CHAPTER XVII

THE WONDERFUL PORTABLE FORT

On the return of the party to their home that evening the events of the day were discussed to the exclusion of everything else, and now was the opportunity for the boys to learn something about the other cave, of which John had given a meager account.

"Would you object to telling us what the wonderful things were which you saw in the cave at the western part of the island?" was Tom's inquiry.

"Not in the least. The ship on which we sailed from San Francisco contained the charts of several caves, one of which was that of the cave I referred to. I saw the treasure there with my own eyes, and I can direct you to it, because, notwithstanding the stress of my surroundings, I took the bearings, on the following day, and it will not be difficult to locate it."

"Did you remember the circ.u.mstances of the visit to the place where we were being pursued by the savages?"

John looked at the Professor, and then at the boys. "I do not remember such an occurrence," he answered.

"But I would like to ask the Professor a question," exclaimed George.

"What was it that made you give us that quick advice to leave the mouth of the cave when we wanted it as a hiding place?"

"I saw from the carefully hidden, but trodden, path, that some one must have used it as a place of refuge, and concluded that as it was so near the village it might have been some of the clans of the tribe, either as a place of concealment from their enemies, in case of attack, or by some of the so-called religious communities which many of the tribes have."

"In what way did you discover that this cave had been charted?"

"First by the peculiarity, that it had two entrances, on opposite sides of a hill, and secondly, by the singular internal arrangement, which stated that within the corridors and the chambers const.i.tuted a cross, and the treasures were to be found at the extremities of the cross limbs, within the two large chambers."

"Then you knew of the existence of this island, before you sailed?"

"No; the chart merely described the characteristics of the caverns, but stated they were located on islands in the South Seas."

"Do you think our cave here is one of them?"

"I do not think so, as I do not recall any description which would fit this cave, except the two entrances, and that is not uncommon."

"The chart stated that there was another cave fifteen leagues to the southeast of that cave, which also contained treasure, and that was the princ.i.p.al reason why I traveled in that direction, and thus found myself in the savage-inhabited part of the island."

"Fifteen leagues? How far would that be?"

"Forty-five miles."

Nothing more was needed as a stimulus for the boys. They had truly been thrown on an island of wonder.

"Why is it," asked Ralph, "that so much of the treasure of the world was hidden in these out-of-the-way places by the pirates?"

"I imagine," replied John, "that they didn't have much confidence in the rest of the world. The manner in which they got most of the money was by acts of piracy on the high seas, and it was necessary to hide the proceeds of the robberies as fast as acquired, because if they should be captured, its possession would at once seal their doom. These hidden treasures are distributed over every part of the world. As to the other part of your question, the vast h.o.a.rds of gold and silver so distributed, formed a very small part of the wealth of the old world. It is not known how vast a sum Pizarro took from the Inca in Peru, but it is estimated variously at from twelve to twenty tons."

The boys opened their eyes in astonishment.

"How much would that be worth in money?"

"Counting it at the present value of gold, every pennyweight would be worth a dollar."

"Let me see; twenty pennyweights in an ounce, and twelve ounces in a pound; that would be two hundred and forty dollars in a pound."

"That is right."

"And then twenty tons would be 40,000 pounds. And multiplying that by 240 would make $9,600,000. My, what a lot of money!"

"Cortez, at about the same time, conquered Mexico, and secured a much greater amount. All over the western hemisphere, from northern Mexico down to Peru, untold millions of gold and silver were looted by the Spanish and Portuguese navigators, and taken to Europe, and it is estimated that as much more was disposed of in these hidden recesses, and those who deposited them were swept off the seas, and all knowledge of the caches were lost."

"During what times was most of this money deposited?"

"The pirates which infested the coasts of Spanish America and the West Indies, flourished in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Originally the French and English during the wars against Spain used the expedition against her ships, as acts of war, but later on, after peace was established in Europe, the buccaneers continued in their depredations, and it was made unlawful by all the great nations."

From that day there was no cessation on the part of the entire working force to prepare the necessary ammunition required for a campaign against the savages. It should be stated that by this time Chief had learned many things, and John took particular pains to teach him daily, until he could p.r.o.nounce many words very distinctly, and understood the meaning of them.

It was surprising to see how quickly his mind grasped the a.s.sociation of a verb with some name, and the simplest and most common verbs of action were taught. In this way it became apparent that all should be cautious about talking of the proposed expedition in his presence. Nevertheless all were anxious to enlist him in the enterprise.

He never inquired about the gun barrels, and curiously enough seemed to take no interest in any of the weapons but the spears and arrows. He was a fine archer. This was demonstrated on several occasions, the only difficulty being that the bows which the boys had were too small.

Chief selected his own branches, for the bows, and showed the boys how to hold the arrows, and the distance he could propel them was marvelous.

They were not by any manner of means a match, by comparison, with the guns, but they would be dangerous missiles if attacked in the open, and of this fact the boys had learned several lessons.

The wagon, which was constructed before the first trip across the island, had been through some tough places, and the wheels and axles were in bad condition. These needed replacing, and that was a task which would occupy some time.

One day, at the evening meal, the boys asked about Chief. He had not been noticed by anyone since noon.

He was usually at work with Harry, who was asked concerning him.

"The last I saw of him was right after lunch, and he was going in the direction of the clay bank. As he was in the habit of going there quite frequently I paid no attention to him."

"Did he have anything with him, that you noticed?"

"Nothing but the bolo and the bow and arrows that he always took."

"Possibly he is on some mission," replied the Professor. "It does not seem likely that he has determined to desert us; but it may be he has grown tired of this existence. It is a curious phase of these matters, however, which, I believe, will apply in his case, that when he goes back he will find his old life a very disquieting one to him, and I predict he will be here again within a month."

"By that time we will be on our way toward his section, and I hope we shall have the opportunity of meeting him," responded John.

What required more attention than any part of the equipment, aside from the ammunition, was the structure of the wagon. This had to be a fort for them, and so arranged that it could be put up to meet an attack from any quarter.

But this, unfortunately, left the yaks exposed to the a.s.saults of the spears and arrows, and John suggested a novel addition to the wagon equipment.

"My idea is this: As we are all pretty strong, excepting the Professor, to stand the march on foot, I would convert our wagon into a vehicle which would carry the fort with us, and this fort, whenever we camped, could be set up so that the yaks would be inside, and thus protected as well as ourselves.

"To effect this the more readily, my plan would be to make three sections of boards, in the form of a fence, each section to be six feet high and ten feet long. These should be either folded together in the middle lengthwise, so they could be nested together and swung below the axles between the wheels, and set up to form a square at one side of the wagon.

"One side of the wagon body could be made to be let down, so as to form a protection below the body of the wagon. Within that enclosure the yaks could be stationed, if we should be attacked, and for the purpose of defense, four of us would be within the enclosure and two in the wagon to protect it from that side.