There never was greater temerity than this searching the island for the tiger. Neither the bullet nor their arrows would have stayed the advance of that terrible beast for a moment. Inside their stockade and cage they might withstand him; in the open he would have swept them down just as a lady"s sleeve might sweep down the chessmen on the board.
Thus in his native haunts he overthrows a crowd of spear-armed savages.
"He can"t be on the island," said Mark.
"It"s curious we did not see any sign," said Bevis. "There are no marks or footprints anywhere."
"If there was some clay now--wet clay," said Mark, "but it"s all sandy; his claws would show in clay like Pan"s."
"Like a crab." Pan"s footprint in moist clay was somewhat crab-shaped.
"Is there no place where he would leave a mark?"
"Just at the edge of the water the moorhens leave footprints."
"That would be the place, only we can"t look very close to the edge everywhere."
"There"s the raft; we could on the raft."
"Shall we go on the raft?"
"Suppose we go all round the island?" said Bevis, "on the raft."
"We never have been," said Mark. "Not close to the sh.o.r.e."
"No; let us pole round close to the sh.o.r.e--all round, and see if we can find any spoor in the shallows."
They went to the raft and embarked. As they started a crimson glow shot along under the clouds, the sun was sinking and the sky beamed. The wind had risen and the wavelets came splash, splash against the edge of the raft. Some of the yellow leaves of the willows floated along and fell on the deck. They poled slowly and constantly grounded or struck the sh.o.r.e, so that it occupied some time to get round, especially as at the southern extremity it was so shallow they were obliged to go a long way out.
In about an hour they reached the thick bed of reed-gra.s.s into which Bevis had shot his arrow, and as the raft slowly glided by Mark suddenly exclaimed, "There it is!"
There it was--a path through the reed-gra.s.s down to the water"s edge-- the trail of some creature. Bevis stuck his pole into the ground to check the onward movement of the raft. The impetus of the heavy vessel was so great though moving slowly that it required all his strength to stay it. Mark came with his pole, and together they pushed the raft back, and it ran right up into the reed-gra.s.s and grounded. Pan instantly leapt off into the path, and ran along it wagging his tail; he had the scent, though it seemed faint as he did not give tongue. They stood at the bulwark of the raft and looked at the trail.
Volume Three, Chapter XII.
NEW FORMOSA--THE TRAIL.
At the water"s edge some flags were bent, and then the tall gra.s.s, as high as their chests, was thrust aside, forming a path which had evidently been frequently trodden. There was now no longer the least doubt that the creature, whatever it was, was of large size, and as the trail was so distinct the thought occurred to them both at once that perhaps it had been used by more than one. From the raft they could see along it five or six yards, then it turned to avoid an alder. While they stood looking Pan came back, he had run right through and returned, so that there was nothing in the reed-bed at present.
Bevis stepped over the bulwark into the trail with the matchlock; Mark picked up the axe and followed. As they walked their elbows touched the gra.s.s each side, which showed that the creature was rather high than broad, lean like the whole feline tribe, long, lean, and stealthy. The reed-gra.s.s had flowered and would soon begin to stiffen and rustle dry under the winds. By the alder a bryony vine that had grown there was broken and had withered, it had been snapped long since by the creature pushing through.
The trail turned to the right, then to the left round a willow stole, and just there Pan, who trotted before Bevis, picked up a bone. He had picked it up before and dropped it; he took it again from habit, though he knew it was sapless and of no use to him. Bevis took it from his mouth, and they knew it at once as a duck"s drumstick. It was polished and smooth, as if the creature had licked it, or what was more probable carried it some distance, and then left it as useless. They had no doubt it was a drumstick of the wild duck Mark shot.
The trail went straight through sedges next, these were trampled flat; then as the sedges grew wider apart they gradually lost it in the thin, short gra.s.s. This was why they had not seen it from the land, there the path began by degrees; at the water"s edge, where the gra.s.ses were thick and high, it was seen at once. Try how they would, they could not follow the trail inland, they thought they knew how to read "sign," but found themselves at fault. On the dry, hard ground the creature"s pads left no trail that they could trace. Mark cut off a stick with the axe and stuck it up in the ground so that they could find the spot where the path faded when walking on sh.o.r.e, and they then returned to the raft.
On the way they caught sight of Bevis"s arrow sticking in the trunk of the alder, and withdrew it.
At the water"s edge they looked to see if there was any spoor. In pa.s.sing through the reed-gra.s.s the creature had trampled it down, and so walked on a carpet of vegetation which prevented any footprints being left on the ground though it was moist there. At the water"s edge perhaps they might have found some, but in pushing the raft up the beams had rubbed over the mud and obliterated everything. When they got on the raft they looked over the other bulwark, and a few yards from the sh.o.r.e noticed that the surface of the weeds growing there appeared disturbed.
The raft was moved out, and they found that the weeds had been trampled; the water was very shallow, so that the creature in approaching the sh.o.r.e had probably plunged up and down as the spaniel did in shallow water. Like the reed-gra.s.s the trampled weeds had prevented any footprints in the ooze. They traced the course the creature had come out for fully thirty yards, and the track pointed straight to the sh.o.r.e of the mainland so that it seemed as if it started at no great distance from where they used to land.
But when they had thrust the raft as far as this, not without great difficulty, for it dragged heavily on the weeds and sometimes on the ground, the marks changed and trended southwards. The water was a little deeper and the signs became less and less obvious, but still there they were, and they now pointed directly south. They lost them at the edge of the weeds, the water was still shallow, but the character of the bottom had changed from ooze to hard rock-like sand. Here they met the waves driven before the southerly wind, and coming from that part of the New Sea they had not yet explored. The wind was strong enough to make it hard work to pole the raft against it, and the spray dashed against the willow bulwark.
These waves prevented them from clearly distinguishing the bottom, though the water was very shallow, but then they thought if it had been calm the creature"s pads would have left no marks on such hard sand. It was now more than an hour after sunset, and the louring clouds rendered it more dusky than usual so soon. The creature had evidently come from the jungle southwards, but it was not possible to go there that night in the face of the rising gale. The search must be suspended till morning.
Letting the raft drive before the wind, and a.s.sisting its progress by poling, they managed to get it by sheer force through the weeds into the clear deep water by the cliff, there they paddled it round, but unable to touch bottom, the waves drifted them over to Serendib. With continual labour they poled it along the sh.o.r.e of Serendib, nearly to the end of the island, and then half-way across, and paddling hard with the poles contrived to get over aslant. By the time they had moored it, it was quite dusk, and they were tired with the exertion of forcing the unwieldy craft in the face of the gale.
Hastening home they found the stockade just as it had been left, and lost not a moment in lighting the fires, one on each side of the hut, the wood for which had already been collected. The gate was padlocked, the kettle put on, and they sat down to rest. A good supper and strong tea restored their strength. They sat inside the cage at the table, and needed no lantern, for the light of the two fires lit up the interior of the stockade.
As it became later the hare and the birds were fastened to the stake for a bait, more wood was heaped on the fires, and last of all the remaining poles were lashed to the uprights of the shed, forming a complete cage with horizontal bars. The matchlock was placed handy, the bow and arrows laid ready, and both axes, so that if the beast inserted his paw they could strike it.
Cards were then drawn to see who should go to sleep first, and as Bevis cut highest, he went into the hut to lie down. But after he had been there about a quarter of an hour he jumped up, quite unable to go to sleep. Mark said he did not feel the least sleepy either, so they agreed that both should sit up. Till now they had been in the outer shed or cage, but Mark thought that perhaps the creature would not come if it saw them, so they went inside the hut, and made Pan come too. The curtain was partly let down and looped aside, so that they had a view of the stockade, and the lantern lit and set in the niche.
They could hear the wind rushing over the trees outside, and every now and then a puff entered and made the lantern flicker. The fires still burned brightly, and as nothing came the time pa.s.sed slowly. Bevis did not care to write up his journal, so at last they fell back on their cards and played bezique on the bed. After a time this too wearied.
The tea and supper had refreshed them; but both had worked very hard that day--a long day too, as they had been up so early--and their interest began to flag. The cards were put down and they stood up to recover their wakefulness, and then went out into the cage.
The fires still flickered, though the piles of wood were burnt through, and the sticks had fallen off, half one side half the other. The wind had risen and howled along, carrying with it a few leaves which blew against the bars. It was perfectly dark, for the thick clouds hid the moon, and drops of rain were borne on the gale. They would have liked to replenish the fires, but could not get out without unlashing several of the bars, and as Mark said the creature would be more likely to come as the fires burned low. Weary and yawning they went back into the hut and sat down once more.
"One thing," said Mark, "suppose he were to stay just outside the stockade--I mean if he comes and we shoot and hit him till he is savage, and don"t kill him, well then if he can"t get in to us, don"t you see, when it is day he"ll go outside the stockade and lie down."
"So that we can"t go out."
"And there he"ll stay, and wait, and wait."
"And stay till we are starved."
"We could not shoot him through the stockade."
"No. Or he could go up on the cliff and watch there and never let us out. Our provisions would not last for ever."
"The water would go first."
"Suppose he does that, what shall we do then?" said Mark.
"I don"t know," said Bevis languidly.
"But, now you think."
"Bore a tunnel through the cliff to the sea," said Bevis, yawning. "I am so sleepy, and one get out and swim round and fetch the raft."
"Tunnel from the cave right through?"
"Straight right through."
"We shall beat him any way," said Mark.
"Of course we shall. Wish he"d come! O!"--yawning--"Let us go to sleep; Pan will bark."
"Not both," said Mark.