The Cruise of the Nonsuch Buccaneer Part 8

"No doubt--yes, no doubt I can," replied Don Manuel, with deliberation.

"A search of the records should certainly enable us to discover the information which you require; but of course it will take time. Still, I think I may promise you that in a week from now--"

"A week!" exploded George, "_A week_!" Then he turned to the alcalde, and, calming himself with an effort, said: "Senor, I am afraid that your friend Don Manuel, here, does not realise the urgency of this matter, or the extreme seriousness of the situation. I want the information asked for, _now, at once_, within the hour at least. Will you have the very great goodness to make this clear to him?"

Whereupon the alcalde drew Don Manuel away into a far corner of the room and, with every evidence of extreme agitation, addressed himself earnestly to the soldier for some five minutes or more, at the end of which the pair returned to where George was standing by the table, fidgeting with his sword-hilt. The arguments and remonstrances of the alcalde seemed to have been effective, for upon their return Don Manuel said:

"I crave your pardon, most n.o.ble senor; I certainly did not understand that the matter was anything like so urgent as it appears to be. I beg that you will be seated, senor, and I will do my best to have the information found for you forthwith."

Then, as George seated himself, the acting Commandant rang a bell, in response to which a messenger appeared, to whom he gave certain instructions, whereupon the man vanished, and Don Manuel, taking a chair on the opposite side of the table to that at which George was sitting, began a somewhat constrained conversation upon indifferent subjects, which was interrupted by the appearance of a servant with wine and three handsome cups of chased silver. Saint Leger, however, coldly but courteously declined refreshments of any kind; he resolved that he would do nothing which could by any possibility be construed into either tacit consent to methods of delay or an acceptance of proffered friendship; he was there as an enemy and an avenger, and he was determined to keep this fact prominently to the fore; consequently the constraint rapidly grew until, so far as Don Manuel at least was concerned, it became unendurable, and, rising, he begged that his visitors would excuse him, upon the plea that he desired to expedite matters by personally directing the search for the required information.

And apparently the stimulus of his presence was successful, for after an absence of about a quarter of an hour he returned, bearing in his hand a book between the pages of which slips of paper had been inserted to mark the positions of certain entries.

"There," he exclaimed, in a tone of satisfaction, as he laid the book upon the table and opened it, "by a stroke of singular good fortune, senor, we have been able to at once lay our hands upon the record which will furnish you with the information you require. Here, for instance, is the first entry, giving the names of the Englishmen who were captured upon the occasion to which you refer. They number forty-three, and their names are as follows." He proceeded to read out the names of the unfortunate ones, among which occurred that of Hubert Saint Leger--"a namesake of your own, senor," commented Don Manuel. "Was he, perchance, a relative of yours?"

"He was my brother, senor," answered George, tersely. "Read on, if you please."

The end of the list was soon reached; and then George said: "I am obliged to you, senor. Now, in the first place, I must trouble you for a copy of that list, with a statement opposite each name setting forth the manner in which that person was dealt with."

"Certainly, senor," answered Don Manuel, politely; "that information also I believe we can afford you. If you will permit me I will summon my clerk to prepare the list you require."

George bowed his acquiescence; the clerk was sent for; and after about an hour's work the list was completed and handed to the young Englishman, who took it and, having glanced carefully through it, said:

"I am obliged to you, Don Manuel. I see that, of the forty-three prisoners taken, ten died of their wounds, in prison; seventeen, of whom my brother was one, were sentenced to the galleys, and sixteen were claimed by your Inquisition. Can you afford me any further information with regard to the seventeen who were sentenced to the galleys; as, for example, the name of the galley to which each man was consigned, and where those galleys may be looked for at the present moment?"

"No, senor," answered Don Manuel, "I regret to say that I cannot. They were all put on board a ship called the _San Mathias_, and sent in her to Nombre de Dios, where, if you will hear more of them, you must e'en go and enquire."

"I thank you, senor," answered George quietly, ignoring a certain suggestion of insolence in the other's concluding remark. "And now, as to the sixteen who were surrendered to the Inquisition. What can you tell me concerning them?"

"Nothing, senor," answered Don Manuel, at length displaying some signs of uneasiness. "When the Holy Office claims a man, that man disappears from the public ken, generally for ever; or if he is seen again it is only when he figures in the _auto-da-fe_, dressed in a San Benito.

Pardon, Senor Capitano, but this is a matter upon which I can afford you no information, and which I must absolutely refuse to discuss with you, or anyone."

"Very well," said George, "be it so. But I suppose you will have no objection to inform me whereabout the Inquisition building is to be found?"

"Where it is to be found?" reiterated Don Manuel. "Why a.s.suredly--.

But stay. What is your object in requiring that particular bit of information, senor?"

"Merely that I have business there, a call to make," answered George, imperturbably.

"Business! a call!" reiterated the soldier. "Surely, senor, it is not possible that you, a heretic, intend to force your sinful way into the presence of the holy fathers, and to--to--. Saints and angels! I will be no party to such a blasphemous proceeding. If that be your intention, senor, seek your information elsewhere; I will not imperil my soul by a.s.sisting, in ever so indirect a manner, an act of sacrilege."

"As you will, senor," answered George, calmly. "But I would have you remember that by delaying me in the performance of the task which I have undertaken, you are jeopardising the city and all in it. If I am delayed--"

"Pray say no more, n.o.ble senor," interrupted the alcalde. "There is nothing to be gained, Don Manuel, by withholding from the ill.u.s.trious Adelantado the information which he seeks; for if you will not give it, others will. And--a word in your ear, senor. If anything should happen to these Englishmen while they are in the city, their comrades will most fearfully avenge themselves upon us. They have left us no room to doubt what will happen in such a case, and they are the kind of men who will carry out their threats to the very last letter. Therefore, see to it, my friend, that steps are taken to prevent your soldiery from interfering with or molesting them in any way. For, should anything untoward happen, you will be held responsible. Now, I have warned you.

See to it!"

"_Bueno_! senor alcalde, you are my superior, and since those are your orders, I will obey them," answered Don Manuel. "Nevertheless," he continued, "if the Commandant were well enough to take the command, I know what he would do. He would arrest and imprison these audacious strangers, and defy their comrades to do their worst. Moreover, senor, I should not like to be in your shoes when the news of this disgraceful business reaches the ears of his Excellency the Viceroy."

And, so saying, he bowed with exaggerated politeness to George and the alcalde, and with a fierce twist of his moustache strode swaggeringly out of the room.

CHAPTER NINE.

HOW GEORGE VISITED THE HOLY INQUISITION AT SAN JUAN.

"A good man, in many respects; a very excellent man, indeed," observed the alcalde, nodding toward the door by which Don Manuel had just quitted the apartment, "and admirable in the position which he occupies.

As a soldier merely, he is all that one could possibly desire, brave to recklessness, and an admirable leader. But after all he is only a soldier fighting is his trade, but he knows nothing whatever about diplomacy; he does not understand that there is not only a time when men should fight but also a time when, if they are wise, they should forbear. It is a fortunate thing for us all, ill.u.s.trious senor, that I and not he happens to be in authority at the present juncture; and I beg that you will not permit his cavalier-like behaviour to influence you in the slightest degree. And now, n.o.ble Capitan, if you have quite completed your business here, I will point out to you the way to the Inquisition, for time is pressing, and I am most anxious that no untoward accident shall occur to interfere with or delay your business in San Juan. And--I know not what may be the nature of your errand with the Holy Office, but, if I may be permitted to offer a suggestion, I would very strongly advise--nay more, I would most earnestly entreat-- that you do nothing to wound the religious susceptibilities of the inhabitants, who regard the Inquisition, and all connected with it, with the utmost veneration and dread."

"Probably with even greater dread than veneration, eh, Don Juan?"

remarked George, as he took up his hat and prepared to follow the alcalde out of the building.

"Possibly, senor; possibly," replied the alcalde, with reservation, as he led the way.

Nothing more was said until the pair reached the street and rejoined Ba.s.set and his little band of armed men, who stood placidly facing a crowd of nearly a hundred men princ.i.p.ally composed of the more lawless and ruffianly element which is to be found in the lower quarters of every city.

The alcalde regarded this sullen-looking, but as yet merely pa.s.sively hostile crowd for some moments with an expression of considerable alarm and misgiving; then, moved by the urgency of the occasion, he waved his hand to claim attention, and made a little speech in which he first rebuked the gathering for its discourtesy to the visitors by standing gaping at them as though they were so many wild beasts, after which he commanded them to disperse, warning them at the same time to interfere with the strangers at their peril, informing them that he would very severely punish any person who should dare to do so, and at the same time reminding them that the said strangers, though few, were trained soldiers, fully armed, who would themselves be quick to avenge the slightest interference or insult. He stood there until the last of the surly, scowling ruffians had moved slowly and unwillingly away, their movements finally hastened by the emergence of a party of soldiers from another wing of the building, and then, when they had all vanished, he furtively indicated to George the way to the Inquisition, and hurriedly removed himself from the scene.

The Inquisition was situated at a distance of some ten minutes' march from the Grand Plaza, and proved to be, when the party of Englishmen reached it, an extensive forbidding-looking, prison-like structure built of ma.s.sive masonry, and apparently strong enough to withstand anything short of an attack by ordnance. The entrance consisted of an archway some twelve feet wide fitted with a pair of enormously thick iron- studded oaken doors, in one of which was a small wicket fitted with a grille. An iron chain, with a hand grip attached to its lower extremity, depending from a hole in the wall, indicated the means of communication with the interior, and this George tugged at violently, with the result that a loud bell immediately set up a furious clanging somewhere in the interior of the building. After an interval of nearly a minute this summons was replied to by a hooded friar who, having drawn the slide of the grille, peered out through the opening and querulously demanded to know who it was who raised such a clangour, and what was his business, to which George, who was the only person visible from the aperture of the grille, replied that he was a stranger who had urgent business of a strictly private nature with the Father Superior.

Whereupon the slide of the grille was sharply closed, and the party faintly heard the shuffling footsteps of the friar receding.

After an absence of nearly ten minutes the friar re-appeared at the grille, with a demand to be informed of the stranger's name and the precise nature of his business with the Holy Father, to which George replied that it was useless for him to give his name, since it was quite unknown to the Father Superior, and that his business was not only most urgent but was for the Holy Father's ear alone, and that it was imperative that he should be admitted without an instant's unnecessary delay. A further and somewhat longer wait then ensued, and Ba.s.set was strongly urging the desirability of an attempt to burst the wicket open when the friar appeared for the third time and, shooting certain heavy bolts on the inside of the wicket, flung it open. To push his way in was for George the work of but a moment, when, to the dismay and indignation of the gatekeeper, he was instantly followed by eleven soldiers, armed to the teeth.

"The keys!" exclaimed George, to Ba.s.set. "Take his keys from him, lock the gate, and station two men here as sentries, with orders to allow no one to leave the building. That is well," as his orders were obeyed.

"Now, the rest of you, follow me. Lead the way, old man, to the quarters of the Father Superior; I must see him forthwith. Are you the keeper also of the keys which give access to the cells?" to the friar who had admitted them.

"No," answered the cowering creature. "The gaoler carries those. But what would you with them, thou man of violence? No one is permitted to enter the cells without the permission of the Father Superior."

"Lead me to him, then," repeated George. "Captain Ba.s.set," he continued, "I will take two men with me. Take you the remainder and secure every door giving access to the exterior of this building. No man must on any account be allowed to leave it, for if that should happen, they will raise the inhabitants of the town upon us, and there will be bloodshed, which I wish to avoid, if possible. Now, sir," to the friar, "lead the way."

While Ba.s.set marched off the remaining half-dozen of his men to execute George's order, the latter, accompanied by two soldiers, followed his unwilling guide into the main building and down a long corridor to a door, at which the friar knocked with a trembling hand.

"Enter!" responded a voice in Spanish, whereupon George, gently pushing his guide aside and beckoning the two soldiers to follow him, threw open the door and pa.s.sed into the apartment. It was a large and very handsomely furnished room, containing a table, sofa, several lounging chairs, and a large book-case, full of books, facing the two wide and lofty windows which lighted the room and which looked out upon a s.p.a.cious, beautifully kept garden. On one wall hung a large crucifix, the cross made of ebony while the exquisitely carved figure of the crucified Christ was of ivory, fastened to the cross with golden nails, while the crown of thorns which encircled the drooping head was also made of gold. Two large pictures, one of which represented the Descent from the Cross, and the other the Entombment, hung on either side of the crucifix; and the opposite wall was occupied by a very large and beautiful painting depicting the Apotheosis of the Virgin Mother.

At the entrance of the three armed men a tall and dignified figure clad in priestly garments rose from the table and, with a ringer inserted between the pages of a book which he had been reading, haughtily demanded, in Spanish:

"Who are you, sir; and what is the meaning of this unseemly--this audacious--intrusion upon my privacy?"

George replied to this question by asking another. "Am I right," he demanded, "in supposing you to be the Right Reverend Father Superior of this inst.i.tution?"

"And if I am, what then?" demanded the other.

"Only that you are the man I happen to want," replied George. "I am an Englishman," he continued, "and the captain of a ship which holds this city at her mercy. I and my companions have come all the way from England to avenge the most foul and treacherous attack made by your Viceroy upon a fleet of English ships in this harbour, last year; and, incidentally, to call you, sir, to account for your treatment of certain of the prisoners taken upon that occasion, who were delivered into your hands. I have here--"

"But--but--" interrupted the Father Superior--for such was the individual upon whose privacy George had so unceremoniously intruded--"I do not understand. Why have you been permitted to come here? Where are our soldiers, and what are they doing--?"

"Have I not already explained that the town is at my mercy?" interrupted George in his turn. "What further enlightenment do you need? As to your soldiers, they dare not interfere with me, for my ship's guns command the town, and my crew have orders to destroy the place if any attempt is made to resist me. Now, I have a list here"--drawing it from his pocket--"containing the names of sixteen men who, I am told, were claimed by this Inquisition; and my business with you is to demand an account of them. Where are they, and what have you done to them?"

"How, in the name of all the saints, can I possibly answer your question, senor, unless you furnish me with the names of the men you refer to?" demanded the priest, with a valiant attempt to brazen the matter out, but there was a quaver in his voice which betrayed that he was beginning to feel anxious, if not actually apprehensive, concerning the outcome of this astounding business.