So great was the maze of walls that it was difficult to tell where the road ran for more than a score or so of yards ahead. But at last I traced its sweep close by where a great single-slab altar stood on its ma.s.sive pillar, with a sacred stone-circle jutting out of the bushes around it. On the other side was the pyramid, sorely broken by man and the weather, but still showing dressed gray stone courses in patches amongst the rank scrub which bristled over it. Even from there I could make out that the general contour of its base was circular, and not square as I had somehow or other expected, and I began to see trouble in finding that side "nearest the sea" where Lully had dug into the entrance-way.
As I drew nearer, the tumbled nature of the stone-work disclosed itself further, and I began to have fears lest the central chamber should have caved in and hidden the Recipe effectually and for always by crumbling its lettering into dust. But then I called to mind other Talayots I had seen before near Mahon and Alayor and Mercadal and Ciudadella, where the entering pa.s.sage led from aboveground by a rapid incline, and where the cavity, when it existed, had doubtless been near the apex; and from this I took heart, thinking that whether or no there had been a chamber in the upper part of the building, and whether or no it existed still, didn"t particularly matter to me. The Diary had certainly pointed to a room stowed away beneath the very keel of the edifice; and as long as that stood firm, the rest might telescope to any extent for all I cared.
By this time my leisurely pace had brought me up alongside the Talayot, which loomed big and squat at the other side of the wall. I turned and looked behind me. The fat woman at the farm was out of sight. Then I climbed the wall, and from the top glanced down the road which led from Alayor, and saw a sight which made me curse like a kicked _arriero_. Walking briskly up the stony track was a little man in unmistakably British tweeds. "An infernal prying tourist," thought I, "by all the powers of evil. Bear-led by a native, and coming to see Talaiti de Talt for a thousand. If he sees me he"ll spot me at once and want to chum, and then he"ll get inquisitive and won"t go away."
Down I dropped into cover.
CHAPTER X.
WITH A THREE-ANGLED HOE.
It is curious how no two people can speak the same words with identical intonation. Perhaps this is noticeable to some men more than to others.
I know some folks never forget a face, others a walk; but for myself, though these things may pa.s.s from memory, a voice once heard never escapes me. I suppose it is because I have been at much pains to distinguish between sounds. I"m rather musical, you know.
And so as I lay squatted there beneath a sloe-bush, and the tones of a voice grating as those of the corncrake came to me through the c.h.i.n.ks in the wall, I knew that Weems was at large once more, and pressing on with his errand.
I might have expected him, and yet his arrival was a bit of a surprise; and on the spur of the moment I could not for the life of me think what was best to do. One couldn"t n.o.bble the man, and still I didn"t intend that he should read that Recipe. So, being unable to make up my mind to any other course of proceeding, I just cowered quietly where I was and awaited developments. As it turned out, these were not very long in coming. Weems had lifted up his voice to get rid of his guide, and the guide, in eloquent Minorquin, was refusing to understand. At last the schoolmaster, in desperation, translating his arguments into silver, called to mind a word from some American novel, and commanded his attendant to "vamose." Then the native poured out thanks, pocketed the cash after a great show of refusing it, and went; and Weems, waiting till he was out of sight, climbed the wall. He was a bit chary of stepping down amongst the p.r.i.c.kly scrub on the inner side, and so as he was taking his time about it, I stood up and watched him. He did not see me till he was firm on his feet again; but when he did slew round, he stepped back with a gasp as though some one had rammed a sail-needle into him.
However, he pulled himself together quickly enough--I give him credit for that--and slipped a hand into his coat pocket, which I noted was bulging with some heavy weight--presumably a pistol. Then he resorted to what I suppose he considered diplomacy, and remarked that it was a lovely country.
"d.a.m.n you," said I, "you didn"t come here to talk to me about scenery, did you? Because if that"s the case, I"d rather you"d quit for a while.
I"ve got some business on hand here that I want to work out alone. So git, you mean little brute."
"And I also have a trifling piece of research to make, for which I desire complete privacy. And this, Mr. Cospatric, is a point upon which I am prepared to insist."
Hereupon out came the revolver, a cheap pin-fire tool, brilliantly nickel-plated. Weems fingered it with unholy awe, and his face began to bleach. He wasn"t used to the situation.
"Did you get that thing in Ma.r.s.eille?" I asked.
"No, sir. I procured it from an acquaintance in Mahon this morning. And acting upon his advice, I shall not hesitate to use it if you press me."
The little man"s manner as he struggled between dignity, greediness, and common funk was so irresistibly funny that I roared.
"You need not fear my failing to be as good as my word," he snapped out. "They don"t hang people in Spain."
"You fool, of course they don"t. They garrote. And as the inhabitants of these islands, take them as a whole, are as mild and peaceable a lot as one could find on the face of the globe, a bit of murder would strike them as being in such bad taste that you"d wear the iron collar as sure as you"d earned it. But that"s not the point. You"re not going to shoot me----"
"Then you will go away."
"I shall do nothing of the kind. You are not going to shoot me, simply because you can"t. Man alive, I"ve been racketing about the evil places of this world ever since I left Cambridge, and this isn"t the first time I"ve looked down the small end of a pistol. If you"d seen as much shooting as I have, you"d just jump with astonishment at the awful big percentage of men who get missed even by good shots, and at short rise.
And you! You, you small swab, I can see by the way you"re holding it that you"ve never had a revolver in your fist before this day, much less fired one at a "live mark. Put the thing back in your pocket, and behave like a rational being."
"I shall do nothing of the kind," said Weems, sticking up his left arm, and sighting the pistol over the elbow-joint.
By this time he had got into such a pitiable funk that I was afraid lest out of sheer nervousness his finger might press home the trigger any minute. The chances were big against his. .h.i.tting me, but I knew that the report would bring spectators, and those I most particularly didn"t want. Still, I could not see any means of getting the weapon into my own hands without its going off. It was impossible to "rush"
him. The dozen yards which separated us was one solid tangle of scrub-bushes interwoven with brambles. It would have taken at least forty seconds to tear through them, and in that time he could most a.s.suredly snap off all six chambers, however big a duffer he might be.
This would bring up some of the country people without fail; and besides, out of the six, he might fluke one shot into me. About that last possibility I didn"t trouble my head much, as it was remote; but the other was a fatal objection. A good satisfactory row with the natives would effectually upset the apple-cart for both of us.
So I put it to him squarely that, come what might, I didn"t intend to go and leave the coast clear for him; and that if he fired a shot, whether or not he jugged me and tasted _el garrote_ into the bargain, he would most a.s.suredly not get hold of the Recipe.
These points seemed to strike him as strong ones; and as, being unused to such strong emotions, he was by this time in very nearly a fainting condition, he saw fit to ease the strain from his nerves by beginning to treat for terms. How much would I go for? He had bills in his pockets for francs and pesetas, which amounted in all to eighteen pounds four shillings and some odd pence English. That was the absolute sum-total of all he possessed out of England. If he handed it over, would I promise to depart forthwith?
I think it caused him no real surprise to learn that I would do nothing of the kind.
"Look here," he went on, "I"ll tell you what I"ll do as well. I"ll send you a ten-pound note from England when I get back there, if you"ll give me your address."
"Oh, go to the devil!" said I, beginning to get in a fury with him. "If you"re on for bargaining, I"ll give you my bill for five hundred at two months to clear out."
"You can"t expect it, Mr. Cospatric----"
"Of course I can"t expect you to sell your chances for a mess of pottage; still less need you have thought me idiot enough to do such a thing. Now look here, you are new at the sc.r.a.pping game, whereas I am not by any means. So in case of a tussle the odds are big that you"ll finish underside. And, besides, if you have a bit of a whip-hand over me, I"d have you remember that until I"ve got my terms, you are standing under a Damocles arrangement which may tumble on your hat at any moment. And it doesn"t take much of a wizard to tell that your nerves aren"t good to stand that strain for over-long."
"The heat----"
"Oh yes, the heat"s making you sweat streams, and sending your face chalky-green, and setting your knees to play _castanetas_ in _cachucha_ time. We"ll call it the heat. Anyway, it"s exposure to an atmosphere that you aren"t accustomed to, and it doesn"t suit you.
You"d better try a change, or else you"ll topple off in a faint--perhaps you"ll die. Now look here: it"s just foolery to let this Dog-in-the-Manger Company hold the stage any longer. Let"s recast it, and play "The Partners." Come, what do you say? It"s only a three-part piece, and there"s a thumping good treasury to draw upon."
"Three parts!" shrieked Weems, lifting up his pistol on to his elbow again, where it gleamed like a dancing mirror in the hot sunshine. Then as another thought struck him, he lowered the weapon to his side once more, and broke out into the ghost of a smile. "Oh, I see. Yes, of course. Two for me, Mr. Cospatric, and one for you. That"s much more right and proper."
I chuckled, and mentioned that one Haigh and myself were going shares over this matter, and that I didn"t intend to see Haigh defrauded; and then the battle of words began over again.
By this time I was so thoroughly sick of the brute"s meanness that I made up my mind stubbornly not to give way a single peg. He argued, he prayed, he commanded, he threatened; he appealed to all my better feelings individually and then collectively; but it was no good. All that he could get out of me was an a.s.surance that he might feel himself very lucky if he fingered the proffered third, and a threat that if he didn"t accept it quickly he"d find himself empty-fingered altogether--and probably minus a sound vertebral column into the bargain. And in the end he sobbed out an agreement to the terms, and then flopped down amongst the bushes, deadly sick.
This last development I was not altogether unprepared for, and, had it seemed good to me to do so, I might have taken advantage of his plight to grab the nickel-plated weapon and repudiate the treaty--as he most a.s.suredly would have done by me had the positions been reversed. But over-reaching that kind--euphemistically termed "keen business instinct" by some--has never been among my catalogue of acquirements (more"s the pity), and so I just hung round till he had disburdened his stomach and recollected his wits a bit, forbearing to interfere either by word or deed.
"It"s the heat," he explained at last.
"We"ll log it down as such," said I, to prevent argument, "and for G.o.d"s sake don"t let us squabble any more. If you"re right again, we may as well turn-to and get at the _cache_ without further dawdling. You have a spade, I suppose?"
"A spade! Oh dear, oh dear! what an oversight. If you"ll believe me, Mr. Cospatric, I never remembered that digging implements would be required till this moment. The excitement of the last few days----But don"t let us speak of that now. We must use your spade in turn."
I laughed. "It strikes me we"re a pair of first-cla.s.s fools. I haven"t got one either. We both put out from Mahon in such a flaming hurry that accessories never got a thought. Well, we must get one here if we can, though that"s doubtful, seeing that the native hoe, which is pick and shovel combined, is the popular instrument hereabouts. However, I"ll go and see if something can"t be got. Give me a couple of pesetas, will you?"
"What for?"
"Why, to hire the thing, or buy it if needs must."
"But why should I pay----"
"d.a.m.nation man, because I don"t own a brown cent. Go scout for a tool yourself if you care to. I"m not keen on the job. Only you don"t speak the language, and I thought you"d prefer to sit still and recruit a bit more before beginning to bustle about again."
"Oh, I beg pardon," said he, and counted out the money in copper and small silver.
I turned to the Talayot, and climbed to its top. Two fields off, towards cl.u.s.tered Alayor, a man was guiding a single-handed plough drawn by a small ox and a sixteen-hand mule. Scrambling down again, I went in a bee-line across the intervening walls. The ploughman saw me coming, and nothing loath, pulled up his team and desisted from scratching the furrow any further. A chat was just the thing he wanted.