Syd Belton

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

The bustle about him at daybreak woke Syd up to find that it was a glorious morning, but a sharp breeze had arisen; the sea was alive with breaking waves, and great rollers kept coming in to thunder upon the rock, sending up the broken water so far that it was evidently the first duty to get all the tackle and raise the remainder of the cases and barrels to the level of the cleft.

Willing hands worked well at this, and at last everything was got up in safety on the first platform ready for running into the cleft, all save the two dismounted guns and their carriages, which were not likely to hurt, and the raising of these was deferred till after the breakfast, which one of the men who acted as cook had prepared.

"There'll be no communication with the s.h.i.+p to-day, gentlemen," said the lieutenant, "unless the wind drops. Why, she must be three miles farther away, and I can't see the _Orion_. Bad job for you, Mr Belton."

"Yes, sir," said Syd, quietly going on with his breakfast, and glancing at Terry, who scowled.

"Well, I shall make you work. That's the only plan in dealing with stowaways."

"Oh, I'll work, sir," said Syd. "When I've done break fast," he added to himself.

"I tell you what," said the lieutenant; "we shall all be busy getting up and mounting those guns, so I shall set you to find your mare's-nest."

"My what, sir?"

"Mare's-nest, my lad. You shall have two of our most active lads well-armed. Take pistols yourself, and be careful with them. Go and search every hole and cranny you can. Find the thing you saw last night, and bring him or it to me. I'm satisfied it was no one from the _Sirius_, and it may be some young black sent across and landed to find out what he can."

As soon as the morning meal was ended Syd set about his task, meeting with a lowering look from Terry as he pa.s.sed him. Two smart young fellows were his companions, and the fact that he had a brace of loaded pistols stuck in his belt making him feel more important than ever he had felt before, till he came upon Strake, who was busy at the very part where he had seen the dark figure pa.s.s, and strengthening and adding to the tackle which was to be used to get up the guns.

"Mornin', Mr Belton, sir," said the boatswain; and stepping aside so as to be out of hearing, he said in a low voice, "'Member what I says to you when I was cleaning the cap'in's pistols?"

"Yes, I remember, Barney," said Syd, in the same low tone.

"Then I says it again, sir, that's all."

"I'll take care," said Syd; and he went on in advance of his men, but feeling as if the old boatswain had been cutting his comb.

An isolated ma.s.s of rock some eight or ten acres in extent does not suggest that there would be much difficulty in the way of search; but before they had gone many yards Syd realised that he had a very awkward task, and that a rope would be a very acceptable article for helping one another. This had to be fetched, and then once more they started, with Syd beginning to feel the responsibilities of his work, and the necessity for showing that he possessed energy and determination if he wished the men to obey.

They had not gone much past their first halting-place when he stopped and hesitated, for there were cracks and holes large enough to conceal any one, in all directions. As he stood looking round him, one of the men whispered to the other, and they both laughed.

This seemed to stir Syd up. He had inherited enough of his father's habits to feel nettled at any doubt of his ability, and he rather startled the men by saying sharply--

"You, Rogers, go yonder to the left; Wills, you take the right. Both of you keep as close

"Ay, ay, sir," they cried together. "But what's the enemy like, sir?"

"Find him and see," said Syd, sharply. "Now off."

The men separated at once, and the toilsome job began, with the sun beating down with tropical power, but the brisk wind reducing the ardour to bearing point.

"Nice job this," thought the boy, as leaving the cleft centre of the rock a little to his left, he began his arduous clamber. "Why, it's as bad as being an ant in a loaf-sugar basin. Given myself the hardest job."

But he persevered, searching diligently every rift, and amongst great blocks of stone over which he afterwards clambered, seeking the highest point so as to get a sight of one or the other of his two men, who were as active as he; but they all reached the edge of the rock at the point furthest from where they had landed without making any discovery.

"Well," cried Syd, wiping the great drops of perspiration from his brow, "found anything?"

"Lots of holes, sir," said one.

"Cracks big enough to hold a s.h.i.+p's crew, sir," said the other.

"Back again, then," cried Syd. "There's either a monkey or a man in hiding somewhere about the place, and we've got to find him."

"Ought to have said _it_" thought Syd, as he started back, shouting to the men to take lines a little nearer to him, while he too altered his course, making straight now for the cleft rock which rose like the citadel of the place.

As he climbed along he found rift after rift, some so close that he could not get his hand down, others so wide and deep that he hesitated at the task of leaping over them, wondering what would be the result if he slipped and fell. The fact grew upon him as he went on, that small as the place looked from the s.h.i.+p's deck, there was plenty of room for an enemy or fifty enemies to hide; but he became more certain that the natural pier was the only place where an enemy could land; the two men having confirmed the opinion formed when Lieutenant Dallas rowed round.

"Strikes me," said Syd to himself, as he kept on peering down into chasm after chasm, "that if we want to catch our friend we shall have to set a trap for him."

He climbed on and came to another eerie-looking place, more forbidding than any he had yet seen. It was only a jagged crack of a couple of feet across, but it sloped outward directly, so that a vast hollow was formed, and when he shouted down it there was a deep reverberating sound which died away in a whisper.

Boy nature is boy nature all the world over, and Syd could not resist the prompting which led him to drag a great piece of stone to the edge of the crack and push it in.

He shrank back, startled at the effect of what he had done, for no sooner had the stone disappeared than it seemed to strike on the side and rebound, to strike again and then again and again, raising an echoing, booming roar, which ended as suddenly as it had begun.

"I can't go down a place like that," he said, impatiently, as he shrank away; and then he stood staring, for the noise began again. But not below ground, for it was as if the rock had come cras.h.i.+ng out in front of him a hundred and fifty feet away, to be followed by a hurried shouting; and on climbing a block of stone to his right, he made out one of his men looking out for him, and waving his hand and shouting--"Back!

Back!"

Something was wrong. Perhaps it was an attack; and he clambered higher so as to attract the attention of the other man, who also shouted and waved his hand before pointing at the citadel in front.

"Something must be wrong," thought Syd, and he hurried panting on, to get in sight of the end of the chasm at last, but he could see nothing, only that the spars rigged up crane-fas.h.i.+on were not there.

He was now on the highest part of the ridge, which ran down from the centre rock to the end; and as he clambered along he gazed seaward in search of the frigate, but it seemed to be gone. The next moment, though, he caught sight of her top-gallant spars, and realised that she must be sailing right away.

The heat was tremendous as Syd struggled on, finding that he had selected a far worse piece of the rock than had fallen to his men, and that his task would prove hopeless without the whole party turned out to help.

All at once, after getting over a block of rugged limestone, which seemed full of coral, he found that he must let himself right down into a deep crack, or else clamber to right or left, where the difficulties were far greater, even if they were surmountable.

He paused for a few moments to wipe his streaming face, and looked up overhead longingly at where the wind was whistling among the blocks of stone, and then lowered himself carefully down some thirty feet, stood listening to a curious sound which came whispering up from where the chasm he was in contracted to a mere crack, and after coming to the conclusion that it must be caused by there being some communication with the sea, he crossed the crack, and began to climb up the other side, where before he was half-way up one of his two men appeared peering over the edge, and looking down with a scared face.

"Oh, there you are, sir," he cried; "we was getting frightened, and thought you'd tumbled."

"No: give me your hand. Thank you. Phew! how hot it is down there!"

cried Syd, as he climbed out and stood in the comparatively cool sea-breeze again. "But why did you hail me?"

"Don't know, sir. There's some'at wrong up yonder."

"Something wrong? Not attacked, are they?"

"Dunno, sir."

"Where's your messmate?"

"Here he comes, sir," said the man, waving his hand; and following their young leader, the two sailors made for the end of the great chasm where the guns were to be hoisted up, and Strake had been so busy with the tackle.

For some minutes, as they climbed over or round the obstacles, there was nothing to be seen; but after creeping round a bold corner of rock, Syd suddenly found himself looking down on the whole party from the s.h.i.+p gathered in a knot round what seemed from the rope and tackle to be one of the guns.