The Rover's Secret: A Tale of the Pirate Cays and Lagoons of Cuba

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER TEN.

  OUR FLIGHT--AND SUBSEQUENT MYSTIFICATION.

  I am fully aware _now_ that in thus persuading the commandant's daughterand her companion to meet us in the park we were quite inexcusable, andthat the fact that they were members of the family of a man who had verymaterially befriended us should have deterred us from tempting them toact in a clandestine manner such as the father of Inez would certainlyhave disapproved. And if we had been honourable _men_ it woulddoubtless have done so. But we were not men, we were simply _boys_, andthought only of the pleasant companionship. I frankly plead guilty tothe charge of deplorable _heedlessness_. We were as heedless as lads ofour age usually are; and, thinking no harm, we at once succumbed to thetemptation to neglect the task on which we were employed and to devoteourselves to the society of Inez and her companion. The consequenceswere, almost as a matter of course, such as an older and moreexperienced head would at once have foreseen--so far, at least, as DonaInez and I were concerned--for we discovered that we were as desperatelyin love as ever boy and girl believed themselves to be.

  But at length our rosy dream was rudely broken in upon and our soulsfilled with consternation by the news that in three days' time thecommandant hoped to be once more at home. We knew at once what thatmeant. We felt instinctively that, blameless as our love for each othermight be, it would meet with no sympathy from Don Luis, nor would hetolerate its continued indulgence for a moment. At first a wild hopesprang up within my heart that such might not be the case; that the factof my being a British officer might have some weight with the haughtydon. But Inez dispelled that hope in a moment.

  "No," she sobbed, "you do not know my father or you would understandthat nothing of that kind would influence him in the slightest degree inour favour. He loves me; oh, yes! he loves me more than anything elsein the world; and I believe he would do almost anything to secure myhappiness--but not _that_. My father is proud--_very_ proud--of hisbirth and lineage; and whenever the idea of my marriage may suggestitself to him I am certain he will wish me to wed some noble of at leastequal rank with himself. Of you, my poor Leo, he knows nothing savethat you are a prisoner; and were you to go to him and plead our cause,not only would he refuse to listen to you, but I greatly fear his angerwould fall heavily upon us both. Our only hope, dear Leo, lies in yourspeedily recovering your freedom, and gaining such distinction in yourprofession as shall justify you in asking him for my hand."

  "And that is precisely what I _will_ do," I exclaimed in an ecstasy ofmingled hope and despair; "Courtenay and I will make good our escapebefore your father's return, even if we have to take to the sea in anopen boat."

  "And where would you go in your open boat, supposing that you couldsecure one, and could make good your escape from the shore?" asked Inez.

  "We should head for Jamaica, and take our chance of being picked up by afriendly craft," I replied.

  "And supposing that you were _not_ picked up by a friendly craft?"persisted my fair questioner.

  "In that case," said I rather ruefully, "we should have to push on,taking our chance as to wind and weather, and also as to our being ableto hit Jamaica. It is only some twelve hundred miles or so across, andwith favourable weather and a good boat we might accomplish the run infrom ten days to a fortnight."

  "_A fortnight! in an open boat_!" exclaimed Inez. "Oh no, Leo, thatwould never do! You must not attempt it; the risk is far too great. Itwere better that you should remain here prisoners than that you shouldlose your lives in any such desperate attempt as that. Let me think.You want to get to Jamaica, do you not? And to get there safely youmust be conveyed there in a vessel. Ha! I have it. Eugenia, when doesyour brother sail?"

  "In about a week hence, so he told me yesterday," was the answer.

  "A week hence! that is too late," exclaimed Inez. "Send for him, andtell him to call at the castle early to-morrow morning, without fail."

  I inquired who and what this brother of Eugenia's might happen to be,and was informed that he was the owner and master of a small feluccawhich traded regularly between La Guayra and Santiago de Cuba, and thatby a lucky chance his vessel happened at that moment to be lying in theformer port. This was eminently satisfactory, as I did not doubt for amoment that an arrangement might be come to whereby we could get him torun us directly across to Port Royal, we of course undertaking to insurehim and his craft against capture during the run and on arrival there.There was a fair amount of prize-money due to us from the Jean Rabelaffair; and even if it had not yet been awarded I felt certain that wecould raise cash enough upon it to defray the expenses of the trip.

  On the following morning, whilst we were at the workshop, the two girlsmade their appearance, accompanied by a hearty, honest-looking youngfellow, who was introduced to us as Juan Gonzalez, Eugenia's brother.

  In answer to our inquiries he informed us that he would be quite willingto convey us to Port Royal, and to land us safely there, inconsideration of the sum of one hundred dollars, to be paid to himwithin six hours of our arrival, with the proviso that we shouldguarantee him against capture during the entire trip, the said sum ofone hundred dollars to cover everything, provisions included, and toentitle us to the sole use of the felucca's cabin during the passageacross. These terms we considered exceedingly reasonable, and uponinquiring of him when he would be ready to sail, and being informed thathe could start at any moment, we at once closed the bargain. Thatmatter satisfactorily settled we determined upon leaving forthwith,since there was nothing to detain us; and it was then arranged, uponJuan's suggestion, that instead of making our way into town and boardingthe felucca in harbour, we should avoid all risk of capture by takingour departure from a little cove about three miles to the westward ofthe castle, the felucca calling off the place about nine o'clock thatnight and sending her boat ashore for us.

  As may be supposed, the conclusion of these arrangements threw us allinto a state of such excitement that it was quite impossible to thinkfurther of work. Courtenay and I therefore hastily put the workshopinto something like decent order, wrote a joint note to the commandant--which we left conspicuously displayed on the workshop table--wherein weexpressed our most sincere thanks for all the kindness he had shown us,and begged that he would not think too hardly of us for seizing upon anopportunity which had presented itself for our escape.

  Now I am painfully aware that--keeping in view our exceedingyouthfulness--any reference which it may be necessary for me to make tothe mutual attachment subsisting between myself and Dona Inez is liableto be received with a certain amount of gentle ridicule and incredulity.But in deprecating any such reception of my confidential communicationsI will only say that we ourselves were thoroughly in earnest, and thatthe prospect of our speedy separation reduced us both to a condition ofthe keenest anguish and despair. The luncheon hour passed unheededlyby, and it was not until the deepening shadows warned us of approachingnight that we reluctantly turned our steps castleward, to complete thevery trifling preparations necessary for the coming flight.

  Courtenay, I was glad to see, was so completely heart-whole that he wasin the highest possible spirits; and he did such ample justice to thedinner set before us as in some degree to make up for my ownshortcomings in that respect. The meal over we dismissed Pedro for thenight, and then proceeded to pack up our dilapidated uniforms in a smallparcel, to assist in our identification as British officers should suchprove necessary. This brought the time on to about half-past seven, atwhich hour we had arranged to meet again in the park, Inez havinginsisted--much against my wish--in accompanying us to the cove andsatisfying herself as to the fact of our actual escape.

  The walk to the cove was not a long one, only some three miles or so,but it occupied us a full hour and a half, and a very wretched time itproved for both of us.

  We reached the place fixed upon as the point for our embarkation at nineo'clock, and a few minutes later a small wavering black blotch appearedthrough the intense darkness off the entrance. We he
ard the sound of acoil of rope being flung upon a deck, followed by a creaking of blocks;then a scraping sound and a splash such as would be caused by thelaunching of a boat over the low gunwale of a small craft, an indistinctmurmur of voices for a moment, and then the plash of oars in the water.The distance to be traversed by the boat was not more than three or fourhundred feet; I therefore had time only to breathe a hurried andinarticulate word or two of final farewell to Inez, during which Islipped on to her slender finger the only ring I possessed, when agrating sound down by the water's edge told us that the boat hadgrounded, and we hurried away down the beach.

  The boat was a tiny cockle-shell of a craft, with only one man in her,and he was just hauling her nose up out of the water as we reached him.

  "Oh, you are here, excellencies!" he exclaimed in a tone of some littlesurprise, I thought. "So much the better. Jump in, caballeros, and letus be off; there is another craft creeping down under the land, only amile or so astern of us, of which el capitano feels somewhat suspicious,and he will be glad to make a good offing before she comes up."

  "All right, my man!" said Courtenay as we tumbled into the stern-sheetsof the small craft; "shove off as soon as you like."

  The man placed his shoulder against the stem of the boat and gave her apowerful shove, scrambling in over the bows as she slid stern-foremostinto the deep water, and thereby nearly capsizing all hands. However wemanaged, between us, to keep the boat right side up, and the man seatinghimself at the oars the craft was slewed round by one powerful strokeuntil her nose pointed seaward, and away we went, a faint clear silverycry of "_A mas ver_! _A Dios_!" floating after us into the darkness,accompanied by a ghostly flutter of scarcely discernible handkerchiefs."_A Dios_!" we shouted back as the two lingering forms vanished in thegloomy shadow of the precipitous slope leading down to the shore; and inanother minute or so we shot alongside the felucca and sprang in overher low bulwarks.

  "Welcome, gentlemen!" exclaimed the figure who received us. "This isbetter than I expected. I was afraid we should have been obliged towait for you; and there is a craft creeping down alongshore there whosemovements I do not like. I fear she has been watching us, since she canhave no other business down here so close in with the land. However,here you are, so we will bear away at once, if you please; and if hewants to watch us let him follow. It will take a smart craft tooverhaul the little _Pinta_. Perhaps you would like to go below at onceand inspect your berths?"

  We replied that we should, whereupon he ushered us aft to the smallcompanion, and, cautioning us against the almost perpendicular ladderand the lowness of the beams, shouted to some unseen "Francisco" to showa light below and to attend generally to our wants.

  We dived below and entered the small cabin; a gruff order or two ondeck, accompanied by a creaking of blocks and gear bearing testimony tothe fact that the _Pinta_ was bearing away for the open sea, and thatour escape was actually an accomplished fact.

  "Francisco" proved to be a bright intelligent lad of some thirteen orfourteen years of age, jauntily rigged in a picturesque costume somewhatsimilar to that of the Neapolitan fishermen in "Masanielo;" but hisshapely features were somewhat marred by the long white cicatrice of anugly wound across his forehead which showed up with startlingdistinctness against the somewhat dusky hue of his skin. The wound musthave given him a rather narrow squeak for it when it was inflicted; andI was about to question him as to the particulars concerning it when hebustled away, and in a few minutes returned with a couple of bottles ofwine and the materials for an excellent supper, which he laid out uponthe table and then with a graceful bow invited us to fall to. Thisdiverted our thoughts in another direction. We seated ourselves, and ina very few minutes--I, at least, having eaten scarcely anything atdinner--were thinking of nothing beyond the satisfaction of ourappetites.

  Before the meal was over the little vessel began to roll and tumbleabout in such a lively manner as to satisfy us that she was hauling outfast from under the lee of the land, and presently we heard the sharppatter and swish of rain upon the deck overhead. It was by this timepast ten o'clock; the two standing berths, one on each side of the smallcabin, looked tolerably clean and inviting; so, instead of going on deckas we had originally intended, we turned in, and tried to loseremembrance of the somewhat exciting events of the day in a sound sleep.

  The sun was shining brightly down through the diminutive sky-light whenI awoke next morning, and the lad Francisco was busy sweeping out thecabin. Seeing me astir he inquired at what time we would choose to havebreakfast, to which I answered that we would have it as soon as it couldbe got ready; but that in the meantime we should be glad to be suppliedwith water, soap, and towels. These he scuttled away to get, whilst Itumbled out of my bunk and began to dress, calling out at the same timeto rouse Courtenay, who was snoring away most melodiously in his berthon the opposite side of the cabin. The little _Pinta_ was lying over agood deal, and the loud gurgling rush of the water past her sides seemedto indicate that she was travelling through it at a fairish speed,whilst the long regular heel to leeward, the steady buoyant soaringmotion of the little vessel, with the succeeding recovery and weather-roll and rapid drop as she settled away down into the trough, informedus that we were favoured with a fresh breeze, accompanied by quite arespectable beam-sea. With the exception of an occasional footstep, ora word or two from the vicinity of the binnacle, everything, save forthe singing of the wind in the rigging and the hissing of the surgespast our lee side, was quiet enough on deck; but below Courtenay and Icould scarcely hear each other speak for the noise and clatter; bulk-heads creaking, the crockery in the pantry rattling, the weapons in therack abaft the table clanking and jarring, and Heaven knows how manyother sounds beside.

  By the way, those same weapons had attracted my notice on the previousevening, though my thoughts were at the time so much preoccupied withother things that I made no remark about them. Now, however, theirpersistent clank and clatter forced them so prominently upon ourattention that we both burst simultaneously into some exclamationrespecting the incongruity of so small a craft being so well providedwith arms. So well-furnished indeed was the _Pinta_ in this respectthat anyone entering her cabin might naturally have supposed himself tohave been on board a privateer, or something worse. In the first placethere was a rack stretching right athwart the aftermost bulkhead, inwhich were stacked a dozen good serviceable-looking muskets, theirbarrels brightly polished, the stocks carefully oiled, and new flints inevery one of the locks. These were flanked on each side by a sheaf ofsome half a dozen boarding-pikes, the points of which had been groundalmost to the sharpness of a needle. Above the muskets, forming a star-shaped trophy, which occupied almost the whole remaining surface of thebulkhead, were a dozen brace of sturdy pistols, their muzzles pointinginward, whilst their butts, all turned one way, formed the outerextremities of the star-rays. These, too, were as bright and clean asit was possible for them to be; and I noticed that, fancifully as theywere arranged, they were merely suspended from nails, from which theycould be snatched at a moment's notice. And, finally, over each standof pikes was arranged another star formed of sheathed cutlasses, withbelts and cartridge-pouches attached, all ready, in short, for instantservice.

  "I cannot for the life of me imagine why our friend Juan should arm hiscock-boat like this," I remarked; "why, there must be enough weaponshere for twice the number of men the _Pinta_ carries."

  "Who can tell!" returned Courtenay. "For my part I fancy all Spaniardshave very lax notions of commercial morality, and Master Juan mayperhaps amuse himself, as opportunity offers or when times are bad, witha little quiet smuggling. Although, even in such a case," he continued,"I can scarcely see the need for such a formidable armoury; for I shouldhardly suspect him of the inclination to undertake the risk of running acargo worth fighting for. Well, shall we go on deck and take a lookround before sitting down to breakfast?"

  "By all means," said I; and we were in the very act of ascending thecompanion-ladd
er when Francisco made his appearance at its head, comingdown stern-foremost, with a coffee-pot in one hand and a smoking dish ofbroiled fish in the other, so we had to give way for him or run animminent risk of being scalded.

  "El capitano kisses your hands, excellencies," said the lad, as he laidhis double burden on the table, "and he hopes you have both slept well."

  "Admirably," I answered, adding, as I looked at the appetising dishwhich sent up its grateful odours from the table, "Put out anotherplate, knife and fork, and so on; and tell `el capitano' that we shallbe very pleased if he will join us at breakfast."

  The lad stared at us in mute astonishment for a moment, flushing like abashful girl meanwhile. Then, recovering himself, he muttered: "I willtell him, gentlemen; he will feel himself highly honoured."

  "That is all right," laughed Courtenay, as the lad slid up thecompanion; "a very right and proper feeling, though I scarcely know whyhe should experience it."

  A minute later a heavy tramp was audible coming along the deck. Thesunlight streaming down through the open companion suffered a temporaryeclipse; a pair of legs, encased in enormous sea-boots, presentedthemselves to our admiring gaze, and finally a huge fellow of fully sixfeet in height, and broad in proportion, came towards us, bowing andstooping in the most awkward manner, partly by way of salutation andpartly to avoid striking his head against the low deck-beams. He wasdark-complexioned, bushy whiskered, with keen restless black eyes, and ashock of ebon hair very imperfectly concealed by a black-and-red-stripedfisherman's cap of knitted worsted, which he removed deferentially themoment his eye fell upon us. He wore large gold ear-rings in his ears,and was attired in a thick dreadnought jacket over a black-and-red-striped shirt, which was confined about his waist by a broad leatherbelt, to which was attached a sheath-knife of most formidabledimensions. The skirts of the shirt were worn _outside_ his trousers,so that his _tout ensemble_ was exactly that of a dashing pirate orsmuggler bold, as that interesting individual is presented on the boardsof a third-rate transpontine theatre of the present day. He was apicturesque-looking person enough, _but he certainly was not JuanGonzalez_, to whom he bore no more resemblance than I did.

  Courtenay and I glanced at each other in surprise, but neither of ussaid a word.

  "_Muchisimos gracias_ for your honoured invitation, excellencies," saidour friend, again bowing awkwardly, as he slid into a seat at the headof the table, leaving Courtenay and me to stow ourselves on the lockers,one on each side of him. "I am gratified to learn from Francisco thatyou rested soundly during the night I was afraid the motion of thefelucca would prove disagreeable to you. We have had a fine breeze fromthe eastward all night, and La Guayra is now nearly a hundred milesastern of us."

  "That is good news," I remarked. "But why should you have anticipatedany evil results to us from the motion of the craft? Are you not awarethat we are pretty well seasoned sailors?"

  "No," said our companion; "I was not aware of it. When I urged thecaptain-general to send naval officers I understood him to say that hehad none available for the service, but that he would send two officersof marines. I did not like his proposal, and I am very glad to findthat he has thought better of it. What can a soldier--even though he bea marine--know about soundings, and bearings, and sea-marks? And theentrance to the place is very difficult indeed, as you will see,gentlemen, when we come to it."

  "What in the world is the man talking about?" thought I, glancing acrossthe table at Courtenay to see what he thought of it. That irrepressibleyoung gentleman elevated his eyebrows inquiringly, tipped me a wink ofpreternatural significance with his left eye--our host was sitting onCourtenay's starboard hand--and then devoted himself most assiduously tothe red snapper off which he was breakfasting.

  "How long do you reckon it will take us to make the run?" I asked, withthe view of maintaining the conversation rather than because of mycomprehension of it.

  "Well," said our picturesque friend, "let me reckon. To-day isThursday. If this breeze holds steady we ought to be off Cape Iroisabout daybreak next Wednesday morning. Then, unless the wind heads us,we may hope to weather Cape Maysi about sunset the same day; after whichwe may expect to have the breeze well on our starboard quarter, whichwill enable us to complete the run in good time to pass through theBarcos Channel and reach our anchorage before nightfall on the followingFriday evening."

  "Ah!" remarked Courtenay, as coolly as though he fully understood thewhole drift of this singular conversation, "a little over a week, if theweather remains favourable. When you say that the entrance isdifficult, do you refer to the Barcos Channel more particularly orto--?"

  "Oh no!" was the reply; "that is easy enough--for a small vessel oflight draught, that is to say--although there are one or two awkwardplaces there which I will point out to you; but it is the entrance tothe lagoon itself which will give you the most trouble."

  "Precisely; that is what we have been given to understand," saidCourtenay, addressing himself to us both. "I presume you have a chartof the place?"

  "No," said our friend; "the place has never yet been surveyed, andGiuseppe will not permit anyone to sound anywhere within the entrance tothe lagoon. I told the captain-general this when he asked me the samequestion. Did he not mention this to you?"

  "No, he did not," said Courtenay, with all the seriousness imaginable;"he never said a word to me about it. Did he mention it to you?" with aglance across the table at me.

  "Not a word," said I. "I suppose he forgot it in his hurry. You mustunderstand," I continued, turning to the unknown one, "that so far as_we_ are concerned, this business has been arranged in the most hurriedmanner, and we must look to you for enlightenment upon any points whichthe captain-general may have omitted to explain to us."

  "Oh, yes! assuredly, senors, assuredly," was the satisfactory reply."It is part of my bargain, you know."

  "Quite so," chimed in Courtenay. "And if, as my friend and I talk thematter over, we happen to come to something which is not altogetherclear, we will not fail to apply to you. By the by, do you happen tohave such a thing as a decent cigar on board this smart little feluccaof yours?"

  Our interlocutor glanced from one to the other of us with a merrytwinkle in his eye, as though Courtenay's innocent inquiry veiled thebest joke he had heard for a long time.

  "A decent cigar!" said he. "Ha! ha! if I have not, then I don't knowwhere else you should look for one, gentlemen. Allow me." And, pushingpast me to the after part of the locker, he raised a lid and produced abox of weeds which he laid upon the table. Then, with an awkward bow,he said, as he made for the companion-ladder:

  "If you have finished breakfast, gentlemen, I will send Francisco downto clear the table."