"Would sixty pounds be too much to ask, Mr Leslie, taking everything
into consideration?"
"What do _you_ say, Simpson?" asked Leslie, with a smile.
"Sixty pounds 'd satisfy _me_," answered the boatswain.
"Very well," said Dick. "Now, this is what I will do with you both. It
will be worth a thousand pounds to me to get these valuables of mine
safely home, as I said, without attracting attention. If, therefore,
you will ship for the run home with me, rendering me all the assistance
necessary to take the _Flora_ and her cargo safely to some port, to be
hereafter decided upon, in the English Channel, I will give you my
written bond to pay each of you five hundred pounds sterling within one
calendar month of the date of our arrival. How will that suit you?"
"It will suit me better than any job I've ever yet dropped upon, and I
say `done with you, sir, and many thanks,'" answered Nicholls, with
enthusiasm.
"And you, Simpson?" demanded Dick.
"Good enough!" answered the boatswain, with his usual brevity.
"Very well, then; that is settled," said Leslie. "I will draw up an
agreement in triplicate at once, which we can all sign, each retaining a
copy; and that will put the whole matter upon a thoroughly ship-shape
and satisfactory basis all round."
Dick prepared the agreement there and then, and having read over to the
two seamen the first draft, and obtained their unqualified approval of
it, he at once proceeded to make the two additional copies. All three
were then duly signed, Flora also attaching her signature as a witness,
and the transaction was thereupon completed.
"Now," said Dick, "that bit of business being arranged, I should like to
take the cutter round to a little cove at no great distance from the
cave where my valuables are concealed, and get them aboard her at once,
before her decks are hampered up with gear and what not; we will
therefore get the catamaran under way, and tow her round. We can leave
the catamaran in the cove also, and walk back by way of change.
Moreover, it will afford us the opportunity to stretch our legs a bit;
we shall not get very much more walking exercise now until we arrive in
England."
As the three men were wending their way down to the beach, Leslie's eyes
happened to fall upon the case of rifle and revolver ammunition from
which he had been drawing his supplies. It was the only case of
ammunition that he possessed; and now, with a sudden fear that in the
hurry of departure it might be forgotten, he said to Nicholls--
"See here, Nicholls, we might just as well be carrying something with us
as go down to the catamaran empty-handed. If you and Simpson will lay
hold of that case of ammunition, I will bring along half a dozen rifles,
and we shall then be quite as well armed as there will be any need for
us to be. We may not want them, but, on the other hand, we _may_, and
if we should happen to want them at all, we shall probably want them
very badly."
Upon taking the cutter in tow it was found that she towed very lightly,
offering only a trifling resistance to the catamaran after both had
fairly got way upon them; and in little more than half an hour both
craft were off the entrance to the cove. Yet so cunningly had Nature
concealed it that though Leslie knew almost to an inch where to look for
it, he had the utmost difficulty in finding it, and had he not possessed
a personal knowledge of its existence, and therefore persisted in his
search, he would never have found it. But, after passing the opening no
less than four times without being able to find it, he managed to hit it
off at his fifth attempt, and, ten minutes later, both craft were inside
and snugly moored to the rocky side of the basin, the catamaran being
placed innermost to protect the dainty, freshly painted sides of the
cutter from chafe against the rock.
Nicholls and Simpson betrayed the profoundest astonishment and
admiration at the singularly perfect adaptation of the cove to the
purposes of a harbour for small craft, and could scarcely be persuaded
to drag themselves away from the water's edge. But when at length they
had been induced to climb up the almost vertical face of the cliffs and
found themselves at the mouth of the treasure-cave, their wonder at what
they saw was greater than ever. They uttered loud exclamations of
astonishment when they were invited to lift one of the hide-bound gold
bricks, and felt the unexpected weight of it; but neither of them
appeared to have the remotest suspicion of the real nature of the stuff
they were handling, Nicholls merely commenting upon its excellence as
ballast, and lauding Leslie's wisdom in having decided to so use it
instead of those portions of the lead castings that he had rejected.
Indeed, both men appeared to regard the queer little black leather--
bound blocks as merely something especially suitable for ballast, and
taken by Dick for that purpose and reason alone; it was the massive,
ancient-looking, carved chests, with their elaborate binding of rusty
metal-work that they appeared to regard as the receptacles of the
"valuables" about the safety of which Leslie was so anxious.
They managed to get sixty of the gold bricks down aboard the cutter and
stowed under her cabin floor that same afternoon, and by the time that
they had accomplished this, the level rays of the declining sun warned
them that the moment had arrived when they ought to be starting upon
their march across country toward their camp.
The broken character of the country claimed a larger share of Leslie's
attention upon this occasion than when he had last visited the cave.
Perhaps it was because his mind was now more at rest than it had then
been--for the cutter that was at the former period merely a possibility,
was now an actuality; and, more than that, already carried a very
respectable little fortune snugly stowed away in her interior; or,
possibly--who can tell?--there may have been some vague, unsuspected
mental prevision that ere long an intimate knowledge of every detail of
those curiously shapeless earthquake upheavals would be of priceless
value to him. Be that as it may, he now looked about him with the eyes
of the warrior rather than the explorer, noting with astonishment the
wonderful way in which the earthquake had split and piled up the rocks
into the form of a natural impregnable fortress, including both the
cavern and the basin. There was one point, and one only, at which this
natural fortress could be entered, and upon his previous visit he had
passed through it twice without noting this fact; now, however, he not
only took notice of it, but saw also that a small rampart, composed of a
dozen or so of stones, that could be arranged in five minutes, would
enable a single man to hold the place against an army, or, at all
events, so long as his ammunition held out. So strongly did this idea
impress itself upon him that he could not resist the temptation to
actually construct this small rampart then and there.
"Stop a moment, you two," he cried; "I have a fancy for trying a little
experiment. Just bring me along a few of the heaviest pieces of rock
that you can conveniently handle."
And, seizing a block himself, he carried it to a certain point, and
threw it on the ground. Then on and about this he piled the others that
were brought to him until, within ten minutes, he had constructed a
breastwork of dimensions sufficient to efficiently screen one man from
the fire of an enemy, while it enabled him, through a small loophole, to
effectually enfilade the one only spot at which that enemy could
possibly enter. He flung himself down behind the barricade and peeped
through the loophole. The defence was now complete.
"There," he exclaimed, in tones of perfect satisfaction, "if anybody
should ever come here in the future, and require a citadel upon which to
retreat against overwhelming odds, this is the place. And so long as he
can command the nerve to remain behind this barricade and maintain a
steady rifle-fire upon that narrow gap--through which, as you may see,
only one man can pass at a time--he will be absolutely safe. Well,
thank God, _we_ are not likely to need its protection, for we ought to
be at sea on the third evening from now."
The following day was devoted by the three men to the task of putting
the remainder of the gold bricks on board the cutter; and this they
succeeded in accomplishing before knocking-off work for the day; but it
meant that they had to work hard and late to do it. Meanwhile Flora was
equally busily engaged upon the work of getting together, from the
heterogeneous assortment of clothing that had formed part of the
_Mermaid's_ cargo, a sufficient stock to see her through her two months'
voyage to the other side of the Pacific. Knowing that she was thus
engaged, and would doubtless be fatigued by the time that she had
arrived at the end of her day's work, Leslie was considerably surprised
when, having traversed about half the distance between the cove and the
camp, he encountered her; she having evidently walked out from the camp
to meet him. Moreover he saw at once that this encounter was not merely
the result of a natural desire on the part of a girl to meet her lover,
it was something more momentous than that, for there was an excited look
in her eyes that there was no mistaking. So, doffing his cap to her as
she joined his little party, he said, with a smile--
"Well, dear, what is it? You have news of some kind for us, I see; but
not bad news, I hope."
"Oh no," she replied; "it is not bad news at all--at least I should
think not. It is simply that there is a ship approaching the island,
and as I thought you would be glad to know it as soon as possible, I
decided to come on and tell you at once."
"Thanks, very much," replied Dick. "This is indeed interesting news.
Whereabouts is she, and how far off?"
"She is over there, in that direction," replied Flora, pointing to the
north-westward. "It was by the merest accident that I happened to see
her. I took the fancy to go up toward Mermaid Head to gather a bouquet
of those lovely orchids that grow in that direction, thinking that
probably it would be my last opportunity to get any of them, and it was
while I was gathering them that I saw her. She is still a good distance
away; and I might have thought that she was merely passing the island,
for when I first saw her she was sailing in that direction,"--sweeping
her hand from west to east; "but while I was still watching her she
turned round, and now is coming nearly straight for the island."
"Ah," remarked Leslie, thoughtfully, "this is certainly interesting, and
I am much obliged to you for coming out to tell us. Let us be getting
on toward the camp; there may still be time for me to run up to the
point and have a look at her ere nightfall." Then, following up his own
train of thought, he added, "If she be as far off as you describe, she
will hardly be near enough to hit off the entrance channel and come
inside before dark--that is to say, if she really means to pay us a
visit."
Nothing more was said upon the subject just then; but as soon as Leslie
reached the camp he procured the telescope, and, hurrying away to the
nearest point from which it would be possible to obtain a view of the
stranger, subjected her to as careful a scrutiny as the circumstances
permitted.
After all, however, there was not very much to be learned about her, for
she was about twelve miles distant, dead to leeward of the island, and
as the sun was already dipping below the horizon, the time available for
observation was but short. He could distinguish, however, that she was
barque-rigged, and apparently a very smart little vessel of about three
hundred tons or thereabout. That she was beating up to fetch the island
was obvious; for whereas when Leslie first sighted her she was on the
port tack, heading south, she shortly afterwards tacked to the eastward,
thus--in conjunction with what Flora had already observed--clearly
indicating that her purpose was at least to pass the island as closely
as possible, if not to actually touch at it. And that the latter was
her intention Leslie had no manner of doubt; for if she had intended
merely to pass it closely by, there would have been no need for her to
have made that last board to the eastward; by standing on to the
southward she would have slid down under the lee of the island quite
closely enough to have made the most detailed observations that her
commander might have deemed necessary. There was one peculiarity
connected with her that for some inexplicable reason took hold upon
Leslie's mind with a persistence that was positively worrying to him,
yet it was a peculiarity of apparently the most trivial and unimportant
character; it was simply that when she tacked he noticed--with that
keenness of observation that is so peculiarly the attribute of the
highly trained naval officer--that her yards were swung very slowly, and
one after the other, as though she were very short-handed, even for a
merchant vessel.
As Leslie closed the telescope and thoughtfully wended his way back
toward the camp, he found himself perplexed by the presence within his
mind of two strangely conflicting trains of thought. On the one hand,
here was a ship approaching the island, and either intending to make a
call at it, or to approach it so closely that it would be the simplest
matter in the world for him to go out on the catamaran and intercept
her. By acting thus he would be able, without any difficulty, to secure
for his companions and himself transport to some civilised port from
which it would be easy for them to obtain a passage to England, even
though the barque herself should not be homeward-bound. And that
transport would be at least of as safe a character as that afforded by
the cutter, while it would be infinitely more comfortable, at all events
for Flora, should they happen to encounter bad weather. Following this
train of thought, it seemed to Leslie that the obvious commonsense
course for him to pursue was to take the catamaran, go out to the
barque, and, acquainting the skipper with all the circumstances relating
to the presence of the little party upon the island, pilot her into the
lagoon, with the view of coming to some arrangement for the shipping of
himself and his companions on board her on the morrow.
But against this plan there was the thought of the treasure. What was
to be done with it? Would it be prudent or advisable to entrust a
property of such enormous value to a crew of absolute strangers, of
whose characters he would have no time or opportunity to judge? Upon
this point he had no doubt whatever; the answer to this question was a
most emphatic negative. But if--so ran his thoughts--he was not
prepared to ship the treasure aboard this unknown barque, and entrust it
to her unknown crew, what was he to do with it? Was he to leave it
concealed in the cavern that had already been its hiding-place for so
many years, and return to fetch it away at some more convenient season?
His recent experience of the great physical changes that may be wrought
by an earthquake shock had already impressed upon him a strong
conviction of the possibility that a second shock might at any moment
bury the treasure irrecoverably; and this conviction was as strong an
argument against the adoption of the alternative course as a man need
wish for. No; he felt that it would be equally unwise for him to ship
it aboard the stranger, and to leave it on the island until he could
return to fetch it. If he desired to make sure of it--as he most
certainly did--his proper course was to carry it away in the cutter, as
he had always intended. And as to Nicholls and Simpson, he felt that,
despite the appearance of this mysterious barque upon the scene, his
liberal offer to them would quite suffice to hold them to their bargain
with him. The ground thus cleared, there remained only Flora to be
considered; and Dick very quickly arrived at the conclusion that she,
and she only, was the one who could decide whether she would leave the
island in the barque or accompany him in the cutter. But he had not
much doubt as to what her decision would be.