WE CONSORT WITH A PICKPOCKET
I was not slow to perceive that this Andy Hawkins was, in some manner,
an unwilling slave of Duran; and as such, might prove a more or less
valuable ally to my party. Without giving him more information than that
my party was a strong one, I got out of him something of his story. It
seemed that something near two years back he had fallen in with Duran in
one of the British islands.
"The police hofficers in that town," said Hawkins, "were 'aving a sharp
eye on me. Some gents 'ad missed their purses, ye see." And Hawkins
winked slyly. "I was runnin' short o' the blunt," (he meant money) "and
I was gettin' a little of the rhino out of some o' Munseer Duran's
niggers by way o' the three-shell game, when sudden along comes Munseer
Duran and hoffers to turn me over to the police. But 'ee ends by taking
me on for a job on 'is ship.
"Then the next day I was to go on board his ship, and 'ee sends one o'
his sailors to me in town. I 'as all my worl'ly goods I could hide
distributed about under my clothes--I 'ad to leave my portmanty, bein'
as 'ow I was owin' my landlord a pretty penny, an' I was takin' French
leave.
"Well, this nigger sailor showed me a man an' a kid walkin' down the
street, an' said for me to follow them down that way an' I would come up
with Duran an' the rest o' the bunch, an' be taken on the ship. So I
follers the man an' kid, and they goes into the park by the edge o' the
town.
"They goes out o' sight behind the bushes. And then next I know I 'ears
a yell; and next, I see Duran an' some o' his niggers, an' 'ee 'ands one
a long knife, and I see one nigger 'olding the kid. And Duran tells me
to run for my life with the niggers. An' so we dodge into the woods out
o' town. And we don't stop for ten mile, an' I'm almost dead, an' then
that's in some thick bush near the water. And at night a boat comes
ashore after us--kid and all.
"When we gets on the ship the boss is in the cabin. And 'ee shows me a
printed bill that offers one thousand pounds for the capture of a man
known as Handy 'Awkins, wanted for the murder of a respected citizen and
the kidnappin' o' a child.
"When I read that bill my knees just let me down to the deck. I see 'ow
it was; Duran knifes the man, steals the kid, and 'as me to run; and 'ee
stays be'ind to 'elp put the blyme on me. And I 'ave never done no worse
than to snitch a purse now an' then, when I was 'ard up; an' I never
'urt anyone in my life."
Although I experienced disgust for this ill-favored being, who was
telling me his hard luck tale, I felt some sense of pity as well; and
above all, I could have gloried in the spectacle of that inexplicable
fiend, Duran, being slowly tortured--drawn limb from limb. And I fairly
ground my teeth as I thought again of how I had seen him mixing with
clean folk, and his blood-stained hands touching the fingers of mothers
and daughters.
"'Ee took me ashore one night," continued Hawkins, "and 'ee tied a rag
on my eyes, an' led me through bushes an' water, an' let me down by
ropes. And 'ee set me to work with a nigger at the minin'; an' many's
the time 'ee 'as laid the lash on me. An' w'en he see I 'ad no strength
to work without the drug 'ee brought me some. An' there's times, if I
'adn't 'id some away, I know I'd die; for 'ee'd forget sometimes to
bring the dope. Oh, I tell ye it's hall as keeps me alive!"
And with a sudden movement he produced something he held between his
fingers, and which he threw into his mouth. He'd got the vile habit, he
told me, one time when he was in hiding among some Chinese.
"Oh, it's been 'ell 'ere," continued Hawkins, "when the boss 'as been
away a long time, an' the dope 'as all run out. Oh, I 'ave run round
this 'ell 'ole, and tried to climb the rocks, and tore my 'ands; and
once I like to broke my neck in a fall."
He told me that when Duran was away the only other inhabitant was a
black, called Limbo. Hawkins said that it must be he was named for the
place he lived in. The two were engaged in the gold-digging; and even
when Duran was gone, the black kept spurring him at the work. For when
the "boss" came back, and there wasn't a showing to please him, Hawkins
said there was "'ell to pay."
"But I sye, pard," he went on, giving me a poke in the side, "Hi'm
slick, Hi am; an' when your friends gets us out o' this, an' the boss is
gone, you an' me'll come back, and I'll show you enough o' the yeller
stuff, 'id syfe awye, to keep us in dope, and drinks, an' livin' 'igh
all our d'ys."
Night had turned the place into a dark pit, and the mosquitoes were
abroad on their nightly foray. I struggled to my feet, and got my crutch
under my arm, telling Hawkins that my friends would be expecting to hear
from me; and I began to hobble back down the dark vale. It was with some
feeling of disrelish that I accepted Hawkins' shoulder, to assist me in
steadying myself on this unwonted leg. Hawkins hoped that my friends
were as high-class niggers as myself. "Leave me alone to know a
'igh-toned nigger when I sees one," he said. The irregular twitching of
his shoulder proved rather a doubtful support, and more than once all
but upset me. But he certainly made my progress more rapid.
"It happens my friends are all white," I told him, "except one; and he's
less than half black, the rest of him being Indian."
"You don't sye!" cried Hawkins, coming to a sudden stop. "I'll be very
'appy to meet some folks of my own degree--meanin' no disrespect to you;
you ain't just a common nigger, you know."
I disclaimed any disposition to take umbrage at his show of preference
for the white race; and we continued our walk.
When we arrived opposite Duran's ladder, I detected the rattle of stones
over at the cliff wall. I began to fear that Duran had returned, till I
heard low voices, and then I got the conviction that it was my friends,
who were coming down by Duran's rope stairway. I hurried over close, and
called to them, directing them down the inclined ledge. And at last
Norris and Ray stood before me.
"I couldn't keep this kid, Norris, back any longer," explained Ray. "I
had to tell him how the ladder worked, and--"
"Who's your friend, Wayne?" said Norris.
Hawkins, who had held back, was now moving forward.
"This is Andrew Hawkins," I began. "He--"
"Yes, gentlemen, my nyme is Handrew 'Awkins," interrupted that
individual. "An' right proud I am to make yer acquyntance," he bowed;
"an' to bid you welcome to--to--this--this--"
"'Ell 'ole," I prompted him, by way of cutting short his disgusting
performance.
"Yes, 'ell 'ole, right you are, my black friend, 'ell 'ole. And 'aven't
I 'ad reason to know, bein' 'ere this two years or about?"
Ray and Norris were leaning forward in the dark, the better to see this
grimacing, dancing being that accompanied me.
"Well, I say now, if this ain't a bloomin' countryman of mine!" broke
out Grant Norris, seizing Hawkins by the hand, with a squeeze that
caused that being to writhe and dance on the sod, with mingled agony,
joy, and the contortions of his infirmity. When at last Norris turned
him loose, he nursed his crushed hand, saying--"Ow, yes, God bless Queen
Victoria and all others in authority."
From that moment the little pickpocket deserted me, and fastened himself
like a barnacle to the big, hulking, patronizing Norris.
"What kind of a plaything have you got here?" demanded Ray, putting his
hand on my improvised crutch.
And then I had to tell all the story of my descent into the sink. And
Ray told how he and Robert were put to it, at the watching on the cliff
top, to keep awake, and to dodge Duran on his trips to the cave. When at
last Duran was observed to start down the path to Crow Bay, Captain
Marat, Robert, and Carlos followed, leaving Ray and Norris to wait on my
signals. And here was a strange circumstance; Duran had gone off
empty-handed, leaving behind in the grotto, not only that stack of gold;
but his bag and pack straps he left on the floor there as well.
"I guess," said Ray, "that he went to get a mule, or an ass, or
something, to carry it for him. You see he didn't know about Norris
being--"
Ray got behind me for protection, and cautioned Norris to be careful of
my sore foot.
"Come on now," said Norris, "we're going to see where Carlos' gold mine
is. Lead on Brother 'Awkins." And with that he seized me under the
shoulders and threw me on his back.
Hawkins, like a little dog eager for the chase, trotted on ahead,
twisting his shoulders, and bobbing his head in a manner without rhyme
or reason. Ray, I could see, had curious interest in the miserable
being's antics; and I knew he was priming for some sort of explosion,
and wondered when it was to come.
When we had crossed the ridge, our way went through the wood, and I had
to keep my head well down a share of the time, to avoid having my eyes
put out by branches that overhung the trail. And then at last we came
upon a clearing of some extent, in which stood an occasional
cabbage-palm, left, it might be, for decorative effect. And as we moved
forward, there loomed two or three structures of undetermined size or
contour.
We now came to a halt, and Norris set me on the ground, and the four of
us got our heads together to whisper.
"It strikes me," I said, "that we're a little too precipitate. Here's
this black fellow, likely snoozing over yonder in one of those shacks.
There's no one here to talk with him and explain our presence; even
Hawkins, here, hasn't in two years, learned the language he speaks. Now,
if he sees us, who's to say he won't tell Duran about us when he
returns. And we're not yet ready to try conclusions with that--that--"
"Polecat, skunk," prompted severally, Ray and Norris, in the same
breath.
"So," I continued, "we'd best get back in the brush; and depend on
Hawkins to steer the black boy out of the way in the morning, till we
have seen what we want to see. And then we'll get back to our own camp,
till the time's ripe for our next move."
"And then clubs will be trumps," said Grant Norris.
"Hear--hear!" said Ray.
We were led by Hawkins to a sheltered place, and he soon had brought a
pair of mosquito-bars from the shacks. Protected thus, it was not many
minutes till I had dropped off. I opened my eyes once during that night,
and that was to hear the crowing of roosters nearby. They were no doubt
the same birds whose music I had heard faintly the previous night and
confused with the mosquitoes. There were not less than three cocks out
there vieing with one another, and each sang out perhaps a dozen times.
Ray, who lay beside me, got on his elbow. He listened silently for some
time; then he said, "Say--don't it listen good to hear something talk
good old United States again?"
It was soon after daybreak that Hawkins appeared, to say he had managed
by their sign language, to talk the black boy into going far up the vale
for a jag of dry wood. And then he told us where to find the gold
workings, and other matters of interest. "When we're comin' back, I'll
be singin', 'She died of the fever,' so'll you can 'ide out," said
Hawkins.
"Well now, Hawkins," said Norris. "We'll soon have you out of this and
back in civilization again, if you play square with us, and don't give
that skunk any hint that we're here, and--"
"You don't need for to 'ave no fear, 'ee'll never know," declared
Hawkins. "Hi'm slick, Hi am. Hi can 'old my gab--Hi'm old at that."
And away he went with his head and shoulders still cutting capers that
rendered Ray dumb with fascination. And then finally, Ray broke out.
"There goes our gold mine," he said. "We mustn't lose him! When we get
back in the States we'll join a side show.--'Ladies and gentlemen: it is
my privilege to present to your astonished eyes the one and only living
rubber-man. Observe the wonderful effect, as the breath and pulse of
life courses through him. The only self-inflating--why, the only dread
we have is that he may chance on some unhappy occasion to sit down on a
bent pin or a sharp tack. In our travels we found him in the tropical
jungles, where he had been lost, and where he had subsisted for two
years on the juice of the rubber tree. In truth, ladies and gentlemen,
even now, the only sustenance he is able to take is the milk of the
rubber plant, and--oh, I say now, ladies and gentlemen, who have
kindness and charity in your hearts, if you have any old, worn out
overshoes, garden hose, and--'"
Grant Norris had picked up a length of dead limb and was now
manipulating it menacingly, with an eye on Ray. And then there came
through the brush the voice of Hawkins, singing. It was a snatch of
"Twickenham Ferry," ending with a--
"Oh! yo ho. Oh! yo ho. Oh! yo ho. Oh!"
"That means they're on their way for the load of wood," said Norris.
We waited some minutes, to insure the black boy getting out of view with
Hawkins; and then we went forward, and out across the semi-clearing.
There were four palm-thatched structures over there, with frames of pine
saplings and bamboo. Beside the fourth, was the chicken yard of bamboo
held together with tough grasses. In this corral were some hundreds of
fowl, scratching and clucking much in the fashion of chickens back home.
"Chick, chick, chick, chick!" called Ray.
The fowl flocked toward the fence.
"I told you!" broke out Ray. "They sure understand United States."
"Oh, come on," pressed Grant Norris. "Let's get up to the diggings."
"Poor old Norris," murmured Ray, as if talking to himself, while he
followed. "He'll be so disappointed when he finds out there's no gold
mine."
Ray took shelter behind me as Norris, ahead, cast about for some kind of
missile. We passed by a vegetable garden as we went; neat rows,
carefully weeded.
I should say that my ankle was so far recovered that I had discarded my
crutch and now limped on a cane. We soon had come up with the creek,
where it flowed amongst the trees. A path showed the way along the bank,
and the eager Norris pushed ahead, urging us to follow. I trotted after,
at the best speed my lame ankle would allow, and Ray by my side. We
hadn't covered two hundred yards, when another bit of clearing showed
ahead.
"Hurry up," said Norris. "We'll be there in a second--Hurrah for the
gold mine!"