"Indeed, I know nothing of my poor niece."
In a few minutes a cup of water had been given to each of the persons
round the tent, the reviving effect of which was wonderful on even the
most exhausted. Meantime the unhappy wretches on the lower part of the
rock were shrieking and gesticulating as before, but instead of looking
at the boats they now turned their eyes towards those who were quenching
their raging thirst with the supply of water brought by Linton and Raby.
At this juncture the dinghy returned, and the men in her succeeded by a
_coup de main_ in getting two men off, when by a less forcible manner
they would probably have failed. The moment they reached the rock they
leaped on it, holding the boat by the painter, and before the Frenchmen
were aware they had seized two of them who had jackets to catch hold of,
and had hauled them into the boat. A second time the manoeuvre had
equal success, and thus six were got off without much trouble. Linton
now bethought him of trying to soothe some of them by giving them water,
and at last he succeeded in attracting one of them up the rock by
holding up a cup of water. The man took it and quaffed it eagerly.
"_C'est mieux que le sang_," he exclaimed in a hollow voice, followed by
a fierce laugh. "_More, more, more_."
The lieutenant considered that he might give him a little more, and
others seeing that their comrade was obtaining that for which they had
been longing, came up and held out their hands for the cup, their manner
and the unmeaning look of their eyes showing that they were more
influenced by the instinct of animals than the sense of men.
By degrees the whole of them came up and obtained a cup of water, and
Linton had the satisfaction of seeing that they had become much calmer
and more manageable. He, in consequence, thought he might venture down
to examine the condition of the still more unfortunate beings who sat by
themselves, altogether unconscious of their condition, as well as of
those he had seen stretched out at their length near the edge of the
rock. Bowse, however, recommended him not to attempt to do so till a
greater number of the maniacs had been got off. "If Mr Raby and I, and
Mitchell, there," (meaning the colonel's servant, who was the second man
who had come to their rescue), "were to accompany you, and it would not
be safe for you to go alone, those poor wretches might attack our
fortress and murder all in it; and to say the truth, I am afraid you can
do very little good to any of them."
Bowse's arguments prevailed, and Linton and Raby set to work to get the
people into the dinghy. He found the best way was to give them a little
water at a time, and then to promise them more directly they should
reach the cutter. In this way several more were got off, the seamen
seizing them neck and heels the moment they got near the dinghy, and
tumbling them in. At last Linton, leaving Bowse in charge of what he
called the fortress, proceeded with Raby and Mitchell, carrying the
remainder of the water to aid those who either could not or would not
move. The first man they came to lay moaning and pointing to his mouth.
No sooner did his parched lips feel the cooling liquid than he sat
upright, seizing the cup in both his hands, and drained off the
contents. Scarcely had he finished the draught than, uttering a deep
sigh, he fell back, and, stretching out his arms, expired. On the next
the water had a more happy effect: the eye, which at first was glazed
and fixed, slowly acquired a look of consciousness, the muscles of the
face relaxed, and a smile, expressive of gratitude, seemed to flit
across the countenance of the sufferer. The next, who was sitting by
himself, almost naked, with his feet close to the sea, received the cup
with a vacant stare, and dashed the precious liquid on the ground, while
the cup itself would have rolled into the sea, had not Raby fortunately
saved it. They, however, again tried him with more, and no sooner did
the water actually touch his lips than he seemed as eager to obtain it
as he was before indifferent to it. When the dinghy returned, these two
were lifted into her, and conveyed on board the cutter. The cutter had,
by this time, a full cargo on board, which she transferred to the
_Ione_, and then returned, anchoring closer in with the rock than
before. While Linton and his companions were attending, as I have
described, to the most helpless of the French seamen, they were followed
closely by the remainder, who watched their proceedings with idiot
wonder.
The threatening gestures of the gang, who were behind, made him glad to
find a way by which he could retreat to the summit of the rock, where he
found assembled, besides the persons I have already mentioned, the
second mate and three British seamen of the _Zodiac_, as also the
captain of a French brig-of-war, which it appeared had been wrecked
there, four of his officers and five of his men, who were the only ones
who had retained their strength and their senses; and many of them were
so weak that they had not sufficient strength to walk down to the boats.
Linton accordingly sent for further assistance, and two more hands came
off from the cutter, both for the purpose of carrying down the
sufferers, and of defending them in the mean time from any attack the
maniacs might make on them. Colonel Gauntlett, although at first unable
to walk, quickly recovered, and insisted on having no other assistance
than such as Mitchell could afford in getting to the boat. The French
captain had suffered the most, both from bodily fatigue and mental
excitement.
All this party having been embarked, Linton advised that the cutter
should return to the ship, and begged that four more hands should be
sent him, with a good supply of rope-yarns. While the boats were
absent, he tried to calm and conciliate the unhappy beings on the rock;
but, although they no longer attempted to injure him, it was evident
that they abstained from doing so more from fear than good will.
They were in all, remaining alive, twelve persons; and, when the dinghy
returned, he found his party to amount to eight men, with whom he
considered he should easily be able to master the others. The
unfortunate Frenchmen had not sense to perceive what he was about, and
he had captured and bound three before they attempted to escape from
him. Then commenced the most extraordinary chase round and round the
rock. In a short time three more were bound, and these Linton sent off
before he made any further attempt to take the rest. There were still
six at large, fierce, powerful men, who evaded every means he could
devise to get hold of them without using actual force. He was still
unwilling to pull away, and leave them to their fate; at length he
ordered his men to make a simultaneous rush at them, and to endeavour to
trip them up, or to knock them over with the flats of their cutlasses.
Pour of them were secured, though they had their knives in their hands,
and made a desperate resistance; the others, they were two, who appeared
to be the maddest of the party, darted from them, and, before they could
be stopped, leaped off, on the weather side, when they were quickly
swallowed up among the breakers. Linton and his companions shuddered as
they left the fatal spot.
The _Ione_, with her new passengers on board, kept on her course, and
the wind still continuing foul, Captain Fleetwood steered for Athens,
off which place, the French commander said he was certain to find a ship
of his own country to receive him and his crew.
A French frigate was fallen in with, as was expected, and the French
captain and his surviving officers and crew were transferred to her.
They were all full of the deepest expressions of gratitude for the
service which had been rendered them, and all united in complimenting
Bowse for his behaviour during the trying time of the shipwreck, which
had been the chief means of preserving their lives.
I will not describe Fleetwood's feelings on seeing Colonel Gauntlett,
and on hearing that Ada had, to a certainty, been carried off by Zappa.
He had been prepared for the account; for he believed, from the first,
that it was for that purpose he had attacked the _Zodiac_.
Such, however, was a conjecture a lover would naturally form, as he
considered her the most valuable thing on board; but, perhaps, the more
worldly reader may consider that the rich cargo had greater attractions,
as well as the prospect of a large sum for her ransom. He was not aware
that, at that very time, Zappa had sent to Aaron Bannech, the old Jew of
Malta, to negotiate with her friends for that very purpose. The
colonel, of course, remained on board to assist in the search for his
niece, while Bowse begged that he might be allowed to remain also for
the same object, and his men entered on board the _Ione_, which was some
hands short.
A few words must explain the appearance of Captain Bowse and his crew
and passengers on the rock. When Zappa had left the _Zodiac_ he had
bored holes in her, for the purpose of sending her to the bottom; she,
however, did not sink as soon as expected; and Bowse, with some of his
people who were unhurt, were able to put a boat to rights, and to launch
her. The boat carried them all, and they were making for the nearest
coast when they were picked up by a French man-of-war. The French ship
was soon after wrecked on a barren rock, on which they existed without
food for many days, and where many of the Frenchmen went mad. Here they
remained till the _Ione_ took them off.
Fleetwood had been very unhappy at having been compelled to go so much
out of his way to get rid of the Frenchmen; but he was well rewarded for
the delay, by falling in, when just off the mouth of the Gulf of Egina,
with the very brig he had chased before touching at Cephalonia, the
_Ypsilante_. Captain Teodoro Vassilato came on board, and expressed his
delight at meeting him again, insisting on being allowed to accompany
him on his search.
"I was once taken prisoner by the rascals myself, and narrowly escaped
with my life, and I may have some little expectation of satisfaction in
punishing them," he observed. "Indeed, without my assistance, I do not
think you have much chance of success."
This last argument prevailed, and Fleetwood, warmly pressing his new
friend's hand, assured him of his gratitude for his promised assistance.
The two brigs, therefore, sailed in company to search for the pirate's
island.