"Have you seen any of the black servants about?" asked Murray.
He was going to say slaves, but the word sounded so repugnant that he
changed it.
"Them black chaps, sir?" replied the man. "You mean them as rowed the
boat?"
"Yes, or any other ones about the place."
"No, sir, only them as rowed, sir, and I was wondering where they got
to. They seemed to go out, boat and all, like a match. I see 'em one
minute, and the next they'd gone in amongst the trees; but where it was
I couldn't make out, and when I asked one of my messmates he didn't seem
to know neither."
"Go back to your post, my lad," said Murray. "Keep a sharp lookout, and
report everything you see."
"Ay, ay, sir!" said the man, saluting and going back amongst the trees,
watched by Murray and May till he disappeared, when their eyes met in a
questioning look.
The sailor was the first to speak.
"Yes, sir!" he said. "Was you saying anything?"
"No, Tom; I thought you were going to speak."
"No, sir. I was only thinking it seemed precious queer."
"Yes, it does--queer is the word, Tom. I can't quite make it out."
"That's what's the matter with me, sir. Seems so lonesome like. Makes
me feel as if somebody was dead here, and I was precious glad when you
spoke. Something arn't right somehow."
"The place is lonely because the people have taken fright at our coming
and gone off into the forest, I suppose. It is a lonely place, as we
found out for ourselves when we had lost our way."
"Oh, that's it, is it, sir? Well, I'm glad to know it, but somehow that
don't seem quite enough for me. I still keep feeling as something's
wrong, and as I said sir,--don't laugh at me, sir, 'cause I can't help
it. I arn't got a head like you as eggsplains everything for you. I
get a bit silly and puzzled like sometimes, and just now it seems to me
like a man might feel if some one was dead here."
As the sailor spoke he pushed his straw hat back from his forehead and
wiped the big drops of perspiration away.
"Tom," said Murray sharply, "you're about the most superstitious fellow
I ever ran against. You're frightened of shadows."
"Yes, sir, you're right," whispered the man eagerly, and he glanced
sharply about him. "Shadders--that's it, sir; that's just what I am:
things as I can't understand and feel like. I allers was, sir, and fell
foul o' myself for it; but then, as I says to myself, I ain't 'fraid o'
nothing else. I'm pretty tidy and comf'table in the wussest o' storms,
and I never care much if one's under fire, or them black beggars is
chucking their spears at you, because you've got some'at to shoot at
again."
"No, Tom; you're stout enough then."
"Thankye, sir; I am, arn't I? But at a time like this, when you've got
pyson sarpents crawling about over your head, and what's worse, the sort
o' feeling comes over you that you're in a place where as we know, sir,
no end of them poor niggers as was torn away from their homes has come
to a bad end, I'm that sooperstitious, as you call it, that I don't know
which end of me's up'ards and which down. I don't like it, Mr Murray,
sir, and you may laugh at me, sir, but I'm sure as sure that there's
something wrong--some one dead, I believe, and pretty close to us too."
"Not that Mr Allen, Tom?" said Murray, starting, and in spite of his
fair share of common sense, lowering his voice, as for the moment he
seemed to share the sailor's fancies.
"Him, sir?" whispered the man. "Like as not, sir. He looked bad enough
to be on his way for the locker."
"Yes," agreed Murray; "he looked bad enough. But pooh! Nonsense!"
"Pooh! Nonsense it is, sir. But mightn't it be as well to go in and
see how he is, sir, and ask him 'bout where the black servants is?"
"Wake the poor fellow up from a comfortable sleep just because you have
taken a silly notion into your head, Tom? Why, you are going to make me
as fanciful as you are yourself!"
"Yes, sir, I wish you was," said the man. "I should feel a deal better
then."
"But I don't know, Tom," said Murray suddenly. "I don't want to disturb
him; still, as he told me to do just as I pleased here, and when I
wanted anything to ring for the servants--"
"Yes, sir, and they don't obey orders, sir, as they should; it's like
doing him a good turn, sir, to let him know that his crew's a bit
mutinous, being on'y slaves, you know, and like us, sir, agen him."
"Come with me, Tom," said the lad, yielding to a sudden resolve. "I
will just wake him and ask a question or two."
"Come with you, sir!" said the man to himself. "I just think I will!
You don't ketch me letting you leave me all alone by myself in this here
unked old place;" and after a sharp glance in the direction of the way
up, he followed his young officer on tiptoe into the room where they had
left the planter asleep; and then both started back in astonishment, to
stare one at the other. For the couch was vacant, and for a few minutes
the surprise sealed the middy's lips.
"Why, Tom," he said at last, "we left that Mr Allen there asleep!"
"He'd got his eyes shut, sir," said the sailor dubiously.
"And now he has gone, Tom."
"Well, he arn't here 't all events, sir."
"But where can he be?" cried Murray. "I did not see him come out."
"No, sir, I didn't neither," said the man, shaking his head very
solemnly.
"I--I can't understand it, Tom. Can he have--"
"Gone up-stairs to get a nap there, sir, 'cause the hammocks is more
comf'table?" suggested the man.
"Impossible."
"I dunno, sir. He's used to snakes, o' course, and they knows him."
"But we must have seen him go, Tom. We have been about all the time."
"Must ha' been when we was out at the back, sir, ringing the bell.
That's it, sir; you woke him up, and he turned grumpy like and went
somewheres else so as not to be disturbed."
"That must be it, Tom, and you have hit the mark. There, slip up the
stairs quietly and see if he is in one of the hammocks."
The sailor's face crinkled up till it resembled the shell of a walnut;
then he twisted his shoulders first to the left, then to the right, and
followed up that movement by hitching up his trousers, staring hard at
his young officer the while.
"Well, Tom, look sharp!" cried the latter.
"Ay, ay, sir!" replied the sailor.
"Why don't you go?" cried Murray severely. "What are you thinking of?"
"Snakes, sir," said the man laconically.
"Bah!"
"And I was a-thinking, sir, that p'raps you'd do it easier than me."
"Why, Tom," cried Murray angrily, "that is disobeying your officer's
orders."
"Disobeying, sir?" said the man sharply. "Nay, sir; not me. Only you
see, sir, you was a-telling me about the way in which them snakes
pricked a man with their tails."
"Tails! Nonsense, man! Teeth."
"I didn't 'member for sartin, sir, which end it was; but you said they
did it so sharp, sir, that it killed a man out-and-out before the doctor
could 'stract the sting."
"Yes, I did tell you something of the kind, Tom."
"Nay, sir, not something of the kind," cried the sailor reproachfully;
"that's what it was azackly. And then you see, sir, I don't want to
brag, but you telled me yourself another time that I was a werry useful
man."
"That must have been a mistake, Tom, for you are not proving it now,"
said Murray, speaking sternly but feeling amused by the man's evasions
all the while. "Why, Tom, I thought you were not afraid of anything
that was solid."
"No, sir, but you can't call them squirmy tie-theirselves-up-in-a-knot
things solid; now, can you?"
"Tom May, you're a sham, sir," said Murray sternly. "There, I am
deceived in you. I'll go myself;" and he made for the screen quickly.
But the man was quicker, and sprang before him.
"Nay, you don't, sir! I am mortal skeared of snakes and sarpints, but I
arn't going to let my officer think me a coward and call me a sham.
Case I do get it badly, sir, would you mind 'membering to tell Dr
Reston, sir, as they say whiskey's the best cure for bites? And as
there's no whiskey as I knows on aboard, p'raps he wouldn't mind trying
rum."
"I'm sure the doctor wouldn't like me meddling with his prescribing,
Tom," said Murray shortly. "Now then, up with you!"
"Ay, ay, sir!" cried the man, in tones which sounded like gasps; and
Murray stood by, dirk in hand, ready to make a chop at any reptile which
might appear, while Tom drew himself up into the shadowy loft, and after
a good look round lowered himself down again with a sigh of relief.
"No Mr Allen's up there, sir," he said.
"Then where can he be?" cried the middy excitedly, and he ran back
across the hall and into the study, to pass his hand over the couch,
which still felt slightly warm.
"P'raps he's gone into the gunroom, sir," said Tom respectfully.
"What, the hall where the guns and things are?"
"Nay, nay, sir; I meant the eating quarters--the dinin'-room, as you
call it."
Murray ran back across the hall to see at a glance that no one was
beyond, and he turned upon his follower again.
"Tom," he exclaimed angrily, "what do you make of this?"
The man shook his head.
"But he can't have come out of the study while we were looking out at
the back."
"That's so, sir," said the man, shaking his head the while. "It's quite
onpossible, sir, but he did."
"Tut, tut, tut!" ejaculated Murray quickly. "We must visit all the
posts and see if any one saw him pass."
"They couldn't, sir, 'cause if they had they'd have challenged and
stopped him."
"Of course they would," cried the lad excitedly. "Here, let's have
another look round the study. He must be there."
"That's just what I'm a-thinking, sir," cried the man solemnly.
"Then where is he? Don't stand staring at me like a figure-head!
Haven't you anything to say?"
"No, sir; only you 'member how all-overish I come, sir."
"Yes, when you declared it was as if there was a dead man in the place."
"Yes, sir; I knowed there was something wrong."
"Well, then, stupid," cried the lad, in a passion, "there's no live man
here."
"No, sir," said Tom, shaking his head.
"Well, then," cried Murray, passionately, striking his open palm with
the blue and gold inlaid blade of his dirk, "where's your dead man?"
"Can't say, sir," replied the man, speaking very slowly. "Seems to me
it's a mystery."
"A mystery?" cried the middy, looking round at the pictures and other
decorations of the place and addressing them as if they were sentient,
listening creatures. "Here's a big six-foot strongly-built British
sailor talking to his officer like an old charwoman about mysteries!
You, Tom May, if ever you dare to talk such nonsense to me again, I'll
punch your silly head."
"Beg pardon, your honour," said the man coolly, "but don't the articles
o' war say something 'bout officers not being allowed to strike their
men?"
"Bother the articles of war!" roared Murray, leaping at the man, seizing
him by the shoulders, and shaking him to and fro with all his might.
"Bother the articles of war!" he repeated, breathless from his
exertions. "They don't say anything about knocking an idiot's head
off!"
"No, sir," said the man humbly and respectfully; "not as I knows on."
"Then I feel disposed to do it," cried the middy passionately. Then
stooping to pick up the dirk, which had slipped from his hand, to fall
with a loud jingle upon the polished floor, "No, I don't," cried the
lad, in a vexed, appealing way. "I couldn't help it, Tom! Look here,
old lad; you've always been a good stout fellow, ready to stand by me in
trouble."
"Ay, ay, sir, I have," said the man quietly, "and will again."
"Then help me now, Tom. Can't you see what a mess I'm in? Here has the
captain entrusted me with the care of this prisoner--for prisoner he is,
and you can't make anything else of him."
"Ay, ay, sir; prisoner he is, and you can't make nowt else of him."
"That's right, Tom," cried the lad, growing quite despairing in his
tones. "Sooner or later Mr Anderson or Mr Munday will be coming to
relieve me of my charge, and the first question whoever it is will ask
me will be, Where's your prisoner?"
"Ay, ay, sir! That's right enough."
"There, there! Look at it in a straightforward business-like way,"
cried the lad, and to his disgust the man slowly turned his eyes all
about the place.
"Bah!" cried Murray angrily. "What are you thinking of? Can't you
understand that I want you to help me?"
"Ay, ay, sir, and I'm a-trying as hard as nails, sir," said the man,
rousing himself up to speak more sharply; "but somehow my head don't
seem as if it would go."
"Think, man--think!" cried the middy appealingly.
"That's what I'm a-doing of, sir, but nothing comes."
"He must be somewhere, Tom."
"Yes, to be sure, sir; that's it," cried the man excitedly. "You've hit
it now. I couldn't have thought that myself."
"Oh-h-h-h!" groaned Murray. "Was ever poor wretch so tormented! What
shall I do?"
"Lookye here, sir, I want to help you."
"Oh, I feel as if I could knock your silly old head off!" cried the
middy, with a stamp upon the floor.
"Well, sir, do. You just do it if you think it will help you. I won't
mind."
"Oh, Tom, Tom!" groaned Murray. "This is the worst day's work I ever
did."
"Think it's any good to sarch the place again, sir?"
"But there's nothing to search, Tom."
"Well, there arn't much, sir, sartainly, but it'll be more satisfactory
to go over it once more."
"Come along, then," said the middy. "Anything's better than standing
still here."
"Ay, sir, so it is," said the big sailor; and together the pair went
from room to room, Tom May insisting upon looking under the couch in the
study, under the table, and then lifting up the square of Turkey carpet
that half covered the well-made parqueterie floor, which glistened with
the polishing given to it by busy slave labour.
But there was no sign of him whom they sought, and a careful examination
of the garden and plantation was only followed by the discovery which
they had made before, that the place was thoroughly closed in by a dense
natural growth of hedge, ablaze with flowers in spite of the fact that
it had been closely clipped and had grown dense in an impassable way.
"Let's get the boat here," said Murray, at last; and going to the
platform, Tom May hailed the cutter where it swung from its grapnel.
"Now then, you two," cried the middy angrily, "you have been asleep!"
"Nay, sir," cried the men, in a breath.
"What, you deny it?"
"Yes, sir," said one. "It was so hot that I did get precious drowsy
once."
"There, I knew I was right!"
"Beg pardon, sir; just as I was going off my mate here shoves a pin into
me and rouses me up with a yell. I was never asleep."
"And you are ready to say the same?" cried the middy.
"Jes' the same sir," said the other man, "only not quite. It was the
same pin, sir, but he jobbed it into me further. We was both awake all
the time, sir."
"Then you must have seen that Mr Allen come out of the cottage and be
rowed away."
"What, to-day, sir?" said the first boat-keeper.
"Do you think I meant to-morrow, sir?" cried Murray, who was boiling
over with rage and despair.
"No, sir, of course not," replied the man, in an injured tone; "but you
might ha' meant yesterday, sir."
"Of course," cried Murray--"when you were not on duty here?"
"We done our best, sir, both on us."
"Yes, yes, of course, my lads. Here, paddle May and me along the edge
of the lagoon."
The man paddled the boat slowly along, and it was not until several
blind lead places, where the boat could be thrust in amongst the
bamboos, had been explored, that a more satisfactory portion of the
surrounding watery maze was found, in the shape of a narrow way opening
into another lagoon which looked wonderfully attractive and proved to be
more interesting from the fact that no less than six ways out were
discovered.
"Try that one," said Murray, and the boat's nose was thrust in, when Tom
May held up his hand.
"Well, what have you to say against it?" cried the middy.
"I only thought, sir, as we might be trying this here one twice if we
didn't mark it somehow."
"To be sure," cried Murray. "Don't you pretend to be stupid again, Tom.
Now, then, how are you going to mark it?"
"Only so how, sir," said the man, with a grin; and as he stood up in the
boat he bent down some of the over-arching graceful grasses and tied
them together in a knot. "These here places are so all alike, sir, and
it may save time."
This waterway wound in and out and doubled upon itself for what must
have been several hundred yards, but the middy felt encouraged, for more
and more it struck him as being a way that was used. Every now and then
too it excited the lad's interest, for there was a rush or splash, and
the water in front was stirred up and discoloured, evidently by a
reptile or large fish; but whether those who used it had any connection
with the missing man it was impossible to say.
"Shouldn't be a bit surprised, sir, if we come upon that Mr Planter's
boat, sir, and his niggers. Looks the sort o' spot where they might
have built a boathouse to hide their craft in when they didn't want it."
"At all events, my lad, it is one of their places, and--"
"Well, I'm blest, sir!"
"Eh? What do you mean? Why don't you go on?"
"Why, can't you see, sir?" said the big sailor sharply.
"No, Tom. Why, you don't mean to say that--"
"Yes, I do, sir," grunted the man; and he took off his straw hat to have
a good puzzling scratch at his closely-cropped hair, while the middy
stood up to examine two lissome tufts of leafy cane which had been bent
over and tied together.
"Oh," cried Murray, "anybody might have done that who wanted to mark the
place, my lad."
"Yes, sir," said the sailor, grunting, "but anybody wouldn't ha' thought
to make a clove hitch, same as I did a bit ago. That's my mark, sir--
T.M.'s own. I'm T.M., sir."
"Don't laugh, man," said the lad passionately. "I suppose you're right;
but it's horrible, for we've been wasting so much time, and come out
again in the same spot that we went in."
"Can't see as it's wasted time, sir," growled the man. "I say it's time
saved, for if it hadn't been for my knot we might have gone on round
again."
"Don't talk so much, sir. Give way, my lads. Get back into the lagoon,
and we'll try another of these wretched cuts."
Another was soon found and duly marked by breaking down a few of the
bamboos level with the water, and plaiting them this time in an
unmistakable way, the result at the end of close upon an hour proving to
be just the same.
"Never mind," said the middy, speaking through his set teeth. "It's
horribly disappointing, Tom, but these blind water alleys haven't been
made for nothing. They prove to me that there must be a special one
which we have to hit, and when we do we shall find that it leads to some
hiding-place--perhaps to where the planter has gone, and we must trace
him."
"I don't see what good it will do, sir, if we do," said the big sailor,
puckering up his brows.
"We must find him, Tom, and take him aboard as a regular prisoner this
time, for he has been deceiving the captain, and all that he has said
can't be true. Give way, my lads."
After further search which led to their passing another opening twice
over, a spot was found where the growth seemed to be very thick; but it
proved to be yielding enough at last, for the boat's prow glided through
with a rush, and they passed into another tiny lagoon, where as the
large reeds closed in behind them, Tom May slapped his knee loudly.
"I do call it artful, sir," he cried. "Why, who's going to show me
which is the way out again? I've got my eye fixed on it, but if I shut
it up I shouldn't be able to find it again. It's just this," he
continued. "You holds the bamboos down or on one side, and as soon as
you're gone by up they springs again; and that's why they're called
bamboos, I s'pose--because they bamboozle you. Now for another way of
marking this here one."
"Yes, let's have no more mistakes, Tom."
"No, sir," said the man, tightening up his lips as he pulled out his
jack knife, before picking out of the biggest giant reeds, one of a tuft
which towered up some five-and-twenty feet. Through this he drove his
blade, the thick, rich, succulent grass yielding easily, and after
keeping the wound open by the help of a messmate's knife he cut a slip,
and thrusting it through the reed, he drew out the two knives so that
the wound closed up tightly upon the green wedge.
"You are taking a great deal of trouble, Tom," said Murray impatiently.
"It's wuth it, sir--trust me if it arn't," said the man. "Saves time in
the end; and I'm beginning to think as we're in the right cut at last."
"Give way, then, my men, and let's prove it," cried the middy
impatiently, for the time was passing swiftly, and the horrible feeling
grew upon him that before long some one would appear from the _Seafowl_
to demand where the prisoner was.
The men thrust the boat swiftly across the pondlike place, for on the
other side the reeds seemed to have been lately disturbed; but here
there was another disappointment, for though the bamboos which rose up
had certainly been broken away recently, they grew together so densely
that all efforts to pass through were vain, and Tom May declared at last
that it was only another blind meant to deceive.
"Let's try t'other side, sir," he said, screwing up his face.
"No, no; that looks so easy," said Murray.
"That's some one's artfulness, sir. Let's try; it won't take long."
Murray was ready enough to try any advice now so long as it seemed good,
and the word being given, the two boat-keepers placed their oars in the
rowlocks and rowed straight at the indicated place, with the result that
they had to unship their oars, for the boat glided right through the
light reeds, which gave way readily here, and almost directly after the
rowing was resumed again, and they found themselves in comparatively
open water for a couple of hundred yards.
"This won't want no marking, sir," whispered Tom.
"Mark it all the same, my lad, when we pass out."
"I will, sir, but we've hit the right way at last. Look how it rounds
to starboard at the end, sir. I believe we're going into big water
directly.--There you are, sir," added the man in a whisper, as, after
rowing swiftly onward for nearly a quarter of a mile, the boat glided
round a bend, where, to the midshipman's great delight, they came in
sight of what was pretty evidently the long narrow barge in which the
planter had paid his visit to the _Seafowl_.
The well-made, nattily painted craft was lying well away from the reeds
which shut in the open water, moored by a rope whose grapnel was sunk
not far distant, and Murray held up his hand to impress the need for
silence.
"See the crew ashore anywhere, sir?" asked Tom May.
"No; I believe they're all on board asleep. Run her up quietly."
The men obeyed, and so cautiously that the next minute the cutter was
close alongside, and there lay the black crew, sleeping profoundly in
the hot sunshine, eyes tightly closed, mouths widely open, and quite a
crowd of busy flies flitting and buzzing overhead, settling upon the
sleepers in a way that would have proved maddening to ordinary people,
but which seemed to have not the slightest effect upon the negroes.
"Hook on, Tom," whispered Murray excitedly. "Take care they don't slip
away."
The big sailor picked up the boat-hook, and was in the act of reaching
out to take hold of the boat's bow, when one of the sleepers closed his
mouth, slowly opened it again in a wide yawn, and at the same time
unclosed his eyes, saw the big sailor reaching towards him, and then,
showing the whites of his eyes in a stare of horror and dismay, he
uttered a yell which awoke the rest of the crew, who sprang up as one
man, to follow their companion's example, for the first awakened as he
uttered his yell bounded out of the boat and disappeared.
"No, you don't, my black friend," cried Tom, making a thrust with the
boat-hook, and getting hold of the startled man by his waist-cloth, he
brought him up again, kicking, splashing and plunging to the surface,
and drew him hand over hand along the pole of the boat-hook till he had
him alongside the now rocking cutter, when a tremendous lurch freed him.
He would have got away but for the help rendered by the boat-keepers,
one of whom took hold of a leg, the other of a wrist, when he was hauled
in over the side, praying for mercy in very fair English, for the fact
that the big sailor planted a bare foot upon his chest and pressed him
down into the bottom of the cutter quite convinced him that his time had
come.
"Hold your row, you black pig!" growled Tom. "Think it's killing time
and you're going to be scalded and scraped?"
"Oh, massa! Oh, massa! Poor black niggah, sah!" wailed the shivering
captive.
"Be quiet, or--"
Tom May turned the boat-hook pole downwards as if he were going to
plunge it at the poor fellow, and his shouting came to an end.
"No use to go ashore after the rest, sir, eh?" said Tom enquiringly.
"Not the slightest," replied Murray, as the last of the crew reached the
fringing bamboos and plunged in, to disappear. "But don't let that one
go."
"No, sir; he's right enough. Better let him know that we're not going
to kill him, though."
"Be quiet, sir!" cried Murray, stepping alongside to where May had his
foot upon the shivering slave's chest. "No one is going to hurt you."
"Oh, massa! Oh, massa! Poor niggah, sah!" sobbed the poor fellow, and
he placed his hands together as if in prayer.
"Hold your tongue! Be quiet!" cried Murray. "Now then, speak out.
Where's your master?"
"Oh, massa! You massa now!" sobbed the poor wretch, shivering
violently.
"Be quiet, sir!" cried Murray. "Don't be afraid to speak. Now then,
tell me. Where is your master?" It was some minutes before the poor
fellow could grasp the fact that he was not going to be killed outright,
and in the meantime his companions had begun to show themselves, a face
here and a face there, around the edge of the long winding lake,
horribly frightened to a man, but fascinated and held to the spot by
their strong desire to see what became of their companion.
"See 'em, sir?" whispered Tom May.
"Oh yes, I see them; but I want to try and get some information out of
this poor shivering wretch."
"We might ketch the rest on 'em, sir," said the big sailor, "by using
this one as a bait. Shall we try, sir?"
"No, no; this one will know all they could tell, if we can make him
speak."
"Shall I try, sir?"
"No, no, Tom; you're too big and--"
"Ugly, sir?" said the man, with a grim smile, for Murray had stopped
speaking.
"Too ugly to him," said the middy, laughing.
"Here, you sir," he added gently, as he bent down and tapped his
prisoner upon the shoulder.
"Oh, massa! Poor niggah, sah!"
"Yes, yes; you said that before," cried Murray.
"Poor beggars, sir, they've been so ill-used that they think every white
man is going to murder 'em."
"Well, let's show the poor fellow that we are not all savages; but we've
begun pretty roughly, Tom, to win this one's confidence. You did give
it him pretty hard."
"Well, yes, sir, I was a bit rough to him; but if I hadn't been he'd
have got away."
"Now then, let me try. Here, my lad, I want your master."
"Massa, sah?" cried the shivering prisoner. "Yes, sah. Massa, sah!"
And as he spoke eagerly he made a snatch at the midshipman's ankle,
caught it between both hands, and raising the lad's foot placed it
quickly upon his forehead.
"Hullo! What do you mean by that?"
"Massa! Massa now, sah. Poor niggah massa."
"Oh, bother! Nonsense!" cried Murray. "No, no. Where's your master,
Mr Allen?"
"Massa Allen, sah. Good massa, sah. Sick man; go die soon."
"Good master?"
"Yes, sah! Good massa, sick bad, sah. Die, sah."
"Well, where is he--Massa Allen?"
"House, sah. Go sleep, sah," said the man, growing eager and excited,
and making an effort to replace Murray's foot upon his head.
"No, no; don't do that," cried the lad impatiently. "Now tell me, where
is your master?"
"Massa Allen, sah. House, sah. Go sleep, sah."
"It's very evident he does not know, Tom," said Murray. "What's to be
done? Do you think we could get anything out of the others?"
"No, sir. If he don't know they don't."
"Well, what is best to be done?"
"Try t'others, sir. I don't think it's any good, but we might try."
"But we must catch them first."
"Oh, that's soon done, sir."
"But how?"
The big sailor laughed.
"When I was a youngster, sir, we boys used to get out in one of the
Newlyn boats, sir--in Mount's Bay, sir, and trail a line behind to get a
few mack'rel, sir, for our mothers. Well, sir, it was easy enough to
trail the line and hook, but it warn't so easy always to get the bait;
for we used to think the best bait was a lask."
"A what, Tom?"
"Lask, sir, and that's a strip out of the narrowest part of a mackerel,
cut with a sharp knife down to the bone, so that when the hook was put
through one end one side was raw fish and the other was bright and
silvery."
"I see, Tom," said Murray.
"Nay, sir, you only fancy you can see it. If you could see it twirling
and wiggling in the water when it was dragged after the boat and we
pulled fast, you'd see it looked _just_ like a little live fish, and the
mack'rel shoot theirselves after it through the water and hook
theirselves. That's the best bait for a mack'rel, and after the same
fashion one nigger's the best bait to catch more niggers."
"Then you think we can get hold of more of the boat's crew by--"
"Yes, sir," said Tom, interrupting and grinning the while, "but without
cutting a piece out of him with either a knife or a whip. Poor chaps,
they get that often enough, I'll be bound. You only want to let this
one see that he won't be hurt, and he'll soon bring the others up."
"But we've been so rough with him already. I'm afraid it will be a hard
task."
"Not it, sir. They get so knocked about that a good word or two soon
puts matters right again. You try, sir."
"Why not you, Tom? You seem to know their ways better than I do."
"Nay, sir, you try. See how he's watching of us, sir; he's trying to
make out what we want him for, and he knows a lot of plain English. You
try him, sir."
"What shall I say, Tom?"
"Oh, anything you like, sir. You're cleverer than I am, sir. Here, I
know--tell him you want the other chaps to man the boat. They'll come
fast enough if he calls 'em."
"Here goes, then, Tom; but I don't believe I shall do any good.--Here,
Sambo!" he cried.
The man showed his glistening white teeth in a very broad grin and shook
his head.
"Not Sambo?" said Murray. "Well, then, what is your name?"
"Caesar, sah--July Caesar."
"Well, Caesar, then. I want your master, Mr Allen."
"In de house, sah. De lilly house;" and the black pointed in the
direction of the cottage. "Sick, bad, sah."
"Not there now, Caesar," said Murray.
"Big house, Plantashum," said the black sharply, and he pointed in quite
another direction.
"Oh, at the plantation house?" said Murray.
"Yes, sah."
"Call your fellows, then, to row the boat to where he is," said the
middy.
The black looked at him doubtfully.
"Boys run away, sah. 'Fraid massa take 'em sell to bad massa."
"Oh no," said Murray, reaching forward to pat the man upon the shoulder;
but the poor fellow's action told its own tale. He started violently,
shrinking right away with a look of dread in his eyes. "There, don't do
that," Murray continued, "I'm not going to hurt you;" and following the
man he patted his shoulder softly, when the look of horror faded away,
to give place to a faint smile, one which broadened into a grin.
"Massa no take and sell boys away?"
"No; tell them we come to set them free," said Murray.
"Set niggah free?" cried the black excitedly.
"Yes; that's why my ship has come."
"Massa Huggin say come catch all de boy an' flog 'em heart out."
"Did your overseer tell you that, boy?" growled Tom May; and the man
winced at the deep fierce voice of the sailor.
"Yes, sah; flog 'em all, sah."
"Then you tell your Massa Huggin he's a liar," growled the big sailor.
The black showed his teeth in a wider grin than ever as he shook his
head.
"No tell um," he said. "Massa Huggin kill um dead."
"Where is he now?" said Murray sharply.
"Massa Allen sick, sah."
"No, no; Mr Huggins!"
"Massa sailor captain tell Massa Huggin--"
"No, no; I'm not going to tell your overseer anything."
The black looked at the speaker searchingly for a few moments, glanced
round as if to see whether they were likely to be overheard; and then,
as if gaining confidence, he leaned towards the midshipman and
whispered--
"Massa overseer go to get men from schooner--fighting men come and kill
sailor and burn up ship. Big fire. Burn ship. Burn, kill sailor.
Massa no tell what Caesar say?"
"Oh no; I shall not tell Master Huggins, Caesar," said Murray, smiling.
"Now tell your men to come back and row your boat. I want to find Mr
Allen."
The black looked searchingly in the midshipman's face once more, and
then apparently gaining confidence, he turned sharply upon the big
sailor, when that which he had gained seemed to be dying out again and
he glanced at the shore of the lagoon, and Tom read so plainly that the
black was thinking again of flight that he gave him a sharp slap on the
shoulder, making him wince violently and utter a low sob.
"Why, you are a pretty sort of fellow," cried the sailor, his face
opening out into a jovial smile. "You seem to have a nice idee of a
British sailor!"
"Bri'sh sailor?" said the black, slowly repeating the tar's words. "You
Bri'sh sailor, hey?"
"To be sure I am, my lad--leastwise I hope so."
"Bri'sh sailor no hurt poor niggah?"
"Not a bit of it, darkie. Can't you understand we've come to set the
slaves free?"
"No," said the black sadly. "Massa Huggin say--"
"Massa Huggin say!" growled the big sailor, frowning fiercely. "You
tell your Massa Huggins that the British sailor is going to--See here,
you benighted heathen. I want to make you understand some'at. There,
hold still; I'm not going to hurt you. Now see."
As the sailor spoke he untied the knot of his neckerchief and threw it
round the black's neck, made a fresh slip-knot and drew it tight, and
with horrible realism held up one end of the silken rope, while with a
low wail the poor shivering wretch sank unresistingly upon his knees in
the bottom of the boat.
"Don't, don't, Tom! You're frightening the poor fellow to death."
"Nay, sir; he'll understand it directly. It's all right, darkie," he
continued, with a broad grin at the black's fear. "I want to show you
what a British sailor means to do with your Massa Huggins."
"Massa Huggin? No kill Caesar?"
"Kill Caesar, darkie?" cried the sailor. "No, no. Hang--yard-arm--
Massa Huggins. We'll teach him to talk about burning his Majesty's Ship
_Seafowl_. There, now do you understand?" cried Tom, slipping off the
black silk handkerchief and knotting it properly about his own brawny
neck, while as he gave the black another hearty clap on the shoulder the
poor fellow's shiny black face seemed to have become the mirror which
reflected a good deal of the tar's jovial smile. "There, sir,"
continued the big sailor; "that's our Mr Dempsey's way o' teaching a
man anything he don't understand. `Show him how it's done,' he says,
`with your fisties, and then he can see, and he never forgets it
again.'"
"That's all very well, Tom," said Murray, smiling, "but it's rather a
rough style of teaching, and you nearly made the poor fellow jump
overboard."
"That was afore he began to grasp it, sir. He's got it now. You can
see now; eh, darkie?"
"Bri'sh sailor kill Massa Huggin, no kill poor niggah," cried the black.
"There, sir, what did I say?" cried Tom. "British tar's the niggers'
friend, eh, what's your name?"
The black sprang up and executed two or three steps of what he meant
most probably for a triumphal dance.
"Steady, my lad, or you'll have one of them stick-in-a-brick pretty
little foots of yours through the bottom planks of the boat."
_Plop_! went the black, letting himself down, not upon his feet, but
upon his knees, and laying his head between the sailor's feet he caught
one by the ankle, raised it and began to plant it upon his woolly head.
"What game does he call that, sir?" cried Tom, in astonishment.
"He's following up your style of teaching by an object-lesson, Tom,"
cried the middy merrily. "It's to show you he's your slave and friend
for ever."
"Ho!" ejaculated the big sailor. "That's it, is it? Well, that'll do,
darkie; we understand one another; but recklect this, you arn't
civilised enough yet for object-lessons. Here, what are you up to now?"
For the black had shuffled upon his knees to the side of the boat, to
hold his hands to the sides of his capacious mouth, while he sent forth
a cry wonderfully like the blast given trumpet-like through a conch
shell to call slaves to plantation work in the fields.
No sooner did the deep tone float across the water than there was a
movement amongst the giant reeds, and first in one place and then in
another and from both sides, black faces and woolly heads began to
appear, while the black who had uttered the cry made for one of the
oars, passed it through the rowlock astern and began to paddle the boat
along cleverly enough towards his fellows, who one by one began to take
to the water like so many large black dogs, springing in with heavy
splash after splash and beginning to swim.
This went on, to the amusement of the sailors, till every member of the
boat's black crew had been dragged into, or by his own effort had
climbed into, the planter's boat.
"Better be on the lookout, my lads," said the middy. "They may play us
false and row off."
"Not they, sir," said Tom confidently. "You may depend upon it they've
been squinting at us through them bamboozling reeds, and took all my
lesson in right up to the heft. I begin to think, sir, that when Mr
Huggins shows his ugly yellow phiz to us again he'll find that we've
been making a few friends among the niggers."
"I hope so, Tom; but all this time we've not been thinking about our
prisoner that we were set to watch."
"Yes, sir, and that's bad; but just you cheer up, sir, and all will come
right yet."
"But the prisoner, Tom--the prisoner," cried Murray sadly.
"Wait a bit, sir. Anyhow we've got his boat and his crew; and they
knows his ways, and perhaps 'll find out his whereabouts a good deal
better than we could."
"Yes, Tom, but--"
"Nothing like patience, sir," said the man. "You mark my words."