CHAPTER ELEVEN.
DEATH OF WILLIAM EVANS, AND APPEARANCE OF A PIRATE VESSEL.
It was with the utmost difficulty that they at length succeeded inarousing the unfortunate man to a sense of his surroundings. Ever sincetheir landing on the sand-bank the poor fellow had been sinking withstartling rapidity. It seemed as though prior to their appearance hehad kept himself alive by a sheer effort of will, for the sole purposeof relating his story and putting the avengers on the trail of hisformer captain; and, this done, the strain was relaxed, and nature wasclaiming her due. Evans at last sat up with great difficulty, passinghis hand over his forehead and gazing at his companions and around atthe new hut as though he had never seen either them or it before.
The three on-lookers felt an infinite compassion for the unfortunateoutcast; and although he had been, by his own showing, a party to themost dreadful atrocities, yet Roger and the seamen felt that it was notfor them to judge him. They recognised that he had never been a willingparticipator in the horrors he had described, and in their opinion hehad fully expiated his offences by the suffering and agony of remorsewhich he had endured on the sand-bank. Roger tenderly supported theemaciated frame in his arms, and tried to coax some food down the sickman's throat; but he weakly pushed away the hands of the would-bebenefactor, and, the light of reason presently returning to his eye, hesaid he could eat nothing, but pleaded for a draught of water. This wasat once given him, and, seeing that the man was too weak to swallowanything solid, Roger ceased to persuade him. In a few minutes the poorfellow was again sunk in a profound stupor. As no more could be donefor him, the others turned their attention to their own meal, and, beingravenously hungry, did full justice to the food before them, averringthat they had never in the whole course of their lives tasted anythinghalf so enjoyable, thus conclusively proving the truth of the statementthat "hunger is the very best sauce."
Having at length satisfied their appetites, it was considered quite timeto go and wait for Mistress Turtle to make her appearance. So away theywent, and, the distance not being great, they soon arrived at the spot,where, sure enough, they saw a fine large turtle. They had been nonetoo cautious in their manner of approach, as they hardly anticipatedfinding her there so soon, if at all; and, directly they appeared overthe ledge of rock, away she went as fast as she could for the sea. ButRoger, who was a very fast runner, soon got in front of her and headedher off; and a few seconds later the men came up, when their unitedefforts were sufficient to turn her over on her back, after which shewas safe. Bevan then drew his knife and cut off the head, which wasthrown away; and then, making fast a rope which they had brought withthem to one of the fins, they dragged the carcass off, and at length gotit to the hut. They then started to cut it up, one of the fins being atonce dropped into the pot and stood on the fire to make soup, that thesick man might have something more nourishing than water to drink. Thenthey put away as much as would keep fresh until they had used it, andthe remainder they hung out in the sun to dry, after cutting the fleshinto strips, thus ensuring for themselves a plentiful supply of meat forsome time to come. They all now felt somewhat more comfortable in theirminds, for they were certain that with the fish they hoped to catch, andan occasional turtle or two, with a further possibility of eggs now andthen, and, above all, a plentiful supply of water, they would be able tohold out until the fleet came back to take them off their temporaryprison.
Having removed every particle of flesh from the shell, Irwin signifiedhis intention of taking the latter down to the water's edge to clean itthoroughly, as it would then afford a very handy and useful receptaclefor water, and it would be further very useful as a bath; for it washighly dangerous to attempt bathing in the sea, the likelihood beingthat the adventurous swimmer would be snapped up by some voracious sharkbefore he had been a minute in the water. He therefore went off,dragging the shell after him, while Bevan returned to the turtle's nestfor the remainder of the eggs, and Roger busied himself with thesimmering turtle soup, also taking a few strips of the meat and impalingthem on pieces of wood in readiness for the next meal. Having performedthis part of his duty he strolled away down to the beach to watch Jakeclean the turtle's shell. As he came in sight of the beach, what washis surprise to see Jake Irwin in the water up to his arm-pits, reachingout as though endeavouring to get hold of some object just beyond him.The man did not see Roger, and continued his strange antics; butpresently he got hold of what he was after, which had the appearance ofa small keg that seemed to be about as much as he could convenientlycarry. He then turned round and began to make his way ashore again,carrying his prize with him. He glanced up, saw Roger, and shouted: "Ihave something here, Master Trevose, which will be very valuable to usif it is what I believe it to be." He soon waded out and flung down asmall barrel on the sand at his feet.
"Why," said Roger, "what is that? It is a barrel of some sort, as, ofcourse, I can see; but what do you suppose its contents to be?"
"Well," responded the sailor, "as I was getting water to clean theshell, I saw some object washed up and then taken out again by theundertow; so I determined to get hold of it if possible; and next timeit rolled in I made a grab at it, but missed it; then I ran out afterit, and, after making several attempts, managed to get a hold of it, andbrought it ashore; and here it is. And I think it valuable because itlooks to me like one of the ship's spirit-casks. It may be brandy, andif the brandy has not been spoiled by the salt water getting at it, itwill be a great blessing to that sick man Evans, and may even save hislife. And it may save ours too, if we get taken ill; for there is noknowing when the fleet will be here again."
"Very true," responded Roger. "I do not believe that the skipper willgive up looking for us while his ships hold together; but, as you say,it may be a long time before we are rescued, so it is as well to secureeverything we can lay our hands on. Meanwhile, let us take the barrelup to the huts and open it, and see if the contents are what we hopethem to be, and whether they have been reached by the sea-water, andspoiled, or not."
Then, each taking an end of the barrel--which was one of those smallcasks called breakers, holding about twelve to fourteen gallons, andtherefore very weighty,--they carried it up to the hut, where they foundBevan just returned with the remainder of the turtle's eggs. Irwin atonce set to work to remove the bung of the cask, while Roger went intothe hut and fetched out the only small vessel belonging to the littlecommunity, a wooden mug capable of holding somewhere about a pint and ahalf.
A few moments more and Irwin said: "Ready, Master Trevose?"
"Yes," replied the lad.
"Then, here you are, sir."
Roger slipped the mug in front of the hole, and caught the liquid in itas it came gurgling out. He let the mug fill, and then the bung wasreturned to its place and driven home with the hammer. So far as colourand smell were concerned there could be little doubt that the liquor wasbrandy, as Irwin had surmised.
Roger was not greatly addicted to the use of spirits, being, indeed,exceedingly temperate; he therefore considered himself but a poor judgeof its quality. Nevertheless he sipped at the contents of the mug, and,having tasted, said that, so far as he could tell, the stuff was goodspirit enough, and at any rate he was certain that it had not been gotat by the salt water. Bevan and Irwin then each took a taste--a prettylong taste it was too, for they returned the mug to Roger empty,--bothpronouncing it to be the finest brandy of France that had ever passedtheir lips. They, being seamen, would have very much liked some more;but Roger pointed out that the spirit must be regarded as medicine only,and must be carefully conserved for use as such if ever any ofthemselves should be taken ill. The men fortunately had sense enough tosee that Roger was right in what he said, and agreed to the liquor beingkept for use in case of necessity.
It was now time to prepare the next meal, and this was done; a perfectfeast of eggs, turtle steaks, bread, and turtle soup constituting the"spread". Evans was again aroused, and given a few spoonfuls of thesoup, wi
th a liberal allowance of brandy in it. He seemed too dazed toenquire where all this nourishing and wholesome food had come from, butmanaged to swallow his portion, and it revived him so much that he satup without assistance. His faculties seemed to return to a certainextent, and presently he asked for more. This was given him,supplemented this time by a small quantity of brandy and hot water. Thespirit seemed to do him more good than anything else. The light cameback gradually to the fast-dimming eyes, and a spot of colour made itsappearance in his ashen face. He swallowed with great difficulty; but,taking his time, he managed to eat a very fair quantity of food for aman sick nigh unto death, and the food, together with the stimulant,revived him so much that for a time Roger thought that with care,constant attention, and good food they might even now save the man'slife after all. But the effect was only transient, and it was not longbefore he had to lie down again; his eyes lost their fire, and hegradually dropped back into a stupor similar to that from which he hadbeen aroused to take his meal.
Roger was greatly moved by the poor wretch's condition, and was veryquiet and reserved for the remainder of the day; the two sailors,however, had seen more of the world and its vicissitudes than the lad,and it did not affect them at all. When night fell, all retired totheir improvised couches, it being considered unnecessary to keep awatch; for they replenished the fire so thoroughly before turning inthat it would burn until morning. And if the ships should by any chancehappen to sight the island during the night, they must inevitably seethe fire, built as it was on the highest point of the bank, and, seeingit, would know that the castaways were alive on the island. They wouldthen naturally heave-to until daylight.
Day dawned, and all hands turned out, the invalid, of course, excepted.Breakfast was cooked, and they sat down to the meal with very heartyappetites, despite the fact that upon looking round them the horizon wasfound to be bare of ships. Evans was again roused from his now constantstupor, and managed to take a little soup and brandy; but he immediatelyafterwards sank back again exhausted, and relapsed at once into hisusual state. The two seamen went away to fish from the reef runninginto the sea close to where the turtle was taken, and Roger remained incamp to look after Evans.
The men had not long been absent on the fishing excursion, and Roger wasbusy in the hut, when the sick man moved, turned on his side, and,opening his eyes, fixed them on Roger's face. A sepulchral voice issuedfrom the man's lips, and Roger understood him to ask that he should comeclose to his side. He, of course, immediately acquiesced, and lay downon the ground beside the man, so that his lips might be level withRoger's ear, and thus enable the poor fellow to speak without furtherweakening himself by raising his voice. The man asked for some brandy,and Roger at once gave it to him. This revived him a little, and he wasnow able to speak, though in a very low, weak, and husky voice, in whichthe near approach of death could now be heard. It was clear, indeed,that the invalid was sinking fast, and that he earnestly wished tocommunicate something to Roger before he died. First he asked the ladto see if the two sailors were anywhere near. The boy told him thatthey had gone fishing; but this did not satisfy him, he would have Rogerlook and make sure. To satisfy him, therefore, Roger went outside andtook a look round, and, the men being nowhere in sight, he went in andreported the fact to Evans. Evans then signed to the lad to come closerand sit down, so that he could speak directly into his ear. Pullinghimself together with an effort, he said:
"You have been very kind to me, young man, and I am going to recompenseyou by giving you the papers that I stole from Jose Leirya's cabin, alsothe cipher, which, when translated, will put the owner of it into thepossession of that scoundrel's enormous treasure--always provided, ofcourse, that Leirya has not already returned ere this and secured ithimself. But I do not think he has; for, as I told you at the end of myyarn, when I left him, or rather when he left me here, he was going fora cruise in the Mexican Gulf. As I mentioned, the treasure is hiddensomewhere on the shore of that inlet at the east end of Cuba, thelatitude and longitude of which I gave you. But you will have toascertain the precise locality of the treasure for yourself bytranslating the cipher; for I do not know it, nor does any other livingman, except Jose Leirya himself. You will perhaps say that some one ofthose who helped him to bury it must know, and doubtless they did--once;but of those who left the vessel to bury the stuff with Jose not oneever returned to the vessel, or was heard of afterward. The crew of theship so stood in awe of our captain that they dared not remonstrate ormake any enquiry; but we were all convinced in our minds that he didaway with those men by poison, and buried them in the brushwood near thebeach. There were seven men to bury the treasure with him, and, big andstrong as he was, and is, he could not have killed them all openly, orin fair fight. Jose may, or may not, know by this time that I have thekey to the hiding-place of his treasure; but if he does he will not dareto remove it and attempt to bury it elsewhere; for all in the ship areaware of what took place when he first buried it, and none would go withhim again to assist him, and he could not undertake the job alone.Besides, he has always expressed the utmost confidence that no one couldever translate the cipher without the key, and that he carries in hisown brain; so he will almost surely leave his wealth where it is. I donot want your seamen to know, for those men could not keep silence; thenews would soon be known to all, and then, of course, it would no longerbe a secret. The papers I have not examined; I merely looked at them tomake certain that the cipher was there, and, finding that it was, Itroubled no further. But you had better examine them, as there may besomething of value among them. I told you in my yarn that we had adriver on the galley named Alvarez, who left her before Jose Leirya cameaboard, or if I did not, I intended to. Well, I must tell you thatthere were originally two copies of the cipher, and Alvarez, whilst anofficer in a Spanish ship of war, employed an agent of his to join thecrew of the pirate vessel and steal the cipher, if possible, as Alvarezhad heard all the circumstances relative to the treasure from one of hisspies, of whom he employs a great number. This spy obeyed his orders,but was only able to secure one copy, leaving the other, which I nowpossess. We discovered the theft while lying in the very harbour wherethe treasure is hidden; but the spy got to hear that all was known, andsprang over the side, intending, of course, to swim ashore. But as hewent he was followed by a shower of bullets, and we saw him no more; soI feel very certain that he lies at the bottom of the bay, and thatAlvarez did not get the cipher he wanted."
Thought Roger to himself: "I'm pretty certain he did, and, what is more,I know now that he had it in his cabin aboard the _Gloria del Mundo_,and this man little thinks that I have the very paper he is talkingabout in my pocket at this very moment; for it must be the same." Hesaid nothing, however; and the dying man resumed:
"You have therefore no rival to fear except Jose himself; and if youshould destroy his ship and himself--as I hope your captain will do whenyou have told him my story--you will be certain of vast wealth, providedthat you can translate the cipher, which I believe you will certainly beable to do, for all that Jose says as to its impossibility without thekey. Now I am exhausted with talking so much. Please give me a littlemore brandy." Roger did so, finding the man too weak to lift the mug tohis lips, and almost too far gone to swallow. Having recoveredsomewhat, he continued in a weak voice, taking a packet from his pocket:"And now, here is the packet of papers, and the cipher is with them.Keep them safely by you, and part with them under no circumstances orconditions whatever. If you do this your fortune is certain."
He ceased speaking, and his head fell heavily back on his hard couch.
Roger sprang for more brandy, and lifted the poor fellow's head, but heappeared lifeless. Roger wetted his lips with the spirit, and presentlythey parted sufficiently to enable the lad to pour a little into hismouth. This was gradually swallowed, and Roger poured in a little more,which was also taken; and in a few seconds a heavy sigh escaped the lipsof the sufferer, and his eyes opened. But there was a glaze ove
r themthat told its own tale. The white lips opened, and Roger, bending down,heard the last words that Evans ever spoke.
"God bless you, sir," he said, "and keep you safe! Keep your promise tome, sir. Good-bye! I die now, and am glad!" The eyes went dullerstill, the lips ceased to move, the body seemed to stiffen, and grewsuddenly cold. Roger knew that the end had come, that the poor fellow'stroubles were at last over, and that he was at rest.
Roger remained for some moments sitting, and lost in thought; then,rising, he placed the blanket over the dead man's face and went outsidethe hut. He determined to go and find his two sailors, and inform themof what had happened, so that they might come and assist him in buryingthe body at once; for in that climate it was necessary to bury a body assoon as possible after death, for sanitary reasons.
The lad had not gone very far from the hut when he remembered that hewas still holding the packet of papers in his hand; so he slipped theminto the pocket where he always kept the other cipher. But as he did sohe paused for a moment and then drew the papers forth again, determinedthere and then to compare the two ciphers, for he felt almost positivein his own mind that the two ciphers would be found to be identical. Hetherefore sat down at the foot of a palm-tree in the shade, and, undoingthe packet, compared the two papers, finding, as he anticipated, thatthe ciphers were written in exactly the same terms. "Therefore,"thought Roger, "the spy of Alvarez managed after all to evade themusket-balls fired at him, and succeeded in conveying the cipher toAlvarez. No wonder that the Spaniard was so anxious to find his papersthat day in the cabin of the _Gloria del Mundo_!"
Having satisfied himself on this point, he returned the papers to hispocket, buttoned up his jacket again, and continued on his way to findthe sailors. They presently made their appearance, thus saving him thetrouble of searching for them, and he saw that they were laden with asmuch fish as they could carry. They explained that they had caught farmore than was necessary for present use, but that they intended to trythe experiment of drying it in the sun, even as they had done with theturtle's flesh, thus--in the event of success--providing a store of foodagainst any contingency that might arise.
Roger, of course, returned with the men, and on the way back recountedto them the fact of poor Evans's death, and of his desire to bury thebody at once.
The three were soon back at the hut, and, choosing a spot at somedistance from it, dug a grave in the sand with sharpened pieces of wood,as they had no other implements. The hole having presently been madesufficiently deep, they returned to the palm-grove, and laying a blanketon the floor, placed the inanimate body thereon. Then, Bevan taking oneend of the blanket and Irwin the other, they carried the corpse away toits lonely grave, and reverently laid it therein. This done, Roger,kneeling by the grave-side, said a prayer, whilst the seamen stood bywith bared heads, after which the sand was shovelled back, and a smallmound raised over the grave.
The death of Evans affected the three survivors more or less during theremainder of the day; they were all very silent and thoughtful, andturned in early to sleep. About midnight Roger awoke with a vague senseof some impending evil. He turned and turned again upon his hard couch,but found it impossible to sleep. After a time he began to feel thatthere was a something missing to which he had been accustomed. Heracked his brain over and over again, vainly trying to remember what itwas, but for some time without success. Then it came suddenly upon himthat the usual faint reflection of the glow which the big fire at thebeach had been wont to throw round the hut was absent. Quickly gettinginto a few clothes, he stepped out of the hut, and saw that the moon inher first quarter was rising high in the heavens, giving just sufficientlight for him to distinguish objects faintly. He therefore did not takethe lantern with him, but at once walked away down to the beach, wherehe found the fire out and cold. They had forgotten to replenish itbefore turning in for the night. He took out his tinder-box, in orderto get a light, when he happened to look up, and to seaward. And there,before his astonished gaze, he saw a vessel riding at anchor about twomiles from the shore. In the first paroxysm of his joy, Roger was aboutto call aloud, imagining the craft to be one of the vessels ofCavendish's squadron; but on looking again, and studying the craft moreclosely, he saw that she was altogether different from any of thevessels in the fleet. He was wondering who or what she could be, whenEvans's description of a certain ship flashed across his mind. Yes,there she certainly was, exactly as Evans had described--the black,long, and low-lying hull, the flush deck, the schooner rig, and theenormously tall, tapering, and raking spars! Yes, in that moment Rogerknew her for what she was.
She was the pirate schooner of Jose Leirya!
The man had doubtless missed his papers, and, guessing who had takenthem, had come back to secure them. Evidently knowing the bad landing,Leirya was waiting for daylight before attempting to send his boatsashore.
"Six hours more of darkness!" thought Roger, and he bounded back to thehut as fast as he could go. He awoke the two seamen, and told them allin a few words. They were naturally overwhelmed with consternation, notknowing what to do. But said Roger: "I have a plan that may possiblysave us. We must put all our provisions back in the casks, and burythem in the sand. Then we must hide everything that we brought ashore,leaving out only poor Evans's belongings. The new hut we must, ofcourse, leave--they will think that Evans built that himself,--but wemust remove from it every trace of our own presence on the islet. Then,poor fellow, we must unearth his body and lay it in the hut, coveringhim up. When they come ashore in the morning, as of course they will,they will see that he is recently dead, and will not dream that he hasbeen once buried already, if we are careful to remove all traces. Itwill naturally be thought that he died here alone and untended. We mustbe very careful to efface every sign of our presence here, and leaveonly such things as Evans had when we arrived, or may be reasonablysupposed to have collected from the beach. Then, as to hidingourselves--At the extreme seaward end of the rocks, where you to-daycaught your fish, there is a hollow big enough to conceal a dozen men; Iparticularly noticed it when I was on the spot. We must take some foodand water, and hide there until the pirates leave. They will notattempt to land at that place, for the reason that a boat could not besafely put alongside the rocks; and if we carefully hide everythingbelonging to ourselves they will not suspect that anyone else is here,and will not search. Now we must be quick, for our lives depend uponit. If we are found we shall certainly die horribly. Quick now, men!we must do everything that has to be done, and be safely hidden beforedaybreak, or we shall be seen."
Across the Spanish Main: A Tale of the Sea in the Days of Queen Bess Page 11
