Through the forest in the direction by which he had approached, past the banana plantation to the single street of the tiny settlement, Philip was led like a malefactor, with the long train of grinning, chattering followers; and he had good reason to believe his fate might be the same as that of the skeleton which he had seen hanging in the thicket of mimosas. He knew beyond a peradventure that he was being conducted to the presence of Goliah, and who could say what the vindictive baboon might devise in the way of punishment for the one who had not, in his case at least, been a gentle master.
Goliah would remember all that had occurred, as could be told from the imprisonment of Ben Bolt and the behavior of Alice; therefore the merchant who had come so far in search of living curiosities knew there was good cause for alarm regarding this meeting.
Upon reaching the village the baboons led their prisoner to the most pretentious of the little cottages, which had probably been occupied by Captain Seaworth as the office or counting-house of the colony, and into this he was thrust. His two captors were the only members of the party who accompanied him. The others remained in the street, some sitting on their haunches, as if speculating whether they were to be treated to the spectacle of an execution, a few hanging on the broken fences like boys who loiter in front of a residence at which distinguished personages are visiting, and the majority of the crowd surrounding the building much as though taking steps to prevent an escape.
The interior of the dwelling differed but little from the outside, so far as the scene of wanton destruction was concerned. Books were thrown from their cases, leaves torn, and the bindings ruthlessly pulled off. Fragments of clothing were strewn on the floor, furniture scratched and splintered, and pictures turned face to the wall or thrown among the debris in one corner of the room. Everything gave token of the mischievousness of these animals; and yet in the midst of all a certain kind of order reigned, as if the long-tailed residents were bent on preserving some semblance of what the interior had once presented.
All these things Philip took in at a glance. He had no time to study details, for within a very few seconds a most singular and grotesque figure made its appearance from an adjoining room.
One would have said it was a gigantic bird, but Philip immediately recognized the face as Goliah’s; and the sight of this ape, covered from head to foot with feathers, naturally filled the prisoner with the greatest surprise.
The cause of this strange transformation, however, was soon revealed. The feathers were simply quills, the majority of which had been made into pens, and were stuck over his ears, through the hair on the top of his head, under his arms, and in every place where one would remain, not even excepting the extreme end of his tail.
Goliah was followed by two smaller and less ferocious-looking baboons, who were decorated in the same fantastic manner, and from their attitude one might readily fancy they occupied the position of servants, or perhaps counselors to his apish majesty.
The sight of this animal, whom he had chastised so many times, caused Philip no slight alarm, for there was good reason to believe that some signal vengeance might be wreaked upon him, and he peered closely into the hairy, feather-bedecked face to learn whether his identity was discovered.
If Goliah recognized his old master he gave no sign of such fact, probably because he had more important business on hand just at that moment. He stopped only long enough to glance at the frightened youth, and then, consulting for an instant with the two behind him, uttered several sharp cries, which were evidently commands. Immediately Philip’s captors led him into an adjoining room, where was such a scene as would have convinced the most skeptical that the monkey-tribe can be trained to become useful in many ways.