CHAPTER XXI
THE BUCCANEERS' CAVE
It could not have been more than a couple of hours after Mr. McKayreturned to consciousness that the two lads emerged from the forest andgazed wonderingly upon the rock-strewn plain. Not knowing the courseof events, they had left Terence and Quexo to guard the dwelling-houseagainst a possible attack.
"Steady, Hoppy!" cautioned Andy, as Ellerton was about to rush towardsthe spot where they had left Mr. McKay on the previous evening. "Idon't like the look of things. Suppose that rogue has got the upperhand? You would be potted to a cert if you rushed into the open inthat reckless style. You work round to the right and I'll go by theleft."
Accordingly the lads, taking advantage of every bit of cover, advancedwith the utmost caution towards the little rift in the dark rock whereMr. McKay had made his ambush.
There was his rifle, lying on the ground, with no sign of an emptycartridge to show that the weapon had been discharged. Andy removedthe magazine and found that the cartridges were still intact.
"I can't understand it," he exclaimed. "The pater was evidently in ahurry, for, you see, the rifle was not placed against a rock, but wasthrown down on the ground. He's too careful, in ordinarycircumstances, to do a thing like that."
"Well, where is he? If Blight had managed to get the better of him hewould have taken away the rifle."
"He may have chased him right across this island. Come on, it's no usewasting time here; let's try and pick up the trail."
Andy leapt upon the flat top of the rock and assisted his chum tofollow his example. Both took it for granted that there was no furtherneed for concealment.
From where they stood the ground had the appearance of a broad belt offlat rock, divided in all directions by narrow crevices, most of whichcould be jumped across with the greatest ease, while ahead was thefirst of a series of cliffs, which incircled the base of the peak ofthe island.
"Look!" exclaimed Ellerton, pointing to a little heap of brown canvaswhich was lying on the rock about thirty feet away. "There's yourfather's haversack."
The lad was right, for Mr. McKay had discarded the article as hecommenced the pursuit of the fugitive. From this spot the mingledtracks of the hunter and the hunted were easily traced, by reason ofthe deposit of lava dust, which grew thicker as the lads advanced.
Suddenly they came to an abrupt halt. Almost at their feet began thetreacherous slope, ending in the horrible fissure which had been thecause of Blight's death and Mr. McKay's disaster.
Although the still sliding dust and sand had almost hidden the tracesof Mr. McKay's desperate struggle to save himself from the yawning pit,there remained sufficient evidences of the disappearance of thefugitive and his pursuer.
The faces of both lads grew pale. Andy was about to rush towards thebrink of the abyss when Ellerton's detaining hand was laid upon hisshoulder.
"It's nothing more or less than a trap," said he. "You'll----"
The sentence remained unfinished, for from the depths of the chasm ahollow voice that the lads hardly recognised as Mr. McKay's repeatedthe warning:
"Stand back, lads!"
"Are you all right, sir?" shouted Ellerton.
"Yes, but you cannot get to my aid without a rope. Hurry back to thehouse, and bring all hands with you. A lantern will also be useful.Be as quick as you can, for it's pretty doleful down here."
"All right, sir, we'll make haste; but stand by!"
And as a parting gift Ellerton dexterously threw Mr. McKay's haversack,still containing an ample supply of food, into the pit.
Andy, however, hesitated.
"Are you sure you are all right, dad?"
"Ay, my boy. Why do you ask?"
"Because your voice sounds so strange. I suppose it's the rocks thataffect it. How far did you fall?"
"I hardly know; about thirty feet, I expect; luckily the ground's soft."
"Seen anything of Blight?"
"Dead!" replied Mr. McKay.
With the utmost despatch Ellerton and Andy returned to the house,where, having told the others all they knew about the accident, theycollected a couple of coils of rope, some lanterns, two strongcrowbars, a hammer, and, at Ellerton's suggestion, two six-inch pulleys.
The four lads--for even Quexo insisted on coming, though he was stillin a weak state of health--set off for the scene of the disaster, Andyand Terence carrying the bulk of the appliances, while Ellerton and themulatto took only what they could place in their belts.
Cheering up the prisoner with a lusty shout of encouragement, therescuers proceeded to drive the crowbars into a convenient crevice inthe rocks, so that one was about ten feet nearer to the chasm than theother.
From the base of the outside bar to the top of the inner one, Ellertonlashed a piece of rope, then making sure that the "crows" would bearany strain that was likely to be put upon them, he attached a pulley tothe base of the innermost.
Through the block was rove one of the coils of rope, one end of whichhe tied round his waist. Then, taking the lighted lantern in his hand,he walked cautiously towards the brink of the pit, the others payingout the rope as he went.
Before he had gone a distance of five yards the pumice dust began toslide away from under his feet, causing him to sit down on the slope,while the avalanche nearly blinded Mr. McKay as he was looking upwardsfor the expected relief.
"Come back, Hoppy!" shouted Andy. "Remember your arm."
"I do," replied Ellerton with a laugh. "It's giving me good cause toremember it, but I mean to make the best of it. You fellows can domore good by hauling on that rope than I can, so slack away."
Terence and Andy accordingly "slacked away," and Ellerton slid anotheryard or so towards the brink. He was then able to lower the lantern toMr. McKay, and at the same time he made the discovery that the shaftwas too rugged to allow a man to be hauled up by a rope without seriousdanger of the rope being chafed through by the sharp projections.
He explained the situation to Mr. McKay, who fully realised the forceof his remarks.
"Never mind, we'll manage it right enough," concluded Ellertoncheerily, and giving the word he was hauled back to where hiscompanions stood.
"We must have one of those trees down," he said, pointing to thedistant palms.
Accordingly the lads set off for the forest, where without muchdifficulty a stout trunk, thirty feet in length, was felled. The workof transporting it to the brink of the pit was a more tedious business,and an hour elapsed ere they succeeded in slinging the timber acrossthe yawning gulf, where it rested with about ten feet imbedded in thesoft lava on either side of the hole.
"Now you can do this part of the work better than I," said Ellerton toAndy. "Lash this block to the centre of the trunk, and reeve a ropethrough it."
This Andy managed to do. He also lashed a smaller piece of timber at adistance of about four feet below the tree-trunk, so as to form aplatform to enable Mr. McKay to obtain a clear spring when hauled up asfar as the pulley would permit.
"All ready, pater?" asked the son.
"Wait a moment, Andy. Could you manage to come down here, do youthink?"
"I'll try. I say, you fellows, I'm going down, so pay out the rope."
Andy swung himself from the main beam upon the lower piece of timber,and, summoning up his courage, launched himself off from the swayingperch.
Slowly he descended, spinning round on the straining rope like a jointon a meat-jack, while at almost every second his shoulders or hips cameinto contact with the jagged walls of the shaft. To avoid the dust hekept his head bent downwards, and as he did so he saw the glimmer ofthe lantern from beneath.
"Thirty feet, do you call it?" he asked, as his feet touched the floorof the pit, and his father grasped his hand. "It's sixty at the veryleast."
"I don't think so," was the reply. "You see, looking down from aheight the distance always appears greater. Had the floor been hardrock, I should have been killed or at least seriously injured. B
ut tochange the subject, look here."
Mr. McKay had, during the long interval of waiting since Ellerton hadlowered the lantern, made another tour of exploration, and now he ledthe way towards the tunnel where he had found an old musket.
He had made a strange discovery. At no very distant date a long cavernof varying height and breadth existed here. Where its entrance was Mr.McKay had not found out; but a volcanic disturbance had caused a mightyfissure to divide the original cave in two, as an examination of thestrata prove conclusively.
Casting off the rope from around his waist, Andy followed his fatherinto the tunnel-like cavern, stooping as he did so, for its mouth wasbarely five feet in height.
At ten paces from its mouth the passage turned almost at right anglesto its former direction, and expanded into a broad and lofty chamber.Almost covering the width of the four sides was a range of arm-racksfilled with old-time weapons. The candle-light flashed upon the brightbarrels of musket and pistol, and glittered on the steel of bayonet,cutlass, sword, and pike, for so dry was the atmosphere that a coupleof centuries had not left any appreciable trace on the metal.
"Great Scott! How did these get here?" asked Andy, after he hadrecovered from his astonishment.
"It's the armoury of some long-forgotten buccaneer," replied hisfather. "I've had plenty of time to look round since you first sent methe lantern, and none of these weapons are later than the earlier partof the eighteenth century, or the last part of the seventeenth. See,these muskets have Vauban locks, a combination of flint and matchlock.These kinds of muskets were used at the battles of Steenkirke andLanden. You can also see that all these bayonets are the plug variety,that is to say they were plugged into the barrel of the musket, thustemporarily converting it from a firearm to a pike. These areevidently the original bayonets used in the reign of James II., so thatwe can fix the period at which they were stored here to within a fewyears, since the socket type were introduced early in the reign ofWilliam III."
In this strain Mr. McKay continued, forgetful of time and place, tillEllerton's voice was heard shouting to know of anything was amiss.
"We had better retrace our footsteps," observed Mr. McKay, "or theothers will be getting alarmed. When we've found an easier way ofdescending into this pit--for I do not want another fall like that, Ican assure you--we'll make a thorough exploration of the place."
Accordingly father and son made their way back towards the shaft, butas they turned the bend of the passage they found themselves confrontedby Terence and Ellerton, each of whom carried a lantern.
"Hullo! How did you descend?" asked Andy, who was very astonished atseeing his friends down there.
"I lowered Terence, and then let myself down," replied Ellerton.
"Then, how in the name of goodness, do you expect to get back?"demanded Andy. "Quexo cannot haul us up."
"By the same means as I came down," replied the young sailor calmly."It's easy enough with a bos'un's chair."
"Then all I can say is that I hope you lashed the pulley on securely,"rejoined Andy with evident concern. "If that goes wrong, we'retrapped."
"Don't worry," replied Ellerton, somewhat ruffled at the slur cast uponhis work.
"Come, come," observed Mr. McKay good-humouredly. "Don't quarrel. Nowwe are here we might as well continue our exploration."
Once more the armoury was inspected, the lads showing the greatestinterest in the weapons, snapping the flints in order to see the sparksfly from the steel.
"Be careful, some of these muskets may be loaded," cautioned Mr. McKay."Always make it a practice to point a weapon away from anybody whenfooling about like that."
Hardly had he spoken, when a tremendous explosion shook the cave, thenoise being intensified by the confined space, and Terence sat on thefloor rubbing his shoulder, while a smoking musket lay by his side.
"You're a young ass," observed Andy. "Are you hurt?"
"Didn't know it was loaded," replied the youth, still clapping his handto his shoulder.
"That's what they all say after an accident has occurred," said Mr.McKay. "By some means or the other the musket was stored without thecharge being drawn. However, thank goodness it's no worse, though theconcussion might have brought the roof down on our heads."
Presently Ellerton, who had wandered behind one of the arms-racks thatstood about three feet from the wall, exclaimed:
"Here's another passage."
"Hold on, then," cautioned Mr. McKay. "Wait till I come. There mightbe a pitfall."
Carefully examining the floor of the tunnel, the explorers advancedabout ten yards, when further progress was prevented by a door coveredwith flat iron bars.
"H'm!" ejaculated Mr. McKay. "What have we here?"
Terence was dispatched to bring a dagger and a pike from the armoury,but on further thoughts Mr. McKay forbade the lads to tamper with thedoor.
"Then we are done for the time being," remarked Andy. "Shall we goback for our axes?"
"A crowbar would be the thing," replied Ellerton. "But we want the twowe brought."
"Probably it's as well we haven't got them," added Mr. McKay. "To tellthe truth, I have my suspicions of that door, so we'll defer theopening of it till a more convenient time."
Reluctantly the lads retraced their steps to the open chasm, whereBlight's body lay.
"We must bury him as soon as possible," said Mr. McKay. "There's noplace here, so we must haul the body to the surface, and dig a grave inthe soft earth."
"There's no soil nearer than the edge of the palm-forest," observedAndy.
"I know, but it cannot be helped."
"Isn't there a rift or a hole in the floor where we could bury him?"asked Ellerton. "After all, where does it matter, so long as hereceives Christian burial?"
"We may as well look," assented Mr. McKay, and taking one of thelanterns he commenced to explore that side of the chasm which layopposite to the tunnel leading to the buccaneers' armoury.
The first ten or twelve paces were knee deep in the pumice dust, but onapproaching the wall of the abyss the floor was fairly hard, beingprotected from falling dirt and sand by the overhang of the shaft.
On reaching the stone face of the rift the explorers followed itsgeneral direction without discovering any crack or crevice likely tosuit their purpose, till they stumbled upon another tunnel-like shaft,similar and almost opposite to the one they had already traversed.
This tunnel was about six feet in height and four in width, and ran ina slightly upward direction. Evidently it was at one time acontinuation of the other passage.
"Let's see where this leads to," exclaimed Ellerton, full of curiosityand enthusiasm. "I believe it leads to the open air."
"I think not," replied Mr. McKay, pointing to the smooth, even steps inthe floor of the tunnel. "See, the floor is as dry as a bone, andcovered with a thick deposit of dust. If this tunnel is open, thetropical rains would have washed the dust away."
"Then where does it lead to?" continued Ellerton. "Those arms musthave been brought in by some means."
"We'll carry on and see who's right."
It was a long walk. Up and up ran the tunnel, turning slightly to theright, yet maintaining a uniform height and breadth throughout itsentire length.
"This passage has been hewn out," announced Mr. McKay.
"Hasn't the other?" asked Andy.
"Only in parts. The armoury is a natural cave. Perhaps there was asmaller tunnel here before, and the people who discovered it enlargedit. It's about time we came to the end."
"Now who's right, sir?" exclaimed Ellerton triumphantly, as the palegleam of daylight was visible from a curve of the tunnel.
"Not this child," replied Mr. McKay, without the faintest trace ofchagrin. In fact, he was glad to know he was in the wrong, for he didnot relish the task of tackling the shaft and the treacherous,dust-covered slope at its edge.
A few sparse bushes masked the mouth of the tunnel, and upon thesebeing thrust aside, the adve
nturers found themselves at the foot of thelowermost range of cliffs and within a hundred yards of the abyss whichhad been the cause of their presence in the tunnel.
Standing close to where the crowbars were driven into the rock wasQuexo, looking the picture of misery, for he was perfectly convinced inhis own mind that all his companions had met with disaster.
"Quexo!" shouted Andy. "Quexo! Here we are!"
The mulatto's joy was curious to behold. He danced, swung his soundarm over his head, and cut fantastic capers, the tears running down hischeeks the while as he blurted out unintelligible sentences in mingledEnglish and Spanish.
"Well, we're safe once more, thanks to Providence," exclaimed Mr. McKay.
All the explorers looked rather disreputable, but Mr. McKay inparticular was little better than a walking scarecrow. His clotheswere in rags, his face clotted with dried blood and dust, while, nowthe excitement was over, he once more began to feel stiff and bruisedfrom head to foot.
"By Jove, we've forgotten what we went to look for!" exclaimed Andy.
"Yes," replied Mr. McKay. "We must bring the poor fellow's body upafter all."
"By the tunnel?"
"No, by the shaft."
"Then here goes," said Ellerton quietly, and drawing up one of theropes he fastened it round his waist. Lantern in hand he slid down thesand, and getting astride the tree-trunk, edged his way along till hereached the swaying piece of timber. The next minute he was loweringhimself into the abyss.
"He's a plucky chap," commented Mr. McKay as they awaited Ellerton'ssignal.
"And with an arm like that," added Terence admiringly. "He reallyseems to make light of it."
The watchers had not long to wait.
"Haul away!" shouted Ellerton, and heaving slowly on the rope theybrought the body of the unfortunate Blight to the surface, where theyoung seaman soon rejoined the others.
Between them they bore the corpse across the rocky plain to the edge ofthe palm-forest, where they dug a shallow grave with their axes.
Here the body of the ex-pearler was laid to rest, Mr. McKay recited afew prayers, and the earth was heaped over the corpse, a pile of heavystones being placed over the grave to mark the spot.
This depressing task completed, they hastened homewards to enjoy awelcome meal and a still more desired rest.
For the next two or three weeks all hands were too busy to think ofmaking a further exploration of the buccaneers' cave.
The damage wrought by the savages required a considerable amount ofpatience and hard work to set to rights. A new storehouse had to beconstructed, and the various stores that had not been totally destroyedwere collected and placed once more under cover.
Terence had, with considerable ingenuity, contrived to erect anelectric alarm, so that the moment a foot was placed upon the lowermostpath leading up to the house, a bell would ring in the sleepingquarters.
He also succeeded in rigging up the searchlight salved from the wreck,and after many failures the apparatus worked to perfection.
Thereafter every night its great beam was directed skywards, theInternational Signal, "N.G." (want immediate assistance), being flashedin the hope of attracting the attention of any vessel within seventymiles of the island.
The little party was now completely isolated from the rest of the world.
Before the destruction of the yawl they had the means of making even afairly long passage, but now this was denied them, for it would beutter madness to attempt to go to sea in one of the captured canoes.
So, realising that the sooner they were in possession of a seaworthycraft the better it would be for them, the inhabitants of McKay'sIsland debated whether it would be advisable to construct a new deckedcraft, convert one of the canoes into a cabin boat, or to salvage thewreck of the yawl and patch her up sufficiently to enable them to reachTahiti.
Even with the appliances at their command, Mr. McKay reckoned that itwould take a twelvemonth to make a boat large enough for theirrequirements. As regards reconstructing one of the canoes, he came tothe conclusion that the work might be done, but the canoe being withouta keel would be a bad craft in a sea-way; while her light constructionwould not allow a keel to be fixed without a grave risk of strainingthe vessel in the first breeze she encountered.
Finally, it was decided that the captured canoes should be utilised toattempt the salvage of the yawl, and on the first fine day the actualwork was put in hand.
By means of rollers and a powerful jack, three of the canoes werelaunched and taken to the scene of the savages' wanton act.
The wrecked boat could be clearly discerned lying on the sandy bed ofthe lagoon in six fathoms of water, with a slight list to starboard.
Anchoring two of the native craft close to the sunken yawl, Ellertonand Andy contrived to pass the bight of a chain under her bows, theends of the chain being made fast to two stout cables. A similardevice was employed to engage the stern of the wreck, although the factthat her keel was imbedded in the sand added to the difficulty of thetask.
Two massive trunks of palm-trees were then placed across the gunwalesof both canoes, converting them into a kind of pontoon.
These preparations being completed, all that was at present necessarywas to wait till dead low water.
All hands knew that it would be a tedious job, for the rise of the tidewas but five feet at springs and only two feet at neaps, so what workhad to be done must be performed during the spring tides.
At dead low water all the slack of the four hawsers was taken in, andonce more came a tedious wait for the rising tide.
Gradually the strain on the ropes increased, till the timbers groanedunder the weight of the sunken boat and the canoes sank lower in thewater.
"Hurrah! She's lifting!" shouted Ellerton, and allowing sufficienttime for the yawl to be lifted clear of the bottom, Mr. McKay and hisassistants began to haul on an anchor cable which had been previouslylaid towards the shore.
Slowly the ungainly pontoon with its heavy burden began to moveshorewards, when suddenly the bows of the canoes rose high in the air,throwing their occupants on their backs. One of the hawsers hadslipped, and the work of six long hours was wasted.
"Hard lines!" exclaimed Terence dolefully.
"It is, I admit," replied Ellerton cheerfully. "Still, we must notexpect to have everything our own way. Try, try, try again, as the oldsaw says."
"We can do no more to-day," said Mr. McKay. "We'll leave the canoesmoored to the yawl, however. That will save time to-morrow."
"I think, if you don't mind, sir, we'll try and slip the sling underher again," said Ellerton. "You see, if we do that there won't be somuch chance of the canoes drifting and consequently slipping the othersling."
"Quite so," replied Mr. McKay. "It may save us some hours of hardwork."
So directly the water cleared, for the settling of the wrecked boat hadchurned up the sand till she was practically invisible, the chain slingwas again placed in position.
This time this part of the business was done more satisfactorily, asthe yawl was resting on a hummock of shell and sand amidships, so thatabove five feet of the after part of her keel was clear of the bed ofthe lagoon.
"I hope it doesn't come on to blow to-night," remarked Ellerton, as theparty rowed ashore. "If it does, then good-bye to the yawl."
"The glass is steady," replied Mr. McKay. "If it should pipe up, wemust slip the slings and let the canoes take their chance."
That afternoon Ellerton and Andy were busy preparing additional slings,for the former was resolved not to have a repetition of the morning'sfailure if it could be avoided.
Just before low water on the following morning, the salvage party setout for the wreck. As Mr. McKay had predicted, the weather was fine,there being no swell to speak of within the lagoon, though as usual thebreakers were lashing themselves into milk-white foam upon the outerfringe of the reef.
Once more the slings were hove tight, and as the tide rose, the wreckedcraft wa
s again lifted from her ocean bed. Directly the yawl was"lively," as Ellerton expressed it, two more slings were passedunderneath her keel so as to make doubly sure of her being swungproperly.