Part 26 (1/2)
It was some twenty yards wide; but I could not see how far inland it ran, on account of the immense trees that overhung it on every side, springing up in great numbers just behind the low border of mangroves.
Holding fast by one of these bushes, I was leaning forward over the water, looking hard into the gloom, to gain, if possible, some notion of the extent of the inlet and the distance round it, when Morton grasped my arm suddenly--
”What is that, under the trees on the opposite sh.o.r.e?” whispered he; ”is it not a boat?”
Looking in the direction in which he pointed, I could distinguish some object on the opposite side of the inlet, that might from its size and shape be a boat of some kind, as he supposed, and, continuing to gaze steadily, I made out quite plainly, against the dark ma.s.ses of foliage on the further sh.o.r.e, what appeared to be a white mast. A profound silence reigned all around us, and while I was still peering into the heavy shadow of the trees, I heard a sound which resembled a deep, and long-drawn sigh, followed by an exclamation, as of a person in bodily pain.
”We must get round to the other side,” whispered Morton, ”and see what this means.”
We backed out of the mangroves with the utmost caution, and inch by inch: when we had got to such a distance as to render this extreme circ.u.mspection no longer necessary, we commenced a wide circuit around the inlet, which proved to be only a small cove, or indentation in the sh.o.r.e, extending less than a hundred yards inland. In approaching it again on the opposite side, we resumed all our former stealthiness of movement, feeling that our lives in all probability depended upon our caution.
When, at last, we had got, as we supposed, quite near the place where we had seen the boat, we proceeded, by creeping on our hands and knees through the bushes for short distances, and then rising and looking about, to ascertain our position.
It was so dark, and the undergrowth was so dense--the moonlight scarcely penetrating the thick foliage--that nothing could be distinguished at the distance even of a few yards, and there was some danger that we might come suddenly, and before we were aware, upon those whom we supposed to be already so near us. While thus blindly groping our way towards the edge of the inlet, I heard a voice almost beside me, which said--
”Will they never come back?--Are they going to leave us here to starve?”
The voice was that of Johnny's beyond the possibility of mistake.
Turning in the direction from which it proceeded, I saw a little to the right three figures upon the ground at the foot of a large casuarina.
Another voice, as familiar, almost immediately answered--
”I only fear that they will return too soon: have patience! in a little while I shall have gnawed through this rope, and then I do not despair of being able to get my hands free also.”
This was enough to show how matters stood.
”Are you alone?” said I, in a low voice, but loud enough to be heard by those beneath the casuarina.
There was an exclamation of joyful surprise from Johnny; then Arthur answered, ”If that is you, Archer, come and help us, for we are tied hand and foot. You have nothing to fear; our captors have left us quite alone.”
We now came forward without further hesitation. They were all bound fast, their hands being tied behind them, in addition to which, each was fastened to the tree by a rope of sennit. It would be difficult to say which party seemed most rejoiced at this sudden meeting. As soon as they were liberated, we embraced one another with tears of joy.
”Let us leave this place as fast as possible,” said Arthur, as soon as he became a little composed, ”I expect the return of the natives every moment,--and we have more to dread from them than you can guess. But I find I am so stiff after lying bound here all day, that I can hardly walk. Now, Johnny, take my hand, and try to get along. How is it with you, Eiulo--do you feel able to travel fast?”
The latter appeared to understand the drift of the question, and answered by frisking and jumping about in exultation at his recovered liberty.
Instead of returning by the way by which we had come, along the sh.o.r.e, we pushed on in a straight line, in the supposed direction of the islet, in order to avoid the risk of meeting the natives. After toiling for an hour through the woods, we emerged into the open country to the east of the rocky ridge that traversed the course of the stream. During this time, we had been too fully occupied in picking our way with the necessary caution, besides the constant apprehension of suddenly encountering the natives, to ask for any explanations. But now we began to feel somewhat rea.s.sured, and as we hastened on towards the islet, Arthur very briefly informed us, that they had yesterday been suddenly surprised by a party of six natives, soon after leaving us at the islet, and hurried off to the sh.o.r.e: that they had been left by their captors this morning, secured as we had found them, and had remained in that condition until released by us. He added that he had more to communicate by-and-bye.
The joy of Browne and Max at our return, accompanied by the lost ones, may be imagined--but it can scarcely be described. In fact, I am obliged to confess that we were such children, as to enact quite ”a scene,” at this unexpected meeting. Heartfelt and sincere were the thanksgivings we that night rendered to Him, who had kept us in perfect safety, and reunited us, after a separation made so distressing by our uncertainty as to each other's fate.
After Arthur, Eiulo, and Johnny, had appeased their hunger with the scanty remains of our supply of provisions, the two latter lay down upon a bed of ferns beneath the Aoa, and were soon sleeping as soundly and peacefully, as though all our troubles and dangers were now at an end.
How easily they put in practice the philosophy that vexes itself not about the future! Exercising the happy privilege of childhood, they cast upon others, in whom they placed implicit confidence, the responsibility of thinking and planning for them--free from all care and anxiety themselves.
Arthur now gave us a more detailed account of what had occurred since our separation.
”Do you remember,” said he, when he had finished, ”hearing Eiulo, in talking of affairs at Tewa, make mention of a person named Atollo?”
”Atollo?” said Browne, ”was not that the name of an uncle of his whom he made out to be a strange, unnatural sort of monster, even for a heathen, and who concocted a plot for the murder of his own father and brother, and afterwards attempted to kill Eiulo by rolling rocks down a precipice after him in the woods!”