The Mysterious Island Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Captain Grant's Children

Chapter 61 Captain Grant's Children (61)
Both sides were very excited, but neither said anything, fearing to attract the attention of the natives.

"Is it young Robert?" whispered Sir Glenarvan to himself, but no one heard his voice.

However, Miss Grant heard Jazz's "Little Robert" in a very small voice, and immediately rushed over, grabbed the little muddy hand, and kissed it vigorously.

"Robert, is that you? Is it really you? Robert!" cried Miss Mary Grant in a low, mournful voice.

"That's right! Good sister! I'm here to rescue you! But don't make any noise!" Little Robert whispered outside.

"My God! What a wonderful boy!" Sir Glenarvan exclaimed repeatedly.

"Pay attention to the actions of the guards!" Little Robert explained to his companions in the shed.

Muradi heard the sound and ran towards him instinctively, but now he hastened behind the curtain and stared outside.

"It's all right," said Muradi. "Now, there are four guards, and the others are asleep."

"It seems that we will continue to dig a bigger hole." Wilson said while doing it.

At this moment, the hole was dug still wider, and little Robert came out, with a long rope made of weed weed.He threw himself into his sister's arms first, and then hugged Mrs. Helen.

"You are really good! My dear child!" Mrs. Helen praised him, "We all thought you were killed by the natives!"

"Dear madam, really not!" whispered little Robert. "At that time, during the chaos, I got out of the shed and hid in the bushes for two days. When the Maori were busy with funerals, So I sneaked out, and looked around the stockade. At last I found a place where I could climb. So I sneaked into a shed, stole a knife, and took a long rope; I climbed up with the grass and branches. Inadvertently, I found that the rock behind the temple was loose, so I picked it up; digging and digging a hole. This is really great!"

When Robert Jr. finished talking, everyone hugged him and kissed him wildly.

"Now, we must get out of here," said little Robert decisively.

"Is there Paganel below?" Sir Glenarvan asked with concern.

"Ah! Monsieur Paganel is down there?" said little Robert in astonishment. "No! What's the matter? Monsieur Paganel is not with you?"

"Not here, brother." Sister Mary replied.

"So M. Paganel didn't run away with you?" said Sir Glenarvan eagerly. "I thought you two escaped in the confusion."

"Sir, really not!" Little Robert was also anxious.

"The top priority now is to slip away quickly! We can't lose a moment!" The major said hastily, "Paganel is not here anyway, so it's useless for us to wait!"

At the critical moment, Jazz and his party were ready to flee.Beneath the temple was a dangerous precipice, some twenty feet high; and further down, a slope leading down to the foot of the mountain.Once there, you can go into the valley.

In order not to make mistakes, Robert Jr. took the lead, followed by other companions, and climbed out of the cliff together.Outside the dug hole, it happened to be a cave.When sliding down the cliff twenty feet high, everyone first hid in this cave.Munger was the last to crawl into the hole; and as he left, he randomly pulled up a straw mat in the shed and covered the hole with it.

After climbing out of the cave, everyone began to descend the cliff.Fortunately, Robert Jr. was more careful and carried a long rope with him, otherwise the cliff would really be impossible to climb down.

Everyone tied the long rope firmly to the rock so that it could slide down the rock.

Meng Geer first stretched out the rope to check whether it was strong. He was worried that the rope would not hold up, so he climbed down and smashed everyone to pieces.

"It seems that this rope can support the weight of two people," Mengel said. "When we descend, there should be a larger gap between us. Why don't you let Lady Helene and Sir Glenarvan go down first; when you arrive When you are down, let us know by shaking the rope three times."

"Let me go down first; because I found a big hole under the slope, and I can hide in it. Now, I will lead the way first..." Little Robert said.

"My dear child, all right, you go down first!" said Sir Glenarvan, holding the child's hand.

It didn't take long for Robert Jr. to slip down below; after a minute, the long rope shook three times in a row, which proved that he had reached the ground safely.

After a while, Sir and Mrs. Glenarvan clung to the long rope and slid down the rope.The night was still dark, but the peaks looming to the east were now pale gray.

The early morning air was chilly; Mrs. Helen felt refreshed and full of energy; after the couple reached the bottom of the cliff, Jazz walked forward, supported Mrs. Helen, and walked backwards down the hillside.A few birds that had roosted overnight were frightened and called out in the night sky; then, the crisp birdsong echoed in the night sky.

Jazz walked backward step by step, almost lifting his beloved wife up.He first used his feet to test whether there were grass roots or tree roots, so that there would be a place for his wife to stay.Suddenly, he accidentally stepped on a loose rock, which rolled down and made a rumbling sound in the night sky, scaring him into a cold sweat.

At this time, Jazz heard Menger shouting in a low voice from above:
"Stay! Stop!"

Sir Glenarvan stood at once, with one arm around his lady, and the other clutching a handful of grass stalks.The two held their breath, not daring to make a sound.

It turned out that Wilson, who was on guard, heard an unusual sound outside the temple, so he hurried back to the cave, lifted the straw mat, slipped into the shed, lifted a corner of the curtain, and saw a Maori soldier approaching the temple. When this side came over, he hurriedly made an "alert" signal.Meng Geer hurriedly shouted to the people below to stop.

The Maori soldier heard some voices, so he came here vigilantly. He stood about two steps away from the entrance of the temple, and listened carefully for a while. After a minute, he shook his head again. , walked back calmly.This one minute, to the escaped Jazz and his party, seemed like an hour.

"Okay, it's all right!" Wilson issued the "alarm cleared" signal.Meng Geer sent a signal to the bottom to let the Jazz and his wife continue to climb down.It was not long before the two joined Robert Jr. on the narrow path.

After a while, Menger and Miss Grant slid down together, this time very smoothly; after a while, the two reached the deep pit and met the three companions in front.

Five or six minutes later, the Jazz's companions all climbed down, joined together, and then sneaked towards the valley.

Jazz and his party took big strides and walked quickly; that action can be said to be walking and running.They specially chose hidden paths, stumbled and ran, just to escape for their lives!

At five o'clock the eastern sky was brightened.The highest cloud pile gradually revealed a faint blue color.The dark mountain peak gradually reveals its majestic outline.Not long after, the sun rose slowly from the east.At this moment, everyone felt much more relaxed.Because when the sun came out, the moment of execution suddenly became the moment of life and death.

But it would be too soon to say that everything will be fine.No one can be sure that they have escaped the clutches of the natives.Now, the urgent task is to continue running quickly.Mrs. Helen ran with the support of the Sir, John Mengel took care of Miss Mary Grant, and little Robert was very excited. Everyone was energetic and walked on the escape path.At this time, Robert Jr. was at the front of the team, and Wilson and Muradi were at the end. They ran like this for half an hour.When the sun comes out from the east, the morning glow fills the sky.Everyone is worried about Paganel!They were all thinking, if Paganel was here, how wonderful it would be!

Jazz and his party ran eastward in this way, that is, towards the height of the mountain; they thought, the farther away from the group of savage Maori cottages, the better.By this time, they had reached a high mountain of more than 500 feet above Lake Dobo.In the early morning air, everything is so cold that it makes people shiver. This is because they have walked into the mountains.The sun rose slowly from the east, and within a short while, there were thousands of rays of light; the mountains were completely illuminated by the sun, and the escaped Jazz and his party felt even more energetic and no longer shuddered.

Suddenly, in the early morning sky, bursts of screaming and screaming sounded.The sound came from the cottage, and it was the angry roars of thousands of people converging into bursts of angry roars.But Jazz and his party could only hear voices because of the lingering fog in the mountains, but no one could be seen.

Undoubtedly, these Maori had already noticed that the execution prisoners had slipped away, and the Jazz and his party felt that they could not take it lightly, so they had to run away.

The sun continued to rise towards the sky, and the fog slowly dissipated.Not long after, Jazz and his party clearly saw those barbaric Maori running out of the cottage three hundred feet below, yelling and cursing as they ran.Obviously, they also saw the escaped captives down the mountain.There were also many dogs among the Maori who came to hunt them down. The barking of dogs mixed with the shouts of people made it even more frightening.I don't know if God will bless Jazz and his party and let them escape this catastrophe!
into the forbidden mountain
Jazz and his party were still a hundred feet away from the top of the mountain.To escape the clutches of the Maori, one must climb over this mountain.Jazz and his party saw that there are many mountains and peaks here, and they don't know where to go after climbing over.It would have been much smoother if Paganel had been here.Because his profound knowledge can give us advice.

At this time, the Maori came to the foot of the mountain.Now, there can be no hesitation.Then Sir Glenarvan waved his arms, and cried aloud:

"My friends, muster up your courage and climb towards the top of the mountain!"

So, everyone climbed up.Survival instinct allowed them to climb to the top of the mountain in 5 minutes.On the hill, they looked back to see where the Maori had gone.

At this time, Jazz and his party stood on the top of the mountain, and they could have a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery of Daobo Lake stretching to the west.Daobo Lake is surrounded by mountains, and the beauty of the lake and mountains is pleasing to the eye.On the north side of the top of the mountain, there are the peaks of Mount Bilonga; on the south, the crater of Mount Tongariro, which spews black smoke and flames directly into the sky; There is indeed no way to escape around the mountain.It seemed that if he wanted to continue escaping, he could only climb over this mountain.

Sir Glenarvan looked around, feeling helpless.The fog had cleared now, and the Maori could clearly be seen in a small col below, chasing them like mad.The straight-line distance between the pursuer and the fleeing man was only five hundred feet!

Sir Glenarvan was well aware of the need to flee now, and no matter how hard and tired, there was not a moment to linger.Otherwise, you will fall into the siege of the Maori.

"Let's go down the mountain before they outflank us." Sir ordered.Mrs. Helen and Miss Grant were pulling themselves together and preparing to run when the major stopped them suddenly:

"Look, don't worry!"

Everyone turned their heads and watched, and saw that the Maori who came to chase stopped for some reason, and stood there motionless.Although they stopped, the anger did not stop, and even the shouting and cursing from the sky did not stop; they just stood there, shaking their fists vigorously, while the dog barked wildly.

What happened?Suddenly, John yelled "Oh", and pointed to something for everyone to see.Little Robert, with sharp eyes, was the first to see it, and exclaimed loudly:
"Karatte's grave!"

"The grave? Really, did you read it right?" Sir asked suspiciously.

"Sir, absolutely right, yes, I recognize it!" Little Robert said with great certainty.

Robert Jr. didn't miss the kid.On the rock, about fifty feet high, stood many stakes, the red color of which could be clearly seen above.It turned out that they ran away in a panic, and accidentally ran to the top of Mengganamu Mountain.

Then it was Sir Glenarvan who led the way, and the other companions continued to climb up there, until they came to the grave.In front of the tomb, there is a big gap, covered by a straw mat, from which it enters the tomb.Sir Glenarvan then mustered up his courage, and was about to throw up the straw mat and go in when he suddenly withdrew.

"There's a big living person inside!" Jazz exclaimed.

"How can someone live in it?" the major asked.

"Really, a Maori."

"Let's go in and take a look."

Afterwards, Major McNabbs, Sir Glenarvan, Robert Jr. and Mengel walked into the tomb together and saw that it was really a Maori!The man was still wearing a thick grass cloak; because the tomb was too dark, he couldn't see his face clearly, but he could feel that this man was not fierce; he was eating breakfast leisurely.Sir Glenarvan was about to say hello, but this man spoke first, and he spoke fluent English:

"Dear sir, please sit down! I have prepared a hearty breakfast for you."

It turned out that this man was Paganel!Everyone was ecstatic, and they rushed up; you hugged each other, and everyone was very excited.Everyone knows that with Paganel, you have a living map!How good of him to be here!His companions asked him this and that, and he didn't know which one he should answer first.It was Sir Glenarvan's words that brought everyone back to their senses:
"Under the mountain, there is a large swarm of Maori!"

"Hmph! What a Maori! What's the big deal!" Paganel shrugged his shoulders and said dismissively.

"But, these people will..."

"Yes! How? Those are a bunch of stupid pigs! Why should we be afraid of them!"

After Paganel finished speaking, he led his companions out of the cemetery—"Udouba", those fierce Maori still stood in place, surrounded the mountain peak, shouting and cursing; angry roars resounded through the sky .

"Pigs! Stupid pigs! Scream! Scream to your heart's content!" said Paganel. "Let me see now, which of you dares to go up this mountain!"

"Why don't they dare come here?" said the sergeant.

"The damned chieftain is buried here! But the mountain is now 'Forbidden' by God, so we don't need to be afraid!"

"Ah! Forbidden by God!"

"Yes, my friend, that's why I slipped here. It's like in the Middle Ages, when unfortunate people had to flee to the Holy Land!"

"Thank you so much for God's help!" Madam Helen raised her hands to the sky, praying silently.

"Those idiots want to trap us to death! It's just a daydream! In less than two days, we can slip out of their circle!" Paganel comforted his companions.

"But how are we going to get rid of them?" asked Sir Glenarvan, uncertainly.

"Now is not the time; but listen to me, absolutely no problem!" Paganel said confidently.

At this time, what the companions most wanted to know was how Paganel managed to slip out of the cottage and what happened to him afterwards.But for a while, Paganel, who always liked to talk eloquently, faltered and said a few words, and everyone couldn't figure out what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd!

"How did he become another man?" wondered the major.

Since Paganel didn't want to talk about it, his friends were too embarrassed to ask.Afterwards, everyone talked about other things. At this time, there were more topics, talking and laughing.

From Paganel's words in a few words, everyone can guess the general situation of what happened to him.It turned out that at the moment the chief was killed, he, like Robert Jr., slipped out of the stronghold amidst the chaos.However, he unfortunately fell into another Maori tribe.The chief of that tribe was tall, he could be seen to be a smart and clever person, and he could speak fluent English.In a gesture of friendliness, he touched the tip of Paganel's nose with his own.

But Paganel was worried, wondering if he would become a captive again here and be tortured by the Maori.But fortunately, the chief was very warm to him and always accompanied him, so that he could feel a little more at ease.

This chief is called "Xi Yi", which means "the light of the sun"; he does not seem to be that kind of barbaric and fierce person.He saw Paganel wearing a pair of spectacles and a large telescope, and he was immediately impressed by Paganel.But during the day he left Paganel free; at night he kept him bound.

In this way, three days passed.On the last night, Paganel bit off the ropes that bound him, and fled stealthily to the top of Mount Montganam.He saw everything on the top of the mountain, and knew that it had been "forbidden by God", so he could only escape here temporarily, waiting for news from his friends.Fortunately, God bless, he really waited for the arrival of his companions here.But he didn't mention a word about the three days he lived with the Maori.

The current situation is not safe, and everyone is very anxious.Jazz also realized that these barbaric Maori would not stop there, and must surround them so that they would have nowhere to go, and would die of thirst and starvation here.Therefore, Jazz decided that the first thing to do is to clarify the terrain in this area, especially this "Udouba" and the surrounding paths.

So, Jazz walked out of the cemetery with the major, John, Robert Jr., and Paganel to observe the surrounding situation.After some careful observation, they saw a ridge between the Montganam and the Wahitilian; and the path was a mile long, and descended gently towards the plain; but the ridge was very narrow. , and ups and downs; there are many strange rocks on the hillside, it is indeed difficult to walk.However, this is currently the only way down the mountain.Down the hillside is the most dangerous journey, the enemy's bullets can be hit every second; and when attacking, it is really a volley of guns, no one can escape this fire net.

(End of this chapter)