Surely hundreds had fallen under his well-directed and continuous fire, but yet not a single corpse was to be seen. Search with his eyes where he would, it was as if the besiegers had suffered no loss whatever; and the reason for such a state of affairs he was not long in divining.
The apes had buried their comrades!
This newly-acquired knowledge led up to a subject which troubled Philip seriously. If any of his devoted followers should chance to discover the skeleton hanging in the mimosas, would they not recognize it as the frame of their former king, and thus be in a position to brand the present monarch as an impostor? Inasmuch as all their dead were consigned to the earth, it would be known at once that this ape had been killed before the appearance of the shipwrecked youth on the island. He already had sufficient proof of their reasoning powers to believe they would readily divine the meaning of the sinister mimosa fruit, more especially since it undoubtedly hung in the same thicket where they saw their king fall.
It was necessary to put an end to this possible embarrassment at the very beginning of his reign; but how could it be done? One may think it would be a simple matter to bury the bones near where they were now hanging. Such a plan could indeed have been carried into execution with the greatest facility when Philip was the shipwrecked animal-trainer; but now that he had become king of the island, and was surrounded by hundreds of followers, it was an extremely difficult project, since upon the secrecy of the movement depended its success.
“At all events,” Philip said to himself, “it is useless for me to think of stealing away unobserved just now. I must await an opportunity, and trust to the chapter of accidents that my predecessor’s bones may not be discovered meanwhile.”
As he thus put from his mind this unpleasant contingency, the desire for water, which had been so intense during the past five days, returned with redoubled force, and for the first time did his kingly dignity seem a boon. Now he could quench his thirst with what he pleased, and his followers might exhaust the cupboard of its supply of liquor without his being tempted to partake of a single drop.
Making his way with difficulty through the ruined building he proceeded to the court-yard, and, kneeling at the fountain of crystal water, drank until it seemed as if his thirst would never be satiated, while his subjects, deeming it their duty to do as he did, filled themselves with the cool beverage at imminent danger of bursting, through their excess of loyal devotion.
After this had been done Philip felt the need of rest, and, lying on the greensward under shelter of the awning, prepared to go to sleep.
It was a singular spectacle that met his gaze as he raised himself on one elbow to make sure the apes had not found their way into the kitchen. The entire court-yard and veranda were covered with the recumbent forms of the monkeys, none of whom were probably very sleepy, but all bent on following their king’s example; and in attempting to do this it was necessary to pile themselves on top of each other like sardines in a box.