The Old Tobacco Shop Part 25

The company entered, and Toby took the key and locked the door behind them. They were in a dark pa.s.sage, near the foot of a winding stair.

"We had better go up where the light is," said Toby, in a whisper.

They went cautiously and noiselessly up the stair to the landing. There they found themselves in a hall, and at a little distance down the hall they saw a dim light shining under a closed door. "There it is," said Toby. "Come on."

With the same breathless caution they tiptoed to the door. It had no lock, and Toby turned the k.n.o.b and slowly pushed it open.

"Ah!" said Toby, in a frightened gasp, and started back.

The others crowded at his back and pushed him forward. The Third Vice-President of the Society for Piratical Research brushed past him into the room, and the other six members followed him. The party of fugitives moved slowly in after them.

In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the center of this table stood some twenty wax tapers in silver candlesticks, burning brightly; and seated around the table were thirteen men.

Not one of these men moved as the party came into the room. Not a limb nor muscle stirred. The Third Vice-President coughed aloud. Still none of the men moved so much as a finger. The whole party came forward to the table and stood close behind the thirteen men and examined them.

They were dead.

They were sitting in all positions. Food was before them, as if they were in the midst of a meal. Some were leaning across the table as if in conversation. Some were in the act of cutting meat on their plates, some in the act of putting forks to their mouths. Every face was ghastly white, and every eye was fixed in a vacant stare.

"See!" said Toby, in a whisper, pointing to their backs.

From the back of each was sticking the handle of a knife, the blade of which was buried in the flesh to the hilt.

Aunt Amanda sank on Toby's shoulder for a moment, but she soon recovered. Freddie grasped Toby's hand.

"Look," said Toby. "They must be pirates."

Each head was bound with a bright-colored kerchief, and as the horrified company examined the dead men closer, it was seen that they all wore knee breeches. A long dagger was sticking upright in the table, just under the candles. Pinned by this dagger to the table was a large sheet of white paper, and there was evidently writing on it.

The Third Vice-President had apparently little fear of thirteen dead men; he went directly to the table, and reaching across between two of the stiff figures drew the dagger from the table and took from the dagger's point the sheet of paper. He adjusted his spectacles, turned his back to the candles so as to obtain a good light on the paper, and read from it aloud:

"Thus does Captain Lingo serve All Traitors."

For a moment there was silence. Then Aunt Amanda spoke sharply.

"The wicked villain!" said she. "Thirteen of his men dead at once, by his own hand! No wonder the six that are left are afraid of him! No wonder they don't like this place! Oh the wicked scoundrel! If I had him here, I declare I would--"

She paused suddenly and listened. There was a stealthy creaking on the stairs. It grew more distinct; then it stopped, and there was silence.

The thirteen in their chairs made no motion whatever; but the living turned with one accord towards the open doorway of the room. They waited with bated breath. In another moment Captain Lingo himself was standing in the doorway, a pistol in his right hand and a knife in his left.

Without a word he advanced into the room, and behind him came his six men, shrinking obviously away from the sight of their thirteen murdered friends.

As Captain Lingo came to a stand before his recent prisoners, his eyes blazed, and with his right thumb he c.o.c.ked his pistol. Each of his men held a pistol in his right hand and a cutla.s.s in his left, and each c.o.c.ked his pistol with his thumb.

The Third Vice-President of the Society for Piratical Research, who seemed in no wise disconcerted, stepped forward and addressed the pirate.

"Captain Lingo, I presume?"

"Ay, ay; be quick. I must finish this business quickly."

"My committee and myself have been long anxious, sir, in the interest of science, to make your acquaintance. I rejoice at this opportunity."

"Oh, indeed," said Captain Lingo, drily.

"Yes, sir; I a.s.sure you I am delighted. I believe I have the pleasure of speaking to a subject of King James the Second."

"Ay, ay," said Lingo, eyeing him suspiciously. "What then?"

"Then the records of our Society are vindicated. They go back, my dear sir, some two hundred years; and they contain, from various sources, an unbroken account of Captain Lingo and his exploits from the time of James the Second to the present. But the sources of our information were not always reliable; some doubts were thrown upon our records by jealous persons outside the Society; and as it is the special business of the Committee on Doubtful and Fabulous Tales to look into such matters, the Committee is here before you at the present moment in the interest of truth. No member of our Society has ever seen Captain Lingo, and the jealous persons I have mentioned pretend that no such person has ever existed. The chief mission of our Committee is to vindicate our records by a sight of Captain Lingo himself. Thanks to you, sir, that has now been done. Our next mission is to determine for our Society this most important question: are you alive or dead?"

At this, the captain's brows came together in a terrible frown; the scar across his cheek and chin turned very white; and he glared under his eyebrows dangerously at the complacent Third Vice-President. His lips parted, showing his white teeth clenched tight together. He started to speak through his clenched teeth, and leveled his pistol straight at the Third Vice-President's breast; but at that moment a cry from the Churchwarden startled everybody.

"Bless my soul! Why didn't I never once think of this before? These men ain't real persons at all! How could they be, after two hundred years?

They're no better than wicked spirits! That's what they are, wicked spirits! Why didn't we think of that before? Aha! my fine friends, I've got a little medicine here for you! Ha! ha!"

He drew forth from his back pocket a little perfume bottle, and waved it over his head.

"Hurrah!" he cried. "Hurrah for the Odour of Sanct.i.ty!" And with these words the Churchwarden uncorked the bottle and sprinkled a few drops of his perfume on the floor, directly at the feet of Captain Lingo.

A sharp odour instantly filled the air; so sharp that it brought tears to the eyes of everyone. Captain Lingo and his men stepped quickly backward, but it was too late. A look of pained surprise crept over their faces, and remained fixed there. Their feet stood rooted to the floor, and the hands which held the cutla.s.ses and pistols stiffened and became rigid. Not one of them could move an eye-lash. Their outlines began to waver; their faces began to be dim and vague, as if covered with close white veils; from their outsides inward they slowly faded, melted, dissolved; nothing remained of any of them but a wraith, a vapor, a puff of smoke, remotely in the shape of a human being; and then that also vanished; nothing remained; the place where they had been was empty.

All eyes turned to the table where the thirteen murdered pirates had been sitting. They were gone. Their chairs were vacant.

The Churchwarden calmly put the stopper in his bottle and restored it to his pocket.

"Humph!" said he. "Nothing like Odour of Sanct.i.ty. Never knew it to fail. No harm to human persons, but no wicked spirit as ever lived can stand against it; and a blessed good thing the bottle didn't break as we came down the water-fall. No perfumery in this world like Odour of Sanct.i.ty!"

CHAPTER XIX

A KNOCK AT THE DOOR

The Third Vice-President and his fellow-members of the Daft Committee seated themselves in the chairs just vacated by the thirteen murdered pirates. Nothing could have persuaded any of the others to sit in those dreadful seats; but no feeling of this sort appeared to disturb the Committee, and they evidently saw no reason why they should not be comfortable.

The Third Vice-President drummed on the table with his fingers, and frowned to himself in silence. One of the Committee, taking his skull-cap from his head and smoothing it thoughtfully with his hand, glanced up at the Chairman and said:

"I fear, Professor, that our hopes are dashed. It is nothing less than disastrous."

"You are right, my dear sir," said the Chairman. "It is a terrible misfortune; terrible indeed. And just when we were on the point of--"

"What!" exclaimed Toby in astonishment. "Do you mean to say you are sorry those rascally pirates are gone?"

"My dear sir," said the Chairman, very patiently, "I am finding no fault. I do not wish to blame anyone. The loss of these pirates to science is one that can never be compensated. The Society for Piratical Research is now at an end. There are no other pirates on this island, and you must see for yourselves that without pirates our society must perish. It is a woful--"

"Well, I never!" said Aunt Amanda. "Of all things! Do you dare to sit there and tell me you'd rather see us all murdered by pirates than--"

"Be calm, my friends," said the Third Vice-President, placidly. "I have already said that I do not wish to find fault. I desire to be generous.

It is my wish. In fact, I forgive you freely. Whatever bitterness you may have caused us, we are willing to believe that it was not intentional. The Daft Committee forgives you; freely. Let us be peaceful. It only remains to decide what steps we shall take to meet the future. I submit to you this question: whether we shall first go to the pirates' home in High Dudgeon, or return at once to the City of Towers, to confess our failure and receive our--Hark! I thought I heard a knock."