WE SCENT DANGER AHEAD
We were all somewhat thoughtful after this interview, for it was evident
we had undertaken an adventure the details of which were quite obscure
to us. For my part I was too nervous and excited to bunk in just yet, so
I took Joe’s arm and we walked over to the bow, where the clear
starlight enabled us to watch the _Seagull_ cut her way through the
water. Chaka was at the rail before us, and started to move away; but I
stopped him, saying:
“We are all brothers now, Chaka, and therefore we must become better
friends. Now that we are aware of your station and rank in your own
country we stand equal.”
“Only that?” said Joe. “Is the Atkayma of the Itzaex merely the equal of
a common seaman?”
“I’m not common, Joe,” I protested; “and I’ve a notion a decent American
is the social equal of an Indian chief. It’s social equality I’m talking
about, not rank.”
“Cap’n Sam is right,” observed Chaka, with a smile that would have
fascinated a woman. “Equality among men is found only in heart and
brain.”
His readiness to converse, remembering his former reserve, almost
startled me.
“Perhaps you’re right,” drawled Joe. “But tell us, Chaka, is there much
danger in this coming adventure, do you think?”
The Maya looked grave.
“Plenty danger, Cap’n Joe.” Every one was a “Cap’n” to Chaka; he
considered it a complimentary title, bound to please. “Danger from
Itzaex, first of all; but not much, for I am Chief’s son. More danger
from Mopane tribe, who hate Itzaex. Most danger from the mighty Tcha,
who very strong, very jealous, very watchful.”
“What are those people like?” I asked.
The Maya shook his head.
“My father not tell me. When I ask, he tremble, like he afraid; and my
father is brave man. But the Tcha country very small—in the middle of a
mountain—and their legend say a white man some day discover them and be
their master. My brother Paul is white man.”
“So you think our greatest danger will be to get to the hidden city, do
you?”
“Yes. It long, bad journey. Mopanes watch by seashore, and fight us. My
own people I have not seen for many years. When I find them they greet
me as child of the sun, and help me. But Itzaex hate all white men, and
I must use my power to protect white men from their hatred. That will be
a danger to you, if not to me.”
“I see. Well, it promises to be an exciting trip, all right,” I said
cheerfully, for the truth was that the danger of the adventure appealed
to me more than the prospect of securing treasure. “It isn’t always
necessary to fight your way in a hostile country, in order to win out,
Chaka. Diplomacy and caution, backed by a little good judgment, are
better than guns and pistols. Eh, Joe?”
“A little courage in avoiding a fight has often done us good service,
Sam,” agreed my friend.
Chaka seemed to approve this view.
“Sometime my brother Paul tell you more,” he said.
I noticed he now spoke of Allerton as “my brother Paul,” when mentioning
him to us; and there was a world of affection in the way he said it.
“Brother Paul has a big brain; his mind see far ahead. Also he have
great man for Uncle—Cap’n Simeon Wells. We spend whole month last summer
with Cap’n Wells, who know how to do many strange things.”
“He’s a jim-cracker electrician, all right,” said Joe.
“He give much wonder-things to my brother Paul, to help him with the
Mopanes, the Itzaex and the Tcha. We keep wonder-things in the seven big
boxes. You see, some day.”
With this information the Maya left us, and Joe and I sat another hour
discussing the coming adventure before we finally turned in.
Uncle Naboth was pretty glum next morning. He was trying to find some
way to back out of the expedition gracefully and with credit. Finally he
said to us:
“You boys ain’t to be depended on; I’ve found that out. We had all our
plans fixed to get into a steady, respectable coast trade, where there
wouldn’t be a single thing to keep any o’ us awake nights; and here,
when we’re only a week out o’ port, you’ve gone an’ upsot the whole
deal.”
“It _is_ funny, Uncle, I’ll admit,” said I. “But you can’t blame us for
it, I’m sure. Lay it to Fate, where the responsibility belongs.
Remember, too, that you were one of the first to offer to join the
expedition.”
“I were wrong about that, Sam,” he replied, eagerly. “I meant to stick
to my principles, as an honest man should. An’, by jinks, I _will_ stick
to my principles! Don’t try to argy with me; don’t try to coax me. As
sure as my name’s Naboth Perkins I’m goin’ to stick to this ship,
whatever you reckless bunch o’ youngsters may decide on.”
“Do you back down, sir?” demanded Archie, who was secretly much amused.
“No, sir; not a jot. I stick to my first principles; that’s all.”
Well, we were glad he took it that way, for we didn’t want Uncle Naboth
with us. He was brave enough, we knew; but he had a way of getting us
all into unnecessary trouble, and his rotund figure prevented him from
being as active as the rest of us. A better fellow never lived than this
same Naboth Perkins, but we all felt he was safer on board ship than in
the wildernesses of Yucatan, and we had a suspicion we would be safer
without him, too.
From that time on the adventure was our one topic of conversation. Chaka
suggested that he teach us to speak the Maya tongue during the voyage,
and we eagerly accepted the offer. I had already a smattering of Arabian
and Chinese and could speak fluently the native language of our South
Sea Islanders, Nux and Bryonia. So it was little trouble to me, with the
painstaking instructions of Chaka and Allerton, to learn to comprehend
fairly the Maya tongue. Joe was a natural linguist and kept pace with me
easily, but poor Archie was woefully thick-headed when it came to
foreign languages. Even Ned Britton, who was wholly uneducated, got
along better than he. We kept up our lessons until the day we sighted
the coast of Yucatan, but even then Archie understood only a few words
of Maya. The mate, for his part, knew all that was said to him, but was
rather slow and uncertain of speech, while Joe and I could converse
readily with Allerton and Chaka in the Maya.
One of the queerest things, in this regard, was our discovery that black
Nux, our steward, had caught on to Chaka’s language with little
difficulty, and had himself taught it to Bry. They surprised us one
evening by joining in our conversation, and that decided Allerton to ask
permission to add them to our party.
“I have never seen finer physical specimens of manhood than these
blacks,” he said to me, “and your reports of their loyalty and courage
have quite warmed my heart toward them. Perhaps their jet black
complexions would be as great a novelty to the Tcha as white skins, and
these fellows will add greatly to the strength of our party.”
“That will make nine of us, altogether—,” I said musingly; “you and
Chaka, we three boys, Ned Britton, a sailor, and Nux and Bryonia. By the
way, have you chosen the sailor?”
“I think I shall take the Mexican who is called Pedro,” answered
Allerton. “He is an active fellow and looks honest. Moreover, he is
accustomed to a climate similar to that of Yucatan, which is at present
a province of Mexico, although so much of it is yet an unexplored
wilderness. Do you think Pedro will be willing to join us?”
“I think so, if only for a share of the spoils,” said I. “But I advise
you not to mention the subject to him until the last moment. You see,
every man jack of them forward would like to go too.”
As you may imagine, we asked many questions of Chaka during the voyage
regarding his native country, and the route we were to take to get
there. On the whole his answers were clear and satisfactory, for
although he had been away for nine years he was a youth of fifteen when
forced to escape the Mopanes.
According to his statements all the tribes of Yucatan Indians are called
Mayas, and have a common language which varies only slightly according
to the dialects of the scattered tribes. All the natives, with the
exception of the Itzaex, have at times been conquered by the Spaniards,
who first invaded the peninsula in 1506. But the Mayas are mostly wild
and untamed to this day, and save for the tribes inhabiting the flat and
settled portions of the North and West they indulge in the same barbaric
and warlike existence as when the whites first came among them.
After four hundred years of settlement there is less land tilled in
Yucatan to-day than there was in its first century of annexation to
Spain. The interior and mountainous district is still a wilderness and
exceedingly dangerous for a white man to enter.
The most powerful and warlike tribe, now as in the beginning, is that of
the Itzaex. These people have no desire to acquire more territory, but
hold firmly to their original heritage and fight desperately any of
their neighbors who dare cross their boundaries. On the other hand, the
Itzaex are barred from the seashore by a fierce tribe known as the
Mopanes, and on other sides by the Kupules and Choles.
The hidden city of the remnant of the ancient Tcha nation lies directly
in the heart of the Itzaex territory, which is doubtless the reason none
of the other tribes is aware of its existence. The chief city of Itzlan
is built on the shores of a beautiful fresh water lake lying two
thousand feet above the sea level; but Chaka declares no mortal eyes
save those of his own tribe have ever yet beheld the place. Which, of
course, makes us the more eager to see it.
We had a most delightful voyage south, the Pacific being on its good
behavior. Excellent time was made even through the turbulent waters of
the Horn, and not until we had rounded the continent and were in the
waters of the Atlantic did Allerton again refer to the contents of his
seven mysterious chests.
One day, however, he proposed opening them, as he said it would be well
for all of us who were to join the expedition to be thoroughly familiar
with their contents. So, one by one, the boxes were brought into the
roomy main cabin by Nux and Bryonia, where Allerton proceeded to open
them.