The Wonder Island Boys: Conquest of the Savages Part 31

"I am the Great White Chief. Go to the door of the cave. If any refuse he will die. Go!"

It might be stated that before leaving for the cave Uraso had fully instructed John how to use the above phrases. His sudden apparition on the side opposite the mouth of the cave was most startling to them. Not a word was uttered by either.

"Go!" again shouted John. They seemed to be paralyzed. By a common impulse they moved toward the entrance, and as they marched out and saw the party there waiting to receive them, together with their own chief, the consternation was most marked on the faces of all.

Addressing the chief, John said: "Here are your wise men. The Great Spirit is not there. They have lied to you."

It was now apparent from the actions of the chief why he was considered such a power and a terror to his own people and to the tribes. He was every inch a chief. He strode forward, and would have crushed them with his own hands, but John interposed.

"We shall take care of them. They will never again lie to the great chief Oroto." And so saying they were ordered bound, and Uraso instructed to take them to the village and carefully guard them.

"You may take the wagon with you, Uraso, as the boys and I want to attend to some matters on our own account, and we shall soon follow you."

When the cavalcade pa.s.sed from their sight, John said: "I suppose we shall now have an opportunity to examine the place. Have you any candles?"

Harry had not forgotten them, and the boys smiled as John also drew forth several, and thus they entered the cave. John marched direct to the place where the wise men had their quarters, and their lamps were still burning.

"By the way, we came in too soon. Two of them are outside, or are somewhere in the cave. We want them as well as the others. If they find us here, they will be likely to get away. But we are here now, and we must find out what we can, and as quickly as possible." The lights at the habitable part of the cave were left burning and the three plunged into the pa.s.sageway which led to the east.

"This is the cave noted in the chart. How fortunate it is. You will note that this, like the other cave, has also a cross-shaped formation, and the treasure should be at the south branch."

"Here it is," whispered George.

"What, the treasure?" was Harry's eager question.

"No; the south branch."

"You are undoubtedly right. There is no other opening."

This branch was followed less than a hundred feet, when a solid white wall appeared in front, and it was readily seen that the channel terminated in the chamber.

The floor of this chamber was one ma.s.s of uneven projections, entirely unlike the other parts of the cave, and what was more singular still, it was fully six feet higher than the floors of the other portions, but it was absolutely devoid of any treasure, or anything which could contain such a h.o.a.rd as the chart seemed to indicate.

"It is just as well," said John, resignedly. "I suppose we have enough for our purposes."

While crawling down the rough portion which formed the elevated floor of the chamber Harry slipped, and broke off a portion of the stalagmite overlaying the side. It was dark beneath.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Fig. 21. Diagram of the Cross-Shaped Cave._]

"This is not calcareous matter," exclaimed John.

"What is it?" asked both in a breath.

The lights were concentrated on a sample, and as John raised his head he looked at the boys, and slowly uttered one word:

"Copper!"

The boys did not at first grasp the true significance of the word. It was marvelous to them that copper should be found there, but John thought of something else. It offered a possible explanation to the origin of the buildings. Where were the mines? Were they in the cave itself? This was not copper ore. It was a partly refined product.

It was evident to John, and further verified that the entire chamber, which was fully sixty feet long and fifty feet wide, was covered with a layer of this copper for a height of six feet. A calculation of the value could be readily made.

John and the boys made their way out and past the fires that were still burning, and which would be relighted no more. The two absent ones were not found. They had not returned. The reason was explained when the village was reached. They were captured by Uraso before they had left the cave a thousand feet.

During the day and the succeeding night the patients improved each hour.

Both of the invalid boys were able to sit up. Rogers wanted a full meal, but still none were allowed to indulge. John announced that a start for home would be made in the morning.

There was intense bustle in the village the next morning. The chief was informed that he and two of his sub-chiefs would be required to accompany them, together with one hundred of his warriors. The ten wise (?) men were also to be of the party.

There was mingled feeling of emotion in the minds of the people when they saw their great chief for the first time in the knowledge of the people humbled and taken captive by a foreign tribe.

It was well to leave them with that impression. They would soon learn otherwise, and for the first time begin to appreciate that the white man's way is superior to their own.

The boys and Gustave were in the wagon with the Chief Oroto. The others were on foot. Occasionally John would take a place and delight in the chatter of the boys, and sometimes would listen to remarks about Oroto, that would not have been pleasant for his ears.

John didn't blame them a bit for it either. The pale, drawn faces of the two boys made them pitiable objects, and when he saw them he felt like cursing the chief who would permit such cruelties to innocent boys. But he remembered that the chief knew no better. He lived according to the best that was given him. Why was he to be blamed?

There was hardly a subject but was canva.s.sed by the boys. The chief soon became interested, and he frequently asked Lolo questions. Before the journey ended the boys changed their opinions about Oroto. Perhaps the vivacity of the boys attracted him.

But later on, through Lolo, he began to learn things which astounded him. Muro had told his son Lolo that Harry was the one who made the wonderful guns, and this was communicated to the chief. Harry was a hero to him from that time on. Lolo told the chief about the wonderful things which they were making at the new town, and long before they sighted the place he was interested just like a common mortal.

But the Saboro village was in sight. "Moro," asked John, "how long will it take to get your family ready?"

"We shall go on with you this afternoon."

They were ready and waiting when the train came in sight. Lolo was out of the wagon and sprang to his mother, just like any other boy would do, and he told her in two minutes what had happened in fifteen days. An American boy could not have done better than that.

Was Stut's family going, too? Certainly! The boys laughed merrily. One wagon was given over to the families, containing seven women and fourteen children. But the wagons were lightened of their heavy loads of provisions and easily accommodated to emigrants.

This was a happy party. The natives never knew of such an outing. It was quite a cavalcade. Just imagine four hundred warriors, the two wagons, the women and the children, the men chanting a peculiar song as they marched, occasionally interspersed with laughter, and a constant flow of talk about the new and wonderful place they were going to, of the great white chiefs, and above all the real and unaffected pleasure that grew out of the knowledge that there would be no more war.

On the second day after leaving the Saboro village, Unity came in sight.

George crawled to the top of the wagon, and, raising his hat and waving it, began to cheer. Every warrior did likewise when he saw the signal.

It was a bedlam for a few moments. The Illyas chief saw it and smiled.

Unity heard the cheers. There was no more work that day. The men in the fields came in. Those in the workshops deserted their posts, and lined up along the newly made sidewalks that had been carefully arranged several days before.

The women were out in force, and the children in evidence everywhere.

The two wagons were in advance, Harry being in the lead. Not a man left the town to rush out and greet them. The Professor suggested that a more fitting welcome could be given by forming lines to receive the warriors as they filed by.

The wagon was now within five hundred feet of the end of the receiving line of the villagers. Angel, the orang-outan, was in the line also. The sight of the wagons was too much for him. He scampered along the street in that peculiar shuffling gait that all the villagers knew, and started for the wagon.

He was the only one in the town who disobeyed the orders of the Professor. He knew that George was in the wagon. He pa.s.sed the first one, driven by Harry, but he was up in the top of the second in an instant, and he made his way to George's side, and looked up in his face. George put his arm around him, as he was accustomed to do, and this was sufficient for him.

The children screamed in delight, but Angel didn't mind, because he saw that George didn't. When George put his arm around Lolo's little baby sister, Angel looked at George, reproachfully, at first, but when George laughed Angel emitted his well-known chuckle, which always indicated delight, and he knew that all jealousy had vanished.