“I am afraid her other protector Gazda is not able to perceive the gentler emotions like love. He is of darkness made, and of darkness born. I promise you, should this creature come to a full understanding of himself, we would not be safe anywhere on earth—and this woman... He must never come near her again.”
Seward blinked sweat from his eyes, perplexed. It sounded like nonsense, but the doctor was a compelling speaker. He had also bulldogged the ranger on these many points for days.
“Do you swear to protect her from Gazda should he return?” The scientist clasped the big man’s forearms and the old ranger nodded.
“I swear it, Doc. If someone brought on Lilly’s death, as you say, then I’d consider it a duty and a pleasure to unleash a wrathy vengeance should he approach Miss James or our group, and I’ll go one farther. If we ever find a way home and you are compelled for any reason to return to these dark shores to seek him out, I’d consider it an honor to accompany you,” the old ranger said gruffly, joining Van Resen in glaring back along the path. He twitched his big moustache as the men shook hands.
A huskiness had crept into Seward’s voice as he spoke, but he forestalled the tender recollection of Lilly with a sharp clearing of his throat.
“I reckon I owe them all anyway and would see to it quick if I didn’t have the Quarries to tend to.” He straightened then and released the scientist’s hand. “I’ve half a mind to muster up my old troop and lead them here to settle things. They’re a rough crowd with time on their hands, and more than a match for any savage, masked or not!”
“It is a pity that the first meeting between civilized men and those remarkable masked Africans was colored by such violence,” Van Resen said sadly. “I am in full agreement with you and Jacob, and feel they must have sprung from seaborne castaways like ourselves—though of a longer history, and piratical nature.” His shoulders slumped. “Much could have been learned.”
Seward clapped his arm and said, “For now I say we put that wild man and the rest of them in the past like a good many things I aim to forget. I got to tell you, I’ve a real hankering to spit long and hard any time I think of the dinner those cannibals were cooking. I don’t wish to remember how they prepare their steaks... and I’ll never shake the memory of them feeding us some kind of jerky on the trail. I figured it for pork at the time...”
Van Resen winced and raised his hand to stroke his own whiskers before saying, “I have contemplated the same, but there is really no way of altering the effect brought about by the cause. It is spilled milk that we will have to credit to survival. At least that is the wisest course at present. We can task our own consciences later. Pray, do not share your conclusion with the others...”
Seward gagged. “I’d have a hard time telling anyone...”
Their heads whipped around at a sudden sound and a light that came from the north.
“Ahoy there!” shouted a strong male voice. Then lantern light sprouted up out of the thick undergrowth some 80 feet to their right and then more appeared farther back between the trees—as still other motes of light flickered, farther again to the north.
“Anybody there?” another voice bellowed, and soon, the castaways saw silhouettes standing out starkly against still more lanterns.
“Here!” Captain Seward shouted, and Van Resen joined in.
“Help!” the scientist cried, taking a few steps toward the lights. “Over here!”
Gathering themselves into a self-supporting mass, the exhausted castaways moved as a group toward the lights as they sped closer.
A man loomed out of the thick undergrowth following the orange light from his lantern. He had a finely groomed moustache and goatee jutting from his chin, and he wore the uniform of the American Navy.
“Captain Warner of the American naval vessel Victory,” he said, holstering his pistol as he peered through the murk. “We received a wireless telegraph regarding a private steamship the Lancet overdue at the port that we had recently departed upon our own northern voyage along the coast, and with that in mind we kept a wary eye. Might you be the survivors of that ship?”
“Yes. There was a mutiny,” Captain Seward reported. “Mr. Manteau and his bandits killed the officers and stranded our group.”
Van Resen watched other sailors step out of the foliage to join them on the path. Their collection of lanterns soon scattered most shadows.
“Manteau... Well, the hangman’s noose will be their reward when we find them,” Warner said.
“And how did you find us?” Van Resen asked.
“Dumb luck,” Warner explained. “Some trick of the damned tropical heat spoiled our barreled water so we needed fresh, and the rocks jutting out there make a protected harbor easy to reach by longboat.” He rubbed his chin after pointing toward the sea. “Though there’s enough stone just beneath the surface to make it suicide approaching any other way. That would have been two hours before sunset when we came upon the anchorage, and the men tasked with finding the water found the Lancet’s lifeboat and then your cabin. With wood for a signal fire set out, well, I ordered a search...” He suddenly frowned and glared up at the canopy that had exploded with animal calls. “Damned birds! I can’t hear myself think. They had us running circles earlier...”
“You get used to it,” the ranger said.
“Thank God, you’re here!” the elder Quarries offered in unison, with Jacob hovering protectively near.
“We arranged a rescue party, and had only started a search of the surrounding forest when Ensign Portland heard something back here.” Captain Warner raised his lantern to peer at the others and registered the condition of the group. “Lord! But you’ve been through some trouble!”
“We have much to tell you, though it would be
