XXXVI.
_CARL FINDS A GEOLOGICAL SPECIMEN._
In the mean time Carl ascended the moonlit slope, with Sprowl's pistolon one side of him, and the corporal's bayonet on the other. Between thetwo he felt that he had little chance. But he did not despair. Hereasoned thus with himself:--
"These two men vill not think to take the cave alone. They must go backfor reenforcements. That shall make a diwersion in my favor. If I showthem some dark place, and make them think it is there, they vill not gowery near to examine." And he arrived at this conclusion: "I suppose Ishall inwent a cave."
They were advancing cautiously towards the summit of a bushy ridge.Suddenly Carl stopped.
"Anything?" said Sprowl. Carl nodded, with a pleased and confidentsmile. "What?"
"You shall see wery soon. Shtoop low." He himself crouched close to theground. The men followed his example. "Come a little more on. Now yousee that rock?" Lysander saw it. "Vell, it is not there."
They crept forward a little farther. Then Carl stopped again, andsaid,--
"You see that tree?"
"Which?"
"All alone in the moonshine." Lysander perceived it.
"Vell," said Carl, "it is not there."
Again they advanced, and again he paused and pointed.
"You see them little saplings?" Lysander distinguished them revealedagainst the sky.
"Vell," said Carl, "it is not there neither."
He was crawling on again, when Sprowl seized his collar.
"What the devil do you mean?--if I see these things!"
Carl turned on his side, smiled intelligently, and, beckoning thecaptain to bring his ear close, put his lips to it, covered them withhis hand, with an air of secrecy, and whispered hoarsely,--
"Landmarks!"
"Ah! well!" said Lysander, suffering him to proceed.
Carl crept slowly, raising his head at every moment to observe. Thebayonet came behind; the captain continued at his side. "The further Itake these willains from the others, the petter," thought he. At lengthhe came in view of the high ledge upon which Penn had discovered Cudjoat his idolatrous devotions, on the night of the fire. The moon wasgetting behind the mountain, and there were dark shadows beneath thisledge. Though he should travel a mile, he might not find a more suitablespot to locate his fictitious cave. He hesitated; considered well; thengently tapped Lysander's arm.
"You see vair the rock comes down? And some pushes just under it? Vell,the cave is pehind the pushes, ven you find it!" Which was indeed true.
Lysander crept a few paces nearer, stealthily, flat on his belly, withhis head slightly elevated, like a dark reptile gliding over the moonlitground.
"Now is my time!" thought Carl. His heart beat violently. He raisedhimself on his knees, preparing to spring. Lysander was at least tenfeet in advance of him, and he thought he would risk the pistol. "Irun--he fires--he vill miss me--I shall get avay." But the corporal?Just then he felt a piercing pressure in his side. It was the corporal,nudging him with the bayonet to make him lie down.
"I vas shust going a little nearer."
The corporal seemed satisfied with the explanation; but, as the boyadvanced on his hands and knees, he advanced close behind him,--holdingthe bayoneted gun ready for a thrust.
So Carl succeeded only in getting a little nearer Lysander, withoutincreasing at all the distance between him and the corporal. It was astate of affairs that required serious consideration. He lay dawn again,and pretended to be anxiously looking for the mouth of the cave, whilstwatching and reflecting.
Just then occurred a circumstance which seemed almost providentiallydesigned to favor the boy's strategy. Upon the ledge appeared two humanfigures, male and female, touched by the moonlight, and defined againstthe sky. They remained but a moment on the summit, then began to descendin the shadow of the ledge. Their movements were slow, uncertain,mysterious. Below the base of the rock they stood once more in themoonlight, and after appearing to consult together for a few seconds,disappeared behind the bushes where Carl had placed his imaginary cave.
If Sprowl had any doubts on the subject before, he was now entirelysatisfied. He believed the forms to be those of Virginia and theschoolmaster; they had been out to enjoy solitude and sentiment in themoonlight; and now they were returning reluctantly to the cave.
"Wouldn't Gus be edified if he was in my place!" Lysander little thoughtthat _he_ was the one to be edified,--as he would certainly have been,to an amazing degree, had he known the truth. "But we'll spoil their funin a few minutes!" he said to himself, as he crept back towards hisformer position.
As for Carl, it was he who had been most astonished by the phenomenon.No sooner had he invented a cave, than two phantoms made theirappearance, and walked into it! The illusion was so perfect, that hehimself was almost deceived by it. Only for an instant, however.Continuing to gaze, he had another glimpse of the apparitions, when,having merely passed behind the bushes, they came out beyond them, inthe direction of the real cave, and were lost once more in shadow.Lysander, engaged in making his retrograde movement, did not notice thisvery important circumstance; and the corporal was too intently occupiedin watching Carl to observe anything else.
The captain got behind the shelter of a cluster of thistles, andbeckoned for the two to approach.
"Corporal," said he, "hurry back and tell Ropes to bring up his men.I'll wait here."
The corporal crawled off.
Carl heard the order, saw the movement, and felt thrilled to the heart'score with joy. He was now alone with the captain. And he was no longerunarmed. In creeping towards the thistles, he had laid his hand on awonderful little stone. Somehow, his fingers had closed upon it. It wasabout the size of an apple, slightly flattened, rough, and heavy. "Ithought," he said afterwards, "if anything vas to happen, that stonemight be waluable." And so it proved. Lysander, considering that thecave was found, had become less suspicious. "These Dutch are stupid, andthat's all," he thought.
"You vas going to shoot me," said Carl, with an honest laugh at theludicrousness of the idea.
"And so I would," said Sprowl, with an oath, "if you hadn't brought usto the cave."
"That means," thought Carl, "he vill kill me yet if he can, ven he findsout." He observed, also, that Sprowl, lying on his left side, had hisright hand free, and near the pocket where his pistol was. It was notyet too late for him to be shot if he attempted an escape without firstattempting something else. The violent beating of his heart recommenced.He felt a strange tremor of excitement thrilling through every nerve.His hand still held the pebble, covering and concealing it as he leanedforward on the ground. He crept a little nearer Lysander.
"The vay they go into the cave," he said, "is wery queer."
"How so?" asked the captain.
They were facing each other. Carl drew still a little nearer, and raisedhimself slightly on the hand that grasped the geological specimen.
"I promised to take you in. I vill take you in on vun condition."
"Condition?" repeated Lysander.
"That is vat I said. Vun leetle condition. Let me whishper."
Carl put up his left hand as if to cover the communication he was aboutto breathe into Lysander's ear.
"The condition--IS THIS!"
As he uttered the last words, he seized Lysander's wrist with his lefthand, and at the same instant, with a stroke rapid as lightning, smotehim on the temple with the stone.
All this, being interpreted, meant, "I take you to the cave on conditionthat you go as my prisoner." Thus Carl designed to keep his promise.
As he struck he sprang up, to be ready for any emergency. He hadexpected a struggle, an outcry. He never dreamed that he could strike aman dead with a single blow!
Without a shriek, without even a moan, Lysander merely sunk back uponthe ground, gasped, shuddered, and lay still.
Carl was stupefied. He looked at the prostrate man. Then he cast his eyeall around him on the moonlit mountain slope. No one was in sight.
Wasthis murder he had committed? He knelt down, bending over the horriblymotionless form. He gazed on the ghastly-pale face, and saw issuing fromthe nostrils a dark stream. It was blood.
Was it not all a dream? He still held the stone in his hand. He lookedat it, and mechanically placed it in his pocket. Nothing now seemed leftfor him but to escape to the cave; and yet he remained fixed with horrorto the spot, regarding what he had done.