Day dawned slowly, the breeze having slightly freshened towards morning,
but still the long, low line of the Madagascar coast lay astern. The
ocean was quite calm.
"Sail ho!" shouted one of the crew. On the quarter-deck, the captain,
the mate, and Wyzinski still kept their anxious watch.
"What do you make her out, Williams?" asked Captain Weber.
"A schooner, sir, under easy sail, standing to the westward."
Again the captain took the bearings of the dangerous-looking vessel, but
with exactly the same result. There she was still on the brig's weather
quarter, and apparently in no sort of a hurry.
"The wicked-looking craft has the heels of us." remarked the mate; "but
we shall have a cap full of wind before long, and then we may tell a
different tale."
"She sees it too; there goes her fore-topsail. She is making sail,"
said the captain; then, addressing a man who happened to be passing at
the moment, "tell Captain Hughes and the foreign Don I should be glad to
speak to them," he added.
The schooner showed no flag, but setting her fore-topsail, edged a
little nearer the wind, so as no longer to be running on a line parallel
to the brig, but on one which would eventually bring them to the same
spot. The two passengers soon stood on the deck.
"I have sent for you, gentlemen," said the captain, raising his
tarpaulin as he spoke, "to decide on our course. You see yonder
schooner?"
All eyes were turned to the long, low black hull and the white canvas.
"Well, I have every reason to suppose she is a pirate, whose crew have
committed great ravages in these seas. Several vessels have been chased
by her, and one or two having a great number of passengers on board, the
little craft, which sails like a witch, has neared them sufficiently to
make this out, and has then put up her helm and made sail. But several
vessels which are over due at different ports have never been heard of,
not a vestige of them and their crews ever having been found. They have
simply disappeared."
"But we are armed," replied Hughes, "and are double yonder schooner's
tonnage."
"I know nothing of her armament; no one does," replied the seaman. "The
vessels she has boarded, whose crews could tell, have, I repeat,
mysteriously disappeared from the face of the ocean. The captain of the
`Dawn' told that when off the island of Mayotte, away to the northward
here, a brig was in his company. The two sailed about equally. One
night pistol shots were heard, and when morning broke there was no brig,
but where she should have been a low, rakish-looking schooner was seen."
"But what had become of the other?" asked Hughes.
"The pirate had carried her, taken all that she wanted, and scuttled
her, making the hull serve as a coffin for her crew."
"And this you think is the fate the wretches in yonder craft reserve for
us?"
"No, I think that they are quite aware of the value of my cargo, which
consists of ivory, gold dust, and ostrich feathers. If they can get the
brig, they will doubtless fit her out as a sister scourge of the ocean,
selling her cargo."
"And the crew?" asked Hughes.
"Will walk the plank one and all. For the lady, such a fate would be
too great a mercy."
The captain's weather-beaten countenance looked pale and anxious; Hughes
covered his face with his hands, and his strong frame shook as he
thought of Isabel at that very moment quietly sleeping below. The
missionary was explaining the situation to the Portuguese.
"And now, gentlemen, your advice. But this I must premise. Yonder
piratical curs shall never have the brig. I have, several kegs of
powder aboard for trading purposes, and so sure as my name is Andrew
Weber, I blow her to pieces rather than she turns pirate."
The soldier dropped the hands which had shaded his face. He gazed long
and earnestly at the white sails of the wicked-looking craft, which was
now fast creeping up with them. His look was one of high determination
and courage.
"There can be but one way, Captain Weber. Haul your brig up to her
proper course, arm your crew, load your guns, and let us meet yonder
pirate. We cannot fly. Your powder will be a last resource."
"And you, gentlemen," inquired the captain, "are of the same advice?"
"There can be no other course," was the reply.
"Mr Lowe, send the crew aft, one and all."
"Ay, ay, sir," said the mate, cheerily.
The captain paced his quarter-deck moodily and in silence. Dom Maxara
went below, while Hughes and the missionary looked gloomily over the
ocean.
"My lads," said the captain, "yonder schooner is a pirate. For months
her people have plundered and massacred inoffensive ships and their
crews. They are the same Malays we met in Saint Augustine's Bay, and we
purged the old barky's deck of the rapscallions. We have lost five of
ours, but their death was avenged. Yonder blackguard comes with murder
and piracy in his hold. He has a full cargo of both, but so long as
Andrew Weber lives, this brig shall never be his. We will fight to the
last man, and that last man, mark me my lads well, that last man, or
boy, no matter which, fires the powder in the magazine!"
A loud cheer burst from the crew.
"And now, my lads, to your arms! Mr Lowe, in with the studding-sails,
take a pull at the lee sheets and braces, starboard you may, bring her
head west-south-west!"
The wind at last was freshening, the sea was calm, and the "Halcyon" was
making some four knots an hour; but the very smoothness of the ocean was
against her, for her breadth of beam, rounded sides, and greater tonnage
would have told in her favour hod the waves been rough; the schooner
naturally labouring more in such a case.
As it was, everything favoured the latter, save that over the land hung
a heavy cloud, which had been growing denser and denser. Its edges were
ragged, and the captain often looked towards that quarter, conscious
that in it lay his only hope.
The two vessels were now rapidly approaching each other, the black hull
of the schooner becoming every moment more and more distinctly visible.
"Show our colours," said the captain, and the Union Jack streamed out
from the peak halyards.
"She makes no reply," remarked the mate. "The bloody-minded villains
have no flag to fight under."
"Look here, Mr Lowe," said the captain, "that craft is in no hurry; she
is handing her fore-topsail again, and there goes her flag!"
"Fiery red, by George!--nothing less than blood will satisfy them."
Half an hour would bring the two vessels within hailing distance, and
Captain Weber made all his dispositions. The arm-chest which had been
sent below had been again hoisted up on deck, and placed under the
charge of Captain Hughes.
The two nine-pounders were heavily loaded, and the men had breakfasted.
"Mr Lowe, I intend, if yonder villain will allow me, to pass under his
stern, giving him the contents of our two guns, and then luff right up
into the wind, and away on the other tack."
"Ay, ay, sir," replied the mate; "a stern chase is a long one."
"If we had the good fortune to cripple him, we should be safe; but have
the men ready to run the two guns over, and fire as I go about. Send
Adams to the wheel, and let the men stand by the sheets and braces."
Mr Lowe was a steady, cool, courageous officer, and his dispositions
were soon made. All was quiet on board the brig as she slipped through
the water; while the schooner, her decks literally covered with men,
came up rapidly, evidently intending to board.
Captain Weber stood on the weather quarter, as the wicked little craft
came sweeping up, her enormous mainsail well filled, and her sharp bows
cutting the water like a knife. She had a flush deck fore and aft, and
forward was built like a wedge. There appeared to be no ports.
"Schooner, ahoy!" shouted he, as the two craft neared each other.
A musket-shot was the reply, which missed. The captain raised his hand,
and the roar of the two nine-pounders was heard. Down came the
schooner's foresail, as she flew up into the wind, and a yell of
vengeance, mingled with cries of pain, rose from her crowded decks.
"Run the guns over!" shouted the captain. "Man the starboard
head-braces! Tend the boom-sheet! Haul on the weather-braces and
jib-sheet! Hard a-port, Adams, hard a-port!"
Shooting up into the wind, the brig payed round on her heel, the two
guns being again fired into the schooner's bows, as the sails filled,
and the "Halcyon" stood on the other tack.
"Hurrah, my lads!" shouted the delighted captain. "We've given her a
taste of our metal."
A spattering fire ran along the schooner's decks, the balls striking the
brig's bulwarks, but without doing any damage.
All seemed confusion on board the smaller vessel, the halyards of whose
foresail having been shot away, and nothing save the jib counteracting
forward the overpowering pressure of the enormous mainsail aft, she had
flown up into the wind, with her sails flapping and shivering. The crew
were shouting, gesticulating, and running here and there.
The "Halcyon," on the contrary, stood steadily on her course, from time
to time firing the nine-pounder from her quarter-deck, but, from want of
practice of her crew, without doing any apparent damage.
The shot soon began to fall short, and the "Halcyon," tacking once more,
lay her course with a gentle wind from the eastward, and a smooth sea.
Three miles of salt-water were between her and her antagonist, before
the schooner's foresail was again set, when the vessel once more made
sail on a wind and with her gaff topsails, fore and mainsail,
fore-topmast staysail, and jib, seeming to fly through the water, making
three feet for the "Halcyon's" one, going well to windward. The glass,
however, still showed a vast amount of bustle and disorder on her decks;
and Captain Weber, rubbing his hands, dived down below into the cabin to
breakfast.
"Call me at once if there is any change on deck, Mr Lowe; but I think
that fellow's had enough of us," said the jubilant master.
"Ay, ay, sir," said the mate, taking charge of the deck.
"Keep a bright look out on yonder jagged cloud; it will take in our
flying kites for us before sunset," were the captain's last words as he
disappeared down the hatchway.
Below, the table had been laid for breakfast by the steward, who, with
all a sailor's carelessness, had proceeded with his ordinary duty, just
as though nothing out of the common way had happened. In the cabin the
passengers were gathered, if such they may be termed, for the scenes of
peril through which they had passed had so identified them with the
brig, that they seemed to look upon her as their home, while the
captain, quite unused to carry passengers, and having seen the men of
the party fighting as if under his orders, and Isabel wounded on his
decks, had got quite to consider them as part and parcel of his crew.
Captain Hughes appeared thoughtful and preoccupied; but the rest, the
master included, revelled in the idea of danger past.
"We lie our course, and shall soon have plenty of wind," he remarked,
drawing towards himself a massive English ham, which he proceeded to
carve. "I only wish I had a few more guns, and I would not let that
blackguard off so easily."
"You think we shall have a storm?" asked Wyzinski.
"It is just the season for it in these seas," replied the captain, "and
yonder cloud over the land will make itself felt before long. The
mercury is falling in the barometer rapidly."
"Do you think our guns did much damage among the Malays?"
"No. It was a lucky shot that brought the villains' foresail on deck;
but even in this smooth sea it needs practice to make gunners, and my
lads have had none."
"But you think the pirate has left us?" It was Captain Hughes who put
the question, anxiously.
"The fellow is hugging the wind instead of running down to us; and as he
completely outsails us, it is a proof that he does not wish to close."
"How do you account for the great confusion on board her? With so
strong a crew, the foresail should have been hoisted directly."
"The lubbers can fight like savages, but can't sail their ship, that's
all," said the captain, laughing.
Steps were heard coming down the hatchway, and the mate opened the
cabin-door.
"The schooner is edging nearer us, Captain Weber," he said, "and there
is some long black object on her decks I can't quite make out."
"I'll be on deck in a moment, Mr Lowe. Steward, give me a small glass
of brandy to finish with."
"Well, gentlemen," said the seaman, as he raised the glass, "here's to
our voyage, and--"
The word was never spoken, for a distant but loud report, followed by
the rending of wood, interrupted him. For a moment the old seaman stood
like a statue, the next he was on deck.
The first glance explained to him the reason of the continued confusion
on board the schooner, which a moment before he had sneered at as a
proof of incapacity. The pirate had gone to windward, and now lay on
the brig's weather quarter, the tack of her mainsail hauled up, quite
out of the reach of her fire. Her crew had been busy getting up from
her hold a long eighteen-pounder, which was shipped amidships, and
worked on a swivel. The first shot had struck the "Halcyon's" bulwarks,
just abaft the foremast, leaving a long white strip, where the wood had
been torn away.
Both captain and mate looked at each other, for here seamanship was
powerless.
"The bloody-minded villains!" ejaculated the mate.
"They have us at their mercy," sighed the master. "Sailing more than
three feet for our one, there they can stick and pound away at us as
they like."
"Shall we try our range, Captain Weber?"
"Do so, but it is quite useless," was the reply, as the seaman leaned
his elbows on the weather bulwarks, and gazed steadily at the schooner.
"Take good aim, my lads, and fire when you are ready."
The light report of the gun, differing so greatly from the loud heavy
thud of the eighteen-pounder, was heard, and the master noted the hall
as it flew from wave to wave, scattering the spray, but finally dropping
with a splash into the sea, a few hundred yards short of the schooner.
"I thought as much," growled the captain. "The scoundrels have well
calculated their distance."
A puff of white smoke from the schooner's deck was followed by the heavy
boom of the eighteen-pound gun as the ball came whistling through the
air. Captain Weber held his breath for a moment, looking anxiously at
his spars, but the projectile, being aimed too high, passed between the
masts, pitching into the sea beyond.
"It's hard lines, Lowe, to serve as a target to those scoundrels," he
said; "and yet I see nothing for it."
"Our only hope is in yonder cloud. If it would but come on to blow, the
sea would get up quickly, and that craft would have her aim spoiled."
"Could you not tack and stand towards her?" asked the missionary, who at
that moment came upon deck with Dom Maxara.
"It would be useless. Yonder schooner lies up to the wind a couple of
points nearer than we can do. It is the advantage her fore and aft
sails give her; besides, she has the heels of us, and can choose her
distance and position. We have nothing to do but to hold on and trust
to chance."
Again the white cloud of smoke on the schooner's decks, and once more
the iron messenger came flying over the wave on its deadly mission. The
ball struck the brig's quarter, and glancing upwards, broke its way
through the deck, covering it with splinters. The man, Adams, was at
the helm, and the spokes flew through his hands as he tottered for a
moment, and then fell heavily forward. The mate sprang to his place,
and, seizing the wheel, brought the brig rapidly on to her course, while
two seamen hurrying aft bore away the wounded man, a dark stain on the
white deck marking the spot where he had fallen, a large splinter having
struck him on the temple.
"We must think of your daughter, Dom Maxara," said Captain Weber. "The
brig is utterly powerless; but it is better that these fellows sink us,
than that they put foot on her decks."
Dona Isabel sat in the cabin, where the breakfast things yet lay on the
table, while beside her was Captain Hughes, his arm passed round her
waist. The tears were standing in her eyes, and her cheek was pale, for
the soldier had been telling her what sort of people the schooner's crew
were, and what fate would be theirs if captured. The tale had been as
delicately worded as possible, for it was a hard one even from a lover's
mouth.
"Cheer up, Isabel," he continued; "there is always hope so long as we
keep the Malays at a distance; and if we could only have wind we might
yet escape."
"I had hoped to have lived for you, Enrico," replied Isabel, her head
resting on her lover's shoulder. "I can, at least, die with you."
Dom Maxara entered the cabin, seating himself beside his daughter.
Placing her hand in his, she repeated--
"We can at least die together."
"There is still a little hope," said the anxious father; "the breeze is
freshening, and with it the sea is getting up, disturbing the schooner's
aim. The wind may yet save us. Should it fail us, there is one thing
remaining."
"And what is that, father?"
"As you said, to die together, Isabel, sooner than that a daughter of
the Guzmans of Castillo should become the cast-off slave of a Malay
pirate."
The tears had been standing in Isabel's eyes, and as she now turned them
on her lover, there was a look of ineffable tenderness in the large
black orbs.
"A strange meeting ours has been, Enrico; a strange life we have led
together, living years in weeks; but you were quite as near death, my
promised husband, when first we met, and yet you stand here by my side."
"There is still hope, Isabel; every moment it increases with the rising
sea," replied Hughes.
"Hope or not," continued the excited Isabel, speaking hysterically,
"they shall see that the daughter of sunny Portugal knows how to die.
We shall never tread our dear land again."
The loud thud of the pirate's long eighteen-pounder was here heard, and
all held their breath, listening for the crashing of the timbers, but no
such sound followed.
"And I who thought to show you, Enrico, the vineyards and the orange
blossoms of fair Portugal. It is hard, father, to die so young."
The old noble's face worked convulsively, but his eyes were dry. Isabel
had once more sat down between her father and her lover, her head
resting on his shoulder; but one hand clasped in that of the noble. The
soldier's face wore a sad and dejected appearance; but there was
determination in the firm lines of the closed mouth and contracted brow.
"Isabel, this is foolish. What men could do we will do, and have done.
I would give what remains to me of life that you were not in this ship.
What was a few short hours since the joy and pleasure of my existence,
is now turned to bitterness and grief. We have done all men can do, I
repeat, and, if needs be, we must perish together sooner than that worse
befall us."
Again the loud thud came down on the wind, followed by several sharp
cracks like rifle reports, with the crashing of wood and the tramp of
men, Captain Weber's voice dominating the confusion.
Isabel was engaged in prayer, her eyes were closed, for the riot above,
produced by the tumbling masts, was something fearful. The tramp of
feet on the deck, and the hurrying to and fro as the captain shouted to
his men to clear away the wreck of the brig's spars which she had lost
from the fire of the enemy, added to what for a few minutes seemed
inextricable confusion.
Dejected and discouraged, Hughes had remained below, taking no notice of
what was passing on deck, and perfectly aware that his presence was
useless. He sat looking into Isabel's face, and quietly waiting for the
time when the schooner should bear down on the helpless brig to take
possession, and the moment for the closing actions of life should come.
Beside them sat the old noble, his face showing signs of deep emotion,
as he too grieved, not for himself, but for his daughter. She looked
very beautiful as she lay back, her head supported on her lover's
shoulder, her lips parted showing the white teeth, the eyes closed, and
the long dark lashes wet with tears, with one hand clasped in her
father's.
"Captain Weber would be glad to speak to you, sir," said the steward
Masters, touching his cap.
"I will come," replied Hughes.
Gently placing Isabel in her father's arms, the soldier leaned over the
half unconscious girl, and pressed his lips to her forehead, then turned
to go.
The action seemed to rouse her, for rising suddenly, she threw her arms
round him. "Enrico mio, do not leave me. If die we must, let us die
together." A flood of tears came to her relief, and she sobbed
hysterically.
"I will return, Isabel--fear not," he said, as he gently unloosed the
arms which held him, and led her back to her father. "There may be some
better prospect in store for us. I will return."
When Captain Hughes reached the deck, he at once saw that if their
chance of escape before was small, it had greatly diminished. An
eighteen-pound shot had buried itself in the heart of the main-topmast,
the wind was coming in hot puffs from the land, and the sails just at
that moment feeling a heavier strain than usual, the wounded mast had
gone over the side with a loud crash, carrying with it sails and yards,
and now floated astern clear of the brig, leaving her running before the
wind, with only her main fore and fore-topmast standing, the stump of a
splintered spar marking what had been a stout main-topmast.
To windward lay the wicked-looking schooner which had done all the
mischief, and astern the dark, dense, ragged mass of clouds from which
the heavy puffs came now and then moaning over the sea. A hot haze had
crept over the ocean, not having the appearance of clouds, but still
veiling the sun.
"See," said Captain Weber, laying his hand on Hughes' shoulder, pointing
to the schooner as he did so; "see, she hauls down her main tack, and is
running down to us; she has us completely at her mercy."
"Can we do nothing with our guns, Captain Weber?"
"Yes, we may fire them once as the villains board. You see all is
ready."
The captain pointed to the two nine-pounders, which were loaded to the
muzzle. The men were armed, and went about their duties with a dogged
sullenness which showed their stern determination.
"Lowe will have charge of the forecastle, and I, with your friend, take
the quarter-deck, the crew being equally divided."
"You will let me fight by your side?" replied the soldier.
"Not so," answered the old seaman. "Yours is a sterner duty. Any one
can fight when his blood is up, and death sure, whatever happen. I am
going to lower the Spanish Don and his daughter into the hold, and your
station will be beside them."
"And do you for a moment think I am going to be shut up like a bandicoot
in a hole, while others fight for life and liberty?" indignantly asked
the soldier.
Captain Weber grasped Hughes by the hand, looking into his face, and
pointing to the schooner as he spoke:
"The crew of yonder pirate are not human beings. They are steeped in
murder and crime. Our fate is death, sure and certain death. Maddened
by the destruction of their comrades, by their defeat in yonder Bay, no
torments will be spared us. It will not be simply walking the plank,
but the worst torture those practised villains can invent, which awaits
us."
"Look at her white sails, and tapering spars, how beautiful she is, as
she sheers down on us. Is all this possible?"
"More is possible," replied the master, "Death will be our fate, but not
the lady's. A life-long servitude of the vilest description on board
yon floating hell will be her fate!"
Captain Hughes covered his face with his hands, and his tall, sinewy
frame shook with emotion. The loud boom of the eighteen-pounder, and
the crashing of the shot as it plunged into the brig's bows, the rending
and riving of her timbers, were unnoticed.
"There are ten barrels of powder in the hold; to you, as the man most
interested in it, I give the charge of the magazine. The barrels are
piled one on another. Yours should be a cool head and a determined
hand. When the last hope is over, when the brig is carried, as carried
she must be, but then only, fire your pistol into the nearest keg, and
rid the seas of yonder miscreant, whose white sails bear him to his
doom."
A rattling peal of thunder came from the dark mass of clouds, while a
vivid flash of forked lightning seemed to bury itself in the waves.
The soldier's face was pale as that of a corpse; as he removed his hand,
the lines of the mouth twitched nervously.
"Your orders shall be obeyed to the letter," he said, as he struck his
open palm into that of the captain.
The two stood for a moment on the deck hand in hand, looking into one
another's eyes. The stern, determined face of the old seaman showed no
trace of feeling as he spoke.
"Do not think, my friend, that I feel nothing. This was to have been my
last voyage. The brig was half mine. We shall disappear from the face
of the ocean, and in their home, in the mountains of Cumberland, a
mother and her two sons will remain in ignorance of what far-away place
holds the husband's, the father's bones." Suddenly changing his tones,
"Now, my lads, rig out a chair," he continued, "and we will lower the
lady out of harm's way. Captain Hughes, will you tell Dona Isabel we
are ready?"
It is a terrible thing, that waiting for death, to those in the full
enjoyment of health and strength. When it is met face to face in the
excitement of the fight, in the crash of battle, or the chaos of
elemental strife, it is terrible enough. When it comes to the worn and
exhausted frame, after months, perhaps years, of agony and suffering, as
a liberator, as a kind and merciful friend,--even then it is feared:
that step into the vast and unfathomable abyss of the future; that new
world, whence none have returned. But here it was far otherwise.
Life, health, strength, all were there; and take but away from the face
of the ocean that dark, beautifully moulded hull, with its long tapering
spars, and canvas as white as the driven snow; take away that floating
pandemonium, with its beautiful outside appearance, and its crew of men
hardened in crime, and steeped in blood and murder; and not only health,
strength, and life were there, but high hopes and happiness were the lot
of those who were on board the dismantled brig.
Isabel had regained her courage. Her long hair floating behind, her
eyes showing no trace of tears, she had walked along the deck leaning on
her lover's arm. The crew looked at her pityingly as she passed. More
than one strong man shook his clenched fist in the direction of the
pirate, as Isabel, her foot on the first step of the ladder, took her
last look at the scene around her. There lay the schooner, rapidly
nearing the brig, which was now running dead before the wind. Far
astern, a long green line on the lead-coloured sea marked the coming
squall; ahead, far as could be seen, the dark-coloured ocean, over which
the hot haze seemed to hang heavily, while the splintered mainmast, and
torn bulwarks alone showed the dire distress of the brig's crew. The
pirate had ceased firing, for the sea was rising rapidly; the black
squall, too, seemed coming up like a racehorse astern, and it was time
her bloody work was finished. Isabel passed forward, one squeeze of the
hand--for not a word was spoken--and she was carefully and gently sent
down into the hold, her father following; the old noble having taken a
formal leave of all, thanked the crew, raising his hat with punctilious
politeness as he was lowered away. None now remained except the
soldier. Round his waist he wore a belt, in which were placed two
six-barrelled revolvers. Beside him stood the missionary, his pale,
thoughtful face calm as usual, not a trace of emotion visible. He held
in his left hand a heavy double-barrelled rifle, and, as he grasped his
friend's with his right.
"Hughes," he said, "you have the hardest task among us. We shall fight
to the last, relying on you, on your calmness and determination. No
entreaty, no delusional hope must move you."
"Ay, ay," muttered the seaman, "you may trust him."
And it was evident he could be trusted, even in this dire extremity.
His face was deadly pale, but the firmly compressed lips, the determined
look, the high, broad, clear forehead, all told their own tale, as,
without a word, he wrung his friend's hand, and seizing the rope which
dangled free, swung himself from the deck and dropped hand over hand
into the hold below.
"To your stations, my lads, and we will rid the seas of the villains
yet!" shouted the captain.
The brig carried little cargo, and that of a light description. Boxes
and bales were neatly ranged in her hold, and piles of elephants' tusks
were to be seen here and there. A large dark lanthorn threw a small
circle of light around, but beyond this all was darkness. Ten barrels
or kegs containing powder had been placed end on, near each other,
forming two tiers. Several had been broken open, and the wood loosely
replaced.
Walking carefully towards the pile, Hughes removed the head of a cask
and verified the contents. There lay the mass of black glittering
coarse grains, which were to send them to their doom. Seated on a heavy
case near was the Portuguese noble, and at his feet in prayer, her large
black eyes tearless and raised to heaven, kneeled Isabel, the dim light
just showing the two, as Dom Maxara leaned over his daughter, his grey
hair mingling with her raven tresses. Having replaced the heading of
the cask, the soldier looked to his pistols, examining the caps and the
lock, then replacing them, walked to Isabel's side and knelt down.
All seemed still on deck, and the noise of the rushing water could be
heard as the brig surged on through the seas. Half an hour passed, each
minute seeming an age; for it was a fearful thing to be caged there in
the darkness, knowing nothing of what was going on. Sometimes the
father's heavy sobs could not be restrained, as he leaned over his
daughter; but Isabel's eyes were dry, and she prayed fervently; the deep
darkness in which the hold lay out of the feeble rays of the lanthorn,
completing its resemblance to the tomb. A loud shout and a spattering
fire were indistinctly heard, telling that the last moment was near;
then the rushing sound of the wind as the brig heeled over before the
strength of the squall, two shots, a long cheer, with the words,
"Starboard! hard a-starboard!" shouted from the deck. Gasping Isabel in
his arms, Hughes rose calmly and deliberately; not a word passed, all
power of speech had left him. One kiss, one long last kiss, and he
strode calmly and deliberately towards the fatal pile. Passing his hand
over his eyes, he removed the heading and plunged his fingers into the
black mass. A loud shriek from Isabel rang out as she rushed across the
space which divided them, and threw herself into his arms. Rising, the
old noble steadied himself by a pile of cases, his eyes seemed glaring
out of their sockets as he strained them in the direction of the powder
casks. Then came a terrible shock, the crash of splintering wood, the
roar of the tempest, which had burst in fury over the doomed brig, and
amidst all, one loud, despairing cry, as though the last united effort
of a hundred voices. Pressing his lips to those of Isabel, his left arm
encircling her--
"Mine, Isabel, in death if not in life," he murmured, as he thrust the
muzzle of the cocked pistol into the powder cask.
The hatchway opened, the light streamed down into the dreary dark hold,
and he knew the pirates were upon them.
His arm tightened round Isabel's waist, his eyes glared upwards, and his
finger contracted on the trigger.
"Hold your hand, Hughes!" were the words which came to his ears, shouted
in his friend's voice. "Hold your hand! God, even at the last moment,
has looked down upon us, and we are saved!"
Volume 2, Chapter VII.