were, for the islet in the brook, without any very definite notion as to
what was to be done next. The prudence of removing from our present
neighbourhood was obvious, but we were still too much discomposed and
excited by what had just taken place, to have been able to decide upon
any further step, even had not the momentary apprehension of the return
of the savages in greater numbers rendered every thing like calm
deliberation entirely out of the question.
We took the precaution to choose our path over the hardest and dryest
ground, in order to afford the savages the fewest possible facilities
for tracing our course. By the time we reached the islet, we were
completely out by the fatigue and excitement of the day; we must have
walked at least twelve miles since morning.
After partaking sparingly of the food which we had so fortunately
brought with us, accompanied by copious draughts of water from the
brook, we began to feel somewhat refreshed. Still we were greatly
disheartened by the gloomy and distressing circumstances, in which we
found ourselves so suddenly involved; the great uncertainty as to the
fate of our companions, and the danger that threatened our own lives
from the vindictive pursuit of a numerous body of savages. All our
energy and courage seemed for the present, at least, to be completely
broken. Browne laid down upon a couch of dry fern beneath the
many-pillared Aoa. He looked pale and ill--more so, I thought, than the
mere effects of excitement and over-exertion could account for.
Morton soon revived the question of what was now to be done.
"I suppose we must remain here for the present, at least," said Browne,
"and defend ourselves, if attacked, as well as we can."
Max suggested Palm-Islet as a place of greater security and one where we
should run less risk of discovery.
"And meantime," said Morton, "are we to give up all attempt to find
Arthur and the rest?"
"I hardly know what we can do," answered Browne, with a perplexed and
discouraged air; "we have no clue to guide us in a fresh search. If
these savages inhabit the island,--or if they remain here,--we cannot
hope to escape them long, after what has taken place; we must fall into
their hands sooner or later, and if they have captured our companions, I
am willing for my part, that it should be so. I doubt if we acted
wisely in resisting them at all,--but it is now too late to think of
that."
We continued to talk the matter over for some time, but without coming
to any definite resolution, and at length Browne dropped asleep, while
we were still discussing it.
As it began to grow dark, Max became disturbed and excited. He was
possessed by a vague conviction, for which he was unable to account,
that our lost companions were in some imminent peril, from which it was
in our power to rescue them. He was anxious to do something, and yet
seemed uncertain what to propose. Morton was equally desirous of making
a further effort to discover our lost friends; he was also quite clear
and explicit, in his notion of what ought to be done. His theory
appeared to be, that they had fallen into the hands of the natives,
whose encampment or place of abode, (temporary or otherwise), was on the
north-eastern side of the island. He further supposed that some feud or
quarrel having arisen among themselves, the worsted party had fled along
the beach as we had witnessed, pursued by their victorious enemies,--
that in the meantime, their captives had been left, (perhaps unguarded),
at the encampment or landing-place of the natives. Morton was as minute
and detailed in stating this hypothetical case, as if he had either
actually seen or dreamed the whole. He proposed that as soon as the
moon rose, some of us should set off for the shore, and proceed along
the beach, in the direction from which we had seen the natives come, by
pursuing which course, he was confident we should be able to learn
something respecting our companions. This he wished to undertake alone,
saying that one person could prosecute the search as well as four, and
with much less risk of discovery: if successful in ascertaining any
thing definite, he should, he said, immediately return and apprise the
rest of us. Max eagerly embraced this suggestion, and wished to decide
by lot, which of us should carry it into execution, insisting that,
otherwise, he would either set off at once by himself, or accompany
Morton.
At length Browne awoke; he said that he had derived much benefit from
his two hours' sleep, and was now ready for any necessary exertion.
He also approved of Morton's plan, but objected to his going alone, and
was at first in favour of setting out all together. At last it was
settled that the search should be undertaken by two of us, the other two
awaiting the result at the islet. Browne then prepared four twigs for
the purpose of deciding the matter by lot, it being agreed that the one
drawing the longest, should have the choice of going or remaining, and
should also select his companion. On comparing lots after we had drawn,
mine proved to be longest; and having decided upon going, I felt bound
to name Morton as my associate, since he had been the first to suggest,
and the most earnest in urging the adventure.
An hour after dark the moon rose, and soon lighted the forest
sufficiently to enable us to see our way through it. We then armed
ourselves with a cutlass apiece, and taking leave of Max and Browne,
proceeded up the brook to the fall, where we crossed it, and, following
the rocky ridge, which ran at right angles with it, we endeavoured to
hold, as nearly as possible, the course we had taken in the morning.
After leaving the stream, a good part of our way was through the open
country, where there was nothing to prevent us from seeing or being seen
at a considerable distance in the bright moonlight. But the only
alternatives were, either to creep on our hands and knees, the whole
distance from the edge of the forest to the shore, and so avail
ourselves of such concealment as the rank grass and weeds afforded,--or
to push boldly and rapidly forward, at the risk of being seen: we
preferred the latter, and soon got over this dangerous ground, running
part of the time, in the most exposed places. On reaching the bluff,
over the beach, we lay down among the bushes a few moments to recover
our breath, and reconnoitre, before taking a fresh start. All was
perfectly silent around us, and no living thing could be seen. When
sufficiently rested, we proceeded cautiously along the edge of the
height, where we could command a view both of the beach below, and of
the open country inland. The bluff extended about a quarter of a mile,
when it gradually sunk to the level of the beach, and was succeeded by a
low, flat shore, lined with large trees. We had gone but a little way
along it after this change, when we came quite unexpectedly upon an
inlet, or salt-water creek, setting in to the land, and bordered so
thickly with mangroves, that we narrowly escaped going headlong into it,
while endeavouring to force our way through the bushes to continue our
course along the beach.
It was some twenty yards wide; but I could not see how far inland it
ran, on account of the immense trees that overhung it on every side,
springing up in great numbers just behind the low border of mangroves.
Holding fast by one of these bushes, I was leaning forward over the
water, looking hard into the gloom, to gain, if possible, some notion of
the extent of the inlet and the distance round it, when Morton grasped
my arm suddenly--
"What is that, under the trees on the opposite shore?" whispered he; "is
it not a boat?"
Looking in the direction in which he pointed, I could distinguish some
object on the opposite side of the inlet, that might from its size and
shape be a boat of some kind, as he supposed, and, continuing to gaze
steadily, I made out quite plainly, against the dark masses of foliage
on the further shore, what appeared to be a white mast. A profound
silence reigned all around us, and while I was still peering into the
heavy shadow of the trees, I heard a sound which resembled a deep, and
long-drawn sigh, followed by an exclamation, as of a person in bodily
pain.
"We must get round to the other side," whispered Morton, "and see what
this means."
We backed out of the mangroves with the utmost caution, and inch by
inch: when we had got to such a distance as to render this extreme
circumspection no longer necessary, we commenced a wide circuit around
the inlet, which proved to be only a small cove, or indentation in the
shore, extending less than a hundred yards inland. In approaching it
again on the opposite side, we resumed all our former stealthiness of
movement, feeling that our lives in all probability depended upon our
caution.
When, at last, we had got, as we supposed, quite near the place where we
had seen the boat, we proceeded, by creeping on our hands and knees
through the bushes for short distances, and then rising and looking
about, to ascertain our position.
It was so dark, and the undergrowth was so dense--the moonlight scarcely
penetrating the thick foliage--that nothing could be distinguished at
the distance even of a few yards, and there was some danger that we
might come suddenly, and before we were aware, upon those whom we
supposed to be already so near us. While thus blindly groping our way
towards the edge of the inlet, I heard a voice almost beside me, which
said--
"Will they never come back?--Are they going to leave us here to starve?"
The voice was that of Johnny's beyond the possibility of mistake.
Turning in the direction from which it proceeded, I saw a little to the
right three figures upon the ground at the foot of a large casuarina.
Another voice, as familiar, almost immediately answered--
"I only fear that they will return too soon: have patience! in a little
while I shall have gnawed through this rope, and then I do not despair
of being able to get my hands free also."
This was enough to show how matters stood.
"Are you alone?" said I, in a low voice, but loud enough to be heard by
those beneath the casuarina.
There was an exclamation of joyful surprise from Johnny; then Arthur
answered, "If that is you, Archer, come and help us, for we are tied
hand and foot. You have nothing to fear; our captors have left us quite
alone."
We now came forward without further hesitation. They were all bound
fast, their hands being tied behind them, in addition to which, each was
fastened to the tree by a rope of sennit. It would be difficult to say
which party seemed most rejoiced at this sudden meeting. As soon as
they were liberated, we embraced one another with tears of joy.
"Let us leave this place as fast as possible," said Arthur, as soon as
he became a little composed, "I expect the return of the natives every
moment,--and we have more to dread from them than you can guess. But I
find I am so stiff after lying bound here all day, that I can hardly
walk. Now, Johnny, take my hand, and try to get along. How is it with
you, Eiulo--do you feel able to travel fast?"
The latter appeared to understand the drift of the question, and
answered by frisking and jumping about in exultation at his recovered
liberty.
Instead of returning by the way by which we had come, along the shore,
we pushed on in a straight line, in the supposed direction of the islet,
in order to avoid the risk of meeting the natives. After toiling for an
hour through the woods, we emerged into the open country to the east of
the rocky ridge that traversed the course of the stream. During this
time, we had been too fully occupied in picking our way with the
necessary caution, besides the constant apprehension of suddenly
encountering the natives, to ask for any explanations. But now we began
to feel somewhat reassured, and as we hastened on towards the islet,
Arthur very briefly informed us, that they had yesterday been suddenly
surprised by a party of six natives, soon after leaving us at the islet,
and hurried off to the shore: that they had been left by their captors
this morning, secured as we had found them, and had remained in that
condition until released by us. He added that he had more to
communicate by-and-bye.
The joy of Browne and Max at our return, accompanied by the lost ones,
may be imagined--but it can scarcely be described. In fact, I am
obliged to confess that we were such children, as to enact quite "a
scene," at this unexpected meeting. Heartfelt and sincere were the
thanksgivings we that night rendered to Him, who had kept us in perfect
safety, and reunited us, after a separation made so distressing by our
uncertainty as to each other's fate.
After Arthur, Eiulo, and Johnny, had appeased their hunger with the
scanty remains of our supply of provisions, the two latter lay down upon
a bed of ferns beneath the Aoa, and were soon sleeping as soundly and
peacefully, as though all our troubles and dangers were now at an end.
How easily they put in practice the philosophy that vexes itself not
about the future! Exercising the happy privilege of childhood, they
cast upon others, in whom they placed implicit confidence, the
responsibility of thinking and planning for them--free from all care and
anxiety themselves.
Arthur now gave us a more detailed account of what had occurred since
our separation.
"Do you remember," said he, when he had finished, "hearing Eiulo, in
talking of affairs at Tewa, make mention of a person named Atollo?"
"Atollo?" said Browne, "was not that the name of an uncle of his whom he
made out to be a strange, unnatural sort of monster, even for a heathen,
and who concocted a plot for the murder of his own father and brother,
and afterwards attempted to kill Eiulo by rolling rocks down a precipice
after him in the woods!"
"The same," answered Arthur. "I hardly supposed that you would have
remembered it, as no one but myself seemed to take much interest in
Eiulo's reminiscences of Tewa, the rest of you being obliged to get them
at second-hand, through me as interpreter. Well, that Atollo has
reached this island in some way, with a band of followers: it was by
them that we were captured yesterday; it is from his power that we have
just escaped."
"What is this Atollo like?" inquired Browne. "Is he a tall,
large-framed man, but gaunt and spare as a half-starved hound?"
"Yes, with sharp features, and a wild, restless eye."
"Why, then," continued Browne, turning to me, "it was he, who was at the
head of the second party of natives that we saw this morning by the
shore."
We now gave Arthur an account of our rencontre with the savages; but no
particular mention was made of the destruction of the canoe, or of the
lion-like old man who seemed to be the leader of those who fled.
"And little Eiulo's dread of this strange uncle of his," said Browne,
"is then so great, that he preferred running away to us again, to
remaining with his own people?"
"Incredible as it may seem," answered Arthur, "I am convinced that his
fears are not without foundation, and I even believe that this man
intended to take his life, and would have done so, had we not escaped."
"Incredible, indeed!" exclaimed Browne, "and what could be the motive
for so atrocious a crime?"
"I know of none that seems sufficient to account for it fully, and I am
therefore almost forced to regard the man as a monomaniac."
Arthur thought that Atollo had probably made some further desperate
attempt against his brother at Tewa, and, having failed in it, had fled
hither with a part of his followers, among whom some quarrel had since
arisen, in the prosecution of which they had been engaged, when we
witnessed the flight and pursuit along the shore. This, however, was
mere conjecture: they had talked but little in his presence, and he had
not been able to learn any thing from the conversation which he had
overheard, as to the cause of their coming hither. Eiulo had been
questioned minutely by them, and from him they had ascertained that
there were four more of us upon the island.
Morton inquired of Arthur, whether he apprehended that any serious
effort would be made by the savages to find us, and what kind of
treatment we should probably receive in case we should fall into their
power.
"That search will be made for us," answered the latter, "I have not the
slightest doubt; and I do not think that we can look for any mercy, if
we fall into their hands, since to-day's affray and escape."
"This feud among themselves," said Browne, "may keep them so busy as to
afford no leisure for troubling themselves about us. I have some hope
that they will use those ugly-looking clubs upon one another, to such
purpose, as to rid us of them altogether."
"That old giant," said Max, "who ran away, with such an awkward air, as
if he wasn't at all used to it, will certainly do some mischief if they
once come to blows."
"Ay," pursued Browne, "though he didn't look quite so wicked and like a
warlock, as the gaunt, wild-eyed heathen that led the chase, I will
warrant him his full match in fair and equal fight, man to man."
"Well," said Arthur, who during the latter part of this conversation had
been apparently engaged in serious and perplexed thought, "for to-night,
at least, we are in no danger. Let us now take our necessary rest, and
to-morrow we shall be fresher and better prepared to decide upon the
course of action to be adopted."
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
THE SINGLE COMBAT.
PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE--A DEMAND AND REFUSAL--THE TWO CHAMPIONS.
"On many a bloody field before--
Man of the dark and evil heart!--
We've met--pledged enemies of yore,
But now we meet no more to part--
Till to my gracious liege and lord,
By thee of broad domains bereft,
From thy red hand and plotting brain,
No fear of future wrong is left."
The sense of surrounding danger with which we laid down that night upon
our beds of fern beneath the Aoa, continued to press darkly upon our
minds even in sleep, and awake us at an early hour to confront anew, the
perplexities and terrors of our situation.
Arthur, in whose better understanding of the habits and character of the
savages we confided, far from affording us any additional encouragement,
spoke in a manner calculated to overthrow the very hopes, upon which we
had been resting.
We had supposed that they could have no motive but the desire of
revenge, for seeking or molesting us, and as none of their number had
been killed, or in all probability even dangerously injured in the
rencontre with us, we trusted that this motive would not prove strong
enough to incite them to any earnest or long-continued search. But
Arthur hinted at another object, more controlling in the mind of their
strange leader than any desire to prosecute a petty revenge, which would
impel him to seek for and pursue us, for the purpose of getting Eiulo
again into his power. This enmity--so fixed and implacable--against a
mere child, seemed incredible, even after all that had been said or
suggested in explanation of it, and the explanations themselves were
far-fetched, and almost destitute of plausibility.
And how could we hope to escape a pursuit so determined and persevering
as Arthur anticipated? Whither could we flee for safety? To think of
successful resistance to Atollo and his band, if discovered by them,
seemed idle. Max suggested Palm-Islet as the most secure retreat with
which we were acquainted. But Arthur now broached a more startling
plan. "Nowhere upon this island," said he, "can we longer consider
ourselves secure. The only step that holds out any prospect of safety
is to leave it in the yawl, and sail for Tewa."
"Is there any certainty," said Browne, "that we can find it? Do we even
know positively where, or in what direction from this place it is; and
shall we not incur the risk of getting lost again at sea?"
"I would rather take that risk," said Max, "than remain here, within
reach of these savages--any thing is preferable to falling into their
power."
"I confess," said Arthur, "that we know nothing certainly in regard to
the distance, or even the direction of Tewa, but I think we have good
reason to believe that it lies about forty or fifty miles to the
northward."
We could not, however, bring ourselves thus suddenly to adopt a
resolution so momentous, and it was at last tacitly decided to continue
for the present, at least, at the islet.
"If we are to remain here," said Arthur, on perceiving that there was no
disposition to act immediately upon any of the suggestions which had
been made, "let us make such preparation as we can, to defend ourselves
if it shall be necessary."
This surprised us all; it seemed worse than useless to think of forcible
resistance to a party as numerous as that of Atollo; coming from Arthur
such a suggestion was to me doubly surprising.
"I see," said he, "that the notion of attempting to defend ourselves, if
discovered, seems to you a desperate one--but I believe it to be our
only course--we can expect no mercy from Atollo."
"Surely," said Morton, "they can have no sufficient motive for murdering
us in cold blood. But, fresh from another conflict with them, we could
not perhaps look for forbearance, if in their power. Against _us_ they
cannot now, it seems to me, cherish any feelings so vindictive as you
imply."
"And suppose it to be so? Suppose that they merely aim at Eiulo's life,
without wishing to molest us?"
"I don't fear that I shall be misunderstood, if I speak plainly,"
answered Morton, after a pause. "It seems, from what you have
intimated, that for some reason they wish to get Eiulo into their hands;
they are his own people, and their leader is his own uncle; have we any
right to refuse him to them?"
"Why, Morton!" interposed Browne, warmly, "what cold-blooded doctrine is
this?"
"Have patience, a minute, and hear me out--I cannot bring myself to
believe that they actually intend him harm; I think there must be some
mistake or misapprehension in regard to this alleged design against his
life, utterly improbable as it is in itself."
"But Arthur understands all that, far better than you or I," interrupted
Browne, once more, "and it is clear that the poor child stands in mortal
dread of this man."
"I was going to add," resumed Morton, "that even if this danger does
exist, it is entirely out of our power to afford him protection against
it: we should merely throw away our lives, in a desperate and
unprofitable attempt. It may seem unfeeling to talk of giving him up;
but will not these people be far more likely to act with cruelty, both
towards him and us, after being excited and enraged by a fruitless
opposition? I have spoken frankly: but whatever is soberly determined
upon, however unwise in my view, I will abide by."
"I admit," answered Arthur, "that there is little prospect of success in
a conflict with them: but I regard our fate as certain if we submit, and
we can but be slain in resisting. I am so fully satisfied of Atollo's
designs in respect to him, that I should feel in giving him up, as if I
were an accessary to his murder."
"Let us rather defend ourselves to the very last extremity," said
Browne, earnestly, "if we are so unfortunate as to be found."
"If," said Max, with an excited air,--"if I really believed they would
kill Eiulo, I should say, never give him up, whatever the consequences
may be;--and I do think this Atollo must be an incarnate fiend. I don't
believe it will make any difference in their treatment of us whether we
resist or not."
"O no!" cried Johnny, who had been listening eagerly to this
conversation, while Eiulo stood looking wistfully on, as if he knew that
it concerned him. "O no! don't give him up to that wicked man. I would
fight, myself, if I had my bow and arrows, but they took them away from
me: can't we hide ourselves in the banyan tree?--they never will think
of looking for us there?"
"That is not a bad suggestion," said Morton, "and if we should be
discovered, it is a strong place to defend. We can move easily and
quickly about on that strong horizontal framework of branches, and it
will be a hazardous undertaking to climb those straight smooth trunks,
in our faces."
It seemed, in fact, as if a party stationed upon the roof, (as it might
be termed), of this singular tree, would occupy a vantage-ground from
which it would require strong odds to dislodge them, and the assailants,
unless provided with fire-arms, or missile weapons, would labour under
almost insurmountable difficulties.