Treasure of Kings

by Burt L. Standish

  CHAPTER XXIII--HOW AMOS GAINED POSSESSION OF THE MAP

  The thing was done so swiftly that I had no time even to look round. Isat regarding the burly figure of Joshua Trust, very definitely outlinedbefore the red glow of the fire; and I know that the man never suspectedfor a moment what had happened.

  Someone whispered in my ear:

  "Keep an eye on Trust. Draw back into the thickets as silently as youcan. There you will find me waiting for you."

  I had no need to look at him. I knew the voice of John Bannister, eventhough he did no more than whisper. I was resolved to carry out hisinstructions to the word.

  Bannister withdrew. I neither heard nor saw him go, but I feltinstinctively that he was no longer at my back.

  I sat watching Joshua Trust, and saw that the man's chin had droppedupon his chest. It was plain to see that, though he tried his best tokeep awake, he was so sleepy that he could not do so. But, knowing thatthere would be trouble of a certainty if Amos caught him sleeping on hispost, he might awaken with a start at any moment, and for that reason Ithought that I had best take the chance that offered.

  I had been sitting upright, and still kept my hands behind my back,though they were no longer bound together. Moving my attitude as littleas possible, I drew myself backwards, inch by inch. By this cautiousmethod it took me the better part of three minutes to gain the margin ofthe undergrowth--a distance of ten yards at the very most. There I wassuddenly lifted off my feet, carried a short distance and released, tograsp my old friend by the hand.

  And so he had found me at last, though it seemed to me for all the worldas if it was I who had discovered him. He had fulfilled the oath he hadsworn to my mother many months before; and from this moment we werenever again to be parted throughout our great adventure.

  His story I had learned from William Rushby; but Bannister as yet knewnothing of what had happened to me, since he had not seen me from theday when I was kidnapped upon the Littlehampton road. But there was notime then to talk to one another. With as small delay as possible, wemust get well beyond the reach of Amos and his friends.

  That night we journeyed in one another's company for several hoursthrough the darkness of the woods. We could not see where we weregoing, for it was not possible to see a hand before one's face, and wewere scratched most painfully and often upon the thorn-trees that wereplentiful amid the underwoods. But this was of no great account, if ourown safety were ensured; for, sooner or later, Joshua must see that Iwas gone, and would at once give the alarm; and if we were not well outof the way by then, it was quite possible that we might be overtaken,and our plight would be as bad as ever.

  So we hurried blindly on our way, until at last John Bannister deemedthat we were safe. Then it was that I learned for the first time howutterly exhausted he was. He had had no sleep, he told me, for twonights, and he was still weak from the fever which had robbed him ofmore than half his strength.

  "Let us sleep, Dick," said he. "To-morrow there will be time enough foryou to tell me all I want to know."

  And thereupon we lay down to sleep together, side by side, in the densewood in which I had wandered for so long alone; and, strange as it mayseem, we slept hand in hand.

  I experienced a sense of security and peace such as I had never known,it seemed to me, for years. He and I were at last together; and on themorrow he must hear all my story, just as I myself had once been wont tolisten to his wondrous tales of enterprise and daring. I know that Iwas happy, and I also know the reason: I had often dreamed--as boys willlet their fancy run away with them--that he and I were sojourningtogether in some savage place, beset by many dangers. And I always knewthat, if he were with me, there would be naught to fear; we would comeforth unscathed from every peril that threatened life or limb.

  In all conscience, we had enough of danger now, on every side of us, inthe darkness of the Wood. And yet I slept, contented and at peace.

  Daylight awoke us, for we were both creatures of the Wild. Marking theposition of the sun, we set forward towards the west, hoping to gainthat night the ravine where we had left William Rushby.

  Bannister told me that he feared for Rushby's life, since he was surethat Amos and the others would return to the ravine with all possiblespeed, so soon as ever they discovered that I had escaped from theirclutches. I thought by now that I had a fair knowledge of thetopography of the Wood; but I soon found that Bannister knew as much, oreven more, than I. In the night we must have fled towards the south;for we had not gone far upon the route that we had chosen before we cameupon the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles.

  "I know where we are," cried Bannister, at once. "We are about fivemiles to the south of the Big Fish itself. I can tell that by the sizeof the stones in the stream. We had better change our course towardsthe south."

  "But that will take us away from the ravine," said I, "which lies duewest of the Wood, some distance to the north of the Spaniard's Tomb!"

  "You're right, there," said Bannister. "It may be a long way round; butthe longest way is often the quickest, Dick. In a few hours we shouldbe clear of the Wood, although too far to the south. But we shall haveopen country before us, and should march four miles an hour."

  I had, by now, told Bannister my story of all that had happened to mesince I first fell into the hands of Amos Baverstock. He asked fewquestions, though these were always to the point; and when I had toldhim everything, he said nothing, but just placed one of his great handsupon my shoulder, and patted me so affectionately that the actionconveyed far more to me than any words he might have used. I knew thathe cared for me more than he dared trust himself to say, and, moreover,he approved of all that I had done.

  So we journeyed towards the north-west, and came, full early in theafternoon, to open country. Before us we could see the rocky spurs andridges--which were, in fact, the beginning of the foothills of theAndes--running northward for several miles, to end quite suddenly at themorass.

  John Bannister had changed greatly since the days when I knew him first.He looked as big and strong as ever, but had become pitifully thin; andI thought his hair was greyer, and there were deeper lines upon hisforehead. His mouth I could not see, for he had grown a great beard,more than touched with grey. And this beard, merged into his longmoustache, was spread like the beard of a paladin upon his chest.

  We directed our way northward in a bee-line, so far as we could judge,towards the ravine where we had left William Rushby; and this compelledus to clamber over the rocky hillocks and to cross the gullies anddeclivities that intervened. It was hard work, and the sun was bakinghot. And yet Bannister would not halt, even for food, for we both knewwell enough that the boatswain's life was in the greatest danger.

  "If Baverstock gets there before us," said he, "not only will he gainpossession of the map, and thereby learn the secret of the Treasure, butthere is very little doubt that he will put Rushby to death."

  "I think so, too," said I. "He has been baulked so often that he willnot care to take further risks. However, I now believe the man to bequite mad. Last evening I saw him look for a long time at Forsyth, andI swear there was murder in his eye."

  "No such criminals are wholly sane," said Bannister. "Amos has donemurder more than once, and he will never hesitate to do it again, if hethinks that he sees profit in the business. Rushby is defenceless. Hiswound has become septic, though I have dressed it often with what skillI have. There is a chance that the evil may spread; and in that casenothing can save his life but amputation of the leg. And that, ofcourse, we have neither the means of doing, nor the skill to do it if wehad."

  We were silent for a long time after that, though we hastened ourfootsteps, knowing that life and death were in the scales.

  I was soon utterly fatigued, and could not fail to see that Bannister aswell was well-nigh at the end of all his strength. For all that, wewould not give in; for William Rushby was an honest man, to whom we bothowed much, and we were determined, if we could, to sa
ve his life.

  Presently, we began to doubt whether we would reach the ravine beforenightfall; for the sun, as we could see, was descending rapidly towardsthe crestline of the Andes. Once only did Bannister pause, and then hestood stock-still upon a hill-top, shading his eyes with the palm of ahand and looking towards the west.

  "Was ever anything more wonderful!" said he. "I can never look upon amountain without thinking of Coleridge's _Hymn before Sunrise_: 'Earthwith her thousand voices, praises God.'"

  He stood for a while like a man in a dream; and I, also shading my eyes,followed the direction of his gaze, and saw again the great and gloriousmountains in the distance, like a rugged battlement, scarred andcrumbled throughout aeons of old Time, rising thousands of feet beforethe red sky of evening. And I, too, though I knew naught of the poet,felt within me a sense of great awe and reverence for the most mightyworks of God.

  I would have lingered there, I cannot say how long, had not Bannistertaken me by a hand and led me forcibly away with such long strides thatI was obliged to run. He looked straight in front of him as he walked.I could see that he was preoccupied with his thoughts, and I did notcare to interrupt them. Looking about me, I thought I recognised thecountry. I was certain we could not be far from the ravine.

  And a little after, on a sudden, we heard a shot, fired but a littledistance to the front of us, towards the right.

  Without a word we both began to run, and came, unexpectedly, upon thevery head of the ravine.

  The sun was now behind us; and we could see clearly all there was tosee. Far down the ravine was the solitary tree to which Bannister hadbeen bound when Amos had threatened him with death. And a few yardsfrom this, near where the old camping-ground had been, were the figuresof three men hastening in our direction; and these we recognised at onceas Forsyth, Trust, and Amos Baverstock himself. Vasco we saw a littleafter come forth from the shadows of the Wood, so laden with cookingutensils and the like that he might have been a pack-mule, for he wasdoubled almost in half.

  However, we took little notice of him; for our eyes were fixed upon thepathetic figure of poor Rushby, who was limping in great agony as hetried to run. It was clear from the first that he had little chance ofescaping. It was inevitable that he must be overtaken almost at once.Suddenly he pitched forward upon his face, and lay quite still upon theground; and, since no shot had been fired, we guessed that he hadfainted from pain and exhaustion. Amos pounced upon him as a catsprings upon a mouse.

  I was, of course, unarmed, for I had left my blow-pipe by the Tomb. ButBannister, who carried his rifle, hesitated to shoot, for a very naturalreason: at that range, if he fired at Amos, as like as not he might hitWilliam Rushby. So, together, we set forward running, hoping that evenyet we might not be too late to save the boatswain's life.

  Amos was on his hands and knees by the side of Rushby; and as weapproached he sprang to his feet, waving something in his hand.

  "He has got the map!" cried Bannister, who at once brought his rifle tohis shoulder and fired straight at Amos.

  The singing of the bullet must have made Baverstock realise that he wasnot by any means as safe as he would like. For the man cast no morethan a glance in our direction, and then turned upon his heel, to setoff running down the ravine as fast as his legs could carry him.

  Trust followed his example; and Vasco, the Spaniard, turned at once backinto the Wood. I saw that Forsyth hesitated for a moment; and then,knowing full well that his strength was as nothing when compared to thatof Bannister, he also turned and fled.

  Bannister fired two more shots; but, as he was out of breath fromrunning, neither of these had any effect upon Amos, at whom they weredirected, save that they were near enough to make him run the faster.

  Our first care, at any rate, was for William Rushby, who--as weguessed--had fainted from his great efforts to escape. He regainedconsciousness as soon as ever his face was bathed with water; and then,sitting up, he looked at us and groaned.

  "He has taken it?" he asked.

  Bannister tugged at his beard and shot a glance towards the Wood.

  "Yes," said he. "At last Amos has the map. By to-morrow evening hewill have found the Big Fish. After all these years he will be able tofeast his eyes upon the Greater Treasure of the Incas."