inwood laughed at the look of his sable friend, as he gazed about him, as if he did not understand the meaning of all this.
“where is your man?” he asked.
“gracious! i don’t know; wonder if i didn’t mash him down into de ground,” he said, stepping to one side and reviewing the huge footprints which he had made in the sod. “he ain’t dere! wonder where he went?”
“i suspect he hasn’t been there at all. you must have been mistaken, jim. are there any other footprints?”
after strict search they failed to find any, and inwood was satisfied of jim’s mistake, although the latter was loth to admit it.
“now,” said inwood, “i am going to find out all i can about matters and things. if you choose you can go home, or you can remain here.”
“if it’s all de same to you, i tinks i’ll retire,” said jim, displaying considerable eagerness to get out of the immediate neighborhood. inwood watched him until he disappeared from view as he went crouching among the rocks and hills back to his hiding place.
it was now near nightfall, and our young friend deemed it best to make himself invisible until he could reconnoitre with safety in the darkness. in this wild, rocky country, it was easy to find a secure hiding place, and this he did, first satisfying himself that he was not watched in his manœuvres.
night finally descended upon mountain and lake, and when it was fully dark, inwood crept cautiously forth, and approached the edge of the water. the moon did not rise until late, and he was sure that if any sentinel was on guard, he had not detected his approach. he had come upon the lake at a point several hundred yards removed from the point where the canon debouched into it, and he sat down for a few moments to meditate upon the best thing to do.
as he sat and listened, he was sure he heard a faint rippling out upon the lake near the point where he could just make out the dark outlines of the island looming up in the distance; but the gloom prevented his discovering anything more. behind and around him was darkness, and in that solemn moment, george inwood (naturally devout and thoughtful) lifted up his heart to the great being above the stars, and sat for a time in blissful communion, such as the men of the world can never know.
he felt that this was a strange undertaking upon which he was about to venture, and, with the simplicity of a child, he asked that he might do that only which was right, and that he and those with him might be protected to the end.
he concluded, after fully deliberating upon the matter, to remove his clothing, and swim out to the island. by this means he could examine it silently and thoroughly, and with more safety than if he remained on shore waiting for a suitable opportunity.
his clothing was rolled into a bundle, and placed in a niche among the rocks, after which he took his bearings to make sure of no difficulty in recovering them. this done, he waded carefully out, immediately rushing above his head into the chilly waters. the first shock over, the lake felt cool and pleasant, and he struck out slowly and easily toward the island.
as he neared the place which had created such wonder, he slowed his strokes, until he barely moved through the water, while he kept his eyes and ears open. nothing suspicious rewarded his vigilance, and he was on the point of advancing more rapidly, when he detected the outlines of a man standing on the very edge of the island nearest him.
inwood was so close that at first he was sure he had been discovered; but, as the stranger gave no evidence of suspecting anything, he slowly backed water, and gradually worked his way round to the opposite side. here he dallied awhile, until seeing nothing alarming, he began making his way in.
but again, at this very juncture, he caught the glimmer of a light, heard the suppressed murmur of a voice, followed by a gentle plashing. the next moment he made the startling discovery that, while he was not approaching the island, it was approaching him. an indescribable thrill ran through him, and he understood the feeling which jim had expressed; but his own sense forbade any faltering, and he concluded to wait for the “mountain to come to mohamet.”
a moment later he touched the edge of the island, and then learned that instead of earth, his hands were resting against logs, and that they extended several feet below the surface.
“i have learned one thing,” was the reflection of inwood, “this enchanted island rests upon logs, and isn’t much more than a skilfully covered raft.”
but the question still remained, as to what it all meant. what earthly reason could there be for a floating island in the midst of a lonely lake? there was some object beyond all question, and he resolved, if possible, to ascertain it for himself.
as he floated along with the island, he heard the grating of poles upon the bottom of the lake, and it was therefore easy to comprehend the means of locomotion. shortly after he detected shadowy forms passing to and fro, as they busied themselves in shoving the craft along. the phantom like appearance of things was increased by the silence with which these men worked. as yet, he had not heard a whisper exchanged between them.
inwood right speedily appreciated the delicately dangerous position in which he was placed. one of the raftmen, as he drove his pole down into the water, just missed driving it into his crown, but he was an excellent swimmer, and he relied upon his skill in the perilous feature which this adventure was putting on.
“the old thing moves rather heavy!” finally remarked one of the men, in a gruff voice.
“yes,” was the response, “it acts as if the logs were becoming water-soaked. i’ve noticed for the last day or two that it seems to have sunk a few inches.”
“i s’pose maybe it’s carrying a pretty good load.”
this remark seemed to contain some hidden meaning which pleased the fancy of the others, for they all indulged in a quiet laugh.
these words, as a matter of course, were overheard by inwood, who was puzzled more and more to understand their meaning; but the men did not seem to take up a train of remarks calculated to enlighten him. they plied the unwieldy craft for a few minutes longer in silence, and then, as one paused to rest a moment, he spoke in this manner to him who was standing nearest:
“too bad that a parcel should come down on us at this time.”
“yes; and i’m afraid they’re going to stay.”
“we gave the darkey a good enough fright to keep him away, but that man doesn’t look as if he could be frightened by any such thing.”
“there’s a youngster, too, i noticed to-day, when i fired at them.”
“very likely they’ll get far enough away not to trouble us any more. it looked to me as though the darkey had brought them back to take a look at the lake and island, seeing which, they were satisfied and went back.”
“i hope so, for it’s too bad——”
at this juncture, the man thrust his pole into the water, and applied his strength to it, as a consequence of which, his words came so mutilated through his closed teeth as to be unintelligible to the intensely interested person on the other side.
all at once, inwood felt his feet touch the bottom, and, turning his head, saw that they were within a hundred yards of the shore. whether they intended anchoring a short distance from the land, or to lie against it, was unknown to him, although he surmised the latter, as the depth remained the same, and they still used their poles with the same resolve as at first.
if inwood was right in his conjectures on this point, he saw that he must evacuate his position to escape being jammed between it and the rock.
moving carefully along the edge of the raft, he made his way around the end, when he became aware of another fact which could not fail to give him uneasiness. the moon was rising, and as soon as it came above the wood or mountain, could scarcely fail to reveal him; but, as a few moments later they would be along the shore, he conjectured that if the worst came to worst, he could dart into the wood and take his chances of escape.
shortly after, the enchanted island lightly touched the shore, and immediately, to the delight of inwood, the three men whom he had noticed, sprang off and disappeared with rather a remarkable abruptness—so singular indeed that he believed they intended to return, and he therefore maintained his position until this point was settled.
fifteen or twenty minutes passing away, and bringing no sight nor sound of them, he hesitated a moment, and then concluded to clamber upon the island and satisfy himself, so far as possible, regarding it. still a vague sense or danger restrained him. it did not seem improbable that a sentinel was stationed upon this curious piece of workmanship, although if such were the case, he took particular good care to keep quiet and unobserved.
to satisfy himself, inwood, with his hands drew himself twice entirely around the island. this gave him an accurate idea of its size, and showed him that its base was wood. he saw nothing suspicious, although a dozen men could have been effectually concealed in the dense shrubbery.
suddenly a whim took possession of him to dive beneath it, and examine its construction as he passed along. this plan offered the least danger, and the breadth of the island was such that he could do it with little or no difficulty.
sinking softly downward until he reached the lowest point, he struck rapidly out, and had taken but one stroke beneath the surface, when he came abruptly upward, and[61] as he threw his hands above, felt nothing but the water. the next moment, to his unbounded surprise, he found that he was in the center of the island, which enclosed him on every side. in fact, it was a floating circle, the middle portion being open and full of water.
george felt around until he placed his hand upon a support, when he came to the conclusion that he had advanced another step in the solution of this mystery, but the step had taken him into as blank darkness as had the first move he made.
here was proof that the enchanted island, as he had named it from his first impression, was the careful work of human hands, although why it ever should have been made was totally unexplainable. in the midst of his meditation on this point, he was not a little startled to observe, by the increasing light of the moon, the figure of a man, undoubtedly a sentinel, who, by the nodding of his head, was either half or wholly asleep.
which was a very fortunate thing for mr. inwood, otherwise he could not have failed of discovering himself to him. sheltered by the shade of the shrubbery, he made as hasty examination as possible of the contour of this interior basin, but could discover nothing more than that it was oblong in shape, and quite even around its edges.
it was while engaged in this survey that the man arose and looked down into the water, as if he saw something suspicious.
“there’s something there!” he muttered in an audible voice, “and i’ve heard it more than once. it’s a queer fish, i think.”
the queer fish, at this juncture, deemed it prudent to sink down and retreat to the outer surface of the lake, which place he reached just in time to see his man standing along shore with a huge pole, as if watching for him to rise. fortunately, he was so close to the shore, as to be in shadow, and, feeling his way along, he speedily reached land, where he waited until his friend’s attention was called in another direction, when he crawled out, somewhat weakened by his long habitation in the water.
but the object of his reconnoisance, so far as possible, was obtained, and he set out on his return. he experienced some difficulty in recovering his clothing, but succeeded at last, and started rapidly homeward. he was not a little alarmed upon reaching the place to find that neither jim nor edwin was there.
