The Cruise of the "Esmeralda" Part 8

"Very good," said I; "then I will set about them at once. And, by way of a start, I think we will 'blind' the skylights; as I fully agree with Roberts that there is no especial advantage in revealing four whereabouts to anybody to-night. Nothing but a steamer could run us down in this weather; and, should there happen to be one coming along, we should see her lights in ample time to give her warning of our position."

The mate was still promenading to and fro between the break of the p.o.o.p and the binnacle; so when he next pa.s.sed I requested him to have the canvas covers put over the skylights, also to direct the steward to turn down the lamps in the saloon and my own cabin, and to carefully draw the curtains before all the sidelights, so that no treacherous ray might gleam forth from the ship's side and betray our locality. This was soon done; and the noiseless movements of the mate as he went forward and gave the necessary orders in a whisper, instead of issuing them in stentorian tones from the break of the p.o.o.p, sufficiently indicated his conviction of the existence of a lurking peril in our immediate vicinity.

The one thing that we had to fear, above all others--and to guard against--in the event of an attack, was the presence of the pirates on our own decks. Should they succeed in boarding us, it would certainly be in such overwhelming numbers as to render an effective resistance impossible; our small party would be quickly overpowered, and then the fate of everybody on board would be sealed. Our safety depended upon our keeping the foe at arm's length. Half a dozen fathoms of water would suffice; but the problem was how to accomplish this very desirable end. I had been giving a good deal of thought to this, even while chatting disconnectedly with Sir Edgar in the earlier part of the evening, and had at length hit upon a plan that I thought might be successful. We had on board a small fire engine, mounted on wheels, with a hose and jet attached, and a tank capable of containing some fifty gallons. This engine I now ordered to be uncovered, and prepared for action by securely lashing a small loose mop-head of oak.u.m round the nozzle of the hose, taking especial care that the aperture of the jet should be left perfectly free. Roberts, who seemed at once to divine and understand my plan even before I had explained it to him, undertook this part of the work in person; and in about ten minutes he reported that all was ready, and invited me to inspect his workmanship.

It was by this time "five bells;" and the night was, without exception, the darkest, I think, that I had ever experienced. So dark, indeed, was it, that, well as we knew the ship, we had to feel our way along the deck with hands and feet, for it was absolutely impossible to see anything a foot beyond the end of one's nose. With such intense darkness as this it was evident that the heavens must be obscured by exceptionally heavy ma.s.ses of cloud; which, with the hot, breathless condition of the atmosphere, led me to antic.i.p.ate and hope for a thunderstorm, which would at least afford us sufficient light to inspect our surroundings, and so put an end to a state of suspense that was growing wearisome. And not only was the night intensely dark; it was also oppressively silent; for, the water being perfectly smooth, there was no life or motion in the ship to give rise to those sounds--such as the flapping of canvas, the creaking of timbers and bulkheads, etcetera, etcetera--that usually make a calm so irritating to people who happen to be troubled with nerves. All was silent as death itself; our own movements being hushed, in harmony with the prevailing stillness, so that we spoke under our breath, and moved about on tiptoe.

In this silent, groping way I followed Roberts forward to inspect the fire engine; and it was while thus engaged with the aid of a carefully shielded lantern, that the mate exclaimed, in a hoa.r.s.e whisper, as he held up his hand, and bent his head in a listening att.i.tude--

"Hark! did you hear that, sir?"

"No," said I, "I heard nothing. What was it?"

"Why," answered Roberts, "it sounded to me like the noise of an oar, or a sweep, creaking in a rowlock; and it seemed to come from away yonder,"--pointing, as he spoke, in the direction of the larboard bow.

We both listened intently, for fully a minute, without detecting any sound whatever confirmatory of Roberts' evident suspicions; and at length I said, turning once more to the examination of the fire engine--

"Tush, man, you were mistaken; you heard nothing. The fact is, Mr Roberts, you are not quite yourself to-night. You seem nervous, and fidgety, and anxious. The heat of to-day has upset you; and I think you had better let me give you a good stiff dose of quinine when you go below, at eight bells."

"Thank you, sir, no," answered Roberts; "I don't need any quinine, or anything else in the shape of medicine to brace me up. There's nothing the matter with me, bodily; but, to be perfectly candid, I _do_ feel a little bit off my mental balance, as it were, to-night. The fact is--I know you'll laugh at me, sir, but I can't help that, and it don't matter, but I've got the feeling strong upon me that something's going to happen to me to-night. For three nights running--that is to say, last night, and the night before, and the night before that again--I've started up out of a sound sleep with the idea that my dear wife was calling me; ay, and with the very sound and tone of her sweet voice in my ears. Now, sir, do you think that is only a coincidence, as they say ash.o.r.e; or isn't it more likely to be a sign that something is going to happen to me?"

"Why, what nonsense is this for a sensible, educated man like yourself to be talking!" I exclaimed half angrily. "Let me feel your pulse."

He held out his hand to me, and I laid my fingers upon his wrist.

Contrary to what I had expected, I found the skin to be cool and moist, and the pulse beneath it beating with the steadiness and regularity of a machine.

"Umph! there doesn't seem to be very much wrong there," I admitted.

"But I didn't know you were a married man, Roberts; I understood you once to say that you were quite alone in the world--not a soul belonging to you."

"Quite right, sir; that's the exact truth," returned the mate. "But I had a wife once, sir; as sweet, true, and tender-hearted a little woman as you ever met, I'll be bound. And pretty, she was, too. My little Nellie--I only had her six months, sir.

"We were spliced early in the spring; and I stayed ash.o.r.e and spent the whole summer and well into the autumn with her; six months--six blessed, happy, joyous months with the sweetest woman that ever lived. We were all by ourselves, excepting for one servant maid, in a pretty little house on the outskirts of Teignmouth. Ah! that was a time for a man to look back upon for the rest of his life. Then by-and-by, when the autumn days began to grow short, the cash began to grow short, too; and I had to go to sea again to earn more. I'm not a particularly soft-hearted man, as a rule, Captain Saint Leger, but I tell you, sir, that that parting from Nellie was just as much as I could stand up against: to be obliged to untwine her loving, clinging arms from about my neck, and to deliberately turn away and leave her standing there by the gate, crying her dear eyes out, was cruel work, sir; it was like tearing my very heartstrings asunder. But it had to be done.

"Of course when we arrived at Durban--for it was while I was in the Natal trade, in this same little barque--there were a couple of letters waiting for me that had pa.s.sed us on the road out; and every mail that arrived while we were lying in the harbour brought me another, each more cheerful than the last, because the time was pa.s.sing away and bringing our reunion nearer.

"And when at last I got home again, sir, all that they had to show me was my darling's new-made grave. She had taken typhoid fever, died, and was carried out of the house in her coffin at the moment that the telegram announcing my arrival in England was handed in."

Something very like a sob seemed to rise in Roberts's throat and choke him at this point in his story; but before I had time to frame and arrange the words of sympathy that struggled to my lips--for I am not a quick man with my tongue--he resumed--

"I hope, Captain Saint Leger, that if my manner has seemed to you a little curious to-night, you will not put it down to timorousness, or faintheartedness, or anything of that sort. I _do_ feel very queer, I admit; not ill, you understand, but _strange_; a kind of--well, it's more than a presentiment; I might say it's an absolute certainty that I'm going to die to-night, coupled with another absolute certainty that those treacherous fiends of Malays are gathering round us out there in the darkness. But if my presentiment should prove true, and it comes to a fight, have no fears on my account. I'll not fail you, sir, in the moment of need and danger. Danger has long ceased to be an enemy of mine, and Death lost all his terrors for me when I stood for the first time beside my Nellie's grave. I am quite ready to die whenever it may please the Almighty to call me; and if I can do so in defence of those dear, helpless women and children down below, it will suit me well enough."

"Thank you, Roberts; thank you, my friend," said I, grasping the hand he held out to me. "Yours is a very sad, pathetic story, and you have my hearty sympathy. As to doubting your courage, my good fellow, no such thought ever entered my head. But I am certain, despite all you say to the contrary, that you are not quite yourself to-night. Therefore, if you will not take any medicine, at least go below and try to get a little sleep; that perhaps will do you as much good as anything. I will keep the remainder of your watch for you; and should anything occur to confirm your suspicions as to the Malays, you may reckon on my calling you in good time."

The man was, however, obstinate--or, at least, so he seemed to me to be--resolutely declining to accede to either of my suggestions; so, leaving him to complete the few remaining preparations I deemed necessary to meet an attack, should anything of the sort be attempted, I returned aft to the p.o.o.p, somewhat vexed that so thoroughly sensible a man as Roberts had hitherto proved should suffer himself to be so completely mastered, as I had seen him to be, by a morbid feeling of melancholy that was doubtless due in part to overmuch dwelling of late upon the death of his wife but which I firmly believed was to be still more directly traced to some slight derangement of the system that could easily be put right by the administration of a dose of medicine, could the fellow but be induced to take it. No doubt, too, the fact of our being becalmed, and therefore to a great extent helpless, in a spot notoriously haunted by a people, every mother's son of whom was but too ready to partic.i.p.ate in any act of piracy that seemed to offer a reasonable prospect of success, had a large influence in producing the presentiment of death in the mate's mind; but that, I felt sure, would pa.s.s away with the impenetrable and oppressive darkness by which we were enveloped, or with the advent of a breeze of wind. While, therefore, I sincerely pitied the poor fellow for his disagreeable state of mind, I thought that perhaps it would be wisest to treat it as a matter of no importance, and to leave him to himself until the fit of depression should have pa.s.sed away.

On groping my way back to the chair I had previously occupied, I found that Sir Edgar was still occupying the chair beside my own, meditatively pulling away at a cigar, the glowing spark of which would probably have still further increased Roberts's perturbation, had he seen it. As I seated myself beside him the baronet made a half-jesting inquiry as to whether our preparations had had the effect of rea.s.suring the mate; so, to while away the time, and for want of something more interesting to talk about, I told him Roberts's story, and also described to him the peculiar state of mind under which the poor fellow was labouring. Sir Edgar fully agreed with me that the latter was simply the result of some slight and probably temporary derangement, and was proceeding to discuss the subject of presentiments in general, and the extreme rarity of really well-authenticated cases of verification, when the atmosphere became for an instant faintly luminous with the evanescent, quivering glimmer of the silent, summer lightning. The flash trembled but for a moment in the sky, and was gone again; but in that moment I saw that the firmament was packed with vast ma.s.ses of dense, heavy, threatening, highly, charged electric cloud, the weird, contorted shapes of which clearly indicated that they were being powerfully acted upon by the mighty antagonistic forces that they carried within their bosoms, and gave unmistakable warning that an elemental strife was impending, for which it would be well to prepare. Beneath this louring canopy the surface of the water shone with the unwrinkled smoothness of polished gla.s.s, faithfully reflecting every detail, even to the most minute, of form and colour exhibited by the writhing cloud-shapes that overhung it; and also faithfully reflecting the shapes of four large proas that, in a somewhat scattered fleet, were revealed at a distance of some three miles to the northward and eastward of the spot occupied by ourselves.

The barque happened at the moment to be lying with her head pointing about south-east; these proas were therefore broad upon our larboard beam, and they were the first objects that met my sight. Some, if not all, of these craft were working their sweeps; for, with the momentary quiver of the lightning, I had caught the glint of reflected light from wet oar-blades projecting from the dark, shadowy ma.s.s of the hull; and they were all heading up or down the straits--I could not tell which in the unexpected glimpse I had caught of them--for they all showed end-on, or nearly so, to us.

Meanwhile, Roberts had completed his task, and was in the act of mounting to the p.o.o.p--for I caught sight of his figure out of the corner of my eye--when the flash came. As the opaque darkness once more enveloped us I heard his voice exclaiming sharply, and, as it seemed to me, with a note of exultation in it, as though proud at the prospect of at least one half of his presentiment being verified--

"Did you see that, sir?"

I rose from my chair and joined him, so that our voices might not disturb the sleepers below in the saloon, near the open skylight of which I had been seated.

"You mean the proas, I suppose," said I. "Yes, I saw them. But there are only four of them, thank goodness. And we are not sure that they are not heading _up_ the straits, instead of toward us. If so, it was no doubt from one of them that the sound emanated that startled you a little while ago, as they must have pa.s.sed us at no great distance."

"_Four_ of them?" exclaimed Roberts; "I only saw _three_; and two of them were heading the same way as ourselves. They were all close together; not more than--"

At this moment the tremulous greenish glare of the sheet lightning once more lit up the scene, this time much more strongly than on the first occasion, and in the midst of the quivering radiance there was a single sudden, vivid gleam, like the instantaneous flash of a gigantic lantern behind the dense ma.s.ses of cloud lying piled along the western horizon, the light being so brilliant as to be quite dazzling after the Cimmerian darkness to which our eyes had become accustomed. But, despite the dazzling brilliancy of the sudden illumination, the retina of my eyes caught and retained the vision of three large proas broad on our _starboard quarter_, about two miles distant, situated precisely as Roberts had described them; and that this vision was no illusion of my senses was instantly demonstrated by the mate, who interrupted himself to quickly exclaim--

"There they are again, sir."

"Yes, I saw them," said I. "And there are four more about three miles up the straits, on our port beam. That makes seven craft in our neighbourhood that were certainly not there when the darkness closed down upon us. Now, in order to get where they are they must have been using their sweeps; which, I must confess, has, to my mind, rather a bad look; as, from what I have heard of the Malays, they are not so fond of hard work as to resort to it for mere pastime. However, we shall soon know what they are after; if they are looking for us, that last flash has most probably enabled them to discover our whereabouts; and if they mean mischief they will all be heading for us when next we see them.

Meanwhile, Mr Roberts, it is evident that we are about to be treated to a heavy thunderstorm; and as it may bring a violent wind-squall with it, we will make provision for the possibility by stowing all our light canvas. Ah!"--as another and still brighter flash burst forth, followed this time by the low muttering of distant thunder--"there they come; the rascals are certainly after us! Call all hands at once, if you please, Mr Roberts; there will be time to shorten sail, and to prepare a reception for the Malays before they can get alongside."

"All hands shorten sail!" shouted the mate, scrambling off the p.o.o.p, and groping his way forward. "Clew up and furl the royals and to'ga'nts'ls; and see that you stow them in such a way that they won't blow adrift if a squall happens to strike us. Let go the main-royal and to'gallant and the mizzen-topmast staysail halliards, and man the downhauls; then you can stow the sails, as you work your way down. Is that you, Mr Forbes?

Just see that the main and fore tops'l-halliards are all clear for letting run, will ye? And when your lads come on deck we will haul down and stow the flying-jib and get in the gaff-tops'l and mizzen. That's your sort, my bullies; now, away aloft and stow everything as quickly as you can."

The men, fearful that the antic.i.p.ated squall might burst upon the ship before we were prepared for it, worked with a will, their efforts being greatly facilitated by the lightning that was now quivering and flashing all round the horizon with momentarily increasing splendour, and at such brief intervals that the illumination might almost be said to be continuous; while the deep, hollow rumble of the thunder might very well have been mistaken for the booming of a distant cannonade. The effect of the incessant flicker of the lightning was very weird; the tremulous greenish-blue glare illuminating the ponderous ma.s.ses and contorted shapes of the black clouds overhead, the surface of the ink-black sea around us, the distant proas, and the hull, spars, sails, and rigging of the barque, with the moving figures aloft and at the jib-boom end, and suffusing everything with so baleful and unearthly a light that only the slightest effort of the imagination was needed to fancy ourselves a phantom ship, manned by ghosts of the unquiet dead, floating upon the sooty flood of the Styx, with the adamantine foundations of the world arching ponderously and menacingly over our heads and reflecting from their rugged surfaces the flashing of the flames of Phlegethon.

CHAPTER NINE.

AN EVENTFUL NIGHT.

The storm was approaching us rapidly; the rumble of the thunder grew momentarily louder, and soon became continuous; and presently a vivid flash of chain lightning streamed from the clouds low down upon the northern horizon, followed, in about half a minute, by a smart peal of thunder, much louder than any that we had yet heard. This was quickly succeeded by a second flash, perceptibly nearer than the first--for the interval between it and the resulting clap of thunder was noticeably shorter, while the volume of sound was much greater and sharper. And still the sheet lightning continued to play vividly and with scarcely a second's intermission among the t.i.tanic cloud-ma.s.ses around and above us, lighting up the entire scene from horizon to horizon; so that we now had no difficulty whatever in following the movements of the various proas in sight, the whole fleet of which were obviously converging upon us as upon a common centre.

It was evident, from the uneasy glances cast by the men from time to time upon these craft, that they fully shared my own and the chief mate's suspicions regarding them, and I have no doubt that the sight of the seven proas unmistakably sweeping down toward us had as much as the quickly gathering storm to do with the acceleration of their movements; at any rate, I had never seen men work more smartly; and the nearest proa was still fully three-quarters of a mile distant when the last man reached the deck--which he did by way of the main-topmast backstay--and our task of shortening sail was complete.

I thought it was now time to say a word or two to the hands. I therefore requested Mr Roberts to call everybody aft; and at the word they came shambling along the deck, bare-footed, and grouped themselves on the port side, between the main rigging and the capstan, while the two mates joined me upon the p.o.o.p. I waited a moment until they were silent, and then said--

"My lads, the glances you have been casting at intervals in the direction of those proas a.s.sures me that not only have you all observed them, but also that, like myself, you have very grave doubts as to the honesty of their intentions. I may as well say at once that, so far as I am concerned, doubt has given place to certainty--the certainty that they mean mischief towards us. I believe that the large proa that pa.s.sed us this morning, running out to seaward, and afterwards sweeping up the straits again, under the land, was simply bound upon a reconnoitring cruise; and that, on seeing us, her people arrived at the conclusion that we should prove a very suitable object for attack, should opportunity present itself; and that the presence of those seven proas is the result.

"Now, I need not waste time by telling you what sort of character the Malays bear, because you all know it. They are, almost to a man, born pirates, and a cruel, bloodthirsty set of rascals are they into the bargain. We may therefore be certain that if those fellows are once allowed to gain full possession of our decks, not a soul of us on board here will be left alive five minutes afterwards. Unfortunately, we mount no guns, so I fear there is little chance of our being able to keep them at a distance; but there is an arm-chest below containing a sufficient supply of cutla.s.ses and revolvers for all hands, and these, with ammunition, shall be served out to you. I may tell you that Mr Roberts and I have been concocting a little plan by which we hope to prevent the rascals from actually boarding us; but, as I have never yet tried it, I am by no means certain that it will succeed. Should it fail, we shall undoubtedly be boarded, in which case we must fall back upon cold lead and cold steel, serving out both to the enemy with such zeal and good will that they shall be anxious only to get back on board their own craft with the utmost possible expedition. You will all fight, and fight well, I know--I never yet met with a Briton who would _not_ fight--but it may perhaps put a little extra vigour into your arms if I remind you that you will be fighting, not only for yourselves, but also for the helpless women and children who are sleeping below. Now muster yourselves, the port watch on the port side of the deck, and the starboard watch on the starboard side, and Mr Roberts and Mr Forbes will serve out the arms to you. After which you will hold yourselves ready to promptly execute such orders as you may receive." The fellows raised a cheer as I finished speaking, and ranged themselves on either side of the deck with a steadiness and alacrity of movement that was very encouraging to me, as indicating a cool and undaunted frame of mind on their part; and the two mates at once dived below to bring up the arms and ammunition.

Meanwhile, I walked aft to Sir Edgar, who still retained his chair, puffing placidly at his cigar, but clearly evincing, by the way he had slued himself in his seat, and in his observant, listening att.i.tude, the lively interest he was taking in the proceedings.

As I joined him he rose from his chair and, pitching the glowing stump of his cigar over the side, said--

"I am going below for my rifle now, captain. And I think that while I am there I had better awaken my wife and Miss Merrivale, and just give them a hint of what is impending. The firing is certain to awake them, if the thunder has not done so already, and I think it will be best that they should have a clear idea of what is about to happen, or when we begin firing we may have them rushing on deck in alarm to see what is the matter. Do not you agree with me?"

"Yes, certainly," said I. "I was about to suggest such a course to you.

But there is every probability of there being some exceedingly warm work going on here on deck very shortly, and if you will allow me to express an opinion, it is that it would be decidedly more prudent for you to remain below and do what you can to encourage the ladies. An unlucky shot, you know, might--"

"Thanks," interrupted the baronet, "I think I can guess exactly what you would say, captain; but not another word, if you please. What? Would you have me skulk below while brave men are imperilling their lives in defence of those who are dearer to me than my own life? I could not possibly do it. Besides, if I am not greatly mistaken, you will need all the force you can muster before the end of the affair is reached. I shall be back again within five minutes, and I have to request that, from then until the fight is over, you will be pleased to consider me as completely under your orders as any other man in the ship."

So saying, Sir Edgar turned toward the companion and made his way below with a composure as imperturbable as though he had just bade me "good night" and were about to turn in, instead of looking forward to active partic.i.p.ation in a struggle which there was only too much reason to expect would be of the most sanguinary and desperate character, and the result of which might well be antic.i.p.ated with anxiety.