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diff --git a/39399.txt b/39399.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0e55eff..0000000 --- a/39399.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7681 +0,0 @@ - TREASURE OF KINGS - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - -Title: Treasure of Kings - Being the Story of the Discovery of the "Big Fish," or the Quest - of the Greater Treasure of the Incas of Peru. - -Author: Charles Gilson - -Release Date: April 07, 2012 [EBook #39399] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREASURE OF KINGS *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover art] - - - -[Illustration: "EVERYWHERE WAS GOLD, STACKED UPON THE FLOOR, PILED -AGAINST THE WALLS." See page 208.] - - - - - TREASURE OF KINGS - - Being the Story of the Discovery of - the "Big Fish," or the Quest of the - Greater Treasure of the Incas of Peru. - - - - By - - MAJOR CHARLES GILSON - - _Author of "The Realm of the Wizard King," "The Fire Gods,"_ - _"In the Power of the Pygmies," etc._ - - - - - With Frontispiece in Colour and Eight Full-page - Illustrations by R. CATON WOODVILLE, R.I. - - - - - LONDON - "THE BOY'S OWN PAPER" OFFICE, - 4, Bouverie Street, E.C. 4 - - - - - BY THE SAME AUTHOR - -The Realm of the Wizard King. A Tale of Prehistoric Monsters. -The Scarlet Hand. A Tale of a Secret Society. -Submarine U93. A Tale of the Great War at Sea. -The Fire Gods. A Tale of the African Forest. -The Mystery of Ah Jim. A Tale of the Sea. -On Secret Service. A Spy Story. -The Lost Empire. A Tale of the Battle of the Nile. -The Lost Column. A Tale of the Boxer Rebellion. -The Lost Island. A Tale of the Mysterious East. -The Sword of Freedom. A Tale of the English Revolution. -The Spy. A Tale of the Peninsular War. -The Race Round the World. A Tale of a new Motor Spirit. -The Pirate Aeroplane. A Tale of Ancient Egypt. -In the Power of the Pygmies. A Tale of the Congo. -A Motor Scout in Flanders. A Tale of the Fall of Antwerp. -Across the Cameroons. A Tale of the Great War in West Africa. -Held by Chinese Brigands. A Tale of China. -The Society of the Tortoise Mask. A Tale of a Secret Society. -The Captives of the Caves. A Tale of Savage Men. -The Sword of Deliverance. A Tale of the Balkan War. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I--JOHN BANNISTER - CHAPTER II--THE COMING OF AMOS - CHAPTER III--THE MAP - CHAPTER IV--KIDNAPPED - CHAPTER V--I SET FORTH UPON MY VOYAGE - CHAPTER VI--I AM CONCERNED IN A MUTINY - CHAPTER VII--AND AM MADE TO PAY FOR IT - CHAPTER VIII--INTO THE WILDERNESS - CHAPTER IX--I AM LEFT TO MY DOOM - CHAPTER X--HOW THE WILD MEN CAME AND LOOKED AT ME - CHAPTER XI--I BURN MY BOATS - CHAPTER XII--THE PATH OF THE TIGER - CHAPTER XIII--THE STORY OF ATUPO - CHAPTER XIV--THE GLADE OF SILENT DEATH - CHAPTER XV--HOW I BEHELD A MIRACLE - CHAPTER XVI--I FIND THE "BIG FISH" - CHAPTER XVII--THE GREATER TREASURE - CHAPTER XVIII--I FALL IN WITH A FRIEND - CHAPTER XIX--THE BOATSWAIN TELLS HIS STORY - CHAPTER XX--I RETURN TO THE SOLDIER'S TOMB - CHAPTER XXI--I AM MADE A GHOST, AND THEN A FOOL - CHAPTER XXII--MR. FORSYTH AND I BECOME BETTER ACQUAINTED - CHAPTER XXIII--HOW AMOS GAINED POSSESSION OF THE MAP - CHAPTER XXIV--HOW AMOS WAS POSSESSED OF SEVEN DEVILS - CHAPTER XXV--HOW THE SHEEP WERE SHORN - CHAPTER XXVI--A NIGHT OF TERROR - CHAPTER XXVII--HOW AMOS MET HIS END - CHAPTER XXVIII--CONCLUSION - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - BY R. CATON WOODVILLE, R.I. - -"Everywhere was gold, stacked upon the floor, piled against the walls" . -. . . . . . . . Frontispiece - -"'Because,' he answered slowly, 'because you are a caveman, too'" - -"He rolled back the boulder as though it were nothing" (missing from -book) - -"And bound I was, then and there, to a stout palm tree, a little -distance from the margin of the forest" - -"They came closer than ever, to within an arm's length of me" - -"I had reached the conclusion of my journey. The Big Fish was there" - -"'Hands up!' he cried. 'Hands up, you brown barbarian, or else I shoot -you dead!'" - -"'Lie there and rot!' he shouted. And they below heard his footsteps as -he danced upon the stone" - -"And so we came to the seashore, and saw the sun go down upon the wide -and golden Pacific Ocean" - - - - - INSCRIBED TO - - BROMLEY DAVID SMITH-DORRIEN - - - - - TREASURE OF KINGS - - - - -CHAPTER I--JOHN BANNISTER - - -I shall never forget the day on which I first set eyes upon John -Bannister. I was then a boy--sixteen years of age, if I remember -rightly--and I stood before him, tongue-tied by the questions that he -asked me, wondering how he had come by the great ugly, horrid scar upon -his face, awed--indeed, I think, a little frightened--by the great -muscles in his forearms, naked to the elbows, his rough weather-beaten -face with skin like leather, and above all else by the stature of the -man. - -For he was a giant--a giant such as I had dreamed of when a child. As -some such figure had I pictured Giant Despair, when my mother had read -to me from _Pilgrim's Progress_: "And Giant Despair was in one of his -fits again." I had pictured Strength and Madness let loose amid a -thunderstorm of wrath. And when I first looked upon him who was to be -my champion and my comrade. I forgot his soft, kindly words and -pleasing smile, and could only think how terrible he must be in anger. - -There is a strip of beach upon the Sussex coast, so many miles from -nowhere, where the sand-snipe gather and seldom a human being may be -seen. There, as a lad, I would love to roam, with no certain object in -view, but just to find what I could, to observe what chanced to come my -way, and, when wearied of wandering, to sit upon the shingle over and -above those plains of wet, grey sand and think of all manner of things -as my boyish fancy pleased. - -I was seated thus one April morning, far from home, and wondering how my -tired legs would carry me back to dinner, when my attention was -attracted to two strange birds, of a kind that I could not remember to -have seen before. The sea was calm as glass, the sun hot as August. -They were large birds, and were engaged--so far as I could see at a -distance of more than a hundred yards--in dragging from the shallow -water what might have been the carcass of a fish. - -I watched them, greatly interested, forgetful even of my appetite, -possibly for five minutes; and then there came a heavy step upon the -shingle at my back. - -I turned quickly, to behold the figure of John Bannister. Like some -great beast of prey, he had broken his way quite noiselessly through a -thick brake of that shrub which, I think, is called -sea-buckthorn--though I never knew one tree from another. And he stood -regarding me, with his hands upon his hips. - -I got to my feet, thinking that such a man might be up to no good in so -lonesome a place, and I might find it advisable to take to my heels. -But, quite suddenly, he laughed; and at the sound of his laughter I knew -at once that I, for sure, had nothing to fear. Since that memorable day -I have learned in the world many true and singular things, but none -truer than that you may know always an honest man by his laughter and -the shake of his hand. - -"I startled you," he said. - -"I wondered who it was," I faltered sheepishly. - -"And you are still none the wiser," he answered. - -And at that, he seated himself by my side. - -He told me that the strange birds were hooded crows. He told me also -how they bullied the rooks, robbed the gulls; how they were cleverer and -more evil than any other bird, foes of all and feared by all--thieves -and murderers. He talked like a book; he had the science of the matter -at his finger-tips, and he could, at the same time, paint pictures, as -it were, with words. With him the hooded crow was in a single sentence -_corvus cornix_, and the "highwayman of the air." - -And as he talked to me, I wondered the more concerning him, and thought -the less of the hooded crows. Who was he, whence had he come, and what -was he doing there in such a lonely place, in his shirt sleeves, in the -warm April sunshine? These were questions that he himself was to -answer. I cannot say why he took me straightway into his confidence, -and afterwards into the very chamber of his heart--but he did; else I -would now have naught to write about. - -Let me confess that I have taken the whole tenour of my life from this -man's greatness. I have tried my best, all my long years, to bear in -mind his strength, his wisdom, and his courage, that I might walk humbly -in the shadow of a glorious example. But, more than all besides, I know -that I owe to him the restless spirit of adventure, the love of action, -the joy of wandering, that has led me so often to strange and distant -places where I have found myself in even stranger company. - -I cannot tell you of all he said to me upon the morning of our meeting. -He spoke of many things, of the world he had seen, the dangers he had -faced, the people he had known. As I had no longer feared him after his -first word and his open, kindly smile, so after five minutes of his -talking did I feel that I had known him all my life. For his words were -magic. Wondrous pictures framed themselves before my eyes upon the calm -surface of that English sea--pictures of wild men, of treeless deserts, -of savage forests and inhospitable hills; and I longed then to follow in -the footsteps of this heroic man, whose hairy arms were those of Vulcan -and whose voice was soft as that of the mother whom I loved. - -I forgot my dinner. I hungered only for adventure. I sat upon the -shingle, wondering what lay beyond the vague horizon where grey sea and -sky were blended, where I could just discern the smoke of a solitary and -distant steamer, the only sign of life or movement upon that desert -sea--for we in the West of Sussex lay well away from the track of the -Channel shipping. - -On a sudden, I asked him the time; and with a glance at the sun he told -me it was two. At that, I jumped to my feet. - -"But I am late!" I cried. - -"Not for the first time," said he. "I can remember my own boyhood." - -"My dinner was at one." - -"Then you dine with me; for I eat when I have time and appetite, sleep -when I will, and live as Nature meant me to." - -He led me back from the beach across some sand-hills to a place where -the gorse was like a wave of gold. And there was a wooden hut--or, -rather, shed, for it was walled upon three sides only. And within were -all sorts of things: a sleeping-bag made of the skins of some small -animal with fur soft as a mole's, which he said had come from the south -of Africa; an iron cooking-pot, an evil-looking affair which he had -brought with him from the Amazon; skins painted by North American -savages; mocassins; a Malay sarong, a kind of towel worn around the -waist; and more curiosities and rude, primitive utensils than I could -well describe within the space of a page of the smallest print. - -And yet, I dined like a prince: a soup of fish, plover roasted upon a -spit, and in place of bread, flour and water fried in a pan after the -custom of the Afghans. It may have been the novelty of it all, or the -fact that by then I was well-nigh famished, but I never ate more -heartily, and I have never forgotten that meal, though I have had many -such since then. - -In answer to my questions, he told me more concerning himself. Though -he had lived a life of adventure, exploring wild countries, sleeping -beneath the stars, in constant peril of his life from savage beasts and -scarce less savage men, I could not of myself comprehend why he should -in peaceful England bury himself miles from the abodes of his fellow -human beings. For I write--you must remember--of many years ago, of the -mid-Victorian time, as it is called--and good days they were, as we know -full well who have lived to see these unsettled, troublous days. To-day, -from the spot where John Bannister and I first met, you may catch a -glimpse to the west along the coast of the red roofs of bungalows, where -week-end visitors may come from London to set up bathing-huts upon the -beach, whilst from the east, perhaps, a pair of lovers may wander from -across the golf course at Littlehampton in search of desirable -seclusion. For that stretch of coast is desolate still; but in those -days it was a kind of No Man's Land, with no sign of life but the gulls -and the sand-snipe, the smoke from John Bannister's camp-fire, and the -hooded crows. - -Well, the truth was, he who feared neither beast of prey nor painted -cannibal was afraid of civilised men. He went once a week to the little -inland village a few miles distant to purchase groceries and stores. -There--as I found out afterwards--they thought him a madman, though he -was always courteous in his manner and paid without question for what he -bought. He had few words for any man, and none ever for a woman. -Later, when my mother came to learn of my new-found friend who lived -alone among the sand-hills, she was anxious to see him, more for my own -welfare than from curiosity; but he told me flatly that he had never -known any civilised woman save his own mother, who had died when he was -young, and he would rather face a wounded lion than pretend to talk to -one. - -"For it comes to this," said he; "I have gone back, as it were, upon the -centuries; I have learned to live as men lived in ancient times. Though -I have read much and thought more, and have some claim, I suppose, to be -called a scholar, in many ways I am no better than a cave-man. I have -forgotten all the niceties of culture. I have neither small-talk nor -table manners. So I prefer to live as I do, in my own way; and I offer -no welcome to visitors. The farmer who owns this land is glad enough of -the little I pay him in the way of rent; but, beyond that and my weekly -shopping, I seek no intercourse with strangers. I am content to be -alone." - -I asked if he were not often lonely, and he laughed. - -"Even here," said he, "in Sussex, Nature is a living force. The sea -changes almost hour by hour. Birds come and visit me. Even the rabbits -in the brake have already learned to know me. They all seem to -know--these little, wild things--that I am one of them, and soon cease -to fear me. They are my companions and my friends, and I have also -books and memory. And I have health and air, the smell of the salt sea -and the seaweed, and the sunrise to awaken me before your street-bred -friends are stirring. The wind, the rain, and the sun--I welcome each -as it comes. Did I want other comrades, I should go and seek them; but -I prefer to live like this." - -"And yet you talked willingly to me?" I asked. - -"Because," he answered slowly--and his words came to me as a -surprise--"because you are a cave-man, too." - -[Illustration: "'BECAUSE,' HE ANSWERED SLOWLY, 'BECAUSE YOU ARE A -CAVE-MAN, TOO.'"] - -"I!" I exclaimed. - -"Every boy," said he, "every healthy, happy boy. It was the savage in -you--though you may not realise it--that brought you out here alone, -that took you right away from red bricks and shops and dinner." - -I cannot say whether I have conveyed to the reader in the space of this -short chapter a true conception of the character of John Bannister, as -he was when I knew him first. Of his personal appearance I have yet to -write; and if it be a simple matter to describe that which is outwardly -apparent, it is by no means easy either to fathom or to portray a man's -soul and mind. - -Do not imagine that I myself knew aught of him until after we had -sojourned together for months, faced the same dangers, stood side by -side throughout the great adventure of which I have to tell. I knew -from the first that he was wise and generous and kind: I could see with -my eyes that he was strong, and his talk charmed the imagination of a -dreamy, active boy. In spite of all he knew, of the experiences he had -had in all parts of the world, he was one of the simplest men that ever -lived. And there was something in him of the poet. I do not mean that -he ever tried to set down his thoughts in verse, but that he lived in -love with all things beautiful. I have seen him stand stock-still like -one transfigured, with eyes illumined, gazing in wonderment upon a -purple sunset upon the snow-capped crestline of the distant Andes--and -that at a moment when his own life, as well as mine, was not worth a -full day's purchase. - -Judge all men by their deeds and not their words. Hear this history to -the end, and see what like of man was he whose charm and peril led me -forth from green and sleepy Sussex to adventure in the darkness of those -tropic forests that shut out the source of the great River of Mystery, -where there are poison, black ignorance, and fell disease, and a man may -no more count the dangers that encompass him than the myriads of -stinging insects that drone about his ears. - -And one thing more: my own life has not been lived without event. It -has been my fate to tell a score of times of the enterprise of others; -but of all men of action I have ever known, read or written of, I rank -John Bannister as first. Perhaps that may be because I can now seat -myself of a winter's evening before my study fire and see him in my -fancy as he was in all his strength and manhood, pass through again the -dangers and the hardships, and live once more the glorious days that it -was my privilege to pass with him, and remember that, had it not been -for him, I might have lived all my life in Sussex and seen nothing of -the world. But how can I set down the debt I owe him? For I owe him -life itself. - - - - -CHAPTER II--THE COMING OF AMOS - - -After that morning, throughout the summer months when I was at school, -there was seldom a Saturday or a Wednesday afternoon when I was not to -be seen hastening eastward along the beach to see John Bannister and to -listen to his talk. - -During those days I learned much of him, of his travels and adventures; -but there were certain matters upon which he would never speak in any -detail. He would never tell me, for instance, the full story of how he -had come by the great scar upon his face--a disfigurement so pronounced -as to be at once pathetic and repulsive, which had aroused my boyish -curiosity from the first. Had it not been for that scar, Bannister -would have been a handsome man, as indeed he was when the left side of -his face was to be seen in profile. He had deep-set steel-grey eyes -that looked clean through you, and the forehead of a thinker; his hair, -in those bygone days, was black, no more than touched with white upon -the temples and about the ears, and his moustache the longest I have -ever seen. Though there was never a man, I should suppose, who had less -of vanity in his composition, I think he grew it thus to hide in part -the record of the terrible wound that had extended from his right ear to -the corner of his mouth--a scar that was always rough and white, though -his face was burnt by the sun to the colour of tan. - -"I came by that," he once said to me in answer to my question, "in what -might be called an honest cause. A thousand miles from nowhere, where -there is neither Law nor Right nor Wrong nor Justice, one--who may or -may not have learned the Lord's Prayer at his mother's knee--would have -put to death some score of helpless human creatures, slaughtered them -like sheep." - -"Why?" I asked. - -"Why," said he, "there are but few motives that sway the evil that lies -in all men, and of these greed of gold is first. And this man of whom I -speak was a great force of evil, and is so still, for I never doubt that -he is yet alive. For gold he would have murdered those who had never -wronged him, who had indeed shown him nothing but kindness and -hospitality. Fate decreed that this man's path and mine should cross; -and because I stood between him and an ill-gotten fortune, I was struck -a coward's blow. You would never guess the weapon, Dick, that gave me -my beauty mark for life?" - -He paused as if waiting for an answer, though I had none to give. - -"Well, then," he continued, "it was a sceptre--the golden sceptre of a -bygone dynasty of monarchs, ended four hundred years ago--kings of no -naked savages, but emperors, rulers over an ancient civilisation that -has crumbled to the dust, of a people who were cultured in their own -way, industrious and great. It is something, we may imagine, to carry -through life the scar that was given by the symbol of such authority and -power." - -"And where was this?" I asked. - -"Where the mountains overtop the clouds," he answered, "where one may -see the last of the sunset beyond the valleys of Peru, and the dawn -rises from the dark forests of the Upper Amazon, in which, Dick, there -are secrets that no man yet has ever lived to learn." - -"It was the sceptre of the _Incas_!" I exclaimed; for I had read as a -holiday task _The Conquest of Peru_. - -"The very same that was hidden from Pizarro," he made answer, "together -with all the gold of Huaraz and Cuzco." - -"And who was the man who struck you?" I demanded. - -"When I tell you that his name is Amos Baverstock," said Bannister, -"that he hails from the same west-country town as I do--and that is -Tiverton in Devon--and that that man to this day counts himself as my -greatest enemy, I tell you more than I should." - -And though I tried my utmost, I could get from him nothing more. A -reticent man by nature, he was yet from the beginning prodigal of speech -with me. With the exception of this great Peruvian adventure--which, I -could tell from his demeanour, he ranked as the one outstanding episode -in all his life--he would answer all my questions. I thought this -strange; and there was an even stranger thing about him--and I was soon -to learn that the two were linked together. Though he had to some -extent confided in myself, he forbade me to speak of him to my -schoolfellows. He told me he was well content to have found a friend in -a boy after his own heart, much the same sort of lad as the John -Bannister who had bathed in the Exe, and, barefooted, raced other boys -upon the river bank; but, were the knowledge of his presence upon that -lonely shore to become the common property of a clamouring, crowded -school, his seclusion would be lost, his peace of mind disturbed, his -haven of rest and solitude converted into a kind of monkey-house--for -that is what he called it. - -I gave my word, and kept it; and yet, I could not but think of things. -And it occurred to me that John Bannister lived as he did for other -reasons than solely to enjoy the fruits of solitude. Not that he -himself had ever told me anything that was not the truth: he had, -indeed, sojourned for so many years in the wild places of the world that -he had forgotten much concerning the ways of civilisation and could be -shy--as he was before my mother--like an overgrown yokel who stands, cap -in hand, first on one foot and then upon the other. He wanted more than -solitude, he wanted secrecy. For more reasons than one I should have -guessed it; but I was but a boy, and looked not for motives or for -causes. I was content to take the man as he was: a hero in my eyes, who -had risked his life a thousand times, who had done great deeds and seen -strange sights and wondrous places that I had only dreamed of. - -And now I come, at last, to the beginning of my story: a blazing morning -in the August sun, when our friendship was four months old, when the -wheels of chance began to move, and those forces were set in motion that -whirled me away, when still a schoolboy, from sunny, sleepy Sussex, to -be a wayfarer with grim Death himself in dark, tropic lowlands, or amid -the very clouds. - -It being holiday-time, and I having no thought in my head than what -pertained to my hero, I set forth earlier than usual, and took the -straight cut across the fields, instead of following the shore. This -led me to a group of sand-hills, not half a mile from where Bannister -had pitched his camp; and amid these I stumbled upon three men, seated, -heads together, in the shadow of a gorse bush. - -I cannot for the life of me explain why I did it--never before or since -have I played the eavesdropper of my own free choice--but the moment I -set eyes upon a hunchback, with a clean, wrinkled face and two small -eyes as black as boot-buttons, down I dropped on all fours, like a man -shot, and crept silently and swiftly to the cover of a clump of -reed-like grass. - -I think the sight of the man frightened me. He had the cruellest face I -had ever seen; and there was cunning in it, too. Also, there was a -suggestion of merriness, of latent mirth, about him--patent in the -shining, bead-like eyes--that caused me instantly to shudder. Have you -ever considered the eyes of a half-grown pig, as something apart from -the glistening, inquisitive, joyful, and highly entertaining quadruped -that a young pig happens invariably to be? They are wicked and gleeful, -defiant and pitiless, those little, twinkling eyes. They are more -fearful than those of a snake, because they are more alive and equally -soulless. Well, then, such eyes had this man: eyes at once merciless -and mischievous. And so it was, I must suppose, that I hid myself amid -the grass. - -And then one of those who were with him used these very words; and when -I heard them, it was as if I was deprived of the power to breathe. - -"I wish I were a hundred miles from here, I can tell you that. He's not -likely to forget that it was you, Amos Baverstock, that trapped him and -left him for dead, and that it was I who struck the blow." - -I lay in the long grass, close as a hare, my heart pumping within me -like an engine. I had heard and seen enough already to know that my -friend was in danger. I had a sense of some calamity impending, but no -time just then to guess at the meaning of it all; for I must listen to -the quiet, cold voice of Amos Baverstock--the hunchback with the pig -eyes and a long, thin nose like a weasel. - -"You were right enough in London," said he, "when I told you I had -tracked him down, as I swore to you both I should." - -"Maybe," said the other, "I forgot, for the moment, what he was. I -would sooner face a tiger." - -He was a rough-looking man, with a red, untidy beard, and there was -something about him of the sailor. - -"Tut, man," said Amos; "you make a mountain of a molehill! I do not -propose to set about this matter like a fool. He's lying yonder like an -old dog-fox in his earth, and we'll send a terrier in to fetch him out." - -"Me!" cried the red-bearded man, horror-stricken at the thought. - -But, before Amos Baverstock could answer, the third man spoke for the -first time; and my attention being thereby attracted towards him, I was -at once astonished at everything about his individuality: his voice, his -personal appearance, the words he used, his very attitude of -carelessness and ease. - -"_Cave tibi cane muto._" - -That is what he drawled, and though I was then a schoolboy who had -struggled through the dull prose of Caesar to the loftier realms of -Virgil, I must confess that fear had so deprived me of my wits that I -understood no word, except the first. - -The speaker lay flat upon his back, with his hands folded behind his -head, and his face exposed to the sun--like a tripper who would go back -to London nicely tanned. I observed that he had taken off his coat and -rolled it into a pillow, and that the shirt he wore was of the softest, -flimsiest silk. - -He was dressed like a fop in the height of the fashion of that day, -wearing a white tie, with a great gold pin in it, a well-curled -moustache and those short side-whiskers which were then the vogue. He -had light-blue eyes and fair, curly hair, and had it not been for the -side-whiskers, would have looked much younger than he was. Everything -about him suggested that he was--or should have been--a gentleman of -means and leisure. - -"_Cave tibi cane muto_," he repeated, more slowly than before. And this -time I had the sense to understand it: "Beware of the silent dog." - -"Just so," said Amos. "We will tempt the dog with a bone. Trust to me, -you dolt," he cried, turning sharp upon the man with the red beard, who -was sitting with a scowl upon his face and his legs crossed like a -Hindoo. "Ask yourself, have I ever yet sent you on a wild-goose chase? -Am I one to take unnecessary risks?" - -"Then, shoot him, take what we want, and have done with it," growled the -other. - -"Friend Joshua," said Amos, "we are some eight thousand miles from -Chimborazo, and probably not two miles from a police-station. We want -no questions asked, no hue and cry. That would ruin everything." - -"There's something in that," admitted the red-bearded man, whose name -was evidently Joshua. - -Amos chuckled. - -"This is no baby's game," said he. "Bannister fears neither man, wild -beast nor devil. No more am I afraid of him. I have tricked him once, -and I can trick him again. Were I to get within arm's length of him, it -is true, as like as not he would wring my precious neck; and the same -applies to you, friend Joshua; for he will not have forgotten that it -was you who struck him down at the end of the passage that leads from -Cahazaxa's Tomb. But Mr. Forsyth here, he has never set eyes on in all -his life." - -"In other words," cut in the young man with the side-whiskers, still -stretched at full length upon the ground--"in other words, I myself am -the bone to be presented to the silent, dangerous dog. A pleasant -prospect--but I acquiesce. Having gone into this business, I am -prepared to take what comes." - -Though he had spoken with a shade more animation than before, he had -neither moved an inch nor troubled even to open his eyes. A calm -customer, in very truth, was Mr. Gilbert Forsyth, as I was afterwards to -learn, something to my cost--a man with more manners than morals, who -was never afraid and never surprised, and who smelt of the vile pomade -with which he plastered his moustache. - -"Sir," said Baverstock, "you are the very man for me. I promise you -that, if we pull this business through, we shall wade knee-deep in -gold." - -"I want gold to spend and not to paddle in," said Forsyth. "Give -orders, Mr. Wisdom; I am here solely to obey." - -Amos produced a long and very black cigar, bit the end off and began to -chew, making his face all wrinkles. I thought that he would light it, -but he did no such thing. He would look at it with one eye half closed, -use it much as a musical director wields his baton to punctuate his -words, and then chew again, until the brown juice was streaming from the -corners of his mouth. - -"Go to John Bannister this morning," said he. "Go to him now, if you -like. He doesn't know you from Adam. Pretend you're just an idle, -inquisitive holiday-maker who has dropped across him by chance; get into -conversation with him, ask him foolish questions; and then, without -advertisement, just--drop that across his head." - -As he said this, he threw across to Mr. Forsyth some kind of weighted -implement, such as a house-breaker might have in his possession. It was -about the size and shape of a belaying-pin, and attached to the thin end -was a leather strap to secure it to the wrist. - -"Sounds simple enough," drawled Forsyth. "However, for the sake of -argument, suppose I fail. I understand from what you both tell me, he -has the strength of two ordinary men." - -"Six," growled the red-bearded fellow, who seemed to me to be a -discontented rascal. - -"Strike hard and without warning," said Amos. "In case of mishap, Trust -and I will be at hand to help you." - -I thought, at the time, that Trust was another man--a fourth party in -this vile conspiracy; for I did not then know that the name of the -red-bearded man--as great a rogue as Amos himself, if not a tenth as -clever--was Joshua Trust, who had served before the mast in the Royal -Navy, to be tried by court-martial for a felony and afterwards -discharged. - -Mr. Forsyth, in the meantime, picked up the bludgeon and toyed with it -in his hand. - -"A useful tool," he observed. "Convenient to carry, and--I should -say--effective to use. To be candid, I'm a little afraid of it. Though -I have not the pleasure of knowing Mr. Bannister, I should be sorry--for -my own sake as well as his--to deprive him of his life." - -"You need not be afraid of that," laughed Amos. "Had his skull been -thinner than a bullock's, it would have been broken years ago. We want -him senseless, when we can bind him hand and foot, and help ourselves to -the very thing we want. He has got it somewhere, sure enough; and had I -to search the world for it, I would find it in the end." - -And then he clapped his hands and rubbed them together; and I have never -seen in all my life an expression of such malignant glee. - -"Once it is ours," he cried, "across the Western Ocean! Nothing stands -between us three and fortune. Gold!" he almost shrieked, "I tell you, -it is there knee-deep in a cavern as large as a cathedral: golden -ornaments and vessels, bars and rings and bracelets. You shall have -your fair share, Mr. Forsyth; for all's square between us, and, I -confess, we could not very well move in this business without you. -Joshua here will tell you, though I may be an ill man to cross in more -ways than one, I never yet went back upon my friends. You've come into -this affair to help us, and I'll not forget it." - -"Dear me, no!" drawled Forsyth. "I join you for my own ultimate gain. I -recognise that I am blessed with as little conscience as yourselves, and -see profit in the matter. I know nothing of this fellow Bannister, and -care still less. Besides, I have, I suppose, a natural taste for such -an adventure as you propose. I am heartily tired of this dreary -country, with its railways, gas-pipes and antimacassars. I would, in a -word, stake all I have upon an only venture, to die soon or rich--I care -little which it be." - -And thereupon he yawned, placing the tips of his fingers before his -mouth in a manner exceedingly affected. - -They talked then for a while of other things; and all the time I was -seeking an opportunity to escape, to hasten to my friend to warn him of -his danger; and yet, though I was well screened from view of Amos -Baverstock and his companions, it was some time before I could find the -courage to bestir myself. I feared that they might hear me; and the -very sight of Amos had instilled within me a sense of dread which -returns to me even to this day whenever I think of the man. - -I lay in the long grass like a wounded bird: it was as if I had not the -power to move. My thoughts were running riot--Bannister to be -shamefully assaulted, something stolen, and I kept repeating to myself -the magic phrase, "Gold knee-deep in a cavern large as a cathedral." - -There was something about all this of the kind of adventures I had often -imagined; I had thought that I would revel in the prospect of such -dangerous escapades; and here was I, scared out of my wits, too -terrified to move, my heart beating violently, as if I were out of -breath from running. - -Indeed, it was only the thought that Amos Baverstock or one of the -others would get up to go, and then discover me, that made me shift from -where I had been hiding; and no sooner was I out of earshot than I set -off running as if pursued by fifty fiends. I never ran so fast before -or since. Over the sand-hills, stumbling amidst the shingle, breaking -my way through gorse and hedgerow, I came at last to John Bannister's -cabin, lying in a hollow by the sea. - -"Mr. Bannister!" I cried. "Mr. Bannister! Something dreadful is about -to happen!" - -I was, I suppose, half blinded by my running; or I had not the sense to -look about me. I stood before the opening of the cabin, wringing my -hands and crying out like a fool: - -"Mr. Bannister! Mr. Bannister! Come quickly!" - -I had for answer neither the sight of his great strength nor the -familiar sound of his voice, but just the wash of the sea at high tide -beyond the ridge where the buckthorn grew, a great rhythmical, breathing -sound, as if a giant were slumbering. - -I was more afraid than ever when I realised that he was not there, and -it might take time to find him; for, befogged as my wits were, I knew -well enough that the occasion was one that would admit of no delay. - -I ran straight to the beach, and looked to the eastward and westward. -For a moment I had hoped to find him, for he would sometimes bathe in -the sea at that hour of the day; but a glance or so was enough to tell -me I should not find him there. - -I wandered for a while somewhat aimlessly amongst the shrubberies that -crowned the margin of the sand-hills and the shingle, and then returned -to the cabin. As things happened, I must have done so in the nick of -time; for, when I had searched in odd corners, as if looking for a -hidden thimble, instead of a man of six-foot-four, I went to the -threshold, and looking out beyond the gorse, beheld the tall figure of -Mr. Gilbert Forsyth, strolling towards me, swinging in his hand his -silver-mounted Malacca cane. - -I did not know whether or not he had seen me. It was sufficient for the -moment that I had no way of escape. The cabin--as I have said--had been -built in a hollow, and to cross the ridge that encompassed it would -bring me into full view of Mr. Forsyth. - -On the other hand, I could think of nowhere to hide. I stood for a -moment irresolute, with clenched fists, cudgelling my brains and wishing -that I was anywhere else upon the wide face of the earth. Then I heard -a footstep on the shingle without, and as I drew back into the shade of -the hut, I saw the man's shadow cast upon the threshold. - -I looked about me in a wild and silly way, and then without a thought -dived under the great fur sleeping-bag that lay ruffled against the -wall. - -Forsyth entered. I could not see him, but I could hear him moving to -and fro, and once he even trod upon my foot. Then I heard his voice, -raised in a kind of drawling sing-song, as if he called to someone at a -distance. - -"Come on," he sang. "The way's clear. The dog's out of his kennel." - -A full minute may have elapsed. On such occasions, time counts for next -to nothing. But, presently, I was aware that, besides myself, there -were three persons in that small place, and one of them was Amos -Baverstock. - -"Here's our chance," said he. "Joshua, keep watch from without. He may -not be far away, and it would be a rough-and-tumble business if he -caught us in the act. And now, sir, help me to find the map. The thing -must be somewhere in this hut, unless he carries it always on his -person." - -And at those words was I made to realise that, as sure as I had been -christened Richard Treadgold in the little church at Middleton, I had -done a foolish thing and was like to be made to pay for it. - -For Amos Baverstock was come to search for a certain map, the -significance of which I then, of course, knew nothing. Whether or not -he would find this map was a question of itself; but there was no sort -of a question within the bounds of probability that he could look for -long and fail to discover _me_. And then, in truth, the fat would be in -the fire. - - - - -CHAPTER III--THE MAP - - -I expected every moment to be caught, to be jerked forth from my -hiding-place like a landed fish. In the course of their searching they -must sooner or later move the sleeping-bag, and I would be exposed. - -It occurs to me that fear must be one of the strangest of emotions; for -I can honestly say that, now that I was in this hopeless and perilous -predicament, I was no longer afraid. Certain that I must fall into the -hands of Amos Baverstock, equally uncertain of what then would be my -lot, I was resigned to my fate; I was long past apprehension. I still -thought of Bannister, and wondered concerning the map for which Amos and -Forsyth were looking, but for myself I now cared not a snap of the -fingers what became of me; and this attitude of mind I preserved -throughout the next eventful moments, else I had never acted as I did. - -For Amos never found me on his own account. No doubt he would have done -so in a very little time, had not Forsyth, almost at once, struck upon -the very map for which the two were searching. - -"What's this!" exclaimed Forsyth. "It seems the thing we want." - -"Where?" cried Amos, who, I judged, snatched it from the other's hand. - -"That's it!" he almost shouted. "The parchment map copied from that -made ages ago by Villac Umu, the High Priest of the Incas of Peru. -Bannister has translated it, and marked the route in red ink. It's all -plain as daylight." - -I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was wildly excited. He -spread out the map upon the little table in the centre of the cabin, -and, feeling secure since Joshua Trust was keeping watch, spoke -breathlessly to Forsyth, relating the matter in such detail that then -and there I was made a party to the whole vile conspiracy--or as much of -it as there was any need for me to know. - -"When the ancient Peruvians fled before the advance of the Pizarros," he -explained, "they carried their treasures across the mountains. These -they hid in two places: one, which is called the Little Fish, consists -of all manner of earthenware utensils; the other--the Big Fish--is -composed of golden ornaments and ingots. I have heard it said by some -that the Little Fish is in Bolivia; by others, as far north as the -Amazonas Territory--the truth being that no man living knows. It was -John Bannister himself who discovered the secret of the Greater -Treasure, or the Big Fish, as the natives call it. He lived for years -among the wild savages who inhabit the forests about the eastern -foothills of the Andes; and there, I believe, he came across some -priestly descendants of those who had served the Incas. It was high up -among the Conomamas, to the south of the great Region of the Woods, that -I first fell in with Bannister. I was there prospecting for gold, but I -had never dreamed of such a gold-mine as the Greater Treasure of the -Incas. Bannister never told me that he had learned the secret from the -priests, but I made so free as to inspect the map, when I believed him -to be sleeping." - -"But is this safe?" asked Forsyth. "Supposing Bannister returns?" - -"There is nothing to fear," said Amos. "Time's our own. Joshua is on -watch upon the sand-hills, and can see him coming half a mile away. We -are as safe here as anywhere." - -"Well, then, go on with your story," said the other. "You saw the map -yourself?" - -"No more than glanced at the thing before he had me by the throat and -well-nigh strangled me," cried Amos. "After that we parted company, -though I followed his track, and three times tried to kill him." - -I heard Mr. Forsyth laugh in his silly, affected way. - -"You do not mince your words," said he. "And I think I like you for it -all the better. So you tried to murder him, and failed?" - -"I did not say 'murder,'" grumbled Amos. "You can do no worse than kill -in the great Region of the Woods; and whether you slay a jaguar, a -monkey or man, it is much the same in the end. But to kill a man like -John Bannister is no such easy matter. He has the ear of a panther and -the eye of a bird, and he strikes like the coral snake--silent and -deadly--and for those self-same reasons, the story I am telling you must -now turn something against myself. For I began the business by hunting -John Bannister in the Wilderness; but, before the game was a week old, -it was he that was hunting me, and hunting me, too, day and night, from -the Putumayo to Bolivia, from the Amazon to the sea. - -"I sought safety, at last, in the port of Lima, where I was sheltered by -some pretence of Law and Justice; and there I joined forces with friend -Joshua and three other kindred spirits who now lie unburied, their bones -picked by the vultures. - -"Well, then," Amos went on, "we five put our heads together and talked -the question out. It was plain to us that, since Bannister was such a -tough nut to crack, it were safer and simpler to go straight to the -fountain head, as the saying goes, and see what could be done with the -priests. I guessed from what Bannister had told me, that the Peruvians -were a weak-kneed, cowardly lot, and thought it would not be difficult -to frighten them into telling us all they knew. But we had to search -the woods for months before we found them, living in the midst of black -ignorance and superstition; and by then--would you believe -it!--Bannister had got wind of our intentions, and had come back upon -his own trail, crossing the mountains and descending into the Region of -the Woods. - -"He turned up in time to ruin all our plans. His very presence gave the -priests the courage they had lacked. There was a stiff fight, and we, -having the worst of it, were obliged to beat a quick retreat to the -foothills, though we carried with us a hostage. So far as this man was -concerned, I took a leaf from the book of the Spaniards. I knew that -Pizarro had not gained all his knowledge by fair words and promises. I -tortured the wretch, until he shrieked for mercy and promised that he -would guide us to Cahazaxa's Tomb, upon the very crestline of the Andes, -where he swore to us the Greater Treasure was hid. Thither we went, to -find that the rascal had lied to us. A few golden ornaments there were, -in a vault cut in the living rock, at the end of a narrow passage, and -amongst these was the ancient sceptre of the Incas, but the lot were not -worth the price of our journey. Moreover, John Bannister himself had -had the audacity to follow us. Night by night, he hovered about our -bivouac, hoping to deprive us of our hostage. So I set my mind to work -to finish him; and as fortune had it, the old Tomb was as good as a -rat-trap. For there was a great boulder at the mouth of the passage, -which might be rolled down-hill to block the entrance; and even then it -was as much as Joshua and I could do. We fooled John Bannister to enter -the Tomb by making a show of moving camp and leaving the Peruvian -behind. However, when we thought we had caged him, we found to our -great dismay that we had under-estimated the man's colossal strength; -for he rolled back the boulder as though it were nothing, and came down -upon us like a raging lion." - - [Illustration: "HE ROLLED BACK THE BOULDER AS IF IT WERE NOTHING - (missing from book)] - -Amos paused a moment in his narrative. Listening eagerly for what was -yet to come, I heard distinctly the disgusting noise of the chewing of -one of his long, black cigars. - -"We were unprepared for that," he continued. "Indeed, thinking we had -got him safely caught, to starve to death or shoot himself, we were -standing before the entrance to the passage without our arms; and before -we could master him, our party of five had been reduced to two. It was -Joshua who ended the affair. We had looted the Tomb of the little -treasure that was there; and Joshua snatched up the golden sceptre of -the Incas and struck down John Bannister, whom that night we left for -dead." - -"And what of the map?" asked Forsyth. - -"We searched him, but never found it. He may have left it with the -priests, or hidden it somewhere in the forest. Two years later, I again -journeyed to the Region of the Woods, and found out from the priests -that Bannister had taken it away with him, after he had returned to the -Wilderness from Cahazaxa's Tomb." - -Amos had calmed down by degrees whilst he related the whole story to Mr. -Forsyth; but now, quite suddenly, he became as frantically excited as -before. - -"For two years I have hunted for the man," he cried; "and I found him -here by chance. I want nothing but the map, to know where the Greater -Treasure has lain hidden for more than four centuries, and to learn how -to get there. See here!" he shouted; "the place is far to the north, -near the valley of the Yapura River. The treasure of the Incas was -carried four hundred miles from Cuzco!" - -"What more could we want?" laughed Forsyth. - -"Why, nothing else," said Amos. "This map's worth more to us than the -keys to the vaults of the Bank of England." - -I heard a sound like the rustle of paper or parchment, from which I -judged that Amos flourished the map in his hand. And then it was that I -did a thing so bold that I have never ceased to be amazed at my own -audacity. - -I had passed from sheer fright to cold deliberation. I cared not two -pins for my own safety; and though I was still in dread of Amos, I -thought not once of him, but of John Bannister, whose very shadow I -almost worshipped. Besides, it must be understood, I was already caught -like a fly in the web of these adventures. I had listened, as to a -story, to all that Amos had said, and had tried to figure in my mind's -eye the Greater Treasure, all glittering in the dust, Cahazaxa's Tomb -and the dark Region of the Woods. I knew, from what I had heard, that -if all this wealth belonged to any Christian man, that man was John -Bannister himself and never Amos Baverstock. Why Bannister was content -to live as he did, when he could be master of such riches, was a -circumstance I could not then explain, but which I was wise enough to -see was no concern of mine. Upon one thing was I well determined, with -a kind of blind pig-headedness that might have led to my own -undoing--and that was that Amos should never take away with him the map. - -"Gold!" he cried. "Gold! We'll wade knee-deep in it!" - -And at that, I sprang from under the sleeping-bag and hurled myself -straight at him whom I so truly feared. - -Both he and Mr. Forsyth were too surprised to do little else but gape, -which gave me the chance I wanted, to snatch the parchment from his -hand. - -I do not think I could have been much quicker; but he was not to be -taken unawares. The parchment was old, and must have been half torn -already, for, when he pulled one way and I the other, the thing came in -half. And then, even before Baverstock had time to drop an oath, I was -past the opening of the cabin and racing like a madman through the -gorse. - - - - -CHAPTER IV--KIDNAPPED - - -While I went over the sand-hills like a hare, I looked back once and saw -Amos running, his face all screwed up in fury, and his black eyes as if -they were on fire. At the door of the cabin stood Mr. Forsyth, shaking -his Malacca cane at me, but never troubling himself to move so much as -an inch. - -I knew from the first that I had the legs of both of them, that Amos -could never catch me though I carried a pound weight on either foot. And -I believe, like a fool, I laughed, thinking myself secure; and when I -pulled through a hedgerow that cut off the sand-drift from the open -fields, I found myself face to face with Joshua. - -For my own excuse, it may be urged that I had had much to think of in -the last few minutes; and if I had remembered my friendship with -Bannister, I had at least forgotten the very existence of Joshua Trust. -But there he was, as plain as a pike-staff, about thirty yards to the -front of me. - -I pulled up and stared at him; and to my surprise he made no movement, -until I heard the voice of Amos from behind me. - -"Catch the young fiend! Shoot, Joshua, before he gets away!" - -And at that I jumped to the right, straight into a rabbit-hole, and -pitched on to my head. - -I lay where I was for a few seconds without moving, for I was a trifle -shaken by the fall. I could still hear Amos, cursing and swearing -horribly, and Joshua, beating along the hedge with his stick. For all -that, neither could I see them nor could they see me; for I was flat -upon my face in a bunch of thistles, which was near as great a torment -as a swarm of bees. - -I knew from the first that sooner or later I would have to run for it; -and the only thing that held me back from bolting then and there was the -certain knowledge that Joshua Trust would shoot. I write with natural -reluctance whatsoever stands something to the credit of myself; but, -even at the moment, I thought more of the parchment than of my own skin. -For I still held the crumpled fragment of the map in my right hand, -gripping it tightly as if it were a running-cork. - -I heard Joshua's voice quite near to me; and knowing that he must find -me if I remained where I was, I resolved to take my chance. But first, -in case of possible misfortune, I stuffed my portion of the parchment -map to the full length of an arm down the very rabbit-hole that had -tripped me up. And as I did so, a thought flashed through my mind: that -it was, indeed, a strange circumstance that half the secret of the -Greater Treasure of the Incas of old Peru, who four hundred years ago -had foiled the greedy Spaniards, should lie hidden in a rabbit-scrape in -Sussex. - -And then I sprang to my feet and trusted to Providence to help me. -Joshua was in front of me and threw out his arms to catch me. But I -dived beneath them, swerved away from him, and ran for my very life. - -I heard Amos shouting like a madman. Out of the corner of an eye, I saw -Joshua Trust fumbling in the region of his belt for the pistol I knew he -carried. - -It was neck or nothing then. I had the sense not to run straight, but -to dodge here and there like a snipe; and as like as not I owed my life -to that. For I found out afterwards that Trust was a dead shot, who -seldom missed his mark. - -As I fled, the sharp crack of his pistol broke upon the silence, scaring -the sea birds from the beach. The bullet sang past my head and clipped -the lobe of an ear, so that the blood ran down my neck. And thus was I, -Dick Treadgold, blooded, in both metaphor and fact, to a life of peril -and adventure. - -Whilst Joshua reloaded, I had a chance to double the distance between -us. I headed inland, away from the shore, and made in the direction of -the village which was more than a mile away. Straight in front of me -was a clump of trees, and I hoped to gain this before Trust could fire -again. - -Though the country that lies south of the Downs, from the west of -Worthing to the ancient city of Chichester, is, in the main, as flat as -a table, this particular clump of trees was perched upon a rounded -hillock--though you would call it that nowhere but in western Sussex; -and therefore, when I gained the trees, I could survey the land on every -side of me to the extent of a good square mile. - -To the south were Joshua and Amos Baverstock, hastening after me, the -latter some way behind his longer-legged companion. To the north, a -little to the east, was the sharp belfry of the church in the village I -would gain: and, to the west, was the lane that leads to Arundel. - -I had paused for a moment, not so much for breath as to get my bearings, -to select the shortest route; and in this brief moment, I became aware -of a circumstance that caused my heart to leap for joy. For, coming -toward me, by way of a footpath that led across the fields, carrying -under an arm a brown paper parcel that I knew to contain his weekly -stock of provisions, I recognised the great, tall figure of John -Bannister himself. - -All thoughts of my pursuers were instantly banished from my mind. What -cared I now for Amos Baverstock and all his threats and oaths! I was -conscious of nothing else but the bald fact that a friend in need was -close at hand--and one, moreover, who would soon get the best of Master -Baverstock--and so great was my elation that I took no heed of a -dog-cart which, at that moment, came rattling round a bend in the road. - -I called loudly upon Bannister by name, though he was then scarcely -within hearing, and dashed down the hill before Joshua could have -reached the trees from the other side. - -The road in that place was bounded by a wooden fence, and balancing -myself upon the top of this, I shouted frantically to Bannister. - -"Come quick!" I cried. "Amos Baverstock is here!" - -I was answered, before the last word had left my lips, by a shot fired -at the back of me. The bullet splintered the woodwork of the very bar -upon which I was standing; and, startled into action, I jumped into the -road. - -Immediately I had to turn back again no less quickly, to avoid being run -down by the dog-cart, the driver of which reined up with a jerk. - -I looked up at him at once, thinking to recognise some farmer that I -knew; but, instead of that, I set eyes, to my amazement, upon Mr. -Gilbert Forsyth, with his side-whiskers and his greased moustache. - -I remembered then--too late as things turned out--that the road curved -seaward near the place where I had first discovered Amos and his -friends. Had I thought of it at all, I must have known that they had -never walked to that lonely spot. They had driven there, to leave the -horse and cart upon the road, whilst they settled themselves at a little -distance to discuss how best they might attack John Bannister, in his -cabin by the sea. Moreover, had I known then as much as I know now of -Mr. Gilbert Forsyth, I should never have supposed for a single instant -that he could be as idle as he seemed, that he would have remained doing -nothing before the opening of the cabin, whilst his friends were -pursuing me. - -For Gilbert Forsyth, a fop to all appearances and a lazy dude, was in -reality a man of action. He said not a word to me, but when he had -reined in his horse, he lifted his whip, and cut me down as if I were a -thistle. - -It was a long tandem whip--and tandems were much in fashion in the days -when all this happened. The lash wrapped itself about my legs like a -living snake; so that when Forsyth jerked the whip backwards with all -his force, I was thrown violently on my face upon the hard, dusty road. - -I tried to get to my feet as quick as I could, but had done no more than -struggle to my knees, when Forsyth struck me upon the crown of my head -with the heavy handle of the whip. - -It was a cruel blow and a stout one; and I know that if I did not -actually lose consciousness I, at least, saw the trees swing upward into -the sky, and the white road upon which I lay rush round and round, like -the spokes of a revolving wheel. - -And then the next thing I knew was that Forsyth had me by the throat. -Though I was then young, I was not a weakling. I struggled desperately, -and might, perhaps, have freed myself, had not Joshua Trust arrived upon -the scene in time to settle the affair the wrong way for me. - -For he gathered me up in his arms, and I was held as if I were encased -in iron. I shouted frantically, but that was of no more help than the -cackling of a hen. I was lifted bodily into the cart. - -I heard Joshua shout to Amos: "Run like mad! Here's Bannister himself!" - -Forsyth had climbed upon the box. Trust was on the back seat, with me -held like a squalling babe in his arms. The cart tilted forward a bit, -as Amos scrambled up and took his seat beside the driver. - -I heard Forsyth crack his whip, and immediately the horse started off at -a canter, the cart rocking like a boat in a heavy sea. I continued to -shout, until Joshua swore at me and clapped one of his great hands -across my mouth. And the last thing I saw, as the cart turned into the -main road to Littlehampton, was John Bannister breaking through the -boundary fence, and then standing quite still and upright in the middle -of the road, staring after us, with his brown paper parcel still under -his arm. - - - - -CHAPTER V--I SET FORTH UPON MY VOYAGE - - -Though all these events took place more than fifty years ago, I have a -very perfect recollection of that drive. In those days there was not -much traffic on the Sussex roads; and we passed nothing on the way to -Slindon save a hay-cart and a brewer's wagon. On neither occasion did I -dare cry out for help, for Joshua Trust sat by the side of me with his -loaded pistol, pressed close against my ribs, in the pocket of his -sailor's pea-jacket. I never doubted for an instant that he would -shoot. I had then, it is true, little experience of the world; but I -could scarce fail to recognise that I was fallen into the hands of -desperate men who counted human life of little worth. - -So I kept my silence upon the road, wondering all the time what was to -become of me, and, above all else, what Amos Baverstock would say when -he discovered that I had cast away my fragment of the map. - -That he thought I had it still was plain enough, since he twice told -Joshua to keep an eye on me, lest I should throw it from the cart. He -was in a great haste to reach the woods at Slindon, where in springtime -the wild flowers are like a garden; and he had a good reason for this. -Indeed, in all my experience of Amos, I never knew him fail for want of -caution; and when a man is circumspect as well as fearless, he is an -enemy who cannot be trifled with. - -It was the scoundrel's design, so I discovered, to reach the woods with -as little delay as possible, and there to wait until the evening, when -he could take the Portsmouth road under cover of darkness. There were, -at that date, many coaches on the highways; and Amos evidently thought -it wiser not to trust me. - -So to Slindon Woods we went, and were there in no time, soon after noon. -They unharnessed the horse, and turned him out to graze; and whilst Mr. -Forsyth unpacked a hamper that was well stocked with provisions and wine -to drink, Amos took me by the shoulders, and looked me straight in the -face. - -"And now, boy," he said, "I'll have no more nonsense from you--so -understand me, once and for all. It's an unwise thing to pry into my -affairs--I can tell you that. You know more about me already than I -care to think; and I tell you fairly, you had best mend your ways, if -you value life." - -I was afraid of the look of him, of the hard glitter in his eyes and the -way in which his thin lips were tightly pressed together. And I was -more afraid still of what would happen when he discovered that I had -made away with my fragment of the torn map. My heart was in my mouth. -I felt as if I were suspended by a thread upon the brink of a precipice, -and that at any moment that thread would break and I be hurled into -eternity. - -Fortunately, perhaps, I was not left long in such uncertainty; for no -sooner had Amos taken his hands from off my shoulders than he clapped -them together behind his back, and came out with the very question that -I feared. - -"And where's the map, my boy?" said he. - -I answered nothing. - -"Give it up," he demanded, and held out a hand. - -"I have not got it," said I. - -At that his jaw dropped. He stared at me in amazement, not knowing -whether or not to believe me. - -"Haven't got it!" he repeated. "What d'ye mean?" - -And the way he rapped out those last few words made my blood run cold. I -saw, however, that I must make a clean breast of the matter, let it end -which way it would. - -"I have not got it," said I, "for a simple reason; because I had thrown -it away before you caught me. And now, you know the truth, and can do -with me what you will." - -The hunchback stood staring at me as if I were a ghost. His thin, -wrinkled face had gone a yellow or a greenish colour, and his little -eyes looked blacker and more on fire than ever. He kept working his -mouth about, as if he were chewing some of his vile tobacco; and, on the -whole, I cannot conceive an expression more menacing, a countenance less -prepossessing. - -He came up to me, and searched my pockets; and whilst he was doing so, I -noticed that both his hands were trembling. He had then been joined by -both Trust and Forsyth, who stood on either side of him. - -Amos, as he drew away from me, came out with an oath that I can never -write. Indeed, the swearing of this man was not the least of his many -sins. - -"He has not got it!" he cried. "We've been fooled, Mr. Forsyth; and -that by a slip of a boy!" - -I thought that he would kill me, then and there, beneath the shadow of -the trees in Slindon Woods. But, though Amos Baverstock often worked -himself into fits of ungovernable fury, he never was guilty of a foolish -action. For my life--though at the time I never guessed it--was of some -use to him. Not only did I know where I had hidden the torn map, but, -as like as not, I had looked at it, and might be able to remember the -names of some of the places that were marked thereon--knowledge for -which Amos would give much. Had it not been for this, I have little -doubt he would have put me out of the world. - -They tied my feet together, in case I should endeavour to escape, whilst -the three seated themselves upon the gnarled surface roots of a great -oak tree, and examined their fragment of the map, discussing the -question openly, so that I overheard them and learned of the trick that -Providence had played us all. - -For the map had been rent in twain, not by the hands of Amos Baverstock -and me, but by the sure and supple fingers of Almighty Destiny. Amos -had in his possession at least three-quarters of the parchment--he had -it all, indeed, except one corner, that which I had seized in my attempt -to wrench it from his grasp. And, as good luck had it, that one corner -contained the information of the greatest value: to wit, the exact -locality where the Greater Treasure was to be found. - -As for the rest of the map, it carried you from the outskirts of what -may pass as modern civilisation to within a certain unknown distance of -the secret place. It put you on the right road, as it were, and then -left you--lost in the midst of a wilderness of doubt. - -When Amos grasped the full significance of this, he jumped to his feet, -a perfect figure of fury, storming at me and swearing, using threats and -shouting of torture, if I did not then and there confess. But speak I -would not. Whatever happened, I was resolved to hold my ground, though -I was filled with grave misgivings. - -For all that afternoon they badgered me, trying intimidation, bribery -and curses; and then, at last, they settled it amongst themselves that -they would take me with them into Portsmouth, and thence across the sea -into the very heart of a black barbarous country, where they hoped to -find the Treasure of the Incas. - -It was then, whilst we waited in the woods for sunset, that I saw -myself, a lad of sixteen summers, launched upon a series of adventures, -among strange peoples and in wild, romantic lands--adventures such as -those of which I had often read, of the bold Spaniards who had followed -Columbus into a new and unknown world, and brave blades of the stamp of -Drake and Grenville, who--like John Bannister himself--were all men of -Devon. That I was to be one of a company so glorious seemed to me all -my heart could wish, though I went as a hostage with my life itself at -ransom. - -In a strange fashion, in very truth, did I begin my travels; for I -journeyed that night to Portsmouth, not only bound hand and foot and -tied to the seat of the dog-cart, but gagged as well; so that, by the -time we reached our destination, I ached in every limb. - -For three weeks we dwelt together in a lodging-house, patronised by -seamen, in a poor quarter of the town. The landlord--a fat, slovenly -fellow whose hand was seldom far from a pint mug or near a razor--was, -as I guessed, hand in glove with Amos; for he must have known that -throughout those three dreary weeks I was kept locked in a stuffy room, -where I had neither fresh air nor liberty, and no better fare than is -accorded to a convict. - -I have said that we dwelt together, but this was not wholly so; for Mr. -Gilbert Forsyth, though he was often of our party, had taken rooms in -one of the best hotels. He was a gentleman somewhat fastidious in his -habits, with a nice taste in wine and clothes, though--as he was soon to -prove--he could rough it with the best of us. - -Joshua, too, was seldom in our lodgings. It appears that he spent most -of his time in the neighbourhood of the docks, on the lookout for an old -shipmate whom he knew he could trust, with whom Amos could strike a -bargain. - -Such a man was eventually found. Joshua brought him in, one evening, -and shortly afterwards Mr. Forsyth arrived, looking more than ever as if -he had just come out of a bandbox. - -This fellow proved to be the skipper of a barque, due to sail in a few -days' time, bound for Caracas in Venezuela. She must call first at -Liverpool, to take on a cargo of cotton goods, but would touch at no -port upon the voyage but Fayal in the Western Islands, which are now -called the Azores. - -All this fitted in exceedingly well with Amos's plans. As I was in the -next room when they talked the matter out, and they never troubled to -close the door, I know for a fact that Baverstock bribed the skipper, -and that Forsyth--who I suspected all along had undertaken to produce -the funds--paid him as much as fifty pounds down, quite apart from the -question of passage money, and there was more to come at the end of the -voyage. - -Gilbert Forsyth, indeed, was a member of the expedition for no other -reason than that he supplied the sinews of war, else Amos had never -taken him into his confidence and agreed to forego a third part of the -loot. For all that, Forsyth proved himself a man of action and -resource, though he never looked it; and things would have gone worse -with Amos than they did, had he not had at his right hand one so capable -and cool throughout those wild, adventurous days. - -For Joshua Trust was well enough in his way to strike a blow or carry a -camp-kettle across a mountain range that topped the clouds--otherwise he -was a bull-in-a-china-shop kind of a fellow, whose worth was in his -forearms and not his head. - -But Forsyth was cast in a finer mould: a man of education, with tags of -Latin in the corners of memory, a sense of humour--subtle enough to be -lost upon both his strange companions--and a wonderful brain for -figures. - -The man's laziness was all pretence and affectation. He always talked -as if he were half asleep, and yawned at intervals, screening his mouth -with a hand upon one of the fingers of which he wore a golden signet -ring; and yet, his brain was ever active, and he had the happy knack of -doing the right thing at the right time--as he had already proved to my -cost. - -Even whilst I lay imprisoned in that dingy room in Portsmouth, Forsyth -returned along the coast to within a stone's throw of John Bannister's -cabin by the sea, and searched vainly for the fragment of the map which -I had thrown away. And that in itself was a bold thing to do; for the -police--to whom Bannister had described the appearance of both -Baverstock and Trust--had been told of my disappearance, and the -countryside, from Arundel to Chichester, was populous with printed -offers of reward. - -For, all this time, my mother was well near distracted by anxiety and -distress. John Bannister called upon her, and tried in his own -straightforward way to set her fears at rest, and swore to her that he -would find me, though he had to search the world. - -Of how well he kept his oath it is my task to write, and of much else -besides. For the barque, which was called the _Mary Greenfield_, -dropped her pilot off the Needles of the Isle of Wight, and with a fair -wind and under full canvas struck the open sea. And I, Dick Treadgold, -was on board, sea-sick that night as any full-grown man could be, and -sick at heart as well. For, when the white cliffs of dearest England -faded in the evening light, I realised for the first time that I was -alone, and there was no telling what the Fates held in store for me. - - - - -CHAPTER VI--I AM CONCERNED IN A MUTINY - - -I have neither space nor patience to describe in any detail that long -and tedious voyage. For we were months at sea. I saw whales spouting -water into the air, and schools of porpoises; and at one time, for a -whole month on end, we were becalmed, the ship lying idle in the midst -of a vast floating mass of seaweed, where there were all kinds of -jelly-fish and squids. The heat was excessive, and there was a rank, -almost putrid, smell in the air, which came from the decaying seaweed. -That in itself was enough to try the temper of every member of the crew; -but, to make matters worse, much of the tinned meat on board exploded in -the hold. I cannot explain this, but I know that it happened, and am -content to leave the explanation to the scientific reader. These -circumstances, together with the surly nature of James Dagg, the -captain, led from dissatisfaction to open grumbling, and thence to the -mutiny of which I have now to tell. - -My own fortunes were, to some extent, involved in that affair; and in -any case, I must describe the incident more or less as it occurred, -since nothing could better serve to illustrate the true character of -Amos Baverstock, who plays as important a part as myself in the -narrative that follows. - -I had not been a week at sea, and just recovered from my sickness, when -I was given clearly to understand that I was to hold no intercourse with -any of the crew. I cannot say that I wished to, for they were a -ruffianly lot--half of them, I verily believe, prison-birds, like Joshua -Trust, and the remainder West Indian negroes, Chinamen, and Lascars from -the coast of Malabar. - -I had to share a cabin with Amos himself, who seldom let me out of his -sight. Thrown into such close intimacy with the man, I learned much -concerning him, and he more of me. He seldom allowed a day to pass -without questioning me in regard to what I knew of the map; and so -terrible did his threats become that I was filled with fear for the -future. - -On that account, I yearned for a friend, someone in whom I could -confide; and it was not long before I found such a man on board that -pestilential ship. Now that I can look back upon my series of -adventures, I can see both men and matters in their true perspective, -and I realise that, had it not been for William Rushby, the boatswain of -the _Mary Greenfield_, the most honest and the whitest man that ever -piped all hands on deck, this tale had never been told. - -When I saw him first, I sized him up as the true seaman that he was; but -I dared not speak to him, because of the threats that had been heaped -upon me. I knew also that I could go to none of the ship's officers -with my story, for they were all tarred with the same brush as the -skipper; but Providence before long gave me the chance I wanted. - -When we were in mid-ocean Amos tired of the voyage, and required little -persuasion from Mr. Forsyth to take to playing cards. Captain Dagg was -a card-player, too, and Joshua made the fourth; and this was the party -that sat down nightly after supper to gamble, drink and smoke, by the -light of a reeking paraffin lamp in the little stuffy saloon. - -I watched them play for many nights, and though I knew nothing of the -game, it was quite clear to me that they were three babes at the -business by the side of Mr. Forsyth. For it was he who always won, no -matter with whom he played or what cards he held, and it was he who -raked in their money. - -This was all one to me. I soon tired of watching them; and when I had -once slipped away from them, to breathe the fresh air on deck, and no -questions had been asked, I made it my constant practice to sit of an -evening upon the poop, whence I could look down into the water and see -the phosphorus as if smouldering in the wake of the ship. - -And here it was that I talked with William Rushby. At that hour it was -his duty to see that the ship's lamps were lighted, and when he had -hoisted the mast-head lights, and put the red light to port and the -green to starboard, he would come aft, haul in the log, and speak to me -in whispers. - -That he took that precaution from the first makes it plain enough that -he guessed some mischief was afoot. He questioned me concerning who I -was and what business I had in such company on board that ship. It was -some time before I dared tell him the truth, for fear of Amos -Baverstock; but I did so in the end, making him swear to keep my secret; -which he did. - -"It is all like a fairy tale," said he, when he had heard my story; "and -it's hard to tell the best way to help you. Of this much I am certain: -if you set forth into the back country of Venezuela with a man like -Baverstock, you'll not come back alive." - -"But I cannot escape!" I protested. "Even on board this ship, I am -watched at all hours of the night and day." - -Rushby thought for a while, stroking his short black beard which was -like that of a Russian Czar. - -"Maybe," said he, "at Caracas, I could desert and take you with me. I -have no liking for my shipmates here, as you may well imagine. In the -meantime, many weeks must pass before we sight the mainland, and in that -time much may happen." - -As he said this with some significance, I asked him what he meant. - -"Why, just this," he answered; "there's trouble brewing aboard, which -will come to a head before we touch port. The crew are a low-down, -blackguard lot, no better men than sailors; and though they may be held -to blame for that, it's no fault of theirs if they are fed worse than -swine and cursed from dawn to sunset. Dagg I had heard about, though I -never signed on under him before, nor will again, and the mate's even -worse. There's high talk in the fo'c'sle, as it is, where the -ringleader is that nigger cook. Mark my words--and I've sailed the seas -for more than twenty years--a prize-fighting negro in the galley can -cause more mischief aboard a sailing-ship than a monkey and a woman, -both in one." - -I laughed, for I was not then accustomed to the talk of sailors. - -"And they've run out of lime-juice," he went on; "and that's a serious -thing." - -"Lime-juice!" I repeated, thinking he was joking still. - -"A man must eat vegetables," he explained to me, "to keep his blood cool -and his liver nicely trimmed. You can't eat green cabbages and -Brussels-sprouts in mid-Atlantic, so you must carry lime-juice aboard; -and we've run out. The men have much to complain of. They are in ill -health, and one or two should be lying up in a sick berth, instead of -being sworn at left and right for not moving quicker. So I see trouble -ahead. It may be a hurricane, or just a summer squall; and if the -first, Heaven help James Dagg and his officers, for they're a tough lot -for'ard, as I know who've listened to their talk." - -And Rushby was proved to be in the right. We ran into a great calm as I -have said. The sea was like glass; and though the sun was blotted out -by a steam-like fog, the heat was so intense that we went about the deck -in naught but vests and trousers, with the sweat dripping from our -finger-tips. - -Without a doubt, the crew suffered for lack of lime-juice; some broke -out with a horrid skin disease. And then the news came that the tinned -meat had all gone bad, and we were forced to live on salted ling-fish, -so that we went thirsty all day long. - -It was Ebenezer Hogg, the negro cook, who started all the trouble. He -was a long, raw-boned Jamaica man, who had cut a figure in the -prize-ring in his younger days. He had never forgiven the skipper for a -blow across the mouth because the cabin potatoes had not been properly -peeled, though this was the work of Ah Chin, the cook's mate, a -half-daft Canton Chinaman, who would fire off crackers at all hours of -the night, in honour (I suppose) of the heathen gods he worshipped. - -Hogg told his shipmates he cared not a "dime with a hole in it" for -James Dagg or any man. They had no food fit to eat, so they might as -well help themselves to the ship's grog, to keep--as he described -it--body and soul together. - -Rushby--as his duty was--warned the captain of what was coming; but -Dagg, who had been losing heavily at cards to Mr. Forsyth, only abused -the boatswain for his pains, and said that he himself was the best judge -of such matters and would know how to deal with insubordination. - -And that night the crew, led by Hogg, the nigger, broke into the -storeroom with a hatchet and broached the rum casks. Within -half-an-hour, they were all roaring drunk; and that was a night that I -shall never live to forget. - -The moon came out from the white sea-mist, as if to look down in -scandalised amazement upon a scene of debauchery and violence--a round, -red ball of fire, casting its rays upon the stagnant, reeking seaweed, -illuminating the deck of that floating madhouse with a dull crimson -glare, whereby you might see the whites of men's eyes and the glitter of -the sharp blades they handled. - -Dagg appeared on deck, his face livid with passion; and I could see by -his walk that he, too, had been drinking heavily at his card-playing. - -"What's all this?" he shouted at the top of his voice. "Understand, -I'll have no monkey-tricks aboard the ship that I command." - -Hogg at once squared up to him, his two fists before his face, very -drunk and brazen. - -"Come on, James Dagg!" he cried, with his Christy-minstrel accent. "Time -yer and me settled de account." - -"This here's mutiny!" exclaimed the captain. - -"Dat's de right word, boss," said Hogg. "Mutiny it is." - -And at that, he struck the captain with his fist, so that Dagg rolled -over and over upon the deck, groaning loudly. - -The fat was now in the fire. If discipline could be restored, Hogg -would be hanged at the yard-arm and his body cast into the sea; and -drunk as he was, the nigger knew it. - -"I'm de captain of dis ship," he bellowed, "an' James Dagg's de cook." - -He showed his white teeth in a grin, and then gave orders as if he had -been accustomed all his life to a position of authority; and the wonder -was he was instantly obeyed. Five minutes later, both Dagg and his mate -were bound hand and foot; and the second mate had been locked in his -cabin, where he was fast asleep. The negro went staggering backwards -and forwards, from the forecastle to the poop, crying out that he it was -who was Captain and his name was Admiral Hogg. - -There were two spectators of this comedy, who could not be considered as -partisans; and the one was William Rushby and the other was myself. The -boatswain's sense of duty would have held him to the captain, had it not -been for me; for, though I had no liking for any of the crew, and a -feeling of positive loathing for a great brute like Hogg, I saw in the -discomfiture of James Dagg and his officers some chance of my own -ultimate deliverance. So that when the cook turned upon me, and caught -me by the scruff of the neck, I played the card that I thought safest at -the time, but which certainly lost me the trick that meant the game. - -"And now, boy," said Hogg, "which way de wind blow wid you? Will you -sign on to serve as cabin-steward under Admiral Hogg?" - -"Why, sure," said I, having picked up something of the man's own way of -speaking. "I was never a friend of Captain Dagg's, as you may have seen -for yourself." - -And thereupon, I looked away from the negro's grinning countenance, and -straight in the black, pig-like eyes of Amos Baverstock. - -If I had feared him before, I was well-nigh terrified of him then; for -there was black murder in the look he gave me, and his mouth was working -horribly. - -For all that, he straightened his face in half a second, and turned to -Hogg as calm as the sea itself. - -"I'll settle with you in a moment," said he. "I've not lived more than -half my life without learning how to deal with a buck nigger who's three -parts tipsy. Bo's'n," said he to Rushby, pointing straight at me, "put -that boy in irons." - -Rushby never moved. - -"Did you hear my orders?" rapped out Amos. - -"I heard right enough," said the boatswain. "But I'm not here to take -orders from you." - -At that, the crew, who had gathered round, thinking that Rushby was with -them, became bolder than ever. Knives were drawn from belts, and one of -these was flourished in the face of the captain who still lay upon the -deck, bound hand and foot. - -"Ho!" cried Amos. "So that's your tune, is it? I see you must all be -taught a lesson." - -He talked with all the confidence in the world, though--with the -exception of Mr. Gilbert Forsyth, who had just strolled on deck with -both hands in his trouser pockets--there was no one at his back, and he -faced a crowd of angry, drunken seamen who would not then have stopped -short of murder. - -From Rushby he turned once more to Hogg. "And so," said he, "you claim -to be the captain of this ship?" - -The negro glanced in his direction, but would not meet those cruel, -steadfast eyes. - -"If I'm not," he blurted out, "then who is de captain? Tell me dat?" - -"Why, I am," roared Amos. "And what have you to say to it?" - -Hogg realised he was challenged. Perhaps, under the influence of rum, -he had already gone further than he meant to; but, in any case, so far -as he was concerned there was no question of retreat. - -"Put up your fists!" he shouted. "We fight for it and let de best man -win." - -He grinned from ear to ear, as, standing in front of Amos--above whom he -towered by a good clear head and shoulders--he lifted his great, black -fists to the level of his face. I thought that he would kill Amos with -a single blow; for the one was so big and bony, and the other so frail -and shrivelled up. But I did not then know Amos Baverstock. - -"Come on!" cried Hogg, still grinning. - -I looked at Amos, thinking to find him alarmed; but never upon the face -of any man have I beheld an expression of such complete contempt. - -"You black dog!" said he, with an oath. - -He drew back his right hand, as if about to strike, and immediately I -caught the glint of a revolver barrel in the moonlight. - -There was a flash, a single loud report, and then a dull, heavy thud as -the negro's great ungainly body came down upon the deck. And there he -lay, full in the red moonshine, upon that tropic night, huddled and -stone-dead--the black, bragging fool who had claimed to be our captain. - -"And now, then," said Amos, as cool as ever, turning to the crew, "is -there any man else who would like to command this ship?" - - - - -CHAPTER VII--AND AM MADE TO PAY FOR IT - - -And that was the end of the mutiny on board the _Mary Greenfield_. The -match was struck by a negro; the flames were fed with rum; and the fire -flared up, just to be stamped out by the one strong man on board. - -Amos at once released both the captain and his mate; whereupon Dagg -treated the crew to a long-winded, high speech upon the subject of what -he would do, if such insubordination occurred again; but as he had done -naught during the crisis, but to get knocked down the moment he opened -his mouth, there were few of his audience who were not laughing up their -sleeves. - -I have told the full story of the disturbance, to illustrate the -character of Amos Baverstock. I have yet to write of the sequel to the -trouble, which more nearly concerned myself. - -For Amos was as good as his word, and made short work of William Rushby -and of me. Though the crew had been bound over to keep the peace, as -you might call it, admonished to behave themselves in future, the -boatswain was not only degraded of his rank, but forthwith cast into -irons. - -As for myself, I was led before a kind of tribunal, assembled in the -saloon. Captain Dagg, Amos Baverstock, and Joshua Trust were my judges; -and a strange triumvirate they made, Amos chewing his black cigar, and -all three seated before their glasses of grog, with their greasy -playing-cards scattered before them on the table. - -"Boy," said Dagg, "you joined in a mutiny. Do you know that, you whelp? -Do you know what it means?" - -"No, sir," said I. - -"It means death," said Dagg. "The yard-arm--that's what it means." - -I believed, for the moment, that they were really going to kill me; and -so seriously had the great heat and the excitement affected me that I -don't think I cared very much whether they did so or not. Anyway, I -know I answered boldly, though I had never the courage to look straight -at Amos, whose eyes I felt were upon me. - -"Captain Dagg," said I, "if you want to murder me, get on with the -matter. I ask you to do no more than to remember this: I did not come -on board your ship of my own free will. I was kidnapped, and carried -here by force, and I have no means of escape." - -At that, Amos struck the table with his fist; and, bold though my words -had been, I jumped as if a cannon had been fired. - -"Silence!" he roared. "We are not here to argue with you. You were -given your orders. You were told that on no account were you to -communicate with anyone on board this ship, and you defied us. We have -reason to suspect that you have taken into your confidence William -Rushby, formerly boatswain. Do you deny it?" - -He banged the table again. I looked right into his face, and it was -just as if I was under fire. But I could never answer him. I had the -pluck neither to lie nor to tell the truth. - -"Good!" said he. "You admit as much. Well, then, we shall see that no -such tricks are played us in the future. Rushby is in irons. As for -you, for the rest of this voyage you remain a prisoner in your cabin; -and if we have any more trouble with you--I warn you fairly--you meet -the same fate as that hide-bound, cursed nigger." - -And that was the lame and impotent conclusion of the mutiny on board the -_Mary Greenfield_. - -My lot was now even worse than before. For week after week I was locked -in a stuffy cabin, and got neither fresh air, good food, nor exercise. -The calm broke up quite suddenly with a squall, followed by a shower of -rain. For about an hour the water came down like a cascade upon the -sea, washing the ship from stem to stern, giving--as it appeared to me, -looking out from my narrow port-hole--new life to the floating seaweed -and the myriads of living things that were swarming in the midst of it. - -The ship rocked, turning lazily from side to side, like a sleeper -awakening, and then, lurching, took on a list to starboard, as the wind -gripped her hoisted sails. And then, once again, we were under canvas, -ploughing westward across that great, lonely ocean. - -A few days later, we struck a trade wind, and made even better progress. -Though I myself was never more miserable in all my life, I had reason to -think that there was less discontent on board. I could hear the patter -of the bare feet of the men on the deck above me, as they hastened about -their work, as sailors should, and the shrill note of the boatswain's -whistle--which caused me to wonder who the new boatswain was. It must -be understood that during these days of my imprisonment I had nothing to -read and nothing to do, but to meditate upon my own misfortunes. - -Life was not made any the more pleasant for me inasmuch as I still -shared a cabin with Amos, though I was devoutly thankful that I saw -little of him. Night by night, he would sit late at cards, trying--I -should imagine--to win back what he had lost to Mr. Forsyth; and I made -a point of being asleep, or pretending to be so, before he came to bed. - -And now I have to tell of something which has a direct bearing upon all -that follows. I had become so despondent and forlorn, and I found -myself in the company of such infamous and shameless rogues, that I had -actually forgotten my friends. I had forgotten that there were yet in -the world true, honest men who could be both brave and loyal. - -One evening, I must confess, my heart was near to breaking. The world -seemed all so hopeless and so wicked that I brought my face to my hands -and cried just as I had been wont to cry, when I was a little chap of -four years old, when things had not gone for me exactly as I wanted. And -as I sobbed, I could hear the gamblers in the saloon beyond the cabin -door; the "clink" of the bottles and the glasses, and the deeper note of -the coins upon the table; now and again, a gruff oath from Amos or -Joshua Trust, and Mr. Forsyth's affected drawl. And then, a voice, -quite near to me, whispered in my ear: - -"Me lad, be quick! I want a word with you." - -I sprang to my feet--I had been lying on my berth--and looked about me. -I could see no one in the cabin, and had begun to think of ghosts and -spirit-voices, when I heard the whispering again. - -"Here, me lad! The port-hole." - -I looked at the port, and could see a face by the light of the oil -lamp--a face in a frame studded with stars, the face of a man with a -short stump of a grisly beard. - -"Rushby!" I exclaimed. - -"The same," said he. "But speak low, for Heaven's sake! Those rascals -are at their cards in the saloon; the door's thin, and it's all up with -us if we're discovered." - -I went to the port-hole, so that my face was close to his. - -"But how are you here?" I asked. - -"I've not lived my life and done my duty," said he, "without making -friends. One of the crew, of the name of Adams, to whom I have been of -service in the past, has let me loose--just as you might unchain a -yard-dog for a run. I have a few minutes at the best before I'm back in -irons, but that's enough for what I have to say." - -"But where are you now?" I asked, for he appeared to me to be walking -upon the sea. - -He explained that he was hanging on to a rope, made fast to a stanchion -on the deck above, but that he had something of greater importance to -tell me. - -"Are we near our journey's end?" I asked. - -"In three days," he answered, "we should sight the coast, unless the -wind changes. What they intend to do with me at Caracas I neither know -nor care. I will somehow find the means to escape, and make my way back -to England; and then, Captain Dagg and Amos Baverstock shall pay for -what they've done." - -"I entreat you," I exclaimed, "do not meddle with Amos!" - -Rushby laughed softly. - -"And leave you at his mercy!" he cried. "That's not my way, nor--I -should think, if all you have told me be the truth--the way of Mr. -Bannister. This matter shall never rest where it now stands. I am here -to learn two things, though I am no better than a simple sailor, and it -will want a wiser head than mine before we're safe in port. Come, tell -me, lad, where did you hide the map you snatched from Baverstock? John -Bannister may want it." - -"In a rabbit-hole," said I; and I went on to describe, as best I could, -how that rabbit-hole might be found. - -"There's a warren," said I, "about two hundred yards to the west of -Bannister's cabin----" - -"And how am I to find that?" Rushby took me up. - -I thought for a moment; and then I got a bright idea when most I needed -it, for I realised there was little time to spare and that Amos, at any -moment, might enter and find Rushby at the port-hole. - -I gave him my mother's address; for I had little doubt that Bannister -had gone, long before this, to her. With my life in danger, he would--I -knew--soon get the better of his natural dread of women. - -"That's all I want," said he. - -And a moment after he was gone. It so happened that many months were to -elapse before I set eyes upon him again--a true man and an honest, big -of heart and strong of hand, the type that has made the very name of -British sailor to rank so highly all the world across, from the old -three-decker to the battle-cruiser of to-day. And I speak of the men -without whose cutlasses and courage Blake and Drake, or even Nelson -himself, had never been the famous admirals that they were. - -For, when we were come to Caracas, I was discharged from that poisonous -vessel like a worthless bale of freight. Unshipped by night into a -broken-down two-wheeled cart, and conveyed through the narrow streets of -an evil-smelling city, where men talked loudly in a foreign tongue, with -quarrelsome voices and much waving of the hands, and then I found myself -in a dirty hovel upon the slopes of tree-clad hills, where I could see -the round moon through a great hole in the roof, and lie listening to -the singing of millions of crickets, wondering what would be the end of -it all. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII--INTO THE WILDERNESS - - -For these few days, it happened that I was left in the charge of Joshua -Trust. In other words, he was the watch-dog that guarded me, day and -night; and a dull dog he was. He never opened his mouth, save to -grumble at everything--the heat, the insects, the very food he cooked -himself. Now and again, he would sigh; which puzzled me, until I solved -the problem for myself: he was inclined to regret the idle days aboard -the _Mary Greenfield_ when he had naught to think about except his grog -and cards. - -So, in this man's company, I learned nothing concerning what was afoot. -But I was free to use my eyes, and I could scarce fail to observe that -they were turning by degrees that ruined habitation into a kind of -depot. For, day and night, came stores and arms and ammunition to the -place--all manner of such things as might be required upon an expedition -into the wild hinterland of that strange country, where there were few -roads, but many bridle-paths and broad rivers to be crossed. - -Amos came often to the hut, and Mr. Forsyth was always with him; and, as -I knew, it was the last-named who had paid for all. That, however, was -all one to me. I was safely caught, thousands of miles from dear, silly -Sussex; and even if I was so fortunate as to escape from Joshua Trust, -what was I to do in that foreign land, where I could not speak a word of -the language and had no friend to whom to go? - -On the fourth day of my captivity came six mules, and with them three -men whom I took to be half-castes of a sort, for they were no more than -two parts black and spoke Spanish, shouting at one another when they -conversed. But I was more interested in the mules, which were of a kind -that I had never seen before; for they were small animals, little larger -than donkeys, with mouse-grey woolly coats like sheep. Each of these -was provided with a pack-saddle; and when they were loaded for the -inspection of Amos Baverstock and Forsyth, I was amazed at the great -weight that such slender and seemingly fragile beasts could carry. - -On the fifth day after we had left the ship, we set forth upon our great -march towards the south. Our party numbered eight in all: Amos, -Forsyth, and Trust (the first the acknowledged leader of the -expedition); myself and the three mulemen, whilst the other was a -guide--a lean, cadaverous Spaniard, black as a raven, whom I never heard -called by any other name than that of Vasco. I do not think this fellow -was an evil man by nature, except in so far as he was capable of doing -almost anything for money. In that, at any rate, he was honest: he -served his masters faithfully, no matter who they were. - -And now we come to the march itself that, step by step, led me farther -and farther from the confines of civilisation and into the heart of a -cruel and magic wilderness where things happened that I should not -believe, had I not seen them with my eyes. - -The first stage of our journey was uneventful enough; and the -scenery--especially on the mountains we were obliged to -cross--surprisingly beautiful. We first climbed to a great height, -following a zig-zag road, along which the little mules struggled -gallantly with their heavy loads. I had thought that, on gaining the -crestline, we must again descend to something approaching the level of -the sea. But this was not so; for the mountains proved to consist of a -series of parallel chains, and no sooner had we negotiated one valley -than we found ourselves upon the watershed of another. - -These valleys were thickly populated. We were seldom out of sight of -villages and towns, many of which contained considerable buildings. The -country had the aspect of being extremely fertile and prosperous. There -were plantations of coffee and cocoa, tobacco and cotton, but a far -greater area of the valley regions was given over to the cultivation of -manioc and maize. For all I could ever learn, there was no flour in the -land, for I never tasted bread, but subsisted upon hot maize cakes, made -by Vasco, the guide, which I found as good as hot-cross buns. - -When we were clear of the mountains, we began to descend into the valley -of a great river which, had I learned more geography when I was at -school, I would have known to be the Orinoco. The course of this great -stream we followed for many days, marching in a south-westerly -direction, against the current. The climate was now a great deal hotter -than it had been near the coast, and towns and villages were few and far -between. One thing that I observed was the courteous behaviour of the -inhabitants, who seldom failed to wave their hands to us and pass the -time of day. - -We came to a vast sea of grass where, here and there, were scattered -woods; and finally, after crossing a river of some importance, a -tributary of the Orinoco, we sighted a great mountain that overtopped -the surrounding hills like a giant in the midst of pygmies. - -Amos, who had been unusually reticent upon the line-of-march, now became -talkative, almost hilarious. He carried constantly a grin upon his -fox-like countenance, and would often chuckle to himself. - -For the great mountain in front of us might be described as the gateway -of the road to the Treasure we were seeking, and was marked upon the -left-hand top corner of the map. It was called Mount Tigro, but by that -name I have never been able to trace it upon any modern map, though it -was shown to be about twenty miles south of the Rio Guaviare. - -We were now--though I did not know it at the time--close upon the -frontier of Colombia, and, I think, for a time our route lay through -that little-known country, until we turned eastward again into the -territories of the Amazonas. - -We were now in a mountainous and savage land, where we could make but -the slowest progress. For not only were the hills steep and pathless, -but in places clothed in such luxuriant vegetation that we had often to -break a way with hatchets for the mules. - -We were marching by the map, and Amos had become our guide. He and -Forsyth--who never seemed to tire--would lead our little column, myself -walking in company of Joshua, and the pack-mules bringing up the rear. - -We were soon to bid good-bye to these faithful, dumb companions; for, -after we had climbed the slopes of another range of mountains, we -followed the course of a river valley that led us rapidly downward, to -land us into the very heart of such a forest as I did not dream to be -possible. - -The mulemen were paid off--by no means too handsomely, I thought--to -return upon that long and tedious journey to the coast. And we five -went on alone--Amos and his two confederates, Vasco and myself--carrying -our stores and provisions in knapsacks on our backs, and all armed as -though we were like to meet with savage men. - -In the first place, I must tell you that the heat was insufferable, for -all this while we had been approaching the equator. The forest swarmed -with myriads of stinging insects, and sometimes I saw great tree snakes -of a magnitude that even now makes my blood run cold when I think of -them. We came upon one, lying half coiled upon the bank of a woodland -pool, and I am ready to swear that he was longer than a cricket-pitch, -and of a thickness almost equal to my own waist. - -But I marvelled most at the forest trees, the names of some of which I -learned from Vasco, who had a little English, of which he was -exceedingly vain. One of these was a palm-tree, the very leaves of -which were forty feet in length, standing almost erect, all bunched -together--a magnificent sight to behold. And these forest giants were -intertwined and intermingled with thousands of creepers, parasites, and -climbers, so that in places, even at mid-day, when the tropic sun was at -its height, it was dark as night in the vast Region of the Woods. - -For weeks we struggled onward, literally fighting our way through that -all but impenetrable wilderness. I saw that Amos had more than he could -do to trace our route upon the map; and there were times, I am -convinced, when even Vasco and Baverstock himself truly believed that we -were lost. - -He told us he was looking for a certain landmark; and in that dark and -endless forest he might as well have searched for a pin. At one time, -there was not a living soul within hundreds of miles of us. There were -great alligators in the rivers that we crossed by means of rough dug-out -canoes, which we made upon one bank and left upon the other; the jungle -teemed with snakes, many of the venomous kind besides the great -loathsome pythons, in whose coils an ox might have been crushed to -death; thousands of gaily-coloured birds were among the tree-tops high -above us, and the dead leaves about our pathway swarmed with little -things that crept and crawled and stung so vilely that we were covered -from head to foot with painful swellings. But never a sign did we see -of any human being. Nature reigned in that black wilderness, -untrammelled and supreme. - -And then, as one steps on a sudden from a darkened room, we came forth -one morning from the forest into the blazing light of the sun. And -there was such a wonder as I had never seen before. - -Before us was a plain upon which was growing a tall, reed-like grass; -and in the centre of this plain was a long, hog-backed hillock, bare of -trees. Remember, we were in the very heart of the Unknown, for months -we had seen no sign or trace of humanity, and I, at least, judged myself -to be hundreds of miles from the very outposts of the civilised world; -and yet, upon the summit of this hillock was a great ruined palace or a -temple, encircled by a colonnade of vast stone pillars, no less in their -proportions than those of Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain in England, -only they were there by the score, and stood perpendicular and massive, -not one having fallen from its place. - -I stood rooted in amazement, when my attention was attracted by Amos, -whose behaviour was now that of a madman. He threw both his arms into -the air, which action--in view of his hunched back and his pig-like, -glittering eyes--made him look more evil and gleeful than ever, and -shouted at the top of his voice: - -"Found!" he cried. "The Temple of Cahazaxa, who fled from Cuzco with -the Treasure! And now, boy, the matter rests with you!" - -He changed as in a flash from unbounded joy to passion. He seized me by -the shoulders, gripping me so tightly that it was as if his fingers -burned into my flesh like red-hot irons. - -"I'll have the truth from you!" he shrieked, dancing like a maniac on -his feet. "The truth, and nothing but the truth! Or else, I swear as -I'm a living man, you die here and now." - -"What truth?" I asked. - -My voice was trembling; for so terrible did the man seem that a cold -sweat had broken out upon my forehead. He drew nearer to me still, -peering into my face and whispering. - -"Henceforward," said he, "you guide us. Either you have seen the map or -Bannister has told you all he knows. In any case, you guide us from -here to the place where the Greater Treasure is hid. Refuse, and you -die, here and now, in the midst of this almighty desert." - -One glance at the man was enough to tell me that he meant every word he -said. And yet, I do not think I was any longer afraid. - - - - -CHAPTER IX--I AM LEFT TO MY DOOM - - -I was now, it was apparent, in such a situation that my life was of -little worth. Without doubt, Amos did believe that I was capable of -guiding our little column to the place where the Greater Treasure was -hidden. - -He thought, perhaps, that I had looked at the fragment of the map I had -snatched from his hand, or else that John Bannister had told me the full -story. - -As a matter of fact, I knew nothing. When flying for my very life from -Amos, I had had other things to think of than to gratify a very natural -curiosity, and had never so much as cast a glance at the map. And as -for Bannister, I have said already this was the one subject upon which -he could never or seldom be induced to talk. - -Amos, however, held a contrary opinion. Somehow, he must have learned -that for several months John Bannister had been a good friend to me, and -in his own mind had never questioned that I knew all there was to know. - -In either case, it was all the same to him; for my life was worth -nothing if I could not help him in the furtherance of his purpose, and I -was but a fifth mouth to feed in a wild, tropic region where food was -difficult to find. - -That day I had a stormy scene with Amos, who was supported by Mr. -Forsyth, whose questions I found even more difficult to answer; whilst -Joshua Trust stood by, tugging at his red beard, which had now become -more untidy and unkempt than ever. As for Vasco, he sat at a little -distance, cross-legged, looking in a puzzled manner from Amos Baverstock -to me. - -I swore on my oath to them that Bannister had told me nothing; but they -would not believe me. Then, for the first time, I was shown the map -which Amos had brought with him all the way from Sussex; and at once I -observed a singular coincidence. - -For the parchment had been rent across the very place where was marked -the great ruined building even then before us; and all Amos had of it -was the following inscription: THE ANCIENT TEMPLE OF C---- and then came -the torn edge, where I had held the parchment tightly between my thumb -and forefinger. - -But this information, slight as it was, had been enough for Amos, who -knew well the story of Cahazaxa, the Peruvian prince, of whom I will -tell in the proper place. Both Bannister and Amos had heard often of -Cahazaxa's Temple, which might be regarded as a kind of half-way house -upon our treasure hunt. And upon the other portion of the map, which I -had hidden in a rabbit-hole, were the letters "AHAZAXA," plain enough to -any one who had ever heard of the temple, and thence the route marked -plainly to the secret place where the Greater Treasure lay. - -Had Bannister ever shown me the map, I should in all probability have -remembered the names of some of the places marked thereon; but he had -never done so--which, after all, saved me a world of trouble at one of -the most critical moments in my life. - -For, had I known, I trust I would never have confessed to these unholy -scoundrels. I like to think that my courage would not have failed me at -the eleventh hour. As it was, being wholly ignorant, I had nothing to -tell, and boldly declared as much, though both the hunchback and Mr. -Forsyth thought me to be lying. - -The former worked himself into a kind of frenzied passion. Gripping me -by a wrist, he jerked me first in one direction, then in another, -sometimes so violently that my head flew backward and forward like a -weather-cock in the wind. - -"We'll have the truth from you!" he shouted. "I'll have it, though I -must tear it from you with red-hot irons." - -"I know nothing," I persisted. - -"You'll speak or die," he answered. "And I'll see to it that death does -not come easy!" - -All that day, they badgered me and persecuted me with questions. And in -the end, when the sun was setting, they gave it up, and decided to put -me to death. - -Mine was a strange fate, in very truth; and now, when I look back upon -that hour, I marvel that I took it all so calmly. For it was my destiny -to sit by the camp-fire, whilst our evening meal of maize and manioc was -cooking, and hear them discuss among themselves how I should be done to -death. - -Trust was all for rough-and-ready methods, in keeping with the blunt -character of the man; Amos, for cold, deliberate torture; whereas -Forsyth would bind me to a tree and leave me in the midst of that great -wilderness to starve. - -It was Mr. Forsyth's vote that was carried; and now that I knew the -manner of my death, I was filled with cold fear, though till then I had -borne my ordeal with a fortitude that surprised even myself. - -And bound I was, then and there, to a stout palm-tree that stood by -itself a little distance from the margin of the forest. For rope they -used a kind of creeper that was common in the woods, and not only was -this as strong as a ship's hawser, but so hard and tied so tightly that -it cut into my legs and arms like bands of steel. - -[Illustration: "AND BOUND I WAS, THEN AND THERE, TO A STOUT PALM TREE, A -LITTLE DISTANCE FROM THE MARGIN OF THE FOREST."] - -In such a manner was I doomed. For an hour or so I watched those three -dread men, all so different, alike in nothing but their devilry, sitting -together around the fire, talking in low voices, even pleasantly, as if -to do murder were an every-day affair. - -Then they lay down to sleep, and both Trust and Amos were soon snoring; -whereas I was left, already athirst and hungry, to await the approach of -a terrible and lingering death. - -That night and those which followed will live always in my memory. I -watched the moon rise, wondrous round and white and large, behind the -rounded hill upon which stood Cahazaxa's Temple. The stars, which had -been shining in their millions, faded in the moonshine, all save one -bright planet in the sky above me. And there arose a mist, in which I -thought there was something ghostly, upon the plain where the long grass -stood like corn ready for the cutting. And behind me, as if striving to -enfold me in an overpowering, stifling embrace, was the dark, deadly -forest that cut me off from all and everything I loved. - -Long before dawn, Amos Baverstock was stirring. I watched him kindle -the embers of the camp-fire into a blaze, and, sitting with his crooked -back, he looked just like a monkey. I noticed that even at that hour he -was chewing one of his foul, black cigars, his stock of which was -running low. Presently, he awakened Trust and Forsyth. They ate their -breakfast in silence; never a word was said. And then they packed their -knapsacks and set forward upon the march, in the gloaming, with never a -word or a glance at me. - -They marched in a bee-line upon the ruins of the ancient temple, and -were soon lost both to sound and sight, for the plain lay even yet in -the shadow of the night. - -The dawn--the great heat at midday--the majesty and grandeur of the -wilderness in the heart of which I was doomed and lost for ever--and, -above all else, the grave-like silence of that place--it were better I -made no attempt to describe these things than fail in the endeavour. I -know no more than that my loneliness was overpowering. It was as if I -was the only living atom, save the insects and the butterflies that -fluttered round about me, in all that world of gorgeous vegetation. - -I could not move a fraction of an inch. I would gaze by the hour at the -great stones of the ruins before me, small in the distance and yet plain -to see in that clear atmosphere, and wonder what manner of men had lived -there in bygone days--what had been their hopes, their interests, their -mode of life. And then my thirst would consume me; my tongue would -cleave to the roof of my mouth, and I would suck my lips to find them -dry as bones. - -One day of it had been more than I could bear; and that second night, I -prayed that death might come speedily, for I saw that in death only -would I find release from all my sufferings. But I lived on, like the -Ancient Mariner himself; and on the third day, as on that tragic ship, -there came a rain--a blessed rain from Heaven itself for me. Clouds -appeared as if by magic, a dark canopy cast across the forest like a -curtain; and the skies on a sudden opened and the rain came down in -torrents. - -I was wetted in an instant to the skin, but I cared nothing for that. I -threw back my head with opened mouth, and the water streaming down my -face was life and strength and hope to me. - -And that night I no longer prayed for death; I prayed to the great God -of Right and Justice for deliverance. And yet, how weak is human -nature, how little is our faith! For before morning I was struggling -like a madman to free myself from my bonds. - -The more violently I fought for liberty, the greater pain I suffered; -for the hard fibre cut into my flesh until I gave it up, and, overcome -by sheer exhaustion, I fell asleep, held upright by my bonds. - -I awoke to behold the half-light of approaching day. The plain of grass -before me was lost in the mist which, in that weird place, came always -at sunset and at dawn. - -I looked about me as if I yet were dreaming. The giant forest trees had -taken upon themselves the shape of ugly spectres. The tall grass swayed -in the wind of the dawn with a soft, rustling sound that reminded me of -my mother's silken dresses. I watched a lizard, the length of a -foot-rule, run swiftly down the trunk of a tree and make off into the -grass. - -I endeavoured in vain to trace its passage, wondering whither the little -creature was going so swiftly; and when I looked up I beheld to my -astonishment--a man! - - - - -CHAPTER X--HOW THE WILD MEN CAME AND LOOKED AT ME - - -I have called him a man, and so he was, though, in very truth, at that -time I had never seen his like. He was small in stature, little taller -than myself; and there was something about him that was more animal than -human. I cannot account for this, unless the explanation be found in -the scared look upon his face, especially in the eyes--the eyes of a -hunted beast. - -He was not black, but light brown of skin, though there was so much dirt -about him that I was not even sure of that. His hair was lank and long. -All matted with mud, it fell about his ears. He wore no clothing, save -the skin of some small, wild animal hung loosely round his waist; and he -held in one hand a long bamboo rod, which I took to be a blow-pipe. - -Now, I believed that this savage would kill me out of hand, defenceless -as I was. But he stood staring at me for a long time, with his wild -eyes and his mouth widely opened. - -So, by degrees, my courage returned to me, and with it something of -hope. I tried to think--and it is no simple matter to be reasonable -when one is exhausted by starvation and tortured both in body and in -mind. - -It was manifest, in the first place, that I had no means of -communicating with this man. I could neither speak to him nor sign, -since I knew no word of any barbarous language, and my hands were bound -fast to my sides. But I did the only thing I could do--I moved my mouth -as if I were eating, hoping against hope that he would take my meaning: -that I was starving and begged for food. - -And the more I mouthed at him and made grimaces, the more he stared at -me, and the more frightened did he seem. For the better part of five -minutes I swear he never moved an inch, and then, quite suddenly, he -took to his heels and dived into the woods. - -For a little time I could scarce credit it that he had left me to my -fate. But when a full hour had passed, and I realised that it was -possible that the wild man might not return, my sense of loneliness -became even more oppressive than before, and to tell the truth I cried. - -I am, in the evening of a long, adventurous life, at times of a -reflective disposition, and I have considered often the strange -complexities of human nature, for I have seen many men and places in my -time. When I first beheld the savage, I was alarmed beyond measure that -he would put the life out of me by means of his murderous-looking -blow-pipe. I would, at that moment, gladly have had him on the other -side of the world. And when he left me so suddenly, without sign or -signal of either hostility or friendship, I felt no less dismayed. - -I was so utterly alone in that great silence, in the shadow of those -mute, majestic trees. Not even the wild inhabitants of that -inhospitable region would come and have done with it and kill me. - -And thus, indeed, I burst into tears, and cried as children cry. I -think sheer weakness and the pain that I had suffered had much to do -with it; and in any case it all seemed to me so pitiful and hopeless, -for I was over-young to undergo such cruel privations. - -I slept again until the evening, when I was awakened of a sudden by a -strange noise like the chuckling of a hen. - -I opened my eyes and looked upon the same wild man who had regarded me -before. But this time he had brought three others with him--all four as -like to one another as so many beans. And there they stood, in a row, -immediately before me, one of them--as I have just expressed -it--chuckling like a hen. - -I could not for the life of me make out whether or not he was laughing. -He might have been amused, amazed, or angered. There was no expression -upon his face. The noise seemed to come from somewhere out of his -throat. When I opened my eyes and looked at him, he ceased at once; so -I am inclined to think he had behaved thus in order to awaken me. - -I judged that the man I had seen earlier in the day had stood at a -distance of about twenty paces from me; but now, made bolder by -companionship, he had approached to within about twelve yards from the -palm-tree to which I was bound. They were all armed with blowpipes, but -they made no hostile movement; they just stood staring at me with their -mad eyes, speechless and looking more afraid than I was. - -All on a sudden, I was impelled to cry out. I shouted as a dog yelps -when trodden on, asleep upon a mat. - -"Give me food!" I cried. "Have pity on me! I am starving!" - -And at that they vanished, all the four of them. They scattered like -birds, swiftly and in silence. At one moment, I beheld them; at the -next, they were nowhere: they might have been spirited away. - -They did not return that night, which was the most miserable of all. -Hunger was now gnawing at my vitals. There was a foul taste in my -mouth, and I felt so weak and lifeless that it was as if the slow -beating of my heart shook my whole frame, making it hard for me to -breathe. Also, I was again consumed by a raging thirst; but the worst -of the whole matter was the seeming hopelessness of my situation; for -now I verity believed that my end was drawing near. - -Though often our endurance is strained to the utmost, and there are -times when we are weighed down by grief and trouble, I know that the -good God is merciful, that it is well to bear the ills we have so -bravely as we may, in the firm conviction that faith and a stout heart -to hope will conquer in the end. - -The sun rose in that lone place upon my misery; and a little after, came -the wild men again; and this time they were nine in number, for I -counted them as they stepped in single file forth from the darkness of -the woods. - -They stood gazing at me as before; and now I was wise enough to hold my -peace, though by then--if the truth be told--there was little strength -within me; for, even as I looked at them, my eyelids dropped and my head -nodded on my shoulders like that of a drunken man. - -They came closer than ever, to within an arm's length of me, and one -timidly extended an arm and touched me, and then drew back quickly as if -he had burned his fingers. - -[Illustration: "THEY CAME CLOSER THAN EVER, TO WITHIN AN ARM'S LENGTH OF -ME."] - -I saw now that I had nothing to fear from them, that it was a keen -struggle in their untutored minds as to whether fear or curiosity should -win. I did my best to smile. - -It was a senseless, mirthless smile, forced upon lips that were dry and -burning and eyes grown dim throughout long hours of watching and -despair; and yet--by the grace of Providence--it achieved its simple -purpose. - -For, forthwith, like a tribe of monkeys, they set to talking among -themselves; and never had I heard such gibberish. They waved their -hands, and made mouths and faces at one another that were astonishing to -behold. They touched me repeatedly, fingering my tattered clothes; and -one tugged so violently at the sleeve of my shirt, which had been torn -to ribbons upon the thorn trees in the forest, that he pulled it off -almost from the shoulder--and then began the monkey-house again. - -The very sight of my white skin, where it had not been tanned by the -sun, set them jabbering for the space of half-an-hour; and all that time -I kept my silence, fearing that, if I should speak, they would disperse -like Sussex rooks at the sound of a farmer's gun. - -I had read and heard of fierce savage black men, cannibals and the like, -who regarded as their natural foes all of alien race, whom they put -horribly to death. But these wild people were shy as antelopes; and -though they might have been dangerous if handled wrongly, there was -nothing to fear from them in the case of one placed at so great a -disadvantage as myself. - -I did nothing, then, but let them talk it out; and in the end, one of -them took a bone knife with an edge like a saw, and cut through the -fibre that bound me to the tree. - -The others stood a little apart with their long blow-pipes, ready to -riddle me with darts that I learned afterwards were poisoned. But no -sooner were my hands freed than I pointed a finger straight down my -opened mouth--a gesture which no one could mistake. - -That set them talking once again; and when they were through with it, -they took me with them back into the woods. In single file we wormed -our way through the thick undergrowth of the forest, until at length we -hit upon a footpath where they travelled fast and silently, these -strange men of the woods. By then my strength was well-nigh exhausted. -Both in mind and in body I was come to the end of my powers of -endurance; and I could go no farther. - -And so, thereupon, they carried me, taking it in turns among themselves -to bear my weight, for they were not strong men, but thin of limb and -short in stature. - -We journeyed until nightfall, and then camped in the forest. They gave -me food--roasted manioc and crushed bananas; and then I fell asleep. - -At daybreak--though in those dark places we saw little of the sun, and -there was small difference betwixt night and morning--we were on the -march again, and about midday struck the course of a considerable river -which we followed up-stream for a distance of many miles. From this -valley we turned into that of a tributary, and reached our destination -in the evening. - -This was a small village of rude huts, inhabited--as I afterwards -discovered--by the various members of a single family. I had walked -many miles upon the second day, and found myself on arrival at the -village as greatly fatigued as ever, suffering also from a stiffness in -the joints, due to the cramped position I had been forced to assume when -bound by the liana to the tree. So that after my simple meal that -night, I again fell asleep, and slept, I verily believe, as I never did -before or since. For not only was I spent and weary, but I had now the -comfortable assurance that these wild people would do me no bodily harm. -For the time being, at least, I was safe. - - - - -CHAPTER XI--I BURN MY BOATS - - -You may scarce credit it when I say that I sojourned for many months -with these savage, yet simple, people, and whilst with them received -neither hurt nor insult, but passed my days in pleasant idleness in the -heart of those awe-inspiring woods. - -I have since described their ways and mode of living to a famous -ethnologist, one whose business it was to study the sundry races of -mankind; and he believed that I fell into the hands of a tribe of -Caishana aborigines, one of the most primitive races in the world. - -Of this, however, no one can be sure; for I learned little of their -language, and of that remembered nothing. Besides, there are so many -hordes of Indians and tribes in the valleys of the Upper Amazon, and of -so few of these is anything definite known, even at the present day, -that a question of such slight importance, for the time being, may -remain unanswered. - -It makes, in any case, no difference to my story. I do but state mere -facts, leaving footnotes, queries and the like to scientists and -students. For five months--as I can guess--I lived with this woodland -people; and it pleases me to remember that, in return for their -hospitality and kindness, I was able to render them some service. I -taught them novel methods of catching the fish that abounded in the -rivers, creeks and pools; and I gave them gladly the few belongings that -I had upon me, even a large jack-knife, which the chief of the village -received with unfeigned delight--for they were so uncivilised as to be -altogether unacquainted with the use of iron. - -On my side, I learned many things from them, becoming, for instance, -skilled in the use of the blow-pipe--a very deadly weapon, since it made -no more noise than a pop-gun, and the arrows were invariably dipped in -the juice of a poisonous herb that grew plentifully in the forest. - -I was much interested in the manufacture of these instruments. Many -were of bamboo, but those of the better quality of a hard wood, from -which the inside had been patiently scraped by means of a bone knife, -until the surface was smooth as glass. Needless to say, to accomplish -this, the shaft had to be split into two pieces, which were afterwards -joined together. It took a skilled worker weeks to make a blow-pipe. A -good specimen was always coveted, and he who possessed one was regarded -as a person of importance. I was instructed also in the craft of making -the darts or arrows; and this was an accomplishment that, more than once -in the course of the next few months, stood me in good stead. - -Of the people themselves, of their strange ways and customs, I might -write a full chapter, were I so disposed. I have no reason to think -that they varied greatly from the majority of the wilder tribes in the -great forests of the Amazon. They were small in stature, short-lived, -and very dirty. They went well-nigh naked, and many suffered from a -particularly loathsome disease, the character of which I know not, save -that it left their skin marked black in patches. I feared, at first, -that this would prove contagious; but, either my nationality or else my -cleanly habits--for I bathed daily in the river--preserved my health and -personal appearance. - -In regard to my bathing, I can relate a strange thing. It being the -rainy season, the river was alive with alligators. I was at first -considerably frightened of these horrid reptiles; but I soon discovered -that all that was necessary was to beat the surface of the water -violently with a stick in order to scare them away. Of course, it was -needful to exercise a certain amount of discretion, to keep one's eyes -open whilst in the water; and I do not say that there was no danger -present. But the fact remains that the South American cayman, one of -the most formidable-looking brutes in all the world, is a cowardly beast -and by no means greatly to be feared. - -If that be so, I have another story to tell concerning the snakes of -that dark region; for these I never ceased to fear, and not without good -cause. My boots had long since ceased to be of the least practical use, -and I had presented them, not without ceremony, to the head man of the -village where I stayed. I was obliged therefore to go bare of foot in -the forest, like the natives themselves, and day and night I walked in -constant peril of my life. - -For the underwoods were populous with serpents of all kinds, many of -which were venomous. They were usually to be found in the vicinity of -water, and amongst them I cannot fail to mention the gigantic tree and -water snakes, in whose deadly coils a full-grown man might well be -crushed to death. More than once I set eyes upon these great, evil, -stealthy monsters; and on each occasion my very blood ran cold. But I -have yet to write of what I have called--for no better reason than that -there is melodrama in the name--the Glade of Silent Death, where in part -the tragedy of all my narrative attains some sort of a crisis--a crisis, -at least, for one of whom I dare say more than I would of any other: -that he well deserved his fate. - -Now, had I been content to eke out the remainder of my years with these -untutored people, I should never have beheld the wonders of which I have -to tell. I think I realised that if I continued to live as a savage, I -must eventually myself become a savage, forgetting all I had ever -learned of Christian civilisation. So I made up my mind to take my life -into my hands, and set forth alone into the Wild. - -Beyond doubt, my ulterior motive was to regain the confines of the -civilised world, to hear again the voices of men speaking my own -language--even the lazy Sussex twang. But I was moved firstly not so -much by a desire for liberty, as by the spirit of adventure. For I had -caught something of the rover from John Bannister, as I sat listening to -his stories to the soft accompaniment of the wash of the English sea; -and I would find out all I could concerning the quest of Amos Baverstock -and the secret of the Greater Treasure of the Incas, which the more -civilised of the Indians called the "Big Fish." - -And so I asked the savages to guide me back to the place where they had -found me, within sight of Cahazaxa's ruined temple. Though I never knew -but a score of words of their language, I was now proficient in the art -of conversing by signs and the drawing of pictures in the mud, as I was -also something of a woodsman and--though but a few months older than -when I had been kidnapped--no longer a boy, but the beginnings of a man, -who was like to have a hard part to play. Life in the wilderness had -made me self-reliant. To the wanderer in savage places peril comes -naturally enough, and death itself is all in the work of the day. - -But it was one thing to ask, and another to receive. The chief man of -the community--for it was hardly a village--was all against the project. -In the first place, he and the rest of them had grown to be fond of -me--I was regarded as both a curiosity and something of an acquisition. -Secondly, I soon discovered that they stood in fear and trembling of the -ruins, which they firmly believed to be haunted. - -Though they might have restrained me by force, we argued the matter out, -and it came to a question of will-power--or obstinacy, if the word suit -you better--and I had my way. - -Accordingly, one morning I set forth into the forest, accompanied by a -guide. I was dressed in the remnants of my shirt, tied like a kilt -about my waist, and carried a ten-foot blow-pipe and a score of darts; -and beyond these I had neither arms nor clothing. I was just a white -savage in a great dark wilderness, with my life in my own hands and all -Nature at war against me. And I doubt if I can even say that I was -white, for I was now tanned almost to the colour of the wild men amongst -whom I had lived. - -In three days, by easy journeys, my companion and I came to the margin -of the woods, to the great plain of waving grass, in the midst of which -the Temple of Cahazaxa stood upon a hill-top. - -I begged of the man to come with me, to serve me as a servant, making -vague promises of reward which I am sure he did not understand; and -though, as I could see, the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak; for -he fell down upon his knees before me, trembling in all his limbs, -craving permission to return. - -I could not be heartless. From the tribe I had never received anything -but kindness. But permission to be gone was not all the simple fellow -wanted; for, when he saw that I was determined to go alone upon my way -to the ruins on the hill-top, he again fell down upon his knees, and -implored me to return with him. - -In so far as I could take his meaning, the old temple was infested by -ghosts and evil spirits. Singular things for centuries had been known -to happen among those grey, worn stones: weird singing had been heard -and strange coloured lights had been seen of nights, and no man of the -forest who had ever ventured to the hillock had as yet returned alive. - -To speak true, these fables--though I believed no word of them--did but -whet my appetite for action. I had a taste for danger. For the first -time in my life, I was conscious of my own individuality. Man or boy, I -was free. I had a part to play upon the stage of life, and the wide -world was my scene. I, too, was upon the same quest as Amos: the hunt -for the Greater Treasure. It was as if something within me urged me to -go forward, like a knight-errant of old, placing my firm trust in -Providence; and I now have little doubt that it was the voice of Destiny -that spoke within me. - -And so I bade farewell to the forest tribesman, whom I left upon the -verge of tears, believing in his heart of hearts that I was as good as -doomed; and with a light heart and my blow-pipe, I went my way across -the plain, towards the hill upon which stood the ancient Temple of -Cahazaxa, whilst the sun was sinking in the sky. - - - - -CHAPTER XII--THE PATH OF THE TIGER - - -It was near upon the time of sunset when I slowly climbed the hill. I -could not take my eyes from the great stones before me, many of which -must have been at least ten square yards in surface area, and cut so -straight and square that, without cement or mortar, they fitted one -against the other as nicely as a child's wooden bricks. I wondered how -they had come there, by what means they had been transported and lifted -into position; and I marvelled that an ancient people should have been -masters of such science. - -But it was not this alone that caused my footsteps to become slower and -slower as I approached the ruin. Despite myself, I could not help -remembering much that the wild man had said to me of ghosts and evil -spirits. - -In the dim evening light, wreathed in the mist that rose from the -surrounding plain, those great pillars of cold, silent stone looked not -to belong to this world of common things. Towering, as they did, above -the tree-tops of the forest, they made me think of the enchanted palaces -of which in childhood my mother had read to me from fairy tales. If -there were ghosts anywhere in all the world, they were here--and I was -sure of that. - -This notion got the strongest hold of me; and presently, a cold sweat -broke out upon my forehead, and I wished that I were back with the wild -men in their woodland village. However, I had more pride than to -retreat, and that at the eleventh hour; and I continued to go forward, -though something after the manner of a condemned man towards the -gallows. - -As it grew darker I became more afraid. Night in those tropic latitudes -comes suddenly; darkness falls like a curtain upon a stage; and when I -had gained the outer pillars, which formed together an encircling -colonnade, there was scarce light enough for me to see a distance of -thirty yards. - -Within the circumference of these outer pillars--which attained upon an -average a height of about fifty feet--was a great roofless building with -a floor of flagstones, where the silence quite unnerved me. It was more -oppressive than the silence of the forest, where I had always been -conscious that one was surrounded by Life in a million forms: plants, -insects, and animals--all at war that they might live. - -But this place seemed dead, save for vast colonies of small red ants -whose bite was poisonous; for I had not been there a full minute before -I was bitten from head to foot, and there were painful weals all over -me. - -It was plain I could not sleep amid the ruins as I had intended. Not -only would the ants torture me almost to distraction, but the place was -uncanny, and I could now well understand how those ignorant woodlanders -believed it to be haunted. - -I was about to go, and had actually turned towards the main entrance, -which I could see quite clearly in the light of the newly-risen stars, -when a sound came to my ears that was so like a groan that I felt my -blood run cold. - -I stood transfixed, more frightened than bewildered. Looking about me -on every side, straining my eyes in the semi-darkness, I could see -nothing. I was convinced that there was no one in that vast chamber -save myself and the red ants. And yet the groan came again, louder than -before. - -I tip-toed across the room, my heart throbbing like an engine. And like -a frightened child, I hid myself in a corner; for I had no convictions -any longer, and I wished only to be somewhere where I could not be seen. - -Then a spider descended upon me from somewhere high up the wall. And -you may laugh at me when I say that I sprang to my feet and dropped my -blow-pipe and let out a cry that was very near a shriek. But you would -never have laughed had you been placed as I was, seen that spider, and -felt upon your shoulders his restless, furry legs. For this was no -common spider that eats flies and gnats, but a bird-devouring brute, the -size of a saucer; and this is no exaggeration when one takes into -account the full extension of his legs. - -As I fled, I picked it from off me with my hand, and threw it away; -whereupon I found that it had covered my fingers with a disgusting and -sticky saliva. I am only thankful that it had no time to bite me, for I -believe the bite of these terrible insects has been known to prove -fatal. They build webs of such strength and solidity that birds as -large as sparrows are caught in the toils and killed; and I have heard -it said that these monsters also ascend trees, drive hens from their -nests and then devour their eggs. - -However, this is no treatise upon Natural History. He who wishes to -know more of this horrid creature may read of it in recognised works of -science. For myself, to have felt once its quick, hairy legs upon my -bare neck and shoulders is enough for many a day, and the thing may -belong to any species and genus that it likes, so long as I never set -eyes upon one again. - -For I was thoroughly scared; I had become as jumpy as a bean on a hot -plate. I trust that I am not by nature a coward; but the atmosphere of -that ghostly, misty place, the mysterious groans that I had heard, which -had seemed to come from nowhere, and the long-legged, furry spider, had -all so played upon my nerves that I knew neither what I was doing nor -what would happen next. - -I had made, in any case, as much noise as a harlequinade. I had cried -out at the top of my voice and had sent my wooden blow-pipe rattling to -the ground. And then I stood motionless, breathless, waiting--as it -seemed--for some new calamity. - -This time it was no groan I heard, but a human voice calling, at first -loudly, and then more softly, in a strange foreign tongue. - -I listened, and I dared not move. The silence that followed endured for -minutes, during which the seconds were punctuated by the violent beating -of my heart. And, presently, I began to think. As I mastered my fears, -I became capable of reasoning. - -It was folly to consider ghosts. Such superstitions were well enough -for untutored savages, wild men of the forests, but they would never do -for Richard Treadgold, who had lived his years in Sussex--though, of a -certainty, I had heard of more than one so-called haunted house between -Beachy Head and Selsey Bill. - -I was convinced that I had heard a human voice. I had been able even to -distinguish words, howbeit in a language that I did not comprehend. And -if that were so, it must follow that I was not the only human soul -within that gloomy ruin. - -I looked about me, and saw in the starlight my blow-pipe, lying on the -floor. I picked it up, and placing a dart within the mouthpiece, began -to explore the place, starting at the wide entrance and making a tour of -the walls. - -It was not long before I came upon a square hole in the ground, edged -with shallow coping stones to keep out the water when the place was -flooded by the rains. It reminded me of a hatchway on board a ship. - -Below it was quite dark. I lay down upon the floor at full length with -the idea of listening: for I was now sure that I was on the track of the -secret of the place. But presently my eyes grew accustomed to the -darkness, and I saw before me a flight of narrow steps, leading -downward--as it seemed--into the very bowels of the earth. - -I had now mastered my fears. I was determined to be a fool no longer, -but to conduct myself like the man I wished I were. I would have -descended without a second's thought had it not been for two grave -considerations: firstly, I had no means of striking a light; and -secondly, the stairway was so narrow that I must leave behind my long -Indian blow-pipe, the only means of self-defence I had. - -I have set down already much by no means favourable to myself; and -therefore I have the less hesitation in recording an incident which goes -far to prove that there were moments when I was a worthy pupil and -admirer of John Bannister himself. For I went down that black and -shallow staircase, half naked as I was and quite unarmed, not knowing -what would befall me at the end of it. - -Half-way down, the staircase turned, when to my surprise I saw below me -the dim reflection of a light. And presently I found myself in a long -shallow chamber, where I stood bewildered. - -In the centre of the room was a rough stone altar upon which burned an -oil lamp of a quaint design and wrought in bronze. Of other such lamps, -similar in all respects, I counted five, lying upon the stone flooring, -each surrounded by its own pool of oil. - -The whole place indeed was in great disorder. Curtains of finely woven -hair had been wrenched from the walls and cast upon the ground. Benches -and short-legged tables had been overturned, and in some cases broken. -Here lay a sword, and there a spear, and here again a pistol, broken at -the small of the butt. Nor was all this the worst of it, by any means; -for immediately before me, lying in stiff, huddled attitudes--a pathetic -and a tragic thing to see--were three stone-dead men, as sure as I first -saw the light of day in Sussex. - -Dead they were, for they neither moved nor even breathed. And when I -sighed aloud at the wonder of it all, a fourth man whom I had not -noticed, lying upon the floor at the other end of the room, struggled -upon an elbow and cried out to me, and afterwards pointed a finger down -his throat. - -I was no such fool as to mistake his meaning. He wanted water to drink, -and I looked about me to find it. At the foot of the altar was a pool -of clear, crystal water, a spring that bubbled from out of the crust of -the earth, the overflow being conducted to the far end of the chamber by -means of a shallow, wooden trough. I found a drinking vessel which, to -my amazement, was of gold; and this I filled in haste, and brought to -the wounded man. - -For wounded he was, a leg being broken at the thighbone, so that he -could not move an inch without suffering the greatest pain. It was this -pain I daresay, as much as loss of blood, which had thrown him in a -fever; for his skin was burning to the touch. - -Three times I filled the cup, and each time he emptied it; and as he -drank, he thanked me with his eyes. - -Then he lay back and rested, whilst I gazed upon that shambles; for a -shambles it was--blood was everywhere. - -I went to the dead men, to each in turn, to make sure that there was no -spark of life in any. And this was the second time that I looked upon -the cold face of death; for, sure enough, each one was dead. And they -were shot; they had been killed by leaden bullets: one in the head, -another in the heart, whereas the third, poor wretch! had died in agony, -with a great wound in his stomach. - -But dead though they were, I could not regard them without noticing how -different they were in features and in figure from the wild men of the -woods. - -The savages with whom I had sojourned for so long, for whose simple -kindness I shall be ever grateful, were of a Mongolian cast of -countenance: they had high cheek-bones, lips thinner than a negro's, and -yet thick and loose, and their eyes were almond-shaped, inclining -downwards to the nose. Also, their greatly receding foreheads and chins -suggested that they belonged to one of the lower and least intelligent -species of mankind. - -But the three dead men, as well as he who was yet alive, had aquiline -noses, thin lips, and rounded eyes. Also they were fully dressed in -long tunics of some woven material, open at the throat, and girdled at -the waist. They wore their hair long, but cut straight, level with the -eyebrows; and above this fringe a broad metal band encircled the head -above the ears. - -I looked from them to the altar, and saw thereon a graven disc from -which rays extended to the extremities of the stone. Beyond doubt this -was meant to be the sun; and of a sudden I remembered that the -inhabitants of Old Peru had been wont to worship the sun. - -So these, perhaps, were those same Peruvian priests of whom Amos -Baverstock had spoken, they who shared with John Bannister the secret of -the Greater Treasure of the Incas. - -And then the truth burst upon me as in a flash--I had struck the pathway -traversed by the tiger. The death and destruction by which I was -surrounded was the work of Amos Baverstock himself. - -I picked up the broken pistol, looked at it in the lamplight, and knew -straightway that I had guessed aright. For I recognised it at once. It -had belonged to Joshua Trust. It was the same pistol I had seen often -in his hands, the one with which he had fired at me upon the -Littlehampton road. And if I had had any doubts upon the matter, they -would have been dispelled at once; for there were the man's initials, -"J.T.," carved with his sailor's jack-knife on the wood. - -I just let the broken pistol fall to the ground at my feet; and at the -noise, the wounded man, to whom I had given water, struggled again upon -an elbow, and spoke to me--_in English_. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII--THE STORY OF ATUPO - - -"Friend?" said he; and though he pronounced the word in the strangest -fashion, I at once took his meaning. - -I assured him of my good intentions, that I was no friend of those who -had committed so dastardly an outrage. And at that, though in the -greatest pain--as I could see--he smiled and thanked me. - -I will not repeat word for word the childish broken English that he -talked. He knew nouns enough to express his meaning, but this was all -of our language that he had, and for verbs he was obliged to fall back -upon grimaces and gesticulations. These, however, were so forcible and -graphic that I was never at a loss to understand him: and during the six -weeks that this man and I lived together in the ruins, whilst his broken -leg was mending, he came to speak quite fluently in my language, -whereas--to my shame, be it confessed--I learned not a dozen words of -his. - -I asked him how he had picked up his English; and since I had already -guessed his answer, the familiar sound of that fond name was no less -pleasant in my ears. - -"John Bannister," said he; and then asked me eagerly where Bannister now -was. - -I shook my head, telling him as simply and as briefly as I could the -whole of my adventures, from the time when I was kidnapped a few miles -from my home beyond the seas to the day when I took my departure from -the habitations of the wild men of the woods. - -His story I got from him by degrees, after I had tended to his wounds. I -had no knowledge of surgery, but I knew that a broken leg must be made -fast to a splint; and, borrowing a knife, I returned that very evening -to the forest, and cut a straight branch from a tree, as well as a long -coil of liana, which I wound about my shoulders like a garden-hose. - -I peeled the bark from two sides of the branch to make it as smooth as -possible, and then bound it tightly to the poor man's leg by means of -the liana. I bathed his wound daily with the clean water from the -spring within the vault; and in a few days the blood ceased to flow and -the wound--a rough, ugly rent from a leaden bullet--began to heal. - -There was a plentiful supply of food within the chamber--bananas, dried -berries, and manioc; and together we lived, this man and I, in -uneventful idleness, he flat upon his back on a bed of rushes, I -attending to his daily wants. - -He claimed direct descent from the _incas_ of Old Peru. He told me much -that I already knew: that in the great land which had been discovered by -Pizarro there had been two races, the common Peruvians and those of -_inca_ stock. The latter was the nobility of the land, being of royal -blood; and it was they who had held the important offices of state and -formed the priesthood. - -Centuries ago, upon the fall of Cuzco, Cahazaxa, one of the greatest -nobles in the kingdom, escorted by an army of priests and soldiers, -conveyed the Greater Treasure across the mountains, and hid it in the -forest that extends across the whole valley of the Upper Amazon and its -tributaries. The Spaniards got wind of this, and some years afterwards, -in the year 1541, an expedition led by the redoubtable Orellano, a -lieutenant of Gonzalo Pizarro, crossed the eastern chain of the Andes in -search of El Dorado, or that country which was then but vaguely known as -the Land of the Gilded King. - -This "Gilded King" was Cahazaxa himself, who, at the time of Orellano's -famed expedition, had been for some months dead. But the little -civilised colony that he had established in the wilderness survived, and -continued to survive until the middle of the last century, when I myself -beheld the last of it. - -Now, in the narration of historical and other facts, I have the greatest -regard for a certain principle, established by the Greeks: the habit of -reserving for its proper place each item of information, whether it be -of primary or secondary importance. On that account, I ask you, -therefore, for the space of a chapter or so, to bear in mind the famous -name of Orellano and his search for the Land of the Gilded King--an -affair to which I must soon refer again. I set down now only that which -the _inca_ himself told me, together with such historical facts as were -known to me at the time. - -Cahazaxa was dead; and he was buried in a cavern, high amidst the -cloud-wrapped mountains, where his soul might rest in peace the nearer -to the God he worshipped--the life-giving and almighty Sun, who, as he -held, in the very dawn of the ages had sent Manco Copac and Mama Oello -Huaco to earth, to make the Incas of Peru glorious and great. - -Orellano, the Spaniard, failed to find the Treasure. Undergoing the -most terrible privations, he and his gallant followers pierced the -forest, and, making one of the most remarkable journeys in the whole -history of exploration, descended into the main stream of the great -River of Mystery--as I call the Amazon--and, finally, after eight months -of hardship and of peril, came within sight of the Atlantic. - -The courage of these men is much to be commended. The modern explorer -has at his service breech-loading magazine rifles, invaluable -geographical and scientific knowledge, and an adequate supply of -suitable food and drugs. But these bold Spaniards of the sixteenth -century had nothing, save their own stout hearts and strong Toledo -blades. Enough has been written concerning their greed, their bigotry -and cruelty. The story might be told again and again of their -indomitable bravery. Orellano knew not whither he was going. When he -decided to shoot the rapids, taking his life in his hands, he might as -well have thrown dice with Death. How can we do aught but honour the -land that has produced such sons as Cortez and Pizarro, Orellano, Vasco -Nunez, and Alonzo de Ojeda? - -But, for the present, we are more concerned with Cahazaxa, a hero no -less than these doughty Spaniards. He and his followers hid themselves -in the wilderness, and there both Orellano and Pizarro himself failed to -find them; and in this there is little to wonder at, when we consider -the immensity of the great Forest of the Amazon. - -They built for themselves a massive temple after the fashion of the -sacred palaces of Quito and Cuzco, dedicated to the Sun; and in course -of time they constructed roads and bridges across the rivers, founding -for themselves a colony where the civilisation of the _incas_ lived for -a century or more after their own country across the mountains had -fallen under the dominion of the hated Spaniard. - -This was the land of the Gilded King, the country of El Dorado. Word of -its existence came to Quito, from the lips of savage aborigines prone -naturally to exaggeration; but, though party after party of avaricious, -bold adventurers crossed the mountains, the Peruvian settlement remained -undisturbed. The secret of the "Big Fish" was never discovered either -by the Spaniards or the Portuguese, who in the next century came up the -great river from the east, traversing the country that is now called -Brazil. - -I did not learn all this from the _inca_ priest himself; but so much of -it as he could not tell me I knew already from what I had read of those -golden days when the New World was a land of Mystery and Romance, and -men thought and talked of doubloons instead of dollars. - -It is true, I never beheld with my own eyes the actual civilisation of -ancient Peru as it had existed in Cahazaxa's time, because, many years -before, it had died a natural death. The Peruvians, born and bred upon -the western sea-board or the great tablelands beyond the Andes, were not -able to survive in the humid atmosphere of the tropic forest. In course -of time, a colony of several thousands, whom Cahazaxa had led across the -mountains, had dwindled to a community of a few families of the old -_inca_ stock, the majority of whom served as priests of the Sun in the -great ruined temple, constructed by their forefathers, which they were -not able to keep in repair. - -It was these men, descended in a direct line from the _incas_ whom the -Spanish conquerors had driven forth from Cuzco and Quito, who guarded -the secret of the Greater Treasure. It was they who were treacherously -attacked and foully done to death by Amos Baverstock. And I will now -relate the full story of that brutal enterprise as I got it from the -lips of the man whom I befriended. - -Baverstock, with his three companions, had come to the temple some weeks -before, on the day they had tied me to the tree and left me to starve to -death. - -The priests had been greatly alarmed at the sight of the intruder, whom -they recognised at once. They remembered the time when Baverstock and -Trust had attacked the temple, and they had been obliged to fight for -their lives, and would then and there have been slaughtered, had it not -been for John Bannister, who placed himself at their head and drove Amos -forth. - -But Bannister was no longer with them to fortify them with his courage, -to preside at their councils, and to deal death to their enemies with -his swift, unerring aim. And they were terrified at the very sight of -Amos, as I myself had been when I first set eyes on the man upon the -Sussex shore. - -He demanded to know where the Greater Treasure was hidden. He reminded -them that they had lied to him once, and held forth threats that made -their blood run cold. If they lied to him again, he would return, and -no man of them would live to fool Amos Baverstock a third time. - -Now, they dared not speak the truth, for they were sworn to secrecy -before the Sun, which they believed to be the Creator of the Universe; -and yet, they dared not lie, for they knew Amos would be as good, or as -evil, as his word. - -So, swearing upon all things they looked upon as holy, they set Amos and -his friends upon the right road to the "Big Fish." They told him to -follow a certain track across the grassland, until he came to a range of -down-like, grass-clad hills. Thence, to the west, lay a wood in -mid-valley, and in a glade in this wood the Treasure was buried, the -place being marked by a great red stone, standing forth in the form of a -monster fish in the act of leaping from the water. Here, clearly, was -the origin of the legend, current among the natives even to this day, of -the Big and Little Fishes. And when I heard the story as it was told me -by the _inca_ priest, I confess I was conscious that my heart beat more -rapidly and the warm blood of my youth was stirred within me. - -But Amos Baverstock cared nothing for legend. He lived only to lay -hands upon a horde of untold gold; and that same day he left the Temple -of Cahazaxa and set forth to the west upon his treasure hunt. - -And when he was gone, the priests held conference, demanding of Atupo -why he had told their enemy so much of their cherished secret--for Atupo -was the name of the surviving priest with whom I talked among the temple -ruins. For he it was who devised the scheme whereby he hoped both to -save the lives of his friends and to preserve the Greater Treasure; and -now that all had failed so dreadfully, to the great pain he suffered -from his wound was added anguish and remorse, inasmuch as the blame was -his. - -He advised them to arm themselves, and took with him ten of the best -archers of the little community, ordering them to steep the heads of -their arrows in the juice of the venomous weed that grows in the -forest--which is nothing more or less than strychnine, one of the most -virulent of poisons. - -Atupo, with these ten men, who were all young and fleet of foot, -traversed the grassland by a series of forced marches by night, so that -they outdistanced Amos and reached first the Wood of the Red Fish--for -so, with a little latitude, may be translated the old Peruvian name. And -there they laid an ambush by a pathway along which Amos, and those with -him, would be obliged to pass, and each archer was instructed to pick -out his man. Four were detailed to shoot at Amos, three at Trust, and -two each at Forsyth and the Spaniard, Vasco. - -Now, it seems not possible that a plan so well thought out could fail; -and yet, it would seem also that here, at least, the devil helped his -own. - -For Mr. Forsyth, and not Amos, came first to the ambuscade; and of the -two arrows, one struck a silver tobacco tin that he chanced to be -carrying that day in the pocket over his heart, and the other sheared -off his right ear as cleanly as a tailor snips his cloth with a pair of -scissors. And in the fraction of a second, Forsyth, all bleeding from -the head, had his revolver from its holster, and had shot down two of -the priests. - -Thus was the alarm given to Amos and those who followed him; and there -was no question of a surprise. It came to a hand-to-hand affair, and -then a running fight amid the woodland undergrowth, in which the bow and -arrow had but a small chance against modern firearms. One by one, the -priests were dropped in their tracks, and only Atupo himself escaped -with life, though sorely wounded in the leg. - -He got clear of the wood, and lay hidden, day after day, in the long -grass of the plain, journeying by night towards the forest, endeavouring -to reach the ruined Temple of Cahazaxa. Though his leg was not then -broken, he could do no more than crawl a few miles at a time, so that he -was long weeks upon the road. - -And during all these days, Amos beat the wood from west to east, from -south to north, and failing to find the "Red Fish," believed that he had -again been sent upon a wild-goose chase; and the more firm was he in -this conviction since there had been such treachery on the part of the -_inca_ priests. - -I heard afterwards that his wrath was like that of a madman; he stamped -and raved, and swore that he would return to the temple and put every -living soul to death. And yet, they could not move a yard upon their -backward journey, until Forsyth's life was out of danger. - -Without doubt, Mr. Gilbert Forsyth would have died in torture, there -amid the foothills of the distant Andes, had it not been for his own -promptitude and courage. For no sooner did he feel the poison working -inward from the wound where the arrow had cut off an ear, than he thrust -the blade of a hunting-knife into a glowing charcoal camp-fire, and -himself placed the red-hot steel upon the lacerated flesh. - -And though he fainted at the time, and fell afterwards into a raging -fever, this action saved, perhaps, his life. In the wilderness, -rough-and-ready methods are often unavoidable; only he who is bold and -strong can survive, whilst the weakling falls by the way. That Forsyth, -despite his affectations and his London ways, was a man of action who -could face pain as well as danger, this deed of his was in itself enough -to prove. With his own hand he burned the poison from his flesh. - -For all that, he lingered for many days betwixt life and death; and it -was the delay caused thereby that gave Atupo time to regain the temple. - -He had intended to give warning to his brother priests, and for this -purpose he arrived none too soon. Many were so alarmed at the news of -the disaster that they departed instantly, seeking shelter in the forest -and taking with them their wives and families. But three remained, to -collect the sacred lamps and vessels that were within the Temple, -meaning to set forth the following day. And these were caught at -midnight by Amos, who turned assassin then and there; for it was he who -killed them with his own hands, in the great vault beneath the ruins. - -Atupo, too, he shot, though the man lay wounded on the ground, exhausted -after the effort of his long journey across the grassland, and left him -there for dead, his already wounded leg fractured a few inches below the -hip. - -All this I learned from the man himself, while I nursed him under the -Temple--all save the story of the fortitude of Mr. Forsyth, of which I -heard afterwards, as in due time I will tell. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV--THE GLADE OF SILENT DEATH - - -When I had heard the story of Atupo, it seemed to me that I knew all -there was to know concerning the "Big Fish." And a feeling of -restlessness at once possessed me; I desired to be up and doing, to -venture myself across the grassland, to find the Wood of the Red Fish, -for which the bold Spaniards of a bygone century had searched so often -and in vain. - -But I stood in the debt of charity and honour, and in consequence I felt -for all the world like a kennelled dog that tugs barking on his chain. -For some weeks, at least, I must stay by the side of the wounded man, -whom I could now call my friend. And if those days were something idle, -we were by no means out of danger; for any day Amos Baverstock might -return when, of a certainty, it would go ill with Atupo and myself. - -I found ample time throughout this period of my adventuring to explore -the neighbourhood of the Temple, and many things I found of the greatest -interest. About a mile distant from the ruins was the village where the -Peruvians had lived, and here also was a great convent built of stone -and thatched with straw, after the fashion of the palaces in ancient -Quito. In this convent--so Atupo told me--had dwelt some score of nuns, -vestal virgins, whose lives were dedicated to the Sun, just as there had -been such maidens in the service of Jupiter and Mars in the great -temples of Rome; for in many respects did the ancient Peruvians resemble -the Romans: they were great builders of roads, bridges, and forts; every -man must serve the state; and the Inca, on returning from his victories, -would march in public triumph through the chief city of the land. - -I found both the village and the convent quite deserted; for--as I have -said--on hearing of the approach of Amos and his friends, the Peruvians -had fled into the forest, preferring to run the risk of death at the -hands of the wild men with their poisoned arrows, or from starvation in -the midst of that unending wilderness, to finding themselves once again -face to face with that implacable and murderous villain who had sworn to -put them all--woman, man, and child--relentlessly to death. - -I learned afterwards that few of these poor fugitives survived; for Amos -burned their homes to the ground and left not one stone upon another; -and this he did in wrath and malice, since it served him no better -purpose than to waste his time, and that at a moment when his fate was -jeopardised and he himself stood betwixt life and death. - -When I saw the convent and the village, the place was just as the -inhabitants had left it; and in such haste had they departed that I even -found cooking-pots containing stews, all cold and jellified, standing in -the ashes of burnt-out fires. The only sign of life to be seen was a -number of llamas, long-necked Peruvian sheep, grazing in the shadow of -the convent walls. - -And now I am arrived at that part of my story when I came within an ace -of losing life itself, and was only delivered at the eleventh hour by -what was little short of the miraculous. For, in course of time, Atupo -was healed of his wound, and well able, with the help of a staff, to -hobble about the temple. It was then that I told him of my plans, of -how I longed to journey to the Wood of the Red Fish, if for nothing else -than to gaze upon the treasure of the Incas. - -He listened patiently to all I had to say, and then sighed deeply. - -"As you will," said he. "Of what use now is all this gold? My brother -priests are slain, my people are scattered broadcast; the children of -Cahazaxa are no more. Find your way, if you will, to the 'Big Fish.' I -have told you where it lies. Feast your eyes upon the wealth that was -once the glory of Peru. The race of the Incas is ended; the blood of -kings is cold; even our gods are dead." - -I knew that he referred to certain images in the Temple which Amos had -wantonly destroyed; and I was sorry for the man. - -"You will come with me?" I asked. - -But he shook his head. - -"That is not possible," he answered. "And even were it so, there would -be naught to gain. I am already too greatly in your debt, and were I to -accompany you, I should be a hindrance and a danger." - -I could not deny the truth of this, though I was loth to leave him, weak -and crippled as he was. And yet, it was manifest that we could not -remain for an indefinite time within the Temple: sooner or later, our -provisions would run out, and, any day, Amos might return. - -"Where will you go?" I asked. - -He pointed towards the forest. - -"Thither," said he; and there was a certain nobility in his manner when -he added, "to find my own people; for find them I will, in this world or -beyond the grave. Death holds no fears for the sons of Cahazaxa." - -And so, some days afterwards, we parted: he, to the east, to the dark, -spreading forest; I, to the west, across the grassland, upon my treasure -quest, to search for the Wood of the Ked Fish and the lost Treasure of -Kings. - -I set forth upon my great adventure all naked like a savage, save for a -loin-cloth of woven hair that Atupo, the priest, had given me. I was -armed with my long Indian blow-pipe and a quiverful of darts. And I -went into that strange, romantic land alone, without guide, compass or -companion, never knowing at night-time, when I lay down to sleep, what -calamity or fortune the morrow held in store for me. And this, I stand -convinced even to this day, when my hairs are white and shoulders bowed, -is the only way to live and to die. - -For three days I traversed a great plain of rolling, down-like country, -that reminded me somewhat of my own dear Sussex, save that the grass was -coarse and longer. Some miles before me was a high ridge that stood -forth at sunset like a battlement across the sky; and I knew that I must -gain the crest of this before I could find the Wood of the Red Fish. - -Presently, however, I found my progress impeded by a river that had -worked its way throughout the centuries deep into the rock, so that it -flowed between almost perpendicular cliffs. - -I could neither see nor devise any manner of crossing. I sat down upon -the edge of the canon and ate some of the manioc I had brought with me -from the temple. I remembered that both Amos and Atupo had somehow -crossed the river; and this thought was not a little encouraging. Across -the grassland I had followed no track or pathway, so that when I had -found a means of crossing the canon, I must know that I was once again -upon the right road to the wood that I was seeking. - -That night, in full moonshine, I worked up-stream for many miles upon -the left bank of the ravine. I slept for a few hours, and at daybreak -continued my journey, and a little after, came quite suddenly upon one -of the most wondrous things that I have ever seen. - -For there before me was a great and magnificent suspension bridge, -spanning the width of the ravine--a distance, I should say, of thirty or -forty yards. The cables of this bridge were made of the twisted fibre -of maguey, a kind of osier, and were at least three feet in diameter. -It was hard to realise that the whole structure stood there more or less -as it had been erected, centuries before; but it seemed to me an even -more wonderful thing that, in the midst of such a desolate and barren -region, I should so suddenly have come across evidence of the greatest -skill in engineering. I could scarce believe that I had passed through -an almost impenetrable tropical forest to traverse a ravine as easily as -I might have walked along the familiar dyke from Sidlesham to Pagham. - -The bridge itself was no more than a footbridge, but it served its -purpose well enough; and, crossing over, I hit almost at once upon a -pathway through the grass. This I lost at nightfall, but I continued on -my way in the moonlight, working upward upon a slope that rapidly became -steeper. - -In the small hours of the morning, sheer fatigue brought me to a halt by -the side of a spring of clear water, bubbling forth from the earth. And -here I drank and ate, breathing deeply of the cool fresh air of the -uplands, which was like strong wine to me after the humid atmosphere of -the forest; so that I slumbered as I had not slept for months, since I -had left my home in Sussex, nor did I awaken until the morning sun was -high. - -I saw that I had but a little way to go to reach the crestline of the -hills--an hour's climb would do it; and I set forward gleefully, in high -anticipation, wondering what lay beyond the watershed, and whether I -would sight the Wood of the Red Fish, but little dreaming what would -there befall me. - -I reached the summit hot and out of breath; and then I stood stock -still, breathless in wonderment and all amazed. - -I cast not one glance towards the wide valley at my feet. I stood -staring before me, like one dumbfounded, at the gorgeous panorama I -beheld. For yonder, more than a hundred miles away, but clear in the -morning sun at the back of me, stood the mighty and majestic Andes. -Snow-crowned they were, rugged as a wild sea, and yet bold and still and -massive as the thrones of gods. And I, who had never seen such -mountains in my life, was awed and wonder-struck; and I realised, I am -sure, the glory of the works of God. - -I gazed--it may have been, for an hour, sitting cross-legged, naked as -the wild men of the woods, with my blow-pipe on my knees--at that great -range of mountains that spans near half the world, extending almost from -pole to pole. And then I looked down into the valley, and the thought -that I was now within a day's march of my goal banished from my mind all -loftier thoughts, and I found myself wondering whether it was I who was -to find, at last, the lost land of El Dorado. - -For the valley was cut up into marshland, plains and hillocks, in and -out of which a river wandered, now and again to open out into a lake or -swamp, in which there were little tree-clad islands. But to the north -was a wood, diamond-shaped, flanked to the east by a spur of the hills, -and to the west by a morass where I could see the water glittering in -the sunlight. - -On the foothills across the valley was a considerable forest, extending -as far as the eye could reach; but I could not doubt that the wood in -mid-valley, to the right of me, being so like the description which -Atupo, the priest, had given me, was the Wood of the Red Fish. - -And then and there I set forward running, for I was young and -hot-headed, and had not yet learned that time is but the slave of man, -and that patience and caution are of more worth than eager haste. - -So I came, that evening, hot and thirsty to the wood, and then, in the -darkness of the trees, whilst the sun was setting, I stood like a fool, -irresolute and wearied, not knowing what next that I should do. - -I was hungry as well, for I had eaten all the food I had carried with me -from the temple, and saw now that I must trust to my blow-pipe for -sustenance, and kill what came my way that might be fit to eat. -Fortunately, during my sojourn with the wild men, I had learned -something of Indian woodcraft; and setting about my business without -further loss of time, I searched at random in the wood until I found a -glade where there was a pool of water, and here I crouched under cover, -lying motionless, with my blow-pipe ready for whatsoever animal might -come down to the pool to drink whilst the evening light still lasted. - -This place--though I then knew it not--was the Glade of Silent Death; -and I have given it that name for a certain reason, which was in very -truth a tragedy. - -There came, as I waited, to the woodland pool a small kind of deer; and -he waded knee-deep into the water that he might drink. As he did so, I -thought that I perceived some movement on the surface, as it might have -been a rat swimming swiftly a distance of a few yards. I took no heed -of it at the time, my attention being taken up with my blow-pipe, that I -might strike the deer stone-dead, beneath the point of the left -shoulder, placing my arrow deep in the poor beast's heart. - -I was about to shoot, when suddenly he kicked, and then endeavoured with -a jerk to throw himself backward on his haunches. To my astonishment I -observed that he was held fast by the nose, which might have been -gripped in a vice, and that in spite of all his efforts he was being -dragged steadily and slowly deeper into the pool. - -It was as if I were smitten by a cold rush of ice, when the truth was -made quite plain to me. It was that half-light of evening, which is -neither day nor night, when the early moon vies with the dying sunlight. -And I saw the monster writhing coils of a great serpent rise dripping -from the water and enfold the broken stump of a tree. - -I knew now that the deer was doomed; and so illogical is human nature -that I experienced two emotions: terror of the reptile and pity for the -beast that but a moment since I myself would have gladly slain for food. - -No doubt the anaconda stood in need of nourishment as much as I, and -wanted more of it, to boot. But snakes were accursed things since Eden, -and this vile, stealthy giant more so than most, because of his great -bulk and strength. I know now that he was nearer thirty than twenty -feet in length, and that his girth about the middle was greater than -that of my own chest, though I was a strong lad for my years. - -And now that he had lashed himself to the tree-stump, the deer was lost. -Its head was already under water, so that in a few moments the animal -must be drowned. It would then be crushed to a pulp in the powerful, -band-like coils of the constrictor, covered all over with a loathsome -saliva, to be swallowed slowly and gradually, and yet in bulk. - -I could see the head of the snake, for the light was fading and the deer -in its death struggle lashed the water into foam. But I could see the -great glistening body of the reptile but a few yards away from me, and -into the thickest part of this I drove one of the darts from my Indian -blow-pipe, and as I did so, shuddered, more revolted than afraid. - -The effect was instantaneous and surprising. My dart must have struck -the snake in the region of the spinal cord, for the great length of the -brute curled backward like the lash of a whip; and the deer, released -from those murderous coils, scrambled from the water, panting and -exhausted, with its red tongue hanging from its mouth. - -And then the animal fell dead upon the ground, but a few feet from where -I lay. I could feel my own heart beating within me like a -sledge-hammer. For some minutes I gazed at the pool that rocked and -swelled like a sea in miniature. There came ripples, one after the -other, to the water's edge, where they lipped and splashed like little -waves. And then, at last, all was still--still as glass in the -moonlight. But I knew that the great snake was somewhere near me, and -my sole desire was to escape from that dread, silent place, and that as -quickly as I might. And yet, the primal instinct of mankind was strong -within me, the love of life that is sustained by food; and as I drew -back into the thickets of the underwoods, I dragged with me by the horns -the lifeless body of the deer. - - - - -CHAPTER XV--HOW I BEHELD A MIRACLE - - -I found a place where I could rest and eat; and there I cut steaks from -the deer with a quaint knife which had been given me by Atupo--for I now -prided myself on being a hunter of experience--and made a fire of dried -sticks and leaves. - -The heat of the night was excessive, and I had little need of the -warmth; but I was glad of the light of the flames, for I was still much -shaken by my adventure with the great constrictor, and had imagined -vague, savage enemies amid the dark thickets that hedged me in. - -It will be noted that I have referred to the snake as a "constrictor"; -but, from this, it must not be thought that the monster was a boa. The -family of the boas, known scientifically as the _boidae_, contains many -species which are to be found in all parts of the world: the diamond -snake of Australia, the rock python of Natal, the Indian python, and the -great South American genera--the anaconda and the true boa-constrictor. - -All these reptiles are remarkable for the partial development of hinder -limbs, proving conclusively that the snakes and lizards are nearly -related to one another. These rudimentary limbs, however, are not -visible in the living animals, being covered by the skin, but are quite -evident in their skeletons. It is also of interest to remember that -birds have evolved from reptiles, the forelegs having been converted -into wings. - -All the constrictors kill their prey by crushing, and none have -poison-fangs; and though these species are, with one or two exceptions, -the largest snakes in the world, they move, whether in the water or -among the tree-tops, in absolute silence. That which I myself attacked -was undoubtedly an anaconda; and I know this for sure, because, though -the light was bad, I distinctly saw two rows of great, dark spots upon -his back, and not a black chain, which is the distinguishing mark of the -boa-constrictor. Besides, the anaconda is essentially a water-snake, -whereas the boa, though he will take readily to water, lives as a rule -among the trees. - -Well, though I shudder when I think of the brute, I had no real cause at -the time to abuse him, for I might not have slain the deer with my -blow-pipe, and I was now supplied with food so long as the meat would -keep in that steaming hothouse of a jungle. - -I did not sleep so well that night, weary though I was. I think I was -not so much afraid as oppressed by an almost overwhelming sense of -loneliness. - -Quite suddenly I realised, as I sat by my camp-fire, chewing the venison -steaks--which were inordinately tough--that I was utterly alone. For -weeks I had enjoyed the company of Atupo, and before that of the wild -men; and even Amos and his companions, my sworn enemies, had human -voices to which I had been wont to listen of an evening by the fire when -the day's march was ended. But here was I indeed, alone in the dark -wilderness, and I could not but recognise that the woods around me were -alive, that life in a thousand shapes and forms was all about me, -unseen, but not unheard. - -For I listened to strange and little noises everywhere--upon the ground, -in the thick undergrowth, among the great trees that towered above me. -My strained ears heard, perhaps, sounds that never were; but I know that -great moths came fluttering to my fire, and leaves moved where insects -crept and crawled, and now and again some kind of cricket would begin to -sing, only to cease quite suddenly, I should think, on the approach of -danger. - -They all lived, thought I, on sufferance, by the grace of the great God -who made them all, and me as well. For I was one with them, even these -little living things of the endless wilderness, encompassed by so many -dangers, at the mercy of the great forces of Nature that might at any -moment rise against us and stamp out our little lives. - -And I thought, too, of Amos. In the silence and the darkness, my old -dread of the man returned; and I asked myself where was he all these -months, and what were he and his companions doing? - -I knew that, like myself, he had been searching for the Treasure in this -same Wood of the Red Fish; but I could not think that he was still in -the neighbourhood. At the time, of course, I knew nothing of Forsyth's -wound, which had delayed Baverstock so long; and when I afterwards came -to work the matter out, I arrived at the conclusion that Amos must have -left the wood on the very night when I encountered the anaconda. He -then returned to the temple, and, finding both the ruins and the village -quite deserted, gave unholy vent to his wrath by burning everything that -fire could touch. He then came back upon his own tracks, by way of the -suspension bridge, drawn to the Red Fish like steel to a magnet, for the -man's soul itself was magnetised by gold. - -And all this time was I searching in the wood. For ten days I roamed -here and there, living upon wild fruits and berries, and the birds I -slew with my blow-pipe. Atupo had given me certain vague directions, -which had seemed clear enough to me at the time. However, the man's -knowledge of our language was but imperfect, and the wood itself a -veritable maze, a labyrinth of shallow, twisting tunnels, from which the -sunlight was eternally shut out. - -I wandered daily, lost in very truth, and came often to the Glade of -Silent Death, near which place I would never venture to sleep for fear -of the great serpent that I knew lay somewhere in the pool. - -On the tenth night of my wanderings, I received something in the nature -of a shock. I had made my camp-fire somewhat earlier than was my wont, -and a small, gay-feathered bird that I had shot and plucked was roasting -over the red-hot charcoal, when, of a sudden, a shot from a rifle rang -out in the woods not far from where I was. - -I sprang to my feet, in a high state of alarm, and kicked the fire -broadcast, for I had gone barefooted for so long that the soles of my -feet were like leather. And even as I did so, several other shots were -fired in quick succession. - -I ate my bird half cooked--for I was hungry--and sat in the darkness for -hour upon hour, certain that Amos himself was near at hand, and filled -with apprehension. - -I had a good mind that night to give up my quest, to return to the -grassland, where I could breathe the open air and feel the warmth of -Heaven's sun upon me, hoping that thence I might somehow find my way -back to the abodes of civilised men. I was sick at heart for want of -the sound of a human voice and the sight of those I loved. - -What would be my fate in that dark wilderness, armed only with my -blow-pipe, if I should fall into the hands of men like Amos Baverstock -and Trust? In my thinking, the shots that I had heard could have been -fired by no one else. And yet, of my own free will, for three days -longer I delayed within the wood; and now, when I can look back upon -those wild, adventurous days, I am devoutly thankful that I did. - -My own audacity can be explained, I think, by the fact that I was now -three parts a savage. I was, as one might say, on friendly terms with -danger. Peril and I had sojourned together for so long that I had come -to regard even grim Death itself as no such weighty matter. Life was no -more to me than to the little wild things that I daily slew for food. -And so, for three days, I continued my searching in the jungle, howbeit -acting more cautiously than before, making little noise and pausing -frequently to listen. - -And then, by chance, I made a great discovery. At the time, in very -truth, I did believe that I beheld the manifestation of a miracle; and I -warrant that he that reads this will think the same, when I have set -down the facts as they occurred. - -I came, late of an afternoon, upon an open place where there were rocks -among the trees; and between these rocks the ground was soft, the soil -quite black, being composed of the decayed vegetation of many tropic -seasons. Here I found footmarks of living men, and, moreover, men who -were no strangers to leather boots. - -That more than one of them had visited this very place, I was well -convinced, since the footmarks bore evidence of at least two pairs of -boots--one with great hobnails, and the other without. I never doubted -that I had hit upon the trail of Amos and his friends; and I had--as I -thought--sure proof of this, a little after, when I came upon an empty -cartridge-case. - -The most of us believe that we have latent abilities, little suspected -by our friends, that we are never called upon to use. I have heard it -said that the great Duke of Wellington thought little of himself as -soldier, but far too much of his reputation as a politician. And on -this occasion it was something pleasing to my vanity to play the part of -a detective, though I knew not the very alphabet of the business. I -examined the footmarks, and made quite sure that I had found the trail -of Joshua Trust, who wore, I knew, a pair of heavy boots with hobnails; -and the brass cartridge-case--which I have kept to this day as a -memento--had, I surmised, once been the property of Amos. So I went -down on hands and knees, groping in the half-light of the woods to see -what else I could discover. And whilst thus employed, I hit upon the -miracle that all but cost me life itself. - -I found a place beneath the rocks where there was a smooth stone slab, -fashioned plainly by the hand of man. And this rocked gently when I -pressed my weight upon it, which suggested that it had been moved quite -recently. - -In any case, both the shape and the size of the thing bewildered me, for -it was all the world like a tombstone. And one would not think to find -tombstones in the tropic wilderness beneath the Andes. - -I found the stone quite easy to lift, for it was thin as a plank, and -had a hole in the middle, through which I could place a hand. And then -I stood gazing into the cavity below. - -And as I gazed, I gasped. I drew back a little, with a quick catch of -the breath, and then came forward once again, to stand staring, like one -who is entirely daft, at what lay at my feet. - -For the round moon, of a surety, shone down into a tomb; and there -before me was a corpse--or what had been a corpse, four hundred years -ago. There lay a skeleton, white-boned and horrible--moreover, a -skeleton that was encased in armour. - -He who lay there before me in the moonlight had once been a man and a -soldier of old Spain; for his bony hands were crossed upon his chest and -held between them the handle of a naked sword. And at his head was a -steel helmet, and the trunk of his body was enclosed in a breastplate; -so that I could see naught but his grinning skull and the white bones of -his legs and arms. - -I stood and looked, and wondered. I wondered who he was, how he had -come there, and of the tales that he could tell, were life to return to -this bold adventurer of four hundred years ago. Though I do not fear -death more than most men, I dread even to this day to look upon the face -of it; and it took me time to gather my courage in both hands and to -light a fire by the graveside, that I might see the better and solve so -much of the mystery as I could. - -I have no proof--for we can seldom prove the past--but must weigh what -evidence there is. For all that, I am convinced--now that I have -thought and talked of it all to John Bannister and others--that I looked -then upon the remnants of one of the soldiers of the gallant Orellano. -I could not judge of the quality of the rusted steel of his breastplate -and his sword; but I should think that he had been an officer of some -distinction; since, on close inspection, I discovered that the long -blade had been damascened in silver, a metal that will never rust. And -that set my mind a-thinking of the great and gallant men who had been -the first to cross to the Pacific, to whom to-day--in spite of all their -bigotry and cruelty--the world owes so much. - -If one of Orellano's followers had lain buried in this place for all -this time, how nearly had the Spaniards come to finding the Greater -Treasure! I was not far, I knew, from the Big Fish, though I had -searched the Wood for days and never found it. And Orellano had crossed -the mountains to the west in search of El Dorado, and, having failed in -his purpose, had gone on down to the great river, and thence to the -Atlantic. And here lay one of his stout-hearted lieutenants, buried -like a Christian warrior, with the arms he had fought with, within a few -miles from where the Treasure lay. - -Wonder-struck, and not without great reverence, I put back the sword -between those bony hands, and then lifted the helmet to see if that, -too, could tell me anything concerning this tragedy of long ago. -Besides, I was curious to know how the man had met his death. Had he -been slain by a savage Indian? Or had he died of some fell, tropical -disease? And so I took the helmet in my hands; and when I did so, -something white fell out. - -I stooped and picked it up, and then examined it by the fire that I had -lighted. It was parchment--it was a fragment of a map--a piece torn -from the corner of a larger sheet. I looked at it and rubbed my eyes, -and looked again, to be sure that I was not dreaming. - -If I did not dream, then I was wholly mad. The thought came to me that -I had fallen into a fever, and now suffered one of those delusions which -are common enough when the heart is racing and the brow dry and burning. - -I felt my pulse and the skin upon my forearm, and found that I was wet -with sweat. Nor was I mad or dreaming, for I was Dick Treadgold, and my -home lay far away, upon the Sussex shore. And yet, that which I held in -my hand was the very fragment of John Bannister's map which I myself had -torn from the hands of Amos Baverstock--that same fragment which I had -thrust, to the full length of my arm, down a rabbit-hole, by Middleton, -for fear that it should fall into the possession of that scoundrel, -Joshua Trust. - -There can be no disputing the testimony of a torn piece of paper. There -is, I believe, a celebrated murder trial, quoted in books of law as an -example of irrefutable circumstantial evidence, wherein the murderer and -the murdered man are each found in possession of a torn piece of -newspaper, these two fragments fitting together line for line without a -letter missing. - -You will never tear a sheet of paper twice in precisely the same way, -though you try a million times. In this case, I had the evidence of my -eyes and of my memory. It was the very fragment I had snatched from the -hands of Amos; I remembered the shape of it; I remembered the shape also -of the torn edge of the map that Amos himself had carried into the -wilderness; and, above all, there were the letters "AHAZAXA," the -rending of the parchment having decapitated the name "Cahazaxa." - -At first sight, what could look more like a miracle? There was no -question of coincidence. Here were two facts that, normally, could in -no way be related to one another: a rabbit burrows a hole for himself -upon the sandhills by the English Channel, and in the sixteenth century -a brave Spanish soldier lays down his life, and is buried in the -wilderness of South America. It will be readily understood that it took -me time to realise what I could certainly not explain. - -How came that fragment there? And why? I regarded the stained and -yellow parchment that I held in my hand as I sat by the side of the -fire, and felt even a trifle afraid of it. I had heard stories of -mummies coming to life, of inanimate objects--such as jasper scarabaei, -totems, and wooden, heathen gods--becoming active agencies for good or -evil. Had this thing taken wings upon itself, and flown across half the -world? Fate or luck--call it what you will--had guided me to find it. -But why should a document so precious have sought a refuge in the rusted -helmet of a soldier of fortune, who once, perhaps, had clinked his sword -in the gay courts of Granada or the narrow streets of old Cadiz, who lay -now amid the silence of the tropic jungle--a few blanched and silly -bones? - -I had no answer for these questions of my own, though I sat long into -the night and racked my brains for a solution of the problem. It was, -in consequence, an hour, as I should guess, before I could look the bare -fact in the countenance, before I could acknowledge the situation as it -was. - -No matter how it came there, by means comprehensible or supernatural, -there it was. And then, quite suddenly, I realised what it was. _I had -as good as found the Treasure_. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI--I FIND THE "BIG FISH" - - -For a considerable time I had regarded this small piece of parchment in -the light of a mystery, a species of conjuring trick, just as one -regards the billiard-ball, the rabbit, or the eggs that a conjuror -produces from the upturned sleeve of his shirt. But now I saw quite -clearly that the thing had an intrinsic value, a significance of its -own; it bore a certain definite message--a message that most nearly -concerned myself. - -Eagerly, with hands that trembled somewhat, I studied the map. It will -be remembered that the portion which Amos possessed had been torn across -the place where was marked the Temple of Cahazaxa. Upon the fragment -that had come into my hands by so strange and mysterious a chance, I was -able to trace the route that I myself had taken from the temple ruins to -the Wood of the Red Fish. The ravine was shown, and that wonderful -suspension-bridge that had so amazed me when I saw it. From the hills to -the east--from the crestline of which I bad viewed the distant glory of -the Andes--a track was marked, leading towards the south; whereas I, in -hot haste at the time, had continued upon my way due westward. - -Now, this track was shown to lead to a certain stream that came forth -from the Wood of the Red Fish upon the south. And it was called the -Brook of Scarlet Pebbles, an Indian name being thus translated in red -ink in the handwriting of John Bannister. - -The map had been drawn to no scale. Like many ancient and mediaeval -documents, it was entirely without proportion or perspective. For -instance, the Wood itself--which was never more than fifteen miles -across--appeared to be of area equal to that vast tract of country that -lay between the great mountain to the north of the forest and the Temple -of Cahazaxa--a journey that had taken us many weeks. - -There was some sense in this; for in regard to the Wood of the Red Fish, -where the Treasure itself was hidden, it was necessary to be precise, if -the map were to be of any value. I saw that one must follow the Brook -of Scarlet Pebbles, until it entered a pool, where Bannister had written -the words: "Electric Eels." There, it appeared, the stream flowed -underground, for its course was dotted, and these dots ended at a cross, -bearing the words: "THE RED FISH IS HERE." - -This cross referred, as I could see at a glance, to certain marginal -notes, written in such minute handwriting that it was all that I could -do to read them, especially in view of the fact that Bannister's red ink -had faded. At last, however, I managed to make out the following -inscription: - - "_The tail of the Fish. A blow-pipe from the nose of the Fish. - Twenty yards across the Brook. Three feet, below the ground--a - Ring._" - -This I read to myself over and over again. At one moment I thought it -clear enough, and at the next, too vague. At all events, thought I, I -will find out when I get there, for thither I intended to go. - -I could not sleep that night, and I will not go so far as to say that I -tried to. I was so thrilled and mystified that my thoughts were running -riot; and surely there is little to wonder at in this. The bones of the -Spanish warrior lay in the ground beneath me, together with his armour -and his sword, for I had put back the tombstone in its place and covered -it again with a thin layer of soil. That brave adventurer slept in -tranquillity in the silent chamber of the heart of the tropic jungle. -He and the sword I have little doubt he had wielded with such subtlety -and skill were now alike at rest. His treasure-hunt, at least, was -ended; but mine was only just begun. - -For I was determined to set forward when the daylight came, to search -for the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles. If I found the margin of the Wood, -and followed this towards the south, I must sooner or later hit upon the -stream--if the map had any claim to accuracy. I could then follow the -brook, until eventually I found the Red Fish itself; and, if I could not -then associate any definite meaning with the queer, disjointed words in -the margin of the map, my own intelligence must alone be held to blame. - -One of the reasons why I could not sleep was that I had committed these -words to memory and kept repeating them to myself, just like a parrot, -without any idea as to their meaning. That they had a meaning I never -doubted, for John Bannister himself had written them; and though I was -now grown older and had had many strange adventures of my own, I had -still my ancient and profound respect for the wisdom of my hero. - -I thought of him that night, but more of Amos Baverstock, whom I -believed to be somewhere near at hand, upon the same quest as I. On -that account, I realised that I must make haste upon the morrow. I had -risked so much already, I had undergone so many hardships, that I was -determined--now that I thought myself within reach of my goal--to see -the business through. From the hills to the east I had looked down upon -the Wood, and knew that it was not three days' march from one side to -the other, though the undergrowth was thick and tangled; and therefore I -knew also that the Red Fish could not be far away. - -I think I slept a little in the early hours of the morning, to be -awakened by the birds stirring in the trees, and the daylight streaming -from above through that same gap by means of which my nightly task had -been illumined by the moon. I ate such food as I had left, and then set -forth towards the east, guiding my footsteps as well as I was able by -the light of the rising sun. - -I came, at about midday, to the eastern side of the Wood, and looked out -towards the hills whither I had journeyed from the plain. Thence, I -turned towards the south and, walking once again in open country, -progressed at a fair pace, and never once sat down to rest, until the -daylight waned. I went then into the Wood, and searched for berries -that I knew were fit to eat; and when I had eaten these, I lay down -beneath a great tree and immediately fell fast asleep. - -The following morning, I continued my journey along the margin of the -Wood. My naked body was now burned by the sun to the colour of an -Indian's skin. Indeed, I am not sure that I was not even darker of -complexion than the wild woodland people with whom I had lived. My hair -was long, like that of a savage, for it had not been cut for months. I -had a leather girdle over a shoulder from which depended an Indian -quiver filled with darts. And there was something of the joy of life -within me, as I swung upon my way. I had health, at least, if I wore no -clothes upon my back. I felt convinced that my footsteps were leading -me to the hidden Treasure of the Incas; and I tossed my blow-pipe in the -air and caught it, time and again. - -The joy of life was in me, and the spirit of adventure. The sun shone -down upon me, and I breathed deeply of the open air; for the wind was -from the east, and the rank smell of decaying vegetation--so general -throughout the Wood--was no longer in my nostrils. - -And, presently, I came upon the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles. The water was -clear as crystal, and I went down upon my knees to drink my fill, for I -was thirsty. There was no question that I had found the stream for -which I had been searching, since the water flowed over a bed of little -rounded stones, every one of which was in colouring some tone or tint of -red. They ranged from pink to crimson; and they were all of granite, -though worn as smooth as marbles. - -Here was the brook that I must follow; so I turned into the Wood again, -and all that day followed the course of the stream, which winded and -twisted in so many directions that I wondered I had never seen it -before. - -That afternoon, being hungry for the taste of meat, I killed with my -blow-pipe a great bird that I found sitting on a branch, blinking like -an owl. I think he was some kind of bustard. At any rate, he was good -to eat, when roasted, and I sat long by my camp-fire, picking his bones -with my fingers. Then I pulled out my fragment of the map and looked at -it. - -It was manifest that I was not yet come to that part of the brook where -its course was marked by means of little dots; but, knowing the full -extent of the Wood, I had a good reason to suppose that I was not far -from my destination. And then I read again the queer marginal -instructions: _The tail of the Fish_--I must see that for myself; _a -blow-pipe from the nose of the Fish_--whatever that might mean, at all -events I had a blow-pipe, and a good one, too. As for the rest, I gave -it up. It was a riddle that I would solve when I got there--I felt -quite sure of that. I folded up the map and placed it in my quiver, the -nearest thing to a pocket that I possessed. - -And the next day I continued on my way, following the course of the -Brook of Scarlet Pebbles. I noticed that these pebbles were now larger -than before, and were so deep red in the shadow under the trees that the -clear water had the look of blood. Then I came to the pool, and thought -at first that the brook was come to an end. - -There were no pebbles here, but mud; and in my eagerness I waded in, to -be made at once painfully conscious of a tingling sensation in my legs. -Now and again something touched me--something quick and slimy; and each -time I received a shock. I had forgotten, for the moment, all about the -electric eels; but, when I remembered it, I was more pleased than -startled, for I knew that, so far, I was on the right track and that the -map could be relied upon. - -All about the pool was dense and tangled underwood, the branches of -which dipped here and there into the water. And there were also water -plants, some with flat, floating leaves, others tall reeds with -plume-like heads. - -I knew that this pool was not the termination of the brook; and yet, -though I searched for a long time, I could find no continuation of the -stream, until an idea occurred to me which at once solved the problem. I -plucked the little down-like feathers from one of my blow-pipe darts. -And these, at intervals of a few yards, I dropped upon the surface of -the water, all around the bank of the pool, until I found the stream -itself, flowing through a dense clump of thickets. - -Through this I broke my way, and as I did so, I remembered the anaconda, -and was filled with my old fear of snakes. It was plain already that my -surmise had been wrong. The brook did not flow underground, but, for -about a hundred yards or so, through a dark and narrow tunnel, formed of -low-growing creepers. - -So dense were these that I was obliged to break my way, almost every -inch; and, though my skin was now near as hard as leather, I was -scratched so badly by the thorn-trees that I was bleeding from a score -of places upon my chest and shoulders, when I came forth once more into -the half-light of the woods. - -I could not see at first, for my eyes had grown accustomed to the -darkness, and I found myself in an open glade, where the trees were thin -and the rays of the sun no more than broken by the leaves above me. - -Then I looked, and I saw the brook before me, here flowing straight upon -a rocky bed. Indeed, there were rocks everywhere, with rich soil -between them, in which were growing many strange and beautiful plants. -It was a natural rock-garden, far more wonderful to see than any yet -designed by man. The rocks were of dark-red granite, and the flowers -there in bloom were all the colours of the rainbow. But I looked not -once at them. I gazed, like one hypnotised, upon a great stone to my -right; for I had seen at once that this stone was the very shape and -image of a fish. - -How it stood there I cannot say, for, like the famous toadstone at -Tunbridge Wells, which I myself had seen when my mother took me there in -childhood, it looked as if it would topple over. For the fish, as -fishes are, was big in the head and narrow in the tail; and he stood -forth from the ground at an angle of about sixty degrees, and his mouth -was open, and there was a hole--on my side, at any rate--near where his -eye should be. - -The more I looked at it, the more wonderful I thought it. It might have -been graven by the hand of man, and cleverly at that; save that this -fish was devoid of fins, and the semblance, as I afterwards discovered, -was not so striking from any other point of view. - -Stepping from the water, I scrambled over the rocks, where I sat me -down, and heaved a great sigh, which I do not pretend to be able to -explain. Relief, joy, victory--all were mixed up in it, I do not doubt. -Here was I, at the end of all my travels; I had reached the conclusion -of my journey. The Big Fish was there. - -[Illustration: "I HAD REACHED THE CONCLUSION OF MY JOURNEY. THE BIG -FISH WAS THERE."] - -To achieve anything is a conquest, great or small. I had sojourned in -the wilderness, it seemed, for years; I had stood in constant peril of -my life; I had journeyed in company of cut-throats; I had lived with -savage men; I had seen something of the glories of old Peru, the Temple -of Cahazaxa; I had marched for days and days alone, naked and carrying -my Indian blow-pipe in my hand. And there was the Big Fish--the very -sign-post, as one might call it, to the Greater Treasure of the Incas. - -And as these thoughts jangled in my brain, a shot rang out--how far away -I could not tell, but somewhere in the Wood. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII--THE GREATER TREASURE - - -I held my breath and listened, thinking that I would hear other shots, -as I had done before. But no sound came to break the stillness. Save -for the birds among the tops of the trees, and a big, solitary monkey -that swung himself from branch to branch, chattering as he went, I was -surrounded by the silence of the woods. - -It was no news to me that I stood in the gravest peril. Such had been -the case for many a day; and--as I have said--I had come to look upon -life as of little worth. Amos I knew to be somewhere in the -neighbourhood; and I knew also that if he found me it would go ill with -me; I should not live for long if I fell again into that great villain's -clutches. - -And yet I did no more than shrug my shoulders. I had sublime faith in -myself, in my youth, and the Divine Providence that, so far, had kept me -from the way of harm. I had my blow-pipe, too; and, if the worst should -happen, I could use it well enough to drive one of my feathered arrows -straight into the heart of Amos Baverstock. - -One learns, in the everlasting twilight of the woods, where danger lurks -on every hand, to live for the moment only, to let the future look after -itself. And so did I now; for Amos was no more to me than the jaguar -and the anaconda--brutes of prey, all three of them, and the mortal man -the vilest. Death in many forms and shapes was all about me--sharp -fangs, the serpent's coils, poison, and disease. There was no need to -scent from afar such dangers as might never come my way. - -And so, once again, I turned my thoughts to the Red Fish, standing forth -before me in the sunlight--a quaint and humorous-looking thing, had I -been able for a moment to forget its wonderful significance. - -I sat and looked at it; it may have been for half an hour, or even more. -And my memory took me back to that sunny August morning by the Sussex -shore, where I had first heard Amos speak of the Greater Treasure of the -Incas; and I remembered, word for word, what he had said: "Gold! It is -there knee-deep in a cavern, large as a cathedral." And here was I, Dick -Treadgold, in the very place myself, after a series of most strange and -unbelievable adventures, thousands of miles from Sussex. My very name, -I thought, was to prove a kind of analogue with my destiny and actions; -for I was fated, so it seemed, to tread on gold. - -And at that, I pulled out my fragment of the map, and looked at it, -reading again and again the passage that had puzzled me so often: - - "_The tail of the Fish. A blow-pipe from the nose of the Fish. - Twenty yards across the Brook. Three feet, below the ground--a - Ring._" - -There, sure enough, was the tail of the Fish--or, at least, the upper -part of it, a sharp spur of rock protruding from the ground. I got to -my feet and approached, taking my blow-pipe with me. - -"_A blow-pipe from the nose of the Fish._" That clause had always -puzzled me. It seemed possible that I should use my blow-pipe as a kind -of measuring-rod; but I could not think in what direction I should place -it. Besides, the nose of the Fish was at least six feet from the -ground. And then I observed for the first time what I had not perceived -before; namely, that the body of the Fish was curved; and it was this -that gave me the very clue I wanted. What if I were to use the -blow-pipe as a plumb-line? - -At all events, I would try. So I drove the blow-pipe into the soft -ground, as near the perpendicular as I could judge, in such a manner -that it just touched the tip of the Fish's nose. - -I read my instructions again--though I already knew them by heart, and -tried to guess their meaning. I crossed the brook, which in that place -was very shallow, the water reaching little above my ankles; and no -sooner did I find myself upon the other side than I observed that my -wooden blow-pipe and the sharp, upright spur of rock that formed the -Fish's tail were in the same alignment. - -"_Twenty yards across the Brook_" could have but a single meaning. Since -the Red Fish itself was not that distance from the water, twenty yards -must be measured upon the other side; and this I at once resolved to do. - -I already had an imaginary line, extending an indefinite distance. If I -held to this line--or if, in other words, I kept my blow-pipe -immediately between myself and the Fish's tail--I could not go far wrong -by stepping the prescribed twenty yards from the margin of the brook. - -This I did, and, to verify my position, looked to see that I still had -my two fixed points in line with one another. I had verged a little to -the left, but soon put this right by taking a short pace in the other -direction. And then I repeated to myself the last sentence of my -instructions: "_Three feet, below the ground--a Ring_." - -Down I went upon all-fours, and began to scrape up the earth in my -hands. For the soil was soft, though now and again I hit upon a rock, -which, without great difficulty, I loosened with my knife, to cast aside -and continue with my work. - -It was nightfall by the time that I had gained a depth of three feet or -more; but, by then, I had come upon a great, smooth slab of stone; and -this discovery set my heart so wildly beating that I was obliged to -leave my task and rest awhile, drinking deeply of the water of the -brook. - -In the moonlight I laboured still, and a slow business it was, -displacing the earth a handful at a time, and scratching with the Indian -knife that Atupo, the priest, had given me. I was hot and weary, and my -finger-tips were painful; and yet I could not desist, but worked on till -midnight, to be at last rewarded. I came across a metal ring, fastened -to the slab, about eight inches in diameter. And when I had washed the -earth away, bringing water in my quiver from the brook, I discovered -that this ring was made of gold. - -I tugged at it and pulled with all my might, but could not move the -stone an inch; so back I went to my work again, grubbing with my hands, -for all the world like a dog that smells a rat. Sheer fatigue at length -quite overcame me, and I was obliged to lie down and rest, and fell -sound asleep, though I had intended no such thing. - -I awoke suddenly, at the first sign of daybreak, and went to the great -hole I had made in the ground, and wondered at myself that I had done so -much. The stone slab, I saw, was almost clear of earth. - -In less than an hour the great slab was free. I cut round the edges of -it with my knife, to loosen it, and then looked down upon my work, to -see how I might approach the conclusion of my task with the greatest -prospect of success. - -The stone slab was about three feet wide and twice as long. And the -gold ring, I could not fail to notice, was much nearer one end than the -other. As the handle is never to be found in the middle of a door, this -seemed to suggest that the slab opened upon hinges. It remained to be -seen, however, whether or not I had the strength to lift it. - -I tried more than once, and failed, though I moved the stone an inch or -so. Finally, I went into the Wood and cut a length of liana, one end of -which I tied to the golden ring. And then I tugged with all my might; -and the stone slab uprose like a derrick on a ship, attained a vertical -position, and there remained stationary and upright. - -I stepped to the hole and looked down upon a narrow flight of steps all -covered with the earth that had fallen from above. Down these I -hastened, presently to find myself in utter darkness, so that there was -nothing for it but for me to return and look about me for some means of -making a torch. - -I was now as skilled as any forest Indian in the art of making fire. For -months I had journeyed without matches, tinder-box or magnifying-glass. -I knew where to find touch-wood in the forest, and could strike sparks -from pieces of flint. For an hour I laboured in the making of a torch, -which I constructed of touchwood bound about by reeds. And whilst I was -thus employed I realised for the first time how hungry I was--for I had -eaten nothing for twenty-four hours, though I had consumed great -quantities of water. - -And now I did a strange thing, in view of the fact that I have always -been somewhat impetuous by nature and was then but a boy in years. -Though I was actually trembling with excitement, all eagerness to behold -the interior of the vault that I knew to be at the foot of the steps, I -went deliberately into the jungle in search of food. - -Finding no living thing that I could kill but monkeys, I was obliged to -content myself with wild nuts and berries; and then I returned to the -Red Fish, drank again from the brook, took up my torch and lit it from -the fire that I had kindled. And then down I went into the vault, to -feast my eyes upon the buried Treasure of the Incas. - -The stairway was at first so shallow that I must stoop as I descended; -but presently I found myself in a little chamber, hollowed out of the -living rock, the walls of which were of the same red granite as the -strange stone above. And weird and almost magic did the whole place -look in the light of my burning torch. - -For the very walls sparkled as with diamonds. Everywhere were little -grains of felspar, mica, or quartz, which caught the reflection of the -light. And when I looked upon the floor I saw that Amos had been right. -I trod upon bars of gold, all of the same length and size, and laid with -such regularity and neatness that they might have been the palings of a -fence--or many fences--spread flat upon the ground. - -How deep these ingots went I could not say, and was not then disposed to -inquire, for my attention was attracted by an arched opening, like the -doorway of a church, on the other side of the room. Through this I -passed, and found myself at the head of another flight of stone steps, -much broader and wider than the others--a gigantic stairway that -descended into the middle of a chamber so vast that my torch did no more -than throw a kind of halo all around me. - -I rushed down these steps with a loud, glad cry, and below I hastened -like a madman, here and there, passing along the walls, crossing at -random that wide, gloomy subterranean room. - -Everywhere was gold, stacked upon the floor, piled against the walls. I -saw golden chalices and cups, bracelets, rings and girdles; great jugs -of gold and golden basins, besides bars and ingots that one might have -counted by the thousand. - -I know not why it was, but the very sight of it made me dizzy, as I -staggered blindly about that wondrous place. At times I slipped and -stumbled, and at other times I fell between those glittering stacks, to -find myself--as Amos Baverstock had said in my hearing--knee-deep in the -very stuff that has made the world as wicked as it is. - -And then, at last, I sat down upon I know not what, save that it was -gold. The very sight that I had seen had exhausted me far more than all -my travels and privations. I felt sick at heart and weary. I looked -about me with tired and dreamy eyes. - -It seemed to me strange--now that I had beheld this wonder--that I had -endured so much for sake of it. How had it come to pass that men prized -so highly what after all is no more than yellow metal? Here was enough -of it, in very truth, to serve the needs of a nation; and here it had -lain for four hundred years--and the world was none the worse. How -little of this vast treasure would be enough for me, or even Amos -Baverstock, in spite of all his greed! - -It frightened me--and that is the truth of it. I could not think what I -should do if all this precious wealth were mine. And then I wondered if -I had any right to call it mine just because it was mine for the moment -to gaze upon, to regard in breathless bewilderment and fear. - -You may behold that which you never own, as you may own that which you -never see. Boy though I was, so much was clear to me as daylight. Nor -had I any reason to suppose that I was the first to look upon this -marvel, since the fugitives from Cuzco, centuries ago, had carried it -across the mountains to hide it in this secret place. John Bannister -himself, perhaps, had looked upon it, though he had never told me so. If -it belonged to any living man, all this wealth was his. - -I felt by now as if I were about to faint; and besides, my torch was -burning low. And therefore I got unsteadily upon my feet and walked -into the little outer room, and thence ascended the steps in the broad -light of day. And there I stood breathing deeply, with my eyes closed -and my mouth parched as if by thirst. - -On a sudden I cast my burning torch into the brook before me, and fell -upon my knees and prayed to God. I prayed aloud, as if the living trees -and running water and the red stones about me could all hear my prayer. -And it was the Lord's Prayer that I had learned at my mother's knee; -for, boy though I was, I felt that which I had looked upon was the very -pith and kernel of all temptation to which, since Eden, humanity was -heir. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII--I FALL IN WITH A FRIEND - - -I sat for many hours that morning, idle and oppressed by a feeling as of -emptiness. What use to me was all the wealth that I had seen--or, for -the matter of that, to any one? I had no means at my disposal to take a -millionth part of it away. - -And then I remembered Amos, and thought it my duty to take what steps I -could to see that that dread man should never solve the riddle of the -Red Fish, though it was unlikely he would find the place without the aid -of my fragment of the map. - -The sight of all that gold had, as it were, unnerved me--filled me with -a kind of weariness of life. I cannot say exactly how it was, but I -know that I had lost, on a sudden, all my energy and enthusiasm; and it -was late in the afternoon before I bestirred myself and got to work. - -I lowered the great slab and covered it with earth, which I trampled -down with my bare feet. Then I went into the woods and dug up plants -with my Indian knife, and these I stuck in the ground so that I made a -little garden. One shower of tropic rain and they would take root and -grow, and thus hide all trace of how the soil had been disturbed. And -looking up at the sky, where it was visible here and there between the -branches of the trees above me, I saw that such a shower was coming. - -The rain fell that evening, when I was camped once more in the woods -towards the east, having gone back the way that I had come, following -the course of the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles. I took shelter from the -rain beneath a tree, the great leaves of which formed a veritable roof -above me, so that not one drop of water fell upon the fire that I had -kindled. - -I ate my simple meal, and then lay down, not to sleep, but to think and -to listen to the rain, beating with a noise like many drums upon the -leaves. - -Well, I had seen the Treasure of the Incas. With my own eyes I had -beheld it. And I asked myself if I were any the better for it, and -could not see that I was. For gold is mud, and part of man is mud; and -yet there is a great God who is above, around and within us all. And -that night, as I lay awake in the woods, listening to the drumming of -the rain, I tried to think out such problems as man has not yet begun to -understand--problems that, perhaps, he may never solve on this side of -the grave. - -No doubt, the constant propinquity of danger had made me serious for my -years. I had lived for many months in the wilderness, and my pulse now -beat in rhythm with the earth. The forest, the majestic mountains I had -seen at sunrise, the sky of stars above the plain--all these were -mysteries to me, wondrous and eternal. But there was neither eternity -nor mystery in the work of man; in gold, in the rusted sword of -Orellano's soldier, or Cahazaxa's Temple. - -I saw quite clearly now that this hidden treasure was no affair of mine. -I had lived happily for months as Nature meant me to, and the sum total -of my wealth had been my blow-pipe and the knife that Atupo, the priest, -had given me. I now understood--far better than I had done at the -time--all John Bannister had told me of his dread of cities and of -people. I, too, would like to live my life far from the abodes of men, -with the little shy things as my friends, in the chamber of the Wild. -For the very sight of the Treasure of Kings had frightened me. Four -hundred years it had lain there, beneath the ground, like a great, -harmful dragon; and it seemed to me that to let this monster loose upon -the world would be a bold thing to do--to saddle my conscience with a -load of responsibility such as I was never strong enough to bear. I -wished now that I was not one of the few who had solved this precious -riddle. - -And yet I was not sure of anything, for the gold tempted me sorely. I -was tempted more than I can say. If I had now learned to understand -something of John Bannister's ideals, I saw also, with alarming clarity, -the motives that swayed the deeds of Amos Baverstock. Gold to him was a -living force, the origin of all his strength and evil, the prompter of -his actions. Once or twice that night was I tempted to return to the -Red Fish that I might feast my eyes again upon the Treasure. - -I told myself that I had not seen enough of it. I was like a drunkard -who had tasted wine. I wondered what worth it had in coinage that I -knew, and I set to thinking how I would spend so vast a sum. - -But these were thoughts only of the night-time, in the darkness and the -silence of the woods. I fell asleep at last, sick at heart and -wretched; but dawning day came to me with comfort, and I continued on my -journey with new hopes and prospects. - -The dragon was behind my back, buried once again. For all I cared, it -might lie there for ever, untouched by mortal hand, unseen by mortal -eye, to be smothered in the dust of endless ages. - -As for myself, when I came forth from the undergrowth of the wood into -the warm light of the evening sun, I turned to the south, and continued -on my way until long after dark. I had made up my mind, and that was -something; I would pass round the Wood of the Red Fish, and journey -westward towards the great mountains. These I would cross, and come -down upon the tableland beyond, where I knew that I would find men who -were as civilised as I. Thence, as best I could, I must find my way -back to England. I had little doubt that I might be able to work a -passage for myself on board a ship that sailed from Callao or Guayaquil. - -But I was a fool to think my adventures so nearly at an end. My destiny -was no more in my own hands than that of a withered leaf, carried here -and there by the wind. - -I found the western side of the Wood to be very different from the -other. It was a country broken up by rocky spurs that descended from -the foothills just above me; and the ravines or little valleys that lay -between these spurs were densely choked with undergrowth, similar in all -respects to the thickets in the wood. - -It was no easy travelling, and yet there was no other road for me to -take, for to the north lay the big morass that I had observed from the -hill-top on the morning when I first looked down upon the Wood. - -So I made my way along the crestline of a rocky ridge, setting forth -upon my journey to the Andes early in the morning with the whole day -before me. Though the rays of the sun were powerful, the day was cool, -for a soft breeze was blowing from the mountains. I had not yet -breakfasted, since I thought it likely that in this more open country I -might kill with my blow-pipe some animal that was good to eat; and, -therefore, as I marched upon the way, I kept my eyes open, looking into -the ravines on either side of me, to see if I could catch a glimpse of -any living thing. And I had not gone far before--to my bewilderment--I -set eyes upon the solitary figure of _a man_. - -I dropped, on the instant, flat upon my face--for I was now a savage in -more ways than one. I had all the instincts of the wild man who knows -that danger may lurk behind every tree and shrub and rock. I lay upon -the ground, still as a lizard, with my eyes upon the stranger. And the -more I looked at him the more I wondered. - -The Forest Indians were small in stature, as I have observed in the -proper place. But this man was six feet in height. He was as brown as -I; and yet he wore clothes--clothes which were all in rags and tatters, -and a pair of boots, split open at the toe-caps and bound with string -about his ankles. Moreover, he carried in his hand a rifle; and this -rifle he used as a staff, placing the butt upon the ground and leaning -with his whole weight upon it as he limped slowly and painfully upon his -way down the ravine immediately beneath me. - -I have said that I had the instincts of a wild man. I was cautious, shy -and cunning. I had learned to trust no one, to be suspicious of every -one. And so I lay and watched him. - -It occurred to me, by degrees, that I had seen him before. I could not -for the life of me remember where. Then he sat down, with his face -toward me. - -He had a rough, weather-beaten, and yet a kindly, face. He had -steel-grey eyes, and a rough, tangled beard. He was so close to me that -I could see that his bare arms were tattooed; and it was this, perhaps, -that gave me the clue I wanted. I looked at his beard again, and, -unkempt as it was, it reminded me somehow of the beard of a Russian -Czar. This man was William Rushby. - -I was not sure of it at first. He was greatly changed from the honest -sailor who had befriended me on board the _Mary Greenfield_. But when -my mind was made up, and I was well-nigh carried away by mingled -feelings of astonishment and gladness, I got to my feet and went towards -him with my blow-pipe in my hand. - -Without any ado, he whipped the butt of his rifle into the hollow of his -shoulder, and I saw the sights were directed straight upon my heart. - -"Hands up!" he cried to me in English. "Hands up, you brown barbarian, -or else I shoot you dead!" - -[Illustration: "'HANDS UP!' HE CRIED. 'HANDS UP, YOU BROWN BARBARIAN, -OR ELSE I SHOOT YOU DEAD!'"] - -I grasped the truth in an instant; and it is well I did, for I have -little doubt that he would have shot me where I stood. If William -Rushby had changed in personal appearance since last we met, of a -certainty I myself had changed still more. He took me for a wild man of -the woods, though he yelled at me in English, and would have killed me -out of hand, had I not lifted my arms and answered him, and laughed. - -"Rushby!" I cried. "Do you not know me? It is I--Dick Treadgold." - -He brought down his rifle, and stared at me like one who sees a ghost. - -"Dick!" said he, and then came forward, holding out his great hand, into -which I placed my own. - -And there we stood, and shook hands with one another, as though we had -met at Charing Cross. And he was near as naked as I, and we were both -so burned by the sun that the whites of our eyes were almost comical, -and our hair was long like that of gipsies, and the skin upon our legs -and arms had been scratched in scores of places by the thorn-trees in -the forest. - -"Dick!" he cried again. "I can see it now, though I would never have -believed it." - -"It is I who am asked to believe the most," said I. "How came you here, -of all people in the world?" - -"There's a yarn at the back of that," said he. "But, first, you must -tell me how you escaped from Amos." - -He seated himself, as he spoke, upon a boulder that lay in the ravine; -and when he moved I was reminded of a fact I had perceived -already--Rushby was badly wounded and lame of a leg. - -For all that, I saw that he would glean little in the way of information -if we did nothing but ask one another questions; so I mastered my own -curiosity, and replied to him. - -"Why," I told him, "Amos tied me to a tree, and left me in the -wilderness to starve. And then I fell into the hands of savage men, to -whom I shall be ever grateful. From their dwellings in the forest I -journeyed alone to Cahazaxa's Temple, and thence across the plain to the -Wood of the Red Fish, where I find an old friend, and still believe that -I am dreaming. It is months now since I last set eyes upon a white man, -and that was Amos Baverstock himself." - -"Months!" cried Rushby in amazement. "You've not seen Baverstock--for -months!" - -He looked at me as if he thought that I was lying. I was at a loss to -know what he was driving at, though I assured him that I spoke the -truth. - -"Months!" he repeated, holding his head between his hands, as if his -puzzled brains were paining him. "But we were told, two days ago, that -Amos held you prisoner." - -"Who told you?" I demanded. - -I was now as surprised as he, and even more astonished when I heard his -answer. - -"Baverstock himself," said Rushby. - -"Amos!" I exclaimed. "You have seen him, then?" - -"He lied to me!" cried Rushby, driving his clenched fist into the palm -of a hand. "He lied to me! And Bannister was right." - -"Bannister!" I echoed. - -But Rushby, rocking his shoulders from side to side like a man who -suffers anguish, stamped a foot upon the ground. - -"Oh, but I have done a fool's thing!" he cried. "I have been fooled, -and I have sent John Bannister to death!" - -I stood before him, speechless, gasping. Though I could make neither -head nor tail of what he had told me, I could see with my eyes that the -man was suffering torture in his soul. If Bannister was in danger, if -it was possible to save anything from the fire, it was I myself--and I -alone--who was capable of action, since Rushby was dead lame. And yet I -must first know the truth of the matter, for I was wholly in the dark. - -I went to Rushby and laid a hand upon his shoulder. - -"Come, tell me what it all means," said I. "Tell me your story from the -first." - -He looked up at me, and then for the first time smiled--a sad smile, -none the less. - -"Sit down," he answered, in a calmer voice. "I will tell you all from -the beginning, as quickly as I can." - - - - -CHAPTER XIX--THE BOATSWAIN TELLS HIS STORY - - -This that follows is the story that was told to me by William Rushby, -sometime boatswain of the _Mary Greenfield_, as we sat together side by -side in the ravine, the while John Bannister had gone forth alone in -peril of his life. - -To begin with, he reminded me of that evening when he had spoken to me -through the porthole on the ship, when I was held a prisoner in the -cabin that I shared with Amos Baverstock. After that--it will be -remembered--I never saw him again; for when the ship arrived at Caracas, -I was transported by night to the hills beyond the town. - -As for Rushby, he fell in with a friend--and that is the best of being a -sailor, who is never at a loss for a handshake and a word of greeting in -every port in all the world. For the boatswain, when the ship was -alongside the wharf, had seized the opportunity to desert, and lay in -hiding in the town, until news was brought him that Amos and his party -had set forth across the mountains. He then worked his way to Rio, and -a month later turned up in Southampton, where by the merest chance he -found John Bannister, about to set forth in quest of me across the -Western Ocean. - -The boatswain told Bannister all he knew, and together they searched in -the warren for the rabbit-hole in which I had hidden my fragment of the -map. This they found at last, not much the worse for wear; and having -set my mother's fears at rest, so far as they were able, they started -forth together for the port of Colon; for Bannister, knowing whither -Amos Baverstock was bound, deemed that the shortest route. - -From Colon they crossed the Isthmus to Panama, and thence sailed--as -Pizarro himself had done--down the coast to Guayaquil, the port of -Equador. From this place they journeyed inland, passed the great height -of Chimborazo, the summit of the Andes, and thence eastward, a march of -many weeks, into the Wild Region of the Woods. - -Bannister realised from the first that his task was well-nigh -impossible. He might as well hope to find me in the forest as a needle -in a haystack; and so, knowing where the treasure was, he went straight -to the Wood of the Red Fish, there to await the arrival of Amos and the -others. - -He had started some months after us, but he had taken the shorter route -and had been delayed by nothing. For all that, he arrived in the -neighbourhood of the Red Fish some weeks after Amos; for he and Rushby -heard nothing of the fight which took place when Atupo laid his ambush -and Forsyth was so badly wounded. - -Amos--as we know--returned across the plain to wreak his vengeance upon -the Peruvian priests in the Temple of Cahazaxa. Then the man's greed of -gold drew him westward once again to search for the Big Fish, as the -natives called the treasure. - -It was then that Vasco, the Spaniard, struck by the merest chance the -trail of John Bannister and Rushby. A fight took place between them, -and those were the shots which I myself had heard, one of which had -sorely wounded the boatswain in the leg. - -John Bannister had saved his comrade's life. William Rushby was a big -man, broadly made and heavy; but Bannister had whipped him up as though -he were a child and carried him all night throughout the jungle, with -the result that Amos, for the time being, lost all trace of them, though -he was searching in all directions in the Wood. - -It is a wonder, indeed, and something to be thankful for, that Amos and -his friends never stumbled across myself, whilst I was wandering about -with my blow-pipe and my arrows in search of the Red Fish, not knowing -where to look. For I was not then in possession of the map, of which I -have now to tell, and how it was that I found it in so singular a place. - -Rushby was a wounded man and weak from loss of blood, and now Bannister -himself--great as was his strength--being overcome by his exertions, -fell into a raging fever. Knowing the Wood of old, he had carried -Rushby to the place of the Tomb of Orellano's soldier; and whilst in -hiding there he became so ill that for three days he raved, delirious. -And he had no one but a wounded man to tend him. - -They had no food, and were without means of getting any; for the -boatswain could not walk a dozen yards, but from time to time must drag -himself on all-fours to the stream to fetch his companion water to -drink. - -Rushby, left to his own resources, and suffering the greatest pain, had -little doubt that they were lost. Look at the affair which way he -might, he could see no way out of their difficulties; they must either -be found by Baverstock or else starve to death. For himself, he cared -not which way it ended; but upon one thing he was determined--the -fragment of the map which they had brought with them from my rabbit-hole -in Sussex should never fall into the hands of Amos Baverstock. - -And so it was William Rushby himself who opened the tomb, and hid the -map in the helmet of the Spanish soldier. And that was how I found it, -a few days afterwards; for the earth had been disturbed and trampled -underfoot. - -The night after that, when John Bannister was a little recovered of his -fever, though still terribly weak, they heard the report of a shot-gun, -fired not far from where they were; and Rushby, realising that Amos was -still upon their track, made the supreme effort of his life, hoping -thereby to save both Bannister and himself. - -It was the old case of the blind leading the blind; for the one was so -weak that he tottered when he walked, and the other was lame of a leg, -with an open, septic wound that would not heal. But together, with -their arms around each other, they made good their escape, only to be -caught later in the great morass that lay upon the northern side of the -Wood, and being at the end of their resources and well-nigh starved to -death, they had no option but to surrender and without condition. - -There is no question Amos would have killed John Bannister then and -there had it not been for one potent circumstance: Bannister knew the -secret of the Big Fish. Both Baverstock and Trust regarded my friend as -their arch-enemy, who had foiled them more than once; and Rushby told me -of the look of unutterable hatred that was stamped upon every evil -feature of the face of Amos whenever he looked at Bannister--which he -did, by the same token, no more often than he had to, since it was plain -to see that he found it hard to meet the eyes of one stronger than -himself both in mind and body, and a thousand times more honest. - -And here, in his narrative, the boatswain became, on a sudden, wildly -excited, and pointed to a palm-tree that stood not far away from where -we both were seated, about a hundred yards down the ravine. - -"You see that tree?" he cried; and I nodded in reply. "Well, then," -Rushby continued, "the villain bound Bannister to that--bound him hand -and foot, and stood before him with a loaded rifle in his hands. He -cursed him; he threatened and blasphemed. He said that if Bannister -would not tell him where the treasure was, he would shoot him on the -spot. But he might as well have tried to frighten those white bones in -the tomb where I myself had hid the map." - -William Rushby paused, and ran his fingers through his beard. I never -saw a man who looked more miserable than he. And yet, so foolish was I, -indeed, that I did naught but ask him silly questions, when time was of -as much account as the life of the most heroic man that ever lived. - -"And Bannister would not speak?" said I. - -"Speak!" the boatswain cried. "Speak he did, and to the point. He told -Baverstock to shoot." - -He was silent for a moment, and sat looking at the open wound in his -leg. - -"I never saw any one more angry," he continued, "and I have served in my -day under many men of the same stamp as James Dagg, if not so bad as he. -All that night I lay awake, dead sure that Baverstock would murder -Bannister, if on the following morning he still refused to speak." - -"And you were camped in this ravine?" I asked. - -"In this same place," said Rushby; "for I have not moved since a hundred -yards." - -"And where are the others?" I asked. - -"Listen!" said the boatswain. "I can do no more than spin a yarn from -the beginning. I am coming to what you want to know. Baverstock, his -threats having failed with Bannister, played his trump-card upon me, and -won the trick. Leaving Bannister still weak from fever, bound hand and -foot, he came to me by night and talked in whispers. He told me that he -held you a prisoner, and, like a fool, I believed him. He said that if -he did not learn the truth in regard to the exact position of the Big -Fish he would put not only Bannister and myself to death, but also you, -whose life he had purposely preserved throughout all these months." - -"He lied!" I interrupted. - -"I know he did," said Rushby. "But I swallowed all those lies as a -shark takes a baited hook. I was neither strong nor wise like -Bannister. For my own life I cared not greatly, but I was loth to -behold John Bannister put to death, and I knew how much he cared for -you, and how he would grieve if you were to die through any fault of -mine. And thus it was that I told Amos Baverstock the truth. I told -him that we had brought with us from Sussex your little fragment of the -map; and I told him that I had hidden it within the helmet in the Tomb -of the Spanish soldier. - -"He said no more to me that night, but posted Vasco, the Spaniard, as a -sentry, with orders to see that Bannister and I did not communicate. And -at daybreak the next morning, in the utmost haste, he and his three -companions went back into the Wood to find the map in the Spaniard's -Tomb, and thence to discover the Red Fish itself, where the gold of Peru -is hidden." - -When I heard that, I burst into loud laughter. Rushby looked at me, -surprised, and asked me why I laughed. - -"He will never find it," I cried. "He will never find the map! For it -is no longer in the Tomb." - -"Not in the Tomb!" he burst forth. "Then, where is it? And how do you -know where it is?" - -"Because it is here," said I. And as I said the words, I pulled forth -the little piece of parchment from the quiver in which I kept my -blow-pipe arrows. - -Rushby looked at it, recognised it at once, and sat staring at me, as -if, on a sudden, he had been bereft of his senses. - -"How did you get this?" he blurted out. - -I told him in a few words how I had found it. - -"Merciful powers!" he groaned. "What have I done? Bannister is on a -wild-goose chase after all!" - -He again carried his hands to his head, and sat rocking from side to -side, as he had done before. I got to my feet, and shook him violently; -for--though as yet I understood no more than half the matter--I saw that -there had been some great mistake that was like to cost us dearly. - -"What is it?" I cried. "Tell me the truth! Even now, it may not be too -late to make amends. Tell me what has happened." - -He looked up at me with a sad face. I am inclined to think that there -were even teardrops in his eyes. - -"When Baverstock and those with him were gone," said he; "when they were -returned to the Wood and lost to view, I picked up my jack-knife, and -limped to the tree, where I cut Bannister's bonds. You must understand -that Amos departed that morning in such hot haste that he left behind -our knives and rifles, as well as much of his own equipment. However, -that is neither here nor there. I was obliged to tell Bannister the -truth; and, no sooner had I done so, than he made me realise what a -simpleton I was. - -"He told me that I had been a fool to hide the map in any place where it -could afterwards be found. It had been better had I torn it to shreds. -Nor would he believe that you were still in the hands of Amos -Baverstock. And the very thought that this unholy villain was to solve -at last the riddle of the Big Fish gave, upon the instant, new strength -to Bannister. For then and there he rose to his feet, and said that he -was going himself into the Wood, that he would reach the Tomb in advance -of Amos and take possession of the map." - -"He has gone there!" I shouted, like a maniac, springing to my feet and -pointing towards the Wood. - -"Yes," said Rushby. "He said that he would rather die a thousand times -than that Amos should find the Treasure." - -I felt as if I had received a violent blow. I knew not, for the moment, -what to do. And then I saw my course quite clear before me. - -"I'll go to him!" I cried. "Take that, and keep it safe." - -And I flung at him my portion of the map, and then snatched up my -blow-pipe and my quiver filled with darts, and set off running down the -ravine, as fast as my legs would carry me, towards the Wood. - - - - -CHAPTER XX--I RETURN TO THE SOLDIER'S TOMB - - -I had every reason to be filled with apprehension. I was going, of a -certainty, into danger greater than any I had yet encountered. Whilst -searching in the Wood for John Bannister, my friend, I was like as not -to fall in with Amos Baverstock; and if that should happen, I could hope -for little mercy. - -Bannister--as Rushby had told me--was weak from illness and half -starved,, so that much of his great strength of former days must have -deserted him, when most he had a need of it. Besides, I knew not -whether he were armed, for that was a question I had not stayed to ask -when I hurried forth from the ravine upon my quest. - -I had therefore some cause to be afraid. And yet, in my heart, I was -glad as I had never been for months, as I raced upon my way into the -darkness of the Wood. - -I was journeying towards my friend, the great man whom I had learned to -honour and admire upon the beach in Sussex. And I believed that the -Fates would not be so cruel to me that I should fail to find him. I -felt that I would soon look upon him once again, feel the iron grasp of -his hand, and behold the light of recognition in his kindly eyes. - -Many hours of daylight were before me, when I entered the Wood of the -Red Fish; and then, for the first time I think, I realised that my task -was not an easy one. Had I started from the other side of the Wood, I -believe that I could have found the Spaniard's Tomb without much loss of -time; for I was by now well acquainted with that portion of the jungle. - -But in this neighbourhood I was an utter stranger, though I had the sun -to guide me whenever I caught glimpses of the daylight between the -overhanging branches of the trees. Also, I carried in my mind a very -perfect recollection of the map. - -I saw that it was necessary above all else to calm myself, to think the -matter out, instead of plunging into the business like a bolting horse. -My destination was the Spaniard's Tomb, and I was in possession of -certain valuable information, the most of which was quite unknown to -Amos. The Wood of the Red Fish itself was diamond-shaped, the four -angles approximately directed towards the north, south, east, and west. -Now, the Big Fish lay somewhere in the very centre of the Wood; and I -had formerly journeyed to the place from the south, following the Brook -of Scarlet Pebbles. This brook--as I had observed--flowed in a -north-westerly direction, towards the morass, which I had passed at the -end of the ravine in which I had just left William Rushby. - -During the earlier days when I had adventured all alone, when I had -discovered both the Glade of Silent Death and the Tomb of Orellano's -soldier, I am convinced that I had never crossed the Brook of Scarlet -Pebbles. Indeed, I could scarce have done so without noticing at once -the singular character of the stream. I had become, during these months -extraordinarily observant; and my attention would certainly have been -attracted by the peculiar red stones with which the bed of the brook was -strewn. Hence, by a simple process of deduction, I was forced to the -conclusion that the Spaniard's Tomb must be somewhere in the -north-westerly part of the Wood; and the reader will the better -understand me if he glances at the map which I myself have made, and -which he must not think a facsimile of the real parchment map whereon -the Tomb was not even mentioned. - -[Illustration: Map of the Wood of the Red Fish] - -I was now, as I knew, somewhere on the southern side of the brook; and -that was the wrong side, if I was to find the Tomb with as little delay -as possible. Aided, therefore, by the position of the morning sun, I -directed my footsteps in a northerly direction, and came early in the -afternoon upon the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles, to the north of the Big -Fish. Thence, I decided to journey due eastward, hoping, sooner or -later, to come upon some place that I would recognise, which would -inform me of my whereabouts. - -Sunset overtook me when I was in the very heart of the jungle. There -was just time to search for food before the darkness came; and then I -lay down to rest without venturing to light a fire. - -I remember well that, at the time, I was surprised that I did not find -myself oppressed by the almost overwhelming sense of loneliness that -hitherto had always come upon me when I journeyed by myself in the midst -of the silent woods. But, now that I am old, and have thought much upon -many things, I have an explanation--howbeit somewhat mystical--to -account for the happiness I then experienced. I knew that I was near my -friend. - -I was fortified by memory. Thus it was with me. And more than that; -for it looked as if I was to give a helping hand to the great strong man -whom I had seen first upon the Sussex coast, who had told me of the -hooded crows, and to whose tales of travel I had listened eagerly, day -after day, before ever Amos Baverstock and the like of him had stepped -across my path. I would find the Tomb--upon that I was determined. And -I would find Bannister as well. Perhaps he was sleeping, even then, not -two hundred yards away from me, in that tangled, tropic wilderness. -With so pleasant a reflection I fell sound asleep, and slept until -daylight wakened me and the birds and monkeys were stirring in the -trees. - -I walked many miles that day, looking everywhere in vain for some tree -or stream that I should recognise, for the burnt-out embers of an old -camp-fire or the feathers of some bird that I myself had plucked and -eaten. But I found nothing, until late in the afternoon, when I came, -of a sudden, upon the dried-up skin of a small woodland deer. - -There also were his bones, dried and whitened, all the flesh therefrom -devoured by creeping insects. And, thinking it more than likely that -this was the same deer that had served me for many a meal, when I first -was come into the Wood--the same poor beast that had been crushed to -death by the great serpent that had lain in hiding beneath the water of -the pool--I cast about me, and soon found the Glade of Silent Death. And -now, I knew, I was on the right track to the Tomb, which from this place -lay towards the south; for I had a first-hand knowledge of all this -portion of the Wood, where I had sojourned for many days. - -Then an idea came to me whereby valuable time might be saved. I was not -far from the edge of the Wood, and if I could gain this before the -darkness came I might travel some distance southward by night, to -continue my searching in the morning. Keeping, therefore, the setting -sun at my back, I journeyed eastward, and came presently to open -country, when I travelled a good two miles to the south by the light of -the rising moon. - -Late at night I rested, sleeping till daybreak; and then, entering the -Wood again, I found by chance one of my old camping-places, and -following my old trail for several hours came at last--as I -expected--upon the Tomb of Orellano's soldier. - -As it was then almost dark, I hastened immediately to the Tomb, and -threw back the stone slab. There was light enough for me to see at a -glance that nothing had been touched. There were the white bones, the -breast-plate, sword and helmet--exactly as I had left them. I stood -irresolute a moment, looking down into the grave; and all at once, a -great fear possessed me that some calamity had overtaken Bannister. - -I was here in advance of both him and Amos--which was more than I had -ever hoped for. The next thing to decide was what to do, and--as will -be seen, in a moment--I was given no choice in the matter. - -Fear spreads, I think, like fire. I was solicitous, at first, for -Bannister; and then I feared for myself. Or there may be something in -the notion that the evil that is in a man taints the very atmosphere in -which he moves. At any rate, even as I thought of Amos Baverstock, I -became filled, on a sudden, with my old dread of him. I stood -shivering, as if from cold, beneath the trees, by the side of that -ancient grave, whilst the darkness spread around me. - -And then it was that the voice of Amos Baverstock himself came to my -ears with such startling suddenness that I was taken unawares. It was -just as if I had received some kind of electric shock. I straightened -with a jerk, and I verily believe that my heart itself stood still. - -I had not been able to hear the exact words he used; but I knew only too -well the hard, strident tones of his voice. I think he called upon -Joshua Trust to make haste and not to lag behind, and the language that -he used was vile as always. - -I stood where I was, stock-still, like one transfixed. And then I heard -the breaking of the undergrowth, as someone rapidly approached. - -I felt much as a mouse must feel, when the trapdoor closes after him. I -was spurred into sudden action. And yet there was nothing I could do. - -If I rushed into the thickets, my enemies must hear me. And what chance -had my blow-pipe against a leaden bullet? I looked up at the trees -around me, and saw at once that there was not one that I could climb -without a deal of trouble. And yet, Amos himself was coming nearer and -nearer, as I could tell by the breaking of the underwoods and the dead -sticks upon the ground. On a sudden, without a thought, I jumped down -into the Tomb, and pulled the stone slab into its place above me. - -It is easy to say that this was the action of a fool. I attempt no more -than to relate what happened. That no man in a calm moment would have -done anything so rash and stupid, I would never for a moment deny. I -was, however, very far from calm. If the truth be told, I was afraid. -I hid my face like an ostrich--for that is all it comes to. - -And as soon as I found myself lying at full length upon those white and -aged bones in the darkness of the grave, I realised that I was -lost--that it had been far better for me had I fled into the jungle. -Amos himself must shift the slab to search the Tomb for the map that he -believed he would find within. - -And presently, through the opening in the slab, I heard, with a -distinctness that was indeed alarming, the voice of the man himself. - -"It is here!" he cried. "We've found it, as I said we would!" - -From the certain fact that no one answered him, I judged that Baverstock -was alone; and I was the more sure of this, since I could hear the -footsteps of but a single man upon the thin stone above me. And I began -to reckon what my chances would amount to, if it came to a square fight -between the two of us, with no one to intervene. - -Then I remembered that I was unarmed; for I had left my blow-pipe above -ground, though the chances were that it was now so dark that he might -not notice it. By the noise he made, his grunting and his muttered -oaths, I judged that he was searching for the means to lift the slab. - -I touched the stone above me with my fingers; and when I felt it moving, -I knew that the hour of my ordeal was come. I must fight and defend -myself, or die--and very likely both. I rose as the stone was lifted, -and, as I did so, placed the Spaniard's helmet on my head and took up -the rusted sword. - -Amos threw aside the slab, and then jumped backward, as I stood up in -the grave, waist-deep in mother earth. - -It was that half-light which is neither night nor day--a weird and -ghostly light, pervading like a mist the shadows of the Wood. Small -wonder that that evil man thought that he beheld the resurrection of a -corpse! - -He let out a shriek--such a shriek as I never heard before or -since--that seemed as if it must have been audible for miles throughout -the evening silence of the jungle. It was the shriek of one whose hair -stands upright on his head. He stood before me quaking at the knees; -and then he found his voice again. - -"Mercy!" he cried. - -And at that I rushed upon him with my sword. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI--I AM MADE A GHOST, AND THEN A FOOL - - -I sprang at him with my sword, the rusty blade that I had filched from -those grim and whitened bones. - -The man was at my mercy. He was unarmed, having laid aside his rifle -before he approached the Tomb. He trembled in every limb as he fled -before my onslaught, and cried out aloud for pity, as I jabbed at him in -a kind of vicious frenzy. - -In the twilight his face looked pale-green in colouring, and his little -pig-like eyes seemed in danger of springing from his head. It would be -difficult to conceive an expression upon which abject terror was more -strongly marked. - -Amos Baverstock was an evil man in many ways, and a brave man in others; -else he had never risked his life so often amid the dangers of the -tropic wilderness. Courage of a sort he had in plenty, but, because he -was evil in his nature, he feared death and all connected with the -grave, though I had never thought to find him as superstitious as he -was. He had always struck me as a hard, calculating man, who looked -upon the practical side of all things. And yet, without a doubt, he now -took me for a ghost. - -And after all--when the full facts are considered--his mistake was -excusable; even to-day, when I call to mind that scene which was enacted -in the half-light of the woods, I am inclined to laugh at it all, for -there was something ludicrous about it. - -I wore the helmet of the dead man, and had sprung at Amos out of the -Tomb, without giving him time to think. Assuredly, in his eyes, what -else could I have been but an infuriated ghost, dangerous and active -because my peace and solitude had been disturbed. - -I thrust at him savagely in the darkness, whilst he hurried here and -there, in and out among the trees, yelling like a fiend. How hideous he -was! I can see him now, with his hunchback, his green face, his staring -eyes, his mouth contorted in terror. For all that he was quick and -agile, and once or twice eluded a sword-thrust that would have pierced -him to the heart. - -And then, at last, I had him. I carried my sword in my right hand, and, -as I lunged, he jumped aside, towards the left. As quick as thought I -caught him by the throat. Whereat he fell down before me on his quaking -knees, and clasped his hands in the attitude of one who pleads for -mercy. - -He was in my power. I said not a word, but clenched my teeth, and -looked into those eyes that even then I feared. I drew back my sword, -and then paused a moment; for I had no liking for the work, which was -the hangman's job. - -"Mercy!" he groaned. - -I took in a deep breath, like a man about to dive. I felt that I must -brace myself for this red task of common justice. I looked at his body, -clothed in tatters, to select a spot most vulnerable where I might -plunge my rusted sword. - -"Mercy!" he cried again. - -I clenched my teeth. I was on the point of speaking, but fortunately -did not. - -I could hear him breathing heavily. - -And thereupon, on a sudden, I was felled by some one who had crept upon -me from behind. I was felled like an ox. A single blow upon the back -of the head sent me over like a ninepin, and I lay stretched at my full -length upon the ground, but half-conscious, with a singing sensation in -my head. - -Presently I sat up and looked about me. There was Amos, still upon his -knees, as green as ever. And immediately above me stood one whom I did -well to recognise as Mr. Gilbert Forsyth. - -That place was dimly illumined by the white light of the newly-risen -moon, turning the leaves upon the trees above us to a glistening silver. - -Forsyth was wearing the remnants of a pair of trousers, the legs of -which ended in a tattered fringe a little below his knees. He was naked -to the waist, around which was a belt, crammed with knives and pistols. - -I remembered his curled whiskers and his pomaded moustache on the -morning when I had first set eyes upon him, when I lay hidden in the -gorse-bush. His fair hair now had grown so long that it reached to his -shoulders; and his whiskers had spread into a short, shaggy beard, which -was divided somewhat in the middle like that of a Frenchman or a Sikh. -I had thought of him always as a very immaculate gentleman; but here was -a desperate, piratical blade who, one might easily believe, chewed glass -and compelled his unhappy victims to walk the plank. - -He looked at me and folded his arms; and then spoke in a voice quite -calm. - -"And who the blazes are you?" he asked. - -I was wise enough not to answer. Ghosts--so far as I knew--could never -speak. And was I not a ghost? - -If I had been a fool to go down into the Tomb, I showed at least a -little wisdom in now holding my tongue. For this, however, I take no -credit. I could not foresee the course that events would take. I had -been surprised and mastered, and cursed myself because I had not killed -Amos out of hand, when the man was in my power. Disappointed, disgusted -with myself, I was stubborn as a mule. They might do what they would, -they might torture me, but still I would not speak. - -Forsyth repeated his question; and for answer, I rushed again at Amos, -and even then would have killed him, had not the other caught me in his -arms and held me fast. - -The man was stronger than I thought; for, though I kicked and struggled, -I could not free myself. Amos, as he watched us, regained a little of -his commonsense, and got slowly upon his feet. - -"No ghost," said he. "No ghost." And he went on repeating the words as -if he were a parrot. - -"Ghost!" laughed Forsyth. "If this is a ghost, he is a warm-blooded -one, and as vicious as they make 'em." - -"Then, who is he?" asked Baverstock. "I swear to you, he came out of -the Tomb, as I'm a living man." - -"And he's another," added Forsyth. "Who he is, or what business he has -in such a place as this, I can no more say than you can. None the less, -the circumstantial evidence is all against mortality. I am reminded, my -friend, of the Carthaginian Queen: '_Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus -ultor_'--(May some avenger arise from my bones). I call this individual -'Hannibal,' on that account." - -"Who wants your Latin gibberish!" cried Amos. "Look plain facts in the -face; call a spade a spade." - -"Also," said Forsyth, in his usual sing-song voice, "call a man a man, -and not a ghost." - -"If he's alive," said Amos, coming even nearer, "then, who is he? I -tell you, when I lifted the tombstone, he sprang forth like a -Jack-in-a-box, and, had it not been for you, I would never have escaped -with life." - -"I have told you already," said the other, "I know no more of him than -you do." - -It was then that they were joined by the Spaniard, Vasco, and Joshua -Trust, who came together from the darkness of the thickets into the full -light of the moon. And when they saw me, they also were afraid; for I -still wore the helmet on my head and stood at no great distance from the -open grave. - -Forsyth explained the situation in a few words, with many a wave of the -hand, as if he introduced us. Baverstock, in the meantime, was rapidly -becoming his normal self. He seemed to have forgotten, for the time -being, the very object of his journey. - -"There's some mischief here!" on a sudden he exclaimed. "Rushby told us -we would find the map beneath the helmet of the Spaniard." - -At this, Forsyth laughed, and pointed straight at me. - -"And since our Hannibal," he observed, "wears such a headgear somewhat -out of fashion, we may safely presume that he could tell us where the -map is, if he had the power to make us understand--which, for myself, I -doubt." - -The truth then dawned upon me on the instant. Mr. Gilbert Forsyth, for -all his cleverness and calmness, was as fully in the wrong as Amos -Baverstock had been; for he believed me to be a savage, whereas the -other had taken me for a ghost, the awful apparition of a bygone Spanish -soldier. If I had refused to speak before from sheer pigheadedness, I -was now resolved to play the part that I was cast for, putting my trust -in Providence and fortified by resolution. Though they burnt my flesh -with red-hot irons, I was determined I would never speak. - -They questioned me in every barbarous language that they knew. Vasco -and Amos himself were my inquisitors, for Trust was no scholar, and -Forsyth's learning went no further than the dead classic tongues, and, I -believe, a little French. But I just gaped at them like a fool, and at -last they gave it up as a bad business; and Amos, by now well convinced -that I was human, struck me a cowardly blow across the mouth. - -They looked in the Tomb; they searched everywhere for the map. They -made a great fire of brushwood that they might see the better, and -neglected no possible hiding-place where that little strip of parchment -might be hidden. They looked inside my quiver, and even in the hollow -of my blow-pipe. And then, at length, quite late at night, they gave it -up. And in an ill mood they were, especially Trust and Amos. - -They must have thought, however, that I was likely to be of some use to -them, for they bound me hand and foot before I was permitted to lie down -to rest. They were evidently not disposed to set me free, until they -had solved the riddle I presented. They were altogether at a loss to -explain who I was or why--apparently of my own free will--I had gone -down into that grim and ancient vault. I think, even then, they -connected me in some way or other with Bannister himself. - -Left alone, I was given time to think, and I lay awake that night for -many hours, wondering what would happen. - -There were exactly three reasons why they should not have recognised me: -firstly, I was so altered in appearance, so brown and wrinkled by the -sun, with my hair all long and shaggy, that I do not think my own mother -herself would have known me; secondly, my face had been half-hidden by -the helmet I had worn; and, thirdly--the most potent fact of all--they -never dreamed for a moment that I was yet alive. Months before, they had -tied me to a tree, and left me to starve to death in the great forest -many miles away across the plain beyond Cahazaxa's Temple. And, as I -remembered this, it occurred to me that, even if they were to recognise -me, they might again believe me to be a ghost, since for so long they -had been certain I was dead. - -These were my thoughts as I lay awake, too near the fire for comfort; -and as I was thinking, I observed a singular phenomenon, which at first -gave me cause for new alarm. - -Amos, Forsyth, and Vasco were sound asleep, and Joshua Trust was on -watch, seated on the ground a little way from me. He was not -particularly alert. Indeed, he was occupied in the kind of pastime that -amused him. With a red-hot firebrand in his hand, he was killing, one -by one, the little insects that crawled upon the ground. - -I looked past him into the thickets, and at once I could have sworn that -I observed a pair of eyes in which the firelight was reflected--eyes -that steadily regarded me. Now, I might have believed these eyes to be -those of a jaguar, were it not that they resembled the eyes of a man, -and I knew for a fact that John Bannister was on the trail. - -I made neither sound nor movement, but at once set out upon this new -train of thought. Were a jaguar prowling around the camp, and I had -seen in his eyes the reflection of the firelight, it had been of a -certainty but a few inches from the ground; for I knew well the habits -and the nature of this most beautiful of beasts. But these eyes were -four feet at least above the ground, and, being too large for those of a -monkey, must belong to a human being--who could be none other than John -Bannister himself. - -Sure of my facts, I was resolved to take no action, though my life -itself were in the greatest danger. I knew that I might safely leave -the matter in the hands of an older, wiser, and a stronger man than I. - -I saw those eyes for no longer than a few seconds, and then they -disappeared. I heard no sound, not so much as the stirring of a leaf, -for the night was strangely still. There was not a breath of wind. - -How can I describe the emotions that then swayed me! I knew that I must -possess my soul in patience, leaving what was best to do to Bannister -himself. And yet I longed with all my heart to grasp the hand of my -friend. I knew now, for certain, that he was near to me, watching over -me, ready to strike a strong blow in my defence when the opportunity -should offer. And for that reason--so great was my faith in him--I was -conscious of a sense of security that I had not known for months. - -I remembered that I had not seen him since that day when I beheld him -running across the Sussex fields, with his brown paper parcel under his -arm, when Forsyth had struck me down with his whip and carried me away, -to begin my series of adventures. I remembered him, too, as I had seen -him, standing in the white road looking after us. And he was now quite -near to me, thousands of miles away from where I had caught my last -glimpse of him; for it is a long march, in very truth, from the South -Downs of England to the shadow of the Andes; and much lies between that -is strange and wonderful and savage--the great ocean, the mystery of -those broad and endless rivers, and the forest with its eternal twilight -and dark, silent places where death lies in wait. John Bannister had -gone forth to find me; and he had found me, at last, after all these -dreadful days. - -How was it possible for me to sleep? I lay awake for hours with quickly -beating heart, and thought of all that had been and all that might be -yet to come. I saw Vasco take the watch from Trust, and then Mr. -Forsyth post himself as sentry towards the early hours of morning. And -when at length the daylight came, Forsyth looked at me and saw that I -was awake. We sat for a while, looking straight into one another's -eyes. - -"Friend Hannibal," said he. - -But I made no answer. At which he thought--for he was a strange man in -many ways--to test me with the classics. - -"'_Tutum silentii praemium_,'" said he; "or, as we have it, 'Silence is -ever golden.' However, I believe that you could tell us much, were you -so disposed." - -Still I never answered. He could think what he liked; I was determined -to hold my peace. For all that, I was considerably disconcerted; for he -continued to look at me for a long time in a very searching manner, the -while the daylight grew and the woods became flooded with that faint, -evanescent twilight that fades and seems to drift, even when the sun is -at its height. - -At last he gave a start, and sat bolt upright, rubbing both his eyes. - -"A strange thing!" said he, and continued to look at me, but this time -with a frown. - -"A strange thing, indeed!" he repeated. - -There was another pause, during which I had not the courage to look him -in the face. I had some presentiment of what was now to come; in spite -of which the suddenness with which he had made it manifest that my -secret was out, quite took away my breath. - -"Allow me," said he, "to offer you my most hearty congratulations. We -have every reason to presume that Master Richard Treadgold is unloved by -the gods." - -And at that, he held out a hand, and I was obliged to shake with him, -though I felt at once frightened and a fool. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII--MR. FORSYTH AND I BECOME BETTER ACQUAINTED - - -Forsyth got to his feet, and to my horror, immediately awakened Amos. -Then was I certain that my last hour was at hand. I never thought for a -moment that protection would come to me from a quarter whence I had no -reason to expect it. - -I had always suspected Amos to be a kind of madman; and that grey -morning in the woods I was, for the first time, convinced of it. He -behaved like no sane man, but cursed and raved and stamped upon the -ground, upon which at last he flung himself writhing as if in pain. - -He had been both foiled and fooled, and recognised it, too. Months -before, he had left me in the woods to die, and now beheld me as alive -as ever, and still standing betwixt him and the goal that he would gain. -Twice, it appeared, had he lost possession of the map--or that part of -it which was of the greatest value to him--and on both occasions it was -through me that he had failed. Besides that, he had taken me for a -ghost, an apparition; he had fallen down upon his knees before me; and -had I had the heart in cold blood to plunge my sword into the half naked -and defenceless body of a living man, Amos Baverstock would now have -been as dead as the Spanish warrior himself. - -Make no mistake in thinking that he felt a shade of gratitude for that. -It was bitter disappointment and blind, livid fury that mastered what -sanity was his. He rolled in his wrath here and there about the ground, -biting the withered leaves and the dead sticks, like the mad dog he was. - -Then he got to his feet and swore that he would kill me, and this time -there would be no muddling in connection with a matter so inordinately -simple. For this dreadful purpose he took into his hands a long -hunting-knife, and with this he came toward me. And as he did so, I -looked over his shoulder, and saw in the midst of the thickets the -gleaming barrel of a rifle. - -I knew then for certain that I was not to die, and smiled into the evil -face of Amos. John Bannister himself was near at hand, my guardian and -my friend. Had Amos taken another step, or raised his hand to strike, I -know he would have dropped stone-dead upon the spot; for Bannister, at -such a moment, would have counted his own life as nothing. But now I -come to the strangest part of all my story: it was Mr. Gilbert Forsyth -who intervened. - -"You cannot do this," he drawled. - -He had stepped between us. Without violence, almost politely, with an -arm extended, he pushed Amos aside. - -"Why not?" gasped Baverstock, gaping at the other. - -"Mainly, my good friend," answered Forsyth, "because it will profit you -nothing. But there are other reasons. In the first place, last night -he might have killed you, and did no such thing. Secondly, I am already -disposed to admire this youth, and to think that it would have been the -better for us had he been upon our side from the beginning. Thirdly, to -kill him as you propose would be a foul and dirty business, such as I -refuse to countenance." - -Amos turned upon him like a wild beast. - -"You!" he cried. "Who are you to dictate terms to me? Who brought you -here?" - -"I brought myself," said Forsyth, very calmly, "and I brought you and -Trust as well; for money makes the world go round, and without my worthy -banker you were still kicking your heels in England. So the less you -speak of that the better." - -I never saw a man more self-possessed; and, on the other hand, I never -saw one more livid with rage than Amos. On the instant, forgetting me, -he turned the full current of his wrath upon Mr. Forsyth. - -It would be irksome to repeat, word for word, the altercation that took -place between them; for they fought with words and argued for many hours -that morning. And whilst this was happening, now and again I shot a -glance toward the thickets, where I had seen the barrel of the rifle I -was sure belonged to Bannister. But I saw no further sign of him, and -heard no sound. I did not know, therefore, whether he was still at -hand; for as yet I had no experience of his great skill as a woodsman. -I did not know that, in spite of his bulk, he could move in the -undergrowth as silently as a snake, and when he struck, he did so with -the suddenness with which the jaguar springs upon his prey. - -For nearly all that morning Forsyth and Amos wrangled, the one to save -me, and the other to do murder--the one, quiet and calm; the other, -raving mad. - -It was a question, I suppose, of will-power only; and Forsyth conquered -in the end. Amos, I could see, was utterly exhausted. The fire within -him had consumed the better part of his vitality and the violence of his -nature. He was at last reduced to utter speechlessness. He stood -before us, panting, his shallow chest heaving greatly like a man who has -run a race. He could not stand steadily upon his feet, but swayed -about, from one side to the other. I observed, also, a strange -difference in his eyes. They were no longer glistening and pig-like; -they were just the wild, staring eyes of a lunatic. And, sure enough, a -lunatic he was. - -He seated himself upon the trunk of a fallen tree, and there he sat for -many minutes, shivering as if from cold. At last he turned and spoke in -a weak voice--quite unlike his own--to Joshua Trust. - -"Get me water, you dog," he ordered, "and be quick about it." - -Trust went to a stream that was not far away; and even as the man -entered the thickets, I thought that I heard something move beneath the -trees, a little to his right. - -He came back with the water, and Amos drained it at a gulp. - -"I would know this," said Trust, standing before them both with folded -arms. "Who's master now? Who takes the bridge? Whose orders am I -expected to obey?" - -"That's a matter for yourself to settle," answered Mr. Forsyth. "Here -we are, in the midst of this almighty wilderness; and if we don't hold -together, as like as not we die. For myself, I am not one who, once he -has decided on a certain course of action, is easily turned aside. I -have come this distance to behold the Greater Treasure, and I do not go -back again until my quest is ended." - -At that, Amos brightened up in a manner truly wonderful. The very -thought of gold was to him a kind of tonic. He got again upon his feet. - -"Why, there you speak some sense!" he cried. "I am the last man in the -world to go back upon my friends. But we can do nothing without the -map." - -"Leave that to me," said Forsyth; "and, sooner or later, I will find it. -A little subtlety and sense may very well succeed where cold-blooded -murder must have failed." - -And thereupon Forsyth turned to me and, taking me by both shoulders, -held me at arm's length. - -"Dick Hannibal," said he--for he had a singular sense of humour, quite -his own--"I would have you, as you love me, and are greatly in my debt, -tell us the whole truth; for I am convinced in my mind that you know all -there is to know." - -I shook my head. I was resolved to be as stubborn as before. And -besides, I had every reason now to think that John Bannister was -hovering on the outskirts of the camp, and might at any moment hasten to -my aid. - -Forsyth waited for some minutes. Then he shrugged his shoulders. - -"I see," said he, "that neither threats nor violence will be of much -avail. You may think differently, however, when I prove to you that I -am neither such a fool, nor yet so soft of heart, as you appear to think -me. - -"We find you in the Tomb," he went on, in his slow, deliberate voice, -"where we believe the map to have been hidden. You knew, therefore, -that it was there; and, therefore, also, you have fallen in with Rushby. -Very well, then, we all go back to Rushby; and what is more, we start -without delay. We know where we left him, and we know that he cannot -escape. The question, so far as I can see, presents no difficulty at -all." - -He appeared so confident that I was considerably alarmed, and not -without some reason, for I knew that I had left William Rushby in -possession of the map. Yet, Forsyth himself could never have known -this. He had, however, some definite plan at the back of his mind, and -appeared so cock-sure of himself that I wished more than ever that I had -some one with whom I might take counsel. - -I had no chance that day to attempt to satisfy my curiosity; for, so -soon as we had eaten a meal, we packed up what little equipment Amos had -brought with him from the ravine, and set forward on our march towards -the west. I calculated that it would not take us more than two days to -reach the other side of the Wood; for we followed the trail by which -Amos and the others had come, and it was seldom necessary for him, who -led the little column, to make use of either axe or bill-hook. - -On the first night, I had the privilege of being enlightened by Mr. -Forsyth, who now appeared to have taken me to some extent into his -heart--though upon that long march across the Great Forest, when we had -travelled in one another's company for many months, he had never deigned -to speak to me on more than one or two occasions. - -Amos, on the other hand, gave me as wide a berth as possible, and sat -regarding me with scowls which--to tell the truth--I could not fail to -see I shared with Mr. Forsyth. Indeed, I trusted Baverstock so little -that, when sheer fatigue compelled me to fall asleep, I did so in the -firm conviction that the man might plunge a knife into my heart at any -moment. He was sullen and morose, addressing himself only to Trust and -the Spaniard, Vasco, and then never without an oath, and in the voice of -one who gives orders to a dog. - -But the case was very different with Mr. Forsyth, whose demeanour was -scrupulously polite. - -"I would delight to hear your story from the first," he said to me; "for -I cannot believe that you have arrived so far as this without some very -exceptional adventures." - -"I did not know," said I, "that my affairs meant anything to you." - -"On the contrary, you interest me vastly," he replied. "Consider, had -it not been for my humble self, you had now been lying with your throat -cut beside the open grave--or, perhaps, we might have buried you, with -some pretence of decent feelings." - -And so I told him as much as I thought it would do him no harm to -hear--of how I had been found by the wild men of the woods, and had -journeyed by myself to Cahazaxa's Temple. Thence, I told him, I had -found my way to the Wood of the Red Fish, where I had had the good -fortune to fall in with William Rushby. But I told him nothing of -Atupo, the Peruvian priest, or of the map which I myself had found by so -singular a chance, or of the Treasure that my living eyes had looked -upon. - -"And this is all your story?" he asked. - -I thought it best not to answer him; but I saw by the sly, half-amused -expression upon his face that he knew well enough that I would keep him -half in the dark. - -He said nothing for a long time. And then quite suddenly, he slapped a -hand upon a knee. - -"Upon my life and soul," he cried, "you are a lad of spirit, such as I -myself once was, until I learned that in this world it is best to assume -a pose! Let me explain to you. There are certain commodities upon the -earth that all men are ever after, and money is the first of these. We -are, therefore, all enemies of one another; we scramble in the same -gutter--to such heights has civilisation attained. Be set down for a -fool, a lazy rascal and a fop, and it is easy enough to take by surprise -those who think they have the whip-hand of you. You have had an example -of this yourself in your own brief experience of Gilbert Forsyth. When -you made off from John Bannister's cabin, on the morning when you saw us -first, you never suspected that I was the one who would catch you. And -so now. It is I who will outwit you, where friend Amos, with his knife -and oaths, has failed already." - -I pricked my ears at that; for my curiosity was roused. - -"And where are we going?" I asked. - -"To William Rushby," he answered, "sometime boatswain of the _Mary -Greenfield_." - -"And why?" I asked. - -He laughed outright. - -"You must learn to see things," he observed, "from the point of view of -others. Remember that I am well aware of this: Rushby and you, when you -met, compared notes and hatched a plot together. John Bannister himself -may, or may not, have been a party to your mild conspiracy. That is a -point that does not affect the issue. I am not so sure Rushby spoke the -truth when he told us he had hidden the map in the Spaniard's Tomb; -otherwise, I cannot see why we did not find it. I go back to Rushby, -and I take you with me, to learn the real truth." - -"How will you do that?" I asked. - -I thought, at first, that he had ignored the question; for he answered -in a round-about way. - -"There is a game of cards called Poker," he observed, "at which I myself -am tolerably proficient. In this game--with which you are too young to -be well acquainted--there is a method of gaining by what is known as -Bluff. Amos played the game of Bluff on Bannister, and failed. He -tried it again on Rushby, and was singularly successful. In other words, -Baverstock pretended that he held you in his power, and he was never -asked to show his cards. To bluff, therefore is a risky business, which -should be practised only in moments of emergency or urgent need. I go -now to William Rushby, to lay my hand upon the table, knowing for a -certainty that I hold the best card in the pack." - -"I quite fail to understand you," said I, shaking my head; for all this -was so much double Dutch to me. - -"You," said Forsyth, "are the best card in the pack. There is no -occasion for us to bluff. We have you in our power, as we have also -Rushby. Between you, you know the truth. If one will not speak, the -other will. If neither speaks, Amos can have his way, and both of you -can leave your bones in this savage country, where you have ventured of -your own free will." - -I saw now there was nothing about the matter so subtle as I had thought. -After all, it was no more than the old game they had played from the -beginning. - -"I see," said I, quite slowly. - -"I am glad of that," said Forsyth. - -Whereupon he lay down upon his side, and almost immediately fell sound -asleep. - -And for a long time I watched him slumbering, and wondered greatly upon -the strange complexity of the man's character. He was polished and -refined, and something of a scholar, too, if there was real learning -behind his tags of Latin. He was also not without humanity and a sense -of justice; else I had now been dead for a whole day and night--and that -I was still alive I was profoundly grateful. And still, he was a -villain, as cold-blooded as Amos himself, and more dangerous in the -sense that he was saner. - -These were the thoughts that carried me far into the night. Trust was -again on sentry; and as I watched the man, I observed that he was -nodding by the fire. Plainly, he was three parts asleep. Were my hands -not bound behind my back, it would be a simple matter to escape. And as -this thought came into my head--lo and behold!--_I was free_! - -Someone had approached quite silently from behind me, from the direction -of the thickets. In a trice, a sharp knife had cut my bonds. And--as I -have stated--I was free. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII--HOW AMOS GAINED POSSESSION OF THE MAP - - -The thing was done so swiftly that I had no time even to look round. I -sat regarding the burly figure of Joshua Trust, very definitely outlined -before the red glow of the fire; and I know that the man never suspected -for a moment what had happened. - -Someone whispered in my ear: - -"Keep an eye on Trust. Draw back into the thickets as silently as you -can. There you will find me waiting for you." - -I had no need to look at him. I knew the voice of John Bannister, even -though he did no more than whisper. I was resolved to carry out his -instructions to the word. - -Bannister withdrew. I neither heard nor saw him go, but I felt -instinctively that he was no longer at my back. - -I sat watching Joshua Trust, and saw that the man's chin had dropped -upon his chest. It was plain to see that, though he tried his best to -keep awake, he was so sleepy that he could not do so. But, knowing that -there would be trouble of a certainty if Amos caught him sleeping on his -post, he might awaken with a start at any moment, and for that reason I -thought 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 little -as possible, I drew myself backwards, inch by inch. By this cautious -method it took me the better part of three minutes to gain the margin of -the undergrowth--a distance of ten yards at the very most. There I was -suddenly lifted off my feet, carried a short distance and released, to -grasp my old friend by the hand. - -And so he had found me at last, though it seemed to me for all the world -as if it was I who had discovered him. He had fulfilled the oath he had -sworn to my mother many months before; and from this moment we were -never again to be parted throughout our great adventure. - -His story I had learned from William Rushby; but Bannister as yet knew -nothing of what had happened to me, since he had not seen me from the -day when I was kidnapped upon the Littlehampton road. But there was no -time then to talk to one another. With as small delay as possible, we -must get well beyond the reach of Amos and his friends. - -That night we journeyed in one another's company for several hours -through the darkness of the woods. We could not see where we were -going, for it was not possible to see a hand before one's face, and we -were scratched most painfully and often upon the thorn-trees that were -plentiful amid the underwoods. But this was of no great account, if our -own safety were ensured; for, sooner or later, Joshua must see that I -was gone, and would at once give the alarm; and if we were not well out -of 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 deemed -that we were safe. Then it was that I learned for the first time how -utterly exhausted he was. He had had no sleep, he told me, for two -nights, and he was still weak from the fever which had robbed him of -more than half his strength. - -"Let us sleep, Dick," said he. "To-morrow there will be time enough for -you to tell me all I want to know." - -And thereupon we lay down to sleep together, side by side, in the dense -wood in which I had wandered for so long alone; and, strange as it may -seem, 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 the -morrow he must hear all my story, just as I myself had once been wont to -listen to his wondrous tales of enterprise and daring. I know that I -was happy, and I also know the reason: I had often dreamed--as boys will -let their fancy run away with them--that he and I were sojourning -together in some savage place, beset by many dangers. And I always knew -that, if he were with me, there would be naught to fear; we would come -forth unscathed from every peril that threatened life or limb. - -In all conscience, we had enough of danger now, on every side of us, in -the darkness of the Wood. And yet I slept, contented and at peace. - -Daylight awoke us, for we were both creatures of the Wild. Marking the -position of the sun, we set forward towards the west, hoping to gain -that night the ravine where we had left William Rushby. - -Bannister told me that he feared for Rushby's life, since he was sure -that Amos and the others would return to the ravine with all possible -speed, so soon as ever they discovered that I had escaped from their -clutches. I thought by now that I had a fair knowledge of the -topography of the Wood; but I soon found that Bannister knew as much, or -even 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 came -upon the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles. - -"I know where we are," cried Bannister, at once. "We are about five -miles to the south of the Big Fish itself. I can tell that by the size -of the stones in the stream. We had better change our course towards -the south." - -"But that will take us away from the ravine," said I, "which lies due -west 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; but -the longest way is often the quickest, Dick. In a few hours we should -be clear of the Wood, although too far to the south. But we shall have -open country before us, and should march four miles an hour." - -I had, by now, told Bannister my story of all that had happened to me -since I first fell into the hands of Amos Baverstock. He asked few -questions, though these were always to the point; and when I had told -him everything, he said nothing, but just placed one of his great hands -upon my shoulder, and patted me so affectionately that the action -conveyed far more to me than any words he might have used. I knew that -he 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 the -afternoon, to open country. Before us we could see the rocky spurs and -ridges--which were, in fact, the beginning of the foothills of the -Andes--running northward for several miles, to end quite suddenly at the -morass. - -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; and -I thought his hair was greyer, and there were deeper lines upon his -forehead. His mouth I could not see, for he had grown a great beard, -more than touched with grey. And this beard, merged into his long -moustache, 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 compelled -us to clamber over the rocky hillocks and to cross the gullies and -declivities that intervened. It was hard work, and the sun was baking -hot. And yet Bannister would not halt, even for food, for we both knew -well enough that the boatswain's life was in the greatest danger. - -"If Baverstock gets there before us," said he, "not only will he gain -possession of the map, and thereby learn the secret of the Treasure, but -there 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 will -not care to take further risks. However, I now believe the man to be -quite mad. Last evening I saw him look for a long time at Forsyth, and -I swear there was murder in his eye." - -"No such criminals are wholly sane," said Bannister. "Amos has done -murder more than once, and he will never hesitate to do it again, if he -thinks that he sees profit in the business. Rushby is defenceless. His -wound has become septic, though I have dressed it often with what skill -I have. There is a chance that the evil may spread; and in that case -nothing can save his life but amputation of the leg. And that, of -course, we have neither the means of doing, nor the skill to do it if we -had." - -We were silent for a long time after that, though we hastened our -footsteps, knowing that life and death were in the scales. - -I was soon utterly fatigued, and could not fail to see that Bannister as -well was well-nigh at the end of all his strength. For all that, we -would not give in; for William Rushby was an honest man, to whom we both -owed much, and we were determined, if we could, to save his life. - -Presently, we began to doubt whether we would reach the ravine before -nightfall; for the sun, as we could see, was descending rapidly towards -the crestline of the Andes. Once only did Bannister pause, and then he -stood stock-still upon a hill-top, shading his eyes with the palm of a -hand and looking towards the west. - -"Was ever anything more wonderful!" said he. "I can never look upon a -mountain without thinking of Coleridge's _Hymn before Sunrise_: 'Earth -with 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 glorious -mountains in the distance, like a rugged battlement, scarred and -crumbled throughout aeons of old Time, rising thousands of feet before -the 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 mighty -works of God. - -I would have lingered there, I cannot say how long, had not Bannister -taken me by a hand and led me forcibly away with such long strides that -I 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 not -care to interrupt them. Looking about me, I thought I recognised the -country. 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 little -distance to the front of us, towards the right. - -Without a word we both began to run, and came, unexpectedly, upon the -very head of the ravine. - -The sun was now behind us; and we could see clearly all there was to -see. Far down the ravine was the solitary tree to which Bannister had -been bound when Amos had threatened him with death. And a few yards -from this, near where the old camping-ground had been, were the figures -of three men hastening in our direction; and these we recognised at once -as Forsyth, Trust, and Amos Baverstock himself. Vasco we saw a little -after come forth from the shadows of the Wood, so laden with cooking -utensils and the like that he might have been a pack-mule, for he was -doubled almost in half. - -However, we took little notice of him; for our eyes were fixed upon the -pathetic figure of poor Rushby, who was limping in great agony as he -tried to run. It was clear from the first that he had little chance of -escaping. It was inevitable that he must be overtaken almost at once. -Suddenly he pitched forward upon his face, and lay quite still upon the -ground; and, since no shot had been fired, we guessed that he had -fainted from pain and exhaustion. Amos pounced upon him as a cat -springs upon a mouse. - -I was, of course, unarmed, for I had left my blow-pipe by the Tomb. But -Bannister, who carried his rifle, hesitated to shoot, for a very natural -reason: at that range, if he fired at Amos, as like as not he might hit -William Rushby. So, together, we set forward running, hoping that even -yet 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 we -approached he sprang to his feet, waving something in his hand. - -"He has got the map!" cried Bannister, who at once brought his rifle to -his shoulder and fired straight at Amos. - -The singing of the bullet must have made Baverstock realise that he was -not by any means as safe as he would like. For the man cast no more -than a glance in our direction, and then turned upon his heel, to set -off running down the ravine as fast as his legs could carry him. - -Trust followed his example; and Vasco, the Spaniard, turned at once back -into the Wood. I saw that Forsyth hesitated for a moment; and then, -knowing full well that his strength was as nothing when compared to that -of Bannister, he also turned and fled. - -Bannister fired two more shots; but, as he was out of breath from -running, neither of these had any effect upon Amos, at whom they were -directed, save that they were near enough to make him run the faster. - -Our first care, at any rate, was for William Rushby, who--as we -guessed--had fainted from his great efforts to escape. He regained -consciousness 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 he -will have found the Big Fish. After all these years he will be able to -feast his eyes upon the Greater Treasure of the Incas." - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV--HOW AMOS WAS POSSESSED OF SEVEN DEVILS - - -I felt, at that moment, so despondent that I was disposed to burst into -tears, to cry like a child through utter disappointment. For a minute -we discussed the matter between ourselves, and tried in vain to see one -ray of daylight. Look at it as we might, from every aspect, the -situation seemed just about as bad as it could be. - -Bannister himself was too exhausted to continue the pursuit, and Rushby -was a wounded man, whom, in any case, we dared not again leave alone in -the ravine. - -"What is to be done?" I asked. And there was something so woeful in my -expression that Bannister smiled. - -"We must make the best of a bad business, Dick," said he. "After all, -Rushby's life is of more account than the Treasure. Clearly, it is not -safe for us to remain here in open country. We must return to the Wood, -and find a place where we can hide. A few hours' rest, and I shall have -strength enough to go on; but I am not disposed to leave my comrade -until his life is out of danger." - -As he spoke, he placed a hand upon Rushby's shoulder; and I saw by the -look in the boatswain's face that he thought no less of John Bannister -than I. - -"You'll not wait for me, sir," the boatswain answered. "I want nothing -better than to see Amos run to earth; for I have not forgotten the -voyage of the _Mary Greenfield_, when mainly through him I was cast into -irons. Besides, it's my fault that he has now got the map, and I'll -never cease to blame myself for that." - -"Forget it all!" said Bannister. "And as for future plans, they can -wait till we are rested. The sooner we are out of this place the -better; for we know not what Baverstock may do." - -Then and there we gathered together what little baggage we possessed, as -well as everything that Amos had left behind him when he had hurried -from the camp. There were two rifles between us--and we wanted no more, -since Rushby was a casualty; but we could find only ten rounds of -ammunition, and I was without my blow-pipe. - -I loaded myself with the rifles and equipment, whereas Bannister picked -up Rushby in his arms and carried him into the Wood. There we had not -long to search before we found a good hiding-place, a little hollow in -the midst of the thickets, where, Bannister told us, a jaguar had reared -her cubs. There was a stream near by, that connected, beyond doubt, -with the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles, and we were therefore well supplied -with water. - -Almost at once the three of us fell fast asleep. For myself, I had -never been so fatigued; and yet I awoke at daybreak, and immediately, -without disturbing my companions, went forth in search of food, and did -not return until I had as many wild fruits and berries as I could -conveniently carry in Bannister's haversack. I then made a fire; and -whilst I was thus employed the other two awakened. - -Bannister's first office was to attend to the boatswain's wound. This -he washed and dressed--very skilfully, I thought--and then ordered -Rushby to lie quite still and to make no attempt to move. - -Whilst we were eating we talked of what was best to do; and in this -argument the boatswain took a leading part. He had a mind of his own, -and was determined, from the first, to have his way. - -He told us that he was well enough where he was, if we left him food to -eat and a pannikin of water within reach, so that there would be no need -for him to move. As for John Bannister and me, we must take the two -rifles and what ammunition there was, and set forward without delay -towards the Big Fish, to find Baverstock and his three companions. - -"Though the odds are two to one against you," he added, "that will make -no difference. Stalk him, as you would a wild beast, and put a bullet -through the scoundrel, as he comes up from the vault. This evening he -will be there or thereabouts. Our one consolation is that he has no -means of taking the Treasure away. But you must be quick, sir; for I'm -open to a wager that Baverstock goes back across the plain, to find -forest Indians to work for him under the whip, that he may carry all -this gold to one of the rivers, and thence down-stream in more than one -canoe." - -There was little question that William Rushby had got the hang of the -affair. Indeed, all that he predicted was, or might have been, the -truth. It was not so much, I think, because Bannister wished to thwart -his ancient enemy, as because he desired to see for himself how the -whole business would end, that we set forward into the Wood at about -midday, our destination being the Red Fish itself. - -Bannister told me that you could not reach the Treasure from the -northern side, because the brook there opened out into a swamp, where -you could sink to the neck in mud, to be eaten alive by leeches. It was -therefore necessary for us to journey by a circuitous route towards the -west, until we came upon the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles, somewhere to the -south of the tunnel that led to the Fish. However, we had the sun to -guide us, and both Bannister and I were well acquainted with the Wood. - -And now, for once, I must tell my story from a point of view other than -my own, and follow, for a few hours, the fortunes of Amos Baverstock. -Afterwards, I was destined to behold with my own eyes the raving lunacy -of that unhappy man, and to witness the spectacle of a tragedy, at once -gruesome and fantastic. But first, I tell the story as I heard it from -the lips of Mr. Forsyth; and very weird it is. - -With the map in his possession, Amos set forth without delay to feast -his eyes upon the Treasure. Though his three companions were overcome -by fatigue, and there was but half an hour that evening before sunset, -the hunchback would not halt until darkness compelled him to do so; and -that night the excited and disordered condition of his mind would not -allow him to sleep. - -He had them up in the small hours that they might be ready to start at -daybreak; and they struck the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles early that -morning, but a few miles to the north of the Big Fish. - -Forsyth afterwards told us that all that day Amos never spoke, but -forged ahead with the map in his hand, the others following as best they -could. The man was now blinded by his own greed and avarice. He seemed -alike incapable of fatigue and insensible to physical pain; for he -rushed forward with such mad impetuosity that he was cut to pieces on -the thorns, and was soon bleeding profusely from a score of places. - -He came, on a sudden, upon the swamp, into which he plunged so -recklessly that he was waist-deep before he knew it. Then, to his great -alarm, he found that he was unable to move. He was held tight in the -mud, and was at once attacked by scores of little leeches. - -He threw up his arms into the air like a drowning man, crying out -piteously for help. Forsyth, as cool as ever--as I can well imagine--at -once cut down a long bamboo, and held this out to Amos, who was -eventually hauled back to safety, though covered from head to foot in -mud. - -The leeches they were obliged to cut away from him with knives; and all -the time the man reviled them for not making greater haste, telling them -repeatedly that they were but a short distance from the Treasure, upon -which he was determined to set eyes that very day. - -It was then that his companions, for the first time, suspected that the -man's mind was disordered; for Amos talked like a lunatic, and there was -a strange look in his eyes. For instance, he whipped round upon Forsyth -and told him that he had ever been a stumbling-block, with his refined -manners and his London airs, since the expedition started from Caracas. -At which Forsyth laughed aloud. - -"Your memory is something short," said he. "Less than five minutes ago -I saved your life. You were sinking even as I pulled you out. Had it -not been for me, you would have been drowned in black, stinking mud, and -your corpse devoured by leeches." - -At that, Amos burst into the wild and hideous laughter of a madman. - -"Liar!" he shrieked. "You saved the map! It was not me you saved; it -was the map--and without risk to yourself. Much good may it do you! I -shall see to it that you profit nothing. Trust Amos Baverstock for -that!" - -And then he laughed again, and again called Forsyth "Liar!" - -At the time they thought little or nothing of all this, the high talk of -an excited man. They believed him to be in one of his fits of -uncontrollable anger, when he could never rightly be held responsible -for either his actions or his words. But they left him as he was, -sticky with the black mud, with many horrid little leeches still glued -upon his skin, that was already all blood-stained from the thorns. And -they made a circuit of the swamp towards the east, and came suddenly -upon the open place where the Red Fish stood forth from the ground, with -opened mouth, as if in the act of leaping from the water. - -They had no need to cast about them, as I had done, in order to find the -entrance to the vault; for I had left traces as plain as any printed -book to read, and the flowers and ferns that I had planted were not yet -so well established that they looked quite natural. - -Amos rushed in like a mad dog, and in feverish haste fell to working -with his knife, scattering broadcast the soft, rich soil that lay -between the rocks. In this task he was assisted by the others--for now -they were all near as wild with excitement as Amos himself. In a little -time they had the slab laid bare; then they threw it backwards, so that -they beheld the stone steps leading downward to the vault. - -They had no need to make a torch, as I had done, since they had always -carried with them a small collapsible lantern, and with this in one hand -and the map in the other, Amos led the way down the steps, through the -ante-chamber where the floor was paved with ingots, and thence into the -great vault below. - -And, thereupon, there is little doubt that Amos Baverstock went wholly -mad. He rushed here and there, yelling like a fiend. He snatched up -the gold in handfuls--the drinking vessels, the rings and bracelets and -the ingots--and cast them, in a kind of frenzy, right and left, all the -time shouting and dancing and filling that great chamber with the echoes -of his laughter. - -Then he filled his arms with ingots, and tied these together with a -rifle-sling, so that they resembled a great golden faggot, and weighed -far more than any normal man could carry. For the time being, he knew -not what he did; but was possessed of seven devils that were brothers, -and more like to one another than in general brothers are; and their -names were Avarice, Violence, Jealousy, Cruelty, Revenge, Cowardice, and -Cunning. Forsyth and the others regarded him amazed. - -Amos dashed up the stairway, carrying his great load upon his crooked -back. When he reached the open air, he threw his bundle down upon the -ground, and then turned an ear to listen at the stairhead. - -He heard Forsyth, Trust, and Vasco ascending in pursuit of him; and then -again he burst into his madman's laughter, and, laying hold of the slab, -hurled it back into its place, and rolled a great boulder upon the top -of it; for his strength was not his own, but that of all the seven -devils that were brothers who possessed him. - -"Lie there and rot!" he shouted. And they below heard his footsteps as -he danced upon the stone. - -[Illustration: "'LIE THERE AND ROT!' HE SHOUTED. AND THEY BELOW HEARD -HIS FOOTSTEPS AS HE DANCED UPON THE STONE."] - -They cried out to him to be merciful and to release them; but he only -laughed the more, telling them that he was going alone across the plain -to find Indian porters to carry the Treasure through the wilderness, and -that he would not return for months--by which time they three would be -dead--dead as Orellano's soldier--starved to death in the very midst of -the gold they had endured so much to gain. - -And then Amos Baverstock set forward, laughing loudly, with his heavy -burden on his back, and a heavier burden still upon his soul. He went -alone into the woods, whilst the daylight faded and the shadows flooded -the undergrowth; and his loud, mad laughter scared the monkeys and the -birds amid the tree-tops; even the jaguar slunk away in fear at the -sound of that unholy mirth. The very Wild was filled with terror--all -save the great and stealthy snake that lay coiled in silence in the cool -woodland pool, more evil even than Amos, more strong than all his seven -devils, more cruel than Death itself. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV--HOW THE SHEEP WERE SHORN - - -In the meantime, John Bannister and I journeyed together through the -Wood, and came in a few hours to the Brook of Scarlet Pebbles. This we -crossed, and took up our westerly route, in order to avoid the swamp of -which we knew. This was a far longer march than that accomplished by -Amos; and that night we camped in the jungle--so far as we could tell--a -mile or two to the west of the Red Fish. - -Early the following morning we continued on our way, and soon struck the -Brook, as chance had it, at the pool of the electric eels, into which we -waded without a moment's hesitation. We found the tunnel without -difficulty, and through this advanced stealthily towards the open place -where we knew the Red Fish to be. We took good care to make as little -noise as possible; for we expected to find Amos and his friends encamped -above the vault. And then Bannister ordered me to remain behind, whilst -he went forward to get what news he could. - -I should say that half an hour elapsed before he returned; and that was -an anxious time for me. Expecting every moment to hear a rifle-shot, I -waited, knee-deep in water, in the impenetrable darkness of the tunnel. -So dark was it, indeed, that I never knew that Bannister had returned, -until I heard his voice quite close to me. - -He told me what he had seen. There was little doubt that the vault had -been visited since my departure, several days before; but there was one -circumstance which he could not by any means explain. - -"A great boulder has been rolled upon the slab," said he, "as if to -weigh it down. It looks as if Amos meant to keep the Treasure safe." - -"I know nothing of that," said I. - -"Then, you had best come with me," said Bannister. "The road's clear -enough, though something extraordinary has happened." - -We came forth together from the tunnel, and I was at once half-blinded -by the sudden daylight, just as I had been before, when I first beheld -the red rock standing forth from the ground in the very semblance of a -fish with opened mouth. But when I could use my eyes again, I saw that -everything in that strange place was just as I had left it, with the -exception that the stone slab was no longer covered with earth, and a -great boulder, round as a snowball, lay upon the top of it. - -"Who placed this here?" I asked; and that was more than Bannister could -answer. - -We went together to the slab, and there he lay down and listened, with -his ear upon the stone. - -"I can hear nothing," said he. "It will be safe enough to enter." - -At this we removed the boulder, lifted the slab, and went down the stone -steps into the Treasure-chamber below. - -It was quite dark, for we had neither torch nor lantern. We had made -certain that the place would be deserted, and it therefore came to us -something in the nature of a shock, when we beard a jingling sound--as -if some one, who had been asleep upon the gold, had sprung on a sudden -to his feet. And then a human voice cried out to us; and this was so -loud and unexpected that I confess I jumped as if I had been pricked -with the point of a knife. For all that, I recognised the voice at once -as that of Joshua Trust. - -"You've come back!" he cried. "Stand clear of me, or else I'll wring -your neck! Who's he who swore that he never yet went back upon his -friends?" - -There followed a pause, during which I tried my best to make head and -tail of what the man had said. It speaks much for John Bannister's -intelligence that he tumbled to the truth at once. To my bewilderment, -he answered in a voice that was like enough to that of Amos Baverstock. - -"I've come back all right," said he. "But I'm here to offer terms, -which you may accept or not, as you wish." - -And thereupon, for some reason or other, the Spaniard, Vasco, burst -forth into such a rapid stream of language that it seemed to me--who -understood not a word of what he said--that he swore with the most -amazing fluency and violence. At all events, when at last he ended, -apparently for want of breath, it came as a kind of relief to us to hear -the lazy drawl of Mr. Forsyth. - -"_Amicus certus in re incerta_," he observed. "Sure friend in doubtful -circumstances. Amos, we welcome you. We greet you as Joseph received -his brethren." - -It was then that Bannister spoke in his natural voice; and, as I -listened, I tried to imagine the feelings of those others whom his words -took so wholly by surprise. - -"Amos Baverstock has not returned," said he; "and I am prepared to take -my oath he never will. A certain friend, in very truth, was he who led -you here, and then entrapped you that you all might starve to death!" - -"Who's that?" cried Trust. - -"My name's John Bannister. And it was you, Joshua Trust, who once tried -to kill me--who, indeed, left me for dead. Do you remember that day in -the mountains, when Amos caught me in Cahazaxa's Tomb? Well, now he has -done the same for you. He has buried you alive; and when he comes back -for the gold he covets, he will think to find it strewn with the bones -of those who were fools enough to believe he was their friend." - -I heard Trust groan in the darkness; or, I think, perhaps, a growl -describes it better. Forsyth, judging by the tones of his voice, was -just as calm as ever. - -"Bannister!" he exclaimed. "So this is the end of it all! We are to -owe our lives to you!" - -"That's a matter," answered Bannister, "for yourselves to settle. How -long have you been here?" - -"Not many hours," said Forsyth; "but it seems like days and nights. We -have had time enough in which to consider the misery of our end--without -water, food, or light, in the midst of all this gold." - -Bannister was silent a moment. He had not descended the stairs into the -chamber, but stood upon a step about midway down with myself close -behind him. - -"I'll have no treachery," said he. "It is very needful that you -understand the situation as it is. I am a man of my word, as you may or -may not know, and I set you free on certain conditions only." - -"Fire ahead," said Forsyth. "State your terms. Anything for daylight -and for freedom--for the certain knowledge that we have been granted a -new lease of life." - -"Good!" said Bannister. "I go before you up the staircase, and wait for -you above. Whatever arms you have you leave behind you. If any one of -you comes forth with a rifle in his possession, I shoot him dead upon -the spot." - -"We share the gold with you?" asked Joshua Trust. - -"Not an ounce of it, you fool!" cried Bannister. "Years ago I might -have had it for myself, had I wished to play the robber. All this -treasure is not yours or mine or anyone's; it belongs by right to the -Government of the country. I am neither a smuggler nor a thief. Were -it worth less, I might not be so honest; but here are millions, such as -to release would be to let loose a great force of evil that would profit -no one, and ourselves least of all. Here this gold has lain for ages, -and here let it lie. That is one of my conditions." - -"Let us out!" cried Trust. "All night I have dreamed that I must eat -bars of gold to live. I have sucked golden ingots with parched, dry -lips. I have slept upon gold, and never before had I a couch so -uninviting. Let us out, I say! I agree to anything." - -At that, Bannister bade me ascend the stairs, and followed close upon my -heels. When we reached the top, we waited both with our rifles at the -ready, prepared to fire upon the first sign of trouble. But the three -of them, one behind the other, came forth out of the vault as meek as -shorn lambs--first Trust; then Vasco; and finally, Mr. Gilbert Forsyth, -who, swaggering into the daylight in no particular haste, had the -audacity to hold out a hand to Bannister, as if he greeted an old -acquaintance. - -John Bannister, however, did no more than shrug his shoulders, and then -went to the stone slab and threw it back into its place. - -"When did Amos leave here?" he asked, turning again to Forsyth. - -"Last night." - -"Did he say anything before he went?" - -"Yes, he was so gracious as to tell us we could die where he had left -us. As for himself, he was going back into the forest to find native -porters to carry the gold away." - -"Just as we thought!" said Bannister. "Rushby was in the right." - -And, thereupon, our attention was immediately attracted by the strange -conduct of Joshua Trust, who looked up at the little patch of blue sky -just visible between the overhanging branches of the trees, clenched -both his fists in an amazing burst of passion, and shook them above his -head. - -"He shall pay for this!" he cried, with an oath that can never be -repeated. "And I have served him faithfully for years! He has gone -back upon me, when he saw that he had gained everything he wanted! By -thunder, he shall pay for it!" - -Bannister looked at him, and smiled. - -"Have more sense, man," said he. "What use is all this anger? Amos -Baverstock is mad." - -"Mad or sane," cried Trust, "he shall answer for what he has done. Come, -tell me, what's the time?" - -"I should think no more than ten," said Bannister. "We started at -daybreak, and we were not two hours upon the march before we found the -brook." - -When I looked at Joshua, I was reminded of the man whom I had known on -board the _Mary Greenfield_, who was wont to sit drinking at his cards. -He was red of eye and flushed of countenance, and I saw that his lips -trembled with a passion he was quite unable to contain. He was a rough -man, in any case; and now that he had lived for months in the -wilderness, and had been saved from death as it were at the eleventh -hour, he was the greatest savage of the five of us. - -"Ten o'clock," he repeated. "Four bells, by Christopher! Then, he -can't be far away. He can never have travelled far by night, for he -took with him a hundredweight of gold. I'll go after him," he cried. -"He shall answer yet for what he tried to do." - -Bannister stretched out an arm to detain the man; but Trust sprang aside -and, with another oath, dived into the thickets. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI--A NIGHT OF TERROR - - -I was about to follow in pursuit of Trust, and had even taken a few -steps towards the undergrowth upon the right bank of the brook, when -Bannister called me back. - -"What's the use?" said he. "Let dogs delight. We have our own friends -to think of." - -"Our own friends?" said I. - -"Have you forgotten Rushby? We have left him alone too long as it is. -His life is more to us than the fate of either Trust or Baverstock; and -he is in danger just as great." - -At those words, I felt something of shame that I had indeed forgotten -one who had proved himself so loyal and true a comrade. - -"Then, what's to be done?" I asked. - -"That's not so easy to decide," said Bannister. "I take it," he added, -turning again to Forsyth, "that you are now willing to cast in your lot -with us, to give up all thought of plunder?" - -Forsyth actually yawned. - -"Have it your own way," said he. "I have made a promise which I will -faithfully keep. I have always believed that there was honour among -thieves; but, even here, I find I was mistaken. To speak the truth, I -am heartily sick of the whole business, which has cost me a pretty penny -with nothing to show for it, save a scratched skin and a score of -bruises, and the loss of an ear. You may count me as one of yourselves. -I have little enough, perhaps, upon which to flatter myself, but if -there is skill in gaining, there is at least an art in losing. It can -be done gracefully. Do you not agree?" - -"Moralise as much as you like," laughed Bannister. "It amounts to no -more than this: you have failed dismally, and are glad enough to find -yourself alive. You are wise to accept the situation as it is. That's -all the same to me. Henceforward, you are under my orders, and I expect -prompt obedience." - -"I shall be charmed," said Forsyth, with a mock bow. "And what of -Rushby?" - -"He lies some way to the north," said Bannister. "I am alarmed at his -condition. The wound in his leg is septic, and it is very doubtful -whether he will recover." - -"I am distressed to hear it," answered the other, to whose effrontery -there seemed no end; for he added, "If the truth be told, it was I -myself who shot him--with the best intentions in the world." - -"No doubt," said Bannister grimly. "There has been give and take on -both sides; and I am the more glad to have saved your life, since I know -for a fact that you stood between Dick, here, and certain death, when -Amos would have killed him. But we waste time in useless talk. Before -we leave this place, I propose to cover the slab with earth, to hide all -traces of an intrusion so utterly worthless, doomed to failure from the -start." - -And thereupon the four of us set to work, scraping the soft earth back -upon the stone slab; for Bannister, who had enough of Spanish to express -his meaning, soon found another ally in Vasco, who, after all, was a -weak, shiftless kind of fellow, with few opinions of his own. Though the -man had been bewildered by the sight of so much gold, the Treasure had -had much the same effect on him as on myself when I first went down into -that vast, amazing chamber. He was frightened of it all; and as well as -that, he now realised for the first time that he had served for all -these months one who was both treacherous and mad; and had it not been -for Bannister and me, he would not have escaped with life. - -We were all hard at work upon our hands and knees, when we were -surprised by the sound of a rifle-shot, fired at no great distance in -the Wood, in a northerly direction. - -Bannister got slowly to his feet, and stood listening; and then, -although he turned in my direction, it was as if he spoke quietly to -himself. - -"One shot," said he. "And one shot only." - -That was all he said. - -"Trust was never armed," said I. - -"That signifies nothing," answered Bannister. "Amos is loaded down by -gold. If he carried a rifle, Trust may have wrenched it from his -hands." - -We waited for some minutes, expecting to hear another shot, or perhaps -some other sound. But the whole Wood was silent--the silence of midday, -when the sun is at its height and all the wilderness is resting, the -wild things seeking refuge from the fierce rays of the tropic sun. - -"Come," said Bannister, "we had best see to this." - -He led the way into the undergrowth, and we followed him in single file. -The trail of Amos was broad as a road, for, in his madness, he had -rushed forward, breaking down all obstacles that stood in his path by -the sheer weight of the gold he carried and the impetuous, headlong -nature of his flight. - -There could be little doubt that Joshua Trust had followed him with as -little difficulty as we. Certain it was that they could not be far -ahead, since Trust himself had not yet been absent half an hour. In all -probability, the night before, Amos himself, overtaken by the darkness, -had fallen sound asleep, and, being exhausted by his frenzied efforts, -had slumbered on until long after daybreak. - -In any case, we had not journeyed far before we came upon the still, -huddled form of him who had once been known as Joshua Trust, who now lay -a corpse, in a pool of his own blood, upon the trail that he had -followed. - -John Bannister kneeled down upon the ground beside the body, but -presently got sharply to his feet. - -"Stone-dead," said he, and nodded sagely, as if to signify that hither -in the end go all things weak and mortal. - -"Shot?" I asked. - -"By Amos. Through the heart." - -We stood in silence around the body, and I know that I was thinking that -it would be no more than common decency to bury this poor, misguided man -where he had fallen, when there came to my ears a sound that made my -very blood run cold. - -It was a sound of laughter, faint and far away. Never in my wildest -nightmares had I heard laughter to compare to that. It was the laughter -of a fiend, terrible to listen to, for there was something in it of the -chuckling of an old, demented man, the cry of a new-born child, and the -senseless mirth of one who is delirious. - -In that half-light we looked at one another. There was cold fear in the -eyes of us all, even in the eyes of John Bannister, who I did not know -had fear of anything that lived upon the earth. - -"Amos!" he exclaimed. But his voice was no more than a whisper. - -I saw that Forsyth shuddered. And then that man, as a rule so calm and -nonchalant, who had always seemed to me to dread nothing so much as that -he might show his feelings, burst forth in the hottest indignation. I -shall never forget that moment, for it was the only occasion upon which -I saw John Bannister afraid, and Mr. Forsyth alive--a living, sentient -being--in every fibre of his body. - -"This madman must not live!" he shouted. - -Bannister answered slowly, in the same quiet voice in which he had -spoken before. - -"I am inclined to think you right," said he. "His very existence upon -the face of the earth is a blot upon Creation. The sound of that -hideous laughter robs the wilderness of all its beauty." - -"Then, after him!" cried Forsyth. - -"Leave that to me," said Bannister. - -He opened his rifle, and slipped a cartridge into the breech. I heard -the click of the lock, and I saw how tightly his right hand gripped the -small of the butt. And I knew that death was still in the pot, that we -were not yet at the end of all this strife and horrid bloodshed. - -We went forward in pursuit, Bannister leading, hot upon the trail, the -other three of us following at his heels. - -All that afternoon we journeyed in a direction north-eastward, so far as -we could judge. And from time to time we heard the shrill, savage -laughter of that maniac, but a little way before us. And each time we -heard it, we were filled with dread--the dread that comes naturally to -one who finds himself confronted by the supernatural--the same dread -that is believed to make the human hair to stand on end in the presence -of a ghost. - -For Amos Baverstock, body, mind, and soul, was still in the possession -of his seven raging devils; and it was as if these evil spirits infested -the humid, stifling atmosphere of the very jungle through which we -passed in hot pursuit. Hitherto, we had been adventurers in a savage -land; we had walked in the midst of dangers that were material and real. -But now, with that unearthly laughter for ever in our ears, we felt that -we were wayfarers in the dark nether regions, that not only our lives, -but our very souls as well, were in peril of perdition, of everlasting -death. The fleeting shadows of the Wood were to us the twilight of the -Underworld. We were opposed by forces stronger and more evil than wild -beasts and wicked men. - -Darkness caught us before we had overtaken the madman whom we chased. -How he had managed to elude us for so long is little short of a miracle; -for he was weighed down by the gold he carried on his back. There were -times when he was quite near to us, when we could distinctly hear him -breaking his way through the thickets, rushing blindly onward. And at -such times he was silent--ominously silent. But he would always, quite -suddenly, shoot ahead again--how, we could not tell--and presently, we -would hear his wild laughter as before, far away from us--laughter in -which there was something of triumphant glee, as well as lunacy and -senseless mirth, incomprehensible and terrible to hear. - -All that night, during which we rested twice--on each occasion for an -hour or more--we heard his laughter in the Wood, throughout the length -and breadth of which it was as if fear of the man had spread. I verily -believe the monkeys sat shivering above us in the tree-tops, and the -great beasts of prey, who were wont to hunt by night, crouched with -flattened ears like frightened cats in the dark places of the jungle. - -Speaking for myself, I know that I experienced a most novel and insecure -sensation. I felt that the constant sound of this demoniacal laughter -would in the end drive me also mad; and Vasco, I am certain, felt the -same, though I cannot speak for the others. - -For all that, I had never seen an expression of such invincible -determination as the daylight disclosed upon the face of Bannister. His -jaw was set: his lips tight pressed, and there was a look in his eyes as -hard as steel. - -He said not a word to any one of us; and we had no thought of food, -though we all four drank deeply of water at the first stream to which we -came. - -Then we went on, following the trail, with the sound of that maniac's -laughter to guide us like the siren of a ship in a fog at sea. - -Never was a journey more strange, more ghostly. We were haunted men, -though we found upon the road evidence of the material. For, here and -there, lay golden ingots that had fallen from his arms, and there was -blood, too, upon the dead leaves upon the ground, where he had torn his -flesh upon the thorns. - -And then, at last, we sighted him, in a place where the undergrowth was -sparse and the trees a little way apart. For no longer than an instant -did we see him, else John Bannister had shot him dead; for it was a mad -dog we hunted, and it was not right that he should live. Strange as it -may seem--since they had sojourned for so many months in one another's -company--it was Mr. Gilbert Forsyth who was most keen upon the chase. He -was like a bloodhound on the trail. It was as much as Bannister could -do to keep him back. - -"Have at him!" he cried. "There he is! Shoot, man! Shoot him down!" - -But--as I have said--we caught no more than a glimpse of him. That -glimpse, however, was enough. If it had been terrible to hear his -laughter, it was even more terrible to behold him with our eyes. Every -shred of clothing had been torn from his back. He was plastered with -black mud from the swamp in which he had waded; and this mud--though we -could not see that--was still alive with little leeches that were -draining the life's blood in his veins. His hair was all ragged and -dirty; and without clothes he was more hideous than ever. We could see -the ingots, tied in a great bundle upon his back; and we marvelled that -any human being could carry so great a load. He shot a look at us -before he dived again into the undergrowth; and in that look there was -that for which we could not fail to pity him, vile and evil though the -man had been all the days of his life. - -His eyes were bright as ever, yet seemed to have grown larger, and, at -the same time, to have sunk deep into his head. His mouth, which was -never straight, was twisted to a degree that was alarming. He had -always the thinnest of lips, which he kept as a rule pressed tight -together; but now his mouth was opened wide, and he was slobbering. As -for his eyebrows, they reminded me of Satan himself as I have seen him -pictured, for they met upon the bridge of his nose, to slant upward, -arrow-shaped. - -John Bannister dashed forward. I saw that he meant to make a supreme -effort to overtake the man. We all wanted it to end, for the whole -affair was ghastly; and yet we dreaded the end, just as a hangman must -have no liking for his duty. And ours--we thought--was the very -hangman's work. - -It so happened that in this place the Wood was dense. Amos did not -laugh again, but we could hear him just in front of us; though, strive -as we might, we could not overtake him, until the pursuit had lasted, -perhaps, another twenty minutes--for, in such a case as this, it is -impossible to keep account of time. - -Bannister, who was still leading, of a sudden caught his foot in the -root of a tree, and pitched forward on his face. Without pausing an -instant, Forsyth rushed past him; and I, knowing that Forsyth was -unarmed, and fearing that he might come to the same violent end as -Joshua Trust, hastened after him, without looking to see if Bannister -were hurt. - -Almost at once I caught sight of Amos, but dared not fire at him, -because Forsyth was in front of me. And then, suddenly and -unaccountably, to my amazement Amos stopped, and looked back at us with -a face hideously contorted. - -I carried my rifle to my shoulder, and I believe I would have pressed -the trigger, had I not then seen what it was that had brought the -fugitive to a standstill. He had broken his way headlong through the -thickets, and now found himself upon the bank of a wide, dark pool, and -we were so close upon his heels that he had no time to turn either to -the right or to the left. - -It is my great regret that I did not fire; but I may be excused, -inasmuch as I did not at once recognise the place, and had then not the -least suspicion of what was about to happen. No sooner was my rifle to -my shoulder than Amos turned away from me, and, without a sound, with -his great load of gold upon his back, plunged straight into the pool. - -He sank so low at first that we thought he must be well beyond his -depth; but, almost at once, his feet found something firm--I think the -fallen trunk of a tree buried beneath the water. He rose to his full -height with the water no higher than his knees, and began to stumble -onward, when the whole of this uncanny business reached its tragic and -terrible conclusion. - -I saw something move upon the surface of the water--something that shot -across the pool in utter silence and with the rapidity of an arrow. -Right round Amos it swerved, and passed so close to us--who stood gaping -on the bank--that we could not fail to recognise what this horror was. -It was the flat and evil head of a gigantic, loathsome serpent. - -Then the truth burst upon me like a sudden rush of ice, and I realised -that Amos Baverstock was come to that place which I myself had named the -Glade of Silent Death. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII--HOW AMOS MET HIS END - - -We stood horror-stricken upon the bank of that dark pool--mute, impotent -spectators of a tragedy we were powerless to prevent. - -Vasco, the Spaniard, stood beside me; and I heard his teeth chattering -in his head like castanets. As for Forsyth, before that gruesome -spectacle was ended he turned away with a kind of sickening sob, at the -same time passing a hand across his eyes, by which I knew that the man -was human after all. Bannister--who had soon caught us up--said -nothing, but stood rigid at the back of us, his rifle in his hands, -ready to fire so soon as an opportunity should offer. As for myself, it -was as if I was transfixed in petrified amazement. I was hypnotised by -the terror of the thing I saw, and could not look away, but must watch -the tragic business to the last. - -With a great splash of water, the immense body of the snake arose from -out the middle of the pool, the surface of which forthwith became -agitated by scores of little waves, forming a series of concentric -circles, spreading outward to the bank. - -We saw the glistening coils of the terrific reptile wind themselves, -swiftly and yet stealthily, around the frail body of the doomed, unhappy -Amos. He let out a piercing shriek, far more terrifying to hear than -the uncanny laughter with which he had disturbed the silence of the -woods--it was freezing in its shrillness. And at the same time he threw -both his arms above his head, so that his heavy bundle of golden ingots -fell into the water and at once disappeared from view. - -He made--so far as we could see--no effort of resistance. Terror, it -seemed, had mastered every muscle, nerve, and sinew in his body. He was -paralysed by fear. We could see, in that dim, religious light, the huge -head of the snake swaying backward and forward in front of him, whilst -its long forked tongue darted swiftly in and out. We saw the man's -face, too, livid with fright, and his wide, staring eyes. For a moment -all his features worked spasmodically. I think he tried to cry out once -more; but the breath had already been driven from his slender frame by -the colossal strength of the relentless serpent that, even as we looked, -broke down the slender bulwark of his ribs. - -It was then that John Bannister fired. He told me afterwards that he -meant to put Baverstock out of the torture he was suffering both of body -and of mind. If that were so, it was a lucky shot; for it killed at -once the reptile and the man. - -The bullet drilled the anaconda, breaking its spine, and thence pierced -the heart of Amos Baverstock. The unhappy wretch vanished from sight -upon the instant beneath the water of the pool; but the dying struggles -of that gigantic snake were amazing to behold. - -It lashed right and left, twisting all ways, writhing like a worm; so -that we, who looked on, were drenched in flying water. It made the most -frantic efforts to drag itself from the pool. The lower part of its -body seemed to be paralysed and quite useless; but at last it succeeded -in half twining itself around the trunk of a tree, where its head swayed -from side to side quite aimlessly. What surprised--and I think -horrified--us most of all was the silence of the brute. - -I fired, and missed; for my hand trembled violently. And, thereby, it -was left to Bannister to end the work he had begun. With his second -shot he smashed in the reptile's head; and the great snake at last lay -motionless, as loathsome in death as it had been terrible in life. I am -ready to believe that five minutes elapsed before any one of us spake or -even moved. - -"I shall never cease to dream of this," said Forsyth, in a weak voice, -at last. "No such nightmare ever was!" - -I saw that he wiped a hand across his forehead; and I did the same. -Though I was splashed all over with the water from the pool, a great -sweat had broken out upon me, and I experienced, in quick succession, -alternate sensations of extreme heat and cold. - -Vasco seized Bannister by an arm. - -"We go away!" he cried, in broken English. "We go now! It is no good -stay here." - -The man turned back into the Wood as if he would retreat by the way we -had come; but Bannister called him back. - -"Not that way," said he, in Spanish. "It is but a little way from here -to the end of the Wood, and we can pass round to the north across open -country. I know a way to the south of the morass." - -We were under Bannister's orders. And thankful we were that we had such -a man to follow. We knew there was an urgent need to go back to Rushby -as quickly as we might. - -We were obliged to pass round the pool, and this brought us to within a -few yards of the great body of the snake. - -"I never knew," said Bannister, "that such a monster could exist. He -must be over thirty feet in length. But, come; we can do nothing here." - -In single file, as before, we followed him, and presently came forth -into the open air upon the skirting of the Wood. - -There we regarded one another in shocked surprise; for the faces of us -all were white, and Vasco was still trembling. We said nothing; not a -word passed between us; but we all breathed deeply, like men who had -been for a long time under water. - -I looked up at the blue sky and the hills in the distance, to the east, -whence I had first looked down upon the Wood of the Red Fish, after my -journey across the plain. And I remembered what I had then thought; how -I was filled with the restless spirit of adventure; how the joy of life -was strong within me, whilst I ran the danger of my life, all naked as I -was, with my Indian blow-pipe in my hand and my quiver full of arrows. -But now I had seen the very face of death. I had beheld a living -terror. The mask of Romance had been removed from the forbidding face -of Tragedy. And that Wood was now to me a dread, unholy place, wherein, -I knew, I would never dare to venture again, in spite of the great -Treasure that lay hidden in its midst. - -"I would not go back," I cried to Bannister, "for all the Treasure of -the Incas, for all the treasure in the world!" - -My old friend looked at me, and smiled. - -"You are right," he answered. "And there never will be a need to, Dick. -As soon as we are rested, we must find our honest Rushby, and do what we -can for him." - -We camped that night in the open air, a mile or so to the south of the -morass; and the following morning continued our journey, keeping the -Wood to our left. - -We had not gone far before we discovered the figure of a man, who came -running towards us from the direction of the hills. I noticed that he -advanced with a peculiar limp, and on this account, for the moment, I -believed it to be Rushby, most marvellously recovered of his wound. - -But when the runner had drawn quite near to us, I was surprised beyond -measure to recognise my old friend, Atupo, the Peruvian priest, whom I -had befriended in the vault beneath the Temple of Cahazaxa. - -Though I called him by his name, he cast never so much as a glance at me -or any of the others, save Bannister, at whose feet he threw himself, as -pagans prostrate themselves before the idols that they worship. - -"My master!" he exclaimed, and went on, in his quaint, broken English, -in some such strain as this: "I never thought to live to set eyes on you -again." - -Bannister lifted him to his feet and, laying a hand affectionately upon -his shoulder, asked him what news he had of his friends and brethren, -who had fled from their dwellings before the wrath of Amos. - -Atupo told him that the majority had sought refuge in the woods, where -many of their number had been treacherously murdered by the wild men. He -himself, however, had founded a small colony of some score of persons -who were living by the side of the ravine that crossed the plain, not so -far beyond the hills that we could see. All these, he said, were -anxious to return to Cahazaxa's Temple, but dared not do so, believing -Amos to be still abroad. - -Bannister at once set the man's mind at rest, assuring him that it was -not only safe for them to return, but that Amos himself was dead and the -Greater Treasure undisturbed. - -At that, Atupo threw up his hands by way of a gesture of delight; and -then, looking about him, for the first time recognised both Mr. Forsyth -and myself. And it is doubtful which of the two of us he was most -surprised to see. - -Myself he regarded as a trusted friend; but he knew that Forsyth had -been one of Baverstock's party, and he was astounded to behold that -gentleman alive. Being told by Bannister that he had naught to fear, he -pointed straight at Forsyth. - -"But that man should be dead!" he cried. "With my own eyes I saw him -shot with an arrow, the point of which was steeped in deadly poison." - -And then it was that Mr. Gilbert Forsyth told us the truth, which I have -set down already: how, with a fortitude that one cannot but admire, he -had burned the poison from his flesh, and thus saved his life, though he -had fallen into a fever. - -Atupo, soon afterwards, expressed himself anxious to return to his own -friends; but Bannister was one whose custom it was to look well ahead, -and he knew that the ancient Peruvians had been well skilled in -medicine. - -"Friend Atupo," said he, "we have need of your assistance; for there is -one of our number who is sorely wounded. You and your comrades owe not -a little to us; and I will, therefore, ask you to go back to the Temple, -and there await our coming. Prepare such drugs as you may have for a -man who has a wound in the leg that will not heal." - -"Does the sun ask the moon to shine?" inquired the Peruvian. "What of -the white man's medicines?" - -Bannister threw out his hands. - -"Alas!" he exclaimed. "We have none; we have used all we had." - -And so the matter was settled; Atupo, the priest, returning to the -Temple, and ourselves veering round to the west, between the Wood and -the morass, towards the place where we had left William Rushby. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII--CONCLUSION - - -Early that afternoon we arrived at our destination, and found that we -were none too soon. For Rushby had long since consumed all the water we -had left him, but had managed somehow to move himself, though in the -greatest pain, to the bank of the stream that flowed near at hand, where -he was able, from time to time, to fill his pannikin with water. Also, -that very morning, he had eaten the last of the food that we had left -him. So it was well we came no later. - -He told us that he had slept daily for many hours; and on one occasion -he had awakened quite suddenly, to find one of those small deer that -were numerous in the Wood staring at him with its soft, mild eyes, from -a distance of not more than ten yards. - -I asked him if he had not been afraid that some wild beast of prey might -find him in the night. But he told me that he had never bothered -himself about such matters, since both by day and night he had kept a -fire alight. He had heard the report of the first shot, that which had -brought about the death of Joshua Trust, though he had heard nothing of -the other shots, upon the far side of the Wood, fired in the glade where -Amos Baverstock had met his tragic end. - -"I have lain here for days," said he, "wondering what was happening, and -whether I would ever set eyes upon any one of you again." - -When we told him the story of the death of Amos, he seemed little enough -impressed; for he was a rough-and-ready seaman, without the gift of -imagination, and he had not been there himself to behold with his own -eyes the terror of that incident or to hear the wild laughter of the -fugitive as he fled before us through the Wood. - -"A fit end for such a man," said he. "He himself was as evil as any -snake, though he had courage of a sort; for I remember him well, when he -faced the mutineers on board the _Mary Greenfield_. And what of the -map?" he asked, turning suddenly to Bannister, who shrugged his -shoulders. - -"We do not know," he answered; "but in default of certain evidence we -must presume that that little fragment which we brought with us all the -way from Sussex went down into the water when Amos was crushed to -death." - -"So then," said William Rushby, who was of a practical turn of mind, "no -one is any the wiser, so far as the Big Fish is concerned?" - -"No one," said Bannister, "save we five, and I do not suppose that any -one of us will ever care again to undertake such an expedition." - -I looked at Mr. Gilbert Forsyth; for I was inclined to think that he was -the only member of our party who was likely to persevere upon the quest -of the Greater Treasure in spite of any promise he had made. - -I was surprised at the attitude he had assumed; for there was something -in it that jogged my memory, that took me back to the day when I had -first seen him and Baverstock and Joshua Trust. For he lay upon his -back, with his hands clasped behind his head, and one knee thrown -carelessly across the other. But how different was he now! He no -longer wore his highly polished boots, his double-breasted waistcoat, -and his hat tilted at a jaunty angle on his head. He was in rags and -tatters, burnt and blistered by the sun, deprived of an ear where the -skin was all white and scarred owing to his having burnt it. And yet he -yawned in the same lazy fashion. - -"I've had enough of it," said he. "I want nothing better than a land of -chimney-pots and gas-pipes. I shall rejoice at the sight of a -policeman." - -And he yawned again. - -Rushby, we found, was in no better plight than before. It was quite -impossible for him to walk. We saw at once that we must carry him; and -as delay would profit us nothing, we set forward that very afternoon, -heading in the direction of the hills towards the east. - -It was a silent, almost a saddened, party that crossed the plain to -Cahazaxa's Temple. We took it in turns, two at a time, to carry Rushby; -and on that account we could not make many miles a day. We crossed the -suspension bridge, and at last came within sight of the great ruin, -whence from the hill-top we looked down upon the forest, wherein we had -all risked our lives so often, in the heart of which I had lived for -weeks with the wild men of the woods. - -I asked Bannister how it was that they had treated me so kindly, when it -was these same people who had murdered Atupo's friends. - -"Curiosity," said he; for he could explain most things. "The South -American savage is not by any means as curious as the African; but you -must remember that the men who found you had never before set eyes upon -a white man. They probably looked upon you as a kind of god. With the -Peruvians, it was different. Though the forest folk never ventured to -the Temple, they had regarded the priests for years as their natural -foes." - -We remained for two weeks at the Temple, during which time Atupo -personally attended to Rushby's wound, bathing it with a decoction made -from a herb that he procured in the forest. Whatever this was it -proved, at any rate, effective; for the wound soon healed, and the -boatswain was at last able to walk with the aid of a stick. - -We then set forward upon our journey towards the west, bidding good-bye -to the quaint people whom we had already learned to love. We crossed -the plain and that marvellous suspension bridge that had existed for -centuries, and stands--for all I know--to this day, as evidence of the -bygone civilisation of a great and ancient people. We came to the -valley in which lay the Wood of the Red Fish; but we passed so far to -the south that we did no more than see it dimly through the thick -morning haze that lay between the hills. And after that we entered into -a country very different from any we had yet seen--a land of high -mountains and deep valleys, clothed with trees. - -We were days upon our march across the Andes. We were obliged to -progress by easy stages, because Rushby was half a cripple. There, in -the highlands, we found a mild, simple people, engaged in agricultural -pursuits, tending large flocks of llamas, or Peruvian sheep. From -village to village we went, like beggars, and were always treated with -hospitality and kindness. - -At last we gained the crestline of those immortal mountains, and could -see, both to the north and to the south of us, peak upon peak, rugged -and inaccessible, towering like giants into the sky. Thence we -descended to the narrow tableland, where the grass was knee-deep and -native villages were many. - -All this was a journey of several weeks, and yet, in more ways than one, -something in the nature of a pleasant picnic after the hardships and the -perils we had been called upon to face. - -Sleeping night by night beneath the stars, wayfarers among the glorious -and rugged hills, we had learned the art of comradeship. We found that -there was good even in Forsyth and the sleepy, idle Vasco; and -fortunate, indeed, is he who never travels in worse company than that of -men like Bannister and Rushby. - -And so, upon a certain day at sunset, I was strangely conscious of a -feeling of sadness when I knew that we were come to the end of our -adventures, and that we soon must part. We stood then on a steep bluff, -and looked down upon a narrow strip of sea-board, populous with towns -and hamlets, with fertile fields between; and so we came to the -seashore, and saw the sun go down upon the wide and golden Pacific -Ocean. - -[Illustration: "AND SO WE CAME TO THE SHORE AND SAW THE SUN GO DOWN UPON -THE WIDE AND GOLDEN PACIFIC OCEAN."] - -And now my story is told. Since those days I have ventured often in the -wild places of the world--upon great open spaces, amid the summits of -unknown mountains, in dense, steaming forests--but never again have I -journeyed to the Wood of the Red Fish. Nor, to my certain knowledge, -did any of the others. - -In that, as in much else, we thought alike. Let the Inca gold lie in -the dust, where it has lain for above four hundred years. He who will -may yet go forth to find it. As for me, whenever I remember that dread -Wood I see the gold, stacked and glimmering in the torch-light, and I -hear the wild, mad laughter of Amos Baverstock as he fled before us, and -see him once again and hear his piercing shriek, when he was caught in -the silent, stealthy coils that crushed that evil man to death before -our very eyes. And I ask God to have mercy on us who are yet alive, and -to save us from a like living and ending. - - - - THE END. - - - - PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY - WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, - LONDON AND BECCLES. - - - - - THE BOY'S LIBRARY OF - _Adventure and Heroism._ - - -_An excellent series of Gift Books, of good bulk, handsomely printed, -illustrated and bound. Large crown 8vo, cloth gilt coloured wrappers._ - - -The Fifth Form at St Dominic's. By TALBOT BAINES REED. - -A lively and thoroughly healthy tale of Public School life; abounding in -stirring incident and in humorous descriptions. - - -A Hero in Wolfskin. By TOM BEVAN. - -A Story of Pagan and Christian. - -A young Goth performs feats of valour against the Roman legions, and -dazzles a huge audience with his prowess in the Coliseum. - - -The Adventures of Val Daintry in the Graeco-Turkish War. By V. L. -GOING. - -A bright and vigorous story, the main scenes of which are laid in the -last war between Turkey and Greece. - - -The Adventures of a Three-Guinea Watch. By TALBOT BAINES REED. - -A straightforward story of school-life, and of the duties and -temptations of young men entering upon the work of life. - - -The Cock-House at Fellsgarth. A Public School Story. By TALBOT BAINES -REED. - -The juniors' rollicking fun, the seniors' rivalry, the school elections -and football match are all told in a forcible manner. - - -A Dog with a Bad Name. By TALBOT BAINES REED. - -The story of a big, ungainly youth who seemed fated to be misunderstood, -and to be made the butt of his comrades. - - -The Master of the Shell. By TALBOT BAINES REED. - -Dealing with the pranks of schoolboys, bubbling over with mischief and -fun, and the trials of a young House-Master. - - -From Scapegrace to Hero. By ERNEST PROTHEROE. - -The Scapegrace, who became a thorough-going hero, was a wild, -unmanageable village boy possessing an inveterate taste for mischief. - - -Sir Ludar. By TALBOT BAINES REED. - -A stirring tale of the days of Queen Elizabeth, dealing with the -wonderful adventures of a sturdy 'prentice-lad. - - -Tom, Dick and Harry. By TALBOT BAINES REED. - -A splendid story, exhibiting in the highest degree this popular author's -knowledge of schoolboy life and humour. - - -Submarine U93. By MAJOR CHARLES GILSON. - -A thrilling tale, in which the U boat is the principal factor. The -youthful hero, with that redoubtable personage, Captain Crouch, passes -through many ordeals and adventures. - - -Into the Soundless Deeps. A Tale of Wonder and Invention. By P. 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What boy wants more? - - - THE R.T.S., 4, BOUVERIE STREET, LONDON, E.C. 4. - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREASURE OF KINGS *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39399 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a -registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, -unless you receive specific permission. 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