A Middy in Command Part 22

"Yet it is very simple--when you know!" remarked Lotta, in high glee at my discomfiture. "Follow me!" And, dropping upon her hands and knees, she proceeded to crawl into one of the cavities that I had been searching, and which I should have declared was not nearly capacious enough to receive a full-grown man. Nevertheless Lotta completely disappeared within it, and I after her. When I had fairly entered the cavity I found that what had appeared to be its back wall, and which gave it the appearance of being only about two feet in depth, was really one of two side walls, a narrow pa.s.sage turning sharp off to the right, just wide enough and high enough to travel through comfortably on one's hands and knees. It wound round in what seemed to me to be about a half-circle of about fifty yards in diameter, and its inner end gave access to an enormous cavern, very roughly circular in shape, and about four hundred feet across in either direction.

It was a most extraordinary place. One of the peculiarities was that, instead of being pitchy dark, as one would naturally expect it to be in such a place, the whole interior was suffused with a very soft greenish twilight, quite strong enough, when one's eyes became accustomed to it, to permit one to see from one end of the cavern to the other with quite tolerable distinctness. Where the light came from it was impossible to say, for the roof of the cavern appeared to be formed, like the walls, of solid rock; but from the fact that shafts of light were plainly visible overhead, issuing from the walls and roof, I conjectured that the light entered the cavern through rifts in the rock, and that its greenish tinge was imparted to it by the foliage through which it filtered prior to its pa.s.sage through the rifts. Greater surprise was in store, for presently I discovered that the walls were literally covered with sculptured figures of men and animals, done in high relief, and about life-size. The sculptures appeared to be records of hunting and fighting episodes, and were executed with great vigour and skill.

In reply to my astonished enquiries, Lotta informed me that Ricardo attributed this work to the original Caribs, and very probably he was right.

The treasure was all neatly arranged in a recess near the narrow pa.s.sage by which we had entered the cavern, and a pretty careful inspection of it soon convinced me that Ricardo had been only speaking the truth when he a.s.sured me that, although it was probably the booty of some dead-and- gone gang of pirates, he had certainly had no hand in its acc.u.mulation.

For everything bore unmistakable evidence of having lain where it was for a great many years--probably at least a hundred, if one might judge by the dates on a few of the coins which I examined, and which formed part of the treasure. The man who acc.u.mulated the store must have been an individual of a very enterprising nature, for there were great piles of strong, solid wooden cases packed to the brim with doubloons and pieces-of-eight; two hundred and eighty-five gold bricks, weighing about forty pounds each, every brick encased in the original raw-hide wrapper in which it was brought down from the mines, now hard and dry and shrivelled; quite a large pile of rough, shapeless ingots of gold and silver, conveying the suggestion that at various times large quant.i.ties of gold and silver plate and jewellery had been run through the melting pot; and, finally, a leather bag containing not far short of a peck measure of gems of every conceivable description, all of the stones being cut, and evidently taken from pieces of jewellery of various kinds that had probably been broken up and melted. I had not the most remote idea of the value of the whole, but I was convinced that it must be something fabulous, and I afterwards learned that I was right.

We spent nearly two hours in the cave, partly because there was so much of interest there to engage our attention, and partly because of its delightfully cool temperature, which was a positive luxury after the extreme heat of the house, both by day and by night. Before we left the cave to return to the house, Lotta half-jestingly proposed that we should stock the place with provisions, and use it as a place of abode whenever the heat became unduly oppressive. Although the suggestion was made more in jest than in earnest, the idea became so attractive, when we proceeded to discuss it further, that on the following day we actually took steps to carry out the proposal. We spent the best part of the day in stocking the cavern with provisions, rugs, and so on, to such an extent that we could easily have endured a week's siege there, had it been necessary, for a good supply of excellent water had been found percolating through the rock in a small side pa.s.sage off the main cavern. And thereafter we regularly spent a great part of each day in the cavern, always making it a rule to take with us a little more of everything than we really needed.

At length, when a period of two full months had elapsed since the sailing of the _Barracouta_, with no sign of her return, I began to feel somewhat anxious. I was now practically as well in health as I had ever been in my life, and I began to pine for a return to active service. I was also desirous of seeing Lotta safely removed from her present dubious and somewhat dangerous surroundings into that position which was hers by right. To achieve these two results it was necessary that I should get away from where I was, either by the fulfilment of Ricardo's promise to me, or by some other means. To get away from where I was!

As that expression occurred to me I suddenly remembered that I had not the faintest idea where I was; and, since Lotta was as ignorant as I was on the subject, I determined to ascertain by some means exactly where this little paradise of a spot was situated. And, as a first step toward this, I ascertained roughly the lat.i.tude of the spot, by means of a quadrant that I found in Ricardo's room, as a result of which I discovered that I was undoubtedly somewhere on the island of Cuba.

Since there were only two spots on the coast line of the island that could possibly have this precise lat.i.tude, I very soon managed, by reference to one of Ricardo's charts, to determine that the rendezvous was on the north side of the island; nay, I was able without difficulty to identify the precise spot on the chart.

Another week pa.s.sed, still with no sign of the return of the _Barracouta_, and my impatience to get back to civilisation and friends grew so acute that I was seriously entertaining the idea of stealing a boat from the dockyard and making my escape in her. The only consideration which caused me to hesitate was, that as I fully intended to take Lotta and Mammy with me, I did not care to expose them to the perils and discomforts of a boat voyage until every other resource had failed.

A few more days had pa.s.sed, when, about two o'clock one morning, I was rudely awakened by some individual who had entered my room and was roughly shaking me by the shoulder. I started up in bed and, quickly gathering my confused wits together, recognised the voice that was addressing me as that of Fonseca, the surgeon of the _Barracouta_!

"Hullo, Fonseca," I exclaimed, "where in the name of fortune have you sprung from? Is the _Barracouta_ in?"

"Yes, Senor Grenvile," he answered, "we have just arrived. At the peril of my life I took advantage of the bustle and confusion, attendant upon her coming to an anchor, to slip quietly over the side and swim ash.o.r.e, in order that I may warn you to rise at once and make your escape while you may, taking the senorita and the old woman with you, if you would save their lives, or that which is perhaps even dearer than life to the senorita!"

"Why," I e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, as I sprang out of bed and started groping for the materials with which to strike a light, "what has happened, then, that it should be necessary for us to fly for our lives? Ricardo? Is he--?"

"Stop!" exclaimed Fonseca, laying his hand upon my arm as I was about to light a candle; "don't do that! You must dress and make your preparations in darkness; for should Dominique see the house lighted, as he could scarcely fail to do, he would leave everything and come ash.o.r.e at once rather than that you and the senorita should slip through his fingers. Yes, Ricardo is dead. We have sighted nothing in the shape of a sail from the time that we left here; as a result of which the men rapidly grew discontented. Dominique and Juan, who have long been jealous of Ricardo and envious of his power, took advantage of this and incited the crew to mutiny. The precious pair made their way to Ricardo's cabin and murdered him in his sleep; then, when his dead body had been first exhibited to the men and afterwards tossed overboard, Dominique offered himself as captain in place of Ricardo, and, as he happened to be the only reliable navigator among us, he was chosen, with Juan as his lieutenant. That done, it was decided to abandon the cruise forthwith and bear up for the rendezvous, in order to lay in a fresh stock of necessaries before undertaking another cruise. But I soon discovered that, so far as Dominique was concerned, the restocking of the ship was only a pretext to enable him to return here at once for quite another purpose, namely, to put you effectually out of the way by drawing a knife across your throat, and to possess himself of the senorita. Now, Dominique is a villain without a single redeeming trait of character; there is no love lost between him and me; and therefore, since I have taken something of a fancy to you, and have no desire to see Senorita Lotta the victim of such a consummate scoundrel and blackguard as Dominique, I determined to give you a word of warning, if possible; and here I am. Now I don't know where you and the senorita can hide yourselves, but hide you must, and that forthwith, for friend Dominique may turn up at any moment; and if he finds you and the lady here, no earthly power can save you. I think that perhaps if you were to take to the woods for a time, it would be your best plan; and I would help you, so far as lay in my power, by--"

"You are a good fellow, Fonseca," interrupted I, grasping his hand, "and I will not forget what you have done to-night. I know of a place where, I think, we can hide safely for a day or two, and I will take the senorita and Mammy there with me. And, look here, why should you not join us? You must surely be quite tired of leading such a life as this, and--"

"Tired!" he broke in; "tired is not the word to express my loathing of it! I never liked it; would never have had anything to do with it if I could have helped it, but I was compelled by Ricardo to join, and I have never since had a chance to escape."

"Well, you have one now if you care to join us," I said. "While you have been talking my brain has been working, and I have already thought of a scheme for getting away from here. Will you join us?"

"Most willingly, senor," answered Fonseca. "I will stand by you through thick and thin; and should you succeed in enabling me to escape, my eternal grat.i.tude will be yours."

"Very well then," said I, "that is settled. Now if you have any valuables among your personal belongings in your quarters ash.o.r.e here, that you particularly wish to take away with you, be off at once and get them, and then rejoin me here. As for me, I must go and call Mammy at once, and direct her to arouse and warn the senorita. Now be off with you, and return as quickly as possible."

So saying I hustled him out, and forthwith hastened away to the little room which I knew was occupied by the negress. This I entered without ceremony, and, arousing the old creature, acquainted her as briefly as possible with the situation of affairs, and directed her to arouse Lotta forthwith. Then I returned to the room which I had been occupying--and which was actually Ricardo's own sleeping apartment--and busied myself in collecting together some half a dozen charts which were scattered about the room, and which, I thought, might be useful, as well as Ricardo's quadrant and a copy of the current _Nautical Almanac_. By the time that I had got these and one or two other matters together, Fonseca had returned, and a few minutes later Lotta and Mammy appeared, the latter loaded with a huge bundle of wraps and spare clothing belonging to her beloved mistress. Having enquired whether they were now ready for instant flight, and received a prompt affirmative reply, I gave the word to evacuate the premises, and we forthwith filed out into the garden, shaping a course for the treasure cave, which I had determined should be our place of refuge until we could perfect our plans for effecting an escape. As it happened, we were not a moment too soon, for we had traversed little more than half the length of the garden when the sound of voices in somewhat boisterous conversation not far ahead first brought us to an abrupt halt, and then caused us to retire precipitately from the path to the shelter of some coffee bushes close at hand, behind which we silently crouched until the speakers had pa.s.sed on up the path.

They were Dominique and Juan, both somewhat the worse for drink, and consequently speaking in a considerably louder key than was in the least degree necessary. As they pa.s.sed us and pursued their way up toward the house it was not at all difficult to divine from their conversation the fate which they had planned for Lotta, as well as for me.

The moment that they were far enough beyond us to permit of our doing so with safety, we again emerged upon the path, down which we pursued our way, silent as shadows, arriving, some ten minutes later, at the point where it became necessary for us to turn off through the wood on our way toward the cave. At this point I paused for a moment to look back at the house, and as I did so I noticed a faint light suddenly appear in one of the rooms. Our friends Dominique and Juan had evidently arrived there and were lighting up the place, prior, as they doubtless fondly antic.i.p.ated, to giving us a pleasant little surprise. As I continued to watch, the light suddenly grew brighter; they had found a lamp and lighted it, and were now in the room which I had been wont to occupy. A minute later the light vanished from that particular room, and almost immediately showed from the window of another, which, from its position, I conjectured must be that which Lotta had occupied. That our flight had by this time been discovered seemed pretty evident, for the house was rapidly lighted up in every room, and it was not difficult to conjecture that the two half-drunken ruffians were prosecuting a heated and vigorous search for the missing ones. And that this was actually the case soon became evident from the fact that the French cas.e.m.e.nt of the room that had been mine suddenly flew open, and a man, whom I presently identified as Juan, came staggering and stumbling down the path at a run, alternately yelling curses at us, the missing ones, and shouting to some person or persons unknown to come up to the house forthwith "as the birds had flown!" Whereupon I swung quickly upon my heel, and, plunging into the wood, hastened after my companions, whom I overtook just as they were about to enter the cave. Arrived at our destination we lighted a candle for a few minutes to enable us to make such hasty preparations as were absolutely necessary, and then, stretching ourselves out upon the soft, sandy floor, composed ourselves to finish the slumbers that had been so rudely interrupted.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

AN AUDACIOUS SCHEME.

It seemed that I had scarcely closed my eyes ere I was aroused by Mammy, who informed me that it was broad daylight, and that breakfast was quite ready, whereupon, starting to my feet and shaking the fine sand from my clothing, I looked at my watch and was amazed to discover that it was nearly eight o'clock. I accordingly hurried away to the spot at which the spring gushed out of the rock, hastily performed my ablutions, and returned to where the others awaited me before falling-to upon a most appetising meal which Mammy had prepared from the various viands with which we had so luckily stocked the place. Everything was cold, of course, for now that our flight was known it would never have done to risk lighting a fire for the mere pleasure of having hot chocolate for breakfast, lest some errant wreath of smoke should betray the locality of our hiding place, and lead to a search that might possibly result in our capture. But, cold though the meal was, it was none the less welcome; and when we had finished I rose to my feet with the announcement that I intended to go forth upon a reconnoitring expedition. Against this decision Lotta at once protested most vigorously, in which protest she was joined by Fonseca, who very generously offered to go in my stead. He declared that in the untoward event of an unavoidable encounter with any of the men, the consequences to me would certainly be fatal, while for him they would probably amount to nothing worse than a somewhat severe cross-questioning as to how he managed to get ash.o.r.e without using a boat, and what were his reasons for such extraordinary haste. These questions he believed he could answer satisfactorily without difficulty. But I was anxious to get all my information at first hand, to see everything with my own eyes, in order that I might be able to frame my plans with certainty. I therefore put aside their objections, and, forbidding any of them to leave the cave until my return, sallied forth, observing every possible precaution against being seen or being taken unawares.

Upon emerging from the entrance to the cave, after having first taken a most careful look round, I made my way, with much circ.u.mspection, to the crown of a high knoll or ness, jutting out a little way into the bay, from which I believed I should be able to get a good view of the "yard", and ascertain, in the first instance, what might be happening in that direction. The crest of this knoll was crowned with a thick and tolerably extensive clump of bushes, screened by which I hoped to be able both to see and hear anything that might happen to be transpiring among the various sheds, and at the same time to keep an eye upon the brig where she lay at her buoy, about half a mile from the sh.o.r.e. When, however, I reached my hiding place I was disappointed to find that I was considerably farther away from the wharf and the buildings than I had expected; and that while I could see pretty well what was happening down there, as well as command an excellent view of the brig, I could hear nothing save an occasional shout; and it was even more upon what I should hear than upon what I should see that I depended for the necessary information upon which to base my plans. But there was a spot at some distance down the front of the slope which I thought would suit my purpose admirably if I could only reach it without being seen, and I at once determined to make the attempt. It was a somewhat peculiarly shaped outcrop of rock with a hollow in the middle of it, and I believed that if I could but gain its shelter without discovery I should be able to see from it nearly as well as from where I was, while I should certainly be able to hear very much better. The only question was how to get there. And after very carefully examining my surroundings from the shelter of my screen of bushes I came to the conclusion that my only plan would be to descend to the beach again by the way that I had come, enter the wood as though I intended to return to the house, and skirt it until I came very nearly to its far end, when, by concealing myself in a thick and extensive bed of ferns, I might reasonably hope to gain the desired spot without any very great difficulty or danger. Accordingly, having first carefully looked about me to a.s.sure myself that I need not fear being seen, I cautiously emerged from my hiding place, and as cautiously made my way down to the beach again, from which it was easy to gain the shelter and concealment of the wood. Another ten minutes found me, heedless of the danger of snake bites, painfully wriggling my way through the bed of ferns, lifting my head above the fronds occasionally to make sure that I was steering a straight course; and twenty minutes later saw me safely ensconced in my hiding place, from which I could both see and hear distinctly without being seen.

For nearly an hour it appeared as though I had had all my trouble for nothing, for the people on the wharf and in the sheds seemed to be going about their regular daily business with that perfect deliberation and entire absence of hurry which is so characteristic of the Spanish seamen. I was beginning to consider seriously the question whether, after all, it might not be advisable for me to endeavour to approach the house, and even perhaps enter it, in my quest for information, when I saw Dominique and Juan suddenly appear upon the wharf and enter a small dinghy, in which they pulled off to the brig. Then, as the tiny craft approached the _Barracouta_ a few figures appeared on deck, and by the time that the dinghy reached the brig's side all hands seemed to have mustered on deck. Evidently they had been taking matters easy aboard her to celebrate their return to harbour. Almost immediately after the arrival of the new captain and his lieutenant on board, the boatswain's whistle sounded, and a minute later both gigs and the cutter were lowered, and all hands apparently got into them and gave way for the sh.o.r.e. Ten minutes later they landed on the wharf and drew themselves up into some semblance of rank and file. I noticed that every man carried a brace of pistols, as well as the usual long, murderous-looking knife, in his belt. Then Juan stepped forward and started to ring a large bell that was suspended from a gallows-like arrangement, and immediately a number of men came swarming out from the various sheds and formed up facing their comrades, who had just come ash.o.r.e from the brig.

I carefully counted these last, and found that, including Dominique and Juan, they mustered forty-two. The others totalled up to fifty-six.

When the last man appeared to have presented himself, Dominique gave the order:

"Call over the roll, if you please, Senor Juan."

And therewith Juan, drawing the roll from his pocket, proceeded to call each man by name. Each briefly responded by declaring himself to be "Present!" Then, every man apparently having been accounted for, Dominique stepped forward and said:

"My lads, I have called you off from your regular work this morning to engage in a man hunt, or rather a hunt for two women and two men. You will not need to be reminded by me that one of our chief and most recent causes of dissatisfaction with Ricardo was his extraordinary behaviour in connection with that young sprig of a naval officer whom we captured when we engaged the British war schooner _Francesca_. Instead of heaving the young cub overboard to the sharks, as he ought to have done, our late chief, for some extraordinary reason which he never condescended to explain to us, chose to keep the young fellow alive, and not only so, but also to give the surgeon the strictest injunctions to nurse him back to health. This was so totally at variance with his usual practice that, as I have already explained to some of you, there could only be one reason for it, and that reason, I have never had the slightest doubt, was that he had formed a plan to betray us all into the hands of the British. By saving the young officer's life he hoped not only to use him as a channel of negotiation with the British authorities, but also to purchase immunity from punishment for himself.

And having secured this, he would seize the earliest opportunity after our execution to return here and quietly possess himself of the immense h.o.a.rd of treasure that we have acc.u.mulated by years of toil and peril.

It was because I was thoroughly convinced of this that I did away with Ricardo; for it was his life or ours that hung in the balance. But it was not sufficient to put Ricardo out of the way of doing us a mischief; the young English officer remained, and still remains, and until he also is removed there can be no safety for any one of us; and it was this knowledge that caused me to abandon our cruise and return here.

"And now, what do I find? Why, that he, the Senorita Lotta, and the old nurse have disappeared! Now, I want you to note particularly the significance of this last fact, that not only have those three disappeared, but so has Fonseca! What does this mean? Why, without doubt it means that the surgeon also was in the plot with Ricardo against us, and that we have him also to reckon with. How or when he disappeared I cannot tell you, but we know that he was with us in the brig when we executed Ricardo. He must therefore have slipped ash.o.r.e in some mysterious manner immediately upon our arrival, and have warned the Englishman, who thereupon must have taken to flight, carrying off the girl, her nurse, and Fonseca with him.

"It is these four persons that I want you to hunt down and bring back to the rendezvous. They cannot have gone very far, and they cannot get away, for, as some of you are aware, it is impossible to make one's way very far inland from here; we are completely shut in on the landward side by inaccessible cliffs. But the Englishman does not know this, and I am by no means certain that either the girl or the surgeon knows it.

I am therefore of opinion that they will all be found endeavouring to make their way into the back country by way of False Gap. I want you all, therefore, to spread yourselves in such a way that some one or another of you must inevitably find them, either by overtaking them, or by intercepting them on their return when they find it impossible to escape landward. I will go with you, but as a measure of precaution, Juan, with half a dozen men, will secrete themselves in the house yonder, in order that, should we by any strange chance miss the fugitives, they may be taken when they return to the house, as they must, sooner or later, in search of food. And one man will remain here on the wharf, as a watchman and look-out; not that I think there is the slightest likelihood of the fugitives coming this way, but it is good generalship to take every possible precaution. And if you, Jose, who are to remain here, should chance to sight any of the runaways, just ring the yard bell, and wait for those in the house to join you.

"Now, men, I hope you understand me; those four persons must be found and brought back to me; the Englishman, alive or dead. The other three must be brought back to me alive, and, the girl at least, absolutely uninjured; and remember that in the case of Fonseca, the less he is injured the more acutely will he suffer from the punishment that I intend to inflict upon him for his treachery! Now, forward all; to the house first, and from there spread yourselves over the country in the direction of False Gap. March!"

Thereupon the whole party, with the exception of one solitary individual, whom I took to be Jose, who was told off to keep watch and ward upon the wharf, filed off along the wharf and up the pathway that led to the house from which we had fled but a few hours before. It took them some twenty minutes to reach the bungalow, and ten minutes later I saw a mob of men issue from it and disappear inland. For a few minutes their shouts could be heard as they called to each other, and then a dead silence fell upon the scene, broken only by the chirping and "chirring" of the myriads of insects that haunted the bushy growth with which the whole face of the country was covered, and the occasional call of a bird. As for Jose, his first act, upon being left to himself, was to scrutinise carefully the whole face of the visible country, under the sharp of his hand, and then seat himself in the shadow of the capstan- house, light his pipe, and abandon himself to the soothing influence of the "weed."

Now the happenings of the last hour had set me thinking hard. First of all, there was Dominique's remark about the impossibility of anyone escaping inland. During the period of my convalescence I had seen enough of the country, while wandering about in Lotta's company, to convince me that this statement might be quite true, although Lotta had never said a word to lead me to believe that she was aware that it was so. And if there was no possibility of escaping landward, the only alternative was to escape by going out to sea. But a boat voyage was an undertaking not to be rashly entered upon, especially where a woman was in the case; the inconvenience and discomfort, to say nothing of the danger, of such an attempt were such as to make me pause long and consider the matter very seriously in all its bearings before determining to engage in such a venture. Yet something must be done; we could not continue to inhabit the cavern indefinitely; a way of escape must be found; for after what had fallen from Dominique's lips while addressing his men, I felt that there was no such thing as safety for any of us while we remained within arm's reach of that miscreant. The most serious feature of the case, so far as a boat voyage was concerned, was that even the biggest of the available boats, which was one of the _Barracouta's_ gigs, was much too small to justify me in the attempt to make the pa.s.sage to Jamaica in her; for should the breeze happen to pipe strong, the boat could not possibly live in the boisterous sea that would at once be knocked up. If, on the other hand, the brig's longboat had happened to be in the water, or some other craft big enough to accomplish the voyage in safety--I pulled myself up suddenly, for a distinctly audacious idea had at that moment occurred to me as well worthy of consideration. Why not take the brig herself? True, she was a big craft for two men to handle, but if she could but be got safely out to sea, and beyond the reach of pursuit by boats, she could be sailed under such short canvas that one man could take care of her for a whole watch without very much difficulty. The trouble would be to get aboard her, get her under way, and take her out to sea without being detected and pursued, unless--and here I pulled myself up again, for another audacious idea had occurred to me.

I looked at Jose--he appeared to be in a distinctly drowsy condition, if indeed not already asleep, overpowered by the heat, and lulled to slumber by the unwonted quiet of his surroundings. Then I looked carefully around me to see whether I could detect any traces of the man- hunters, but saw none; they were all undoubtedly well out of the way by this time. I pulled myself together and braced myself up for immediate action, for it suddenly dawned upon me that I was never likely to have a more favourable opportunity to carry my bold scheme into effect than that which at that moment presented itself to me. I quietly emerged from my place of concealment and, once more crouching low among the ferns, crept slowly and with infinite caution toward the somnolent Jose, gradually working my way round until I could just see him clear of the corner of the capstan-house. Some twenty minutes of this work brought me right up to the gable end of the building, from which position I again reconnoitred Jose. He was unmistakably fast asleep, and therefore practically at my mercy. But as I had no intention of killing the man, if I could possibly avoid so extreme a measure, I must have the wherewithal to bind him securely, and that could undoubtedly be obtained in the capstan-house. I therefore removed my shoes and, carrying them in my hand, stole on tiptoe round the corner of the building, keeping a wary eye on the sleeper as I did so. Presently I slipped noiselessly in through the open door, and found myself in a long, s.p.a.cious apartment abundantly stored with ponderous hempen cables and hawsers, anchors of various sizes, piles of sails neatly stopped up, quant.i.ties of chain of various kinds, coils of rope, sufficient, it appeared to me, to fit a new gang of running rigging to a dozen ships like the _Barracouta_, bundles of blocks, single, double, threefold, and sister, dangling from the beams--in fact almost every conceivable article that could possibly be needed in the fitting out of a ship. There was part of a coil of brand-new ratline close to my hand, which would serve my purpose admirably, I therefore whipped out my knife and cut off as much as I required, seized a double handful of oak.u.m and a belaying-pin with which to form a gag, cut off a length of marline with which to secure the gag in place, and then, having made a running bowline in the end of my length of ratline, I stole, still in my stocking feet, to the door, and very cautiously peered out at Jose. The man was sound asleep, seated on the ground with his back propped against the wall of the capstan-house, his legs stretched out straight in front of him, his arms hanging limply at his sides with the backs of his hands resting on the ground and turned palm upward, his head sunk on his breast, and his pipe, fallen from his mouth, lying in his lap.

Silently and stealthily I crept toward him until I stood by his side; then, without pausing a moment, I dropped the noosed ratline over his shoulders, at the same moment grabbing him by the collar and dragging him forward to allow the noose to drop to his middle, hauling it taut as it did so, and thus confining his arms to his sides. Then, as he opened his mouth with the evident intention of letting out a yell, I popped the belaying-pin wrapped in oak.u.m into his mouth, at the same time hissing into his ear: "Be silent as you value your life!" Then, turning him over on his face, I rapidly trussed him up in such a fashion that I felt confident he would never get free again, unaided; and finally I dragged him inside the capstan-house, adjusting the gag in such a manner that, while not interfering unduly with his comfort, it would effectually prevent him from raising an alarm. And then, having a.s.sured myself that I had nothing to fear from him, I hurried off and made the best of my way to the cave, where I found its occupants suffering the greatest uneasiness in consequence of my prolonged absence.

A few hasty words from me sufficed to put them in possession of my plans, and then, gathering up such few personal belongings as we had brought with us, we left the cavern and hurried away to the wharf, which we managed to reach un.o.bserved, and temporarily concealed ourselves in the capstan-house, where Jose was found still safely trussed up. Then, leaving Lotta, Fonseca, and Mammy in the building, I sallied out to make my final arrangements, which I hoped to do without interference, since that part of the wharf where I was operating was not visible from the house. But there was, of course, the risk that those in the house might at any moment take it into their heads to come down to the wharf to see how Jose was faring, and it was therefore of the utmost importance that what I had to do should be done quickly.

I walked to the edge of the wharf and looked over. The two gigs and the cutter of the _Barracouta_ were lying alongside each other at a flight of steps about half a dozen fathoms away, the only other boat which I could see afloat lying just astern of them. But there were several boats hauled-up high and dry on the wharf, and these would need thinking about with reference to the scheme that I had in my mind. Slipping down the landing steps, I cast adrift three out of the four boats, and re- moored them in a string, one to the stern of another, so that by manning the leading boat, we could tow the others after us. Then I returned to the capstan-house and proceeded to look for a carpenter's maul, which I quickly found. I was now ready for what I fondly hoped would prove to be the last act in our little drama, and was about to give the word to march, when Fonseca, who appeared to have been speaking to Jose, stayed me.

"Senor Grenvile," he said, "I have just been exchanging a few remarks with our friend Jose here, who has made certain representations to me that I think demand your consideration. He quite understands, of course, that we are about to attempt to escape, and he fully recognises that he has no power to prevent us. But he contends that if we go off and leave him here, Dominique will certainly torture him to death as a punishment for permitting himself to be taken by surprise; and from what I know of Dominique, I am afraid poor Jose has only too good reason for his apprehension. That being the case, he implores us to take him with us, even if we afterward deliver him up to the authorities, since he would infinitely rather be hanged than remain here at the mercy of Dominique. What say you, senor; do you feel inclined to accede to his request?"

I looked at Jose. The poor wretch was evidently in a paroxysm of terror, and was muttering eagerly behind his gag, while he gazed up at me with eyes that were eloquent with pleading.

"Take the gag out of his mouth," said I, "and let me hear what he has to say. But upon the first attempt to raise his voice, brain him with the belaying-pin. We must have no trifling now."

Fonseca at once removed the gag, and Jose instantly burst forth with a perfect torrent of prayers for mercy, intermingled with the most earnest and graphic representations of what would happen to him if left behind.

"I would take you with us willingly, Jose," I said, "if I could be a.s.sured that you would be faithful to us; but--"

"Oh, senor, do not doubt me, I implore you! Take me with you, senor; and if you feel that you cannot trust me, put me in irons when we get on board. But I swear to you, senor, that I will indeed be faithful to you. Take me, senor, and try me!"

"Very well," I said, "I will. But you must not expect me to trust you too much at first. Therefore, Fonseca, put the gag back into his mouth, for the moment, and then cast his feet adrift, so that he can walk down to the boats instead of being carried. And while you are doing that, I will take a final look outside, and attend to a certain little matter before we leave." And, so saying, I picked up the maul and walked out of the building.

A careful look all round satisfied me that there was n.o.body in sight; and as for the party up at the house, it was about time for their midday meal, and they were probably getting it. I therefore made my way to the spot where the hauled-up boats were lying, and deliberately smashed in two or three of the bottom planks of each, thus rendering them quite unserviceable for the moment. Then, returning to the capstan-house, I gave the word to march, and the whole party, now five in number, including Jose, filed across the wharf and down the steps into the leading gig; the painter was cast off, and Fonseca and I taking an oar apiece, we pushed off and, with the other three boats in tow, made our way slowly toward the brig.

And then, suddenly, a dreadful apprehension seized me. "By Jove, Fonseca," I exclaimed, "I have never thought of it until this moment, but what is going to happen if there are any people left aboard the brig? I have been quite taking it for granted that all hands came ash.o.r.e this morning, but of course I cannot be at all sure that they did."