The seamen needed no second bidding. From Roger's description it could
be none other than the pirate vessel, and both knew what their fate
would be if they were so unfortunate as to be discovered by the pirates.
Rapidly throwing on their clothes, they came out of the hut, and an
examination of the vessel over the top of the bank convinced them that
Roger's statement was only too true.
"How about the flag though, sir?" said Bevan. "If they have seen that--
and it is almost certain that they have--they will think there are
others here, and will search. It will be no use hiding then; for if
they believe anybody else to be here, they will search till they find
us."
"I think we need not greatly trouble about the flag," responded Roger.
"They will imagine that poor Evans set up the staff and flag before he
died, in the hope of attracting attention; they will hardly trouble to
examine it closely enough to discover that it is made of two red shirts.
Besides, for aught that they know, Evans might have taken two red
shirts ashore with him in his chest when he was marooned. No, it
matters not if the flag has been seen. But come along, men; every
moment lost now only increases our danger."
They forthwith set to work in grim earnest, labouring for their lives.
The casks were rolled out of the store, and holes were scooped in the
sand for their reception. To bury them was not a long job. They took
care, however, to set aside some provisions and water for their use
while in hiding. Next came the job of burying their simple utensils,
such as they were, and also the shell of the turtle. Then there was the
gruesome task of digging up the body of poor Evans. It had to be done,
and the sooner the better, as Roger said; so all three went to the
unpleasant duty. The mound of sand was removed, the tilling taken out,
and they presently came upon the body. The sand was brushed from the
hair and clothing of the corpse, and it was then carried to the hut,
placed in its previous position, and covered with the blanket in which
it had been buried.
This completed their preparations for the pirates' landing--for it was
certain that they would land; otherwise why should they have returned to
the island? Their work had lasted longer than they thought, and away to
the east the first sign of dawn was apparent by the time they had
finished. They knew the marvellous rapidity with which the day comes
and goes in those regions, and recognised the need for haste if they
were to gain their proposed place of concealment unperceived; for there
would certainly be sharp eyes on board the pirate, looking for the first
sign of the marooned man. They therefore took, each man, his share of
the provisions, and, keeping carefully below the concealing top of the
sand-bank, started to run at their utmost speed for the ledge of rocks
which was to be their refuge.
Meanwhile daylight was coming with terrible rapidity. The shore
extremity of the ledge of rocks was reached after what seemed an
eternity, and they began their passage out along it as fast as they
could go. It was dangerous going among the rocks, but danger, frightful
danger, spurred them on. Looking seaward they could make out the hull
of the pirate vessel quite distinctly, and they all prayed that they
might not be so easily perceived. At last they reached the hollow among
the rocks, which was to be their haven of refuge, and tumbled over one
another into it.
Having at length got their breath, Jake Irwin put forward the sensible
suggestion that they should take their morning meal at once; and they
proceeded to do so, all, however, with a very unpleasant feeling that it
might quite possibly be their last. They finished with a hearty draught
of brandy-and-water, to put some spirit into them after their toilsome
night's work, Bevan and Irwin having taken especial care to bring a good
quantity of the liquor along. Then they scrambled cautiously up and had
a look at the schooner, taking care to remain well hidden themselves.
They were, in their present position, much nearer to the pirate vessel
than when they first saw her, and, as the sun got up and shone on her
stern, they could, with some little difficulty, make out her name--the
_Black Pearl_,--which was painted in large red letters across her
counter. Presently signs of returning life were apparent on board, and
soon afterwards a boat was filled with men and lowered. It pushed off
as soon as it touched the water, and made for the shore.
How fortunate was it, thought Roger, and how much like a special
dispensation of Providence for their safety, that they had forgotten to
replenish the fire on the night before! Had it been burning, the
pirates would have known that living beings were on the island, for
Evans's body gave evidence that it had been dead too long for them to
suppose that a fire lit by him would still be burning. The remains of
it they certainly would see, but they would doubtless believe that Evans
had made it, and that it had gone out after his death, little dreaming
that at the moment when they let go their anchor the ashes could have
been scarcely cold.
While these thoughts were passing through Roger's mind, the boat landed,
and her people got out and proceeded quickly up the beach. A shout
presently announced that they had caught sight of the new hut, toward
which all hands at once wended their way. For some time nothing was
seen or heard of the pirates; but eventually three of them went down to
the beach again, and, entering the boat, pulled off to the ship.
"Going to inform Leirya that the victim of his cruelty is dead,"
whispered Roger to Bevan; and the latter nodded.
After the boat had remained some few minutes alongside the _Black
Pearl_, a man of enormous size was seen to descend the ship's side and
enter her, when she again pushed off, and was pulled shorewards once
more.
"I'll stake my allowance of grog for the day," whispered Jake Irwin to
the two others, "that that man in the stern-sheets there, handlin' the
tiller, is Jose Leirya hisself, comin' ashore to make sure that the man
is really dead, and to secure they there papers what Evans said he stole
from the cabin; that's what's brought him back, I'll warrant. It's a
pity you didn't remember, sir, to take 'em from the body. Evans said
they was vallyble."
Roger, according to his promise, did not inform Jake that he had the
papers in his possession at that moment.
"Ss--sh!" whispered Jake, suddenly withdrawing his head from its point
of lookout, "here they come! God in heaven! why don't they go back to
the ship now they see as Evans is dead? What more do they want?
Surely, sir, we didn't leave nothin' about that'd show 'em we was here,
did we? I thought we cleared away all our traces."
"So we did," replied Roger, "so far as I can remember, that is. It is
perhaps only by chance that they are coming this way."
The men came nearer and nearer, and ventured out a little way along the
rocks. Presently they heard a voice at some distance away shout in
Spanish: "Ha, you, Gomez, go out to the end of that ledge and see if the
water is deep enough for boats to lie alongside the rocks."
A voice replied: "Ay, ay, Captain!" from a point so close to them that
its owner must have come almost to their hiding-place without the
fugitives either seeing or hearing him.
The three looked at one another, and then, as if the same thought had
come to each of them at the same moment, they with one accord advanced
cautiously and stationed themselves behind a rock by which the man must
pass to reach the edge of the ledge. Here, where they now were,
everything that might transpire would be screened from the others,
unless some of them were following Gomez out along the ledge. But they
must risk that. Crouching low, and as silent as watching cats, they
waited for the man Gomez.
In a moment or two they heard his footsteps on the rocks, and his heavy
breathing. Nearer and nearer he came, and now he was almost on them!
Then with a spring they had him, and he was down among the rocks before
he could utter a sound. Quick as lightning Jake pushed a handful of
sand and sea-weed into the Spaniard's mouth, and clapped his hand over
it to prevent its ejection, Roger and Bevan at the same instant seizing
the man's arms and legs. The eyes of Gomez were staring and starting
out of his head with mortal terror at this utterly unexpected attack.
Jake drew his knife. Roger shook his head violently in dissent, but
Jake whispered hastily: "It must be, sir; we can't help it; it is his
life or ours!"
Roger turned his head away, and the next moment he heard a horrible
choke and gurgle, while the body writhed violently as he held the arms.
A flood of something hot rushed over his hands and arms, and he felt
quite sick.
"Now, sir, quick!" said Jake. "It's our only chance. There's an
overhanging ledge of rock here. We must take the provisions, and this
'ere corpse, and git into the water, floatin' under the ledge until they
goes; for when this chap Gomez is found to be missin', they'll search
and find us if we don't do as I say. We must risk the sharks!"
There was clearly nothing else for it; so they slipped in, taking the
corpse with them, and all got under the ledge--which quite concealed
them--and supported the dead body, that it might not float away and
betray them.
The proceeding was fraught with danger, as sharks swarmed in those
waters, and the blood that was oozing from the Spaniard's body would be
almost certain to attract those monsters of the sea,--their scent for
blood being very keen. The flesh of the fugitives crept, and the
knowledge that one of them might be seized kept them in a state of
perfectly agonising suspense. They had been in for some time, and the
position was becoming unendurable when: "Gomez, Gomez, where are you?
Hasten, man; we do not want to wait here all day!" came from the very
ledge underneath which they were floating, and holding, meanwhile, the
corpse of the man who was then being called by name.
"Where can he be, curse him?" growled the same voice. "What has become
of the lazy hound? Carrajo, I will flog him when we get on board!
Gomez!"
There was, of course, no reply.
"He may have fallen in and been drowned, or taken by a shark,
perchance," suggested another voice.
More oaths followed, together with a lengthy dissertation on Gomez's
ancestors, both immediate and remote. At this moment Bevan gave vent to
a suppressed gasp, and, following his gaze, the others saw the dorsal
fins of several sharks which had evidently scented the blood still
draining from the body of the slain man, and were now searching for
their prey. Then the concealed listeners heard--from someone who had
evidently been to the edge of the ledge to search for the missing man--
"I have looked, Captain, and Gomez is nowhere to be found."
There were more awful oaths from Jose--for it was indeed that renowned
and most notorious scoundrel,--and then he again spoke:
"He must have fallen in and been drowned--curses on him for a clumsy
fool! Yes; and there are the sharks that have taken his worthless
carcass. Come, you; we will return to the schooner. It is useless to
search further for him, for he will never come back."
Meanwhile the sharks were coming ever closer and closer still, while the
footsteps of the pirate and his companions were heard retreating. The
minds of the hiding trio _were_ much relieved at the departure of Jose
Leirya and his villains, and particularly at Jose's mention of his
intention to return to the vessel; but the suspense of waiting for them
to retire, while the sharks were edging ever nearer and nearer, was
awful. The triangular fins of these terrible monsters were now darting
rapidly hither and thither, and at every dart the voracious fish came
nearer than before. Momentarily they expected to see one or more of the
fins disappear below the surface, and they knew that when that happened
they might anticipate seizure by the shark a few seconds later. But as
yet the fins remained visible on the surface of the water.
Poor Roger was nearly fainting with anxiety and apprehension, while
Bevan was rapidly becoming exhausted. At length the strain on their
nerves became unendurable, and Jake Irwin said: "I don't think those
fellows'll hear us now, even if we splash; and if we don't splash, they
sharks'll be at us in a few minutes. Anyhow, I'm a-goin' to risk it!"
Forthwith they all began to splash vigorously, although as yet they
dared not shout. The sudden commotion of the water, coming after the
dead silence that had previously reigned, startled the great fish, and
the fins instantly scattered in all directions, to the great relief of
the fugitives. But, as Jake said: "That won't keep 'em off very long;
they've smelled blood, and they'll be around again directly."
He then swam a stroke or two, very cautiously, out from under the ledge,
in order to have a peep at the pirates and ascertain whether they were
still in sight. They were, but if they pushed on without stopping they
would be out of sight in a few moments. But the question was--would
they be able to keep the sharks at bay for that short time? It was
doubtful, to say the least of it, yet they dared not move out of their
hiding-place just then, or the pirates would be certain to see them
making the attempt. The inaction was beginning--nay, had long since
begun--to tell on their nerves, and poor Roger felt as though he could
scarcely refrain from shrieking aloud, so great was the tension. And
those terrible fins were again gathering about them! One by one they
came edging back, ever nearer and nearer. At last the fugitives could
endure it no longer, and, taking the corpse by the shoulders and turning
it into a more favourable position for his purpose, Bevan said: "They'll
wait no longer. Now, when I push this 'ere dead body off, jump for your
lives back on to the ledge. We must risk being seen; for they sharks
don't mean to be denied."
He then gave the corpse a violent push seaward, and the three made a
simultaneous scramble for the safety of the ledge. Jake was up first,
and extended his hand to Roger, while behind them they heard the
clashing and snapping of jaws, and the sudden rushing wash of water, as
the body of Gomez was torn to pieces by the hungry monsters.
The commotion in the water was terrible, and horribly suggestive, as the
sharks snapped and struggled and fought for their share of the prey; and
they thought that surely the pirates must hear, and, hearing, return to
see what all the noise was about. Roger was out now, and only Bevan
remained in the water. Jake and Roger stretched out their hands, Bevan
grasped them with his own, and, with a simultaneous pull, out he came,
landing on his knees on the rock. But only just in time; for even as he
left the water a huge shark, of at least twenty-five feet in length,
came dashing at him with such furious determination that he ran his
great snout, with its rows of shining saw-edged teeth, right up on the
ledge, so close as actually to graze Bevan's body. The man, however,
hastily sprang aside, capsizing Irwin and Roger, and the three fell
pell-mell into the hollow in the rocks which had served as their former
hiding-place.
Safe at last; but what a narrow and providential escape! And now to
discover whether the pirates had seen them. Jake climbed up to his
former coign of vantage, and as soon as he clapped his eye to the
peep-hole he held up his hand in warning. Roger shuddered. "After
all," thought he, "after those hairbreadth escapes, have they seen us,
and are they coming back to take us?"
Jake now came creeping cautiously down, and whispered that the pirates
had not gone off as far as they had anticipated; indeed they were not
very far away even now. They had evidently not seen the fugitives leave
the water, but they were all standing in a group, looking back toward
the hiding-place, and, so far as Jake could judge, they seemed to be
listening. Bevan now crawled up and had a look, and then beckoned to
the rest. They climbed up alongside him, and, through the peep-hole,
saw that the pirates had now relaxed their attitude of attention, and
were once more walking slowly away, ever and anon taking a backward
glance over their shoulders. Presently they disappeared from sight
behind the rocks, and the fugitives breathed more freely.
Roger said: "If now they but go straight off to their ship we are saved.
I trust they will not chance to stumble upon any of our buried
provision-barrels, or they will at once suspect our presence and search
until they find us; for I can see that they are not altogether easy in
their minds over the strange disappearance of Gomez."
"I don't think that's so, Master Trevose," replied Bevan. "'Tis only
our fancy. For my part, I'm convinced that they believe Gomez have
fallen off the rocks and been taken by a shark. But how pale you do
look sir! better have a drop of brandy."
But, alas! there was no brandy. In their haste to escape from the jaws
of the sharks both brandy and their small store of food had been
dropped, and were both now, without doubt, safe in the maw of one of the
monsters. Roger turned still more pale, and Bevan put his arm round his
shoulder to support him. Presently his head fell back, and he went off
in a dead swoon. The experiences of the last few hours had been too
much for the poor lad, and overstrained nature would bear no more.
"He'll soon come round, Jake," said Bevan. "Get a drop of water, if you
can without being seen. Bring it in your hat and slop it on his face;
that'll soon bring him to."
Jake accepted the suggestion, and presently returned without having seen
anything of the pirates. They soused Roger's head and shoulders with
sea-water, and the boy soon recovered, feeling a little ashamed of his
weakness.
"Don't you worry yourself about that, Master Roger," replied Jake.
"I've seen men stronger and older than you faint for less than what
we've just gone through."
Roger was soon himself again. They took another look round, and this
time they saw Jose Leirya and his crew down on the beach, preparing to
get into their boat.
"We'd better not leave this here spot until we see 'em up-anchor and get
well away," advised Jake. "For all we know they may come ashore again,
and if they was to do that a'ter we'd left our hidin'-place, 'twould be
all up with us."
The others agreed to this proposal, and watched the boat pulling away to
the ship. She soon got there, and was forthwith hoisted inboard, and
presently the watchers saw her sails fall from the yards, while up came
the anchor, the schooner canted, the sails filled, the vessel gradually
gathered way--and she was off! The three felt strongly inclined to give
a hearty cheer; but prudence prevailed, and they remained silent.
Presently, however, they got out of the hole in which they were
crouching, and made their way cautiously along the ledge, taking the
utmost care to keep always out of sight of the schooner; and by and by
they reached the beach, and over the top of the near-most rock saw the
_Black Pearl_ rapidly growing smaller in the distance. By crawling and
creeping and dodging behind anything big enough to conceal them, they
finally gained the back beach, and then, having the ridge between the
pirate vessel and themselves, they set off at a brisk pace for the hut.
When at length they reached it they found that nothing had been
disturbed, but the body of Evans had evidently been searched, and was
now lying upon the sand, instead of where they had left it, on its
improvised couch. Their first act was to unearth the cask of brandy and
take a good draught apiece, feeling that they both needed and deserved
it after what they had gone through that morning.
Then Evans received his second burial. Poor fellow! his inanimate body
had been put to a strange use; but they felt that, could he know, he
would not in the least object.
The provisions were next got up and re-stored, and then they found time
to take a look at the retreating pirate vessel. Yes, there she still
was, now very small to their view, yet hardly as far off as they had
expected her to be.
They continued to gaze for a few moments longer, and were just about to
turn away, with relief and thankfulness in their hearts, when they saw
the pirate vessel hurriedly setting some additional canvas; then
suddenly she bore up and went off on the other tack, presenting her port
side instead of her stern to the island.
"Now, what's the matter?" queried Jake; "he's headin' away south for La
Guayra way! But what's he in such a tearin' hurry for?"
"Can't make it out at all," answered Bevan.
They felt their sleeves plucked, and, turning round, beheld Roger
pointing, but unable to speak, toward the horizon on the side of the
island opposite to the pirate ship. And there, at last, they perceived
the fleet, hull-up above the horizon, in plain sight, with every sail
set, carrying on after the pirate at their utmost speed.