there were many curious characters at the camp, as i suppose there are everywhere that a number of men are gathered together. i used to amuse myself studying the various phases of human nature that came under my observation, with the result that some men attracted me and some repelled me.
aside from the miserly daggett the man who caused me the most trouble was the surly, scowling larkin, whom the major had threatened to shoot on sight if he did not pay me for everything he obtained at my shop. he was a lazy fellow, and did not seem to get ahead as fast as his companions, for that reason. sometimes, in the heat of the afternoon, he would strike work and come into my hut, where he threatened and bullied me and cast longing glances at the sacks of gold i had accumulated. uncle naboth, who, by the way, labored doggedly day after day, as he was commanded, often warned me against larkin, but i had no fears, being assured the major would protect me from the villain’s hatred.
one or two others—hayes and judson, for instance—were evidently disreputable characters, and affected the society of larkin when they were not at work. but in the main the miners were decent enough fellows, and seemed to have no thought above securing a fortune from the wealth of the golden sands. they paid me liberally, were just in their dealings, and labored industriously day by day so as to lessen the time of their captivity upon the island.
in the evenings the officers and crew of the “flipper” were wont to gather in my hut, where they smoked their pipes and conversed more or less gloomily together. none of them, however, was greatly distressed at his fate, and it was wonderful how cheerful uncle naboth remained through it all. his silent merriment and sly winks were by no means lacking in these days of tribulations and hard work, and he found many opportunities to exercise his keen sense of humor. in one way his fortunes were really prospering, and each evening he weighed out the day’s receipts, in golden grains, and calculated the profits to us on the sales. i suppose these must have been satisfactory, for he never complained.
i always slept in my hut, surrounded by the store of merchandise and my sacks of gold; but the rest of the crew of the ship had huts of their own, nux and bryonia occupying one together.
one night, after i had been asleep for some hours, i was suddenly awakened by the muzzle of a pistol pressed close to my forehead. i opened my eyes, and saw larkin standing beside me. a tallow candle had been lighted in the hut, and i could see his evil features distinctly.
“now, my lad, keep quiet an’ you won’t get hurt.”
“now, my lad,” said he, “keep quiet an’ you won’t get hurt. but if you raise any rumpus or make a sound, i’ll blow your brains out.”
so i lay quiet, but i kept my eyes open and eagerly watched what was taking place in the room. besides larkin, there were present daggett, judson and hayes—the worst characters in the camp. while larkin remained beside me to threaten me with his pistol, the others spread out a blanket and dumped into it every sack of gold i possessed. this they secured by tying the corners of the blanket together. next they spread another blanket and threw into it a quantity of canned meats and other provisions, afterwards tying them up as they had the gold. then hayes took the pistol and stood guard over me while the others crept from the hut. they were back in a few minutes, however, bearing another blanket heavily loaded. and now larkin resumed his place beside me and the others caught up the three parcels and after extinguishing the candle slipped out of the doorway. there was a moon outside, i knew, but it was quite dark in the hut, and the consciousness of being at the mercy of the scoundrel beside me sent cold shivers creeping up my spine.
after waiting a few moments in silence larkin spoke.
“look a-here, sam,” he said gruffly, but in a low voice, “we’ve took some gold and other stuff, as ye know; but we ain’t goin’ to do murder unless we has to. if you’ve got sense enough to keep still for a solid hour, an’ make no fuss, you’ll live to get as much gold, or more, as we’ve just grabbed. but if you try to raise the camp, or foller us, i’ll kill you before you know it. now, i’m goin’ to stand outside the door for a solid hour—you lay still an’ count sixty seconds to a minute an’ sixty minutes to an hour. if you move before that, you’re a dead one; after the hour ye can howl all ye please, and the louder the better. i ought to stick a knife into you now; but i guess i’ll wait outside the door, an’ see if you mind what i tell you.”
then with a threatening flourish of his pistol, he slunk away, and as soon as he was outside the door i rose up and followed.
i knew he was lying, well enough, and that his threats were merely meant to terrify me into keeping silent until he escaped. he considered me a mere boy, and believed i would be too frightened to cause him any trouble.
but where could he and his fellow thieves go? how could they penetrate the wild thicket? that was the question that puzzled me. and then i remembered that daggett was with them, who was reputed to be able to travel at will throughout the interior of the island.
when i reached the door and looked around i could at first see no signs of the man who had just left me. then i discovered a dark form creeping along the edge of the jungle, and at once i sprang into the shade myself and crept after him. he was going slowly, and in my eagerness i closed up most of the distance between us, until i was dangerously near. but he did not look around, and while my eyes were fastened upon him he dropped to his knees, pushed aside a thick bush, and disappeared into the thicket.
that was all the information i wanted, just then; so i hastily marked the place by heaping a mound of sand before the bush, and then ran back to my hut as fast as i could go. i was terribly humiliated at being robbed so coolly of the gold that had been placed in my care, and rashly resolved that i would recover it by my own efforts, without disturbing the slumbers of my uncle or the major. so, entering the hut, i secured three revolvers, of the colt type, and several boxes of cartridges for them, all of which i had secretly smuggled from the ship and hidden among the groceries, for the major had forbidden any of our crew having fire-arms. i had thought that an emergency might arise, some time, when these revolvers would be useful to us, and now i blessed my foresight in secreting them.
having secured the weapons i ran quickly to the hut of nux and bryonia, and cautiously awakened them. at my first touch bry sprang into the air and alighted on his feet.
“what’s matter, mars sam?” he demanded.
“i’ve been robbed, bry!” i panted.
“robbed!” echoed nux, who was now beside us.
“yes; larkin and his gang have taken every bag of our dust.”
through the dim light i could see their white eyeballs glaring at me in amazement.
“what you goin’ do, mars sam?” asked bry.
“i’m going to give chase, and make the rascals give it back. that is, if you will be my friends, and stand by me,” i said. “by daybreak every bag must be in my hut again.”
“sure ’nough,” murmured nux.
“we ready, mars sam,” announced bry, quickly.
“then take these revolvers, and follow me.”
i gave a weapon to each, having hastily loaded them; and then i turned away, followed by the dark forms of the two sulus.
“they’re thieves, you know; burglars and outlaws,” i said. “so if we have to shoot them down, no one can blame us.”
they made no answer to this remark, and soon we had left the camp behind and reached the bush underneath which larkin had disappeared. in a low voice i related what i had seen, and bryonia, who was a master of woodcraft, at once dropped to his knees and vanished into the thicket. i followed closely after him, and nux brought up the rear. after creeping a few paces through the underbrush bry grasped my hand and raised me to my feet, and i discovered that we were now in a well-defined but narrow path which allowed us to stand upright.
it was dark as pitch in the grim forest, and we could only feel our way along; but it was not possible for us to get off the path, which had doubtless been cut by daggett to afford his entrance into the interior of the island, and if our progress was slow those whom we pursued could not proceed at much greater speed themselves; so we crept along, stumbling over roots and tearing our clothes by brushing against the briars on either side, for a period of nearly an hour. bryonia glided before us as stealthily as a panther, and often i was not certain but that he had left us far behind; but nux made as much noise as i did, and puffed much harder to get his breath, so i did not fear being abandoned in the black wilderness.
the ground seemed to rise gradually as we penetrated into the wild interior, but the path remained as narrow as at first. now that my first excitement and indignation had cooled, this midnight pursuit began to look doubtful of result. the robbers knew the way much better than we did, and they were so far ahead of us that we heard no sound of any sort to guide us. more than once i was tempted to abandon the chase, for my folly in undertaking it grew more and more evident; but the two blacks had no thought of turning back, and i was ashamed to call a halt.
suddenly i ran plump into bryonia, who grasped my arm as firmly as if it were in a vise, and held me rigid. nux immediately ran into me, but stopped short at the moment of contact.
“what is it, bry?” i asked, in a whisper.
“look!” he answered, and swung me around in front of him. then, as i peered into the darkness, a faint ray of light became visible. in a moment i perceived that it was growing bigger and brighter, and then i knew what it meant.
“they’ve gone into camp, and lit a fire!” said i, pleased to have overtaken them.
“dey do’n’ know we’s coming,” chuckled nux, from behind.
but bry stood like a statue, holding fast to my shoulders and peering over my head at the enemy. we could now see that the forest was much thinner here than at the point we had entered, and just beyond, in a little hollow where larkin and his men were encamped, the trees grew quite scattered.
“our best plan,” said i, after a moment’s thought, “will be to creep up to them and make a sudden attack.”
“one, two, free, fou’,” counted bry, in his deep voice. “no use to ’tack, mars sam. dey got guns, an’ kill us all quick.”
“we have our revolvers,” i suggested, rather disappointed at his prediction.
“nux an’ i might hit somefin’, an’ we might not,” said bry. “if we hit somefin’ it might be a man, an’ it might not.”
this was discouraging, and it called to mind the fact that i was not much used to fire-arms myself.
“still, i don’t mean to go back without doing something to recover our gold,” said i.
“wait!” whispered the black, and swung me around back of him again. how he managed this i do not know, for the path was very narrow. next moment he disappeared, as if the earth had swallowed him up.
nux gave a laugh, and sat down upon the ground. after a few moments i followed suit, squatting in the place i had been standing, for even from that distance i could see by the flickering firelight the dim forms of the robbers gathered around it.
and now i perceived that bry’s decision was wise. we were too far from camp to expect assistance in case of an emergency, even if our friends succeeded in finding the entrance to the jungle that was so cleverly concealed under the bush. so whatever was to be done must be done by ourselves—a boy and two black men against four desperate and well-armed villains, who would stop at no crime to retain the gold they had stolen.
evidently they did not fear pursuit now, for we could hear the murmur of their voices as they laughed and shouted at one another.
we waited in silence for a long time, and as the gloom of the silent forest became intensified by the distant light i began to feel for the first time a thrill that was akin to fear.
finally i noticed a black body wriggling its way toward us through the brush like some huge snake, and a moment later bryonia stood before me.
“i creep close an’ hear what dey say, mars sam,” he reported. “dey goin’ watch all night. i watch, too. tomorrow maybe we catch ’em. you an’ nux go sleep.”
i protested at once that i was not sleepy; but bry led us away from the path to a quiet place where he had found a bank of moss, and here he cautioned us to remain quietly. he himself crept once again toward the camp fire, and a moment later was wholly invisible. nux whispered to me tales of bryonia’s skill as a woodsman, wherein it seemed he had excelled in his native land; but they grew monotonous, in time, and before i knew it i had fallen fast asleep on the mossy bank.
