The Voodoo Gold Trail

by Walter Walden

  CHAPTER XXVII

  THE GOLD MINE

  "It looks bad that that black cuss should be there spying on Duran,"Norris said, when Robert and Captain Marat had told their tale.

  "Yes," agreed Marat. "They weel be there some time to look for thadtreasure he hide; but eet will not be so ver' soon, I theenk; for nowthey weel know thad someone find them out."

  "That black bird wasn't from anywhere but the _Orion_," said Norris."That schooner of Duran's can't be far away--down the coast a few milesbehind some point, I'll bet."

  "Say," spoke up Ray, who had hitherto been a silent listener, "and I'llbet that poor pickaninny will be telling the other pickaninnies what anarrow escape he had, and how he's sure it was I and Norris that gotafter him."

  We began now to think upon the next move. Robert was for making a tripto the _Pearl_, to see how Julian Lamartine and Rufe fared, and givethem the news; and incidentally, he would add something to our stock ofprovisions. But Norris maintained that, while he felt it too bad to keepJulian so long in suspense, he felt more that there was no time to belost. "Some roaming, black voodoo may happen to get an eye on us," hesaid, "and then we'd likely have a regular swarm of them about our ears.And we've already seen evidence that Duran's sailors must be gettingrestless."

  Captain Marat agreed with Norris. "Julian weel be ver' patient," hesaid. "And there ees no time to lose."

  And then, while we three boys and Carlos busied ourselves with making acache of a portion of our belongings, the two elders set themselves todiscuss, in some detail, a plan of action.

  It must have been near midnight when we moved, all in single file. Onour hands and knees, one after the other, we scurried through that valeof water and passed into the cavern in the cliff; then up that steepslope within, and again down the more gentle, rocky slope without, onthe other side of the high wall.

  Each carried, mostly in his pockets, some little portion of the foodthat remained; and Norris had insisted on taking along his rifle withseveral rounds of ammunition.

  "We're not looking for any of that kind of trouble," he said, "but if--"

  "Yes," interrupted Ray, "it's sure to rain if you don't carry anumbrella."

  We found Duran's rope ladder tucked up in the cedars, held by thehalliard, which was taut, having been fastened among the vines on thatsloping ledge down below. It took some tugging to tear loose the pieceof vine to which the halliard was knotted down there; but at last itcame away, and we got the ladder slung down the cliff-side.

  When we all had got down to the ledge, we again hauled the ladder aloft,and tied the halliard to another piece of vine, so that Duran should notsuspect that it had been tampered with. In twenty minutes we had made tothat place in the brush where Ray, Norris, and I had passed a night.

  For the rest of that night we got what sleep we could, taking watches,turn about. Andy Hawkins had left one of the mosquito-bars at the place,which served the turn of the sleepers. Day had not yet dawned, whenHawkins crept into the brush--Norris and I chanced to be taking thewatch at the time.

  "I'm right glad to see as 'ow ye've got back," he said, still at hisbodily contortions. "The boss got back, an' 'ee routed us hout, an'seems to be a bit hoff 'is hoats. 'Ee ain't noway satisfied with the way'ee's gettin' out the bloomin' gold. 'Ee says as 'ow there ain't a'gointo be much o' the stuff for any of us, if we don't get a big 'ustle on."

  Norris put it to Hawkins that he was expected to help us this day tofind the storehouse whence Duran took the gold that went out water-wise,through that hole in the cliff.

  "I s'y!" began Hawkins, fairly dancing on the ground in his excitement."I got me orders from the boss long ago; and 'ee marches the nigger an'myself hoff to the diggin's each day that 'ee's 'ere, an' if I so muchas turns me 'ead to see w'ich way 'ee's goin', 'ee'll plug me carcassfull o' cold lead."

  And then Hawkins told how, long ago, he had searched a cavern that hehad found in the cliffs, during Duran's absence, but had not got traceof Duran's depository. And then, more than a year back, Duran had cooledhis zeal for further search, by warning him that if his curiosity gotthe better of him, and he went poking his nose about those cliffs, hewould certainly fall into a trap, and pull some tons of rock down on hishead for his pains.

  When day broke, Hawkins made a detour, going back to the huts; andNorris and I aroused such of our party as were still asleep. Our firstmove was to seek out and establish our headquarters on the other, north,side of the stream. And then while we made a cold breakfast, our planscame to a head. Ray and Robert were to try to keep an eye on Duran,while Captain Marat, Carlos, Norris, and I should visit the scene of themining, and incidentally, to have a try at a piece of proselyting.

  The four of us crept through the undergrowth on this north side of thecreek, for some hundreds of yards. A harsh sound, like the shaking downof a furnace, presently set our ears alert. We crept forward till wecame in view of the source. And there in the edge of the creek-bed stoodAndy Hawkins, hoe in hand, stirring dirt and gravel in a long box, intothe one end of which water flowed from a dam in the stream. Beside himwas the negro lad, wielding a shovel. Another object caught my eye, for,perched on the edge of the box was a monkey.

  As far as we could see up the stream the rocks were denuded of soil,showing that operations in this small way must have been going on along, long time. Norris breathed fast, and his eyes shone withexcitement. It was by no means the first gold-diggings his eyes hadlooked on, but the tussle with nature for her treasures was no less meatfor the keen spirit of this soldier of fortune than the smell of battlein any appealing cause.

  Captain Marat and Carlos moved forward. Then the black boy discoveredthem, dropped his shovel in panic, and was about to flee. But Carlosspoke a word in a soft tone, and the lad stood, staring his wonder.

  Carlos and Marat, together, engaged the black lad in talk; and Norrisand I joined the group. A pair of mining pans lay nearby, and two woodenbuckets stood on the ground. I could see shining, yellow particles ofgold in the long box, called a Long Tom by the miners, as I learned.Norris scrutinized every detail, and poked among the gravel with theacutest interest.

  At last Jean Marat turned to Norris and myself, and gave us some part ofthe black boy's story; more of it came to us, piecemeal, later.

  He had a very imperfect recollection of the coming into this hiddenvale. Indeed, he was a creeping babe when his father carried him there.The father, he said, was a cripple, with a very crooked leg, and whoever lived in great fear of Duran, and whose sole business was thedigging in the creek, and separating out the yellow grains, and tendingthe chickens, and waiting upon Duran when he appeared.

  The father told him nothing of the world without, but ever taught him toseek to please Duran and never ask questions; and that one day theywould move from the place into another world, and live happy in a homeof their own. It was some years after the boy had become strong enoughfor the work, that his father went to his sleep one night never towaken. It appears that the boy drooped with his loneliness, thereafter,and Duran brought him the monkey for a companion. And then, finally, hecame with the grimacing white man (Andy Hawkins). Duran warned him, onpain of death, not to seek to learn any words of the white man'slanguage, nor to make the white wise in any of his French speech.

  Jean Marat said the black lad was struck with wonder at some simplethings he had told him of the world; and he was greatly elated overMarat's promise to take him to witness what was described.

  "Do you think he'll have the wit to hold his tongue?" asked Norris.

  Marat spoke with the lad again, who listened with intentness, and noddedeloquently.

  "He understand the importance to not betray us," said Marat. "We candepend on him."

  The monkey had scrambled to the black boy's shoulder on our firstappearance; and he eyed us, and seemed to scold, during the whole talk.It was the same animal, without the least doubt, that we had come uponfar up on the higher cliffs of the mountain that overlooked this vale.

  It was arr
anged that Hawkins should come to us in our covert, wheneverthe opportunity should offer, and bring some small quantity ofprovision. We did not scruple to take some sustenance of Duran'sproviding, since it was paid for out of Carlos' gold.

  "Blyme-me if I don't fetch ye a roasted chicken," said Andy Hawkins,punctuating his speech with a violent jerking of his shoulders. "I canroast it right under the boss' nose, an' 'ee won't see it. Oh, Hi'mslick, Hi am."

  And then, astonishing thing! He began to distribute among us, thingsthat he had conjured out of our pockets; some rifle cartridges toNorris, a knife to Marat, my flash-lamp. And then another curious thinghappened. The monkey, witnessing this distribution, scrambled down tothe Long Tom, plunged in his fist, and handed up to me--who chanced tobe nearest--a little gold nugget, the size of a bean. He looked up,watching me while I tied the little lump of gold in a corner of myhandkerchief and tucked it into my pocket. He let me take his hand byway of thanking him, and took kindly to the fondling bestowed on him;climbing to my shoulder, looking into my face, and chirping some kind ofmonkey talk.

  We finally tore Norris away from his explorations in the diggings, whichhe declared still held unlimited store of gold, and we got back to ournew camp site. Carlos and I forded the creek, to go to seek out Ray andRobert. And we found them at the edge of the clearing wherein stoodthose structures.

  They were just on the point of moving over to the path that went down tothe lower western end of this sunken vale. For they said that Duran hadjust gone that way, carrying a pack on his back, having come out of thethick wood at the rear of the huts.

  "Well," I suggested, "if you, Ray, will go with Carlos and have an eyeon Duran, Bob and I can slip over into that brush and see if we can findthe place where he gets his goods."

  We found the way easy going in the woods for a piece; but when we nearedthe cliffs of this south wall of the vale, the undergrowth impeded us.With much going about, we finally won in to the cliffs; and after movingsome way to the east, we came upon the mouth of a cavern.

  "There!" said Robert. "How about that?"

  But Hawkins had been all through that, as he had assured us, and we mustseek elsewhere.

  We finally concluded that we had better have taken the way in the otherdirection, along the cliff foot, and so we retraced our steps. Thefarther to the west that we went, the more dense the tropic growth. Thedamp heat here, too, was stifling, and our progress was most slow. Wehad struggled on, keeping close to the high, sheer, rocky wall for halfan hour, almost, and finding nothing to our present interest, when acautious whistle brought us to a stand. We moved out toward the soundand joined Ray, who informed us that Duran was on his way back.

  "There's no telling where he'll come through here," I said. "Let us getback across the clearing."

  When Duran appeared, after one look toward the huts, he plunged intothat brush we had just come out of. In twenty minutes he appeared again,and again he stooped under a heavy pack. He but repeated that journeydown the path that he had made so many times before. Carlos hadcontinued on down the vale, Ray said, to discover where Duran went toset afloat the gold-laden bamboo.

  I have forgotten how many trips Duran made this day, transporting thatgold. As often as we sought to discover whence he took his freight, wecame no nearer a solution of that mystery than on that first search inthe back of that jungle. Once, when Duran climbed out by his ladder, togo to that cavern where he made temporary storage of the treasure,Norris took Andy Hawkins' place at the diggings, while thatgesticulating individual went to act as guide to the rest of us in thesearch. But he proved as helpless as the rest. So when night found usall gathered together in our cheerless camp, we were conscious of a daypassed with meager progress.

  "Wherever that hiding place is," Norris was saying, "I'll bet there's abig heap of the stuff there."

  "But he's been toting a lot of it away," suggested Ray.

  "Toting it away!" burst out Norris. "Ask Captain Marat, here, what thatnigger told him about the lot of stuff that's been mined all theseyears."

  "Yes," agreed Jean Marat, "thad boy say ver' ver' much gold have comeout of thee creek. I theenk not one ten' part have Duran take away."

  It was not long till Andy Hawkins appeared. And true to his word, hebrought a roast chicken.

  "The boss was a bit dumpish tonight," he said. "'Ee was bloomin' tired,an' 'ee's sleepin' sixty mile to the minute right now."

  While we feasted on the bird, Norris pumped Hawkins for details ofDuran's doings; and it was indeed little that was enlightening that hegot out of the fellow. But he got loquacious with reminiscences of hisown past life as a pickpocket; and while Norris pretended to get muchamusement out of that poor, misguided human's escapades in crime, wewere not sorry when he made his way off to the huts to seek his bed.

  On the morrow we began the day with much the same employment. But theday was not far gone when things suddenly took on a changed aspect.

  Norris, who (true to his nature) found the suspense unbearable,determined on a bold move. It was when Duran was returning from hisfirst trip with a load, Norris followed him into that jungle on the farside of the clearing. He meant this time to see where Duran went for hisgold. The rest of us lay in the shelter from which we had watched Duranthe day before.

  It was not ten minutes after Duran, and Norris on his trail, had beenswallowed up in the growth over there, that Duran suddenly appearedagain, this time without his pack. And he seemed to be in excitement.And he made off, running down the path, directly disappearing from our

  sight in a turning.

  "I'll bet he saw Norris," said Robert.

  "Come," I said.

  And I set off, followed by Robert. When we got across that ridge, ofwhich I have spoken, we got a view down the open space. And there,nearing the top of his rope ladder, we saw Duran climbing.

  In another moment he was hauling up his rope ladder; and quickly he gotboth ladder and halliard on the cliff-top.