CHAPTER XXIV
The Cave proves Useful
During the two days following all hands were kept busily employed. Inaddition to carrying out the usual routine, they made preparations tolay in a stock of provisions. Mostyn tried his hand at obtaining saltby evaporation, and succeeded in making about a pound of very salinepowder. Minalto cut up the porker, reserving some of the meat forpresent use and pickling the rest. Hilda experimented with makingbiscuits of taro root finely powdered and bruised between two largestones.
In addition the three men took turns at climbing to the summit of thelook-out hill. This they did every four hours in calm weather, andevery two hours when the wind blew with any strength, so that nosailing vessel could close with the island between those intervalswithout first being sighted in the offing.
On the morning of the fourth day Jasper called Burgoyne's attentionto a rectangular object lying on the top of a low-lying part of thereef. The tide had fallen exceptionally, and more of the reef wasexposed than they had seen before.
"I believe it's our water-tank," declared Alwyn. "That's about wherethe boat broke her back."
"So I thinks, too, sir," agreed Minalto.
"In that case we'll have the thing ashore," declared Burgoyne. "Itwould never do to leave such a monument to our mishaps lying in sucha conspicuous position."
"How would you bring it across?" asked Mostyn.
"It looks as if it is lying on its side," replied the Third Officer,shading his eyes with his hand. "We'll have to up-right it and letthe rising tide float it off. A couple of us could easily swim overthere and push it across the lagoon. No, not yet. We'll have to waitfor the young flood to make. Meanwhile it's your turn, Jasper, toclimb the hill. Nothing like exercise before breakfast."
Minalto swung off, and hurried to perform his task of look-out man.In less than a quarter of an hour he was back again, breathless withrunning.
"A sail!" he announced pantingly. "Away to nor'ard."
"Dash it all!" exclaimed Burgoyne.
The information disconcerted him. For the sake of his companions bothon Swan Island and in the hands of the pirates at the secret base, hewould have welcomed the intelligence if he knew for certain that thestrange craft was a friendly one. But an instinctive feeling told himthat the craft was manned by some of Ramon Porfirio's ruffianlycrowd, and that the object of her voyage was to recapture the fourfugitives.
Without undue delay all hands hurried to the summit of the hill,Alwyn pausing only to scatter the burning logs over which the morningmeal was boiling, Hilda suffering the interruption of her culinarytask without protest.
From the elevated look-out post the vessel could be seen fairlyclearly. The morning was bright, with no sign of haze, and the craftappeared nearer than she actually was. In spite of the light breezeshe was approaching rapidly, so that it was evident that she wasequipped with a motor.
She was then about a mile and a half or two miles off the northernpart of the island, shaping a course for the eastern side. She was afore-and-aft schooner, carrying jib-headed top-sails, and was ofabout eighty tons displacement. She flew no colours.
"What would I not give for my prism binoculars?" sighed Alwyn. "Seenher before, Minalto?"
Jasper nodded. He was still rather breathless.
"Yes," continued Burgoyne, "unless I'm much mistaken she was one ofthose small craft lying in the pirates' harbour; but I'm hanged if Inoticed whether any of them had motors. Well, we'll have to get amove on, Miss Vivian. I'm sorry to say that your wish of a few daysago will have to be complied with. We must hide in the cave, perhapsfor several days. I don't suppose those rascals will abandon thesearch until they've examined every visible part of the island."
"How about the water-tank?" asked Mostyn.
"Too late, now, I'm afraid," replied his chum. "It will be as much aswe can do to transfer ourselves and our traps to the cave.... Thisway down; in case they've a glass bearing on us."
Keeping to the south slope of the hill until the tree-tops shut outthe sight of the approaching vessel, the fugitives returned to thecamp.
There was much to be done in a very short time. The tent was levelledand packed up in the smallest possible compass. The canvas betweenthe two upturned parts of the broken life-boat was removed. The hotembers of the dying fire was carefully scattered, lest they mightkindle into flame and smoke. Then, heavily laden with stores andprovisions, the four hastened towards the cave.
"One minute, sir!" exclaimed Jasper, stopping short in his tracks andsetting down his burden. "If us ain't forgotten the li'l ole cask o'rum."
Burgoyne glanced behind towards the lagoon, a small portion of whichwas visible through the glade.
"Too late, now," he replied. "The schooner's passing through thereef. Yes, she has an engine right enough. The water-tank must havegiven us away. Come along, Jasper; you've seen the last of your li'lole cask, I'm thinking."
There was a stubborn look on Minalto's bronzed and bearded face as hereluctantly re-shouldered his burden. It went sorely against thegrain, this tame surrender of what he considered to be his propertyby finding.
"Come along!" repeated Burgoyne sternly.
"Ay, ay, sir," replied Minalto; then under his breath he added: "an'I hope th' li'l ole cask'll poison the lot o' they."
It was now a slow and cautious business getting the stores and gearinto the cave, and in spite of every care Burgoyne noticed withconcern that the tracks under the scrub were by no means covered. Akeen Malay tracker would be able to find their retreat with littledifficulty. The only hope lay in the fact that the crew of theschooner were unskilled in woodcraft, and that the broken twigs andbrushwood would escape notice.
"Here's our present abode, Miss Vivian," announced Burgoyne, when thefour and their portable property were inside the cave, a couple ofcandles lighted, and a double sheet of canvas hung across theentrance to screen any gleam from within.
"It reminds me of London during an air-raid," observed Hilda. "I hadto spend several nights in a cellar--I was made to go down, but Iwould have much preferred to stop in an upper room. But there isnothing to be afraid of here as far as bombs are concerned."
"No; silence is the chief consideration," cautioned Alwyn. "I don'tsuppose they've sent a boat ashore yet, but I think I'll find out."
"Don't run unnecessary risks, please, Mr. Burgoyne," said Hilda.
"Trust me for that, Miss Vivian," declared the Third Officerearnestly. "Risks, yes; unnecessary risks, no. I've no use for thefellow who goes out asking for trouble."
"I'm going with you, old son," said Peter.
"My festive Sparks, you are not," decided Burgoyne. "For the presentthis is a one-man show. You stop here, and don't stir outside till Icome back. All being well, I'll return in twenty minutes, if notbefore."
Withdrawing the cartridges from his revolver, Alwyn carefully triedthe mechanism of the little weapon. Then, after reloading, he thrustthe revolver into his hip-pocket, and, with a wave of his hand,disappeared behind the canvas hanging.
It was a tedious wait for the three who remained. Without means ofknowing the time, the minutes passed very, very slowly. Peter triedto gauge the interval by observing the burning down of one of thecandles. The others waited and listened intently for any sounds thatmight reach their ears from without the cave. Even the practicalHilda Vivian looked anxious and worried. Mostyn, not usuallyobservant of people's characters, noticed that, and wondered whetherthe girl was anxious on Burgoyne's account or merely because of theperil that threatened her.
At length Minalto stood up, stretched his huge arms and picked up thecutlass, which Mostyn had brought to a state bordering on perfection,for the blade had been cleaned and sharpened, and the hilt shone likea convex mirror in the candle-light.
"I'm going to look for 'e," he declared in a hoarse whisper.
"You're going to stay here," said Mostyn firmly. "Officer's orders,you know."
Minalto was about to frame an argumentative reply, when a chorus ofraucou
s voices sounded in the distance.
Without further delay Jasper pulled aside the canvas screen, only tocollide violently with Alwyn Burgoyne.
"Ssh!" exclaimed the latter warningly. "Get back. They're ashore."
"The pirates?" asked Mostyn.
"Yes, unfortunately," replied Burgoyne. "They brought up off thelittle creek and hoisted Yankee colours. Thought they'd have us cold,but it didn't come off. I waited under a bush--rather longer than Iintended, perhaps; but, you see, I wanted to make sure of theirlittle game. After a bit they got tired of seeing the Stars andStripes at the main truck, so they hauled the bunting down. Up tothat point I'd seen only three men aboard; but by this time they'dcome to the conclusion that we weren't having any. So they launched aboat and rowed ashore: eight men armed with rifles, and our oldfriend Strogoff sporting a pair of automatics. I thought it high timeto sheer off, so I crept back for about fifty yards and again watcheddevelopments."
"Eight of 'em, not a-countin' Black Strogoff, were you sayin', sir?"inquired Minalto thoughtfully. "Sure, 'tes long odds, wi' only apistol an' a cutlass 'twixt three on us. Was there more on 'em leftaboard, sir?"
"I cannot say, Jasper. More than likely there were, but I didn't seethem. They'd hardly all go ashore."
"Ef us could slip along, like," resumed Jasper, "an' swim off to theschooner---- When all's nice an' dark like."
"They'll probably go on board again to-night," said Burgoyne. "We'llhave to think things out a bit. But when I left them they weresmashing up our happy home just out of sheer mischief. When they'vegot tired of that they'll begin searching the island, so we hadbetter lie low and keep quiet."
Presently the four fugitives heard the sounds of men forcing theirway through the undergrowth, uttering fierce oaths in half a dozendifferent languages and occasionally firing their rifles. Duringintervals between the din, Black Strogoff's voice could be heardshouting an ultimatum to the objects of his search, to the effectthat if they gave themselves up without further trouble, "includingthe young woman" ("so they know," thought Alwyn), their lives wouldbe spared. Otherwise he, Strogoff, would search the island from endto end and shoot the men down without mercy.
The pirates were evidently following a trail, which turned out to bethe well-trodden path leading to the summit of the look-out hill. Sokeen were they on the obvious track that they failed entirely tonotice the tell-tale broken brushwood concealing the mouth of thecave.
After the sounds of the pursuit had died away in the distance, Jasperproposed that he should go out and see what was happening in thelagoon.
"No, you don't," said Burgoyne decidedly. "Ten to one you'll playstraight into their hands, if you did. I shouldn't be at allsurprised to know that they had posted snipers at various intervalsto pick us off if we ventured out. Patience and discretion, Jasper.That's our motto for the present. How about grub?"
Another candle was lighted. They were of a kind known in the RoyalNavy as "candles, lantern, ship's police ", and in their presentcondition might be reckoned upon to burn four or five hours; so withthe stock at their command the fugitives were not likely to becompelled to sit in the darkness.
Slowly the long day passed. At intervals the voices of the piratescould be heard, as they returned to the boat apparently to hold acouncil as to the next course to pursue. Black Strogoff had abandonedhis delivery of an ultimatum. He was still sanguine of success, sincethe discovery of the wreckage of the life-boat and the hot ashes ofthe camp-fire proved almost conclusively that his quarry was on theisland and unable to leave it.
At last night fell upon the scene. Although it made no visibledifference to the interior of the cave, the darkness was noticed bythe four fugitives mainly by the change of temperature, and the factwas confirmed when Burgoyne cautiously drew the screen and lookedout.
"We'll have to be jolly careful with that light now," he observed. "Aglimmer escaping and shining on the brushwood would give the showaway in a brace of shakes. Put the candle in the old chest, Jasper;that will screen it a bit."
After a cold supper Hilda and Mostyn dropped off into fitfulslumbers. Alwyn and Jasper remained on watch, straining their ears tocatch any sound that might indicate the presence and occupation oftheir pursuers.
Soon there were no doubts on the matter. The rogues had not gone onboard the schooner but were carousing on shore. Some of them inwanton mischief and with the lust of destruction had fired thebrush-wood. The roaring of the flames outvoiced that of the pirates,but fortunately the nor'east wind kept the fire from spreadingtowards the mouth of the cave.
"They're going it strong," remarked Burgoyne. "It must be long aftermidnight. They've started to quarrel now, I think."
"An' the li'l ole cask," said Minalto broodingly. "Ef I'd but takenut away...."
The distant pandemonium waxed and waned according to the temper andexcitability of the roysterers. The ribald singing was succeeded by avolley of oaths and rifle-shots and blood-curdling shrieks.
Minalto jogged his companion's elbow.
"That's fine!" he exclaimed with marked approval.
For the next hour the loud roar of the flames, as the fireoverwhelmed the coco-palms, completely muffled all other sounds, butwhen at length, towards morning, the conflagration burnt itself out,there was a strange uncanny silence.
"Have a caulk, sir," said Jasper. "I'll be wide awake, if you'm of amind to sleep."
"I think I will, then," replied Burgoyne gratefully, and for the nexttwo hours he slept like a log.
The slanting rays of the sun were penetrating the brushwood whenAlwyn awoke and lifted the canvas covering the entrance to the cave.The air was thick with pungent smoke.
"Wake up, Peter!" exclaimed Burgoyne. "Stand by till we return. We'regoing out to see what's doing."