Latitude 19 degree Part 63

"When will that be?" asked Cynthia.

"To-morrow, I think. I have had time enough. The time was up yesterday." As I spoke I took the ring from beneath my s.h.i.+rt front and, breaking the cord, handed it to Cynthia. It lay like a heavy weight in her hand, and, even though there was hardly a ray of light, the eyes shone with a glow almost luminous.

"I can't think of any better place than the hem of your trouser leg,"

said she. "A very unromantic hiding place, but it is better to be safe than romantic."

"I wish we could be both," said I.

I agreed with Cynthia in her view of the case. I stood up and rested my foot on the seat at the back of the tree. She took her needle and thread, and, almost entirely by feeling, she sewed the barbaric symbol into the hem. I thanked her, and told her that she must return now, so that no one need know where she had been.

"Before you go, Cynthia, I must give you something of yours."

"Of mine?" asked Cynthia in apparent amazement, but I could detect a tremor in her voice.

"Yes, I found it in the cave the morning that we returned from our dove hunt, and saw that the house was burned. It was on the floor, just where you lost your handkerchief."

I took her palm in mine and slid the locket into it.

"Strange that I should have found it in the cave when I saw you throw it into the stream."

"Yes, it was strange," answered Cynthia, with perfect calmness of tone; "but very curious things happen in this island I have discovered."

Just here I heard a sort of warning cry. Cynthia arose hurriedly.

"They are calling me," she whispered. "I must go at once."

She pressed my hand affectionately, and I saw her glide away a little to where another figure joined her, and together they melted into the gloom. I sat down again to think over my last few moments with Cynthia.

I will not weary you with a lover's rhapsodies, but from what I have seen in your courting days, son Adoniah, I know that you will understand how I felt, or something of it. No one can possibly understand exactly the feelings that come over a man placed as I was unless he has experienced a similar fate. Here was I, meeting my dear girl by stealth in the gardens of a cruel and bloodthirsty monarch, no less a monarch because he was a black monarch, who had soldiers and slaves at his command against whom our little strength was as but an insect's. Cynthia had left me to go I knew not where. She had told me in our short talk that the daughters of Christophe would have loaded her with ornaments had she been willing. He might show her mercy because of these black princesses, but what if they should change toward her? The blacks are capricious at times. What if he should insist upon this hated marriage, and either bind her to his nephew or, angry at her refusal, hand her over to a worse fate, if anything could be worse? I hoped that if such were the alternative he would throw her from the great wall, and thus end all our misery. I began to think it time to return to my room, and was wondering if I could regain it in the same way that I came, when a hand was laid upon my shoulder, a heavy hand. There was a flash of light, and I saw a great griffe standing there, looking at me curiously.

This man had a red turban round his head. Around his loins he had another cloth of the same colour. The rest of his body was bare. I caught the flash of a weapon upraised to strike. I jerked myself away from the man, but he had me again in a moment. I struggled, I kicked, I vituperated. He did not strike with the weapon, and I judged at once that he had threatened me only to intimidate me. It was a rude awakening from the bliss of Cynthia's kiss to the rough grasp of a man set to trap me. When I saw several more surrounding me, I gave up the unequal struggle and sank down on the seat under the mahogany tree. But the griffe rudely jerked me to my feet again, and told me, I suppose, that I was to accompany him. He pointed along a lovely alley, which was just beginning to show in the light of the newly risen moon. It was a beautiful path, and I could not help wondering if murder and death lurked at the end of it. I walked amid my captors, thinking that my road lay toward a stronger, more secure chamber, where I was to finish my self-imposed task. Fool that I had been, to think that I could deceive such an astute savage as the great conqueror Christophe! The odours of the night were sweet. The flowers nodded and swayed on every side. The green boughs drooped overhead and shaded the seats about the tree trunks, fit refuge for lovers, and I walked in the midst of six tall savages, each watching me with a wary eye, and each with a great knife drawn to cut me down should I attempt to flee.

At the end of the alley we came to a halt. Here were several mules ready bridled and saddled for mounting. Three of the men mounted. Then the three who remained standing on the ground placed me upon a fourth animal, and fastened me securely to the saddle. My hands, however, were left free.

"Wait a moment!" I cried, with desperate energy. "I have made the ring which the King ordered. I have it here. I can give it to his Majesty at once. Only let me see him. Let me see the King. I must see King Christophe! Let me see him for a moment, or bring the interpreter. Let me speak with the interpreter; he will tell the King." But I might as well have talked to the grim mountain above me. The men half laughed, half scowled, shook their heads, and prodded the beast on which I sat.

The mule was started along a narrow causeway, where the slightest step to the right or left would have dashed us both into a dark and swiftly flowing stream. When we had crossed, I turned to look behind me. I found the three mounted men were following me. I tried to turn the mule, but I soon saw the utter futility of such an attempt. The path was extremely narrow, and I perceived that turning the mule about would be a most difficult manoeuvre, even were the animal willing, and my experience with the genus mule had led me to believe that he is never of his rider's mind. Then of what avail to turn! I might dash one, even two, of the men off the steep fall in my own company, but I could not see what recompense that would be to me, and then I remembered the old Skipper's words, "I've been in tighter places than this, my boy," and I resigned myself to the inevitable. Up, up, up, we went, now winding through narrow defiles, again coming out on the sheer side of the mountain.

There is a way of approach to the mountain top which is not so dangerous as the one which we pursued, and I know that it was in existence at that time, but I was conducted along a path which would have caused my eyes to start in terror from my head had I not felt certain that there was much worse to come.

We are going to the citadel, I thought--that citadel about which Cynthia and I jested one day not so long ago. I am to be thrown from the Boucan, and shall either die going through the air or lie a mangled heap among those whitening bones. The vultures of the air will hover over me, they will swoop down upon me, they will try to peck out my eyes. I shall fight them as long as I can, if I am alive, if I have an arm that is not broken, and if I can draw my knife! I felt for my knife. It was gone! I knew not when I had lost it, whether when I had bathed and changed my clothes or whether it had fallen from its sheath since. I looked abroad on the wonderful night. No one was moving in that vast exterior but we four. It seemed as if I were alone, for I rode ahead of this singular cavalcade, and saw nothing but the wonderful panorama of the verdure-covered steeps, the wide-spreading ocean below, and the stars and moon above me. I trembled and shook so that I could hardly hold to my animal, for I discerned some few dark shapes still wheeling down below there whose cravings had not yet been satiated.

"I shall be their next morsel," said I to myself. And as these thoughts pa.s.sed through my brain I entered between two high walls, which spread as I advanced, and I found myself in an open courtyard. The gates had been flung wide at our approach, but as soon as we were within them they closed with a loud and ominous clang, and I was a prisoner within the frowning, stupendous walls of Christophe's citadel, the terrible La Ferriere.

I remember little that followed. I tumbled rather than slid from the mule. I could hardly walk upon my stiffened legs, but I found that they must be put to use. We crossed the courtyard and entered a heavy door, which clanged to behind us, captive and captors alike. We traversed long halls, we pa.s.sed dark interiors. We came out into open s.p.a.ces, where in the brilliant light of the moon I saw again the open ocean, on which I imagined that white sails flecked the open, free waters. Nearer were esplanades, where great cannon frowned and b.a.l.l.s for their consumption were piled to the top of the different compartments. Then into the dark interior again, again emerging into light, mounting stairs, descending them, and so on until we came at last to a door. It was hastily unlocked and I was pushed inside, my guards, following. For a moment I could see nothing, and then, as my eyes gathered strength, I perceived that I was not alone. A figure was crouching in the corner of the room. It arose with a sort of growl and stood upon its feet. It recalled to me at the moment the snarl of a dog whose bone is to be taken away from him. Its back was to the little ray of moonlight that came through the open port.

This being made a dash at us, all four, with an open knife. We started back. The guards laughed as they all three ran out, pulling the door to after them. I had seized upon the edge of the door, but it had slipped through my fingers. Its closing click was like the answer of fate. I flung my back against it and faced the figure who stood in the middle of the room with his hand upraised, and in that hand a knife.

CHAPTER XXII.

WE ENGAGE IN BATTLE, MURDER, SUDDEN DEATH, AND--FREEDOM.

You may be led to think, son Adoniah, that events followed each other in a succession more rapid than natural, and that my story is what might be called by people of moderation a very sensational one, but that would be a mild term to apply to the experiences of our stay in the island. Those were troublous times, and I can but give you a sketch of the crowded events of those terrible weeks. If ever any one whom you allow to peruse these memoirs, should pretend to doubt your father's word, take the book from him and close it, and let not his curiosity as to the "yarns" that I am spinning prevail upon you to deliver these pages again to his scrutiny. My sufferings and those of my companions were too great for me to tolerate for a moment that my word should be doubted.

The end of the last page left me in a cell of the citadel alone with a strange man, upon whom I had been unwillingly thrust. My situation was not a cheerful one, especially as I heard the stranger muttering to himself in unintelligible jargon. It sounded like an attempt at English, and rather familiar to me. The place was dark, except for a slight ray of reflected light that came from some angle where the moonlight struck, and then glanced in at the one small embrasure, making a narrow line across the floor of the cell. I could see, silhouetted against the opening, a human figure, and that was all. I watched it, spellbound. It stooped and began to crawl slowly toward me. Now I crouched and backed to a corner to elude it. It turned and came on again steadily toward my corner. As it reached the middle of the room, I saw the moonlight glance for a moment on the glittering blade. I shrank into myself with horror.

The figure arose and stood as if to make a fresh start. There were more mutterings and the preparation for a dash at the intruder, but in the second that the head was raised to its natural height and the moonlight fell upon it I recognised a profile that I knew. It was the swollen cheek of the Bo's'n!

I called to him: "Bo's'n! Bo's'n! don't strike! It is I, the Mate!"

The Bo's'n stood for a moment in astonishment, and then dropped upon his knees. He gave a gasp and a gurgle. I saw something roll, a ball of light, along the ray-swept floor. I was on my knees also before he could rise. I seized upon the brilliant thing. It was so large that my fingers would hardly close over it. It was wet and cold, and I turned my eyes toward the spot where the Bo's'n stood again in the revealing ray. I saw that his toothache had left him as suddenly as it always had arisen.

"So this is the swelling from which you have suffered so long and so continuously," said I, with, I must confess, a sneer in my voice. I opened my fingers, and together we looked down upon the great diamond which he had found among the pirates' jewels, and which would have made two of the famous Koh-i-noor.

"You ridiculous old fool!" said I, "you might have killed me, do you know that?"

"You wouldn't have had my secret if I had, Mr. Jones, sir," snarled the Bo's'n.

"No, I shouldn't, and I suppose you think that you would have had an easy life of it. I should have haunted you as certainly as my name is Hiram Jones." The Bo's'n s.n.a.t.c.hed the gem quickly from my hand and backed into the corner of the cell.

"I don't mean that you shall have it, Mr. Jones, sir. It's me that's carried it through all our troubles, pretending to have toothache and all. Sometimes it was in my mouth and sometimes under my armpit, and do you think, sir, that I intends to share and share alike after all the trouble I have had, Mr. Jones, sir?"

I was convinced that the Bo's'n must be subdued again. The time had come. I raised my hands and began in an incantatory manner:

"There was a serpent G.o.d," I said, in a dreamy tone, "with gleaming eyes. He twined and wound himself around in a slow, slow moving circle.

He thrust out his forked red tongue. The head which he held within his own was the head of a goat! _A goat without horns!_ He half swallowed the goat. He squirmed and stretched and pressed his body round it, he squeezed its bones, crushed them--crushed them----" I gazed fixedly at the Bo's'n. He was already shaking with horror. His eyes were glued to the wall behind me, he stood paralyzed and stiff. The diamond rolled from his hand and bounded to the corner of the cell. He shook as if in an ague, the cold drops stood upon his forehead, and then he fell to the floor, and his knife dropped from his hand. I seized upon the knife and turned to search for the jewel, when, to my horror, I beheld a real serpent gliding up the wall behind me. It had appeared to aid me at this critical moment. Having been a.s.sured by the Smith that most of the serpents in the island were harmless, I made a dash for it, and soon despatched it. I threw the hateful pieces out of the embrasure. The Bo's'n still lay limp and white.

"It's only what you deserve," said I to his deaf ears, "but I will provide myself with something now which will insure me safety while I sleep at least." I took the knife, and, kneeling on the floor, I pressed the point to the hem of my nether garment. I would rip the hem and disclose the symbol, but fate had been there before me. For the second time the ring had played me false. Cynthia's sewing had not been of the surest, hampered as she was by the want of light. I felt sick at heart when I discovered my loss. My only chance of getting at Christophe had flown. I tried to think where I could have lost the ring. Remembering my struggles under the mahogany tree with the body guard, my frantic kicks and wild slas.h.i.+ng at my foes, I could only imagine that I had dropped it there in my violent efforts to tear myself from the grasp of the black men.

The Bo's'n still lay dazed and helpless on the floor. He had not spoken a word, and did not seem to see me. I went at once to the corner where the jewel had rolled. There seemed to be a small hole of about four inches in diameter close to the floor. It ran under the thick part.i.tion wall; I thought that it was meant for a drain in case that water should get into the cell, or if the floor should be washed, which, I am sure, is a thing which as yet had never happened. I took the knife and poked and pried within the hole. It seemed to be a long hole and far-reaching.

It was close to the level of the floor, so that I could not get my eyes far enough down to see if the diamond were hidden there. I first drove the knife into the cavity very nervously, I realize now, and anxiously.

I seemed to hear a faint click, and I thought that the point of the knife touched something; but the article, whatever it was, had retreated to a greater distance, and, as I tried again and again to secure the treasure, I pushed it only farther away. I finally relinquished the search in great despair. I looked up at the wall. I saw some slight cracks in the rough masonry. I felt sure when the Bo's'n came to he would not only demand the diamond, and accuse me of stealing it, but that he would again attack me with the knife. Being a much taller man than he, I jumped up against the wall and drove the knife into a crack as far as I could push it. When I landed again upon my feet, the Bo's'n was regarding me with glittering eye. I saw that the man was near losing his mind, and I feared that when he discovered that his jewel and his knife both were gone that I should find myself in a cell with a mad man. I retreated to a farthest corner of the room, and, with eyes that were dropping to with sleep, I sat myself down to watch the Bo's'n.

After a long sigh he winked violently several times, and then opened his eyes in a natural manner. The faint morning light was finding its way in through the port or small window. It would grow lighter now with every succeeding moment.

"Come, now, Bo's'n," I said, "there is no use in our having any quarrel.

I am as sorry for what has happened as you can be. I have managed to put myself out of danger from you." I pointed to where the knife stuck firmly between the two great stones. "I did not take your jewel. You dropped it yourself. It was when the serp----" I saw the Bo's'n begin to tremble again and his eyes to quiver. "I shall not revert to anything painful. The diamond rolled just in there." I pointed to the hole which I had unsuccessfully probed. "We may be able to get something later with which to secure it--the diamond, I mean. But just at present there is no hope at all of such a result. Now, wouldn't it be better for you and I to be friends? We are here alone together. We do not know where the Skipper and the Smith may be. I can not tell what will be the fate of----" I hesitated, and then boldly plumped out the words, "'my wife.'

We are in about as doleful a plight as any two men in this world ever were, but I have often heard it said that 'while there's life there's hope.' Now listen to me, Bo's'n. You and I may as well be friends, for I can't see that at present we have any one else to depend on. I had no intention of taking your diamond, but it belongs to me as much as to you."

"As to that, Mr. Jones, sir, it belongs to the Minion as much as to either of us."

"Well, I don't know about that, but the Captain and the others have an interest in it equal with ours. Now, Bo's'n, we may save the lives of all the party if we can get at that gem and offer it to Christophe."

"I'd rather trust to keeping it in my cheek, sir," said the Bo's'n.

"Very well, that's your lookout, if you can get it."

So saying, I lay upon the floor and slept. When I awoke I saw the Bo's'n was sitting on the floor in the corner of the cell eating some coa.r.s.e fare from a platter of metal which stood before him. I immediately demanded my share, and together we despatched all that the plate contained.

The day dragged slowly, oh, so slowly! The only thing in the cell beside the Bo's'n and myself was the knife. I had some slight thought of getting the knife down and playing a game by throwing the point at the cracks in the wall, but, after a scrutinizing look at the surly Bo's'n, I decided to let well enough alone. I was his superior as to strength, but, should he once succeed in obtaining that weapon, I was not at all sure what would follow. The prospect of wealth, or else the loss of it, had changed the Bo's'n's nature, and where once I had considered this man strange and queer, I had now come to the belief that he was really mad.