"Exactly," I concurred. "Here you are. But how did you know where
Billy and I had located ourselves? and how did you contrive to make your
way here from the southern end of West Island?"
"West Island--is that the name of the place? Oh, we managed pretty
well," returned Svorenssen. "From the ridge of the hill where the
forest was all burned away we were able to get a very fair idea of the
geography of the group in general. We counted six islands in addition
to the one we were already on, and we observed that the one to the
eastward of us was, like our own, fire-swept; also that at one point it
was separated from our island by a channel only about half a mile wide.
To the northward of that island we saw another, with small groups of
trees dotted about here and there upon it, while the remainder of its
surface appeared to be covered with corn-fields or something similar; so
it is not to be wondered at if we jumped to the conclusion that we
should find you established there. So we made a start by heading for
the narrowest part of the channel between our own island and the next
one, carrying with us as much fruit as we could handle, for we knew not
when or where we should find more.
"Upon reaching the channel the question that confronted us was: How were
we going to get across? We could see but one way, and that was to swim
it. But what about sharks? We had already lost one of our number
through them, and we had no desire that a similar fate should befall
either of us. Therefore we camped alongside that channel two days, and
while one of us foraged for food, the other just sat and intently
watched the water. And when the evening of the second day arrived
without disclosing any sign of sharks in the channel, we agreed to risk
the passage; so we stripped off our clothes--or what remained of them--
made them into a bundle, secured them upon our heads, and waded in.
"We got across safely, and were lucky enough to land just where a little
stream of fresh water came down from the hill that rose in the middle of
the island. We camped alongside the stream that night, and made our
supper of melons and ground-nuts that had grown since the passage of the
fire over the land. On the following day we proceeded inland, following
the course of the stream and heading toward the top of the hill, from
which we hoped to obtain a little further knowledge of the geography of
the group and also, it might be, some more definite information as to
your own whereabouts. And we were successful in both particulars, for
while we were on the top of that hill we saw your sailing boat coming
round the eastern end of the island across the channel northward of us.
Watching you, we saw you land on that island, stay there a while, and
then sail away again in a north-easterly direction. Upon seeing this,
Dirk and I came to the conclusion that the proper thing for us to do
would be to descend to the beach, and there await your next appearance,
when we would signal you. We had already detected a little stream
flowing down the hill-side and discharging into the channel, quite near
the spot where we decided to await your reappearance, so we followed it
down to the water's edge, where we camped. Then that same evening your
boat again hove in sight, and we saw you land a party of niggers just
opposite where we were watching; having done which you again made sail
to the northward and eastward; which led us to the conclusion that after
all you had not settled upon that cultivated island--as we had at first
supposed--but somewhere else. Of course we showed ourselves upon the
beach, and hailed; but the channel was too wide for our voices to carry
across, and probably you never looked in our direction, so we failed to
attract your attention. But we knew now that you were still on the
group, and that we were on your track; so we did not trouble overmuch.
"Then, before your boat had passed out of sight, and while we were still
watching, we saw a nigger paddling across the channel from the island
you had touched at to the one that we were upon. He was heading to land
at a spot rather more than a mile to the eastward of where we were, so
we got back into the young growth that had sprung up after the fire, and
pushed along toward the spot for which he was making. We arrived a few
minutes before he did and, crouching down, we saw him haul up his tub of
a canoe on the beach, and make his way inland. We allowed him to get
well away from the beach, and then we crept down to the canoe, launched
her, and proceeded to paddle in the track of your boat.
"It fell dark almost before we had got fairly under way, but there was a
fine moon, so it did not greatly matter. We paddled down the channel
and across it to the point round which you had recently vanished--a good
eight miles we reckoned it to be--and hot work it was for two men who
had been on short commons for more than a month; but we forgot all about
that when, upon rounding the point, we saw, at a distance of not more
than five or six miles, a _light_; and we knew that now you could not be
very far away, while we were in possession of the means to reach you.
But it was a tough job to get that little tub of the nigger's along when
once we had rounded the point, for at once we felt the full strength of
the easterly breeze, and it and the popple it raised were together just
as much as we could barely stem. It must have taken us _hours_ to get
across that five or six miles of water; and long before we landed you
had put all lights out, and turned in; but there was the house, plain
enough to be seen in the bright moonlight, so we headed straight for it,
and landed at last on the beach just below."
"And what became of the punt that you stole from that unfortunate
native?" I demanded.
"Why, I reckon she's still there on the beach where we left her," was
the reply.
"Still there!" I exclaimed. "Why--yes--I suppose she is. This must be
looked to at once. Billy, take this man, Van Ryn, with you, and get him
to show you where they left the punt. Then you and he will paddle her
round to the cove here, and make her fast astern of the sailing boat.
Then get the sailing boat under way, and Van Ryn will point out to you
the spot on Apes' Island from which he and Svorenssen took her--"
"Nod me, misder; don'd you think id!" suddenly stormed the Dutchman.
"You're nod my schibber now, and I don'd dake orders from you or anybody
else. Ve're all equal now."
"Are we?" said I, slipping my hand into my jacket pocket. "That's where
you are making a big mistake, my man. I mean to be just as much skipper
here as I was aboard the _Yorkshire Lass_; and if you men wish to share
in the comforts of life that I am able to give you, and to go home with
me when I go, you will have to submit to discipline, and obey my
orders."
"Ah! ve'll see about dot," interrupted Van Ryn, springing to his feet.
"Olaf, mine zon, haf ve comed all dis vay from over yonder to be ordered
about mit dis man? Let's show 'im dot ve means to do as ve likes here.
Come on!" And, whipping out the remains of his sheath knife, he
gathered himself together for a spring upon me, with one eye on
Svorenssen meanwhile, in full expectation that the latter would back him
up.
But I was fully prepared. There had been, from the moment when I first
encountered these two men, early that morning, a certain truculence of
speech and demeanour that warned me against trusting them too
implicitly, and I had been on my guard with them all day. So now, as
the Dutchman sprang to his feet I sprang to mine, and, leaping back from
them, out of arms' reach, I whipped out the revolver that I had been
carrying all day in my jacket pocket, and shouted:
"Hands up, both of you! Don't so much as think of trying conclusions
with me; for if either of you advance a single step, I shoot--to kill!
I remember the reputation you two men--and _you_ especially, Van Ryn--
earned for yourselves aboard the brigantine; you were perpetually
instigating trouble. But don't for a moment imagine that you will be
permitted to make trouble here, for I simply won't have it. At the
first hint of anything of that sort I'll hand you over to my friends,
the natives of yonder island, and ask them to take charge of you; indeed
I believe it would only be an act of ordinary prudence to turn you over
to them at once."
"No, no, Mister," interposed Svorenssen hurriedly, "don't think of it.
There ain't goin' to be any trouble, I assure ye. Don't take any notice
o' what Dirk says, Mister; 'is bark's always a lot worse 'n 'is bite.
He don't mean a half nor a quarter of what 'e says--sit down, you
thunderin' fool, and put away that knife of yours," he continued,
turning suddenly upon the Dutchman and forcing him back on the packing-
case upon which they had both been sitting, and seating himself beside
him. Then he leaned over his companion and began whispering hurriedly
and excitedly in his ear.
"Stop that, Svorenssen!" I exclaimed. "If you have any advice to give
that man, speak it aloud, so that I may hear. If it is good advice
there is no need to whisper it."
"All right, Mister," returned the Finn, "I was only tellin' him not to
make a bloomin' fool of hisself. And now, come on, Dirk, and let's do
what Mr Blackburn orders. What 'e says is right; he's skipper still,
and we may's well recernise it first as last. You knows as well as I do
that we can't do nothin' without 'im. Come along, Billy."
Thereupon the two men rose to their feet and proceeded to slouch along
the shore in the direction of the spot where they had left the punt.
"On second thoughts," said I, "go, you two men, and bring the punt round
here to the cove; and Billy and I will come out in the sailing boat to
meet you."
Svorenssen waved his hand to indicate that he understood, and the two
men continued on their way; the Finn, I observed, talking very earnestly
to his companion.
As soon as they were out of sight, Billy and I walked down to the boat,
boarded her, got under way, and worked her round to the south beach, off
which we fell in with and took the punt in tow. The breeze was blowing
moderately fresh, which enabled us to make the trip to Apes' Island in a
trifle over two hours, at the end of which we found the unfortunate
native, squatted on his haunches, anxiously awaiting deliverance from
the former haunt of his enemies, where I perceived the young vegetation
was already flourishing vigorously. We at once took the man aboard,
where, during our passage across to Cliff Island, I explained to him as
best I could the episode of the stolen punt--to the amazement of the two
seaman, who seemed to regard as wonderful the fact that in the course of
a year I had acquired a fairly fluent command of the natives' language.
I observed with satisfaction that, when Bowata and a considerable
company of the natives came down to the beach to greet us upon seeing
our boat heading for the landing-place, the two seamen looked more than
a trifle uneasy, fearing perhaps that I would seize the opportunity to
fulfil my threat to hand them over to the charge of the blacks; and I
was not sorry to let them see thus early what a powerful force of
auxiliaries I had behind me should they be meditating anything in the
nature of an undue assertion of independence. I designedly directed the
particular attention of Bowata and his followers to my new companions,
explaining who and what they were; but of course the shellbacks
understood nothing of what I was saying, and they made little or no
attempt to conceal their relief when I at length bade farewell to the
blacks and we made sail again upon our return to Eden.
On the following morning I resumed work upon the cutter; and I thought
that Van Ryn and Svorenssen looked somewhat disconcerted when, in
accordance with my arrangement with Bowata, a party of ten sturdy
natives arrived at the shipyard about 8 a.m. in the Chinese boat I had
given them, to lend us a hand as and when required. But the two seamen
turned to without demur, and I soon had reason to congratulate myself
upon my acquisition of them; for while Svorenssen revealed an almost
professional skill in the use of carpenters' tools, the Dutchman
explained that if I would cut out the cutter's sails he would undertake
to make them to my entire satisfaction. Both men did much more and far
better work than I in the least anticipated; and when at length we
knocked off work for the day, and I surveyed the result of that one
day's work, I felt that I might now at last begin to calculate, with
some approach to accuracy, the date at which our labours might be
expected to come to a successful conclusion. Two days later Van Ryn--
who was working at the new sails under the shade of a tree at some
distance from the shipyard--requested that, if possible, I would spare
Billy to assist him; and as the request seemed reasonable I acceded to
it without demur.
Thereafter matters went so smoothly for a fortnight or more that, in my
satisfaction at the progress we were making, I almost forgot the
suspicions which the attitude and utterances of the two seamen had
aroused when they so unexpectedly reappeared upon the scene. With their
assistance, work upon the cutter had progressed so speedily that the
planking of her was completed, the laying of her deck about half done,
her mast and bowsprit finished, and her mainsail and gaff-topsail sewn
and in process of roping; I therefore estimated that another month would
see my ambitious project complete and possibly ourselves at sea.
But my complacency was somewhat disturbed when, on a certain evening, I
was instructing Billy in the problem of the reduction of the sun's
altitude to the meridian. I had concluded my explanation of the
problem, when the boy, glancing up at me with a smile, remarked:
"That chap, Van Ryn, is awfully inquisitive, Mr Blackburn. He was
chaffing me to-day upon the difference in my manner of speaking now from
what it was when he first knew me, and I said: Yes, I had to thank you
for it, for you had insisted I should study and improve my education
every evening since we had been cast away. Then he wanted to know all
about what you had taught me, and how much I knew; and I told him that
you had been teaching me arithmetic, geometry, algebra, trigonometry,
geography, and navigation; and that last word surprised him, I can tell
you. It was amusing to see how interested he at once became; he wanted
to know just how much I knew about navigation; and he would hardly
believe me when I told him that I knew enough to enable me to determine
a ship's position, day or night, provided that the sky was clear and I
could get a sight of certain heavenly bodies. But when I insisted that
I could do all I had said, he seemed no end pleased. `Ah,' he said, `I
must tell Svorenssen what you say; he will be glad to hear it. It was
only a few nights ago that we were talking about the time when we should
leave these islands, and saying what a fix we should all be in if Mr
Blackburn should meet with another accident, or fall ill while we were
at sea. And so you really believe, Billy, that if such a thing should
happen, you could navigate the cutter?' I said I was quite sure I
could; and then the conversation dropped; but he kept harking back to
it, time after time, showing that he was still thinking about it."
"Yes," said I, "I can quite believe it; and I can understand, too, his
amazement at your assurance that you--a mere boy--could, if put to it,
navigate the cutter, or any other craft for that matter. There is
probably not one boy in ten thousand of your age, Billy, who could
truthfully claim such ability. But two circumstances have been in your
favour; in the first place you are naturally a sharp, intelligent lad,
with a strong predilection for study; and in the next place there was
little else for you to do on this group but learn, until we started to
build the cutter. Now, Billy, what you have told me relative to Van
Ryn's inquisitiveness and his cross-questioning of you has greatly
interested me, for a reason which I will explain later on; therefore,
while I am not as a rule inquisitive, I will ask you to make a point of
reporting to me the substance of any further conversations which the man
may hold with you, and to take very particular notice of any questions
he may ask you. And now, let us return to the consideration of our
nautical problem."
At the moment it seemed strange that Billy's story should so powerfully
have affected me, but the fact remains that it did. After we had turned
in that night I lay restlessly tossing upon my bed, wondering--wondering
whether Van Ryn's questioning of Billy was the natural result of pure,
unadulterated inquisitiveness, or whether it had a deeper significance.
The conversation appeared to have arisen naturally enough. I could not
detect in the relation of it any indication of a deliberate attempt on
the part of the man to lead up to the subject of Billy's educational
acquirements; what reason, indeed, could he have for doing so, apart
from the lad's more refined mode of speech? The matter that most
powerfully exercised me was the Dutchman's eager curiosity to discover
the full extent of Billy's qualifications as a navigator. Yet, even as
to this, there seemed little enough reason for uneasiness; the man had
given a quite plausible reason for such curiosity, a reason that I could
perfectly understand and appreciate; but I wondered whether it was the
true, the actual reason; or was there another and more sinister one at
the back of his evil mind.
In any case, what, I wondered, could have put the thought in the
Dutchman's head that something might possibly happen to me while we were
at sea. Certainly the experience had already befallen him once since
the commencement of the voyage; but with men of such limited
intelligence as that of Van Ryn and Svorenssen even such an experience
as that usually makes so very transitory an impression that it soon
fades. Moreover, the difficulty had been surmounted, and they would
naturally believe that, should it again arise, it could again be
surmounted in the same way. The only reason that I could think of why
such an idea should have taken so strong a hold upon the Dutchman's mind
was that, _under certain circumstances_, the eventuality of which he had
spoken might be very much more than possible: _it might be inevitable_.
Reasoning thus, I next asked myself the question: Should anything happen
to me--should I, for instance, _die_, either aboard the cutter or before
leaving the islands--how would my death affect the fortunes of those two
men, Svorenssen and Van Ryn, to say nothing of that of Billy? And why
should it be desired to get rid of me?
Those were not difficult questions to answer. In either of the above
hypothetical cases the boy would be absolutely in the power and at the
mercy of the two men; and I shuddered to think of what would happen to
him, with me out of the way. Svorenssen and Van Ryn were both big
powerful men, and, should they resort to violence, what could a boy do
by way of resisting them? Then the cutter was now so far advanced that,
at a pinch, the two seamen could complete her, launch her, and make her
ready for sea without my assistance. Their escape from the group was
therefore in any case assured; while, so far as the navigation of the
craft was concerned, they had already wormed out of Billy the
information that he was competent to undertake that.
But if the two seamen were actually conspiring against me, as I now
began to think was at least probable, their primary object would
doubtless be to secure the whole of the treasure for themselves. They
doubtless recognised that so long as I--a man as powerful as either of
them, with a mind already tinctured with suspicion of them--lived, to
attempt to secure more than their fair share of the treasure might be
both difficult and dangerous, and possibly even result in failure. But
with me effectually disposed of the enterprise would wear a totally
different aspect. They would complete the cutter, sail away in her,
with the treasure on board and Billy as navigator, willing or unwilling,
and upon arriving within sight of their destination they would murder
the poor boy; and the rest would be easy--or so they would probably
believe. Yes; knowing the men so well as I did, I felt that there was
ground for suspicion of them, and I resolved that, without appearing to
do so, I would henceforth keep a wary eye upon them both, and be
constantly, day and night, on my guard against any act of treachery on
their part.
Now it was not often that Billy did anything foolish; but boys will
always be boys, to the end of time, I expect; and about a week after the
lad's conversation with me on the subject of Van Ryn's inquisitiveness
the spirit of mischief suddenly seized him and, "just for a lark", as he
subsequently admitted to me, he must needs leave the Dutchman, upon some
pretence, run up to the house, and then pay us a visit at the shipyard,
bringing Kit with him on a leash, that he might enjoy the consternation
of the natives at the sight of the leopard. It was fortunate that I
spotted the pair when I did, for the beast was already beyond Billy's
control and dragging the lad helplessly after him with the evident
determination to interview the strangers more closely. The animal,
although not yet fully grown, had developed into a magnificent specimen
of his kind, as big as a mastiff and about twice as powerful. To hold
him when I hurriedly relieved Billy of his charge taxed my strength to
such an extent that I was obliged to shout to the workers to quit work
and get into hiding at a safe distance; but, even so, the scent of the
men excited Kit to such an extent that it was only with the utmost
difficulty I was able to drag him back to the bungalow and safely lash
him up.
I was therefore not very greatly surprised when, after work was over
that evening, Svorenssen approached me and said:
"See here, Mister, did ye happen to salve the arms chest from the wreck
before she washed off the reef and foundered?"
"Yes," I said. "What about it?"
"Why, just this," he blustered. "Me and Dirk wants a brace of
revolvers, cartridges, and a cutlash apiece out of that chest. That's
what about it."
"Really!" said I. "A very modest request, very modestly put. Is it
permissible to ask why you want those things, and in what way you
purpose to use them?"
"Oh yes, cert'nly," was the reply. "There's no objections to you astin'
as many questions as you bloomin' well likes. We wants 'em to purtect
ourselves again' that snarlin', savage leopard o' yours. It ain't safe
to be on the same hisland with the brute."
"He will not interfere with you, or molest you in any way if you give
him a wide berth," I retorted. "As to giving you the weapons you
demand, I won't do it, so that's flat."
"You won't, eh?" returned the Finn, glowering at me savagely. "Then all
I can say, Mister, is that me and Dirk 'll have to see what can be done
about purtectin' ourselves. I, for one, ain't goin' to take the risk of
bein' tore to pieces; no, not for another day, and so I gives you
warnin'."
"Now, see here, Svorenssen," said I. "I can make allowance--and do--for
your very natural fear of the leopard; but, as I have already told you,
the animal will not hurt either of you men if you keep clear of him.
And don't let me hear any more of such talk as you have been indulging
in during the last few minutes. You forget yourself, my man; and you
seem to forget also that you came to this island of your own free will.
I did not invite you. I did not even _want_ you; I was doing quite well
without your assistance, as I can again, if necessary. So let me have
no more threats of any sort, or I shall be compelled, for peace and
quietness' sake, to request my friend Bowata and his people to take
charge of you. This is not the first time that you have obliged me to
say this. I shall not again repeat it. Let there be no more bickering
between us. The cutter is very nearly completed and, please God, we
shall soon be at sea in her and on our way back to civilisation and
home."
The man stared at me for several seconds with, I thought, murder in his
eyes, then he turned away, remarking:
"All right, Mister, you're top dog now, and what you says goes, but--"
I affected not to catch that final word, but proceeded to indicate to
the natives the several jobs upon which I wished them to employ
themselves on the morrow. But what, I wondered, was the explanation of
this fresh outburst of turbulence on Svorenssen's part--for fresh it
was. Only once before had he displayed such insolence of manner to me;
and I wondered whether, perchance, it had any connection with the
suspicions that had been bred in my mind by Billy's report of the
Dutchman's recent conversation with him. But, I argued, those
suspicions might be wholly unfounded, and be the result of a certain
unsuspected mental disorder brought about by the long series of unusual
experiences through which I had passed, beginning with the destruction
of the _Saturn_. In any case, whether my suspicions were well founded
or otherwise, there could be no disputing the fact that the two seamen
were turbulent, unruly, violent characters, liable at any moment to
become dangerous; and therefore they must be carefully watched. As for
voluntarily furnishing them with weapons, and so rendering them ten
times more dangerous than they already were, if Svorenssen really
imagined I would do such a thing he must surely have set me down for a
fool.
From this time forward, without appearing to do so, I maintained a close
watch upon both men, noting and weighing their every word, and
endeavouring to deduce from their general conduct, and especially from
their demeanour toward myself, whether or not they were really hatching
a plot against me; but for rather more than a week I was unable to
detect anything to justify the least apprehension on my part. Of course
it was impossible for me to observe the pair when they were alone
together after the day's work was done, but although Svorenssen
maintained his usual surly demeanour I attached little importance to
that, for I believed it to be natural to him, while there was no doubt
that both men were working steadily and well.