The Frontier, May 1926 — page 43: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

As $00n as it had cooled, Gunderson, Johannsen, the judge and Killifer were given a draught, which they took will- ingly enough, though with many grim- aces. Within ten minutes all were sound asleep. “Remarkable!” cried imy uncle. ‘What's more, see how white and drawn they were—and all have better color already.” “And a natural sleep, too!” said O’Donnell, marveling. “Well, I’ve seen men with a drop in their grog a- breathin’ like a hoss with the heaves, but nothin’ like this. We can learn even from these swabs, I take it.” The four were no sooner asleep than the savages, with little crooning mur- murs of sympathy, uncovered their wounds. One of them, in the interim, heated the black gum in a pannikin. While the stuff was still bubbling, they dipped it up on wooden paddles and smeared it over the wounds, after which they bound up the patients with palm jJeaves and strips of inner bark, showing a dexterity and tenderness that was admirable to behold. - During these ministrations not a pa- tient so much as moved. They slept like little children. Moreover, not one of them awakened till the following morning, when all appeared wonder- fully refreshed and declared that they felt nothing but a rather pleasant itch- ing sensation around the surface of their wounds. Even Gunderson said that he believed he could now sit up— though, of course, he was not allowed to. Nor was this all. The hunters, in the meantime, returned with two wild hogs and a small deer. These were speedily cut up, and hung on poles over the fire to smoke. Others brought back turtle’s eggs, breadfruit, mangoes, luscious wild grapes, more clams, coco- nuts, and some tender vegetables which they called bago, resembling long rad- ishes. All these things they brought in with an air of childish pride, look- ing to us like so many eager dogs, waiting to be patted. “Why,” said my uncle, “if we were left free to forage, we could live here a matter of years, with these chaps to show us the way of it.” F ALL my memor- ies of that island those of that day and the next are perhaps the most pleasant. The sav- ages, who called themselves Usagos, } M oN » LA ' iN G = proved excellent cooks, in their own _ THE DEVIL'S CALDEON way of doing. With a bit of coaching they rapidly picked up our own ideas of preparing food. So we feasted like kings and added enough stores on the second day to keep us a matter of two weeks or more. Moreover, we found our allies as interesting to watch as so many quick and eager monkies, They manifested the keenest of in- terest in everything we had, and it was laughable to see them wondering and exclaiming over a watch or noting the play of a compass needle when settling. It was also something to see when one of them filled a pipe, which O’Donnell loaned him, and made wry faces, signifying that the tobacco had burned his tongue; yet the same man, soon after, came in with some dried brown fluff, resembling that which our Indians call kinnikinick, rolled it in a yellow palm leaf and smoked away contentedly. They also found and chewed a sort of black, tender nut, which they took from a green husk like that of a walnut; and, though we found them very bitter to the taste, the Usagos preferred them to samples of our own “natural twist.” We made slow work at first of pick- ing up their guttural jargon, save the names of objects, such as bogo, for sword, and bees, for spear; but by holding up objects, making signs, and drawing diagrams in the sand we came at last to a fair understanding. They were worshippers of the sun and lived on an island two days’ travel to west- ward by canoe with fair, direct winds. Their enemies, whom they called Buscas, lived on another island to the north and west, and about the same distance. For these Buscas they ex- pressed the deepest hatred and loath- ing, yet they declared that they were not afraid of them. Their own cap- ture they explained by illustrating in pantomime. They had been hunting; they had fallen asleep, after a hearty feast, and, being only twenty in num- ber, had been surprised by as many as sixty. At first they could not understand why we had come to the island. Be- ing shown a gold coin, they were im- mediately intrigued with the bas-relief portrait and the lettering thereon; but it was plain that they did not recog- nize it as a thing of value. Holding up their wrists and ankles, they showed where they had worn ornaments of the same metal. This, they indicated, they had taken from streams on their island in nuggets and had shaped it for mere ornamentation. Then, when they grasped the fact that we had 83 hoped to take many such coins from this island and in pantomime had been shown what one such coin would pur- chase, one of them took my uncle by the arm. Pointing toward the west, he took a few steps with Uncle George. Then he paused and threw his arms wide, as though to clasp my uncle to his bosom. Following this gesture, he took off my uncle’s hat, held out his hand for the coin, dropped it into the hat, and made a motion as though heaping it full. And, picking up a pebble somewhat of the same color, he pretended to fill the hat over and over, thrusting it each time toward my uncle’s hands. “Plain enough!” cried my uncle, “If we will go with them, they will load us down with nuggets.” But here he shrugged helplessly, pointed westward, laughed, and flap- ped his arms like a bird flying. The Usago understood, for he laughed in answer and, picking up one of our axes, showed with this, and a rough picture on the sand, how he and his fellows would shape a dugout if a tree large enough could be found. This heartened us mightily. “Why,” cried O’Donnell, “in some ways I'd as soon hide out till them swabs puts to sea. Them pirates and cannibals, I means. What’s gold to a dead man, anyway, I says? Let ’em take the swag, and we try for the other island.” “Not much use hiding, if they take pains to find us,” said Uncle George. “No, by Jophet! I have a feeling that somehow, someway, we'll do them yet and get the ship.” When we showed the Usagos the chart of the island, they were at first at a loss to know what to make of it. But when we pointed out Drake’s Bay, and the peninsulas they had seen com- ing in, they understood. With many shakes of the head, they pointed at the lake, making signs to show that the water leaped up in fountains now and again while the earth trembled all round it. We took this to mean that volcanic disturbances occurred at the bottom on occasion, with earthquake tremors, and concluded that the island was not inhabited because the savages believed it to be cursed by evil spirits. Meantime, we took turns watching Cannibal Cove from the bluff by day, and maintained a vigilant. guard at night. Occasionally we could see the gig going and coming from the ship, while groups of cannibals staggered into view now and then, plainly drunk, connicbooks.conn: