Part 38 (2/2)

The father told him nothing of the world without, but ever taught him to seek to please Duran and never ask questions; and that one day they would move from the place into another world, and live happy in a home of their own. It was some years after the boy had become strong enough for the work, that his father went to his sleep one night never to waken. It appears that the boy drooped with his loneliness, thereafter, and Duran brought him the monkey for a companion. And then, finally, he came with the grimacing white man (Andy Hawkins). Duran warned him, on pain of death, not to seek to learn any words of the white man's language, nor to make the white wise in any of his French speech.

Jean Marat said the black lad was struck with wonder at some simple things he had told him of the world; and he was greatly elated over Marat's promise to take him to witness what was described.

”Do you think he'll have the wit to hold his tongue?” asked Norris.

Marat spoke with the lad again, who listened with intentness, and nodded eloquently.

”He understand the importance to not betray us,” said Marat. ”We can depend on him.”

The monkey had scrambled to the black boy's shoulder on our first appearance; and he eyed us, and seemed to scold, during the whole talk.

It was the same animal, without the least doubt, that we had come upon far up on the higher cliffs of the mountain that overlooked this vale.

It was arranged that Hawkins should come to us in our covert, whenever the opportunity should offer, and bring some small quant.i.ty of provision. We did not scruple to take some sustenance of Duran's providing, since it was paid for out of Carlos' gold.

”Blyme-me if I don't fetch ye a roasted chicken,” said Andy Hawkins, punctuating his speech with a violent jerking of his shoulders. ”I can roast it right under the boss' nose, an' 'ee won't see it. Oh, Hi'm slick, Hi am.”

And then, astonis.h.i.+ng thing! He began to distribute among us, things that he had conjured out of our pockets; some rifle cartridges to Norris, a knife to Marat, my flash-lamp. And then another curious thing happened. The monkey, witnessing this distribution, scrambled down to the Long Tom, plunged in his fist, and handed up to me--who chanced to be nearest--a little gold nugget, the size of a bean. He looked up, watching me while I tied the little lump of gold in a corner of my handkerchief and tucked it into my pocket. He let me take his hand by way of thanking him, and took kindly to the fondling bestowed on him; climbing to my shoulder, looking into my face, and chirping some kind of monkey talk.

We finally tore Norris away from his explorations in the diggings, which he declared still held unlimited store of gold, and we got back to our new camp site. Carlos and I forded the creek, to go to seek out Ray and Robert. And we found them at the edge of the clearing wherein stood those structures.

They were just on the point of moving over to the path that went down to the lower western end of this sunken vale. For they said that Duran had just gone that way, carrying a pack on his back, having come out of the thick wood at the rear of the huts.

”Well,” I suggested, ”if you, Ray, will go with Carlos and have an eye on Duran, Bob and I can slip over into that brush and see if we can find the place where he gets his goods.”

We found the way easy going in the woods for a piece; but when we neared the cliffs of this south wall of the vale, the undergrowth impeded us.

With much going about, we finally won in to the cliffs; and after moving some way to the east, we came upon the mouth of a cavern.

”There!” said Robert. ”How about that?”

But Hawkins had been all through that, as he had a.s.sured us, and we must seek elsewhere.

We finally concluded that we had better have taken the way in the other direction, along the cliff foot, and so we retraced our steps. The farther to the west that we went, the more dense the tropic growth. The damp heat here, too, was stifling, and our progress was most slow. We had struggled on, keeping close to the high, sheer, rocky wall for half an hour, almost, and finding nothing to our present interest, when a cautious whistle brought us to a stand. We moved out toward the sound and joined Ray, who informed us that Duran was on his way back.

”There's no telling where he'll come through here,” I said. ”Let us get back across the clearing.”

When Duran appeared, after one look toward the huts, he plunged into that brush we had just come out of. In twenty minutes he appeared again, and again he stooped under a heavy pack. He but repeated that journey down the path that he had made so many times before. Carlos had continued on down the vale, Ray said, to discover where Duran went to set afloat the gold-laden bamboo.

I have forgotten how many trips Duran made this day, transporting that gold. As often as we sought to discover whence he took his freight, we came no nearer a solution of that mystery than on that first search in the back of that jungle. Once, when Duran climbed out by his ladder, to go to that cavern where he made temporary storage of the treasure, Norris took Andy Hawkins' place at the diggings, while that gesticulating individual went to act as guide to the rest of us in the search. But he proved as helpless as the rest. So when night found us all gathered together in our cheerless camp, we were conscious of a day pa.s.sed with meager progress.

”Wherever that hiding place is,” Norris was saying, ”I'll bet there's a big heap of the stuff there.”

”But he's been toting a lot of it away,” suggested Ray.

”Toting it away!” burst out Norris. ”Ask Captain Marat, here, what that n.i.g.g.e.r told him about the lot of stuff that's been mined all these years.”

”Yes,” agreed Jean Marat, ”thad boy say ver' ver' much gold have come out of thee creek. I theenk not one ten' part have Duran take away.”

It was not long till Andy Hawkins appeared. And true to his word, he brought a roast chicken.

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