Adventures of Don Lavington: Nolens Volens

by George Manville Fenn

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

  WHAT MR. JONES THOUGHT.

  "What's to be done, Mas' Don?" whispered Jem, whom this second proof oftreachery against them seemed to have robbed of the power to act.

  "This way," cried a voice, which they recognised as Ramsden's. "By theforechains."

  "Oh, if I had hold of you," snarled Jem, as he ground his teeth.

  "Do you hear me?" whispered Don. "Come on."

  He spoke from where he stood on the bulwark, holding by one of theshrouds, and offering his hand to Jem, who could not see it, but climbedto his side.

  "Header?" he whispered.

  "Yes.--Off!"

  Don gave the word as he glanced in the direction where he believed thecanoe to lie; and then, raising his hands above his head, he sprangright off the bulwark into the sea.

  _Splash_!

  A moment's pause and then--

  _Splash_!

  Jem had followed suit, and there was a faint display--if the expressionis allowable--of water fireworks, as innumerable pinhead-like beads oflight flashed away in every direction.

  "Lanthorns here!" cried the captain. "Sentries, quick! This way."

  He reached the spot from which Don and Jem had taken their daring leap,and in less than a minute the light of a couple of lanthorns was thrownupon the sea.

  "Come back!" roared the captain, "or I fire. Marines, make ready."

  The lanthorns' light gleamed further on the sea as those who held themclambered up the shrouds and held them at arms' length, and thendimly-seen were the backs of the heads of the two swimmers, who made thewater swirl as they struck out with all their might.

  "Do you hear, you scoundrels?" roared the captain again. "Come back, orI fire."

  There was no reply and the heads began to grow more faint in the gloom,while now the news had spread through the ship, and officers and mencame tumbling up the companion ladder and out of their cabins.

  "Marines, present--fire!" cried the captain.

  There were two sharp clicks and as many tiny showers of sparks. Thatwas all.

  "Why, you were not loaded!" cried the captain, fiercely, "Where is thelieutenant? Where is the sergeant? Load, you scoundrels, load!"

  The men grounded arms, and began to load quickly, the thudding of theiriron ramrods sounding strangely in the still night air.

  "Pipe away the first cutter!" cried the captain. "Mr Rogerson, bringthose scoundrels back."

  The shrill pipe of the boatswain was heard, and there was a rush of feetas the captain shouted again,--

  "Present--fire!"

  There was a sharp flash, a loud report, and the captain stamped withrage.

  "Fire, you scoundrel, fire!" he roared at the second man, who was aboutto lower his clumsy musket, after tugging in vain at the trigger, whenthe piece went off, and the bullet fled skyward, sending the nearestlanthorn held up in the shrouds out of its holder's hand, to fall with asplash in the sea, and float for a few moments before it filled andsank, the candle burning till the water touched the wick.

  "'Pon my word!" cried the captain. "Nice state of discipline. Nowyou--fire again. And you, sir, load. Can you see the men, marines?"

  "No, sir. Right out of sight."

  "Then fire where they were when you saw them last."

  "But they won't be there now, sir."

  "Silence, you scoundrel! How dare you? Fire!"

  _Bang_.

  "Now you: are you ready?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Fire!"

  _Bang_.

  "Load again!" cried the captain. "Now, you scoundrels, come back or youshall have a volley."

  A strange noise came off the sea.

  "Hark! What's that?" cried the captain. "A cry for help!"

  "No, sir."

  "What was it, then?"

  "Beg pardon, sir; but I think it was one on 'em a-larfin'."

  The captain gave the speaker--one of the warrant officers--a furiouslook.

  "Now, then, is that boat going to be all night?" he shouted.

  "All ready, sir. Lower away."

  The boat kissed the sea with a faint splash; she was thrust off; and asthe oars dropped and the men gave way the cutter went rapidly throughthe water, at a rate which would have soon made the fugitives prisonersbut for the fact that boat and swimmers were taking differentdirections, and the distance between them increased at every stroke.

  "They've taken no lanthorn!" cried the captain. "Surely no one's orderswere ever worse obeyed."

  "Shall I call them back, sir?" said the second lieutenant.

  "No, no; let them find it out for themselves. Here, marines, ten of youload. Quick, my lads, clear the way from up here."

  "Make ready, take good aim at the scoundrels--present--fire!"

  This time the whole of the pieces went off with a loud rattle, whichbrought lights out in the New Zealand village, and a buzz of excitementcame from the men.

  "More lanthorns there!" cried the captain. "See them?" he cried, to theofficer in the boat.

  "Not yet, sir."

  "Take a sweep round to the southward. They're more there."

  "Ay, ay, sir!" came faintly out of the darkness; and the dull rattle ofthe oars reached those on deck.

  "I'll have those two back, dead or alive!" cried the captain, stampingabout in his rage. "Pipe down the second cutter."

  His orders were obeyed, and in a short time, with a lanthorn in bow andstern, the second boat touched the water, and rowed off, the officer incommand receiving instructions to bear off more still to the southward,and finally sweep round so as to meet the first boat.

  Directly this was started a happy thought seemed to strike the captain,who had a third boat lowered, with instructions to row right ashore,land the men, and divide them in two parties, which would strike off toright and left, stationing a man at every fifty yards; and these were topatrol the beach to and fro, keeping watch and a sharp look out for thefugitives.

  "That will checkmate them, Mr Jones," he said. "I wish I had thoughtof this before. Now go."

  Mr Bosun Jones was in command of this boat, and he gave orders to hismen, the oars splashed, and away they went into the darkness, theirlights growing fainter and fainter, till they seemed to be mere specksin the distance; but they did not die out, and as those left on deckwatched the progress, they saw the lanthorns of the last boat becomestationary, and knew that the men had reached the shore, while thelanthorns of the second cutter were faintly visible, moving slowly faraway to the south.

  The captain rubbed his hands with satisfaction, and kept walking to thegangway and using his night-glass without any greater result than thatof seeing a couple of faint specks of light, when he got the boats'lanthorns into the field. Then he listened in the hope of hearingshouts, which would suggest the capture of the fugitives; but half anhour--an hour--glided by, and all was still. The buzz and cries whichhad arisen from the collection of huts had ceased, and the lights shownthere had been extinguished, while the darkness which hung over the seaappeared to grow more dense.

  At last there was a hail about a hundred yards away, and the officer inthe first boat answered the captain's eager inquiry.

  "No, sir; no luck. Not a sign of any one. I'm afraid--"

  "They have got ashore and escaped?"

  "No, sir," said the lieutenant, gravely; "I don't think a man could swimashore in this darkness and escape."

  "Why, the distance is very short!"

  "Yes, sir; but there are obstacles in the way."

  "Obstacles?"

  "Well, sir, I've seen some tremendous sharks about in the clear water;and I don't think any one could get any distance without having some ofthe brutes after him."

  A terrible silence followed this declaration, and the captain drew hisbreath hard.

  "Come aboard," he said. "It is too dark for further search to be made."

  The boat was rowed alongside, the falls lowered, the hooks adjusted, andshe was hoisted up and swun
g inboard.

  "I'd give anything to capture the scoundrels," said the captain, afterwalking up and down for a few minutes with the lieutenant; "but I don'twant the poor fellows to meet with such a fate as that. Do you think itlikely?"

  "More than likely, sir," said the lieutenant, coldly.

  The captain turned aft, made his way to the quarter-deck, and remainedthere attentively watching shoreward to where he could faintly see thelights of the last boat.

  "We must leave further search till morning," muttered the captain; andgiving his order, signal lamps were run up to recall the boats; andbefore very long they were answered, and the lanthorns of Bosun Jones'boat could soon after be seen heading slowly for the ship, the secondboat following her example a few minutes later.

  "No signs of them, Mr Jones?" said the captain, as his warrant officerreached the deck to report himself.

  "No, sir," said the boatswain, sadly; "but I heard a sound, and one ofmy men heard it too."

  "A sound? What sound?"

  "Like a faint cry of distress, sir."

  "Yes; and what did you make of that?"

  The boatswain was silent a moment.

  "The harbour here swarms with sharks, sir, and the cry sounded to melike that of a man being drawn under water."

  "No, no; no, no; not so bad as that," said the captain, ratherexcitedly. "They've got to shore, and we will have them back to-morrow.The people will give them up either by threats or bribes."

  "I hope so, sir," said the boatswain, coldly. And, then, as he wentbelow, "Poor lad! I'd have given a year of my life rather than itshould have happened. This pressing is like a curse to the service."

  By this time the officer in the last boat had reported himself, thecrews were dismissed, the watch set, and all was silence and darknessagain.

  About dawn the captain, after an uneasy night, came on deck, glass inhand, to search the shore, and try to make out some sign of thefugitives; but just as he had focussed his glass, he caught sight ofsome one doing the very same thing, and going softly to the bows hefound that the officer busy with the glass was Bosun Jones, who rose andsaluted his superior.

  "See anything, Mr Jones?" the captain said.

  "No, sir; only the regular number of canoes drawn up on the beach."

  "Have you thought any more about what you said you heard last night?"

  "Yes, sir, a great deal."

  "But you don't think the poor lad met such a fate as you hinted at?"

  "Yes, sir, I do," said the boatswain sternly; "and I feel as if I hadhelped to bring him to such a death."

  "Mr Jones," said the captain, haughtily, "you merely did your duty as awarrant officer in the king's service. If that unfortunate boy met sucha disastrous fate, it was in an attempt to desert."

  The captain closed his glass with a loud snap, and walked away, whileBosun Jones stood with his brow knit and his lips compressed, gazingstraight before him as the sun rose and shed a flood of light over theglorious prospect.

  But to the bluff petty officer everything seemed sad and gloomy, and hewent below seeing nothing but the frank, manly features of young DonLavington, as he muttered to himself,--

  "Not a chance of escape. Poor boy! Poor boy!"