of the cliff, and
provided against future disappointment by developing and fixing his
negatives on the spot, the party moved on up the ravine, and came out
upon the lower slopes of the mountain range toward which they had been
steadfastly travelling from the moment when they first entered the great
swamp. Two evenings later, greatly fatigued by a long day's march, they
encamped near the head of a rocky pass, the steep sides of which were
shaggy with bush and trees, among which a number of small monkeys
gambolled and chattered incessantly until darkness fell, staring down
curiously from the branches at the intruders upon their domain.
The place looked as solitary as though it had never before been trodden
by the foot of man, but watch-fires were lighted and sentinels posted
about the camp as usual; and in due time the party retired to rest with
that feeling of perfect security which the observance of every proper
precaution, coupled with a conviction of perfect immunity from danger,
is wont to inspire.
Excessive fatigue, aided doubtless by the cooler air of the mountains,
caused the leaders at least to sleep heavily until the early hours of
the following morning, when they were suddenly awakened by a savage
snarl from King Cole, ending in a doleful moan, and they started up on
their pallets, instinctively groping for their weapons, only to find
themselves instantly thrust back again and their limbs pinioned by an
overwhelming crowd of assailants, so many in number that the tent was
packed with them. Before they fully comprehended what had happened, or,
still less, realised the completeness of the disaster which had befallen
them, they were so effectually bound with raw-hide thongs that they
could scarcely move a finger, and in that condition were dragged forth
into the open air, over the dead and mangled body of poor King Cole, to
find the camp in the possession of a band of some eighty stalwart and
ferocious-looking Indians, with every one of their followers, save four,
like themselves, bound hand and foot. The four exceptions were the
unfortunate sentinels, the corpses of whom, transfixed by spears, could
be seen lying close to the smouldering watch-fires.
The captors wasted no time in any attempt to rummage the contents of the
camp; on the contrary, they took each prisoner, and while half-a-dozen
hemmed him in and threatened him with instant death upon the points of
their spears, a seventh cast loose the thongs that bound him. Then,
still threatening him, they indicated certain portions of the camp
equipment and signed to him to pick it up and carry it, thus
distributing the entire contents among the eleven survivors, Dick and
Earle being each assigned a load like the other captives. The only
exception made was in the matter of the firearms, which the captors
seemed to recognise as weapons of some sort, and distributed among
themselves; though from the carelessness with which they were handled,
it seemed doubtful whether the method of using them was understood.
This done, the leader of the marauders gave the word to march, and the
entire party of captors and captives set off up the pass, each prisoner
still surrounded by half a dozen Indians with spears held ever ready to
strike upon the least provocation; thus it was impossible for any of
them to hold converse with the others, the whites, in particular, being
kept as far apart as possible, Dick being stationed with the head of the
column, while Earle was compelled to march with the rearguard.
Luckily, as it at first seemed, for the captives, their march was not a
long one; for upon surmounting the crest of the pass they found
themselves only a short two miles from a native village, the inhabitants
of which no sooner perceived the approach of the party than they turned
out and greeted it with songs and dances of rejoicing, the fervour of
which became almost frantic when, a little later, the presence of the
two white men became known. The language of the strangers was utterly
incomprehensible to Dick and Earle, and so jealously was every movement
of the two watched that they found it impossible to communicate with
Inaguy; but after observing their captors for some time, while they
seemed to be explaining matters to the villagers, Earle gradually got
the impression that the strangers had somehow obtained knowledge of the
presence of the explorers in the country and had been watching them for
perhaps a day or two, waiting for a favourable opportunity to fall upon
the camp and take it by surprise.
Upon their arrival at the village the entire plunder of the camp was
deposited in a large hut which was hastily prepared for its reception,
and this done, the prisoners were once more securely bound and
distributed among the huts of the village, one prisoner to a hut, the
owner of which, with the several members of his family, was held
responsible for his safe keeping.
The ensuing three days were spent by the captives in this village,
during which nothing of moment happened except that they were kept in
such rigorous confinement that none was permitted to obtain even a
momentary glimpse of another, otherwise they had not much to complain
about, being kindly treated, according to savage ideas of kindness. But
although, during those three days, the inhabitants of the village seemed
to go about their business pretty much as usual, there appeared to be an
undercurrent of subdued excitement, coupled with a condition of eager
expectancy, which was plain to both Earle and Dick, and which somehow
produced in both a considerable amount of apprehension as to their
ultimate fate.
Then, well on toward evening of the third day, a runner, hot, tired, and
dusty, wearing every appearance of having travelled far and fast,
arrived in the village, evidently bearing an important message or
communication of some sort; for within a few minutes of his arrival the
entire population of the village became imbued with a spirit of the
wildest rejoicing and excitement, which lasted far into the night; and
early on the following morning the prisoners were brought forth, loaded
up with the baggage belonging to the explorers and, surrounded by an
armed guard of sixty men, they set out upon a forward march, accompanied
by the entire populace of the village, who beguiled the tedium of the
journey by continually singing what seemed to be songs of a highly
jubilant character.
CHAPTER TEN.
IN THE HANDS OF THE MANGEROMAS.
For five weary days did that company tramp up hill and down dale through
rugged, mountainous country, the Indian women carrying their meagre
belongings in small bundles wrapped in matting upon their bowed
shoulders, while their lords and masters strode blithely along,
encumbered only with the weapons they carried, making the air vibrate
with their barbarous songs, the unhappy captives meanwhile, staggering
under their heavy loads, being compelled to keep pace with their
light-footed guard. It was not so bad for Dick and Earle as it was for
their unfortunate servants, for the two white men were by this time in
the very perfection of training, and capable of an amount of physical
exertion that, six months earlier, they would have regarded as
impossible; moreover, they were both highly endowed with that
inestimable quality known as "grit," while the miserable bearers were,
in addition to their heavy loads, weighed down by a premonition that
their present misery was but the prelude to an inconceivably horrible
and lingering death.
Late in the evening of the fifth day, after an exceptionally long and
fatiguing march, the company reached what was without doubt the capital
of the country, for it covered some two hundred acres of ground, and
contained dwellings capable of accommodating, at a moderate estimate, at
least five thousand persons. It is true the dwellings were of the most
primitive description, consisting of huts, for the most part built of
wattles and palm thatch, with here and there a more pretentious
structure, the walls of which were adobe, and it was indescribably
filthy; yet the place was laid out with some pretension to regularity,
being divided up into several wide streets, while in the centre of the
town there was a wide, open space, or square, one side of which was
occupied by a hideous and ungainly idol of gigantic proportions, with a
long sacrificial altar at its feet, while on the other three sides stood
dwellings of such pretentious character that they could only belong to
the chief dignitaries of the place.
The arrival of the captives in this town--the name of which, it
subsequently transpired, was Yacoahite--was the signal for an outburst
of most extravagant rejoicing on the part of the inhabitants, who turned
out _en masse_ to witness the event, crowding about the party so
persistently that it was only with the utmost difficulty that the
guards, reinforced by a strong body from the town, were able by a free
use of the butts of their spears, to force a passage along the streets.
The delight of the populace, it appeared, was almost wholly due to the
capture of the white men, who were the objects of their unquenchable
curiosity, to such an extent, indeed, that it looked very much as though
they had never before seen a white man. At length, however, the
procession reached the central square, and after having, in obedience to
signs, deposited their burdens in one of the biggest of the buildings,
the prisoners were divided up and marched away, Dick and Earle, to their
mutual delight, being placed together in a small hut, which was at once
surrounded by an armed guard of such strength as to render escape
impossible.
Fortunately, their limbs were not bound, or their movements hampered in
any way, therefore the moment that the wattle door of their prison was
slammed upon them and barred on the outside, the pair joyously shook
hands as they exchanged greetings.
"Well, Dick, how goes it, old son?" demanded Earle, as he wrung his
friend's hand. "Tired?"
"Yes, I am, a bit," admitted Dick; "tired, and thirsty too. And just
look at me. Jove! I'm ashamed to be seen. I feel as though I hadn't
washed for a month. And you don't look very much better, old chap.
Say! what would you give for a swim in a good, deep river, free from
alligators, at this moment?"
"What would I give?" repeated Earle. "Why, a thousand good American
dollars, willingly. And I'm not sure that I should worry very much as
to whether there were any 'gators in it, or not. By the way, how did
you come off that morning when those ginks rushed the camp? Did you get
hurt any?"
"Not a scratch," answered Dick. "Hadn't a chance to. The beggars were
upon me and had me trussed up so that I couldn't move hand or foot,
before my eyes were fairly open. Hadn't even time to make a snatch for
my revolver. Did you get hurt at all?"
"Nope," replied Earle. "I was just as completely taken by surprise as
you were. And I am not at all sure, Dick, but that it was as well. If
we--you and I--had been able to put up a fight, we could never have
beaten them off, there were too many of them. We should no doubt have
killed a few, but it would have ended eventually in our meeting the same
fate as poor old King Cole. Poor chap! I'm sorry they killed him."
"So am I," agreed Dick. "But I suppose it was bound to be. He would
never have allowed them to lay hands upon either of us, so they would be
compelled to kill him, sooner or later. And I believe he did not suffer
much. They must have killed him on the spot, I think. Peace to his
ashes! And now, what do you think is going to happen to us?"
"I don't know," answered Earle, suddenly adopting a much graver tone.
"My motto is, `Never say die,' for I have been in a good many tight
places and have always managed somehow to get out of them. But there is
a proverb to the effect that `the pitcher which goes oft to the well
gets broken at last,' and it may be that here is where I get `broken.'
I don't know; I don't care to hazard an opinion. But I wish to heaven,
now, that I had not brought you along with me, Dick."
"Do you really think it as serious as all that, then?" demanded Dick.
"What do you think yourself?" retorted Earle. "What does the capture of
us at all mean? Friendly disposed natives don't do that sort of thing,
you know. And why, having captured us, are they taking such extreme
care that we shall get no chance to escape? I'm afraid, Dick, it means
that they want us for some particular purpose, of which, probably, we
shall very strongly disapprove."
"You mean--?" began Dick.
"Yes," answered Earle. "Something like that. But say! don't you take
what I'm saying too seriously. I give you credit for being no more
afraid of death than I am, therefore I think it only right you should
have an inkling of what may possibly be in store for us. But don't
believe that I am going to take lying down what may be coming to us. I
shall do everything I know to persuade these savages that they could not
do a more unwise thing than hurt either of us. If we should by any
chance be brought within earshot of that idol on the opposite side of
the compound, I shall try the ventriloquial dodge again, among other
things. The worst of it is that I can't speak these beggars' language;
and for a man's own idol to address him in a foreign tongue is not
altogether convincing, is it?"
"It is not," admitted Dick, "although it worked away back there, and it
may again. Poor Grace! If it were not for her, I should not mind so
much."
"What's that about Grace?" demanded Earle.
"My sister, you know," explained Dick. "I have been hoping that, in one
way or another, this expedition would enable me to provide for her, so
that she would not be compelled to go on very much longer earning her
own living. She is all right so long as she can remain with the
Mcgregors; but if anything should happen necessitating her leaving
them--"
"Say, Dick, don't you worry about that," interrupted Earle. "Your
sister is all right for three years from the signing of our contract,
anyway, for she will have your pay to fall back upon if anything should
go wrong during that time. And for the rest, I may as well tell you for
your comfort that although, in view of this confounded expedition, I did
not think it right to bind Grace to me by a definite engagement, she and
I understand each other to the extent that if I should return to England
within three years, she will do me the honour to become my wife. And--
this of course is strictly between you and me and my lawyer in New
York--if I should _not_ turn up in three years, I am to be presumed to
be dead, and my will is to be executed forthwith. That will was made on
the day before we left New York, and by its provisions your sister
inherits everything that I possess."
"What is that you say?" demanded Dick, utterly bewildered. "My sister--
Grace--inherits everything you possess?"
"Guess that's what I said," replied Earle, composedly.
"But--but--" stammered Dick, "I can't understand it. Why should you
leave Grace all your property?"