Kitabı oku: «Real Gold: A Story of Adventure», sayfa 4

“Attend here,” said the colonel. Then very sternly: “You cannot understand my words, perhaps, but you know what I mean by my actions. One of you came for some dishonest purpose to where we lay sleeping, and I wonder I did not hit whoever it was as he ran. – Give me your hand, sir,” he cried; and he seized and held Diego’s right hand for a few moments.

Then dropping it, he held out his hand to the other Indian, who eagerly placed his in the colonel’s palm.

“An outside enemy, I’m afraid,” muttered the colonel; “they are both perfectly calm. – Now you, sir,” he continued, turning to the last comer, who hesitated for a moment, and then held out his hand.

This was all in the dim starlight, the figures of the men being made plainer from time to time by the faint glow from the fire; but their faces were quite in the shade as the colonel took the last comer’s hand and grasped it tightly, while Perry’s heart began to beat, for he felt that the discovery was coming; and hence he was not surprised at the colonel’s fierce and decided action.

“Your pulse galloping,” he cried angrily, as he dragged the dimly-seen figure forward. “Perry, Manning, cover those two men, and if they make a gesture to draw their bows, fire at once. – Now, you scoundrel, it was you, and you had come to steal.”

“No, he had not, father; he came to give me back my knife.”

“What!” cried the colonel angrily.

“It’s a fact; he put it in my hand while I slept; and here it is.”

“Then – ”

“It’s quite true, sir, and no good to keep it up any longer.”

“Cil!” cried Perry in astonishment.

“Yes. Don’t be very angry with me, Colonel Campion. I felt obliged to come; I couldn’t stop away.”

“Why, you treacherous young rascal,” cried the colonel, shaking him violently.

“Don’t, sir, please; you hurt!” cried Cyril half angrily.

“How dare you mutiny against your father’s commands, and come after us like – ?”

“I dunno,” said Cyril mournfully. “I felt obliged; I wanted to be with Perry there.”

“But to come masquerading like this, sir! How dare you?”

“I dunno, I tell you,” said the boy petulantly. “It isn’t so very nice to come over the stones without shoes or stockings, and only in this thing. It’s as cold as cold, besides being painted and dirtied up as I am. My feet are as sore as sore.”

“And serve you right, you young dog. What will your father say?”

“I don’t know what he’d have said if you’d shot me,” grumbled Cyril.

The colonel coughed.

“You precious nearly did, you know,” continued Cyril querulously. “I heard the shots go crashing in among the bushes as I ran.”

“Then you shouldn’t have come prowling about the camp in the middle of the night,” cried the colonel. “Of course, sir, I took you for some wild beast or marauding Indian.”

“Well,” said Cyril, “now you know, sir, and I suppose I can go back and try to sleep.”

“Go back? Yes, sir, first thing – to your father,” cried the colonel fiercely. “I suppose he does not know you have come?”

“No, sir.”

“Of course not. A pretty disgraceful escapade, upon my word, sir! I only wish I were back in my regiment, and you were one of my subalterns. I’d punish you pretty severely for this, I promise you.”

“Would you, sir?” said Cyril drearily. “I thought I was getting punished enough. I’m sorry I disturbed you, sir; I only wanted to get close up, and touch Perry’s hand.”

“Bah!” cried the colonel. “Why did you want to touch Perry’s hand?”

“Because I was so lonely and miserable, lying there with my feet sore. I couldn’t sleep, sir. The stones have cut them, and I was afraid to wash them, for fear you should see how white my legs were.”

The colonel coughed.

“Here; stop a moment, sir,” he said, in rather a different tone. “You see, I might have shot you.”

“Yes, sir,” said Cyril dolefully. “And it did seem hard to be shot at, because I felt glad the poor fellow didn’t go off the bridge.”

The colonel coughed again.

“Hum, ha, yes,” he said, a little huskily. “It was a very narrow escape, of course, and you behaved very well. You – er – yes, of course, you quite saved his life. But I shall say no more about that now. – Here, Manning, get Mr Cyril Norton a couple of blankets. – And you’ll come and lie down by us, sir; and mind this: no more evasions, no attempts to escape.”

“I shan’t try to escape in the dark,” said Cyril drearily. “Where should I escape to, sir?”

“Ah! of course. Where to, indeed! So recollect you are a prisoner, till I place you back safely in your father’s hands. – Stop! Halt! What are you doing, Perry?”

“Only shaking hands with him, father,” said the lad.

“Then don’t shake hands with him, sir. Shake hands with gentlemen, and not with lads who disgrace themselves by disobeying their father’s orders, and satisfying their own selfishness by causing others intense anxiety.”

Perry drew in a long, deep breath, which did not go down into his lungs properly, but seemed to catch here and there.

“One moment,” said the colonel; “can you make that man Diego understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then tell him and his companion to go to sleep again.”

Cyril said a few words to the guide, and the two Indians dropped down at once, close to the warm ashes.

“I suppose, then, he knew all about your escapade, sir, eh?” cried the colonel. “Of course, he must have got you the Indian clothes and paint.”

“It was all my fault, sir; don’t blame him,” said Cyril humbly. “I’m very sorry I did it now. It seemed – ”

“Seemed? Well, what did it seem, eh? There, hold your tongue now, and go and lie down by Perry. Recollect you are in an old soldier’s camp, and I forbid all talking now. Stop! – er – are you hungry?”

“No, sir; I can’t eat,” said Cyril bitterly.

“Humph! There, go and lie down, both of you, and get to sleep. – Once more, no talking, Perry; not till to-morrow morning. – Good-night, both of you.”

By this time John Manning had taken two soft blankets out of one of the packs, and handed them to the prisoner with a very unmilitary whisper.

“My!” he said, “what a game, Mr Cyril.”

But neither of the boys smiled. They lay down in Perry’s old place, and Cyril uttered a sigh of content, and then a stifled sob, as he felt Perry’s hand seeking for his to hold it tightly.

“Good-night,” he whispered, as Perry bent over him, and then there was another whisper.

“Can father send you back, Cil?” and the answer came:

“It’s too late now. No.”

Just then the colonel lay down again in his old place, and another rustling told that John Manning was curling up in his.

“Good-night, Perry, my boy,” said the colonel.

“Good-night, father,” replied Perry, and then to himself, “Oh, I hope he’ll say good-night to poor old Cil.”

He had his wish.

“Good-night, Cyril,” came rather huskily.

“Good-night, sir,” said the boy, in a voice he could hardly keep steady.

And then came:

“Thank God I did not hit you when I fired, my lad.”

Then there was nothing heard but the whispering of the wind below them among the trees.

Chapter Seven
The Slippery Way

“Awake, Cil?” whispered Perry, just as daylight was making its way down into the depths of the valley, and a faint glow became visible on one of the snow peaks.

“Yes,” was whispered back, “these two hours.”

“Couldn’t you sleep?”

“No; not for thinking. It’s all very well for you, but I’ve got to hear what your father says this morning.”

This was unanswerable, and Perry remained silent for a few minutes, wondering what he had better say next.

Then the inspiration came.

“Look here, Cil,” he said; “you won’t get on any the better for having a painted and dirty face. I’ll get a bit of soap, and we’ll go down and have a good wash.”

“What’s the good?” said Cyril. “Dirty painted face goes best with things like this.”

“Yes, but you’re not going like this,” said Perry. “You must put on decent clothes.”

“Haven’t got any,” said Cyril sourly.

“No, but I have – two spare suits, and you shall have one.”

Cyril gave a start.

“I say, Per,” he whispered excitedly, “do you mean that?”

“Of course I do. My things will fit you, and you can have a regular rig-out.”

“Oh!” ejaculated Cyril. “Come on then, quick.”

They stole out of their corner to the baggage pile, where Perry pointed to the portmanteau containing his kit, signing to Cyril to take one end and help him to bear it a dozen yards away to where a huge mass of rock had fallen from above.

“Here we are,” cried Perry, dragging out one of the suits that had been made expressly for the journey. “They’ll fit you, I know.”

“Fit!” cried Cyril excitedly; “of course they will. Once get myself decent, I shan’t so much mind what the colonel says – I mean, I can bear it better. I did feel such a poor miserable wretch when he was talking to me in the night. It all seemed so easy just to dress like one of the Indians; but as soon as I was in that long shirt thing, with my bare legs and feet, I felt as if I’d suddenly turned into a savage, and daren’t look any one in the face.”

“And I don’t wonder at it,” growled a deep voice. “Here, what game’s this, young gents?”

The boys looked up to see that John Manning was peering over the rock, and they were so startled for a few moments that neither spoke.

“Going off again, and you with him, Master Perry? Well, you don’t do that while I’m here.”

“Don’t be so stupid, John,” cried Perry, recovering himself. “Can’t you see what we’re doing?”

“Yes, that’s what I can see, making of yourselves a little kit apiece, ready to desert, both of you.”

“Rubbish!” cried Perry. – “That’s all, isn’t it, Cyril?”

“Boots!” said Cyril dolefully; “but I don’t know how I am going to get them on.”

“Oh, a good bathing will do that. Here you are. – Now, John Manning, fasten this up again, and take it back.”

“Honour, Master Perry?”

“Honour what?”

“You’re not going to desert?”

“You go and light a good fire and get breakfast ready; we’re going down to have a bathe.”

“Oh, that’s it, is it?” said the old soldier, chuckling. “Well, a bath would improve Master Cyril. Shall I bring you down a tin of hot water, gentlemen.”

“You be off, and hold your tongue. I don’t want my father to know until we get back.”

“All right, gentlemen,” said John Manning, grinning; “but I say, Master Cyril, there’ll be court-martial on you arter breakfast.”

“Come along, and don’t mind him,” whispered Perry, and they hurried down to the side of the torrent, where they had to spend some time before a suitable place was found where they could bathe without being washed away, for the water ran with tremendous force. But at length a safe spot was hit upon, where the stream eddied round and round; and here Perry’s tin of soap was brought into play with plenty of vigour, there being no temptation to prolong their stay in water which had come freshly down from the snow, and which turned their skins of a bluish scarlet by the time they were dressed.

“Shall I pitch this smock-frock thing into the stream?” said Perry, with a look of satisfaction at his companion.

“Throw it away? No. Perhaps your father will order me to keep it to wear, and make me give back your clothes.”

“I know my father better than that,” cried Perry warmly.

“But see how he went on at me last night, and how he’ll go on at me again to-day. I wish I hadn’t done it.”

“I’m glad you are come, Cil,” said Perry; “but it does seem a pity. Whatever made you do it?”

“I hardly know,” said the boy sadly. “I was so down in the dumps because I couldn’t come with you, and I did so long, for it seemed as if you were going to have all the fun, and I was to be left drudging away at home, where it was going to be as dull as dull without you. And then I got talking to Diego, and when he heard that I was not coming too, he said he should give it up. He wasn’t coming with three strangers, he said, for how did he know how people with plenty of guns and powder and shot would behave to him.”

“He said that?” cried Perry.

“Yes, and a lot more about it, and he wanted me to ask father again to let me come.”

“And did you?”

“No; where would have been the use? When father says a thing, he means it. Then Diego turned quite sulky, and I thought he was going to give up altogether. That was two days before you were going to start, and I begged him not to throw you over, and he said he wouldn’t if I came too; and when I told him my father wouldn’t let me, he said why not come without leave? And after a great deal of talking, in which he always had the best of me, because I wanted to do as he proposed, at last I said I would, and he got me the Indian dress and the bow and arrows.”

“And when did you start?”

“That same night, after they’d gone to bed at home. I’d got the things all ready, and I soon dressed and locked up the clothes I took off in a drawer they weren’t likely to look into, so that they might keep on expecting to see me back, thinking I’d gone out next morning early, and that would give me a start of all that night and all next day.”

“What a thing to do!” said Perry.

“Yes; wasn’t it? Didn’t seem so bad in the hurry and worry of getting off I didn’t think about anything but hurrying on after you, and then I got very tired and hot, and that kept me too from thinking about anything but catching up to you.”

“But how did you know the way?” said Perry.

“Oh, that was easy enough. Diego told me which road he should take, and I’d been along there before as far as the place where he said he would wait for me.”

“Yes, he said when you would come.”

“And when at last I was getting nearer to you, I began to lose heart altogether, and I’d eaten all the food I brought with me; and I’d had so little sleep, because I was obliged to overtake you before you started. If I had not – ”

He stopped short, and Perry stared at him.

“Go on,” he said at last. “If you hadn’t what?”

“If I hadn’t caught up to you, it would have been all over.”

“Nonsense! Why? You’d have gone back.”

“No. I’d been one whole day without anything to eat, and I couldn’t have got back, tired as I was, in less than four days. I should have lain down and died.”

“But you’d have met somebody,” said Perry.

“Up here? No. There’s a caravan of llamas comes down about twice a year, and now and then a traveller comes along, but very seldom. How many people did you meet?”

“Not one.”

“No, and you were not likely to. I knew this, and it made me keep on walking to overtake you, for it was my only chance.”

“But did you think about what a risky thing you were going to do before you started?”

“No,” said Cyril sadly; “all that came after, and there was no going back.”

“But what a way your father and mother must be in. What will they think?”

“Oh, don’t, don’t, don’t!” groaned Cyril. “Think I haven’t gone over it all, times enough? I never thought how much there was in it, or what trouble it would make till it was too late. Do you think I’d have come to be near you for a minute last night, if I’d known that the colonel was going to shoot at me?”

“Of course not.”

“And that’s the way with lots of things: one don’t think about them till it’s too late. Hush, here he comes.”

For while the boys were busy talking, they had climbed up the side of the valley, and come close up to the fire before they were aware of it.

“Humph!” ejaculated the colonel sternly. “So you’ve given up being a savage then, young fellow, eh?”

“Yes, sir,” said Cyril humbly.

“You’ll join us at breakfast, then, eh?”

“I don’t feel as if I could eat anything, thank you, sir.”

“No, I shouldn’t think you did; I don’t think I should have much of an appetite if I had behaved to my father and mother as you have behaved to yours. But there, you are my friend’s son, and I must be hospitable, I suppose. Come and have breakfast, and then the sooner you are off back, the better.”

Perry stared at his father so hard that the colonel noticed it.

“Well, boy,” he said, “what is it?”

“I was thinking about what you said, father.”

“About his going back? Well, what about it?”

“How is he to go all the way back by himself?”

“The same way as he came, sir, of course.”

“He couldn’t do it, father. His feet are sore, and he’d have to carry all the provisions he’d want on the way.”

“Provisions! To carry? Why, he hasn’t got any. – Have you, sir?” Cyril shook his head. “Then how do you expect to get back?”

“I don’t know,” said the boy sadly. “No!” thundered the colonel. “Of course you don’t know. Nice sort of a young scoundrel you’ve proved yourself. Scoundrel? No: lunatic. You can’t go on with us, because, out of respect for your father, I won’t have you; and you can’t go back alone, because you have no stores. What do you mean to do – lie down and die?”

“Perhaps I’d better,” said Cyril bitterly; “there seems to be nothing else I can do.”

“Well, don’t lie down and die anywhere near where I’m camping, sir, because it would be very unpleasant, and spoil my journey. What time do you start back, now you can go decently?”

“Now, sir,” said Cyril, and he turned sharply and took a step to go, but the colonel caught him by the shoulder.

“Come and have your breakfast first, sir. If you can behave badly to your father and mother, I cannot, by ill-treating their son. No nonsense: come and sit down, and I’m very glad to see that you are beginning to realise what a mad trick it is of which you have been guilty. – Ready, Manning?”

“Yes, sir,” came back from the fire, and a minute later they were all seated in silence, partaking of the hot coffee and fried bacon made ready for them by Manning, who gave Cyril a bit of a grin as he saw the change in his appearance.

The colonel ate heartily, but Perry’s appetite was very poor; and Cyril could hardly master a morsel, in spite of the colonel’s manner becoming less harsh.

“Come, boy,” he said, “eat. You’ve a long journey back, and you’d better make much of the provisions, now you have a chance. I’ll send your father a line in pencil for you to bear, and to exonerate me from causing him so much uneasiness. By the way, how many days do you think it will take you to get back?”

Cyril tried to answer indignantly, but the words seemed to stick in his throat; and Perry’s face grew red at what he considered to be his father’s harsh treatment of the lad whom he looked upon as his friend. There was a painful silence, then, for some minutes, during which the colonel went on with his breakfast, and Perry sat with his eyes dropped, unable to get any farther.

All at once, Cyril spoke out in a half-suffocated voice, as he looked up indignantly at the colonel. “Isn’t it too hard upon me, sir,” he cried, “to keep on punishing me like this? You know I cannot go back, or I should have gone long ago.”

“I want to punish you, sir, because I want to make you feel what a mad thing you have done, and how bitterly cruel you have been to a father who trusted in your honour as a gentleman, and a mother whose affection for you was without bounds.”

“But, don’t I know all that?” cried Cyril, springing up and speaking passionately now. “Hasn’t it been torturing me for days past; and wouldn’t I have gone back if I could, and owned how wrong I had been?”

“Only you had found that, when once you had foolishly put your foot on the slippery decline, you could not get back to the starting-point, and have gone on gliding down ever since,” said the colonel, speaking quietly. “Yes, my lad, I believe you have been bitterly sorry for your foolish escapade since you started, and you have been severely punished. There, I will say no more about it.”

“And you will help me to get back, sir?”

“If an opportunity occurs. As soon as we meet an Indian who can be trusted, you can take two of the mules, and a sufficiency of provisions to last till you get back. I am a man short now, or one of these should return with you at once. I am sorry for your people, but I cannot turn back now, and I’m sure your father would not ask it of me.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Cyril humbly.

“There,” cried the colonel, “I have done my duty by you, boy. You have had your punishment, and you have taken it bravely. I have no more to say, especially as you are not yet out of the wood, but have your father to meet.”

“Yes, sir, I have my father to meet,” said Cyril.

“Then, now eat your breakfast, and let’s get on again. Take off that miserable face, for I shall not refer to the trouble again.”

He held out his hand. Something very like a sob escaped from Cyril’s lips, as the boy made a quick snatch at his hand, and held it in his for a moment or two.

Then the breakfast went on in silence, and Perry’s appetite suddenly returned; while Cyril did not do so very badly after all.