lighted on board the disguised yacht, and at the same time a man with
sharp eyes was sent aloft to the fore-masthead to watch the offing over
the tops of the low mangrove trees, and give notice of the passage of
the _Maranon_, should she happen to heave in sight; but hour after hour
passed with no sign of her, unless one of the eastward-going trails of
smoke that showed on the horizon during the forenoon happened to emanate
from her. They waited patiently until noon, and then, nothing having
been seen of the convict ship, Jack and Milsom agreed that it was quite
useless to wait any longer; and half an hour later the fishermen outside
the Boca de Maravillas were astonished to see a craft, which some of
them described as a cruiser, while the others spoke of her as a gunboat,
sweep through the passage and head away north-east, as though to clear
the eastern extremity of Cay Sal Bank on her way northward through the
Santaren Channel. The vessel showed no colours, but was flying a
pennant, and the general opinion was that she was an American man-o'-
war; though what she had been doing in Sagua la Grande harbour, or how
she had got there, nobody seemed able to guess.
But although, to the unsophisticated fishermen of Sagua la Grande, the
mysterious warship appeared to be bound north, she was really bound
south-east through the Nicholas and Old Bahama channels: and when the
yacht had made an offing of some fifteen miles--by which time she was of
course out of sight of the fishermen's boats, Milsom ordered the helm to
be ported and the engines sent full speed ahead, she having by that time
run on to a line which the ex-Navy man had pencilled on his chart as the
probable course of the convict steamer; and if that craft had left
Havana at the hour arranged, and were steaming at the rate which the
harbour-master had anticipated would be her pace, she must now be nearly
sixty miles ahead. That was a fairly long lead, certainly; but there is
a big difference between a speed of eight knots and that of twenty-four,
and Milsom calculated that, if the _Maranon_ were really ahead of them,
they ought to overtake her in something like three hours. As a matter
of fact, they sighted the craft dead ahead about five bells in the
afternoon watch, identified her to their entire satisfaction about half
an hour later, and passed her, some sixteen miles to the southward,
about one bell in the first "dog."
"Now," said Milsom, when he came down from aloft after personally
satisfying himself as to the identity of the great, dirty-white, rust-
streaked hull crawling along in the northern board, "let me make a
little calculation. Our plan is to appear ahead of her, steaming to the
northward and westward--to meet her, in fact, instead of overtaking her;
and the proper time to do this will be about a quarter of an hour before
sunset. I take it that she is steaming at about the pace which my
friend the harbour-master allowed her--that is to say, about eight
knots. At that rate she will be about eight miles farther to the
eastward at a quarter of an hour before sunset. That means that--um--
um--yes, that will be about right. Now, Jack, my hearty, cheer up! for
unless something goes very radically wrong with our scheme, our friends
ought to be safe and snug aboard this dandy little hooker in a couple of
hours' time. Now, it is you, my friend, who are going to play the giddy
pirate and wrest our friends, at the sword's point, out of the hands of
the oppressor, so cut away down below, my lad, and get into your
disguise; and while you are doing that the deck hands can be doing the
same, so as to render it impossible for them to be identified at any
future time, should they be met in the streets of Havana, or elsewhere,
by anybody belonging to the _Maranon_."
Half an hour later Jack re-appeared on deck, his already well-bronzed
face and hands stained to the darkness of a mulatto's skin, and his
corpus arrayed in an old, weather-stained, and very-much-the-worse-for-
wear Spanish naval lieutenant's uniform, which Don Ramon had caused one
of his servants to procure for him at a second-hand wardrobe dealer's in
Havana; his disguise being completed by the addition of a black wig and
a ferocious moustache and whiskers, obtained through the same channel at
a theatrical wig-maker's shop. To say that his own mother would not
have known him in this get-up is to put the matter altogether
inadequately; and his appearance on deck was the signal for a roar of
mingled admiration and mirth from all hands. Meanwhile, the crew had
pinned their faith to burnt cork and their working slops as a disguise,
except the five who were to form Jack's boat's crew; these having
discarded their working slops and donned dungaree overalls, ancient
cloth trousers, rusty with salt-water stains, and stiff with tar and
grease, big thigh-boots, and worsted caps. A cutlass belted to the
waist, and a knife and brace of revolvers in the belt gave the finishing
touch of realism to the get-up, and obviated any possibility of doubt as
to the seriousness of their mission.
By this time the moment had arrived when, according to Milsom's
calculations, the yacht ought to be turned round to meet the _Maranon_,
now out of sight astern; the helm was accordingly put hard over, and the
nimble little craft swept round until she was heading direct for the
spot where it had been calculated that the two ships should meet. No
combination of circumstances could possibly have been more favourable
for the adventure than were those at that moment prevailing. There was
no craft of any description in sight as far as the eye could see; the
trade wind was blowing quite a moderate breeze; and the sea was not
sufficiently formidable to render the task of transferring the rescued
people from one ship to the other by means of an open boat at all
difficult or dangerous. Moreover, the sun, fast dropping toward the
horizon, was quickly losing his intensity of light, and as rapidly
plunging all objects into a delicious soft golden haze, in which all
detail was lost; it was therefore in the highest degree unlikely that
even the keenest eye on board the convict steamer would be able to
detect the imposition that was being practised upon them.
Presently, a smudge of brown smoke soaring above the horizon broad on
the port bow showed that the unsuspecting quarry was approaching; and a
minute or two later her masts, fine as spiders' webs, began to rise
against the warm, golden glow of the western sky, then her funnel
appeared, and finally her bridge and chart-house--appearing as
completely detached and isolated objects in the rarefied atmosphere--
suddenly showed themselves on the horizon, alternately appearing and
disappearing with the rise and fall of the ship over the swell. Then
Milsom rang down to the engine-room for half speed; and a little later,
when the _Maranon_ was hull-up and the two vessels were closing fast, he
ordered the forward port twelve-pound quick-firer to be loaded with a
blank charge. Then, when the two craft were about a mile apart, he
ordered the Cuban flag to be run up to the main gaff-end, and the gun to
be fired as a polite invitation to the other craft to heave-to, at the
same time stopping his own engines.
Apparently the skipper of the _Maranon_ did not know what to make of it;
for, beyond hoisting Spanish colours, he took no notice of the summons,
making no attempt to stop his engines.
"Mr Perkins," shouted Milsom, "just heave a shot across that chap's
fore-foot, will ye? and we will see whether he understands that
language. But for goodness' sake take care that you don't hit him by
mistake. We don't want to have the destruction of that vessel on our
consciences."
Bang! barked the twelve-pounder for the second time, and there was now a
vicious tone in the bark which said unmistakably that the gun was
shotted; while, if anybody on board the _Maranon_ had any doubt about
it, that doubt was a moment later dispelled by the sudden up-leaping of
a fountain of foam some twenty fathoms ahead of the vessel. That proved
conclusively that the mysterious gunboat flying the Cuban flag was in no
humour to be trifled with; and the Spanish captain, objurgating
vehemently, rang down for his engines to stop. Thereupon the "gunboat",
which by this time had swung round, presenting a view of her stern, with
the name _Libertad_ emblazoned upon it in gold letters, lowered a boat,
into which four seamen, a coxswain, and a big, black-bearded officer
dropped. When the frail craft, propelled by the four sturdy oarsmen,
pushed off, and went dancing, light as an empty eggshell, over the
purple swell toward the convict ship, the officers on the bridge of
which did not fail to note that the crew of the stranger had carefully
trained two long, beautifully polished guns and a couple of Maxims on
them, "as a gentle hint that there was to be no nonsense," as Milsom put
it.
Meanwhile, the crew of the _Maranon_, seeing the boat approaching,
busied themselves with the task of lowering their side ladder, which
they got into position just as the boat dashed alongside and her crew
tossed their oars. Although the swell was by no means high, the convict
ship rolled heavily upon it as soon as she lost her way, and Jack had to
watch his opportunity to spring out of the boat on to the ladder without
accident; but he managed it cleverly, and the next moment stood upon the
deck of the _Maranon_, where he found the captain of the ship and his
chief officer awaiting him. As he stepped in through the gangway he
courteously lifted his cap in salute; but the other man was far too
angry to acknowledge or return the salute. Instead, he made a step
forward, with corrugated brow and clenched fist, and exclaimed:
"Senor, I demand to know the reason of this outrage! Who are you; and
why have you dared to stop my ship upon the high seas?"
By way of reply to the man's menacing demeanour, Jack allowed his left
hand to drop on to the butt of one of the pair of revolvers which he
carried in his belt. And, instead of answering the very reasonable
question which had been put to him, he said:
"Captain, I greatly regret to trouble you, but I must ask you to have
the goodness to muster your prisoners on deck. Please do it at once;
for the light will soon be gone, and I am anxious to complete my;
business with you before the darkness falls."
"Muster my prisoners on deck?" stormed the captain. "For what reason,
Senor? And again I ask, Who are you; and by what authority--?"
Jack raised his hand deprecatingly. "My good sir," he exclaimed, "why
waste time in asking foolish and useless questions, when I have already
intimated to you that I am in a hurry? Will you have the very great
goodness--and, I may add, the wisdom--to comply with my request? Or
will you compel me to shoot you, in the hope that this gentleman--who, I
presume, is your chief officer--will be more reasonable and obliging
than yourself?"
This hint had the desired effect; the skipper turned away, and, giving
certain instructions to his companion, made his way up on to the bridge
again, while the other went below. Ten minutes later the prisoners,
under the charge of a strong guard of soldiers, began to make their way
up on deck; and presently the officer who had gone below to carry out
the skipper's instructions re-appeared, with the information that the
prisoners were now all paraded forward, and ready for the inspection
which he presumed the Senor wished to make of them. Whereupon Jack,
calling the coxswain up out of the boat alongside for the purpose of
keeping an eye upon things generally, and seeing that no trickery was
attempted, went forward to the fore deck, where about three hundred men,
women, and children were drawn up in four lines or ranks, two on each
side of the deck. The chief officer, or mate, accompanied him.
The first face he recognised was that of his friend and chum Carlos, but
oh, how shockingly changed! The poor fellow was thin as a skeleton,
ghastly pale under the almost vanished tan of the sun, dirty,
dishevelled, and in rags. But that was not the most shocking change
that Jack noticed in him; it was the look of mingled fear, hate, and
horror that gleamed in the young man's eyes, the kind of look that tells
of systematic and long-continued cruelty.
"Take him aft," said Jack to the officer who was attending him, laying
his hand lightly on Carlos' shoulder as he spoke; and he noted with
horror how, as he lifted his hand, the poor youth shrank and cowered, as
though he expected to be struck. Then presently he came to Senora
Montijo, who, poor soul, looked into Jack's face vacantly and laughed,
as he directed her, too, to be taken aft! It was clear that she was
quite mad; and Jack ground his teeth as he inwardly vowed fresh vows of
vengeance against the infamous ruffian who was the author of such
unspeakable misery and ruin. A little farther on he found Don Hermoso,
whose condition seemed even worse than that of his son. But the
Senorita Isolda he could not find, although he searched the remainder of
the prisoners twice over. Then he walked aft to where Don Hermoso and
his wife and son were standing listlessly together, exchanging an
occasional word or two with each other, but apparently too utterly
wretched to take notice of anything, or to engage in continuous
conversation.
Jack addressed himself to Carlos, in English. "Carlos, old chap," he
said, "don't start, or look surprised, or appear to recognise me; but
you know me, old fellow, don't you? I am Jack--Jack Singleton; that is
the yacht over yonder, disguised as a gunboat; and I have come to take
you all away out of this wretched ship, and restore you to your home.
But I cannot find your sister. Is she not with you?"
This apparently simple question had the most extraordinary effect upon
Don Hermoso and Carlos. The former, suddenly dropping his face in his
hands, began to sob and moan hysterically, while Carlos as suddenly
dropped on his knees on the deck, and, lifting his clenched hands
skyward, began to call down bitter curses upon the head of Alvaros.
Jack shuddered as he listened, and again ground his teeth in impotent
fury, for he soon gathered, from his friend's wild words, that the
cruelty of which the Spaniard had boasted had indeed been true. But he
could gather no information as to the whereabouts of Senorita Isolda
from the now frenzied ravings of her brother; and it was only with the
utmost difficulty that he at length drew from Don Hermoso the dreadful
tidings that his daughter, who had been brought on board the ship a
raving maniac, had that very morning contrived to elude the guard, and,
rushing on deck, had thrown herself overboard and never been seen again!
Poor Jack was so utterly overwhelmed at this awful confirmation of his
worst forebodings that several minutes elapsed ere he could speak, and
even then he could find no words wherewith to soothe the despair of his
friends: but presently he managed to tell them again that he was there
to restore them to liberty, and that there were plenty of friends who
would stand by them upon their return to their home; then he asked them
whether they knew of any more prisoners on board who, like themselves,
were the victims of Spanish injustice and tyranny, suggesting that, if
so, those poor wretches should also be restored to freedom; whereupon
Don Hermoso mentioned that he believed there were two or three more
political prisoners on board, and, at Jack's request, accompanied him
forward and pointed them out. These also Jack ordered aft, and when
they came abreast of the gangway he directed them down into the boat,
whither Don Hermoso and his bereaved family followed them, Jack going
last, and informing the skipper of the _Maranon_ ere he left that he
might now proceed on his voyage, which that individual forthwith did;
while, as soon as the released prisoners were on board the yacht, and
the boat hoisted to the davits, that craft continued her course to the
westward--until the convict steamer was out of sight, when the bows of
the _Thetis_ were again turned eastward and her speed reduced to dead
slow, for she now had to be stripped of her disguise and restored to her
normal appearance again, and some convenient spot for the performance of
this operation had to be found, Milsom not deeming it wise to return and
effect it in the spot from which they had so recently come. This spot
was eventually found, in the shape of a tiny cove near Point Lucrecia;
and into it they steamed at daylight next morning, leaving it again the
same evening, an hour before sunset, when the _Thetis_ again showed as
the trim, white-hulled English yacht, with all her boats bright
varnished as of yore, neither yacht nor boats bearing the slightest
trace of ever having been even remotely connected with the mysterious
"gunboat" that had been seen by the fishermen to steam out of Sagua la
Grande harbour.
When at length, by the exercise of illimitable patience, Jack succeeded
in persuading his friends to believe that their troubles were over, and
had induced them to settle down in peace and comfort aboard the yacht,
and also to ease their aching hearts by telling him what they had
undergone since that day when they so blithely parted from him at the
railway station at Havana, it was a really heartrending story of cruel
oppression and shameful, irresponsible tyranny to which he felt himself
obliged to listen. There is no need to give the full details here; it
is sufficient to simply state that upon their arrival at Bejucal, the
first station beyond Santiago, they were accosted by a sergeant, who
ordered them to leave the train, and who, with the assistance of a
couple of files of soldiers, conveyed them back to Havana by goods train
late that same night, marching them all off to La Jacoba prison about
three o'clock the next morning, where each of them was confined in a
separate cell. Later in the day--that is to say, about eleven o'clock
in the morning--Don Hermoso was visited by a file of soldiers, who
informed him that the governor demanded his presence, and roughly
commanded him to follow them. Having obeyed this command, the Don
presently found himself in a kind of office, and confronted with
Alvaros, who ordered the two guards to leave him alone with their
prisoner. Then, this having been done, Alvaros informed Don Hermoso
that, in consequence of certain information supplied to the Government,
his house had been searched during his absence, and sufficient
treasonable correspondence found therein to send the entire family to
the penal settlements for life. Next he reminded Don Hermoso that he
had on a certain occasion paid him and his family the compliment of
proposing for the hand of Dona Isolda, and that the Don had seen fit to
reject the proposal with scorn and contumely; yet such, he said, was his
generous and forgiving nature that he was quite willing not only to
overlook that affront, but also to secure the pardon of Don Hermoso and
his family for their treason to the Spanish Government, if the said Don
Hermoso would now withdraw his refusal and give his consent to his
daughter's marriage with him, Don Sebastian Alvaros, a scion of one of
the most noble families in Old Spain. Don Hermoso's reply to this
suggestion was the repetition of a categorical and uncompromising
refusal; whereupon Alvaros fell into a paroxysm of rage and swore that
he would either compel Don Hermoso to give his consent, or certain very
dreadful things would happen to every member of the family, Dona Isolda
included. And certain very dreadful things had happened, among which
floggings and starvation might be mentioned, the whole culminating in
their condemnation to transportation for life to the horrors of the
penal settlement of Fernando Po, when Don Hermoso persisted in his
refusal and declared that he would rather see his daughter dead than
wedded to such a scoundrel as Don Sebastian Alvaros. These were the
bare outlines of the story, as told by Don Hermoso, but there were
details of words said and deeds done that caused Jack Singleton to "see
red", and to wonder how it was that a man, made in God's image, could
ever become degraded to a condition so much lower than that of the
beasts that perish; and how it was that such fiends in human form were
permitted to live and to work their wicked will upon others. "However,"
he comforted himself by saying, "such atrocities as Senor Alvaros has
committed do not go unpunished, and the time will come when he will wish
that he had shot himself rather than yield to the suggestions of his own
evil heart!" How truly he prophesied, and how awful was the retribution
that was to fall upon Don Sebastian Alvaros, Jack little knew, otherwise
it is possible that even his righteous anger might have been mitigated,
his craving for vengeance drowned in the fountain of pity!
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
RETRIBUTION.
It was a trifle over thirty-six hours from the moment of the deliverance
of Don Hermoso and his wife and son when the _Thetis_, brilliant in all
the bravery of white enamel paint, gilt figurehead and ornamental
scroll-work, freshly varnished boats, and scintillating brasswork,
steamed into Guantanamo harbour and let go her anchor off the little
town--or village, for it is scarcely more--of Caimamera. The visit of
the yacht to this out-of-the-way spot was ostensibly for the purpose of
enabling that erratic and irresponsible young Englishman, her owner, to
enjoy a day or two's fishing, Guantanamo harbour being noted for the
variety of fish with which its waters teem, and the excellent sport
which they afford; but Jack's first act was to go ashore and pay an
early visit to the telegraph office, from which he dispatched a cipher
wire to Don Ramon Bergera, briefly acquainting that gentleman with the
bare facts of the rescue and Dona Isolda's death. Then he allowed the
crew to take a couple of boats and go fishing, while he devoted himself
to the arduous task of comforting and consoling his friends as best he
could; indeed, that had been his chief occupation from the moment when
the Montijos had first come on board the yacht from the convict ship.
Nor were his efforts altogether unavailing, although it was exceedingly
difficult to find words of comfort for those whose hearts were still
bleeding from the tragic loss of the being who was dearest to them all.
With the Senora Montijo Jack was much more successful than with her
husband and son, for the poor soul's reason was entirely gone, and to
such an extent, indeed, that she seemed to have completely forgotten
every circumstance connected with their recent misfortunes, appearing to
merely remember Jack as someone with whom certain pleasant memories,
vaguely recalled, were connected, and in whose society she therefore
took pleasure. She very rarely spoke, never rationally, but was content
to walk fore and aft the deck by the hour, with her hand on Jack's
supporting arm and her eyes gazing dreamily at the deck planks. She
took even more pleasure in Jack's society than she did in that of her
husband and son, both of whom were at this time gloomy, saturnine,
silent brooders upon revenge.
On the second day after their arrival in Guantanamo harbour there came a
letter from Don Ramon, briefly congratulating Jack upon his success and
the Montijos upon their deliverance, and requesting them to remain where
they were for the present, as he had been unable to gather any definite
news, but was busily conducting a number of enquiries. Then, after the
lapse of a full week, there came another letter from the same source,
informing them that the writer had received a communication from Senor
Calderon, Don Hermoso's manager, stating that Senor Alvaros--now
promoted to the rank of major--had appeared at the hacienda with the
intelligence that Don Hermoso and his family, having been found guilty
of the crime of conspiracy against the Spanish Government, had been
shipped off to Fernando Po for life; and the estates, having been
sequestrated, had been given to him as a reward for meritorious service:
furthermore, that, Senor Calderon having had long experience in the
management of the estate, Major Alvaros was disposed to allow him to
retain the post of manager, at least for the present, upon condition
that he was found to serve his new master faithfully: and that, finally,
Senor Calderon was henceforward to account to Major Alvaros for all
income and expenditure connected with the estate. Don Ramon then went
on to state that, upon receipt of this communication, he had taken it
upon himself to pay a flying visit to Senor Calderon, upon which
occasion he, Don Ramon, had informed the Senor of the escape of Don
Hermoso from the convict ship, and had instructed him to hold the
property, at all hazards, until Don Hermoso's return. And the letter
wound up by strongly urging Don Hermoso to return to his property
forthwith and hold it against all comers, arming his peons and
dependents, if necessary; although the writer was of opinion that the
Government generally, and Alvaros in particular, would soon be much too
busy to find time to dispute Don Hermoso's right to the possession of
his property.