Shortly after the _Petrel's_ anchor had been let go, under the island of
Villegagnon, a galley, manned by brawny blacks, came off to the yacht; a
Brazilian gentleman in uniform leapt on deck and introduced himself as
the doctor of the port. On hearing that the vessel was an English yacht
sailing under an Admiralty flag he raised no difficulties, but granted
Carew pratique at once, despite the absence of a clean bill of health
from Rotterdam.
When the health boat had gone off again, Carew ordered the dinghy to be
lowered. "I will go on shore at once, Baptiste," he said. "I will call
on the British consul, and ask him for a clean bill of health for Buenos
Ayres. We won't stay longer than is necessary in this unhealthy place."
"May I suggest," replied the mate, "that you should give the lads a few
dollars of their pay, and allow them a run on shore to stretch their
legs after having been cooped up so long in this little craft?"
Carew remembered the empty condition of the ship's treasury, and did
not see his way to paying his crew any portion of their wages at
present.
"If they go on shore they will drink rum in the sun, and catch Yellow
Jack," he said.
"Not they, sir. These are sober Spaniards, and they are too acclimatised
to run much risk of fever."
"I'll think the matter over. But we'll leave the two men in charge this
afternoon. You come on shore with me, Baptiste. You know Rio, and can
show me the way about."
So Carew and the mate got into the dinghy, and the latter, taking the
oars, pulled off towards the Mole. They landed on a quay bordered by a
negro market, where fish, fruit, rags, and all manner of odds and ends
were sold by very fat negresses in huge yellow turbans; a filthy and
malodorous spot. After leaving the dinghy in charge of a custom-house
officer, they hustled their way through the jabbering crowd of blacks,
and entered the chief streets of the city.
Baptiste, who evidently knew his way well, brought Carew to the door of
the British Consulate. "I will leave you now, captain," he said, "to
transact your business. Let me have a dollar or so to amuse myself with,
and I will meet you in an hour's time at the corner of the chief
street, the Rua Ovidor, in front of the big jeweller's shop."
Carew gave him a ten-shilling piece--he only had two more in the world
now--and they separated.
Having obtained a bill of health from the consul, Carew strolled through
the hot streets until the appointed time, when the mate, punctual to a
minute, met him at the corner of the Rua Ovidor.
"Captain," said Baptiste, "it is stifling in these streets. Let us get
on a tram and drive out of the town to the Botanical Gardens. It will be
cooler there, and I wish to speak to you in a quiet place where there
are no eavesdroppers about. I have made an important discovery since I
left you."
With a noise of jingling bells the mules carried them rapidly through
the suburbs of the city; past fairy-like villas that seemed to be built
of delicately tinted porcelain, surrounded by gardens that were
paradises of exquisite plants, with cool fountains splashing under the
feathery palms; past groves of marvellous trees that bore no leaves, but
were covered instead with blossoms of purple and vivid crimson, so that
the eye was pained by the excess of glory; past pleasant inlets of the
great bay, where the tiny waves dashed on the white sands under the
cocoa-nut trees; and around them rose the great amphitheatre of granite
peaks and forest-clad mountains glowing under the cloudless sky.
They reached the gate of the Botanical Gardens, and the mate led Carew
to an avenue of oreodoxas--the most majestic of the family of palms.
These rose straight and smooth as marble columns to an immense height,
and far overhead their graceful leaves met in regular arches, forming a
great aisle as of a cathedral of giants. A solemn spot, fitted to exalt
the soul of man and inspire lofty thoughts, but which Baptiste, with an
unconscious irony, had selected as a safe place to discuss with Carew a
scheme of detestable crime which his lust for gold had suggested to him.
They sat down on a bench under the polished trunk of one of the huge
palms. Carew was silent. He was impressed by the marvellous nature
around. Everything was so unfamiliar to his senses. The rich colouring
of the beautiful and sometimes grotesquely shaped vegetation, the birds
of brilliant plumage that flashed by him, the metallic lustre and
monstrous forms of the beetles and other insects, the shrieking of the
paroquets, and other noises of the intense and teeming tropical
life--all bewildered his brain. The very air, heavy with the pungent
odours of many flowers, seemed intoxicating. He could scarcely realise
that this was not all some fantastic dream.
But Baptiste, who had important business on hand, cared little for the
wonders of Nature. He rolled himself a cigarette, lit it, then,
sprawling himself in a lazy fashion on the bench, commenced--
"The other day, captain, we were engaged in an interesting conversation,
which was rather rudely disturbed by an earthquake. Have you forgotten
the subject of it?"
"I remember that you were talking some nonsense about making yachting
pay its expenses by smuggling, or something of the sort."
"I said nothing about smuggling, captain, and I was not talking
nonsense. I said that the master of a yacht sailing under Government
papers has many opportunities of putting gold into his pockets; that is,
if his liver be sound and he is not troubled with a morbid conscience.
Now, I only left you for one hour, captain, and in that time I picked up
all the news of the port by calling at one or two rum shops--old haunts
of mine; and, as luck would have it, I have discovered an easy way for
us all to make our fortunes."
"Silence, man!" angrily ejaculated Carew. "I don't wish to hear your
rascally plans. You mistake me; I am not one to seek a fortune by
illicit methods."
Carew meant all he said. He intended to commit one more crime only--to
telegraph in Allen's name to the bank for the bulk of Allen's property.
After that, sick of sin, he would live an exemplary life, and appease
conscience by good works in some far country. But he forgot that he who
once starts to run down a steep hill cannot stop himself exactly when he
wishes.
"What virtue--what righteous indignation!" sneered the mate. "But,
captain, you will have to listen to me. Whether you wish it or no, you
_shall_ make a fortune in the way I am going to suggest."
There was a menace in the man's tone and a malicious twinkle in his
eyes.
Carew looked at him. "Explain yourself, if you please," he said coldly.
"So I will," cried Baptiste, with energy, abandoning his lazy drawl.
Then, throwing away his cigarette, he rose from his recumbent position
and stood before Carew, who still remained sitting on the bench.
"Do you think that I am blind--that I am an idiot, captain? Do you
imagine that I don't know who you are and what you have done,--with all
your virtuous talk,--eh, Mr. Carew?"
As he uttered these words rapidly the mate closely observed their effect
upon the Englishman, whose face turned ghastly white, and whose right
hand stole round to his back.
"No shooting, if you please," cried the Frenchman, in a bantering tone.
"Don't draw that revolver. Remember that there's a fine for carrying
firearms in Rio. Coward though I may be, you don't frighten me here,
captain. I know you dare not kill me on shore. The inquiry afterwards
would be fatal to you. Besides, you are wise enough to grasp quickly the
fact that our interests are coincident. At sea it was otherwise. There I
held my tongue. I was aware that you would have thrown me overboard some
dark night had you guessed that I knew so much. Here on shore I am
safe."
Carew felt that he was in the man's power, and saw the futility of
denial. "What do you know?" he asked, in a dry voice, bringing his hand
in front of him again.
"That your name is not Allen, but Carew."
"What else?"
"That you are impersonating a man whose property you have stolen."
Carew felt as if his heart had stopped; the tall palms swam around him.
He closed his eyes, and was only conscious of the cataract of sound
raised by the shrieking paroquets and the manifold hum of insects. It
was only for a moment; then he recovered himself, and, opening his eyes,
again saw before him the cynical face of the Frenchman. "What else?" he
asked, with a deep sigh.
"Surely that is enough, captain. But, in short, understand that I know
all about you."
"How have you learnt this?"
"Suffice it that I know it. I don't wish to spoil your little game,
captain, but you must help me in mine. I will now sit down and silently
smoke a cigarette, so that you can ponder a while on what I have said. I
perceive that I have somewhat disturbed your mind. Now, as violent
emotions are very bad for the health in this hot climate, it will do you
good to rest for a few minutes; for I have more exciting news to
communicate."
The Frenchman resumed his former lazy position, and proceeded to smoke,
as he smiled contentedly at his own reflections; while Carew sat with
knit brows, the perspiration streaming down his face, unable to collect
his thoughts, but terribly conscious in a vague way that he could never
extricate himself from the network of crime into which he had
voluntarily thrown himself; that for him there was no hope of putting
the past away; that one sin would lead irrevocably to another; that
Nemesis had made all his future life as one long chain of iniquity, even
to the unknown dreadful end of it.
The Frenchman was very pleased with himself. He had succeeded beyond his
expectations in gaining a hold over Carew, whom he could now compel to
subserve his purposes. The mate had played a bold game of "bluff"; he
had made Carew believe that he was acquainted with his history, whereas
he knew nothing of it, possessed no proofs of what he had so boldly
asserted, and had merely made an ingenious guess at the truth.
At a very early stage of the voyage, Baptiste had come to the conclusion
that the conscience of the Englishman was burdened with some crime, and
that he was a fugitive from justice.
A variety of circumstances had led him to this belief. That Carew had
shipped three men who were known to be murderers, and had sailed away
with them across the ocean at a moment's notice, was in itself highly
suspicious. So the wily Frenchman, bethinking himself how useful it
often is to know another man's disagreeable secrets, set himself to
discover all he could of his employer's past.
Many a night, when it was Carew's watch on deck, Baptiste employed
himself in rummaging the drawers and lockers of the saloon. For a long
time he discovered nothing to his purpose; but he was patient and minute
in his investigations, and at last he got on the right scent in the
following wise.
He found that the handwriting in the ship's log-book and on the
agreements which the captain had drawn out for his crew was not in the
least like that in the diary and in the cheque-book, in which entries
had been inscribed at a date prior to the yacht's departure from
Rotterdam. Thus it seemed highly probable to Baptiste that his captain
was not the Mr. Allen whom he professed to be, and whose name was on
the ship's papers.
If not Mr. Allen, then, who was he?
Baptiste searched diligently night after night without finding any clue
to this; but at last one of those slight circumstances which seem to be
arranged by Providence to expose the crimes of the most clever and
cautious villains, led the persevering Frenchman to the knowledge he was
seeking.
Baptiste was not a good English scholar; but he proceeded with infinite
labour little by little to decipher Allen's diary. A few days before
reaching Rio he came to the last page but one, and here he read the
following entry: "Wrote Carew, asking him to come with me to Holland."
On the next page, under the date of August the 8th, was the final entry:
"Sail for Holland with Carew."
"It is just possible," said Baptiste to himself, "that this mysterious
captain of mine is Mr. Carew. I have no reason to suppose that he is so,
but the point is worth testing."
The mate applied the test in the manner that has been described, when,
on entering Rio, he casually remarked that he had sailed into that
harbour before under an English captain called Carew.
His employer's sudden start and evident perturbation on hearing this
name mentioned convinced Baptiste that he had hit the right nail on the
head. The deduction from what he had discovered was natural enough. "If
this is Carew," he reasoned, "he must have stolen Allen's yacht. He has
in all probability committed other crimes; but this is enough for my
purpose. I may be altogether wrong in my conjectures, but I think not. I
will tax him boldly with this. If I have guessed his secret, I have the
game in my own hands. If I prove to have been on the wrong scent, I
shall have made an idiot of myself, but no great harm will have been
done."
So with a matchless effrontery the Frenchman opened his game under the
shade of the great palm trees with the success that has been seen.
Having smoked several cigarettes with an expression of great enjoyment,
without speaking, Baptiste turned to Carew and said--
"You are looking pale, _mon capitaine_. It is dangerous to walk about on
an empty stomach in this climate; the fever fiend is ever watching his
opportunity. Come with me. I will take you to a tavern I know
of,--rough, but cheap and good,--and we will have something to eat. It
is hours after our usual dinner-time. Afterwards I will expound to you
the excellent scheme that is in my head--a scheme that will make us all
rich men."
Carew had by this time recovered his power for cool and rapid thought.
He had been in vain cudgelling his brain to explain to himself in what
possible way the mate had contrived to discover his secret.
"Baptiste," he said firmly, "before moving from here, I wish you to
clearly understand that you are not going to be my master because you
happen to know something about my affairs; so put aside at once that
insolent and familiar manner. If you presume too much on your knowledge
and make me desperate, it will be the worse for you. Now tell me how
have you acquired this knowledge?"
The mate replied in his old respectful tones. "I know you too well to
seek to be your master. But I would rather not answer your question at
present, captain. I promise you, when you have helped me to carry out my
plan, that I will tell you everything."
"Does anyone else know as much as yourself concerning me?"
"Not a single individual. Have no fears on that score. No one suspects
that you are other than you represent yourself to be. You are as secure
from discovery as you were before I happened to learn the truth. I alone
know what you are, and the price of my silence is a mere bagatelle. All
I ask is that you benefit yourself and me by casting away from you some
of your foolish scruples. Where is the logic of going so far and no
farther? You have committed great crimes for a trifle. A large fortune
is now within your grasp; but one little sin more, and you will be
rich. Then you can afford to be virtuous for the rest of your life. You
can endow churches; you can obtain absolution; you can--but I forget;
you are a Protestant, and so must patch your soul up in your own way."
Carew shuddered, not in fear of the man before him, but at the thought
of the relentless fate that was pursuing him. It seemed to him that this
unscrupulous villain was the instrument of an offended Heaven, sent to
hasten his destruction. It was vain for him to strive after repentance.
A wild despair, a feeling of angry revolt against the powers of good,
possessed him. What did it matter now? the man argued, in his reckless
mood. Destiny drove him to crime. Why resist in agony? Whatever new
wickedness he should have to do, not his the fault, but that of this
pitiless and unjust Fate.
"Baptiste, what is this plan that you propose?" he asked.
"Let us dine before we talk business," replied the mate, rolling himself
another cigarette. "I am as thirsty as an Englishman and as hungry as a
German."
They entered a tram and drove back towards the city; but while they were
yet in the suburbs, Baptiste made a sign to Carew to descend, and they
walked, the mate leading the way, down a narrow street of negro
shanties, each surrounded by its little provision ground of bananas,
yams, and cassava. Then they came to a very rough and disreputable
neighbourhood, abounding in low grog shops, in which European sailors
were courting Yellow Jack, by drinking poisonous rum. They reached a
street which skirted the shores of the bay; and here, on the very edge
of the water, there stood a stone house by itself.
"That is the tavern I spoke of," said the mate. Then assuming his usual
bantering tone, "It is a queer place. It will interest you, as an
English milord travelling for his pleasure and instruction, to observe
the humours of the place. It is the resort of the greatest villains of
Rio--robbers, smugglers, and the like. The result is that it is an
exceedingly quiet and respectable house. They dare not have rows in
there; no drunkenness or thieving or kniving is allowed on those
premises. Men frequent this cafe when bent on business, not on
pleasure."
The interior of the house did not seem to be used for purposes of
entertainment, for all the customers were congregated in a large arbour
that lay against one side of the building, and faced the sea.
They entered this arbour, and sat down at one of the bare deal tables,
and the mate, calling one of the waiters, a very evil-looking mulatto
with one eye, selected some of the dishes out of the bill of fare.
The sun was setting, and the darkness came on with the suddenness of
tropical latitudes. Two negroes proceeded to light a number of Venetian
lanterns that festooned the cafe, and Carew, while he waited for his
dinner, gazed with amazement at the scene before him.
A number of men were sitting at the tables, eating, drinking, and
smoking. There were negroes, whites, and mulattos. They appeared to be
of many nationalities. It would be almost impossible to see elsewhere a
collection of more villainous faces. They sat for the most part in
silence, as if avoiding each other's companionship; but at some of the
tables were small groups, and here conversations were carried on in a
low voice. There were no smiles to be seen; there was no noise; there
were no signs of hilarity in all this assemblage. An atmosphere of gloom
and fear seemed to pervade the place. Occasionally one of these taciturn
beings would glance suspiciously at the table where Carew and the mate
were sitting. Guilt, dread, and hopelessness could be read on many a
face. It might have been a supper of lost souls in the shades of Hades,
but then--and it was this that, by its mocking contrast, lent a strange
horror to the scene, as if it were some fantastic and dreadful
nightmare--the melancholy feast was taking place in a very paradise.
The arbour was supported by lofty palms, and the sides of it were formed
of a network of the most beautiful creepers, heavy with sweet blossoms
and luscious fruits. The glittering sands of the seashore formed the
floor. Through the roof of feathery palm leaves the innumerable and
brilliant stars of the Southern Hemisphere could be seen glowing out of
the depths of night. A number of small tame birds of lovely red and
yellow plumage fluttered about the arbour, and alighted on the tables in
search of food. Glow-worms and fireflies gleamed like diamonds among the
foliage, and outside was heard the splashing of the tiny waves and the
shrill cry of the cicala. The lavish tropical nature had made of this a
fit palace for a fairy queen, and lo, it was a thieves' kitchen!