very summit of the hill, looked abroad at the scene. Seaward, the ocean
stretched away, a vast plain of delicate blue, to the horizon, and some
twenty miles in the offing we made out a speck of white, gleaming in the
brilliant morning sun, which we decided must be the schooner. Then,
turning our backs upon the sea, we had the hilly foreground of the
island before us, sloping away to right and left and in front of us down
to the smooth, placid waters of the spacious harbour. On our right was
the Boca Chica, the only entrance to the harbour, a narrow, winding
channel with a sort of bar at its inner extremity, whereon, Hoard
informed me, there is scarcely four fathoms of water. Nevertheless,
viewed from the elevation which I occupied, the navigation of the
channel appeared simple enough, the submerged sand-banks on each side of
it showing up quite clearly through the blue water. At the inner
extremity of the channel lies the outer harbour, a sheet of water
roughly circular in shape, and measuring some four miles across in
either direction. I noticed a few small shoals dotted about here and
there in this outer harbour, but there was only one that appeared to be
at all dangerous, and that one was to be easily avoided. The northern
boundary of the outer harbour seemed to be pretty well defined by a
cluster of decidedly dangerous shoals stretching right across from the
island of Tierra Bomba to the mainland, but with fairly wide channels of
deep water between, and north of this lay what might be termed the
intermediate harbour. This is a sheet of water of about half the area
of the outer harbour, with a good clean bottom and plenty of water. It
is formed by a shoal uniting the island of Tierra Bomba with the
mainland, a reef of rocks projecting above the sand and rendering the
Boca Grande--once the main entrance to the harbour--quite impassable by
anything larger than a boat. Then, inside this again, and rendered
especially safe and snug by being inclosed by two long, low, projecting
spits with a narrow channel between them, is the inner harbour, having
an area of about three-quarters of a square mile, with plenty of water
for the largest ships. The head of this harbour washes the walls and
wharves of the town of Cartagena; indeed it does more, for, as Hoard
informed me, it divides the town into two nearly equal parts, the tide
flowing right through it and for some distance beyond. In this inner
harbour lay quite a fleet of small coasting-craft, and towering high
among them all could be made out the tall spars of the galleon.
Immediately in front of us, and on the opposite side of the harbour, the
country was low, swampy, and thickly covered with scrub and bush, among
which could be made out the whitewashed mud walls of the villages of
Buenavista, Gospique, and Albornos, in the latter of which Hoard's
friend Panza had his habitation. The fishing-boats from these villages
were dotted all over the bay--they had probably been out all night,--and
having pointed out to me the several objects of interest in the noble
scene that stretched around us, my companion intimated that the time had
arrived for him to leave me, as he intended to get a passage across to
the mainland forthwith, and then make his way to the town for the
purpose of acquiring information. He cautioned me to keep a bright
look-out for chance stragglers, and to carefully avoid them, for he
assured me that, if discovered, I should certainly be dragged off to the
town, and probably meet with the same fate that he had suffered. And
finally, he undertook to return, if possible, the next night to the spot
whereon we then stood, adding that, should he fail to appear, I was not
to be alarmed. I watched him make his way down the hillside, lost sight
of him among the bush, and finally made him out again, with the aid of
my glass, just as he was entering a little hamlet on the harbour shore
of the island. I watched him sauntering hither and thither among the
dozen or so of huts that composed the hamlet, saw him engage in
conversation with several people, and at length observed him making his
way down to the beach, accompanied by a couple of men. The trio entered
a boat and pushed off, and I watched the crazy craft heading straight
across the harbour to the village of Gospique, from whence I concluded
he would make the best of his way to Albornos.
I had now the rest of the day before me in which to look round and make
my observations, and I determined to do so to the utmost extent of my
ability. But I was by this time hungry and thirsty, so before doing
anything else I sought out a comfortable spot in the shadow of a clump
of bush, and sat down to discuss a portion of the viands that I had been
careful to bring with me. Then, my meal finished, I produced pencil and
paper, and proceeded to very carefully draw a map of the harbour,
preserving as accurately as I could the just proportions of every
feature, and marking the shoals in their proper places, as also the
battery guarding the entrance channel, and the position of the villages
dotted here and there along the shore. I had taken the precaution to
bring a small pocket-compass with me, and this I found most useful as a
means of laying down the bearings of the various features from my point
of observation. By drawing the whole roughly to scale, judging my
distances as accurately as possible, and freely using my pocket-compass,
I found that by the end of the day I had secured a sketch map that had
the appearance of being fairly accurate. Not a soul came near me
throughout the day, but several small craft passed out of or into the
harbour, and these afforded verification of Hoard's statement as to the
extraordinary precautions observed by the authorities, every one of them
being obliged to heave-to until a boat from the battery had boarded
them. A large ship, apparently a Spanish Indiaman, also arrived pretty
late in the afternoon, so that I had an opportunity of witnessing for
myself the manner in which such craft made their way through the channel
to the inner anchorage.
At length, when the sun was within an hour of setting, I observed a
fishing-boat under sail emerge from among the group of islets that block
the approach to the village of Albornos, and it presently became evident
that she was making for the island, on the highest point of which I was
perched. I brought my telescope to bear upon her, but for some time was
unable to distinguish her occupants, the sail being in my way. At
length, however, one of them moved forward and stood for a few minutes
under the lee of the sail, and the boat being by this time more than
half-way across, I was able to recognise the ragged habiliments worn by
Hoard when we took him off the wreck of the _Magdalena_, and which he
had resumed for the occasion. The sun was just dipping beneath the
western horizon, and the shadow of the island of Tierra Bomba had
enshrouded the waters of the harbour in a soft dusk, when the boat
entered a shallow lagoon at the north-eastern extremity of the island,
and grounded on the low, swampy shore. I saw Hoard disembark and stand
talking with his companions for a few minutes, and then the boat shoved
off again and made her way to about mid-channel, when her crew doused
her sail and proceeded to shoot their nets. Meanwhile I had lost sight
of Hoard behind a hill that lay between me and the lagoon where he had
landed, and I saw no more of him until he suddenly appeared against the
star-lit sky only a few paces from me.
"Well, sir," said he, as he ranged up alongside, "I've got some news for
you, and no mistake; but I greatly doubt whether it'll be very
acceptable."
"How so?" I exclaimed; "has anything gone wrong?"
"Well, I don't exactly know about `gone wrong'," was his reply; "but the
way of it is this: The galleon is finished loadin', and her hatches is
on. The gold is expected to arrive in the town to-morrow evening, and
if it does, it'll be got aboard the day after to-morrow; and next day
three hundred sojers is to be marched aboard of her, and she'll then
sail for Europe!"
"Three hundred soldiers!" exclaimed I incredulously. "No wonder that
they consider the vessel capable of making her way home without a
convoy!"
"Ay, you may well say so, sir," was the reply. "It seems that the whole
thing have been planned out for a long time. These three hundred sojers
is to go home as invalids, so I hear; and the relief has arrived to-day
in the Injieman that, mayhap, you saw come into the harbour this
a'ternoon. She's been expected this three weeks, so my friend Panza
tells me."
"Well," said I, "that is, as you say, news indeed; and it was a most
fortunate thing that we came ashore, as we did. Had we simply dodged
off and on, waiting for the galleon to come out, those three hundred
soldiers would have done for us. You say that the gold train is
expected to arrive to-morrow. Is this expectation pure conjecture, or
have they reason for it?"
"Oh, they've reason enough for it, sir; so I understand," answered
Hoard. "You see, the shippin' off of this here gold is the talk of the
town; nobody's thinkin' of anything else; and everything that happens
concernin' it is knowed at once all over the place. That's how I got my
news. Panza had heard all about it, and as soon as he sees me he starts
talkin' about it, not knowin' that I'd been shipped off in the
_Magdalena_; and I just let him talk, puttin' in a question here and
there until I'd found out all about it. As to the gold train, I don't
think there's much doubt about it, because the news in the town is that
a runner came in from Barranca this morning with a message from the
commandant that the train had arrived there last night, and might be
expected at Cartagena some time to-morrow, most likely pretty late in
the evening. I was wondering whether it 'ud be possible for us to lay
in wait for the train somewhere on the road, and get hold of the gold
that way; but that plan ain't any good, because the three hundred sojers
that's to go home in the ship are comin' down with it; and sixty men
again' three hundred is rather long odds."
"Yes," I agreed, "too long for my purpose, at all events; for I have no
doubt that the rascals would make a stubborn fight for it; and even if
we should succeed in capturing the gold, we should certainly lose a good
number of our men, while I want to get the gold, and the ship too,
without any loss at all, if it can be managed."
"Ay, sir," answered Hoard. "But I don't see how it can."
"Well, I have a plan," said I, "and you, perhaps, with your knowledge of
the place, will be able to tell me what chance there is of its being
successful. And, first of all, do you happen to know how many men are
stationed in that battery there that guards the entrance channel?"
"Yes, sir, I think I can tell you pretty nearly," answered Hoard;
"because, d'ye see, afore I was sent aboard the _Magdalena_ I was one of
the slaves that had to man the water-boat that took 'em their daily
supply of fresh water, there bein' none on the island. How many men?
Well, I should say that, countin' all hands, officers and men together,
there's a matter of nigh on to eighty of 'em."
"No more than that?"
"No, sir; certainly not more than eighty. Call 'em eighty, and you'll
not be very far wrong; over the mark a trifle, if anything."
"Very well, then," said I. "This is my plan. You say that the gold is
to be put aboard the galleon the day after to-morrow. The fact of its
shipment must be absolutely established, and, in order that it may be
so, I propose that you shall remain ashore--if you think you can do so
without fear of discovery--and witness for yourself the loading of it.
Then, when it is all aboard the ship, you will make the best of your way
across to this island, and wait for me at the spot where we landed last
night. I shall come ashore with all the boats and the whole of the
crew, except the idlers, fully armed. Then, if the gold has been
shipped, we will land on a little strip of sandy beach at the seaward
end of the channel, which I noticed to-day, march across the point, and
take the battery, spiking the guns. And, when this is done, we will
pull up the harbour, board the galleon, and carry her out to sea before
the soldiers are embarked."
"The very thing, sir! the very thing!" exclaimed Hoard delightedly.
"What a fool I was not to think of such a simple plan as that myself!
Yes, sir, it'll do, I don't doubt. The sojers is sure not to be put
aboard that night; they'll give 'em a day or two to rest after their
journey down the country, not for the sake of the men, sir, but because
the officers 'll want it."
"Then you think that my plan will do?" asked I.
"Yes, sir, I do; I haven't a doubt about it," was the confident answer.
"Then, in that case," said I, "I shall go aboard the schooner to-night,
leaving you ashore to find out all the news you can. I shall not come
ashore to-morrow night, because there appears to be no need, and the
less frequently that the schooner approaches the land the less will be
the danger of discovery. But the night after to-morrow, at midnight, I
shall be at the spot where we landed, with all the boats, and fully
prepared to capture the battery. So you must find means to meet me
there. Are you quite sure that you will run no risk by remaining
ashore?"
"Oh, yes, sir; I shall be all right. Never fear for me! I know the
town now, and know how to take care of myself. But how will you manage,
sir, supposin' that it happens to be blowin' strong, with the wind on
the shore, when you wants to land, the night after to-morrow?"
"Does that ever happen here?" I inquired, considerably taken aback by
the suggestion.
"It do sometimes, sir, but not often," answered Hoard. "Mostly the land
breeze springs up about eight o'clock, and blows until about seven in
the mornin'."
"Well," answered I, after considering awhile, "in the case that you
mention, it appears to me that our best plan will be to make boldly for
the channel, the four boats keeping abreast, so as to show as little as
possible; let the wind blow them past the battery, and land in the
little bay about half a mile inside. I noticed a big rock, the only
one, jutting out of the sand there to-day. That should be a very good
spot at which to meet you."
"Yes, sir, I know the rock well; I've seen it hundreds of times,"
remarked Hoard. "You can't do better, sir, unless the wind happens to
be off shore. If it is, the other plan will be best."
"Very well, then, that is understood," said I. "And now, how will you
manage about getting back to the mainland?"
"Oh," remarked my companion, "I shall have to stay on this here island
all night. But Panza will keep a look-out for me and take me across to-
morrow morning."
"Then," said I, "you had better walk with me as far as the beach, and
get the fresh stock of provisions that they will bring ashore. And how
are you off for money, in case you should want any?"
"Why, the fact is that I haven't got any, and I was goin' to ask you to
let me have some, sir; it might come handy," was the reply.
I happened to have a few dollars that I had taken the precaution to slip
into my pocket before leaving the ship; these I handed to him, and we
then sauntered slowly toward the spot where the boat was to meet us.
I went on board the schooner that night, and devoted the whole of the
following day to the preparations for our great _coup_, setting all
hands to work sharpening cutlasses, cleaning pistols, effectually
muffling the boats' oars and rowlocks, and, in fact, making every
possible provision that I could think of to ensure our success. And the
next day I made the men rest all day, so that they might be fit for a
long and arduous night's work.
It may be imagined that I kept an exceedingly anxious eye on the
barometer throughout that day, for I realised that the weather would
have much to do with the making or marring of our fortunes on the
eventful night. The mercury remained steady in the tube until close
upon sunset, and then it began to drop a little, the drop continuing
until it had gone down nearly three-tenths of an inch. I scarcely knew
what to make of this; whether to expect a shift of wind and a strong
breeze, or whether it merely meant rain, or a thunder-storm. The sun,
however, had scarcely set when we got a hint of what was to come, in the
shape of a bank of dark, purplish, slate-coloured clouds that began to
pile themselves along the eastern horizon, their edges as sharply
defined against the clear sky as though the masses had been clipped out
of paper. We were to be treated to a thunder-storm, and a pretty severe
one, too, if the promise of those clouds was to be relied upon. We had
been hove-to all day, some twenty miles in the offing, under mainsail
and jib only; so that, by keeping our canvas low, we might escape
observation from the land, although I had but little fear of this unless
anyone happened to have wandered up to the top of one of the hills of
Tierra Bomba, from which it would have been possible to see us. But the
moment that the sun had fairly disappeared below the horizon, sail was
packed upon the schooner, and we proceeded to work in toward the land,
my chief anxiety now being lest the thunder-storm should gather and
break before we had succeeded in effecting a landing, in which case we
stood a very fair chance of being discovered, and of finding everybody
on the alert to give us a warm reception. We reached in, on the
starboard tack, until we were within about two miles of Punta de Canoas,
when we hove about and reached along the land to the southward. By this
time the thunder-clouds had completely overspread the sky; it was as
dark as the inside of a cavern, and the storm might burst upon us at any
moment. It hung off, however, and at length, much to my relief, we
found ourselves close to the northern extremity of Tierra Bomba, and
within half a mile of the shore. It was so dark that it was quite
impossible to see anything, the land merely showing as a slightly deeper
shadow against the intense blackness of the overcast sky. But I had so
thoroughly studied all the natural features of the harbour and its
surroundings during my day's sojourn ashore that I now seemed to be
perfectly familiar with them all. I therefore had no hesitation
whatever in hauling the schooner in under the lee of the island until we
were actually becalmed, when, the lead giving us a depth of barely four
fathoms, I let go the anchor and stripped the schooner of all her
canvas, not furling it, however, but simply passing a few turns of the
gaskets, so that everything might be ready for making sail again at a
moment's notice.
We were now, according to my judgment--for, as I have said, we could
actually see nothing,--in the shallow bay where Hoard and I had landed
three nights previously; and I believed, moreover, that we were so close
to the land as to be completely shut in and hidden, both from the north
and from the south. Needless to say, I had long ago issued orders to
extinguish all unnecessary lights, and for those that were indispensable
to be closely masked. There was therefore nothing to betray to the
sight our whereabouts; and as to sound, every sheave and tackle that was
in the least likely to be used had been so thoroughly greased that it
worked in absolute silence, while the men, although shod for our tramp
across the narrow point at the southern extremity of the island, had
lashed thick wads of oakum to the soles of their shoes, and consequently
moved about the decks as silently as ghosts. Moreover, the boats had
all been so thoroughly prepared, hours beforehand, for the expedition,
that there remained nothing whatever to be done but to lower them into
the water, unhook the tackles, and shove off. When we let go our anchor
it still wanted a good hour to midnight; nevertheless, so anxious was I
lest the threatening storm should break, and the lightning betray our
movements, that I determined to man the boats forthwith, and beach them
if necessary, believing that thus we should run less risk of detection.
All these precautions, it must be understood, were adopted not so much
from any apprehension of ultimate failure, for I had determined to have
the galleon, but because I wanted to save my men. I now summoned
Saunders down into the cabin, and read over to him the instructions that
I had carefully prepared for his guidance during the earlier part of the
day, explained them to him fully, and then handed him the paper. The
men who were to accompany me on the expedition were next mustered in the
'tween-decks and sent to supper, after which their weapons were
carefully inspected, and a liberal quantity of ammunition served out to
them; and then, when I had satisfied myself that all was right, I made
them a little speech, explaining what I purposed doing, and how I wanted
it done; when, having enjoined them to observe the most absolute
silence, the light was extinguished, all hands groped their way on deck,
the boats were lowered and manned, and we shoved off, each boat attached
by her painter to the one ahead, so that we might not part company in
the profound darkness. It was presently found, however, that this
precaution was unnecessary, the water being so brilliantly
phosphorescent as to afford all the guidance that was needed; indeed,
there was altogether too much luminosity to please me. We were even
closer to the shore than I had imagined, for we had not been under way
five minutes, when the gig, in which I led the way, grounded upon the
sand. And as she did so, I became aware of a weird, gaunt-looking
figure, clad in rags, standing at the water's edge, close to the boat's
stem.
"All right, Cap'n, it's me--Hoard--sir," explained this figure, in a
low, hoarse whisper, as I sprang ashore and gripped the fellow by the
throat. "There was nothing to keep me," he continued, as I relaxed my
grip upon him; "so I came right on here, thinkin' that, mayhap, you'd be
a little bit afore your time, and wouldn't want to be kept waitin'.
Everything is just as right, sir, as if you'd planned the whole thing
yourself; the gold is all shipped; the _Senora_ has been hauled out to
the Manzanilla anchorage, ready to sail as soon as the sojers is shipped
to-morrow morning; and the commandant is givin' a farewell _festa_, as
they calls it, to all the officers to-night; so that the chances are not
one of 'em will think of goin' aboard until daylight."
"Good heavens!" I exclaimed; "what carelessness! what folly! I should
have thought they would have been afraid to leave so vast an amount of
treasure unguarded."
"Why so, sir?" demanded Hoard. "They believe that the whole thing has
been kept as secret as the grave--and so it would have been, too, but
for the wreck of the _Magdalena_--so they don't expect any such attack
as you're preparin' for 'em. And as to anybody ashore attemptin' to
meddle with the ship--why, they'd sooner jump overboard and drownd
theirselves. So that it ain't so very wonderful, a'ter all, to my mind,
that they believes their gold to be perfectly safe. Besides, there's
the San Fernando battery: who'd ever dream of that bein' attacked and
took?"
"Well," said I, "it all seems fairly reasonable as you put it, Hoard;
still I cannot understand such an extraordinary lack of precaution.
But, of course, it is so much the better for us. What about her crew?"
"Oh! they're all aboard, sir; but they'll be turned in and sound asleep
by this time,--anchor watch and all, as likely as not," was the reply.
"Do you happen to know how many they muster?" asked I.
"Panza told me that he'd heard it said that her full complement was two
hundred and twenty-six men, countin' officers and all. But if we can
only manage to surprise 'em, and get aboard afore the alarm's given, I
don't reckon that they'll give us so very much trouble," answered Hoard.
"We must risk that," remarked I. "And now, as you happen to be here,
there is nothing to detain us; we may, therefore, as well be moving.
The sooner that we get this battery business over, the better."
"Very well, sir, I'm quite ready," answered Hoard. "I suppose you
didn't happen to think of slippin' a cutlash, or a pair of pistols, or
anything into the boat for me, sir?" he continued.
"Oh, yes, I did!" said I. "Thomson, the coxswain of the gig, will fit
you out. And you had better come in the gig with me, as we shall
probably want you to act as pilot."
"All right, sir, I'll do that with all the pleasure in life," was the
answer. And therewith he clambered noiselessly into the boat and made
his way aft to the stern-sheets, where I presently found him with a
naked cutlass in his hand, the edge of which he was testing with his
thumb, and mumbling his satisfaction at its condition.
We now shoved off, and the gig leading, gave way at a long steady
stroke, for the southern extremity of the island, which we reached
within the hour, although it was a pull of fully three miles. Arrived
at the low point, and leaving each boat in charge of a couple of men, we
landed; and as I was marshalling the men upon the beach, the blackness
of the night was momentarily dispelled by a blaze of vivid lightning
that flashed from the clouds immediately overhead; and almost
simultaneously with the flash there came a crash of thunder that seemed
to make the solid ground beneath our feet vibrate and tremble. This was
horribly annoying; for to advance upon the battery in the midst of a
storm of lightning was almost certainly to betray ourselves, while time
was now of some importance, I being anxious to be aboard the galleon not
much later than two o'clock in the morning, that being the hour when man
is supposed to sleep his soundest and to be least liable to awake
prematurely.