CHAPTER XLV.
BARNABY THE AVENGER.
The man did not come back. During the whole day I remained withAlice in fear. But he molested us not.
When the sun set, and the field hands returned, I was in two mindswhether to tell Barnaby what had happened, or not. But when Isaw his honest face, streaked with the dust of the day's work,and watched him eating his lump of salt beef and basin of yellowporridge with as much satisfaction as if it had been a banquetof all the dainties, I could not bear, without greater cause, todisturb his mind.
'To-night,' he told me, when there was no more beef and the porridgewas all eaten, 'there is a great feast at the Bridge. I wouldwe had some of their Sherris and Madeira. The Governor of Nevislanded yesterday, and is entertained to-day by our Governor. Allthe militia are feasting, officers and men; nobody will be on thelook-out anywhere; and it is a dark night, with no moon. What achance for us, could we make our escape to-night! There may neveragain happen such a chance for us! How goes Robin?'
And so after a little more talk we lay down in our hammocks, and I,for one, fell instantly asleep, having no fear at all for Alice;first, because the Master would be now at the Bridge, feasting andtoo drunk for anything but to sleep; and next, because she had withher the woman Deb, as stout and lusty as any man.
The Master was not at the Bridge with the rest of the planters andgentlemen. Perhaps the drink which he took in the morning causedhim to forget the great banquet. However that may be, he was, mostunluckily for himself, drinking at home and alone, yet dressed inhis best coat and wig, and with his sword, all of which he had puton for the Governor's banquet.
After a while the Devil entered into him, finding easy admission,so to speak, all doors thrown wide open, and even a welcome inthat deboshed and profligate soul. About eight o'clock, therefore,prompted by the Evil One, the Master rose and stealthily crept outof the house.
It was a dark night, but he needed no light to guide his footsteps.He crossed the court and made straight for the sick-house.
He pushed the door open and stood for a little, looking within. Bythe light of the horn lanthorn he saw the girl whose image was inhis mind. The sight might have caused him to return, repentant andashamed. For she was on her knees, praying aloud beside the bedsideof the sick man.
As he stood in the door the woman named Deb, who lay upon the floorasleep, woke up and raised her head. But he saw her not. Then shesat up, watching him with suspicion. But his eyes were fixed on thefigure of Alice. Then she sprang to her feet, for now she knew thatmischief was meant, and she stood in readiness, prepared with hergreat strong arms to defend her mistress. But he thought nobody wasin the house but Alice and the sick man. He saw nothing but the girlat the bedside.
I say that I was sleeping. I was awakened at the sound of ashriek--I knew the voice--I sprang from the hammock.
'God of mercy!' I cried, 'it is Alice! Barnaby, awake!--awake, Isay! It is the cry of Alice!'
Then I rushed to the sick-house.
There I saw Alice--shrieking and crying for help. And before herthe Master struggling and wrestling with the woman Deb. She had herarms round his neck and made as if she was trying to throttle him.Nay, I think that she would have throttled him, so strong she wasand possessed of such a spirit, and by the light of the lanthorngleaming upon the blade I saw that his sword had either fallen fromhis hand or from the scabbard, and now lay upon the floor.
'Stand back,' cried Barnaby, pushing me aside. 'Leave go of him,woman. Let me deal with him.'
The thing was done in a moment. Merciful Heavens! To think that thussuddenly should the soul of man be called to its account! I hadseen the poor fellows shot down and cut to pieces on Sedgemoor; butthen they knew that they were going forth to fight, and so might bekilled. There was time before the battle for a prayer. But this manhad no time--and he was more than half drunk as well.
He lay at our feet, lifeless, Barnaby standing over him with abroken sword in his hand.
For a while no one spoke or moved. But the woman called Deb gaspedand panted and even laughed, as one who is well pleased because shehath had her revenge.
Then Madam herself, clad in a long white night-dress and with barefeet, suddenly pushed us aside and fell upon her knees beside thewounded man.
She lifted his head. The face was pale and the eyes closed. She laidit gently down and looked round.
'You have killed him,' she said, speaking not in a rage or passion,but quietly. 'You have killed him. To-morrow you will hang! you willall hang!'
We said nothing.
'Doctor,' she turned to me, 'tell me if he is dead or living.'
She snatched the lanthorn and held it while I made such examinationas was possible. I opened his waistcoat and laid back his shirt.The sword had run straight through him and broken off short, perhapsby contact with his ribs. The broken point remained in the wound andthe flesh had closed around it, so that, save for a drop of blood ortwo oozing out, there was no flow.
It needs no great knowledge to understand that when a man hath sixinches of steel in his body which cannot be pulled out, and when heis bleeding inwardly, he must die.
Still, as physicians use, I did not tell her so.
'Madam,' I said, 'he is not dead; he is living. While there is life,there is hope.'
'Oh!' she cried; 'why did he buy you when he could have had thecommon sort? You will hang--you will hang, every one!'
'That shall we presently discover,' said Barnaby. 'Humphrey, we havenow no choice left--what did I tell thee about the chances of thenight? We must go this night. As for this villain, let him bleed todeath.'
'Go!' said Madam. 'Whither, unhappy men, will you go? There is noplace in the island where you can hide but with bloodhounds theywill have you out. You can go nowhere in this island but you will befound and hanged, unless you are shot like rats in a hole.'
'Come, Humphrey,' said Barnaby, 'we will carry Robin. This poorwoman must go too; she will else be hanged for trying to throttlehim. Well, she can lend a hand to carry Robin. Madam, by yourleave we will not hang, nor will we be shot. In the--in the--thecave--cave that I know of, your bloodhounds will never find us.'
'Madam,' I said, 'it is true that we shall attempt to escape. Forwhat hath happened I am truly sorry; yet we may not suffer such athing as was this night attempted without resistance, else should webe worse than the ignorant blacks. The Master will perhaps live, andnot die. Listen, and take heed therefore.'
'Doctor,' she said, 'do not leave me. Stay with me, or he will die.Doctor, stay with me, and I will save your life. I will swear thatyou came at my call. Stay with me--I will save Alice as well. I willsave you both. You shall be neither flogged nor hanged. I swear it.I will say that I called you for help when it was too late. Onlythis man and this woman shall hang. Who are they? A rogue and----'
Barnaby laughed aloud.
'Doctor,' she said, 'if you stay he will perhaps recover and forgiveyou all.'
Barnaby laughed again.
'Madam,' I told her, 'better death upon the gallows than any furtherterm of life with such a man.'
'Oh!' she cried; 'he will die where he is lying!'
'That may be, I know not.' I gave her certain directions, biddingher, above all, watch the man, and cause him to lie perfectly quietand not to speak a word, even in a whisper, and to give him a fewdrops of cordial from time to time.
'Come,' said Barnaby, 'we lose time, which is precious. Madam, ifyour husband recover--and for my part I care nothing whether herecover or whether he die--but if he should recover, tell him fromme, Captain Barnaby Eykin, that I shall very likely return to thisisland, and that I shall then, the Lord helping, kill him in fairduello, to wipe out the lash of the cudgel which he was good enoughonce to lay about my head. If he dies of this trifling thrust withhis own sword he must lay that to the account of my sister. Enough,'said Barnaby, 'we will now make our way to the woods and the cave.'
This said, Barnaby went to the head of Robin's bed and ordered Debto
take the foot, and so between them they carried him forth withthem, while Alice followed and I went last.
We heard, long afterwards, through one Mr. Anstiss--the same younggentleman who loved Alice and would have married her--what hadhappened when we were gone. An hour or thereabouts afterwards, Madamwoke up one of the overseers, telling him what had happened, andbidding him be ready at daybreak, with the bloodhounds, horses, andloaded guns, to follow in pursuit and bring us back.
There would be, they thought, no difficulty at all in catching us,because we were encumbered by a sick man and two women.
There was, however, more difficulty than they expected. For thefootsteps led the bloodhounds to the seashore; and here the tracewas lost, nor could it ever be afterwards recovered. And thoughthe hue and cry was out over all the island, and the woods andthe ravines and caves where runaway negroes hide were searched,we were never found. Therefore, since no boat at all was missing(the Guineaman had sailed away), it was certain that we could nothave escaped by sea. It was fortunate, indeed, that Barnaby droppedno hint about the sea; otherwise there would have been despatchedsome of the boats of the port in search of us, and in that case thescuttling of the ship might have been necessary. For, had we beencaught, we should certainly have been hanged for murder, after beingflogged for attempted escape. For the Master died. He lay speechlessuntil the day broke. Then he became conscious, and presentlybreathed his last in great anguish of body and terror of mind. Whathath since become of Madam, and of that miserable family of servantsand slaves, I know not. Certain it is that they could not find amore barbarous or a more savage master in place of him whom Barnabyslew if they were to search the whole of the Spanish Main and theislands upon it.
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