THE DESERTER
While the village slowly recovered from the effects of this dreadful
calamity and the uninjured were caring for their less fortunate
brethren, our party was ushered into a comfortable apartment of the
palace and given food and drink and such comforts as the place afforded.
We saw nothing of Ilalah at the time, for with those chiefs left to her
she was doing her best to relieve the misery of the stricken village.
Moit was with her, alert and active, keeping constantly by her side and
eagerly assisting her in the work of mercy. This I learned afterward.
Just then I imagined him frantic with grief and despair, and I found
myself regretting the destruction of his great invention even more than
the loss of life caused by the explosive. The dead were unimportant
savages; the machine that had perished with them was the most splendid
achievement; I firmly believe, that any man in any era of civilization
has ever been able to boast.
But when toward evening Duncan Moit came to us with Ilalah, I was
astonished at his placid stoicism. Grieved he certainly was, but his
face expressed resolve and thoughtfulness more than despair.
“I’m awfully sorry, old man,” I said, laying a sympathetic hand upon his
shoulder. “I know how long and tedious the time will seem until you are
able to construct another machine as perfect as the one you have lost.”
He shuddered a little at my words but replied gently:
“Sam, I shall never build another machine. That dream is over.”
“Over!” I cried, astonished. “What do you mean? Will you abandon all
your ambitions—the certain fortune that awaits you—the applause and
admiration of your fellow men?”
“What do they all amount to?” he asked. “Yes; I abandon them. I’m going
to live with Ilalah.”
“Here?”
“Here; in the half savage and almost unknown land of the Techlas. The
result of years of labor has been wiped out of existence in a flash, and
I have not the courage to begin all over again. I have no patterns of
the machine and the drawings and specifications all were destroyed with
it. I could never build another that would equal it in perfection. But
why should I attempt it? I do not need an automobile here. I do not need
fortune, or fame, or anything but love; and this Ilalah has given me
freely.”
“Do I understand you to mean that you will always remain in this
forsaken country?”
“That is my intention,” he said. “I shall help my wife to rule her
people and in her companionship be happy in a simple, natural way.”
We argued with him long and earnestly, while Ilalah sat beside him
silent and smiling but very sure that we could not prevail over his
sudden but preposterous resolution.
They found a few scraps of what they believed to have once been
Nalig-Nad, and that night the remains were consumed with fire,
accompanied by many impressive ceremonies. Other funeral pyres burned
also, both in the enclosure and on the plain beyond; for the most
malignant of the green chiefs had followed the king to assist him in
destroying the automobile and had therefore shared his fate.
Bright and early next morning Ned Britton appeared at the edge of the
forest leading his band of seamen to our rescue. We advanced eagerly to
meet him and told him the news of the king’s destruction and of our
altered standing with the new ruler of the San Blas. Ned had heard and
felt the explosion even on the wreck, but thought that it must have been
an earthquake.
The newcomers were not regarded with much favor by the Indians, yet I
thought that we all assisted greatly to lend dignity to the day’s
ceremonies, which included the formal acknowledgment of Ilalah as ruler
and lawgiver of the nation and her subsequent marriage—a most primitive
rite—to the inventor, Duncan Moit. Ilalah’s husband was next adopted as
a Techla, and then the excitement seemed to subside and the population
settled down to business again.
However, there was no denying the fact that the natives resented our
presence among them and were ill at ease while we remained in the
village. So I told “King Duncan,” as Uncle Naboth insisted upon jocosely
calling him, that we would make haste to return to our ship.
He offered no objection to our going, but stated simply that it would be
our wisest course. Then he hesitated a moment, as if embarrassed, and
added:
“You must never come back, you know. The Techlas will live their own
lives in their own way, and hereafter I am to be one of them and shall
forget everything that exists outside our borders. We permit you to go
freely now, as a return for your kindness to our queen; but should you
be daring enough to return at any time I warn you that you will be
received as enemies, and opposed to the death.”
“Will you become another Nalig-Nad, then?” I asked, indignant at the
traitorous words.
“In the future, as in the past, the demoralizing influences of the
whites and their false civilization will be excluded from the dominions
of the San Blas,” he answered, coolly. “My wife will rule as her fathers
did, in spite of the fact that one white man has been admitted into the
community. You have been my friends, but when you leave me now you must
forget our friendship, as I am resolved to do. Should you invade the
country of the Techlas again, you do so at your peril.”
This assertion, coming from one whom I had trusted and regarded as a
faithful comrade, filled me with consternation not unmixed with
resentment. But the man had always been peculiar and I tried to make
allowances for his erratic nature.
“Tell me, then,” I said, after a moment’s thought; “how about dividing
those diamonds?”
“They are yours. I have no use for such things now,” he added, a touch
of sadness in his voice. “You are welcome to whatever share was due
me—on one condition.”
“What is that, Duncan?”
“That you will tell no one where you found them and will promise never
to return here for more.”
I hesitated, and Uncle Naboth looked sorely disappointed.
“It is my intention,” continued Moit, firmly, “to support the traditions
of the Techlas. They must own nothing that will arouse the cupidity of
the outside world, for only in this way will they be able to control
their own territory. I am glad the audacious Tcharn is dead, and I will
destroy all his pretty goldsmith work within the next few days. Also I
shall have the valley of diamonds thoroughly searched and all the white
pebbles cast into the sea. Therefore no temptation will exist for you or
your fellows to come here again. Our laws will be rigidly maintained,
and any strangers, white or black, who defy them will be severely
punished.”
Yes, I had always suspected a streak of madness in Moit. Perhaps the
destruction of his marvelous invention had served to unbalance a mind
already insecurely seated. Anyway, I could see that he was in deadly
earnest and that any argument would be useless. My companions, also,
noted a strange glitter in his eyes that warned them he would not lift a
finger to save their lives if they again ventured to invade the country
ruled by Queen Ilalah.
So, with regret, we submitted to the inevitable. We bade Duncan Moit and
his beautiful bride farewell and marched away through the forest till we
came to the banks of the river, where the wreck lay in plain sight. A
strong escort of silent natives watched us until we were all on board,
and then they melted away and disappeared like ghosts.
I have never seen the inventor since, or stepped a foot upon the land of
the Techlas.