CHAPTER XX
AT THE RACKBIRDS' COVE
It was about six weeks after the _Mary Bartlett_ had sailed away fromthat desolate spot on the coast of Peru from which she had taken theshipwrecked party, that the great stone face might have seen, if itswide-open eyes had been capable of vision, a small schooner beating intoward shore. This vessel, which was manned by a Chilian captain, amate, and four men, and was a somewhat dirty and altogether disagreeablecraft, carried Captain Horn, his four negroes, and three hundred andthirty bags of guano.
In good truth the captain was coming back to get the gold, or as much ofit as he could take away with him. But his apparent purpose was toestablish on this desert coast a depot for which he would have nothing topay for rent and storage, and where he would be able to deposit, fromtime to time, such guano as he had been able to purchase at a bargain attwo of the guano islands, until he should have enough to make it worthwhile for a large vessel, trading with the United States or Mexico, totouch here and take on board his accumulated stock of odorousmerchandise.
It would be difficult--in fact, almost impossible--to land a cargo atthe point near the caves where the captain and his party first ran theirboats ashore, nor did the captain in the least desire to establish hisdepot at a point so dangerously near the golden object of hisundertaking. But the little bay which had been the harbor of theRackbirds exactly suited his purpose, and here it was that he intended toland his bags of guano. He had brought with him on the vessel suitabletimber with which to build a small pier, and he carried also a lighter,or a big scow, in which the cargo would be conveyed from the anchoredschooner to the pier.
It seemed quite evident that the captain intended to establish himself ina somewhat permanent manner as a trader in guano. He had a small tent anda good stock of provisions, and, from the way he went to work and set hismen to work, it was easy to see that he had thoroughly planned andarranged all the details of his enterprise.
It was nearly dark when the schooner dropped her anchor, and early thenext morning all available hands were set to work to build the pier, and,when it was finished, the landing of the cargo was immediately begun.Some of the sailors wandered about a little, when they had odd moments tospare, but they had seen such dreary coasts before, and would rather restthan ramble. But wherever they did happen to go, not one of them ever gotaway from the eye of Captain Horn.
The negroes evinced no desire to visit the cave, and Maka had beenordered by the captain to say nothing about it to the sailors. There wasno difficulty in obeying this order, for these rough fellows, as muchlandsmen as mariners, had a great contempt for the black men, and hadlittle to do with them. As Captain Horn informed Maka, he had heard fromhis friends, who had arrived in safety at Acapulco; therefore there wasno need for wasting time in visiting their old habitation.
In that dry and rainless region a roof to cover the captain's stock intrade was not necessary, and the bags were placed upon a level spot onthe sands, in long double rows, each bag on end, gently leaningagainst its opposite neighbor, and between the double rows there wasroom to walk.
The Chilian captain was greatly pleased with this arrangement. "I seewell," said he, in bad Spanish, "that this business is not new to you. Aship's crew can land and carry away these bags without tumbling over eachother. It is a grand thing to have a storehouse with a floor as wide asmany acres."
A portion of the bags, however, were arranged in a different manner. Theywere placed in a circle two bags deep, inclosing a space about ten feetin diameter. This, Captain Horn explained, he intended as a sort oflittle fort, in which the man left in charge could defend himself and theproperty, in case marauders should land upon the coast.
"You don't intend," exclaimed the Chilian captain, "that you will leave aguard here! Nobody would have cause to come near the spot from eitherland or sea, and you might well leave your guano here for a year or more,and come back and find it."
"No," said Captain Horn, "I can't trust to that. A coasting-vessel mightput in here for water. Some of them may know that there is a streamhere, and with this convenient pier, and a cargo ready to their hands, myguano would be in danger. No, sir. I intend to send you off to-morrow, ifthe wind is favorable, for the second cargo for which we have contracted,and I shall stay here and guard my warehouse."
"What!" exclaimed the Chilian, "alone?"
"Why not?" said Captain Horn. "Our force is small, and we can only spareone man. In loading the schooner on this trip, I would be the leastuseful man on board, and, besides, do you think there is any one amongyou who would volunteer to stay here instead of me?"
The Chilian laughed and shook his head. "But what can one man do," saidhe, "to defend all this, if there should be need?"
"Oh, I don't intend to defend it," said the other. "The point is to havesomebody here to claim it in case a coaster should touch here. I don'texpect to be murdered for the sake of a lot of guano. But I shall keep mytwo rifles and other arms inside that little fort, and if I should seeany signs of rascality I shall jump inside and talk over the guano-bags,and I am a good shot."
The Chilian shrugged his shoulders. "If I stayed here alone," said he, "Ishould be afraid of nothing but the devil, and I am sure he would come tome, with all his angels. But you are different from me."
"Yes," said Captain Horn, "I don't mind the devil. I have often campedout by myself, and I have not seen him yet."
When Maka heard that the captain intended staying alone, he was greatlydisturbed. If the captain had not built the little fort with theguano-bags, he would have begged to be allowed to remain with him, butthose defensive works had greatly alarmed him, for they made him believethat the captain feared that some of the Rackbirds might come back. Hehad had a great deal of talk with the other negroes about those bandits,and he was fully impressed with their capacity for atrocity. It grievedhis soul to think that the captain would stay here alone, but the captainwas a man who could defend himself against half a dozen Rackbirds, whilehe knew very well that he would not be a match for half a one. With tearsin his eyes, he begged Captain Horn not to stay, for Rackbirds would notsteal guano, even if any of them should return.
But his entreaties were of no avail. Captain Horn explained the matter tohim, and tried to make him understand that it was as a claimant, morethan as a defender of his property, that he remained, and that there wasnot the smallest reason to suspect any Rackbirds or other source ofdanger. The negro saw that the captain had made up his mind, andmournfully joined his fellows. In half an hour, however, he came back tothe captain and offered to stay with him until the schooner shouldreturn. If Captain Horn had known the terrible mental struggle which hadpreceded this offer, he would have been more grateful to Maka than he hadever yet been to any human being, but he did not know it, and declinedthe proposition pleasantly but firmly.
"You are wanted on the schooner," said he, "for none of the rest cancook, and you are not wanted here, so you must go with the others; andwhen you come back with the second load of guano, it will not be longbefore the ship which I have engaged to take away the guano will touchhere, and then we will all go north together."
Maka smiled, and tried to be satisfied. He and the other negroes had beengreatly grieved that the captain had not seen fit to go north fromCallao, and take them with him. Their one desire was to get away fromthis region, so full of horrors to them, as soon as possible. But theyhad come to the conclusion that, as the captain had lost his ship, hemust be poor, and that it was necessary for him to make a little moneybefore he returned to the land of his home.
Fortune was on the captain's side the next day, for the wind wasfavorable, and the captain of the schooner was very willing to start. Ifthat crew, with nothing to do, had been compelled by adverse weather toremain in that little cove for a day or more, it might have been verydifficult indeed for Captain Horn to prevent them from wandering into thesurrounding country, and what might have happened had they chanced towander into the cave made the captain shudder to conjecture.
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He had carefully considered this danger, and on the voyage he had madeseveral plans by which he could keep the men at work, in case they wereobliged to remain in the cove after the cargo had been landed. Happily,however, none of these schemes was necessary, and the next day, with awestern wind, and at the beginning of the ebb-tide, the schooner sailedaway for another island where Captain Horn had purchased guano, leavinghim alone upon the sandy beach, apparently as calm and cool as usual, butactually filled with turbulent delight at seeing them depart.