All the events of the past week came tumbling into my brain. They had tracked me down, then, and now I was at grips with El Cojo's famous organisation1.... But this was no time for speculation2 or surmise3. I could think matters out afterwards; for the moment I must keep my mind clear and concentrate on getting out of this dense4 jungle quietly and quickly.
Now the humming had ceased. Did it mean that the singer was moving forward? I strained my ears but could catch no sound other than the rustle5 of the leaves as they dripped moisture. To move in silence through the clinging undergrowth was, I knew, a thing impossible. An old memory of capercailzie shooting in Russia came to my aid. One stalked the male bird perched on a tree-top as he uttered his love-call to the females at the foot. When he called one moved; when he stopped, one halted.
The droning recommenced. Did my ears mislead me? It certainly sounded nearer now. My compass lying flat in my left palm, I moved swiftly forward, heading for the west. When the humming ceased, I stood still and pushed on again as soon as it was resumed.
A horrid6 thought assailed7 me. Was the singer the spy whose unseen presence had impressed itself on Carstairs that evening? Or were there others? Had the cordon8 let me through only to draw in upon me as I returned? I had no weapon; for I had given Carstairs my revolver to clean and oil on our return from camp that evening after our wetting.
The crooning chant had grown much fainter. I must be drawing away from it. I paused an instant to wipe away the sweat which was pouring into my eyes. Then came a sudden crash in the undergrowth close to hand. I steeled myself to the encounter, getting my back to a tree and striving—but how vainly?—to pierce with my eyes that bewildering pall9 of darkness. Another heavy crash, a frightened squawk, and I breathed again. It was only one of the island pigs whose nocturnal rambles10 I had disturbed.
And now for full five minutes I had heard the singer no more. The forest was getting lighter11, and like blissful music there came to my ears the distant surge of the sea. Presently, without further incident, I stepped out on the beach not more than twenty paces from our cave.
A black shape rose out of the darkness at my feet. It was Carstairs. I put my hand over his mouth and drew him into the cave. The place re-echoed with Garth's rhythmic12 snoring.
"You were quite right, Carstairs," I whispered. "There is someone in the woods back there! Have you heard or seen anything?"
"No, sir!" the man returned. "But I was that certain sure there was somebody round the place that I nipped in and got a pistol to sit up and wait for you...."
He showed me the automatic in his hand.
"I don't like the look of things at all, Carstairs," said I, "and that's a fact. I'm not getting the wind up over a lot of shadows; but I don't propose to risk having the camp rushed. You've got some bread-bags and the like, haven't you? Well, get one of the shovels13 and start filling 'em with sand, will you? If we can run up a bit of cover round the entrance to the cave, one man ought to be able to hold it against all-comers. Meanwhile, I'll wake Sir Alexander here!...."
It is a little embarrassing to rouse a man up out of his beauty sleep and tell him you have been keeping essential facts from his knowledge. However, I could at least honestly claim that, until that moment, I had nothing stronger than suspicions to go upon.
Propped14 up on his elbow, Garth heard my whole tale just as I have set it down here, from the moment that John Bard15 identified Black Pablo with the man who had kept watch outside Adams' hut down to the strange happening in the woods that night.
"Just what we are up against, Sir Alexander," I concluded, "I don't know. But we're here for a specific purpose and I feel sure you will agree with me that we should not allow a band of filthy16 cut-throats to deter17 us from it!"
"Certainly not, my boy, certainly not!" declared the baronet. "As a matter of fact, I cannot really believe that these fellows really intend us any harm. After all, we're British subjects and a little of Britain goes the deuce of a long way in these parts...."
"Very possibly, sir," I replied, "but you must remember we do not know how strong this party is. Force is the ultimate sanction of the law, they say; but on this particular island British prestige is backed up by exactly three very imperfectly armed Britishers...."
"If you'll allow me to say so," Garth broke in pompously19, "you go rather fast. From the accident that you overheard on an island which we previously20 believed to be uninhabited a song you heard sung (in peculiar21 circumstances, I grant you) at Rodriguez, you appear to assume that the men who murdered Adams have landed on this island. Your song may be a popular favourite in Rodriguez; everybody may be singing it. Have you thought of that?
"If this figure you saw at the grave and this man whom you heard humming in the forest belong to this mysterious gang led by El What's-his-name, then they must have followed us here. But how did they come? We have seen no steamer. If, on the other hand, the song incident is capable of some simple explanation such as I have suggested, your last valid22 link of evidence connecting these mysterious visitors of Cock Island with El Thingumybob's gang snaps."
This was very ingenious. But it didn't convince me. The intonation23 of the singer in the forest was identical with that of the man in the lane. Of that I was sure. Besides, in the back of my mind lurked24 a half-formed suspicion about Custrin which I had not as yet thought proper to communicate to the worthy25 cotton-spinner. And, as for having seen no steamer, I recollected26 that launch which had put out from Rodriguez after us.
"I'll tell you something else," Garth resumed, "that perhaps you don't know, major. Many of these Pacific islands do contain treasure; not doubloons but something almost equally valuable; phosphates. Adventurers are always roaming about the Pacific prospecting27 for guano deposits and mighty28 shy they are, many of 'em, of casual visitors. Now you mark my words, these chaps who have been behaving so oddly are in all probability just a band of shysters from Rodriguez—without any concession29, of course—dropped here by a ship to look for phosphates. They think we've come to jump their claim...."
I felt very perplexed30. Garth was a hard-headed Lancashire business man and there seemed to be a good deal of horse sense in what he said. And yet somehow....
I walked to the entrance of the cave and looked out. In awe-inspiring majesty31 the sun came rolling up from the east and the glistening32 beach was dyed in the hues33 of the morning. A few paces away Carstairs was shovelling34 sand for dear life. Already he had filled a dozen stout35 cotton bags.
"You may be right, Sir Alexander," I said at length. "I hope you are. But even if these gentry36 are concession-hunters we have to bear in mind that they are a cut-throat lot. They are quite capable of shooting first and of asking your name afterwards. I'm going to run up a little sand-bag parapet at the mouth of this cave. It commands a fine field of fire and will allow you or Carstairs to challenge anybody who comes within thirty yards. As soon as we've put the place in a proper state of defence I'm going out to do a little reconnoitring on my own...."
"My dear fellow," remarked Garth, sitting up in bed and nursing his toes, "to hear you talk you'd think the blessed old British Empire had ceased to count in the world. Foreigners can't go about murdering British subjects, you know. They'd have the Foreign Office on them damned quick, send a cruiser and all that sort of thing. However," he finished indulgently, "I'm quite prepared to hold the fort while you have a look round. I'm not sorry to have a lazy morning for, to tell you the truth, I'm so stiff from our climb yesterday that I can scarcely move!"
Rather with the air of Daddy helping37 his little boy to build sand-castles, Garth assisted me to erect38 a parapet at the mouth of the cave. There were not many sand-bags, but we helped out with some cases of tinned provisions, putting the sand-bags on top and then a layer of sand scooped39 out from the foot of our fortification. The screen of creeper across the entrance to the cave, while it obscured the view from outside, was not so dense as to prevent anybody within from commanding the approach to our stronghold.
Carstairs brought coffee and sandwiches and at my request filled my flask40 with brandy and brought me my automatic pistol and a couple of charges of ammunition41. Then, turning my back on the sea, I once more struck out into the woods.
My plan was to make for the grave in the clearing. This should be the test. If our mysterious visitors were after the treasure I made sure I would come upon them in the vicinity of the grave. For, as far as I knew, the grave was the only indication they had to guide them in their hunt. It was still very early, and if I could gain the clearing unobserved, I would post myself at some convenient point, perhaps on the high ground beyond the grave, and await events.
I went forward very cautiously, my pistol cocked in my hand. I stopped repeatedly and listened; but, save for the hubbub42 of the birds in the trees, all was still around me. The burbling stream that fell from the high ground of the island to the beach gave me my direction.
I had reached a narrow ravine at the end of which was that flat rock whence, on the previous evening, Garth had described the ruined hut. On a slab43 which formed a convenient step to mount the boulder44 something white caught my eye as I came down the nullah. To my unbounded surprise it proved to be one of those cheap cigar-holders made of cardboard which so many Germans use.
I stooped to examine it. The holder45 with its quill46 mouth-piece, was quite clean and obviously brand-new. Therefore, it was no relic47 of the former visitors to the island. And it had not been there yesterday. I had mounted by this very slab to stand by Garth on the flat rock and if the holder had been there, I could not possibly have failed to see it.
It looked as though it might have dropped out of a man's pocket as he was scrambling48 up the rock. The name of a popular firm of cigar-merchants, with branches all over Germany, was printed on it. "Loeser und Wolff, Berlin. S.W. Friedrich-Strasse," I read. I knew the shop well. I had bought cigars there scores of times in the past....
A sudden feeling of uneasiness, an acute sense of danger, came over me. To be shadowed is an almost everyday experience on our job and one develops a kind of sixth sense in detecting it. I had the distinct impression that somebody was watching me.
My brain worked swiftly. I was in the open, without cover, liable to be shot down with impunity49 from the edge of the ravine. To keep perfectly18 calm, to show no signs of fluster50 and, above all things, to spot your man without his knowing that he has been seen, is the only safe course in moments like this. My grip tightened51 on my pistol as, very slowly, I began to raise my head....
The top of the rock above me was level with my eyes. As I lifted them my gaze fell upon a monstrous52 mis-shapen boot, projecting awkwardly over the edge. For the moment, I had no eyes for the huge figure that stood there resting on the rubber-shod stick. I could only stare, like one transfigured, at that sinister53 club-foot, as a voice, a well-remembered voice that for months had haunted me in dreams, cried out sharply:
"Stay as you are and raise your hands! Quick! And drop that gun!"
Over the barrel of a great automatic clasped in a huge hairy hand, the Man With the Clubfoot was looking at me.
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1
organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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4
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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5
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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6
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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7
assailed
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| v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对 | |
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8
cordon
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| n.警戒线，哨兵线 | |
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pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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10
rambles
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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11
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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12
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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13
shovels
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| n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份 | |
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14
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bard
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| n.吟游诗人 | |
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16
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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17
deter
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| vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住 | |
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18
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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19
pompously
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| adv.傲慢地，盛大壮观地；大模大样 | |
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20
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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22
valid
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| adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的 | |
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23
intonation
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| n.语调，声调；发声 | |
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24
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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25
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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26
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
prospecting
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| n.探矿 | |
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28
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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29
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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30
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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31
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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32
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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33
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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34
shovelling
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| v.铲子( shovel的现在分词 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份 | |
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36
gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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37
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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38
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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39
scooped
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| v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
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40
flask
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| n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱 | |
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41
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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42
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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43
slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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44
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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45
holder
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| n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物 | |
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46
quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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47
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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48
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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49
impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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50
fluster
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| adj.慌乱，狼狈，混乱，激动 | |
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51
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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52
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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53
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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54
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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