Treasure of Kings
Page 10
CHAPTER IX--I AM LEFT TO MY DOOM
I was now, it was apparent, in such a situation that my life was oflittle worth. Without doubt, Amos did believe that I was capable ofguiding our little column to the place where the Greater Treasure washidden.
He thought, perhaps, that I had looked at the fragment of the map I hadsnatched from his hand, or else that John Bannister had told me the fullstory.
As a matter of fact, I knew nothing. When flying for my very life fromAmos, I had had other things to think of than to gratify a very naturalcuriosity, and had never so much as cast a glance at the map. And asfor Bannister, I have said already this was the one subject upon whichhe could never or seldom be induced to talk.
Amos, however, held a contrary opinion. Somehow, he must have learnedthat for several months John Bannister had been a good friend to me, andin his own mind had never questioned that I knew all there was to know.
In either case, it was all the same to him; for my life was worthnothing if I could not help him in the furtherance of his purpose, and Iwas but a fifth mouth to feed in a wild, tropic region where food wasdifficult to find.
That day I had a stormy scene with Amos, who was supported by Mr.Forsyth, whose questions I found even more difficult to answer; whilstJoshua Trust stood by, tugging at his red beard, which had now becomemore untidy and unkempt than ever. As for Vasco, he sat at a littledistance, cross-legged, looking in a puzzled manner from Amos Baverstockto me.
I swore on my oath to them that Bannister had told me nothing; but theywould not believe me. Then, for the first time, I was shown the mapwhich Amos had brought with him all the way from Sussex; and at once Iobserved a singular coincidence.
For the parchment had been rent across the very place where was markedthe great ruined building even then before us; and all Amos had of itwas the following inscription: THE ANCIENT TEMPLE OF C---- and then camethe torn edge, where I had held the parchment tightly between my thumband forefinger.
But this information, slight as it was, had been enough for Amos, whoknew well the story of Cahazaxa, the Peruvian prince, of whom I willtell in the proper place. Both Bannister and Amos had heard often ofCahazaxa's Temple, which might be regarded as a kind of half-way houseupon our treasure hunt. And upon the other portion of the map, which Ihad hidden in a rabbit-hole, were the letters "AHAZAXA," plain enough toany one who had ever heard of the temple, and thence the route markedplainly to the secret place where the Greater Treasure lay.
Had Bannister ever shown me the map, I should in all probability haveremembered the names of some of the places marked thereon; but he hadnever done so--which, after all, saved me a world of trouble at one ofthe most critical moments in my life.
For, had I known, I trust I would never have confessed to these unholyscoundrels. I like to think that my courage would not have failed me atthe eleventh hour. As it was, being wholly ignorant, I had nothing totell, and boldly declared as much, though both the hunchback and Mr.Forsyth thought me to be lying.
The former worked himself into a kind of frenzied passion. Gripping meby a wrist, he jerked me first in one direction, then in another,sometimes so violently that my head flew backward and forward like aweather-cock in the wind.
"We'll have the truth from you!" he shouted. "I'll have it, though Imust tear it from you with red-hot irons."
"I know nothing," I persisted.
"You'll speak or die," he answered. "And I'll see to it that death doesnot come easy!"
All that day, they badgered me and persecuted me with questions. And inthe end, when the sun was setting, they gave it up, and decided to putme to death.
Mine was a strange fate, in very truth; and now, when I look back uponthat hour, I marvel that I took it all so calmly. For it was my destinyto sit by the camp-fire, whilst our evening meal of maize and manioc wascooking, and hear them discuss among themselves how I should be done todeath.
Trust was all for rough-and-ready methods, in keeping with the bluntcharacter of the man; Amos, for cold, deliberate torture; whereasForsyth would bind me to a tree and leave me in the midst of that greatwilderness to starve.
It was Mr. Forsyth's vote that was carried; and now that I knew themanner of my death, I was filled with cold fear, though till then I hadborne my ordeal with a fortitude that surprised even myself.
And bound I was, then and there, to a stout palm-tree that stood byitself a little distance from the margin of the forest. For rope theyused a kind of creeper that was common in the woods, and not only wasthis as strong as a ship's hawser, but so hard and tied so tightly thatit cut into my legs and arms like bands of steel.
"AND BOUND I WAS, THEN AND THERE, TO A STOUT PALM TREE, ALITTLE DISTANCE FROM THE MARGIN OF THE FOREST."]
In such a manner was I doomed. For an hour or so I watched those threedread men, all so different, alike in nothing but their devilry, sittingtogether around the fire, talking in low voices, even pleasantly, as ifto do murder were an every-day affair.
Then they lay down to sleep, and both Trust and Amos were soon snoring;whereas I was left, already athirst and hungry, to await the approach ofa terrible and lingering death.
That night and those which followed will live always in my memory. Iwatched the moon rise, wondrous round and white and large, behind therounded hill upon which stood Cahazaxa's Temple. The stars, which hadbeen shining in their millions, faded in the moonshine, all save onebright planet in the sky above me. And there arose a mist, in which Ithought there was something ghostly, upon the plain where the long grassstood like corn ready for the cutting. And behind me, as if striving toenfold me in an overpowering, stifling embrace, was the dark, deadlyforest that cut me off from all and everything I loved.
Long before dawn, Amos Baverstock was stirring. I watched him kindlethe embers of the camp-fire into a blaze, and, sitting with his crookedback, he looked just like a monkey. I noticed that even at that hour hewas chewing one of his foul, black cigars, his stock of which wasrunning low. Presently, he awakened Trust and Forsyth. They ate theirbreakfast in silence; never a word was said. And then they packed theirknapsacks and set forward upon the march, in the gloaming, with never aword or a glance at me.
They marched in a bee-line upon the ruins of the ancient temple, andwere soon lost both to sound and sight, for the plain lay even yet inthe shadow of the night.
The dawn--the great heat at midday--the majesty and grandeur of thewilderness in the heart of which I was doomed and lost for ever--and,above all else, the grave-like silence of that place--it were better Imade no attempt to describe these things than fail in the endeavour. Iknow no more than that my loneliness was overpowering. It was as if Iwas the only living atom, save the insects and the butterflies thatfluttered round about me, in all that world of gorgeous vegetation.
I could not move a fraction of an inch. I would gaze by the hour at thegreat stones of the ruins before me, small in the distance and yet plainto see in that clear atmosphere, and wonder what manner of men had livedthere in bygone days--what had been their hopes, their interests, theirmode of life. And then my thirst would consume me; my tongue wouldcleave to the roof of my mouth, and I would suck my lips to find themdry as bones.
One day of it had been more than I could bear; and that second night, Iprayed that death might come speedily, for I saw that in death onlywould I find release from all my sufferings. But I lived on, like theAncient Mariner himself; and on the third day, as on that tragic ship,there came a rain--a blessed rain from Heaven itself for me. Cloudsappeared as if by magic, a dark canopy cast across the forest like acurtain; and the skies on a sudden opened and the rain came down intorrents.
I was wetted in an instant to the skin, but I cared nothing for that. Ithrew back my head with opened mouth, and the water streaming down myface was life and strength and hope to me.
And that night I no longer prayed for death; I prayed to the great Godof Right and Justice for deliverance. And yet, how weak is humannature, how little is
our faith! For before morning I was strugglinglike a madman to free myself from my bonds.
The more violently I fought for liberty, the greater pain I suffered;for the hard fibre cut into my flesh until I gave it up, and, overcomeby sheer exhaustion, I fell asleep, held upright by my bonds.
I awoke to behold the half-light of approaching day. The plain of grassbefore me was lost in the mist which, in that weird place, came alwaysat sunset and at dawn.
I looked about me as if I yet were dreaming. The giant forest trees hadtaken upon themselves the shape of ugly spectres. The tall grass swayedin the wind of the dawn with a soft, rustling sound that reminded me ofmy mother's silken dresses. I watched a lizard, the length of afoot-rule, run swiftly down the trunk of a tree and make off into thegrass.
I endeavoured in vain to trace its passage, wondering whither the littlecreature was going so swiftly; and when I looked up I beheld to myastonishment--a man!