It was a calm but very dark night when Swinton, Blazer, Garnet, Heron,
Taylor, and several other men of kindred spirit, rose from their couches
at the further end of the island, and, stealthily quitting the place,
hastened back to their original camp.
They reached it about midnight, and, as they had expected, found all
quiet, for the so-called "guard" of the camp had been hard at work all
day and were at that moment fast asleep. Paul and the captain, with
Oliver, lay side by side under a tent which they had constructed out of
broken spars and a piece of sailcloth.
Their foes drew together not far from the spot.
"Now, men," said Swinton, "this is a tough job we have in hand, for they
are strong men, and the boy, albeit not big, is a very tiger-cat to
fight. You see, if our plan was murder we could easily settle their
business while they slept but that's not our plan. We are _not_
murderers--by no means!"
"Certainly not," growled Blazer, with virtuous solemnity.
"Well, that bein' so, we must take them alive. I will creep into the
tent with you, Jim Heron, for you're big and strong enough. You will
fall on Trench and hold 'im down. I'll do the same to Burns. Garnet
will manage the boy. The moment the rest of you hear the row begin, you
will jump in and lend a hand wi' the ropes. After we've got 'em all
safe into the boat, we will pull to the big island--land them there, an'
bid them a tender farewell!"
"But surely you won't land them without a morsel to eat?" said Taylor.
"Why not? They're sure to fall in wi' their _dear_ friends the savages,
who will, doubtless, be very grateful to 'em, an' supply grub gratis!
Now, lads, you understand what you've got to do?"
"Ay, ay," was the response, in a low tone, as they moved cautiously
away, like evil spirits, to carry out their wicked plans.
"Fortune," it is said, "favours the brave," but in this case she did not
thus bestow her favours, for the cowardly plan was successfully carried
out. Before the sleepers were well awake, they were overwhelmed by
numbers, secured and bound. They were not gagged, however, as no one
was near to hear even if they shouted their loudest, which they knew it
was useless to do. In a few minutes the three prisoners were hurried
into the boat and rowed across the wide channel that separated the islet
from the opposite shore.
At that time it was not supposed, either by the original discoverers or
those who immediately followed them, that Newfoundland was one large
island--considerably larger than Ireland. Not till many a year
afterwards did explorers ascertain that it was an island of about three
hundred and seventeen miles in length, by about the same in breadth; but
so cut up by deep bays, inlets, and fords as to have much the appearance
of a group of islands.
During their passage across the channel both Trench and Paul attempted
to reason with Swinton, but that hardened villain refused to utter a
word till their prisoners were marched up the shingly beach, and told to
sit down on a ledge of rock under the steep cliffs, where innumerable
sea-birds were screaming a clamorous welcome, or, perchance, a noisy
remonstrance.
"Now, my friends," said their foe, "as you are fond of commanding, you
may take command o' them there sea-birds--they won't object!--and if ye
fall in wi' your friends the savages, you may give them my love an' good
wishes."
"But surely you don't mean to leave us here without food, and with our
hands tied behind us?" fiercely exclaimed Master Trench, whose wrath at
any thing like injustice was always prone to get the better of his
wisdom.
"As to grub," answered Swinton, "there's plenty of that around, if you
only exert yourself to find it. I won't cut your lashin's, however,
till we are fairly in the boat, for we can't trust you. Come along,
lads; and, Garnet, you bring the boy with ye."
Under the impression that he was to be separated from his father and
friend, and taken back again to the islet, poor Oliver, whom they had
not thought it worth while to bind, struggled with a ferocity that would
have done credit to the wildcats with which he had been compared; but
Garnet was a strong man, and held him fast.
"Take it easy, my boy," said Paul, who, being helpless, could only look
on with intense pity. "Submit to God's will--we will pray for you."
But Olly's spirit could by no means reach the submitting point until he
was fairly exhausted. While they dragged him towards the boat, Taylor
turned back and flung a small canvas bag at the captain's feet.
"There, Master Trench," he said, "you'll find a lump o' pork in that bag
to keep you goin' till ye get hold o' somethin' else. An' don't take on
about the boy. _We_ don't want 'im, bless you. Why, we only want to
prevent him settin' you free before we gets fairly away."
This was true. When the boat was reached and the men were on board,
ready to shove off, Garnet, still holding Olly fast by the arm, said,
"Keep still, will you, and hear what Master Swinton has got to say?"
"Now, you fiery polecat," said Swinton, "you may go and cut their
lashin's, and take _that_ as a parting gift."
The gift was a sounding box on the ear; but Olly minded it not, for
while Garnet was speaking, as he stood knee-deep in the water close to
the boat, he had observed an axe lying on one of the thwarts near to
him. The instant he was set free, therefore, he seized the axe, and,
flourishing it close past Garnet's nose, with a cheer of defiance he
sprang towards the beach. Garnet leaped after him, but he was no match
for the agile boy, who in another minute had severed Paul's bonds and
placed the weapon in his hands.
"Hallo! hi, you've forgot _me_. Cut my--ho!"
But there was no occasion for Master Trench to cry out and struggle with
the cords that bound him. A furious rush of Paul with the axe caused
Garnet to double with the neatness of a hunted hare. He bounded into
the boat which was immediately shoved off, and the sailors rowed away,
leaving Paul to return and liberate the captain at leisure.
Silently the trio stood and watched the receding boat, until it was lost
in the darkness of the night. Then they looked at each other solemnly.
Their case was certainly a grave one.
"Cast away on an unknown shore," murmured the captain, in a low tone; as
if he communed with his own spirit rather than with his companions,
"without food, without a ship or boat--without hope!"
"Nay, Master Trench," said Paul, "not without hope; for `God is our
refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble,' so says His
own Word, as my mother has often read to me."
"It is well for you, Paul," returned the captain, "that you can find
comfort in such words--I can find none. Stern realities and facts are
too strong for me. How can I take comfort in unfulfilled promises?
Here we are in trouble enough, surely. In what sense is God a `refuge'
to us--or `strength,' or a `present help'? Why, we are left absolutely
destitute here, without so much as a bite of food to keep our bodies and
souls together."
He spoke with some bitterness, for he was still chafing under the sense
of the wrong which he had suffered at the hands of men to whom he had
been invariably kind and forbearing. As he turned from Paul with a
gesture of impatience his foot struck against the canvas bag of pork
which the man Taylor had flung to him on leaving, and which had been
forgotten. He stopped suddenly and gazed at it; so did Paul.
"Looks like as if God had already helped us--at least to food--does it
not?" said the latter.
"It was Taylor helped us to that," objected Trench.
"And who put it into Taylor's heart to help us?" asked Paul. "He is one
of the worst men of our crew, so we can hardly say it was his own
tenderness, and certainly it was not the devil who moved him to it. Am
I wrong in holding that it was `Our Father'?"
"I believe you are right, Paul. Anyhow, I have neither the capacity nor
the inclination to dispute the point now. Pick up the bag, Olly, and
come along. We must try to find some sort of shelter in which to spend
the rest o' the night and consider our future plans."
With a lighter heart and firmer faith, Paul Burns followed his leader,
silently thanking God as he went along for thus far, and so opportunely,
demonstrating His own faithfulness.
They had to wander some time before a suitable camping spot was found,
for that part of the Newfoundland coast on which they had been landed
was almost inaccessible. The cliffs in many places rose sheer out of
the water to a height of full three hundred feet. Only in a few places
little strips of shingly beach lay between the base of the cliffs and
the sea, so that the finding of an opening in those stupendous ramparts
of rock was no easy matter in a dark night.
At last they came to a place where the cliffs appeared to rise less
precipitously. After careful clambering for some minutes they
discovered a sort of gap in the rampart, up which they climbed, amid
rugged and broken masses, until they reached a somewhat level plateau,
or shelf, covered with small bushes. Here they resolved to encamp.
"Whether it's the top o' the cliffs or not, there's no findin' out,"
remarked Trench, as he tried to survey the ground; "but whether or not
don't matter, for it looks level enough to lie on, an' we're as like as
not to break our necks if we try to go further."
"Agreed," said Paul; "but now it occurs to me that our pork may be raw,
and that we shall want fire to cook it. Have you got flint and steel in
your pocket, Master Trench?"
"Ay--never travel without it; but by ill-luck I've got no tinder. Flint
and steel are useless, you know, without that."
"If ill-luck troubles _you_," returned Paul, "good luck favours _me_,
for I have got a bit of tinder, and--"
"The pork's raw," exclaimed Oliver, who had been hastily investigating
the contents of the canvas bag; "but, I say, there's more than pork
here. There's a lot o' the little flour-cakes our cook was so fond of
makin'."
"Good. Now then let us have a search for wood," said Paul. "If we find
that, we shall get along well enough till morning. But have a care,
Olly, keep from the edge of the cliff. The ledge is not broad. Have an
eye too, or rather an ear, for water as you go along."
Success attended their search, for in a few minutes Paul and the captain
returned with loads of dry branches, and Olly came back reporting water
close at hand, trickling from a crevice in the cliffs.
"Your shirt-front tells the tale, Olly. You've been drinking," said
Paul, who was busy striking a light at the time.
"Indeed I have; and we shall all be obliged to drink under difficulties,
for we have neither cup nor mug with us."
"Neither is wanted, boy, as I'll soon show you," said Paul. "Why, a bit
of birch-bark, even a piece of paper, forms a good drinking vessel if
you only know how to use it. Ha! caught at last," he added, referring
to some dry grasses and twigs which burst into flame as he spoke.
Another moment and a ruddy glare lit up the spot, giving to things near
at hand a cosy, red-hot appearance, and to more distant objects a
spectral aspect, while, strangely enough, it seemed to deepen to
profounder darkness all else around. Heaping on fresh fuel and pressing
it down, for it consisted chiefly of small branches, they soon had a
glowing furnace, in front of which the pork ere long sputtered
pleasantly, sending up a smell that might have charmed a gourmand.
"Now, then, while this is getting ready let us examine our possessions,"
said the captain, "for we shall greatly need all that we have. It is
quite clear that we could not return to our shipmates even if we
would--"
"No, and I would not even if I could," interrupted Oliver, while busy
with the pork chops.
"And," continued his father, regardless of the interruption, "it is
equally clear that we shall have to earn our own livelihood somehow."
Upon careful examination it was found that their entire possessions
consisted of two large clasp-knives; a sheath hunting-knife; flint,
steel, and tinder; the captain's watch; a small axe; a large note-book,
belonging to Paul; three pencils; bit of indiarubber; several
fish-hooks; a long piece of twine, and three brass buttons, the property
of Oliver, besides the manuscript Gospel of John, and Olly's treasured
letter from his mother. These articles, with the garments in which they
stood, constituted the small fortune of our wanderers, and it became a
matter of profound speculation, during the progress of the supper, as to
whether it was possible to exist in an unknown wilderness on such very
slender means.
Olly thought it was--as a matter of course.
Master Trench doubted, and shook his head with an air of much sagacity,
a method of expressing an opinion which is eminently unassailable. Paul
Burns condescended on reasons for his belief--which, like Olly's, was
favourable.
"You see," he said, wiping his uncommonly greasy fingers on the grass,
"we have enough of pork and cakes here for several days--on short
allowance. Then it is likely that we shall find some wild fruits, and
manage to kill something or other with stones, and it cannot be long
till we fall in with natives, who will be sure to be friendly--if not,
we will make them so--and where _they_ can live, _we_ can live. So I am
going to turn in and dream about it. Luckily the weather is warm.
Good-night."
Thus did our three adventurers, turning in on that giddy ledge, spend
their first night in Newfoundland.