Chapter VIII: The Rescued Chief Muro

The white man came to the rescue, and began to explain that the late captive was a brother or a relative of Stut, and the moment he commenced speaking John went over to him, garbed as he was in savage costume, and said:

“How do you do, Sam?”

The man drew back for a moment, at being thus addressed. “Don’t you recognize Varney?”

“John Varney, my old shipmate! How did you get here?”

“This, Professor, was my companion on the ship that sailed from San Francisco, Mr. Blakely. Where have you been all this time?”

“Hunting for you all over the island, when the savages permitted me to go around by myself.”

Meanwhile Stut had taken his companion into the wagon, where he greeted Chump. A more happy set of savages could not be found than the group in the wagon, and the fortunate capture of John’s former companion also gave added joy to the entire party.

This exploit, so neatly contrived, and successfully executed, gave them a fighting force of ten, and with Chump, who, undoubtedly, would soon be able to assist, they had a very respectable array.

“But we must be on the alert, as our enemies will try and hunt us up as soon as they find how they have been tricked,” said John. Blakely was supplied with a gun, and Stut’s friends each presented with a bow and a spear.

The spears were not the savage-made variety, but were long, and of tough steel, the staffs being of shell-bark hickory, and the delight of the two warriors in handling the weapons was plainly shown in their actions.

The force in their front numbered fully a hundred. They still had to be reckoned with. There was no evidence to the savages that the whites had anything to do with the rescue, and they believed that the Saboros had effected the release.

“Well, if this isn’t an ingenious arrangement,” said Blakely, as he walked around and examined the fort. “You must have had an interesting time here. How long have you been on the island, Professor?”

“Nearly fifteen months. You landed about the same time, judging from John’s story.”

“I don’t want to interrupt,” said John, “but I have a little plan that should be carried out at once.”

“Go on,” said the Professor. “After what you have done to-night everybody ought to be willing to listen to you.”

“I have not yet had an opportunity to say that directly to the southeast of us, and not a half mile away, is a river. Beyond the river, probably three or four miles to the southeast, is a village, which, I take it, is the home of the tribe which has just been entertaining you,” and he looked at Blakely with a smile.

“If you are able to talk with Stut and his friends better than I can we might learn in what direction their tribe is located, and if the village is between us and their friends, we might move our camp to-night to the other side of the river, and thus get between the village and the warriors.”

Blakely listened intently, and replied: “I know where the Saboro village is; we shall have to go directly south to reach them. The tribe from which you rescued us is called the Brabos. Somewhere to the southeast of them are the Kurabus, the meanest devils of the lot, outside of the Tuolos on the western shore.”

“Why Chump and his friends are Saboros, so we have two hostile tribes before we can reach aid in that quarter. Do you know,” said John, continuing, “anything about the Osagas?”

He reflected a while, and then answered: “I am not so sure, but they are to the south and still farther to the west, but the route would be inaccessible for the wagon from this point, on account of the immense forest which is in the way. I know something about that forest, as it sheltered me for the greater part of a year.

“We have very many interesting things to talk about, but we must not delay the contemplated movement another moment.”

The Professor gave the word of command, and the celerity with which the taking up of the fort and storing it away was accomplished was a delight no less to the rescued warriors than it was to Blakely. The wagon was headed for the southeast, and John, beckoning to Stut and his relative, started out ahead. The other Saboro ran forward and begged to be allowed to accompany them, and John willingly assented.

Directing the Saboros, by motioning, to scatter to the right and to the left of him, the four formed a guard for the wagon, and in their movement to the river the Saboros kept John in sight.

“Fortunately this is not a deep stream, and we will not have difficulty in crossing,” said Blakely.

“That doesn’t trouble us in the least,” answered Harry. “We use the fort sections as floats.”

Blakely eyed Harry for a moment. “Do you mean that you ford the deepest streams with these cattle?”

“Why we have forded the West River with this outfit several times.”

“What, the West River, New York?”

Harry laughed: “I had forgotten; we call the big river to the west of us the West. And we have also the South and the Cataract rivers, way to the east of this.”

Blakely looked at Harry in astonishment. The boys had cut poles under the Professor’s directions, and were now trying the depth of the stream.

“It’s all right,” cried out Ralph; “bring them along.” And Harry drove the team down and over the stream, and before they had gone a mile the first indications of the morning sun began to appear over the mountain tops to the east.

“Move the wagon over to the right, and put up the fort the moment we find the camping spot,” was John’s injunction, as he and the Saboros plunged ahead in that direction.

John halted at a stream, and pointed out an admirable place for the wagon. Again the process of erecting the fort was gone over, and the Saboros witnessed the first installation of it.

“Now, for some breakfast,” said George. “This work makes a fellow hungry.” Angel was at hand, as he always was at the preparation of the meal, and the Saboros watched the work, and particularly the part that Angel took, with eyes and mouths open. For the first time they had seen the orang doing duty at command. George saw their surprise and he kept Angel busy.

It was just as interesting to Blakely. He could hardly credit the stories that Harry and Tom told him on the ride down to the river. Just imagine four boys, in all the exuberance of youth, telling about the home they had built up from absolutely nothing. How they had found simply the crude things about them, and had fashioned all the needed things for life from its primitive condition to one of perfection; it was hardly believable.

The poor Saboros were almost starved, and they looked it, too. Blakely had not been in captivity very long on this occasion, so that he was not so emaciated. The savages, however, are able to withstand bodily privations for a long period without becoming exhausted, but the food obtained at this early meal was one which they never forgot.

As soon as the meal was over John signaled to Stut, and he in turn, motioning to his fellows, formed a picket line to the north in expectation of the savages; but they did not return, and night set in without seeing them. George sent Angel to the treetop frequently for information, a proceeding which was just as much a wonder to the two Saboros as his service in helping with the meal.

Blakely could hardly contain himself, as he saw and heard the different things, and he particularly admired the wagon, declaring it was as strongly built as any he had ever seen. Without the wagon it would have been a foolhardy task for six men to boldly march into a country populated as the island was.

“The romance of wheels is the most remarkable of anything in the history of the world. In nature there is nothing similar to it, so far as uses are concerned.”

“Do you know,” asked George, “about the origin of the wheel?”

“Its invention dates back beyond the time when history began. When man saw the moon it looked to him like a wheel, and may have suggested the idea of a wheel on which things could be rolled. When we stop to consider the vast importance of the wheel it amazes us to see how it forms the prime element in every industry in the world. The wheel and the lever are the two greatest mechanical elements in the universe.”

During the night John and Stut made a trip toward the village, and was surprised to find a well-beaten path leading from the northwest toward the village, and that the wagon was located not two hundred feet to the east of the trail.

The village was behind, or on the south side of a slight elevation, which was the reason why it was hidden from their view at the time they crossed the first river. John counted the huts, and found forty-two, of various sizes.

Conferring with Stut, in order to ascertain the number in each, he calculated the village to contain not less than two hundred and fifty, which would not by any means contribute the number of warriors which were in the party.

It was John’s idea, on returning to the wagon, to undertake the capture of the village, and he made the proposal at once. This seemed to be a wise plan, as it would put the women and children in their power, but Stut suddenly imparted the information that there was another village to the southwest, belonging to the same tribe, and this at once settled that plan, and it also answered the problem which bothered John.

Blakely, who had acquired considerable acquaintance with that region and the various tribes, was in favor of capturing the village, but the Professor was insistent that there was no desire to shed blood unnecessarily, and that the trip was not for the purpose of revenge, and the taking of the village, with the knowledge that the warriors might be reinforced by a great number, would mean war to the end.

“In your wanderings,” asked the Professor, “did you ever hear of any boys who were held in captivity by any of the natives?”

“Yes; a singular thing occurred about six months ago. I was then in the forest, and in my usual pilgrimage into the opening I stumbled on a band of one of the tribes to the east of the forest. They were on the large river which flows along the eastern boundary of the woods. They had several captives, and when they left the river carried a boat with them across the country from the river.

“The proceeding was one which I could not understand at the time. I was taken, on three different occasions, twice by the same band. I escaped each time. The fourth time was four days ago, when the Brabos got me. I was in captivity nearly three months with the Osagas, but they suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the Tuolos, who live to the northwest.”

“We had a severe fight with them on our last trip, and we rescued the two boys here from them,” remarked the Professor.

“You were lucky to get away from them, as they are the terrors of the island. But allow me to proceed. While with the Osagas I acquired their jargon, for it is little better than that. Some of the tribes have practically the same language, and I judge that they were under the same chiefs in earlier times. The language of two of the tribes, at least, seems to be different, and it is probable that this may account in a measure for the continual enmity between them, arising from their misunderstandings.”

“I was captured by the Osagas, and regretted afterwards that I left them; but it is fortunate I did, as it was the means of taking me to the Professor and his friends,” remarked John.

“But I started out to tell you about the transportation of the boat,” continued Blakely. “From the Osagas I learned that several boys had been captured with the boat, and that they were in turn taken from that tribe by the people who live to the east of the Kurabus.”

“Do you know of anyone by the name of Wright or Walters?”

“Yes; Wright was one of our crew. Don’t you remember him? He was the one shot down when the master of the vessel first attempted to take possession. I may be mistaken, but I think Walters was one of the men allied with the mutineers.”

“Won’t you tell us some of your experiences when the vessel struck the shore?” asked John.

“Wright, who was with us when you left to go to the pantry to get some food, and also Champney, all agreed that you had been washed overboard before the boat struck. When I recovered my senses, I found an indescribable mass of wreckage all about me, and food was the first thing I searched for.

“I found one of the guns, and later on a revolver, but I had no ammunition except that in the weapons. Some few tins of provisions, and a crushed box of biscuits, all soaked with sea water, were all I could recover, and various articles of clothing, which I gathered together.

“As soon as strength began to come back to me I searched the beach in both directions, and found four dead bodies, one being the mutinous master, who was lying near the shore, and all had their pockets drawn out. This was sufficient information to assure me that some had been saved, but the rifling of the pockets of the unfortunates was something I could not understand, and I concluded that it was done by some of the devils who were on our vessel, or it had been the work of people on the island.”

“I recovered from the blow,” said John, “and found myself lying by the side of the master, and found the pockets rifled, as you say, and I regained my senses before you did, as I now see.”

“Yes; I recognized the footprints of several; faint traces only. I then followed the seacoast, in the hope or belief that if the island was inhabited, they would be near the coast. I traveled for miles, and then noting traces of people went inland, and the first tribe I ran across was the Tuolos.

“I debated for hours whether or not to throw myself into their hands. But a sight the third day decided me. A party was taking a captive to the sacrifice. Whether or not he was one of our companions I do not know. The sight so unnerved me that it did not occur to me that it might have been one of them.

“I fled to the south, and struck the forest. There I found numerous wild beasts, and they were really my salvation for months, as I afterwards learned that the savages had never been known to go far into the dense portions. I found a recess or cove among the rocky sides of an elevation, which I converted into a home, and from that place I could see across the intervening country to the large river.

“It gave me a good scouting position, and I saw many tribes and parties pass and repass, some of them many miles off, and witnessed two battles between hostiles, but I do not know what tribes they were. I soon became expert in providing food, as it was all I had to do.

“I would frequently, in my scouting trips, go to the river, and began to tire of my isolation. I made that my home for nearly eight months. I really grew desperate from the monotonous life, and the feeling that I must undertake something hazardous if I ever expected to escape from the hunted life in the forest.

“I still had four shots in the revolver, but the gun was useless without ammunition. But I took it with me, and the first day, after I crossed the river, I was surrounded by the Osagas. I was much more rugged than you see me now, and had a long beard. I tried to make friends with them, and succeeded in this pretty well, but they were attacked by the Brabos here, and treated most barbarously during the week I was a captive.

“One night I escaped and turned to my mountain home, and again fell into the hands of a party on the warpath, but of an entirely new tribe. They took me way to the south, and I learned, in a way which could not be mistaken, that I was to be offered up as a sacrifice, and when the time came I was frenzied with desperation, and the moment my arms and legs were free I seized the very club which was prepared for me and hewed my way through the warriors and gained my liberty.

“But this is tiring you. Twice more I was captured, and escaped once more, and the last time you came to the rescue.”

The story was listened to with the utmost eagerness. His tale, taken together with John’s and Ralph’s and Tom’s experiences, gave them the clue to the mystery of the lifeboat and two of the men mentioned in the note, but it did not lift the veil from the contents of the message.

It was plain now where the Tuolos got the guns which they had, but could not use, as explained when Ralph and Tom were captured.