"Father!"
Instantly Zeppa let go his supposed enemy and turned round. The change
in his aspect was as wonderful as it was sudden. The old, loving,
gentle expression overspread his features, and the wild fire seemed to
die out of his eyes as he held out both hands.
"Ah! once more, my son!" he said, in the tenderest of tones. "Come to
me. This is kind of you, Orley, to return so soon again; I had not
expected you for a long time. Sit down beside me, and lay your head
upon my knee--so--I like to have you that way, for I see you better."
"Oh, father--dear father!" said Orlando, but the words were choked in
his throat, and tears welled from his eyes.
"Yes, Orley?" said Zeppa, with a startled look of joyful surprise, while
he turned his head a little to one side, as if listening in expectancy;
"speak again, dear boy; speak again. I have often seen you since you
went to the spirit-land, but have never heard you speak till to-day.
Speak once more, dear boy!"
But Orley could not speak. He could only hide his face in his father's
bosom and sob aloud.
"Nay, don't cry, lad; you never did that before! What do you mean?
That is unmanly. Not like what my courageous boy was wont to be. And
you have grown so much since last I saw you. Why, you've even got a
beard! Who ever heard of a bearded man sobbing like a child? And now I
look at you closely I see that you have grown wonderfully tall. It is
very strange--but all things seem strange since I came here. Only, in
all the many visits you have paid me, I have never seen you changed till
to-day. You have always come to me in the old boyish form. Very,
_very_ strange! But, Orley, my boy" (and here Zeppa's voice became
intensely earnest and pleading), "you won't leave me again, will you?
Surely they can well spare you from the spirit-world for a time--just a
little while. It would fill my heart with such joy and gratitude. And
I'm your father, Orley, surely I have a right to you--more right than
the angels have--haven't I? and then it would give such joy, if you came
back, to your dear mother, whom I have not seen for so long--so very
long!"
"I will _never_ leave you, father, _never_!" cried Orlando, throwing his
arms round Zeppa's neck and embracing him passionately.
"Nay, then, you _are_ going to leave me," cried Zeppa, with sudden
alarm, as he clasped Orlando to him with an iron grip. "You always
embrace me when you are about to vanish out of my sight. But you shall
not escape me _this_ time. I have got you tighter than I ever had you
before, and no fiend shall separate us now. No fiend!" he repeated in a
shout, glaring at a spot in the bushes where Ebony, unable to restrain
his feelings, had unwittingly come into sight.
Suddenly changing his purpose, Zeppa let go his son and sprang like a
tiger on the supposed fiend. Ebony went down before him like a bulrush
before the hurricane, but, unlike it, he did not rise again. The madman
had pinned him to the earth and was compressing his throat with both
hands. It required all the united strength of his son and the negro to
loosen his grasp, and even that would not have sufficed had not the
terrible flame which had burned so long died out. It seemed to have
been suddenly extinguished by this last burst of fury, for Zeppa fell
back as helpless as an infant in their hands. Indeed he lay so still
with his eyes closed that Orlando trembled with fear lest he should be
dying.
"Now, Ebony," said he, taking the negro apart, when they had made the
exhausted man as comfortable as possible on his rude couch in the cave;
"you run down to the ship and fetch the doctor here without delay. I
will be able to manage him easily when alone. Run as you never ran
before. Don't let any soul come here except the doctor and yourself.
Tell the captain I have found him--through God's mercy--but that he is
very ill and must be carefully kept from excitement and that in the
meantime nobody is to disturb us. The doctor will of course fetch
physic; and tell him to bring his surgical instruments also, for, if I
mistake not, poor Rosco needs his attention. Do you bring up as much in
the way of provisions as you can carry, and one or two blankets. And,
harkee, make no mention of the pirate to any one. Away!"
During the delivery of this message, the negro listened eagerly, and
stood quite motionless, like a black statue, with the exception of his
glittering eyes.
"Yes, massa," he said at its conclusion, and almost literally vanished
from the scene.
Orlando then turned to his father. The worn out man still lay perfectly
quiet, with closed eyes, and countenance so pale that the dread of
approaching death again seized on the son. The breathing was, however,
slow and regular, and what appeared to be a slight degree of moisture
lay on the brow. The fact that the sick man slept soon became apparent,
and when Orlando had assured himself of this he arose, left the cave
with careful tread, and glided, rather than walked, back to the place
where the pirate had been left. There he still lay, apparently much
exhausted.
"We have found him, thank God," said Orlando, seating himself on a bank;
"and I would fain hope that the worst is over, for he sleeps. But, poor
fellow, you seem to be in a bad case. Can I do aught to relieve you?"
"Nothing," replied Rosco, with a weary sigh.
"I have sent for a surgeon--"
"A surgeon!" repeated the pirate, with a startled look; "then there must
be a man-of-war off the coast for South sea traders are not used to
carry surgeons."
"Ah! I forgot. You naturally don't wish to see any one connected with
a man-of-war. Yes, there is one here. I came in her. But you can see
this surgeon without his knowing who or what you are. It will be
sufficient for him to know that you are an unfortunate sailor who had
fallen into the hands of the savages."
"Yes," exclaimed Rosco, grasping eagerly at the idea; "and that's just
what I am. Moreover, I ran away from my ship! But--but--do _you_ not
feel it your duty to give me up?"
"What I shall feel it my duty to do ultimately is not a matter for
present consideration. Just now you require surgical assistance. But
how did you come here? and what do you mean by saying that you ran away
from your ship?"
Rosco in reply gave a brief but connected narrative of his career during
the past three years, in which he made no attempt to exculpate himself,
but, on the contrary, confessed his guilt and admitted his desert of
death.
"Yet I shrink from death," he said in conclusion. "Is it not strange
that I, who have faced death so often with perfect indifference, should
draw back from it now with something like fear?"
"A great writer," replied Orlando, "whom my father used to read to me at
home, says that `conscience makes cowards of us all.' And a still
greater authority says that `the wicked flee when no man pursueth.' You
are safe here, Rosco--at all events for the present. But you must not
go near the cave again. Rest where you are and I will search for some
place where you may remain concealed till you are well. I shall return
quickly."
Leaving the pirate where he lay, Orlando returned to his father, and,
finding that he still slept, went off to search for a cave.
He soon found a small one in the cliffs, suitable for his purpose.
Thither he carried the pirate, laid him tenderly on a couch of branches
and leaves, put food and water within his reach, and left him with a
feeling of comfort and of contentment at heart that he had not
experienced for many years.
That night the surgeon of the "Furious" ascended to the mountain cave.
His approach was made known to Orlando, as he watched at the sick man's
side, by the appearance of Ebony's great eyes glittering at him over the
bushes that encircled the cave's mouth. No wonder that poor Zeppa had
mistaken him for a demon! Holding up a finger of caution, Orlando
glided towards him, seized his arm, and, after leading him to a safe
distance, asked in a low voice--
"Well, have you brought the doctor?"
"Ho, yis, massa, an' I bring Tomeo and Buttchee too."
"Didn't I tell you to let no one else come near us?" said Orlando in a
tone of vexation.
"Dat's true, massa, but I no kin stop dem. So soon as dey hear dat
Antonio Zeppa am found, sick in de mountains, dey swore dey mus' go see
him. I say dat you say no! Dey say dey not care. I say me knock 'em
bofe down. Dey say dey turn me hinside hout if I don't ole my tongue.
What could dis yar nigger do? Dey's too much for me. So dey follered,
and here dey am wid de doctor, waiting about two hun'rd yards down dere
for leave to come. But, I say, massa, dey's good sort o' fellers after
all--do whatever you tells 'em. Good for go messages, p'raps, an save
dis yar nigger's poor legs."
Ebony made the latter suggestion with a grin so broad that in the
darkness his face became almost luminous with teeth and gums.
"Well, I suppose we must make the most of the circumstances," said
Orlando. "Come, lead me to them."
It was found that though the strong affection of the two chiefs for
Zeppa had made them rebellious in the matter of visiting the spot, the
same affection, and their regard for Orlando, rendered them submissive
as lambs, and willing to do absolutely whatever they were told.
Orlando, therefore, had no difficulty in prevailing on them to delay
their visit to his father till the following day. Meanwhile, he caused
them to encamp in a narrow pass close at hand, and, the better to
reconcile them to their lot, imposed upon them the duty of mounting
guard each alternate couple of hours during the night.
"He will do well," said the doctor, after examining the patient. "This
sleep is life to him. I will give him something when he awakes, but the
awaking must be left to nature. Whether he recovers his reason after
what he has passed through remains to be seen. You say he has been
wandering for some time here in a state of insanity? How came that
about?"
"It is a long and sad story, doctor," said Orlando, evading the
question, "and I have not time to tell it now, for I want you to visit
another patient."
"Another patient?" repeated the surgeon, in surprise; "ah! one of the
natives, I suppose?"
"No, a white man. He is a sailor who ran away from his ship, and was
caught by the natives and tortured."
"Come, then, let us go and see the poor fellow at once. Does he live
far from here?"
"Close at hand," answered Orlando, as he led the way; "and perhaps,
doctor, it would be well not to question the poor man at present as to
his being here and in such a plight. He seems very weak and ill."
When the surgeon had examined Rosco's feet he led Orlando aside.
"It is a bad case," he said; "both legs must be amputated below the knee
if the man's life is to be saved."
"Must it be done now?"
"Immediately. Can you assist me?"
"I have assisted at amateur operations before now," said Orlando, "and
at all events you can count on the firmness of my nerves and on blind
obedience. But stay--I must speak to him first, alone."
"Rosco," said the youth, as he knelt by the pirate's couch, "your sins
have been severely punished, and your endurance sorely tried--"
"Not more than I deserve, Orlando."
"But I grieve to tell you that your courage must be still further tried.
The doctor says that both feet must be amputated."
A frown gathered on the pirate's face, and he compressed his lips for a
few moments.
"And the alternative?" he asked.
"Is death."