Cormorant Crag Part 58

"_Ma foi_! vy should you understand? I send you home, and n.o.body know nosings. _Les gens_--ze peoples--look for you; they do not find you, and zey say--Aha, _pauvres garcons_, zey go and make a falls off ze cliff, and ve nevaire see them any more!"

Mike turned pale; Vince laughed.

"He does not mean it, Mike," said the boy. "We know better than that, Captain Jacques."

"Aha, you are so clever a boy. You vill explain how you know all ze better zan me, le Capitaine Lebrun."

"There's nothing to explain," said Vince st.u.r.dily. "You don't suppose we believe you would kill us because we came down here,--here, where we have business to come, but you have not?"

"_Aha! c'est comme ca_--it is like zat, my friend? You may come here, and I must not?"

"Of course," said Vince. "This land belongs to his father, and you have no right to put smuggled things here."

"Aha! you sink it ees like zat, eh, _mon ami_? Ve sall see. You vill put yourselves down to sit."

"No, thank you," said Vince. "We must go now."

"To fetch ze peoples to come and fight and be killed?"

"No," said Vince; "we will not say a word about where we have been."

"But we must, Vince," said Mike. "They will ask us; and what are we to say?"

"To be certain, my friend--of course," said the captain, showing his teeth. "You see it is so. Zey vill ask vere you go all night, and you vill say to see le Capitaine Lebrun and his cargo of silk and lace and glove and scent bottaile and ze spice; and vat zen?"

Vince had no answer ready.

"You do not speak, my friend. Zen I vill. I cannot spare you to go and speak like zat. n.o.bodies must know that I have my leetle place to hide here. No, I cannot spare you. You will not go back _chez vous_--to your place vere you live. You understand?"

Vince looked at the man very hard, and he nodded, and went on:

"I am glad to see you bose. I make myself very glad of vat you call you compagnie. But I do not ask you to come; and so I say you go back nevaire more."

"You don't mean that!" said Vince, with a laugh that was very artificial.

"Aha! I do not mean? You vill see I mean. I sall see you vill sit down."

"No," said Vince firmly. "I am not frightened, and I insist upon going now."

"It is so? How you go?"

"Out by the pa.s.sage yonder."

"Faith of a good man, no. I say to myselfs, 'People have come down zere, and it muss not be,' so ze place is stop up vis big stone--so big you nevaire move zem. But zere's ze ozaire vay."

"Well, we will go the other way," said Vince firmly. "Ready, Mike?"

"Yes, I'm ready," said Mike, pressing to his side.

"You know ze ozaire vay, my young friend?" said the captain.

"No: how do you go?"

"You take a boat, and a good pilot. You have ze good boat and pilot?"

"No," said Vince, who had hard work to be calm, with a great fear coming over him like a cloud; "but you will set us ash.o.r.e, please."

The captain laughed in a peculiar way, and he was about to speak, when one of his men came up and said something.

"Aha!" he cried, "but it is good. You go, my young friends, and stay behind my cargo zere. You vill not come till I say you sall."

He pointed to the upper part of the cavern, but Vince said firmly:

"We cannot stay any longer, sir. We must go now."

The captain turned upon him savagely, and the next moment a couple of the men had seized the boys and run them up behind the pile of bales, and then stood on either side, with drawn cutla.s.ses, to act as guards.

"What are we to do, Vince?" said Mike.

"I don't know. It seems like nonsense, and playing with us; but we are prisoners, and--Who's that?"

They both listened in wonder, for they heard their names mentioned angrily by the captain, who was speaking threateningly to some one who replied in a tone that they recognised directly.

"Aha! you lie to me. Ve sall see. Here, you two boy, come here, _vite_--_vite_!"

The guards made way for them, and followed just behind, as they marched back to where the captain was seated, with old Daygo standing before him.

The old man gave each of them a peculiar look, and then turned to the captain again.

"Now zen," cried that individual, "you 'ave seen zis man. Him you know?"

"Yes," said Vince; "of course we do."

"Aha! ze old friend. And he tell you of ze cavern and ze smuggling, and how you find ze vay here?"

"No, not a word," said Vince stoutly. "But I can see now why you wouldn't bring us round by the Black Scraw, Joe."

"Aha! ze vairy old friend. It is Joe!" said the captain fiercely.

"Well, why not?" said Vince quickly. "Old Joe has taken us in his boat scores of times fis.h.i.+ng and sailing."

"And told you of ze goods here in my cavern?"

"Not a word," said Vince.

"I do not believe," said the captain.

"'Course I never told 'em," growled Daygo. "I dunno how they come here.

I watched 'em times enough, and when I couldn't watch I set a boy to see wheer they went. I couldn't do no more, Capen."