THE FOURTH CHINAMAN
As we stood there, watching, the long line of yellow light on the
eastern horizon suddenly changed in colour--first to a roseate flush,
then to a warm crimson; the scenes around us, sky, sea and land
brightened as if by magic. And with equal suddenness there shot round
the edge of the southern extremity of the cove, outlining itself
against the red sky in the distance the long, low-lying hulk of a
vessel--a dark, sinister-looking thing which I recognised at once as a
torpedo-destroyer. It was coming along, about half a mile outside the
bar, at a rare turn of speed which would, I knew, quickly carry it
beyond our field of vision. And I was wondering whether from its decks
the inside of the cove and the yawl lying at anchor there was visible
when it suddenly slackened in its headlong career, went about,
seaward, and describing the greater part of a circle, came slowly in
towards the bar, nosing about there beyond the line of white surf, for
all the world like a terrier at the lip of some rat-hole.
Up to that moment Miss Raven and I had kept silence, watching this
unexpected arrival in our solitude; now, turning to look at her, I saw
that the thought which had come into my mind had also occurred to
hers.
"Do you think that ship is looking for the yawl?" she asked. "It's a
gunboat--or something of that sort, isn't it?"
"Torpedo-destroyer--latest class, too," I answered.
"Rakish, wicked-looking things, aren't they? And that's just what I,
too, was wondering. It's possible, some news of the yawl may have got
to the ears of the authorities, and this thing may have been sent from
the nearest base to take a look along the coast. Perhaps they've
spotted the yawl. But they can't get over that bar, yet."
"The tide's rising fast, though," she remarked, pointing to the shore
immediately before us. "It'll be up to this boat soon."
I saw that she was right, and that presently the boat would be
floating. We made it fast, and retreated further up the beach, amongst
the overhanging trees, and there, from beneath the shelter of a group
of dwarf oaks, looked seaward again. The destroyer lay supine outside
the bar, watching. Suddenly, right behind her, far across the grey
sea, the sun shot up above the horizon--her long dark hull cut across
his ruddy face. And we were then able to make out shapes that moved
here and there on her deck. There were live men there!--but on the
yawl we saw no sign of life.
Yet, even as we looked, life sprang up there again. Once more a shot
rang out, followed by two others in sharp succession. And as we stared
in that direction, wondering what this new affray could be, we saw a
boat shoot out from beneath the bows, with a low, crouching figure in
it which was evidently making frantic efforts to get away. Somebody on
board the yawl was just as eager to prevent this escape; three or
four shots sounded--following one of them, the figure in the boat fell
forward with a sickening suddenness.
"Got him!" I said involuntarily. "Poor devil!--whoever he is."
"No!" exclaimed Miss Raven. "See!--he's up again."
The figure was struggling to an erect position--even at that distance
we could make out the effort. But the light of the newly-risen sun was
so dazzling and confusing that we could not tell if the figure was
that of an Englishman or a Chinaman--it was, at any rate, the figure
of a tall man. And whoever he was, he managed to rise to his feet, and
to lift an arm in the direction of the yawl, from which he was then
some twenty yards away. Two more shots rang out--one from the yawl,
another from the boat. It seemed to me that the man in the boat
swayed--but a moment later he was again busy at his oars. No further
shot came from the yawl, and the boat drew further and further away
from it, in the direction of a spit of land some three or four hundred
yards from where we stood. There were high rocks at the sea end of
that spit--the boat disappeared behind them.
"There's one villain loose, at any rate," I muttered, not too well
pleased to think that he was within reach of ourselves. "I wonder
which. But I'm sure he was winged--he fell in a heap, didn't he, at
one of those shots? Of course, he'll take to these woods--and we've
got to get through them."
"Not yet!" said Miss Raven. "Look there!"
She pointed across the cove and beyond the bar, and I saw then that a
boat had been put off from the destroyer and was being pulled at a
rapid rate towards the line of surf which, under the deepening tide,
was now but a thin streak of white. It seemed to me that I could see
the glint of arms above the flash of the oars--anyway there was a
boat's crew of blue-jackets there.
"They're going to board her!" I exclaimed. "I wonder what they'll
find?"
"Dead men!" answered Miss Raven, quietly.
"What else? After all that shooting! I should think that man who's
just got away was the last."
"There was a man left on board who fired at him--and at whom he fired
back," I pointed.
"Yes--and who never fired again," she retorted. "They must all--oh!"
She interrupted herself with a sharp exclamation, and turning from
watching the blue-jackets and their boat I saw that she was staring at
the yawl. From its forecastle a black column of smoke suddenly shot
up, followed by a great lick of flame.
"Good heavens!" I exclaimed. "The yawl's on fire!"
I guessed then at what had probably happened. The man who had just
disappeared with his boat behind the spit of land further along the
cove had in all likelihood been one of two survivors of the fight
which had taken place in the early hours of the morning. He had wished
to get away by himself, had set fire to the yawl, and sneaked away in
the only boat, exchanging shots with the man left behind and probably
killing him with the last one. And now--there was smoke and flame
above what was doubtless a shambles.
But by that time the boat's crew from the destroyer had crossed the
bar and entered the cove and the vigorously impelled oars were
flashing fast in the sheltered waters. The boat disappeared behind the
drifting smoke that poured out of the yawl--presently we saw figures
hurrying hither and thither about her deck.
"They may be in time to get the fire under," I said. "Better, perhaps,
if they let the whole thing burn itself out. It would burn up a lot of
villainy."
"Here are people coming along the beach," remarked Miss Raven,
suddenly. "Look! They must have seen the smoke rising."
I turned in the direction in which she was looking, and saw, on the
strip of land and pebble, beneath the woods, a group of figures,
standing at that moment and staring in the direction of the burning
ship, which had evidently just rounded the extreme point of the cove
at its southern confines. There were several figures in the group, and
two were mounted. Presently these moved forward in our direction, at a
smart pace; before they had gone far, I recognized the riders.
"A search party!" I exclaimed. "Look--that's Mr. Raven, in front, and
surely that's Lorrimore, behind him. They're looking for us."
She gazed at the approaching figures for a moment, shielding her eyes
from the already strong glare of the mounting sun, then ran forward
along the shingle to meet them; I followed as rapidly as my
improvised foot-wear would permit. By the time I reached them, Mr.
Raven and Lorrimore were off their horses, the other members of the
party had come up, and my companion in tribulation was explaining the
situation. I let her talk--she was summing it all up in more concise
fashion than I could have done. Her uncle listened with simple,
open-mouthed astonishment; Lorrimore, when it came to mention of the
Chinese element, with an obvious growing concern that seemed to be not
far away from suspicion. He turned to me as Miss Raven finished.
"How many Chinese do you reckon were on board?" he asked.
"Four--including the last arrival, described as a gentleman," I
answered.
"And two English?" he inquired.
"One Englishman, and one Frenchman," said I. "My belief is that the
Chinese have settled the other two--and then possibly settled
themselves, among them. There's one man somewhere in these woods.
Whether he's a Chinaman we can't say--we couldn't make out."
He stared at me wonderingly for a moment; then turned and looked at
the yawl. Evidently the blue-jackets had succeeded in checking the
fire; the flame had died down, and the smoke now only hung about in
wreaths; we could see figures running actively about the deck.
"There may be men on there that need medical assistance," said
Lorrimore. "Where's this boat you mentioned, Middlebrook? I'm going
off to that vessel. Two of you men pull me across there."
"I'll go with you," said I. "I left my boots in the cabin--I may find
them--and a good deal else. The boat's just along here."
The search party was a mixed lot--a couple of local policemen, some
gamekeepers, two or three fishermen, one of Mr. Raven's men-servants.
Two of the fishermen ran the boat into the water; Lorrimore and I
sprang in.
"This is the most extraordinary affair I ever heard of," he said as he
sat down at my side in the stern.
"You didn't see all these Chinamen? Miss Raven says that you actually
suspected my man Wing to be on board!"
"Lorrimore," said I, "in ten minutes you'll probably see and learn
things that you'd never have dreamed of. Whether your man Wing is on
board or not I don't know--but I know that that girl and I have had a
marvellous escape from a nest of human devils! I can't say for myself,
but--has my hair whitened?"
"Your hair hasn't whitened," he said. "You were probably safer than
you knew--safe enough, if Wing was there."
"Well, I don't know," I retorted. "In future, let me avoid the sight
of yellow cheeks and slit eyes--I've had enough. But tell me--how did
you and your posse come this way? Didn't Mr. Raven get a wire last
night?"
"Mr. Raven did get a wire," he replied; "but before he got it, he'd
become anxious, and had sent out some of his men folk along the moors
and cliffs in search of you. One of them, very late in the evening,
came across a man who had been cutting wood somewhere hereabouts and
had seen you and Miss Raven passing through the woods near the shore
in company with two strangers. Mr. Raven's man returned close on
midnight, with this news, and the old gentleman was, of course, thrown
into a great state of alarm. He roused the whole community round
Ravensdene Court, got me up, and we set out, as you see. But--the
whole thing's marvellous! I can't help thinking that Wing may have
been on board this vessel, and that it was due to him you got away."
"You've heard nothing of him--from London?" I suggested.
"Nothing, from anywhere," he replied. "Which is precisely why I feel
sure that when he went there he came in contact with these people and
has been playing some deep game."
"Deep, yes!" said I. "Deep indeed! But what game?"
He made no answer; we were now close to the yawl, and he was staring
expectantly at the figures on her deck. Suddenly two of these detached
themselves from the rest, turned, came to the side, looked down on us.
One was a grimy-faced, alert-looking young naval officer, very much
alive to his job; the other, not quite so smoke-blackened, but
eminently business-like, was--Scarterfield.
"Good Heavens!" I muttered. "So--he's here!"
Scarterfield, as we pulled up to the side of the yawl, was evidently
telling the young officer who we were; he turned from him to us as we
prepared to clamber aboard and addressed us without ceremony, as if we
had been parted from him but a few minutes since our last meeting.
"You'd better be prepared for some unpleasant sights, you two!" he
said. "This is no place to bring an empty stomach to at this hour of
the morning--and I fancy you've no liking for horrors, Mr.
Middlebrook."
"I've had plenty of them during this night, Scarterfield," said I. "I
was a prisoner on board this vessel from yesterday afternoon until
soon after midnight, and I've sat on yonder beach listening to a good
many things that have gone on since I got away from her."
He stared at me in astonishment for a moment; so did his companion,
whose sharp eyes, running me over, settled their glance on my swathed
feet.
"Yes," I said, staring back at him. "Just so!--I was bundled off in
such a hurry that I left my boots behind me. They're in the cabin--and
if they aren't burned up I'll be glad of them."
I was making a move in that direction, for I saw that the fire, now
well under control, had been confined to the fore-part of the
yawl--but Scarterfield stopped me. He was clearly as puzzled as
anxious.
"Middlebrook!" he said earnestly. "I don't understand it, at all. You
say you were on this vessel--during the night? Then, in God's name,
who else was on her--whom did you find here--what men?"
"I left six men on her," I answered. "Netherfield Baxter--a
Frenchman--a Chinese gentleman, so described--three Chinese as well.
The Frenchman and the Chinese gentleman were those fellows we heard of
at Hull, Scarterfield, and one, at any rate, of the other three Chinese
was Lo Chuh Fen, of whom we've also heard."
"And you got into their hands--how?" he asked.
"Kidnapped--Miss Raven and myself--by Baxter and the Frenchman, in
those woods, yesterday afternoon," I answered. "We came across them by
accident, at the place where they'd just dug up that monastic
silver--there it is, man!" I continued, pointing to the chests, which
still stood where I had last seen them. "You've got it, at last."
He threw an almost careless glance at the chests, shaking his head.
"I want something beyond that," he muttered. "But--you say there were
six men altogether--six?"
"I've enumerated them." I replied. "Two Europeans--four Chinese."
He turned a quick eye on the naval officer.
"Then one of 'em's escaped--somehow!" he exclaimed. "There's only five
here--and every man Jack is dead! Where's the other!"
"One did escape," said I. I, too, looked at the lieutenant. "He got
off in a boat just as you and your men were approaching the bar
yonder--I thought you'd see him."
"No," he answered, shaking his head. "We didn't see anybody leave. The
yawl lay between us and him most likely. Where did he land?"
"Behind that spit," I replied, pointing to the place. "He vanished,
from where I stood, behind those black rocks. That was just as you
crossed the bar. And he can't have gone far away, for he was certainly
wounded as he left the yawl--a man fired at him from the bows. He
fired back."
"We heard those shots," said the lieutenant, "and we found a
chap--Englishman--in the bows, dying, when we boarded her. He died
just afterwards. They're all dead--the others were dead then."
"Not a man alive!" I exclaimed.
Scarterfield cast a glance astern--the glance of a man who draws back
the curtain from a set stage.
"Look for yourselves!" he muttered. "Too late for any of your work,
doctor. But--that sixth man?"
Lorrimore and I, giving no heed just then to the detective's
questioning about the escaped man, went towards the after part of the
deck. Busied with their labours in getting the fire under control, the
blue-jackets had up to then left the dead men where they found
them--with one exception. The man whom they had found in the bows had
been carried aft and laid near the entrance to the little
deck-house--some hand had thrown a sheet over him. Lorrimore lifted
it--we looked down. Baxter!
"That's the fellow we found right forward," said the lieutenant. "He's
several slighter wounds on him, but he'd been shot through the
chest--heart, perhaps--just before we boarded her. That would be the
shot fired by the man in the boat, I suppose--a good marksman! Was
this the skipper?"
"Chief spirit," said I. "He was lively enough last night. But--the
rest?"
"They're all over the place," he answered. "They must have had a most
desperate do of it. The vessel's more like a slaughter-house than a
ship!"
He was right there, and I was thankful that Miss Raven and I for
whatever reason on the part of the Chinese, had been so
unceremoniously sent ashore before the fight began. As Lorrimore went
about, noting its evidences, I endeavoured to form some idea, more or
less accurate, of the events which had led up to it. It seemed to me
that either Baxter or the Frenchman, awaking from sleep sooner than
the Chinese had expected, had discovered that treachery was afoot and
that wholesale shooting had begun on all sides. Most of the slaughter
had taken place immediately in front of the hatchway which led to the
cabin in which I had seen Baxter and his two principal associates;
some sort of a rough barricade had been hastily set up there; behind
it the Frenchman lay dead, with a bullet through his brain; before it,
here and there on the deck, lay three of the Chinese--their leader,
still in his gaily-coloured sleeping suit, prominent amongst them; Lo
Chuh Fen a little further away; the third man near the wheel, face
downwards. He, like Chuh, was a small-made, wiry fellow. And there was
blood everywhere.
Scarterfield jogged my elbow as I stood staring at these unholy
sights. He was keener of look than I had ever seen him.
"That fourth Chinaman?" he said. "I must get him, dead or alive. The
rest's nothing--I want him!"