CHAPTER NINETEEN.
BOB GIVES WAY TO VIOLENCE.
Great was the consternation and distress at Staunton Cottage that nightwhen the workers returned from the shipyard and reported the arrest andimprisonment of Captain Staunton and Lance Evelin. That these twoshould be placed in durance at all was regarded as a serious misfortune;but, coming as it did at so critical a time, just as the work on theschooner was drawing near its completion and when the long-looked-foropportunity to escape might present itself at almost any moment, it wasjustly regarded as a disaster of the gravest character. The imprisonedmen were the two who had most completely retained their coolness andself-possession throughout the whole of the reverses which had befallenthe party; it was their fertile brains which had devised the audaciouslydaring plan of escape, and without them the rest of the party felt thatthey dare not do anything for fear of marring the whole scheme. Andthere was still another misfortune attending this arrest: supposing afavourable opportunity presented itself for the carrying out of theplan, it could not be seized so long as these two men were prisoners;all, even to Dale, were fully agreed that escape without them was not tobe thought of for a moment. For two of the party--poor Mrs Stauntonand Blanche--there was still another source of anxiety. Now that Rallihad at last completely laid aside the mask of friendliness which had atfirst concealed his feeling of ill-will--now that he had cast off thelast remains of a semblance of forbearance--to what terrible lengthsmight he not allow his vindictiveness to carry him? Would he stop shortat the humiliation of imprisonment and fetters? Or was it not toogreatly to be dreaded that he would now proceed also to active violence!This fear was fully shared by the rest of the party, but they werecareful to hide it from the two poor heart-broken women who were chieflyinterested in the prisoners, striving rather to inspire them with hopeswhich they themselves did not entertain. A long and most anxiousdiscussion of the situation that night, Rex and Bowles taking the leadby virtue of their superior resolution and experience, was productive ofabsolutely no result except to place an additional damper upon theiralready sufficiently depressed spirits. Bob said nothing, but, like thequeen's parrot, he thought the more. Brook frankly acknowledged himselfquite unequal to the emergency, as did Dale, but both cheerfully statedtheir readiness to do anything they might be directed to do. And hereit may be stated that misfortune had been gradually doing for thelatter--as it does for so many people--what prosperity had utterlyfailed to do, it had been driving out of him that peevishness of temperand that utter selfishness of character which had been his mostdisagreeable characteristics, and it had developed in their place analmost cheerful resignation to circumstances and a readiness to thinkand act for others which promised to make of him eventually a man whomit would be possible to both respect and esteem.
The following day brought with it a full revelation of the state ofthings which our friends would have to expect in the future; CaptainStaunton and Lance being taken out of their confinement only to beemployed all day in fetters upon work of the most laborious description,and locked up again at night in the loathsome Black Hole; while for thebenefit of the whole party--and for the rest of the prisoners also, forthat matter--Ralli had provided himself with a "colt," which he appliedwith merciless severity to their shoulders whenever the humour seizedhim. This last indignity was almost greater than they could bear; butLance saw that the time was not yet ripe for action, and that there wasreally nothing for it but to bear everything in dignified silence atpresent and with as much fortitude as they could summon to their aid,and he managed to whisper as much to Bob, and to request him to "passthe word" to the others, which at intervals during the day Bob did.Before the day was over most of the prisoners, excepting those belongingto the _Galatea_ party, had had enough of Ralli's colt, and signifiedtheir readiness to join the "Brotherhood;" they were accordingly swornin at nightfall on their return from work.
This most unfortunate state of affairs had prevailed for nearly afortnight, during which Ralli's arrangements for the entire completionof the schooner whilst yet upon the stocks had been pressed vigorouslyforward, when Dickinson found himself in a position to announce to theGreek that another three days would see the schooner ready for sea, andthat--a sufficient number of men being now at liberty to proceed withthe work--the time had arrived for the laying-down of the ways and theconstruction of the cradle. The eyes of the Greek sparkled withdelight. Three days!--Only three days more, or four at most, and thetime for which he had so anxiously waited would have arrived; the timewhen he would find himself master not only of a battery which wouldenable him to hold the island against all comers--Johnson included--orrather, Johnson especially--but also of a smart little craft capable ofsailing round and round the _Albatross_, and heavily enough armed tomeet her upon equal terms. Let but those three or four days passwithout interruption, and with what sincere delight would he view theapproach of Johnson and his brig, and with what a warm and unexpectedwelcome would he receive them! He rubbed his hands with fiendish gleeas he thought of this, and slapped Dickinson playfully on the shoulderas he bid him commence the necessary work forthwith.
Thereupon Dickinson boldly stated that he must have the advice andassistance of Captain Staunton and Lance, as he didn't know enough aboutcradles and ways and suchlike to build 'em properly, and he couldn'tfind anybody on the island as did!
The ex-boatswain's mate was in hopes that this proposition of his wouldload to at least a temporary amelioration of the condition of his twofriends, if not the absolute establishment of a better state of things;but his hopes were unexpectedly and effectually quenched by theannouncement that the Greek knew all about it, and intended tosuperintend that part of the work himself. The time had now arrivedwhen a definite plan of action at the decisive moment ought to be fullyagreed upon; and feeling this, Dickinson arose from his bunk aboutmidnight that night, and lighting his pipe sauntered in the direction ofthe Black Hole, hoping for an opportunity to confer and finally arrangematters with the prisoners confined therein. To his greatdisappointment and chagrin he found the door of the place--a small lowbuilding roughly but very solidly constructed of stone, with no windowsand no means of ventilation save such as was afforded by the momentaryopening of the door for ingress or egress--guarded by a couple of themost ruffianly of the pirates, fellows who were completely the creaturesof Ralli, and who had on more than one occasion thrown out strong hintsof their suspicion that Dickinson was on more friendly terms than heought to be with the men now in confinement. To their searchinginquiries as to the reasons for Dickinson's untimely and suspiciousvisit to them the ex-boatswain's mate was driven to reply with acomplaint as to the extreme heat and closeness of the night, and of hisinability to sleep in consequence, his restlessness being such as toconstrain him to rise and come outside for a smoke and a chat withsomebody; and, there being no one else to chat with, he had just come tothem. To this explanation he added a careless offer to relieve them oftheir guard for the rest of the night; but this offer provoked such anexpression of unqualified suspicion from both the guards that he at oncesaw he was treading on very dangerous ground, and was accordingly fainto abandon his well-intentioned effort to communicate with those insidethe prison door.
Driven thus into a corner, he resolved to get a word or two, ifpossible, with the inmates of Staunton Cottage; and he accordinglysauntered off, taking a very roundabout way, as long as he thought it atall possible for his movements to be seen by the already suspiciousguards.
Dickinson's complaint as to the heat and closeness of the night wasquite sufficiently well founded to have been accepted as perfectlygenuine. It was pitchy dark, the sky being obscured by a thin veil ofcloud which was yet sufficiently dense to completely obscure the lightof the stars; the air was still to the extent of stagnation; and thetemperature was so unusually high that Dickinson found the mere act ofwalking, even at the idle sauntering pace which he had adopted, alaborious exertion. In the great and oppressive stillness whichprevailed, the hoarse thunder of t
he trampling surf upon the rockyshores of the island smote so loudly upon the ear as to be almoststartling; and to the lonely wanderer there in the stifling darkness thesound seemed to bring a vague mysterious premonition of disaster.
Dickinson had almost reached the cottage when he became conscious ofanother sound rising above that of the roaring surf, the sound as of aheavily-laden wagon approaching over a rough and stony road, or of aheavy train rumbling through a tunnel at no great depth beneath thesurface of the earth. The sound, dull and muffled still, swept rapidlytoward him from seaward, and at the moment of its greatest intensitythere was for an instant a vibrating jar of the ground beneath his feet;the next moment it had passed, and the sound swept onward toward theinterior of the island until it again became lost in the hollow roar ofthe distant breakers.
Somewhat startled by this singular and unusual phenomenon, Dickinsonhurried forward, and soon stood beneath the walls of the cottage. Alight was still burning in one of the upper rooms; so, seizing a handfulof fine gravel, he flung it against the window in the hope of quietlyattracting the attention of the inmates. After two or three essays hisefforts were rewarded with success, the window being softly opened andBowles' head thrust out, with the low-spoken ejaculation:
"Hillo, below there!"
"It's me--Dickinson," was the equally low-spoken response. "If you'renot all turned-in I'd be glad to have a few words with some of yer."
"All right, my lad!" said Bowles. "I'll be down in a jiffey. Nothingelse gone wrong, I hope?"
"No," said Dickinson; "I only wants to make a few arrangements; that'sall."
In another minute the ladder was cautiously lowered, and Rex and Bowlesjoined their visitor.
"I say, gen'lemen, did you hear anything _pecoolyer_ a few minutes ago?"was Dickinson's first remark.
"Yes," said Rex; "did you? Unless I am greatly mistaken we have beenvisited by a slight shock of earthquake."
"'Arthquake, eh? Well, if 'tain't nothing worse than that I don'tmind," was the response. "You see I don't know much about 'arthquakes,not bein' used to 'em, and I felt a bit scared just at first, I own; butif so be as it's only a 'arthquake, why that's all right. If anythinglike that happens I like to know, if it's only to keep my mind quiet.But that ain't what I've come up here to rouse you gen'lemen out in themiddle watch about; it's just this here."
And therewith he proceeded to lay before his hearers his own view of thestate of affairs, pointing out to them the fact--already keenlyrecognised by them--that the moment for action might now present itselfat any time, and explaining his own anxiety for a definite arrangementof some plan of operations, together with an agreement upon certainpreconcerted signals to be of such a character as should be easilyunderstood by the initiated while unlikely to arouse the suspicions ofthe rest.
A long conference ensued, at the close of which Dickinson quietlyreturned to his hammock with a greatly relieved mind. The others alsoretired, but not to sleep. They felt that the decisive moment was athand, the moment upon the right use of which depended their liberty, ifnot their lives, for they were fully persuaded that if their firstattempt failed they would never be allowed to have another--and, thoughstill anxious, their recent talk with Dickinson had made them morehopeful of success than they had ever felt before. Hitherto they hadalways been haunted by a lurking doubt; but now they began for the firsttime to think that there really _was_ a fair prospect of succeeding ifthey faced the dangers and difficulties of the attempt with boldness andresolution. Their chief anxiety now was how to free their two comrades;and to this they were as yet quite unable to see their way. Theiranxiety and distress were greatly increased on the following day byfinding that Ralli had given orders that his two prisoners, the skipperand Lance, were henceforth to be kept in close confinement altogether,with a double guard fully armed at the door, instead of being releasedduring the day to work with the others at the shipyard. To be confinedat all in the noisome "Black Hole" was bad enough, and their fortnight'sincarceration had already told visibly on the health of the prisoners,even when they had had the opportunity of breathing a pure atmosphereduring the day; but now that they were doomed to remain in the placeboth day and night their friends became seriously alarmed; they feltthat the sentence was tantamount to one of a slow but certain death.And the most trying part of it was that there seemed no possibility ofaffording any succour to the doomed men; no attempt to help or relievethem could be devised except such as must necessarily bring the partyinto immediate collision with Ralli and his myrmidons.
The Greek had now entirely laid aside all pretence of treating hisprisoners with any show of consideration. They had served his purpose;he had made them his tools as long as their assistance had beennecessary to the advancement of his ambitious schemes; but now theirhelp was no longer necessary to him, and he felt free to gratify,without stint, the malignant and vindictive feeling with which he hadfrom the first regarded them. One or two of them, too, notably Lanceand Captain Staunton, had on more than one occasion successfully opposedhim in his efforts to have things entirely his own way; and that alsomust be amply atoned for. So he now amused himself at intervals indevising fresh indignities, in planning new hardships, to be heaped uponthe unfortunate _Galatea_ party.
It was in this vindictive spirit that, on the second evening afterDickinson's midnight visit, Ralli walked up to the cottage, and,unceremoniously opening the door, obtruded his unexpected and mostunwelcome presence upon its inmates. As he made his appearance theconversation, which had been of a somewhat animated character, suddenlyceased.
He noted this circumstance as he glanced suspiciously round the room,with his features twisted into the now too familiar malicious smile.
Bowing with a sarcastic affectation of politeness, he remarked:
"I am afraid my sudden appearance has interrupted a very interestingconversation. If so, I am vary sorray. But pray go on; do not allow mypraisance to be any--what you call it--any--any--ah, yes, I have it--anyrestraint."
Then, suddenly changing his manner as his naturally suspicious natureasserted itself, he demanded:
"What were you talking about? Tell me--you; I insist."
"We were talking about matters chiefly interesting to ourselves,"answered Bowles. "If 't had been anything we wanted you to know, we'dhave sent for you."
"Ha! my big strong friend, how you are funny to-night! You want to makea laugh at me, is it not? All right; wait till to-morrow; I then shallmake a laugh at you. It is I that shall be funny then," returned Ralliwith the evil smile broadening on his face and his eyes beginning tosparkle with anger.
"Well," he continued, "since you will not so civil be as answer mypolite question, I will tell you what I have come to say. It is this.You men are working--after a very lazy fashion it is the truth--for yourliving, and from now I intend that the women--oh? I beg the pardon, Ishould have said the _ladies_--shall work for theirs too. I am not anymore going to allow laziness; you must _all_ work, beginning to-morrow."
Here was an announcement which fairly took away the breath of the party.Ralli saw the consternation which his speech had produced, and laughedin hearty enjoyment of it.
"I tell you what it is, my good sir," said Rex, recovering his presenceof mind. "You may say what you please as to the manner in which wework, but you know as well as I do that our services are _ample_ paymentfor the food and lodging which we and the ladies get; and as to _their_working--why, it is simply preposterous; what can they do?"
"What can they do?" repeated Ralli. "Ha, ha! I will tell you, my verydear sair, what they can do, and what they _shall_ do. There are threeof them and the shild. One shall do the cooking for the men; one shallclean out the sleeping-room, repair the men's clothes, and make theirhammocks; and one--the prettiest one--shall cook for me and keep mycabin in order, make and mend my clothes, and attend to me generally.As for the shild, she shall gather firewood and--ah! there she is. Comeand kees me, you little girl."
May had, in fact,
at that moment entered the room with a happy laugh;but catching sight of Ralli, the laugh was broken off short, and shesought shelter and safety by her mother's side, from which shemanifested a very decided disinclination to move at Ralli's invitation.
"Come here and kees me, little girl," repeated the Greek, his angerrapidly rising as he saw how unmistakably the child shrank from him.
"You must please excuse her," said Mrs Staunton, with difficultyrestraining the expression of her resentment; "the child has not beenaccustomed to kiss strangers."
"Come and kees me, little girl," repeated Ralli for the third time,holding out his arms to May, and entirely ignoring Mrs Staunton'sremark. But his sardonic smile and his glittering eyes were the reverseof attractive to the child. Besides, she knew him.
"No," said she resolutely, "I will not kiss you. I don't love you. Youare the naughty wicked cruel man that locked up my dear papa and MrEvelin, and won't let them come home to me."
"Hush, May, darling!" began Mrs Staunton. But her warning came toolate; the unlucky words had been spoken; and Ralli, smarting under asense of humiliation from the scorn and loathing of him so freelydisplayed by this pretty child--scarcely more than a baby yet--sprang tohis feet, and, seizing May roughly by the arm, dragged her with brutalforce away from her mother's side, and before anyone could interfere,drew out his colt and struck her savagely with it twice across her poorlittle lightly-clad shoulders.
The little creature shrieked aloud with the cruel pain as she writhed inthe ruffianly grasp of the pirate; yet the fiendish heart of hertormenter felt no mercy, his lust of cruelty was aroused, and the coltwas raised a third time to strike.
But the blow never fell Bob was the nearest to the pirate when he madehis unexpected attack upon May, and though the occurrence was too suddento admit of his interfering in time to prevent the first two blows, hewas on hand by the time that the third was ready to fall. With a yellof rage more like that of a wild beast than of a man he sprang uponRalli, dealing him with his clenched left hand so terrific a blow underthe chin that the pirate's lower jaw was shattered, and his tongue cutalmost in two. Then, quick as a flash of light he released poor Mayfrom the villain's grasp, wrenched the colt out of his hand, and, whilstthe wretch still writhed in agony upon the ground where he had fallenunder the force of Bob's first fearful blow, thrashed him with it untilthe clothes were cut from his back, and his shoulders barred with aclose network of livid and bloody weals. The miserable cowardly wretchscreamed at first more piercingly even than poor May had done; but Bobcommanded silence so imperatively and with such frightful threats thatRalli was fairly cowed into submitting to the rest of his fearfulpunishment in silence, save for such low moans as he was utterly unableto suppress.
As may well be supposed, this startlingly sudden scene of violence wasproductive of the utmost confusion in the room where it originated. Theladies, hastily seizing poor little moaning May in their arms, beat aprecipitate retreat, while the men sprang to their feet and tried--forsome time in vain--to drag Bob away from his victim. But the lad wasnow a tall, stalwart, broad-shouldered fellow; his anger was thoroughlyroused by the Greek's cruel and cowardly conduct; and it was not untilhe had pretty well exhausted himself in the infliction of a well-deserved punishment that he suffered himself to be dragged away. And itwas now too, in the desperate emergency with which our friends foundthemselves in a moment brought face to face, that Bob showed thesterling stuff of which he was made. Cutting short the horrifiedremonstrances of his friends he took the reins of affairs in his ownhands, issuing his instructions as coolly as though he had been a leaderall the days of his life.
"_The time has come_," said he. "Mr Bowles, get a piece of rope, lashthat fellow hands and heels together, and gag him. The rest of you getour few traps together; tell the ladies to do the same; and let allmuster down at the landing as quickly as possible. I'm off to warnDickinson and the rest, and to release the captain and Mr Evelin. Ah!I may as well take these," as his eye fell upon a brace of revolvers inRalli's belt. He withdrew the weapons, hastily examined them by thelight of the lamp to ascertain whether they were loaded or no, foundthat they were; and then, repeating his injunctions as to rapidity ofaction, he slipped the pistols one into each pocket, opened the door,and disappeared in the darkness.
Once fairly clear of the house, Bob paused for a minute or two tocollect his thoughts. Then he walked on again toward the large buildingin which the men were housed, and on reaching it coolly thrust his headin at the open door, and looked round as though in search of someone.
"Well, matey, what is it?" asked one of the pirates.
"Is Dickinson here?" inquired Bob boldly.
"I think he is," was the reply. "Yes, there he is, over there. Here,Dickinson! you're wanted."
"Ay, ay," answered Dickinson. "Who wants me?"
"I do," answered Bob. "_Mr Ralli says you're to shift over at once_."
This was simply a form of words which had been agreed on when Dickinsonpaid his midnight visit to the cottage, and meant that the moment foraction had arrived, and that a muster was to be made at the landing-place.
The sudden summons took Dickinson rather by surprise, though he had beenschooling himself to expect it at any moment; he instantly recoveredhimself, however, and rising to his feet with a well-assumed air ofreluctance asked:
"Does he mean that we are to go now--to-night?"
"He said `_at once_,'" answered Bob.
"Oh! very well," growled Dickinson, "I s'pose we must obey orders. Hereyou--Tom Poole, Sullivan, Masters"--and he glanced his eye round theroom, apparently hesitating whom to choose, but gradually picking out,one after the other, all the men who had cast in their lot with ourfriends--"muster your kits and then go up to the capstan-house; you'vegot to turn-in aboard the battery to-night, my beauties."
The men named, taking their cue from Dickinson, and acting up toinstructions already received, assumed a sulky unwilling demeanour asthey set about the work of packing a small quantity of already carefullyselected clothes in their bags, growling and grumbling at having to turnout just when they were thinking of tumbling into their hammocks, and soon, but using the utmost expedition all the same.
In a little over ten minutes from the time of their first being called,the men, sixteen in number, stood in the large loft of the capstan-house. Poole had brought with him the key of the arm-chest, and,opening the case, he rapidly served out to every man a cutlass with itsbelt and a pair of six-chambered revolvers, every one of which he hadhimself fully loaded only the day before, in preparation for such anemergency as the present. The chest was then relocked and left, itbeing too heavy for them to carry away with them, to say nothing of thesuspicion which such an act would excite if witnessed, as it wouldalmost certainly be. But Poole slipped the key back into his pocketagain, knowing that the strength of the chest and the solidity of thelock were such as to involve the expenditure of a considerable amount oftime in the breaking open; and every minute of detention suffered by thepirates would now be almost worth a man's life to the escaping party.
"Now, lads," said Dickinson, "are yer all ready? Then march; down tothe beach we goes, and seizes the two whale-boats, eight of us to eachboat. But mind! there's to be no getting into the boats or shoving offuntil the ladies and gentlemen from the hut's all here. Mayhap we shallhave to make a fight of it on the beach yet; so keep dry land under yourfeet until you has orders contrariwise."
The men descended the ladder leading from the capstan-house loft, andranging themselves in a small compact body, two abreast, marched down tothe landing-place, being joined on their way by some half-dozen curiousidlers who had turned out to see what was in the wind. Dickinson wasmost anxious to get rid of these unwelcome attendants, and did all hecould think of to persuade them to return to the house; but though quiteunsuspicious as yet, they were not to be persuaded; they preferredrather to march alongside the other party, keeping up a constant fire ofsuch jests and witticisms as sailors are wont t
o indulge in.
Bob, from a secluded and shadowy corner, watched this party as long ashe could see them, and then began to look out for his own particularfriends. He had not long to wait; barely five minutes afterwards he sawthem also pass down on their way to the boats.
He allowed these a sufficient time to reach the boats, and then set offat a brisk pace to the "Black Hole." He soon reached it; and on hisapproach was promptly challenged by the two guards, who happened to bethe same two truculent ruffians who were on guard when Dickinson triedto communicate with the prisoners.
In reply to the challenge, Bob informed them that they were wanted byRalli, _immediately_, at the cottage (that being the most distantbuilding), and that he had orders to keep guard until their return.
"What are we wanted for?" was the suspicious question.
"Oh! I believe there's some more people to be locked up here," answeredBob nonchalantly.
"All right!" answered the one who had asked the question. "Come on,Mike. And you--you young swab--mind you don't let a soul come near herewhile we're gone; if you do, Ralli'll just skin yer. D'ye hear?"
"All right!" answered Bob, placing his back against the door; "you goon; I won't give Ralli a chance to skin me, never fear. He's a gooddeal more likely to skin _you_ if you don't look sharp."
The two guards accordingly set out in the direction of the cottage; butthey had not gone half a dozen steps before they returned, cursing andswearing most horribly.
"Here, you young cub, what's the pass-word? Damn me if I hadn'tforgotten that," exclaimed one of them, making towards Bob withoutstretched hand.
"Stand back!" said Bob. "If you advance another step I'll shoot youboth like dogs."
"The pass-word; the pass-word," demanded the ruffianly pair. "Give thepass-word at once, or by --- I'll split your skull with this cutlass."
Bob saw that he had not a moment to lose; that his life hung upon athread; and that, moreover, if he allowed these fellows to overpowerhim, the whole scheme would probably fail; he therefore whipped out hispistols, and, taking rapid aim, pulled both triggers at the sameinstant. There was a single report; and one of the men staggeredforward, shot through the body, whilst the other threw up his arms andfell back heavily to the ground with a bullet in his brain.
Bob remembered for many a long day afterwards, and often saw in hisdreams at night, the wild despairing glare in the eyes of the dyingpirate as the flash of the pistol glanced upon the glazing eyeballs foran instant; but he had no time to think about such things now. Stoopingdown and applying his mouth to the keyhole he said, loud enough to beheard by those within:
"Stand clear in there; I'm about to blow the lock to pieces. It is I--Robert. _The time has come_."
"Fire away, my lad!" was the reply. "You will not hurt us."
Bob applied the muzzles of both pistols to the lock, and pulled thetriggers. Fortunately, the lock was not a particularly strong one; anda supplementary kick sent the door flying open.
Captain Staunton and Lance at once emerged from their dark noisomeprison and glanced eagerly around them.
"Thank you, Robert," hurriedly exclaimed the skipper. "There is no timeto say more now, I know; so tell us what we are to do, my lad, and we'lldo it."
Bob pointed to the prostrate bodies of the two pirates and said:
"Take their arms, and then we must make a rush to the landing; thisfiring is sure to have raised an alarm, but it could not be helped. Buthow is this! Where are your manacles!"
"Slipped them off, my lad, the moment we heard your voice," answered theskipper. "Price--fine fellow that he is--managed that for us by puttingus in irons several sizes too large for us. Now, Evelin, are you ready!I fancy I hear footsteps running this way."
"All ready!" said Lance.
"Then, off we go!" exclaimed Bob. "This way, gentlemen--sharp round tothe right for a couple of hundred yards, and then straight for thelanding. It will give us a better chance if the pirates suspectanything and place themselves to cut us off."
Away went the trio at racing-pace, Bob slightly taking the lead andstriking sharply away to the right. It was well for them that they didso, as they were thus enabled to dodge a crowd of men who came excitedlyrunning up from the landing on hearing the pistol-shots.
The party from the cottage had safely reached the boats some few minutesbefore this; Dickinson having very cleverly got them through the crowdon the landing-place by calling out in an authoritative voice as soon ashe saw them coming:
"Now then, lads, make way there, make way for the prisoners to pass."
The men accordingly gave way, forming a lane in their midst throughwhich our friends passed in fear and trembling, exposed for a minute orso to the coarsest ribaldry which the ruffianly band could summon totheir lips on the spur of the moment. It was not until they had allbeen passed safely into the two whale-boats, and Dickinson's little bandhad drawn themselves closely up with drawn cutlasses in a compact linebetween the boats and the shore, that the suspicions of the piratesbecame in the least aroused.
Then there gradually arose an eager whispering among them; suspiciousglances were turned first upon Dickinson's party and then toward thebuildings; and upon the noise of shots being heard they all set out at arun in the direction of the sound, fully persuaded that affairs hadsomehow fallen out of joint with them, and that it was quite time forthem to be stirring.
They had run about half the distance between the boats and the capstan-house when someone caught a glimpse of three flying figures indistinctlymade out through the gloom. The alarm was instantly given, and inanother moment the entire crowd had turned sharply off in pursuit.
It now became a neck-and-neck race between the two parties as to whichshould reach the boats first. The pirates were poor runners, not beingmuch accustomed to that kind of exercise; but so unfortunately were twoout of the three fugitives of whom they were in chase. Bob was fleet asa deer for a short distance, but he was far too loyal to leave his twofriends; and they, poor fellows, weak and cramped as they were withtheir recent confinement, already began to feel their limbs draggingheavy as lead over the ground. The pirates gained upon them rapidly.
Presently one of the pursuers was so near that they could hear himpanting heavily behind.
"You keep steadily on," murmured Bob, as he pushed in for a momentbetween his two companions; "I'll stop this fellow."
Then, allowing the skipper to pass ahead of him, he sprang suddenlyaside, and, grasping one of his pistols by the barrel, brought down thebutt of the weapon heavily upon the pirate's head as he rushed past.The fellow staggered a pace or two further and then fell heavily to theground, where he lay face downwards and partially stunned until hiscomrades came to his assistance. As, fortunately, they all stopped andgathered round the man, raising him to his feet and eagerly questioninghim, the diversion thus created gave the three fugitives time to reachthe boats without further molestation.
Here they were, of course, received with open arms; but before theirgreetings were half exchanged the armed guard had turned to the boats,and, exerting their whole strength, shot them out upon the glassy watersof the bay, springing in themselves at the same moment and taking totheir oars without an instant's delay.
As soon as the boats' heads were turned round and fairly pointed awayfrom the shore and toward the shipyard, Dickinson, taking off his hat insalutation to Captain Staunton, said in a loud voice so that all in theboats could hear:
"Now, sir, we're fairly launched upon this here henterprise at last, andmay luck go with us! We've all had to manage as best we could for thelast few days--since you was locked up, you know, sir; but now as you'refree again we wants you to understand as we all looks upon you as ourlawful leader and cap'n, and that from henceforth all you've got to dois to give your orders, and we'll obey 'em."
CHAPTER TWENTY.
A NIGHT OF TERROR.
Captain Staunton's first act, after suitably acknowledging Dickinson'sexpression of fealty, was to inqui
re how the crisis had been broughtabout. The explanation made his eyes flash fire; he ground his teethand clenched his fists with rage as he thought of how he would havepunished the ruffian who had laid such brutal hands upon his little pet.And when the explanation was complete, he wrung Bob's hand until itfairly ached as he thanked him for what he had done. Meanwhile poor Maystill lay in her mother's arms moaning with pain; and when the skippertook her on his knee the little creature once more screamed out, andcomplained that it hurt her shoulder. Upon this Lance, thinking thatsomething must be wrong, made a careful examination of the child, whenit was found that Ralli's brutal violence had resulted in thedislocation of her shoulder. It was of course at once pulled back intoplace, but the poor little creature's screams at the pain of theoperation were terrible to hear; and Captain Staunton in the hastinessof his anger registered a solemn vow that if he ever again met Ralli hewould make the wretch pay dearly for his brutality.
How little he dreamed of the terrible circumstances under which he wouldnext see this miserable man.
The two whale-boats sped swiftly across the glassy surface of the bay,propelled by six stalwart oarsmen each, a little jet of phosphorescentwater spouting up under their sharp stems, a long ripple spreading outand undulating away on either side of them, and half a dozen tinywhirlpools of liquid fire swirling in the wake of each as their crewsstrained at the stout ash oars until they bent again. The night hadgrown black as pitch, not a solitary star was visible, and the heat wasso intense as to be almost insufferable; but the men thought nothing ofthis in their eagerness and zeal now that they had taken the decisivestep of throwing up their old life of crime and had fairly enrolledthemselves once more on the side of law and order.
In a very short time the boats had made the passage across the bay andwere brought with an easy graceful sweep alongside the landing at theshipyard. The occupants quickly disembarked; and while the ladiesproceeded at once under the care and guidance of Rex and Bob to safe andcomfortable quarters in the schooner's spacious cabin, Captain Stauntongave orders that two large fires should be immediately lighted, one oneach side of the landing, for the double purpose of affording them alight to work by and of enabling them to perceive the approach of theirenemies.
"For," he remarked to Lance, "you may depend upon it that theirsuspicions are thoroughly aroused by this time, and it will not be longbefore they are after us to see what it all means."
A couple of huge heaps of shavings, chips, and ends of timber werespeedily collected and ignited, the blaze soaring high in the motionlessair and throwing a strong ruddy light for a considerable distance round.
Then Lance, with Bowles, Dickinson, Poole, and three or four otherreliable hands armed with torches, went carefully round the schooner,inspecting the cradle. It was unfinished; but Lance thought that acouple of hours more of energetic labour expended upon it would make itsufficiently secure to enable them to effect the launch. Time was nowof immense value to them; they could not afford to be very particular,and so long as the cradle would serve its purpose that was all theycared about.
They accordingly set to with a will, and very soon the yard resoundedwith the harsh rasping of saws and the heavy blows of mauls wedging thetimbers into their places.
In the meantime Captain Staunton with the rest of the party went onboard the schooner, and, after fully arming themselves with cutlass andrevolver, opened the magazine, passed a good supply of ammunition ondeck, cast loose the guns, and carefully loaded them, cramming themalmost to the muzzle with bullets, spike-nails, and anything else theycould lay hold of. This done, the skipper, unwilling to leave the shiphimself, called for a volunteer to go to the battery, spike the gunsthere, and lay a fuse in the magazine. Bob at once stepped forward,and, being accepted, provided himself forthwith with a hammer and asufficient length of fuse, and set out upon his errand.
He had scarcely disappeared in the gloom when Dale, who had volunteeredto keep a look-out, gave warning of the approach of two boats--thelaunch and the pinnace--full of men.
They were observed almost at the same moment by Lance, who hailed:
"Schooner ahoy! Do you see the boats coming?"
"Ay, ay," answered Captain Staunton. "We see them, and we'll give thema warm reception presently."
"Very well," returned Lance; "we shall stick to our work and leave youto do the fighting. If you require any assistance, give us a call."
"All right!" answered the skipper. Then turning to the men on theschooner's deck, he shouted:
"Run those two guns out of the stern-ports there, and train them so asto sweep the boats just before they reach the landing. So! that's well.Now wait for the word, and when I give it, fire."
The boats, however, were meantime lying upon their oars, their crewsapparently holding a consultation. The fire-light which revealed theirapproach revealed to them also the fact that the occupants of theshipyard were fully prepared to emphatically dispute any attempt ontheir part to land; and the sight brought vividly to their minds theaphorism that "discretion is the better part of valour."
At length, after some twenty minutes of inaction--during which theworkers underneath the schooner's bottom plied their tools with a skilland energy that was truly astounding--the two boats were once more putin motion, their crews directing their course toward the landing, eachboat having a rude substitute for a white flag reared upon a boat-hookin the bow.
The moment that they were near enough for their occupants to hear himCaptain Staunton hailed them with an imperative order to keep off or hewould fire into them.
They at once laid upon their oars, and a man rising in the stern-sheetsof the launch returned an answer, which was, however, quiteunintelligible. Meanwhile the boats, still having way upon them,continued slowly to approach.
"Back water!" shouted the skipper, seizing the trigger line of one ofthe guns, whilst Brook stood manfully at the other. "Back water, all ofyou, instantly, or we will fire."
The man in the stern-sheets of the launch waved his hand; the oars againflashed into the water, and both boats dashed at the landing-place.
"Wait just a moment yet," said the skipper, raising a warning hand toBrook and squinting along his gun at the same time. "Now, fire!"
The report of the two brass nine-pounders rang sharply out at the samemoment, making the schooner quiver to her keel, and severely testing theconstruction of her cradle. A crash was heard, then a frightful chorusof shrieks, yells, groans, and execrations; and as the smoke curledheavily away, both boats were seen with their planking rent andpenetrated here and there, and their occupants tumbling over and overeach other in their anxiety to get at the oars--many of which had beensuffered to drop overboard--and withdraw as quickly as possible to asomewhat safer distance.
A hearty cheer was raised by the party in possession of the shipyard.Those on board the schooner reloaded their guns in all haste, and thehammering down below went on with, if possible, still greater energy.
The boats were suffered to retire unmolested, and nothing further washeard of them for over half an hour. Then Dale, who was stillmaintaining a careful look-out, suddenly gave notice that they wereagain approaching.
The two aftermost guns were accordingly once more very carefully pointedand fired, Captain Staunton giving the word as before. But by somemischance the muzzles were pointed a trifle too high, and both chargesflew harmlessly over the boats, tearing up the water a few yards asternof them. The pirates, upon this unexpected piece of--to them--goodfortune, raised a frantic cheer of delight, and, bending at their oarsuntil they seemed about to snap them, dashed eagerly at the landing-place.
There was no time to reload the guns, so, seizing his weapons andcalling upon all hands to follow him, the skipper hastily scrambled overthe schooner's bulwarks, and, making his way to the ground, rushedforward to meet the enemy, who had by this time effected a landing.
The two opposing forces met within half a dozen yards of the water'sedge, and then ensued a most desperate and san
guinary struggle. Thepirates had by this time pretty nearly guessed at the audacious designsof those to whom they were opposed. They had seen enough to know notonly that an escape was meditated, but that it was also proposed tocarry off the schooner--that beautiful craft which their own hands hadso largely assisted to construct, and in which they had confidentlyexpected to sail forth upon a career of unbounded plunder and licence,in full reliance that her speed would insure to them complete immunityfrom punishment for their nefarious deeds. Such unheard-of audacity wasmore than enough to excite their anger to the pitch of frenzy, and theyfought like demons, not only for revenge, but also for the salvation ofthe schooner. But if these were the motives which spurred them on tothe encounter, their adversaries were actuated by incentives of a stillhigher character. They fought for the life and liberty, not only ofthemselves, but also of the weak defenceless women, whose only trustunder God was in them; and if the pirates rushed furiously to the onset,they were met with a cool, determined resolution, which was more than abalance for overpowering numbers. Captain Staunton looked eagerly amongthe crowd of ruffianly faces for that of Ralli, determined to avengewith his own hand the multitudinous wrongs and insults which this manhad heaped upon him and his dearest ones; but the Greek was nowhere tobe seen. On the skipper's right was Lance, and on his left Dickinson,the former fully occupying the attention of at least three opponents bythe marvellous play of his cutlass-blade, whilst the latter brandishedwith terrible effect a heavy crow-bar which he had hurriedly snatched upon being summoned to the fight. Rex and Brook were both working wondersalso. Bowles was fighting as only a true British seaman _can_ fight ina good cause; and Dale, with a courage which excited his own most livelysurprise, was handling his cutlass and pistol as though he had used theweapons all his life. Steadily, and inch by inch, the pirates weredriven back in spite of their superior numbers; and at last, after afight of some twenty minutes, they finally broke and fled before adetermined charge of their adversaries, rushing headlong to their boatsand leaving their dead and wounded behind them.
Captain Staunton did not follow them up, although the two whale-boatsstill lay moored at the landing as they had left them. He was anxiousto avail himself of the advantage already gained in making good theescape of his own party rather than to risk further losses by an attemptto inflict additional punishment upon his adversaries. Besides, thatmight possibly follow later on when they had got the schooner afloat.His first act, therefore, after the flight of the pirates, was to musterhis forces and ascertain the extent of the casualties.
The list was a heavy one.
In the first place, nine of the little band were missing at the muster.Bowles presented himself with his left arm shattered by a pistol bullet;Brook was suffering from a severe scalp-wound; and every one of theothers had a wound or contusion of some sort, which, whilst it did notincapacitate them for work, was a voucher that they had not shrunk fromtaking their part manfully in the fight.
This first hasty examination over, an anxious search was instituted forthe missing. The first man found was Dickinson, dead, his body coveredwith wounds, and a bullet-hole in the centre of his forehead. Near himlay Dale, bleeding and insensible, shot through the body; and a littlefurther on Bob was found, also insensible, with a cutlass gash acrossthe forehead. Then Dick Sullivan was found dead, with his skull clovento the eyes; and near him, also dead, one of the seamen of the_Galatea_. And lastly, at some distance from the others, Ned Masters,with another seaman from the _Galatea_, and two of the escapedprisoners, were found all close together, severely wounded, andsurrounded by a perfect heap of dead and wounded pirates. These four,it seemed, had somehow become separated from the rest of their party,and had been surrounded by a band of pirates. This made a list of threekilled and six severely wounded.
The latter were gently raised in the arms of their less injured comradesand taken with all speed on board the schooner, where they were turnedover for the present to the care of the ladies; while those who werestill able to work resumed operations underneath the ship's bottom.
Another quarter of an hour's hard work, and then Lance's voice was heardordering one hand to jump on board the schooner and look out for a line.
"All right!" exclaimed Bob's voice from the deck; "heave it up here, MrEvelin."
"What! you there, Robert? Glad to hear it, my fine fellow. Just goforward; look out for the line, and, when you have it, haul taut andmake fast securely."
"All right," answered Bob with his head over the bows; "heave!"
The line, a very slender one, was thrown up, and Bob, gathering in theslack, and noticing that it led from somewhere ahead of the schooner,bowsed it well taut and securely belayed it. He knew at once what itwas.
"Hurrah!" he shouted joyously. "That means that we are nearly ready forlaunching."
Bob's unexpected reappearance, it may be explained, was due to the factthat he had been merely stunned, and had speedily recoveredconsciousness under the ministering hands of his gentle friends in thecabin, upon which, though his head ached most violently, he lost no timein returning to duty.
Lance now made a second careful inspection of the cradle; and upon thecompletion of his round he pronounced that, though the structure was asomewhat rough-and-ready affair, it would do; that is to say, it wouldbear the weight of the schooner during the short time she was slidingoff the ways, and that was all they wanted.
"And now comes the wedging-up, I s'pose, sir?" remarked Pooleinterrogatively.
"Wedging-up?" returned Lance with a joyous laugh. "No, thank you,Poole; we'll manage without that. Do you see these two pieces of woodhere in each keel-block? Well, they are wedges. You have only to drawthem out and the top of the block will be lowered sufficiently to allowthe schooner to rest entirely in the cradle. Get a maul, Poole, and youand I will start forward, whilst you, Kit, with another hand, commenceaft. Knock out the wedges on both sides as you come to them, and workyour way forward until you meet us. The rest of you had better go onboard and see that everything is clear and ready for launching."
"When you're quite ready to launch, let me know, if you please, MrEvelin, and I'll go and light the fuse that's to blow up the battery,"said Bob.
"Ah! to be sure," answered Lance, "I had forgotten that. You may go upnow if you like, Bob, and I'll give you a call when we're ready."
Bob thereupon set off on his mission of destruction, while Lance andPoole with a couple of mauls began to knock out the wedges which Evelin,foreseeing from the very inception of the work some such emergency asthe present, had introduced in the construction of the keel-blocks.
In a few minutes both parties met near the middle of the vessel, and thelast pair of wedges were knocked out.
"That's a good job well over," exclaimed Poole; "and precious glad I amnow that I thought of soaping them ways this morning. I _knowed_ thishere business must come afore long, and I detarmined to get as far aheadwith the work as possible. Now I s'pose, sir, we're all ready?"
"Yes, I think so," answered Lance, "but I'll just go forward and take alook along the keel to see that she is clear everywhere."
He accordingly did so, and had the gratification of seeing by the stillbrilliant light of the fires that the keel was a good six inches clearof the blocks, fore and aft.
"All clear!" he shouted. "Now, go on board, everybody. Light the fuse,Robert, and come on board as soon as possible."
"Ay, ay, sir," answered Bob from the not very distant battery.
A tiny spark of light appeared for an instant in the darkness high up onthe face of the rock as our hero struck a match, and in another coupleof minutes he was running nimbly up the steep plank leading from therocks beneath to the schooner's deck.
"Kick down that plank, Robert, my lad, and see that it falls clear ofeverything," said Lance. "Are we all clear fore and aft?"
"All clear, sir," came the hearty reply from various parts of the deck.
"Are you ready with the axe forward there, Kit?"
/> "All ready, sir."
"_Then cut_."
A dull _cheeping_ thud of the axe was immediately heard, accompanied bya sharp _twang_ as the tautly strained line parted; then followed thesound of the shores falling to the ground; there was a gentle jar, andthe schooner began to move.
"She moves!--she moves!" was the cry. "Hurrah! Now she gathers way."
"Yes," shouted Lance, joyously. "She's going. Success to the_Petrel_"--as he shivered to pieces on the stem-head a bottle of winewhich the steward, anxious that the launch should be shorn of none ofits honours, had brought up from the cabin and hastily thrust into hishand. "Three cheers for the saucy _Petrel_, my lads--hip, hip, hip,hurrah!"
The three cheers rang lustily out upon the still air of the breathlessnight as the schooner shot with rapidly increasing velocity down theways and finally plunged into the mirrorlike waters of the bay, dippingher stern deeply and ploughing up a smooth glassy furrow of waterfringed at its outer edge with a coruscating border of vividphosphorescent light.
"The boats--the boats again!" suddenly shouted Bowles, as the schooner,now fairly afloat, shot rapidly stern-foremost away from the rock--"GoodGod! they are right in our track; we shall cut them in two."
"That is their look-out," grimly responded Captain Staunton; "if theyhad been wise they would have accepted their defeat and retired to theshore; as, however, they have not done so, they must take theconsequences. Remember, lads, not a man of them must be suffered tocome on board."
A warning shout from the helmsman of the pinnace announced his suddendiscovery of the danger which threatened the boats, and he promptlyjammed his helm hard a-starboard. The launch was on his port side; andthe result was a violent collision between the two boats, the pinnacestriking the launch with such force as to send the latter clear of theschooner whilst the pinnace herself, recoiling from the shock, stoppeddead immediately under the schooner's stern. There was a sharp suddencrash as the _Petrel's_ rudder clove its irresistible way through thedoomed boat, and a yell of dismay from its occupants, several of whommade a spring at the schooner's taffrail, only to be remorselesslythrust off again.
"There is a chance for them yet," said the skipper, as the schoonercontinued to drive astern leaving the wretches struggling in the water,"the launch has escaped; she can pick them up."
At length the schooner's way slackened sufficiently to enable Lance, bylooking over the bow and stern, to ascertain her exact trim.
"It is perfect," he exclaimed to Captain Staunton as he rejoined thelatter near the companion, "she sits accurately down to her properwater-line everywhere, thus proving the correctness of all mycalculations--a result which pleases as much as it surprises me, since Ihave had to depend entirely on my memory for the necessary _formula_.Well, Captain Staunton, my task is now finished; here is the schooner,fully rigged and fairly afloat; take charge of her, my dear sir; and mayshe fully answer all your expectations!"
"Thanks, Evelin; a thousand thanks!" exclaimed the skipper, heartilygrasping Lance's proffered hand. "You have indeed executed your self-imposed task faithfully and well. Let me be the mouth-piece of all ourparty in conveying to you our most hearty expressions of gratitude forthe noble manner in which you have aided us in our great strait. To youis entirely due the credit of bringing our project thus far to asuccessful issue; but for your skill, courage, and resolution we mighthave been compelled to remain for years--Ha! what is that?"
A low rumbling roar was faintly heard in the distance, rapidlyincreasing in volume of sound, and breaking in with startling effectupon the breathless stillness of the night.
"It is another earthquake," exclaimed Lance. "Thank Heaven, we areafloat! Had it caught us upon the stocks it would doubtless have shakenthe cradle to pieces, and, in all probability, thus frustrated ourescape."
The ominous sound drew swiftly nearer and nearer, filling the startledair with a chaos of sound which speedily became absolutely deafening inits intensity; the waters of the bay broke first into long lines ofquivering ripples, then into a confused jumble of low foaming surges;the schooner jarred violently, as though she was being dragged rapidlyover a rocky bottom; there was a hideous groaning grinding sound onshore, soon mingled with that of the crashing fall of enormous masses ofearth and rock, above which could still be feebly heard the piercingshriek of horror raised by the occupants of the launch. The shockpassed; but was immediately followed by one of still greater intensity;the waters were still more violently agitated; the schooner was swepthelplessly hither and thither, rolling heavily, and shipping greatquantities of water upon her deck as the shapeless surges madly leapedand boiled and swirled around her. Finally, a long line of luminousfoam was seen to be rushing rapidly down upon the schooner from theharbour's mouth, stretching completely across the bay. As it camenearer it was apparent that this was the foaming crest of a wall ofwater some twelve feet in height which was rushing down the bay atrailway-speed.
"Hold on, every one of you, for your lives!" hoarsely shouted theskipper, as the wave swept threateningly down upon the schooner; and thenext moment it burst upon them with a savage roar.
Luckily, the _Petrel's_ bows were presented fairly to it, or theconsequences would have been disastrous. As it was it curled in overthe stem, an unbroken mass of water, filling the decks in an instant andcarrying the schooner irresistibly along with it toward the shore at thebottom of the bay.
"Let go the anchor," shouted Captain Staunton, as soon as he could gethis head above water.
But before this could be done the wave had swept past, rushing with aloud thundering roar far up the beach even to the capstan-house, andthen rapidly subsiding.
"Get the canvas on her at once," ordered Captain Staunton--"close-reefedmain-sail, fore-sail, and jib; we shall have some wind presently, pleaseGod, and we'll make use of it to get out of this as speedily aspossible--Merciful Heaven! what now?"
A sullen roar; a rattling crash as of a peal of heaviest thunder; andthe whole scene was suddenly lit up with a lurid ruddy glow. Turningtheir startled glances inland, our adventurers saw that the lofty hill-top, dominating the head of the ravine, near which was situated the goldcavern, had burst open and was vomiting forth vast volumes of flame andsmoke. As they looked the top of the hill visibly crumbled and meltedaway, the flames shot up in fiercer volumes, vast quantities of red-hotashes, mingled with huge masses of glowing incandescent rock, wereprojected far into the air; a terrific storm of thunder and lightningsuddenly burst forth to add new terrors to the scene; and to crown all,a new rift suddenly burst open in the side of the hill, out of whichthere immediately poured a perfect ocean of molten lava.
In the face of this stupendous phenomenon Captain Staunton's order tomake sail passed unheeded; the entire faculties of every man on boardthe schooner were wholly absorbed in awe-struck contemplation of theterrific spectacle.
Onward rolled the fiery flood. It wound in a zigzag serpentine coursedown the side of the hill, and soon reached the thick wood at its baseand at the head of the valley. The stately forest withered, blazed fora brief moment, and vanished in its fatal embrace, and now it camesweeping down the steep declivity toward the bay.
This terrible sight aroused and vivified the paralysed energies of thoseon board the _Petrel_. Without waiting for a repetition of the order tomake sail they sprang with panic-stricken frantic haste to cast off thegaskets, and in an incredibly short time the schooner was under canvas.
Still there was no wind. Not the faintest breath of air came to stirthe flapping sails of the now gently rolling vessel; and her crew coulddo nothing but wait in feverish anxious expectancy for the long-delayedbreeze, watching meanwhile the majestic irresistible onward sweep ofthat fiery deluge.
At last, thank God! there was a faint puff of wind; it came, sighedpast, and died away. And now, another. The sails caught it, belliedout, flapped again, filled once more, and the _Petrel_ gathered way.She had gradually swung round until her bow pointed straight for thecapstan-house; and Captai
n Staunton sprang to the wheel, sending it witha single vigorous spin hard over. The breeze was still very light, andthe craft responded but slowly to her helm; but at length she came upfairly upon a wind and made a short stretch to the eastward, tacking themoment that she had gathered sufficient way to accomplish the manoeuvre.She was now on the port tack, stretching obliquely across the bay in asoutherly direction, when a startled call from Poole, repeated by allthe rest, directed Captain Staunton's gaze once more landward.
"Look--look--merciful powers, it is Ralli!" was Lance's horrifiedexclamation as he grasped the skipper convulsively by the shoulder andpointed with a trembling hand to the shore.
Sure enough it _was_ Ralli. The pirates had either not waited to seekhim, or had not thought of looking for him in the cottage before settingout on their expedition against the shipyard, and he had consequentlybeen left there. But somehow--doubtless in the desperation of mortalfear excited by the dreadful phenomena in operation around him--he hadat last succeeded in freeing himself from his bonds, and was now seenrunning toward the beach, screaming madly for help.
The stream of lava was only a few yards behind him, and it had nowspread out to the entire width of the very narrow valley. The unhappywretch was flying for his life; terror seemed to have endowed him withsuperhuman strength and speed, and for a moment it almost appeared asthough he would come out a winner in the dreadful race.
"'Bout ship!" sharply rang out the skipper's voice; "he is a fiendrather than a man, but he must not perish thus horribly if we can savehim."
He put the helm hard down as he spoke, and the schooner shot up into thewind, with her sails sluggishly flapping. But before she had time toget fairly round the helm was suddenly righted and then put hard up.
"Keep all fast," commanded Captain Staunton, "it is too late; no mortalpower can save him. See! he is already in the grasp of his fate."
Such was indeed the case. The fierce breath of that onward-rollingflood of fire was upon him; its scorching heat sapped his strength; hestaggered and fell. With the rapidity of a lightning flash he was upand away again; but--Merciful God--see! his clothing is all ablaze; andlisten to those dreadful shrieks of fear and agony--Ah! miserablewretch, now the flood itself is upon him; see how the waves of fire curlround him--he throws up his arms with a harsh despairing blood-curdlingyell--he sinks--he is gone--and the surging fiery river sweeps grandlyon until it plunges with an awful hissing sound into the waters of thebay and the whole scene becomes blotted out by the vast curtain of steamwhich shoots up and spreads itself abroad.
"What a night of horror! it is hell upon earth!" gasps the skipper, ashe turns his eyes away and devotes himself once more solely to the taskof navigating the schooner; "thank God the breeze is freshening, and wemay now hope to be soon out of this and clear of it all. Phew! whatterrific lightning, and what an infernal combination of deafeningsounds!"
Fortunate was it for the schooner and her crew that the wind was fromthe southward, or blowing directly down into the bay; otherwise theywould speedily have been lost in the thick clouds of steam which rosefrom the water, or set on fire by the dense shower of red-hot asheswhich now began to fall thickly about them. As it was, though the windwas against them, and they were compelled to beat up the bay, the windkept back the steam, and also to a great extent the falling ashes. But,notwithstanding these favourable circumstances, the crew were obliged tokeep the decks deluged with water to prevent their being ignited.
Gradually, however, the _Petrel_ drew further and further beyond theinfluence of this danger; and soon the rock at the harbour's mouth wassighted. Captain Staunton was at first somewhat anxious about riskingthe passage out to sea, being doubtful whether the explosion of themagazine had yet taken place; but a little reflection satisfied him thatit _must_ have occurred, as they had been drifting about the bay fornearly an hour, and he determined to push on.
Suddenly there was a shout from the look-out forward: "Boat ahead!"immediately followed by the information, "It's the launch, sir, bottom-up!"
Such indeed it proved to be when the schooner a minute later glided pastit. But where were her crew? They had disappeared, leaving no signbehind them.
The hoarse angry roar of the breakers outside was now distinctlyaudible; and in another five minutes' time the _Petrel's_ helm was easedup, she was kept away a couple of points, and, shooting through theshort narrow passage on the eastern side of the rock, began to plungewith a gentle swinging motion over the endless procession of longslowly-moving swell outside.
The crew of the schooner had time to note, as they swept past the rockand through the passage, that the battery no longer frowned down uponthe bay. In its place there appeared a yawning fire-blackened chasm;and the shipyard was thickly strewed with masses and fragments of rockof all sizes; both whale-boats were swamped; and a solitary gun, with afragment of its carriage still attached, lay half in and half out of thewater. The timbers of the dismembered cradle still floated huddledtogether like a raft, close to the landing.
"Now," said Lance to Captain Staunton, as soon as they were fairlyoutside of the harbour, "_we are free, thank God_! and, as there seemsto be no immediate prospect of your further needing my help, I will goand look after the wounded and the ladies. Poor souls! what a fearfultime of suspense and terror they must have passed, pent up there in thecabin, listening to all these fearful sounds, and not knowing what itmeans or what will be the end of it."
Lance accordingly descended, to find the ladies pale as death, and theireyes dilated with fear, resolutely doing their best with the aid of thesteward to assuage the agonies of the wounded. He was, of course, atonce assailed with a hundred questions, to which, however, he put a stopby holding up his hand and laughingly saying--
"Pray, spare me, and show me a little mercy, I beseech you; to answerall your questions would occupy me for the remainder of the night. Besatisfied, therefore, for the present with the general statement that wehave successfully launched the schooner--as doubtless you have long agofound out for yourselves; that there has been a terrible earthquake,accompanied by a volcanic eruption which bids fair to completely destroythe island; that we are now in the open ocean, having made good ourescape, and that there is at present nothing more to fear. Where isMay?"
"She is asleep in that berth," answered Mrs Staunton, "so I hope theworst of the poor child's pain is over."
"No doubt of it," answered Lance; "the fact that she is sleeping is initself a sufficient indication of that. And now, let me first thank youfor your care of my patients here--to whom I will now myself attend--andnext order you all three peremptorily off to bed. Away with you at onceto the most comfortable quarters you can find, and try to get a goodnight's rest."
Utterly worn out, the ladies were only too glad to obey this order; andthey accordingly forthwith retired to the cabins which the steward hadalready prepared for them.
The more severely wounded were then speedily attended to, their injuriescarefully dressed, and themselves comfortably bestowed in theirhammocks; after which came the turn of the others.
By the time that Lance had fully completed his arduous task the firstfaint streaks of dawn were lighting up the eastern horizon; and he wenton deck to get a breath or two of fresh air. He found the schoonerslipping along at a fine pace under every stitch of canvas she couldspread, including studding-sails, with the breeze about two points onthe starboard quarter, a clear sky above her, and a clear sea all round.Away astern, as the light grew stronger, could be seen a dark patch ofsmoke low down upon the horizon, indicating the position of "AlbatrossIsland;" but the land itself had sunk below the horizon long before.
My story is now ended; very little more remains to be told, and thatlittle must be told as tersely as possible.
The _Petrel_ made a very rapid and prosperous passage home, and in duetime arrived at Plymouth--long before which, however, the wounded hadall completely recovered. Here the passengers landed; whilst CaptainStaunton proceeded with the schooner to Lo
ndon, where the craft wassafely docked and her crew paid off. The skipper then made the best ofhis way to the office of the owners of the _Galatea_, where he wasreceived with joyous surprise, his story listened to with the greatestinterest, and himself congratulated upon his marvellous escape from themany perils which he had encountered. And, best of all, before theinterview terminated, his owners showed in the most practical mannertheir continued confidence in him by offering him the command of a veryfine new ship which they had upon the stocks almost ready for launching.
I must leave it to the lively imaginations of my readers to picture forthemselves the rapturous welcome home experienced by the otherpersonages who have figured in this story, merely remarking that it leftabsolutely nothing to be desired, its warmth being of itself asufficient compensation for all the hardship and suffering they hadendured.
The gold which Bob's forethought had been the means of securing was dulydivided equally between all who could fairly be regarded as entitled toa share; and, though it certainly did not amount to a fortune apiece, itproved amply sufficient to compensate the sharers for their loss oftime.
On the receipt of his moiety, Bob gave a grand supper to all his friendsin Brightlingsea, the which is referred to with justifiable pride by thelandlady of the "Anchor" even unto this day.
It was whilst this eventful supper was in full swing that Lance Evelinunexpectedly made his appearance upon the scene. He wasenthusiastically welcomed by Bob, duly introduced to the company, and atonce joined them, making himself so thoroughly at home with them, andentering so completely into the spirit of the affair, that he sprang ata single bound into their best graces, and was vehemently declared byone and all to be "a real out-and-outer."
The next day found him closeted for a full hour with old Bill Maskell,after which, to everybody's profound astonishment, the pair left forLondon. Only to return next day, however, accompanied by a fine tallsoldierly-looking old man, to whom Bob was speedily introduced, and bywhom he was claimed, to his unqualified amazement, as an only and long-lost son. Sir Richard Lascelles--for he it was--was indebted to Lancefor this joyous discovery; and it was almost pitiful to witness the poorold gentleman's efforts to adequately express his gratitude to Evelinfor the totally unexpected restoration of his son to his arms.
Bob, now no longer Bob Legerton but Mr Richard Lascelles, was speedilytransferred to his father's house in London; and, according to thelatest accounts, he is now busy qualifying himself to enter the navy.
Poor old Bill Maskell was in a strangely agitated condition for sometime after the occurrence of these events, being alternately in a stateof the greatest hilarity at Bob's return home, and despondency at thereflection that henceforth the remainder of their lives must be spentapart. Sir Richard has, however, done what he could to console the poorold man by purchasing for him a pretty little cottage and garden in themost pleasant part of Brightlingsea, supplementing the gift with anallowance of one hundred and fifty pounds a year for the remainder ofhis life.
Some two months or so after the arrival home of the _Petrel_ a noticeappeared in the _Morning Post_ and other papers announcing a doublemarriage at Saint George's, Hanover Square; the contracting partiesbeing respectively Launcelot Evelin and Blanche Lascelles; and RexFortescue and Violet Dudley; there is every reason therefore to supposethat those four persons are at last perfectly happy.
It has been whispered--in the strictest confidence, of course--thatthere is some idea of fitting out an expedition to the South Pacific,for the purpose of ascertaining whether "Albatross Island" is still inexistence, and, if so, whether there is any possibility of working theenormously rich gold mine, the strange discovery of which is recorded inthese pages.
Should the expedition he undertaken and carried out with results worthyof note, an effort will be made to collect the fullest particulars, withthe view of arranging them in narrative form for the entertainment ofsuch readers as are sufficiently interested in our friends to wish forfurther intelligence about them.
The Pirate Island: A Story of the South Pacific Page 19
