THE THIRD ATTACK
Holgate had given us till eight o'clock, but it was of course,
uncertain if he would adhere to this hour. If I were right in my
suppositions (and I could see no flaw in my reasoning), he would
present himself at that time and carry out the farce. It was due to his
men, to the other scoundrels of the pack whom he was cheating. And what
would happen when we maintained that we had no knowledge of the
treasure? It was clear that the men would insist on an assault. And if
so, what chance had we against the infuriated ruffians? On the other
hand, we had nothing to hope for from a compromise with such men.
Altogether, the outlook was very black and lowering. When the Prince
and all that remained with him were swept away, and were as if they had
never been, Holgate would be free to deal with the mutineers according
to his tender mercies; and then, with such confederates as he might
have in the original plot, come into possession of the plunder for
which so many innocent lives and so many guilty ones would have been
sacrificed.
By now the wind had sprung into a gale, and the _Sea Queen_ was running
under bare sticks. The water rolled heavily from the southwest, and the
yacht groaned under the buffets. It became difficult to stand--at
least, for a landsman. We had hitherto experienced such equable, fine
weather that I think we had taken for granted that it must continue.
But now we were undeceived. The yacht pitched uneasily and rolled to
her scuppers, and it was as much as we could do to keep our legs.
Holgate, too, must have been occupied by the duties of his position,
for he was a good mariner, which was, perhaps, as well for us. Chance
decides according to her fancy, and the most trivial accidents are
important in the scheme of destiny. Mademoiselle had an attack of _mal
de mer_ and had recourse to me. Nothing in the world mattered save her
sensations, which were probably very unpleasant, I admit. But the yacht
might go to the bottom, and Holgate might storm the state-rooms at the
head of his mutineers--it was all one to the lady who was groaning over
her symptoms on her bed. She kept me an unconscionable time, and when I
at length got away to what I regarded as more important duties I was
followed by her maid. This girl, Juliette, was a trim, sensible, and
practical woman, who had grown accustomed to her mistress's vagaries,
took them with philosophy, and showed few signs of emotion. But now a
certain fear flowed in her eye.
Would Monsieur tell her if there were any danger? Monsieur looked up,
balanced himself neatly against the wall, as the yacht reared, and
declared that he had gone through much worse gales. She shook her head
with some energy.
"No, no, it was not that. There were the sailors--those demons. Was it
true that they had offered to put us all ashore?"
"Yes," said I, "if we give them what we have not got. That is what they
promise, Juliette. But would you like to trust them?"
She considered a moment, her plain, capable face in thought. "No." She
shook her head. "Mademoiselle would do well to beware of them. Yes,
yes," and with a nod she left me.
Now what did that mean? I asked myself, and I could only jump to the
conclusion that Mademoiselle had thoughts of making a bargain with
Holgate on her own account. I knew she was capable of yielding to any
caprice or impulse. If there had not been tragedy in the air it would
have amused me to ponder the possibilities of that conflict of wits and
brains between Holgate and the lady. But she was a victim to
sea-sickness, and our hour drew near. Indeed, it was then but two hours
to eight o'clock.
It was necessary to take such precautions as we might in case Holgate
kept his word. But it was possible that in that wind and sea he would
not. However, to be prepared for the worst, we had a council. There
were now but the Prince, Barraclough, Lane and myself available, for
Ellison was in a bad way. The spareness of our forces was thus betrayed
by this meeting, which was in effect a council of despair. We made our
arrangements as speedily as possible, and then I asked:
"The ladies? We must have some definite plan."
The Prince nodded. "They must be locked in the _boudoir_," he said. "It
has entrances from both their cabins."
"The last stand, then, is there?" I remarked casually.
He echoed the word "there."
I had my duties in addition to those imposed by our dispositions, and I
was not going to fail--I knew I should not fail. Outside in the
corridor we sat and nursed our weapons silently. I don't think that any
one was disposed to talk; but presently the Prince rose and retired to
his room. He returned presently with a magnum of champagne, and
Barraclough drew the cork, while Lane obtained some glasses.
"Let's have a wet. That's a good idea," said the purser.
The Prince ceremoniously lifted his glass to us and took our eyes.
Lane quaffed his, emitting his usual gag hoarsely.
"Fortune!"
How amazingly odd it sounded, like the ironic exclamation of some
onlooking demon of sarcasm.
"Fortune!"
I drank my wine at a gulp. "To a good end, if may be," I said. "To
rest, at least."
Barraclough held his glass coolly and examined it critically.
"It's Pommery, isn't it, sir?" he asked.
I do not think the Prince answered. Barraclough sipped.
"I'll swear it is," said he. "Let's look at the bottle, Lane."
He solved his doubts, and drank and looked at his watch. "If they're
coming, they should be here now."
"The weather's not going to save us," I observed bitterly; "she goes
smoother."
It was true enough. The wind and the sea had both moderated.
Barraclough examined the chambers of his revolver.
"Sir John Barraclough!"
A voice hailed us loudly from the deck. Sir John moved slowly to the
door and turned back to look at us. In its way it was an invitation. He
did not speak, but I think he invoked our aid, or at least our support,
in that look. We followed.
"Yes," he called back, "I'm here."
"We've come for the answer," said the voice. "You've had plenty of time
to turn it over. So what's it to be--the terms offered or war?"
"Is it Holgate?" said Lane in a whisper.
"Oh, it's Holgate, no doubt. Steady! Remember who has the treasure,
Barraclough."
"The treasure is not in our possession," sang out Barraclough. "But we
believe it to be in the possession of Holgate--one of yourselves."
"Oh, come, that won't do--that game won't play," said a familiar wheezy
voice from behind us, and we all fell back in alarm and amazement.
The boards had fallen loose from one of the windows, and Holgate's head
protruded into the corridor. In a flash the Prince's fingers went to
his revolver, and a report echoed from the walls, the louder for that
confined space. Holgate had disappeared. Barraclough ran to the window
and peered out. He looked round.
"That opens it," he said deliberately, and stood with a look of
perplexity and doubt on his face.
"Since you have chosen war and begun the offensive we have no option,"
shouted Holgate through the boarding.
"All right, drive ahead," growled Lane, and sucked his teeth.
Crash came an iron bar on the door. Barraclough inserted his revolver
through the open window and fired. "One," said he.
"Two, by thunder!" said Lane, discharging through one of the holes
pierced in the door.
"They'll play us the same trick as before," said I, and dashed across
to the entrance from the music-room.
Noises arose from below. I tested the locks and bars, and then running
hastily into one of the cabins brought forth a table and used it to
strengthen the barricade. Prince Frederic, observing this, nodded and
gave instructions to Lane, who went on a similar errand on behalf of
the other door.
Crash fell the axe on my door, and the wood splintered. Lane and Prince
Frederic were busy firing through the loopholes, with what result I
could not guess, and probably they themselves knew little more.
Barraclough stood at his peephole and fired now and then, and I did the
same through the holes drilled in my door. But it must have been easy
for any one on the outside to avoid the line of fire if he were
careful. I was reminded that two could play at this game by a bullet
which sang past my face and buried itself in the woodwork behind me.
The light was now failing fast, and we fought in a gloaming within
those walls, though without the mutineers must have seen better. The
axe fell again and again, and the door was giving in several places.
Once there was a respite following on a cry, and I rejoiced that one of
my shots had gone home. But the work was resumed presently with
increased vigour.
And now of a sudden an outcry on my left startled me. I turned, and saw
Prince Frederic in combat with a man, and beyond in the twilight some
other figures. The door to the deck had fallen. Leaving my own door to
take care of itself, I hastened to what was the immediate seat of
danger, and shot one fellow through the body. He fell like a bullock,
and then the Prince gave way and struck against me. His left arm had
dropped to his side, but in his right hand he now held a sword, and,
recovering, he thrust viciously and with agility before him. Before
that gallant assault two more went down, and as Lane and Barraclough
seemed to be holding their own, it seemed almost as if we should get
the better of the attack. But just then I heard rather than saw the
second door yielding, and with shouts the enemy clambered over the
table and were upon us from that quarter also. Beneath this combined
attack we slowly gave way and retreated down the corridor, fighting
savagely. The mutineers must have come to the end of their ammunition,
for they did not use revolvers, but knives and axes. One ruffian, whom
in the uncertain light I could not identify, bore a huge axe, which he
swung over his head, and aimed at me with terrific force. As I dodged
it missed me and crashed into the woodwork of the cabins, from which no
effort could withdraw it. I had stepped aside, and, although taking a
knife wound in my thigh, slipped a blade through the fellow. But still
they bore us back, and I knew in my inmost mind, where instinct rather
than thought moved now, that it was time to think of the _boudoir_ and
my promise. We were being driven in that direction, and if I could only
reach the handle I had resolved what to do.
But now it seemed again that I must be doomed to break my word, for how
was it possible to resist that onset? There were, so far as I could
guess, a dozen of the mutineers, but it was that fact possibly that
helped us a little, as, owing to their numbers, they impeded one
another. Prince Frederic was a marvellous swordsman, and he swept a
passage clear before him; but at last his blade snapped in the middle,
and he was left defenceless. I saw some one rush at him, and, the light
gleaming on his face, I recognised Pierce. With my left hand I hurled
my revolver into it with all the power of my muscles. It struck him
full in the mouth, that ugly, lipless mouth which I abhorred. He
uttered a cry of pain and paused for a moment. But in that moment,
abstracted from my own difficulties, I had given a chance to one of my
opponents, whose uplifted knife menaced me. I had no time to draw back,
and if I ducked I felt I should go under and be trodden upon by the
feet of the infuriated enemy. Once down, I should never rise again. It
seemed all over for me as well as for the Prince, and in far less time
than it takes to relate this the thought had flashed into my
head--flashed together with that other thought that the Princess would
wait, and wait for me in vain. Ah, but would she wait? If I knew her
fine-tempered spirit she would not hesitate. She had the means of her
salvation; she carried it in her bosom, and feared not. No, I could not
be afraid for her.
As I have said, these reflections were almost instantaneous, and they
had scarcely passed in a blaze of wonder through my brain when the
yacht lurched heavily, the deck slipped away from us, and the whole
body of fighting, struggling men was precipitated with a crash against
the opposite wall. Some had fallen to the floor, and others crawled
against the woodwork, shouting oaths and crying for assistance. I had
fallen with the rest, and lay against a big fellow whose back was
towards me. I struggled from him and was climbing the slope of the
deck, when she righted herself and rolled sharply over on the other
side. This caused an incontinent rush of bodies across the corridor
again, and for a moment all thought of renewing the conflict was
abandoned. I recognised Prince Frederic as the man by me, and I
whispered loudly in his ears, so that my voice carried through the
clamour and the noises of the wind that roared outside round the
state-rooms.
"Better make our last stand here. I mean the ladies...." He nodded.
"It will be better," he answered harshly. "Yes ... better."
He turned about, with his hand on the door-knob behind him, and now I
saw that we had reached the entrance to the _boudoir_.
"Alix! ... Yvonne!" he called loudly through the keyhole. "You know
what to do, beloved. Farewell!"
I had refilled my revolver in the pause and, with a fast-beating heart,
turned now to that horrid cockpit once more. The first person my eyes
lighted on was Holgate, broad, clean-faced, and grinning like a demon.
"He shall die, at any rate," said Prince Frederic, and lifted his
revolver which he had reloaded. It missed fire; the second shot grazed
Holgate's arm and felled a man behind him.
"No luck, Prince," said the fellow in his mocking voice, and in his
turn raised a weapon of his own. But he did not fire. Instead, he
turned swiftly round and made a dash towards the other end of the
corridor.
"To me, men; this way! By heaven and thunder!"
His voice, fat as it was, pierced the din, and acted as a rallying cry.
Several of the mutineers, now confronting us again, turned and followed
him, and there was the noise of a struggle issuing from the darkness of
the top end of the corridor.
"What the deuce is this?" screamed Barraclough in my ear.
"I don't know. Let's fall on. There's an alarm. They're----! Now, by
the Lord, it's Legrand, thank God! Legrand, Legrand!"
"Bully for Legrand!" cried Barraclough, wiping some blood from his
face, and he set upon the mutineers from the rear. Those left to face
us had scarcely recovered from their astonishment at the alarm when the
Prince shot two, and a third went down to me. The others retreated
towards their companions, and the three of us followed them up. I say
the three, for I could not see Lane anywhere, and I feared that he had
fallen.
The conflict thus renewed upon more equal terms found, nevertheless,
most of the participants worn and exhausted. At least I can answer for
myself, and I am sure that my companions were in a like case. The
twilight that reigned disguised the scene of the struggle, so that each
man saw but little beyond his own part in the affair; yet I was
conscious that the mutineers were being pushed back towards the deck
door. They had been caught between the two parties as it appeared, and
Legrand's unexpected onset from the music-saloon entrance had thrown
them into confusion. It was obvious that Legrand and his men were
armed, for I heard a shot or two issuing from the _melee_, and above
the noise of the oaths and thuds and thumpings was the clash of steel.
Presently my man, who had engaged me over-long, dropped, and before me
was a little vacancy of space, at the end of which, hard by the door, I
discerned the bulky form of Holgate. He was leaning against the wall,
as if faint, and a revolver dropped from his fingers.
"By God, doctor, if I'd had any idea of this I'd have crucified 'em
all," he said to me savagely; "but I'll get square yet. First you, and
now Legrand! I'll be square yet."
As he spoke, panting, he heaved himself higher against the wall and
levelled his revolver. In a flash my arm descended and knocked the
weapon to the floor. I could see his grin even in the dim light.
"Well, it was empty, anyway, man," he said, "but I'll give you best for
the present. I've my ship to look after."
I could have struck him down then and there, and I raised my point to
do so; but he seized my arm. "Don't be a fool, my lad. She'll be gone
in this wind, if I don't take charge. Have your fling if you want it,"
he screamed in my face above the clamour. For the noise of the wind was
now increased and grown into a roar. It sounded as a menace in the
ears, and I involuntarily paused and looked out of the doorway. The
heavens were black, the waters ran white to the gunwale, and the _Sea
Queen_ staggered like a drunkard on her course. Holgate's practised
eye had taken in the situation, and he had seen that he was necessary
to the navigation of the yacht. And yet I marvelled at his coolness, at
the strength of will and heroic resolution which could turn him of a
sudden from one filled with the lust of blood and greed and battle into
the patient sailor with his ship to save. These thoughts ran through my
head as I paused. It was only a brief pause, so brief that it was no
time ere I rejoined my companions in their attack on the failing
mutineers; but in it I had a glimpse deep into the chief mutineer's
nature.
I let him go. His argument came home to me. I do not know that I could
be said to have considered; rather his individuality dominated me in
this appeal to something beyond our immediate quarrel, to a more
ultimate good. Perhaps his very assurance, which was almost
contemptuous in its expression, helped to dissuade me. I dropped my arm
and he went. Outside, as I turned back, I saw him stay a moment and
look upon us, that pack of desperate wolves and watch-dogs. Almost I
could think he lifted his lips in a grin over his fancy. Then he
disappeared into the gathering gloom, and, as I say, I returned to the
attack. A few minutes later the mutineers broke and scattered. Their
resistance was at an end, and they fled out into the night, leaving our
party breathless, wounded, but secure and triumphant.
I say secure, but alas, the price of that security had been heavy!
Legrand with two of his men had escaped unhurt, but two were dead and
two seriously wounded. Lane had his face cut open; Barraclough had come
off with a nasty stab in the ribs, and Prince Frederic was not to be
found. We hunted in that scene of carnage, and I discovered him at last
under the body of a dead mutineer. When we had got him forth he was
still unconscious, but breathed heavily, and I found traces of internal
injuries. I administered what was necessary, including a restorative,
and he came to presently.
"Well, sir," said he weakly, "what's the report?"
"By heaven, sir, we've licked them," I cried. "Good news, sir. The dogs
have run."
"They shall be hanged in due course," said he in a loud voice. "My luck
holds, doctor." He waved his hand weakly down the corridor. "Tell the
ladies. Acquaint--her Royal Highness."
It was the first time he had given his sister her proper style, and in
a way this might be taken by those who look for omens as auspicious.
Did his luck indeed hold, as he said?
I took the office on myself. The _Sea Queen_ was galloping like a
racer, and plunged as she ran. Two steps took me to the _boudoir_
door, before which lay the body of one of our enemies. As the ship
rolled it slipped away and began to creep down the corridor. The yacht
reared before she dipped again, and a cascade of spray streamed over
the side and entered by the broken door. I rapped loudly and called
loudly; and in a trice the door opened, and the Princess Alix stood
before me, glimmering like a ghost in the darkness.
"They are gone," I shouted. "We have won."
"Thank God! He has heard us," she exclaimed. "I could hear nothing for
the sound of the sea and the wind. But oh, the suspense was terrible!
My hair should be white!"
"Mademoiselle?" I asked.
"Mademoiselle sleeps," said she, and I thought there was something
significant in her voice.
It was well that Mademoiselle slept. I left her and went back to the
Prince, for more than he needed my care, and as I reached the group the
roll of the yacht sent me flying. Legrand caught me.
"We can't spare you yet, doctor," he shouted.
"Thank God for you," I answered fervently. "You came in the nick of
time."
"I thought we might have cut our way out last night, but I found we
couldn't," he explained. "You see, we only had one knife, and it has
been a tough job to get through the heavy wood of the partition."
"Thank God," I repeated, and clutched at him again as the floor rose
up. "I'm not accustomed to this," I said with a laugh. "It's worse than
the mutineers."
He answered nothing, for his gaze was directed towards the door.
"We must take charge," he shouted. "Good Lord, there's no time to
lose."
"Holgate's there," I screamed back. "He went to look after the ship."
We stood holding on to each other, and Barraclough, Lane and the Prince
were holding on by the brass rods on the cabin doors. She rolled and
kicked and stood up at an angle of 45 deg.
"What is it?" I screamed.
Legrand pointed to the blackness without. "We'll get it in a little. I
hope to God it will be no worse than this. She can't stand on her head
with safety."
Suddenly the roar swelled louder, and dismal shrieks and whistlings
sounded in the ears. The _Sea Queen_ sank, and a whole tide of sea
rushed over the bulwarks and flooded the state-rooms. The water ran
knee-deep and set the bodies of the dead awash. One struck against me
in the whirlpool. It was a ghastly scene, set in that gathered
darkness.
"Nothing can be done. We've got to hold on," said Legrand. "He's a good
seaman; I'll say that for him. But how many's he got with him? He's
undermanned. It's all on the engine-room now."
We were silent again, mainly because it was almost impossible to hear
anything through that tempest of wind and volcanic sea. She came right
for a moment, and our grip of each other relaxed.
"I'm going, Legrand," I called to him.
"Don't be a fool," said he.
"Oh, I'm all right. I've forgotten something," I shouted. "I'll see to
myself"; and I cut myself adrift from him.
I crossed the corridor successfully, and then the yacht heeled and I
was almost precipitated to the other end of it. She was being knocked
about like a tin pot in a gale. I seized a door-handle and hung on, and
when the vessel recovered somewhat I twisted it, but it did not give.
The _boudoir_ must be farther on.
I crept on by means of the brass railing and at last reached a door
which gave. I opened it and called out:
"Princess! Princess!"
Blackness filled the room. I could hear and see nothing human. I
entered, and the door swung to behind with a clang.
"Princess!" I shouted, but I could hear no answer.
I groped in the darkness with both hands, and then I touched an arm! I
seized it, and drew the owner to me gently.
"Princess!" I called, and this time an answer reached me through the
raging elements:
"It is I."
"Thank God, you're safe. Do not be alarmed," I said, speaking into her
ear. "The yacht's caught in a hurricane, but----"
There fell at that instant a resounding crash far above the noise of
the storm, and we were thrown headlong against the outer wall of the
_boudoir_. I knew that only, and then I knew no more.