Chapter Thirty Six.

Chapter Thirty Six.Another Encounter.“Right, Mas’r Harry, I’m here,” he exclaimed.“Put half those about you in your different pockets, Tom,” I said. And he did as he was bid, handling the little ingots as if they were so much lead. “And, Tom, I want your advice. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is not prudent to take all this through the woods at night, with Indians about.”“That’s sense, that is,” said Tom, interrupting.“I think, Tom, we’ll hide it—all but this, which we’ll take back; and then we can come well prepared some other time, to carry the rest away.”“Good, Mas’r Harry; but where’ll we hide it?”“That’s what I’m thinking, Tom,” I said. “Where do you think would be a good place?”“Well, Mas’r Harry, I shouldn’t bury it, because that’s the way it was hidden afore; nor I wouldn’t chuck it down the big gulf place, as you call it; it would be safe enough, only we couldn’t get it again.”“Don’t fool, Tom,” I said impatiently.“Who’s a fooling?” said Tom gruffly. “Tell you what, Mas’r Harry, I don’t think those Indian chaps would ever have the pluck to go right in where we’ve been. What do you think of the way under the arch on the raft?”“The very idea that struck me, Tom,” I said.Then I told him my plans—the result being that, at the end of a couple of hours, the little raft was prepared, launched, laden with our packages, and once more, with candles stuck in their clay sticks, we were poling ourselves along very slowly in the black tunnel.The lights flashed on roof, and from off the water, which rippled over the bamboos and soaked us through and through; but we pressed slowly and steadily on till we must have been half-way to the vault of the troubled waters, when I whispered to Tom to stop.We were now in a part where the tunnel widened out to thirty or forty feet, though the roof was not more than a foot above our heads, and remarkable for the streaks of a creamy spar which banded it in every direction.“Tom,” I said in a whisper, as I glanced round to see that we were alone, “could we do better than this?”As I spoke I was trying the depth with my bamboo pole, to find that, wherever I reached, there was not more than five feet of water.“But suppose it’s that shivering sand, and it swallers it up, Mas’r Harry?”“But it’s hard rock, Tom. Feel,” I whispered.There was no mistaking the firmness of the bottom; so, carefully marking the spot by a cross which I scored on the roof with my knife, we softly dropped in six golden packages over the side of our little raft, which seemed ready to leap out of the water on being released from its heavy burden.A soft gentle splash in each case, and then the black waters closed over each package, a pang striking my heart as they disappeared; and I asked myself whether I was wise, now that I had gained the object of my search, to let it go from me again like that. I was roused, though, from my reverie by Tom, who generally had a word of encouragement for me at the blackest times.“There, Mas’r Harry, that’s covered up well, and it can be easily uncovered again; and I’ll lay my head agin a halfpenny apple, that if we don’t come to fetch that there, nobody else won’t; for unless we told, nobody wouldn’t never find it.”I could not help thinking that Tom was right; and now, with my treasure found, and, as it were, banked for my use, I felt lighter of spirit, and we floated easily back in about the quarter of the time occupied in going; when, carefully taking our raft once more partly to pieces, we concealed it behind the rocks, and made the best of our way to the mules.“Now, Mas’r Harry, you may do as you like; but I say, let’s get twenty or thirty of these stone icicles, just as if we’d come on purpose to fetch ’em, pack ’em atop of the mules, and ride bang out as if we were not afraid of anybody.”It was good counsel, and I followed it, riding over the stony barrier just as the sun was setting. The stalactites were swung in coffee-bags on either side of the mules, which, delighted at being once more in the open air, cantered off merrily whenever the track would allow.It was just beginning to grow dark upon as glorious an evening as ever shone upon the gorgeous tropic world, when we reached the end of the ravine, and both became at the same instant aware of about a dozen Indians, who advanced quickly, making friendly signs, and repeating the word—“Amigos! Amigos!”“They want to see what we’ve got, Mas’r Harry,” chuckled Tom. “Don’t show fight unless they do.”Professing to ask for tobacco and a light, the little party surrounded us; and, as if by accident, one man touched the bags, and contrived to see their contents, when he said something to his companions, to whom we civilly gave what they asked, showing no trace of tremor; while they were smiling and servile. But I could not help feeling what would have been our fate had the lading of those mules been the treasure, for twelve to two were long odds.It was evident that they were satisfied, and giving us the country salutation, they bade us good-night, and we moved off; but Tom pulled up, and shouted after the leader of the party, who returned; when, with a face whose gravity could be seen, even in that dim short twilight, to be extreme, Tom took out one of his smallest stalactites, held it up before him, and repeated the word “buono” three times, and then presented it to the Indian, who received it with grave courtesy and retired.“There,” said Tom, “if he don’t go and tell his tribe that we’re madmen after that, why, I was never born down Cornwall way. Say, though, Mas’r Harry, that was a narrow escape; those chaps watch that gold, and they thought we had it; and if we had been loaded that way I’m thinking that it would have been buried again, with two skulls and bones this time, and those would have been ours.”I shuddered as I urged my mule onward, anxious to reach the hacienda, which we did earlier than I hoped for, stabled our mules, and then, relieving Tom of his golden burden, I went up to my room and secured it in my travelling case, before descending to find my uncle sitting, with Lilla kneeling beside him, holding his hand; and a glance showed me that both she and Mrs Landell had been weeping bitterly.I was surprised to see them assembled at so late an hour, but taking no notice, I went up and shook hands.“Well, Harry,” said my uncle sadly; “had enough of exploring yet?”“Quite, Uncle,” I said. “I have finished now.”He looked up at me for a moment, and then fell to stroking Lilla’s golden hair.“Well, lad, I’m sorry,” he said, after a pause; “but I may as well tell you, and be out of my misery. But don’t think I blame you, lad—don’t think I blame you, for I suppose it was to be.”“What is it, Uncle?” I said in an indifferent tone. “No new trouble, I hope?”He glanced at me in a sadly disappointed way, and then said sternly:“Idon’t reproach you, Harry; but that blow you struck Garcia has been my ruin, unless I buy his favour with this.”As he spoke he laid his hand tenderly upon Lilla’s head, then drew her to him and kissed her lovingly.“But we can’t do that, my little lamb—we can’t do that,” he continued. “We are to be turned out of the place; but I daresay there’s a living to be got—eh, Harry? You’ll not leave us, I suppose, now we’re in trouble? You said you would not, and now, my lad, is the time to put you to the proof. You’ll work now, won’t you?”“Not if I know it, Uncle,” I said coolly. “Why should I work? I’m much obliged for your hospitality; but I feel now disposed to go back to England, and the sooner the better.”My uncle did not speak, and a dead silence fell upon all. I caught one sad, reproachful glance from Lilla’s eyes; and then she clung, weeping and whispering to my uncle, who, however, only shook his head.“I think, my dears, we’ll go to rest,” he said at last suddenly. “Lilla, my child, fetch the Book—we’ll have one chapter in the old place for the last time, for who can tell where we shall be to-morrow?”My heart burned within me as I longed to tell the true-hearted old fellow of my success, but I would not then. The news of Garcia’s behaviour gave me an opportunity that I could not resist, and, after sitting in silence till my uncle had read his chapter and offered up a simple prayer for the protection of all, I allowed them to part from me almost coldly, though more in sorrow than in anger, and to go, aching of heart, to bed.I knew that Tom would not say a word, so I was safe; and the next morning, after a sad, dull breakfast, I sat with them all in the darkened room, my uncle starting at every noise in the yard, where all looked bright and fair, while Lilla’s eyes met mine from time to time in mingled reproach and wonder at what seemed to her my heartless behaviour.We had not long to wait, for it seemed that Garcia had declared his intention of being there that morning to demand payment of money, the greater part of which had been advanced to Mrs Landell when a widow—a debt which my uncle had undertaken to repay at the same time that he had accepted further favours from this man.We had not been seated there an hour when we heard Garcia’s voice in the yard, and Lilla crept closer to Mrs Landell.“Harry,” said my uncle, “you must please leave the room. I was in hopes that you would have gone out. I cannot find it in my heart to give up without making an appeal to Garcia for time.”“An appeal that shall end in a new bargain being made with respect to that poor girl!” I exclaimed. “Uncle, be a man, or you will make me blush for you!”My uncle was about to speak when Garcia noisily entered the room, his sneering, triumphant face turning pale with rage as he saw me seated there.Mrs Landell and Lilla both cast an imploring glance at me, one which I answered by crossing over, taking Lilla’s hand, and whispering a few words of comfort and encouragement.Garcia’s eyes flashed, but he kept down his resentment, and, advancing to the table:“Señor Landell,” he said, “I come to demand the money that is due to me, and which I must now have. Of course you are prepared?”“Prepared, Garcia?” said my uncle. “I am not prepared—you know that,” he continued sadly. “But still these stringent proceedings will do you no good. I ask you as a favour for time. I am certain that I can realise more from the plantation than you can. Give me time and it will prove to your advantage.”“Miss Lilla,” said Garcia, advancing with a smile, “you hear your stepfather’s words. It rests with you. Shall I give him time?”Lilla’s only reply, as I stood back, was a shudder, and she clung more closely to her mother.The action was not lost upon Garcia, who stepped back rapidly to the door, uttered some words to a couple of men in waiting, and they followed him into the room.“You have the papers,” said Garcia fiercely to the elder man, who seemed a sort of notary; “take possession of this place and all thereon, as forfeited to me in accordance with the bonds. Señor Landell, in an hour I require you to be off this plantation. As for you,” he exclaimed, turning to advance threateningly upon me, “you are an intruder. This place is my property; leave here this instant! Or stay,” he said with mock courtesy; “perhaps the gay young English señor will take compassion upon his uncle’s position and release him by paying his debt. What does Señor Grant say?”“Harry, for Heaven’s sake,” cried my uncle, “let there be no disturbance. Take care, or there will be bloodshed!” he cried.For as I advanced to confront Garcia he drew out a pistol.“Stand aside, Uncle!” I exclaimed angrily, for he had caught my arm. “I know how to deal with this cowardly bully! Put up that pistol or—”I did not finish my sentence, for in obedience to a nod Garcia was dragged back into a chair, and Tom Bulk’s sturdy arms pinioned him, but not in time; for, with a cry of rage, he drew the trigger. There was a sharp report, and then, as the smoke floated upward, a wild cry echoed through the room.

“Right, Mas’r Harry, I’m here,” he exclaimed.

“Put half those about you in your different pockets, Tom,” I said. And he did as he was bid, handling the little ingots as if they were so much lead. “And, Tom, I want your advice. I’ve come to the conclusion that it is not prudent to take all this through the woods at night, with Indians about.”

“That’s sense, that is,” said Tom, interrupting.

“I think, Tom, we’ll hide it—all but this, which we’ll take back; and then we can come well prepared some other time, to carry the rest away.”

“Good, Mas’r Harry; but where’ll we hide it?”

“That’s what I’m thinking, Tom,” I said. “Where do you think would be a good place?”

“Well, Mas’r Harry, I shouldn’t bury it, because that’s the way it was hidden afore; nor I wouldn’t chuck it down the big gulf place, as you call it; it would be safe enough, only we couldn’t get it again.”

“Don’t fool, Tom,” I said impatiently.

“Who’s a fooling?” said Tom gruffly. “Tell you what, Mas’r Harry, I don’t think those Indian chaps would ever have the pluck to go right in where we’ve been. What do you think of the way under the arch on the raft?”

“The very idea that struck me, Tom,” I said.

Then I told him my plans—the result being that, at the end of a couple of hours, the little raft was prepared, launched, laden with our packages, and once more, with candles stuck in their clay sticks, we were poling ourselves along very slowly in the black tunnel.

The lights flashed on roof, and from off the water, which rippled over the bamboos and soaked us through and through; but we pressed slowly and steadily on till we must have been half-way to the vault of the troubled waters, when I whispered to Tom to stop.

We were now in a part where the tunnel widened out to thirty or forty feet, though the roof was not more than a foot above our heads, and remarkable for the streaks of a creamy spar which banded it in every direction.

“Tom,” I said in a whisper, as I glanced round to see that we were alone, “could we do better than this?”

As I spoke I was trying the depth with my bamboo pole, to find that, wherever I reached, there was not more than five feet of water.

“But suppose it’s that shivering sand, and it swallers it up, Mas’r Harry?”

“But it’s hard rock, Tom. Feel,” I whispered.

There was no mistaking the firmness of the bottom; so, carefully marking the spot by a cross which I scored on the roof with my knife, we softly dropped in six golden packages over the side of our little raft, which seemed ready to leap out of the water on being released from its heavy burden.

A soft gentle splash in each case, and then the black waters closed over each package, a pang striking my heart as they disappeared; and I asked myself whether I was wise, now that I had gained the object of my search, to let it go from me again like that. I was roused, though, from my reverie by Tom, who generally had a word of encouragement for me at the blackest times.

“There, Mas’r Harry, that’s covered up well, and it can be easily uncovered again; and I’ll lay my head agin a halfpenny apple, that if we don’t come to fetch that there, nobody else won’t; for unless we told, nobody wouldn’t never find it.”

I could not help thinking that Tom was right; and now, with my treasure found, and, as it were, banked for my use, I felt lighter of spirit, and we floated easily back in about the quarter of the time occupied in going; when, carefully taking our raft once more partly to pieces, we concealed it behind the rocks, and made the best of our way to the mules.

“Now, Mas’r Harry, you may do as you like; but I say, let’s get twenty or thirty of these stone icicles, just as if we’d come on purpose to fetch ’em, pack ’em atop of the mules, and ride bang out as if we were not afraid of anybody.”

It was good counsel, and I followed it, riding over the stony barrier just as the sun was setting. The stalactites were swung in coffee-bags on either side of the mules, which, delighted at being once more in the open air, cantered off merrily whenever the track would allow.

It was just beginning to grow dark upon as glorious an evening as ever shone upon the gorgeous tropic world, when we reached the end of the ravine, and both became at the same instant aware of about a dozen Indians, who advanced quickly, making friendly signs, and repeating the word—“Amigos! Amigos!”

“They want to see what we’ve got, Mas’r Harry,” chuckled Tom. “Don’t show fight unless they do.”

Professing to ask for tobacco and a light, the little party surrounded us; and, as if by accident, one man touched the bags, and contrived to see their contents, when he said something to his companions, to whom we civilly gave what they asked, showing no trace of tremor; while they were smiling and servile. But I could not help feeling what would have been our fate had the lading of those mules been the treasure, for twelve to two were long odds.

It was evident that they were satisfied, and giving us the country salutation, they bade us good-night, and we moved off; but Tom pulled up, and shouted after the leader of the party, who returned; when, with a face whose gravity could be seen, even in that dim short twilight, to be extreme, Tom took out one of his smallest stalactites, held it up before him, and repeated the word “buono” three times, and then presented it to the Indian, who received it with grave courtesy and retired.

“There,” said Tom, “if he don’t go and tell his tribe that we’re madmen after that, why, I was never born down Cornwall way. Say, though, Mas’r Harry, that was a narrow escape; those chaps watch that gold, and they thought we had it; and if we had been loaded that way I’m thinking that it would have been buried again, with two skulls and bones this time, and those would have been ours.”

I shuddered as I urged my mule onward, anxious to reach the hacienda, which we did earlier than I hoped for, stabled our mules, and then, relieving Tom of his golden burden, I went up to my room and secured it in my travelling case, before descending to find my uncle sitting, with Lilla kneeling beside him, holding his hand; and a glance showed me that both she and Mrs Landell had been weeping bitterly.

I was surprised to see them assembled at so late an hour, but taking no notice, I went up and shook hands.

“Well, Harry,” said my uncle sadly; “had enough of exploring yet?”

“Quite, Uncle,” I said. “I have finished now.”

He looked up at me for a moment, and then fell to stroking Lilla’s golden hair.

“Well, lad, I’m sorry,” he said, after a pause; “but I may as well tell you, and be out of my misery. But don’t think I blame you, lad—don’t think I blame you, for I suppose it was to be.”

“What is it, Uncle?” I said in an indifferent tone. “No new trouble, I hope?”

He glanced at me in a sadly disappointed way, and then said sternly:

“Idon’t reproach you, Harry; but that blow you struck Garcia has been my ruin, unless I buy his favour with this.”

As he spoke he laid his hand tenderly upon Lilla’s head, then drew her to him and kissed her lovingly.

“But we can’t do that, my little lamb—we can’t do that,” he continued. “We are to be turned out of the place; but I daresay there’s a living to be got—eh, Harry? You’ll not leave us, I suppose, now we’re in trouble? You said you would not, and now, my lad, is the time to put you to the proof. You’ll work now, won’t you?”

“Not if I know it, Uncle,” I said coolly. “Why should I work? I’m much obliged for your hospitality; but I feel now disposed to go back to England, and the sooner the better.”

My uncle did not speak, and a dead silence fell upon all. I caught one sad, reproachful glance from Lilla’s eyes; and then she clung, weeping and whispering to my uncle, who, however, only shook his head.

“I think, my dears, we’ll go to rest,” he said at last suddenly. “Lilla, my child, fetch the Book—we’ll have one chapter in the old place for the last time, for who can tell where we shall be to-morrow?”

My heart burned within me as I longed to tell the true-hearted old fellow of my success, but I would not then. The news of Garcia’s behaviour gave me an opportunity that I could not resist, and, after sitting in silence till my uncle had read his chapter and offered up a simple prayer for the protection of all, I allowed them to part from me almost coldly, though more in sorrow than in anger, and to go, aching of heart, to bed.

I knew that Tom would not say a word, so I was safe; and the next morning, after a sad, dull breakfast, I sat with them all in the darkened room, my uncle starting at every noise in the yard, where all looked bright and fair, while Lilla’s eyes met mine from time to time in mingled reproach and wonder at what seemed to her my heartless behaviour.

We had not long to wait, for it seemed that Garcia had declared his intention of being there that morning to demand payment of money, the greater part of which had been advanced to Mrs Landell when a widow—a debt which my uncle had undertaken to repay at the same time that he had accepted further favours from this man.

We had not been seated there an hour when we heard Garcia’s voice in the yard, and Lilla crept closer to Mrs Landell.

“Harry,” said my uncle, “you must please leave the room. I was in hopes that you would have gone out. I cannot find it in my heart to give up without making an appeal to Garcia for time.”

“An appeal that shall end in a new bargain being made with respect to that poor girl!” I exclaimed. “Uncle, be a man, or you will make me blush for you!”

My uncle was about to speak when Garcia noisily entered the room, his sneering, triumphant face turning pale with rage as he saw me seated there.

Mrs Landell and Lilla both cast an imploring glance at me, one which I answered by crossing over, taking Lilla’s hand, and whispering a few words of comfort and encouragement.

Garcia’s eyes flashed, but he kept down his resentment, and, advancing to the table:

“Señor Landell,” he said, “I come to demand the money that is due to me, and which I must now have. Of course you are prepared?”

“Prepared, Garcia?” said my uncle. “I am not prepared—you know that,” he continued sadly. “But still these stringent proceedings will do you no good. I ask you as a favour for time. I am certain that I can realise more from the plantation than you can. Give me time and it will prove to your advantage.”

“Miss Lilla,” said Garcia, advancing with a smile, “you hear your stepfather’s words. It rests with you. Shall I give him time?”

Lilla’s only reply, as I stood back, was a shudder, and she clung more closely to her mother.

The action was not lost upon Garcia, who stepped back rapidly to the door, uttered some words to a couple of men in waiting, and they followed him into the room.

“You have the papers,” said Garcia fiercely to the elder man, who seemed a sort of notary; “take possession of this place and all thereon, as forfeited to me in accordance with the bonds. Señor Landell, in an hour I require you to be off this plantation. As for you,” he exclaimed, turning to advance threateningly upon me, “you are an intruder. This place is my property; leave here this instant! Or stay,” he said with mock courtesy; “perhaps the gay young English señor will take compassion upon his uncle’s position and release him by paying his debt. What does Señor Grant say?”

“Harry, for Heaven’s sake,” cried my uncle, “let there be no disturbance. Take care, or there will be bloodshed!” he cried.

For as I advanced to confront Garcia he drew out a pistol.

“Stand aside, Uncle!” I exclaimed angrily, for he had caught my arm. “I know how to deal with this cowardly bully! Put up that pistol or—”

I did not finish my sentence, for in obedience to a nod Garcia was dragged back into a chair, and Tom Bulk’s sturdy arms pinioned him, but not in time; for, with a cry of rage, he drew the trigger. There was a sharp report, and then, as the smoke floated upward, a wild cry echoed through the room.

Chapter Thirty Seven.Slippery Metal.That cry was from Lilla, who ran to my uncle’s side just as he staggered to a chair, holding his face with both hands.“Not much hurt, I think,” he gasped; “but it was a close touch—a sort of farewell keepsake,” he said with a faint attempt to smile.It was, indeed, a narrow escape, for the ball had ploughed one of his cheeks so that it bled profusely, and I could have freely returned the shot in the rage which I felt.Perhaps it would have been better for all parties had I fired, for it would only have been disabling as black-hearted a scoundrel as ever breathed. But my plans were made, and by an effort I kept to them, just as the notary was about to flee in alarm.“Loose him, Tom,” I said; and Garcia started up, foaming almost at the mouth. “Keep back there,” I cried, “and do not let me see one of those hands move towards breast or pocket. The instant I detect any such act I fire.”Garcia stood scowling for a few moments but not meeting my eye, and I continued addressing the notary:“Give me full particulars of this amount, and I will pay it.”“You, Harry—you!” exclaimed my uncle.“You!—you vile impostor! You beggar and vagabond! You do not possess an onza of gold,” roared Garcia, bursting forth into a fit of vituperation. “Don’t listen to him; don’t heed him; it’s a trick—a plan. I take possession. The money was to be paid this morning, and it is not paid, so I seize the plantation.”“You are the business man,” I said coolly to the notary—with that coolness that the possession of money gives—“this is a mining country, and gold in ounces should be current.”“The best of currency, señor,” said the notary with a smile and a bow.“Tell me the amount, then, in ounces,” I said, “and I will pay you.”“Don Xeres,” gasped Garcia, almost beside himself with rage, “I will take no promises to pay.”The old notary shrugged his shoulders.“But, Señor Garcia, there are no promises to pay. I understand the English señor to say that he will pay—at once! Am I not right, señor?”“Quite,” I said. “Uncle, I will lend you this amount.”“But, Harry, my dear boy, you are mad! You have no idea of the extent.”“Two hundred and five ounces would equal the amount inpesos d’orowhich Señor Landell is indebted,” said the notary quietly.“Good!” I said. “Then will you have proper balances brought? Uncle, see to the return of your papers.”“I am in the hands of Señor Xeres,” said my uncle in a bewildered tone. “He will see justice done.”The old notary bowed and smiled, while I crossed to where my leather case stood upon a side-table, brought it to my chair, and then seated myself, slowly unbuckling the straps and unlocking it while the balances were brought, when I drew out six of the little yellow bar ingots and passed them over to the notary, who was the banker of the district as well.He took them, turned them over, wiped his glasses, and replaced them; then examined each bar again.“Pure metal, I think, señor?” I said, smiling.“The purest, Señor Inglese,” he replied with another bow.Then, placing the ingots in the balances, he recorded each one’s weight as he went on, to find them, with a few grains variation more or less, six ounces each.Five times, to Garcia’s astonishment and rage, did I bring from the case in my lap six of the golden bars, the notary the while testing and weighing them one by one in the coolest and most business-like way imaginable. Then his spectacles were directed inquiringly at me, and I brought out four more, which were duly weighed and placed with the others. Then again were the spectacles directed at me.“Another ounce, less a quarter, señor,” said the notary. “I have here two hundred and four ounces and a quarter.”“Fortunatus’s purse wants aiding, Uncle,” I said, unwilling to exhibit more of the golden spoil. “You can manage the three-quarters of an ounce?”My uncle was speechless; but he rushed to a secretary, took out a little canvas bag, and counted out the difference in coin. When, coolly drawing out bags of his own, the notary made up a neat package of the bars, inclosing therewith his account of the weights, tied it up, lit—with apparatus of his own—a wax taper, sealed the package, and handed it to Garcia, who took it with a fierce scowl, but only to dash it down the next instant upon the table.“I will not take it,” he exclaimed. “It is a trick—the gold is base!”“Señor Don Pablo Garcia, I have—I, S. Xeres—have examined and proved that gold,” said the old notary. “I say it is pure, and you cannot refuse it. Señor Landell, there are your bonds now. Señor Garcia is angry, but the business is terminated.”Rising and bowing to us with a courtly grace that could win nothing less than respect, the old notary handed some deeds to my uncle, and then, picking up the gold, he passed his arm through Garcia’s and led him away—the notary’s attendant following with his master’s writing-case and balances.But the next moment a shadow darkened the door, and Garcia would have rushed in had not Tom blocked the way.“Now, then, where are you shovin’ to, eh?” grumbled Tom; and there was a scuffle, and the muttering of a score of Spanish oaths, with, I must say, a couple of English ones, that sounded to be in Tom’s voice, when Garcia shouted, in a voice that we could all hear:“Tell him there is another debt to pay yet, and it shall be paid in another coin!”The door closed then, and it was evident that Tom was enjoying the act of seeing Garcia off the premises, while the next minute my uncle was holding me tightly by both hands and my aunt sobbing on my neck.“And I was saying you were like the rest of the world—like the rest of the world, Harry, my dear boy,” was all my uncle could say, in a choking voice, and there were tears in his eyes as he spoke.“Say no more, Uncle—say no more,” I exclaimed, shaking him warmly by the hands.Then he took his wife to his heart, telling her in broken words that there was to be peace at the old place after all.It must have been from joy at the happiness I was the means of bringing into that home, or else from the example that was set me, for the next moment I had Lilla in my arms, kissing her for response to the thanks looking from her bright eyes; and even when my uncle turned to me I could only get one hand at liberty to give him, the other would still clasp the little form that did not for an instant shrink.“Too bad—too bad, Harry—too bad!” said my uncle, with a smile and a shake of the head. “I am no sooner free of one obligation than I am under another; and so now, on the strength of that money, you put in your claims.”“To be sure, Uncle,” I said laughing; “and you see how poor Lilla suffers.”I repented saying those words the next moment, for Lilla shrank hastily away, blushing deeply.My uncle and I were soon left alone, when, holding out his hand to me, he said, in a voice whose deep tones told how he was moved:“Harry, my boy, I can never repay you the service you have done me; but if I live I will repay you the money.”“Look here, Uncle,” I said, “once and for all—let that be buried. There, light your cigar; and I can talk to you.” Then, taking our places in a recess by one of the shaded windows, I spoke to him in a low tone. “You know how I have spent my time lately?”He nodded.“Treasure-seeking?”He nodded again.“Uncle, at times it almost seemed to me a madness; but I persevered and succeeded. Look here!”I tore open the case and showed him the sixteen golden ingots remaining.“And you found all that, Harry! My boy, you were fortunate indeed.”“All that, Uncle!” I said with a smile. “That is not a hundredth part. I am rich. I? No! We are rich; and now I want your advice. What are we to do? for I’ve hidden my treasure again till I can fetch it away in safety.”“You have done well, then,” he said gravely. “But is not this some delusion, my boy?”“Are these delusive, Uncle?” I exclaimed, clinking together two of the sonorous little bars. “Were those delusive which Garcia has carried off? No, Uncle, I thought once it must be a dream; but it is a solid reality. I have found the treasures of one of the temples of the Sun—ingots, plates, sheets, cups, and two great shields besides, all of solid metal.”“Harry,” said my uncle, “it sounds like a wild invention from some story-teller’s pen, and I should laugh in your face but for the proofs you have given me. But you must not stay here in this country. It is as much yours as any lucky adventurer’s, but your right would be disputed in a hundred quarters; while, as for the Indians—”“Disputed, Uncle?” I said interrupting him. “Disputed if it were known. You know it.”“Does any one else?” said my uncle anxiously.“Tom was with me. We found it together,” I said, “and he helped me to conceal it again. But I could trust him with my life. In fact, Uncle,” I said laughing, “we owe one another half-a-dozen lives over our discovery, for either I was saving his life or he was saving mine all the time.”“But the Indians, Harry—the Indians! That is a sacred treasure—the treasure devoted to their gods, hence its remaining so long untouched. If they knew that you had taken it, no part of South America would hold you free from their vengeance. They would have your life, sooner or later.”“Pleasant place this, certainly, Uncle,” I said laughing; “what with Garcia and the Indians.”“I don’t think it could become known from those ingots,” said my uncle musingly, “though Garcia will rack his brains to find out how you became possessed of them. And yet I don’t know; you see they have two or three characters stamped on them that the Indians might know. But were you seen?”“Coming from the place, Uncle? Yes, I suppose I must have been watched constantly. But all the same, I have the treasure hidden away; and as to the risk from the Indians, I don’t feel much alarmed; and you may depend upon it that they are in the most profound—What’s that?”My uncle uttered an ejaculation at the same moment, for as I spoke, rapid as the dart of a serpent, a dark shadowy arm was passed under the blind close to the little table where we sat, and on looking there were but fifteen of the little ingots left.“Stop here! I’ll go,” I exclaimed.In an instant I had torn aside the blind, pushed open the jalousie, and leaped out into the outer sunshine, to stand in the glare, looking this way and that way, but in vain: there were flowers, and trees, and the bright glare, but not a soul in sight.I stood for an instant to think; and then, feeling for my pistol to see if it was there if wanted, I dashed across the plantation towards the forest, peering in every direction, but without avail; and at last, more troubled than I cared to own, I returned, dripping with perspiration, to the hacienda, to meet Tom.“Say, Mas’r Harry, what’s the good o’ running yourself all away, like so much butter? ’Tain’t good for the constitution.”“Have you seen any Indians lurking about to-day, Tom, anywhere near the place?”“Not half a one, Mas’r Harry, because why? I’ve been fast asleep ever since I saw the Don off the premises.”“Keep a good look-out, Tom,” I cried.Then I hurried in to my uncle, who looked troubled.“I don’t like that, Harry,” he said. “There were eavesdroppers close at hand. I thought I would go too, but I saw nothing. Not a man had been out of the yard. But there, take the gold up to your room and lock it in the big chest; the key is in it. I put it here for safety till you got back, and—confound!”We gazed in blank astonishment, for as my uncle opened his secretary and laid bare my leather case, which he had locked and strapped up, there it was with the straps cut through, the lock cut out, and the fifteen ingots gone!

That cry was from Lilla, who ran to my uncle’s side just as he staggered to a chair, holding his face with both hands.

“Not much hurt, I think,” he gasped; “but it was a close touch—a sort of farewell keepsake,” he said with a faint attempt to smile.

It was, indeed, a narrow escape, for the ball had ploughed one of his cheeks so that it bled profusely, and I could have freely returned the shot in the rage which I felt.

Perhaps it would have been better for all parties had I fired, for it would only have been disabling as black-hearted a scoundrel as ever breathed. But my plans were made, and by an effort I kept to them, just as the notary was about to flee in alarm.

“Loose him, Tom,” I said; and Garcia started up, foaming almost at the mouth. “Keep back there,” I cried, “and do not let me see one of those hands move towards breast or pocket. The instant I detect any such act I fire.”

Garcia stood scowling for a few moments but not meeting my eye, and I continued addressing the notary:

“Give me full particulars of this amount, and I will pay it.”

“You, Harry—you!” exclaimed my uncle.

“You!—you vile impostor! You beggar and vagabond! You do not possess an onza of gold,” roared Garcia, bursting forth into a fit of vituperation. “Don’t listen to him; don’t heed him; it’s a trick—a plan. I take possession. The money was to be paid this morning, and it is not paid, so I seize the plantation.”

“You are the business man,” I said coolly to the notary—with that coolness that the possession of money gives—“this is a mining country, and gold in ounces should be current.”

“The best of currency, señor,” said the notary with a smile and a bow.

“Tell me the amount, then, in ounces,” I said, “and I will pay you.”

“Don Xeres,” gasped Garcia, almost beside himself with rage, “I will take no promises to pay.”

The old notary shrugged his shoulders.

“But, Señor Garcia, there are no promises to pay. I understand the English señor to say that he will pay—at once! Am I not right, señor?”

“Quite,” I said. “Uncle, I will lend you this amount.”

“But, Harry, my dear boy, you are mad! You have no idea of the extent.”

“Two hundred and five ounces would equal the amount inpesos d’orowhich Señor Landell is indebted,” said the notary quietly.

“Good!” I said. “Then will you have proper balances brought? Uncle, see to the return of your papers.”

“I am in the hands of Señor Xeres,” said my uncle in a bewildered tone. “He will see justice done.”

The old notary bowed and smiled, while I crossed to where my leather case stood upon a side-table, brought it to my chair, and then seated myself, slowly unbuckling the straps and unlocking it while the balances were brought, when I drew out six of the little yellow bar ingots and passed them over to the notary, who was the banker of the district as well.

He took them, turned them over, wiped his glasses, and replaced them; then examined each bar again.

“Pure metal, I think, señor?” I said, smiling.

“The purest, Señor Inglese,” he replied with another bow.

Then, placing the ingots in the balances, he recorded each one’s weight as he went on, to find them, with a few grains variation more or less, six ounces each.

Five times, to Garcia’s astonishment and rage, did I bring from the case in my lap six of the golden bars, the notary the while testing and weighing them one by one in the coolest and most business-like way imaginable. Then his spectacles were directed inquiringly at me, and I brought out four more, which were duly weighed and placed with the others. Then again were the spectacles directed at me.

“Another ounce, less a quarter, señor,” said the notary. “I have here two hundred and four ounces and a quarter.”

“Fortunatus’s purse wants aiding, Uncle,” I said, unwilling to exhibit more of the golden spoil. “You can manage the three-quarters of an ounce?”

My uncle was speechless; but he rushed to a secretary, took out a little canvas bag, and counted out the difference in coin. When, coolly drawing out bags of his own, the notary made up a neat package of the bars, inclosing therewith his account of the weights, tied it up, lit—with apparatus of his own—a wax taper, sealed the package, and handed it to Garcia, who took it with a fierce scowl, but only to dash it down the next instant upon the table.

“I will not take it,” he exclaimed. “It is a trick—the gold is base!”

“Señor Don Pablo Garcia, I have—I, S. Xeres—have examined and proved that gold,” said the old notary. “I say it is pure, and you cannot refuse it. Señor Landell, there are your bonds now. Señor Garcia is angry, but the business is terminated.”

Rising and bowing to us with a courtly grace that could win nothing less than respect, the old notary handed some deeds to my uncle, and then, picking up the gold, he passed his arm through Garcia’s and led him away—the notary’s attendant following with his master’s writing-case and balances.

But the next moment a shadow darkened the door, and Garcia would have rushed in had not Tom blocked the way.

“Now, then, where are you shovin’ to, eh?” grumbled Tom; and there was a scuffle, and the muttering of a score of Spanish oaths, with, I must say, a couple of English ones, that sounded to be in Tom’s voice, when Garcia shouted, in a voice that we could all hear:

“Tell him there is another debt to pay yet, and it shall be paid in another coin!”

The door closed then, and it was evident that Tom was enjoying the act of seeing Garcia off the premises, while the next minute my uncle was holding me tightly by both hands and my aunt sobbing on my neck.

“And I was saying you were like the rest of the world—like the rest of the world, Harry, my dear boy,” was all my uncle could say, in a choking voice, and there were tears in his eyes as he spoke.

“Say no more, Uncle—say no more,” I exclaimed, shaking him warmly by the hands.

Then he took his wife to his heart, telling her in broken words that there was to be peace at the old place after all.

It must have been from joy at the happiness I was the means of bringing into that home, or else from the example that was set me, for the next moment I had Lilla in my arms, kissing her for response to the thanks looking from her bright eyes; and even when my uncle turned to me I could only get one hand at liberty to give him, the other would still clasp the little form that did not for an instant shrink.

“Too bad—too bad, Harry—too bad!” said my uncle, with a smile and a shake of the head. “I am no sooner free of one obligation than I am under another; and so now, on the strength of that money, you put in your claims.”

“To be sure, Uncle,” I said laughing; “and you see how poor Lilla suffers.”

I repented saying those words the next moment, for Lilla shrank hastily away, blushing deeply.

My uncle and I were soon left alone, when, holding out his hand to me, he said, in a voice whose deep tones told how he was moved:

“Harry, my boy, I can never repay you the service you have done me; but if I live I will repay you the money.”

“Look here, Uncle,” I said, “once and for all—let that be buried. There, light your cigar; and I can talk to you.” Then, taking our places in a recess by one of the shaded windows, I spoke to him in a low tone. “You know how I have spent my time lately?”

He nodded.

“Treasure-seeking?”

He nodded again.

“Uncle, at times it almost seemed to me a madness; but I persevered and succeeded. Look here!”

I tore open the case and showed him the sixteen golden ingots remaining.

“And you found all that, Harry! My boy, you were fortunate indeed.”

“All that, Uncle!” I said with a smile. “That is not a hundredth part. I am rich. I? No! We are rich; and now I want your advice. What are we to do? for I’ve hidden my treasure again till I can fetch it away in safety.”

“You have done well, then,” he said gravely. “But is not this some delusion, my boy?”

“Are these delusive, Uncle?” I exclaimed, clinking together two of the sonorous little bars. “Were those delusive which Garcia has carried off? No, Uncle, I thought once it must be a dream; but it is a solid reality. I have found the treasures of one of the temples of the Sun—ingots, plates, sheets, cups, and two great shields besides, all of solid metal.”

“Harry,” said my uncle, “it sounds like a wild invention from some story-teller’s pen, and I should laugh in your face but for the proofs you have given me. But you must not stay here in this country. It is as much yours as any lucky adventurer’s, but your right would be disputed in a hundred quarters; while, as for the Indians—”

“Disputed, Uncle?” I said interrupting him. “Disputed if it were known. You know it.”

“Does any one else?” said my uncle anxiously.

“Tom was with me. We found it together,” I said, “and he helped me to conceal it again. But I could trust him with my life. In fact, Uncle,” I said laughing, “we owe one another half-a-dozen lives over our discovery, for either I was saving his life or he was saving mine all the time.”

“But the Indians, Harry—the Indians! That is a sacred treasure—the treasure devoted to their gods, hence its remaining so long untouched. If they knew that you had taken it, no part of South America would hold you free from their vengeance. They would have your life, sooner or later.”

“Pleasant place this, certainly, Uncle,” I said laughing; “what with Garcia and the Indians.”

“I don’t think it could become known from those ingots,” said my uncle musingly, “though Garcia will rack his brains to find out how you became possessed of them. And yet I don’t know; you see they have two or three characters stamped on them that the Indians might know. But were you seen?”

“Coming from the place, Uncle? Yes, I suppose I must have been watched constantly. But all the same, I have the treasure hidden away; and as to the risk from the Indians, I don’t feel much alarmed; and you may depend upon it that they are in the most profound—What’s that?”

My uncle uttered an ejaculation at the same moment, for as I spoke, rapid as the dart of a serpent, a dark shadowy arm was passed under the blind close to the little table where we sat, and on looking there were but fifteen of the little ingots left.

“Stop here! I’ll go,” I exclaimed.

In an instant I had torn aside the blind, pushed open the jalousie, and leaped out into the outer sunshine, to stand in the glare, looking this way and that way, but in vain: there were flowers, and trees, and the bright glare, but not a soul in sight.

I stood for an instant to think; and then, feeling for my pistol to see if it was there if wanted, I dashed across the plantation towards the forest, peering in every direction, but without avail; and at last, more troubled than I cared to own, I returned, dripping with perspiration, to the hacienda, to meet Tom.

“Say, Mas’r Harry, what’s the good o’ running yourself all away, like so much butter? ’Tain’t good for the constitution.”

“Have you seen any Indians lurking about to-day, Tom, anywhere near the place?”

“Not half a one, Mas’r Harry, because why? I’ve been fast asleep ever since I saw the Don off the premises.”

“Keep a good look-out, Tom,” I cried.

Then I hurried in to my uncle, who looked troubled.

“I don’t like that, Harry,” he said. “There were eavesdroppers close at hand. I thought I would go too, but I saw nothing. Not a man had been out of the yard. But there, take the gold up to your room and lock it in the big chest; the key is in it. I put it here for safety till you got back, and—confound!”

We gazed in blank astonishment, for as my uncle opened his secretary and laid bare my leather case, which he had locked and strapped up, there it was with the straps cut through, the lock cut out, and the fifteen ingots gone!

Chapter Thirty Eight.Bars without Bolts.As soon as my uncle had recovered from his astonishment he took out and loaded a couple of brace of pistols, laying one pair ready to hand and placing the others in his pockets.“Harry, my lad,” he then said seriously, “we have entered upon something that will take all our wits to compass. We have cunning people to deal with; but Englishmen have brains of their own, and perhaps we can circumvent those who are against us. I wonder whether Garcia will get safe home with his share.”I was too much put out to think or care much about Garcia just then. Certainly I did think it a good thing that he had been paid off, and the principal current of my thoughts just then tended to a congratulatory point as I thought of how much more serious the loss might have been. That I had done right in concealing the treasure was evident; and there it must lie, I thought, until I could bear it at once away out of the country.My musings were interrupted by my uncle.“Harry,” he said, “I’d give something if the women were away from here. I hope I am magnifying the trouble; but I fear that we are going to be between twofires; and, at present I hardly know what course to pursue. I’m afraid of your gold, my lad, but a prince’s fortune must not be slighted; and my conscience does not much upbraid me with respect to helping you to secure it. But we must not pass over this robbery in silence. That was done by no one here, I am sure. We must try and put an end to eavesdropping so close at hand, or more strange things may happen. Now, take my advice: both you and Tom go well armed, don’t stir many yards from the plantation; and now come with me and let us carefully search the place inside and out. Nearly a hundred ounces of gold taken within the last few minutes, and part even from under our eyes. It won’t do, Harry—it won’t do!”Tom was called in, armed, and then the place was thoroughly searched inside and out, but without avail; not a trace could be seen, till, after a few minutes’ thought, my uncle made a sign to me, placed Tom in one position, me in another, and then disappeared into the house.Five minutes after there was a loud cry, the sharp crack of a pistol, and what seemed like some beast of prey leaped from one of the upper windows full twelve feet to the ground, about half-way between Tom and myself.With a rush we made for the falling object, grasping it as it fell to the earth; but the next instant I was sent staggering back, as the Indian—for such it was—bounded up, striking me in the chest with his hand; while, when I gathered myself together again, Tom was standing alone, and my uncle came running out holding a handkerchief to his face, which had recommenced bleeding.“Did you stop him?” he said.“Stop!” cried Tom. “It was like trying to stop a thing made of quicksilver. But,” he continued with a grin, “I’ve got his skin; he left that in my hands, and I say, Mas’r Harry, if he wasn’t made of quicksilver he was of gold.”For at that moment, as Tom shook the dark native cloth garment left in his hands by the fleeing Indian, the sixteen ingots fell to the ground, to be instantly secured.“Harry,” said my uncle, “I told you we had to deal with a cunning enemy. That fellow was in the space between the ceiling and roof of my bed-room. How he got there I can’t tell; but,” he added with a shudder, “I fear if he had not been dislodged some of us would not have seen the morning’s light.”“But pursuit, Uncle,” I cried. “Let us try and overtake him.”“No—no,” he said uneasily. “We should only be led into a trap in the forest, and we are too weak for that. I’m afraid, Harry, that this affair is going to assume dimensions greater than we think for. It is evident that the Indians suspected you of having been at their sacred treasure, and despatched a spy to watch if their suspicions were correct. I tried to bring him down, but I had only a momentary glance and I must have missed him. No, Harry, there must be no pursuit but plenty of scheming for defence, if we wish to hold that which we have got. As I said before, there is no knowing where this will end. Which way did he go?”“Right away towards the forest, sir,” said Tom.“Perhaps only to slip back and watch by some other path,” muttered my uncle. “Give me the bars, Harry, and I’ll take them in, while you and Tom walk cautiously round before coming to me. Go one each way, right round, so as to meet again here, and then come in and we will talk matters over a little. But stay—tell me—did you see anything of the Indians, do you say, as you came back?”I repeated the incident of being surrounded, and the way in which Tom presented a stalactite to the principal man.My uncle smiled grimly.“Tom,” he said, “you must look out, or that stalactite will come back with interest. I’m afraid that we English do not give the Indians credit for all the brain they possess. They may have once been a simple, childlike race, but long oppression has roused something more in their breasts. You must look out, lads—look out.”My uncle left us, and Tom started one way, I the other, to look watchfully and carefully round for danger; although, to my way of thinking, it was decidedly a work of supererogation there in broad daylight, with the sun pouring down his intensely bright beams. There was the creeper-overhung verandah on one side, which, at a glance, I could see was untenanted; there, on the other side, was the garden-like plantation, with its gorgeous blossoms and flitting birds. The rows could be easily scanned, and I looked down between them; but it was evident that there was no danger to apprehend nearer than the forest; and I reached one corner of the verandah just as a parrot gave one of its peculiar calls, to be answered by another behind me.This was followed by a regular chorus from the woods, every parrot within hearing setting up a series of its ear-piercing shrieks, which in turn started birds of other kinds; the toucans hopping about from branch to branch uttering their singular barking cries, as they raised high their huge bills, which looked as if they would overbalance their bodies, but were as light as if made of paper and as thin.It did not seem a time to notice such things, but somehow they impressed themselves upon my mind, and I could not help letting my eyes rest upon a pair of the most magnificent trogons I had ever seen. They were in the full beauty of their gorgeous golden-green plumage, which contrasted strongly with their brilliant scarlet breasts. Where they were perched there was an opening among the trees and the full blaze of the sun came down upon their backs, crests, and yard-long tail-feathers which glistened and sparkled at every movement as if formed of burnished metal.This set me thinking of the golden treasure, and a sort of childish fancy came upon me as to whether these birds might be inhabited by the spirits of some of the old gold-loving Incas, who were watching over their treasure and waiting about to see what steps I should take next to steal that store away.I walked on, met, and passed Tom, who remarked upon the improbability of the copperskin showing up again; and then I continued my patrol slowly round the house, past the court-yard, where all was still, and at last found Tom where we had parted from my uncle.“Seen anything, Tom?” I said.“Lizard cutting up the verandy, Mas’r Harry, and a bee-bird buzzing about over the flowers: nothing else.”I led the way into the room, and Tom followed, to stand at the door, picking his cap, and waiting to be told to come in.“Don’t stand there, Tom,” I said; “come in and sit down. You are to be one of the privy-councillors.”“All right, Mas’r Harry,” said Tom, seating himself close to the door.My uncle not being in the room, I supposed that he had gone to secure the gold, and walked across to where lay my cut and destroyed leather valise, which I was turning over when I heard what had never thrilled through the rooms of my uncle’s house since I had been there—namely, a light, heart-stirring, silvery-like song, and for a few moments I stood listening, as it came nearer and nearer, till Lilla tripped into the dark room, to start, stop short, and then colour up upon finding the place occupied.The next moment I was by her side restraining her, for she would have darted away, and as I looked in her eyes I could read the story of the happy little heart rejoicing at being freed from a hateful bondage.I must give Tom the credit of being a most discreet companion, for he suddenly found that it would be possible to repair my valise, and for the next quarter of an hour he was busily cutting and unpicking the great coarse stitches.I was startled from my dreams back to the realities of life, for during that quarter of an hour existence had been bright and golden enough for me, without thinking of anything else; and the gold, the Indians, my uncle—everything had been forgotten, when Mrs Landell entered the room.“Have you seen your uncle?” she said to me, rather anxiously.“Not during the last quarter of an hour or so,” I replied. “He left us to come indoors. Go and see if he is in the yard,” I said to Tom.Tom went, to return in about five minutes with the news that my uncle had not been there for some time.“Are you sure he came in?” said my aunt.“Well, no—not sure,” I replied; “he left us to come in. But, by the way, Aunt, where would my uncle put plate or money that he wanted to keep in safety?”“Oh, in the strong chest in his little office here,” said my aunt, leading the way to a small cupboard of a room just large enough for his desk, a stool, and an old sea-chest in which he kept his books, and, it seemed, such money as he had not in use.But my uncle had evidently not been there, for the door was closed, and, after a moment’s thought, Mrs Landell remembered that her husband had not asked her for the key, which was in her pocket.We waited ten minutes, after which both Tom and I went out to make fresh inquiries, but without avail; then, pausing in the doorway, Tom said to me in a low tone:“Mas’r Harry, you always laughed at me, and said I was making bugbears; but we’ve been watched and dodged ten times as much as you think for.”“Perhaps so, Tom,” I said moodily.“And I don’t want to make no more bugbears now,” continued Tom; “but I’m sure as if some one told me, or as if I saw it all myself, that your uncle has been dropped on, and they’ve got him and the gold too this time, Mas’r Harry.”“Absurd, Tom! Why, he had not half-a-dozen yards to go.”“Then they was half-a-dozen yards too many,” said Tom sullenly. “We didn’t ought to have left him, Mas’r Harry.”“But you don’t for a moment think—”“No, Mas’r Harry, I don’t; but I feel quite sure as they’ve burked him, and got him away with them bars of gold. You see if they haven’t now!”It seemed so improbable that I was disposed to laugh; but I felt the next instant that it could be no laughing matter, and with a feeling of anxiety at my heart that would not be driven away, I turned to enter the house just as there was a noise and confusion in the yard, and, to my surprise, old Señor Xeres, the notary and banker, was assisted into the hacienda, closely followed by his attendant, both bleeding freely.Tom looked meaningly at me, and the next minute we were helping to bear the old Spaniard to a couch, when, his wounds being roughly bound up, and a stimulant given, he told us in tolerable English that about three miles from the hacienda, while on his way to the nearest town, he had been set upon suddenly, and in spite of the resistance offered by himself and servant, they had been roughly treated, and the gold intrusted to him by Pablo Garcia had been taken away.Again Tom gave me a meaning look, and I wondered whether the thoughts which suggested those looks could be correct.“Was Señor Garcia with you?” I said at last.“No,” said the notary; “he left us within ten minutes of our quitting this house, or he might have helped us to beat the scoundrels off. Only think, señor—two hundred and five ounces of pure gold!”“For which you are answerable?” I said, inquiringly.“No, no,” said the notary. “I would not take it to be answerable, only at the Señor Don Garcia’s risk.”“But why does not your uncle come back, Harry?” said my aunt uneasily. “He would not be out of the way now unless there was something very particular to keep him.”“We’ll go and have another look, Aunt,” I said. “We may find him somewhere in the plantation.”Signing to Tom to follow, I walked out to stand beneath the verandah till Tom joined me.“They’ve got it all back again, Mas’r Harry, safe,” said Tom gloomily, as soon as he stood facing me.I did not answer.“And we shall have to look pretty sharp to get the rest away,” he continued, prophetically.“Never mind the gold, Tom,” I said, with a strange uneasy feeling troubling me. “Let us first see what has become of my uncle.”

As soon as my uncle had recovered from his astonishment he took out and loaded a couple of brace of pistols, laying one pair ready to hand and placing the others in his pockets.

“Harry, my lad,” he then said seriously, “we have entered upon something that will take all our wits to compass. We have cunning people to deal with; but Englishmen have brains of their own, and perhaps we can circumvent those who are against us. I wonder whether Garcia will get safe home with his share.”

I was too much put out to think or care much about Garcia just then. Certainly I did think it a good thing that he had been paid off, and the principal current of my thoughts just then tended to a congratulatory point as I thought of how much more serious the loss might have been. That I had done right in concealing the treasure was evident; and there it must lie, I thought, until I could bear it at once away out of the country.

My musings were interrupted by my uncle.

“Harry,” he said, “I’d give something if the women were away from here. I hope I am magnifying the trouble; but I fear that we are going to be between twofires; and, at present I hardly know what course to pursue. I’m afraid of your gold, my lad, but a prince’s fortune must not be slighted; and my conscience does not much upbraid me with respect to helping you to secure it. But we must not pass over this robbery in silence. That was done by no one here, I am sure. We must try and put an end to eavesdropping so close at hand, or more strange things may happen. Now, take my advice: both you and Tom go well armed, don’t stir many yards from the plantation; and now come with me and let us carefully search the place inside and out. Nearly a hundred ounces of gold taken within the last few minutes, and part even from under our eyes. It won’t do, Harry—it won’t do!”

Tom was called in, armed, and then the place was thoroughly searched inside and out, but without avail; not a trace could be seen, till, after a few minutes’ thought, my uncle made a sign to me, placed Tom in one position, me in another, and then disappeared into the house.

Five minutes after there was a loud cry, the sharp crack of a pistol, and what seemed like some beast of prey leaped from one of the upper windows full twelve feet to the ground, about half-way between Tom and myself.

With a rush we made for the falling object, grasping it as it fell to the earth; but the next instant I was sent staggering back, as the Indian—for such it was—bounded up, striking me in the chest with his hand; while, when I gathered myself together again, Tom was standing alone, and my uncle came running out holding a handkerchief to his face, which had recommenced bleeding.

“Did you stop him?” he said.

“Stop!” cried Tom. “It was like trying to stop a thing made of quicksilver. But,” he continued with a grin, “I’ve got his skin; he left that in my hands, and I say, Mas’r Harry, if he wasn’t made of quicksilver he was of gold.”

For at that moment, as Tom shook the dark native cloth garment left in his hands by the fleeing Indian, the sixteen ingots fell to the ground, to be instantly secured.

“Harry,” said my uncle, “I told you we had to deal with a cunning enemy. That fellow was in the space between the ceiling and roof of my bed-room. How he got there I can’t tell; but,” he added with a shudder, “I fear if he had not been dislodged some of us would not have seen the morning’s light.”

“But pursuit, Uncle,” I cried. “Let us try and overtake him.”

“No—no,” he said uneasily. “We should only be led into a trap in the forest, and we are too weak for that. I’m afraid, Harry, that this affair is going to assume dimensions greater than we think for. It is evident that the Indians suspected you of having been at their sacred treasure, and despatched a spy to watch if their suspicions were correct. I tried to bring him down, but I had only a momentary glance and I must have missed him. No, Harry, there must be no pursuit but plenty of scheming for defence, if we wish to hold that which we have got. As I said before, there is no knowing where this will end. Which way did he go?”

“Right away towards the forest, sir,” said Tom.

“Perhaps only to slip back and watch by some other path,” muttered my uncle. “Give me the bars, Harry, and I’ll take them in, while you and Tom walk cautiously round before coming to me. Go one each way, right round, so as to meet again here, and then come in and we will talk matters over a little. But stay—tell me—did you see anything of the Indians, do you say, as you came back?”

I repeated the incident of being surrounded, and the way in which Tom presented a stalactite to the principal man.

My uncle smiled grimly.

“Tom,” he said, “you must look out, or that stalactite will come back with interest. I’m afraid that we English do not give the Indians credit for all the brain they possess. They may have once been a simple, childlike race, but long oppression has roused something more in their breasts. You must look out, lads—look out.”

My uncle left us, and Tom started one way, I the other, to look watchfully and carefully round for danger; although, to my way of thinking, it was decidedly a work of supererogation there in broad daylight, with the sun pouring down his intensely bright beams. There was the creeper-overhung verandah on one side, which, at a glance, I could see was untenanted; there, on the other side, was the garden-like plantation, with its gorgeous blossoms and flitting birds. The rows could be easily scanned, and I looked down between them; but it was evident that there was no danger to apprehend nearer than the forest; and I reached one corner of the verandah just as a parrot gave one of its peculiar calls, to be answered by another behind me.

This was followed by a regular chorus from the woods, every parrot within hearing setting up a series of its ear-piercing shrieks, which in turn started birds of other kinds; the toucans hopping about from branch to branch uttering their singular barking cries, as they raised high their huge bills, which looked as if they would overbalance their bodies, but were as light as if made of paper and as thin.

It did not seem a time to notice such things, but somehow they impressed themselves upon my mind, and I could not help letting my eyes rest upon a pair of the most magnificent trogons I had ever seen. They were in the full beauty of their gorgeous golden-green plumage, which contrasted strongly with their brilliant scarlet breasts. Where they were perched there was an opening among the trees and the full blaze of the sun came down upon their backs, crests, and yard-long tail-feathers which glistened and sparkled at every movement as if formed of burnished metal.

This set me thinking of the golden treasure, and a sort of childish fancy came upon me as to whether these birds might be inhabited by the spirits of some of the old gold-loving Incas, who were watching over their treasure and waiting about to see what steps I should take next to steal that store away.

I walked on, met, and passed Tom, who remarked upon the improbability of the copperskin showing up again; and then I continued my patrol slowly round the house, past the court-yard, where all was still, and at last found Tom where we had parted from my uncle.

“Seen anything, Tom?” I said.

“Lizard cutting up the verandy, Mas’r Harry, and a bee-bird buzzing about over the flowers: nothing else.”

I led the way into the room, and Tom followed, to stand at the door, picking his cap, and waiting to be told to come in.

“Don’t stand there, Tom,” I said; “come in and sit down. You are to be one of the privy-councillors.”

“All right, Mas’r Harry,” said Tom, seating himself close to the door.

My uncle not being in the room, I supposed that he had gone to secure the gold, and walked across to where lay my cut and destroyed leather valise, which I was turning over when I heard what had never thrilled through the rooms of my uncle’s house since I had been there—namely, a light, heart-stirring, silvery-like song, and for a few moments I stood listening, as it came nearer and nearer, till Lilla tripped into the dark room, to start, stop short, and then colour up upon finding the place occupied.

The next moment I was by her side restraining her, for she would have darted away, and as I looked in her eyes I could read the story of the happy little heart rejoicing at being freed from a hateful bondage.

I must give Tom the credit of being a most discreet companion, for he suddenly found that it would be possible to repair my valise, and for the next quarter of an hour he was busily cutting and unpicking the great coarse stitches.

I was startled from my dreams back to the realities of life, for during that quarter of an hour existence had been bright and golden enough for me, without thinking of anything else; and the gold, the Indians, my uncle—everything had been forgotten, when Mrs Landell entered the room.

“Have you seen your uncle?” she said to me, rather anxiously.

“Not during the last quarter of an hour or so,” I replied. “He left us to come indoors. Go and see if he is in the yard,” I said to Tom.

Tom went, to return in about five minutes with the news that my uncle had not been there for some time.

“Are you sure he came in?” said my aunt.

“Well, no—not sure,” I replied; “he left us to come in. But, by the way, Aunt, where would my uncle put plate or money that he wanted to keep in safety?”

“Oh, in the strong chest in his little office here,” said my aunt, leading the way to a small cupboard of a room just large enough for his desk, a stool, and an old sea-chest in which he kept his books, and, it seemed, such money as he had not in use.

But my uncle had evidently not been there, for the door was closed, and, after a moment’s thought, Mrs Landell remembered that her husband had not asked her for the key, which was in her pocket.

We waited ten minutes, after which both Tom and I went out to make fresh inquiries, but without avail; then, pausing in the doorway, Tom said to me in a low tone:

“Mas’r Harry, you always laughed at me, and said I was making bugbears; but we’ve been watched and dodged ten times as much as you think for.”

“Perhaps so, Tom,” I said moodily.

“And I don’t want to make no more bugbears now,” continued Tom; “but I’m sure as if some one told me, or as if I saw it all myself, that your uncle has been dropped on, and they’ve got him and the gold too this time, Mas’r Harry.”

“Absurd, Tom! Why, he had not half-a-dozen yards to go.”

“Then they was half-a-dozen yards too many,” said Tom sullenly. “We didn’t ought to have left him, Mas’r Harry.”

“But you don’t for a moment think—”

“No, Mas’r Harry, I don’t; but I feel quite sure as they’ve burked him, and got him away with them bars of gold. You see if they haven’t now!”

It seemed so improbable that I was disposed to laugh; but I felt the next instant that it could be no laughing matter, and with a feeling of anxiety at my heart that would not be driven away, I turned to enter the house just as there was a noise and confusion in the yard, and, to my surprise, old Señor Xeres, the notary and banker, was assisted into the hacienda, closely followed by his attendant, both bleeding freely.

Tom looked meaningly at me, and the next minute we were helping to bear the old Spaniard to a couch, when, his wounds being roughly bound up, and a stimulant given, he told us in tolerable English that about three miles from the hacienda, while on his way to the nearest town, he had been set upon suddenly, and in spite of the resistance offered by himself and servant, they had been roughly treated, and the gold intrusted to him by Pablo Garcia had been taken away.

Again Tom gave me a meaning look, and I wondered whether the thoughts which suggested those looks could be correct.

“Was Señor Garcia with you?” I said at last.

“No,” said the notary; “he left us within ten minutes of our quitting this house, or he might have helped us to beat the scoundrels off. Only think, señor—two hundred and five ounces of pure gold!”

“For which you are answerable?” I said, inquiringly.

“No, no,” said the notary. “I would not take it to be answerable, only at the Señor Don Garcia’s risk.”

“But why does not your uncle come back, Harry?” said my aunt uneasily. “He would not be out of the way now unless there was something very particular to keep him.”

“We’ll go and have another look, Aunt,” I said. “We may find him somewhere in the plantation.”

Signing to Tom to follow, I walked out to stand beneath the verandah till Tom joined me.

“They’ve got it all back again, Mas’r Harry, safe,” said Tom gloomily, as soon as he stood facing me.

I did not answer.

“And we shall have to look pretty sharp to get the rest away,” he continued, prophetically.

“Never mind the gold, Tom,” I said, with a strange uneasy feeling troubling me. “Let us first see what has become of my uncle.”

Chapter Thirty Nine.Missing.Going out to one of the sheds across the yard I called together the Indians who were regularly employed as labourers on the farm, and told them that their master was wanted directly on business, requesting them all to spread themselves over the cultivated land, and to try and find him.To my utter astonishment the elder of the party raised one hand with the palm outwards, uttered a few words, and one and all the Indians returned to their work.“They didn’t understand you, Mas’r Harry,” said Tom. “Tell them again.”I spoke to the men once more, but they maintained a gloomy silence. Then, and then only, I resorted to threats, to find a wonderful unanimity of purpose amongst them, for every man’s hand in an instant was on his knife, and they were evidently prepared to offer a fierce resistance.“Come away, Mas’r Harry,” said Tom uneasily; “we don’t want no fighting now; but this seems rum, the men turning like that all of a sudden.”“I’m afraid that there’s a sort of freemasonry existing amongst them, Tom,” I said, “and these men are evidently under orders. But let us see whether my uncle has returned, for I begin to be afraid that this gold is about to bring a curse with it.”“I don’t believe in no curses, Mas’r Harry; but we ain’t a-going to be allowed to get it away without a deal of dodging, and perhaps a scrimmage. They’ve got part of it back, Mas’r Harry, but I don’t think they’ll get the big lot unless we go and show them where we’ve stowed it away.” I hurried into the house to find that the old notary had fallen asleep, while my aunt was uneasily walking about. “Have you found him, Harry?” she exclaimed. “Not yet, Aunt. I thought he might have returned.” Without waiting to hear her reply I ran back to Tom, who was watching the Indians.“Look here, Mas’r Harry,” he exclaimed. “Here’s just the very spot where we left your uncle, isn’t it?”“Yes,” I said.“Well, this is just in view of those Indian chaps, and so is the way into the house all in full view of them.”“Quite right, Tom.”“Well, nothing couldn’t have taken place without them seeing it. But something did take place, and I’ll tell you why. If Mas’r Landell had only walked off somewhere to see how his coffee or cocoa was growing, and where it wanted hoeing up, do you think that Muster Indian there would have been above saying so? Not he, Mas’r Harry. But what does he do now? Why, he turns stunt, and won’t answer a word; and what does that show, eh? Why, that, as I said before, we didn’t ought to have left your poor uncle, who’s been knocked on the head, and robbed, and then hidden away. Well, do you know what we’ve got to do now, Mas’r Harry?”“Search for him, of course,” I said emphatically.“To be sure, and both together, or we may get knocked on the head too; and I shouldn’t like that on account of Sally Smith and Miss—”“Tom,” I said, “your tongue runs too fast. Let us have more action. Come along. And as to your knocking-on-the-head work, we have nothing to fear there so long as we have no gold about us.”“Gently there, Mas’r Harry,” said Tom. “We’ve got no gold about us, I know; but how many people know that, eh? Well, I’ll tell you—two; and I’m one, and you’re the other. You keep a sharp look-out, and don’t you trust nobody at all with a red skin, and only two or three who have got white.”As we conversed we kept on advancing towards the plantation rows, when Tom stooped down so as to gaze intently at the ground, and then trotted slowly along, as if seeking for a place where the grass was broken down—an example I followed, to halt at length, with the Indians watching me intently from the shed as I reached a spot nearly opposite to the part of the verandah where I had parted with my uncle.“Come here, Tom!” I said in a low voice; and he ran up. “What do you think of this?”“Been beaten-down and then smoothed over again,” said Tom excitedly. “Something has been dragged over here, Mas’r Harry.”“So I thought, Tom,” I exclaimed. “Now let us try whether an Englishman can follow a trail; for it looks as if my uncle must have passed along here.”There was evidently a display of some little excitement amongst the Indians in the shed as we took our first steps along a well-marked track.“They saw it, Mas’r Harry!” exclaimed Tom. “Look at ’em.”I did not answer, for my eyes were glued to the track, which now showed plainly that a body had been dragged along through the tender herbage in a perfectly straight line; and I was not long in perceiving that the track went in the direction of the little wood where Lilla had had her terrible adventure with the snake.The affair began to show now in blacker colours each moment; and I shuddered at last as I stopped short, and pointed to a plainly-to-be-seen smear upon a broad frond.“Blood, Mas’r Harry!” exclaimed Tom hoarsely; and then I heard him mutter to himself—“Poor Mas’r Landell!”We pushed on, to find the same track still; the heavy body that had been dragged over the young plantation growth leaving it bruised and broken beyond the elastic power of the plants to recover themselves. Two or three times the track made a sudden turn, as if he who made it had sought to avail himself of an inequality in the ground; and then, once more, it went right away for the forest, in whose depths it disappeared.Twice more we had both shuddered as we observed the faint smears of blood upon some leaf; but there was a stern determination in my breast to see the adventure to the end; for I felt that it was to a great extent due to me that my uncle had been stricken down—for stricken down he must have been, I now felt sure.Following Tom’s example, I drew and cocked a pistol; and then we pushed aside the foliage, which grew densely as soon as we had passed through the plantation, moving forward cautiously, and expecting to see an enemy spring up from every tuft of thick growth.“Why, the trail goes right down where the snake went, Mas’r Harry!” cried Tom suddenly.“Towards the river, Tom,” I said huskily; for it was now plain enough; and my heart seemed to stand still, and my breath to come in gasps, as my imagination conjured up horror after horror that must have befallen the free, generous hearted man who had ever given me so warm a welcome to his home.“Keep a sharp look-out, Mas’r Harry,” whispered Tom, as a rustling amongst the bushes and swamp-loving grass told of something rapidly retreating towards the river.Then once more the trail turned off, and it was plain enough to see that it was now pointing right for the thick reed and cane-brake where we had slain the jaguar; and my heart told me plainly enough that, if this track had been made by some one dragging my uncle’s body, it was in order to dispose of it in the great reptile-haunted stream.There was a strangely strong inclination to stay back and leave Tom to finish the adventure, but with an effort I crushed it down; and now, close abreast, we crept on, pushing the reeds and canes aside as we entered the brake, sinking to our knees at every stride, and feeling to our horror that the ooze beneath our feet was alive with little reptiles.“Make haste, Tom!” I cried, shuddering in spite of my efforts to drive away the tremor I felt.Tom responded to my words, and we were pushing and forcing our way on, when the horror that was oppressing me would have its way, and—be it boyish, unmanly, what you will—I gave vent to a cry, torn from me by the extreme dread I felt as my further progress was stayed by something invisible to me amongst the thick reeds, suddenly seizing me by the leg.

Going out to one of the sheds across the yard I called together the Indians who were regularly employed as labourers on the farm, and told them that their master was wanted directly on business, requesting them all to spread themselves over the cultivated land, and to try and find him.

To my utter astonishment the elder of the party raised one hand with the palm outwards, uttered a few words, and one and all the Indians returned to their work.

“They didn’t understand you, Mas’r Harry,” said Tom. “Tell them again.”

I spoke to the men once more, but they maintained a gloomy silence. Then, and then only, I resorted to threats, to find a wonderful unanimity of purpose amongst them, for every man’s hand in an instant was on his knife, and they were evidently prepared to offer a fierce resistance.

“Come away, Mas’r Harry,” said Tom uneasily; “we don’t want no fighting now; but this seems rum, the men turning like that all of a sudden.”

“I’m afraid that there’s a sort of freemasonry existing amongst them, Tom,” I said, “and these men are evidently under orders. But let us see whether my uncle has returned, for I begin to be afraid that this gold is about to bring a curse with it.”

“I don’t believe in no curses, Mas’r Harry; but we ain’t a-going to be allowed to get it away without a deal of dodging, and perhaps a scrimmage. They’ve got part of it back, Mas’r Harry, but I don’t think they’ll get the big lot unless we go and show them where we’ve stowed it away.” I hurried into the house to find that the old notary had fallen asleep, while my aunt was uneasily walking about. “Have you found him, Harry?” she exclaimed. “Not yet, Aunt. I thought he might have returned.” Without waiting to hear her reply I ran back to Tom, who was watching the Indians.

“Look here, Mas’r Harry,” he exclaimed. “Here’s just the very spot where we left your uncle, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I said.

“Well, this is just in view of those Indian chaps, and so is the way into the house all in full view of them.”

“Quite right, Tom.”

“Well, nothing couldn’t have taken place without them seeing it. But something did take place, and I’ll tell you why. If Mas’r Landell had only walked off somewhere to see how his coffee or cocoa was growing, and where it wanted hoeing up, do you think that Muster Indian there would have been above saying so? Not he, Mas’r Harry. But what does he do now? Why, he turns stunt, and won’t answer a word; and what does that show, eh? Why, that, as I said before, we didn’t ought to have left your poor uncle, who’s been knocked on the head, and robbed, and then hidden away. Well, do you know what we’ve got to do now, Mas’r Harry?”

“Search for him, of course,” I said emphatically.

“To be sure, and both together, or we may get knocked on the head too; and I shouldn’t like that on account of Sally Smith and Miss—”

“Tom,” I said, “your tongue runs too fast. Let us have more action. Come along. And as to your knocking-on-the-head work, we have nothing to fear there so long as we have no gold about us.”

“Gently there, Mas’r Harry,” said Tom. “We’ve got no gold about us, I know; but how many people know that, eh? Well, I’ll tell you—two; and I’m one, and you’re the other. You keep a sharp look-out, and don’t you trust nobody at all with a red skin, and only two or three who have got white.”

As we conversed we kept on advancing towards the plantation rows, when Tom stooped down so as to gaze intently at the ground, and then trotted slowly along, as if seeking for a place where the grass was broken down—an example I followed, to halt at length, with the Indians watching me intently from the shed as I reached a spot nearly opposite to the part of the verandah where I had parted with my uncle.

“Come here, Tom!” I said in a low voice; and he ran up. “What do you think of this?”

“Been beaten-down and then smoothed over again,” said Tom excitedly. “Something has been dragged over here, Mas’r Harry.”

“So I thought, Tom,” I exclaimed. “Now let us try whether an Englishman can follow a trail; for it looks as if my uncle must have passed along here.”

There was evidently a display of some little excitement amongst the Indians in the shed as we took our first steps along a well-marked track.

“They saw it, Mas’r Harry!” exclaimed Tom. “Look at ’em.”

I did not answer, for my eyes were glued to the track, which now showed plainly that a body had been dragged along through the tender herbage in a perfectly straight line; and I was not long in perceiving that the track went in the direction of the little wood where Lilla had had her terrible adventure with the snake.

The affair began to show now in blacker colours each moment; and I shuddered at last as I stopped short, and pointed to a plainly-to-be-seen smear upon a broad frond.

“Blood, Mas’r Harry!” exclaimed Tom hoarsely; and then I heard him mutter to himself—“Poor Mas’r Landell!”

We pushed on, to find the same track still; the heavy body that had been dragged over the young plantation growth leaving it bruised and broken beyond the elastic power of the plants to recover themselves. Two or three times the track made a sudden turn, as if he who made it had sought to avail himself of an inequality in the ground; and then, once more, it went right away for the forest, in whose depths it disappeared.

Twice more we had both shuddered as we observed the faint smears of blood upon some leaf; but there was a stern determination in my breast to see the adventure to the end; for I felt that it was to a great extent due to me that my uncle had been stricken down—for stricken down he must have been, I now felt sure.

Following Tom’s example, I drew and cocked a pistol; and then we pushed aside the foliage, which grew densely as soon as we had passed through the plantation, moving forward cautiously, and expecting to see an enemy spring up from every tuft of thick growth.

“Why, the trail goes right down where the snake went, Mas’r Harry!” cried Tom suddenly.

“Towards the river, Tom,” I said huskily; for it was now plain enough; and my heart seemed to stand still, and my breath to come in gasps, as my imagination conjured up horror after horror that must have befallen the free, generous hearted man who had ever given me so warm a welcome to his home.

“Keep a sharp look-out, Mas’r Harry,” whispered Tom, as a rustling amongst the bushes and swamp-loving grass told of something rapidly retreating towards the river.

Then once more the trail turned off, and it was plain enough to see that it was now pointing right for the thick reed and cane-brake where we had slain the jaguar; and my heart told me plainly enough that, if this track had been made by some one dragging my uncle’s body, it was in order to dispose of it in the great reptile-haunted stream.

There was a strangely strong inclination to stay back and leave Tom to finish the adventure, but with an effort I crushed it down; and now, close abreast, we crept on, pushing the reeds and canes aside as we entered the brake, sinking to our knees at every stride, and feeling to our horror that the ooze beneath our feet was alive with little reptiles.

“Make haste, Tom!” I cried, shuddering in spite of my efforts to drive away the tremor I felt.

Tom responded to my words, and we were pushing and forcing our way on, when the horror that was oppressing me would have its way, and—be it boyish, unmanly, what you will—I gave vent to a cry, torn from me by the extreme dread I felt as my further progress was stayed by something invisible to me amongst the thick reeds, suddenly seizing me by the leg.

Chapter Forty.My Uncle’s Adventure.“Let me get a shot at him, Mas’r Harry!” cried Tom excitedly. “Hold up—don’t go down, whatever you do. It’s one of them great beasts—I know it is. There’s thousands of ’em here.”As if to prove the truth of Tom’s words, one of the monsters dashed, half-running, half-wallowing, by us while, completely unnerved, I could do nothing but stand motionless as Tom beat the canes aside and tried to get a clear view of that which held me.“Why, Mas’r Harry!” he exclaimed in tones I could hardly understand, “who ever saw such a game as this?”Tom’s words brought me to myself, and, looking down, I found that which clasped me so tightly was a man’s hand—my uncle’s!Angry with myself for my cowardice, the next moment I was down upon my knees helping to extricate him from the position in which he lay, with one arm still bound to his side, and the dark cloth garment from which Tom had shaken the gold bound round and round his head and face, effectually gagging him; and if the intention of his captors had been to suffocate him, they had nearly effected their purpose.“Uncle!” I exclaimed, as I held his head up and he began to draw his breath more freely.“I thought it was all over, my boy, when I heard your voice,” he said faintly, and evidently not without considerable effort.With some difficulty we got him upon his legs; but until we had thoroughly chafed them he could not take a step, so tight had been the bonds with which he had been confined.But at last he seemed to exert himself to the utmost; and, sometimes leaning on Tom’s arm, sometimes on mine, we went slowly along the track we had made to the great prostrate tree, where, after a hasty glance around to make certain that no serpents were in the way, we sat down to rest, and my uncle, unasked, began to speak.“I must sit down for a few minutes, my lad,” he said, “and then we will make haste on, for those women must not be left for an instant more than we can help. The gold has all gone, though, Harry.”“Uncle,” I exclaimed, “it seems as if my thirst for gold is bringing down a curse upon your peaceful home.”“Not so fast, my lad—not so fast. Gold is a very good thing in its way, and helped me this morning out of a terrible difficulty. Remember that it set me free from Garcia.”“And they’ve got it all back from him again,” chuckled Tom.“What!” exclaimed my uncle.“Knocked the poor old lawyer about and grabbed all the bars,” said Tom.My uncle seemed astonished at the news, but his brow knit the next minute.“Never mind, Harry,” he said, “we’ll risk the curses of the gold. I’ll help you, my lad, to the last gasp; and if we don’t get the treasure safe on board some vessel bound for old England, it sha’n’t be for want of trying. But you must give me time, lad—you must give me time; for, what with Garcia’s bullet and this blow on the head, I’m as weak as a child.”“But how was it, Uncle?” I exclaimed anxiously.“Give me your arm, lad, and let’s make haste back to the hacienda. You, Tom, keep that pistol in your hand cocked, and walk close behind; and if you see one of those lurking copper-skins jump up, shoot him down without mercy. You know how you both left me to go into the house, where I meant to put the gold into a chest in my little office? Well, I stood looking at you for a few moments, Hal, and then I had taken a step forward, when I felt myself dashed to the ground by a tremendous blow upon the head; hundreds of lights danced before my eyes, and then all was darkness, from which I came to myself with the sensation of being suffocated by something bound over my face. I felt, too, that my hands and arms were tightly bound, and that I was quite helpless, for I could not cry out. I did not feel much troubled, though, for a heavy, sleepy feeling was on me. All I wanted was to be left alone, while instead of that I could feel that I was being dragged slowly along over the ground; and then at last came a stoppage, and I knew that I was left.”My uncle stopped for a few minutes, apparently exhausted, but he soon recovered himself and went on:“I struggled hard to get at liberty; but, do all I would, I could only get one hand and arm loose as far as the elbow, while as to freeing my legs and face, that I soon found to be impossible; and as I lay there I could feel that the muddy ooze was all in motion beneath me with the spawn of those great alligators of the river.”“Wur–r–r–ra!” ejaculated Tom in a long shudder.“Over and over again I felt something crawl over me, and once something seized me, gave me a shake, and then let go; but the height of my horror was reached when I felt slowly gliding and coiling upon me what must have been one of the water-boas. I could feel it gradually growing heavier and heavier with the great thick folds lying upon my chest, my legs, and even up to my throat, till the sense of suffocation was horrible, and I lay momentarily expecting to be wrapped in the monster’s folds and crushed to death, till suddenly I felt every part of the body in motion, and that it was gliding off me, for the sense of the crushing weight was going. For a moment I thought it was to enable the beast to seize me, but the next instant I knew what it meant, for I could faintly hear voices, which I rightly judged to have scared the reptile away. Then something touched me as I heard indistinctly the voices close by, and with what little strength I had left I clutched at whatever it was; and you know the rest.”By this time we had reached the edge of the plantation, and I was glancing anxiously towards the hacienda in dread lest anything should have happened. But so far all appeared at peace. It was drawing towards evening and the shadows were lengthening, but the whole place seemed to be sleeping in the gorgeous yellow sunlight, so still and placid looked all around.Still, indeed! for an ominous change met us upon our reaching the court-yard. Every Indian labourer, male and female, had gone, and the place was silent and deserted.“The rats desert the sinking ship, Harry,” said my uncle huskily. “For Heaven’s sake run in and see if all is well; I dare go no farther!”I needed no second bidding to rush in and hurry to the room where the wounded Spaniards had lain, to find it deserted.With a strange clutching at the heart I ran to the inner room and called Lilla by name, when, to my intense delight, she answered, and with my aunt, weak and trembling, she came forth.We soon learned the cause of the silence about the place. Shortly after I had taken my departure Señor Xeres had roused up from the short sleep into which he had sunk, to express his determination to recommence his journey, declaring that he had nothing now to lose; while, half an hour after, Lilla had seen through one of the verandahs the whole of the labourers glide silently away towards the forest, and then a silence as of death had fallen upon the hacienda.

“Let me get a shot at him, Mas’r Harry!” cried Tom excitedly. “Hold up—don’t go down, whatever you do. It’s one of them great beasts—I know it is. There’s thousands of ’em here.”

As if to prove the truth of Tom’s words, one of the monsters dashed, half-running, half-wallowing, by us while, completely unnerved, I could do nothing but stand motionless as Tom beat the canes aside and tried to get a clear view of that which held me.

“Why, Mas’r Harry!” he exclaimed in tones I could hardly understand, “who ever saw such a game as this?”

Tom’s words brought me to myself, and, looking down, I found that which clasped me so tightly was a man’s hand—my uncle’s!

Angry with myself for my cowardice, the next moment I was down upon my knees helping to extricate him from the position in which he lay, with one arm still bound to his side, and the dark cloth garment from which Tom had shaken the gold bound round and round his head and face, effectually gagging him; and if the intention of his captors had been to suffocate him, they had nearly effected their purpose.

“Uncle!” I exclaimed, as I held his head up and he began to draw his breath more freely.

“I thought it was all over, my boy, when I heard your voice,” he said faintly, and evidently not without considerable effort.

With some difficulty we got him upon his legs; but until we had thoroughly chafed them he could not take a step, so tight had been the bonds with which he had been confined.

But at last he seemed to exert himself to the utmost; and, sometimes leaning on Tom’s arm, sometimes on mine, we went slowly along the track we had made to the great prostrate tree, where, after a hasty glance around to make certain that no serpents were in the way, we sat down to rest, and my uncle, unasked, began to speak.

“I must sit down for a few minutes, my lad,” he said, “and then we will make haste on, for those women must not be left for an instant more than we can help. The gold has all gone, though, Harry.”

“Uncle,” I exclaimed, “it seems as if my thirst for gold is bringing down a curse upon your peaceful home.”

“Not so fast, my lad—not so fast. Gold is a very good thing in its way, and helped me this morning out of a terrible difficulty. Remember that it set me free from Garcia.”

“And they’ve got it all back from him again,” chuckled Tom.

“What!” exclaimed my uncle.

“Knocked the poor old lawyer about and grabbed all the bars,” said Tom.

My uncle seemed astonished at the news, but his brow knit the next minute.

“Never mind, Harry,” he said, “we’ll risk the curses of the gold. I’ll help you, my lad, to the last gasp; and if we don’t get the treasure safe on board some vessel bound for old England, it sha’n’t be for want of trying. But you must give me time, lad—you must give me time; for, what with Garcia’s bullet and this blow on the head, I’m as weak as a child.”

“But how was it, Uncle?” I exclaimed anxiously.

“Give me your arm, lad, and let’s make haste back to the hacienda. You, Tom, keep that pistol in your hand cocked, and walk close behind; and if you see one of those lurking copper-skins jump up, shoot him down without mercy. You know how you both left me to go into the house, where I meant to put the gold into a chest in my little office? Well, I stood looking at you for a few moments, Hal, and then I had taken a step forward, when I felt myself dashed to the ground by a tremendous blow upon the head; hundreds of lights danced before my eyes, and then all was darkness, from which I came to myself with the sensation of being suffocated by something bound over my face. I felt, too, that my hands and arms were tightly bound, and that I was quite helpless, for I could not cry out. I did not feel much troubled, though, for a heavy, sleepy feeling was on me. All I wanted was to be left alone, while instead of that I could feel that I was being dragged slowly along over the ground; and then at last came a stoppage, and I knew that I was left.”

My uncle stopped for a few minutes, apparently exhausted, but he soon recovered himself and went on:

“I struggled hard to get at liberty; but, do all I would, I could only get one hand and arm loose as far as the elbow, while as to freeing my legs and face, that I soon found to be impossible; and as I lay there I could feel that the muddy ooze was all in motion beneath me with the spawn of those great alligators of the river.”

“Wur–r–r–ra!” ejaculated Tom in a long shudder.

“Over and over again I felt something crawl over me, and once something seized me, gave me a shake, and then let go; but the height of my horror was reached when I felt slowly gliding and coiling upon me what must have been one of the water-boas. I could feel it gradually growing heavier and heavier with the great thick folds lying upon my chest, my legs, and even up to my throat, till the sense of suffocation was horrible, and I lay momentarily expecting to be wrapped in the monster’s folds and crushed to death, till suddenly I felt every part of the body in motion, and that it was gliding off me, for the sense of the crushing weight was going. For a moment I thought it was to enable the beast to seize me, but the next instant I knew what it meant, for I could faintly hear voices, which I rightly judged to have scared the reptile away. Then something touched me as I heard indistinctly the voices close by, and with what little strength I had left I clutched at whatever it was; and you know the rest.”

By this time we had reached the edge of the plantation, and I was glancing anxiously towards the hacienda in dread lest anything should have happened. But so far all appeared at peace. It was drawing towards evening and the shadows were lengthening, but the whole place seemed to be sleeping in the gorgeous yellow sunlight, so still and placid looked all around.

Still, indeed! for an ominous change met us upon our reaching the court-yard. Every Indian labourer, male and female, had gone, and the place was silent and deserted.

“The rats desert the sinking ship, Harry,” said my uncle huskily. “For Heaven’s sake run in and see if all is well; I dare go no farther!”

I needed no second bidding to rush in and hurry to the room where the wounded Spaniards had lain, to find it deserted.

With a strange clutching at the heart I ran to the inner room and called Lilla by name, when, to my intense delight, she answered, and with my aunt, weak and trembling, she came forth.

We soon learned the cause of the silence about the place. Shortly after I had taken my departure Señor Xeres had roused up from the short sleep into which he had sunk, to express his determination to recommence his journey, declaring that he had nothing now to lose; while, half an hour after, Lilla had seen through one of the verandahs the whole of the labourers glide silently away towards the forest, and then a silence as of death had fallen upon the hacienda.

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