Tarzan knew the nearest water, and to this he immediately led the party. Here the men fell to work to construct shelters and rude furniture while Tarzan went into the jungle after meat, leaving the faithful Mugambi and the Mosula woman to guard Jane, whose safety he would never trust to any member of the Kincaid's cut-throat crew.
Lady Greystoke suffered far greater anguish3 than any other of the castaways, for the blow to her hopes and her already cruelly lacerated mother-heart lay not in her own privations but in the knowledge that she might now never be able to learn the fate of her first-born or do aught to discover his whereabouts, or ameliorate his condition—a condition which imagination naturally pictured in the most frightful5 forms.
For two weeks the party divided the time amongst the various duties which had been allotted6 to each. A daylight watch was maintained from sunrise to sunset upon a bluff7 near the camp—a jutting8 shoulder of rock which overlooked the sea. Here, ready for instant lighting9, was gathered a huge pile of dry branches, while from a lofty pole which they had set in the ground there floated an improvised10 distress11 signal fashioned from a red undershirt which belonged to the mate of the Kincaid.
But never a speck12 upon the horizon that might be sail or smoke rewarded the tired eyes that in their endless, hopeless vigil strained daily out across the vast expanse of ocean.
It was Tarzan who suggested, finally, that they attempt to construct a vessel13 that would bear them back to the mainland. He alone could show them how to fashion rude tools, and when the idea had taken root in the minds of the men they were eager to commence their labours.
But as time went on and the Herculean nature of their task became more and more apparent they fell to grumbling14, and to quarrelling among themselves, so that to the other dangers were now added dissension and suspicion.
More than before did Tarzan now fear to leave Jane among the half brutes15 of the Kincaid's crew; but hunting he must do, for none other could so surely go forth16 and return with meat as he. Sometimes Mugambi spelled him at the hunting; but the black's spear and arrows were never so sure of results as the rope and knife of the ape-man.
Finally the men shirked their work, going off into the jungle by twos to explore and to hunt. All this time the camp had had no sight of Sheeta, or Akut and the other great apes, though Tarzan had sometimes met them in the jungle as he hunted.
And as matters tended from bad to worse in the camp of the castaways upon the east coast of Jungle Island, another camp came into being upon the north coast.
Here, in a little cove4, lay a small schooner17, the Cowrie, whose decks had but a few days since run red with the blood of her officers and the loyal members of her crew, for the Cowrie had fallen upon bad days when it had shipped such men as Gust18 and Momulla the Maori and that arch-fiend Kai Shang of Fachan.
There were others, too, ten of them all told, the scum of the South Sea ports; but Gust and Momulla and Kai Shang were the brains and cunning of the company. It was they who had instigated19 the mutiny that they might seize and divide the catch of pearls which constituted the wealth of the Cowrie's cargo20.
It was Kai Shang who had murdered the captain as he lay asleep in his berth21, and it had been Momulla the Maori who had led the attack upon the officer of the watch.
Gust, after his own peculiar22 habit, had found means to delegate to the others the actual taking of life. Not that Gust entertained any scruples23 on the subject, other than those which induced in him a rare regard for his own personal safety. There is always a certain element of risk to the assassin, for victims of deadly assault are seldom prone24 to die quietly and considerately. There is always a certain element of risk to go so far as to dispute the issue with the murderer. It was this chance of dispute which Gust preferred to forgo25.
But now that the work was done the Swede aspired26 to the position of highest command among the mutineers. He had even gone so far as to appropriate and wear certain articles belonging to the murdered captain of the Cowrie—articles of apparel which bore upon them the badges and insignia of authority.
Kai Shang was peeved27. He had no love for authority, and certainly not the slightest intention of submitting to the domination of an ordinary Swede sailor.
The seeds of discontent were, therefore, already planted in the camp of the mutineers of the Cowrie at the north edge of Jungle Island. But Kai Shang realized that he must act with circumspection28, for Gust alone of the motley horde29 possessed30 sufficient knowledge of navigation to get them out of the South Atlantic and around the cape31 into more congenial waters where they might find a market for their ill-gotten wealth, and no questions asked.
The day before they sighted Jungle Island and discovered the little land-locked harbour upon the bosom32 of which the Cowrie now rode quietly at anchor, the watch had discovered the smoke and funnels33 of a warship34 upon the southern horizon.
The chance of being spoken to and investigated by a man-of-war appealed not at all to any of them, so they put into hiding for a few days until the danger should have passed.
And now Gust did not wish to venture out to sea again. There was no telling, he insisted, but that the ship they had seen was actually searching for them. Kai Shang pointed36 out that such could not be the case since it was impossible for any human being other than themselves to have knowledge of what had transpired37 aboard the Cowrie.
But Gust was not to be persuaded. In his wicked heart he nursed a scheme whereby he might increase his share of the booty by something like one hundred per cent. He alone could sail the Cowrie, therefore the others could not leave Jungle Island without him; but what was there to prevent Gust, with just sufficient men to man the schooner, slipping away from Kai Shang, Momulla the Maori, and some half of the crew when opportunity presented?
It was for this opportunity that Gust waited. Some day there would come a moment when Kai Shang, Momulla, and three or four of the others would be absent from camp, exploring or hunting. The Swede racked his brain for some plan whereby he might successfully lure38 from the sight of the anchored ship those whom he had determined39 to abandon.
To this end he organized hunting party after hunting party, but always the devil of perversity40 seemed to enter the soul of Kai Shang, so that wily celestial41 would never hunt except in the company of Gust himself.
One day Kai Shang spoke35 secretly with Momulla the Maori, pouring into the brown ear of his companion the suspicions which he harboured concerning the Swede. Momulla was for going immediately and running a long knife through the heart of the traitor42.
It is true that Kai Shang had no other evidence than the natural cunning of his own knavish43 soul—but he imagined in the intentions of Gust what he himself would have been glad to accomplish had the means lain at hand.
But he dared not let Momulla slay44 the Swede, upon whom they depended to guide them to their destination. They decided45, however, that it would do no harm to attempt to frighten Gust into acceding46 to their demands, and with this purpose in mind the Maori sought out the self-constituted commander of the party.
When he broached47 the subject of immediate2 departure Gust again raised his former objection—that the warship might very probably be patrolling the sea directly in their southern path, waiting for them to make the attempt to reach other waters.
Momulla scoffed48 at the fears of his fellow, pointing out that as no one aboard any warship knew of their mutiny there could be no reason why they should be suspected.
"Ah!" exclaimed Gust, "there is where you are wrong. There is where you are lucky that you have an educated man like me to tell you what to do. You are an ignorant savage49, Momulla, and so you know nothing of wireless50."
The Maori leaped to his feet and laid his hand upon the hilt of his knife.
"I am no savage," he shouted.
"I was only joking," the Swede hastened to explain. "We are old friends, Momulla; we cannot afford to quarrel, at least not while old Kai Shang is plotting to steal all the pearls from us. If he could find a man to navigate51 the Cowrie he would leave us in a minute. All his talk about getting away from here is just because he has some scheme in his head to get rid of us."
"But the wireless," asked Momulla. "What has the wireless to do with our remaining here?"
"Oh yes," replied Gust, scratching his head. He was wondering if the Maori were really so ignorant as to believe the preposterous52 lie he was about to unload upon him. "Oh yes! You see every warship is equipped with what they call a wireless apparatus53. It lets them talk to other ships hundreds of miles away, and it lets them listen to all that is said on these other ships. Now, you see, when you fellows were shooting up the Cowrie you did a whole lot of loud talking, and there isn't any doubt but that that warship was a-lyin' off south of us listenin' to it all. Of course they might not have learned the name of the ship, but they heard enough to know that the crew of some ship was mutinying and killin' her officers. So you see they'll be waiting to search every ship they sight for a long time to come, and they may not be far away now."
When he had ceased speaking the Swede strove to assume an air of composure that his listener might not have his suspicions aroused as to the truth of the statements that had just been made.
Momulla sat for some time in silence, eyeing Gust. At last he rose.
"You are a great liar," he said. "If you don't get us on our way by tomorrow you'll never have another chance to lie, for I heard two of the men saying that they'd like to run a knife into you and that if you kept them in this hole any longer they'd do it."
"Go and ask Kai Shang if there is not a wireless," replied Gust. "He will tell you that there is such a thing and that vessels54 can talk to one another across hundreds of miles of water. Then say to the two men who wish to kill me that if they do so they will never live to spend their share of the swag, for only I can get you safely to any port."
So Momulla went to Kai Shang and asked him if there was such an apparatus as a wireless by means of which ships could talk with each other at great distances, and Kai Shang told him that there was.
Momulla was puzzled; but still he wished to leave the island, and was willing to take his chances on the open sea rather than to remain longer in the monotony of the camp.
That afternoon Momulla went hunting with two other Maoris. They hunted toward the south, and had not gone far from camp when they were surprised by the sound of voices ahead of them in the jungle.
They knew that none of their own men had preceded them, and as all were convinced that the island was uninhabited, they were inclined to flee in terror on the hypothesis that the place was haunted—possibly by the ghosts of the murdered officers and men of the Cowrie.
But Momulla was even more curious than he was superstitious56, and so he quelled57 his natural desire to flee from the supernatural. Motioning his companions to follow his example, he dropped to his hands and knees, crawling forward stealthily and with quakings of heart through the jungle in the direction from which came the voices of the unseen speakers.
Presently, at the edge of a little clearing, he halted, and there he breathed a deep sigh of relief, for plainly before him he saw two flesh-and-blood men sitting upon a fallen log and talking earnestly together.
"I think we can do it, Schmidt," Schneider was saying. "A good canoe wouldn't be hard to build, and three of us could paddle it to the mainland in a day if the wind was right and the sea reasonably calm. There ain't no use waiting for the men to build a big enough boat to take the whole party, for they're sore now and sick of working like slaves all day long. It ain't none of our business anyway to save the Englishman. Let him look out for himself, says I." He paused for a moment, and then eyeing the other to note the effect of his next words, he continued, "But we might take the woman. It would be a shame to leave a nice-lookin' piece like she is in such a Gott-forsaken hole as this here island."
Schmidt looked up and grinned.
"So that's how she's blowin', is it?" he asked. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? Wot's in it for me if I help you?"
"She ought to pay us well to get her back to civilization," explained Schneider, "an' I tell you what I'll do. I'll just whack59 up with the two men that helps me. I'll take half an' they can divide the other half—you an' whoever the other bloke is. I'm sick of this place, an' the sooner I get out of it the better I'll like it. What do you say?"
"Suits me," replied Schmidt. "I wouldn't know how to reach the mainland myself, an' know that none o' the other fellows would, so's you're the only one that knows anything of navigation you're the fellow I'll tie to."
Momulla the Maori pricked60 up his ears. He had a smattering of every tongue that is spoken upon the seas, and more than a few times had he sailed on English ships, so that he understood fairly well all that had passed between Schneider and Schmidt since he had stumbled upon them.
He rose to his feet and stepped into the clearing. Schneider and his companion started as nervously61 as though a ghost had risen before them. Schneider reached for his revolver. Momulla raised his right hand, palm forward, as a sign of his pacific intentions.
"I am a friend," he said. "I heard you; but do not fear that I will reveal what you have said. I can help you, and you can help me." He was addressing Schneider. "You can navigate a ship, but you have no ship. We have a ship, but no one to navigate it. If you will come with us and ask no questions we will let you take the ship where you will after you have landed us at a certain port, the name of which we will give you later. You can take the woman of whom you speak, and we will ask no questions either. Is it a bargain?"
Schneider desired more information, and got as much as Momulla thought best to give him. Then the Maori suggested that they speak with Kai Shang. The two members of the Kincaid's company followed Momulla and his fellows to a point in the jungle close by the camp of the mutineers. Here Momulla hid them while he went in search of Kai Shang, first admonishing62 his Maori companions to stand guard over the two sailors lest they change their minds and attempt to escape. Schneider and Schmidt were virtually prisoners, though they did not know it.
Presently Momulla returned with Kai Shang, to whom he had briefly63 narrated64 the details of the stroke of good fortune that had come to them. The Chinaman spoke at length with Schneider, until, notwithstanding his natural suspicion of the sincerity65 of all men, he became quite convinced that Schneider was quite as much a rogue66 as himself and that the fellow was anxious to leave the island.
These two premises67 accepted there could be little doubt that Schneider would prove trustworthy in so far as accepting the command of the Cowrie was concerned; after that Kai Shang knew that he could find means to coerce68 the man into submission69 to his further wishes.
When Schneider and Schmidt left them and set out in the direction of their own camp, it was with feelings of far greater relief than they had experienced in many a day. Now at last they saw a feasible plan for leaving the island upon a seaworthy craft. There would be no more hard labour at ship-building, and no risking their lives upon a crudely built makeshift that would be quite as likely to go to the bottom as it would to reach the mainland.
Also, they were to have assistance in capturing the woman, or rather women, for when Momulla had learned that there was a black woman in the other camp he had insisted that she be brought along as well as the white woman.
As Kai Shang and Momulla entered their camp, it was with a realization70 that they no longer needed Gust. They marched straight to the tent in which they might expect to find him at that hour of the day, for though it would have been more comfortable for the entire party to remain aboard the ship, they had mutually decided that it would be safer for all concerned were they to pitch their camp ashore71.
Each knew that in the heart of the others was sufficient treachery to make it unsafe for any member of the party to go ashore leaving the others in possession of the Cowrie, so not more than two or three men at a time were ever permitted aboard the vessel unless all the balance of the company was there too.
As the two crossed toward Gust's tent the Maori felt the edge of his long knife with one grimy, calloused72 thumb. The Swede would have felt far from comfortable could he have seen this significant action, or read what was passing amid the convolutions of the brown man's cruel brain.
Now it happened that Gust was at that moment in the tent occupied by the cook, and this tent stood but a few feet from his own. So that he heard the approach of Kai Shang and Momulla, though he did not, of course, dream that it had any special significance for him.
Chance had it, though, that he glanced out of the doorway73 of the cook's tent at the very moment that Kai Shang and Momulla approached the entrance to his, and he thought that he noted74 a stealthiness in their movements that comported75 poorly with amicable76 or friendly intentions, and then, just as they two slunk within the interior, Gust caught a glimpse of the long knife which Momulla the Maori was then carrying behind his back.
The Swede's eyes opened wide, and a funny little sensation assailed77 the roots of his hairs. Also he turned almost white beneath his tan. Quite precipitately78 he left the cook's tent. He was not one who required a detailed79 exposition of intentions that were quite all too obvious.
As surely as though he had heard them plotting, he knew that Kai Shang and Momulla had come to take his life. The knowledge that he alone could navigate the Cowrie had, up to now, been sufficient assurance of his safety; but quite evidently something had occurred of which he had no knowledge that would make it quite worth the while of his co-conspirators to eliminate him.
Without a pause Gust darted80 across the beach and into the jungle. He was afraid of the jungle; uncanny noises that were indeed frightful came forth from its recesses—the tangled81 mazes82 of the mysterious country back of the beach.
But if Gust was afraid of the jungle he was far more afraid of Kai Shang and Momulla. The dangers of the jungle were more or less problematical, while the danger that menaced him at the hands of his companions was a perfectly83 well-known quantity, which might be expressed in terms of a few inches of cold steel, or the coil of a light rope. He had seen Kai Shang garrotte a man at Pai-sha in a dark alleyway back of Loo Kotai's place. He feared the rope, therefore, more than he did the knife of the Maori; but he feared them both too much to remain within reach of either. Therefore he chose the pitiless jungle.
点击收听单词发音
1 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 anguish | |
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 cove | |
n.小海湾,小峡谷 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 allotted | |
分配,拨给,摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 bluff | |
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 jutting | |
v.(使)突出( jut的现在分词 );伸出;(从…)突出;高出 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 lighting | |
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 improvised | |
a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 speck | |
n.微粒,小污点,小斑点 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 grumbling | |
adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 brutes | |
兽( brute的名词复数 ); 畜生; 残酷无情的人; 兽性 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 schooner | |
n.纵帆船 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 gust | |
n.阵风,突然一阵(雨、烟等),(感情的)迸发 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 instigated | |
v.使(某事物)开始或发生,鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 cargo | |
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 berth | |
n.卧铺,停泊地,锚位;v.使停泊 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 scruples | |
n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 );顾虑,顾忌v.感到于心不安,有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 prone | |
adj.(to)易于…的,很可能…的;俯卧的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 forgo | |
v.放弃,抛弃 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 aspired | |
v.渴望,追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 peeved | |
adj.恼怒的,不高兴的v.(使)气恼,(使)焦躁,(使)愤怒( peeve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 circumspection | |
n.细心,慎重 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 horde | |
n.群众,一大群 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 funnels | |
漏斗( funnel的名词复数 ); (轮船,火车等的)烟囱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 warship | |
n.军舰,战舰 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 transpired | |
(事实,秘密等)被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 ); 泄露; 显露; 发生 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 lure | |
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 perversity | |
n.任性;刚愎自用 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 celestial | |
adj.天体的;天上的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 traitor | |
n.叛徒,卖国贼 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 knavish | |
adj.无赖(似)的,不正的;刁诈 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 slay | |
v.杀死,宰杀,杀戮 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 acceding | |
v.(正式)加入( accede的现在分词 );答应;(通过财产的添附而)增加;开始任职 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 broached | |
v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 );打开并开始用;用凿子扩大(或修光);(在桶上)钻孔取液体 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 scoffed | |
嘲笑,嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 wireless | |
adj.无线的;n.无线电 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 navigate | |
v.航行,飞行;导航,领航 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 preposterous | |
adj.荒谬的,可笑的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 apparatus | |
n.装置,器械;器具,设备 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 wailed | |
v.哭叫,哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 superstitious | |
adj.迷信的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 quelled | |
v.(用武力)制止,结束,镇压( quell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 seaman | |
n.海员,水手,水兵 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 whack | |
v.敲击,重打,瓜分;n.重击,重打,尝试,一份 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 pricked | |
刺,扎,戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 ); 刺伤; 刺痛; 使剧痛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 nervously | |
adv.神情激动地,不安地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 admonishing | |
v.劝告( admonish的现在分词 );训诫;(温和地)责备;轻责 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 briefly | |
adv.简单地,简短地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 narrated | |
v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 sincerity | |
n.真诚,诚意;真实 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 rogue | |
n.流氓;v.游手好闲 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 premises | |
n.建筑物,房屋 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 coerce | |
v.强迫,压制 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 submission | |
n.服从,投降;温顺,谦虚;提出 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 realization | |
n.实现;认识到,深刻了解 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 calloused | |
adj.粗糙的,粗硬的,起老茧的v.(使)硬结,(使)起茧( callous的过去式和过去分词 );(使)冷酷无情 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 comported | |
v.表现( comport的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 amicable | |
adj.和平的,友好的;友善的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 assailed | |
v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 );困扰;质问;毅然应对 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 precipitately | |
adv.猛进地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 detailed | |
adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 darted | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 tangled | |
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 mazes | |
迷宫( maze的名词复数 ); 纷繁复杂的规则; 复杂难懂的细节; 迷宫图 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |