END OF THE BANQUET.
"There was turning of keys, and creaking of locks,
As he stalked away with his iron box.
Oh, ho! oh, ho! The cock doth crow,
It is time for the fisher to rise and go.
Fair luck to the abbot, fair luck to the shrine!
He hath gnawed in twain my choicest line;
Let him swim to the north, let him swim to the south,
The _pirate_ will carry my hook in his mouth."
In the pause which followed the dreadful episode just recounted by
Captain Brand, the padre was occupied in pattering a prayer, counting
his beads, and elevating his crucifix as if he was mumbling high mass at
the altar. Don Ignacio slowly waved his brown fore finger, and his
single spark of glowing eye glared fiercely and fixedly at his host. A
clammy sweat burst out on the pallid brow of the doctor, and his hands
were clutched before him on the table like the jaws of a steel vice. And
still the drunken shrieks and cheers of the piratical crew at the sheds
arose wild and shrill in the calm night, making a gloomy echo for the
banquet. The doctor was the first to break the awkward silence which
pervaded the saloon.
"_Capitano!_" said he, in his habitual calm, deep voice, "with respect
to what you said in the early part of the evening, of breaking up this
establishment, what, may I ask, are your plans for the future?"
"_Gracias!_ _amigo_ doctor! Thank you, my friend, for changing the
conversation. My plans! eh! ah! Well, they are these--"
Here Captain Brand's face assumed its usual expression; and entirely
himself again, he went on to state, in a precise, business-like way, the
views he had resolved upon for future action.
"--To-morrow, gentlemen, is Sunday. Those boisterous fellows out there,
after mass, will need rest all the day. On Monday, however, I shall
begin to change the rig of the schooner, fill up with provisions for a
long cruise, take on board all the loose odds and ends we have stowed
here, of course," he added, as he remarked an inquiring and a rather
alarmed mercenary look from the Tuerto's glim--"of course, after having
squared up all claims of our _compadre_ there!"
"Hum!" croaked that sharp rascal, with a nod of satisfaction quite like
an old raven.
"Then, _senores_, I shall burn or destroy the old sheds, and bury the
cannon and heavy articles we can not find room for in the 'Centipede;'
when, if nothing happens, we shall trip anchor and spread our sails for
sea!
"Babette! Babette! Really I believe that dear old negress has fallen
asleep. Babette! ah! there you are, my beauty! See if you can't give us
a bowl of okra gumbo before we break up here!"
Babette had not been asleep. Oh no! She had her ear to the door of the
saloon, and was listening to the sad history of Dona Lucia, and when her
master came to the final scene the old woman fell on her knees and
shivered all over, where she remained until the sound of the captain's
voice again called her to her duties.
"And when we have left these quiet waters, my son!" broke in the padre,
"what then?"
The fact was, that the carnivorous and vinous Father Ricardo knew that
his stomach was not suited for high winds and rough oceans, and was
hoping that some scheme might be devised to allow him to remain
tranquilly on the island.
"Why, holy padre, I propose to steer clear of the West Indies by some
unfrequented track, and, striking the broad Atlantic, stretch down the
coast of Brazil. Perhaps we may double Cape Horn, and see what those
miserable patriots are fighting for in Chili and Peru; then maybe across
the Pacific, to the lovely islands and maidens of Polynesia; so on to
the China Seas, where we may fall in with an outward-bound Canton
trader, or a galleon with a ton or two of silver on board--who
knows?--there is plenty of blue water and fine ships every where; so we
must be content."
Padre Ricardo made the sign of the cross, kissed his thumb and fore
finger, and, reaching his dirty paw over to the captain, shook hands
with him.
"Ay, _amigos_!" continued the leader, without minding the friendly
interruption; "yes, my friends, we shall, I trust, give the hounds in
search of us the slip; and even should they scent out this retired
little spot, they will have their trouble for their chase, and find
nothing but a few stones and heaps of rubbish above ground."
"They may find some little matters below, though," chimed in the
commander of the felucca.
"If they do," retorted the pirate, with a meaning scowl, "I'll put the
spy who betrays it to such a torture as that he'll wish himself below
ground when I come back here."
"_Cierto, amigo!_ no fear of that!" muttered the Tuerto, with some
little trepidation of manner. "_My_ papers are white."
"Captain Brand," said the doctor, "my contract with you is nearly up,
and since I only agreed--as you know--to enlist my professional services
here on shore, I presume you will have no objections to permit me to
depart with Don Ignacio in the felucca."
It would be difficult to say what caused the flush of passion which
overspread the leader's face as he listened to this simple request, but
it was full a minute before he replied, and then, having weighed the
matter carefully in his mind, he said, in a precise and determined tone,
in French,
"_Monsieur le Docteur!_ the compacts that I have made with all those
that have taken service with me have never been broken except by death.
I can not, therefore, consider your request, and I shall expect you to
sail with me in the schooner."
Then he added, quickly, as he noticed a certain haughty expression in
his subordinate's face, "Pardon me, _monsieur_; we had better not
discuss this question now. Suppose you see me on the morrow."
"Willingly, _senor_, and you will find my resolution unchangeable."
Rising as he spoke, he bowed to his companions at table, and saying
"_Buenas noches!_ (good-night!)" he passed from the saloon to the
piazza. There he paused a moment, as if communing with himself, and then
approaching the grass hammock where the sick boy was sleeping, he gently
took the little fellow up in his arms. The child murmured "Mamma,
mamma!" and was borne away.
Captain Brand followed the doctor with his searching, sharklike eyes
until he had left the apartment, and there was something that denoted
danger in the look; but he uttered no sound, and, placing a finger on
his lip, he nodded meaningly to the padre.
A moment after Babette brought in the steaming gumbo soup, and the
pirate's feast was nearly ended. Don Ignacio waited until his companions
had swallowed a goodly portion of the grateful mess, when he too
refreshed himself. Then making his salutations in his usual observant
manner, he departed. He declined, however, the offer of his host's
society to his boat, saying he had, he knew, half a dozen of the
felucca's crew outside the building to guard his footsteps, and he would
not put the _capitano_ to the trouble.
When the padre rose to give his benediction to his patron, the captain
took him impressively by the rope which girded his cassock about the
loins, and giving it a sharp jerk or two, he said,
"My holy father, I think we shall have a sad duty to perform to-morrow.
Our old friend Gibbs has behaved badly, and I shall punish him. He is
now in the Capella dungeon. After early mass go and console him."
The padre returned a meaning smile, crossed himself, and slowly left the
pirate alone in his saloon.