CHAPTER ELEVEN.
FLORA'S ADVENTURE.
Leslie's two dark-skinned guests--for they were nearly black in colour--ate heartily of the food that was given them, their eyes wide-open withwonder, meanwhile, at the many strange objects--especially the tent andthe catamaran--that they beheld around them; and the ex-lieutenantespecially noted, with fast-growing distrust, the glances of hungryadmiration that they bestowed on Flora when at length she emerged fromthe tent and approached the canoe to note their progress towardrecovery. Leslie had already tested their knowledge of English, French,and German without success, from which he deduced the conclusion thatthey had not been brought into very intimate contact with the crews ofvessels speaking any of those languages. Their own language, on theother hand was, as of course might be expected, merely unintelligiblegibberish to him. This was unfortunate, since it would make intelligentcommunication between him and them difficult, at all events for a time;sailors, however, have a way peculiar to themselves of making theirrequirements understood by foreigners, and he had little doubt of hisability to overcome that difficulty ere long. Indeed, on that same day,after the men had eaten and drank to their hearts' content, Lesliecontrived to convey to their understanding the fact that he expectedthem to build a hut for themselves; and he indicated the precise spot,at a considerable distance from the camp, where he wished it to be. Assoon as they clearly understood what his desires were, they went offinto the bush and, armed with a small tomahawk lent them by Leslie,proceeded to cut down some forty or fifty young and pliant saplings, thebutt-ends of which they sharpened to a point, and then thrustvertically, into the ground in a circle some twelve feet in diameter.They then brought the tops of the saplings all together and bound them;thus producing a skeleton structure exactly shaped like a bee-hive.This skeleton they then strengthened by interweaving it with stoutlianas--or "monkey-rope," as the sailors call the long, tough stems ofthe creepers that interlace themselves about the trees in tropicalcountries. This done, they again vanished into the bush; quicklyreturning with two generous loads of the leaves of a species of palm,wherewith they quickly and deftly thatched the entire hut, and thuscompleted it. The entire structure occupied but a couple of hours inthe making; yet it had all the appearance of being a thoroughlycomfortable and weather-proof dwelling. As soon as the hut was finishedLeslie demanded back the tomahawk; but although he shrewdly suspectedthat they understood well enough what he wanted, they affected not to doso, keeping a tight hold upon the implement all through the discussion,until Dick simplified matters by seizing the holder by the arm andgently but firmly forcing it from his grasp. He then handed them agenerous supply of fish, as an evening ration, and motioned them towithdraw to their hut, which they did, not over willingly, as Lesliethought. That same night he went to work and manufactured a canvas beltfor Flora, to hold a brace of revolvers and a cartridge pouch; and thenext morning early he took a small piece of board, some nine inchessquare, painted it to represent a target, and nailed it to a tree.Then, girding the fully equipped belt round Flora's waist, he led her tothe target, having first initiated her into the mystery of loading anddischarging a revolver, and said to her--
"As soon as you see that we have boarded the brig this morning, I wantyou to come up here and practise firing at that target until you havebecome a good shot. Begin your shooting at about this distance,"marking off a distance of about five yards. "Standing as close to thetarget as this, you can scarcely fail to hit it. And when you are ableto hit it three times in succession, I want you to retire one pace tothe rear--so," suiting the action to the word, "and start shooting againuntil you have succeeded in hitting the target three consecutive timesfrom the new position. Then retire another pace, and proceed as before,until you are able to hit the target time after time without missing, atthis distance," indicating a peg driven into the ground at a distance ofabout fifty yards from the target. "When you can shoot straight at thatrange I think you will have attained a degree of proficiency sufficientfor my purpose."
"Very well, Dick; I will do as you wish, of course," she answered; "andI think I shall not be long in attaining proficiency, for I believe Ihave a very `straight' eye. Indeed, I gained several first prizes inarchery competitions at home. But I wish, dear, you would tell me whyyou have suddenly taken this idea into your head. Has it anything to dowith the arrival of the savages on the island?"
"Of course it has," answered Leslie, cheerily, thinking it best to befrank with his sweetheart--so far as it was possible for him to be sowithout alarming her. "You see, little woman, the matter stands thus.We know absolutely nothing about these fellows, whether their charactersare bad or good; whether they are treacherously disposed, or otherwise.And while I have little doubt that in a fair-and-square, open, stand-upfight I should be able to give a reasonably good account of them, itwill not be amiss for us to be on our guard against treachery. Andthere is no better way of dealing with savages than to inspire them witha good wholesome dread of one's powers and prowess. I propose,therefore, that, as soon as you have attained the necessary skill withyour revolver, we shall indulge in a little pistol practice together,_allowing them to look on_. If they once get the fact thoroughlyimpressed upon them that we can both pot them, if necessary, at fiftyyards, it will go a long way toward simplifying matters, by convincingthem of the futility of attempting any tricks. But you must not letthis very elementary precaution alarm you, sweetheart. As likely as notthey will prove to be perfectly docile."
"I am sure I fervently hope and pray so," answered the girl. "But inany case," she continued spiritedly, "I shall not be frightened, becauseI shall always have you to take care of me."
Nevertheless, as soon as Leslie, taking the natives with him, hadarrived on board the brig, she sedulously devoted herself to hershooting lesson, infusing into it that whole-hearted seriousness thatwomen are wont to bring to any task set them; with the result that whenDick returned that evening she was able to report that she had attainedto the desired degree of proficiency.
Meanwhile, Leslie found little difficulty in inducing the two blacks toaccompany him aboard the catamaran and out to the brig. And when hereached the latter he had not much more difficulty in making themunderstand what he wanted them to do--this, by the way, consistingchiefly in heaving away upon the winch. He was careful to keep awatchful eye upon them all day, and especially when they first boardedthe brig; being desirous to gather, if he could, some idea, from theirlooks and actions, whether they had ever seen a ship before. Butalthough, as the catamaran drew up alongside the stranded vessel, henoticed that they regarded her with a considerable degree of curiosityand interest, these were hardly sufficiently marked to lead him to theconclusion that they had never seen such a craft before. This, however,was a comparatively unimportant matter. What concerned him mostintimately was the fact that, after their night's rest, they seemed toexhibit a good deal more docility and intelligence than they haddisplayed on the night before. They worked well and--apparently--quitewillingly, but did not appear to possess a very great amount of stamina,as they manifested every indication of being pretty completely exhaustedbefore the day's work was over.
The next three days passed without the occurrence of anything worthy ofrecord, save that Flora, acting upon Dick's advice, continued her pistolpractice, with the view of further perfecting herself at the target, andacquiring even still greater dexterity. On the fourth day, however,feeling that she was tolerably proficient, and perhaps wearying somewhatof the monotony of perpetual shooting at a target, as soon as Leslie andthe natives--one of whom now readily answered to the name of Cuffy,while the other did not disdain to be styled Sambo--had gone off to thebrig, she resolved to treat herself to the luxury of a long ramble, withonly Sailor for company. Accordingly, packing a small basket with asufficient luncheon for herself and the dog, she set off.
She had not the least fear; for although they had taken many ramblestogether, neither she nor Leslie had ever seen the slightest trace ofthe
existence of either animals or reptiles of any kind upon the island,and Dick had quite made up his mind not only that there were none, butthat it was logically and physically impossible for any to get there.Besides, the natives were with Dick, and she had Sailor to take care ofher; there was, therefore, nothing to be afraid of.
Now although, as has been said, Leslie and Flora had frequently indulgedin rambles together, none of them had been very lengthy, or had carriedthem far afield, with the exception of the one that they had taken tothe summit; and Flora's fancy now yearned to explore "fresh fields andpastures new;" a tantalising memory of a certain grove of especiallynoble and beautiful flower-bearing trees situate on the north-easternslope of the peak dwelt persistently with her, she had conjured up afancy picture of this particular spot that made it appear to herimagination a scene of enchanting and fairy-like beauty, and she longedto satisfy herself as to how closely her imagination approximated to thereality. Moreover, the walk promised to be an agreeably easy one, theslopes of the ground appeared to be gentle, and the face of the countryfinely broken; she therefore determined to wend her way in thisdirection.
Sauntering quietly along, she soon left the open savannah behind her,and plunged into the bush, heading generally in a northerly direction,but accommodating her route to the inequalities of the ground and thevarying density of the undergrowth; naturally selecting a path thatafforded her the easiest passage through the bush. In this manner,after a very pleasant and enjoyable walk for about an hour, she arrivedat the crest of the eastern spur of the mountain, and, descending agentle declivity, soon found herself in a region as romanticallybeautiful as even her vivid fancy had painted. Ravine succeeded ravine,each with its own tiny streamlet meandering through it, and each morepicturesque and enchanting than the last, until at length, emerging fromthis broken ground, she reached a stretch of park-like country withpractically no undergrowth, the greensward being studded withmagnificent umbrageous trees, some of which were a mass of lovelyblossom of the most exquisite tints, while others were lavishly drapedwith orchids of every conceivable shape and hue. She was by this timefeeling somewhat fatigued and very hungry; she therefore selected themossy roots of an enormous tree as a resting-place, and, seatingherself, leisurely proceeded to eat her luncheon and to give Sailor his.The air of the place was exquisitely soft and balmy, the wide-spreadingfoliage shielded her from the too-ardent rays of the sun, and bathed thewhole scene in a delicious golden green twilight; a profound silencereigned around, broken only by the soothing murmur of the wind throughthe topmost branches and the equally soothing rustle of the leaves--andit is not to be wondered at that the girl sank into a pleasant reveriethat gradually merged into profound sleep.
When at length she awoke, the changed character of the light, and thedeepened sombreness of the shadows, warned her that the sun was alreadylow, and that she must hasten homeward if she would reach the camp erenightfall; she therefore seized her empty basket, and set out upon herreturn journey, following her outward route as nearly as she could hitit off. But she had slept much longer than she suspected, and when atlength she again reached the broken and romantic ground that she hadtraversed with such delight and enjoyment in the morning, the shadowshad fallen so deeply that it was with the utmost difficulty only thatshe could discern her way, and she found herself obliged to proceed withthe greatest circumspection. And now it was that, for the first time,she fully appreciated the advantage of having Sailor as a companion, forthe dog appeared to remember the way by which they had come much betterthan she did, running on before her for a few yards, then pausing forher to come up to him, and again running forward. Several times he hadpersisted in adopting a certain route in preference to the one that sheseemed disposed to pursue, and in each case had proved himself to beright; she therefore at length resigned herself blindly to his guidance,following him wherever he chose to lead.
In this fashion the pair hastened forward as rapidly as the rough andbroken character of the ground would permit, Flora by this time being ina tumult of distress at the knowledge that Dick would already havereturned from the wreck and be wild with anxiety at her unaccountableabsence--for she had said nothing to him about her intentions when heleft her that morning, the expedition being the result of an impulsethat had come to her after his departure. The sun had by this time set,and even in the open the brief twilight was rapidly deepening intonight, while where Flora now was, plunged in the heart of a wild ravine,thickly overgrown with trees and bush, it was so dark that she couldwith difficulty distinguish the form of the dog, even when he was closeto her. But she had the comfort of knowing that Sailor was guiding heraright, for she presently, found herself making her way over aparticularly difficult bit of ground that she had a vivid remembrance ofhaving passed during the morning; find the difficulties that she hadthen experienced made her more than usually careful now, as she wasfully aware that a false step would probably result in an ugly fall.
Yet, despite all her care, she took that false step, and instantly foundherself plunging headlong over a low cliff into a dense tangle ofundergrowth. She was not hurt in the least, but to her chagrin shefound herself so completely involved in the tangle that, struggle as shewould, it seemed impossible for her to extricate herself. Everymovement of her body served but to involve her more completely, and tosink her more effectually into the heart of her leafy prison. Fortunateindeed was it for her that there happened to be no thorns on the bushesinto which she had fallen, otherwise she must have sustained veryserious injuries in her frantic efforts to free herself from the tough,cordlike lianas that entwined her body and limbs so completely that atlength she found it practically impossible to further move hand or foot.As for Sailor, he seemed quite incapable of doing anything more usefulthan run to and fro along the narrow ledge from which his mistress hadfallen, barking distractedly, and utterly disregarding Flora'simperative injunctions to go home. For she soon realised theexceedingly disconcerting fact that she was a helpless prisoner, asutterly unable to effect her escape, unaided, as though she were immuredwithin the walls of a Russian fortress; and she further realised thatunless the dog could be induced to return to camp and guide Dick to herrescue, she might actually remain where she was and starve ere her loversucceeded in discovering her.
Meanwhile Dick, too, had had an unfortunate day. For late in theafternoon, while breaking up the deck of the brig, the catamaran had insome inexplicable manner gone adrift, and, driving athwart the stern ofthe brig, snapped her mast short off at the deck, completely disablingher, of course. In consequence of this accident, Dick had at onceknocked off work, and taken the craft across the lagoon to the camp,intending to procure a new spar from the woods forthwith, andimmediately proceed with the repair of the damage. But the catamaranunder sail was one thing, the same craft with her wings clipped wasquite another thing; and in her disabled condition she proved sounexpectedly unhandy that the sun had set and darkness was alreadyclosing down when at length he got her to her usual berth.
It was Flora's invariable custom to stroll down to the beach to meet hersweetheart as soon as she saw the catamaran coming in from the wreck;and Leslie was greatly surprised that on this night of all others--whenthe unusual lateness of his arrival and the dismantled condition of thecatamaran might have been expected to excite her curiosity--she shouldfail to appear. Yet her absence aroused no shadow of anxiety withinhim; for what could possibly happen to her, alone there on the island,with the dog to protect her? Nor did the non-appearance of Sailorawaken any suspicion within him, for he knew that the dog and the girlwere inseparable companions, and that wherever Flora might be, therewould Sailor also be found. He concluded that Flora was somehowdetained for the moment, and that she and Sailor would presently presentthemselves as usual. Meanwhile, he secured the catamaran, served outtheir supper rations to Cuffy and Sambo, and attended to one or twoother matters.
But when, having attended to these matters, he at length made his way tothe camp, and not only found the tent in darkness
, but the cooking-stovein its rear unlighted, he began for the first time to feel uneasy. Hewhistled and called for the dog, knowing that if the animal were withinhearing he would at once bark in response, even if he did not comebounding joyously to him, as was generally the case--for Sailor wasalmost as devotedly attached to Dick as he was to Flora. But on thisoccasion no Sailor appeared, nor did he afford any other manifestationof his near presence. Then Dick began to shout loudly for Flora, hopingto hear her sweet voice raised in reply.
He now began to feel seriously alarmed, knowing that she must havewandered away into the bush, and perhaps have lost herself in thedarkness. Yet against this theory was to be set his knowledge of thesagacity of Sailor, who, he believed, was quite intelligent enough tofind his way back to the camp from the uttermost extremity of the islandin the darkest night. He entered the tent and, lighting the lamps,looked round the living-room compartment, thinking it possible thatFlora might have left a note explaining her absence, or saying where shewas going. But he knew that, had she written such a note, she wouldhave left it in some conspicuous situation--as on the table--where itwould at once be found. There was no letter, either on the table orelsewhere, so far as he could see. Then he instituted a thoroughlysystematic search of the tent in quest of some sign or indication thatmight furnish him with a clue as to what had happened to her, or whathad induced her to go off in this mysterious fashion, but withoutsuccess. He even ventured to peep into her sleeping apartment,wondering whether perchance she had felt unwell and become unconscious.But a single glance sufficed to show him that nothing of that kind hadhappened. Finally, he hunted up a lantern, trimmed and lighted it,provided himself with a small flask of brandy, to meet a possibleemergency, armed himself with a brace of revolvers and a small, keentomahawk, and without remembering or being conscious of the fact that hewas by this time fairly hungry--conscious of nothing, indeed, but anever-growing feeling of keen anxiety and alarm--set out in search of thelost one.
The first question that now confronted him was, In which direction washe to search? There was no especially favourite spot, so far as heknew, to which she would be predisposed to wend her way; there were noroads or paths, or anything in the remotest degree approaching thereto,on the island: she would therefore be just as likely to head in onedirection as another. The grass in the immediate neighbourhood of thetent was to some extent trodden down, it is true, by frequent trafficround it, and a path had gradually been worn into visibility between thetent and the cook-house; but beyond that everything was as fresh andtrackless as upon the day of their landing. Then it occurred to Leslieto seek for traces of Flora's footprints in the grass, and he started tocarefully quarter the ground beyond the worn area in the neighbourhoodof the tent, carefully examining it with the aid of the lantern. And inthis way he presently discovered one or two imprints of the heels of herboots, but it proved impossible to follow the track for more than half adozen yards; moreover, upon a further search he found so many, leadingin such a number of different directions, that he soon realised theimpossibility of determining which of them he ought to follow. And allthe time that he was thus engaged he never ceased to whistle and callSailor, varying the proceedings occasionally by shouting the name ofFlora, until he was so hoarse that he could scarcely articulate.
In this laborious and painfully unsatisfactory fashion he spent theentire night, carefully quartering the ground until he had covered thewhole area between Mermaid Head on the one hand and Cape Flora on theother, and extending rearward toward the mountain to about a quarter ofits height. The magnitude of such an enterprise as this, and itsexhausting nature, can only be appreciated by those who have attempted asimilar feat in a country overgrown with bush.
By the time that the sun had risen and Leslie was able to dispense withthe aid of the lantern, he was so utterly weary that he could scarcelydrag one leg after the other; his lips were so dry that he could nolonger whistle, and his throat so sore that he could no longer shout,while he was sinking with exhaustion from hunger and thirst. Yet hepressed doggedly on, still prosecuting his search with grimdetermination and the same concentration as before until, close uponmidday--when he was working over toward the eastern side of the island,he paused suddenly and listened as intently as though his life dependedupon it. Yes; there it was again--the distant but faintly heard bark ofa dog--he was sure of it! Gathering himself together, he once morestrove to whistle, but failed; then he attempted to shout.
"Sailor! _Sailor_!! Sailor!!!"
He lifted up his voice in a steady crescendo until the last cry became ahoarse, cracked yell that was as unlike his own full, rich, mellow toneas any sound could well be. Yet the dog heard it, ay, and recognisedit, for he immediately replied vigorously. Leslie continued to shout,dashing recklessly forward in the direction of the barking as he did so,and Sailor continued to reply; nay, more; now that he actually heardLeslie's voice calling him, he uttered a whining howl of excitement,hesitated for a few seconds, and finally bounded off to meet him inresponse to Flora's feebly uttered commands. Five minutes later he camedashing madly up to Leslie, looked up into his face, barked, wagged histail energetically, and then dashed off back in the direction from whichhe had come, stopping at every few yards to assure himself that he wasbeing followed. And in this way he led Dick forward, for about aquarter of an hour, over the rough, broken ground that Flora hadtraversed some twenty-four hours before, until the pair stood togetheron the spot from which the girl had fallen.
By this time Flora had become quite invisible from this spot; for shehad continued her struggles at intervals all through the night until shehad worked herself down into the very heart of the clump of scrub andcreeper into which she had fallen, and which had now closed over herhead. But there was a sort of indentation or sinkage in the surface ofthe scrub, presenting an appearance suggestive of some tolerably heavybody having fallen there, and at this indentation Sailor firststeadfastly gazed, and then looked up into Leslie's face, barkingcontinuously. And, peering intently down into this, Dick presentlybecame aware of what appeared to be some tiny shreds of clothingclinging here and there to the bushes.
"Are you there, Flora?" he shouted.
There was no reply; for the moment that the sound of Dick's voice fellupon her ear, encouraging and talking to the dog, and she knew thatrescue was at hand, the long-endured tension of her nerves relaxed, andshe fainted. But Sailor's actions were not to be misunderstood; hecontinued to look alternately into Leslie's face and then down at thebushes, barking excitedly all the while and making as though he wouldleap down into the depression; so that even a very much less intelligentindividual than Leslie could not have failed to understand that it wasthere that the missing girl would be found. He called once more, and,still failing to obtain an answer, wasted no further time in hesitation,but, seeing that the base of the declivity was the proper point toattack, scrambled down as best he could, closely followed by Sailor, andattempted to force a way into the heart of the bushes from that point.He soon found, however, that the tough tangle of creepers was not to beconquered by his unaided hands alone, and so set to work vigorously withhis tomahawk, cutting away at the tangled and knotted mass, and draggingthe severed ends apart and aside until after about ten minutes ofarduous work he suddenly found himself at the mouth of what appeared tobe a spacious cavern under the rock from which Flora had fallen; andthere, prone upon the rocky floor, with her light clothing almost tornfrom her body by her long-continued efforts to free herself, he foundhis sweetheart lying insensible.
Kneeling upon the hard rocky floor, he raised the limp form in his armsand lost not a moment in applying his flask of brandy to her lips; andpresently he had the satisfaction of feeling her stir in his arms.
"Ah, that is good! You are feeling better, darling, are you not?" heexclaimed encouragingly. "Tell me, sweetheart, are you very much hurt?"
"No, I think not," she answered, with a sigh of contentment as sherealised that Dick was with her and that her troubles we
re nowpractically over. "I only feel very sore all over from my long struggleto free myself; and also rather cold. I have been here ever sincesunset last night, Dick, fighting to escape from those dreadfulentangling bushes; and I feel, oh, so utterly tired."
"My poor little girl," exclaimed Dick, tenderly, "you have had a verytrying experience, and one that might have proved very serious, too, butfor Sailor, here. Cold! of course you are. Here, let me wrap my jacketround you--so; that is better. Now, I am going to light a fire; the airof this place is chill as that of an ice-house. And while you arewarming yourself and getting a little life into your body I will clearaway the bush a trifle more, so that you can get out withoutdifficulty."
There was plenty of wood to be had, suitable for building a fire, bysimply cutting away the dry roots and tendrils of the bush in front ofthe cave; and in a few minutes Dick had a good fire blazing, by thelight of which he saw that they were in the mouth of a cavern abouteight feet high that seemed to reach back into the heart of the rock fora considerable distance. And some way back, lying just within theradius of the area that caught the illumination of the fire, hepresently noticed something lying on the ground that bore an uncannylikeness to a human skeleton! He said nothing about it, however--havingno wish that Flora's shaken nerves should be subjected to any furthershock just then, especially as the imperfect view of the object that hadbeen afforded him by the flickering light of the flames left him quiteuncertain as to its identity--but at once went to work again with histomahawk in a vigorous onslaught upon the bushes, managing, in anotherten minutes or so, to make such a clearance of them as would enable hiscompanion to pass out without difficulty.
By the time that he had accomplished this, Flora had so far recoveredthat she declared herself quite ready to essay the journey back to thecamp; and they accordingly set out forthwith, Dick very carefully notingthe surrounding landmarks, with the fixed determination to return at anearly moment and thoroughly examine the interior of the cavern. As theywent, Flora beguiled the way by relating to Dick, in full detail, allthe particulars of her very unpleasant adventure; listening in return toDick's account of his return to camp, his consternation at the discoveryof her absence, and his long, arduous, and almost despairing search forher.
They reached camp about two o'clock in the afternoon; and aftersnatching a hasty meal made up of the first odds and ends that theycould lay their hands upon, retired at once to their respective couchesto get an hour or two of that rest of which they both stood in suchurgent need.
It was within an hour of sunset when Dick awoke and turned out. Hisfirst care was to light up the cooking-stove and get some sort of adinner under way; and, this done, he strolled over to the natives' hutto ascertain what these gentry were doing, as nothing was to be seen ofthem in the vicinity of the camp. They were not in the hut; and when helooked for their canoe he discovered that it had also disappeared. Hisfirst thought was that they might have gone off to the brig andattempted on their own account to continue the work of breaking up herdecks; and he felt a trifle vexed at the idea, fearing that in theirignorance they might do a great deal more harm than good. But uponprocuring his telescope and bringing it to bear upon the brig he soonsatisfied himself that the canoe was not alongside her; nor, when helooked further, could he see anything of her anywhere along the inneredge of the reef, whither he thought they might have gone for thepurpose of obtaining a few fish. It was then that, for the first time,the suspicion dawned upon him that they might have left the islandaltogether, with the intention of attempting to make their way back totheir own people, and a further search at length convinced him of theaccuracy of his surmise; for a second visit to the hut showed that notonly were its usual occupants absent, but they had taken with them alltheir trivial belongings; while a further investigation led to thediscovery that they had helped themselves to a few such trifles as apair of tomahawks, a few yards of canvas, some light line, a small keg--presumably to hold a supply of water; a bag or two of assorted nails, acouple of fishing lines, and possibly a few other unimportant odds andends. His first feeling at this discovery was one of vexation; forignorant though these savages were, and difficult as he had found it tomake them understand his wishes, they represented a certain amount ofbrute strength that he had already found most useful, and doubtlesswould have found even more useful later on, when he had succeeded inmaking them understand more clearly what he desired them to do. But alittle further reflection enabled him to realise that in seizing thefirst favourable opportunity to get away from the island and attempt toreturn to their own kindred and people, they were only acting upon aperfectly natural and commendable impulse; they were, in fact, actuatedby precisely the same feeling that had dominated himself ever since hehad been on the island, and were doing precisely what he hopedeventually to do. And, having arrived at this conclusion, he dismissedthe incident from his mind, and reverted to the same plan of life thathad been his prior to the arrival of Cuffy and Sambo upon the scene.
The following day was devoted by Leslie to the task of procuring asuitable spar to serve as a new mast for the catamaran, and restoringthat craft to her former serviceable condition. And it was while he wasthus engaged that the thought first entered his mind that the accidentby which the catamaran had become dismasted might possibly have been ablessing in disguise, since, but for that accident, the two savagesmight, by a not intricate process of reasoning, have arrived at theconclusion that such a craft would serve their purpose infinitely betterthan their own canoe, and forthwith appropriated her. That they did notdo so was perhaps due to the fact that she was practically unmanageableexcept under sail, rather than to any innate sentiment of honesty ontheir part.
The catamaran having been once more rendered fit for service, Lesliedecided to devote a few hours to the examination of "Flora's Cave," ashe called it, while its situation and the landmarks in its vicinity werefresh in his memory; he accordingly set off immediately after breakfaston the following morning, telling Flora where he was going, butsuggesting that she should remain in camp and take a thorough rest.
Going easily, he arrived at the cave in about an hour and a half afterstarting; and at once proceeded with his investigation. He had adoptedthe precaution to take a packet of candles along with him, and hecommenced operations by lighting these, one after the other, and settingthem up on the most convenient rock projections that offered. He thussucceeded in illuminating the entire interior of the cavern quitesufficiently for his purpose. Meanwhile, during the process of lightingup the cavern, he had already discovered that his first impressionrelative to the suspicious-looking object was well-grounded; it wasindeed a skeleton; and his first act after completing his lightingarrangements was to subject this grisly object to a careful examination.He found it to be the skeleton of a man who must have stood about sixfeet high in his stockings, when alive. Attached here and there to thebones were fragments of clothing, while on the ground beside the ghastlyframework were other fragments of fine linen, lace, gold-embroideredvelvet, and silks, showing that the wearer must have been a man of someconsequence. The waist was girded by a broad leather belt, so dry androtten that it crumbled to powder in Leslie's fingers, and attached tothis was a long, straight rapier with an elaborately ornamented hilt andsheath, all rotted and rust-eaten. To the same belt was also attachedthe sheath of what must have been a long and formidable dagger. And acouple of feet away from the head there lay a handsome steel casque verybeautifully engraved and chased, but thickly coated with rust, like therest of the steel accoutrements. A closer inspection of the skeletondisclosed the fact that the skull had been battered in, while a daggerthat might have belonged to the empty sheath was found sticking up toits hilt in one of the ribs.
Turning from the skeleton, Leslie next proceeded to carefully examine agreat pile of small cases, packages, and casks that had already comeunder his casual notice while engaged in lighting up the cave. He tookthese as they came most conveniently to his hand, the casks firstclaiming his attent
ion. With the assistance of a small axe that he hadtaken the precaution to bring with him he soon forced off the head ofone of these, revealing its contents. It consisted of a solid cake ofsome hard, black substance, moulded to the shape of the cask, that uponcritical examination proved--as he had more than half expected--to begunpowder, caked into a solid mass and completely spoiled by damp. Twosimilar casks were also found to contain powder in a like condition; andtherefore, acting upon the justifiable assumption that the contents ofall the casks was the same, he rolled the whole of them, sixteen innumber, to the opposite side of the cave, out of the way, and turned hisattention to a number of small black packages that, when he proceeded tohandle them, proved to be unexpectedly heavy. His first thought wasthat they were pigs of lead, intended to be cast into bullets asoccasion might require; but upon removing one of them to the open air,for greater convenience of examination, he discovered that the block--whatever it might be--was sewn up in what had once been hide, but wasnow a mere dry, stiff, rotten envelope that easily peeled off, revealinga dark-brownish and very heavy substance within. This substance hefeverishly proceeded to scrape with the blade of his pocket-knife--forthe presence of the hide envelope prepared him for an importantdiscovery--and presently, the outer coat of dirt and discolourationbeing removed from that part of the surface upon which he was operatingwith his knife, there gleamed up at him the dull ruddy tint of _virgingold_! It was as he had anticipated; the block upon which he wasoperating was one of the gold bricks that, sewn up in raw hide, werewont to be shipped home by the Spaniards of old from the mines of SouthAmerica. He lifted the brick in his hands, and estimated it to weighabout forty pounds. The gold bricks were stacked together in tiers,twenty bricks long, four bricks wide, and four bricks high; there weretherefore three hundred and twenty of them, and if his estimate of theirweight happened to be correct, this little pile of precious metal mustbe worth--what? A short mental calculation--taking the gold to be worththree pounds fifteen shillings the ounce--furnished him with the answer;the handsome sum of close upon seven hundred thousand pounds sterling.Quite a respectable fortune!
But this was not all. There were other chests and cases still awaitingexamination; and, fully convinced by now that he had accidentallystumbled upon one of those fabulously rich treasures that the Spanishgalleons were reported to have conveyed from time to time from theshores of the new world to those of old Spain--how it had happened tofind its way to this particular spot he did not trouble to puzzle out--Leslie went to work to break open and examine the remainder of thepackages, heedless of the flight of time. Some of them he found tocontain rich clothing, that fell to pieces as he attempted to lift thegarments out of the receptacles that had held them in safe keeping forso long; others--two of the largest--were packed full of goldcandlesticks, crosses, jewelled cups, and other vessels and articles ofa character that seemed to point to their having been the spoils of somelooted church--a circumstance that caused Leslie to suspect that hisfind represented the proceeds of some more than ordinarily successfuloldtime piratical cruise. And finally the innermost chest of all, andconsequently the last arrived at, disclosed to Dick's astounded gaze acollection of jewels, set and unset, that fairly made him reel withastonishment. There were great ropes of discoloured pearls, that wouldbe priceless if they could by any means be restored to their pristinestate of purity; diamond, ruby, emerald, and other necklaces, bracelets,rings, brooches, and other ornaments in more or less tarnished settings;heavy chains of solid gold; jewelled sword-hilts; and, last but notleast, a great buckskin bag that was still in pliant and serviceablecondition, containing a heterogeneous assortment of cut and uncut gems--principally diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires--every one of themapparently picked specimens, the whole constituting of itself a treasureof incalculable value.
As Dick, having pocketed a handful of these gems at random to showFlora, replaced the heavy bag in the chest and sank back on his haunchesto rest himself while he mopped from his brow the perspiration of hardlabour and excitement, the light that streamed in through the mouth ofthe cavern was momentarily obscured, and Sailor bounded in, barkingjoyously as he sprang at Dick and tried to lick his face. The dog wasclosely followed by Flora, who cried as she entered--
"Dick, Dick, where are you? Has anything--oh! there you are! Whateverhas kept you so long, dear? Are you ill, or have you met with anaccident? Oh! what is this horrible thing?" as she stumbled over theskeleton, which she had failed to notice, coming as she did straightfrom the brilliant outdoor light into the dimly illuminated interior ofthe cavern.
"That!" exclaimed Dick, lightly. "Oh, that is just a heap of bones thatmust have been left here by the original owners of this commodiousabode." And with a sweep of his foot he unceremoniously transferred thepoor remains to a dark corner of the cavern that he contrived to renderstill darker by dexterously extinguishing three or four of the candlesin its immediate vicinity. "As to my being ill," he continued, "I amhappy to assure you, my dear, that I never felt better in my life. AndI have excellent reason for feeling well. Look at this!" And hepointed exultantly to the noble pile of treasure.