THE OUTLAWS.
There were many curious characters at the camp, as I suppose there are
everywhere that a number of men are gathered together. I used to amuse
myself studying the various phases of human nature that came under my
observation, with the result that some men attracted me and some
repelled me.
Aside from the miserly Daggett the man who caused me the most trouble
was the surly, scowling Larkin, whom the Major had threatened to shoot
on sight if he did not pay me for everything he obtained at my shop. He
was a lazy fellow, and did not seem to get ahead as fast as his
companions, for that reason. Sometimes, in the heat of the afternoon, he
would strike work and come into my hut, where he threatened and bullied
me and cast longing glances at the sacks of gold I had accumulated.
Uncle Naboth, who, by the way, labored doggedly day after day, as he was
commanded, often warned me against Larkin, but I had no fears, being
assured the Major would protect me from the villain’s hatred.
One or two others—Hayes and Judson, for instance—were evidently
disreputable characters, and affected the society of Larkin when they
were not at work. But in the main the miners were decent enough fellows,
and seemed to have no thought above securing a fortune from the wealth
of the golden sands. They paid me liberally, were just in their
dealings, and labored industriously day by day so as to lessen the time
of their captivity upon the island.
In the evenings the officers and crew of the “Flipper” were wont to
gather in my hut, where they smoked their pipes and conversed more or
less gloomily together. None of them, however, was greatly distressed at
his fate, and it was wonderful how cheerful Uncle Naboth remained
through it all. His silent merriment and sly winks were by no means
lacking in these days of tribulations and hard work, and he found many
opportunities to exercise his keen sense of humor. In one way his
fortunes were really prospering, and each evening he weighed out the
day’s receipts, in golden grains, and calculated the profits to us on
the sales. I suppose these must have been satisfactory, for he never
complained.
I always slept in my hut, surrounded by the store of merchandise and my
sacks of gold; but the rest of the crew of the ship had huts of their
own, Nux and Bryonia occupying one together.
One night, after I had been asleep for some hours, I was suddenly
awakened by the muzzle of a pistol pressed close to my forehead. I
opened my eyes, and saw Larkin standing beside me. A tallow candle had
been lighted in the hut, and I could see his evil features distinctly.
“Now, my lad,” said he, “keep quiet an’ you won’t get hurt. But if you
raise any rumpus or make a sound, I’ll blow your brains out.”
So I lay quiet but I kept my eyes open and eagerly watched what was
taking place in the room. Besides Larkin, there were present Daggett,
Judson and Hayes—the worst characters in the camp. While Larkin remained
beside me to threaten me with his pistol, the others spread out a
blanket and dumped into it every sack of gold I possessed. This they
secured by tying the corners of the blanket together. Next they spread
another blanket and threw into it a quantity of canned meats and other
provisions, afterwards tying them up as they had the gold. Then Hayes
took the pistol and stood guard over me while the others crept from the
hut. They were back in a few minutes, however, bearing another blanket
heavily loaded. And now Larkin resumed his place beside me and the
others caught up the three parcels and after extinguishing the candle
slipped out of the doorway. There was a moon outside, I knew, but it was
quite dark in the hut, and the consciousness of being at the mercy of
the scoundrel beside me sent cold shivers creeping up my spine.
After waiting a few moments in silence Larkin spoke.
“Look a-here, Sam,” he said gruffly, but in a low voice, “we’ve took
some gold and other stuff, as ye know; but we ain’t goin’ to do murder
unless we has to. If you’ve got sense enough to keep still for a solid
hour, an’ make no fuss, you’ll live to get as much gold, or more, as
we’ve just grabbed. But if you try to raise the camp, or foller us, I’ll
kill you before you know it. Now, I’m goin’ to stand outside the door
for a solid hour—you lay still an’ count sixty seconds to a minute an’
sixty minutes to an hour. If you move before that, you’re a dead one;
after the hour ye can howl all ye please, and the louder the better. I
ought to stick a knife into you now; but I guess I’ll wait outside the
door, an’ see if you mind what I tell you.”
Then with a threatening flourish of his pistol, he slunk away, and as
soon as he was outside the door I rose up and followed.
I knew he was lying, well enough, and that his threats were merely meant
to terrify me into keeping silent until he escaped. He considered me a
mere boy, and believed I would be too frightened to cause him any
trouble.
But where could he and his fellow thieves go? How could they penetrate
the wild thicket? That was the question that puzzled me. And then I
remembered that Daggett was with them, who was reputed to be able to
travel at will throughout the interior of the island.
When I reached the door and looked around I could at first see no signs
of the man who had just left me. Then I discovered a dark form creeping
along the edge of the jungle, and at once I sprang into the shade myself
and crept after him. He was going slowly, and in my eagerness I closed
up most of the distance between us, until I was dangerously near. But he
did not look around, and while my eyes were fastened upon him he dropped
to his knees, pushed aside a thick bush, and disappeared into the
thicket.
That was all the information I wanted, just then; so I hastily marked
the place by heaping a mound of sand before the bush, and then ran back
to my hut as fast as I could go. I was terribly humiliated at being
robbed so coolly of the gold that had been placed in my care, and rashly
resolved that I would recover it by my own efforts, without disturbing
the slumbers of my uncle or the Major. So, entering the hut, I secured
three revolvers, of the Colt type, and several boxes of cartridges for
them, all of which I had secretly smuggled from the ship and hidden
among the groceries, for the Major had forbidden any of our crew having
fire-arms. I had thought that an emergency might arise, some time, when
these revolvers would be useful to us, and now I blessed my foresight in
secreting them.
Having secured the weapons I ran quickly to the hut of Nux and Bryonia,
and cautiously awakened them. At my first touch Bry sprang into the air
and alighted on his feet.
“What’s matter, Mars Sam?” he demanded.
“I’ve been robbed, Bry!” I panted.
“Robbed!” echoed Nux, who was now beside us.
“Yes; Larkin and his gang have taken every bag of our dust.”
Through the dim light I could see their white eyeballs glaring at me in
amazement.
“What you goin’ do, Mars Sam?” asked Bry.
“I’m going to give chase, and make the rascals give it back. That is, if
you will be my friends, and stand by me,” I said. “By daybreak every bag
must be in my hut again.”
“Sure ’nough,” murmured Nux.
“We ready, Mars Sam,” announced Bry, quickly.
“Then take these revolvers, and follow me.”
I gave a weapon to each, having hastily loaded them; and then I turned
away, followed by the dark forms of the two Sulus.
“They’re thieves, you know; burglars and outlaws,” I said. “So if we
have to shoot them down, no one can blame us.”
They made no answer to this remark, and soon we had left the camp behind
and reached the bush underneath which Larkin had disappeared. In a low
voice I related what I had seen, and Bryonia, who was a master of
woodcraft, at once dropped to his knees and vanished into the thicket. I
followed closely after him, and Nux brought up the rear. After creeping
a few paces through the underbrush Bry grasped my hand and raised me to
my feet, and I discovered that we were now in a well-defined but narrow
path which allowed us to stand upright.
It was dark as pitch in the grim forest, and we could only feel our way
along; but it was not possible for us to get off the path, which had
doubtless been cut by Daggett to afford his entrance into the interior
of the island, and if our progress was slow those whom we pursued could
not proceed at much greater speed themselves; so we crept along,
stumbling over roots and tearing our clothes by brushing against the
briars on either side, for a period of nearly an hour. Bryonia glided
before us as stealthily as a panther, and often I was not certain but
that he had left us far behind; but Nux made as much noise as I did, and
puffed much harder to get his breath, so I did not fear being abandoned
in the black wilderness.
The ground seemed to rise gradually as we penetrated into the wild
interior, but the path remained as narrow as at first. Now that my first
excitement and indignation had cooled, this midnight pursuit began to
look doubtful of result. The robbers knew the way much better than we
did, and they were so far ahead of us that we heard no sound of any sort
to guide us. More than once I was tempted to abandon the chase, for my
folly in undertaking it grew more and more evident; but the two blacks
had no thought of turning back, and I was ashamed to call a halt.
Suddenly I ran plump into Bryonia, who grasped my arm as firmly as if it
were in a vice, and held me rigid. Nux immediately ran into me, but
stopped short at the moment of contact.
“What is it, Bry?” I asked, in a whisper.
“Look!” he answered, and swung me around in front of him. Then, as I
peered into the darkness, a faint ray of light became visible. In a
moment I perceived that it was growing bigger and brighter, and then I
knew what it meant.
“They’ve gone into camp, and lit a fire!” said I, pleased to have
overtaken them.
“Dey do’n’ know we’s coming,” chuckled Nux, from behind.
But Bry stood like a statue, holding fast to my shoulders and peering
over my head at the enemy. We could now see that the forest was much
thinner here than at the point we had entered, and just beyond, in a
little hollow where Larkin and his men were encamped, the trees grew
quite scattered.
“Our best plan,” said I, after a moment’s thought, “will be to creep up
to them and make a sudden attack.”
“One, two, free, fou’,” counted Bry, in his deep voice. “No use to
’tack, Mars Sam. Dey got guns, an’ kill us all quick.”
“We have our revolvers,” I suggested, rather disappointed at his
prediction.
“Nux an’ I _might_ hit somefin’, an’ we might not,” said Bry. “If we hit
somefin’ it might be a man, an’ it might not.”
This was discouraging, and it called to mind the fact that I was not
much used to fire-arms myself.
“Still, I don’t mean to go back without doing something to recover our
gold,” said I.
“Wait!” whispered the black, and swung me around back of him again. How
he managed this I do not know, for the path was very narrow. Next moment
he disappeared, as if the earth had swallowed him up.
Nux gave a laugh, and sat down upon the ground. After a few moments I
followed suit, squatting in the place I had been standing, for even from
that distance I could see by the flickering firelight the dim forms of
the robbers gathered around it.
And now I perceived that Bry’s decision was wise. We were too far from
camp to expect assistance in case of an emergency, even if our friends
succeeded in finding the entrance to the jungle that was so cleverly
concealed under the bush. So whatever was to be done must be done by
ourselves—a boy and two black men against four desperate and well-armed
villains, who would stop at no crime to retain the gold they had stolen.
Evidently they did not fear pursuit now, for we could hear the murmur of
their voices as they laughed and shouted at one another.
We waited in silence for a long time, and as the gloom of the silent
forest became intensified by the distant light I began to feel for the
first time a thrill that was akin to fear.
Finally I noticed a black body wriggling its way toward us through the
brush like some huge snake, and a moment later Bryonia stood before me.
“I creep close an’ hear what dey say, Mars Sam,” he reported. “Dey goin’
watch all night. I watch, too. Tomorrow maybe we catch ’em. You an’ Nux
go sleep.”
I protested at once that I was not sleepy; but Bry led us away from the
path to a quiet place where he had found a bank of moss, and here he
cautioned us to remain quietly. He himself crept once again toward the
camp fire, and a moment later was wholly invisible. Nux whispered to me
tales of Bryonia’s skill as a woodsman, wherein it seemed he had
excelled in his native land; but they grew monotonous, in time, and
before I knew it I had fallen fast asleep on the mossy bank.