"You can"t have my valuable services if you turn off Jack North!"
This was a turn in affairs the officials had not looked for, but the boys did not stop to listen to their protestations.
Later they learned that the train did not make a run that day.
Chapter XV
The Treasure Island
"Now," said Plum, as soon as he joined his friend, "I call that about the meanest trick I ever see played on a feller. Of course I wasn"t going to stay to fire for that weazen-faced son of old Piz-arro."
"It seems too bad you should lose your job on my account, Plum.
Particularly when I am more than half glad to lose mine, while you have made a real sacrifice."
"Oh, carrots! I ain"t any worse off than I was before. But what are you going to do, Jack?"
"I am going to speculating."
"What!" in amazement.
"Speculating, Plum. I have been thinking several days of a scheme in which I believe there is more money than in running an engine for bush-raiders to run down."
"I"ll bet you"re going to speculate in that dirt I put round the don"s plants."
"You got it right the first time, Plum. I--"
"Ginger! going to raise coffee? "Cause of you air I can give you a pointer."
"No; you are on the wrong track now. But I have no objection to telling you. Ever since I saw the result of your experiment I have been thinking that the stuff would sell like hot cakes in our own country, in places where the land is worn out and needs some such a stimulant. At any rate I am going to send home a cargo and see what comes of it."
"Hooray! I see it all now. It may pay, but I doubt it. How air you going to get the stuff there?"
"In the first place I have got to get possession of the article itself, though I do not believe this will be a very expensive undertaking. I have a few dollars I have saved up from my wages, and I think I can borrow some somewhere. I am going to buy one of the nitrate tracts as soon as I can get suited."
"You can buy a big mine for a hundred dollars, "cause they"re looked on with disfavor. But after you"ve bought one, what then?"
"I am going to team a cargo to the nearest port and then charter a ship to take it home."
"You"re smart enough to be a general, Jack North," and having paid him the highest compliment that he could, according to his estimate, Plum added:
"Say, Jack, I want to drive the team for you."
"You shall. But, as I am anxious to begin operations, I am going to look for my first purchase."
"Don de Estuaray is the man you want to see. There is a big bed on his estancia."
"It seems to me your experiment may have opened his eyes.
"He may catch onto my scheme quicker than some one who has seen nothing of what this nitrate will do."
"Of course you"re right and I"m a blockhead, as usual. But go ahead and I"ll tag at your heels like a dog."
Jack"s first move was to get a couple of ponies for himself and Plum to ride. Then the pair, with provisions enough to last several days, set out on their quest.
Taking the direction of what he believed to be the heart of the nitrate region, Jack in a couple of days found several beds which he felt would prove rich fields of speculation.
His prime object was to find a bed which should not be too far removed from the railroad, or at least where its product could be the easiest teamed.
It was during his search one day that he got separated from his companion, in his desire to explore a wider stretch of country, when he quite unexpectedly found himself in the vicinity of his adventure with the jaguars.
The memory of that encounter brought back to his mind the lonely pimento he had seen in the valley on the opposite side of the hilly range, and the story of the hidden treasure filled his thoughts.
"If I could only find that now how it would help me to carry on my speculations."
Determined to look again on the spot, he climbed the ascent, until for a second time he stood on the height.
Before he had reached this elevated position he had heard a deep rumbling sound in the distance--a sound which seemed like the whirl and rush of angry waters, as if he was approaching a high cataract.
Ere he had gained the extreme top of the elevation, however, this noise suddenly died away, and the calmness of the primeval wilderness lay on the scene as he paused on the summit to gaze into the valley.
Naturally his gaze had turned in that direction, and an exclamation of astonishment left his lips, as he saw that the valley was gone!
The great basin was filled with water, the high hills and mountains forming a mighty rim with a piece of the huge bowl broken away where the gap existed in the elevated range on the north. But another feature of this inland lake had greater interest for him.
Near its centre was a small, barren island, entirely dest.i.tute of growth except for a solitary tree standing on its highest point.
The lonely monarch stood stark and stern in all its solitude, with one branch lifted like a skeleton arm pointing toward the north.
"The pimento--the treasure island!" exclaimed Jack with suppressed emotion.
The longer he looked upon the little island and its surroundings the more fully convinced he became that it was the spot described in the paper he had found so singularly on Robinson Crusoe"s island.
When he had recovered somewhat from his glad surprise he urged the pony down the rough descent until the sh.o.r.e of the lake was reached.
"Oh, Don!" he said to the faithful pony, "you must take me to the island,"
never dreaming of the effort it would cost.
As he spoke a commotion began in the water at the north end, though that in front of him was still as unruffled as ever. But the pony had barely plunged into the tide before a deep, guttural sound came up from the depths and long lines of foam appeared on the surface.
Nothing daunted by this, Jack continued to urge the animal ahead in spite of its desire to turn back, until they were about midway between the bank which they had left and the island.
The strange noise had increased so that now it completely filled Jack"s ears, while the water was in a fearful state of agitation. It had taken on a peculiar greenish hue, with big flecks of white foam, and here and there were fountains spouting up bright yellow liquid, which rose to the height of from ten to twenty feet.