“Thank you very much, sir. I shall be delighted to have you with us, if you can stand the mosquitoes.”
“Eh? Are they ‘skeeters there?” inquired my uncle.
“A great many, I fear. It is near the famous Mosquito Coast, you know.”
Uncle Naboth looked grave and a bit uncomfortable, but made no further remark. I knew very well, however, that nothing on earth would induce him to enter a jungle swarming with his deadly enemies the mosquitoes, and that he would find an early excuse to back out of the expedition.
“O’ course,” said Captain Steele, “I’ll hev to look after the Seagull, fer my part, an’ be ready to pick you up when you’ve made good. Hick’ry legs ain’t much as mountain climbers, no how; so it’s just as well I ain’t along.”
“If you’ll take me with you, sir,” said Ned Britton, who had been silent until now, “I’ll consider it a rare favor.”
Allerton was genuinely glad of this splendid recruit. Ned wasn’t strong at brain-work, but of powerful physique, active and fearless. I could see that Chaka regarded him as the most valuable of the volunteers.
“There’s your half dozen whites, sir, including yourself,” said father. “But I guess you’d better pick one more, ‘cause Naboth’ll be et up by ‘skeeters afore you get very far.”
“Then you must choose from among the sailors,” I suggested. “They are all good men, Lieutenant, and you can’t go wrong.”
“I’ll look them over awhile and make the selection when I know them better,” was Allerton’s reply. “I cannot tell you how greatly your prompt and hearty cooperation has delighted me. These three young fellows,” pointing to us in turn, “have won considerable renown already for their desperate adventures, and not a man sails the seas who hasn’t heard of them and admired their grit. I’m in luck to have met you; in greater luck to have you join my enterprise. And now let us understand the terms of the agreement. If we succeed — any of us — in returning to this ship with treasure, I ask that a share be set aside to reclaim my old homestead and support my mother and sisters. If I should not be fortunate enough to come out of the adventure alive, then I ask you to keep Chaka with you and make him your friend, sending on my share of the spoils to my family. You can easily obtain Chaka’s discharge from the navy, as he has served the required time.”
“That’s all right, sir,” I replied. “We are all taking chances, as we know very well, and I think the best way to fix the business deal is to say that your home shall be redeemed first of all, as that is the main object of the undertaking. After that all of us who come back safe and sound may share and share alike. What do you say, Uncle Naboth?”
“Very good, Sam.”
“Seems to me that’s fair and square,” added Archie.
“We’re furnishing the ship an’ crew,” remarked my father, musingly. “True, sir,” responded Allerton readily. “But in those seven chests I have an outfit fully as important for the success of the expedition as your ship and crew. We will let one offset the other, if you like.”
“Suits me,” declared my father, who cared less for driving a bargain than for asserting the importance of the Seagull. “But it’s gettin’ pretty late, boys, and I’m sleepy. Guess my wooden leg’s fell asleep a’ready. So let’s turn in and do the rest o’ the talkin’ later on. There’ll be lots o’ time to figger everything out afore we round the Horn.”
So we separated, the group on deck breaking up.
CHAPTER 4
WE SCENT DANGER AHEAD
We were all somewhat thoughtful after this interview, for it was evident we had undertaken an adventure the details of which were quite obscure to us. For my part I was too nervous and excited to bunk in just yet, so I took Joe’s arm and we walked over to the bow, where the clear starlight enabled us to watch the Seagull cut her way through the water. Chaka was at the rail before us, and started to move away; but I stopped him, saying:
“We are all brothers now, Chaka, and therefore we must become better friends. Now that we are aware of your station and rank in your own country we stand equal.”
“Only that?” said Joe. “Is the Atkayma of the Itzaex merely the equal of a common seaman?”
“I’m not common, Joe,” I protested; “and I’ve a notion a decent American is the social equal of an Indian chief. It’s social equality I’m talking about, not rank.”
“Cap’n Sam is right,” observed Chaka, with a smile that would have fascinated a woman. “Equality among men is found only in heart and brain.”
His readiness to converse, remembering his former reserve, almost startled me.
“Perhaps you’re right,” drawled Joe. “But tell us, Chaka, is there much danger in this coming adventure, do you think?”
The Maya looked grave.
“Plenty danger, Cap’n Joe.” Every one was a “Cap’n” to Chaka; he considered it a complimentary title, bound to please. “Danger from Itzaex, first of all; but not much, for I am Chief s son. More danger from Mopane tribe, who hate Itzaex. Most danger from the mighty Tcha, who very strong, very jealous, very watchful.”
“What are those people like?” I asked.
The Maya shook his head.
“My father not tell me. When I ask, he tremble, like he afraid; and my father is brave man. But the Tcha country very small — in the middle of a mountain — and their legend say a white man some day discover them and be their master. My brother Paul is white man.”
“So you think our greatest danger will be to get to the hidden city, do you?”
“Yes. It long, bad journey. Mopanes watch by seashore, and fight us. My own people I have not seen for many years. When I find them they greet me as child of the sun, and help me. But Itzaex hate all white men, and I must use my power to protect white men from their hatred. That will be a danger to you, if not to me.”
“I see. Well, it promises to be an exciting trip, all right,” I said cheerfully, for the truth was that the danger of the adventure appealed to me more than the prospect of securing treasure. “It isn’t always necessary to fight your way in a hostile country, in order to win out, Chaka. Diplomacy and caution, backed by a little good judgment, are better than guns and pistols. Eh, Joe?”
“A little courage in avoiding a fight has often done us good service, Sam,” agreed my friend.
Chaka seemed to approve this view.
“Sometime my brother Paul tell you more’,” he said.
I noticed he now spoke of Allerton as “my brother Paul,” when mentioning him to us; and there was a world of affection in the way he said it.
“Brother Paul has a big brain; his mind see far ahead. Also he have great man for Uncle — Cap’n Simeon Wells. We spend whole month last summer with Cap’n Wells, who know how to do many strange things.”
“He’s a jim-cracker electrician, all right,” said Joe.
“He give much wonder-things to my brother Paul, to help him with the Mopanes, the Itzaex and the Tcha. We keep wonder-things in the seven big boxes. You see, some day.”
With this information the Maya left us, and Joe and I sat another hour discussing the coming adventure before we finally turned in.
Uncle Naboth was pretty glum next morning. He was trying to find some way to back out of the expedition gracefully and with credit. Finally he said to us:
“You boys ain’t to be depended on; I’ve found that out. We had all our plans fixed to get into a steady, respectable coast trade, where there wouldn’t be a single thing to keep any o’ us awake nights; and here, when we’re only a week out o’ port, you’ve gone an’ upsot the whole deal.”
“It is funny, Uncle, I’ll admit,” said I. “But you can’t blame us for it, I’m sure. Lay it to Fate, where the responsibility belongs. Remember, too, that you were one of the first to offer to join the expedition.”
“I were wrong about that, Sam,” he replied, eagerly. “I meant to stick to my principles, as an honest man should. An’, by jinks, I will stick to my principles! Don’t try to
argy with me; don’t try to coax me. As sure as my name’s Naboth Perkins I’m goin’ to stick to this ship, whatever you reckless bunch o’ youngsters may decide on.”
“Do you back down, sir?” demanded Archie, who was secretly much amused.
“No, sir; not a jot. I stick to my first principles; that’s all.”
Well, we were glad he took it that way, for we didn’t want Uncle Naboth with us. He was brave enough, we knew; but he had a way of getting us all into unnecessary trouble, and his rotund figure prevented him from being as active as the rest of us. A better fellow never lived than this same Naboth Perkins, but we all felt he was safer on board ship than in the wildernesses of Yucatan, and we had a suspicion we would be safer without him, too.
From that time on the adventure was our one topic of conversation. Chaka suggested that he teach us to speak the Maya tongue during the voyage, and we eagerly accepted the offer. I had already a smattering of Arabian and Chinese and could speak fluently the native language of our South Sea Islanders, Nux and Bryonia. So it was little trouble to me, with the painstaking instructions of Chaka and Allerton, to learn to comprehend fairly the Maya tongue. Joe was a natural linguist and kept pace with me easily, but poor Archie was woefully thick-headed when it came to foreign languages. Even Ned Britton, who was wholly uneducated, got along better than he. We kept up our lessons until the day we sighted the coast of Yucatan, but even then Archie understood only a few words of Maya. The mate, for his part, knew all that was said to him, but was rather slow and uncertain of speech, while Joe and I could converse readily with Allerton and Chaka in the Maya.
One of the queerest things, in this regard, was our discovery that black Nux, our steward, had caught on to Chaka’s language with little difficulty, and had himself taught it to Bry. They surprised us one evening by joining in our conversation, and that decided Allerton to ask permission to add them to our party.
“I have never seen finer physical specimens of manhood than these blacks,” he said to me, “and your reports of their loyalty and courage have quite warmed my heart toward them. Perhaps their jet black complexions would be as great a novelty to the Tcha as white skins, and these fellows will add greatly to the strength of our party.”
“That will make nine of us, altogether — ,” I said musingly; “you and Chaka, we three boys, Ned Britton, a sailor, and Nux and Bryonia. By the way, have you chosen the sailor?”
“I think I shall take the Mexican who is called Pedro,” answered Allerton. “He is an active fellow and looks honest. Moreover, he is accustomed to a climate similar to that of Yucatan, which is at present a province of Mexico, although so much of it is yet an unexplored wilderness. Do you think Pedro will be willing to join us?”
“I think so, if only for a share of the spoils,” said I. “But I advise you not to mention the subject to him until the last moment. You see, every man jack of them forward would like to go too.”
As you may imagine, we asked many questions of Chaka during the voyage regarding his native country, and the route we were to take to get there. On the whole his answers were clear and satisfactory, for although he had been away for nine years he was a youth of fifteen when forced to escape the Mopanes.
According to his statements all the tribes of Yucatan Indians are called Mayas, and have a common language which varies only slightly according to the dialects of the scattered tribes. All the natives, with the exception of the Itzaex, have at times been conquered by the Spaniards, who first invaded the peninsula in 1506. But the Mayas are mostly wild and untamed to this day, and save for the tribes inhabiting the flat and settled portions of the North and West they indulge in the same barbaric and warlike existence as when the whites first came among them.
After four hundred years of settlement there is less land tilled in Yucatan to-day than there was in its first century of annexation to Spain. The interior and mountainous district is still a wilderness and exceedingly dangerous for a white man to enter.
The most powerful and warlike tribe, now as in the beginning, is that of the Itzaex. These people have no desire to acquire more territory, but hold firmly to their original heritage and fight desperately any of their neighbors who dare cross their boundaries. On the other hand, the Itzaex are barred from the seashore by a fierce tribe known as the Mopanes, and on other sides by the Kupules and Choies.
The hidden city of the remnant of the ancient Tcha nation lies directly in the heart of the Itzaex territory, which is doubtless the reason none of the other tribes is aware of its existence. The chief city of Itzlan is built on the shores of a beautiful fresh water lake lying two thousand feet above the sea level; but Chaka declares no mortal eyes save those of his own tribe have ever yet beheld the place. Which, of course, makes us the more eager to see it.
We had a most delightful voyage south, the Pacific being on its good behavior. Excellent time was made even through the turbulent waters of the Horn, and not until we had rounded the continent and were in the waters of the Atlantic did Allerton again refer to the contents of his seven mysterious chests.
One day, however, he proposed opening them, as he said it would be well for all of us who were to join the expedition to be thoroughly familiar with their contents. So, one by one, the boxes were brought into the roomy main cabin by Nux and Bryonia, where Allerton proceeded to open them.
CHAPTER 5
WE INSPECT A NOVEL AERIAL INVENTION
“You must understand,” said the lieutenant, “that from the moment I decided to undertake this adventure I began preparing my ‘sinews of war.’ I calculated that an isolated people like the Tcha would be greatly impressed by our wonderful modern inventions. Also I figured that many things might be collected by me which would assist in the difficult task of penetrating a hostile territory and climbing the almost inaccessible mountains leading to the hidden city. Fortunately I was stationed last summer for more than a month at Washington, where I confided my plans to my uncle, Simeon Wells, and had many long conversations with him as to a proper equipment for this difficult undertaking. His cleverness in electrical matters was of great assistance to me, for his famous storage battery, combining tremendous power with light weight, will enable me to carry some important devices into the very heart of the wilderness. Also my uncle knew of several recent inventions of which I was myself ignorant, and through his influence I managed to secure them. Here, for instance, is an important example.”
With this he took from a chest a curious contrivance that seemed to us like a cross between a rubber air-cushion and an undershirt. As Allerton explained the thing, it was to be worn by pulling it on over the head and allowing it to loosely cover the body from the neck down to the thighs. It was composed of two layers of thin, ribbon-like tissue, and could be inflated like a balloon.
“This strap,” explained Allerton, “is for attaching to your left side a small metal case — here is one — containing the crystals of themlyne. By pouring a little water upon the crystals, through the valve, a very volatile but powerful gas is created, called ‘theml,’ which inflates the garment. Chaka will put one on, so you may see exactly how it works.”
The Maya immediately complied, slipping the rubber arrangement over his head and putting his arms through the holes provided for that purpose. He then attached the metal case, which I think was aluminum, and supplied the themlyne crystals with water. At once the gas began rushing into the queer garment, which became inflated until Chaka’s upper half was puffed out in a ludicrous manner. He turned off the gas, then, and cast an inquiring glance at Allerton.
“Instead of weighing some one hundred and eighty pounds, as he did a while ago,” announced the lieutenant, “Chaka is now but little heavier than air itself.”
To verify this the Maya leaped lightly to the cabin table, bounding back to the floor again with the resilience of a rubber ball.
“In climbing mountains,” explained Allerton, “as well as in descending precipices and the like, this inflated garment will prove
invaluable. It is not made of rubber, as perhaps you imagine, but of a new and wonderful material as tough as steel, and as impenetrable. It is a recent scientific discovery to be used in making unpuncturable automobile tires, and I am the first person who has ever adapted it to any other purpose. The gas-jacket, as 1 call it, was suggested by Uncle Simeon, and I immediately appreciated its value. There are ten of them in this chest, each fitted with a themlyne tank for inflating it. Now I will demonstrate its most important use. If Chaka lets a little more gas into the jacket it will carry him off his feet.”
Chaka did this, slowly rising like a balloon to the ceiling of the cabin, but remaining upright because his legs anchored him in a perpendicular position. He now touched a valve which released a certain portion of the gas and enabled him to descend again to the floor.
“As the jacket is ordinarily worn,” said Allerton, “the idea is to retain enough weight in your body to enable you to control all your motions, at the same time reducing your weight to the extent of preventing fatigue. I could leap over a precipice in that jacket and alight at the bottom uninjured. If I wished to escape an enemy, I could soar into the air, out of reach.”
He took out his pocket knife and asked me to slash or prick the gas-jacket which Chaka was wearing; but the material resisted all my attempts.
“I doubt,” remarked Allerton, “if a bullet at close range would penetrate it; I have never tried the experiment, but where we are going there are no bullets used by the natives.”
We were all filled with wonder at this curious contrivance.
“How much gas will that little case of crystals generate?” I asked.
“Enough to inflate the jacket a half dozen times,” he replied. “But I have an ample supply of themlyne crystals in another chest, to replenish the cases when necessary.”
Complete Works of L. Frank Baum Page 701