IN THE SEA FOG
For a few minutes I was engaged in a wild struggle to get away from the
rocks, and not to be forced back by the shoreward rush and sweep of the
waves. I was buffeted by them, and half-choked by the boiling foam; but
I kept blindly and desperately to my task, and presently knew that I had
only to deal with the current and the natural rise and fall of the
rollers. Down on the water the air was full of noises, so that it was
hard to distinguish any individual sound; but the fog lay less dense on
the surface than above it, so that I could see a little better around
me.
On the sea there is always more or less light; even in this time of
midnight gloom, with moon and stars hidden by the fog, and with none of
that phosphorescence which at times makes a luminous glow of its own
over the water, I could see things at an unexpected distance. More than
all, was I surprised as well as cheered to find that I could distinguish
the features of the land from the sea, better than I could from land
discern anything at sea. When I looked back, the shore rose, a dark
uneven line, unbroken save where the Haven of Dunbuy running inland made
an angle against the sky. But beside me, the great Rock of Dunbuy rose
gigantic and black; it was like a mountain towering over me. The tide
was running down so that when I had got out of the current running
inland behind the rock I was in comparatively calm water. There was no
downward current, but only a slow backwater, which insensibly took me
closer to the Rock. Keeping in this shelter, I swam on and out; I saved
myself as much as I could, for I knew of the terrible demand on my
strength which lay before me. It must have been about ten minutes,
though it seemed infinitely longer, when I began to emerge from the
shelter of the Rock and to find again the force of the outer current.
The waves were wilder here too; not so wild as just in shore before they
broke, but they were considerably larger in their rise and fall. As I
swam on, I looked back now and then, and saw Dunbuy behind me towering
upward, though not so monstrously as when I had been under its lee. The
current was beginning already to bear me downwards; so I changed my
course, and got back to the sheltered water again. Thus I crept round
under the lee of the Rock, till all at once I found myself in the angry
race, where the current beat on and off the cliff. It took me all my
strength and care to swim through this; when the force of the current
began to slacken, as I emerged from the race, I found myself panting and
breathless with the exertion.
But when I looked around me from this point, where the east opened to
me, there was something which restored all my courage and hope, though
it did not still the beating of my heart.
Close by, seemingly only a couple of hundred yards off to the north
east, lay a ship whose masts and spars stood out against the sky. I
could see her clearly, before a coming belt of fog bore down on her.
The apprehension lest I should miss her in the fog chilled me more than
the sea water in which I was immersed; for all possibilities of evil
became fears to me, now that the realisation of my vision was clear. I
was glad of the darkness; it was a guarantee against discovery. I swam
on quietly, and was rejoiced to find as I drew close that I was on the
port side of the ship; well I remembered how in my vision the boat
approached to port, to the surprise of the men who were looking out for
it on the other side. I found the rope ladder easily enough, and did not
have much difficulty in getting a foothold on it. Ascending cautiously,
and watching every inch of the way, I climbed the bulwark and hid behind
a water barrel close to the mast. From this security I looked out, and
saw the backs of several men ranged along the starboard bulwark. They
were intent on their watching, and unsuspicious of my proximity; so I
stole out and glided as silently as I could into the cabin's entrance.
It was not new to me; I had a sense of complete security as to my
knowledge. The eyes of Gormala's soul were keen!
In the cabin I recognised at once the smoky lamp and the rude
preparations for food. Thus emboldened, I came to the door, behind which
I knew Marjory lay. It was locked and bolted, and the key was gone. I
slid back the bolt, but the lock baffled me. I was afraid to make the
slightest noise, lest I should court discovery; so I passed on to the
next cabin where was her jailer. He lay just as, in the vision, I had
seen him; the chronometer was above him and the two heavy revolvers hung
underneath it. I slipped in quietly--there were not shoes to remove--and
reaching over so that the water would not drip from my wet underclothing
on his face, unhooked the two weapons. I belted them round my waist with
the strap on which they hung. Then I looked round for the key, but could
see no sign of it. There was no time to lose, and it was neither time
nor place to stand on ceremony; so I took the man by the throat with my
left hand, the dagger being in my right, and held with such a grip that
the blood seemed to leap into his face in a second. He could utter
no sound, but instinctively his hand went back and up to where the
revolvers had hung. I whispered in a low tone:
"It's no use. Give me the key. I don't value your life a pin!" He was
well plucked, and he was manifestly used to tight places. He did not
attempt to speak or parley; but whilst I had been whispering, his right
hand had got hold of a knife. It was a bowie, and he was dexterous with
it. With some kind of sharp wrench he threw it open; there was a click
as the back-spring worked. If I had not had my dagger ready it would
have been a bad time for me. But I was prepared; whilst he was making
the movement to strike at me, I struck. The keen point of the Spanish
dagger went right through the upturned wrist, and pinned his hand down
to the wooden edge of the bunk. Whilst, however, he had been trying
to strike with his right hand, his left had clutched my left wrist. He
tried now to loose my grasp from his throat, whilst bending his chin
down he made a furious effort to tear at my hand with his teeth.
Never in my life did I more need my strength and weight. The man was
manifestly a fighter, trained in many a wild 'rough-and-tumble', and his
nerves were like iron. I feared to let go the hilt of the dagger, lest
in his violent struggling he should tear his wrist away and so free his
hand. Having, however, got my right knee raised, I pressed down with it
his arm on the edge of the bunk and so freed my right hand. He continued
to struggle ferociously. I knew well it was life and death, not only for
me, but for Marjory.
It was his life or mine; and he had to pay the penalty of his crime.
So intent was I on the struggle that I had not heard the approach of the
boat with his comrades. It was only when I stood panting, with the limp
throat between my fingers which were white at the knuckles with the
strain, that the sound of voices and the tramp of feet on deck reached
my intelligence. Then indeed I knew there was no time to lose. I
searched the dead man's pockets and found a key, which I tried in the
lock of Marjory's cabin. When I opened the door she started up; the hand
in her bosom was whipped out with a flash, and in an instant a long
steel bonnet pin was ready to drive into her breast. My agonised
whisper:
"Marjory, it is I!" only reached her mind in time to hold her hand. She
did not speak; but never can I forget the look of joy that illumined her
poor, pale face. I put my finger on my lip, and held out my hand to her.
She rose, with the obedience of a child, and came with me. I was just
going out into the cabin, when I heard the creak of a heavy footstep on
the companion way. So I motioned her back, and, drawing the dagger from
my belt, stood ready. I knew who it was that was coming; yet I dared not
use the pistols, save as a last resource.
I stood behind the door. The negro did not expect anyone, or any
obstacle; he came on unthinkingly, save for whatever purpose of evil was
in his mind. He was armed, as were all the members of the blackmail
gang. In a belt across his shoulder, slung Kentucky fashion, were two
great seven shooters; and across his waist behind was a great bowie
knife, with handle ready to grasp. Moreover, nigger-like, the handle of
a razor rose out of the breast pocket of his dark flannel shirt. He did
not, however, manifestly purpose using his weapons--at present at any
rate; there was not any sign of danger or opposition in front of him.
His comrades were busy at present in embarking the treasure, and would
be for many an hour to come, in helping to work the ship clear into
safety. Every minute now the wind was rising, and the waves swelling to
such proportions that the anchored ship rocked like a bell-buoy in a
storm. In the cabin I had to hold on, or I should have been shot from
my place into view. But the huge negro cared for none of these things.
He was callous to everything, and there was such a wicked, devilish
purpose in his look that my heart hardened grimly in the antagonism of
man to man. Nay more, it was not a man that I loathed; I would have
killed this beast with less compunction than I would kill a rat or a
snake. Never in my life did I behold such a wicked face. In feature and
expression there was every trace and potentiality of evil; and these
superimposed on a racial brutality which made my gorge rise. Well indeed
did I understand now the one terror which had in all her troubles come
to Marjory, and how these wretches had used it to mould her to their
ends. I knew now why, sleeping or waking, she held that steel spike
against her heart. If--
The thought was too much for me. Even now, though I was beside her, she
was beset by her enemies. We were both still practically prisoners on a
hostile ship, and even now this demon was intent on unspeakable wrong. I
did not pause; I did not shrink from the terrible task before me. With a
bound I was upon him, and I had struck at his heart; struck so truly and
so terrible a blow, that the hilt of the dagger struck his ribs with a
thud like the blow of a cudgel. The blood seemed to leap out at me, even
as the blow fell. With spasmodic reaction he tumbled forwards; fell
without a sound, and so quickly that had not I, fearing lest the noise
of his falling might betray me, caught him, he would have dropped like a
stricken bullock.
Never before did I understand the pleasure of killing a man. Since then,
it makes me shudder when I think of how so potent a passion, or so keen
a pleasure, can rest latent in the heart of a righteous man. It may have
been that between the man and myself was all the antagonism that came
from race, and fear, and wrongdoing; but the act of his killing was to
me a joy unspeakable. It will rest with me as a wild pleasure till I
die.
I took all the arms he had about him, two revolvers and a knife; they
would give me fourteen more shots were I hard pressed. In any case they
were safer, so far as Marjory and I were concerned, in my hands than
in those of our enemies. I dragged the body of the negro into the cabin
with the other dead man; then I closed the door on them, and when
Marjory joined me, I locked the door of her cabin and took away the key.
In case of suspicion this might give us a few minutes of extra time.
Marjory came with me up on deck; and as she caught sight of the open sea
there was an unspeakable gladness on her face. We seized a favourable
opportunity, when no one was looking, for all on deck were busy hauling
up the treasure; and slipped behind the cask fastened to the mast. There
we breathed freely. We both felt that should the worst come to the
worst we could get away before any one could touch us. One rush to the
bulwarks and over. They would never attempt to follow us, and there was
a chance of a swim to shore. I gave Marjory a belt with two revolvers.
As she strapped it on she felt safer; I knew it by the way she drew
herself up, and threw back her shoulders.
When the last of the bags which held the treasure came on board, the men
who had come with it closed in a ring around the mass as it lay on deck.
They were all armed; I could see that they did not trust the sailors,
for each moment some one's hand would go back to his gun. We heard one
of them ask as he looked round: "What has become of that damned nigger?
He must take his share of work!" Marjory was very brave and very still;
I could see that her nerve was coming back to her. After a little
whispered conversation, the newcomers began to carry the bags down to
the cabin; it was slow work, for two always stood guard above, and two
remained down below evidently on similar duty. Discovery of the dead man
must come soon, so Marjory and I stole behind the foremast which was
well away from every one. She was first, and as she began to pass behind
she recoiled; she got the drop on some one in front of her. There was a
smothered 'h-s-s-sh' and she lowered her weapon. Turning to me she said
in a faint whisper:
"It is the Spaniard; what is he doing here?" I whispered back:
"Be good to him. He is a noble fellow, and has behaved like a knight of
old!" I pressed forward and took his hand. "How did you get here?" I
asked. His answer was given in so faint a voice that I could see that he
was spent and tired, if not injured:
"I swam, too. When I saw their boat pull out of the northern channel, I
managed to scramble down part of the cliff, and then jumped. Fortunately
I was not injured. It was a long, weary swim, and I thought I should
never be able to get through; but at last the current took me and
carried me to the ship. She was anchored with a hawser, not a cable.
I managed to climb up it; and when I was on board I cut it nearly
through."
Even as he spoke there was a queer lurch of the ship which lay stern
forward, and a smothered ejaculation from all the seamen.
The hawser had parted and we were drifting before wind and tide. Then it
was that I felt we should give warning to the yacht and the battleship.
I knew that they were not far off; had I not seen them in my vision,
which had now been proven. Then it was also that the words of the young
American came back to me: "Give us a light, if you have to fire the ship
to get it."
All this time, from the moment when I had set foot on the whaler's deck
till this instant, events had moved with inconceivable rapidity. There
had been one silent, breathless rush; during which two lives had been
taken and Marjory set free. Only a few minutes had elapsed in all; and
when I looked around under the altered conditions, things seemed to be
almost where they had been. It was like the picture in one's mind made
by a lightning flash; when the period of reception is less than the time
of the smallest action, and movement is lost in time. The fog belt was
thinning out, and there was in the night air a faint suggestion that one
might see, if there were anything to be seen.
The great Rock of Dunbuy towered up; I could just distinguish so much on
the land side. Whilst I was looking, there came a sudden light and then
a whirr; high overhead through the sea fog we could see faintly the
fiery trail of a rocket.
Instantly out at sea was an answer; a great ray of light shot upwards,
and we could see its reflection in the sky. None of us said anything;
but instinctively Marjory and I clasped hands. Then the light ray seemed
to fall downward to the sea. But as it came down, the fog seemed to
grow thicker and thicker till the light was lost in its density. There
was stir of all on our ship. No loud word was spoken, but whispered
directions, given with smothered curses, flew. Each man of the crew
seemed to run to his post, and with a screeching and straining the sails
rose. The vessel began to slip through the water with added speed. Now,
if ever, was our time to warn our friends. The little rockets which I
had brought had been sodden with water and were useless, and besides we
had no way of getting a light. The only way of warning was by sound, and
the only sound to carry was a pistol shot. For an instant I hesitated,
for a shot meant a life if we should be pushed to it. But it must be
done; so signing to the others I ran aft and when close to the mast
fired my revolver. Instantly around me was a chorus of curses. I bent
double and ran back, seeing through the darkness vague forms rush to
where I had been. The fog was closing thicker around us; it seemed to
boil over the bulwarks as we passed along. We had either passed into
another belt of fog, or one was closing down upon us with the wind. The
sound of the pistol shot had evidently reached the war ship. She was far
off us, and the sounds came faintly over the waste of stormy sea; but
there was no mistaking the cheer followed by commands. These sounded
faint and hoarsely; a few words were spoken with a trumpet, and then
came the shrill whistle of the boatswain's pipe.
On our own deck was rushing to and fro, and frenzied labour everywhere.
The first object was to get away from the searchlight; they would seek
presently, no doubt, for who had fired the betraying shot. If I could
have known what to do, so as to stay our progress, there would have been
other shots; for now that we were moving through the water, every second
might take us further from the shore and place us deeper in the toils of
our foes.