A CABIN IN SCARLET.
There was light from six lanterns, held by giant negroes, to greet me
when I had mounted the ladder and was at last on the deck of the great
ship; but none of the men spoke a word, nor could I see their faces. Of
those who had brought me from the jolly-boat, I recognised two besides
"Four-Eyes" as men whom I had seen in Paris, but the Irishman appeared
to be the captain of them; and, in lack of other leader, he spoke when
all were aboard, but it was in a monosyllable. "Aft!" he said, looking
round to see if anyone else were near; and one of them silently touched
me upon the shoulder, and I followed him along a narrow strip of iron
deck, past a great turret which reared itself above me, and again by
the covered forms of quick-firing guns. We descended a short ladder to
a lower deck; and so to the companion way, and to a narrow passage in
which were many doors. One of these he opened, and motioned me to
enter, when the door was closed noiselessly behind me, and I found
myself alone.
My first feeling was one of intense surprise. I had looked to enter a
prison; but, if that were a prison, then were lack of liberty shorn of
half its terrors. The cabin was not large, but one more artistic in
effect was never built. Hung all round with poppy-coloured silk, the
same material made curtains for the bunk--which seemed of unusual size,
and furnished with sleep-bespeaking mattresses. It was employed also
for the cushions and covering of the armchair and the couch, and to
drape the dressing-glass and basin which were in the left-hand corner.
It seemed, indeed, that the whole room was a harmony in scarlet, with a
scarlet ceiling and scarlet hangings; but the luxury of it was
unmistakable, and the feet sank above the ankles in the soft Indian
rug, which was ornate with the quaint mosaic-like workings and
penetrating colours of all Eastern tapestry. For light, there was an
arc-lamp, veiled with gauze of the faintest yellow; and upon the table
in the centre stood a decanter of wine and a box of cigars. The room
would have been perfect but for a horrid blot upon it--a blot which
stared at me from the outer wall with bloodshot eyes and hideous
visage. It was the picture of a man's head that had been severed from
the body; and was repulsive enough to have been painted by Wiertz
himself. The picture almost terrified me, but I thought, if no worse
harm befall me what odds? and I sat down all wondering and dazed, and
drew a cigar from the box upon the table. The wine, of which I drank
nearly a tumblerful, put new courage of a sort into me; and so,
troubled and amazed, I began to ask myself what the proceeding meant,
or what the portent of it all could possibly be.
My conclusion was, when I thought the whole thing out, that the man
Black could be showing me this marked consideration only for some
motive of self-interest. It was evident that he had been aware of my
intention to follow him from the moment when Roderick purchased our new
steam-yacht. He had put one of his own men craftily upon the ship to
watch us, and had made a bold attempt to deal with us in mid-Atlantic.
Foiled there, he had taken advantage of my folly in entering such a
place as the Bowery, and had given orders that I should be carried to
his own ship--for I knew then that the strange craft he owned was
capable of many disguises--and should be carried alive. Why alive, if
not that he might learn all about me, or that a more dreadful fate than
mere death should be mine? I had seen the appalling end of poor Hall,
the merciless severity with which his death had been compassed: why
should I expect more gentle usage or other recompense? If ever man had
been trapped, I had been; and, beneath all my placid self-restraint, I
felt that my life was not worth an hour's--nay, perhaps ten
minutes'--purchase. It was as if I had been taken clean out of the
world with no man to extend me a helping hand. Roderick, truly, would
move heaven and earth to reach me, but what could he hope for against
such a crew; or how should I expect to be alive when he brought his
attempts to a head? And I thought of him with deep feelings of
friendship at that moment, and wondered what Mary would say. She will
be serious, I argued, for the first time in her life, and they will
know much anxiety. Yet that must be--in the floating tomb where I lay I
could hope to send no word to the living world which I had left.
I had smoked one cigar in the cabin, listening to the tremendous throb
of the ship's screws, and the swish of the sea as we cleaved it, when
the electric light went out, and I was left in darkness. The sudden
change gave me some alarm, and I cocked my revolver, being resolute to
account for one man at least, if any attempt were made upon me; but
when I had sat quite still for some half-an-hour there was no noise of
movement save on the deck above, and my own cabin remained as still as
the grave. It appeared that I was to be left unmolested for that night
at any rate; and, being something of a philosopher, I waited for
another hour or so, and finding that no one came near me, I undressed
and lay down in one of the most seductive beds I have met with at sea.
I did, indeed, take the precaution of putting my Colt under the pillow;
but I was so weary and fatigued with my sufferings in the open boat
that I fell asleep at once, and must have slept for many hours.