The Island Home

by Richard Archer

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.

  RECONNOITRING BY NIGHT.

  THE SEARCH RENEWED--THE CAPTIVES--ATOLLO AND THE TEWANS.

  "Trembling, they start and glance behind At every common forest-sound-- The whispering trees, the moaning wind, The dead leaves falling to the ground; As on with stealthy steps they go, Each thicket seems to hide the foe."

  From the moment when startled by Max's warning cry, I turned and saw theuplifted club of the savage suspended over my head, all is blank in mymemory, until opening my eyes with a feeling of severe pain, and nodistinct consciousness where I was, I found Browne and Max bending overme, my head being supported upon the knee of the former.

  "Well, how do you feel?" inquired he.

  I stared at him a minute or two without answering, not understandingvery clearly what was the matter with me, though having at the same timea vague impression that all was not quite right. Gradually I collectedmy ideas, and at length, when Browne repeated his question the thirdtime, I had formed a pretty correct theory as to the cause of my presentsupine attitude, and the unpleasant sensations which I experienced.

  "I feel rather queer about the head and shoulders," I said, in answer tohis inquiry: "I must have got a pretty severe blow. I suppose!"

  "Yes," said Max, whose uneasy look ill agreed with his words and manner,"see what it is to be blessed with a tough cranium; such a whack wouldhave crushed mine like an egg-shell; but it has only enlarged your bumpof reverence a little."

  "Nothing serious has happened, then--no one is badly hurt," said I,trying to look around; but the attempt gave my neck so severe a wrench,and caused such extreme pain, that I desisted.

  "No one has received any worse injury than yourself," answeredBrowne--"at least, none of us."

  "And the savages--what has become of them?"

  "We have nothing to apprehend from them at present, I think--they havebeen gone but a short time, and Morton is in the tree yonder, keepingwatch for their return--do you feel now as if you can stand up andwalk?"

  "Certainly, I can; with the exception of the pain in my head, and astiffness about the neck and shoulders, I am all right, I believe." Andin order to convince Browne, who seemed somewhat sceptical on the point,notwithstanding my assurances, I got up and walked about--carrying myhead somewhat rigidly, I dare say, for it gave me a severe twinge atevery movement.

  "Well," said he, "since that is the case, I think the wisest thing wecan do is to leave this neighbourhood at once."

  While Max went to summon Morton from his post of observation, Brownegave me a brief and hurried account of what had occurred after I hadbeen felled, as related.

  He, and the leader of the savages, whom I had last seen struggling uponthe brink of the height, had gone over it together; the latter, fallingunderneath, had been severely bruised, while Browne himself received butlittle injury.

  Leaving his adversary groaning and, as he supposed, mortally hurt by thefall, he had climbed again to the higher ground, and reached it at avery critical moment.

  Morton was struggling at disadvantage with the same formidableantagonist from whom he had before been for a moment in such imminentdanger; and Max was dodging about among the bushes, sorely pressed byanother of the enemy with one of those long spears, against which heentertained so violent a prejudice. I had just been disposed of in themanner above hinted at, by the savage who had been wounded in the neckby Morton, at the very commencement of the affray, and he was now atliberty to turn his attention either to Max or Morton, each of whom wasalready hard bested.

  Browne immediately fell upon my conqueror, almost as unexpectedly as thelatter had attacked me, and by a sudden blow stretched him senselessupon the ground. He next relieved Morton, by disabling his adversary.The two, then, hastened to Max's succour, but the savage who was engagedwith him, did not deem it prudent to await the approach of thisreinforcement, and made off into the forest. They then gathered up allthe weapons of the enemy, permitting Morton's recent antagonist to limpoff without molestation. The man whom I had wounded was by this timesitting up, wiping the blood from his face and eyes; the other, also,manifested signs of returning consciousness; but having been deprived oftheir clubs and spears, no danger was apprehended from them. My threecompanions had then carried me to the spot where we now were, fromwhence they had witnessed the departure of the rest of our foes. Eventhe man whom Browne had left dying on the shore, as he supposed, hadmanaged to crawl off at last.

  As soon as Max and Morton returned, we set out at once, weary as wewere, for the islet in the brook, without any very definite notion as towhat was to be done next. The prudence of removing from our presentneighbourhood was obvious, but we were still too much discomposed andexcited by what had just taken place, to have been able to decide uponany further step, even had not the momentary apprehension of the returnof the savages in greater numbers rendered every thing like calmdeliberation entirely out of the question.

  We took the precaution to choose our path over the hardest and dryestground, in order to afford the savages the fewest possible facilitiesfor tracing our course. By the time we reached the islet, we werecompletely out by the fatigue and excitement of the day; we must havewalked at least twelve miles since morning.

  After partaking sparingly of the food which we had so fortunatelybrought with us, accompanied by copious draughts of water from thebrook, we began to feel somewhat refreshed. Still we were greatlydisheartened by the gloomy and distressing circumstances, in which wefound ourselves so suddenly involved; the great uncertainty as to thefate of our companions, and the danger that threatened our own livesfrom the vindictive pursuit of a numerous body of savages. All ourenergy and courage seemed for the present, at least, to be completelybroken. Browne laid down upon a couch of dry fern beneath themany-pillared Aoa. He looked pale and ill--more so, I thought, than themere effects of excitement and over-exertion could account for.

  Morton soon revived the question of what was now to be done.

  "I suppose we must remain here for the present, at least," said Browne,"and defend ourselves, if attacked, as well as we can."

  Max suggested Palm-Islet as a place of greater security and one where weshould run less risk of discovery.

  "And meantime," said Morton, "are we to give up all attempt to findArthur and the rest?"

  "I hardly know what we can do," answered Browne, with a perplexed anddiscouraged air; "we have no clue to guide us in a fresh search. Ifthese savages inhabit the island,--or if they remain here,--we cannothope to escape them long, after what has taken place; we must fall intotheir hands sooner or later, and if they have captured our companions, Iam willing for my part, that it should be so. I doubt if we actedwisely in resisting them at all,--but it is now too late to think ofthat."

  We continued to talk the matter over for some time, but without comingto any definite resolution, and at length Browne dropped asleep, whilewe were still discussing it.

  As it began to grow dark, Max became disturbed and excited. He waspossessed by a vague conviction, for which he was unable to account,that our lost companions were in some imminent peril, from which it wasin our power to rescue them. He was anxious to do something, and yetseemed uncertain what to propose. Morton was equally desirous of makinga further effort to discover our lost friends; he was also quite clearand explicit, in his notion of what ought to be done. His theoryappeared to be, that they had fallen into the hands of the natives,whose encampment or place of abode, (temporary or otherwise), was on thenorth-eastern side of the island. He further supposed that some feud orquarrel having arisen among themselves, the worsted party had fled alongthe beach as we had witnessed, pursued by their victorious enemies,--that in the meantime, their captives had been left, (perhaps unguarded),at the encampment or landing-place of the natives. Morton was as minuteand detailed in stating this hypothetical case, as if he had eitheractually seen or dreamed the whole. He proposed that as soon as themoon rose, some of us should set off for the shore, and pr
oceed alongthe beach, in the direction from which we had seen the natives come, bypursuing which course, he was confident we should be able to learnsomething respecting our companions. This he wished to undertake alone,saying that one person could prosecute the search as well as four, andwith much less risk of discovery: if successful in ascertaining anything definite, he should, he said, immediately return and apprise therest of us. Max eagerly embraced this suggestion, and wished to decideby lot, which of us should carry it into execution, insisting that,otherwise, he would either set off at once by himself, or accompanyMorton.

  At length Browne awoke; he said that he had derived much benefit fromhis two hours' sleep, and was now ready for any necessary exertion.

  He also approved of Morton's plan, but objected to his going alone, andwas at first in favour of setting out all together. At last it wassettled that the search should be undertaken by two of us, the other twoawaiting the result at the islet. Browne then prepared four twigs forthe purpose of deciding the matter by lot, it being agreed that the onedrawing the longest, should have the choice of going or remaining, andshould also select his companion. On comparing lots after we had drawn,mine proved to be longest; and having decided upon going, I felt boundto name Morton as my associate, since he had been the first to suggest,and the most earnest in urging the adventure.

  An hour after dark the moon rose, and soon lighted the forestsufficiently to enable us to see our way through it. We then armedourselves with a cutlass apiece, and taking leave of Max and Browne,proceeded up the brook to the fall, where we crossed it, and, followingthe rocky ridge, which ran at right angles with it, we endeavoured tohold, as nearly as possible, the course we had taken in the morning.After leaving the stream, a good part of our way was through the opencountry, where there was nothing to prevent us from seeing or being seenat a considerable distance in the bright moonlight. But the onlyalternatives were, either to creep on our hands and knees, the wholedistance from the edge of the forest to the shore, and so availourselves of such concealment as the rank grass and weeds afforded,--orto push boldly and rapidly forward, at the risk of being seen: wepreferred the latter, and soon got over this dangerous ground, runningpart of the time, in the most exposed places. On reaching the bluff,over the beach, we lay down among the bushes a few moments to recoverour breath, and reconnoitre, before taking a fresh start. All wasperfectly silent around us, and no living thing could be seen. Whensufficiently rested, we proceeded cautiously along the edge of theheight, where we could command a view both of the beach below, and ofthe open country inland. The bluff extended about a quarter of a mile,when it gradually sunk to the level of the beach, and was succeeded by alow, flat shore, lined with large trees. We had gone but a little wayalong it after this change, when we came quite unexpectedly upon aninlet, or salt-water creek, setting in to the land, and bordered sothickly with mangroves, that we narrowly escaped going headlong into it,while endeavouring to force our way through the bushes to continue ourcourse along the beach.

  It was some twenty yards wide; but I could not see how far inland itran, on account of the immense trees that overhung it on every side,springing up in great numbers just behind the low border of mangroves.Holding fast by one of these bushes, I was leaning forward over thewater, looking hard into the gloom, to gain, if possible, some notion ofthe extent of the inlet and the distance round it, when Morton graspedmy arm suddenly--

  "What is that, under the trees on the opposite shore?" whispered he; "isit not a boat?"

  Looking in the direction in which he pointed, I could distinguish someobject on the opposite side of the inlet, that might from its size andshape be a boat of some kind, as he supposed, and, continuing to gazesteadily, I made out quite plainly, against the dark masses of foliageon the further shore, what appeared to be a white mast. A profoundsilence reigned all around us, and while I was still peering into theheavy shadow of the trees, I heard a sound which resembled a deep, andlong-drawn sigh, followed by an exclamation, as of a person in bodilypain.

  "We must get round to the other side," whispered Morton, "and see whatthis means."

  We backed out of the mangroves with the utmost caution, and inch byinch: when we had got to such a distance as to render this extremecircumspection no longer necessary, we commenced a wide circuit aroundthe inlet, which proved to be only a small cove, or indentation in theshore, extending less than a hundred yards inland. In approaching itagain on the opposite side, we resumed all our former stealthiness ofmovement, feeling that our lives in all probability depended upon ourcaution.

  When, at last, we had got, as we supposed, quite near the place where wehad seen the boat, we proceeded, by creeping on our hands and kneesthrough the bushes for short distances, and then rising and lookingabout, to ascertain our position.

  It was so dark, and the undergrowth was so dense--the moonlight scarcelypenetrating the thick foliage--that nothing could be distinguished atthe distance even of a few yards, and there was some danger that wemight come suddenly, and before we were aware, upon those whom wesupposed to be already so near us. While thus blindly groping our waytowards the edge of the inlet, I heard a voice almost beside me, whichsaid--

  "Will they never come back?--Are they going to leave us here to starve?"

  The voice was that of Johnny's beyond the possibility of mistake.Turning in the direction from which it proceeded, I saw a little to theright three figures upon the ground at the foot of a large casuarina.Another voice, as familiar, almost immediately answered--

  "I only fear that they will return too soon: have patience! in a littlewhile I shall have gnawed through this rope, and then I do not despairof being able to get my hands free also."

  This was enough to show how matters stood.

  "Are you alone?" said I, in a low voice, but loud enough to be heard bythose beneath the casuarina.

  There was an exclamation of joyful surprise from Johnny; then Arthuranswered, "If that is you, Archer, come and help us, for we are tiedhand and foot. You have nothing to fear; our captors have left us quitealone."

  We now came forward without further hesitation. They were all boundfast, their hands being tied behind them, in addition to which, each wasfastened to the tree by a rope of sennit. It would be difficult to saywhich party seemed most rejoiced at this sudden meeting. As soon asthey were liberated, we embraced one another with tears of joy.

  "Let us leave this place as fast as possible," said Arthur, as soon ashe became a little composed, "I expect the return of the natives everymoment,--and we have more to dread from them than you can guess. But Ifind I am so stiff after lying bound here all day, that I can hardlywalk. Now, Johnny, take my hand, and try to get along. How is it withyou, Eiulo--do you feel able to travel fast?"

  The latter appeared to understand the drift of the question, andanswered by frisking and jumping about in exultation at his recoveredliberty.

  Instead of returning by the way by which we had come, along the shore,we pushed on in a straight line, in the supposed direction of the islet,in order to avoid the risk of meeting the natives. After toiling for anhour through the woods, we emerged into the open country to the east ofthe rocky ridge that traversed the course of the stream. During thistime, we had been too fully occupied in picking our way with thenecessary caution, besides the constant apprehension of suddenlyencountering the natives, to ask for any explanations. But now we beganto feel somewhat reassured, and as we hastened on towards the islet,Arthur very briefly informed us, that they had yesterday been suddenlysurprised by a party of six natives, soon after leaving us at the islet,and hurried off to the shore: that they had been left by their captorsthis morning, secured as we had found them, and had remained in thatcondition until released by us. He added that he had more tocommunicate by-and-bye.

  The joy of Browne and Max at our return, accompanied by the lost ones,may be imagined--but it can scarcely be described. In fact, I amobliged to confess that we were such children, as to enact quite "ascene," at this
unexpected meeting. Heartfelt and sincere were thethanksgivings we that night rendered to Him, who had kept us in perfectsafety, and reunited us, after a separation made so distressing by ouruncertainty as to each other's fate.

  After Arthur, Eiulo, and Johnny, had appeased their hunger with thescanty remains of our supply of provisions, the two latter lay down upona bed of ferns beneath the Aoa, and were soon sleeping as soundly andpeacefully, as though all our troubles and dangers were now at an end.How easily they put in practice the philosophy that vexes itself notabout the future! Exercising the happy privilege of childhood, theycast upon others, in whom they placed implicit confidence, theresponsibility of thinking and planning for them--free from all care andanxiety themselves.

  Arthur now gave us a more detailed account of what had occurred sinceour separation.

  "Do you remember," said he, when he had finished, "hearing Eiulo, intalking of affairs at Tewa, make mention of a person named Atollo?"

  "Atollo?" said Browne, "was not that the name of an uncle of his whom hemade out to be a strange, unnatural sort of monster, even for a heathen,and who concocted a plot for the murder of his own father and brother,and afterwards attempted to kill Eiulo by rolling rocks down a precipiceafter him in the woods!"

  "The same," answered Arthur. "I hardly supposed that you would haveremembered it, as no one but myself seemed to take much interest inEiulo's reminiscences of Tewa, the rest of you being obliged to get themat second-hand, through me as interpreter. Well, that Atollo hasreached this island in some way, with a band of followers: it was bythem that we were captured yesterday; it is from his power that we havejust escaped."

  "What is this Atollo like?" inquired Browne. "Is he a tall,large-framed man, but gaunt and spare as a half-starved hound?"

  "Yes, with sharp features, and a wild, restless eye."

  "Why, then," continued Browne, turning to me, "it was he, who was at thehead of the second party of natives that we saw this morning by theshore."

  We now gave Arthur an account of our rencontre with the savages; but noparticular mention was made of the destruction of the canoe, or of thelion-like old man who seemed to be the leader of those who fled.

  "And little Eiulo's dread of this strange uncle of his," said Browne,"is then so great, that he preferred running away to us again, toremaining with his own people?"

  "Incredible as it may seem," answered Arthur, "I am convinced that hisfears are not without foundation, and I even believe that this manintended to take his life, and would have done so, had we not escaped."

  "Incredible, indeed!" exclaimed Browne, "and what could be the motivefor so atrocious a crime?"

  "I know of none that seems sufficient to account for it fully, and I amtherefore almost forced to regard the man as a monomaniac."

  Arthur thought that Atollo had probably made some further desperateattempt against his brother at Tewa, and, having failed in it, had fledhither with a part of his followers, among whom some quarrel had sincearisen, in the prosecution of which they had been engaged, when wewitnessed the flight and pursuit along the shore. This, however, wasmere conjecture: they had talked but little in his presence, and he hadnot been able to learn any thing from the conversation which he hadoverheard, as to the cause of their coming hither. Eiulo had beenquestioned minutely by them, and from him they had ascertained thatthere were four more of us upon the island.

  Morton inquired of Arthur, whether he apprehended that any seriouseffort would be made by the savages to find us, and what kind oftreatment we should probably receive in case we should fall into theirpower.

  "That search will be made for us," answered the latter, "I have not theslightest doubt; and I do not think that we can look for any mercy, ifwe fall into their hands, since to-day's affray and escape."

  "This feud among themselves," said Browne, "may keep them so busy as toafford no leisure for troubling themselves about us. I have some hopethat they will use those ugly-looking clubs upon one another, to suchpurpose, as to rid us of them altogether."

  "That old giant," said Max, "who ran away, with such an awkward air, asif he wasn't at all used to it, will certainly do some mischief if theyonce come to blows."

  "Ay," pursued Browne, "though he didn't look quite so wicked and like awarlock, as the gaunt, wild-eyed heathen that led the chase, I willwarrant him his full match in fair and equal fight, man to man."

  "Well," said Arthur, who during the latter part of this conversation hadbeen apparently engaged in serious and perplexed thought, "for to-night,at least, we are in no danger. Let us now take our necessary rest, andto-morrow we shall be fresher and better prepared to decide upon thecourse of action to be adopted."