A Bid for Fortune Part 40

"It's an extraordinary story. Where is the stick at the present moment?"

"In my pocket. Would you like to see it?"

"Very much, if you would permit me to do so."

He unb.u.t.toned his coat, and from a carefully contrived pocket under the arm drew out a little piece of wood of exactly the length and shape he had described. I took it from him and gazed at it carefully. It was covered all over with Chinese writing, and had a piece of gold silk attached to the handle. There was nothing very remarkable about it; but I must own I was strangely fascinated by it when I remembered the misery it had caused, the changes and chances it had brought about, the weird story told by China Pete, and the efforts that had been made by Nikola to obtain possession of it. I gave it back to its owner, and then stood looking out over the smooth sea, wondering where Phyllis was and what she was doing. Nikola, when I met him, would have a heavy account to settle with me, and if my darling reported any further cruelty on his part I would show no mercy. But why had Mr. Wetherell brought the curio with him now? I put the question.

"For one very good reason," he answered. "If it is the stick Nikola is after, as I have every right to suppose, he may demand it as a ransom for my girl, and I am quite willing to let him have it. The wretched thing has caused sufficient misery to make me only too glad to be rid of it."

"I hope, however, we shall be able to get her without giving it up," I said. "Now let us go aft to lunch."

The day following we were within a hundred miles of our destination, and by mid-day of the day following that again were near enough to render it advisable to hold a council over our intended movements. Accordingly, a little before lunch time the Marquis, Wetherell, the skipper and myself, met under the after awning to consider our plan of war.

"The first matter to be taken into consideration, I think, Mr.

Wetherell," said the skipper, "is the point as to which side of the island we shall bring up on."

"You will be able to settle that," answered Wetherell, looking at me.

"You are acquainted with the place, and can best advise us."

"I will do so to the best of my ability," I said, sitting down on the deck and drawing an outline with a piece of chalk. "The island is shaped like this. There is no reef. Here is the best anchorage, without doubt, but here is the point where we shall be most likely to approach without being observed. The trend of the land is all upward from the sh.o.r.e, and, as far as I remember, the most likely spot for a hut, if they are detaining Miss Wetherell there, as we suppose, will be on a little plateau looking south, and hard by the only water on the island."

"And what sort of anchorage shall we get there, do you think?" asked the skipper, who very properly wished to run no risk with his owner's boat.

"Mostly coral. None too good, perhaps, but as we shall have steam up, quite safe enough."

"And how do you propose that we shall reach the hut when we land?"

"I have been thinking that out," I said, "and I have come to the conclusion that the best plan would be for us to approach the island after dark, to heave to about three miles out and pull ash.o.r.e in the boat. We will then ascend the hill by the eastern slope and descend upon them. They will probably not expect us from that quarter, and it will at least be easier than climbing the hill in the face of a heavy fire. What do you say?"

They all agreed that it seemed practicable.

"Very good then," said the skipper, "we'll have lunch, and afterwards begin our preparations." Then turning to me, "I'll get you to come into my cabin, Mr. Hatteras, by-and-by and take a look at the Admiralty chart, if you will. You will be able probably to tell me if you think it can be relied on."

"I'll do so with pleasure," I answered, and then we went below.

Directly our meal was over I accompanied the skipper to look at the chart, and upon it we marked our anchorage. Then an adjournment was made aft, and our equipment of rifles and revolvers thoroughly overhauled. We had decided earlier that our landing party should consist of eight men--Wetherell, Beckenham, the mate of the yacht, myself, and four of the crew, each of whom would be supplied with a Winchester repeating rifle, a revolver, and a dozen cartridges. Not a shot was to be fired, however, unless absolutely necessary, and the greatest care was to be taken in order to approach the hut, if possible, without disturbing its inmates.

When the arms had been distributed and carefully examined, the sixteen foot surf-boat was uncovered and preparations made for hoisting her overboard. By the time this was done it was late in the afternoon, and almost soon enough for us to be thinking about overcoming the distance which separated us from our destination.

About dusk I was standing aft, leaning against the taff-rail, when Beckenham came up and stood beside me. It was wonderful what a difference these few months had made in him; he was now as brown as a berry, and as fine-looking a young fellow as any man could wish to see.

"We shall be picking up the island directly," I said as he came to an anchor alongside me. "Do you think you ought to go to-night? Remember you will run the risk of being shot!"

"I have thought of that," he said. "I believe it's my duty to do my best to help you and Mr. Wetherell."

"But what would your father say if he knew?"

"He would say that I only did what was right. I have just been writing to him, telling him everything. If anything _should_ happen to me you will find the letter on the chest of drawers in your cabin. I know you will send it on to him. But if we both come out of it safely and rescue Miss Wetherell I'm going to ask a favour."

"Granted before I know what it is!"

"It isn't a very big one. I want you to let me be your best man at your wedding?"

"So you shall. And a better I could not possibly desire."

"I like to hear you say that. We've been through a good deal together since we left Europe, haven't we?"

"We have, and to-night will bring it to a climax, or I'm much mistaken."

"Do you think Nikola will show fight?"

"Not a doubt about it I should think. If he finds himself cornered he'll probably fight like a demon."

"It's Baxter I want to meet."

"Nikola is my man. I've a big grudge against him, and I want to pay it."

"How little we thought when we were cruising about Bournemouth Bay together that within such a short s.p.a.ce of time we should be sailing the South Pacific on such an errand! It seems almost too strange to be possible."

"So it does! All's well that ends well, however. Let's hope we're going to be successful to-night. Now I'm going on the bridge to see if I can pick the land up ahead."

I left him and went forward to the captain's side. Dusk had quite fallen by this time, rendering it impossible to see very far ahead. A hand had been posted in the fore-rigging as a look-out, and every moment we expected to hear his warning cry; but nearly an hour pa.s.sed, and still it did not come.

Then suddenly the shout rang out, "Land ahead!" and we knew that our destination was in sight. Long before this all our lights had been obscured, and so, in the darkness--for a thick pall of cloud covered the sky--we crept up towards the coast. Within a couple of minutes of hearing the hail every man on board was on deck gazing in the direction in which we were proceeding.

By tea time we had brought the land considerably nearer, and by eight o'clock were within three miles of it. Not a sign, however, of any craft could we discover, and the greatest vigilance had to be exercised on our part to allow no sign to escape us to show our whereabouts to those ash.o.r.e. Exactly at nine o'clock the sh.o.r.e party, fully armed, a.s.sembled on deck, and the surf-boat was swung overboard. Then in the darkness we crept down the gangway and took our places. The mate was in possession of the tiller, and when all was ready we set off for the sh.o.r.e.

CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSION

Once we had left her side and turned our boat's nose towards the land, the yacht lay behind us, a black ma.s.s, nearly absorbed in the general shadow. Not a light showed itself, and everything was as still as the grave; the only noise to be heard was the steady dip, dip of the oars in the smooth water and now and then the chirp of the rowlocks. For nearly half an hour we pulled on, pausing at intervals to listen, but nothing of an alarming nature met our ears. The island was every moment growing larger, the beach more plain to the eye, and the hill more clearly defined.

As soon as the boat grounded we sprang out and, leaving one hand to look after her, made our way ash.o.r.e. It was a strange experience that landing on a strange beach on such an errand and at such an hour, but we were all too much taken up with the work which lay before us to think of that. Having left the water's edge we came to a standstill beneath a group of palms and discussed the situation. As the command of the expedition had fallen upon me I decided upon the following course of action: To begin with, I would leave the party behind me and set out by myself to ascertain the whereabouts of the hut. Having discovered this I would return, and we would thereupon make our way inland and endeavour to capture it. I explained the idea in as few words as possible to my followers, and then, bidding them wait for me where they were, at the same time warning them against letting their presence be discovered, I set off up the hill in the direction I knew the plateau to lie. The undergrowth was very thick and the ground rocky; for this reason it was nearly twenty minutes before I readied the top of the hill. Then down the other side I crept, picking my way carefully, and taking infinite precautions that no noise should serve to warn our foes of my coming.

At last I reached the plateau and looked about me. A small perpendicular cliff, some sixty feet in height, was before me, so throwing myself down upon my stomach, I wriggled my way to its edge. When I got there I looked over and discovered three well-built huts on a little plateau at the cliff's base. At the same moment a roar of laughter greeted my ears from the building on the left. It was followed by the voice of a man singing to the accompaniment of a banjo. Under cover of his music I rose to my feet and crept back through the bushes, by the track along which I had come. I knew enough to distribute my forces now.

Having reached my friends again I informed them of what I had seen, and we then arranged the mode of attack as follows: The mate of the yacht, with two of the hands, would pa.s.s round the hill to the left of the plateau, Wetherell and another couple of men would take the right side, while Beckenham and myself crept down from the back. Not a sound was to be made or a shot fired until I blew my whistle. Then, with one last word of caution, we started on our climb.

By this time the clouds had cleared off the sky and the stars shone brightly. Once more I arrived at the small precipice behind the huts, and, having done so, sat down for a few moments to give the other parties time to take up their positions. Then, signing to Beckenham to accompany me, I followed the trend of the precipice along till I discovered a place where we might descend in safety. In less than a minute we were on the plateau below, creeping towards the centre hut.

Still our approach was undetected. Bidding Beckenham in a whisper wait for me, I crept cautiously round to the front, keeping as much as possible in the shadow. As soon as I had found the door, I tiptoed towards it and prepared to force my way inside but I had an adventure in store for me which I had not antic.i.p.ated.

Seated in the doorway, almost hidden in the shadow, was the figure of a man. He must have been asleep, for he did not become aware of my presence until I was within a foot of him. Then he sprang to his feet and was about to give the alarm. Before he could do so, however, I was upon him. A desperate hand-to-hand struggle followed, in which I fought solely for his throat. This once obtained I tightened my fingers upon it and squeezed until he fell back unconscious. It was like a horrible nightmare, that combat without noise in the dark entry of the hut, and I was more than thankful that it ended so satisfactorily for me. As soon as I had disentangled myself, I rose to my feet and proceeded across his body into the hut itself. A swing door led from the porch, and this I pushed open.