The two plotters were palavering loud enough. In that place there was
no need--at least, so thought they--for restrained speech; and the
listener could have heard every word, but for the hoarse hissing of the
cataract. This, at times, hindered him from distinguishing what was
said; and only in detached portions could he pick up the thread of the
discourse. Enough, however, heard he to cause him astonishment--the
greatest of all, that in the Island of Jamaica, or upon the earth,
existed two such villains as Chakra, the Coromantee, and Jessuron, the
Jew!
He could see the conspirators as well as hear them. The chinks between
the bamboos enabled him to obtain a view of both.
The Jew, slightly blown with his long walk against the hill, had dropped
into a sitting attitude upon the truck-like bedstead; while the
Coromantee stood before him, leaning against the buttress of the tree
which formed one side of his dwelling.
The conversation had commenced before Cubina came up. It could not have
proceeded far. The lard lamp seemed recently lit. Besides, the Maroon
knew that he had been only a few minutes behind them. The plot,
therefore, whatever it was, had not yet made much progress.
So reasoned the listener; but it soon appeared that it was the
continuation of a plot, and not its first conception, to which he was to
become privy--a plot so demoniac as to include _murder_ in its design!
The Jew, when Cubina first got eyes on him, appeared as if he had just
given utterance to some angry speech. His dark, weasel-like orbs were
sparkling in their sunken sockets, with a fiendish light. The goggles
were off, and the eyes could be seen. In his right hand the eternal
umbrella was grasped, with a firm clutch, as if held in menace!
Chakra, on the other hand, appeared cowed and pleading. Though almost
twice the size, and apparently twice the strength of the old Israelite,
he looked at that moment as if in fear of him!
"Gorry, Massr Jake!" said he, in an appealing tone; "how ebber wa' _I_
to know de Cussus warn a gwine so soon? A nebber speered ob dat; an'
you nebber tole me you wanted de obeah-spell to work fasser dan war
safe. Ef a'd a know'd dat, a kud a fotch de dam Cussus out o' him boots
in de shake ob a cat's tail--dat cud a a' did!"
"Ach!" exclaimed the Jew, with an air of unmistakable chagrin; "he's
going to shlip us. S'help me, he will! And now, when I wants more ash
ever the shpell upon him. I'sh heard something from thish girl Cynthy
of a conshpiracy against myshelf. Sheesh heard them plotting in the
summer-house in the Cushtos's garden."
"Wha' dey plot 'gain you, Massr Jake? Who am dey dat go plottin'?"
"The Cushtos is one, the other ish that scamp son of Cubina, the
Maroon--the young Cubina. You knowsh him?"
"Dat same a know well 'nuf."
"Ah! the proud Cushtos don't know--though he hash his sushpicions--that
hish wife Quasheba wash the mishtress of a Maroon. Ha! ha! ha! And she
luffed the mulatto better as ever she luffed Vanities Vochan! Ha! ha!
ha!"
"Dat am berry near de troof," observed the negro, with a thoughtful air.
"Little dosh the Cushtos think," continued Jessuron, without heeding the
interpolation, "that thish young fellow, whosh a-helpin' him to
conshpire againsht me, is a sort of a son to hish consheited worship.
Ha! ha! ha!"
It was startling intelligence for the listener outside the door. It was
the first intimation the young Maroon ever had as to who was his mother.
Some vague hints had been conveyed to him in early childhood; but his
memory recalled them only as dreams; and he himself had never allowed
them expression. His father he had known well--called, as himself,
Cubina, the Maroon. But his mother, who or what she had been, he had
never known.
Was it possible, then, that the quadroon, Quasheba--of whose fame he,
too, had heard--was it true she was his own mother? That "Lilly
Quasheba," the beautiful, the accomplished daughter of the Custos
Vaughan, was his half-sister?
He could not doubt it. The conversation that followed put him in
possession of further details, and more ample proofs. Besides, such
relationships were too common in the Island of Jamaica, to make them
matter either of singularity or surprise.
Notwithstanding, the listener was filled with astonishment--far more
than that--for the revelation was one to stir his soul to emotions of
the strangest and strongest kind. New thoughts sprang up at the
announcement; new vistas opened before the horoscope of his future; new
ties were established within his heart, hitherto unfelt and unknown.
Stifling his new-sprung emotions as well as he was able--promising them
indulgence at some other time--he re-bent his ear to listen.
He heard enough to satisfy him that he had a sister--a half-sister, it
is true--but still a sister.
The next point determined on between the conspirators was equally
calculated to startle and astonish him. It was no less than a design to
render that sister _brotherless_!
"You musht put the shpell on _him_, too," said the Jew; "for heesh the
principal in thish plot againsht me. Even if the Cushtos wash out of
the way, thish Captain Cubina will go to some other magistrate to carry
out hish design. There will be plenty to help him. You musht shpell
_him_, and soon ash you can, Shakra. There'sh no time to lose--not a
minnit, s'help me!"
"A do wha a can, Massr Jake; but a mout's well tell ye, that it a'nt so
easy to put de spell on a Maroon. It coss me more'n twenty year to put
de obeah on him ole fadder, and I'se a been tryin' um on dis young
Cubina fo' some time--ebber since him fadder die. A hate de young un,
same a hated de ole un. You knows why a hate boaf."
"I knowsh all that--I knowsh all that."
"Wa, den! a do ma bess. Dat ar m'latta gib me no hope. She soon
'dminster de spell ef she hab chance--kase she think um de lub drink.
She no hab chance, fo' Cubina he no let her come nigh o' him. Nebba
mind: Chakra he find oppotunity some day; 'fore long he put de
death-spell on de son ob dat quaderoom."
"Perhaps not so soon!" was the mental rejoinder of him who listened to
this confident declaration.
"It'sh less matter about him than the other!" cried the Jew, giving way
to a fresh burst of rage. "S'help me! the Cushtos is going to shlip out
of my fingers--the eshtate--all! Ach!" he ejaculated, as his
disappointment came more palpably before him, "you hash played me false,
Shakra! I b'lief you've been playin' me false!"
As the Jew gave utterance to this conjectural speech, he started to his
feet--taking a tighter hold upon his umbrella, and standing before his
_vis-a-vis_ in a threatening attitude.
"No, Massr Jake," replied the myal-man, without altering the air of
obeisance he had hitherto assumed,--"no--nuffin ob dat--anyhow, I'se can
say dar's nuffin ob dat. You yaseff sabbey well 'nuff a hab as good
reezun as you to make de spell work, an' I tell you _it shall work_!"
"Yesh! when too late--too late! I don't care then. If the Cushtos get
to Spanish Town--if he procuresh the shpecial act, I'm a ruined Shew! I
don't care a shtraw if the death-shpell wash put on myshelf! I don't!"
This speech was rather a soliloquy than addressed to Chakra, who
listened to it without clearly comprehending its import: for the chief
motive which was stimulating the Jew was still unknown to his
fellow-conspirator.
"I tell you," resumed Jessuron, still in threatening speech, "I believe
you hash been fooling me, Shakra! You hash some interest of your own--
perhaps, with thish Lilly Quasheba. Ha! never mind! I tell you thish
time--I tell you, Shakra, if the shpell dosh fail--yesh, if it fail, and
the Cushtos reach the capital--where he ish going--I tell you, Shakra,
you may look out for shqualls! You loosh your monish I promised you.
Ay, you may loosh your life ash well. I hash only to shay a word, and
the Duppy's Hole will be searched by the houndsh of the law. Now will
you do your besht to keep the Cushtos from reaching the capital of the
Island?"
As Jessuron finished the speech containing this conditional threat, he
moved in the direction of the door, apparently with the intention of
taking his departure.
The Maroon, perceiving the movement, stepped further back into the
shadow of the cotton-tree--taking care to conceal himself effectually.
This change of position prevented him from hearing what subsequently
passed between the two conspirators. Some more conversation there was
on both sides--an interchange of it--which lasted for several minutes;
but although the listener could hear the sound of their voices, he was
unable to make out the words spoken by either.
What was said by the Jew was principally a repetition of his menace--in
terms the most emphatic he could employ; while Chakra, with equal
emphasis, repeated his promises to accomplish the nefarious purpose
already agreed upon between them.
"A promise, Massr Jake," said the myal-man, in conclusion, "by de great
Accompong, a do ma bess. Ef de Cussus 'trive 'scape, den you do wid ole
Chakra whasomediver you hab mind to. 'Liver him up, ef you like! Ha!
de Cussus no 'scape. Dis night Cynthy hab take bottle in her basket of
de 'trongest kind. It do de bizness in 'bout twenty-fo' hour. _Daat am
de true death-spell_. Whugh!"
"In twenty-four hours? You ish shure, Shakra? you ish shure?"
"Shoo' as a 'm now in de Duppy Hole, Massr Jake. Doan' you hab no mo'
doubt ob ole Chakra. He hab no lub fo' Cussus Va'ghan mo' dan youseff.
P'raps he lub de Cussus' dau'ter, but dat am berry diffrent sort ob
'fecshun. Whugh!"
With this speech of fiendish signification the dialogue ended; and the
Jew was seen stepping outside, followed by his confederate.
Both walked away from the spot, Chakra taking the lead, the Maroon
closely watching their movements.
On reaching the canoe the conspirators stepped aboard, and the craft was
paddled over the lagoon.
Cubina waited for its return; and then, seeing Chakra safe within his
hut, he hastened back to the water; and, as before, swimming under the
shadow of the rock, he re-ascended the tree stairway, and stood once
more on the summit of the cliff.
Volume Two, Chapter XXXII.