CHAPTER XXVI
JEFFERSON FINDS THE GUM
A half-moon shone in a rift between the massed banks of cloud whenAustin stood looking down into the trench four of the Spaniards weredigging. It ran partly across the islet, which was small and sandy,intersecting another excavation that had a palm at one end of it, whilea half-rotten cottonwood, from which orchids sprang, stood in line withthe trench the men were toiling in. They were shovelling strenuously,and the thud of the sand they flung out jarred on the silence, for thenight was very still. Austin could hear the creek lapping on the beach,and the deep humming of the _Cumbria_'s pump, softened by the distance.She lay, with a light or two blinking fitfully on board her, half a mileaway, ready at last for sea. Then he glanced at Jefferson, who stoodclose beside him, shivering a little, though the night was hot, as heleaned upon a shovel.
"We have been at it, at least, a couple of hours," Austin saidsuggestively.
Jefferson laughed. "And we'll be here this time to-morrow unless we findthe case. There's only one on this islet, that fellow said, and, as Itried to point out, the men who buried it probably wanted to get thething done quickly. They'd have run a line from the two trees, andeither dumped the case at the intersection or a few paces outside it ona given bearing. If we don't strike it in a few minutes we'll work atraverse."
Ten minutes passed, and then one of the Canarios cried out excitedly ashe struck something with his shovel. Austin saw his comrade's handsquiver on the shovel-haft in the moonlight, but that was all, and nextmoment two of the Spaniards fell on hands and knees in the sand. Theyflung it up in showers with their fingers, while Austin, by an effort,stood very still, for he felt that he might do things he would be sorryfor afterwards if he let himself go. The Latins were panting in theireagerness, and wallowing rather like beasts than men amidst the flyingsand. Then one of them, who dragged something out, hove it up and flungit at Austin's feet with a gasp of consternation.
"Ah, maldito! Es muy chiquitita!" he said.
Austin set his lips as he glanced at his comrade, whose face grewsuddenly hard.
"Yes," he said, with portentous quietness. "It is remarkably small, andby the way he hove it up there can't be very much in it."
They stood still a moment, looking down at the little wooden case, whilethe Spaniards clustered round them, with eyes that gleamed in themoonlight, breathing unevenly. Then Jefferson said: "Light thatblast-lamp, and we'll open it."
Austin's fingers trembled, and he wasted several matches before thesheet of flame sprang up. Then he fell furiously upon the case with ahammer and splintered the lid. He plunged his hand in and took out aquill, which he twisted until it burst, and spilled a little heap ofgleaming grains in his palm.
"It's gold," he said.
"Empty the lot!" said Jefferson, and his voice was hoarse. "Your hat isbig enough. It will all go into it."
There was a low murmur from the Spaniards when Austin obeyed him, and hehanded the wide-brimmed hat to Jefferson.
"Would you make it four pounds?" asked the latter.
"I certainly would not."
Jefferson laughed harshly. "Then it's probably worth some AL200," hesaid. "It's rather a grim joke, considering what has no doubt been donefor the sake of it."
He laid the hat down, and one of the Spaniards, glancing at the littlepile of quills, broke into a torrent of horrible maledictions, whileAustin, who said nothing, gazed at his comrade until the latter made acurious little gesture.
"There is still the gum," he said.
Austin smiled sardonically. "If you can still believe in it you are anoptimist of the finest water. Any way, we'll go and look for it. It willbe a relief to get done with the thing."
They waded to the surfboat, which lay close by on the beach, and sliddown stream to an adjacent island, where they had no difficulty infinding the tree the man who made the note in the engineers' tables hadalluded to. The moon had, however, sunk behind a cloud, and they toiledby the light of the blast-lamp for half an hour, until once more one ofthe Canarios struck something with his shovel. They dragged it out withdifficulty, and found it to be a heavy, half-rotten bag, with somethingthat appeared to be a package of plaited fibre inside it. Other bagsfollowed, and hope was growing strong in them again when they haddisclosed at least a score. Jefferson looked at Austin with a littlesmile in his eyes.
"There's a couple of hundred pounds, any way, in each of those bags, andif the man who told me was right, that stuff is worth anything over AL100the ton," he said. "So far as we have prospected, this strip of sand isfull of them. It's going to be more profitable than gold-mining. We'llget this lot into the surfboat first. Put that lamp out."
Austin did so, and they staggered through a foot or two of water withthe bags on their backs. Some of them burst as they carried them, butthe fibre packages remained intact, and the big boat was almost loadedwhen Austin, who was breathless, seated himself for a moment on hergunwale. He could see by the silvery gleam on the cloud bank's edge thatthe moon was coming through again, and he was glad of the fact, for hehad stumbled and once fallen heavily under his burden when flounderingthrough the strip of thorny brushwood which fringed the beach. Still, heagreed with Jefferson that it was not advisable to use the bigblast-light any longer than was absolutely necessary, for they both hadan unpleasant suspicion that they had not done yet with Funnel-paint. Itwas, indeed, for that reason they had made the search at night and usedthe surfboat, which could be paddled almost silently, instead of thelaunch, though Tom had repaired her boiler, and she was then lyingalongside the _Cumbria_, with steam up, ready.
The black hull of the latter was faintly visible, and as he glanced atit he fancied that a puff of white steam sprang up where he supposed thelocomotive boiler to be. A moment later a thin, shrill scream rangthrough the stillness, and one of the Spaniards, startled by the sound,fell heavily against the boat with the bag he was carrying. Austin madea sign to Jefferson, who was staggering across the beach with a bag uponhis back.
"They're whistling," he said. "I fancy I can hear the launch coming."
There was another hoarser scream, and when it died away a low thuddingsound crept out of the darkness. Austin swept his gaze upriver, butcould only see the shadowy mangroves, for the moon had not come throughyet.
"Funnel-paint!" said Jefferson, breathlessly. "There are four more bagsin sight. We'll get her afloat before we go for them."
They did it up to their waists in water, and it cost them an effort, forthe big boat was heavy now; and then, though the Spaniards glancedlongingly at the _Cumbria_'s blinking lights, Jefferson insisted upontheir carrying down the bags. When that was done, nobody lost any timein getting on board; and, grasping the paddles, they drove her out intothe stream.
"Paddle!" said Jefferson grimly. "I guess it's for your lives!"
It is probable that the Spaniards did not understand him, but they didwhat they could, for while the clank of the launch's engines grew louderthe sound of paddles was also rapidly drawing nearer. There were,however, very few of them, and the boat was big, so that Austin gaspedwith relief when at last the little steamer swept round her stern.
"Stand by for the line!" said Tom, who sprang up on her deck. "Theycan't be far off. It's ten minutes, any way, since we first heard theirpaddles."
The tow-line was caught, and tightened with a jerk, and the surfboatwent upstream with the yellow water frothing about her, while Austincould hear the rhythmic thud of paddles through the clank ofhard-pressed engines. Jefferson said nothing, but stood rigidly still,with hands clenched on the big steering oar, until they drove alongsidethe _Cumbria_.
"Up with you, Tom, and see they whip those bags in!" he said. "I wantthe case you'll find under the settee in my room, too. You'll sing outfor two or three men who can be relied on, Austin."
"What are you going to do?" asked Austin.
Jefferson laughed unpleasantly. "Head the devils off from the island,any way, and, if it's necessary, obliterate some of Funnel-paint'sf
riends. It's fortunate the launch has twice the speed of any canoe."
He clambered on board the launch, and when a few more men camescrambling down, swung her out before they could decide whether it wouldbe wiser to climb back again. After that, he left the helm to Austin,and moving towards the engine, opened the valve wide.
"Head her for the islet. If they have had anybody watching us in acanoe, they'll go there first," he said.
Austin made a sign of comprehension, but said nothing until his comrade,sitting down, opened the case he had asked for. Then he became possessedby unpleasant apprehensions as he saw Jefferson take out several rollsof giant-powder with fuses attached to them. They looked exactly likecandles now, only the wicks were black, and unusually long. Sittingstill, very grim in face, he tied one or two together, and then nipped apiece or two off the fuses with his knife.
"I guess it would be as well to make sure," he said.
"Of what?" asked Austin.
"That they'll go off when I want them," and Jefferson laughed a littlegrating laugh. "I've had them ready for some while, and took a good dealof trouble timing the fuses. Now, the effect of giant-powder's usuallylocal, and I figure one could throw these things far enough for us tokeep outside the striking radius. They'd go better with a littlecompression, but there's a big detonator inside them which should stirthem up without it. If these two sticks fell upon a nigger they wouldn'tblow him up. They'd dissolve him right into gases, and it's quiteprobable there wouldn't be any trace of him left."
Austin asked no more questions. Worn as he was by tense effort and theclimate, kept awake as he had been to watch when he might have slept atnight, and troubled by vague apprehensions that the loathsome plaguemight be working in his blood, he was ready, and, perhaps, rather morethan that, to turn upon the man who had made their heavy burden moreoppressive still. Indeed, it would have been a relief to him to feel thejump of a rifle barrel in his hand, but from Jefferson's scheme heshrank almost aghast. To run amuck, with flashing pistol or smashingfirebar, among the canoes, would have appeared to him a natural thing,but the calculating quietness of his comrade, who sat so unconcernedly,making sure that the rolls of plastic material should not fail, struckhim as wholly abnormal, and a trifle horrible. Pistol shot, macheteslash, and spear thrust, were things that one might face; but it seemedbeyond toleration that another man should unloose the tremendouspotentialities pent up in those yellow rolls upon flesh and blood.
He was, however, quite aware that there was nothing to be gained byprotesting, and while Jefferson went on with his grim preparations heturned his gaze upriver towards the approaching canoes. He could seethem clearly, black bars that slid with glinting paddles athwart a trackof silvery radiance, for the half-moon had sailed out from behind thecloud. They were coming on in a phalanx, five or six of them, and thesplash and thud of the paddles rose in a rhythmic din. He swung thelaunch's bows a trifle down stream, to run in between them and theisland.
Then he turned again, and saw Bill, the fireman, watching Jefferson. Thelight of the engine lantern was on his face, and it showed wry andrepulsive with its little venomous grin. Forward, the Spaniards wereclustered together, and they were, by their movements, apparentlyloosening their wicked knives; but they showed no sign of consternation,and Austin became sensible of a change in his mood. It seemed to himthat he and they had grown accustomed to fear, and felt it less in theland of shadow. If they were to be wiped out by a spear thrust, orJefferson's giant-powder, which seemed equally likely, nothing that hecould do would avert it; but by degrees he became possessed by a quietvindictive anger against the man who had forced this quarrel on themwhen their task was almost done. There were, he fancied, fifty or sixtymen in the canoes, and he felt a little thrill of grim satisfaction ashe reflected that if he and his comrades went under they would not goalone. In fact, he could almost sympathise with Jefferson.
In the meanwhile the canoes were drawing level with them as theyapproached the islet. He could see the wet paddles glinting, and thenaked bodies swing, while presently Jefferson, who made Bill a littlesign to stop the engine, stood up on the deck. The case of giant-powderlay open at his feet, and Bill laid a glowing iron on the cylindercovering. The men in the canoes ceased paddling, and while the craftslid slowly nearer each other there was for a moment or two animpressive silence, through which Austin fancied he could hear a faintrhythmic throbbing. Then Jefferson, who cut one of the rolls ofgiant-powder through, flung up his hand.
"Where you lib for, Funnel-paint?" he shouted.
"Them beach," said the negro, and his voice reached them clearly. "Wedone come for them gum. You lib for 'teamboat before we cut you t'roat!"
"Then I'm going to put the biggest kind of Ju-Ju onto you," saidJefferson. "You savvy how I blow up them headman's house? If you don'twant to be blown up like it, lib for up river one time, and be ---- toyou!"
There was probably only one man among them who partly understood him,but his gesture was fierce and commanding, and the confused splashingof paddles suggested that some, at least, of the negroes were impressed.Two of the canoes moved backwards against the stream, and whileFunnel-paint cried out in his own tongue, Jefferson stooped.
"Touch that on the iron, Bill," he said.
In another moment he stood very straight again with a dim object thatsparkled in his hand, and then hurled it at the island. It fell amidstthe brushwood, out of which there sprang a sheet of flame that wasfollowed by a detonation and a great upheaval of flying sand. Then thepaddles splashed confusedly, and in another minute or two the canoeswere a hundred yards away. After that there was silence, broken only bythe voice of Funnel-paint, who seemed to be flinging reproaches at hisfriends, and a faint, dull throbbing which Austin fancied was a trifleplainer than before. Then Jefferson laughed as he took up another stickof giant-powder.
"That seems to have scared them, but if they come back again they'll getthe next one in the middle of them," he said.
"Listen!" said Austin, holding up his hand. "Can't you hear engines?"
Jefferson swung round sharply, and the scream of a whistle came shrillyacross the water from the _Cumbria_ just then. It was answered byanother of a deeper tone, and a blaze of blue light sprang up,apparently out of the creek. It showed a black shape that wallowedthrough a mass of piled up foam.
"A launch!" said Jefferson. "A fast one!"
"No," said Austin. "A pinnace. A gunboat's pinnace. Ah! the canoes aregoing."
There was a sudden thudding of paddles, and the canoes melted into thedarkness as the moon sailed behind a cloud again; but the whirr andthump of engines drew nearer, and Jefferson reached down for thelantern.
"Well," he said, "a good deal depends upon what country she belongs to,and it's quite likely we're going to have trouble. Still, we have got toface it now."
He waved the lantern, and while the whirr of engines slackened a voicecame out of the darkness.
"Launch ahoy! Is that the _Cumbria_ yonder?" it said in excellentEnglish.
Austin took the lantern from Jefferson with a soft laugh.
"I'll take charge now--you see, I'm acquainted with my countrymen'slittle peculiarities," he said, and raised his voice a trifle. "It is.If you don't mind steaming that far, we should consider it a pleasure todo anything we can for you."
"If you have no great objections, I'll come on board now," said theother man. "Starboard a little! Start her slow!"
There was a whirring of engines, a little, very trim pinnace crept upalongside, and a young man in immaculate white uniform stepped on thelaunch's deck.
"Ah!" he said, "Mr. Austin! I've had the pleasure of meeting you before.What has become of the niggers?"
"Which niggers?" asked Jefferson, carelessly.
The young officer looked at him with a little dry smile, and it wasevident that his eyes were keen, for he made a sign to Bill, who wasabout to secrete the giant-powder.
"I am," he said, "under the impression that you know a good deal moreabout them than I do. We ha
ve rather good glasses, and I certainly madeout four or five canoes. May I ask what that stuff is yonder?"
"It is what, I believe, is called in America giant-powder," said Austin."We found it useful in blowing the mangroves up."
"Quite so," said the officer. "In fact, we heard the detonation. Still,I daresay there are several things we should like to ask each otherabout, and you suggested going across to your steamer."
"I did," said Austin. "We should be glad of your company for to-night,at least, though I'm afraid we can't offer you much to eat. This is mypartner, Jefferson--Lieutenant Onslow."