The Voodoo Gold Trail Page 2

  CHAPTER II

  WE MEET WITH A SERIOUS REVERSE

  I shall not dwell on our preparations for the voyage; nor shall Iattempt a lengthy description of the schooner _Pearl_ which lay in theBasin. Jean Marat's eyes sparkled, when first we came in view of her.She was of one hundred and twenty-one tons burden, and sported aflying-jib, jib, fore mainsail, foresail, fore gaff top-sail, mainsail,and main gaff top-sail. Forward, a companionway led down to the men'squarters; after, the cabin roof, with its grated skylight, was raisedbut a little above the deck. Two small boats hung in davits. The cabinwas sufficiently spacious, and there were four staterooms, and thenthere was the galley--the jolly Rufe's domain. And he took great pridein exhibiting its treasures.

  A day early in August saw us out in the broad Gulf of Mexico, all of the_Pearl's_ sails set to the westerly breeze. Madame Marat mothered ourparty. In fair weather when she was engineering Rufe's activities in thegalley, she sat with her lace-work on the deck. Even the roughest of thesailors would put himself in the way of her smile.

  And then, late one afternoon there gradually rose out of the sea thehigher peaks of Jamaica. And on the following day we made the harbor ofKingston, a beautiful city, with its fringe of cocoa palms at the front,and at its back the mountains clad in tropical vegetation. It was hereevents were brewing that were to set a kink in our plans. It was here,too, that Madame Marat had old friends expecting her arrival. Indeed, wehad not long been at anchor till they had found us out; Monsieur PaulDuchanel and Madame Duchanel.

  But a real shock, too, awaited us. I had no sooner made my bow to theDuchanels than I turned, directed by Ray's grinning look, to see an oldfriend of our former voyage, Grant Norris, whom we had believed to be inEngland. He had come over the other rail.

  "Thought you were going to slip away on another ramble without me, didyou?" was his greeting.

  Julian and Marat had kept this thing a surprise for Ray, Robert andmyself. They had been in correspondence with Norris, and he had found itconvenient to join us here. He explained that his sister's husband hadbeen sent by his London employers to represent them in Jamaica.

  What with entertainment in the home of the Duchanels and in that ofNorris's sister, and the drives over the wonderful roads, among grovesof palms, mahogany, and multi-colored tropical vegetation, three dayshad soon gone. It was on the fourth day that we three boys found thecherished opportunity to turn a little trick at the expense of JeanMarat and Grant Norris. These two were crack shots with the rifle; wehad witnessed samples of their shooting years back. On this day we sixdrove out of Kingston some miles, to a mountain stream to fish. Robertand I carried what purported to be cases holding fancy fishing rods. Raywas to manage the show.

  "Now, gentlemen," he began, when we had settled down on a grassy slopebeside the stream, "now, gentlemen, I want to show you the trick of thedisappearing mangoes." He produced two small green mangoes and set oneeach on the ends of two long bamboo fishing rods. These he handed toMarat and Norris. "Now, gentlemen," he again began his speech, "wavethem slowly from side to side. Watch the mangoes very carefully and seethem disappear. Watch very carefully or you will miss it."

  Robert and I had slipped away behind the bushes to a distance of aboutsixty yards. Marat and Norris smilingly watched the mangoes, as theywaved them far above their heads. Then suddenly their faces changed, asthe mangoes shattered, as if from an internal explosion.

  Robert and I sped back, as the two astounded men were scratching theirheads over Ray's trick. And we exhibited our .22 caliber rifles, fittedwith _silencers_.

  "Ah, that was ver' clever," said Marat, as he slapped us on the back.

  Norris rolled Robert in the grass in playful punishment. "To think,"said Norris, "that these kids would play a trick like that on us!--andto put _silencers_ on their guns."

  Robert and I had worked long, and expended very much ammunition, in ourambition to emulate these two rifle-men, and now we had our reward.

  When we arrived back in Kingston with our basket of fish that evening,it was to hear startling news. There was great excitement in the home ofthe Duchanels. A family of close friends and neighbors had this day beenbereft of their little seven-year-old daughter, Marie Cambon. She hadbeen last seen before noon at play in the yard of the Cambon home, wherethere was much growth of flowers and decorative bushes, at the back. Thecity and surrounding country was being carefully searched, we were told.

  Our party was making preparations to join in the search when black Rufeappeared. His usual jovial face was a picture of terror.

  "Amos, he done daid," he announced.

  "Amos dead!" said Julian, "What, how--what do you mean?" he stammered.

  Rufe told the story. He and Amos had been on board the _Pearl_ when thenews of the disappearance of the Cambon child came to them. "It's thevoodoo," Amos had said. And thereupon he became restless, and presentlywas for rowing ashore. He wanted to get a nearer view of a certainsailing vessel he pointed out; but insisted on getting that view fromsome place up the shore; he would not go near it in a boat. So the tworowed to shore and made their way toward the desired spot. It was asheltered region amongst the trees and brush. Amos was well in advanceof Rufe. Suddenly a group of two blacks and one white man appeared in anopen space.

  "Dat white man an' Amos on a suddent stopped," said Rufe, "like two highstumps, de white man wid his han' to his face. Den Amos turn 'roun' an'say, 'Run!' And he run one way, an' I run anoder. I run nigh half amile, an' den I gets ashame' o' myse'f an' stop. I run jes' 'cause hesayed 'run.' I sayed to myse'f, 'Dis ain't no way fo' you to do,' an'den I goes back. I goes de way I seen Amos run--I picked up a club, nota knowin' jis' what hits all about. I didn' go fur till I see Amos lyin'on de groun', an' a puddle o' blood. An' he was plumb daid."

  "Did you hear a shot?" said Norris.

  "No, dar warn't no shot; hit was a knife dat did it," declared Rufe."Now you-all know, Julian," continued the poor black, "it ain't my wayto run; I run jes' 'cause he sayed run."

  We reassured him, telling him we knew him too well to doubt. And then wetook steps to recover the body.

  Darkness had spread over the city and harbor by this time. With Rufe'shelp effort was made to identify the vessel that had excited Amos'scuriosity; and it was learned, finally, that a sailing vessel had movedout of the harbor soon after darkness had fallen; and before the returnof day it became possible to identify the vessel. It was the schooner_Josephine_, owned by a Monsieur Mordaunt, that had thus stolen away inthe murk.

  It was then the parents of the missing little Marie Cambon made known tous certain facts that had apparently strong bearing on these events. Fora year past this M. Mordaunt had been a suitor for the hand of theirelder daughter, Josephine. He had come to Kingston in his handsomeyacht; and had almost taken the society of Kingston by storm. Heappeared well educated, accomplished, and apparently possessed vastriches, expending money with astounding lavishness. He professed to comefrom France, but balked all efforts to induce him to be particular as tohis antecedents; till finally it became whispered about that thisMordaunt bore an assumed name, and that he not only was of mixed blood,but that some of it was ignoble blood.

  It was then Cambon forbade him the house. For the past several weeks hehad sought an interview with Miss Josephine, who had been dutifullyguided by her parents, though she was slow to accept the unfavorablereports.

  The next day following the tragedy there came news of a mysteriousship's boat having put in in the night beyond Portland Point, and takenon a pair of black men who had with them a huge hamper.

  Madame Cambon's condition was pitiable. Not a tear did she shed; she wasdazed and all but dumb of the shock. She would not rest, but must gowith the others in the search. She walked until her limbs gave way, thenshe must continue in a carriage. In the morning her strength failed, andblessed unconsciousness came. It was Madame Marat took her in hand.

  Our party joined in the hunt, and it was not till noon of the dayfollowing the disappearance, that all ca
me together again. We had beenguided by people of Kingston in the search. Now we of the _Pearl_ hadall come to experience a desire to put our heads together to somepurpose as a separate party. It quickly developed that all minds were asone on several particulars. Even had we not lost our guide in the questfor gold, that lure had been pushed aside by this new, humane call.

  "And now," said Norris, "We've got to decide what's to be our line."

  "And you all know as well as I do," began Ray, "who it is that's got itall figured out."

  And they all turned their eyes on myself. It was always Ray's way, whenin the old days our little troop of boys met problems, he usuallycontrived to put the solution up to me. During our former voyage,whenever an enigma presented, he discouraged all efforts of the othersby assuring them that Wayne would work it out without half trying; justleave it all to him! And there was the inevitable result. Ray was alwaysincorrigible.

  A number of circumstances were significant: This M. Mordaunt held agrievance against the Cambon family; his character is at least undersuspicion; the time and manner of his sailing away is also suspicious;the close association between Amos's getting the news of the child'sdisappearance and his suddenly awakened interest in that vessel in theharbor was a suspicious circumstance; it developed that Mordaunt's yachtlay opposite to that point to which Amos went to obtain a nearer view ofthe vessel of his interest; it is very probable that the white man seenby Rufe was Mordaunt, and that he it was caused Amos's death; that itmust have been that Amos had some knowledge of him the publishing ofwhich he had some reason to fear; this Mordaunt then must be a veryfiend; on learning of the child's disappearance Amos had declared thatit was the voodoo, and according to Rufe's account he talked like heknew--this is a thing Madame Cambon must not hear of--

  "Jus' so," agreed Marat. "She could not stand to think that."

  "Now then," I said, "we are agreed on one thing. We must seek Mordaunt'sschooner yacht _Josephine_, and not forget voodoo for a guide."

  "Of course we're agreed on it," said Ray, in his tantalizing manner,mingling sport with earnest.