Bunyip Land: A Story of Adventure in New Guinea

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

  HOW I WAS DISPOSED TO FIND FAULT WITH MY BEST FRIEND.

  When I unclosed my eyes it was bright morning and through an opening inthe trees opposite to where I lay I gazed upon the dazzling summit of amountain of wonderfully regular shape. As I lay there it put me in mindof a bell, so evenly rounded were the shoulders, and I was thinkingwhether it would be possible to clamber up it and inspect the countryfrom its summit, when the doctor came up.

  "Ah! Joe," he said; "and how are the spirits this morning?"

  "Spirits?" I said wonderingly, for my sleep had been so deep that I hadforgotten all about the previous evening. "Oh, I'm quite well;" andspringing up I went to the stream by which we were encamped to bathe myface and hands, coming back refreshed, and quite ready for the breakfastthat was waiting.

  "Let's see," said the doctor. "I promised an expedition did I not?"

  "Yes: hunting or fishing," I said eagerly, though I half repented myeagerness directly after, for it seemed as if I did not think enoughabout the object of our journey.

  "I've altered my mind," said the doctor. "We've been travelling fordays in low damp levels; now for a change what do you say to trying highground and seeing if we can climb that mountain? What do you say,Penny?"

  "Won't it make our backs ache a deal?" he said, gazing rather wistfullyup at the glittering mountain.

  "No doubt, and our legs too," the doctor replied. "Of course we shallnot try to ascend the snowy parts, but to get as far as the shoulder;that will give us a good view of the lay of the country, and it will besomething to climb where perhaps human foot has never trod before."

  There was something fascinating enough in this to move Jack Penny intoforgetfulness of the possibility of an aching back; and after getting inmotion once more, we followed our black bearers for a few miles, andthen giving them instructions where to halt--upon a low hill just infront--we struck off to the left, the doctor, Jack Penny, Jimmy, and thedog, and at the end of half an hour began the ascent.

  So slight was the slope that we climbed I could hardly believe itpossible how fast we had ascended, when at the end of a couple of hourswe sat down to rest by a rill of clear intensely cold water that wasbubbling amongst the stones. For on peering through a clump of trees Igazed at the most lovely landscape I had seen since I commenced myjourney. Far as eye could reach it was one undulating forest of endlessshades of green, amidst which, like verdant islands, rose hill andlesser mountain.

  I could have stopped and gazed at the scene for hours had not the doctortaken me by the arm.

  "Rest and food, my lad," he said; "and then higher up yet before wesettle to our map making and mark out our future course."

  Jimmy was already fast asleep beneath a rock, curled up in imitation ofGyp, while Jack Penny was sitting with his back against a tree,apparently studying his legs as he rubbed his hands up and down themgently, to soften and make more pliable the muscles.

  "Tain't time to go on yet, is it?" he said with a dismal glance up atus.

  "No, no, Penny; we'll have a good rest first," said the doctor; and Jackuttered a profound sigh of relief.

  "I am glad," he said, "for I was resting my back. I get up against asmall tree like this and keep my back straight, and that seems to makeit stronger and stiffer for ever so long."

  "Then take my advice, Penny; try another plan, my lad. You have growntoo fast."

  "Yes, that's what father always said," replied Jack, beginning with ahigh squeak and rumbling off into a low bass.

  "You are then naturally weak, and if I were you I should lie flat downupon my back every time we stopped. You will then get up refreshed morethan you think for."

  "But you wouldn't lie flat like that when you were eating your victuals,would you? I ain't Jimmy."

  "No, but you could manage that," I said; and Jack Penny nodded and laydown very leisurely, but only to spring up again most energetically anduttering a frightened yell.

  Gyp and Jimmy uncoiled like a couple of loosened springs, the former toutter a series of angry barks, and the latter to spring up into the airsuddenly.

  "Where de bunyip--where de big bunyip? Jimmy kill um all along."

  He flourished his waddy wildly, and then followed Gyp, who charged intothe wood as the doctor and I seized our guns, ready for action.

  Then a fierce worrying noise took place for a few moments in amongst thebushes, and then Jimmy came bounding out, dragging a small snake by thetail, to throw it down and then proceed to batter its head once againwith his waddy, driving it into the earth, though the reptile mustalready have ceased to exist.

  "Killum dead um!" cried Jimmy, grinning with triumph. "Jimmy killumheadums; Gyp killums tail."

  "I wish you'd look, doctor, and see if he bit me," said Jack, speakingdisconsolately. "I lay down as you told me, and put my head right onthat snake."

  "Don't you know whether it bit you?" said the doctor anxiously.

  "No, not the least idea," said Jack, shaking his head. "I think it musthave bit me, I was so close."

  "I don't believe it did," I said. "Why, you must have known."

  "Think so?" said Jack dismally. "I say, doctor, is it best, do youthink, to lie right down?"

  "Yes, if you look first to see whether there is danger from snakes.There, lie down, my lad, and rest."

  Jack obeyed him very reluctantly, and after Gyp and Jimmy had bothre-curled themselves, the doctor and I lay down to talk in a low voiceabout our prospects, and then as I lay listening to his words, andwondering whether I should ever succeed in tracing out my father, allseemed to become blank, till I started up on being touched.

  "Had a good nap?" said the doctor. "Then let's get on again."

  We started once more, with the ground now becoming more difficult.Trees were fewer, but rocks and rugged patches of stony soil grewfrequent, while a pleasant breeze now played about our faces and seemedto send vigour into our frames.

  Gyp and the black were wonderfully excited, bounding about in front ofus, and even Jack Penny stepped out with a less uncertain stride.

  Higher we climbed and higher, and at every pause that we made for breaththe beauty of the great country was more impressed upon me.

  "What a pity!" exclaimed the doctor, as we halted at last upon a ruggedcorner of the way we were clambering, with the glistening summit farabove our heads, while at our feet the wild country looked like somelovely green garden.

  "What is a pity?" I said wonderingly, for the scene, tired and hot as Iwas, seemed lovely.

  "That such a glorious country should be almost without inhabitant, whenthousands of our good true Englishmen are without a scrap of land tocall their own."

  "Hey, hi!" cried Jack Penny excitedly. "Look out! There's somethingwrong."

  Jimmy and the dog had, as usual, been on ahead; but only to come racingback, the former's face full of excitement, while the dog seemed almostas eager as the black.

  "Jimmy find um mans, find. Quiet, Gyp; no make noise."

  "Find? My father?" I cried, with a curious choking sensation in mythroat.

  "No; no findum fader," whispered Jimmy. "Get um gun. Findum blackfellow round a corner."

  "He has come upon the natives at last, doctor," I said softly. "Whatshall we do?"

  "Retreat if they are enemies; go up to them if they are friendly," saidthe doctor; "only we can't tell which, my lad. Ours is a plunge in thedark, and we must risk it, or I do not see how we are to get on with ourquest."

  "Shall we put on a brave face and seem as if we trusted them then?" Isaid.

  "But suppose they're fierce cannibals," whispered Jack Penny, "or assavage as those fellows down by the river? Ain't it rather risky?"

  "No more risky than the whole of our trip, Penny," said the doctorgravely. "Are you afraid?"

  "Well, I don't know," drawled Jack softly. "I don't think I am, but Iain't sure. But I sha'n't run away. Oh, no, I sha'n't run away."

  "Come along then," said the d
octor. "Shoulder your rifle carelessly,and let's put a bold front upon our advance. They may be friendly.Now, Jimmy, lead the way."

  The black's eyes glittered as he ran to the front, stooping down almostas low as if he were some animal creeping through the bush, and takingadvantage of every shrub and rock for concealment.

  He went on, with Gyp close at his heels, evidently as much interested ashis leader, while we followed, walking erect and making no effort toconceal our movements.

  We went on like this for quite a quarter of a mile, and the doctor hadtwice whispered to me that he believed it was a false alarm, in spite ofJimmy's cautionary movements, and we were about to shout to him to comeback, when all at once he stopped short behind a rugged place that stoodout of the mountain slope, and waved his waddy to us to come on.

  "He has come upon them," I said, with my heart beating faster and acurious sensation of sluggishness attacking my legs.

  "Yes, he has found something," said the doctor; and as I glanced round Icould see that Jack Penny had my complaint in his legs a little worsethan I. But no sooner did he see that I was looking at him than hesnatched himself together, and we went on boldly, feeling a good dealencouraged from the simple fact that Gyp came back to meet us wagginghis tail.

  As we reached the spot where Jimmy was watching, he drew back to allowus to peer round the block of stone, saying softly:

  "Dat's um. Black fellow just gone long."

  To our surprise there were no natives in the hollow into which wepeered, but just beyond a few stunted bushes I could see smoke arising,so it seemed, and the black whispered:

  "Black fellow fire. Cookum damper. Roastum sheep's muttons."

  "But there is no one, Jimmy," I said.

  "Jus' gone long. Hear Jimmy come long. Run away," he whispered.

  "That is no fire," said the doctor, stepping forward. "It is a hotspring."

  "Yes, yes, much big fire; go much out now. Mind black fellow; mindspear killum, killum."

  "Yes, a hot spring, and this is steam," said the doctor, as we went onto where a little basin of water bubbled gently, and sent forth quite alittle pillar of vapour into the air; so white was it that the blackmight well have been excused for making his mistake.

  "Jimmy run long see where black fellow gone. Cookum dinner here. Eh!whar a fire?" he cried, bending down and poking at the little basin withthe butt of his spear before looking wonderingly at us.

  "Far down in the earth, Jimmy," said the doctor.

  "Eh? Far down? Whar a fire makum water boils?" cried the blackexcitedly; and bending down he peered in all directions, ending bythrusting one hand in the spring and snatching it out again with a yellof pain.

  "Is it so hot as that, Jimmy?" I said.

  "Ah, roastum hot, O!" cried Jimmy, holding his hand to his mouth. "Oh!Mass Joe, doctor, stop. Jimmy go and find black fellow."

  We tried very hard to make the black understand that this was one ofNature's wonders, but it was of no avail. He only shook his head andwinked at us, grinning the while.

  "No, no; Jimmy too cunning-artful. Play trickums. Make fool o' Jimmy.Oh, no! Ha! ha! Jimmy cunning-artful; black fellow see frooeverybody."

  He stood shaking his head at us in such an aggravating way, after allthe trouble I had been at to show him that this was a hot spring andvolcanic, that I felt ready to kick, and I daresay I should have kickedhim if he had not been aware of me, reading my countenance easilyenough, and backing away laughing, and getting within reach of a greatpiece of rock, behind which he could dodge if I grew too aggressive.

  I left Jimmy to himself, and stood with the doctor examining the curioussteaming little fount, which came bubbling out of some chinks in thesolid rock and formed a basin for itself of milky white stone, some ofwhich was rippled where the water ran over, and trickled musically alonga jagged crevice in the rocky soil, sending up a faint steam which fadedaway directly in the glowing sunshine.

  "I say," said Jack Penny, who had crouched down beside the basin, "why,you might cook eggs in this."

  "That you might, Penny," said the doctor.

  "But we ain't got any eggs to cook," said Jack dolefully. "I wish we'dgot some of our fowls' eggs--the new-laid ones, you know. I don't meanthem you find in the nests. I say, it is hot," he continued. "Youmight boil mutton."

  "Eh! whar a mutton? Boil mutton?" cried Jimmy, running up, for he hadcaught the words.

  "At home, Jimmy," I said, laughing. The black's disgust was comical towitness as he tucked his waddy under one arm, turned his nose in theair, and stalked off amongst the rocks, in the full belief that we hadbeen playing tricks with him.

  He startled us the next moment by shouting:

  "Here um come! Gun, gun, gun!"

  He came rushing back to us, and, moved by his evidently real excitement,we took refuge behind a barrier of rock and waited the coming onslaught,for surely enough there below us were dark bodies moving amongst the lowgrowth, and it was evident that whatever it was, human being or loweranimals, they were coming in our direction fast.

  We waited anxiously for a few minutes, during the whole of which timeJimmy was busily peering to right and left, now creeping forward for afew yards, sheltered by stones or bush, now slowly raising his head toget a glimpse of the coming danger; and so careful was he that his blackrough head should not be seen, that he turned over upon his back, pushedhimself along in that position, and then lay peering through the bushesover his forehead.

  The moving objects were still fifty yards away, where the bush was verythick and low. Admirable cover for an advancing enemy. Their actionsseemed so cautious, too, that we felt sure that we must be seen, and Iwas beginning to wonder whether it would not be wise to fire amongst thelow scrub and scare our enemies, when Jimmy suddenly changed histactics, making a sign to us to be still, as he crawled backwards rightpast us and disappeared, waddy in hand.

  We could do nothing but watch, expecting the black every moment toreturn and report.

  But five minutes', ten minutes' anxiety ensued before we heard a shoutright before us, followed by a rush, and as we realised that the blackhad come back past us so that he might make a circuit and get round theenemy, there was a rush, and away bounding lightly over the tops of thebushes went a little pack of a small kind of kangaroo.

  It was a matter of moments; the frightened animals, taking flying leapstill out of sight, and Jimmy appeared, running up panting, to lookeagerly round.

  "Whar a big wallaby?" he cried. "No shoot? No killum? Eh? Jimmykillum one big small ole man!"

  He trotted back as he spoke, and returned in triumph bearing one of thecreatures, about equal in size to a small lamb.

  This was quickly dressed by the black, and secured hanging in a tree,for the doctor would not listen to Jimmy's suggestion that we shouldstop and "boil um in black fellow's pot all like muttons;" and then wecontinued our climb till we had won to a magnificent position on theshoulder of the mountain for making a careful inspection of the countrynow seeming to lie stretched out at our feet.

  A more glorious sight I never saw. Green everywhere, wave upon wave ofverdure lit up by the sunshine and darkening in shadow. Mountains werein the distance, and sometimes we caught the glint of water; but sweepthe prospect as we would in every direction with the glass it was alwaysthe same, and the doctor looked at me at last and shook his head.

  "Joe," he said at last, "our plan appeared to be very good when weproposed it, but it seems to me that we are going wrong. If we are tofind your father, whom we believe to be a prisoner--"

  "Who is a prisoner!" I said emphatically.

  "Why do you say that?" he cried sharply, searching me with his eyes.

  "I don't know," I replied dreamily. "He's a prisoner somewhere."

  "Then we must seek him among the villages of the blacks near thesea-shore. The farther we go the more we seem to be making our way intothe desert. Look there!" he cried, pointing in different directions;"the foot of man never treads ther
e. These forests are impassable."

  "Are you getting weary of our search, doctor?" I said bitterly.

  He turned upon me an angry look, which changed to one of reproach.

  "You should not have asked me that, my lad," he said softly. "You aretired or you would not have spoken so bitterly. Wait and see. I onlywant to direct our energies in the right way. The blacks could go ontramping through the country; we whites must use our brains as well asour legs."

  "I--I beg your pardon, doctor!" I cried earnestly.

  "All right, my lad," he said quietly. "Now for getting back to camp.Where must our bearers be?"

  He adjusted the glass and stood carefully examining the broad landscapebefore us, till all at once he uttered an exclamation, and handed theglass to me.

  "See what you make of that spot where there seems to be a mass of rockrising out of the plain, and a thin thread of flashing water running byits side. Yonder!" he continued, pointing. "About ten miles away, Ishould say."

  I took the glass, and after a good deal of difficulty managed to catchsight of the lump of rock he had pointed out. There was the gleamingthread of silver, too, with, plainly seen through the clear atmosphereand gilded by the sun, quite a tiny cloud of vapour slowly rising in theair.

  "Is that another hot spring, doctor?" I said, as I kept my glass fixedupon the spot; "or--"

  "Our blacks' fire," said the doctor. "It might be either; or inaddition it might be a fire lit by enemies, or at all events savages;but as it is in the direction in which we are expecting to find ourcamp, and there seem to be no enemies near, I am in favour of that beingcamp. Come: time is slipping by. Let's start downward now."

  I nodded and turned to Jack Penny, who all this while had been restinghis back by lying flat upon the ground, and that he was asleep wasproved by the number of ants and other investigating insects which weremaking a tour all over his long body; Gyp meanwhile looking on, andsniffing at anything large, such as a beetle, with the result of chasingthe visitor away.

  We roused Jack and started, having to make a detour so as to secureJimmy's kangaroo, which he shouldered manfully, for though it offered usno temptation we knew that it would delight the men in camp.

  The descent was much less laborious than the ascent, but it took a longtime, and the sun was fast sinking lower, while as we approached theplains every few hundred yards seemed to bring us into a warmer stratumof air, while we kept missing the pleasant breeze of the higher ground.

  If we could have made a bee-line right to where the smoke rose the taskwould have been comparatively easy, but we had to avoid this chasm, thatpiled-up mass of rocks, and, as we went lower, first thorny patches ofscrub impeded our passage, and lower still there was the impenetrableforest.

  I was getting fearfully tired and Jack Penny had for a long time beenperfectly silent, while Jimmy, who was last, took to uttering a lowgroan every now and then, at times making it a sigh as he lookedimploringly at me, evidently expecting me to share his heavy load.

  I was too tired and selfish, I'm afraid, and I trudged on till closeupon sundown, when it occurred to me that I had not heard Jimmy groan orsigh for some time, and turning to speak to him I waited till he cameup, walking easily and lightly, with his spear acting as a staff.

  "Why, Jimmy; where's the kangaroo?" I said.

  "Wallaby ole man, Mass Joe?" he said, nodding his head on one side likea sparrow.

  "Yes; where is it?"

  "Bad un!" he said sharply. "Jimmy smell up poo boo! Bad; not good aeat. No get camp a night. Jimmy fro um all away!"

  "Thrown it away!" I cried.

  "Yes; bad ums. Jimmy fro um all away!"

  "You lazy humbug!" I said with a laugh, in which he good-humouredlyjoined.

  "Yess--ess--Jimmy laze humbug! Fro um all away."

  "But I say, look here, Jimmy!" I said anxiously, "what do you mean?"

  "Light fire here; go asleep! Findum camp a morning. All away, rightaway. Not here; no!"

  He ended by shaking his head, and I called to the doctor:

  "Jimmy says we shall not find the camp!" I said hastily; "and that weare going wrong."

  "I know it," he said quietly; "but we cannot get through this forestpatch, so we must go wrong for a time, and then strike off to theright."

  But we found no opportunity of striking off to the right. Everywhere itwas impenetrable forest, and at last we had to come to a halt on theedge, for the darkness was black, and to have gone on meant feeling ourway step by step.