‘You, Carib Sam, what you say?’
‘Say d—— sorry, sah! Mis’r Brown an’ all the Mis’rs make fool of me! Then Mis’r George come—I never see Mis’r George before! He says go to bush an’ pick orchid—a month contract!—a month! But I found gold here, an’ I want pick it up—have no more say! d—— sorry!’
Mr. Ponder relented. ‘Why didn’t you explain at the time, Sam?—I’m quite satisfied, Caribs! Sam and I will shake hands and there’s an end of it!’
But the others were not quite satisfied. The president sat shaking his head. ‘When rains come,’ said Sam to him anxiously, ‘I get Mis’r George two canoe-loads, six canoe-loads of orchid, an’ no mistake!’
‘There, men! That’s final! Let’s shake hands round, and wash away all unpleasantness—here’s the wash!—drink it up! Now will you show me your huaco?’
First they showed him the plunder—hundreds of those little images, mostly human, in the rudest style of art, but pure gold; a large proportion alligators, some probably meant for birds, not a few mere lumps. Mr. Ponder calculated rapidly that the whole might represent three thousand pounds for division among ten men. But the Caribs began to fear that their huaco would prove to be a very small one. The yield had been failing in all directions lately. They had prospected round, but hitherto without success. No bones, nor weapons, nor anything but a few jars of pottery had been found. Such is the rule—without exception, I believe—in burial-grounds of this class, without cairn or statues; in fact, it is a mere assumption to declare them burial-grounds at all. Men who dug at Chiriqui told me that nothing whatever besides gold was found in that great area. The statement is not quite exact, but it shows how little turned up.
The forebodings of the Caribs were sadly verified. Mr. Ponder started back in the afternoon and they followed within a week—‘made men’ if they had wit enough to keep their booty, but not so rich as they had hoped.
Next rains Sam loyally performed his promise. And thus it happened that Messrs. Stevens were overwhelmed with Brassavola Digbyana once upon a time.