thinking over the matter, i decided to return at once to the cave. the thieves would doubtless be occupied in the forest until sundown, and such a chance as this to secure possession of the gold might never occur again. for if daggett or his men chanced to see our footprints in the sand, or suspected they were being spied upon, they would be liable to leave a guard in the cave thereafter.
so we softly crept from the forest and made our way back by the same route we had come, taking care to tread in the trail made by the robbers, so that our footprints could be less easily distinguished. we did not feel entirely safe from observation until we had regained the column of rock which towered into the air beside the precipitous cliff; but once our feet were on the narrow ledge both i and my faithful sulu breathed easier, and with more deliberation accomplished the ascent to the cave.
“now,” said i, “we must work carefully, so that no spot of sand can escape us; for the thieves have taken care to disturb the surface everywhere, in order to throw any chance visitor to this hiding-place off the track. but we know the gold is buried in this cave, nux, so it ought not to be a very hard job to find it.”
nux nodded, with his usual complaisance.
“we begin in back,” he suggested, “and work front.”
this seemed sensible, so i followed the black to the far end of the cavern, and falling upon our knees we immediately began digging with our hands into the soft sand.
for nearly an hour we steadily worked, finding nothing at all. then, as i stopped to rest, i cast a careless glance along the rocky sides of the cave and thought that i saw a white mark upon the wall, a few feet toward the front. springing to my feet i approached this point and discovered that a small cross had been made with a piece of chalk or a bit of white limestone.
“here we are, nux!” i cried, joyfully and at once began digging in the sand beneath the mark. a few minutes work proved that my sudden suspicion was correct; for nux, who had straightway joined me, dragged one of the sacks to light, while i discovered another just beside it.
it was part of the stolen gold, sure enough, and my heart beat fast with excitement as i realized that the precious hoard was once more in my possession.
only a part had been hidden in this place, we found; but now we had an unmistakeable clew to guide us, so that we had little difficulty in finding a second secret mark that resulted in the discovery of the balance of the treasure, as well as the sacks of provisions.
when all had been unearthed nux asked:
“what we do now, mars sam?”
“why, carry it away, of course,” i answered, joyous and elate.
“where?” enquired the black, simply.
i looked at him in surprise, and then realizing the meaning of the question, grew thoughtful again.
“you’re right, nux,” said i. “it’s going to be a harder task than i thought. we can’t pass by the forest with it, that’s certain; for daggett and his followers would be sure to see us. on the other side, the cliff rises straight out of the sea, and there’s no way to escape around it. all we can do, then, is to carry the gold to the top of this rock.”
“hm!” grunted the sulu. “dat no good, mars sam.”
“why not?”
“no way to get off top of rock.”
“true; but we can hide there, ’till the thieves go away to the ship. it isn’t likely they’ll climb up there again, for this cave is a better place to sleep in.”
nux seemed unconvinced, and i had none too much confidence in my own assertion.
“tonight,” said the black, in a dismal tone, “dey hunt for de gold. all gone. robber very mad. dey look ev’rywhere; den dey find us on rock. den dey kill us.”
“that’s a pretty tough prophecy, nux,” i returned, as cheerfully as i could. “and it sounds likely enough, i confess. we’ve got the gold again, to be sure; but the robbers have got us; so we’re worse off than we were before.”
nux took a lump of bread from a provision sack and begun to munch it leisurely. noticing the action, and remembering that i also was hungry, i proceeded to follow the black’s example.
while we ate, however, my sulu was busily thinking, and so was i. as a result i presently gave my leg a delighted slap and began to laugh.
nux looked at me with a grin of sympathy upon his black features.
“what’s matter, mars sam?”
“nux,” said i, checking my amusement and trying to look grave and impressive, “there’s an old saying that ‘there’s never a lock so strong but there’s a key to fit it’. in other words, while there’s life there’s hope; never give up the ship; every sky has a silver lining!”
nux looked puzzled.
“that’s a lovely pair of trousers you’re wearing, nux,” i continued, in a jocular strain. “they’re made of the stoutest cloth uncle naboth could find in san francisco, and i gave them to you out of the ship’s stores only three or four days ago, because your old ones were so ragged.”
nux glanced at his wide-legged blue trousers and nodded.
“now, old man,” said i, “you’ve often told me you used to go bare-legged and bare-backed in your own island, so i’m going to ask you to go bare-legged a little while now, and lend me those trousers.”
“wha’ for, mars sam?”
“to put the gold grains in, of course. the robbers may look for the sacks of gold, when they come back, but they’re pretty sure not to open them. therefore, my friend we’ll fix it so that they’ll think their gold is all safe.”
“how, mars sam?”
“by filling the sacks with sand, and burying them again where we found them.”
nux looked at me admiringly, and grinned until his mouth stretched from ear to ear and displayed everyone of his white teeth.
“good, mars sam!” he cried, and at once stripped the trousers from his legs.
i now hunted in the pockets of my jacket and brought out several small bits of cord, which i knotted firmly together. then i tied the legs of nux’s trousers tightly at the bottoms, thus transforming them into a double sack of great capacity.
it did not take us long to transfer the gold dust from the canvas bags to the trouser-legs, and as soon as this task was accomplished we refilled the bags with sand and tied up as before. i was obliged to tear away a part of my own shirt to get material with which to tie the upper part of the trousers, for i did not wish to deprive poor nux of his entire apparel. the sulu looked funny enough, dressed only in his shoes and shirt, with his black legs between them, and more than once i was obliged to pause and laugh heartily at my comrade’s appearance. but nux didn’t seem to mind, and soon the seriousness of our position and the necessity to hasten caused me to forget the queer costume of my follower.
we abstracted but a slender supply of provisions from the sacks, for we did not wish to arouse suspicion by taking too much. the next task was to bury the sacks of sand and the provisions exactly as they had been before, and to smooth over the surface of the sand and trample it down just as we had found it when we first entered the cave.
this being accomplished to our complete satisfaction, nux lifted the heavy gold over his shoulder, one leg hanging behind his back and one in front, and started to mount the narrow ledge of rock with his burden, while i followed close behind to render any assistance i could.
the sulu was a wonderfully strong man; but his task was a difficult one, although i tried to relieve him in the worst places by lifting a part of the heavy load.
our progress was slow, for poor nux had to stop frequently to put down his load and rest, and it was while we were on the outer surface of the rock, which faced the sea, that we were suddenly startled by hearing sounds that assured us the robbers were returning from the forest. much time had been consumed in the cave, searching for the treasure and securing it, and now i began to fear we had delayed too long.
just at this time the men could not see us; but as soon as they mounted the ledge and began to wind around the tower of rock, they would be sure to catch sight of our forms, and then our fate would be sealed.
“nux,” i whispered, “pick up the gold and be ready to start. as soon as the thieves get back to the ledge we must go on, and keep the rock always between us and them, or we shall be lost.”
nux nodded, and obeyed without a word. it was often hard to tell, by the sound of their voices, just how far up the ledge the men had progressed; but fortune favored us, and only once did we lag behind enough for the first of the robber band to espy us. but that first person, by good luck, proved to be bryonia, and the clever black at once pretended to stumble and fall, and so held the men that followed him in check until nux and i had escaped around the crag.
soon after this the robbers reached the cave, which they entered, thus enabling us to reach the top of the crag at our leisure.
nux was nearly spent when at last he threw the laden trousers upon the flat top and tried to draw his tired body after them; but i gave him a hearty boost from behind, and then scrambled to the top unaided, nerved by the excitement of the moment.
for several minutes neither of us spoke. the black man lay panting for breath, with the perspiration streaming from every pore of his body, and i, filled with gratitude at our escape and the successful accomplishment of our plan, sat beside my faithful friend and fanned him with my straw hat.
the sun was sinking fast, by this time, and the shadows of the three tall pine trees that grew upon this isolated peak fell upon the spot where we rested, and cooled our sun-parched bodies.
although at times a rough laugh or a shouted curse reached our ears from the cavern below, there was no indication that daggett or his band had yet made the discovery that the place had been visited in their absence, and the treasure for which they had risked so much abstracted from its sandy grave.
when twilight fell i arose and with some difficulty rolled the trousers to a place nearer the center of the rock, where there was a small natural hollow; and then nux and i sat beside it and ate again sparingly of the food we had brought.
it was while we were thus occupied that an incident occurred that filled us with sudden panic. for before our faces a man’s head appeared above the edge of rock, and two dark eyes glared fixedly into our own.
at the moment i almost screamed with fright, so unnerved had my recent adventures rendered me; but nux laid his broad hand across my mouth and arrested the outcry.
“it’s bry,” he whispered, and even as he spoke the newcomer drew himself over the edge and crept on all fours to our side. i had no trouble in recognizing the friendly features then.
“oh, bry!” i said—softly, so as not to be heard by the robbers below—and clasped the black hands fervently in both my own.
bry squatted beside us, his kindly face wreathed in smiles.
“dey send me up here to see if anyone ’round,” he whispered. “in a minute i go back and say ‘no.’”
“can’t you stay with us, bry?” i asked, pleadingly.
“not yet, mars sam. dey very bad mans, down dere. dey kill you quick if dey find you.”
“we’ve got the gold, bry!”
“i know. i see you in the de wood; i follow your footprints all way home; i see you climbin’ up rock. den i see de sand been dig up, so i knew you got gold.”
“did they suspect us at all, bry?”
“no, mars sam. dey too busy tryin’ to kill each other. all want to have gold for himself, so all try to kill everyone else. very bad mans, mars sam.”
“they’re going to take you on the ship, and make you sail it,” said i.
bry laughed, silently.
“i stay with them now, so they not find you,” he said. “but when right time come i steal away an’ come back to you. did you fill sack with sand, mars sam?” glancing enquiringly at the stuffed trousers.
“yes.”
“that good,” said bry, approvingly. “they dig up one, when they come back, to see if all safe. then they hide it again. very good way to fool bad mans.”
“but we can’t leave here until they go away,” i remarked.
“no. must be careful. tomorrow they finish raft. tomorrow night they go to ship. you stay here and hide till then. after de bad mans go, i come back to you, and we go to camp again.”
“all right, bry,” said i, as cheerfully as possible.
then the black bade us good-bye and returned to the cave to report to daggett that no one was to be seen anywhere about. and now nux and i, wearied by the adventures of the day, but buoyed by the hope that we might finally escape with the recovered gold, lay down upon the rocky eminence and, bathed by the moon’s silver rays, slept peacefully until morning.
