TRAWLING FOR FISH AND DREDGING FOR CURIOS--SOME REMARKABLE FINDS--A
GHASTLY RESURRECTION--THE MYSTERIOUS PAPER--THE HIEROGLYPHIC--A
DANGEROUS FALL--HORS DE COMBAT--ATTEMPTS TO UNRAVEL THE PAPER.
As there were now two of us we occasionally had a turn at trawling, and
usually caught some fine flat fish, turbot, soles, and plaice. Our net
was a very primitive one of our own manufacture, and had to be handled
very gingerly, as the netting was old and the ironwork very fragile, but
knowing this we did not put undue strain upon it.
The curious fish, marine plants, and odds and ends of all kinds that we
brought to the surface would have done a naturalist's heart good, for
there were frequently objects brought to light that were quite out of
the common.
It seemed to me that the set of the Gulf Stream had something to do with
this, as we found some rare shells that did not appear indigenous to
these waters; we also found two old swords and the steel portion of a
flint lock pistol, beside some curious old pottery, all of which finds I
have preserved, and with other curios have formed quite a museum.
Our plan of "Marine Exploration," as we called it, was this: We would
have a couple of hours trawling for fish in the usual manner, and then
if wind and tide were favourable, would run in and land our trawl, and
fish at the pier head, and bring out with us another implement, which
was a cross between a dredge and a trawl. It had an iron beam about six
feet wide, which kept the net on the bottom by reason of its weight;
from this rose an iron bow, forming a flattened half circle, and to this
was attached a piece of heavy double netting, the bottom of which was
protected from the rocks by a piece of old sail cloth a little larger
than the plan of the net. The poke of the net was only about seven feet
from beam to tail, so that we had no difficulty in raising it,
especially as we had a line fastened to the tail, which one of us could
haul upon, while the other (with a curious hand windlass, which looked
like some diabolical instrument of torture) raised the beam.
We used to drain the net fairly well before bringing it inboard, and
then turn the contents out on the floor, then kneeling down we would
search among them just like a couple of misers counting their gold;
indeed, upon one occasion, we _did_ have gold to count among our other
items.
It was the bowl portion of a golden goblet, from which the foot had
become detached. From its encrusted appearance it must have lain for
many years in the sea. On another occasion we felt something heavy in
the net as we hauled, and knowing that in the spot in which we were then
trawling, there were no rocks, we naturally wondered what it could be.
As we hove up the net, I remarked that I hoped it was not a dead body,
which remark made Alec feel quite queer, as he thought it might be one
of his comrades. He refused to help me haul for fear such should be the
case. I quickly pointed out to him that it could not be the case, as
apart from a corpse being devoured by the voracious fish, it would swell
as it decomposed, and gas being formed in it, it would buoy the body up,
and float it to the surface, when the send of the waves would waft it
away, no one knew whither.
"Now," said I to Alec, "your messmates have been dead these four months,
and nothing of them now remains round this island, except perchance
their skeletons, and we are not likely to come upon _them_, so bear a
hand and let's see what luck has sent us."
Slowly the net came up, and as the water left it there appeared among
the brown seaweed two huge pieces of rock tied to something which looked
very horrid. And horrid it turned out to be, for it was the remains of
the man I had buried months before, that is to say, the leg bones, with
some few remaining tendons and other parts, which the fish had not
stripped from the bones. We were glad to find that the upper part with
the skull attached had fallen off, so turning the net inside out, I for
a second time buried the poor man, or rather all that was left of him.
One day in July, a very warm day, we had been fishing and caught but
little, so were having an hour's chat and smoke as our boat rocked
lazily on the clear blue water, when somehow the conversation turned on
curious discoveries and accidental finds. Suddenly the thought of my
valuable discovery of the lace entered my head. Should I tell Alec? No!
I would keep my secret; but what of the paper I had discovered in the
niche in the wall? Could not Alec decipher that for me? Should I tell
him of that? Why not? By keeping the paper to myself I should not know
if it were of value or no, so revolving the matter in my mind as to how
I should broach the subject, I at last made up my mind to consult him
upon the subject, but said nothing of it just then. We set to work
again, after a rest, and fished, but fortune that day was not kind to
us, or the fish were as lazy as ourselves; anyhow, we caught very few;
in fact, not more than we could consume in a fresh state. When we
obtained plenty we gutted them, split them, took off their heads, and
dried them in the sun for future use, just as the natives of the Pacific
Islands do theirs.
That evening, when supper was finished, I told Alec I had something to
shew him, which did not belong to me, but which might or might not be of
value to me as the holder.
Somehow I had, by associating the old leathern cup and the lace
together, brought myself to believe that the paper was like the lace, of
some value. Therefore it behoved me to be careful as to how I broached
the subject to Alec.
I quietly took it from my trunk, and handed it to him carelessly, with
the remark,
"Can you read that for me, Alec?"
He had a good look at it, holding it very close to the lamp, and read it
quite through to himself, while I sat impatiently waiting for him to say
something about it. Not wishing to appear anxious I pretended to read,
but although I looked at the page it might just as well have been a
brick I was looking at as a book for all the information I got from it.
At length he laid the paper down, and informed me that he could read it
well enough, but what did it all refer to?
"It is a list of articles followed by some curious signs that I cannot
make out," said he. "Then it goes on to say that anyone finding the
things mentioned, may have them as a gift for his trouble in searching
for them. Then follows the date, Nov. 13, 17--. So probably your musty
old paper is at least one hundred years old."
Then he laid the document on the table, relit his pipe, and went on
cutting out a netting needle for to-morrow's use. I merely remarked it
was an old paper I had had by me a long time, and as I wanted to know
what it was about had kept it. With that I put it away in the trunk, and
changed the subject by turning my attention to snooding a score or two
of fish hooks for conger fishing.
Next day when I saw an opportunity I got away to a quiet spot, and
puzzled myself with the hieroglyphic-looking portion of the paper which
appeared thus:--
[Illustration:-THE PUZZLING DOCUMENT-]
I puzzled over it for an hour, and then gave it up, not having obtained
the slightest clue to the meaning, if any meaning it had. Then I
reflected that a man was not likely to go to the trouble of writing out
a long list of articles, and sketching a skull with particular lines and
figures radiating from it for nought, to say nothing of hiding the paper
away in such a cosy little nook as the one in which I found it. Thus
reflecting I turned along the middle path homeward, wondering if some
old privateer skipper, or even pirate, had long years ago hidden the
articles mentioned in the list in some part of the island, or could it
refer to some treasure which--_slip! bump! crash!!_
I opened my eyes and found Alec bending over me, while "Begum" sat
licking my hand. I tried to speak, but did so with extreme difficulty,
as if something were amiss with my chest. Whatever had happened! I tried
to rise, but had not the power.
"How do you feel?" said Alec.
[Illustration: A TERRIBLE FALL FROM THE CLIFFS.]
To which I replied by asking him a question,
"Whatever is the matter, Alec, am I hurt?" at which he laughed and said,
"I ought to know better than he could tell me; perhaps I would inform
him what I was doing there, and why, for more than half an hour since he
found me I had been insensible?"
Then I remembered slipping carelessly over the edge of the path at a
part that was not at all dangerous, and bumping myself against a
granite rock, but beyond that I remembered nothing whatever.
Alec had missed me for nearly three hours, so calling to "Begum," he
strolled along to see what I was doing. It was our invariable custom to
tell each other where we were going, and what we were going to do,
whenever we separated for a time; but on this occasion I had purposely
omitted this precaution. The dog had found me on the lower pathway
doubled up, or as Alec put it, "Standing on my head in a very
undignified position, with my back against a granite boulder."
I could not rise, in fact could scarcely move, so battered and bruised
was I in my fall of about fifty yards. Of course this was not a
perpendicular fall, or I should never have penned these lines; but as
the slope was one that a man could not walk up without using his hands,
it is a wonder to me to this day that I was not killed on the spot.
Evidently I had broken my swift fall by clutching at some furze bushes,
for my right hand was dreadfully lacerated, and full of furze needles,
and my shoulder so stiff that my arm seemed paralyzed; besides which, I
found I was spitting blood, which frightened me very much, as I was
afraid of some internal injury.
The cart was fetched, and Alec assisted me on it; but oh dear me! I
thought the jolting would have shaken me literally to pieces, so I sang
out "Halt! Wo!" and told Alec I could go no farther, and then I fainted
away.
It was only of five minutes' duration, but when I came to I felt as if
I was dying, and told Alec I thought my time had come, which greatly
alarmed the good fellow.
"Do you mind my leaving you a few minutes," said he, "while I fire the
big gun for assistance?"
"No, no, Alec, I will not consent to that; for if my time has come, all
the doctors[4] in the world cannot save me; and if I am not so badly
hurt as I fear, I shall pull through. Assist me to get on 'Eddy's'
back."
By great exertion on the part of Alec, and great forbearance from crying
out on mine, I was presently mounted on the donkey, and being supported
on Alec's broad shoulder as he walked on the left side, I was at length
able to reach the house.
Although in dreadful pain, I could not resist asking Alec if he did not
notice how well our group on the rocky path realized the parable of the
Good Samaritan. Here we were carrying out the story exactly. I was the
"Certain Man" wounded; Alec the Good Samaritan; and "Eddy" the beast.
The house being reached, next came the dreadful dismounting, and being
supported to bed; but even this was at last safely managed, and lying on
the coverlet for a time I felt much easier.
Alec busied himself like a trained nurse, he took off my boots, gave me
some brandy, washed the blood from my head and hands, and then without
my knowledge gave me a sleeping draught from my medicine chest.
When I awoke it was still daylight, and Alec had prepared me a good
supper, with which, like a good fellow, he fed me, and then we held a
consultation as to the nature of my hurts.
We tried each leg, but beyond great black bruises there were no bones
broken; my hands were a mass of cuts and scratches, and my head was in
no better condition; but when we came to the right arm we found
something radically wrong at the shoulder, which had now become greatly
swollen, while as I sat on the edge of the bed the limb hung loosely
down in a way that caused us to think it was broken; at any rate it was
perfectly useless.
We consulted Dr. Ogilvie's book upon all kinds of accidents that bones
are heir to, and came to the conclusion that either my collar bone was
broken or displaced, or my arm was out of the socket at the shoulder.
Alec soon set to work, and ripped my coat and shirt off, and after a
deliberate diagnosis of my upper man, concluded that my shoulder was out
of joint and must be put in. Again my comrade wished to fire the big
gun for assistance, but I made up my mind to attempt my own cure with
his help, as I had seen several cases of a similar nature treated on the
hunting field.
My arm is a strong one, and I must draw a veil over the agony which
resulted from the clumsy way in which we hauled the poor limb about; but
we clicked the bone in at last, and then faint from pain I must have
gone off into a deep sleep, for the last I remember was feeling Alec
wipe the perspiration from my forehead as I fell back on my pillow in a
faint.
For days I kept my bed, as every part of my anatomy had received a
tremendous battering when I took my flight over the jagged stones that
barred my way.
My constant thought as I lay on the bed with the glorious sunshine
streaming in from the open window, which gave me a view of the dark
trees standing out against the azure sunlit sky, was about the
hieroglyphics on the paper. What did the skull portend, and what did the
letters and figures refer to?
The skull I set down as the point to which the most importance was to be
attached, and as I believed it referred to some hidden articles or
treasure stowed away more than a century ago, I was naturally very eager
to find out its whereabouts.
Well, say the skull represented the treasure spot, what did the square
surrounding it mean? I gave it up. "Then what," I asked myself, "is the
meaning of the letters at certain angles round the square both inside
and out?" These I assumed to be the bearings of certain objects, as the
person stood at the spot in which the goods were hidden; the figures I
conjectured were the number of feet or yards distant of the "treasure
spot" from the various objects.
Next, where was it most likely a man would hide anything of value,
beneath the sea or upon dry land? Land certainly. Would it be among the
rocks or where the ground was softer? Certainly the latter, I should
say.
Then I set to thinking of the different places on the island where the
nature of the soil would allow of digging, and could call to mind but
few, and these mostly on the higher parts of the island. I determined
when I was able to get about that I would inspect all these places, and
see if I could find objects to correspond with the bearings and
distances given in the sketch. Having thus promised myself to pursue the
search further at a more appropriate time, I dismissed the subject from
my mind for the time being.
After several days of enforced idleness I was at length able once more
to go out, but at first felt very weak in the legs for want of exercise.
[Illustration: Decorative scroll]
FOOTNOTE:
4: Speaking of island doctors reminds me that Dr. Moyle has
recently retired from practice in the Isles of Scilly, where he has been
the sole medical practitioner for over forty years. He is spoken of with
love and respect by all the islanders, and no wonder, for he has been a
wonderful old man. His patients were scattered over the five inhabited
islands, and never once did he fail to go when summoned. On many a wild
winter night has he been called up to cross the rough sea to attend,
perhaps, on some poor fisherman's child. Dressed in an oilskin coat,
sou'wester and big boots, he was always ready to go, and scarcely looked
like a medical man. The people have shown their regard for him in a
handsome manner. Without the aid of bazaars or other such institutions,
they have raised funds enough to present him with a life-long annuity of
£52.
[Illustration: Decorative chapter heading]