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The Expedition of Captain Flick: A Story of Adventure

Chapter XIII. In Indian Seas

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Chapter XIII. In Indian Seas.

“In Indian seas we sailed, we sailed,
To gain the burning Hindoo land;
Before the shrine of Siva, veiled
I saw thee 'mid the Nautch-girls stand.
The sacred drums of serpent-skin,
Preluded pipings, shrill and wild;
The music wailed—and 'mid the din
You drew aside your veil and smiled.
Oh, sweet! oh, strange! such dreams as these
Entranced our hearts in Indian seas.”

We had no cause to complain of weather when in the Indian Ocean, for we left all storms on the other side of Africa, and steamed eastward through a sphere of azure and gold. The engines of the yacht were now in excellent order, and she bowled along at the top speed, for Flick, anxious to make up for lost time, did not spare the screws. We also coaled at the Cape, overhauled the armoury, and inspected the brass carronade, which was the special pride of Flick's heart. He had shipped it at Plymouth, in the teeth of Harry's scoffs that it would not be required, and page 144 attended to it as carefully as though it were a human being.

“I don't say we'll use it,” said Roaring Tom, when Harry reverted to the subject in the Indian seas; “but it is as well to be prepared.”

“I thought you scorned the islanders, Flick.”

“So I do, Sir Denis; but, Lord bless ye, it isn't any good being foolhardy. I guess our lot can lick the whole lump of niggers. This gun and our rifles will keep them in order; but no doubt they 'll kick at my getting the statue and—”

“And they'll kick at our trying to recover Bertha,” I interrupted smartly. “I shouldn't be at all surprised if this cannon proved uncommonly useful.”

“By the way, how do you intend to behave on landing, captain?” asked Harry.

“Oh, in a friendly fashion, of course. It will be time enough for us to show our teeth when those niggers show theirs, lad. I hope to carry through this job as peacefully as possible.”

“Uncommonly kind of you, I'm sure, Flick,” said I a trifle satirically; “particularly as you intend to loot their island of its most valuable possession.”

Roaring Tom, who was quite impervious to this kind of talk, rolled away with a grin, and went down to his cabin for an examination of the negro chart. By this time we were well to the east of the African page 145 continent, heading directly from Paul's Island. Taking that as a starting-point, Flick intended to steam north as far as Apahuria in the hope of fetching Isk. It was the only plan he could adopt with any reasonable hope of success, as the negro geographer's ideas of latitude and longitude were so vague that it was almost impossible to steer by his map.

We were quite three weeks exploring these waters, but never a glimpse of Isk did we gain. Perhaps the chart had been left to mislead us, or Flick did not understand the meaning of the lines scrawled across it; at all events, although we steamed for days to all points of the compass, not a shadow of land could we see. Before our arrival in Cythera, I had doubted the existence of Isk, and our present perplexity seemed to confirm that belief; but after the sight of the red ship and her sooty crew, after the abduction of Bertha and the discovery of the chart, I could not help believing that the mysterious island was hidden somewhere in these wide spaces of sea. But in which direction? this was the question I kept constantly asking myself, and to which I could obtain no answer from any one of our company.

After our discovery of the true route taken by the scarlet ship, the offer of the prize-money for sighting her naturally fell to the ground. Now Harry, Flick, and myself renewed the offer and increased the sum; page 146 so that there was twenty pounds waiting for the man who first saw Isk. This reward made the men very eager; but notwithstanding the sharp look-out they kept in the hope of gaining it, in spite of Flick's sailing, as well as he could understand, by the chart, we now seemed further off our goal than before. One felt inclined to believe that Isk was situate in Cloudcuckoo Land.

But for my anxiety about Bertha, I should have enjoyed the cruise in these waters. The ocean was like glass, glittering like a sea of fire under the ardent tropic sun, which flamed a mass of molten gold in the wondrous blue of the sky. Never did I see such sunsets as at that time; they put to scorn the most brilliant pictures of Turner, and when the colours faded out of the west, and the silver orb of the moon bathed sky and sea in her transfiguring light, the beauty seemed too marvellous for earth. It was like fairyland.

One night I remember well. Flick had shut himself up in his cabin, to pore over the negro chart, and try, if possible, to discover the true reading of its symbols; while Harry, having a headache from the heat, had turned early to a hammock swung on deck. Pipe in hand, I was leaning over the taffrail, drinking in the beauty of the scene. I wondered that Harry could sleep so complacently, for then page 147 I was beholding the most extraordinary sight I ever saw in the whole course of my life.

The yacht was shearing through a sea of phosphorescent fire, and the whole circle of the ocean, up to the rim of the horizon, was one heaving mass of liquid gold. Over this the sky, inky by contrast to the dazzling water, shut down like a black lid, and its solid gloom accentuated the sparkle and luminous shine of the main. Every time the yacht dipped her nose, flakes of phosphorus were flung to right and left, till it seemed as though she were steaming through a fiery furnace. The billows reared in mounds of flame, and sank into glittering valleys; while the boat, a black shape amid this radiance, rolled steadily onward, with the waters a pale yellow sluicing past her sides. I had often read of such things, but never till now had I seen this magical transfiguration of the ocean, and I felt as though I were in a fairy ship sailing the seas of some planet where fire took the place of water. Again, I repeat, it was like fairyland.

“Hullo!” cried Harry, waking up at this moment, “are we still in the fiery furnace?”

“Still in it, you unromantic person,” I replied; “I've been staring at these wonders for hours, while you have been asleep.”

“Oh, I've seen this sort of thing before,” replied page 148 Greenvile, coming to my side, and producing his pipe. “It's all very grand, you know, but one gets tired of it. I wouldn't lose a good sleep for all the marvels of ocean. I wish we could see Isk amid this sea of fire. Where's Flick?”

“Oh, he's worrying away at that negro map.”

“Trying to find out how they steer by it, I suppose,” replied Harry, shrugging his shoulders. “H'm! I wish him joy. Seems to me we'll never fetch this infernal place.”

“If it wasn't for Bertha, I shouldn't much care.”

“By Jove, I should. Of course, Bertha is now my first consideration; but, apart from her, I enjoy the flavour of this adventure. Looking for a mysterious island is like Columbus setting sail from Palos, or like acting a part in one of Jules Verne's wonderful romances.”

“Oh, I can't think of that,” I retorted a trifle hotly. “I can think of nothing but Bertha and her peril.”

“Quit right, old chap; she's your promised wife,” said Harry phlegmatically.

“And she's your sister, Hal,” said I pointedly.

He looked at me in his merry way and smiled.

“My dear lad, you must not think that I do not feel her loss, although I don't talk about it,” he said gravely. “But I know that she is quite safe with those negroes.”

page 149

“Is she though?” I queried sceptically.

“Certainly,” was his earnest reply. “They kidnapped Bertha for her beauty, and they are bound to take all care of her until she is safely landed at Isk. No doubt, as their future queen, she is treated with the utmost deference. As Flick said, she cannot be married to this white ruler of Isk until three months have elapsed, and before that time I hope we'll find Isk and rescue her. Flick may leave the island without his statue,” added Harry doggedly, “but I don't turn this boat's nose homeward until Bertha is on board.”

“No doubt you are quite correct in your views,” said I musingly; “save the trial of being kidnapped, I expect Bertha is safe and well. I only hope we shall reach Isk in time; but it is now seven weeks and more since we lost her, and, unless we find the island soon, the three months will be up.”

“It all depends upon the confounded chart. If Flick could only decipher its meaning, we should soon sight the island.”

“By the way,” said I, after a pause, “I wish Aunt Chrissy knew your comfortable views.”

“She does,” replied Harry quietly. “I wrote her from the Cape not to worry herself; and to expect Bertha back in a few weeks.”

“I am glad you did that, Harry. I wrote also, but page 150 I had not then taken your view regarding Bertha's safety, and I am afraid my letter was not so cheerful as it might have been.”

Before Harry could reply, Captain Flick came on deck, rubbing his hands with a pleased expression. He cast a look of careless admiration at the sea of golden haze which environed the ship, but, being used to such sights, he made no remark on the phenomenon. With a broad grin he marched up to where we leaned against the taffrail, and placed a hand on a shoulder of each of us.

“Hey, lads,” said he, in his hearty voice, “I've solved the riddle.”

“What! the chart?” we exclaimed in one breath.

“Ay, the chart. I stumbled on the explanation by accident, and I know now how the pilots of Isk take their bearings.”

“How do they manage, captain?”

“'Tis too long an explanation just now, Sir Denis,” he answered, glancing aloft; “and, moreover, it must be worked out on paper. But I've found out the business, and now I'm about to alter the ship's course—for the last time, I hope.”

“Whither, Flick?”

“Nor'east, lad. The straight line from Paul's is all a blind. Isk lies nearer to the Australian continent than to Africa, and 'tis over instead of under Capricorn page 151 -almost on the Equator, I fancy. However, we'll know in a couple of days, more or less. I'm afraid we'll have trouble with those niggers, after all,” added the old sailor, meditatively rubbing his nose.

“What has converted you to that opinion, captain?” I asked, laughing.

“Why,” said he earnestly, “that chart is a perfect blind; it's worked out to deceive any one but the person who knows the right way of taking it. If chance hadn't showed me the key to the problem, I might have steered by it till doomsday without fetching Isk. Whosoever constructed that map has brains, and it gives me a fresh idea regarding the high state of civilization we may expect to find in this unknown island. That being the case, it will take all our power and cleverness to gain our objects and circumvent these clever devils.”

“Well, there's one thing certain,” said Harry, rather impressed by this speech, “judging from their behaviour at Cythera, they know nothing about firearms; and with our cannon and rifles, with our quick boat and plucky crew, I think we'll be able to rescue Bertha.”

“And get the statue.”

“I'm not so sure of that, captain,” laughed Harry; “however, we'll make a bid for it, you may be sure.”

After this inspiriting conversation we turned in for page 152 the night, much exhilarated by Flick's discovery. Before retiring, he worked out the system upon which he concluded that the navigation of the islanders was founded; the solution was certainly ingenious and probable, and as none other seemed likely to elucidate the myriad lines on the chart, we hoped that the new course shaped from this discovery would result in the finding of the wished-for island. At all events, we would know if Flick's solution was worth anything before the end of the week. After so many days of weary anxiety this hope was most welcome, and put new life into us.

The crew were also informed why the course was altered, and one and all kept a sharp watch for the island in the hope of gaining the twenty pounds. On the morning of the third day I was roused from sleep by Harry, who shook me by the shoulder with much excitement.

“Get up, Denis. Isk is in sight!”

I needed no second telling, but, thinly clad in my night-gear as I was, I rushed on deck at the tail of Harry. Captain Flick, with the glass to his eye, was looking to the north-west, where I fancied I saw a tiny cloud. This was Isk.

We had a merry breakfast that morning, and afterwards Flick paid over twenty golden sovereigns to the man who had first sighted the island at dawn. We page 153 had our meal early, as we wished to remain on deck when drawing near the promised land, and as soon as it was over we again rushed on deck, filled with curiosity and excitement.

The sun was just showing above the eastern horizon, and against his golden glory we could now plainly see a tall mountain peak, white with snow, shooting up into the radiance of the sky. The surrounding waters glittered like gold in the newly-risen luminary, and in the centre of this effulgence the island showed balckly, like a cone of coal.

“It is Isk!” cried Flick, snapping his glass together. “I can tell by the shape of the mountain. 'Tis the same as that drawn on the chart.”

So, after weeks of weary search, we had found Isk, and we might hope to land upon it before noon. Columbus felt no greater excitement on beholding the New World than we did while approaching that black spot. It was our new world—the mysterious island of Isk, hidden from mankind for over two thousand years—the unknown island of Isk, to which Hesperus had conveyed the statue of the goddess three hundred years before the Christian era.