CHAPTER XXXV.
HAZEL waited and listened. So did Helen, and her breath came fast; for inthe stilly night she heard light but mysterious sounds. Something wasmoving on the sand very slowly and softly, but nearer and nearer. Herheart began to leap. She put out her hand instinctively to clutch Mr.Hazel; but he was too far off. She had the presence of mind and theself-denial to disguise her fears; for she knew he would come headlong toher assistance.
She said in a quavering whisper, "I'm not frightened; only v--veryc--curious."
And now she became conscious that not only one but several things werecreeping about.
Presently the creeping ceased, and was followed by a louder and moremysterious noise. In that silent night it sounded like raking anddigging. Three or four mysterious visitants seemed to be making graves.
This was too much; especially coming as it did after talk about theprimeval dead. Her desire to scream was so strong, and she was so afraidHazel would break his neck, if she relieved her mind in that way, thatshe actually took her handkerchief and bit it hard.
But this situation was cut short by a beneficent luminary. The sun rosewith a magnificent bound--it was his way in that latitude--and everythingunpleasant winced that moment; the fog shivered in its turn, and appearedto open in furrows as great javelins of golden light shot through it fromthe swiftly rising orb.
Soon those golden darts increased to streams of portable fire, that burstthe fog and illumined the wet sands. And Helen burst out laughing likechanticleer, for this first break of day revealed the sextons that hadscared her--three ponderous turtles, crawling, slow and clumsy, back tosea. Hazel joined her, and they soon found what these evil spirits of theisland had been at, poor wretches. They had each buried a dozen eggs inthe sand; one dozen of which were very soon set boiling. At first,indeed, Helen objected that they had no shells, but Hazel told her shemight as well complain of a rose without a thorn. He assured her turtles'eggs were a known delicacy, and very superior to birds' eggs; and so shefound them. They were eaten with the keenest relish.
"And now," said Helen, "for my discoveries. First, here are my Englishleaves, only bigger. I found them on a large tree."
"English leaves!" cried Hazel, with rapture. "Why, it is the caoutchouc!"
"Oh, dear," said Helen, in a disappointed tone; "I took it for theIndia-rubber free."
"It is the India-rubber tree; and I have been hunting for it all over theisland in vain, and using wretchedly inferior gums for want of it."
"I'm so glad," said Helen. "And now I have something else to show you.Something that curdled my blood; but I dare say I was very foolish." Shethen took him half across the sand and pointed out to him a number ofstones dotted over the sand in a sort of oval. These stones, streakedwith sea grass, and incrusted with small shells, were not at equaldistances, but yet, allowing for gaps, they formed a decided figure.Their outline resembled a great fish, wanting the tail.
"Can this be chance?" asked Helen; "oh, if it should be what I fear, andthat is--savages!"
Hazel considered it attentively a long time. "Too far at sea for livingsavages," said he. "And yet it cannot be chance. What on earth is it? Itlooks Druidical. But how can that be? The island was smaller when thesewere placed here than it is now." He went nearer and examined one of thestones; then he scraped away the sand from its base, and found it was notshaped like a stone, but more like a whale's rib. He became excited; wenton his knees, and tore the sand up with his hands. Then he rose upagitated, and traced the outline again. "Great Heaven!" said he, "why, itis a ship."
"A ship!"
"Ay," said he, standing in the middle of it; "here, beneath our feet,lies man; with his work, and his treasures. This carcass has been herefor many a long year; not so very long, either; she is too big for thesixteenth century, and yet she must have been sunk when the island wassmaller. I take it to be a Spanish or Portuguese ship; probably one ofthose treasure-ships our commodores, and chartered pirates, and theAmerican buccaneers, used to chase about these seas. Here lie her bonesand the bones of her crew. Your question was soon answered. All that wecan say has been said; can do has been done; can suffer has beensuffered."
They were silent, and the sunk ship's bones moved them strangely. Intheir deep isolation from the human race, even the presence of the deadbrought humanity somehow nearer to them.
They walked thoughtfully away, and made across the sands for TelegraphPoint.
Before they got home, Helen suggested that perhaps, if he were to dig inthe ship, he might find something useful.
He shook his head: "Impossible! The iron has all melted away like sugarlong before this. Nothing can have survived but gold and silver, and theyare not worth picking up, much less digging for; my time is too precious.No, you have found two buried treasures to-day--turtles' eggs, and aship, freighted, as I think, with what men call the precious metals.Well, the eggs are gold, and the gold is a drug--there it will lie forme."
Both discoveries bore fruits. The ship: Hazel made a vow that never againshould any poor ship lay her ribs on this island for want of warning. Hebuoyed the reefs. He ran out to White Water Island, and wrote an earnestwarning on the black reef, and, this time, he wrote with white on black.He wrote a similar warning, with black on white, at the western extremityof Godsend Island.
The eggs: Hazel watched for the turtles at daybreak; turned one now andthen; and fed Helen on the meat or its eggs, morn, noon and night.
For some time she had been advancing in health and strength. But, whenthe rains declined considerably, and she was all day in the air, she gotthe full benefit of the wonderful climate, and her health, appetite andmuscular vigor became truly astonishing; especially under what Hazelcalled the turtle cure; though, indeed, she was cured before. She atethree good meals a day, and needed them; for she was up with the sun, andher hands and feet never idle till he set.
Four months on the island had done this. But four months had not shownthose straining eyes the white speck on the horizon; the sail, so lookedand longed for.
Hazel often walked the island by himself; not to explore, for he knew theplace well by this time, but he went his rounds to see that all hissignals were in working order.
He went to Mount Lookout one day with this view. It was about an hourbefore noon. Long before he got to the mountain he had scanned thehorizon carefully, as a matter of course; but not a speck. So, when hegot there, he did not look seaward, but just saw that his flagstaff wasall right and was about to turn away and go home, when he happened toglance at the water; and there, underneath him, he saw--a ship; standingtoward the island.
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