The weather had been fine, with moderate breezes from about
west-north-west, during the entire period of our sojourn at the island,
and we left it under like conditions. Our course for the Horn was a
south-easterly one, which brought the wind nicely over the starboard
quarter, and the breeze was of just the right strength to enable us to
show the whole of our starboard flight of studding-sails to it, and to
handsomely reel off our eleven knots per hour by the log. Under these
circumstances we were not long in running the island out of sight; and
with its disappearance below the horizon I hoped that my troubles--
except, of course, such as might arise from bad weather--were at an end.
As for the men, their sojourn on the island had done them good, they
were in splendid health and--as might be expected of men in their
condition who had so easily become wealthy--in high spirits, they seemed
anxious to get home, and were, one and all, upon their best behaviour,
being apparently desirous of conciliating me to the utmost possible
extent, now that their own ends had been served. But although I deemed
it sound diplomacy to allow them to believe that their endeavours in
this direction were meeting with perfect success, I could not forget
that, in the prosecution of their own selfish plans, they had shown
themselves to be callously criminal, and utterly indifferent to all the
hardship and suffering, mental and bodily, that they were inflicting
upon a young, delicately-nurtured, sensitive woman--to say nothing of
what they had caused me to endure; and I determined that, if it lay in
my power to scheme out such a result, they should, one and all, pay the
penalty of their crimes.
The apparently favourable condition of affairs to which I have just
referred continued for fully a week after our departure from the island;
and then I received a rude awakening. It happened thus:
The weather was still gloriously fine, but the wind had drawn more out
from the southward until it was square upon our starboard beam, which,
with a decided increase in its strength, had caused us to take in all
our studding-sails except the fore-topmast, the boom of which was braced
well forward. It was close upon sunset; and Harry, the Cockney, was at
the wheel. The sky away to the westward about the setting sun wore a
decidedly smoky, windy look, with a corresponding wildness and hardness
and glare of colour that seemed to threaten a blusterous night; so much
so, indeed, that, pausing in my solitary perambulation of the deck, I
halted near the binnacle to study it. As I did so, the helmsman, with
his eye on the weather leach of the main-topgallant-sail, said:
"Don't look at me, or take any notice of me, sir, because I don't want
them skowbanks for'ard to see me a-talkin' to you; but I've got
somethin' very partic'lar as I should like to s'y, if I can only find a
chaunce."
"Well, fire away then, my lad," said I. "No time like the present. I
am looking to see whether we are going to have a breeze to-night."
The fellow remained silent for a full minute, chewing vigorously at the
plug of tobacco in his cheek, and then said, still gazing intently
aloft:
"The long and the short of it's this, sir. Them two swines, O'Gorman
and Price, have been s'yin' that after that business with the French
barque, and the shootin' of Karl and Fritz, it won't never do to let you
and the young lidy ever get ashore again."
So Miss Onslow's foreboding had come true, then! We knew too much, and
were no doubt to be sacrificed in cold blood to ensure the safety of
this piratical gang. But "fore-warned is fore-armed"; moreover, there
was this man Harry clearly disposed to be friendly to us, or why should
he take the risk of acquainting me with this terrible news? As I
realised all the fresh anxiety and watchfulness that this information
would entail upon me, I faltered for a moment under a feeling of
overwhelming despair; but it was gone instantly; and within the next
second or two I had pulled myself together, the fighting instinct had
leapt up, alert and eager, and I was once more ready to do battle
against the whole ruffianly mob of them for the life and honour of the
girl that I now loved beyond any other earthly thing.
"And what do the men say to it?"
I asked, stepping up on the grating and, hands in pocket, balancing
myself jauntily to the heave and roll of the plunging hull as I
continued to gaze contemplatively at the windy sky away on our starboard
quarter.
"Why," answered, Harry, "it's no use denyin' that they're all of the
same mind as t'other two. They s'ys that you knows enough to hang all
hands of us, and that you'd be certain sure to do it, too, if we was
only to give yer half a chaunce."
"And what is _your_ opinion upon the matter, my man?" demanded I.
"Well," said he, "I thinks as p'rhaps they're right, so far as that
goes. But I don't hold with murder; and I said as I thought we might be
able to plan out a way of makin' ourselves safe without doin' no hurt to
you and the young lidy. But they wouldn't listen to me; they're all for
makin' theirselves _safe_, as they calls it."
"And what is their scheme?" asked I.
"Why, accordin' to their present way of thinking they intends to ast you
to make the Brazilian coast, somewheres about twenty mile or so from
some big port; and they're goin' to tell you as when we've made the land
the brig is to be scuttled, and all hands--you and the lidy included--is
to take to the boats and land, givin' ourselves out to be a shipwrecked
crew. But, at the last minute, when all is ready for leaving you and
the lidy is to be seized, lashed hand and foot, and locked up below, to
go down with the brig."
"A very pretty, diabolical, cold-blooded scheme," commented I, "and one
that would have been very likely to prove successful, had you not warned
me. I am infinitely obliged to you, my man, and you may rest assured
that I will not forget, the good turn you have done me in making me
acquainted with the plan. I shall endeavour to frustrate it, of course.
May I depend upon you to help me?"
"Why, as to that, sir," answered the fellow, "everything'll depend upon
what you makes up your mind to do. I won't have nothin' to do wi'
murderin' of you, that's certain. But, on t'other hand, I don't mean to
mix myself up with no job that means havin' my throat cut if the thing
don't happen to turn out all right."
"Just so," said I; "I see your position exactly. I will think the
matter over, and see if I cannot devise some practicable scheme to get
to windward of those scoundrels, and will then have another talk with
you. Meanwhile, kindly keep your ears open; appear to fall in with the
plans of the others, and let me know if any alterations are made--you
will find it greatly to your advantage to do so."
"Thank'ee, sir; I will," answered the man as I wheeled round, directed a
long, scrutinising glance at the canvas, stepped off the grating and
squinted into the binnacle, and finally resumed my perambulation of the
deck.
Now, here was a nice plot to face, and countermine! A plot that was
only to be defeated by subtlety and strategy; for, at the most, there
were but three of us, all told, against thirteen ruthless, treacherous
men; and it was not to be forgotten that no dependence whatever was to
be placed upon the man Harry; his scruples apparently drew the line at
cold-blooded murder, but on the hither side of that, consideration for
his own safety might tempt him to any conceivable lengths; in short, it
needed but very little consideration to demonstrate that if I was to
secure his active co-operation, I must make it perfectly clear to him
that it would be distinctly to his interest to give it me. Then there
was Miss Onslow. She was a woman of a delicate and refined nature, of a
magnificent courage certainly, clever, and resourceful; and thus far
capable, perhaps, of affording valuable suggestions, but by no means to
be involved so tangibly in any scheme against the men as to expose her
to their vengeful fury in the event of failure. The question whether I
should mention this latest development to her at all was one of long and
anxious mental debate with me; on the one hand I was intensely desirous
to spare this poor girl any further terror and anxiety; while, on the
other, I felt doubtful whether, in a matter that so vitally interested
her, I ought not to afford her the opportunity of bringing her keen and
clever woman's wit to bear upon the problem that had now thrust itself
upon us. I spent an anxious, sleepless night, revolving countless
schemes in my head, and abandoning them, one after the other, either as
impracticable, or else too dependent upon chance. The whole of the next
day and the succeeding night was similarly spent by me; and when I
sprang feverishly from my bunk, haggard and hollow-eyed with
sleeplessness and worry, on the second morning after my conversation
with the man Harry, I had come to the resolution that it was my duty to
inform Miss Onslow how matters stood with us, and to afford her the
opportunity to assist me with any suggestions that might occur to her.
An opportunity occurred shortly after breakfast. I had taken my sights
for the brig's longitude, worked them out, laid down the result upon the
chart, and was abstractedly gazing at the latter as it lay spread out
before me upon the cabin table, anxiously seeking inspiration from a
study of the coasts, islands, and harbours delineated in miniature upon
the white paper, when the young lady stepped out of her cabin and--first
assuring herself that the steward was not within hearing--came to my
side, and, laying her hand upon my shoulder, said:
"I want you to tell me what is the matter. There _is_ something very
seriously wrong, I know, for I was watching you all day yesterday, and
it was impossible for me to avoid noticing that while, when in presence
of the men you did your best to wear an unconcerned manner, the moment
that you deemed yourself free from their observation you sank into a
mood of gloomy abstraction and reverie, the meaning of which was not to
be mistaken. And this morning you look absolutely _ill_ with worry,
your forehead is seamed with wrinkles of care and anxiety, and--
positively you are turning grey about the temples."
And as she spoke these last words her fingers lightly and--as it seemed
to me--caressingly touched me on the temples. It was the first time
that she had ever done such a thing, and her touch thrilled me through
as with an electric shock, moving me to such an extent that I lost my
self-control, and forthwith behaved with the recklessness of a madman.
I seized her hand, threw my arm about her waist, and, drawing her to me,
kissed her on the lips.
"It is your own fault," I exclaimed wildly; "you should not have touched
me so tenderly and caressingly. I love you, I tell you; I love you
beyond all power of speech to describe, and I have been upon the point
of telling you so over and over again, but have been deterred by the
knowledge that, unless you can return my love--which you have never
given me any reason to suppose is the case--such a confession on my part
must necessarily render your situation infinitely more embarrassing than
it is now. And hitherto I have contrived to remain master of myself;
but when you touched my temples just now--"
"Poor fellow," she interrupted, astounding me by nestling in my embrace,
with flaming cheeks, but looking up at me with smiling eyes that shone
like stars, as her arm stole up and twined itself about my neck--"is it
indeed so bad as that with you? I knew, of course, that you loved me--
the symptoms were quite unmistakable--but I scarcely dreamed of your
passion being so violent as it appears to be. Well, never mind, Charlie
dear; your very startling, unexpected, and vehement declaration will not
produce the effect you seem to have feared, because, you see, it so
happens that _I return your love_--how could it possibly be
otherwise?"--her tone changing from tenderness to pride--"what woman
whose heart is free could possibly fail to love a man whose devotion is
what yours is, and has been, to me? Yes, dearest, I love you with my
whole heart; and I am proud to think that, despite all my waywardness
and shortcomings, you have contrived to discover in me something worth
loving. But _this_ is not what has been worrying you so terribly this
last few days--tell me what it is; I have a _right_ to know, now!"
"Yes," I assented, "you certainly have; but it is terrible news,
Florence, and I scarcely know in what words to communicate it to you.
Yet, be assured of this, my sweet, that, with the new courage that you
have just imparted to me, I will overcome this peril that looms ahead of
us, deadly though it be!"
And therewith I related to my sweetheart all that had passed between
Harry and myself, at the same time directing her attention to the fact
that this grisly peril was still a long way ahead of us; that it was a
far cry from where we were to the Horn; and that even after we had
rounded that wild headland, practically the whole stretch of the eastern
coast of South America would have to be traversed before the time would
be ripe for the villains to carry out their devilish scheme of murder
and destruction. And then I strove to comfort her by directing her
attention to the chances of escape that might befall us, the ships we
should be certain to encounter--with the possibility of being able to
surreptitiously communicate with one or more of them, craving
assistance--and of my determination--as a last resource--to cast away
the ship and take our chance of being able to escape in one of the boats
during the confusion, rather than tamely navigate her to the spot that
should be selected by those fiends for the deed of destruction.
As I told her of the fate that had been planned for us, I saw her blanch
to the lips, and her eyes grow wide and glassy with horror; but
presently her colour returned and her mouth set in firm, resolute lines;
and when at length I ceased to speak, she said:
"My poor Charlie, no wonder that you look worn and worried! But take
courage, dear; I cannot believe that God will permit those wretches to
murder us in cold blood. He will surely inspire you with an idea that
will enable you to defeat and prevent an act of such atrocious
wickedness; and I have a sure conviction that in His own good time we
shall be accorded a happy deliverance out of all our troubles, and that
you will by and by enjoy the satisfaction of happily reuniting me to my
dear father--and receiving the usual reward accorded to the
all-conquering prince in the fairy tale."
"God grant it, my dearest!" I exclaimed fervently, as I kissed her.
"And now," said I, "I must go on deck, I suppose, and endeavour to
appear as though I had not a care in the world; for if those fellows
notice that I am looking gloomy and preoccupied, they will at once guess
that I suspect something, and may in that case so precipitate their
plans as to render our case more desperate than ever."
"We will go together," said the brave girl, "and you shall have an
example of the deep duplicity of which I am capable. I will defy any
one of them to detect the faintest shadow of care on my brow!"
And therewith she retired to her cabin, and presently emerged again,
attired for the deck.
It was a glorious morning of true Pacific weather, with the wind blowing
a merry breeze from about west-north-west; the sky, an exquisitely pure
and delicate turquoise blue, flecked with patches of fleecy,
prismatic-tinted cloud that here and there darkened the sapphire of the
sparkling, foam-flecked ocean with broad spaces of deep, rich, violet
shadow. As for the brig, she was swarming along at a nine-knot pace
under all plain sail supplemented by her starboard studding-sail, with
her mast-heads sweeping in wide arcs athwart the blue as she swayed and
rose and sank in long, floating rushes over the rugged ridges of the
pursuing swell, while dazzling sunshine and purple shadow chased each
other in and out of the hollows of her canvas and athwart her grimy
decks. There was a thin, eddying coil of bluish smoke hurrying from the
galley chimney under the high-arching foot of the fore-course and out
over the port cat-head; and the watch, having no sail-trimming to attend
to, were squatted upon their hams on the fore deck, playing cards. The
hooker needed no looking after in such weather as this, and the only
individual, beside ourselves, abaft the mainmast was the helmsman.
Miss Onslow's appearance on deck never failed to attract the notice of
the men, although she had made a point of being up and down every day,
and all day long, and I soon discovered that we were the objects of the
stealthy regard not only of the group on the forecastle but also of the
man at the wheel. But no child could have appeared more completely free
from care than she was; she chatted with me about Calcutta, and Simla,
described the characteristics of the several castes and classes of
natives, illustrating her description with amusing anecdotes that even
coaxed a smile upon the sullen, wooden visage of the fellow at the
wheel, and spoke of being reunited to her father with an absolute
confidence that left no room for even a shadow of suspicion that she
entertained the slightest doubt upon that subject.
A considerable period now elapsed without the occurrence of any incident
worthy of mention, except that I observed in the men a quite
extraordinary devotion to card-playing; they did no work of any kind
whatsoever beyond such necessary duties as making, shortening, or
trimming sale, as occasion demanded; and when they were not doing this
they were playing cards. I was at first somewhat puzzled to account for
the feverish and unflagging zeal with which this particular form of
amusement was pursued by all hands; for although sailors are fond of an
occasional quiet game of cards, they are, as a rule, by no means
devotees of the pasteboards. But at length I obtained enlightenment
from the man Harry: they were gambling with the gems for stakes! This
intelligence disquieted me greatly, for I foresaw possibilities of
trouble in it; and by and by it came. Meanwhile, however, I neglected
no opportunity to seek intelligence as to any change in the views of
these men with regard to the ultimate disposal of myself and Miss
Onslow, and learned from time to time--my informant, of course, being
Harry--that, so far, nothing had transpired justifying the suspicion
that any departure from the original plan was contemplated. This was,
in a measure, gratifying, in so far at least as that it still left me a
fair amount of time to evolve some satisfactory scheme for our
salvation--a task in which I had not yet succeeded, although I had
considered I might almost say hundreds of ideas, only to discard them as
either impracticable or unreliable.
At the moment of which I am now about to speak--we were drawing close on
toward the meridian of the Horn, but well to the south of it; and the
weather was what sailors call "dirty"--a dark, scowling sky overhead,
charged with sleet and rain squalls that, when we ran into them, lashed
us and stung the skin like whips; the atmosphere was nippingly raw, and
thick enough to veil and blot out everything at a distance of more than
four miles; and the wind was blowing so fresh from the southward that
the men had at length been compelled to unwillingly turn out and snug
the brig down to double-reefed topsails, with the mainsail stowed.
There was a very steep and ugly beam sea running, and the brig was
rolling to it as though bent on rolling the masts out of her; while the
decks were mid-leg deep with the water that she dished in over the rail
at every roll with a regularity that I was very far from appreciating.
Worst of all, there was no pretence whatever on the part of the men to
watch the ship or keep a lookout--the scoundrels were well aware that I
might be depended on for that; the only man on deck was the helmsman;
and from the condition of those who came staggering aft from time to
time at the stroke of the bell to relieve the wheel, I more than
suspected that a drinking bout was under way in the forecastle. Such a
condition of affairs was amply sufficient at any time to create within
me a sense of profound uneasiness, much more so at that especial time;
for we were then in a part of the ocean notorious for sudden, savage
gales, thick weather, and floating ice as deadly as any reef that ever
trapped a ship; and the safety of the brig, and of all hands, might at
any moment be fatally imperilled by the slightest lack of alertness, or
the briefest powerlessness on the part of the crew. It was this
conviction alone that restrained me from an immediate endeavour to
recapture the brig; the conditions were propitious, for as I have said
all hands were below with the exception of the helmsman. The cook, it
is true, was in his galley; but if I chose to arm myself with the
pistols that had been presented to me by the Frenchman aboard the _Marie
Renaud_, it would be no such desperate matter to slip for'ard and clap
the hatch over the fore-scuttle, secure the cook in his galley, and then
compel the half-drunken helmsman to surrender. But to resort to such
measures as those where we then were would have been sheer madness; and
the idea no sooner occurred to me than it was dismissed as
impracticable. But although impracticable just then, it might not be so
later on, when we should have arrived in less perilous latitudes; and I
there and then resolved to do everything that in me lay to facilitate
such a _coup_ on the first suitable occasion.
Meanwhile, it was little short of madness for the men to drink to excess
under the then prevailing conditions of weather and situation; and I
determined to remonstrate with O'Gorman for permitting such perilous
indulgence. So I went aft and took the wheel, directing the man whom I
relieved to ask O'Gorman to come aft, as I wished to speak to him.
The fellow slouched away forward, lurching and slipping along the wet
decks, and disappeared down the fore-scuttle. I deemed it not
improbable that he would avail himself of the opportunity to help
himself to another drink, and that it might possibly be quite five
minutes, or even ten, before he returned aft to resume his duty; but a
full half-hour elapsed, and still the fellow remained invisible. I had
by this time very nearly come to the end of my stock of patience, and
was on the point of yelling to the cook--who kept close as a limpet to
the shelter of his galley, with the weather-door fast shut--to run to
the forecastle and summon someone to relieve me, when I became aware of
a din of excited shouts and yells arising from the fore-scuttle, that
momentarily grew in intensity until the disturbance was violent enough
to suggest that all pandemonium had broken adrift in that small
forecastle. The cook, from his position, in the galley, heard the row
much more distinctly than I did, and, forsaking his pots and pans,
rushed forward, where he stood gaping down through the scuttle in an
attitude expressive of combined interest and consternation. I shouted
to him to let me know what it all meant, but his attention was so
completely absorbed by what was happening below that he had no ears for
me; while, as for me, I had my hands quite full with the brig, and dared
not release my grasp of the wheel for a single instant lest she should
broach-to and get her decks swept, or possibly be dismasted.