"What I'd like to know," said Robert, "are we going to let that--that--"
"Kidnapper-voodoo priest--cannibal--son-of-a-polecat," prompted Ray.
"What I'd like to know," continued Robert, "are we going to let him beatus after all?"
"Not if I have to go after him single-handed," declared Grant Norris.
"But he's making direct for that gold mine," said Robert.
"There's only one thing to do," Julian offered. "Some of us will have togo overland."
"Yes, that ees it," said Carlos. "We beat him there!"
"What!" said Ray. "Jump over those mountains!" He looked up to thosepeaks towering many thousands of feet; the morning sun had just set hisglow on them.
"Yes," I said. "There are roads over the passes, and the distance can'tbe over two hundred miles."
"Id is thee only chance," said Captain Marat, "I get thee chart."
The chart was spread on the table.
"Id take anyway five day for the _Orion_ to sail round to thee places,"said Captain Marat, making measurements, "if she have most favorablewind."
"It won't take over four days to make it overland," I offered, "if wemake only thirty miles a day with horses."
"Just so," agreed Captain Marat, verifying my measurements.
"What is more," Robert added, "we know pretty accurately where Duranwill land to go to the gold mine."
We all of us caught afire with the prospect, Carlos not the least, forthe sailing away of Duran had set a melancholy on his face.
"Hurray!" cried Norris, "we'll beat that skunk yet."
Preparations went immediately forward. Norris, Julian, and Carloshurried over to the town, to secure horses and a guide. Robert and I setto work on our packs, for it was we two that were to make the overlandjourney, accompanied by Carlos.
It wanted an hour of noon when the three came back, having beeneminently successful. They had found horses in plenty, and no lack ofguides.
"Now looky heah," began Rufe, when Robert, Carlos, and I had taken ourseats in the small boat. "Don' you-all let dat white voodoo debbil githis han's on you no moh. Keep yo' eyes peeled foh him; he's jes' datsneaking."
The tide was ebbing when we left the _Pearl_, though it would be sometime before the leak in her hull would be uncovered. The horses andguide were waiting at the edge of town. The saddles were on, and theblack fellow--our guide--was looking to the cinches. To make fast ourpacks to the saddles was the work of but a few minutes. The guide hadalready distributed the needed provisions to the various ponies. CaptainMarat, Norris, Ray, and Julian stood in a row when we had mounted.
"Now remember," we told them. "We'll leave a note in the cleft end of astake--on the top of the first hill, or at the bottom. And we'll blazetrees or bushes, or whatever there is to show the way to it."
"Trust us," said Norris. "We'll find it."
"And say!" broke in Ray. "If there should be any battles on the docket,just hold up operations till Norris gets there with his brass barker andRufe's red hot poker."
The trees of the forest, into which our road plunged, soon cut off ourview of our friends. I felt a little sinking of the heart at this newseparation, for there was still much room for mishap before our comingtogether again. Our guide (Jan was his name) and Carlos rode before;Robert and I carried our little rifles slung at our backs. The ponieswere evidently trained to the saddle, and moved at a gait that wassomething between a walk and a trot, so that our progress was agreeablyrapid.
We traversed first the bamboo; then palms, oaks, and mahogany shelteredour way for long stretches. When we came to the foothills, occasionallyan open vista gave us view of waving golden-yellow cane fields. Thestreams were overhung with the wonderful feathery tree-ferns. Oranges,bananas, limes, mangoes, grew in abundance, though only berries wereripe at this season. Our road took us at times into the twilight of theheavier forests, among lofty trunks, from which hung, in festoons andtangles, the rope-like lianas. It was as if innumerable ships had beencrammed together in some great storm, their rigging intertwined, and intime all overgrown with green parasites and slimy mosses.
All this display of nature that showed to us on our way, and much morethan I have mentioned, I noted; and had my mind been untroubled byserious business, I would have found much delight in this journey into atropic interior. But we were under the necessity of pressing forward,always with the fear that Duran might come before us to that certainspot of the northern coast, and so elude us and arrive at the hiddenmine secure from discovery.
By night we had mounted high among the hills. It was when we saw theazure of the sea and the coast lines begin to darken, and the hillsbelow us fall into shadow, that we dismounted and removed the saddlesfrom our ponies. A quick meal, and soon we were under our mosquito-bars,sleeping.
We were again on the move before the sun had thrown his rays on the
highest peaks. And this day it was up and down, and a winding aboutamong the mountains. The day following was but a repetition, except thatbefore night our guide told us that we had passed the greatest of themountains and were on the downward slope toward the northern coast ofthe island. But we got no view of the sea till the third day, and thenthe road rounded a spur of mountain, and there opened to our vision thatgreat blue expanse of sea and the irregular coast line below us.
"We're sure to make it in time now," observed Robert.
"Yes," I said. "The _Orion_ cannot get there before us now."
And then, as our ponies continued to plod onward behind those of ourguide and Carlos, we made some discussion of our plan of action. It was
decided to discharge our guide some way short of our destination, andstart him back before he should find opportunity to tell anyone there ofhaving led a pair of white boys across the island and into the region ofthe voodoos. News of our exploits in those hills had doubtless beenspread among all of the voodoo faith; and so if the fact of our returnwere noised about, we would doubtless have the pack at our heels, andall our plans gone topsy-turvy again.
By noon we were come to a place in the hills fifteen miles from Carlos'old home. It was a region well known to Carlos, as he professed.
"Here very good place to stop," said Carlos. "I go for the provisionwhile you rest here."
We pulled the saddles from the ponies, and Carlos set off alone throughthe forest. And when he came back, after less than half an hour, he hadfood to replenish the stock of the guide, who after an hour's restexpressed himself as happy to be on the way back to his home on thesouth coast of the island. When the guide was gone, Robert and I set towork to stain our faces and hands, and don again those curly wigs. Whitefaces were too rare and unpopular in this region to escape comment andmore or less unpleasant attention.
So when we again took up the march we all went afoot; and in three hourswe had arrived at the little cove where we had seen Duran's schooner,_Orion_, just before her sailing away with the _Pearl_ in chase. We werenow ten miles from the city, toward which we turned our steps, keepingunder shelter of the palms that skirted the beach.
When we were come within four miles of the city we halted. It was nearto the huts where we had made that landing--to go to the interior,trailing Duran to the old palace ruin. It was our plan to send Carlosinto the city for articles of food and a rowboat of some kind. When wehad come so far, the sun was less than two hours high; so Carlos had butan hour's rest before setting off on his mission.
When at last Carlos had gone, Robert and I settled down amongst thecocoanut palms just above the beach. We watched land crabs and turtlescrawling up on the sand; anon we would look into one another's blackfaces.
"When do you think the _Orion_ will get here?" said Robert.
"Tomorrow, if the winds are favorable," I answered; "or a day or twoafter, if they're not. Duran will come as fast as he can, of course."
"Of course," agreed Robert. "But I can't make my mind give in to theidea that he will land at that place on the beach that you and CaptainMarat marked. There can't be any gold mine
about that place. Exceptthose two hills, the map shows nothing but sand and palms, and marshes,and bushes."
I brought out of my pocket a folded paper on which I had copied fromMarat's chart this portion of the coast. I put my fingers on the TwinHills, near the foot of which we expected Duran would land; for it willbe remembered Marat had heard him say as much, that night when Marat andI, in our own boat, had crept up to the _Orion_ in the dark. To the westof the hills was a shallow bay of which the little cove mentioned was apart. To the east and south of the hills lay a greater bay, (not tomention its proper name, we will call it Crow Bay, for it is much theshape of a crow's foot). The neck of land between the two bays was alllow, marshy and impenetrable thickets.
"Now," I said, "I agree with you that this seems not a proper place--atthese hills--to make a start for anything like a gold mine. But is not
that the very reason that Duran makes his landing here? Isn't it, forsome reason or other, the most favorable for covering up his trail? Andthen, too, landing out there on the open beach, he can easily seewhether anyone is following him."
"Yes," said Robert, "that must be it. He's just that shrewd. And then,when he sees his crew row back to the _Orion_ and sail away, he knowsnone of his blacks are following him."
Darkness had soon spread over everything. And it must have been teno'clock, when we heard Carlos' whistle. And then at our answer a boat'sprow touched the sand of the beach. We had our packs and guns aboard ina minute, and Robert and I, each pulling an oar, we moved, parallelingthe beach, to the east. The boat was as light as a canoe, almost, andour progress was rapid.
"I find my friend," said Carlos, telling of his visit to the city. "An'he wonder where I been so long. He say Duran have not come back. But hehear much talk among voodoo about devil-guns--shoot, make no noise. Myfriend help me find this boat. He buy it for me--eight dollar. The manglad to sell for much money."
In an hour the moon--now in the last quarter--came out of the sea infront of us. We rowed round the point, into the bay. We passed thenarrow entrance to the little cove, and made for the east side of thebay, where a bight of the bay pushed in to within a mile and a half ofthe back of the Twin Hills, as our bit of chart showed us.
We carried our boat above the beach into the bushes, and so made ourcamp, at midnight.
When the sun rose we were abroad, and soon we had picked our way over tothe Twin Hills. They lay some way apart, towered perhaps a hundred feet,and were grown over with brush. We climbed to the top of that nearestthe beach. That vantage point gave us a splendid view of the beach andsea.
All that day some of us remained there on the lookout. The _Orion_ didnot come. We all three made our beds there that night. Before morning asquall sent us scampering back to our boat, and we escaped a drenchingby turning the little vessel bottom up and creeping under.
Another day passed on the hill-top, and no _Orion_ came.
"I wonder if he's fooled us again," said Robert.
"I don't think it," I answered.
"I think he come," encouraged Carlos.
I was sleeping soundly when an insistent hand on my shoulder brought mesuddenly awake. It was Robert, whose watch was eleven to one.
"They're here," he said. "I heard a block rattle."
Carlos was now up. We could barely make out a dark mass well out fromthe beach; the night was very dark in spite of the brilliancy of thestars. We scrambled down the hill, and in a few minutes were in thebushes that fringed the beach.
Not many minutes more passed till we heard oars knocking in the tholes.And then a small boat touched the sand, and a figure stepped out.