A Bid for Fortune Part 41

"Who is it, and what do you want?" said a voice which I should have recognized anywhere.

In answer I took Phyllis in my arms and, whispering my name, kissed her over and over again. She uttered a little cry of astonishment and delight. Then, bidding her step quietly, I pa.s.sed out into the starlight, leading her after me. As we were about to make for the path by which I had descended, Beckenham stepped forward, and at the same instant the man with whom I had been wrestling came to his senses and gave a shout of alarm. In an instant there was a noise of scurrying feet and a great shouting of orders.

"Make for the boats!" I cried at the top of my voice, and, taking Phyllis by the hand, set off as quickly as I could go up the path, Beckenham a.s.sisting her on the other side.

If I live to be a hundred I shall never forget that rush up the hill. In and out of trees and bushes, scratching ourselves and tearing our clothes, we dashed; conscious only of the necessity for speed. Before we were half-way down the other side Phyllis's strength was quite exhausted, so I took her in my arms and carried her the remainder of the distance. At last we reached the boat and jumped on board. The rest of the party were already there, and the word being given we prepared to row out to the yacht. But before we could push off a painful surprise was in store for us. The Marquis, who had been counting the party, cried: "_Where is Mr. Wetherell?_"

We looked round upon each other, and surely enough the old gentleman was missing. Discovering this, Phyllis nearly gave way, and implored us to go back at once to find him. But having rescued her with so much difficulty I did not wish to run any risk of letting her fall into her enemies' hands again; so selecting four volunteers from the party, I bade the rest pull the boat out to the yacht and give Miss Wetherell into the captain's charge, while the others accompanied me ash.o.r.e again in search of her father. Having done this the boat was to return and wait for us.

Quickly we splashed our way back to the beach, and then, plunging into the undergrowth, began our search for the missing man. As we did not know where to search, it was like looking for a needle in a bundle of hay, but presently one of the hands remembered having seen him descending the hill, so we devoted our attentions to that side. For nearly two hours we toiled up and down, but without success. Not a sign of the old gentleman was to be seen. Could he have mistaken his way and be even now searching for us on another beach? To make sure of this we set off and thoroughly searched the two bays in the direction he would most likely have taken. But still without success. Perhaps he had been captured and carried back to the huts? In that case we had better proceed thither and try to rescue him. This, however, was a much more serious undertaking, and you may imagine it was with considerable care that we approached the plateau again.

When we reached it the huts were as quiet as when I had first made their acquaintance. Not a sound came up to the top of the little precipice save the rustling of the wind in the palms at its foot. It seemed difficult to believe that there had been such a tumult on the spot so short a time before.

Again with infinite care we crept down to the buildings, this time, however, without encountering a soul. The first was empty, so was the second, and so was the third. This result was quite unexpected, and rendered the situation even more mysterious than before.

By the time we had thoroughly explored the plateau and its surroundings it was nearly daylight, and still we had discovered no trace of the missing man. Just as the sun rose above the sea line we descended the hill again and commenced a second search along the beach, with no better luck, however, than on the previous occasion. Wetherell and our a.s.sailants seemed to have completely disappeared from the island.

About six o'clock, thoroughly worn out, we returned to the spot where the boat was waiting for us. What was to be done? We could not for obvious reasons leave the island and abandon the old gentleman to his fate, and yet it seemed useless to remain there looking for him, when he might have been spirited away elsewhere.

Suddenly one of the crew, who had been loitering behind, came into view waving something in his hand. As he approached we could see that it was a sheet of paper, and when he gave it into my hands I read as follows:--

_"If you cross the island to the north beach you will find a small cliff in which is a large cave, a little above high-water mark. There you will discover the man for whom you are searching."_

There was no signature to this epistle, and the writing was quite unfamiliar to me, but I had no reason to doubt its authenticity.

"Where did you discover this?" I inquired of the man who had brought it.

"Fastened to one of them p.r.i.c.kly bushes up on the beach there, sir," he answered.

"Well, the only thing for us to do now is to set off to the north sh.o.r.e and hunt for the cave. Two of you had better take the boat back to the yacht and ask the captain to follow us round."

As soon as the boat was under weigh we picked up our rifles and set off for the north beach. It was swelteringly hot by this time, and, as may be imagined, we were all dead tired after our long night's work.

However, the men knew they would be amply rewarded if we could effect the rescue of the man for whom we had been searching, so they pushed on.

At last we turned the cape and entered the bay which const.i.tuted the north end of the island. It was not a large beach on this side, but it had, at its western end, a curious line of small cliffs, in the centre of which a small black spot could be discerned looking remarkably like the entrance to a cave. Towards this we pressed, forgetting our weariness in the excitement of the search.

It _was_ a cave, and a large one. So far the letter was correct.

Preparing ourselves, in case of surprise, we approached the entrance, calling Mr. Wetherell's name. As our shouts died away a voice came out in answer, and thereupon we rushed in.

A remarkable sight met our eyes. In the centre of the cave was a stout upright post, some six or eight feet in height, and securely tied to this was the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales.

In less time almost than it takes to tell, we had cast loose the ropes which bound him, and led him, for he was too weak to stand alone, out into the open air. While he was resting he inquired after his daughter, and having learned that she was safe, gave us the following explanation.

Addressing himself to me he said:

"When you cried 'Make for the boats,' I ran up the hill with the others as fast as I could go; but I'm an old man and could not get along as quickly as I wanted to, and for this reason was soon left far behind. I must have been half-way down the hill when a tall man, dressed in white, stepped out from behind a bush, and raising a rifle bade me come to a standstill. Having no time to lift my own weapon I was obliged to do as he ordered me, and he thereupon told me to lay down my weapon and right-about face. In this fashion I was marched back to the huts we had just left, and then, another man having joined my captor, was conducted across the island to this beach, where a boat was in waiting. In it I was pulled out to a small schooner lying at anchor in the bay and ordered to board her; five minutes later I was conducted to the saloon.

"'Good-evening, Mr. Wetherell. This is indeed a pleasure,' said a man sitting at the farther end of the table. He was playing with a big black cat, and directly I heard his voice I knew that I was in the presence of Dr. Nikola.

"'And how do you think I am going to punish you, my friend, for giving me all this trouble?' he said when I made no reply to his first remark.

"'You dare not do anything to me,' I answered. 'I demand that you let me go this instant. I have a big score to settle with you.'

"'If you will be warned by me you will cease to demand,' he answered, his eyes the while burning like coals. 'You are an obstinate man, but though you have put me to so much trouble and expense I will forgive you and come to terms with you. Now listen to me. If you will give me----'

"At that moment the little vessel gave a heavy roll, and in trying to keep my footing on the sloping deck I fell over upon the table. As I did so the little Chinese stick slipped out of my pocket and went rolling along directly into Nikola's hands. He sprang forward and seized it, and you may imagine his delight. With a cry of triumph that made the cat leap from his shoulder, he turned to a tall man by his side and said:

"'I've got it at last! Now let a boat's crew take this man ash.o.r.e and tie him to the stake in the cave. Then devise some means of acquainting his friends of his whereabouts. Be quick, for we sail in an hour.'

Having given these orders he turned to me again and said:

"'Mr. Wetherell, this is the last transaction we shall probably ever have together. All things considered, you are lucky in escaping so easily. It would have saved you a good deal if you had complied with my request at first. However, all's well that ends well, and I congratulate you upon your charming daughter. Now, good-bye; in an hour I am off to effect a _coup_ with this stick, the magnitude of which you would never dream. One last word of advice: pause a second time, I entreat, before you think of baulking Dr. Nikola.'

"I was going to reply, when I was twisted round and led up on deck, where that scoundrel Baxter had the impudence to make me a low bow. In less than a quarter of an hour I was fastened to the post in that cave.

The rest you know. Now let us get on board; I see the boat is approaching."

As soon as the surf-boat had drawn up on the beach we embarked and were pulled out to the yacht. In a few moments we were on deck, and Phyllis was in her father's arms again. By mid-day the island had disappeared under the sea line, and by nightfall we were well on our way back to Sydney.

That evening, after dinner, Phyllis and I patrolled the deck together, and finally came to a standstill aft. It was as beautiful an evening as any man or woman could desire. All round us was the gla.s.sy sea, rising and falling as if asleep, while overhead the tropic stars shone down with their wonderful brilliance.

"Phyllis," I said, taking my darling's hand in mine and looking into her face, "what a series of adventures we have both pa.s.sed through since that afternoon I first saw you in the Domain! Do you know that your father has at last consented to our marriage?"

"I do. And as it is to you, d.i.c.k, I owe my rescue," she said, coming a little closer to me, "he could do nothing else; you have a perfect right to me."

"I have, and I mean to a.s.sert it!" I answered. "If I had not found you, I should never have been happy again."

"But, d.i.c.k, there is one thing I don't at all understand. At dinner this evening the captain addressed you as Sir Richard. What does that mean?"

"Why, of course you have not heard!" I cried. "Well, I think it means that though I cannot make you a marchioness, I can make you a baronet's wife. It remains with you to say whether you will be Lady Hatteras or not." Then I explained how I had inherited the t.i.tle and estates.

Her only reply was to kiss me softly on the cheek.

She had scarcely done so before her father and Beckenham came along the deck.

"Now, Phyllis," said the former, leading her to a seat, "supposing you give us the history of your adventures. Remember we have heard nothing yet."

"Very well. Where shall I begin? At the moment I left the house for the ball? Very good. Well, you must know that when I arrived at Government House I met Mrs. Mayford--the lady who had promised to chaperone me--in the cloak-room, and we pa.s.sed into the ball-room together. I danced the first dance with Captain Hackworth, one of the _aides_, and engaged myself for the fourth to the Marquis of Beckenham."

"The sham Marquis, unfortunately," put in the real one.

"It proved to be unfortunate for me also," continued Phyllis. "As it was a square we sat it out in the ante-room leading off the drawing-room, and while we were there the young gentleman did me the honour of proposing to me. It was terribly embarra.s.sing for me, but I allowed him to see, as unmistakably as possible, that I could give him no encouragement, and, as the introduction to the next waltz started, we parted the best of friends. About half an hour later, just as I was going to dance the lancers, Mrs. Mayford came towards me and drew me into the drawing-room. Mr. Baxter, his lordship's tutor, was with her, and I noticed that they both looked supernaturally grave.

"'What is the matter?' I asked, becoming alarmed by her face.

"'My dear,' said she, 'you must be brave. I have come to tell you that your father has been taken ill, and has sent for you.'

"'Papa ill!' I cried. 'Oh, I must go home to him at once'

"'I have taken the liberty of facilitating that,' said Mr. Baxter, 'by ordering the servants to call up your carriage, which is now waiting for you at the door. If you will allow me, I will conduct you to it?'

"I apologized to my partner for being compelled to leave him, and then went to the cloak-room. As soon as I was ready I accompanied Mr. Baxter to the door, where the brougham was waiting. Without looking at the coachman I got in, at the same time thanking my escort for his kindness.