TROUBLE AHEAD
The two families went back into the dining-room with hearts overflowing
with joy, in spite of the disquieting news brought by Jack. Their only
thought was that Jack was back again!
Yet could a more serious event have been imagined? Savages were on
the coast of New Switzerland! They knew now that the thin vapour seen
by Mr. Wolston when the pinnace left the mouth of the Montrose River,
and again when he was at the summit of the peak, was the smoke of an
encampment pitched on that part of the island.
Jack was faint for want of food. He took his seat at the table with
the others, and when he had recovered some of his strength he told the
story of his adventures as follows:
"Forgive me, all of you, for the grief and anxiety I have caused you. I
let my desire to capture a young elephant run away with me. I did not
listen to Mr. Wolston or Ernest when they were calling me back, and
it is only by a miracle that I have returned safe and sound! But my
recklessness will have this one good result at least--it will enable us
to organise a serious defence against these savages if they come as far
as the Promised Land.
"Well, I plunged into the very thick of the pine forest after those
elephants without any very clear idea, I must admit, of how I should
manage to get hold of the smallest one. The father and mother went
quietly along, breaking their way through the brushwood, and did not
notice that I was following them. Of course I kept out of sight as much
as possible, and I went along without its even occurring to me to ask
in what direction they were taking me and Fawn, who was as mad as I
was, or how I should find my way back! I continued for more than two
hours, trying in vain to draw the baby elephant off on a side track.
"As a matter of fact, if I had tried to bring down the father and
mother I don't know how many bullets I should have had to use before
succeeding, and the only result might have been to infuriate the two
brutes and turn them onto me!
"However, I went farther and farther into the heart of the pine forest,
keeping no account of time or distance, or of the trouble I should have
to join Mr. Wolston and Ernest again, and never thinking--I hope they
will not be too angry with me for it--of the trouble I was putting them
to if they were hurrying after me.
"I calculate that I must have gone a good five miles to the eastward in
this way, and all for nothing. Then a realisation of the position came
back to me. Perhaps I was wise after the event; but since the elephants
showed no intention of stopping I thought that it would be best I
should stop.
"It was about four o'clock. The forest was thinner around me; there
were spaces between the trees, and some large clearings. And I think,
by the way, that when we want to go to Jean Zermatt Peak it will be
best to make straight for the south-east."
"Oh, yes, Ernest's letter told us--you gave it my name," said M.
Zermatt.
"It was Mr. Wolston's suggestion that we should do that, papa," Ernest
replied.
"Is it not natural, my friend," Mr. Wolston added, "that the highest
point in New Switzerland should receive the name of the head of the
house?"
"Jean Zermatt Peak, then, let it be," M. Zermatt replied, shaking Mr.
Wolston by the hand; "but let Jack go on with his story and tell us
about the savages."
"They are not very far off," said Jack.
"Not far off?" Mrs. Wolston exclaimed.
"In my story--in my story, I mean, Mamma dear, for in actual fact they
must still be a good twenty-five miles away from Rock Castle."
This answer was somewhat reassuring, and Jack resumed his tale:
"I was in front of a pretty wide clearing in the pine forest then, and
I was about to halt, quite determined not to go any farther, when the
elephants stopped too. So I held in Fawn, who wanted to fly at them.
"Did it mean that that was the part of the forest where these creatures
usually took shelter? There was a stream running between the high grass
just at that spot. My elephants--I felt they were mine!--began to
drink, sucking the water up through their trunks.
"You will not be surprised to hear that when I saw them standing still,
suspecting nothing, my sporting instincts got the upper hand of me
again. An irresistible desire seized me to get the little one apart by
itself, after I had brought down the other two, even if I had to spend
my last cartridge. Besides, two bullets might be enough, if they found
the right spot, and is there a hunter who does not believe in lucky
shots? As to how I was to capture the baby elephant after I had killed
its parents, and how I could lead it to Rock Castle, I did not even
give these questions a thought. I cocked my gun, which was loaded with
ball cartridges. A double report rang out; but if the elephants were
hit they were not much hurt, it would seem, for they merely shook their
ears and poured a final draught of water down their throats.
"They did not even turn around to see where the shot came from, and did
not bother themselves in the least about Fawn's barking. Before I could
fire again, they started off once more, so fast this time, almost as
fast as a horse gallops, that I had to give up all idea of following
them.
"Just for a minute I saw their huge bulk among the trees, above the
brushwood, and their trunks upraised breaking the low branches, and
then they vanished.
"It now became a question of deciding what direction I had better take.
The sun was sinking rapidly, and the pine forest would soon be wrapped
in darkness. I knew that I ought to march towards the west, but there
was nothing to show me whether that was to the left or the right. I had
no pocket compass, and I have not that kind of sense of direction with
which Ernest is gifted.
"Still, I thought I might be able to pick up some tracks of my journey,
or rather of the elephants'. But the coming of night made it very
difficult to do any tracking. Besides, there were any number of heavy
footprints, all crossing one another. And what was more, I could hear
some trumpeting in the distance, which made it seem pretty certain
that it was along the banks of this stream that the herd of elephants
assembled every evening.
"I knew that I should not succeed in finding my way back before
sunrise, and even Fawn, in spite of his instinct, had no better idea
where he was.
"For an hour I wandered about at random, not knowing whether I was
getting nearer to the shore or farther away from it. I blamed myself
for my recklessness, and the thought of Mr. Wolston and Ernest unable
to make up their minds to abandon me and looking in vain for me was
very worrying! It would be I who would have delayed their return to
Rock Castle, and what would you be thinking about their delay? I
thought of all the anxiety you would feel when we did not return within
the time mentioned in Ernest's letter. And then there would be fresh
toil and hardship for Mr. Wolston and Ernest, and for all that I was to
blame."
"Yes, you were to blame, my boy," said M. Zermatt; "even if you did
not think of yourself when you left them, you ought to have thought of
them--and of us."
"That, of course," Mme. Zermatt answered, kissing her son; "he has been
most reckless and imprudent; it might have cost him his life. But since
he is here, we will forgive him."
"I come now," Jack went on, "to the part of my adventures where the
situation became much worse.
"Up to that time, certainly, I had not run any very great danger. As I
had my gun I was safe to be able to get food, even if it took me a week
to find the way back to Rock Castle. Merely by following the coast I
should have got there sooner or later. As for the wild beasts, which
must be plentiful in that part of the island, I hoped if any attacked
me to rout them.
"No; what troubled me was the thought of Mr. Wolston and Ernest losing
heart as they looked in vain for my tracks. I thought they must have
taken their way through this eastern part of the forest, which was not
so dense as the rest. In the case, it was possible that they were not
far from the spot where I had just stopped. The worst of it was that
night was close at hand. So I thought it would be best to camp where
I was, and light a fire. Mr. Wolston and Ernest might see it, and its
lights would help to keep off the animals that were howling in the
neighbourhood.
"But before lighting it I shouted several times, turning in every
direction.
"There was no answer.
"There was the last resource of firing a few shots, and I did so twice.
"I heard no answering report.
"But I thought I could hear, on the right hand, a sort of sliding noise
among the grass. I listened and was on the point of calling out when it
suddenly occurred to me that it could not be Mr. Wolston or my brother
coming from that side. They would have called to me, and we should have
been in each other's arms before that.
"So it must mean that there were animals coming up, or perhaps a
serpent.
"I had no time to assume the defensive. Four bodies rose up in the
darkness--four human beings, not monkeys, as I thought at first! They
sprang upon me, jabbering in a language which I could not understand.
It was only too evident that I was dealing with savages!
"Savages on our island! In a moment I was thrown down, and I felt two
knees pressing on my chest. Then they bound my hands and made me get
up, took me by the shoulders and pushed me in front of them, and I had
to walk at a rapid pace.
"One of the men had taken possession of my gun, another of my game-bag.
It did not seem as if they had any design upon my life--not just then,
at any rate.
"We went all night like that--in what direction I could not discover.
But I noticed that the forest was gradually getting clearer and
clearer. The light of the moon reached right down to the ground, and I
felt sure we were approaching the coast.
"I was not thinking much about myself, my dear people! I was thinking
of you, and of the danger which the presence of these natives on our
island involved! They would only have to go along the coastline as far
as the Montrose River and cross that to reach Cape East, and then come
down again to Rock Castle! If they got there before the _Unicorn_ got
back, you would not be in force enough to beat them off!"
"But did you not say just now, Jack," M. Zermatt asked, "that these
savages must be a long way away from the Promised Land?"
"Yes, Papa, twelve or fifteen miles south of the Montrose, and so about
twenty-five miles from here."
"Well, in less than a fortnight, and perhaps in less than a week, the
_Unicorn_ will be lying in Deliverance Bay," M. Zermatt remarked, "and
after that we shall have nothing to fear. But go on with your story."
So Jack proceeded:
"It was not until the morning, after a long march, without a single
stop to rest, that we reached the cliffs commanding the shore.
"At the foot was an encampment of about a hundred of these ebony
rascals--all of them men, half naked, squatting in the caves hollowed
out at the bottom of the cliff. They were fishers--at least, so I
imagined--who must have been carried towards our island by the winds
from the east, and their canoes were drawn up on the sand. They ran
up to me, and looked at me with astonishment and curiosity, as if it
were the first time they had seen a white man. But there is nothing
surprising in that, since European ships hardly touch this part of the
Indian Ocean.
"After they had examined me at very close quarters they resumed their
habitual indifference. I was not ill-treated. They gave me a few
broiled fish, which I ate hungrily, and I quenched my thirst with water
from a stream which came down from the cliff.
"I had a great sense of satisfaction when I saw that my gun, which
these savages did not know how to use, and my game-bag had been laid
down at the foot of a rock. So I made up my mind to treat these
blackamoors to a few shots, if an opportunity presented itself. But the
situation was speedily altered by an unexpected event.
"About nine o'clock in the evening, in the outskirts of the forest
which ran along the cliffs, there arose suddenly a tremendous uproar
which immediately spread dismay among the natives. And you can imagine
my surprise when I discovered that the uproar was caused by the arrival
of a herd of elephants--thirty of them, at the very least--who were
coming slowly along the bank of the stream towards the beach.
"Dismay? It was absolute panic! Evidently this was the first time
the natives had found themselves in the presence of these huge
animals--beasts with enormously long noses with a kind of hand at the
tip!
"And when the elephants lifted their trunks and waved them about and
twisted them all together, and all started trumpeting, there was a
general stampede. Some scampered off across the rocks, and some tried
to shove their canoes into the water, and the elephants looked on at
the rout with fatuous amiability.
"I, for my part, merely saw my opportunity, and did not wait for
anything more. I did not try to learn what would be the upshot of this
meeting between the elephants and the natives, but ran to the cliff,
went up the ravine and hurried into cover among the timber, where
I found my good old Fawn waiting for me. I need not say that I had
secured my gun and game-bag which would be priceless to me.
"I marched all that night and the next day, hunting for food, and only
stopping to cook and eat my game, and after twenty-four hours I reached
the right bank of the Montrose River, not far from the barrage.
"Then I knew where I was; and I went down to the stream up which papa
and I had walked. I had the plains and woods to cross as I went towards
the Green Valley, and I got there to-day, in the afternoon. I came
through the defile of Cluse, and I cannot tell you, my dear parents, my
dear friends, how dreadfully disappointed I should have been if you had
started already to look for me along the coast--if I had not found you
here at Rock Castle!"
Such was Jack's story.
Who were these natives? Where did they come from? Evidently from the
western coast of Australia, the nearest coast, unless, indeed, there
was a group of islands somewhere, as unknown as New Switzerland had
been until the English corvette arrived. But if these savages were
Australians, belonging to a race that is placed lowest in the human
scale, it was difficult to explain how they had managed to accomplish
a voyage of something like seven hundred and fifty miles in their
canoes--unless, perhaps, they had been driven all that distance by bad
weather.
And now they had met Jack, and knew that the island was inhabited by
men of a race different from their own. What would they do? Would they
put to sea in their canoes again, follow up the coast, and end by
discovering Deliverance Bay and the dwelling-place of Rock Castle?
It could not be very long, it is true, before the _Unicorn_ arrived.
Her guns would be heard in another week; a fortnight at latest. And
with her anchored within a few cable-lengths, there would be nothing to
fear.
So it seemed that it was not a matter of immediate necessity to take
precautions to meet an attack by the savages. Moreover, it was quite
possible that in the panic caused by the sight of the elephants they
had put to sea again. It seemed sufficient that the islanders should
keep a watch on the sea opposite Rock Castle.
And so the next day work was begun again, and chiefly the work of
completing the chapel.
All took part in this. It was desirable that it should be finished
before the _Unicorn_ arrived. The four walls had grown already to the
height of the roof, and the apse was lighted by a circular bay. Mr.
Wolston put in all the timber work, and it was roofed with bamboos
which were proof against the heaviest rains. As to the interior of the
chapel, Mme. Zermatt, Mrs. Wolston, and Hannah were to decorate it as
was proper, and their taste could safely be relied upon.
All this employment continued until the 15th of October, the date fixed
for the return of the _Unicorn_. The length of the voyage being taken
into consideration, a variation of a week or a fortnight in the date
would not be ground for any uneasiness.
The 19th came, and no report of guns had announced the corvette. So
Jack mounted his onager and rode to Prospect Hill, and thence to False
Hope Point.
He lost his labour. The sea was absolutely deserted as far as the
farthest horizon.
He made the same excursion again on the 27th; again without result.
Then, as was not surprising, impatience began to give place to
uneasiness.
"Come, come!" said M. Zermatt frequently, wishing to reassure his
little company. "A fortnight, even three weeks, is not an alarming
delay."
"Besides," Mr. Wolston added, "are we so sure that the _Unicorn_ could
have left England at the date agreed upon?"
"But the Admiralty must have been anxious to take possession of the new
colony," Mme. Zermatt remarked, rather ingenuously.
And Mr. Wolston smiled at the idea that the British Admiralty could
ever be in a hurry to do anything!
But while they watched the sea in the direction of False Hope Point,
they did not neglect to watch it, too, in the direction of Cape East.
Several times a day the telescopes were levelled in the direction of
Elephant Bay, as they called that part of the coast where the savages
had camped.
As yet, however, no canoe had been seen. If the natives had not
sailed away again, it seemed that they had decided not to leave their
encampment. If, unhappily, they appeared beyond Cape East and came
towards Deliverance Bay, it might prove possible to stop them by means
of the battery on Shark's Island and the guns placed on the heights of
Rock Castle. In any event, it was better to have to meet an attack by
sea than one by land, and the greatest danger would be if the savages
came from the interior of the island, after forcing the defile of Cluse.
As a matter of fact, an invasion by a hundred of these blacks and
an assault by them on Rock Castle, in all probability could not
be repulsed. It might perhaps be better on Shark's Island, where
resistance could be maintained until the English corvette arrived.
And still the _Unicorn_ did not arrive, and the end of October was
approaching. Every morning M. Zermatt and Ernest and Jack expected to
be awakened by the firing of guns. The weather was magnificent. The
translucent haze on the horizon melted as the sun rose. Far as sight
could travel over the open sea, all eyes sought the _Unicorn_.
On the 7th of November, all joined in an expedition to Prospect Hill.
But no sail was passing out beyond the bay. In vain did all eyes scan
the horizon to west, east, north! It was from the direction of False
Hope Point that they looked for the realisation of their dearest hopes,
from the direction of Cape East that disaster might come.
And so all stood in silence upon the summit of the hill, half in hope,
half in fear.
END OF "THEIR ISLAND HOME"
[In "The Castaways of the _Flag_," which forms a sequel to this
story, you can read how it was the _Unicorn_ was delayed, what had
happened to her passengers, and how the presence of savages on New
Switzerland affected the Zermatts and the Wolstons.]