Sam Oakum followed Dutch as he staggered back, his knife entangled in
the loose jacket he wore, and, dragging it furiously out, he was going
to strike again, when a couple of the sailors seized his arm, and,
frowning and swearing, he allowed himself to be held back, while,
panting and white with rage, Dutch exclaimed--
"Coward, as well as traitor, you will get your reward!"
"Here, let go, will you?" cried Sam, furiously, making a desperate
effort to get free, but the men held on, and Laure interposed--
"Let him go, Oakum, let him go," he said, smiling with satisfaction.
"You can serve him out by-and-by, as you call it--some day when he is
diving," he added, with a peculiar look.
Oakum gave a savage growl like that of a bear, and glared at Dutch, who
was now half forced below, hurt in mind, but very slightly in body, for
Oakum's clumsy stab had gone between his ribs and arm, merely tearing
his jacket.
Laure gave his orders, then Oakum took the command, and, the men readily
obeying, the anchors were hove up, and, after their long stay, the
schooner sails were once more shaken out, and the vessel began to glide
gently along through the limpid waters of the beautiful bay.
During the next two days the Cuban kept a suspicious watch over Sam, but
as he went direct at his work with a good deal of ardour, and knocked
'Pollo down for coming up smiling at him, he rose greatly in Laure's
favour; and on the third morning, when the Cuban came on deck and saw
Sam busily scanning with his glass the shore along which they had
coasted, he came and laid his hand upon his shoulder.
"You know the next place, then?" he said.
"Well, I dunno whether it's the same as your'n," said Sam, with a grin.
"Mine lies just under that bit of an island off yon point."
"Where the rocks lie piled up like an old castle, and there's a little
cove only about big enough to take this ship?" said the Cuban.
"That's him, capen," said Oakum, showing his yellow teeth. "Say, I
think it ought to be another hundred bars, capen, for this."
"Wait and see, my man. If it turns out as well as the last, I may
behave handsomely to you; at any rate, if you serve me well, I shall not
be shabby--handsome--shabby, that is what you say, is it not?"
"I say handsome," said Oakum quietly, "never mind the shabby."
That afternoon the schooner was comfortably moored over where the sunken
vessel lay, and this time there was no difficulty in finding the place,
for about six fathoms below the surface the black timbers could be seen,
and the Cuban rubbed his hands with glee, telling Oakum that this would
be the richest find, as it was here he had himself dived and obtained
the ingots.
"And was the tother one of the places you knowed of?" said Sam.
"Yes," replied the Cuban; "and I know of far more yet."
"Didn't you dive down at t'other place?"
"No," said the Cuban, lighting a cigar. "I sent down a black, who was a
splendid swimmer--one of my slaves."
"Suppose he goes and clears off the silver unbeknownst to you?" said
Sam, grinning.
"He will not do that," said the Cuban, quietly exhaling a cloud of
smoke.
"How do you know, capen?" said Oakum. "I never trusts niggers," and as
he spoke he scowled at 'Pollo, who was crossing the deck, and who slunk
away.
"Because he is gone where I should send any man who was likely to prove
treacherous to me," said Laure, in a low, hissing whisper. "That fellow
began to talk too much, and one night he fell overboard--somehow. It is
impossible to say how."
The two men stood gazing in each other's eyes for a few moments, and
then the Cuban added slowly--
"I never boast, and I never forgive. A man is a fool to his own
interests who tries to escape me. Your worthy employers thought that
they had quite got rid of me, and had the field open to themselves. You
see where they are? Now, if such a man as that old Rasp were to play
fast and loose with me, that old man would die. Don't tell him I said
so; it would make him uncomfortable, and it is better a man should not
know that he is likely to die. Take a cigar, my good friend Oakum."
"Thanky, no, capen, I always chews," said Sam; and then, as the other
moved and went forward, Sam added, "He's a devil, that's what he is--a
devil."
Old Rasp was sitting on a coil of rope close at hand polishing up one of
the helmets ready for the morrow's use, and just then the two men's eyes
met, and a peculiar wink was exchanged, but they did not speak; and the
rest of the evening was spent in making preparations for the morrow's
descents.
Since he had been on deck, Sam Oakum had once or twice seen a little
canary, one that Mr Wilson used to pet a good deal, feeding it and
training it so that it would sit on his finger, and feed from his hand,
and this bird set him thinking.
Quite half the birds were dead, but there were several surviving, thanks
to 'Pollo, who had given the little things seed and water, and cleaned
out their cages. He had begun to talk to Oakum about them, but the old
sailor turned upon him savagely.
"You go and attend to your pots and pans," he roared, "you black
lubber;" and 'Pollo shrunk from him with a frightened, injured air; and
as the black crept away Oakum suspected that the Cuban was close at
hand, as he always was whenever either of the seceded party spoke
together.
"Poor old 'Pollo!" said Sam to himself, as he sat down opposite the cage
and began thinking.
"Now, I wonder, little matey," he said softly, "whether, if I let you
loose, you'd find your master, and take him a message."
He sat thinking for a while, and then shook his head.
"No, I'm sartain it wouldn't do; no, not even if you could talk like a
poll parrot."
He strolled on deck, and saw that there was a sentry by the broken
skylight and another by the cabin hatch, and this was always the case,
for the Cuban kept up the strictest discipline, one so perfect that if
anything like it had been the rule under Captain Studwick the vessel
could not have been taken.
Sam watched his opportunity, too, when the prisoners came on deck, but
he soon found that any attempt to obtain a word with either, even if
they had not avoided his glance, would have been fatal to the enterprise
which he had in hand.
"I shall have to take to the bird," he said at last, and at daybreak the
next morning he opened its cage door, and the little thing flitted out
upon deck, and seemed thoroughly to enjoy its liberty, flying into the
rigging, chirping, and ending by descending the cabin hatch, attracted
thereto by a peculiar whistle, but after a time it came up again,
suffered itself to be caught and replaced in its cage.
"That'll do," said Sam to himself, and he went about his work, while
that morning the whole of the diving apparatus was rigged up, and Rasp
carefully inspected the ground.
"It's all right," he said to the Cuban. "Now, then, have 'em up. Here,
let's send old Parkley down."
Mr Parkley was summoned on deck, and his first idea was to refuse to
descend.
"You'd better go down," said Rasp grinning. "If you don't go with the
soot on it's my belief that you'll have to go down without."
There was no help for it, and he put on the diving-dress and went down,
Dutch being summoned on deck directly after, to find Laure and his men
all armed; and he felt that resistance was vain, and he, too, went down,
and then with Mr Parkley worked to clear away the sand and weeds that
had collected in the hold of the vessel.
A few ingots were found and sent up directly, but it was evident to
both, as they compared notes, that the work of many days must follow
before they could get at the bulk of the treasure that lay below.
And so another day passed, Dutch still finding, to his delight, as he
went below, that the desire for the treasure was still the prominent
feeling in Laure's mind.
The next morning, at daybreak, Mr Wilson was first astir, and Dutch had
just joined him to sit by the cabin window and enjoy the fresh morning
breeze, which was deliciously cool, when a bright, sharp chirp was
heard, and the canary flew down through the broken skylight and alighted
on the table.
"Dick, Dick!" cried Mr Wilson, with the tears of joy in his eyes,
"pretty Dick;" and the little thing flew on to his finger, turning its
head first on one side and then on the other, as it looked up in his
face with its bright beady eye.
"What's that under its wing?" said Dutch, sharply.
"Paper," was the reply; and, sure enough, tightly tied beneath the
little pinion was a tiny piece of doubled-up paper, which, on being
opened out, bore these words in pencil:
"Keep a steady hand at the wheel, and wait. Friends on board. Work and
wait."
"Can that mean treachery?" said Dutch doubtfully; and, going to their
berths, he read the words softly to the captain and Mr Parkley, and
asked their opinions as well as that of the doctor.
"No," said the latter; "that's no treachery, but from a friend."
"I see it all," whispered Dutch, with his face flushed with joy.
"What do you mean?" said the captain.
"I knew old Oakum and Rasp could not be such scoundrels. Their
behaviour was all a blind. They are our friends."
"That must be it," acquiesced the others; and it was decided not to send
any message back, but to let the bird go.
This was done, and that day the divers steadily worked on with old Rasp,
who was closely watched by the Cuban, tyrannical to a degree, while
Oakum never once looked at them.
Sand, rock, and what was harder to move, namely, masses of coral, were
dragged away that day, and the Cuban's impatience was somewhat
alleviated on the sight of a few more stray ingots, forerunners of what
he hoped to get later on, and again night put an end to their labours,
the tired divers, who on this day had been helped by the captain,
doctor, and naturalist, all working like common sailors, and watched by
armed men.
They were up and waiting beneath the cabin skylight the next morning
before the day broke, and once more came the bird with a welcome
message.
It was very brief, but it gave them hope in the midst of their despair,
for it ran as follows:--
"You'll get no more writing, for it ar'n't safe-like, friends working
for all on you. Never mind, lads, watch under cabin light till
something comes."
This was enigmatical, but it set them on their guard, and they worked
that day more cheerfully, feeling that a plot must be on foot for their
rescue, Dutch's only fear, as he gazed at the two women, being that it
might come too late.
That night Dutch, weary as he was, himself watched beneath the cabin
hatch, but many weary hours passed without anything but the talking of
the watch being heard; and at last he felt that at all hazards he must
sleep, when he started, for something round and soft suddenly fell
through the open light upon his head, and feeling about on the floor his
hand came into contact with a handkerchief, in which something soft was
tied up. A powder evidently--yes, gunpowder.
He stood pondering with about a couple of pounds of the combustible in
his hand, thinking of what power it would have if exploded, and longing
for the battery and the dynamite cartridges, as he thought that if
matters came to the worst he would blow up the ship sooner than the
women should suffer insult.
During the next few days the diving work progressed steadily, and, with
the exception of a few interruptions by sharks, all went well; but not
the slightest sign struck Dutch as evincing a desire on the part of Rasp
or Oakum to make any communication, and both he and his friends were
puzzled, wondering which of them would be the faithful one, for they
felt that they would be too sanguine if they imagined that both were on
their side, though Mr Parkley was as convinced that Rasp was at work
for them as Dutch was that it was Oakum.
All the while both were working hard in their interest to contrive the
re-capture of the ship, but the difficulty was that the whole party were
so watched that they could find no means of communication, but still
they hoped.
Oakum had found where the arms were stowed in the fore cabin, which
Laure had taken for his own use, and which he shared with one of the
men, whom he seemed to trust entirely, but who was a thoroughly drunken
scoundrel, and who used to make Mr Meldon's blood boil by the way he
used to stand and watch Bessy Studwick whenever she was on deck in the
evening, for Laure had insisted that the women should share his
prisoners' walk for a couple of hours each day.
"If I could get at those tools," thought Oakum, "and pass 'em down, we
should be all right, and might make the scoundrels shake in their
shoes." But no opportunity occurred, and the glorious bright days
glided by.
The treasure had been thoroughly reached at last, and in a hopeless way
Dutch and Mr Parkley worked on, bullied sharply by Rasp, who threatened
short supplies of air if more work were not done, and the consequence
was that an immense treasure in silver bars was recovered, though for
the most part terribly corroded and mingled with calcareous matter.
At last the time arrived when Mr Parkley came up announcing that the
last ingot had been found, and that nothing remained but the black and
rotting wood.
"Nonsense," exclaimed Laure angrily; "there must be hundreds more.
Here, you Pugh, it is your turn to go down now. Make a good search, and
don't come back till you have found more."
The eyes of the two men encountered as Laure spoke, and a strange
foreboding feeling came over Dutch as he slowly made his preparations.
It seemed to him that it was quite possible, now the treasure of two
sunken galleons had been recovered, Laure might forego further search,
having determined to make sure of his find, and if this were the case,
the young man argued, he might now begin to put in force some of his
former tactics. What if he were now to try to get rid of him for
Hester's sake--for the sake of the woman who had repelled all his
advances, but who was now completely in his power.
True he had hardly noticed her of late, but there was that in the
Cuban's eyes that told of smothered volcanic passion that might at any
moment burst into flame, and Dutch felt that if he escaped from injury
that evening he would try and bring forward the plot that must be now
nearly ripe, and strike before it was too late.
There were men on board who would, after the first blow was successfully
struck, he argued, be ready to side with the victorious party,
irrespective of whom it might be, and this blow must be struck, and at
once, before it was too late.
He was brought back to the realities of his position by a few sharp
words from Laure, supplemented by a brutal jerk from Rasp, while as he
secured portions of his waterproof dress, and glanced round the deck,
everything seemed to be imprinted on his brain with vivid force. There
was the last heap of wet silver, mingled with stone, shell, and seaweed,
the little streams of water trickling from it to the scuppers, and there
by the pump, which it had become their duty to work, were the captain,
the doctor, and Mr Wilson, while just emerging from the cabin, and
supporting John Studwick each by a hand, came Hester and Bessy to lead
the invalid to a seat by the side.
Dutch saw Laure's eyes flash as Hester came on deck, and the young man's
veins tingled with rage.
But he was helpless, and could only obey. And, besides, he felt that
this was no time for annoyance coming to his young wife; so, exchanging
glances with her, and trying to impart confidence in her breast, though
he felt none, he prepared to go down.
But first he took one glance round at the beautiful sea and shore, and
then, with the foreboding of coming danger on the increase, he assumed
his helmet; it was roughly secured by Rasp; and he walked to the ladder
at the side with the old fellow guiding him.
As he turned to place his feet on the steps, it might have been
imagination, but certainly Rasp looked at him through the glass windows
of the helmet in a peculiar way, and more significant still the young
man felt the life-line thrust into his hand.
"Then there is danger," thought Dutch, as he lowered himself down, and
his heart began to beat violently; but as his head disappeared beneath
the surface of the water, and the old familiar sensations of diving were
experienced, he began to smile at his terrors, and to accuse himself of
want of manliness.
"Rasp's rough behaviour is all a blind to throw dust in Laure's eyes,
and the look and the significant placing of the life-line in my hands
means that something is to take place to-night."
He was convinced of this now, and reaching the bottom he took up an iron
rod, and began to move slowly about over the rotten timbers that had
been uncovered, and to probe and search in all directions. The sand had
been cleared out of the vessel all but amidships, and there they had at
the first attempt come upon remains that showed how a large number of
the crew must have been below deck when the ship sunk; and as the silver
seemed to lie away from here, Dutch and Mr Parkley had agreed to leave
the bones buried in the sand where they lay; but now that this
imperative order had come from their taskmaster Dutch took the piece of
iron, and began to search with it by thrusting it down into the sand.
He shuddered as he did so, for he could tell that it certainly came in
contact with buried bones, sometimes, by the feel, with a skull, and
several times he left off with a shudder, resuming his task in a
hopeless way, and wondering whether success were to attend their effort,
and when it would be made.
Just then the recollection of the rich treasure in gold that was known
only to himself came to his mind, and he smiled as he thought of what
would be Laure's feelings if he knew what had been left behind. And as
he thought of this, he thrust the iron rod down once more, and his heart
began to beat again, for, unless he was much mistaken, there beneath the
remains of the former occupants of the galleon lay just such a
receptacle as the one he had formerly found.
He probed again and again, making deep holes in the sand, which were
filled up directly he withdrew the rod; and now, marking out the spot,
he became convinced, not that it was gold, but that another goodly
treasure of metal lay beneath the sand.
It were all plain enough, just a square receptacle, all metal, he
believed gold, but certainly silver was there, and as soon as he thrust
the probe down outside that square it went down, down through wood and
sand to any depth.
"It is another treasure of gold," exclaimed Dutch, and his words sounded
strangely to him as they were spoken in the hollow of his helmet, and he
paused to consider whether he should announce his discovery, or keep it
secret like the last.
"It shall be a secret," he said. "We may live to survive this
unfortunate voyage, and if we do, may come again, for here is what would
recompense us for all our pains, and it is no uncertainty; no, there is
the treasure, and--"
He signalled sharply for more air, looking up through the clear bright
sunlit water, and as he did so feeling that the supply was stopped, he
saw that the long india-rubber tube had been cut, and was sinking slowly
towards him, like some strange grey snake.