"GOOD-BYE."
Rasp had placed a man at the pump and a supply of air was being kept up,
a supply now augmented by another man being sent to help turn the wheel,
while with a grim look of satisfaction Rasp took hold of the life-line
and tightened it a little, to feel the unwilling diver's movements.
"He'll be pulling hard directly," chuckled the old fellow. "Only let
him see a shark--one of his first cousins--a villain. Wonder what Mr
Dutch'll say when he knows how we've been serving out the scoundrel
as--"
"What does all this mean?" exclaimed Dutch, coming so suddenly upon the
group that they started asunder, and the air-pump stopped.
"On'y giving that rascal a lesson in diving," growled Rasp.
"Whom? What do you mean? You surely don't mean to say that Laure, the
prisoner--"
"They're on'y having a lark with him, sir," said Oakum.
"Quick, there! Pump, you scoundrels," exclaimed Dutch; and the wheel
spun round once more. "Rasp, Oakum, pull here. You dogs, if mischief
has befallen that man I can never forgive you."
Setting the example he hauled upon the life-line, and 'Pollo running to
his help, the Cuban was dragged to the surface, and lay motionless on
the deck as Dutch freed him of his helmet and exposed his livid face.
"Quick! Call up Mr Meldon," cried Dutch; but that gentleman was
already on deck, and, to the great relief of Dutch, declared the Cuban
to be still alive.
It had been a narrow escape for him, as, between dread and the want of
air, another few seconds would have sufficed to finish his career. As
it was, quite an hour escaped before he recognised those who had worked
hard to restore him, and then it was with a malignant grin of
disappointed malice.
"He'll do now," said the doctor; and as the patient seemed disposed to
sleep, they left him--Oakum, who was exceedingly penitent for the part
he had taken, being stationed as sentry at the door.
Meanwhile Captain Studwick had taken advantage of the breeze and tide,
and the schooner was once more under way, threading her course amongst
the rocks, and gradually leaving the cocoanut-fringed strand behind.
Everyone was on deck watching the receding shores, and in full
expectation of some new danger springing up to hinder their homeward
journey, for with the treasure they had on board it was determined to
tempt fortune no more, but to make all speed across the Atlantic as soon
as they had cleared the inland sea.
Favourable winds sped the schooner at a rapid rate through the water,
and all seemed so peaceful and happy that it raised a feeling of dread
in those who had found the other portion of the voyage so rife with
peril. Rasp shook his head, and said that they were not safe home yet,
while Oakum was away; but as soon as Oakum began to croak and
prognosticate evil, he changed his tone, and declared that they would
soon be safely home.
The voyage home to Hester and Bessy seemed like a glimpse of heaven, for
Hester was ever by the latter's side, striving hard to make her forget
the past, and revelling in her loving, grateful looks; while Bessy,
though no words passed, knew that Meldon loved her with all his heart,
though for her sake and lest he should arouse the jealous
susceptibilities of her brother, he maintained silence. But she knew
that the day must come when he would speak, and her heart leaped with
joy as she saw his patient assiduity in attending to her brother, who
now turned daily more and more towards him, and sought his help.
But the presence of two sick men was not without its influence on the
little crew of the ship, and Captain Studwick, looked with nervous dread
for what he saw must come ere long, and felt that the events might again
be looked upon as an ill omen.
For though Mr Meldon said it not in so many words, he gave him fully to
understand that poor John Studwick's days were growing very few.
In fact the doctor felt that it was an open question whether Laure or
John Studwick would be the first to leave them, for the former seemed
never to have recovered from the shock of his descent, but lay in a
helpless, raving state, evidently growing weaker day by day, till, in
place of getting up to sit and watch the sea from the cabin window, he
now rarely rose, and then only with the assistance of old Rasp, who, as
a kind of recompense for being the cause of his state, constituted
himself his nurse, and waited on him night and day.
"I hate him like the very old 'un," growled Rasp, when talking about him
to Oakum; "but as I've had my bit of a go at him for what he did, I
ain't going to see him die like a dog for want of help."
And so the days glided on till the schooner, with her freight of silver,
was in mid-ocean, and still the fates favoured them. It was a lovely
evening, and the sun was descending fast in the west, turning the sea
into one heaving mass of orange and gold. Nearly every one was on
deck--Mr Parkley and the captain together talking of the future of the
voyage, and Mr Wilson seated with his chin resting on his hand gazing
pensively at Bessy, who was kneeling beside the mattress on which her
brother lay, his great eyes looking towards the golden-flooded sky.
Dutch and Hester, too, were together, silent and thoughtful, while the
solemn grandeur of the scene seemed to impress even the men forward, for
they sat about the deck almost without a word.
It was with quite a start, then, that Dutch saw the doctor come up
softly from below and approach him with a solemn look upon his face.
"Is anything wrong?" said Dutch, though he almost read what the other
had to say.
"Your enemy will soon be powerless to work you evil, Mr Pugh," was the
reply; "he is dying, I think, fast."
Hester shuddered and clasped her husband's arm.
"Poor wretch!" exclaimed Dutch. "There," he cried, impetuously, "don't
talk of enemies at such a time. I forgive him the ill he did to me.
May God be merciful too!"
"Amen," said Hester beneath her breath; and then she shuddered and clung
more closely to her husband, for so shaken had her nerves been that it
seemed to her even now they were not free from the Cuban's influence.
"Can you not save his life?" said Dutch. "He should have time to
repent."
"But would he?" said Mr Meldon. "I fear life to him would only be the
opportunity to work us all more ill."
"For heaven's sake, don't think of that, man," cried Dutch. "Have you
tried all you could to save him?"
"I have tried all I know," said the doctor earnestly. "I cannot think
of one hour's lapse of duty."
"No, no, of course not," said Dutch, holding out his hand. "I insult
you by such a supposition."
"Miss Studwick is beckoning to you, Mr Meldon," exclaimed Hester
suddenly; and turning they saw her upon her knees evidently in alarm.
"Poor fellow!" muttered the doctor almost in a whisper; but the young
couple heard him, and stood watching anxiously, for though John
Studwick's death was expected, they had hoped that he might first reach
home.
He had been gazing for quite an hour at the glorious sky, and had
apparently been no worse than usual; but now the change had come
suddenly, and no one knew it more than he.
For just as Bessy was bending over to speak to him, startled slightly by
his lengthened silence, he turned to her and smiled lovingly and
tenderly as his thin hand pressed hers.
"Kiss me, Bessy," he said, in a low, strange voice; and as she gazed at
him with dilating eyes, and pressed her lips to his, he said gently,
"The doctor!"
It was then that Bessy beckoned anxiously to Mr Meldon, who came
hastily across the deck and knelt down, taking the hand feebly stretched
out to him.
"Not the pulse, doctor, the palm," said John Studwick, his face lighting
up with a strange unearthly smile.
"I'm not jealous now. Be kind to my darling sister. Good-bye."
As Bessy burst into a fit of sobbing and lowered her head upon his
breast, he laid his hand upon her glossy curls. Then seeing his father
bending eagerly over him, he tried to raise his other hand, but it fell
back, his lips formed the words "Good-bye" once more; and, as his eyes
smiled up in his father's face, the lines around them gradually
hardened, the pupils dilated in a fixed stare, and those who gazed down
upon him knew that the spirit had fled to its lasting home.