On starting off from the Duppy's Hole, it had been the intention of the
Jew to wait by the base of the Jumbe Rock for the return of Chakra with
the robbers. Before arriving at the rock, a better plan presented
itself.
In the absence of Chakra--which might be a prolonged one--it occurred to
him that he might profitably pass the interval of time by making a
reconnoissance of Mount Welcome and its precincts.
Before parting from Chakra, therefore, a new place of rendezvous was
arranged between them--at a particular place upon the mountain slope,
only a short distance from the rear of the garden.
This point being settled, Chakra continued on after the home-returning
bandits; while his fellow-conspirator, facing down the mountain,
proceeded towards the valley of Mount Welcome.
He soon came upon the path habitually used in the ascent and descent of
the mountain. Only for a short distance did he follow it, however. He
conjectured that a pursuit would be already set on foot; and,
apprehensive of encountering the pursuers, he preferred making his
approach to the house by working his way through the woods, where no
path existed. By this means he should advance more slowly, but with
greater safety.
Favoured by an occasional flash from the smouldering fires--seen at
intervals through the trees--he had no difficulty in guiding himself in
the right direction; and in due time he arrived at the rearward of the
garden.
Crouching behind the wall, and looking cautiously over its top, he could
command a full view of the grounds--no longer containing a grand house,
but only a smouldering mass of half-consumed timbers.
There was still sufficient flame springing up amidst the smoke to reveal
to the eyes of Jessuron a terrible _tableau_.
Under the light could be seen a number of human figures grouped around
an object resembling a rude bier. On this lay the body of a white man,
whose ghastly visage--ghastlier under the glare of the unnatural light--
betokened it to be a corpse.
A white man stood beside it, bent over the body, and looking
thoughtfully on the face. Jessuron recognised in this individual the
overseer of the estate. The others were blacks--both men and women--
easily known as the domestics and field slaves of the plantation.
At a short distance from these was another group--smaller in individual
numbers, but equally conspicuous.
Two men lay along the grass in attitudes that showed them to be fast
bound. They were white men, in colonial phraseology, though their
complexions of dark olive were but a shade or two lighter than those of
the negroes who surrounded them. Jessuron easily identified them as his
own _employes_, the Cuban _cacadores_.
Some three or four black men stood around them, apparently acting as
guards. The costume, arms, and accoutrements of these last--but quite
as much their bold, upright bearing--proclaimed them to be men of a
different caste from the negroes who encompassed the corpse. They were
the Maroons whom Quaco had left in charge of the prisoners.
As soon as Jessuron had finished making these observations, he returned
to the place of rendezvous, where he was soon joined by Chakra and the
robbers. The latter, on their homeward route, having halted for a rest
not far beyond the Jumbe Rock, were there overtaken by the myal-man, and
brought instantaneously back.
The report of Jessuron was delivered to Chakra, who, along with Adam and
his followers, advanced to the garden wall, and became himself a
spectator of the scene already described.
The circumstances suggested the necessity of immediate action. It was
evident that Cubina and the main body of the Maroons had gone off in
pursuit of the incendiaries at once. No account was made of the
presence of the plantation negroes, and the weak guard of the Maroons
that had been left could be easily overpowered.
Such were the reflections of Chakra and Adam, acted upon almost as soon
as conceived; and, leaving Jessuron to await their return, they and
their followers crept forward through the shrubbery of the garden.
A volley from their guns, fired from an ambush, was heard shortly after.
It caused most of the Maroon guard to fall dead by the side of their
prisoners, at the same time putting to flight the people of the
plantation, with their overseer at their head.
Nothing then remained but to relieve the captives from their cords; and
this being readily accomplished, both robbers and _cacadores_ retreated
up the mountain.
On nearing the Jumbe Rock, the confederates once more separated. Adam
and his followers continued on towards their mountain home, while
Chakra, accompanied by the Jew, and followed by Manuel and Andres,
proceeded in the direction of the Duppy's Hole.
It was the design of Jessuron that the two Cubanos should remain in that
safe asylum--as guests of the Coromantee--until such time as he might
find an opportunity for shipping them back to the country whence they
had come.
Chakra's consent to this arrangement had not yet been obtained, and it
was to this end that the Jew was now on his errand--for the second time
that night--to the sombre solitude of the Duppy's Hole.
Volume Three, Chapter XLIII.