HOW WE FOUND THE IRON BOX ON ANNETTE ISLAND, AND THE TERRIBLE ENDING TO
OUR ADVENTURE
There can, I think, be few drearier prospects than the one which
presented itself to us as we made our way toward the south of Annette.
Above was a gray sky, all around was a sullen sea. True, the waters were
calm, but they looked as though at any moment they might rouse
themselves to fury. East of us we could see the Island of St. Agnes, but
beyond this no land was visible, except the rocky islets which lifted
their heads from out the dark sea.
On the Island of Annette we could see nothing of interest. No human
being lived there, neither was any cattle to be seen. Possibly there
might be enough verdure to keep a few alive, but I think that even they
would have died of loneliness. The people at Hugh Town said that
scarcely any one ever thought of going to Annette. Why should they?
there was nothing to induce them there.
Since then I have seen the whole group of islands bathed in the sunlight
of summer, I have seen them covered with rich vegetation, I have seen
the waves shine bright as they leaped on the many-coloured cliffs, and
make sweet music as they played around the innumerable rocks. Seen in
this way they are pleasing to all who can enjoy a strange and lovely
beauty, but on the day of which I am writing they were gloomy beyond all
the power of words to tell.
Even the wind, little as there was of it, wailed and sobbed as it moved
along the waters, while birds, the like of which I had never seen
before, cried as though they were in bitter pain.
"Eli," I said, "surely we are on the devil's mission, and God is
forbidding us to go further."
Eli made no answer save to grunt savagely.
"Let us row back to St. Mary's again," I said, "this place is given over
to Satan."
"Then you'll go by yourself, Jasper Pennington!" snarled Eli. "I ded'n
come 'ere to go away without gittin' what I wanted. Besides, 'tes nearly
dark. I be'ant goin' to go 'way from here till daylight. Ef we tried we
should both be drowned."
I saw that he spoke the truth. None but a madman would put out to sea
off Annette in the dark, and I saw by the gathering darkness that in a
few minutes night would be upon us.
"Cheer up," continued Eli, "Pennington es 'ere, so es the purty maid.
Eli do love Jasper, Eli do," and the dwarf caught my hands and fondled
them.
In spite of myself I was cheered by his words, and throwing off my
superstitious fears, I made my way southward to the spot where the great
rock was supposed to lie.
When we had walked a few minutes we saw that the island tapered down to
a narrow point; we saw, too, that the strip of land was about three
quarters of a mile long, perhaps a quarter of a mile broad, and lay
pretty well north and south. Arriving at the southern extremity, we
looked eagerly around. As I said, day was fast departing, but there was
sufficient light to see the general features of the coast.
I gave a start. Yes, there was the rock mentioned in the paper which I
have described.
"Wurrah!" cried Eli excitedly, "we be rich as Jews, Maaster Jasper."
"Come, Eli," I said, as excited as he, "give me the tools. I'll get
there at once."
"We cannot do et yet," replied Eli. "In five minutes more 't'll be
dark."
"What fools we were not to come before!" I said, angrily.
"No," grunted Eli; "ef people was to zee us diggin' they'd begin to
'spect summin. We mus' do et in the dark."
"How, Eli? You must be mad."
The dwarf looked anxiously at the sky.
"'T'll clear up dreckly," he replied complacently, "and the moon'll rise
earlier to-night than he did last night. Ef 'tes clear moonlight we c'n
zee. Ef tes'n, we must be up as zoon as ther's any light and find et
afore anybody can be about."
"Spend the night here?" I cried.
"We sh'll 'ave to do that anyhow," he said. "We mus'n stay 'ere now,"
continued the dwarf, "we must git away. Tell 'ee, I b'leeve we be
watched as et es."
"What makes you think so?"
"Never mind," and he looked anxiously toward St. Agnes. "Tell 'ee,
Jasper, 't'll be a rough night's work."
I, too, looked toward St. Agnes, but could see nothing.
"Come on, come on!" he cried excitedly; "we've got the dreckshuns; we
knaw," and he walked northward as fast as he was able, carrying the
spade under his arm. Presently we reached a deep pool not far from
Annette Head, and near here we found some huge overhanging rocks.
Underneath these we both crept, and here we sat for a considerable time.
We had brought food with us, and of this we partook, after which we
tried to pass away the time by smoking some prime tobacco which I had
bought at Penzance. It was just after six o'clock when we finished our
meal, and we sat there in the darkness for two hours. I rejoiced to see
the clouds depart and the stars begin to shine, for the genius of
loneliness seemed to govern the place. We could see nothing but the sea,
which in the night looked as black as ink as it surged among the rocks.
Even "Great Smith," a huge black rock which lay about half a mile from
us, was almost hidden from view, and no sound of anything living reached
us save the weird, unnatural cry of the sea birds which now and then
fluttered among the rocks on the coast.
When eight o'clock came Eli crawled out from our hiding-place and crept
to the headland. Here he stayed for some minutes.
"We be saafe, I reckon," he grunted when he came back; "ther's nobody
here, nobody 'toal. We'll go back to the rock again. We musn't talk,
jist go quiet."
I followed him, for somehow I felt that he was more capable of leading
than I. He kept perfectly cool, I was excited and irritable. Moreover, a
nameless dread had laid hold of me. We kept close by the northeast coast
of the island, while at frequent intervals Eli would hide behind a rock
or lie flat on the ground, listening intently all the while.
"Are you anxious, Eli?" I asked. "Who could come here without our
knowledge? while, as you say, it would mean death for any one to come in
the dark."
"Cap'n Jack and Cap'n Billy Coad be'ant like other people," he grunted.
"I've bin thinkin', thinkin'."
"What about?"
"Sha'ant tell 'ee!" he snarled; "but I reckon we be oal right. Come on."
Presently we reached the southern extremity of the little tract of land
again, and as I made my way to the rock I became possessed of a feverish
desire to get the treasure. All ghostly fears departed, I felt strong
and capable again, and it was with great impatience that I waited for
the moon to rise.
The wind had gone to rest, while the sea was settling down to dead calm.
"'Nother aaf an hour, Jasper," grunted Eli.
"Yes," I cried, and I grasped my crowbar.
But we had to wait for more than half an hour, for with the rising of
the moon came also a black cloud which obscured its light until it had
risen some distance in the heavens. By and by, however, the moon shot
above the cloud, and that which before had been obscured by darkness
became plain. There was the great rugged rock which bore a resemblance
to the rude scratching on the paper. By the side of the rock ran a deep
gulf filled with black water. Near by, perhaps twenty feet away, was
another and larger mass of cliff. I looked at the water which lay
between the two, and saw that it whirled and eddied, as though there
were some terrible forces underneath which moved it at will.
I picked up a bit of stick and threw it into the middle of the gulf,
which ran perhaps forty feet into the island. I saw the water take it
and carry it a little way seaward, and then it came back again. After
that it started whirling around, and in a minute or so later it seemed
to be drawn downward, for it disappeared from our sight.
"Ef a man was to git in there 'ee'd never git out again," grunted Eli.
"No, never," was my reply, and I shuddered as I spoke.
"Well, then, be careful, Jasper Pennington."
Seizing the pick and crowbar, I crept along the rock until I had reached
the extreme point.
I remembered the words written on the piece of paper: "_Hell's Mouth, S.
W._" Yes, that was the gulf into which I had thrown the stick.
"_Billy's Head N. W._" I looked to the right of me and saw a rock shaped
something like a man's head.
The night became lighter. The moon was rising higher and higher in the
heavens and sailing in a cloudless sky.
I examined the Devil's Point carefully, but I could see no sign of place
into which an iron box could be placed.
"Can 'ee find et?" I heard Eli say, in a low, rasping voice.
"No; there's nothing here. From here it is perpendicular to the sea, a
dozen feet down."
Eli swore a terrible oath.
"For God's sake, don't," I cried; "this place is true to its name.
That's Hell's Mouth, and this is the Devil's Point right enough."
He crept by me, grunting savagely, and began to feel around the edge of
the rock.
"Be careful, Eli," I said, "if you slip you are lost."
"I sha'ant slip," he cried savagely, "I sha'ant!"
Then I saw him lift a stone several pounds weight and throw it into the
sea. This was quickly followed by another.
"Pick, Jasper!" he cried.
He placed the pick between two stones and began to heave at the handle.
"Ca'ant move um!" he snarled. "'Ere, you do et."
I caught the handle of the pick and lifted. I felt it begin to break in
my hands.
"It's no use," I said; "I must use the bar."
I inserted the point of the bar into the crevice and lifted. I felt a
rock move. I put forth my strength, and a great slat several
hundredweight fell into the sea with sullen splash.
Eli got on his knees beside the hole we had made.
"We'm right," he gasped, and I felt he had spoken the truth. After this
we took away several stones from the fissure which nature had formed at
the Devil's Point.
I put my bar into the hole we had made and let it slip through my hands.
Its point struck a piece of iron.
"Iron box. Jammed tight!" grunted Eli savagely. "We've got um!"
We were terribly excited. For my own part, I had forgotten everything,
save that a treasure lay at my feet. The treacherous waters in Hell's
Mouth troubled me not one whit; all my superstitious fears had fled.
As well as I was able I crept into the fissure and felt one foot on a
piece of iron. Then I put my hand down and felt carefully. Yes, an iron
box had been put there. It lay edgeways, at least I judged so. The part
I could feel seemed about a foot wide and three feet long.
"Got et?" gasped Eli.
"Yes," I cried; "my God, here's a handle!"
"Heave um up, then, you who be sa strong."
I tried to lift the thing out, but could not.
"I can't move it, Eli."
"Jammed tight," he grunted.
He was right. Many hard stones were driven in at its sides.
How long it took me to move these stones I know not, but at length I
succeeded in unloosing many until I was able to rock the box from side
to side.
"It'll come now!" cried Eli. "Heave agin!"
Never was my strength put to such a test as at that time. I saw sparks
of fire flash before my eyes, while the muscles of my arms seemed as
though they would snap. It was all in vain, however.
"Let me rest a bit, Eli," I said, "then I'll try again."
"No time to rest," snarled Eli.
He seized the crowbar, and after much manoeuvring he passed it through
the iron handle of the box, and rested the point against the side of the
fissure.
"Haive now, Jasper," he grunted.
I did as he bade me. The box freed itself from the sides of its
resting-place.
I had nothing but the weight of the casket to lift now, so I caught the
handle again. The thing was ponderously heavy, but I drew it to the top
of the fissure, and laid it on the rock called the Devil's Point.
"Ho! ho! ho!" yelled Eli, like one frenzied.
As for me, I was nearly mad with joy.
"My beauty," I said, fondling the box, "I see Pennington in you, I see
Naomi's joy on you. You make me free, you make me independent. I love
you, I do--I love you!"
"Laive us drag un away from the Devil's Point," cried Eli; "Hell's Mouth
is too close to plaise me."
So I placed my arms around it and prepared to carry it from the rock,
and away from the inky waters that curled and hissed in the "Devil's
Mouth." No sooner had I lifted it from the ground, however, than I let
it fall again.
"No! no!" screamed a voice near me. It was not Eli's guttural cry, it
was a repetition of the words we had heard in the "Devil's Church" at
Kynance Cove.
On starting up I saw the same ghastly-looking creature, the same long
beard, the same wild eyes, the same long, lean hands.
"No! no! no! I tell you no!" cried the thing again.
"Why?" I asked, half in anger, half in terror, for I could but realise
what such an apparition meant to us.
"Because the thing is accursed!" he cried--"because it is red with the
blood of innocence, black with sin, heavy with the cries of orphans'
tears and widows' moans. It is the price of crime, red crime, black
crime! Come away."
I jumped from the rock and caught the strange thing in my hands. It was
flesh and blood, and all fear departed. I turned his face to the light,
then I burst into a loud laugh.
"Ho! ho!" I cried, "the madman of Bedruthan Steps. Well, well, you saved
my life, you fed me when I was hungry, you clothed me when I was naked.
I forgive you. But let me be now. I must take this away."
"No, no, Jasper Pennington," he cried again, "your hands are yet
unstained with blood. The moment you were to use such gains the curse of
a hundred Cains would be upon you. I know, I have felt."
"Why?" I said; "I do no harm in getting it; I hurt no man. It is mine as
much as any other man's--nay, it is more. Eli Fraddam really owns it,
and he has given it to me."
"Look you, Jasper Pennington," he cried, "you would get back your
birthright. If you got it back in such a way you would lose the better
birthright, the birthright of God. I know of this treasure, I have heard
its history. It is red with blood, I tell you, and black with crime."
In spite of myself the man's vehemence affected me.
"But," I said, "I love. I cannot go to her empty-handed. A Pennington
does not do that. Besides, I am afraid that my love is also penniless,
afraid that she has been robbed."
"Look, Jasper Pennington," he said, "I have heard strange things. I have
been afraid to ask questions, because--because--but tell me, who is the
maiden you love?"
"Naomi Penryn," I replied.
"Yes, yes; I know that, but who is Naomi Penryn? whose child is she?
Does she come from Penryn? Who is her mother? who her father? where was
she born? Tell me."
"He is mad, stark, staring mad," I said to myself, yet I humoured him.
True, the treasure lay at my feet, and I wanted to take it away, while
Eli kept grumbling at my delay, but the man seemed to drag an answer
from me.
"She was born at Trevose House, close by Trevose Head," I replied.
"Indeed, she should be the owner of the estate."
"And her mother?" he cried.
"Was some relative of the Tresidders."
"And her father? Tell me, man, tell me quickly."
"Her father was called Penryn--John Penryn, I think his name was."
"But how can that be? Did he not kill his wife before--that is, did she
not die?"
"No," I said, "he did not. He thought he killed her, and because of it
committed suicide, but his wife was not dead. She got better soon
after--indeed, she died only a year or two ago."
"And Penryn committed suicide, you say?"
"Yes."
"And the girl you love is his child?"
"Yes. But what is all this to you? Why have you followed me? What are my
affairs to you?"
"Everything, Jasper Pennington. Stop, let me think."
"I cannot stop, I must get this away! Look you, man," and I caught his
arm, "this is nothing to you, I have found it," and I kicked the iron
box. "It's mine, mine!"
"No, no; it's not yours, I tell you." He stopped and looked around him,
then clenched his hands as though he were passing through a terrible
crisis.
"Do you say the Tresidders have taken Trevose from the--the maid you
love?"
"I am afraid they have. I believe they have."
"But where is she?"
"It is naught to you. She is away from all danger. When I have taken
this treasure to a place of safety I shall go to her. I shall buy back
Pennington and take her to my home."
"No, Jasper Pennington, this must not be. Naomi Penryn must never live
in a home bought with the price of crime. But you are sure she is safe?"
He spoke like a man demented, and yet his earnestness, his evident
hatred of crime made me patient. Moreover, he had come upon me at a
critical time, and was to an extent a sharer in my secret.
"Look you, Esau, or Cain, or whatever else you may call yourself," I
said, "these are but idle words of yours--idle words. I have committed
no crime, I hurt no man, I am poor, I have been robbed of my rights, my
home. Here, I trust, is my power to win back my home and give it to my
love, who is dearer to me than my life."
"There is no need, Jasper Pennington, I tell you there is no need! Throw
this thing to the Hell's Mouth, by which it has been lying. Take me to
your love; let me see her face, and then--well, I will not promise what,
but it shall be well with you," and he laughed like a man from whose
life a great fear had gone.
I looked at him, and he presented a strange appearance in the light of
the moon on that lonely island. I could not let the treasure slip from
my hands at his bidding, for what was the promise of such as he, whose
every action told me he was mad?
"Look you," he continued, "I have followed you for your good. I tried to
keep you from leaving Land's End last night, I followed you to the cave
in Kynance Cove. Come, there is more danger around than you think."
"What danger?" I asked.
The words had scarcely escaped my lips when I heard the sound of voices,
and Eli gave a shriek as though some one had given him a deadly blow.
I turned and saw several men standing close by me. A moment later one
spoke.
"Oa, Jasper Pennington, this _es_ kind of 'ee to come 'ere like this.
You knawed I wanted to vind out Granfer Fraddam's secret, did'n 'ee,
then? An' you was a goin' to make a present of et to me, wad'n 'ee,
then? Well, you be kind, Jasper."
"Cap'n Jack!" I cried.
"Iss, Cap'n Jack. Allays a friend to 'ee, Jasper, a stiddy, pious man I
be. So es Billy Coad 'ere. Ther's few people c'n give sich a religious
experience as Billy. Well, we vound out wot you was up to, so we be cum
to help 'ee, my deear boy."
I saw that all was lost. The treasure, if treasure there was, could
never be mine.
"You told them this!" I cried, turning to the madman, to whom I had been
talking.
"No, Jasper Pennington, I have told nothing. But I heard they were
coming, and I came to warn you."
He spoke quietly and with dignity. His madness was gone, he seemed a new
man.
"Ded 'ee think that we wos vools, Jasper, my deear? Aw, iss, Eli es a
clever boy, but law, Cap'n Jack's gang 'ave got eyes everywhere. And we
cudden find the dreckshuns, and we bea'nt no schullards, but we do knaw
that two and two do maake vower. That's how we vound out. Aw, aw,
Jasper, my deear, you bea'nt a-goin' to buy back Pennington in that way.
No, no; and I have my doubts ef the weather 'll laive 'ee git back to
the caave in Gamper Bay again, for oal you stailed my boat from there."
His words drove me to madness, especially when they roused a laugh from
Israel Barnicoat, who stood close by him.
"Then I'm not to have this," I cried, pointing to the box.
"No, you bea'nt, my deear. I be a generous man, but I cudden afford
that."
"Then you shan't!" I cried.
With a strength that was unnatural I seized the heavy iron box, and
before they could prevent me I threw it into the black waters of the
gulf.
"There," I said, "if I cannot have it neither shall you, or if you get
it, you shall go into Hell's Mouth after it."
Cap'n Jack gave a terrible oath. "Send him after it, Israel Barnicoat!"
he cried.
I stooped to seize the crowbar in order to defend myself, but before I
could use it as a weapon Israel Barnicoat threw himself upon me. My foot
slipped upon the rock, and before I could regain my footing I received a
stunning blow. A moment later I felt myself sinking in the black waters
from which Eli Fraddam had said there was no escape. And all this
happened in a few seconds--so quickly, indeed, did it take place that I
had not even time to call upon God to have mercy upon my poor, sinful
soul.