Sam Steele's Adventures on Land and Sea

Chapter X

When I opened my eyes it was broad daylight, and at first I could not remember where I was. But as I sat up I saw before me Nux and Bryonia, seated calmly side by side, with the wilderness all around me and the distant voices of the robbers echoing faintly in my ears. The sun was up, for I could see it glinting through the trees; so, as a recollection of my surroundings came back to me, I asked Bry what was going on.

He said the men were breaking camp, having slept late, and that presently they were going to travel still further into the interior. I could not imagine what they had in view, or where they expected to hide from the vengeance of the men they had plundered; but Bry declared we could follow them without ourselves being seen, so I decided not to give up until we had tracked them to their hiding place—if, indeed, they had one.

Presently we could see them tramping away to the southward, carrying the gold and provisions they had tied up in the blankets. There must have been two or three hundredweight of the gold, so the packages were heavy, and they had to take turns carrying them. But men seldom feel overburdened by the weight of gold, so we heard no complaints from the bearers.

Bry went on alone, hiding behind rocks and trees but keeping the men well in sight. After him trailed Nux, keeping Bry in sight; and then, as far away as I dared, I followed Nux, trying to imitate the example of the blacks and to hide myself as well as possible.

Before noon I grew hungry, for we had brought no provisions of any sort with us. The robbers paused to lunch, and then went on; but although I searched carefully, I could not find a morsel of food that they had cast aside. Of water there was plenty, for we crossed several small streams; but food began to be more precious than gold to me, and I vaguely wondered if I should die of starvation before I got back to camp.

At evening the men made camp again, this time in a little clearing strewn with fallen logs; and when Bry rejoined me in a clump of trees where Nux and I had halted, I told him frankly that I was faint with hunger, and that unless I could find something to eat I could not go on. I have no doubt the blacks were hungry, too; but they were more inured to hardship, and could bear it better.

But Bry volunteered to try to secure some food, and as soon as darkness had fallen he crept toward the camp, managing to approach to within five yards of the camp fire, around which the robbers sat smoking and talking. He was concealed by a huge log, behind which he hid, listening carefully to the conversation, which he afterward retailed to me.

“So far,” Larkin was saying, “we couldn’t have done better. By this time I guess we’re pretty safe from pursuit.”

“No one could find their way here in a year,” boasted Daggett, his lean face grinning with delight. “I’m the only man on the island as knows the trails.”

“Are you sure you can lead us to that queer rock you tell of?” asked Judson, a little uneasily.

“Sure. And once there, we could defy an army,” returned Daggett. “Then we can make our raft, row out to where the ship is, and sail away home.”

Larkin gave a rude laugh, ending it with an oath.

“There’ll be some tall cussin’ in the camp,” he said.

“Major’ll be crazy,” assented Daggett.

“I swiped every grain o’ gold he had, while he lay a–snorin’,” chuckled Hayes, a big ruffian who was called “Dandy Pete,” in derision, because he was so rough and unkempt. “Pity we couldn’t ’a’ got all there was in camp.”

“There’s enough to make us all rich, my boys, anyhow,” remarked Larkin. “It’s nearly broke my back, luggin’ of it, an’ there’s only four of us to divide.”

At this they seemed to grow thoughtful, and all sat silently smoking for several minutes.

“What bothers me,” said Judson, breaking the silence, “is how we’re to get that blasted ship into some civilized port. There ain’t a man here as knows anything about sailin’.”

“That’s all right,” said Larkin, confidently. “The sun rises in the east, don’t it? Well, all we’ve got to do is h’ist the sails and let the wind blow us towards the east. Some time or other we’ll get to the American continent, and then we can run down the coast to ’Frisco. It’s no trouble to sail a ship.”

“We’ve got to get away, somehow,” grumbled Judson, “or our gold won’t be of any use to us. When are we going to divide?”

“When we get on the ship,” said Daggett, promptly.

“When we’re at sea will be better,” added Larkin.

They looked at one another suspiciously.

“It’s got to be a fair divvy,” said Dandy Pete, with an oath, “or else there won’t be so many to divide up with.”

“What do you mean by that?” demanded Larkin, angrily.

“I mean I’ll stick a knife in your ribs, if you try any trickery with me,” replied Pete, scowling. “You made the terms yourself, and you’ve got to live up to ’em. It’s a quarter each, all around.”

“That’s wrong!” yelled Daggett, springing to his feet. “I’m to have a third, for guiding you. If it hadn’t been for me, you couldn’t get away with the gold at all.”

“Who promised you a third?” asked Hayes.

“Larkin.”

“Well, let Larkin make it up to you, out of his own share. I’m going to have a quarter.”

“And so am I,” said Judson, fingering his revolver.

Larkin glared at them with a white face.

“We won’t quarrel about it, boys,” he said, after a time. “There’s plenty for all, and we must hang together till we’re out of danger. I’ll take what you think is right, for my share.”

“I’ll take my third, an’ no less,” growled Daggett.

No one looked at him. Each seemed to be busy with his own thoughts.

Bryonia had chosen this especial log to hide behind, because the robbers had placed their sack of provisions upon it. While listening to the conversation I have recorded, the black had stealthily reached up his hand and managed to extract from the bundle a tin of corned beef and a handful of ship’s biscuits. Then he wriggled carefully away, and in a few minutes had rejoined Nux and me, where we hid among the trees.

I think no food has ever tasted quite so delicious to me as did that tinned beef and stale biscuit. When divided amongst three there was little enough in each share, but it sufficed to allay our hunger and give us fresh strength and courage.

After we had eaten, Bry decided to go back again for more, since another opportunity to purloin from the bundle of provisions might not be offered us.

As it was very dark by this time, Nux and I crept nearer, to where a big rock lay; and here, hidden by the deep shadows, we were able to distinguish clearly all that transpired around the camp fire.

Bry being between us and the light, we could follow his creeping form with our eyes until we saw him lying safely hidden behind the log, with the bundle of food just over him. By this time all the robbers had lain down to sleep except Larkin, who had taken the watch and sat moodily smoking beside the fire, on which he tossed now and then a handful of fuel.

Suddenly, as he looked toward the sack that rested upon the log, he saw it move. In an instant a pistol shot rang out, and the robbers sprang to their feet with cries of alarm.

“Somebody’s behind that log!” shouted Larkin, who was himself trembling with fear.

At once Bryonia arose to his feet, stepped over the log, and calmly advanced into the light of the fire, holding out his hand in greeting and smiling broadly into the angry faces confronting him.

“Don’ shoot poor Bry,” he said, pleadingly. “I’se run ’way to j’ine you.”

“Run away!” exclaimed Larkin, while the others looked at the black suspiciously. “Why did you do that?”

“So’s I won’ haf to work any mo’,” answered Bry. “Dey’s jest killin’ me in dat camp, luggin’ bags o’ sand an’ washin’ gold all day.”

“Who came with you?” asked Daggett.

“Nobody ’t all,” declared Bry. “I seen yo’ all leave de camp, an’ so I crep’ along after yo’. Wouldn’t have let yo’ know I was here, sure ’nough, but I got so hungry. I couldn’t stand it no longer, so I tried to steal somefin’ to eat, an’ Mars Larkin he shot de gun at me.”

“How did you know we had quit the camp for good?” enquired Pete, in a surly tone.

“Saw you take de gold, suh. So I ’pects you ain’t comin’ back agin’, an’ thought I’d j’ine yo’. If you’ll take me ’long an’ feed me, Mars Hayes, I’ll help tote de gold.”

Bryonia’s statement was so simple that the miners were inclined to believe him. Nux and I, who had crawled nearer to the fire when the pistol shot rang out, could hear distinctly every word, and for a moment I was horrified that Bry should prove false and desert to the enemy. But Nux was chuckling gleefully, and whispered: “Dat Bry, he mighty clever boy, Mars Sam!” So I began to comprehend that Bry was acting a part, with the idea of saving Nux and me from discovery and ultimately recovering the gold. Therefore I kept silent and listened eagerly.

Evidently the miners were not of one opinion concerning the new arrival.

“Let’s kill the nigger,” said Daggett. “Then we won’t run any chances.”

“Don’t be a fool,” retorted Larkin. “Bry can be useful to us. He’s the cook of the ‘Flipper’, I’m told, and besides helping to carry the gold, he can cook our meals when we get to sea, and help sail the ship.”

“If he’s run away from camp, why, he’s one of us,” said Judson, yawning and sitting down again. “And if it comes to a fight, he counts for one more on our side.”

“But he don’t get any gold,” added Dandy Pete.

“Not an ounce!” declared Daggett.

“Don’t want any gold,” said Bry, composedly. “Only want to get away.”

“All right,” decided Larkin. “You can come along. But you’ve got to obey orders, and the first time I catch you at any tricks, I’ll put a bullet into you.”

Bry grinned from ear to ear, as if he considered this a good joke, and then he warmed his hands over the fire while Judson brought him something to eat from the bundle.

Afterward all lay down to sleep again except Larkin, who resumed his watch. It was too soon to put any trust in Bry, so the black, having eaten his fill, lay down beside the others.

Nux and I cautiously retreated to the rock, and consulted as to what we should do under these circumstances. The black man had perfect confidence in his comrade, and proposed that we should still follow the band of robbers and wait for Bry to find a way to communicate with us and assist us. This seemed reasonable to me, also.

As we were chilled to the bones in the cold night air, Nux suggested that we go into camp until morning, and led me a long distance back into the woods, where we finally came to a deep hollow. Here there would be little danger that a fire could be seen by the robbers; so we gathered together some twigs, and as I had matches in my pocket a fire was soon started that proved very grateful to us both. We then agreed to take turns watching until daylight, and while Nux lay down to sleep I took the first watch. But in some way—perhaps because the fire was so cosy and agreeable,—I gradually lost consciousness, and when morning came both Nux and I awoke with a start to find the fire out and the sun glinting brightly through the trees.

We made all haste toward the camp of the robbers, but when we arrived at the place we found it deserted. They could not have been gone long, however, for the embers of the fire were still aglow; and Nux, who was keen as a bloodhound on a trail, declared he would have no trouble in following the band.

Before we left, however, we made a search for food, and to our joy discovered behind the log a can of beans and some more biscuits, which Bry had evidently found an opportunity to hide there for our benefit. We began the chase even while we ate, for Nux picked out the trail with ease and threaded his way between the trees with absolute confidence.

It was nearly noon when he halted suddenly.

We had come to the edge of the forest. Before us lay a broad table–land, barren of any trees or brush whatever, and beyond this strip of rock the blue sea stretched away to the horizon.

“Why, we’ve crossed the island!” I exclaimed.

“Only one end of de island,” corrected Nux. “De bay where our ship lays ain’t half a mile away.”

It surprised me that the shrewd black should know this, but I did not question his statement. Just now my attention was drawn to the robbers, who had halted upon the further edge of the table–land, which even from where we stood, could be seen to form a high bluff above the ocean. At this place it ran out into a little point, and just beyond this point, but separated from the mainland by a wide gulf, stood an island–like peak of rock, its flat surface on a level with the bluff. It must at one time have formed a part of the mainland, but some convulsion of nature had broken it away, and now a deep fissure isolated it from the bluff.

Nature was responsible for two other curious freaks. One was a group of tall pines, three in number, which grew on the separate peak where there seemed scarcely enough soil covering the rock to hold the roots of the trees. Yet on the main bluff there were no trees at all.

The other phenomenon was a great rock, that must have weighed thousands of tons, which lay upon the edge of the bluff so nicely balanced that it almost seemed as if a good push would precipitate it into the gulf below. It was triangular in shape, and the base rested on the bluff while its outer point projected far over the gulf till it towered almost above the isolated point of rock I have described.

The robbers, when we first saw them, were engaged in earnest consultation. It appeared that Daggett was explaining something about the great rock, for he pointed toward it several times, and then at the islet. The others leaned over the edge of the gulf, looked into the chasm below, at the triangular rock, at the barren islet, and then drew back and shook their heads.

Then Daggett, whom I had always considered a coward, did what struck me as being a very brave act. He climbed upon the sloping rock, and gradually crept upward on his hands and knees. When he reached a point above the center the huge rock began to tremble. Daggett crept a little further along, and now the entire mass of rock, which was poised to a nicety, raised its vast bulk and tipped slowly outward. Daggett slid forward; the point of rock under him touched the islet and came to rest, and then he leaped off and stood safely upon the peak, while the rocking–stone, relieved of his weight, slowly returned to its former position.

A cheer went up from the men, and they hesitated no longer. Bry crept up the stone next, and was tipped gracefully upon the islet. One after another Hayes, Judson and Larkin mounted the rocking–stone and were deposited upon the rocky point, together with their bundles of gold and provisions.

We could not see very well what became of them, after this, for the big rock hid them from our view; but as it was evident they could not get back again—at least by the same means they had employed to reach the islet,—Nux and I made bold to creep out of our shelter and approach the point that jutted outward into the sea.

Then, to our surprise, we saw that the flat top of the rock was deserted. The robbers, together with Bry and the treasure, seemed to have vanished into thin air!