THE TRAGEDY
It was quite obvious that we could not offer any resistance to another
attack if one should be made. All told, and excluding the women, there
were but seven of us, and three of these were disabled by their wounds.
We did not, of course, know how the mutineers had fared, but it was
certain that their assault had cost them dear. The heavy seas had
washed overboard dead and dying, and it was impossible for us to say
how many enemies were left to us. It might be that with their
diminished numbers they would not risk another attack, particularly as
they had found us develop so fierce a resistance. But, on the other
hand, the rank and file of the mutineers believed us to be in
possession of the treasure (as we actually were once more), and it was
likely that they would make yet another attempt to gain it. But they on
their side could not tell how we had suffered, and they would be sure
to use caution. For these reasons I did not think that we need fear an
immediate assault, but we thought it advisable to concentrate our
forces against an emergency. We therefore abandoned the music-room and
secured ourselves as well as possible in the wreck of the state-rooms,
using furniture and trunks and boxes as barricades.
For my part, my heart echoed the Princess's wish. I was in favour of
abandoning the yacht and trusting to the chances of the island. As the
sun rose higher we got glimpses of this through the windows, and the
verdure looked inviting after so many weary weeks of desolate water.
The tops of the hills seemed barren, but I had no doubt that there was
more fertility in the valleys, which were not swept by the bluff winds
of the wild sea. But the Prince was obstinate, and, relying upon his
luck, was dragging down with him the lives of the two women he loved,
to say nothing of the rest of our company. We had therefore to make the
best of the situation, and to sit down and await issues with what
composure we might.
The Prince himself had recovered wonderfully, though I did not like the
look of the dent on his head, which had been dealt apparently by the
back of an axe. His power of recuperation astonished me, and I was
amazed on leaving the cabin in which Lane was housed, to find him
entering the doorway that led from the lobby. I remonstrated with him,
for it was evident that he had been wandering, and I wanted him to
rest, so as to have all his strength for use later should it be
necessary. He smiled queerly.
"Yet you would have me take a turn on the island, doctor," he said. "I
saw it in your eyes. I will not have you encourage the Princess so. It
is my wish to stay. I will see my luck to the end."
This was the frame of his mind, and you will conceive how impossible to
move one so fanatically fixed on his course; indeed, the futility of
argument was evident from the first, and I made no attempt.
Barraclough, too, retired defeated, though it was by no means his last
word on the point, as you shall hear.
I was seated in the corridor some three hours later, near what should
have been four bells, when I heard my name called softly. I looked
about me without seeing any one. The wounded men were resting, and
Legrand was at the farther end of the corridor, acting as sentinel over
our makeshift of a fortress. I sat wondering, and then my name was
called again--called in a whisper that, nevertheless, penetrated to my
ears and seemed to carry on the quiet air. I rose and went towards
Legrand.
"Did you call?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No," said he.
"I heard my name distinctly," I said.
"Oh, don't get fancying things, Phillimore," he said with impatient
earnestness. "My dear fellow, there's only you and Barraclough and me
now."
"Well, I'd better swallow some of my own medicine," I retorted grimly,
and left him.
I walked back again and turned. As I did so, the call came to me so
clearly and so softly that I knew it was no fancy on my part, and now I
involuntarily lifted my eyes upwards to the skylights. One of these had
been shattered in the gale.
"Doctor!"
I gazed in amazement, and suddenly Holgate's face passed momentarily
over the hole in the glass.
"Doctor, can you spare me ten minutes?"
What in the name of wonder was this? I paused, looked down the corridor
towards Legrand, and reflected. Then I took it in at a guess, and I
resolved to see him.
"Where?" I asked, in a voice so modulated that it did not reach
Legrand.
"Here--the promenade," came back the reply.
I whistled softly, but made no answer. Then I walked away.
"Legrand," said I, "I'm going for a turn. I've got an idea."
"Don't let your idea get you," said he bluffly.
I assured him that I was particular about my personal safety, and with
his assistance the door was opened behind the barricade. For the first
time for two days I found myself on the deck and in the open air.
Hastily glancing about me to make sure that no mutineers were in the
neighbourhood, I walked to the foot of the ladder that gave access to
the promenade-deck above and quickly clambered to the top. At first I
could see no sign of Holgate, and then a head emerged from behind the
raised skylights and he beckoned to me.
"Sit here, doctor," said he. "You'll be safe here. No harm shall come
to you."
He indicated a seat under cover of one of the extra boats which was
swung inside the promenade-deck for use in the event of emergencies,
and he himself set me the example of sitting.
"I suppose you've come armed," he said. I tapped my breast-pocket
significantly.
"So!" said he, smiling. "Well, you're plucky, but you're not a fool;
and I won't forget that little affair downstairs. I'll admit you might
have dusted me right up, if you'd chosen. But you didn't. You had a
clear head and refrained."
"On the contrary," said I, "I've been thinking ever since what a dolt I
was not to shoot."
"You don't shoot the man at the wheel, lad," said he with a grin.
"Oh, you weren't that; you were only the enemy. Why, we struck half an
hour later."
"Yes," he assented. "But we're not down under yet. And you can take
your solemn Alfred that that's where we should be now if you hadn't let
me pass. No, doctor, you spared the rod and saved the ship."
"Well, she's piled up, my good sir," I declared.
"So she is," he admitted. "But she's saved all the same. And I'll let
you into a little secret, doctor. What d'ye suppose my men are busy
about, eh? Why, pumping--pumping for all they're worth. I keep 'em well
employed, by thunder." He laughed. "If it's not fight, it's pump, and
if it weren't pump, by the blazes it would be fight. So you owe me one,
doctor, you and those fine friends of yours who wouldn't pick you out
of a gutter."
"Supposing we get to the point," I suggested curtly.
"That's all right. There's a point about here, sure enough. Well, we're
piled up on blessed Hurricane Island, doctor, as you see. We struck her
at a proper angle. See? Here lies the _Sea Queen_, with a bulge in her
and her nose for the water. She'd like to crawl off, and could."
He waved his hand as he spoke, and for the first time my gaze took in
the scene. We lay crooked up upon a ridge of rock and sand; beyond, to
the right, the cliffs rose in a cloud of gulls, and nearer and
leftwards the long rollers broke upon a little beach which sloped up to
the verdure of a tiny valley. It was a solitary but a not unhandsome
prospect, and my eyes devoured it with inward satisfaction, even with
longing. Far away a little hill was crowned with trees, and the sun was
shining warmly on the gray sand and blue water.
I turned, and Holgate's eye was on me.
"She's piled up for certain, but I guess she could get up and waddle if
we urged her," he said slowly.
"Come, Holgate, I have no idea what this means," said I. "I only know
that a few hours ago you would have annihilated us, and that we must
look for the same attempt again. I confess there's nothing else plain
to me."
"I'll make it plain, lad," said he with his Lancashire accent
uppermost. "I'm not denying what you say. I told you long ago that I
was going through with this, and that holds. I'm not going to let go
now, no, by thunder, not when I'm within an ace of it. But there's been
a bit of manoeuvring, doctor, and I think we can help each other."
"You want a compromise," I said.
"You can call it that if you will," he said. "But the terms I offered
yesterday I repeat to-day."
"Why do you take this method of offering them?" I inquired. "Why not
approach the Prince officially?"
"Well, you see, doctor, I don't hanker after seeing the Prince, as you
might say; and then, between you and me, you're more reasonable, and
know when the butter's on the bread."
"And there's another reason," said I.
He slapped his thigh and laughed. "Ah! Ah! doctor, there's no getting
behind you. You're a fair daisy," he said good-humouredly. "Yes,
there's another reason, which is by way of manoeuvring, as I have
said. My men are at the pumps or they would be at you. You see you've
got the treasure."
"Oh, only a few hours since," I said lightly. His fang showed.
"That's so. But so far as my men know you've had it all along. Now I
wonder where you hid it? Perchance in a steward's pantry, doctor?"
"Very likely," I assented.
His sombre eyes, which never smiled, scrutinised me.
"I'd put my shirt on it that 'twas you, doctor," he said presently.
"What a man you are! It couldn't be that worm, Pye, naturally; so it
must be you. I'm nuts on you."
I rose. "I'm afraid, Holgate, you can't offer any terms which would be
acceptable," I said drily.
"Well, it's a fair exchange," he said. "I guess I can keep my men aloof
for a bit, and we can get her off. There's not much the matter with the
yacht. I'll land your party on the coast in return for the boodle."
"The Prince would not do it," I answered. "Nor would I advise him to do
so--for one reason, if for no other."
I spoke deliberately and looked him in the face fully.
"What may that be?" he asked, meeting my gaze.
"You would not keep your word," I said.
He shook his head. "You're wrong, doctor, you're wholly wrong. You
haven't got my measure yet, hanged if you have. I thought you had a
clearer eye. What interest have I in your destruction? None in the
world."
"Credit me with some common sense, Holgate," I replied sharply. "Dead
men tell no tales."
"Nor dead women," he said meaningly, and I shuddered. "But, good Lord!
I kill no man save in fight. Surrender, and I'll keep the wolves off
you. They only want the money."
"Which they would not get," I put in.
He smiled, not resenting this insinuation. "That's between me and my
Maker," he said with bold blasphemy. "Anyway, I'm not afraid of putting
your party at liberty. I know a corner or two. I can look after myself.
I've got my earths to run to."
"It's no use," I said firmly.
"Well, there's an alternative," he said, showing his teeth, "and that's
war; and when it comes to war, lives don't count, of either sex; no, by
blazes, they don't, Dr. Phillimore!"
He stood up and faced me, his mouth open, his teeth apart, and that
malicious grin wrinkling all but his smouldering feral eyes. I turned
my back on him without a word and descended to the deck. I had not a
notion what was to be done, but I knew better than to trust to the
ravening mercies of that arch-mutineer.
Holgate was aware that the treasure was gone, and he wished to jockey
us into a surrender. That was the gist of my interview, which I
hastened to communicate to my companions. Legrand and Barraclough
listened with varying faces. Expressions flitted over the former's as
shadows over a sea, but the baronet was still as rock, yes, and as
hard, it seemed to me.
"You people have all got a bee in your bonnet in respect of a
compromise," he said with a sneer. "You follow the Prince, and God
knows he's no judge. He's a fanatic. Hang it, Phillimore, haven't you
tumbled to that yet?"
He was a fanatic, it was true, but I did not like Barraclough's tone.
"Then you would trust the lives of this company, including the ladies,
to Holgate?" I asked sharply.
"With proper reservations and safeguards," he said.
I threw out my hands. "You talk of safeguards, and you're dealing with
a cut-throat. What safeguards could you have?"
"Well, we might stipulate for a surrender of all the firearms," said
Barraclough, knitting his brow.
"It wouldn't wash," said Legrand decidedly. "Do you think they'd give
up all they had? No, it would only be a pretence--a sham. I agree with
the doctor that Holgate's safety is only spelled out by our deaths.
There you have it in a nutshell. The man can't afford to let us go
free."
Barraclough assumed a mule-like look. "Very well," said he. "Then we're
wiped out as soon as he cares to move," and he turned away angrily.
An hour later I was passing the ladies' cabins when a door flew open,
and Mademoiselle jumped out on me in a state of agitation.
"What is this, doctor?" she cried. "This 'Olgate offers to put us on
shore safe, and you refuse--refuse to give him up the money. You must
not. You must bargain with him. Our lives depend on it. And you will
arrange that he leaves us sufficient to get to civilisation again."
"Mademoiselle," said I quietly, "I am not in authority here. It is the
Prince."
"The Prince, he is ill," she went on in her voluble French. "He is not
master of himself, as you well know. He is not to be trusted to make a
decision. Sir John shall do it. He is captain."
"It should be done with all my heart and now, Mademoiselle," I said,
"if we could put any reliance on the man's word. But how can we after
his acts, after this bloody mutiny?"
She clasped her hands together in terror. "Then we shall be doomed to
death, Monsieur. Ah, try, consent! Let us see what he will offer. Sir
John shall do it for me whose life is at stake."
I was sorry for her fears, and her agitation embarrassed me. Heaven
knew I understood the situation even more clearly than she, and to me
it was formidable, pregnant with peril. But what could I do? I did what
I could to reassure her, which was little enough, and I left her
weeping. The singing-bird had become suddenly conscious of her danger,
and was beating wildly against the bars of her cage. Poor singing-bird!
Princess Alix had taken upon herself the office of nurse to her
brother, and although he refused to acknowledge the necessity of a
nurse, he seemed glad to have her in his room. When I entered early in
the afternoon after tending my other patients, they were talking low
together in German, a tongue with which, as I think I have said, I was
not very familiar. But I caught some words, and I guessed that it was
of home they spoke, and the linden-trees in the avenue before the
castle of Hochburg. The Princess's face wore a sad smile, which strove
to be tender and playful at once, but failed pitifully. And she dropped
the pretence when she faced me.
"Dr. Phillimore, my brother is not so well. He--he has been wandering,"
she said anxiously under her breath.
I had been afraid of the dent in the head. I approached him and felt
his pulse.
"It will not be long, doctor, before we have these scoundrels hanged,"
he said confidently, nodding to me in his grave way. "We have nearly
finished our work."
"Yes," said I, "very nearly."
I did not like his looks. He raised himself in his chair. "'_Den Lieben
langen Tag_,' Alix. Why don't you sing that now? You used to sing it
when you were but a child," he said, relapsing into German. "Sing,
Alix." He stared about as if suddenly remembering something. "If Yvonne
were here, she would sing. Her voice is beautiful--ach, so beautiful!"
There was a moment's silence, and the Princess looked at me,
inquiringly, as it appeared to me. I nodded to her, and she parted her
lips. Sweet and soft and plaintive were the strains of that old-world
song. Ah, how strangely did that slender voice of beauty touch the
heart, while Mademoiselle had sung in vain with all her art and
accomplishment:
Den Lieben langen Tag
Hab ich nur Schmerz und Plag
Und darf am Abend doch nit weine.
Wen ich am Fendersteh,
Und in die Nacht nei seh,
So ganz alleine, so muss ich weine.
Her voice had scarce died away gently when a sound from without drew my
ears, and I turned towards the door. The Prince had closed his eyes and
lay back in his chair as if he slept, and his face was that of a happy
child. Motioning to the Princess to let him stay so, undisturbed, I
moved to the door and opened it noiselessly. I heard Legrand's voice
raised high as if in angry altercation, and I stepped into the corridor
and closed the door behind me. I hurried down to the barricade and
found Barraclough and Legrand struggling furiously.
"Shame!" I called, "shame! What is it?" and I pulled Legrand back. "He
has only one arm, man," I said reproachfully.
"I don't care if he has none. He's betrayed us," cried Legrand,
savagely angry.
I stared. "What does it mean?"
"Why, that his friends are outside, and that he wants to admit them,"
said Legrand with an oath.
Barraclough met my gaze unblinkingly. "It's more or less true," he said
bluntly, "and I'm going to let them in. I'm sick of this business, and
I've taken the matter in hand myself. I'm captain here."
He spoke with morose authority and eyed me coolly. I shrugged my
shoulders. We could not afford to quarrel, but the man's obduracy
angered me. Alas! I did not guess how soon he was to pay the penalty!
"Then you have come to terms, as you call it, on your own account, with
Holgate?" I asked.
"Yes," he said defiantly.
"And what terms, may I ask?"
He hesitated. "They can have the treasure in return for our safety. You
know my views."
"And you know mine," said I. "Then, I may take it you have revealed the
secret of the treasure?"
"What the devil's it got to do with you?" he replied sullenly. "Stand
out of the way there! I'm going to open the door!"
"And why, pray, if they already have the treasure?"
"You fool! it's only Holgate, and he's here to get us to sign a
document."
"Meaning," said I, "that we are not to split on him, and to keep silent
as to all these bloody transactions."
"It's our only chance," he said savagely. "Out of the way!"
I hesitated. If Holgate were alone, there was not much to be feared,
and, the treasure being now in his hands, what could move him to visit
us? Surely, he could have no sinister motive just then? Could he, after
all, be willing to trust to his luck and release us, his predestined
victims, as the unhappy Prince had trusted to his? The omen was ill.
The barricades had been removed evidently before Legrand had arrived on
the scene to interfere, and even as I hesitated Barraclough turned the
key, and the door fell open. Holgate waddled heavily into the corridor
and took us all three in with his rolling eyes. His face seemed to be
broader, more substantial, and darker than ever, and his mouth and chin
marked the resolute animal even more determinedly. The open door was
behind him.
"As Sir John will have told you," he began slowly, moving his gaze from
one to another, "I have come on a little business with him which we've
got to settle before we part."
Legrand stood in angry bewilderment, and, as for me, I knew not how to
take this. Had he come in good faith?
"I would be damned if I would have struck a bargain with you, Holgate,
or dreamed of trusting you," said Legrand, fuming. "But as it's done,
and you have the spoils, what's your game now?"
Holgate sent a quick look at him, and passed his hand over his
forehead. Then he eyed me.
"What do you suppose I'm here for?" he asked, his eyes looking out as
tigers waiting in their lair. "All unarmed, and trusting, as I am, it
is only reasonable to suppose that I come to fulfill my promise to Sir
John here. He knows what that was, and he's done enough to have got his
money's worth."
"We will sign if you produce the document," said Barraclough curtly.
"You'll sign, Phillimore, and you?" he said, looking at Legrand.
It had the air of a command, but what else could we do? We were at
Holgate's mercy, and the act of signature could do us no harm. On the
other hand, it might save us.
"Yes," I said reluctantly, "I'll sign, as it's come to that."
"I'll follow," growled Legrand. "But if I'd known----"
"Hang it! let's get it over!" said Barraclough. "You shall have our
word of honour as gentlemen."
"It's a pretty big thing you're asking," said Legrand moodily. "I don't
know. Let's think it out."
"And the Prince?" said Holgate; "he must sign. You can manage him?"
Barraclough frowned. After all, it seemed more complex now with the
cold light of reason on the compact.
"Look here, man," said he, and I never was nearer liking him, "if
you'll put us ashore within forty-eight hours after floating--and you
can--on the Chili coast, you'll have a fortnight's start, and can
chance the rest. Hang it! Holgate, take your risks."
Holgate showed his teeth in a grin. "I have lived forty years," said he
slowly, "and, by thunder, I've never taken an unnecessary risk in my
life--no! by God I haven't!" and he whistled shrilly through his teeth.
Instantaneously (for they must have been in waiting) half a dozen of
the mutineers dashed through the doorway, and, before any of us could
finger a weapon, we were in their grip. It was the simplest booby-trap
that ever was laid, and yet it was prepared with consummate skill. He
had come alone and unarmed; he had held us in converse; and when we had
lost our sense of suspicion and precaution he had brought his men upon
us. Down went the lid of the trap! I could have kicked myself.
Legrand struggled, as did Barraclough; but what did resistance avail?
The infamous Pierce, who had me on one side, twisted my arm in warning
lest I should kick futilely against the pricks.
"Steady!" said I. "It is not a question of war just now, but of
parley," and I raised my voice so as to be heard above the noise. "What
does this mean, Holgate? More treachery of a special black die?"
He seated himself on the barricade. "You may call it revenge," said he,
considering me. "I exonerate Sir John, and I think Legrand there, but
cuss me if I'm sure about you."
"You're a black traitor!" cried Barraclough, impotently fierce.
"Whoa there, Sir John, whoa there!" said the mutineer equably. "I've
already said I exonerate you; but, hang it, man, you're a flat. They've
diddled you. I'm no traitor. I'd have struck to my bargain and trusted
you, but by the Lord, what am I to do when I find I'm dealing with a
pack of hucksters?"
"What's your game?" repeated Legrand, blowing hard. Holgate indicated
Barraclough. "If he had carried out his part I was prepared to carry
out mine; as he hasn't----" He left his end in space.
"You haven't the treasure?" I cried in surprise; but Holgate's gaze had
gone beyond us and was directed at something down the corridor. I moved
my head with difficulty, and, as I did so, I saw Holgate take a
revolver from one of his men. He sat fingering it; and that was all I
observed, for my eyes, slewing round, had caught sight of the Prince
and Princess. The Prince moved heavily towards us, with an uncertain
gait, and Alix's face was full of terror and wonder. In that instant I
remembered something, and I saw in my mind's eye the figure of the
Prince labouring through the doorway that gave access to the stairs to
the lower deck. It was he who had removed the treasure, and Holgate had
been cheated a second time.
Even as this revelation came to me, I wondered at the self-restraint of
the man. He was as cool as if he sat at dinner among friends, merely
resting a finger on the trigger of his weapon, the muzzle of which he
held to the ground.
"What is this, sir?" demanded the Prince, coming to a pause and staring
at the scene. Holgate answered nothing. I doubt if the Prince had seen
him from where he stood, for he addressed Barraclough, and now he
repeated his question with dignity. At that moment a door opened
somewhere with a click, and Mademoiselle entered the corridor.
Barraclough made no sign, but with his teeth on his under lip stared
before him helplessly.
"But you have the treasure," suddenly cried a tremulous voice in broken
English, and Mademoiselle was in our midst. "Go back, Messieurs: you
have broke your word. You have the treasure."
The Prince stared at her. "What treasure?" he asked with a puzzled
expression.
"Sir John has made peace with them," she cried excitedly. "He has
delivered up the treasure, and they will let us go free. It is all
settled. Let him go, 'Olgate. You shall let him go."
"Why," said the Prince with a singular expression on his face, "it
means I am surrounded with traitors. There is treachery everywhere.
Yvonne, you have betrayed me."
"Ah, _non_, _non_!" she cried plaintively, clasping her hands together.
"We shall be saved. Sir John sees to that."
"So you made terms," said the Prince to Barraclough in his deep voice
of fury.
"I acted for the best," said Barraclough; and now that he met the storm
he faced it with dignity. Perhaps I alone knew the measure of his
temptation. He had fallen a victim to the arts of a beautiful woman.
There was nought else could have melted that obdurate British heart or
turned that obstinate British mind. This obtuseness had been his ruin,
and he must have recognised it then; for he had admitted the enemy and
our stronghold was in their hands. But the last blow had yet to fall.
"Fool!" said the Prince with a bitter laugh. "The treasure is not
there. You have played without cards."
"I will be damned if I didn't think it was his royal highness," said
Holgate in his even voice, and as he spoke he rose into sight.
It was grotesque as it sounded, certainly not a bit like the prelude of
high tragedy; yet that was on the way, and fell at once. Holgate's
voice arrested the Prince, and he started, as if now for the first time
aware of the presence of the mutineers. Till that moment he had merely
been bent on rating a servant. With the swiftness of lightning he drew
and levelled a revolver; I saw Holgate's fat bull neck and body lean to
one side and drop awkwardly, and then an exclamation sprang up on my
left, where Gray and another were holding Barraclough captive. The
bullet had gone over Holgate's head as he dodged it and had found its
home in Sir John's heart. His body dropped between the captors. The
Princess gave a cry of horror. Holgate cast a glance behind him.
"You're too mighty dangerous," he said easily, and put up his own
weapon. But before it could reach the level, the Prince with a slight
start clapped the revolver to his own head and pulled the trigger.
"Alix!" he cried weakly, and then something low in German, and as he
fell the life must have left him.
His sister bent over him, her face white like the cerements of the
dead, and Mademoiselle ran forward.
"Frederic!" she cried. "_Mon Frederic!_" and broke into violent sobs.
"Good God!" said Legrand, trembling.