Latitude 19 degree Part 23

"That's a good plan, Mr. Jones," whispered the Bo's'n; "I'll lead, sir."

"No," said the Skipper, "I claim the right. Thank G.o.d, I can fight, now that I am out of Cynthy's sight!"

It had grown dark in the cave, for we were on the northern side and night was coming on. Somehow I got ahead as we stole into the pa.s.sage, and groped our way along its black length. I felt carefully with my foot, dreading the sudden descent to the level. It came not so soon as I had thought, and I turned to warn the others. I did not now dare strike a light, for I feared that with each moment that pa.s.sed we should hear those dreadful voices at the entrance to the pa.s.sageway. We walked along the level, and mounted the incline which led to the archway. And now we did indeed hear voices. Yes, our surmise had been correct. They had climbed up the hill, had rounded the back of the cave, and were coming to seek us. There were not many voices.

"They have divided," whispered the Bo's'n. "Some are searching here, some in other places." We heard their footsteps coming down the hill.

The rocks and shale made a great noise. There was but a faint light at the entrance, and I watched to see when one of our pursuers should force his entrance to our retreat. There was a scuffling outside upon the rough stones, and a figure stood in the doorway. I waited for him to advance, hoping to cut him down without a great noise. He came on for a few uncertain steps, when, quick as thought, there was a flash from over his head, a sickening cut, and the intruder rolled upon the ground without a groan. Then I saw a figure busy over the fallen man. The body was pushed and pried against the wall, there was a final shove, and the dead man disappeared. All was still for a moment, then I heard a faint splash of water far underground. The strange figure had but just completed this ghastly work and had arisen when the darkening gleam at the entrance was shut out by a second stranger. He came groping his way into the pa.s.sage. I heard him strike his flint. It was but a spark, and he tried to strike another; but that avenging hand was upon him, and he, too, was laid low. Not without a struggle, however, but I did not dare to approach within range of that busy weapon which was doing its work unaided. Again those unseen hands pushed and pried the slain man to the edge of the wall. It seemed to me that the hole was small and not high, for it was with difficulty that this second victim of our Nemesis was crowded through. I learned this more by sound than by feeling, for the very slight, small thread of light which filtered down the pa.s.sage showed me most dimly two blurred figures moving in combat and nothing more.

"One of those prisoners got loose, I guess," whispered the Captain.

"He's killed two, anyway."

And now the third intruder entered the pa.s.sageway. In the tall, lithe figure I at once recognised Mauresco. It was now so dark that I saw but a dim form, his musical voice aiding me in determining his ident.i.ty. I heard the sound of his shuffling footsteps as he came on, feeling the way. He, too, struck a light. He was more successful than his predecessors, and for a moment a flare in the pa.s.sage showed to us two figures in all their distinctness, the pirate and his enemy in ambush.

It showed to him four determined men. With a yell of rage he raised his cimetar high in air; but now I watched my chance, for fear of killing our unknown friend. The figure next us sprang aside, and my bullet went through the dastardly heart, I hope, for he never spoke. I watched the archway for more spies, but these three seemed to be the only ones who had discovered its seclusion. We came, all three, to the a.s.sistance of our unknown deliverer, and crowded and pushed the great body through the opening at the base of the wall. I listened for the splash with pleasurable feelings.

"If they were only all down there!" said the Skipper in low tones. We waited in the semi-darkness for some twenty minutes or so, but no one else came. I put out my hand to thank our unseen and silent friend, but he had vanished. We stole to the entrance of the archway and looked out.

All was quiet. If the pirates were still on sh.o.r.e, they had found some very secluded nook where we hoped they would remain until they went aboard their devilish craft. We now began to retreat to our latticed chamber. I softly whispered to the others to follow me.

"We haven't much choice," whispered the Captain.

I knew that there were no pitfalls, for I had been over the ground twice, and if my excursion of discovery to the grand hall were counted, I had pa.s.sed in all four times safely over almost the entire pa.s.sage. We regained the chamber with no incident, and, after taking some water with a little of the Skipper's rum, which we much required after the horrible encounter which we had been through, and eating each one a s.h.i.+p's biscuit, which the thoughtful Bo's'n had brought with him, we laid ourselves down for our needed rest.

We divided ourselves into three watches. The boy we thought too young.

We could not trust him to keep awake. It was now eight o'clock. The Bo's'n said that he would watch from eight to ten. I was to take the second watch from ten to twelve, and then the Skipper was to be awakened and stand his watch from twelve until two. Then I was to relieve him, and so on until morning. The Bo's'n placed himself just outside the archway, with his face toward the pa.s.sage. The Skipper and I lay down just inside the opening, our pistols ready c.o.c.ked and in order. I remember that in the second after I laid myself down Lacelle came out from between the pillars of the archway with her finger on her lip, and approached the Bo's'n. She whispered in his ear two words. They sounded like "Li do'." The Bo's'n said that he thought she intended to say "Elle dort," which meant, he said, "The lady is asleep." I took his word for it, and turned my weary frame over with a lighter heart, to feel that Cynthia was getting some rest after the anxieties and fatigues of the day.

Of what comes next in our history I almost hesitate to write, for fear that I shall not be believed; but I have often heard it said that truth is stranger than fiction, and so I have found in my adventurous life.

Should I sit me down to write a tale of fiction, I could not imagine anything more incredible than what befell us in our sojourn in that painful time when we were cast away, and so I have determined to recall all that I can of our dreadful experiences, than which nothing that I ever read has been more remarkable; although if I forget some of the incidents, it will be as well, for I feel that I can never hope to crowd into my story all the occurrences of our life upon the island.

I had been asleep, then, about an hour, perhaps, that first sleep when waking at a twitch of the sleeve is next to impossible. I remember that I felt as if something were pulling at my arm. I was shaken and roughly rolled about, my head was gently pounded upon the rock floor of our cavern, and I recall that I drew myself away angrily and rolled over with my head upon my arm. I was drunk with sleep, and it was not until I felt myself taken by the ankles and pulled along the cavern for a few inches than I realized that some one was trying to awaken me.

Dragging a man's hair upward from his neck by hauling him along a stone floor is not conducive to a perfectly sound sleep, and I finally opened my eyes with, I am afraid, some words upon my lips which I certainly had not learned in the Old Dutch Church at Belleville. I put my hand to the back of my head where the smart was sorest, and sat up and opened my eyes. The Bo's'n was standing over me with his finger raised, as if to say "Hus.h.!.+" He need not have told me to be silent. The Skipper was snoring profoundly, the Minion was nowhere to be seen.

I saw from the Bo's'n's look that something was afoot, and I tumbled up on my unsteady legs at his bidding and pulled myself together for whatever was to come. He uttered no word, but beckoned me to follow him, and together we began to traverse the pa.s.sage which led to the outside, he groping his way ahead, I following. Several times he stopped, and then I ran upon his heels.

"Keep your left hand on the wall, sir," he whispered, "and when you find an opening turn to the left, sir----"

I understood his actions now, and did as he bade me.

When, in groping along the wall, my hand suddenly left the damp stone and searched in air for something tangible to the touch, I turned sharply at a right angle, still following him, I was sure. I knew now that I was in the second pa.s.sage which ran transversely across this great cave of many chambers, and that in some way the Bo's'n had found the way to the grand hall which I had discovered for myself in the early afternoon.

After we had walked some distance, groping in the dark, fearing to strike a light, I began to perceive the faint gleam that I had noticed before. I had been expecting it. At the same moment there fell upon my ear the distant murmur of voices. As we proceeded, they grew louder.

There was a sound of gaiety and jolly laughter, and an occasional burst of song.

I saw that the Bo's'n was crouching as he went, and I did the same, though I saw no possible danger of discovery, as the gallery which I had explored in the afternoon was high up in the roof and was not connected with any other cave. As I was thinking thus, the Bo's'n sat down on the floor of the pa.s.sage and began to remove his shoes, motioning me to do the same. I had not been accustomed to take orders from a Bo's'n, and so I whispered to him; but, with a "Beggin' your pardon, sir," he motioned to me that I could either remove my shoes or return the way I came. I had already done as he suggested, but I was a little crusty as yet from my sudden awakening.

However, no one could get put out with the Bo's'n, he was such a mild-mannered man. I was soon bare-footed as he was, for we were prudent even in the midst of danger, and neither of us cared to use up his one and only pair of socks on the damp floor of the pa.s.sage. The Bo's'n had taken the lead, and he kept it. I crept along after him, feeling sure that our precautions were useless, as the buccaneers were making so much noise that it would require a great deal upon our part to betray our presence.

The Bo's'n entered the gallery and turned at once to the left, into the curve which I had discovered just before I left the place. We pushed along near the end.

"Go up farther!" I whispered, at the same time giving the Bo's'n a shove with my elbow.

"Can't, sir, begging your pardon, sir," whispered the Bo's'n in return.

There was a faint light coming up from the centre of the great hall, and by its aid I discovered that there was some one in the extreme end of the balcony.

"It's that dam' Minion!" whispered the Bo's'n.

The Minion was certainly ubiquitous, and he was quite as useless. How he had been foisted upon our party I could not see, not being perfectly conversant with the ways of Providence. There seemed no moral for him to point, and I felt then as now that he certainly did not adorn a tale.

That Heaven had sent him into the world for some good purpose I wanted to believe, but what that purpose might be I was quite confident would never be discovered in my time. Now, as usual, he was in the way, but I give the Bo's'n credit for squeezing him into the corner and nearly crowding the life out of him.

The Minion had the proscenium box, so to speak. He had pulled the vines aside, and was looking down as calmly upon this villainous crew as if the flare from below was not striking directly upon his features. I pulled him down with a jerk of the s.h.i.+rt which threatened to split it across the shoulders. Bringing the Minion to the floor made more noise than I liked, and caused the Bo's'n to look respectful daggers at me.

The Minion only grinned, but clutched madly at the rough edges of the rock which protruded into the gallery. When he arose again he kept well out of sight behind the lattice work of leaves. From the time that we entered the gallery the shouts and revelry had been deafening. I could with difficulty restrain myself from parting the vines widely, that I might look unrestrainedly down upon what I knew must be an exciting scene, for when I arose from my crawling posture and found a convenient eyehole between the leaves the strange sight upon which I gazed almost made my heart stand still.

What shall I describe first?

The glow which allowed us to see that which was going on beneath us, and threw its soft rays over the actors in this strange drama, was shed from the antique globe which I had discovered upon my first visit to this part of the cavern. Then, however, it rested sidewise upon the floor.

Now it was raised so as to clear the head of a man, and swung safely from its rope of vine. I understood now that when last it was left to swing in the cave it had not been used for some time after, and the vine, growing during the absence of the band, had gradually laid the great perforated globe as gently upon the floor of the cave as could have been done by a woman's hand.

A subdued and lovely light filtered through its metal arabesques and sent a soft glow through the grand interior of the cavern. A clear beam was cast upon the walls. It lighted up the skeletons in their niches, and gave to the teeth glistening in its rays a fixed and dreadful smile.

The brightest gleam fell upon the central basin. The receptacle which I had noticed in the centre of the hall was now filled with some dark liquid. The fumes of this liquid were so overpowering as to leave no doubt in my mind as to its nature.

As to the living occupants of this strange interior, I saw that most of those whom we had seen debark were present. One of the huge blocks of stone which I had supposed were used for tables had been rolled or pushed to near proximity of the central bowl. Upon this great rock, which now partook of the nature of a throne, was seated the Admiral of the Red, his gnomelike figure and habiliments, which doubtless gave him his sobriquet, making him to appear like some grotesque figure from wonderland.

Captain Jonas sat facing the Admiral, but upon a lower seat, and the rest of the company were gathered about, giving respectful attention to their leader, who seemed about to speak. At a little distance, left quite to himself, stood the young Englishman. He was pale and ghastly.

His eyes had the hunted look of a man who is in the last stage of agony and despair. I thought that once or twice I saw his lips move. He glanced upward, as if he felt that his only friend was not an earthly one. Again, I saw him turn his glance to the archway of the entrance, as if escape might not be in vain. But alas! in that doorway stood two ruffianly looking fellows, one on either side of the entrance. They leaned each one against the wall behind him, and held a great sword the like of which I had never seen. The point of the sword touched the opposite wall, and crossed the one held by the man facing, so that hope of escape, unless an angel came down from heaven to guide the way, was impossible.

The remains of a coa.r.s.e feast lay upon the table, but the chief interest seemed to circle round the magnificent jorum in the centre of the hall.

Each man held a cup in his hand, which swayed unsteadily because of his heavy potations. These cups were some of silver, some of pewter, and others of gold. The drinking cup which the Admiral held was of gold, and so tall that he could almost drink from it as it rested upon his knee. I wondered at his being able to lift it, but his strength seemed enormous, which is, I believe, one of the attributes of dwarfs in general.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Pirates at play.]

Upon a table--I called them tables, these blocks of stone--were heaped together incongruously, handsome articles of ware. They were mixed indiscriminately with common pots and pans and cooking utensils.

Standing among the articles of baser metal I noticed some pieces of a jewelled church service. There were drinking horns standing side by side with the most exquisite vases of silver, pewter cups and flagons cheek by jowl with the consecrated vessels.

"Where is Mauresco? Mauresco!" squeaked the Admiral of the Red. "He knew where our treasures were stored. Bring Mauresco, that I may array myself as befits my position!"

"Mauresco! Mauresco!" The motley company took up the cry. The musical syllables rang through the vaulted cavern, and echoed back from the hollows and arches overhead. "Mauresco! Mauresco!" they rang, "Mauresco!"

The Bo's'n and I looked at each other, then turned again to survey the extraordinary scene, as if we could not bear to lose a motion or a wave of the hand.

There were some chests standing open on the floor, and several men ran at an order from the Admiral and burrowed and groped among the handsome stuffs that partly trailed their lengths along the rock beneath them.

They had been used, I thought, to enwrap the flagons and cups. But, search as they would, nothing came to light that had not already been placed in view of the band a.s.sembled.

"Mauresco alone possessed the secret," shouted Jonas. "If you had only trusted me now," and in the tone one heard the plaint of long-standing jealousy, and we felt certain that, whatever the Admiral might experience should he hear how Mauresco had met his timely death, Captain Jonas would not shed half a tear.

So it was treasure then that the buccaneers were seeking when they burst into the chamber next that in which we had taken refuge, and not ourselves. Thank G.o.d for that! I judged from this that they had not discovered the dual nature of the cavern, and that when Mauresco groped with curious fingers into our pa.s.sageway he did it as an explorer, and not as one who had any positive knowledge.

"Mauresco must come soon," said the Admiral. "Meanwhile let Lord George Trevelyan step forth."