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diff --git a/old/50897-0.txt b/old/50897-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 14a381f..0000000 --- a/old/50897-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6449 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Haunted Pagodas--The Quest of the -Golden Pearl, by J. E. Hutchinson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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 -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Haunted Pagodas--The Quest of the Golden Pearl - -Author: J. E. Hutchinson - -Illustrator: Hume Nisbet - -Release Date: January 11, 2016 [EBook #50897] -Last Updated: March 15, 2018 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HAUNTED PAGODAS *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - - -THE HAUNTED PAGODAS--THE QUEST OF THE GOLDEN PEARL - -By J. E. Hutchinson - -Illustrated by Hume Nisbet - -London: Ward and Downey - -1897 - -[Illustration: 0001] - -[Illustration: 0008] - -[Illustration: 0009] - - - - -QUEST OF THE GOLDEN PEARL. - - - - -CHAPTER I.--THE SHARK-CHARMER WALKS THE PLANK. - - - Jack! I say, Jack! there's a row among the boatmen.” - -A sturdy, thick-set young fellow of seventeen was Jack, with low-hung -fists of formidable size, and a love for anything in the shape of a row -that constantly led him into scrapes. Hot-headed though he was, he was -one of the most good-humoured, well-meaning young fellows in the world, -who, while he would not hurt a fly if he could help it, was always ready -to fight in defence of his own or another's rights. - -His chum, Roydon Leigh--“Don” for short--was of an altogether different -type of young manhood. Jack's senior by a year, he was tall for his -age, standing five feet ten in his stockings. His lithe, wiry frame -contrasted strongly with Jack's sturdier build, as did his Scotch -“canniness” with that young gentleman's headlong impetuosity. - -“A row!” cried Jack delightedly, as he rushed to the taffrail. “Time, -too; four weeks we've lain here, and never a hand in a single shindy!” - -His companion laughed. - -“As for that,” said he, “you're not likely to have a hand in this, -unless you take the boat and row off to the diving grounds. All the -same, there's a jolly row on--look yonder.” - -The schooner _Wellington_ rode at anchor at the northern extremity of -the Strait of Manaar, on the famous pearl-fishing grounds of Ceylon. -On her larboard bow lay the coast--a string of low, white sand-hills, -dotted with the dark-brown thatch of fisher huts and the vivid green -of cocoa-nut palms. The hour was eight o'clock in the morning of a -cloudless March day; the fitful land-breeze had died away, leaving -the whole surface of the sea like billowy glass. Half-a-dozen -cable's-lengths distant on the schooner's starboard quarter, a score -or-more of native _dhonies_ or diving-boats rose and dipped to the -regular motion of the long ground-swell. - -It was towards these boats that Don pointed. - -That something unusual had occurred was evident enough. Angry shouts -floated across the placid water; and the native boatmen could be seen -hurriedly pulling the boats together into a compact group about one -central spot where the clamour was loudest. - -“I say,” cried Jack, after watching the boats for some time in silence, -“they're making for the schooner.” - -“I don't half like the look of it,” replied Don uneasily; “they -shouldn't leave the diving grounds, you know, until the signal gun's -fired. I wish the guv was here.” - -“Wishing's no good when he's ashore,” said Jack philosophically. “You're -the skipper _pro tem_., and you must make the most of your promotion, -old fellow. We'll have some fun, anyhow. Whew! how those niggers pull, -and what a jolly row they're making!” - -By this time the excited cries, which had first attracted the attention -of those upon the schooner's deck, had been exchanged by the boatmen for -a weird chant, to which every oar kept time. Erect in the stern of the -foremost boat an old whiteheaded _tyndal_ or “master” led the song, -while at the end of each measure a hundred voices raised a chorus that -seemed fairly to lift the boats clear of the water. - -“What are they singing, anyway?” demanded Jack. “There's something about -a diver and a shark in it, but I can't half make it out, can you?” - -“We'll call Puggles--he'll be able to tell us. Pug! Hi, Pug! come here.” - -“Coming, sa'b!” answered a voice from the cook's galley; and almost -simultaneously there appeared on deck the plumpest, shiniest, most -good-natured looking black boy that ever displayed two raws of pearly -teeth. Nature had, apparently, pulled him into the world by the nose, -and then, as a sort of finishing touch to the job, had given that organ -a sharp upward tweak and left it so. It was to this feature that Puggles -owed his name. - -“Pug,” said his master, “tell us what those boatmen yonder are singing.” - -The black boy cocked his ears and listened for a moment with parted -lips. “Boat-wallahs this way telling, sa'b,” said he; and, catching the -strain of the chant, he repeated the words of each line as it fell from -the lips of the old _tyndal_: - - “Salambo selling the diver one charm, - - Salaam, Alii kum! - - Old shark, he telling, then do no harm, - - Salaam, Alii kum! - - One spotted shark come out the south, - - Salaam, Alii kum! - - He taking diver's leg in his mouth, - - Salaam, Alii kum! - - Me big liking got, he telling, for you, - - Salaam, Alii kum! - - So he biting diver clean in two, - - Salaam, Alii kum! - - The lying charmer we take to the ship, - - Salaam, Alii kum! - - There he feeling bite of the sahib's whip, - - Salaam, Alii kum!” - -“Why, this Salambo must be the chap the guv had whipped off the grounds -last season, eh, Pug?” cried Don excitedly. - -“Same black rascal, sa'b. His skin getting well, he coming back. Dey -bring him 'board ship, make his skin sore two times,” explained Puggles, -grinning. - -“Ha, ha!” laughed Jack. “We'll oblige 'em! We'll trice the fellow up! -Hullo, here they come!” - -The boats having now reached the schooner, the chant ceased abruptly, -the heavy oars were noisily shipped, and, amid a perfect Babel of -voices, the boatmen came swarming up the sides, until the deck was one -mass of wildly gesticulating, dusky humanity. The uproar was terrific. - -The old _tyndal_, who towered a full head and shoulders above his -comrades, pushed his way to the front, and commanding silence among his -followers, addressed himself to Don, who was always-recognised as master -in his fathers absence. - -“Sab.” said he in pigeon English, “one year back big sa'b ordering -Salambo eat plenty blows for selling charm to diver-man. All same, this -season he done come back and sell plenty charm, telling diver-man he -put charm round neck, shark no eat him up. He telling plenty lie--this -morning one shark done come, eat diver, charm, all!” - -“Let him stand forward,” said Don, beginning to enter as much into the -novelty of the thing as Jack himself. - -The culprit, a sleek old fellow with shaven head, crafty eyes, and a -rosary of wooden beads about his neck, was shoved to the front. - -“Are you the chap who was whipped off the grounds last year for selling -chaims?” demanded Don. - -“Your honour speaking true words.” whined the shark-charmer, salaaming -until his shaven head almost touched the deck; “I same rascal.” - -“I say, Jack,” whispered Don, “I shan't have him whipped, you know. -We'll, make him walk the plank.” - -“Capital! Hell funk, certain, and there'll be no end of fun.” - -“Well do it, then,” said Don decidedly. “Go forward and order two of -the lascars to take the boat and lie under the schooner's quarter---this -side, you know--ready to pick him up.” - -In high glee Jack departed to execute this commission, while Don again -turned to the shark-doctor. - -“Do you happen to have one of those charms about you?” he asked. - -“One here got, sa'b,” said the fellow, producing from the folds of his -waist-cloth an _ola_ or fragment of palm-leaf, covered with cabalistic -characters. “Sa'b no look at him?” - -“Keep it yourself,” said Don; “you'll soon need it. Hi, lascar!” to one -of the schooner's crew who stood near. “Fetch a plank here and run it -out over the side.” - -By the time the plank was brought and run out until one-half its -length projected over the water, Jack came up chuckling, and by a sign -intimated that the boat was in readiness. The crowd of natives, guessing -that something unusual was afoot, craned their necks eagerly, -while Puggles executed a comic _pas seul_ in his delight. But the -shark-charmer, as Jack had predicted, “funked” miserably. - -Knowing that with the boat in waiting there was absolutely no danger to -the shark-charmer's life, Don turned a deaf ear to his pleadings, and -made a signal to the lascars to proceed. - -[Illustration: 0022] - -Willing hands seized the quaking wretch and dragged him to the -schooner's side, where he was placed upon, the plank, Puggles standing -on the deck-end to keep it down. - -“Steady, Puggles!” cried Don. “One, two, three--let him slide!” - -Puggles jumped aside, the deck-end of the plank rose high in air, then -descended with a crash; and with a scream of terror the shark-charmer -disappeared over the side. - -A tremendous shout rose from the natives on deck, and with a common -impulse they one and all rushed to the schooner's side, which they -reached just as the shark-charmer's head reappeared above the surface. -Another moment, and he was dragged into the boat, where, catching sight -of the laughing faces ranged along the rail above, he shook his fist in -mute menace, and so was rowed to shore. - -“Teach the beggar a lesson he won't forget in a hurry,” said Don, as he -watched the boat recede. “Good-bye, old boy; we're not likely to meet -again.” - -But in this sanguine forecast of the future he was mistaken, as events -speedily proved. - - - - -CHAPTER II. A STROKE OF LUCK AND AN AFTER-STROKE. - - - It was the afternoon of the day on which the shark-charmer so -unwillingly walked the plank. The breeze was so light and fitful that it -barely ruffled the surface of the sea about the schooner. Weary of the -narrow limits of the deck, Don and his chum dropped into the boat and -rowed ashore--Puggles, as a matter of course, bearing them company. - -“These beastly sands are like an oven!” growled Don, lifting his helmet -to cool his dripping forehead. “Where shall we go, Jack?” - -“Bazaar,” replied Jack laconically; “always some fun to be had there. -Pug, point for the bazaar.” - -“Me pointing, sar,” puffed the black boy, setting his dumpy legs in -motion. - -Puggles was never so much in his element as when thus strutting -pompously in advance, warning common nigger humanity of the white -sahibs' approach. At such times the disdainful tilt of his nose, the -supreme self-complaisance of his expansive grin, were as good as a show. - -A gay and animated scene did the bazaar present. Back and forth through -the temporary street surged an endless throng of natives of every -shade of complexion and variety of costume--buying, selling, shouting, -jabbering, drinking with friends or fighting with enemies. - -“Much cry and little wool,” laughed Jack. “There's a big black fellow -yonder auctioning off some pearl oysters; let's have a go at the next -lot.” - -“All right,” assented Don; “perhaps we'll have a stroke of luck. The guv -knew a poor half-caste once who bid in just such a chance lot as this, -and in one of them he found sixty-eight thumping big pearls. Cleared -thousands of pounds by that one bid, the guv says. Pug! here, Pug!” - -“Coming, sa'b,” gasped a faint voice, and Puggles wriggled his way from -amongst the bystanders, shining with abundant perspiration and squeezed -well-nigh flat by the pressure of the crowd. - -“Pug,” said his master, “up on this creel with you, and when that big -black fellow yonder puts up his next lot, bid 'em in.” - -Up went Puggles, nothing loth to escape further squeezing, and up went -the auctioneer's next lot. In five minutes' time the few dozens of -oysters composing the lot were knocked down to the black boy at an -absurdly low figure. - -“Here you are,” said Don, handing him the coin. “Pass that over, and -fetch the things away till we see what's inside them.” - -Making a dive for the oysters, Puggles scrambled them into his cloth, -and followed the sahibs to the outskirts of the crowd, blowing like -a porpoise. Finding a convenient patch of shade beneath a banyan tree -within a few yards of the lazy surf, they proceeded to ascertain, -without further delay, whether the shells contained anything of value. - -“Him plenty smell got, anyhow,” commented Puggles, as he arranged -the oysters, which had been several days out of the water, in a small -pyramid. - -Jack threw himself on the sand, and surveyed the rough, discoloured heap -with unqualified disgust. “They don't look very promising, I must say,” - he cried. “Try that big one on top, Don.” - -Inserting the blade of his pocket-knife between the shells of the -bivalve, Don prized it open and carefully examined its contents. It -contained nothing of any value. - -Jack looked listlessly on, while his companion opened shell after -shell with no other result than the finding of two or three miserable -specimens of pearls, so small that, as Jack laughingly said, “one might -stick them in ones eye and forget the moment after where one had put -them.” - -Only three or four shells now remained unopened, and Don was on the -point of abandoning the search in disgust, when Jack, who had edged -himself on his elbow as close to the heap as the villainous odour of the -decomposed oysters would allow, snatched up a shell of large size, and -said: - -“Let me have the knife a moment, will you? This looks promising--it's -the biggest of the whole lot, anyhow.” - -“There you are, then; I've had enough of them myself,” said Don, tossing -him the knife and walking off. - -He had not proceeded half-a-dozen yards, however, when a loud shout -brought him back at a run. Jack and Puggles were eagerly bending over -the opened oyster. - -“What is it?” he asked breathlessly, going down on his knees beside -them. - -Jack thrust the half-shell towards him. It was literally filled with -magnificent pearls. * - - * In 1828 no less than sixty-seven pearls were taken from a - single oyster on these grounds.--J. K. H. - -Not a word was spoken as the glistening, priceless globules were -carefully abstracted from their unsightly case and laid upon Pug's -coffee-coloured palm. Twenty-five pearls of matchless size and -brilliancy did Jack count out ere the store was exhausted. So taken up -were they with their good fortune that not one of the three observed a -native creep stealthily towards them under cover of the tree. - -“There's been nothing like it known on the grounds for years!” cried Don -excitedly. “Any more, Jack?” - -“No more,” said Jack, and was about to throw the shell away, when -Puggles caught his arm. - -“Stop, sar, stop! Me see something yellow in shell. Stick knife in the -meat, sar, that side.” - -With the point of the blade Jack prodded the substance of the oyster -at the point indicated, and presently laid bare the queen of the royal -family of pearls on which they had stumbled. Larger by far than any of -the twenty-five already taken from the shell, this latest addition to -the number was in shape like a pear, in lustre of the purest pale -yellow. - -“Him gold pearl, sa'b!” cried Puggles gleefully, grinning from ear to -ear. “Other only silver. Gold pearl plenty price fetching.” - -“Jack, old fellow,” cried Don, thumping his companion on the back, -“Puggles is right; we're in luck. I've heard the guv say that a golden -pearl isn't found once in twenty years. The priests are ready to give -simply any sum you like for a really fine specimen.” - -The native who had concealed himself behind the trunk of the banyan -tree, leaned eagerly forward. So close was he to the absorbed group -that he could distinctly hear every word of their conversation. As he -listened, an avaricious glitter shone in his crafty eyes, and he rubbed -his hands unctuously together, as though he were rubbing pearls between -them. - -“How much do you suppose the lot is worth; Don?” Jack inquired. - -“Some thousands of pounds, I should say. But the guv will be able to -tell us. Say, I'd better put them in this.” - -Taking out his watch, he drew off the soft chamois leather case, and -carefully transferred the output of the mammoth oyster from Pugs palm to -this temporary receptacle. - -“Now,” cried Jack, leaping to his feet, “let's make for the schooner. -The sun's set, and besides, I shan't feel easy until the golden 'un is -in a safer place than a waistcoat pocket.” - -“That's so,” assented Don. “Point, Pug!” - -When they had disappeared in the crowded bazaar, the shark-charmer -emerged from behind the tree, and took the road to that part of the -beach where the boats lay. - -By the time Don and his companions reached the schooner, the brief -twilight had deepened into the gray darkness of early night. The pearls -were at once shown to Captain Leigh, who confirmed his son's estimate of -their value. It would, he said, run well into four figures, if not into -five. The golden pearl he pronounced to be of special value. - -“Not that it would fetch anything in England,” said he; “but wealthy -natives--and more especially priests--stop at nothing to secure a pearl -like that. I mean that in a double sense, my lads; so you had better -stow your find away in a safe place.” - -In the locker under the cabin clock, accordingly, the chamois leather -bag with its precious contents was placed. On closing the locker, -however, to his annoyance Don found the key to be missing. - -“I shall put it in the little locker under the cabin clock,” said Don. -“It locks, and there isn't a safer place on board the schooner.” - -[Illustration: 0031] - -“Wrap your handkerchief round the bag, so it won't be noticed if any -one opens the locker,” suggested Jack. “It will be safe enough then, -especially as nobody ever comes here except ourselves and Pug.” - -But on quitting the cabin, to their amazement they came face to face -with the shark-charmer! He stood at the very bottom of the companionway, -within a yard of the cabin door, and directly opposite the clock and -locker. - -“What are you doing here?” cried Don, advancing upon him angrily. - -“Nothing, sab, nothing!” protested the native, dropping a running salvo -of salaams as he backed up the steps. “Me only wanting to see big sa'b.” - -“Then be off about your business, or you'll get the whipping you missed -this morning. Do you hear?” And, without further ado, Salambo made for -the deck, where they saw him disappear over the side. - -“Do you think he saw us at the locker, Jack?” Don asked uneasily. - -“I should think not. But even if he did he wouldn't be any the wiser. He -knows nothing about the pearls.” - -“True enough,” said Don, and so the subject dropped. - -The cabin clock indicated the hour of ten when they turned in for the -night. Somehow Don found himself unable to sleep. In spite of every -effort he could make to the contrary, his thoughts _would_ run on the -pearls. At last he could stand it no longer. Leaping out of his berth, -he struck a light and crept noiselessly into the main cabin. The -companion door stood open to admit the night air, and his candle flared -in the draught. - -“I'll get to sleep, perhaps, if I take a look at them,” he said to -himself as he made his way to the locker. - -An exclamation of alarm burst from his lips. His hand shook so violently -that it was with difficulty he could hold the candle. The lid of the -locker stood wide open! - -Advancing the light, he peered into the receptacle. It contained -nothing. Handkerchief, bag, pearls--all had disappeared! - - - - -CHAPTER III.--THE QUEST BEGINS. - - -For a moment the discovery paralysed him, body and mind. Then he turned -and hurried to Jack's cabin. Jack was snoring. Don shook him fiercely by -the shoulder. - -“Wake up! The pearls are gone!” - -Jack was awake and on his feet in a twinkling. “You're dreaming, old -fellow,” said he, seeing Don in his night-clothes. “You're only half -awake.” Don did not argue the matter. He simply seized Jack by the arm -and dragged him into the main cabin. There the empty locker placed the -truth of his assertion beyond dispute. - -“What's to be done?” gasped Jack. - -“Let us call Pug,” suggested Don. “He may know something about this.” - -Puggles slept on deck. In two minutes they were by his side, and he was -stretching his jaws in a mighty yawn. Great was his astonishment when -he heard of the loss. But he could throw no light on the matter. He had -neither seen nor heard anything suspicious. As for Puggles himself, he -was above suspicion. - -“Come down and let us have another look,” said Jack. “It's just -possible, you know, that some one may have been to the locker and -accidentally dropped or knocked the case out upon the floor. I can't -believe it's gone.” - -Just as they reached the bottom of the companion-way, Puggles, who -was slightly in advance of his master, stopped short, and called their -attention to an object dangling from the handle of the door. Jack caught -it up and ran to the table, where the lighted candle stood. - -“Merely a string of wooden beads,” said he, tossing the object on the -table. - -“A native rosary!” cried Don, snatching it up. “I've seen this before -somewhere.” - -“Sa'b,” broke in Puggles, his eyes the size and colour of Spanish -onions, “him shark-charmer rosilly, sa'b!” - -“The very same!” cried Don. “I recollect seeing it round his neck this -morning.” - -“And I recollect seeing it there this evening,” added Jack. - -“When we bundled him out of the companionway?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then how do you account for our finding it on the door-knob, and for -its being broken as it is now?” - -“Don't you see? The fellow returned, of course.” - -“Returned? When?” - -“After we saw him over the side; he never went ashore. He sneaked back, -and then made off in a tremendous hurry. The position, not to say the -condition, in which we found the rosary proves that. Jove! what a pair -of fools we've been. That rascally shark-charmer has diddled us out of -the pearls.” - -Don stared at his friend open-mouthed, yet unable to utter a single word -either of assent or doubt, so great was the consternation produced in -his mind by Jack's daring theory as to the disappearance of the pearls, -and the consequences which must follow if it held good. - -“You may take it to be a dead certainty,” resumed Jack, following up his -idea, “that when Salambo actually left the ship, the pearls went with -him. We made the rascal walk the plank this morning, and he's bound to -resent that, of course. In fact, the way in which he shook his fist -at us when he went off in the boat shows that he _did_ resent it. Very -well, then, there's a readymade motive for you--revenge.” - -“That's all right,” said Don, finding his tongue at last, “I'm not -boggling over the motive: the value of the pearls is enough motive for -any nigger. What puzzles me is this: How did he know we had them in our -possession at all?” - -“Why, that's as plain as the nose on your face,” replied Jack; “the -fellow was on shore at the same time we were, was he not?” - -“He was.” - -“Well, then, suppose he saw us buy the shells, watched us open them, -and, in short, discovered that we had met with a stroke of luck. Then he -follows us back here--you saw him yourself, didn't you?” - -“I did,” said Don. - -“And you see this, don't you?” dangling the rosary before Don's eyes. - -“I do; I'm not blind.” - -“Then what the dickens more do you want?” - -“The pearls,” said Don, laughing. “I'm convinced, old fellow, so no -more palaver. Our business now is to run the shark-charmer down. What's -the time?” - -“Eleven o'clock to the minute.” - -“And what start of us do you think he has got?” - -“It was about nine when we caught him sneaking, and we turned in at -ten.” - -“And out again half an hour later. Then the locker must have been rifled -between ten and halfpast. That would give him, say, forty-five minutes' -start if we were on his track at this identical moment, which we------ -What was that? I heard a noise overhead.” - -“Some one at the skylight,” said Jack in a whisper. “S-s-sh! I'll slip on -deck and see who it is.” - -The skylight referred to was situated directly over the cabin table, so -that, its sash being then raised some six inches to admit the night air, -it afforded a ready means of eavesdropping. Springing lightly up the -cabin steps in his stocking feet, Jack took a cautious survey of the -deck. The awning had been taken in at nightfall, and a full moon shone -overhead, making the whole deck as light as day. Close beside the -skylight, lashed against the cabin, stood a water-butt; and bending -carelessly over this he saw one of the native crew. Calling out sharply, -he bade him go forward, and the fellow, muttering some half-audible -excuse about wanting a drink, slunk away. - -“A lascar after water; I don't think he was spying,” said Jack, diving -below again. “All the same, we'll keep an eye aloft; that rascally -Salambo may have an accomplice among the crew.” - -“Very likely; but as I was saying,” resumed Don, in a lower key, “the -thief has had ample time to make himself scarce. Now the thing is--how -are we to nab him?” - -“There are the _peons_. * Why not get the guv to set them on the fellow's -track?” - - * Native attendants; pronounced _pewns_.--J..R. H. - -“Why, there's just the difficulty,” said Don, with a despairing gesture. -“They all sleep ashore except one or two; and by the time we woke the -governor, explained matters to him, and got the fellows started, there'd -be no end of delay. Besides, the rascal would naturally be on the -look-out for the _peons_, and either give them the slip or bribe them to -let him off.” - -“That's so; whatever's done must be done sharp.” - -“Just what I was going to say,” continued Don. “The schooner, you see, -sails for Colombo in two or three days' time at the most, and it would -put the governor to no end of inconvenience to despatch half-a-dozen -_peons_ on an errand like this just now. Fact is, I doubt if he'd do it -at all, and we might go whistle for our pearls. No, I've a better plan -than that to propose. There's no need to trouble the guv at all; we'll -go ashore and capture the thief ourselves.” - -“Capital!” cried Jack; “I'd like nothing better. When shall we start?” - -“At once. There's a bright moon, the fellow has only about an hour's -start, and with ordinary luck we ought to run him down by daybreak at -the very----” - -“Hist!” said Jack suddenly; “there's some one at the skylight again. -Wait a minute--I'll soon put an end to his spying.” - -Clearing the ladder at a bound, he emerged upon the deck before the -listener was aware of his approach. The spy was actually bending over -the open skylight. He was there for no good or friendly purpose--that -was evident. - -“You're not after water this time, anyhow,” said Jack, hauling him off -the cabin with scant ceremony. “Didn't I tell you to go forward? -You'll obey orders next time, perhaps;” and drawing off, he felled him -to the deck with a single blow. - -The lascar picked himself up and scuttled forward, muttering curses -beneath his breath. - -“There,” said Jack quietly, as he rejoined those below, “we'll not -be spied upon again to-night, I fancy. Now, Don, for the rest of your -plan.” - -“That's soon told. I propose that we follow the thief at once. The only -difficulty will be to get on his track.” - -“Marster going take me?” queried Puggles anxiously. - -“Why, of course,” said Don; “we couldn't manage without you, Pug.” - -“Then,” said Puggles, grinning, “me soon putting on track; me knowing -place Salambo sleeping plenty nights.” - -“Good; there's something in that,” said Don. “He is sure to go straight -to his den on leaving the schooner, though it's hardly likely he'll -remain there to sleep. Still, he might. 'Twill give us a clue to his -whereabouts, at all events. And now, Jack, ready's the word.” - -No time was to be lost, and quietly and quickly their preparations were -completed. These were by no means extensive: they fully expected to -return to the schooner by break of day. A revolver, half-a-dozen rounds -of ammunition, and a few rupees-disposed in their pockets, they stole -noiselessly on deck. The night was one of breathless calm, and the watch -lay stretched upon their backs, snoring away the sultry hours of duty. -Save our three adventurers, not a living thing was astir; not a sound -broke the stillness of the night; and high overhead the moon floated in -ghostly splendour. - -The boat, as it chanced, lay on that side of the schooner farthest -from the shore; and in order to shape their course for the beach it was -necessary to round the vessel's bows. Puggles held the tiller-ropes, but -in doing this he miscalculated his distance, and ran the boat full tilt -against the schooners cable. - -“Keep her off, Pug!” cried his master in suppressed, half-angry tones. -“Can't you see where you're steering?” - -In the momentary confusion a figure appeared for a moment above the -schooner's bulwarks. Then a glittering object hurtled through the -moonlit air and struck the gun'le of the boat immediately abaft the -thwait on which Jack sat. Jack uttered a stifled cry and dropped his -oar. - -“What's the matter?” said Don impatiently, as the boat swung clear of -the cable. “Pull, old fellow; we've no time to lose.” - -“Better lose a little time than one's life,” muttered Jack through his -set teeth. “Look here!” - -Turning in his seat Don saw, still quivering in the gun'le of the boat -where its point had stuck, a sailor's heavy sheath-knife. In its passage -it had slashed open the shoulder of Jack's coat, grazing the flesh so -closely as to draw blood--the first shed in the quest of the golden -pearl. - -Jack passed it off with an air of indifference. - -“A mere scratch,” said he; “but a close shave all the same. The work -of that treacherous lascar I knocked down a while back. Saw his ugly -head-piece above the rail just now, don't you know. There's no time to -pay him out now, but if ever he interferes with me again he'll get his -knife back, anyhow!” and wrenching the formidable weapon free of the -plank, he thrust it into his belt and again bent to his oar. - -“If that fellow's an accomplice of the shark-charmer, it looks as though -they meant business,” commented Don, seconding his companion's stroke. - -“So do we, if it comes to that,” was Jacks significant retort, - -For some time they pulled in silence, the creaking of the oars in the -rowlocks and the soft purling of the water about the boat's prow being -the only sounds audible. When within a couple of hundred yards of the -gleaming surfline, Don suddenly broke the silence. - -“Hold hard, Jack! Do you make out anything astern there--anything black -on the water?” - -“Nothing,” said Jack, after a moment's hesitation. - -“It's gone now, but I saw it quite plainly. Struck me it looked like a -man's head. Must have been a dugong.” - -“Or the lascar,” suggested Jack. “He's safe to follow us if he's an -accomplice.” - -“Hardly safe with so many sharks about,” rejoined Don, “unless his -master has provided him with an extra potent charm.” - -Five minutes later, the boat having meanwhile been beached upon the -deserted sands, Puggles was rapidly “pointing” for the bazaar, where the -shark-charmer slept o' nights. That they should find him there to-night, -however, was almost too much to hope. He had probably “made tracks” with -all speed after securing the pearls. All the same, a visit to the bazaar -might furnish some clue to his present whereabouts. - -“Stop!” said Don, when within fifty yards of the spot. “The whole place -will be astir in two minutes if we show ourselves, Jack. We'd better -send Pug on ahead to reconnoitre while we wait here. Do you know the hut -he usually sleeps in, Pug?” - -“Me finding with me eyes shut, sa'b.” - -“Good! Now listen. Make your way to this hut as quietly as you can, and -ascertain whether he's there or not. If he's there, don't wake him, but -come back here as fast as your legs can carry you. If he's not there, -try and find out where he's gone.” - -“Put your cloth over your head so he won't recognise you, and say you've -come on business,” put in Jack. “Pretend you want a charm, or something -of that sort.” - -“Not a bad idea,” assented Don. “You understand, Pug?” - -“Me understanding, sa'b.” - -“Then be off with you, sharp!” - -Puggles promptly disappeared. - -In the course of ten minutes he returned, accompanied by a native -muffled from head to heel in a blanket. - -“Surely he can't have induced the old fellow to return with him!” - whispered Jack excitedly. - -But in this surmise he was wrong. It was not the shark-charmer. - -“Dis one bery nice black man; plenty talk got,” said Puggles, by way of -introduction, when he reached the spot where his master and Jack were -waiting. “Him telling shark-charmer no here; he going one village.” - -“Just as I feared,” said Don. “How far is it to this village, Pug!” - -“Him telling one two legs,” replied Puggles, meaning leagues. “Village -'long shore; marster giving one rupee, dis'black man showing way.” - -Without further parley the rupee was transferred from Don's pocket to -the stranger's outstretched palm, and off they started. After following -the beach for about a mile, their guide turned his back upon the sea and -struck inland, leading them a tortuous course amid ghostly, interminable -sand-hills, where the mournful sighing of the night-wind through the -tall silver-grass, and the howling of predatory jackals, added to the -weird loneliness of the scene. A blurred furrow in the yielding sand -formed the only footpath. So slow was their progress that when at last -the guide pointed out the village a halfmile ahead, Don, on consulting -his watch, found it to be three o'clock. They had wasted fully two hours -in walking six miles. - -While they were still some little distance short of the village, the -guide stopped, and pointing out a pool of water which shone like a boss -of polished silver amid the sand-hills, asked leave to go and slake his -thirst. His request granted, he disappeared amid the dunes. - -“Do you know,” said Jack, while they were impatiently awaiting his -return, “I fancy I've seen that fellow before, though I can't for the -life of me recall where.” - -The guide not returning, they at length went in search of him. But Pug's -“bery nice black man” was nowhere to be seen. - -“Looks as if he meant to leave us in the lurch,” Jack began, when a -shout of “Him here got, sa'b!” from Puggles, brought them back to the -footpath at a run. - -The new-comer, however, was not the missing guide, but a stranger. He -had been belated at the bazaar, he told them, and was now making his -way home to the village close by. In answer to inquiries concerning the -shark-charmer, he imparted a startling piece of news. - -The shark-charmer had indeed taken his departure from the bazaar, -but not to this village. He had, the stranger asserted, embarked in a -coasting vessel bound for the opposite side of the Strait. - -Don uttered an exclamation of impatience and dismay. - -“He will be safe on the Madras coast by daybreak!” he cried. - -“Him there coming from, sa'b,” put in Puggles. - -“And that lying guide,” added Jack savagely, “was an accomplice, left -behind to throw us off the scent. Don't you remember you saw some one -swimming after the boat? I'll lay any odds 'twas the lascar. He got -to the bazaar ahead of us--he could easily manage that, you know, -by running along the sands--muffled himself up so that I shouldn't -recognise him, and then led us on this fool's errand while his master -made off. Well, good-bye to the golden pearl!” - -“Not a bit of it!” cried Don resolutely. “I, for one, shan't relinquish -the quest, come what may. Back we go to the schooner! Then, with the -governor's consent, we'll go further. Point, Pug!” - -Jack seconding this proposal heartily, they rewarded the communicative -native, and with unflagging determination retraced their steps. By four -o'clock they had traversed something more than half the distance. The -dawn star was now high above the eastern horizon. A rosy flush in the -same quarter warned them that day was rapidly approaching. Suddenly, out -of the gray distance ahead, a dull booming sound floated to their ears. - -“The schooner's signal gun!” exclaimed Don. “Why, it's too early yet -by a good hour for the boats to put out. What's the governor about, I -wonder?” - -“There it goes again!” cried Jack. “I never knew it to be fired twice of -a morning, did you?” - -“Never,” said Don uneasily. “Come, let us get on!” - -Off again at their best speed, until at length the heavy path was -exchanged for the smooth, hard sand of the beach. On this it was -possible to make better time, and by five o'clock they were within half -a mile or so of the bazaar. It was now daylight; but a sharp bend in the -coast-line, and the sand-hills which here rose steeply from the beach -on their left, as yet concealed both the landing-place and the schooner -from view. - -Puggles, who in spite of his shortness of limb had throughout maintained -the lead by several rods, suddenly stopped, and fell to shouting and -gesticulating wildly. Breaking into a run, Don and Jack speedily came up -with him. - -“Look, sa'b, look!” gasped Puggles, pointing down the coast with shaking -hand. - -Far away on the horizon appeared the white canvas of a vessel bowling -along before the fresh land breeze, with a fleet of fishing-boats -spreading their fustian-hued wings in her wake. - -The spot where our adventurers had last seen the schooner at anchor was -deserted. She was gone! - - - - -CHAPTER IV.--INTRODUCES BOSIN, AND TELLS HOW CAPTAIN MANGO PROVED -HIMSELF A TRUMP. - - - The schooner had sailed! - -When the dismay caused by this unlooked-for turn of events had somewhat -abated, Jack, catching sight of the black boy's lugubrious face, fell to -laughing heartily. - -“After all,” said Don, following his chum's example, “it's no use crying -over spilt milk. I'm not sure but this is the best thing that could have -happened, Jack.” - -“My opinion exactly. We began the quest without the guv's knowledge, and -_nolens volens_ we must continue it without his consent. What's the next -piece on the programme, old fellow?” - -Don pondered for a moment. - -“Why, first,” said he, “we must ascertain whether that fellow told us -the truth about the shark-charmer's having gone across the Strait. If -it turns out that he has, then I'm not exactly clear yet as to what our -next move will be, though I've an idea. You shall hear what it is later -on.” - -“All right,” said Jack “whatever course you decide on, I'm with you -heart and fist, anyhow.” - -Arrived in the vicinity of the bazaar, Puggles was at once despatched to -learn what he could of the shark-charmer's movements. In half an hour -he returned. His report confirmed that which they had already heard. -The shark-charmer had undoubtedly sailed for the opposite side of the -Strait. - -Throwing himself upon his back in the shade of the banyan tree which -had witnessed the discovery of the pearls, Don drew his helmet over his -eyes, and pondered long and deeply. - -“Jack,” said he at length, “how much money have you?” - -Jack turned out his pockets. - -“Barely a rupee and a half,” said he, - -“And I,” added Don, turning out his own, “have four and a half.” - -“Here one rupee got, sa'b,” cried Puggles, tugging at his waist-cloth. -“Me giving him heart and fist, anyhow.” - -“That makes seven rupees, then,” said his master, laughing; “not much to -continue the quest on, eh, Jack?” - -“We'll manage,” said Jack hopefully. “But, I say, you haven't told us -your plans yet, old fellow.” - -“Oh, our course is as plain as a pikestaff. We'll hire a native boat, -and follow the shark-charmer across the Strait. The only question is, -where's enough money to come from?” - -“Don't know,” said Jack, “unless we try to borrow it in the bazaar.” - -At this juncture there occurred an interruption which, unlikely though -it may seem, was destined to lead to a most satisfactory solution of -this all-important and perplexing question. - -While this conversation was in progress Puggles had seated himself at -a short distance behind his master, and throwing his turban aside, -proceeded to untie and dress the one tuft of hair which adorned the back -of his otherwise cleanly shaven head. - -Directly above the spot where he sat there extended far out from the -trunk of the banyan a branch of great size, from which dangled numerous -rope-like air-roots, which, reaching to-within a few feet of the ground, -swayed to and fro in the morning breeze. Out along this branch crept a -large black monkey, which, after taking a cautious survey of Puggles and -his unconscious neighbours, glided noiselessly down one of the swinging -roots, and from its extremity dropped lightly to the ground within a -yard of the discarded turban. Cautiously, with his cunning ferret-eyes -fastened on the preoccupied Puggles, the monkey approached the coveted -prize, snatched it up, and with a shrill cry of triumph turned tail and -fled. - -Looking quickly round at the cry, Puggles took in the situation at a -glance. - -“Sa'b! Sar!” he shouted, invoking the aid of both his master and Jack in -one breath, “one black debil monkey me turban done hooking;” and leaping -to his feet he gave chase. - -“Why,” said Jack, “the little beast is making a bee-line for the old -fort. It must be Bosin, Captain Mango's pet monkey.” - -“Captain Mango!” cried Don, as though seized with some sudden -inspiration. “Never thought of him until this minute!” and, clapping on -his helmet, he set off at a run after Puggles and the monkey. - -Away like the wind went the monkey, the stolen turban trailing after him -through the sand like a great serpent; and away went Puggles, his back -hair flying. But while Puggles was short of wind, the monkey was nimble -of foot. The race was, therefore, unequal from the start, its finish -more summary than satisfactory; for as Puggles ran, with his eyes -glued upon the scurrying monkey, and his mouth wide-stretched, his foot -unluckily came in contact with a tree-root, which lay directly across -his path. Immediately beyond was a bed of fine soft sand, and into this -he pitched, head foremost. Just then his master came up, with Jack at -his heels. - -“Sa'b! Sar!” spluttered Puggles, knuckling his eyes and spitting sand -right and left, “debil monkey done stole turban. Where him going, sa'b?” - -“Come on, Pug,” his master called out as he ran past; “your headgear's -all right--the monkey's taken it into the fort.” - -The structure known as “the fort” occupied the summit of a sandy knoll, -about which grew a thick plantation of cocoanut palms, seemingly as -ancient as the fort itself. The walls of the enclosure had so crumbled -away in places as to afford glimpses of the buildings within. These -were two in number--one an ancient _godown_, as dilapidated as the -surrounding wall; the other, a bungalow in excellent repair, blazing in -all the glory of abundant whitewash. - -Towards this building, after passing the tumble-down gateway, with its -turreted side-towers alive with pigeons, Don and his companion shaped -their course; for this was by no means their first visit to the fort. -A broad, low-eaved verandah shaded the front of the bungalow, and upon -this opened two or three low windows and a door. As they drew near -a shadow suddenly darkened the doorway, and there emerged upon the -verandah an individual whose pea-jacket and trousers of generous -nautical cut unmistakably proclaimed him to be a seafaring man. About -his throat a neckerchief of a deep marine blue was tied in a huge knot; -while from beneath the left leg of his wide pantaloons there projected -the end of a stout wooden substitute for the real limb. - -On catching sight of his visitors an expression of mingled astonishment -and pleasure overspread his honest, bronzed features. - -[Illustration: 0057] - -“Shiver my binnacle!” roared he, advancing with a series of hitches and -extended hand to meet them. “Shiver my binnacle if it ain't Master Don -and Master Jack made port again! An' split my topsails, yonder's the -little nigger swab a-bearin' down under full sail out o' the offin! Lay -alongside the old hulk, my hearties, an' tell an old shipmate what may -be the meaning of it all. Where away might the schooner be, I axes?” - -“To tell you the truth, Captain Mango,” said Don, shaking the old sailor -by the hand in hearty fashion, “on that point we're as much at sea as -yourself. We pulled ashore last night on a little matter of business of -our own--without the skipper's knowledge, you understand--and when we -returned here this morning the schooner had sailed.” - -“Shiver my figger-head if ever I hear'd any yarn to beat that!” roared -the captain, gripping Jack by the hand in turn. “An' d'ye mean to say -now, as ye ain't atween decks, sound asleep in your bunks, when the -wessel gets under weigh?” - -“Not we,” cried Jack, laughing at the captain's puzzled face and earnest -manner; “we were miles down the coast just then.” - -“Belay there!” sang out the captain, rubbing his stubbly chin in greater -perplexity than ever. “Blow me if I'm able to make out what tack you're -on, lad. For, d'ye see, I lays alongside o' the wessel somewheres -about eight bells--arter they fires the signal gun, d'ye see--to pay my -'specks to the master like, and shiver my bulk-head, when I axes what -might _your_ bearin's be, lads, he ups an' says, 'The younkers be below -decks,' says he; an' so he weighs anchor, an' shapes his course for -Colombie.” - -“It's plain there's been a double misunderstanding,” said Don; “_we_ -knew nothing of the guv's intention to sail this morning, and _he_ knew -nothing of our absence from the schooner. He, of course, thought we were -below, and so sailed without us. As I hinted just now, we're ashore on -business of our own. Fact is, we're in a fix, and we want your advice.” - -“Adwice is it?” cried the captain, leading his visitors indoors; “fire -away, lads, till I hears what manner o' stuff you wants, and the wery -best a water-logged old seaman can give ye, ye shall have--shiver my -figger-head if ye shan't! Howsomedever, afore we lays our heads together -like, I'll pipe the cook and order ye some wittles.” This hospitable -duty performed, the captain threw himself into a chair with his -“main-brace,” as he jocosely termed his wooden leg, extended before him, -and, bidding Don proceed with what he had to say, composed himself -to listen. Whereupon Don recounted the cause and manner of the -shark-charmer's punishment, the discovery and subsequent loss of the -pearls, together with their reasons for suspecting the shark-charmer of -the theft, as well as how they had been tricked by the latter's supposed -accomplice, and on making their way back to the beach had found, not the -schooner as they expected, but a deserted roadstead. - -“The thief has crossed the Strait, there's no doubt about that,” he -concluded. “_We_ want to hire a boat and go in pursuit of him; but the -governor's sudden departure has placed us in a dilemma. The fact is, -captain, we haven't enough cash to----” - -“Belay there!” roared the captain, stumping across the room to a -side-table. “Hold hard, lads, till I has a whiff o' the fragrant! -Shiver my maintop! there's nothing like tobackie for ilin' up a seaman's -runnin' gear, says you!” - -Filling a meerschaum pipe of high colour and huge dimensions from a -pouch almost as large as a sailor's bag, the captain reseated himself, -and for some minutes puffed away in silence. - -“Shiver my smokestack!” cried he at last, slapping his thigh -energetically with his disengaged hand, “the thing's as easy as boxin' -the compass, lads! You axes me for adwice: my adwice is, up anchor and -away as soon as ye can. Supplies is low, says you. What o' that? I axes. -There's a canvas bag in the old sea-chest yonder as'll charter all the -boats hereabouts, if so be as they're wanted, which they ain't, d'ye -mind me. Ye can dror on the canvas bag, lads, an' welcome--why not? I -axes. An' there's as tight a leetle cutter in the boat-house below as -ever ye clapped eyes on--which the _Jolly Tar's_ her name--what's at -your sarvice, shiver my main-brace if it ain't! An' blow me, as the -fog-horn says to the donkey-engine, I'll ship along with ye, lads!” - - “An' a-sailin' we'll go, we'll go; - - An' a-sailin' we will go-o-o!” - -he concluded, with a stave of a rollicking old sea-song. - -“Hurrah! You're a trump, captain, and no mistake!” cried Jack, while Don -sprang forward and gripped the old sailor's hand with a heartiness that -showed how thoroughly he appreciated this generous offer. - -“Why, y'see, lads,” explained the captain apologetically, “'twould be -ekal to a-sendin' of ye to Davy Jones if I was to let ye go pokin” round -this 'ere Strait alone. Now me--rope-yarn an' marlin-spikes!--there -ain't a reef, nor a shool, nor yet a crik atween Colombie an' Jafna -P'int but what's laid down on this 'ere old chart o' mine,” tapping his -forehead significantly. “An' besides I'm a-spilin' for a bit o' the -briny, so with you I ships--an' why not? I axes.” - -“And right glad of your company and assistance we'll be, captain,” said -Don. “The main difficulty will be, of course, to discover to what part -of the Indian coast the thief has gone.” - -The captain puffed thoughtfully at his pipe. - -“Why, as for that,” said he at length, “I've an idee as I knows his -reckonin', shiver my binnacle if I ain't! But that's neither here nor -there at this present speakin'. Ballast's the first consideration, lads; -so dror up your cheers an' tackle the perwisions.” - -When they had complied with this welcome invitation to the entire -satisfaction of the captain and their own appetites, “Now, lads,” said -the old sailor gaily, “do ye turn in an' snatch a wink o' sleep, whiles -I goes an' gets the cutter ready for puttin' to sea. For, says you, look -alive's the word if so be as we wants to overhaul the warmint as took -the treasure in tow. Spike my guns!--we'll make him heave to in no -time! - - “For all things is ready, an' nothing we want, - - To fit out our ship as rides so close by; - - Both wittles an' weapons, they be nothing scant, - - Like worthy sea-dogs ourselves we will try!” - -Trolling this ditty, the captain stumped away, while his guests made -themselves as comfortable as they could, and sought the slumber of which -they stood so much in need. - -It was late in the afternoon when they woke. Puggles had disappeared. -Proceeding to the beach, they found the captain, assisted by a small -army of native servants, busily engaged in putting the-finishing touches -to his preparations for the proposed voyage. Just above the surf-line -lay the _Jolly Tar_--a trim little craft, fitted with mast-and sprit, -whose sharp, clean-cut lines betokened possibilities in the way of speed -that promised well for the issue of their enterprise. In the cuddy, amid -a bewildering array of pots, pans, and pannkins, Puggles had already -installed himself, his shining face a perfect picture of self-complacent -good-nature, whilst Bosin, newly released from durance vile, sat in the -stern-sheets, cracking nuts-and jabbering defiance at his black rival. - -“A purty craft!” chuckled the captain, checking for a moment the song -that was always on his lips, as he led his visitors to the cutters side; -“stave my water-butt if there's anything can pull ahead of her in these -'ere parts. Everything shipshape 'an' ready to hand, d'ye see--wittles -for the woyage, an' drink for the woyagers. Likewise ammunitions o' -war,” cried he proudly, pointing out a number of muskets and shining -cutlasses, which a servant just then brought up and placed on board. - - “Bath, wittles an' weapons, they be nothing scant, - - So like worthy sea-dogs ourselves we will try.” - -“What with the cutlasses and guns, and the captain's wooden leg, to -say nothing of our small-arms, Don,” said Jack, “we'd better set up for -buccaneers at once.” - -“Shiver my main-brace! a wooden leg ain't sich a bad article arter all,” - rejoined the captain; “specially when a seaman falls overboard. With a -life-buoy o' that nater rove on to his starn-sheets, he's sartin to keep -one leg above water, says you.” - -“No doubt of that, even if he goes down by the head,” assented Don, -laughing. “But, I say, captain, what's in the keg--spirits?” - -“Avast there!” replied the captain, half shutting one eye and -contemplating the keg with the other, “that 'ere keg, lads, has stuff in -its hold what's a sight better'n spurts. Gunpowder, lads, that's what it -is; and spike my guns if we don't broach the same to the health of old -Salambo when we falls in with him. What say you, lads? - - “We always be ready, - - Steady, lads, steady; - - We'll fight an' we'll conquer agin an' agin.” - -“I hope we shan't have to do that, captain,” said Jack gravely. “But -powder or no powder, we'll pay the beggar out, anyhow.” - -“Right, lad; so we'll just take the keg along with us in case of -emargencies like. Shiver my compass, there's no telling aforehand what -this 'ere wenture may lead to.” - -To whatever the venture was destined to lead, preparations for its -successful inception went on apace, and by nightfall all was in -readiness. The captain declaring that he “couldn't abide the ways o' -them 'ere jabbering nigger swabs when afloat,” the only addition to -their numbers was a single trusty servant of the old sailor's, who was -taken along rather with a view to the cutter's safety when they should -be ashore than because his assistance was required in sailing her. - -Don having despatched an overland messenger with a letter to his father, -explaining their absence and proposed undertaking, as the full moon rose -out of the eastern sea the cutter was launched. - -Half an hour later, with her white sails bellying before the freshening -land-breeze, she bore away for the opposite shore of the Strait, on that -quest from which one at least of those on board was destined never to -return. - -While her sails were yet visible in the moonlit offing, a native crept -down to the deserted beach. He was a dark-skinned, evil-featured fellow; -and the moonlight, falling upon his face, showed his left temple to -be swollen and discoloured as from a recent blow. On his shoulder he -carried a paddle-and a boathook. - -“The wind will drop just before dawn,” he muttered, as he stood a moment -noting the strength and direction of the breeze. “Then, you white-devil, -then!” and he patted the boathook affectionately, as if between him and -it there existed some secret, dark understanding. - -Selecting a _ballam_ or “dug-out” from amongst a number that lay there, -he placed the boathook carefully in the bottom of the frail skiff, and -launched it almost in the furrow which the cutter's keel had ploughed in -the yielding sand. Then springing in, and plying his paddle with rapid -strokes, he quickly disappeared in the cutter's wake. - -[Illustration: 0067] - - - - -CHAPTER V.--THE LASCAR GETS HIS KNIFE BACK. - - - Her light sails winged to catch every breath of the light but steady -breeze that chased her astern, the cutter for some hours bowled through -the water merrily. In the cabin Puggles and the captain's Black servant -snored side by side; whilst Don and Jack lolled comfortably just abaft -the mast-, where the night wind, soft and spicy as the breath of Eden, -would speedily have lulled them to slumber but for the excitement that -fired their blood. The Captain was at the tiller, Bosin curled up by his -side. - -“If this 'ere wind holds, lads,” exclaimed the old sailor abruptly, -after a prolonged silence on his part, “we'd orter make the island agin -sunrise, shiver my forefoot if we don't!” - -Don looked up with half-sleepy interest. “Island, captain? I thought we -were heading straight for the Indian coast.” - -“Ay, so we be, straight away. But, y'see, lad, as I hinted a while back, -I has a sort o' innard idee, so to say, as the old woman ain't on the -mainland.” - -“What old woman?” queried Jack, yawning. “Didn't know there was one in -the case, captain.” - -The old sailor burst into a roar of laughter. “An' no more there ain't, -lad,” chuckled he; “an' slit my hammock if we wants one, says you. Forty -odd year has I sailed the seas, an' hain't signed articles with any on -'em yet. A tight leetle wessel's the lass for me, lads; for, unship my -helm! _she_ never takes her own head for it, says you.” - -“Then what about the old woman you mentioned captain?” said Don -banteringly. - -“Avast there now! An' d'ye mean to say,” demanded the captain -incredulously, “as you ain't ever hear'd tell o' the fish what sails -under that 'ere name? And a wicious warmint he is, too, shiver my -keelson! Hysters is his wittles, an' pearls his physic; he lives on 'em, -so to say; an' so I calls the cove as took them pearls o' your'n in tow -an old woman; an' why not, I axes?” - -“But what about the island you spoke of just now, captain?” - -“Why, d'ye see, it's this way, lads; there's an island off the coast -ahead, a sort o' holy place like, where them thievin' natives goes once -a year an' gets salwation from their sins. Howsomedever, that's neither -here nor there, says you; the p'int's this, lads: Somewheres about the -month o' March, which is this same month, says you, here the priests -flocks from all parts, an' here they stays until they gets a purty -pocketful o' cash. Now, my idee's this, d'ye see: the old woman--which -I means Salambo--lays alongside the schooner an' takes them pearls o' -your'n in tow. What for? says you. Cash, says I. An' so, shiver my -main-brace, he shapes his course for this 'ere island, an' sells 'em to -the priests.” - -“Very likely,” assented Don. “He's bound to carry them to the best -market, of course.” - -“And equally of course the best market is where the most priests are. By -Jove, you _have_ a headpiece, captain!” put in Jack. - -“I'm afraid, though,” resumed Don, after a moment's silence, “I'm afraid -it's not going to be so easy to come at the old fellow as we think. You -say this island's a sort of holy place; well, it's bound to be packed -with natives to the very surf-line in that case. Rather ticklish work, -I should think, taking the old fellow among so many pals. There's the -getting ashore, too; what's to prevent their sighting us?” - -“Belay there!” roared the captain, vigorously thumping the bottom of the -boat with his wooden leg. “Shiver my main-brace! what sort o' craft do -ye take me for, I axes? A island's a island the world over--a lump o' -land what's floated out to sea. Wery good, that bein' so--painters an' -boathooks!--ain't it as easy a-boardin' of her through the starn-ports -as along o' the forechains?” - -“Oh, you mean to make the back of the island, and steal a march on old -Salambo from the rear, then?” cried Don. “A capital idea!” - -“You're on the right tack there, lad,” assented the captain. “There's as -purty a leetle cove at the backside o' that island as ever wessel cast -anchor in, an' well I knows it, shiver my binnacle! Daylight orter put -us into it, if so be---- Split my sprit-sail, lads, if it ain't -a-fallin' calm!” - -[Illustration: 0074] - -An ominous flapping of the cutter's sails confirmed the captain's words. -During the half-hour over which this conversation extended the wind -had gradually died away until scarcely a movement of the warm night -air could be felt. The cutter, losing her headway, rolled lazily to the -motion of the long, glassy swell. Consulting his watch, Don announced it -to be three o'clock. - -“This 'ere's the lull at ween the sea-breeze an' the land-breeze,” - observed the captain complacently, working the tiller from side to side -as if trying to coax renewed life into the cutter. “How-somedever, it -hadn't orter last long. Stow my sea-chest!--we'll turn in an' catch a -wink o' sleep atween whiles. Here, Master Jack, lad! take a turn at the -tiller, will 'ee?” - -Settling himself in the captain's place, with instructions to call that -worthy sea-dog should the wind freshen, Jack began his first watch. -Becalmed as they were, the tiller was useless, so he let it swing, -contenting himself with keeping a bright look-out. But soon he concluded -even this to be an unnecessary precaution. Not a sail was to be seen on -the moonlit expanse of ocean; and even had a score been in sight, there -would still have been no danger whatever, in the absence of wind, of -their interfering with the cutter. In fine, so secure did he consider -their position, and so soporific an influence did the comfortable -snoring of Don and the captain exercise upon him, that in a very short -time his head sank upon his breast, and he fell asleep. - -He had slept soundly for perhaps an hour, when a cold, touch upon the -cheek startled him into consciousness. - -Rousing himself, he found Bosin at his elbow. The monkey for some -reason had left his masters side, and it was his clammy paw, Jack now -perceived, that had awakened him. It almost looked as if the monkey had -purposely interrupted his slumber. But what had roused the monkey? Jack -rose to his feet, stretched himself, and looked about him. - -The night was, if anything, more breathlessly calm than when he had -relieved the captain. Upon the unruffled, deserted sea the moonlight -shimmered with a brilliancy uncanny in its ghostliness. From the cutter -straight away to and around the horizon not an object, so far as he -could make out, darkened the surface of the water, except under the -cutter's larboard bow, where the moon-cast shadow of the sail fell. -He fancied he saw something move there, close under the bow where the -shadow lay blackest. The next instant it had disappeared. - -“All right, Bosin, old chap,” said he, stroking the monkeys back; “a -false alarm this time--back to your quarters, old fellow!” - -The monkey, as if reassured by these words, crept away to his master's -side, whilst Jack resumed his seat, and again dozed off. - -Not for long, however. It was not the monkey this time, but a sudden and -by no means gentle thud against the cutters side that roused him. Awake -in an instant, he sprang to his feet with a startled exclamation. Close -under the cutter's quarter lay a canoe, and in the canoe there stood -erect a native, with what appeared to be a boathook poised above his -head. All this Jack took in at a glance. - -“Boat ahoy! Who's that?” he cried sharply, his hand instinctively -seeking the knife at his belt. - -For answer came a savage, muttered imprecation; and the boathook, -impelled with all the strength of the native's muscular arms, descended -swiftly through the air. Starting aside, Jack received the blow' upon -his left arm, off which the heavy, iron-shod weapon glanced, striking -the gun'le of the boat with a resounding crash. - -“The lascar!” muttered Jack between his teeth, as he stepped back a pace -and whipped out his knife in anticipation of a renewal of the attack. - -But the lascar, baffled in his attempt to take his enemy by surprise, -did not repeat the blow. Instead, he drew off, and with all his strength -drove the iron point of the boathook through the cutter's side below the -water-line. - -“By Heaven!” cried Jack, as he perceived his intention, “I'll soon -settle scores with you, my fine fellow.” - -Springing lightly upon the gunle, at a single bound he cleared the few -yards of open water intervening between the cutter and the canoe, and -with all the impetus of his leap drove the knife into the lascar's -shoulder up to the very hilt. - -The lascar went overboard like a log. The canoe overturning at the same -instant, Jack followed him. - -The noise of the scuffle having roused the sleepers, all was now wild -commotion on board the cutter; Captain Mango roaring out his strange -nautical oaths, and stumping hither and thither in search of something -with which to stop the leak; Don shouting wildly at Jack, as he hastily -threw off shoes and coat to swim to his assistance. Before either well -knew what had actually happened, Jack was alongside. - -“What's the matter? Are you hurt?” Don inquired anxiously, giving him a -hand over the side. - -“Hurt? No, not a scratch,” said Jack lightly, scrambling inboard, and -proceeding to wring the water from his dripping garments. “A narrow -squeak, though. That lascar villain has got his knife back, anyhow.” - -“Who?” cried Don in amazement; for, amid the confusion, neither he nor -the captain had seen the native. - -“The lascar. What else do you suppose I went over the side for? I dozed -off, you see, captain,” said Jack, as the old sailor came stumping up -with extended hand, “and that lascar dog, who must have seen us sail and -paddled after us, stole a march on me, and tried to crack my nut with -a boathook. Lucky for me, he ran his canoe against the side and woke me -up. Got on my feet just in time to dodge the blow. Then he smashed the -boathook through the side. By Jove! I forgot that. We must stop the -leak, or we'll fill in no time.” - -“Stave my quarter!” roared the captain, detaining him as he was about -to rush aft. “The leak's stopped, lad; but blow me if ever I hear'd -anything to beat this 'ere yarn o' your'n, so spin us the rest on it.” - -“That's soon done,” resumed Jack. “When I found the fellow wouldn't give -me a fair show, I boarded him, captain, and treated him to a few inches -of cold steel. He won't trouble us again, I reckon!” - -Scarcely had he finished speaking when Don gripped his arm and pointed -to where, a dozen yards away, the bottom of the canoe glistened in the -moonlight. A dark object had suddenly appeared alongside the overturned -skiff. Presently a surging splash was heard. - -“Shiver my keelson if he ain't righted the craft!” roared the captain, -snatching up one of the muskets as the lascar was seen to scramble into -the canoe and paddle slowly away. - -Don laid a quick hand upon the old sailor's arm. - -“Let the beggar go,” said he. “He'll never reach land with that knife in -him.” - -“Maybe not, lad,” replied the captain, shaking off the hold upon his arm -and taking the best aim he could, considering the motion of the boat. -“Bloodshed's best awoided, says you. Wery good; all' the best way to -awoid it, d'ye mind me, is to send yon warmint to Davy Jones straight -away. Consequential, the quality o' marcy shan't be strained on -this 'ere occasion, as the whale says when he swallied the school o' -codlings.” And with that he fired. - -The lascar was seen to discontinue the use of his paddle for a moment, -and then to make off faster than before. - -The old sailor's face fell. - -“Spike my guns, I've gone and missed the warmint!” said he. -“Howsomedever, we'll meet again, as the shark's lower jaw says to the -upper 'un when they parted company to accomidate the sailor. An' blow -me, lads, here comes the wind! - - “Ay, here's a master excelleth in skill, - - An' the master's mate he is not to seek; - - An' here's a Bjsin ull do our good will, - - An' a ship, d'ye see, lads, as never had leak. - - So lustily, lustily, let us sail forth! - - Our sails he right trim an' the wind's to the north!” - -It was now five o'clock, and as day broke the cutter, with a freshening -breeze on her starboard quarter, bore away for the island, now in full -view. When about a mile short of it, however, the captain laid the -boat's head several points nearer the wind, and shaped his course as -though running past it for the mainland, which lay like a low bank of -mist on the horizon. In the cuddy Puggles was busy with preparations for -breakfast, whilst Don lolled on the rail, watching the shore, and idly -trailing one hand in the water. - -“Hullo! what's this?” he exclaimed suddenly, examining with interest -a fragment of dripping cloth that had caught on his hand. “Jack, come -here!” - -Jack happened to be forward just then, hanging out his drenched clothes -to dry upon an improvised line, but hearing Don's exclamation, he sprang -aft. Somehow he was always expecting surprises now. - -“Look here,” said Don, rapidly spreading out the soaked cloth upon his -knee, “have you ever seen this before?” - -“Not likely!--a mere scrap of rag that some greasy native----” Jack -began, eyeing the said scrap of rag contemptuously. But suddenly his -tone changed, and he gasped out: “By Jove, old fellow, it's not the -handkerchief, is it?” - -“The very same!” replied-Don, rising and hurrying aft to where the -captain stood at the tiller. “I say, captain, you remember my telling -you how I tied a handkerchief round that bag of pearls? Well, here's the -identical 'wipe.' with my initials on it as large as life. Just fished -it out of the water.” - -For full a minute the old sailor stared at him open-mouthed. Then: -“Flush my scuppers,” roared he, “if this 'ere ain't the tidiest piece o' -luck as ever I run agin. We've got the warmint safe in the maintop, so -to say, where he can't run away--shiver my main-brace if we ain't!” - -“Thanks to your clear head, captain,” said Don. “It certainly does look -as if he had come straight to the island here.” - -“We'll purty soon know for sartin; we're a-makin' port hand over fist,” - rejoined the captain, bringing the cutter's head round, and running -under the lee of the island. - -This side, unlike the wind-swept seaward face, was thickly clad in -jungle, above which at intervals towered a solitary palm like a sentinel -on duty. No traces of human habitation were to be seen; for a rocky -backbone or ridge, running lengthwise of the island, isolated its -frequented portion from this jungly half. Midway between the extremities -of this ridge rose two hills: one a symmetrical, cone-shaped elevation, -clad in a mantle of jungle green; the other a vast mass of naked rock, -towering hundreds of feet in air, and in its general-outline somewhat -resembling a colossal kneeling elephant. As if to heighten the -resemblance, there was perched upon the lofty back a native temple, -which looked for all the world like a gigantic howdah. - -“D'ye see them elewations, lads?” cried the captain, heading the cutter -straight for what-appeared to be an unbroken line of jungle. “A. brace -o' twins, says you. Wery good; atween 'em lies as purty a leetle cove as -wessel ever cast anchor in--slip my cable if it ain't!” - -“Are you sure you're not out of your reckoning, captain?” said Jack, -scanning the shore-line with dubious eye. “It's no thoroughfare, so far -as I can see.” - -“Avast there! What d'ye say to that, now?” chuckled the captain, as the -cutter, in obedience to a movement of the tiller, swept round a tiny -eyot indistinguishable in its mantle of green from, the shore itself, -and entered a narrow, land-locked creek, whose precipitous sides were -completely covered from summit to water-line with a rank growth of -vegetation. “Out with the oars, lads! a steam-whistle couldn't coax a -wind into the likes o' this place, says you.” - -The oars run out, they pulled for some distance through this remarkable -rift in the hills, the cutter's mast in places sweeping the overhanging -jungle; until at last a spot was reached where a side ravine cleft the -cliff upon their left, terminating at the water's edge in a strip of -sandy beach, thickly shaded with cocoa-nut palms. - -“Stow my cargo!” chuckled the captain, as he ran the cutter bow-on into -the sand, “a nautical sea-sarpent himself couldn't smell us out here, -says you. So here we heaves to, and here we lies until----swabs an' -slush-buckets, what's this?” - -For the captain had already scrambled ashore, and as he uttered these -words he stooped and intently examined the sand at his feet. In it were -visible recent footprints, and a long trailing furrow that started from -the water's edge and ran for several yards straight up the beach. Where -the furrow terminated there lay a native _ballam_. - -Jack was first to espy the canoe. Guessing the cause of the captain's -sudden excitement, he ran up the sands to the spot where the rude vessel -lay. The _ballam_ was still dripping sea-water; and in it, amid a pool -of blood, lay a sailors sheath-knife. - -“The lascar!” he shouted, snatching up the blood-stained weapon, and -holding it out at arms length, as Don and the captain hurried up; “we've -landed in his very tracks!” - - - - -CHAPTER VI.--IN THE THICK OF IT. - - - Either the lascar's wound had not proved as serious as Jack surmised, -or the fellow was endowed with as many lives as a cat. At all events, he -had reached land before them, and in safety. - -“Sharks an' sea-sarpents!” fumed the captain, Stumping excitedly round -and round the canoe. “The warmint had orter been sent to Davy Jones as I -ad wised. Howsomedever, bloodshed's best awoided, says you, Master Don, -lad; an' so, shiver my keelson! here we lies stranded. What's the course -to be steered now, I axes? That's a matter o' argyment, says you; so -here's for a whiff o' the fragrant!” - -Bidding his servant fetch pipe and tobacco, the captain seated himself -upon the canoe and fell to puffing meditatively, his companions -meanwhile discussing the situation and a project of their own, with -many anxious glances in the direction of the adjacent jungle, where, -for anything they knew to the contrary, the lascar might even then be -stealthily watching their movements. - -“Shiver my smokestack! d'ye see that, now?” exclaimed the captain at -last, following with half-closed eye and tarry finger the ascent of a -perfect smoke-ring that had just left his lips. “An' what's a ring o' -tobackie smoke? says you. A forep'intin' to ewents to come, -says I. A ring means surrounded, d'ye see; an'--grape-shot an' -gun-swabs!--surrounded means fightin', lads!” - -“Fun or fighting, I'm ready, anyhow!” cried Jack, flourishing his knife. - -“Ay, ay, lad; an' me, too, for the matter o' that,” replied the old -sailor, presenting his pipe at an imaginary foe like a pistol; “but when -our situation an' forces is beknownst to the enemy, we're sartin to be -surprised, d'ye mind me. An' so I gets an idee! - - “Go palter to lubbers an' swabs, d'ye see? - - 'Bout danger, an' fear, an' the like; - - A tight leetle boat an' good sea-room give me, - - An' it ain't to a leetle I'll strike!” - -“Out with the idea then, captain!” cried Don. - -“Shiver my cutlass, lads!--we must carry the war into the camp o' the -enemy, dye see'. Wery good, that bein' so, what we wants, d'ye mind me, -is a safe, tidy place to fall back on, as can't be took, or looted, or -burnt, like the cutter here, whiles we're away on the rampage, so to -say.” - -“Why not entrench ourselves on the hill just above?” suggested Jack. - -“Stow my sea-chest!--the wery identical plan I perposes,” promptly -replied the captain. “An' why? you naterally axes. Because it's ha'nted, -says I.” - -“Because it's what?” cried the two young men in chorus. “Haunted?” - -“Ay, the abode o' spurts,” continued the captain. “There's a old -ancient temple aloft on yon hill, d'ye see, as they calls the 'Ha'nted -Pagodas'--which they say as it's a tiger-witch or summat inhabits it, -d'ye see--an' shiver my binnacle if a native'll go a-nigh it day or -night!” - -“Admirable! But what about the cutter, captain?” said Don. - -The captain sucked for a moment at his pipe as if seeking to draw a -suitable idea therefrom. - -“What o' the cutter? you axes,” said he presently. “Why, we'll wrarp her -down the crik a bit, d'ye see, an' stow her away out o' sight where the -wegitation's thickish-like on the face o' the cliff; copper my bottom if -we won't!” - -“The stores, of course, must be carried up the hill,” said Jack, -entering readily into the captain's plans. “We should set about the job -at once.” - -“Avast there, lad! What's to perwent the jungle hereabouts a-usin' of -its eyes? I axes. The wail o' night, says you. So, when the wail o' -night unfurls, as the poic says, why, up the hill they goes.” - -This being unanimously agreed to, and Puggles at that moment announcing -breakfast, our trio of adventurers adjourned to the cutter. - -“Captain,” said Don, after delighting the black boy's heart by a -ravenous attack upon the eatables, “like you, I've got an idee--Hullo, -you, Pug! What are you grinning at?” - -“Nutting, sa'b,” replied Puggles, clapping his hand over his mouth; -“only when marster plenty eating, he sometimes bery often one idee -getting. Plenty food go inside, he kicking idee out!” - -“Just double reef those lips of yours, Pug, and tell us where do _your_ -ideas come from?” said Jack, laughing. - -“Me tinking him here got, sar,” said Puggles, gravely patting his -waistband, at which the old sailor nearly choked. - -“And a pretty stock of them you have, too, judging by the size of your -apple-cart!” said his master, shying a biscuit at his head. “Well, as I -was saying, captain, I have an idea----” - -“Flush my scuppers!” gasped the old sailor, swallowing a brimming -pannikin of coffee to clear his throat. “Let's hear more on it then, -lad.” - -“Well, it's this. Jack and I are going over to the town--where the -temples are, you understand--to see if we can't sight old Salambo. A bit -of reconnoitring may be of use to us later, you see.” - -“A-goin'--over--to--the--town!” roared the captain in amazement, -separating the words as though each were a reluctant step in the -direction proposed. “Scuttle my cutter, lads! ye'll have the whole pack -o' waimints down on ye in a brace o' shakes!” - -“You won't say so when you see us in full war-paint,” retorted Jack, as -he and Don rose and disappeared in the cuddy. - -In the course of half an hour the cuddy door was thrown open, and -two stalwart young natives, in full country dress, confronted the old -sailor. With the assistance of Puggles and the captain's “boy,” not to -mention soot from the cuddy pots, the two young fellows had cleverly -“made up” in the guise of Indian pilgrims. At first sight of them, the -captain, thinking old Salambo's crew were upon him, seized a musket and -threw himself into an attitude of defence. - -“Blow me!” he roared, when a loud burst of laughter apprised him of -his mistake, “if this ain't the purtiest go as ever I see. Scrapers an' -holystones, ye might lay alongside the old woman himself, lads, an' him -not know ye from a reglar, genewine brace o' lying niggers. What tack -are ye on now, lads? I axes.” - -“Off to the town, captain,” replied Don, “to search for old Salambo -among his idols. That is, if you'll let Spottie here come with us as -pilot.” - -“Spottie” was the nickname with which they had dubbed the captain's -black servant, whose face was deeply pitted from smallpox. - -“Right, lads; he's been here afore, an' knows the lay o' the land; so -take him in tow, and welcome,” was the captain's hearty rejoinder. “An' -stow your knives away amidships, in case of emargency like; though blow -me if they ever take ye for aught but genewine lying niggers!” - -Concealing their knives about their persons in accordance with this -advice, they launched the lascar's _ballam_ upon the creek--which the -captain assured them expanded a little further inland into a broad -lagoon, too deep to ford--and so set out.. The paddle had been removed; -but as the creek appeared to have nowhere, in its upper reaches at -any rate, a greater depth than half-a-dozen feet, the boathook served -admirably as, a substitute for propelling the canoe. - -“What's the line for, Spottie?” Jack asked, seeing their guide throw a -coil of small rope into the canoe, which he afterwards boarded in person -and shoved off. - -“Turkle, sar,” replied Spottie. “Plenty time me catching big turkle -asleep on sand. He no come in _ballam_, so me taking rope to tow him -astern. Him bery nice soup making, sar,” said Spottie, who had always an -eye to anything. - -Little as they guessed it then, this line was to play a more unique -and serviceable part in the day's adventures than that indicated by the -soup-loving Spottie. - -The creek, as the captain had intimated, presently expanded into a -lagoon fully a quarter of a mile wide, and so shallow in parts that -the canoe almost touched the amber-coloured sands over which it passed. -Arrived at the further side, they drew the canoe upon the beach, and -continued their route to the town by way of a steep jungle-path, which, -in the course of some fifteen minutes' hard climbing, led them to the -crest of the rocky ridge. Here they paused a moment to look about them. - -To the left lay Haunted Pagoda Hill; on their right the colossal -Elephant Rock; and, nestling at its base, the native town, with its sea -of dun roofs and gleaming white temples. The stirring ramp of tom-toms, -and the hoarse roar of the multitude, floated up to them as they stood -contemplating the scene. - -“Now for it!” cried Jack, heading the descent. “We'll soon be in the -thick of it, anyhow.” - -A few minutes more and they stood on the outskirts of the town. - -“Make for the chief temple, Spottie,” said Don to their guide; “and -whatever you do, don't call us sahib or sir. We're only pilgrims like -yourself, you understand. And say, Spottie, do you know old Salambo, the -shark-charmer, when you see him?” - -By a nod Spottie intimated that he did. - -“Good! He's the chap we're after, you understand. Keep a sharp look-out, -and if you happen to get your eye on him----” - -“Or on a lascar with a knife-wound in his shoulder,” put in Jack. - -“Just pull my cloth, will you?” concluded Don. - -Again the trusty Spottie nodded, and at a signal led the way into the -main-street, where they immediately found themselves in the midst of a -noisy, surging crowd of natives. - -So perfect was their disguise, however, that Don could not detect a -single suspicious glance directed towards them. - -The natives who thronged the street were, to a man, heading for the -temples. Into these, if nothing was seen of the shark-charmer outside, -Don was resolved to penetrate. - -As no English foot is ever allowed--in Southern India, at least--to -cross the threshold of a Hindu shrine, this was a step attended with -tremendous risk. Detection would mean fighting for their lives against -overwhelming odds. - -“We'll do it, however,” said Don resolutely. “The temple's the place to -look for him, since he's a priest, and in this disguise the pearls are -worth the risk.” - -That this was also Jack's opinion was plain from the resolute, -nonchalant manner in which he pressed forward. - -Owing to the congested state of the thoroughfare, progress was -necessarily slow. They were more than an hour in gaining the open -_maidan_ in which the street terminated. - -In the centre of this open space lay a sacred tank, flanked, on that -side nearest the Elephant Rock, by a vast semicircle of temples. Midway -in this line stood the chief temple. Here, if at all, the shark-charmer -would most likely be found. - -But to reach the chief temple was no easy task. Vast crowds of pilgrims -surrounded the sacred tank, awaiting their turn to bathe in its stagnant -green waters. - -At last, after much elbowing and pushing, they reached the steps of the -chief temple. Thus far they had seen nothing of Salambo. As they had -already made the entire circuit of the tank, there was nothing for it -but to seek him in the sacred edifice itself. - -Spottie led the way, since for him there was absolutely no risk. -Following close upon his heels, past the hideous stone monsters which -flanked the entrance, the mock pilgrims found themselves in the temple -court. Here the crush was even greater than without. - -They had now reached the crucial point of their adventure. - -A single unguarded word or action on their part, and each man of these -teeming thousands would instantly become a mortal enemy! - -Don strove to appear unconcerned, but his pulses throbbed madly at the -mere thought of detection. As for Jack, the careless poise of his right -hand at his belt showed him to be on his guard, though he looked as cool -as a sea-breeze. - -Over the heads of the multitude, on the opposite side of the court, -could be seen an inner shrine, where offerings were being made. -Selecting this as his goal, Don began to edge his way slowly but -steadily towards it, closely followed by Spottie and the undaunted Jack. - -Suddenly he felt a hand tugging at his cloth. Unable to turn himself -about in the crush, he twisted his head round and caught Spottie's eye. -By a quick, almost imperceptible movement of hand and head, the black -directed his attention towards the left. Looking in the direction thus -indicated, Don saw, but a few yards away, the portly person of the -shark-charmer. - -By dint of persistent pushing, he presently succeeded in approaching so -near to his man that, had he so wished, he could have laid a hand upon -his shoulder. - -The shark-charmer was evidently bent upon gaining the inner shrine -at the opposite side of the court. Inch by inch he pummelled his way -through the dense crowd, unconscious that the sahibs whom he had robbed -were dogging his steps. Once when he turned his head his eyes actually -rested upon Don's face. But he failed to recognise him, and so went on -again, greatly to Don's relief. - -Then of a sudden the limit of the crush was reached, and they emerged -upon a comparatively clear space immediately in front of the shrine. -This the shark-charmer crossed without hesitation, but Don hung back, -uncertain whether it would be prudent to venture further. However, -seeing a group of natives about to approach the shrine with offerings, -he joined them, and in company with Jack ascended the steps. - -The shark-charmer had already disappeared within. - -Fumbling in his cloth for some small coin, to present as an offering, -Don crossed the threshold, and was in the very act of penetrating the -dimly lighted, incense-clouded chamber just beyond, when a guarded -exclamation from Jack caused him to glance quickly over his shoulder. - -Following them with the stealthy tread of a panther was a swarthy, -evil-looking native. - -“The lascar!” said Jack, in a low, breathless whisper. “Back, old -fellow, for your life! Once in the crowd, we're safe.” - -[Illustration: 0099] - -Back they darted towards the entrance, but the lascar, anticipating this -manouvre, was on his guard. As Jack dashed past, the cunning spy thrust -out his foot and sent him sprawling on the flagstones. Don, hearing -the noise, turned back to his friend's assistance, and by the time Jack -regained his feet the lascar had reached the entrance mid raised the -hue-and-cry. - -“This way!” cried Don, making for a narrow side door, as the lascar's -shouts began to echo through the precincts of the temple. “Get your -knife ready, he's raised the alarm!” - -Through the door they dashed, only to find themselves in the court, -hemmed in on every side. The frenzied cries of the lascar continued to -ring through the enclosure; but, fortunately for the mock pilgrims, so -vast was the concourse of natives, and so deafening the uproar, that -only those nearest the shrine understood, his words, while even they -failed, as yet to penetrate the clever disguise of the intruders. This -gave them time to draw breath, and look about them. - -Close, on their left Jack's quick eye discovered an exit, about which -the crowd was less dense than elsewhere. The great doors stood wide -open, disclosing a narrow street. Between this exit and the spot where -they stood at bay, a number of sacred bulls were quietly feeding off a -great heap of corn which the devotees had poured out upon the flags of -the court. All this Jack's eyes took in at a glance. - -A roar, terrific as that of ten thousand beasts of prey, burst from the -surging multitude. The lascars words were understood. Glancing quickly -over his shoulder, Jack saw that this man, from his place upon the steps -of the shrine, was pointing them out. - -Another instant, and their disguise would avail them nothing; the -maddened, fanatical crowd would be upon them. - -“Don,” he said, in rapid, husky tones, as he grasped his friend's hand -for what he believed to be the last time, “there's but one chance left -us, and that's a slim one. You see the door on our left, and those -bulls? Do you take one of the two big fellows feeding side by side, and -I'll take the other. Use your knife to guide the brute, and with God's -help----” - -A tremendous roar of voices and a thunderous rush-of feet cut his words -short. - -“Now for it, old fellow!” - -With one swift backward glance at the furious human wave sweeping down -upon them, they darted towards the bulls, of which the two largest, -accustomed to the daily tumult of town and temple, were still composedly -feeding, their muzzles buried deep in the mound of corn. - -Before the animals had time to lift their heads, the mock pilgrims were -on their backs and plying knives and heels upon their sleek flanks. - -Bellowing with pain and terror, the bulls, with tails erect and heads -lowered, charged the throng about the doorway, bowling them over in all -directions like so many ninepins. Before the infuriated crowd in their -rear understood the meaning of this unexpected manoeuvre, the mock -pilgrims were in the street. - -It was a side street, fortunately, separated from the densely-packed -_maidan_ by a high brick wall, and but few natives were about. Those -who followed them out of the temple, too, they soon distanced, for their -ungainly steeds made capital time. - -But now a new, if less serious, danger menaced them. Apart from the -difficulty of clinging to the round, arched backs of the bulls, once -started, the maddened animals could not be stopped. Fortunately, they -took the direction of the hill-path. - -On they tore, bellowing madly, and scattering showers of foam and sand -right and left, until, in an amazingly brief space of time, they reached -the outskirts of the town. Here, as if divining that their services were -no longer required, the bulls stopped abruptly, shooting their riders -off their backs into the sand with scant ceremony. - -“Regular buck-jumpers!” groaned Jack, rubbing his lacerated shins -ruefully. “Glad we're safe out of it, anyhow.” - -“So am I. But I wonder where Spottie is?” said Don, fanning himself with -the loosened end of his turban. - -Jack started up. “Never once thought of Spottie since we entered the -shrine,” cried he. “Come, we must go back and look him up.” - -Their uneasiness on Spottie's account, however, was at that instant set -at rest by the precipitate appearance on the scene of Spottie himself. -Seeing his masters charge the crowd on the bulls' backs, he had -extricated himself from the crush, and followed them with all possible -speed. - -“Dey coming, sar!” he panted, as he ran up, “Lascar debil done fetching -plenty black man!” - -And there swelled up from the street below a tumult of voices that left -no doubt as to the accuracy of his statement. - - - - -CHAPTER VII.--“FUN OR FIGHTING, I'M READY, ANYHOW!” - - - Dey coming, sar!” groaned Spottie; and even as he spoke the leaders of -the mob came tearing round the corner. - -“Is it fight or run, Don?” said Jack quietly, adjusting his turban with -one hand and laying the other significantly upon his knife. - -“No two ways about that! We could never stand against such odds; so we'll -run first and fight afterwards.” - -“And reverse the old saying, eh?” laughed Jack. “I should dearly love to -have a whack at them; but if you say run, why--run it is, so here goes!” - -Shaking his fist at the howling mob, he sprang up the steep hill-path, -followed closely by Don. Spottie had already made good use of his legs, -but they soon caught him up, whereupon Jack seized the terrified native -by the arm and dragged him over the brow of the ridge. - -Down the further side they dashed, breathing easier now, for their -movements were here well concealed by the dense jungle through which the -pathway ran. As they emerged panting upon the sandy shore of the lagoon, -a yell from the hill behind told them that their pursuers had gained -the crest of the ridge. At the same instant Don pulled up abruptly, and -being too much out of breath to speak, pointed in the direction of the -canoe. Beside it stood a couple of natives, who, on seeing them, turned -and fled towards the jungle. - -“The tall fellow!” shouted Jack. “Stop him! He's got the boathook!” - -The boathook was their only means of propelling the canoe. That gone, -they were practically at the mercy of their enemies. - -After the flying natives they dashed, Jack leading. He quickly came up -with the hinder-most, whom he dealt a blow that stretched him senseless -in the sand. But the fellow who carried the boathook was long of leg and -fresh of wind; while Jack was still a dozen yards in his rear, he gained -the jungle and disappeared. - -“No good!” groaned Jack, as he relinquished the pursuit and turned back. -“There's nothing for it but to fight. I say, Don, what's up?” - -Don lay sprawling in the sand. - -“Tripped over that lazy beast,” said Don, picking himself up and aiming -a kick at an enormous turtle which was already heading for the water. - -“Him bery nice soup making, sar!” cried Spottie, rubbing his brown hands -unctuously. But just then a fierce tumult of voices, rolling down from -the jungle path, put other thoughts than soup into Spottie's pate. - -“The rope! Fetch the rope, Spottie!” cried Jack, throwing himself on the -turtle's back. - -Don dragged him off. - -“Come away!” cried he. “There's no time to fetch that beast along. Are -you out of your senses?” - -Jack's only reply was to snatch the rope from Spottie's hands, rapidly -reeve a running knot at one end, and slip the loop around the body of -the giant chelonian, which had by this time reached the water's edge. - -All this had occupied much less time than it takes to relate. - -The shouts of the mob now sounded ominously near. Without loss of time -the canoe was launched, and at once Jack's purpose became apparent. - -Seating himself in the bow of the canoe, he drew in the slack of the -rope until the turtle was within easy reach, and, holding it firmly so, -prodded it with his knife. This was a cruel act, but the stern necessity -of the moment outweighed all other considerations. - -The turtle at once began making frantic efforts to escape from its -tormentor; and as its weight could not have been less than three or four -hundred pounds, and its strength in proportion, it easily and rapidly -drew the canoe through the water. - -In a few minutes they were a stone's throw from shore--and not a moment -too soon, for at that instant the mob of natives rushed out of the -jungle path, and finding themselves outwitted, gave utterance to a -furious howl of disappointment and rage. - -The canoe, thanks to the efforts of the turtle, was soon so far from -shore that Jack considered it safe to alter their course and steer for -the creek. No sooner did he do so than the natives set off at a run in -the same direction. - -“Dey there canoe got, maybe,” observed Spottie, who had now recovered -from his fright. - -“In that case we may have some fun yet,” laughed Jack, lashing the -turtle with the rope's end, as if anxious to be in time for the -anticipated sport. - -By the time the creek was reached, however, not a native was to be seen; -so, congratulating themselves on having given their pursuers the slip, -they reached the cutter. - -Here the old sailor, to say nothing of Puggles, was most anxiously -watching for their return. - -“Shiver my mizzen!” shouted he, as they ran under the cutter's stern; -“ha' ye gone an' took a mermaid in tow, lads?” - -“No; one of Spottie's turkles has taken us in tow, captain,” replied -Jack, setting the turtle free with a slash of his knife, in spite of -Spottie's protestations that the creature would make “bery nice soup.” - -“Ugh, you cannibal!” he added, with a glance of disgust at the black's -chagrined face, “you wouldn't eat the beast after he has saved your -life, would you?” - -“Belay there! what's this 'ere yarn about the warmint a-savin' o' your -lives, lads?” sang out the captain. “Hours ago,” continued he, as the -two young men, leaving Spottie to beach the canoe, scrambled on board -the cutter, “hours ago I says to myself, 'Mango, my boy,' says I, 'may -I never set tooth to salt junk agin if they younkers ain't all dead men -afore this.' says I. Howsomedever, here ye be safe an' sound; so let's -hear the whole on it, lads.” - -In compliance with this request Don began to relate the adventures which -had befallen them since morning; but scarcely had he got fairly launched -upon his narrative, when: - -“Sharks an' sea'-sarpents!” interrupted the captain, rising to his feet -with a lurch, and pointing up the creek, “what sort o' craft's this 'ere -a-bearin' down on us? I axes.” - -A canoe, laden to the water's edge with natives, appeared round a bend -in the creek. Presently other canoes, to the number of half-a-dozen, -hove in sight in rapid succession, whose occupants, perceiving their -approach to be discovered, set up a shout that made the cliffs ring. - -“Spottie was right,” cried Jack, catching up a musket, while Don and the -captain followed suit; “they've found canoes, and mean to board us.” - -“Fire my magazine, but we'll give 'em a right warm welcome, then,” said -the captain. “Look to the primin', lads, an' hold hard when I says fire, -for blow me, these 'ere old muskets kicks like a passel o' lubberly -donkeys, d'ye see!” - -“Captain,” Don hastily interposed, “why not draw the bullets and load -up with shot? The canoes are so deep in the water that a smart volley of -shot right into the midst of the rascals is sure to make them flop over. -We've just time to do it.” - -This suggestion tickled the captain immensely, and without delay the -change was made. The canoes were now within easy range. - -“Ready, lads,” cried the captain: - - “We always be ready, - - Steady, lads, steady! - - We'll fight an' we'll conquer agin and agin!” - -Up went the muskets. At sight of them the natives rested on their oars, -or rather paddles, and the canoes slowed down. - -“Fire!” - -The cliffs trembled beneath the treble report. Jack, who in his -excitement had forgotten the captain's caution, went sprawling backwards -over the thwarts. - -“Ho, ho, ho! flint-locks an' small-shot, a wolley's the thing, lads,” - roared the captain, pointing up the creek as the smoke rolled, away. - - “We ne'er see our foes but we wants 'em to stay, - - An' they never see us but they wants us away; - - When they runs, why, we follows an' runs 'em ashore, - - For if they won't fight us, we can't do no more!” - -The “wolley” had told. Driven frantic by the stinging shot, the -natives had leapt to their feet and overturned four out of the seven -deeply-laden canoes, whose late occupants were now struggling in the -water. - -“They've a softer berth of it than I, anyway,” said Jack from the bottom -of the boat, as he rubbed his shoulder ruefully. “I shall get at the -muzzle end of your thundering old blunderbuss next time, captain. Hullo, -there's that rascally----” - -The remainder of the exclamation was drowned in the creek, for as he -uttered it Jack took a header over the stern. - -“Shift my ballast, what's the young dog arter now? I axes,” cried the -captain, gazing aghast at the spot where Jack had disappeared. - -His speedy reappearance solved the riddle. By the queue he grasped a -dripping, half-naked native, whom he dragged after him to the beach. It -was the lascar. - -“Hurrah! he's got him this time,” shouted Don, leaping out upon the -sands to lend a hand in landing the prize. - -At first the lascar struggled fiercely for liberty; but as Jack was by -no means particular to keep his head above water, he soon quieted down, -and presently, with Dons assistance, was hauled out on the sands, where -he fell on his knees and began whining piteously for mercy. - -“Your revolver, Don,” gasped Jack, with a watery side-wink at his -friend. “He shall tell us what he knows of the pearls, or die like the -dog he is.” - -Don placed the revolver in his hand, ready cocked. The lascar grovelled -in the sand. - -“Sa'b, sa'b!” he whined, “you no shoot, me telling anyting.” - -“No doubt you will,” replied Jack significantly, pressing the muzzle of -the weapon to his forehead; “but what I want is the truth. Now, then, -has old Salambo sold the pearls yet? Come, out with it!” - -“He n-n-no selling, sa'b,” stammered the terrified native, shrinking as -far away from the pistol as Jack's hold on his queue would permit “Where -are they, then? Come, look sharp!” - -“He d-d-done hiding in Elephant Rock, s-s-sa'b,” confessed the lascar, -apparently on the point of fainting with terror. - -“Don! Captain! Do you hear that?” cried Jack, half-turning, in the -excitement produced by this disclosure, towards his friends. “He says -old Salambo's hid the pearls in the ---- ------ Phew!” - -He stopped, with a shrill whistle of dismay. By a quick upward stroke -of his arm the lascar had sent the revolver spinning, and at the same -instant wrenched himself free from his captor's grasp. Ere Jack could -stir hand or foot, he had plunged headlong into the creek. - -“Let him go,” said Jack tranquilly, as the water closed over the -fellow's heels; “we've got an important clue out of him, anyhow.” - -The captain slowly lowered the musket he had raised for a shot at -the fugitive should he comet to the surface within range, and said -approvingly: - -“Right, lad! Spike my guns, I've heard tell as how that 'ere Elephant -Rock's riddled from main-deck to keelson, so to say, with gangways, and -air-wents, an' sich. Howsomedever, that's matter for arter reflection, -as the whale said to himself when he swallied Jonah. The warmints astarn -there”--indicating that part of the creek where the occupants of the -canoes had taken their involuntary bath--“the warmints astarn ha' -sheered off a p'int or two; so now, lads, let's tackle the perwisions -afore the wail o' night descends, an' then to work!” - -The “wail o' night” was not long in descending, for the sun had -disappeared with the lascar. Ere they had done justice to the ample meal -which Puggles set before them, and exchanged the draggled pilgrim garb -for their everyday clothes, the shadows had crept silently from their -hiding-places beneath thicket and cliff, and blotted out the last -lingering touch of day from the bosom of the creek. Save the musical -chirping of some amorous tree-frog to his mate, or the lazy swish of -wings as some belated flying-fox swung slowly past, unbroken silence -reigned between the darkling cliffs. - -In the captain's opinion, no immediate repetition of the recent attack -was to be feared. But the events of the day had made it only too plain -that their present position was far from being-one of security. To -remain on board the cutter would be to invite daily skirmishes with the -natives, which would not only deter the quest of the golden pearl, but -prove a source of constant annoyance and danger. - -So far as the captain knew, the island afforded no safer retreat than -the hill of the Haunted Pagodas. - -The natives of the island, he said, believed this hill to be the abode -of a witch in the form of a ferocious tiger, merely to look upon which -meant death. For this reason they would on no account venture near it. - -So upon the Haunted Pagodas they resolved to fall back without delay. -But here an unforeseen difficulty arose. - -With the path to the summit of the hill none of the party was acquainted -except the captain, and he was unwilling that the precious cutter should -be entrusted to the care of any one except himself while the several -journeys necessary for the removal of the stores were being made. - -“Shiver my main-brace!” roared he, thumping the bottom of the boat with -his wooden leg after they had talked it all over. “Shiver my mainbrace! -I'll go the first trip with ye, lads, an' trust the old cutter to luck.” - -“See here, captain,” said Jack persuasively “why not trust her to me? -It's for only one trip, as you say; and besides, there's not much danger -of an attack to-night. You said so yourself.” - -To this arrangement the old sailor finally agreed. So Don, Spottie, -and Puggles loaded up with the stores and other necessaries for their -proposed sojourn on the summit of the hill, and a start was made, the -captain leading with musket and lantern. - -“Good-bye, Jack!” Don called back, as he struck into the jungle at the -captain's heels. “'Fire a gun if you want help.” - -“All right, old fellow,” was Jack's careless reply. “Good-bye till I see -you again!” - -'So, with no other companion than Bosin, he was left alone to guard the -cutter. - -And now the difficulties of the captain's party began in earnest. The -path before them was, it is true, scarce half a mile in length, but so -precipitous was the hillside, so overgrown the track, that every -furlong seemed a league. The tangled, overhanging jungle growth not only -completely shut out the rays of the moon, but by its thickness impeded -their progress at every step, as though determined to guard the abode -of the witch-tiger from all human intrusion. To make matters worse, they -had neglected to provide themselves with an axe. - -“Shiver my main-brace!” the captain cried, as his wooden leg stuck fast -in a tangled mass of creepers. “These 'ere land trips be a pesky sight -worse nor a sea woyage, says you! Blow me! I'd ruther round the Horn in -mid-winter than wade through such wegetation as this 'ere in midnight -darkness! Howsomedever, the port's afore us, so up we goes, as Jonah -says to the whale when he bid the warmint adoo.” - -Up they went accordingly, and after much stumbling and tough climbing, -reached the summit and the Haunted Pagodas. Finding here a clear space -and bright moonlight, they quickly relieved themselves of their loads. - -“An' now, lads,” cried the captain, “wear ship an' back to the cutter, -says you. Fire my magazine! what's that? I axes.” - -Sharp and distinct upon the night air there floated up from the darkness -of the ravine the report of a gun. - -Don felt his heart stand still with dread, then race at lightning speed. - -“An attack!” he cried hoarsely; “and Jack alone! Hurry, captain!--for -God's sake hurry! - -Easier said than done. Haste only added to the difficulties of the way. -It seemed to Don that he should never shake off the retarding clutch of -the jungle. - -At last their weary feet pressed again the sands of the little beach. -But now a new terror seized them. The beach was illuminated by a ruddy, -fitful glow..The cutter was on fire! - -Don cleared the sands almost at a bound. - -“Jack!” he shouted, leaping the cutter's rail, and with lightning glance -scanning the bottom of the boat, and then the cuddy, for some sign of -his friend. “Jack, where are you? Captain, he's not here! and--my God! -look at this!” - -Upon the bottom of the boat, showing darkly crimson in the ruddy -firelight, lay a pool of blood, and beside it a discharged musket. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII.--AT THE HAUNTED PAGODAS. - - - The fire, fortunately, had gained so little headway that a few -bucketfuls of water sufficed to put the _Jolly Tar_ cut of danger. Then -the captain stumped up to Don, where he sat disconsolate on the cutter's -gun'le, and laid a sympathetic hand upon his shoulder. - -“Cheer up, my hearty! They warmints ain't done for Master Jack yet, -not by a long chalk, says I. Flush my scuppers, lad!” he roared in -stentorian tones, as he turned the light of the lantern upon the pool of -blood, “this 'ere sanguinary gore as dyes the deck bain't his'n at all. -It's the blood o' some native warmint, what he's gone an' let daylight -into, d'ye mind me, an' here's the musket as done the trick.” - -“Then you think he's not--not dead?” asked Don, steadying his voice with -an effort. - -“Dead? Not him! Alive he is, and alive he remains,” cried the old -sailor. “An' why so? you naterally axes. To begin with, as the shark -says when he nipped the seaman's leg off, because the keg o' powder's -gone. Spurts, the warmints thinks to theirselves, an' so they makes -away with _it._ Secondly”--and here the old sailor's voice grew -husky--“because that 'ere imp of a Besin's gone. 'I'll stand hard by -Master Jack,' says he, so off _he_ goes. Sharks an' sea-sarpents, lad, -can't ye see as the lubbers have only gone an' took Master Jack in tow?” - -“But I can't understand,” persisted Don, “why they should do it.” - -“Ransom, lad, that's what the lubbers is arter. Master Jack's life's -worth a sight more'n a bag o' pearls, an' well they knows it. - - “Avast there, an' don't be a milksop so soft, - - To be taken for trifles aback; - - There's a Providence, lad, as sits up aloft - - To watch for the life of poor Jack.” - -Trolling out this sailorly reproof of Don's fears, the captain stretched -himself in the bottom of the boat, and drawing a tai paulin over his -nose, was soon sleeping off the effects of his recent exertions ashore. -But upon Don's heart his chum's fate lay like a leaden weight. He could -not rest. - -“Good-bye, old fellow, till I see you again.” These, Jack's last -careless words, repeated themselves in every me urnful sigh of the -night-wind; and as he lay, hour after hour, watching the stars climb the -heavens; he wondered, with a keen pain at his heart, when that “again” - was to be. - -As the night wore on, however, he found more and more comfort in the -old sailor's words. It was so much easier to believe that Jack had been -kidnapped than to believe him dead. This view of his disappearance, -too, was altogether in keeping with the shark-charmer's cunning. As -for himself, he would gladly have cried quits with old Salambo then and -there, if by so doing he could have recalled Jack to his side. - -At length he fell into a troubled sleep, unconscious of the fact that -another brain than his was busy with Jack's fate. Had he but known it, -Bosin deserved more than a passing thought that night. - -By daybreak they were again astir, and within an hour the cutter lay -snugly ensconced in the shelter of a deep, vine-draped cavern beneath -the cliff, some hundred yards down the creek, of which the captain knew. -In carrying out this part of the old sailor's plan, the canoe, for which -an effective paddle was improvised out of an old oar, proved of signal -service; and when the smaller skiff had in its turn been hidden away in -the dense jungle bordering the beach, they loaded up with the remaining -stores, and took the pathway to the Haunted Pagodas, which they -eventually reached just as the sun, like a huge ball of fire, rolled up -out of the eastern sea. - -As the captain had said, the Haunted Pagodas was indeed “a tidy spot to -fall back upon.” Ages before, a circle of massive temples had crowned -the summit of this island hill; but for full a thousand years had Nature -searched out with silent, prying fingers the minutest crevices of the -closer-cemented stones, ruthlessly destroying what man had so proudly -reared, until nothing save a confusion of tumble down walls and broken -pillars, grotesquely draped with climbing vines and like parasitic -growths, remained to mark the site of the erstwhile stately cloisters. A -shuddery spot it was!--a likely lurking-place for reptile or wild beast, -so uncanny in its weird union of jungle wildness and dead men's work, -that one would scarcely have been surprised had the terrible witch-tiger -of the native legend suddenly leapt out upon one from some dark pit or -sunless recess. - -In one spot alone had the walls successfully resisted the action of the -insinuating roots. This was a sort of cloister with a floor of stone, -upon which the roof had fallen. But when the _debris_ had been cleared -away, and the stores scattered about in its stead, this corner of -the ruins looked positively homelike and comfortable--especially when -Puggles, taking possession of one of its angles, converted it into a -kitchen, and began active preparations for breakfast. The captain dubbed -their new retreat “the fo'csle.” - -All that day the old sailor was in an unusually thoughtful mood. Every -half-hour or so he would produce his pipe and take a number of slow, -meditative “whiffs o' the fragrant,” after which he would slap his thigh -energetically with one horny hand, and stump back and forth amid the -ruins in a state of high excitement, until, something going wrong with -his train of thought, the pipe had to be relighted, and the difficulty, -like the tobacco, smoked out again. - -This characteristic process of “ilin' up his runnin' gear” he continued -far on into the afternoon, when he abruptly laid the huge meerschaum -aside, took a critical survey of sea and sky, and, bearing down on -Don, where he sat cleaning the muskets, without further ado planted a -resounding thump on that young gentleman's back. - -“Blow me!” he burst out, as if Don was already initiated into his -train of thought, “the wery identical thing, lad. An what's that? you -naterally axes. Why, d'ye see, I've been splicin' o' my idees together -a bit, so to say, an' shiver my main-brace if I ain't gone an' rescued -Master Jack!” - -Edging away a little lest the captain's rising excitement should again -culminate in one of his well-meant, but none the less undesirable -thumps, “You mean, I suppose,” said Don, “that you've hit upon a plan -for his rescue.” - -“Ay, lad,” assented the captain, “but an idee well spun is a deed half -done, d'ye mind me. Howsomedever, let's take our bearin's afore we runs -for port, says you. An' to begin with, as the shark said----” - -What the shark said, as well as what the captain was about to say, was -doomed to remain for ever a matter of conjecture, for at that instant -Puggles set up a shout that effectually interrupted the conversation. - -“Sa'b! sar! me done see um, sa'b. Him done come back, sar.” - -Naturally enough, Don's first thought was of Jack. He sprang to his -feet, his heart giving a wild leap of joy, and then standing still with -suspense. For in all the clearing no human form appeared. - -Puggles had now reached his master's side. “Him there got, sa'b, there!” - he reiterated, pointing towards the narrow break in the jungle which -indicated the starting-point of the pathway to the creek. Between this -point and the spot where they stood, the jungle grass grew thick and -tall. - -As they looked they saw it sway in a long, wavy undulation, as if some -living thing were rapidly making its way towards them. In another moment -the rank covert parted, and there appeared, not Jack, but Bosin. - -“Knots an' marlinspikes!” ejaculated the delighted captain, as the -monkey scrambled chattering upon his knee. “What's this 'ere as the imp -o' darkness's been an' made a prize of? I axes.” - -Around the monkey's neck a shred of draggled, blood-stained linen was -securely bound. Already Don was fumbling at the knot, his face whiter -than the rag itself. - -“A message from Jack!” he announced joyfully, when at length the -tightly-drawn knot yielded, and a scrap of paper fluttered to the -ground. - -“Shiver my main-brace!” roared the captain, bringing his hand down on -that unoffending member as if about to give a practical demonstration of -his words, “ain't I said as much all along, lad? Alive he is, an' alive -he remains. An' blow me if ever I see anything to beat this 'ere method -o' excommunicating atween friends, says I. So let's hear what Master -Jack has got to say for hisself.” - -Don had already run his eye over the pencilled writing. “He's all right, -thank God!” he exclaimed, in a tone of intense relief. “Wounded, as I -feared--a mere scratch, he says--but you shall hear for yourself:-- - -“'Don't be cut up, old fellow,'” he read aloud, “'it will all come light -in the end. The niggers pounced down on me before I heard them. Just had -time to let off one of the captain's old kickers, when a crack on the -head laid me out. I'm in a village on the sea-shore, and by great good -luck I can see the hill and the smoke of what, I suppose, is your fire, -from the window of the hut they've stuck me in. It doesn't seem quite -so bad when I look at that.... Bosin just turned up. Am writing in hopes -he'll carry this safely to you. Close prisoner. Have to scribble when -the beggars aren't watching me. Overheard them palavering just now. They -take me to the E. R. to-night--'” - -“Which he means the Elephant Rock!” cried the captain, interrupting. -“Blow me! I knowed as that 'ere Elephant 'ud go an' make wittles of him, -d'ye see?” - -Don nodded and read on: - -“'Old Salambo's work this. He means to make terms for the pearls----'” - -“Copper my bottom, lad! Them's the wery identical words as I've stood by -all along!” the captain broke in again. - -“Wait!” said Don impatiently. “There's something important here. I -couldn't make it out before, the writing's so scrawly towards the end. -Listen to this: 'There's a streak down the face of the hill, that looks -like a path to the village here. If Bosin's in time, come early. Don't -let the hdkf.(sp) alarm you; it's a mere scratch.'” - -Reading off these last words rapidly, Don pointed to the sun, already -half-hidden by the western horizon. - -“There's no time to lose, captain! He must be set free before he's taken -to the Rock.” - -“Right, lad; so let's tumble out and man the guns!” cried the captain, -lurching to his feet and giving his pantaloons a determined hitch-up. - - “We always be ready! - - Steady, lad, steady! - - We'll fight an' we'll conquer agin and agin!” - -“That we will,” assented Don heartily; “but first we must get the -bearings of this village, captain. Where's the glass? Spottie! Hi, -Spottie!--the glass here!” - -In response to the summons, Puggles ran up with the captain's telescope. - -“Spottie done go fetch water, sa'b,” he explained. - -“There is a village,” Don announced, after adjusting the instrument and -carefully sweeping the sea-shore. “Just there, in that clump of trees; -the only one within range, so far as I can see. Do you make it out, -captain?” - -“Ay,” said the captain, taking the glass; “there's a willage below, sure -as sharks is sharks.” - -“The next thing, then,” continued Don, “is to find this path Jack speaks -of. 'Twould take us two good hours at least to go round by way of the -creek. Do you know, I've a notion the path to the spring is the one we -want. Suppose we try it?” - -The captain making no demur, Don caught up a musket and led the way to -the spring. This spring was Spottie's discovery. It lay to the left -of the creek path, about fifty yards down the hillside. The jungle had -almost obliterated the path by which it was approached, but this the -black had in some degree remedied by a vigorous use of the axe during -the day, and, as Puggles had intimated, he was now at the spring, -replenishing the water bucket. - -Hardly had Don and the captain got fairly into the path when there rose -from the depths of the jungle immediately below them a series of frantic -yells. The voice was undoubtedly Spottie's, and, judging from the manner -in which he used it, Sputtie stood--or believed he stood--in sore need -of assistance. Quickening his pace to a run, Don soon came upon him, -making for the open, minus bucket and turban, his eyes protruding from -their sockets, and altogether in a terrible state of fright. - -“What's the matter?” cried Don, catching him by the arm and shaking him -until he was fain to cease his bellowing. - -“De t-t-tiger-witch, sa'b!” said Spottie, his teeth chattering. “Me done -see um, sa'b!” - -Just then the captain came up. - -“He's seen a monkey or something, and thinks it's the tiger-witch,” - explained Don, laughing at the poor fellows piteous face. “Whereabouts -is it, Spottie?” - -Spottie pointed fearfully down the shadowy pathway, where a faint -snapping of twigs could be heard in the underbrush. - -“Blow me!” said the captain, after listening intently a moment, “yon -warmint bain't no monkey, lad. So let's lay alongside an' diskiver what -quarter o' the animile kingdom he hails from, says you.” - -And with that he started off in the direction of the sound. - -Bidding Spottie remain where he was, Don followed. The captain was, -perhaps, ten paces in advance. Suddenly the jungle parted with a loud -swish, and a tawny body shot through the air and alighted full upon the -captain's back, bearing him to the ground ere he could utter so much as -a cry. - -Don stood petrified. Then a savage, guttural growling, accompanied by a -sickening crunching sound, roused him to the old sailors danger. -There was just sufficient light left to show the two figures on the -ground--the tiger atop, his fangs buried in the captains thigh. Priming -the musket rapidly with some loose powder he happened to have in his -pocket, Don sprang to the captain's aid. The tiger lifted its head at -his approach with an angry snarl, but this was no time to think of his -own danger. Quick as thought he thrust the muzzle of the musket between -the beast's jaws and fired. - -An instant later and he was on his back. The tiger had sprung clean -over him, knocking him down in its passage, and now lay some yards away, -writhing in the death struggle. Don picked himself up and ran to the -old sailor's side. As he reached the spot where he lay, the captain -struggled into a sitting posture, and stared about him bewilderedly. - -“Stave my bulkhead!” roared he, “if this bain't the purtiest go as ever -I see. An' what quarter o' the animile kingdom might the warmint hail -from? I axes.” - -“A tiger, captain; a genuine man-eater. But, I say, are you hurt?” - -“Hurt is it?” demanded the captain. “Why, dye see, lad,” first adjusting -his neckcloth, and then proceeding to feel himself carefully over, -“barrin' this 'ere bit of a chafe to my figgerhead, I hain't started a -nail, d'ye see. Avast there! Shiver my main-brace, what's this? I axes.” - -Just where the “main-brace” was spliced upon the thigh, a sad rent in -the captain's broad pantaloons showed the wooden portion of his anatomy -to be deeply indented and splintered. At this discovery he stopped -aghast in the process of feeling for broken bones. - -“Why, don't you see how it is?” laughed Don. “The brute has tried -to make a meal off your wooden leg, captain.” - -The captain burst into one of his tremendous guffaws. “Blow me if I -don't admire the warmint's taste,” said he. “An uncommon affectionate un -he is, says you, so let's pay our respec's to him 'ithout delay, lad.” - -The tiger proved to be a magnificent specimen of his tribe; and, as he -stood over the 'tawny carcase in the waning light, Don could not -repress a feeling of pardonable pride at thought of his own share in the -adventure which had ended so disastrously for the superb creature at his -feet. - -“Captain,” said he presently, when that worthy had inspected and admired -the striped monster to his heart's content, “Captain, it strikes me as -being somewhat of a rare thing to run against a fullblown tiger on an -island like this. Don't you think so?” - -“Ay, that it is,” assented the captain; “rare as sea-sarpents.” - -“That explains it, then: the tiger-witch story, I mean. This chap's -great size, and the fact that man-eaters aren't often met with on -these little nutshell islands, have made him the terror of the whole -community, you see. He's their witch, I'll be bound. Now.” he ran on, -seeing the captain express his approval of this likely explanation by a -series of emphatic nods, “now I'll tell you what I mean to do. Dear old -Jack's a prisoner, and we're bound to get him out of limbo if we can. -His captors--those native beggars--go in mortal terror of this beast -here. Good! Why shouldn't Pug and I carry the creature's skin down to -the village yonder--where Jack is, you know--use it to impersonate the -witch-tiger, and terrify the niggers----” - -He got no farther with his explanation, for the captain, having already -grasped the idea, at this point grasped its originator by the hand, and -cut in with: “Spike my guns, the wery identical thing, lad! Blow me, the -lubberly swabs'll tumble into the jungle like a lot o' porpoises when -they sees that 'ere tiger-skin a-hangin' on your recreant limbs. An' -then hooray for Master Jack, says you! Why not? I axes.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX.--WAS IT JACK? - - - What a night it was! Overhead one glorious; maze of scintillating -stars; in the jungle ebon: blackness, shot with the soft glow of myriad -fireflies, that flashed their tiny lamps only to leave-the spot they had -illumined more intensely black than before. - -Don's surmise as to the spring path proved correct--it extended quite -to the foot of the hill, where it merged almost imperceptibly into the -scantier vegetation fringing the sea-shore. After a hard fight with the -difficulties of the way--increased in no small degree by the dead weight -of the tiger-skin--he and Puggles at length reached the limits of the -jungle and paused for breath. The utmost caution was now necessary in -order to avoid untimely discovery. - -The moon was not yet up, and the cocoa-nut _tope_ in which, but a stoned -throw away, nestled the village that formed at once their destination -and Jack's place of imprisonment, lay wrapped in gloom so impenetrable -that not a single outline of tree or hut could be distinguished from -where they stood. Excepting a faint glow, which at infrequent intervals -flickered amid the lofty branches of the palm-trees, there was nothing -to show that the spot was tenanted by any human being. This light--or, -to speak more correctly, this reflection of a light--Don attributed to a -fire in the village street. - -“They done lighting um for company, maybe,” suggested Puggles. “Plenty -people going feast, black man 'fraid got, making fire keep tiger-witch -off.” - -“So much the better for us,” said his master; “especially if everybody's -at the town except the fellows in charge of Jack. But shut up, Pug; it -won't do to risk their overhearing our palaver.” With stealthy steps -they advanced, pausing often to listen, until they gained the deeper -shade of the trees close under the rear of the huts. Leaving the black -boy here, Don skirted the nearer row of cabins and took a cautious view -of the street. - -The huts stood in two irregular rows, one facing the other, and -midway down the open space or street between was a smouldering fire of -brushwood, about which, in listless, drowsy attitudes, there lolled a -group of perhaps twenty natives. Save for these the place, so far as he -could make out, was quite deserted. The doors of the huts were closed, -and no glimmer of lamp or fire shone through them to indicate that any -occupants were within. A little to one side of the fire the light fell -upon an object at sight of which Don started violently. It was the -stolen keg of powder. Jack could not be far off, then! - -Quitting the spot as noiselessly as he had approached it, he made his -way back to the rear of the huts, and with the assistance of Puggles, -adjusted the limp tigers pelt upon his back, shoulders, and head. Next -he gave the black boy his orders. He was to lie close until the natives -about the fire took to flight--which, if they fled at all, would, in the -ordinary course of events, be in the direction of the other extremity of -the street--when he was to join his master in searching the huts. - -All was now in readiness, and Don, gripping the defunct tiger's ears at -either side of his head to hold the skin in position, once more skirted -the row of huts, Puggles in close attendance. His former post of -observation gained, he went down upon all-fours, and when Puggles had -readjusted the skin to his satisfaction, in this attitude he boldly -advanced into the street. - -The distance to be traversed in order to reach the group about the fire -was not less than fifty yards. He had covered a third of the ground -unobserved, when one of the natives rose to his feet and threw a fresh -bundle of faggots on the smouldering embers. Fanned by the breeze, the -fire blazed up fiercely, illuminating the street from end to end. The -tiger-witch uttered a terrific roar. - -When this sound fell upon the ears of the native, he wheeled and peered -fearfully into the semi-darkness in which Don's end of the street lay. -A second roar brought a second native to his feet. He was followed by -another and another, till all were on the alert. The witch-tiger was now -in full view. - -For a little while the group about the fire hesitated. Should they -stand their ground or decamp? As the intruder advanced, and the ruddy -firelight threw its gruesome outlines into stronger relief, they -suddenly perceived what manner of apparition this was that had stolen -up an them out of the darkness. To them the tiger-witch, with its swift, -silent visitations of death, had doubtless long been a dread reality. -The island held but one tiger--and here it was! With frantic outcries -they turned and fled pell-mell down the village street. - -This was just what Don desired--what he had calculated upon. Until -the heels of the hindermost had quite disappeared in the darkness, he -sustained his rôle. Thus far the ruse had succeeded admirably. But the -real business of the night had as yet only begun. Shaking the clammy -skin from off his back, he rose to his feet and made a dash for the door -of the nearest hut. Just as he reached it, Puggles, who had watched the -rout of the natives with shaking sides, came trotting up. - -“Look alive, Pug!” cried his master, bursting in the frail door with a -crash. “Search the huts on the left, while I take these on the right. -Look alive, I say--they may come back at any minute.” - -Puggles needed no urging. He was only too well aware of the danger that -threatened his master and his own precious self should the fugitives -think better of their cowardice and reappear on, the scene. He set to -work with a will. - -Into hut after hut they forced their way, peering into every nook and -corner, and calling upon Jack as loudly as they dared; only to receive -for answer the dull echoes of their own shouts. Nowhere was there -any sign of Jack. “Had he been already removed?” Don asked himself -desperately, as he sped from door to door. It almost seemed so; but -while a single hut remained unsearched there was still hope. - -Half-a-dozen only were left, when the catastrophe he had all along been -dreading actually occurred. The natives came trooping back. To their -infinite relief, no doubt, the witch-tiger had vanished, and in its -stead appeared two human figures darting from hut to hut. The natives -raised a shout of defiance and pressed forward to the attack, catching -up as weapons whatever came first to hand. - -Crossing the street at a bound, Don joined the black boy, just as the -latter emerged from the doorway of a hut, and thrust into his hands one -of two pistols with which he had come provided. Backing against the door -of the hut, with pistols drawn they awaited the attack. It began with -a rattling volley of missiles, but the low, projecting thatch of the -native dwelling, jutting out as it did several feet from the wall, -served to somewhat break the force of the stony hail. - -“Don't fire till I give the word,” said Don between his teeth. “We can't -afford to waste a shot. The beggars are drawing their knives.” - -The words had barely left his lips when, with a shout and a disorderly -rush, the crowd broke for the spot where they stood. - -“Ready, Pug. Fire!” - -Simultaneously with the sharp crack of the pistols, there leapt skyward -from mid-street a sudden, blinding flash of lurid light, accompanied by -dense volumes of sulphurous smoke, and a thunderous shock that shook -the walls of the huts to their foundations. Don and his companion were -dashed violently through the door against which they stood, and hurled -upon the floor within. A thick shower of sand and stones rattled about -and upon them. But of this fact they were unconscious. The shock had -stunned them. - -When Don came to himself he found Puggles seated on the ground by his -side, blubbering dismally. - -Not only was the roof ablaze, but showers of glowing sparks fell thickly -upon them. The floor of the hut was a bed of fire, the heat intolerable. -Puggs, dazed “by the recent shock, and stupefied with fright, seemed to -comprehend not a word that was said to him. Don accordingly seized him -by the arm and dragged him into the street. - -“What's the matter? Where are the natives?” he demanded, struggling to -his feet, and scanning the interior of the hut with bewildered eyes. -“Hullo, the roof's on fire!” - -[Illustration: 0143] - -Here the scene was appalling indeed. How long he had lain insensible he -could not tell; but the time thus spent upon the floor of the hut must -have been considerable, for from end to end the double line of thatched -dwellings was wrapped in flames that shot high into the inky air, and -there united in one roaring, swirling canopy of fire above the narrow -thoroughfare. As if to render the spectacle more awful, here and there -lay stretched upon the ground the mangled, blackened body of a native. -Through one of these a sharp splinter of wood had been driven. Don -examined it curiously. Then--he had been too dazed to realise it -before--the truth flashed upon him. The keg of powder had exploded! - -Whilst crossing the street to Pug's side he had noticed, he remembered -now, that the head, of the keg was stove in. It then lay close beside -the fire, within a few feet of the scene of the attack. It was not there -now, but in its stead was a shallow, blackened cavity. That told the -whole story of the explosion. A handful of powder carelessly scattered, -a wisp of straw kicked into the fire amid the rush of feet, a chance -spark even, and--------- - -“Sa'b, sa'b, the huts done tumble in!” - -Puggles was tugging at his sleeve, and pointing fearfully down the -street. For an instant Don gazed into the black boy's face blankly, not -grasping the import of his words. Then, like a repetition of that lurid -flash of light which had burnt itself into his very brain, came the -recollection of Jack. - -The sudden return of the natives had left but half-a-dozen huts -unsearched. These were situated at the extreme end of the street--the -end opposite to that from which Don and Puggles had approached the -village. Towards these the former now ran, only to discover, to his -consternation, that the fire was before him. For in this direction the -wind blew, and the unsearched huts, like the rest, were a seething mass -of flames. Of all save one the roofs had already given way, while at the -very moment he ran up that also crashed in. - -As the blood-red flames shot skyward, an agonised, inarticulate shriek -rose from within the glowing walls. - -Was it Jack? - -Shielding his face with his hands, Don attempted to force an entrance, -but the heat of the furnace-like doorway drove him back. In frantic -accents he called his chum by name--called again and again--to be -answered only by the hissing of the pitiless flame-tongues that licked -the black heavens. - -Was it Jack? Had the natives who escaped--if, indeed, any did--the -deadly effects of the explosion, carried him with them in their flight -from the burning village, or had he been mercilessly abandoned to a -fiery grave within his prison walls? - -It was a terrible question; but not that night, nor for many nights to -come, was he to know whether those unnumbered moments of unconsciousness -had consigned his chum to continued captivity or to death. - -One thing only was certain: their mission to the village had reached -a disastrous climax. To remain longer where they were was useless; to -follow the trail of the natives who had escaped, impossible. No course -was left but immediate return to the camp. - -Weary, dejected, with aching bodies and aching hearts--for even -light-hearted Puggles, heathen though he was, felt crushed by their sad -misadventure--they sought the spot where, the axe and lantern had been -left, and then set their blackened faces towards the hill. - -By this time the moon had risen, making the task of finding the footpath -an easy one. Just as they turned their backs upon the beach and the -burning village, out upon the tense stillness of the night--a stillness -softened rather than broken by the music of the surf--from the shadowy -hill above rang the sharp report of a gun. - -“Something wrong up there, I'm afraid,” said Don, rousing himself and -pausing to listen. “Hullo!” as a second report broke the stillness, -“there goes another! Come, Pug, we must pull ourselves together a bit -and get over the ground faster. The captain's not a man to waste powder; -those reports mean danger.” - -“Him maybe another lubberly warmint shooting, sa'b,” Pug suggested. - -“Unless I'm very much mistaken, there's something a jolly sight worse -afoot,” was his master's uneasy rejoinder as they began the ascent. - -Here and there upon the hillside were spots where the rains of many -summers had so washed away the thin surface-soil as to lay bare the rock -beneath and leave little or no roothold for vegetation. As he paused for -a brief breathing space in one of these clearings, Don's attention was -drawn to a dull red glare, which, though but a short distance in advance -of the spot where he stood, had up to that moment been quite concealed -by the intervening jungle. - -“Say, Pug, what do you make of that light?” - -The black boy knuckled his eyes vigorously, as if to assure himself they -were playing him no trick. - -“Me linking there one fire got, sa'b,” said he, after a long look at the -mysterious light. - -“In that case we'd better stir our stumps. The breeze seems to be -freshening, and once the fire gets a hold on this tindery jungle, why, -there's no knowing----” - -“There another got, sa'b!” broke in Puggles, pointing excitedly to the -right. - -“Phew! And, by Jove, there's a third beyond that again! And the wind's -blowing straight for the camp, too! Now I understand why the captain -fired those shots! The hill's on fire! Point, Pug!” - -Up the hillside they bounded, panting, stumbling. There was light enough -now and to spare, for the fire towards which they were advancing had -made more headway than at first sight appeared. The wonder was that they -had not observed it sooner; but this perhaps was sufficiently accounted -for by the fact that the thoughts of both had lagged behind in the -burning village. - -The point of danger was soon reached. The fire had not yet crossed the -path, but only a few yards of tindery underbrush separated the swaying -wall of flame-shot smoke from the narrow trail, while every instant the -margin grew perceptibly less. - -“Now for it, Pug!” - -Don raced past with head lowered, the greedy flames licking his face. -Half-blinded, he stumbled on for a dozen yards or so before turning -to ascertain how Puggles had stood the ordeal. To his horror he then -discovered that the fire had swallowed up the pathway at a single bound, -and that Puggles was nowhere to be seen. - - - - -CHAPTER X.--IN WHICH THE OLD SAW, “OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN, INTO THE -FIRE,” IS REVERSED WITH STARTLING EFFECT. - - - Back he ran, battling with the flames and sparks that rolled in volumes -up the hillside, until, half-stifled and well-nigh fainting from the -heat, he was forced to turn and flee for his life before the swiftly -advancing flames. - -Whether Puggles, terrified by the close proximity of the fire, had -hung back at the last moment, or whether he had attempted to follow his -master and paid for his devotion with his life, heaven alone knew. - -“Poor chap!” gasped Don, as he stumbled free of the smoke and turned -for a last look at the fiery veil so suddenly drawn over his faithful -servant's fate. “God help him!” - -The rapid advance of the fire, however, allowed little time for the -indulgence of emotion. The long rainless months had scorched the face -of the hill until the thick-set bamboo copse was as dry as tinder, -inflammable as shavings. The wind and the steepness of the hillside, -too, proved powerful allies of the flames. On and up they swept, leaping -from point to point with such rapidity that Don found it necessary to -strain every nerve to avoid being overtaken by the greedy holocaust. -Glad indeed was he when, the scene of his recent adventure passed, he -at length emerged upon the comparatively open ground abreast of the -encampment. - -Stumping uneasily to and fro, “abaft the fo'csle,” with Bosin perched -contentedly upon his shoulder, was the old sailor--the jerky creak, -creak of his wooden leg showing him to be in an unusually disturbed -state of mind. - -“Right glad I am to clap eyes on ye, lad!” he sang out cheerily on -catching sight of the returned wanderer. “An' whereaway's Master Jack -an' the leetle nigger, I axes?” - -The captain paused abruptly, both in his walk and speech, for the pained -look on Don's blackened but ghastly face told him at a glance that -something more than ordinary was amiss. - -Slowly setting down the lantern, which he had all along retained in -his grasp--most fortunately, as it turned out--Don threw himself on the -trampled grass, and, as rapidly as his shortness of breath would -permit, summed up the disastrous results of his village expedition. In -open-mouthed silence, as was his wont, the old sailor listened; but when -he learned of the dark uncertainty that overhung the fate of Jack -and Puggles, he hastily brushed aside a tear that straggled down his -weather-beaten cheek, and, in a voice husky with emotion, burst into one -of his characteristic snatches of song: - - “Why, what's that to you if my eyes I'm a-wipin'? - - A tear is a pleasure, d'ye see, in its way. - - 'Tis nonsense for trifles, I owns, to be pipin', - - But they as hain't pily--why, I pities they!” - -And having delivered himself of this sailorly apology for his weakness, -he added in his usual voice: - -“Blow me!--as the speakin trumpet says to the skipper--if ever I -heard any yarn as beats this 'un, lad. Howsomedever, when the ship's -a-sinkin', pipin' your eye ain't a-goin' to stop the leak, d'ye mind me; -an' so, just to bear away on the off tack a bit, what d'ye make o' this -'ere confleegration, I axes?” - -“I can tell you better what it came jolly near making of me, captain, -and that's cinders! But what do _you_ make of it?--and, by the way, what -were those shots for? You don't think there's any danger here, do you?” - -“Ay,” replied the captain, with an emphatic tug at his neckerchief, -“that I does, lad! An' why? you naterally axes. Because, d'ye mind -me, the hill's ablaze from stem to starn--blow me if it bain t! -Howsomedever,” leading the way towards a jagged remnant of wall that -stood out in ghostly solitude amid the ruins, “go aloft an' cast an eye -out to lee'ard, lad.” - -The captain's ominous words prepared Don for an unpleasant surprise; -yet, when he had scaled the pile of masonry, an involuntary cry of alarm -broke from him. - -“Good heavens, captain, we're surrounded by fire!” - -“Right, lad! an' the confleegration's gettin' uncommon clost under our -weather bow; says you. An hour back, d'ye see, I sights the first on -'em alongside o' the path below, an' fires the gun to signal ye to put -about. An' then, flush, my scuppers! what does I see but a hull sarcle -o' confleegrations, as it may be a cable's len'th apart, clean round the -hill; lad! an' so I fires the second wolley.” - -“This is the work of those cowardly niggers!” said Don, clenching his -fists. “They daren't come here to fight us, so they mean to scorch us -out!” - -“The wery identical words as I says to myself when first I sights the -fires, lad,” rejoined the captain; “an' a purty lot o' tobackie it cost -me afore I overhauled the idee, says you.” - -“It's likely to cost us more than a few pipes of tobacco, I'm afraid, -captain,” said Don uneasily, leaping down from his post of observation. -“The fire's close upon us, and once this grass catches, why, good-bye to -the stores! I say, where's Spottie?” - -“Belay there!” chuckled the captain, who, somehow, seemed remarkably -cheerful, considering the gravity of the situation. “Whereaway's the -nigger, you axes? Why, d'ye mind me, lad, this 'ere old hulk ain't -been a-lyin' on her beam-ends all this time, not by a long chalk. The -nigger's with the stores, d'ye see; an' stow my cargo, where should the -stores be but safe and snug under hatches?” - -With that he seized his perplexed companion by the arm, skirted the -dilapidated wall, and presently halted on the very brink of a black -chasm that yawned to the stars close under its rear. Little else was to -be seen, for the wall cut off the light of both the fire and the moon. -From the depths of the cavity proceeded a sound suspiciously like -snoring. The captain indulged in another chuckle, and then, shaping his -hands into a sort of speaking-trumpet, he bent over the hole and shouted -loudly for Spottie. The snoring suddenly ceased, and in half a minute -or so up the black tumbled, rubbing his eyes. The captain bade him fetch -the lantern, adding strict injunctions that he should replenish the -store of oil before lighting it. - -“And now, lad, let's go below,” said he, when Spottie had fulfilled his -mission. - -So down they went, the captain leading. First came a dozen or more -moss-grown steps, littered with blocks of stone, which, ages before, -perhaps, had fallen and found a resting-place here. At the foot of the -steps there opened out a subterranean passage, of height sufficient to -admit of Don's standing erect in it with ease. Upon the floor lay the -stores; beyond these again all was blank darkness. To all appearance the -passage extended far into the bowels of the hill. - -“Blow me!” chuckled the captain, turning a triumphant gaze upon the -massive walls, “electric lightnin' itself ud never smell us out in sich -a tidy berth as this, says you.” - -“It certainly is a snug spot,” assented Don; “though I wish”--glancing -round at their sadly depleted numbers--“I wish that Jack and Pug were as -safe, poor fellows.” - -“Cheer up, my hearty. As I says afore, there's a Providence, lad, as -sits up aloft to keep watch for the life of poor Jack.' Ay, an for the -nigger's too, d'ye mind me, lad,” rejoined the captain, blowing his -nose loudly. “So let's turn out an' see what manner o' headway the -confleegrations makin'.” - -Brief as was their absence from “the glimpses of the moon,” the fire had -made alarming progress in the interval. Viewed from the centre of the -swiftly-narrowing cordon of flame, the scene was awesome in the extreme. -The rear column of the invader advanced the more slowly of the two, but -even it was now within a stone's throw of that godsend, the captain's -“tidy berth.” - -On the seaward side the flames had overleapt the jungle's edge, and -seized with unsated greed upon the luxuriant grass that everywhere -grew amid the ruins. Nearer still, the dense, parasitic growth upon the -remnant of wall, ignited by the dense clouds of sparks which the wind -drove far ahead of the actual fire, was blazing fiercely. The heat was -stifling; the air, choked with smoke and showers of glowing sparks, -unbreathable. They retreated precipitately to the cooler shelter of the -underground chamber. - -Even here the noise of the flames could be distinctly heard. Indeed, -they had been barely ten minutes below when the fiery sea rolled with a -sullen roar over their heads, the fierce heat driving them back from the -entrance. - -Some hours must pass before it would be either safe or practicable to -venture into the open air. Accordingly, following the captain's -example, Don made himself as comfortable for the night as circumstances -permitted. A quantity of dried grass, which Spottie had thoughtfully -collected and deposited beside the stores, afforded an excellent bed, -and soon the deep breathing of all three told that sleep too had made -this long untenanted nook her refuge. - -Upwards of an hour had passed when a tremendous grinding crash shook -the passage from roof to floor, and brought Don and the captain to their -feet. They had fallen asleep surrounded by a subdued glow of firelight; -they woke to find themselves in pitchy darkness. Bosin and the scarcely -more courageous Spottie began to whimper. - -“Avast there!” the captain sang out at the latter. “Is this a time to -begin a-pipin' of your eye like a wench, I axes? Belay that, ye lubberly -swab, an' light the binnacle lamp till we takes our bearin's.” - -This order Spottie obeyed with an alacrity which, it is but due to him -to explain, sprang rather from a dread of his master's heavy boot than -from his fear of the dark. In the light thus thrown on the situation, -the cause of the recent crash became only too apparent. So, too, did its -effect. - -The ruined wall which overtopped their place of refuge had fallen, -completely blocking the exit with huge stones, still glowing hot from -the action of the fire. - -“Batten--my--hatches, lad!” ejaculated the old sailor, as the full -significance of the catastrophe flashed upon him. “We're prisoners, says -you!” - - - - -CHAPTER XI.--INTO THE HEART OF THE HILL. - - - There was no denying the truth of the captain's disconcerting -announcement. So far as concerned the ancient flight of steps, egress -from the underground chamber was wholly cut off. In the space of a -single moment their refuge had become a prison. For, to begin with, the -stones which blocked the entrance were glowing hot; while, to end with, -these were of such a size, and so tightly wedged between the walls of -the narrow opening, as to render any attempt at removing them, in the -absence of suitable implements, utterly futile. If ever there existed a -dilemma worthy the consumption of the captain's tobacco, here was one. -The huge meerschaum was lighted forthwith. - -And never, perhaps, in all its long and varied history, did the pipe -perform its task of “'ilin' up” the old sailors “runnin' gear” - so promptly and satisfactorily as now. For scarcely had he taken -half-a-dozen “w'hiffs o' the fragrant,” when, “Blow me, lad!” he -exclaimed, triumphantly following with the stem of the pipe the course -of a blue spiral which had just left his lips, “d'ye see that, now? No -sooner I lets it out than away it scuds!” - -Under other circumstances this observation would have sounded -commonplace; here it was significant. The fragrant spiral, after -wavering an instant as if uncertain what course to take, broke and -floated slowly towards the wall of _débris_ which blocked the entrance. - -“Wery good!” resumed the captain, when this became apparent; “an' what -o' that? you naterally axes. Why, do ye mind me, lad, when smoke sheers -off to lee'ard in that 'ere fashion, it sinnifies a drorin'; and a -drorin', dye see, sinnifies a current o' atmospheric air; and--as -the maintop-gallan's'l says when it sights the squall---blow me! if -a current o' atmospheric air don't sinnify as this 'ere subterraneous -ramification's got a venthole in it somewheres, d'ye see!” - -“Why, as for that,” said Don, “I noticed a draught drawing up the steps, -as soon as I set foot on them. The entrance seemed to act like a sort -of flue; and, come to think of it, it couldn't do that, in spite of the -heated air above, unless there was an inlet somewhere below, could it?” - -“Ay, inlet's the wery nautical tarm I was a-tryin' to overhaul, lad,” - replied the captain complacently. “An'--shiver my binnacle!--for that -inlet we runs. Legs we has, light we has!--so why not? I axes.” - -“More grope than run, I fancy,” said Don, peering into the darkness of -the tunnel. “But there's no help for it, I suppose; though Heaven only -knows where or what it may lead to! The stores, of course, remain here -for the present; they're safe enough, at any rate.” - -Seizing the lantern, he led off without further parley. Spottie--haunted -in the dark by an ever-pursuing fear of spooks--made a close second; -while the old sailor brought up the rear with Bosin on his shoulder. -Here and there a lizard, alarmed by the hollow echo of their footsteps, -or by the glare of the passing light, scurried across their path. - -For a considerable distance the passage continued on the level, then -dipped suddenly in a steep flight of steps. After this came other -level bits, succeeded by other descents, the number of steps in each -successive flight--or, rather, fall--increasing as they proceeded. - -“Looks as if we were bound for the foot of the hill,” remarked Don, -pausing to allow the captain to overtake him. - -“An' well I knows it, lad!” replied that worthy, as he accomplished the -descent of that particular flight of steps with a sigh of relief like -the blowing of a small whale. “Sleepin' in the open an' that, d'ye -see, 's made my jints a bit stiff like--'specially the wooden one! -Howsomedever, let's get on again--as the seaman says when the lubberly -donkey rose by the starn an' hove him by the board.” - -On they accordingly went, and down, the level intervals growing less -and less frequent, the seemingly interminable tiers of steps more -precipitous. Even the captain, level-headed old sailor though he was, -detected himself in the act of clutching at the wall, so suggestive of -utter bottomlessness was the black chasm yawning ever at their feet. The -very echoes hurried back to them as if fearful of venturing the abysmal -depths. What it would have been to have penetrated the tunnel without a -lantern Don dared not think. - -And now the roof and walls contracted until they seemed to press with -an insupportable weight upon their shoulders. The steps, too, at first -equal in height and even of surface, became irregular and slippery. Ooze -of a vivid prismatic green glistened on either hand; water gathered -in pellucid, elongated drops overhead, shivered for an instant as if -startled by the unwonted light, then glinted noiselessly down upon the -dank, mould-carpeted steps, which no human foot apparently had pressed -for ages. Suppose their advance, when they got a little lower, should be -cut off by the water, as retreat was already cut off by the fallen wall! - -A level footing at last! Twenty yards on through the darkness, and no -steps. Had these come to an end? It almost seemed so. - -Suddenly the captain stopped. On the rock floor a tiny pool shimmered -like crystal in the lantern-light. He scooped up a little of the water -in his broad palm and tasted it, “Stave my water-butt, lad!” cried he, -smacking his lips with immense gusto. “This 'ere aqueous fluid what's -a-washin' round in the scuppers ain't no bilge-water, d'ye mind me! -Reg'lar genewine old briny's what it is, an' well I knows the taste on -it! We're under the crik--blow me if we bain't!” - -“Shouldn't wonder,” said Don, consulting his watch. “It's now three -o'clock; we've been on the grope just three-quarters of an hour. A -jolly nice fix we'll be in if we reach daylight on the far side of the -creek--with no means of crossing it, I mean. But wherever this mole-hole -leads to, let's get to the end of it.” - -More steps, but this time ascending. The walls, too, became perceptibly -drier, the narrow limits and musty air of the vaulted way less -oppressive. With elastic steps and light hearts they pressed forward, -assured that release was now close at hand. - -It came sooner than they anticipated, for presently the tunnel veered -sharply to the left, and as Don rounded the angle of wall a low, musical -lapping of waves fell on his ears. - -The captain was right in his conjecture; the passage had conducted -them directly under the creek, and it was on that side of the ravine -immediately adjacent to the Elephant Rock that they now emerged into the -fresh night air. - -Here the tunnel terminated in a platform of rock, escarped from the -solid cliff, and draped by a curtain of vines similar to, though -somewhat thinner than, that which concealed the hiding-place of the -_Jolly Tar_. The platform itself lay wrapped in deepest shade, but -through the interstices of the natural curtain overhanging it they could -see the moonlight shimmering on the surface of the creek. - -“Blow me, lad!” cried the captain, after peering about him for some -seconds: “this 'ere cove as we're hove-to in orter lay purty nigh -abreast o' the _Jolly Tar_, says you. Belay that, ye lubber!” making a -dive after the monkey, who, with a shrill cry, had swung down from his -shoulder and scuttled to the edge of the platform. - -Don gripped the old sailor by the arm and forcibly held him back. -“Hist!” he cried in suppressed, excited tones. “Did you hear that?” - -A moment of strained silence; then, from the direction of the creek came -a faint plashing sound, such as might have been produced by the regular -dip of paddles. Releasing his hold on the captain's arm, Don crossed the -rocky floor on tiptoe, parted the trailing vines with cautious hand, -and took a rapid survey of the moonlit creek. Then he hastily seized the -monkey and darted back to the captains side. - -“Canoes!” he whispered. “Two of them, packed with natives, and heading -straight for us. Back into the passage! And, Spottie! douse that light.” - - - - -CHAPTER XII.--RELATES HOW A WRONG ROAD LED TO THE RIGHT PLACE. - - - They had barely gained the shelter of the tunnel and extinguished -the light, when the prows of the canoes grated against the rock, and a -number of natives scrambled out upon the platform, jabbering loudly. - -Would they remain there, or enter the tunnel where the little band of -unarmed adventurers--for the captain had neglected to fetch a musket, -and Don to load his pistols--lay concealed? It was a moment of -breathless suspense. Then a torch was lighted, and 'the intruders, to -the number of perhaps a score, filed off to the right and disappeared. - -When the last echo of their footsteps had died away, the captain heaved -a sigh of relief, and bade Spottie relight the lantern. - -“Not that I be afear'd o' the warmints, dye mind me, lad,” said he, as -if in apology for the sigh; “only--spike my guns!--a couple o' brace o' -fists 'ud be short rations to set under the noses o' sich a rampageous -crew, d'ye see. Howsome-dever, the way's clear at last, as the shark -says when he'd swallied the sailor; so beat up to wind'ard a bit, till -we diskiver whereaway the warmints's bound for.” - -“There's another passage, most likely,” observed Don, holding the -lantern aloft at arm's length as they left the tunnel behind and -reemerged upon the rock platform. “Ha! there it is, captain; yonder, in -the far corner.” - -“Right ye are, lad,” replied the captain with a chuckle. “We'll -inwestigate into this 'ere subterraneous ramification, says you; so -forge ahead, my hearty.” - -The entrance to the second tunnel was quickly gained, and into it, -as nothing was either to be seen or heard of the natives, they -“inwestigated”--to use the captain's phraseology---as far as a flight of -steps which extended upwards for an unknown distance beyond the limits -of the lantern's rays. Here the captain paused, and bending forward: - -“Scrapers an' holystones, lad!” cried he with a chuckle; “the -quarterdeck of a ship-o'-the-line itself ain't cleaner'n these 'ere -steps. Native feet goin' aloft and a-comin' down continual, that's -what's scraped 'em, says you; an' so I gets an idee. This 'ere -subterraneous carawan as we've been an' diskivered is the tail o' the -'Elephant'!” - -“The what, captain?” cried Don. - -“Why, d'ye mind me, lad,” the captain proceeded to explain, “when them -lubberly land-swabs as pilots elephants--which I means mahouts, d'ye -see--when they wants to go aloft, so to say, how does they manage the -business? I axes. They lays hold on the warmint's tail, says you, and -up they goes over the starn. Wery good! This 'ere's a Elephant Rock as -we're at the present moment inwestigatin' into, d'ye mind me, an' when -betimes the lubberly crew as mans it is ordered aloft onto the animile's -back, why, up these 'ere steps they goes. An' so I calls 'em the tail o' -the 'Elephant'--an' why not? I axes.” - -Don gripped the old sailor's hand impulsively. - -“Hurrah! this discovery's worth a dozen hours' groping underground, -captain!” he cried. “For if the natives can gain the Elephant Rock by -following this passage, why can't we do the same? Jack, old boy, if -you're still alive--which you are, please God!--we'll find you yet!” - -“Ay, at the risk of our wery lives, if need be!” responded the captain, -in tones that lost none of their heartiness through being a bit husky. -“An' the bag o' pearls, too, for the matter o' that, lad,” he added; -“for, d'ye see, as the old song says: - - We always be ready, - - Steady, lad, steady! - - We'll fight an' we'll conquer agin and agin! - -“Howsomedever, fightin' without wittles ain't to be thought of, no more'n -without powder, says you; so 'bout ship an' bear away for the Ha'nted -Pagodas!” - -“Thank Heaven for the fire and that tumbledown wall!” ejaculated Don as -they retraced their steps to the platform. “Chance has done for us what -no planning--or fighting either, for the matter of that--could ever have -done. We started on a wrong road, but, all the same, it has led us to -the right place.” - -“Ay, lad, only chance bain't the right word for it, d'ye see. There's -a Providence, lad, as sits up aloft,” said the captain, lifting his cap -reverently. “I bain't, so to say, a religious cove; but, storm or calm, -them's the wery identical words as I always writes in my log. An', d'ye -mind me, lad, 'tis the hand o' the Good Pilot as has guided us here -to-night.” - -“I don't doubt it,” replied Don gravely, “any more than I doubt that the -same Good Pilot will guide us safely into port. Bearing that in mind, we -have only to mature our plans and end the whole thing at a stroke. Here -we are, and now for the creek,” he concluded, crossing the platform and -thrusting aside the pendent vines. “We'll borrow one of the canoes those -niggers came in. Hullo, they're gone!” - -“Some of the lubberly crew stopped aboard and rowed off agin, belike,” - observed the captain. “Blow me, if we shan't have to take to the water, -as the sailors said when they'd swallied all the rum.” - -Don made no reply, but rapidly divesting himself of his coat and shoes, -he slipped into the water before the old sailor well knew what he was -about. - -“I'm off for the canoe we hid in the jungle,” he called back as he -struck out for the other shore. - -“Ay, ay, lad!” responded the captain; “an' here's to your speedy retarn, -as the shark says when they hoisted the sailor into the ship's gig.” - -Swimming the creek was, after all, an insignificant feat for a -sturdy-limbed young fellow like Don. The water was warm and refreshing, -the distance far from great. A dozen vigorous strokes, and he was well -within the deep shadow of the opposite cliff, for he deemed it prudent -to avoid the moonlight, lest by any chance the natives who had removed -the canoes should be in the vicinity. - -Once, indeed, he fancied he actually heard a faint splashing in the -water a short distance ahead. He floated for a moment, motionless and -alert; but as the noise was not repeated, he swam on again. He had made -scarce half-a-dozen strokes, however, when he suddenly felt himself -gripped from below by the leg. His first thought was of sharks; his -next, that he was in the clutches of a human foe, for a vice-like hand -was at his throat. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII.--CAPTAIN MANGO “GOES ALOFT.” - - - Self-preservation is the first law of life, and no sooner did Don feel -that iron grip compressing his throat, and dragging him down into the -depths of the creep, than he struck out to such good purpose that the -hold of his unknown assailant quickly relaxed. As he shot up to the -surface he found himself confronted by the dripping head and shoulders -of a native. A brief cessation of hostilities followed; each glared -at the other defiantly, the native's tense breathing and watchful eye -indicating that, though baffled for the moment by his opponents prompt -defensive measures, he was in no two minds about renewing the struggle. - -Suddenly, by a lightning-like movement of the hand, he dashed a blinding -jet of spray into Don's eyes, instantly followed up the advantage thus -treacherously gained, grappled with him, and pinioned his arms tightly -at his sides. Then, to his horror, Don felt his head thrust violently -back, felt the fellow's hot, quick breath on his neck, and his teeth -gnashing savagely at his throat. - -Luckily for himself Don was no mean athlete, and knew how to use his -fists to advantage when occasion demanded. Wrenching his arms free, -he seized the native by the throat, and in spite of his eel-like -slipperiness and desperate struggles, by an almost superhuman effort -forced him slowly backwards until he had him at effective striking -distance, when, suddenly loosing his hold, he let him have a tremendous -“one-two” straight from the shoulder, that stretched the native -senseless and bleeding on the water. - -“You would have it!” he panted, surveying the native's sinewy -proportions with grim satisfaction. “Next time you won't wait to be -knocked out, I reckon. But 'twon't do to let you drown, though you -richly deserve it; so come along, you black cub!” - -Seizing the black by the convenient tuft of hair at the back of his -bullet-head, he towed him to the strip of beach, and there hauled him -out upon the sand, directly into a patch of moonlight, as it happened, -that came slanting down through a rift in the canopy of palm-leaves -overhead. Something in the appearance of the upturned features caused -him to drop on his knees at the natives side. - -“Hullo!” he cried, peering into the fellow's face, “Jack's lascar, as -I'm alive! By Jove, you are a prize! We'll keep you with us longer than -we did last time, my friend. Ha, ha! won't the captain chuckle, though!” - -With his belt he proceeded to strap the lascar's hands securely behind -his back; but when it came to fastening his legs, a difficulty cropped -up. That is to say, the strap could not be used for both, and he had no -substitute. Fortunately the lascar wore about his loins the regulation -length of strong country cotton--his only covering--and this Don was in -the act of removing when a knife fell out of its folds. - -“Lucky thing I didn't run against you in the water,” he soliloquised, -picking the weapon up. “Why, it's the very knife the lascar shot at -Jack from the schooner's deck; the one he let the fellow have back for -sending the boathook through the cutter's side; and that we afterwards -found lying in the _ballam_ here. And yet Jack certainly had it on him -when those niggers carried him off. So, old chap,” apostrophising -the insensible owner of the much-bandied knife, “so you had a hand in -kidnapping him too, had you? All the more reason for caring for you now -that we've got you.” - -Following up this idea, he knotted the cloth tightly about the lascar's -legs, dragged him well up the beach, and went in search of the canoe. -This, fortunately, had not been molested in their absence; in a few -minutes he had it in the water. Then, seizing the paddle, he propelled -the light skiff swiftly in the direction of the rock platform, where he -found the old sailor stumping his beat in a terrible state of uneasiness -over his prolonged absence. - -“Spike my guns, lad!” cried he, bearing down upon the young man with -outstretched hand and a smile as broad as the cutter's mainsail, “they -warmints's been an' done for Master Don this hitch, I says to myself -when the half-hour fails to bring ye. An' what manner o' mishap's kept -ye broached-to all this while? I axes.” - -“Fact is, captain, I was attacked by the enemy. Came within an ace of -being captured, too. But, as good luck would have it, I managed to -get in a thundering broadside, boarded the enemy--there was only one, -luckily--spiked his guns, and towed him ashore, where he's waiting to -pay his respects to you now. But get in and see for yourself what a -valuable prize I've taken.” - -The captain got in with all despatch, and, as soon as the canoe touched -the opposite beach, got out again without delay, so eager was he to -inspect, the captive. As it was now daylight, he recognised the fellow -the moment he set eyes on him. His delight knew no bounds. Bound and -round the luckless lascar he stumped, chuckling as he always did when -he was pleased, and every now and then prodding him in the ribs with -his wooden leg, as if to reassure himself that he laboured under no -delusion. - -“Sharks an' sea-sarpents, lad!” he roared, when quite satisfied as to the -lascar's identity, “we'll keep the warmint fast in the bilboes a while, -says you; for, d'ye mind me, he's old Salambo's right-hand man, is this -lubber, as comes an' goes at his beck an' call, an' executes the orders -as he gives. So in the bilboes he remains; why not? I axes.” - -“My idea precisely, captain. He can't be up to any of his little games -so long as he has a good stout strap to hug him; and, what's more, he'll -have a capital chance to recover from that nasty slash Jack gave him -the other night. By the way, I've often wondered, do you know, how he -managed to pull through that affair so easily. Suppose we turn him over -and have a look at his shoulder?” - -No sooner said than done, notwithstanding the captive's snarling -protests; but, to their great amazement, his shoulder showed neither -wound nor scar. - -“Well, this beats me!” exclaimed Don incredulously. - -“An' is this the wery identical swab, an' no mistake? I axes,” demanded -the captain. - -“Mistake? None whatever, unless Jack was mistaken in the fellow the -other day, which isn't at all likely. Besides, I've seen him twice -before myself; once in the temple, and again on the sands here. I'd know -that hang-dog look of his among a thousand. Then there's Spottie; he saw -him as well. Stop! let's see what Spottie makes of this.” - -Spottie was summoned, and, without being informed of the point in -dispute, unhesitatingly identified the captive as the lascar. - -“Then,” said Don, “Jack must have supposed he stabbed the fellow when he -didn't; that's the most I can make of it.” - -“Belay there!” objected the captain. “What about the blood in the canoe -and on the knife when arterwards found? I axes.” - -“There you have me. This fellow's the lascar fast enough; but how he's -the lascar and yet doesn't show the wound Jack gave him, I know no more -than the man in the moon. Ugh! what a greasy beast he is! I'd better -take the strap up another hole to make sure of him.” - -So, for a time, the puzzling question of the lascar's identity dropped. - -No food being procurable here, they decided to push oh to the Haunted -Pagodas ere the sun became too hot, and there endeavour to clear a -passage to the immured stores. Accordingly, when the canoe had been -dragged back to its former place of concealment, they set out, Don -taking charge of the lascar, who, clad in Spottie's upper-cloth, and -having his legs only at liberty, led as quietly as a lamb. - -Two-thirds of the way up they came upon that portion of the hill which -had been ravaged by the fire. For the most part this had now burnt -itself out, leaving the summit of the elevation one vast bed of ghastly -gray ashes, with here and there a smouldering stump or cluster of bamboo -stems still smoking. - -At the Haunted Pagodas two surprises awaited them. The first of these -was no other than Puggles himself, alive and lachrymose. On the floor -of the otherwise empty “fo'csle” he sat, blubbering dolefully. Comical -indeed was the spectacle he presented, with his woebegone face thickly -begrimed with a mixture of ashes and tears--a sort of fortuitous -whitewash, relieved in the funniest fashion by the black skin showing in -patches through its lighter veneer, and by the double line of vivid red, -stretching half-way from ear to ear, that marked the generous expanse of -his mouth. - -The explanation of his sudden disappearance proved simple enough. He -had stumbled in the very act of following his master past the -swiftly-advancing fire, and crawling back on hands and knees to a place -of safety, had there passed the night alone in the jungle. On reaching -the encampment and finding it deserted, he jumped to the conclusion that -the fire had, as he put it, “done eat sahibs up,” stores and all. Hence -his tearful condition on their return. - -The second surprise was one of an equally pleasing nature, since it -concerned the stores. The mass of _debris_ which blocked the tunnel's -mouth had subsided to such an extent in cooling as to admit of their -reaching the imprisoned stores with but little difficulty. - -“All the same, captain,” remarked Don, when presently they began a -vigorous attack on the provisions, “I'm jolly glad our fear of being -buried alive drove us to the far end of the hole. We've got the key to -the Elephant Rock, and, what's more, we've got a grip on old Salambo's -right hand,” nodding towards the lascar, who was again bound hand and -foot, “that's safe to stand us in good stead when it comes to the final -tussle for Jack and the pearls.” - -“Right ye are, lad,” said the captain in tones as hearty as -his appetite; “an', blow me!--as the fog-horn says to the -donkey-ingin--arter we snatches a wink o' sleep, d'ye mind me, we'll -lay our heads together a bit an' detarmine on the best course to be -steered.” - -On the stone floor of the “fo'csle” the blacks were already sleeping the -sleep of repletion; and, their meal finished, Don and the captain lost -no time in following their example--for thirty-six hours of almost -unremitting exertion and danger had told heavily upon their powers of -endurance. Dead tired as they were, they gave little heed to the lascar -beyond assuring themselves by a hasty glance that his bonds were secure. -To all appearance he was wrapped in profound slumber. - -The sun was at the zenith when they stretched themselves upon the -flags of the “fo'csle”; slowly it burnt its way downward to the western -horizon, and still they slept. Don was the first to stir. He raised -himself upon his elbow with a yawn, rubbed his eyes, gazed about him in -momentary bewilderment. Twilight had already crept out of the ravine -and invaded the ghostly, fire-scathed ruins. This was the first-thing he -noticed. Then the recollection of the events of the past day and night -rushed upon him, and he turned abruptly, with a sudden vague sense of -dread, to the spot where the lascar lay. - -Lay? No; that place was empty! - -He could scarcely believe the evidence of his senses. Had the fellow -somehow managed to shift his position, and roll out of sight behind one -of the numerous blocks of stone that lay about? Or had he---- - -With a cry of alarm he threw himself upon an object that lay where the -lascar had lain. It was the leathern belt with which he had bound the -fellow's arms. The tongue of the buckle was broken. He recollected now, -and almost cursed his folly for not recollecting before, that the buckle -had long been weak. Too late! The lascar had escaped! - -Dashing the traitorous belt upon the stones, he hurried to where the -old sailor lay asleep, with Bosin curled up by his side, and shook him -roughly by the shoulder. He was in no gentle mood just then. - -“Captain! Captain! Wake up! The lascars off!” - -No response. No movement. Only the monkey awoke suddenly and fell to -whimpering. - -The captain lay at full length upon his back, his bronzed hands clasped -upon his broad chest, his blue sailor's cap drawn well over his -eyes. Something in the pose of the figure at his feet, in its -stillness--something, too, in the plaintive half-human wail the monkey -uttered at the moment--struck a sudden chill to Don's heart. He dropped -upon his knees, lifted the cap, peered into the upturned face. It was -distorted, purple. He started back with a fearful cry: - -“Not dead! Oh, my God, not dead!” - - - - -CHAPTER XIV.--SHROUDED IN A HAMMOCK. - - - That was a fearful moment for Don. The quest of the golden pearl, -entered upon with all the love of adventure and sanguine hope natural to -young hearts, began to wear a serious aspect indeed. Even had Jack been -there to share the heartbreak of it, this sudden, numbing blow would -still have been terribly hard to bear. But Jack was gone--whither, -Heaven alone knew--and the captain was dead. - -Ay, the “Providence that sits up aloft” had at last looked out a snug -berth for the old sailor, and shipped him for the Eternal Voyage. -Kneeling by his side in the solemn twilight, with aching heart Don -recalled all his quaint ways and quainter sayings, his large-hearted -generosity, his rollicking good-nature, his rough but ever-ready -sympathy--and sealed the kindly eyes with such tears as are wrung from -us but once or twice in a lifetime, and recalled with sadness often, -with shame never. - -But for him the captain would never have undertaken this disastrous -venture. This was the bitterest, the sorest thought of all. - -At last Bosin's low wailing broke in upon his sad reverie. Well-nigh -human did the monkey seem, as with tender, lingering touch he caressed -his master's face, and sought to rouse him from this strange sleep of -which he felt but could not understand the awful meaning. Then, failing -to win from the dumb lips the response he craved, he turned his -eyes upon his master's friend with a look of pathetic appeal fairly -heartbreaking in its mute intensity. - -No sooner did he succeed in attracting Don's attention, however, than -his manner underwent a complete change. The plaintive wail became a -hiss, the puny, lithe hands tore frantically at something that showed -like a thin, dark streak about the dead man's neck. What with the waning -light and the shock of finding the captain dead, Don had not noticed -this streak before. He looked at it closely now, and as he looked a -horrified intelligence leapt into his face. The dark streak was a cord: -the captain had been strangled! - -Oh, the horror of that discovery! Hitherto he had suspected no foul -play, no connection of any kind, indeed, between the captain's death and -the lascar's escape; for had he not taken the precaution to disarm -the native? But now he remembered seeing that cord about the fellow's -middle. He had thought it harmless. Harmless! Ah, how different was the -mute witness borne by the old sailor's lifeless form! In the lascar's -hands the cord had proved an instrument of death as swift and sure as -any knife. - -But why had the captain been singled out as the victim? Was the lascar -merely bent on wreaking vengeance on those who had injured him? Or was -he a tool in other and invisible hands? - -Feverishly he asked himself these questions as he removed the fatal -cord, and composed the distorted features into a semblance of what they -had been in life; asked, but could not answer them. Only, back of the -whole terrible business, he seemed to see the cunning, unscrupulous -shark-charmer, bent on retaining the pearls at any cost, fanning the -lascar's hatred into fiercer flame, guiding his ready hand in its work -of death. - -Could he, alone and all but unaided, cope with the cunning of this enemy -who, while himself unseen, made his devilish power felt at every turn? -The responsibility thrown upon his shoulders by the captain's murder -involved other and weightier issues than the mere recovery of a few -thousand pounds' worth of stolen pearls. Jack must be rescued, if indeed -he was still alive; while, if he too was dead, his and the captain's -murderers must be brought to justice. This was the task before him; no -light one for a youth of eighteen, with only a brace of timid native -servants at his back. Yet he addressed himself to it with all the -passionate determination born of his love for the chum and his grief for -the friend who had stood by him “through thick and thin.” There was no -hesitation, no wavering. “Do or die!” It was come to that now. - -The captain's burial must be his first consideration; for Don had lived -long enough in the East to know how remorseless is the climate in -its treatment of the dead. Morning at the latest must snatch the old -sailor's familiar form for ever from his sight. - -A tarpaulin lay in the “fo'csle,” and with this he determined to hide -the lascar's dread handiwork from view before waking the blacks, who -still slept. While he was disposing this appropriate pall above the -corpse, the captain's jacket fell open, and in an inside pocket he -caught sight of a small volume. - -“Perhaps he has papers about him that ought to be preserved,” thought -Don. “I'll have a look.” - -Drawing the volume from its resting-place with reverent touch, he found -it to be a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, sadly worn and battered, -like its owner, by long service. Here and there a leaf was turned down, -or a passage marked by the dent of a heavy thumb-nail--the sailor's -pencil. But what arrested his attention were these words written on the -yellow fly-leaf in a bold, irregular hand, and in ink so faded as to -make it evident that many years had elapsed since they were penned: - -“To all and sundry as sights these lines, when-somedever it may please -the Good Skipper to tow this 'ere old hulk safe into port, widelicit. -If so be as I'm spared to go aloft when on the high-seas, wery good! the -loan of a hammock and a bit o' ballast is all I axes. But if so be as -I'm ewentually stranded on shore, why then, d'ye mind me, who-somedever -ye be as sights these 'ere lines, I ain't to be battened down like a -lubberly landsman, d'ye see, but warped off-shore an' shipped for the -Eternal V'yage as a true seaman had ought to be. And may God have mercy -on my soul.--Amen. The last Log and Testament of me, - -“(Signed) John Mango, A.B.” - -The faded characters grew blurred and misty before Don's eyes as he -scanned them. Closing the book, he grasped the captain's cold hand -impulsively, and in tones choked with emotion, cried: - -“You shall have your wish, dear old friend! We'll warp you off-shore and -ship you for the Eternal Voyage in a way befitting the true seaman that -you are.” - -And the mute lips seemed to smile back their approval, as though they -would say: - -“Ay, ay, wrhy not, I axes? An' cheer up, my hearty, for, d'ye mind me, -lad, pipin' your eye won't stop the leak when the ship's a-sinkin'.” - -What boots it to linger over the noisy, but none the less genuine -grief, of the faithful Spottie when he learned the sad truth? Nor is it -necessary to describe at length the sad preparations for consigning the -dead captain to his long home beneath the waves that had been his home -so long in life. Suffice it to say that without loss of time a rude bier -was constructed on which to convey the remains to the beach, and that -while this was preparing there occurred an event so remarkable, and -withal of so important a bearing upon the future of the quest, as to -merit something more than mere passing mention. - -It happened while the three were in the jungle cutting materials for the -litter, and it concerned the fatal cord. - -“Until the lascar's paid out, I'll keep this as a reminder of what I owe -him,” Don had said grimly, just before starting; and taking the lascars -knife from his belt he stuck it into a crevice in the “fo'csle” wall, -and hung the snake-like cord upon it. - -Spottie and Puggles being too timid to leave with the dead, or to send -alone into the jungle in quest of materials for the bier--for was it not -at nightfall that shadowy spooks walked abroad?--Don was forced to bear -them company. There was no help for it; the captain's body must be left -unguarded in their absence--except, indeed, for such watch-care as puny -Bosin was able to give it. - -Up to the moment of their setting out the monkey had not for a single -instant left his master's side. This fact served to render all the more -extraordinary the discovery they made on their return--namely, that the -monkey had quitted his post. What could have induced him to abandon his -master at such a moment was a mystery. - -And the mystery deepened when Don, wanting the knife, sought it in the -“fo'csle,” for, to his astonishment, neither knife nor cord was to be -found. - -“Dey spooks done steal urn, sar,” cried Spottie, with chattering teeth. - -“Huh,” objected Puggles, between whom and Spottie there had grown up a -sharp rivalry during their brief acquaintance, “why they no steal -dead sahib? I axes.” Then to his master: “Lascar maybe done come back, -sahib.” - -This suggestion certainly smacked more of plausibility than that offered -by Spottie, since it not only accounted for the disappearance of the -cord and knife, but of Bosin as well. Was it too much to believe that -the faithful creature's hatred, instinctively awakened by the lascar's -stealthy return, had outweighed affection for his dead master and -impelled him to abandon the one that he might track the other? -Remembering the intelligence exhibited by the monkey in the past, Don at -least was satisfied that this explanation was the true one. - -By midnight all was in readiness, and with heavy hearts they took up -their dead and began the toilsome descent to the creek. This reached, -the _Jolly Tar_ was drawn from her place of concealment, and the -captain's body lashed in a tarpaulin. Then, with white wings spread, -the cutter bore silently away from the creek's mouth in quest of a last -resting-place for the master whose behest she was never again to obey. - -“This will do,” said Don, when a half-hour's run had put them well -off-shore. “Take the tiller, Pug, and keep her head to the wind for a -little.” - -With bowed head he opened the well-worn Prayer Book, and, while the -waves chanted a solemn funeral dirge, read in hushed tones the office -for the burial of the dead at sea. A pause, a tear glinting in the -moonlight, a splash--and just as the morning star flashed out like -a beacon above the eastern sea-rim, the old sailor began the Eternal -Voyage. - -“And now,” said Don, as he brought the cutters head round in the -direction of the creek; “now for the last tussle and justice for the -dead. Let me only come face to face once more with that murderous lascar -or his master, and no false notions of mercy shall stay my hand--so help -me Heaven!” - -And surely not Heaven itself could deem that vow unrighteous. - - - - -CHAPTER XV.--THE CROCODILE PIT. - - - The last melancholy duty to the captain discharged, Don threw himself -heart and fist--as Jack would have said--into the work cut out for him; -and by the time the _Jolly Tar_ was again rubbing her nose against the -inner wall of the grotto, he had decided to abandon the Haunted Pagodas -and to make this secluded spot--next door to the back entrance of the -Elephant Rock--his base of operations. - -“Up to now it's been all take and no give,” he said to himself; “but now -we've got to act, and act like a steel trap, sharp and sure. What is it -the old school motto says?--'_bis dat qui cito dat_,' 'a quick blow's as -good as two any day.' The old Roman who strung that together knew what -he was talking about, anyhow, and I'll put his old saw to the test -before another sun sets.” - -In the letter of which Bosin had been the bearer Jack had said--“They -take me to the Elephant Rock to-night.” Twice since then had night come -and gone; and if his chum had not perished in the village holocaust, in -the Elephant Rock he was probably to be found. Hurrah for the finding! - -The muskets were still at the “fo'csle,” for that sad midnight descent -of the hill had left their hands too full for weapons. Besides, none -were needed then. They were needed now, however, so there was nothing -for it but to climb the hill after them. This, and the time necessarily -consumed in snatching a hasty meal, delayed the start by a good two -hours. - -At length all was ready, and tumbling into the canoe they pushed off. -To stick to the literal truth, Spottie did the tumbling. In spite of all -his efforts to assume a dignity of carriage in keeping with his weapons -and the occasion, the cutlass at Spottie's belt would persist in getting -at crosspurposes with his long, thin legs, and so throw him, physically -speaking, off his balance. Once seated in the canoe, however, with the -point of the cutlass in dangerous proximity to Puggles's back, and -the old flint-lock so disposed upon his knees as to hit Don to a dead -certainty if by any mischance it went off, Spottie looked exceedingly -fierce--in fact, an out-and-out swashbuckler. - -Not so Puggles. No weapons could make him look other than what nature -had made him--a happy-go-lucky, fun-and-food loving, sunny-faced lump of -oily blackness. The extra broad grin that tugged at the far corners -of bis expansive mouth proclaimed him at peace with all the -world--especially with that important section of it bounded by his -swelling waistband--and gave the lie direct to his warlike equipment. - -Of crossing the creek Don made short work, and soon they stood upon the -rock platform, where, but little more than twenty-four hours before, -the landing and sudden disappearance of the native crew had put them in -possession of the key which was now, if fortune favoured them, to unlock -the secret of Jack's fate, and, haply, the door of his prison-house. - -Yonder on the right--for the spot was light enough by day, despite -its curtain of vegetation--could be seen the black mouth of the tunnel -running under the creek, and so to the summit of Haunted Pagoda Hill; -here, on the left, that by which the natives had taken their departure. -It was with this that Don's business lay now; and as he led the way into -it he recalled with a sorrowful smile that quaint fancy of the captain's -which made this approach to the Rook “the tail o' the Elephant.” And -here was the very spot where he had uttered the words. He almost fancied -he could see the old sailor standing there still, his wooden leg thrust -well forward, his cap well back, and Bosin perched contentedly upon his -broad shoulder. Alas for fancy! - -But what was this that came leaping down the dim vista of steps? No -creature of fancy surely, but actual flesh and blood. Only flesh and -blood in the form of a monkey, it is true, but what mattered that, since -the monkey was none other than Bosin himself? - -A jubilant shout from Puggles greeted his appearance--a shout which Don, -fearful of discovery, immediately checked--while Spottie made as if to -catch the returned truant. But the impish Bosin would have none of him; -eluding the grasp of the black, he sprang upon Don's shoulder. Only -then did Don observe that the monkey was not empty-handed. He carried -something hugged tightly against his breast. - -Like all his tribe, Bosin had a pretty _penchant_ for annexing any -chance article that happened to take his fancy, without regard to -ordinary rights of property. - -“Prigging again, eh?” said Don, as he gently disengaged the monkey's -booty from his grasp. “What have you got this time?” - -To his astonishment he saw that he held in his hands the lascar's cord, -and--surely he was not mistaken?--the fellow to that half of Jack's -handkerchief in which his letter had been wrapped up when despatched -from the village per monkey post. - -Bosin's mysterious disappearance, then, was explained. In quitting his -dead master's side so unaccountably he had had a purpose in view--a -monkeyish, unreasoning purpose, doubtless, but none the less a -purpose--which was none other than to track the lascar to his lair and -regain possession of the cord. Not that he knew in the least the value -to Don of the yard of twisted hemp, or the significance of the scrap of -crumpled, bloodstained cambric he was at such pains to filch. With only -blind instinct for his guide, he had been guided better than he knew; -for while the cord proved the Elephant Rock to be the hiding-place of -the lascar, the handkerchief proved, or seemed to prove, that Jack was -still alive and that the lascar's hiding-place was his prison. - -Don's heart leapt at the discovery. - -Perhaps Jack, unable for some reason to scribble even so much as a word, -had entrusted the handkerchief to the monkey's care, knowing that the -sight of it would assure his chum of his safety, if it did no more. Or -perhaps Bosin had carried it off while Jack slept? - -A thousand conjectures flashed through Don's brain, but he thrust them -hastily aside, since mere conjecture could not release his chum; and -calling to the blacks to follow, he sprang up the steps with a lighter -heart. The monkey swung himself down from his perch and took the lead, -as if instinctively divining the object of their quest; chattering -gleefully when the trio pressed close upon his heels--impatiently when -they lagged behind. - -The steps surmounted, they discovered an offshoot from the main tunnel, -from which point of division the latter dwindled straight away into a -mere dot of light in the distance. In the main tunnel itself the light -was faint enough; but as they advanced it increased in brilliancy till -presently--the distance being actually much less than the unbroken -perspective of chiselled rock made it appear--they emerged suddenly into -the broad light of day, streaming down through an oblong cleft or gash -cut deep into the solid heart of the Rock. - -The light itself was more welcome than what it revealed. - -Directly across their path, at their very feet indeed, extended a -yawning chasm, of depth unknown--but, as the first glance served to -show, of such breadth as to effectually bar their further progress. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI.--DON SETS A DEATH-TRAP FOR THE LASCAR. - - - To be sure, skirting the end wall on the extreme left was a ledge along -which the agile monkey made his way to the opposite side of the pit -with little or no difficulty; but, as for following him, by that road at -least, why, the thing was an utter impossibility. The ledge was a mere -thread. Scarce a handbreadth of rock lay between the smooth-cut upper -wall and the perpendicular face of the pit. - -“Blow me!” muttered Don, unconsciously echoing the phrase he had so -often heard on the captains lips, “if this ain't the purtiest go as ever -I see!” Which assertion was purely figurative; for as he was only too -well aware it was “no go” at all, so far as the pit was concerned. - -Peering over the brink of the chasm he found it to be partially filled -with water, between which and the spot where he stood intervened perhaps -thirty feet of sheer wall. An uninviting pool it looked, lying as green -and putrescent within its sunken basin as if the bones of unnumbered -dead men were rotting in its depths. The very sunshine that fell in -great golden blotch upon its surface seemed to shrink from its foul -touch. - -But what struck Don as the strangest feature of this noisome pool was -the constant agitation of its waters. To what was it due? What were -those black, glistening objects floating here and there upon its -surface? And those others, ranged along the half-submerged ledge on the -far side? A small fragment of stone chanced to lie near him. He picked -it up and aimed it at one of these curious objects. To his astonishment -the black mass slowly shifted its position and plunged with a wallowing -splash into the pool. Puggles, who had been looking on with mouth agape, -raised a shout. - -“Him corkadile, sa'b! Me sometimes bery often seeing um in riber. Him -plenty appetite got!” - -“Ugh, the monsters!” muttered his master, watching with a sort of -horrible fascination the movements of the hulking reptiles, which lifted -their ugly, square snouts towards him as if scenting prey. “Here's a -pretty kettle of fish! Crossing this hole is hound to be a tough job at -the best--but, as if that wasn't enough, these brutes must turn up and -add danger to difficulty. Plenty appetite? I should think so, indeed, in -such a hole as this! However, crocodile or no crocodile, it's got to be -crossed.” - -Until now he had rather wondered, to tell the truth, why it was that -not a single native had crossed their path. He had expected to find the -passage guarded. The pit, not to say the crocodiles, shed a flood of -light--not very cheering light, he was forced to admit--upon this -point. No doubt the natives considered themselves in little danger from -intrusion, so long as they were guarded by a dozen feet of sheer pit, -with a dozen brace or so of healthy crocodiles at the bottom of it. - -And probably they were right so far as concerned intruders of their own -colour and pluck; but Don was made of sturdier stuff than native clay. -Beyond the crocodile pit lay his chum, a prisoner. Cross it he must, -and would. Therefore, to borrow the expressive phrase of an American -humorist, he “rose to the emergency and caved the emergency's head in.” - -Was the pit too wide to leap? Spanning it with his eye, he estimated its -width at a dozen feet; certainly not less. A tremendous leap that, and -fraught with fearful risk. And even should he be able to take it, what -of Spottie and Puggles? They would never dare face it. And what, too, of -the muskets and cutlasses? - -Suddenly he descried, just where the continuation of the tunnel pierced -the wall on the far side of the pit, an object that inspired him with -fresh hope and determination. True, it was nothing more than a plank, -but once that plank was in his hands, he could, perhaps, bridge the pit. - -A dozen feet at the very least! Could he clear it? To jump short of -the opposite ledge, to reach it, even, and then slip, meant certain and -horrible death at the jaws of the crocodiles. Should he venture? Jack -had ventured much for him. He slipped off his shoes--his stockinged feet -would afford a surer foothold--and quietly bade the blacks stand aside. -Sauntering carelessly into the tunnel--that by which they had approached -the pit--a distance of forty paces or so, he turned, drew a deep breath, -threw all his lithe strength into the short run, his whole soul into the -leap, and---- Would he clear it? - -No--yes! A horrified shriek from the blacks, and he was over, the pit a -scant handbreadth behind him. - -Dragging the plank from its place of partial concealment, he was -delighted to find a short piece of rope attached to it. Good; it would -facilitate the bridging of the chasm. Standing on the brink, he -coiled the rope--not without a misgiving that it was too short for his -purpose--and, calling to Spottie to catch the end, threw it out over the -pit sailor-fashion. It fell short. - -“Stop!” cried he. “This will make it right;” and drawing the lascar's -cord from his pocket, he knotted it to the rope. This time Spottie -succeeded in grasping the end; and so, with the aid of the lascar's -cord, the plank was drawn across. Its length was such that it bridged -the pit from wall to wall, with a foot of spring-way to spare at either -end. - -At the time Don thought nothing of this apparently trivial incident; -yet, had he but known it, with that cord he had laid a death-trap for -the-captain's murderer. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII.--THE BLAST OF A CONCH-SHELL. - - - The rest was easy. In five minutes the blacks had crawled across, with -many fearful glances at the upturned snouts of the huge reptiles below; -and Don, treading the springy length of plank with sure foot, had -transferred muskets and cutlasses to what he mentally termed “Jack's -side” of the chasm. They were now ready for a fresh start. - -All this time Bosin had watched their movements with an expression of -mingled shrewdness and approval in his restless eyes that seemed to say: -“Ha! the very thing I'd do myself were I in the fix you're in.” Again he -took the lead, like one who had travelled the road before, and was quite -satisfied in his own mind that he knew all its little ins and outs. - -His knowledge of the way became more apparent still when, after -penetrating the heart of the rock for some distance, the tunnel split -into three distinct branches. This point Don hesitated to pass; but not -so Bosin. Without a pause he took the passage to the right, glancing -back as if to assure himself that he was followed. Off this gallery -others opened, until it became evident that, as the captain had once -affirmed, the rock was honeycombed “from maindeck to keelson.” But for the -monkey's guidance Don must have found himself utterly at a loss amid so -perplexing a labyrinth. As it was, he pressed forward with confidence. - -Danger of discovery, owing to the multiplicity of passages, now -increased momentarily. Any of these ghostly corridors might afford -concealment to an enemy who, warned of danger by the muffled echo of -approaching steps, might steal away, silently and unobserved, and so -raise the alarm. Though still in his stocking feet, Don instinctively -found himself treading on tip-toe, while the bare-footed blacks--who -were even less inclined for a brush with the enemy than he--purposely -did the same. Even then their movements, well-nigh noiseless though they -were, caused commotion amongst the bats that clung in patches of living -fungi to the vaulted roof, and sent them wheeling hither and thither in -swift, startled flight. - -To succeed in finding his chum, and to liberate him ere discovery came, -was almost more than Don dared hope for. For come it must, sooner or -later. Only, once Jack was by his side, he cared little how soon or in -what manner it came. True, the natives possessed the seeming advantage -of overwhelming numbers; but in these rock corridors the nozzle of a -single musket was better than a hundred men. - -To do him justice, he had thrust the pearls entirely out of his thoughts -in his eagerness to set Jack at liberty. “Time enough to think about the -pearls afterwards,” he said to himself--forgetting that “afterwards” was -at the best but a blind alley, full of unknown pitfalls. - -They were now well into the heart of the Elephant Bock, where any moment -might bring them face to face with Jack or his captors, or both. - -At this point the monkey, who was some yards in advance, suddenly -stopped and uttered a peculiar hissing sound. Once before--when, on -the rock platform, Bosin had given warning of the approach of -the canoes--had Don heard that hiss. There was no mistaking its -significance. He motioned to the blacks to halt, and with stealthy tread -crept forward alone. - -Just ahead a sharp bend in the passage limited his view to a few yards -of indifferently lighted wall. Hugging the inner side of this bend, he -presently gained the jutting shoulder of rock which formed the dividing -line between the vista of gallery behind and that ahead, and from this -point of vantage peered cautiously round the projection in search of the -cause of Bosin's alarm. - -This was not far to seek. Immediately beyond the bend the passage -expanded into a sort of vestibule, communicating, by means of a -lofty portal, with a spacious, well-lighted chamber. It was not this -discovery, however, that riveted his gaze, but a dusky figure crouched -on the floor of the vestibule--the figure of a native, reclining on a -mat, with his back to the spot where Don stood. By his side lay a sword -of curious workmanship, and a huge conch-shell, the pearly pink of its -inner surface contrasting strangely with the native's coffee-coloured -skin. The weapon and the shell told their own tale: the native was doing -“sentry-go.” - -Over what or whom? With swift glance Don scanned every nook and corner -of the vestibule, and as much of the interior chamber as lay within -range of his vision. So far as he could see both were empty, barring -only the dusky sentinel. Then he fancied he heard the faint clanking -of a chain, though from what direction the sound proceeded it was -impossible to determine. Listening with bated breath, he heard it again, -and now it seemed to come from the larger chamber. His pulses thrilled, -and a determined light shone in his eyes as he turned them once more -upon the sentinel. - -“I'll jolly soon fix you, old chap,” he said to himself; and noiselessly -clubbing the musket he carried, he prepared to advance. - -But for the monkey's vigilance he must have come upon the recumbent -guard without the slightest warning, for not more than ten paces -separated the shoulder of rock--Don's post of observation--from the mat -on which the native reclined. - -To fire upon him was out of the question, since that would fulfil the -very purpose for which he, with his conch-shell trumpet, was stationed -there--namely, to send a thousand wild echoes hurtling through chamber -and galleries, and so apprise his comrades of impending danger. -Moreover, Don had a wholesome horror of bloodshed, which at most times -effectually held his trigger finger in check. - -A swift, sure blow--that would be the best means of keeping the native's -lips from the nozzle of his conch-trumpet. A blow--ay, there was -the-rub! For, though the native's back was towards-him, the space by -which they two were divided must be crossed; and these walls, dumb -as they looked, had hidden tongues, which would echo and re-echo the -faintest sound. Could he, then, get near enough to strike? - -Inch by inch he crept towards the unconscious sentinel, slowly raising -the butt of the musket as he advanced. So intense was the suspense of -those few brief moments that he hardly breathed. It seemed as if the -very beating of his heart must reach the native's ears. Inch by inch, -foot by foot, until---- - -[Illustration: 0213] - -The native turned his head; but before he could spring to his feet, or -even utter a cry, the musket crashed upon his shaven pate, and he rolled -over on his side without a sound. - -Don did not stop to ascertain the extent of his injuries. Neither did he -summon the blacks. Again the clanking of chains rang in his ears, and at -a bound he crossed the threshold of the larger chamber, An unkempt human -figure started up in the far corner. - -“Jack!” - -“And is it really you, old fellow?” cried Jack joyfully. “Give us your -hand; and how did you find your way here, I want to know?” - -“You have Bosin to thank for that,” replied Don, returning his chum's' -grip with interest. “When I saw your handkerchief----” - -“Ah, the monkey stole it, then! I missed it, don't you know, but never -imagined that Bosin took it, though he paid me a visit early this -morning. Well, he did me a good turn that time, anyhow.” - -“And a better one when he led us back here. But,” continued Don in -hurried, suppressed tones, “don't let us waste time palavering, Jack. -There's not a moment to lose. I've done for old conchy yonder--knocked -him on the head--but the rest may swoop down on us any minute. Say, how -are you tethered?” - -“Leg,” said Jack laconically, rattling a chain which secured him to the -wall. “Stop!”--as Don unslung his cutlass with the intention of hacking -at the links--“I'll show you a trick worth two of that. You see that -ring-bolt the chain's fastened to? Well, it's set in lead--not very -securely as it happens--and I've managed to work it so loose that I -fancy a good hard tug ought to bring it away. Meant to make off on my -own account, you see, if you hadn't turned up, old fellow. But lay hold -and let's have a pull for it, anyhow.” - -“Quick, then!” said Don. “I thought I heard footsteps.” - -Throwing their combined weight upon the chain, they pulled for dear -life. The ring-bolt yielded little by little, and presently came away -from its setting bodily, like an ancient tooth, and Jack was free. The -chain, it is true, was still attached to his leg; but as it encircled -only one ankle, this did not so much matter. - -“Don't let it rattle,” said Don breathlessly, “I'm positive I heard -footsteps. And here, take this,” thrusting the cutlass into Jack's -disengaged hand. “Now, come on!” - -Barely had he uttered the words when a hollow, prolonged blast, like -that of a gigantic trumpet with a cold in its throat, filled the chamber -with deafening clamour. And as the echoes leapt from wall to wall, and -buffeted each other into silence, another sound succeeded them, faint -and far away, but swelling momentarily into ominous loudness and -nearness. - -Don clutched his companion's arm. - -“The fellow I knocked on the head--he's come to!” he said thickly. “That -was the blast of his conch; and this”--pausing with uplifted hand and -bated breath until that other sound broke clearly on their ears--“this -is the tread of heaven only knows how many native feet. Jack, we're -discovered!” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII.--BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. - - - Four galleries centred on the rock-chamber, and the confused, -tumultuous rush of feet which followed the blast of the conch-shell like -an ominous echo, proceeded from that particular gallery opposite the -vestibule. - -“Seems to be a rare lot of them; but we needn't stop to reckon 'em up,” - said Jack, with a constrained laugh. “Lead the way, old fellow.” - -Into the smaller chamber they dashed, to find the exit blocked by the -sentinel with sword drawn. Rapidly reversing his musket, Don bore down -upon him--he, to do him justice, standing his ground bravely,--and with -the butt-end of the weapon dealt the nigger a blow in the stomach that -doubled him up like a broken bulrush. - -“Where are the others?” cried Jack, as they rounded the shoulder of rock -separating the antechamber from the passage. “You never came alone!” - -“No; I left them just here--told them to wait,” said Don, peering about -in search of the blacks. “They must have gone back; thought they'd save -their skins while they could, I suppose, the chicken-hearted beggars! -Ha, here's Bosin, at any rate.” - -Swinging the monkey upon his shoulder, he set off at a run down the -passage, Jack following as close as the weight of the chain would allow -him, to do. They had proceeded only a short distance when a faint, -sepulchral shout brought them to a stand. The sound seemed to proceed -from a gallery on their immediate right. The way out did not lie in that -direction. - -“That's Pug's wheeze,” said Don. “They've taken the wrong turning;” and -he drew a deep breath to answer the call. - -Jack interposed quickly. “Stop! The natives will be down on us soon -enough without, that. Off with you, old fellow, and fetch' pur party -back. I'll wait here.” - -Already Don was racing down the side passage. Presently Jack heard him -jitter a cautious “hullo.” A short silence followed then the echoes told -him that the fugitives were hastily retracing their steps. At the same -moment a confused uproar burst on his ears from the direction of the -chamber in his rear. The pursuing mob had turned the angle of the -passage and were actually in sight. The chain attached to Jack's leg -clanked impatiently. He fairly danced with excitement. That ill-advised -move on the part of the blacks had almost proved fatal to their sole -chance of escape. - -But not quite; for now Don and the blacks came up, Jack joined them, -and, with the oncoming thunder of many feet loud in their ears, away -they sped, running as they alone can run who know that death is at their -heels. - -Two circumstances favoured them so long as the race was confined to the -cramped limits of the corridors: the smallness of their own number, and -the multitude of their pursuers. Where four could run with ease, forty -wasted their breath in fighting each other for running room. - -“We must put the pit between us and-these howling demons while they're -tumbling over each other in the passage here,” cried Don. - -It was their only hope. Racing on by Jack's side, close on-the heels of -the blacks, he rapidly explained to his chum--who knew nothing of the -pit, having been brought into the rock by a more circuitous route--the -nature of the contemplated manoeuvre; and gave Spottie and Puggles their -instructions how to act, backed up by a wholesome threat of summary -abandonment to the enemy should they shirk when it came to the crucial -point, the plank. The blacks were to cross first, Jack next; while he, -Don, would cover their retreat as best he could. To this arrangement -Jack could raise no demur. He was too seriously handicapped by the -chain. - -A final spurt, and they cleared the tunnel and reached the pit. The -plank lay where they had left it. Across it ran their only road to -safety. At a significant signal from Don Spottie led off, and, when he -had reached the further side in safety, Puggles followed in his tracks. -Doffs threat, coupled with the ominous uproar belched forth by the mouth -of the tunnel, eclipsed all fear of the crocodiles. - -“Now, Jack,” cried Don, ere the plank had ceased to vibrate under -Puggles's tread, “after you.” - -Jack crossed, and Don was in the act of stepping on the unstable bridge, -when the foremost of the native gang burst from the gallery. One swift -backward glance--a glance that stowed him how alarmingly narrow was -the margin between escape and capture--and with outstretched arms he -balanced himself on the handbreadth of plank--it was scarcely more--and -began the perilous passage. Swift as was this backward glance, it -sufficed to show him, too, that the leader of the pursuit was none -other than the escaped lascar; and ere he had traversed half the plank's -length, he felt it yield and rebound beneath the quick tread of the -fellows feet. At the same instant Jack raised a warning shout. - -There are moments when the strongest nerve quails, the steadiest head -swings a little off its balance, the surest foot slips. Such a moment -did this prove for Don. The disconcerting vibration of the plank, -the knowledge that the lascar was at his very back, Jack's sudden -shout--these for an instant conspired against and overcame his natural -cool-headedness. He made a hurried step or two, staggered, and, his foot -catching in the rope where it encircled the plank a short distance from -the end, he stumbled and fell. - -Fell! but in falling dislodged the end of the plank which lay behind -him, and on which the lascar stood, from its hold upon the further brink -of the pit. The lascar, throwing up his arms with a despairing shriek, -plunged headlong into the pool, where he was instantly seized upon by -the ravenous crocodiles and torn limb from limb. - -[Illustration: 0223] - -And now, if ever, did the “Providence that sits up aloft” watch over -Don. Almost miraculously, as it seemed, instead of plunging into the -horrible death-trap below, he fell astride the plank, the hither end -of which still retained its hold upon the rock at an angle of perhaps -sixty-five degrees; and up this steep incline--whither Bosin had already -preceded him--with Jack's assistance he managed to scramble. Then they -laid hold upon the plank and dragged it from the pit, amid the furious -howling of the baffled rabble debouching from the tunnel opposite. - -“Safe over, at any rate,” panted Don. “But--good heavens! what's become -of the lascar?” For, suspended as he had been between life and death, he -had neither heard the lascar's shriek nor witnessed the horrible manner -in which he had received his quietus at the jaws of the crocodiles. - -Jack pointed out a bright crimson blotch on the surface of the pool. -“We've seen the last of him, poor devil,” said he with a shudder. “Say, -did I tell you--no, of course I didn't--that this fellows not _my_ -lascar?” - -“What, not the lascar who's been hounding us all this time?” - -“The lascar who's been hounding us on the island here--yes; but not the -one who tried to brain me on board the cutter and got the knife for his -pains. _That_ chap kicked the bucket shortly after he got ashore; this -fellow's his brother. They're as like as two peas.” - -Don vented his astonishment in a shrill whistle. “Then that accounts for -it,” said he; “for there being no scar on his shoulder, I mean.” - -“Precisely; and it came jolly near accounting for yours truly as well,” - said Jack, with a queer little laugh and a significant shrug of the -shoulders. “This fellow, you see--the one who was just now eaten by the -crocodiles--raised a sort of vendetta against us when his brother died, -and of course he wanted to try his hand on me first, since it was I who -gave his brother his death-blow. He'd have done it, too, if it hadn't -been for old Salambo. But the old man put his foot down--I overheard -their talk last night, and that's how I know--and said he wouldn't allow -any violence, lucky for me. He was hoping for overtures from you, I -suppose. But I say, what's this about the scar? How do _you_ know there -was none on the fellow's shoulder?” - -“How do I know? Why, you see, it was this way. I was swimming the creek -yesterday morning--you shall hear how that came about later on, by -the way--when the lascar,” indicating the crimson blotch on the pool, -“tried to throttle me. I had to knock him on the head to quiet him. Then -I towed him ashore, and the captain and I----” - -“The captain!” cried Jack with a start. “By Jove, we've left him -behind!” - -The wild hurry-scurry and excitement of the last half-hour had afforded -Don scant opportunity for speaking of the captain's sad end--had, -indeed, driven all thought of the old sailor from his mind, as it also -had from Jack's. Now that the captain was mentioned, however, Jack, -naturally enough, jumped to the conclusion that he had formed one of -the rescue party, and had been overlooked in their recent precipitate -flight. The time was now come when he must be undeceived; but when Don -attempted to disclose the sad truth emotion choked his utterance, and he -could not. But Jack, gazing into his convulsed face, instinctively read -there what his lips refused to utter. - -“When did it happen?” he asked in a hushed, awed whisper. “And how?” - -Controlling his voice with an effort, “Only last night,” faltered Don; -“the lascar did it.” - -Jack turned away and buried his face in his hands. - -“He was strangled,” Don presently resumed, “strangled with that cord -you see tied to the rope there. Afterwards, when the lascar gave me -the slip, as he did in the night, he took the cord with him; but Bosin -somehow recovered it and fetched it back. I little guessed how it would -serve the lascar out when I used it to bridge the pit!” - -“Retribution!” cried Jack, flinging his hands impulsively away from his -face. “He's rightly served, the villain. Only”--regretfully--“I wish it -had been me instead of the cord, that's all. But it's done, anyhow, so -let's get out of this.” - -And it was time; for during this conversation the natives had not been -idle. At this very moment, indeed, a number of them rushed shouting from -the tunnel, bearing other planks with which to bridge the chasm. Don -and his chum did not wait to see this done. Without further loss of time -they set out for the creek, in which direction the blacks had already -preceded them. - -Hardly had they entered the tunnel, however, when they encountered the -blacks, running back full pelt; and before Don could inquire the cause -of their precipitate return, a shout, reverberating up the vaulted -corridor from the semi-darkness ahead, made inquiry unnecessary. While -he and Jack had dallied in fancied security, the natives, skirting the -pit by another route, had cut off their retreat. - -And, as if to increase the consternation caused by this discovery, at -the same instant a chorus of yells in their rear announced that the -party in pursuit had succeeded in bridging the pit anew. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX.--ONE-TO-TWENTY GIVES TWENTY-TO-ONE THE WORST OF IT. - - - Hemmed in!” cried Don, as the desperate character of the situation -flashed upon him. “Shall we try to cut our way through the gang ahead, -or fall back on the pit?” - -“Back!” was Jack's prompt rejoinder. “Once prevent the niggers in -our rear from crossing the pit, and we're all right. We'll have more -fighting room there, anyhow.” - -Back they ran, hustling the blacks before them. At the pit matters were -even worse than they had feared. Half-a-dozen planks already spanned the -chasm, each of them black with natives, who jostled each other in their -eagerness to cross, supremely indifferent to the reptilian horrors that -awaited them should they lose their balance. - -“Hurrah!” shouted Jack, pouncing upon the 'bobbing end of the nearest -plank. “Tumble 'em in! To the crocodiles with the beggars!” - -Though the occupants of the plank could understand not a syllable of -Jack's speech, they readily understood his intention; and crowding -back upon each other with warning cries, by their combined weight they -hastened the very catastrophe they desired to avert. The plank bent -like a bow, snapped in twain, and launched its shrieking burden into -the abyss. In their frantic efforts to escape, a number of the doomed -wretches clutched at a second plank that happened to lie within reach. -Already heavily overloaded, this also gave way, and added its quota to -the horrible commotion of the pool. Two planks were thus accounted for. - -Meanwhile Don and the blacks had not been slow to second Jack's efforts. -By their united strength a third plank was dislodged, and they were in -the act of attacking the fourth when their energies were diverted into -another channel. - -For at this juncture the detachment of natives who had cut off the -retreat to the creek suddenly appeared upon the scene. The remaining -planks, too, now began to pour the enemy upon the hither side of the pit -in steady streams. - -The rocky shelf' that here flanked the chasm had, perhaps, a width of -three yards, and that portion of it to the left of the creek-tunnel's -mouth, where the unmolested planks lay, was speedily packed with -natives, armed with formidable pikes and knives, who bore down upon -the little group with furious outcries and all the weight of superior -numbers. Jack was the first to perceive the danger. - -“To the right! It's all up with us if we're surrounded.” - -Suiting the action to the words, he darted to the right, closely -followed by Don and the blacks. Here they stationed themselves side -by side, the timid blacks in the rear, and prepared to meet their -assailants. - -“Couldn't be better!” was Jack's cheerful comment, as he took a hasty -survey of their surroundings. “Wall on our right; pit on left; enemy -in front; and elbow-room behind. Say, we'll buckle to with the muskets -first, and reserve the cutlasses till it comes to close quarters. Look -out; they're coming!” - -On came the howling, disorderly mob, maddened by the terrible fate of -their comrades, and thirsting for vengeance. - -“Ready!” - -Together the muskets rose to the level. - -“Don't fire too high. Now, let 'em have it hot!” - -The walls of the narrow enclosure rocked with the thunderous report. The -mob quailed, fell back: “they had no stomach for cold lead. - -“That's all right,” said Jack coolly as they rapidly reloaded; “but I -wish we had breechloaders! A ball, quick!” - -The human wave in front, silent except for a sullen murmur that only -waited for the rush to be renewed ere it swelled into fury, was again -raising its ugly, threatening crest. - -“I doubt if we check it this time,” said Don, watching it with anxious -eyes; “they've seen us reload, and know where they have the advantage. -Better get your cutlass----” - -“Ready!” cried his companion. - -The wave, broke. A hoarse roar, a tumultuous rusk such as it seemed no -human power could withstand, and it was upon them. Again the walls leapt -to the thunder of the muskets; again the serried ranks quailed. But -before the smoke had left the muzzles of the muskets, the wave swept on -again with redoubled fury, poured itself upon and around the brave lads, -swept them off their feet For a moment it seemed as if the death-balance -must kick the beam. - -But the “final tussle” was not to be just yet. Spottie and Puggles, -terrified into momentary daring by the imminence of their own danger, -now threw themselves into the fray with an energy-which, if it did -little execution, at least served to divert many a blow from their -masters. No mean help that--to take the blows meant for another. - -Nor were the masters themselves slow to recognise and profit by this -fact. Right and left they slashed, dealing terrific swinging blows when, -they could get them in, lunging desperately at the sinewy, half-naked -forms about them when they could not, until British pluck and British -muscle told, as they ever must in a righteous struggle for life and -liberty, and One-to-twenty found itself clear of the _mêlée_, with a -ghastly ridge of wounded at its feet, and fighting room behind. - -Well they had it! For the space of one deep breath the disconcerted -rabble suspended hostilities, as if unable to believe that Twenty-to-one -had got the worst of it. Then their ranks closed up into a solid mass -of dusky, perspiring, blood-stained forms, and the onslaught was -renewed--not hurriedly now, but with a watchful determination, a -guarded, fierceness, that forced One-to-twenty back foot by foot until -but little room was left for fighting, and none, in sooth, for quarter -when it should come, as soon it must, to the sheer wall and the bitter -end. - -Once more the blacks had slunk to the rear--had, in fact, already -reached the wall, where, since they could get no farther, they cowered -in miserable anticipation of speedy death. The “final tussle” was not -far off now. Don and Jack had barely room to swing their cutlasses in. -So much of the rocky ledge as might be measured by a single backward -stride--only that separated them from the wall and the last scene of -all. Inch by inch, their teeth hard set, their breath coming and going -in quick, laboured gasps, they contested this narrow selvage of life. So -the balance hung, when there came a second momentary lull in the deadly -game of give and take. The dusky foe could now afford to breathe, being -confident of the issue. - -Keeping a wary eye upon their movements, Don seized his chum by the -hand. “I never thought it would come to--to this, old fellow,” he said -huskily; “God knows I didn't!” - -Jack swallowed hard several times before he could trust himself to -reply. “No more did I. But were not going to funk now, old fellow; -and--and I'm glad it's to be together, anyhow!” - -One mute, agonised look into each other's eyes; one last pressure of -the hand, and again, shoulder to shoulder, they faced the foe and the -inevitable end. - -At this instant, when it seemed that not a ghost of a chance remained, -there arose on their immediate right a shrill chattering sound--a -sound that, somehow, had in it a ring of joyousness so strangely out -of keeping with the situation that Don turned with a start and a sudden -thrill of hope towards the quarter whence it came. As he did so, his -eyes fell upon Bosin, forgotten in the heat of the fray, and now -perched--good God! upon what? - -Don clutched his companion's arm and pointed with unsteady finger. - -“Look!” - - - - -CHAPTER XX.--THE LAST STRAW. - - - A glance--more he did not dare bestow whilst confronted by that -treacherous throng--showed Jack what he and Don had hitherto entirely -failed (and no wonder!) to observe. In the extreme corner of the ledge -on which they stood, a deep, narrow gash divided the towering side wall, -and up this, clear to the summit of the rock, there ran a flight of -steps. On these Bosin had perched himself. At their foot crouched the -blacks, blind to everything except their own danger. . - -“Wake those niggers up, and start them on ahead up the steps!” said Jack -quickly. “Look sharp! they're going to rush us again.” - -Falling on Spottie and Puggles, by dint of vigorous cuffing and shoving -Don succeeded in getting them on the stairs. Rapidly as this was done, -it produced an instantaneous effect upon the native rabble. They too had -overlooked the existence of the stairway until Don's action recalled -it to mind. A moment later the opening was besieged by a clamouring, -infuriated throng. - -“Up with you, old fellow!” cried Jack, turning on the natives with drawn -cutlass after he had ascended some half-dozen steps, and thus covering -his friend's retreat. “You had your innings at the pit; now it's my -turn.” - -Stationed on the steps as he was, Jack would have possessed no mean -advantage over the natives but for one circumstance. The chain attached -to his leg dangled down the steps, and the natives, discovering this, -promptly seized it. In a twinkling Jack was dragged back into the midst -of the furious rabble. - -Don was half-way up the steps when the uproar caused by this mishap -reached his ears. He turned just in time to see his companion disappear. - -Down the steps he bounded, clearing half-a-dozen at a leap, until barely -that number lay between him and the bottom, where, owing to Jack's -desperate resistance, the natives had their hands too full to notice his -approach. Gauging the distance with his eye, he took a flying leap -from this height into the very midst of them, scattering them in all -directions. As he intended, he overleapt his friend, who now quickly -regained his feet. Before the natives had time to recover from the shock -of Don's precipitate arrival in their midst, he and Jack were well up -the steps again. One or two of the gang made as if to follow them, but -turned tail when menaced with the cutlasses. - -“Nick and go that time!” cried Don, as he gained the top and threw -himself exhausted upon the rock. “Just for a minute I thought it was all -U.P.” - -“Me too,” said Jack, with more gravity than grammar; “and, between -ourselves, the sensation wasn't half pleasant, either. But, I say, are -you hurt?” - -“No; nothing worse than a scratch or two. And you?” - -“Oh, I'm all right. Though it's little short of a miracle that we -weren't spitted on those beastly pikes. Say, do you think they'll try to -rush us here?” - -“Hardly, after the lesson we've taught them; unless, indeed, there is -a wider approach to the summit here than those steps. We ought to look -about us at once so as to make sure.” - -“Right you are,” assented Jack. “Let's load the muskets and leave the -niggers in charge here while we take our bearin's like, as the captain -used to say, poor old chap!” - -But when it came to charging the muskets--old-fashioned muzzle-loaders, -it will be remembered--they made an unpleasant discovery. Don had lost -his powder-flask in the fight. - -To make matters worse, Spottie, when called upon to produce his, -confessed that he had left it on board the cutter in the hurry of the -start. Only Pug's flask remained; but this, unfortunately, was nearly -empty. There was barely enough powder left for three charges. - -This was but one of a series of disconcerting revelations which quickly -followed the loading of the muskets. - -In the first place, the most careful search failed to disclose any other -means of egress from the Rock. In all the length and breadth of its -summit they could find no opening except the one by which they had -ascended, while on every hand its sides fell away in declivities so -steep and smooth that not even Bosin could have found a foothold upon -them---or in perpendicular precipices that made the head swim as one -looked down from their dizzy height upon the town, or sands, or jungle, -far below. - -With the bright sky above, and the free air of heaven all around them, -they were as effectually hemmed in as when that bristling array of pikes -forced them back to the blank wall. The jaws of the trap were a little -wider; the effects of its deadly grip a little delayed--that was all. - -To add to the horrors of their position, absolute starvation stared them -in the face in the event of a prolonged siege. Since early morning they -had eaten nothing, and the day was now far advanced; they had brought no -food with them, and none was procurable here. A small temple crowned the -Rock; but when they penetrated it in the hope of finding fruit or other -edible offerings, its dustladen shrine spoke only too plainly of long -disuse. Even the thin clusters of dates upon the few palms that eked -out a stunted existence in a shallow depression of the Rock were acrid, -shrivelled, and wholly unfit for food. The pit, it is true, contained -water; but this, even had it been drinkable, lay hopelessly beyond their -reach. - -“No powder, no grub, no drink; it's a pretty, pickle to be in, anyhow,” - said Jack, ruefully summing up these calamitous discoveries as they -rejoined the blacks at the head of the stairs. “And, by Jove!” pointing -down the steps, “they've gone and doubled the guard.” - -“The waters the worst,” he presently resumed, scanning the arid expanse -of rock thirstily. “We could hold out for days, if we only had a supply -of that. As it is, I don't dare think what this place will be like under -a midday sun--ugh!” - -“All the more reason we should leave it, then,” said Don. - -“How?” - -Don was silent. The question did not seem to admit of an answer. - -“Now, see here, old' fellow,” said Jack; “I admit, of course, that U.P. -is written large all over the face of things just now; but at the same -time it strikes me there's more than one way of getting off our white -elephant's back.” - -“There's only the tunnel to the creek,” said Don, “and that's not -going to help us much while it's chock-full of natives, and we have no -powder.” - -“Then why not go over the cliff?” demanded Jack. - -This daring and seemingly absurd proposal Don greeted with a stare of -utter incredulity. “That would be facing death with a vengeance,” was -his far from encouraging comment. “How high do you estimate the cliff to -be, anyway?” - -“A couple of hundred feet or so.” - -Don laughed. “You may as well say thousands, so far as our chances -of reaching the base in safety are concerned.. The thing's a sheer -impossibility, I tell you; Bosin himself couldn't do it. You're -downright mad to think of it, Jack.” - -“Am I? I admit the difficulty, but not the impossibility. What Bosin -can't do, we can.” - -“How, I should like to know?” - -“By making a rope. See here, did you notice those palm-trees we passed -while making the round of the Rock?” - -“I did; but 'pon my word I don't see what they've got to do with your -proposal. Ropes don't grow on palm-trees.” - -“Oh, but they do, though. Do you mean to say that you never saw the -natives make a rope out of the branches of a palm?” - -“Of course I have. And what's more, I know how it's done. But say,” his -tone suddenly changing to one of anxiety, “suppose the palm-leaves don't -give, us enough material?” - -“I'm not sure they will,” said Jack doubtfully, “unless we spin it, -out pretty fine; and that, of course, increases the danger of breakage. -Well, if we run short, we can make shift with the blacks' clothes and -turbans. But it's going to take a jolly long time to make--though we -ought to finish it easily by to-morrow night. Then, ho for the cliff! -And now, old fellow, just lie down, will you, and take a snooze: you're -completely done up. When the moon rises I'll call you, and we'll have a -whack at the trees, while Pug and Spottie do sentry-go.” - -The blacks, poor fellows, were already sound asleep, with Bosin snuggled -up between them; and Don was not long in following them into that realm -of dreams, where waking cares, if they intrude at all, more often than -not lie low and shadowy on the horizon. So Jack was left alone in the -darkness and solitude of the Rock. - -Kicking off his shoes, and tucking the end of the chain beneath his belt -to secure perfect noiselessness of movement, he shouldered a musket, -and fell to pacing back and forth past the black orifice that marked the -point where the stairway cleft the rocky floor. Monotonous work it was, -and weird. The steely glint of the stars, the mournful sobbing of the -surf upon the sands, sent an involuntary shiver through his frame. -He crept softly to the extreme brink of the chasm and peered into its -depths. Below all was pitchy blackness; he could distinguish nothing, -save, far down, at an infinite depth as it seemed, the faint, fantastic -reflection of a star on the surface of the pool. Occasionally a sound -of lazy splashing floated up to where he stood, and he thought with -creeping flesh of the horrible, ghoulish surfeit the crocodiles had had -that day. - -To and fro beneath the steely stars--tramp, tramp, tramp, to the solemn -dirge of the sea. Would the laggard moon never rise and put an end to -his weird vigil? - -Hark! what was that? He paused and listened with suspended breath, his -back towards the dim outline of the stairway; listened, but heard only -the moaning of the surf and the regular, sonorous breathing of his -sleeping companions. - -“One of those gorged crocodile beasts got a nightmare,” he muttered, -with a smile at the comic aspect of his own fancy. “Ha,” catching sight -of a faint, silvery glow in the east, “there's the moon at last. Time to -call our fellows; I've had enough of this death's watch, anyhow.” - -While uttering these words he made a step forward with the intention of -calling Don and the blacks, when something whizzed swiftly through the -air, he felt a sharp twinge, an intense burning sensation in his left -arm, a deathly faintness stealing over him, and realised that he was -wounded--wounded by a dexterously-thrown knife, which, had it not been -for that timely forward stride, must have buried itself deep in his -back. Luckily, in spite of the pain and giddiness, he retained his -presence of mind. Quick as a flash he, wheeled, brought the hammer of -the musket to full cock, and the musket itself to his shoulder. Above -the yawning staircase the outline of a human figure showed indistinctly. - -“One for you,” muttered Jack, and fired. - -The figure threw up its arms and fell backwards. - -The report of the musket brought Don to his feet. “What's the row?” he -asked, running to his companion's side in alarm. - -The appearance of other figures in lieu of the first supplied a more -pertinent answer to this question than Jack could have given. He -snatched up one of the remaining muskets, Jack possessing himself of -the other. By this time Spottie and Puggles were also up, but, like the -dutiful servants they were, they kept well in the rear of their masters. - -The enemy were now literally swarming up the steps and sides of the -stairway. - -Jack gave the word--“Blaze away!” and a double report went hurtling -wildly out over the sea. - -Clubbing their muskets, they then fell upon and began clubbing the -escaladers with an energy that speedily choked the contracted avenue of -approach to the summit of the Rock with a heaving, scrambling, trampling -mass of natives, whose desperate struggles to regain their lost foothold -upon the steps only served to facilitate their descent to the bottom. In -five minutes' time the repulse was complete; the foe retreated into the -dark security of the chasm, leaving some six or eight of their number -lying upon the scene of the affray. Jack threw aside his musket and -sprang: down the steps to where they lay. - -“What are you after now?” cried Don, leaping down after him. - -“Cloths,” was Jack's laconic rejoinder, as he unceremoniously began to -divest the natives of the long strips of country cotton that encircled -their waists. “We want these for our rope.” - -On hearing this Don also set to work, and in a short time they had -secured some half-dozen cloths, together with an equal number of -turbans, which lay scattered all up and down the steps like enormous -mushrooms. With this booty they returned in triumph to the summit of the -rock. - -“They'll average twelve feet at least,” said Jack, eyeing the tumbled -heap critically. “Let's see--twelve twelves make a hundred and -forty-four; and by tearing them in two down the middle we'll get double -length. Total, two hundred and eighty-eight feet. Hurrah, we've got our -rope!” - -“And a far safer one,” observed Don, “than if we had patched it up out -of those palm-leaves. Well, it's an ill wind that---” - -He got no further, for Jack suddenly dropped at his feet as though he -had been shot. He had fainted from loss of blood, as Don, to his horror, -quickly discovered. As a matter of fact, the knife that had penetrated -Jack's arm was still in the wound, and its projecting hilt was the first -intimation Don received of his chum's hairbreadth escape. By the time -he had removed the knife, ripped open the coat-sleeve, and bandaged the -wound with a fragment torn from one of the cloths, Jack opened his eyes. - -“Why didn't you tell me about this?” exclaimed Don reproachfully. “How -did it happen?” - -“How? Oh, one of those treacherous niggers shot his knife at me--the -old trick,” said Jack, scrambling to his feet and shaking himself with -nonchalant air, “I'd have told you, only I forgot it in the scuffle, -Nothing but a scratch, anyway; I'm all right.” - -Don's look was rather dubious, for, in spite of his companion's -assumption of _sang-froid_, he could not but foresee the possible effect -of a badly-wounded arm upon their proposed descent of the cliff. - -The moon was now well above the horizon; so, setting the blacks to watch -the stairs, they went to work on the rope at once--an easy task compared -to what it must have been had they attempted to utilise the tough, -fibrous palm-branches, as at first proposed. - -“You haven't told me yet,” Jack presently observed, pausing in his task -of knotting together the long strips of cloth as Don tore them off ready -to his hand; “you haven't told me how you came to lay the lascar by the -heels--in the creek, I think you said? Let's have the story now, old -fellow.” - -“Oh, there's a whole cable's-length of events leading up to that,” said -Don. “I'd better begin at the beginning--with your disappearance, I -mean.” - -So there, beneath the stars, while the rope which was to ensure escape -from the Rock grew under, their busy fingers, he recounted link by link -the chain of events which the days and nights of Jack's absence had -forged. - -Far into the night did the story spin itself out, for Jack had many -questions to ask, many comments to make; until at last it came to that -terrible moment when Don had sought to rouse the captain, and found him -to be sleeping the sleep that knows no waking. His voice grew choked -and husky then Jack bent low over his work, and tears glistened in the -ghostly moonlight. - -“And in his jacket pocket I found this,” concluded Don, producing the -well-thumbed Prayer Book. “On the fly-leaf--no, you can't make it out -now, the light is so faint--but on the fly-leaf the dear old chap had -written that whatever happened, he was to be buried at sea. So this -morning, just before daybreak, we put off in the cutter, and gave him -what he wished for--a seaman's burial.” - -Jack knew the whole sad story now, and for a time they fell into one of -those silences which, somehow, are apt to follow the mention of the dead -who have endeared themselves to us in life--silences eloquent, in their -very stillness, of regret and grief. - -“There, it's done,” said Jack at last, as he tied and tested the final -knot. “And now, hurrah for the cliff!” - -Don had begun to coil the rope, when he suddenly paused in his task -and exclaimed: - -“Say, how are we going _to fasten the end?_” - -“Fasten the end? Why, to----” Jack came to an abrupt stop, adding -blankly after a moment: “Blest if I know what we _can_ fasten it to!” - -“Nor I,” Don acknowledged, as much taken aback as his companion by the -appalling nature of this discovery. “There are the palms, of course, -and the temple; but they're too far from the cliff to be of any use. The -rope will hardly reach as it is, I'm afraid.” - -“Oh, there must be some way of securing it,” replied Jack incredulously, -“Surely there's a crack or something we can wedge one of the cutlasses -into. Let's look, anyhow!” - -Look they did, but not with the result Jack had so confidently -anticipated. From side to side, from end to end of the Rock, they -searched and searched again, even going down on their hands and knees -that they might perchance feel what had escaped the eye, But without -avail. So far as the moonlight enabled them to discern--and it made the -place nearly as light as day--neither crack nor projection marred -the smooth surface of the stone. They gave it up at length, utterly -disheartened. Even Jack felt this to be the last straw, and abandoned -himself to despair. - -“It's a bad job altogether,” was the despondent comment with which he -threw himself down beside the apparently useless coil of rope. “God help -us, we haven't a ghost of a chance left!” - -“Oh, things aren't quite so bad as that!” replied his companion, with an -assumption of hopefulness he was far from feeling. “Who can say what may -turn up? The darkest hour is just before the dawn, you know.” - -“But,” said Jack, “suppose there isn't any dawn, what then?” - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. RIVALS FOR THE HONOURS OF DEATH. - - - A night of dread foreboding, of weary watching for the day that seemed -as if it would never come. With what tantalising slowness did the -snail-like stars crawl across the black vault of the heavens! And when -day came, what then? - -Hunger and thirst, danger and despair, and the certainty of death! But -no need to await the dawn for these; already they were here. Comfortable -bed-fellows, truly, and for a bed the bare, unyielding rock. - -Jack lay with his head pillowed upon the coil of rope. Not that he found -it a comfortable resting-place. The knowledge of what the rope could -_not_ do for them made it a pillow of thorns. He could not rest. The -last thread of hope had broken, plunging him into the abyss of despair. -Besides, his arm had become extremely painful within the last hour; he -was restless, feverish. Fever goads the brain. Jack's brain was just -then busier, perhaps, than it had ever been before. He felt none of the -sharp gnawings of hunger, none of the insatiable cravings of thirst, -though, as a matter of fact, these were even then conspiring with his -wound to fever his blood and keep him awake, and make him think, think, -think with: never an instant's pause. When thought is goaded like this, -it speedily verges on delirium. - -To give way to despondency was not at all like Jack; and as he tossed -from side to side and thought upon the “whine” (that was what he called -it, in his own mind) in which he had indulged a little while ago when -the utter desperateness of the situation first burst upon him--when he -thought of this, he felt heartily ashamed of himself. He was a coward, -a rank, out-and-out coward. He hated himself for his faint-hearted, -babyish lack of spirit. But he would redeem his reputation yet. He would -show them--meaning Don and the blacks--that he was no coward, anyhow! - -The blacks, as they crossed and recrossed each other on their noiseless -beat, thought little and said less. They were desperately hungry, and -hunger is the one fellow-feeling that does not make us wondrous kind. -Every now and then they tightened their waist-cloths a little, but -beyond this gave no outward sign or token of what they thought or felt. - -So the night wore on, and still Jack thought in restless silence. There -was a deeper flush on his cheek, but it was no longer the flush of -shame. The fever in his blood, the delirium in his brain, were rising. -So was his resolution. He flung himself about restlessly, muttering. He -would show them he was no coward, anyhow! - -So the night wore on, until by-and-by, as Don turned for the hundredth -time upon his uneasy couch--for he, too, was unable to rest--his hand -came into accidental contact with that of his chum. He started; Jack's -hand was fiery hot. - -Housed by his companion's touch and movement, Jack sat bolt upright, and -gazed about him in an excited, feverish fashion, muttering incoherently. -His breath came and went in short, hurried catches, and in his eyes -shone an unnatural wildness that struck terror to Don's heart. Knowing -nothing of his chum's resolve, he thought him simply delirious. - -“Lie down,” he said soothingly, placing his hand on Jack's shoulder, -and attempting, with gentle force, to push him back into his former -recumbent position. - -Jack flung the hand aside petulantly. Whatever of delirium there might -be in his eyes and manner, his words, though spoken rapidly and with -excitement, were rational enough. - -“Look here, old fellow,” he cried, “it's all my fault, your being here -in this fix; and I'm bound to do my level best to get you safe out of -it, especially after the way I funked a while back. No, don't cut in and -try to stop me--I know what I'm saying right enough, though I expect I -do look a bit wild and that. Now, my arm here--I ain't said much about -it--'tain't like me to whine, anyhow--at least not often--but all the -same, my arm's getting jolly bad. Knotting the rope and that, you see, -has made it a bit worse, and--well, the fact is, old fellow, I don't -believe I could go down that rope to save my neck, even supposing it to -be fastened, you understand.” - -“I feared as much,” said Don gravely. - -“Yes? Well, that's just how it stands,” Jack went rapidly on. “Tisn't -that I'm afraid, you understand--there's no cliff hereabouts that would -make me funk--it's simply that my arm's out of gear and won't work. Not -even if the rope were fastened, you see, which it isn't. And that's what -I'm coming at, old fellow. Look here, I'll tell you what we _can_ do. -Spottie and Pug can lower you away--over the cliff, you know--and then, -when Pug and I have sent Spottie after you, I'll manage somehow to pay -out the line while Pug follows. He's the lightest weight of the lot, -anyhow.” - -“All very well,” demurred Don, who thought he saw a fatal objection to -Jack's plan, “but how will you get down yourself?” - -“Oh, my getting down isn't in the bill at all,” said Jack; “I mean to -stay right here.” - -This announcement fairly took Don's breath away. He had supposed all -along that Jack was holding the pith of his proposal in reserve; but -never once had he so much as dreamed of such a climax as this. - -“What! stop here?” he gasped. “You don't know what you're saying--it's -certain death.” - -“Hope I ain't such a duffer as not to know that,” said Jack brusquely. -“All the same, I mean to stay.” - -“Don't say that, Jack.” - -“Why not? Better one than four.” - -“Then I'll stop with you,” said Don, with dogged determination. “The -blacks may have my chance and welcome. Nothing on earth will induce me -to go.” - -His chum was silent for a long time after that--so long, indeed, that -Don thought the matter settled for good and all. But in this he was -mistaken. - -“Say, old fellow,” said Jack at last, “tell you what I'll do; I'll toss -you as to which of us is togo. What do you say?” - -“No, no,” cried Don. - -“But why not? Where's the use of being such a softie over the matter? -There are no end of reasons why I should stay, I tell you. For one -thing, I've got no mother to consider.” - -“That's true enough,” assented Don, gulping as he thought of his own -mother. - -“And no sisters or brothers.” - -“Don't,” said Don huskily; “you forget me, Jack.” - -“No, I don't,” protested Jack; “you are more to me than any brother -could ever be, old man; but that's only an additional reason why I -should see you safe out of this mess. Then there's another thing; you -know how good the guv has always been to me--sent me to school, and -treated me just as if I was his own son, you know.” - -“Yes?” said Don. - -“Well, I've always felt that if ever I got the chance I should like to -repay his kindness, don't you know; and now that the chance has come I -don't mean to let it slip. Say, will you toss?” Don wavered. It seemed -terribly hard that they should all have to die like so many rats in a -trap. Besides, once he and the blacks were off the Rock, they could fall -back on the cutter, renew their stock of ammunition, and---- - -“I'll toss you on one condition,” he said suddenly. - -“What condition's that?” - -“Why, this. That after the die is cast we take no further steps until -daylight, so as to make quite sure there's no way of securing the rope -to the rock. Are you agreed?” - -For reply Jack held out his hand, and thus the compact was sealed. -Then Don drew a rupee from his pocket and passed it to his companion... -“Tails, you go,” said Jack, and tossed. - -A flash of silver in the moonlight, a mocking jingle, and the coin lay -still. Eagerly the rivals for the honours of death bent over it. - -“Tails!” - -“I knew it!” said Jack quietly; “and what's more, I'm jolly glad it -isn't heads.” - -His chum turned quickly away and bowed his head upon his knees, while a -sound suspiciously like a stifled sob broke the stillness of the night. -Jack crept close up to him and slipped an arm about his neck. So, for a -long time, they sat in silence. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII.--A REPORT FROM THE SEA. - - - Jack was the first to break the silence that followed the spinning of -the fateful coin. He rose, stretched himself, and, pointing to a ruddy -glow that had begun to light up the eastern horizon, exclaimed in a -voice of undisguised relief: - -“Daybreak at last!” - -“I only wish it would never come,” his companion rejoined gloomily, -turning his gaze upon the unwelcome light--of which, however, he had -caught scarce a glimpse ere he sprang to his feet in sudden excitement. - -“That's no daybreak, Jack! It's more like the reflection of a fire.” - -“I believe you're right,” assented Jack. “It certainly _is_ a fire; but -where can it be, that we see only the reflection? Behind Haunted Pagoda -Hill?” - -“No; this side of the hill, I should say.” - -“Then it must be somewhere in the creek.” - -At mention of the creek Don started violently, a suspicion of the truth -flashing upon him. He began to sniff the air. An odour of smoke floated -to them on the fresh morning breeze, faint but pungent. Jack, catching a -whiff of it, fell to sniffing too. - -“Well, what do you make of it?” Don inquired anxiously. - -“Tar!” replied Jack, without hesitation. - -“I thought so,” said Don, with a queer catch in his voice. “Jack, it's -the cutter!” - -With this he set off at a run towards that part of the Rock which -overlooked the creek. Advancing as far as the rapidly-increasing slope -of the declivity, made it prudent to venture, he came to a stand. The -glow of the fire was now brighter, though its source still remained -hidden from view; but by edging his way well to the right, he at length -succeeded in reaching a point whence the ruddy light that had excited -his fears could be seen as a leaping, swaying column of smoke and flame, -terminating, far down amid the darkness of the creek, in a single point -of lurid red. - -“Just as I feared!” he cried, as Jack rejoined him. “The niggers have -set fire to the _Jolly Tar_. I was afraid the rascals had smelt her out -when I met the lascar in the creek the other morning. The old boat's -done for, anyhow; so let me off my promise, Jack.” - -“What for? I can't see that the burning of the cutter has anything to do -with it. There are plenty of native boats to get away in.” - -“Oh, it isn't the getting away! You don't suppose I'd go off and leave -you in the lurch, I hope? It's the powder that troubles me. There wasn't -much on board the cutter, it's true; just about enough to fight my way -back here with--as I meant to do, please God, had this not happened. I -planned the whole thing out while we sat mooning yonder, you see. But -now!” and at thought of how this hope--the secret of his acquiescence -in the outcome of that fatal toss--had vanished into thin air before his -very eyes, Don's lips trembled and his voice choked. - -“Never mind, old chap!” said Jack, deeply touched by this new proof -of his friend's generosity; “I'll take the will for the deed. But, I -say--you pledged me your word, you know; and at daybreak, if no way of -anchoring the rope shows up, I shall expect you to go over the cliff -like a man. We shan't have long to wait now. Look!” - -He pointed to a deep roseate hue which tinged the sky just above the -ocean rim. And even as they stood watching it, the light came leaping -up from the sea, and outshone the stars, and set the whole east aglow. A -flush of dawn, and it was day. - -“Now,” said Jack, tightening his belt, “let's make the round of the Rock -again. If there's a shadow of a flaw anywhere we're bound to find it in -this light.” - -“Heaven grant we may!” ejaculated Don, as they began the search. - -The cliff forming the Elephant's left side was out of it altogether. The -native town lay directly at its base, rendering escape in that direction -impracticable. So, too, with that part of the Rock abutting on the -creek; its formation was such that no human being, rope or no rope, -could have made his way down its face. There remained only the -Elephant's right flank--overlooking the jungly back of the island--and -the loftier head parts facing the western sea. To these, then, the -search was necessarily confined. - -Again and yet again did they pace the dizzy heights, scanning every inch -of the rocky surface for that crack or projection upon the existence -of which Jack's life was staked. But, as before, the search ended in -failure and despair. There was absolutely nothing--neither crevice, nor -jutting point, nor friendly block of stone--in which, or to which, the -rope's end could be made fast: nothing but Jack's body! - -To secure the rope to the palms or the masonry of the temple was an -utter impossibility. It was too short by half. - -As a last hope Don approached the chasm in which lay the pool. But -the hope was short-lived. The native guard had been trebled overnight. -Hope--so far, at least, as Jack's life was concerned--stood on a par -with the powder: not a grain was left. - -As a matter of fact, Don had all along indulged a secret conviction -that “something would turn Up.” Now, when the terrible truth was at last -forced upon him in such a manner that he could no longer shut his eyes -to it, his distress was pitiable to witness. - -He had hazarded his friend's life on the toss of a coin--and lost! And -now he must go over the cliff--over the cliff to safety and life--over -the cliff by means of a rope, at the death-end of which stood his -dearest friend. Given his choice, he would have taken that friend's -place--oh, how gladly! But go he must, for his honour was-pledged, and -the time was come! - -Ay, the time was come--the supreme moment of Jack's heroic resolve. And -Jack was glad of it, ready for it. The fever in his blood had abated, -leaving him cool, collected, and more firm in his resolve than ever. He -had chosen his-course and he would stick to it, anyhow! - -“Come,” he said simply, laying a gentle hand on Don's shoulder, “it is -time for us to go.” - -“For us!” The words, though kindly meant stabbed Don to the heart. - -Kicking the coil of rope before him like a ball, Jack approached the -brink of the precipice. The blacks followed. There was little danger of -their being missed by the native guard, unless the latter mounted the -steps, and this they were not likely to do after the severe lesson they -had received in the night. Last of all came Don--slowly, reluctantly. He -looked and felt like one going to his execution. - -Without a word Jack picked up the loose end of the rope and knotted -it securely about his friend's chest, beneath his arms. When he had -uncoiled the rope to its full length, he fastened the other end about -his own waist. Then he held out his hand. - -“Good-bye, old fellow,” he said, his voice shaking in spite of himself. -“Good-bye, and God bless you! Be sure and cast the rope loose when you -reach the ground.” - -“Oh, Jack, Jack! Must I go--must I?” cried Don desperately, his voice -full of agony. - -With unfaltering step Jack led him to the extreme brink of the cliff, -left him there with his face set towards liberty and life, turned back, -and beckoning to the blacks--who had purposely been kept in ignorance of -Jack's resolve--prepared to pay out the line. - -“Over with you, old fellow! As gently as you can!” - -The rope tightened. Wheeling where he stood, Don cast one last imploring -look at his friend, who pointed upwards and then motioned him to go. He -obeyed. - -[Illustration: 0267] - -As the remorseless Rock closed above him, he let himself swing, neither -seeing nor caring whither he was being lowered. The abyss below had no -terrors for him--he even hoped that the rope might snap--why should he -live since Jack must die? And when at last his feet touched earth, and -he had flung the rope from him like a hated thing, he threw himself -upon his face at the foot of the insurmountable cliff and burst into a -passion of bitter, remorseful tears. - -After a time a gentle thud on the back aroused him. He looked up. It was -the rope again, but empty! What did it mean? Where was Spottie? Why -had he not been sent down? What had happened? A dozen questions such as -these flashed through his brain, and with them a sudden wild hope. He -started to his feet. - -A scrap of paper was secured to the rope by a half-knot. He snatched at -it, drawing it to him with something of dread in the movement. It was a -leaf from Jacks note-book, scrawled over with writing in Jack's familiar -hand. His eyes devoured the words:-- - -“Good news! A wonderful thing has happened. Was just going to lower -Spottie away when the report of a gun came booming up from the sea. The -schooner--the governor's schooner--is at anchor off the front of the -island! I'd signal her, only I have no powder. I'm all in a daze, -anyhow; but you'll know what to do.” - -An exclamation of intense gratitude to Heaven burst from Don's lips, and -crushing the scrap of paper in his hand, he set off at a run along the -base of the cliff, in the direction of the Elephant's head. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII.--DON RUNS THE GAUNTLET. - - - There was but one thing to be done: he must gain the schooner with all -possible speed, at any risk, and take immediate steps for Jack's rescue. - -Instinctively he shaped his course for the Elephant's head. The -precipitous cliff was there skirted by a narrow beach. He had seen it -gleaming above the surf-line while rounding the island on the morning of -their arrival. This beach would afford a short-cut to the front of the -island, off which the schooner lay. Once there, he must swim for it. -These were his thoughts as he ran. - -Tough work it was. True, the jungle did not grow close up to the base of -the cliff; but here and there yawning _nullahs_, of considerable depth, -and with sides almost as-steep as walls, had been cut across his pathway -by the rains. At intervals, too, he encountered rugged, irregular heaps -of stones, fallen from the cliff above, and studded thick with thorny -clumps of prickly-pear. - -The cutlass at his side impeded his progress. He threw it away. Then on -again. - -The sands at last! Close on his right lay the sea, close on his left -rose the beetling cliff. There was not much room--just enough to run in. -Away before him, like a narrow ribbon of burnished silver, stretched -the smooth, hard sands, with never a living thing in sight on all their -gleaming reach. - -Gradually the cliffs crept behind, and the seafront opened out before -him. And now, of a sudden, he espied a group of natives making for the -beach--a company of fishermen, laden with creels, and oars, and nets. - -Just ahead, a wedge-shaped gully split the low bank that bordered the -beach on the landward side. Above this bank were the fishermen, heading -for the gully. They were perhaps fifty yards short of it, while he, -on the beach below the bank, was a full hundred. Should they reach it -first, he would certainly be intercepted; whereas, could he but pass the -point of danger ere' the natives gained it, he might succeed in eluding -them. They did not see him yet. He darted under the bank, and ran as he -had never run in all his life before. - -Seventy-five yards, fifty yards, twenty yards--and then the gully. Had -the natives reached it? As he raced past he darted a swift sidelong -glance at the _nullah_. The fishermen were already halfway down it. They -saw him, dropped their fishing implements, and gave chase, yelling like -a pack of fiends. - -On and on he ran, looking back but once to ascertain what start he had -of the dusky gang. Twenty yards at least. They were just emerging from -the bottom of the gully. - -And now, away to the right, he sighted the schooner, riding at anchor -with half a mile of sea between her holding-ground and the shore. He -could see her boats swinging at the davits. They had not sighted him, -then. He wondered whether Jack could see him from the cliff. - -Jack caught sight of Don as he raced past the gully. The fishermen, -as it happened, were just then in the gully itself, and consequently -invisible. Don's appearance he hailed with a shout. - -“Hurrah! he hasn't lost much time, anyhow.” - -This exclamation brought both Spottie and Puggles to his side in hot -haste. The stairs were thus left unguarded--a step the imprudence of -which was wholly overlooked in the excitement of the moment. - -At sight of his master tearing along the beach below, a grim -delight--not unmixed with anxiety--overspread Puggles' black -countenance, while a chuckle of intense satisfaction welled up from the -red abyss of his fat, shiny throat. Then, like the shadow of an April -cloud driven swiftly across a sunlit meadow, a look of blank dismay -eclipsed the grin, the chuckle died away in a gasp of alarm, and -pointing to the beach with shaking finger, he cried: - -“Sar! sar! black warmints done catch um, sar!” - -His alarm was well-founded. The fishermen had just tumbled out of the -gully, at Don's very heels, as it seemed at this distance. - -“They're after him, sure enough,” cried Jack. “By Jove, how he runs! Go -it, old fellow! you've got the start of them, anyhow.” - -Away went Don, running like a deer, and after him pelted the fishermen, -in a headlong, rough-and-tumble, happy-go-lucky fashion, that, under -circumstances less serious, must have provoked the spectators on the -Rock to hearty laughter. No laughing matter this, however; for Don's -pursuers, having thrown aside their fishing gear, and being moreover -fresh in wind and limb, were seen to gain on him at every stride. The -race could not prolong itself for many minutes now, and the finish--Jack -shuddered, as he thought of what that must be. - -At this critical juncture, too, matters took an unexpected turn for the -worse. A short distance up the beach a second party of natives appeared -on the scene. Don ran straight on, apparently not perceiving them. They, -on the contrary, saw him, and bore down upon him swiftly. Their cries, -doubtless, warned him of his danger, for now he pulled up short, looked -ahead, glanced quickly over his shoulder, and then----- - -With a groan Jack turned away. - -A loud outcry from the blacks, however, drew his gaze seawards again, -and as he looked his pulses thrilled. Don was making straight for the -surf! - -As often happens on these coasts when the wind is but a whisper, and -the sea glass-like in its placidity, a heavy ground-swell was rolling -sullenly in from the outer bay. A stone's throw from the shore this -swell was but a sinuous, almost imperceptible, undulation of the glassy -surface; but as it swept towards the beach, where the water shoaled -rapidly, of a sudden it reared aloft a crest of hissing foam, which -curled higher and higher as it came on, until it overtopped the sands -at the height of a boat's mast. Then with a mighty roar it broke, hurled -itself far up the shelving sands, and retired, seething, to make room -for the green battalions pressing shorewards in its wake. - -Straight towards this living wall of water Don ran. The two bands of -natives, uniting their forces as they swerved aside like bloodhounds in -pursuit, were close upon him. Before, above him, curled the mighty wave; -and then, to his great horror, Jack saw him stumble and fall. - -Lucky fall! Ere the natives could throw themselves upon him, the combing -wave broke, passed directly over his prostrate body, swept the niggers -off their legs, and hurled them with irresistible force far up the -beach. - -A moment later the breathless watchers on the cliff saw a black object -floating on the surface of the water, yards from shore. It was Don. The -under-tow had swept him out to sea, beyond his pursuers' reach. - -An expert and powerful swimmer, he lost no time in increasing the -distance between himself and the disconcerted native crew, one or two of -whom attempted to overtake him, but soon gave it up for a bad job. - -Then a boat put off from the schooner, and soon Jack had the -satisfaction of seeing his plucky friend hauled' in over her side. A -quarter of an hour later, when the boat had regained the schooner, -the signal gun once more boomed out over the sea, and with feelings of -devout thankfulness to Heaven Jack realised that Don was safe on board, -and that the term of his own and his companions' imprisonment on the -summit of the Rock was bounded by a few brief hours at the most. - -Even as he looked, as if by magic the schooner's canvas swelled to the -breeze, and he caught the distant song of the lascars as they hove the -anchor to the cathead. - -Hunger, thirst, his wound, the very enemy at the foot of the rock -stairs--all had been forgotten in the breathless interest inspired by -Don's race for life; were forgotten still as he and the blacks stood -watching the schooner get under weigh. - -Till a sharp clank of metal, as of a spear carelessly let fall, recalled -their roving thoughts, and brought, them swiftly to the right-about, -to find the Rock in the immediate vicinity of the pit's mouth literally -swarming with armed natives. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV.--IN THE NICK OF TIME. - - - The surprise had been cleverly executed. Another moment, and Jack and -his black attendants would have been surrounded. As it was, the odds -were dead against them. - -The unexpected appearance of the schooner had evidently wrought a -complete change in the tactics of the enemy. So here they were. - -This sleek, corpulent native who led the escaladers was none other than -old Salambo! - -Salambo, the shark-charmer, thief, and director-in-chief of the -harassing attacks by which they, the party of adventurers in search of -what was indisputably their own, had been baffled at every turn. - -By means of the lascar's murderous hand he had clutched at the captain's -throat and taken the captain's life. And now that his tool was for -ever wrenched from his grasp, he had come in person to add the -finishing-stroke to his evil work. Jack's blood boiled as he thought of -it. One swift glance around, and his course was taken. - -“The temple, Spottie! Point for the temple, Pug!” - -The natives, perceiving their intention, swerved aside and attempted -to cut them off. But so unexpected was Jack's manouvre, so prompt the -obedience of Spottie and Puggles, that the attempt proved unsuccessful. -A wild, breathless dash, and they had turned the corner of the -temple--whose door, as usual, faced east--and crossed its threshold. - -Old and neglected as the edifice was, stout wooden doors still swung -upon the rust-eaten hinges. To slam these to and thrust the bolts home, -top and bottom, was the work of but a moment. Bosin darted in as the -great doors swung into place, narrowly escaping the amputation of his -tail as the penalty of his tardiness. Scarcely had the last bolt been -shot when up trooped the enemy, howling like hyenas, and commenced a -determined assault upon the doors. - -At first they hurled themselves upon the barrier and attempted to force -it in by sheer imposition of weight. Thud followed thud in furious -succession, while Jack stood by with palpitating heart. His fears as -to the stability of the doors, however, were soon set at rest. They -creaked, yielded a little, but otherwise stood as firm as the solid -masonry in which they were framed. The natives were not slow to discover -this, and the ill-advised attempt was soon abandoned. In the brief lull -that followed Jack looked about him. - -Inside here, beneath the cobwebbed, blackened roof of the outer temple, -the light was funereal in its dimness. What little there was crept in -through the cracks in the shrunken doors in a reluctant sort of way, -as if it found the society of bats and spiders anything but agreeable; -except at the further or western end of the temple, where there was -a second chamber, smaller and somewhat better lighted than the first. -Eight feet or so above the floor a small square window pierced the wall, -and directly beneath this stood a sort of stone pediment or shrine, on -which squatted a hideously distorted image. This was the temple _swami_, -and _swami's_ ugly head reached to within a couple of feet of the -window. - -A second attempt was now made upon the doors, though not after the -haphazard fashion of the first. The cracks in the shrunken woodwork -attracting the attention of the natives, they fell to work on the widest -of these, and with their spears began chipping away the plank splinter -by splinter. But the extreme toughness of the material, seasoned as it -was by unnumbered years of exposure to the elements, rendered the task -of demolition both difficult and slow. - -“Take you a jolly long time to get your ugly head-pieces through that, -anyhow!” muttered Jack, as he watched--or rather listened to, for he -could see little or nothing of what was going on outside--the fast -and furious play of the spears. “And when you do get 'em through, why -then----” - -To symbolise what would happen then, Jack did what was certainly quite -excusable under the circumstances--spat in his palm, and with immense -gusto decapitated an imaginary nigger. - -Still, given sufficient time for the spears to do their work, it was a -foregone conclusion that the doors must fall. Would they hold out till -the schooner cast anchor off the creek? He allowed an hour for that--an -hour from the time the anchor was weighed.. Well, they--he and-the two -blacks--had been in the temple the best part of an hour already. So that -was all right. - -But then, the rescue party must make their way up the creek, and from -the creek to the--summit of the Bock, along that passage by which Don -and the blacks had entered on the previous day. This would consume -another hour. He made the calculation with the utmost coolness; only, -when it was finished, and he asked himself whether the doors would hold -out that other hour, the reluctant “No” with which he was compelled to -answer the question somehow stuck in his throat and nearly choked him. -By way of relief, he slashed the head off another imaginary nigger. - -The second hour wore on. The gap in the door grew wider and wider -beneath the ceaseless play of the spears, and still the natives showed -no signs of desisting or of taking their departure. - -Presently a shadow darkened the little window at the rear of the temple. -Jack turned on his heel expecting to see a native, but instead saw only -Bosin. The monkey had clambered up the image, and so reached the window. -The sight of the creature gave Jack a sudden inspiration. - -What was to hinder the blacks and himself from beating a noiseless -retreat by way of this same window? The aperture was quite ample in size -to admit of their squeezing through it. But--his wounded arm! And could -the thing be done without attracting the attention of the gang about the -doors? - -He climbed up the image and looked out. So far as he could discover the -way was clear. Between that end of the temple and the stairs leading -to the pit, not a single native was to be seen. True, his view was -but limited at the best--the aperture was so narrow, and a straggling -blackskin or two might, after all, have their eyes on the window, or, -worse still, be guarding the stairs. Probably, though--and this seemed -the more likely view--the entire force and attention of the belligerents -were concentrated upon the temple doors. He would risk it, anyhow! - -Once gain the pit, and they were as good as saved; for by that time the -rescue party could not be far off. - -A wilder shout from the besiegers recalled his thoughts and eyes to -the doors. He scrambled down off the idols head and ran into the outer -chamber. - -What was that peculiar crackling sound--this pungent odour with which -the air had suddenly grown so heavy? Fire--smoke! They had set fire to -the doors! - -He ran back into the inner chamber. The blacks were there, cowering in -terror against the wall. In a few hurried words he directed them how -to proceed. They pulled themselves together and prepared to obey the -sahib's directions. - -“The window, lads! through the window! Quick now, you lazy beggars!” - -Spottie went first--somewhat unwillingly, it must be confessed, which -was scarcely to be wondered at, considering that the drop from the -window might land him in the arms of the enemy, or on the point of a -spear. The smallness of the aperture, its height from the ground, -and the necessity for going through it feet foremost, made a triple -difficulty, too. But with Jack's assistance this was speedily overcome, -and Spottie dropped out of sight. Barring the faint thud of his bare -feet on the rock, no sound followed. Thus far, then, the stratagem had -escaped detection. Jack began to breathe easier. - -After Spottie went Puggles--with even more difficulty, for, as the -reader is aware, Puggles was extremely fat; and again all was still -without. Within there was noise enough and to spare. The crackling -of the burning doors had grown ominously loud. As Pug's black head -disappeared, too, a tremendous shout burst from the rabble gathered -about the entrance. Its significance Jack did not stop to inquire. -Already he had scaled the image. A wry face or two at the pain of his -wounded arm, and a moment later he stood beside the blacks. - -The moment of their flight was well chosen. The natives, to a man, were -watching the doors with all their eyes. - -Bidding the blacks follow close at his heels, he sped across the few -yards of rock that separated the temple from the stairs, sprang down the -steps, and fell insensible at the feet of his friend, Roydon Leigh. - -The rescue party had arrived in the very nick of time. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV.--THE SHARK-CHARMER IS CAUGHT IN HIS OWN TRAP. - - - After all, Jack was but human. His fortitude, strung to a tense pitch -by those terrible days and nights of danger, snapped, in presence of -actual safety, like an overdrawn bow. - -A pitiful spectacle he presented, his clothes torn to ribbons, his hands -and face grimy, bloodstained, yet ghastly in their pallor. Don uttered a -cry and flung himself on his knees beside his chum. He thought him dead. - -“No, not dead, thank God! Only done up. He'll be all right soon,” said -Captain Leigh, with his hand upon Jack's heart, which still beat, though -faintly; and taking out a pocket-flask he poured a few drops of brandy -between the drawn, bloodless lips of the unconscious lad. - -Under this stimulating treatment Jack soon came round. Needless to dwell -on the confusion into which his thoughts were thrown by the sight of -the familiar faces bending over him. His bewilderment, however, was but -momentary. Memory returned with a rush and spurred him to action and -speech. He sat bolt upright. - -“Have you got the rascal?” he demanded in eager tones.. - -“What rascal?” asked Don. - -“The shark-charmer, to be sure. Who else should I mean? He's on the -Rock, I tell you!” - -“Him done stick his leg in trap, sa'b,” interpolated Puggles, with -appropriate action. - -Don started to his feet. Jack followed suit, somewhat unsteadily. - -“Is he above there?” cried Captain Leigh. - -“Yes, yes!” said Jack eagerly. - -“Up with you, boys!” cried the captain to the _peons_. - -Don had already acquainted his father with the shark-charmer's part in -the tragic events of the past week, and the _peons_ had overheard the -story. They all knew the shark-charmer, and they followed their leader -with enthusiasm. They carried carbines; these glinted in the sunshine, -and clanked against the contracted walls of the rock stairway as they -jostled each other in the ascent. - -A rush of many feet above, and the natives appeared at the stair-head. -Only the moment before had they discovered the temple to be deserted, -and become alive to the fact that they had lingered too long on the -Rock. They were now in hot pursuit of the fugitives. But the sudden -apparition of the red-sashed _peons_, the ominous glint and clash of the -carbines, promised hotter pursuit than they had bargained for. A wave of -consternation swept through their ranks. _Sauve qui peut!_ In headlong -flight they scattered in all directions. - -As before, the shark-charmer had led the gang. He almost ran into the -arms of the _peons_. - -“Rama! Rama!” - -It was the cry of a coward and miscreant who knows that his last hour -of freedom, if not of life, has come: the hour of reckoning for his -misdeeds. - -For as long as it took his half-paralysed tongue to frame the words, the -shark-charmer faced his approaching doom. Then he turned and fled like a -frightened cur. - -The voice of Captain Leigh rang out on the air clear and full as the -note of a bugle: - -“After him, lads! Never mind the others! Take the fellow alive!” - -Up scrambled the _peons_ in obedience to the command, deploying to right -and left in a long, semicircular line as they debouched upon the Rock. - -“Forward!” - -Off they went at the quick; then, with a wild cheer, broke into a loping -run, the extremities of the semicircle closing in as they advanced. - -The shark-charmer ran towards the Elephant's head, where the precipice -was the loftiest and dizziest of the four, the beach lying full three -hundred feet below. Whatever chance of escape he possessed, it assuredly -did not lie in that direction. To all human seeming his escape was an -utter impossibility. So thought the _peons_, and slackened speed, though -the extremities of the living, steel-crested semicircle still closed in -and in. Between, and somewhat ahead, ran the shark-charmer. He could not -run much farther; the brink of the precipice was only a few yards away. -He was caught! - -What the thoughts of the guilty, hunted wretch were during those awful -moments, God alone knows. - -The _peons_ had slowed down to a walk now--a walk confident, yet timid. -They were altogether sure of the shark-charmer, and not a little afraid -of the precipice. Not so the fugitive; for him all fear lay behind. He -advanced to the very brink of the cliff. His arms dropped at his sides. - -In upon him closed his pursuers with cat-like tread and alert eyes. They -had no desire to be dashed over the cliff. Besides, was he not as good -as caught? A mere span of rock divided him from their grasp. He stood -motionless, half-turned towards them, apparently resigned to his fate. - -Suddenly, however, hurling upon the close-drawn ranks a swift look of -defiance, he wheeled full-face to the sea; wheeled, and drew his arms up -and back. - -Captain Leigh was the first to perceive the significance of the -movement. - -“Seize him!” he shouted, dashing through the line of _peons_; “quick, or -he'll be over!... Good God!” - -He fell back appalled. A stifled cry of horror broke from the _peons_. -The shark-charmer had leapt into mid-air. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV.--BRINGS THE QUEST TO AN END. - - - Silent and pale as death, Don turned and stood for a moment facing -Haunted Pagoda Hill, with head bared. His thoughts were with the captain -as he had seen him on that terrible evening of the murder. Plainer than -words his attitude cried: - -“Avenged!” - -The other natives had taken advantage of the opportunity afforded by the -pursuit of the shark-charmer to make good their escape. Captain Leigh -accordingly ordered the _peons_ back to the schooner. Their mission was -at an end. - -At the head of the stairs they came upon Bosin. The monkey at once -clambered on to Don's shoulder, happier far than his new master. - -Here, too, as they were about to turn their backs upon the spot where -death had hovered in ever-narrowing circles about their heads through -the hopeless hours of that awful night and day, Jack and Don joined -hands and silently renewed the friendship which had here been put to -so crucial a test. Our boy-friendships seldom pass the boundary line -of youth and manhood; or, if they do, too often become tarnished and -neglected things in which we find no pleasure. Theirs, just then, seemed -fit to last a lifetime. - -“Say!” cried Jack abruptly, when he had done wringing his chunks hand, -“what about the pearls, old fellow? You're surely not going off without -them after all the trouble we've had? I'm not, anyhow!” - -Jack was nothing if not practical. - -Captain Leigh, who was standing by, overheard the words, and approached -with a curious, not to say mysterious, smile on his lips. - -“What! not had enough of it yet, Jack?” said he, in bantering tones. - -“Not I, sir! Where's the use of being half cut to bits if one doesn't -get what one's after? I shan't be content till I handle the shiners.” - -“And where do you purpose looking for them?” - -Jack's face fell.. It was not easy to find an answer to this question. - -“Perhaps I can assist you,” continued Captain Leigh, with a repetition -of his mysterious smile. “This quest of yours, boys, has been a string -of surprises from the very start, judging by what I have heard and seen -of it. So, just to keep the ball rolling, we'll wind up with the biggest -surprise of all.” - -And slipping his fingers into his waistcoat pocket, to the astonishment -of the young men he drew therefrom the identical wash-leather case -which they had all along, and with good reason, supposed to be in the -shark-charmer's possession. - -“Why--how--?” Don began, hardly able to believe his eyes. - -Jack interrupted him. - -“Don't you see how it is?” cried he. “The governor's running a rig -on us. Old Salambo took the pearls, but left the bag; it's empty, of -course!” - -Captain Leigh quietly turned the pouch upside-down, and poured into the -palm of his left hand a little silvery heap with a shimmer of pale gold -in its midst. This he pushed into full view with his finger. It was the -Golden Pearl. - -“You don't mean to say we've been on a wild-goose chase all this time?” - gasped Jack. - -“A downright fool's errand!” muttered Don, in tones of intense disgust. - -“No; neither one nor the other,” interposed Captain Leigh. “Don't -go scattering self-accusations of that sort about before you hear my -explanation--though it's a queer business, I must acknowledge,” he -added, with a laugh. “Will you hear it out now or wait till we go on -board?” - -“Tell us one thing,” put in Don; “were the pearls stolen at all?” - -“No, they were not, or I should not be able to produce them. But the -shark-charmer was none the less a thief, for all that. But I see you're -on tenterhooks to hear all about it, so I'll read you the riddle at -once.” - -Carefully restoring the pearls to the pouch, he handed the treasure to -Don, and then resumed: - -“It goes without saying, of course, that you remember the evening you -brought the pearls on board. Well, shortly after you had placed them -in the locker--you had just turned in, I think--I got an uneasy sort of -feeling that they were not as safe there as they should be----” - -“So you took them into your state-room!” interrupted Don, who thought he -began to see light. - -“Exactly. The companion door was open, you recollect, and the -shark-charmer, I suppose, must have been hanging about at the moment -and seen me. Very imprudently, as it turned out, I left my door on the -latch, though I took the precaution to put the pearls under my pillow. -You remember, perhaps, my paying off some of the men that afternoon? -Well, when I turned in I left the bag of rupees--or rather what remained -of them, about two hundred in all, I should think--on the sofa opposite -my berth, and my gold chronometer on the stand at my head, as I always -do. I slept like a top until I was called at three, when we got under -weigh. At this time, you understand, I was under the impression that you -two were snug between the sheets. The schooner was a dozen miles down -the coast before I found out my mistake. Being due in Colombo the -following day, you see, I couldn't put back. Neither could I make head -nor tail of your disappearance until the carrier brought your letter, -Don. That made the whole matter plain enough. You had found the locker -empty, supposed that the shark-charmer had stolen the pearls, and had -given chase.” - -“Then,” cried Jack, “what I said a minute ago was right enough, after -all. The pearls were safe, and we've been on a jolly wild-goose chase.” - -“Oh, no; that doesn't follow. The shark-charmer left the schooner far -from empty-handed. He stole the bag of rupees and the watch.” - -“Ah, but what about the handkerchief the pearls were tied up in?” asked -Don. “I fished it out of the water off the island here. How do you -account for that?” - -“I must have thrown the handkerchief on the sofa. Probably the fellow -snatched it up with the bag of rupees, thinking that it still contained -the pearls.” - -“And threw it away when he found that it didn't,” chuckled Jack. “Well, -the shiners are all right, anyhow!” - -Nightfall found the schooner bowling towards the open sea under full -sail. Three figures stood grouped on her deck in the fading twilight. - -“It was just about here,” said Don in a choked voice: - - “Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling, - - The darling of our crew; - - No more he'll hear the tempest howling, - - For death has broached him to. - - - His form was of the manliest beauty, - - His heart was kind and soft; - - Faithful below he did his duty, - - But now he's gone aloft.” - -All three uncovered and stood with bowed heads until the old sailor's -resting-place was left far behind. - -THE END. - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Haunted Pagodas--The Quest of the -Golden Pearl, by J. E. 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