Part 18 (1/2)
Some brandy and hot water, combined with the warmth of the saloon, soon revived hierness of afrom starvation; but he could not endure the heated atuard the injured occupants from the outer cold When offered an overcoat, he refused it at first, saying:
”I do not need soIt will make me ill I only felt cold in the water because it is rateful to his rescuers, however, that he took the gare theht him to the chart-house, where most of the others were assembled, and there questioned hi story which Francisco Suarez, gold-ly attentive audience As the e of a civilized tongue At first his words had a hoarse, guttural sound, but Dr Christobal's questions seemed to awaken dormant memories, and every one noticed, not least those who had se of Spanish, that he had practically recovered coe at the end of half an hour
And this hat he told them He, with three partners and a few Indians fro expedition on the head waters of the Gallegos River They were disappointed in their search until they crossed the Cordillera, and sighted the gloo into S quartz, yielding but poor results
Unfortunately, soht abounded in Hanover Island They obtained canoes, voyaged down the long inlet, crossed the straits, and struck inland towards the unknownall the hardshi+ps entailed by life in such a wild country, they blundered into a gully where a brief analysis of the detritus gave a result per ton which was not to be in! What a place that was!” exclai even yet with the recollection of it ”In one day we secured old than we could carry We threay food to old to secure the food again We called it the Golden Valley When weary of digging, ould spin coins to see who drew corner lots in the toe had mapped out on a level piece of land”
White ht the fever They accu no means of transport other than their own backs, and then, all precautions being relaxed, the nomad Indians, who They were nearly all killed by stones shot fros Suarez was only stunned, and he and a Spaniard, with two Indians, were reserved for future slaughter
”The others were eaten,” he said, ”and their bones were used forfires I saw my friend, Giacomo, felled like a bullock, and the Indians as well By chance, I was the last I had no hope of escape
I was too downcast even to ht of it, when, at the eleventh hour, the ht please and astonish an by throwing stones in the air, pretending to s theain in the heel of my boot or hidden beneath any object which happened to be near When the Indians sahat I was doing, they gathered in a circle I ate some fire, and took a saped They had never seen the like All the tribe was suan to cry
”Holy Mother! Think ofthe fool before those brutes! I becaht and killed my only rival, and, since then, I have doctored a few of the chieftheed to procure aveon putrid blubber, or worse, because they kill all the old wo before the dogs; dogs catch otters, but old wo storm renders it impossible to obtain shell-fish, any woman who is feeble will steal off and hide in theher back They hold her over the smoke of a fire until she is choked Ah! God in heaven! I have seen such sights during those five years!”
Elsie, of course, understood all of this When Christobal put it into literal English, Courtenay looked at her She sht
”I a us,” she said ”It is very dreadful that such people should exist, but one does not fall in a faint merely because they cumber the earth Perhaps you will not send ain I can use a revolver quite well enough to count as one for the defense”
”You are henceforth enrolled as htly He was by no means surprised at the coolness she displayed in the face of the new terror She had given so e that ita test as the near presence of the Alaculof Indians But he broke in on the Spaniard's recital with a question of direct interest
”Ask hiain by daylight”
”Because they have guns, and can use theiven by Suarez ”They secured the rifles belonging to my party, and one of theeese, understood the es on gaun cannot shoot in the dark To-night they only attempted a surprise, and made off the moment they were discovered To-morrow, or next day, they will swarm round the shi+p in hundreds, and fire at us with rifles, bows, and slings They do un away fro quite as far and alht as a revolver can shoot”
”How do they know the shi+p will not sail at once?” dehed hysterically, with the mirth which is akin to tears, when the query was explained to hih under ordinary conditions, but laughter converted hi demons which a japanese artist loves to depict Evidently, he depended on make-up to supplement his powers as a conjurer
”It is as e in fine weather to reach the island out there, which they call Seal Island,” he cried, pointing towards the locality of White Horse Island ”Even the Indians were astonished to see so big a shi+p anchored here safely They have watched plenty of wrecks outside, and hardly anything coo back”
It would be idle to deny that the Spaniard's words sent a chill of apprehension down the spine of some of those present; but the captain said quietly:
”Where a shi+p is concerned, if she can enter on the flood she can go out on the ebb How caain in Suarez's eyes as he replied:
”When I heard their plan, I iined they would be driven off, provided a watch were kept I resolved to risk all in the attempt to reach the company of civilized men once more I do not care what the outcome may be If I can help you to overcome theht I followed in a canoe unseen When I heard the shooting, I leaped overboard and swam to the shi+p It was lucky for me some one seized the canoe which I found there The men in her had to swim to other canoes, and tounded, I heard therasp when I reached the shi+p; otherwise I must have been drowned, as the water was very cold”
”Yet you refused an overcoat a little while ago,” interjected Christobal
”Ah, yes For ether in Indian fashi+on
My skin is hard Wind or rain cannot harm me But melted ice mixed with salt water drives even the seals out to sea”