The Castaways Part 13

"Oi'll do that same," answered O'Gorman. "And now," he continued, "I suppose you and the lady 'd loike a run ash.o.r.e, wouldn't ye?"

"Yes, certainly," I answered, "but not to-day. We will wait until everybody has had time to get completely sober again. I do not choose that the lady should be subjected to the annoyance of encountering, and perhaps being insulted by, some half-drunken lout. But you will not require all the boats, I suppose, so you had better send off the smallest one, with a pair of oars, that we may have the means of going to and from the ship and the sh.o.r.e at our own pleasure, and independently of your people."

This was too much for the fiery temper of the Irishman; genial and obliging as he had striven to be, it had been clearly apparent to me that he was growing increasingly restive under the lengthening list of my demands, and now this cool requisition of a boat was the last straw that broke the camel's back--or, in other words, exhausted the Irishman's slender stock of patience; he looked at me with blazing eyes for a moment, and then rapped out:

"Boat is it, thin? The divil a boat will I let ye have; if ye want a boat, go ash.o.r.e and build one for yoursilf. And go to the divil and get your awning, and your canvas, and your lashings, and your cook, too, begorra! for sorra a one of anny of thim will ye get from me! I was a fool to promise ye annything, but I wanted your help, and I thought Oi'd get it by humourin' ye. But _now_, be jabers, Oi'll _make_ ye help me, whither ye like it or not; and the divil a thing will I do for ye in return!"

"What is it you want me to do for you?" asked I quietly, determined to keep my temper whatever might happen, and curious to know what service it could possibly be that had caused the fellow to constrain himself so far in the endeavour to conciliate me.

"I want ye to do this--and, understand me, ye'll _have_ to do it, whither it plaises ye or not," he answered. "There's a spot somewhere on that bit of an oiland,"--indicating the small islet opposite which the brig was moored--"that I want to find. Whin I first read the paper that speaks of it, it seemed the simplest thing in the worruld to come here and put me fut on it; but now that Oi'm here, and have seen the place, by me sowl I can't see or understand how Oi'm to go about it.

And no more can anny of the rest of us. So the long and the short of it is, misther, that you'll have to find the place for us."

"What do your instructions direct you to do?" demanded I.

"My instructions, is it?" repeated O'Gorman. "Oh, begorra, they're simple enough. They say,"--here he paused, fumbled in his breast-pocket, and presently produced the dirty, greasy slip of paper, with the appearance of which I was now becoming familiar, and carefully unfolding it, read:

"'Dhraw a loine from one black rock to the other, and on this loine project another to the summit of the peak, makin' an angle of sixty-foive degrees to the west'ard. Dig there, and,'--well, the rest has got nothing to do with it."

"Um!" said I musingly; "I am not surprised to learn that none of you men can understand such directions as those; I am not at all sure that I understand them myself. At the same time there is hint enough to put me on the right track. And now, O'Gorman," continued I, throwing all the impressiveness I could muster into my manner, "I want you to listen to me, and mark well what I say, for I am in downright earnest, and no mistake. I gather, from the whole drift of this adventure, that your object in coming here is to hunt for a certain buried treasure, the hiding-place of which is indicated on that paper in your hand. Now, I have brought you to this spot, and it is exceedingly probable that I may be able to help you to find the treasure--if it is still where it was originally hidden--while I am absolutely certain that you will _never_ find it without my help--and, when all is done, I can help you to convey your booty successfully home. Now, understand me, I want no reward whatever, either in the shape of a share of the treasure, or otherwise, for affording you this a.s.sistance; but I tell you plainly that I will have respectful treatment, and perfect freedom, both for myself and for the lady, together with every one of those little comforts and conveniences for which I have asked. Stop, I have not finished yet," I continued, as I saw that he was about to bl.u.s.ter. "You have been labouring under the delusion, all along, that Miss Onslow's presence among us affords you an effective means of coercing me to do certain things for you. Now, it is time that such an impression should be removed. I am perfectly willing to help you in any and every way, so long as we are both treated with civility and consideration; but if you, or any one of your men, should dare to molest Miss Onslow in any way, or show her the slightest incivility, from that moment I will cease to help or do anything whatever for you--which means, that even should you succeed in obtaining the treasure that you are after, you will never be able to take it home and enjoy it. Now, think over what I have said, and let me know your decision as soon as you have made up your mind.

But do not you ever again attempt to coerce me by uttering threats of violence to the lady, for it will not do! My chief stipulation is that she shall be as absolutely secure from insult or injury among you as though she were under the protection of her father's roof, and I mean that she shall be so, or I will send the whole lot of you to the devil, even if I have to accompany you."

To defy the whole gang in so uncompromising a manner was undoubtedly a bold game to play, but it proved to be the right thing to do; for as I stared the Irishman unshrinkingly in the eyes I saw his gaze wavering under mine, and presently his scowling expression relaxed into a smile as he exclaimed:

"Begorra, Misther Conyers, ye're a brave man intoirely to brazen the thing out in that stoyle, one against sixteen of us. But it's yourself that knows right well that ye've got the pull of us, by raison of your eddicashin, so I suppose we may as well let ye have your own way, and make no more bones about it. All we want is your help to find the threasure and get it safely home; and if ye'll give us that ye may have your own way in ivery thing else; it'll make no real differ to us."

"Very well," said I; "you are now speaking like a reasonable and sensible man, and it is a bargain between us that I shall afford you the fullest possible a.s.sistance to carry out your schemes--so far as they may be lawful--upon the terms and conditions which I have stipulated.

Now, if you will let me have your paper, in order that I may study it as a whole, I shall perhaps be able to gather the writer's full meaning, and thus enable you to find the exact spot of which you are in search.

Meanwhile, you had better go ash.o.r.e again, and give your immediate attention to the few little matters that I mentioned just now, before you lost your temper."

The fellow hesitated a moment, gazing doubtfully and still somewhat distrustfully at me, and then, with a sigh, handed over the paper to my keeping. Then, without a word, he turned away, went down over the side into his boat, and was forthwith pulled ash.o.r.e.

As the boat shoved off from the brig's side, I opened the paper and glanced at its contents. The complete doc.u.ment read as follows:--

"Lat.i.tude 2 degrees 48 minutes 40 seconds South. Longitude 144 degrees 10 minutes 10 seconds West. Approach island from north-west, and stand toward it with summit of hill bearing South-East by a half South, which leads through the pa.s.sage in the barrier reef. Then haul up to South by a quarter West for the mouth of the bight at the bottom of the bay.

Stand boldly in until abreast of the big rock at the mouth of the bight, when clew up and furl everything. Follow the bight until you reach the lagoon, when anchor anywhere not closer than within a dozen fathoms of the island. The gems are buried in the earth at a spot which may thus be identified. Draw a line from one black rock to the other; and on this line project another to the summit of the peak, making an angle of sixty-five degrees to the westward. Dig there, and the gems will be found at a depth of three feet below the surface. I write this that the treasure may not be lost should I die ere I find opportunity to secure it.

"John Withicombe."

The doc.u.ment was written in the calligraphy of an evidently educated man; and now that I had it in its complete form in my hands I began to regard the whole matter in a very different light from what I had hitherto done; up to now I had been disposed to regard the adventure as one that was more than likely to prove a wild-goose chase; but as I noted the evidences of intelligence and education that the doc.u.ment revealed on the part of the writer it suddenly dawned upon me that after all there might be something in it. But who was John Withicombe, and how did he become acquainted with the existence of the treasure? Did he hide it himself, or did he discover its whereabouts by accident? And where did the treasure come from?

I was still puzzling over these questions when I was startled out of my reverie by a light step beside me; and, turning, I beheld Miss Onslow regarding me with eyes so brilliant that I could almost fancy they were gemmed with tears.

"So," she exclaimed playfully, "you have been fighting another wordy battle with that Irish wretch; and this time, having kept your temper under control, you have emerged victorious from the conflict. But oh, Mr Conyers," she continued, her voice suddenly changing to a tone of deep earnestness, "I cannot express to you how profoundly sorry I am that you should thus continually be hara.s.sed and worried on my account-- oh yes, I heard everything; I was in the cabin, and the skylight was open, so I could not help hearing what pa.s.sed. I know that these men are taking advantage of my presence to coerce and terrorise you by means of threats of violence toward me, and I cannot help feeling how dreadfully you are hampered and embarra.s.sed by having me to look after and protect. But you have never wavered or faltered for one instant, you have forgotten all about yourself and have thought wholly and only of me; and--and--I think it only right you should know how greatly I appreciate your goodness, and--how--how--grateful I am for all that you have done and are still doing for me."

There undoubtedly _were_ tears in her eyes as she concluded; but a certain wild, delirious hope, that had half formed itself as I noted the enthusiasm with which she had begun her speech, died out again as she faltered and hesitated, and finally concluded in as sober, impa.s.sive, conventional a tone as though she had been thanking me for procuring a cab for her on a rainy night. I hastened to a.s.sure her that she was quite mistaken in supposing that her presence aboard the brig was an embarra.s.sment to me; that, on the contrary, it was the only pleasant feature of the whole adventure, so far as I was concerned; and then, fearing lest her gracious mood should tempt me to say more than she would be willing to listen to, I hastily turned the conversation toward O'Gorman's doc.u.ment, which I placed in her hands, asking her to read it and tell me what she thought of it.

She read it carefully through once, and then handed it back to me with the remark:

"I think it is perfectly genuine--everything appears to point in that direction--and I have no doubt whatever that the gems will be found in the spot indicated."

"I am now inclined to that opinion myself," said I. "But how is the spot indicated to be found? The writer, you will observe, mentions two black rocks, but he furnishes no clue whatever as to their whereabouts.

Where are we to look for these rocks? and how are we to identify them?"

"That particular pa.s.sage," answered she, "is, I admit, decidedly obscure. Yet I think the context furnishes a clue to its elucidation.

It reads thus:--'anchor anywhere not closer than within a dozen fathoms of the island,'--which I take to mean this small island, or islet, opposite us. The island was evidently the most prominent object in the writer's mind when he penned the words immediately following those that I have just quoted; and I therefore conclude that it is somewhere in that small island--a most suitable hiding-place, I think you will admit--that the treasure lies concealed. And it is there also, I think, that the two black rocks should be searched for. As to how the rocks are to be identified, the writer speaks of them in such a manner as to suggest that there is no possibility of mistaking them; and I therefore infer that there are two rocks--_and two only_--that can possibly be a.s.sociated with the instructions given in the paper."

"Yes," said I; "I quite see your line of reasoning; and I believe you are right. At all events, the suggestion is so reasonable that it is quite worth following; and it is upon those lines that I shall advise O'Gorman to go to work. Ah, by Jove! look there! I believe the fellow actually means to stick to his bargain at last: here come the men with the sails and so on that I have asked for; and to-night I hope you will be able to rest in comparative coolness out here on deck, with an awning, and all other proper shelter from the dew."

The boat, with half a dozen hands in her, was soon alongside, and by midday we had not only an awning spread over the whole of the after-deck, from the taffrail to the mainmast, but also a s.p.a.cious canvas sleeping-tent under it, divided into two compartments, and so arranged that my companion might enjoy the most absolute privacy. The steward also came off, and resumed possession of his usual quarters, and as he was one of the quietest and most respectable men of the party, was as good a cook as "the doctor" himself, and seemed genuinely anxious to do his best for us, it soon appeared as though we were about to be favoured with a spell of peace and quietness.

Meanwhile, O'Gorman religiously refrained from obtruding himself upon us until I had dismissed the boat's crew upon the completion of their labours, when he came aboard, ostensibly to ascertain whether everything had been done to my satisfaction, but actually--as I soon discovered--to claim the a.s.sistance that I had undertaken to afford him. And this, of course, I was more than ready to give, now that I had obtained from him what I wanted, being feverishly anxious to bring the entire adventure to a conclusion as speedily as possible, in order that I might be free to convey Miss Onslow in all safety and honour to her father's arms. So I threw myself heartily into the spirit of the search, accompanying O'Gorman and a search-party to the islet, and actively partic.i.p.ating in a hunt for the two black rocks. But, after persevering for more than three hours, it became evident that the little spot was so completely overgrown with tangled, impenetrable jungle that but one course was open to us, that of clearing the ground by cutting down and destroying the network of creepers that choked up the s.p.a.ces between the tree-trunks.

This proved to be a lengthy and arduous undertaking, it being necessary to cut the undergrowth away in blocks, as it were, and then drag the detached ma.s.ses to the water's edge and tumble them overboard. But after four days of this work, at the end of which there was very little result to show for our labour, we found evidences of the islet having at some previous period been cleared by means of fire, the workers having encountered several charred and blackened tree-stumps; so we determined to adopt a similar course, the vegetation being dry and in excellent condition for such an experiment. Accordingly, the undergrowth was attacked with knives and axes on the weather side of the island, and the detached ma.s.ses, instead of being hove overboard, were allowed to remain and thoroughly dry in the sun. Then, when our acc.u.mulation of dry brushwood seemed sufficient for our purpose, it was set alight, and in half an hour the entire island was a blazing ma.s.s, there being just wind enough to fan the flames and cause them to spread. In two hours the operation was complete, the once verdant and beautiful spot having been converted into an ugly patch of flat and fire-blackened soil, some fifty acres in extent, with two conspicuous outcrops of black rock protruding from the ashes and debris of the conflagration.

There was very little doubt in my mind that the two outcrops of rock rendered visible by the destruction of the vegetation upon the islet were those referred to by John Withicombe, and I said as much to O'Gorman, whose impatience to test the truth of my conviction was such that he would have had me go to work with my rods and s.e.xtant that same afternoon; but when we attempted to land upon the islet we found that although the ashes were black on the surface they were still a dull glowing red in the heart of them, and so hot that they were not yet to be stood upon, leaving out of the question the veil of acrid, suffocating, blue smoke that still wreathed and curled from out them.

Our enforced detention, however, was by no means wasted time, for now that the surface of the island was bare, and I could see what I had to work upon, I could also see that several long, slender ranging-poles would be necessary, and the obtaining and preparation of these kept all hands busy for the remainder of that day. And immediately after breakfast, next morning, I got out my s.e.xtant, and, all hands of us landing upon the islet, we went to work with a will. First of all, I made my way to one of the ma.s.ses of rock, and climbed up on it. Both ma.s.ses had well-defined "peaks," and I came to the conclusion that the instruction to "draw a line from one black rock to the other" would mean that a _straight_ line must be drawn, or _ranged_, from one of these well-defined peaks to the other. So I temporarily removed the telescope from my s.e.xtant, and, levelling it upon the extreme peak, or highest point of the rock I occupied, brought it to bear upon the corresponding peak of the other rock. Then I sent a man along with instructions to start from the other rock and walk toward me, halting whenever I raised my hand and sticking a rod perpendicularly in the ground. I met with a great deal more difficulty than I had antic.i.p.ated in securing the satisfactory execution of this apparently simple operation, but by keeping the telescope levelled from the one peak and bearing upon the other, and making the man hold the rods truly vertical, I at length succeeded in ranging out a perfectly straight line from the one rock to the other. Then, setting the limb of my s.e.xtant to an angle of sixty-five degrees, and stationing myself at certain points in the line--which I was easily able to do by means of the rods--I at length found the exact point required, which I marked by driving a stake into the ground. "There," said I to O'Gorman, "is your point--if my interpretation of the instructions given in your paper is the correct one; and at a depth of a yard or thereabouts below the surface you ought to find your treasure. If you do not find it at this precise spot I would recommend you to try a little to right and left, in line with the poles that, as you see, I have left standing."

CHAPTER TWELVE.

FINDING THE TREASURE.

O'Gorman and his entire train of satellites being now upon the islet, ready to dig until they had reached the buried treasure, I thought the opportunity a good one to afford Miss Onslow a run ash.o.r.e; so, taking possession of the boat that O'Gorman had graciously intimated I might use--the same craft that had done us such good service ere we fell in with the _Governor Smeaton_--I paddled alongside the brig, and suggested to the young lady that we should devote the remainder of the day to an exploration of the island proper. To this my companion acceded with alacrity and evident delight; so, packing a small basket with everything required for a substantial luncheon, I stepped the boat's mast, set her canvas, and we got under way, working out through the loch into the big lagoon formed by the barrier reef, and then coasting alongsh.o.r.e until we reached a promising-looking landing-place. Here we ran the boat up on the beach, secured her, and, stepping ash.o.r.e, decided to lunch before proceeding farther, since it was by this time drawing well on toward midday. Then, having made a hearty meal, we plunged into the jungle, with the idea of reaching the summit of the hill if we could hit upon a practicable path. Viewed from the sea, the island had the appearance of being as completely and thickly overgrown with jungle as had been the islet where O'Gorman and his gang were hunting for treasure, but upon entering the forest we found that it was not so, and that, by keeping our eyes about us, we might manage with very little difficulty to work our way through the comparatively open s.p.a.ces that occurred at frequent intervals. And we had not proceeded very far when we were fortunate enough to fall athwart a tiny stream, with just the merest trickle of water in it now, but which was evidently, in the rainy season, a roaring, raging torrent. The bed of this stream was full of small boulders, that served very well as stepping-stones, and as we knew we could not go astray if we followed the course of the stream, and as we knew, moreover, that by so doing we should be constantly rising, and as, further, we should thus avoid being impeded by the necessity to wind our way through the jungle, we decided to adopt this course, with the happy result that in about an hour's time we found ourselves close to the summit, and above the line of vegetation. There still remained about a hundred feet of climbing to be done, however, ere we could attain the summit; and this climbing had to be accomplished on a slope of some sixty degrees, composed of fine, loose scoria, that gave way and slid downward as soon as stepped upon. I did not like to be beaten, however, but soon found that, without poles to a.s.sist us, we should never make any progress; so we contented ourselves with a walk round the peak-- which I now felt convinced was the crater of a quiescent if not extinct volcano--and a leisurely survey of the magnificent panorama that lay spread out beneath us. By the simple process of walking round the peak we obtained a view of the entire island, with its lagoon and barrier reef; and so clear and pure was the atmosphere that we could not only see but also identify every member of the working-party. They were still digging vigorously; but even as we watched them there arose a sudden commotion and an excited rushing together among them, and a second or two later the sound of their voices reached us; but although it was perfectly evident that the speakers were powerfully excited, we were too far distant from them to distinguish what was said; and presently work was resumed for about ten minutes, at the expiration of which several men leaped down into the excavation, and a minute or two later we saw a not very bulky object lifted out of the hole and laid on the surface of the ground, amid the frantic cheers of the entire party.

"The treasure!" I exclaimed. "They have found it, by Jove! And they have not been very long about it, either. Well, I am sincerely glad and thankful, for now we may hope soon to be homeward-bound, or at least bound to some spot from which it will be possible for us to secure pa.s.sage to Calcutta."

I spoke with some enthusiasm; but my companion did not respond; she remained silent, gazing dreamily into the far distance; and when I looked at her, awaiting some answering remark, I saw that she was quite pale, that she was biting her under-lip in a fruitless endeavour to stay its quivering, and that there were undoubtedly tears in her eyes. She averted her face quickly, but I was confident that I was not mistaken as to those indications of emotion. Presently she spoke.

"I am glad," said she, "that you find cause for rejoicing in the discovery that those wretches appear to have just made; and at first sight it would almost seem as though your troubles should now be nearly over. But I cannot forget that those men have been guilty of two very serious offences--first in seizing the brig from you and compelling you to navigate her to this lonely spot, and next in their act of piracy in connection with the _Marie Renaud_; and I fear--oh, I fear terribly-- that by and by, when we are nearing the end of our journey, they will take some desperate step to effectually prevent your ever bearing witness against them. Have you ever thought of that as a possible danger to which you may be exposed?"

"Well, yes," said I; "I must confess that such a contingency has suggested itself to me; but they will require my help to get their booty home and landed; and I will make it my business to discuss this matter with O'Gorman in such a manner as to convince him that he cannot do without me. And meanwhile I must see if I cannot forestall any possible action on their part by devising some plan which will enable us to effect our escape in one of the boats when within easy distance of land."

"Do you think such a thing possible?" she demanded, in much more animated tones than those she had shortly before used.

"Why, yes," answered I. "That is to say, we must _make_ it possible; we must endeavour to devise some definite scheme, to be carried out at the very first favourable opportunity, and we must then devote all our energies to so arranging matters that when the moment arrives everything will be in readiness."

We discussed this topic at some length, with no very definite result, however; and finally, as it appeared to be exercising a distinctly depressing effect upon Miss Onslow's spirits, I changed the subject, and we made our way down to the boat again, and so aboard the brig.

But as we entered the inner lagoon we found that all hands had knocked off work and had crossed to their camp; and presently O'Gorman made his appearance at the entrance of one of the tents, beckoning us to approach. I waved my hand in a.s.sent, but made as though to put Miss Onslow aboard the brig first, whereupon O'Gorman hailed that he wanted us both to land and look at what had been found. So I put a bold face upon it, and ran the boat in upon the beach, from which we walked together up to O'Gorman's tent.

As we entered, the first thing that met my gaze was a rusty and earth-grimed iron chest, measuring about two feet square by perhaps sixteen inches deep, on either side of which sat a man with a brace of c.o.c.ked pistols in his belt, evidently on guard. The chest had been fastened by two heavy padlocks of distinctly antiquated design, but these had both been smashed, and the lid prised open, not without inflicting some damage to the hinges. I noticed, almost at once, that O'Gorman and his companions wore a decidedly perplexed and slightly chagrined air, and the reason therefor soon became apparent.

"So," said I, in a congratulatory tone, "you soon found your treasure, then. I hope it proves to be worth all the trouble you have taken to secure it?"

"Begorra, thin, it's mesilf that'd be glad to be able to say 'yis' to that," answered the Irishman. "But I'm puzzled; I can't make it out,"

he continued. "_This_ is what we've found,"--giving the chest a kick that betrayed a certain amount of temper--"but beyant a gallon or so of pearls there's nothin' in it but pebbles; and I'd like ye to say whether you think them pebbles is worth annything or not."