Part 14 (2/2)
”You h I was a Spaniard; an appellation which I felt inclined to resent, ”that we are troubled by a deirls have fallen victims to the monster, while thetheable to overcoreat bulk It has two forelegs near the head, ar, and the eyes stand out froh to s a man whole, and is armed with pointed teeth In short, the ht of it Now it is known that the men of your race are brave, and possess weapons of which we have no knowledge, so, when it was revealed to us that your shi+p was close by on the other side of the Great Barren Island, we resolved to bring you here; who seemed, in our eyes, to be a brave man, so that you may rid us of the demon which threatens our peace, if not our very existence”
”Alas! oh, wise-one,” I answered ”How ht the shi+p also! On board of her, it is true, we possess weapons against which even such a monster as you tell me of could not prevail But these weapons I have not with le-handed, hope to overcome so terrible a creature as you describe? Rather sendher here, so that a party of us, well armed, may attack the demon, when no doubt we shall be able to destroy it” But at this the wise-one shook his head
”To bring the shi+p here,” said he, ”would be easy But hoe knoe could be rid of her without injury to our people?”
”I would pass you my word as to that,” I answered
”So you say now,” replied the wise-one ”But how shall we know that you would keep your word?”
An angry retort sprang to lance from Sylvia, which reminded me that I stood at the mercy of these monkey men
”Give me three days, then,” I answered, ”to devise so the monster If I succeed, I demand to be sent back tofor you, let the consequences to me be what they may”
The wise-one seemed to ponder my words carefully
”Be it so, then,” he answered ”If in three days you rid us of this demon I will see that you are restored to your friends But if you should fail, and survive, you must nevertheless be put to death We have no rooers”
CHAPTER xxxVIII
THE SLAYING OF THE GREAT CROCODILE
I now bethoughtthe monster which held the Feiven ed to be a crocodile Nor in this was Itaken by Sylvia to a place of safety from which I could see the demon, I was confirh I had never seen a crocodile of such a proportions before It lived in a cave close to a fertile plain, where goats belonging to the islanders were pastured Not far off was a stream at which it went to drink, and a deep furrow in the sandthe day it re it would issue forth and attack the goats, three or four of which it would kill, and carry off to its lair Those in charge of the goats dared not interfere, lest the ht seek its dinner a the ruined stone houses in which the islanders lived
Now I noticed that the road along which the crocodile travelled to the water was very deeply furrowed, thus proving how the great lizard had repeatedly dragged its heavy bulk over the saht me of a plan to deal with the reptile The only weapon I had upon me when kidnapped from my shi+p was a short sabre or manchette, which I wore as a sidearm But this I hoped would prove a formidable weapon when put to the use for which I now intended it
During theof the next day, e knew that the crocodile would be asleep in his cave, Sylvia and I went together to the road which the reptile had -place
Here, with such rude i a trench the width of the road, and for so it At the botto, in which was firmly fixed my manchette, its sharp point upward We then filled up the trench with soft sand, and retired to the place of vantage which I had occupied the previous day, and fro raid Towards sundown he caoats, four of which he sleith a stroke fro their led carcases into his lair We waited an hour, when, just before sundown, the reptile caain on his way to the water We watched him with bated breath, and Sylvia, who now, for the first tian to understand the trap I had set, could hardly contain her excite on the road he sank dohen the sharp blade of the manchette entered his breast, and as he dashed forward, rove hiony
Sylvia now summoned the islanders to see reat a shout when they saw their enemy dead that the sound of it reached the wise-ones on the mountain-tops, who peered down at the beast where he lay in a ed the sand so that it ran into the strea the water a deep red
The death of the reptile, and the craft and cunning I had displayed in the killing of it, so impressed the Amazons that they ca , nor did the wise-ones raise any objection to this proposal But although I admired Sylvia, I had no desire to spend the rest ofof the Amazons I therefore answered thatfor e home until all hope of my rescue had been abandoned, and I reminded the wise-ones of the promise they had made me of safe conduct back tothe island of their enemy The justice of my claim was not to be denied, and with the dawn of the morrow the wise-ones undertook to ascertain the direction in which the shi+p lay and to senda feast was held in my honour; some of the men from the Male Island came over, by special permission of the wise-ones, in order to be present, and to see the ainst which they had been unable to prevail
The men from the Male Island I found to be as free from ill-will toward one another as were the women on the Female Island Since they had neither wife nor child, they associated in pairs, and mutually rendered each other all the services a ether in so perfect a community that the survivor always succeeded his dead partner to any property he reatest justness and openness of heart It is a cri hidden On the other hand, the least pilfering is unpardonable, and punished by death And indeed there can be no great temptation to steal when it is reckoned a point of honour never to refuse a neighbour what he wants; and when there is so little property of value it is impossible there should be many disputes over it If any happened, the wise-ones interposed, and soon put an end to the difference
In all ently disposed persons than the people of the Male and Feano
CHAPTER xxxIX
I BECOME A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC INFELICITY