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Jack at Sea, a novel by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 35. In Spite Of All |
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_ CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE. IN SPITE OF ALL They were too close to the goats to venture upon much whispering, and the decision was soon arrived at that they were to divide, and each make the best of his way up the ridge till there was an opportunity for a close easy shot; then without waiting that shot was to be sent whizzing from the bow, the probability being that as there was no report, the goats would not be much alarmed, and another chance might be afforded. "Think we must have one this time, Mr Jack," whispered Ned, and they started from behind the great block which now sheltered them, each taking his own side. From that moment Jack had no eyes for his companion, his attention was centred upon the great father of the herd, to the left of which the two half-grown kids were browsing upon the tender young shoots of the bush-like growth. It was nervous work, for every now and then the old goat raised his head on high to take a long careful look round, and when he did, Jack remained motionless where he had crawled. Directly he saw the tips of the horns lowered he began to creep again, taking advantage of every tree-trunk, stone, or bush, and always getting nearer, though still far too distant to risk a shot. His hands trembled and were wet with perspiration, and again and again he felt that he must be seen, and expected to hear the beating of the animals' hoofs as they dashed off, but the great curved horns, sweeping back like those of an ibex, were still visible, and he crawled slowly on, forgetting all about Ned and his progress. At last, after many minutes devoted to the struggle upward, he reached a spot sufficiently elevated to give him a view of the volcano whose crater rose above the ridge, and forming; a background for the big goat, which stood out plainly about forty yards away even now, and offering itself for a shot, easy enough with a rifle, but very doubtful with a bow and arrow. The lad was in a capital position, but unfortunately the slope beyond offered no cover, and to have moved from it meant to be seen at once, while, more unfortunately still, the two kids, which should have shown themselves nearer, were now completely hidden by a clump of dense growth twenty yards from where he lay. "If I could only have got there," thought Jack, "how easy it would be." But to have moved would have been to send the whole herd careering away, and all he could do was to wait and see if the kids would at last come from behind the shrubs. "They may come nearer," he thought, and he softly fitted an arrow to the bowstring, and waited for his opportunity, for he could do no more. There he rested, bow and arrow held ready, in a very awkward position for shooting, but he dared not move, for at the slightest movement even of his companions, the goat raised his head, and several times gave an angry stamp with one of his fore-feet. "I wonder where Ned is now," thought the boy, and he hoped that he was having better fortune, and he glanced cautiously in the direction where he must be, but all was still; butterflies were flitting about, birds darted by, and the old goat, the only one of the herd now visible, still browsed or watched. Jack glanced away to his left to see if he could take and creep round to a better position, but there was less cover than where he was; and after waiting impatiently for what seemed to be over a quarter of an hour, the lad determined to risk all, and creep to the clump in front, if only a few inches at a time, bearing to his left in the hope of getting it between him and the old goat, and bearing still more off till he could get his shot at the young. All at once, in the midst of the soft hum of insects and the cropping sound made by the invisible goats, Jack heard a peculiar bleating noise away to his right. Jack looked quickly round, expecting to see an easy shot, and the big goat looked too, and took a step or two forward. Then the bleating began again and ended suddenly in a peculiar smothered way, as if the creature which uttered it had been suddenly strangled. The big goat looked puzzled, raised his head higher, and stared in the direction of the sound, stamped angrily, and uttered an angry, defiant _ba-a-a-a-a_! At the cry Jack's heart leaped, for a kid that he had not previously seen sprang into sight, and stood within thirty yards of the watcher, side on, offering an easy shot, while the rest of the herd trotted hurriedly up to their leader. _Twang_! Jack's arrow had sped after he had drawn it to the head, and as he was in the act of springing up to see if the shaft had taken effect, something heavy pitched on to his shoulders, throwing him face forward among the thick growth, and a pair of black hands clasped his neck and throat. It was all done so suddenly that he was half stunned. The stalker had been stalked, and as he was twisted round by the man who had leaped upon him, and who now sat upon his chest, half-a-dozen more black faces appeared, their owners grinning with triumph. Jack yelled with all his might-- "Run for it, Ned. Savages. Run!" The warning was all in vain, for the next minute four more blacks appeared, dragging the man after them bound hand and foot, and looking purple in the face, and scratched as if he had been engaged in a severe struggle. "There you are, Mr Jack," he panted. "They've 'most killed me. Jumped upon me just as I had a splendid chance. On my back. Five to one, the cowards. And then they come behind you, and can't hit fair. Are you hurt?" "Not much. Oh, Ned, and I thought we had got away from them." "Yes, but they must have been on the look-out, sir." The blacks were standing round them, spear in hand, ready to strike if an attempt was made to escape, and Jack said so. "Oh yes, sir, they'd let go at us if we tried to run, but it's of no use to do that, for they'd bring us down at once. There, we may as well look it straight in the face and make the best of it." "We can't, Ned," said Jack dismally; "there is no best to it. I only wish I knew what they were going to do with us. Only fancy, after us taking all that trouble to get away!" The bewailings were brought to an end by a stalwart black clapping him on the shoulder and saying something as he pointed over the ridge. "Ugh! you ugly, mop-headed Day and Martin dummy," cried Ned. "If I hadn't a better language than that I'd hold my tongue. No use to kick, Mr Jack; suppose we must go on." Jack was already stepping forward, urged by another powerfully-built fellow, who showed his teeth and pricked him forward with the point of the spear he carried. It was a blunt, clumsy weapon, the point being merely the wood of which it was formed, hardened by thrusting in the fire, but the hand which held it was powerful, and the prod received severe, though the skin was not pierced. Jack uttered no cry, neither did he shrink, but turned round so fiercely upon the black that the fellow started back. "Well done, Mr Jack, sir," cried Ned excitedly; "that did me good. I like that, sir. Let 'em see that you're Briton to the backbone, and though they've tied me up again with these bits of cane, Britons never shall be slaves. Here, ugly: come and stand in front and I'll kick you." It was waste of words, but the blacks understood that it was meant defiantly, and they lowered their spears and signed to their prisoners to go on. "Oh yes," cried Ned proudly, "we'll go on. Can't help ourselves, can we, Mr Jack? But don't be down-hearted, sir. They haven't killed us, and perhaps after all they may take us where we want to go down to the shore." But as they tramped on, with one of their captors leading the way, and the rest behind, keeping an eye upon the cane bonds which now held both prisoners' wrists behind, their way proved to be diagonally up the slope of the volcano, and the tramp was kept up for hours beneath the broiling heat of the sun, while it seemed to Jack that every now and then hot sulphurous puffs of wind escaped from the stony ground over which they passed. The trees grew rapidly fewer and less in size, till there were only scattered bushes, and higher still these were dwarfed into wiry grasses and tufts of a heather-like growth, with lichens and dried-up mosses. "Try and hold up, Mr Jack sir, they must halt soon to eat and drink. My word, if we weren't prisoners, I'd say what a view we get from up here. See anything of the yacht?" "No, Ned; she's inside the reef, and we can't see that." "No, sir, you're right. 'Britons never shall be slaves,' but all the same I feel just as if I was being driven to market. That's it, they're taking us somewhere to sell us, I know; wonder how many cocoanuts we shall fetch, or p'r'aps it'll be shells. Thirsty, sir?" "I don't know, Ned, I haven't thought about it. I suppose I am, and hungry and very tired; but I've been thinking about whether we shall ever see the yacht again." "Oh yes, sir. Never say die. Life's all ups and downs. Sir John ain't forsaking us, you may be sure, and any moment we may see him and a lot of our jolly Jack Tars coming round the corner, and the doctor with 'em, ready to give these black brutes a dose of leaden pills. Ah! and they'll have to take 'em too, whether they like 'em or no. Don't you be down." "I'm not, Ned. I keep trying to think that it's all adventure and experience." "That's it, sir. Do to talk about when we get back to old England." Twice over, as the diagonal ascent grew steeper, the blacks halted for about half-an-hour, and the prisoners were glad to lie down in the shelter of one of the lava blocks with which the slope was strewn, the cool air which came from the sea being fresh and invigorating; and the second time Ned suddenly exclaimed-- "Not going to take us up to the top, are they, and pitch us into the fire?" "Not likely, Ned," replied Jack; "but we little expected to make the ascent like this." "With our hands tied behind us, sir." "I believe they are going this way so as to avoid the forest, and as soon as we get a little farther round they will begin to descend on the other side." Jack's idea proved to be correct, for upon reaching a spot where nothing but a friable slope of fine ashes kept them from the summit, the leader suddenly leaped down into a hollow which was scored into the mountain side, and began to descend, followed by the rest. "Due west," said Jack thoughtfully. "Why, Ned, we shall reach the shore far from where we left the yacht." "If it goes straight down, sir; but is it west?" "Yes, we are going straight for the sun now, and this gash in the mountain grows deeper. Look." "Yes, that's right, sir; but I do wish we could get to some water now. It's a dry journey from here to the shore, and you're beginning to be done up." "Yes, Ned," said Jack wearily; "I am beginning to be done up now." _ |
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