IN WHICH WE PASS THROUGH DARKNESS TO LIGHT AND LIBERTY
Water, icy cold, trickling upon me from some spring opened in the
wall by the earthquake, presently brought me to myself. I lay for
a moment listening. I could hear nothing at first, but in a little
while a deep groan and then a faint whispered prayer came to me. I
strove desperately to collect my senses and finally I realized where I
was--the cave, the battle, the earthquake, the savages, Pimball, and
the woman!
“Mistress Lucy!” I cried.
“Oh, thank God,” her voice came through the darkness hysterically, “I
thought you were killed.”
“No,” I answered, slowly rising to my knee and stretching my members
to see if I had control of them, which fortunately I soon discovered I
had, “I was stunned by falling rock, but otherwise I believe I am not
much hurt. How is it with you?”
“I am well and unharmed.”
“Now God be praised,” I exclaimed fervently.
“For Christ’s sake, water!” interposed a trembling, hoarse, anguished
voice.
“Who speaks?” I asked.
“I, Pimball, I’m pinned to the ground, my back is broke, I’m dyin’.”
“There should be a lantern here,” I said. “I placed it--let me think,
where did I place it?”
“It was just to the left of the opening,” answered my little mistress.
I was turned around and giddy, but I managed to fix the direction of
the entrance by Pimball’s groans and by good fortune presently found
the lantern. It would burn but a few hours, but we never needed a light
as we did then, I decided. My flint and steel I carried ever in my
pocket and to kindle a flickering flame was but the work of a moment.
If I had not possessed it, I would have given years of my life for even
that feeble light which threw a faint illumination about the place.
There, opposite me where I had stationed her, by God’s providence
protected by a niche in the cave from the rain of rocks which had
beaten me down, stood my mistress, safe and unharmed. I stepped toward
her and with a low cry of thankfulness she fell into my arms. I soothed
her for a moment and then turned to the other occupant of the chamber.
The entrance was completely blocked up, the wall had settled down.
Pimball’s legs were broken and his back as well. It was impossible to
release him, what lay upon him weighed tons and tons.
“You murdering hound,” I cried, “you have brought this upon us,” but he
would only plead piteously for water, disregarding my bitter reproaches.
I was for killing him outright with my cutlass, which I picked up, but
she would not have it so. She got a half cocoanut shell, filled it with
water, and brought it to him. She bathed his brow and gave him some to
drink. It gave him temporary relief but his minutes were numbered. His
life was going out by seconds.
“God!” he cried, as his eyes caught the gleam of the gold and silver
bars, “the treasure!” He stretched out his hand toward it, and then
stopped. “I’m undone,” he choked out with a fearful scream. “Mistress!”
“Yes?”
“Forgive--”
Indeed she forgave him, I make no doubt, but her forgiveness came too
late, for his head dropped--he had been looking sideways--and his face
buried itself in the wet sand.
“Is he dead?” she asked, awe-struck.
I nodded. No closer inspection was needed to establish the truth of
that fact.
“He died with a prayer for forgiveness.”
“And few men have ever had greater need for that forgiveness,” said I,
drawing her away.
“And we too shall die,” she said shuddering. “We are buried here in the
bowels of the earth, in this treasure lined prison.”
“Well, we won’t die without a struggle,” I returned with more
confidence than I felt.
“What mean you?”
“The earthquake which closed the mouth of the cave may have opened the
other end.”
“It is possible,” she answered, “but not very likely.”
“And besides, you remember the running stream on the other side of the
cave, which we did not follow?”
“Yes.”
“It must run somewhere.”
“Well?”
“Where water runs men and women may find a way.”
“At least it will do us no harm to try.”
“Come then,” said I, extending my hand to her and holding the lantern
before me for pitfalls.
We went down the cave. To find the water was easy. Sure enough, it
led away through a narrow rift, in what direction we could not tell,
although its tendency was downward and I knew that it must come out
upon the beach somewhere. It had not seemed to me, as I had examined
it before the earthquake, that the rift was more than large enough to
carry the water, but it might have been opened wider by the shock,
and so we followed it. Although sometimes the walls closed over the
watercourse, making low and narrow tunnels, we managed to force our way
through them. I went in the advance, for I knew that what my body could
pass would present no difficulty for her. We wandered in and out among
the coral until it seemed to me that we had gone miles, although in
reality it might have been but a few hundred yards.
At last we came to a place too low and too narrow for me, although I
might have perhaps thrust her through.
“You see,” she said, “this is the end.”
“No, not yet,” I answered, resolved never to give over the attempt
while I could move hand or foot or draw a breath.
I still had the axe with me and the sword which I had thrust into my
belt. The rock seemed soft and pliable. Lying down upon my back and
covering my eyes with one hand, I struck at it overhead with the axe,
which I grasped near the head, thus gradually enlarging the passage.
The water flowing beneath me was deathly cold, the candle in the
lantern was burning lower and lower, but I hung on. Never did I work so
hard, so rapidly, so recklessly in my life as then. At last I loosened
a huge piece of the rock which fell suddenly upon me. Had I not seen it
coming and dropped the axe and stayed its progress with both upraised
hands, it might have crushed me. As it was, it fell fairly upon my
breast. I could not throw it aside, the way was too narrow. I held it
off with my hands and forced my way through the opening, now barely
enough to admit my passing, although what I should meet with or where
I should bring up on the other side, I knew not. I had no idea how
large the fallen rock was, for all its weight, but my mistress has told
me that it was a monster stone, and that none but a giant could have
carried it. I thrust hard and harder with my feet and presently my way
was clear and I shoved myself through the opening. With one great final
effort I rolled the rock aside and then lay on my back on the sand,
breathless, exhausted.
She dragged herself through the passage I had thus made and over my
body, and then knelt by my side, kissed me, murmuring words I did not
dare to listen to lest I should go mad with joy. And indeed, I was so
exhausted that I could scarcely credit that I had heard anything real.
Presently, however, I staggered to my feet again. She had forgot the
precious lantern, but I went back after it.
We were now in a more spacious cave; the stream fed by other brooks had
become larger; the descent was much more rapid. The cliff wall was, I
believe, narrower at the cave than anywhere else in the island. It was
perhaps not more than half a mile wide. We stumbled rapidly down the
long vaulted passage to the outer wall. As we approached it, I half
feared that the rock might be solid and that the brook might plunge
beneath it, but fortune did not do its worst for us yet. There was a
rift in the wall around which the brook ran into a sort of tunnel or
passageway, tall enough for me to stand upright and broad enough to
enable us to walk side by side. A long distance away appeared to me a
spot of dimness. Recklessly we clasped hands and ran.
Alas, when we reached the light, we found that the entrance was closed
by a huge stone. It did not exactly fit the opening and light filtered
around it. I stood panting, staring at it.
“Are we to be ended now,” I cried, “after having come thus far? Stand
clear, madam,” I shouted, not giving her time to answer.
Then with all my strength I swung the axe and struck the rock fair and
square and by good fortune upon some fissure, for it shivered and a
crack started. Once again, this time with even more tremendous force,
I swung and struck. The axe sank into the stone, the helve shivered in
my hand. It was a right good blow, if I do say it myself, for the rock
was now fairly split in two, the pieces falling to the right and left.
Still, the two halves yet lay within the entrance, blocking it. We had
not achieved a clear passage.
I was mad now, as mad as I had been in the outer cave fighting for her,
or when I had cut the Duke of Arcester. The blood rushed to my face, a
mist to my eyes. I stooped down and with my naked hands I seized one
piece of that rock and with such strength as Hercules or Samson might
have used, I drew it back, lifted it up and hurled it aside. The second
piece followed in the same way. My mistress stood staring at me in awe
mingled with terror. The way was opened and we stepped out upon the
sand.
Never before or since did sunshine seem so sweet. My muddy clothes were
torn to rags, blood was clotted in my hair and on my forehead, my face
was black with sweat and dust, there were wounds upon my legs and arms.
I was a gory and horrible spectacle. Mistress Lucy had suffered no
wounds, but her clothes were rent and torn. Her face, too, was grimy,
but beneath the dust and earth stain it showed as white as the cap of a
wave.
“Thanks be to God,” she said at last, “and you, we have won through.”
I thought she would have fainted. I caught her by the arm, set her down
upon the sand and sprinkled the water from the brook in her face until
presently she revived.
“We are not safe yet,” I urged. “There were hundreds of savages upon
the island; they may not all have been at the cave. We must go warily,
we cannot rest now.”
“I am ready,” she answered with great spirit, getting to her feet and
stretching out her hand. “If you will help me I can go anywhere.”
I still had my sword. I drew it out and led on, keeping well under the
shelter of the cliffs. We walked up the sand toward the giant stairs.
There we saw men, islanders, on the top of the wall, but my first
glance told me that we had nothing to fear from them, for the stairs
were gone. They were but a scattered heap of stones. The false gods
were down, too. I wondered what had come to those at the main altar in
the center of the island. The earthquake had crumbled the work of the
builders of bygone years, and as the stairs had fallen away they had
left the cliff sheer and bare for a hundred feet or more. Those above
could not come at us, nor could we approach them, for which indeed we
had no mind.
“It is an act of God,” said I, “that has broken down the stairs.”
“But there may be another way of descent,” she said after a moment.
“Oh, let us leave this dreadful island!”
I had no hope that the dinghy had been spared, but its place was not
far away and we walked to it in silence. It was gone. A tidal wave had
followed the earthquake. The canoes in which the islanders had come
had been dashed to pieces and their few keepers killed. The survivors
were prisoners on the island unless their friends came to their help,
and even then, until they could devise some way of getting down the
cliff. And we, too, were prisoners. Some of our gear, the compass, some
provisions which I had stored in the crannies of the rock were still
there, but they were useless to us. Something else had happened. The
earthquake had broken the barrier reef. Before us was a practicable
passage to the sea.
If we only had a boat! I turned to the canoes hopeful of finding one
seaworthy, and as I did so my Mistress Lucy caught me by the arm.
“Look,” she cried, pointing down the lagoon.
I turned and there, bottom upward, floated the dinghy. The sight of her
was like a draught of wine. I turned and ran down the sand, followed by
my lady. When opposite the boat I kicked off my shoes, I had on little
else but shirt and trousers, jumped into the lagoon, swam to the dinghy
and towed her ashore.
BOOK IV
ONCE MORE UPON THE SEAS
_The Treasure Is Brought Home and All Is Well_
CHAPTER XIX
WHEREIN WE CAPTURE THE SHIP
We were so excited and exhausted by the terrific experiences which we
had just gone through that a sort of frenzy possessed us. I know that
word described my feelings and I think it also described my lady’s
feelings. We threw the things that we had saved, or that had escaped
the earthquake and the tidal wave that followed it, into the boat
pell-mell, climbed in ourselves, and shoved off. We could not get away
from that island quick enough and we could not get far enough away once
we started.
Luckily the oars had been secured to the thwarts, and I shipped them
on the rowlocks forthwith, and then I rowed across the lagoon and
through the opening in the reef. Indeed, the tidal wave had shattered
the reef in various places and for the first time in centuries the sea
made clean sweeps of the beach through the many openings. It was not
altogether easy to row through the surf but it was child’s play to our
first passage over the reef. In spite of all that I had gone through,
I felt as one possessed, and the stout ash oars fairly bent to my
vigorous strokes. When we cleared the entrance, and got into smoother
water, I shipped the oars, stepped the mast I had made during our
sojourn on the island to take the place of the broken one, set a small
sail I had improvised in idle moments out of some spare canvas which
I had luckily found in the after locker together with the remaining
pieces left over from my tailoring, and then I came aft and seized the
tiller.
My lady had sat silent most of the time, closely watching me, but now
she asked a pertinent question.
“Whither are we bound?”
Her interrogation recalled me to myself. I had really given the matter
no thought at all. All that I had permitted myself to decide upon was
to get away from the island, and I had hoisted the sail and put the
boat before the wind without a thought as to its direction.
It so happened--indeed, I humbly submit that perhaps it did not happen
by chance but was so ordered by that Providence which had watched over
us--that the wind blew directly off the island and the boat was headed
toward the distant shores of the other islands whence the marauders had
come and where _The Rose of Devon_ had been wrecked. I recollected from
the conversation I had had with Pimball that they had somehow floated
the ship and that she was seaworthy, and as my mistress questioned me
the daring design of seizing the ship flashed into my mind.
Indeed, the enterprise was in a measure forced upon me. We had no water
in the boat, practically no provisions. We were thousands of miles away
from the possibility of passing ships. Unless some vessel should be
blown far out of her course by continued storms there was absolutely
no chance of our being picked up. That small boat with its patched-up,
makeshift equipment was in no condition anyway for a long voyage, even
if we had plenty of food and water. _The Rose of Devon_ would provide
everything we needed if we once got aboard her, and while two would be
an almost impossible crew for such a ship, as I had said or thought,
yet if any of her spars still stood, by means of tackles I might make
shift to hoist a rag of sail. If the vessel were still tight she could
carry us indefinitely, and perhaps by taking advantage of every wind
that was favorable we might in the end make the South American Coast.
Of course the work would all have to be done by me, but my lady had
often steered _The Rose of Devon_ during the outward voyage, for her
pleasure, and she could relieve me long enough for me to get the
absolutely necessary sleep so long as we were aboard her. At any rate,
half-naked, hungry, thirsty, as we were in a small boat stripped of
everything, she was our only resource. Therefore I answered briefly.
“I am going to seize _The Rose of Devon_ if I can find her.”
“But there will be men aboard her,” said my mistress apprehensively.
“Doubtless,” I returned, “but at most there cannot be many of them. We
saw enough on the island to know that.”
“Yes,” admitted the brave woman by my side, “that is true.”
“No one would offer to stay on the ship when he had a chance to hunt
for treasure and for you and me.”
“No, I suppose not.”
“They would have to be constrained to stay there, and as I take it that
the native fighting force of the island on which the ship was cast
was in the canoes, there would not be any necessity for guarding her
heavily. Besides, two or three with firearms could stop any attack that
might be made.”
“But we have no firearms,” said my lady.
“We have weapons,” I returned. I had picked up the musket from a shelf
of rock where I had laid it, and she still clung to the pistol with
which she had saved my life by her adroitness. “We have firearms,” I
continued, “but they are useless to us without powder and shot”--all
that we had, had either been washed away or wetted so that it was of no
use--“but I have my cutlass and I consider myself a match for all the
murdering pirates that may be left on that ship.”
“I believe that, too,” she said, looking at me admiringly, “when I
think of your determination, your feats of strength, your--”
“They were nothing. They did not measure up to the inspiration I had,”
said I.
But she shook her head at this and I continued, not daring to notice
her overmuch.
“I take it that those islands are four or five leagues away,” I looked
over the side, “and this boat is making not more than three-quarters of
a league an hour. That is all we can do with such a poor makeshift for
a sail.” I looked up into the sky, then at my watch. It was high noon.
I had not dreamed that we had been so long in our adventures that day.
“It will be dusk before we reach the nearest island. It may be that
haply we shall find _The Rose of Devon_ there.”
“And if we do, what will be your plans?”
“I propose to douse the sail when we get near enough to see her, which
will be long before she can see us, then wait until nightfall, take to
the oars, row alongside, fasten the boat aft, and clamber aboard. If
there are only two or three on her there will probably be but one on
watch. I can throttle him without arousing the attention of the others.
Perhaps I can confine the others below. Then we can cut the cable,
hoist a rag of sail somehow, and be away before morning.”
“But if there are savages aboard?”
“I do not think there will be any, but if there are I must even chance
it.”
“It sounds terribly dangerous.”
“It is dangerous, but it is our only chance. How long do you think we
would last in this open boat? In two or three days we would be mad for
food and drink, burning up under this tropic sun.”
“Could we not land on one of the other islands?”
“They are all populated, I take it, and our end would be certain.”
“And what do you propose that I should do while you are fighting for me
on the ship?”
“You will stay in the boat which I shall make fast to the ship, and if
I should fail--”
“Oh, don’t say that!”
“But I must say it. It is not beyond possibility that I shall,
although I do not think it, because I believe God Who has preserved us
hitherto does not intend that we shall finally fail. But if I should
be overpowered or killed, there is a plug in the bottom of the boat.
All you have to do is to cast off the painter and pull out the plug
and--drift away.”
“I understand,” she said. “And if anything happens to you,” she looked
at me directly as she spoke, “I would rather drift away and drown--than
live without you.”
“Let us not dwell upon that,” said I. “Let us hope that nothing will
happen.”
She nodded her head.
“Now,” I continued, “I am going to ask you a strange thing.”
She looked at me fearlessly and the trust and confidence of her next
words repaid all my efforts a thousandfold.
“You can ask me anything you like,” she said instantly.
“I am frightfully weary. I shall need what strength I have for the work
of the night. The breeze is gentle and fair. There is no likelihood
that it will change. All you have to do is to keep the boat on its
course and awaken me if anything should change. Will you try it and
help me thus far? I must have some sleep.”
“I understand perfectly,” was her brave and direct reply, “and you
can go to sleep with perfect confidence. I will watch over you and
the boat as best I can, God helping me. You know, I slept most of the
night, myself, and I feel in no need of rest now.”
With my cutlass I broke open a cocoanut, the milk and meat of which
refreshed us both, and then, as I was, I threw myself down on the
bottom of the boat, a hard bed, but one made soft by great weariness
and want of sleep. The last thing I remember was the picture of
Mistress Wilberforce, beautiful in her disarray, sitting in the stern
sheets, holding the tiller in one hand and the sheet in the other,
looking down upon me with a gaze I did not dare to think upon. I had
no idea how weary I was, for I was asleep almost instantly, and it was
five o’clock according to my watch before she awakened me with a touch
of her little foot.
Although I was strained and stiff from the cramped position and the
hard planking on which I lay, I knew that a stretch or two would fix me
and I was greatly refreshed by my sleep and ready for a giant’s work.
“I had to wake you,” she said, reluctantly I thought, “because the
island is in sight, and--”
“The ship!” I cried.
“Yes, you may see it dead ahead.”
Whereat I got to my knees and shaded my eyes, for the sun had not yet
set, and stared over the water.
Sure enough, there lay _The Rose of Devon_. She was still hull down
in the shadow, but we could see the masts, that is, what was left of
them. The mizzenmast was gone at the deck and the main topmast at the
hounds, but the foremast still stood and the fore-topmast. The mainyard
was still across, as were the two yards of the foremast. That was all I
could make out then.
The island merited no particular description, for it was like hundreds
of other South Seas Pacific islands. It was low and hilly and
surrounded by a reef, but there was a broad opening through the reef,
at least we thought so because the breakers suddenly ceased and there
was a long stretch of smooth black water before they began again.
We had no time for many details, and indeed I came instantly to action.
The breeze had practically died out and although the earthquake and
tidal wave still caused a heavy sea, it was gradually quieting down to
long, gentle undulations. I turned aft, unstepped the mast and doused
the sail, carefully placing both where they might be of use in an
emergency. Then I decided to let the boat drift for a while, until it
grew dark enough to enable me to approach the ship without danger of
observation.
We made a good meal off the scanty provisions we had left. My mistress
was for saving them, but I bluntly pointed out that either we should
have plenty in a few hours or be in no need of anything to eat forever
after, so we satisfied our hunger and thirst abundantly, and then as
it wanted an hour or two of night, I made my lady lie down, using the
sail and my waistcoat to soften the planking, and rest in her turn. She
obeyed me without question and, in spite of her declaration that she
was not tired, I had the satisfaction of seeing in a few minutes that
she had fallen asleep.
I sat silently watching her through the hours while the sun sank, while
the dusk was followed by darkness, until the stars came out and then
I stepped across her, seized the oars and started on my long pull
toward the ship. We had drifted southward I opined, but I had taken my
bearings carefully by the stars and I knew exactly in what direction to
send the dinghy. The noise of the oars in the rowlocks finally awakened
my lady. She got to her feet, went aft, took the tiller and, upon my
giving her directions, steered a true course for the ship.
I suppose it was close on to nine o’clock when we reached her vicinity.
I could not see my watch. We had no means of making a light, if we had
dared upon the experiment. The night was dark and moonless and, save
for the stars, as black as Egypt was fabled to be. The waves rolling
through the opening of the reef and crashing on the shore drowned
the noise of the oars in the rowlocks. The tide was in full flood, I
judged, in fact just beginning to ebb, and the breeze which had sprung
up after sunset was, as usual, offshore, two things greatly to our
advantage.
We did not see the ship until we were almost upon her. Suddenly she
loomed blackly out of the darkness, like a smudge of soot of darker hue
than the rest. There was not a light upon her. I rowed close to her,
rounded her counter, and discovered the Jacob’s ladder which usually
hung there still in place. I fastened the boat with a turn of the
painter around the ladder and belayed it to a cleat aft, drew my sword
from my sheath, and then turned for a last word.
“You know what to do if I don’t come back?” I whispered.
She nodded. I put out my hand and she took it in both of hers. I was
standing at the time and she was sitting, and before I could stop
her she bent and kissed my great hand. I could not trust myself any
further. With a prayer, silent but none the less fervent, I seized the
rungs of the Jacob’s ladder and slowly mounted to the level of the rail
abaft the trunk cabin which served as a sort of poop deck. I had taken
off my shoes before I did so, and save for the creaking caused by the
swaying induced by my weight on the ladder, I went up without a sound.
I swung my leg over the rail, after having taken a quick look along
the deck and having seen nothing. Before I disappeared over the side I
turned and peered down through the blackness at her upturned face. I
could see dimly its whiteness. I waved my hand to her and she waved
hers in turn. She had the hardest part, that of sitting still, not
knowing whether success was to attend our efforts or failure. The
line that was attached to the boat plug was in her hand. The next few
moments would determine whether she would rejoin me on the ship or
whether she would cast off the painter, pull out the plug, and drift
away with the young ebb.
I had that picture in my mind’s eye, too, and if I had needed anything
to nerve me to the service of my mistress it would have been that.
I had carried my cutlass in my teeth as I climbed up the ladder. I
instantly shifted it to my hand, peering carefully about me as I made
my way along the top of the cabin. The deck was in a frightful state of
confusion. One of the deck houses had been blown in by the storm and
pieces of wreckage lay all about. The starboard rail had been shattered
along the waist. They had made little effort it seemed to clear up the
raffle and the wreckage.
I made my way forward slowly and with all the softness of a great cat
until I came to the break of the cabin. Everything was in shadow and
darkness, of course, yet I thought I detected someone leaning against
the starboard rail on the quarter-deck abreast the mainmast, looking
toward the land. I stared and the longer I stared the more convinced
I became that someone was there. I crossed over to the port side and
slipped down to the quarter-deck. Silently as before, I made my way
over the littered deck in the direction of the standing figure.
If the deck had been clear, I could have reached him without attracting
his attention, but within a few feet of him I stepped upon a round
marlinspike which slid under my feet and the effort to recover my
balance aroused the watcher’s attention. He looked around suspiciously,
but the next moment I was upon him. I did not know how many people were
on that ship and I could not afford to make any noise. If I were to
succeed I must deal with the enemy one at a time. I caught this man by
the throat with one hand. The next instant I saw a flash of something
in the air and I was just in time to seize his descending arm grasping
his sheath knife.
I held him in an iron grip. He kicked at me viciously but I lifted
him higher into the air and sank my fingers tighter and tighter in
his throat. Thereafter I held him there waiting. God knows how I
accomplished it, but I did. Presently I felt him grow limp in my hands.
I had broken his wrist I discovered afterward, and had nearly choked
him to death. I laid him down on the deck and with a piece of rope I
lashed him hand and foot. I didn’t know whether he was dead or not but
I couldn’t afford to take any chances. I doubled another piece of rope
and thrust it tightly between his jaws which I pried open, and so left
him bound and gagged.
I thought I had worked silently, but either I had made more noise
than I fancied or else it had come time for them to relieve the
watch. But for whatsoever cause it may be, as I was bending over him,
a ray of light suddenly shot through the darkness. It came from the
companion hatchway which opened on the deck from the low break of the
trunk cabin, rising a few feet above the quarter-deck. I sprang to my
feet and turned instantly, sword in hand, and the next instant three
figures broke out of the light. The lantern they carried illuminated
me completely. If I had had more time I should have jumped back into
the shadows--I was quick-witted enough to think of it--but the time was
lacking.
The next moment the three precipitated themselves upon me. They were
half dressed, two of them had sheath knives and the third a cutlass.
Fortunately none of them had brought a pistol. They were courageous
enough, I will say that for them. And his daring brought the first man
who had the drawn sword to his fate, for as he lunged at me I spitted
him with my own cutlass. I drove the blow home to the hilt. The man
went down like a ninepin, dragging the sword from my hand, and as
fortune would have it he fell in front of number two, staggering him so
that he dropped the lantern, leaving the deck in darkness save for the
light which came from the after cabin. Being otherwise weaponless, I
received number two with a mighty blow on the jaw from my clenched fist
which temporarily accounted for him. Number three wavered indecisively
for a moment giving me time to draw out my cutlass from the body of the
dead man. The blade was broken off about six inches from the point, but
nevertheless in a hand like mine it was a terrible weapon. I did not
give him time to recover, for I sprang upon him. He thrust at me with
his own knife half-heartedly, but in a moment I struck it out of his
hand and sent it flying over the rail and into the sea.
“Now,” said I, “get down on your knees and beg for your life.”
There must have been something compelling in my manner for he instantly
obeyed me. He threw himself flat before me and it was not until I
prodded him with my blade that he stopped howling.
“Tell me quickly,” I said, “and tell me truly, who are on the ship?”
“There were four of us,” he began.
“That is enough for the present,” I answered, for I had accounted for
the whole four. “Any natives?”
“None.”
“Come with me,” I said.
I caught him by the collar of his shirt, dragged him to his feet,
marched him along the deck, and bundled him to the forepeak. I drew the
hatch cover, battened it down and locked it. I knew that he could not
get out until I let him. Then I walked back to the man I had struck
with my fist but discovered no signs of returning consciousness in
him. He was still helpless but I lashed and gagged him as I had the
first man. Having made sure that I had nothing to fear from these men I
sprang to the rail on the top of the trunk cabin.
“Mistress Lucy,” I cried.
“Oh, thank God, thank God,” came her voice in the darkness. “I heard
the shouting, I saw the light. Are you unharmed?”
“Entirely,” I answered, “and I have the ship. Leave the boat fast as it
is and climb aboard. Stay, perhaps I would better descend and help you.”
“No,” she said, “I can manage it myself.”
I leaned far over the rail and as soon as she came within reach I
caught her arm and presently I had the satisfaction of lifting her up
on the top of the trunk cabin by my side.
“Safe now!” I cried triumphantly, resisting an overwhelming temptation
to take her in my arms and shout for joy.
“What next?” she asked.
Singular how she asked me that question in every emergency. Well, I
had, as I generally had, an answer for her.
“I will get another lantern out of the cabin,” I answered, “and then we
shall see.”
To leap down the companion ladder and fetch the lantern burning there
was the work of a few seconds. I had forgot the dead man whom I had
thrust through with my sword, but there he lay in full view. My
mistress screamed faintly. I cursed myself for my forgetfulness. I had
her turn her back and without more ado I picked the dead man up and
hurled him overboard, praying that God might have mercy on his soul,
but otherwise giving him little thought.
“Here are two men,” said I, flashing the lantern over them, “they are
still alive but bound and helpless. I must get the ship under way
and I must depend upon you. If you will come forward with me we will
make shift to hoist the jib or staysail, it is all we can do in this
darkness. We will cut the cable, and as the wind is offshore and the
tide beginning to ebb, we will get away from these horrible islands.”
Hand in hand we ran rapidly forward. Fortunately, the bowsprit still
stood, even the flying jib boom was in place. I overhauled the gear
and the two of us hoisted the jib, my lady pulling on the halyards with
me like a little man.
“Now,” said I, “do you go aft and take the wheel. Take the lantern with
you. I will hold out the jib sheet, cast her head to port, and tell you
in what direction to steer.”
She hesitated a moment, fearful at leaving me.
“There is no danger,” I said. “There were but four men on the ship, one
is dead and overboard, another locked up in the forepeak beneath my
feet, and two are as helpless as logs.”
“I will go,” said the girl resolutely, “although it is frightfully
dark.”
“The least call will bring me to your side,” said I. “Take the lantern
with you. I need it not.”
I watched her walk rapidly along the deck, lantern in hand. When
she reached the wheel I told her to cast off its lashings, put it
amidships, and then with an axe, which I had found lying where they had
left it after they had cut the wreckage of the masts away, I severed
the cable. Thereafter I called aft to my lady to put the helm hard
astarboard. The bow of _The Rose of Devon_ slowly swung around, the
sail filled and presently I had the satisfaction of seeing her slip
through the entrance in the lagoon, past the reef and into the open sea.
I belayed the jib sheet, ran aft and took the helm. We were free. My
mistress refused to go below, refused to leave my side in fact, so
until daybreak we remained on deck, I steering, she seated close by.
And so we sped on through the sweet summer night.
CHAPTER XX
SHOWS HOW WE SAILED TO SAFETY AGAIN
I do not suppose that a man and a woman were ever confronted with a
greater task than that which we faced that morning. The problem met
me in so many ways that I was fairly puzzled at it. The two men lying
bound and gagged on the deck had, of course, recovered consciousness.
The man below in the forepeak had given some noisy signs of his
presence. These three had to be dealt with in some way. The ship itself
was wrecked, aloft that is, and I had as yet no means of telling
whether she were tight below, although, as I deemed she sat about as
usual in the water, I concluded that if she had sprung a leak they had
succeeded in stopping it.
The dawn disclosed a white-faced man and woman staring at each other
near the wheel. Breakfast was a problem in itself, too. On the one
hand, I did not like to send my lady below without at least having made
some sort of inspection myself, nor did I like to leave her alone on
deck, on the other.
“Of what are you thinking?” she asked presently, seeing my brows
knitted with the stress of my mental effort.
“Breakfast, first of all, something to eat.”
“Let me go below and get it.”
“No,” I replied, “I must see what’s below first myself.”
“Very well then,” was her prompt, brave answer. She rose as she spoke
and seized the spokes of the wheel. “I will steer the ship, only do you
hurry back.”
“If I only had a pistol to leave with you,” I said.
“There is no danger,” she answered bravely enough, “there were only
four men on the ship you said. One is dead, one is locked up forward,
and the other two--”
“I will make sure about them,” I interrupted, going over and examining
the lashings of the two.
They were frightened to death and the man with the broken wrist,
although I didn’t know it then, was suffering greatly. Their eyes were
mutely appealing, but I had no pity to waste. Seeing that they were
tightly bound and the hatch forward securely battened, I turned and ran
below.
As fortune would have it a brace of pistols lay on the table in the
cabin. One of them was loaded and primed and ready for use. It was
lucky for me that they had not used it last night, I thought. I
snatched it up, returned to the deck, and laid it at my lady’s side.
Thereafter I felt much safer for I knew she could use it on occasion.
I then went below and resumed my search. The cabin was frightfully
untidy and disorderly. Some of the mutineers at least had made it their
headquarters and the table was covered with an accumulation of soiled
dishes. On a platter I found some cold salt beef and bread and other
things. There was no time to be dainty, but I did make shift to clean
a plate, heaped it with hard bread and beef, drew a pannikin of water,
and returned to the deck with it. We made our first breakfast by the
wheel.
I had been thinking hard and I had come to the conclusion that our only
safety lay in keeping the three members of the crew securely locked
up. If I could have depended upon one of them the problem would have
been simplified immensely, and if I could have depended upon two we
could have got along with some degree of comfort, for the three of
us with the aid of tackles could have handled the ship while my lady
steered. But it was not to be thought of.
First I took the gags out of the mouths of the two men, whereat he
of the broken wrist told me of his hurt. I cast off the lashings to
verify his statement. I had brought up from my cabin and from Captain
Matthews’ several sets of irons for wrists and ankles. They had not
disturbed them although they had otherwise rummaged and plundered the
cabins and had destroyed much in them wantonly. I clapped double irons
on the villain who was unhurt and irons on the ankles of the man with
the broken wrist. He was in great pain and more or less helpless.
I fastened his feet to a ring bolt in the deck and then took the
other man and stowed him below in my cabin which I carefully cleared
of everything and which I securely locked on the outside. He was a
small, slight man and I knew that the door would hold him, but to make
assurance doubly sure, I intended to put up a bar when I had time.
Him of the broken wrist I put in the fourth cabin which had not been
occupied during the cruise, as we had carried no second mate. Before I
turned the lock on him I set his wrist and put it in splints as best I
could. It was his right wrist and little danger could be expected from
him. Nevertheless, I locked him up securely. I saw that each room was
provided with bread and meat and water. I told them that I would visit
them once a day and give them food enough for the day, and that if they
attempted to break out I would give them short shrift indeed.
Taking the pistol from my mistress, I then went forward, opened the
fore hatch and descended into the forepeak. It was well I had a weapon,
for the man had possessed himself of a cutlass and I have no doubt,
if I had not presented the pistol at him so soon as I put foot on the
ladder, he would have cut me down. I had some trouble in getting him to
put down his weapon, he was so ugly and disobedient, and I had about
made up my mind to pull the trigger and end it, as I had no time to
waste on a murderer like that one. I guess he must have seen in my
face that my patience was at an end for finally I had him in double
irons as well. I left him in the forecastle, first making a thorough
search for and removing everything that he would be able to use as
a weapon. A good many of the seamen’s chests were there but they
were locked and I didn’t disturb them, as he had no means of getting
into them. I told him what I had told the others. He was the biggest
and strongest man and he had the strongest prison. The forepeak was
separated from the rest of the ship by a stout bulkhead and the only
way he could get out was by the hatch, which I drew over until it was
but six inches open and there I secured it. The first part of the
problem was thus solved.
During all this, my mistress had stood bravely by the helm. I shall
never forget how beautiful she looked, with the fresh breeze bringing
color into her pale cheeks and blowing back wisps of her golden hair,
lovely in its disarray. We were both of us exactly as we had been when
we came out of the cave. I was about to go on further business when she
interrupted me.
“If you please,” she began with unusual humility, “Master Hampdon,
if you can spare me a little while to myself now I should like to go
below. Perhaps the villains have left some of my clothes intact and I
may change my dress and wash my face, and--”
“I am a brute not to have thought of it,” I said. “Keep the pistol
with you. Who knows what may chance? I will take the wheel. Come to
me as soon as you may, for I shall be anxious when you are out of my
sight. When I have finished on the deck I expect to make a thorough
investigation of the ship to see what condition she is in and what is
best to be done.”
“I shall hasten,” she said, turning away and tripping lightly down the
ladder.
In an incredibly short time she was back transformed. Although her
cabin had been occupied by some of the men and her things had been
overhauled and were in a state of confusion, yet she had found suitable
clothing and she presently came up on deck looking as fresh and dainty
as if she had never been on an adventure in her life. And yet, will you
believe me? it was with a certain very vivid regret I saw her put aside
the tunic I had made her, which had served her so well.
“I suppose,” said I, “that I ought to be doing the same thing, but
there will be time enough for that later on. How do you feel?”
“Fit for anything.”
“And you will take the wheel?”
“Gladly.”
“Very well,” said I, “you have nothing to do but keep her before the
wind.”
With that, axe in hand I went forward. I put in the hardest hour or
two of work in my life. I never stopped a moment except to throw back
a word or two to my little mistress guiding the ship. By the time I
had finished, the decks of _The Rose of Devon_ presented an entirely
different appearance. I had chopped away and thrown overboard the mast
wreckage. When it was too heavy, I clapped a tackle to it to assist me.
The tangled gear had been overhauled and each brace, line, and halyard
had been coiled and hung to its proper pin. Although the ship looked
desolate and forlorn enough to a sailor, and to anyone else perhaps,
there was no confusion or disorder.
By this time it was high noon. I knocked off work therefore and, upon
her insistence, relieved her at the wheel while she went below to the
lazarette where the cabin stores were kept, to prepare us something to
eat. She said that was her task, and although it irked me to see her
compelled to do anything, there was truth in her words. I can do most
things but cook. There, I confess, I fail. I did kindle a fire for her
in the galley, however, and about one o’clock we had a royal dinner,
the first civilized meal, so to speak, that we had enjoyed since the
day of the mutiny. She brought it up on deck and we ate it together.
After dinner she surprised me by proffering me a pipe which she had
found below--it had been Captain Matthews’--and a pouch of tobacco,
and nothing would do but that I must smoke before turning to again.
I confess that it tasted sweet to me, and felt sorry that she could
not enjoy the luxury, and told her so, which seemed to give her great
amusement.
Her light-heartedness cheered me immensely. To be sure she did not
quite imagine the extent of the problem that lay before us, or perhaps
she knew more about it than I fancied, but whatever be the facts, I
could not feel downhearted or downcast when she smiled at me as she did
then.
Well, the hour of refreshment and rest at last came to an end.
Surrendering the wheel to her, I went forward. I had determined to
loose the mainsail first, if I could, and then loose the foresail
and topsail. The first was an easy enough task. It took me some time
to climb out on each of the yardarms and cast off the gaskets, but
presently the huge sail hung in the buntlines. I came down by the
backstays, clapped a watch tackle on each sheet and finally succeeded
in getting the sail set as taut as the bolt ropes would allow. My
mistress clapped her hands with joy when I had succeeded. The slow pace
of the ship was much increased by the draw of the big mainsail.
I did the same thing with the foresail and then boldly tackled the
fore-topsail, but here I met with greater difficulties for the topsail
yard--it was a single topsail--had to be mastheaded if the sail was
to be of any use. Although I clapped several tackles on it and pulled
and hauled lustily, it taxed my strength beyond its limit. It was my
mistress who came to my assistance. She lashed the wheel amidships
while watching me pull at the halyards, and came and seized the tarred
rope with her own hands and laid back with a will.
It was just the added pound or two that was needed, and slowly,
readjusting the tackles from time to time, we at last mastheaded the
fore-topsail yard. I was glad that _The Rose of Devon_ was a small
ship, for had that yard been a foot longer or a pound heavier, we had
never done it. When I had finished I carefully braced the yards, then
I cast off the lashings of the wheel and shifted it until the wind
came from the starboard quarter and lo and behold we were headed due
eastward!
The breeze was growing stronger but it was still gentle. It blew fair
and held steady. If it would only blow long enough and hold without
change we would inevitably fetch the South American coast, which I
estimated something more than fifteen hundred leagues away.
I rested a while but not for long. It was late in the afternoon, yet I
felt it necessary further to overhaul the ship; so leaving my mistress
again in charge, a solitary woman on a half wrecked ship in a great
waste of unknown seas!--I tell you this that you may see how brave she
was--I went below, having first sounded the well and found to my joy
that there was no more than the usual amount of water in it and that
the ship evidently was tight. She must have gone on the sand in the
storm in such a way as not to start a leak, although it might be that
a plank had been started and that the men aboard her, one of whom was
an expert carpenter, had been able to get at it and caulk it up. At any
rate, she was tight.
Everything below was in a state of disorder but no especial damage
had been done. I cleaned out the cabin, washed the dishes and made
everything snug. In the cabin that Pimball had occupied after my
departure I found the famous chart and the little image, both of which
I put carefully away. I was glad to see them again. We have them still
and often show them to our children and friends as we tell again this
tale.
I also estimated the provisions in the lazarette. There was plenty of
food for our immediate needs, although most of the liquor was gone.
Then I went down into the hold. I found enough supplies there to last
the five of us who were on board indefinitely. The arms chest had been
broken open and most of the arms were gone--I suspected that they were
back on the Island of the Stairs! Those that remained I carefully
removed, and finding powder and shot, I charged them and placed them
under lock and key in Captain Matthews’ cabin, which I had reserved for
my own use.
By the time I had finished, night had almost fallen. I stopped before
the doors where I had confined the prisoners and asked them how they
did and if they wanted anything, being met with oaths and curses
from one man and cries of pain from the other, to which I was alike
indifferent. I also visited the man in the forecastle and then came
back to take the wheel while my lady got our supper.
I don’t think I was ever so tired in my life. As I look back upon it it
seems to me that I had done ten men’s work. And yet there was nothing
but thankfulness in my heart as I hung over the spokes and watched the
ship rush toward safety through the gently rolling seas. How mercifully
God had protected us. How He had used me to keep harm from this poor,
helpless young woman. I thanked Him for all His kindness and prayed for
a continuance of that favor until we got safely home.
Supper was soon ready and it was a fine one. My shipmate’s skill at
cookery surprised me. She had not stinted in her preparations, and
the best that the ship afforded, and I have told you that she was
expensively, even luxuriously, stocked, was spread before me. How I did
eat! I am ashamed to think on it, even to this day. After supper I had
another pipe, and then plans for the night had to be adjusted.
“Do you go below, Mistress Lucy,” I said, “and turn in. I have my watch
and I will awaken you at midnight. You can then take the wheel, and--”
“No,” said the girl, “I can’t think of going below where those men are
confined. It is balmy out here. I shall sleep here on the deck at your
feet, within touch and call. I’d rather have it so.”
I sought to change her decision but, as in all matters which were not
really vital, I was more or less helpless.
“Well,” said I, “since you are resolved, take the wheel and I will
bring up your things to make you comfortable.”
With that I descended to her cabin and brought up a mattress, pillow,
and blankets, which I laid on the deck. The sea had gone down and the
ship was steady so my lady could lie comfortably without being cast
against anything, but for precaution’s sake I put the mattress against
the foot of the trunk cabin in the angle formed by the companionway.
Before Mistress Lucy went to sleep we had our evening prayers. I had
lighted the binnacle lamp in order to see the compass course and she
stood by it, reading a psalm from her prayer book, which she had
carried ever with her, and so on until we said good-night. She lay down
at once and closed her eyes and I thought she was asleep.
The steering of the ship was not very exhausting. Under the diminished
sail, which was all that we could carry, she steered easily and the
wheel did not make many demands upon me. I confess frankly that I never
was so utterly weary in my life. I had not had a regular sleep for
three days and I had worked to the extreme limit of my strength during
all that time. I found myself nodding over the wheel and finally I must
have gone sound asleep. The pressure of my body as I leaned on the
spokes brought the ship around and it was the tremendous slatting of
the sails in the wind, which was ever freshening, that awoke me.
The noise awoke my mistress too. She had learned the sailor’s trick
of waking with all her faculties at her command, and this time she
realized the situation and came to her senses quicker than I did.
“You were asleep,” she said, rising.
“Aye, that I was,” I answered shamefacedly, bringing the ship before
the wind again.
“What time is it?” she asked.
When the sails began to draw once more, I pulled out my watch and soon
discovered that it was only nine o’clock.
“I have had one hour’s sleep,” she said, “and am able to take the watch
now. I should not have taken advantage of your offer before. You have
done enough in the past three days to have killed half a dozen ordinary
men. Now, do you go to sleep and I will watch.”
“You will wake me at midnight?” I asked.
She nodded. At this I put my watch into her hand and started to go
below.
“No,” she said, “you must not leave me. Go to sleep here on the deck
where I can call you if necessary.”
I tumbled down on the mattress I had fixed for her and almost before I
could draw the blanket over me I was asleep. I say it to my shame and
her glory that she let me sleep the long night through, for it was the
sunlight that awakened me, and when I opened my eyes, there she stood,
erect and dauntless, matchless, holding the wheel.
CHAPTER XXI
AND LOVE ROUNDS OUT THE TALE
There is little more to tell. One day was like another. For once that
ocean which I had always thought ill-called Pacific, did not belie its
name. The wind blew us steadily and gently toward the haven we wished
to reach. It was hard work but we equally divided watches and duties,
I attending to all the trimming of the yards, my mistress doing the
cooking, and after that first night we honorably kept watch and watch
at night. I do not know what would have happened if it had come on to
blow, for I never could have reefed or furled those sails, but the same
Providence which had watched over us kept us in recollection still.
Indeed, save for a certain nervous strain, I was never better in my
life, and my mistress also.
After many days’ sailing we approached the South American coast and
there were lucky enough to fall in with a Spanish frigate. Her
commander, Don Antonio Recaldé, came aboard when he heard from the
officer whom he had sent off to us something of our story. He was
incredulous at first and not until we showed him some of the jewels did
he believe us. There was a great risk, perhaps, in showing an ordinary
man such a valuable treasure, but we were both agreed, my lady and I,
that Don Antonio was to be trusted absolutely.
Indeed, he proved himself a royal fellow in that he took the three
mutineers on his own ship and sent a lieutenant and a dozen seamen
aboard _The Rose of Devon_, and as he was cruising on a roving
commission he convoyed us into Valparaiso. The prisoners we turned
over to the English representative, to be tried for piracy and murder.
A trading ship bound through the Straits of Magellan for Buenos Ayres
offered us an opportunity to return to the Atlantic. We took advantage
of this, disposing of _The Rose of Devon_ to a firm of Spanish
merchants at Valparaiso for a good price which provided us with more
than enough money for our return voyage, and which relieved us of the
necessity for offering some of the jewels for sale which would have
involved explanations and possibly delay and confiscation.
We did press upon Don Antonio an emerald of great size and brilliancy
which, generous seaman that he was, he was loath to take but which my
mistress insisted upon, in addition to which he received a certain
percentage of the proceeds of the sale of _The Rose of Devon_ as
salvage, so that he and his men were well rewarded for their kindness
to us.
From Buenos Ayres, which we reached without mishap, we took a coasting
vessel, the only one that served, for Rio de Janeiro, the capital
of the Portuguese possessions in the Brazils. There we were lucky
enough to find a large Portuguese man-of-war frigate homeward bound to
Lisbon, whose captain obligingly received us as passengers, being moved
thereto, I more than suspect, by the beauty of my lady. From Lisbon by
roundabout ways we finally landed in Plymouth Harbor, whence we had set
forth more than a twelvemonth before. How good it was to set foot on
English ground once more! Yet I was sadder that morning than I had been
during all our far voyaging. I hired a private coach and by nightfall
we ended all our long journey at Master Ficklin’s door. He, with that
worthy kindly woman his sister, greeted us as if we had risen from the
dead, and greatly rejoicing in my lady’s good fortune, gave us the
warmest of welcomes.
That night I had what I expected would be my last interview with her.
We had been thrown constantly together during the six months that had
elapsed since our great adventure on the Island of the Stairs and our
arrival in England. We had discussed everything else, I think, but
I had said naught of my love. Indeed, each league of sea over which
we passed on our way homeward seemed to remove her farther from me.
Although she was tender, she was considerate, she was inviting, she
was intimate, when she was not arch, I could not bring myself to a
declaration.
We were alone. Good Mistress Ficklin had given us her parlor for the
evening. I took from my pockets the canvas pouch filled with her
treasure which I had detached from my belt as I had dressed that
morning, and laid it on the table.
“This, Mistress Wilberforce,” said I, formally enough, although my
heart was beating rapidly, “is yours.”
She waved her hand as if it was of small moment.
“We have discussed that before,” she said, “what of yourself?”
“Last night,” I replied, “I went down to the docks. A ship sails for
the East Indies next week. They want a chief mate and if my references
serve they will engage me.”
“And have you these references?”
“I thought, madam, that your friends in the city might give them to me
when they know.”
“But I have no friends in the city,” she answered promptly.
“These,” said I, pointing to the table, “will buy them for you.”
She stepped over to the table, untied the strings and upon the velvet
cloth fell the sparkling gems.
“Would they not buy friends for you as well?” she asked.
“Mistress Lucy,” said I, “I want but one thing in this world. No money,
no jewels could buy that, nor all the treasure we left behind upon
that island.”
“But if one should give you that,” she said very softly, her eyes on
the table and her white hand lifting the stones and letting them fall.
“I am not worthy--to receive it,” said I.
“And so,” she said, without looking at me, “and so it is good-by then.
May you be happy.”
She extended her hand to me and I caught it and kissed it passionately,
but when I made to let it go she would not.
“Master Hampdon,” she said, looking at me, her eyes brighter than the
diamonds and bluer than the sapphires upon the table, “you are a fool.”
“Right well I know that, Mistress,” said I, striving to fetch a smile
to match her own.
“And a blind man as well.”
Whereat I was a blind man, indeed, for my eyes misted up, but not with
blood as in the battle. And I, as strong and tough as a mountain ash,
was as like to faint as any lovesick girl.
“John, John,” came the sweetest voice on earth to me through the
darkness, “don’t you see? Don’t you know that I love you and you only,
that you have all my heart and that my life, which is yours a thousand
times on sea and shore, is not worth living without you?”
“But your friends, your world,” I protested as she came nearer.
“I have no other friends, I want no other, and you are my world.”
Well, it was not in me to resist after that, and for the third time in
my life I held her in my arms, where since that hour she has often been
again, and for the third time I drank the sweetness of her lips. She
laughed presently and I let her go a little, yet still held her close,
and she looked at me.
“Do you remember the night on _The Rose of Devon_ when first you kissed
me?”
“If I should kiss you a million times, sweetheart, as I mean to do,” I
answered boldly, “I should not forget a single one of them, much less
that.”
“And to punish you for your presumption, although my heart went out
to you I do confess, I struck you; and to teach you to be a dutiful
husband, loving, devoted to me,” she paused and laughed again, “I
strike you once again.”
Whereat she laid her hand once more, but in tenderness, upon my cheek,
following it with a kiss. I have had his Majesty’s sword laid upon my
shoulder after I had led one of the King’s ships to victory in the
French wars, and I am now, if you please, Sir John Hampdon. We live at
Wilberforce Castle and our children play on the sward, but the royal
accolade meant not so much to me as that light blow upon my cheek with
which my dear mistress sealed our plighted troth.
_Note_
I am often asked what became of the surviving English on the island,
and I can only answer that I do not know. So far as I have learned, no
white man has ever visited that island since that day, although the
publication of these memoirs may induce someone to go there for the
balance of the treasure, which is undoubtedly still where we left it.
They were resourceful sailors, however, and I have no doubt if any of
them survived the earthquake, they managed to get down the wall in some
way, repaired their canoes perhaps and returned to the island whence
they came, with the surviving natives, and they and their descendants
may be living there, awaiting the arrival of some ship.
I heard also after some years, of the prisoners we left in the hands of
the British representative at Valparaiso. One died, one escaped, and
one was hanged for the mutiny. Should anyone be inspired by the recital
of this story to seek the Island of the Stairs--where what remains of
the treasure is theirs for the taking--and come upon these mutineers,
they may assure them that, so far as my lady and I are concerned, no
proceedings will be instituted against them. The lapse of years and the
punishment their ringleaders suffered have rendered any prosecution
of them impossible, and so far as we are concerned they may return to
England or go where they will without molestation. God has undoubtedly
dealt with them, and we can leave their future to Him.
JOHN HAMPDON, KT.
THE END
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.