Hunting the Skipper Part 76

"No, sir," cried Murray. "He's afraid of being murdered for showing the way. I have it, sir," he said now excitedly. "That explains everything. There's a way out here;" and stooping down the middy seized one corner of the rug, gave it a sharp jerk, and laid bare what seemed to be a trap-door neatly made in the polished floor.

A murmur of excitement ran through the room, and Murray exclaimed--

"Then the poor fellow has been killed, Tom."

"And buried, sir, seemingly," growled the sailor; and without waiting for orders, he went down on one knee to raise the broad square flap, while the black shrank a little more away where he knelt, and began rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"Well, my lad," cried Mr Anderson, "be smart! You're not afraid, are you?"

"Not a bit, sir," growled the big sailor; "but there seems to be some sort o' dodgery over this here hatchway. You see, there arn't no ring-bolt."

"Take your cutla.s.s to it, Tom," said Murray; and as he spoke he drew his dirk.

"Ay, ay, sir; that'll do it," replied the sailor, and directly after the middy and he began to force in the edges of their blades so as to try and prise open the trap.

"Come, come, come," cried the lieutenant, "don't bungle like that;" and he drew his sword. "Let me try."

Murray made way, and the officer began to try and force in the edge of his service blade.

"Humph! Dear me!" he muttered. "The floor is made of mahogany. Very hard wood. Not so easy as I thought, May, my lad."

A broad smile covered the big sailor's countenance as he watched his officer's failure.

"Ay, ay, sir!" he growled. "Beg pardon, sir; you'll be breaking your sword."

"Yes, my lad, and I don't want to do that," said the lieutenant. "Here, hallo! What do you mean by that? Look here, Mr Murray; your n.i.g.g.e.r is trying to tell you how to do it. He knows all about it. Let him try."

For, as if recovering somewhat from his abject dread, the black knelt and shuffled about as if longing to perform the task himself.

"Yes, sir, that's it," said the midshipman eagerly. "Now then, Caesar, show us how it's done."

But this only made the black shrink away more and more, and begin shaking his head violently and resuming the pointing as before.

"Here, he must be made to show how it is done," cried the lieutenant impatiently. "We cannot waste time like this."

"I think I can manage now, sir," said Murray, for just then the black caught hold of his hand, slipped his own up the lad's wrist, and pressed him to one side of the square trap that refused to open.

The rest was plain, for it soon became clear that, though the black was afraid to do anything towards opening the trap himself, he was quite ready to use the hands of another party for the purpose.

"Oh, that's it, is it, Caesar?" cried Murray, who now submitted himself entirely to the slave's direction and let him press his hands down with a thrusting movement upon one of the floor-boards, with the result that the square trap glided away smoothly as if running upon rollers, while a dark opening appeared, showing a flight of ladder stairs running down into what seemed to be total darkness.

"A subterranean pa.s.sage leading somewhere or another."

"It is the way out by which Mr Allen went," said Murray excitedly.

"Escaped, you mean," cried the lieutenant.

"Perhaps so, sir; but mayn't it be that he has been taken away by his enemies?" suggested Murray.

"Well, that we have to see," replied the lieutenant.

"Look here, Caesar," said Murray, addressing the black, "has Mr Allen gone this way?"

The black took a step or two towards the opening, listened, looked round cautiously, and then took hold of the lad's arm and drew him away, to whisper in his ear--

"Ma.s.sa Huggin come and fesh him away."

"Then you think this Master Huggins is down there?"

The black nodded his head quickly and then pointed to the sailors, ran first to one and then to another and touched their swords and the muskets they carried, before pointing downward to the concealed flight of steps.

"I can understand that, Mr Murray," said the lieutenant. "He wants us to go down armed and follow the steps to where they lead; but we must have lights. Humph!" he added. "The fellow understands English well enough."

For the black darted to a corner closet, opened the door, and took out a bottle, a box and a silver candlestick which stood all ready, a wax taper which the black placed upon the side-table, and then, as cleverly as if he had seen it done scores of times, he took the stopper out of the little bottle, from which a strong odour of phosphorus arose, took a match from the box, and thrust it into the bottle, with the result that he brought it out burning, after the fashion of our fathers' time before the invention of lucifer matches and congreve lights--a fashion adopted when a letter had been written and the writer, who knew not adhesive envelopes and desired to seal his missive, made use of the phosphorus bottle instead of producing a light with a flint and steel.

"Well done," said the lieutenant. "Now then, are you going to light the way?"

The black shook his head and shrank away once more.

"We're to do it ourselves, it seems, Mr Murray;" and the lieutenant drew his sword. "I'll trouble you to light me, sir, for I must lead the way. Come, Mr Roberts, you can lead the men, and you will keep close up. Draw--no, no, leave that dress ornament in its scabbard. You too, Mr Murray. Take two of the men's cutla.s.ses, and they can use their muskets. Here, darkie, are you coming too?"

"Yes, Ma.s.sa buccra officer. Caesar come show the way. You no let Ma.s.sa Huggin kill poor n.i.g.g.ah?"

"That I promise you, my good fellow," said the lieutenant. "Now, Mr Murray, forward, please."

To the surprise of all present the black stepped quickly to the top of the stairs, and kneeling down thrust his head over and seemed to listen attentively before placing a hand upon the floor upon either side of the opening and lowering himself down.

"Ma.s.sa come along quick. n.o.body here."

"How's that?" cried Murray. "Isn't Mr Allen there?"

"No, ma.s.sa. Him gone along Ma.s.sa Huggin--take him right away, so him no tell Bri'sh officer where all de slabes hid ash.o.r.e, and whar to fine de slaber ship."

"Light is beginning to dawn into my benighted intellect now, Mr Murray," said the lieutenant, following the midshipman, as, carefully sheltering the little taper from the damp wind which seemed to blow up from the hole in the floor, the lad stepped down quickly after the black. "And it seems to me, for your comfort, my lad, that you need not be in the slightest degree alarmed at the prospect of facing the captain and being called to account for the loss of your prisoner, for your loss is going to turn out a great gain. Here, follow close up with the men, Mr Roberts. No, not next; I'll have May behind me; he's big and strong, and he's something to depend upon if we have a sudden attack."

Roberts winced and frowned, for he felt as if his dignity had been a little touched at being put aside to make way for the big sailor, and in addition the chief officer had spoken in a way which made matters take a different turn from what he had expected.

If any one had a.s.serted that he was a bit jealous and envious of his brother middy he would have denied it with indignation, but all the same there was a something near akin to envy somewhere in his breast, and he would have liked it a great deal better if he had been called upon to play several of the parts which somehow would fall to Murray's share.

So d.i.c.k Roberts frowned as he grasped the clumsy cutla.s.s that had been handed to him by one of the men, and then after four of the party had received orders to mount guard at the entrance to the subterranean way, he followed closely upon Tom May's bulky form, ready to help protect those who had gone before; and grasping his weapon very tightly he stood at last at the foot of the stairs in a well-paved arched way just lit faintly by the wax taper, and was able to see that the pa.s.sage was composed of the lava which had been quarried from one of the volcanic ma.s.ses thrown from a burning mountain ages before.

"Keep together, my lads, close up," said the lieutenant; and his voice sounded whispering and strange as it seemed to reverberate down a pa.s.sage, and finally died away.

"Where does this lead to, I wonder?" said the midshipman softly, and the walls repeated "I wonder" in a tone that sounded loud.

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.