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"Barcali the Mutineer"
R.A. Everett & Co., London, 1900
"Barcali the Mutineer"
R.A. Everett & Co., London, 1900
A sudden blow on the back of my head caused dark-
ness to close round me, and I remembered no more.
WHEN Jimmy Questover informed me that he had seen a ghost in the engine-room, I laughed him to scorn. A ghost in that most modern department of a modern iron steamship! The idea was altogether preposterous, and I chaffed him not a few times on his newly-found power of self-deception. Yet, in spite of this, he stuck to his story whenever I mentioned the matter, though at other times he was silent enough, even for a man who was noted on board the S.S. William Williams as being exceedingly taciturn and uncommunicative.
But when Oscar Hardanger, our Norwegian third engineer (as unimaginative a soul, be it noted, as ever entered an engine-room), told me solemnly that he too had seen something, though his something certainly was not a ghost, I began to take the matter more seriously, and had thoughts of making a report to our Chief. Indeed, had the first engineer been one in whom we could readily confide, this story might never have been written.
As it was, we kept the matter to ourselves—that is to say, the aforementioned Jimmy Questover, Hardanger and myself—until we had made a thorough investigation of the whole affair. While the Norwegian was inclined, like myself, to laugh at Questover's ghost, he was by no means willing that his own discovery should be treated with anything but respect.
'Ach!' he exclaimed with marked emphasis, and with the curious accent and intonation with which he usually spoke much intensified. 'Ach! ven von sees vis one's one eyes, von knows zee trut. Questover is right! But it is a ghost mid flesh and blood,' and he shook his head solemnly.
'All the more easy to catch him,' said I.
But for all that we did not see what we could do, and so for a while we sat puffing at our pipes and looking at each other in silence.
Oscar Hardanger, who was sitting on the side of the bunk with his huge feet dangling before me, was a magnificent specimen of those who go down to the sea in ships. About thirty years of age, six feet two in his stockings, possessing a well-knit and muscular frame, a head covered with fair hair, which he wore unusually long, and with a short beard to match, the third engineer was a worthy descendant of the hardy Norsemen who once were the dread lords of the northern main.
Jimmy Questover, on the other hand, was a little whipper-snapper fellow who had not seen more than eighteen summers. He was the son of a Yorkshire clergyman, and had received a good education, but diminution in the value of his father's tithe had denied to Jimmy the chance of a professional career.
As thin and lithesome as Hardanger was burly and powerful, quick-witted and restless, but good-tempered withal, the apprentice had become a general favourite from the hour when he first set foot in the William Williams.
My own position as second engineer, while it placed me above Hardanger and Questover, threw me with them rather than with Adriani Barcali, the chief engineer. And as the following narrative will deal somewhat at length with the said Adriani Barcali, it is needful that I should herewith describe him somewhat minutely.
To a casual acquaintance our Chief was as fascinating and as gentlemanly a man as could be met with on hoard a liner. Tall and slight, possessing a distinguished bearing, and polished in manners, his hair crisp and curly, his beard correctly trimmed, his, neat, well-fitting suit carefully brushed, he might have passed for an officer of the Royal Navy. Although assiduously punctilious in the performance of his duties, no one ever saw Adriani Barcali the worse for his watch in the engine-room. How he contrived to keep his shirt cuffs so spotless or his hands and well-trimmed finger nails so clean passed our comprehension. But we soon discovered that there was something about the chief engineer which was strange and not altogether agreeable. Beneath the polished exterior and suave manner there flashed forth at times from his dark eyes the fire of evil and resentful passions, and withal there lurked in their depths a malicious, sly expression that was anything but pleasing. Not that this was always visible. It was only exhibited when the Chief was excited, or when things went against his wishes in the stoke-hole or engine-room. How he obtained his foreign-sounding name none knew. It would seem to indicate that he was of Italian origin; but, except in certain of his looks, there was nothing to indicate that he was not an Englishman, for he spoke English with a good accent, and after the manner of a well-educated man.
'No, we will manage the business without the chief's assistance,' I said. 'If it comes to anything we can—'
'But it will come to nossing—nossing vatever,' put in Hardanger. 'Eef it be a ghost, as Questover says it is, ve cannot catch him, an' eef it be a man, zen ve will make him "pay his footing" in ze engine-room, as you vellows call it.'
'Tell us again, Jimmy, what you saw?' I demanded of the apprentice.
Thus exhorted, Jimmy Questover related to the third engineer and myself his experience as follows:—
'I was climbing up the iron ladder from the stoke-hole, where I had been to receive Stoker Bob's report on the state of the bunkers, and had just got the upper half of my head through the small hatchway, when I caught sight of someone standing near the starboard cylinders. I thought at first that it was Mr Saint George, and he nodded towards, myself, but in a moment the figure turned about, and then I saw that it was someone unknown to me.
'The man was of middle height, dark and bronzed in the upper part of his face, but, curiously enough, the lower part of his face, as well as his chin and upper lip, were of much lighter shade. This is so unusual that, in the glare of the electric light, it gave the man a strangely unearthly appearance. He was apparently engaged in conversation with someone concealed from my view behind the cylinders, for his lips moved as though in conversation, and he was pointing significantly with the forefinger of his left hand—I noticed especially that it was his left—at the stuffing-box at the top of the cylinder.
'"Who on earth is it?" I observed to myself, staring at the stranger for a few seconds.
'I was about to step through the hatch when someone below plucked the leg of my trousers. Looking down, I caught sight of one of the stokers.
'"What do you want?" I asked, stooping down.
'"Bob forgot that the forrard port bunker is 'alf empty. 'E's guv yer the wrong figgers," said the man.
'I descended to consult the said Bob, and to amend my report; and by the time I returned to the engine-room the stranger had disappeared.'
'Well,' we interrupted, 'that doesn't go far to prove that you saw a ghost.'
'Wait a minute,' said Questover, resuming. 'This happened three nights ago. Let me see—this is Thursday—yes, it was on Monday night. And the following night—that is to say, on Tuesday—I saw the same.
'But no ghost?' persisted Hardanger.
'Stop a bit,' persisted the apprentice, 'stop a bit, sir. The stranger was there the following night, at the same time and in the same place. More than that, he was talking as on the previous occasion—that is, I saw his lips moving and his fingers pointing towards the stuffing-box at the top of the cylinder. I was coming up out of the stoke-hole precisely in the same manner as on Monday, except that there was no one to catch me by the leg. So, giving a warning cough, as one does sometimes on disturbing a conversation, I stepped through the hatch, and lo! the man was gone.
'I rubbed my eyes and stepped up on to the grating by the cylinder. But he had disappeared, and, beyond the Chief and myself, there was no sign of any third person in the engine-room.'
'What was the Chief doing?' I asked.
He was looking at a small piece of paper, on which were some marks, as though it were a map. But seeing me, he asked me if there was anything the matter. I shook my head, for I hardly knew what to reply, and he sent me about my business. But I am convinced that what I saw was something uncanny, for it was twice in the same spot, the second apparition an exact repetition of the first; then there was its sudden disappearance, to say nothing of the strange look on the ghost's face.'
Jimmy Questover seemed to be so very certain that that which he had seen was verily a visitant from the spirit world in communication with Barcali, that our questionings and ridicule could by no means shake him.
'When you prove it to be a man, sir,' said he, 'I will give in.'
'Then listen to me,' said Hardanger. 'I know zat a stranger has visited zee engine-room. But I am quite certain he's no ghost. Do ghosts carry gold pocket-pencils? Do ghosts make marks with, pencils on zee cylinders?'
'What do you mean?' exclaimed Questover and myself simultaneously.
'Come with me,' exclaimed our Hercules, thrusting forward his great body, and vacating the bunk on which he was seated. 'I will show you something which will convince you quick enough.'
'Stop!' I cried. 'In five minutes the Chief's watch is finished, and it is mine.'
'Veil?'
'Why, Barcali would only begin to ask questions—awkward ones, it may be; questions that we could not easily answer off-hand. No, I'll go down at the proper time, and you and Questover follow in half-an-hour.'
'I ought to be there now,' said the last-named, 'but the Chief said he would let me off half a watch, so here I am,' and our apprentice laughed jovially.
'H'm! it's very queer that he should send you away in this manner,' I remarked meditatively. 'I wonder what the captain would think of it.'
'Bless you, Mr Saint George, the captain does not know all that goes on aboard this ship,' and the lad winked at me in a way that was designed to be impressive.
What he said was true. The William Williams had passed some years of her existence as a tramp steamer—a first-rate vessel of her class, I must admit—but now, owing to the recent loss of one of the steamships of the Great Occidental Line, we had been engaged by the company, and for the present were running across the Pacific between San Francisco and Yokohama. Captain Zedekiah Giggletrap, though as worthy a man as ever trod a quarter-deck, was hardly equal, either as regards education or general polish, to those who command the best ocean liners. He was what we should usually term a non-observant man. Bright enough as regards his professional duties, as skilful a navigator and as brave a sailor as ever commanded a ship, he was withal usually more or less oblivious to ordinary mundane affairs; and a great deal might transpire under his very nose, so to say, which, if it did not actually and obviously transgress the discipline of the ship, would never be noticed by him. Yet I would by no means be held to infer that the captain was sleepy or careless. On the contrary, no man could have been more punctilious both in the discharge of his duties and in requiring their due performance by his subordinates. He was a man who walked on his own side of the quarter-deck in naval fashion, insisting that those beneath him in rank should come on to this part of the deck on the opposite side to his. In a word, the captain was so strict in the affairs of the ship and the etiquette of the sea that he had neither eyes nor mind for anything else, unless it happened to be very unmistakably brought under his notice.
Hardanger went down into the engine-room, and half-an-hour later Questover and I followed—not together but at an interval of a few minutes, so as not to arouse suspicions, for it was not very usual in such fine weather for any of us to enter the place when off duty.
There was a look of suppressed excitement on the third engineer's face, so very unusual to be seen there, that I felt curious enough to discover what it was he intended to show us.
'Where's zee Chief?' he asked.
'He went below to his cabin, sir,' returned Questover.
'Ach, that's good. Zen he von't trouble us. Come zis vay.'
We followed him round the upper iron platform, and thence down into the well, where the great cylinders were situated.
'The starboard one?' I asked.
He nodded, and we mounted the iron grating.
'Just go to the top of the ladder,' he said to Questover, pointing to the entrance to the stoke-hole, 'and tell me if I am standing just where you saw your ghost.'
The apprentice hastened across and presently returned, saying that Hardanger seemed to be on the identical spot.
'Zen you, Saint George, and you, Questover, look here.'
He pointed to certain slight black marks which had been carefully drawn in pencil on the surface of the steel. I applied my finger and found that they would easily rub off.
'Well, what does it mean?' I said, turning to the third engineer.
'I cannot tell vat dese marks mean, he said, laying much emphasis on the last word, 'but of zis I am certain, zey were made by a man, and by no ghost.'
'And if so—'
But Hardanger had made no further deductions. Such mental exercise was scarcely in his line. He had, however, picked up yesterday below the grating what was probably the very pencil which had traced these marks on the cylinder, and here he took from out his capacious pocket a delicately-made gold pencil.'
'Does zis belong to zee Chief?' he said.
We shook our heads. None of us had seen him use such an article.
'Zen it must belong to zee man whom Questover calls zee ghost.'
He spoke these words with marked solemnity.
I took up the pencil and looked at it. It was plainly a valuable one. On the top was a seal carved on an agate of remarkably fine colour. I noticed that it had for its design a ram's head.
'Maybe Barcali has been showing off the engines to one of the passengers,' I suggested.
'Quite so. But why should the passenger mark the cylinder?'
I thought for a moment. After all, it was no business of ours. If only the Chief had been more sociable and communicative in his manners we might have consulted him.
Nevertheless, we had discovered sufficient to prove that Jimmy Questover's ghost was veritable flesh and blood, which was what we wished to do. So here was an end of the matter. Barcali was at liberty to bring a visitor into the engine-room whenever he felt disposed; and if he allowed the man to pencil-mark the machinery that was no business of ours.
I said as much to my companions; and though Questover was, like most people, unwilling to relinquish his pet theory, he agreed that the evidence hardly bore out his assumption. Hardanger, however, continued to growl in deep tones, 'Vat business had anyvon pencilling zee cylinder?'
FOR four days after this incident—which we speedily forgot—the S.S. William Williams sped swiftly over the sunlit waters of the rightly-named Pacific Ocean. We had on board a fair number of passengers, both first and second class, the bulk of whom were globe-trotters who had 'done' the States, having crossed to San Francisco by the various Pacific railways. For it was the height of the summer season, and a large portion of the civilised world was touring. In addition to our passengers we carried a varied cargo for the islands of Dai Nippon, as the Japanese call their wonderful and rejuvenated country.
'There are below, in the hold, pianos and pick-axes, bonnets and boots, revolvers and surgical instruments, novels and Bibles, Canadian axes and Yankee clocks,' remarked the bright and talkative Jimmy Questover to me as we leaned over the rail; 'and, besides these things, they say,' and here he lowered his voice, 'that we have about seventy thousand pounds' worth of gold for the Bank of Japan.'
'Who says so?' I asked, turning to him very abruptly, and at the same time noticing that one of the passengers, a man whose name I did not know, was standing very near to us.
'I was told by Mr—'
Here I nudged my companion.
'Not so loud,' I whispered. 'Yes?'
'It was Mr Hardanger, sir,' continued the lad, speaking in a tone that could not be overheard by our neighbour.
'How did he come to know this?' I asked, for it was news to me.
'I think some of the men have been talking about it?'
'They must be mistaken,' I said. 'A mere ship's tale.'
None the less I determined to ascertain from Hardanger himself, and, if necessary, from others, whether there was any truth in the report. For, like the rest of mankind, I must plead guilty of possessing a curious mind—call it a fatal curiosity if you will. However useless the information, I was always unable to rest until I had made myself acquainted with whatever might have come to the knowledge of other people. In a word, I was, as Hardanger, whom I presently sought, expressed it, 'as curious as a woman.'
'But where did you get your information?' I persisted, addressing my huge friend, who was again seated on the edge of his bunk with his great feet dangling before my face.
'Frinton, the second mate, told me.'
'Ah! he ought to know! Where is it stowed?'
'Zat I don't know. But vhat does it matter to uz?'
'Nothing whatever; I was only curious, you know.'
'Hush, vat's that?' said Hardanger, turning his head on one side to listen.
I listened also for a few seconds, and then stepped to the door, which was not quite closed. A man was moving away. I did not catch sight of his face, but could see that he was slightly built, of medium height, and wore a bushy beard which projected well out on either side of his head.
'What was the fellow doing here, I wonder?' was my remark as soon as I had closed the door.
'Vat vellow?'
'This eavesdropper.'
Then I told Hardanger that I thought it was the same fellow who had been standing near to Questover and myself ten minutes previously, when he and I were talking together on deck.
'What I must know is this—why is this fellow spying about?' I said, smiting my knee energetically as I spoke.
'Bless you, Saint George, som of zese touring passengers haf enough vat you call cheek to go anyvhere and do anysing. Zey would think nossing of invading zee cabin of zee captain himself!'
I agreed that some of our globe-trotters were deficient in manners; and here the matter dropped, so far as this conversation was concerned.
When the time came that night for me to turn in, I was not so sleepy as usual, and lay awake for some time thinking over the incidents which I have thus far narrated. So trivial did they seem, when reviewed, that I felt disposed to laugh at the whole affair; the more especially as, up to this point, beyond Questover's 'ghost' and Hardanger's 'marks on the cylinder,' there was nothing but the gold pencil to be accounted for.
I had been asleep for what seemed to me to be only a few minutes, though I subsequently discovered it to be considerably more than two hours, when I was aroused by someone shaking me by the shoulder.
'Wake up, sir, wake up!' said the voice of Jimmy Questover.
He spoke in so low a tone that it was almost a whisper, but there was such a sound of suppressed excitement in the excessive eagerness of the apprentice's voice that it instantly engaged my attention and stifled the yawn with which I awoke.
'Yes!' I said, in a startled tone, raising myself on to my elbow; for I half expected, so sudden and so strange was his appearance, to learn that something was wrong with the ship. A man who has been shipwrecked, and who knows the perils of a fire at sea and the anxiety of a breakdown in the engines, is likely enough, when suddenly aroused, to jump to the conclusion that some such catastrophe is imminent. 'Yes, what is the matter, Questover?'
'Mr Hardanger wants you to turn out and follow me.'
'Anything wrong?'
'No—that is, yes.'
'With the ship?'
'Not exactly.'
'What on earth do you mean, man?' I exclaimed testily, tumbling out of the bunk as I spoke, and jumping into my things in the speedy manner known to sailors.
I followed him to the engine-room hatch.
'Look down there!' whispered Questover, laying his hand on my arm. I stooped and looked in, but perceived nothing unusual.
'Lower, sir, lower,' he whispered again.
So I went down upon my knees, and, grasping the brass rail, thrust my face into the opening.
For a moment I could not see anyone, but presently two figures appeared from behind the starboard cylinders. They were Adriani Barcali and—so Questover whispered—the clean-shaved man whom the apprentice had designated the 'Ghost.'
'Do you see, 'em, sir?' inquired my companion, for he was now on his knees by my side, and could whisper in my ear easily enough.
I replied that I did.
'And Hardanger?'
'No.'
'Look at the stoke-hole ladder—the place from where I saw the ghost.'
Following his instructions, I turned my head and looked in the direction indicated. With his eyes just level with the floor appeared in the opening the upper part of Hardanger's unmistakable tow-coloured head. I could not see his hands or any other part of his great body. Then I turned to see what the Chief and his companion were doing, and was, I confess, not a little surprised when I perceived, plainly enough, that they were busy upon the aforementioned cylinder. Barcali held in his hand a metal folding two-foot rule, with which he was measuring the lid; and the stranger, who stood by, was making notes in a pocket-book. Then I turned again to look at Hardanger. He was in the same position as before, but as I was watching he suddenly ducked his head and disappeared, and then I saw the stranger speak to the Chief, and together they crossed the engine-room towards the stoke-hole ladder.
This was a warning not to be neglected, and I drew back and crawled away, followed by Jimmy Questover.
'How did Hardanger know that the stranger was down there?' I asked presently.
'He was coming up the stoke-hole ladder, just as I did the other day, and caught sight of Mr Barcali and the stranger. So he slipped down, and coming up the other way told me to fetch you. What shall you do, sir?' added the lad, looking up into my face.
'That I cannot tell until I have had another talk with Hardanger,' I said.
The following morning, when I was on duty with the Chief in the engine-room, who should come down but Captain Giggletrap. He was escorting two ladies, whom I supposed to be mother and daughter, and was of course all smiles and politeness.
'Yes, we are proud of our engines, madam,' he was saying. 'They are of the newest and most—pray, mind you do not slip—improved pattern. There, take my arm! We can, I assure you, show our heels to anything in the Pacific. Powerful, did you say, madam? Yes, no fear of a breakdown, and we have an excellent chief engineer. Permit me to introduce to you Mr Adriani Barcali, who presides so well over this important department. Mr Barcali, this is Mrs Labuan and her daughter Miss Labuan.'
The first engineer bowed, smiling slightly as he raised his cap, and I seemed to catch an expression in his eye which was unusual.
The ladies looked curiously at the machinery, and, after the manner of their sex, asked questions which exhibited an ignorance rather than an intelligent appreciation of the wonders of the engine-room.
I was not a little struck by a likeness between both the women and the chief engineer himself. Had not the idea been so manifestly absurd that I dismissed it without a second thought, I should have been certain that the younger one stood to him in the relation of a sister. In each there was the same straight nose, the same raven black hair, the same gleaming white teeth. Nay, the likeness extended to gestures and vocal intonations, as is often the case in families; so that when Miss Labuan addressed Barcali in a rich contralto tone with the inflection which belongs only to throats bred in sunny Italy, though withal in admirable English, it sounded so like a female echo of the chief engineer's own voice that the effect was positively startling, and even the old captain turned toward them with a look of curiosity in his broad, honest and good-humoured face.
Now it must not be imagined that at this time I attributed any great importance to the seemingly trivial events which I have thus far narrated. They interested both myself and my companions—as does any trifle during a long voyage—and they stimulated our curiosity. But I am sure that neither Oscar Hardanger, Jimmy Questover nor myself had the remotest idea of the important and far-reaching results, both to ourselves, as well as to everyone aboard the William Williams, which were to develop from things so innocent, and, to all appearance, harmless. A third event, seemingly as trifling as the two former, happened on the evening of the day on which Mrs and Miss Labuan had visited the engine-room.
I was on deck, glad enough to be able to escape from the stifling atmosphere below, and was leaning on the side looking at the sea, which was assuming a hue of wonderful beauty in the light of the setting sun.
Our course was south-west by west, or thereabouts, and the declining orb hung over our starboard bow, sending long shadows along the deck. The sailors who were not busy hung about, lazily lounging as only sailors know how to lounge. I should have paid them no special attention had not the figure of a woman caught my eye. Her back was turned to me, but I could see that she was tall and elegant, and that she had dark hair. She was talking to two of the men just before the fore-mast. I could see the fellows plainly enough. They were named Gallsworthy and Crab. Where they had been picked up I know not (one knows nothing of half the antecedents of half those who man these vessels), but, if facial expression be at all indicative of character, they were a couple of downright villains.
As soon as she had finished her conversation with the men the lady raised her finger as though to enjoin silence, and crossed the deck to the place where the boatswain and two other men were lounging.
With these she conversed for about five minutes, till my curiosity was fairly aroused. It was so unusual a proceeding for a young lady passenger to be wandering alone among the men and talking to them after this fashion, that I forgot all about the colour of the sea and the glories of the sunset over the Pacific, so quickly do the smaller things of our own tiny world abstract our attention from the really greater affairs of the universe, and I followed her with my eyes, leaving my place by the rail to gain a better and uninterrupted view, when she presently passed on toward the fore part of the ship. Here I saw that she was speaking to others, but in the rapidly waning light I could not distinguish their features.
'Who is she, and what on earth can she be saying to the men?' I queried to myself.
It was a question to which I could find no answer, but I determined to keep a look-out for the lady, so that when she returned aft I should at least be able to look at her face. In about a quarter of an hour I was rewarded by seeing a dark figure, answering to that of the lady, stealing quietly aft. She was passing close by, when, to my surprise, she stopped, and addressed me in a low voice, and I saw it was Miss Labuan.
'Pardon me,' she said, speaking in the contralto tone which I had remarked in the engine-room, 'you are one of the engineers?'
Raising my cap, I replied that I was the second engineer.
'Ah! you are fortunate in holding so important a post on board this fine steamship,' she said with a smile. 'And I suppose that some day you hope to be chief?'
I bowed, and said that I hoped to be appointed to such a post after a few more voyages. But I confess that her familiar questioning angered me not a little, and had my inquisitor been any but a lady I should have resented such inquiries.
'Have you been to Yokohama before?' she asked.
'Yes, madam, twice.'
'As second engineer of this vessel?'
I nodded gravely.
'Then—then you have generally an intimate knowledge of the value of the cargo?'
She spoke in a hesitating way, and looked up into my face as though to read my thoughts. Fool that I was that I did not then and there grasp her meaning. But I freely confess that neither on that evening nor when I came to think the conversation over, and when my wits ought to have informed me of what was afoot, did I perceive the drift of affairs.
'Then I fear you cannot satisfy my feminine curiosity,' and she looked up at me archly. 'I only wanted to know—whether the rumour about the gold is correct,' she added.
'The gold—what gold?'
'The gold for the Bank of Japan.'
'Oh, yes, madam,' I replied, forgetful of caution, 'it is well known throughout the ship.'
'Ah! then it is no idle tale,' she said demurely; and smiling again pleasantly she bowed and passed along, leaving me completely puzzled at her behaviour, and not a little struck, I must confess, by her good looks.
IT is proverbially easy to be wise after the event; and when the S.S. William Williams was finally and for ever stranded—that is to say, so long as she held together—on the shore of one of an unknown group of islands, we one and all—that is to say, Hardanger, Questover and I—remarked to each other, 'I told you so!'
Then it was that we recalled the seemingly trivial, but really important matters which I have already narrated; and we perceived—what I have now more fully to explain—that we were the victims of as clever a plot as ever was unfolded on the high seas.
The discovery came upon us like a thunderclap.
It was on the sixth day after leaving San Francisco that an extraordinary accident befell the ship. We were making splendid progress; the engines were doing their best, while a spanking north-east breeze added four or five knots to our speed. The passengers had long settled down to the regular routine of the life aboard ship, and nothing worse than a gale—unusual at such a season—seemed likely to disturb the serenity of the voyage.
'Mr Hardanger wants you, sir, in the engine-room.' The speaker was Jimmy Questover—time, four a.m.; place, my cabin. As on the former occasion to which I have referred, the apprentice had aroused me from sleep, and though I was unable to see his face, I detected a tone of anxiety in his voice which alarmed me.
'What is the matter?'
'Something wrong with the starboard cylinders.'
'Starboard cylinders!' I muttered to myself. 'Why, it must be the one which was pencilled. What can this mean?'
In a few minutes I was in the engine-room, and Hardanger was showing me a long slit in the cover of the cylinder, which looked as though it had been caused by a flaw in the steel. The piston, too, worked with an unaccustomed jerk, and occasionally the engines jarred considerably.
'When did you discover this?' I inquired.
'Twenty minutes ago. Zee Chief told me zat everything was right when he finished his watch.'
'At any rate, he must be aroused at once,' I said, and straightway I despatched Questover for the Chief.
Barcali arrived in the engine-room as spick and span as though he had never turned in. He appeared to be greatly surprised when he was told what had happened and sent a message to the captain to say that we must proceed with the help of but one screw (the William Williams being fitted with twin screws) until the damage could be repaired.
In a very few minutes Captain Giggletrap was on the spot, and although he knew little enough about machinery he was able to perceive plainly that the accident was a serious one, and might cause considerable delay.
'The worst of it is that we are pledged to deliver some valuable packages in Yokohama by a certain date,' he said.
'The gold, sir?' I asked, inquisitively, I grant.
He looked at me with surprise, and with a frown on his face.
'What do you know about the gold, Mr Saint George?'
'Only that it is the subject of ship's talk,' I replied.
'Ah! is it? Well, I may say that it is the gold about which I am anxious.'
I looked up and saw that Barcali's eyes were fixed upon the captain.
'Well, and how soon can the damage be repaired?' inquired the latter.
We examined the crack again carefully. It was evident to us all that unless something was done speedily the cylinder would split asunder.
'There is only one thing to be done, sir,' said the chief engineer, speaking in his usual quiet and gentlemanly manner. 'The port cylinders are all right, and can propel the ship at more than half speed while we do the repairs. It should not take more than two days to make the damage good—at any rate, until we reach Yokohama.'
Was I mistaken? Or did I see a malicious and sarcastic smile hovering about the corners of the chief engineer's mouth?
During the whole of the following day we worked like slaves at the repairs to the split cylinder. The bolts had to be drawn; the cover taken off; holes had to be drilled in which to insert the smaller bolts which held the temporary plates within and without; and the work had to be done with all possible expedition, both for fear of a change in the weather, and also because, in our case, time was especially valuable.
'Vat do you sink of zis business?'
'What—the cylinders?' I said, replying to Hardanger's whispered question as together we bent over the work.
'Yes, zere's somsing vat you call feeshy about it. Look zere and zere,' and he pointed with his tool to marks within the fateful rift which, to all appearance, had been caused by a chisel.
'Ah!' I exclaimed, 'how did these come? Has anyone meddled with the cylinder?'
'More zan zis, I discovered zese within—jammed by zee piston-rod.' Here he showed me two pieces of steel.
'You found these inside the cylinders?'
'Yes.'
'H'm! It does indeed look fishy.'
'We ought to show zem to the Chief.'
I thought a moment.
'Yes, it will be better to show them to him at once.'
Barcali, after a long spell of work, had retired for an hour to his cabin. He was full of energy, and had directed the work of repair in a masterly manner, showing that, in spite of his dandyism, he had both brains and technical knowledge. He was lying down 'all standing' (that is, in his clothes), but sat up directly I entered the cabin.
'We have found these inside the cylinder,' I said.
A slight flush suffused his face, but he, replied calmly enough as he examined the pieces of steel.
'Then this accounts for the fracture, Mr Saint George? Yes, here it is plainly enough. These have in some unaccountable way been left in the cylinder, and have at last worked mischief. The wonder is that they did not do it sooner. It is fortunate that they have not smashed the lid past repair.'
I returned to the engine-room, and was reporting to Hardanger and Questover what the chief engineer had said, when, without the least warning, the port engine, which was now doing the work alone, broke down with a loud report.
I rushed to the valves to let off the steam, while Hardanger shouted orders, and telegraphed to the stoke-hole. Then came the captain and Barcali, as well as Frinton, the second mate, and for a few minutes all was confusion.
The eccentric rod had gone.
Jimmy Questover was the first to see the cause of the mischief.
'And the forward crank has snapped clean off to complete the wreck,' I added, pointing to the lower portions of the engines.
This was a catastrophe, which, while we might have feared it, had not been regarded by any of us as probable.
'I shall want some of the smartest deck hands, sir, to help us to repair these damages,' said Barcali, turning abruptly and addressing the captain.
'Do you think you can repair them?'
'Yes, with time and sufficient help.'
'You shall have all that the ship can afford,' he said, and he went on deck.
'Come with me, Mr Saint George, and we will pick out some likely men,' said the first engineer.
I followed him, and in a few minutes we were among the seamen. While the captain had been below, the first mate had set all available sail, and the great steamship was now just able to keep steerage way. But she laboured more than I should have thought possible in the very moderate sea, and I did not like to contemplate what might happen to her should rough weather come on before the engines were again in working order.
Jack is a strange fellow. He gets tired of the monotony of his life, and is usually by no means averse to a temporary change of occupation, even though it be more laborious than his own, so that I was not a little astonished when more than half the men hung back, and protested that they did not care to go down into the engine-room. It was remarkable, too, that these were the least respectable portion of the crew. Men unknown to the captain, and who had been picked up at San Francisco to complete our numbers. Some undoubtedly were sailors, but others had followed varying occupations with unvarying ill-success.
'Oh, I don't want unwilling helpers!' cried Barcali. 'Willing workers, men who think more of the safety of the ship than of their own muscles—those are the fellows for me!'
'Ay, ay, sir,' cried the better sort, as they pressed to the front.
'Then come along every one of you,' he said, addressing the volunteers. And then, turning to me, he continued, 'We can find work for all these, for the lifting of that broken crank will be no light task.'
They swarmed down into the engine-room, and as I was following, the Chief remarked to me, 'Just look after them, and set the strongest among them to work with the great bolts—I will be with you soon.'
I followed the men, completely unsuspicious of the blow that was impending. But before leaving the deck I saw Barcali hurry aft to where the passenger with the bushy black beard was standing, in company with Mrs and Miss Labuan. He addressed a few hurried words in the man's ear, and a quick and significant nod was given by way of reply.
I wondered for the moment that at a time of such responsibility and consequent anxiety the chief engineer should be talking to the passengers; but for myself I had something else to think about, and so I hurried below with all speed that I might set to work, with as little delay as possible, the crowd of unskilled though willing helpers.
For an hour we—that is to say, Hardanger and I, assisted by Questover—arranged and organised our gangs of seamen and stokers. There was much to be done, and I did not notice how the time went, till all at once the apprentice remarked,—
'I wonder what has become of the Chief?'
As he spoke these words the sound of shouting on deck was borne down the hatchways and ventilators, followed, to our astonishment, by the report of firearms. The men, as though by word of command, dropped their work.
'On deck, my lads!' I cried. 'There's something the matter!'
For, though the idea was of necessity but new-formed, I connected the uproar with Adriani Barcali and the black-bearded passenger. Springing forward, I beckoned to the men to follow, but before I had moved ten yards the hatches above me were closed with a slam. Advancing quickly, some of us tried, with all our strength, to force it open, but without success.
'Zee ozzer vay!' shouted Hardanger, and a dash was made for the stoke-hole hatchway. But here again we were foiled, for this hatch was closed like the other.
For a time we heard shouts and cries and further reports of firearms in various parts of the ship. Hardanger was for breaking our way out with the powerful tools at our command, but some of the seamen counselled otherwise.
'The first 'as shows 'is 'ead will 'ave a bullet druv through it,' observed a grisly old sailor, named Joe Trips.
'That's right enough,' said another; 'I've bin in a mutiny afore. Blest if I didn't think as 'ow summat was in the wind when I seed that young lady a-talkin' to the other chaps. Sez I ter meself, Wot's she a-doin' among the men?'
Leaving the sailors to their talk, Hardanger and I withdrew to a corner to discuss the situation. It was plain enough now that we, and those of the crew who were below, as well as the stokers, were the victims of a carefully-planned plot. What its object might be, or what were to be its further developments, we could only guess.
'Zee gold!—zee gold for zee bank at Yokohama! Zat ees zee bottom of zee affair,' remarked the Norwegian.
'But how are they going to deal with it? and what will they do with this vessel?' I asked.
'Ah! zat is more than we can say. But we must be prepared ven zey open zee hatches.'
'How?'
'We must arm zee men with zee engine-room tools, and fight for liberty and zee ship.'
'They have firearms, and some of us will fare badly,' I returned.
But not wishing to show cowardice I accepted the suggestion of the third engineer, and we proceeded to inform the men of our intention.
They fell in with the idea gladly enough, for we had with us the pick of the crew as regards loyalty, as well as for muscle and intelligence; and in ten minutes the whole of the party, numbering upwards of a hundred and twenty resolute fellows, were armed with great bolts, keys, steel bars, wrenches, and any other tool likely to make an effective weapon.
Nor had we long to wait. Five minutes later the hatches of the engine-room staircase were thrown open, and the voice of Adriani Barcali cried in stentorian tones, 'Hands up, every man of you, or I'll shoot!'
FOR ten seconds I was at the point of calling on the men to follow me in an attack on the chief engineer. Then it struck me that half-a-dozen of us might fall before his revolver, which at the present moment was covering myself, so I began to temporise.
'What is the matter, Mr Barcali?'
'The matter is this—you will be a dead man in a few minutes unless you obey my orders.'
'I don't understand you.'
'You shall understand me quickly enough.'
'Let me inform you all, in brief,' he said, raising his voice, 'that the ship has changed masters and is now in our hands. The first mate and some of the male passengers who resisted us are either killed or wounded; Captain Giggletrap and the other officers are prisoners; you and all those with you in the engine-room are at our mercy, for I and my friends are backed by half the crew—reliable men, who have an object in serving me. If you will yield now and join us it will be well with you; if you refuse you will be shot.'
As he finished I saw on his face such a determined look of fiendish malice that it told me he was not only in earnest but by no means to be trifled with. His gentlemanly, delicate-looking hand, rimmed by a spotless white cuff, did not tremble in the slightest degree as it held the revolver, nor did his dark eye quail before the indignant glances of the crowd of seamen who looked upon him from among the machinery.
'Will you give us ten minutes to decide?'
He swore a foul oath. 'Not five minutes,' he retorted.
'Then give us four minutes,' cried Questover.
I think that Barcali was rather taken aback by the lad's cool request.
'Four minutes you shall have and no more!' he cried, turning away and closing the hatch.
'What shall we do?' I said, turning to Hardanger.
'I should say fight.'
'It's na guid fechting wi' this,' cried a Scotchman, holding up a hammer which was his only weapon. 'We'll hae na chance against revolvers.'
'Sandy's right,'said another. 'We shall have to give in.'
'If we yield, lads,' I said, 'it's only for the present, and because Barcali and his party are better armed than ourselves. But, remember, we must stick together and regain possession of the ship if possible.'
'Ay, ay, sir,' they cried, with cheery and encouraging unanimity.
As the sound of their voices died away the hatch was opened, and Barcali appeared, revolver in hand.
'Your decision?' he said in a voice which showed that he was not to be trifled with.
'We will do as you wish.'
'Then put down those tools and come on deck.'
One by one we mounted the stairs. Here we found with Barcali a man whose face Hardanger and I did not recognise. He would have been of dark complexion had it not been for the curious whiteness of the lower part of his face, so that, while the upper part was tanned by exposure to the sun, this was pale and blanched. It was Questover who first identified him.
'Bless my life!' he whispered to me, 'it's my ghost!'
Then I turned and scrutinised the stranger more carefully. He was a determined-looking fellow, with eyes in which penetration and alertness were markedly conspicuous. They were eyes I had seen before—for a few seconds I could not remember where. Then it came to me that this was the man who had worn the bushy, black beard. Its removal had transformed him into a young-looking, active fellow; very different from the bearded and somewhat elderly gentleman. I looked at Questover, who stroked an imaginary appendage to his own unadorned chin, and uttered the word 'artificial!' Then I understood why the lower part of the man's face was not tanned like the rest.
Drawn across the deck was a file of armed men, being some of the fellows who had refused to assist in the repairing of the engines, which refusal we could now quite well understand.
Where they had obtained their weapons I could not guess; but they each carried a six-shooter, and, when herded together, looked as desperate a set of cut-throats as one could expect to find anywhere on sea or land.
Near them stood Mrs and Miss Labuan. I was not surprised to see those ladies there, for their connection with the mutineers, though strange, was not to be doubted.
'Stand here!' cried Barcali, addressing Hardanger, Questover and myself in a peremptory tone, and pointing with his revolver to a place near the funnel. We did as we were told, and the men, that is our party, were ordered to draw up in line opposite the armed mutineers.
Standing before his ruffianly crew, Barcali now addressed us.
'You see the state of affairs on board the William Williams, he said, 'and you can perceive—that is, those of you who are not idiots—that resistance on your part is absolutely useless, and that insubordination will be punished with death.'
He gave us a look of ferocity as he said this, and I glanced round the company as though I would ascertain how its members were minded.
Now I confess that, although my blood boiled with rage when I considered how this astute villain had outwitted us, I could see that it would be rank folly for us to attempt, for the present, anything like a coup. We were matched, and more than matched, by a master mind. For it was plain that the man who had conceived the plan of the mutiny, and had carried it out, was a person whose ability was only equalled by his audacity.
'You will now proceed with the work of repairing the engines, Mr Saint George,' continued Barcali, turning towards myself, and speaking with deliberation and marked politeness of tone. 'The cylinder head can soon be repaired; and as for the damaged eccentric and crank in the port engine, you will find on examination that they are as easy to put right as they were to put wrong.'
'Then you mean—' I stammered.
'Yes, yes,' interrupted Barcali, 'I mean that the accident was brought about for a purpose. That purpose has now been accomplished. It was clumsy and a trifle risky, I grant; but the game was worth the candle, and as chief engineer the matter was in my own hands. In a few hours you will have done a good deal towards making good the damage.'
'But vot do you intend to do vis us?' put in Hardanger, as he strode a step forward and, clenching his great fist, scowled defiantly at the chief engineer.
'I intend to use you for my own purpose or to shoot you down like a dog!' returned the arch-mutineer, raising his revolver till it was pointed full at Hardanger's heart.
I thought that, in spite of the weapon, the Norwegian would have sprung upon Barcali. But Questover and I laid hold upon him and dragged him back, while I whispered, 'Don't be a fool, man. We can gain nothing now by resistance.'
With a bad grace and some deep growls Hardanger yielded; and as soon as Barcali had uttered a few pointed threats he dismissed us to his work below.
'I wonder what they will do with the captain?' remarked Jimmy Questover as we descended. 'Surely they will not dare to kill him?'
I did not answer, for I was thinking of a glance just given me by Miss Labuan. I had noticed what seemed to be a look of tearful entreaty as she stood opposite to us on the deck; and as I had watched her I had been again struck by her beauty—beauty of a type found only in Italy or in Spain. She had large and lustrous eyes, deep and of liquid quality, which at one time could flash, and at another melt with intensity of emotion; a skin of rich tint, with sufficient colour in the cheeks to give animation; a profusion of wavy black hair, and teeth of gleaming whiteness; a figure neither too plump nor too slight—lithe, lissom and graceful. That one so beautiful could be the willing and hardened abettor of so unscrupulous a man as Barcali I could scarcely credit; and though I said nothing of my resolve to Hardanger, or to Questover, I determined to find out more about the lady as soon as opportunity presented.
It took us two days to repair the engines. Now that Barcali had told us that he had brought about the breakdown, we could see plainly enough the skilful way in which the lid of the cylinder had been fractured. It had only needed the unscrewing of a few bolts, the insertion of some stout pieces of steel, and, as we had found, extensive damage was speedily effected. In the case of the port engine, the loosening of a few bolts and the insertion of a steel wedge had worked even greater mischief, the whole achievement being as diabolical in its conception as it was effective in its results.
During these two days Barcali and the man who had formerly been bearded, but who now appeared without that disguise, frequently visited the engine-room. We soon found out that the former was the moving spirit in the mutiny, and that the clean-shaved man, whom he called Throughton, was only his factotum and general agent; though withal as clever and unscrupulous a fellow as I have met in the course of my travels. We further discovered that our course, instead of being as formerly for Japan, was now directed much more to the south, though we were unable to ascertain what our destination was to be.
'What will he do with the ship and the passengers? and what will become of Captain Giggletrap and the other prisoners?' I said, addressing, Hardanger.
For we had seen nothing of the captain and wounded mate, nor of any of the ship's officers, but understood that they were kept in confinement below.
I replied to Hardanger's question that though we were in the dark as to Barcali's intentions, it was important that we should discover them as soon as possible, in order that we might be able to concoct some plan for the recovery of the vessel.
'But how is zat to be done?' inquired the Norwegian, whose physical strength and honesty of purpose was by no means equalled by his originality or power of initiative.
'The first requisite is caution,' I said. 'For you may be very certain that Barcali & Co. will be as watchful as weasels. We must settle down to our duties, and keep to them as steadily as though the bows of the William Williams were still pointed to Yokohama. Then we must contrive to communicate with the passengers. The men among them, at any rate, ought to be able to help us in the recovery of our vessel. Lastly, we must assure ourselves that those who are on our side will be ready to act, on a pre-arranged signal, and when the proper moment arrives.'
'How can we communicate with the passengers?'
'I have thought of that. You and I can do but little directly; but Questover is a sharp lad, and being so young can go about the ship with more freedom than ourselves. He must see what can be done with the passengers. We can pass round word among the men without much difficulty, and can arrange that they respond to the signal when the time comes.'
Thus we discussed the situation, little imagining what was to be the fate of the William Williams, or through what strange vicissitudes we were all to pass ere again we reached civilisation.
But before we could proceed with preparations for carrying out our scheme an event happened, which, while it was of great importance to the person chiefly concerned, has had also a lasting effect on my own career.
I had just come on to the upper deck for a whiff of cool air, for the atmosphere of the engine-room, now that we were not going full speed, was stifling, as the ventilators brought down very little air.
As I went aft whom should I meet face to face but Miss Labuan.
'Oh, Mr Saint George!' she exclaimed abruptly, and as though struck by a sudden impulse, 'I am so sorry—' then she hesitated, and looked round as though fearful that she should be noticed.
'For what are you sorry?' I said.
'Oh, I cannot explain fully—it would take me such a long time. I wish now that I had never consented to assist my brother.'
'Your brother?'
'Yes, he who calls himself Adriani Barcali is my brother.'
'And who is the man who is assisting him—the man with the false beard?'
'He is a dreadful man'—here she shuddered. 'He wants'—she hesitated again.
'Yes?'
'He wants me to become his wife; but I detest him. Oh, if you knew how cruel and how wicked he is!'
As she said this she laid her hand on mine—unconsciously, no doubt—and looked up appealingly into my face with a glance so intense that it penetrated to my very soul.
'Are you compelled to assist these villains?' I asked, with some sternness.
'I am threatened with death unless I comply with their wishes.'
'And this means—'
'That I am to aid them in spoiling the William Williams, and when we reach Barcali's Islands I am to marry Ananias Throughton.'
'And where are Barcali's Islands, pray?'
'Somewhere in the Pacific—I know not where.'
'The Pacific is a huge ocean,' I said.
'The place is my brother's headquarters.'
'I don't understand.'
'I mean it is the rendezvous of the gang.'
'Then there are other ship robbers?'
'Yes, there are twenty-two in all. You remember the disappearance of the North Star?'
'Yes, my best friend was her first mate.'
'And that of the Colorado?'
'I do. She sailed from San Francisco five months ago, and has not since been heard of.'
'And you remember that the Colorado's boatful of dead men, who had all been shot, was subsequently picked up at sea?'
'I remember it quite well. The news made quite a sensation in the States.'
'It was the work of the gang,' she whispered, drawing closer to me and again glancing round nervously.
At this moment I caught sight of Barcali's head as he ascended the companion. Miss Labuan, too, saw him, and slipped away quickly to the further side of the deck, while I advanced to the rail and was leaning thereon when the arch-conspirator noticed me. Then he came up and bade me go below.
'If you want air, you will find sufficient on the main deck,' he said sternly, but in a subdued voice.
The butt of his revolver was showing through the opening to his pocket, and he laid his hand upon it as he spoke.
I obeyed without a word, but I saw that from the quarter-deck Miss Labuan was watching me as I turned away from her brother.
'MISS LABUAN sends you this note, sir.'
The speaker was Jimmy Questover. He had come below into the engine-room after dark on the day following my conversation with the said lady. Two hours previously we had got the engines to work, and though there was some escape of steam from the cracked cylinder, and the damaged eccentric jumped somewhat awkwardly at times, I did not anticipate that anything short of the strain of a violent gale would cause another breakdown.
I noticed that the note which the apprentice handed to me was a leaf torn from a pocket-book. On opening it I read the following words, written in pencil:—
'For the sake of the lives of all on board, be prepared to stop the engines, and, if need be, to go full speed astern at any hour of the day or night. Adriani has resolved to wreck the vessel.'
There was no signature, but I noticed that the handwriting was that of a woman possessing some force of character.
'Did she write this?' I inquired.
'I suppose so. She slipped it into my hand as I was coming down.
'And said nothing?'
'Only that I was to give it to you at once.'
'So she remembers my name?'
'Yes, she used it glibly enough.'
Somehow I felt a pleasure that Miss Labuan should think of me and should trust me when we were in such imminent danger. But this was no time for sentiment. Our business was to save the ship from destruction, if that were possible.
'You see Barcali's little game?' I said to Hardanger. 'He wants to wipe out all the lives on board the ship, except, of course, his own and those necessary to the success of his scheme of plunder. This can most easily be managed by means of a shipwreck. Naturally he will take good care of his own precious skin.'
'Vot can ve do then?' inquired my huge friend, stroking his beard in a manner usual with him when he was perplexed.
'We must stand by, in case of accidents. Questover and Frinton must give us timely warning. The latter, you know, hates Barcali like poison. This they can do without rousing suspicion. Our work is plainly in the engine-room; and on our prompt action may depend both our own lives and the lives of most of those onboard.'
'Zen you trust zis lady?'
I hesitated. What reasons had I for trusting Miss Labuan? But, as I reflected, the girl's pleading eyes rose before mine, and I replied quietly that I could place reliance on her word.
Hardanger grunted, shook his head, and gave the slightest possible shrug to his great shoulders, but expressed no more opinion on the subject.
After this, for five days in succession, Hardanger and I alternated in charge of the engines. For several hours each night (so alarmed was I when I reflected on the prospect before us) I stood near the levers, and even kept my hand on that by which steam was shut off, expecting every few minutes to hear cries of alarm from the deck, announcing that we were close upon the rocks.
Meanwhile, though he had made over to me the duties of chief engineer, Barcali did not forget to visit the engine-room from time to time. He would drop in during the night unexpectedly; though for what purpose I could not perceive, for the engines were now working well enough.
'Keep up a full head of steam, Mr Saint George,' he would say, 'we must drive the old hulk as fast as she'll go.'
Then he would smile in a sardonic manner, and turn, as he ascended the steps, to see what I might be doing.
From time to time Questover brought to me news from the other parts of the ship—news which had been mainly gleaned by Frinton through Joe Tripp, the old seaman, and Miss Labuan, both of whom held conversation with the apprentice when no one was looking.
He told us that Tripp reported that our men were on very bad terms with those of the crew who had gone over to Barcali's side; further, that the passengers had one and all been greatly alarmed when the ship had changed masters, but that, having recovered from their first surprise, they were plotting among themselves as to how the wickedness of Barcali & Co. could best be defeated.
There were among them, said Questover, three Scotchmen especially, named severally Mickleband, Barr and Jezzard, who were well-armed and full of courage to boot. These 'had bearded the lion in his den,' as the apprentice put it—to wit, Barcali in his own quarters; and had demanded from the arch-villain that he should tell them whither he was taking the ship. Barcali had jumped up from his berth, revolver in hand, and driven them from the cabin; and as they had foolishly gone there unarmed they were forced to beat a hasty retreat. After this the chief engineer had caused the passengers' luggage to be searched for arms, but none were found among the possessions of Messieurs Mickleband, Barr and Jezzard.
'They have hidden them,' I suggested.
Questover winked solemnly.
'That's about it,' he said. 'Those Scotch fellows are very wide awake.'
'What about the captain and the first mate?' I inquired.
'The captain is a prisoner still, and the first mate is so ill that his recovery is unlikely.'
'If he dies, Barcali is a murderer,' I said solemnly.
To which Questover remarked that murder seemed to be rather in the man's line.
Then I asked the apprentice more about Miss Labuan. He told me that Frinton suspected that the older lady was not the mother of the younger one, though how the second mate had made this discovery Questover knew not. Further, that Mrs Labuan now kept a very close watch on her 'daughter,' so that it was almost impossible for any but Barcali and his friend Throughton to communicate with her.
'Do you think they suspect us?' I inquired.
'I fear they do. At any rate they are increasingly watchful.'
'Vat are zey afraid of?' asked Hardanger.
'One cannot be certain, I said; 'but you may depend upon it, as we daily get nearer to the place which Barcali has selected as that where he intends to wreck this vessel he will get more and more anxious lest his plan be defeated.'
'But can ve not talk to zee seamen? Surely zey do not vish to wreck zee ship?'
'Probably not,' put in Questover, 'but just you try, sir, to get at the seamen, and you'll soon find that Barcali is more than a match for you.'
'How?'
'Only his men take the trick at the wheel. I managed to sneak up to the steersman the night before last, but found Crab was there. Last night it was Gallsworthy—two of the worst villains on board the ship. They must have reported that one of us was about, for there's been a precious sharp look-out to-day.'
'What is Barcali doing?'
'Spying about part of the time, and part of the time making notes in a little pocket-book—calculating how much the gold will fetch, I suppose!'
'I should like to look into that pocketbook,' I remarked.
'You shall do so, sir, if I can manage to secure it.'
The same evening, after sunset, I sent Questover on deck in search of news. In less than ten minutes he returned with a flush on his youthful face, and a tremor of excitement in his voice.
'I've secured it! I've secured it!' he whispered, pressing his hand over the inner pocket of his coat as though some precious treasure was contained therein.
'What do you mean, man?' I inquired, a little testily, perhaps.
'The book—the black pocket-book!'
'What! Barcali's?'
'Yes, look here!' and glancing round cautiously to see that none were observing, he drew from his pocket a small and well-worn pocket-book.
'Where did you find it?' I asked.
'Barcali was in the waist, and I was watching him. He didn't see me. All at once one of the men came by, and somehow lurched against him. It's a dark corner, and collisions are easy enough just in that place. Then something dropped at my very feet, and I heard Barcali inquire with a savage oath what the man was doing to knock the book out of his hand.
'Look for it!' he cried; 'for if you've knocked the book into the sea you shall follow it!'
I picked up the thing, and slipped round the smoke-stack unnoticed by the Chief, and managed to get down here.'
Hardanger had gone to his berth, but I sent Questover for him as soon as I had satisfied myself of the value of the find. We then opened the book while the apprentice kept watch on the steps so as to guard against surprise.
'Bless my stars!' cried Hardanger, as I pulled out a loose sheet of paper, 'vot have vee here?'
He spread out before me a sheet of paper. This is what we saw:—
'A map!' we exclaimed simultaneously.
Then we turned and looked at each other for fully thirty seconds without speaking, and after this once more inspected the paper in silence.
'This explains a good deal,' I said at length, stooping and looking closely into the map. 'You observe that it is clearly the work of a novice at map drawing, and yet there is a something about it which shows that the draughtsman is not devoid of natural ability.'
Map of Barcali's Islands.
'How did Barcali find these islands?'
'None of us can say. Nor is there the slightest indication showing in what part of the Pacific they lie. You will notice that neither the latitude nor longitude is marked.'
'He must have been here, you think?'
'Most certainly, or why should he have named them after himself. Look at this, "A Map of Barcali's Isles." You may see too, that the ship was stranded on "Long Island." Further, the islands have been circumnavigated and the coast lines carefully surveyed. This is clear from the way in which the outline is drawn, the depth of the water indicated, and the principal features of the land indicated. It is plain, too, I should say, that he has intended to return thither, as you may see by the place marked B. "Here the gold was buried," says the note in the lower right-hand corner.'
'Let us now see vot is in zee book,' said Hardanger, as he began turning over the leaves. 'Ach! here we have somsing.'
He placed the open book in my hand, and this is what I read:—
July 10. Stranded on Long Island. No damage to bottom of ship.
July 12. Discovered suitable place for concealing the gold (marked B on map).
July 15. Have spent three days in removing and hiding treasure. Had difference of opinion with Shelley. Buried him with treasure.
July 19. Saunders, O'Malley and Hughes devoured by sharks in swimming straits between Long Island and Round Island. This has saved us at least three bullets.
July 25. At sea with Throughton in ship's boat. 'Shipwrecked sailors! Only survivors!' Brig in sight!
Here this portion of the entry ended, but there was enough to show us that we were dealing with villainous and desperate fellows, who would stick at no wickedness however terrible.
On another page we came to the following inventory:—
On the right-hand side—
5 small chests (black) of English sovereigns.
7 small chests (black) U.S.A. dollars.
On the left-hand side—
2 chests (red) of silver goods.
1 chest (red) watch cases, mostly gold.
1 chest (red) watch cases, containing bag of stones.
Estimated value of the lot, £85,486.
As I read out these items Hardanger gazed at me in open-mouthed astonishment. Indeed, so thunderstruck was he that he began to make remarks in his native tongue—a language I do not understand—and a thing he only does when under the influence of very strong emotion.
That evening I received a verbal message from Miss Labuan (as I must for the present continue to call her), informing me that Barcali was not well, and was detained in his cabin, and that she thought we might rescue the ship from the hands of the mutineers if we struck without delay the blow which we had planned.
'Ach! I am longing for a goot fight!' exclaimed Hardanger, clenching his great hairy fist and glaring defiantly.
The word was soon passed round to our men by Questover's aid that they should be ready to rise against their enemies on the ringing of the fire alarm. This, we hoped, would so astonish those who were not in our secret that they would rush on deck without their weapons, and thus be secured without difficulty.
The hour fixed for the ringing of the bell was 1 a.m. Our men were instructed to hold themselves in readiness, and to arm themselves with anything they could pick up. So determined were we that I verily believe we should have saved the ship (in which case the rest of my narrative would have been very different), had not events taken an unexpected turn.
AT ten minutes to one o'clock Hardanger cautiously climbed up from the engine-room. He was followed by myself and as many of the stokers as could be spared—the latter a fine lot of fellows, strong and tenacious as bulldogs, ready to do and to dare whatever we might order. Jimmy Questover remained in charge of the engines.
It was arranged that I was to slip round to the ship's bell and straightway toll the fire alarm. As soon as those who were on deck ran to ascertain the cause some of our party were to attack them, striving to take them prisoner. Others were to secure the hatchways, in order to make sure of the mutineers who might be below.
With the utmost caution I made my way towards the bell, my ears quickened to catch the faintest unusual sound, or the footsteps of anyone approaching. I knew not who might be on the bridge, except that it was unlikely to be Barcali. Favoured by the darkness I crept forward, and at length—it seemed an age—reached the bell. My hand was outstretched, my fingers had grasped the lanyard; in another second the tocsin-like warning would have rung through the ship and out over the vast, deep, heaving ocean, when I was arrested by two other sounds, which so combined to paralyse my limbs that for a few seconds I was altogether powerless to move.
The first of these sounds to strike upon my ear was a low, distant, moaning roar. No one who has once been shipwrecked, as I had been, could ever mistake that awful warning pedal-note, the diapason of the great deep.
'Breakers!' I gasped involuntarily.
As I uttered the word there was a movement on the bridge above, which was succeeded by a quick tinkling sound, borne up through the skylight ventilators and other openings from the very bowels of the great ship. It was the engine-room telegraph, and it said as plainly as though it uttered articulate words, 'Stop her!' and then 'Full speed astern!'
Forgetful of my errand; forgetful of my companions; forgetful of the need of silence and of caution; forgetful, indeed, of everything save the danger ahead and the immense responsibility suddenly thrust upon me; realising only one thing clearly, that I must be in the engine-room in a few seconds, I sprang away from the bell, which gave just one solemn toll as my hand loosed the lanyard, and I darted towards the hatchway.
'Not so fast, sir, not so fast,' said the voice of Adriani Barcali, ere I had gone ten paces.
His hand grasped my arm as he spoke, and the cold steel muzzle of a revolver was abruptly thrust against my head, so that, if I wished to avoid a plug of steel in my brain, it was wise that I should pause in my headlong career.
'Who telegraphed to the engine-room?' he demanded.
'Do you refer to the stroke of the ship's bell?' I said, endeavouring to divert his attention from the engines.
'No, I mean the sound of the engine-room telegraph.'
As he spoke these words the engines stopped, first one and then the other, after a bungling fashion.
'Ah, I understand!' he cried. 'Then take this with you.'
I divined his intention almost before he spoke, and, thrusting him backwards with all my might, caused him to fire a little higher than he had intended. But this long scar which you see above my left temple indicates the track of the bullet between my cap and my skull.
I divined his intention almost before he spoke.
Although the blood was streaming down my face I dashed it away as though it had been but tears, and made for Hardanger and the stokers, whom I expected to find crouching within the cover of the hatchway awaiting the signal of the bell. But, like myself, they had heard the sharp summons of the engine-room telegraph. With one consent, therefore, and with the prompt obedience which is bred by years of training, they had hurried to their posts.
'Ach! vat is zis?' cried Hardanger, as soon as he saw the blood on my face.
'Not quite killed, sir, I hope?' cried Questover, anxiously.
'Nothing but a bullet graze. You heard the shot, no doubt. But what about the engines?'
'Reversed and going astern fast enough now, sir,' returned the apprentice. 'I managed it myself beautifully,' he added in a tone of satisfaction.
The words had hardly passed his lips when the telegraph again rang out 'Stop her,' then 'Full speed ahead.'
For ten seconds I hesitated. What if the new order had been given by Barcali? For I imagined that Frinton had given the former one. Then I concluded that we had better obey, and presently we were steaming ahead.
'Slip up on deck and see what Barcali and his lot are doing,' I said to Questover.
'Zere vill be trouble before this night is over,' said Hardanger.
The words had scarce passed his lips when there came up from beneath our feet a long-drawn grinding sound—a sound which, once experienced, is never forgotten. We sprang for the levers, prepared to reverse once more, but the order came not.
'He wishes to drive the ship further ashore,' cried Hardanger.
'I'm blest if he shall do it,' I cried, thrusting at the same time at the levers which controlled the reversing gear.
Meanwhile a storm of cries and shouts arose above us in all parts of the vessel. With these sounds were mingled the sharp reports of revolver shots several times repeated; then oaths and curses; then the shrieks of women, and cries for help and mercy.
'Our place is on deck,' I shouted, 'Open the valves, or we shall blow up.'
The hissing of the steam as it escaped now added to the din. With frantic blows we tried to burst open the iron doors, but for a long time in vain. Those outside seemed to take no notice of our cries. Indeed the main deck was almost deserted, and it was only now and then that belated fugitives hurried by as they made for the upper deck.
'A couple of crowbars, quick!' I cried.
These were speedily handed up, and the brawniest among the men plied them with might and skill. But even as they did so there smote upon our ears a long wailing cry which told us that something terrible or sad had happened.
'Von of zee boats swamped,' suggested Hardanger, as he took the largest crowbar from the man who was using it, and plied it with all his might; so that even the strong fastenings failed to bear the strain, and in a few minutes we were free.
'Keep together and follow us!' I shouted.
The stokers of such vessels as the William Williams are usually not very amenable to discipline; but danger and the consequent anxiety was already welding us together, and the men cried, 'Ay, ay, sir,' cheerfully enough, and followed us at a run.
The scene on the upper deck was such as to impress itself on my memory. Never shall I forget the look of frantic despair and abject misery on the faces of some of the women, or the fierce anger of many of the men. There was no need for us to ask questions, for a short distance from the ship we could see the four boats in which Barcali and his companions had escaped from the stranded ship. There was just enough light for us to discern the outline of a low-lying shore right ahead, on which the waves were beating with a roar sullen and continuous.
The mutineers passed from our sight in a few minutes, and then we turned to consider our position.
Frinton was on the bridge striving to reduce the crew and passengers to order; Joe Tripp with some of the men were examining the two remaining boats.
'The scurvy beggars 'ave staved them in, sir,' cried Tripp, pointing to a great hole in the bottom of one of the boats.
'What have they done with the gold?' I asked another of the seamen who was passing.
'Taken it along wi' them, sir.'
'What—the whole of it?'
'Every bit—divided the chests atween the four boats. Blame me if I don't hope it'll sink 'em,' he added fiercely.
At this moment the carpenter came up from below and spoke a few words to Frinton.
'Thank God!' he exclaimed, 'then we are in no immediate danger. It's all right,' he said, addressing me, 'the ship's bottom is sound and making no water.'
'Have you released the captain and the first mate?' I inquired.
'No, I forgot them completely.'
'Then I'll run down to them. Come along, Jimmy!' I said to Questover, who was standing by.
The door of the captain's cabin was locked, and the key taken away.
'Are you within, sir?' I shouted, after I had knocked.
'Is that you, Mr Saint George?'
'Yes.'
'Then for mercy's sake let me out of this dungeon.'
'We must burst open the door, I fear.'
'Do it at once,' he replied.
We thrust with all our might, but the lock was a substantial one, and it was not until Questover had fetched a large piece of wood that we were able to batter asunder the fastening and to enter the cabin.
There we found Captain Giggletrap, a little pale in countenance, perhaps, by his confinement, and considerably dejected at the loss of his ship, for he had guessed by the stopping of the engines, as well as by the other sounds which had reached him, that the William Williams was ashore.
In a few words we told him the state of affairs.
'Look to the first mate,' he said, and then hastened on deck.
Like the captain's, the door of the first mate's cabin was securely fastened. We broke it open as we had done in the case of the other, and discovered the mate in his berth. He was alive and that was all.
'I shall not be here long,' he whispered.
Indeed I could see that the death sweat was already gathering on his brow, and there was on his face that unmistakable look which comes over the dying.
We procured some brandy, while Questover fetched pillows from the captain's berth, with which I propped him up a little. But even while we were trying to make him more comfortable the poor fellow's head fell on one side and he was dead, thus adding another to the list of those for whose lives Barcali would one day be held responsible.
After this we hastened on deck, to find there that the captain, assisted by Frinton and the other officers, was succeeding in stilling the fears of the alarmed passengers. That the steamer was hard and fast on a sandy shore was evident enough, but it was equally plain that she was in no immediate danger of destruction; for though the swell of the Pacific Ocean caused a considerable amount of surf, the ship was strong enough to hold together for some time; and it might be weeks or even months, should the present calm weather continue, before she would suffer material damage.
I learnt that at the time the ship struck, so accurately had Barcali timed the affair, and so well did he know the position of the vessel that his men were then actually engaged in removing the cases which contained the gold.
The seizing of the boats by the mutineers and their immediate departure showed us plainly enough that every move in the game had been most carefully planned by Barcali and his associate Throughton. While it was clear that those who had joined them had undoubtedly been bribed by promises of great reward.
'What about the two ladies?' I asked of Frinton.
'Mrs and Miss Labuan?'
'Yes.'
'They have gone with Barcali and his lot.'
This rather staggered me. Could it be possible that, after all, Miss Labuan had elected to throw in her lot with her brother? Had she but trusted me, I would have done anything in my power to deliver her from her position of peril, but her flight perplexed me exceedingly.
'Did you have any opportunity of speaking to her before she went?' I asked.
'Not a word—Barcali and that villain Throughton took care of that. They kept us all away, revolver in hand, and handed the women into the boats in quick style.'
'Then she seemed to go willingly?' I said, with a tone of regret in my voice.
'I don't say that—if you refer to Miss Labuan,' he replied. 'No, I should say that she went under compulsion, for I noticed that she was weeping.'
This piece of news fired me exceedingly.
It was intolerable to think that so beautiful and so gentle a creature was not only the unwilling accomplice of this brace of ship-stealing wreckers; but that she had been borne away by them to some wild and unknown shore, from whence rescue would be impossible, excited me more than I could have deemed possible. Though I had never been in love, as it is called, I experienced in the darkness and confusion of that night the first pangs of that which eventually grew to be a great and consuming passion. Of this, however, I must not speak in this place. Suffice to say that much of my subsequent conduct was suggested and controlled by the recollection of Frinton's statement that Miss Labuan (I knew not then her Christian name), with tears on her face, had been hurried away from the deck of the William Williams. Tears such as these spoke of unwillingness, and of sorrow and despair.
'GRAND sight, isn't it?'
'Wonderful!'
'A Pacific sunrise of the finest order.'
'Yes.'
Frinton and I were standing together watching the dawning of the day. It was an ideal dawn. One by one the great stars in the eastern horizon became dim and faded away. Then there grew into the sky long narrow strips of grey, which changed in colour until they became silver, afterwards extending skywards and blushing all the while, first to deep red, and then to salmon-pink. This was followed by an unearthly glow of golden crimson, which was reflected in a thousand wavelets, and glanced like red gold on the summit of each swell till it caught the spars and masts and every point of the stranded steamship, lighting up and decorating the vessel with a strange radiance, as though to welcome her to a fairy land.
As the sun leaped into sight, and the colours sank back into the blue sky, we looked anxiously shorewards towards the island on which we had been stranded. Beyond the broken water, which fortunately was not very rough, we could now discern the low sandy shore. Tufts of long grass grew on the hillocks, and further inland were stumpy bushes, but no trees. Away in the distance were low hills clothed with verdure, but whether these were on the island on which we had been cast, or upon an adjoining one, we could not immediately determine.
Captain Giggletrap now gave orders to repair the two damaged boats. It took some time to patch them up sufficiently to make them seaworthy, for the mutineers had done them no little damage. But there were many helpers, and sufficient tools and material, so that in a couple of hours the boats were ready, and we were prepared to convey passengers and provisions to the shore.
Foremost among our voluntary assistants were the three Scotch passengers, Mickleband, Barr and Jezzard. Right manfully they toiled at getting up the casks and cases, their zeal stimulating and cheering the others so effectually that where a short time previously despair and terror had been rampant there was now confidence and good-humoured laughter.
'You had better take a boat ashore, Mr Frinton,' said the captain, 'and see what kind of a place this island may be. Look out for water and a suitable camping place. Take half-a-dozen men with you. Yes, Mr Saint George,' he said, catching my eye, 'you and Questover can go; you cannot do much good in the engine-room at present, I fear.'
The shore being very flat, the William Williams had stranded fully half a mile away from dry land, so that we had a fairly stiff pull through the surf.
'Now for No-man's Land!' cried Questover, as with all the enthusiasm of youth he leaped into the water as soon as the prow of the boat touched the sand.
Leaving a couple of men with her so that she might neither go adrift with the tide nor be stranded high and dry, the rest of us ascended the slope and in about ten minutes found ourselves on an elevated spot from whence we could view the island.
'My stars! what is that?' cried Questover, pointing at the same time in a north-westerly direction (as near as I could judge).
'Another steamer ashore!' exclaimed Frinton.
We turned and gazed in open-mouthed astonishment. There, sure enough, in the bay adjoining that in which the William Williams was stranded, was another large steamship. She lay over on her side towards us, and we could see her plainly. She was a total wreck, for her rigging hung ragged and in festoons, and in complete disorder.
'Barcali's ship!' I ejaculated, and thrusting my hand into my pocket I drew out the pocket-book which the chief engineer fortunately for ourselves had lately lost and Questover luckily had found.
'Sure enough, we are on Barcali's group of islands,' I said. 'See, this is "Long Island," and "A" marks the position of the wrecked steamer. Away to the south is "Round Island," and I suppose that the peak beyond it is the centre of "Star Island."'
'There seems to be a sort of gulf away to the sou'-west,' remarked Frinton, shading his eyes with his hand.
Looking in this direction I could see the entrance to what might be a natural harbour, beyond which rose a range of hills extending for seven or eight miles from north-west to south-east, or thereabouts.
'This must be "Great Island,"' I said; 'and if that is the harbour, it contains the islet named on this map "Little Island."'
We looked about for some time in the hope that we might catch sight of some of Barcali's people.
'They are pretty sure to keep out of sight,' said Frinton.
'I wonder what they will do with the gold,' remarked Questover.
This was a question none of us could answer. So large a number of men could not exist without a considerable amount of food, nor would they desire to remain long on these remote islands. True, there was probably on the larger island an abundance of fruit trees of various sorts, while the climate was delightful. But we could not suppose that even such attractions as these would induce the mutineer seamen and their leaders to select this spot for permanent habitation.
Descending the slope, we embarked and pulled away for the stranded William Williams.
There was a cluster of heads looking over the side as we approached, and eager questions were asked almost before we had come alongside. Taking Captain Giggletrap aside, Frinton and I told him what we had seen. He seemed to be greatly interested in our report concerning the other stranded ship.
'Who would have thought that two would have got ashore on this island, and so near together!' he said. He seemed to be utterly astonished when we expressed our opinion that the other steamer had been wrecked through the wicked contrivance of the chief engineer.
'Then he is even a worse villain than I had imagined,' he said.
'We have not yet fathomed his villainy,' I replied.
The next work was to convey to the shore the passengers, along with as much food as possible. For it was evident that as soon as the trade wind dropped or freshened we might expect that our ship would break up.
'She is at any rate hard and fast,' said the captain, 'and I see no prospect of floating her.'
During the remainder of the day we toiled at the landing of the passengers and goods.
'Eef ye'll leave things to us, Geegletrap,' said Barr, 'we wull look after the leddies as soon as we are ashore.'
Having obtained the desired permission, the three Scotchmen at once constituted themselves the protectors of the lady passengers.
As these worthies play no inconsiderable part in my narrative, I must now describe them somewhat minutely. John Barr was a tall, bony man, possessed of a long reddish brown beard, grey eyes, and a deep bass voice. By profession an engineer, he had travelled over a great part of the civilised earth, and was in character resolute as a lion and in manners gentle as a lamb.
Bruce Mickleband, his companion and assistant, was as short and stout as Barr was tall and bony. He was one of the few Scotchmen who could make and appreciate a really good joke; a firm friend and a good shot; so that we had good reason to rejoice that he happened to be one of the passengers on board the William Williams.
As for Donald Jezzard, he was one of those men whom it is exceedingly difficult to describe. Muscular, thick-set, having a clean-shaved face and closely-cropped grey hair; possessed of indomitable courage; taciturn and thoughtful, never speaking two words where one would do, it was a long time before I really understood the man, or found out all that lay under a sphinx-like exterior.
Our first duty was to convey to the shore the body of the first mate. We buried him not far from the spot where we had caught sight of the other steamship. Never have I seen a funeral party more deeply affected than were the officers and passengers of the crew of the William Williams on that very solemn occasion.
Among the grassy sandhills on the top of 'Long Island' we discovered a suitable hollow in which to make our encampment. Here we pitched separate tents for the female passengers, for the crew, and for ourselves. Our party in all numbered one hundred and eight persons, of whom forty-two were males. As it was impossible even to guess how long we should be obliged to remain on the island, Captain Giggletrap ordered that a portion of the food stuff on board the steamer should be cleared out and brought on shore. As these included a large number of cases of American tinned meat and Fraser River salmon, as well as one hundred and forty sacks of flour, the work of removal in our two small boats occupied some time, during which period other events happened, which, as they were of no small importance, I must now proceed to relate.
'Can you give us the position of these islands, sir?' I inquired of the captain.
'I am anxious to discover it,' was his reply, 'but the villains have taken away all my charts, as well as my sextant, and I have no means of taking an observation.'
This was a serious matter, because without a knowledge of the latitude and longitude of the group it was impossible for us to know whether there was any probability of our rescue.
'The Pacific Ocean, you see,' remarked Frinton, 'is of such enormous size that there are still islands which are not visited once in twenty years. We might live here—if the food held out, or other was procurable—for the greater part of our lives without sighting a sail; and as for the steamships, they run in such regular tracks that there are many chances against our seeing the smoke of a steamer. Just look at this; I cut it out of a London paper eight months ago, and it has been in my pocket-book ever since.'
Taking the cutting into my hand, I read the following:—
'Captain Eldrige of the American barque Amazon reports the discovery of an island in the Pacific Ocean, several hundreds of miles from any land laid down on the charts. He says it is in latitude 0.45 N. and longitude 176.35 W., very low and dangerous, and is, I expect, the last resting-place of the crew of some of the ships which have been missed in the years gone by. I ran along the lee side within pistol shot of the beach, but it was too rough to land, and after convincing myself that there was no living person upon the island, sailed away again. On the highest part of the island is a house, apparently built from pieces of a wreck, with a flagstaff at one end, from which still dangled the halyard block. Near the house were several little hummocks, each with a tall, upright stone upon it, evidently the graves of the poor fellows who had escaped from the wreck of their vessel, and died on this dreary spot, where perhaps they had spent months in vainly looking for a passing sail to relieve them from their weary prison.'
'Horrible!' said I.
'We should make a good long row of graves on the island,' remarked Questover, reflectively.
'Zere are enough of us to stock a churchyard,' added Hardanger.
I must confess that such conversation as this was not particularly cheering; but, as it was inevitable that people in our position should be disposed to take a gloomy view of things, I said nothing. That we did not eventually lapse into a state of despair and die off one by one was, I confess, entirely due to the excitements of the period succeeding our landing—a period concerning which I shall for ever retain a most vivid recollection.
On the third day after our landing, and when we had finished the work of erecting tents and had succeeded in making the ladies of our party fairly comfortable, we—that is to say, Captain Giggletrap, Frinton, Hardanger, the three Scotchmen and myself—held a council concerning our plans and prospects. Questover also, at my request, was allowed to join our circle.
We soon found that the question uppermost in our minds was this: What had become of Barcali and his companions? That they were on one of the islands was certain; nor could we see that they had any more chance than ourselves of getting away.
'In which case, woe to Barcali & Co. eef we come across them,' remarked John Barr, with a shake of his brawny, hairy fist.
'But we are unarmed,' broke in the captain.
'Pardon me, not altogether, sir,' said Mickleband.
Jezzard pursed his lips, nodded his head sideways, but made no remark.
Then I remembered what Questover had told me about the weapons which the three Scotchmen had hid from Barcali.
'Is there any prospect of the floating of our ship?' I inquired presently.
'Not the remotest in the world,' replied the captain.
'Are you certain, sir?' I persisted.
'As certain as I am that my name is Zedekiah Giggletrap. No, nothing but a tremendous gale will ever move the William Williams, and then she will go to pieces.'
Whereupon we looked at one another in silence for the space of about two minutes, for each was revolving in his mind an embryo scheme for escape from the island.
'Well?' said the voice of Questover, somewhat impatiently.
We turned with a smile, for, as he was the youngest, we had not hitherto asked his opinion.
'Perhaps you have a suggestion to offer?' said the captain in a tone which, though kindly, was somewhat patronising.
'I have, sir,' replied the apprentice, boldly. For Questover ever possessed the courage of his opinions, added to the invariable positiveness and assurance which accompanies youth. 'My idea is this,' he said, turning and addressing us all, 'that we fortify our camp at once. This is the first and most important step, because Barcali will never rest until he has silenced every tongue which is capable of bearing witness against his villainy. Secondly, we must send out spies to discover his whereabouts, and, if possible, we must capture him and his lieutenant Throughton, and keep them close prisoners. Thirdly, we must rescue Miss Labuan.'
We looked at the lad in wonder. While the rest of us had been merely planning an escape his mind had been working on far more practical lines; for it was clear enough that those who had brought about the wrecking of the William Williams would not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of us all.
A murmur of assent went round our circle when Questover had done speaking, and I saw that even Jezzard nodded his head with emphatic approval.
'Gentlemen,' said the captain, after a few seconds' pause, 'we are in common danger, and I shall be glad of your advice and cooperation. I can navigate a ship—when I have a free hand, but here I am like a vessel without a rudder or compass. What do you advise?'
'Do as Questover suggests,' I said.
'Yes, the lad's advice is good, let us take it,' chimed in the rest.
There came a flush of triumph over Questover's face.
But little did any of us imagine how momentous was our decision.
THAT night we placed sentries about our encampment.
'Vy haf you done this?' asked Mademoiselle Hautcoeur, a charming French girl, who took a lively interest in all our doings, and who was looking on as we placed the guards.
I explained to her that, though we knew of no immediate danger, it was considered wise to take precautions, lest Barcali and his men should attack us under cover of the darkness.
'But vy should they vish to harm us? We haf done zem no wrong,' she exclaimed.
'Ah! mademoiselle,' I exclaimed, 'you little know the wickedness of Adriani Barcali.'
'Barcali!' she cried, as though the name was familiar to her.
Then she told me that a man bearing that appellation had robbed her father—a shipowner of Marseilles—of a sum of four hundred and eight thousand francs; that, owing to this, she was now compelled to earn her bread by teaching, and had accepted a post as governess in the family of a Japanese nobleman.
'I trust that you will reach Japan before long,' I said; 'but at present there is no prospect of our being able to leave these islands.'
Whereupon Mademoiselle Hautcoeur looked not a little disconsolate.
Nothing was seen of the enemy that night; and the following day, as the boats were not wanted (the men being employed in conveying the goods from the beach to Sandy Hollow, as we had named our encampment), Frinton and I obtained permission to take a boat for the purpose of exploring the neighbouring shores. Barr and Jezzard had already visited the other wreck, and had reported that the vessel had been stripped of everything movable and of value.
'Her name is the President Cleveland,'said Barr.
'Ah! a Yankee,' I remarked.
'Adds another to Barcali's iniquities,' put in Questover, who stood by.
We invited Hardanger and the three Scotchmen to accompany us on our expedition, and they gladly assented. The seven of us could manage the boat easily enough, Questover making an admirable coxswain, for he was of light weight, and accustomed to steering.
It wanted about two hours to high water when we started. There was a brisk breeze, and we soon discarded oars in favour of our sail. Barcali's pocket-book in hand (opened at the place of the map), I traced the outline of the coast and confirmed our idea that we had been stranded on the shore of 'Long Island,' as it was named on the map. As soon as we had reached the south-eastern point 'Round Island' came in sight. It was separated from 'Long Island' by the narrow passage, called in Barcali's book 'Shark Strait,' and where, according to the same book, some of that worthy's victims had been devoured by sharks.
Keeping away in a southerly direction we coasted 'Round Island' for a distance of about two miles, when we came to an arm of the sea more than a mile in width.
'This is called "Main Channel,"' I remarked, again referring to the map.
As a strong current flowed outwards, we crossed the mouth and proceeded in the direction of an island remarkable for the conical-shaped hill which arose from the centre.
'"Star Island!"' I said, pointing it out to my companions.
Arrived at the eastern point, we found that the shore trended in a south-westerly direction, until, at a distance of some three or four miles, we came to two promontories—the further one being named 'South Cape.' Here there was another channel, which divided this island from the large one, and through which there was a strong, inward current.
''Bout ship!' cried Frinton; 'we'll sail down this channel and explore.'
'All right!' I said, 'but keep a sharp look-out ahead.'
Jimmy Questover, relinquishing his post, clambered over into the bows, and away we went with a smart breeze on our beam and a four-knot current astern.
'This is spanking,' remarked Barr, after we had run a couple of miles. 'We shall soon solve the mysteries of the group.'
Hardly had he uttered the words when there came a shout from Questover, 'Rocks ahead!'
Craning our necks, we perceived that in the narrowest part of the strait there was a whirlpool of great force, created by a ridge of jagged rocks, which thrust up their black heads through the surf that boiled and foamed about them.
We would have put the boat about, but almost before we could collect our wits she was being tossed among the breakers. Seizing the boat-hook, just as we were being hurled upon some craggy points, Hardanger fairly thrust the boat away, in his effort falling overboard himself and narrowly escaping drowning, for we caught him by the collar just as he was being carried away from us into the whirlpool.
The boat was now whirled round at a great speed, so that closing our eyes we clutched the sides, feeling dizzy and sick.
Fortunately for us the whirlpool was not sufficiently powerful to sink the boat, and after whirling round for a few minutes, she was floated clear by a gust of wind which caught the sail, and after grazing several more rocks, none of which luckily did us any serious damage, we continued our voyage as though nothing had happened.
'Bless me!' gasped Frinton, who had taken the yoke-lines when Questover went forward, 'I hope we have done the worst part of our trip.'
'Depend upon it we shall meet with nothing worse than this,' I remarked.
But Jezzard shook his head knowingly, and smiled to himself in a way which seemed to indicate that he was not of my opinion.
'Hae ye any idea in what part of the world these islands may be?' inquired Mickleband, addressing Frinton.
'Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean is all I can say,' was the reply. 'The captain has an idea, though without his instruments and charts he can only guess, that we may be among some of the islands of the Marshall Group, but I am inclined to think that these may be nearer the Landrones or Carolines. But, bless you, there are thousands of islands in these seas, islands of all sorts and sizes. You may come across a regular shoal of them—fifty in a run of fifty miles—so that it's quite impossible even to guess our whereabouts.'
'Barcali is a cute dog, and did his work smartly,' I remarked.
'So smartly,' said Jezzard, speaking for the first time, 'that we may soon look for further exhibitions of his intelligence and skill.'
'What do you mean?' I asked.
But Jezzard would say no more, though he nodded his head several times after a meaning fashion.
'Jezzard's more mysterious than the Sphinx of Egypt,' said Barr, with a laugh at his own attempt at a joke.
Jezzard nodded again, but spoke not.
I now come to a very important period, and as I pen this portion of my narrative the scenes I am about to describe have again come before me with a wonderful and startling vividness, so remarkably did they impress themselves at the time upon my mind. Nor will you be surprised at this when you learn the facts of our surprising and terrible adventures.
After we had sailed a distance of about two miles from the whirlpool (which I noted was not marked on the map), and had passed the western coast of 'Round Island,' the southern shore of 'Long Island' came in sight. On our left were the richly-wooded slopes of 'Great Island.' A short distance inland we could see a fine range of hills, which terminated in a peak not far from Rocky Strait, and within sight of the whirlpool.
'At yonder point,' I said, pointing to the south-western extremity of 'Long Island,' 'we shall come to the entrance to the harbour as it is termed on Barcali's map.'
I handed the pocket-book round for inspection.
'Zee villain is to be found not far from zat big "B,"' remarked Hardanger, as he pointed with his massive forefinger to the place marked after this fashion.
'He'll not be far from his gold,' observed Frinton.
'Mebbe we'll capture baith him an' his gowd,' added Mickleband.
'Bless my stars, it wud be a slice o' rare guid luck!' cried John Barr.
With this the rest of us agreed, but at that time I should have as soon expected to become the owner of the Crown jewels as to possess the wealth which Barcali had accumulated at 'B.'
In less than an hour, having passed 'Shark Strait,' we came to the entrance to the harbour. It was exceedingly narrow, not more than twenty yards wide, and ran in a south-westerly direction, broadening rapidly after a quarter of a mile into a considerable sheet of water.
Right ahead we could see 'Little Island,' a well-wooded islet, having a strand of curious coral-like whiteness, which glistened in the sunlight as we approached.
'Which way? inquired Questover, who had returned to his place at the yoke-lines.
'With this wind we had better keep to the right—that is, along the north side of the harbour,' said Frinton.
Swiftly sped our little craft over the smooth, lake-like waters till we had passed 'Little Island.' Beyond it the harbour stretched away in a westerly direction for a couple of miles or thereabouts. Above it we could see the north-western extremity of the range of hills which I have already mentioned.
'Now for adventure and discovery!' cried Questover in gleeful tones, as he put the boat about, thus steering direct for the mysterious 'B.'
'We wull be ready!' remarked Jezzard, with a grim look as he drew a revolver.
Away towards the narrow channel sped our craft, and I began to think that we should soon run round 'Little Island,' when there came a shout from Frinton, who was in the bows.
'Up with the helm!' he cried.
Questover pulled the yoke-line, but before the boat could answer to it there came a jerk which effectually stopped our way, and threw some of us smartly to the bottom of the craft, myself among the number.
When I scrambled to my feet I perceived that we had come into collision with a taut cable which had been stretched across the narrowest part of the channel about a quarter of a mile to the north of 'B.'
'We can lower the mast and push her under this,' said Questover.
'And find ourselves entrapped,' said Barr.
'Yes, there'll be another cable at the other end. We had better go back,' I said.
A considerable portion of this narrative would have been unwritten had my suggestion been adopted.
But the others dissented from my view, and with some trouble we unshipped the mast and proceeded to thrust the boat under the cable.
It was while we were engaged in this task—no light one be it remarked—that a bullet whizzed over our heads, and a voice, which I instantly recognised, cried,—
'Surrender, or you are all dead men!'
UTTERLY startled, we looked up. Not that the voice was a surprise to us for we knew that we were not far from Barcali and his company. But that we should walk into a trap after so simple a fashion was more than we had anticipated.
Upon the shore, drawn up as though upon parade, were some thirty armed men. They covered us with their rifles, and every moment I expected to feel the effects of the death-dealing contents of these weapons.
'Shall I shoot?' cried John Barr, as he raised his revolver.
'Dinna be a fool, mon!' said Jezzard, 'we shall hae to surrender.'
Mickleband was for surrendering too; but it went sorely against the grain to give in.
'Caught like a lot of rats!' exclaimed Questover. While Hardanger uttered a few strong words in his native Norwegian, as was his wont in times of excitement.
Thrusting the boat clear of the over-hanging cable with a sullen look on our faces we pulled ashore.
It was clear enough now that we had been watched from behind huge boulders by Barcali, Throughton, and the rest of the gang of pirates; that they had only waited until we were well within their power to discover themselves; that they knew perfectly well we should find resistance impossible, and that retreat was equally out of the question.
The spot on which we now found ourselves was at the entrance to a little inlet or creek of deep water. The shore was of beautiful hard white sand; above it there was a bank which extended to the trees, and these again grew thickly to the face of a great cliff which faced north-east.
Dark woods extended up the hills in a westerly direction, and at the foot of the cliff was a group of rudely-constructed huts. But it was neither the situation of the pirates' village nor the beauty of the landscape which compelled our attention; our eyes at once caught sight of a huge ladder which had been erected against the face of the cliff. It ascended perpendicularly for upwards of a hundred and fifty feet, and terminated at a small round hole which we took to be the entrance to a cave.
Perhaps I should not have noticed it so soon but for Jezzard. Unlike the rest of us, his eyes were not fixed upon Barcali & Co. Already, so he told me afterwards, was he evolving schemes for our escape; and had it not been for his watchfulness and genius it is very probable that we should have fallen victims to the foulest scheme which ever disgraced the ocean.
Pacing the foot of the cliff were no less than four armed sentries, and as we approached we saw that a number of men were engaged in slinging cases up to the cave by the aid of a roughly-extemporised crane.
Beyond the place a little stream entered the harbour, and not far from it was a larger and more pretentious hut than the others. I think I should not have noticed it had not Questover nudged my elbow, and I looked up in time to see a flutter of white garments in the doorway, while something told me that this was the abode of Miss Labuan.
As soon as she caught sight of us she hastened along the beach towards the little hamlet, and on approaching I could see that here were traces of tears on her cheeks.
'What would you do with these gentle men? she said, addressing Barcali.
'Mind your own business,' he replied speaking in a rough tone.
But going up to him, and laying her hand upon his arm, she said, 'Surely, Adriani, you do not mean to hurt them?' and she looked up pleadingly into his face.
'This is no place for you,' he said, speaking still more roughly, 'and I must request that you do not interfere with my affairs.'
She gave me a look which spoke worlds, and retired sorrowfully in the direction from whence she had come.
'They'll fix us up in one of these huts,' remarked Frinton; but he was mistaken, for we were marched straight to the foot of the cliff.
'Up you go,' said Throughton, as he pointed to the ladder.
'You do not mean to say that we are to climb up there?' I replied, pointing to the cave far above our heads.
'I do!' he said, speaking in a peremptory manner; 'and if you don't look quick about it, we shall find some way of hastening your progress.'
One by one the seven of us ascended the rickety ladder. It trembled and swayed with our weight; and I expected every moment that we should come crashing to the foot of the cliff. Perhaps this was what the mutineers expected also; but Providence defended us, and no such terrible catastrophe occurred.
First came John Barr, and he was followed by Mickleband. Then came Jimmy Questover and Oscar Hardanger; these were followed by Frinton and myself, while Jezzard, for some reason that I could not understand, brought up the rear.
When I was half-way up the cliff I turned and looked down, and away in the direction of the aforementioned stream I could see the white figure of Marie Labuan. She stood in the sunlight on the beach, her hands clasped as if in mute agony. I could not clearly discern her features at this distance, but it was clear enough to me that she was praying for our safety.
'Caught! caught in a trap!' exclaimed Frinton.
'Done, completely done!' growled Hardanger.
'I wonder how they will dispose of us,' was Questover's remark. 'They've had every opportunity of shooting us, so it cannot be that.'
Mickleband and Barr also said something in broad Scotch, but Jezzard after his wont said nothing, though he began at once to examine the cave, as though for the purpose of ascertaining whether there was any other outlet. He went about the place like a ferret, poking his long, clean-shaved face into every hole and corner; trying the weight of the boxes of bullion which were stored against the walls, and generally behaving as though he were determined to take an inventory, for our own personal benefit, of the contents of this strange place.
He did this utterly regardless of four sailors who were employed at the aforementioned crane. As soon as they had completed their work, which consisted of raising a couple of cases to the cave—no light task be it noted—then we eagerly asked what he was about.
'You shall know in good time,' said he, 'if I succeed. I have a wild notion in my head at this present moment; possibly it may come to nothing. Just take in the shape and size of the cave. Notice its height, breadth, depth; in such emergencies as ours we must be prepared for anything.'
We looked round as he spoke. The place in which we were incarcerated was a curiously-shaped hollow; wonderfully cool after the glare and heat of the beach, rising in places to a height of some twenty or twenty-five feet; of an irregular dome shape; having a hard floor of solid rock, and an entrance from which we obtained a magnificent view of 'Long Island,' 'Round Island,' and the northern extremities of 'Star Island.'
Right in front of us we could plainly see 'Shark Strait.' But though we looked in the direction of our camp, we could see nothing either of it nor of our friends. Several hours passed, and although there seemed to be no little stir in the village at our feet, no one attempted to visit us.
They had not even taken from us our revolvers—that is to say those with which Barr, Jezzard and Mickleband were armed. There was no food in the cave, nor did there seem any prospect that we should be supplied with any.
Slowly the day wore away, and as the sun drew into the west we could discern distant forms on the sandhills on 'Long Island.'
'I'll bet my buttons that's Captain Zedekiah Giggletrap,' remarked the facetious Questover, whom nothing seemed to daunt, pointing at the same time in the direction aforementioned.
'Yes,' I said, 'he's on the look-out for us, no doubt.'
'An he'll hae to look a lang time,' observed Mickleband, drily.
'Shall we see anything of the chief engineer?' I said.
No sooner had I spoken than we heard the sounds of a man's footsteps ascending the ladder.
'By my soul, it's Barcali!' said Frinton, as he peered through the opening.
And Barcali it was. He stepped into the cave in as light and airy a manner as though entering the engine-room at the beginning of his watch.
'Good evening, gentlemen,' said he, in an easy fashion. 'I trust you will find your perch cool and comfortable for the night. Beds?—Ah, well, I regret we cannot offer you berths so good as those on board the William Williams. But you shall have hammocks. There are—let me see—seven of you. Yes, I think we have seven hammocks to spare, and you can drive staples into the sides of the cave.
Sleeping on the rock is hard work and makes aching bones, as I know from experience.'
To all this we said not a word, for we were as disgusted with the fellow's coolness as we were insulted by his effrontery.
He stood silhouetted against the sky, as the light shone into the entrance to the cave, smiling upon us in a manner completely patronising and condescending. I could not help noticing that his shirt cuffs were as spotless as when he was on board the steamship. Still was he Adriani Barcali the spick and span; still was he the smooth-faced gentlemanly villain; no unworthy product of our modern system of education.
'We should like first to know, Mr Barcali,' said I, 'why we have been brought here, and how soon you intend to liberate us.'
'I regret exceedingly,' he returned, 'that it is impossible for me to reply to either of your questions. It would be inconsistent with the safety of my men to allow you to depart so long as you can do us the slightest harm. I will tell you plainly, however, that your lives are not in immediate danger. If you attempt to escape, or make an attack upon any of us, I shall of course not answer for the consequences. But otherwise I merely ask you to remain where you are until consent is given for your departure. Had you not walked—or, shall I say sailed—right into our hands, it might have given us no little trouble to secure you. As it is, things could not have fallen out better. Captain Giggletrap and those who remain with him are hardly to be counted as pawns in the game. You, gentlemen—and he bowed towards us—are the principal pieces, and I am happy to think that we have captured you with so little trouble, and with so complete an absence of bloodshed; for that would have been as distressing to ourselves as doubtless it would have been painful to you. You shall receive food and things necessary to your wants. I regret I cannot offer you many luxuries. Be content with any arrangements I may make for your welfare, and rest assured that if you obey orders any reasonable wish shall be acceded to.'
Having again bowed to us, he retired. I saw Barr thrust his hand into his pocket as though he were about to draw his revolver, but a look from Jezzard caused him to desist, or Barcali would have been a dead man. The motion unfortunately was not lost upon the chief engineer.
'I will trouble you for that weapon sir,' he said, at the same time producing a revolver from his right-hand pocket while he stretched forth his left toward the Scotchman. There was no alternative, and with very bad grace Barr gave up to him the revolver.
'I have no doubt that others of you are armed. You, sir,' he said, pointing to Jezzard, 'have an admirable London six-shooter—Wilkins & Carr make—if I mistake not. Kindly hand it over. Now, it will save further complications if other weapons in your possession are surrendered. I have reason to believe that this gentleman,' and he pointed to Mickleband, 'is also the owner of a revolver.'
'I'll nae gie it up,' said Mickleband, with a stubborn look, and a scowl as black as thunder.
'It would be to your advantage to do so,' returned Barcali. 'If you refuse, I have ways of enforcing my command.'
'Do as the man wishes,' said Jezzard, adding another to his very scarce observations.
As soon as Barcali had possessed himself of the three revolvers, and had been assured by the rest of us that on our honour we were unarmed, he retired as he had come, and I must confess that we were not sorry when we saw the top of his cap—for he still wore his uniform—disappear from sight.
I should have liked to have said something to him about his sister, but on second thoughts decided that it would be better to abstain from any reference to her. For I feared that she would be conveyed to some distant part of the island should her brother imagine that I was unduly interested in her welfare.
In less than half-an-hour we were supplied with hammocks; and the men who slung them up by means of the crane assisted us to drive staples into the hard, rocky sides of the cave on which to swing them.
A cool air blew over us, and induced a sounder and more refreshing sleep than I could have anticipated, so that in the morning we arose well refreshed and ready for anything. Unfortunately there was nothing to do; and, except for the food that was brought to us, and which we recognised as ships' stores, we received no attention during the whole of the day.
From our elevation we could see that there was movement in the distant camp on 'Long Island,' and two boats' loads of pirates sailed away about mid-day towards 'Sharks Straits.' Beyond this nothing happened until near sunset, when once more we received a visit from Mr Adriani Barcali.
After his usual salutation, he began thus,—
'So, Mr Saint George, you are the successful lover. I congratulate you, sir. I congratulate you sincerely and heartily. She is worthy of any man's affection. I allude, of course, as you are well aware, to my beloved sister, Marie. She has been appealing for your life and liberty. I informed her, as I informed you yesterday, that your life was at present in no danger, and that some day you would be at liberty. Like all women, she is impatient, nor can she trust to the honour of her brother, as all sisters ought to. And to emphasise her remarks, she confessed in no unmistakable manner that she was more than ordinarily interested in yourself.'
'I decline to say, sir, whether this be true,' I said. 'It certainly is a matter which can only concern the persons directly concerned.'
'No one can be more interested than my friend Mr Throughton,' returned the chief engineer. 'He is my sister's affianced husband. Be that as it may, it will be well for me to warn you that you abstain from any attempt at communicating with my sister. The result will be a leaden pill, and subsequent severe indigestion. Marie has received the same intimation.'
Having said this, and having glanced round the cave to see that all seven of us were safe and sound, Adriani Barcali retired.
'You may possibly have another visitor in the morning,' he said, as he began to descend the ladder.
After he had gone, we discussed his last words, and wondered whether they had succeeded in laying hands on the other members of our party. We did not see the boats return, and retired to our hammocks somewhat dispirited and uneasy in our minds.
It was soon after sunrise on the following morning we were roused by Gallsworthy and Crab, the two evil-minded seamen who had been ringleaders in the capture of the William Williams. They brought food and water (how we longed for a little tea or coffee), and told us that we were to have a lady visitor.
'This 'ere 'ole gal is a rare weight,' remarked Crab, as he cast loose the tackling of the crane, and began to lower the block towards the ground.
'You do not mean that you are going to swing her up by means of this contrivance?' I said.
The man nodded.
'Eef it preak, she will pe killed,' put in the Norwegian.
'The tackle's strong enough,' growled Gallsworthy. 'She is not 'alf the weight o' some of these ere cases, is she, Bill?'
Then, leaning over the side, they gave a shout to those below, and the straining of the rope and creaking of the block told us that our lady visitor was en route.
It was some time before her head appeared at the entrance to the cave; and then we beheld, seated in an empty chest, which was skilfully slung on ropes, no less a person than her to whom I had been introduced, the 'mother' of Miss Labuan.
'Give us a hand here, my hearties, to haul her ashore!' cried Crab.
We did as he requested, and Mrs Labuan stepped safely on to the rocky floor of the cave.
'Allow me to assist you, madam,' said Frinton, offering his hand to the lady. She stepped out more briskly than I could have imagined possible, for she was upwards of fifty years of age, and very stout. Seldom have I seen a more repulsive face than hers. Not that she was ugly or ill-looking, but there was a look of craft and duplicity in the expression of her eyes, and of cruelty about her thin, compressed lips that impressed us all unfavourably.
'Allow me to offer you a seat, madam,' I said, conducting her to a case marked 'Coined Silver.' She sat down thereon, and signed to the two seamen that they might depart, which they did with a grin on their faces.
'You are doubtless a little surprised to see me,' she began, in a high-pitched, strident voice, 'and you will be equally astonished when you learn the object of my visit.'
'I WAS married before I was eighteen,' she began, 'and to as handsome a sea captain as ever sailed from the port of Genoa. Of Italian parentage, an Englishman by education, he inherited all the virtues of the land which had given him birth, as well as of that which had given him education. His twin brother settled in England, where he died not more than three years ago, having amassed considerable wealth as an importer of olives and other Italian produce. This fortune he left to his daughter Marie, for his son Adriani was what the father was pleased to term unsteady. It was but natural that Adriani should wish to become at least a sharer in his father's fortune; there were legal difficulties, however, and there was the want of willingness on the part of the heiress. These difficulties were one and all removed when Throughton, their father's chief clerk, absconded with the securities which had come into the young lady's possession, but which had not at that time been removed from his custody. These were handed over to my nephew, who at the time was qualifying himself for the post of chief engineer in the Italian navy. Seeing that there was more wealth to be made on the high seas than as chief engineer on board a man-of-war, Adriani took what you English call "French leave," and deserted the national engine-room for a freer atmosphere, adopting at the same time the name of Barcali.
'It was quite natural that Throughton should not wish to go without his reward. For some time he had fixed his affections on one individual. Who that is you will not be slow to guess. At first Adriani was indisposed to bestow on this man the hand of his sister—for she was not consulted. But as Throughton was able, in your English phrase, to "make it warm" for him, he considered that discretion was better than valour, and he acceded to his request.
'It was to be expected that Marie should raise objections to such an arrangement. She is a girl of considerable spirit, and with not a little of her brother's originality of character. Though I must confess that she has never approved of his ways of fortune making.
'But Adriani, assisted by Throughton, used arguments which I need not dwell upon to bring her to their opinion. And yielding to their threats and my own persuasions'—here the lady bowed and smiled with marked self-approval—'she came with them on board the William Williams, with myself as chaperon, for the express purpose of beguiling the crew. It was only by threats that her life would be forfeited in case of her refusal that she yielded. The result is so well known to you, and so fresh in your own minds, that I need hardly describe it.'
Here our visitor paused as though she were expecting us to say something.
For our part we looked at her with no little astonishment. That she had mounted to this elevation merely for the purpose of relating to us this portion of her family history was more than we could have imagined possible, nor could we think that it was her desire to excite our sympathy for her niece. No, there was something more; so we waited.
Still she spoke not, but looked from one to the other as though trying to read our thoughts. Presently Hardanger blurted out, 'You might haf saved yourself zee trouble, madam, of coming up to zis crow's-nest, if zat is all you haf to tell us.'
'No, no!' she replied, as if she had reserved the most important thing, after the fashion of her sex, for the postscript, 'I have something to propose, a suggestion, which I am sure, under the circumstances, will meet with your approval. As a condition of your liberty one of your number shall be allowed to return to your camp on "Long Island," with a message that those who wish to leave this place shall be conveyed to a safe port on certain conditions.'
'And the conditions, madam?' I said.
'Before I lay them before you are you willing to accept them?' said she.
'We wullna pledge oursel's blindfold to onything,' said Mickleband.
And the rest of us nodded our heads emphatically in support.
'Then I will lay the conditions before you; but remember that liberty, and perhaps even life itself, for you and for the rest of the passengers of the William Williams, depends upon your assent to our conditions.'
'Why do you say "our"?' I asked.
'Because I have thrown in my lot with these men.'
'Well?' said the others, impatiently.
'First, Captain Giggletrap must sign a paper to the effect that he agrees to our sharing the gold intended for the Bank of Yokohama as well as the whole of the contents of the steamship; secondly, that he will sign a document declaring upon his honour that he will never divulge to any living soul the details of this mutiny, or the names of those concerned in it, and that he will never appear as witness should any of them be arrested; thirdly, you, gentlemen, and every member of your party, as well as the rest of the crew, must sign similar documents. Finally, the whole of you must make confirmatory oaths in the presence of the whole of our band.'
Again she looked round as if to see how we would take her iniquitous suggestions.
'And then?' said Jezzard.
'Why, then,' she said—'then you must throw yourselves upon the mercy of my nephew and Mr Throughton.'
'Never!'said Jezzard.
'I'm blessed if I do,' put in Frinton.
The rest of us expressed our dissent with equal emphasis.
'Your reply to our proposal is in the negative?'
'Most decidedly.'
'And you will pledge yourselves to nothing?'
'No. Except that we will get away from this place as quickly as possible and on the first opportunity.'
Now it was that we saw a sparkle in the woman's eyes—a feline, fiendish light that warned us we were dealing with a dangerous personage. She arose and bowed, saying, 'I thank you for your courtesy in listening to me, and I trust that your sojourn among us will not be wearisome. When next we meet it will be under different circumstances.'
So saying, she bowed again and retired, as gracefully as her portly form would admit, to the packing-case on the edge of the abyss. Then, when she had stowed herself safely therein, we thrust her adrift as though she was being launched into space, and those below who had charge of the ropes lowered her steadily to the foot of the cliff.
As soon as she had departed (I regret to record it) we irreverently burst into loud laughter. There was something so ludicrous in the manner in which this stout, though crafty matron had visited us, that it was some time before we could settle down to discuss the situation.
'I wonder why Barcali sent his aunt up here in this fashion?' I said.
'Depend upon it he does nothing without a reason,' observed Questover. 'Bad lookout for you, sir,' he added, with a wink and a grin at myself; and I understood him to refer to Marie Labuan.
But although we discussed and re-discussed, and set forth our opinions, and corrected and re-corrected them throughout the whole of that livelong day, we could see nothing but capitulation, or the vengeance of the whole band of mutineers.
One thing struck me in our conversation through those long, weary hours, and it was that Jezzard spoke very seldom and appeared to take very little interest in our talk.
He would rise from time to time, and try to lift some of the cases of bullion. He would open those whose lids were not fastened, and tap others.
'Like a terrier after a rat,' whispered Questover.
'Maybe he smells a rat which we have not even suspected,' observed Frinton.
Just before sunset Gallsworthy and Crab ascended with our provisions. We tried to get into conversation with them, but it was useless. Not a word would they reply, and in a very few minutes descended the ladder.
As we consumed our evening meal the darkness fell with the rapidity usual in these latitudes. Then it was that Jezzard spoke.
'I ha' been thinkin',' he observed. The rest of us stopped eating and looked at him. 'I ha' been thinkin',' he repeated, 'that there's no chance of escape fra' this place till we know a little more aboot the ways o' those folk down below. I'll gang awa' down to them sometime to-night.'
'And be shot!' said John Barr, in a satirical tone.
'In that case ye'll ken it's na use tryin',' he returned sarcastically.
Then he unfolded to us his scheme, which was as follows:—He would, he said, descend the ladder soon after midnight, and make an attempt to break away through the guards. Should it be possible to do this unperceived, he would endeavour somehow to reach 'Long Island' and to communicate with Captain Giggletrap and his men, bringing them to our rescue. At least, if he could do no more, he proposed he should try to discover what the plans of the buccaneers might be with regard to ourselves.
It was not improbable, he thought, that, after our point-blank refusal to accept the suggestions which had been made to us, Barcali and Throughton would be discussing their future plans with 'Auntie,' as we had nicknamed our visitor, in which case it would not be impossible, though probably highly dangerous, for Jezzard to listen to their conversation outside the hut, and he hoped that he would be able to bring away information which would at least guide our future.
We endeavoured to dissuade him from undertaking so rash an expedition, pointing out its many dangers and the improbability of any great measure of success. He asked us in return whether we could suggest any better and alternative scheme, and on our replying in the negative stated his determination to succeed. We talked with him concerning his proposed venture for a long time. It was a dark night; there was neither moon nor stars, for the former had not risen, and a flying scud obscured the light of the latter.
About eleven o'clock Jezzard said that he must make preparations for departure. A hundred and fifty feet below us we could hear the steady and rhythmical beat of the sentries' footsteps, but Jezzard cared not for them.
'They wull run awa' if they get sight of me,' he remarked, as he divested himself of his clothing.
Of course we could not see what he was doing, for the interior of the cave was as black as Erebus.
As soon as this was done, he asked me to open the third chest of the top row on the right-hand side, saying that I should find two packets within. Following his directions, I discovered the packets, one of which he said contained blacklead and the other a bottle of oil.
'I learnt this trick in India,' said he, 'from a Thug. Just rub me well over from head to foot with blacklead and oil. The notion came to me as soon as I found them.'
We did as he requested, until the whole of his white skin disappeared, and he was blacker than a negro and ten times more slippery than an eel.
Then, black, slippery, and stark naked as he was, he said one word, 'Good-bye,' and disappeared through the mouth of the cave.
Holding our breath, we listened for his footsteps; indeed Frinton and I, lying at full length on the ground, endeavoured to compass our own destruction by over-balancing ourselves into the depths, and had it not been for Barr and Hardanger I am sure that we should have arrived at the foot of the cliff ahead of Jezzard.
As it was, so completely was he in agreement with the blackness and silence of his environment that neither sight nor sound was apparent to our senses.
He was gone, gone as completely as though he had descended into the grave.
FOR some hours we awaited Jezzard's return but when the earliest streaks of dawn shone into our elevated perch between 'Long Island' and 'Round Island' we began to be alarmed both for his safety and that the cause of his absence might be discovered. If he had escaped Barcali and his men there was a fear lest he should have failed to secure a boat, and as the still waters outside 'Great Island' were probably swarming with sharks, there was a chance that he had proved a meal for one or more of these hungry monsters.
'Before long we shall have visitors,' remarked Frinton, 'and how shall we account for Jezzard's absence?'
This was a poser, for it was certain that if the ill-natured Gallsworthy and Crab brought our breakfast and should miss Jezzard they would ask such awkward questions that his flight would be discovered.
'I have it!' cried Jimmy Questover. 'Let us rig up a dummy and place it in his hammock. It will be easy enough to manage, for here are his clothes.'
'But how on earth are we to stuff them?' I rejoined.
'Hunt up something out of these cases,' said Barr.
So we set to work to discover stuffing for Jezzard's clothing.
After considerable search among the cases, we discovered sufficient paper in which the bullion and silver were wrapped to make up a very respectable image of our missing friend.
We had some difficulty in forming a head, but even this was got over at last, and to keep it company Mickleband got into the next hammock in such a way as to partly conceal his supposed companion from prying and inquisitive eyes.
Nor were our preparations completed a minute too soon. Hardly had our living companion placed himself in company with the dummy one when we heard the footsteps of men ascending the ladder, and presently the ugly visages of Gallsworthy and Crab appeared in the opening.
We saluted them with a 'Good morning,' and tried to look unconcerned at their advent. They seemed more than usually surly.
'What's the matter wi' them two?' asked Gallsworthy, pointing towards the hammocks.
'Don't feel very well,' said Frinton; 'inclined to lie down a while.'
Our questioner grunted something about 'a leaden pill being the best medicine for them,' and then the men turned and descended the ladder.
When they had gone we breathed freely, though Questover nearly gave us away by laughing a little too heartily before the men had reached the foot of the cliff.
I looked out and saw them stop as they heard the sound of his merriment, and for a moment I thought they were coming back, but luckily we managed to check Questover in time.
Throughout the greater part of that day we anxiously kept our eyes upon the sandhills of 'Long Island,' in the hope that some signal thereon would inform us that Jezzard had arrived there in safety.
But though one or another of us kept incessant watch we could see nothing unusual. Perhaps had we known what was to happen to us before evening our minds would have been even more filled with anxiety.
It was at about three o'clock in the afternoon that Crab the mutineer visited us.
'You are to follow me,' he said gruffly.
'What! down there?' we said, pointing to the ladder.
'Where else can ye go?' he responded, with an unrecordable oath.
We looked at one another, for now we were face to face with a great difficulty. How were we to explain the absence of Jezzard?
'Go on, Crab, ve vill vollow,' said Hardanger; so Crab descended, and the six of us who remained in the cave followed him one by one.
To the two Scotchmen, Mickleband and Barr, who were unaccustomed to climbing, the descent was extremely perilous, for, as I have said before, the ladder was very rickety. But in due course we all arrived on terra firma.
'Follow me!' said our conductor—how I should have loved to have knocked the fellow down—and in a few minutes we found ourselves in an open space a little to the north-west of the place of our incarceration.
Here, seated under a wide-spreading tree, with a table before them which had evidently been taken from a ship's cabin, were Barcali, Throughton and 'Auntie.' On either side was a file of men armed with rifles. They were drawn up in semi-military fashion, and it was evident that they were entirely subservient to Barcali's commands.
That worthy eyed us closely as we drew near, and his first remark showed plainly enough that he was wide awake.
'There are but six of you,' he began.
Frinton explained that one of our number was unable to come down.
'Too nervous to descend the ladder, eh?' said Barcali. 'Well, we can transact our business without him, I suppose, and you can tell him the news on your return. We have sent for you,' he continued, 'that you may have one more opportunity in addition to the offer made to you by this lady on our behalf,' and he bowed to her who was known to us as Mrs Labuan. 'She informs us that you refuse to accede to my demands. Are you of the same mind still?'
We looked at one another for five seconds, and then I said:—
'Barcali, you are a great villain, and we know that no amount of documents or signatures would ensure that you keep faith with us. It would be useless, therefore, as it would be dishonourable and wicked, for us to do as you have suggested. On behalf of myself and my companions I say again that your proposals are rejected.'
He scowled at me as I finished these words, and there was a sparkle in his eyes which spoke of fierce anger and fiendish hate.
'Ah! you are a righteous lot!' he snarled, 'and it would serve you right if I put your principles to the test. Nay, I will do so. I give you ten minutes to decide. Yield to my demands, or the twelfth minute will see you stretched upon these sands dead men.'
'We want not ten minutes,' I said; 'if need be we will die at once like brave men, for our minds are made up.'
For five minutes—it seemed an eternity—we stood facing the trio. On either side the files of armed men stood waiting and motionless. Then a strange thing happened. Mrs Labuan all at once bent forward and whispered something in her nephew's ear.
'Not the least use,' he replied, 'Better finish the job at once—has to be done in the end. Then we'll polish off the rest.' She whispered in his ear again. 'Be it so,' he said; 'it is but postponing the hour.'
Then turning to ourselves he addressed us as follows:—
'This lady is your advocate, it seems,' and he smiled and again bowed towards Mrs Labuan. 'She asks for a reprieve. You are under sentence of death, but the execution is postponed. Return to the cave, and await further orders.'
We did not deign to reply, but turned away from Barcali, and, escorted by Crab, made for the foot of the cliff.
'Could we not run for it?' said Questover.
'And be shot down like rabbits before we got thirty yards,' responded Frinton.
There was nothing for it but to return to our prison. Wearily and sorrowfully we climbed the creaking ladder, and without a word seated ourselves upon the various packing-cases and lapsed into moody silence.
'It seems to me,' said Frinton at last, 'that we shall have to make up our minds to end our unhappy existence within the next twenty-four hours. Barcali is as determined as he is unscrupulous, and there is nothing for it but to prepare for death.'
Although we were all of the same mind, we were not willing so soon to say die, and after a time again began to discuss plans for escape.
Barr suggested that we should imitate Jezzard—with or without the blacklead and oil—and one by one make a dash for our friends on 'Long Island.' To this it was objected that none of us knew yet whether Jezzard was dead or alive. If the former, we should in all probability share his fate. At any rate there was a chance of escape, whereas, as matters stood, our destruction was inevitable.
While we were thus talking, arguing and meditating, a new and curious sound in the further right-hand corner of the cave arrested our attention.
'Rats!' said Questover.
'Nonsense!' replied Barr.
'Zere is no doubt about it!' said Hardanger.
'Don't believe it!' returned Mickleband.
The noise began again, and we listened intently.
'Hark!' exclaimed Questover, 'that's a man's voice.'
We looked toward the entrance to the cave, expecting to see the form of one of our enemies; but, no one appearing, we again looked at each other after a questioning manner.
'Never mind the rats, let's discuss our plans,' said Barr.
But we were not allowed to do this, for the muffled but unmistakable voice of Jezzard was heard saying,—
'It's na use; it's na use. I canna move this box.'
For a moment we looked at one another in horrified astonishment. Then we gazed at the cases of gold and silver, wondering in which one our friend could be encoffined.
Our inaction, however, did not last long. With one accord we rushed into the corner where we had heard the supposed rats and began tugging away at the heavy chests, opening some and tapping others, and wondering all the while what could be the meaning of Jezzard's extraordinary return.
'A leetle mair to the right!' said his sepulchral voice, almost under our feet.
We tugged and lifted at a great case—the lowest of a considerable pile which we had moved—too astonished to speak, and fully anticipating—though how we could not understand—that we should find our friend within. The lid was securely fastened, but we pulled back the chest from the side of the cave, when lo! a hole in the floor yawned at our feet. Within the opening we could see plainly enough that something was moving, and in a few seconds the black head of Jezzard appeared, and this was followed by his equally black body.
'Gie me a rub doon, ma freens,' he said. 'I shall be vera glad to git into my ain clothes. I was never intended to go aboot in a state of nature.'
We rubbed him down and assisted him to dress, wondering all the time what could be the explanation of his reappearance, and thankful beyond measure that he was still in the land of the living. As soon as we had rubbed off the major part of the grease and the blacklead, and he was attired in his own raiment, Jezzard sat down on the corner of the chest, after we had carefully replaced the cases in their accustomed position, and related to us his story.
He told us that as he was descending the ladder he happened to thrust his hand against the face of the cliff to steady his descent. At first it appeared to him that his hand, being slippery with the oil, failed to find a hold on the smooth surface. But as he pressed harder he became aware that he had unwittingly swung round on its pivot a stone let into the cliff side, and so skilfully fashioned that it could not be distinguished from the natural formation of the rock. The outside of the stone was rough—evidently purposely left so—but Jezzard told us that the sides were smooth and fitted like a glove in the opening.
At first he had hesitated to enter the black cavity revealed, but, by pushing his foot forward inch by inch, he had found that there was a solid floor, and then he had ventured.
He said that he had the greatest difficulty in swinging himself from the ladder into the newly-discovered passage, for it was pitch dark, and he knew not where he should be landed. But the chance that he would here be able to discover a secret passage to the ground, by means of which he might elude the vigilance of the sentry at the foot, was too good a one to be lost. Narrowly escaping a fall to the bottom of the cliff, he succeeded in squeezing himself along a very narrow passage. It was rough-hewn, and in places the sides rubbed his shoulders somewhat painfully. Having no light, nor any means of obtaining one, it was requisite that he should proceed with the greatest caution. The passage soon began to incline downwards, and, fearing lest he should be precipitated into some frightful abyss, he felt nervously with his foot each step as he advanced. Presently he arrived at a flight of steps which seemed to be leading towards the foot of the cliff. Advancing cautiously down the winding staircase, he was presently astonished by seeing a dim glimmer, which seemed to come up from the bowels of the earth beneath. Advancing a little further, a sound struck upon his ear. It was a long-drawn, regular snore. There was no doubt about it. Someone was asleep not many yards away. Creeping downwards with all the caution of the Thugs, from whom he had learnt the trick of oiling his body, he presently came to an opening through which he discerned a spacious cave, not unlike the place of our imprisonment.
He noted with some interest that the steps on which he stood had long been untrodden, for right across the entrance into this cave was a pile of stones and débris which had fallen from the roof, and which more than half blocked the doorway. He supposed that those who were using the lower cavern could have no idea of the existence of the passage through which he had descended.
Stretched upon the floor, on a ship's mattress, lay the form of one of the mutineers. At first Jezzard imagined that he was a sentry who was neglecting his duty; but, observing the remains of a meal by the bedside, he came to the conclusion that the man, like ourselves, was a prisoner who had probably been sentenced by Barcali to solitary confinement for insubordination or neglect of duty.
What was of supreme importance in Jezzard's eyes was the fact that, hanging on a rusty hook in the side of the cave, was a ship's lantern. It gave a strong light, and showed the sleeper's features clearly.
Resolved to possess himself of the light for the purpose of further investigations, Jezzard had attempted to squeeze himself through the narrow opening on the top of the fallen pile of stones. Unluckily for him a couple of boulders looser than the rest became detached and rolled with a startling rattle across the floor, one of them bounding against the back of the sleeper. Before Jezzard could either advance or retreat the man had sprung to his feet and had seized the intruder by the throat. Our friend was taken at a disadvantage, for half of his frame was still within the passage, but his neck and shoulders were so slippery that the seaman was unable to retain his hold, and Jezzard would probably have given a good account of himself had there not come another fall of rock, which had only been waiting for a slight shake to dislodge it, and Jezzard and the mutineer were alike buried beneath the stones.
HOW long he lay unconscious under the heap of stones Jezzard did not know. When he came to himself he found that he had thrust aside some of the weightier portions and was lying exposed to the air. The place was in darkness, and hearing no sound he felt about for his foe's body, but his hands came in contact with nothing but hard and unyielding rock. Thrusting aside the rubbish which still encumbered his legs, and sorely battered by the fall of stones which had stunned him, he managed presently to rise to his feet and to clamber forward cautiously into the cave. Here again he encountered nobody, and the thought struck him either that the man was dead and still lying under the stones, or that he had in some way escaped and departed.
As soon as he had come to this conclusion, Jezzard determined first to ascertain whether the lamp had been removed. To his intense joy it still hung upon the rusty hook, and, what gave him infinite satisfaction, there was a box of matches within the case. In a few seconds a welcome gleam of light shone on his black and glistening form, none too warm after his late contact with the cold rocks, and upon tiers of boxes, crates and bales, the spoil of more than one good vessel which had fallen a victim to Barcali's fiendish craft.
His first effort was to discover what had become of his opponent. There was no sign of him in the chamber. In one corner of it, however, lay a hat, battered and bruised, which Jezzard recognised as the one which had been worn by the man.
Close to this spot a dark cavity showed where the staircase hewn through the rock descended towards the foot of the cliff. Down this Jezzard proceeded for some distance with great caution, arriving at the bottom at a stout door which had evidently been made of ship's planking.
Esteeming it wiser to retire than to show his light under the said door, our friend now retraced his footsteps, and searched more thoroughly among the fallen rock for his missing enemy. Unable to find him, he had returned up the passage by which he had originally come. Before arriving at the narrow slit in the rock which he had discovered on his way down the ladder, Jezzard left his lantern on the steps, and then went forward to close the door, lest, perchance, a light should shine from the face of the cliff and give unmistakable evidence that something was astir within.
Having accomplished this, he proceeded to search further for a continuation of the staircase to the upper cavern. For some time he could see no sign that any such passage or staircase existed, and he began to fear that he should have to go back and brave the dangers below.
Fortunately he was not called upon to do this, for in a lucky moment his hand touched what seemed to be a natural piece of rock, and on giving it a good thrust, to his astonishment and delight a sort of panel moved back, disclosing a rough but perfectly climbable flight of steps.
He was ascending these when, with a splutter, the flame of his lamp diminished, flickered and expired. Perceiving that it would be perfectly useless to us without oil, he left it behind and pressed on in the darkness.
Great caution was now necessary, for he knew not what obstacle he might encounter, or into what rift or chasm he might unwittingly fall. When at last, however, his head came in contact with what seemed hard and unyielding rock, he declared that he sank down with a groan, feeling certain that there was no egress in this direction.
It was while he sat thus cold and shivering in the dark, that the thought struck him forcibly that the staircase could not have been cut out for nothing. Unless it happened to be a piece of unfinished work, these steps must lead somewhere, and where could that be if it were not the cavern in which we were confined?
After this he rose to his feet, resolved that no inch of rock above or about him should remain unexamined. For a long time, kneeling on the uppermost steps in a cramped and strained position, he minutely examined the surface of the rock immediately above his head. Not a crevice, not an irregularity in its surface escaped his investigations. Pressing here, pulling there, he endeavoured to remove an imaginary panel. And it was not until hope had almost faded into despair that something gave way, he knew not what, and he found that he could raise the great slab on which he had been operating.
Thrusting upwards with all his might, and with both head and hands, Jezzard strained the stone till his joints cracked again, and at length, to his great joy, he was able to move it aside sufficiently to allow his body to pass through the opening.
A few inches above this his progress was blocked by yet another obstacle, but this time he felt that instead of stone it was of a texture and consistency that proclaimed it to be wood. At the same moment subdued sounds reached him, which he soon recognised as being our voices.
'Ye'll hae na need for me tae tell ye the rest,' he said.
'Bless me!' I exclaimed, 'we thought you were rats!'
'I should hae been rats vera soon, if I'd stayed in that black hole.'
We were all silent for a time, for this discovery of Jezzard's so plainly opened up a new way of escape, that we each sat working out schemes, and I doubt not but that all had the same three objects in view, viz., to outwit Barcali, to rejoin Captain Giggletrap, and somehow or other to convey the chests of treasure to 'Long Island.'
Questover had just ejaculated a preparatory, 'I say!' when he stopped, for there was borne up to us weird, eerie sounds, not from outside, but from underneath our feet.
I remember it struck me at the time that there was a methodical rhythm running through these strange sounds. I do not mind confessing that my pulse beat quicker as I listened, and when I glanced at my companions I saw that, with the exception of Jezzard, their faces were pale.
We were none of us cowards, but it is no disgrace to a physically brave man to be fearful of the uncanny, and in truth the situation was uncanny enough. Here were we in a cave high up on the face of an unscalable precipice; at the bottom were our implacable enemies, Barcali & Co., and coming up from the bowels of the earth were strange, awesome sounds, to be compared, if one must find a comparison, to the wailing litany of ghostly monks.
At last I found my voice.
'Quick! Let us move back the chests. We must know what this is.'
It did not take us long to do it, and as soon as the opening was clear there floated up with greater distinctness the voices of men singing in unison. The smoke and smell of burning torches reached our nostrils, and Jezzard, with characteristic directness, exclaimed,—
'They're na ghosts! Speerits dinna carry torches.'
'Then what are they?' said John Barr.
We bent over the opening and listened intently. At first it was impossible to distinguish words accurately, but presently Questover started back with, 'Surely I must be dreaming!'
'What do you mean, man?' I whispered, for I stood next to him.
He did not reply for a few seconds, for he was listening again.
'Well, I'm jiggered!' he said, 'if this doesn't lick creation.'
'What is it?' demanded Frinton.
'Why, they're singing in Latin,' returned the apprentice.
We turned and stared at the lad, thinking that our troubles had disturbed his mental equilibrium, but there was no sign of insanity in Questover's intelligent blue eyes.
'It is—it is what I said!' he cried. 'I remember enough of my Latin to know what language they are singing. Listen!'
And up through the narrow, cavernous opening, like a strain borne through the aisle of some cathedral, bringing to our minds visions of scenes far distant, came the words—
'Quid dejicis te, anima mea, et quid perstrepis in me?'
We turned and looked at each other, and in the faint light that came in through the entrance to the cavern we saw amazement written on each other's faces.
As the sounds drew nearer and the scent of burning wood stronger, we kept cautiously out of sight, every moment expecting to see the leaders of some strange procession appear.
Then the sounds began to die away, as though our ghostly visitants were retreating.
'We must find out who they are before they depart,' I said, making a move as though I would descend into the cavity at our feet.
'Allow me!' said Jezzard, thrusting me gently aside. 'Where I've been once I can go again.'
So saying, he slipped down out of our sight, leaving us in a state of anxious expectation.
It was fully ten minutes before he returned, and we could see that even the taciturn Scotchman was greatly excited.
'Hech, mon,' he cried, grasping me by the hand, 'but they're the queerest loons I ever saw!'
Then he told us that before he had gone many yards down the passage he had come across another and broader staircase which he had missed in the darkness, and which seemed to lead up to the summit of the cliff. It was illuminated by a fitful smoky glare, which could come from nothing but torches of resinous wood. Perceiving that the procession was approaching him, Jezzard had squeezed himself into a narrow recess, determined to see all he could. Chanting over and over again the same words, they slowly filed past him, looking neither to the right nor to the left.
Tall and well-knit in frame, of olive complexion, possessing aquiline noses, thin, well-chiselled lips, and black hair, they were, said Jezzard, as fine a body of men as ever he had seen.
He who headed the procession wore a purple cloak, fringed with curious embroidery, a chaplet of flowers about his head, he was shod with sandals, and bore in his hand a short and broad-bladed sword. 'For all the world,' said Jezzard, 'like Julius Caesar himself.' His followers bore a narrow bier on which reposed the body of a man.
When they had passed, and the sound of their chanting was getting fainter and fainter, Jezzard had returned to us.
'Then this is our way of escape,' I said. 'We have but to follow this party to get clear of Barcali and Throughton and their bloodthirsty crew.'
Once more we heard the sound of the Latin chant; it seemed to be approaching us again. Fearful that these curious people were about to enter the cave, some of us made for the opening, thinking to descend, at least for a distance, by means of the ladder; but even while we were considering what we should do, over our very heads we heard the tramp of feet and the muffled wail of the dirge.
'The cliffs must be honeycombed with passages,' I said.
'And this funeral procession is making for the summit,' said Frinton.
'Or for the valley beyond the hills,' suggested Mickleband.
We now held a hasty consultation as to our future course. If we remained where we were a few hours would settle our fate, so far as Barcali was concerned, for we had little doubt but that he would carry out his threat. The alternative was to throw ourselves upon the mercy of our mysterious visitors. In order to do this it was necessary that we should make their acquaintance. We felt no great fear of them, and at any rate they were less likely than the mutineers to put us to death.
After some discussion it was decided that Hardanger and I should follow the funeral party. We could still hear their voices, and had no doubt that we should come upon them without difficulty.
While we were bidding our comrades a hasty farewell, the dirge ceased, and the tramp of feet was renewed.
'Surely they are not going?' said Barr.
'If so we had better be off,' I retorted.
It was my plan that we should conceal ourselves in the place in which Jezzard had witnessed the procession, and that there we should address the leader of the party on their return.
We waited here for some time, but the sounds above, instead of drawing nearer, gradually died away.
'I beleef zey are leafing us,' remarked Hardanger, presently.
This suggestion alarmed me. Could it be that there was some other exit from this labyrinth of staircases and chambers? It was plain enough to me that the chamber above the treasure cavern, of which probably Barcali and his associates knew nothing, was not very far from the top of the cliff, and it was quite probable that our remarkable visitors, instead of descending to the level of the shore, would pass away over the hills to the western side of 'Great Island.'
'The best thing we can do,' I said, 'is to follow the course of the procession from the point where it passed Jezzard, and get into this chamber over the treasure cave. Then we shall soon discover the exit to the top of the cliff—if such an exit there be. After that we can return for the others.'
Crawling along cautiously in the dark we slowly ascended the rough and tortuous way until we caught sight of a faint gleam of light.
'Zis is zee place,' whispered Hardanger.
Advancing another few steps, we peered through the narrow doorway into as strange a place as ever I had seen.
Some spluttering torches on the floor revealed a long, low chamber with sandstone walls, covered with carved figures and words. Deep niches were all around, and each had as its occupant a grinning, hideous skeleton! Some were clothed in rags, the remains of splendid finery still clung to the limbs of others. Some there were with the brown skin drawn tightly over their faces, others lolled in their niches, their framework of bones barely holding together. One and all grasped in their fleshless hands gaudily-painted sceptres, and on their whitening and repulsive skulls were fantastic crowns, glittering, as we could see, with precious stones.
I glanced away from these hideous figures round the cave. Lying on a pedestal in the middle of the apartment was the dead man of whom Jezzard had spoken. In his hand, too, was a sceptre, and on his breast lay a replica of the crowns worn by his dead companions.
I advanced closer—Hardanger was still gazing as if fascinated at the sight of the occupants of the niches—and saw that all round the edges of the slab or pedestal were inscribed Latin words!
On one side of the slab I noticed the words—'VICTOR CONSUL IN PACE.'
On the other side I read—'SEPULTUS EST VI KAL. IVLIVS.'
'Look here, Hardanger,' I cried, 'I have almost forgotten the scrap of Latin hammered into my dull head at school, but I think we have here the date of this poor fellow's interment.'
We stooped together to inspect the inscription more narrowly, when a sudden blow on the back of my head caused darkness to close round me, and I remembered no more.
I DID not know till afterwards that Hardanger had resisted capture bravely, though he had been overpowered, not by superior strength, but because, just as he had stretched one of his two opponents prone on the floor, he had stumbled and placed himself at a disadvantage.
I opened my eyes to find my head aching terribly, while I was lying on a grassy sward surrounded by a hundred or more of the olive-skinned men.
'Where am I?' I gasped feebly, gazing up at the trees in wonderment, and marvelling how they came to grow in the engine-room of the William Williams.
The throbbing of my head sounded like the pulsation of the engines, and I expected every moment to hear the 'ding-ding' of the telegraph from the bridge, summoning us to put her 'Full speed ahead.'
'You've just voke up, Saint George, in time to be killed, unless you can recomember your Latin.'
I raised my head and looked around.
I was lying in a cup-shaped hollow, some twelve or fifteen feet deep, and as far as I could judge about twenty-five yards wide at the base. Round the sides ran three tiers, rising one above the other like a terraced lawn. These were so regular that they must have been man's handiwork, although of many years ago, for in places their outlines were lost in the mass of luxuriant vegetation.
The whole place gave me the idea of a miniature Roman amphitheatre; and, as if further to fix that impression, I saw at one end a rude elevated seat made out of a tree cut down to within seven or eight feet of the ground The daïs on which this throne-like seat stood was evidently artificial, having been made, I should say, by stones and earth, which were piled round the foot of the tree.
I raised myself a little, and then another seat met my eyes. It immediately faced the one I have just described, and differed from it only in that it was smaller and the cut-out portion of the trunk was deeper. The back of the first one too was solid, but this had a groove extending down the centre. I noticed also that dark red stains had discoloured the yellow wood.
On the grassy tiers sat fifty or sixty men, each one clad in exactly the same fashion. I could not for the moment recall to mind what their dress reminded me of, and it was while I was thinking of this that Hardanger's voice again broke the silence.
'Meester Saint George,' said he, slowly and solemnly, 'eef you don't speak some Latin, Meester Barcali will be disappointed.'
I was still confused from the blow on my head, and the reality of things had not yet penetrated my brain; so, more from the idea that I was taking part in some realistic dream than any other motive, I slowly quoted the line,
'Recubans sub tegmine fagi,'
which indeed described my situation exactly.
All this time I had not looked at Hardanger, who had been standing to the left and almost behind me.
As soon as I had said those few words, although there had been silence before, I could feel the utter astonishment they produced in the assembly. There was a tense feeling in the air—the feeling produced by men suppressing intense emotion.
I staggered to my feet, and I should have fallen had not Hardanger supported me.
Then there strode forward one who was evidently the leader.
Gazing steadfastly at Hardanger and myself, he spoke rapidly and excitedly. It was impossible to follow him, but I could distinguish Latin words here and there.
When he had finished I was at a loss what to say, but with a happy inspiration I said very slowly, the words, 'Civis Romanus sum,' repeating them thrice.
As the man continued to gaze at me in speechless amazement, I held out my hand, again repeating, 'Civis Romanus sum.'
Whereupon the tall, olive-hued fellow grasped my hand in his great fist, smiling the while over the whole of his face with a joy quite indescribable.
To say that I was delighted myself would most inadequately express my feelings. I felt a glow of enthusiasm for the magnificent-looking man, and a sense of intense gratitude for his look and grasp of friendliness.
Still holding my hand in his, he waved toward the ancient-looking individuals who sat in solemn silence about the amphitheatre. Solemnly they advanced towards him, upon which he spoke to them some words in what I supposed was the Latin tongue, but with an accent so curious that I am sure few would have understood him.
There was no doubt, however, of his friendly intentions, nor, for the matter of that, of theirs; for when they understood from their leader that I knew something of their language they began to ply me with incomprehensible questions, which, happily, I was able to answer by nods and smiles.
It is wonderful how misfortune quickens our wits. Flashes of long-forgotten Latin grammar, words that I had wept over in my schoolboy days—and not without reason—came into my mind. Reaching forth my disengaged hand towards Hardanger, I presented him to these Roman-like men with the word 'amicus,' thrice repeated, and like myself he was warmly received by our new friends.
In a few moments we were conducted to seats of honour next to that of the chief, and were beginning to wonder what would happen next, when, to our surprise, two men were led forward and placed before him.
Hardanger whispered to me, 'Zese are zee vellows who attacked us in zee burial chamber.'
'Gracious!' I returned, 'what are they going to do with them?'
We were not long kept in suspense. Addressing them in a few angry words, the chief man pointed towards the aforementioned curious seat, carved from the trunk of a tree, having a slit in the back, and which stood on the extreme south of the amphitheatre.
The half-dozen men with drawn swords who accompanied the couple, on arriving at this place, placed one of them within the chair.
I did not quite grasp that a tragedy was about to happen; yet I noticed a man dressed somewhat different to the others slip behind the tree trunk.
The poor wretch in the chair seemed paralysed with fear, and when the chief man (or consul, as he afterwards turned out to be), advanced slowly towards him from the opposite side of the arena, I thought that the man would collapse utterly. But he pulled himself together and faced the chief.
The latter, uttering some words which I did not catch, with an imprecation drew his finger down the doomed man's chest. At the same moment the poor fellow sprang forward with a half-stifled yell on his pallid lips, and then, to our horror, he fell forward on the grass dead, his back literally ripped open.
Dumbfounded, we gazed at the horrid sight; but when the second man was led forward I could stand it no longer. The truth flashed across me that these men were suffering for having handled us roughly in the Death Chamber, and I determined at least to save the life of this one.
Forgetting all about my Latin, and unable to control myself, I cried out, 'Stop this, old fellow! let's have no more blood-shedding,' and suiting the action to the words, I started off at the top of my speed, followed by Hardanger, in the direction of the second culprit, whom they were just placing within the chair of execution.
The man somehow felt that we were his friends; for, stretching out his hands towards us, he thrust aside his guards, and, with a piteous 'Miserere,' fell on his knees at our feet.
Taking the fellow by the hand, I raised him up, and led him back to the place from which we had started—that is to say, before the chair of the chief, who, I must confess, looked anything but pleased at our interference.
By the light of the torches, for it was still very dark, I could see that there was an angry and revengeful look in the eyes of the executioner, who had been robbed of a victim.
Hastily stepping forward between ourselves and the chief, he harangued the king and the surrounding men at some length, though, except a word here and there, I could not understand him. It was plain enough, however, what the fellow was driving at, for he pointed to me and to Hardanger, as well as to the unfortunate man, with highly significant gestures.
By way of reply, the chief drew his double-bladed sword, and waved it in a peculiar fashion in the air. Though this signal was not understood by us, it was by the Romans (for such I must now call them). Twenty of them sprang forward, and, to my horror, seized Hardanger as though they intended to make, him a substitute for the man we had liberated.
For five seconds the huge Norwegian squared his elbows, and looked at his assailants as a mastiff at tormenting terriers. Then, with a roar like a savage lion, he bowled three of them over with such force that in their fall they brought down three others.
'Come on, Mr Saint George,' shouted our Hercules, 'zee villains cannot fight,' and he rushed among the remainder as a Malay runs amok, hitting out right and left, till only three or four were left standing of those who had attempted his capture.
These, possessing more discretion than valour, retreated with all speed from the arena, leaving Oscar Hardanger, with a good-humoured smile upon his face, bowing towards the chief as though he had merely been exhibiting the strength of his muscles.
I looked at the chief, wondering what would happen now. He himself was, as I have said, a splendidly-made man, who would have made a doughty opponent for Hardanger had he entered the lists. Stepping forward, but not to fight, his face beaming now with admiration, and his eyes frankly expressing that Hardanger had risen very high in his estimation, he grasped the Norwegian's hand, and, still retaining it, turned about and faced the assembly. His speech was quite beyond my powers to interpret, but, watching the men, I saw that the purport of it was that we were to be regarded as friends, and treated with respect.
We soon had a practical proof of this, for refreshments were brought to us, the whole body of men standing while we sat down on the grass and partook of the food.
It was a strange scene. The torches, while they illuminated the hollow, caused also dark shadows to be cast; and beyond and round about us the darkness seemed more intense by reason of this spot alone being in light.
Our hosts seemed out of harmony with their surroundings. It seemed an anomaly to find in this island in the Pacific men wearing the Roman toga, and with complexions scarcely darker than a native of Spain.
When Hardanger and I had finished the food placed before us, one of the men conducted us to a seat on the highest of the grassy tiers. From his gestures we understood that we were to remain there while some ceremony took place which our coming had delayed.
I need not further refer to this, except to say that, so far as we could understand, it was the formal election of the chief as king or consul, the whole of the band paying him homage, while a peculiarly dressed personage placed a crown upon his head.
Hardanger and I were both thinking of our friends in the treasure cave. The twenty-four hours' grace given by that scoundrel Barcali was rapidly running out, and we had not the slightest doubt but that he would put his threat into execution at the expiration of the time.
'We must get back to the cave,' said I, 'and—'
'Get some of dese vellows to come with us,' put in Hardanger.
I started. This was a grand idea, and in their present state of friendliness I had no doubt but that they would help us. The only obstacle I feared was that I should be unable to make them understand what I wanted.
By dint of a liberal use of the universal language of signs, coupled with a few odds and ends of Latin grammar and 'Delectus.' Though the latter, I must confess, were of very little use, I managed to make the men understand that we had left friends within the cave who were in urgent need of their assistance. As soon as they grasped the fact that we had enemies who were thirsting for our lives they seemed to be filled with a grand enthusiasm to give us their aid.
Within fifty minutes of Hardanger's ever-memorable exploit in the defeat of the twenty Romans, they were accompanying us in the direction of the honeycombed cliff. Ten minutes later we once more passed through the Chamber of Death, having entered it by a skilfully-concealed passage opening from a narrow defile on the eastern side of the hills.
To say that our companions were surprised when we stalked into the treasure cave followed by the band of Romans would by no means express the character of our reception. In a few words I told them that the newcomers were friends; that there was a way of escape; that we now might consider ourselves masters of the treasure; that Barcali and his associates would be speedily brought to justice, and, above all, that Marie Labuan would be rescued from a fearful fate.
The change of feeling in all our hearts was immense. Courage took the place of despair, and we all felt ready to go anywhere and to do anything.
The first gleams of grey light were showing in the eastern horizon, and a day was dawning which Barcali had intended should be our last, when the eventful meeting took place between ourselves and our deliverers.
Assisted by Questover, whose Latin was considerably fresher than my own, and by Jezzard, whose world-wide experiences had taught him to deal with foreign peoples, we managed to make the band understand the jeopardy in which we were placed. As they grasped a notion of Barcali's treachery their hands tightened upon their broad-bladed swords, and I knew that we might reckon upon them if it came to a conflict.
The Romans, in turn, managed to make us understand their own story. So strange was it that I could hardly have believed it possible for such living relics of an ancient civilisation to have been found in this remote part of the great Pacific.
We learnt that they had come from islands a considerable distance away in the west, where were ruins in abundance of what once were flourishing cities erected by their ancestors.
When we inquired the name and origin of the said ancestors, they told us that they were indeed Romans, who, in the second century of the Christian era, had left Rome under stress of persecution, and, taking ship at the northern end of the Red Sea, had crossed the Indian Ocean, and, continually travelling towards the rising sun, had eventually made a home among these islands.
Their object in visiting this special group was the burial of their late chief—'our consul,' as they called him—and they further told us that for ages this had been the burial place of their rulers, the caves having been excavated many centuries ago for this purpose.
'NOW for the treasure!' cried Frinton, who usually kept his eye fixed upon the main chance.
I looked around upon the rows of chests and boxes.
'It will be a tough business,' I remarked.
'What is worth having is worth working for,' he retorted.
The others supported him, and so we decided to remove the contents of the cavern through the passage leading to the western side of the island. In one corner were over fifty sacks filled with Spanish silver pieces. These we determined to empty and fill with gold.
'For it is important,' I said, 'that we should rescue the bullion intended for the Bank of Yokohama for the sake of the credit of Captain Giggletrap. We can return for the silver later.'
It was while we were engaged in this congenial task that we heard footsteps ascending the ladder.
'Here they come with breakfast,' exclaimed Questover.
Peering over the edge we caught sight of the two worthies who usually waited upon us ascending the ladder.
'Vee must take zem prisoners,' whispered Hardanger.
It was plain that this would be the best course, so we prepared to lay hands on them as soon as they appeared. Motioning to the Romans to conceal themselves behind the packages and in the hole leading to the Death Chamber, we prepared to seize Gallsworthy as soon as he stepped over the sill.
Perhaps in our eagerness we were a trifle premature, for as Hardanger and John Barr stepped briskly forward to seize the man, he, being naturally suspicious, gave a cry of warning to his friend, and would have himself retreated had it been possible. As it was, though he struggled violently, his captors stuck to him, and, aided by the rest of us, succeeded in bringing him to the ground. Crab being exceedingly wary, and warned by his companion's outcry, hastily descended the ladder, and as soon as he reached the ground ran at full speed in the direction of the mutineers' huts.
'Now we shall have to fight for it!' I cried.
'An' we'll hae a gran' time if we do,' put in Mickleband.
It was now very evident that, until we saw what the mutineers would do, we had better concentrate our attention upon them rather than upon the treasure. Such fierce and desperate fellows would not be easily cowed by a few threats. Their leader was a man of resolution and resource, and further, they were all well armed with the latest pattern weapons, and possessed an unlimited supply of ammunition. On our part we had the advantage of being able to act on the defensive from an almost inaccessible shelter; and so long as we had food and water we could hold out for a considerable time.
`Our chief want was firearms, but as the Romans informed us that they had left a few spare short swords in the Chamber of Death, we felt that we could give a very good account of ourselves if it came to close quarters; but it would be our wisdom to keep out of sight and range of the rifles.
It is proverbial that the darkest hour is that which immediately precedes the dawn. I ought therefore to have become increasingly hopeful concerning the future as things seemed to go from bad to worse with us; for undoubtedly they did so after we had become acquainted with these strange people 'the Romans,' as we named them.
In the first place, it was not easy to make them understand the nature of the weapons of which we were afraid. They had never before come into contact with white men, and their civilisation and ideas were altogether those of the ancient Rome, from which their remote ancestors had sprung.
Acquainted only with the savages of the surrounding isles, they were at first disposed to look upon us as only a little superior to them. And it was not until we, as well as Barcali and his associates, had exhibited our prowess (as I shall shortly have occasion to relate), that they placed us upon the pinnacle of their esteem, and came to regard us as quasi-deities.
So easily is the mind of untutored man awed by those things which he is unable to comprehend.
'The mutineers are wor-rking the crane,' cried John Barr, presently.
Peering cautiously over the edge, I perceived that this was the case, and that six men were ascending in a sort of cradle, being hauled up by the united strength of the rest.
'We must cut the rope!' exclaimed Questover, seizing a sword from one of the Romans and leaning over the cliff.
But he had reckoned without his hosts, for no sooner had his head appeared than there was the sharp report of a rifle and his hat flew off, having been struck in the rim, within a quarter of an inch of his head.
'Come back, man. The next shot will finish you!' I cried, as I dragged him away from the opening.
'In five minutes they will command the cave, and we can do nothing without firearms,' said Frinton in an anxious tone.
'In that case we shall be wise if we retire at once,' I returned.
The rest agreed, except Questover, who was still burning to cut the rope (which strained and creaked as it bore our enemies upwards), and who was still trying to snatch peeps of the advancing party.
'They are coming up the ladder also!' he exclaimed presently, after a glance more adventurous than before.
'You can stay and be kilt eef you like, observed Hardanger, addressing him from the back of the cave, 'but vee are not going to become targets for zere rifle balls.'
Very unwillingly Questover followed us, and in a few minutes we had descended into the labyrinth of passages and staircases within the cliff.
Questover, who seemed determined to expose himself to danger, remained concealed behind the huge chest at the back of the cave, until half-a-dozen men, led by Crab, had succeeded in effecting a landing. He remained for some time listening to their talk, and his report of their remarks amused us not a little.
The men seemed to be completely non-plussed at our disappearance.
'Well, I am blowed!' exclaimed Crab, 'where 'ave the beggars got to?'
'Maybe they 'ave crawled into these ere chests,' responded his comrade, who was none other than our prisoner, Gallsworthy.
'Garn! they're choke full, the lot of 'em!'
After this they began peering about, and Questover thought it was about time that he should retire, so sliding quietly down the hole, he managed to rejoin us without betraying his presence to the opposing party.
We were now with the Romans in the Chamber of Death. It seemed a thousand pities to be obliged to leave the treasure in the hands of these bandits, and Frinton especially was loud in his protestations against retreat, urging that we should wage battle with the invaders.
'We have only to return,' he said, 'and come upon them unawares, to give a very good account of ourselves. Then think how splendid it will be if we beat them entirely, and are able to lay hands upon all that they have stored upon these islands.'
To this I replied that the stuff was not ours.
'But it belongs to somebody,' retorted Frinton, 'and we shall come in for a good share of the reward. I reckon the Bank of Yokohama will come down handsomely, to say nothing of the owners of the other property. Why, there must be a good deal here absolutely unowned, and as it cannot be Barcali's it is ours by right of conquest.'
Whether his conclusion was quite logical I cannot pretend to decide, and, as the event proved, it did not matter very much. The others were of Frinton's opinion, that we should not desert the spoil without a struggle. Unfortunately, although we were as well armed as our Roman friends, we were not adepts at the use of the double-edged sword. When we explained this to them—and it was surprising how quickly they took in the situation—without a word they placed themselves in the van and started off for the treasure cave.
'Now we're in for it!' cried Questover, exultingly, and at the same time grasping a keen, double-bladed weapon. 'Come along, you fellows, who's afraid of the chief engineer?'
'No one,' remarked Jezzard, drily; 'but we don't appreciate rifle bullets.'
Half ashamed of myself that I was not leading the attack, I scrambled along with my six companions in the wake of our strange allies, who, as though they had been solely concerned in the quarrel, were already a good way ahead. One of them had placed himself in the rear of his comrades, and just ahead of us, as though to act as our special guide and protector, and Hardanger remarked, 'Zat is zee vellow vee saved from zee murderous chair.'
In a few moments we knew that the battle was raging, for the sounds of rifle shots came reverberating along the corridors.
'Come along, you fellows!' I shouted.
They dashed after me, and as quickly as possible we clambered through the narrow opening, too late, however, to save some of our brave Roman comrades from weapons of which they had no knowledge, and whose death-dealing powers they had not learnt to fear.
As I pulled myself up by the aid of a great chest which stood near the hole, I saw that Throughton, who was seated in the cradle which had swung them up from the earth, was taking deliberate aim with a repeating rifle at the Romans. Two seconds later he pulled the trigger, and, with a wild yell, the poor fellow threw up his arms in the air, leaped from the ground, and sank down with a groan. A second and a third he brought down in a similar manner, so that by the time we made our rush the leaders of our brave assistants were weltering in their blood.
Then came our rush—a stubborn resistance, fierce yells, oaths and imprecations, desperate thrusts, clubbed rifles, and even the use of fists; but they were driven back, inch by inch, to the very edge of the precipice, where Throughton's repeater was no good, for his own comrades would have received his bullets. Then they turned—that is, those who were not hors de combat—and made a wild, frantic leap at the swaying cradle. Three reached it in safety, one hanging thereto by one hand, but the others, missing it, shot out into space and plunged down into the abyss, turning over once or twice in their course, and then coming with a dull, sickening thud to the very feet of their comrades below. These, seeing how matters stood, rapidly lowered the cradle, while those who had ascended the ladder descended with great celerity.
It was a victory! a great and notable victory, and some of us even ventured to stand in the opening and to wave our hats exultingly in the face of the foe.
'We hae not doon wi' them yet,' remarked Mickleband.
'Na, na,' said John Barr; 'they'll concoct some mair deil's schemes.'
'What is the next move, Jezzard?' I said, addressing our most taciturn member.
'This place wull be too hot for us vera soon,' he remarked, with a grim look and another of his sagacious nods.
'And they will supply us with no more food,' said Questover.
'Hungry already?' I asked.
He nodded.
Whereat we all laughed; and I am sure the laugh did us good.
It took us five hours to remove the gold, according to the plan we had before determined upon, to the narrow ravine at the back of the cliff, and a further considerable time to convey it to the 'arena,' as we called it, where Hardanger had performed his great feat in overcoming the twenty Romans. Here we held a long consultation. It was clearly impossible for us at the present juncture to communicate with Captain Giggletrap and his party on 'Long Island.' They were well provided for, having abundance of stores, and in no particular danger, as far as we could see, of an attack from Barcali and his company.
Frinton urged that the gold would not be secure from the mutineers unless it was removed from the islands; and as the Romans had given us unmistakable evidence of their friendship and loyalty, we determined to accept their proposal that we should ship the valuable metal on board their canoes (which hitherto we had not seen), and transport it to a place of safety in the islands from which they had come. We understood further that the said islands were not far distant, being only about two days' voyage away.
'Maybe we shall come across a ship some where in these waters,' said Frinton.
Hardanger was of the same opinion, and so it came to pass that we started upon what was to prove one of the most memorable episodes in our strange and exciting adventures.
Two hours later we were on the broad ocean. Barcali's Islands formed a dim cloud astern. Three huge canoes, propelled by lusty paddlers—dark-skinned natives of these seas, the slaves of the Romans—were rapidly skimming the waters in a westward direction.
I cannot say that I felt altogether happy, for my thoughts continually dwelt with Marie Labuan. That she would be ill-treated I scarcely feared, but that she was most unhappy I was quite certain. Still it was evident enough that she could not be rescued under present circumstances, and I could only hope that it would be possible to deliver her from her unnatural brother and his companion in crime on our return to the island.
We were made aware that we were approaching the land of the Romans by increased animation in their voices, and by a few dignified gestures by which they pointed out the cloud-like form of the land which lay in the distant horizon.
As we approached I could see that it was very different to Barcali's Islands. A number of low, ring-shaped coral reefs, each possessing a broad lagoon, to which there was but one narrow inlet. Luxuriant foliage of palms, bread-fruit and other tropical trees combined to give the land a peculiar charm and character. Towards the largest of these islands the prows of our canoes were now directed, and in the space of an hour we could see that crowds of people, similarly attired to our companions, were lining the shore in expectation of our arrival. A shout of welcome went up as we swept between the verdure-clad points which marked the entrance to the lagoon, and skimmed over the placid waters in the direction of some large buildings which faced the shore. It was evident to us as we approached nearer that the said buildings were of considerable antiquity. There was a hoary appearance about them which age alone could give, while in style they reminded me of nothing so much as the pictures which I had seen of buildings in Greece and in Rome.
'Erected by their remote ancestors, I should say,' remarked Questover, pointing towards the pile.
'Wonderful!' I exclaimed. 'But the marvel to me is that Europeans have not discovered this extraordinary settlement long ere this.'
A broad quay, constructed of blocks of coral, ran along the water's edge, and as soon as our canoes were moored thereto, the Roman leader—who, indeed, was the new chief of the nation—signed to us to follow him ashore.
A murmur of surprise went up from the astonished multitudes who witnessed our landing. It was plain enough that never before had they come into contact with modern Europeans. Their dress was in all respects similar to that worn by the warriors with whom we were now acquainted. We noticed, however, the evidence of Spartan-like courage; for when it was announced that some of their number had fallen in fight, though the cheeks of the women blanched at the recital, neither tears nor sounds indicated that any emotion was being felt.
Stalwart arms seized the cases of gold (for which metal the Romans had a profound contempt, and we saw none of it worn by their wives or daughters), and conveyed them into the aforenamed building, there to be kept in safety until we should require it. For ourselves, we were conducted into a lofty chamber; and here a great surprise awaited us, for there advanced to meet the chief and his party an aged man, having a long, flowing beard and snowy locks, who, standing before the party, solemnly saluted them by making the Sign of the Cross and pronouncing words of blessing.
WE were much struck by the appearance of the old man. His dress was of ancient fashion, and evidently ecclesiastical in cut. He wore upon his head a cap not unlike a mitre in shape, while he held in his hand a staff shaped like a shepherd's crook. Though, when I endeavoured to obtain information from the Romans concerning the meaning of this attire, I found that, although it was the traditional dress of their priests, they knew neither its origin nor its signification.
Leading the way, the priest conducted us down a long, broad passage, and we presently found ourselves in what was undoubtedly a church. Here, though it was difficult to recognise some of the details, there was performed what we took to be a Christian service; but as the whole of it was in the Latin tongue—and that, according to our ears, pronounced after an antiquated fashion—it was well-nigh impossible, with our limited knowledge, to follow what was being said.
There was a gorgeous procession of toga-clad boys, with lights, incense and banners; and although it was very evident that those who were taking part in it understood little enough of the meaning of what they were doing, and were merely the reproducers of a venerable tradition, we perceived that there was here a veritable reproduction, in outward forms at least, of early Christian worship.
Many other things were done. There was a triumphal hymn, in which the grand unison of the voices of the soldiers was answered antiphonally by the sweet soprano of women and boys; and we understood that it was the hymn of welcome always sung at the installation of a new consul, as the ruler was named.
As soon as the ceremony was over, we streamed forth into the bright sunlight. Although many fine buildings remained, we perceived on every side vast ruins, with colonnades and porticos and dismantled roofs, which told us the race was in a decadent condition.
The new chief consul was known, we found, as Marcus Tertius, and he pointed out to us where the ancient and dilapidated forum stood, now fallen into decay and unused, as well as their baths and other places of public resort. All of them, marvellously to relate, were built from blocks of coral, which, though beautiful in appearance, had decayed under the influence of storm and sunshine.
At a subsequent meal in his house Marcus Tertius gave us very interesting details concerning their laws and customs. He related at some length the story of their many wars with the surrounding islanders, the most savage of whom dwelt about three days' sail to the south-west. Of course he said a good many things we could not understand. Questover proved quite wonderful in reviving his school Latin, and translated the consul's remarks to us, so far as he was able.
After we had abode three days with this strangely-interesting people, we began to think it about time that a move should be made towards returning to Barcali's Isles. As soon as we broached the subject to Marcus Tertius that good-humoured and friendly Roman replied that he too had been thinking about the matter, and after consultation with his leading men, had determined to send an army with us for the defeat of Barcali and his associates, and for the recovery of their sacred burial-place from the hands of these intruders.
'What do you think of the idea?' asked Frinton.
'It is an excellent one,' I replied, 'for it is quite certain that unaided we should have a very poor chance with them.'
The rest were of the same opinion, with the exception of Jezzard, who remained silent a long time, and then told us that he considered it would be wiser to fetch our comrades from 'Long Island' in the canoes of the Romans, rather than to face the rifles of an unscrupulous enemy.
'The question is,' I said, 'what will become of Barcali & Co. in the end? They cannot without great risk make their way to any civilised port, for the William Williams is now everywhere reported as missing.'
'There is no doubt,' returned Frinton, 'that the fellow is seemingly in a terrible hole. But then that is no business of ours. If he likes to run his neck into a noose—as assuredly he will some day—it will be only what he deserves.'
It took four days to get together what Marcus Tertius was pleased to call the army—though the body of men dignified by this title barely numbered four hundred. While they were being drilled and equipped, a great fleet of enormous canoes (manufactured, so we understood, by the natives of an island far to the southward, and purchased by the Romans) were being prepared and stocked with provisions for this ever-memorable expedition.
It was on a lovely morning on the eighth day after our arrival on this wonderful and hospitable island that the fleet started. Crowds came from all parts, as well as from the adjacent islands, to witness the embarkation. The aged priest, accompanied by his toga-clad choir, stood upon the quay and gave us his blessing. Acclamations rent the air as the broad-bladed paddles dipped into the sunny surface of the lagoon, and we led a strong cheer, which was taken up in very hearty fashion by our allies, as we skimmed away in the direction of the narrow channel.
'Shall we ha' a fair wind, and a guid voyage?' asked John Barr.
'I don't quite like the look of the sky away to wind'ard,' returned Frinton. Depend upon it there's something brewing.'
'I only hope that we shall be able to keep ahead of it,' I said; but I could see that Frinton was not a little uneasy at the aspect of the weather.
We paddled away till nightfall, and as the storm had not yet broken I began to have hopes that we should escape its fury.
Unhappily this was not to be, though we did not feel its full force until after midnight, by which time the gale was blowing so hard that we had great difficulty in keeping before it.
'If once she comes broadside on she will sink,' said Frinton.
Fortunately this did not happen, but in the darkness and storm we lost sight of our companions, and were driven far out of our course.
The Romans managed the canoe admirably, but as they knew nothing of navigation I began to feel very anxious lest they should be unable to find Barcali's Isles, or, failing that, their own home.
It was in the early dawn that a shout from Questover brought me to my feet.
The storm was abating; but though the force of the wind had diminished the seas still ran very high.
'Look there, sir,' he cried, pointing towards the north. Shading my eyes with my hand, and looking in the direction he indicated, I perceived, about a mile distant, a low, flat object floating upon the surface of the water. We all gazed at it with some wonder and amazement.
'It's not a boat,' I remarked.
'Nor a water-logged vessel,' chimed in Frinton.
'Then it's a raft,' suggested Questover.
A raft it was, as we saw plainly enough before long.
The tattered shreds of a sail flapped dismally from an extemporised yard. Every few moments the deck of the unstable craft was all awash. Right in the centre of it, and apparently fastened by a line to the swaying mast, were the figures of half-a-dozen men. They did not attempt to arise as we approach, though one of them raised his hand and beckoned to us in a feeble manner.
'Sheepwrecked men!' exclaimed Hardanger. 'Zey look half dead.'
'Poor fellows!' cried Questover, 'they would have been quite dead before the day was out.'
We pulled alongside though with caution; for we had to be wary lest our craft should be staved in, and seizing an opportunity Frinton leaped on to the raft line in hand. We saw him stoop and speak to them, then he cut the line by which alone they had been kept on board their frail support.
After this we hauled them into the canoe, though not without difficulty. The poor fellows were terribly weak and very helpless. But after they had been supplied with food they revived a good deal, and one of them, who told us his name was Peter Lusby, began to give us an account of their adventures.
'It is now nearly twelve months,' he began, since the steamship Assyrian Monarch came to her unlucky end. She was bound from New Orleans round the Horn to Callao and other ports on the western coasts. I had shipped as second mate and had a very comfortable berth. The vessel was a new one and everything up-to-date. Things went well enough till we had sailed a thousand miles into the Pacific; and things would have been well enough with us still had it not been for one man aboard her who brought about our ruin.
'We had a mixed cargo, including some gold for the Bank of Peru. It was this gold which was the cause of our misfortunes.
'One day, to everybody's surprise and alarm, the engines broke down. It was fine weather, which made it more astonishing. Hands were selected from the crew by the chief engineer to aid in repairing the damage. It was while more than half of our men were below doing something to the screw shaft that a most extraordinary mutiny broke out.
'Everyone of those men who had not volunteered to work in the engine-room sided with the chief engineer, who went about revolver in hand, assisted by a man in a long black beard—one of the passengers—who hitherto had seemed to be a quiet and inoffensive man.'
'Their names?' we cried, for the man's experiences up to this point read so closely parallel with our own that we could scarcely believe that he was not relating to us the story of the mutiny of the William Williams.
He looked at us in some surprise as he replied, 'Oliver Monmouth was the name of our chief engineer. I know not the name of the other.'
'What kind of a man is Monmouth?' I asked.
'Tall, very gentlemanly, dark and foreign looking—'
'Wears spotless white collars and cuffs, and looks everlastingly spick and span?'
'Yes.'
'Barcali!' we cried.
'Then you know him?' said Lusby.
'Know him?' I replied. 'Why, he has just stranded our ship, looted the cargo, and, but for these friends of ours, would have killed every mother's son of us.'
'And what are you doing here?' asked Lusby.
'We are on our way to punish him for his crimes.'
It was not until towards evening of that day that we sighted the other boats, that is those which remained, for one had disappeared in the storm. Fortunately it contained nothing but Romans; and although we were sorry to lose them, because their loss diminished our chances of success, we were heartily glad that the seven of us had stuck to the canoe commanded by the chief consul, Marcus Tertius.
After this we shaped our course for Barcali's Isles; and although we had neither sextant nor compass it was marvellous to see with what instinct our allies discovered the points of the compass and steered their strange and rude craft in the right direction.
Twelve hours later the hills of 'Great Island' rose above the horizon. With a shout of triumph we pushed on, and landed on the shallow western shore, being the very place on which we had embarked with the Romans after our adventurous escape from the cave.
'Now for death or glory!' cried Questover.
We laughed; but I feared most of us thought it would be the former, for we were forced to labour under the great disadvantage of having no firearms.
Marcus Tertius proposed in his quaint Latin that we should hold a conference in the amphitheatre, to which we at once wended our way, carrying with us the stores and provisions which we had brought.
After some time it was decided that the plan of attack should be as follows. Fifty of our number, consisting entirely of Romans, were to make for the summit of the cliff. Here, without exposing themselves to view, they were to accumulate a large store of great stones, which at a given signal they might rain down upon the village of the mutineers. This we hoped would divert their attention from the attack which the rest of our party intended to make from the shore.
When all was arranged, we started forth in three bands on an undertaking which must end either in our own destruction, or in the total suppression of the schemes of the mutineers.
Even as I write these words I can recall the thrill with which we dashed in our canoes round the eastern corner of 'Star Island' and into the main channel which led to the harbour.
We were totally in the dark as to whether Barcali knew anything of our whereabouts; nor, fortunately, did we realise what terrible and momentous results would develop from this expedition.
IT wanted an hour of mid-day when we reached the entrance to the harbour. We could see neither sentries nor other evidences that Barcali was on the look-out. With great caution we passed through the narrow strait, and our canoes, three abreast, rounded the north-west corner of 'Little Island.' From this point we could see the top of the cliff, and noticed that our co-operating contingent had arrived at the situation assigned to them, and were doubtless fully prepared to hurl down death-dealing fragments of rock as soon as the signal was given by myself—to wit, the waving three times of my pocket handkerchief.
'I ha' ma doots, vera greet doots, aboot this expeedition,' remarked Jezzard in a low tone, and with a shake of his head which struck me as ominous.
'It's too late to go back,' I said. 'Some of us will pay the penalty, but the victory will be ours.'
The others who overheard Jezzard's remark looked at him anxiously, for he was the man whose judgment we had all learnt to value, but nothing more was said.
Presently we arrived at the bend where the channel was narrowest.
'If the cable is not stretched across, we shall be able to effect a landing immediately,' said Frinton.
'And otherwise—?'
'Why, our Roman friends will make short work of it with their sharp swords.'
We dashed forward—eighteen swiftly-moving canoes, but were pulled up by a shout from Marcus Tertius who was leading; by which shout I knew that we had arrived at the barrier.
'Cut it!' I shouted, with a wave of my hand; 'cut it before we're all shot down!'
He comprehended my gesture if he did not understand my words. Blades flashed in the air in the rank of boats ahead of us, so that in a few minutes we were through and heading direct for the sandy shore.
What puzzled me greatly was this: that not a glimpse could we catch of any living soul within the village recently inhabited by the mutineers. Nor was this the only surprising thing; earthworks of considerable strength had been thrown up during our absence, and extended in a semi-circle from the cliff around the huts and back again.
What there was behind these ramparts we could only guess. Their very presence showed that Barcali was fully on the alert, and that we might expect a very warm reception.
'What shall we do?' I said, turning to John Barr, for I hesitated to risk our own lives and those of our valued allies in a foolhardy manner.
'We must go back,' he said, 'yes—at once, or we shall never return alive.'
I shouted to Marcus Tertius, who had already landed a hundred men, and was hastening from the shore in battle array. He turned at my cry, but mistaking it for encouragement, hurried forward with his men at the double; and with a cheer which would not have disgraced a British battalion, sprang up, the slope of newly-turned earth and sand at the foot of the fortifications.
'Coom on, my lads,' cried John Barr, 'we must back them up, though I doot the wisdom.'
We made after them with the rest of the party, which consisted of about two hundred and thirty men; but as our landing had been slightly delayed. Marcus Tertius and his men were a considerable distance ahead before we had started.
'Fools!' muttered Jezzard, who was by my side, 'the loons will be shot down—every mon of them!'
Even as he spoke there happened a terrible catastrophe to our leaders, such as even now I cannot recall without a shudder and a prayer that our foolhardiness may be forgiven.
Suddenly there sprang upon the highest point in the fortification the figure of Barcali. He was dressed in the sprucest attire, with the same immaculate cuffs and collar as of yore; but even at the distance we were from him I could see a look of triumphant though diabolical malice in his face, which reminded me of his expression the night the ship was captured.
'Fools! idiots! madmen!' he shouted, 'come on to your destruction!'
So saying, he waved above his head a brightly blazing torch; and then, stooping, applied it to the earth at his feet. Then appeared a rill of flame which ran down the side of the earthworks, disappearing into the ground under the very feet of the consul and his men. An instant later there was a deafening roar, and a blaze, as though the very bowels of the earth had been rent asunder by internal fires, and our brave Roman and his hundred men were hurled to destruction.
'Fools! idiots! madmen!' he shouted, 'come on to your destruction!'
It was an awful sight; but even then I think we should not have hesitated to advance had our followers been accustomed to modern weapons and methods of warfare. But totally unaccustomed to such a sight, and unaware of its cause, the men who were with us paused in their march, halted, broke rank, and presently fled for the canoes.
While this was taking place, Barcali, Throughton, and a considerable band of men, mounting their defences, poured a withering fire into the few who had escaped destruction by the explosion of the mine.
'Back! back again! every man of you!' I yelled.
We retreated ourselves, fortunately without being hit, only pausing at the beach before embarkation to see if there were any survivors. As none came, we thrust off and made for the strait by which we had entered, feeling more crushed and dispirited than I can find words to describe. Above we could catch sight of those who had been told off to hurl down fragments of rock, and we could not understand why they had not done this when they saw that their comrades were mounting the earthworks.
'Depend upon it,' said Frinton, 'there's some explanation. Maybe they could not find any stones.'
As we again passed the end of 'Little Island,' the Romans started a solemn, dirge-like measure, which reminded us of that which we had heard when they buried their late chief consul, and thus we swept out of the harbour into the strait which divided 'Great Island' from 'Long Island.'
'Where now?' inquired Questover. 'We will go round "Shark Strait," and see what has become of Captain Giggletrap,' he suggested.
'Yes, we cannot do anything better.'
It was not very long before we came in sight of the stranded William Williams, and though we regarded her closely there was no sign of life on board, nor could we distinguish any persons moving in the neighbourhood of the encampment.
'Can the mutineers have been here and taken them all away?' queried Frinton, in an awestruck voice.
'I trust not,' I replied; but nevertheless I felt exceedingly anxious, for instead of overcoming our foes we had fallen into their trap, and our present position was undoubtedly very critical.
Running the prows of our canoes upon the sand, we made for the encampment, only to find that our worst fears were realised. The tents had been removed; everything of value had been taken away; the ground was strewn with litter—articles of clothing, bottles, tin cases, splinters of wood, débris of every description, but no sign was there of any living creature.
'They are prisoners!' exclaimed Questover.
'Yes,' I said, 'this is Barcali's revenge.'
Nevertheless we could not understand how he had found room in the village for so large a number of persons. The women alone would occupy the available number of huts.
Bidding the Romans depart to the shore and await our coming, we—that is to say, the seven Europeans—sat down on the sands under the shelter of a great hillock and discussed our mournful position. Not one of us, I rejoice to say, was in favour of abandoning our comrades now in the hands of the pirates. It would have been easy enough to have sailed away with the Romans to their charming and most interesting island, but such a course as this was not to be thought of under present circumstances. There was one, and only one thing to be done, and that was to take immediate steps to secure their liberty, even if we should be unable to circumvent the schemes of the arch-villain Barcali.
Still, although we talked long, we could not at first see what we could do; till all at once Hardanger exclaimed,—
'Vy not search zee ship?'
'Nonsense!' retorted Frinton.
'A mere waste of time!' I said.
But Jezzard nodded his head approvingly.
'The steamer is sound enough,' he remarked; 'maybe they have gone on board.'
Mickleband and Barr thought also that we should do well to examine the vessel. She would at anyrate prove a shelter for us for the present, and it would be far safer to remain there than on these exposed and barren sandhills.
'There are still enough stores on board to feed all our party, including the Romans, for a long time,' said Frinton.
To the wreck therefore we decided to go; and descending to the shore, we embarked with the Romans and were soon alongside. The William Williams had righted a little since the day she was stranded, the keel having sunk into the sand, so that her list to starboard was but slight. Some of the tackle hung over the side, and we had not much difficulty in clambering aboard.
The Romans followed us, and it was amusing to see with what astonishment, they gazed around the vessel. We tried to make them understand that this was our great canoe. They in turn told us that, though they had seen the smoke of such vessels in the distance, none had ever visited their islands, nor had they ever been on board a ship of modern build.
'The first thing we have to do,' said Frinton, 'is to find quarters for our friends. The second is to get up grub and water from the stores. The third, to make preparations in case we should be assaulted by the mutineers. My opinion is that they will come this way before long; so you may rest assured that they will not consider themselves safe until they have wiped out every soul of those who sailed with them on this unfortunate vessel.'
It was while we were proceeding to carry out these suggestions that we made an astonishing discovery.
On attempting to open the doors of the principal cabins we found that they were fastened. Further, on listening attentively we caught the sound of muffled voices, and in one case of sobbing within.
'That's a woman's voice,' said Questover.
I was amazed, and listened attentively.
'You are right,' I said.
'How did she come here?' asked Hardanger.
'She must open the door and tell us,' I returned.
But although we knocked at the door, at first gently and then more loudly, there was no response.
'Maybe she thinks you are Barcali,' suggested the apprentice.
'I trust not; but, if so, I will soon undeceive her'; whereupon I knocked again, crying, 'Madam, open, we are your friends!'
The voice of a woman replied, 'I cannot.'
'Why not?'
'The door is fastened without.'
'Then we must burst it open. Stand back, please.'
We placed our shoulders against the obstacle, which presently gave way, and I found myself face to face with the French lady, Mademoiselle Madeleine Hautcoeur.
Raising our caps, we apologised for our unceremonious intrusion.
'But tell us,' I said, 'how you came hither?'
'First liberate zee ozzers, and zen you shall hear our peetiful story.'
'What!' cried Frinton, 'are there more of you aboard?'
'Twenty-five of zee youngest and preetiest haf been sent here. I know not vy, and ve haf been veesited daily by zat terrible man Barcalee.'
'The demon!' I exclaimed. 'Has he injured or insulted any of you?'
'Non, non! but vee are very much afraid.'
It did not take long to open the doors of the other cabins, and many were the tears and exclamations of gratitude, though at first some of them feared, like Mademoiselle Hautcoeur, that we were the mutineers.
In each cabin was a supply of food and water, so it was plain that the girls had not been subjected to great hardship.
'But for the close confinement,' said one of them, 'we should have been even more comfortable than we were on the shore in the tents.'
After this Mademoiselle Hautcoeur related to us her story, or rather, shall I say, to Hardanger in our presence, for he could speak French fluently.
Soon after our departure,' she said. Captain Giggletrap had warned them that they might expect an attack from the mutineers. Nor was he mistaken, though the attack did not come until we had been gone some days. As we did not return, they concluded that we had fallen into the hands of Barcali, or that the boat had been overturned, and this made them still more anxious concerning their own safety. Eight sentries had been posted round the encampment every evening, and the watch was regularly relieved at the expiration of each fourth hour. In this way they trusted that no attack would be made upon them unawares. It was soon after midnight, on the fifth night, that they were aroused by the sound of rifle shots. Everyone arose in alarm, only to learn that the sentries had been shot dead. A second time this occurred. It was two nights later. But no assailants were seen, and after this the men declared themselves afraid of performing this duty.
Unfortunately, as there were no firearms in the camp, they were unable to act except on the defensive, though there is no doubt that the sailors, even with this disadvantage, would have given a very good account of themselves at close quarters. As it was, the continued strain began to play on their nerves, and found them, three nights later, when Barcali and his horde swept down upon them, an easy prey.
A few shots, oaths, a scuffle with fists, the screams of women, the shouts of men—it was a short, sharp struggle; but in the darkness and confusion, where the plans of the enemies had been carefully laid and where the attacked knew nothing and feared much, a victory for the mutineers was assured.
How many had been slain in the attack she knew not. All she could tell us was this—that before daybreak they were separated from their friends, and, under Barcali's superintendence, brought on board the William Williams. Mademoiselle Hautcoeur described the agony of parting between parents and daughters as the latter were ruthlessly dragged away.
Her recital so harrowed our feelings, and at the same time so filled us with rage, that, small band though we were, we solemnly determined we would not spare these villains should they come within our power.
'ARE you quite certain that there are no firearms remaining on board this vessel?' The question was asked by Questover, as we sat in the saloon enjoying a rest and a much-needed meal.
'To the best of my knowledge the mutineers have all the weapons carried aboard this vessel,' replied Frinton.
'But have you searched below? It is impossible that you can remember all that is in the hold,' persisted Questover; 'and it is quite likely that on investigation we might come across a consignment of arms.'
We thought it most unlikely that anything of the kind could remain on board, for it was hardly possible that Captain Giggletrap would have overlooked such things at a time they were so greatly needed—that is to say, when the mutineers left the ship. Still there was the chance that we might 'dig up' something, as Questover expressed it; and so we proceeded at once to rummage about the hold in the hope of finding some means of defending ourselves against the mutineers.
It was a toilsome task. Throughout the whole of that day, and till late in the afternoon of the following day, we were shifting and examining cargo. We came across every conceivable article, useful and ornamental—Yankee notions, Canadian manufactures, European goods, but for a long time found no firearms.
'I wonder what is in that great chest,' inquired Questover, who seemed to be foremost in anxiety to discover means of defence. 'It is simply addressed to Count Latour, Tokio.'
There certainly was nothing on the outside of the chest to describe its contents, and had it not been that we had looked into well-nigh every conceivable corner without success we should probably have passed this one over.
'Come,' said Frinton, 'at anyrate we will see what the thing contains.'
The lid was securely fastened by means of great screws, and it was not until we had fetched tools from the carpenter's shop that we were able to open it. When we had done this, and the packing was removed, there was disclosed a curious-looking machine, such as I, for one, had never before seen.
'What is it?' I said.
'Don't know,' said Frinton, peering at it suspiciously.
But Jezzard leaned forward and inspected the strange implement inquiringly for a moment, and then locked up, saying,—
'It is vera strange. Ye dinna ken what this is?'
'No,' we cried.
'Then I'll tell ye,' said he. 'It's a machine-gun.'
We gazed at him and the contents of the chest for a few seconds without speaking.
'Can we get it on deck?' I said.
'And can we use it when 'tis got there?' queried Frinton.
'What about ammunition?' asked Mickleband.
'Does anyone understand the loading of the thing?' questioned John Barr.
To all these inquiries Jezzard returned a smile and a sphinx-like silence. And as we had found already that we could trust to his sagacity, we proceeded to make arrangements to hoist the newly-discovered weapon on deck with the least possible delay.
'It's not likely that such a gun as this would be sent without ammunition,' observed Questover.
He was rummaging in the hold as he spoke, and succeeded at length in finding a case consigned in the same name, which we opened and found to contain what we were in search of.
It was not unlikely that where we had discovered so much we might find more, but for the present our attention was centred upon this piece of artillery.
On removing it from the case, we found that it was of small pattern and light make. It would be effective enough at fairly close quarters, and easily managed by a couple of men. By affixing a whip to the yardarm, and by 'manning' the line with our twenty-five girls, who seemed to enjoy the fun of helping us, we soon raised the thing from its resting-place in the hold to a position which would soon assure it (we hoped) an active and useful existence.
'Now we shall be able to give them beans if they attempt to come alongside!' ejaculated Questover, who seemed to take a special pride in our new discovery, and who was certainly determined, so far as he had anything to do with the matter, that it should be put to an effective use.
The discovery of the machine-gun altered the whole aspect of affairs. It would now be our policy and wisdom to make the William Williams our headquarters. So long as she remained in her present position, and there was no stormy weather, we should be much safer here than in proximity to Barcali and his associates.
When we informed Mademoiselle Hautcoeur and her twenty-four companions of our determination they expressed their gratitude and delight, only entreating us that we would do our utmost to secure the liberty of their friends who had fallen into the hands of the mutineers. This, of course, we assured them we would do, though how we were to redeem our promise passed my comprehension.
'I wonder whether it would be possible,' I said to Questover, who all along seemed to have a special liking for myself, 'for us to come across Miss Labuan? She is sure to have access to the camp, and if we are able to obtain information at all we can do it by means of that young lady.'
Questover agreed with me. The question was how were we to come across the person in question.
'I have it!' cried my young friend. 'We will get a dozen of the Romans' (who had now left us for the adjacent shore, where they had constructed a very strong camp) 'to put us—that is to say, you and myself—on shore within the harbour round the corner of "Little Island," I mean by the southern point, close to the place where Miss Labuan's hut is situated. If she be still there in company with her old aunt we can assuredly find some way of communicating with her, and if the old lady is troublesome—well, there must be some way also of compelling her to keep silence.'
The more we thought and talked over the scheme the more feasible did it become to our minds, so that when we laid it before our five comrades, and explained to them the urgent necessity of our action in the interests of the rest of our party, they agreed to our making the attempt.
The objects which we had in view were as follows:—
First, to discover what had become of Captain Giggletrap, his officers and the remainder of his crew. Secondly, to ascertain whether any of the Romans had survived the explosion which had occurred so disastrously to our warlike expedition. Thirdly, whether it was possible to take prisoner Barcali and Throughton, and to so break the power of the mutineers.
It was dark when we started. Our faithful Roman friends paddled away with a discreet silence in the direction of 'Shark Strait,' and very soon we entered the inner channel and headed direct for the entrance to the harbour. The passage to the south of 'Little Island' was unknown to us, so that we had to pursue a very careful course for fear of shoals and rocks. Just as we had passed the mouth of a narrow stream which flowed down through a lovely vale from the hills, and emptied itself exactly opposite the tiny islet, we espied in the darkness a glimmer of light on our left.
'What's that?' said Questover.
'Can it be the light from a hut?' I said.
'Let us pull inshore and we'll soon discover.'
In a few minutes our canoe's prow lightly touched the soft sand, and Questover and I, who were armed with a Roman sword apiece, leaped on shore.
Whispering a few Latin words to our men, we made them understand that they were to await our return, and then we advanced in the direction of the light.
Presently we could discern the dim outline of the low hut. The door was on the further side from us, and the solitary window through which the light shone, but which was a mere hole in the wall containing no casement, was directly opposite the line of our approach.
'Gently! gently!' I whispered to Questover, 'let us see first who is within.'
'All right,' he returned.
As we crept nearer we began to hear voices: first came the bass tones of a man's voice followed by the treble accents of a woman's; then at intervals another voice broke in, that of a tenor, which we at once recognised as belonging to Barcali.
'We are in luck,' said Questover, placing his mouth close to my ear. 'Maybe we shall learn something of their plans.'
Advancing nearer the window, until we were able to see the occupants of the hut, we peeped in cautiously. On the left stood Marie Labuan, the very incarnation of grace and beauty, her long black hair hanging over her shoulders as though she had been disturbed at her rest, her hand resting upon the small, rough table, and I could see that it trembled with emotion. On the other side of the said table—that is to say, on the right-hand side of the hut—stood the two arch-villains, Barcali and Throughton. The former was speaking as we caught sight of his chiselled but wicked-looking face.
'So it's no use arguing.'
'I am not arguing,' she replied. 'I am telling you my unalterable determination.'
'Unalterable?'
'Yes.'
'Ah! we shall find means, I doubt not, of affecting your decision. You forget, Marie, that you are dealing with your brother, Adriani, who never allows himself to be contradicted with impunity.'
'I have told you,' she said, 'and I can say no more.'
Upon this Throughton broke in with words of entreaty.
'Do not be foolish, dear Marie,' he said, in accents that sounded ridiculous but which were intended to be tender, 'you are offered unlimited happiness and wealth as well as the love of a heart that will always be true. Cannot you see that it is to your own advantage, and have we not succeeded in making it plain to you that your present course is as foolish as it is futile?'
'Call it what you like,' she said, 'I have nothing more to say.'
Upon this Barcali turned to Throughton, saying, 'We must have done with this nonsense; here, catch hold of the girl!'
They sprang forward, there was a scream from Marie, a scuffle, and the next moment the two men were forcibly dragging this delicate girl from the hut—whither we knew not.
I could hear Questover absolutely panting at my side. But before I could whisper any instructions to him, the door opened, and Barcali came out, gripping cruelly his sister's arm.
I remember hearing Throughton say, 'Not too rough, Barcali, not too rough!'—for which sentiment I thought a little less hardly of him—and then, anticipating me, the apprentice sprang forward into the broad ribbon of light which streamed from the doorway, and dashed his fist with all the force of his muscles squarely into the face of the chief engineer, who, so unexpected was the attack, gave one shout of consternation and pain as he reeled backwards.
Then Questover turned his attention to Throughton, who had remained standing in the door of the hut as though paralysed with astonishment at our advent.
Together we thrust back the second villain. To our surprise, he made no resistance until he was safely within the building.
Shouting to Questover to keep him there at the point of his sword, I dashed out, with my own weapon in my hand, in pursuit of Barcali. Twenty yards told me that he had escaped. As I turned I heard a sob, and beheld, crouching upon the ground, the form of Marie Labuan. Falling on my knees by her side, I implored her to tell me if she were hurt; and presently, yielding to my entreaties, she returned with me to the hut. Within we found Questover standing with his back towards the door, and the keen point of his weapon directed towards Throughton, who stood there cowed and gloomy.
'I have challenged the coward to fight me with fists,' cried the apprentice, as we entered.
'Enough of this,' I said; 'we have now to get to business.' And then addressing the man, 'You must return with us to the William Williams, Mr Throughton,' I said; 'your villainy is discovered, and you may as well at once begin to prepare yourself for an appropriate punishment.'
He made no reply; and looking round about the hut, I presently caught sight of a piece of line which would do well enough for my purpose.
'Your arms will be bound,' I said.
Still no reply; and Questover and I secured his arms after the most approved fashion; and, to make matters doubly safe, we placed a noose about his neck with a line attached, by which we could lead him whithersoever we wished.
It was important that we should next decide what was to become of Marie Labuan. Taking her outside the hut, in order that Throughton should not overhear what I was saying, I gave her a brief and succinct account of our doings since last we had met. I told her that there was security for her among the twenty-five ladies who were now on board the William Williams but, further, that our great desire was to recover the stolen treasure, and to crush completely the power of the mutineers.
'You see,' I said, 'our lives are in danger so long as they are led by Barcali. If we could but secure him they will be without a leader, and will probably yield to the authority of Captain Giggletrap.'
'Then you want me to aid you in taking my brother prisoner?' she said inquiringly.
'Yes.'
'But he is my brother!'
'You surely are not proud of him?'
'No, I dread him exceedingly.'
'Then you will aid our scheme? Remember, it is for the safety of a number of defenceless people.'
She put her hand into mine. 'I will help you,' she said simply.
I then asked her if she was afraid of again meeting her brother, but she replied that she had no reason to suppose that he would do her any personal injury. Whereupon we arranged—I confess that it was with a pang—that she should remain here for one day longer; that in the meanwhile she should discover from her brother what he intended to do with his prisoners; that she should further find out his plans as regards ourselves; and especially if Captain Giggletrap and his men were in any immediate danger of their lives. I told her that we would come again at this time on the following night, when I trusted she would be able to have obtained all this information.
She told me that her aunt had left her for the mutineers' camp, by Barcali's orders, though she did not know the reason for this step.
'All the better,' said I; 'we do not want her to be here when we return.'
I felt that I could have taken her into my arms there and then, so great was my affection, and so strong my sympathy with her in her sorrow. But it was no time for love-making; and with a pressure of the hand we parted, she to the shelter of the hut, and we to the shore. Throughton followed us like a tame lamb. Though the concoctor of villainous schemes, it was plain that he was a man of little moral or physical courage, and it was very evident to me also that he was the tool of his master, Barcali. Arrived at the water's edge, we looked about for our canoe.
'Our fellows have thrust out a little from the land,' I remarked. 'We'll soon fetch them ashore, however,' whereupon I gave a low whistle, and presently, as there was no response, a louder one.
'They must have paddled some distance away,' observed Questover. 'Shall I give them a hail, sir?'
'No, you will be heard at the camp.'
We waited a while, and as the canoe did not appear in response to our whistles, we did just venture upon a quiet hail. But it had no further effect than the whistling, and after waiting an hour we came to the uncomfortable conclusion that for some unknown reason the Romans had departed.
We were loth to assume that we were in a way stranded on the island; and though I was quite sure that we had returned to the exact point where the canoe was to have been waiting for us, yet I suggested that we should follow the outline of the beach for about a quarter of a mile on the right and left of us, and see if our friends with the canoe had rowed out to sea for any purpose, returning a little away from their original landing-place.
Questover agreed that the plan was a good one, although he pointed out that it would be unsafe to go very far to the left, for it would be simply inviting capture by the pirates.
'We will go to the right first,' I said. 'Every now and then I will whistle. You take care of Throughton.'
So, keeping close to the water's edge, we started, Throughton being an unwilling companion.
We had perhaps gone some thirty yards when I stumbled and fell over some dark object. Involuntarily I stooped down and touched it. But I withdrew my hand with a scarcely-suppressed cry of horror, for it had come into contact with a human body, and instinctively I knew, a dead body.
In the darkness I could discern no features but by the shape of the headpiece which had fallen on to the sand, and by the fashion of the man's garments, I knew him to be a Roman. Five yards away I touched two more bodies. They were warm, but undoubtedly dead. I had matches in my pocket but I dared not strike a light for fear of attracting attention from those behind the fortifications, and thus bring upon us a rifle fire. As we had heard no sound of firearms it was plain enough that these men had been brutally murdered in cold blood by a stab in the dark.
What had become of the rest of our crew of Romans we knew not. I was overwhelmed with sorrow to think that since we became acquainted with them we had brought upon them nothing but disaster and loss of life, but I still trusted that when we had finally overcome the mutineers we might be able in some measure to compensate the survivors.
As it would not do for us to remain in our present position until daybreak, there was nothing for it but for us to make our way to the western side of 'Great Island,' where we hoped we might come across the Roman soldiers who had been told, off to shower stones from the top of the cliff upon the mutineers.
We had seen nothing of these men, nor had we been able to understand hitherto, (as I have said), why it was that they had failed us on so critical an occasion.
'They will be awaiting you, and are probably now on the shore on the western side, or in the amphitheatre,' I said to Questover.
'What about grub?' said he.
'There is plenty of fruit to be had for the gathering,' I returned, 'and then there is the store which these men brought with them from their own islands.'
Questover began to make a reply, but I heeded it not, for with the early streaks of dawn there smote on our astonished ears the peculiar rattle of a machine-gun, which, once heard, is never forgotten.
IN order to make matters perfectly clear it is necessary that I should describe, as accurately as may be, the actual position of parties engaged in the curious fight which now took place.
First and foremost there was the party on the William Williams, which consisted of (when Questover and I left) Jezzard, Barr, Mickleband, Frinton and Hardanger, with twenty-five girls. Within hail of the vessel, and encamped on the shore, was the army of Romans which had accompanied us, upwards of two hundred and thirty men. On the cliff, or somewhere on the western side of the island, was the aforementioned party of fifty Romans. On the other hand our opponents included more than half the crew of the vessel; and the other half, and the whole of the passengers, with the exception of the young ladies, were now prisoners in their hands. These they had disposed in the following manner, as I afterwards learnt:—Captain Giggletrap and the men had been exalted to the cave in which we ourselves had been imprisoned. Room had been made for the male and female passengers in the huts at the foot of the cliff. It must not be supposed that the said male passengers were wanting in courage, but their very numbers prevented any possibility of escape, and they were unable to make any fight, so long as they were deprived of weapons.
It was not, of course, until the events which I am now relating were over that I learnt how much we owed to the courage and acuteness of Jezzard, who afterwards informed us that, as he was keeping watch on deck after our departure to interview Miss Labuan, and had begun to wonder at what hour we should return, a canoe containing but two forms floated into sight. It did not take him long to discover, in spite of his very rudimentary Latinity, that these were the survivors of a horrible massacre. Rousing his companions, they questioned the men, and gathered from them (though erroneously) that the rest of the party had perished, including Questover and myself. Being filled with rage at such an act of treachery, and determined to bring Barcali and his associates to book for the crime, they had hastily lowered into the canoe the machine-gun, with a supply of ammunition, and rousing the whole Roman army, had, with them, made for the mutineers' position.
I ought to add that when the Romans understood the cold-blooded manner in which their comrades had been murdered, they were only too willing to join with us in revenging their death. Further, I should say that somehow Jezzard had succeeded in assuring them that our new weapon was more than equal to all the smaller ones possessed by our foes.
But to return.
'What on earth can this mean?' said Questover, when the shattering rattle of the machine-gun was borne up to us.
'Blest if I know,' I replied. 'Our fellows are up to some new trick.'
'What can we do?'
'There is nothing for it but to hasten to the summit of the cliff. It is quite possible that the fifty Romans are no longer there; but at anyrate we shall be able to look down upon the scene of battle, if a battle there be.'
So we quickened Throughton's unwilling steps by more than one jerk of the halter, and sooner than might have been expected arrived at the narrow defile which led up to the summit of the great crag.
'Twenty yards further!' I was saying.
Before we had accomplished this distance we came upon our troop of Romans, and with them, to our astonishment, was Jezzard. As we took them in the rear they did not catch sight of us for they were lying on the edge of the cliff, some of them on the very brink, and were eagerly intent on the scene below.
For a few seconds we stood and watched them. Even as we watched there was borne up a second report from our newly-discovered gun, as we supposed it to be, which was followed by such a cheer from our friends just in front of us, echoed by unseen persons far below, that we knew some important event had occurred.
Just then Jezzard turned as if he were about to give some instructions to the band of Romans. Catching sight of us, he beckoned us to approach him, and presently we too were gazing down upon the extraordinary and ever-memorable scene.
Planted right upon the ramparts, and surrounded by our comrades and a few Roman soldiers, was the machine-gun. How they transported it into that position without themselves being blown to atoms by a mine is only to be accounted for by the fact that on the first discharge which we had heard, and which had been delivered at longer range, Barcali and the mutineers were utterly confounded with amazement.
Understanding neither how the machine had been procured, nor how long they would be able to withstand its assaults, they had hidden themselves behind the earthworks; but when, to their astonishment, the machine appeared upon the very summit of the fortification itself, and was discharged, fortunately for them, with such haste that the rain of bullets only brought down pieces of rock from the cliff above their heads, with one accord they turned tail and fled for the narrow entrance to the lowermost cave.
'Hech, mon, it's grand!' cried Jezzard, giving way to his enthusiasm, and waving his hat frantically over the edge of the cliff to the assailants. 'They run like rats,' he said, turning to us, 'and now we ha' them safe and sound!'
'I hope they will not hurt the women,' I said, for I could see that Frinton and his comrades knew little enough about the management of the weapon, and I was afraid lest a chance rain of bullets might penetrate the huts in which we knew that the passengers must be confined. While we watched, we saw that the Romans were being drawn up in a semi-circle about the village, and that, even if the mutineers came forth, their escape would be impossible; while, to make matters doubly secure, there was the grim and death-dealing gun planted right opposite the tiny doorway through which the mutineers had fled.
'Now we must stop them from coming up,' said Questover, 'or Captain Giggletrap and the men in the cave beneath us will have a warm time.'
'But what are we to do with this fellow?' said I, with a jerk of the rope which was tied round Throughton's neck.
This was a poser, till Questover cried out, 'I have it! Here's plenty of rope! Let's tie the beggar up. He may come in handy later on.'
Whereupon we secured the legs of the trembling Throughton and laid him comfortably on one side under the shade of some stumpy bushes.
'There, old chap,' remarked Questover in a patronising tone, 'run away if you like, but I would not like to be in your place if you try.'
Without further ado Questover, Jezzard and I, with the Roman soldiers, hurried below into the dark staircases and passages, of which we retained a vivid recollection; and on arriving at the hole which opened into our former prison, we discovered that the chest had been placed over it as though to bar the entrance of any intruders.
Even in this exciting moment it struck me as peculiar that Barcali should have placed a second batch of prisoners in the cave from which we, the first lot, had so easily effected our escape; and it was not for some time that we learned that he had spent many hours in tapping and examining the inside of the cavern, but had failed to discover the real place of exit.
'Let us in! let us in!' cried Jezzard, thumping at the bottom of the chest with a piece of rock.
'Hush!' said a voice above.
'Come, look alive!' I shouted.
Then we heard someone say, 'Why, that's Saint George's voice!'
'And the other was Jezzard!' cried another.
Upon this the chest was dragged aside, revealing to us the astonished faces of Captain Giggletrap and his companions.
We struggled up through the entrance and shook their hands right heartily. In answer to the captain's anxious inquiries we assured him of the safety of the twenty-five girls on board the William Williams. Further explanations and greetings had to be dispensed with, for the sound of voices was borne up through the windings of the passages and corridors, so that we knew that the mutineers were making the ascent, having, no doubt, discovered the exit over the pile of stones in the cavern which had been visited by Jezzard, and where, in company with the mutineer sailor, he had so nearly lost his life. (The said sailor, by the way, as we afterwards learned, having been drawn out dead by his comrades).
Nearer and nearer grew the sound, till we were quite sure that the mutineers were not far away.
'If they arrive here there will be a fine struggle,' said Questover.
'Maybe we had better give them a warning hail,' I suggested. Whereupon Questover, without further invitation, gave a loud halloa, which would have done credit to a fox-hunter, into the dark entrance at our feet.
There was a dead silence as the result. But presently we heard the voice of Barcali, speaking in suave accents and requesting a suspension of hostilities.
There was the ring of insincerity in the man's tone which made us look at one another inquiringly. Knowing that they had firearms, and excellent ones to wit, while we were merely armed with clumsy Roman blades, it is not to be wondered at that we did not immediately close with his offer. Anxious though we were to come to terms, we were still more wishful to secure Barcali so as to prevent further mischief on his part, while it was imperative that we should agree to no arrangement which would imperil the safety of Marie Labuan, or risk the loss of the treasure.
'What do you think of it, sir?' I said, turning to Captain Giggletrap.
The good man shook his head. 'I fear I do not understand our chief engineer,' he returned quietly, and in a voice which showed plainly enough that he was no match for the astute mutineer.
'What do you think, Jezzard?' I said, turning to that worthy.
'I ha' na doot at all aboot it. That mon's voice is too fair to suit me. Gie him ten minutes to surrender, or we'll transfix him with these Greek swords!'
'Greek?' I cried. 'You mean Roman!'
'Never mind, mon, they cut just the same!'
I now replied to Barcali that if he would come up alone we would discuss the terms of his surrender.
To this he made answer that it would be most unfair to expect him to come without a number of men at least equal to our party.
'We refuse to discuss your suggestion. Either do as we say or take the consequence.'
'Perhaps the consequence will be somewhat different to that you imagine,' he retorted, in a tone of intense sarcasm.
'Come up, mon, and dinna be a fool!' cried Jezzard, who was plainly losing patience.
The reply which we received was so unexpected that we started back in alarm. Through the hole at our feet there protruded the muzzles of a couple of revolvers, behind which we heard the voice of Barcali politely demanding that we should come down and confer with him!
'Villain, what do you mean!' exclaimed Captain Giggletrap, as he darted towards the opening with clenched fists.
The reply was a terrible one, for it took the shape of a couple of revolver shots aimed full at the good captain's breast. Down he fell, plunging forward into the very opening itself, through which he must have disappeared had we not rushed forward, and seized his legs, dragging him back into the light.
The shots had done their work only too effectually. A very brief examination told us that Captain Giggletrap was dead.
For a few minutes we could think of nothing but this terrible catastrophe; but we were aroused by the extraordinary sounds as of men hurrying through the passages at our feet. Then came a mocking laugh, satanic in its character. It proceeded, we knew, from the mouth of the murderous mutineer, Barcali.
'Ha! ha!' he exclaimed, 'beaten again. A parcel of idiots you are! Good-day to the lot of you. There are further lead pills at your service if you come after them!'
Then the muzzles of the revolvers disappeared, and we heard the retreating footsteps as he stumbled away in the darkness.
'What does this mean?' cried one of the male passengers.
'It means,' I said, 'that we are outwitted.'
I must add that I could not but admire the courage of the remarkable man who had thus placed himself in the breach that he might secure the safe retreat of his followers, and who seemed undaunted by anything that might happen.
As soon as we could recover our wits we had to decide upon our next step.
Crying out to our comrades below that the captain was dead, and that we were going in pursuit of his murderer, we first reverently laid the body in an empty chest, and then with caution began to thread our way through the tortuous passage which lead to the Death Chamber.
In the darkness I was thinking much of the kind, good-natured old seaman, unsuspicious of guile and generous-hearted, whose life had been thus ruthlessly destroyed, and I vowed that Adriani Barcali should assuredly suffer for his deeds of blood.
As we had only the dim light of occasional wax vestas to guide us, our progress was necessarily slow, but when at length we stood on the top of the cliff we found that there was no sign of those whom we pursued.
'Depend upon it!' said Questover, 'they have made for the boats!'
'What boats?'
'Those left by these fifty Romans.'
'Then we must overtake them, if possible, before they reach the shore, for there is no telling what they will be up to if they get afloat.'
We pressed on across the range of hills in the direction of the Roman amphitheatre, for the canoes lay just beyond that place. On arrival there a glance told us that the place had been visited, for some bags of gold coins which we had left piled up near the consul's chair had disappeared.
'Barcali has outwitted us again!' exclaimed Questover.
'I begin to fear that he will outwit us to the end,' I said.
'There is little doubt about that, sir. See there!'
He was pointing towards the western shore. Less than a quarter of a mile off were half-a-dozen canoes. They were crowded with men, evidently Europeans, who were paddling might and main in a southerly direction. What it meant I could only guess. The mutineers were making for the William Williams.
'The girls!' I exclaimed.
'What do you mean?' asked one of my companions.
'We have left twenty-five unprotected young ladies on board the stranded vessel,' I said.
There was nothing for it but to return with all speed to our comrades at the foot of the cliff.
The morning was well advanced when we arrived.
Since our departure from the cave the ladies who were incarcerated in the huts had been liberated, and the whole of the mutineers' effects secured. Considerable amounts of gold and silver were found in the dwelling of Barcali and Throughton, but we could find no trace either of the old lady—Barcali's aunt, or of Marie Labuan, about whose safety I was extremely anxious.
After searching the hut a quarter of a mile away, in which Questover and I had had the memorable interview and taken Throughton prisoner, I sat down despondently and reviewed the situation.
We were no better off than when we came on shore; nay worse, for Captain Giggletrap was dead; Barcali and his associates had regained possession of a portion of the gold, and had exchanged an island camp for the greater safety (so I supposed) of the William Williams.
There was nothing for it but to start afresh and to make a supreme effort to outwit Barcali's machinations.
IT was while I sat thus and brooded despondently over our misfortunes that a figure upon the earthworks caught my eye. A dark, dumpy-looking object; it did not stir for some minutes, and when it moved disappeared slowly over the further side of the parapet. It was certainly not a man. Could it be one of the lady passengers? Or—and the thought brought me to my feet—was it Marie Labuan?
Advancing towards the earthworks, I peered about, and presently caught sight of no less a personage than Mrs Labuan. She was again climbing to the place where I had seen her, and as this was on the side of the village furthest to the south, while our party was on the north side of the huts, she was visible to no one but myself.
'Ah! I am very glad that you have come,' she began; 'you will not harm me, I am sure?'
I bowed and assured her that I would protect her to the uttermost of my power.
'I feel sure that I may trust one who admires—may I say loves?—my niece.' She said this with an attempt at a curtsey, which in the case of so stout a lady was anything but graceful.
I looked into her face wondering what she meant.
'You remember the explosion?' she continued. 'Ah! Adriani is a cruel fellow! clever—but terribly cruel; I have often told him so. There was no need to blow up all those brave men—the strange-looking soldiers who came upon us with such determination. Still one was spared—at least I hope that he will live, and—'
'His name?' I interrupted.
'Marcus Tertius.'
'The consul!' I ejaculated.
'So he calls himself.'
'Where is he, madam? I should greatly like to see the man.'
She beckoned me to follow her, and led me to a low shanty constructed of boards and fittings from a ship.'
'Enter quietly, he may be asleep,' she said, pointing to the doorway.
I stooped, for the entrance was very low, and peered into the place. The only hole through which light and air could enter was the doorway in which I stood. But I could discern the figure of a man stretched at full length on the ground.
'Marcus Tertius!' I exclaimed softly, as he looked up. Then, kneeling by his side, I took his hand in mine.
'He is still very weak,' said Mrs Labuan, who came in after me, 'but I hope he will now recover.'
'It's a mercy he was not killed,' I said.
'Yes, he is the only one who escaped. The rest were blown to pieces—they were afterwards buried in the sands down yonder. Adriani says that this one's escape was due to his bravery, for he sprang up the earthworks ahead of his men, and got off with an injured leg and a severe wound in the head.'
'Is the leg broken?'
'No, but it's badly knocked about. The head is worse than that.'
Then I asked her how the man came to be saved and placed in this hut. For I had a shrewd idea that her nephew would have shot him down without compunction had he suspected that he was alive.
She replied that she herself had discovered the Roman, for he had been blown by the force of the explosion clean over the ramparts, and lay under the wall of this very hut. Finding that he was living, she had taken pity on him; and, unknown to Barcali, had dragged him into a place of safety, where she herself had remained concealed when the mutineers had fled into the cave. Here she had diligently attended to the wants of the wounded man.
'I hoped at first that he would die,' she said, 'but now—'
'Yes?'
'Now I wish beyond all things that he may live.'
So saying, she knelt by the rude couch on which the Roman lay, and gazed at him with a look of anxious solicitude which surprised me much. I thought that this was a favourable moment for me to inquire what had become of Marie. To my question Mrs Labuan replied that her niece had been taken away by Barcali.
'What! through those terrible caves?' I exclaimed.
'Yes.'
'Where is she now?'
'I know not.'
Anxious though I was concerning her safety it was clear that at present I could do nothing.
'Look well after this man,' I said, rising hastily to my feet; 'he is a worthy and brave fellow, and your efforts shall not go unrewarded.'
'Do you imagine that I want your reward?' she replied in a spiteful tone, as I left the hut.
On returning I found that the liberated passengers were being made as comfortable as the circumstances permitted, and the body of the captain had been reverently lowered from the cave. Two hours later we buried him before the door of the lower cavern. It was a sorrowful gathering; and as we stood bareheaded around the open grave there was, I venture to say, not one in the throng who did not deeply feel the solemnity of the occasion.
As soon as this sad scene was over, we—that is to say, Frinton, Questover, Barr, Mickleband, Jezzard and I—discussed our future movements.
We had liberated Throughton, assuring him that he would be hanged straight away should he attempt any treachery, and we had further arranged that some of the male passengers should take charge of him as well as of Mrs Labuan. Then we made plans for the nursing of our patients, for the men whom we had rescued from the raft were still in a very weak condition. I should add that we afterwards learned from the rescued seamen that they had lived for many months on the north-west point of 'Great Island'—a part we had not visited—and finding that Barcali had returned to his bid haunts they had conceived the idea of escaping by means of a raft, in the hope that they would be picked up by a passing ship.
As the mutineers had clearly made for the William Williams it was clearly our duty to deliver from their clutches the twenty-five maidens—and as soon as possible. We reproached ourselves for having left them aboard; though, it was true, no one could have foreseen the turn events had taken.
Accordingly, within an hour of the funeral of Captain Giggletrap, we were afloat in the boats, which numbered six; for those taken from the ship by Barcali had now fallen into our hands, as well as the numerous fleet of canoes belonging to our friends the Romans. The machine-gun was set up in the bows of the longboat, for on this we depended for the enforcement of our arguments.
'If only a man-o'-war would appear, we might make short work of these fellows,' remarked Frinton, as we pulled through 'Shark Strait.'
'No such luck, I fear,' said Questover.
'We wull just have to mak' this bonny gun speak,' put in Barr, laying his hand upon the weapon.
There was much activity on the deck of the stranded vessel as we approached, and when we came within range there was a flash of weapons in the sunlight which told us that our coming was neither unexpected nor unprepared for.
'Are you ready there?' cried Frinton from the stern.
'Ay, ay,' responded Questover, who, with Jezzard, was in charge of the machine-gun.
We were now within hail of the ship. The tide was high, and there was a broad stretch of water between ourselves and the shore.
'Give them a chance to surrender,' I said.
Frinton nodded to me, and sent a cry across the waves, asking whether the mutineers were prepared to lay down their arms.
The reply was practical enough, for a couple of rifle bullets whizzed over our heads.
'There is na doot aboot the range,' said Jezzard, drily.
'Stand by to fire,' cried Frinton to the gunners.
There was a space of anxious expectation as we awaited the word of command. Loth though we were to take life, it was evident to everyone of us that only in this way could we break the power of such terrible men. So long as they remained at liberty our own lives would be in jeopardy, for of their bloodthirsty and unscrupulous intentions we had had ample proof.
Frinton had raised his hand and was about to give a command which would have resulted in terrible carnage on the deck of the steamer, when a cry from Mickleband and Barr, uttered simultaneously, caused him to hesitate.
Then I saw that something was happening on the deck of the William Williams; persons were coming up from below—were being forced up—and as the ship was slightly tilted towards the south—that is, towards our position—we could see easily enough that these were none other than the ladies who had been left on board.
'What on earth are the demons going to do with them?' I cried.
No one replied to this question. But in a few minutes we plainly perceived the crafty dodge by which Barcali sought to outwit us, for he arranged the ladies along the deck in such wise that the rain of bullets from the machine-gun would certainly kill them all.
As soon as he had done this, Barcali coolly mounted the bridge, rifle in hand, and in sarcastic tones cried to us to fire.
'Cowards, why don't you shoot?' he yelled. 'We will be even with you yet!'
As he spoke he slowly raised his rifle to his shoulder, and took deliberate aim at myself.
I was at this moment standing on one of the thwarts, just behind the machine-gun. As I caught the gleam of the sunlight which glinted off the barrel of Barcali's weapon, I felt instinctively that he intended to kill me.
What passed happened rapidly. Indeed, I had hardly time to realise what was taking place. Barcali's finger was on the trigger, his head was twisted sideways as he took aim, when suddenly some small object (I discovered later that it was a belaying-pin) whirled upwards from the hand of a woman. I saw the shapely, outstretched arm, though at the time I knew not to whom it belonged. Then the pin struck the stock of Barcali's rifle. It was just as he pulled the trigger, for the weapon was instantly discharged, but the bullet flew above our heads. With an angry oath, the echo of which floated over the waves even as far as the fleet of boats and canoes, Barcali took from his pocket another cartridge and thrust it into the breach of the rifle.
Then it was that I recovered my presence of mind—though, indeed, the whole matter did not occupy many seconds—and I shouted to those at the oars to back out of range. This they did, and then we waited to see what Barcali and his men would do. It was impossible for us to fire upon them so long as the women were on deck, and it would be foolish for us to leave the vicinity so long as there was a chance of our being able to make a successful onslaught on the vessel. These considerations determined us that we would retire for a short distance, remaining concealed by the point of land south of the ship, and returning to the attack when the darkness had set in.
I now come to an event which, while it effected our deliverance, also brought about a very singular chain of events, each of which I must now record. It was as we rounded the aforementioned point, and were therefore out of sight of those on the William Williams, that there came a cry from Questover.
'Steamer ahead!' he shouted, at the same time pointing towards the south-west. Far away—so distant as to be hull down, so that little more than her smoke was visible—we perceived a steamer. She had just come in sight over the eastern point of 'Star Island.'
'What is she?' I asked of the seaman next to me, who happened to be Joe Tripp.
'I dunno, sir, onless mebbe she's a man-o'-war.
'Nonsense, man, you don't mean it?'
'There's more onlikely things might 'appen,' returned the old fellow, as he shaded his eyes with his hand and gazed in the direction of the distant smoke.
'She's a-heading this way!' exclaimed another man.
'Na doot she's one of these 'ere surveying ships,' said a third.
I asked Frinton what we had better do, and he proposed that the long-boat's sail should be hoisted, and that we should run for the stranger, it being quite possible that she would pass the islands without coming near enough to sight us.
The sail being hoisted, away we sped towards the ship, and in half-an-hour could plainly distinguish her outline.
'A man-o'-war, there's no doubt whatever about that,' said Frinton, emphatically, after he had made a prolonged examination of the stranger by the aid of his binocular, which very fortunately he had brought away from the William Williams.
At this our courage revived, and we gave a cheer. In another half-hour we were near enough to make out her structure.
'Is she English?' I asked of Frinton.
'Or American?' added Questover.
'Neither the one nor the other,' cried the mate, as a flag flew aloft. 'She is—a Spaniard.'
At this we looked at each other in dismay.
The war between Spain and the United States had broken out shortly before we left San Francisco, but we had not realised, until this moment that it might affect ourselves.
'What shall we do?' I asked in perplexity.
'Go on and claim their assistance,' said Jezzard, speaking for the first time. 'We canna be worse off than on these islands, and, though passengers by an American liner, we are not Yankees.' Which was true, for, curiously enough, there were very few native-born Americans among those who had sailed from San Francisco on board the William Williams.
THE captain of the Spanish ship—a very fine cruiser—having caught sight of the boat, was not very long in finding out more about us. As I was the only one who could speak a little Spanish I went on board with Frinton and Hardanger, whose knowledge of French we hoped might be of service.
We explained to the commander that we were shipwrecked men, and that the remainder of our party was close at hand.
'Of what nation?'
'The William Williams sailed under the American flag,' I replied.
'Then I regret to have to inform you that you must now regard yourselves as prisoners of war.'
We looked at him aghast. It was very hard that we should be delivered from our present position only to be committed to a Spanish prison. Yet there seemed to be no alternative, for we had placed ourselves unconditionally in the power of the Spaniards.
'Your enemies—that is the man Barcali of whom you speak and his associates—are equally prisoners with yourselves,' continued the commander with a smile.
'That's a blessing!' ejaculated Frinton when I had translated these words. 'We shall at anyrate have the comfort of knowing that the villain is under lock and key.'
Yet, somehow, I did not feel at all sure that Barcali would yield as easily as we had done, or that he would not again succeed in outwitting us.
Ordering the remainder of our party to come on board, and taking possession of our machine-gun, the long-boat was allowed to tow astern while the great ship forged slowly ahead.
It was not long before we passed the entrance to 'Shark Strait,' though at a considerable distance therefrom. Then they caught sight of our other boats and the canoes of the Romans, and, on rounding the north-eastern extremity of 'Long Island,' we came in sight of the William Williams.
There was a figure on the bridge; it could be none other than Adriani Barcali. He seemed to be regarding the approaching man-of-war through a glass. The cruiser brought up less than a mile and a half away, and the commander was just about (so we supposed) to order a couple of boats to put off for the stranded ship when my attention was directed by Hardanger to a flag which was fluttering upwards to the masthead of the William Williams.
'What is it?' I asked.
'Spanish!' said he.
'Nonsense, man!'
'True.'
'What does the fellow mean by it, I wonder?'
'Von of hees dodges.'
'Yes, no doubt,' and I turned with a feeling of curiosity to see what the commander of the Spanish warship would do.
He was speaking in a low tone to his first lieutenant. I could not hear what he said, but I could see that they were both somewhat puzzled by the appearance of their national flag on the stranded steamer.
Presently an order was given to lower the two boats, and as soon as they were afloat they proceeded towards the William Williams.
'They will get a warm reception, I imagine,' said Frinton.
'Not they! Barcali is too deep for that. He will bamboozle the Spaniards in some fashion, you may be sure.'
We watched until the boats were alongside, and the officer in charge had mounted to the deck of the ship. He remained on board upwards of half-an-hour longer than we had expected, and we wondered what the mutineers could be saying to him.
When the boats returned we watched them again. All at once Frinton cried out, 'By all that is wonderful, the archvillain is with them!'
'What! Barcali?'
'Yes—see! there he is—in the stern-sheets of the second boat!'
It was quite true. There was seated Barcali the mutineer, as spick, span and spruce as ever, smiling blandly and chatting away to his companions, the officers, as though he had known them all his life.
They came on deck, and Barcali was presented to the Spanish commander as Captain Labuan.
I listened in amazement, and stepped forward to protest and denounce the villain. But the commander motioned me back.
'I have heard your story, and it is but fair that I should listen to that of Captain Labuan,' he said.
They went below—that is to say, the commander, Barcali and the officer who had brought him on board.
'I told you that Barcali would play us some trick,' said Hardanger, shaking his great fist.
We did not reply, for we were too angry, not to say anxious, to discuss the matter.
In a quarter of an hour we were astonished by a message which was brought to us requesting us to descend to the commander's state-room.
Here we found Barcali seated by the side of the Spaniard. There was a look of malignant triumph on his dark and handsome features. . On the table before them lay a number of documents.
'I find that you have deceived me,' said the commander, speaking in Spanish, and addressing us in a severe tone. 'Captain Labuan has shown me his papers, which are all in order. Had you told me that the vessel to which you belonged was bound for the Philippines, and sailing under Spanish colours, I might have released you. As it is, you will be punished in due course for your mutiny.'
'But—' I began.
'Not another word. Sergeant, place these men under arrest.'
The sentry at the door immediately advanced and we were marched from the state-room. In five minutes we found ourselves inmates of that dark and foul place—the ship's prison.
'Barcali has triumphed,' remarked Frinton, bitterly.
'For the present,' I returned; 'but, mark my words, retribution will come. Barcali is too clever. He will overreach himself.'
'And in the meantime what are we to do?'
'Nossing at all,' chimed in Hardanger.
'There is no doubt,' said I, 'that Barcali has played his cards cleverly; but I cannot understand how he came to have papers that would satisfy the commander of this man-of-war.'
'Bless you!' returned Frinton, 'he is one of those wicked, clever, well-educated men, who live by their wits. There is hardly any possible emergency for which he is unprepared.'
'But zee end vill show,' said Hardanger, sternly, as he stretched his huge frame on the rough bench affixed to the side of his prison. 'Eef Barcali does not swing from zee yardarm or zee gallows before vehy long, my name is not Oscar Hardanger,' and he smote his knee with his massive fist energetically as he spoke.
Thus we conversed in the guard-room of the Spanish warship.
After a time food was brought to us—coarse in quality but sufficient in quantity. But, though we tried to question the marines, they made no reply, and we settled down to await, as patiently as we could, the development of this extraordinary state of affairs.
What happened after Frinton, Hardanger and I, with the rest of the party on the long-boat, were taken on board the man-of-war was afterwards related to me by Jimmy Questover, who, strangely enough, was not imprisoned as we were. He said that after we had been taken below to be interviewed by the commander, he and the rest of the party, with the exception of Barr, Mickleband and Jezzard, who, evidently by Barcali's instigation, were regarded as especially guilty, were ordered to descend into the long-boat in company with a strongly-armed force. This force consisted of four of the boats of the man-of-war crowded with sailors and marines, and they were directed to pull for the spot where our allies and friends, with their fleet of canoes and boats, were concealed.
It was no doubt owing to Questover's very youthful appearance that he was not detained on board with the others. As it was, he was able to report to me many things which I am now about to record, and of which I should otherwise probably have remained in ignorance.
Arrived at the bay, the occupants of the fleet were informed through one of the marines, who spoke a little imperfect English, that they must consider themselves to be prisoners of war. The Romans were informed that they were at liberty to depart, but those who had come hither on board the William Williams must return at once to the huts under the cliff—of which Barcali seems to have told the commander—and remain there until they should receive further instructions. Further, they were informed that a crew of well-armed men would remain on board until the commander had decided what was to be done with them.
All this sounded ominous. But, as Questover afterwards told me, his brain was now actively employed in concocting a scheme for the escape of the whole party, including both the girls on board the William Williams, as well as the passengers and sailors on 'Great Island,' and ourselves who were in prison on board the Spanish man-of-war.
After the Romans had departed for the western coast of 'Great Island,' Questover had guided the party into the harbour, and past 'Little Island,' to the shore before the mutineers' village. Here all but the crew of one boat belonging to the man-of-war left them, and they were directed to betake themselves to the huts, the Spanish sailors constructing for themselves a camp on shore some distance above high-water mark.
'I brought them some liquor from Barcali's hut, for which the fellows seemed thankful,' said Questover, 'as, though they had brought grub, they had only a breaker of water by way of drink. They made such use of this provision that, two hours after we had left them, they were all sleeping soundly on the beach.'
He went on to say that no sooner had he discovered this than he urged without delay upon the rest the advisability of making good their escape. This they proceeded to do by way of the secret passage which we had discovered in the cliff. They had even succeeded in conveying with them the wounded man Marcus Tertius, who was tended unwearily by Mrs Labuan, as well as Lusby and the other men whom we had saved from the raft. Throughton, too, came with them, but, of course, under compulsion.
As soon as they had reached the summit, Questover had guided them to the arena, as we called the place where Hardanger had performed his great deed of valour against the score of Roman soldiers. Here, to their great joy, they found the whole of the Roman army. For, on being dismissed by the Spaniards, they had come hither. There was great rejoicing at the return of the Consul Marcus. But he was still excessively weak, and Mrs Labuan continued to attend to him most assiduously.
Questover then discussed the situation with the leaders of the party, suggesting to them that they should make an effort to effect our release, as well as that of Marie Labuan and her twenty-five companions on board the William Williams. At first they did not see how either of these projects could be carried out, until Questover proposed that, as their Spanish guards were now asleep, it might be possible to gain possession of their weapons.
Returning with a dozen of the men, Questover said that they not only found that the sailors and marines were still sleeping heavily, but, what was still more important, they made the fortunate discovery that there was an abundant supply of firearms and ammunition in the boat.
Launching her cautiously, they had speedily pulled out of the harbour, through 'Shark Strait,' to the eastern side of 'Long Island.'
Fearing lest they should come across some of the boats belonging to the man-of-war, or arouse those on board the stranded ship, they proceeded with great caution. The night was very dark, but they succeeded in finding the vessel, and got alongside unobserved by the mutineers. After this came a wild fight, which Questover described to me as 'a grand jumble, in which none of us knew what the others were about.' But it ended in the retreat of the mutineers (strange to say) to the engine-room, in which they were secured by the very doors that had once held ourselves prisoners.
Then came the release of Marie Labuan and her companions. None of them had suffered more harm than a somewhat irksome captivity, and they were overjoyed at their release. At first it seemed impossible to remove them from the ship, the boat not being large enough to contain so many. But after a time Questover remembered that a large canoe had been left by the Romans on the adjoining beach, and this having been fetched, the whole party left the vessel and proceeded to the western shore of 'Great Island,' where they were warmly received by their friends.
The man-of-war's boat was then towed back to its place by Questover and a small crew.
Within half-an-hour of their return to the arena Questover overheard the following conversation between Mrs Labuan and Throughton.
'Do you think it is worth while carrying on this game?' said the latter.
'No, it looks as though Adriani was about to give us away.'
'Just what I think.'
'He is by no means to be trusted,' said she. 'I know him of old, and for some time I have been suspicious that he would abandon us if it suited his purpose.'
After this they were silent for a few minutes, as though each was absorbed in thought.
'I vote we give a little first-hand information to the captain of this Spanish warship,' said Throughton, presently.
'I will support you,' said Mrs Labuan; adding, 'I do not intend to return to America—nor to Europe.'
'No?'
She made no further remark, and Questover presently crept away from the shelter of the trees.
The following morning Throughton and Mrs Labuan announced that they were prepared to go on board the man-of-war to give evidence against Barcali.
As this seemed the only way of effecting our release one of the canoes was launched, and these two persons, accompanied by Questover and a crew of Romans, made for the eastern coast and the Spanish warship.
On arriving there they demanded an interview with the captain, saying that they had come to deliver a communication of great urgency. Upon this they were allowed to come on board, Mrs Labuan being assisted up the side by Questover and Throughton.
Hardanger, Frinton and I were discussing the probability of our being carried to Spain and there imprisoned, when the door opened and the sergeant motioned us to follow him.
As we entered the captain's state-room (for it was thither he conducted us) I was much amazed to catch sight of my gallant young friend Questover, and still more so when I saw Throughton and Mrs Labuan.
There was a stern look on the face of the commander, who, as I subsequently found, was naturally a man of a kindly disposition, and I noticed that Barcali, who sat by him, looked very pale.
Asking that I would interpret, the commander requested Throughton to make his statement. Whereupon that worthy recounted such a story of cold-blooded crime, that presently, as I put his words sentence by sentence into Spanish, the whole company turned and gazed at the chief mutineer with horror and consternation written on their faces.
After Throughton, Mrs Labuan gave evidence. She fully confirmed all that the first witness had said, and added thereto several important details, which showed that Adriani Barcali was even a more wicked man than we had supposed.
'And the papers which he showed to me—?'said the commander.
'Are forgeries,' replied Throughton. 'I drew them up myself some time ago at Barcali's direction, while he held a revolver to my head.'
THE commander of the Spanish cruiser, whose name we discovered was Don Sebastian Aranjuez, seemed to be not a little puzzled by these conflicting statements. While he did not doubt Barcali's guilt, he seemed unable to decide what should be done with the rest of the party. At length, after consultations with his officers, he informed me that certain of us were to be taken to Spain, where the matter, he said, would be fully investigated.
'At any rate, we shall not be detained for long,' remarked Frinton, when I had translated the commander's words. 'But what about the others?'
'He says that he shall leave a guard of marines on the island.'
'So the sailors and women will remain?'
'Yes—I suppose so.'
And so it turned out. In a few hours Barcali's Isles were a faint, blue cloud on the verge of the far-distant horizon; and Frinton, Hardanger and myself, in company with the arch-villain, the author of all our troubles, were being swiftly conveyed over the blue waters towards distant Spain, while Throughton, Barr, Mickleband, Questover and Jezzard, and, above all, my beloved Marie, remained behind on the islands.
It was with a sad heart that I gazed astern till the last trace of land had faded out of sight; for, of course, I could not know how soon or under what tragic circumstances I should again behold my beloved. There was no chance of our escaping, so the kind-hearted captain treated us with consideration, and even gave us our liberty, allotting cabins to our use, and otherwise providing for our comfort.
But I am sure he would not have done it had he known what was about to happen.
As for Barcali, he was all smiles and cheerfulness, and, being a foreigner at heart, speedily made friends with the Spaniards. Indeed, in a few hours he was on such good terms with them that even the officers were laughing at his jokes and stories.
'The fellow is up to some devilry, be sure of that!' observed Frinton, as he stood with Hardanger and myself looking over the rail.
'But vat can he do on board a man-o'-war? Nossing—nossing vatever!' said the unimaginative Norwegian, with a sweep of his hand. 'I have served on board a cruiser, and, I tell you, Adriani Barcali vill very soon swing for his crimes.'
But somehow, though I could not have told the reason, I was of a different opinion.
Frinton remarked that Barcali knew a good deal about warships.
'Yes, he was explaining to one of the officers yesterday the working of a certain kind of machine-gun,' I said.
'Learnt it in the Italian navy, I suppose?'
'No doubt. Maybe he could give these Spaniards a wrinkle or two.'
Frinton laughed. 'Oh, I dare say. He could do that with most of us.'
Two days later Barcali, who had thoroughly ingratiated himself with the officers, to our intense surprise and chagrin, was invited to their mess, while we were left unnoticed.
'This is queer treatment of a murderer and a prisoner,' said Frinton. 'I wonder what it means?'
'Means!' I cried. 'It only means that the fellow is as clever as he is wicked, and we—we're a parcel of common fools!'
Perhaps I should not have been pleased if anyone had applied this term to any of us, but it was none the less true, as events proved; for things were taking place under our very noses to which we were stupidly and totally blind; while Adriani Barcali was scheming and plotting for his last and most stupendously audacious coup in a way that ought most certainly to have been detected by us.
When we had left the islands four days something went wrong with the port engine. I never knew exactly what it was—only a trifling defect, I believe; but it gave Barcali an opportunity of which he was not slow to avail himself. The chief engineer of the cruiser was an upstart of a Spaniard, a man possessed of immense pride of race, and having but scant knowledge of his profession. Now Barcali had so contrived to flatter this fellow (at least, this is my private opinion, though I know, in this particular, Frinton and Hardanger hold a different view), that when the accident happened—it did not at first amount to a total breakdown of the engines—he was speedily summoned to give his opinion, and, so cleverly did he play his cards, that in a very short time every man in the engine-room was at his beck and call.
It was as useless for Frinton to bite his nails in his fit of jealousy as for Hardanger to mutter untranslatable Norse curses. Barcali, as spick and span and spruce as ever he had been on board the William Williams, smiled and bowed and gave advice in polite tones; now chatting with the easy-going commander, Don Sebastian Aranjuez, now seizing a spanner that he might adjust a nut, making a quasi-apology as he did so to the chief engineer, and all the while his quick eyes were gathering a harvest of information concerning the cruiser and those with whom he was playing as bold a game as ever was conceived by mortal man.
The repairs were completed very soon; but Barcali had obtained the entrée to the engine-room, and it was speedily evident that he intended to make every use of this privilege. Under one pretext or another he was now constantly in company with the chief engineer or suggesting something to his subordinates. And it was really not surprising that they took to the fellow, for he was so blandly urbane, so gentlemanly, so considerate, so helpful in difficulties, and withal assumed so humble a demeanour when praised for his engineering skill, that suspicions were soon disarmed, and the dangerous prisoner became transformed into the honoured guest.
I do not know whether Adriani Barcali would have succeeded in hoodwinking a British commander. Certain it is that he played right skilfully on the inherent pride of these Spanish officers. Detecting, as by instinct, their weaknesses, flattering their vanity, pandering to their foibles, until, though they knew it not (even as we ourselves never suspected it), he had them completely in his toils.
This done—we saw it clearly enough afterwards, and when it was too late—he proceeded to play his other cards.
'I cannot make out what has come to the compass,' I overheard the captain say to the second in command (he spoke, of course, in Spanish).
'But you have other compasses; and—'
'True. But they all seem to be wrong.'
'Deflection, I should say,' rejoined the officer.
They stood many yards away. It was mid-day, and Don Sebastian Aranjuez had just taken an observation. Then Barcali sauntered up, and they began to ask his advice.
'A clear case of deflection,' he said. 'I have a theory—perhaps it isn't worth much—that under the ocean are mountains of iron ore which seriously affect the compasses of ships. If such is the case in the vicinity of parts of your own Spanish coast—as you are well aware—there is no reason why it should not be so in mid-Pacific.'
It was a plausible argument.
The same evening the port engines again broke down, and Barcali was once more summoned to the engine-room.
Watching my opportunity, I took occasion to remind the captain that Barcali, like ourselves, was a prisoner, and that it was by no means wise to entrust repairs to his hands.
But Don Sebastian Aranjuez was one of those who have unlimited confidence in the man of polished and gentlemanly behaviour. Besides this, it was he who had sent Barcali into the engine-room; and I soon saw that he meant to stand by the result of of his own actions.
'There is nothing for it but to lie low,' said Frinton.
We soon learnt that the damage done to the engines was this time more serious than on the recent occasion, and that but one of the propellers could be used.
'Feeshy! as you English call it,' said Hardanger. 'I hav not vergot vot happened on zee Villiam Villiams.'
'What can we do?' I asked. 'I have already warned the captain that Barcali is not to be trusted.
That night arose one of those tremendous storms which occasionally sweep over the bosom of the usually peaceful Pacific. It raged with such force that we could make no headway with our one propeller. For four days the great ship was more or less at the mercy of the elements, and, considering the very indifferent seamanship of the Spaniards, it was a wonder to us that she remained afloat at all. At it was, no observations could be taken; and by the third day the officers openly confessed that they knew not our whereabouts.
'Look at Barcali!' whispered Hardanger in my ear, as we crouched in a corner where the clouds of flying spray could not reach us. I stretched out my neck and caught sight of the arch-villain. He was on the forward bridge, holding on to the rail at the extreme end of the starboard side, and was gazing steadily ahead over the troubled waters.
He swayed with the long roll of the huge labouring ship as she ran her nose into the mountains of green-grey water; he was lifted up and swung sideways as the all-powerful wave caught the mighty hull and thrust it upwards, as though it were a child's toy; he was lowered to the very edge of the water as the same wave passed astern, and the great mass of iron and steel, lurching along heavily to starboard, slid down into the trough. Still he held on, looking all the while ahead into the scud-filled distance.
'Is he looking for Callao?' said Hardanger, in a sneering tone.
'Are we going there?' I asked in surprise.
'It is zee nearest port,' I should say.
'Ah, repairs! But will they allow a Spanish warship to enter for such a purpose?'
'True. I forgot that.'
'Besides, we are far from Callao,' observed Frinton.
In a few minutes Barcali clambered along the bridge, holding on carefully, for the force of the wind was enough to have carried him into the sea, till he came to the glazed steering-house. We could dimly discern his form as he stood within and talked with the two steersmen.
''Gainst the rules!' exclaimed Hardanger.
'Shall we tell the captain?' asked Frinton, eagerly.
'No. We'll wait and watch!' I said. 'Perhaps if we give the Don a hint he'll be on the look-out?'
'Not he!' sneered Hardanger, who seemed to have a special contempt for the easy-going commander. 'Zee lubber has no idea of naval discipline.'
'Say, rather, he has no idea of Barcali's perverted cleverness,' I said.
Thus we plunged and ploughed and laboured, till the curtains of night began to be lowered and the wind diminished in force.
''Twill be a fine day to-morrow, gentlemen,' suggested Barcali, as he made his way round the corner of the barbette, where the long muzzle of a gun thrust itself seawards.
'Let's hope so!' grunted Frinton, in no very friendly tone, by way of reply.
Presently Barcali came quite up to us and looked us each one in the face before he again spoke. Then he began in a low tone, 'You're a parcel of derned fools—fools!' He emphasised the last word as he repeated it. 'Isn't it as plain as the noses on your faces that, unless something happens, and speedily, you will see the inside of that most delectable of earthly habitations—a Spanish prison?'
'Well!' I ventured.
'Well, you idiot! Cannot you see that these proud fools of Spaniards can be gulled, bamfoozled, twisted round one's finger—eh?'
I made no reply. What did the man mean?
But Hardanger clenched his great fist and thrust it under Barcali's nose.
'Look here! Tell us vot you mean, you ugly, murdering pirate! or by—'
'Stop, man, stop!' cried Frinton, grasping the Norwegian's hairy arm. 'Let's hear what he has to say!'
Barcali paused, and again steadfastly regarded us. He was by no means disconcerted by Hardanger's violence.
'Yes, fire away, Barcali. We understand you pretty well by this time, you know.'
'Would you like to get back to the islands?' he asked, in a tone that sank almost to a whisper.
'What do you mean, man? The thing's impossible.'
He smiled—the old scornful, sarcastic smile. 'Not so impossible as you seem to imagine.' Then he paused again.
'Out with it!' blurted Frinton, impatiently.
Barcali shook his head. 'I have a price,' he said.
'What is it?'
'Your full co-operation, con amore—you understand?—and—the return of my pocket-book.'
The said book at that moment lay against my bosom in my coat pocket.
'If you mean that you want us to aid and abet your schemes of plunder and murder, I, for one, will have nothing to do with them,' I replied.
'Nor I,' said Hardanger.
'Nor I,' chimed in Frinton.
'You're a trio of holy saints!' sneered Barcali, in his most scornful tone. 'But you'll change your creed before long—sooner, in fact, than you imagine.'
He made his way aft to the quarter-deck, where we soon after saw him in animated conversation with the captain.
'Zat man ees a devil!' hissed Hardanger through his clenched teeth.
He was not far wrong.
A THUD, succeeded by an uncomfortable, bumping, grinding sound; loud shouts; the ringing of electric bells, followed by the sudden stopping of the engines and the hissing of escaping steam, were things which combined to tell us that something had happened.
Springing from the berth and slipping quickly into my clothes, I hurried from the cabin, only to collide with Hardanger and Frinton, who were coming to arouse me.
'We're ashore!' cried the former, adding, 'Zis ees Barcali's work, I'll be bound.'
'Barcali or no, our place is on deck,' I replied.
As I spoke, the great ship lurched to port and remained still, whereupon Frinton cried, 'She's hard and fast,' and we scrambled on deck as quickly as our legs would carry us.
It was dark—very dark. The wind had fallen, but there was a heavy swell, and the long rollers broke against us every few minutes with a noise like thunder, while the spray flew in sheets right over the bulwarks and gun-turrets and the three great funnels.
The men had already been piped to quarters, but somehow there seemed to be very few of them. A certain number were standing by the boats and preparing to lower them at the word of command.
'Where are we?' I inquired.
'Blest if I know,' said Frinton, as he shaded his eyes and endeavoured to penetrate the dense gloom.
'Nossing to be seen,' said Hardanger.
'Do you think the cruiser is done for?' I asked.
'Seems like it, the vay she bumped,' replied the Norwegian.
Then a strange thing happened.
From somewhere above there came the sound of a shrill whistle. Three times it sounded, and the officers who were superintending the preparation for launching the boats paused, and looked about in surprise. We—that is, Hardanger, Frinton and I—had hurried forward on coming on deck, and were at this moment close by the forebarbette. In response to the whistle, a chorus of shouts seemed to arise from all parts of the vessel, and with the shouts the sounds of men running.
'It's another mutiny!' exclaimed Frinton. But we could not see anything, for, the engines being stopped, the electric lights had gone out, and we were unable to distinguish even each other's features.
The truth, however, was speedily made known to us. A voice rang out above our heads. Though he spoke in Spanish—and very good Spanish, too—I should anywhere have recognised that voice as Adriani Barcali's.
'The captain first! Look smart, my brave comrades; your reward awaits you! There is gold to the value of one hundred thousand English pounds to be divided between my gallant assistants.'
'This way, or we shall be knifed!' whispered Frinton.
Hardanger began to expostulate. He would stand by the captain of the cruiser, he said. But we grasped his arms, and dragged him after us into the barbette, and we crouched in the dark, listening to the noise outside, wondering what would become of us. There was at first some smart firing. Once a couple of revolver shots were fired close to the opening through which the long gun protruded, and these were followed by a yell of agony, while the voice of Barcali remarked, as though he were talking to himself, 'The stupid fool should have yielded! That makes a dozen of 'em.'
'Saint George! do you know where we are?' asked Frinton, presently, speaking quietly for fear we should be overheard.
'Yes, in the gun-barbette, of course.'
'Don't be stupid! I mean, do you know where the cruiser is cast away?'
'No; how should I?'
'Some island off the South American coast,' suggested Hardanger.
'But don't you remember that Barcali told the Spanish seamen that there were a hundred thousand English pounds to be divided among them?'
'Well?'
'Didn't that inform you plainly enough where we are?'
'You don't mean—?'
'Yes, I do. We're on Barcali's Islands, sure as eggs are eggs!'
'Nonsense, man!'
'You'll see—if we are permitted to behold the light of another day.'
'Then you think that Barcali will murder us?'
'Likely enough.'
After this we all sat thinking for a while, my own mind turned to Marie. If we were indeed aground on or near Barcali's Isles, then (though she knew it not) I was very near to her; but I dismissed the idea with a sigh. The chances were ten to one that, after all, Frinton was mistaken, and that Barcali's words had some other meaning; or, maybe, he was purposely misleading the Spanish sailors, and we were, in truth, far from the islands. If Barcali should murder us, what would become of Marie and the rest? The thought was too horrible to contemplate, for I knew that the man was wicked enough to deliver up his nearest relative into the hands of the unprincipled men who formed his gang of desperadoes.
Presently Hardanger spoke,—
'As soon as zey find us, ve are as goot as dead men,' he said, speaking in a low and solemn tone, 'I know zese Spaniards,' he continued. 'Zey smile like sunshine ven zey are pleased; but, ven zey are angered, zey become as black as a sunder-cloud, and strike like zee lightning, too.'
We asked him what he advised.
'Ve must leaf zee ship pefore daybreak.'
But how? This was the question. For some time we thought and thought and talked in whispers. Things seemed to be quieter outside, the prevailing sound being the irregular and unceasing dash of the waves against the vessel.
'I have it!' exclaimed Frinton, presently. 'The engine-room will certainly be deserted now. If we can but open the port-hole—it is the lowermost in the hull of the cruiser—we may be able to drop quietly into the water and swim ashore.'
'It will be a desperate venture in such a sea,' I said.
'Put out your head and see if there is anyone about,' continued Frinton, addressing Hardanger, and that worthy forthwith proceeded to lie on his stomach at full length while he peered into the external darkness.
Then, as there seemed to be no sentinels or other watchers, we crawled forth one by one, following Hardanger. The deck outside the barbette had become slimy. I shuddered when I realised that it was human blood. With extreme caution we made our way aft towards the engine-room hatchway, choosing the windward side of the ship, where the waves were breaking over the rail—though certainly with less violence than before—as being more likely to be free from the presence of Spaniards. As luck would have it, we gained the hatchway without having encountered a single soul.
'Go cautiously down the steps,' whispered Frinton, after he had looked down to ascertain that the way was clear, for a lamp was burning below. We had just reached the bottom when I caught the sound of voices, and, grasping Hardanger's arm to warn him, we crouched down behind the great mass of machinery, now motionless and silent. Then we heard two men talking in Spanish (Frinton and Hardanger, of course, did not understand, but I told them afterwards what I had heard).
'This Señor Barcali is a wonderful man,' said one.
'We shall all be rich men now. But I'm sorry for the captain.'
'Yes, Don Sebastian Aranjuez belonged to a good old Seville family, and will be missed in society; but such is the fortune of the sea.'
'Maybe the Government will send a line-of-battle ship after us, and then what shall we do?'
'Oh, comrade, Señor Barcali has planned everything—everything! It is truly marvellous! There are several islands; the stronghold is a cave in the solid cliff, and overlooks an impregnable inner harbour; the channels are to be mined; the big guns are to be landed and mounted for the defence of the place; the cruiser is to be broken up and concealed, and I know not what else besides.'
'By the holy saints! but Senor Barcali is truly a wonderful man,' responded the other.
I gasped, 'Oh, my!' under my breath.
'He says that these islands are practically unknown,' continued the first speaker, 'and that we may settle down there without fear of being disturbed.'
'But, in that case, the money will do us no good.'
'Yes, each man will have his share when he returns to Spain.'
'Will he?' I whispered to myself.
'There are women, too,' continued the speaker, and the other laughed.
At this moment an unfortunate movement of Hardanger's foot made a sound on the iron plates, which attracted the attention of the men; and, peeping through the maze of cranks, eccentrics and rods, we saw that they were coming in our direction.
'We must silence them,' I whispered; and as they appeared, peering cautiously about, we dashed out of the deep shadow in which we had been crouching and sprang upon them unawares.
The first man was a tall powerful Andalusian. He was tackled by Hardanger, who clutched the fellow by the throat with both his sinewy hands. Together they rolled on to the iron-plated floor, and the man, striking his head against a casting which formed part of the engine-bed, was either stunned or killed outright, we never knew which.
The other was a stout, stiff fellow, and he was more difficult to manage. For, seeing his companion assailed, he instantly whipped out a long knife, such as Spanish seamen carry, and, with a wild shout which rang through the engine-room, raised the weapon to plunge it into Frinton's breast.
I was just behind him, and perceiving that in another moment my friend would receive what might be a mortal wound, I thrust him forward with all my strength against the Spaniard, so that the knife descended beyond Frinton's shoulder; then, seizing the fellow's arm, I twisted the weapon from his grasp before he could do us any harm therewith.
His shout had raised the alarm, and there came down to us sounds of hurrying feet and answering cries.
'Show us the lower engine-room porthole, or you're a dead man,' I said to him in Spanish.
With a look of mortal terror the man hastened with us into the stoke-hold, and pointed to an iron door in the side of the ship.
'Help us to open it—quick!' I cried, with a menacing gesture of the weapon in the direction of his heart.
With trembling fingers he helped us to draw the bolts.
'Can you swim?' I asked.
'No, señor.'
'Then you've got to learn. Out you go.'
It seemed like murder; but we had no time to argue the point, and we dare not let him go. So we thrust the man through the square hole, head foremost, before he had recovered from his terror sufficiently to utter a single yell, and he fell without a splash into a wave which lifted itself up at that moment almost to the level of the opening.
With a momentary prayer for preservation (though I don't know that I deserved it after my treatment of the Spanish sailor), I scrambled through and dropped into the water. Then I was borne away from the side of the ship on the crest of a huge wave, and before long my feet touched hard sand. After this came a struggle. The backwash of the water twice swept my feet from under me, but I struggled with the desperation of despair, and at last succeeded in gaining dry land. There followed me a feeble, gasping cry. I could just discern a black object in the water, struggling as I had done. Though much exhausted, I hastened to the water's edge, and managed to grasp a man's hand. It was the Spanish sailor.
'Thank God!' I exclaimed fervently. 'Then you are alive!' For, fearing that he had gone to the bottom, I had felt like a murderer since thrusting him through the port-hole.
'Help me to find my friends,' I said.
Drenched to the skin as we were, and shivering with cold, we skirted the foam, looking intently everywhere for a pair of half-drowned men. But no trace of them could we find, and at last the conclusion was forced upon us that Frinton and Hardanger had been swept out to sea. It was a terrible blow; and in my despair I sat down on the beach and cried like a child. Then the instinct of self-preservation arose in me, for life is sweet. I should certainly be shot by the Spaniards as soon as daylight came if I remained in sight of the cruiser; so, complaining of the cold, I persuaded my companion to leave the shore, and we turned away inland, climbing painfully, and stumbling in the darkness over the sandy mounds and the tufts of coarse grass.
In a quarter of an hour we reached the ridge of the island—if an island it were—and hiding ourselves in a hollow from the chill wind, which seemed to pierce our very bones, we sat shivering until the first signs of dawn appeared.
It was during these long, dreary hours that I learnt much which cleared up the enigma of the casting-away of the war-ship. The man told me that Barcali, with the utmost cleverness and cunning, had fomented discontent among the crew and the petty officers, promising them unlimited reward if they would aid him. It was he who had tampered both with the engines and with the ship's compasses. In fact, the whole diabolical scheme was his, and his alone.
He said that Don Sebastian Aranjuez, as well as the whole of the officers, and the few who were loyal to them, had been killed, for Barcali had even contrived to obtain access to the small arms, and the arch-mutineer was now in supreme command.
I told him of Barcali's former villainy, and assured him that those who sailed with him would certainly reap the reward of their deeds.
As soon as there was sufficient light I looked about to see if I could recognise the place whereon we had been cast. At first it all seemed strange, but presently the outline of a hill, which rose up right in front, seemed to be familiar. Then, as the light spread, I could make out the lower features of the scene.
'Bless me! why these are indeed Barcali's Isles,' I exclaimed to myself. 'This is Long Island, and the cruiser is stranded in Shark Strait.'
I could not but admire the ability which Ardriani Barcali had displayed in carrying out his most audacious scheme. How it was to end I could not conceive, nor could I ever have imagined what was, in fact, to be the climax of the mutineer's subtilties.
Thinking that the Spanish seaman might be useful to me, I asked him if he would assist me to reach the 'mainland' (for so I named the larger island in sight). He readily signified his assent; but when we came to consider how we were to cross 'Shark Strait,' for a long time we could not hit upon any plan. Swimming was dangerous, for there came into my head a certain entry in Barcali's diary. I pulled the book from my pocket and read it again as I sat on a mound of sand—
'July 19.—Saunders, O'Mally and Hughes devoured by sharks in straits between Long Island and Round Island. This has saved at least three bullets.'
No, I thought, it would not do to risk the swimming of the strait. I had no desire that master Jack Shark should deprive Barcali's bullet of its billet.
The Spaniard suggested that we should search the inner shore, in the hope that we might find a boat or even some driftwood.
'Right you are, Master Spaniard!' I cried. So we set off down the slope as fast as our benumbed and stiffened limbs would carry us.
Luck was with us. For after some searching we found a canoe which had been left by the Romans. It was hidden behind the long, tufty grass, and it took us some time and all our strength to launch it. After this we paddled straight for the narrow entrance which led into the inner harbour. In less than an hour we were turning the corner which brought us abreast of the well-remembered cliff.
Though well-nigh exhausted with the exertion of moving the unwieldy craft, I was happy, for was I not returning to Marie, my own sweet love!
Alas! 'There's many a slip—'
I NOW come to relate how we arrived once more at Barcali's stronghold, what happened there, and finally how that audacious scoundrel, with all those who followed him, were completely and for ever overthrown.
The unexpected always happens. And it was just as I signed to my companion to cease paddling, so that I might turn the prow of the clumsy craft shorewards, that I caught sight of the figure of a man standing among the identical rocks where Barcali and his men once so cleverly entrapped our boat's crew.
Thinking for the moment that it was one of the mutineers, I was about to turn the canoe away again, but a second glance revealed to me that it was none other than Hardanger himself. Surprise did not cause us to delay. In a few minutes the boat grated on the sand, and we sprang ashore, to be met by Hardanger with the words—
'Not a sound, eef you value your lives!'
'Why! What's the matter? Where's Frinton?'
'Hush! Vollow me.'
He led us through a maze of rocks and large boulders, many of them taller than a man, towards the great cliff, but somewhat to the eastward of the place where stood the huts of Barcali's settlement and the great ladder which led up to the cave. In the distance, on our left, I could distinctly hear the sound of voices, but was unable to distinguish what was being said.
'Eef zey catch us ve are done for!'
'Why, what do you mean?'
'I mean zat ve shall soon fall into Barcali's hands. Zee guard left here by the cruiser vill certainly join zee mutineers.'
'But you don't know this for certain.'
'Zey are Spanish. Zat ees enough.'
Wending our way stealthily among the rocks and bearing always toward the east, we presently entered a grove of trees which grew on the steep side of the hill where the cliff ended. Here Hardanger signed to us to halt, and as we were out of the sound of voices, I questioned him eagerly.
'Frinton's safe enough—in zee Roman burying-place,' he said.
'Not the "Chamber of Death"?'
He nodded.
'But how did he get there?'
This brought out an account of their adventures. He related how that, on dropping through the port-hole, the current carried them away from the shore, and they feared at first that they were being swept out to sea. Struggling hard to stem it, they drifted until a counter-current caught them and brought them clean through 'Shark Strait' (fortunately for them, without being molested by the sharks which I had so greatly dreaded, and which doubtless had been driven away by the gale), and so landed them on the shore of the mainland, They discovered their whereabouts at daybreak, and it did not take them long to reach the neighbourhood of the settlement.
Remembering, however, that it was in the hands of the Spanish marines, they had climbed up to the top of the cliff, and there had resolved to remain for a few hours in hiding, hoping that they might soon see something of myself and the Spanish sailor.
'Frinton vas much exhausted,' he explained, 'and I left him asleep among zee dead men.'
'So you came down to the shore to look for us?'
'Yes.'
We climbed the steep ascent and entered the well-remembered passage. The very dim light which came in enabled us to see the form of Frinton. He was fast asleep, and his head was pillowed on a bundle of royal Roman grave-clothes. We roused him and brought him out into the light. His delight at seeing me was touching.
'We thought you were done for,' he said.
Then we proceeded to discuss the future. Hardanger was for hiding until we should see what Barcali and his Spanish mutineers intended to do, but Frinton objected that we might have to wait a long time, and should be starving meanwhile. This was by no means a welcome prospect, for we were all by this time sufficiently hungry, so I threw my weight in the scale and supported Frinton's proposal. Whereupon Hardanger, as was his wont sometimes, got into a rage, and swore he would stay where he was, saying that we should regret the step we proposed, and calling us a couple of short-sighted fellows.
The upshot of the discussion was that Hardanger strode away in high dudgeon, crying out, as a parting shot, 'You'll be glad enough of my help before long.' I ran after him, but with a gesture of anger he disappeared among the trees.
Half-an-hour later Frinton and I and the Spanish sailor clambered over Barcali's earthworks and presented ourselves at the settlement, being under the impression that Hardanger would soon follow us. I gazed about in the hope that I should see Marie, but before I could make any inquiries we were hailed by a sentry, and in a few minutes found ourselves in the presence of the Spanish officer who had been left in charge. He listened attentively to my story, and when I had finished told me candidly that he did not believe a word of it.
'You are escaped prisoners, and this one,' pointing to the sailor, 'is a deserter. Guard—remove them to the lock-up.'
The marines closed round us. In five minutes we found ourselves in a strongly built log hut, which had evidently been newly constructed. There was only the narrowest slit of a window, and not a scrap of furniture. We hoped that Barr, Mickleband and Jezzard would hear of our arrival, and would persuade the authorities to release us. But nothing happened. It was some hours before food was given to us, but though what we received was verily 'prisoners' fare,' we ate it with avidity, for we were desperately hungry. More food was brought us in the evening, and when night came the bare earth formed our couch.
But although the outlook had never seemed so gloomy, the end of our troubles was not far off. First, however, was to come the fiery (and final) display of Adriani Barcali's pyrotechnical career.
We were aroused from sleep by a commotion outside, with the sound of many voices and the tramp of feet.
'Barcali!' ejaculated Frinton.
Barcali it was, as we soon discovered. Very soon that worthy was standing before us in company with the cowardly Throughton. The face of the former wore a look of malignant triumph. We had seen its like before, but never so intense.
'You are smart fellows, on the whole, but not quite smart enough!' he said, in a sarcastic tone. Then, catching sight of the Spaniard, he inquired what he did there, adding, 'Ha! where is that great lubberly Norwegian, Hardanger?'
We did not answer his question, but requested that we might be set at liberty. Whereupon he laughed, and told us that he was not such a fool as to let us go.
'No, my fine friends, you are again in my power, and there will this time be no escape by subterranean passages.'
Then I asked that Marie might be brought to visit me. At first he refused, with a great oath. Then he hesitated, and finally said that she should come.
'One interview only—'twill be the last,' he said grimly, as they went out.
How eagerly and anxiously I waited my beloved Marie's coming! The minutes went slowly by. One hour. Two. At last she came. Ah! words fail me to describe the bitter-sweet of that interview. How she sobbed out the story of her long waiting and despair as I clasped her in my arms! She told me that we were doomed; that her brother had decided to shoot us; that the Spaniards who had been left on the islands had readily joined Barcali; and further, that it was the mutineer's design to break up the cruiser and to fortify the stronghold with her great guns. I told her that it was a wild and impossible scheme, but she said that there had been a meeting of the mutineers that very morning and her brother had persuaded them to adapt his plans. 'In fact they are completely intoxicated with the thought of future wealth and have no thought of danger,' she said. I told her that Hardanger was on the island. Then I looked into her lovely eyes and asked her if she would not endeavour to communicate with the Norwegian. 'At least tell him of our terrible danger, and how we regret we did not take his advice,' I said.
The sentry announced that the time allowed for the interview had expired, and my lovely Marie was torn from me amid a flood of tears. I felt sure that Hardanger would soon be made aware of our critical position, though neither Frinton nor I believed that he could do anything to save us.
But the end of Barcali's reign was not far off, though we knew it not: and Hardanger, in a remarkable fashion, was to be both our saviour and the bringer of retributive justice upon all the mutineers.
At daybreak we were led from our prison to the place where once before we had been tried and sentenced by Barcali. The scene was much the same, only on this occasion our guards were more numerous, for well armed Spanish sailors were drawn up in long files on either side.
There's Barr and Mickleband—Questover and Jezzard, too!' exclaimed Frinton, pointing towards the left.
That they, like ourselves, were on their trial was only too evident. We were not allowed to communicate with them, and though I looked anxiously about, I could see nothing either of Marie or of Mrs Labuan.
It was plain that we were to receive but short shrift, for Barcali at once proceeded to address the Spaniards, telling them that we had already proved dangerous to the community and advising that we should all be shot without delay.
He said this with such cool brutality that I cried out in a rage:—'Barcali, you are the Fiend Incarnate!' But he heeded me not, and when he put to the vote the sentence which he had already pronounced, every Spanish right hand was upraised.
'You will be shot at mid-day,' he said, gravely. 'In the meanwhile you shall dig your own graves.'
Jimmy Questover swore loudly that he should dig no grave, but I whispered to him that it would be better to do as we were told and that hope was not lost. For I still trusted that Hardanger might be be able to effect something on our behalf, though in my wildest dreams I could never have imagined what he was really doing.
We were led down to an open space and spades were placed in our hands—that it is to say of the six of us, to wit:—Frinton, Barr, Jezzard, Mickleband, Questover and myself; and, under the superintendence of Throughton, guarded by a firing party of two dozen Spanish marines, we painfully dug the narrow trenches which the mutineers designed should contain our mortal remains.
It was heart-breaking, sickening work. We heeded not the broiling, scorching sun, for death stared us in the face, and our sole hope lay with Hardanger. Barr told us that the rest of the crew and the passengers of the William Williams were kept under close supervision and were powerless to aid us even if they knew of our predicament.
'It must be vara near noon,' observed Mickleband, as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
As he spoke there was a bustle among the members of the firing party and I began to feel a tightening of the heart strings and a sense of sickening dread.
It is easy enough to talk or write about a public execution, but when the victim is oneself, and the moment of death draws near, I found it to be another matter.
I had thrown out the last shovelful when Frinton, who was digging the grave next to mine, raised himself upright and began to address Throughton in the most vigorous language at his command.
'You cowardly sneak!' he began. 'Depend upon it, my spirit'll haunt you to the day of your death—!'
What he would have said more we never knew, for at this moment we were completely startled by a boom, boom, which seemed to come from the sea, and we all sprang out of our graves and gazed about wildly. Then a man on the look-out in the mouth of the cave high above our heads gave a shout, and some of the mutineers began to climb the ladder, while the members of the firing party seized their weapons and ran madly in the direction of the huts.
'Now for-r it!' exclaimed Barr.
He started off at a run, and we all followed helter-skelter, making a bee-line for the woods, and actually laughing in the exuberance of our excitement, and by reason of the sudden and complete revulsion of our feelings.
'What is it?' I gasped, as, panting with our exertions, we dashed among the trees.
'Sounds like a warship,' said Frinton.
'Nonsense!' panted Jezzard, who was much blown with running.
But it was true, nevertheless, as we soon discovered; for, when half-way up the hill, and at a point where we could look clean over Little Island, we caught sight of a couple of cruisers flying the American flag. They were coming round the corner of 'Star Island.'
'The star-spangled banner-r! Bravo!' cried Mickleband, throwing up his cap in his enthusiasm.
On reaching the top of the cliff—it took us some time to reach the highest point—we had a grand view of a remarkable scene. Boats crowded with mutineers, American and Spanish, were pulling down the harbour for the stranded warship. The cruisers were two or three miles away, but drawing rapidly nearer. While we watched, the boats reached the Spanish vessel, and the men swarmed over the side.
'What fresh devilry is Barcali up to, I wonder?' asked Frinton at my side.
'Surely they are not going to fight!' I said.
Presently came a shattering roar, which echoed among the cliffs and hills, sending up flocks of startled fowl from all parts, as the long gun at the stern of the stranded ship belched forth its answer. It was a lucky shot, for we saw it strike the mainmast of the foremost American vessel, smashing it to splinters, and the sound of cheers was wafted up to us by the breeze.
We noticed, too, that a figure was conspicuous on the bridge. Was it Barcali?
'The villain is not devoid of courage,' remarked Frinton.
The second American cruiser now drew within striking distance, and soon an unequal fight, such as I never could have believed possible, was raging right in front of us.
'Ah, that's given 'em a stunner!' I cried, excitedly, as a shell from one of the American ships carried away a funnel and a considerable amount of deck hamper. But the bridge was still untouched, and the dark figure stood firm and unharmed.
'Wicked he may be, ay, but he's na coward,' observed Mickleband, in a tone of admiration.
Ranged on the edge of the cliff high above the cave, we now began to speculate concerning the American cruisers.
'It beats me to understand how they came to know that the Spanish ship was here,' observed Frinton, presently.
'Zey would haf left Barcali's Isles far astern by zis time but for zis yong lady,' Hardanger himself clapped his massive fist on Frinton's shoulder, while Marie impulsively flung her shapely arms about my neck. They had stolen up behind us unperceived as we intently watched the fight.
Then came eager questionings, which elicited that, by a piece of good fortune, Marie had come across Hardanger, who, anxious concerning our fate, was hanging about the outskirts of the mutineers' settlement.
After anxious conversation they decided to seek assistance from the Romans—should any of them still be on the further shores. It was while they made their way thither that they caught sight of the American vessels. By waving Marie's white skirt they succeeded in attracting attention and a boat's crew had been sent ashore. To them they explained the situation.
At this point in their story our attention was arrested by a terrific explosion on board Barcali's ship. So great was the concussion that a piece of the cliff at our feet became detached, and, had I not seized Marie and pulled her back, she would have been precipitated into the depths below. As it was, the fragment, weighing several tons, crashed down upon the prison where we had recently been confined and obliterated every trace of it.
With breathless eagerness we watched the ship until the smoke cleared away, when it became evident that the magazine had been exploded, and that the mutineers—those of them that remained alive—were fleeing for their lives.
The black figure had disappeared from the bridge.
'See! they are heading for the entrance to the harbour,' cried one.
'Yes—here they come! Three boats full of 'em!'
'And the Americans in full cry!' exclaimed Frinton, pointing seawards.
Then we saw that no less than eight boats had left the American cruisers and were pulling for 'Shark Strait.'
'Zee end is not far off,' remarked Hardanger, grimly.
He was right, but we had to take our part in the final scene.
While we eagerly watched, the mutineers ran their boats ashore and hurried across the sand towards the group of huts. There were several who were severely wounded, and these were heartlessly left to take care of themselves.
'Surely that is Barcali!' exclaimed Jezzard.
'And he is making for the ladder,' said Frinton.
We looked at each other in wonderment. What was Barcali's design? Surely it could be none other than to effect his escape through the cave. Hardanger lay down flat and thrust his head and shoulders over the edge of the cliff while we held his legs. 'Ach! he is climbing to zee cave,' he cried, 'and zee mutineers are following him.'
'Come on!' exclaimed Barr, 'the loons wull escape through the Chamber of Horrors. We must stop them at all costs!'
Marie remained outside, but I followed in the wake of the others.
'There are Roman weapons about the place—some of them in the niches by the skeletons,' said Frinton.
We quickly gained the 'Chamber of Death.' The place smelt damp and vault-like, and was dark—very dark. Barr naturally took the lead. Somehow we all trusted him.
'Help yourself to weapons,' he said. 'And if that deevil of a Barcali comes this way I'll gie him a chance to surrender, but he wull na escape,' he added grimly.
We had not long to wait. That the mutineers were led by one who knew of the secret passage speedily became evident. There was a rumbling sound of feet and the oaths and cries of excited men. Then we heard Barcali's voice (it sounded muffled in the confined space) as he approached our hiding place. 'You mad fools, if you had but obeyed me all might have been saved,' he was saying.
We shall want our share of the dead men's spoil,' said a voice in Spanish.
'Then take it, you brute!' responded Barcali. There was a report which reverberated through the passage, and a yell of agony which mingled with the echoes, and almost immediately we heard them entering the 'Chamber of Death,' an angry, desperate crew.
At this moment Barr cried in a loud voice,—'Adriani Barcali, you are our prisoner!'
'Never!' replied the arch-mutineer, springing forward and firing the remaining chambers of his six-shooter right and left.
Fortunately the darkness was our protection, and by good luck not one of us was hit. Then followed a hideous scramble in the dark. Cries, groans, curses. We fought and struggled furiously with each other, grappling with friend as often as with foe; rolling over dead men's bodies and scattering rattling skeletons in wild confusion. Ancient, and at-one-time-highly-reputed, Romans were dragged from their niches, while with their remains was raised the dust of ages, much of it human, in dense, choking clouds, till someone (I think it was Jezzard) struck a light and disclosed such a spectacle as I never expect to look on again.
Barr and Mickleband, both of them half-smothered with filthy cobwebs and dirt, were grasping Barcali, who in turn was desperately but vainly trying to shake off his captors. Hardanger and Frinton were similarly engaged with Throughton. While the others, with myself, were driving, with our Roman swords, the snarling, cursing mutineers of both nationalities like rats into the hole whence they had come.
It was over. Adriani Barcali, the astute, the unscrupulous, was at last defeated and captured. Full of joy, I hastened from the 'Chamber of Death' to the place where I had left Marie.
'Well?' she said, looking up anxiously into my face as I grasped both her outstretched hands.
In my stupid delight at our victory I did not rightly interpret that look.
'We have caught the villain!' I exclaimed. 'He will now pay the penalty of his deeds.'
She burst into tears. I had forgotten that Adriani Barcali was her brother.
In a couple of hours Barcali and Throughton, with their dupes and assistants, were prisoners on board the American cruisers. The rest of us elected to remain on the island until the arrival of a ship, which the senior American commander promised to dispatch to our aid.
POSTSCRIPT
Two years later I was making a voyage among the islands of the Eastern Pacific in my steam yacht Marie. She after whom the graceful vessel was named was with me. We stood together on the deck as we neared a group of coral islands, some of them of wondrous beauty, glowing with life and colour in the bosom of the vast heaving ocean.
'At last, dear one!' said I, placing my arm about her, 'at last you behold the wonderful and strange islands,—the home of the Romans!'
She looked into my eyes with a loving smile, saying, 'And after this we must visit Barcali's Isles.'
The first to welcome us, his honest face beaming with sober joy, was no less a personage than Chief Consul Marcus Tertius, whose 'Salve! salve!' sounded strangely enough in our ears as we steamed slowly over the still waters of the lagoon towards the landing-place.
'There is my aunt!' exclaimed Marie.
True enough, there was Mrs Marcus Tertius—formerly Mrs Labuan—even fatter than before, and—in all fairness I am bound to add—much improved in temper, if not in character, by the discipline exercised by her present lord and master.
What a reception the Roman people gave us to be sure! Joe Tripp, who is my boatswain, and Peter Lusby, first mate, tell me that never before have they enjoyed themselves as during that short week's visit.
Unhappily a mysterious mortality had recently set in among these people, and I doubt whether this ancient race will long survive contact with modern civilisation.
'What became of your nephew?' I inquired of Mrs Marcus Tertius.
'Ah! then you have not heard?'
'We only know that he was sentenced to death. Throughton, having given evidence against him, was sent along with the other mutineers to penal servitude only.'
She smiled. 'My nephew Adriani, as I have before reminded you, is very clever,' she said. Then, with a return of the old foxy expression which we remembered so well, she continued, 'He escaped on the very morning appointed for his execution, and is now in safe quarters.'
We looked at her in amazement. It was plain that she knew more about our quondam enemy. But, though we asked many questions, she declined to afford us further information. One thing only we ascertained—that the gold belonging to the Bank of Japan had been fetched away by a Japanese man-of-war. (I may here add that a few months later those of us who had rescued the gold from the mutineers received a very liberal reward from the Japanese Government.)
Parting from the hospitable Romans with sincere regret, we shaped our course for Barcali's Isles, where we had arranged to meet our old friends Frinton, Hardanger and Questover, who with their share of the salvage money and unclaimed treasure had purchased shares in a first-class steamer trading among the islands of these seas.
'There are the hills of "Great Island," cried Barr, who, with Mickleband and Jezzard, was our guest on board the Marie.
'And there is Frinton's ship!' cried my wife, pointing over the port bow as we rounded 'Star Island.'
In a short time we were anchored opposite to the entrance to 'Main Channel,' as it is called on the map in Barcali's pocket-book (which I still retain). Frinton and Questover speedily came on board, and were received with enthusiasm. What a talking there was! What a fighting of old battles!
We told them of our visit to the Romans, and the news concerning Barcali.
'Not hanged yet!' exclaimed Questover, in a tone of surprise.
'That man will never die by human hands,' said Frinton, gravely.
The next morning we made a sort of excursion—a picnic—to the place of the mutineers' camp. The huts were now overgrown with vegetation, and had a strangely deserted and desolate appearance. Instinctively Marie and I moved away from the party towards the hut in which she had formerly resided. Somehow it did not look so neglected as the others, and with a little curiosity I advanced and pushed open the door. To my surprise, not to say alarm, a hollow groan resounded within the confined space.
'What is it?' asked Marie, as I started back.
'Someone is lying on the floor.'
'Is he ill?'
'I cannot say.'
'Poor fellow!' she cried; 'perhaps he is a shipwrecked sailor,' and braver than I, she advanced and entered.
A moment later she uttered the one word 'Adriani,' and I followed to find her bending over the prostrate and emaciated form of the chief engineer.
I entered to find her bending over the prostrate and emaciated form of the chief engineer.
He was laid on the ground on a half-rotten mattress. By his side was a vessel containing water and some soaked ship's biscuits. I asked him a few questions, but, although he looked up at me wistfully, he was unable to speak.
Raising him, I despatched my wife for help and food, and the remainder of the party soon arrived. We did what we could for the man, but is was evident that he was dying. Before sunset he passed away—whether repentant or not I cannot tell. It is my experience of life that men die as they have lived, and that a death-bed repentance is exceedingly rare.
Before we left Barcali's Isles we buried the body of the mutineer not far from the spot where we had laid Captain Giggletrap. I cannot say that any of us—except, perhaps, his sister—shed tears over his grave.
'You must come on board my ship to dine,' said Frinton.
We accepted his invitation, and during the meal Hardanger made the following most characteristic announcement:—
'My friends, on your return I invite you von and all to my vedding. Mademoiselle Madeleine Hautcoeur has consented to become my vife!'
Of course we offered him our warmest congratulations; and I took occasion to remark that I could wish them no greater happiness than was enjoyed by Marie, my own sweet wife, and myself.
'At least the mutiny of the William Williams has brought about the happiness of four persons,' cried Questover, gaily.
'It's a puir blast that blaws no one any guid,' added Jezzard, dryly.
Whereat we all laughed.
Roy Glashan's Library
Non sibi sed omnibus
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