Chapter 86
"I'll try, Ned," said Jack abruptly.
"That's right, sir; only let's wait and see if they give us any first.
Shame on 'em if they don't."
The pig extracted from the blacks' hiding-place began to smell tempting enough to excite any one's appet.i.te, and as a good-sized piece was handed to each by their captors--
"Don't mean to kill us yet, Mr Jack," said Ned merrily. "Hope they don't mean any of that nonsense later on."
But Jack was too weary and low-spirited to reply to his companion's jokes, and he lay back after a time, watching the soft glow over the volcano far above their heads, then the brilliant stars, which looked larger than at home, and glided suddenly into a deep sleep, from which he was awakened by a rough prod from the b.u.t.t end of a spear.
The lad flushed angrily, but tried to curb his resentment, and turned away as he rose, to find Ned standing watching him in the early morning light.
"Never mind, Mr Jack," he said softly. "It's hard to bear; but this isn't the time to show fight. That black brute kicked me to wake me, and it made me as savage as a bear. If he'd had boots on I should have hit him, I know I should, I couldn't have helped it even if he'd killed me for it; but then you see he hadn't boots on, though the sole of his foot's almost like hoof."
"They're going on directly, Ned."
"Are they, sir? Well, I must have a drink of water first."
He took a step toward the pool; but a spear was presented at his breast, and it was not until Jack had made a sign of drinking that they were allowed to bend down over it.
Directly after they started back up the side gorge to where it joined the greater, and then began to descend again by what proved to be a very precipitous but direct way down toward the sea, water soon after making its appearance in a mere thread, which suddenly leaped down from a crack in the side and found its way to the bottom: while as they were hurried on by their more nimble captors, the stream kept on increasing in volume by the help of the many tiny tributaries which joined it.
Under different auspices the walk would have been glorious. Sir John and the doctor would have found it one grand preserve for birds and insects; but the prisoners had hard work to keep up with their sure-footed captors, and any hesitation on arriving at a difficult bit of the descent was looked upon as an attempt to escape.
The blacks were evidently quite at home in this one of the many ravines which carried the water condensed upon the mountain down to the sea, and consequently made pretty good speed; but this came hard upon their prisoners, who occupied so much time in descending the worst parts that they became at last menacing, and Jack trembled for the consequences of Ned retaliating with a blow.
"It would do no good, Ned," he said earnestly. "But it makes us seem so cowardly to let them poke at us with their spears, sir, and never do anything."
"Never mind how it seems, Ned. You are not cowardly."
"Well, I'd punch any fellow's head who said I was, sir, or who said the same about you."
"They can't say it so that we can understand, and let them think what they like. We'd fight if there was anything to be got by it; but there isn't, Ned. Let's pretend to be beaten now, and then they will not be so watchful.
"Then I'm not to hit out, no matter what they do to me?"
"Certainly not."
"But suppose I see 'em hitting or prodding you, sir? Must do something then."
"Nothing whatever, Ned; I'll bear it patiently in the hope of getting a chance to escape later on."
"All right, sir; but I'm getting very hungry for a bit of revenge."
"Wait, Ned, and perhaps it will come."
The difficulties of the descent detained them so that it was fast nearing sunset when the ravine began to widen out and pa.s.s beneath the branches of the huge forest monarchs which clothed the lower slopes of the mountain, and wearied out with the day's exertion, Jack began to look out eagerly for the green, park-like expanse which followed the dense jungle, to be succeeded in turn by the sands that ran down into the lagoon.
The more open part appeared sooner than he expected, and with it the river widened into a good-sized pool of open water, where, to the prisoners' surprise, they suddenly found themselves face to face with another party of blacks, who welcomed the new-comers with an eager jabbering as they closed round and examined their captives curiously.
"Our chance of escape cut shorter, Mr Jack," said Ned.
"Yes, I'm afraid so, Ned. They must have been camping here; and I suppose we shall have to stop in this place for the night?"
"Dunno. P'r'aps," said Ned. "See that, Mr Jack?"
He glanced down beneath the trees, where the water lay dark and deep; but for a few moments Jack saw nothing unusual. The next moment though he uttered a little cry of surprise.
"Yes," he said, "I see it now, the boat--drawn right up beneath the boughs."
It was impossible to comprehend the words of the reunited parties of the blacks, but easy to grasp the meaning of their gestures, and as Jack's attention was caught by the eager conversation going on, he pretty well saw that those who had been waiting had seen danger, for they kept on pointing and making other signs, the end being that the prisoners were hurried down to the edge of the water, and pushed toward the great canoe.
"All right!" cried Ned angrily. "I ain't a sack of oats: I can get in.
Don't chuck a fellow into the tub."
Expostulation was useless, and the two were thrust down in the bottom; the blacks hurried in and took their places, each man seizing his paddle, and in perfect silence they began to dip their blades into the smooth water, the huge canoe began to move very slowly, and then by degrees faster, the men paddling almost without a splash.
"The _Star_ must be pretty close at hand, Mr Jack," said Ned, as they glided at last out of the little dark river into the bright, golden waters of the lagoon, "and they know it; that's how I take all their play-acting jigging about to mean."
"Yes, Ned, that's it. Oh, if we could only see her, or one of the boats! Which way are they going?"
"Well, Mr Jack," said Ned grimly, "I don't like to tell you; but it seems to me that we're off on a voyage to n.i.g.g.e.r-land, and yet the newspapers say that slavery's nearly done away with now."
"Slavery?" said Jack, and his heart sank within him. "Oh, Ned, that would be awful."
"Better than being made beef and mutton of, Mr Jack. But don't you be down-hearted; p'r'aps we may be together after all, and if we are, there ain't nothing I won't do to make it easier for you, sir, and we'll cut and run, as the sailors say, some day. Ups and downs in life we see; right-tooral-looral-looral-lee. There's only heads and tails to a penny, and if you spin it up in the air, it sometimes comes down one side, and sometimes the other. Well, it's come down wrong way for us this time, next time p'r'aps it may come down right. If it don't, well, you've got too much pluck in you to howl about it: so have I. Here, I don't care; let's look at the bright side of things."
"Oh, Ned, how can we at a time like this?" groaned Jack.
"Easy, sir. It's all adventures, and it might be a jolly deal worse."
"How?"
"Why, this might be a poor old leaky canoe as wasn't safe, and all the time it's a fizzer. See how it goes. Then we might have had a shabby, common-looking crew; but I will say it for them, spite of all the love I don't bear for 'em, they're the blackest and s.h.i.+niest set of fellows I ever did see. Look at their backs in the warm light; why, you might see to shave in 'em--well, I might; you're lucky enough not to have any beard yet."
"It don't seem as if I shall live to have one, Ned."
"Tchah! nonsense. You'll live to a hundred now. This voyage has made a man of you, my lad. All you've got to do is to keep up your pluck. I say, look at 'em, Mr Jack; they paddle splendid. Talk about our boat-races; why look here, I'd back these chaps. What's that old song?
You know; voices keep toon and our oars keep time--only it's paddles.
Row, brothers, row. Keep it up, n.i.g.g.e.rs. Slaves indeed! why they're the slaves, not us; we're sitting here as jolly as two lords in a 'lectric launch, going down to Richmond to eat whitebait and drink champagne. Let's see though, I don't mean Richmond, I mean Blackwall.
Let's think we've got a crew of blacks taking us to Blackwall."
"Why, Ned!" cried Jack excitedly, "they're paddling straight across the lagoon for the reef."
"That's right, Mr Jack; so they are," said Ned recklessly. "Hooray!
who cares! Go it, you black beggars. I say, Mr Jack, sir, look; did you ever see such lovely heads of hair? They'd make splendid grenadiers, and be an advantage to Government to 'list a lot of 'em.
They'd come so cheap. They wouldn't want any clothes, and there they are with their busbies a-growing already on their heads. Might call 'em the Blackguards, and that's what they are."