The thing was done so swiftly that I had no time even to look round. I
sat regarding the burly figure of Joshua Trust, very definitely outlined
before the red glow of the fire; and I know that the man never suspected
for a moment what had happened.
Someone whispered in my ear:
"Keep an eye on Trust. Draw back into the thickets as silently as you
can. There you will find me waiting for you."
I had no need to look at him. I knew the voice of John Bannister, even
though he did no more than whisper. I was resolved to carry out his
instructions to the word.
Bannister withdrew. I neither heard nor saw him go, but I felt
instinctively that he was no longer at my back.
I sat watching Joshua Trust, and saw that the man's chin had dropped
upon his chest. It was plain to see that, though he tried his best to
keep awake, he was so sleepy that he could not do so. But, knowing that
there would be trouble of a certainty if Amos caught him sleeping on his
post, he might awaken with a start at any moment, and for that reason I
thought that I had best take the chance that offered.
I had been sitting upright, and still kept my hands behind my back,
though they were no longer bound together. Moving my attitude as little
as possible, I drew myself backwards, inch by inch. By this cautious
method it took me the better part of three minutes to gain the margin of
the undergrowth--a distance of ten yards at the very most. There I was
suddenly lifted off my feet, carried a short distance and released, to
grasp my old friend by the hand.
And so he had found me at last, though it seemed to me for all the world
as if it was I who had discovered him. He had fulfilled the oath he had
sworn to my mother many months before; and from this moment we were
never again to be parted throughout our great adventure.
His story I had learned from William Rushby; but Bannister as yet knew
nothing of what had happened to me, since he had not seen me from the
day when I was kidnapped upon the Littlehampton road. But there was no
time then to talk to one another. With as small delay as possible, we
must get well beyond the reach of Amos and his friends.
That night we journeyed in one another's company for several hours
through the darkness of the woods. We could not see where we were
going, for it was not possible to see a hand before one's face, and we
were scratched most painfully and often upon the thorn-trees that were
plentiful amid the underwoods. But this was of no great account, if our
own safety were ensured; for, sooner or later, Joshua must see that I
was gone, and would at once give the alarm; and if we were not well out
of the way by then, it was quite possible that we might be overtaken,
and our plight would be as bad as ever.
So we hurried blindly on our way, until at last John Bannister deemed
that we were safe. Then it was that I learned for the first time how
utterly exhausted he was. He had had no sleep, he told me, for two
nights, and he was still weak from the fever which had robbed him of
more than half his strength.
"Let us sleep, Dick," said he. "To-morrow there will be time enough for
you to tell me all I want to know."
And thereupon we lay down to sleep together, side by side, in the dense
wood in which I had wandered for so long alone; and, strange as it may
seem, we slept hand in hand.
I experienced a sense of security and peace such as I had never known,
it seemed to me, for years. He and I were at last together; and on the
morrow he must hear all my story, just as I myself had once been wont to
listen to his wondrous tales of enterprise and daring. I know that I
was happy, and I also know the reason: I had often dreamed--as boys will
let their fancy run away with them--that he and I were sojourning
together in some savage place, beset by many dangers. And I always knew
that, if he were with me, there would be naught to fear; we would come
forth unscathed from every peril that threatened life or limb.
In all conscience, we had enough of danger now, on every side of us, in
the darkness of the Wood. And yet I slept, contented and at peace.
Daylight awoke us, for we were both creatures of the Wild. Marking the
position of the sun, we set forward towards the west, hoping to gain
that night the ravine where we had left William Rushby.
Bannister told me that he feared for Rushby's life, since he was sure
that Amos and the others would return to the ravine with all possible
speed, so soon as ever they discovered that I had escaped from their
clutches. I thought by now that I had a fair knowledge of the
topography of the Wood; but I soon found that Bannister knew as much, or
even more, than I. In the night we must have fled towards the south;
for we had not gone far upon the route that we had chosen before we came
upon the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles.
"I know where we are," cried Bannister, at once. "We are about five
miles to the south of the Big Fish itself. I can tell that by the size
of the stones in the stream. We had better change our course towards
the south."
"But that will take us away from the ravine," said I, "which lies due
west of the Wood, some distance to the north of the Spaniard's Tomb!"
"You're right, there," said Bannister. "It may be a long way round; but
the longest way is often the quickest, Dick. In a few hours we should
be clear of the Wood, although too far to the south. But we shall have
open country before us, and should march four miles an hour."
I had, by now, told Bannister my story of all that had happened to me
since I first fell into the hands of Amos Baverstock. He asked few
questions, though these were always to the point; and when I had told
him everything, he said nothing, but just placed one of his great hands
upon my shoulder, and patted me so affectionately that the action
conveyed far more to me than any words he might have used. I knew that
he cared for me more than he dared trust himself to say, and, moreover,
he approved of all that I had done.
So we journeyed towards the north-west, and came, full early in the
afternoon, to open country. Before us we could see the rocky spurs and
ridges--which were, in fact, the beginning of the foothills of the
Andes--running northward for several miles, to end quite suddenly at the
morass.
John Bannister had changed greatly since the days when I knew him first.
He looked as big and strong as ever, but had become pitifully thin; and
I thought his hair was greyer, and there were deeper lines upon his
forehead. His mouth I could not see, for he had grown a great beard,
more than touched with grey. And this beard, merged into his long
moustache, was spread like the beard of a paladin upon his chest.
We directed our way northward in a bee-line, so far as we could judge,
towards the ravine where we had left William Rushby; and this compelled
us to clamber over the rocky hillocks and to cross the gullies and
declivities that intervened. It was hard work, and the sun was baking
hot. And yet Bannister would not halt, even for food, for we both knew
well enough that the boatswain's life was in the greatest danger.
"If Baverstock gets there before us," said he, "not only will he gain
possession of the map, and thereby learn the secret of the Treasure, but
there is very little doubt that he will put Rushby to death."
"I think so, too," said I. "He has been baulked so often that he will
not care to take further risks. However, I now believe the man to be
quite mad. Last evening I saw him look for a long time at Forsyth, and
I swear there was murder in his eye."
"No such criminals are wholly sane," said Bannister. "Amos has done
murder more than once, and he will never hesitate to do it again, if he
thinks that he sees profit in the business. Rushby is defenceless. His
wound has become septic, though I have dressed it often with what skill
I have. There is a chance that the evil may spread; and in that case
nothing can save his life but amputation of the leg. And that, of
course, we have neither the means of doing, nor the skill to do it if we
had."
We were silent for a long time after that, though we hastened our
footsteps, knowing that life and death were in the scales.
I was soon utterly fatigued, and could not fail to see that Bannister as
well was well-nigh at the end of all his strength. For all that, we
would not give in; for William Rushby was an honest man, to whom we both
owed much, and we were determined, if we could, to save his life.
Presently, we began to doubt whether we would reach the ravine before
nightfall; for the sun, as we could see, was descending rapidly towards
the crestline of the Andes. Once only did Bannister pause, and then he
stood stock-still upon a hill-top, shading his eyes with the palm of a
hand and looking towards the west.
"Was ever anything more wonderful!" said he. "I can never look upon a
mountain without thinking of Coleridge's _Hymn before Sunrise_: 'Earth
with her thousand voices, praises God.'"
He stood for a while like a man in a dream; and I, also shading my eyes,
followed the direction of his gaze, and saw again the great and glorious
mountains in the distance, like a rugged battlement, scarred and
crumbled throughout aeons of old Time, rising thousands of feet before
the red sky of evening. And I, too, though I knew naught of the poet,
felt within me a sense of great awe and reverence for the most mighty
works of God.
I would have lingered there, I cannot say how long, had not Bannister
taken me by a hand and led me forcibly away with such long strides that
I was obliged to run. He looked straight in front of him as he walked.
I could see that he was preoccupied with his thoughts, and I did not
care to interrupt them. Looking about me, I thought I recognised the
country. I was certain we could not be far from the ravine.
And a little after, on a sudden, we heard a shot, fired but a little
distance to the front of us, towards the right.
Without a word we both began to run, and came, unexpectedly, upon the
very head of the ravine.
The sun was now behind us; and we could see clearly all there was to
see. Far down the ravine was the solitary tree to which Bannister had
been bound when Amos had threatened him with death. And a few yards
from this, near where the old camping-ground had been, were the figures
of three men hastening in our direction; and these we recognised at once
as Forsyth, Trust, and Amos Baverstock himself. Vasco we saw a little
after come forth from the shadows of the Wood, so laden with cooking
utensils and the like that he might have been a pack-mule, for he was
doubled almost in half.
However, we took little notice of him; for our eyes were fixed upon the
pathetic figure of poor Rushby, who was limping in great agony as he
tried to run. It was clear from the first that he had little chance of
escaping. It was inevitable that he must be overtaken almost at once.
Suddenly he pitched forward upon his face, and lay quite still upon the
ground; and, since no shot had been fired, we guessed that he had
fainted from pain and exhaustion. Amos pounced upon him as a cat
springs upon a mouse.
I was, of course, unarmed, for I had left my blow-pipe by the Tomb. But
Bannister, who carried his rifle, hesitated to shoot, for a very natural
reason: at that range, if he fired at Amos, as like as not he might hit
William Rushby. So, together, we set forward running, hoping that even
yet we might not be too late to save the boatswain's life.
Amos was on his hands and knees by the side of Rushby; and as we
approached he sprang to his feet, waving something in his hand.
"He has got the map!" cried Bannister, who at once brought his rifle to
his shoulder and fired straight at Amos.
The singing of the bullet must have made Baverstock realise that he was
not by any means as safe as he would like. For the man cast no more
than a glance in our direction, and then turned upon his heel, to set
off running down the ravine as fast as his legs could carry him.
Trust followed his example; and Vasco, the Spaniard, turned at once back
into the Wood. I saw that Forsyth hesitated for a moment; and then,
knowing full well that his strength was as nothing when compared to that
of Bannister, he also turned and fled.
Bannister fired two more shots; but, as he was out of breath from
running, neither of these had any effect upon Amos, at whom they were
directed, save that they were near enough to make him run the faster.
Our first care, at any rate, was for William Rushby, who--as we
guessed--had fainted from his great efforts to escape. He regained
consciousness as soon as ever his face was bathed with water; and then,
sitting up, he looked at us and groaned.
"He has taken it?" he asked.
Bannister tugged at his beard and shot a glance towards the Wood.
"Yes," said he. "At last Amos has the map. By to-morrow evening he
will have found the Big Fish. After all these years he will be able to
feast his eyes upon the Greater Treasure of the Incas."