CHAPTER X.
WHOSE ARE THEY ?
AND WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?
"LOOK here," said Sumner, sternly, to the Negro, after his
excitement had somewhat subsided, "didn't you try to steal one of our
guns last night?"
"Yes, honey, I's afeared I did," confessed the black man,
humbly. "But I didn't know hit war you, Marse Summer, an' I did want er
gun so powerful bad."
"I'm glad that mystery is cleared up, at any rate," said
Worth, with a relieved air. "And I'm glad to find out that I was right
about some one being in the camp, too. Now I wonder if lie doesn't know
something about our canoes?"
"Do you, Quorum, know anything about the canoes that we
came here in?" asked Sumner.
"No, I don't know nuffin' 'bout no cooner. I's bin
wonderin' what sort of er boat you'll come in, an' er lookin' fer him,
but I don't see him nowhere."
"I suppose you would have stolen it if you had found it?"
"Maybe so, maybe so. Ole Quorm not 'sponsible fer what him
do when be bein' hunted like er 'possum or er 'coon. Yo' like 'possum
when he roasted, Marse Summer?"
"Indeed I do when you roast him, Quorum. Why ? Have you
got one?"
"Yes sah, cotch him in er trap dis berry mawnin'. I jist
settin' hit agin when yo' come er trompin' troo de trees an' scare de
pore ole niggah 'mos' to def. Now, if yo' say so, we go roas' him, and
hab berry fine suppah."
"Certainly I say so. You lead the way, and we'll follow
you. I tell you what, Worth, we've struck it rich in falling in with
one of the best cooks on the reef."
"I don't know how I shall like 'possum," replied Worth,
"for I have never eaten any; but I am sure it will make fully as good a
meal as raw coconut. I do wish, though, that we had some bread, or at
least some crackers, and a little butter."
And sugar and coffee and bacon, and a cooking outfit,"
laughed Sumner. "I wouldn't mind spending a few days here if we had all
those things."
"Wouldn't it be fine?" replied the boy, who had all his
life reveled in luxuries that he hardly cared for, but would now have
appreciated so highly the commonest of what are generally regarded as
necessities.
As they talked in this strain, they followed the negro
through the narrow trail leading back from the coconut grove to his
camp. It was but a short distance from the place where Sumner had taken
his header into the ty-ti bush. Here Quorum had built himself a snug
palmetto hut in a place capitally concealed from observation, and had
managed to surround himself with a number of rude comforts. A fire was
smoldering in a rough stone fireplace, and from an adjoining limb hung
the 'possum that they were to have for supper.
"Well," exclaimed Sumner, looking about him, "I don't see
but what you are living like an African King, Quorum. Have you had
plenty to eat since you came here?"
"Yes, sah. Plenty such as hit is -- 'possum, 'coon,
turtle, fish, oyster, conch, coconut, banana, limes, lemons, an'
paw-paw; but no terbakker. I tell yo', sah, dat a berry pore place what
hab no terbakker."
"So you want tobacco to make you happy, and Worth wants
bread and butter, and I want coffee. It seems that we all want
something that we haven't got, and aren't likely to get in this world,
doesn't it? But, Quorum, what on earth are you throwing all that iron
into the fire for? It won't burn."
"No, him won't burn," answered the
negro, chuckling at the idea, "but him good to bile do wattah."
As
neither of the boys had the least idea what he meant, they watched him
curiously. The iron that he had thrown into the fire, which he now
heaped with wood, consisted of a number of old bolts that be had
obtained from some wreckage on the beach. While these were heating, he
filled a small hollow place in the rocks with water, and when the bolts
were red-hot he dropped them into it. In about two seconds the water
was boiling. Throwing a few handfuls of ashes into the boiling water,
he soused the 'possum in it and held him there several minutes. After
this he scraped the animal with a bit of iron hoop, and to the surprise
of the boys, its hair came off almost without an effort.
In a minute it
was as bare as a suckling pig, which it greatly resembled. Shortly
afterwards it was cleaned, washed, and ready for roasting. Just here
Sumner proposed that they return to their own camp, and do the roasting
there, as from where they now were they had no chance of seeing any
boats that might pass the island.
As Quorum no longer felt the
necessity for hiding, he readily agreed to this, and carrying with them
the few articles belonging to him that were worth removing, they
started through the woods towards what the boys already called home.
The afternoon was nearly spent when they entered the clearing and came
in sight of their own little lean-to.
Sumner, who was some distance in
the lead, was the first to reach it. The others saw him suddenly stop,
gaze at the hut as though fascinated by something inside of it, and
then, without a word, start on a run towards the beach. This curious
action excited Worth's wonder; but when he reached the hut he did
exactly the same thing.
When Quorum, who came last, reached it, he
gazed in open-eyed wonder, but did not move from the spot. A smile
gradually overspread his face, and, with a long-drawn sigh of happy
anticipation, he uttered the single word, "Terbakker."
"Do you see it?"
asked Worth, breathlessly, as he joined Sumner on the beach.
"No; but
perhaps it is behind the point. Let's go and take a look." But when
they reached the point there was no sign of the vessel that they fully
expected to find there. More greatly puzzled than they had ever been
before in all their lives, even at the mysterious disappearance of
their canoes, the boys slowly retraced their steps towards the hut. It
was completely filled with barrels, boxes, and various packages, most
of which evidently contained provisions.
"There is a sack of coffee," remarked Sumner. "And a box
of crackers. And, yes, here is butter!" cried Worth, lifting the cover
of a tin pail.
"Dat ar am sholy a box oh terbakker," put in Quorum,
pointing to the unmistakable box, from which his eyes had not wandered
since they first lit upon it.
"It certainly is," replied Sumner, in a voice expressive
of the most unbounded amazement. "And there, if my eyes do not deceive
me, are cases of milk, canned fruit, baked beans, and brown bread."
"Hams and bacon," added Worth.
"Kittles and pans," said Quorum.
"In fact," concluded Sumner, "there is a bountiful supply
of provisions for several months, and a complete housekeeping outfit
into the bargain There is no doubt as to what these things are. The
only unanswered questions are, Whom do they belong to, and how did they
get here?"
"Perhaps whoever stole our canoes has left them here in
part payment," suggested Worth.
"You might just as well say that Elijah's ravens had
brought them," laughed Sumner.
"Marse Summer, sah, 'scuse me, but do hit 'pear to yo'
like hit would be stealin' to bang de kiver offen dat ar box, an' let
de ole man hab jes one smell oh dat terbakker?" asked Quorum, humbly.
"No, Quorum, under the circumstances I don't believe it
would," replied the boy, who forthwith proceeded to attack the box in
question with his hatchet.
A GREAT DISCOVERY.
CHAPTER XI.
SUMNER DRIFTS AWAY ON A RAFT.
THE display of layer upon layer of black plug tobacco such
as Quorum had been accustomed to using for longer than he could
remember caused the negro's eyes to glisten as though they saw SO many
ingots of pure gold. For more than two weeks he had longed unavailingly
for a fragment of the precious weed. Now to have an unlimited quantity
of it placed before him so very mysteriously and unexpectedly seemed to
him the climax of everything most desirable and best worth living for.
He sniffed at it eagerly, inhaling its fragrance with long, deep
breaths. Then, producing a stubby black pipe from some hidden recess of
his tattered clothing, he asked, pleadingly, for "jes one lilly smoke."
"After supper," said Sumner. "Get supper ready first, and
then you shall smoke as much as you want to."
At this Quorum's
countenance fell, and seating himself on the ground, he remarked,
stubbornly: "No, sah. Ole Quor'm do no cookin' wifout him hab a smoke
fust. No smoke, no cookin', no cookin', no suppah. Why yo' no gib one
plug ob terbakker fur dat 'possum, eh? Him monstrous fine 'possum, but
I willin' to sell him fur jes one lilly plug oh terbakker. Yo' can't
buy him so cheap nowliar else, specially on dis yer oncibilized Niggly
Wity Key."
"But it is not my tobacco," laughed Sumner, greatly amused
at the old man's attitude and arguments.
"Who he b'long to, den?"
demanded Quorum, quickly.
"I'm sure I don't know," answered the boy.
"Den he yourn. You fin' him. You keep him. Hit all de same
like er
wrack. Yo' catch him, nobody else want him, yo' keep him. Jes one lilly
smoke, Marse Summer -- jes one; den de ole man go to cookin' de berry
bestes yo' ebber seen. Come, Marse Summer, jes one; dat's a honey bug."
There was no resisting this pleading appeal, and cutting
off enough for
a single pipeful from one of the plugs, Sumner handed it to the negro,
saying: "Well, then, if you must have it, take that, and hurry up with
supper the very minute you have finished your smoke. I never was so
hungry in my life, while Worth begins to look dangerously like a
cannibal. Come, Worth, we must fly round, and build another palmetto
shanty before dark. At this rate we'll have a town here before long."
Two hours of hard work found a second hut, much more
pretentious than
the first, nicely roofed in. By this time the sun was setting, and what
was of infinitely more importance to the young canoemates, Quorum
announced that supper was ready.
And what a feast he had prepared! Had
there ever been one hall so good before? In the opinions of the boys,
there certainly had not. Quorum had felt no scruples about helping
himself to the provisions so liberally provided, and if the boys had
noticed what he was doing, they had not possessed the moral courage to
interfere. As a result, he had baked the 'possum stuffed with
cracker-crumbs, bits of pork and onions cut up fine, and well seasoned
with salt and pepper, in a Dutch oven. The oven had been set on a bed
of coals, and a fire of lightwood knots built on its heavy iron lid.
The 'possum had been surrounded with sweet potatoes, and both were done
to a brown crisp. Then there was coffee, with sugar and condensed milk,
toasted hardtack with butter, and bananas for dessert.
"Talk about
eating!" said Sumner.
"Or Delmonico's!" added Worth.
As Quorum sat and watched them, a broad grin of happiness
overspread his features, while wreaths of blue smoke curled gently
upward above his woolly head. His pipe was again full, and he now had
possession of an entire plug of tobacco, for which he felt profoundly
grateful to some unknown benefactor.
Among other things in the hut, which the boys now called
the storehouse, they had discovered a bale of blankets. These they did
not hesitate to appropriate to their own use, and as they lay stretched
on them, under their new roof, blinking sleepily at the fire, their
comfort and happiness seemed almost to have attained perfection.
"Except for our canoes," said Sumner. "If we only had
them, I, for one, should be perfectly happy; and tomorrow I am going to
make preparations for finding them."
"How?" asked Worth; and for an hour or so they talked over
their plans for the future. The intervals between their remarks became
longer and longer, until finally, when Worth asked, "Whom do you
suppose all those provisions belong to, anyway, Sumner?" the latter
answered: "Give it up. I'm too sleepy to guess any more riddles
tonight."
The boys slept almost without moving until sunrise; but
Quorum was frequently aroused to repel the invasions of certain coons
that, but for his watchfulness, would have made free with the contents
of the storehouse. He also had to protect the fire against a heavy
shower that came on towards morning; and on each of these occasions he
rewarded himself with a few whiffs of smoke from his black pipe.
QUORUM IS HAPPY.
