CHAPTER XIII
"MINE!"
Captain Horn and his party sat down together the next morning on theplateau to drink their hot coffee and eat their biscuit and bacon, and itwas plain that the two ladies, as well as the captain, had had littlesleep the night before. Ralph declared that he had been awake ever solong, endeavoring to calculate how many cubic feet of gold there would bein that mound if it were filled with the precious metal. "But as I didnot know how much a cubic foot of gold is worth," said he, "and as wemight find, after all, that there is only a layer of gold on top, andthat all the rest is Incas' bones, I gave it up."
The captain was very grave--graver, Miss Markham thought, than thediscovery of gold ought to make a man.
"We won't worry ourselves with calculations," said he. "As soon as I canget rid of those black fellows, we will go to see what is really in thattomb, or storehouse, or whatever it is. We will make a thoroughinvestigation this time."
When the men had finished eating, the captain sent them all down to lookfor driftwood. The stock of wood on the plateau was almost exhausted,and he was glad to think of some reasonable work which would take themaway from the cavern.
As soon as they had gone, the captain rose to get the lantern, and calledRalph to accompany him to the mound.
When they were left alone, Edna said to Mrs. Cliff, "Let us go over thereto that shady rock, where we can look out for a ship with Mr. Rynders init, and let us talk about our neighbors in America. Let us try to forget,for a time, all about what the captain is going to investigate. If wekeep on thinking and talking of it, our minds will not be in a fitcondition to hear what he will have to tell us. It may all come tonothing, you know, and no matter what it comes to, let us keep quiet, andgive our nerves a little rest."
"That is excellent advice," said Mrs. Cliff. But when they werecomfortably seated in the shade, she said: "I have been thinking, Edna,that the possession of vast treasures did not weaken the minds of thoseIncas, I supposed, until yesterday, that the caverns here were intendedfor some sort of temple for religious ceremonies, and that the great faceon the rock out here was an idol. But now I do not believe that. Allopenings into the cave must once have been closed up, but it would not doto hide the place so that no one could ever find it again, so they carvedthat great head on the rocks. Nobody, except those who had hid thetreasure, would know what the face meant."
Edna gave a little smile and sighed. "I see it is of no use to try to getthat mound out of our minds," she said.
"Out of our minds!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "If one of the Rothschildswere to hand you a check for the whole of his fortune, would you expectto get that out of your mind?"
"Such a check," said Edna, "would be a certain fortune. We have not heardyet what this is."
"I think we are the two meekest and humblest people in the whole world!"exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, walking up and down the sand. "I don't believe anyother two persons would be content to wait here until somebody shouldcome and tell them whether they were millionaires or not. But, of course,somebody must stay outside to keep those colored people from swarminginto the cave when they come back."
It was not long after this that Mrs. Cliff and Edna heard the sound ofquickly advancing feet, and in a few moments they were joined by Ralphand the captain.
"Your faces shine like gold," cried Edna. "What have you found?"
"Found!" cried Ralph. "Why, Edna, we've got--"
"Be quiet, Ralph," exclaimed Edna. "I want to hear what the captain hasto say. Captain, what is in the mound?"
"We went to the mound," said he, speaking very rapidly, "and when we gotto the top and lifted off that stone lid--upon my soul, ladies, I believethere is gold enough in that thing to ballast a ship. It isn't filledquite up to the top, and, of course, I could not find out how deep thegold goes down; but I worked a hole in it as far down as my arm wouldreach, and found nothing but gold bars like this." Then, glancing aroundto see that none of the Africans were returning, he took from his pocketa yellow object about three inches in length and an inch in diameter,shaped like a rough prism, cast in a rudely constructed mortar or mould."I brought away just one of them," he said, "and then I shut down thelid, and we came away."
"And is this gold?" exclaimed Edna, eagerly seizing the bar. "Are yousure of it, captain?"
"I am as sure of it as I am that I have a head on my shoulders," said he,"although when I was diving down into that pile I was not quite sure ofthat. No one would ever put anything but gold in such a hiding-place. Andthen, anybody can see it is gold. Look here: I scraped that spot with myknife. I wanted to test it before I showed it to you. See how it shines!I could easily cut into it. I believe it is virgin gold, not hardenedwith any alloy."
"And that mound full of it!" cried Mrs. Cliff.
"I can't say about that," said the captain. "But if the gold is nodeeper than my arm went down into it, and all pure metal at that,why--bless my soul!--it would make anybody crazy to try to calculate howmuch it is worth."
"Now, then," exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "whom does all this gold belong to? Wehave found it, but whose is it?"
"That is a point to be considered," said the captain. "What isyour opinion?"
"I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about it," said Mrs.Cliff. "Of course, that would have been all wasted, though, if it hadturned out to be nothing but brass, but then, I could not help it, andthis is the conclusion I have come to: In the first place, it does notbelong to the people who govern Peru now. They are descendants of thevery Spaniards that the Incas hid their treasure from, and it would be ashame and a wickedness to let them have it. It would better stay thereshut up for more centuries. Then, again, it would not be right to give itto the Indians, or whatever they call themselves, though they aredescendants of the ancient inhabitants, for the people of Spanish bloodwould not let them keep it one minute, and they would get it, after all.And, besides, how could such treasures be properly divided among a raceof wretched savages? It would be preposterous, even if they should beallowed to keep it. They would drink themselves to death, and it wouldbring nothing but misery upon them. The Incas, in their way, were good,civilized people, and it stands to reason that the treasure they hid awayshould go to other good, civilized people when the Incas had departedfrom the face of the earth. Think of the good that could be done withsuch wealth, should it fall into the proper hands! Think of the good tothe poor people of Peru, with the right kind of mission work done amongthem! I tell you all that the responsibility of this discovery is asgreat as its value in dollars. What do you think about it, Edna?"
"I think this," said Miss Markham: "so far as any of us have anything todo with it, it belongs to Captain Horn. He discovered it, and it is his."
"The whole of it?" cried Ralph.
"Yes," said his sister, firmly, "the whole of it, so far as we areconcerned. What he chooses to do with it is his affair, and whether hegets every bar of gold, or only a reward from the Peruvian government,it is his, to do what he pleases with it."
"Now, Edna, I am amazed to hear you speak of the Peruvian government,"cried Mrs. Cliff. "It would be nothing less than a crime to let them haveit, or even know of it."
"What do you think, captain?" asked Edna.
"I am exactly of your opinion, Miss Markham," he said. "That treasurebelongs to me. I discovered it, and it is for me to decide what is to bedone with it."
"Now, then," exclaimed Ralph, his face very red, "I differ with you! Weare all partners in this business, and it isn't fair for any one to haveeverything."
"And I am not so sure, either," said Mrs. Cliff, "that the captainought to decide what is to be done with this treasure. Each of usshould have a voice."
"Mrs. Cliff, Miss Markham, and Ralph," said the captain, "I have a fewwords to say to you, and I must say them quickly, for I see those blackfellows coming. That treasure in the stone mound is mine. I discoveredthe mound, and no matter what might have been in it, the contents wouldhave been mine. All that gold is just as much mine as if
I dug it in agold-mine in California, and we won't discuss that question any further.What I want to say particularly is that it may seem very selfish in meto claim the whole of that treasure, but I assure you that that is theonly thing to be done. I know you will all agree to that when you seethe matter in the proper light, and I have told you my plans about it. Iintended to claim all that treasure, if it turned out to be treasure. Imade up my mind to that last night, and I am very glad Miss Markhamtold me her opinion of the rights of the thing before I mentioned it.Now, I have just got time to say a few words more. If there should beany discussion about the ownership of this gold and the way it ought tobe divided, there would be trouble, and perhaps bloody trouble. Thereare those black fellows coming up here, and two of them speak English.Eight of my men went away in a boat, and they may come back at any time.And then, there were those two Cape Cod men, who went off first. Theymay have reached the other side of the mountains, and may bring usassistance overland. As for Davis, I know he will never come back. Makabrought me positive proof that he was killed by the Rackbirds. Now, yousee my point. That treasure is mine. I have a right to it, and I standby that right. There must be no talk as to what is to be done with it. Ishall decide what is right, and I shall do it, and no man shall have aword to say about it. In a case like this there must be a head, and I amthe head."
The captain had been speaking rapidly and very earnestly, but now hismanner changed a little. Placing his hand on Ralph's shoulder, he said:"Now don't be afraid, my boy, that you and your sister or Mrs. Cliff willbe left in the lurch. If there were only us four, there would be notrouble at all, but if there is any talk of dividing, there may be a lotof men to deal with, and a hard lot, too. And now, not a word beforethese men.--Maka, that is a fine lot of fire-wood you have brought. Itwill last us a long time."
The African shrugged his shoulders. "Hope not," he said. "Hope Mr.Rynders come soon. Don't want make many fires."
As Captain Horn walked away toward Ralph's lookout, he could not accountto himself for the strange and unnatural state of his feelings. He oughtto have been very happy because he had discovered vast treasures. Insteadof that his mind was troubled and he was anxious and fearful. One reasonfor his state of mind was his positive knowledge of the death of Davis.He had believed him dead because he had not come back, but now that heknew the truth, the shock seemed as great as if he had not suspected it.He had liked the Englishman better than any of his seamen, and he was aman he would have been glad to have had with him now. The Cape Cod menhad been with him but a short time, and he was not well acquainted withthem. It was likely, too, that they were dead also, for they had nottaken provisions with them. But so long as he did not really know this,the probability could not lower his spirits.
But when he came to analyze his feelings, which he did with the vigorousdirectness natural to him, he knew what was the source of his anxiety anddisquietude. He actually feared the return of Rynders and his men! Thisfeeling annoyed and troubled him. He felt that it was unworthy of him. Heknew that he ought to long for the arrival of his mate, for in no otherway could the party expect help, and if help did not arrive before theprovisions of the Rackbirds were exhausted, the whole party would mostlikely perish. Moreover, when Rynders and his men came back, they wouldcome to rare good fortune, for there was enough gold for all of them.
But, in spite of these reasonable conclusions, the captain was afraidthat Rynders and his men would return.
"If they come here," he said to himself, "they will know of that gold,for I cannot expect to keep such fellows out of the cavern, and if theyknow of it, it will be their gold, not mine. I know men, especially thosemen, well enough for that."
And so, fearing that he might see them before he was ready for them,--andhow he was going to make himself ready for them he did not know,--hestood on the lookout and scanned the ocean for Rynders and his men.
The Adventures of Captain Horn Page 13