TREASURE RECOVERED--ACCIDENTS ENCOUNTERED--AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY--
ENEMIES MET AND CIRCUMVENTED.
It is pleasant to loll in the sunshine on a calm day in the stern of a
boat and gaze down into unfathomable depths, as one listens to the slow,
regular beating of the oars, and the water rippling against the prow--
and especially pleasant is this when one in such circumstances is
convalescent after a prolonged and severe illness.
So thought Edgar Berrington one lovely morning, some months after the
events related in the last chapter, as he was being rowed gently over
the fair bosom of the China sea. The boat--a large one with a little
one towing astern--was so far from the coast that no land could be seen.
A few sea-gulls sported round them, dipping their wings in the wave, or
putting a plaintive question now and then to the rowers. Nothing else
was visible except a rocky isle not far off that rose abruptly from the
sea.
"Well, we're nearing the spot at last," said Edgar, heaving that
prolonged sigh which usually indicates one's waking up from a pleasant
reverie. "What a glorious world this is, Baldwin! How impressively it
speaks to us of its Maker!"
"Ay, whether in the calm or in the storm," responded Joe.
"Yes; it was under a very different aspect I saw this place last,"
returned Edgar. "Yonder is the cliff now coming into view, where the
vessel we are in search of went down."
"An ugly place," remarked Joe, who was steering the boat. "Come boys,
give way. The morning's gittin' on, an' we must set to work as soon as
ever we can. Time an' tide, you know, etcetera."
Rooney, Maxwell, Chok-foo, and Ram-stam, who were rowing, bent to their
work with a will, but the heavy boat did not respond heartily, being
weighted with a large amount of diving gear. Just then a light breeze
arose, and the boat, obedient to the higher power, bent over and rippled
swiftly on.
The only other individual on board was a Malay--the owner of the boat.
He sat on the extreme end of the bow looking with a vacant gaze at the
island. He was a man of large size and forbidding, though well-formed,
features, and was clothed in a costume, half European half Oriental,
which gave little clew to the nature of his profession--except that it
savoured a good deal of the sea. His name, Dwarro, was, like his
person, nondescript. Probably it was a corruption of his eastern
cognomen. At all events it suffered further corruption from his
companions in the boat, for Baldwin and Maxwell called him Dworro, while
Rooney Machowl named him Dwarry. This diversity of pronunciation,
however, seemed a matter of no consequence to the stolid boatman, who,
when directly addressed, answered to any name that people chose to give
him. He was taciturn--never spoke save when spoken to; and at such
times used English so broken that it was difficult to put it together so
as to make sense. He was there only in capacity of owner and guardian
of the boat. Those who hired it would gladly have dispensed with his
services, but he would not let them have it without taking himself into
the bargain.
Having reached the scene of the wreck of the _Warrior_, the party at
once proceeded to sound and drag for it, and soon discovered its
position, for it had not shifted much after slipping off the ledge,
where it had met its doom on the night of the storm. Its depth under
the surface was exactly twenty-three fathoms, or 138 feet.
"It will try our metal," observed Baldwin, "for the greatest depth that
the Admiralty allow their divers to go down is twenty fathom."
"What o' that?" growled Maxwell, "I've worked myself many a time in
twenty-three fathom water, an'll do it again any day. _We_ don't need
to mind what the Admiralty says. The submarine engineers of London tell
us they limit a man to twenty-five fathom, an' they ought to know what's
possible if any one should."
"That's true, David," remarked Rooney, as he filled his pipe, "but I've
heard of a man goin' down twinty-eight fathom, an' comin' up alive."
"Oh, as to that," said Berrington, "_I_ have heard of one man who
descended to thirty-four fathom, at which depth he must have sustained a
pressure of 88 and a half pounds on every square inch of his body--and
_he_ came up alive, but his case is an exception. It was fool-hardy,
and he could do no effective work at such a depth. However, here we
are, and here we must go to work with a will, whatever the depth be.
You and I, Joe, shall descend first. The others will look after us.
I'll put on a Siebe and Gorman dress. You will don one of Heinke and
Davis, and we'll take down with us one of Denayrouze's lamps, reserving
Siebe's electric light for a future occasion."
In pursuance of these plans the boat was moored over the place where the
wreck lay, a short ladder was hung over the side of a smaller boat they
had in tow with its pendent line and weight, the pumps were set up and
rigged, the dresses were put on, and, in a short time our hero found
himself in his old quarters down beside the great crank!
But ah! What a change was there! The grinding had ceased for ever; the
great crank's labours were over, and its surface was covered with mud,
sand, barnacles, and sea-weed, and involved in a maze of twisted iron
and wrecked timbers--for the ship had broken her back in slipping into
deep water, and wrenched her parts asunder into a state of violent
confusion. Thick darkness prevailed at that depth, but Denayrouze's
lamp rendered the darkness visible, and sufficed to enable the divers to
steer clear of bristling rods and twisted iron-bands that might
otherwise have torn their dresses and endangered their lives.
The work of inspection was necessarily slow as well as fraught with
risk, for great difficulty was experienced while moving about, in
preventing the entanglement of air-pipes and life-lines. The two men
kept together, partly for company and partly to benefit mutually by the
lamp. Presently they came on human bones tightly wedged between masses
of timber. Turning from the sad spectacle, they descended into the
cabin and made their way towards the place where Berrington knew that
the treasure had been stowed. Here he found, with something like a
shock of disappointment, that the stern of the vessel had been burst
open, and the contents of the cabin swept out.
On further inspection, however, the treasure-room was found to be
uninjured. Putting down the lamp on an adjacent beam, Edgar lifted a
heavy mass of wreck from the ground, and dashed the door in. The scene
that presented itself was interesting. On the floor lay a number of
little barrels, which the divers knew contained the gold they were in
search of. Most of these were so riddled by worms that they were
falling to pieces. Some, indeed, had partially given way, so that the
piles of coin could be seen through the staves, and two or three had
been so completely eaten away as to have fallen off, leaving the masses
of gold in unbroken piles. There were also bags as well as kegs of
coin, all more or less in a state of decay.
The divers gazed at this sight for a few moments quite motionless. Then
Edgar with one hand turned the lamp full on his companion's front-glass
so as to see his face, while with the other hand he pointed to the
treasure. Joe's eyes expressed surprise, and his mouth smiling
satisfaction. Turning the light full on his own face to show his
comrade that he was similarly impressed, Edgar motioned to Joe to sit
down on an iron chest that stood in a corner, and giving the requisite
signal with his life-line, went up to the surface. He did this very
slowly in order to accustom his frame to the change of pressure both of
air and water, for he was well aware of the danger of rapid ascent from
such a depth. Soon after, he redescended, bearing several canvas sacks,
some cord, and a couple of small crowbars. Placing the lamp in a
convenient position, and throwing the bags on the floor of the
treasure-room, Edgar and Baldwin set to work diligently with the
crowbars, broke open the kegs, and emptied their golden contents into
one of the bags, until it was quite full; tied up the mouth, fastened it
to a rope which communicated with the boat above, and gave the signal to
hoist away. The bag quickly rose and vanished.
Previous to redescending, our hero had arranged with Rooney to have
pieces of sail-cloth in readiness to wrap the bags in the instant of
their being got into the small boat, so that when being transferred to
the large boat's locker, their form and contents might be concealed from
the pilot, Dwarro. The precaution, however, did not seem to be
necessary, for Dwarro was afflicted with laziness, and devoted himself
entirely to the occupations of alternately smoking, in a dreamy way, and
sleeping.
For three hours the divers wrought under great excitement, as well as
pressure, and then, feeling much exhausted, returned to the surface,
having sent up the contents of about twenty boxes and kegs of treasure.
Rooney and Maxwell then took their turn under water, and were equally
successful.
That night, being very calm and clear, they ran the boat into a
sheltered crevice among the cliffs, and slept on board of her. Next
morning at day-break they were again at work, but were not equally
fortunate, for although plenty of treasure was sent up, several
accidents occurred which were severe, though, happily, not fatal.
In the first place, Baldwin tore his left hand badly while attempting to
raise a heavy mass of ragged iron-plate that prevented his reaching some
loose coin lying under it. This, though painful, did not render him
altogether incapable of working. Then, while Edgar Berrington was
passing from one part of the wreck to another, threading his way
carefully, a mass of wire-ropes and other wreckage suddenly dropt from a
position where it had been balanced, and felled him to the deck with
such violence that for a few moments he was stunned. On recovering, he
found to his horror that he was pressed down by the mass, and had got
inextricably entangled with it. If his dress had been torn at that
time, or his helmet damaged, it is certain that his adventures would
have been finally cut short, and there can be no doubt that his
preservation was largely owing to the excellence of the material of
which his dress was made.
But how to escape from his wire-cage was a difficulty he could not
solve, for the lamp had been extinguished, and the entanglement of his
line and air-pipe rendered signalling impossible. He continued to
struggle helplessly, therefore, in total darkness. That the air-tube
continued all right, was evident from the fact that air came down to him
as before.
In this dilemma he remained for a short time, occasionally managing to
clear himself partially, and at other times becoming more and more
involved.
At last Rooney Machowl, who was attending to the lines above, bethought
him that he had not received any signals for some time or observed any
of those motions which usually indicate that a diver is busy below. He
therefore gave a pull to the lifeline. Of course no answer was
received.
"Hallo!" exclaimed Rooney, with a start, for in diving operations Life
and Death frequently stand elbowing each other.
He gave another and still more decided pull, but no answer was returned.
Jumping up in excitement, he attempted to haul on the line, so as to
bring Edgar to the surface by force, but to his consternation he found
it to be immovably fixed.
"Hooroo! Man alive," he yelled, rather than shouted, to Maxwell, who
was attending the other line, "signal for Joe to come up--look sharp!"
Maxwell obeyed with four strong quick pulls on Joe's line, and Joe
appeared at the surface rather sooner than was consistent with safety.
On learning the cause of his being called, he infixed his bull's-eye
hastily; went down again with a heavy plunge, and discovering his
companion, soon removed the wreck by which he was entangled, and set him
free.
Experience, it is said, teaches fools; much more does it instruct wise
men. After this event our hero became a little more careful in his
movements below.
When a considerable amount of treasure had been recovered, it was
thought advisable to return to the shore and place it in security.
"It won't be easy to manage this," said Edgar to Baldwin in a low tone,
as they sailed away from the rocky islet, under a light breeze. "I have
an uncomfortable belief that that fellow Dwarro suspects the nature of
the contents of these bags, despite our efforts at concealment."
"I don't think he does," whispered Baldwin. "He seems to me to be one
o' these miserable opium-smokers whose brains get too much fuddled to
understand or care for anything."
"Whist now, don't spake so loud," said Rooney, advancing his head closer
to his companions, and glancing doubtfully at the object of their
suspicion; "sure he's got a sharp countenance, fuddled or not fuddled."
The pilot had indeed an intelligent cast of countenance, but as he sat
in a careless attitude in the bow of the boat smoking listlessly and
gazing dreamily, almost stupidly, towards the shore, it did seem as
though he had indulged too freely in the noxious drag which poisons so
many inhabitants of these unhappy lands.
As he was out of earshot, the four adventurers drew their heads still
closer together, and talked eagerly about their prospects.
"Sure our fortins is made already," said Rooney; "how much d'ee think
we've fished up, Mr Berrington?"
"I cannot say, but at a rough guess I should think not less than twenty
thousand pounds."
"Ye don't main it? Och! Molly astore! Ye shall walk in silks an'
satins from this day forward--to say nothin' of a carridge an' four, if
not six."
"But where'll we putt it, sir?" asked Baldwin.
"I've been thinking of that," replied Edgar. "You see I don't like the
notion of running right into port with it, where this pilot has probably
numerous friends who would aid him in making a dash for such a prize--
supposing he has guessed what we are about. Now, I happen to have a
trusty friend here, a young Scotchman, who lives in a quiet
out-o'-the-way part. We'll run up to his place, land the gold quickly,
and get him to carry it off to some place of security--"
"Whist, not so loud! I do belave," said Rooney, "that rascal is cocking
his weather ear."
"He don't understand a word of English," muttered Baldwin.
Dwarro looked so intensely absent and sleepy as he sat lounging in the
bow, that the divers felt relieved and continued, though in more
cautious tones, to discuss their plans.
Meanwhile the boat ran into the Hong-Kong river. As it proceeded, a
small light boat or skiff was observed approaching. Baldwin, who
steered, sheered out a little in the hope of avoiding her, but the man
who sculled her conformed to the movement, and quickly shot past their
bow--so closely that he could exchange salutations with the pilot.
Nothing more appeared to pass between the two,--indeed there seemed no
time for further communication--nevertheless Rooney Machowl declared
that some telegraphic signals by means of hands and fingers had
certainly been exchanged.
In a short time the boat was turned sharp round by Baldwin, and run into
a cove near a wall in which was a little wooden gate. A flight of
dilapidated steps led to this gate.
"What if your friend should not be at home?" asked Joe, in a whisper.
"I'll land the bags in any case and await him, while you return to the
port with Dwarro," replied Edgar.
If the pilot was interested in their proceedings, he must have been a
consummate actor, for he took no notice whatever of the sudden change of
the boat's course, but continued to smoke languidly, and to gaze
abstractedly into the water as if trying to read his fortune there,
while Edgar and Rooney landed the bags, and carried them through the
little gate into the Scotchman's garden. In a few minutes Edgar
returned to the boat, stepped in, and pushed off, while the two
Chinamen, in obedience to orders, rowed out into the river.
"It's all right," whispered Edgar, sitting down beside Joe, "Wilson is
at home, and has undertaken to have the bags carried to a place of
safety long before any attempt to capture them could be organised, even
if Dwarro knew our secret and were disposed to attempt such a thing.
Besides, we will keep him under our eyes to-night as long as possible."
That night, highly elated at the success of their labours, our four
friends sat round their evening meal in the pagoda and related their
various diving adventures and experiences to the admiring and
sympathetic Molly Machowl. They had previously entertained the pilot
with unlimited hospitality and tobacco, and that suspected individual,
so far from showing any restless anxiety to shorten his stay, had coolly
enjoyed himself until they were at last glad when he rose to go away.
On the following morning, too, he was ready with his boat before
day-break, and the party returned to the scene of operations at the
wreck in high spirits.
It is certain that their enthusiasm would have been considerably damped
had they known that exactly three hours after their gold was landed, a
party of six stout nautical-looking Malays entered the residence of
Wilson, the Scotchman, knocked down Wilson's servants, gagged Wilson's
mouth, drank up the claret with which Wilson had been regaling himself,
and carried off the bags of gold before his very eyes! Fortunately for
their peace of mind and the success of their labours, our adventurers
did _not_ know all this, but, descending to the wreck with heavy soles
and light hearts, they proceeded to recover and send up additional bags
of gold.
That day they were not quite so successful. Unforeseen difficulties lay
in their way. Some of the gold had been washed out of the treasure-room
in their absence, and was not easily recovered from the sand and
sea-weed. In order the better to find this, the electric-lamp was
brought into requisition and found to be most effective, its light being
very powerful--equal to that of fifteen thousand candles,--and so
arranged as to direct the light in four directions, one of these being
towards the bottom by means of a reflecting prism. It burned without
air, and when at the bottom, could be lighted or extinguished from the
boat by means of electricity.
Still, notwithstanding its aid, they had not collected treasure beyond
the value of about eight thousand pounds when the time for rest and
taking their mid-day meal arrived. This amount was, however, quite
sufficient to improve their appetites, and render them sanguine as to
the work of the afternoon.
"You'd better signal Mr Berrington to come up," said Joe, who with all
the others of the party were assembled in the stern of the boat,
anxiously waiting to begin their dinner.
"Sure I've done it twice a'ready," replied Rooney, who was attending to
our hero's life-line while Ram-stam and Chok-foo toiled at the
air-pumps.
"What does he reply?" asked Joe.
"He replies, `all right,' but nothin' more. If he knew the imptiness of
my--och! There he goes at last, four tugs. Come along, my hearty,"
said Rooney, coiling away the slack as Edgar rose slowly to the surface.
Presently his helmet appeared like a huge round goblet ascending from
the mighty deep. Then the surface was broken with a gurgle, and the
goggle-eyes appeared. Rooney unscrewed the front-glass, and the
Chinamen were free to cease their weary pumping. When Edgar was
assisted into the boat, it was observed that he had a small
peculiarly-shaped box under his arm. He made no reference to this until
relieved of his helmet, when he took it up and examined it with much
curiosity.
"What have you got there, sir?" asked Joe Baldwin, coming forward.
"That is just what I don't know," answered Edgar. "It seems to me like
an iron or steel box much encrusted with rust, and I shouldn't wonder if
it contained something of value. One thing is certain, that we have not
got the key, and must therefore break it open."
While he was speaking, David Maxwell gazed at the box intently. He did
not speak, but there was a peculiar motion about his lips as if he were
licking them. A fiend happened just then to stand at Maxwell's ear. It
whispered, "You know it."
"Ay," said Maxwell, under his breath, in reply, "_I_ knows it--well."
"I wonder if there are valuables in it," said Edgar.
"Shouldn't wonder if there wor," said Rooney.
"Eight or nine thousand pounds, more or less," whispered the fiend,
quoting words used by Mr Hazlit on a former occasion.
"Ah--jis' so," muttered Maxwell.
"Don't you say a word more, David," said the fiend.
"I wont," muttered Maxwell's heart; for the hearts of men are
desperately wicked.
"That's right," continued the fiend, "for if you keep quiet, you know,
the contents will fall to be divided among you, and the loss won't be
felt by a rich fellow like old Hazlit."
Maxwell's heart approved and applauded the sentiment, but a stronger
power moved in the rough man's heart, and softly whispered, "Shame!"
"Why, Maxwell," said Edgar, smiling, "you look at the box as if it were
a ghost!"
"An' so it _is_," said Maxwell, with a sudden and unaccountable growl,
at the sound of which the fiend sprang overboard, and, diving into the
sea, disappeared from Maxwell's view for ever!
"Why, what d'ee mean, David?" asked Baldwin, in surprise.
"I mean, sir," said Maxwell, turning to Edgar with a look of unwonted
honesty on his rugged face, "that that box is the ghost of one that
belongs to Miss Hazlit, if it ain't the box itself."
"To Miss Hazlit," exclaimed Edgar, in surprise; "explain yourself."
In reply to this the diver told how he had originally become acquainted
with the box and its contents, and said that he had more than once
searched about the region of Miss Hazlit's cabin while down at the wreck
in hope of finding it, but without success.
"Strange," said Edgar, "I too have more than once searched in the same
place in the hope of finding something, or anything that might have
belonged to her, but everything had been washed away. Of course,
knowing nothing about this box, I did not look for _it_, and found it at
last, by mere chance, some distance from the berth she occupied. Why
did you not mention it before?"
Maxwell was silent, and at that moment the drift of thought and
conversation was abruptly turned by Rooney Machowl shouting, "Dinner
ahoy!" with impatient asperity.
While engaged in the pleasant duty of appeasing hunger, our divers
chatted on many subjects, chiefly professional. Among other things,
Rooney remarked that he had heard it said a diving-dress contained
sufficient air in it to keep a man alive for more than five minutes.
"I have heard the same," said Edgar.
"Come, David," suggested Joe Baldwin, "let's test it on you."
"Ready," said Maxwell, rising and wiping his huge mouth.
The proposal which was made in jest was thereupon carried out in
earnest!
Dinner being over, Maxwell put on his diving-dress; the Chinamen set the
pump going, and the front-glass was screwed on. Air was forced into the
dress until it was completely inflated and looked as if ready to burst,
while Maxwell stood on the deck holding on to a back-stay. At a given
signal the pumpers ceased to work, and the adventurous man was thus cut
off from all further communication with the outward air.
At first the onlookers were amused; then they became interested, and as
the minutes flew by, a little anxious, but Maxwell's grave countenance,
as seen through the bull's-eye, gave no cause for alarm. Thus he stood
for full ten minutes, and then opening the escape-valve, signalled for
more air.
This was a sufficient evidence that a man might have ample time to
return to the surface from great depths, even if the air-pumps should
break down.
"But, perhaps," said Edgar, as they conversed on the subject, "you might
not be able to hold out so long under water where the pressure would be
great."
"Sure that's true. What d'ee say to try, David?" said Rooney.
Again Maxwell expressed willingness to risk the attempt. The glass was
once more screwed on, the pumps set agoing, and down the bold diver went
to the bottom. On receiving a pre-arranged signal, the pumps were
stopped.
This, let the reader fully understand, is a thing that is never done
with the ordinary pumps, which are not permitted to cease working from
the time the bull's-eye is fixed on until after it is taken off, on the
diver's return to the surface. It was therefore with much anxiety that
the experimenters awaited the result--anxiety that was not allayed by
Rooney Machowl's expression of countenance, and his occasional
suggestion that "he must be dead by this time," or, "Och! He's gone
entirely now!"
For full five minutes Maxwell stayed under water without a fresh supply
of air--then he signalled for it, and the anxious pumpers sent it down
with a will. Thus it was found that there was still sufficient time for
a man to return to the surface with the air contained in his dress, in
the event of accident to the pumps. [See Note 1.]
While the divers were engaged with these experiments, Chok-foo was sent
on shore in the small boat for a supply of fresh water from a spring
near the top of the island.
Having filled his keg, the Chinaman turned his fat good-humoured
countenance toward the sea, for the purpose of taking an amiable view of
Nature in general before commencing the descent. As he afterwards gazed
in the direction of the mainland, he observed what appeared to be a line
of sea-gulls on the horizon. He looked intently at these after
shouldering his water-keg. Chok-foo's visage was yellow by nature. It
suddenly became pale green. He dropped his burden and bounded down the
hillside as if he had gone mad. The water-keg followed him. Being
small and heavy it overtook him, swept the legs from under him, and
preceded him to the beach, where it was dashed to atoms. Chok-foo
recovered himself, continued his wild descent, sprang into the boat,
rowed out to his companions in furious haste, and breathlessly gave the
information that pirates were coming!
Those to whom he said this knew too well what he meant to require
explanation. They were aware that many so-called "traders" in the
Eastern seas become pirates on the shortest notice when it suits their
convenience.
Edgar Berrington immediately drew a revolver from his pocket, and
stepping suddenly up to Dwarro, said sternly:--
"Look here!"
The pilot did look, and for the first time his calm, cool, imperturbable
expression deserted him, for he saw that he had to deal with a resolute
and powerful man. At the same time his right hand moved towards his
breast, but it was arrested from behind in the iron grip of Joe Baldwin.
"Now, pilot," said Edgar, "submit, and no one shall harm you. Resist,
and you are a dead man. Search him, Joe."
The diver opened Dwarro's pilot-coat, and found beneath it a brace of
pistols and a long sheath knife, which he quietly removed and
transferred to his own person. The other men in the boat looked on,
meanwhile, in silence.
"Dwarro," continued Edgar, "_you_ have planned this, I know, but I'll
thwart you. I won't tie or gag you. I'll make you sit at the helm and
steer, while we evade your friends. I shall sit beside you, and you may
rely on it that if you disobey an order in the slightest degree, or give
a signal by word or look to any one, I'll blow out your brains. D'you
understand me?"
The pilot made no reply save by a slight inclination of the head, while
a dark frown settled on his features.
It was obvious that fear found no place in the man's breast, for a deep
flush of indignation covered his countenance. He merely felt that he
must obey or die, and wisely chose the former alternative.
Meanwhile the fleet of boats which had appeared to the Chinaman on the
hill-top was now seen by the party in the boat as they drew nearer under
the influence of a land breeze--their high sails rendering them visible
before the low boat of our divers could be seen by them.
The wind had not yet reached the island, but, even if it had, the divers
would not have hoisted sail, lest they should have been seen.
"Ship your oars now, lads, and pull for life," cried Edgar, seizing the
tiller with one hand, while with the other he held the revolver. "You
take _this_ oar, Dwarro, and pull with a will."
In a few seconds the pilot boat was creeping pretty swiftly along the
rugged shore of the island, in the direction of the open sea. To
lighten her, the little boat astern was cut adrift. Continuing their
course, they rowed quite past the island, and then, turning abruptly to
the southward, they pulled steadily on until the first "cat's-paw" of
the breeze ruffled the glassy sea.
By this time the fleet of boats was distinctly visible, making straight
for the island. Edgar now ordered the sails to be set, and bade Dwarro
take the helm. The pilot obeyed with the air of a Stoic. It was clear
that his mind was made up. This had the effect of calling up a look of
settled resolution on Edgar's face.
In a few minutes the sails filled, and then, to the surprise not only of
Dwarro but all on board, Edgar ordered the pilot to steer straight for
the line of advancing boats.
Two of these had changed their course on first observing the divers'
boat, but when they saw it steering straight down, as if to meet or join
them, they resumed their course for the island. Presently the breeze
increased, and the pilot boat leaped over the waves as if it had
received new life.
"It's a bowld thing to try," muttered Rooney Machowl, "but I'm afeard,
sir--"
He was silenced by a peremptory "Hush" from Edgar. "Get down so as to
be out of sight," he continued, "all of you except the Chinamen.--You
two come and sit by Dwarro."
As he spoke, Edgar himself sat down on an oar, so as to be able to see
over the gunwale without himself being seen. To those in the fleet it
would thus appear that their vessel was a pilot boat returning from
seaward with its skipper and two Chinamen. Whatever Dwarro's intentions
had been, he was evidently somewhat disconcerted, and glanced more than
once uneasily at the calm youth who sat pistol in hand at his side
directing him how to steer.
Although there was a considerable fleet of the piratical boats, they
were spread out so that a space of several hundred yards intervened
between each. Edgar steered for the centre of the widest gap, and his
bold venture was favoured by a sudden increase of wind, which caused the
waves to gurgle from the bow.
Just as they passed between two of the boats they were hailed by one of
them. Edgar kept his eyes fixed on Dwarro, who became slightly pale.
The click of the pistol at the moment caused the pilot to start.
"You may inform and we may be caught," said Edgar, sternly; "but
whatever happens you shall die if you disobey. Speak not, but wave your
hand in reply."
Dwarro obeyed. Those who had hailed him apparently thought the distance
too great for speech; they waved their hands in return, and the boat
passed on. A few minutes more and our divers were safely beyond the
chance of capture, making for the mainland under a steady breeze.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 1. The pump used by Denayrouze of Paris, besides being very simple
in its parts and action, possesses an air-reservoir which renders a
cessation of the pump-action for a few minutes of no importance.