CHAPTER XI.
BLACK-FELLOWS.
In the exultation of the thought Eustace plunged into the scrub androde on and on unheedingly, lost in dreams of the adventure beforehim. Always he found Bob, always he rescued him, sometimes with themost thrilling hair-breadth escapes.
The wood was not dark but densely shady, with black distances. Itpresently began to worry Eustace that it was impossible to keep astraight line for the direction whence the answering cry had come;it was often necessary to wind in and out of the close-growing treestems to find a passage for himself and Bolter. There was no road,path, or even track to follow.
"This will get muddling," he thought, when he had been twisting andturning, doubling back on his route, for about half an hour. "Iguess I ought to have marked the trees with notches as I camealong. I'll go back and start again."
He pulled Bolter up, sat back on his saddle, and looked round forthe gleam of light through the trunks of the trees that would guidehim back to the open; but there was none--nothing but an evenmonotony of dense distance, no matter where he turned.
The boy's heart stood still in the unpleasant shock of surprise.Which way had he come? He had not the slightest notion, for eachway looked so exactly the same as the other. He realized withsickening intensity that he had lost his bearings.
"But I must find my way out, of course," he said, addressingBolter's glossy ears. "I'll try each way in turn till I see thelight. There is nothing to be scared about."
He felt quite angry with himself for his momentary panic; it wasstupid and babyish. Of course fellows had been lost in the Bush,but they couldn't have been such a short way in as he must be bynow. True, he had heard a story of a chap who had gone round andround like a squirrel in a cage not a mile from the outskirts ofthe scrub. He was "bushed," and found dead.
The boy shuddered, then literally shook himself as he urged Bolteron again to begin investigations.
"I won't think about it," he said, setting his teeth. "I must getout, and begin again; I must."
In and out of the trees he wound, trying his utmost to retrace hissteps; but he had noticed nothing on the way in, and he had nolandmarks to guide him. This went on so long that, fight as hewould with the fear at his heart, it began to master him.
"Seems to me I am always coming back to the place I start from," hethought, with a desperate sense of helplessness; "but there isn't abit of difference between these hateful trees. I'll mark one andtry."
He cut a deep gash in the bark of the nearest to him, and went on.But though he watched most carefully, he never came on that treeagain.
"As I'm not getting out," he reflected, "I must be getting deeperand deeper into the scrub. Oh, what shall I do--what shall I do?What a silly fool I have been! I might have remembered father'swarnings. Bob said one ought to learn to think out all sides of aquestion. I didn't; and now if father goes back I shan't be thereto tell him I heard the coo-ee. Oh dear, oh dear!"
He gave a gasping sigh, almost a sob. To have been so near savingBob, and not to have done it after all--only to die "bushed"! Itwas enough to break a man's nerve, let alone a child's.
He went back in thought to the river bank, picturing how it wouldhave been if he had only patiently waited, giving a coo-ee now andagain to keep in touch with the answerer.
"Why, how silly I am!" he exclaimed. "If I coo-ee now he willanswer me, and I can follow that."
The thought cheered him instantly, and making a hollow mouthpiecewith his hands to increase the sound, he gave the loudest coo-ee hehad ever given in his life.
There was not the faintest response.
Again and again he repeated it, straining his ears to hear if therecame a reply. More and more agonized grew his cries; so intense hissilences between that he even stopped his breathing to listen. Butthere was nothing to hear. He got hot and cold by turns; he feltsick and queer. It was now hours since his departure from theHighlands, and he had had no food since the very poor supper hemanaged to eat the night before. The effort of shouting did notimprove matters, and he was so hoarse at last he could call nomore.
Then he completely lost his head, and began riding with desperateinconsequence as straight ahead as the trees would allow. Staystill he could not; the inaction terrified him. He argued that hemust get somewhere by going on long enough--somewhere "through tothe other side," as he expressed it.
"Why doesn't Bob answer?" that was the most troublesome thought."Have I got out of earshot?"
Presently Eustace was beyond thinking; he went on dully because hefelt he must keep on the move; but hunger, exhaustion, and the heatof the now well-advanced day were beginning to tell on him. Theapathy threatened to become so settled that it was a mercy whenBolter presently stumbled so badly that Eustace had to rousehimself to hold on. Then it was that he noticed straight before himat last a wide gleam of light amongst the stems of the trees.
The sight put such life and spirit into him that he whipped up thenow drooping Bolter, who also had just cause to reflect on nobreakfast and general ill-usage, and they covered the ground asfast as possible, considering how unequal it was, how thick theundergrowth in parts.
A disappointment and a great surprise awaited the pair when theyemerged into this open space--it was nothing but a clearing in thewood after all, dotted about with queer-shaped huts scarcely astall as a man, and all made of pliable branches of treesinterwoven with grass for walls.
Eustace pulled up short in breathless dismay, for a few paces awaythere arose from among these untidy "humpies" some twentynatives--erect, alert, all with poised boomerangs or spears readyto fling. It was a sinister reception for one small boy on a spenthorse. Of course the keen-eared black-fellows had heard him comingfrom miles away, and were ready.
It was small wonder, considering his condition, that after onewild, appealing glance at the line of fierce, dark faces Eustacefell forward on Bolter's neck in a dead faint. He did not see theweapons lowered, or the gleam of something like grim amusement onthe chief's face as he realized for what it was they had been soelaborately prepared.
Out of the huts crept stealthy figures of women and children. WhenEustace opened his eyes he found himself lying flat on his backwith these people crowding inquisitively around. He looked up intotheir repulsively heavy faces with a horror of realization. Forsome moments he was too paralyzed to stir. No more awful fate couldhave befallen him than this--it was the sort of thing that mightcome to one in a nightmare. But he knew it was no dream. Therestood Bolter a few paces away, grazing thankfully, and in no wayperturbed.
The harsh guttural language these people spoke was unintelligibleto the boy, but he could guess they were intensely curious abouthim from the way they pointed and stared. It seemed to him thatsome of them could never have seen a white child before, they wereso excited, especially the children, who looked half terrified.Were they cannibals these people? he wondered, with a sinkingheart.
He forced himself to his feet, and stood shaking a second, thendropped on his knees. The performance seemed to amuse the gapinggroup--the younger men and women laughed, the children clappedtheir hands.
Eustace was wondering drearily how long they would stand staring athim, when the chief strode up to him and said something with manygesticulations; but not a thing could the boy understand.
The chief was much more decorated than any one else--covered fromhead to heels with stripes and devices in white, blue, and redpaint. There were feathers in his crisp dark hair, and slung overhis shoulder a strange shaped club.
Eustace proceeded, by means of much waving, pointing, and thepatter talked on the plantation by the coolies, to try and explainhow he had come there, and how very much he only wanted to get awayand find the way home. But it was useless--the men shook theirheads and looked perplexed.
Seeing that no one seemed inclined to molest him, but that everyone merely watched him as if he were a monkey in a cage at the Zoo,he resolved on a desperate step. With a supreme effort he stoodagain, staggered over to Bolter,
and attempted to mount.
But this was not allowed. With two strides the chief was upon him,flinging him back on the ground as a big boy might fling a kittenfrom him. Then the great man plainly intimated that this creaturehe considered his; no one should touch it. Eustace was not to dareto approach it. The chief's attitude was menacing; it was well tobe seen he felt he had acquired a prize.
"But what is going to happen to me?" thought Eustace, quaking withfear. "What will they do with me?"
No one seemed to have any intention of doing anything with him atthe moment; he was only stared at. The men, for the most part, werenow more interested in Bolter, particularly his saddle and bridle.Little by little the women dropped off, as if they had work toattend to, and a smell of cooking arose that made the boy sick withlonging as he sat huddled up and half silly with starvation andfatigue. The apathy that had been upon him before he was cheered bythe gleam of light crept over him again; fear faded from his mind;nothing seemed to matter any more.
He sat so still that presently the children crept closer, and beganto finger his clothes, as if they puzzled them. What drew them awayfrom him he did not realize till something was thrust under hisvery nose, and the smell told him it was food.
He had just enough sense left to try and eat; but before he hadswallowed five mouthfuls he rolled over and fell sound asleep.Nothing could have kept him awake--neither a thunderstorm nor anearthquake.
When he awoke again to a consciousness of his surroundings the sunwas rising. He had come through the night in safety--that was hisfirst thought; and it both surprised and encouraged him. Surely, heargued, if they wanted to kill him he would not have been spared solong.
The scarcely-touched food was still beside him. Refreshed by themuch-needed sleep, he was able to eat it now, and began to feelmore like himself again, though stiff and still weary. He wassufficiently rested for his brain to be active once more, and hiswhole thoughts were bent upon what was to become of him next.
Bolter was tethered at the other side of the open space, wellguarded, as if the chief thought he might try to inveigle the horseaway by some magic means, then mount and ride off. It was veryevident that if he meant to get away it would have to be onfoot--the chief would not part with Bolter. The question was: Didthey mean to detain Eustace as prisoner? At present, except thatthey stared inquisitively at him, every one seemed fairlyindifferent to his presence. However, he decided that it would befoolish to put the matter to the test in broad daylight; he mustwait till nightfall, and under cover of the intense darkness makehis escape. He set himself to wait as patiently as he could,pretending to be as drowsy and inert as a well-fed snake; but hismind was very active. He had never thought so many thoughts in allhis life before. What, he wondered, could Mrs. Cochrane havethought of his disappearance? Had his father returned to theHighlands and discovered it? Were they keeping his loss from hismother as they had kept Bob's from Mrs. Cochrane? Was it possibleBob had got safe and sound home again? And oh! were they lookingfor him?
There came an answer both to this and to the question as to theblack-fellows' intentions respecting him that very morning.
Eustace had been furtively watching the dark figures moving to andfro. Apparently some of the men went off to hunt. Except when theywere preparing food, the women seemed to do nothing. The childrensquabbled and tumbled about, or slept like tired brown kittens incasual places. There was a great hush over everything, whensuddenly across the silence came a sound that set every pulse inthe boy's body astir, so that the beating of his heart almostchoked him. It was a distant but long, clear coo-ee.
Wild with joy Eustace sprang to his feet, but before he could makea sound he found himself surrounded by a dozen menacing figures,clubs in hand, ready to fell him if he dared to reply.
Some of the tribes are very secretive and stealthy in theirmovements. It was well to be seen that this one did not wish tohave its camping ground divulged.
With a thrill of horror Eustace understood that he was powerless.To cry out would mean certain death. It might be their intention tokill him at any rate, but in the postponement lay a chance ofescape. He must meet stealth by stealth.
Again the coo-ee cut through the air, but Eustace covered his facewith his hands and dropped dejectedly back on the ground.
It was a bitter moment. Could anything have been worse than to knowhelp was at hand, and to be unable to take it?
That a search-party was now out he felt certain; it was probablyhis father's voice, and he dared not answer. He had the sense tosee how useless it would be to give one cry, and die for it. Butoh! it was hard--cruelly hard.
It seemed to him those coo-ees went on for hours, each with a longlistening pause after it, sometimes nearer, gradually fading awayand away till they were no louder than the answer he had receivedon the banks of the creek.
In addition to the keenness of the disappointment and the terrorthat he was losing his last chance of ever getting home again camethe speculation as to what these wild-faced people meant to do withhim, and there leaped to his mind a new and very terrible question.Was it possible that Bob had come this way? Had they met him withspears and boomerangs, and dispatched him before he had time towhip out his revolver? But no. There was still that answeringcoo-ee to be accounted for. Perhaps they had only bound him andmade him prisoner till then, undecided what to do with him. It waspossible that on hearing Eustace's coo-ee he had dared the blacks,and attempted those three faint answers. If so, they had cost himhis life, and the ultimate silence was explained.
Eustace lay shuddering over the thought. He could only keep histeeth from chattering by holding his jaw tightly in both hands.
How long he lay lost in those miserable thoughts he did not know.He was roused from his lethargy by a soft kick, and, starting up,he found the woman who fed him the day before beside him offeringhim food again. She seemed to treat him as if he were a white pigthat had strayed amongst them. He was probably a less intelligiblecreature in her eyes, but she knew that he must at least eat tolive.
It was a messy preparation, but he managed to eat some; and all thedriest portions of it he could extract unnoticed he slipped intohis pockets, laying in provision for possible starvation next day.Then he lay down again and feigned sleep.
He looked through half-closed lids with longing eyes at thepeaceful Bolter. Eustace wondered whether he too had heard thosetantalizing coo-ees and ached to respond. What would be poorBolter's fate here? The blacks make the women of the tribes intotheir beasts of burden when shifting camp; they do not habituallyuse horses. The chief was perhaps only keeping Bolter as a valuableaddition to the larder when provisions ran short.
Every thought that came to the boy was horrid. He wished he did nothave to think, and as dusk fell set his mind to the task of keepingawake after his captors had settled down for the night. It would befatal to sleep as he had done the night before.
The chief had been away all day, and was not yet come back. It waspossible judgment on the prisoner was suspended till his return.When the great man heard of the coo-ees and Eustace's attempt toanswer, probably the boy's fate would be sealed. Escape must be nowor never.
Eustace made up his mind that he would start off in the directionwhence the coo-ees had come. It was the only guide he had, and avery poor one, as had already been proved by the first cry he hadso unfortunately tried to follow.
He waited just as long as he could bear, after silence fell on thecamp. There was no question of taking Bolter. He was guarded as onthe night before; besides, he would have made too much noise.Eustace dared not get up and walk himself, or even crawl. He hadinvented a silent, gliding movement as he lay scheming--by means ofstrong tufts of grass he meant to gradually pull his body,snakewise, little by little away from the open into the wood.
As soon as he dared he began his weird progress, quaking at everysound he made lest it should rouse those keen-eared sleepers soclose around him. The soft "frou-frou" of the dry grass beneath himsounded to his excited fancy like the sudd
en rushing of a torrent.He was almost overwhelmed by the fear of pulling himselfinadvertently up against one of those dark forms, for he did notknow where every one was lying. One false move now, and it wouldmean the end of all things for him.