Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England




Two Gallant Sons of Devon, by Harry Collingwood.

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The story opens in the town of Devonport, now a naval dockyard, in the
year 1577, on a light June evening.  Two young men, close friends, meet
after work, and go for a sail in a lugger borrowed from a boat-builder,
but while they are out, there is a violent change in the weather, with
the wind reversing and increasing to a point in which the lugger is
swamped, and about to sink.  They are picked up by a passing vessel,
which turns out to be a privateer, and her captain refuses to waste time
by landing them.  So they are found positions in the crew, and take part
in the subsequent events.  They do battle with a Spanish vessel, loot
her, and let her go.  Then they arrive at Cartagena in the West Indies,
where they also capture a Spanish galleon carrying a valuable cargo.

By accident the two young men get separated from the English privateer,
and this is where their adventures get even more exciting.  They are
captured by Peruvian Indians, and condemned to a painful death, but are
reprieved on the intercession of the wives of the men they killed, who
demand them as slaves.  They escape, and their adventures become ever
more singular as time goes on.  Eventually they persuade the locals that
one of them is a reincarnation of the Inca, and get them to show where
the gold, silver and jewels are hidden.  They then say that it is
imperative that they get these to their home, meaning England.  This is
accomplished, and they use their great wealth to buy large estates.

Collingwood has extraordinary powers of description, and you will enjoy
this book very much, especially if you make an audiobook of it.

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TWO GALLANT SONS OF DEVON, BY HARRY COLLINGWOOD.



CHAPTER ONE.

HOW PHIL STUKELY AND DICK CHICHESTER NARROWLY ESCAPED DROWNING.

It was a little after seven o'clock on June 19 in the year of Our Lord
1577, and business was practically over for the day.  The taverns and
alehouses were, of course, still open, and would so remain for three or
four hours to come, for the evening was then, as it is now, their most
busy time; but nearly all the shops in Fore Street of the good town of
Devonport were closed, one of the few exceptions being that of Master
John Summers, "Apothecary, and Dealer in all sorts of Herbs and
Simples", as was announced by the sign which swung over the still open
door of the little, low-browed establishment.

The shop was empty of customers for the moment, its only occupants being
two persons, both of whom were employees of Master John Summers.  One--
the tall, thin, dark, dreamy-eyed individual behind the counter who was
with much deliberation and care completing the preparation of a
prescription--was Philip Stukely, the apothecary's only assistant; while
the other was one Colin Dunster, a pallid, raw-boned youth whose
business it was to distribute the medicines to his master's customers.
He was slouching now, outside the counter, beside a basket three-parts
full of bottles, each neatly enwrapped in white paper and inscribed with
the name and address of the customer to whom it was to be delivered in
due course.  Apparently the package then in course of preparation would
complete the tale of those to be delivered that night; for as Stukely
tied the string and wrote the address in a clear, clerkly hand, the lad
Dunster straightened himself up and laid a hand upon the basket, as
though suddenly impatient to be gone.

At this moment another youth, with blue-grey eyes, curly, flaxen hair,
tall, broad-chested, and with the limbs of a young Hercules, burst into
the shop, taking at a stride the two steps which led down into it from
the street, as he exclaimed:

"Heyday, Master Phil, how is this?  Hast not yet finished compounding
thy potions?  My day's work ended an hour and more ago; and the evening
is a perfect one for a sail upon the Sound."

"Ay, so 'tis, I'll warrant," answered Stukely, as he deposited the
package in the basket.  "There, Colin, lad," he continued, "that is the
last for to-night; and--listen, sirrah!  See that thou mix not the
parcels, as thou didst but a week agone, lest thou bring sundry of her
most glorious Majesty's lieges to an untimely end!  There"--as the boy
seized the basket and hurried out of the shop--"that completes my day's
work.  Now I have but to put up the shutters and lock the door; and
then, have with thee whither thou wilt.  Help me with the shutters,
Dick, there's a good lad, so shall I be ready the sooner."

Five minutes sufficed the two to put up the shutters, and for Stukely to
wash his hands, discard his apron, change his coat, and lock up the
shop; then the two somewhat oddly contrasted friends wended their way
quickly down the narrow street on their way to the waterside.

As they go, let us take the opportunity to become better acquainted with
them both, for, although they knew it not, they were taking their first
steps on the road to many a strange and wild adventure, whither we who
also love adventure propose to accompany them.

Philip Stukely, the elder of the two, aged twenty-three and a half
years, tall, spare, sallow of complexion, with long, straight, black
hair, and dark eyes--the precise colour of which no man precisely knew,
for it seemed to change with his varying moods--was, as we have seen, by
some strange freak of fortune, an apothecary's assistant.  But merely to
say that he was an apothecary's assistant very inadequately describes
the man; for, in addition to that, he was both a poet and a painter in
thought and feeling, if not in actual fact.  He was also a voracious
reader of everything that treated of adventure, from the story of the
Flood, and Jonah's memorable voyage, to Homer's _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_,
and everything else of a like character that he could lay hands upon.
Altogether, he was a very strange fellow, who evidently thought deeply,
and originally, and held many very remarkable opinions upon certain
subjects.

This it was that made his friendship for and deep attachment to Dick
Chichester, and Chichester's equally deep attachment to him, so strange
a thing; for the two had not a trait in common.  To begin with,
Chichester was much younger than Stukely, being just turned seventeen
years of age, although this difference in age was much less apparent
than usual, for while Stukely, in his more buoyant and expansive
moments, seemed considerably younger than his years, Chichester might
easily have been, and indeed often was, mistaken for a young man of
twenty-one or twenty-two.  While Stukely was spare of frame and sallow
of complexion, Chichester possessed the frame, stature, and colouring of
a young Viking, being already within a quarter of an inch of six feet
two inches in height, although he had by no means done growing, broad in
proportion, with eyes of steel blue, and a shock of curly hair which his
friends would in these latter days have called auburn, while his
enemies--if he had possessed any--would have tersely described it as
"carrots".  In temperament, too, Chichester was the very antithesis of
Stukely, for he was absolutely unimaginative and matter-of-fact.
Perhaps his occupation may have had something to do with this; for he
was apprenticed to a shipwright, and delighted in his work.  He was also
an orphan; his nearest relative being his uncle Michael Chichester, a
merchant of Plymouth, who had adopted him upon the death of his parents,
and with whom he now lived.

Not much was said as the strangely assorted pair strode along side by
side on their way to the water, for both of them loved boats, and
sailing, and all that pertained to the sea life, and both were equally
eager to get afloat as quickly as possible, so as not to waste
unnecessarily a moment of that glorious evening.  At last, however, as
Dick turned unexpectedly into a narrow side alley, Stukely pulled up
short with:

"Hillo, Master Dick! whither away, my lad?  This is not the way to the
spot where our boat is moored."

"No," answered Dick, "it is not, I know.  But we are not going to take
our own boat to-night, Phil; we are going to take Gramfer Heard's
lugger.  Gramfer is to Tavistock to-night; and he told me this morning
that I might use the lugger whenever I pleased, if he did not want her
himself.  We'll have something like a sail to-night, Phil, for there is
enough wind blowing to just suit the lugger, while it and the sea would
be rather too much for our own boat."

So saying, Chichester led the way down the alley, and halted at a door
in the wall, nearly at its farthest extremity.  Then, drawing a key from
his pocket, he unlocked the door, flung it open, and Stukely found
himself looking in upon Gramfer Heard's shipyard, the scene of Dick
Chichester's daily labours.  He gazed, for a few seconds, with
appreciative eyes at the forms of three goodly hulls in varying stages
of progress, inhaled with keen enjoyment the mingled odours of pine
chips and Stockholm tar, and then hurried after Dick, who was already
busily engaged in unmooring a small skiff, in which to pull off to a
handsome five-ton lugger-rigged boat that lay lightly straining at her
moorings in the tideway.

A few minutes later they were aboard the lugger, busily engaged in
loosing and setting the sails; and presently they were under way, having
slipped their moorings and transferred them to the skiff, which they
left behind to serve as a buoy to guide them to the moorings upon their
return.  The lugger was a beautiful boat, according to the idea of
beauty that then prevailed, having been constructed by Mr George
Heard--familiarly known as Gramfer Heard--shipbuilder of Devonport, and
Dick Chichester's master, as a kind of yacht, for his own especial use
and enjoyment.  She was a very roomy boat, being entirely open from stem
to stern, and was conveniently rigged with two masts, the main and
mizzen, upon which were set two standing lugs and a jib, the mizzen
sheet being hauled out to the end of a bumpkin; consequently when once
her sails were set she could easily be handled by one man.

Stukely, who was the master spirit, took the tiller, quite as a matter
of course, while Dick was perfectly content to tend the jib and main
sheets; and away they went down the Hamoaze, with the water buzzing and
foaming from the boat's lee bow and swirling giddily in her wake as she
sped swiftly along under the impulse of a fresh westerly breeze, the
full strength of which was however not yet felt, the lugger being under
the lee of Mount Edgecumbe, beautiful then as it is to-day.  But the
prospect which delighted the eyes of the two friends--or of Stukely
rather, for Dick Chichester somehow seemed almost entirely to lack the
keen sense of beauty with which his friend was so bountifully endowed--
was very different from that which greets the eye of the beholder
to-day.  Devonport and Stonehouse were mere villages; Mount Wise was
farm land; where the citadel now stands was a trumpery fort which a
modern gunboat would utterly destroy in half an hour; Drake's island was
fortified, it is true, but with a battery even more insignificant than
the citadel fort; while the Hoe showed a bare half-dozen buildings,
chief of which was the inn, afterwards re-named the Pelican Inn, in
honour of Drake's ship, famous as the spot behind which, eleven years
later, Drake and Hawkins played their never-to-be-forgotten game of
bowls.

As the boat slid out from under the lee of Drake's island, however, and
headed straight for the Eddystone, she gradually began to feel the full
strength of the breeze, and her two occupants settled themselves down to
enjoy thoroughly a good long evening's sail, perhaps to be extended into
the small hours of the next morning, if the conditions continued
favourable.  For there was nothing that these two more thoroughly
enjoyed than a good tussle, in a well-found boat, against a strong
breeze and a heavy sea; and they were like enough to have both to-night,
so soon as they cleared the Sound and reached open water.  In fact,
although probably neither of them had thus far suspected it, both were
strongly imbued with the spirit of born adventurers.

An hour's sailing sufficed to carry them to seaward of Penlee Point,
when they found that there was just wind and sea enough to make for
perfect enjoyment, therefore instead of contenting themselves with a
mere sail round the Eddystone and back they determined to make a night
of it; and the sheets were accordingly hauled aft for a long stretch to
windward, close-hauled, towards the chops of the Channel.

Away sped the boat to the southward and westward, careening gunwale-to,
and sending the spray flying in such drenching showers over the weather
bow, that presently the water rose above the bottom boards and splashed
like a miniature sea in the lee bilge, compelling Dick to abandon the
mainsheet to Stukely while he took a bucket and proceeded to bale.  But
the wind showed a disposition to freshen, careening the boat so steeply
that, despite Stukely's utmost care, the water began to slop in over the
lee gunwale, as well as over the bows; and at length they decided to
take a reef in the mainsail, for Dick had no fancy for spending the rest
of the cruise in an ineffectual endeavour to free the boat of water that
came in faster than he could throw it out.  This was done, and the boat
resumed her headlong rush to the southward, until by the time that the
sun sank, red and angry, beneath the western wave, the land lay a mere
film of grey along the northern board.

Then occurred a thing common enough in the tropics but much less usual
in our more temperate climate; the wind suddenly dropped to a stark
calm, and then, a few minutes later, came away in a terrific squall from
about north-north-east.

So violent was the outfly that there was but one thing to do, namely, to
keep the boat away dead before it; and away went the lugger, still
heading to the southward and westward, but with the wind now dead aft
instead of over the starboard bow.  But they had scarcely been scudding
five minutes when there occurred a sudden rending crack of timber, and
the mainmast, weakened by an unsuspected flaw in the heart of it,
snapped, about midway between the heel of it and the sheave, and went
over the bows, broaching-to the lugger with the drag of the mainsail in
the water, and nearly filling her as she came slowly round head to wind.

The friends were now in a situation of imminent peril, the squall raised
a very awkward choppy sea with almost magical rapidity, and, more than
half-full of water as the boat now was, she was liable to be swamped out
of hand by some unlucky sea pouring in over her bows; the occupants,
therefore, set to work with a will to bale her out, Stukely taking the
bucket from Dick and handing him the baler instead.  But it was both
back-breaking and heartbreaking work; for, rendered heavy and sluggish
by the large quantity of water in her, the boat frequently failed to
rise to the lift of the seas, several of which poured in over her bows
from time to time, filling her faster than she could be freed by the
joint efforts of her crew; so that at length the unwelcome conviction
forced itself upon the two friends that, unless something quite
unforeseen happened, the boat must inevitably founder under them.

This conviction caused the toiling pair to cease from their labours for
a moment and glance about them anxiously, in the hope that the twilight
might reveal to them some craft to which they might signal for
assistance.  To their great relief, they perceived that there was indeed
such a craft within a short two miles to the eastward of them; moreover
she was outward-bound, and was heading in such a direction that she
would probably pass within half a mile of the waterlogged lugger.

"Thanks be!" devoutly exclaimed Stukely, as his eyes fell upon her.  "If
we can but attract her attention before the boat founders, we shall
escape, after all.  Go on with your baling, Dick, while I wave my coat.
The thing to do is to catch the eye of somebody aboard that ship and
make it understood that we are in distress; then, since we can both
swim, it will not greatly matter if the lugger should go down before
yonder ship reaches us."

Dick obediently did as he was told, while Stukely, whipping off his
coat, sprang upon the mast thwart and, with his left arm flung round the
splintered stump to steady himself, proceeded to wave his coat
energetically.  Luckily for the pair in distress, they were to the
westward of the approaching ship, with the evening sky, in which still
lingered a pale primrose glow, behind them, and against this background
their figures and that of the boat stood out black as silhouettes cut in
ebony.  It is possible that, even with this advantage, they might have
escaped notice, had not Phil thought of waving his coat; but the figure
of him standing there, apparently upon nothing--for it was only now and
then that a small portion of the hull became visible--waving frantically
something big enough to show up strongly, soon attracted attention on
board the approaching ship, and Stukely had scarcely been ten minutes
engaged on his waving operations when he had the gratification of seeing
a flag float out over the rail and go soaring up to the main truck,
while the stranger's helm was slightly shifted and she swerved
perceptibly toward them.

"Glory be! they have seen us, and are bearing away for us, so it matters
little now whether the lugger sinks or swims," exclaimed Stukely, as he
sprang off the thwart and resumed his task of baling with renewed zest.
"Nevertheless," he continued, "it will be well to keep her afloat as
long as we may, since she affords a bigger mark to steer for than would
the heads of us two afloat upon the darkling water."

The stranger--a tall and stately ship of some two hundred and forty tons
measurement--was now close aboard of the dismasted lugger; and well was
it for the occupants of the latter that such was the case; for as the
ship cleverly rounded-to, with her topsails lowered, alongside and to
windward of the boat, so near was the latter to foundering that the bow
wave of the rescuing craft completed the disaster by surging in over the
gunwale in sufficient volume to fill her; and down she went, at the
precise moment when some half a dozen ropes, hurled by the sailors
above, came whirling down about the shoulders of Dick and Stukely.

"Haul away!" shouted the two, with one accord, each grasping the rope's
end that came first to hand as they felt the lugger sinking and
themselves going down with her; and the next moment they were dragged,
dripping wet, up the lee side of the ship and in over her high bulwarks.

"Better late than never; iss, fegs!" exclaimed a stout, burly man of
middle height, clad in a crimson doublet of slashed silk, and trunk
hose, with a crimson velvet cap, in front of which was stuck a feather
of the same hue, secured by a gold brooch, set jauntily upon his head.
"But by my faith, my masters, we were only just in time.  Mr Bascomb,
put up your helm, and hoist away your topsails again.  And now, gentles
both, who be ye; and how came ye to be in so awkward a scrape as that
from which we have just rescued ye?"

This was evidently the captain of the ship; so Stukely, taking the lead
as usual, explained in a few brief words the particulars of their
mishap, thanked the unknown for his kindness in taking the trouble to
pick them up, and concluded by expressing the hope that the individual
to whom he was speaking would have the great goodness to stand inshore
and land them on the nearest point that he could conveniently fetch.

The captain--for such he proved to be, introducing himself as John
Marshall, captain of the good ship _Adventure_ of Topsham, westward
bound to the Indies in quest of Spanish booty--shook his head
good-naturedly but firmly.

"Nay, friend, that I cannot and will not do, for here have we spent the
whole of last night and to-day working down channel as far as this, and
now that we have at last caught a fair slant of wind I will make the
most thereof, not risking the loss of it to land any man, yea, even
though he were my own brother!  The utmost that I can promise is, that
if we should fall in with a coaster, or other ship, bound up-channel, or
should sight a fishing boat, I will delay my voyage just long enough to
put ye on board, but not a minute longer.  And if so be we do not
encounter another craft, you will e'en both have to join us, for we have
here no room for idlers.  And now, hie you both away into the cabin, and
take off your wet clothes; Mr Bascomb, the master, will furnish you
with dry clothing from the slop chest--though I misdoubt me," he
continued, running his eye dubiously over Chichester's stalwart frame,
"whether he will find any ample enough to clothe your friend withal.
And when ye have changed, sup with us in the cabin, and we will talk
further together."

Marshall then beckoned to Bascomb, and gave the latter instructions to
open the slop chest and do his best to provide the newcomers with dry
clothes; whereupon the master, in turn, beckoned to Philip and Dick to
follow him below, where in due time both were provided with a change of
clothing, the resources of the slop chest happily proving fully equal to
the strain upon its resources imposed by Chichester's bulky proportions.
The change was effected in good time to allow the two friends to join
the occupants of the poop cabin at supper, where Captain Marshall made
them duly acquainted with his fellow adventurers.  These were five in
number, consisting respectively of Mr George Lumley and Mr Thomas
Winter, Marshall's lieutenants, Mr Walter Dyer and Mr Edmund Harvey,
gentlemen adventurers who, with Marshall, had provided the wherewithal
for the fitting out of the expedition, and Mr William Bascomb, the
master aforesaid.  They were all fellow Devonians, a genial and hearty
company, in the best of good spirits at the prospect of stirring times
before them, with the chance of returning home made men.  It is true
that--not to put too fine a point upon it--they were pirates, of a sort;
but so were Grenvile, Drake, Hawkins, and the rest of their illustrious
contemporaries; and piracy was at that time regarded as a quite
honourable profession--provided that the piracies were perpetrated
solely against the hated Spaniard.

It was by this time dark enough to render necessary the lighting of the
great cabin lamp which swung in the skylight; and the apartment, with
its long table draped with snowy napery and abundantly furnished with
smoking viands flanked with great flagons of foaming ale, presented a
particularly cosy and inviting appearance as Dick and Phil, having been
introduced in due form to the others, took their seats; the more so,
perhaps, from the fact that both of them, having been too eager for
their sail to wait for a meal at the conclusion of their day's labours,
had tasted neither bite nor sup since midday, and were now each in
possession of a truly voracious appetite.  Then, the conversation as the
meal progressed--the wonderful, almost incredible, stories of past
adventure related by Marshall and Bascomb, both of whom had already once
visited the Indies, and the confidence with which all anticipated their
return to England laden with wealth unimaginable--exercised an almost
irresistible fascination over the two newcomers, one at least of whom--
Philip Stukely to wit--began to feel, before the meal was over, that he
cared not a jot though he should be compelled by force of circumstances
to join those daredevil adventurers who made it clearly understood that,
so far as the outside world was concerned, they intended to be a law
unto themselves.  Marshall's and Bascomb's talk, especially, of
cloudless skies of richest blue, out of which the sun darted his flaming
rays by day, and in which the stars blazed like jewels at night; of
tranquil seas of sapphire in which creatures of strange forms and
brilliant hues disported themselves; of tropic shores, coral fringed and
clothed with graceful feathery palms backed by noble forest trees of
precious woods, made glorious by flowers of every conceivable hue and
shape, amid which hovered birds of such gorgeous plumage that they
gleamed and shone in the sun like living gems; of rich and luscious
fruits to be had for the mere trouble of plucking; of fireflies
spangling the velvet darkness with their fairy lamps; and of the gentle
Indians who--at least when not brought under the malign influence of the
cruel Spaniard--regarded white men as gods; all these appealed with
singular force and fascination to Stukely, who sat listening
breathlessly and with glowing eyes to everything that the two sailors
said about these wonders.

For, singularly enough, although the man had never until now been out of
sight of English soil, and although he had never read about them, all
these things seemed strangely familiar to him.  Times without number, as
he had sat meditating over the fire on a winter's night, or had sprawled
among the hay or upon the sandy beach on a summer evening, had visions
of just such lands and just such enchanting scenes as Marshall and
Bascomb described come floating to him like vague and distant but
cherished memories.

He awoke, as from a delightful dream, when, the meal being finished,
Marshall arose from his chair and invited his guests to accompany him
out on deck.  It was quite dark when they emerged from the cabin; so
dark indeed that for a moment, their eyes being still dazzled by the
bright light of the cabin lamp, they groped their way like blind men,
and were fain to stand still, clinging to whatsoever their hands
happened to find.  Then, their sight coming to them again, they followed
Marshall up the poop ladder, and stood, staring out upon a night of
blusterous wind and faintly phosphorescent, foam-capped sea; of flying
clouds amid which the stars twinkled mistily and vanished, to re-appear
presently with the tall spars and swelling canvas of the ship swaying
dizzily and black among them; a night full of unaccustomed sounds of
creaking and groaning timbers, of the splashing and roaring of water
under the ship's bows, along her bends, and about her rudder; of strange
sighings and moanings aloft; and of the low murmur of men's voices as
the watch clustered under the shelter of the towering forecastle,
discussing, mayhap, like their superiors aft, the prospects of the
voyage.

The Captain peered about him on either side of the ship, anon stooping
to send his glances forward into the darkness beyond the heaving bows;
then he hailed the lookouts upon the forecastle, demanding in sharp,
imperative tones whether there were sail of any kind in sight.  The
answer was in the negative.

"Well, my masters," said he, turning to Stukely and Chichester, "you see
how it is; there is nothing in sight; and every mile that we travel
lessens your chance of our falling in with anything into which we can
transfer you.  If this good breeze holds--as I trust in God that it
will--we shall be off Falmouth shortly after midnight, but much too far
out to render it at all likely that we shall sight any of its fishing
craft; and, once to the westward of Falmouth, your last chance of
getting ashore will be gone.  Now, what say ye?  Will ye, without more
ado, up and join us?  I talked the matter over with my partners while
you were changing your duds before supper, and I can find room in the
ship for both of you.  We have no surgeon with us, so that berth will
fit you finely, Mr Stukely; while, as for you, my young son of Anak,"
turning to Chichester, "a lad of your thews and sinews can always earn
his keep aboard ship.  But I can offer ye something better than the
berth of ship's boy; we have but one carpenter among us, and I will
gladly take you on with the rating of carpenter's mate, if that will
suit ye.  Iss, fegs, that I will!  Now, what say ye?  Shall us call it a
bargain, and have done wi' it?"

"So far as I am concerned, you certainly may--if Dick will join, too,"
answered Stukely.  "I will not let him go ashore alone to answer for the
loss of the boat; for the accident which caused the plight in which you
found us was at least as much my fault as his.  But I do not believe
that we are going to have the chance to get ashore, therefore--what say
you, Dick, shall we accept Captain Marshall's very generous offer, and
so settle the matter?"

"I am not thinking of the boat--Gramfer Heard is rich enough to bear the
loss of her without feeling it--but it is my uncle that I'm troubling
about.  I am afraid that he will be greatly distressed at my sudden and
unaccountable disappearance," answered Dick.

"True," assented Stukely; "doubtless he will.  But what about thy aunt,
Dick?  Will not she rejoice that your worthy uncle's exchequer is
relieved of the cost of your maintenance?  I have heard that she keeps a
tight hold upon her husband's purse strings; and it has been whispered
that she begrudges every tester that the good man spends upon thee.
Believe me, she will soon find words to console him for thy loss."

"That is true, Phil," returned Dick, with a sigh.  "She would sit and
watch me eating, like any cat, so that often enough, for very shame, I
rose from the table still hungry.  But my uncle is not a rich man, and
he has three maidens of his own to feed and clothe, so that perhaps it
may be just as well that I should take advantage of this opportunity to
relieve him of the cost of an extra mouth to fill, and an extra body to
cover.  But what of Master Summers, Phil?  How will he manage without
thee?"

"Master Summers must e'en get another dispenser," answered Stukely, with
a shrug.  "I trow there are plenty of them to be had.  But I would that
I had my books with me.  Not having them, however, I must contrive as
best I can to do without them."

"Then," cut in the Captain, somewhat impatiently, "may I understand that
you are willing to join us?  You will never have another such an
opportunity to make your fortunes."

Phil looked enquiringly at Dick, who, after a moment's hesitation,
nodded; whereupon Stukely, speaking for both, announced that they were
ready to sign the agreement whenever it might be convenient for them to
do so.

"No time like the present," asserted Marshall.  "You may as well do it
now."  And, leading the way into the cabin, he produced a parchment
setting forth the articles of agreement, which he read over to them.
The two friends then took the pen and inscribed their names at the foot
of the document, thus forging the last link in a chain which was to drag
them into a series of adventures of so extraordinary a character that it
is doubtful whether even Stukely, with all his inborn love of adventure,
would have been willing to proceed, could he but have foreseen what
awaited him in the future.



CHAPTER TWO.

HOW THE "ADVENTURE" FOUGHT AND TOOK THE "SANTA CLARA" OFF BARBADOS.

And now, at the very outset, almost before the ink of their signatures
had fairly dried, a hitch threatened to occur over the matter of
berthing the two new recruits.  For, Stukely being entered as surgeon,
Marshall offered him, as a matter of course, a stateroom aft, while
Chichester, being shipped merely as carpenter's mate, was directed to go
forward and establish himself in the house abaft the fore hatch, in
which were lodged the other petty officers.  Dick, to do him justice,
was willing enough to accept the lodging assigned to him; but it was
Stukely who objected to being separated from his friend.  He insisted
that Dick, being a gentleman, although merely a shipwright's apprentice,
was as much entitled to a cabin aft as he was himself; and when the
unreasonableness of this demand was pointed out to him he proposed that
he also should be permitted to berth forward.  But neither could this be
managed, for there was only one spare bunk available in the petty
officers' house, namely that assigned to Chichester; therefore the
Captain's arrangement had perforce to stand, after all.

"Very well," said Stukely, when at last he was convinced that what he
desired was impossible; "let be; you and I, Dick, can at least walk and
talk together when we are off duty.  And--listen, lad--in an adventure
such as this is like to be, many changes are both possible and probable;
my advice therefore is that you make friends with Master Bascomb and get
him to instruct you in the science of navigation, so that you may be
fully qualified to act as pilot, should the occasion arise.  You will be
no worse a pilot because you happen to be a good shipwright; and your
proper place is aft among the gentles, where I hope to see thee soon."

"That's as may be," answered Dick, with a laugh.  "Nevertheless thy
advice is good, and I will take it."

"And I, for my part, will give friend Bascomb a hint that he is to teach
thee all that thou art willing to learn," cut in Marshall.  "For the
doctor is right; many changes are like to occur among us before we see
old England's shores again; and I shall be glad to know that I have one
aboard who is fit to take Bascomb's place, should aught untoward befall
him.  And now, my masters both, away to your quarters and get a good
night's rest.  You, doctor, will of course sleep in all night, and be on
duty all day; but as for you, Chichester, I will put you in a watch
to-morrow morning."

The next day saw the good ship _Adventure_ clear of the Channel; for the
breeze which had interfered so unceremoniously with the fortunes of Dick
and his friend held all through the night and contrary to expectation
increased, at the same time hauling gradually round from the north-east,
to the great joy of the Captain and Bascomb, who at eight o'clock in the
morning shaped a course for the Azores, where it was intended to wood
and water the ship, and lay in a goodly stock of fruit and vegetables to
stave off the scurvy among the crew for as long a time as might be.

The weather continued fine and the wind fair for four days, during which
the ship, with squared yards, made excellent progress; then came a
strong breeze from the westward which drove them nearly a hundred miles
out of their course.  This, in its turn, was followed by light winds and
fair weather, with a sun so hot that the pitch began to melt and bubble
out of the deck seams, so that the mariners, who had hitherto been going
about their duty barefoot, were fain to don shoes to save their feet
from being blistered.  Finally, after a voyage of twenty-four days, they
came to the Azores, where they remained four days, filling up their
fresh water, replenishing their stock of wood, and taking in a bounteous
supply of vegetables and fruit, especially "limmons"--as Marshall called
them--for the prevention of scurvy.

Then, greatly refreshed by their short sojourn, and by the entire change
of diet which they enjoyed during their stay, they again set sail, and,
making their way to the southward and westward, at length fell in with
that beneficent wind which blows permanently from the north-east, and
which in after-years came to be known as the Trade Wind.  With this
blowing steadily behind them day after day, they squared away for the
island of Barbados, where, if there happened to be no Spaniards to
interfere with them, it was Marshall's intention to lay up for a while,
to give his men time to recruit their health, and also to careen the
ship and clear her of weed before beginning his great foray along the
Spanish Main.

And in due time--on the fiftieth day from that on which Dick and Phil
were rescued from the sinking boat, to be precise--with the rising of
the sun a faint blue blur, wedge-shaped, with the sharp edge pointing
toward the south, appeared upon the horizon, straight ahead, and the
joyous shout of "Land ho!" burst from the lips of the man stationed as
lookout upon the lofty forecastle.  Yes; there it was; land,
unmistakably, sharp and clear-cut, with a slate-blue cloud--the only
cloud in the sky--hovering over it, from the breast of which vivid
lightning flashed for a space, until, having emptied itself of
electricity, the cloud-pall passed away, leaving the island refreshed by
the shower that had accompanied the storm, gradually to change from soft
blue to a vivid green as the _Adventure_, with widespread pinions,
rushed toward it before the favouring breeze.  And with the cry of the
lookout the ship at once awoke to joyous life; the watch below, ay, and
even the sick, sprang from their hammocks and rushed--or crawled, as the
case might be--on deck to feast their eyes once more upon the sight of a
bit of solid earth, green with verdure, and promising all manner of
delights to those who had been pent up for so long between wooden
bulwarks, and whose eyes had for so many weary days gazed upon naught
but sea and sky.  It is true that Stukely had never tired of gazing upon
that same sea and sky; with the spirit of the artist that dwelt within
him he had been able to see ever-changing beauty where others had beheld
only monotony; but to the crew at large that wedge of land, growing in
bulk and importance as the ship rushed toward it, was more beautiful
than the most glorious sunset that had ever presented itself to their
wondering eyes.

"What island is that?" demanded Stukely of the master, who was standing
halfway up the poop ladder, gazing at the distant land under the foot of
the foresail.

"It should be Barbados, unless I am a long way out of my reckoning.  But
there is no fear of that; besides, I know the look and shape of the
place; I have been there before; and it was just so that it looked when
I got my last glimpse of it.  Yes, that is Barbados; and, please God, we
shall all sleep ashore to-night.  There is good, safe anchorage round on
the other side of that low point, with a snug creek into which the ship,
with but a little lightening, may be taken and careened.  I pray that
there may be no Spaniards there, for there is no better place on God's
good earth for landing and recruiting a scurvy-ridden crew."

"Are there any Indians on the island?" asked Stukely.

"There may be; I cannot say; but I never saw any," answered Bascomb.
"And if there be," he continued, "they are not likely to interfere with
us.  Such Indians as I have met have ever been very shy of showing
themselves to the whites, and always keep out of their way, if they can.
That is to say, they do so among the islands.  On the Main, where they
have been cruelly ill-treated and enslaved by the Spaniard, they are
very different, being cruel and treacherous, and ever ready to attack
the whites and destroy them with the poisoned darts which they discharge
from blowpipes, and their poisoned arrows.  But, have no fear; the
Indians on yonder island--if indeed there be any--will be of a very
different temper, and quite gentle."

"Indeed, then, I pray that they may be," returned Stukely.  "For though
we have been marvellously fortunate, thus far, in the matter of
sickness, there are still too many men in the sick bay for my liking;
and we ought to have every one of them sound and fit for duty again
before we go on with our great adventure.  But, look now, what comes
yonder?  Surely that is a ship's canvas just beginning to show over the
land there near the southern end of the island?"

Bascomb shaded his eyes with his hand and looked toward where Stukely
pointed.  The island was by this time about five miles distant, and the
colours of the vegetation were showing up clearly in the brilliant light
of the tropic day.  But beyond it again, and showing over the tree-tops,
there was a faint grey film that was evidently moving, sliding along, as
it were, toward the low point.  Even as they looked the filmy grey
object suddenly became a strong white and assumed a definite form as it
emerged from the shadow of a cloud, revealing itself as the upper canvas
of a large ship which had either just got under way from the anchorage
on the lee side of the point, or--and this seemed to be the more likely
of the two--was working up to windward in the smooth water, having
sighted the island on her way to the eastward.

"Iss, sure," agreed Bascomb, relapsing into the Devonshire dialect in
his excitement; "that's a ship, sure enough, moreover a Spaniard at
that, most likely; and, if so, we shall have a fight on our hands afore
long.  Do 'e see thicky ship t'other side of the island, yonder, Cap'n
Marshall?" he continued, addressing himself to the Captain, who was on
the poop, conversing earnestly with Messrs. Dyer and Harvey, his
partners in the adventure.

"Ship, sayest thou?  Where then?" demanded Marshall, breaking off his
conversation and running forward to the head of the poop ladder.

"Why, there a be, with the sails o' mun just showing over the low
point," answered the master.  "She'll be clear of the land in another
minute or two; and then they'll see us as clearly as we see them.  She's
a Spaniard, to my thinking, Cap'n; and there may be fine pickings aboard
of her--if her don't turn and run so soon's she sees us."

"She'll not do that, Master Bascomb; she be a bigger ship nor we.
Besides, how's she to know we baint a Spaniard like herself, if we don't
tell her.  We'll clear the decks and make all ready before we show our
flag, gentles; and see what comes of it.  Let the mariners get to work
at once, Mr Bascomb."

The excitement aroused by the appearance of land on the horizon, after
so many weary weeks of gazing upon sea and sky only, was intensified
tenfold when the strange sail--the first they had seen since leaving the
Azores--was discovered; and when it was further understood that the
chances were in favour of her proving to be a Spaniard, the preparations
for a possible fight were entered upon with the utmost eagerness and
alacrity.  Fortunately, there was not very much that needed to be done;
for Marshall, rendered wise by past experience, had consistently made a
point of always having the decks kept clear of unnecessary lumber of
every kind; but the bulwarks were strengthened and raised, for the
purpose of affording the crew as much protection as possible from the
enemy's musketry fire; the lower yards were fitted with chain slings, so
that the risk of their being shot away, and the ship thus disabled at a
critical moment, might be minimised as much as possible; parties of
musketrymen were sent aloft into the round tops, with instructions to
hamper the enemy as much as possible by their fire, especially by
picking off the helmsman and the officers; the powder room was opened,
and ammunition sent on deck for the culverins, sakers, and swivels, all
of which were loaded; and the men, having armed themselves with cutlass,
pistol, bow, and pike, stripped to their waists, bound handkerchiefs
round their heads, and took up their several stations by the guns, or at
the halliards and sheets.  Marshall took command of the ship as a whole;
while Lumley and Winter, his lieutenants, assumed charge of the poop and
forecastle respectively, Bascomb, the master, taking charge of the main
deck.  Stukely, with his knives, saws, and bandages, established himself
in the cockpit; and Dick Chichester, who had contrived to gain the
reputation of being the best helmsman in the ship, was ordered to the
tiller.

Meanwhile, the strange ship, having cleared the land, revealed herself
as a craft of probably quite a hundred tons bigger than the _Adventure_,
and carrying four more pieces of great ordnance than the latter.  But
this fact by no means dismayed the English; for the stranger was what
was called a race ship, and was nearly twice as long as the _Adventure_;
Marshall therefore confidently reckoned that, should the two vessels
come to blows, the superior nimbleness of his own ship would more than
counterbalance the advantage conferred upon the other by her greater
weight of metal.  The stranger, when she cleared the land, was
close-hauled on the larboard tack, heading about south-south-east, and
it was judged, from her position relative to the land, that she had not
actually touched at the island, but had simply availed herself of its
presence to gain a few miles by turning to windward in the smooth water
under its lee.  The discovery of the presence of the English ship did
not appear to have caused any uneasiness to her commander, for he did
not deviate a hairbreadth from his course, but stood on, maintaining his
luff, the only indication that he had observed the _Adventure_ at all
being the display of the yellow flag of Spain, which he had hoisted to
the head of his ensign staff within five minutes of the time when he
cleared the island.  Probably he imagined that the _Adventure_ was also
Spanish.

The English, on their part, took no notice of the stranger, except by
gradually edging down toward her, until their preparations for battle
were complete; then indeed they hoisted the white flag bearing the
crimson cross of Saint George, and hauled their wind sufficiently to
enable them to intercept the Spaniard.  At this invitation to battle
symptoms of alarm and indecision began to manifest themselves on board
the latter, for she first put up her helm and kept away, as though about
to turn tail and run, but presently came to the wind again and tacked,
heading now to the northward.

"Over with the helm, and steer for the northern end of the island,"
cried Marshall to Dick; "that ought to enable us to intercept him.
Thank God, he means to fight instead of running, and the matter will the
sooner be settled.  Look to that, now; he is stripping for battle, for
in comes all his light canvas, and up goes his mainsail.  The man who
commands that ship is a right valiant cavalier, and will put up a good
fight; therefore, let no man put match to culverin or finger to trigger
until I give the word.  Now, let the waits play up `The brave men of
Devon!'"

Therewith the waits, five in number, stationed on the main deck, between
the poop and the mainmast, struck up that favourite and inspiring air
with such good effect that before two minutes had passed every man and
boy in the ship was singing the song at the top of his voice, and
feeling quite ready to fight all the Spaniards who might care to come
against them.

A quarter of an hour later the two ships had closed to within musket
shot of each other, the _Adventure_ having the weather gage, when crash
came the whole of the Spaniard's broadside, great guns and small; but so
bad was the aim that every shot flew high overhead, and not so much as a
rope was touched.

"Good!" ejaculated Marshall.  "Now, steersman, up with your helm, and
shave past as close under his stern as you can without touching.
Starboard gunners, be ready to pour your shot into his stern as we pass!
Musketrymen and archers, pick off as many men as you can see, and
especially the helmsman!  Sail trimmers, to your stations, and be ready
to go about!"

Two minutes later the _Adventure_ slid square athwart the towering,
gilt-bedizened stern of the Spaniard, and one after another, as they
were brought to bear, her ordnance belched forth their charges of round
and canister, smashing the Spanish gingerbread work to splinters,
shivering every pane of glass in the stern windows, and sweeping the
decks of the stranger from end to end, the deadly nature of the
discharge being evidenced by the outburst of shrieks which instantly
followed aboard the stranger.

"Well done, gallants!" cried Marshall, waving his sword.  "Now, ready
about, and larboard gunners stand by to repeat the dose.  Down helm,
steersman, and let her come round!  Raise fore tack and sheet!  Ha! she
is falling off, and means to give us her larboard broadside while we are
in stays--if she can.  Topmen, do your best, now, and pick me off her
helmsman before it is too late.  Well done!"--as the Spaniard began to
come ponderously to the wind again, showing that her helmsman was
down--"Let the man who did that come to me by and by, and he shall have
a noble for that good shot.  Swing the mainyard!  Musketrymen, clear the
enemy's tops of archers, and shoot down any that may attempt to take
their places!  Trim aft the head sheets!  Swing the foreyard!  Starboard
gunners, reload your ordnance!  We will try that trick again if they
will but give us the chance.  Now, larboard gunners, be ready, and let
her have it as we pass!"

A minute later, and the _Adventure's_ broadside again crashed into the
Spaniard's stern; and again uprose the hideous answering outburst of
shrieks and yells on board the latter as the English ship, with her
sails clean full, slid square across her antagonist's stern, the only
reply to her broadside being four shot discharged from the enemy's stern
ports, not one of which did a groat's worth of damage.

A tall figure completely encased in armour sprang up on the Spanish
ship's poop rail and, shaking his naked sword at Marshall, shouted in
Spanish:

"You are a coward, senor Englishman!  Why do you not fight fair,
broadside to broadside, instead of sheltering yourself under my stern,
where my shot cannot reach you?"

"Because, senor, I do not happen to be a fool," retorted Marshall in the
same language.  "But neither am I a coward," he continued, "as I will
prove to you within the next five minutes, if you will do me the honour
to meet me on your own deck, whither I intend to come without further
ado."

"I shall be most happy, senor," was the reply; and down jumped the
Spaniard in a hurry, to issue certain orders apparently, for his voice,
hollow in his helmet, was heard pealing out in a tone of command as the
two ships drew apart.

"Larboard gunners, load your pieces again," commanded Marshall, "and
level them so as to take her on the main deck while we are in stays.
Luff, helmsman, all you can; I want to get far enough to windward to be
able to run down and lay her aboard on the next tack.  Boarders, see to
the priming of your pistols, and be ready to follow me presently.  Now,
ready about again, men!  Down helm!"

As the _Adventure_ hove in stays both ships fired their broadsides
simultaneously, one of the English shot entering a port and dismounting
a gun, while the rest struck fair in the wake of the deck and went clean
through the Spaniard's side, as could clearly be seen; while the
Spaniard's shot, as usual, flew overhead, again by great good luck
missing everything.

"Now, up helm, steersman, and lay us aboard!" commanded Marshall.  "Be
ready, men, to throw your grapnels the moment that we touch; and
boarders, stand by to follow me into the enemy's main chains!"

As the two ships closed in toward each other for the final grip which
was to decide the matter, the Spaniard holding her luff while the
English ship bore up and ran down with the wind free, the archers and
musketeers on both sides became busy, the Spaniards having a slight
advantage because of the superior height of their ship, although this
was more than counterbalanced by the greater quickness and accuracy of
aim on the part of the English, who shot as coolly as though they had
been practising at the butts, and seldom failed to hit their mark.
Nevertheless, several Englishmen went down during the ensuing five
minutes, and were carried below to Stukely, who now began to find
himself surrounded by quite as many patients as he could conveniently
attend to.  Then the two ships crashed together, the grapnels were
thrown, and Marshall, followed by every man whose legs could carry him
and whose hands could wield a weapon, sprang into the Spaniard's main
rigging, leaving the _Adventure_ to take care of herself.

It was a rash thing to do, perhaps; but it succeeded; for the Spaniards
were too busily engaged in endeavouring to keep the enemy out of their
own ship to think of boarding the other.  And most desperate was the
fight that ensued, the English being fully determined to force their way
aboard the Spaniard, while the Spanish were as fully determined that
they should not.  The air became thick with flying arrows, and with the
smoke of grenades and stinkpots flung down upon the boarders out of the
enemy's tops; while swords and pikes flashed in the sun, pistols popped,
and men shouted and execrated as they cut and slashed at each other; and
the glorious tropic morning was filled with the sounds of deadly strife.
Dick Chichester--to let the reader into a secret--had, upon the first
appearance of the Spanish ship, been greatly exercised in his mind lest
he should fail in courage when the two ships came to blows; but with the
discharge of the first shot the queer agitated feeling which he had
mistaken for fear completely passed away, and was instantly forgotten;
and now, his services being no longer required at the helm, he armed
himself with a handspike snatched from the deck, and, watching his
opportunity, flung himself from the _Adventure's_ poop into the enemy's
mizzen chains, climbing thence to the Spaniard's poop, where was no one
to oppose him.  From thence he made his way down to the main deck, where
were gathered all the crew in one spot, crowding together to resist the
attack of the English; and upon the rear of these he flung himself with
indescribable fury, whirling the terrible handspike with such
destructive effect that the astounded Spaniards, thus taken unexpectedly
in the rear, went down like ninepins, while their yells of anguish and
dismay quickly threw the entire crew into complete disorder.  So
violent, indeed, was the commotion that the attention of the Spaniards
was momentarily distracted from what may be termed the frontal attack,
and of this distraction Marshall instantly availed himself to dash in on
deck, where, with a few sweeps of his sword, he soon cleared standing
room, not only for himself but also for half a dozen of his immediate
followers.  These in turn cleared the way for others, and thus in the
course of a couple of breathless minutes every man of the _Adventure's_
crew had gained the deck of the Spaniard, after which the capture of the
ship was a foregone conclusion.  The rush of Marshall and his party on
the one hand, and the onslaught of Dick Chichester with his whirling
handspike on the other so utterly distracted and demoralised the
Spaniards that they presently broke and fled, flinging away their
weapons, and crying out that their foes were a crew of demons who had
assumed for the nonce the outward semblance of Englishmen!  The hatches
were promptly clapped on over the fugitive Spaniards, then Marshall and
his followers paused to recover their breath and look about them.

The first thing to claim their attention was the ships themselves.
These, being lashed together by means of the grapnels, were grinding and
rasping each other's sides so alarmingly, as they rolled and plunged in
the sea that was running, that they had already inflicted upon each
other an appreciable amount of damage, and threatened to do a great deal
more if prompt preventive measures were not taken.  Marshall therefore
called upon Winter, one of his lieutenants, to take a party of twenty
men, and with them return to the _Adventure_, cast her adrift from the
prize, and lie off within easy hailing-distance of the latter.  This was
done at once, Dick Chichester being one of those called upon by Winter
to follow him aboard the _Adventure_, and as soon as the two ships were
parted an investigation was made into the extent of the damage incurred
by each ship.  The result of this investigation was the discovery that
the _Adventure_ was much the greater sufferer of the two, her larboard
main channel piece having been wrenched off, and the seams in the
immediate neighbourhood opened, while three of the channel plates were
broken, thus leaving the mainmast almost entirely unsupported on the
larboard side.  Water was entering the ship in quite appreciable
quantities through the opened seams, and the men were therefore at once
sent to the pumps to keep the leak from gaining, while the carpenter and
Dick went below to see what could be done toward stopping it.

Meanwhile Marshall, assisted by his co-adventurers Dyer and Harvey,
proceeded to overhaul the prize systematically, with the view of
determining her value.  The first fact ascertained was that the ship was
named the _Santa Clara_; the second, that she hailed from Cadiz, in Old
Spain; and the third, that she was homeward-bound from Cartagena, from
which port she was twenty-two days out.  Her cargo, although valuable
enough in its way, was not of such a character as to tempt the English
to go to the labour of transferring any portion of it to their own
vessel.  But, apart from the cargo proper, she was taking home ten
chests of silver ingots, two chests of bar gold, and a casket of pearls,
all of which were quickly transhipped to the _Adventure_, the crew of
which thus found themselves the possessors of a fairly rich booty, while
still upon the very threshold, as it were, of those seas wherein they
hoped to make their fortune.  But this was not all; for, in the process
of rummaging the captain's cabin, Marshall found certain letters which
he unhesitatingly opened and read, and among these was a communication
from the governor of Cartagena advising the home authorities of the
impending dispatch of a rich plate ship for Cadiz.  The probable date of
dispatch was given as three months after the departure of the _Santa
Clara_, or about ten weeks from the date of that vessel's capture by the
English.  That letter Marshall thrust into his pocket, together with
certain other documents which he thought might possibly prove of value;
then, summoning the unhappy Spanish captain to his presence, he informed
him that the English having now helped themselves to all that they
required, he was at liberty to proceed upon his voyage; and this
Marshall recommended him to do with all diligence and alacrity, lest
peradventure he should fall into the hands of certain other British
buccaneers, at the existence of whom the Englishman darkly hinted,
hoping thus to nip in the bud any plan which the Spaniard might have
formed for a return to Cartagena with a report of the presence of
English corsairs in the Caribbean Sea.  The two ships then parted
company, the _Santa Clara_ steering northward close-hauled against the
trade wind, while the _Adventure_ bore up for Barbados, shaping a course
to pass round its southern extremity.  Two hours later the English ship
was riding snugly at anchor in what is now known as Carlisle Bay, in
five fathoms of water, within four hundred feet of the beach, and the
same distance from the mouth of a small river, within which, as Bascomb
explained, lay the creek which he had fixed upon in his mind as a
suitable spot wherein to careen the ship.



CHAPTER THREE.

HOW THEY CAME TO BARBADOS; AND WHAT THEY DID THERE.

The rumbling of the great hempen cable out through the hawse-pipe served
as a signal to some dozen or more of poor scurvy-stricken wretches who
lay gasping in their hammocks in the stifling forecastle.  They had
heard the cry of "Land ho!" some hours before, and had groaned with
bitter impatience when the subsequent sounds from the deck had made it
clear to them that a battle must be fought before they could feast their
eyes upon the sight of solid earth and green trees once more, and
satisfy their terrible craving for the luscious fruits which they had
been given to understand were to be obtained on the delectable island in
sight for the mere trouble of plucking.  But now at last the time of
waiting was over; the sounds and shouts incidental to the taking in of
sail, and, still more, the splash of the anchor and the roar of the
cable as it rushed through the hawse-pipe told them that the ship had
arrived, and with one accord they rolled out of their hammocks--the less
heavily stricken helping their weaker fellow sufferers--and made their
way on deck, where the business of stowing the ship's canvas was still
in full progress.  The poor wretches were constantly getting in the way
of those who were well and busy, but the latter were themselves just
then much too happy to grumble or find fault, so the invalids were
good-humouredly assisted up the ladder to the top of the forecastle,
where they could enjoy an uninterrupted view of the island, and left
there to feast their eyes upon its beauties in peace, until the time
should arrive when their shipmates would be ready to man the boats and
take them ashore.

And what a glorious sight it was that met their gaze.  First of all
there was the green and placid water, alive with fish, rippling gently
to a narrow beach of golden sand, and beyond that sand nothing but
vegetation, rich, green, and luxuriant.  Green! yes, but of a hundred
different tints, from the tender hue of the young shoots that was almost
yellow, to a deep olive that turned to black in the shadows.  If the
tints of the vegetation were admirable, no less so were its forms; for
there were palms of many different kinds, including the coconut palm in
thousands, close down to the water's edge.  The traveller tree, shaped
like a fan made of organ pipes; the banana and plantain, loaded with
great bunches of fruit, each bunch a fair load for a man; there were
great clumps of feathery bamboo; there were big trees covered with
scarlet flowers instead of leaves; there was the flaming bougainvillea
in profusion; and, in addition, there were great trailing cables of
orchids, of weird shapes and vivid colouring reaching from bough to
bough.  Yes, there was plenty to see and marvel at, and there would be
more when those few yards of rippling water had been spanned and their
feet pressed the lush grass of yonder flowery mead close by the river's
margin; humming birds, the plumage of which shone in the sun like
burnished gold and glowing gems, butterflies as big as sparrows, with
wings painted in hues so gorgeous that the painter who should attempt to
reproduce them would be driven to despair, enormous dragon-flies
flitting hither and thither over the still surface of the river,
kingfishers as big as parrots, monkeys in hundreds, agoutis, and,
alas!--to strengthen its resemblance to that other Eden--serpents as
well, contact with which meant death.

At last! at last! the sails were furled, the ropes coiled neatly down,
the decks restored to order, and the word was given to lower the boats.
Never, probably, was an order more joyously obeyed.  The men rushed to
the tackles with shouts and laughter, like schoolboys who have
unexpectedly been given a holiday, and in an incredibly short time the
boats were all afloat and were being brought one by one to the gangway.
Then, under the joint supervision of the Captain and Stukely, the sick
were led or carried along the deck and handed gently down over the side,
the whole of them being sent ashore in the first boat that left the
ship, with Bascomb, the master, in charge, his duty being to see that no
unwholesome fruit or poisonous berries were eaten unwittingly.  Next,
the sick having been temporarily disposed of, there followed the strong
and able-bodied, who took ashore with them spars, tackles, and spare
sails, with which to rig up temporary tents; and soon the greensward was
dotted with busy men, who, in the intervals of their labour, drank
coconuts or eagerly devoured bananas, prickly pears, guavas, soursops,
grapes, mangoes, and the various other fruits with which the island
abounded.  By and by, when a certain large tent had been erected beneath
the shade of a giant ceiba tree, a boat put off from the shore to the
ship, and presently returned bearing nine wounded men--the result of
their fight that morning--under the especial care of Philip Stukely.
These men, lying in their hammocks as they had been taken out of the
ship, were then carried up to the completed tent, when their hammocks
were re-slung to stout poles firmly driven into the ground, and where
Stukely once more, and at greater leisure, attended to their hurts.  But
there was one form, lying stark in a laced-up hammock deeply stained
with blood, which was not brought up to the tent.  It was all that
remained of George Lumley, Captain Marshall's chief lieutenant, who had
been shot to death in the very act of boarding the Spaniard, a few hours
before; and a grave having been prepared in a small open space on the
opposite side of the river, under the shadow of a splendid _bois
immortelle_ which strewed the ground with its glowing scarlet flowers, a
trumpet was blown, calling the crew together.  Then, when they were all
assembled, they entered the boats, at a sign from Marshall, took in tow
the boat containing the body of the officer, with Saint George's Cross
at half-mast trailing in the water astern of her, and, having reached
the other side, reverently bore the shrouded corpse to its last
resting-place, lowered it into the grave, Marshall, meanwhile, reading
the burial service, and covered it up with the rich brown earth.  This
service rendered they returned to the site of the camp, and rapidly
proceeded to put up the other tents needed to enable all hands to sleep
ashore that night.

The sun was within an hour of setting when at length everything was
completed to Marshall's satisfaction, and the men were told that they
might cease work and amuse themselves as they pleased, the permission
being accompanied by a caution that they were not to wander more than a
quarter of a mile from the camp, not to go even as far as that, singly,
and not to go unarmed; for although it was assumed that the island was
uninhabited, save by themselves, it was recognised as quite possible
that a band of Spaniards might be somewhere upon it; and, if so, they
would probably have witnessed the arrival of the ship, and might, if
strong enough, attempt to surprise and capture both camp and ship.  The
men therefore made up little parties, and for the most part went off
into the woods, either to gather more fruit or to look for gold, some of
them seeming to be possessed of a firm conviction that, being now in
"the Indies", they must inevitably find the precious metal if they only
searched for it with sufficient diligence.  As for Dick and Stukely, the
latter having by this time done all that he could for his patients, they
went off for a stroll together along the beach, in the direction of the
southern end of the bay.

"Well, Dick, what think ye of fighting, now that you have had a taste of
it?" demanded Stukely, slipping his hand under Chichester's arm as they
turned their backs upon the camp.  "And, by the way," he continued,
without waiting for a reply to his question, "you must permit me to
offer the tribute of my most respectful admiration; for I am told that
you carried yourself like a right valiant and redoubtable cavalier;
indeed the Captain has not hesitated to say that, but for your most
furious onslaught upon the Spaniards' rear this morning, while he was
leading the attack by way of the main rigging, matters were like enough
to have gone very differently with us."

"Oh, that is all nonsense," laughed Dick.  "I saw that Marshall wished
to reach the deck of the Spaniard; I noticed that the Spanish crew had
all congregated together in one place to stop him; and it struck me that
I could best help by falling upon them in the rear, which I saw might be
done right easily, there being no man to stop me--so--I did it."

"Precisely; with the result that the Spaniards, finding themselves thus
suddenly and furiously assailed by one who bore himself like a very
Orson, and feeling no desire to have their brains beaten out with so
heathenish a weapon as a handspike, incontinently gave way before you
and scattered, affording Marshall an opportunity to climb in over the
bulwarks.  But were ye not afraid, lad, that some proud Spaniard,
resenting your interference, might slit your weasand with his long
sword?"

"Afraid?" returned Dick.  "Not a whit.  'Tis true that when we first
sighted the enemy coming out from behind this same island, and I learned
that our Captain meant to attack him, I turned suddenly cold, hot as was
the morning, and was seized with a plaguy doubt as to whether I should
be able to carry myself as an Englishman and a Devon man should in the
coming fight; but when the battle began I forgot all about my doubts,
and thought no more of them until the fight was over and done with.
Indeed, to be quite frank with ye, Phil, I was never happier, nor
enjoyed myself more, than during the few minutes that the fight lasted.
You know not what it feels like, for you were down in the cockpit, which
was your proper place; but you may take my word for it that there is
nothing in this world half so exhilarating as a good brisk fight."

Stukely laughed.  "True, lad," he said; "I do not know from actual
experience what it feels like to be engaged in a life-and-death
struggle; for I have never yet taken part in such.  Yet I can well
believe that it is as you say; for even down in the cockpit I felt the
thrill and tingle of it all as I listened to the booming of the ordnance
and heard the shouts of the men and the commands of the Captain; nay, I
will go even farther than that, and confess that I had much ado to
restrain myself from deserting my post and rushing up on deck to take my
part in it all.  And, a word in your ear, Dick--I believe I should make
a far better leader than I am ever like to be a surgeon; for as I stood
there, listening to the sounds of the conflict, the strangest feeling of
familiarity with it all came to me.  I suddenly felt that I had fought
many's the time before; fleeting, indistinct visions of contending
hosts, strangely armed and arrayed, floated before me; cries in a
strange language, which still I seemed to understand, rang in my ears;
and for a moment I completely lost sight of my surroundings, being
transported to a land of cloudless skies, even as this, clothed with
vegetation very similar to what we now behold around us, although the
land of my vision was mountainous, with lakes that shone like mirrors
embosomed among the mountains and were dotted with islands, some of them
palm-crowned, while others bore stately temples of strange but beautiful
architecture.  And the strangest part of it all was that, while it
lasted, it was like a vivid memory of some scene that my eyes had rested
upon often enough to grow familiar with, ay, as familiar as I am with
the streets of Devonport and Plymouth!"

"Ay; you were ever a fanciful fellow and a dreamer, Phil," replied Dick,
who was one of the most matter-of-fact individuals who ever breathed.
"I mind me how, many a time, when we have been sailing together outside
Plymouth Sound, where a clear view could be had of the setting sun, you
used to trace cloudy continents with bays, inlets, harbours, and
outlying islands in the western sky; yes, and even ships sailing among
them, and cities rearing themselves among the golden edges of the
clouds."

"Well, and was that so very wonderful?" retorted Stukely.  "Look at
yonder sky, for instance.  Can you not imagine that great purple mass of
cloud to be a vast island set in the midst of the sea represented by the
blue-green expanse of sky beyond it?  And can you not see how the shape
of the cloud lends itself to the fancy of jutting capes and forelands,
of gulfs and sounds and estuaries?  And look at those small, outlying
clouds nearest us; are not they the very image and similitude of islets
lying off the coast of the main island?  And, as to cities, what can be
a more perfect picture of a golden city built along the shore of a
landlocked bay than that golden fringe of cloud yonder?  And behold the
mountains and valleys--ay, and there is a lake opening up now in the
very centre of the island.  Oh, Dick, my son, if you have not
imagination enough to translate these pictures of the evening sky into
glimpses of fairy land, and to derive pleasure therefrom, I pity you
from my very soul."

"Nay, then, no need to waste your pity on me, Sir Dreamer, for I need it
not," retorted Dick.  "Doubtless you take joy of your fancies; but
realities are good enough for me, at least such realities as these.
Look at that bird hovering over yonder flower, for instance; smaller,
much smaller, than a wren is he, yet how perfectly shaped and how
gloriously plumaged.  Look to the colour of him, as rich a purple as
that of your sunset cloud, with crest and throat like gold painted
green.  And then, the long curved beak of him, see how daintily he dips
it into the cup of the flower and sips the honey therefrom.  And his
wings, why they are whirring so quickly that you cannot see but can only
hear them!  Can any of your fancies touch a thing like that for beauty?"

"That is as may be, Dick," answered Stukely.  "The bird is beautiful,
undoubtedly, and no less beautiful is the flower from which he sips the
honey that constitutes his food; indeed all things are lovely, had we
but eyes to perceive their loveliness.  But come, the sun has set, and
darkness will be upon us in another five minutes; it is time for us to
be getting back to the camp."

Despite the croaking of the frogs, the snore of the tree toads, the
incessant buzz and chirr of insects, and the multitudinous nocturnal
sounds incidental to life upon a tropical island overgrown with
vegetation, ay, and despite the mosquitoes, too, all hands slept soundly
that night, and awoke next morning refreshed and invigorated, the sick
especially exhibiting unmistakable symptoms of improvement already, due
doubtless to the large quantities of fruit which they had consumed on
the preceding day.  The wounded, too, were doing exceedingly well, the
coolness of the large tent in which they had passed the night, as
compared with the suffocating atmosphere of their confined quarters
aboard ship, being all in their favour, to say nothing of the assiduous
care which Phil bestowed upon them.

The first thing in order was for all hands who were able to go down to
the beach and indulge in a good long swim, shouting at the top of their
lungs, and splashing incessantly, in accordance with Marshall's orders,
in order to scare away any sharks that might chance to be prowling in
the neighbourhood.  Then, a spring of clear fresh water having been
discovered within about three-quarters of a mile of the camp, one watch
was sent off to the ship to bring ashore all the soiled clothing, while
the other watch mounted guard over the camp; after which all hands went
to breakfast; and then, working watch and watch about, there ensued a
general washing of soiled clothes at the spring, and a subsequent drying
of them on the grass in the rays of the sun.  This done, a gang was sent
on board the ship to start the remaining stock of water and pump it out;
after which the ship was lightened by the removal of her stores,
ammunition, and ordnance, until her draught was reduced to nine feet,
when her anchor was hove up and she was towed into the river, where she
was moored, bow and stern, immediately abreast of the camp.  The
completion of this job finished the day's work, at the end of which
Marshall, having mustered all hands, proclaimed that in consequence of
the lamented death of their gallant shipmate and officer, Mr Lumley, he
had decided to promote Mr Winter to the position thus rendered vacant;
and further that, as a second lieutenant was still required, he had
determined, after the most careful consideration, to promote Mr Richard
Chichester to that position, in recognition of the extraordinary valour
which he had displayed on the previous day by boarding the Spanish ship
and attacking her crew, single-handed, in the rear, thereby distracting
the attention of the enemy and contributing in no small measure to their
subsequent speedy defeat.  This decision on the part of the Captain,
strange to say, met with universal and unqualified approval; for Dick's
unassuming demeanour and geniality of manner had long since made him
popular and a general favourite, while his superior intelligence, his
almost instinctive grasp of everything pertaining to a ship and her
management, and his dauntless courage, marked him out as in every
respect most suitable for the position which he had been chosen to fill.

The next two days were spent in clearing everything movable out of the
ship, in preparation for heaving her down; after which she was careened
until her keel was out of water, when the grass, weed, and barnacles
which had grown upon her bottom during the voyage were effectually
removed, her seams were carefully examined, and re-caulked where
required, and then her bottom was re-painted.  This work was pushed
forward with the utmost expedition, lest an enemy should heave in sight
and touch at the island while the ship was hove down--for a ship is
absolutely helpless and at the mercy of an enemy while careened--and
when this part of the work was satisfactorily completed, all necessary
repairs made, and the hull re-caulked and re-painted right up to the
rail, the masts, spars, rigging, and sails were subjected to a strict
overhaul and renovation.  This work was done in very leisurely fashion;
for Marshall had by this time quite made up his mind to lie in wait for
the plate ship which, as he had learned through documents found on board
the _Santa Clara_, was loading at Cartagena for Cadiz, and he speedily
arrived at the conclusion that a considerable amount of the waiting
might as well be done at Barbados as elsewhere.  For the climate of the
island was healthy, the sick were making excellent progress on the road
toward recovery, and it was essential to the success of his enterprise
that every man of his crew should be in perfect health; moreover, apart
from the crew of the _Santa Clara_--which ship, he had every reason to
believe, was daily forcing her way farther toward the heart of the North
Atlantic--not a soul knew, or even suspected, the presence of the
_Adventure_ in those seas; consequently he resolved to remain where he
was until the last possible moment.  Such work, therefore, as needed to
be done was done with the utmost deliberation and nicety; and when at
length all was finished there still remained time to spare, which the
men were permitted to employ pretty much as they liked, it having by
this time been ascertained conclusively that, apart from themselves, the
island was absolutely without inhabitants.

At length, however, the time arrived when it became necessary to put to
sea again; and on a certain brilliant morning the camp was struck, all
their goods and chattels were taken back to the ship; and, with every
man once more in the enjoyment of perfect health, with every water cask
full to the bung-hole of sweet, crystal-clear water, and with an ample
supply of fruit and vegetables on board, the _Adventure_ weighed anchor
and stood away to the westward under easy sail, passing between the
islands of Saint Vincent and Becquia with the first of the dawn on the
following morning.

Marshall had estimated that the passage from Barbados to Cartagena would
occupy eight days; but to provide against unforeseen delays he allowed
twelve days for its accomplishment, with the result that, no unforeseen
delays having arisen, the _Adventure_ arrived off Cartagena just four
days before the date upon which, according to the information obtained
from the _Santa Clara_, the plate ship was to sail.  It was just about
midnight when, according to Bascomb's reckoning, the ship reached the
latitude of Cartagena, when she was hove-to.  But as Marshall had
observed the precaution of maintaining a good offing during the entire
passage, merely hauling in to the southward sufficiently to sight Point
Gallinas in passing, and thus verify his position, it was not surprising
that when the daylight came no land was in sight, even from the
masthead.  This was perfectly satisfactory and as it should be;
nevertheless it was important that explicit information should now be at
once obtained concerning the plate ship, the progress which she was
making toward the completion of her loading, and especially whether she
would be ready to sail on the date originally named.  Marshall therefore
summoned a council of war consisting of, in addition to himself,
Bascomb, the master, Winter and Dick Chichester, the lieutenants, and
Messrs. Dyer and Harvey, the two gentlemen adventurers.  The meeting was
held in the main cabin; a chart of the coast was produced; and after a
considerable amount of discussion it was finally determined to
provision, water, and equip the longboat, remain hove-to where they were
until nightfall, and then, filling on the ship, work her in toward the
land until she was as close inshore as it would be prudent to take her,
when the longboat was to be hoisted out and dispatched with a crew of
four men, under the command of Marshall himself--who was the only man
aboard who could speak Spanish reasonably well.  Then, while the
_Adventure_, under Bascomb's command, bore up again and regained an
offing of some thirty miles due west of Cartagena, the longboat was to
proceed inshore, enter the bight between the island of Baru and the
mainland, and there remain in concealment while Marshall should attempt
to make his way into Cartagena harbour, and, if necessary, even
penetrate into the town itself, in an endeavour to secure precise
information relative to the movements of the plate ship.  It was further
arranged that the _Adventure_ should remain in the offing during the
whole of the succeeding day, working in toward the land again after
nightfall, and hoisting two lanterns, one over the other, at her ensign
staff as a guide for the longboat--should the latter by that time have
accomplished her mission.  A bright lookout was to be maintained for the
longboat, which was to signal her approach by displaying a single
lantern; but should she be unable for any reason to rejoin the ship on
the night agreed upon, the same tactics were to be pursued night after
night for six nights; when, if she did not then return, it was to be
assumed that she and her crew had fallen into the hands of the
Spaniards, and Bascomb was to act as might be determined upon after
consultation with the rest of the officers.

This arrangement, then, was adhered to; the _Adventure_ remained hove-to
in the offing during the whole of that day, filling away and beginning
to work in toward the land about half an hour before sunset.  Captain
Marshall then picked his longboat's crew--which consisted of Dick
Chichester, George Burton, Robert Hogan, and Edward Fenner--and directed
them to make all necessary preparations for accompanying him; after
which they were to turn in and take their rest until they should be
summoned on deck.

It was just half-past two o'clock in the morning when Dick, having been
aroused from a sound sleep by the cabin boy, presented himself, fully
dressed, in the main cabin, where he found Captain Marshall already
seated at the table, partaking of an early breakfast, in which, by a
wave of the hand, he invited Chichester to join, which the latter
promptly did, falling to with a good appetite.  A quarter of an hour
later, having finished their meal, the pair passed out on deck, where
they found the longboat, with six beakers of fresh water in her to serve
as ballast, with her locker full of provisions, with her rudder shipped,
and oars, masts, and sails lying upon her thwarts already slung and
ready for hoisting out.

It was a fine night, the sky clear, excepting for a few small drifting
clouds, between which the stars shone brilliantly, the water smooth, the
wind a moderate offshore breeze, and the land clearly in view some eight
miles to windward; it was in fact a perfectly ideal night for such an
expedition as was in contemplation.  The task of preparing the longboat
had been entrusted to Mr Winter, who now reported her as ready;
nevertheless Captain Marshall, like a prudent mariner, subjected her to
a very close and careful scrutiny before giving the word to hoist her
out.  Everything, however, was found to be quite as it should be,
therefore, the crew's weapons having also been subjected to a rigid
inspection, the order was given to heave the ship to and hoist out the
boat.  Every preparation having been previously made, this business was
soon accomplished; and on the stroke of three, by the ship's clock, the
longboat shoved off and, stepping her masts, made sail for the land,
being sped on her way by a hearty cheer from all hands aboard the
_Adventure_, who had mustered to assist in and witness her departure.
Then, the moment that the boat was clear, the ship's helm was put up and
she was headed out to sea again under a press of canvas, with the object
of running out of sight of the land before the arrival of daylight.

As for the longboat, she was brought close to the wind, on the larboard
tack, with Dick at the helm and Marshall sitting beside him, while the
three mariners, perceiving that their services were not likely to be
required further for some time, stretched themselves out in the bottom
of the boat and were soon fast asleep.

For the first hour of their progress the land to windward merely
presented the appearance of a black blur, indistinctly seen under the
star-spangled indigo of the night sky; but by the end of that time
something in the nature of outline began to reveal itself, while, half
an hour later, a long tongue of land became distinctly visible broad on
their weather bow, with two or three much smaller detached blotches
rising out of the sea ahead.  Standing up in the stern-sheets, Marshall
scrutinised these appearances with the greatest care for several
minutes; then, with a sigh of contentment, he sat down again.

"It is all right, Dick," he said; "we have made a most excellent
landfall.  That long stretch of land yonder is Baru Island, and the
small detached blots of blackness are the detached islets at its
southernmost extremity which we saw marked on the chart.  We must pass
to leeward of them, lad, giving them a berth of at least a mile,
because, if our chart is correct, there is a reef between us and them
which we must avoid.  If we can only get up abreast of those islets
before the daylight comes I shall be satisfied, because we shall then be
hidden from the sight of any fishing canoes which may happen to be
outside Cartagena harbour; and, once inside Baru, I think we need not
have the slightest fear of discovery.  Moreover, I have an idea that we
can make our way into the harbour from the back of Baru, without being
obliged to go outside again, which will be a great advantage."

"Have you formed any plan of action to be followed after we arrive at
the back of the island?" demanded Dick.

"Well, no; I can't say that I have," answered Marshall.  "My experience
is that, in the case of expeditions of this kind, it is of little use to
scheme very far ahead.  I have found that the best plan is to trust to
luck, and be guided entirely by circumstances.  My object, of course, is
to penetrate to the town of Cartagena itself, and there pick up all the
news that I can get hold of relative to the movements of the plate ship,
seeing her, if possible, and so acquainting myself with her build, rig,
and general appearance, so that if by any chance she should sail in
company with other ships I may know for certain which is the craft that
we must single out for attack.  It may be possible for us to go up the
harbour in the longboat, although I do not regard such a thing as very
likely; there would be too much risk in it, I think, to justify such an
attempt, at least until all other schemes have failed; and we are not
out now in quest of adventure, or to incur unnecessary risks, but to
obtain information; the adventure may come later on."

"It is more than likely that it will," returned Dick, dryly; "for I
cannot for the life of me see how we are to enter the town without
exposing ourselves to very grave risk of discovery."

"Oh, it may be done," asserted Marshall, with far more confidence than
Dick thought was justified by the occasion.  "Cartagena has a population
of several thousands, you know; and I do not suppose it is at all likely
that everybody will know everybody else, even by sight; it will be very
difficult for anybody to point to anybody else and say, with assured
certainty, that he is a stranger who has no right to be there.  But, of
course, we shall not all enter the town; at least I do not at present
contemplate anything so foolhardy.  I shall attempt to get into the town
alone, leaving the longboat snugly concealed but within easy reach, in
case of the necessity for a rapid retreat arising; and you must keep
your eyes open to guard against detection, and at the same time maintain
a bright lookout for me, and be ready to come to my help, should I be
hard pressed.  Ah! there is the reef that I spoke of a little while ago;
see there, broad off the weather bow; you can see the surf breaking upon
it--and there is a small island right ahead of us.  Keep her away, lad;
up helm and let her go off a point.  So! steady as you go; that ought to
carry us clear of everything.  And, thank God, there is the dawn coming;
we shall just get nicely in before it grows light enough for anybody to
see us."

The longboat had by this time drawn close in with the land, the island
of Baru looming up black and clear-cut to windward, with the islets and
their adjacent reef, now known as Rosario Islands, a short quarter of a
mile broad on the weather bow, and a clump of hills on the main beyond,
just beginning to outline themselves sharply against the lightening sky
behind them.  Daylight and darkness come with a rush in those latitudes,
and by the time that the Rosario Islands were abeam the eastern sky had
paled from indigo to white that, even as one looked, became flushed with
a most delicate and ethereal tint of blush rose, which in its turn
warmed as rapidly to a tone of rich amber, against which a cluster of
mangrove-bordered islands, occupying what looked like the embouchure of
a river, suddenly revealed themselves a point or two on the weather bow.
Like magic the amber tint spread itself right and left along the
horizon and upward toward the zenith, to be pierced, the next moment, by
a broad shaft of pure white light which shot upward far into the
delicate azure, which was now flooding the heavens and drowning out the
stars, one after the other.  Then up shot another and another shaft of
light, radiating from a point just below the horizon, like the spokes of
a wheel.  Suddenly a little layer of horizontal clouds, a few degrees
above the mangrove tops, became visible, rose-red and gold-edged; and an
instant later a spark of molten, palpitating gold flashed and blazed
through the ebony-black mangrove branches, dazzling the eye and tipping
the ripples with a long line of scintillating gold which stretched clear
from the shore to the boat, flooding her and those in her with primrose
light.  Quickly the golden spark grew and brightened until, before one
could draw breath a dozen times, it had expanded into the upper edge of
a great throbbing, burning, golden disk, flooding land and sea with its
golden radiance--and it was day.  The sea changed from purple to a clear
translucent green; the vegetation ashore, still black immediately under
the sun, merged by a thousand subtle gradations, right and left, into
olive-green of every imaginable tint, and finally into a delicate rosy
grey in the extreme distance; a multitude of trivial details of outline
and contour, tree and rock, suddenly leapt into distinctness, a flock of
pelicans rose from among the cluster of islands inshore and went
flapping heavily and solemnly out to seaward; the dorsal fin of a shark
drifted lazily past the boat--and the full extent of the bight behind
the island of Baru swept suddenly into view.

"Just in time," exclaimed Marshall, with a sigh of relief, as he rose
and stretched himself.  "Round with her, lad, and head her up the bight
while the wind lasts.  It will be a flat calm here in half an hour from
now."

"I hope not," said Dick, "for this bight is quite twelve miles long, by
the look of it, and it will be no joke for four of us to be obliged to
pull this heavy boat the greater part of that distance."

"There will be no need," said Marshall.  "We are not in such a desperate
hurry as that amounts to.  Take the boat close in under the shore of the
island, and when the wind fails us we will anchor and have breakfast.
The calm will probably last no longer than about an hour; then will come
the sea breeze, which, I should say, from the trend of the coast just
here, will probably draw right up the bight, and be a fair wind for us."

Thus it proved; the force of the land breeze rapidly declined, until, in
the course of half an hour, the boat scarcely retained steerage way.
But during that half-hour she had progressed about two miles up the
bight, while Dick had hugged the eastern shore of the island of Baru as
closely as the depth of water would permit; and when at length the wind
failed he took advantage of its last expiring breath to run the boat in
behind a small rocky, tree-crowned bluff, where she was not only
completely hidden from sight, but where her crew enjoyed the further
advantage of being sheltered from the too ardent rays of the sun.  Here,
having lowered their sails and moored the boat to a rock, they
breakfasted comfortably and at their leisure upon fish caught during
their progress up the bight, and which they broiled over a fire kindled
by means of a pocket lens which Marshall made a point of carrying with
him constantly.  The Captain was also pretty nearly correct in his
estimate of the duration of the calm, for they had little more than
finished their meal when the first cat's-paws heralding the approach of
the sea breeze were seen playing here and there upon the surface of the
water, and five minutes later the wind was roaring with the strength of
half a gale over the top of the island, and whipping the surface of the
bight into small, choppy, foam-capped seas.  Of this fine breeze they at
once took advantage by casting off from the rock and hoisting their
canvas, when away they went bowling merrily up the bight, at the head of
which they arrived about an hour and a half later.

The shape of the bight proved to be, roughly speaking, triangular,
measuring about twelve miles long by about four miles wide at its
entrance, narrowing at its upper end to a channel about twelve hundred
feet wide, separating Baru from the mainland.  They passed through this
channel before they fully realised where they were going, and upon
issuing from its northern extremity suddenly found themselves in a broad
sheet of water some eight miles long by about half that width--Cartagena
harbour, without a doubt!  That would never do, at least in broad
daylight; therefore, hastily putting the boat about, they ran back into
the channel which they had just quitted, and beached the boat upon the
shore of Baru, where, leaving the craft in charge of the three men,
Marshall and Dick landed to reconnoitre.  The part of the island upon
which they landed was quite low, and bordered with mangroves, of which
fact they took advantage by concealing themselves among the trees, and
from that secure hiding-place examining the harbour at leisure.

They found that they were on the north-eastern extremity of the island
of Baru, with the whole of the harbour of Cartagena before them, the
roofs and spires of the town just showing waveringly, in a sort of
mirage, over the low land which forms the easternmost extremity of the
island of Tierra Bomba.  It is this same island of Tierra Bomba, by the
way, which converts what would otherwise be an open roadstead into a
landlocked harbour, for it forms the western side of the harbour, and
serves as a natural breakwater, sheltering the roadstead very
effectually when the wind happens to blow from the westward.  Also,
being roughly triangular in shape, its eastern and western sides each
measuring about four miles long, and its northern side about three
miles, it divides the entire harbour into two parts, namely, the upper
and the lower bay.  The upper bay in its turn is divided into the inner
and the outer harbour by two irregularly shaped spits of low land, the
western spit jutting out south and east in a sort of elbow from the
promontory on which the city is built, while the eastern spit is divided
from the mainland by a narrow channel, and is called Manzanillo Island.

The foregoing is a brief and rough description of Cartagena harbour,
given for the information of the reader and to enable him the better to
understand what follows; but comparatively few of the above details were
apparent to the two Englishmen lurking among the mangroves on the
north-eastern extremity of Baru, for the island of Tierra Bomba, the
most prominent object in sight, shut out much of the upper bay.  They
obtained, however, a good view of the Boca Chica, or harbour entrance,
and took careful note of the fact that it was effectually commanded, at
its narrowest and most difficult point, by a battery built on the very
beach itself, and a fort, or castle, crowning the crest of a hill
immediately above.  They both agreed that if this was the only entrance
to the harbour, and if the garrisons of those forts maintained a proper
lookout, it should be quite impossible for a ship to enter or leave
Cartagena harbour, except with the full permission of the authorities.

"Well," exclaimed Marshall at last, when they had both familiarised
themselves with everything that there was to see from their viewpoint,
"this is all very well, and we have already learned quite enough to
repay us for all our trouble in taking this trip.  But I have not yet
seen nearly all that I want to see; therefore, by hook or by crook, I
must get ashore upon that island yonder"--pointing to Tierra Bomba.
"That hill at its north-eastern angle ought to command a view of the
whole harbour and town, and I must get up there.  Now, how is it best to
be done?"

"It appears to me," said Dick, "that there is an opening of some sort--
either a creek or the mouth of a small river--immediately opposite us,
just to the right of that bay, and also to the right of those two hills,
one of which is showing just clear of the other.  There are two small
islets standing in the mouth of it--"

"Yes, yes; I see what you mean," interrupted Marshall.  "Well, what is
your suggestion?"

"My suggestion," answered Dick, "is that we remain concealed until
nightfall, and then that we should take the boat and explore that creek,
or whatever it is; and if it proves to be a suitable hiding-place, well
and good.  We will conceal the boat and her crew there, and to-morrow
morning you and I can climb to the top of that hill and make all the
observations we need, even, perhaps, to the extent of drawing a rough
chart of the place.  It will cost us twenty-four hours of time; but I
believe that the information which we shall thus obtain will more than
repay us."

"I am sure of it," answered Marshall, heartily; "and we'll do it, my
lad.  Meanwhile, the mosquitoes are becoming something more than
troublesome; so, as we have now seen all that it is possible for us to
see from here, we'll get away back to the boat, or the men will begin to
think that something has happened to us."



CHAPTER FOUR.

HOW MARSHALL AND DICK ENTERED CARTAGENA HARBOUR IN THE LONGBOAT.

As Marshall had anticipated, the men were beginning to feel distinctly
alarmed at the prolonged absence of their officers, admitting, indeed,
that they were seriously debating the advisability of leaving the boat
and instituting a search at the moment when Marshall and Dick
reappeared.  This admission drew forth a sharp rebuke from the Captain,
who there and then gave them strict orders that under no circumstances
were they ever to dream of doing such a thing.  "For instance," said he,
"what a pretty pickle should we all be in if, being discovered and
pursued hotfoot by the enemy, we were to retreat to the boat and find
that you men had left her.  It would mean that Mr Chichester and I
would be obliged to shove off without you; and that in turn would mean
that sooner or later you would inevitably fall into the hands of the
enemy.  And let me tell you, men, that to fall into the hands of the
Spaniards here means being clapt into the Inquisition.  And of those who
get into the Inquisition not one in a hundred ever gets out again.
Therefore, never leave your boat, under any circumstances whatsoever,
except at the express command of your officers."

It was by this time considerably past noon; the food was therefore
produced, and all hands partook of a meal, after which there was nothing
to be done until the evening; the men therefore disposed themselves in
the bottom of the boat and took such snatches of sleep as the mosquitoes
permitted, while Marshall and Dick sat in the stern-sheets and discussed
plans for the morrow.

At length, however, after an interval of waiting that soon grew terribly
wearisome, the sun went down, darkness fell, and they pushed off the
boat and got under way.  There was now a young moon of about four days
old, and before she too set she afforded them light enough to make their
way across the lower bay, a distance of about three and a half miles, to
the island of Tierra Bomba, and to find the indentation to which Dick
had directed Marshall's attention earlier in the day.  It proved to be a
particularly snug little cove, about half a mile long by perhaps a
quarter of a mile wide, with thickly wooded hills sloping down toward it
on either side at its upper extremity.  Two small islets pretty
effectually masked its entrance; and a dry sandbank in the middle of it
occupied more than half its area, leaving a narrow channel all round it,
the water in which was only just deep enough to afford unimpeded passage
to the boat.  It was stark calm inside the cove, they were, therefore,
obliged to lower the sails, strike the masts, and use the oars to reach
the head of the creek; but when they arrived there they found a steep
bank so completely overhung with trees and bushes that, when once the
boat had been forced in underneath the branches, she might remain there
for days with little or no fear of discovery.

In this exceedingly snug berth it seemed almost ridiculous to think of
keeping a watch; yet, being in the enemy's territory, they decided to do
so; Marshall undertaking to stand the first watch of two hours, while
Dick agreed to take the second.

When, at ten o'clock, Marshall aroused Dick, in order that the latter
might stand his watch, the Captain whispered:

"I've been thinking about a good many things while I have been sitting
here these two hours agone in the stern-sheets of this boat.  And, among
other matters, I have thought that it might be very useful to know
something more than we do about those two batteries that we took notice
of while we were on the point yonder to-day.  Now, I'm not a bit sleepy.
I don't believe I could get to sleep if I tried--also the night is
delightfully cool; and, although the moon has gone down, the stars give
quite enough light for my purpose, therefore, I am going to take a
little walk along the shore to that battery on the beach.  It can't be
very much more than two miles away; and night is the only time when it
will be possible to examine the forts without running too much risk.  If
I do not feel too tired I'll take that fort on the top of the hill on my
way back; so if I do not return until close before daybreak you need not
be unduly alarmed."

"Very well, sir," answered Dick.  "We will keep a bright lookout.  And
if by any chance things should go amiss, and you should be pursued, if
you will fire two pistol shots, one close after the other, I will come,
with one of the men, to meet you, provided, of course, that we are
within hearing of the shots."

"Yes; you may do that--if you hear the signal shots," agreed Marshall.
"But," he added, "I shall need to be very hard pressed indeed to fire my
pistols.  For shots at night-time anywhere near a battery would be
certain to put everybody on the alert, and probably bring a bigger
hornet's nest about my ears than you and all hands could beat off.
Still, if I want help very badly I shall know what to do.  And now, I'll
be off.  Keep a sharp lookout, and don't allow yourself to be surprised.
Good night!"  As Dick murmured an answering "Good night" the Captain
turned and disappeared in the darkness.

All through the night a careful watch was maintained, but nothing in the
slightest degree alarming occurred; and about an hour before daybreak
Captain Marshall returned, having accomplished his mission to his own
complete satisfaction.

"I had no difficulty whatever," he explained to Dick, "nor did I
encounter a single soul; indeed I am strongly of opinion that the
island, or at least the southern half of it, is uninhabited, except for
the garrisons of the fort and battery.  I tackled the battery first,
making my way to it by passing round the base of the hill until I
reached the shore-line of the next bay, which I then followed for the
remainder of the distance.  And heavy walking I found it, with a murrain
on it; for the sand was loose and deep, except where I came upon
mangroves, and there the mud was even deeper than the sand, while, as
for the mosquitoes, they were as eager for my blood as the Spaniards
themselves would be if they but knew what my business is here.  However,
I was not to be turned back by the mosquitoes, even though they assailed
me in legions; and after trudging through the heavy sand for a full hour
or more I found myself beneath the walls of the battery.

"It is planned like a triangle, one face, mounting four guns, commanding
the seaward end of the Boca, while the second face commands its inner
extremity, the third face being turned toward the land and containing
the entrance gate.  The point or apex of the triangle juts out into the
water; I was therefore unable to walk completely round it; nevertheless
I examined both sides by walking past the back of it.  The faces of the
walls are quite smooth, and about twelve feet high; but the angles are
set with rough quoin stones, up which, there being no lights in the
battery, and no sign of a sentinel, I essayed to climb, accomplishing
the ascent with no greater difficulty or hurt than the wearing of the
soles off my stockings--for I took off my shoes for the sake of
quietness and to gain a better foothold.  Having gained the parapet, I
found two sentries sitting there, with their backs against the wall,
fast asleep, with their matchlocks beside them.  Gently lifting their
weapons in my hand, I shook out the priming--lest perchance they should
awake and, seeing me, open fire upon me before I could get away--and
then, replacing the weapons as I had found them, passed quietly on to
examine the ordnance.  The guns are very formidable, of a pattern such
as I have never before seen, being a good twenty foot in length, and of
a bigness to take a shot the size of a man's head, as I learned by
passing my hands over the topmost shot of a pile which stood beside each
gun.  There are eight of these pieces of great ordnance, besides falcons
and swivels which I did not stay to count, the heavy ordnance being all
that caused me any anxiety.  And even now they do not greatly trouble
me; for if they keep no better watch there on other nights than they did
on this, it would be easy for a couple of resolute men to enter the
place, even as I did, bind and gag the sentinels, and spike all eight of
the guns, and never a man of them any the wiser until they came to put
fire to their pieces.

"Then, having seen all that I desired, I left the battery as I had
entered it, and made my way up the hill to the castle on the top.  Here,
however, I was less fortunate, there being no way of entering the
building, save by walking in through the gate, or climbing the walls
with the help of a scaling ladder.  The place is much more formidable
looking than the battery, being in appearance a strong castle, with dry
ditch, drawbridge, and portcullis to the main and, so far as I could
see, the only entrance.  In plan it is shaped like the letter L, with
the angle turned harbour-ward; and it must mount about thirty pieces of
ordnance, for I managed to count that number of embrasures on its two
faces.  But of sentinels I saw none; so, if they set a watch, I presume
that, like those in the battery, the rascals are in the habit of
sleeping their watch through; which is so much the better for
freebooters like ourselves.  For the dry ditch is not difficult to
cross, and I estimate that, once on the other side, a ladder of twenty
foot in length should enable a party of half a dozen to reach the top;
and, once on the parapet, they should be able to spike the whole thirty
of those footy ordnance in ten minutes.  And all this means, friend
Dick, that with the whole of the heavy ordnance spiked, in castle and in
battery, there is nothing to prevent the _Adventure_ from sailing into
the harbour, coming to an anchor, storming and blowing up both defences,
and then holding the town to ransom, as well as capturing the galleon!
For, as my soul liveth, I firmly believe that the castle and the battery
constitute the entire defences of Cartagena!  And then, hey for old
England again; for, with the ransom of the town and the booty from the
galleon, there ought to be enough to make us all rich for life."

"And if there is not, it ought not to be very difficult for us to play
the same game with two or three other towns," remarked Dick.  "For I
suppose it is safe to reckon that all the towns along the Main are
wealthy enough to pay for looting?"

"Ay; no doubt there are good pickings to be had out of every one of
them," answered Marshall.  "But `one thing at a time' is a good maxim in
such a business as ours, my lad; and we will see what Cartagena yields
before we begin to think seriously about any of the other towns.  And
now, here comes the dawn at last, for which thanks be; for I am as
hungry as if I had spent all night to the top of Dartymoor, and want my
breakfast."

An hour later the meal had been prepared and eaten; after which Marshall
and Dick, having provided themselves with food and water sufficient to
last them until nightfall, if necessary, and having given the crew of
the longboat most precise instructions as to how to act in the event of
certain contingencies arising, cautiously emerged from their place of
concealment, and, carrying the boat compass with them for the purpose of
enabling them to take such bearings as might be required, set out upon
their way to the top of the hill which dominated the north-east corner
of the island.  The going was exceedingly difficult, for the slope was
rough and steep, also it was so thickly overgrown with vegetation that
for a good part of the distance they had literally to cut a way for
themselves; therefore, although the distance which they had to traverse
was little more than a mile it was well on toward noon when at length
they reached the summit.  But, when there, they were fain to admit that
their labour had been well spent; for as they topped the last rise the
vegetation suddenly became much thinner, so that they found themselves
able to force a way through it without being obliged to have recourse to
their hangers; and presently they emerged upon the bare hilltop, and
beheld, spread out at their feet, a magnificent panorama embracing a
view of the whole upper bay and inner harbour, with the town of
Cartagena a bare four miles distant.  And there, in the midst of a whole
fleet of smaller craft, they also beheld a tall and stately ship, a
single glance at which sufficed to assure them that she could be none
other than the plate ship which was the great object of their quest.

"There she be!" exclaimed Marshall, pointing.  "All of seven hundred
ton, or more; and deep in the water, too.  She must have pretty nearly,
or quite, finished loading.  Seems to me that we're only just in time.
Now, Dick, my lad, this is your opportunity to make the chart that you
were talking about.  Come along, and let's get about it; I'll help you.
To-night we must make our way into the city, somehow, and find out by
hook or by crook exactly when she is to sail.  Now, how do we begin upon
the chart?"

"Well," said Dick, "to be of any use it must be tolerably accurate, and
drawn to scale; and the top of this hill is admirably adapted for our
purpose.  Our first business must be to measure off as correctly as
possible the longest line we can get--and, with a little management, I
think we ought to be able to make that line a mile in length, which will
be long enough for our purpose.  Then, having measured off our line, and
taken its compass bearing, all that will remain to be done will be to
take, from each end of the line, the compass bearing of as many objects
as we require; and where the several bearings intersect will be the
correct positions of those objects.  Then we can complete the chart
accurately enough for our purpose by sketching in the details between
the objects, the positions of which we have determined.  See, this is
the sort of thing I mean."  And, drawing a scrap of paper from his
pocket, Chichester rapidly sketched a diagram illustrating his meaning.

Marshall took the sketch and considered it attentively.  "Yes," he said
at length, "that ought to be near enough for our purpose.  But how are
you going to measure your line?"

"Quite easily," answered Dick.  "When I learned that I was to accompany
you, the idea of drawing a chart of the harbour at once occurred to me,
and I thought out the plan that I have just explained to you.  I also
borrowed from the carpenter a ball of fine cord, which I then proceeded
to knot very carefully at every foot, measured with the carpenter's
rule.  Here it is, just one hundred feet long; and with the help of it
we ought to have no difficulty in measuring our line."

Nor had they: for the hilltop was quite level enough for their purpose.
They measured it twice, going and returning, in order to ensure the
greater accuracy, and, laying down their work on paper to scale as they
proceeded, managed before dark to secure an exceedingly useful and
tolerably complete chart of the upper bay and inner harbour, with the
help of which they felt that they ought to be able to find their way to
the town, even on the darkest night.  Of course they were not able to
ascertain the depth of water by this means; but the even colour of it
seemed to indicate that there were no hidden dangers to guard against
anywhere except just inside the entrance of the inner harbour, where the
presence of a shoal obstructing the fairway was clearly indicated by a
certain glassiness of surface, which was duly recorded upon the chart.

The preparation of this chart served to familiarise them with the
principal features of the harbour in a really wonderful manner, and to
fix in their memories the relative positions of them one with another.
But that was not all; for while they were at work their eyes were busy
noting various details, one of which was that a small fishing village
existed at the base of the hill upon which they were at work, and not
more than half a mile from the spot where the longboat lay concealed.
This was a discovery of some importance to them, for it at once
suggested the possibility of "borrowing" a canoe from the village, after
dark, and proceeding in her to the city; by which plan they would run
much less risk of detection than if they attempted to reach the city
with the longboat.

They completed their labours and set out to walk down the hill on their
way to the boat while the sun was still nearly an hour above the
horizon, and were safely aboard her again ere darkness fell.  Then,
having partaken of a meal, Marshall and Dick stretched themselves along
in the stern-sheets of the boat, in order to snatch an hour or two of
sleep before embarking upon by far the most hazardous part of their
enterprise, namely, their excursion to the city of Cartagena.

Marshall had given instructions that he and Dick were to be called
punctually at eight o'clock; but when that hour arrived and the man who
had the watch proceeded to arouse them, it appeared that the Captain was
already awake, not having been to sleep at all, in fact; and as Dick
seemed to be fast locked in the arms of slumber, Marshall softly
whispered to the man who was about to arouse him, that he was to be
permitted to sleep on, at the same time composing himself to rest and
giving fresh instructions that both were to be called at midnight.  From
which it was evident that in the interim he had modified his original
plan.

When at length midnight arrived and the pair were duly awakened Marshall
remarked with a grin which the darkness effectually concealed:

"Well, lad, hast had a good sleep?"

"Excellent," answered Dick.  "I feel as fresh as a lark, and can
scarcely realise that I have only been asleep two hours."

"Two hours!" retorted Marshall, with a laugh.  "Thou hast had six hours
of good, honest sleep; and 'tis midnight instead of eight o'clock.  The
fact is," he continued in more serious tones, "I could not sleep when I
first attempted to do so.  My thoughts were busy with the task that lay
before me; and I could not see how it was to be done in the time that I
had allowed myself.  The way that I looked at the matter was this: I had
arranged that we were to start from here at eight o'clock.  By the time
that we had found our way round to the village where we hoped to get a
canoe, it would be nearly or quite nine; and by the time that we reached
Cartagena it would be ten o'clock, or after; there would be no work
doing, and most of the good folk would be abed; thus I should stand a
very poor chance of gaining any information worth having.  The proper
time for me to be ashore, there, is during the day, when everybody is
astir, when there are plenty of people about to talk to and ask
questions of, and when they will be too busy to take particular note of
me, and wonder who I am and where I came from.  So I altered my plan,
deferring our departure until now, which will afford me plenty of time
to get into the city before daylight.  Then I shall have the whole day
before me, if I find that I require it, in which to look about me and
make a few discreet enquiries; and as soon after dark as it is safe to
return I will come back; reaching the boat, if all be well, in time to
go out and rejoin the _Adventure_ to-morrow night about this time.  Now,
I shall want you to go with me as far as the village, to help me, if
need be, to secure a canoe; and when I have done that, and am fairly
under way, you can come back here to the boat, and wait for me; for the
work that I have to do can best be done single-handed.  Now, if you have
any questions to ask, ask them; but if not, we may as well be off, for I
want to allow myself plenty of time to make my way into the town."

Dick intimated that he believed he quite understood the scheme which the
Captain had outlined, and that he had only one question to ask, namely,
how long the boat was to remain where she was in the event of Marshall
being detained in Cartagena longer than he anticipated.

"How long?" repeated Marshall.  "Let me see.  This will make the second
complete night that we have been absent from the ship--although it seems
very much longer.  Stay here, if necessary, for four days and nights
longer, as arranged with Bascomb; and if I am not back by midnight of
the fourth night my orders are that you are to rejoin the ship, report
to Winter and Bascomb all that we have done and learned; and say it is
my wish that they shall act as may seem to them best, and without any
reference at all to what may have become of me; for if I do not return
to you by the time that I have named it will be because I cannot, having
fallen into the hands of the Spaniards.  And now, if you are ready, let
us be going."

Silently, and with the observance of every precaution to prevent
betrayal of the longboat's hiding-place to any chance wanderer in the
neighbourhood, the pair forced a way through their leafy bower and up
the steep bank until they emerged upon clear ground, when, bearing away
to the eastward round the foot of the hill which they had that day
ascended, they groped their way cautiously over the unfamiliar ground
until, in the course of about half an hour, they caught the dim shimmer
of starlight upon water, and, between them and it, a group of dark,
shapeless blotches which, upon their nearer approach, they identified as
the hovels constituting the fishing village which they had seen during
the day from the top of the hill.

Circling round these, they presently reached the water's edge, where, as
they had fully anticipated, they found a dozen or more canoes of various
sizes hauled up on the beach, most of them with their nets piled up in
their sterns.  They looked about for the smallest canoe they could find,
and having overhauled her as carefully as the light would allow, and
satisfied themselves as to her seaworthiness, removed the nets from her
to the craft nearest at hand and, lifting her by her two ends, carried
her down to the water, and set her afloat.  Then, with a quick
hand-clasp and a low-murmured "Goodbye, lad, and take care of yourself
and the men," Marshall stepped softly into the crank little craft,
seated himself in the stern, and with a vigorous thrust of the paddle
sent himself off into deep water, where a few minutes later he was
swallowed up by the darkness.  Dick stood by the water's edge, watching
the small black blur which represented man and canoe as it receded from
the shore until it vanished; and then turned slowly away to retrace his
steps to the longboat, happily unconscious that he had looked his last
upon his gallant leader.

Returning safely and without difficulty to the longboat, Dick Chichester
whispered to the man who was keeping watch that thus far all was well;
and then bestowed himself in the stern-sheets to snatch another hour or
two of sleep.  Then, after a somewhat late breakfast, he emerged
cautiously from his leafy refuge and climbed to the top of the hill
again, ensconcing himself well within the shadow of a thick bush, from
beneath which he commanded an uninterrupted view of the entire upper bay
and harbour.  Not that he expected to see much, or, indeed, anything in
particular; but he thought it well to keep a watchful eye upon things in
general and, if anything particular should happen ashore, take care to
be where he might perchance be able to detect some indication of it.
But he saw nothing at all to indicate that anything unusual had taken
place, or was taking place, in Cartagena, the only occurrence of a
noticeable character that came under his observation that day being a
violent quarrel among certain of the inhabitants of the fishing village
below, which quarrel, he shrewdly conjectured, might possibly have
something to do with a missing canoe.

He remained on the hill the whole of that day, allowing himself only
just daylight enough to find his way back to the longboat, and then,
having partaken of a meal, disposed himself to secure a good long
uninterrupted night's rest, warning the men, however, to be alert during
their watch, so that if the Captain should return during the night and
need assistance, they might be prepared to render it quickly.

But Captain Marshall did not return during that night; therefore after
an early breakfast the next morning Dick again ascended the hill to keep
watch upon the town and harbour, thinking that mayhap he might thus
catch an early glimpse of Marshall returning; and if haply he should
chance to be pursued, learn the fact in time to go to his assistance.
But this day, too, passed uneventfully away, the galleon, with the great
golden flag of Spain flaunting at her stern, showing no visible sign of
an early departure.

Dick felt so firmly convinced that the Captain would return some time
during the ensuing night that he sat up, waiting for him, and taking
watch after watch as it came round.  But the morning dawned with still
no sign of Marshall; and then the young officer began to feel seriously
apprehensive; for he could not imagine that his leader should spend two
whole days in Cartagena without learning all that he desired to know
upon a matter which must be so widely discussed as the departure of an
exceptionally rich treasure ship for Old Spain.  Yet of course there was
the chance that Marshall might be voluntarily prolonging his stay for
the purpose of obtaining some especially valuable item of information;
meanwhile, the four days having not yet expired, his duty was to remain
where he was, and keep a sharp lookout.  So again Dick wended his way to
the top of the hill, and ensconced himself in his now familiar
hiding-place beneath the bush.

And on this day his vigilance was rewarded by signs of activity on board
the galleon, to wit, a slow and very deliberate bending of her sails; so
slow and deliberate, indeed, that at the end of the day only about half
her canvas had been secured to the yards.  This of course indicated that
the date of her sailing was drawing nigh; and he comforted himself with
the reflection that possibly this date had not yet been definitely
fixed--the Spaniards were notoriously dilatory in this respect, thinking
nothing of a fortnight's, or even a month's delay--and it might perhaps
be that Marshall was patiently awaiting the fixing of this date before
rejoining them, knowing that the boat would be awaiting him whenever he
might find it convenient to return to her.

Thinking and reasoning thus, Dick at length succeeded in so completely
convincing himself that Marshall's delay was entirely voluntary, that
the anxiety which had gradually been growing upon him passed away; so
completely, indeed, that he composed himself to rest with the absolute
conviction that the Captain would return sometime during the night; the
only orders which he deemed it necessary to give the men being, that
they were to maintain a sharp lookout, and awake him immediately upon
their general's arrival.

But the night passed; and day--the fourth day since Marshall had left
them, and the last of their prescribed sojourn where they were--dawned
without sign of the absentee; and when at length Dick Chichester
awakened and this fact was borne in upon him, all his former
apprehensions returned with redoubled force.  Something had gone wrong
with the Captain; he was convinced of it; Marshall would never
deliberately tarry so long in a town, every man, woman, and child in
which was an enemy; his identity as an Englishman had been discovered,
and he had been taken, without a doubt.  Yet, with a sudden revulsion of
feeling, Dick remembered that one trait of his Captain's character was a
certain daredevil recklessness which made peril, or rather the
overcoming of it, a joy and a delight, and caused him actually to court
danger for the pleasurable excitement which the evasion of it afforded
him.  Might it not be, then, that Marshall, knowing the fate that
awaited him in the event of detection, was deliberately lingering in
Cartagena in order that he might enjoy to the fullest possible extent
the gratification of hoodwinking his enemies and moving freely among
them unsuspected?

Swayed thus between hope and fear, the harassed young lieutenant once
more, and for the last time, mounted the hill and resumed his anxious
watch of the town and harbour.  But no indication of any happening of an
unusual character, either in the town or in the harbour, was
perceptible; everything seemed to be going forward precisely as usual;
the only occurrence that in the slightest degree interested the watcher
being that the crew of the galleon resumed their occupation of bending
sails, which operation, proceeding with the same deliberation as before,
they contrived to complete about half an hour before sunset; when Dick,
unutterably weary and discouraged with his long and fruitless watch,
arose and made his way down the hill to the place where the longboat lay
hidden.



CHAPTER FIVE.

HOW THEY DISARMED THE BATTERIES ON TIERRA BOMBA.

As Chichester neared the now familiar spot where he had left the
longboat, he suffered himself to indulge in a returning feeling of
elation, for the notion somehow came to him that he would find Marshall
in the boat calmly awaiting his return; and this feeling presently grew
so strong within him that he could scarcely credit his eyes when, upon
passing through the screen of concealing foliage, he saw only the three
seamen curled up in the boat.  They roused themselves from their
semi-somnolent condition and sat up to receive him, with glances of mute
enquiry in their eyes.

For a few moments Dick remained silent, absolutely speechless with
disappointment.  Then he remarked:

"What, lads, has the Captain not yet returned, then?"

"No, sir," they answered in chorus.  "We have seen naught of him, or
indeed of anybody else, since you left us this morning."

"Then," said Dick, "I greatly fear that evil has befallen him and that
he has been discovered and taken by the Spaniards.  For this is the last
day of our stay here; and his orders to me were that if he returns not
by midnight we are to proceed to sea and rejoin the ship; for his
failure to return will be due to the fact of his having been captured.
Still, there are six hours to run yet before midnight, and he may return
even at the very last moment.  Let us hope that he will.  And now, men,
give me some supper, for I have eaten nothing since I left you this
morning."

The time between then and midnight was passed by Dick in a state of
feverish suspense, that toward the end became almost unendurable,
causing him to start and jump at every trivial sound that reached his
ear.  A dozen times at least he sprang to his feet with the joyous
exclamation of "Here he is!" when the flutter of a dry leaf falling from
its parent bough, the soft rustle of foliage in the night wind, or the
movement of some restless bird broke the silence of that secluded spot;
but he was always mistaken.  The Captain came not; and at length his
watch informed him that the time was half an hour after midnight.  Then
he rose to his feet with a sigh of bitter disappointment and said:

"It is no good, lads; we must not delay our departure any longer; we
have allowed the Captain half an hour's grace, and if he could have come
he would have been with us before now.  Without doubt he is a prisoner,
and we can best serve him now by returning to the ship with all speed
and reporting the fact of his capture to the others, who must then
decide whether or not we shall sail into the harbour, attack the town,
and endeavour to rescue him.  Cast off the painter, and let us be moving
without further delay."

Almost careless now whether or not they attracted attention, they hauled
the boat out from her place of concealment and, stepping the masts,
hoisted their sails and got under way, the wind just permitting them to
lay their course down past the sand spit and out through the entrance of
the cove into the lower bay without breaking tacks.  Then, to save time,
Dick determined to risk the passage of the Boca Chica, the usual harbour
entrance, instead of taking the longer route out to sea behind the
island of Baru, relying upon the indifferent lookout of the sentinels as
reported by Marshall to enable the boat to pass undetected.  In this
they were completely successful, the occupants of the batteries giving
no sign that the passage of the boat had been observed; and half an hour
after emerging from their place of concealment they found themselves
safely clear of everything and out at sea.

The night was dark but clear, with a fresh land breeze blowing, and a
sky heavily flecked with fast-scurrying clouds, between which the stars
and moon blinked down upon them intermittently.  They were no sooner
clear of the land than they began to look about them for the ship, and
within a few minutes they caught sight of her signal lanterns about
eight miles distant, dead to leeward.  After that everything went quite
smoothly; they hoisted their own signal lamp, and bore away dead before
the wind, leaving it to the ship to pick them up, which she did about an
hour later.

Their shipmates manifested the utmost interest in their return, all
hands mustering on deck to see the boat come alongside and hear the
news.  When, upon the boat being brought to the lee gangway, Dick led
the way up the side, he was met at the entrance port by Bascomb, Winter,
Dyer, and Harvey, each of whom at the same instant fired at him the
question:

"Where is the Captain?"

"Lost--taken, I fear," answered Dick.  "He left us four nights ago,
intending to make his way into the city of Cartagena, for the purpose of
learning precisely when the galleon is to sail, together with any other
information which he might be able to pick up.  His instructions were
that I was to await his return until midnight to-night, and if he then
failed to return it would be because something untoward had happened to
him, in which case I was to rejoin the ship at once and report to you,
when you would act according to your discretion after consulting
together."

For a moment there was a dead silence; then Bascomb turned to his fellow
officers, and said:

"My masters, this loss of our general is a very serious matter, and
needs looking into.  Let us all, therefore, retire to the cabin and hear
what Mr Chichester has to tell us about it; after which, as was
arranged when Captain Marshall left us six nights ago, we must all
consult together and decide what our next step is to be.  Come then,
gentlemen, to the cabin.  Mr Chichester, you will be pleased to
accompany us."

Therewith the three principal officers of the ship and the two gentlemen
adventurers retired to the great cabin, where, seated upon the lockers,
and with Dick occupying a chair in front of them, the tale was told of
all that had befallen the boat and its crew, from the moment of her
departure to that of her return, including the several expeditions to
the top of the hill on Tierra Bomba, and the drawing of the chart.

"And where is that chart now?" demanded Bascomb.  "Have you it, or did
Captain Marshall take it with him?"

"I have it," answered Dick, "and here it is," producing the sketch.
"Fortunately the Captain left it with me, not needing it himself, since
all the information required to enable him to make his way to Cartagena
he could carry in his head."

The four who were sitting on the opposite side of the table bent over
the document, examining it closely for several minutes.  At length
Bascomb looked up and said:

"My masters, if this chart be reliable--and it should be, judging from
the pains taken by our Captain and Mr Chichester--it should suffice to
enable us to take the ship right up to Cartagena and lay her alongside
the galleon.  And if that ship can be taken by surprise and without loss
on our part, as I think she may, what is to hinder us from taking the
town and demanding a good heavy ransom for it, part of which ransom
shall consist in the return to us, sound and unhurt, of our Captain?
And if they refuse, or are unable to return our Captain to us in the
condition specified, what say you to sacking the place and giving it to
the flames?  Depend upon it, by so doing we shall soon learn the fate of
Captain Marshall, and where he is to be found, for there will be a
hundred who will be only too ready to curry favour with us by telling us
all that they know, in the hope that thereby we may be induced to spare
their property."

"Ay, that will they, I warrant," answered Winter.  "And woe betide the
city and all in it if aught of evil has been done to our Captain!  We
will find every man who has been in anywise responsible for that evil,
and will hang him before his own door for all men to see how dangerous a
thing it is for a Spaniard to lay violent hands upon an Englishman!
Now, what say ye, gentles, shall we go in at once and do the work while
our blood is hot within us?"

"Nay, sirs," answered Dick; "that may scarcely be.  For if our Captain
be indeed taken, as I greatly fear me he is, depend upon it the
authorities will have identified him as an Englishman, in despite of any
tale that he may have told them, and will, in consequence, suspect the
presence of an English ship somewhere in the neighbourhood.  And,
following that suspicion, their first act would be to warn those in the
forts on Tierra Bomba to be on the watch for that ship's appearance.
And once seen it will, according to the Captain's own account, be
impossible for us to force our way into the harbour unless the guns in
those forts be first spiked.  Now, gentles, I am the youngest of you
all, but I have been inside and seen the place.  Moreover, I have been
privileged to discuss with the Captain this very question of taking the
ship up to the town, from which discussion arose my determination to
make that chart; and my advice is, that we defer our attempt until
to-morrow night, and that in the meantime I be permitted to return in
the longboat to our former hiding-place, provided with hammers and nails
for the spiking of the guns and such other necessaries as I may require,
together with a crew of six of our best men.  We can get back to our
place of concealment before daylight, and there remain in hiding until
midnight or later, when we will sally forth, steal into those two forts,
overpower and gag the sentinels, and spike the guns, after which we will
signal the ship by the burning of portfires where they cannot be seen
from the town, when you will sail in, I meeting you outside and piloting
you in.  We can then land a party, destroy both batteries by blowing
them up, capture the galleon and the town, and sail out to sea again,
unscathed, when we have finished our business with the Spaniards."

"Thy plan sounds promising, young sir," answered Bascomb presently,
after considering the matter a little; "but there is one weak point in
it, which is this.  If, as you seem to think, the Spaniards have taken
our Captain, and thereby are led to suspect the presence of an English
ship in the neighbourhood; and, suspecting such presence, should warn
the garrisons of those two forts to be on the lookout for her--all of
which I grant to be more than likely--what hope have you of being able
to surprise those forts and spike their guns?"

"The task will be a difficult one, I admit," answered Dick, with a shrug
of the shoulders; "but, with all submission, sirs, my plan is the only
one offering a chance of success.  For--and this is the fundamental fact
governing all else--the guns must be spiked and the forts destroyed
before this ship can enter Cartagena harbour or, having entered, get out
again.  But the forts once in our possession the whole town and harbour,
with all within them, will be at our mercy.  The important matter,
therefore, to be determined is: By what means can we ensure obtaining
possession of the forts with the minimum of loss to ourselves?"

"Yes," agreed Bascomb, "that is undoubtedly the point.  Now, gentles,
let us have your opinions.  Has any one of you a better plan to offer
than that of our junior lieutenant?"

At this moment a stateroom door opened and Stukely emerged from the
smaller room.  Approaching the table, he stood and looked smilingly down
upon the company assembled.

"Your pardon, fair sirs," he said, "for thrusting myself uninvited into
your counsels.  The surgeon is supposed to know but little of warfare
beyond the healing of such hurts as may be received therein, but I
happened to be lying awake in my cabin when this conference began, and I
could not avoid hearing all that has passed, and I am of opinion that I
can help you.  As my friend, Chichester, here has put it, the problem
which confronts you is that of securing possession of the forts without
suffering loss of men.  Now, the chief danger, to my mind, arises from
the difficulty of entering the forts without attracting the attention of
the sentinels, thus causing them to raise the alarm and bring the entire
garrison about our ears.  Is not that so?"

The party at the table signified that it was.

"Very good, then," resumed Stukely.  "Now we can go on.  Though you are
probably not aware of it, my chief delight is research, the
investigation of, among other things, the properties and action upon the
human system of the juices of herbs.  Now, while we were at Barbados I
spent much time in the collection of the leaves, roots, seeds, and
fruits of several plants; and since then I have been diligently
experimenting with them, with the result that I have evolved from one of
them a liquor, one inhalation of the odour of which will plunge a man
into a state of such complete insensibility that, as I believe, a limb
might be removed from him without his feeling it or being any the wiser.
My suggestion, therefore," continued Stukely, ignoring the expressions
of wonder evoked by his statement, "is that I be permitted to go in the
boat with Chichester, taking a vial of the liquor with me, and upon our
arrival ashore I will enter the forts with him, subject the sleeping
sentinels--I humbly trust that they may be sleeping--to the stupefying
influence of the decoction, whereby they may be bound and gagged without
difficulty or the raising of an alarm which would put their fellow
soldiers on the alert; and then between us the guns can be spiked at our
leisure.  The remaining details I leave to your riper judgment and
experience, gallant sirs."

"But, doctor," demanded Bascomb, "are you quite sure that this elixir or
essence of yours may be depended upon to produce the effect stated?"

"I am," answered Stukely, with a smile, "for I have already tested it
upon myself--no matter how--and the effect is everything that can
possibly be desired."

"Then--what say you, gentles--shall we allow the surgeon to go with Mr
Chichester and further test the efficacy of his decoction upon the
Spanish sentinels?" asked the master.

"'Twould be folly in us if we did not avail ourselves of the virtues of
Mr Stukely's most fortunate discovery," said Winter; "and I for one am
in favour of acceding to his proposal."

"And I, also," agreed Dick, in response to a glance from Bascomb.

The two gentlemen adventurers, when appealed to for their opinion, at
once agreed that the experiment was quite worth trying; and Bascomb's
proposal was accordingly agreed to _nem. con_.

"That matter, then, is disposed of," remarked Bascomb.  "Now, the next
thing which we have to decide is this--assuming that Mr Chichester
succeeds in spiking the guns of the forts--what is to be our next step?
Are we to take the ship boldly into the harbour and proceed with our
business of capturing the galleon and the town, trusting that Dame
Fortune will so far favour us as to permit of our getting out again
before the soldiers can unspike their guns; or should we anchor, as soon
as inside, land a strong party, and capture and destroy the forts before
attempting anything else?  It is the guns, and they only, not the forts,
which we have to fear; and if we could but permanently disable those
guns, the forts and their garrisons might go hang, so far as we are
concerned."

"Certainly, sir," cut in Dick, before anyone else could speak.  "You
have hit the nail on the head.  We need trouble about naught except the
ordnance, and them we must destroy.  And I know how to do it, too.  We
will take with us enough powder to double charge each gun; having done
which we will seal their muzzles with clay.  I know where to find as
much clay as we shall need; and then we will prime each piece, lay a
quick match from priming to priming, light the match, and run for our
lives.  The guns will burst, and we can then do what we please with the
galleon and the town.  But in order to ensure complete success, the
ordnance in both batteries must be fired as nearly as possible at the
same moment; therefore a resolute man must be left in the lower battery
to fire the match upon the instant that he hears the explosion of the
guns in the upper battery, after which he must run for his life.  I can
see exactly how the thing is to be done, sirs; and if you approve of my
plan we will be starting at once, with your good leave; for it is
already late, and we shall have none too much time for the work which is
to be done."

"You are right, young sir," agreed Bascomb; "time is so valuable now
that we dare waste no more in further discussion; therefore your plan,
which is an excellent one, must serve.  I would that I could go in your
stead, for you appear to be already worn-out with fatigue and lack of
sleep; but you have been over the ground already, and know it, therefore
weary though you may be I fear that you must needs go.  So pick your
men, sir, as many as you need, remembering that your party must be
strong enough to carry the powder up to the forts; procure from the
gunner all that you require; and get you gone.  And may God go with you!
Amen."

Half an hour later the longboat, under Dick's command, and with Stukely
sitting in the stern-sheets beside him, was once more under way and
beating in toward the land under a press of sail, while the _Adventure_,
with all lights out, lay to in the offing, awaiting the signal of the
explosion of the ordnance in the forts to fill away and stand boldly in
toward the harbour.  So sorely were they pressed for time that Dick
dared not waste any in the attempt to elude observation by creeping in,
as on the first occasion, behind the island of Baru; he headed as
straight as the wind would allow for the Boca Chica, trusting that he
might be fortunate enough to slip through unobserved in the darkness,
especially as it was now past three o'clock in the morning--and if the
sentinels slept at all at their posts, after the warning to hold
themselves on the alert which they might be supposed to have received
from the authorities, they might be expected to be asleep now.  His hope
appeared to be justified; for the longboat slid past the smaller battery
down on the beach, unchallenged, and some five minutes later, grounded
on the sand about a quarter of a mile farther in.  Then, silently as
ghosts, the men lowered the sails, leaving the masts standing, and
stepped out on the sand, each bearing his appointed load of powder upon
his shoulder, while Dick and Stukely, with swords drawn, and the former
carrying a coil of quick match wound round his waist, led the way.

They directed their steps southward toward the battery which they had
sailed past a few minutes earlier, and which could just be distinguished
as a darker blur against the blackness of the night.  Not a light of any
description showed about the building, nor was there a sound to be heard
save the soft lap and splash of the water on the margin of the beach to
the left of them, and the sough of the land breeze among the trees and
bushes on their right.  Noiseless as drifting shadows, the party sped
forward, and within some five minutes of their landing arrived beneath
the walls of the fort.  Here Dick, Stukely, and a man named Barker
removed their shoes and, walking to the northward angle of the fort,
examined it to ascertain what means of ascent it afforded.  They found,
as Marshall had said, that although the walls were so smooth as to be
quite unclimbable, the angles of the building were set with quoin stones
of so rough a surface that an ascent by means of them might be made
easily; accordingly Stukely, who by virtue of his discovery of the
anaesthetic now claimed to take the lead, at once began to climb the
angle, closely followed by Dick and Barker.  In less than two minutes
the trio had accomplished the ascent and found themselves standing on
the platform which constituted the flat roof of the battery.  The eight
pieces of heavy ordnance, their muzzles projecting far over the low
parapet, were easily distinguishable, as were also the great piles of
shot, notwithstanding the darkness of the night; but for the moment no
sentinels were visible.  Whispering his companions to remain where they
were, Stukely moved away with noiseless tread, swiftly making the
circuit of the gun platform; and presently he rejoined the other two.

"It is all right," he whispered.  "I found the rascals sound asleep,
even as the Captain did, and, withdrawing the stopper from my vial,
allowed them to inhale the vapour for a moment.  They are now
insensible, and will remain so for at least half an hour, therefore you
may now do your share of the work, Barker.  Come with me, and I will
show you where they lie."

The two moved away together, Barker uncoiling a long length of fine line
from his waist as he did so; while Dick, leaning over the parapet,
dropped a small pebble down among the group below, as a signal that all
was well and they might now safely make the ascent without fear of
detection.  All arrangements having been previously made, every man of
the party knew exactly what he had to do; and within five minutes the
platform was alive with English seamen, some of whom were engaged in
hauling up powder and clay from below, while others were employed in
silently loading the guns with heavy charges of powder, upon the top of
which they tightly rammed down stiff clay, with which they filled each
gun to its very muzzle.  Then, when each piece had been similarly
treated, the whole were very carefully primed, after which a length of
quick match, long enough to allow of the safe retreat of the man who
should ignite it, was securely inserted among the priming; the two
insensible sentinels, bound hand and foot, and effectually gagged, were
lowered to the ground, and the entire party retreated as they had come,
with the exception of one man who volunteered to remain and ignite the
length of match immediately that he saw a portfire burned from the wall
of the castle which stood on the top of the adjacent hill.  The whole
business had occupied scarcely twenty minutes, and when it was finished
there was nothing to show that the garrison had become aware of what was
happening above their heads.

Once more assembled on the ground beneath the walls of the battery, the
party was rapidly counted by Dick, to ascertain that all were present,
save the man left above on the gun platform; and this formality having
been quickly gone through, the unconscious sentinels were picked up and
carried away to a distance of about a hundred yards from the battery,
where they were effectually concealed in a thick clump of bushes, after
which the Englishmen rapidly pushed forward up the hill.  Arrived near
the top, Dick halted them for a moment near a clump of bamboo, two long
stout stalks of which were quickly cut down, and, without waiting to
strip them of their leaves, converted into a light ladder by lashing
cross-pieces of bamboo to them.  Then, with this improvised ladder
carried by two men, the party resumed its way, arriving about a quarter
of an hour later beneath the frowning walls of the castle, which, like
the battery below, was found to be in total darkness, at least so far as
the face fronting them was concerned.  They crossed the dry ditch
without difficulty, and once on the other side, reared their ladder
against the wall, finding it amply long enough for their purpose.

Here again Stukely took the lead, being the first to ascend the ladder.
But as he reached the top and peered cautiously over the parapet he was
disconcerted at the discovery that here at least the sentinels did not
sleep; for the first object that met his gaze was a man standing at the
extreme end of the parapet, apparently gazing steadfastly out to sea,
while his crossed hands rested upon the muzzle of his grounded
matchlock.  Luckily for the English, the man's back was turned toward
the spot where Stukely stood staring at him.  In an instant the latter
had made up his mind what to do, and, cautiously climbing in through the
embrasure before him, stole noiselessly toward the unconscious man.  A
few breathless seconds and Stukely had crept close up behind his
intended victim; and the next instant, as he knocked the man's hat off
with one hand, he dealt him with the other a blow on the head with the
heavy butt of his pistol, which felled the unfortunate fellow as a
butcher fells an ox.  Quickly bending over the prostrate body, he now
held his unstoppered vial to the man's nostrils for three or four
seconds, then rose cautiously to his feet.  He could see no other
sentinels posted anywhere on the parapet, but passed quickly round it in
order to make quite sure.  Then, finding that only the one sentinel had
been posted here, he gave the signal for the rest of the party to
ascend; and a few minutes later the scene of a short while before was
being re-enacted on the parapet of this much more important structure.
They worked silently but with strenuous haste, for although the heavens
as yet gave no sign of the approaching dawn, the sudden comparative
coolness of the atmosphere and the twitterings of a few early morning
birds told them that it could not now be very far off; indeed they had
scarcely finished their preparations when a faint brightening of the
eastern horizon told them that a new day was at hand.

"Now, are we all ready?" asked Dick, as he personally put the last
finishing touches to the preparations.  "Then down you all go except the
five men who are to help me with the firing of the quick matches.  You
go last, Phil, and when you are down ignite the portfire which is to be
the signal to that man in the battery yonder; I and the five who are
remaining with me will see to the rest of the business up here.  Now,
off you go quickly, for the daylight will be upon us in five minutes."

Dick watched his friend as the latter slid out through the embrasure and
descended the ladder; and when at length Stukely reached the ground and
was preparing to ignite the portfire, Chichester sprang back among the
five men who were awaiting his word, and whispered "Now!"  Instantly the
six darted to their respective stations, and each man at once proceeded
rapidly, yet with the nicest care, to ignite the five ends of quick
match which were his especial care.  It was swiftly done, the lighting
of the whole occupying less than half a minute; yet before the last five
were ignited the still air was heavily charged with the fumes of
gunpowder and there was a sound of hissing and sizzling suggestive of a
whole army of angry snakes.

"Smartly, men; smartly!" urged Dick; "the matches are burning much more
rapidly than I anticipated; and if we are not pretty lively we shall be
caught by the first explosions.  That's your sort; that will do,
Parsons, don't stand there fiddling with that match, it is burning all
right.  Now, lads, away you go; over with you; I go last."

Thus exhorted they stood not upon the order of their going, but went,
Chichester bringing up the rear; and the latter was still in the very
act of descending the ladder when six crashing explosions, occurring
almost simultaneously on the parapet above, shattered the early morning
stillness, the sounds being instantly followed by a great rush of wings
and an outburst of startled screams that issued from the throats of the
affrighted birds in the immediate neighbourhood of the castle, who, thus
rudely awakened, dashed away in every direction, loudly proclaiming
their terror.  An answering explosion almost instantly roared out from
the battery on the beach; then when half a dozen further explosions on
the parapet pealed out, the little party of precipitately retreating
Englishmen heard heavy thuds all round them as fragments of the burst
ordnance came showering to the ground.  And in between the shattering
reports of bursting cannon which were now almost continuous they faintly
caught the sounds of human outcry as the astounded garrison, awakened by
the reports, sprang from their beds and rushed hither and thither in
blind panic, each man demanding of every other an explanation of the
extraordinary happenings that were taking place overhead.  But long
before the bravest of the Spaniards had summoned up courage enough to
ascend to the parapet, and ascertain for himself the source of those
terrific reports and crashing blows which were causing the castle to
tremble to its very foundations, the last of the Englishmen--who
happened to be Dick--had vanished over the brow of the hill and was
racing down the steep slope toward the spot where the longboat had been
left in hiding, urging those ahead of him to redoubled efforts, lest the
Spaniards, rallying from their first surprise and panic, should sally
forth and attempt to cut off the fugitives.

The disturbance was all over in less than a minute; the echo of the last
explosion died away along the mangrove-bordered shore; the thud of the
last falling piece of fractured ordnance, as it crashed through the
boughs of the trees, had faintly reached the ears of the flying
Englishmen; and the birds were rapidly beginning to persuade themselves
that the whole thing had been no more than a peculiarly weird and
startling dream, when the whole party--which had been joined on the way
by the man from the lower battery--reached the boat and pulled up for a
moment to listen and recover their breath.  But there was neither sight
nor sound of pursuit; and presently, after Dick had counted his party
and found that all were present and perfectly sound, the order was given
to get the boat afloat and shove off.  This was done in a perfectly
quiet and orderly manner; and five minutes later, with the beams of the
rising sun brilliantly gilding her sails, the little craft slid down the
harbour entrance on her way to seaward, passing close under the walls of
the beach battery, the bewildered garrison of which had by this time
summoned up the courage necessary to enable them to go up on the gun
platform, to ascertain precisely what had happened.  Most of them were
gazing earnestly out to seaward as the longboat slid past, consequently
they did not see her until it was too late, when, with loud outcries,
they seized their calivers and poured a hot but absolutely ineffective
fire after the bold adventurers.  Two minutes later the boat swept round
the low point which forms the southern extremity of Tierra Bomba Island;
and then her occupants saw what it was that had so strongly attracted
the attention of the Spaniards; for, scarcely three miles away, they
beheld the _Adventure_ beating up toward the Boca Chica under a heavy
press of canvas.  Bascomb had seen and interpreted aright the explosions
in the two batteries on Tierra Bomba, and was now fearlessly working the
ship in toward the land, knowing that, the guns in those two batteries
having been destroyed, there was now nothing to restrain him from
sailing right into Cartagena harbour itself and demanding the
restoration of their Captain, safe and sound.  And he meant to do it,
too!



CHAPTER SIX.

HOW THEY TOOK THE GREAT GALLEON AND A VAST TREASURE.

There was no enthusiasm, no cheering, nothing in the nature of
hysterical exultation displayed by the crew of the _Adventure_, when the
longboat ran alongside and those who had performed the audacious feat of
rendering two powerful batteries innocuous rejoined their shipmates;
everything was accepted as a matter of course.  It was fully realised by
all hands that the deed was one, the successful accomplishment of which
required the display of nerve and courage of superlative character, but
it was understood that the entire expedition, from start to finish, from
its departure from Topsham to its return thither, demanded the constant
exhibition of these same qualities--and would receive it.  Therefore a
murmur or two of approval and satisfaction from Bascomb, when Dick made
his report, was all that was said in the way of commendation.

"And now, sirs," said the master, dismissing the topic of the
disarmament of the batteries, "Cartagena and the galleon are at our
mercy; and the sooner that the Spaniard can be brought to understand
this, the better is it like to be for our general.  Therefore we will
enter the harbour forthwith, lay the galleon aboard and take her, and
then open negotiations with the authorities for the ransom of the town
and the deliverance of Captain Marshall.  Mr Chichester, you know more
about the harbour than any of the rest of us.  It must be your duty,
therefore, to pilot the ship alongside the galleon; the others I will
ask to go straight to their fighting stations and prepare the ship for
battle, after which, if there be time, we will take breakfast.  If not--
well, we must e'en fight fasting, and eat after the galleon is taken."

So Dick went up on the poop and, stationing himself to windward, conned
the ship as she beat in toward the Boca Chica against the fast-failing
land breeze.  But, good ship as the _Adventure_ was, her progress was
exasperatingly slow, as was that of all ships of that date when they
attempted to beat up against a foul wind; for neither the form of the
hull nor the cut of the sails was at that day favourable to such a
manoeuvre, and the ship was still a good mile from the harbour's mouth
when the land breeze suddenly failed, and she was left helplessly
wallowing upon the oily swell outside.

This, of course, was exasperating enough; for when deeds of desperate
emprise are toward it is well to carry them through before the
enthusiasm has time to cool.  But it could not be helped, the wind was
dead, and the ship could not be handled now until the sea breeze sprang
up; and, after all, the delay was not an unmitigated misfortune, for it
ensured to the crew time enough to complete their preparations for the
coming fight and take breakfast afterward; and even at that day it was
fully recognised that an Englishman fights best when his hunger has been
satisfied.  So they finished the work upon which they were engaged, and
then went quietly to breakfast, which meal they were able to dispose of
comfortably before a cry from the deck apprised them of the arrival of
the sea breeze.

Yes; there it came, far away in the offing, ruling the horizon as a band
of dark blue that grew lighter and lighter still along its landward
edge, until it stopped short at a distance of about two miles from the
shore, blowing fresh right up to a certain well-defined point, between
which and the land all was gleaming, glassy swell, unruffled by even so
much as a cat's-paw.  But the boundary line which divided breeze from
calm was not stationary by any means, on the contrary, it was creeping
nearer rapidly.  When Bascomb came up on the poop he merely glanced at
it for a moment and then called to the seamen to trim the yards in
readiness to meet it.  By the time that this had been done the line of
demarcation was so near that the musical tinkling of the advancing
ripples could be distinctly heard, although the sails still hung limp,
idly flapping to the roll of the ship.  Another minute, however,
sufficed, then with a gentle preliminary rustling the canvas filled, the
blue ripples reached the ship, passed inshore of her, and she began to
draw slowly through the water and her helm was put up to keep her away
for the narrow harbour entrance.

"Starboard you may," said Dick to the helmsman, when the ship had
presently fallen square off before the fast-freshening breeze; "we must
shave that low point on the left quite closely, for that is where the
channel runs, and there is a small shoal right in the mouth of the
fairway which we must avoid.  So! that will do; now, steady as you go.
Mr Bascomb, you see that dark object just opening out over the
southernmost end of Tierra Bomba?  Well, that is the shore battery, and
as it possesses certain small ordnance, such as falconets and swivels,
which we could not spare the time to destroy, I would recommend that, as
we must pass it close, the men be instructed to lie down behind the
bulwarks as we sail by, lest haply any of them be hit; for I make no
doubt that they will discharge at us every piece they have as we pass."

"Say you so?" returned Bascomb.  "Then, by the Lord Harry, we will be
beforehand with them.  Ho, there!  Load the larboard broadside of
ordnance, great and small, and train your pieces to sweep the top of
yonder battery as we pass.  We cannot afford to risk the loss of any of
our number through a mistaken sense of magnanimity."

With swelling sails distended by the ever-freshening sea breeze, the
_Adventure_ now swept boldly in for the mouth of the Boca Chica, and
presently a curl of white water revealed the presence of the shoal of
which Dick Chichester had spoken, right in the middle of the fairway.
Dick directed the helmsman to steer to the north of this, between it and
the island of Tierra Bomba, with its swelling wood-crowned heights.
Dick glanced aloft at the castle which crowned the summit of the
southernmost hill, but although the golden flag of Spain flaunted itself
insolently in the breeze from the flagstaff on its northern turret, not
a man was to be seen upon the parapet.  Many of the embrasures, one-half
of which they could now see, had been destroyed by the bursting of the
ordnance, and it soon became clear that none of its garrison intended to
make any effort to dispute the passage of the English ship.  Whether the
garrison of the battery down on the beach would be less prudent still
remained to be seen, but one thing was perfectly clear, and that was
that the Spanish soldiery were very busy upon the gun platform, their
movements being directed by a tall man in a full suit of black armour,
the helmet of which was surmounted by a splendid plume of long crimson
feathers.  The English, however, were not left long in doubt as to the
intentions of this individual, who was, doubtless, the commander of the
garrison; for as the ship swept along the narrow channel, hugging the
northern shore closely, and every moment shortening the distance between
the battery and herself, he was seen to draw his sword, which flashed
like a white flame in the brilliant sunshine as he waved it above his
head, and the next moment a perfect storm of bullets from falcon and
falconet, patarero, saker, and swivel, came hurtling from the battery
across the narrow water toward the ship.  But the gallant cavalier had
been just a trifle too eager to display his valour, for most of the
missiles fell short, having been fired at rather too long a range, while
those which hit were so nearly spent that only a few of them lodged in
the solid woodwork of the ship's bulwarks, and not a man on board was
hit.

"Now, men," roared Bascomb, "give yonder presumptuous fool a lesson;
fire as your guns come to bear, and not before.  I want that parapet
swept clean!"

And swept clean it was, the English holding their fire and the ship
sweeping on in grim, inexorable silence until she was within some two
hundred feet of the structure, when all her larboard ordnance, great and
small, bellowed and barked back its answer.  As the smoke drove away
ahead before the wind the wall was seen to crumble into dust under the
impact of the heavy iron shot, while the lighter missiles mowed down the
soldiers like corn beneath the sickle, until not a man was left standing
upon his feet, even the magnifico in armour going down before the hail
of iron and lead, to say nothing of the Spanish standard, the staff of
which was cut clean in two, so that it toppled over and fell, carrying
the flag with it, to the ground at the base of the wall.

"So much for thicky!" exclaimed Bascomb, relapsing into broad Devon for
a moment, under the influence of excitement.  "If it weren't that we
have a long and hot morning's work before us I would anchor the ship,
land a party, and blow their footy batteries into the air.  But perhaps
we may have time to do that when we come back this way.  Now, my
masters, load again, this time with double charges, consisting of a
half-keg of bullets to each culverin, with a chain shot on top, and the
smaller ordnance in proportion.  We will not fire again, if we can help
it, until we run alongside the galleon, and not then until we rub sides
with her."

The ship had by this time traversed so much of the Boca that it became
necessary for her to shift her helm in order to avoid grounding upon a
sandspit that stretched athwart her course, and here the advantage and
value of Dick Chichester's previous observations became apparent; for so
sharp was the bend, and so little was there to indicate the existence of
the shoal, that if Dick had not previously had the opportunity to note
its position, the ship would undoubtedly have driven right upon it,
under full sail, when she would certainly have been in an exceedingly
awkward predicament, and might even have been lost, presuming the
Spaniards to have been courageous enough to attack her while placed at
so serious a disadvantage.  But she was not allowed to get into any such
awkward situation; for Dick had noticed everything connected with the
dangers of the harbour, while looking out and watching from the summit
of the hill on Tierra Bomba, and he carried a complete and perfectly
accurate chart of the harbour in his head, in addition to the one which
he and Marshall had made together.  The helm was, therefore, shifted at
the proper moment, and the ship swerved away in a south-easterly
direction, making as though for the middle of the lower bay.

The danger did not reveal itself until the ship was actually slipping
past it, and in less than five minutes she was clear and the course was
again altered, this time to the north-eastward, where the island of
Tierra Bomba, thrusting its north-easterly angle inward, divided the
upper from the lower bay, narrowing the passage between to a width of
less than a mile.  Now the ship was fairly inside, and heading for a
part of the harbour where Dick remembered to have observed certain other
dangers in the shape of rocks and shoals, no sign of which could he
perceive from the deck; he therefore mentioned the matter to Bascomb,
and obtained that officer's permission to go aloft to the fore
topsail-yard and con the ship from there.

In this fashion, then, the _Adventure_, with the red cross of Saint
George flying defiantly from her main truck, swept up Cartagena harbour
and, rounding the eastern extremity of Tierra Bomba, headed straight for
the inner roadstead, where could now be seen, among a small forest of
more insignificant masts, the towering spars of the great galleon, with
a vast crimson flag bearing a coat of arms floating at her main, and the
Spanish flag drooping from the ensign staff reared at her stern.  The
town being built on low land, the lofty masts of the galleon were at
once seen, upon the English ship rounding the point and opening up the
city, and a great cry of "There she is!" instantly leapt from every
English throat.

"Ay; there she is, men," returned Bascomb.  "We can't make any mistake
about her, I think; and in halt an hour you shall be alongside her.  The
rest of the work will be for you to do.  I'll tell you my plan, men.  We
will range up alongside her and lay her aboard, and just before our
sides touch we will pour our broadside into her, throw the grapnels and
hook on, and then dash aboard in the midst of the smoke and drive her
crew below.  The secret is to strike hard and often, and keep them on
the run.  If any man attempts to stand, though only for a moment, run
him through at once with a pike.  That is all that I have to say, men;
you know how to do the trick as well as I."

With Cartagena city and the galleon in plain view, Dick Chichester's
work aloft was done, and he, therefore, returned to the deck and the
spot upon it from which he had previously been conning the ship, where
he resumed his duty as pilot.

As the _Adventure_ slid smoothly and rapidly up the harbour, heading
straight for the galleon, it was seen that nearly twenty large boats,
full of armed men, were pulling off to her from the shore.  It was
clear, therefore, that the authorities had received notice of the
approach of the English, possibly from one or another of the officers in
charge of the defences on Tierra Bomba, and, shrewdly guessing that one
object, at least, of the unwelcome visit was the galleon, were
determined to defend her to the last.  But this discovery in nowise
disconcerted the sturdy lads of Devon, who had long ago learned to
regard themselves as invincible, so far as the Spaniards were concerned;
so they continued with the utmost calmness to add here and there some
refinement of finish to the preparations which had been completed an
hour or more ago.  Even the ship's cook, whom nobody regarded as a
fighting man, must needs add his little quota to the general
preparations, the same taking the form of several gallons of greasy
boiling water with which he had filled his coppers, the which he
proposed to employ at such time as might seem to him most suitable.  As
for Dick, he decided that the handspike which he had used in the fight
off Barbados had proved so effective that, regarded as a weapon, it
could scarcely be improved upon, and he was on the point of providing
himself with another when his eye chanced to fall upon a heavy iron bar
which had been brought on deck for some purpose, so, having tested its
weight, he at once decided that it was the very thing he needed, and
appropriated it accordingly.

The _Adventure_ had arrived within about half a mile of the galleon when
the latter opened fire with her heavy ordnance, of which she carried two
tiers.  But whether it was that the Spaniards designed to shoot away the
English ship's masts, and so leave her helpless and unmanageable, or
whether it was that the pieces were badly aimed, every one of the shot
went humming high overhead, leaving the intruder to pass on unscathed
and in grim silence; for not one of her guns replied.  But Bascomb
stepped forward to the front of the poop and issued an order.

"Let every man of you," he said, "take bow or musket, and prepare to
discharge a volley upon the deck of yonder galleon when I give the word.
Then, that done, return to your ordnance and prepare to fire, for the
time will be at hand.  Sail trimmers, stand by to let fly all sheets and
halliards at the word of command; then be ready to heave the grapnels as
we range up alongside."

The English ship, still conned by Dick Chichester, was now steering a
course which if persevered in would carry her across the stern of the
galleon, at a distance of about twice her own length from that vessel;
and it seemed evident, from the uncertain movements of those on board
the Spaniard, that they were considerably puzzled as to the intentions
of the English.  For, having discharged the whole of her starboard
broadside at the approaching _Adventure_, the crew of the galleon first
began with feverish haste to reload all the guns on that side of their
ship; then, seeming suddenly to suspect that their antagonist intended
to lay them aboard on their inshore side, they left their starboard
broadside only half-loaded and precipitately dashed across the deck to
their larboard broadside of ordnance, which they began to clear away
hurriedly with the intention of loading.  The _Adventure_ was at this
moment less than twice her own length from the galleon, and Bascomb,
standing on the poop, was able to look down from there into the crowded
waist of the other ship and clearly see the Spaniards crowding together
about the larboard ordnance.  The opportunity seemed much too good to be
let slip, so calling his bowmen and musketeers up on to the poop, he
directed them to discharge a volley into the surging mass of men, which
they did instantly, with terribly destructive effect.

"Good!" he exclaimed, as he saw some twenty or thirty Spaniards fall
writhing to the deck; "now back to your ordnance, men, and be ready to
fire when I give the word.  Sail trimmers, let fly all sheets and
halliards, and stand by with your grapnels!"

As the sailing master issued these orders Dick signed to the helmsman,
who thereupon thrust the ponderous tiller hard down, and the
_Adventure_, answering her helm perfectly, swept round in a short curve
and went gliding up on the starboard side of the galleon.

"Now, gunners all, let fly your ordnance!" roared Bascomb, drawing his
sword.  And as the bright blade flashed in the air the English
artillery, loaded with round, bar, and chain shot, musket balls, spike
nails, and every kind of missile that the men had been able to lay hands
upon, were discharged when the two vessels were scarcely a fathom apart,
and the Spanish ship's upper deck instantly became a shambles, scarcely
a man remaining uninjured upon it.

"Throw your grapnels," shouted Bascomb, "and then let every man follow
me aboard the Spaniard."  As he spoke the _Adventure_ crashed alongside
the galleon, there was a sound of ripping and rending timber, and a
heavy rebound; and then, as the two ships rolled toward each other after
the rebound the English crew went swarming over their own bulwarks and
down upon the Spanish deck, where they found scarcely half a dozen men
to oppose them.  But at the head of them stood a very magnificent
looking personage in full armour, whom Bascomb took to be the captain of
the ship.

"Do you surrender, senor?" demanded Bascomb, speaking in English for the
very good reason that he "had" no Spanish.

It is probable that the Spaniard was as destitute of English as Master
William Bascomb was of Spanish; but there is a language of intonation
and gesture as well as of words, and doubtless that of the Englishman
was intelligible enough, for the Spaniard, by way of reply, grasped his
sword by the point and offered it to the sturdy Devonshire seaman who
confronted him, and who accepted it with a very fair imitation of the
bow with which the Spaniard had tendered it.

"That's well, so far," commented Bascomb.  "Now"--looking about him and
noticing Dick standing near, grasping his iron bar--"that ends the
trouble up here.  But what about down below, Mr Chichester?  You had
better take a dozen men and this gentleman down with you; and perhaps he
will explain to those of his people who are on the main deck that he has
surrendered.  If they will lay down their arms, well and good; if they
won't--well, you will just have to make 'em, that's all.  Now go; and
report to me here when you've gained complete possession of the ship."

Dick took his dozen men and, insinuating his hand in the crook of the
Spanish captain's arm, led that individual below to the main deck, where
they found a few Spanish seamen still hanging about between the great
culverins, apparently quite uncertain what to do, or whether they ought
to do anything.  The Spanish captain spoke sharply to them; apparently
he was very much surprised and disappointed to find so few men there,
and seemed to be asking them where the rest were, for by way of reply
the seamen said something and pointed to the hatchways.  The Spanish
captain relieved his feelings by stamping on the deck, grinding his
teeth, and indulging in a good deal of Castilian profanity; after which
he seemed to give certain instructions, the result of which was that the
men laid down their arms and went up on deck, one of their number having
previously gone to the main hatchway and shouted something down it which
caused the remainder of the crew to come up from below and surrender
their weapons.

It took Dick and his party about half an hour to explore thoroughly the
interior of the galleon--which they discovered was named the _Santa
Margaretta_--and satisfy themselves that none of the Spanish crew were
lurking below in hiding; and when at length they returned to the upper
deck to report, they found that Bascomb and Winter had mustered the
surviving Spaniards forward on the fore deck, under a strong guard,
while the English had lowered one of the galleon's boats and in her had
boarded and captured a small coasting felucca, which they were at that
moment towing alongside their bigger prize.  This, Bascomb explained, he
had done with the object of getting rid of his Spanish prisoners, whom
he proposed to send ashore in the felucca, having no fancy for keeping
them aboard the prize, where they would need a strong body of the
English to maintain an efficient guard over them.  And, with the
released prisoners, he proposed to send ashore a letter to the Governor
of the city, demanding the immediate surrender of Captain Marshall, safe
and sound, together with payment of the sum of five hundred thousand
ducats ransom for the city, failure of either condition to be followed
by the sack and destruction of the place.

"But," objected Dick, "you can neither speak nor write Spanish; and it
may very well be that there will be nobody in Cartagena who understands
English; in that case we shall be at a deadlock, and how will you manage
then?"

"That," replied Bascomb, sententiously, "will be their lookout.  If they
cannot find anyone to translate my letter, so much the worse for them.
But there should be no trouble about that; for if they can find nobody
else the captain will make my meaning clear to them."

It was considerably past midday when at length the whole of the
Spaniards, together with their dead and wounded, were transferred to the
felucca and dispatched to the shore, the Spanish captain being entrusted
with the letter to the governor or commandant of the town; and then the
English found time to look into their own affairs and take a meal.  It
was found that by a marvellous stroke of good fortune the galleon had
been captured without the loss of a man, or even so much as a single
casualty on the English side; and, this being the case, the question
arose whether or not they should retain possession of the vessel,
dividing the _Adventure's_ crew equally between her and the prize.
There arose quite a sharp difference of opinion on this point, Bascomb
and the two gentlemen adventurers maintaining that the prize was far too
valuable to be parted with or destroyed, now that they had her; while
Winter and Dick contended that they were far too few in number to
justify the proposed division, the effect of which would be to put them
in possession of two perilously short-handed ships, instead of one fully
manned.  Moreover, the _Santa Margaretta_ was nearly twice the size of
the _Adventure_, the proposal therefore to divide the crew of the latter
into two equal parts would hardly meet the case, since a crew of forty
men could handle the galleon only in fine weather, while as to fighting
her effectually in the event of their falling in with an enemy, it
simply could not be done.  Winter's proposal, in which Dick backed him
up, was that everything of value--or at least as much of it as they
could find room for--should be transferred to the _Adventure_, after
which a ransom of, say, twenty thousand ducats could be demanded for the
ship and what remained of her cargo, failing the payment of which she
might be burnt at her anchors as a wholesome example!  The dispute at
length grew so warm that Stukely, who was present but took no part in
it, suggested that the matter should be left for Captain Marshall to
decide, upon his return.

The afternoon of that day was busily spent by the English, one party of
whom, under the joint leadership of the carpenter and boatswain, devoted
themselves to the task of repairing the slight damage sustained by the
_Adventure_ in running aboard the galleon, while the remainder engaged
in the work of thoroughly rummaging the prize and transferring from her
to the _Adventure_ all the valuables they could find.  At first some
fear was entertained that the treasure which it was intended the ship
should take home had not yet been put on board, for it could be found
nowhere; but at length a sort of strong room was discovered, cunningly
built in the run of the ship, its entrance hidden by a big pile of
sails; and when this was entered, there, sure enough, lay the treasure,
consisting of no less than five hundred gold bricks, each weighing some
forty pounds; two thousand bars of silver averaging about fifty pounds
each, a chest of pearls the value of which was so great that they made
no attempt even to estimate it approximately; and a small chest of uncut
precious stones, chiefly emeralds and rubies, which of itself would have
sufficed to make every man of them rich for life.  The whole of this
stupendous treasure they at once proceeded to transfer to the
_Adventure_; and so much of it was there that, working watch and watch,
one watch mounting guard to render impossible anything in the nature of
a surprise attack from the shore, while the other watch carried the
treasure from the one ship to the other, it was long past midnight when
at length the work was done and the weary men were permitted to snatch a
little rest.

The authorities ashore had been given until sunrise of the following
morning in which to find someone capable of interpreting Bascomb's
letter, and to come to a decision as to whether or not they would accede
to the terms of the said letter; and the first light of dawn revealed a
large boat putting off from the shore, pulled by twelve oarsmen, and
flying a white flag at the stern.  This was the first boat that had
attempted to approach either of the ships since the appearance of the
_Adventure_ upon the scene, and her approach was watched with the utmost
interest and curiosity.  She carried three officials in brilliant
uniforms and four other individuals in her stern-sheets, but it was
Stukely's keen eyes which were the first to detect the fact that Captain
Marshall was not in her; and his announcement of this fact at once
raised a storm of indignation among those who had hastily turned out and
gone on deck when the approach of the boat had been reported.

"Not in her?" incredulously repeated Bascomb--"Not in her?  Then what a
plague do the Dons mean by coming off to us at all?  Surely I made it
plain enough to them all that the surrender of our Captain was the very
first article of our demand?  Then what--?"

"Nay, nay; let be," interposed Winter, speaking quite calmly, but his
lips white, and his eyes glowing sombrely like smouldering fires.  "No
need to work thyself into a passion, Will Bascomb, until thou hast heard
what their lordships have to say.  Maybe they have not seen the Captain
and know naught of him."

"Not seen him?  Know naught of him?  Why--why--!" spluttered Bascomb.
Then he suddenly calmed down.  This was no time for disputatiousness or
the display of warm feeling between himself and the man who, if haply
anything had gone wrong with the Captain, might become the head of them
all.  Besides, there was wisdom in that suggestion to wait and hear what
the Dons had to say before jumping to a conclusion.  Thus the little
group of Englishmen on the high poop of the _Adventure_ lapsed into
sudden silence as the boat drew near; but it was a silence that was
ominous, menacing, a silence of set lips and burning eyes, pregnant with
dire possibilities for the city and all within it if aught of evil had
befallen their Captain therein.  For not only was Marshall, rough almost
to uncouthness of manner though he was at times, beloved by all there,
but also there was the feeling stirring in every breast that it was
vitally important to each one of them that the Spaniard must be taught,
once and for all, to regard an Englishman's life as sacred, no matter
what the circumstances might be under which he might fall into their
hands, or however helpless and friendless he might at the moment seem.
So it was a very grim-visaged, uncompromising-looking group of
Englishmen at whom the newcomers stared upward when the boat arrived
within easy hailing-distance and lay upon her oars.

An elderly man, attired in the usual mariner's costume of the period,
rose in the stern-sheets of the boat and, doffing his cap, opened the
conversation by remarking in English:

"Good morning, gentlemen!  I am Gaspar Pacheco, lately a master of
mariners, but now retired from the sea; and I am here to-day to act the
part of interpreter between yourselves and the illustrious Senors Don
Luis Maria Alfonso Calderon, Governor of the city of Cartagena; Don
Ricardo Picador Garcia, Alcalde of Cartagena; Don Hermoso Morillo, our
Intendant; Don Sebastian Campana; Don Ferdinand Miguel Pavia; and Don
Ramon Sylva, merchants of Cartagena."  And as each individual was named
he rose in the stern-sheets of the boat, bowed deeply, and seated
himself again.

"I am instructed by my illustrious fellow townsmen to inform you,
senors, that although your cartel was handed to the Governor immediately
upon the arrival of your messenger in the town, yesterday, it was not
until very late in the day that anyone could be found possessed of a
sufficient knowledge of your language to interpret it, the only person
possessed of such knowledge being myself, who live not in Cartagena
itself but in a small hacienda a few miles north of the city.  Then,
senors, when I had been found and conveyed to Cartagena, and had
translated your letter to the authorities, a difficulty at once arose;
for mention is therein made of one Capitan Marshall, who is said to have
entered the city five days ago, and whose safe return you demand.  Now,
neither his Excellency the Governor nor Don Ricardo Garcia, our Alcalde,
had ever before heard of such a person as el Capitan Marshall, or indeed
of any other stranger, being in the city; and it at once became
necessary, before anything else could be done, that enquiries should be
set on foot to ascertain whether any such person had been seen, so that
his whereabouts might be traced.  Those enquiries, senors, were at once
instituted, and are still being actively pursued; but we are regretfully
obliged to confess that thus far they have been entirely without result.
Meanwhile--"

"Stop!" interrupted Bascomb, throwing up his hand with an imperative
gesture.  "Do you mean to tell me that it is possible for a stranger--
and that stranger an Englishman--to be four days and five nights in your
city without anyone being the wiser?"

The interpreter shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands abroad
deprecatingly.

"It would greatly depend upon the skill, courage, and resourcefulness of
the stranger, senor," he answered.  "If your Capitan Marshall speaks
Spanish fluently, and possesses the knowledge of how to look and act
like a Spaniard, it is quite possible that he might do so."

"But," objected Bascomb, "he could not well have been in your city
yesterday and have remained in ignorance of what was happening.  And I
know him well enough to feel certain that were he alive, in good health,
and free, he would have rejoined the ship ere now.  That he has not done
so is evidence conclusive and convincing to us all that something
untoward has happened to him, for which we shall hold the entire
population of your city, individually and collectively, responsible.

"Now," he continued, turning and addressing his companions on the deck,
"that is speaking plainly enough for even a Spaniard to understand,
isn't it?  But since Captain Marshall's safety and well-being must be
our first consideration, I think we ought not to make our conditions so
hard as to be impossible of fulfilment; I therefore propose that we
allow them a little more time in which to find him, before we proceed to
extremities.  Let us make it clear to them that he must be found and
delivered up to us, safe and sound, within a certain time, say noon
to-day; and that failure to comply with this demand will be followed by
the bombardment and sack of the town.  What say you, gentles?"

"Agreed!" came the answer, as with one voice, from all present.

"Very well, then," concluded Bascomb; and turning toward the boat, he
hailed:

"Now, listen to me, Senor Interpreter, and mark well my words.  It has
come to the ears of us English that the Spaniards of the New World, in
their selfish determination to retain in their own hands the whole of
the trade of this rich country, are making a practice of seizing every
Englishman upon whom they can lay hands, and delivering him over to your
so-called Holy Inquisition in order that, while salving your own
consciences with the plea of religious zeal, my countrymen may be
subjected to fiendish tortures, and so be discouraged from attempting to
secure a share of the immeasurable wealth which you enjoy.  Now the time
has come when your minds must be disabused of this notion.  No amount of
torture which you can possibly inflict upon solitary, helpless
Englishmen will deter their fellow countrymen from striving, by fair
means or foul, to secure a share of what they are as much entitled to as
yourselves; and they will never rest until they have obtained it!  Mark
you that.  And, further, remember this--that henceforward, for every
Englishman who is lost on these shores, and is found to have perished
under the hands of your Inquisitors, the English will take a terrible
vengeance, exacting the lives of ten of the most distinguished Spaniards
upon whom they can lay hands.

"Now, our Captain is somewhere in your city at this moment, and for your
own sakes he must be found and brought on board this ship before noon.
And when that is done we will talk further with you.  But if by noon he
is not found and delivered up to us, then I say to you that we will
first bombard your town, and afterwards sack and destroy it, as a lesson
to you and all Spaniards to beware henceforward how you meddle with
Englishmen, even when they seem to be absolutely at your mercy.  Now,
translate that to the illustrious senors your companions."

The interpreter did so; and as he proceeded the varied emotions of
indignation, horror, and fear that were evoked by Bascomb's plain
speaking were easily enough discernible upon the countenances of his
audience.  They flushed and turned pale by turns, they wrung their
hands, and once his Excellency the Governor started to his feet and
shook his fist savagely at the little group on the _Adventure's_ poop,
but was instantly dragged down again by his comrades, who evidently
feared the English more than they did him.  When at length the
interpreter had finished and the Governor burst into a torrent of
apparently violent language, which he seemed to wish the interpreter to
translate to the Englishmen, the others interposed with what appeared to
be an emphatic veto.  This was followed by a somewhat lengthy and very
animated discussion among themselves, during which the boat was kept in
place by an occasional stroke of the oars.  At length a resolution of
some sort seemed to be arrived at, for the alcalde was seen to speak
earnestly to the interpreter, who presently rose to his feet and hailed.

"Illustrious senors," he said, "I am desired by Don Ricardo Garcia, our
respected Alcalde, to say that every possible effort shall be made to
find the missing Capitan; and when found he shall at once be restored to
you.  But, senors, the time you have allowed us is much too brief for an
effective search to be made, and--"

"Did you not say that the search was begun yesterday, and is still being
actively prosecuted?" interrupted Bascomb.

"Even so, illustrious General," answered the interpreter.

"Very well, then," retorted the master; "if he is in the city, and is
alive and well, he will be found before noon.  If he is not found, then
it will be because some evil has befallen him, for which Cartagena shall
be made to suffer.  Look in your Inquisition for him, senor; he is as
likely to be there as anywhere.  And tell your Inquisitors that if he is
not forthcoming by noon, the Inquisition shall be the first building to
suffer from our shot.  Now, go!"

So they went, with much shaking of heads and wringing of hands.



CHAPTER SEVEN.

HOW THEY SET OUT TO RESCUE CAPTAIN MARSHALL, AND FAILED.

The morning was passed strenuously by the English in preparing both the
_Adventure_ and her prize for the grim business of bombarding Cartagena,
if need were; the hope in every man's heart being that the spectacle of
the preparations--which was clearly visible from the water front of the
town--would have the effect of breaking down the stubborn wills of the
Spaniards, and constraining them to surrender their prisoner.  For up to
this moment there had never been any real doubt in the mind of any one
of the Englishmen that Marshall had been discovered and made a prisoner;
and they were steadfastly resolved to secure his freedom, let the cost
be what it would.

After carefully considering and discussing the matter together, Bascomb
and Winter arrived at the conclusion that it would be possible to effect
such a division of the crew as would enable both ships to employ the
whole of their heaviest ordnance against the town; and this was
accordingly done, the _Adventure_ being afterward moved to a berth
astern of the galleon, so that neither ship should obstruct the fire of
the other.

It wanted about a quarter of an hour of noon, and the preparations
aboard both ships were complete, when the boat which had visited them in
the morning was observed to be putting out again from the wharf and
pulling toward the _Adventure_; but it was soon perceived that on this
occasion she carried only one figure, which was presently seen to be
that of the interpreter.

"The Captain is not there!" exclaimed Bascomb, when this was recognised.
"Now, what a plague do they mean by sending off the boat without him?
Are they going to beg for more time, I wonder?  And, if so, why?  For I
will never believe but that they know where he is, but are determined to
exhaust every artifice and subterfuge in the endeavour to avoid giving
him up!"

The others said nothing, for what was the use of hazarding conjecture
when they would soon know for certain?  So they held their tongues and
watched the approach of the boat with gloomy, louring glances.  They
were disappointed, and in a savage, dangerous mood, ready to plunge at a
word into any desperate enterprise.

The boat ranged up alongside, and the oarsmen rested upon their oars as
before.

"Hallo! the boat ahoy!" hailed Bascomb.  "What does this mean, senor?
Why have you not brought off our Captain?  Are the people ashore aware
that within five minutes the bombardment of the town will begin?"

"Alas! yes, most illustrious senors," answered the interpreter, "unless
I should prove fortunate enough to be successful in the mission that has
been entrusted to me--that of pleading with your excellencies for a
further extension of time."

"Upon what grounds, senor?" demanded Bascomb.  "I have already granted
an extension of six hours--without result, it would appear.  Why should
I grant another moment?"

"Because, Excellency, it is now believed that a clue to the whereabouts
of your Capitan has at last been found, and it is hoped that in the
course of another hour or two his freedom may be obtained," answered the
interpreter.

"Ah!" returned Bascomb, with a sigh of relief.  "So our Captain has been
found at last, has he?  And where is he thought to be?"

"In the Inquisition, senor," answered the interpreter.

"The Inquisition!" interrupted Bascomb.  "Odds bodikins! didn't I say
so?  And how long has he been there, friend?"

"If the clue which has been obtained proves to be a true one, your
Capitan will have been there close upon four days," was the reply.  "The
man whom we believe to be he was noticed in a small posada four evenings
ago, and the landlord of the house is of opinion that someone must have
suspected and informed upon him, for during the evening four familiars
of the Inquisition called at the house and, in spite of his violent
resistance, took him and carried him away."

"They did, did they?" retorted Bascomb.  "If I can lay my hand upon
those four familiars I'll make them wish their hands had withered rather
than that they had laid them upon an Englishman!  But there seems to be
a good deal of uncertainty even now about this story of yours, senor
interpreter, and I think our best plan will be to take up and
investigate the matter ourselves.  What say you, gentles?  Four days!
Why, they will have had time to maim the man for life in those four
days!  But if they have--!  Well, what say ye, my masters; shall us take
a strong party of men, go ashore, make our way to their Inquisition, and
see for ourselves whether or not Captain Marshall is there?  And if he
is there, and they have mis-used him, we shall be able to take vengeance
upon the evildoers themselves instead of punishing a lot of innocent men
and women by knocking their homes about their ears."

"I say that we ought to do as you propose, without a moment's
unnecessary delay," replied Winter.  "And I, too," answered each of the
others present.

"Then it shall be done," answered Bascomb, determinedly.  "My proposal,
Mr Winter, is that we make equal division of our force; one-half under
my leadership to go ashore and look for our Captain, while the other
half under you remains aboard the _Adventure_ to take care of her and
the prize.  Is that agreeable to your worship?"

"Yes," answered Winter; "it is as good a plan as we are like to devise,
even though we were to cogitate for the rest of the day.  It is true
that I would have preferred to lead the landing-party, since if aught
should happen to you we shall be left without a navigator."

"Nay, that you need not be," answered Bascomb, "for I will leave young
Chichester with you, and he can be your navigator; he has been an apt
pupil, and now knows as much about navigation as I do, so that
difficulty is soon overcome.  Hallo! the boat ahoy!" he continued,
directing his conversation once more to the interpreter; "come aboard,
senor, will you?  We shall require your services anon."

"Have I your word, most illustrious, that no evil shall befall me if I
put myself into your hands?" asked the man.

"You have," answered Bascomb.  "You may trust yourself to us without
fear; indeed you are like to be a great deal more safe with us than
elsewhere during the next few hours."

"It is enough," returned the interpreter, and signed to the boatmen to
put him alongside, climbing to the deck and stepping in through the
gangway without fear when they had done so.

"Now then, Senor Pacheco," said Bascomb, when the Spaniard, peering
about him curiously, had joined the party on the poop; "I am about to
land a party and march it to the Inquisition, in order that I may
ascertain for myself whether or not our Captain is within its walls.
Whereabout is the place?  Can it be seen from here?"

"Nay, most illustrious, it cannot, for it lies at the back, or northern
extremity, of the western half of the town," answered Pacheco.  "It lies
in the direction of the western tower of the cathedral, but far beyond
it."

"Um-m!" commented Bascomb; "then, after all, there would not have been
much chance of reaching it with our guns.  Is it a strong place?  Shall
we find it very difficult to force our way in?"

"I have never been inside--the saints be praised--so cannot tell you
very much about it," answered Pacheco.  "So far as the building itself
is concerned, it is a strong place, being built entirely of stone, with
high walls, which are said to be nowhere less than three feet thick.
But the main entrance is guarded only by a pair of oaken doors--massive,
no doubt, but probably fastened only with bolts of ordinary strength;
for who would ever dream of attempting to break into the Inquisition?
Heaven forgive me for affording information to these heretical English,"
he muttered under his breath in his native tongue; "but, indeed, if in
their fury they should tear the place down, I for one should not be
sorry!"

"Are there many troops in the town?" demanded Bascomb.

"About a hundred, illustrious senor," answered Pacheco.  "Five hundred
are on their way down from the interior, it having been intended to send
them home in the galleon, but I have not heard that they have yet
arrived."

"If they had arrived, do you think you would have heard of it?" demanded
Bascomb.

"I might, senor; but, on the other hand, I might not," answered Pacheco.
"If they had arrived and marched into the town openly, doubtless I and
every other inhabitant of Cartagena would have been aware of the fact.
But, senor, your question has given rise to a doubt in my mind, and I am
now wondering whether, in view of your presence in the harbour and your
threat to bombard the town, his Excellency the Governor may not have
taken steps to have the expected troops intercepted and introduced into
the town secretly during the dead of night.  If you were to ask my
advice, senor, I should recommend you not to trust overmuch to the fact
that I have heard nothing of the arrival of those soldiers."

"See here, sirrah!" ejaculated Bascomb, suddenly rounding upon the man,
"you are extraordinarily free and glib with your information.  Now, are
you a traitor to your own people, or is your information false and
intended to mislead us?"

"Neither, senor, on my honour as a Spaniard," answered Pacheco.  "The
fact is," he continued in explanation, "that I have seen much of the
English during my business as a seafarer, and have learned to like them,
in spite of their overbearing ways and the fact that they are heretics.
Moreover, senor, you are about to attack the Inquisition, and good
Catholic though I am, it would not grieve me were you to take it and
give it to the flames, for I like it not, and that's the truth, the
saints forgive me!"

"Now, gentles," said Bascomb, "you have heard what Senor Pacheco has
said about the troops, and if it be truth--as I doubt not it is--it
behoves us to be careful how we thrust our noses into that city of
Cartagena yonder.  Yet go I must, and will; for it is not to be thought
of that our Captain may be in their accursed Inquisition, perhaps
suffering torments unimaginable, and we doing nothing to help him.
Therefore, in view of the possibility of those troops having arrived,
and having been secreted somewhere in the town, I think we must modify
our plans a little, to the extent, that is to say, of making the
landing-party as strong as we can at the expense of the party remaining
behind.  Now, Mr Winter, what is the smallest number of men that you
would care to be left with?"

"If I am to defend the ship successfully in the event of a possible
attack," said Winter, "I must have at least twenty men.  I cannot do
with less.  Leave me twenty, and you may take all the rest, even
including young Chichester, who is like to be a great deal more useful
ashore than he would be with me."

"Very well," agreed Bascomb, "twenty be it; you can scarce do with less,
for it is more than likely that, while we are busy ashore, they will
endeavour to recover possession of the treasure.  And now, Senor
Pacheco, we shall need you as guide to show us the shortest way to the
Inquisition.  Art willing to do us that service?"

"I am, most illustrious," answered Pacheco; "but, with your favour,
senor, it must be under at least seeming compulsion, for if it were
known that I did such a thing save under the fear of instant death, I
should never again be able to show my face in Cartagena.  Therefore,
most valiant Englishman, if I am to lead you, it must be with my hands
bound and a pistol held to my head."

"Very well," answered Bascomb.  "We will manage that for thee, old
sea-horse, as natural as life, so that nobody seeing thee being driven
along at the head of us shall guess but that thou'rt quaking in thy
shoes at every step thou takest.  Take charge of him, Dick; he is to be
thy prisoner, remember.  Bind his hands behind him so firmly that he
cannot get away, and just tightly enough to leave a mark.  Put a halter
round his neck, and hold the end of it in thy hand, and threaten him
with thy drawn pistol at every street corner.  And now, gentles, to our
preparations.  Every man of the shore party shall go armed with hanger
on hip, a pair of loaded pistols in his belt, a good bow in his hand,
and a quiver full of arrows slung over his shoulder.  We muster on the
main deck twenty minutes hence, and the pinnace, with the interpreter's
boat, ought to be sufficient to carry us all from the ship to the
wharf."

The first half-dozen men who were ready slid down the ship's side into
the interpreter's boat so swiftly and silently that they took her
astonished crew completely by surprise, and held them in subjection
until the rest were ready; then Senor Pacheco, slung in a noose, was
lowered down the ship's side, and roughly ordered into the stern-sheets
by Dick, who followed him there and kept him in apparent awe with a
drawn pistol.  Within the twenty minutes all were ready and embarked in
the two boats--the pinnace having been lowered in the interim, when they
pushed off from the _Adventure_, the attenuated crew of which bade them
Godspeed with a hearty cheer--and headed up the harbour toward the
north-western half of the town.

The distance which they had to pull, in order to reach the wharf
indicated by Pacheco, was about three-quarters of a mile, and as they
neared the landing-place they perceived that a good many people had
gathered, and were watching them curiously; but of soldiers there was
not one to be seen, which Bascomb confessed he regarded as rather a bad
sign, as the absence of any visible inclination to resist their landing
seemed to him to point to the preparation of a trap somewhere on the
road.  He asked Pacheco what he thought about it.

"God forgive me!  I know not what to think, most illustrious," answered
that worthy.  "But I like it not, for I think with you that the Governor
would never permit you to land unresisted, had he not prepared a warm
reception for you at some point where you will be at even greater
disadvantage than you would be on the wharf.  And yet I do not know how
that could be either, for he has had no means of learning your
destination, so how could he know where to set his trap?  But, lest he
should have guessed, I will lead you by the less direct way, for there
are two roads by which it is possible to reach the Inquisition."

As the boats ranged up alongside the wharf, and the Englishmen mounted
and formed up on the quay, the mob, which consisted of about two hundred
wharf labourers, with a small sprinkling of half-breed women and fifty
or sixty boys, gave back sullenly and scowlingly with a few low-muttered
threats and an occasional hissing gibe of _hereticos_!  But there was no
attempt at violence except when some half-dozen boys began to throw
stones.  But the stringing of the Englishmen's bows, and the fitting of
a few arrows to the strings, sent the mischievous young urchins to the
right-about in double-quick time, and within a minute the landing had
been accomplished and the march begun.

Pacheco, with his hands lashed behind him and a halter round his neck,
the end of which was in Dick's hand, led the way, marching between
Chichester and Stukely, the latter having come ashore in Bascomb's boat,
bringing his case of instruments and a pocket case of drugs with him.
The road lay, for a short distance, along the water front, and they had
not been marching two minutes before they came to a wide and busy street
which seemed to run right through the very heart of the town to its
farther end.

"That," remarked Pacheco, "is the direct road to the Inquisition, and it
is for your excellencies to decide whether you will choose it, or
whether you will go on and take the longer and narrower road to the same
place."

"Which road do you recommend, senor?" demanded Bascomb.

"Nay, most illustrious, it is not for me to recommend either," answered
the Spaniard; "the responsibility is far too great for me--for if
disaster were to overtake you after you had accepted my advice, I should
be blamed for it.  I can only repeat what I have already said, that this
is the direct road to the Inquisition, and the road which the
authorities will naturally expect you to take if they have any suspicion
as to your destination."

"Then in that case," decided Bascomb, "we will take the other one.
Forward!"

The march was thereupon resumed, the little band of Englishmen being
followed, at a respectful distance, by a rapidly increasing mob which
seemed, from its appearance, to be composed of all the ruffians and
cut-throats of the city.  But they did not offer to molest the invaders,
beyond occasionally shouting insulting epithets at them, of which the
English took no notice.  The mob seemed simply to follow out of
curiosity, and possibly with the hope of witnessing some interesting
developments later on.

A quarter of a mile farther on they came to another street, not nearly
so wide as the first--a street of lofty, more or less dilapidated
houses, with narrow, cage-like balconies before the upstairs windows,
and small cellars of shops on the ground floor.  The street was paved
with rough cobble stones, and sloped from each side toward the centre,
through which ran a kennel or gutter encumbered with garbage and filth
of every description, through which a foul stream of evil-smelling water
wound its devious way.  The street had apparently at one time been one
of some pretensions, but had now fallen upon evil days and become the
abode of a number of petty tradesmen, such as cobblers, sellers of fruit
and cheap drinks, dealers in second-hand goods of every description, and
riffraff generally.  It swarmed with dirty, slatternly women, still
dirtier half-naked children, lean and hungry-looking dogs, and lazy,
hulking men with brass ear-rings in their ears, the rags of tawdry
finery upon their bodies, and their sashes perfect batteries of
murderous-looking knives.  They were a villainous, scowling,
criminal-looking lot of ruffians without exception, and low murmurs of
anger and astonishment, not unmingled with dismay, passed from one to
another when the English suddenly wheeled into the street.

They gradually seemed to acquire courage, however, as they noted the
small number of the intruders, and the fact that the latter took no
notice of them, and presently, when the mob which had followed the
English from the wharf swung into the street and began to explain in
response to the questions with which they were eagerly plied, many of
the tenants and frequenters of the Calle de Santa Catalina joined the
procession, which by this time numbered some three or four hundred and
completely blocked up the narrow street in the rear of the English.  It
was becoming an ugly, dangerous-looking crowd, too, the kind of mob
whose courage grows with the consciousness of increasing superiority in
numbers, and it now began to flaunt its fearlessness before its admiring
women folk by joining vociferously in the insulting epithets which were
now being raucously yelled after the little band of strangers.  The
situation was becoming distinctly threatening, and Bascomb quietly
dropped to the rear, for it was in that direction that trouble seemed to
loom largest.

He had just joined the rearmost file when one boastful ruffian, egged on
by the rest, suddenly ran out in front of the crowd and whipping a long,
murderous-looking knife from his sash, hurled it with deadly aim at him.
Luckily for the master, he caught the movement out of the corner of his
eye, and wheeled round just in time to parry the flying missile with the
blade of his sword.

"Halt!" he cried, "and extend yourselves across the street, facing
outward!"  And at the same instant he whipped a pistol from his belt,
levelled it, and fired at the aggressor, who flung up his hands and,
with a shriek, fell prostrate in the gutter, with the blood rapidly
dyeing purple the dirty white of his shirt.  A howl of execration and
dismay from the Spaniards immediately followed this act of retaliation,
knives were whipped from their sheaths, and for an instant it looked as
though the mob were about to charge; but the business-like promptitude
with which the English fitted their arrows to their bows, and drew the
latter, quelled the courage of their assailants for the moment, who
contented themselves by yelling execrations as they lifted the injured
man and carried him into the nearest house.  Then, satisfied with the
effect of their demonstration, the English resumed their march; but the
mob continued to hang tenaciously upon their skirts, like a pack of
hungry wolves, and it became every moment increasingly evident that it
would need but a little encouragement to induce them to attack in deadly
earnest.

In this fashion the English proceeded for nearly half a mile when they
perceived what appeared to be a square opening out before them; and a
moment later, as they debouched into it, they saw that this square was
full of soldiers, both cavalry and infantry.

"Back for your lives into the street; you will stand a better chance
there!" yelled Stukely, halting and facing the little band who followed
him.  But it was too late; the street behind them had in some
unaccountable fashion also filled with soldiers, and the retreat of the
English was cut off.  They were trapped as neatly and effectually as
their enemies could possibly have desired.

"Did you know anything of this?" demanded Dick of the man who had led
them thus far.

"On my soul, no, senor, as I hope for salvation!" fervently answered
Pacheco, looking fearlessly into Chichester's eyes.

"I believe you," returned Dick, releasing his grasp upon the halter
round the Spaniard's neck.  "Go, and save yourself while it is possible.
One of your own countrymen will doubtless free your hands; I have no
time to do it.  Go!"

"My thanks, senor; and may the Blessed Mother and the saints protect
you!"  And, bending forward, he went at a run, with his hands still
bound behind him, toward the soldiers, who, seeing that he was an
apparently escaped prisoner, opened out and allowed him to pass through
their ranks.

At this moment an officer wearing a full suit of plate armour, and
mounted on horseback, advanced, and, lifting the visor of his helmet,
demanded, in fairly good English:

"Where is the officer in command of this force?"

"Here," answered Bascomb, pushing his way to the front.

The Spaniard bowed.  Then, indicating with a wave of his hand the troops
present, which must have numbered some eight hundred at least, he said
with a smile:

"Senor, do you need any further argument than these to convince you of
the desirability of surrendering at discretion?"

"_A buena querra_?" demanded Bascomb, who had picked up a phrase or two
of Spanish during his conversations with Marshall.

"Certainly, senor, if, as I presume to be the case, you hold a
commission from your queen."

"I hold no such commission, senor," answered Bascomb, who began to
realise that he and his followers were in a very tight place.

"You hold no such commission, eh?  Then, is one to assume that you are
merely a band of ordinary, commonplace pirates, eh?" demanded the
officer.

"You are at liberty to assume what you please," retorted Bascomb.  "I
repeat that I hold no commission, no authority save that which is
conferred by my own sword.  And I surrender _a buena querra_, or not at
all."

"You surrender at discretion, or not at all, senor pirate.  Which is it
to be?" was the rejoinder.

"Not at all, then," answered Bascomb.  "We will fight to the death,
rather than surrender to perish in your hellish Inquisition!"

The Spaniard bowed, closed the visor of his helmet, and reined his horse
back very slowly until he had returned to his place at the head of the
regiment of cavalry which he commanded; while Bascomb, turning to his
followers, shouted:

"Now, dogs of Devon, show these cowardly Spaniards a bit of your
quality.  Look to the troops, horse and foot, that they've brought
against us, eight hundred of 'em to our forty; that's just twenty to
one, twenty soldiers that each man of us must kill before we can get
back to the ship.  For that's where we're going; we can't take the town
with all these soldiers against us.  But let us get back to the ship and
we'll tell 'em another story; all their soldiers and twice as many again
won't save 'em from the heavy ordnance of the galleon and the
_Adventure_; and half an hour's bombardment will make 'em glad enough to
come to terms wi' us.  Now, the one half of you charge back along, down
the street; the other half will follow, retiring backward and facing the
enemy.  Now, have at 'em, my hearts, for here they come!  Clear the way
with your arrows first; and then give 'em the cold steel!"

While Bascomb had been delivering his pithy address, the officer in
armour had also been haranguing his troops with much gesticulation and
sword nourishing, which he had wound up with a command to charge,
himself leading the attack upon the little band of English seamen
wedged, so to speak, in the throat of the narrow street.  At Bascomb's
word to "Have at 'em" the half nearest the street faced quickly about,
and the whole party fitted arrows to their bows, drew them to the head,
and let fly, half of the arrows winging their way to rake the narrow
street, while the other half whistled into the ranks of the soldiers in
the square, who had just put spurs to their horses.  The range was
short, and the aim deadly, consequently every arrow found its mark, some
of them indeed twice over, for there were at least a dozen of the cloth
yard shafts that passed clean through the body of their first victim to
find lodgment in the body of the second.  As for Dick, he distinguished
himself by sending an arrow neatly between the bars of the visor of the
officer on horseback, who thereupon reeled out of his saddle, and
crashed down upon the cobbled pavement of the square with a rattle like
that of a whole cartload of spilled ironmongery, close to Chichester's
feet, who thereupon dashed nimbly in and snatched up the splendid sword
that flew from the fallen warrior's grasp.  Some twenty soldiers fell to
that first discharge; and so great was the dismay occasioned by their
fall that their comrades, instead of continuing their charge and riding
the Englishmen down, as they might easily have done, reined their horses
sharply back upon their haunches, with the result that their comrades in
the rear dashed headlong into them, and in an instant the whole of that
part of the square which abutted upon the street became a confused
medley of plunging, squealing, and fallen horses, and dead and wounded
men.

Meanwhile, the other front of the English had been equally successful,
their first discharge of arrows having been so deadly that the soldiers
drawn up across the end of the street to cut off their retreat, had
simply crumpled up and withered away, leaving the street open for the
retirement of the English; and the latter had accordingly availed
themselves of the opportunity to dash in, and, as they fondly believed,
secure protection for their flanks.  But although the soldiers had given
way before that terrible discharge of arrows, they were by no means
beaten; and presently an officer succeeded in rallying about twenty,
whom he drew across the street in a double rank, with their matchlocks
unslung.  Bascomb, however, was quick to see the danger.

"Don't let 'em bring their ordnance into use, or it will be all up with
us," he shouted.  "Keep 'em moving, lads, keep 'em moving; so long as we
does that we'm so good as they be--and better; but once let 'em bring
their firearms into play, and we'm done.  So, keep 'em moving."  And he
himself set the example by rushing upon the enemy, sword in hand, and
laying about him so shrewdly that the Spanish line was once more broken
and forced into full retreat.

And indeed what could the heavily accoutred Spanish soldiers, tightly
strapped up in a suffocatingly hot uniform, do against the nimble
English, who, for the most part, fought in shirt, breeches, and shoes
only, whose arrows flew with such irresistible force that they pierced
right through a man's body, flesh, muscle, bones, and all, and who
seemed to be governed by no laws of fighting, but instead of observing
all the niceties, the rules, and the punctilio of fence, simply rushed
in and cut a man down before the poor wretch could guess what they would
be at!

For ten minutes the fight raged with unimaginable fury before a single
Englishman was hit; and then one poor fellow dropped, with a long knife
quivering in his skull, flung from an upper window of one of the houses.
The man who did the dastardly deed was seen to withdraw hurriedly from
the window; but it was enough; half a dozen of the fallen man's comrades
instantly dashed into the house, were gone about half a minute, and then
returned with a perfectly satisfied look upon their faces, and once more
plunged into the melee.  No more knives were thrown from that house; but
unfortunately the deed, and not the swift retribution which followed,
had been seen and thought worthy of imitation, and within five minutes
there was scarcely a window within range of the fighting which was not
vomiting missiles of one sort or another, with disastrous effect upon
the English, who, under this new form of attack, began to fall thick and
fast.  For now that the populace had the support of several hundred
soldiers, their courage became so reckless that they could no longer
restrain themselves; and they accordingly engaged in the attack upon the
English with avidity--from the comparatively safe position of the
upstairs windows of the houses on either side of the street.  Stukely
and Dick were with the rearguard, making a vigorous and successful stand
against the attack of the soldiery, when this new feature in the
fighting was introduced, and they knew nothing about it until a great
stone, hurled from the attic window of the house in front of which they
were fighting, crashed down fair upon young Chichester's head and sent
him reeling senseless to the ground.



CHAPTER EIGHT.

HOW PHIL AND DICK ESCAPED FROM CARTAGENA.

When Dick recovered consciousness it was evening; the street was quiet,
and he was lying upon a couch in a darkened room, with Philip Stukely
and an elderly woman bending over him; the woman holding a basin of warm
water, while Stukely assiduously bathed an ugly scalp wound on the crown
of his head.  The said head was throbbing and aching most atrociously,
and when the young man sat up and attempted to rise to his feet he
discovered, to his astonishment and chagrin, that he had no control over
himself, the room seemed to be whirling and spinning round with him at
bewildering speed, and his legs immediately collapsed under him.

"Now, then, none of that, youngster," exclaimed Stukely, as he flung his
arm round Chichester and gently lowered the lad back on the couch.
"What a plague induced you to start up like that, all of a sudden,
before I was ready for you?  You will just have to lie still, young man,
until I tell you that you may move.  And how do you feel, now that you
have seen fit to at last come to your senses?"

"How do I feel?" reiterated Dick, trying to pass his hand over his
forehead, and failing, for the member seemed heavier than lead.  "Why, I
seem to have no more strength than a baby; my head is nothing but one
big, atrocious ache; and I don't seem to be able to remember things very
well.  For instance, I don't in the least know where we are, or how we
got here; and--and--who is the--ah--lady, Phil?"

"Don't you worry about the lady, youngster, she is all right, and proved
herself to be a friend just when we badly needed one," answered Stukely.
"The important thing just now is to find out precisely what is the
matter with you; so have the goodness to answer my questions as clearly
as possible, will ye?"

And while Stukely is closely questioning his patient the opportunity may
be taken to explain, in a very few words, how the two friends came to
find themselves where they were.  As has already been stated, they were
fighting among the party who were defending the rear during the retreat
of the English back along the street by which they had come, when Dick
was felled to the ground by a great stone hurled from the top story of
one of the houses opposite which they were at the moment engaged.
Stukely, who was fighting behind him, heard the crash of the stone on
Dick's head, saw the lad reel and fall, and instantly stooped to raise
him to his feet again.  But Dick Chichester was no light weight for a
man like Stukely to lift unaided, and before it could be done the whole
fight seemed to sweep right over them.  Stukely was knocked down and
trodden under foot, men locked together in the grip of deadly strife
reeled and staggered and stumbled over him, and finally he received a
kick in the temple which so nearly robbed him of his senses that he was
only very vaguely conscious of what was happening during the next minute
or two.  The next thing of which he was fully aware being that he was
being held by the shoulders and dragged along over uneven ground, then
he became suddenly conscious of being inside a building, and of hearing
a door closed and barred; and, finally, of finding himself sitting upon
the floor of the room where Dick and he now were, with the old lady
supporting his head on her knee while a young woman endeavoured to pour
_aguardiente_ down his throat.  Then he fully recovered his senses, to
find, to his great joy, that Dick also had been rescued, and was then
lying senseless on a couch in the same room.  Then, somehow, the young
woman had disappeared, and rising to his feet, he had devoted himself to
the task of wooing back Dick Chichester's senses.  This, however, had
proved a far more difficult task than he had at first anticipated; and
it was not until the golden quality of the light streaming in through
the closed jalousies proclaimed the near approach of sunset that Dick
manifested any indication of returning consciousness, with the result
already recorded.  And now a protracted and careful examination of the
wound, coupled with much questioning of his patient, convinced Stukely
that his friend Dick had sustained a very serious injury to the head
which had so far affected the brain that it would be several days at
least before the young man could possibly be moved!  Meanwhile, what was
happening to the ship and the rest of the crew?

That was a question that could not be answered just then, for the old
lady, who, for some mysterious reason, had chosen to play the part of
Good Samaritan, could not speak a word of English, while Stukely spoke
no Spanish; and as for venturing outside the house in quest of
information, that was obviously impossible, for two excellent reasons;
the first being that Dick's condition was such that he could not
possibly be left, even for so short a time as half an hour; while the
other equally good reason was that to venture into the street would be
to invite immediate assassination.

Well, Stukely told himself, matters could not be helped; Dick and he
were the victims of circumstance, and there was nothing for it but to
submit, with the best grace possible.  And so far as their future was
concerned, that must take care of itself.  Sufficient unto the day is
the anxiety thereof.  So, with the elderly dame's assistance, he devoted
himself to the task of doing what he could to relieve and help Dick,
philosophically leaving the future to take care of itself.

Presently it became too dark to see, and the old lady went to the door
of the room and called.  Two female voices replied; and a few minutes
later two young women entered, one bearing a lighted oil lamp, while the
other carried a tray upon which were set out a bowl of soup, a dish
containing some roast ribs of kid, some heads of young Indian corn
boiled, a loaf of bread, and a flask of wine.  These viands were placed
upon a table together with the lamp, and the young women retired again,
after indicating by signs that the food was intended for the two
Englishmen.

Dick's hurt proved to be very much more serious than was at first
supposed; he became delirious; and for a whole week Phil was kept busy,
night and day, constantly attending to him, his watch being shared by
the old lady and her two daughters, who proved extraordinarily kind and
solicitous.  Then the patient began to mend, slowly; and the young
women--who proved to be twins, named respectively Clara and Dolores--did
their best to beguile the time for their two guests by teaching them
Spanish.  And remarkably efficient teachers they proved to be, too;
their pupils making enough progress within the next three weeks to
enable them to gather a tolerably correct general idea of what was said
to them.  Thus, little by little, and by dint of frequent reiteration,
accompanied by much laughter and many blushes on the part of their fair
instructresses, the two young Englishmen learned that they owed their
lives to the compassion of the Senoritas Clara and Dolores; who,
watching the fight from their window, had been so greatly impressed by
the gallant bearings of Dick and Phil, that when the two were seen to go
down in the melee, the girls, moved by a common impulse, had dashed out
of the house, the moment that a favourable opportunity had presented
itself, and had dragged the apparently inanimate bodies indoors
unnoticed in the prevailing confusion.  And they also learned that,
according to common report, some eight or ten survivors of the
ill-advised landing-party had succeeded in fighting their way back to
the ship, which had thereupon got under way and sailed out of the
harbour, leaving the _Santa Margaretta_ ablaze from stem to stern.

Thus the time went on until Dick and Phil had been secreted in Cartagena
nearly six weeks, by which time the former was so nearly approaching
convalescence that the pair had begun to discuss seriously the question
of their future.  Then, one night, about nine o'clock, the two girls,
who had been out taking the air upon the alameda, came rushing home in
consternation with the news that somebody had somehow acquired an
inkling of the fact that they were harbouring two Englishmen in their
house, and that the soldiers might be expected to arrive at any moment
to take the whole party prisoners!  But, as the girls breathlessly
explained, if the Englishmen got away at once--as they must for their
own sakes--no harm need be expected to befall their hostesses, as it
would then appear that some enemy had been spreading a false and
malicious report.

The two young Englishmen hardly liked the idea of going off and leaving
their kind entertainers to bear unaided the brunt of a strict and severe
cross-examination; but it was obviously the only thing to be done, for
it would be far worse for the family if the hated _Ingleses_ were
actually found in the house, than if their recent presence there were
only suspected; they therefore agreed to go at once; and, since they had
no belongings to pack, were ready to depart upon the instant.  But the
girls, who were bitterly distressed at the idea of so sudden and
unceremonious a leave-taking, would not let them leave the house alone,
to take their chance of finding their way, unmolested, down to the
harbour; they insisted upon accompanying them and guiding them by the
least-frequented ways; and this they did, following a number of narrow,
winding, deserted lanes and alleys which at length brought them out upon
the wharf where they had landed on the ill-fated day when they had
attempted the rescue of Captain Marshall.  Here, after a long,
lingering, and tearful parting on the part of the girls, the two young
men eventually found themselves alone, about half-past ten o'clock at
night; by which hour the wharf was deserted, save for themselves.

Now, the whole thing had been so hurried, and the girls had had so much
to say during the journey from the house to the wharf, that the two
friends had been quite unable to form anything in the nature of a plan;
and even now it was not wise to linger on the wharf, discussing the
question of what they should do, for the city guard, or watchmen, might
come along at any moment and surprise them.  They therefore hastily
surveyed such boats and canoes as were moored to the wharf, chose the
first useful-looking craft they came to, jumped into her, cut her
painter, and pushed off down the harbour on their way to the island of
Tierra Bomba, which Dick decided had better be their first
halting-place.

The night was, fortunately, fine, with a high and spacious sky of
indigo, star-studded, flecked with a few thin, fleecy clouds driving up
solemnly out of the eastward, and the moon, in her second quarter,
sailing high overhead and affording them all the light that they needed,
with perhaps a little to spare.  The boat which they had appropriated
was a very good craft of her kind, about fifteen feet long, very shallow
and beamy, and equipped with a pair of oars, a tiller and rudder, and a
mast and sail.  The latter they were especially thankful for, as the
journey before them was one of about seven miles; and as soon as they
were fairly clear of the town and had reached a point at which they
could bear away far enough to the southward to permit of setting the
sail, they stepped their mast, unfurled their canvas, and went buzzing
merrily down the harbour, passing on their way the hulk of the _Santa
Margaretta_, which had been burnt to the water's edge before the flames
could be extinguished.  Their destination was the creek in the eastern
shore of Tierra Bomba in which the longboat had lain hidden when Dick
and Marshall had reconnoitred the town together; and they reached it
about midnight, secreted the boat beneath the well-remembered bushes,
and then composed themselves to sleep as well as they could in her
stern-sheets.

The sun was a full hour above the horizon when his beams, piercing the
thick canopy of foliage which overhung their place of concealment,
awakened the two fugitives, who arose from their hard couch refreshed
but hungry.  A plunge into the shallow waters of the creek washed the
lingering remains of sleep out of their eyes, and further refreshed
them, when, having allowed their bodies to dry in the brisk warm breeze,
they dressed and scrambled ashore to hunt for food.  Of this they
obtained without difficulty as much as they required; for Tierra Bomba
was at that time densely overgrown with trees and bushes of various
kinds, among which several fruit-bearing varieties flourished wild,
particularly plantains and bananas.  Upon these, then, they satisfied
their hunger, at the same time taking the precaution to secure a bunch
of sufficiently generous dimensions to meet all their needs for several
days to come.  Then, their immediate wants satisfied, they retreated to
their place of concealment and, seating themselves in their boat,
proceeded to discuss their plans for the future.

The information respecting the doings of the _Adventure_, communicated
to them by their fair friends the Senoritas Clara and Dolores, left
little doubt in their minds that the crew, thoroughly discouraged at the
disastrous result of their adventure in Cartagena, had decided to rest
satisfied with the treasure which they had already acquired--and which,
indeed, was considerable enough to satisfy most reasonable people--and
had sailed direct for England upon quitting the harbour, too hastily
concluding, perhaps, that all the missing were dead; or, if not dead, at
least captive beyond all hope of deliverance.  This assumption seemed to
Stukely and Chichester to be the only one at which they could reasonably
arrive; and since its acceptance shut them out from all hope of ever
again seeing the _Adventure_ and being able to rejoin her, the question
that naturally arose in their minds was: What were they to do now?

It was Dick who first put this question into words; and by way of reply
Stukely put another question--"Why did we come here at all?"

"Well," retorted plain, matter-of-fact Dick, "because we couldn't help
ourselves, I suppose."

"Very well," agreed Stukely, "I will concede that, if you like.  We came
because we could not help ourselves; because, in other words, after we
were picked up by the _Adventure_, no opportunity occurred to land us
again, and therefore we had no choice but to remain in the ship.  But
why did we consent to become members of her crew?"

"Why, in the hope of making our fortunes, of course," returned Dick.
"And we did so, too; or should have done so, rather, if thicky stone had
not cracked my skull for me."

"Precisely," agreed Stukely.  "If your skull had not been cracked, and
if we had both contrived to get back to the ship, as some of the others
appear to have done.  But it is just those little ifs, my dear Dick,
that rule the destinies of men.  If this, that, or the other thing had,
or had not, happened, everything would have been very different.  Now,
for my own part, I am a great believer in destiny; I do not believe that
there is such a thing as accident or chance, but that what we usually
call by one or the other of those names is ordered by what some men call
Fate, but what I prefer to call Providence.  I will not attempt to argue
this matter out with you just now, but will simply content myself with
the assertion that you and I were destined to be left behind.  If you
ask, for what purpose, I reply that I do not know; I cannot even guess;
but I have no doubt that it will be revealed in due time.  If my theory
is correct and Providence is indeed interfering in our affairs, we may
do as we will, but we shall be guided and governed, in spite of
ourselves, until we have accomplished the work which we are destined to
do.  That being the case, let us leave ourselves in the hands of
Destiny, to do as she will with us, watching for such right impulses as
she may impart to us, and following them implicitly, under the belief
and conviction that she is guiding us.

"Now, why did we come to this Golden West?  Was it not to make our
fortunes, to acquire a share of the wealth with which the land teems?
Of course it was; and since we are here, and cannot get away, I say let
us push into the interior and see if we cannot find for ourselves some
of the gold, or gems, with which the soil is said to abound.  There must
be scores, nay, hundreds, of undiscovered mines in the lonely fastnesses
to which no man has thus far penetrated; and I can see no reason why we
should not find one of them.  Now, what say you?"

"Simply, that I agree with every word you have said, Phil, and am quite
ready to go to the world's end with you," answered Dick.  "Now, when do
we start, and which way do we go?"

"Well," returned Stukely, "our first business is to get safely away from
Cartagena; and the sooner the better.  For it is evident that the
authorities have somehow obtained an inkling of the fact that two
Englishmen belonging to the band who have wrought them so much damage
have been lurking hidden in the city; and if my estimate of the Spanish
character be correct I believe they will take a good deal of trouble to
find us; and if they find us we may rest assured that they will clap us
into the Inquisition, by hook or by crook.  Therefore, I say, let us get
away to-night, immediately after dark, so that we may have a chance to
put as many miles as possible between ourselves and Cartagena before
daylight.  Then, as to which way we should go, the interior is where we
are bound for, and the interior lies to the southward, therefore when we
get out to sea, let us steer south, and enter the first river of any
importance that we happen to come to, knowing that all rivers lead to
the interior."

"Agreed!" exclaimed Dick.  "We will leave here as soon as the darkness
is deep enough to conceal our movements; and we will begin our voyage by
slipping across the bay and going out to sea by way of the channel at
the back of the island of Baru, by which means we shall reach the open
sea some twenty-five miles south of Cartagena, and so avoid the risk of
being seen and informed upon by any of the local fishing boats.  I would
that I had one of Mr Bascomb's charts with me; but as I haven't we must
e'en do without it and trust to memory.  I have some recollection of
having seen a river of some importance marked on the chart not very far
south of this; and if we hug the shore pretty closely we can scarcely
fail to find it."

This matter settled, they proceeded to take stock of their possessions,
which totalled as follows: a pair of pistols each, the locks of which
had fortunately been fitted with new flints immediately before the
disastrous attempt to force a way to the Inquisition at Cartagena; two
powder horns full of powder; thirty bullets each, together with a
considerable quantity of greased rags to serve as wadding; a good,
serviceable hanger, each; and last, but not least, the splendid sword
which Dick had taken from the Spanish cavalier during the fight in the
square.  These, the clothes which they stood up in, and the boat in
which they had made their escape, were all that they possessed in the
world; and thus scantily provided these two young men were calmly about
to plunge into the very heart of a hostile country, of which they knew
nothing, in search of fortune!  Truly was it said of these men and their
contemporaries that "they feared God and naught else!" and it was they
who laid the foundations of that greatness among the nations of the
world which Britain enjoys to-day.  May she have the wisdom to retain
it!

All day the two fugitives lay in their place of concealment, resting and
otherwise preparing for a wakeful and busy night; and when at length the
sun plunged down into the western sea in a transient blaze of glory, and
the sea breeze began to die away, they cautiously pushed out from
underneath their leafy screen and proceeded to paddle quietly down the
little cove toward the south bay, which they reached just as the last of
the daylight was fading out of the sky and the stars were beginning to
twinkle out, one after the other, in swift succession, in the great
purple dome of heaven above.  The evanescent twilight now shrouded
everything in mystery; a few boats could be seen moving about here and
there, but only by the lingering golden light in the western sky
reflected gleamingly from the ripple of bow or paddle, and the fugitives
passed across the bay and entered the narrow channel between the island
of Baru and the main, just as the first soft breathings of the land wind
began to make themselves felt.  To these they gladly spread their sail--
for paddling was rather too warm work to be agreeable--and went gliding
easily and pleasantly along, closely hugging the weather shore, for the
sake of the smooth water and the deep shadow afforded by the mangroves
that thickly lined the beach.

They had reached thus along the shore for about an hour and a half when
a sudden brightening of the sky to the eastward heralded the rising of
the moon; and presently the orb, now nearly at the full, sailed up over
the tops of the trees which lined the shore, and flooded the entire
scene with her soft orange radiance.  And the first thing upon which the
eyes of the fugitives fell was a large galley lying at anchor right in
the middle of the fairway, scarcely a mile ahead.  There were no lights
visible on board her; but the frequent flash of the moonlight upon
polished steel showed that someone at least, probably a sentinel, was
moving and presumably on the watch on board her.

Now arose the question: What was to be done?  Should they stand boldly
on and take the risk of being challenged; or should they run the boat
ashore and take to the woods?  Everything depended upon the question of
what was the galley's business just there, of all places in the world;
and it did not take the Englishmen long to make up their minds that in
all probability she had been stationed there to keep a lookout for them,
as the passage out at the back of Baru was so obviously the one that
would be most likely to be taken by people anxious to escape from
Cartagena by water.  If that were the case they could not possibly hope
to slip past the craft unchallenged, for the moon was every moment
soaring higher into the sky and more clearly lighting up the scene, and
especially the surface of the water.  And if they were challenged and,
refusing to reply, attempted to escape, what hope of success had they?
Absolutely none!  Therefore they put down their helm, hove the boat
about, and headed in for the land.

If any doubt remained in their minds as to the character and intentions
of the galley, it was speedily dissipated, for they had scarcely got
their boat round upon the other tack when a musket was discharged on
board the craft, and a hail was faintly heard pealing across the water
from her, and some two minutes later a ruddy flash succeeded by a puff
of smoke leapt from her forecastle, followed, a second or two later, by
the splash of a heavy shot in the water a dozen yards or so astern of
the boat.  Five breathless minutes followed for the fugitives, and then
a whole forest of oars suddenly sprang from the galley's sides, plunged
into the water, and she was under way, heading straight after the boat.

"Shall we do it, Dick, think you?" demanded Stukely, as he peered
anxiously under the foot of the sail.

"Yes," answered Dick, "if the wind holds.  Blow, good breezes, blow!" he
murmured, and began to whistle softly.  Suddenly he sat more upright in
the boat and gazed eagerly ahead.

"Look ahead and all along past our weather bow, Phil," he said.  "Is my
sight deceiving me, or do I see a number of water channels running into
the land there?  To me it looks as though there was an indentation of
some sort, like--well, like the mouth of a river choked with islands,
away ahead of us.  And, if so, we are saved, for it will be strange
indeed if we cannot dodge the galley among those islands--even if she
can get in among them," he added.  "For unless I am very greatly
mistaken the water shoals close inshore of us.  Do you notice how smooth
it is?"

"I do," said Stukely.  "I humbly hope it may not be too shoal for us as
well as for the galley.  All right, fire away," he continued,
apostrophising the galley; "fire away and waste your powder!  You will
have to shoot a good deal better than that to hit us."  For the people
in the galley were loading and firing in feverish haste, evidently
anxious to hit the boat before she should reach the shelter of the
islands, now less than a quarter of a mile ahead.

Presently the boat shot into the belt of smooth water that Dick's keen
eye had detected, and Phil seized a paddle and plunged it over the side,
to withdraw it a moment later and inspect it by the light of the moon.

"Four foot of water, with any quantity of soft black mud under it," he
announced.  "If thicky galley keeps as she is going for another five
minutes, Dick, she'll be stuck so hard and fast in that same mud that
she'll have something else to think about than chasing us.  Ah!" as the
boat luffed round a small mangrove-covered island, and the galley was
shut out from view, "there goes their last chance of hitting us with
their footy ordnance--with a murrain on them!"

The fugitives now suddenly found themselves sailing through a labyrinth
of small, mangrove-covered islets intersected by water lanes so narrow
and winding that they were only able to sail the boat along them by
exercising the utmost care and vigilance.  This intricate and difficult
navigation continued for nearly three hours, at the end of which time
they suddenly emerged from the maze of islets and found themselves in a
stream of thick, muddy water, averaging about a quarter of a mile in
width, with low banks fringed by mangrove trees, beyond which it was
occasionally possible to catch glimpses of more lofty vegetation.  The
water here was so deep that, except when close to the bank on either
side, it was impossible to reach bottom with a six-foot paddle; but when
they had traversed the river far enough to enable them to get a vista of
a clear mile astern of them there was still no sign of the galley, which
they therefore concluded had been unable to pass the mud bar at the
entrance of the river.

The course of the stream which they were now following was,
approximately, north-north-east, for a distance of about twenty-two
miles, which was traversed in a trifle over four hours.  Here the river
suddenly bent sharply round in a south-easterly direction; the mangroves
disappeared, being replaced by a thick fringe of reeds, the banks of the
river gradually increased in height, and were covered to the water's
edge with a thick tangle of bushes, amid which towered the outposts of a
forest of magnificent trees that could be seen stretching away for miles
ahead.  The fugitives considered that they were now well beyond all
likelihood of pursuit, and the thick beds of reeds which fringed the
river at frequent intervals afforded them excellent opportunities for
concealment; but the wind continued favourable, and the moon afforded
them ample light; they therefore determined to press forward so long as
the conditions continued favourable, one of them remaining on watch and
steering the boat while the other slept.

In this fashion they sped up the stream hour after hour, all through the
night, the width of the waterway remaining about the same, but the
character of the country ever-changing, the banks in places rising to a
height of quite a hundred feet, here in the form of a gentle, tree-clad
slope, and there towering precipitously, a rocky face, with overhanging
bushes and great clumps of fern springing from every fissure.  At length
the moon sank beneath the tree-tops on the western bank, and the light
became so uncertain that the voyagers were seriously debating the
advisability of seeking a suitable spot in which to tie up the boat,
when a sudden chilliness in the wind warned them that the dawn was at
hand, and a few minutes later the sky to the eastward paled, so that the
tops of the trees stood out against the pallor black as though drawn in
Indian ink, the stars dimmed and blinked out, one after another, the
eastern pallor became suffused with delicate primrose that rapidly
warmed into clear amber, a beam of golden light flashed through the
branches of the trees on the eastern bank of the river, and in a moment
the whole scene changed as if by magic, a thousand lovely tints of
green, blue, orange, crimson, and white, leapt into view as daylight
flooded the landscape, revealing great masses of flowering shrubs and
enormous festoons of queer-shaped and gorgeously coloured orchids;
colibris that flashed like living gems darted hither and thither; flocks
of gaily plumaged parrots winged their way, screaming discordantly,
across the stream; brilliantly painted kingfishers darted like streams
of living fire from bough to bough, or perched staring intently down
into the water from some overhanging branch; enormous butterflies of
exquisite colours, and dragon-flies with transparent rose-tinted wings
flitted inconsequently over the surface of the water and were leaped at
by fish as brilliantly tinted as themselves--and it was day in the South
American forest.  Half an hour later, as the boat rounded a low bluff, a
break in the forest appeared ahead, beyond which a wide expanse of water
was seen sparkling in the rays of the early morning sun; and presently
the boat shot out of the stream which she had been traversing all night,
and the wanderers found themselves floating upon the bosom of a
magnificent river about a mile wide, flowing as nearly as might be due
north.

For a few seconds the young Englishmen were silent, lost in admiration
at the spaciousness, the grandeur, and the tropical luxuriance and
beauty of the scene upon which their gaze rested entranced; then Dick
broke the silence by murmuring:

"Now, what river is this, I wonder?  Surely it cannot be the Magdalena,
of which we have heard so many wonderful stories?  And yet, if it is
not, I know not what river it can be.  The Magdalena lies somewhere in
this direction, I believe, and--but what matters the name?  It is a
superb waterway, however it may be called, the current is not so strong
but that we can easily stem it with the help of our sail, and it comes
from the direction in which we want to go.  What say you, Phil?  Which
is it to be, north or south?"

"South, of course," answered Stukely; "why ask such a totally
unnecessary question?"  He spoke with so much irritation of manner that
Dick looked at him anxiously, fearing that he might be suffering from a
slight touch of fever.  But no, there was nothing in Stukely's
appearance to suggest that he was suffering either from fever or any
other malady; but he was glancing about him keenly, eagerly, yet with a
puzzled expression, as though he recognised what he was looking at, but
could not understand why he recognised it.  And his next words conveyed
precisely the same impression, for he murmured, as though speaking to
himself:

"Now, this is most extraordinary!  This scene is absolutely familiar to
me; I seem to have gazed upon it--or upon something precisely similar to
it in every respect, thousands of times before.  Look at those gigantic
ceibas yonder; those long, trailing ropes of purple orchids; see those
flamingoes with their scarlet, black-barred wings, their long thin legs,
and their curiously twisted beaks; observe those graceful white birds
with their handsome crested heads; ay, and even the very monkeys
swinging down by the creepers to dip up the water and drink it out of
the palms of their hands; it is all much more familiar and homelike to
me than ever was the scenery of Devon.  Yet I have never been here
before, unless indeed it has been in my dreams.  But could a dream, or
even a series of dreams, impart to me the perfect knowledge that I seem
to possess of everything upon which my eye rests?  Now, yonder, for
instance, is a tree out of which I used to make--I mean that in some
strange way I seem to know that splendid bows can be made out of the
wood of that particular tree; and there, growing close beneath its
shade, in the water, is a clump of rushes which, when dried in the sun,
make perfect shafts for arrows.  And that reminds me, Dick, that, since
we must save our powder and shot for very special occasions, we ought to
provide ourselves with bows and a good stock of arrows, if only to
enable us to procure game.  Now, I know perfectly well, in some
mysterious manner, how to make bows and arrows; and since the materials
for making both are at this moment before our eyes, we ought to avail
ourselves of the opportunity.  Don't you think so?"

"Certainly," answered Dick.  "Though what you mean by saying that you
know what particular kinds of trees make the best bows, and all the rest
of it, I confess I don't understand."

"Nor do I," admitted Stukely.  "But, all the same, I possess the
knowledge, however strange it may appear; and perhaps, later on,
understanding will come to me.  Now, there is a good place to land,
among the reeds; push the boat in through them, Dick; we shall find the
bank low just there, with water enough for the boat alongside it."

"Now, how can you possibly know that?" demanded Dick.  "Nevertheless,"
he continued, "we will try, because it will afford an excellent
opportunity to test the accuracy of your boasted knowledge."  And he put
the helm up and headed the boat straight for the reeds, into the midst
of which she plunged a minute later, pushing them easily aside as she
drove through them, while they closed up again behind her, effectually
screening her from view from the river, and as effectually obliterating
the track which she had temporarily made through them.



CHAPTER NINE.

HOW PHIL AND DICK VOYAGED UP THE MAGDALENA.

"There, now, what did I tell you?" demanded Stukely, triumphantly, as
the boat slid easily through the reeds and glided alongside a smooth,
grassy bank, the top of which was scarcely a foot above the surface of
the river.  "Now," he continued, "if we lower the sail and unstep the
mast, we may remain here as long as we please, undetected."

Indeed the statement was strictly true; for, having lowered the sail and
unshipped the mast, they stepped ashore upon a smooth, grassy lawn, of
some four acres in extent, completely hidden from the river by the
screen of tall reeds, the feathery tops of which rose some ten feet
above the water's surface, while inland it was completely encircled by a
belt of forest the undergrowth of which was so dense as to be absolutely
impenetrable by man without the aid of axes or other hewing implements.
The lawn was thickly dotted with trees and shrubs of various kinds, amid
which was conspicuous the tree which Stukely had asserted was good for
the making of bows; and many of the trees were fruit bearers, among them
being bananas, pawpaws, guavas, mangoes, and other excellent varieties.

Dick stared about him in amazement as he stepped ashore, taking the
boat's painter with him and making it fast to a sturdy bush which grew
conveniently close to the water's edge.  "Well," he said, in answer to
Stukely's question, "you were perfectly right, however you came by your
knowledge.  And, as to remaining here--well, I think we might do worse.
We ought to accustom ourselves gradually to the outdoor, semi-savage
life which will henceforth be ours; and I think we cannot do better than
begin here.  And that reminds me that I have not yet breakfasted, while
yonder I see some bananas that appear to have reached the very pink of
perfection.  Are you hungry, Phil?"

"I am," answered Stukely, with emphasis; "and we have a full larder, it
seems; so help yourself, lad.  At present we shall be obliged to content
ourselves with an exclusively fruit diet; but in the course of a few
days, when we have provided ourselves with bows and arrows, we can vary
it a little by adding an occasional venison steak, or a parrot or two.
I can assure you, Dick, that parrots are very excellent eating."

"How do you know?" demanded the matter-of-fact Dick.  "Have you ever
eaten one?"

"Ay, often enough," answered Stukely, impulsively, then he checked
himself.  "At least," he stammered, "I seem to have done so; and yet, of
course, 'tis impossible.  Do you believe, as some assert, that a certain
number, if not all, of us have lived on this earth once, twice, thrice
before this present life, Dick?  Because that is exactly how I feel, as
though I had spent at least one previous existence here, in this very
part of the world, amid such surroundings as those which our eyes now
gaze upon.  It all seems so absolutely familiar; I feel that I know all
that there is to know about everything, except the names of them; ay,
and there are even times when strange dim memories of past scenes seem
to visit me, and for a moment I picture myself surrounded by all the
pomp and grandeur of a civilisation that has long passed away.  You will
call me a dreamer, as indeed you have often called me already; and
perhaps you are right.  Yet it is strange that all my dreams should
centre round scenes glorious as this, and have been so vivid that I
recognise hitherto unseen objects as perfectly familiar when my gaze
rests upon them.  But this is unprofitable talk; the really important
thing is that we are hungry, and are surrounded by food in abundance.
Let us to breakfast."

When at length they had satisfied their hunger by feasting upon the
several kinds of delicious fruits which abounded in the enclosure, Phil
approached the tree which he had asserted was good for making bows from,
and, drawing his hanger, proceeded to examine very carefully its several
boughs, finally choosing two which were absolutely straight and about
twelve feet long.  These he hacked off from the parent trunk, without
difficulty, using his hanger as an axe; then, handing one to Dick, whom
he directed to follow his own example, he sat down in the shadow of a
great umbrella tree and proceeded to trim away first the twigs and then
the bark.  This done, he took the bare, straight branch, and trimmed off
the thin end until the wood, which was perfectly round, was about
three-quarters of an inch thick.  Then he cut away enough of the thick
end of the branch to leave a pole about six feet long, which he
proceeded to whittle away at the thick end until it also was about the
same thickness as the thinner end, leaving the middle part about two
inches thick.  This he did with his pocket knife, without any
difficulty, the wood seeming to be quite soft and yielding itself to the
sharp blade with the utmost facility.  And as he worked, so did Dick,
the latter with a smile of amusement upon his face, for he flattered
himself that he knew a thing or two about bows; and to him it seemed
ridiculous to suppose that this wood which yielded itself as readily as
cheese to the shaping of the knife could ever be of the slightest use as
a bow.  But he worked steadily on, following Stukely's lead, and shaping
his own branch precisely as Stukely shaped his, and after some three
hours of by no means arduous work each possessed a perfectly straight,
smooth rod, accurately trimmed into the form of a bow about six feet
long, with properly notched ends for the string to fit into.

"There," said Stukely at last, as he critically inspected his own and
Dick's production, "I do not think we can improve upon either of those,
which ought to make really formidable weapons when they are ready for
use.  Now, the next thing is to hang them up in the shade to dry, and
that will take three full days at least, after which they will be ready
to use, and will steadily improve in quality until the whole of the sap
is completely dried out of them.  If they have a fault it will probably
be that we shall find them a shade too strong for us at first; but we
shall grow accustomed to that in time.  We cannot do better than hang
them to a bough of this tree, where they will be completely shielded
from the rays of the sun, and will dry slowly and evenly.  Now, the next
thing we need is a string for each bow, and--if we can contrive it--a
spare string as a stand by.  And"--glancing about him--"I think we ought
to find the materials for the manufacture of those strings not very far
away."

He hung up the two bows in such a situation that at no time of the day
would the rays of the sun get at them, and then wandered round the
enclosure, peering up among the branches of the trees, and at length
seemed to find what he was seeking, for presently he swung himself up
into a particular tree, and climbing some little way up it, plucked two
brown balls about the size of oranges, with which he descended.

"Here we are," he exclaimed in accents of satisfaction, as he exhibited
the balls to Dick.  "These are the cocoons of a certain caterpillar, the
name of which I forget, but they spin a kind of silk which is admirably
adapted for the making of bowstrings, for it is incredibly strong, does
not fray, and is not affected by damp.  Now--"

"But how on earth do you come to know all this, Phil?" demanded Dick, as
he took one of the cocoons in his hand and examined it curiously.

"I cannot tell you," answered Stukely, rather impatiently; "let it
suffice you that I possess the knowledge, in some inscrutable way, ay,
and a good deal more, too, of which you are like to reap the benefit in
the long run."

He then proceeded to explain and illustrate how the silk was to be
unwound--a task which kept them both busy for several hours--and when
this was at length done he showed Dick how to spin the fine, tough
filament into a thin but immensely strong cord.  But the most remarkable
part of the whole affair was the perfectly intimate knowledge which he
displayed of the various operations, none of which, be it remembered, he
had ever performed before.  The unwinding of the cocoons and the
spinning of the cords--two for each bow--occupied the young men during
the remainder of that first day and the whole of the second, for the
process was a rather tedious and delicate one, in which Dick at least
exhibited all the inaptitude of the novice.  The third and fourth days
were fully occupied in the cutting of reeds and the conversion of them
into arrows; and here again Stukely showed the same weird,
incomprehensible knowledge and skill that he had so conspicuously
displayed in his choice of the wood for the bows, his working of it to
the proper shape, and his manufacture of the bowstrings; for the arrows,
when finished, were as nearly perfect as such missiles could possibly
be, the shafts being of uniform length, perfectly straight, and each
tipped with a strong, hard thorn, sharp as a needle, and growing
naturally in the form of a barb.  Two dozen arrows for each constituted
their initial equipment, but they cut a considerable quantity of spare
reeds and thorns, and wound quite a large skein of silk to bind the
barbed heads with, as they were quite prepared to lose several of their
arrows at the outset, and accordingly made ample provision for their
replacement, which could be done at odd moments, while working their way
up the river.  Their next business was to plait two quivers of palm-leaf
fibre, with shoulder straps to support the same; and it was Stukely who
had to make these, for when Dick endeavoured to follow his friend's
instructions he proved to be so absolutely lacking in the necessary
skill that, to save time, Phil undertook to do all the work himself.
These several occupations kept them busy for an entire week, during
which they saw no sign of human presence on the river; and by the time
that all was finished the bows had dried into prime condition, and Dick
found, to his amazement, that the wood which, when first cut, had been
soft and workable as cheese, had become as hard as iron, tough, elastic,
and extraordinarily strong; that it had, in short, become perfect for
use as a bow.

Being now equipped with powerful and effective weapons which would
enable them to save their powder and ball for special emergencies, and
provide them with all the game they might require, the two adventurers
resumed their journey, heading up the wide, deep river which they
believed to be the Magdalena, sailing when the wind permitted, and
paddling when it did not, unless they happened to be within sight of a
good camping place when the wind failed them, in which case they very
frequently ran in alongside the bank, moored the boat, and rested or
hunted, or both, until the wind sprang up again.

They were perfectly happy now, these two; and it is difficult to say
which was the happier.  The life which they were living was, as nearly
as possible, ideal; it was passed in the open air, in the midst of
glorious scenery which was constantly revealing new beauties and
wonders; they had not a care in the world, for the river and the forest
provided them with an ample supply of food, while they had no anxiety
with regard to clothing in a climate which rendered clothes a
superfluity.  In short, their every physical need was abundantly
satisfied; they enjoyed perfect health, and if their adventures thus far
were of a somewhat tame and commonplace description, well, what mattered
it?  They had not a doubt that excitement in plenty lay before them, and
meanwhile their daily life was insensibly training and preparing them to
cope with it.  Each of them was happy in his own way; Dick, because all
was new and splendid, and Phil, because he was possessed of a wonderful
overmastering feeling that after a long period of exile he once more
found himself amid scenes that were familiar, and, although he could not
say precisely in what way, suggestive of glorious associations.

Late on the second day of their resumed voyage they arrived at a point
where the river forked, the stream on their right hand being almost as
important as the other; but they decided that the stream on their left
was the main stream, and therefore followed it.  Although they knew it
not at the moment, this decision of theirs to follow the left instead of
the right stream was of the utmost import to them; for had they decided
differently they would have missed the extraordinary adventure that
awaited them among the mountains which lay so far ahead that many a
weary mile of river, forest, and plain must be traversed before their
peaks should swing into sight.

They camped that night on the point of land where the two rivers united
their waters, and had scarcely landed when, without a sound to tell of
his coming, a graceful antelope emerged from the brake a few hundred
yards away, evidently going to the river to drink.  The adventurers were
at the moment partly concealed by the reeds among which they had moored
their boat, moreover the wind was in their favour, and for nearly half a
minute the creature failed to see them.  By the time that he did,
Stukely had seized his bow, fitted an arrow to the string, and risen
cautiously to his feet.  Then the antelope appeared to become aware of
some unusual feature in the scene, and halted to investigate, whereupon
Phil cautiously drew his bowstring, released it with a loud twang, and
the arrow, flying straight and true, pierced the creature's heart, so
that it fell dead in its tracks, and they had their first deer.  And now
again Stukely gave fresh evidence of his uncanny knowledge, for although
he had never before killed a deer, and might be supposed to know nothing
of the verderer's art, he at once set to work to skin and "break up" the
animal with all the skill of an adept.  So that night they feasted
sumptuously upon venison steaks, grilled upon the embers of a fire
which, with a further display of his strange knowledge, Phil kindled by
the apparently simple but really exceedingly difficult process of
rubbing two sticks together!  And that night, too, they heard for the
first time the roar of the jaguar in the adjacent forest.

For several days--so many, indeed, that they lost count of them--they
voyaged steadily up the great river, sailing when the wind permitted,
paddling when it did not, passing, at tolerably frequent intervals,
points where lesser streams discharged themselves into the main body of
water, while by imperceptible degrees the waterway narrowed, and the
forest--dense, green, flower-decked, alive and gay with bird and insect
life--pressed its foliaged walls in upon them ever closer and closer,
except where an occasional break caused by fire or windfall afforded
them a momentary glimpse of giant mountain ranges to right and left, at
first a delicate purple-grey in the distance, but ever, like the forest,
creeping closer in upon them.  And now at increasingly frequent
intervals, they began to see Indians, at first a solitary "buck"
spearing fish from his canoe, but later on in parties of from half a
dozen to fifty or more, crossing the river, or, like themselves, using
it as a highway.  But thus far, much as Stukely desired it, they had
never succeeded in getting into touch with the natives, for the latter
invariably fled at the mere sight of them.

One of the most surprising circumstances, perhaps, in connection with
this voyage up the river, was the rapidity with which the two
Englishmen--or Dick, rather--lost the capacity to be astonished.
Stukely, indeed, had never manifested the least surprise at any of the
wonders that were continually coming under their observation, for,
steadfastly adhering to that strange fancy of his that he must have
lived in these regions during some former state of existence, he
persistently asserted that everything he saw was perfectly familiar to
him.  But with Dick it was very different; he was as matter-of-fact as
Phil was fanciful; and the sight of giant trees between two and three
hundred feet in height towering up into the cloudless blue a solid mass
of purple, scarlet, or yellow bloom; of graceful clumps of feathery
bamboo a hundred feet long; of the lofty forest walls on either hand
draped with festoons of orchids of the most extraordinary and
undreamed-of shapes and the most gorgeous colours; of birds, insects,
ay, and even fish, that flashed and glittered with all the hues of the
rainbow; of monkeys who followed their course up the river in troops of
a hundred or more; of the lithe and graceful jaguar lying stretched upon
some trunk or branch that closely overhung the water, watching with
ready paw to seize any unwary fish that might chance to swim past within
reach; of alligators that basked log-like on the mud banks--all these
things were to Chichester at first a source of utmost wonder and
admiration; yet within a month they had become the veriest commonplaces
to him, and had entirely ceased to attract his attention.  He was far
more interested in the sight of a fair breeze stealing up the river
after them than he was in the sight of the most beautiful flower, the
most gorgeous butterfly, or the most dainty and brilliant colibri, for
he knew that all these things he would see again a thousand times or
more; but a wind that would relieve them of the labour of paddling in
that scorching climate--ah! that was indeed a sight worth seeing.

At length, when they had been journeying up the river in leisurely
fashion for about three weeks, meeting with no adventure worthy of
record, on a certain hot and steamy afternoon, when the boat, under
sail, was doing little more than barely stem the current, they gradually
became aware of a low, faint roar, at first scarcely distinguishable
above the rustle of the wind in the trees aloft and the buzzing hum of
the innumerable insects which swarmed in the forest and hovered in
clouds over the surface of the water.  But as the boat continued to
creep upstream the roar gradually increased in intensity, until at
length, as they rounded a bend and entered another reach of the river
which extended practically straight for nearly three miles ahead of
them, they saw, at a distance of about a mile, a long stretch of
foaming, tumbling water, rushing headlong down through a rocky gorge,
about three hundred yards wide, over what was evidently a rocky bed, for
the brown heads of several rocks were seen protruding above the leaping
water in the channel.  Rapids! with a fall of nearly thirty feet in
about half a mile.  This was a formidable obstacle indeed, for it did
not seem possible that they could get the boat through them; and if they
should be obliged to abandon her, what would then happen?  Obviously
they would be obliged to walk the rest of the distance--or to build
another boat, or canoe, above the rapids; and it was difficult to say
which was the more distasteful alternative of the two.  Walking,
probably, for although their belongings were few and by no means
cumbersome to carry, the forest was so dense that, as they had already
proved by experience, it was scarcely possible to travel a hundred feet
without being faced by the necessity to cut their way.

"Well," said practical Dick, after they had sat staring at the beautiful
but tantalising scene for full five minutes, "it's no use meeting
trouble halfway, or wondering how we are going to get across the bridge
until we come to it; let's push on and get as close up as we can; then
we'll get ashore, walk up along, and have a look at the place.  Perhaps
when we come to it, it will not look so bad as it does from here."

The bank on either hand was so densely overgrown with shrubs that
landing seemed out of the question; but, seizing their paddles, the two
adventurers drove the boat up against the rapidly strengthening current.
Presently a tiny strip of beach, a yard wide by ten or twelve yards
long, came into view; and here they beached the boat, making her well
fast in order that the current might not sweep her away.  The rapids
were now less than a hundred feet distant, and the rush of the water
brought down with it a cool, spray-laden breeze that was infinitely
refreshing after the baking breathlessness of the stream below; but the
roar of the chafing waters was so loud that it was almost impossible to
make one's voice heard; Phil therefore scrambled up the steep bank, and
signed to Dick to follow.  Fighting their way through the dense
undergrowth, through which they were obliged to cut much of their way
with their hangers, they at length came out upon a jutting spur of bare
rock which overhung the rapids at a height of some fifty feet, and from
this point they were able to obtain a tolerably distinct view of the
whole gorge.  And, as Dick had suggested, when they came to look at the
place from close at hand, it did not appear to be nearly so
impracticable as they had at first imagined.

The bed of the channel was badly encumbered with rocks, it is true, but
only for about two hundred feet at the lower end; the rest of it, while
showing a partially submerged rock here and there, was on the whole
remarkably clear, the water rushing over its bed in a swift,
glass-smooth stream.  Even where the rocks were thickest, it was
apparent that there was a very well-defined channel between them, up
which a carefully navigated boat might easily pass--if propulsive power
enough were applied to her to overcome the downward rush of the stream.
But how was that power to be obtained?  Certainly not by paddling; the
stream was too swift for that.  But it was just possible that it might
be done by warping if a warp long enough and strong enough could be
obtained.  Moreover the warp need not be so prodigiously long, for now
that they came to look at the rapids at close quarters they saw that
their original estimate of their length had been a long way over the
mark; it was much nearer a quarter than half a mile long.  They glanced
about them and saw that the trees were here, as everywhere along the
river bank, thickly draped with long, thin, tough lianas, and the same
idea flashed into both their minds at the same moment: why should they
not twist or plait a warp of lianas?  There were plenty of them, and,
after all, it merely resolved itself into a question of time, while
time, just then, was of less importance to them than labour.  There was
an alternative, of course, they might abandon the boat and construct a
canoe above the rapids; and it was worth considering whether the
construction of a canoe or the making of a warp would involve the more
labour.  To settle the point they decided to go on through the woods
until they reached the head of the rapids, and there inspect the trees
with the view of ascertaining whether there were any suitable for the
construction of a canoe; and having come to this decision, they left the
rock and re-entered the forest.

For more than half an hour they were so busily engaged in forcing and
hewing their way through the dense, parasitical undergrowth that they
had no attention to spare for anything else; but at length they became
conscious of certain discordant sounds, reaching their ears above the
roar of the rapids, which presently became distinguishable as the
beating of drums, mingled with a sort of braying bellow, comparable to
nothing that they had ever heard before.  As the pair pressed on, the
unearthly sounds gradually grew louder, not only because they were
approaching the source of them but also because it was evident that the
producers of the sounds were becoming more excited, for the tapping of
the drums increased in rapidity while the braying as steadily grew in
stridency and discord.  Another five minutes of strenuous labour then
the two Englishmen burst through the last of the undergrowth and emerged
upon a cleared space of about a hundred acres on the bank of the river
just above the rapids.  At this point the river widened out again to
about the space of half a mile from bank to bank, the gorge being about
a hundred yards below, and the current was again gentle enough to render
paddling against it an easy matter.  A small strip of shingly beach was
dotted with some forty or fifty canoes, each hewn out of a single log;
and adjoining the beach, scattered over a space of about five acres of
ground, was a native village consisting of about fifty palm-leaf huts,
dotted about without the slightest attempt at symmetrical arrangement,
except that they were built round an open space.  The remainder of the
clearing consisted of cultivated ground divided into patches devoted in
about equal proportions to cassava and maize, with a little indigo here
and there.  A whole forest of slender poles, connected with each other
by lianas, from which large quantities of fish were suspended, drying in
the sun, and which, by the way, gave off a most intolerable odour,
indicated that the inhabitants depended as much upon the river as upon
the soil for their subsistence.

Apparently some sort of festival or religious ceremony was in process of
being observed when Dick and Phil burst in so unceremoniously upon them,
for the entire population of the village, men, women, and children, were
squatted in a circle round the open space in the middle of the village.
Despite the scorching heat a large fire was blazing in the centre of the
open space, and round it sat the village band, consisting of four drums,
made of sections of trees with the inside cut away, leaving a thin
cylinder of wood, over one end of which was tightly strained a skin of
some sort which was slapped with the palm of the open hand, and about a
dozen flageolet players, their instruments being made of baked clay.  It
was these last that emitted the unearthly braying, bellowing sounds
already mentioned.  To this hideous medley of sounds a figure in the
middle of the circle was dancing, a figure so queer that for a second or
two the young Englishmen scarcely knew what to make of it.  But
presently they saw that it was a man laced-up in a jaguar skin, with
teeth, claws, and tail complete, the face of the man peering out from
between the gaping jaws.  He was not only dancing vigorously, if indeed
dancing it could be called, which consisted in leaping violently into
the air and springing from side to side over a bundle, the nature of
which the intruders could not at first make out, but also singing, or
rather howling, certain words which appeared to be gradually working his
audience up into a state of savage excitement; for at intervals one or
another of them, apparently moved out of himself, would yell furiously
and shake in the air a villainous-looking, triple-barbed spear.

For nearly a minute the people were so completely absorbed in the
movements and words of their piache, or medicine man, or witch doctor,
as the man in the jaguar skin proved to be, that they were quite
oblivious of the presence of the two Englishmen; but suddenly the piache
caught sight of them and stopped short in his leapings and howlings, and
glared, open-mouthed, at the strangers for a second or two before, with
a yell of dismay, he turned tail and, leaping right through the blazing
fire in his panic, dashed into a hut and violently drew across the mat
which served as a door.  This extraordinary behaviour on the part of the
medicine man naturally excited the wonder of his audience, and also
aroused in them a feeling of consternation which caused them to spring
to their feet and look about them apprehensively.  Then they, too,
caught sight of the Englishmen, and, like their piache, made a mad dash
for their huts, yelling as they went.  Thus, in the course of a couple
of minutes, the two young Devonians were left in complete, undisputed
possession of the village, although they were conscious of being
stealthily observed from practically every hut in the place.

"Well," exclaimed Dick, as he stared about him in astonishment, "this
beats everything!  Men and women, big and little, there must have been
close upon two hundred of them, and not one had the courage to stay and
face us!"

"They probably took us for Spaniards," answered Stukely, "and may have
thought that we were merely the advance guard of a considerable force.
Hence their terror.  I only hope that when they discover their mistake
they may not revenge themselves upon us for the fright which we have
given them.  I would that one or the other of us possessed a smattering
of their lingo, sufficient to make ourselves understood; I am afraid
that we shall find our ignorance in that respect a very serious
hindrance as we penetrate farther into the interior; and we must do our
best to remedy the--hallo! what on earth is in that bundle?  Did you see
it move?"

Phil referred to the bundle over which the piache had been performing
his extraordinary dance when they interrupted him, and which had the
appearance of being simply a bundle of ordinary matting.  But Stukely's
eye happened to have been resting upon it while he spoke, and he had
distinctly seen it move.

"No, I didn't," answered Chichester, in reply to his friend's question,
"for the simple reason that I wasn't looking at it.  But we'll look at
it now, if you like."  And striding over to where the bundle lay upon
the ground, he drew his knife, severed the thongs that bound it,
unrolled the matting, and disclosed to his own and his companion's
astonished gaze the figure of a little old man, securely bound hand and
foot.  He was an Indian of some sort, evidently, but not of the same
race as the inhabitants of the village, his colour being that of light
copper, while that of the others was a very dark brown, nearly
approaching to black; also his features were of a totally different and
much higher type, his forehead being broad and high, his nose thin and
aquiline, and his cheek-bones rather high and prominent; in fact he
must, in the days of his youth, have been a decidedly handsome man, with
an imposing presence; but now he was old--how old it was rather
difficult to guess, but probably not far short of a hundred--shrunken
and shrivelled up until he resembled an animated mummy more than
anything else.  His head and face were clean shaven, and he was naked,
except for a sort of petticoat of feathers about his loins, the said
petticoat having evidently at one time been an exceedingly handsome
garment, though now it was soiled, frayed, and generally very much the
worse for wear.

As Dick bent over the old fellow, with his long, keen knife in his hand,
to sever his bonds, the creature suddenly cried out some half a dozen
words, in a thin, high, piping voice, causing Stukely to start forward
and gaze earnestly into the face of the speaker; then, to Dick's
stupefaction, Stukely replied in apparently the same tongue, bent over
and rapidly loosed the thongs which bound the old fellow's hands and
feet together, and proceeded gently to chafe the shrunken limbs.



CHAPTER TEN.

HOW THE TWO ADVENTURERS ACQUIRED A COMPANION.

"Why, Phil," exclaimed Dick, in amazement, "what does this mean?  Surely
you are not pretending that you understand the old chap's lingo?"

"No, Dick, I am not pretending," answered Stukely, regarding Chichester
with a dazed expression.  "It is a fact--a most extraordinary and
unaccountable fact, that I really understand what the poor old chap
says, without knowing it, without even previously suspecting it for an
instant.  I seem to possess a sufficient knowledge of his tongue to be
able to comprehend his speech, and even to answer him; and I believe
that in the course of a day or two I shall be able to converse freely
with him.  What he cried out just now was an entreaty that we would
spare his life, and I answered that he need not fear us, for we meant
him no harm."

"Um-m-m!" commented Dick.  "Well, this is the land of marvels, and no
mistake!  I thought I had grown accustomed to the wonders of it, and
that I had no capacity for further astonishment, but I confess that you
have contrived to give me one more spasm of surprise.  Ask your friend
who he is, and where he hails from: I dare swear that he is not a native
of this village."

Stukely turned to the old man, who was by this time sitting up and
gently chafing his wrists and ankles, and attempted to put to him the
question which Dick had suggested.  But he found that the words would
not come to him; he felt that he knew but could not remember them; and
after two or three bungling attempts he was obliged to give it up.

"Now, that is very extraordinary," said he, attempting to explain his
failure to Dick; "almost as extraordinary as the fact that I understood
the old chap's words, and was able to answer them.  But I know his
language--I am certain I do--and after I have practised with him a
little, it will all come back to me.  Meanwhile we must do the best we
can.  Are you feeling better, `gramfer'?  And what were the Indians
going to do to you?"  This in English.

The Indian looked up in Stukely's face and spoke for nearly a minute;
and when he had finished Stukely was again, to his own and Dick's
amazement, able to reply.

"We are getting on," Phil explained.  "The old gentleman asked me why I
did not address him in his own tongue, since I evidently understand it;
and then went on to say that we arrived here just in the nick of time,
as the villagers were about to torture him to death, to secure the
favour of some god or devil of whom they appear to be particularly
afraid.  And I said that he might depend upon us to protect him so long
as we have the power to do so."

Then he turned again to the old man, and, with a good deal of stammering
and hesitation, and many long pauses for consideration, said something
else, to which the ancient again replied; whereupon Phil made a further
attempt, with the result that ultimately the two had quite a long
conversation together, although it must be confessed that the elder man
did most of the talking.  At length the conversation came to an end, for
the moment, and Stukely seized the opportunity to transmit to Dick the
information which he had acquired.

"Our friend's story is a very remarkable one," he said.  "He tells me
that his name is Vilcamapata; that he is a Peruvian; and was once a
priest of the Sun, in a temple which stood--and the ruins of which,
indeed, still stand--on an island in the midst of a great lake which,
lies among the mountains far away to the southward.  This was when Peru
was at the zenith of its power and glory under an Inca named Atahuallpa,
whom the Spaniards under Pizarro decoyed into their power and murdered
most shamefully and cruelly; afterward seizing the country and making it
their own.  Since then `gramfer' Vilcamapata has been a wanderer and a
fugitive, always fleeing from the Spaniards, who, it appears, are doing
their utmost to extirpate the Peruvians under the pretence of
converting--or trying to convert--them to the Christian faith.  Thus it
was in the course of his aimless wanderings that he came to this
village, three days ago, and was seized by the inhabitants, who, after
much deliberation, decided to sacrifice him to one of their demons, and
were, indeed, about to do so when we appeared upon the scene and
interrupted them."

"Well," said Dick, "it seems to me that he stands a very good chance of
being sacrificed still, as soon as these Indians find that there are
only two of us to defend him.  Pray heaven that they may not take it
into their heads to sacrifice us too, with a murrain on them!"

"Oh, I don't think they will do that, or even attempt to take gramfer
from us," replied Phil, cheerfully.  "It seems that they have a very
great respect for white men--except Spaniards--and are ever on the
lookout for a paleface named Amalivaca to come across the Great Water
and unite all the Indians into one great and powerful nation which shall
utterly destroy the Spaniards and restore the country to its original
owners."

"I suppose they could not be persuaded to accept us as two of
Amalivaca's sons, come over as a sort of advance guard to prepare the
Indians for the arrival of the old boy himself?" suggested Dick.  "But
then the difficulty is that we don't understand their lingo.  Does
gramfer, think you?  If so, he might be induced to act as our
interpreter, and inform the Indians that we are their friends.  Perhaps
if they could be persuaded of that they might be induced to help us to
get the boat up above the rapids."

"Yes," agreed Phil, "they might; that is a very good idea, and I'll see
what can be done."  Therewith he turned to the ancient, and again, with
much halting and stammering, contrived to explain what they desired to
accomplish.

The Peruvian put several questions to Stukely, seeming not quite to
comprehend what the white men required; and Dick noticed that after the
ex-priest had spoken a little while with Phil, the latter became much
more fluent and certain in his speech, so that, in the course of a
further conversation of some ten minutes' duration, he contrived to make
Vilcamapata clearly understand what he wanted; whereupon the old man,
facing round toward the huts, lifted up his voice and made what seemed
to be a long proclamation in a language of which Stukely understood
nothing.  But if what he said was incomprehensible to the white man, it
was evident that it was clearly enough understood by the Indians, who,
before the speech was half over, came swarming out of their huts and
prostrated themselves before Phil and Dick, grovelling in the dust.  Nor
did they attempt to interfere further with the Peruvian; on the
contrary, they listened with the utmost attention to all that he had to
say to them; and when he had finished, about a dozen of them jumped into
one of the largest canoes, paddled across to the opposite side of the
stream, vanished into the forest, and after an absence of about an hour
and a half, reappeared, singing a song of triumph and carrying the white
men's boat, with all her gear and contents intact, upon their shoulders,
having evidently brought her up past the rapids by a path through the
forest, on the opposite side of the river to that by which Phil and Dick
had ascended.

It was by this time within half an hour of sunset; and when the boat had
been launched in the river above the rapids, towed across to the village
side of the stream, and safely moored, the piache again made his
appearance and addressed himself at considerable length to Vilcamapata;
who, in his turn, addressed himself to Phil, informing the latter that
the villagers were profoundly grateful for the honour which the white
men had done them in condescending to visit their village, and that they
trusted the said white men would, by lodging in the village for that
night at least, if not for a much longer time, afford them an
opportunity to show their gratitude in a practical way.  To which Phil,
after consultation with Dick, replied that they were gratified to find
that their Indian children duly appreciated the honour which had been
done them, and that, as a token of their favour, they would accede to
their request to spend the night in the village, provided that a new hut
were erected for their accommodation; but that they must depart at
sunrise, as they had a long journey before them.  Whereupon the Indians,
with joyful songs, at once proceeded to erect the new hut on a vacant
space somewhat apart from the village, pushing forward the work so
rapidly that the hut was completed and ready for occupation by the time
that the first stars began to appear in the sky.  And no sooner had the
two white men installed themselves therein, with a large fire blazing
before the hut to afford them light, and drive off the mosquitoes, than
several women appeared with baskets on their heads, some of which
contained cassava, while the contents of others consisted of the young
heads of Indian corn, boiled, and wrapped in plantain leaves, the hind
quarter of a kid, roasted, roasted plantains, a quantity of fruit, and a
calabash containing a liquid which had a faint, mellow, acid flavour,
something like weak cider, exceedingly refreshing as a beverage, but
decidedly heady, as they discovered a little later on.  The Peruvian, at
the joint request of the white men, established himself in a corner of
the hut, thankfully accepted such viands as they gave him, and generally
comported himself in such a manner as to convey the idea that he
regarded himself as under their special protection.  Indeed they were
glad enough that he should so regard himself, for there could be no
doubt that he would be of very great service to them, if only as a guide
and interpreter; he having, it appeared, been a wanderer up and down the
country for--as Phil understood--nearly forty years.

"The thing that puzzles me most of all," said Dick, when they were
discussing the day's doings as they sat at supper that night, "is how
you and the Peruvian came to be able to converse together.  To me it
seems nothing less than a miracle."

"Yes," agreed Stukely, "I have no doubt it does; I can quite understand
that it would so appear to you.  Indeed, when I come to reflect upon it,
it also appears miraculous to me; for why should I be able to understand
a language that I have never studied, spoken, or even heard before?  It
seems impossible, upon the face of it, doesn't it?  Yet, although I know
that I never was abroad until I came over here in the _Adventure_, I
have, from the earliest days of my childhood, had a feeling, amounting
sometimes to conviction, that sometime in the past I dwelt in just such
another land as this; a sound, an odour, has brought to me vague,
elusive memories of a country of vast forests, great, shining rivers,
stupendous mountains, and island-dotted lakes crowned with vast
buildings constructed in a style of architecture such as these eyes of
mine have never beheld in England.  Then again I seem to be able to
recall gorgeous pageants in which I took a prominent part, and at which,
in the presence of an innumerable people, I assisted in the performance
of strange rites.  Such scenes come to me most vividly in my dreams at
night; and there are occasions when those dreams are so realistic that
when I awake I am puzzled to decide which is the dream and which the
reality.  And--strangest thing of all--on all these occasions I have
spoken the language which I spoke with Vilcamapata to-day!  I recognised
him, or rather his type of countenance, the moment I set eyes upon him,
for I have beheld many such in my dreams.  And ever since I have been in
this country I have had the feeling of one who, after a long absence,
finds himself again among familiar and homelike surroundings.  Those are
the facts; but I cannot explain them any more than you can explain to me
why that fire throws out heat."

On the following morning the up-river journey was resumed, much to the
grief of the villagers, who seemed to have taken a most extraordinary
liking for the Englishmen, possibly because of some fancy that the
presence of the white men would bring good luck to the village and its
inhabitants.  But neither Stukely nor Dick was minded to delay their
journey, and met the pressing invitation of the Indians to remain with
them by repeating their explanation that a long journey lay before them,
and that there were urgent reasons for the utmost haste.  Whereupon the
headman of the village, through Vilcamapata, petitioned that a party
might be permitted to accompany the palefaces two days' journey up the
river, in order that they might transport their friends' boat past
certain rapids and a cataract which would be met with at that distance
above the village.  This statement as to the existence of the rapids and
cataract being confirmed by Vilcamapata, Stukely graciously gave the
required permission; and when, after an early breakfast, the little
expedition set out, it consisted not only of the two Englishmen and
Vilcamapata, but also of twenty Indians in two canoes, who were vastly
astonished when, a fresh and favourable breeze happening to be blowing,
they saw the white men step their mast, unfurl their sail, and go
scudding upstream against the current at a speed which taxed their
utmost energies to keep pace with.  But the wind died away about noon,
and then nothing would satisfy the Indians but that they must take the
boat in tow, which they did, with the result that Dick and Stukely were
spared a long and hot afternoon's paddling.  Moreover, not content with
this, when the time came for them to camp for the night, the friendly
Indians insisted on building a hut for Dick and Phil to pass the night
in, one half of the party undertaking this task while the other half
plunged into the woods, to return, some three-quarters of an hour later,
loaded with fruit and game of various descriptions, the choicest
portions of which they placed in the white men's hut.

The next day's journey was, in all essential particulars, the
counterpart of that which preceded it, except that about mid-afternoon
they arrived at the foot of the rapids, of the existence of which the
Indians had warned them.  These rapids were very much more formidable
than those which they had first encountered, the channel being
considerably narrower and the current consequently far more rapid; also
the river bed was here full of enormous rocks and boulders, over and
between which the water rushed and leapt and boiled in a turmoil of fury
that no boat or canoe could possibly have faced.  Furthermore, the
rapids were nearly a mile and a half in length, beyond which was about a
mile of comparatively quiet water, and then came a cataract of over a
hundred feet in perpendicular height, with another half-mile of rapids
beyond it, before the river once more widened out sufficiently to be
navigable.  Had the two adventurers been alone they would certainly have
been compelled to abandon their boat at this spot; but the Indians made
light of the difficulty, beginning by building a hut for their white
friends, as on the day before, on a small open plateau near the foot of
the rapids, while half a dozen of their number explored the banks on
either side of the river in search of a practicable road, by means of
which the boat could be carried up past the rapids and the cataract to
the navigable water beyond.  This they eventually discovered in time to
effect the portage before dark.  Then, more fruit having been found, and
game taken on the way back, a great fire was kindled, and a farewell
feast was held in honour of their paleface friends, which was wound up
with some of the most weird and extraordinary singing and dancing that
the Englishmen had ever heard or seen.

On the following morning the Indians escorted Phil, Dick, and
Vilcamapata to the spot where, beyond the cataract and the upper rapids,
their boat, with all its contents intact, rode safely in the placid
waters of a little bay where the river widened out and navigation was
once more possible.  Here at last the kind-hearted natives bade a
reluctant and sorrowful farewell to Dick and Stukely; the bitterness of
parting being mitigated by a promise on the part of the white men that,
in the event of their returning by way of the river, they would not fail
to make a stay of at least a week in their friends' village.

Now, with a long stretch of unobstructed navigation before them, they
had time to improve their acquaintance with Vilcamapata, who was never
tired of expressing his gratitude to Dick and Stukely for having saved
him from a terrible death.  But it soon became apparent that, for some
inexplicable reason, he regarded Stukely as much the more important
personage of the two, his devotion to Phil being of such a pronounced
character that it almost amounted to worship.  This, of course, might
have been accounted for to some extent by the fact that Stukely was able
to converse with him in his own tongue, and the rapidity with which Phil
attained to proficiency in the Peruvian language was a never-ending
source of wonderment to Dick.  But there was evidently something more
than this in it, something which he did not offer to explain, and upon
which Stukely did not care to question him, fearing that, if he did so,
such an exposure of ignorance on his part might result in a weakening of
his influence over the Peruvian, while from this influence he hoped to
obtain certain very important advantages.  A rather remarkable
circumstance, which gradually revealed itself in the course of Phil's
conversations with the ex-priest, was that the latter did not seem to be
in the least surprised that Stukely should be desirous of penetrating
Peru; on the contrary, he appeared to regard it as quite a matter of
course; nay, more, it almost appeared as though Stukely's visit had been
long expected, and was a thing to be rejoiced over.  At least this was
the impression which Stukely gathered from remarks and expressions
dropped by Vilcamapata from time to time; and he would greatly have
liked to have questioned the man upon the subject, and learned precisely
what he meant by such references; but forbore for the reasons above
stated.  When at length Stukely cautiously hinted that the object of his
journey was the acquisition of wealth, the ex-priest, far from
exhibiting surprise or displeasure, displayed the utmost satisfaction,
and eagerly assured Phil that he could place him in possession of all
the wealth that he could possibly desire.  Upon Phil asking where the
wealth was to come from, the Peruvian replied that when the country fell
into the hands of the Spaniards an enormous quantity of gold, silver,
and uncut gems had been concealed in a secret chamber of the temple of
which he had been a priest; that it was there still; and that he was
quite prepared to reveal the hiding-place to his English friends,
feeling assured that they would use it in the manner which had been
intended when it was first concealed.  This again was a distinctly
cryptic remark, of which neither of the Englishmen could possibly guess
the meaning; but Stukely replied that Vilcamapata might rest assured
that they would employ it wisely and well; and with that answer the
Peruvian seemed perfectly satisfied.  But when he was asked to describe
the whereabouts of the temple, he could only very vaguely indicate it as
being built on an island situated in the midst of a sacred lake; that
the lake lay at an immense distance to the southward, under the shadow
of a rather remarkable snow-capped mountain; that the way thither was
encompassed with dangers from wild animals, hostile Indians, and--worst
of all--Spaniards; and that, if they were fortunate, they might possibly
reach the place in about four moons of diligent travel.  Four moons, or
months, of diligent travel!  It seemed an immense distance; for
"diligent travel" through the virgin forest--and Vilcamapata gave them
to understand that a very considerable part of the distance would have
to be traversed by land--meant something like an average of fifteen
miles a day; and fifteen miles a day for one hundred and twenty days
meant a journey of eighteen hundred miles!  But they were not dismayed;
for by this time they had come to have unlimited confidence in
themselves.  They were daily becoming more learned in woodcraft, being
now able to traverse at least three miles of forest in the time that it
had originally taken them to travel one mile; familiarity had caused
them to lose completely their original dread of wild animals and noxious
reptiles and insects; and as for Indians and Spaniards--well, they
believed they could always circumvent either or both of them; while, so
far as the length of the journey was concerned, what was four months, if
there was a fortune to be gained at the end of it?  So with light hearts
they pressed forward day after day, always following the river, until at
length they were obliged, first to abandon their boat in consequence of
the increasing number of rapids and falls, and take to a light canoe
instead, which they were easily able to transport overland when
necessary; and finally they reached a point where the river was no
longer navigable, even for a canoe, and they were obliged to take to the
forest.

But although they could no longer travel by water they still clung
closely to the river, as it was their only source of supply of drinking
water; moreover, it happened to lead pretty nearly in the direction of
their route.  They were now proceeding up a valley, hemmed in on either
side by mountains ranging in height from ten thousand to fifteen
thousand feet, yet so dense was the forest through which they were
travelling that they seldom caught a glimpse of them, except in one
particular instance where they frequently sighted a majestic,
snow-capped peak right ahead of them when they encamped in a clearing
close to the river.

At length a day came when the noble river, upon the broad bosom of which
they had journeyed for so many days, dwindled to a tiny brook brawling
over a rocky bed, across which they could leap, the forest grew thin and
stunted, degenerated to a few scattered scrub oaks, and finally ceased
altogether, and they found themselves confronted by a mountain barrier,
the bare rocks of which were interspersed with patches of grass, upon
some of which were grazing small flocks of most extraordinary animals,
such as they had never seen before, but with which Vilcamapata was
evidently quite familiar.  There were three distinct species of them,
although they all bore a striking resemblance to each other, being about
the size of donkeys, but having long necks, heads somewhat like those of
sheep, and legs and feet resembling those of camels.  Vilcamapata
informed the Englishmen that these animals were known respectively as
alpacas, llamas, and vicunas, and that the first were used by his
countrymen for food, while their wool was woven into garments; the
second were used as beasts of burden, and the third were valuable
principally for their hair and hides.

The river was now left behind; but this caused the travellers no
inconvenience, for the mountains which they were ascending, were most of
them snow-capped, and tiny rivulets of ice-cold water, formed by the
melting snow, were frequently met with, so that they were at no loss for
water wherewith to quench their thirst.  But as they pressed on,
climbing ever higher and higher, they began to suffer very severely,
first from cold, and next from mountain sickness, due to the steadily
increasing rarefaction of the atmosphere.  Vilcamapata, however, had a
remedy for both evils, for he killed three alpacas and stripped off
their skins to serve as wraps for himself and his companions, to protect
them from the cold; while, as soon as the first symptoms of mountain
sickness declared themselves, he produced from his pouch a quantity of
leaves of the marvellous coca, and bade the Englishmen chew them, which
they did; whereupon not only did the sickness disappear, but they felt
no further need of food, while their strength was restored to them in a
manner that seemed absolutely miraculous.  It cost them three days of
arduous labour to cross this mountain range; but the evening of the
third day found them once more encamped in the tropical forest beside a
tiny stream that flowed to the southward and eastward, while, on the
farther side, the valley sloped away into a still deeper depression.

Six days later, having meanwhile traversed about a hundred miles of
stifling tropical forest, travelling all the while in a due southerly
direction, and having crossed two important streams running in an
easterly direction, to say nothing of numberless rivulets, they came to
the bank of a third stream, also running almost due east; and here
Vilcamapata announced that it would be necessary to build a canoe, as he
now proposed to take to the water again.  Upon Stukely pointing out to
him that this river, like those others that they had recently crossed,
flowed east, whereas he understood that their own route lay to the
southward, the Peruvian replied that such was certainly the case; but
that although the river which they had now reached ran eastward, it
eventually discharged into another, by travelling up which they would in
process of time come very near to their destination; and that although
the distance which they would have to travel by water was very much
greater than the direct overland route, they would be able to accomplish
it in a much shorter time, and with considerably more ease and comfort
to themselves.  With this reply the Englishmen were obliged to be
content; accordingly while Dick and the Peruvian proceeded to hunt for a
suitable tree out of which to construct a canoe, within a reasonable
distance of the river bank, Stukely, taking his bow and arrows, went off
into the forest in search of game.

There had been a time when he would have hesitated to go very far into
those depths of green shadow alone, for fear of losing himself; but that
time was now long past for both the young Englishmen.  They had grown
quite accustomed to travelling through the pathless forest, to wandering
hither and thither in it in pursuit of game, and mechanically to note
while doing so a thousand signs, quite imperceptible to the novice,
whereby they were enabled to return with certainty to the spot where
they had temporarily fixed their camp.  Therefore on this occasion, as
on many others, Stukely, with a word of explanation to his companions,
plunged unhesitatingly into the labyrinth of tangled undergrowth which
covered the soil between the boles of the giant trees, instinctively
taking the direction in which he would be likely soonest to come upon
the track of game.

Yet he might have been excused had he hesitated to enter such a maze as
that which reared itself within less than a hundred yards of the spot
which the party had fixed upon for their temporary camp, for there was
no semblance of a path through it, and the mode of progress consisted
simply in entering at the spot where the tangle was thinnest and, still
following the line of least resistance, in that way make one's devious
way forward.  Progressing in such a fashion, it would have been quite
possible, nay more, almost inevitable, that one unaccustomed to such a
mode of travel should become hopelessly lost within the first five
minutes; but not so Stukely or Dick; they had learned to preserve their
bearings by noting the moss growing on the trunks of the trees, the
direction in which their principal branches pointed, and a hundred other
apparently trivial signs.  But it was a weird place in which to be
alone, for, apart from the green twilight produced by the filtration of
the light through the dense canopy of foliage that shut out all view of
the sky overhead, the under-brake was so thick that it was seldom
possible to see more than a yard or two ahead, and it was impossible to
say what strange or thrilling sight might at any moment meet the gaze.
Then there was the uncanny silence of the place, the kind of silence
that caused an involuntary movement on tiptoe and the holding of the
breath for fear of breaking it, yet which was broken at recent intervals
by stealthy, unaccountable rustlings, or sudden, violent commotions
beginning close at hand and gradually dying away in the distance.  These
strange, sudden, unaccountable sounds, caused in all probability by a
boa-constrictor, a buck, or some other creature startled into quick
movement by the scent of a human being, wafted to their nostrils by an
errant draught of air, were even more startling to the nerves than the
distant roar of the jaguar, or the call of the bell bird which
irresistibly suggested the incongruous idea that at no great distance in
those gloomy forest depths would be found a church!

But Stukely was thoroughly accustomed to these and the various other
strange sounds that so frequently broke the silence of the forest, and
if he noted them at all it was merely as a hunter notes sounds that
guide him toward his game, or warns him of possible dangers.  It was
not, however, in such a spot as this that he expected to find game, it
was in the open glades that occur here and there, where for some
unaccountable reason an acre or so of ground is entirely free from
trees, or at all events from undergrowth, and where the soil is covered
with thick, rich grass, upon which the deer love to graze, and which
they seem capable of scenting for miles.  So he pushed forward, worming
his way through the tangled brake with an ease and celerity that would
have seemed absolutely miraculous to him three months earlier, and ever,
as he went, his glances darted hither and thither, searching for the
stronger light which should reveal to him the whereabout of one of those
open glades, or, incidentally, a venomous snake or other noxious
creature lurking in his path.

At length, when he had been thus engaged for about an hour, and had
travelled a distance of about two miles, a somewhat stronger light away
on his right front conveyed to him the welcome intimation that such an
open glade as he sought was at hand; and ten minutes later he emerged
from the forest to find himself confronted by a scene of so
extraordinary a character that he halted abruptly and rubbed his eyes,
uncertain for the moment whether what he beheld was reality or the
effect of a disordered imagination.



CHAPTER ELEVEN.

HOW PHIL ENCOUNTERED A MOST MARVELLOUS ADVENTURE.

The place in which Stukely now found himself was a perfectly open glade
of about forty acres in extent, carpeted with rich, luscious grass, such
as the antelope loves to feed upon, without a tree or shrub of any kind
upon it.  It was not this, however, which excited his astonishment, for
such glades were by no means uncommon even in the densest parts of the
South American forest; nor was it that, immediately facing him, on the
opposite side of the glade, towered a bare, vertical stretch of porphyry
cliff towering up full three hundred feet into the cloudless blue.  But
it was the unique spectacle which the face of that cliff afforded that
excited the Englishman's admiration and astonishment, for it was
sculptured all over, from base to summit, with boldly executed figures
of men, women, and animals, which, when his admiration had passed
sufficiently to enable him to study them in detail, seemed to Stukely to
tell some sort of a story.  But what the story was he was quite unable
to puzzle out, for there were hunting episodes depicted, and also scenes
which seemed to represent some sort of religious ceremonial, while
others, again, might be interpreted as representing either a human
sacrifice, or, possibly, the execution of a criminal; for they
represented a group of men thrusting forward by a long pole another,
whose hands were bound behind him, toward a great uncouth-looking
monster that was emerging from a pool and advancing ponderously toward
the unwilling victim with widely opened, cavernous jaws thickly set with
most formidable-looking teeth.  The figures were executed in rather high
relief, and there was a certain quaintness and stiffness of outline in
their delineation that marked them as the work of an untutored artist,
yet the action of them was depicted with a spirit and vigour which
proved that the sculptor, although untutored, was undoubtedly a keen
student of nature.  Altogether, it was by far the most surprising thing
of its kind that Stukely had ever seen, and he stood for a long time
studying the various tableaux, and wondering why in the world anyone
should have thought it worth while to spend the best part of a lifetime
in carving in the stubborn rock so elaborate a series of pictures, where
probably no one but an occasional wandering Indian would ever behold
them.

Somewhat to Stukely's surprise, there was no game in the glade, yet it
was the one place of all others where he would have expected to find
antelope at least.  He looked about him to see whether he could discover
a cause for the emptiness of the glade, and presently thought he had
found it in a cave, the opening of which in the face of the opposite
cliff he had already curiously noted while examining the sculptures.
Doubtless that was it; a panther or some other evil beast had made its
home in the cave, and had preyed upon the game that frequented the glade
until it had all been frightened away.  He decided to go across and
investigate the place; possibly the panther, or whatever it was, might
be at home, and, if so, its skin would be very useful, for his clothes
were becoming much the worse for wear.

So he walked across the glade, and presently noticed, as he drew near
the mouth of the cave, that the soil round about it was damp, and that a
small trickle of water was issuing from the opening.  By the time that
he had advanced a few steps farther he had also noticed that the grass
immediately about the entrance of the cave was very nearly all worn
away, as though by the feet of many animals, while the damp soil about
the opening was trodden into the consistency of thick mud that bore the
impress of the feet of many animals, among which he recognised those of
antelope, wild pig, monkeys, and a jaguar or two.  These last confirmed
his theory as to the reason why the glade presented such an utterly
forsaken appearance; a pair of jaguars, knowing by instinct that such a
spot would be largely frequented by various kinds of game, had no doubt
taken up their quarters in the cave, and had fared sumptuously every day
until their repeated attacks had driven the game away.

Stringing his bow and drawing an arrow from his quiver, Stukely strode
forward until he stood in the mouth of the cave, when he halted and
looked in.  He now saw that it was a very much larger place than he had
at first imagined it to be; for, looking inward, he was able to follow
the rough walls for a few yards, as they receded inward, when he lost
sight of them in the gloom.  Also he became aware of a curious
charnel-house kind of stench that now and then issued from the cavern.
It was just the kind of odour that one would expect to meet with in the
den of a carnivorous beast, and Phil peered keenly into the darkness,
more than half-expecting to see the shining eyes of a jaguar or puma
glaring at him when his own eyes had become accustomed to the subdued
light of the place.  But no such sight greeted him, only, as he stood,
staring and listening, a sudden faint splash of water reached his ears
from within the dark depths of the cavern, and a few seconds later, as a
little stream of water came trickling down the slope from the interior,
a hot, strong puff of the peculiar effluvium which he had previously
noticed, smote him and almost turned him sick.

He retreated hastily to the open air--noticing as he did so that the
momentary trickle of water had ceased to flow; he felt that after
inhaling that dreadful odour he must get a breath of fresh air; also, if
he desired to explore the interior of that cavern, he must provide
himself with a torch.  Accordingly he retraced his steps across the
glade, re-entered the forest, and proceeded to look about him for a few
dry branches to serve as torches, some dry moss for tinder, and a couple
of pieces of wood suitable for rubbing upon each other when it was
desired to kindle a fire.  These things were soon found, and Stukely was
returning to the open glade with the perfect silence and caution which
had now become habitual to him, when, as he parted the last branches of
the scrub which shut him in, his quick eyes detected something moving
along the base of the cliff toward the cave.  A single glance sufficed
to assure him that it was one of the large apes, almost as big as a man,
which abounded in the forest; and he determined to remain where he was
for a few moments and watch the creature; if the brute entered the cave,
as seemed to be his intention, Stukely felt he might safely conclude
that the jaguars, or whatever they might be, were not at home, and that
consequently he might himself enter without the observance of quite so
much precaution as he would otherwise have considered necessary.

As he had anticipated, the ape was evidently bound for the interior of
the cavern, for upon arriving at the entrance the creature paused for a
moment, appeared to sniff the air carefully for a second or two, and
then went boldly in, somewhat to Stukely's surprise, for although when
he first saw the creature he gathered from its movements that it
intended to enter the cave, he could not imagine why it should do so;
for he knew perfectly well by this time that that particular species of
ape lived in a tree, not in a cave.  Then he recollected the water, and
immediately came to the conclusion that there must be a spring or pond
of some sort inside the cave to which the animals of the neighbourhood
were accustomed to resort in order to quench their thirst.  Yes, of
course, that would be it, he told himself; and it would account in a
perfectly natural manner for the many footprints which he had seen in
the mud at the entrance.  And, if that were the case, of course it would
not be the den of a panther or other carnivorous animal at all; for
monkeys, pigs, and antelopes would not frequent a spring in a cave which
one or more of their most deadly enemies had made their lair.  And yet--
what about that abominable stench which issued from the cave; how was
that to be accounted for?  It was a difficult question to answer, and
Stukely felt that there was but one way of getting at the truth, namely,
by thoroughly examining the interior of the cavern.  So, forgetting for
the moment that he was out after game, and was not engaged upon an
exploring expedition, he passed out through the parted scrub and headed
straight for the mouth of the cave.

He had traversed about half the width of the glade when the sound of a
sudden, loud splashing of water reached his ears, immediately followed
by an outburst of the most appalling shrieks and yells; and a couple of
seconds later out dashed the ape at a speed of which Stukely would never
have believed the creature capable, had he not beheld it with his own
eyes.  The ape cleared the mouth of the cave as though he had been shot
out of it, and came straight across the glade toward Phil.  For an
instant the latter thought that the simian had caught sight of him and,
transported with rage, intended to attack him; so he halted, dropped his
branches and tinder, and prepared to fit an arrow to his bow to repel
the attack; but a second glance assured him that he was mistaken, for
the monkey was not coming directly toward him, but would pass him at a
distance of about a dozen paces.  Moreover, it was more than likely that
the creature did not even see him, for Phil could now see that the poor
brute, as it dashed toward him in great, headlong bounds, with its long,
hairy arms and hands stretched out before it, its eyes turned back in
its head, and the most hideous shrieks issuing from its foaming jaws,
was frantic with terror!  In the drawing of half a dozen breaths the
terrified beast had come up level with, dashed past him, and plunged
headlong into the depths of the forest, where its yells at once raised a
tremendous commotion among the parrots and other birds, to say nothing
of the monkeys and jaguars that made it their home.

Phil meditatively gathered up the materials wherewith he proposed to
illumine the interior of the cavern, and slowly resumed his way across
the glade.  Evidently there was something in the cavern after all,
otherwise that poor ape would not have dashed out of it so
precipitately, and in such a ghastly state of terror.  But what could it
be?  It must be something even more formidable than a jaguar or a puma,
to have terrified that unhappy monkey to the verge of madness; yet, so
far as Phil knew, the jaguar was the most dreaded beast to be found in
the South American forest.  There was but one way of determining the
point satisfactorily.  So, completely forgetful now of the errand upon
which he had started out, Stukely at once decided to adopt that way,
which was, of course, to enter the cavern and see for himself.

Accordingly, having arrived within about thirty feet of the opening in
the face of the sculptured rock, the young Englishman looked warily
about him and peered into the interior of the cavern to make sure that
there was no likelihood of his being attacked unawares; and when at
length he had satisfied himself on this head, he laid down his bow and
proceeded to arrange his dry moss so that it would kindle readily; then
he took his two fire-producing sticks, rubbed them one against the other
in the most approved manner, and presently had a little flame which he
deftly communicated to the tinder-like moss.  When this was fairly
ablaze, he ignited the biggest and thickest branch he had with him, and
was soon in possession of a brilliantly burning flambeau, holding which
in one hand, and his bow and arrow in the other, he at once boldly
plunged into the interior of the cavern, glancing keenly about him as he
held his torch aloft.

The first thing that Phil noticed was that the fetid, charnel-house
odour which had before assailed his nostrils was now, for some reason,
not nearly so strong as when he had previously stood in the entrance of
the cavern; indeed it was scarcely perceptible.  The next thing to
attract his attention was the fact that the cavern widened out very
considerably as it receded into the interior of the rock, and that the
floor slightly rose as he walked forward.  Then the shimmer of water
ahead in the light of the torch caught his eye, and when he had
penetrated about fifty feet he suddenly found himself in a vast rock
chamber, so large that the light of his torch could scarcely reach its
farther extremity or its roof.  And there was a peculiarity about this
rock chamber which consisted in the fact that the whole of its interior,
from wall to wall, was occupied by a pool of water which brimmed to the
level of the highest part of the upward sloping entrance passage--nay,
it did even more, for it occasionally slopped over and went trickling
away in a tiny stream down the passage into the open, thus moistening
the soil at the entrance and creating the mud in which Phil had detected
the spoor of numerous different kinds of animals.  A further
circumstance which at once arrested Phil's attention and caused him
again to look sharply about him was that the surface of the pool,
instead of being glass-smooth, as one would naturally expect water to be
in a place completely sheltered from the wind, was considerably
agitated, as though some creature of great bulk had recently been
swimming in it.  Yet, so far as he could observe, he was himself the
only living creature in the cavern, and he could see to its farthest
extremity pretty clearly, now that his eyes had become accustomed to the
comparatively dim light of the torch.  Moreover, upon carefully
examining the rocky floor upon which he stood, the only wet footprints
visible were those of the ape which had recently beaten so precipitate a
retreat from the cavern, and Phil was quite certain that the creature
had not been indulging in a swim, for he was prepared to swear that the
brute's fur was perfectly dry when it dashed past him on its way across
the glade.  No, so far as the ape was concerned, the signs indicated
that it had waded into the water far enough to bend down and drink, and
then had been suddenly and very badly frightened.  Again Phil gazed
about him, searching the obscurity on the far side of the cave, and now
he noticed that there was another passage over there, a roughly circular
hole about five feet in diameter, running still farther into the heart
of the rock.  He thought he would like to get across and explore that
hole; but how was he to do so?  Of course he might swim across the
water; but that idea did not appeal to him, for it meant risking the
extinguishment of his torch; also he could not very well carry torch,
bow, and arrows in the one hand while swimming with the other, and he
was by this time much too wise to go poking about in strange places
without his weapons.  No, that would certainly not do; rather than be
guilty of so foolish an act as to discard his weapons he would leave
that hole on the other side unexplored.  But that alternative, too, was
distinctly distasteful to the young Englishman, and he once more raised
his torch and carefully examined the walls of the cavern, to see if he
could find a way of getting to the other side without being obliged to
swim across.  And now that he was definitely looking for it he saw that
there was a something in the nature of a narrow ledge running along the
left side of the chamber, at a height of about six inches above the
water's surface, by means of which, and aided by the roughnesses of the
cavern wall, he believed he could scramble over to the other side.  He
at once determined to make the attempt, noticing at the same time,
without attaching any particular significance to the fact, that the
agitation of the surface of the pond had so far subsided that there was
now but the merest suggestion of a ripple on it.

When Stukely reached the ledge by means of which he proposed to essay
the passage to the far side of the cavern he found, to his satisfaction,
that it was a quite well-defined projection running the entire length of
the wall, and apparently nowhere less than four inches wide, while there
were places where it widened out to nearly a foot in breadth, also the
surface of the wall was so rough that the irregularities would afford
him excellent grip for one hand.  Therefore returning to its quiver the
arrow which he had thus far been holding in readiness for a sudden
emergency, and slinging his bow over his shoulder, so that he might have
one hand quite free to cling by, the young man set his foot upon the
ledge and began to make his way cautiously across.

He had accomplished rather more than half the distance across when he
suddenly felt the water surge up over his feet and ankles, and, upon
looking down, saw, to his consternation, that it was once more violently
agitated, the swirling eddies upon its surface plainly indicating the
presence of some powerful disturbing influence at the bottom of the
pool.  Then, as Phil continued to gaze, that influence revealed itself
as a shapeless fawn-coloured something imperfectly seen through the
disturbed water, and the next moment an enormous head emerged, a pair of
monstrous jaws gaped widely, and the air of the cavern at once became
again surcharged with the disgusting effluvium which Phil had once
before observed.  As Stukely gazed, fascinated, at the terrifying object
which had thus suddenly appeared he became aware that the creature was
dazzled and to some extent discomfited by the light of the torch, for
the lids of its immense goggle eyes blinked incessantly as it returned
Phil's gaze, taking immediate advantage of which the young man thrust
his torch toward it as far as he could reach, with the immediate result
that the great head again sank out of sight.  Only for a few brief
seconds, however; but the young Englishman availed himself of those few
seconds to scramble along the remainder of the ledge and reach the point
for which he was aiming, and which now proved to be a sloping surface of
rock about twenty feet broad, leading up from the water to the circular
opening which Stukely had been so anxious to explore.

Now that he was there he was ready to execrate his folly for not having
retraced his steps along the ledge and made good his escape by way of
the mouth of the cavern, instead of continuing his journey, as he had
done; for his ill-judged action had resulted in placing him at the wrong
end of the cavern, and, to escape, he would be obliged to make his way
along the whole of that narrow ledge again, with the possibility that
the monster, recovering from its discomfiture, might snatch him off
before he had traversed half the distance.  No, Phil felt that with such
a horrible possibility as that confronting him he simply could not essay
the return passage along the ledge.

Indeed he was not afforded the opportunity; for he had scarcely reached
the broad slope of rock leading up to the circular tunnel which he had
been so anxious to explore, when the surface of the pool again became
violently agitated, and the monstrous head again appeared, followed this
time by an enormous body, four thick, clumsy legs, and a tail; and with
a ponderous rush the creature at once made for the spot where Stukely
stood.  But Phil, without waiting for further developments,
incontinently turned tail, and, stooping, bolted up the tunnel-like
opening, the comforting assurance coming to him that so monstrous a
beast could not possibly enter so comparatively small a passage.
Moreover, he was right, for after running a few feet he looked back over
his shoulder and saw that although the beast had thrust its head, as far
as its eyes, into the opening, it could advance no farther.  Then,
summoning all his courage to his aid, he retraced his steps, and,
plucking an arrow from his quiver, poised it in his hand for a moment--
he could not use his bow, as it was too long to be drawn in so confined
a space--and then hurled it with all his strength straight at the
beast's left eye.  The missile flew true--indeed it could scarcely miss
at such exceedingly short range--and buried itself half its length in
the great blinking orb; whereupon, with a bellowing roar that echoed and
reverberated like thunder in that underground chamber, the monstrous
head was suddenly withdrawn, and the next moment a sound of tremendous
splashing told the hardy assailant that his enemy had precipitately
retreated to the depths of the pool.  Then, acting more by instinct than
reason, Phil rushed back along the way which he had come, out of the
tunnel, on to and along the ledge--heedless of the violent disturbance
of the water which told of the convulsive movements of the enormous
shape hidden beneath its surface--and so back to the cavern entrance,
out of which he rushed almost as precipitately as the ape had done half
an hour earlier.  "No wonder," thought the young man, "that the poor
beast was frightened, if he happened to catch a glimpse of the monster
of the pool!"  Some two hours later he turned up at the spot where the
little party had made their temporary camp beside the river, and
nonchalantly flung to the ground the carcass of a Guazu-puti deer which
he had chanced to encounter on his way back.  He found that Dick and
Vilcamapata had made good use of their time during his absence, for they
had not only found a splendid tree out of which to fashion a canoe, but
had actually felled it; and there it lay, within a couple of hundred
feet of the river, ready to be hewn into shape and hollowed out.

"You've been away a long time," remarked Dick; "gramfer here and I were
seriously discussing the desirability of starting out to look for you.
Have you found the game scarce?"

"Game of the kind that I was after, yes; but game of a very different
sort, no," answered Stukely.  "The fact is, Dick," he continued, "that I
have had quite an interesting afternoon.  For I have discovered a cliff
carved all over with pictures that there is nobody to look at, and--why,
yes, now that I come to think of it, some of those pictures show the
very beast itself!"

"My dear Phil," remonstrated Dick, "are you talking to yourself or to
me?  Because, if the latter, let me remind you that I don't in the least
understand what you are referring to."

"No," laughed Stukely, "of course you don't.  But all in good time,
friend; hurry no man's cattle.  Thou wilt understand when I explain.
Know, then, O most matter-of-fact Dick, that I have this day seen a
sight--or two sights, to be strictly truthful--that will cause thee to
open thine eyes in amazement.  The first of them is, as I have already
said, a cliff pictured all over its face with strange and wonderful
sculptures, which doubtless tell a story if one had but the wit to read
them; and that reminds me that we ought to take the ancient along with
us when we go to see them to-morrow; he may be able to interpret their
meaning to us.  Now, among those pictures there is one depicting--as I
read it--a man being thrown to a huge and monstrous beast; and inside a
cave in that same cliff I not only found the beast himself, but narrowly
escaped being devoured by him.  Fortunately for me, there happened to be
a hole in the rock big enough for me to enter, but not big enough for
him; and when he would fain have followed me his head got stuck fast in
the opening, in which position, he being at my mercy, I drove an arrow
into his left eye, and escaped while he was endeavouring to free himself
therefrom.  But we must all go together to-morrow, Dick, and see these
wonders; for they are worth seeing, I warrant thee."

Dick Chichester, however, was not to be satisfied with any such bald and
incomplete statement as the foregoing, and accordingly, when they sat
down, an hour later, to take their last meal for the day, Stukely gave a
full, true, and particular account of his entire afternoon's adventure;
and it was agreed, then and there, that the first business of the
following day should be a visit to the sculptured rocks and the slaying
of the strange and monstrous beast.

Accordingly, on the following morning, immediately after an early
breakfast, the trio set out, arriving in due course at the glade which
lay at the foot of the cliff.  As usual, they approached the open space
with the utmost precaution, and were thus enabled to secure an antelope,
one of a small herd that happened to be grazing there at the moment of
their arrival.  They killed the creature, not because they required it
for food, but because Phil was of opinion that its carcass might serve
as a bait for the enticement of the monster out of the pool, thus
enabling them to get a fair shot at him; and having dragged the dead
animal to the mouth of the cave, they next proceeded to examine at
leisure the sculptured face of the rocks, which Vilcamapata at once
unhesitatingly pronounced to be the work of Amalivaca, the wonderful
being whom the Indians were looking for from across the Great Water to
deliver them from the power of the hated Spaniard, and restore to them
the undisputed possession of their own country.  But he was unable to
interpret the meaning of the sculptures, beyond stating vaguely that
they, like many others existing in the country, undoubtedly portrayed
certain customs and modes of life peculiar to a race who inhabited the
country long before the Indians came into it.

Then, having at length satisfied their curiosity by gazing their fill at
the curious scenes set forth in the imperishable porphyry, they entered
the cavern and inspected the pool, the surface of which was still
agitated, showing that its tenant was restless, as indeed might be
expected.  Then, returning to where they had left the carcass of the
deer, they dragged it far enough into the cavern to enable the monster
just to reach it by completely emerging from the pool; and then,
stringing their bows, and satisfying themselves that the priming of
their pistols was as it should be, calmly sat down to await the issue.

For more than an hour they waited in vain; for beyond an occasional
stirring of the water, which caused it to overflow momentarily and
trickle down the slope of the approach, nothing happened.  Then a troop
of small monkeys suddenly approached the cavern, and, seeing its human
occupants, bolted, loudly chattering their indignation and fright.
Shortly afterward a deer came tripping daintily across the glade, halted
suddenly, threw up its head, and after sniffing the air for a few
seconds, wheeled smartly round and bounded back into the forest.
Another hour passed, and they were discussing in low tones the
advisability of adopting some other plan for the enticement of the great
beast from his lair, when they heard a sudden rippling and splashing of
water in the interior of the cave, followed by a low moan and a gust of
the offensive effluvium which Phil had noticed on the previous day, then
a still more violent splashing of water, accompanied by a quick rush of
overflow, a sound of ponderous movements, and then, looming out of the
darkness, there vaguely appeared an enormous shape coming slowly and
cautiously toward the carcass of the deer.  In another moment it had
advanced sufficiently to enable the watchers to observe the shape of its
monstrous head, and Phil saw that in some way the creature had managed
to free itself of the arrow which he had implanted in its left eye on
the preceding day; but the brute had doubtless lost the use of that eye,
for it could now be seen that it was closed, and that a small trickle of
blood was flowing from between the lids.  As it slowly advanced, the
beast moaned frequently, while the disgusting odour which it exhaled
momentarily became stronger.

It had been agreed that if the beast could be enticed out of the water,
all three of the hunters should, at a given signal, discharge an arrow
at its right eye, and the trio were now standing, with bows fully bent,
awaiting the signal.  Another moment, and the brute slightly raised its
head and halted, as though suspicious of danger.  The slight raising of
the head was just what was required to enable a perfect aim to be taken,
and Phil at once gave the word "Shoot!"

The loud and practically simultaneous twanging of the three bows was
instantly followed by a hideous roar, and in another moment the great
beast, bellowing horribly, came charging right out of the cave, all but
crushing to death his adventurous enemies as he did so, for the three
had only just time to dodge behind a projection of the rock when the
monster rushed past them at a lumbering trot, to stumble and roll over,
just as it reached the open.  For a moment the trio thought that in some
unaccountable manner they must have missed their aim, for as the
creature passed them they were unable to see any portion of the shafts
of their arrows protruding from its remaining eye.  But it, too, was now
closed, and they presently concluded that, with the momentum imparted to
them by their exceedingly powerful bows, the arrows must have completely
buried themselves in the monster's eyeball.  At all events it was
perfectly evident that the missiles had got home somewhere, for the huge
creature was now rolling and bellowing in agony, as it clawed
frantically at its eyes with its immense feet.  It was a distressing
sight to see such an enormous animal suffering so intensely, so
presently Phil and Dick ran out, put fresh arrows to their bows, and
stood at a distance of about a dozen paces from the beast, watching for
an opportunity to plant an arrow in its heart.  It came after a while,
the beast subsiding at last into quiescence, as though exhausted; and
upon the instant Dick and Phil drew their bows to their fullest possible
extent, the arrows flew straight to their mark, and, with a tremendous
convulsive shudder and a last moaning bellow, the enormous brute
stretched itself out on the grass dead.

Then they proceeded to examine the creature at their leisure, but at a
respectful distance, for the odour which it exhaled was so overpowering
that they found it impossible to approach the carcass nearer than within
three or four yards.  The head was somewhat like that of an alligator,
but immensely larger, and its enormous jaws, slightly open, disclosed
two rows of huge teeth similar to those of an alligator.  This monstrous
head was joined to the body by a neck as long, proportionately, as that
of a horse; the body was lizard-like in shape, but humpbacked; it had
four very thick, lizard-like legs and feet, each terminating in four
long toes armed with formidable claws.  Its tail was nearly as long as
its body, thick, deep, and blunt; and a sort of serrated fin ran the
whole length of its body from the nape of its neck to the extremity of
its tail.  Its total length, from snout to tail, as it lay stretched out
on the grass, was just a trifle over twenty-two paces!

When they had at length satisfied their curiosity by exhaustively
examining the enormous carcass--which, they agreed, must be that of the
identical beast portrayed in the carved pictures on the cliff face, or
of one precisely similar--they procured torches, and, having lighted
them, proceeded to examine thoroughly the interior of the cavern.  In
the outer chamber, or that which contained the pool--the surface of
which was now perfectly placid and mirrorlike--there was nothing to see
beyond what has already been described.  After a brief glance round,
therefore, they passed over to its far side by means of the rock ledge
along the margin of the pool, and entered the tunnel-like passage in
which Phil had taken temporary refuge on the previous day.  This proved
to be about one hundred feet long, and gave access to another chamber of
such immense dimensions that, standing just within it, and holding their
three torches high above their heads, they were unable to see the
opposite wall or the roof.  But it was a wonderful cavern, and worth
travelling a long distance to see; for upon examination they discovered
that its walls, as high up as the light of the torches would enable them
to see, were most elaborately sculptured in high relief with figures of
men, women, animals, trees, representations of spacious landscapes with
buildings, and even the sea, with either the rising or the setting sun
partially obscured by clouds.  And the remarkable thing about these
sculptures was that they were very much more finely and artistically
executed than those outside; the representation was much more true to
nature; the details of clothing were rendered with the most minute
elaboration and exactitude; and there was also evidence of a knowledge
and understanding of perspective.  For the first quarter of an hour or
so of their inspection they were unable to obtain any clue to the
purpose to which this enormous chamber had originally been put, or the
reason which could induce a person--or, rather, a number of persons, for
no single individual could possibly have produced the whole of that
work, even if he had devoted an entire lifetime to it--to spend time in
laboriously executing such work in a situation where it would seem that
it could be seldom or never seen.  But by and by, when the explorers
arrived at the far end of the chamber, they saw that it was neither more
nor less than an immense temple; for there, in the very centre of the
wall, was a most beautifully and elaborately sculptured niche, within
which was enshrined a lifesize figure, in black marble, of a man, in the
carving of which the unknown sculptor seemed to have reached the very
summit of perfection of his art.  For with the most scrupulous and
precise fidelity he had succeeded in reproducing every minutest detail,
the texture and wrinkles of the skin, the finger and toe nails, the
course of the veins, and even the curls in the long hair, bushy beard,
and drooping moustache.  The figure had originally been executed nude;
but, whether from considerations of modesty, or for the glorification of
the idol, it had afterwards been clothed in a most elaborate costume
consisting of a tunic, confined to the waist by a belt, a cloak, and
sandals.  The tunic was made of a kind of fine canvas that crumbled away
when touched; the mantle was of feathers of the most gorgeous hues; and
the sandals were of some delicate kind of leather dressed with the hair
on; and they, as well as the tunic and belt, were encrusted with minute
scales of dull, ruddy yellow metal, which proved to be virgin gold.
These scales were not only sewn on to the material, but were also sewn
to each other; and it was due to this latter fact, no doubt, that the
garment had not powdered away long ago.  The eyes of the idol consisted
of two large green polished stones which looked so much like emeralds--
which indeed they were--that, Vilcamapata offering no objection, the two
young Englishmen determined to appropriate them, as well as the gold
scales; with the result that they left the figure denuded of all its
finery, and, from an artistic point of view at least, far more worthy of
admiration than it was before.

They spent quite two hours in this wonderful cavern, and when at length
they emerged into daylight once more they found that already a whole
army of vultures had gathered about the carcass of the strange monstrous
beast, and were busily engaged in devouring the malodorous flesh.  The
trio made a wide circuit so as not to disturb the obscene birds at their
disgusting banquet, and in due time found their way back again to their
camp, where, after a hearty meal, they set to work in earnest upon the
construction of their canoe.



CHAPTER TWELVE.

HOW THE TWO ADVENTURERS LOST THEIR COMPANION.

To hew and hollow a canoe out of a solid tree trunk is a sufficiently
formidable task for two men to undertake when they possess no more
suitable tools than their hangers--the hanger being a weapon very
similar to the more modern cutlass; and although the two Englishmen had
already done a similar piece of work once before, and were therefore not
altogether lacking in experience; and although Vilcamapata taught them
how to hollow out the hull expeditiously, after it was properly shaped,
by the use of fire, it cost Phil and Dick very nearly a month's
strenuous labour to get their new craft to their liking.  But when she
was finished she was a very good canoe, indeed, much more shapely than
those made by the Indians, and her hull was so thin that, although she
measured about eighteen feet long over all by four feet beam, she was
light enough to be carried easily a distance of two or three miles, if
need be, by the two Englishmen, Vilcamapata being too old and feeble to
be capable of lending assistance in work of that sort.

But at length the work was finished, the craft was taken down to the
river, put in the water, and found to float true, and as buoyantly as an
egg-shell.  The trio therefore put their few belongings into her, not
forgetting the two fine emeralds and the gold scales taken from the
idol, embarked, and resumed their journey.

They were now on the headwaters of a river which had its rise somewhere
on the eastern slope of the Andes; and the water was icy cold, being in
fact nothing but the drainings from an enormous glacier which could be
seen, some forty miles away, clinging to the side of a majestic peak
that towered nearly twenty thousand feet into the deep blue of the
tropic sky.  But that was a blessing rather than otherwise, for although
they were not yet down among the plains the weather was intensely hot--
they being now immediately under the equator--and the coldness of the
water helped somewhat to mitigate the stifling heat between the two
great walls of forest which bordered the river on either hand.

No sail was needed, for they were now travelling with the stream, which,
being as yet little more than a mountain torrent, ran rapidly, so that a
paddle over the stern to keep the craft in midstream was all that was
necessary.  But although the stream ran at the rate of fully six miles
an hour their progress was not by any means as speedy as one might at
first suppose, for rapids occurred at frequent intervals, and if these
were found to be impassable it became necessary to carry the canoe past
them through the forest.  This plan, however, was only resorted to in
extreme cases, for if, upon examination, it was deemed at all possible
to shoot the rapids, they were shot; and as this sometimes happened as
often as three or four times a day, the adventurers soon acquired a
degree of dexterity in the art that they would have regarded as
perfectly amazing at the beginning of their journey.

On the evening of the fifth day of their journey down the river they
chanced to camp at a spot which afforded them an exceptionally fine view
of the mountain range to the westward; and when on the following morning
they rose to prepare for the day's journey they saw that a terrific
thunderstorm was raging about halfway up the eastern slope of the range.
It was a magnificent sight, the clouds, black as night below, but
brilliantly illuminated by the sun above, clinging to the mountain spurs
in enormous masses which rolled together, parted, and rolled together
again like charging squadrons, while the lightning, keen and vivid as
molten steel, incessantly darted from their black breasts like the
flashes of a platoon of musketry.  And while this elemental warfare was
raging furiously up there among the mountains it was brilliant weather
where the wanderers were camped, with not a breath of wind to assuage
the torrid heat.  Stukely happened to make some remark upon the contrast
to Vilcamapata, to which the old man replied:

"Yes, it is well for us that we are here rather than there; for such a
storm might well mean death for us all.  But we must be watchful to-day,
lord, for that storm covers many miles of country, and the rain is
falling in torrents; and, unless I am greatly mistaken, most of it will
find its way into this river.  Therefore must we be on our guard against
a sudden spate, which may overwhelm us if we are caught unawares."

The Englishmen agreed, and nothing further was said about the matter,
for they were busy making their preparations for the day; and in due
time they embarked and proceeded on their journey.  About midday, in
confirmation of the old Peruvian's words, the first of the expected
spate revealed itself in a sudden acceleration of the current and a
change in the appearance of the water, which became turbid with mud in
suspension.  Yet although the speed of the current continued to increase
gradually, it merely helped the voyagers on their way, for they now
seemed to have reached a stretch of the river that was entirely free
from rapids, nothing of the kind having been encountered since their
start in the early morning.  Swiftly the canoe sped down the river,
running now at the rate of a good nine miles an hour, and her occupants
rejoiced exceedingly, for they were getting over as much ground in a
single hour as sometimes cost them a whole day to cover.  They began to
make light of the precautions which they had observed during the earlier
hours of the day, and told each other with glee that if this was the
worst a spate could do they would welcome one every day so long as they
were bound downstream.

Indeed it was speedy travelling compared with what they had been
accustomed to; it was like journeying by postchaise after travelling in
a market wagon.  The country swept past them at a speed that almost made
them giddy as they watched it, while the motion of the canoe was smooth
and easy as that of a cradle.  Then, as they whirled round a bend they
suddenly, and without warning, found themselves sweeping through a gorge
with vertical, rocky, fern-grown banks on either hand.  Too well they
knew what that sort of thing was the prelude to.  There were rapids
ahead, almost to a dead certainty, and they had missed their chance of
inspecting before attempting to shoot them, for there was no landing on
either of those vertical banks; while as for returning to a point where
landing was possible, they might as well have attempted to fly!  Well,
there was but one thing for it; if there were indeed rapids ahead they
must do their best to shoot them without the usual preliminary
inspection; they were growing quite accustomed to that kind of work now,
and it ought not to be so very difficult.

Accordingly Dick placed himself in the bow of the canoe and Phil
stationed himself amidships, each armed with the long pole which they
used to bear the canoe off the rocks when shooting rapids, while the
Peruvian perched himself up in the stern with the short steering paddle
in his hand.  Presently the expected rapids swung into view ahead, and a
sufficiently formidable sight they presented.  It was difficult, nay
impossible, to tell how far they extended, for a bend of the river shut
out the view; but there was at least half a mile of them in plain sight,
a narrow channel of foaming, leaping water, with the black head of a
rock showing occasionally here and there amid the foam.  Dick drew his
feet up under him and raised himself to his full height in the crank
cockleshell of a canoe, in order that he might obtain as extended a view
as possible of what lay before him: he was admittedly far the more
expert canoeist of the two, especially when it came to shooting rapids,
therefore on such occasions his post was always in the bow, which then
becomes the post of honour--and of responsibility.

What he saw was by no means reassuring; there was far too much spouting
and foaming water for his taste, for such appearances invariably
indicated rocks submerged to the extent of a few inches at the utmost,
contact with any of which meant at least the destruction of the canoe,
if no worse mishap.  True, in almost every stretch of rapids there
exists what may be termed by courtesy a channel, that is to say, there
is a passage, more or less tortuous, between the rocks where the water
is deep enough to float a canoe if one can but hit it off in time.  This
channel or passage is usually distinguishable by the comparative
smoothness of the water in it; so that if the navigator can guide his
canoe fairly into it by the time that the rapids are actually reached,
he stands a very fair chance of accomplishing the run in safety,
although even then he must be continually on the alert, since the turns
are often so sharp that, unless taken at precisely the right moment, the
canoe may be dashed with destructive violence against an obstructing
rock; and it was the part of the bowman, or pilot, to look out for such
rocks and bear the canoe off them with the long pole which he invariably
wielded.

At length Dick believed he saw the beginning of such a channel, close
under the right bank of the river, and waved Vilcamapata to steer the
canoe toward it.  Half a minute more, and the little craft had darted in
between two formidable walls of leaping water and was speeding downward
at a speed of fully fifteen miles an hour, with Dick and Phil standing
upright and thrusting their long poles first to one side and then the
other as Chichester's experienced eye detected the signs which mark the
presence of dangerous rocks to right or left, and signalled accordingly.
To cry out was utterly useless, the roar and hiss of the tortured
waters was far too loud to render even the voice of a Stentor audible,
and those behind the pilot could but watch his motions, and act
accordingly.

Two minutes of strenuous labour brought them to the bend in the river,
and this, Dick knew, would be one of the most critical points in the
whole run; for it is difficult enough to follow the turns of the
channel, even when the course of the river is straight, but when the
river as well as the channel bends it is difficult indeed to avoid
disaster.  Still, Dick remained perfectly cool and self-possessed; the
certainty and success with which he had piloted the canoe through that
unknown half-mile of chaotic leaping and rushing water had given him
more confidence in himself than all the rest of his experience put
together, and he felt that unless something quite unexpected and out of
the common happened, there was no reason why they should not accomplish
the remainder of the run in safety.  He held up his hand as a warning to
those behind him to be extra vigilant, for they were at what was
probably the most dangerous point of the run, and the next instant waved
to the Peruvian to swerve the canoe powerfully to the left.  The Indian
obeyed, to the best of his ability; but he was old, his strength was
nothing like what it had been, and the little craft did not swerve quite
smartly enough to carry her clear of a rock that lay in her course.
Therefore out shot Dick's long pole, and the moment that he felt the jar
of it upon the rock he threw his whole weight upon it in the attempt to
save the canoe.  The shock was tremendous, the canoe was turned
violently broadside-on to the current, and at that critical moment
Dick's pole snapped clean in two, the recoil sending the youngster
headlong into the boiling current, while the next moment the canoe swept
up against the submerged rock, was rolled over and over, and her
remaining occupants were flung into the swirl.

The moment that Dick felt the pole snap in his hand he knew that a
capsize was inevitable, and, with the instinct which belongs to the
accomplished swimmer, he at once made up his mind what would be the best
thing for him to do.  If he could manage to get into the centre of the
main current he could probably retain his position there, and so swim
the remainder of the distance to the lower end of the rapids in safety,
provided that he could avoid the rocks.  There was no use in looking out
for the others; they were as well able to take care of themselves as he
was; besides, they would each stand a better chance apart than together
in that mad turmoil.  As for the canoe, she must take her chance;
probably she would be smashed to splinters; but if so, it would only
mean the making of another one.  True, it would involve a month's delay,
but time of late had seemed to lose its value for them all; they were
bound for a definite goal, which they would assuredly reach sooner or
later, and the loss of a month or two seemed a mere trifle not worth
consideration.  Accordingly, the moment that Dick rose to the surface he
shook the foam and spray from his eyes, glanced round him, verified his
position, and at once struck out powerfully for the comparatively smooth
water that indicated the main current, noting, as he did so, that Phil
and the Peruvian were both swimming strongly, and that the canoe, full
of water, was slowly rolling over and over as she drove along through
the worst of the broken water.  Five minutes of desperate struggle,
during which he had no time to think of anything but his own safety, and
during which he had several very narrow escapes of being dashed
violently against rocks and sustaining serious injuries, if not being
killed outright, and he suddenly found himself in smooth water, with the
canoe swinging hither and thither in the eddies, close beside him.  To
swim to her and proceed to push her before him toward the nearest bank
was an instinctive act with Dick; and he presently had the satisfaction
of grounding her on a small strip of shingly beach where there was a
slight back eddy.  Then he looked about for the other two, and presently
caught sight of Phil, a little lower down, swimming slowly and
supporting Vilcamapata's apparently senseless form.  Phil looked as
though he were rather in difficulties, so Dick at once plunged in again
and swam to his assistance, and ten minutes later all three of them were
ashore again, about a mile lower down the river than the spot where the
canoe had been beached.

"I'm afraid gramfer, here, is rather badly hurt," gasped Phil, as he and
Dick lifted the insensible form of the Peruvian to the top of the low
bank.  "Evidently he has been dashed against a rock and stunned, if not
worse," he continued, pointing to a very ugly jagged wound in the right
temple, from which the blood was welling pretty freely.  "I noticed, as
I drove past, that you had saved the canoe.  Do you think you could
manage to go back and fetch her down, Dick?  My case of medicaments is
in her--if the thwart to which it was lashed has not gone adrift--and I
should be very glad to have it just now.  Dost thou mind; or art too
tired?"

"Not a bit of it," answered Dick.  "Of course I'll go, with pleasure.
And you will be glad to hear that, so far at least as I could see, the
craft is not damaged at all.  But of course her paddles are lost, except
the one that gramfer, there, has stuck to so tenaciously, so I must
borrow it from him."  And he stooped down and, with some difficulty,
loosened the grip of the unconscious man's hand on the steering paddle,
which he had, no doubt unconsciously, retained in his grip ever since
the capsize.  "I'll be back as quickly as possible," concluded Dick, as
he struck off into the bush that, just there, bordered the river.

He returned again in about half an hour, with the canoe intact, nothing
having been lost but the paddles, which were the only articles that
happened to have been loose in her when she capsized.  With quick
fingers he cast loose the small medicine case which Phil had taken
ashore with him on the occasion of the ill-fated landing at Cartagena,
and which he had carried about with him ever since, carefully enwrapped,
like their powder horns, in portions of their shirts liberally smeared
with caoutchouc juice to exclude all moisture.  Poor old Vilcamapata was
still insensible when Dick returned, and Phil was looking exceedingly
anxious about him; but the production of the medicine case soon altered
matters; and a few minutes later the old man was sitting up and looking
about him dazedly.  At first he seemed not to recognise Phil or Dick, or
to be able to remember what had happened; but gradually it all came back
to him; and when Phil asked him how he felt he replied that he was
fatigued and desired to sleep.  Accordingly, the young medico bathed the
wound with water from the river, applied some healing ointment to it,
bound it up with what remained of their shirts; then they made up a
temporary couch for the sufferer under the shadow of a bush, and left
him to sleep as long as he would, while Dick went off in search of game,
and Phil proceeded to carve a pair of new paddles and to cut a couple of
new poles.

When Dick returned from his hunting expedition, some two hours later,
with a small deer and a brace of guinea fowl, he found that Vilcamapata
was still asleep, while Phil was putting the finishing touches to the
new paddles.  The Peruvian, it appeared, had scarcely moved since he
fell asleep; and there was some peculiarity in the manner of his
breathing which was causing Stukely a good deal of anxiety.

"I am rather afraid," explained Phil, "that the poor old man has
sustained some internal injury, in addition to the wound on his head;
and, if so, we may have trouble with him.  But we will let him sleep as
long as he will; for sleep is a great restorer; and the breathing
difficulty may disappear when he awakes and sits up.  But when he does,
I will subject him to a very careful examination.  It was most
unfortunate that your pole broke, Dick; but for that I believe we should
have shot the rapids in perfect safety."

While Phil completed the paddles, Dick set to work to light a fire,
break up the deer, and prepare the guinea fowl for cooking; and still
the injured man slept on, his breathing ever growing more laboured and
stertorous, until at length the difficulty with which he drew his breath
awakened him and, with a groan, he strove to raise himself.  In an
instant Stukely was by his side and, slipping an arm beneath his
shoulders, he raised the old man to a sitting position, with his back
supported by the stiff branches of the bush under the shadow of which he
had been sleeping.  And while he was making the poor old fellow as
comfortable as he could he enquired solicitously how he felt; but
Vilcamapata only looked at him blankly, and murmured a few words in a
tongue that was quite unintelligible to his listener.  Then, with gentle
touch, Phil began to pass his hand cautiously over his patient's body,
searching for possible fractured ribs or some similar injury; but the
old man waved him impatiently away, and presently broke forth in a low,
crooning sort of chant.

"My days are done," he murmured; "my wanderings are at an end; my Father
the Sun and my Mother the Moon call me, and I must depart for those
Islands of the Blessed that our Father sometimes deigns to show us
floating afar in the serene skies of eventide.  My spirit is weary and
longs for rest.  Full forty years have I been an outcast and a wanderer
in the land that once belonged to my people; and during those years no
friendly face have I ever beheld, no friendly voice has ever reached
mine ear until the day when the two white men saved me from the fire of
the Pegwi Indians.  And to me have they been since then as sons; nay,
more than sons, for there was a time when I dreamed that he whom the
fair young giant calls Phil might be our Father Manco Capac returned to
earth to deliver his people from the thraldom of the Spaniard.  But
to-day have mine eyes been opened, and I know of a surety that Manco
will never return to earth to deliver his people, whose doom it is to
disappear gradually from off the face of the earth, and be known no
more.  Therefore, listen unto me, O ye who have been as sons to me in
the days of my loneliness and old age: Ye crave for gold, and the stones
that gleam in the light white and bright as stars, green as the young
grass that springs to life after the rains of winter, and red as the
heart's blood of a warrior; and in my blindness I dreamed that ye sought
them as the means whereby ye might obtain the power to drive out the
Spaniard from the fair land of the Incas and restore it to those from
whom it was wrongfully taken.  And in the days of our great calamity
there arose one who prophesied that in the latter days our Father Manco
should return to earth and do this thing; therefore was a great treasure
of gold and stones secretly gathered together from mines known only to
our own people, and securely hidden from the Spaniard, in order that
when Manco came he might have an abundance of wealth wherewith to buy
arms and food and clothing for his armies.  But to-day I know that the
prophet who foretold this thing was a false prophet, and that the hidden
treasure will never be needed for the accomplishment of the purpose for
which it was gathered; also I am the last of those who knew the secret
of the hiding-place, and if I pass away, taking the secret with me, the
treasure will be lost, wasted, useless, remaining for ever undiscovered.

"Therefore hearken now unto me, O ye who have been to me as sons in
these the last days of mine old age.  When my spirit leaves this
withered shell, as it is about to do, ye shall build a funeral pyre, lay
my body thereon, and put fire thereto; for by fire are all things
purified, and on the wings of the flames shall my spirit mount and soar
away to those Happy Isles where is neither sin, nor sorrow, nor
suffering, nor any other evil thing.  This shall ye do to-night.  And
with the rising of to-morrow's sun ye shall resume your journey down the
river, and so continue for, it may be, twelve days, until this river
flows into a much mightier one.  Then ye shall journey up that mightier
stream--which flows to the south and west--and, turning neither to the
right hand nor to the left, shall follow it to its source beyond Cuzco,
until ye sight Sorata's mighty snow-clad crest.  And there, under
Sorata's morning shadow shall ye find the Sacred Lake.  There are
islands in that lake: that which lies in the centre of the lake is the
island which ye must seek, for on it stands the ruined temple of the
Sun, beneath the great marble floor of which lies--lies--the--Yea, great
Lord and Father, I come!"

And, sinking back among the branches of the bush which supported him,
Vilcamapata, the one-time priest of the Sun, closed his eyes as a
torrent of blood gushed from his mouth, and quietly passed away.

"Internal haemorrhage!" exclaimed Stukely, as he lightly laid his
fingers upon the pulseless wrist.  "I feared it.  Yes"--as he passed his
hand over the body--"three of his ribs are broken, and the jagged ends
have doubtless lacerated some internal organ--the lung, perhaps.  Well,
he is dead, beyond all question; and now, all that remains for us to do,
Dick, is to dispose of his body in accordance with his instructions.
But I do not altogether like the idea of building his pyre just here.
We must see if we cannot find a suitable spot about a quarter of a mile
away."

"I know a perfectly suitable spot about that distance from here,"
answered Dick; "I passed through it on my way back to camp, about an
hour ago.  Come, I will show it to you; there is plenty of dry wood
there, and there is a path by which we can easily carry the body to it.
Better make a litter, perhaps, and take it with us now."

Stukely eagerly concurred in this view, and they at once proceeded to
construct a litter of boughs bound together with lianas, upon which,
when it was finished, they laid the attenuated form of the old man, and,
with measured steps and slow, bore him to the spot where his mortal
frame was to undergo its typical purging by fire.  The place was one of
those perfectly open clearings which are so frequently met with in the
South American forest; it was about ten acres in extent, roughly
circular in shape, and was carpeted with thick grass which the deer and
other grazing animals kept close cropped; consequently it was well
adapted for the purpose to which it was about to be put, since by
erecting the pyre in the centre of the clearing there would be no risk
of setting the adjoining forest ablaze.

Laying the litter and its burden down in a convenient position just
within the clearing, the two Englishmen plunged back into the forest,
and, using their hangers as axes, vigorously proceeded to hew down all
the dry, dead branches and underwood they could find; for the afternoon
was waning apace and it was essential that the flames should be kindled
in time to allow of their returning to their camping place by daylight.
Fortunately there was no lack of suitable material close at hand; and an
hour's arduous work sufficed to provide a sufficiency for their purpose.
Then they proceeded to build the pyre, laying the smallest branches at
the bottom, intermingled with plenty of dry brushwood, and putting the
thickest branches on the top.  Then, on the top of all, they placed the
body; and Phil next proceeded to make fire in the usual way by rubbing
two sticks together.  This was soon done, the fire was inserted into the
heart of the pyre by means of an aperture left for the purpose, and
then, when the whole was fairly alight, Phil and Dick bared their heads,
fell upon their knees, and with the simple faith which so strongly
characterised the religious feeling of the time, humbly commended the
soul of Vilcamapata to the mercy of God who gave it.  By the time that
they had finished their petitions the pile was a mass of flame which
roared and crackled fiercely as it shot straight upward in the still
evening air; and, with a last parting glance at the body, which could be
seen shrivelling in the midst of the flames, they turned and silently
wended their way back to their camping place.  And thus passed
Vilcamapata, the last of the ancient Peruvian priests of the Sun, with
two men only, and they of alien blood and alien religion, to perform the
last sacred rites for him.

On the following morning, having breakfasted and completed their
preparations for immediate departure, the two young Englishmen, feeling
strangely lonely, walked over to the spot where the funeral pyre had
been built, and inspected what remained of it.  They found that it had
been completely consumed, to the very last twig; and upon searching
among the white ashes they found a calcined skull and a few fragments of
the larger bones.  These they gathered carefully together and reverently
buried; after which, having now done all that was possible to preserve
the remains of their late friend from desecration, they returned to the
camp, embarked in their canoe, and resumed their voyage down the river.

The following fortnight proved quite uneventful for our two adventurers;
they journeyed on down the river at an average rate of about twenty
miles a day, and from time to time encountered rapids or cataracts, or
both together, shooting most of the former, and, of course, being
compelled to carry the canoe down past the latter; but they had by this
time become so thoroughly accustomed to the negotiation of rapids and
waterfalls that they had long since ceased to regard the passage of one
or the other as an adventure.  True, they saw a few Indians
occasionally; but these generally beat a hasty retreat when the white
men appeared, and remained concealed until the canoe and its two
occupants, now garbed like savages in the skins of beasts, had
disappeared round the next bend in the river.

As foretold by Vilcamapata, they reached the "much mightier river"--the
Maranon--on the afternoon of the twelfth day, and there their pleasant
journeying with the current ceased; henceforward the current would again
be their enemy, instead of their friend as it had been of late, and
every inch of progress would have to be won either with the assistance
of the sail or by arduous toil with the paddle.  Luckily for them, they
had had the prescience to bring the sail along with them when they found
themselves obliged to abandon the boat, and now they reaped the full
reward of their labours, and were glad that they had resisted the
often-repeated temptation to leave it behind when they encountered some
exceptionally difficult bit of road.

Thanks to the help afforded by a strong breeze from the north-east, the
end of their second day's journeying on the Maranon found them some
seventy miles above the spot where they had struck the river, and in the
territory--had they but known it--of the fierce and warlike Mayubuna
Indians.  They had seen several parties of these during the latter part
of the day, and, contrary to the usual custom of the Indians which they
had thus far met with, instead of running away at the first sight of the
canoe, the Mayubunas had stood on the river bank and watched their
progress, manifesting no fear of the whites, but, on the other hand,
displaying no outward signs of hostility, unless, indeed, the fact that
about an hour before sunset a large canoe had been manned at the last
village which the white men had passed, and had proceeded rapidly up the
river ahead of them, might be so construed.  Unfortunately for them,
they did not so construe it, but regarded it rather as a sporting
attempt on the part of a number of Indians, bound up the river, to
display the superiority of the paddle over the sail, and were amused
accordingly.

But when, upon rounding the next bend of the river, the two Englishmen
sighted two large canoes, full of Indians, ahead of them, one canoe
paddling along close in with the left bank, while the other as closely
hugged the right, they began for the first time to suspect that all was
not quite as it should be, and Phil--who was sitting idly amidships,
while Dick sailed the canoe--rose to his feet and hailed them in the
Indian dialect, which he had picked up from Vilcamapata.  No notice,
however, was taken of the hail, but it was observed that the sailing
canoe was now gaining distinctly upon the others.

Encouraged by this evidence of superior speed, the white men pressed on,
anxious to get into communication and establish friendly relations with
the Indians before nightfall; and it was not until the two canoes ahead
suddenly swerved outward and laid themselves athwart the hawse of the
sailing canoe, as though to bar her further progress, that either of the
occupants of the latter thought of looking astern.  Then they realised
that matters were indeed beginning to look serious, for behind them were
no less than four large canoes, each containing twenty-one men, which
had evidently emerged from a small creek about half a mile lower down,
and were now drawing near with unmistakably hostile intentions.

"This looks awkward, Dick," exclaimed Stukely, seizing his bow and
arrows.  "Surely they cannot seriously intend to try to stop us?"

"If they don't, why are they laying their canoes across our hawse like
thicky?" demanded Dick.  "Hadn't you better speak to them a bit, Phil?"

"Ay, I'll try," answered Stukely.  And, stepping into the bows of the
canoe, he ostentatiously laid down his weapons and made the usual signs
of amity.  The reply was a yell of anger and hatred from the Indians,
who were blocking the way, while one of them, springing to his feet,
shouted:

"Go back, dogs of Spaniards; go back!  This is the land of the Mayubuna,
and we will permit no Spaniard to set foot upon its soil.  We have no
desire to be swallowed up, as Atahuallpa and his people were, after he
had welcomed you to his country; therefore go back--or die!"

"They take us for Spaniards," explained Phil to Dick; and, raising his
hands, he shouted back:

"People of the Mayubuna, you are mistaken; we are not Spaniards, but are
the enemies of the Spaniard, and the friends of all who hate them.  We
are on our way up the river to fight them, now; and we beg you to give
us free passage through your land, and also a little cassava."

A laugh of derision greeted this statement; and the Indian who had just
spoken shouted in reply:

"You lie, dog and son of a dog; you are Spaniards, for your skins are
light, like theirs, and one of you has a beard."  And suddenly raising
his bow, the speaker discharged an arrow at Phil, which whizzed past
within half an inch of that gentleman's ear.

"Make as though you intended to run down that canoe," ordered Phil.
Then, seizing his bow and fitting an arrow to the string, he answered:

"Fools! we are English, I tell you, and the deadly enemies of the
Spaniard; therefore let us pass in peace, otherwise must we make a
passage for ourselves by force of arms."

The reply to this was another scornful laugh and a flight of arrows from
every Indian in the two opposing canoes.  By a miracle Phil again
escaped unhurt, although no less than five arrows lodged in the
puma-skin tunic which he was wearing, and the sail of the canoe was
literally riddled with them.  He felt that the matter was getting beyond
a joke, that the time for fair speaking was past and the time for action
had arrived, so, raising his bow, he drew his arrow to its head, and
aimed it full at the breast of the Indian who had addressed him so
abusively.  For a single moment he hesitated, then he released the
arrow, and the next moment, with the shaft buried so deep in his body
that the point protruded nearly a foot out of his back, the savage flung
up his arms, reeled backward, and fell into the water, capsizing the
canoe in which he had been standing as he did so.



CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

HOW THEY FELL INTO THE HANDS OF THE MAYUBUNA.

A yell, expressive in about equal proportions of amazement at the
strength which could drive an arrow very nearly through the body of a
man, and fury against the audacious slayers of that man--who happened to
be a cacique--immediately arose from the occupants of the companion
canoe, to be almost immediately succeeded by loud cries of dismay as a
sudden swirl and rush along the surface of the stream toward the spot
where the occupants of the capsized canoe were splashing in the water
betrayed the presence of a hungry alligator.  Paddles were dashed into
the water with frantic energy as the occupants of the other canoe,
abandoning all attempts to bar the passage of the Englishmen, whirled
their craft round and sped to the assistance of their friends.  But the
alligators were beforehand with them, for before they could reach the
spot where the capsized canoe floated, bottom up, surrounded by her
crew, two piercing shrieks were followed by the abrupt disappearance of
two Indians beneath the surface of the water; and a few seconds later a
third Indian vanished in the same terrible manner.

"The caimans are among them!" shouted Stukely to Dick.  "This is our
chance to get past, lad.  Starboard your helm a little.  So, steady!
Keep her at that.  Now, if we were vindictively inclined, we could
hamper their efforts very considerably by galling them with our arrows
as we slip past.  But let be; perhaps the lesson which they have already
had will teach them the folly of interfering with Englishmen!"

The Mayubuna, however, had not yet received their full lesson; for when
the canoe of the would-be rescuers dashed in among the swimmers the
latter, frantic with fear of the alligators, seized her gunwale and made
such frenzied and reckless efforts to scramble into her that, despite
the warning cries of her occupants, she, too, was instantly capsized.
And now blind, senseless panic seized in an instant upon every Indian
present; for shriek after shriek told that the alligators were still
busy; while the remaining four canoes, which had also been hastening to
the rescue, suddenly paused, evidently fearful lest, if they approached
the scene of the disaster, they, too, might be involved in it.

Meanwhile, the Englishmen, taking the fullest possible advantage of the
situation, slid at a safe distance past the spot where the Indians were
all struggling in the water in a vain effort to right their canoes and
climb into them, and, favoured by a freshening breeze, pursued their way
up the river.  But although they had escaped for the moment, Phil and
Dick still had plenty of cause for anxiety; for they had by this time
been long enough in the wilds to have learned that when Indians are
hostile their hostility is very bitter and pertinacious; and they could
scarcely hope that, having mistaken them for Spaniards--who at that time
were more feared and hated than any other earthly thing by the Indians--
the Mayubuna would be satisfied with the issue of their first encounter
with the white men.  Moreover to add to the difficulties of the said
white men, evening was now drawing on apace, the sun had already sunk so
low that his beams were unable to pierce the forest on their right hand,
while the orange glow which suffused the tree-tops on their left told
them as plainly as words that the great luminary was within a brief
half-hour of his setting.  And, unfortunately, there was no moon just
then; while without the light of the moon it was impossible to use the
river at night.  It would therefore be imperatively necessary for them
to seek quickly a place of concealment wherein to pass the night if they
wished to avoid being overtaken by darkness on the river; they therefore
now proceeded to look anxiously about them for such a place.
Eventually, when the brief twilight of the tropics was closing down upon
the scene and the fireflies were beginning to appear, they sighted a
spot which, while by no means ideal for their purpose, might possibly be
made to serve.

It lay about a hundred yards up a small creek branching out of the main
stream, and as it was the only spot at all suitable which they had seen
since their encounter with the Indians, they really had no choice but to
avail themselves of it.  It consisted of a little grassy mead of about
two acres in extent, lying quite open to view from the main river, the
surface of the soil being not more than a foot above that of the water,
and with no rushes to form a screen.  Therefore, if they were to camp
there for the night, as indeed they must, there being apparently no
other place for them, they would have to manage as best they could
without a fire wherewith to cook their supper.  But needs must, under
certain circumstances, so, with a glance astern to assure themselves
that they were not being followed, the sail was lowered, the canoe was
turned into the creek, and a minute later the voyagers were ashore and
glancing keenly about them to ascertain the possibilities of the place.
These were rather better than a first glance had led the wanderers to
hope for, for their first necessity was to find a hiding-place for the
canoe, and there, about a hundred and fifty yards away, was a clump of
detached bush which would serve admirably for such a purpose.  So,
availing themselves of the very last of the waning light, they hauled
the canoe out of the water, hoisted her upon their shoulders, and,
carrying her to the clump of bush, very effectively concealed her
therein, afterwards going back over their trail through the grass and
carefully obliterating it by means of a leafy branch, in the manner
which they had learned from Vilcamapata.  Then they looked about them
for a spot in which they might themselves pass the night.  The place was
by no means an ideal one for fugitives to pass the night in, for there
was nothing even remotely resembling a hiding-place that they could see;
and concealment was just then what they wanted more than anything else.
True, there was an enormous ceiba tree growing upon the very edge of the
clearing, among the upper branches of which they might possibly be able
to conceal themselves; and in the absence of anything more suitable they
at length determined to avail themselves of that, braving the perils of
possible jaguars, scorpions, snakes, ants, and other undesirable
bedfellows.  Accordingly, the two friends ascended to the lower branches
of the tree by climbing the lianas, hand over hand, which depended
conveniently from the boughs, and, working their way aloft as well as
they could in the thick darkness created by the luxuriant foliage, at
length established themselves quite safely and comfortably in the fork
formed by the junction of two enormous branches with the parent stem.
They had no food with them, and were possessed of a healthy hunger, for
they had eaten nothing since midday; but they were also exceedingly
tired; and it was not long before they forgot their hunger in profound
sleep.

Probably they would not have slept so soundly had they known that they
had unwittingly entered a trap.  But they had; for the Indians whom they
had encountered shortly before knew that part of the river perfectly,
and were fully aware that the difficulties of navigation were such that
the fugitives could not possibly proceed very far in the darkness, and
they also knew that the spot where Dick and Phil had landed was the only
one within many miles where an upstream landing was possible.  They
therefore conjectured shrewdly that, since the white men would arrive at
this spot just about nightfall, they would be certain to land there, and
they took their measures accordingly.  First of all, to make everything
quite sure, they sent a messenger on to the next village, some fifteen
miles up the river, to inform the cacique of the presence of the two
white men in the neighbourhood, and to request that a watch for them
should be kept, with a view to their capture.  They requested further,
that in the event of the white men being captured, they should be sent
back down the river to pay the penalty for having caused the death of
seventeen Mayubuna Indians.  Then, having by this means ensured the
capture of the fugitives, in the event of their succeeding by any chance
in forcing their way up the river in the darkness, they launched and
manned four canoes, each containing ten men, and these four canoes,
spreading themselves right across the river, so that nothing could
possibly pass downstream undetected, proceeded to make their way
cautiously up the river to the spot where they knew it was morally
certain that the white men must and would land.  It was nearly eight
o'clock at night when the four canoes arrived at the spot for which they
were bound, and it was then of course much too dark for them to see
anything.  They therefore troubled themselves not at all to search for
signs of the white men's presence, but assumed that they were there
somewhere, and at once, with infinite precaution, proceeded to surround
the open plateau, cunningly concealing themselves in the long grass.
Half a dozen of them lay immediately beneath the overhanging branches of
the ceiba tree; but they arrived there so silently that, even if Dick
and Phil had been awake, they would have heard nothing.

Now, there is probably no creature in this world of ours more vindictive
than an angry Indian; and these particular Mayubuna Indians considered
that they had ample cause for their anger against the two white men whom
they were taking so much trouble to capture; for had not those same
white men been directly responsible for the loss of seventeen male
Mayubuna lives?  And among the South American Indians, who, even then,
were beginning from a variety of causes to die out, nothing is so
valuable as the life of a male--females they care nothing about; they
may live or die as they please--therefore those who were responsible for
the sacrifice of no less than seventeen men's lives must receive a
punishment, the severity of which should be proportionate to the
enormity of their crime.  Consequently not one of those Indians closed
his eyes for a moment throughout the long hours of that night; and with
the first hint of approaching dawn, long before either of the occupants
of the ceiba were awake, they were keenly looking about them for "sign"
of the white men's presence.  For some time, however, they looked in
vain, for the Englishmen had learned a few of the ways of the wild from
Vilcamapata, and had succeeded in obliterating their tracks so
completely that even the sharp eyes of the savages failed to detect
them.  But by and by, when it was broad daylight, one of the Mayubuna
who had recognised the possibilities of concealment afforded by the
ceiba detected spots here and there on two of the depending lianas where
small strips of the bark had been freshly torn off as though somebody
had very recently climbed up them, and to this he immediately directed
the attention of the rest, with the result that it soon became a
practical certainty that the fugitives were somewhere in that tree.
This having been determined, certain of the Mayubuna young men of the
party, anxious to distinguish themselves, proposed to climb the tree
forthwith and bring the white men down, dead or alive; but the cacique
in command of the party, who happened to have been in one of the
attacking canoes on the preceding night, and had therefore already had
experience of the prowess of the hunted men, at once vetoed the plan as
being far too dangerous; besides, for certain grim reasons which will in
due time appear, he wanted the quarry to be taken alive and unhurt, if
possible.  Therefore, instead of permitting any of his men to climb the
tree, he so disposed them round the base of it that, while far enough
away to ensure that they should not be seen by the occupants during
their descent, they should be near enough to rush in and effect the
capture of the white men the moment that they set foot on the ground.

Meanwhile Stukely and Chichester, absolutely unconscious of the
elaborate preparations that were being made for their capture, slept
soundly on until the sun was fairly above the horizon, when the cries of
the birds in the neighbouring branches of the tree aroused them to the
fact that another day had arrived, and that it was high time for them to
descend from their lofty hiding-place and proceed with the preparations
for the resumption of their journey.  Accordingly, they began their
descent with the observance of every precaution which their past
experience had taught them; but, unfortunately, they had not yet learned
that when you ascend a tree in search of concealment, it is always
advisable to descend some other, as they might easily have done had they
thought of it; for, as is the case almost everywhere in the South
American forest, the trees grew so thickly together that they might
easily have travelled for miles without descending to the ground, merely
by climbing along from branch to branch.  But this idea did not occur to
them, therefore they proceeded to lower themselves gradually down the
giant trunk, carefully inspecting what lay beneath them before
attempting to reach the next branch below.  For the first fifty feet or
so of their descent, however, the foliage of the tree was so dense that
it completely shut out all view of the ground beneath; and by the time
that an occasional glimpse of the grassy glade below became visible they
were so near the ground that, as the cunning cacique had anticipated, it
was impossible for them to detect the hiding-places of the concealed
Indians.

At length the two adventurers reached the lowest branch of all; and here
they paused and very carefully scrutinised the ground beneath them.  But
if they knew how to obliterate their tracks, so did the Indians, and
there was nothing visible to indicate the presence of forty foes lurking
in the long grass below, or indeed anywhere within the glade.
Therefore, with the assurance begotten of a conviction that they had
succeeded in hoodwinking their foes of the preceding evening, they
boldly ran out along the great spreading branch, seized a liana each,
and slid rapidly to the ground--to find themselves skilfully noosed in a
lasso and their arms tightly confined to their sides, the moment that
their feet touched the earth.  Then, despite their frantic struggles to
free themselves from the entangling lassos, they were instantly seized
and other ropes of raw-hide were deftly twisted about their limbs and
bodies, until in less than a minute they were so tightly and securely
trussed up that they could scarcely wag a finger; after which they were
each hoisted upon the shoulders of four Indians and borne with songs of
triumph and rejoicing to the canoes, into which they were tumbled with
scant ceremony.  Then, with further songs of triumph, they were swiftly
transported back down the river to the village to which their captors
belonged.

This village was quite invisible from the river, being approached by
means of one of those small, short, winding creeks that so frequently
occur on the South American rivers, and the existence of which seems so
difficult to account for; but when, upon the canoes rounding a bend, the
place swung into view, it was seen to be of quite considerable extent,
consisting of fully one hundred palm-leaf huts standing in an open glade
of about two hundred acres in extent, part of which was under
cultivation, being planted, in almost equal proportion, with bananas,
yams, and cassava.

The triumphant songs and shouts of the victorious expedition caused the
entire population of the village to turn out and swarm down to the small
strip of beach which constituted the landing-place; so when Dick and
Phil were lifted out of the canoes they beheld a crowd of some four or
five hundred Indians, men, women, and children, crowded together to gaze
upon and jeer at them.  And jeer at them they did, with all the more
gusto when it was seen that so tightly had the bonds been drawn about
the prisoners' limbs that when they were set upon their feet they were
unable to stand, but sank helplessly to the ground with an involuntary
groan.  But the Indians had already had enough of carrying their
stalwart prisoners, and especially Dick, who towered head and shoulders
above the tallest of them; therefore when they saw that it was
impossible for the white men to stand, and had fathomed the reason for
their helplessness, they loosed the thongs about their prisoners' feet
and legs, and allowed them a few minutes pause for the blood to
circulate afresh.  Those few minutes were surcharged with exquisite
suffering for the unfortunate victims, but they bore it with stoical
silence and composure; and when at length the cacique gave the order for
them to rise and march they at once scrambled to their feet and
proceeded, in charge of a dozen Indians, fully armed with pocunas, or
blowpipes, bows--the arrows of which were doubtless poisoned with
curare--and long spears.  In this order, and followed by the entire
population, our friends were marched up through the village to a hut
situated near its northern extremity, into which they were bundled,
while the guards ranged themselves round the hut outside, to frustrate
any attempt at escape.

The unfortunate prisoners were by this time suffering so acutely from
the tightness of the ligatures which confined their arms to their bodies
that they were in no mood for conversation, but just lay upon the
earthen floor of the hut in silent torment.  But, luckily for them, they
were not called upon to endure very much longer; for when they had lain
there about half an hour the cacique appeared and gave orders that their
bonds were to be loosed, at the same time warning them that the first
indication of an attempt to escape would be met by a shower of arrows,
the smallest scratch from which would be followed by a death of
intolerable agony.  Phil replied that under those circumstances the
cacique might rest assured that no such attempt would be made, and
followed up the assurance by asking why they had been taken prisoners,
seeing that they were not Spaniards, but were enemies of the Spaniard
and therefore ought to be regarded as friends by all who hated the
Spaniard.  To which statement the cacique made no reply, but simply
turned on his heel and departed.  A few minutes later, however, two
women appeared bearing food--a portion of roast kid on a plantain leaf,
and some cassava bread, together with a small gourd of what looked like
sour milk--which they set upon the ground before the prisoners; and Phil
and Dick both agreed that in the regards of these women there was more
of pity than of hate.

During the whole of that day and the next our friends were kept close
prisoners; but on the morning of their third day of captivity they were
summoned from their hut almost before they had finished breakfast; and,
upon emerging, were conducted to the open space in the middle of the
village, where were assembled not only all the inhabitants of the place
but some seven or eight hundred more who seemed to be visitors.  The
crowd generally were densely packed round the sides of the quadrangle,
the middle being kept clear by a line of armed men who maintained order
by the free use of their heavy clubs, which they unhesitatingly drove
into the pit of the stomach of any unauthorised person who displayed an
undue eagerness to get a good view of the impending proceedings.  In the
middle of the clear space sat the cacique of the village, with two men,
apparently visitors, on either side of him; and a little apart from
these stood two other men, one of whom Phil immediately recognised as
having been in one of the canoes which had attempted to bar their
progress up the river.

A little murmur of excited expectancy, perhaps mingled with wonder,
swept through the crowd as the two prisoners were led forward and halted
in front of the cacique; but it quickly died away and an intense silence
ensued, which was presently broken by the cacique, who, addressing
Stukely, said:

"White man, whence come you, and whither were you going when you strove
to force a passage up the river on the evening of the day before last?"

"We come," replied Phil, "from an island far away across the Great
Water; so far that we were voyaging a whole moon and more without sight
of land; and our business is to fight the Spaniard, who is our enemy, as
well as that of the Indian.  Twice have we fought him already; once on
the Great Water, where we took from him one of his great canoes; and
once again in one of his towns, far away to the north, where we took
another of his great canoes, with much gold of which he had robbed the
Indian.  But by a mischance my friend and I were left behind when our
comrades sailed away; and for a time we were in danger of falling into
the hands of the Spaniard.  Then we escaped from them, but, having no
canoe big enough to take us across the Great Water, we were obliged to
remain in this land; and, having heard that there are many Spaniards in
the land lying to the southward, we determined to seek them out and take
from them as much as we can get of the gold which they have
unrighteously taken from the Indians."

"If that story be true, why did ye not tell it us instead of slaying
many of my people, one of them by an arrow from your bow, and the rest
by the jaws of the caimans?" demanded the cacique.

"Nay, why ask a question of which you yourself know the answer?"
retorted Phil.  "For you were in one of the canoes, and saw and heard
everything that passed.  Did not I make to your leader all the signs of
amity and goodwill?  But he rejected them; he called us dogs of
Spaniards; bade us go back by the way that we had come; and himself shot
the arrow which led to all the trouble.  Is that the way in which the
Mayubuna treat those who come to them as friends?"

"How do I know that ye come as friends?" demanded the cacique.  "When
the Spaniards first appeared in this land they, too, said that they came
as the friends of the Indian; and how have they proved their friendship?
By killing the Inca Atahuallpa and seizing his kingdom; by enslaving
the Indian and despoiling him of all that he possesses; by ravaging the
country with fire and sword!  Nay, I believe not your story.  If ye are
not Spaniards, ye are white-skinned, even as they are; your hearts are
evil and full of guile, like theirs; and if we were foolish enough to
listen to your lying words you would treat us even as they treated
Atahuallpa and his people.  But there are only two of you, and you are
in our power; moreover ye have slain, or caused to be slain, seventeen
men of the Mayubuna; therefore shall ye die; not quickly and easily, but
little by little, so that ye shall die not once but a thousand times;
and your torments shall be as honey to the friends of those whom ye have
slain, and your groans and cries for mercy shall be more pleasant to
them than the songs of birds.  Go; I have spoken!"  And amid tumultuous
shouts of rejoicing from the assembled multitude the two Englishmen were
conducted back to their prison hut and once more placed under strict
guard.  For they were trebly valuable now, having been condemned to die
by the torture, and it was seldom indeed that an Indian was afforded so
delectable a sight as that of a white man suffering the unspeakably
hideous torments which, with fiendish cleverness, were designed to
inflict the maximum amount of pain which the human frame could possibly
endure, and still continue to live.  Moreover there were two of them;
big, strong men, apparently in the very pink of health and condition;
they would linger long and endure unimaginable torments before
succumbing; and the sight of their agonies would be one long-drawn-out
rapture to those who were privileged to witness them.  Oh yes; they must
be guarded well, for their escape now would mean lifelong disappointment
to the whole village and its guests.

But they must not only be kept safe; their health and strength must be
preserved intact; therefore during the remainder of that day an abundant
supply of food was provided for them, and they were urged with the
utmost solicitude to partake of it freely.  Which they did; for as Phil
remarked to Dick, their strength was never of such vital importance to
them as now; since it was not to be supposed that they were going to
submit to be slowly tortured to death without at least making an effort
to escape; and for that effort to be successful they must keep well and
strong.

The worst of it was that they were quite unable to obtain the slightest
inkling of the form which their torture was to take; the men who guarded
them were willing enough to converse with them upon general subjects,
indeed they were full of curiosity, and asked innumerable questions
respecting the past adventures of the Englishmen; but when it came to
talking about the forthcoming festivities they at once fell silent; they
either could not or would not give the slightest information.

"Well," said Phil, at the conclusion of a long conversation with their
jailers, "we are at least unbound; our hands and feet are free; and
before I suffer myself to be again tied up a good many of the Mayubuna
are going to die."

"I say ditto to that," replied Dick, rising to his feet and stretching
his long limbs as though to test their strength, an action which, by the
by, at once brought the guard facing round with their spears poised and
their bows bent, so alert were they to act upon the slightest thing that
seemed to hint at an attempt to escape.  Yet that was precisely the
problem that was exercising the minds of the two white men all through
that day and the succeeding night; and three times during that night did
they make tentative efforts to escape the watchfulness of their gaolers,
but without success.

One thing, however, was pretty evident, and that was that the torture,
whatever might be its nature, was to begin on the morrow; for the
village was in a perfect ferment of excitement all day, and all through
the night, too, for that matter; people were constantly coming and going
in crowds past the hut, merely for the sake, apparently, of getting a
casual peep at the prisoners as they passed; and with nightfall great
fires were lighted in the square, and singing and dancing went on all
through the night as a fitting introduction to the entertainment of the
following day.

At length, after a sleepless night of intense anxiety on the part of the
prisoners, and, as has been said, more than one unavailing effort to
elude the vigilance of their guards, the morning dawned of the day which
was to see those prisoners begin to die; and with the rising of the sun
the excitement and hilarity of the village became still more pronounced.
The crowds grew more dense, the laughter and conversation louder; the
people had donned their holiday attire--such as it was--and the children
chased each other with joyous shouts in and out of the throng.  Then a
meal was brought to the prisoners; and while they were partaking of it a
sudden clamour of drums and horns arose, and the laughing, chattering
crowd seemed to dissolve as suddenly from the vicinity of the prison
hut, leaving it plunged in an atmosphere of silence, save for the
monotonous banging of the drums, the blare of the horns, and a low,
humming murmur which might be that of a multitude of people conversing
in low, hushed voices.

"That means that our time has come, I suppose," remarked Stukely, as he
set down the food of which he had been partaking.  "Well, keep up your
courage, lad; and remember that if we are to die we will do so in a
fashion which the Mayubuna will never forget, so long as they are a
people.  There are wives now who will be widows before the sun goes
down; for they shall never torture me to death; nor you, either, lad, if
I can help it.  We have our hands free, and a Devon man can do much with
his hands alone, when put to it; but my plan is to watch our chance, and
snatch the first weapon that comes to hand, and make play with it.  They
will no doubt shoot us down with their arrows, rather than let us
escape; but that kind of death will be infinitely preferable to one of
lingering torture--if die we must."

"Yes," agreed Dick; "and you may depend upon me to--"

He was interrupted by the arrival of a messenger who summoned them and
their guards to follow him; whereupon they rose to their feet and,
completely hedged in by sixteen fully armed men, were marched toward the
centre of the village, ultimately arriving in the square where they had
previously been interviewed by the cacique.  And a curious sight the
square presented on this occasion, for it and the long street which ran
through it from end to end of the village were packed with people who
had come, in response to an invitation, from all the villages within a
radius of twenty miles, to see the two white men die.  They were ranged
right along what may be called the main street, in a dense crowd some
eight or ten deep, for a distance of a quarter of a mile, and were
arranged in two compact lines, with a clear lane of about six feet wide
between the two lines of people.  Through a gap which had evidently been
left open in one of these lines for that especial purpose, the two
prisoners were conducted into this lane and led to one extremity of it,
where upon a raised platform sat the cacique, with five men, presumably
the caciques of neighbouring villages, on either side of him.  The
Englishmen were marched up to this platform and there left face to face
with the cacique and his friends, the guards retiring through the gap by
which they had entered, which thereupon was immediately closed.

For the space of a full five minutes or more Phil and Dick stood facing
the cacique, while a profound and impressive silence fell upon that vast
crowd of Indians, broken only by the rustle of the wind in the
tree-tops, and a faint rumble caused by the movement of the naked feet
of the assembled multitude, who were in the grip of an excitement so
intense that they apparently found it impossible to stand quite still,
but must needs continually shift the weight of their bodies from one
foot to the other.

At length, when the pause had become almost unbearably impressive, the
cacique rose to his feet and, lifting his hand to command attention,
spoke.

"White men," he said, "ye have told me a story which may or may not be
true.  Ye have declared yourselves to be the enemy of the Spaniards and
the friend of the Indian; but how have ye shown your friendship for us?
By causing the death of seventeen men of the Mayubuna, by creating
seventeen widows and forty-six fatherless children, for whom the rest of
the villagers must now provide food.  For this great wrong ye are doomed
to die; and it rests with yourselves whether your death shall be quick,
or whether it shall be one of long-drawn-out torment.

"Ye see this great lane of people stretching right through the village,
and ye will note that each man of the front rank is armed with a club.
Now, your doom is this.  Ye shall start from where ye now stand, and
shall run to the farther end of the lane of people; and as ye run each
man on either hand shall smite ye as often as he may with his club.  If
ye can hold out against the blows which ye will receive, and retain
strength enough to reach the other end of the lane without falling by
the way, then your death shall be quick; but if ye fall, then he who
falls will be tied to a stake and slowly done to death for the pleasure
of the spectators.  You understand?  Then--go!"

During this brief address the two Englishmen had been thinking hard and
rapidly.  Phil's first thought had been to force his way up on to the
platform, seize the cacique, and threaten him with instant death unless
the man would consent to give them both immediate liberty; but he
instantly discarded the idea, for as the thought flashed through his
mind he noticed that the Indians in front of the platform were all fully
armed; and for an unarmed man to force a passage through that hedge of
deadly spears, ten deep, was a simple impossibility.  Then he threw a
glance along the lane which he and Dick were to traverse, and which was
hedged in on either side by serried ranks of Indians, each armed with a
heavy club about three feet long.  The Indians were by no means
powerfully built, and, individually, looked by no means formidable; and
the thought came to him that if he and Dick, instead of starting to race
at top speed from end to end of the lane, were each to snatch a club
from the nearest man, and then, back to back, fight their way slowly
along the lane, they might possibly contrive to reach the end of it
without being beaten to the earth, after which who knew what unforeseen
possibilities might arise?  It was not a particularly hopeful plan, but
it was the best that suggested itself on the spur of the moment;
moreover, both he and Dick were experts at quarter-staff play, and they
would at least be able to make a fight for it, so he hastily
communicated his plan to Dick while the cacique was speaking, and
received Dick's murmured acceptance of it at the precise moment when the
cacique uttered the word "Go!"



CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

HOW PHIL AND DICK WERE MADE TO RUN THE GAUNTLET.

"Go!"

As the word left the cacique's lips the two Englishmen faced round, back
to back, and each sprang straight at the Indian who happened to be
nearest him.  A perfect forest of bludgeons whirled in the air on both
sides of the human lane, and from one end of it to the other, in savage
anticipation of the moment when the two victims should dash past; but
the length of the weapons was such that not more than three could reach
each victim at any given moment; and of this the two friends had already
taken note, deciding with the rapidity of thought that if by skill and
quickness of action they could evade those three simultaneous blows,
they need not trouble about anything more for the moment; for their
progress down the lane would simply be a continuous succession of
evasions of three blows aimed at them at the same moment.  Their object,
therefore, was each to secure a bludgeon before receiving a disabling
blow; and this they contrived to do, their sudden spring taking the
Indians so completely by surprise that the weapons were wrenched out of
their hands without the slightest difficulty.  Then, instead of
sprinting for their lives down the lane, by which course of action they
must have inevitably exposed themselves to the certainty of receiving a
sufficient number of violent blows to disable them, and in all
probability prevent them from reaching their goal, they placed
themselves back to back and, each facing his own particular line of
assailants, moved sideways along the length of the lane at ordinary
walking pace, contenting themselves with parrying with their bludgeons
the blows aimed at them, and not attempting to return those blows
excepting when some particular Indian happened to exhibit especial
vindictiveness, when, if opportunity offered, they retaliated with such
effect that before fifty yards of their course had been traversed at
least half a dozen Indians were down with cracked skulls.  Now, it would
naturally be imagined that a multitude of savages, finding themselves
thus baulked of the vengeance to which they had been so eagerly looking
forward, would have with one accord broken their ranks and, rushing in
upon the two white men in overwhelming numbers, have slain them out of
hand.  But they did nothing of the sort.  On the contrary, the cool,
calm courage of the prisoners, their audacity in daring to face such
enormously overwhelming odds, the gallant fight that they were putting
up, and the extraordinary skill with which they handled their bludgeons,
all seemed to appeal to some elementary sporting instinct that must have
been lurking dormant and unsuspected in the Mayubuna nature, exciting
their admiration to such an extent that several of the Indians who might
have struck an unfair blow actually forbore to do so, and presently they
even began to utter shouts of admiration when either of the white men
achieved a particularly brilliant passage of defence.  In short, it
seemed gradually to dawn upon them that they were playing a game, and
that since the balance of advantage was enormously on their own side
they were morally bound to play it fairly.  And within certain limits
they did, although there were not wanting those whose ferocious passions
were so deeply stirred that all they seemed to crave was the life of the
white men, and they were willing to go to all lengths to get it.  Thus
one man aimed so savage a blow at Dick that he smashed his bludgeon to
splinters upon that of Chichester as the latter guarded the blow.  Then,
doubtless enraged at his failure, he sprang out of his place in the
ranks and, catching Dick unawares, stabbed at him with the splintered
fragment of the weapon that remained in his hand, inflicting quite a
painful jagged wound on the young Englishman's shoulder.  But it was his
last act, for, stung into sudden fury by the smart of the wound, Dick
turned upon him and, throwing all his strength and weight into the blow,
struck out with his clenched left fist, catching the unfortunate Indian
square on the point of the chin.  So terrific was the blow that it
actually lifted the man clean off his feet and sent him whirling back
through the air for a distance of nearly four yards before he fell to
the earth dead with a broken neck.  A great shout of mingled amazement,
admiration, and terror arose at this wonderful exhibition of strength;
and thenceforward, influenced either by fear or the spirit of fair play,
or, it may be, a combination of both, there were no further attempts
made to take an unfair advantage of those two who were making so gallant
a fight to save themselves from a fate too hideous to be put into words.

At length the gauntlet was run, the far end of the lane was reached, and
the two young Englishmen still stood upon their feet.  But not
unscathed; very far from it.  They had made a gallant fight, and had
afforded their savage captors a far more exhilarating spectacle than
they had ever before witnessed, although it had been of a very different
character from what had been anticipated; and now the two prisoners
stood, trembling with exhaustion from their superhuman efforts, cruelly
bruised, bleeding, and altogether too dazed and helpless to make that
sudden, wild dash for freedom which each had planned in his heart when
entering upon the terrible ordeal through which they had just passed.
What was to be the next move in this grim game of life or death?

They were not long left in doubt, for the party of armed men who had
conducted them on to the ground now forced their way into the lane and,
arranging themselves in a circle round the two white men, led them back
to where the cacique of the village sat enthroned.  And as they passed
back along the lane of humanity which they had fought their way through
a few minutes previously, many of those whose arms still tingled with
the jar of the parried blows which they had aimed at them, now greeted
their return with murmurs of commiseration or admiration.  Then, almost
before they realised where they were, they found themselves, still
hemmed in by their armed guards, facing the cacique, who sat for some
moments silent, regarding them with an inscrutable countenance.  Then,
raising his hand for silence, he spoke.

"White men," he said, "ye have not fulfilled the terms of the agreement
which I made with you.  Ye were to run from this end of the lane to the
other, and ye walked.  And instead of accepting unresistingly--as was
intended--the blows which were aimed at ye, you took by force and
superior strength two clubs from my people, wherewith to defend
yourselves; and, worst of all, ye have killed outright no less than
four, more men of the Mayubuna and maimed five others so that it will be
many days before they will again be able to provide food for their wives
and children.  Therefore, because of all this, and what has gone before,
your doom is--"

"Nay, nay; be merciful, O my father!" cried a number of women's voices,
"be merciful!"  And, forcing their way through the throng, a party of
some twenty women of varying ages--from girls of seventeen or eighteen
to one withered hag who, from her appearance, might have been a hundred
years old--flung themselves upon their knees before the cacique.

"Mercy!" reiterated the cacique, in astonishment.  "Who pleads for mercy
on behalf of these white men?  Surely not you, Insipa, whose only son
they have done to death, leaving you desolate in your old age?"

"Yea; I, even I, Insipa," answered the hag above mentioned.  "Hearken
now, O my father," she continued.  "It is a custom among us that if a
man be killed, and his slayer be taken alive, if the mother or widow of
the slain man claim the slayer as her slave, to provide food for her in
the place of the slain man, her demand shall be granted, and the slayer
shall be given to her for the rest of her life.  Now, behold these two
white men and see what mighty men they are.  Between them they have
slain no less than twenty-one men of the Mayubuna, leaving twenty-one
women and many children with none to protect or find food for them.  Let
them be given as slaves to us, then, that we whom they have thus cruelly
bereaved may not suffer from the loss of father, husband, or son.  It is
our right, and we demand it."

The cacique considered this extraordinary request for several minutes;
then he turned to Dick and Phil.

"White men," he said, "ye have heard what this woman asks.  Now behold,
I give you your choice: will ye become the slaves of these bereaved
women, to till their fields, tend their cattle, hunt and fish for them,
and generally watch over and protect them and their children in the
place of those whom ye have slain?  Or will ye go straightway to the
stake and pay the penalty of your misdeeds by dying a slow and miserable
death?"

"Since we must needs do the one or the other," answered Phil--who alone
fully understood the purport of the cacique's speech, and therefore took
it upon himself to reply--"we choose to become the slaves of these women
who have intervened to save us from death.  And we will do our best to
fill the places of those whom we have unfortunately slain, tilling their
fields, tending their cattle, hunting and fishing for their wives and
children, and protecting them from all evil."

"It is well," answered the cacique.  Then, turning to the group of
women, he said: "Take them; they are yours; I have granted your request.
Nevertheless, methinks you would find it easier to tame two full-grown
jaguars, fresh from the forest, than to subdue these white men to your
will.  But that is your affair."  And with a wave of his hand he
dismissed the party.

"`Subdue them', said he?" muttered the ancient Insipa.  "Ha, ha! we
shall see; yes, we shall see!  These men are truly young and strong and
fierce, yea, stronger and fiercer than black jaguars, while Insipa is
old and weak; nevertheless--here, take them and bind them for me."  She
turned suddenly and held out two tough, raw-hide ropes to the armed
guard who still surrounded the prisoners; and they, with a coarse jest
or two at the old woman's expense, at once proceeded to bind Dick's and
Phil's hands behind them, after which they placed the two free ends of
the ropes in the beldame's hands and left the way free for her to lead
her prisoners away.

"Come, then," cried the old woman, jerking the ropes roughly; "come,
sons of mine!  Ha, ha!  I have lost one son, who was lazy, who cared not
for his poor old mother, and often left her for many days without so
much as the smallest morsel of deer meat, and let her garden be overrun
with weeds.  And in his place I have gained two--two who are brave
enough to protect me, and strong enough to till my garden and my fields,
and to keep my hut well supplied with all that I need.  Ha, ha!  I have
done well; I am a gainer!  Come, white men, come, and make old Insipa's
declining years pleasant and happy!"  And she proceeded to drag her
prisoners away, followed by the other women who were--or believed they
were--part owners of the bodies of Dick and Phil.

"Now, what does all this mean?  What is to be our fate; and what has
that withered old mummy to do with us?" grumbled Dick, who had scarcely
half-understood what had passed since he and Phil had been led back to
the cacique.

Phil explained, adding, "It will probably be unpleasant enough for a
time, but we must grin and bear it, lad; and at all events it will be
less disagreeable than being lashed to a stake and slowly tortured to
death.  If we had accepted that fate everything would have been at an
end for us within the next two or three days; whereas by choosing the
alternative we at least save our lives; and that is the main thing with
us at present.  There would have been no comfort or satisfaction in
being tortured to death by a parcel of savages, after having come so far
and done so much.  Besides, if we are to hunt and fish for these women
we must be free to come and go pretty much as we please.  And do you
need me to tell you what we shall do as soon as we obtain our freedom?"

"Of course not," answered Dick.  "We shall just watch our opportunity
and continue our journey."

"Precisely," agreed Phil.  "And I must confess I am greatly surprised
that our friend the cacique did not foresee such a possibility.  Well,
then, it seems to me that what we have to do is to be good boys for the
present, do everything with a good grace that we have undertaken to do,
and, generally, use our utmost endeavours to win the confidence of these
people and disarm the suspicion with which they are certain to regard us
at the outset, and then our way to escape will soon become clear."

The hut of Insipa was a wretched, neglected hovel of a place, in the
very last stages of dirt, neglect, and decay, situated on the outskirts
of the village, and to this delectable abode the old crone conducted her
two "sons" and inducted them therein.  But before she took them inside
the hut she carefully examined their hurts; and when at length she had
satisfied herself that although these were no doubt painful enough, and,
for the moment, so severe as to incapacitate her prisoners for anything
but the very lightest of work, there was no serious harm done, she
dispatched one of the women who had followed her, and who considered
herself as part owner of the prisoners, to the river for water, another
for wood to make a fire, while a third was sent into the forest to hunt
for certain herbs.  Then she took the two men into the hut, released
them from their bonds, and graciously gave them permission to lie down
upon a heap of dried fern, which they were glad enough to do after the
rough and trying experience through which they had so recently passed,
and in a few minutes both were fast asleep.  They slept soundly for an
hour or more; and when they awoke Insipa was ready with hot fomentations
for their wounds and bruises, poultices of macerated leaves for
application after the fomentations, and finally, food--a piece of roast
goat's flesh, cassava bread, and a warm drink of somewhat peculiar but
not unpleasant flavour, after partaking of which they both again fell
into a profound sleep which lasted until the following morning; for the
drink had been medicated.  Insipa was anxious that her "sons" should
begin to work for her at once, and she knew that, after their hurts had
been dressed, sleep was the very best restorative that she could
possibly administer to them.

As a matter of fact, when Phil and Dick awoke from their long night's
sleep they found, to their astonishment, that the ache and stiffness of
their bruises were gone, and that for all practical purposes they were
as well as ever, and quite fit to be up and about again.  Insipa was
delighted with the success which had attended her ministrations, so much
so, indeed, that instead of ordering them out to find food for her at
once, she went out and borrowed some from a neighbour, on the strength
of her new acquisition, brought it home, cooked it, and laid it before
them, with the information that it would be the last unearned meat they
would get.

This hint, however, did not greatly interfere with the appetite of our
friends; for they had already agreed that they were quite well enough to
resume their journey up the river, and had decided to do so at the first
opportunity, whenever that might occur.  And they believed that it might
occur at any moment, that very day, perhaps, although they were quite
prepared to find that precautions of some sort would be taken, for a
little while at least, to see that they did not get away.  In this they
were not mistaken; for they had scarcely finished their meal when they
were summoned to the presence of the cacique, who informed them that he
had arranged that one of them should spend the day in hunting, while the
other should remain in the village, and, under the direction and
supervision of a member of the village council, till the gardens and
attend to the cattle of the twenty-one widows whose property they were,
and that they might settle between themselves which of the two should be
the hunter.  Now this at once put an effectual stop to any plans for
immediate escape; for although not a word had passed between the two
friends on the subject, they were both of one mind that whenever they
went it must be together; in fact neither would have dreamed of going
off and leaving the other behind.  Probably the shrewd old cacique had
guessed as much when he arranged the apparently simple but really
ingenious scheme whereby at least one of the two white men would always
be in the village and under close observation.  Of course Dick, being
the younger, offered Phil the choice of the two occupations; and Stukely
at once unhesitatingly decided that he would undertake the agricultural
work, while Dick was to do the hunting; and this arrangement came into
force forthwith, Dick's duty being to secure all the game and fish he
possibly could, and take the products of his industry to the cacique,
who would divide them out equally between the twenty-one widows
according to the numbers of their families.

To provide flesh food enough to satisfy more than sixty healthy
appetites was no mean task, particularly in the immediate vicinity of a
village of five hundred inhabitants, where the whole of the neighbouring
country was strenuously hunted day after day; but Dick happened to be a
particularly keen and clever hunter; moreover his training during the
journey had been of such a character as to develop his speed, strength,
and endurance to such a degree that he was able to go farther afield
than any of the Indians, and thus reach a district where the game was
neither so scarce nor so wild as it was in the immediate neighbourhood
of the village; also he soon got to know the spots where game was most
likely to be found.  Consequently after the first three or four days,
during which he was learning the country, he did quite as well as could
be reasonably expected, and frequently excited the cacique's admiration
by the quantity of meat which he contrived to bring in.

As for Phil, he was a Devon man, and consequently had acquired, almost
unconsciously, a considerable amount of knowledge regarding farming
matters, so that he found himself more than on a par with the Indians,
whose knowledge of agriculture was of the most elementary character;
also he understood the full value of system in the arrangement of work,
which the Indians did not.  Consequently, by working systematically, and
making the women do their fair share, he found that he could do the work
which had been allotted to him, and still find time for his favourite
hobby of research.

It is not necessary to give a detailed description of our friends'
doings, day after day, during their sojourn with the Mayubuna Indians;
the above indication will enable the reader to picture the uneventful
sort of existence which they led; and it is only needful to add that so
well did the young Englishmen contrive matters that by the time that
they had been three months in the village the suspicion and distrust
with which they had at first been regarded had entirely disappeared, and
the Indians seemed to have gathered the impression that their white
prisoners had quite settled down and were content to spend the remainder
of their lives with them.

But it took fully three months to establish matters on this satisfactory
basis; and this brought the time on to what may be termed the winter
season; that is to say, the period of the year when, after a
long-continued spell of fine weather, during which the crops ripen and
are gathered in, the season of rain, wind, and violent thunderstorms
begins which is to soften, nourish, and invigorate the baked earth and
prepare it to bring forth the luxuriant vegetation of another summer.
And it was one of those violent thunderstorms which provided our friends
with the opportunity to escape for which they had been so long and so
patiently waiting.

The day had been unusually hot, to start with; and about noon the sky,
which had been clear during the earlier part of the day, had gradually
become veiled by a thick haze through which the sun revealed himself
with ever-increasing difficulty merely as a shapeless blotch of
whiteness in the midst of the haze before vanishing altogether.  Then
the wind fell, the atmosphere became so oppressively close that the mere
act of breathing became difficult, and a great silence fell upon the
scene, for the insects and birds, warned by instinct of what was
impending, sought shelter in the deepest recesses of the forest, while
the Indians, unable or unwilling to labour in the enervating heat, and
also knowing from past experience what was coming, retired to their huts
and resigned themselves to the overpowering languor which oppressed
them.  Of all the inhabitants of the village, Dick and Phil were the
only two who resisted the enervating influence of the hour, for Dick was
away hunting, as usual, while Phil, having set himself a certain task to
perform, was not the sort of man who would allow himself to be deterred
from its execution by such a trifle as mere oppressiveness of weather.

But as the day wore on and the sky grew ever more lowering and the heat
and closeness more pronounced, he found his work growing increasingly
difficult and distasteful; and it was with a sigh of deep satisfaction
that at last, having finished what he had set himself to do, he wended
his way to the hut which he and Dick had been permitted to erect for
themselves, and, having laid aside the primitive tools which he had been
using, continued his way to the creek where, at the conclusion of each
day's labour, he was wont to indulge in the refreshing luxury of a
bathe.  While he was still in the water he was joined by Dick, who had
also done a good day's work, having brought in two deer, which he had
duly delivered over to the cacique.

By the time that the pair had sufficiently refreshed themselves the
gloom of the departing day was deepening into the darkness of a
moonless, starless night; and as they entered their hut the first
shimmer of sheet lightning which was the precursor of the coming storm
flickered above the tree-tops of the contiguous forest.

"Phew!" exclaimed Dick, as he flung himself upon the heap of dried fern
that served him as a bed, "how unbearably hot and close it is, and how
tired I am!  I doubt if I could walk another mile, if my life depended
upon it."

"I am sorry to hear that," gravely returned Phil; "for, unless I am very
greatly mistaken, I believe we shall have an opportunity to escape
to-night."

"To escape?" reiterated Dick.  "How do you mean, old man?"

"Do you know what is going to happen to-night?" demanded Phil.

"I know that we are going to have a pretty severe thunderstorm, if that
is what you mean," answered Dick; "but what has that got to do with our
escaping?"

"What has it to do?" repeated Phil.  "Why, everything, my gentle cuckoo.
Dost thou not yet know that Indians generally, and the Mayubuna in
particular, have a very wholesome dread and horror of thunderstorms,
believing, as they do, that the evil spirits come abroad and hold high
revel upon such occasions?  If an Indian happens to be struck by
lightning, his fellow Indians are firmly convinced that he has been
killed by an evil spirit; hence they are extremely reluctant to venture
abroad during a thunderstorm.  We have observed that reluctance even in
the case of the comparatively few unimportant storms that have visited
the village since we have been here; but hitherto the Mayubuna have been
too suspicious and too watchful to afford us an opportunity to get clear
away.  Now, however, I think we have at last succeeded in completely
lulling their suspicions; they have not been nearly so watchful of us of
late; and I am very doubtful whether there is a single Indian in this
village, from the cacique downward, including old Mammy Insipa herself,
who will be willing to turn out in such a storm as is now brewing,
merely for the purpose of watching that we two do not run away."

"Yes," agreed Dick, "I have no doubt you are right.  Well, I am quite
ready to make the attempt whenever you say the word."

"But what about thy fatigue?" demanded Phil.

"Oh," answered Dick, with a laugh, "I am not so tired but that I dare
say I can manage to do whatever may be necessary to secure our escape
from this wretched place."

"Very well, then," said Phil; "in that case let us get our supper, make
our preparations--Heaven knows they will be few and simple enough--and
then lie down and get what rest we can; it will be two or three hours,
yet, before it will be safe for us to make the attempt."

The friends were awakened out of a sound sleep by a blaze of lightning
that flashed across their closed eyelids with the vividity of noontide
sunshine, followed an instant later by a crash of thunder that caused
them to start upright from their fern beds in something akin to panic,
so appalling was the sharpness and intensity of the sound, followed as
it was by a series of deep, heavy, reverberating booms which might have
been caused by the broadsides of an entire navy simultaneously
discharged, and the concussion of which sent a perceptible tremor
through the earth beneath them.  The booming sounds seemed to echo back
and forth from cloud to cloud, rumbling and growling as though reluctant
to cease, but at length it subsided into momentary silence, only to
burst forth with even greater violence a few seconds later as a second
flash tore across the ink-black sky.

"That is our signal," remarked Phil quietly, as he rose to his feet.
"We may safely move now, for the `bad spirits' are abroad with a
vengeance to-night, and every Indian in the place--man, woman, and
child--will be cowering with head tightly wrapped in blanket and unable
to move for fear of what may be seen.  There! listen to that!" as
another vivid flash illumined the hut, and low, terrified wails burst
forth from all round about them, mingling with the roar and volleying of
the thunder--"that gives one some idea of the state of mind that the
poor wretches are in.  I believe that if the village were to take fire
they would remain in their huts and burn rather than turn out and face
the lightning.  Come along; we must get clear away, if we can, before
the rain comes, because when it begins we shall be able to see nothing.
Now; have we all our belongings--my medicine case, our pistols and
ammunition, swords, bows and arrows?  Yes; I think there is nothing
missing.  Are you ready?  Then--march!"

"But where are we going?" demanded Dick, as they groped their way out of
the hut in the opaque darkness that followed upon a dazzling flash of
lightning.

"First, round to the back of the hut, and then past the rear of the
other huts--since, although I believe we might walk straight through the
village without being seen, I do not believe in running unnecessary
risks.  Then, down to the beach," replied Phil.

For the first few minutes of their journey the going was exceedingly
difficult, the eyes of the pair being alternately dazzled by the vivid
electric flashes and blinded by the Cimmerian darkness that followed
them; but by the time that they had groped their way through the village
and were approaching the beach, the flash and glimmer of the lightning,
both fork and sheet, had become almost continuous, and they were able to
see their way for the rest of the distance without difficulty.

"Now," said Phil, when at length they reached the beach and stood among
the canoes, "our first business must be to choose a handy canoe for
ourselves--I hope we shall not require her for more than an hour--and
then send the rest adrift down the river, which will put it out of the
power of the villagers to pursue us.  It is, of course, a bit hard upon
them, but it cannot be helped; and after all, they have kept us enslaved
here for three months, so it is not so very unfair an exchange.  Now,
this is a handy little craft, and ought to serve our purpose very well,
even if we cannot find our own canoe again, so help me to haul her up,
Dick; and then we must push the others off as quickly as we can.  The
suck of the current will soon draw them down the creek into the main
stream; and when once they are there the Mayubuna may say goodbye to
them."

It took them the best part of half an hour to send the whole of the
canoes adrift, but they did the job effectually, and by the time that
the last canoe had been thrust off into the middle of the creek the
first dozen or so were fairly in the main stream and being rapidly
sucked out toward the middle by the strong current.  Then Dick and Phil,
after giving a last look round, and flinging a parting glance toward the
silent and apparently deserted village, thrust off the canoe which they
had reserved for themselves, sprang lightly into her as she went afloat,
seized the paddles, and headed down the creek.  Upon reaching the main
stream they found that the current was running very strongly, showing
that there had been much rain higher up among the hills; but, on the
other hand, the storm, which was still raging violently, although it had
brought no rain as yet, had bred a strong breeze from the northward
which would be of incalculable value to them if they could but recover
their own canoe, with her sail; they therefore paddled across to the
opposite side of the river, where the current was to a great extent
nullified by eddies, and worked their way upstream, close inshore, until
they reached the creek near which their own canoe remained--as they
hoped--concealed, when, turning into it, they paddled up it until they
arrived at their former landing-place, easily recognisable in the light
afforded by the incessant lightning flashes.  In like manner they had no
difficulty in finding the detached clump of bush in which they had
hidden their canoe on the evening preceding their capture by the
Mayubuna; and toward this they now hurried, eager to learn whether she
still remained where they had put her.

As they strode rapidly across the little meadow they noticed that the
tall grass all round the clump in which they hoped to find their canoe
was much beaten down, as though a number of people had been walking
round it, and they also observed several well-defined trails leading
away from the clump toward the forest, all of which sent their hopes
down to zero, for the signs all pointed to the fact that someone--or
something--had made frequent visits to that clump of bush--some of them
quite recently; and if those visits had no reference to the hidden
canoe, they could not very well guess what their purpose could be.  But
one thing was evident: that clump of bush must be approached with
caution; and accordingly they loosened their hangers in their sheaths,
strung their bows, fitted an arrow to the string, and then stole
cautiously forward, their figures strongly outlined in the vivid light
of the incessantly flashing lightning.

Reaching the spot where a slight thinning of the undergrowth had first
suggested to them the idea of hiding the canoe there, Dick suddenly
thrust Phil aside and, cautiously parting the bushes, proceeded to
insinuate himself into the opening thus made, Phil following him close
up, with his drawn hanger in his hand, raised ready to strike a blow if
necessary, although, hemmed closely in on every side, as they were, by
the tough, elastic stems and boughs of the undergrowth, it was almost as
difficult to strike a blow with a sword as it was to effectively draw a
bow.  Working his way quietly but rapidly forward in the effective
manner which he had acquired by several months' practice in the
penetration of such growth, Dick at last stretched out his hand and
touched what he at once knew was the hull of the canoe.

"All right, Phil," he exclaimed, delightedly, "here she is.  Now, if you
will stay where you are, and widen the opening a little, so that she
will pass out easily, I will go to the other end, and help you to lift
her out."

Accordingly, he proceeded to work his way along the length of the canoe,
forcing the boughs aside to make a passage for himself, until he had
reached to about mid-length of the canoe, when, the darkness in there
being almost impenetrable in spite of the continuously flashing
lightning, he reached his hand over to ascertain whether the sail and
paddles were still in the craft as they had been left.  As he did so he
became conscious of a strong musky odour, and while he was still
pondering what this might portend his hand came in contact with a cold,
clammy, scaly body which his touch told him, before he hastily withdrew
his hand with a low cry of astonishment and repugnance, must be not far
short of as thick as his own body.  And the next instant there occurred
a sudden rustling that caused the canoe to shake and quiver and the
paddles in her to rattle, a huge, dimly-seen shape upraised itself in
the canoe, a gust of hot, fetid breath smote Dick in the face, and a
loud angry hiss made itself heard even through the heavy booming of the
thunder.



CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

HOW THEY ESCAPED ONE GREAT DANGER, ONLY TO FALL INTO A GREATER.

There was no need for Dick to ask himself, or his friend, what was the
nature of this monstrous, indistinctly seen shape that upreared itself
out of the canoe and poised its head within a foot of his face, its two
eyes flashing baleful green fires into his as its long forked tongue
flickered angrily in and out of its slightly opened jaws; he knew it at
once for one of the enormous boas that dispute the sovereignty of the
South American forest with the puma, and the black jaguar, that most
rare and ferocious of all the cat tribe.  And, for an instant, so great
was his astonishment at thus unexpectedly finding himself at close
quarters--nay, face to face--with a creature big enough to envelop his
body half a dozen times over, and strong enough to crush him into a
shapeless mass, that he was completely paralysed.  He had no fear of the
serpent, although he was perfectly aware of the awful danger in which he
stood--he knew that in another instant the enormous body might fling its
great coils about him and gradually bring into action the tremendous
pressure which should crush every bone in his body to splinters--but, on
the other hand, it never occurred to him to make the slightest effort to
save himself from so hideous a fate.  But as he stood there perfectly
quiescent for, as it seemed to him, a quarter of an hour or more--the
actual length of time did not probably exceed three seconds--a sharp
rattling of the dry twigs over his head and a heavy thud met his ears, a
little shower of twigs and leaves rained down upon him, and at the same
instant a terrific upheaval occurred in the canoe, coil upon coil the
vast length of the serpent's body leaped into view, and plunged over the
side, there was a violent rustling and crackling of branches for a few
seconds as the monster snake writhed its irresistible way through the
neighbouring bushes; and then it was gone.  And as the last sounds of
its hurried retreat died away, Dick Chichester sank helplessly to the
ground, violently sick.

For a minute or two the paroxysms of vomiting were simply dreadful, and
then the feeling of horrible nausea gradually passed away, and, pulling
himself together, Dick struggled to his feet.

"That's right, lad," he heard Stukely's voice say, as he felt his
friend's encouraging pat on the shoulder.  "Feel better, now?  That's
capital.  Faugh! what a disgusting stench!  No wonder it made you sick;
I feel almost as bad myself.  But I'll bet a trifle that the brute feels
a good deal worse than either of us, for I must have hit him pretty
hard; indeed if it had not been for the thick growth that baulked me and
hindered my stroke I could have cut his head clean off."

"Well, you--you--have--saved my life, Phil, and I--" gasped Dick
thickly, as he felt for the other's hand and pressed it convulsively.

"Pooh! nonsense; that's all rubbish, you know," interrupted Phil,
patting Dick on the back, "I should have cut at the brute just the same,
if thou hadst not been there.  And now, if you feel all right again, let
us get the canoe out and see what she looks like; a nice mess he will
have made of her, I expect, making his lair in her; with a murrain on
him!"

"You have put something worse than a murrain on him, or I am no judge,"
laughed Dick, a trifle hysterically.  "The brute will certainly die
before morning.  Now, then, are you ready?  Then--lift!"

With some difficulty they at length extricated the canoe from her
hiding-place, to find, a good deal to their surprise, that, apart from
two broken paddles, the craft was very little the worse for having been
made the lair of a snake so big that he must have practically filled her
from end to end.  Luckily the mast, yard, and sail had been placed in
the bottom of her and so had not been broken, although almost the whole
of the boa's ponderous weight must have rested upon them.  So when
presently they put her into the water, they were rejoiced to find that
although she had been lying dry for three months, so completely had she
been shielded from the sun's rays that her hull was still intact and
that she leaked not a drop.  This was far better than they had dared to
hope for, so, stepping into her, appropriating the paddles of the other
craft, and leaving the latter moored to the bank, they joyfully shoved
off, and three minutes later were in the main stream, with the canoe's
head pointed up the river.

Meanwhile, the storm still raged as furiously as ever, the flashes of
lightning were incessant, the rolling of the thunder was continuous and
deafening, and the northerly wind was blowing so fiercely that the
surface of the stream was whipped into small, foam-capped waves.  But
they were not high enough to imperil the safety of the canoe, moreover
the wind that roared so savagely aloft among the tree-tops and stripped
off the dried leaves and rotten branches in blinding showers was a fair
wind for the fugitives, so they stepped their mast, close-reefed their
sail, and were presently foaming up the river in midstream--where,
although they had a strong current to contend with, they were at least
safe from the branches that flew hurtling through the air--as fast as a
horse could trot.

Now, all this time the storm had been a dry storm, that is to say, not a
drop of rain had fallen from the bosom of the scowling clouds that
seemed bursting with it, but it was bound to come, sooner or later, and
come it did, with a vengeance, when our friends had been under way about
an hour, and just as the canoe had shot into a broad, lagoon-like
stretch of the river where it broadened out to about a mile in width,
and where consequently the water was shallow and the current scarcely
perceptible.  And well was it for them that the rain caught them just at
that point, for otherwise they must perforce have landed until the worst
of it had blown over.  For it came down, not in the sober, steady,
respectable fashion in which it falls in temperate climates, but
literally in sheets, through which it was not possible to see anything
more distant than an ordinary boat's length.  With it came more wind, so
that the canoe, with the gale right behind her and a close-reefed sail
set which, in that condition, was not very much bigger than a man's
shirt, rushed along with the foam boiling up level with her gunwale, and
sometimes even in over it.  While this state of affairs prevailed, and
nothing could be seen beyond the dripping sail glistening in the flash
of the lightning, the Englishmen continued their headlong flight up the
river, unable to see where they were steering but keeping the boat
steadily dead before the wind, confident, from the glimpse they had had
just before the rain came on, that so long as they were able to do this
they would be running up the centre line of the river and could not come
to very much harm.

The first violence of the rain lasted about twenty minutes, and then it
settled to a quiet, steady downpour for about an hour, during which the
thunder and lightning gradually subsided until the thunder became a mere
muttering in the extreme distance, and finally died away altogether.
But the sheet lightning continued to play intermittently, low down on
the northern horizon for some time longer, affording light enough for
the fugitives to see where they were going, and as the wind still
continued to blow strongly they held on, hour after hour, making the
most of the splendid opportunity thus afforded them to make good their
escape, so that when at length the morning came and the wind died down
with the rising of the sun, they were far beyond the reach of pursuit by
the Mayubuna.

Now ensued a month of comparative uneventfulness, during which the two
dauntless young Englishmen forced their way up that great river which,
where it falls into the Amazon, is named the Maranon, while in its
higher reaches it is called the Ucayali, and higher still, the
Quillabamba.  But although their journey up this magnificent stream may
be fitly described as comparatively uneventful, it must not be inferred
therefrom that they met with no adventures at all; on the contrary,
there was scarcely a day when they did not meet with an adventure of
some sort, but it was scarcely of a sufficiently notable character to
justify amplification in these pages, being merely the sort of
occurrence that is inevitable in a river journey through wild country in
the tropic zone.  For example, there were frequent rapids and cataracts
to be negotiated, food to be sought for and obtained, in the course of
which search many strange creatures were seen, many curious and
wonderful sights witnessed, and occasionally savage animals encountered.
Also Indians began to be met with at frequent intervals, some of whom
proved friendly while others were hostile and would fain have disputed
the right of the white men to be in the country at all--thanks to the
tyrannical treatment which they had experienced at the hands of the
Spaniard; and once they encountered a tribe of genuine Amazons, women
who had turned the usual order of things upside down, having usurped the
functions of the men, such as fighting, hunting, and fishing, while
their men folk were compelled to cultivate the land, care for the
cattle, cook the food, look after the children, and so on!  Then there
was the gradual change in the nature of the vegetation and the character
of the scenery as the travellers worked their way upward from the level
of the great plains, or pampas, into the mountainous region toward
Cuzco, with the ever-increasing difficulties of the navigation, which at
length became so great that the canoe had to be abandoned altogether,
and the journey continued by land, although they still followed the
course of the river as closely as possible, in order that they might
always be able to get water, and also because it served them as a guide.

But it was not until they had been journeying a full month, after their
escape from the Mayubuna, that their next really important adventure
befell.  They had by this time climbed upward out of the low, hot,
tropic forest region, and had attained an altitude at which the climate
might almost be described as temperate, where, while the days were still
distinctly hot, the nights were cool, sometimes even to the extent of
sharpness, and where dense morning-fogs were frequent at that particular
period of the year.  Those fogs were the cause of much inconvenience and
delay to the pair; for they could neither hunt nor travel in a fog, the
result being that they were frequently obliged to remain in camp until
eight or nine o'clock in the morning, instead of resuming their journey
at daybreak, as had heretofore been their custom.

Such was the case on the particular morning when the young Englishmen
encountered their next important adventure.  The sun had been above the
horizon nearly two hours when at length the dense fog which had
enveloped their camp cleared sufficiently to permit of their proceeding
upon their journey, but it still hung about here and there in heavy
wreaths, motionless in the still morning air, when they quite
unexpectedly came upon one of the old Peruvian roads constructed by the
Incas.  This road bore evidences of having at one time been a
magnificent highway; but under the rule of the Spaniards it had been
neglected until now it was little more than a sandy track over which
Nature was fast resuming her sway.  But it happened to lead in
approximately the right direction for the Englishmen, and heavy as was
the travelling over it, it was less laborious than toiling over a rough,
trackless country, they therefore promptly decided to follow it so long
as it ran their way.

About a mile from the spot where our two travellers came upon the road
it entered a dense wood; and here the fog still hung thickly.  But the
friends decided that this was of little consequence, since the road,
though its surface was broken up and much overgrown, was still easily
distinguishable; accordingly they plunged into the wood without
hesitation.  A quarter of an hour later, as they rounded a bend in the
road, they made the exceedingly unwelcome discovery that they had walked
right into the midst of a party of some fifty Spanish soldiers who,
having recently partaken of breakfast, were now resting by the roadside
until the fog should clear.

The encounter was so sudden, so absolutely unexpected on the part of the
Englishmen, that almost before they realised the presence of the
Spaniards the latter--who had heard Dick and Phil talking together as
they approached--had surrounded them, rendering flight an impossibility,
and in a trice the pair were disarmed and, hemmed in by an escort of a
dozen armed men, conducted to the spot where the captain--a tall, dark,
handsome man, in full armour, but without a helmet--with his horse
standing beside him, was reclining against the trunk of an enormous
pine.

"Ah, Jorge!" exclaimed this individual, in Spanish, rising to his feet,
as the party approached; "what have we here?  Prisoners?  Who and what
are they?  Surely not Indians--although they might well be, from their
garb."

"Truly, senor Capitan, I know not who or what they are," answered the
man addressed as Jorge, and who seemed, from his dress and equipment, to
be some sort of inferior officer, possibly a sergeant; "but we heard
them approaching along the road, and as their speech was strange I
deemed it my duty to seize them; I therefore hastily arranged an ambush,
into which they the next moment walked; and--here they are.  If they
were not so dark in colour I should say that they might possibly be
Englishmen."

"Ingles! here!" exclaimed the captain.  "But that is impossible!  Who
are you, picaros?"

Now, during their six weeks' residence in Cartagena, under the
hospitable roof of the senoritas Clara and Dolores, the two Englishmen
had, by assiduous study, acquired a sufficient knowledge of Spanish to
enable them to understand the nature of the question thus contemptuously
addressed to them; and Phil--who, as usual, took the lead whenever any
talking was to be done--at once replied:

"Impossible or not, senor, we are Englishmen; but, beyond that bare
statement of fact, you must pardon us if we decline to say anything."

"Oh!" retorted the Spaniard.  "You decline to say anything, do you?
Very good.  I am not at all curious to learn the history of such
vagabonds as you appear to be.  The fact that you are--by your own
confession--English, is enough for me.  But there are others who may be
more interested than I; and, if so, you may rest assured that they will
find a way to make you speak.  Take them away and secure them, Jorge,"
he continued, addressing his subordinate; "and take care that they do
not give you the slip.  I shall hold you responsible for their
safekeeping.  And as soon as you have secured your prisoners to your
satisfaction, let the men fall in, and we will resume our march."

The man to whose charge our friends had been committed saluted, and then
gave the signal for the prisoners to be led away, adding to his signal
the significant order "Shoot the rascals at once upon the slightest sign
of an attempt to escape."

At a spot among the trees, situated about a hundred yards from where the
captain had been standing, the little party came to the place where a
dozen pack mules had been tethered; and a brief search among the
heterogeneous articles which comprised the packs furnished the sergeant
with a raw-hide rope, from which he cut off a couple of lengths
sufficient to securely bind the hands of Phil and Dick firmly behind
their backs, and this operation was at once so effectually performed
that anything in the nature of escape by simply breaking away and
running for one's life was rendered impossible, quite apart from the
sinister and significant order to shoot which had been given to the
soldiers.  A quarter of an hour later the entire party were on the move,
and the two Englishmen had the mortification of finding themselves
marched back along the road by which they had come.

Shortly after passing the spot where our friends had struck the road,
the path--for it was little more--curved away toward the left, and led
along the top of an extensive plateau of rich pasture land, upon which,
about midday, they sighted the first herd of cattle that the Englishmen
had seen since their escape from the Mayubuna; and during the afternoon
they saw other herds in the charge of peons, showing that the party were
gradually approaching civilised territory; and about half an hour before
sunset they marched into a small village, composed chiefly of adobe
huts, where a halt was called for the night, and where our friends were
confined in a ramshackle barn of a place in company with the sergeant
and ten men.  That the sergeant was quite determined not to get into
trouble by the neglect of any possible precaution soon became perfectly
evident; for when, about half an hour after the arrival of the party at
the village, supper was served, the individual in question gave orders
that before the hands of the prisoners were released to enable them to
convey food to their mouths, their ankles were to be securely bound
together; and this was done.  Then, after supper was over, without
unbinding the ankles of the prisoners their wrists were again bound
together behind their backs, after which their ankles and wrists were
drawn as closely together as they could be induced to come, and firmly
lashed behind them; and in this constrained and exceedingly painful
posture they were unceremoniously flung into opposite corners of the
hut, where, upon the bare floor, and suffering torments from the vermin
with which the place was infested, and from which, in their constrained
position, they were helpless to defend themselves, they were left to
pass the night as best they might.

A seemingly interminable night of torture for the hapless prisoners came
laggingly to an end at last when, about half an hour after daybreak, the
lashings which had confined their limbs all through the hours of
darkness were loosed, and they were allowed to scramble to their feet
and walk to and fro for a few minutes before partaking of breakfast.
After breakfast the march was resumed; and--not to dwell at unnecessary
length upon this portion of the narrative--about an hour before sundown
the entire party marched into a city which one of the soldiers surlily
informed Phil was Cuzco; and here the two young Englishmen were at
length safely deposited in an underground dungeon of a building which
had once been one of the Inca's palaces; escape being rendered
impossible by the simple process of chaining them to the wall by means
of a heavy iron chain about six feet in length, one end of which was
attached to an iron girdle locked round the prisoner's waist while the
other end was welded to an iron ringbolt, the shank of which was deeply
sunk into the solid masonry of the dungeon wall.

On the morning of the following day they were temporarily released from
their loathsome prison--where their bed had consisted merely of a thin
layer of damp straw cast upon the stone flags with which the dungeon was
paved, and where the only ventilation consisted of a small iron grating
let into the masonry above the door--and conducted, under a strong
guard, into the presence of the Governor of the city, who questioned
them closely concerning their names, nationality, where they had come
from, where they were bound for, and why they wished to go there.  At
first the two Englishmen resolutely refused to answer any of the
questions put to them; but when at length the Governor, growing
exasperated at their obstinacy, threatened them with the torture of the
boot, Phil so far satisfied the man's curiosity as to inform him
truthfully of their names and nationality, adding the fictitious
information that, having quarrelled with their captain, they had been
forcibly put ashore somewhere in the Gulf of Darien, and had since been
wandering aimlessly about the country, not knowing where to go or how to
escape from it.  The story was well enough concocted, considering that
it was made up on the spur of the moment; but it was evident that it did
not altogether satisfy his Excellency, who finally ordered them to be
taken back to their dungeon and kept there pending certain enquiries
which he proposed to make.  Later in the day, when they once more found
themselves alone, and again chained to the dungeon wall, Dick, in his
simplicity, ventured to question Phil as to his reasons for resorting to
fiction instead of boldly telling the truth, or refusing to say anything
at all; to which Phil replied:

"My gentle buzzard, if I had persisted in refusing the Don's request for
information, we should have been put to the torture; for when these
fellows threaten a thing like that, they usually mean it; or, if they do
not actually mean it at the moment, they would unhesitatingly carry out
their threat, rather than give themselves the lie; and we should show
ourselves singularly deficient in common sense were we to submit to be
tormented for hours, and probably maimed for life, rather than impart a
little information--so long as that information is of such a nature as
to harm nobody.  At all costs we must avoid being tortured, if we can;
for how could we hope to escape, or, having escaped, hope to carry out
our plans, if our bones were broken, or our limbs twisted out of joint.
Therefore, as soon as torture was mentioned, I decided that the time had
arrived when speech was to be preferred to silence.  But I was careful
to avoid saying anything which might connect us with the _Adventure_;
because sooner or later news of the exploits of that ship is certain to
penetrate as far south even as this, and I have a suspicion that the
participants in those exploits will not be altogether popular with the
dons.  Also, we must remember that there was a rumour that two of the
crew of that ship had found shelter and succour in a certain house in
Cartagena; and if two persons belonging to the _Adventure_ should
eventually be found at large in this country a certain colour of
probability might be imparted to the rumour; in which case our gentle
friends Clara and Dolores might get into serious trouble.  Therefore I
thought it best on all accounts to mingle a little fiction with my
facts.  And I trust that long before his Excellency's proposed enquiries
have borne fruit we shall be far enough away from Cuzco and its
Governor."

"Do you think, then, that there is the slightest chance of our effecting
our escape?" asked Dick, glancing expressly at the chain which bound him
to the wall.

The darkness of the dungeon was too profound for Phil to detect that
glance; nevertheless he must have guessed at it, for he replied:

"No, my son, I don't think anything of the sort; I know!  Don't ask me
how I know, for I cannot tell you; but the knowledge is nevertheless
here," tapping his forehead.  "Keep up your courage, youngster," he
continued.  "Those chains are nothing.  Neither chains nor stone walls
can long hold in restraint the man who is destined to be free; and I
tell you that neither you nor I are doomed to die at the hands of the
Spaniard.  More I cannot tell you; for although I am as certain as I am
of my own existence that we shall escape, my foreknowledge is not clear
enough to enable me to say how that escape is going to be effected."

"I wish I felt half as confident as you seem to do about it," grumbled
Dick.  "At present it appears to me that nothing short of a miracle can
help us.  But--well, we shall see."

The lad's pessimism seemed to be fully justified when, on the following
day, the pair were once more released from the chains that confined them
to the wall, and were summoned by their jailer to follow him.  They
obeyed the summons with alacrity, each of them animated by a secret hope
that an opportunity might present itself for them to break away from
their custodian and effect their escape from the building, and
eventually from the city; but this hope was nipped in the bud when,
immediately outside the door of the dungeon, an armed guard, consisting
of half a dozen soldiers and a corporal, were seen to be awaiting them.
Evidently, the moment for escape was not yet.

To the surprise of both, when the prisoners arrived at the top of the
flight of stone steps leading from the dungeon they found that, instead
of being again conducted along the passage which led to the Governor's
quarters, as on the previous day, they were marched along another
corridor, and presently they found themselves in the street.  But even
now there was no encouragement for them to attempt to escape, because,
besides being hemmed in by their escort of half a dozen soldiers, the
entire party were surrounded by a gaping, scowling, execrating mob of
ragged, unwashed ruffians, apparently the scum of the city, who would
have effectually frustrated any attempt on the part of the Englishmen to
break away from their guard and take to their heels; indeed if one might
have judged from the expression of their coarse, brutal features, and
the remarks which fell from their lips, nothing would have pleased them
better than for the prisoners to have made such an attempt, since it
would have afforded the mob a legitimate excuse for hunting the pair to
death.  Nor were the prisoners permitted to remain very long in suspense
with regard to their destination; for when presently the soldiers
wheeled their charge into a certain street a loud murmur swept through
the accompanying mob of--"Heretics! they are heretics, and are being
taken to the Inquisition!"

So indeed it proved; for some five minutes later they arrived before a
big, gloomy, jail-like building, constructed of great blocks of stone,
and having a number of exceedingly small apertures in the wall, each
aperture being guarded by iron bars of quite unnecessary thickness.  The
entrance to this place was a great gateway some twelve feet wide and
nearly twice as high, fitted with a pair of enormously solid wooden
doors, so heavy that each leaf was fitted with a roller running upon a
quadrant rail let into the pavement to facilitate opening.  But it soon
became evident that these ponderous gates were only opened on special
occasions; for when, having halted the little party, the corporal in
charge tugged at a handle attached to a chain which hung down from an
aperture in the wall, and a bell was heard to clang somewhere in the far
interior of the building, a small wicket cut in one of the big gates was
presently thrown open by an individual in the garb of a lay brother, and
the soldiers with their prisoners were invited to pass through it.

The party now found themselves in a lofty, vaulted passage, some
twenty-five feet in length, the farther end of which opened upon a paved
courtyard surrounded by cloisters surmounted by lofty buildings
massively constructed of the same dark-grey stone as the building
through which they had just passed, and, like it, provided with windows
strongly protected by massive iron bars, only instead of being all
small, as were the windows in the exterior walls, some of those which
looked out upon the courtyard were of very considerable dimensions.  At
the opposite side of the courtyard, facing the passage through which the
party had just passed, was another door, giving admission to what
appeared to be the main building, and to this they were now conducted by
the lay brother, who, having unlocked the door, threw it open and bade
them enter the big, gloomy cavern-like, ill-lighted hall which now stood
revealed.  Once inside this place, the prisoners were delivered over to
the custody of a huge, brawny brute in the shape of a man who, from the
fact that he bore a bunch of big keys attached to his belt, was no doubt
the jailer of the institution.  Then a tall, thin, ascetic-looking man
in the garb of a priest stepped forward, scanned the two prisoners
attentively, carefully compared their appearance with the description of
them contained in a document, which the corporal handed to him, signed
the document and returned it to the corporal, dismissed him and his
followers, and waved the jailer to lead his charges away, which the
fellow immediately did, in morose silence.  Their way lay down a long,
narrow corridor, having doors opening out of it at intervals on either
side; and at the precise moment when the prisoners arrived opposite one
of these doors a long-drawn wail, rising to a piercing shriek, rang out
from behind it, causing their flesh to creep upon their bones with
horror, so eloquent of keen, excruciating, almost unendurable physical
anguish was the sound.

The jailer, who was leading the way, glanced over his shoulder at his
prisoners with a smile of such gloating, Satanic suggestiveness and
cruelty on his heavy features as the cry pealed forth that, on the
instant, the feeling of passive repugnance with which the two Englishmen
had thus far regarded the fellow was converted into fierce, hot, active,
unreasoning hatred; for the fraction of a second they glanced
questioningly into each other's eyes, then, each reading in that
lightning glance the thought of the other, the pair flung themselves
upon the fellow.  And while Dick, exerting all his giant strength,
pinned the man's arms to his sides, and at the same time, by a deft
movement of his left foot, tripped the fellow up so that he crashed
violently forward upon his face on the stone pavement of the passage,
Phil clasped the man's throat with his two hands, compressing his
windpipe in such a vice-like grip that it was utterly impossible for the
fellow to utter the slightest sound, and thus locked together, the three
went down in a bunch under the impetus of the sudden attack, the jailer
being undermost.  The hard pavement seemed to fairly ring with the
violent impact of the man's skull upon it, and the next instant Dick
felt the fellow's tense muscles relax as though the violence of the blow
had either partially or wholly stunned him, whereupon the youngster,
still acting upon an impulse that seemed to emanate from somewhere
outside himself, pushed Phil on one side, flung himself in a kneeling
posture upon the prostrate jailer's shoulders, and, grasping the man by
the hair with both hands, pulled up the fellow's head and dashed it
furiously upon the pavement again thrice, after which the victim lay
silent, inert, to all appearance dead.

"Roll him over, quick, and unbuckle his belt; we must have his keys,"
hissed Phil in Dick's ear, and before five seconds had passed the two
Englishmen were on their feet standing over their victim, while Phil
rapidly examined the keys, one after the other.  Quickly he selected one
that showed signs of more frequent wear than the others, and then
glanced keenly about him.  They were near the far end of the corridor,
which ended in a wall lighted by a fair-sized window, and there were
only four more doors to be passed, two on either side, before the end of
the corridor was reached.

"Stay here until I beckon you, and then bring the man to me," whispered
Phil, and darted off to the end of the corridor, leaving Dick to mount
guard over the prostrate body of the jailer.  Rapidly, yet with the
utmost coolness, Phil tried the key which he had selected in the lock of
one of the farther doors.  It slid in, turned, and the door swung open.
A single glance sufficed to assure Phil that the door was that of a
cell, and that the cell was unoccupied, whereupon he beckoned Dick, who
hoisted the unconscious jailer upon his shoulders, bore him to the cell,
and flung him unceremoniously upon the heap of straw which was
apparently intended to serve as a bed.

"Now, the belt, quick," whispered Phil, who had followed, gently closing
the door behind him; and, rolling the still insensible body over on its
face, the pair bent over it and with deft fingers contrived to fasten
the ankles and wrists of their victim together in such a fashion, that
the more the man struggled the tighter would he draw the ligature.  Then
using the formidable-looking knife which the man had worn suspended from
his belt, they formed a gag by cutting strips from their skin clothing
and wrapping it round the largest key of the bunch, which they detached
from the chain and inserted in their victim's mouth, thus rendering it
as impossible for him to cry out as it was for him to move.  Having
disposed of the jailer in such a fashion that he would not be likely to
give trouble for the next hour or two, the pair left the cell, closed
and locked the door behind them, and stood listening intently to
ascertain whether the sounds of the recent struggle had attracted
attention.



CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE INQUISITION AT CUZCO.

For perhaps half a minute the pair stood outside the cell door,
listening with all their ears, but not the slightest sound broke the
silence which seemed to pervade the whole of the vast building.  Then,
from somewhere in the far distance, there came the sound of a door being
closed, and almost at the same instant a quavering cry, rising to a
long-drawn shriek of agony, again pealed forth from behind that awful
door a few paces along the corridor.

"For mercy's sake, what is it?" whispered Dick, with ashen lips.
"Surely such sounds can never be human?"

"They are, though!" replied Phil in a low, tense whisper.  "They are the
cries of some poor soul under the torture--`being put to the question'
as these fiends of Inquisitors express it.  Oh! if I could but lay my
hands upon one of them, I would--but come along, lad; we must not dally
here.  If we are again taken after what we have done our fate will be--
well, something that won't bear thinking of!"  Then, seizing Dick by the
arm and dragging the lad after him, Stukely proceeded softly on tiptoe
along the corridor.

They had arrived within a yard of the door from behind which those
dreadful sounds had emanated when it suddenly opened and a tall, dark
man emerged, clad in a long black habit girt about his waist with a cord
of knotted rope; his features were partially obscured by the hood of the
garment, which he wore drawn over his head so that it stood up in a sort
of peak, and wearing round his neck a massive gold chain, from which a
gold crucifix depended.  His back happened to be toward them, and he had
closed and latched the door behind him before he turned and saw the two
Englishmen within arm's length of him.  For a second he stood
motionless, regarding the two wild-looking figures with blank amazement;
then a look of mingled terror and anger leapt into his eyes, and it was
evident that he was about to open his mouth and shout an alarm.  But the
cry never passed his lips, for in that instant Stukely was upon him with
the silent, irresistible bound of a jaguar, and in the next he was
dragging wildly at the Englishman's hands to tear them away from his
throat.  Nevertheless he might as well have striven to force his way
through the solid masonry of the adjoining wall as to tear away those
two relentless thumbs that were compressing his windpipe and choking the
life out of him, and presently he grew black in the face, his eyes
rolled upward until only the whites of them were visible, his grip on
Phil's wrists relaxed and gave way, his arms fell limp to his sides, his
knees yielded, and he sank slowly to the ground, or rather, was lowered
to it by Stukely, who still maintained his remorseless grip upon the
other's throat, kneeling upon one knee beside the now prostrate body.

Presently, however, Phil rose to his feet, and with his eyes still fixed
upon the body of the priest, whispered to Dick:

"I would fain break the fellow's neck, and so in some sort avenge that
poor soul in there; but we have no time for vengeance now.  We must be
clear of this accursed building before that villain revives or our fate
is sealed; so come along, lad."  Therewith the pair resumed their
passage along the corridor.

A few seconds later they found themselves back in the great, gloomy
entrance hall of the building, with not a soul in sight in any
direction.  Phil came to a halt.

"Now, where is that lay brother who admitted us?" he whispered to Dick.
"We must have him, or rather, his keys; for without them we cannot get
out of the place."

"I believe," whispered Dick in reply, "he went in there"--indicating a
door--"after he had let out the corporal and his guard."

"Then," returned Phil, "let us see if he is in there now."  Then,
crossing to the door, he tried the handle, turned it, flung open the
door, and boldly entered the room, closely followed by Dick, who closed
the door behind him.

The apartment was empty of human occupants, and otherwise presented a
bare and uninviting aspect, the only furniture in it consisting of a
table and two chairs.  It was imperfectly lighted by a small window
looking out upon the cloisters which surrounded the courtyard that the
prisoners had crossed a quarter of an hour earlier, and a bell suspended
near the ceiling and attached to a chain leading out through a slit in
the wall seemed to indicate that it was the room in which the warder of
the outer gates was accustomed to sit.  But the man was certainly not
then in the room, nor was there anything to indicate that he had
recently been there.  If therefore Dick's belief that he had seen the
lay brother enter had been well-founded the man must have left again
almost immediately, while the two Englishmen were being conducted to
their cell by the now imprisoned jailer.  True, he might have passed on
to an inner room; for there was another door opposite to that by which
Dick and Phil had entered.

After a hurried glance round, the two friends, moved as it might have
been by the same impulse, crossed to this door, and, quietly opening it,
glanced into the adjoining apartment.  A single glance round this room
sufficed to show that the man whom they sought was not in it, for it
also was empty, so far as human occupants were concerned.  It was a room
of very considerable size, and was apparently the refectory, for two
rows of tables, each capable of seating about fifty persons, ran
lengthwise down the hall, and were draped with coarse white cloths upon
which were set out an array of platters, water pitchers, knives, and the
rest of the paraphernalia used at meals.  This room was very much
loftier and better lighted than the one which the Englishmen had just
left, there being four large windows in the outer wall, overlooking a
large and beautifully kept garden in which several people were working,
some of them attired in the garb of monks, while others wore the dress
of lay brothers.  There were two doors in this room, in addition to the
one by which our friends had entered, one being at the far end of the
room and communicating with the kitchen of the establishment, if the
sounds and odours which emanated therefrom were to be trusted, while the
other and much larger door occupied the centre of the inner wall and was
obviously used by the inmates of the establishment at meal times.

"Now, what can have become of the man?" demanded Phil in an angry
whisper, as the pair glanced round the room and noted its deserted
appearance.  "Are you quite sure that you were not mistaken as to the
door by which you saw him enter?"

"No," answered Dick in the same subdued tones, "I am not quite sure; but
I believe I am not mistaken all the same.  But, Phil," he continued, "is
it really necessary that we should find him?  Cannot we get out of the
building in some other and safer way than by finding that man, knocking
him down, and taking his keys from him?  Besides, even if the way were
free for us to leave here this instant, where could we go?  We could not
walk half a dozen yards along the street, attired as we now are, without
attracting attention and being recognised as strangers.  We should
inevitably be recaptured within ten minutes!"

"Then, what a plague are we to do?" demanded Phil, impatiently.  "To
remain here is to court recapture as surely as if we showed ourselves in
the streets.  Why, even now, at any moment a man may enter this room,
see us, and give the alarm."

"Yes," agreed Dick; "that is very true; and no doubt if we remain here
long enough that is what will happen.  But this Inquisition seems to be
a rambling old pile of a place, and I cannot help thinking that it must
contain many an obscure, little-used recess or cupboard in which we
might find at least temporary safety and concealment until the small
hours of the morning, when we might leave the place and make our way out
of the city with comparatively little risk."

"You are right, Dick," agreed Stukely; "that is undoubtedly our best
plan--if Dame Fortune will but stand by us.  But it will be plaguey
risky for us to attempt to remain in here until the small hours of the
morning.  How can we possibly hope to avoid being seen by some prowling
priest or lay brother within the next twelve hours?  But pish! what is
the use of anticipating trouble?  Your plan is certainly the right one,
and the sooner that we see about carrying it out the better.  Now it is
quite evident that there is no place of concealment in this room, so
there is nothing to be gained by dawdling here.  Also, we know that it
is useless to retrace our steps; and yonder is obviously the kitchen,
and must therefore be avoided.  That leaves us with no resource but to
try the big door; so come along and let us see how far our luck will
hold good."

Without further ado the pair advanced cautiously to the door which Phil
had indicated, and the latter laid his hand upon the handle, which he
turned gradually and noiselessly as far as it would go; then, having
noticed that the door opened inward, he drew it toward him the fraction
of an inch and glanced through the slit thus created.  Phil now found
that he was looking into a long and wide corridor, or passage,
imperfectly lighted by two small windows, one at each end.  There was no
one to be seen in that part of the corridor which came within his
somewhat limited range of vision, so, emboldened thereby, he opened the
door widely enough to enable him to peer out and take a hasty glance
along the full length of the corridor.  That glance assured him that,
for the moment at least, the passage was empty; and at the same moment
he became conscious of the low, sweet notes of an organ being played
somewhat toward the far end of the building.

"Good!" he whispered excitedly to Dick.  "Do you hear that, lad?  It is
an organ; which means that the chapel is not very far away; and if we
can but gain its interior we shall be reasonably safe; for there is sure
to be a dark nook somewhere in it where we may be able to lie concealed
for a few hours.  Since the coast seems to be clear just now we may as
well proceed upon our hunt at once; all hands are probably now engaged
upon their regular morning's business, and, if so, we may be lucky
enough to go a good way without meeting anybody, whereas later on the
whole place will probably be alive with people.  So, come along, lad; no
time like the present."

Silently as ghosts the pair slid through the open doorway into the
corridor, drawing the door to and closing it behind them in the very
nick of time; for as Phil released his hold upon the handle he heard the
door leading from the kitchen to the refectory open, the hitherto
subdued sounds of activity in the kitchen suddenly became greatly
intensified, while voices and the sound of shuffling sandals on the
stone floor of the refectory came through the door which he had just
closed.

"Quick, lad, for your life," whispered Stukely in his companion's ear.
"This way, and run; for we are lost if they come into the corridor and
find us here!"  And, running tiptoe on their bare feet, the two sped
down the corridor like mist wreaths driven before the wind.

At the very end of the corridor they came upon a large doorway fitted
with folding doors, one leaf of which was ajar, and through the aperture
the notes of the organ softly played floated out to them.  With the tips
of his fingers Phil gently pushed the door a trifle wider open, and,
peering in, saw that they were indeed at one of the entrances to the
chapel which formed part of the Holy Inquisition of Cuzco.  The building
of which Phil thus obtained a glimpse was unexpectedly large; so large,
indeed, that he instantly jumped to the conclusion that it was intended
for the use of the general public as well as for the members of the
Order, the accommodation being sufficient for at least four hundred
worshippers.  The door through which they were peering was situated
underneath a gallery, in which was placed the organ loft, for the notes
of the instrument floated down to them from immediately overhead.  To
the right of them stretched away the main body of the church, one half
of it--the half nearest them--being fitted with pews, while the other
half, toward the great west door, was furnished with common
rush-bottomed chairs, evidently intended for the use of casual
worshippers and the lower orders generally.  To the left lay the
chancel, fitted with exquisitely carved and gilded stalls, tall,
elaborately worked brass standards for lamps, gaudily painted and gilded
statues of various saints, a superb reredos in marble surmounted by a
cross bearing a fine lifesize figure of the Redeemer; the whole
illuminated by the rainbow tints which streamed in through the beautiful
stained glass of the magnificent east window, and a faint odour of
incense still clung to the air of the place.  The main thing, however,
or at least that which chiefly interested the two interlopers, was, that
although the west door stood wide open, affording a glimpse of a broad
gravel path leading up through a superb garden, beyond which could be
seen a road, houses, and the traffic of foot passengers, horsemen, and
vehicles, there was not a soul to be seen inside the church, the
organist being apparently its only occupant for the moment.  Phil
therefore wasted no more time, but, pushing the door wide enough open to
afford admittance to himself and his companion, slipped through,
dragging Dick after him, and pushed to the door again behind him,
leaving it ajar as he had found it.  Then, advancing a pace or two, but
taking care to keep well beneath the shadow of the gallery, the pair
made a rapid but comprehensive survey of the building in search of a
hiding-place where they might safely lie _perdu_ for the next few hours.

They noted several places that looked quite promising, if they could but
reach them, only, unfortunately, there was the organist up aloft, and
doubtless an assistant to blow the bellows.  If either of them should
chance to glance down into the body of the church at the moment when the
fugitives happened to be making for the chosen spot, all would be lost.
For instance, the choir stalls rose in tiers one behind another, and
that of course meant that beneath the floor of the rearmost tier there
would be a hollow space amply sufficient to conceal a dozen men--if they
could but obtain access to it.  Then there was the high altar.  It was
doubtless hollow, and possibly access to its interior might be obtained
at the back; but to gain either of those positions it would be necessary
to pass over a part of the pavement which Phil conjectured might be seen
from the organ loft, and he felt very strongly disinclined to take the
risk of being seen after they had thus far so successfully evaded
detection.  But he fully recognised that he must not waste much time in
making up his mind.  There was the priest whom they had left senseless
outside the door of the torture chamber, to say nothing of the jailer.
It was simply marvellous that the one had not yet been found or the
other missed.  As the thought flashed through his mind a confused sound
of shouting and scurrying feet came to his ears, muffled by distance,
through the slightly opened door.  And he knew in an instant what that
meant.  The thing which he had all along been fearing, which indeed he
knew must very soon happen, had happened; a discovery of some sort had
been made.  Probably the priest had recovered sufficiently to raise an
alarm, and now in a minute or two the whole place would be swarming with
searchers, hunting in every possible and impossible place for the
missing prisoners.  Something must be done, some decision arrived at
instantly.  There was no more time for indecision, and Phil once more
flung a lightning glance about the building.  The walls of the chancel
on either side of the high altar and up to the level of the sill of the
glorious east window were draped with rich tapestry, depicting on a
background of gold thread, on the one side the Annunciation, and on the
other the Apotheosis of the Blessed Virgin; and Phil noticed that these
tapestries were suspended from rings strung upon massive brass rods,
which were supported by brass brackets let into the wall.  It seemed to
him that those brackets were of such a length as to afford space enough
for a man to hide between the tapestry--which reached right down to the
floor--and the wall.  The organ was softly breathing out the notes of
the "Agnus Dei" from a Mass which the organist was evidently practising,
and the man would probably be intent only upon his music.  The
organ-blower, Phil decided, must be risked--perhaps he would be behind
the organ, or in some part of the loft from which the chancel could not
be seen;--and, as the voices outside grew louder and seemed to be
drawing nearer, he plucked Dick by the sleeve, beckoned him to follow,
and the pair stole softly up the length of the chancel to the altar,
dropped on their knees, lifted the bottom edge of the tapestry, crawled
underneath it, let it fall behind them, and rose to their feet in the
enclosed space between wall and tapestry at the precise moment when a
great bell began to peal out its alarm note from some distant part of
the building.  The organist almost immediately ceased playing, and a
minute later the soft pad-pad of his own and another's sandalled feet
descending a wooden staircase not far away came, muffled, to the ears of
the fugitives; then followed the slam of a door, the turn of a key in a
lock, and the two friends knew themselves to be alone in the church,
with the west door wide open, affording them the means of instant flight
into the outer world, if they chose to avail themselves of it.

But that thought came to them only to be rejected on the instant.  They
were still clad in the skins of beasts, which had taken the place of
their worn-out clothing; they were unkempt, unshaven, and altogether far
too conspicuous in every way to justify them in venturing into the
streets by daylight, or indeed at any time while the inhabitants were
abroad, therefore they must remain in hiding until darkness fell and the
people had retired to rest; and both fervently hoped that the citizens
of Cuzco kept early hours.  Then they began to feel hungry, for it was
now several hours since they had tasted food; but they had grown
accustomed to such petty discomforts as hunger and thirst long ago.
They were as nothing compared with the torture which that poor wretch
must have been undergoing in the room yonder; and as Phil thought of the
possibility that, even yet, Dick and he might be recaptured and
subjected to similar suffering, he worked his way along the foot or two
of distance that separated him from the high altar, and proceeded to
examine the latter.  As he had more than half-expected, the structure
proved to be hollow, being built of massive slabs of marble as to the
front and sides, but having no back, and for some reason which he was
quite unable to divine, but which he was most heartily thankful for,
there was a space left between the sides of the structure and the wall
of the church just wide enough for him to squeeze through without undue
discomfort, and so gain the interior of the altar.  This seemed a
distinctly safer place to hide in than merely behind the tapestry; there
was room for three or four men to bestow themselves comfortably, and
they could lie down if they chose, therefore they lost no time in
transferring themselves to this new place of concealment; and they had
scarcely settled themselves comfortably therein when they heard a door
noisily unlocked and thrown open, and the sound of many sandalled feet
swarming into the church.

Judging from the sounds alone, the fugitives crouching in the interior
of the altar estimated that about a dozen people had entered the church.
They seemed to rush forward a few paces and then halt, as though
staring about them; then followed a few brief, desultory movements, and
silence.  Finally, a voice said, in Spanish:

"Well, it is perfectly clear that they are not here."

"From what do you draw that inference, brother?" demanded another voice.

"First, from the fact that the door by which we entered was locked on
the other side; and next, because the great west door is wide open,"
answered the voice which had first spoken.

"True," answered the second voice.  "Yet neither of those facts is proof
that the fugitives are not lurking somewhere in the church.  Do you ask
why?  I will tell you.  First, Brother Gregorio has been here this
morning, as usual, practising; and we know that it is a habit of his to
leave the door communicating with the domestic part of the establishment
unfastened, and very often open, while he practises.  Therefore, if he
did the same thing to-day--and I happen to know that he did, for I was
in the church myself half an hour ago--it would be an easy matter for
the fugitives to gain access to this building and conceal themselves
somewhere in it.  As to the open door yonder, I attach no importance at
all to it, for the Englishmen are much too conspicuous in their
appearance and attire to venture abroad in the city by daylight; they
would be recaptured in less than five minutes if they did so, and I give
them credit for being sensible enough to know it.  Consequently, I
maintain that they are still somewhere within the walls of the
establishment, and, as likely as not, may be in this church; therefore
let the place be thoroughly searched at once."

Nothing more was said; but sounds of renewed activity immediately
followed upon the order to search, the scuffle of footsteps along the
aisles and on the steps leading to the organ loft distinctly reaching
the lurking pair as they crouched beneath the altar intently listening,
to gather, if they might, some indication of the direction in which the
search was proceeding.  Presently, to their discomfiture, they heard the
footsteps of apparently two persons approaching the enclosed space
within the altar rails, the pair talking in low tones as they
approached.

"For my part," said one, "I entirely disagree with Fray Felipe.  I
believe the English heretics have escaped, and by that open door; for,
if not, where are they?  They cannot be in the other part of the
establishment, for, if so, they must have been seen by someone--unless,
indeed, they are in league with the devil and have the power of
disappearing at will.  And they are not in this church; because if they
had come here they must have seen that open door, and nobody shall
persuade me that, seeing it, they would not avail themselves of the
opportunity which it offers."

"Nay, brother," answered the other; "I think Fray Felipe is right; and
so would you, had you seen the two men.  They looked and were dressed
like savages, and could never--"

"Pooh!" interrupted the first, impatiently, "that is all nonsense.  If
they looked as conspicuous as all that what was there to prevent them
from entering the vestry and appropriating a couple of the spare habits
that are always hanging there?  If they did that they could walk out of
the church in broad daylight, and nobody would dream of challenging
them.  Now, if they are in the church at all, it is my belief that they
will be found behind this tapestry.  You take that side, brother, and I
will take this.  Just run your hand along the length of the tapestry;
and if they are lurking behind it, you will soon find them."

"Ay," grumbled the other, "and, as like as not, be slain by them for my
pains.  I tell you, brother, that I like it not.  No, they are not
here," he concluded, as he ran his hand along the tapestry in an
exceedingly perfunctory manner without discovering any sign of the
missing prisoners.  "I am beginning to think, with you, Brother Jose,
that the rascals have escaped."

"Of course they have," agreed the first speaker.  "No, they are not on
this side either.  Ah!"--as a great bell began to toll somewhere
aloft--"there is the bell for Mass, thank heaven! and now this foolish
search will be brought to an end."  Therewith the footsteps retired,
much to the relief of the concealed Englishmen, who were momentarily
dreading that it might occur to one or the other of the searchers to
turn up the tapestry and peep into the opening beneath and behind the
altar.  But it did not--possibly neither of the worthy brothers was
particularly anxious to find himself suddenly face to face with a couple
of desperate Englishmen--and presently the sound of retreating footsteps
died away in the distance and all was still in the great church.

But not for long; the lurking pair had only time to dispose themselves a
little more comfortably on the hard marble pavement when other footsteps
were faintly heard, accompanied by the occasional scrape of a chair in
the distance, and the fugitives knew that a congregation was assembling.
Then the great bell ceased to toll, the organ once more poured forth
its sweet and solemn notes, a door opened, measured footsteps were heard
approaching, there was a slight momentary bustle as the brethren of the
Order filed in and took their places; and then the service began, and
the Englishmen, who were both lovers of music, enjoyed an hour of such
keen delight as they had not experienced for many a long day.

In due time the solemn service came to an end, the congregation retired,
there ensued an opening and closing of doors, the sounds of which echoed
and reverberated hollowly along the aisles and among the arches of the
sacred building, and then a great silence fell.  For a time the
fugitives remained huddled up in their hiding-place, silent and
listening; but at length, convinced that the church was indeed empty,
they began in low, whispered tones to discuss their situation.  The two
priests who unwittingly came so near to finding them had furnished them
with a hint--if they cared to avail themselves of it--as to how they
might make good their escape even in broad daylight, and, so far as Dick
was concerned, he would have been quite willing to act upon it by
raiding the vestry there and then, appropriating one of the habits which
Fray Jose had said were to be found there, and sallying forth into the
city without more ado, for his bones were by this time growing sore with
lying so long upon the hard, cold marble.  But although Phil's bones
were aching quite as much as Dick's, the elder of the two was very
strongly disinclined to run the slightest unnecessary risk; he argued
that, the church having once been subjected to a tolerably thorough
search, he and Dick were reasonably safe, so long as they chose to
remain where they were, and that, to venture abroad prematurely, even in
disguise, for the mere sake of avoiding a few hours of further
discomfort, would be the very height of folly.  For, how could they tell
at what moment a door might open and someone enter the church and
discover them--supposing them to be so foolish as to venture out of
their place of concealment?  And who knew how many more services were to
be held during the day?  If it happened that there were no more, then
indeed it might be safe enough for them to venture out and go in search
of the vestry and those spare habits; but not otherwise.  Moreover, how
could they be sure that the habits, if found, would actually prove to be
as effective a disguise as Fray Jose had asserted they would?  Phil knew
enough about the Roman Catholic religion to be fully aware that those
who professed it were sometimes prompted to stop the first priest they
might chance to meet, and discuss with him some spiritual difficulty, or
even to invoke his aid in some merely temporal trouble; and what sort of
a figure, he asked Dick, would they cut in such a case as that?  No;
hungry and thirsty as he was, and sore as were his limbs through long
contact with the hard pavement, he was all for remaining where they
were, at least until nightfall, when probably, if they could procure
effective disguises, they might venture to sally forth and essay the
attempt to get out of the city.  And so cogent were his arguments that
at length he succeeded in silencing Dick, if he did not altogether
convince him.

Phil's conjecture that there might be further services in the church
before the day was over proved to be correct, there being two, the last
of which occurred late enough in the evening to necessitate the lighting
of the lamps in the building.  And it was while the lamps were being
lighted that the two Englishmen learned, from the gossip of those
engaged in illuminating the grand altar, that much perplexity and
uneasiness had resulted from the fact that, despite the most rigorous
search of the entire city, no trace of the missing prisoners had thus
far been discovered, and that the conclusion had therefore been at
length arrived at that they must have got clear away.  This knowledge
was eminently satisfactory to the two whom it most intimately concerned,
for it seemed to indicate that those engaged in the search had at length
lost heart, and that if the hunt was still to be maintained it would
only be in a more or less perfunctory manner, and that consequently the
fugitives might, by the exercise of a proper amount of caution, hope to
make good their escape from the city.

At length the last service of the day was over, the lurking pair heard
the closing and locking of the various doors by which the general public
entered the building, and this was followed by the shuffling of feet
here and there as the lamps and candles were extinguished, one after the
other, the low murmur of voices gradually died away, and finally there
came the loud slamming of a door which, from the direction of the sound,
the fugitives conjectured to be the door beneath the organ loft, by
which they had entered the church during the morning, then followed the
grating of a key in a lock, the rattle which indicated the withdrawal of
the key, and--silence.  At last, thought the weary pair behind the
altar, the church was empty, and closed for the night.

To make assurance doubly sure, however, they agreed to remain where they
were for another half-hour; but when at length they judged that period
to have elapsed they crept very cautiously out of the place of
concealment which had served them so well, and made their way to the
choir stalls, upon the soft cushions of which they rested their weary
limbs for a short time while their eyes were growing accustomed to the
gloom of the place.  Then, having agreed that a certain small door,
immediately opposite that by which they had found their way into the
church, must be the one giving access to the vestry, they stole silently
across the pavement, and Phil, having first satisfied himself that the
room, or whatever it was that lay beyond, was in darkness, found the
handle and proceeded to turn it as cautiously as though he believed the
place on the other side to be full of people.  The door proved to be
unlocked; and a minute later the fugitives found themselves, as they had
expected, in the vestry of the church.  The room was a small one, but it
was lighted by a fairly large window, and as the night happened to be
brilliantly fine and starlit, the gloom here was not nearly so intense
as it had been in the interior of the church, consequently they were
able to distinguish without much difficulty that there were indeed, as
Fray Jose had said, a number of garments of some sort hanging from pegs
on one of the walls.  Why these garments should be kept there the
fugitives never troubled themselves to conjecture, the fact that they
were there was sufficient for them; and they lost no time in
appropriating and donning two of them.  They were long black garments
reaching from shoulder to ankle, with large hoods which might be drawn
up over the head, almost entirely concealing the features when the
wearer was out of doors, and were confined round the waist by a girdle
of knotted rope.  Attired in these, the pair felt that they might safely
brave any but the very closest scrutiny, and they therefore had no
scruples about sallying forth into the open forthwith.

The window of the vestry overlooked a portion of the extensive garden, a
glimpse of which they had gained through the great west door of the
church earlier in the day, and, peering out through it, the two friends
saw that there was a thick shrubbery at no great distance that looked as
though it might afford them good cover from which to reconnoitre the
ground prior to their attempt to gain the street beyond, and they at
once decided to make for it in the first instance.  Another moment and
they were at the outer door, which proved to be locked.  But the key
was, luckily, in the lock, and on the inner side of the door, that
slight difficulty was therefore soon got over; and a minute later the
pair drew a great breath of relief as they found themselves once more in
the open air--and free.



CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

HOW THEY ESCAPED FROM THE INQUISITION.

Yes; free--in a sense; yet not wholly so; for they were still within the
boundaries of the Holy Inquisition, although outside the building.  To
have done so much as they had, however; to have evaded capture for the
best part of a day, and finally to have won outside the walls,
undetected, was no mean achievement; and they felt that, having
accomplished so much, the rest ought to be an easy matter.

Standing within the deep shadow of the doorway for a minute or two after
they had silently closed the door behind them, the pair searched with
their gaze as much of the garden as came within the range of their
vision, and nowhere could they detect any sign of human presence within
it; indeed they scarcely expected to do so, for it was now altogether
too dark for anything in the nature of gardening operations; moreover,
they surmised that it was about the hour when everybody connected with
the establishment would be at supper.  Therefore, feeling that the
moment was propitious, they left the shelter of the doorway, and,
keeping as closely within the shadow of the building as they could,
moved off toward the shrubbery, into the dense obscurity of which they
plunged a minute or two later.  Here, as they wound their way cautiously
among the bushes, they suddenly found themselves close to a long low
block of buildings which, being entirely in darkness, they surmised must
be sheds devoted to the storage of the gardeners' tools, implements, and
paraphernalia generally, and they at once halted and subjected the
buildings to careful examination; for, their weapons having been taken
away from them by the soldiers who had seized them, weapons of some sort
were now a first necessity with them, and they hoped that the sheds
might at least afford them a knife apiece, if nothing better.
Investigation, however, resulted in the discovery that the sheds were
locked; but this difficulty was soon overcome by the simple process of
breaking a pane of glass, inserting a hand, unfastening the hasp, and
entering through the open window, when their enterprise was eventually
rewarded by the discovery of several formidable pruning knives, two of
which, together with a couple of short, stout iron bars, and a length of
thin, strong rope, they unhesitatingly appropriated.

The two adventurers now felt that, whatever might befall them, they were
no longer altogether defenceless, and leaving the sheds behind them,
they again plunged into the shrubbery, their object now being to
discover a way of escape from the garden into the streets of the city.

The first obstacle which they encountered was a stone wall about fifteen
feet high, surmounted by _chevaux de frise_; and deciding that this was
rather too formidable to be tackled until they had made a further
search, they followed the wall for some distance, and eventually arrived
at a stout wicket gate built of wood.  Of course, it was locked; but
upon examination they soon came to the conclusion that, with the help of
their pruning knives and bars, it would not be a difficult matter to
burst the lock open.  Unfortunately, however, this could not be done
without making a considerable amount of noise, and they had already
ascertained, while examining the lock, that a good many people were
still abroad in the city, for they heard footsteps frequently passing on
the other side of the wicket; they therefore decided to seek further
before attempting to force a way out, their decision being influenced by
the fact that it was evidently still early in the evening, or there
would not be so many people moving about, and that consequently it might
be wise to delay their final escape until the bulk of the population had
retired to rest.  Soon afterward, however, while pursuing their
investigations, they reached a spot where the wall ended and where the
grounds were enclosed for some distance by a lofty iron railing which,
despite the fact that it was formidably spiked at the top, they thought
might be easily scaled by two men who were accustomed, as they were, to
climbing the masts and rigging of a ship.  But on the other side of the
railing was a wide, open street, along which people were constantly
passing to and fro; the adventurers therefore retired to the shelter and
concealment of the shrubbery, having come to the resolution not to run
any unnecessary risk by undue precipitancy, since they had managed so
excellently thus far.

At length, however, the sounds of traffic in the streets began to
diminish sensibly, and finally they died away altogether; the good
people of Cuzco seemed to have gone home to bed at last; so, throwing
off his disguise for the moment, Dick essayed to climb the high railing
which was now the only barrier between them and liberty.  The task was
not at all difficult, except when it came to his clambering over the
complicated arrangement of spikes at the top; but a steady head and a
little patience were all that were needed; and in about two minutes
young Chichester was standing on the pavement outside, once more in his
clerical disguise, receiving the few articles that Phil passed through
the railings to him before the latter in his turn climbed over the
obstacle.  As it chanced, they only just accomplished the feat in time,
for as Stukely reached the pavement on the right side of the railing,
footsteps were heard approaching, and Phil scarcely had time to don his
priest's habit, draw the hood well over his head, and conceal his bar
and pruning knife in the ample folds of the garment when a belated
frequenter of one of the numerous posadas of the city staggered past,
humming in maudlin tones the refrain of a bacchanalian song which he cut
short when he realised that the two dark figures which he jostled were,
as he supposed, connected with the dread institution which lay back
there frowning in the distance.

As soon as this roysterer was fairly out of the way the adventurers
looked about them to get their bearings.  Their purpose was to leave the
city by the same way that they had come into it, and then strike
eastward until they again came to the river, which, in accordance with
Vilcamapata's instructions, they were to follow to its source.
Recalling the several twists and turns which they had taken through the
building after their encounter with the jailer that morning, they
finally decided that they must follow the footsteps of the drunken man
until they reached the first street bearing to the right, which would be
the street by which they had been conducted to the Inquisition that
morning; once arrived in which they were convinced that they could find
their way over the remainder of the route.  Accordingly they started
briskly off, and in the course of a few minutes reached the street which
they sought, and which they presently verified as the right one by
passing the great entrance gateway by which they had been admitted to
the Inquisition building that morning.  That morning!  It seemed much
more like a week ago!  Still walking briskly, yet without exhibiting
undue haste, and meeting only an occasional wayfarer here and there who
took no notice of them except to stand respectfully aside and yield the
narrow pavement to them as they passed, the two Englishmen wound hither
and thither along the streets, occasionally identifying some building
that they remembered to have passed before, until, in a little, narrow
street, Phil suddenly halted before a small building which bore across
its narrow front a sign reading, in Spanish, of course--"Mateo
Cervantes.  Armourer.  Plate and chain mail.  Blades of the finest,
imported direct from Toledo in Old Spain; musquets; pistolettes; and
ammunition for the same."

"Ah!" ejaculated Phil, with a sigh of satisfaction; "here we are at
last.  This is the place that I have been looking for.  I was beginning
to fear that I had missed it."

"And what a plague want ye with it, now that you have found it?"
demanded Dick, peevishly; for he was beginning to feel sleepy, and knew
that many a weary mile must yet be walked before he could hope to get
any rest.

"What want I with it?" reiterated Phil.  "My gentle mutton-head, read
the sign over the shop; there is light enough for that, surely, though
it is but starlight."

Dick read the sign, and his eyes brightened.  "Ah!" he said, "of course;
I begin to understand.  I have been wondering, all along, what we should
do without weapons, if we chanced to make good our escape.  These bars
and pruning knives are well enough in their way, and are better than
nothing at all, of course; but they won't help us to get game--"

"Precisely," interrupted Phil.  "Therefore, since the Spaniards have
seen fit to deprive us of our weapons, I propose to make a Spaniard
provide us with others.  Now, I am going to knock up our friend
Cervantes, and persuade him to supply our needs, so far as the resources
of his establishment will allow.  And, to make sure that, after we have
obtained what we require, the senor shall not prematurely give the alarm
and set the soldiers upon our track, we must seize and bind him, or
whoever comes to the door.  So be ready to pounce as soon as the door is
opened."  And therewith Phil proceeded to hammer loudly upon Senor
Cervantes' door.

Five or six times did he hammer upon the door with his iron bar, gently
at first, but with steadily increasing vehemence, before any notice was
taken of his summons.  At length, however, a thin pencil of light
appeared through the shutters of a window over the door, the drawing of
bolts became audible, and just as Phil began to hammer afresh the window
was thrown open, a figure appeared, and a gruff voice demanded,
querulously--

"Hallo, there! who knocks at this untimely hour?  Away with you, whoever
you are, and leave me in peace, or I will sound my rattle and summon the
watch!"

"The watch!" exclaimed Phil, under his breath, "phew!  I never thought
of that.  If we should chance to encounter the watch we may yet have
trouble."  A sudden inspiration came to him, and, stepping back into the
middle of the road, where his hooded figure might be seen from above, he
exclaimed, in a deep, solemn voice:

"Mateo Cervantes, in the name of the Holy Inquisition I command you to
open!"

"The Holy Inquisition!  Ave Maria!  What have I done?" ejaculated the
figure above, in evident trepidation.  "Your pardon, Reverend Father,"
he continued, "I knew not who you were.  I will be down instantly."  And
the light vanished from the window.

"That was a good idea of mine," remarked Phil, in a whisper.  "I thought
it would fetch him down.  Now, I do not think it will be necessary to
seize and bind friend Cervantes immediately that he comes to the door.
He will admit us without question, no doubt; and after we are in and the
door is closed, we must be guided by circumstances, and act accordingly.
Here he comes."

A streak of light showed beneath the door; there was a sound of bolts
being drawn; and presently the door opened and a big, burly, elderly
man, his touzled hair touched with grey, and his body enveloped in a
long white nightgown, appeared; holding a candle above his head.  As the
light fell upon the two hooded figures he involuntarily drew back with a
gasp, whereupon Phil and Dick stepped into the passage, closing the door
behind them.

"Holy Fathers," exclaimed Cervantes, dropping on his knees, placing the
candle on the floor beside him, and raising his hands in an attitude of
supplication, "I swear to you that I have done nothing; I am a good
Catholic--"

"Peace!" commanded Phil, raising his hand imperatively.  "How many are
there in the house with you?"

"How many?" reiterated the trembling man.  "I am alone, Reverend Father,
quite alone, I give you my solemn word.  My workmen do not live here
with me; the house is not large enough--"

"It is well," interrupted Phil.  "Now, rise to your feet, friend
Cervantes, and conduct us to your shop."

"My shop!" echoed the armourer.  "I give you my word, Reverend Sirs,
that there is nothing in my shop that--"

"The less reason why you should hesitate to lead us thither,"
interrupted Phil, sternly.

"Of course; of course," agreed the man, anxiously.  "Follow me, your
Reverences; I have nothing to conceal; nothing to conceal."  Then,
scrambling to his feet and taking up the candle, the man proceeded a few
steps along the passage, flung open a door, raised the candle above his
head in such a manner as to throw the light into the room, and stood
aside to allow his unwelcome and untimely visitors to enter.

"After you, friend," remarked Phil, waving his hand for the armourer to
precede them.  "And light a lamp or two," he added, "we must have more
light than your candle affords."

The man bowed, entered the room, which was in fact the shop, set the
candlestick down upon a bench, and proceeded to light a couple of lamps
which stood on wall brackets.  While he was doing this his visitors were
busily engaged in noting the contents of the shop, so far as the
imperfect light afforded by the single candle permitted.  The most
prominent objects, and those which therefore first arrested their
attention, were half a dozen complete suits of very fine armour, two of
them being black inlaid with fine gold scroll-work, while the others
were perfectly plain, but highly polished.  Then there were back and
breast pieces, greaves, gauntlets, maces, axes, and sheaves of arrows
suspended from the walls, several very fine bows tied up in a bundle in
one corner; and last, but by no means least, a large case resting upon a
counter, in which were set out a number of swords, daggers, and
poniards.  There were also three long cases ranged along the base of the
side and back walls of the shop, which the two visitors shrewdly
suspected contained firearms and ammunition.

"Now, Reverend Sirs," said the armourer as, having lighted the two
lamps, he turned and faced the two hooded figures, with a bow, "I am at
your service.  Be pleased to give me your commands."

"It is well," retorted Phil.  "Now, hark ye, friend Cervantes, you are
credited with being a man of discretion; see to it, then, that ye
justify your reputation by observing the most complete silence regarding
this visit.  You understand me?"

"Perfectly, Father," replied the armourer.  "No word or hint will I
breathe to a living soul about it."

"Good!" replied Phil.  "You will do well to remember that promise, and
keep it.  Now, for a reason which does not concern you in the least, we
require certain arms, and they must be the very best you have.  To begin
with, therefore, show me the two best swords in your stock."

"Arms! swords!" ejaculated the astonished Cervantes, looking keenly at
his visitors.  Then, suddenly seizing the candle and thrusting it
forward, he endeavoured to peer into their faces.  "Who are ye?" he
exclaimed.  "Ye are not--ah!  I have it.  Ye are the two English
prisoners who this morning--"

Before he could get any further the pair threw themselves upon him and
bore him to the ground; and while Phil gripped the unfortunate man by
the throat to prevent him from crying out and raising an alarm, Dick
whipped out the rope which he had been carrying beneath his habit, and
trussed up the worthy senor so securely that he could move neither hand
nor foot.  Then they gagged him very effectively by thrusting the hilt
of one of his own daggers between his teeth and securing it there.

"Now, hark ye, friend Cervantes," admonished Phil, "it is unfortunate
for you that you have penetrated our disguises, since it will
necessitate your remaining as you are until the morning, when no doubt
someone will arrive to release you.  We need certain weapons, and we
propose to help ourselves to them; but you need not fear that you are
about to be robbed; we will pay you generously for whatever we take.
Now, Dick," he continued, turning to Chichester, "pick your weapons, and
let us begone, we have none too much time before daylight.  I recommend
for your choice, a good sword, a musket, a brace of pistols, with a good
supply of ammunition for each, a stout dagger, a bow, arrows, and a good
strong machete for general purposes.  That, I think, will be quite as
much as it will be advisable for us to cumber ourselves with."

"So do I," agreed Dick, dryly.  "For my own part I am not at all sure
that we could not dispense with the musket, which is a heavy, cumbersome
thing to carry, and we may never need it.  Still, I suppose we may as
well take one apiece; we can always throw them away if we find them too
troublesome.  But how do you propose to pay the man, Phil?  You know
that we have no money."

"True," assented Phil; "but we have still the two emerald eyes of the
idol which we found in that cave where we slew the monstrous beast: we
will give him one of those in payment; and handsome payment it will be,
too."

"Ay, that it will," agreed Dick.  "I had entirely forgotten about those
emeralds.  Give him one of them, by all means; we can then help
ourselves, with a clear conscience, to the best the shop affords."

Swiftly, yet with the greatest care, the two Englishmen selected the
weapons which they required, together with as much ammunition as they
considered it wise to cumber themselves with; after which Phil extracted
from a pocket in his puma-skin tunic one of the emeralds which he had
mentioned, and holding it close to the eyes of the prostrate armourer,
said:

"You see that, my friend?  It is an emerald; and its value is about one
hundred times that of what we have taken from you.  Nevertheless, I am
going to leave it with you for payment.  See, there it is."  And he
placed the stone on the floor where Cervantes could see it.  "And now,
listen to me," continued Phil.  "You probably have it in your mind to go
to the authorities to-morrow, as soon as you are released, and inform
them of this visit of ours to you.  Isn't that so?  Yes, I can see by
the expression of your eyes that I have guessed aright.  Well, friend,
be advised by me: Don't do it.  Remember that we have escaped from the
Inquisition; and if the Head of that institution should learn that we
have been here, he will certainly hold you responsible for our escape
from the town; and it will be useless for you to say that you could not
help yourself, that we surprised and overpowered you, and helped
ourselves to some of your property; he will simply reply that you ought
not to have allowed yourself to be surprised and overpowered, that you
knew two prisoners had escaped, and that you should have had wit enough
to have seen through our disguise and given the alarm before we had time
or opportunity to overpower you.  And I suppose I need not remind you of
what your fate will be in that case.  Therefore, think well over the
matter, and do nothing that you may afterward regret.  You should be
easily able to concoct a story to account for your present plight that
should satisfy those who may find you in the morning, without referring
to us.  And now we will leave you.  Farewell!"

Therewith the two friends extinguished the lamps, and, taking the
candle, retired from the shop, quietly closing the door behind them.
The light of the candle enabled them easily to unfasten the outer door;
and, this done, they blew out the light, silently opened the door, and
cautiously peered out into the street.  It was silent and deserted,
therefore, without further ado, they tiptoed down the steps, closing the
door behind them as they went, and, keeping within the shadows as much
as possible, hastened in the direction which would take them out of the
city.  An hour later they were clear of Cuzco, and using the stars as
their guide, were speeding along a fairly good road which led in a
south-easterly direction, intending to strike off to the eastward in
search of the river some twenty or thirty miles farther on, since they
suspected that the high road would be the last place where their
pursuers would be likely to look for them.  But about ten o'clock the
next morning--having encountered meanwhile only a troop of some thirty
loaded llamas with their attendant drivers, whom, having sighted them at
a distance, they easily avoided by concealing themselves until the whole
had passed--they unexpectedly came upon the river again where a bend
brought it close to the road; they therefore deserted the latter at this
point, and, although the going was by no means so easy, thenceforward
followed the river until at length they reached its source high up among
the Andes of Carabaya.

And now ensued a period of incredible hardship and suffering for the
adventurous pair; for they were now among the most lofty of those
stupendous peaks which run in an almost unbroken chain from one end of
the continent to the other, from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the
north to within little more than one hundred miles from the Strait of
Magellan in the south; and their way lay over boundless snowfields,
across enormous glaciers gashed with unfathomable crevasses, up and down
stupendous precipices, and along narrow, ice-clad ledges, where a single
false step must have hurled them to death thousands of feet below.  To
journey amid such surroundings was of course bad enough in itself; but
the hardship of it was increased tenfold for the two Englishmen, from
the fact that they came new to it and without experience, after months
of life in the torrid lowlands had thinned their blood and rendered them
peculiarly sensitive to the piercing cold of those high altitudes, which
was further intensified by the icy winds which seemed to rage
continuously about the peaks and come howling at them through the
ravines.  Add to this the difficulty of obtaining food--for there was no
life among those mountain solitudes, save an occasional llama or
guanaco, so wild as to be scarcely approachable, and a condor or two
soaring aloft at such a height as to be scarcely distinguishable to the
unaided eye--and the impossibility of making a fire, and the reader will
be able to form some faint idea of what Phil and Dick were called upon
to endure while making that awful passage over the mountains.
Fortunately for them, it lasted only five days; had it been prolonged to
six they must inevitably have perished.  Fortunately, also, for them,
they had acquired from the Indians a knowledge of the wonderful, almost
miraculous, virtue that lay in the coca leaf--with a bountiful supply of
which they had been careful to provide themselves--otherwise even their
indomitable hardihood and courage must have succumbed to the frightful
toil, privation, and exposure which they were obliged to undergo.  A
detailed description of that five days' journey over the mountains would
of itself suffice to fill a book, for it would be a record of continuous
adventure and hairbreadth escapes from avalanches that were constantly
threatening to overwhelm them; of treacherous snow-bridges that crumbled
away beneath their feet; of furious, icy winds that, seeming to be
imbued with demoniac intelligence and malignity, always assailed them in
some especially perilous situation, and sought to buffet them from their
precarious hold; and of long hours of intolerable suffering when, during
the hours of darkness, they were compelled to camp on some snow-patch
and build themselves a snow-hut as a partial protection from the
howling, marrow-piercing, snow-laden gale.  Such a narrative, however,
exciting as it might be in its earlier pages, would soon grow wearisome
from the rapidity with which one adventure would tread upon the heels of
another, and can therefore only be hinted at here.  Suffice it to say
that early in the afternoon of the fourth day, upon surmounting the
crest of a long ridge of ice-encased rock, at a moment when the demon of
the mountain had temporarily withdrawn himself elsewhere, and the
atmosphere was for a brief space calm and clear, the two weary and
exhausted adventurers caught a brief but entrancing glimpse of a long
green valley stretching away ahead of them between the two mountain
ranges, with an island-dotted lake in the far distance, and Sorata's
dominating ice-clad peak piercing the blue sky to the left of it.  At
last, at last, their goal was in sight; and incontinently they flung
themselves down, gasping, upon the iron-hard rock, and gazed entranced
upon the glorious vision--thrice glorious to them after all that they
had suffered--until another great snow-cloud evolved itself out of
nothing and swooped down upon them in a final effort at destruction.

The gale and snowstorm lasted less than an hour, however, and when at
length the atmosphere again cleared the two friends, who had been
crouching under the sheltering lee of a great shoulder of rock, rose to
their feet and again looked forth toward the land of promise.  A vast
snowfield, corrugated by the wind as the sand of the seashore is by the
rippling advance of the tide, but otherwise smooth of surface, and
gently sloping downward, offered them an easy road for the first two
miles of their descent; and, weary though they were, they traversed it
in half an hour.  Then came an almost perpendicular descent of some five
hundred feet to another snowfield, where, in a deep recess that might
almost have been termed a cave in a great spur of rock, they camped
comfortably for the night and enjoyed the sweetest rest that they had
known for many a long day.

When they arose on the following morning, rested and refreshed by their
long night's sheltered sleep, but weak and famished with hunger which
even their coca leaves could now but partially relieve, nature was again
kind to them, for the air was still and so crystalline clear that they
were able to determine accurately their road for many miles ahead;
while, most welcome sight of all, in a little sheltered valley, some six
miles away, on a small patch of green, they perceived a flock of some
twenty vicuna grazing.  Here, at last was food for them once more, if
they could but reach within bowshot without alarming the animals; and to
this task they bent all their energies, with such success that three
hours later they were gorging themselves to repletion on the raw flesh
of one of the animals, being still without the materials wherewith to
kindle a fire.  But this marked the end of their troubles; for before
the night again closed down upon them they had not only passed below the
snow-line, but were also fortunate enough to encounter an Indian who was
herding a flock of llama; and upon Phil addressing the man in his own
language--of which, it will be remembered, Stukely had acquired a
knowledge in some extraordinary and quite incomprehensible manner--the
fellow received them with open arms, conducted them to his hut, fed them
as they had not been fed since they had fallen into the hands of the
Spaniards, and not only lodged them for the night, but gave them minute
instructions how they were to proceed during the following day.  Four
days later they arrived at the northern extremity of the Sacred Lake.

They reached its margin at the precise moment that the sun sank beyond
the long line of lofty, rugged, snow-clad peaks that ran parallel to the
lake on its western side.  The evening was perfectly calm and cloudless,
save in the west, where an agglomeration of delicate rosy-purple streaks
and patches of vapour lay softly upon a clear background of palest
blue-green sky, forming the picture of a fairy archipelago of thickly
clustering islands, intersected by a bewildering maze of channels
winding hither and thither, with the thin sickle of the young moon,
gleaming softly silver-white, hanging just above the whole.  It was one
of those skies that set the imaginative dreamer's fancy free to wander
afar into the realms of fairyland and to picture all sorts of strange,
unreal happenings; the sort of sky that probably suggested to the simple
mind of the Indian the poetic idea that when gazing upon it he was
vouchsafed a vision of the Isles of the Blessed where dwell the souls of
the departed in everlasting bliss; and for full five minutes after the
two Englishmen had halted by the margin of the lake, the smooth,
unruffled surface of which repeated the picture as in a mirror, they
stood gazing, entranced, upon the loveliness of the scene that lay
spread out before them.

In front of them and almost at their feet lay the placid waters of the
lake, bordered with reeds and rushes just where they happened to stand,
its glassy, mirrorlike surface faithfully reproducing every soft,
delicate tint of the overarching sky, the bank of rosy clouds in the
west, the cold, pure blue of the snow-capped sierras on their right, the
ruddy blush of the peaks on their left--upon the summits of which the
last rays of the vanished sun still lingered, to change to purest white
even as they gazed--and every clump of sombre olive vegetation between.
To the right and left of them, a few miles apart, two streams, having
their sources in the neighbouring mountains, discharged into the lake;
and so perfectly still was the air that the murmur of their waters came
faint but clear to the ears of the two comrades who had travelled so
many hundreds of miles with that scene as their goal.  To right and left
of them the shores of the lake swept away in many a curve and bay and
indentation clear to the horizon, and far beyond it; and in the whole of
that fair landscape never a sign of life, human or animal!  Yet, stay;
what was that dark film, like a tiny cloud, that came sweeping down
toward them from far up the lake?  Dick, the practical, was the first to
catch sight of it, for Phil was standing like one in a trance gazing at
the scene with a retrospective look in his eyes that seemed to say his
thoughts were far away.  As Dick watched the approaching cloud-like film
it resolved itself into a flock of wild ducks, making, as it seemed,
directly for the patch of rushes near which the two were standing, and,
with the momentous question of supper looming large in his mind,
Chichester plucked his companion by the sleeve, pointed to the
approaching wild ducks, and suggested the propriety of immediately
seeking some hiding-place until the birds had settled.

"A murrain on you and your ducks, Dick!" exclaimed Stukely, in a tone
half-pettish, half-playful; "you have jolted me out of a reverie in
which I was endeavouring to account for the extraordinary feeling that
sometime in the past I have beheld this very scene, even as I behold it
now.  Of course I know that it is only a fancy; I know that I have never
before stood on the soil which my feet are pressing at this moment; yet,
believe me or not, as you please, all this"--he waved his right hand
before him to right and left--"is absolutely familiar to me, as familiar
as though I had lived here all my life!  Nothing is changed, except that
the clumps of bush seem to have approached a little closer to the margin
of the lake, and--yes, you see that low bluff yonder?  Well, when I last
looked upon it--oh, well! never mind; you are laughing at me, and I have
no right to be surprised that you should do so; but, all the same, I
know exactly where we are now; I know that there are islands out there
on the lake, beyond the horizon, and I know which of them it is that we
must visit--I shall recognise it instantly when I see it; remember my
words.  And now, come along, and let us see whether we can get one or
two of those ducks; they seem to be making for the reeds yonder."

The pair crept down to the margin of the patch of reeds, and concealed
themselves therein; and scarcely had they done so when the flock came
sweeping along with a great rush of wings, wheeled, and finally settled,
with loud quacks--probably of satisfaction that their day's work was
over, and that they were once more back in their haven of rest.  Then
the two muskets--which the wanderers had tenaciously retained throughout
their perilous journey across the mountains--barked out their death
message simultaneously, and the flock rose again with loud squawks of
alarm, leaving a round dozen of their number, either dead or badly
wounded, behind them.  Ten minutes later, as the brief twilight was
rapidly deepening into night, the nude figures of the two Englishmen
scrambled out of the water, each bearing his quota of dead wild duck,
and, laying their spoils upon the ground, nonchalantly proceeded to
resume the quaint garments of skins that now constituted their only
clothing.

Long into the night sat the pair, crouching over their camp fire, for
though the days were hot the nights were bitterly cold, even in that
valley between the two ranges of mountains; and while Dick gazed
abstractedly aloft into the velvet blackness at the innumerable stars
that glittered above him through the frosty atmosphere, Phil spoke of
the strange dreams--which he persisted, half-jestingly and half in
earnest, in regarding as memories--that visited him so frequently, of
curious scenes that he had witnessed and remarkable deeds that he had
done in the far past, either in imagination or reality, he could not
possibly say which.  And while he talked and Dick listened, vacillating
between amusement and conviction, some twenty stalwart figures, thin and
aquiline of feature, copper-hued of skin, and strangely clothed, came
creeping up out of the darkness until they reached a clump of bush
within earshot of the pair, where they lurked, waiting patiently until
the audacious intruders upon their most sacred territory should resign
themselves to sleep--and to a captivity which, as planned by the chief
figure of the group, was to be of but brief duration, ending in a death
of unspeakable horror.



CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

HOW THEY FOUND AN ENORMOUS TREASURE, AND TOOK IT HOME.

It was past midnight, and the camp fire, which Dick had bountifully
replenished with stout branches from the neighbouring clump of bush, the
last thing before stretching himself out to sleep, had dwindled to a
mass of dull red smouldering embers, when the white-clad figure of an
elderly man, copper-hued, bald-headed, and clean shaven, approached with
stealthy footsteps the recumbent bodies of the two slumbering
Englishmen.  Bending over first one and then the other, he held a
saturated cloth toward their nostrils in such a manner that the sleepers
were permitted to inhale, for about a minute each, the faint, fragrant
fumes that emanated from it; then, abandoning all further caution, he
withdrew from the fire a half-consumed branch and waved it in the air
until the smouldering stump was fanned afresh into flame; when, the
torch having served its purpose as a signal, he flung it back upon the
almost extinguished fire.  A couple of minutes later those to whom this
man had signalled approached the camp fire, and while two parties of
four each raised the recumbent and now unconscious figures of the
Englishmen to their shoulders, the remainder carefully gathered together
and took possession of the weapons and other belongings of their
prisoners, after which, at a signal from their leader the entire party
moved off, marching inland away from the lake.  Relieving each other at
frequent intervals, for they found their unconscious burdens heavy--
especially those who were told off to carry Dick--the party marched a
distance of nearly eight miles, until, in a sequestered valley among the
hills, they reached the ruins of what had evidently at one time been a
city of considerable importance, built equally on both sides of an
ice-cold mountain stream.  Most of the buildings were in ruins; many,
indeed, had been razed almost to their foundations--possibly to provide
material for the maintenance in repair of those that remained intact,
but there were sufficient of the latter to afford accommodation for
fully three thousand people, and all of these were inhabited.  Many of
the inhabited buildings were of considerable size, but, with one
solitary exception, architectural grace and beauty were conspicuously
absent, the buildings being, with the exception mentioned, constructed
of large blocks of stone so perfectly worked that the joints of the
masonry were scarcely perceptible, but without ornament or adornment of
any kind whatever, and roughly roofed with thatch.  The exception was in
the case of the temple, which, like so many in ancient Peru, was
dedicated to the Sun.  This structure was erected upon the summit of a
low mound, scarcely important enough in height to be termed a hill, yet
high enough to allow the building to dominate all the rest of the town,
and was built of a beautiful white, fine-grained stone, very much
resembling alabaster.  Also, in startling contrast to all the other
buildings in the town, it was admirably proportioned, and elaborately
ornamented with bold mouldings, cornices, and other architectural
ornaments which, although somewhat barbaric in design, were nevertheless
exceedingly effective.  But its chief glory lay in the pair of immense
bronze doors of its main entrance, the entire surface of which was most
exquisitely engraved with a series of pictures representing the
ceremonial of sun worship.  The building stood upon an immense
quadrangular base of massive masonry, the sides of which were worked
into steps; and some idea of the age of the structure could be gained
from the fact that immediately opposite the main entrance the steps were
worn away to a depth of nearly three inches by the innumerable
multitudes of worshippers who had passed up and down them.  The pavement
of the interior was of marble of various colours, worked into an
elaborate pattern; and beneath this pavement there were chambers for the
confinement of prisoners, and other and more sinister purposes.

It was in one of these subterranean chambers that our friends Phil and
Dick recovered consciousness on the morning following their arrival at
the shore of the Sacred Lake; and their amazement at awaking to find
themselves bound hand and foot on the cold stone floor of a dimly
lighted dungeon, whereas they had fallen asleep in the open, may be
readily imagined.  Their first and most natural impression was that they
had again fallen into the hands of the Spaniards; but they were
disabused of this idea when, an hour or two later, four stalwart
copper-hued, sharp-featured men, with long, straight black hair, clean
shaven, clad in white, sleeveless tunics, with sandals on their feet,
and each armed with a short, broad-bladed sword of copper, entered the
cell, leaving two coarse earthenware basins liberally filled with what
looked like stiff porridge, and two jars containing water.  Placing
these upon the floor, two of the four proceeded to unbind the hands of
the prisoners, while the other two drew their copper swords and
stationed themselves at the door of the cell, with the evident purpose
of frustrating any attempt at escape which the prisoners might be
ill-advised enough to make.  Then Phil, inspired by that knowledge which
he had so mysteriously acquired, at once recognised that he and his
companion had fallen into the hands of a body of aboriginal Peruvians,
and his face cleared.

"We are all right, Dick," he exclaimed, joyously; "these fellows are
evidently a surviving remnant of the original inhabitants of the
country, of whose existence Vilcamapata told me, and whose language I
speak.  It will only be necessary for me to tell them who we are, and
they will free us at once."  But when he addressed first one and then
another of the quartette, they paid no attention whatever to what he
said, contenting themselves with signing to the prisoners to eat and
drink.  Instead of obeying, however, Phil continued to talk to them,
alternately explaining, ordering, and finally threatening the men; and
it was not until, some twenty minutes later, when they proceeded to bind
the hands of both behind their backs again, that Stukely realised, too
late, that the quartette were evidently deaf and dumb.  Thus Phil missed
his breakfast that morning, while Dick, the practical one of the two,
secured his, having fully availed himself of the opportunity afforded by
his unbound hands to eat and drink.

In this eminently unsatisfactory and comfortless fashion the hapless
prisoners passed the ensuing ten days, seeing nobody but the four deaf
mutes, who twice daily brought them food and water, and stood over them
while they ate and drank, afterward securely binding them again;
although this seemed to be an altogether unnecessary act of cruelty;
since so strongly constructed was their place of confinement--even the
door being a massive slab of stone--that, had they been entirely
unbound, they could not possibly have forced their way out.

At length, however, on the twelfth day of their captivity, some two
hours after their morning meal had been served to them, they were quite
unexpectedly visited by their four deaf-and-dumb jailers, who, having
unbound their ankles, signed to them that they were to leave the noisome
hole where they had hitherto been confined; and when the pair passed
through the stone door they found themselves in a long passage, where
they were immediately surrounded by an escort of a dozen soldiers armed
with sword, spear, and shield, all of bronze, and wearing breastplates
and helmets of polished bronze, the latter adorned with the tail
feathers of some bird that gleamed with a brilliant metallic golden
lustre.  Hemmed in by these, the prisoners were marched along the
passage until they reached a flight of stone steps which the party
ascended, finding themselves, at the top, in a long, spacious, lofty
corridor, lighted at intervals by circular openings high up under the
flat stone ceiling.  Along this corridor also the prisoners were marched
until they reached a doorway closed by two bronze doors, at which the
officer of the party first knocked, and immediately afterwards thrust
open, revealing a room in which were congregated some thirty men attired
in a garb that Phil at least instantly recognised to be priestly.  By
these the pair were at once taken over from the armed guard; who
thereupon retired and were no more seen.  At one end of the room stood a
table upon which lay heaped a quantity of flowers, and two stalwart
priests having taken possession of each of the prisoners, the latter
were led to the table, and the flowers, which had been arranged in the
form of two long festoons, were thrown round their necks, crossed over
their breasts, passed round their waists, and finally tied in front,
with the long ends drooping almost to their feet.  They were evidently
being decked as the victims of some sort of sacrifice!

Then Phil suddenly wrenched himself free from the hands of the two
priests who were putting the finishing touches to his adornment, and
spoke in a low voice to the assembled concourse of priests.  What he
said was wholly incomprehensible to Dick, for it was in a tongue of
which young Chichester had no knowledge, but it had a most extraordinary
effect upon the priests, who first seemed stricken dumb with amazement,
and finally overwhelmed with paralysing fear.  For several minutes,
while Phil spoke, in accents of mingled indignation and reproach, the
priests stood silent and motionless, with many mingled emotions
displaying themselves upon their expressive countenances; but when at
length he concluded his tirade by pronouncing certain words in an
unmistakably threatening tone of voice, the whole assemblage, as though
moved by the same impulse, threw up their hands with an action that
clearly expressed the deepest profundity of horror, and then
incontinently with one accord prostrated themselves on the marble floor
at the feet of the two prisoners, uttering howls of sorrow and abject
entreaty.  For perhaps five minutes Phil permitted them to remain in
this posture; then suddenly he shouted a single word which had the
instant effect of reducing the prostrate ones to silence, when he again
addressed them, this time in gentler tones; and when he at length
concluded, the party rose slowly and humbly to their feet, after which
two of them stepped forward and, with every appearance of the deepest
reverence, proceeded to untwine the garlands of flowers and release the
pair from their bonds.  Finally, the erstwhile prisoners were taken in
charge by two of the priests, who first conducted them to an apartment
wherein were all the requisites for a bath, together with a complete
change of clothing, and afterward to another room, very luxuriously
furnished, in which they found not only a choice though evidently
hastily provided meal, but likewise all their weapons, ammunition, and
other belongings.  While this was being done the remainder of the
priesthood filed into the temple--where a vast congregation had
assembled to take part in a specially arranged festival in honour of the
full moon, to be accompanied by a sacrifice--to explain, as best they
could, to the assembled multitude that an unfortunate and most
regrettable mistake had been made; and that, consequently, although the
festival would proceed, no sacrifice beyond that of a pair of goats
would be offered!

To Dick Chichester this sudden and extraordinary change in the fortune
of himself and his friend was utterly incomprehensible; and no sooner
were they once more alone than he turned to Phil and demanded an
explanation.  But, to his great surprise, Stukely, for almost the first
time since that memorable night when they had escaped from Cartagena
together, seemed inclined to be reticent; he professed himself not to
understand wholly the sudden and remarkable turn which affairs had
taken, appeared thoughtful, and inclined to be silent; and would only
say that the Peruvians had mistaken them for a couple of Spaniards, and
that they had consequently escaped a terrible death by the very skin of
their teeth.  And when Dick further pressed him with several very
obvious questions, the only reply which he could extort was, that in the
excitement of the moment certain words, the meaning of which he did not
in the least understand, had involuntarily escaped his lips, and that it
was undoubtedly those mysterious words which had wrought the singular
change in the priests' attitude toward them; of which change he had felt
himself justified in taking the utmost advantage immediately that it
became apparent.  He added that, although danger seemed for the moment
to be past, the situation was still exceedingly difficult and delicate,
demanding the utmost care and circumspection in handling; and he wound
up with an earnest request to Dick to cease from questioning him
further, as he wished to think the matter out and decide upon the plan
of action which it would be best to pursue under the circumstances.

A week ensued during which Dick and Phil saw very little of each other,
for the latter was engaged during practically the whole of each day in
conference with either the chief priest or the authorities who governed
the town, and sometimes with both together; while at night Stukely
manifested an unmistakable desire to be left alone to puzzle out some
problem that seemed to be worrying him.

But at length, when they had been exactly a week in the town, Phil
returned late in the evening to the quarters which he and Dick had been
jointly occupying in the temple; and it was at once apparent to the
younger of the two that the troubles and difficulties with which Stukely
had been wrestling were at an end, for he was once more his former self,
frank, genial, self-reliant, and in exuberant spirits.

"It is all right at last, Dick," he exclaimed, flinging himself down
upon a couch; "I have straightened everything out; and to-morrow we
start for the Sacred Island, with labourers, tools, provisions, and in
short, everything that we require.  And, as things have turned out, it
was very fortunate for us that we fell into the hands of these people;
for otherwise we should never have succeeded in penetrating to the
hiding-place of the treasure and getting safely away again.  Now,
however, we are going there with their full knowledge and approval--they
have even insisted on furnishing us with all the help we may require--
consequently we shall have nothing to fear from those who are guarding
the island, and who, had we approached as strangers, would certainly
have destroyed us."

"In that case," said Dick, "I suppose we ought to congratulate ourselves
upon what has happened, although I do not hesitate to acknowledge now
that I thought it was all up with us when we were hauled up before the
priests, last week, and decorated with flowers.  But what has happened
to bring about this fortunate turn in our affairs?  Don't you think that
you may as well explain the whole affair to me?"

"Certainly I will," agreed Stukely, "indeed it is necessary that you
should understand the situation, in order that you may know how to
comport yourself in the presence of the people.

"First of all, then, this town is called Huancane.  It was a place of
very considerable importance in the time of the Incas, being, in fact,
one of the places to which the Inca was in the habit of resorting during
the period of the extreme summer heat, both on account of its proximity
to the lake, and also because of the exceptional salubrity of the
climate.  Now, at the time of the conquest of the country, a few
Spaniards settled here; upon which the Peruvians, in accordance with a
pre-arranged policy, entirely abandoned the town and retired to certain
secret hiding-places among the mountains, believing that the Spaniards
could not possibly contrive to exist here, if left entirely to
themselves.  But, to the astonishment of the Peruvians, the Spaniards
not only contrived to exist, but they steadily increased and multiplied
to such an extent that there were some three hundred of them settled
here, and supporting themselves entirely upon the products of the
valley.  Then came a change respecting which the Peruvians of to-day are
exceedingly reticent, but one thing is certain, Huancane developed a
remarkable and mysterious unhealthiness of climate that rapidly cleared
it of every Spaniard, so that for two or three years the town was
uninhabited and fell rapidly into decay; after which the Peruvians
returned to it, and have been here ever since.  So much for the history
of Huancane.

"Ever since that time the Peruvians have been very jealously on the
watch against any return of the Spaniards to this part of the country; a
watch for them has always been maintained; and when, from time to time,
small parties have appeared in the neighbourhood they have--well--
vanished.  Our friends here are very reticent about these
disappearances, too.

"Now, it seems that on the day of our arrival at the margin of the lake
we were seen and watched all day, under the impression that we were
Spaniards; and when night came and we slept, a party stole upon us,
stupefied us in some fashion--they did not explain how--and brought us
eight miles or so from our camp to the town, where, as I understand,
rather elaborate preparations were subsequently made for our dispatch
from this world to the next.

"That plan, as you know, fell through in consequence of certain remarks
which the exigencies of the situation prompted me to make.  I somehow
had an idea that we were being mistaken for Spaniards; and the
decorating of us with those wreaths of flowers also seemed to me a
sinister sign; I therefore concluded that the moment for an explanation
had arrived; and I began by informing them that we were not Spaniards,
but were such inveterate enemies of them that we had sailed across the
Black Water in a great canoe for a whole moon and more with the express
object of fighting them.  Then, suddenly, that story of Vilcamapata's
came into my head, and I hinted that there was more than met the eye in
the fact of our presence in this country.  I suddenly assumed a high and
mighty demeanour, reproached them for their blindness and inability to
recognise the friends who stood before them, and finally, moved by some
impulse for which I am wholly unable to account, rapped out certain
words that flashed into my mind, of which I knew not the meaning, but
which I somehow seemed to understand were words of power.  And they
were, too; for, from what has since transpired, I understand that they
were the mysterious words the utterance of which by a complete stranger
was to be the sign to the Peruvians that Manco Capac, the first of the
Incas, had returned to earth to free them from the hated Spanish yoke!

"Now, of course, I know that the utterance of those magic words at what
was, for us, a most critical moment, was a very extraordinary, almost a
miraculous thing; but I have had very little time to dwell upon it thus
far; for when I saw the astonishing result of the words which I had
spoken, my mind was at once exercised with the task of turning the
utterance to the best possible account.  But here I was met by a great
difficulty, for while the attitude of the priests became instantly
changed from relentless hostility to submissiveness so complete as to be
absolutely servile, I was without the knowledge which would have
supplied the key to the situation, and I therefore had to conduct myself
with the utmost circumspection lest I should say or do something which
would nullify the good effect which I had unwittingly produced.  By
adopting an attitude of extreme reticence, however, and allowing the
others to do all the talking, I gradually attained to the knowledge that
I am regarded as the reincarnated Manco; and now our copper-coloured
friends are all on fire with eagerness for me to initiate the operations
which shall eventuate in the expulsion of the Spaniard from this
wonderful country.  Many of them are desirous that I shall at once
assume the style and title of Inca, make Huancane my headquarters, and
send forth a summons to all the Peruvians scattered throughout the
country to come in and enrol themselves under my standard--I understand
that, even now, there remain enough of them to sweep the Spaniards into
the sea, if properly led.  And Dick, my lad, the idea is not without
attractiveness, by any means.  I assure you that I have quite seriously
considered it--tried to picture myself as Inca--with you as Lord High
Admiral of my fleet, and Generalissimo of my army--and the prospect
appeals to me very strongly, so strongly, indeed, that I intend to give
it much further consideration.  For, somehow, I feel that the position
would exactly suit me, and that I should suit the position.  The task of
driving out the Spaniard and restoring the country to its position of
former power and splendour would provide us both with many years of
strenuous work and wild adventure, eh?  Meanwhile, however, there are
several formidable obstacles in the way of an immediate adoption of the
proposal, and these obstacles I have laid before the chief priests and
the half-dozen nobles who govern this place, and they have recognised
the reasonableness of my contention, and are willing to leave everything
in my hands.  We arrived at a complete understanding and agreement upon
this matter to-day; and I thereupon boldly informed them that the first
step which I proposed to take was to secure possession of certain
treasure, the existence and situation of which has been revealed to me;
and that I demanded their assistance in the task of its recovery.  There
were one or two of them who were shrewd enough to enquire in what way I
proposed to employ the treasure when I had secured it; but that question
I refused to answer, hinting that, in the present position of affairs,
the less they knew about my plans the better it would be for everybody
concerned; and with that rather ambiguous assertion they have been
obliged to remain content.  The outcome of the whole affair, however, is
that to-morrow we start for the Sacred Island, accompanied by a gang of
thirty labourers provided with the necessary tools; so now I think I may
say that, with one very important exception, all our troubles are over."

"And pray what is that one important exception?" demanded Dick.

"The question of how we are going to convey the treasure home when we
have secured possession of it," answered Phil.

"Ah!" responded Dick, emphatically, "yes; that is going to be a puzzler.
For there are only us two; and--"

"Quite so," interrupted Phil, "there are only us two, as you say.
Nevertheless, I am not going to worry myself unduly over it, for I have
no doubt that the problem will solve itself, as all the others have
during our wonderful journey.  And Dick, my son, the resolution which
has brought us two, all alone, from Cartagena to this spot, will not
fail us when the time comes for us to decide how we will transport our
treasure to England; so don't you worry either, lad.  And now, good
night; I am tired to death, for I have scarcely slept a wink during the
last five or six nights."

The expedition which set out from Huancane on the following morning was
unexpectedly imposing from the point of view of the two Englishmen; for,
in addition to the thirty labourers promised by the authorities, there
were half a dozen llamas, four of which were harnessed to a couple of
vehicles somewhat resembling hammocks suspended from long poles, these
being intended for the accommodation of the Englishmen, while the other
two were loaded with food for the expedition, each labourer carrying his
own tools.  Each llama had its own driver; the expedition therefore
consisted of thirty-eight people, all told, including the two white men.
Its route lay along the eastern side of the lake; and it covered a
distance of twenty-five miles before camping for the night.  On the
following day, when the afternoon was well advanced, the party arrived
at a point where at a distance of some three miles from the shore, a
small islet rose out of the bosom of the lake, the highest point of
which was crowned with a group of extensive and very imposing-looking
ruins.  This islet the guide in charge of the expedition declared to be
the Sacred Isle; and Phil, strong in the assurance springing from the
knowledge of which he was so mysteriously possessed, agreed with him.

The next question was, how to reach the islet, for there were no boats
or craft of any kind upon the lake; but that difficulty was quickly met
by the labourers, who at once set to work to cut a large quantity of
reeds, which they bound together in such a fashion that they formed a
commodious and exceedingly buoyant raft, upon which the entire party,
with the exception of the llamas and their drivers, crossed over the
first thing on the following morning.

The passage of the raft from the mainland to the island, propelled as
she was by paddles only, occupied about an hour and a half; and as the
unwieldy craft gradually approached her destination the two white
passengers on board her began to realise that the island ahead was
considerably larger than they had first imagined, being fully a hundred
acres in extent; while the character of the ruins made it clear that not
only had the island been chosen, for some inexplicable reason, as the
site upon which to erect a vast and very magnificent temple dedicated to
the worship of the Sun, but that a monastic establishment of
corresponding importance had also been founded there.  Now, however, the
whole of the buildings were roofless and in ruins; yet, even so, they
were sufficiently imposing to imbue Dick at least with several new and
startling ideas regarding the extent of the civilisation to which the
Peruvians had attained under the rule of the Incas.  As for Phil, he
seemed to have undergone a complete yet subtle transformation during
that short journey across the waters of the lake; his eyes blazed with
eagerness, his nostrils dilated as though after a prolonged absence he
was once more breathing his native air; he carried himself with a new
and kingly dignity that somehow seemed to render him unapproachable; he
gave his orders with the calm finality of tone of an absolute monarch;
his knowledge of the place which he was approaching was so intimate as
to be positively uncanny, as was evidenced when the raft drew near the
island: those in charge would have run her ashore at the nearest point,
but as soon as Stukely perceived what they would be at he turned to them
and said rebukingly:

"Not there; not there! bear away to the south.  Do you not know that
there is a bay on that side of the island, with a wharf at which we can
land comfortably and conveniently?"

Apparently the Peruvians did not know; yet when the balsa rounded the
point, there was the bay, and there the stone pier or wharf of which
Phil had spoken!

The first thing to be done, upon their arrival, was to instal the party
in as comfortable quarters as the ruins afforded; and this was
accomplished more easily than had seemed possible at the first glance.
For although, as viewed from the lake, not only the temple but also all
the other buildings had appeared to be roofless, a closer inspection
revealed the fact that one of the small chambers which formed a part of
the main building of the temple was still intact, even to its coved roof
of solid masonry; and this Phil at once ordered to be cleared out and
prepared for the reception of Dick and himself; while, as for the rest,
a building was soon found which, with the aid of a few branches cut from
the neighbouring grove of trees, and a quantity of rushes, which grew
abundantly along the margin of the bay, could be quickly covered in
sufficiently to render it habitable.  These preparations kept the
Peruvians busy for the remainder of that day; and while they were thus
employed Phil and Dick devoted themselves to a minute inspection of the
temple proper.

This had evidently at one time been a magnificent building, probably the
finest of its kind in the entire country; but now it was in a state of
utter ruin, its beautiful roof and walls having been stripped entirely
of the massive hammered and engraved gold and silver plates which, Phil
asserted, had once adorned them, while its marble pavement was heaped
high with immense fragments of masonry, some of which were evidently
portions of a boldly moulded cornice that had once adorned the inner
walls of the structure, while others bore upon their faces signs of
having been exquisitely sculptured in alto or basso rilievo.  It was a
melancholy sight, even to the unimpressionable Dick, this irreparable
ruin of a once noble and surpassingly beautiful building; but Phil, as
he gazed round him in silence, was so deeply moved that, for the moment,
he seemed to have entirely forgotten the object of his visit to the
place; seeing which, Dick at length wandered away and left his friend to
himself and his own mysterious self-communings.

Later on, when they again met to partake together of the evening meal
which had been prepared for them, Phil, who, though still in a somewhat
melancholy mood, seemed to have become once more almost his normal self,
endeavoured to explain to Dick the emotions which had swayed him all
through the day.

"It was one of my strange fits, again, that overcame me," he said.  "You
know, Dick, that I have been subject to them, off and on, as far back in
my life as I can remember.  They come upon me without previous warning
or apparent cause, sometimes in the form of extraordinarily vivid
dreams, and sometimes as more or less vague memories, awakened by a
chance sound, or sight, or odour.  Either of these apparently slight
causes has sufficed, at times, to recall scenes in which I seem to have
been an actor far back in the past; so far back, indeed, that if they
really occurred at all it must have been long before I--that is to say,
my present body--was born.  Now, don't laugh at me, lad; no doubt, when
I talk thus, I must seem to you to be stating absurdities,
impossibilities; for you have often told me that you have never
experienced the curious sensations of which I speak; but let me tell you
that, however extraordinary they may seem to you, to me they appear the
most natural thing in the world, because they occur to me so frequently,
and because they began to come to me when I was still too young to
recognise their extraordinary character.  The most remarkable thing
about them, to my mind, is that they all seem to bear a close
relationship to each other; they all appear to refer to the same period
of time, and the same locality; that locality being this country of
South America, and especially Peru.  Is it not a strange thing that I
should have dreamed of being associated with a people, one of whom I
instantly recognised in the person of Vilcamapata?  And is it not
equally strange that in my dreams I should have acquired a knowledge of
the language spoken by him and these people who are now with us?  Yet
you know that such was actually the case.  And now I tell you, Dick,
that when I stood among the ruins of this once splendid temple to-day,
the feeling was strong upon me that I was not standing within its walls
for the first time!  I could shut my eyes and recall a dim and
tantalising vision of it in all its pristine glory; I seemed to again
see those ruined walls standing erect and perfect, with their decoration
of gold and silver plates and ornaments, their sculptured panels, their
heavy cornice, and the magnificent golden roof surmounting all.  Oh, it
is tantalising to remember so much and yet so little; to have these
memories flash athwart one's mind only to vanish again before one has
time to fix and identify them!  Why do they not come to me perfectly--if
they must come at all?  These fleeting memories puzzle and perplex me;
nay, more, they worry me; for I cannot help thinking that they must have
a purpose; if I could but know what it is.

"And now, to turn from generalities to particularities.  I am worried as
to the locality of the hidden treasure.  You will remember that
Vilcamapata's last words to us were that something--which I have always
believed to be the treasure--lies beneath the great marble floor of this
temple; and until to-day I have believed that I had but to come here and
straightway find the entrance giving access to the vaults in which the
treasure lies hidden.  Yet I have spent the whole day in wandering among
the ruins in search of that entrance--without success; I have been quite
unable to find any opening which promises to lead to the underground
part of the structure.  And all day, too, I have been haunted by an
elusive memory of some secret connected with, the hiding of the
treasure, which memory continually seems to be on the point of becoming
clear and illuminating, only to fade away into nothing again.  We are
here, however; that is the great point; and I swear that I will not go
away again without the treasure, even though it should be necessary to
raze the temple to its foundations, stone by stone, in order to find
it!"

For a time it seemed that nothing short of such drastic measures would
serve the purpose of the two adventurers; for, search as they would,
they could find no door or opening of any description giving access to
the chambers which Vilcamapata had given them to understand existed
beneath the floor of the main building; indeed, so far as their
discoveries went, there might have been no such chambers at all,
although Phil was most positive as to their existence.  But they made a
beginning of a kind, by setting the labouring gang to work to clear away
all the debris and rubbish which lay piled high upon the temple floor;
and in the course of a fortnight sufficient progress had been made to
lay bare about one-fourth of the marble floor at the eastern end of the
building, including the once beautiful but now sadly damaged altar
dedicated to sacrifices to the Sun.  And then the secret which had so
persistently eluded Phil was revealed; for one of the rear corners of
the altar had been broken away by the fall of a heavy mass of masonry
from the roof, exposing the interior of the structure, which, it now
appeared, was hollow.  But it revealed more than that; it revealed the
fact that the massive slab which formed the rear of the lower portion of
the altar was movable, being pivoted on stone hinges at one end, so that
by applying pressure in a certain way to the other end it could be made
to swing inward, giving access to a flight of steps leading downward.
The hinges, it is true, had become stiff from long non-usage, so that it
now needed the united strength of half a dozen men to revolve the slab,
but when once it was forced open it remained so, and there was no
further trouble in that respect.  Yet, even then, it was found to be
impossible to penetrate to the subterranean chambers at once, for when
an attempt was made to do so, the torches which the would-be explorers
carried refused to burn in the mephitic atmosphere; and time therefore
had to be allowed for the exterior air to penetrate and displace the
poisonous vapours which had accumulated in the chambers during the many
years that they had remained hermetically sealed.

At length, however, after the process of ventilation had been permitted
to proceed for nearly a week, the air in the subterranean passages was
found to be fresh enough to be breathed without much difficulty, and to
allow of the torches burning in it with scarcely diminished luminosity,
and the search for the treasure chamber was resumed.  And now it was
discovered that the labyrinth of passages and chambers extended far
beyond the area covered by the superstructure, many of the chambers
having evidently been used as prison cells, in some at least of which
the unhappy prisoners had been interned and apparently left to perish of
hunger and thirst; for, upon being broken open, they were found to still
contain the mummified bodies of the unfortunate wretches; while others
seemed to have been used by the priests as places of retirement and
meditation.  One exceptionally large chamber, too, had been used as the
place of interment for the successive chief priests of the temple; for
their bodies also, withered and shrunken in the dry atmosphere of the
place, were found ranged round the walls of the mausoleum, clad in their
sacerdotal vestments, and enthroned in bronze chairs of very beautiful
and elaborate workmanship.

Finally, after the two Englishmen had been exploring this elaborate
system of underground chambers for nearly three hours, they came upon
the object of their search--and stood for awhile breathless and dumb in
the presence of apparently incalculable wealth!

The chamber was by far the largest that the pair had thus far entered;
so large indeed was it that the light of the torches which they carried
was not nearly powerful enough to illuminate the entire chamber.  But
even what they beheld at the first glance was enough to take their
breath away; for upon forcing open the door they found themselves
confronted by an enormous mass of dull white, frosty-looking metal
which, upon closer inspection, proved to be composed entirely of
bricks--hundreds, thousands of them--of pure silver, each brick weighing
about thirty pounds, or just as much as a man could conveniently lift
with one hand.  For several minutes the pair stood gazing enraptured at
this enormous mass of precious metal, experiencing such sensations as it
is given to few men to feel--for it must be remembered that both had
been brought up amid such conditions that the possession of a few
hundred pounds would be regarded by them as wealth!  Then, as if moved
by the same impulse, they turned to each other and burst into a torrent
of mutual congratulation, mingled with expressions of amazement that
there should be so vast a quantity of wealth in the world.  For a few
joyous minutes they could scarcely speak rationally to each other, so
intense was their delight; but presently they pulled themselves together
and proceeded with their investigations.  Passing round the enormous
pile of silver they were again brought to a stand by a pile of metal of
almost equal size, but this time it was dull ruddy yellow in colour--in
fact, gold!  Gold, piled up like the silver in a solid mass also
composed of bricks a trifle larger than those of the less valuable
metal, being actually of such a weight that a brick was as much as one
man could conveniently lift with both hands.  But this was not all; for
beyond this pile of gold bricks they came upon row after row of great
leather sacks which, upon being opened, were found to contain more gold,
either in the form of rough nuggets, just as they had been taken from
the mine, or dust which had evidently been washed out of the sand of
some river.  The sight came near to driving them demented, for there
were tons of the precious metal; far more of it indeed than they could
possibly hope to ever carry away.  But even this was not all; for at the
far end of the chamber they came upon three great bronze coffers of
elaborate and exquisitely beautiful workmanship, which, upon being
opened, were found to be more than half-full of crystals--diamonds,
rubies, and emeralds--that reflected the light of their torches in a
perfect blaze of vari-coloured effulgence so dazzlingly brilliant that
for the moment they could scarcely credit the evidence of their eyes.
And with all this at the end of their journey, they had been jealously
hoarding and guarding first the pair and latterly the remaining one of
the emeralds that had formed the eyes of the idol, and the few gold
scales that had decorated its clothing!  The idea seemed so absurd, so
supremely ridiculous, that when it occurred to Phil and he mentioned it
to Dick, the pair of them burst into peal after peal of laughter that
soon became hysterical; indeed the pair were very much nearer to being
driven crazy than either of them dreamed of, by the sudden sight of such
incalculable wealth.  Fortunately for them, however, they were in the
pink of health and condition, thanks to their long, arduous journey
through the wilderness and their continuous life in the open air; and
since a sound mind goes with a sound body, their mental processes were
in the best possible condition for withstanding the shock, thus suddenly
brought to bear upon them; and eventually after their hysterical
outburst of joy had spent itself, they once more became rational beings,
and fell to discussing the momentous question of how all this treasure
was to be transported to England.  They soon came to the conclusion that
to transport it all to England--or rather to the coast, for, once there,
the rest should be easy--would be an impossibility; and they finally
decided to take the gems, and as much of the gold as they could find
means of conveyance for.  This last, namely, the means of conveyance to
the coast, was the problem that now confronted them; and they eventually
agreed that there was only one way of solving it, and that was by
returning to Huancane and enlisting the services of the high priest and
the other authorities of the town in their favour.  Accordingly, with
that object in view, they closed the door of the treasure chamber again,
and made it temporarily secure; after which they returned to the upper
air and electrified their Peruvian followers by directing them to make
immediate preparations for a return to Huancane; and such was the energy
which they contrived to infuse into the natives that they not only
crossed to the mainland but also accomplished a very satisfactory return
march before sunset, that night.

The return of the adventurers to Huancane with the news that the secret
hiding-place of the treasure had been discovered caused the utmost
rejoicing among the inhabitants, for somehow the idea that the elder of
the two strangers was the reincarnated Manco Capac had got abroad, and
what is more, had found general acceptance; and now every native in the
place, and for miles round, was in a perfect fever of impatience that
operations for the recovery of the country from the Spaniards should be
pressed forward with all possible speed.  Therefore when Phil intimated
that he required a strong transport train to assist in the conveyance of
the treasure to the coast, nobody thought of demanding his reasons for
the conveyance of the treasure out of the country; they simply, one and
all, devoted their energies to the collection of the train and the armed
guard which Phil declared would also be necessary.  And when Stukely,
determined to avail himself to the utmost of their obliging mood,
further intimated that he would also need at least thirty Peruvians to
man the ship which he intended to capture, the said Peruvians of course
to proceed across the Great Water with him, he met with no difficulty in
securing as many volunteers as he needed.  But the formation and
equipment of such an expedition as Phil had demanded was not to be
accomplished in a day, or even a week; therefore while men, animals, and
arms were being got together at Huancane, a messenger, armed with the
necessary authority, was sent forward along the route which would be
followed by the caravan, with instructions to the natives all along the
route to collect a certain quantity of food for the men and fodder for
the animals, in order that the passage of the expedition to the coast
might be expedited as much as possible.  While this was being done, Phil
and Dick, having taken formal leave of the Huancane authorities,
returned to the Sacred Island, and, assisted by a dozen Peruvians,
proceeded to transport to the mainland as much of the treasure as they
thought they would be able to convey to the coast.  This, of course, was
soon done, and then all that remained to them was to wait patiently for
the transport train, without which they could do nothing really worth
the doing.

At length, after they had been idly waiting for nearly three weeks, the
train duly arrived.  But what a train it was!  Two hundred llamas, with
a driver for every ten beasts; two hundred and fifty armed men to
protect the caravan from possible--but not very probable--attack by the
Spaniards; and forty men, every one of whom were prepared to follow Phil
to the world's end and back, if need be.  Ten of the llamas were
intended for the transport of provisions on the march from one village
to another, and were already loaded to the full extent of their
capacity; four were harnessed to the curious hammock-like arrangements
which had been provided for the accommodation of Phil and his friend on
the march; and the remaining hundred and eighty-six animals, as well as
the forty volunteers for sea service, were available for the
transportation of treasure, each llama being provided with a pair of
saddle bags the broad connecting band of which sank so deeply into the
wool of the creature that there was not the slightest fear of the bags
slipping.

This transport train was so very much stronger than the Englishmen had
dared to hope for that they instantly recognised the possibility of
carrying away nearly twice the quantity of gold which they had
originally arranged for; and the day following the arrival of the train
was accordingly devoted to the transport of further gold bricks from the
island to the mainland, until a full load was provided for every animal,
including those which were harnessed to the hammocks, Phil and Dick
preferring to make the journey on foot.

On the following morning, however, the imposing caravan started, with
the first light of day, upon its journey toward the coast, winding its
way along the eastern margin of the Sacred Lake until it reached its
southern extremity, when it swerved away to the south-westward across
the valley in which the lake lay embosomed, toward the towering
snow-peaks of the western cordillera of the Andes.  The first three days
of the journey were quite pleasant and uneventful, for during that time
the caravan was winding its slow way across the mountain valley; but on
the fourth day the train entered a mountain pass which the Peruvians
asserted was known only to themselves--and which they had chosen in
order to avoid the possibility of collision with the armed forces of the
Spaniards; and thenceforward, for four full days, the train wound its
perilous way along narrow pathways bounded on the one hand by towering,
inaccessible, rocky cliffs, and on the other by ghastly precipices, of
such awful depth that their bases were frequently hidden by the wreaths
of mountain mist floating far below; across frail swing bridges
stretched from side to side of those awful, fathomless rifts called
_barrancas_ which seem to be peculiar to the Andes; or up and down
steep, rugged, almost precipitous slopes where a single false step or a
loose stone would send man or beast whirling away down to death a
thousand feet below.  But the llamas seemed to be more sure-footed than
mountain goats, and despite their loads they scrambled up and down
apparently inaccessible places, or plodded sedately along the narrowest
and most dizzy ledges without accident, while the Peruvians seemed to be
absolutely at home among the peaks and precipices.

But at length, after four full days of incessant peril, the train
emerged from the last mountain pass and found itself upon a sloping,
grassy plateau on the western slope of the Andes, with the limitless
Pacific stretching away into the infinite distance, and the perils and
hardships of the journey were at an end; for thenceforward the road
wound its serpentine way downward through a series of ravines that, wild
and savage enough at first, gradually widened out into gentle, grassy,
tree-clad slopes that led down to the sandy plains which lie between the
lower spurs of the Andes and the ocean.  It took the train two days to
cross these plains, which, under the neglect of the Spaniards, were fast
returning to the desert state from which, under the wise rule of the
Incas, they had been reclaimed; and finally, on the seventeenth day of
the journey the entire train arrived safely at the little Peruvian
village on the site of which the important port of Arica now stands.
And thanks to the precautions adopted by the guide of the party, not a
Spaniard had been encountered on any part of the journey.

But the good luck of the party did not end here; for on the very night
of their arrival a small Spanish coasting craft of about seventy tons
was sighted by the light of the full moon, becalmed in the offing; and
manning four fishing canoes with the forty Peruvian volunteers, Dick and
Phil paddled off and took her without the slightest difficulty, towing
her safely into the bay before sunrise, where they brought her to an
anchor.  Her crew of fifteen Spaniards were easily disposed of by the
return train, who took them far enough up into the mountains to render
it impossible for them to do any harm, and then turned them adrift.  The
craft herself--named _El Ciudad de Lima_--proved, upon examination, to
be a very fine, stanch little vessel, nearly new, in ballast; she
therefore required nothing to be done to her to prepare her for her long
voyage, save the storage of a sufficient quantity of water and
provisions; and this, with the assistance of the Peruvians, was soon
obtained.  Before sailing, however, Phil, at Dick's suggestion, had her
completely emptied of all her ballast and stores of every description,
and then hauled close in to the beach, in a sheltered position, and
careened, so that her bottom might be carefully examined, and all weed
removed from it.  Then, when this was done, the gold bricks were stowed
right down alongside her keelson, upon plenty of dunnage, and on top of
them was stowed the gems, packed in strong wooden boxes, the joints of
which were afterward caulked and well paid with pitch, the boxes finally
being thickly coated all over with pitch.  Then, on top of and all round
the gold and the boxes of gems, a sufficient quantity of sand to ensure
ample stability was placed; and on top of that again the water and
provisions were stowed.  To do all this to Dick's satisfaction demanded
nearly a month's strenuous labour; but when it was all finished and the
little craft--re-christened _Elisabeth_--was finally ready for sea, Dick
pronounced her fit to face the heaviest weather and the longest voyage.
As she was only a small craft, the pair decided that twenty of the forty
Peruvian volunteers would suffice as a crew, and these twenty were
selected because of their superior fitness for the work of sailors, as
exemplified during the preparation of the little ship for sea.

At length, everything being ready, the little craft hove up her anchor
and sailed out of the bay on her long voyage round the southern
extremity of America and up through the vast Atlantic ocean.  To say
that this voyage, undertaken in so small a vessel, and with a crew of
men who had never before looked upon the sea, was an adventurous one,
full of peril, and marked by countless hairbreadth escapes from capture
and shipwreck, seems superfluous; indeed so full of adventure was it
that a detailed description of what the little vessel and her crew went
through would require a larger volume than the present for its adequate
recital.  It must suffice therefore to state that the adventurers
ultimately arrived safely and with their precious cargo intact in
Plymouth Sound, some six months after her departure from the Peruvian
fishing village, to the unbounded astonishment and delight of those who
had long given up Phil and Dick for dead.  The meeting with old
friends--and relatives, so far as Dick was concerned--the landing and
eventual disposal of the gems and gold, with every necessary precaution,
must be left for the reader to picture in detail; but it may be
mentioned that while Dick purchased a big estate and built himself
thereon a magnificent mansion not far from Plymouth, speedily becoming
one of Plymouth's most important citizens, using his enormous wealth
wisely and well, and ultimately earning his knighthood for his valiant
conduct in assisting to disperse the Spanish Armada, Phil Stukely was so
enamoured of the idea of returning to Peru, becoming its Inca, and
driving out the Spaniards, that he actually fitted out an expedition
with that intent.  How he fared and what ultimately became of him it may
perhaps be the privilege of the present historian some day to relate.

My story of the great and wonderful adventure of Philip Stukely and Dick
Chichester is ended; yet upon reading the pages which I have with so
much labour compiled I am conscious of a certain sense of
incompleteness, conscious that something still remains untold.  I feel
that to let the narrative go forth to the world without offering some
sort of an explanation of the source of Stukely's extraordinary and
uncanny knowledge of Indian lore, and of the ancient Peruvian language--
which he had never learned--would be unfair to the reader.

But in the rough yet voluminous notes of the adventure which Sir Richard
Chichester amused himself by jotting down at his leisure after his
return to England, which he left to his heirs at his death, and which
fell into my hands some twenty years ago, I find no word which throws
the slightest light upon the subject.  Yet from the time when I first
skimmed through those notes I have been moved by an ardent desire to put
them into narrative form, in order that Englishmen of to-day may be
afforded yet one more example of the indomitable courage and tenacious
perseverance that distinguished their forefathers during the stirring
and glorious days of good Queen Bess.  But until quite recently I have
been deterred from undertaking the pleasant task, for the reason that
certain portions of the narrative are of such a character as either to
strain the credulity of the reader to breaking point, or to cause him to
denounce the good Sir Richard as a--shall we say--perverter of the
truth.  And I should be exceedingly reluctant to do anything which would
produce the latter result; for it seems perfectly evident, from
contemporary records, that the worthy knight was held in highest esteem,
by all who were brought into contact with him, as a man of unimpeachable
honour and probity, whose word was always to be relied upon, and who was
so unimaginative, so thoroughly matter-of-fact, and of so simple,
straightforward a character generally, as to be completely above the
suspicion of any slightest tendency to embellish a story by the
perpetration of an untruth.  Quite recently, however, I was made
acquainted with certain extraordinary facts which may possibly bear upon
the matter, and which, although not absolutely conclusive, appear to
corroborate Sir Richard's astounding statements; and as they may perhaps
prove of interest to the reader, I now set them forth.

It chanced that a few months ago I was a guest at a dinner party at
which men only were present, and that I was seated next to a very
brilliant young American physician who was devoting himself especially
to the study of Heredity.  It being his hobby, he soon contrived to turn
the conversation toward that topic, and, after a few general remarks,
told several very startling stories illustrative of certain contentions
which he advanced.  Among others he related the case of a young Western
farmer whose ancestors had emigrated from the little village of
Langonnet, in Brittany, to America, some two hundred and fifty years
ago.  They had passed through the usual vicissitudes of fortune
experienced by the early settlers, and in process of time had become so
absolutely Americanised that even their very name had become corrupted
almost out of recognition as of French origin.  The young farmer in
question possessed only a very elementary education, and had never been
taught French, yet almost from the moment when he first began to speak
he occasionally interpolated a French word in his conversation, and the
practice extended as he grew older.  Finally, it transpired that certain
property in the neighbourhood of Langonnet which his ancestors had
abandoned as practically worthless had become so valuable that enquiries
as to the whereabouts of the owners had been set on foot, the
descendants had been with much difficulty traced, and the young farmer,
as being the person most directly interested, crossed to France to
investigate.  And now comes the marvellous part of the story.  The young
man had no sooner arrived in Langonnet--which, be it remembered, he was
now visiting for the first time in his life--than he began to recognise
such of his surroundings as remained unaltered since the emigration of
his French ancestors, and, more strange still, perhaps, was able to
converse in the Breton dialect with little or no difficulty by the time
that he had been twenty-four hours in the village!

The point which the narrator sought to illustrate and emphasise was that
not only is heredity responsible for the transmission and persistence of
certain peculiarities of face, form, and character, but also that in a
few isolated cases it has actually been known to _transmit knowledge_!

As soon as my neighbour had finished his story and replied to several
comments upon it, I put to him the case of Philip Stukely, asking him
whether he thought that the uncanny knowledge manifested by that
gentleman was also due to heredity, to which he replied that he had not
a doubt of it, and that, if I chose to investigate, I should probably
discover either that Phil had Peruvian blood in his veins, or that some
long dead English ancestor of his had once been in Peru and remained
there for several years.  I have not yet been able to undertake the
suggested investigation, and were I able to do so I am afraid that after
so great a lapse of time it would be found impossible to pursue it very
far; but I cannot help thinking that the story of the American physician
tends to explain to some extent, if not completely, the source of
Stukely's amazing and otherwise inexplicable gift of knowledge, and
accordingly I offer the suggestion for what it may be worth.






End of Project Gutenberg's Two Gallant Sons of Devon, by Harry Collingwood