sacrificialpurposes; and, at one time, when the king and his warriors returned fromutterly wiping out the inhabitants of an island to the nor'ard of this,and brought with them a crowd of prisoners, these golden utensils werefilled over and over again with the blood of the victims, and drunk bythe excited warriors. After this I never troubled myself about gold inany shape or form; but just before the exodus, I believe these vesselswere hurriedly buried on the little island. If not, they have beenthrown into the lake."
"Is it in your power to tell us, James, where these vessels of gold weremade, or where the gold was obtained?"
"They were fashioned, dear brother, by the spear-makers, with chiselsand hammers of hard wood and stone.
"Even the medicine-man himself knew nothing of the value of the metal.It was easy to work, that was all, else iron itself would have beenpreferred. You ask me whence the gold was obtained. I can only informyou that the secret lay and lies with the magician himself, and that themine is a cave at the foot of the burning mountain, probably nowentirely filled up with lava. Once, and once only, was I permitted toaccompany this awful wretch to the grove near which this cave issituated. I was not allowed to go further. Here I waited for a wholehour, during which time I now and then heard muffled shrieks and yellsof pain and agony that made me shudder."
"What could these have been, think you, James?"
"Can you not guess? At least, you may, when I tell you that a poor boywas forced to enter the cave with the medicine-man, but never again sawthe light of day.
"I had learned by this time to talk the language of these savages, andall the information I received, when I questioned the monster, was thatthe demons of the fiery hill had to be propitiated.
"But he brought back with him two huge nuggets that I could see weregold.
"This was the price, he told me, that he had been paid for the_kee-waaee_. [youth].
"I never saw those nuggets again, but believe they were fashioned intospear-heads for the king."
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While Halcott and James were talking quietly down below, Tandy waswalking the deck with considerable uneasiness. There was a strangeappearance far away in the north that he did not like. No banks ofclouds were rising, only just a curious black, or rather purple, haze.It had been so very clear all round up till an hour ago, that dangerwould have been the last thing Tandy would have thought about.
He looked towards the distant island through his glass at three o'clock,and it was then visible; but now, though the dog-watch had only justbegun, it was wiped out, swallowed up in the mysterious haze.
But when a bigger wave than usual rolled in, and others and othersfollowed, and when the surface became wrinkled here and there withcat's-paws, he hesitated no longer.
"All hands on deck!" he shouted, stamping loudly on the planks to arousethose below. "Hands loosen sail! Man the winch, lads! It must be upanchors, and off!"
There was wind enough shortly to work to windward till they were quiteclear of the bay, then they kept the barque away on the starboard tack,until well clear of the island.
They now worked northwards as far as possible, till the wind got toostrong, when they were obliged to lie to, almost under bare poles.
Neither Tandy, Halcott, nor James could remember having encountered soterrible a storm before. No one thought of turning in that night, for,being so short-handed, every man was needed on deck.
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About midnight this fearful gale was evidently at its worst. The seawas then making a clean breach over the ship from fore to aft. Thedarkness was intense; hardly any light was there at all from the sky,save now and then a bright gleam of lightning that lit up mast, rigging,and shrouds, and the pale faces of the men as they clung in desperationto bulwark or stay.
Each lightning flash was followed by a peal of thunder that sounded highabove even the incessant roaring of the wind.
Surely it was every one for himself now, and God for all who put theirtrust in Him.
It was probably about five bells in the middle-watch, the hatches beingfirmly battened down, when Ransey Tansey crept under the tarpaulin thatcovered the after companion, and lowered himself down as well as theterrible motion of the ship permitted him. He staggered into thesaloon.
A light was burning in his father's state-room, the light of a candlehung in gimbals.
Towards the door he groped his way, hoping against hope that he wouldfind his little sister asleep and well.
"O Jane, are you here?" he said; "so glad."
Janeira rose as he entered, clinging to the edge of the upper bunk inthe endeavour to steady herself.
"Iss, I'se heah, sah. Been praying heah all de night to de good Lawd todeliber us. Been one big night ob feah, sah. But de sweet child, shego to sleep at last."
"Did she cry much?"
"No; she much too flighten'd to weep."
Ransey bent low over his sister, and felt relieved when certain that shewas breathing and alive, for she slept almost like one in a trance.
Ransey had long since become "sea-fast," as sailors call it. No waves,however rough, could affect him, no ship's motion however erratic.
But just at that moment his head suddenly swam; he felt, as heafterwards expressed it, that he was being lifted into the clouds; nextmoment a crash came that extinguished the light and hurled him to thedeck.
For a moment he felt stunned and unable to move; and now, high above theshrieking of the storm-wind, came the sound of falling and breakingtimber, and Ransey knew the ship was doomed.
Book 3--CHAPTER FIVE.
FORTIFYING THE ENCAMPMENT.
The sound was that of falling masts. A sailor of less experience thanRansey could have told that.
The barque had been dashed stern-foremost upon the rocks. She had beenlifted by one of those mighty waves, or "bores," that during a stormlike this sometimes rise to the height of fifty feet or more, andhurrying onwards sweep over islands, and pass, leaving in their wakeonly death and destruction.
After the masts had gone clean by the board, there were loud gratingnoises for a short time, then the motion of the ship ceased--and ceasedfor ever and ay.
Nelda's voice, calling for her father, brought the boy to himself.
"I'm here, dear," he sang out. "It is all right; I'll go and get alight; lie still."
"Oh, don't leave me. Tell me, tell me," wept the wee lass, "is the shipat the bottom? And are we all drowned?"
Luckily, Janeira now managed to strike a light, and poor Nelda's mindwas calm once more.
Bob had slept on the sofa cushions all throughout this dreadful night;but Ransey was now very much astonished, indeed, to see the stately 'Ralwalk solemnly in at the door, and gently lower his head and long neckover Nelda, that she might scratch his chin.
"Oh, you dear, droll 'Rallie," cried the child, smiling through hertears, "and so you're not drowned?"
But no one could tell where the 'Ral had spent the night.
Under the influence of great terror, the Admiral was in the habit of"trussing" himself, as the sailors called it--that is, he close-reefedhis long neck till his head was on a level with his wings, and his longbill lying downwards along his crop. Then he drew up his thighs, andlowered himself down over his legs. He was a comical sight thustrussed, and seemed sitting on his tail, and no taller than a barn-doorfowl. It was convenient for him, however, for he could thus stowhimself away into any corner, and be in nobody's way.
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Daylight came at last, and it was now found that the _Sea Flower_ hadbeen lifted by the mighty wave, and after being dashed into a gully inthe barrier of rocks that stretched along the eastern side of TreacheryBay, had been left there high and dry.
The marvel is that, although several of the hands had been more or lessshaken and bruised, no one was killed.
The position of the wrecked barque was indeed a strange one. Luckilyfor her the sea had risen when the tide was highest, so that she now layon an even keel upon the shelf of rocks, twenty feet above the bay atlow water.
The monster wave seemed to have made a clean breach of the lowland partof the island, and gone surging in through the dead forest, smashingthousands of the blackened trees to the ground, and quite denuding allthat were left of their beautiful drapery of foliage, climbing flowers,and floral parasites.
At each side of the gully the black rocks towered like walls above thehulk, but landwards, a green bank, of easy ascent, sloped up to thewell-wooded table-land above.
As speedily as possible the main part of the wreckage was cleared away.This consisted of a terrible entanglement of ropes and rigging. But thespars were sawn up into lengths that could be easily moved, and so, in afew hours' time, the