woods, and dragged all theway to the cliff before they could be fashioned and put into place; thatthe rain sometimes put a stop to work entirely, so heavy and incessantwas it; and, moreover, that the men suffered a good deal from the bitesof poisonous and loathsome insects, such as centipedes and scorpions.The wounds made by either of these had to be cauterised at once, elseserious results would have followed.
At last the palisade and gate were finished, loopholed, and plentifullystudded with sharp nails and spikes outside.
After this the little garrison breathed more freely. There was much tobe done yet, however, before they could sleep in security.
Book 3--CHAPTER SIX.
AN AWFUL SECRET OF THE SEA.
Having finished the first line of defence, attention was turned to theinner works.
How best could the Crusoes repel boarders if the palisade were carried,and a rush made down the embankment with the view of attacking the ship?
It was some time before this question could be answered with any degreeof satisfaction.
I think that the plan finally adopted was the best under thecircumstances.
During such an attack, not only would the defenders have to do all theycould to stop a rush down the sloping bank, but protect themselves alsofrom the spears that would be hurled at them from the cliffs above.
An inner palisade was therefore erected, not so strong as the other; andright over the after part of the quarterdeck, and round a portion of itsbulwarks, a shed was erected, under which the men could work theirrifles and the great gun with comparative safety.
If the outer line should be broken through, the savages would no doubtattack in their fullest force, and a gun loaded with grape-shot wouldplay awful havoc in their ranks; and boiling water from the donkeyengine would in all probability suggest to the enemy the advisability ofa quick retreat.
Nevertheless, the outlook, even should they be thus repelled, would be ablack one, and a state of siege could only have one sad ending.
But let me not be "too previous," as humourists say.
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So quickly does time slip away when a person is busy that when, onemorning at breakfast, James Malone said quietly, "Men, we have been herefor just two months to-day," Halcott could scarcely credit it.
But a reference to the log, which was still most carefully kept,revealed the truth of what James had said.
Two months! Yes; and as yet the weather and the work had prevented themfrom penetrating inland in search of nature's hidden treasures.
But the rain ceased at last; and though clouds still hung around, andmists often obscured the sea for days at a time, the glorious springtime had come again, and the island was soon a veritable land offlowers.
The first visit inland was made to the Lake of the Lonely Isle, as itwas called. But a bridge had to be built over the chasm, to replacethat torn up by the hands of brave James Malone. This was easily formedof trees, with a rail at each side, and this bridge shortened thedistance to the little lake by several miles.
The working party carried picks and spades and axes, for it wasdetermined to thoroughly overhaul the island in search of the utensilsused by the priests during their awful human sacrifices.
The isle was a very small one, but, nevertheless, it took three wholedays to thoroughly search it. And every evening they returned to theship unsuccessful, but certainly not disheartened.
Halcott told his brave fellows that if more gold were found than simplyenough to pay the expenses of the voyage, not including the loss of theship, for that was insured, they would have a good percentage thereof,and something handsome to take home to wives and sweethearts. So,although they knew in their hearts that they might never live to gethome, they worked as willingly and as merrily as British sailors everdid "for England, home, and beauty," as the dear old song has it.
I may as well mention here, and be done with it, that Lord Fitzmantle,the nigger boy, very much to his delight, was appointedsignalman-in-chief to the forces. Observatory Hill was not a difficultclimb for Fitz, and here a flag-staff had been erected. An ensignhoisted on this point could be seen not only over all the island butover a considerable portion of the sea as well. But Fitz receivedstrict orders not to hoist it unless he saw a passing ship.
Bob was allowed to accompany the boy every day. Dinner was thereforecarried for two, and Fitz, who could read well, never went without abook.
One day, while James and Halcott were wandering, somewhat aimlessly itmust be confessed, in a wood not far from the lake, they came upon aclearing, in the midst of which stood a solitary, strange, weird-lookingdead tree. It was a tree of considerable dimensions, and one side of itwas much charred by fire.
"It was just here," said James quietly, pointing to the spot, "where Ishould have been burned, had not Providence mercifully intervened tosave my somewhat worthless life."
Both walked slowly toward that tree, and acting like a man in deepthought, Halcott carelessly kicked it.
It may sound like a sentence read out of a fairy book when I say that alittle door in that part of the tree suddenly flew open inwards; but itis nevertheless true.
"The treasure must be hidden here!" said Halcott. He was just about toplunge his hand into the hole when James restrained him.
"Stay, for Heaven's sake, stay!" he cried excitedly. "The treasure,brother, may be there. I never thought of this before; but," he added,"if the treasure is there, something else is there also, and we havethat to deal with first."
As he spoke, he took from his pocket a small piece of flint and sometouch-paper. Then he gathered a handful of withered grass, struck firewith the back of his knife against the flint--James was veryold-fashioned--placed the smoking paper in the grass, shook it, and soonhad it in fire.
Then he thrust this into the hole, and ran quickly back a few yards.
"Keep well away," he cried to his companion.
Next minute the head and neck of a huge crimson snake was protruded--hissing.
James fired at once.
It was an ugly sight to see that headless serpent wriggling and leapingon the clearing.
"That," said James, as he seized it by the tail and flung it far intothe bush, "was the chief medicine-man's familiar. There are no snakeson the island, so where he procured it was always a mystery to me. Butits possession gave the man great power over even the king himself, allbelieving it to be an evil spirit. And no wonder, for this `red devil,'as the natives called it, although the medicine-man could handle itsafely enough, was often permitted to bite a boy or a girl in the king'spresence, and the child invariably died in convulsions."
"Horrible!" said Halcott. "Was there only one?"
"There was only one, and--it will never bite again."
They walked back now towards the lake, and soon returned in company withChips and Wilson armed with axes.
It was hard work, and an hour of it, too, cutting through that tree; butit fell with a crash at last--"carried away close by the board," asHalcott phrased it.
"Now, men," said James, "search among the debris in the hollow stump andsee what you can find."
James and Halcott stood quietly by leaning on their rifles.
But they laughed with very joy as the men pulled out bowl after bowl ofbeaten gold, to the number of seven in all. These were far fromartistic, but they were large and heavy.
Inside they were black with blood.
Chips stood up and wiped the perspiration from his brow.
"My eye and Betty Martin! Captain Halcott, here's a go. Why, we'll beall as rich as water-cresses."
And he joyfully tossed his hat in the air, and kicked it up again as itdescended.
Chips was a queer chap.
But having now relieved his feelings, the search was proceeded with.
And when it was all over, and nothing further to be found, the inventoryof the treasure now exposed to view, every article of purest gold, wasas follows:--
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A. Seven bowls, weighing about twelve pounds each.
B. Thirty-five spear-heads, solid and very heavy.
C. Fifteen gold daggers, similar to that brought away from the islandby Doris herself.
D. Fifteen larger and curiously shaped knives.
E. One hundred or more fish-hooks.
F. Nineteen nuggets of gold of various sizes--one immense nuggetweighed 149 pounds!
[The largest nugget ever found weighed over 180 pounds. It was dug up,I believe, at Ballarat.--G.S.]
No wonder these two men were excited.
"I say, sir," said Chips, "I guess you'll splice the main-braceto-night."
"That we will with pleasure," replied Halcott.
"And," cried Tom Wilson, "I'll fiddle as I've never fiddled before.I'll make all hands laugh one minute, and I'll have them all crying thenext."
Poor Wilson! It was noted that this man never touched rum himself, butinvariably