BARBARA'S MESSENGER
We had a healthy respect for the deviltry of Leith and his friends as we
turned our backs upon the lonely throne of the centipede, but the cry of
"Father" which Edith Herndon had uttered was still ringing in our ears,
and we were anxious to get within hitting distance of the big,
treacherous ruffian. A mental review of the engagements made us feel
rather light-hearted as we pushed through the tangle. If there were only
six native dancers upon the island at the opening of the conflict in the
Cavern of Skulls, we had reduced that number to one, while the bullet in
Leith's shoulder would depreciate his fighting ability for some time.
Outside the carriers, who, as far as we knew, were neutral in the
matter, we had as opponents, Leith, One Eye, Soma, and the dancer whose
hand had been punctured by Kaipi, and the knowledge that we were more
evenly matched brought us some consolation.
But the fact that Edith and Barbara Herndon were in the power of the
scoundrel brought thoughts that cast a damper upon the little scrap of
joy we derived from reckoning up the casualties of the enemy. The
passion which Leith displayed after receiving Holman's bullet made us
run forward like madmen each time we recalled the diabolical frenzy that
he exhibited. We could not think of a good plan to circumvent the brute.
The jungle hampered and maddened us, and although we knew that we had
gone about our work in a blundering fashion, the circumstances were such
that we could not improve our strategy in the future.
We plunged on till nearly midnight, then Holman called a halt.
"We must sleep," he said. "One can watch while the other two get some
rest."
Kaipi, who declared that he was never less inclined for slumber, agreed
to take first watch, and Holman and I flung ourselves down upon the
grass. We had had no slumber on the previous night, and the incidents in
which we had taken part had left us exhausted.
It was daybreak before Kaipi awakened us, and the face of the Fijian
informed us that something had alarmed him. He was stretched full length
on the ground, listening as only a native can listen, and we waited for
his report. We had much respect for Kaipi's hearing after checking the
signals he made concerning the approaching "tivo" dancer on the previous
afternoon.
"What is it?" asked Holman.
"Some one go by, much hurry," murmured the Fijian.
We crouched in the bushes and listened. It was hardly likely that Leith
had changed his route, and the only person that we knew to be in our
neighbourhood was the dancer.
"If we could get hold of him we might use the third degree on him to
guide us to the spot that Leith is making for," said Holman. "We'll be
outgeneralled completely if he gets into those caverns on the hills. If
he has provisions he can snap his fingers at a regiment."
I agreed with him on that point. The valley inside the basalt cliffs,
and which, as far as we could judge, could only be entered by the
slippery pathway in the Vermilion Pit, was about the finest natural
hiding place in the world. Without taking the caves into consideration,
the luxurious vegetation in the cup between the hills made the finding
of a person a matter of extreme luck. It was a marvellous maze that
Nature seemed to have constructed especially for the diabolical work in
which Leith was engaged.
Kaipi's ear was still to the ground, and the anxious look upon his face
convinced us that some one was close.
"Coming back again," breathed the Islander. "One man, walk slow."
Our own ears acquainted us of the approach at that moment. The sound of
crackling twigs was quite close, and we waited breathlessly, eying the
green curtain through which we expected the unknown to thrust himself.
A black head bobbed through the leaves, and Holman planted a fist
between the newcomer's eyes before the head could be withdrawn. The
morning visitor dropped to the ground, and the three of us promptly fell
upon him, the bloodthirsty Kaipi having to be restrained by main force
from giving another exhibition of neat knifework.
"Who is it?" asked Holman. "Get back, Kaipi, and let me see."
We dragged the panting prisoner into the light, but instead of the
escaped dancer, we found that we had trapped one of the five carriers, a
big Raretongan named Maru, who was possessed of enormous strength.
Holman's punch had been no light one, and it was a few seconds before
the mists had cleared from the Raretongan's brain; then his big brown
eyes lit up with a smile of gladness, and he nodded to Holman.
"Me want you," he said.
"Quite so," muttered Holman, "but I got you first."
Maru smiled the smile of the man who has a card up his sleeve, and he
fumbled in the folds of his sulu till he found what he wanted. With a
dramatic flourish he drew from the cloth a small emerald ring that
belonged to Barbara Herndon, and he smiled childishly as he saw the look
of astonishment upon Holman's face as he snatched the trinket.
"Why--who--how the devil did you get this?" he asked.
"Little missee give me," replied Maru, still convulsed with the humour
which his childish mind found in the situation. "She tell me come alonga
you."
Holman poured out a torrent of questions which the smiling messenger
endeavoured to answer to the best of his ability. In pigeon English he
informed us that he had deserted Leith's camp about midnight; that the
big ruffian had turned abruptly from the direction he was moving in at
the time we caught up with him, and that Holman's bullet had caused him
serious inconvenience. The two girls and the Professor were in charge of
Soma and the one-eyed white man, who, we now learned, was deaf and
dumb. It was while One Eye was on guard that Barbara Herndon had been
able to bribe the Raretongan to throw the strength of his muscles upon
our side of the argument.
Holman, with lover-like longing for anything owned by the lady of his
choice, attempted to put the emerald ring in his pocket, but Maru
objected strongly. The smile fled from his face, and his broken English
nearly strangled him in his efforts to pour out enough of it to acquaint
Holman of the nature of the agreement which he had entered into with
Barbara Herndon.
"Me only show you ring, that's all!" he cried. "You look, know little
missee send me, ring mine all time. You give back."
"You had better give it back to him," I cautioned. "He has got the idea
into his head, and it will take a lot of arguing to convince him that
Miss Barbara didn't give it to him to keep."
"But she didn't!" cried Holman. "Why would she give him a ring? She just
gave him a loan of it to let him see that she had sent him to us."
"My ring all time," protested Maru. "That my pay fight mighty good for
you."
"Give it up to him," I advised. "He's only an overgrown child, and he
has set his mind on it."
"But, Verslun, I know she wouldn't do that!" protested the lover.
"Barbara sent me this as----"
"Oh, I know," I cried, "but we want fighters now, and Maru is a pretty
athletic person."
"Me damn good fighter!" cried the Raretongan. "Me plentee good fighter
if me get ring."
Holman gave up the trinket with a snort of disgust, and a few minutes
afterward, when we were tramping along, I made it my business to drop
back beside Maru and advise him to keep the ring out of the youngster's
sight till we had rescued Miss Barbara. If the native had displayed his
reward it was highly probable that the lovesick Holman, with nerves on
the raw edge from want of sleep and worry, would have pounced upon the
mighty Maru and endeavoured to obtain possession of what he fondly
thought was a token of affection from his beloved.
But the arrival of the messenger was worth more than the emerald ring to
us at that moment. He had more woodcraft than Kaipi, who had spent most
of his time upon the ocean, and his information regarding the direction
in which Leith was now heading saved us many weary hours of marching.
Yams and guavas, with wild passion fruit, made a breakfast and dinner as
we clawed our way in pursuit. At midday we judged that we were hot upon
the trail, unless Leith had changed his course, but the black cliffs
were close to us at that moment, and the recollections of the gloomy
caverns made us silent as we pushed through the matted jungle. We could
see no trace of the path which Leith would be compelled to cut to enable
the two girls to get through, and we heard no sounds. A lone parrakeet
startled us with its harsh cry as it rose from a maupei tree, and the
bird even seemed to recognize that it had committed a breach in sending
its unmusical cry out upon the awful quiet of the place.
Kaipi climbed a tall tree in the vain hope of catching sight of Leith's
party as it crossed the small cleared spaces in the middle of the
impenetrable growth, but nothing except the green plain of bushy tops
and parasitical creepers was visible. As we waited beneath the tree the
"ticking" of a wood bug sounded like hammer blows in the tremendous
quietude, while the bursting of a pod reminded one of the beginning of a
Fourth of July celebration. We had lost all trace of Leith, and now,
immediately in front, rose the cliffs, and we saw a menace on their
dark, forbidding front.
The base of the hills presented the same nearly perpendicular formation
that we had met when endeavouring to reach the long gallery, and we held
a council to decide on what would be the best course to pursue. Maru was
confident that Leith was heading for this particular point at the moment
that Barbara's bribe caused the Raretongan to desert, and it was
reasonable to think that the ruffian had retired to some hiding place to
nurse his wound and decide upon the fate of the Professor and his two
daughters. From the scraps of conversation which we had overheard before
Holman interrupted the argument between Leith and the scientist, we
thought it probable that the old man would visit the centipede upon the
big table if he did not sign the papers that Leith required, while we
shuddered at the probable fate of the two girls unless Providence
directed us as to the manner in which we could effect a rescue.
"We must divide," said Holman. "I'll take Kaipi and go north, you take
Maru and go in the opposite direction. If you find the trail, camp near
it and send Maru on the run back to us. I'll do the same if I strike the
spoor of the big devil."
It was about two o'clock, as nearly as we could judge, when we
separated. We agreed to keep as close as possible to the rocky wall so
that a messenger from one would have less difficulty in locating the
other, and Maru and I found, before we had gone a hundred yards, that
the nearer we could get to the cliff the quicker we could get along. The
lianas found it difficult to get a grip upon the rocks, and we could
worm our way without much trouble.
We had travelled about three quarters of a mile when the native dropped
upon his knees and I immediately followed his example. The ordinary
Polynesian is not to be compared with the Australian black fellow or the
American Indian in his knowledge of the forest, but Maru was an
exception. His sight and hearing were abnormally keen, and he examined
the grass carefully.
"One man go by here pretty short time ago," he whispered.
"Native?" I asked.
"No, him wear shoes."
The Raretongan crawled forward on his knees, his face close to the
grass. The tracks upon the soft grass showed that the person was moving
in the direction we were going, and for about twenty yards we followed
cautiously. Leith, the one-eyed white man, and the Professor were the
only three men on the Isle of Tears, outside Holman and myself, who
would be wearing shoes. It was hard to think that the Professor or Leith
would be alone at that moment, so I concluded, as we crawled along in
the shadow of the cliff, that the tracks were made by One Eye.
Maru suddenly sprang to his feet and stood listening. I listened too.
Into the awful silence came a tremendous rumbling that increased each
second till I pictured it as a cancer of noise growing with appalling
rapidity within the encompassing stillness.
"What is it?" I gasped. "Why it's----"
I understood at that moment, and I sprang toward the jungle, but the
big hand of the Raretongan gripped my shoulder and dragged me close to
the cliff beneath an overhanging ledge.
"Stay here!" he yelled, raising his voice above the tumult that seemed
to be coming out of the heavens. "Keep close much!"
The noise was deafening. The black cliff seemed to rock behind us, and
as Maru pulled me down on my knees five hundred tons of rock shot from
the heights and flattened ten square yards of the packed shrubs
immediately in front of us!
"Now!" screamed Maru, as the dust swept in under the ledge and nearly
choked us; "we get away quick, plenty dust, they can't see!"
The dirt and small rocks had rolled back upon us till we stood ankle
deep, but the native's advice was good. Hugging the wall of the cliff,
we ran back on our tracks till we had passed the area devastated by the
landslide; then we sprang into the bushes and peered up at the cliff.
High above the cloud of dust that was still rising from the ground, and
leaning forward so that he could view the extent of the avalanche, was
the one-eyed white man!
"Maru," I whispered, "go back and get Holman. I'll wait here till you
come."
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