The Voyage of the Aurora Part 19

After trudging manfully along for about a couple of hours, they found themselves upon the crest of a range of low hills, from which they caught, through a break in the scrub, a glimpse of the sea, sparkling invitingly under the noonday sun. They also caught a glimpse of something, by no means so pleasant--namely, a town of considerable dimensions immediately before them and only about two miles distant.

To avoid this they were compelled to make a wide detour, and much valuable time was lost in this way and in reconnoitring; for they knew there would be several plantations in immediate proximity to so important a place, and through these they would have, as it were, to run the gauntlet. And, notwithstanding all their caution, they failed to effect their pa.s.sage entirely un.o.bserved through this dangerous district; it unfortunately happening that, just as they emerged from the bush, and were about to cross a high-road, which they had been watching for nearly half an hour, a vehicle appeared in sight, suddenly wheeling into the road close to them from a bush-path which they had failed to observe. This vehicle was occupied by two persons, a white man and a negro driver; and as it was utterly impossible to avoid the observation of these two persons, George told Tom, in a few low hasty words, to continue moving, to carefully conceal all appearance of chagrin, and to leave him to answer any questions which might be put to them. As the vehicle approached the fugitives, its owner signed to his driver to pull up, but he immediately changed his mind and pa.s.sed on, contenting himself with a careful and prolonged scrutiny of the travellers. This disagreeable incident caused George and his companion to push on with renewed vigour, and it was with sincerely thankful hearts that they at last plunged into a shallow ravine, which promised to lead them directly down to the sea, then not more, in Leicester's opinion, than some four or five miles distant.

The sun was by this time sinking low in the heavens and the travellers, unutterably weary as they were, pressed eagerly forward, hoping to reach the coast before nightfall, and to discover a craft of some kind which they could appropriate, and in which, later on, when the night was well advanced, and they could hope to do so un.o.bserved, they might venture to put to sea. This was the only effectual method of escape which George could devise--to put to sea upon the chance of being picked up by some pa.s.sing vessel. He knew that, when once the fact of their escape became established, the news would travel faster than they possibly could; the whole country for many miles round, would be apprised of their number and appearance, and recapture would be certain. To get afloat, therefore, as speedily as possible was their first object; after that they must trust to chance--or Providence, rather--for their ultimate rescue.

As they advanced along the ravine, it grew deeper, whilst its sides became steeper and more rugged, until at last the place a.s.sumed quite the appearance of a mountain-gorge or defile, with rocky, precipitous sides, to which a few scattered shrubs clung here and there. At length, in the deep silence of the breathless evening, the thrice welcome sound of the sea breaking upon the sh.o.r.e came faintly to their ears. It was the merest, faintest murmur, it is true, but their experienced ears told them in a moment what it was; they were within the sound of the sea, and in a few short hours at most, please G.o.d, they would be safe from pursuit.

A bend in the defile was before them, about a quarter of a mile distant, and toward this they eagerly pressed believing that when they had pa.s.sed it they would find themselves face to face with the sea. In their eagerness they broke into a run, notwithstanding their terrible state of fatigue, and soon rounded the bend--to find themselves in a _cul-de-sac_, with a perpendicular wall of cliff in front of them nearly two hundred feet high. With a groan of bitter anguish and disappointment they deposited Walford in his hammock on the ground, and turned to ask each other what should be done in the face of this new difficulty. As they did so, the deep bay of a dog smote upon their ears from the higher end of the ravine. The sound was instantly repeated again and again, in a slightly different key, proving that the cries were uttered not by one, but by several animals.

"The dogs! _The dogs_!" exclaimed Tom. "They are after us, by Jove; and here we are, caught like rats in a trap."

George glanced eagerly about him, up and down the ravine. To go back was simply to throw themselves into the arms of their pursuers, for that they _were_ pursued he did not for an instant doubt; to hide, even if a hiding-place could be found, was impossible, with those keen-scented brutes upon their tracks; and to remain where they were was to await inevitable capture. Could they go _forward_? That meant scaling that terrible wall of rock. As George glanced despairingly up the lofty perpendicular cliff, he thought that an active man, unenc.u.mbered, _might_ possibly accomplish the feat; at all events, were he so circ.u.mstanced, he would try it. And what he could do, he knew the lad Tom could do also; but there was Walford, unable to walk, much less to scale that awful precipice. As he stood thus, the baying of the dogs again came floating down the ravine; and how much nearer and clearer were now the sounds! The brutes must be coming down after them at a run, as of course they easily could upon a red-hot scent. The sounds decided George to make one more desperate effort for freedom.

"Look here, Tom," said he; "after coming thus far, we must not be taken for want of a little extra effort. If we _are_, you may be sure we shall never be allowed to make a second attempt. Now our only chance is to scale that cliff; we _must_ do it, and we _can_ do it, if we only go resolutely to work. It will be difficult, fatiguing, and awfully dangerous, for we must take poor Walford with us; but _liberty_ awaits us at the top; the sea is not half a mile off, I know, by the sound of it; and we can reach it before those fellows can ride round to intercept us; so let us set to with a will, my lad, and we shall sc.r.a.pe clear yet, you take my word for it. Now out with your cane-knife, and cut away at the gra.s.s; we must well pad poor Walford all round with it, so that he may not be hurt by b.u.mping against those rocks; then we'll lash him hard and fast in the canvas, lash ourselves one to each end of him, and away aloft we go."

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

ON THE FACE OF THE PRECIPICE.

The cane-knives were speedily at work; the gra.s.s was long and abundant, and as the two men were working for liberty--nay, probably for life itself--they were not long in cutting a sufficient quant.i.ty for their purpose. Walford was then lifted carefully out upon the ground, the gra.s.s was thickly and evenly distributed over the inner side of the hammock, and then the invalid was again deposited within it, and securely lashed up, his head only being left free. This done, two lanyards were securely attached to the extempore hammock, one at its head, and the other at its foot.

"Well done; that's capital!" exclaimed George, as the last turn was taken, making all secure. "Now slip the bight over your--ah! here come the dogs, by all that's unfortunate. We must defend ourselves with the cane-knives. I'll tackle the first one, you take the next, and--mind-- we have no time to waste; luckily there are only three of the brutes as yet; we must kill them, and be up out of reach before the others or their masters arrive. Keep steady, Tom, my lad, and strike so that one blow shall be sufficient. Now then--come on, you devils!"

As George finished speaking, the dogs--three superb specimens of the Cuban bloodhound--dashed up to within about ten feet of the fugitives, and there stopped, not attacking them, as they had expected, but merely baying loudly.

"This will not do," exclaimed George; "if we turn our backs upon them for a single instant, they will seize us; and we cannot afford the time to stand looking at them. I will take the dark one, you attack the light fellow, and mind what you are about, for they are as strong and active as tigers. _Now_!"

At the word both men sprang forward with uplifted cane-knives, and made a slash at the dogs. The creatures tried to dodge the blows, and one of them--the one attacked by Tom--succeeded. George, however, was more fortunate; he made a feint, and as the dog sprang aside, he followed him up, recovering his weapon smartly at the same time, and bringing it down in another second on the creature's head with such strength and effect that the skull was cloven open, and the poor brute, with a yell of agony, rolled over dead. Tom, meanwhile, was battling ineffectually with the dog he had attacked, and George turned just in time to see the hound spring savagely at the lad's throat, and hurl him to the ground.

With a single bound Leicester reached Tom's side, and raising the cane-knife above his head, and grasping the handle with both hands, he brought it down with all his strength across the dog's neck, taking care to avoid the thick leather collar which protected it. The blow clove through skin and bone, dividing the spine and nearly severing the head from the body; but even then it was difficult to free poor Tom from the iron jaws which had seized him. With a vigorous wrench, however, this was effected, and George then dragged the lad to his feet.

"Are you hurt?" panted Leicester.

"No," gasped Tom. "The beast only seized me by the collar of my jacket, and--"

"Then come on at once," interrupted George; "the third dog has turned tail, like a craven, luckily for us. Now slip the bight of the lanyard over your neck, and follow me. Leave the cane-knives; they will only enc.u.mber us, and perhaps throw us down the face of the precipice. Now, look out, I'm going to start."

As George spoke, he approached the face of the precipice, and, taking advantage of whatever projections he could find, began the task of scaling it, Tom following behind, and Walford slung in his make-s.h.i.+ft hammock between the two.

They worked desperately, these two men, knowing how much depended upon the next few minutes, and an onlooker would have been astounded at the progress they made, enc.u.mbered as they were with the weight and bulk of their helpless companion.

In one minute from the time of starting they had gained a height of forty feet, and then the sudden trampling of horses' hoofs, and the loud shouts of their pursuers told them that the latter had rounded the bend, and that they were seen.

In a few seconds the sounds ceased at the foot of the cliff, and in another instant the voice of the head overseer was heard shouting to them--

"Hola there! Giorgio--you miscreant--come down, or I will fire!"

"Keep steady, Tom," gasped George. "Let them fire; the chances are ten to one that they will miss us. Do you feel nervous, lad?"

"Not I," answered Tom; "never felt steadier in my life, cap'n. This rope _is_ cutting into my shoulders awful bad, though."

"So it is into mine," returned George; "but we must grin and bear it now, until we get to the top. And--whatever you do--look up, boy; if you look down, you'll grow dizzy, and, likely enough, slip; then down we must all inevitably go."

"Are you coming down, you rascals?" shouted the overseer.

"It don't look much like it, I reckon, senhor," chuckled Tom to himself, hoisting himself over the edge of a good broad ledge of rock as he spoke, a ledge some ten feet in width.

"Now!" exclaimed Leicester, as he helped the lad up, "we'll rest here a minute or two, and recover our breath. They may blaze away at us as long as they like now; we're as safe from their bullets as if they were a dozen miles away."

The overseer and his companions, however, seemed to think differently, for the fugitives had scarcely settled themselves comfortably, when a regular fusillade was opened upon them; but, as George and Tom were completely sheltered by the projecting ledge, none of the shot came near them.

They were now about half-way up the cliff, and from this position an excellent view presented itself for some distance up the ravine which they had just left; but both George and Tom, now that they were sitting quietly down, and had leisure to think about it, felt the sense of empty s.p.a.ce immediately before them, and of the sheer precipice which they knew lay beyond that narrow ledge, to be exceedingly trying to the nerves.

Presently the clatter of horses' hoofs came ringing upward to them from the bottom of the ravine, and, peering cautiously over the edge of the rock, George saw that the party of man-hunters, accompanied by four bloodhounds, had started off at a gallop on their way back to the entrance of the _cul-de-sac_. He at once guessed that their intention was to ride round over the hills, and endeavour to pick up the trail again at the top of the cliff.

The act of looking downward from so great an elevation, and the sight of the sheer precipice, on the very edge of which he was hanging, with absolutely nothing to prevent him from falling over and going whirling headlong down to the bottom, produced in George a sudden attack of vertigo. The whole landscape appeared to rock to and fro; the ledge upon which he was standing seemed to sway suddenly forward over the abyss and threaten to launch him into s.p.a.ce; he felt himself wavering upon the very brink, and an almost uncontrollable impulse seized him to spring off and take that terrible downward flight. Another glance downward, and the impulse became irresistible. He drew back a step, braced himself for the terrible leap, flung his arms above his head, and, uttering a piercing cry, was in the very act of launching himself forward over the edge, when Tom, happening to glance at him, and to detect his suicidal determination just in time, sprang up, and, with a cry of amazement and horror, dragged him forcibly back against the wall of rock behind.

"Why, cap'n!" exclaimed the lad, as soon as he had sufficiently recovered from his astonishment to speak,--"why, cap'n, whatever's the matter with yer? What was you goin' to do?"

For the moment poor George was too unnerved to speak. The instant that he was dragged back from the ledge, the horrible fascination lost its hold upon him; he suddenly realised in its fullest extent the frightful peril from which he had been so providentially s.n.a.t.c.hed, and, covering his face with his hands, as the revulsion of feeling came upon him, he shook and quivered like an aspen-leaf. A minute or two more and this dreadful feeling also pa.s.sed away, his calmness and self-possession returned to him, and, placing himself upon his knees, there on that narrow ledge of rock he humbly returned his hearty thanks to G.o.d for his preservation, and prayed for help and deliverance for himself and his companions in their present sore need. Then, turning to Tom, he said--

"Thank you, Tom; you have saved my life as surely as ever man's life has been saved by a fellow-creature in this world. I was in the very act of springing off the rock when you dragged me back, and, but for you, my body would at this moment be lying mangled and lifeless a hundred feet below. I do not know how it was, but when I looked down over the edge, I turned giddy and sick all in a moment, and then I felt that I _must_ fling myself down the precipice. Let this be a warning to us both, my lad; for it shows that, steady as are our heads aloft at sea, they are not to be too much depended upon when climbing precipices on sh.o.r.e.

But, come! it is high time that we should be moving again; those fellows are half-way to the head of the valley by this time, and if we are not smart, they will have us yet. Do you feel sufficiently rested to tackle the other half of this cliff?"

"Ay, ay, cap'n, I'm ready," answered Tom; "but, for the Lord's sake, sir, and for all our sakes, don't you go for to look down and get tempted to jump off again. Perhaps I mightn't be able to stop you next time, you know."

"All right, Tom, never fear," answered George; "I'll take care not to run such an awful risk again, you may be sure. Now are you ready? Then take your end of this poor fellow, and let us be moving."

But, now that they were ready to resume their ascent, another terrible difficulty presented itself. On looking upward for a projection by which to raise himself, Leicester for the first time became aware that the ledge on which they stood marked a change of strata. Below them it was all hard rock; above the ledge he could see nothing but a vertical unbroken face, some twenty feet in height, of soft crumbling sandstone, so soft indeed that it scarcely merited the name of stone at all, but might be more fitly described as solidly compressed red sandy soil, of such slight tenacity that it was possible to sc.r.a.pe it away with the naked finger. To climb this smooth crumbling face, even with the aid of a ladder, George at once saw would have been utterly impossible; for, though it has been spoken of as vertical, it was not strictly so; it inclined slightly forward, so as actually to overhang them, and a ladder would therefore not have stood against the face; how, then, could they hope, enc.u.mbered as they were, to surmount it? The task was an obvious impossibility, and George saw that it would be necessary to seek for a practicable place elsewhere.

Accordingly Walford was once more laid upon the rock, with Tom to watch him and guard against any possible mishap, whilst George went off upon an exploring expedition.

He first tried to the left, pa.s.sing along the ledge very cautiously, with his face turned to the wall, so that he might not again be exposed to the terrible temptation from which he had so recently escaped. At first he had great hopes of success, the ledge beginning to slope upward as he pa.s.sed along it to the eastward; but when he had traversed some fifty yards or so, it suddenly narrowed away to nothing under a projecting angle of the superimposed sandstone, and in endeavouring to get a glimpse round this angle, the soft material crumbled in George's grasp, he lost his hold, staggered, reeled, struggled ineffectually to recover his balance, and fell. For a single instant he gave himself up as lost, and suffered in antic.i.p.ation all the agonies of a frightful death; but he had not fallen more than six feet, when his outstretched hand encountered a long, stout, flexible twig, or rather a young tree, shooting out from an interstice in the rocks. He grasped it with the iron grip of a drowning man, grasped it with both hands, and, though it bent double with his weight, it held out bravely, and enabled him to regain his footing on the face of the precipice. In another moment he had scrambled once more on to the ledge, where he lay panting, breathless, with torn and bleeding hands, but safe.

The appalling peril from which he had thus a second time so narrowly escaped, inflicted a terrible shock on George's nerves, and it was some time before he could find courage to once more raise his head and look about him. The reflection, however, that two men, one of them utterly helpless, were in the same perilous situation as himself--having indeed been brought directly into it by him--helped him to once more recover the command of his nerves, and, somewhat ashamed of their unexpected weakness, he scrambled to his feet and set out to explore in the opposite direction.

By the time that he had once more reached the point where Tom sat patiently awaiting him, the dusk was closing down upon the landscape with all the rapidity peculiar to the tropics, and, shrouded as they were in the deep shadow of the precipice, it was already difficult for them to see each other clearly. This meant still another danger added to those which already confronted them, and George felt that, unless a way of escape could quickly be found, they would be compelled to remain where they were all night, a prospect which involved so many horrible contingencies that he dared not allow his mind to dwell upon it, but, turning his attention strictly to the matter in hand, hurried away on his quest to the westward.

In this direction he was more successful, the ledge, at a distance of some thirty yards, running into a steep earthy slope, some ten or a dozen yards in height, above which the precipice again rose sheer to the top. And, as far as he could see in the quick-gathering darkness, this precipice again presented a rocky face, up the inequalities of which it might be possible for them to climb.

But a single glance was enough to a.s.sure George that the most perilous portion of their journey still lay before them. In the first place, the slope was frightfully steep, rising at an angle of fully fifty degrees from the horizontal; and, in the next place, it was covered with a long thick growth of gra.s.s, rendering its face almost as slippery as ice.

And its lower edge terminated abruptly in a vertical overhanging face, similar to that which towered above the place where he had left Tom and Walford, so that, should either of them slip in traversing this dangerous part of their journey, they must all, lashed together as they were, inevitably slide and roll helplessly down and over the edge into the depths below.

As George contemplated the fearful dangers attending their further progress, the idea occurred to him that perhaps, after all, now that their pursuers had gone, and the ground was left clear below, it would be better to retrace their steps and endeavour to find another and more practicable way out of the ravine.

But a few seconds' consideration of this plan convinced Leicester of its utter impracticability. They had, by superhuman exertions, succeeded in climbing _up_ the precipice; but he knew that they could never get Walford safely _down_ again. There was nothing for it, then, but to go on, and _upward_, even though they should find their pursuers awaiting them at the top, a contingency which so much lost time rendered only too probable.