CHAPTER XXIV.
MORE SURPRISES.
"What do you make of it, Charley?" Walter inquired, as he munched awayat his fish and yams.
"The roads, walls, and these buildings were undoubtedly built by theSpaniards," said his chum, decidedly. "I have seen lots of their workin St. Augustine, and the West Indian islands, and there is nomistaking its character. They are the greatest road-builders since theRomans."
"But history contains no mention of such a place as this," Walterobjected.
"Yet here it is, history or no history," Charley replied. "Perhaps allthe voyages of gentlemen adventurers following Columbus were not knownto the historians of the time. Perhaps this place may have been builtby a detachment of De Soto's expedition. We must bear in mind thatFlorida was long the favorite land amongst the Spaniards. From thesmall number of buildings, I should say that this place was very likelybuilt by a comparatively small party, using, no doubt, the Indians forslaves."
"And the slaves at last destroyed their masters," Walter suggested.
"I am not so sure about that," replied his chum. "I expected to findbones in the fort but we discovered none. Perhaps the buildersabandoned this place even after going to so much trouble to fortify it."
"Maybe we can find something to throw light upon it in the otherbuildings," Walter remarked. "While you are finishing your dinner, Iam going to see where that spring goes to."
Walter followed the little rivulet to where it disappeared in a smallgully under a corner of the wall. Climbing the stones the lad droppeddown lightly on the other side.
Charley finished his lunch, washed his hands at the spring, andresuming his seat in the doorway, leaned back upon one of the greatpillars to wait for his chum. The air was soft and warm and the noisesof the swamp stole to the tired lad's ears with a gentle lulling sound.His eyes slowly closed and his head dropped forward upon his breast andhe slept.
Quickly the hours slipped away and the sun was getting low in the west,when Charley awoke. One glance at the declining sun brought him to hisfeet, anxiety and dread in his heart. What could have become ofWalter? It took the thoroughly alarmed lad but a moment to reach thewall where his chum had disappeared. He swarmed up it like a monkeyand dropped down on the other side. But no solid ground met hisdescending feet. Instead, he crashed through leafy boughs and landedin a tangled mass of vines. In the second before the vines gave wayunder his weight, Charley succeeded in grasping a limb and swinginghimself in to the trunk of the tree where he found a safe resting-placebetween two branches. Below him yawned a gigantic pit, its edge hiddenfrom view by the clustering trees.
"Walter," he called anxiously, "are you down there?"
"Yes," growled his chum's voice, "and I have been here for hours.You're a nice companion for a man when he gets in trouble."
"I fell asleep," confessed Charley, sheepishly.
"Well, don't sleep any longer," said his chum sharply. "Help me out ofthis, quick. It is awful down here."
"All right, be patient a minute and I will have you out," Charleyanswered as he climbed nimbly up his tree and reached the edge of thepit. A moment's search and he found what he wanted, a long, stoutgrape vine strong as a rope. He cut off a piece some forty feet inlength, fastened one end to the tree, and dropped the other down intothe pit. "You'll have to pull yourself out, Walt," he called.
With the help of the grape vine and the aid of foot holds on the treesgrowing up from the sides of the pit, Walter succeeded in scramblingout. His face was pale and there was a look of horror in his eyes.
"I believe I would have died if I had been compelled to stay down thereall night," he declared in a voice that trembled.
"What is there down there?" asked Charley regarding his chum curiously.
"The demon work of the fiends who built this wall," said Walterfiercely, "It's their old stone quarry. They didn't bring rock fromthe coast, they just dug down till they found the kind they wanted.And Charley, all around the sides, chained to the solid rock, are theskeletons of the workers."
"I am right about the Spaniards building this place then," Charleyobserved. "That's the way that most Christian nation always used totreat its captives."
"Let's go," his chum urged, "I guess my nerve is shaken from being downthere with those skeletons so long. The sun is getting low, anyway.We will not have time to more than get back home before dark."
"You're right, we must go, but I wish we had time to go through thebalance of those buildings," said Charley, regretfully.
The two boys soon regained the canoe and paddled safely past thefloating crocodiles.
"We haven't solved the mystery, after all," remarked Walter, as heurged the canoe forward.
"No, but we have done far better," declared Charley, enthusiastically,"we have found a place where we will have ample protection in case weare attacked by the outlaws. I am in favor of moving our camp thereto-morrow morning."
"Of course that is the wisest plan," Walter agreed, "but since myexperience in that pit I have a dread of the place."
"That will wear off in time. Hallo, there's our island and there's thecaptain and Chris on the bank waiting for us."
"I expect we will get a good lecture," grinned Walter, "I guess wedeserve it, too."
But the captain was so delighted over their safe return, that he letboth off with a light scolding.
Over the supper, the boys related the story of their discoveries amidexclamations from the captain and Chris.
The captain readily agreed to their proposal to move camp to the largerisland. "The young chief showed me how to fix signs that would tellhim which way we had gone in case we left the island before hereturned," the captain observed.
This removed the only possible objection to the plan, and early nextmorning the hunters prepared to shift camp.
The little patch of yams was dug up, yielding several bushels of thesugary tubers, the remaining ears of Indian corn were plucked from thestalks, and a large quantity of dry gourds gathered, these, togetherwith the little that remained of their stock of provisions, wereconveyed to the canoes and our hunters were ready to depart. Beforeleaving, the captain arranged the signs agreed upon with the youngchief. These were very simple, consisting merely of twigs partlybroken off and laid to point in the direction they had gone.
"I reckon he'll see those," observed the captain, "The worst of it is,though, that Injin Charley ain't likely to overlook them either."
"That can't be helped," said Charley, "and once we are in our new home,we will stand some show of being able to defy them. I only wish we hadthe two rifles that were lost when the canoe upset. I wouldn't fearthe outlaws at all then."
"I wish we had more provisions," Walter added. "Chris used the last ofthe coffee this morning, and there is not much of anything else left."
"It ain't no use wishing, lads," declared the captain, "we had ought tobe thankful for what we have. The Lord will provide. Jes' think ofthe trials an' dangers He has brought us through already."
A thoughtful silence, that continued until they reached the island,followed the old sailor's gentle reproof.
Although they had been partly prepared by the boys' account of theirdiscoveries, the captain and Chris were astonished at the sight of thegreat wall, the road, and the group of stone buildings. It was plain,too, that there was a good deal of superstitious dread mingled withtheir wonder.
Charley was quick to note this in their faces and gave them no time tobrood upon their fears. "We have got a lot of work to do," hedeclared, as they deposited the loads they had brought up from thecanoes. "I think, we will get along better if we divide it up and goat it with some system. Now, the captain and I will bring up thebalance of the things, and the canoes,--it will not do to leave themwhere the outlaws can find them if they pay us a visit. While we aredoing that, Walt, you pick out one of the buildings for us tooccupy--the fort is too big, we would be lost in it; and you, Chris,light up a fire and get us something to eat
."
The two addressed, accepted Charley's suggestions, cheerfully, and heand the captain departed to carry out their own task. When theyreturned laden with the balance of the canoe's cargo, Walter wasstanding idly by the fire watching Chris prepare the dinner.
"What, through already?" demanded Charley in surprise.
"No, just resting," smiled his chum. But the moment the captain's backwas turned, his face became grave, and he gave a warning shake of hishead in Chris' and the captain's direction.
Charley was quick to catch its significance. "I am afraid thatcarrying is too much for my shoulder," he said, quietly, "Chris, yougive the captain a hand with the canoes, and I will look after thedinner."
No sooner had the two disappeared, than Charley turned to his chum."What's the trouble?" he demanded eagerly.
"Come and see," said Walter soberly.
He led the way quickly to the first building and entered the opendoorway, followed closely by Charley. At the threshold, Charley pausedin horror. The room in which he looked was about twenty by fourteenfeet in size. In the center a great slab of stone rested on four largeblocks of the same material. It had evidently once done duty as atable for at one side of it was a bench of stone, and upon the benchsat, or rather lolled, four white, ghastly, grinning skeletons. Deathhad evidently come to the sitters like a bolt from the sky. Onerested, leaning forward, with the bony claws clinching the table, whileyet another held a pewter mug as if about to raise it to his grinningjaws. They had evidently been feasting when the grim visitor came, forbefore them on the table sat a great stone jug and dishes of crockerystained and discolored with age.
"You acted wisely, Walt," declared Charley, recovering his composure."If Chris and the captain had caught sight of them, we would never havebeen able to keep them on the island. We will have to work quickly andget them out of sight before they return."
With deep repugnance the boys immediately began the grewsome task ofremoving the bodies.
"We have no time to bury them now," said Walter, "let's lower them intothe pit; they will not be seen there, and we can bury them at the firstopportunity."
The lads did not linger any over their task, but quickly bore theirghastly burdens to the wall. With the aid of grape vines, the whitenedbones were hoisted to the top of the wall and lowered into the pit.
They had only time to get back to the fire and pretend to be busy withthe dinner when the captain and Chris appeared bearing the first canoe.
"Now for the other buildings," said Charley, sharply, as the two againdisappeared, "we have got to work lively if we are to finish beforethey return."
From building to building the lads swiftly passed. In all but one theyfound ghastly occupants, some stretched out in the posture of sleep,some sitting at table like the first seen, but all showing that deathhad come suddenly and unexpectedly.
Boy Chums in the Forest; Or, Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades Page 24