The Castaways Part 14

So saying, O'Gorman raised the heavy lid of the chest, disclosing an interior subdivided into four compartments by thin hardwood part.i.tions running diagonally from corner to corner. One compartment was packed as full as it would hold of pearls, nearly all of which--if one might judge by the top layer--were of very fair size, while a few, scattered here and there, were exceptionally fine; and their exquisite satiny sheen seemed to indicate that they were all of the first water. Miss Onslow could not suppress a cry of admiration and delight as she gazed upon them--which tribute to their beauty--and consequent value--seemed to afford considerable satisfaction to the finders.

"May I touch them?" asked I of O'Gorman.

"Oh yes," he answered, "I suppose there's no harm in y'r touchin' 'em, if ye wants to."

I plunged my hand down into the heart of the compartment, turning over the pearls, and bringing others to the surface; and it appeared that they were all of pretty much the same quality and value. "Why," said I, "here is a respectable fortune for each of you in these pearls alone, even if the 'pebbles' turn out to be valueless, which is scarcely likely to be the case, or they would not have been so carefully stowed away in this chest. Now, these, for example," I continued, turning to a contiguous compartment more than half full of crystals that looked like splintered fragments of rather dull gla.s.s, "are uncut diamonds. Yes,"

as I felt two or three of them between my finger and thumb, "there is no doubt about it: they have the true soapy feel; they are diamonds, and, taken in bulk, of very great value. And here, again," as I turned to the next compartment, about as full as that containing the diamonds, "these are rubies, unless I am very greatly mistaken; while, as to these," turning to the last compartment, "they are emeralds--and there are some beauties among them, too, apparently," as I fished up one or two remarkably fine ones. "Why, O'Gorman," I exclaimed, "you are rich men--every mother's son of you--there are sixteen handsome fortunes in this chest, fortunes big enough to set you all up as gentry, or to ruin you in double-quick time, according to the use that you make of your wealth."

"Begorra, sorr, that's the plisintest thing I iver heard ye say!"

exclaimed the Irishman, in high glee at my verdict as to the value of the "pebbles," while the beaming countenances of the twain on guard betrayed that their delight was fully as great as that of their leader.

There were further sounds of revelry ash.o.r.e, that night, intermingled, more than once, with other sounds suggestive of altercation and quarrel; and just at sunrise, while I was taking a matutinal swim round the ship, I saw all hands march out, in somewhat formal order, along the glade upon which their camp was pitched, and disappear across the sand-spit that formed one side of the loch entrance. Ten minutes later, while I was towelling myself on the fore deck, in the seclusion afforded by the position of the galley, I was startled by what sounded like a distant volley of pistol-shots; and about half an hour afterwards I saw the crowd returning to camp by the way that they had gone. As I watched them shambling along over the somewhat uneven ground I was struck by something rather unusual in their appearance; and presently I discovered what it was: there seemed to be not quite so many of them. By the time that I had slipped into my clothes the party had arrived pretty nearly abreast of the brig, and were close enough, to enable me not only to count but to identify them. _They were now only fourteen in number; and the two absent ones were the men whom I had seen guarding the treasure on the previous night_! Somehow, the absence of these two men instantly became a.s.sociated in my mind with the volley of pistol-shots that I had heard while overboard; and I began to wonder, gloomily, whether the unearthed treasure had already brought a tragedy in its train. I was full of this idea as I sat down to breakfast; but as Miss Onslow did not make any remark or inquiry concerning the pistol volley, I concluded that she had not heard it, and was careful to say nothing whatever to her about my suspicions.

O'Gorman and his companions remained in the seclusion of their tents all the morning, not one of them, excepting the cook, showing themselves until after dinner. Then the Irishman and two hands appeared; and presently they jumped into a boat and headed for the brig. I went to the gangway to receive them--so that we might be out of ear-shot of Miss Onslow, who was sitting in the after-end of her sleeping-tent, reading-- and, even before the boat got alongside, I could see, by the sober faces of those in her, that something serious was the matter.

O'Gorman boarded the brig alone, leaving his two companions in the boat alongside. I led him for'ard, and not until we had reached the fore deck did either of us open our mouths. Then the Irishman, turning to me with a very serious face, said:

"Misther Conyers, we want y'r help again, son."

"Very well," said I; "I shall be pleased to help you in any way possible. What is it that you wish me to do?"

"We wish ye to divide up the threasure aiqually into fourteen parts, and to give to aich man his own share, so that he may take care of it for himself. As things are now, wid all the gims lumped together in the iron chist, the timptation and the opporchunity to shteal is too great, and we've already lost two of our number through it."

"Lost two of your number? Good Heavens, O'Gorman, what do you mean?" I demanded, my thoughts instantly reverting to the suspicious proceedings of the morning.

"Why," explained O'Gorman, "it's loike this, ye see. Whin we dug up that chist yesterday, and got it over here, we could none of us be satisfied until we'd broke it open and found out what it contained.

Then, as we couldn't fasten it up again, we decided to mount guard over it, two men at a time, so that n.o.body should rob the others by sneakin'

away and helpin' himself unbeknownst. But whin the first two guards was relieved, last night, the cook took it into his head that they ought to be searched; and whin this was done, by the Powers! we found that aich of 'em had helped himself to a handful of the stones, and had 'em stowed away in their pockets. We thried 'em there and thin, found 'em guilty, and sintenced 'em to be shot! Which was done this morning."

"So!" I exclaimed in horror, "this is the first result of your so-called good fortune, is it? A theft; and two of your number slain!

Man! do you know that the fourteen of you have committed _murder_!"

"Murder, is it? Sorra a bit!" exclaimed the Irishman indignantly. "We thried the two of 'em, and found 'em guilty, all in regular, proper ordher."

"But," said I, "you have no authority or legal right to try men, sentence them to death, and execute them. Whatever _you_ may consider it, you will find that the law will regard it as wilful murder."

"The law?" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed O'Gorman, with a contemptuous sniff. "Oh, begorra, we'll take our chance of that! But we don't want any more executions, Misther Conyers, so will ye help us to make a fair division of our prize, that aich man may have his own and not be tempted to shteal from another?"

"Are you making this request on your own account, or on behalf of the rest as well?" demanded I. "Perhaps the others may be unwilling to trust to my fairness."

"Oh, but they will," answered O'Gorman. "The proposal was mine, but iverybody agreed to it."

"Very well, then," said I. "I am willing to undertake the job, and will do my best to make the division an equitable one."

So saying, I went aft and explained to Miss Onslow that I was going ash.o.r.e for an hour or two with O'Gorman, to afford him the benefit of my advice in a certain matter, dived below to my cabin for some sheets of writing-paper, which I rolled up and put in my pocket, and then, returning to the deck, descended the side and entered the boat.

On reaching the sh.o.r.e, O'Gorman led me at once to the largest tent, where I found the entire remainder of the party seated in a circle on the ground, with the chest of treasure-trove in the centre; they had evidently so little faith in each other that each had deemed it necessary to individually watch the chest in his own interest. The incident would have been amusing but for the terrible element of tragedy that had been imparted to it by the proceedings of the morning.

My first act, on entering the tent, was to provide, from my little stock of writing-paper, fourteen pieces of exactly equal size and shape, which I numbered from one to fourteen; afterwards folding the pieces identically, so that the numbers written upon them were concealed, and it became impossible to distinguish one piece from another. These papers I put on the ground in one of the men's caps, mixing and shuffling them all together; and next I called for a square of canvas.

They brought me a boat's lug sail, which I caused to be spread flat and smooth upon the ground; and then I had the chest lifted on to the middle of the sail, seating myself beside it. Then, starting with the pearls, I picked out fourteen of practically equal value, and laid them, singly and well apart, on the canvas before me, explaining my intentions as I did so. Then to these I similarly added fourteen more, and so on, until each heap contained the same number of pearls, and was, as nearly as I could judge, of the same value. There were five pearls left over, and these I reserved as possible make-weights, so to speak, in the further division of the gems. Then I proceeded with the diamonds in the same way, following on with the rubies, and finishing off with the emeralds, until the entire treasure was subdivided into fourteen parts of practically equal value. This done, I inquired whether they were all of opinion that the _division_ had been evenly made; and upon receiving a reply to the effect that "they supposed so," I gave the tickets in the sailor's cap a vigorous, final shaking up, and then pa.s.sed the cap round in succession, requesting each man to take one paper. Then, when all had been drawn, I requested them to open their papers and look at the numbers written thereon. And, finally, the man who held number one was allowed first choice from the fourteen heaps, number two the second choice, and so on, until only one heap was left, which fell to the man holding ticket number fourteen. It was interesting to note the difference in the behaviour of the men in choosing their heaps; some hung fire and seemed quite unable to make up their minds for as much as ten minutes or a quarter of an hour--and they would probably have been longer but for the impatient remonstrances of their fellows--while others simply laid their caps alongside the nearest heap and swept the latter into the former with as little emotion as though they had been purchasing a penn'orth of gooseberries at a street-barrow.

This process of subdivision of the treasure had run away with a considerable amount of time, with the result that when I returned to the brig the usual hour of "supper"--as the evening meal is generally termed at sea--was long past; and, what was of far greater consequence, I found that during my prolonged absence Miss Onslow had worked herself into a perfect fever of apprehension as to my safety; which was not at all surprising when one came to reflect upon what her situation would have been--alone among all those ruffians--had anything perchance happened to me. But she quickly recovered her spirits when I informed her as to how I had been occupied; and it was a great relief to me to discover, as I did in the course of the evening, by means of sundry subtle questions and remarks, that the poor girl entertained no suspicion whatever of the morning's tragedy. Such being the case, I resolved to keep the news from her as long as possible; and, with a view thereto, I strenuously impressed upon the steward that he was not, under any circ.u.mstances whatever, to make the most distant reference to it.

During the fortnight that now ensued, the weather remaining gloriously fine, I took Miss Onslow away in the boat daily, and together we explored the island until we had become perfectly acquainted with every inch of it, and knew exactly where to find its many beauty-spots. On the first two or three days of these excursions we frequently encountered members of O'Gorman's gang wandering about the island in a more or less apparently aimless fashion--most of them carrying canvas bundles in their hands, which they invariably endeavoured unsuccessfully to conceal from our view. At first I was at a loss to understand what all this meant; but on the third day it happened that, on emerging from a jungle-path that we had made for ourselves, we came upon a kneeling man busily engaged in digging a hole with a stick at the foot of a tree.

So intent was he upon his occupation that he did not hear us until we were close upon him, and then he sprang to his feet and faced us with an expression of mingled consternation and defiance, that changed to one of confusion as he recognised us. It was the young c.o.c.kney whom I have already had occasion to mention once or twice; and he had gradually impressed me as being about the most harmless and well-meaning of the whole gang.

"Hillo, Harry!" I exclaimed, "what are you after? seeking for more treasure?"

"Why, no, sir," answered he, fingering the peak of his cap as he met Miss Onslow's gaze. He hesitated a few seconds, considering, and then proceeded:

"The fact is, Mr Conyers, I was thinkin' of hidin' my little whack."

"Well," said I, "in that case I am exceedingly sorry that we disturbed you, for now I fear that you will have to hunt for another hiding-place."

"What for, sir?" demanded he.

"Why, because this lady and I have discovered your secret, don't you see?"

"Oh, that be blowed!" exclaimed the young fellow. "That don't make no matter; I ain't afraid of you or the lidy stealin' the stuff; I wasn't hidin' it from either of you."

"No?" queried I. "From whom, then, were you hiding it?"

"Why, from the rest of 'em, of course. We're _all_ hidin' our stuff from one another. We don't _tell_ each other so; but we're doin' it all the same."

"I see," said I. "You are unable to trust each other. Well, that is a pity. One would have thought that there was not a man among you who would not have felt abundantly satisfied with what he has secured."

"Maybe we are; but maybe we ain't," answered the fellow. "Anyhow, when I sees the rest all distrustin' one another, I thinks it's time for me to distrust them. So I spent all day yesterday huntin' for a good spot, and comed along this way, and thought I couldn't do better than stow the stuff at the foot of this big tree."

"Well," said I, "if I were you I should choose some other place. How are you to know that one of the men you distrust is not even now watching you--and guessing your occupation--from some place of concealment among the bushes? Choose a spot that you can easily find again somewhere in the heart of the bush, and bury it there, where n.o.body can see what you are about."

"Thank'ee sir; I will. I think I know a good place not far off," said the fellow; and therewith, giving a sea-sc.r.a.pe with his foot, he turned away and left us. As for us, we resumed our walk, and were very careful not to turn round or otherwise behave in such a manner as to lead the man to suppose we desired to watch him.

During the period to which I am now referring, O'Gorman and his men did no work whatever, but--after each had succeeded in satisfactorily concealing his own share of treasure--spent their time in strolling aimlessly--sometimes alone, and sometimes in parties of two or three together--about the island, hunting for fruit, or climbing the cocoa-nut trees to get at the nuts. Then--I think it was about the sixteenth day after the unearthing of the treasure--without any previous warning or notice whatever to me--I saw them striking tents ash.o.r.e, immediately after breakfast; and by noon everything had been brought off to the brig again, and the men had once more taken up their quarters in her forecastle. The remainder of that day was devoted to the task of rebending the canvas; but it was not until noon of the next day that the brig was again in a condition to go to sea. That afternoon, and the greater part of the following day, was devoted to the task of replenishing the brig's stock of fresh water, collecting an abundant supply of fruit, and--presumably--recovering possession of their hidden treasure; and after breakfast next morning the crew went leisurely to work to get under way. It took us until noon to work our way out to sea; and as soon as we were fairly clear of the barrier reef, everybody went to dinner.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

I LEARN SOME DISTURBING NEWS.

The weather had been fine, with moderate breezes from about west-north-west, during the entire period of our sojourn at the island, and we left it under like conditions. Our course for the Horn was a south-easterly one, which brought the wind nicely over the starboard quarter, and the breeze was of just the right strength to enable us to show the whole of our starboard flight of studding-sails to it, and to handsomely reel off our eleven knots per hour by the log. Under these circ.u.mstances we were not long in running the island out of sight; and with its disappearance below the horizon I hoped that my troubles-- except, of course, such as might arise from bad weather--were at an end.

As for the men, their sojourn on the island had done them good, they were in splendid health and--as might be expected of men in their condition who had so easily become wealthy--in high spirits, they seemed anxious to get home, and were, one and all, upon their best behaviour, being apparently desirous of conciliating me to the utmost possible extent, now that their own ends had been served. But although I deemed it sound diplomacy to allow them to believe that their endeavours in this direction were meeting with perfect success, I could not forget that, in the prosecution of their own selfish plans, they had shown themselves to be callously criminal, and utterly indifferent to all the hardship and suffering, mental and bodily, that they were inflicting upon a young, delicately-nurtured, sensitive woman--to say nothing of what they had caused me to endure; and I determined that, if it lay in my power to scheme out such a result, they should, one and all, pay the penalty of their crimes.

The apparently favourable condition of affairs to which I have just referred continued for fully a week after our departure from the island; and then I received a rude awakening. It happened thus:

The weather was still gloriously fine, but the wind had drawn more out from the southward until it was square upon our starboard beam, which, with a decided increase in its strength, had caused us to take in all our studding-sails except the fore-topmast, the boom of which was braced well forward. It was close upon sunset; and Harry, the c.o.c.kney, was at the wheel. The sky away to the westward about the setting sun wore a decidedly smoky, windy look, with a corresponding wildness and hardness and glare of colour that seemed to threaten a bl.u.s.terous night; so much so, indeed, that, pausing in my solitary perambulation of the deck, I halted near the binnacle to study it. As I did so, the helmsman, with his eye on the weather leach of the main-topgallant-sail, said:

"Don't look at me, or take any notice of me, sir, because I don't want them s...o...b..nks for'ard to see me a-talkin' to you; but I've got somethin' very partic'lar as I should like to s'y, if I can only find a chaunce."