There was no enthusiasm, no cheering, nothing in the nature of
hysterical exultation displayed by the crew of the _Adventure_, when the
longboat ran alongside and those who had performed the audacious feat of
rendering two powerful batteries innocuous rejoined their shipmates;
everything was accepted as a matter of course. It was fully realised by
all hands that the deed was one, the successful accomplishment of which
required the display of nerve and courage of superlative character, but
it was understood that the entire expedition, from start to finish, from
its departure from Topsham to its return thither, demanded the constant
exhibition of these same qualities--and would receive it. Therefore a
murmur or two of approval and satisfaction from Bascomb, when Dick made
his report, was all that was said in the way of commendation.
"And now, sirs," said the master, dismissing the topic of the
disarmament of the batteries, "Cartagena and the galleon are at our
mercy; and the sooner that the Spaniard can be brought to understand
this, the better is it like to be for our general. Therefore we will
enter the harbour forthwith, lay the galleon aboard and take her, and
then open negotiations with the authorities for the ransom of the town
and the deliverance of Captain Marshall. Mr Chichester, you know more
about the harbour than any of the rest of us. It must be your duty,
therefore, to pilot the ship alongside the galleon; the others I will
ask to go straight to their fighting stations and prepare the ship for
battle, after which, if there be time, we will take breakfast. If not--
well, we must e'en fight fasting, and eat after the galleon is taken."
So Dick went up on the poop and, stationing himself to windward, conned
the ship as she beat in toward the Boca Chica against the fast-failing
land breeze. But, good ship as the _Adventure_ was, her progress was
exasperatingly slow, as was that of all ships of that date when they
attempted to beat up against a foul wind; for neither the form of the
hull nor the cut of the sails was at that day favourable to such a
manoeuvre, and the ship was still a good mile from the harbour's mouth
when the land breeze suddenly failed, and she was left helplessly
wallowing upon the oily swell outside.
This, of course, was exasperating enough; for when deeds of desperate
emprise are toward it is well to carry them through before the
enthusiasm has time to cool. But it could not be helped, the wind was
dead, and the ship could not be handled now until the sea breeze sprang
up; and, after all, the delay was not an unmitigated misfortune, for it
ensured to the crew time enough to complete their preparations for the
coming fight and take breakfast afterward; and even at that day it was
fully recognised that an Englishman fights best when his hunger has been
satisfied. So they finished the work upon which they were engaged, and
then went quietly to breakfast, which meal they were able to dispose of
comfortably before a cry from the deck apprised them of the arrival of
the sea breeze.
Yes; there it came, far away in the offing, ruling the horizon as a band
of dark blue that grew lighter and lighter still along its landward
edge, until it stopped short at a distance of about two miles from the
shore, blowing fresh right up to a certain well-defined point, between
which and the land all was gleaming, glassy swell, unruffled by even so
much as a cat's-paw. But the boundary line which divided breeze from
calm was not stationary by any means, on the contrary, it was creeping
nearer rapidly. When Bascomb came up on the poop he merely glanced at
it for a moment and then called to the seamen to trim the yards in
readiness to meet it. By the time that this had been done the line of
demarcation was so near that the musical tinkling of the advancing
ripples could be distinctly heard, although the sails still hung limp,
idly flapping to the roll of the ship. Another minute, however,
sufficed, then with a gentle preliminary rustling the canvas filled, the
blue ripples reached the ship, passed inshore of her, and she began to
draw slowly through the water and her helm was put up to keep her away
for the narrow harbour entrance.
"Starboard you may," said Dick to the helmsman, when the ship had
presently fallen square off before the fast-freshening breeze; "we must
shave that low point on the left quite closely, for that is where the
channel runs, and there is a small shoal right in the mouth of the
fairway which we must avoid. So! that will do; now, steady as you go.
Mr Bascomb, you see that dark object just opening out over the
southernmost end of Tierra Bomba? Well, that is the shore battery, and
as it possesses certain small ordnance, such as falconets and swivels,
which we could not spare the time to destroy, I would recommend that, as
we must pass it close, the men be instructed to lie down behind the
bulwarks as we sail by, lest haply any of them be hit; for I make no
doubt that they will discharge at us every piece they have as we pass."
"Say you so?" returned Bascomb. "Then, by the Lord Harry, we will be
beforehand with them. Ho, there! Load the larboard broadside of
ordnance, great and small, and train your pieces to sweep the top of
yonder battery as we pass. We cannot afford to risk the loss of any of
our number through a mistaken sense of magnanimity."
With swelling sails distended by the ever-freshening sea breeze, the
_Adventure_ now swept boldly in for the mouth of the Boca Chica, and
presently a curl of white water revealed the presence of the shoal of
which Dick Chichester had spoken, right in the middle of the fairway.
Dick directed the helmsman to steer to the north of this, between it and
the island of Tierra Bomba, with its swelling wood-crowned heights.
Dick glanced aloft at the castle which crowned the summit of the
southernmost hill, but although the golden flag of Spain flaunted itself
insolently in the breeze from the flagstaff on its northern turret, not
a man was to be seen upon the parapet. Many of the embrasures, one-half
of which they could now see, had been destroyed by the bursting of the
ordnance, and it soon became clear that none of its garrison intended to
make any effort to dispute the passage of the English ship. Whether the
garrison of the battery down on the beach would be less prudent still
remained to be seen, but one thing was perfectly clear, and that was
that the Spanish soldiery were very busy upon the gun platform, their
movements being directed by a tall man in a full suit of black armour,
the helmet of which was surmounted by a splendid plume of long crimson
feathers. The English, however, were not left long in doubt as to the
intentions of this individual, who was, doubtless, the commander of the
garrison; for as the ship swept along the narrow channel, hugging the
northern shore closely, and every moment shortening the distance between
the battery and herself, he was seen to draw his sword, which flashed
like a white flame in the brilliant sunshine as he waved it above his
head, and the next moment a perfect storm of bullets from falcon and
falconet, patarero, saker, and swivel, came hurtling from the battery
across the narrow water toward the ship. But the gallant cavalier had
been just a trifle too eager to display his valour, for most of the
missiles fell short, having been fired at rather too long a range, while
those which hit were so nearly spent that only a few of them lodged in
the solid woodwork of the ship's bulwarks, and not a man on board was
hit.
"Now, men," roared Bascomb, "give yonder presumptuous fool a lesson;
fire as your guns come to bear, and not before. I want that parapet
swept clean!"
And swept clean it was, the English holding their fire and the ship
sweeping on in grim, inexorable silence until she was within some two
hundred feet of the structure, when all her larboard ordnance, great and
small, bellowed and barked back its answer. As the smoke drove away
ahead before the wind the wall was seen to crumble into dust under the
impact of the heavy iron shot, while the lighter missiles mowed down the
soldiers like corn beneath the sickle, until not a man was left standing
upon his feet, even the magnifico in armour going down before the hail
of iron and lead, to say nothing of the Spanish standard, the staff of
which was cut clean in two, so that it toppled over and fell, carrying
the flag with it, to the ground at the base of the wall.
"So much for thicky!" exclaimed Bascomb, relapsing into broad Devon for
a moment, under the influence of excitement. "If it weren't that we
have a long and hot morning's work before us I would anchor the ship,
land a party, and blow their footy batteries into the air. But perhaps
we may have time to do that when we come back this way. Now, my
masters, load again, this time with double charges, consisting of a
half-keg of bullets to each culverin, with a chain shot on top, and the
smaller ordnance in proportion. We will not fire again, if we can help
it, until we run alongside the galleon, and not then until we rub sides
with her."
The ship had by this time traversed so much of the Boca that it became
necessary for her to shift her helm in order to avoid grounding upon a
sandspit that stretched athwart her course, and here the advantage and
value of Dick Chichester's previous observations became apparent; for so
sharp was the bend, and so little was there to indicate the existence of
the shoal, that if Dick had not previously had the opportunity to note
its position, the ship would undoubtedly have driven right upon it,
under full sail, when she would certainly have been in an exceedingly
awkward predicament, and might even have been lost, presuming the
Spaniards to have been courageous enough to attack her while placed at
so serious a disadvantage. But she was not allowed to get into any such
awkward situation; for Dick had noticed everything connected with the
dangers of the harbour, while looking out and watching from the summit
of the hill on Tierra Bomba, and he carried a complete and perfectly
accurate chart of the harbour in his head, in addition to the one which
he and Marshall had made together. The helm was, therefore, shifted at
the proper moment, and the ship swerved away in a south-easterly
direction, making as though for the middle of the lower bay.
The danger did not reveal itself until the ship was actually slipping
past it, and in less than five minutes she was clear and the course was
again altered, this time to the north-eastward, where the island of
Tierra Bomba, thrusting its north-easterly angle inward, divided the
upper from the lower bay, narrowing the passage between to a width of
less than a mile. Now the ship was fairly inside, and heading for a
part of the harbour where Dick remembered to have observed certain other
dangers in the shape of rocks and shoals, no sign of which could he
perceive from the deck; he therefore mentioned the matter to Bascomb,
and obtained that officer's permission to go aloft to the fore
topsail-yard and con the ship from there.
In this fashion, then, the _Adventure_, with the red cross of Saint
George flying defiantly from her main truck, swept up Cartagena harbour
and, rounding the eastern extremity of Tierra Bomba, headed straight for
the inner roadstead, where could now be seen, among a small forest of
more insignificant masts, the towering spars of the great galleon, with
a vast crimson flag bearing a coat of arms floating at her main, and the
Spanish flag drooping from the ensign staff reared at her stern. The
town being built on low land, the lofty masts of the galleon were at
once seen, upon the English ship rounding the point and opening up the
city, and a great cry of "There she is!" instantly leapt from every
English throat.
"Ay; there she is, men," returned Bascomb. "We can't make any mistake
about her, I think; and in halt an hour you shall be alongside her. The
rest of the work will be for you to do. I'll tell you my plan, men. We
will range up alongside her and lay her aboard, and just before our
sides touch we will pour our broadside into her, throw the grapnels and
hook on, and then dash aboard in the midst of the smoke and drive her
crew below. The secret is to strike hard and often, and keep them on
the run. If any man attempts to stand, though only for a moment, run
him through at once with a pike. That is all that I have to say, men;
you know how to do the trick as well as I."
With Cartagena city and the galleon in plain view, Dick Chichester's
work aloft was done, and he, therefore, returned to the deck and the
spot upon it from which he had previously been conning the ship, where
he resumed his duty as pilot.
As the _Adventure_ slid smoothly and rapidly up the harbour, heading
straight for the galleon, it was seen that nearly twenty large boats,
full of armed men, were pulling off to her from the shore. It was
clear, therefore, that the authorities had received notice of the
approach of the English, possibly from one or another of the officers in
charge of the defences on Tierra Bomba, and, shrewdly guessing that one
object, at least, of the unwelcome visit was the galleon, were
determined to defend her to the last. But this discovery in nowise
disconcerted the sturdy lads of Devon, who had long ago learned to
regard themselves as invincible, so far as the Spaniards were concerned;
so they continued with the utmost calmness to add here and there some
refinement of finish to the preparations which had been completed an
hour or more ago. Even the ship's cook, whom nobody regarded as a
fighting man, must needs add his little quota to the general
preparations, the same taking the form of several gallons of greasy
boiling water with which he had filled his coppers, the which he
proposed to employ at such time as might seem to him most suitable. As
for Dick, he decided that the handspike which he had used in the fight
off Barbados had proved so effective that, regarded as a weapon, it
could scarcely be improved upon, and he was on the point of providing
himself with another when his eye chanced to fall upon a heavy iron bar
which had been brought on deck for some purpose, so, having tested its
weight, he at once decided that it was the very thing he needed, and
appropriated it accordingly.
The _Adventure_ had arrived within about half a mile of the galleon when
the latter opened fire with her heavy ordnance, of which she carried two
tiers. But whether it was that the Spaniards designed to shoot away the
English ship's masts, and so leave her helpless and unmanageable, or
whether it was that the pieces were badly aimed, every one of the shot
went humming high overhead, leaving the intruder to pass on unscathed
and in grim silence; for not one of her guns replied. But Bascomb
stepped forward to the front of the poop and issued an order.
"Let every man of you," he said, "take bow or musket, and prepare to
discharge a volley upon the deck of yonder galleon when I give the word.
Then, that done, return to your ordnance and prepare to fire, for the
time will be at hand. Sail trimmers, stand by to let fly all sheets and
halliards at the word of command; then be ready to heave the grapnels as
we range up alongside."
The English ship, still conned by Dick Chichester, was now steering a
course which if persevered in would carry her across the stern of the
galleon, at a distance of about twice her own length from that vessel;
and it seemed evident, from the uncertain movements of those on board
the Spaniard, that they were considerably puzzled as to the intentions
of the English. For, having discharged the whole of her starboard
broadside at the approaching _Adventure_, the crew of the galleon first
began with feverish haste to reload all the guns on that side of their
ship; then, seeming suddenly to suspect that their antagonist intended
to lay them aboard on their inshore side, they left their starboard
broadside only half-loaded and precipitately dashed across the deck to
their larboard broadside of ordnance, which they began to clear away
hurriedly with the intention of loading. The _Adventure_ was at this
moment less than twice her own length from the galleon, and Bascomb,
standing on the poop, was able to look down from there into the crowded
waist of the other ship and clearly see the Spaniards crowding together
about the larboard ordnance. The opportunity seemed much too good to be
let slip, so calling his bowmen and musketeers up on to the poop, he
directed them to discharge a volley into the surging mass of men, which
they did instantly, with terribly destructive effect.
"Good!" he exclaimed, as he saw some twenty or thirty Spaniards fall
writhing to the deck; "now back to your ordnance, men, and be ready to
fire when I give the word. Sail trimmers, let fly all sheets and
halliards, and stand by with your grapnels!"
As the sailing master issued these orders Dick signed to the helmsman,
who thereupon thrust the ponderous tiller hard down, and the
_Adventure_, answering her helm perfectly, swept round in a short curve
and went gliding up on the starboard side of the galleon.
"Now, gunners all, let fly your ordnance!" roared Bascomb, drawing his
sword. And as the bright blade flashed in the air the English
artillery, loaded with round, bar, and chain shot, musket balls, spike
nails, and every kind of missile that the men had been able to lay hands
upon, were discharged when the two vessels were scarcely a fathom apart,
and the Spanish ship's upper deck instantly became a shambles, scarcely
a man remaining uninjured upon it.
"Throw your grapnels," shouted Bascomb, "and then let every man follow
me aboard the Spaniard." As he spoke the _Adventure_ crashed alongside
the galleon, there was a sound of ripping and rending timber, and a
heavy rebound; and then, as the two ships rolled toward each other after
the rebound the English crew went swarming over their own bulwarks and
down upon the Spanish deck, where they found scarcely half a dozen men
to oppose them. But at the head of them stood a very magnificent
looking personage in full armour, whom Bascomb took to be the captain of
the ship.
"Do you surrender, senor?" demanded Bascomb, speaking in English for the
very good reason that he "had" no Spanish.
It is probable that the Spaniard was as destitute of English as Master
William Bascomb was of Spanish; but there is a language of intonation
and gesture as well as of words, and doubtless that of the Englishman
was intelligible enough, for the Spaniard, by way of reply, grasped his
sword by the point and offered it to the sturdy Devonshire seaman who
confronted him, and who accepted it with a very fair imitation of the
bow with which the Spaniard had tendered it.
"That's well, so far," commented Bascomb. "Now"--looking about him and
noticing Dick standing near, grasping his iron bar--"that ends the
trouble up here. But what about down below, Mr Chichester? You had
better take a dozen men and this gentleman down with you; and perhaps he
will explain to those of his people who are on the main deck that he has
surrendered. If they will lay down their arms, well and good; if they
won't--well, you will just have to make 'em, that's all. Now go; and
report to me here when you've gained complete possession of the ship."
Dick took his dozen men and, insinuating his hand in the crook of the
Spanish captain's arm, led that individual below to the main deck, where
they found a few Spanish seamen still hanging about between the great
culverins, apparently quite uncertain what to do, or whether they ought
to do anything. The Spanish captain spoke sharply to them; apparently
he was very much surprised and disappointed to find so few men there,
and seemed to be asking them where the rest were, for by way of reply
the seamen said something and pointed to the hatchways. The Spanish
captain relieved his feelings by stamping on the deck, grinding his
teeth, and indulging in a good deal of Castilian profanity; after which
he seemed to give certain instructions, the result of which was that the
men laid down their arms and went up on deck, one of their number having
previously gone to the main hatchway and shouted something down it which
caused the remainder of the crew to come up from below and surrender
their weapons.
It took Dick and his party about half an hour to explore thoroughly the
interior of the galleon--which they discovered was named the _Santa
Margaretta_--and satisfy themselves that none of the Spanish crew were
lurking below in hiding; and when at length they returned to the upper
deck to report, they found that Bascomb and Winter had mustered the
surviving Spaniards forward on the fore deck, under a strong guard,
while the English had lowered one of the galleon's boats and in her had
boarded and captured a small coasting felucca, which they were at that
moment towing alongside their bigger prize. This, Bascomb explained, he
had done with the object of getting rid of his Spanish prisoners, whom
he proposed to send ashore in the felucca, having no fancy for keeping
them aboard the prize, where they would need a strong body of the
English to maintain an efficient guard over them. And, with the
released prisoners, he proposed to send ashore a letter to the Governor
of the city, demanding the immediate surrender of Captain Marshall, safe
and sound, together with payment of the sum of five hundred thousand
ducats ransom for the city, failure of either condition to be followed
by the sack and destruction of the place.
"But," objected Dick, "you can neither speak nor write Spanish; and it
may very well be that there will be nobody in Cartagena who understands
English; in that case we shall be at a deadlock, and how will you manage
then?"
"That," replied Bascomb, sententiously, "will be their lookout. If they
cannot find anyone to translate my letter, so much the worse for them.
But there should be no trouble about that; for if they can find nobody
else the captain will make my meaning clear to them."
It was considerably past midday when at length the whole of the
Spaniards, together with their dead and wounded, were transferred to the
felucca and dispatched to the shore, the Spanish captain being entrusted
with the letter to the governor or commandant of the town; and then the
English found time to look into their own affairs and take a meal. It
was found that by a marvellous stroke of good fortune the galleon had
been captured without the loss of a man, or even so much as a single
casualty on the English side; and, this being the case, the question
arose whether or not they should retain possession of the vessel,
dividing the _Adventure's_ crew equally between her and the prize.
There arose quite a sharp difference of opinion on this point, Bascomb
and the two gentlemen adventurers maintaining that the prize was far too
valuable to be parted with or destroyed, now that they had her; while
Winter and Dick contended that they were far too few in number to
justify the proposed division, the effect of which would be to put them
in possession of two perilously short-handed ships, instead of one fully
manned. Moreover, the _Santa Margaretta_ was nearly twice the size of
the _Adventure_, the proposal therefore to divide the crew of the latter
into two equal parts would hardly meet the case, since a crew of forty
men could handle the galleon only in fine weather, while as to fighting
her effectually in the event of their falling in with an enemy, it
simply could not be done. Winter's proposal, in which Dick backed him
up, was that everything of value--or at least as much of it as they
could find room for--should be transferred to the _Adventure_, after
which a ransom of, say, twenty thousand ducats could be demanded for the
ship and what remained of her cargo, failing the payment of which she
might be burnt at her anchors as a wholesome example! The dispute at
length grew so warm that Stukely, who was present but took no part in
it, suggested that the matter should be left for Captain Marshall to
decide, upon his return.
The afternoon of that day was busily spent by the English, one party of
whom, under the joint leadership of the carpenter and boatswain, devoted
themselves to the task of repairing the slight damage sustained by the
_Adventure_ in running aboard the galleon, while the remainder engaged
in the work of thoroughly rummaging the prize and transferring from her
to the _Adventure_ all the valuables they could find. At first some
fear was entertained that the treasure which it was intended the ship
should take home had not yet been put on board, for it could be found
nowhere; but at length a sort of strong room was discovered, cunningly
built in the run of the ship, its entrance hidden by a big pile of
sails; and when this was entered, there, sure enough, lay the treasure,
consisting of no less than five hundred gold bricks, each weighing some
forty pounds; two thousand bars of silver averaging about fifty pounds
each, a chest of pearls the value of which was so great that they made
no attempt even to estimate it approximately; and a small chest of uncut
precious stones, chiefly emeralds and rubies, which of itself would have
sufficed to make every man of them rich for life. The whole of this
stupendous treasure they at once proceeded to transfer to the
_Adventure_; and so much of it was there that, working watch and watch,
one watch mounting guard to render impossible anything in the nature of
a surprise attack from the shore, while the other watch carried the
treasure from the one ship to the other, it was long past midnight when
at length the work was done and the weary men were permitted to snatch a
little rest.
The authorities ashore had been given until sunrise of the following
morning in which to find someone capable of interpreting Bascomb's
letter, and to come to a decision as to whether or not they would accede
to the terms of the said letter; and the first light of dawn revealed a
large boat putting off from the shore, pulled by twelve oarsmen, and
flying a white flag at the stern. This was the first boat that had
attempted to approach either of the ships since the appearance of the
_Adventure_ upon the scene, and her approach was watched with the utmost
interest and curiosity. She carried three officials in brilliant
uniforms and four other individuals in her stern-sheets, but it was
Stukely's keen eyes which were the first to detect the fact that Captain
Marshall was not in her; and his announcement of this fact at once
raised a storm of indignation among those who had hastily turned out and
gone on deck when the approach of the boat had been reported.
"Not in her?" incredulously repeated Bascomb--"Not in her? Then what a
plague do the Dons mean by coming off to us at all? Surely I made it
plain enough to them all that the surrender of our Captain was the very
first article of our demand? Then what--?"
"Nay, nay; let be," interposed Winter, speaking quite calmly, but his
lips white, and his eyes glowing sombrely like smouldering fires. "No
need to work thyself into a passion, Will Bascomb, until thou hast heard
what their lordships have to say. Maybe they have not seen the Captain
and know naught of him."
"Not seen him? Know naught of him? Why--why--!" spluttered Bascomb.
Then he suddenly calmed down. This was no time for disputatiousness or
the display of warm feeling between himself and the man who, if haply
anything had gone wrong with the Captain, might become the head of them
all. Besides, there was wisdom in that suggestion to wait and hear what
the Dons had to say before jumping to a conclusion. Thus the little
group of Englishmen on the high poop of the _Adventure_ lapsed into
sudden silence as the boat drew near; but it was a silence that was
ominous, menacing, a silence of set lips and burning eyes, pregnant with
dire possibilities for the city and all within it if aught of evil had
befallen their Captain therein. For not only was Marshall, rough almost
to uncouthness of manner though he was at times, beloved by all there,
but also there was the feeling stirring in every breast that it was
vitally important to each one of them that the Spaniard must be taught,
once and for all, to regard an Englishman's life as sacred, no matter
what the circumstances might be under which he might fall into their
hands, or however helpless and friendless he might at the moment seem.
So it was a very grim-visaged, uncompromising-looking group of
Englishmen at whom the newcomers stared upward when the boat arrived
within easy hailing-distance and lay upon her oars.
An elderly man, attired in the usual mariner's costume of the period,
rose in the stern-sheets of the boat and, doffing his cap, opened the
conversation by remarking in English:
"Good morning, gentlemen! I am Gaspar Pacheco, lately a master of
mariners, but now retired from the sea; and I am here to-day to act the
part of interpreter between yourselves and the illustrious Senors Don
Luis Maria Alfonso Calderon, Governor of the city of Cartagena; Don
Ricardo Picador Garcia, Alcalde of Cartagena; Don Hermoso Morillo, our
Intendant; Don Sebastian Campana; Don Ferdinand Miguel Pavia; and Don
Ramon Sylva, merchants of Cartagena." And as each individual was named
he rose in the stern-sheets of the boat, bowed deeply, and seated
himself again.
"I am instructed by my illustrious fellow townsmen to inform you,
senors, that although your cartel was handed to the Governor immediately
upon the arrival of your messenger in the town, yesterday, it was not
until very late in the day that anyone could be found possessed of a
sufficient knowledge of your language to interpret it, the only person
possessed of such knowledge being myself, who live not in Cartagena
itself but in a small hacienda a few miles north of the city. Then,
senors, when I had been found and conveyed to Cartagena, and had
translated your letter to the authorities, a difficulty at once arose;
for mention is therein made of one Capitan Marshall, who is said to have
entered the city five days ago, and whose safe return you demand. Now,
neither his Excellency the Governor nor Don Ricardo Garcia, our Alcalde,
had ever before heard of such a person as el Capitan Marshall, or indeed
of any other stranger, being in the city; and it at once became
necessary, before anything else could be done, that enquiries should be
set on foot to ascertain whether any such person had been seen, so that
his whereabouts might be traced. Those enquiries, senors, were at once
instituted, and are still being actively pursued; but we are regretfully
obliged to confess that thus far they have been entirely without result.
Meanwhile--"
"Stop!" interrupted Bascomb, throwing up his hand with an imperative
gesture. "Do you mean to tell me that it is possible for a stranger--
and that stranger an Englishman--to be four days and five nights in your
city without anyone being the wiser?"
The interpreter shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands abroad
deprecatingly.
"It would greatly depend upon the skill, courage, and resourcefulness of
the stranger, senor," he answered. "If your Capitan Marshall speaks
Spanish fluently, and possesses the knowledge of how to look and act
like a Spaniard, it is quite possible that he might do so."
"But," objected Bascomb, "he could not well have been in your city
yesterday and have remained in ignorance of what was happening. And I
know him well enough to feel certain that were he alive, in good health,
and free, he would have rejoined the ship ere now. That he has not done
so is evidence conclusive and convincing to us all that something
untoward has happened to him, for which we shall hold the entire
population of your city, individually and collectively, responsible.
"Now," he continued, turning and addressing his companions on the deck,
"that is speaking plainly enough for even a Spaniard to understand,
isn't it? But since Captain Marshall's safety and well-being must be
our first consideration, I think we ought not to make our conditions so
hard as to be impossible of fulfilment; I therefore propose that we
allow them a little more time in which to find him, before we proceed to
extremities. Let us make it clear to them that he must be found and
delivered up to us, safe and sound, within a certain time, say noon
to-day; and that failure to comply with this demand will be followed by
the bombardment and sack of the town. What say you, gentles?"
"Agreed!" came the answer, as with one voice, from all present.
"Very well, then," concluded Bascomb; and turning toward the boat, he
hailed:
"Now, listen to me, Senor Interpreter, and mark well my words. It has
come to the ears of us English that the Spaniards of the New World, in
their selfish determination to retain in their own hands the whole of
the trade of this rich country, are making a practice of seizing every
Englishman upon whom they can lay hands, and delivering him over to your
so-called Holy Inquisition in order that, while salving your own
consciences with the plea of religious zeal, my countrymen may be
subjected to fiendish tortures, and so be discouraged from attempting to
secure a share of the immeasurable wealth which you enjoy. Now the time
has come when your minds must be disabused of this notion. No amount of
torture which you can possibly inflict upon solitary, helpless
Englishmen will deter their fellow countrymen from striving, by fair
means or foul, to secure a share of what they are as much entitled to as
yourselves; and they will never rest until they have obtained it! Mark
you that. And, further, remember this--that henceforward, for every
Englishman who is lost on these shores, and is found to have perished
under the hands of your Inquisitors, the English will take a terrible
vengeance, exacting the lives of ten of the most distinguished Spaniards
upon whom they can lay hands.
"Now, our Captain is somewhere in your city at this moment, and for your
own sakes he must be found and brought on board this ship before noon.
And when that is done we will talk further with you. But if by noon he
is not found and delivered up to us, then I say to you that we will
first bombard your town, and afterwards sack and destroy it, as a lesson
to you and all Spaniards to beware henceforward how you meddle with
Englishmen, even when they seem to be absolutely at your mercy. Now,
translate that to the illustrious senors your companions."
The interpreter did so; and as he proceeded the varied emotions of
indignation, horror, and fear that were evoked by Bascomb's plain
speaking were easily enough discernible upon the countenances of his
audience. They flushed and turned pale by turns, they wrung their
hands, and once his Excellency the Governor started to his feet and
shook his fist savagely at the little group on the _Adventure's_ poop,
but was instantly dragged down again by his comrades, who evidently
feared the English more than they did him. When at length the
interpreter had finished and the Governor burst into a torrent of
apparently violent language, which he seemed to wish the interpreter to
translate to the Englishmen, the others interposed with what appeared to
be an emphatic veto. This was followed by a somewhat lengthy and very
animated discussion among themselves, during which the boat was kept in
place by an occasional stroke of the oars. At length a resolution of
some sort seemed to be arrived at, for the alcalde was seen to speak
earnestly to the interpreter, who presently rose to his feet and hailed.
"Illustrious senors," he said, "I am desired by Don Ricardo Garcia, our
respected Alcalde, to say that every possible effort shall be made to
find the missing Capitan; and when found he shall at once be restored to
you. But, senors, the time you have allowed us is much too brief for an
effective search to be made, and--"
"Did you not say that the search was begun yesterday, and is still being
actively prosecuted?" interrupted Bascomb.
"Even so, illustrious General," answered the interpreter.
"Very well, then," retorted the master; "if he is in the city, and is
alive and well, he will be found before noon. If he is not found, then
it will be because some evil has befallen him, for which Cartagena shall
be made to suffer. Look in your Inquisition for him, senor; he is as
likely to be there as anywhere. And tell your Inquisitors that if he is
not forthcoming by noon, the Inquisition shall be the first building to
suffer from our shot. Now, go!"
So they went, with much shaking of heads and wringing of hands.