The Golden Magnet Part 43

It proved to be a very, very long job, but we worked at it with all our might, knowing as we did that our future depended upon our getting the pieces of our pontoon safely with us to some stream, where we could fit it once more together and use it to help in floating down to a place of refuge.

"It's a rum job, Mas'r Harry," said Tom. "My word, if these knots weren't well tied! I never thought about having to undo it over again."

"Never mind, Tom; work away," I cried.

"Oh! Ah! I'll work away," he replied. "That's better! That's one of 'em. They won't bear the lot, Mas'r Harry, when we fits it together again?"

"If the raft is not strong enough, Tom, we must make it stronger," I said; and he gave a grunt and worked away, tugging at the knots and very often using his teeth.

At last, though, we had all the ties secured together in a bunch ready for immediate use--the poles bound in small bundles, and the skins fastened together by their necks, they having the advantage of being very light.

Then followed a pause for rest and refreshment, with a short consultation between my uncle and me as to our plans, which resulted in a busy hour at work, two of the mules being laden then with the gold.

This was a very difficult task, as the packages were so awkward and heavy, the object being to make them secure against any antic on the part of the mules if they became restive, and also to guard against the corners of the plates rubbing the animals' backs.

"I'd give anything to open those bags, Harry," said my uncle. "I feel as curious as a boy."

"Take my word for it, Uncle," I replied, "that they are wonderful treasures. Come, I'll make a bargain with you."

"What is it, my boy?"

"You shall do the unpacking and the breaking up when we set to in safety, and melt them down into ingots."

"If we ever have the chance," he said sadly.

"Don't be down-hearted, Uncle," I cried cheerily. "Recollect we are English, and Englishmen never know the meaning of the word 'fail.'"

"True, my boy," he replied; "but we have our work before us."

"And that's just the work we mean to get done," said Tom, interposing his opinion. "And now just you look here, moke," he continued, addressing the mule he was helping to load--one which kept on laying down its ears and showing its teeth as if it meant to bite--"here am I a-doing all I can to make your load easy and comfortable for your ugly back, and you're saying you're a-going to bite. Am I to kick you in the ribs? 'Cause if you're not quiet I just will."

The mule seemed to understand either Tom's words or the threatening movement of his foot, for it allowed itself to be loaded in peace; and soon after the valuable treasure was declared to be quite safe, though I knew perfectly well that any violent fit of kicking on the part of the obstinate beasts must result in the whole being dislodged.

The next task was to apportion the remainder of our extremely reduced stock of provision between the two mules that my aunt and Lilla were to ride; and upon these mules, on the off-side away from the stirrup, I proposed to secure the light poles and skins of the raft.

"They will be very awkward going amongst the trees," I said, "but it is the best we can do."

"Why not carry them?" said my uncle.

"Because we must have our hands free to use our weapons," I replied.

"True, my lad," he said, "and we might have to drop and not recover them."

"They'll be no end of a bother for the ladies, Mas'r Harry," said Tom.

"Lookye here: they sticks 'll ride as comf'able as can be atop of the gold bags. Why not have 'em here?"

"Because, Tom, it may be necessary to leave the gold bags behind, and we shall want the raft to escape."

"Leave the gold behind, Mas'r Harry!" he cried; "not if I know it."

"Life is worth more than gold, Tom," I said in reply.

Tom made no answer. He only set his teeth very hard, and the skins and poles were secured just as I wished.

Towards evening, according to arrangement, Tom led the way with one of the gold mules; my uncle followed leading another and bearing a light, and the others required no inducement to keep close behind.

Garcia must have imagined that he was to be left to starve, for he did not see me as I stood back listening to the pattering of the mules' feet upon the hard rock, and the silence that fell directly after when they touched sand; and, raising his voice, he gave so wild and despairing a shriek that my uncle came hurrying back.

"Harry, my dear lad, surely you have not--"

"No, Uncle," I said contemptuously, "I had not even spoken. It was his coward heart that smote him."

Loosening his legs, which of late we had slackened so as to guard against numbness, we made him rise; and then forcing my arm under his, I led him along till we overtook the last mule bearing my aunt; and then our slow, dark journey was continued till, nearing the entrance, the lights were extinguished and my uncle, taking Tom's place as leader, the latter stole forward, and returned in half an hour to say that the sun had set, and that though he had watched long and carefully from the very mouth of the cave, there was nothing to be seen.

We went forward then, to rest for fully an hour in the cavern close now to the barrier, for the darkness fell swiftly into the ravine, rolling, as it were, down the mountain-sides; and then, with beating hearts, we prepared to start, our course being along the little valley to the entrance, and then, according to my uncle's plans, as nearly south-east as we could travel until we could hit upon a stream.

The time for starting at length came, and after a little further consultation Garcia was once more carefully secured and laid upon his back in the mouth of the cave, that being the only plan we could adopt; and then, panting with excitement, each man with all his weapons ready for immediate action, we started in single file and began to move down the ravine.

The darkness was intense, and but for the sagacity of the leading mule our progress would have been slow indeed; but the patient brute went on at a quiet, regular pace, and his fellows followed, the breathing of the animals and the slight rustle through the herbage being all that smote the ear.

I should think that we had gone about a quarter of a mile, straining our eyes to catch sight of an enemy on either side as we made our way through what was like a dense bank of darkness, when, loud and clear upon the night air, rang out a wild, strange cry, which made us instinctively stop to listen.

Twice more it rang out, evidently distant, but still plainly heard as it echoed along the ravine.

"It is some beast of prey, but it will not come near us," said my uncle, to encourage Mrs Landell.

"Harry, what is it?" whispered Lilla.

Her soft arm was pa.s.sed round my neck as she clung, trembling, to me, unable to master her agitation.

"We must push on," I said.

Once more the mules were in motion when the cry rang out again, louder and clearer this time.

I did not answer Lilla's question, for I thought it better not; but I had my own thoughts upon the subject, and I was wondering whether my uncle suspected the meaning of the cry, when I was startled by a voice which seemed to rise out of the darkness.

"Mas'r Harry--Mas'r Harry! I shall never forgive myself. Only to think of me being the one as tied the last knot, and then never to think of gagging him. He'll be there shouting till he brings down all the Indians within twenty miles. Let's make haste, for I sha'n't breathe till we get out of this great long furrer here."

The darkness was still so thick that we could hardly see the bushes against which we brushed, while even when pa.s.sing beneath dense ma.s.ses of foliage there seemed to be no difference. A hundred enemies might have been right in front of us, and we should have walked right into their midst.

It was a daring adventure; but it was only by keeping on that we could hope to escape, and if the black darkness did not prove our friend until we were clear of the ravine, I felt that we could hardly hope to get away.

The cries still continued at intervals; but now every cry only seemed to nerve us to greater exertion, and at last they sounded but faintly, as, under the impression that we were now past the entrance to the rift, I was about to tell Tom to try and bear off to the right, if the undergrowth would allow. We had all drawn up, and the mules were reaching down their heads, tempted by the dewy gra.s.s, when Tom gave a warning whisper; and directly after, just to our left, came the sound of bodies moving through the bushes, coming nearer and nearer, till about abreast, when they turned off again, and seemed to be proceeding up the ravine towards the cavern.

It was a painful five minutes as we stood there, trembling lest one of the mules should shake buckle or strap; for no one there, on afterwards comparing notes, had a doubt as to the cause of the sounds. It was evidently a body of some half dozen men making their way as fast as the darkness would allow, and it was not until all was once more quiet that we could again breathe freely, and continue our journey as swiftly as we could pa.s.s through the trees.

We had no difficulty in journeying to the right, and it soon became evident that we were out of the rift; but I had very little hope of our being able to continue in a straight line, seeking the direction where we expected to find a river.

Our progress was necessarily slow, but every half mile, we all felt, was that distance nearer to safety. I was hopeful, too, about our trail; the dew fell heavily, and that and the elastic nature of the growth through which we pa.s.sed, would, I thought, possibly conceal our track from those who might try to follow it.