They paid me in grains of pure gold, which they drew from sacks, old stockings tied with a string, and even pockets cut from their clothing. How much to demand I did not know, and some paid me too much, I suppose, and some too little. One of them, a low browed, black bearded fellow called Larkin, obtained a quantity of goods and then said he would pay me some other time; but the Major insisted that I be paid then and there. So the man laid down a pinch of gold, saying it was enough, and I was about to accept it when the Major drew his revolver and said, quietly:
“This is a fair deal, Larkin. Shell out!”
The fellow uttered a string of angry oaths, but he added to his first offering until his leader was satisfied, and then went away vowing “to get even with the robbers.”
To avoid further trouble, I brought a small pair of scales from the ship next day. They were not very accurate, I fear, but they were much better than guesswork. The Major and I figured out exactly what weight of gold should stand for a dollar, and I was allowed to put my own price on our supplies; but I took care not to be exhorbitant in my demands, and most of the men expressed themselves as well satisfied with the arrangement.
As a good share of the provisions would suffer by being left out in the night air, it was decided to build a warehouse for my use: “a reg’lar grocery store,” Uncle Naboth described it; so the men all set to work, and under the direction of our ship’s carpenter soon constructed a roomy and comfortable hut for this purpose. By repeated trips to the ship in the long boat, I soon accumulated a good stock of everything our cargo represented, and by taking off the covers of the boxes and then piling them on their edges, in rows, I soon made my hut look like a prosperous mercantile establishment. Surplus and unopened boxes were utilized to form a counter in front of my stock, and here I placed my scales and weighed the gold that was offered in payment.
The men were as prodigal as all miners are, and denied themselves nothing so long as they had gold to pay for it. So my stock gradually increased in gold and diminished in merchandise, and the men were well fed and comfortable.
But the sands upon which we so carelessly trod were wonderfully rich in the precious metal, and any sort of industry was sure to be repaid enormously by the glittering grains scattered about. It was not dust, you understand, but tiny grains resembling those of granulated sugar. The richest yield was derived from the sands at the bottom of the shallow inlet, and the practice of the miners was to wade a little way into the stream, scoop up a basin off the sandy bottom and wash it until only the specks of sparkling metal remained. As it was difficult to care for this properly, I brought from the ship a quantity of sail-cloth, which I made, during my leisure moments, into stout bags, about the size of salt-sacks, sewing the seams firmly. These bags I sold readily to the miners, who, when they filled one, would usually bury it beneath the sand in their hut, so that it would be safe. I did not do this with my supply, however, but piled my sacks into an empty box in one corner of my grocery store, feeling sure there would be no theft of them in the confines of our little camp. Neither did the Major secrete his hoard, which lay plainly in sight of anyone who entered his hut; and the Major’s store of gold was enormous because he took charge of all that our men washed out, until the time for final division should arrive.
There was no game of any sort, that we knew of, upon the island; but the men caught plenty of fish in the upper part of the inlet and in the bay upon the ocean frontage. The thickets surrounding our camp were considered absolutely impenetrable, on account of the underbrush and creeping vines that formed such a thick network at the foot of the trees. Yet there was a man named Daggett who, it was rumored, had found a way to traverse the forest with comparative ease.
This Daggett was quite a remarkable person, and enters now into my story.
He was a thin, withered little man, about fifty years of age, who had been an unsuccessful miner all his life until now. So eager was he, at first, to take advantage of the great opportunities here afforded to secure a fortune, that he would work by moonlight washing gold, while his companions slept and rested from their labors. But soon he conceived an idea that these golden sands were deposited from some point in the mountains of the interior of the island, where solid gold abounded in enormous quantities. So he quit washing, and began a search for the imaginary “mountain of gold,” cutting a secret path through the thicket to the more open interior, and passing day after day in his eager quest. At first he urged some of his comrades to join him, but they only laughed at his idea, being well content to obtain the coveted gold in an easy way, where it lay plainly before their eyes.
But Daggett did not desist, spending day after day in roaming through the wild hills in his fruitless search. During the time he lost in this way his mates were accumulating a vast store of golden grains, while Daggett was as yet only in possession of the result of his first eager labors; and after I opened my grocery store he was obliged to exchange pinches of his small substance for supplies, so that it gradually dwindled away to a mere nothing. He haggled so over the price of every article he secured that his fellows jeered him unmercifully, calling him “the miser” and berating him for neglecting his opportunities. Indeed, the poor fellow was well-nigh desperate, at the last, for he alone of all the camp was still poor, and his only salvation, he considered, was to find the hills of solid gold before the time came for all to abandon the island. So he was gone for days, returning to camp to secure provisions; and no one knew where he wandered or seemed to care.
CHAPTER 9
THE OUTLAWS.
There were many curious characters of the camp, as I suppose there are everywhere that a number of men are gathered together. I used to amuse myself studying the various phases of human nature that came under my observation, with the result that some men attracted me and some repelled me.
Aside from the miserly Daggett the man who caused me the most trouble was the surly, scowling Larkin, whom the Major had threatened to shoot on sight if he did not pay me for everything he obtained at my shop. He was a lazy fellow, and did not seem to get ahead as fast as his companions, for that reason. Sometimes, in the heat of the afternoon, he would strike work and come into my hut, where he threatened and bullied me and cast longing glances at the sacks of gold I had accumulated. Uncle Naboth, who, by the way, labored doggedly day after day, as he was commanded, often warned me against Larkin, but I had no fears, being assured the Major would protect me from the villain’s hatred.
One or two others — Hayes and Judson, for instance — were evidently disreputable characters, and affected the society of Larkin when they were not at work. But in the main the miners were decent enough fellows, and seemed to have no thought above securing a fortune from the wealth of the golden sands. They paid me liberally, were just in their dealings, and labored industriously day by day so as to lessen the time of their captivity upon the island.
In the evenings the officers and crew of the “Flipper” were wont to gather in my hut, where they smoked their pipes and conversed more or less gloomily together. None of them, however, was greatly distressed at his fate, and it was wonderful how cheerful Uncle Naboth remained through it all. His silent merriment and sly winks were by no means lacking in these days of tribulations and hard work, and he found many opportunities to exercise his keen sense of humor. In one way his fortunes were really prospering, and each evening he weighed out the day’s receipts, in golden grains, and calculated the profits to us on the sales. I suppose these must have been satisfactory, for he never complained.
I always slept in my hut, surrounded by the store of merchandise and my sacks of gold; but the rest of the crew of the ship had huts of their own, Nux and Bryonia occupying one together.
One night, after I had been asleep for some hours, I was suddenly awakened by the muzzle of a pistol pressed close to my forehead. I opened my eyes, and saw Larkin standing beside me. A tallow candle had been lighted in the hut, and I could see his evil features distinctly.
“Now, m
y lad,” said he, “keep quiet an’ you won’t get hurt. But if you raise any rumpus or make a sound, I’ll blow your brains out.”
So I lay quiet, but I kept my eyes open and eagerly watched what was taking place in the room. Besides Larkin, there were present Daggett, Judson and Hayes — the worst characters in the camp. While Larkin remained beside me to threaten me with his pistol, the others spread out a blanket and dumped into it every sack of gold I possessed. This they secured by tying the corners of the blanket together. Next they spread another blanket and threw into it a quantity of canned meats and other provisions, afterwards tying them up as they had the gold. Then Hayes took the pistol and stood guard over me while the others crept from the hut. They were back in a few minutes, however, bearing another blanket heavily loaded. And now Larkin resumed his place beside me and the others caught up the three parcels and after extinguishing the candle slipped out of the doorway. There was a moon outside, I knew, but it was quite dark in the hut, and the consciousness of being at the mercy of the scoundrel beside me sent cold shivers creeping up my spine.
After waiting a few moments in silence Larkin spoke.
“Look-a-here, Sam,” he said gruffly, but in a low voice, “we’ve took some gold and other stuff, as ye know; but we ain’t goin’ to do murder unless we has to. If you’ve got sense enough to keep still for a solid hour, an’ make no fuss, you’ll live to get as much gold, or more, as we’ve just grabbed. But if you try to raise the camp, or foller us, I’ll kill you before you know it. Now, I’m goin’ to stand outside the door for a solid hour — you lay still an’ count sixty seconds to a minute an’ sixty minutes to an hour. If you move before that, you’re a dead one; after the hour ye can howl all ye please, and the louder the better. I ought to stick a knife into you now; but I guess I’ll wait outside the door an’ see if you mind what I tell you.”
Then with a threatening flourish of his pistol, he slunk away, and as soon as he was outside the door I rose up and followed.
I knew he was lying, well enough, and that his threats were merely meant to terrify me into keeping silent until he escaped. He considered me a mere boy, and believed I would be too frightened to cause him any trouble.
But where could he and his fellow thieves go? How could they penetrate the wild thicket? That was the question that puzzled me. And then I remembered that Daggett was with them, who was reputed to be able to travel at will throughout the interior of the island.
When I reached the door and looked around I could at first see no signs of the man who had just left me. Then I discovered a dark form creeping along the edge of the jungle, and at once I sprang into the shade myself and crept after him. He was going slowly, and in my eagerness I closed up most of the distance between us, until I was dangerously near. But he did not look around, and while my eyes were fastened upon him he dropped to his knees, pushed aside a thick bush, and disappeared into the thicket.
That was all the information I wanted, just then, so I hastily marked the place by heaping a mound of sand before the bush, and then ran back to my hut as fast as I could go. I was terribly humiliated at being robbed so coolly of the gold that had been placed in my care, and rashly resolved that I would recover it by my own efforts, without disturbing the slumbers of my uncle or the Major. So, entering the hut, I secured three revolvers, of the Colt type, and several boxes of cartridges for them, all of which I had secretly smuggled from the ship and hidden among the groceries, for the Major had forbidden any of our crew having fire-arms. I had thought that an emergency might arise, some time, when these revolvers would be useful to us, and now I blessed my foresight in secreting them.
Having secured the weapons I ran quickly to the hut of Nux and Bryonia, and cautiously awakened them. At my first touch Bry sprang into the air and alighted on his feet.
“What’s matter, Master Sam?” he demanded.
“I’ve been robbed, Bry!” I panted.
“Robbed!” echoed Nux, who was now beside us.
“Yes; Larkin and his gang have taken every bag of our dust.”
Through the dim light I could see their white eyeballs glaring at me in amazement.
“What you goin’ do, Master Sam?” asked Bry.
“I’m going to give chase, and make the rascals give it back. That is, if you will be my friends, and stand by me,” I said. “By daybreak every bag must be in my hut again.”
“Sure ‘nough,” murmured Nux.
“We ready, Master Sam,” announced Bry, quickly.
“Then take these revolvers, and follow me.”
I gave a weapon to each, having hastily loaded them; and then I turned away, followed by the dark forms of the two Sulus.
“They’re thieves, you know, burglars and outlaws,” I said. “So if we have to shoot them down, no one can blame us.”
They made no answer to this remark, and soon we had left the camp behind and reached the bush underneath which Larkin had disappeared. In a low voice I related what I had seen, and Bryonia, who was a master of woodcraft, at once dropped to his knees and vanished into the thicket. I followed closely after him, and Nux brought up the rear. After creeping a few paces through the underbrush Bry grasped my hand and raised me to my feet, and I discovered that we were now in a well-defined but narrow path which allowed us to stand upright.
It was dark as pitch in the grim forest, and we could only feel our way along; but it was not possible for us to get off the path, which had doubtless been cut by Daggett to afford his entrance into the interior of the island, and if our progress was slow those whom we pursued could not proceed at much greater speed themselves; so we crept along, stumbling over roots and tearing our clothes by brushing against the briars on either side, for a period of nearly an hour. Bryonia glided before us as stealthily as a panther, and often I was not certain but that he had left us far behind; but Nux made as much noise as I did, and puffed much harder to get his breath, so I did not fear being abandoned in the black wilderness.
The ground seemed to rise gradually as we penetrated into the wild interior, but the path remained as narrow as at first. Now that my first excitement and indignation had cooled, this midnight pursuit began to look doubtful of result. The robbers knew the way much better than we did, and they were so far ahead of us that we heard no sound of any sort to guide us. More than once I was tempted to abandon the chase, for my folly in undertaking it grew more and more evident; but the two islanders had no thought of turning back, and I was ashamed to call a halt.
Suddenly I ran plump into Bryonia, who grasped my arm as firmly as if it were in a vice, and held me rigid. Nux immediately ran into me, but stopped short at the moment of contact.
“What is it, Bry?” I asked, in a whisper.
“Look!” he answered, and swung me around in front of him. Then, as I peered into the darkness, a faint ray of light became visible. In a moment I perceived that it was growing bigger and brighter, and then I knew what it meant.
“They’ve gone into camp, and lit a fire!” said I, pleased to have overtaken them.
“They do’n’ know we’s coming,” chuckled Nux, from behind.
But Bry stood like a statue, holding fast to my shoulders and peering over my head at the enemy. We could now see that the forest was much thinner here than at the point we had entered, and just beyond, in a little hollow where Larkin and his men were encamped, the trees grew quite scattered.
“Our best plan,” said I, after a moment’s thought, “will be to creep up to them and make a sudden attack.”
“One, two, three, fou’,” counted Bry, in his deep voice. “No use to ‘tack, Master Sam. They got guns, an’ kill us all quick.”
“We have our revolvers,” I suggested, rather disappointed at his prediction.
“Nux an’ I might hit somethin’, an’ we might not,” said Bry. “If we hit somethin’ it might be a man, an’ it might not.”
This was discouraging, and it called to mind the fact that I was not much used to fire-arms myself.
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“Still, I don’t mean to go back without doing something to recover our gold,” said I.
“Wait!” whispered the islander, and swung me around back of him again. How he managed this I do not know, for the path was very narrow. Next moment he disappeared, as if the earth had swallowed him up.
Nux gave a laugh, and sat down upon the ground. After a few moments I followed suit, squatting in the place I had been standing, for even from that distance I could see by the flickering firelight the dim forms of the robbers gathered around it.
And now I perceived that Bry’s decision was wise. We were too far from camp to expect assistance in case of an emergency, even if our friends succeeded in finding the entrance to the jungle that was so cleverly concealed under the bush. So whatever was to be done must be done by ourselves — a boy and two men against four desperate and well-armed villains, who would stop at no crime to retain the gold they had stolen.
Evidently they did not fear pursuit now, for we could hear the murmur of their voices as they laughed and shouted at one another.
We waited in silence for a long time, and as the gloom of the silent forest became intensified by the distant light I began to feel for the first time a thrill that was akin to fear.
Finally I noticed a black body wriggling its way toward us through the brush like some huge snake, and a moment later Bryonia stood before me.
“I creep close an’ hear what they say, Master Sam,” he reported. “They goin’ watch all night. I watch, too. Tomorrow maybe we catch ‘em. You an’ Nux go sleep.”
I protested at once that I was not sleepy; but Bry led us away from the path to a quiet place where he had found a bank of moss, and here he cautioned us to remain quietly. He himself crept once again toward the camp fire, and a moment later was wholly invisible. Nux whispered to me tales of Bryonia’s skill as a woodsman, wherein it seemed he had excelled in his native land; but they grew monotonous, in time, and before I knew it I had fallen fast asleep on the mossy bank.
Complete Works of L. Frank Baum Page 644
