The Peril Finders

by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE.

  THE OLD HOUSE AT HOME.

  The little mule-train, very lightly laden, and with harness,pack-saddles, and loads looking ragged, patched, sun-bleached, andrepaired in every conceivable way, moved slowly along through the richgreenery, led and followed by its sun-tanned escort, three before andthree behind. The ponies looked in admirable condition save that achange of diet seemed necessary to do away with a swollen-out aspect dueto constant feeding upon green-stuff instead of corn. But the saddlesand bridles were as bad as those of the mules, though every bit andbuckle glistened in the sunshine through constant rubbing with sand.The less said about the patched garments of the escort the better.

  But there were no rags. Patches of divers materials, principally furryskins, were plentiful, and the moccasins which had taken the place ofboots were either Indian and very neat, or home-made and quite thereverse.

  But here too there was something worthy of remark--each man's weaponswere admirably cared for and ready for instant use, while the occupantsof the saddles, though horribly dilapidated in the way of clothes, werealso in that grand state of vigorous health which also made them appearready for immediate use in any way, from hunting or shooting to obtainthe day's provision, to fighting for dear life against the enemies ofthe white men who roamed the plains.

  Not that these six wanderers could fairly be called white, for the sunhad burned them to a dull brick-red; but the term men is advisedly used,for though when the party last passed that way, going in the oppositedirection, they were made up of four hale vigorous men and two boys, thelatter had been left in the desert lands through which they had beenwandering for two years--left, that is to say, by degrees, every bitthat had been boyish having physically died out, for its place to betaken by something more manly, till on this particular day they rodeback with their feet much nearer the ground and their sturdy mustangsappearing stunted, though quite well able to carry a far heavier loadthan had been in the habit of climbing into the saddles when theystarted from the plantations at the above-named distance of time.

  It was only about a couple of hours before, when the party left theshelter of a patch of great spruce-firs where they had camped for thenight, that the doctor had made a remark to Bourne, and then both hadstared hard at Chris and Ned, a proceeding which brought the blood intothe young men's faces and made Chris ask what they are to laugh at.

  "You," said the doctor. "Why, when we rode away on our search youlooked a mere boy; you are coming back to the old home both of you mengrown, if you weren't so lathy and thin."

  "Nobody will know them, eh, Wilton?"

  "That's for certain. They will grin at you."

  "I wouldn't advise them to," said Griggs slowly. "Chris has grown veryhot and peppery, and Ned here has done so much fighting that he alwaysseems to be, as the Irish say, spoiling for another go in. So they'dbetter not laugh, for we want to settle down again as friends."

  They had been journeying on since then, getting nearer and nearer to theold settlement; but the change seemed wonderful, and they talked itover.

  "Why," said the doctor, "it isn't only the boys that have grown, buteverything here."

  "Yes, wonderfully," said Bourne; "overgrown, one ought to say."

  "They don't seem to have used the tracks much," put in Griggs. "It'shard work to make sure whether we're going right."

  "Oh, we're going right enough," said Chris. "I remember every hill anddale. Look yonder; that's where the plantations are. But how they havealtered!"

  "Yes," said the doctor, "the place does seem changed; but from the stateof the tracks I'm afraid that very little has been done in the way ofdeveloping the fruit trade. Hullo! Why are you turning off here,boys?"

  "Because it was just under those big fir-trees, father, that we took andburied that poor old prospector. Ned and I want to see the board we cutand nailed on the biggest trunk."

  "To be sure, yes," said Bourne; "let's go and see."

  The mules were halted, and began to graze, while the party rode throughthe lush saplings and bushes that had sprung up so that it was hard workto get through, till they passed under the spreading branches of thetrees, where the undergrowth became thin and sparse.

  "There's the old board," cried Chris suddenly, and the party drew reinat last by the side of the heaped-up pile of stones with which they hadmarked the wanderer's grave.

  No one spoke for a few minutes, but they sat there thinking deeply ofthe old man's coming, his death, and his legacy to the doctor, who brokethe silence at length with a bitter sigh.

  "Poor old dreamer!" he said sadly. "You bequeathed us your imagination,and sent us off on our quest for the phantom gold."

  "Yes," said Bourne; "we'd better have left him his legacy and gone onhome to the old-country."

  "Oh, I don't know," said Wilton. "We've had a grand time of travel andadventure, eh, boys?"

  "Splendid!" came in a breath. "I'm only sorry that we've come back."

  "Yes," added Chris. "You'll think that over, father, about rigging upanother expedition and making a fresh trial?"

  "We shall see," said the doctor thoughtfully; "we shall see. What doyou say, Griggs, about another search for the golden city?"

  "Well, I dunno," said Griggs slowly. "Maybe I'll wait a year before Idecide one way or the other."

  "Griggs!" cried the two lads together.

  "Oh, you needn't shout," said the American. "I've been thinking over ita deal, more'n you have, p'r'aps, and it seems to me that even if we hadfound the old place marked down on that old Rip Van Winkle map we shouldhave had a deal of trouble to carry back enough gold to have made thejourney worth while."

  "Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the two young men uproariously. "There's an oldfox. He has just found out that the grapes are sour."

  "Well, so they have been, boys," cried the American. "But talk aboutgrapes, it's just five years since I planted some fine young vines in mypatch and against the shanty. I wonder whether the blights have letthem grow. My word, I should like a few bunches now!"

  "I'm afraid they'll be as sour as the gold, Griggs," said the doctor."There, let's ride on and leave the poor old fellow to sleep in peace.He took his secret with him, for his map was too vague for us to findhis city of golden dreams. We have spent two years over the search, butwe have travelled well over an unknown land and come back, I hope, wiserand more ready to do battle with the world."

  "Oh, we shall try again, father," cried Chris, "and get real gold yet,not phantom gold, as you call it. _Nil desperandum_, you know. Neversay die."

  "Try again!" cried Ned.

  "Hope springs eternal in the human breast," said Bourne gravely.

  "Better luck next time," cried Wilton.

  "Say, gentlemen," said Griggs dryly, "it don't seem to me a suitabletime for you to be firing off your copy-book maxims all over the placewhen it's getting on for dinner-hour. I want to progress and ride on tothe old plantations to see which of our old friends is going to win inthe fight to have us for guests and give us a good sitting-down squaremeal."

  "There's wisdom," cried Chris merrily. "Griggs is always right.Forward!"

  He led the way from beneath the spreading boughs of the great spruce,out from the solemn gloom where the old prospector lay and into theglorious sunshine of the luxuriant, verdant country, which seemed a veryEden after the parching sandy alkali deserts and the rocky tracts. Themules and ponies kept on snatching at a mouthful here and a mouthfulthere, as if it were too rich and tempting to be passed; but in spite ofthe loveliness of all around, the adventurers became more and moreimpressed by a something desolate about the attractive district overwhich they passed. The hills and dales were glorious, but somehow theycame upon no signs of cultivation, nor yet of settlements, till at last,with a feeling of sinking that was not all due to hunger, they roderight into the very centre of the cluster of plantations they had lefttwo years before on their search for the golden city, to find on theirreturn wherever they went
traces of a fire here, completely over-runwith greenery, there the remains of a shed or shanty with trees andvines dislodging the props and boards; and though they hailed andwhistled it was only to scare birds or squirrels, and to awake noanswering call.

  They rode a little here and a little there, the ponies pushing their waythrough the tremendous growth; but it was all the same. Shanty aftershanty was in ruins where it could be traced, but desertion everywhere.

  But during the search, moved by a strange feeling of opposition, thefriends shrank from approaching the dense grove which hid the home theyhad left. They all shared the feeling that it would be too painful tolook upon the traces of the fire that without doubt had levelled withthe soil the house they had toiled over, and it was not until Griggsspoke that something like a spell which had hung over them was drivenaway.

  "Seems to me," he said, "that when the fellows burned or carried off alltheir stuff they made a pretty clean sweep. I'm just going across nowto have a look at my old spot; but I don't suppose there'll be anydinner waiting there. Won't you have a look at your old roost first?"

  "Yes," said the doctor, making an effort. "I couldn't go in yonderbefore. Chris, boy, there's no one to blame but ourselves; we desertedthe old place; but it seemed to be hard to bear. Let's look at theruins, if there are any left."

  They forced their way through a dense grove of fruit-trees and wildgrowth which towered above the plantings of the past, the poniesbreaking down the lush vines and succulent canes, till they were broughtup suddenly by something solid which was overgrown by a vine.

  "What!" cried the doctor.

  "Ahoy! Griggy!" roared Chris through his hands. "Ahoy! Hooray!Here's one of our vines loaded and breaking down with grapes."

  The next minute the American and his companions had forced their way upto the front of the big shanty and its shed--the barracks, as they hadtermed it--to find that their fellow-settlers had respected thenailed-up doors and shutters, leaving at their exodus the unluckydistrict just as it had been at the peril finders' departure; but Naturehad been hard at work for her part, toiling as she toils in a richcountry to destroy man's work and restore all to its pristine state.

  But though vines had draped, and shoots had dislodged shingles, thestoutly-nailed walls stood firm. No firebrand had been set to thesawn-up wood, and after some work with an axe to wrench away the boardsthat had been nailed over window-shutter and door, there was the oldplace fairly intact, with the utensils just as they had been left.

  The consequence was that the wanderers, after seeing to their wearybeasts and leaving them grazing in the midst of abundance, made theirown dinner seated at the rough table, drinking the water from the swiftriver hard by, and finding, half smothered by the competing growth,abundance of peaches and Bartlett-pears to supplement the grapesripening on the roof of the old home.

  "I say, Chris," said Ned, with his mouth full, or nearly so, of juicypear, "is this all a dream?"

  "My peach tastes just like a real one," was the reply. "But I say,father, the fruit never used to grow like this."

  "No, my boy," said the doctor; "I feel half stunned in my surprise. Acomplete change seems to have come over everything. The weeds and wildthings have run rampant, but the fruit-trees, such as I can see, alllook clean and free from blight."

  "Say, neighbour," cried Griggs, "I'm going over to my place now, if someone else will help at the clearance. These grapes, you know."

  "They're splendid," said the doctor. "What about them?"

  "Why, this," said Griggs; "I planted lots, and they'd never grow anymore than my oranges would."

  "Oranges!" cried Chris. "Here, father, we haven't looked at our grove."

  "Come on with me, then," said Griggs, "and we'll take it on the way. Iwant to see mine too. As to the grapes, if yours'll grow like this soought mine; and if they have--But wait a bit."

  All mounted again, to make their mustangs breast their way in thedirection of the dried-up peach and orange-grove which they had toiledover in despair, and at the first glance a shout of delight arose.

  "Why, father," cried Chris, "what was the good of going there throughthirst and starvation to find phantom gold when it is glowing andgrowing, and breaking down the branches here?"

  For it was a golden sight indeed for weary, longing and disappointedeyes.

  Progress was difficult after they had literally gloated over the beautyand promise of the orange-grove, for the tracks were wonderfully grownover, everything showing that the settlement must have been forsakenalmost directly after the departure of the adventurers. Then Griggs'plantation was reached and found to be as full of promise as that whichthey had so lately quitted; and this proved to be the case wherever theyrode, for the change everywhere was complete, the crops, as far as theencroaching wildings would allow, being abundant, but not a hand left togather, those whom the party had known having forsaken the place to aman.

  The rest of the day was devoted to cleaning and making the old homesuitable for temporary if not for permanent habitation. Creeper andvine had to be cut back, so as to admit light and clear the choked-upchimney, while with the growth endless intruders, insect, reptile, andbird, were banished. The remaining stores, now very low, were broughtin, and what all declared to be a very jovial supper prepared and mostthoroughly enjoyed.

  "One never knows what a day will bring forth," cried Bourne, smilingupon his listeners. "Here we were this morning weary and despondent,looking forward to someone taking us in to-night by way of charity,while now we find that we have fallen on our feet, and are quite at homein the midst of abundance."

  "Yes," said Wilton; "I've seen enough to prove that Nature has retakenpossession here, and that an hour with a gun will give us all we wantto-morrow in the way of game."

  "Yes," cried Chris; "and look there, Ned--fish."

  "What about them?"

  "The river's full, and I saw plenty leaping, waiting for rod and line ornet."

  "That's good," cried Ned.

  "Oh yes; we shan't starve," said Griggs. "But let's see, how far usedwe to be from the other settlement?"

  "Forty miles," replied the doctor.

  "But suppose that is deserted, the same as this?"

  "Then we shall be quite a hundred from the next."

  "A hundred," said Griggs dryly. "Well, that seems horribly close andcrowding one up like after living as we've been lately. It seems to methat if we liked to stop here now we might have the pick of the wholeplace, and as many patches as we like to take up."

  "What about the old owners?" said Bourne.

  "They've thrown up the game and gone--back to England, perhaps. I don'tbelieve any one is ever likely to put in claims, but we could soon getthat settled by the State law. I've nearly made up my mind to startafresh, doctor. You see, everything is going to be quite different; butthere's one thing I can't understand. Climates don't change all atonce, but here's this place boiling over, as one might say, with plentynow, while a few years ago we were only able to grow enough to feed theinsects and blight. How do you account for that?"

  "I can only give you what I surmise to be the case," replied the doctor."We were tempted here by seeing how beautiful and fruitful everythingwas."

  "Yes; everything but what we planted, and that tried to die out of theway as fast as it could. Well, sir, how was that?"

  "Simply because the things we planted were strange to the land. Allthey wanted was time--years in which to root down to the best soil. Ifwe had waited longer they would have appeared as good as they are now."

  "That sounds well, sir," said Griggs, "and I should like to hear alittle more about it, but I think we've got as much to think about as wecan bear to-night. What say you?"

  "That I shall be thankful for a good night's rest," was the reply, andsoon after all was silent within the lonely ranch, both the lads lyinglistening to the varied sounds without, for to one of them it seemed asif all the wild creatures of the forest were holding a meeting toinquire in
to the fresh invasion of a tract of land out of which they hadbeen driven years before, but to which they had returned upon its beingdeserted, while now the question was in respect of a new invasion, andwhether those who had taken possession intended to stay.

  CHAPTER FIFTY SIX.

  LIKE TO GO AGAIN?

  Chris Lee had the impression next morning that he had lain for hourslistening to the strange cries of wild creatures which had once moremade the plantations their home, and he smiled at the idea that had cometo him respecting a meeting, when he rose from the blanket and saddlebed, upon which he had slept better than he remembered ever to have donein his life.

  His first look was at the place Ned had occupied; but he was alreadygone, and upon hurrying out he came upon him just visible as he forcedhis way through the tall growth with an orange in each hand andhalf-a-dozen tucked into his breast.

  "Morning," he shouted. "I've been down to the river. It seems full offish."

  "That's good news," cried Chris. "Isn't it? But look here, there'll bea long talk over breakfast this morning about--Seen Griggs?"

  "No. But why will they talk about him over breakfast?"

  "Stuff! I didn't mean that. He came to the river with me, and he'sgone now to light a fire and boil the kettle. He wants to talk to youas he did to me."

  "What about?"

  "What about? Why, about this place. He's red-hot over it, and says itwould be madness to go away now and give up real gold for what may afterall be nothing better than a dream. What do you think?"

  "I?" said Chris, laughing. "That I've had enough fighting and trampingto last me for many years to come."

  "Then if I say I'll stay, will you?"

  "I don't know yet," said Chris.

  "What! Why, you're never going to run back?"

  "I'm not going to run back, nor run forward," replied Chris. "I'm goingto do just what my father does, and in spite of your talk I believeyou'll stand by Mr Bourne."

  "Of course," cried Ned; "but he's sure to say he'll stay. There's onlyyour father and Wilton on the other side, so we shall be four to two ifyou'll stand by me. Now what do you say?"

  "Nothing at present; let's wait."

  Ned pressed for a definite promise, but Chris remained firm and went tohelp Griggs in his preparation of the first breakfast that had beeneaten upon the old hearth for two years.

  It was rough; but appetite would have made up for that, only it seemedwanting, and the steaming coffee and tough damper bread remained almostuntasted for a time, every one being thoughtful and silent.

  At last the doctor spoke.

  "Look here," he said, "I've got something upon my mind, and judging fromyour looks it seems to me that every one is not only troubled in thesame way, but eager to get that something off. Am I right in coming tothe conclusion that you are all thinking of the same thing?"

  "I guess I am," said Griggs.

  "I'm sure I am," said Bourne.

  "I'm thinking that the sooner we get to work the better," said Wilton.

  "That's soon settled, then," said the doctor, "for there is no occasionto ask the boys--it's written plainly in both their faces. We all thinkthat it would be madness to talk of leaving such a home as we can makeof this."

  "All!" came in chorus, and then the appetite for breakfast, while theyworked afterwards as they had never worked before to master and driveback the encroaching forest; fetch stores with their mule-train from thedistant port; rebuild and restore; and in due time plant, gather, andfarm, to provide the necessaries of life, till Golden Hollow, as it wasrenamed, became a veritable Eden--a home which, attracted others, tillas time went on the peril finders' struggle to grasp at the phantom goldseemed to grow more and more like some exciting dream.

  "Ever think of the shooting now, boys?" said Griggs one day, as he stoodby the side of the great green basket of fruit he had gathered and justset down, to turn over some half-a-dozen that were beginning to glowlike gold.

  "Not often," said Ned, "but it will come at times."

  "Do you?" said Griggs, turning to Chris, who looked thoughtful.

  "Yes: I did only yesterday," was the reply. "I was at the bottom of thebig peach-orchard, when I regularly jumped, for there was a sharp whizzclose to my ear, and I began to think of the Indians hiding behind everybush."

  "But it couldn't have been an arrow," cried Griggs.

  "No; only a hawk making a dash at one of those blue-breasted birds; butit set me thinking of arrows flying, and using one's rifle too."

  "Ah, rough times those," said Griggs, picking up two oranges, and then athird, to keep them, juggler fashion, following one another through theair. "Like to go again?"

  "No!" shouted Chris and Ned together, in a way which disconcerted thejuggler so that the oranges all came down, to be picked up quickly, asthe American said sharply--

  "Same here. Once was enough."

  THE END.