A PROSPECT OF WEALTH
None of my Links fell dead at the sight of the goddess and myself, when
at last we were “home,” but that was merely because they were too
uncivilised to have any nerves. The poor creatures contracted headache
over the wonder of it all, however, for it utterly surpassed their
powers of speculation.
I think they were much more frightened of the captive snake than they
had been at my explosions. For this I blamed them not at all, having
been rendered somewhat creepy by the beastly reptile myself. It was much
too weird a pet. I was not so indelicate as to mention my feelings on
the subject to the goddess, but I did hope the abominable thing would
die, or get away.
Poor old Fatty was dizzy with concern. For two whole days he could not
have told whether he was afoot or horseback. He was even suspicious of
myself. All the child-like creatures seemed to regard me with added awe,
as if it were hopeless to attempt to solve the problem of the magic by
which I produced the snake-charming woman. They regarded the boat and
the lake with more suspicion than before. A strangeness grew upon them;
they stood away in groups, speaking a monosyllable now and again; they
stirred uneasily about, whenever the girl appeared.
Yet remarkably soon the females of the tribe began to note, with
curiosity, the costume worn by this stranger. Madame Albino assumed
sundry airs with small delay. She also attempted to clothe her precious
self with various skins; she eyed the interloper with comical disdain;
she likewise looked at me with unmistakable reproach in those pink,
nervous optics of hers, as if she meant to say that she might have
forgiven me before, but after this—never!
As for the girl herself, she was not exactly the same, when seen in the
daylight. She still had glorious eyes and her soft chestnut hair would
have been lovely, had it been combed or stabbed full of hardware to
build it up in a psyche knot, but her nose was somewhat freckled, she
was burned a lively red, as to face, neck, shoulders, arms and ankles,
and her great anxiety had made her a trifle thin. Yet she was beautiful,
I still maintain, for her features were fine, her poise splendid and her
hands and feet exquisitely moulded. What was more, her countenance was
lighted from within, by a charm as rare as it is divine; she was lovely
in her nature; she was womanly—and women, true women, are beautiful
forever! I nodded mentally and determined to continue to call her “the
goddess.”
It being essential that we take some needed rest, before embarking for
worlds unknown, I made my shelter as comfortable as facilities would
permit, and abdicated in favour of the snake and the girl. However, my
subjects dug me a new palace in short order. This I occupied in my
customary regal state. I was obliged to construct a wicker bungalo for
his snakeship, for it seemed the goddess grew weary of holding the
monster at times, and yet wished to restrain him from his natural desire
to mingle with the creepers. Also I furnished the beast with gastronomic
delicacies of the season. He had a preference for squirrels, not even
the skins of which were left for me.
I made some quiet preparations for the reception of our friends the
Blacks, should they come in search of their former captive, but these
consisted only of restringing the bows and furbishing up the feathers on
our arrows. I knew the fighting force of the feudal foe to be reduced
and in no wise able to cope with ours, wherefore I deemed extraordinary
measures unnecessary. As a matter of fact, no Blacks appeared, which led
me to doubt if they even guessed that the goddess could be harboured in
our village.
Having recovered all my energies shortly, I thought the girl would be
ready and anxious to leave without further delay. In consequence I began
to lay in a stock of sun-dried meat, weapons and other things needful
for the cruise to the ocean. It soon became evident, however, that the
poor young woman had suffered so severe a depression of vital forces, in
the long-continued strain of worry and physical anguish, that immediate
departure was quite out of the question.
We had long, hopeful talks together, while I manufactured small trifles
for her greater comfort, or brought her foods to cook at a small
stone-and-clay stove which I managed to construct; and she often related
the history of her days of trouble. She had been too deeply alarmed all
the time to give much attention to studying her captors; however, she
thought from what I told her that they must have a similar language to
that employed by the Reds, and many similar habits. Their attitude
toward herself had led her to believe that they actually had a great
reverence for human beings.
Of the man who had evidently once been among them she knew but little.
She had seen the skeleton, but had only been able to make the merest
guesses as to how it came to be in such a place and in such a remarkable
condition. She had also seen a linen collar, preserved by having fallen
into a chink which kept it protected from the elements, and this
indicated, she thought, that the man had been a clergyman. That he had
produced certain effects upon the creatures, the results of which would
endure, she had no doubt. Though they had no other weapons than their
clubs, they appeared to be more fearless than my fellows. Any fishing
operations which they might once have conducted, guided by the man, were
now discontinued, she was sure, for she had never seen a fish in the
camp. The dug-outs were in ruins, as I had thought, though some of the
creatures employed them still for sleeping purposes. She did not believe
they utilised any caves. Without telling her of my own theories of the
gold cauldron, I questioned her sufficiently to convince myself that she
knew nothing of its existence in the place.
About the fights and hunting expeditions of the tribe, she possessed
only the most general information. She had not been able to ascertain
what manner of enemies they encountered, but once had seen a wounded
fellow striving to pull out of his leg a piece of wood which she now
knew must have been an arrow. Also she had been aware that some
tremendous calamity had befallen the fighters on their last crusade, for
barely half the force had returned to camp, and of these many were
shockingly wounded. Fully twenty, she said, had died and been buried
since the day of the trouble. Beyond these few facts, the goddess told
me very little which differed from the tale of the daily routine of my
own loyal subjects.
In the boat, my bear-skin was concealed by a cover of leaves as before.
I was thinking, one morning, of the various things I should take, when
the moment for leaving should finally arrive, when the two great
clubs—mine by right of conquest—thrust themselves upon my notice. The
one which was made of the nugget appealed to my human spirit of
acquisitiveness with great potency. Indeed the thing awakened a train of
thought which bordered somewhat on the wild and not-too-wholesome. I
found myself coveting my neighbour’s cauldron of gold.
Heretofore I had given the geyser cavern, where the precious metal was
being deposited, not the slightest consideration. I had known of only
one way to approach the place, namely, by the long passage, the end of
which I might not be able to find, and which at best could only lead me
to a point high above the place of treasure. I knew, also, that snakes
abided in the passage and that getting gold up to the point where Fatty
and I had been that day and then out through the tortuous tunnel was
simply impossible, as a task. Even the nugget on the club—after the
first inevitable thrill which I could not help feeling, to see it and
know its worth,—had been no more to me than any rock, for what could it
purchase in such a land as this?
But now—how things had altered! Not only did I feel the greatest
confidence in my ability to pilot my boat away from that open prison, to
a land where gold would be the “open sesame” to the whole world, but I
knew of an opening—or thought I did—to the cave where the precious metal
was lying ready to be had for the taking. It was a magic thought—an
intoxicating dream. The precious deposit belonged to no one, for who
were the Missing Links? I should do no injury to anyone by taking all I
needed. And why should I not have some remuneration for all this exile,
labour and suffering?
“Why,” said I, and half seriously at that, “a king simply has to be
rich!”
The task seemed easy, as I dreamed of proceeding to the spot, taking
what I wanted and then escaping with it as I had with the goddess. The
idea expanded rapidly; it began to make me feverish. As usual, when I
gave myself over to anything new, I forgot everything else about me.
Even the goddess and her snake became of secondary importance; escape
itself was indefinitely postponed. The premier question was, “When shall
I do it?” I answered aloud:
“Why—to-day—to-night! What’s the use of waiting?”
Then it became imperative that I should formulate a plan. The bear-skin
was the fundamental basis which gave me the courage to think of
attempting the task. I knew how to manage in regard to that, as well as
I knew how nicely it would work, if only the light were not too
searching. What more might the work require? Obviously I should need a
sack, in which to carry off the plunder; and I ought to have a pick or a
sledge-hammer, or something in the way of a tool with which to detach
the solid chunks of metal. For the sack, I decided to sew together some
of the skins which were lying on the floor of my shelter. For tools I
would carry a couple of the stoutest clubs to be had in the camp. In
addition to these requisites, I could think of nothing I should need,
except my weapons.
I lost no time in setting about the preparations for this financial
venture. It seemed a pity to rob the goddess and her snake of the rugs
on which they reclined at various times, in my dug-out, but there was
nothing else to do. All the tribe-fellows’ clubs having proved
themselves to be serviceable, I had no difficulty in selecting two which
I deemed worthy of the great occasion.
Old Fatty had resumed his faithful attendance on my every movement and
therefore he followed me down to the boat, carrying both of the clubs
and the skins. He stood on the bank and watched me embark, more crazy
than ever to go along, but still too frightened to trust himself afloat
on the lake. I had no wish to have company. Bidding him “be good,” I
pushed away and started on the expedition.
By the time I had finished the work of fastening the skins together, the
afternoon was half gone. There was nothing to do, in the way of work
which would occupy my time, and I felt no desire to get into the
bear-skin prematurely, as I had done before, so that I was finally
obliged to pull in my oars and drift idly on the water. This was a
sleepy occupation. I nodded drowsily for half an hour, at the end of
which time I fell fast asleep.
The sun was just disappearing when at last I awoke. Disgusted with
myself, for having thus overdone the time-wasting business, I rowed
rapidly for Outlet river, to which I came duly. Standing up in the boat
I arrayed myself in my costume; then I worked slowly down the river, as
before, and beached the boat in the spot where I had landed on the last
successful venture.
Already the dusk made the forest gloomy, but as this was precisely what
I wanted, I struck off without delay, picking a path cautiously through
the growth. The neighbourhood seemed remarkably still, but finally the
rumble from the cauldron disturbed the quiet and gave me a guide by
which I corrected my course.
Laden as I was, with the necessary things for the labour, I should have
presented a most amazing aspect, had any of the Blacks discovered my
presence. I thought of that, and knew that even if I got down in the
normal position of a bear, the juxtaposition of my bag and the clubs
might easily arouse the most dangerous suspicions in the brain of any
Link beholding them and me. However, nothing happened.
“Why this is going to be a pic-nic,” I muttered. “I couldn’t ask for
anything nicer.”
Indeed fortune seemed to be smiling upon me, for I came immediately upon
a continuation of the cliff of rock, which backed the camp of the
Blacks, and was soon confronted by a jagged heap of stone and quartz, at
the top of which appeared a dark, irregular cave. Before I could clamber
up the pile to this opening, the mighty roar came belching forth. I knew
I stood on the threshold of the cavern of wealth and wonder.