The Voodoo Gold Trail

by Walter Walden

  CHAPTER XXV

  WE CONSORT WITH A PICKPOCKET

  I was not slow to perceive that this Andy Hawkins was, in some manner,an unwilling slave of Duran; and as such, might prove a more or lessvaluable ally to my party. Without giving him more information than thatmy party was a strong one, I got out of him something of his story. Itseemed that something near two years back he had fallen in with Duran inone of the British islands.

  "The police hofficers in that town," said Hawkins, "were 'aving a sharpeye on me. Some gents 'ad missed their purses, ye see." And Hawkinswinked slyly. "I was runnin' short o' the blunt," (he meant money) "andI was gettin' a little of the rhino out of some o' Munseer Duran'sniggers by way o' the three-shell game, when sudden along comes MunseerDuran and hoffers to turn me over to the police. But 'ee ends by takingme on for a job on 'is ship.

  "Then the next day I was to go on board his ship, and 'ee sends one o'his sailors to me in town. I 'as all my worl'ly goods I could hidedistributed about under my clothes--I 'ad to leave my portmanty, bein'as 'ow I was owin' my landlord a pretty penny, an' I was takin' Frenchleave.

  "Well, this nigger sailor showed me a man an' a kid walkin' down thestreet, an' said for me to follow them down that way an' I would come upwith Duran an' the rest o' the bunch, an' be taken on the ship. So Ifollers the man an' kid, and they goes into the park by the edge o' thetown.

  "They goes out o' sight behind the bushes. And then next I know I 'earsa yell; and next, I see Duran an' some o' his niggers, an' 'ee 'ands onea long knife, and I see one nigger 'olding the kid. And Duran tells meto run for my life with the niggers. An' so we dodge into the woods outo' town. And we don't stop for ten mile, an' I'm almost dead, an' thenthat's in some thick bush near the water. And at night a boat comesashore after us--kid and all.

  "When we gets on the ship the boss is in the cabin. And 'ee shows me aprinted bill that offers one thousand pounds for the capture of a manknown as Handy 'Awkins, wanted for the murder of a respected citizen andthe kidnappin' o' a child.

  "When I read that bill my knees just let me down to the deck. I see 'owit was; Duran knifes the man, steals the kid, and 'as me to run; and 'eestays be'ind to 'elp put the blyme on me. And I 'ave never done no worsethan to snitch a purse now an' then, when I was 'ard up; an' I never'urt anyone in my life."

  Although I experienced disgust for this ill-favored being, who wastelling me his hard luck tale, I felt some sense of pity as well; andabove all, I could have gloried in the spectacle of that inexplicablefiend, Duran, being slowly tortured--drawn limb from limb. And I fairlyground my teeth as I thought again of how I had seen him mixing withclean folk, and his blood-stained hands touching the fingers of mothersand daughters.

  "'Ee took me ashore one night," continued Hawkins, "and 'ee tied a ragon my eyes, an' led me through bushes an' water, an' let me down byropes. And 'ee set me to work with a nigger at the minin'; an' many'sthe time 'ee 'as laid the lash on me. An' w'en he see I 'ad no strengthto work without the drug 'ee brought me some. An' there's times, if I'adn't 'id some away, I know I'd die; for 'ee'd forget sometimes tobring the dope. Oh, I tell ye it's hall as keeps me alive!"

  And with a sudden movement he produced something he held between hisfingers, and which he threw into his mouth. He'd got the vile habit, hetold me, one time when he was in hiding among some Chinese.

  "Oh, it's been 'ell 'ere," continued Hawkins, "when the boss 'as beenaway a long time, an' the dope 'as all run out. Oh, I 'ave run roundthis 'ell 'ole, and tried to climb the rocks, and tore my 'ands; andonce I like to broke my neck in a fall."

  He told me that when Duran was away the only other inhabitant was ablack, called Limbo. Hawkins said that it must be he was named for theplace he lived in. The two were engaged in the gold-digging; and evenwhen Duran was gone, the black kept spurring him at the work. For whenthe "boss" came back, and there wasn't a showing to please him, Hawkinssaid there was "'ell to pay."

  "But I sye, pard," he went on, giving me a poke in the side, "Hi'mslick, Hi am; an' when your friends gets us out o' this, an' the boss isgone, you an' me'll come back, and I'll show you enough o' the yellerstuff, 'id syfe awye, to keep us in dope, and drinks, an' livin' 'ighall our d'ys."

  Night had turned the place into a dark pit, and the mosquitoes wereabroad on their nightly foray. I struggled to my feet, and got my crutchunder my arm, telling Hawkins that my friends would be expecting to hearfrom me; and I began to hobble back down the dark vale. It was with somefeeling of disrelish that I accepted Hawkins' shoulder, to assist me insteadying myself on this unwonted leg. Hawkins hoped that my friendswere as high-class niggers as myself. "Leave me alone to know a'igh-toned nigger when I sees one," he said. The irregular twitching ofhis shoulder proved rather a doubtful support, and more than once allbut upset me. But he certainly made my progress more rapid.

  "It happens my friends are all white," I told him, "except one; and he'sless than half black, the rest of him being Indian."

  "You don't sye!" cried Hawkins, coming to a sudden stop. "I'll be very'appy to meet some folks of my own degree--meanin' no disrespect to you;you ain't just a common nigger, you know."

  I disclaimed any disposition to take umbrage at his show of preferencefor the white race; and we continued our walk.

  When we arrived opposite Duran's ladder, I detected the rattle of stonesover at the cliff wall. I began to fear that Duran had returned, till Iheard low voices, and then I got the conviction that it was my friends,who were coming down by Duran's rope stairway. I hurried over close, andcalled to them, directing them down the inclined ledge. And at lastNorris and Ray stood before me.

  "I couldn't keep this kid, Norris, back any longer," explained Ray. "Ihad to tell him how the ladder worked, and--"

  "Who's your friend, Wayne?" said Norris.

  Hawkins, who had held back, was now moving forward.

  "This is Andrew Hawkins," I began. "He--"

  "Yes, gentlemen, my nyme is Handrew 'Awkins," interrupted thatindividual. "An' right proud I am to make yer acquyntance," he bowed;"an' to bid you welcome to--to--this--this--"

  "'Ell 'ole," I prompted him, by way of cutting short his disgustingperformance.

  "Yes, 'ell 'ole, right you are, my black friend, 'ell 'ole. And 'aven'tI 'ad reason to know, bein' 'ere this two years or about?"

  Ray and Norris were leaning forward in the dark, the better to see thisgrimacing, dancing being that accompanied me.

  "Well, I say now, if this ain't a bloomin' countryman of mine!" brokeout Grant Norris, seizing Hawkins by the hand, with a squeeze thatcaused that being to writhe and dance on the sod, with mingled agony,joy, and the contortions of his infirmity. When at last Norris turnedhim loose, he nursed his crushed hand, saying--"Ow, yes, God bless QueenVictoria and all others in authority."

  From that moment the little pickpocket deserted me, and fastened himselflike a barnacle to the big, hulking, patronizing Norris.

  "What kind of a plaything have you got here?" demanded Ray, putting hishand on my improvised crutch.

  And then I had to tell all the story of my descent into the sink. AndRay told how he and Robert were put to it, at the watching on the clifftop, to keep awake, and to dodge Duran on his trips to the cave. When atlast Duran was observed to start down the path to Crow Bay, CaptainMarat, Robert, and Carlos followed, leaving Ray and Norris to wait on mysignals. And here was a strange circumstance; Duran had gone offempty-handed, leaving behind in the grotto, not only that stack of gold;but his bag and pack straps he left on the floor there as well.

  "I guess," said Ray, "that he went to get a mule, or an ass, orsomething, to carry it for him. You see he didn't know about Norrisbeing--"

  Ray got behind me for protection, and cautioned Norris to be careful ofmy sore foot.

  "Come on now," said Norris, "we're going to see where Carlos' gold mineis. Lead on Brother 'Awkins." And with that he seized me under theshoulders and threw me on his back.

  Hawkins, like a little dog eager for the chase, trotte
d on ahead,twisting his shoulders, and bobbing his head in a manner without rhymeor reason. Ray, I could see, had curious interest in the miserablebeing's antics; and I knew he was priming for some sort of explosion,and wondered when it was to come.

  When we had crossed the ridge, our way went through the wood, and I hadto keep my head well down a share of the time, to avoid having my eyesput out by branches that overhung the trail. And then at last we cameupon a clearing of some extent, in which stood an occasionalcabbage-palm, left, it might be, for decorative effect. And as we movedforward, there loomed two or three structures of undetermined size orcontour.

  We now came to a halt, and Norris set me on the ground, and the four ofus got our heads together to whisper.

  "It strikes me," I said, "that we're a little too precipitate. Here'sthis black fellow, likely snoozing over yonder in one of those shacks.There's no one here to talk with him and explain our presence; evenHawkins, here, hasn't in two years, learned the language he speaks. Now,if he sees us, who's to say he won't tell Duran about us when hereturns. And we're not yet ready to try conclusions with that--that--"

  "Polecat, skunk," prompted severally, Ray and Norris, in the samebreath.

  "So," I continued, "we'd best get back in the brush; and depend onHawkins to steer the black boy out of the way in the morning, till wehave seen what we want to see. And then we'll get back to our own camp,till the time's ripe for our next move."

  "And then clubs will be trumps," said Grant Norris.

  "Hear--hear!" said Ray.

  We were led by Hawkins to a sheltered place, and he soon had brought apair of mosquito-bars from the shacks. Protected thus, it was not manyminutes till I had dropped off. I opened my eyes once during that night,and that was to hear the crowing of roosters nearby. They were no doubtthe same birds whose music I had heard faintly the previous night andconfused with the mosquitoes. There were not less than three cocks outthere vieing with one another, and each sang out perhaps a dozen times.

  Ray, who lay beside me, got on his elbow. He listened silently for sometime; then he said, "Say--don't it listen good to hear something talkgood old United States again?"

  It was soon after daybreak that Hawkins appeared, to say he had managedby their sign language, to talk the black boy into going far up the valefor a jag of dry wood. And then he told us where to find the goldworkings, and other matters of interest. "When we're comin' back, I'llbe singin', 'She died of the fever,' so'll you can 'ide out," saidHawkins.

  "Well now, Hawkins," said Norris. "We'll soon have you out of this andback in civilization again, if you play square with us, and don't givethat skunk any hint that we're here, and--"

  "You don't need for to 'ave no fear, 'ee'll never know," declaredHawkins. "Hi'm slick, Hi am. Hi can 'old my gab--Hi'm old at that."

  And away he went with his head and shoulders still cutting capers thatrendered Ray dumb with fascination. And then finally, Ray broke out."There goes our gold mine," he said. "We mustn't lose him! When we getback in the States we'll join a side show.--'Ladies and gentlemen: it ismy privilege to present to your astonished eyes the one and only livingrubber-man. Observe the wonderful effect, as the breath and pulse oflife courses through him. The only self-inflating--why, the only dreadwe have is that he may chance on some unhappy occasion to sit down on abent pin or a sharp tack. In our travels we found him in the tropicaljungles, where he had been lost, and where he had subsisted for twoyears on the juice of the rubber tree. In truth, ladies and gentlemen,even now, the only sustenance he is able to take is the milk of therubber plant, and--oh, I say now, ladies and gentlemen, who havekindness and charity in your hearts, if you have any old, worn outovershoes, garden hose, and--'"

  Grant Norris had picked up a length of dead limb and was nowmanipulating it menacingly, with an eye on Ray. And then there camethrough the brush the voice of Hawkins, singing. It was a snatch of"Twickenham Ferry," ending with a--

  "Oh! yo ho. Oh! yo ho. Oh! yo ho. Oh!"

  "That means they're on their way for the load of wood," said Norris.

  We waited some minutes, to insure the black boy getting out of view withHawkins; and then we went forward, and out across the semi-clearing.There were four palm-thatched structures over there, with frames of pinesaplings and bamboo. Beside the fourth, was the chicken yard of bambooheld together with tough grasses. In this corral were some hundreds offowl, scratching and clucking much in the fashion of chickens back home.

  "Chick, chick, chick, chick!" called Ray.

  The fowl flocked toward the fence.

  "I told you!" broke out Ray. "They sure understand United States."

  "Oh, come on," pressed Grant Norris. "Let's get up to the diggings."

  "Poor old Norris," murmured Ray, as if talking to himself, while hefollowed. "He'll be so disappointed when he finds out there's no goldmine."

  Ray took shelter behind me as Norris, ahead, cast about for some kind ofmissile. We passed by a vegetable garden as we went; neat rows,carefully weeded.

  I should say that my ankle was so far recovered that I had discarded mycrutch and now limped on a cane. We soon had come up with the creek,where it flowed amongst the trees. A path showed the way along the bank,and the eager Norris pushed ahead, urging us to follow. I trotted after,at the best speed my lame ankle would allow, and Ray by my side. Wehadn't covered two hundred yards, when another bit of clearing showedahead.

  "Hurry up," said Norris. "We'll be there in a second--Hurrah for thegold mine!"