CHAPTER XVII
BACK TO THE ISLAND
Without hesitation Mr. McKay replied:
"Do not go to the house. Remain on beach till you can launch boat."
Andy gave the A.F., showing that he understood the signal, anddescending to the shore proceeded to divest himself of most of hissodden clothing.
"There's something amiss ashore, lads," explained Mr. McKay. "Andy'sjust informed me that the house has been broken into. Of course, itmay be another unfortunate party of shipwrecked mariners, or a hurriedvisit of the crew of a passing ship. All I hope is that there are nonatives on the island."
"I wonder if any remained after the canoe left," remarked Ellerton.
"Quite possible. I never thought of that, by Jove! They might haveslipped away in the night in order to steal all they could lay theirhands upon. In that case there are only a few. We may be able to huntthem out without much trouble. Still, I'm sorry it's happened."
From the cabin Mr. McKay produced his pair of marine glasses. After aprolonged examination he exclaimed:
"Yes, the door is ajar. I feel certain I closed it when I left."
"We'll soon see what's amiss," said Terence. "See, the reef isuncovering and the wind is dropping."
"Yes, it is," assented Mr. McKay. "Andy will be able to put off in theboat in less than an hour. Ellerton, I think you had better remain onboard."
"Why, sir?"
"Because of your arm."
"I'll take care of it. Besides, I can use a revolver with my soundlimb if necessary."
"Very well, then; only don't blame me if anything goes wrong. Quexomust stay in any case. There's no need to worry about Blight."
In less than the predicted time Andy succeeded in rowing the small boatsafely through the rapidly subsiding swell. Directly he camealongside, Mr. McKay and the two lads slipped on board, and with nogreater inconvenience than a thorough drenching--to which they were nowperfectly accustomed--the party landed at the natural quay at the footof the path leading up to the house.
Everything appeared quiet. A hasty glance at the two storehouses onthe lower terrace revealed the astonishing discovery that nothing hadbeen disturbed.
"Strange," exclaimed Mr. McKay. "One would have thought that thesewould be the first places to be ransacked. Now, carefully, lads! Keepyour firearms ready."
Cautiously they scaled the cliff path and gained the terrace on whichthe house stood. Still no signs of human beings, except that the doorwas half open.
Mr. McKay knocked quietly, then, pushing open the door, he entered. Astrange sight met his gaze. Everything movable had been upset orpushed out of place; the floor of the living-room was littered withbedding and the fragments of earthenware vessels.
"The brutes!" ejaculated Mr. McKay savagely. "They've capsizedeverything out of sheer mischief. I hope I'll be able to lay my handson them."
The lads, not without feeling of mysterious awe at the scene of wantondesolation, crossed the floor of the room and entered the sleepingquarters.
Here the state of confusion was, if possible, greater than in the outerapartment; but a clue to the mystery was afforded by the discovery ofthe dead body of a sheep, its head wedged in between the bars of achair.
"Why," exclaimed Andy, "the sheep have broken out of their pasture!
"Yes," replied his father. "They managed to find their way into thehouse, though how I cannot imagine. Something must have frightenedthem and there was a mad stampede. This poor brute contrived to gethis head jammed in the chair, and in his struggles he broke his neck.We've had a rare fright, but, after all, there's nothing of consequencethat cannot be set right."
"Hadn't we better get Quexo ashore before it gets dark?"
"Certainly, and Blight as well. I think the best place we can put himis in the small store. He'll be all right for one night, though I'msorry to keep him bound."
"The treacherous reptile deserves no consideration."
"My dear Andy, we are not Nicaraguan revolutionaries. So long as heremains our prisoner we ought to treat him with the same amount ofconsideration that any other British criminal receives while awaitingtrial. To-morrow we must find a place better suited for his reception."
"There's the farthermost cave, the one beyond those where we've stowedthe dynamite," observed Andy. "There's not much in it at present; wecan build a partition over the opening and make a door."
"Yes, it will be far more comfortable than his quarters in Ni Atong.We'll make a start to-morrow."
Accordingly Mr. McKay and his son put off in the dinghy--which, by theway, was the larger though more awkwardly-shaped part of the _SanMartin's_ gig--and transferred Quexo to the shore. The poor fellow wasin a bad state, though his wound showed no signs of complications.Ellerton had had his hurts attended to as soon as the house was set inorder. Beyond the inflammation caused by the searing-iron, his woundgave no reason for undue anxiety.
"Now then, out you come," ordered Mr. McKay sternly, as Andy and he,armed in case of emergency, returned to the yawl.
Blight obeyed. Indeed, there was no option. His face was a picture ofutter cowardice and terror.
"You ain't going to shoot me?" he whined.
"No!" replied Mr. McKay. "I've already told you what I intend to dowith you. So long as you behave yourself you'll be treatedproperly--far better than you deserve."
With that the would-be assassin took his place in the boat, Mr. McKayseated beside him with a revolver in his hand, while Andy rowed.
On arriving at the shore the captive's eyes were bandaged, and, stillsecured by his thumbs, he was led up to the first terrace and placed inthe storehouse. Mr. McKay then severed the cord that bound him, thedoor was locked, and the rogue left to his own reflections.
The following day was an exceptionally busy one. Ellerton, beingunable to do any hard work, was dispatched into the grove to "round up"the sheep, while the three sound members of the establishment, afterhaving conveyed the prisoner his food and water, set off for the cavethat was to be prepared for his quarters.
It was situated on the extreme end of the upper terrace, where thelevel stretch of ground tapered away till it ended in the sheer face ofa high precipice.
Outside the mouth of the cave was a belt of grass land about ten yardsin width, the cliff falling to a depth of about seventy feet, whileabove the cave the rocks, too smooth to afford a foothold, towered tonearly a hundred feet.
The cave was quite fifty feet in depth, and averaged ten feet in width,while its height in places was over twenty feet. Its entrance,however, was barely four feet wide and six in height.
"There won't be much light for the poor beggar when once we've inclosedthe entrance," remarked Andy.
"That is so," replied his father. "I really don't see why we couldn'tinclose a strip of land between the two cliffs, and let him have therun of it."
"How inclose it?"
"I think we can spare enough of the galvanised iron sheeting to make anunclimbable fence. Each sheet is ten feet in height, is it not?"
"Certainly not less."
"Then we'll make a start. Although we cannot possibly hope to completethe work to-day, we may reasonably expect to finish it to-morrowafternoon."
The soil proved to be fairly soft, so that it was necessary to sink thebase of the iron sheets at least two feet into the ground. Strongtimber uprights with cross-braces of railway iron served to make thefence secure, a doorway being left to afford means of communicationwith the prisoner's quarters.
"I think we have taken every possible precaution," remarked Mr. McKay,after the fence was completed and the bedding and the other necessaryarticles for the ex-pearler's use had been placed in the cave. "Ofcourse, this business entails a considerable amount of extra work, forbesides the feeding arrangements we must make a thorough examination ofthe fence every day."
"Why? He cannot possibly pull it down, and I'm sure he will not beable to scale the wall."
"There are at
least two ways he might manage to escape. He couldeither burrow under the fence, or he might manage to spring from thetop of a pile of furniture on to the upper edge of the wall. If wemake a point of examining both sides of the fence twice a day, we shallbe able to detect any sign of a tunnel; while it is unlikely that aneffort to scale the wall will meet with any success, for the edge ofthe iron sheets is sharp enough to cut through his hands should he makea leap at it. I'll talk to him pretty straight and let him know whatto expect if he does manage to escape, though, at the same time, itwill be an anxious business for us while he's at large--if he's foolenough to try it."
That evening Blight was conducted to his new quarters, duly cautionedas to his behaviour, and safely locked up; and from that day the"prison yard," as Terence termed it, was carefully examined night andmorning.
It was, as Mr. McKay predicted, a severe strain on their time, for toguard against a surprise it was necessary that two people, armed incase of emergency, should make a visit to the prisoner twice daily.
At the first opportunity a strong set of moorings was laid down off thelittle stone quay, sufficiently clear of the shore to be out of therange of breaking rollers. Here the yawl was to make her future berth,the dinghy being kept on the beach well beyond the reach of the tide.
It was proposed to make a trip at an early date to the Marquesas, thereto hand over the criminal into the charge of the British Consular Agent.
The planning of this voyage necessitated much thought, for Mr. McKaywas loath to abandon the island entirely.
On the one hand he did not like to let Andy and Ellerton make thevoyage with the prisoner; on the other, he did not like to leaveTerence and Quexo, and, perhaps, Andy, alone on the island.
"I have been wondering," he remarked, "whether my brother and your fivecousins would care to join us. There are boundless possibilities inthe place, and I don't think they would mind a change. Once we have afew more members of the little colony, we can spare a few months tovisit our respective homes. Ellerton, I know, would be pleased to seeEngland again. And you, Terence, would you not like to return to 'OurLady of the Snows'?"
"Rather!" replied Ellerton. "I should be awfully glad to see my peopleagain; but, I must admit, I haven't had enough of McKay's Island. Ishould like to spend a great deal of my life here."
"And I, too," added Terence.
"Gently, lads, gently!" replied Mr. McKay. "You must remember that,although the island can be made self-supporting--for there's tons ofcopra to be had, and I have no doubt that the bed of the lagoon iscovered with pearl oysters--the idea of living here is not altogetherfavourable. It wouldn't be good for us to have only each other'scompany for long. I'll not deny that this open-air, free-and-easy lifeis splendid from a physical point of view, but isolation tends todestroy one's mental powers."
"Then you advise me to get away from the island as soon as I can, andnever return to it?"
"Not at all. You misunderstood me, Ellerton. The island is as muchyours as it is mine, or Terence's. What I meant to imply was that oncewe can open up communication with the regular ports of call, so that wecan leave whenever we wish to, the better it will be for all of us.But once abandon the island it becomes the property of the next comer.To put the matter briefly, I intend to sit tight here; but should anyof you go away for, say, even three or four years, you will be welcometo return and secure your part of the commonwealth--such as it is."
Finally it was decided that Blight should be kept on the island for thepresent, and that Ellerton and Andy should attempt to navigate the yawlto the Society Islands, communicate with their friends at home, andalso write to the Agent at Fiji requesting that a British gunboat bedispatched to ratify the annexation of McKay's Island.
They could then return and await events.
A week or more passed. Preparations for the voyage were pushedforward, and at length everything was ready for the lads' adventurousexpedition.
"Now, lads, turn in early, for you may not get a good night's rest forsome days," observed Mr. McKay, on the evening prior to the day fixedfor their departure.
The advice was acted upon, but Ellerton could not sleep. The night wassultry, not a breath of wind rustled the leaves of the palm-trees.Mosquitoes buzzed in and out of the room, while without the glow of thefire-flies betokened a spell of fine weather.
Uneasily the lad tossed from side to side on his bed. A stray mosquitomanaged to pass the meshes of the mosquito-net, and settled down tobusiness, his object of attack being the lad's nose.
Ellerton knew that rest could only be obtained by killing the insect,so sitting up he began his plan of campaign.
Suddenly his ear caught the sound of the long-drawn shriek of aconcertina, followed by a chorus of shouts and exclamations of surprise.
In an instant he was out of bed.
"Wake up! Wake up!" he shouted, shaking the heavy sleepers withunsparing hand. "The savages are upon us!"