Never had fish and pimento been so tastily prepared for the convict's palate, and he declared that he had never eaten anything so good, even in the days when he was in hiding in a fisherman's hut in Martigny, after a sorry story of an attempted murder of a gendarme, the mock-heroic episodes of which he recalled not without a certain whimsical humor.
The story was, it seemed, entirely in Chéri-Bibi's favor, for he had taken upon himself to defend a young girl who appeared to be in some danger; but the misfortune was that the jury suspected that the danger came from Chéri-Bibi himself. And he concluded: "I expected that, but when your conscience is clear you can afford to treat the rest as a good joke."
The natives, who were extremely quick-witted, listened to Chéri-Bibi with absorbed attention. The evening wore on in most agreeable fashion as Chéri-Bibi indulged in his recollections as a criminal, for he deferred the consideration of serious business to the morrow. As to the Nut, he was like a man in a dream.
He no longer allowed himself to be astonished at anything. The most amazing incidents seemed to him to be quite normal. He knew beforehand that anything might happen to him, and, adopting Chéri-Bibi's philosophy, was prepared for everything. A day or two ago it was the penal settlement, convicts, warders; yesterday it was the fearsome Oyaricoulets, and the not less fearsome Parisian; that night it was an excellent dinner, winding up with stories of which the least that could be said was that they were in keeping with the fantastic nature of the events which were in store for them. To-morrow! What would happen to-morrow. Oh, yes, Chéri-Bibi had promised him that to-morrow he would be a millionaire!
And in very truth he did become a millionaire. After a good night's rest, which was the first that they had passed in safety since their departure from île Royale, Yoyo suggested to Chéri-Bibi that they should set out with him. . . .
They came to a clear stream in which the medicine-man's brothers and women-folk were engaged in obtaining gold by washing the alluvial gravels.
It is well known that this particular region is one of the richest in the world, and nearly every river contains gold in appreciable quantities. But the difficulties which are involved in obtaining it, and the impossibility for Europeans to live in the primeval forest, renders the collection of the gold exceedingly arduous. To secure remunerative results, large companies with considerable capital at their command are necessary. The individual prospector who refuses to become a worker for others is fated soon to be discouraged or to perish. In comparison with the few who grow rich by a lucky accident, what great numbers go under!
The native can overcome these disadvantages. Nevertheless, when he has discovered a lode, or some creek containing a larger amount of the metal than usual, he is plundered, or rather, compulsorily dispossessed, according to the rigor of the law of ownership established by white men. Thus, learning from experience, he hides himself and works entirely alone.
For many years Yoyo and his family had labored for Chéri-Bibi. What was the nature of his tremendous services to them that they should become his slaves? "I saved Yoyo's life," said Chéri-Bibi modestly. The truth was that one day, when tired of the settlement, he escaped and was taking a holiday on the Upper Oyapok, he saved the entire family from destruction by a man-eating tribe. . . . "But that," as Kipling says, "is another story."
Chéri-Bibi having given the signal, Yoyo led the way over a swamp, concealed by bamboos. Undoubtedly they would have been engulfed in the swamp but for stones which had been secretly laid down in the mire and were scarcely visible, but which held them up as they walked across.