diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39082-8.txt | 6551 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39082-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 124954 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39082-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 142056 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39082-h/39082-h.htm | 6757 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39082-h/images/logo.jpg | bin | 0 -> 9969 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39082.txt | 6551 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39082.zip | bin | 0 -> 124891 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
10 files changed, 19875 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/39082-8.txt b/39082-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..eae5c3a --- /dev/null +++ b/39082-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6551 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Desperate Voyage, by Edward Frederick Knight + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: A Desperate Voyage + +Author: Edward Frederick Knight + +Release Date: March 9, 2012 [EBook #39082] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DESPERATE VOYAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +_MILNE'S EXPRESS SERIES_ + +A DESPERATE VOYAGE + +[Illustration: Logo] + + +_THE EXPRESS SERIES_ + +_Uniform with this Volume_ + + +I. THE ROME EXPRESS + +BY + +MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS + + +BY THE SAME AUTHOR + +II. A GIRL OF GRIT + +JOHN MILNE +12 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON + + + + +A DESPERATE VOYAGE + +BY + +E. F. KNIGHT + +AUTHOR OF "THE CRUISE OF THE FALCON" +"WHERE THREE EMPIRES MEET" +ETC. ETC. + +JOHN MILNE +12 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON +1898 + + +_All Rights Reserved_ + + +A DESPERATE VOYAGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +In Carey Street, Chancery Lane, on the ground floor of a huge block of +new buildings facing the Law Courts, were the offices of Messrs. Peters +and Carew, solicitors and perpetual commissioners of oaths. Such was the +title of the firm as inscribed on the side of the entrance door in the +middle of a long list of other names of solicitors, architects, and +companies, whose offices were within. But the firm was now represented +by Mr. Carew alone; for the senior partner, a steady-going old +gentleman, who had made the business what it was, had been despatched by +an attack of gout, two years back, to a land where there is no +litigation. + +Late one August evening Mr. Henry Carew entered his office. His face was +white and haggard, and he muttered to himself as he passed the door. He +had all the appearance of a man who has been drinking heavily to drown +some terrible worry. His clerks had gone; he went into his own private +room and locked the door. He lit the gas, brought a pile of papers and +letters out of a drawer, and, sitting down by the table, commenced to +peruse them. As he did so, the lines about his face seemed to deepen, +and beads of perspiration started to his forehead. It was for him an +hour of agony. His sins had found him out, and the day of reckoning had +arrived. + +One might have taken Henry Carew for a sailor, but he was very unlike +the typical solicitor. He was a big, hearty man of thirty-five, with all +a sailor's bluff manner and generous ways. His friends called him Honest +Hal, and said that he was one of the best fellows that ever lived. We +have it on the authority of that immortal adventuress, Becky Sharp, that +it is easy to be virtuous on five thousand a year. Had Mr. Carew enjoyed +such an income, he would most probably have lived a blameless life and +have acquired an estimable reputation; for he had no instinctive liking +for crime; on the contrary, he loathed it. + +But one slight moral flaw in a man's nature--so slight that his best +friends smile tolerantly at it--may, by force of circumstance, lead +ultimately to his complete moral ruin. It is an old story, and has been +the text of many a sermon. The trifling fault is often the germ of +terrible crimes. + +Carew's fault was one that is always easily condoned, so nearly akin is +it to a virtue; these respectably connected vices are ever the most +dangerous, like well-born swindlers. Carew was a spendthrift. He was +ostentatiously extravagant in many directions. He owned a smart +schooner, which he navigated himself, being an excellent sailor, and the +quantities of champagne consumed by his friends on board this vessel +were prodigious. + +When his steady old partner died, Carew began to neglect the business +for his pleasures. Soon his income was insufficient to meet his +expenses. Speculation on the Stock Exchange seemed to him to be a +quicker road to fortune than a slow-going profession. So this man, +morally weak though physically brave, not having the courage to curtail +his extravagances, hurried blindly to his destruction. He gambled and +lost all his own property; for ill-luck ever pursued him. Even then it +was not too late to redeem his position. But he was too great a coward +to look his difficulties in the face; therefore, having the temptation +to commit so terribly easy a crime ever before him in his office, he +began--first, timidly, to a small extent; then wildly, in panic, in +order to retrieve his losses--to speculate with the moneys entrusted to +him by his clients. He pawned their securities; he forged their names; +he plunged ever deeper into crime--and all in vain. + +When it was too late, he swore to himself, in the torments of his +remorse, that if he could but once win back sufficient to replace the +sums he had stolen, he would cut down all his expenses, forswear +gambling and dishonesty, and stick to his profession. + +At last it came to this. He sold his yacht and everything else he +possessed of value. He realised what remained of the securities under +his charge, and then placed the entire sum as cover on a certain stock, +the price of which, he was told, was certain to rise. It was the +gambler's last despairing throw of the dice. The stock suddenly fell; +settling day arrived, and his cover was swept away--he had lost all! + +So he sat in his office this night and faced the situation in an agony +of spirit that was more than fear. For this was no unscrupulous, +light-hearted villain. An accusing conscience was ever with him, and +every fresh descent in crime meant for him a worse present hell of +mental torture. + +He felt that it was idle to hope now, even for a short reprieve. Clients +were suspicious. In a day or two at most all must be known. Disgrace and +a felon's doom were staring him in the face. It would be impossible for +him to raise even sufficient funds to escape from England to some +country where extradition treaties were unknown. Carew realised all +this. He had forced himself to look through his papers and discover the +total of his liabilities. It was a sum he could by no effort refund. + +He laughed aloud--a savage, discordant laugh, as might be that of some +lost soul. + +"Yes, it is all over," he thought; "I throw up the cards. But I will not +endure the disgrace of a public trial, the ignominy of a convict's life; +and after that to come out of jail with my soul eaten out by long years +of penal servitude, with the brand of a felon on my name. Oh no--not +that! After all, a man has always one last privilege left him; he holds +in his own hands the power of terminating his own miserable existence. +Yes; I will kill myself, and have done with it all!" + +In the contemplation of suicide he became calmer. Now that he had +determined on death, his terrible anxiety left him, and the heroism of +despair supported him. + +"I feel a peace of mind at this moment such as has not come to me for +many wretched months," he said to himself. "There is almost a pleasure +in knowing that one has got to the bottom of one's cup of suffering, +that there can be nothing worse to come." + +He meditated quietly for some time as to how he should take away his +life. At last he came to a decision, and a strange smile lit up his +face. "Yes, that is an admirable plan; now for the means of carrying it +out. First, I must have a sovereign or so. I can pawn my watch. Now for +the ballast." He glanced round the room. "Yes, that will do." He rose +and collected several heavy leaden paperweights from the different desks +in the offices and put them into his pockets. "That will be sufficient. +Now I will go to Brighton. It is a glorious evening. I will smell the +sea-air once more. I will have a last dinner at an hotel; and then at +night, when the tide is high, I will throw myself off the pier; this +weight of lead will keep me down. And the next morning my creditors may +seize my body: they are welcome to it." + +At that moment a loud knock came at the outer door. He turned pale and +nearly fainted at the sound. Was he to be balked of those last few hours +of freedom which he had promised himself? Were these the officers of +justice who had come to apprehend him? Once more the dew of agony burst +out on his brow; he groaned aloud; then, summoning resolution, the +desperate man approached the door. + +But it was only the postman, after all. "Idiot that I am not to have +known the knock! but my brain swims to-night. A letter for me. What is +this?" + +He read the letter slowly through; then he put his hand to his forehead. +A revulsion of feeling had suddenly come to him that confused and +stunned him. "Oh, merciful Heaven!" he said, "is this but a cruel trick +of Fortune to tempt me with a vain hope? I had quite reconciled myself +to death--and now this comes. Perhaps it is but a short reprieve, and +its price will be all that agonising suspense again. No, let me die; and +yet"--he glanced at the letter again--"surely I have here a means of +escape. If I can but collect my scattered wits and recover my cunning, I +can save myself. I can live, but it will mean crime again--always crime! +Oh, is it worth it?" + +After a painful mental struggle, he came to a determination. "Yes, I +will live," he said. + +The letter was as follows:-- + + "DEAR CAREW,--You have often promised to cruise with me in my boat. + I am off to-morrow for Holland. Can you join me? Come and look me + up to-night, and arrange it all.--Yours sincerely, + + "ARTHUR ALLEN." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Arthur Allen, barrister-at-law, was of about the same age as his friend +Carew; a man possessed of private means sufficient for his needs, into +whose chambers so few briefs found their way that he had for some years +dispensed with the services of a clerk. But, as one would have surmised +after glancing at the strong, intelligent face, he was a man by no means +lacking in energy, and not of idle disposition: as a matter of fact, a +scholar, and one who had taken high honours at his university, he still +maintained his studious habits, and, having practically abandoned a +profession that was uncongenial to him, he devoted himself to literary +pursuits; and his thoughtful articles in the reviews and in the +newspaper to which he was attached brought him in no insignificant +addition to his income. + +No mere bookworm, he had been an athlete in his youth; but now his one +outdoor form of amusement was the sailing of his little yacht, on which, +always acting as his own skipper, he had taken many a delightful cruise +in home and distant waters. He was an enthusiastic lover of the sea. +This was the one taste he had in common with Carew. It was at some yacht +club, of which they were both members, that they had become acquainted. + +It was a lovely August evening. The windows of Allen's bachelor chambers +in the Temple were open, and through them could be seen that fair oasis +of London's desert of bricks and mortar, Fountain Court, with its +stately buildings, ancient trees, and quiet garden with splashing +fountains in its midst. Nor was the view confined; for, beyond the +chapel and the green, could be perceived the broad, gleaming Thames, and +the distant Surrey shore, glorified by a faint mist; a peaceful, +old-world spot, with a contemplative air about it, for it is haunted by +the memories of much departed greatness. Allen was reclining in a +comfortable arm-chair, drawn up to the open window, in whose recesses +geraniums bloomed, their vivid blossoms occasionally shaking beneath the +breath of the soft south wind that had come directly from the cool +river. + +He smoked his pipe as he looked out upon the sweet sunset scene, his +mind happily occupied in planning his coming cruise, when his +meditations were interrupted by a knock at the outer door. He rose to +admit his visitor, opened the door, and there stood before him Henry +Carew in serge suit and yachting cap, a small Gladstone bag in his hand. + +"Hallo, Carew, old man! you have not been long replying to my letter. I +was afraid you would have left the office before it reached you. Come +in." + +"Are you alone?" inquired Carew, in a low voice. + +"Yes, quite alone. I am smoking a pipe of peace by myself. You have just +come at the right time." + +They entered the room, and then, as the light of the sunset fell upon +the solicitor's face, Allen perceived its haggard expression. + +"How queer you look, Carew!" he exclaimed. "Are you ill?" + +"Ill--no, not at all; but worried--worried almost out of my life," +replied Carew wildly, throwing himself into a chair, and putting his +face between his hands. + +Allen sat in a chair opposite to him, refilled and lit his pipe, and, as +he smoked, gazed at his friend with feelings of perplexed compassion. + +"Have a pipe, old fellow; there is nothing like a pipe for worry." + +"A pipe?" cried Carew, with contemptuous bitterness. "No; but have you +some brandy? Give me some brandy." + +"Certainly, Carew," and the barrister produced a spirit-case, some +glasses, and water. + +Carew poured a quantity of spirit into a glass and drank it neat. He +was usually a temperate man. + +"That is not the way to clear one's brain for confronting one's +troubles," remarked Allen. + +"No, you are right. It is foolish of me. Allen, I have come to say that +I shall be very glad to accompany you on your cruise." + +"I am delighted to hear that. A good blow in the North Sea will do you +good, if your mind is so upset." + +"Allen," said Carew, pulling himself together and speaking with more +self-possession, "I wish I could speak to you of the business that is +troubling me, but I am not at liberty to do so. It concerns others." + +"I don't want to know anything about it, old man; but I am sure you will +soon get out of your trouble, whatever it is. With an easy conscience no +man is miserable for long. And now that I have secured you as a hand, I +have a sufficient crew. So we will start to-morrow morning. Will you be +ready by then?" + +"I am ready now. You see I have brought my baggage with me." + +"Then, as we have to catch an early train to-morrow, you had better +sleep to-night in my chambers; I can put you up. Our destination is the +Dutch coast, old man, and we should have a jolly time of it. You have +not yet seen my new boat, the _Petrel_--a yawl of twenty-eight tons, +yacht measurement; a splendid sea-boat. I would go anywhere in her. She +is now lying off Erith." + +Carew had been listening attentively. "What crew do you carry?" he +asked. + +"Ah, let me tell you that you will have lots of work to do. We shall be +but three all told. I have shipped one hand only--Jim, the fisherman, +who was with me last year. Another friend was coming with me, but he has +disappointed me." + +"For how long will you be away?" + +"About a fortnight. I have been a bit fagged of late, and want a +holiday. I only made up my mind to take this cruise this afternoon. Not +a soul but yourself knows we are going." + +On hearing this a sigh of relief escaped Carew. Yes, if he were once on +board the yacht all trace of him would be lost. He felt almost jubilant +as he thought of it; the recent acute tension of his mind had left a +sort of hysterical weakness behind, and he alternated easily between +exultant hope and profoundest despair. + +He reflected that if he could but contrive to reach Erith without being +observed by any who knew him, he was safe, at anyrate for some time. But +how to do so? It was possible that even already detectives had been set +to watch his movements. He must take his chance of that, use all his +wits, and incur no risk that could be avoided. Fearing to show himself +in the streets, more especially in the Strand or Fleet Street, where so +many would know him by sight at least, he suggested to Allen that they +should send to a neighbouring chop-house for their dinners, and remain +quietly in the chambers, instead of dining, as was their wont, at a +club. The barrister agreed to this, and therefore had no opportunity +that night of meeting any of his friends, and he communicated to no one +his intention of sailing on the morrow. He merely left a note for his +housekeeper on his table, informing her that he would be out of town for +a fortnight, and that his letters were not to be forwarded. + + * * * * * + +At an early hour on the following morning a cab was brought round to the +door of the barrister's chambers, and the two friends drove off to +Charing Cross Station, arriving there but a few minutes before their +train started. The chances of anyone who knew him recognising Carew on +the way were thus reduced to a minimum. At Erith Allen's man, Jim, was +awaiting them with the dinghy. He was a very broad-shouldered, +florid-faced man of forty, with a protuberance in one cheek indicating +the presence of a quid. He looked exactly what he was--a hardy, +North-Sea smackman. + +Jim pulled them off to the yacht, and when the solicitor, who was +thoroughly at home on a boat, a keen lover of the sea, with yachting as +his one innocent pleasure, stood on the white deck, and, looking around, +saw how glorious was that summer's day, beheld the river sparkling in +the sunshine, thronged with stately ships and picturesque barges tacking +up with the flood against the soft south-west wind, a delightful sense +of freedom rushed upon him. + +Oh, what a thing it was to have left behind him that accursed city, with +its weariness, its anxieties, the endless jangles of the law, the +feverish play, the guilt, the terrible dread of detection--to have left +it for ever! + +"Now, Jim, off we go!" cried the skipper. The dinghy was lifted on +board, the mainsail was hoisted, then the jib; the moorings were slipt, +up went the foresail, and the yacht shot out into the stream; then, +obedient to her rudder, bore away, and tore down the river before the +freshening breeze on the top of the strong ebb tide. Needless it is to +describe that pleasant summer day's sail. Allen was in the highest +spirits, and for him the happy hours flew rapidly by. Even Carew, +intoxicated with the pure air and sunshine, and the delightful sight of +dancing waters, forgot his sin and misery, and felt almost light-hearted +for the first time for months; and at last, when the yacht reached the +broader water, thinking over his position, he gave a sigh of infinite +relief. Now, indeed, he was safe. No fugitive had ever left so little +trace behind him. + +They were well outside the Thames, in the East Swin Channel, before +dark. The sun set in a golden haze, ominous of storm on the morrow, and +then the wind dropped. The yacht sailed very slowly down the English +coast during the night, the three men taking it in turn to steer and +sleep. At sunrise they were off the Naze, and the sky looked so stormy +and the glass fell so rapidly that there was some discussion as to +whether it would not be well to put in to Harwich. But Carew was so +earnestly opposed to this that the owner decided to push on, and the +vessel's head was turned seaward towards the mouth of the Maas. The +English coast loomed less and less distinct; but so light was the wind +that it was not till midday that they lost all sight of the land. Then +the wind began to pipe up suddenly, and seeing nothing but stormy clouds +and heaving water around him, Carew's spirits rose wonderfully; a +reaction of wild gaiety succeeded his anxiety. + +At four it was blowing so hard that they took two reefs in the mainsail +and shifted jibs. Shortly before sunset, Carew was taking his turn at +the tiller; the others were below. After a while the motion of the yacht +became so violent that the owner came on deck to have a look round. + +"The wind has freshened a lot this last half-hour, and there's a nasty +sea getting up," he said. "It will be blowing a gale of wind before the +morning. Well, we have a good craft under our feet." + +"She steers wonderfully easily," replied the solicitor. "She's a +beautiful boat. I would not mind crossing the Atlantic in her." + +"I should think not," said the proud owner. "But look at that vessel +across your lee-bow, Carew. What the dickens are they up to on board of +her? She's yawing all over the place. First I thought she was on the +port-tack; then she seemed as if she was in stays; and now--ah, I see +it--she is hove-to." + +"She is a small brig," said Carew. "Get the glasses up and see what you +can make of her." + +Allen dived below, brought up the binoculars, and scanned the vessel. +"By Jove!" he cried, "she's in a nice mess. Her bowsprit is carried +away, her foretopmast too, and her jib's streaming away like a flag. +Hallo! and part of her stem and bulwarks have gone." + +"Collision." It was Jim's voice. He had just come on deck, and his quick +eye at once realised the brig's mishap. Then he looked at her intently +for some moments, and spoke again, in eager tones for him-- + +"Derelict." + +"So she is," cried Allen. "We'll get out the boat and board her. Do you +think the sea is too high, Jim?" + +Jim said nothing. He was quite ready to risk his life in a cockle-shell +in a heavy sea, as all fishermen of the Doggerbank must be. He was not +the man to refuse to do what his employer wished, unless the danger were +very great indeed. He looked round at the sea, then nodded his head +affirmatively. + +"I don't think it's safe," said Carew. "In the first place, see how low +that brig is in the water; she may go down at any moment, and the sea is +very tricky to-day. I grant you it does not seem so very rough just now, +but every half-hour or so there have been some rather dangerous rollers. +One passed by us just before you came on deck." + +But Allen's spirit of adventure was up. "Oh, nonsense!" he cried; "I'm +going to see what she is. She may be worth standing by for salvage. Run +down a bit nearer to her--that's it. Now let's heave-to--so. Now +overboard with the dinghy, Jim. You stay behind and mind the yacht, +Carew." + +Jim and Allen waited for a "smooth," seized the dinghy, dexterously +launched her, and leaping in nimbly, pulled away from the yacht--a feat +that looks easy on paper, but requires nerve and skill to perform in a +heavy sea. + +"If you drift away too far, let draw your jib and sail up to us," +shouted Allen, as he went away. + +Carew stood on the deck of the yacht, which now rose and fell on the +seas with the easy motion of a vessel that is hove-to, and watched the +tiny boat, so frail and yet so buoyant, so far safer than she seemed, as +she leapt from wave to wave. + +The dinghy was close to the brig. In another moment the men would have +boarded her, when Carew perceived, to his horror, a huge roller coming +up--a steep mass of water, with overhanging, breaking crest, such as are +met with on the edge of shallows. It reached the yacht and hurled her +high up; then dropped her again into the trough of the sea with a shock +almost as violent as if she had struck a rock. The giant wave thundered +by the sturdy little vessel without injuring her. But the dinghy--where +was she? + +Carew strained his eyes in her direction. First the boat was hidden from +him by the intervening wave; then he saw her for a moment floating on +the top of a sea, some forty yards away, bottom up. He thought, too, he +could distinguish a man's head in the water near her. The derelict had +disappeared. Waterlogged as she was, it had only needed that last great +sea to send her down bodily. + +But all this while his two companions were drowning. Why did Carew stand +there idle? He was sailor enough to know his duty. He could have sailed +the yacht close to the men, thrown a life-buoy to them, and have +possibly succeeded in dragging them on board. He stood on the deck, as +if dazed. Had he lost his head for a time? He only hesitated for two or +three seconds, but they were invaluable--then it was too late! + +A sudden squall of wind and rain swept down upon the sea, and all was +obscured in a whirling smoke of spray and vapour. It was impossible to +see even a few yards through it; and when the squall had passed, there +were no men and no dinghy to be seen. + +The dark and stormy night settled down upon the waters, and Henry Carew +was left alone in the middle of the North Sea! + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +"Am I a murderer?" + +So asked of his conscience, in fear and trembling, Henry Carew, as he +stood alone upon the deck of the labouring vessel, surrounded by a waste +of tumultuous waters. + +"Not a murderer!" he cried aloud. "Oh no, not that!" + +Then he argued with himself. "Had I done all that a man could, I think I +should have been unable to save them. True, I lost my presence of mind. +I did not stir a hand to help them; but that is not murder. Poor Allen! +poor Allen! But no; this is a morbid fancy. At least I am innocent of +that crime." + +He looked round at the wild sea, invisible on that starless night save +for the white foam that hissed on the tops of the waves. + +"And now to make the best of my position. How fortune has turned! I, who +two days back was surrounded by dangers, have nothing to fear now." + +Then he broke into a wild laugh, not of merriment or exultation, but a +sort of hysterical effervescence that came of a mind that had long been +tasked beyond its strength by violent emotions. + +But he fully realised what a great advantage the loss of his two +companions signified for him. Yes, even at that moment when he beheld +them drowning before him, the profit their death would bring him had +flashed across his brain. Little wonder that he asked his conscience +that terrible question, "Am I a murderer?" + +How simple his course seemed now! It needed little thought to decide on +it. He knew that Allen was accustomed to undertake long cruises, and +therefore would not be missed for some time. Again, the barrister was +somewhat careless in his correspondence; so the fact of his neglecting +to write to his friends would surprise and alarm no one. How easy, then, +for Carew to impersonate him! He would sail the yacht into some Dutch +port--no very difficult task; and once there, he could rely on his wits +to make the most of the opportunities chance should throw in his way. +Most probably he would sell the yacht and take a passage on some vessel +bound for a South American harbour. Like most educated fugitives from +justice, he turned to the Argentine Republic as being the safest of +sanctuaries. + +Carew's eyes, accustomed to observe the signs of the weather, told him +that the wind was likely to freshen; so he set about making himself as +comfortable as possible for the night. He lowered the foresail, and +still further reduced the mainsail by tricing up the tack. Then, with +jib-sheet hauled to windward and tiller lashed, the yacht lay hove-to. +After watching her for a few minutes, Carew saw that she was behaving +admirably, and that he could with safety stay below the whole night if +he chose, and leave the little vessel to take care of herself. + +"It will have to blow a good deal harder to hurt her," he thought; "it's +only collision I have to be afraid of now. Well, I can considerably +lessen the chances of that." + +So he went below, found the side-lamps, lit them, and fastened them to +the shrouds. + +So dark had become the night that nothing could be distinguished from +the yacht's deck, save when, as she rolled from side to side, the port +and starboard lights cast an alternate ruddy and sickly green glare on +the foaming water. To be out in the North Sea on so small a craft during +a gale is terrifying in the extreme to one not inured to the sea; the +roaring of the waves and the howling of the wind sound so much louder +than on a larger vessel, and the quick, violent motion often confuses +the brains even of sailors if they are accustomed only to big ships. But +Carew was, as Allen had said, a smart man on a fore-an-after. He felt +that, with this good boat under him, he was as safe as if he had been +on shore. + +"She's snug enough," he said. "I'll go below and try to make out from +the chart where I am; then I'll turn in and sleep--if I can." + +He looked at the chart, roughly calculated the distance the yacht had +run since Allen had taken his "departure" from the Naze, and found that +he was about half-way between the English and Dutch coasts. "That is +good," he thought; "I have no lee-shore near me; I have plenty of room. +I'll just stay where I am, hove-to, till the wind moderates, then make +sail for Rotterdam." + +He lay down in his bunk and tried to sleep, but all in vain. His brain +was too excited with thoughts of what had passed and what was still to +happen. Plans to secure his safety, and visions of possible accidents, +passed through his mind, weaving themselves in delirious manner into +long and complicated histories of his future life--some happy, some +terrible with retributive calamity. Unable to stay the feverish activity +of his brain, he came on deck at frequent intervals to see that all was +well. + +The vessel plunged and rolled throughout the night, her timbers +groaning, and the wind shrieking through her rigging. But towards +daybreak the gale began to moderate, and the glass rose slowly. Carew +saw that the bad weather was over and that the heavy sea would soon +subside. On the shallow German Ocean the sea rises quicker than +elsewhere, and with its steep and breaking rollers is more perilous than +can be experienced on any other of our home waters, as the fishermen of +the Doggerbank know to their cost. On the other hand, here it soon +becomes smooth again as the wind drops. + +An hour or so after dawn the sky was almost cloudless, and only a fresh +breeze was blowing. The waves, no longer dangerous, broke into white +foam that sparkled in the sunshine. It was a day to gladden a sailor's +heart. + +Carew stood on deck, and under the joyous influences of that bright +morning a calm fell on his soul, and his conscience ceased to trouble +him. There is a sort of magnetic relation between a man and his +surroundings. Out at sea, far away from land, with nothing but pure air +and pure water near, even a great villain is wont to forget that he +himself is not pure as well. In London, as he walked through the crowded +streets, Carew knew that he was constantly jostling against men as bad +as himself. In them he saw his own vices and crimes reflected as in a +mirror, so that he could never put his guilt out of his mind. Again, +fearful as he had been lately that those around him suspected him, he +was unable to feel, even for one delusive moment, the sense of +innocence. + +But out here on the great sea, so far removed from human passion, with +nothing to remind him of his offences, it was, on the contrary, +difficult for him to realise what manner of man he was. He was conscious +of what he imagined were virtuous impulses. He began to flatter himself +that he was naturally a good man, that he was more sinned against than +sinning, and that it was foolish of him to allow a sensitive conscience +to torment him about occurrences, regrettable indeed, but the blame of +which was scarcely his. The fact was that he mistook the joyous feelings +inspired by a sunny day at sea for the reawakening of his better self--a +frequent mistake that. His soul was in complete harmony with the Nature +around him; and Nature, whatever her actions, knows nothing of crime or +remorse. + +So Henry Carew, in no unhappy frame of mind, began to consider what he +should do next; and as he pondered, all his pluck and energy returned to +him. + +"In an hour or so," he said to himself, "the sea will have gone down +still more; then I can get the vessel under way again. In the meantime, +I will make a thorough inspection, and discover what my resources are; +for I must have money, or the means of raising it." + +He went below, and after lighting a fire in the stove to boil some water +for coffee, he looked round the walls of the cabin. Among other +valuables were a rifle, a revolver, a clock, and an aneroid; and Allen's +gold watch and chain were hanging on a nail. "I can raise fifty pounds +on these to begin with," he thought; "and now to see what there is in +the lockers and cupboards." He rummaged everywhere; but, with the +exception of the sextant, there was no article of any value that could +be easily sold. + +At last, in a small drawer, he found the barrister's money and papers. +There were about twenty-five pounds in gold. There was also a +cheque-book; and on turning over its pages, Carew found that Allen had +made a note of the balance to his credit on the counterfoil of the last +cheque he had drawn, showing that he had the sum of fifty pounds at his +bank. Then the solicitor glanced at the yacht's Admiralty warrant, which +authorised Arthur Allen to fly the blue ensign of Her Majesty's fleet on +his yacht, the _Petrel_, of sixteen tons register; a most valuable +privilege, as Carew knew, which would serve him as passport into +whatever foreign port he should go. + +He was not altogether satisfied with the result of his search, and, as +he sat on the bunk sipping his coffee, the more he thought of his +prospects the more gloomy they appeared to him. He felt that it would be +very hazardous to attempt selling the yacht in Rotterdam. To do so would +require time; and as it was the long vacation, and so many lawyers and +others who knew him were taking their holidays, his recognition by +someone in so favourite a haunt of tourists as the Dutch city would be a +highly probable event. He dared not risk that. He must not stay in +Holland a moment longer than was necessary. Then what could he do with +so small a fund at his disposal? + +His eye fell on the open drawer, and he rose to close it. He happened +then to notice the barrister's diary among the papers, and though he did +not imagine that there could be anything in it of the slightest interest +to himself, he took it up in a casual way and opened it at the first +page. Suddenly the indifferent look vanished, he started visibly, and +read with intense eagerness. "Oh!" he cried, "now it is all plain +sailing for me. I know what to do." A triumphant light came into his +eyes, and then, putting away the diary, he ran on deck, let the +foresheet draw, and as he steered the vessel on her course over the +dancing waves, the expression of his face indicated a happy confidence +in the future; all doubt and fear had fled. + +The first page of the diary was devoted to memoranda; and, among other +things, the barrister had here written a list of the investments from +which he derived his income. The bulk of these consisted of foreign +bonds and other easily negotiable securities, which Allen had deposited +with his banker. + +It was the perusal of this list that had suggested to the quick and +ingenious mind of the solicitor a scheme not difficult of execution, the +very thought of which made his heart beat quick with anticipation. Carew +shrank from the peril of forging cheques or letters of instructions to +Allen's bankers; but now that he knew exactly how the barrister's +account stood, a simpler and safer method of appropriating to himself a +large proportion at least of the dead man's fortune occurred to him. + +Said this accomplished scoundrel to himself: "I have here a stout, +seaworthy boat, that can easily take me across the Atlantic. I will ship +a crew in Rotterdam, and sail for Buenos Ayres. By selling the watch and +chain and one or two other little things I shall have enough money to +buy stores and pay all other expenses of the voyage. Once in Buenos +Ayres, I will go to the agent of the ---- Bank. There is sure to be one. +I will show him my papers. I will prove to his satisfaction that I am +Arthur Allen, barrister-at-law, owner of the yacht _Petrel_. I will +explain that I have run short of money, and require a considerable sum +at once. The agent will telegraph to the bank, learn that I have there +securities to a large amount, and then he will be ready to advance to me +as much as I want; and I will want a good deal. I will say that I am +about to buy land, or tell some such plausible tale, get my money, and +away. Oh, most excellent plan! Who on earth is likely to suspect that +the yachting barrister is no other than Henry Carew, the defaulting +solicitor?" + +He steered the vessel towards the Dutch coast, and soon the wind fell so +much that he was able to shake out all his reefs. + +At ten he passed through a large fleet of fishing boats that were riding +to their nets. He hailed an English smack, asking her skipper if he +could tell him his position. + +"You'll get hold of the land in an hour or so," shouted the man; "and, +as you are going now, you'll about fetch Goeree." + +Carew, after consulting the chart, steered in a more northerly +direction. At midday he saw the loom of the land ahead of him; so, as +the sky was clear, he brought up the sextant and took an observation of +the sun, thus ascertaining his exact position. + +"Lucky it is that I taught myself navigation," he thought; "it will come +in useful now." + +At last he could plainly distinguish the features of the coast, which +was low and flat, with white sand-hills here and there that gleamed like +snow in the sunshine. + +Then he saw a steeple, a lighthouse, and a group of cottages, with +bright red roofs, and he knew that he was off the village of +Scheveningen, which is a few miles to the north of the Maas. Sailing to +the southward, he soon reached the mouth of the river, and at once some +of the ever-watchful pilots pulled off to him in a small boat. + +Carew hove the yacht to, and waited for them. The boat was soon +alongside. Four little old men, all fat and rosy, were in her. One who +understood English well was the spokesman. Standing up in the stern he +shouted-- + +"Captain, you want pilot, sar?" + +"Yes; how much do you want to take me to Rotterdam?" + +Carew felt how necessary it was to husband his funds, and he suspected +that Dutch pilots consider a yacht fair prey for extortion. + +The man named an exorbitant sum. + +"Nonsense! Too much. I'll sail her in myself." + +"Right, captain," replied the Dutchman calmly; "that better for me and +my mates. You try and go in alone, you sure to run ashore. Then we help +you off, and you give us plenty money for salvage instead of small +pilot-fee." + +Carew felt that it might happen as the old man had said. The Maas is +encumbered with shoals, and the navigation is difficult for a stranger. + +"Now, how much you give me, captain?" + +The solicitor mentioned a moderate sum. + +"Ah, you rich man with yacht to be hard on poor pilot! Now, I pilot you +for the middle price." + +"Come on board, then," said Carew. + +The pilot leapt on to the yacht's deck, and the other three pulled away +in their boat. + +"Now, captain. Tide in river running strong, wind is light; so we want +all sail, or else we no move. Call up your hands and hoist topsail." + +"There are no hands below. I am alone," replied Carew. + +"Alone? What do you mean? You come from England all alone?" exclaimed +the man in great astonishment. + +"Yes; my crew got drunk and were insolent just before I sailed. They +thought I could not do without them, and they knew I was in a hurry. But +I put them all on shore without hesitation, and I have come across +alone." + +"You a very mad Englishman, but you a brave man. I never hear anything +like that." + +"Pilot," said Carew, later on, as they were sailing up the river, "I +don't want to be followed about Rotterdam as if I were a curiosity; so I +should like you not to mention the fact of my having sailed across the +sea alone." + +"All right, captain; my mouth close." + +"I shall want a crew of two or three good, honest Dutchmen, pilot. Can +you recommend me any men?" + +"This very night you shall have one--my cousin Willem--a very good boy, +captain." + +"And there is another thing, pilot. What sort of a berth are you going +to put me in in Rotterdam?" + +"I will moor you along the Boompjees; nice quays them. Plenty good +Schiedam shops on shore there. All yachts go there." + +"I thought so; that's why I asked. Now, pilot, I do not want to be +moored along the Boompjees. Take me to some quiet canal, out of the way; +you understand--a place where no yachts or foreign vessels go." + +"Ah, I know, captain, just the place: nothing but Holland schuyts there; +no yachts like it, no captains like it; I not think you will like it." + +"I will go there. But why don't you think I shall like it?" + +"You no have Dutch nose; and that canal plenty smellful, captain." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +A narrow canal that pierces an out-of-the-way corner of old Rotterdam. +Mediæval houses--narrow, lofty, terminating in quaint, pointed +gables--overhang the sluggish waters. It is only frequented by the +picturesque native canal boats, with their lofty masts and varnished oak +sides, so marvellously clean, for all their dirty work. In this quiet +spot, with its old-world, decaying look, it is difficult to realise that +close at hand are the busy quays of the Boompjees, crowded with vessels +from all parts of the world, noisy with the haste of modern commerce. + +It is a bit of Rotterdam that does not change. The British tourist, +unless he has lost himself, never explores the narrow alleys that lead +down to the slimy water--a gloomy, dead quarter of the city, pervaded by +a smell that is ancient and fish-like and something worse. + +It was a sultry August midday. No breath of air stirred the water of the +canal, which seemed to be fermenting under the fierce sunshine, and foul +gases bubbled up on its surface. + +Only one of the many vessels moored along the quay flew a foreign flag. +The blue ensign of Great Britain hung motionless from the mizzen of the +yacht _Petrel_. + +On the deck was a sturdy little man in baggy trousers, who, despite the +languid influence of the day, was employed in polishing the brass-work +on the vessel with an extraordinary energy. This was Willem, the pilot's +cousin, who had entered into Carew's service, and who had, with Dutch +diligence, set himself the task of scrubbing the yacht up to his high +standard of Dutch smartness as quickly as possible. + +The owner--by right of undisputed possession--was below, looking over +some charts of the South Atlantic, which he had just purchased. The +solicitor had been making all his preparations as rapidly but as quietly +as possible. But little now remained to be done. So far, honest Willem +was the only hand he had engaged; but he knew that he could easily ship +as many men as he needed at a moment's notice in so large a seaport as +Rotterdam. He told no one of his projected voyage across the Atlantic, +knowing that to do so would at once attract attention to him; and he +naturally dreaded that publicity should be given to his doings. + +He showed himself in the streets as little as possible, and he always +went forth to make his purchases in the early morning before English +tourists were likely to be out of their beds. He had only been in port +two days, but he was almost ready for sea. He had some tanks fitted into +the cabin, so that he could carry sufficient water for a long voyage; he +had filled all the lockers and bunks with a large quantity of tinned +meats, biscuits, and other necessary stores; he had procured his charts; +and all this had been done in the least conspicuous manner possible. + +Though he had never before undertaken an ocean cruise of this magnitude, +he knew what was requisite, and forgot nothing. There was no chronometer +on board the yacht, and he could not afford to buy one; so, as his watch +was not to be depended upon, he saw that he would have to navigate his +vessel after the fashion of the good old days before chronometers were +known. The ancient navigators carried with them their astrolabes--rough +instruments, long since superseded by quadrants and sextants--which +enabled them to find their latitude accurately enough. But having no +timepieces, they were unable to ascertain their longitude by observation +of the heavenly bodies, and had to rely on dead reckoning alone. So the +mariner of old, after a long voyage across ocean currents of unknown +speed and direction, was possibly many hundreds of miles out of his +reckoning as regards longitude, though he knew his latitude to within a +few miles. + +Thus, supposing, for instance, he was bound for Barbadoes, he would +sail boldly on until, according to his calculations, he was some few +days' journey to the eastward of his port. Then he would steer for the +exact latitude in which it lay, and follow that line of latitude till he +reached his destination; which he was, of course, bound to do sooner or +later. Moreover, it was his invariable custom to heave his vessel to +every night while running down the latitude; as otherwise he might pass +by the island without seeing it in the darkness, and lose himself +entirely. + +It was a slow method of navigation--not to say a risky one. But Carew +would not have to encounter so many difficulties as the sailors of old; +for ocean currents are better understood in these days, and the +opportunities of speaking vessels at sea and ascertaining the exact +longitude from them are very frequent. + +Carew had spent all the money he had found on board the yacht, and there +were still some necessary purchases to be made. The most expensive of +the articles yet to be bought was a dinghy, to replace the one that had +been lost. This very morning he had found his way to the Mont de Piété +and pawned everything he could well spare: Allen's watch and chain, the +rifle, and one of the two binocular glasses. With that easy +forgetfulness which was an attribute of his conscience, he had by this +time almost come to believe that the barrister's yacht and fortune were +rightfully his. The sum he thus raised was not a large one; but he +calculated that it would enable him to meet every expense, though he +would have to put to sea almost penniless, if not quite so. + +While Willem was still busy on deck a tall, good-looking gentleman, with +an honest but shrewd eye and tawny beard, came along the quay and stood +in front of the yacht, inspecting her critically for a few moments. + +"Is the owner on board?" he inquired of the sailor in Dutch. + +"The English captain is in his cabin, sir," replied the little man in a +solemn, nasal drawl. + +"I should like to see him. Will you give him my card?" + +Willem, taking the card, descended to the cabin. "Von man here for see +you, captain," he said in his broken English. + +Carew started. "A man to see me? What sort of man?" he asked. + +"Him a gentleman man, for him has von tall black hat. Here was his +paper," and he handed Carew the card. + +The solicitor felt the blood forsake his heart. Some English +acquaintance had found him out. He looked at the card with dread; then a +sigh of relief escaped him; the name was certainly Dutch--Hoogendyk. + +Carew went on deck and politely invited his visitor to come on board. +Mynheer Hoogendyk stepped down from the quay, and introduced himself in +excellent English. + +"I am a resident of Rotterdam," he said, "and I am a leading member of +our Yacht Club. I have come to inform you that, with your permission, we +shall be highly delighted to make our English _confrère_ an honorary +member of the club during his stay in our city." + +"I am very grateful to the club for the honour they confer upon me, and +shall gladly avail myself of the privilege," replied the lawyer, who, as +he spoke, made a resolve never to put his foot inside the club premises, +but to ship his crew and sail from Rotterdam without delay. It was +dangerous for him to stay longer, now that his retreat had been +discovered. + +"I only heard of you by accident yesterday," said the visitor, who, +unlike most of his countrymen, was garrulous and inquisitive, though a +good fellow. "Why have you picked up a berth in this dirty, +out-of-the-way hole?" + +"It is picturesque and quiet." + +"And filthy and unhealthy. We must move you to a better spot. There is a +capital berth just in front of the English church. You'll see lots of +your countrymen there. How many hands have you on board? I see you have +shipped one Dutchman." + +"My two men were drunken ruffians, and I discharged them." + +"I will undertake to get you a good crew of my countrymen if you like. I +suppose you are going to cruise about our coasts. Where are you going to +from here?" + +"To Amsterdam," replied Carew, who was on tenterhooks of impatience. He +felt how dangerous this man would be with his gossiping habits. + +"And now, sir," said Mynheer Hoogendyk, drawing out a pocket-book and +pencil, "I will take your name and enter it on the club books." + +"Here is my card." Carew handed to him one of the barrister's cards. + +"'Mr. Arthur Allen, Fountain Court, Temple!'" read the visitor. "Ah, you +live in the Temple! I know it well. Are you a lawyer by chance?" + +"I am a barrister." + +"Ah! How delightful! We are chips of the same block, Mr. Allen. I, too, +am a barrister, in practice in Rotterdam. Both yachtsmen, both +advocates, what a bond of friendship there should be between us! You +must come and see my yacht--such a pretty little schuyt--and also our +law courts." + +They sat together in the _Petrel's_ cabin, and the Dutch advocate +commenced to question the solicitor on English law, comparing it with +that in force in his own country. Carew was hugely bored and weary of +his visitor's chatter, but did his best to be civil. + +"And, by the way," cried the Dutchman at last, "there is a trial now +proceeding which I am sure would be of the greatest interest to you; for +you say that the criminal law is your particular line." + +"What is it about?" asked the solicitor indifferently. + +"Piracy: the seizure of a vessel and the murder of her officers by the +crew." + +All Carew's indifference vanished now. He let the cigar he was smoking +drop from his fingers, and, turning his head, he looked at his visitor's +face with a steady, fierce look, as of some wild beast that awaits the +attack of another, and has strung all its nerves to resist its foe to +the death. The Dutchman, whose eyes were directed downwards at that +moment, did not observe that look. + +The slumbering conscience had been awakened again with a rude start by +those words. For a moment Carew lost his head and fancied that this +garrulous man was a police detective who knew everything and had been +playing with his prisoner all this while. Then he looked at his +visitor's face again, and felt reassured, realising the absurdity of +such a supposition. + +The advocate, quite unconscious of the perturbation he had caused, +continued-- + +"Yes, it was a terrible story. Perhaps you remember reading in the +papers some months ago of an act of piracy in the Spanish Main. A vessel +trading from Curaçoa under the Dutch flag was seized by her crew--a lot +of Spanish and Mulatto cut-throats. They murdered the captain, the mate, +and a few honest Dutch sailors who stood by their officers. Then the +mutineers sailed for Puerto Cabello, where, as usual, there was a civil +war, with the intention of selling the vessel to the revolutionary +party, which was in need of transports. When they arrived there the +revolution was over; the Government seized the vessel, but the ruffians +contrived to escape up country." + +"I remember all that well," said Carew. "The story made a great noise at +the time." + +"Now it happens," said the advocate, "that three of these ruffians +shipped as sailors in a South American port on board of a vessel bound +for Rotterdam. One day a Dutch sailor from Curaçoa enters a drinking +shop on the Boompjees, and sees, sitting down at a table over a bottle +of schiedam, three men whom he recognises as part of the crew of the +ill-fated _Vrouw Elisa_. He calls in the police, and now these gentlemen +are being tried for their lives." + +"To be hanged if found guilty, I suppose?" + +"I hope so; but I am afraid that they will be acquitted. Everyone is +morally sure of their guilt; but, unfortunately, the evidence for the +prosecution has been so confused and contradictory that their identity +has not been satisfactorily settled. The counsel for the defence is a +very able fellow too." + +"What countrymen are they?" inquired Carew. + +"Two are Spaniards and one is a Frenchman. I think the Frenchman was the +ringleader of the mutineers, for he looks a clever rascal. And now, Mr. +Allen, the trial will probably conclude this afternoon. The court is +very crowded, but I can get you in. Come along, and you will be able to +compare the Dutch and English criminal procedure." + +Carew would have preferred to decline the invitation, but in ordinary +politeness found it difficult to do so; and he accompanied the native +lawyer--who undoubtedly possessed the gift of the gab, if no other +qualifications for his profession--to the law courts. + +Carew felt anything but easy in his mind as he walked through the main +streets of the town, at this hour of the day crowded with a motley +throng, including not a few of his own countrymen, bent on pleasure or +business. Pretending to listen to his companion's unceasing gossip, the +solicitor looked anxiously about him as he went, fearing at each step to +see some well-known face from Fleet Street. The glaring sunshine had +rejoiced his soul when he was out on the lonely seas, but in the hives +of his fellow-men he shrank from the all-searching light, and +experienced guilt's instinct for safe obscurity. + +But he saw no one he knew on his way, and was much relieved when Mr. +Hoogendyk procured for him, after some difficulty, a seat in a remote +and dark corner of the court, where he could see and hear, himself +unseen. + +Carew soon became so interested in watching the faces of the three men +who were being tried for their lives that, in spite of the advocate's +whispered suggestions on the subject, he paid no attention to the +procedure, and did not endeavour to compare the Dutch and English legal +systems. He took no interest in law now; he was indeed heartily sick of +it, and hoped that he had washed his hands of it for ever. + +Of the three men only one had a really unprepossessing and murderous +countenance. A murderer looks much like any other man, though people who +take their ideas from waxwork shows think otherwise. That this should be +so is obvious enough. A few only of murderers have homicidal +proclivities as a part of their nature, and these indeed may betray +their character in their physiognomy. All the other passions and vices +of disposition can, under certain circumstances, compel the man who has +the greatest horror of bloodshed to kill a fellow-being. In the large +majority of cases, murder is not a tendency but the result of other +tendencies. + +But one of the three prisoners had indeed a villainous appearance. He +was a big, clumsily built Spaniard from the Basque countries, with a +heavy, animal face and an evil mouth, indicative of the stupid cruelty +of some savage beast. + +The other Spaniard was a short, stout man, with a jovial face and an +enormous black moustache, which he twirled occasionally with a complete +_nonchalance_. There was nothing of the murderer in his appearance. + +Neither of these two men exhibited any signs of fear. The first faced +death with the dogged pluck of an animal, the second with a somewhat +higher sort of courage. + +The third man alone, the Frenchman, showed that he was suffering the +agonies of acute terror. The little Spaniard, observing this, nodded to +him now and then, smiling maliciously, and the big man scowled at him +with surly contempt. The Frenchman's face was quite white, and the +perspiration poured down it in streams; his lips quivered, and, holding +on to the rail of the dock with hands tightly clenched, he listened with +intense attention to every word of judge or advocate. + +The features of this man, though distorted with fear, were delicate and +refined. His handsome face was more like that of a Provençal gentleman +than of a rough sailor. He was a well-knit man of about thirty, with the +blue-black hair of the South. Over his fine and expressive eyes were +bushy black brows, which almost met on his forehead, giving him a +somewhat sinister appearance. + +Carew found himself taking a strange, morbid interest in watching these +three faces. In some way he identified himself with the prisoners. Had +not they committed a crime only in degree differing from his own? The +day might come when he too would be tried for his life. He wondered +whether he would then look like the dogged Basque, the cowardly +Frenchman, or the other. He had always flattered himself that he did not +fear death; but how difficult to know how he would face it until his +time came! + +At last, amid complete silence, judgment was given. Carew could not +understand the words, but he knew their import-- + +"Not guilty!" + +The spectators groaned and hissed when they heard this decision. The +Frenchman fell back fainting. The big Spaniard glanced boldly round the +court with a ferocious scowl, and he made an involuntary motion with his +right hand, as if he held his knife in it and was longing to rip up a +few of his enemies. The little man smiled, and bowed pleasantly to the +court, after the manner of an actor who is acknowledging his tribute of +applause. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The attorney and Carew left the court, the former volubly indignant at +the miscarriage of justice, the latter moody and thoughtful. + +"And now," cried the Hollander, "here we are at the best café in +Rotterdam. Come in, and let us wash out the taste of crime with some +beer." + +They sat down at one of the little round tables, and two tall glasses +foaming at the brim were placed before them. + +"They have all the English papers here," said the advocate. "I will ask +the waiter to bring you one." + +Carew looked round the room, and suddenly his face paled, for he saw +sitting at a table at some distance off a fellow-countryman, whom he +recognised as a tobacconist in Fleet Street, a man who, no doubt, knew +Carew's name and profession well, for the solicitor had often made +purchases at his shop. + +Carew did not lose his presence of mind. The man was reading the +_Times_, and had, in all probability, not yet observed him. + +"Mynheer Hoogendyk," he said, "I am sorry that I must leave you now. I +hope you will excuse me. I have an engagement, and in your agreeable +company I had forgotten all about it." + +"You flatter me, sir," replied the advocate with a bow. "I trust that +you will honour me by dining with me to-morrow at eight, your English +hour, I believe, for that repast. My wife speaks English well, and will +be delighted to see you." + +"I accept your invitation with the greatest pleasure, mynheer." + +Then they rose to go, and Carew contrived to keep his lively companion +between him and the man from Fleet Street as they walked out of the +café. + +The solicitor felt ill at ease until he had left behind this bright and +crowded portion of the city, and was once again in the region of the +gloomy and malodorous slums where the yacht was lying. + +He saw how necessary it was that he should leave Rotterdam the next day +if possible. It was no place for him. His recognition by some one or +other must occur sooner or later if he stayed here. So, having dined in +a dingy little hostelry on the quay opposite to the yacht, he visited +some of the least-frequented streets, and purchased the few necessaries +for the cruise which he had not already procured. He came across a +fisherman on the canal who was willing to sell him a small, clumsy boat +which could serve him as dinghy. After some bargaining in pantomime--for +neither understood the other's tongue--Carew secured this for the sum of +three pounds. + +Passing an apothecary's shop, it occurred to him that it would be well +to take some of the more necessary medicines with him, seeing that he +might be some months at sea without calling at any port. He entered the +shop and proceeded to draw up a list of his requirements, to which, as +an afterthought, he added some drugs in less common use. + +"These last are poisons," said the chemist in broken English. "I cannot +supply you with these unless you are a doctor." + +Carew, with bold invention, explained that he was the captain of a +vessel, and as such was the ship's doctor, and had a right to any drugs +he might choose to ask for; and he produced his Admiralty warrant in +proof of his statement. + +The man was puzzled, perused the warrant without understanding it, and +at last, reluctantly waiving his scruples, gave the solicitor all that +he required. + +His vessel was now completely fitted out; nothing was wanting but a +crew, and here a difficulty presented itself. He felt that it was highly +important that no one in Rotterdam should know that he was sailing for +Buenos Ayres, else the report that so small a yacht was about to +undertake so long a voyage would spread rapidly, and would soon appear +in the English papers. He wished it to be supposed that he was merely +taking a few weeks' cruise in Dutch waters. + +But then, how would his men take it were he only to divulge his +destination to them when they were well out at sea? The probability was +that they would refuse to obey his orders, and insist upon returning. +Professional sailors are not fond of ocean voyages in tiny craft. + +Evidently his only plan was to prowl about the docks that night, select +with care three likely-looking men for his purpose,--men without wives +or ties of any sort,--bring them on board the yacht, offer them good +pay, and at the last moment tell them where he was bound for. Then, if +they still consented to accompany him, he would sail away at once, +allowing them no opportunity of gossiping with their friends on shore. +Willem, he knew, was not the man for him. The honest Dutchman must be +discharged at once on some pretext or other. + +Carew sat on deck, pipe in mouth, meditating on these matters. He was +alone on the yacht, for Willem had gone off on leave for a few hours to +visit some of his relatives. + +The sun was setting into a bank of rosy vapour that promised a +continuance of fine weather. The hot day was closing with a sultry eve. +On that quiet canal, and on the narrow quay beneath the lofty houses, +there was no sound or sign of life. It was almost as if he were in the +midst of some dead and long since deserted city. + +But of a sudden the peacefulness of that mediæval scene was rudely +disturbed. First was heard a confused noise in the distance, as of angry +human voices and the trampling of many wooden shoes. Louder, nearer was +the sound, and then Carew perceived a man rush out upon the quay from a +narrow alley, some hundred yards away, that led towards the principal +docks. The man, who seemed frantic with terror, stood still for one +brief moment, looked quickly around him, as if uncertain whither to +hurry next: whether to plunge into the canal, or run along the quay to +left or right. + +Then arose a loud yell of many voices behind him, as of hounds that at +last have caught a view of the hunted creature; and the man, hearing it, +darted off again at full speed along the canal bank in the direction of +the yacht. + +Immediately afterwards there poured out of the alley a crowd of nearly a +hundred men, women, and children, mostly of the lowest orders; denizens +of the slums, though some were of a more respectable class; a crowd of +Hollanders who had lost all their native phlegm for the nonce; a crowd +gesticulating, howling, execrating, thirsting for the blood of the man +they were pursuing; mad and fierce as a mob of Paris in revolutionary +days when an aristocrat was scented by the sovereign people. + +The wretched man was hatless; his coat and half his shirt had been torn +from his back; the blood was trickling down his face from the wounds on +his head where the stones that had been hurled at him had hit. + +On he came, running wildly before them, his face livid, his mouth open, +his teeth set, eyes starting from his head with mortal terror, panting +as if his heart must burst, ready to fall with exhaustion, but still +hurrying on for his dear life's sake. + +When he was close to the yacht his strength failed him; he stretched out +his arms wildly, and staggered. With a yell of triumph the cruel crowd +was on him. A man struck him over the head with a stick. Then, with one +last despairing effort, he threw himself from the quay on to the yacht's +deck, and fell a helpless mass at Carew's feet, clutching him by the +legs, as if to implore his protection, but unable to speak or move. + +His pursuers stood on the quay above, muttering angrily to each other, +but hesitated a moment or so before they ventured to board the yacht, +each waiting for someone else to lead the way. + +Those few moments saved the hunted man. + +"Below there!" cried Carew, pointing to the cabin. "Quick, man, or you +will be lost." + +Seeing that the poor wretch was too exhausted to rise by himself, he +seized him by the arm, thrust him down the cabin hatchway, closed the +cover over him, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. It was all +done in a few seconds, and then the solicitor turned round and stood +calmly facing the mob. + +The people had not realised at first that Carew was about to rob them of +their victim. Now that they did so, a howl of rage burst from them, and +some shouted to him, what were evidently commands to give the man up to +them, and menaces of what they would do if he refused, though he could +not understand the words. + +One man began to clamber down to the yacht; but Carew seized his leg and +threw him on the quay again, not over-gently. "Silence!" the solicitor +called out, leaping back on the hatchway; and the Dutchmen, impressed by +the Englishman's resolute bearing, paused and listened to what he had to +say. + +"Does anyone here understand English?" he asked. + +As might be expected from a crowd in a Dutch city, several men cried +out, "Yes, Englishman; yes, we know English." + +"Then, what is all this disturbance about? Are you all mad?" + +"We want dat man," replied a surly voice. + +"You can't have him." + +"Den ve vill take him." + +"Oh, will you?" Carew drew from his pocket Allen's revolver, which he +always carried about with him now. "Look you here, my friends; I don't +want a row, but if any man tries to come on board my vessel without my +permission I will shoot him." + +They were awed by the quiet determination of his manner, and felt that +he would carry out his words. + +"Does you know who you has down dere below?" asked the man who had +spoken before. + +"I don't know, and I don't care; but he is not going to be murdered by +you cowards on board my vessel. If he has committed some crime, call the +police. I will deliver him over to them only." + +The passions of the mob had now cooled down considerably, and the men +began to light their pipes, and looked once more the staid Dutchmen they +naturally were. + +At this juncture five or six of the sturdy Rotterdam police arrived on +the spot, and commenced to disperse the crowd so effectually that in a +few minutes not a soul was left on the quay. + +One of the policemen, who understood a little English, came on board the +yacht and inquired from Carew how the disturbance had commenced. + +Carew told him all that had occurred. + +"I should like to see the man," said the officer. + +They entered the cabin, and there, sitting in the corner of the bunk, +trembling, haggard, his face still quite white, save where it was +smeared with blood, was the French sailor who had that day been tried +for murder on the high seas, and been acquitted. + +"I thought so," said the policeman. "It is the accused, Baptiste Liais. +His case caused great excitement. The people are very bitter against +him, for they all believe he was guilty. He is not safe in Rotterdam. We +must find a way of getting him out of the country." + +"You can leave him here for the present," said Carew. "I will see that +the poor wretch is safe for the night." + +"It is very generous of you, sir," exclaimed the astonished policeman; +"but I think it is very unwise of you"-- + +"I am not afraid of him," interrupted Carew, in peremptory tones. "Leave +him with me." + +The officer shrugged his shoulders. He had always been taught to believe +that Englishmen were eccentric creatures; so he went away and told his +comrades that the owner of the yacht was a splendid specimen of the mad +island race, and Carew and the Frenchman were left alone in the cabin +facing one another. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +For some few moments Carew sat on the opposite bunk, watching the +sailor's face musingly. Then, rising, he addressed him in French. "I +will fetch you a glass of rum. It will do you good." + +"I thank you much, sir," said the man, in the same language; "I should +like it, for I still feel very faint." + +He drank a rather large dose of the spirit, and under its influence the +colour quickly returned to his cheek, and the scared look left his face. + +"You can now go into the forecastle and wash yourself," said Carew. "You +will find a jersey and a coat hanging up there; put them on." These had +belonged to the drowned sailor, Jim. + +When the Frenchman returned to the cabin cleansed of bloodstains and +decently clothed, the solicitor was surprised to see what a +respectable-looking fellow he was. He might well have been a gentleman +from his appearance, and his hands, though brown and roughened by work, +were small and finely shaped. + +"How do you feel now?" + +"Thanks to you, sir, I am now quite myself again." + +After a pause, Carew said, with a smile, "I never before saw such abject +terror in a man's face as there was in yours when you were running down +the quay." + +"That bloodthirsty _canaille_ was enough to inspire terror. Ah, if I +could but get hold of that man who hit me with the stick! It was +horrible, to run down all those streets for life with that yelping pack +after me. I had no chance with them, though I am a good runner; for so +soon as the brutes wearied and lagged behind, fresh ones joined the +crowd at every corner. Ah, monsieur, I think you would have exhibited as +much terror yourself." + +"Not quite as much, I think," said Carew quietly. + +"Perhaps not, monsieur. I am brave enough in some ways--braver, perhaps, +than you would be; but I have not that animal contempt for death that my +comrade, El Toro, for instance, possesses. Delicate fibres suffer the +most." + +"Then you are hardly a fit person to be a ringleader of mutineers. +Murderers should have no nerves." + +Baptiste Liais was a very calm person when he was not in fear, and he +had now entirely recovered his self-possession. He shrugged his +shoulders, and replied carelessly, "There are assassins and assassins, +monsieur. There is courage and courage. There is the blind bravery of +the soldier, who, shrinking not from bloodshed, risks his life in +battle; and there is the cool nerve of the educated man, who, in cold +blood, removes with poison those who stand in his way. I suppose you +allow that this last is also a species of courage?" + +"Is that your sort of courage?" + +The Frenchman shook his head in a deprecatory way, and exclaimed, in +tones of playful remonstrance, as if he were only rebutting a charge of +one of those offences which are tolerated, and even fashionable, "But, +monsieur, monsieur! you speak of me as if I had been proved to be an +assassin. You forget that I was acquitted." + +"You say that you are innocent?" + +"Certainly. I am sure that I am a very inoffensive fellow." The man +spoke with the quiet ease of one gentleman to another. It was plain that +he had been used to decent society at some period of his life. + +"Were you never on board the _Vrouw Elisa_?" + +"I had never heard of the vessel till they arrested me here." + +"And your companions, the two Spaniards?" + +"As innocent as I am myself--no more, no less. But I see that you have +some of that excellent English tobacco on the table. Permit me to make +myself a cigarette." + +"You are a cool fellow, Baptiste Liais. I can see that you are a man of +education. You were not always a common sailor?" + +"Your perception flatters me. You have divined the truth," said the +Frenchman, bowing. "I am a gentleman by birth and education. My family +is one of the most ancient and respected of the Provençal aristocracy. I +need not tell you that the name I now go by is an assumed one. And +I--well I, to be candid, am the scapegrace of the family." + +He rolled himself up a cigarette, lit it, and, looking up, his eyes met +those of Carew in the frankest way possible. And yet the solicitor had +no doubt in his own mind that the man had committed the crimes imputed +to him; and the Frenchman, on his part, did not imagine for a moment +that Carew believed in his innocence. + +"I suppose you will now look out for another ship?" the solicitor said. + +"How can I do so in Rotterdam? My face is known here. I am +execrated--hunted down. No captain would ship me, no crew serve with +me." + +"Won't your consul assist you?" + +"I don't think so," replied the Frenchman drily. + +Neither spoke for some time; then Carew said, "I realise your position, +and am sorry for you. Now supposing I were to ship you on board my +yacht, I imagine that it would be a matter of indifference to you to +what part of the world we sailed?" + +The Frenchman looked curiously and keenly at Carew out of the corners of +his eyes. "I don't care a rap where I go to so long as I get out of this +detestable Rotterdam," he replied. + +"And your friends--would they come too?" + +"Gladly. I will answer for them." + +"What sort of men are they?" + +"The little one, a Galician from Ferrol, is not at all a bad fellow, and +he is an excellent sailor; but the big Basque is a savage brute--one of +such is enough on a vessel. However, he can't do much harm by himself, +unless he makes the rest of your crew discontented. Are they +Englishmen?" + +"I am alone. I have discharged my crew; and there would only be you +three and myself on board." + +"That would be a sufficient number to navigate this little ship. Do you +really mean that you wish us to come with you?" + +"I do," replied Carew, after a slight hesitation; and the Frenchman eyed +him with a not unnatural astonishment. + +The solicitor had rapidly surveyed the situation in all its bearings, +and he had decided that it was his wisest and safest plan to engage +these ruffians as his crew. Morally weak, acutely fearful of disgrace, +and cowardly of conscience as he was, Carew had plenty of physical +courage. He was not the least daunted by the idea of venturing across +the wide ocean on a small yacht accompanied by these murderers. + +Here was a crew ready to sail with him at a moment's notice and ask no +questions. He felt that he ran but very little risk, after all; for +these ruffians would gain nothing by murdering him. Piracy, in the old +sense of the term, is almost impossible in these days. These men by +themselves could do nothing with the yacht; they could not take her into +any civilised port and dispose of her; neither of them could impersonate +an English barrister. The seizure of the _Vrouw Elisa_ was a very +different matter; for the mutineers then knew that there was a +revolutionary party ready to purchase the vessel they had stolen. + +Again, he would make them acquainted with the fact that he was taking no +money with him on the yacht; and he would promise to pay them, on their +arrival at Buenos Ayres, a considerably larger sum than sailors ever +receive for such a voyage. Under these circumstances, it could not +possibly be to their interest to do away with him. On the contrary, it +would be to their manifest advantage to serve him faithfully. Unless the +men were absolute idiots, they would see all this; and he knew that the +Frenchman, at least, was far too intelligent a man to commit a senseless +crime that could do him no good. + +So argued the solicitor; and there was yet another more subtle motive +that urged him to engage these three men in preference to honest +sailors--a motive of which he himself was only dimly conscious. When a +man has a sentimental objection to being a villain, and yet is one, and +has no intention of reforming, he likes his surroundings not to be of a +sort to reproach him and remind him of his crimes. It is painful to him +to associate with good men. He prefers to be in the company of the bad; +in their presence he does not feel the shame of his wickedness. So this +man, with his strangely complex mind and conflicting instincts, was glad +to take unto himself men worse even than himself as his companions +across the ocean. + +"And to what port did you say you were sailing?" asked the Frenchman. + +"I will not tell you that until we are out at sea." + +"Oh, very well," said the man, again casting a keen glance at Carew's +face, and smiling, as one who should say, "Have you too your +secret--have you too committed a crime? If so, there should at once be +an agreeable bond of sympathy between us." + +"How soon do you sail, sir?" he asked. + +"If you are all on board to-night we will sail at daybreak. I am ready +for sea. You need not trouble about getting an outfit, for I have plenty +of clothes in the yacht for the lot of you." Carew was thinking of the +effects of Allen and his man Jim. + +"Oh, that is excellent!" cried the Frenchman. "And, excuse me, sir; what +pay will you give us?--not that I wish to chaffer with one who has come +to my rescue in so generous a manner." + +"And I do not wish to stint you," replied Carew. "You, as mate, shall +have seven pounds a month; your comrades five pounds a month each." + +"That will do very well; but I should like you not to let the others +know that I am receiving a higher pay than they. They might be +jealous--not to say dangerous," said the cunning fellow. "Ha! what is +that?" The Frenchman started, gripped Carew by the arm, and his cheeks +again became white with fear. + +There was a sound of footsteps on the deck, and the next moment the +tub-shaped Willem entered the cabin. When he saw who was sitting +opposite to his master he stood stock still, his jaw dropped, and an +expression of extreme astonishment, which amounted to horror, settled on +his stupid, honest face. + +"What is the matter with you, Willem?" asked Carew, knowing well what +was about to happen. "This is the mate I have engaged for the yacht." + +"Dat--dat man!" cried the Dutchman, finding his voice with difficulty. +"You know who dat man is?" + +"I do. He has just left the court-house. He was unjustly accused of +murder, and has been found innocent." + +"Vat--you take dat man for mate! Oh, den I go--I go at vonce! I not stay +on board vid dat man." + +The usually stolid Dutchman trembled with excitement, and his broad face +was scarlet with indignation. After a few minutes, finding that Carew +was obdurate and would insist on engaging the most loathed man in all +Rotterdam as mate, Willem rolled up his scanty luggage into a bundle, +demanded and received the few guilders that were owing to him, and +hurried on shore, grumbling uncouth Dutch oaths to himself as he went. + +Then the Frenchman, who had been observing the scene with a cynical +smile, laughed bitterly. + +"Had I been the fiend himself that fat idiot could not have been much +more terrified at the sight of me. Ah, how they love me--these worthy +people of Rotterdam!" + +For a moment there was a troubled look upon Carew's face. With his usual +inconsistency he half regretted, when it was too late, that honest +Willem had left him. It seemed to him that he had now broken the last +tie between himself and the world of law-abiding men. He felt a vague +sense of something lost to him for ever; as if his guardian angel, +despairing of him, had forsaken him. But he quickly shook off the +feeling as a foolish fancy, and turned his attention to the business he +had on hand. + +"Now, Baptiste," he said, "we must find your two comrades. Do you know +where they are?" + +"I think I can find them. Anticipating a separation, we arranged a +rendezvous. But I dare not walk through the streets to look for them; I +should be recognised and murdered." + +"Nonsense! we will soon disguise you. Shave off your moustache and put +on a suit of clothes that I will lend you, and your own mother would not +know you." + +The Frenchman obeyed these instructions, and was so satisfied with the +change effected in his appearance by a hairless lip and a suit of poor +Allen's clothes that he no longer hesitated to go forth in search of his +two shipmates. + +Left alone, Carew pondered, with satisfaction, on his day's doings. All +was going on well so far. "Lucky it is for me," he thought, "that there +is an Admiralty warrant on the yacht. Provided with that useful +document, I sail under the blue ensign of Her Majesty's fleet, and can +do pretty well what I like. No authorities in any port will trouble me +in the least. I can avoid the formality of taking my crew before the +consul to sign articles, and I will dispense with a bill of health from +this port. I may get quarantine for a few days in consequence of this +last omission; but what is that to the peril of informing our consul +here of my destination? And, by the bye, I am engaged to dine with +Mynheer Hoogendyk to-morrow. I am afraid I shall keep him waiting, and +over the spoiling dinner his cook will lose her temper; for by that time +I ought to be well out in the North Sea." + +After about an hour's absence the Frenchman returned, accompanied by the +two Spaniards. They entered the cabin, the little Galician all smiles, +the big Basque awkward, vainly attempting not to scowl; but, do all he +could, he still looked the brutal ruffian he was. + +"I have been very lucky," said Liais. "I soon found our lost lambs." + +"Have you explained my proposal to them?" Carew asked. + +"I have, and they are quite content with the pay you offer. They don't +care a straw where you take them to, so long as it is not to a Spanish +port. It seems that the lads are somewhat weary of their native land, +and they tell me that they have some officious acquaintances among the +Spanish police whom they would prefer not to meet." + +"I understand. I shall not call at any Spanish port; so they may set +their minds at ease. And now I will inscribe your names in this book, if +you please." He took Allen's diary out of the drawer. "First of all, +there is Baptiste Liais, mate." + +"No; put me down plain Baptiste. My name is so well known now that I +should like to leave half of it out." + +"Very well," said Carew, as he wrote. "And who is this big fellow?" + +"His name is Juan Silvas. But he, too, would rather be called by any +other name, after the unpleasant publicity of the trial. His nickname +among us is El Toro--the bull--because of his goggle eyes, his bull-like +features and strength, and his blind, bovine rage. Put him down as Juan +Toro." + +"Good; it is done. And what is the other man's name?" + +"José Rodez, known among his intimates as El Chico, or the little one." + +"Then, following your system, I will inscribe him as José Chico. Will +that do?" + +"One name is as good as another," replied the Frenchman; "but oh, _mon +capitaine_, this has been a somewhat trying day for us, and we are all +very hungry." + +"There is plenty of food on board. I will show you where to find it. +Give the lads some supper; then turn in, all of you. The tide is early, +and we sail at daybreak." + +The next morning, just as the first slight murmuring sound arose from +the big city, telling that the giant was awaking to its restless life, +the canal lock was opened, and the yacht shot out into the tideway. + +Carew, who had taken mental notes of the navigation when sailing up the +Maas, refused the assistance of a pilot, and took his vessel safely down +the rapid river, across the shoals that encumber the estuary, and out +into the open sea. The weather was splendid, and the wind favoured him, +as it blew freshly from the south-east. + +Then Carew's pulse quickened; a wild exultation thrilled him, as the +yacht, leaning well over to the steady wind, all her canvas set, rushed +with pleasant sound through the smooth water. At that moment he felt +happy, even proud of himself. He was safe at last, free from all +anxiety. How Fortune had befriended him! That fatal superstition in luck +that comes to the criminal and the gambler possessed him. Whom the gods +wish to destroy they first make mad. + +"Baptiste," he said, "I have heard it is a custom of Spain for the +captain of a vessel, as soon as she is well outside the harbour, to call +all hands aft and serve round grog, so that they can drink to the +prosperity of the voyage. Fetch up some rum, and give each a glass." + +The Frenchman obeyed the order. Carew was steering at the time, and the +men stood round him, glasses in hand, awaiting the toast. Then the +captain raised his glass in his disengaged hand, and called out in +French-- + +"Comrades, here's to a prosperous voyage--_to Buenos Ayres_!" + +When the men heard their destination they seemed dumb with surprise for +a moment; then they raised a joyful shout. The prospect was evidently an +agreeable one to them. + +"To Buenos Ayres," said the Frenchman, bowing to Carew with a knowing +smile, "the land where there is no extradition." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +It was mid-ocean, and no land was in sight. The glassily smooth surface +of the sea was not broken by the faintest ripple, but it rose and fell +slowly with the long, rhythmical swell of the Atlantic. Gentle now was +the massive heaving of the giant's bosom, showing that he was slumbering +only, and that the strong, fierce life was there, ready to be awakened +at any moment to its energy of cruel destruction. + +Though the swell must have been of considerable height, yet so gentle +was the undulation that no motion whatever would have been perceptible +to one on the deck of a vessel, unless he had observed how the horizon +was withdrawn from his sight at regular intervals by the intervening +hills of water, as the vessel softly glided down the easy slopes into +the broad valleys between. The wind was quite still. The sky above was +clear and of a deeper blue than is known in northern climes; but on the +eastern horizon lay a long, low bank of very dark cloud, seeming almost +black in contrast to the elsewhere dazzling glare. + +The sea, to one looking across it, would have appeared of a beautiful +indigo tint; but if one gazed straight down into the water, it seemed +opaque in the purple blackness of its profundity, as if the perpetual +night that reigned in the mysterious depths below were sending its +shadow upwards to the surface. Yet so perfectly translucent was that +ink-like water that any bright object, such as a plate, thrown into it +would remain distinctly visible as it slowly descended--yes, even till +it was so far down that it seemed no larger than a small coin. + +The yacht _Petrel_ lay becalmed on the tropical sea. All her canvas had +been lowered, and she floated idly, while the fierce, vertical sun was +blistering the paint on her sides, and the melting pitch oozed from the +seams of her decks. + +For thirteen days she had been drifting thus on a windless ocean, her +crew languid and irritable from the stifling heat, which it is +impossible to mitigate on a small craft, waiting for the breeze that +never came. + +For thirteen days of unbearable calm, broken only by occasional brief +squalls, accompanied by torrential downpour of rain, and thunder and +lightning of appalling grandeur--squalls which raised the flagging hopes +of the men for a space, and to which they hastily hoisted their canvas, +that they might be carried out of this dismal tract of the ocean; but +after they had been driven on their way a mile or two only, the wind +would suddenly drop again, the dark clouds would clear away, and the sun +would blaze down fiercer than ever out of the implacable sky. + +The _Petrel_ had reached the region of the equatorial calms, the sultry +Doldrums dreaded by the sailor, that broad belt of sluggish sea that +divides the tract of the north-east trade wind from that of the +south-east. Here the aërial currents neutralise each other and are at +rest--a desolate, rainy ocean that lies under an almost stagnant +atmosphere of steaming heat, where vessels have lain becalmed for +wearisome week after week; even, in many cases, until the supply of +fresh water had been exhausted and the men perished of thirst. And yet +to the northward and to the southward the fresh trade winds blow +perpetually in one direction, across vast stretches of ever-tossing +waves. + +The voyage of the _Petrel_ had been a very prosperous one up to this +point. She had met with fair winds for the most part until she reached +the limits of the north-east trades, which, blowing right aft, had +carried her on her way at the rate of nearly two hundred miles a day. +Carew had sighted Madeira and the westernmost islands of the Cape Verde +archipelago; but as the yacht was well provided with provisions, he had +not called at any port. After having been a little over a month at sea, +he had entered the calm region about the equator, and here, as I have +said, scarcely any progress was made for a fortnight. + +By this time the crew had settled down to the regular routine of +ship-life, and Carew was, on the whole, well satisfied with the men. The +savagery of the big Basque would occasionally assert itself, and he was +ever ready to pick a quarrel with his mates. The only one on board whom +El Toro respected and feared was Carew himself; for he felt that the +Englishman combined a physical courage, at least equal to his own, with +a superior education; and the man who possesses these two qualities can +always master a merely brute nature. El Toro did not conceal his +contempt for Baptiste, who excelled him in mental ability alone; and +again, he could not converse ten minutes with the little Galician +without an altercation arising; for the latter, who had all the pluck of +his big comrade, was fond of wagging his sharp tongue, and could not +refrain from malicious banter, despite the long sheath-knife which was +always so ready to the Basque's right hand. + +Carew, who had quickly gauged the character of his companions, took El +Toro on his own watch, leaving El Chico to the French mate. Thus, as +watch and watch was observed in the regular ship fashion--that is, one +watch relieving the other every four hours--the cantankerous Basque had +but few opportunities of associating with the other men. + +But during the fortnight of calm the discipline of the yacht had been +relaxed. As there was no need for it, the usual watches had not been +set; and, after they had completed the small amount of necessary work +each day, the men were allowed to employ the rest of the time much as +they liked. A prolonged calm on the line is trying even to the most +amiable tempers; so that it is not to be wondered at that, on one +occasion, El Toro, being modest as to his own powers of repartee, +preferred to reply to a chaffing remark of El Chico's with a practical +retort in the shape of a vicious stab, which might easily have +diminished the ship's company by one had not the quick-eyed little man, +leaping nimbly backwards, escaped with a slight scratch on his arm. + +For this offence Carew, knowing his man and how best to punish him, +informed the Basque that a fine of a fortnight's pay had been entered +against his name in the log-book. + +It was nearly midday, and the heat of the still, moist air was intense. +The French mate lay reclined under an awning on the after-deck, rolling +up cigarette after cigarette, and smoking them with half-shut eyes as he +dreamily meditated. + +In the bows, under an awning extemporised out of an old sail, were +squatting the two Spaniards, playing at _monte_ with a very dirty pack +of cards. Now and then would be heard the sonorous oaths of the Basque, +as he savagely reviled his bad luck, or the triumphant chuckle of El +Chico, whom fortune was favouring. These two had been gambling almost +incessantly during the calm, for the money they were to receive from +Carew on their arrival at Buenos Ayres. The Galician had already +succeeded in winning El Toro's pay for many weeks in advance. Neither of +the men could read or write, but they kept a tally of their debts of +honour--over which there was much wrangling--by cutting notches on a +beam in the forecastle. + +A few minutes before noon Carew came on deck, sextant in hand, and the +mate rose to his feet lazily. Carew's face was now bronzed by the +tropical sun, and was fuller than it had been two months back. The +haggard expression, the restless anxiety of his eye, had gone. He looked +like a man with the easiest of consciences. + +He glanced at the two card-players forward. "Have you taken the +precaution I ordered?" he asked the mate. + +"I have, captain; here they are," and Baptiste produced two formidable +knives from his pocket. + +Since the incident I have mentioned, Carew had instituted a rule, to the +effect that the men should not play at cards or dice unless they had +previously delivered their weapons to one of the two officers. + +El Chico overheard the mate's reply. "Ah, captain," he cried, "you'll +have to hand both knives over to me at the end of this game. I shall +have won everything El Toro possesses in the world if my luck holds as +it is doing now." + +"_Caramba!_ it is too much; a plague on the cards!" cried the Basque +furiously, hurling the pack across the deck. "I'll have no more of them. +If I have no knife, I have these hands," and he opened them out with a +gesture of rage in front of the Galician. "I could circle your little +neck with these, and throttle you in half a minute, El Chico." + +El Chico said nothing, but shrugged his shoulders with a provoking +coolness. + +"El Toro, come aft," cried Carew, who had acquired enough Spanish to +give his orders in that tongue; "come aft, and set up that mizzen +rigging; it's as slack as possible." + +The wild beast acknowledged its master and proceeded to obey his orders +in a surly fashion, even as Caliban might have reluctantly carried out +some behest of the superior intelligence that had enslaved him. + +"This calm seems as if it would never end," said Carew to the mate. "It +looks black yonder. Another squall, I suppose. Just enough to entice us +to hoist our sails, and then to die away again." + +"I don't see anything like the trade-wind sky about," said Baptiste, who +had sailed the tropical seas before. + +Carew took his midday observation of the sun; then, lowering his +sextant, called out, "Make it eight bells, Baptiste," and went below to +work out his position. + +He found that the _Petrel_ had only travelled five miles in the last +twenty-four hours. He was seventy miles north of the equator, and his +longitude by dead-reckoning (he had, as has been explained, no +chronometer on board) was about 30° west, so that he was distant some +five hundred miles from Cape St. Roque, the most easterly point of the +New World. + +Soon after noon the dark bank of cloud rose rapidly from the horizon and +overspread the whole heavens; the rain began to pour down as it only can +in these equatorial regions, and a fresh breeze from the south-east +cooled the heated atmosphere. + +The sails were hoisted, and the yacht ran some two or three miles; then +the hopeless calm fell again, and there was not a cloud to be seen in +the blue vault above. The sails flapped to and fro with a loud noise as +the vessel rolled in the swell which the breeze had left behind it. + +"Oh, this accursed calm!" cried Carew impatiently; "down with all your +canvas again." + +The men obeyed, grumbling at their ill-luck, and then resumed their game +of _monte_. + +In the afternoon the heat became more oppressive than ever, and it was +impossible to stay below; so all hands remained under the awnings on +deck. + +The mate, after pondering for some while, said to Carew, "We shall run +short of water if this continues much longer." + +"I have thought of that. We must serve out a smaller allowance." + +"Buenos Ayres is a long way off yet, captain. Would it not be well to +put into some Brazilian port for water and vegetables? This heat is very +trying on a small vessel like this. We shall have illness on board if we +are not careful." + +"I do not wish to break the voyage anywhere, unless it is absolutely +necessary," Carew replied. + +"I know these countries," Baptiste continued; "and there is one very +good reason why you should call at some port on the way." + +"What is it?" + +"You have no bill of health with you. Now in Buenos Ayres the +authorities are very afraid of yellow fever, and if you arrive there +with no papers to show where you are from, they will take it for granted +that you have come from some infected port, and that you have probably +lost some hands on the voyage and wish to conceal it. They would, +therefore, put you in quarantine for who knows how long. They might, +under the suspicious circumstances, refuse even to give you pratique at +all, and send you off to sea again." + +"How will calling at a Brazilian port remedy that?" + +"Because in Brazil they are not afraid of yellow fever, as they always +have it there. At Rio they won't trouble you at all, and your consul +will give you a clean bill of health for Buenos Ayres. Then, being +satisfied that you have had no illness on board, the Buenos Ayres people +will grant you pratique after, let us say, a quarantine of four days, +even if yellow fever were raging at Rio." + +"A queer plan to avoid quarantine for Yellow Jack by calling at the +headquarters of the fever!" said Carew; "but I see that you are right. I +will put into Rio." + +After a pause the Frenchman said thoughtfully, "I shall be sorry to +leave this vessel, sir. I suppose you still think of selling her in the +River Plate. I should like to continue the cruise for another year." + +"So should I, but I can't afford it. Yachting is an expensive +amusement." + +"Oh, I don't know that. A cruise may be made to pay its way even in +these days, especially if one carries a warrant from the Admiralty of +one's country like you do. The authorities are always civil to one who +sails under the Government blue ensign, and never trouble him with the +tedious formalities the common merchantman is subjected to." + +"I don't know what you mean," said Carew. "There is no money to be made +now by legitimate trade at sea. Besides, a yacht is not allowed to trade +at all." + +"I said nothing about legitimate trade," said the Frenchman quietly, as +he rolled himself another cigarette. + +The eyes of the two men met, and they understood each other. + +The mate had never let drop so broad a hint before; but he knew that he +was safe in doing so. There had existed for some time a sort of +freemasonry of crime between himself and Carew. They had been thrown +altogether upon each other's society of late. Both were educated men, +and gentlemen by birth; both were shrewd readers of character; and it is +so far easier for the bad than for the good man to recognise a kindred +nature. + +Carew did not exactly entertain a liking for his mate, but he found his +companionship far pleasanter than that of any other man could have been. +The Frenchman's tolerant way of looking at crime was peculiarly +gratifying to the ex-solicitor. It acted as a most soothing salve to his +conscience. + +He liked to hear the man's cynical talk--the superficial philosophy with +which he defended crime as being the least hypocritical way of obeying +nature's law of the struggle for existence. The very presence of this +villain seemed to exert a strange, magnetic influence on Carew's pliable +soul, lulling it into a fool's paradise. + +Such an affinity for evil between two men who are much together will +soon destroy any conscience that either of them may happen to possess. + +So Carew, having become accustomed to an atmosphere of crime, no longer +shrank from the thought of it, and, with an amused smile, replied to the +mate's remark, "What piece of villainy are you going to suggest now, +Baptiste?" + +"I don't think you ought to use that word villainy," protested the +Frenchman, with an air of comic indignation. "As a matter of fact, I was +not at that moment thinking of any one particular 'piece of villainy,' +but vaguely of a great number of feasible schemes I know of for +transferring the wickedly-earned riches of others into our own deserving +pockets." + +"This is highly interesting," said Carew, in a bantering tone. "Explain +one of these notable schemes of yours, Baptiste." + +But the Frenchman did not reply. He looked round the horizon with a +puzzled expression, and, putting his hand to his ear, appeared to be +listening intently. + +"Hark, captain! What is that?" he cried. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Carew listened, and heard a low, rumbling sound like distant thunder. + +"Thunder out of a cloudless sky! That is strange." + +"That is no thunder, captain," said Baptiste, with a scared look, "but +what it is I know not." + +The sound became louder. It did not seem to be approaching from any +direction, but to be everywhere--around, below, above--filling all +space. Then it swelled to a great roar, as of the rolling of thousands +of drums. The air trembled at the sound, and the surface of the sea no +longer reflected the blue sky above, but, appearing like a mirror over +which one has breathed, vibrated into myriads of wrinkles and gyrating +rings. Soon the water began to be greatly disturbed, and raved and +foamed about the vessel as if she were floating in a boiling caldron. +Then occurred an appalling prodigy. First, louder than loudest thunder, +was heard a deafening explosion, and immediately the sea leapt up, not +in waves, but in steep pyramids of water, piling itself up in domes, as +if some mighty force were thrusting it up from below. The yacht pitched +wildly into the confused whirl till she was nigh to break up with the +violence of the shocks, and the water poured over her decks in masses, +threatening to swamp her. Hollow whirlpools opened out suddenly in front +of her, seeking to engulf her: a fearful spectacle to behold, which +might make even the bravest men go mad with fright. Then came another +explosion, and the superstitious Spaniards, holding on to the rigging +for dear life, shrieked with abject terror as they saw the limpid sea +suddenly thicken and change its colour to a dark, sulphurous yellow. +There was an odour of sulphur in the air, and the sun was shining +through a sickly yellow haze. + +The crew, who would have done their duty with cool courage in a +hurricane, were completely unnerved by this alarming portent. The two +men forward thought that the fiend himself had opened hell under them to +swallow up their sinful souls; they prayed and blasphemed in turns. The +French mate, white to his lips and trembling, clutched the rigging, with +his eyes closed. Carew alone, though his cheeks were pale, was calm. +Holding on to the bulwark to prevent himself from being thrown overboard +by the violent leaping of the yacht, he looked around him with a +resolute expression. He would fight bravely for his life, but he had no +fear of death. + +In the midst of this turmoil a strong wind suddenly arose. + +"Hoist the foresail!" he shouted; but none of the terrified men obeyed +the order. "Cowardly idiots!" he cried, and scrambling forward as well +as he could to the mast, he seized the fore-halyards and set the sail. +Then he returned to the tiller, after having been nearly washed +overboard by a sea on the way, and steered the vessel dead before the +wind. + +In ten minutes he had sailed, not without danger, outside the circle of +raging water; and looking back he saw that the disturbance had already +commenced to subside, and the loud roaring had lessened to a distant +moaning. + +"_Locos!_" he cried; "madmen, cowards, hoist the mainsail! Are you women +to be so scared by a slight _terremoto_?" + +"I didn't know that there were earthquakes in mid-ocean," said El Toro, +who was the first to recover somewhat from his fright. "But, captain, +you are a curious one. I knew you feared no man; but, _caramba!_ it +seems you don't fear the devil himself." + +"Up mainsail," cried Carew again, "and don't jabber, thou great coward! +Hurry up. We have a fair wind." + +The mate was now himself again. "Aha! the _terremoto_ has brought us +luck," he cried. "Look yonder, captain," and he pointed to the east, +where the sky had become suddenly covered with small fleecy clouds. "I +know that sign--that is the trade wind." + +They put all sail on the vessel, and were soon bowling along before the +ever-freshening wind. They had left behind them the dreary region of the +Doldrums, with its stifling heat, and the air above the dancing waves +was cool and bracing. + +The mate, who was steering, began to chaff his companions. "Say, El +Toro, you thought the authorities below had sent for you when you felt +that trembling of the sea." + +"Trembling?" replied the Basque gruffly. "There was more trembling of +thee than of the sea itself, thou white-gilled Frenchman." + +"So there was," drawled the sarcastic El Chico. "But let us remember +that our mate is a man of education--of soul. His nerves are in harmony +with Nature. When Nature is merry he is merry; when Nature trembles; he +trembles. But that is poetical sympathy, not fear, my friend El Toro." + +And so these three reviled each other's cowardice, until Carew, fearing +bloodshed, called out, "Now, then, stop that discussion, or all of you +bring me your knives here." + +Then this amiable crew smoked and sulked in silence for a while. + +Shortly afterwards, Carew was below studying a chart of the South +Atlantic. To him came down the mate, who looked over his shoulder and +asked, "How far are we now from Rio, sir?" + +"About sixteen hundred miles," was the reply. "That means a run of nine +or ten days at the outside with this wind." + +"You are a man of great nerve," said the mate, filled with a genuine +admiration. "I thought the bravest man would have lost his head in that +horrid earthquake." + +Carew laughed. "Mine was only the courage of science at the best, +Baptiste. You see, the phenomenon did not take me by surprise. I half +expected something of the sort." + +"Indeed!" + +"Oh, it is very simple. See here,"--he pointed to the chart,--"read +that." The words, "Volcanic region of the Atlantic," were printed across +a large tract of ocean in the vicinity of the equator. "Now, if you will +turn over the pages of the _South Atlantic Pilot Directory_, you will +read that this part of the Atlantic is peculiarly subject to volcanic +disturbance; so much so, that mariners are in this book warned on the +subject. There are no soundings hereabouts with two thousand fathoms of +line, and yet the disturbance is transmitted upwards through all those +miles of water; so you can imagine the violent forces that are at work +below us. It is rare that a vessel crosses this strange corner of the +sea without experiencing some manifestation or other of this nature. +Sometimes it may be only a discoloration of the water that is noticed; +sometimes a shock is felt as if the vessel had struck a rock, or she +shivers till the masts are like to be thrown out of her. It is a region +terrible to superstitious sailors; but I believe it is rare that a +vessel has sustained any serious damage from these convulsions." + +"Even if I had known all that I should have lost my nerve; for, say what +you like, captain, our danger was a very real one. The _terremoto_ has +done one good thing, anyhow: it has inspired El Chico and El Toro with +an immense respect for your courage. We won't tell them that you were +forewarned by the pilot book. You can do what you like with those men +after this, Captain Allen. For the future they are your obedient +slaves." + +The brave trade wind blew without intermission for ten days, and then +Carew, being in the latitude of Rio de Janeiro, steered due west for the +land, which, according to his dead-reckoning, was not two hundred miles +distant. It was night, and the wind having fallen light, the yacht made +little progress. At midnight Carew came on deck to relieve the mate. + +"Look over there," said Baptiste, pointing across the vessel's bows to +the westward. "Those are the lights of Rio." + +"What! so soon?" cried Carew; and turning his eyes in the indicated +direction he perceived, not indeed the gleam of a lighthouse or other +ordinary sign of approaching land, but an appearance as of a stormy +dawn. High above the horizon hung masses of clouds whose lower surface +was of a faint red, as if they were reflecting some immense +conflagration too far away to be yet visible. + +"You cannot distinguish any other city in the world from such a +distance," said the mate. "When you are one hundred miles--yes, and more +than that--away, you can tell the position of Rio de Janeiro by the +glare that hangs over it at night. The gaslights there are innumerable. +I have heard that it is the best lighted city in the world, and I +believe it. At midnight the streets are illuminated as if for a fête; +and, what is more, all the roads and paths that lead out into the +country and up to the tops of the mountains are better lit than any of +the streets in your London. Ah, the capital of the Brazils is a +wonderful place!" + +As Carew discovered later on, Baptiste had not exaggerated the facts. + +At daybreak Carew was still on deck, being anxious to catch a first +glimpse of the New World after so many weeks upon the desert seas. + +When the sun rose the blue sky was cloudless, but the western horizon +was obscured by a white fog, which, Baptiste said, nearly always hovered +over this coast at early morning. + +Of a sudden the upper portion of the mist lifted, and high above them +there appeared, as if floating in mid-air, the summit of a huge +mountain. It was of cubical shape, with perpendicular sides of bare, +smooth stone, like the altar of some giant race--a marvellous sight to +thus burst suddenly upon men who had for so long seen nothing but sky +and water. + +"That is the Gavia Mountain," cried Baptiste; "it lies to the left of +the entrance of the Bay of Rio." + +Then the morning breeze came down upon the land, and, as by enchantment, +the mist vanished, and all the features of that wonderful coast were +revealed to them. + +Lofty mountains of the most fantastic forms rose sheer from the sea. +Some were great pyramids or peaks of ruddy granite gleaming like molten +gold in the sunshine; others, sloping more gently, were covered with +great forests of tropical vegetation. Along the whole shore extended a +white line of foam, where the Atlantic swell, piled up by the fresh +trade winds, perpetually thundered at the base of the cliffs. In places +the ravines terminated in beautiful bays, where on beaches of silver +sand the cocoa-nut trees waved their rustling branches. The tropical +seas wash no lovelier a land than this; and at that moment, with the sun +still low in the east, there were a softness and translucency in the +gorgeous colouring that gave an unreal and fairy-like aspect to the +scene. Close under the conical mountain known as the Sugar Loaf a gorge +opened out, and through this was seen the vast expanse of the Bay of +Rio, which the old navigators, in their admiration for its beauty, +likened unto the gates of heaven. + +The yacht crossed the tumbling waters on the bar, sailed through the +majestic gates, and floated on the still, pale green water of the inland +sea. + +The Bay of Rio is considered to be the fairest of all the harbours of +the earth, and one who has seen it can well believe that it is so. +Imagine a vast lake, some eighty miles in circumference, surrounded by +grand mountains, indented with many winding bays, and studded with +islands of all sizes, on whose shores are many towns and villages, chief +among which is the empire city of South America, the white Rio de +Janeiro. A luxuriant vegetation comes down to the very edge of the +water, even up to the streets of the city; the varied foliage of many +species of palms, the luscious blades of the bananas, the spreading +mangos, and bread-fruit trees giving a cool appearance to the torrid +land. + +About a mile from the city of Rio, at the entrance of the bay, is the +fortified island of Villegagnon. The yacht was sailing close under its +shore, the mate steering. Carew was gazing at the grand scenery around +him with deep emotion. Under the influence of this lovely nature, his +thoughts became tender and pure; his soul was strangely subdued, and his +mind sank into a happy reverie, such as good men who feel secure in +their innocence are supposed alone to enjoy. + +The mate was watching Carew's face; then he said, in a casual manner-- + +"I know this port pretty well, Mr. Allen, though I have only been here +once before; and, by the way, I was sailing then in an English barque. +Let me see, what was the captain's name? Captain Grou--no, it was not +that--Garou--Carou--oh yes, that was it--Captain Carou." + +Carew started visibly and looked steadily into the mate's face, but he +could read nothing in those impassive features. "It is but a +coincidence," he said to himself. "It is impossible that Baptiste can +have discovered my real name. There are many Carews in the world, after +all." Nevertheless, the sound of the name he had put away from him for +ever disturbed him greatly. He was awakened from his pleasant reverie, +and the beautiful scenery had no more delights for him. All the evil +things which he had done and had yet to do were unpleasantly brought to +his mind. Now that he saw the great city before him, he shrank from the +idea of mixing once more with his fellow-men. He wished he were out on +the open sea again. + +"Baptiste," he said, "I should like to bring up some way from the +quays; it will be quieter." + +"Certainly, captain. Let us bring up here under Villegagnon; it will be +cooler and healthier than farther in. Look yonder at the merchantman +anchorage. I see the yellow flag flying from at least a dozen foremasts. +The yellow fever is evidently playing mischief at present." + +Baptiste had not been unobservant of Carew's start and change of +expression at the mention of his name. The wily Frenchman had a game to +play: he had put down his first card with a result that satisfied him. + +The anchor was let go under Villegagnon and the sails were stowed; then +Baptiste, looking around him, happened to perceive a barque anchored +about half a mile off. "Ho, El Toro," he cried; "look at that barque. Is +she not the very sister to the old _Vrouw Elisa_?" + +"Baptiste," said Carew sternly, "you told me that you had never been on +board the _Vrouw Elisa_." + +The mate, not in the least disconcerted, laughed, and replied, "That +does not prevent my knowing her by sight, surely, Captain Carou--I +mean--how stupid of me!--Captain Allen." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Shortly after the _Petrel's_ anchor had been let go, under the island of +Villegagnon, a galley, manned by brawny blacks, came off to the yacht; a +Brazilian gentleman in uniform leapt on deck and introduced himself as +the doctor of the port. On hearing that the vessel was an English yacht +sailing under an Admiralty flag he raised no difficulties, but granted +Carew pratique at once, despite the absence of a clean bill of health +from Rotterdam. + +When the health boat had gone off again, Carew ordered the dinghy to be +lowered. "I will go on shore at once, Baptiste," he said. "I will call +on the British consul, and ask him for a clean bill of health for Buenos +Ayres. We won't stay longer than is necessary in this unhealthy place." + +"May I suggest," replied the mate, "that you should give the lads a few +dollars of their pay, and allow them a run on shore to stretch their +legs after having been cooped up so long in this little craft?" + +Carew remembered the empty condition of the ship's treasury, and did +not see his way to paying his crew any portion of their wages at +present. + +"If they go on shore they will drink rum in the sun, and catch Yellow +Jack," he said. + +"Not they, sir. These are sober Spaniards, and they are too acclimatised +to run much risk of fever." + +"I'll think the matter over. But we'll leave the two men in charge this +afternoon. You come on shore with me, Baptiste. You know Rio, and can +show me the way about." + +So Carew and the mate got into the dinghy, and the latter, taking the +oars, pulled off towards the Mole. They landed on a quay bordered by a +negro market, where fish, fruit, rags, and all manner of odds and ends +were sold by very fat negresses in huge yellow turbans; a filthy and +malodorous spot. After leaving the dinghy in charge of a custom-house +officer, they hustled their way through the jabbering crowd of blacks, +and entered the chief streets of the city. + +Baptiste, who evidently knew his way well, brought Carew to the door of +the British Consulate. "I will leave you now, captain," he said, "to +transact your business. Let me have a dollar or so to amuse myself with, +and I will meet you in an hour's time at the corner of the chief +street, the Rua Ovidor, in front of the big jeweller's shop." + +Carew gave him a ten-shilling piece--he only had two more in the world +now--and they separated. + +Having obtained a bill of health from the consul, Carew strolled through +the hot streets until the appointed time, when the mate, punctual to a +minute, met him at the corner of the Rua Ovidor. + +"Captain," said Baptiste, "it is stifling in these streets. Let us get +on a tram and drive out of the town to the Botanical Gardens. It will be +cooler there, and I wish to speak to you in a quiet place where there +are no eavesdroppers about. I have made an important discovery since I +left you." + +With a noise of jingling bells the mules carried them rapidly through +the suburbs of the city; past fairy-like villas that seemed to be built +of delicately tinted porcelain, surrounded by gardens that were +paradises of exquisite plants, with cool fountains splashing under the +feathery palms; past groves of marvellous trees that bore no leaves, but +were covered instead with blossoms of purple and vivid crimson, so that +the eye was pained by the excess of glory; past pleasant inlets of the +great bay, where the tiny waves dashed on the white sands under the +cocoa-nut trees; and around them rose the great amphitheatre of granite +peaks and forest-clad mountains glowing under the cloudless sky. + +They reached the gate of the Botanical Gardens, and the mate led Carew +to an avenue of oreodoxas--the most majestic of the family of palms. +These rose straight and smooth as marble columns to an immense height, +and far overhead their graceful leaves met in regular arches, forming a +great aisle as of a cathedral of giants. A solemn spot, fitted to exalt +the soul of man and inspire lofty thoughts, but which Baptiste, with an +unconscious irony, had selected as a safe place to discuss with Carew a +scheme of detestable crime which his lust for gold had suggested to him. + +They sat down on a bench under the polished trunk of one of the huge +palms. Carew was silent. He was impressed by the marvellous nature +around. Everything was so unfamiliar to his senses. The rich colouring +of the beautiful and sometimes grotesquely shaped vegetation, the birds +of brilliant plumage that flashed by him, the metallic lustre and +monstrous forms of the beetles and other insects, the shrieking of the +paroquets, and other noises of the intense and teeming tropical +life--all bewildered his brain. The very air, heavy with the pungent +odours of many flowers, seemed intoxicating. He could scarcely realise +that this was not all some fantastic dream. + +But Baptiste, who had important business on hand, cared little for the +wonders of Nature. He rolled himself a cigarette, lit it, then, +sprawling himself in a lazy fashion on the bench, commenced-- + +"The other day, captain, we were engaged in an interesting conversation, +which was rather rudely disturbed by an earthquake. Have you forgotten +the subject of it?" + +"I remember that you were talking some nonsense about making yachting +pay its expenses by smuggling, or something of the sort." + +"I said nothing about smuggling, captain, and I was not talking +nonsense. I said that the master of a yacht sailing under Government +papers has many opportunities of putting gold into his pockets; that is, +if his liver be sound and he is not troubled with a morbid conscience. +Now, I only left you for one hour, captain, and in that time I picked up +all the news of the port by calling at one or two rum shops--old haunts +of mine; and, as luck would have it, I have discovered an easy way for +us all to make our fortunes." + +"Silence, man!" angrily ejaculated Carew. "I don't wish to hear your +rascally plans. You mistake me; I am not one to seek a fortune by +illicit methods." + +Carew meant all he said. He intended to commit one more crime only--to +telegraph in Allen's name to the bank for the bulk of Allen's property. +After that, sick of sin, he would live an exemplary life, and appease +conscience by good works in some far country. But he forgot that he who +once starts to run down a steep hill cannot stop himself exactly when he +wishes. + +"What virtue--what righteous indignation!" sneered the mate. "But, +captain, you will have to listen to me. Whether you wish it or no, you +_shall_ make a fortune in the way I am going to suggest." + +There was a menace in the man's tone and a malicious twinkle in his +eyes. + +Carew looked at him. "Explain yourself, if you please," he said coldly. + +"So I will," cried Baptiste, with energy, abandoning his lazy drawl. +Then, throwing away his cigarette, he rose from his recumbent position +and stood before Carew, who still remained sitting on the bench. + +"Do you think that I am blind--that I am an idiot, captain? Do you +imagine that I don't know who you are and what you have done,--with all +your virtuous talk,--eh, Mr. Carew?" + +As he uttered these words rapidly the mate closely observed their effect +upon the Englishman, whose face turned ghastly white, and whose right +hand stole round to his back. + +"No shooting, if you please," cried the Frenchman, in a bantering tone. +"Don't draw that revolver. Remember that there's a fine for carrying +firearms in Rio. Coward though I may be, you don't frighten me here, +captain. I know you dare not kill me on shore. The inquiry afterwards +would be fatal to you. Besides, you are wise enough to grasp quickly the +fact that our interests are coincident. At sea it was otherwise. There I +held my tongue. I was aware that you would have thrown me overboard some +dark night had you guessed that I knew so much. Here on shore I am +safe." + +Carew felt that he was in the man's power, and saw the futility of +denial. "What do you know?" he asked, in a dry voice, bringing his hand +in front of him again. + +"That your name is not Allen, but Carew." + +"What else?" + +"That you are impersonating a man whose property you have stolen." + +Carew felt as if his heart had stopped; the tall palms swam around him. +He closed his eyes, and was only conscious of the cataract of sound +raised by the shrieking paroquets and the manifold hum of insects. It +was only for a moment; then he recovered himself, and, opening his eyes, +again saw before him the cynical face of the Frenchman. "What else?" he +asked, with a deep sigh. + +"Surely that is enough, captain. But, in short, understand that I know +all about you." + +"How have you learnt this?" + +"Suffice it that I know it. I don't wish to spoil your little game, +captain, but you must help me in mine. I will now sit down and silently +smoke a cigarette, so that you can ponder a while on what I have said. I +perceive that I have somewhat disturbed your mind. Now, as violent +emotions are very bad for the health in this hot climate, it will do you +good to rest for a few minutes; for I have more exciting news to +communicate." + +The Frenchman resumed his former lazy position, and proceeded to smoke, +as he smiled contentedly at his own reflections; while Carew sat with +knit brows, the perspiration streaming down his face, unable to collect +his thoughts, but terribly conscious in a vague way that he could never +extricate himself from the network of crime into which he had +voluntarily thrown himself; that for him there was no hope of putting +the past away; that one sin would lead irrevocably to another; that +Nemesis had made all his future life as one long chain of iniquity, even +to the unknown dreadful end of it. + +The Frenchman was very pleased with himself. He had succeeded beyond his +expectations in gaining a hold over Carew, whom he could now compel to +subserve his purposes. The mate had played a bold game of "bluff"; he +had made Carew believe that he was acquainted with his history, whereas +he knew nothing of it, possessed no proofs of what he had so boldly +asserted, and had merely made an ingenious guess at the truth. + +At a very early stage of the voyage, Baptiste had come to the conclusion +that the conscience of the Englishman was burdened with some crime, and +that he was a fugitive from justice. + +A variety of circumstances had led him to this belief. That Carew had +shipped three men who were known to be murderers, and had sailed away +with them across the ocean at a moment's notice, was in itself highly +suspicious. So the wily Frenchman, bethinking himself how useful it +often is to know another man's disagreeable secrets, set himself to +discover all he could of his employer's past. + +Many a night, when it was Carew's watch on deck, Baptiste employed +himself in rummaging the drawers and lockers of the saloon. For a long +time he discovered nothing to his purpose; but he was patient and minute +in his investigations, and at last he got on the right scent in the +following wise. + +He found that the handwriting in the ship's log-book and on the +agreements which the captain had drawn out for his crew was not in the +least like that in the diary and in the cheque-book, in which entries +had been inscribed at a date prior to the yacht's departure from +Rotterdam. Thus it seemed highly probable to Baptiste that his captain +was not the Mr. Allen whom he professed to be, and whose name was on +the ship's papers. + +If not Mr. Allen, then, who was he? + +Baptiste searched diligently night after night without finding any clue +to this; but at last one of those slight circumstances which seem to be +arranged by Providence to expose the crimes of the most clever and +cautious villains, led the persevering Frenchman to the knowledge he was +seeking. + +Baptiste was not a good English scholar; but he proceeded with infinite +labour little by little to decipher Allen's diary. A few days before +reaching Rio he came to the last page but one, and here he read the +following entry: "Wrote Carew, asking him to come with me to Holland." +On the next page, under the date of August the 8th, was the final entry: +"Sail for Holland with Carew." + +"It is just possible," said Baptiste to himself, "that this mysterious +captain of mine is Mr. Carew. I have no reason to suppose that he is so, +but the point is worth testing." + +The mate applied the test in the manner that has been described, when, +on entering Rio, he casually remarked that he had sailed into that +harbour before under an English captain called Carew. + +His employer's sudden start and evident perturbation on hearing this +name mentioned convinced Baptiste that he had hit the right nail on the +head. The deduction from what he had discovered was natural enough. "If +this is Carew," he reasoned, "he must have stolen Allen's yacht. He has +in all probability committed other crimes; but this is enough for my +purpose. I may be altogether wrong in my conjectures, but I think not. I +will tax him boldly with this. If I have guessed his secret, I have the +game in my own hands. If I prove to have been on the wrong scent, I +shall have made an idiot of myself, but no great harm will have been +done." + +So with a matchless effrontery the Frenchman opened his game under the +shade of the great palm trees with the success that has been seen. + +Having smoked several cigarettes with an expression of great enjoyment, +without speaking, Baptiste turned to Carew and said-- + +"You are looking pale, _mon capitaine_. It is dangerous to walk about on +an empty stomach in this climate; the fever fiend is ever watching his +opportunity. Come with me. I will take you to a tavern I know +of,--rough, but cheap and good,--and we will have something to eat. It +is hours after our usual dinner-time. Afterwards I will expound to you +the excellent scheme that is in my head--a scheme that will make us all +rich men." + +Carew had by this time recovered his power for cool and rapid thought. +He had been in vain cudgelling his brain to explain to himself in what +possible way the mate had contrived to discover his secret. + +"Baptiste," he said firmly, "before moving from here, I wish you to +clearly understand that you are not going to be my master because you +happen to know something about my affairs; so put aside at once that +insolent and familiar manner. If you presume too much on your knowledge +and make me desperate, it will be the worse for you. Now tell me how +have you acquired this knowledge?" + +The mate replied in his old respectful tones. "I know you too well to +seek to be your master. But I would rather not answer your question at +present, captain. I promise you, when you have helped me to carry out my +plan, that I will tell you everything." + +"Does anyone else know as much as yourself concerning me?" + +"Not a single individual. Have no fears on that score. No one suspects +that you are other than you represent yourself to be. You are as secure +from discovery as you were before I happened to learn the truth. I alone +know what you are, and the price of my silence is a mere bagatelle. All +I ask is that you benefit yourself and me by casting away from you some +of your foolish scruples. Where is the logic of going so far and no +farther? You have committed great crimes for a trifle. A large fortune +is now within your grasp; but one little sin more, and you will be +rich. Then you can afford to be virtuous for the rest of your life. You +can endow churches; you can obtain absolution; you can--but I forget; +you are a Protestant, and so must patch your soul up in your own way." + +Carew shuddered, not in fear of the man before him, but at the thought +of the relentless fate that was pursuing him. It seemed to him that this +unscrupulous villain was the instrument of an offended Heaven, sent to +hasten his destruction. It was vain for him to strive after repentance. + +A wild despair, a feeling of angry revolt against the powers of good, +possessed him. What did it matter now? the man argued, in his reckless +mood. Destiny drove him to crime. Why resist in agony? Whatever new +wickedness he should have to do, not his the fault, but that of this +pitiless and unjust Fate. + +"Baptiste, what is this plan that you propose?" he asked. + +"Let us dine before we talk business," replied the mate, rolling himself +another cigarette. "I am as thirsty as an Englishman and as hungry as a +German." + +They entered a tram and drove back towards the city; but while they were +yet in the suburbs, Baptiste made a sign to Carew to descend, and they +walked, the mate leading the way, down a narrow street of negro +shanties, each surrounded by its little provision ground of bananas, +yams, and cassava. Then they came to a very rough and disreputable +neighbourhood, abounding in low grog shops, in which European sailors +were courting Yellow Jack, by drinking poisonous rum. They reached a +street which skirted the shores of the bay; and here, on the very edge +of the water, there stood a stone house by itself. + +"That is the tavern I spoke of," said the mate. Then assuming his usual +bantering tone, "It is a queer place. It will interest you, as an +English milord travelling for his pleasure and instruction, to observe +the humours of the place. It is the resort of the greatest villains of +Rio--robbers, smugglers, and the like. The result is that it is an +exceedingly quiet and respectable house. They dare not have rows in +there; no drunkenness or thieving or kniving is allowed on those +premises. Men frequent this café when bent on business, not on +pleasure." + +The interior of the house did not seem to be used for purposes of +entertainment, for all the customers were congregated in a large arbour +that lay against one side of the building, and faced the sea. + +They entered this arbour, and sat down at one of the bare deal tables, +and the mate, calling one of the waiters, a very evil-looking mulatto +with one eye, selected some of the dishes out of the bill of fare. + +The sun was setting, and the darkness came on with the suddenness of +tropical latitudes. Two negroes proceeded to light a number of Venetian +lanterns that festooned the café, and Carew, while he waited for his +dinner, gazed with amazement at the scene before him. + +A number of men were sitting at the tables, eating, drinking, and +smoking. There were negroes, whites, and mulattos. They appeared to be +of many nationalities. It would be almost impossible to see elsewhere a +collection of more villainous faces. They sat for the most part in +silence, as if avoiding each other's companionship; but at some of the +tables were small groups, and here conversations were carried on in a +low voice. There were no smiles to be seen; there was no noise; there +were no signs of hilarity in all this assemblage. An atmosphere of gloom +and fear seemed to pervade the place. Occasionally one of these taciturn +beings would glance suspiciously at the table where Carew and the mate +were sitting. Guilt, dread, and hopelessness could be read on many a +face. It might have been a supper of lost souls in the shades of Hades, +but then--and it was this that, by its mocking contrast, lent a strange +horror to the scene, as if it were some fantastic and dreadful +nightmare--the melancholy feast was taking place in a very paradise. + +The arbour was supported by lofty palms, and the sides of it were formed +of a network of the most beautiful creepers, heavy with sweet blossoms +and luscious fruits. The glittering sands of the seashore formed the +floor. Through the roof of feathery palm leaves the innumerable and +brilliant stars of the Southern Hemisphere could be seen glowing out of +the depths of night. A number of small tame birds of lovely red and +yellow plumage fluttered about the arbour, and alighted on the tables in +search of food. Glow-worms and fireflies gleamed like diamonds among the +foliage, and outside was heard the splashing of the tiny waves and the +shrill cry of the cicala. The lavish tropical nature had made of this a +fit palace for a fairy queen, and lo, it was a thieves' kitchen! + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Having dined off some very greasy dishes served up with cassava or +lentils, and seasoned with hot peppers in the Brazilian fashion, Carew +and the mate lit their pipes, and the one-eyed negro brought them cups +of black coffee and glasses of white native rum. The table at which they +sat was at some distance from any other, so all risk of their +conversation being overheard was obviated. + +"All these men are thieves, you say?" said Carew, looking round at the +strange assembly, on whose faces the Venetian lanterns cast a ruddy +glow. + +"Yes, thieves and murderers, all of them," replied the mate, "but +well-behaved, quiet folk, as you see. One is safer here than in some of +the flash cafés in the main streets of Rio." + +"They carry their characters on their faces. I only see one in the whole +crowd whom I would not instinctively distrust. Who is that tall, +handsome old man with the long white hair and beard?" + +"That is our worthy host," said Baptiste. "He looks like a mild, +mediæval saint, but there is much blood on his hands. I must introduce +him to you, for he is a celebrated character in his way." + +Baptiste caught the old man's eye, and beckoned to him to approach the +table. + +"Good-evening to you, Father Luigi. I think you understand French?" + +The old man nodded an assent. + +"I don't suppose you remember me? I have not been here for a very long +time." + +"I never forget a face that I have seen in my café," replied the host in +French, with a strong Italian accent. + +"This, Luigi, is my present captain, an English milord, travelling in +his yacht; and this, captain, is the once well-known Roman brigand, +Luigi Querini. Oh, an awful cut-throat in his time, I assure you." + +Querini shook his head sadly. "But not so now, signor. I am getting old. +Heigh-ho, but those were grand days we had in the Abruzzi Mountains +before Victor Emmanuel's gendarmerie spoilt Italy." + +"Sit down and have a glass with us, Luigi," said the mate. "_Salud y +pesetas_--health and dollars to you; that's an old River Plate toast. +Luigi knows Buenos Ayres well, captain. He'll tell us all about it." + +"Yes, I know it too well," said the old man. "I was a soldier of the +Argentine Republic, and lived on mare's flesh on the Indian frontier for +four years." + +"What made you do that?" asked Carew. + +"I see you are a stranger to South America, sir. Understand, I was not a +volunteer. I had a misfortune, and therefore was pressed into the army +for punishment." + +"To have a misfortune is a Pampas euphemism for having murdered a man," +explained the mate. + +"There is, as you know, no capital punishment in the River Plate," +continued the Italian; "if a man kills another the penalty is so many +years' service in the army." + +"What a respectable army it must be," remarked Carew. + +"It is so," said Baptiste. "They are wise people, those Argentines. If a +man is addicted to homicide for his private ends, they turn him into a +wholesale homicide for the public good. That may be called the +homoeopathic treatment of murder; like curing like." + +Carew laughed boisterously at the mate's witticism, and the silent men +at the tables round, hating the sound of merriment, turned their faces +towards him and scowled savagely. + +A species of intoxication had come to Carew. The strange sights and +strong emotions of the day, the grotesque contrast presented by this +lovely bower of pure blossoms and the foul and evil men who sat beneath +it, confused his brain. His surroundings seemed so fantastically +inconsistent--so unreal--that he felt as if he were some irresponsible +being in a land of dreams, that it mattered not what he did. He was +filled with a reckless joviality. + +The mate had been watching him with his keen eyes. He knew what this +exaltation of spirits indicated, and divined that the moment was +opportune for the mooting of his diabolical scheme. In the present +condition of his mental faculties, the captain's obstructive conscience +would be partly paralysed, and he would be able to listen to the mate's +proposals without overmuch shrinking horror. So the shrewd Frenchman, +losing no more time, hinted to the host that his presence at the table +was no longer needed, and Querini took himself off to hobnob with +another acquaintance. + +Baptiste then stretched out his legs and said-- + +"This is very comfortable after having been cramped up so long on board +that little boat of yours; but I hope, sir, to see you captain of a much +larger vessel in a week or so at the latest." + +"So we are coming to your wonderful scheme. Let me hear all about it." + +"You remember, sir, that as we sailed into the bay this morning I +pointed out a small barque to El Toro, and remarked how much she +resembled the old _Vrouw Elisa_." + +"I remember your words perfectly. You betrayed yourself." + +"Intentionally, captain. We understand each other now; there are no +secrets between us. Away with hypocrisy! Of course El Toro, El Chico, +and myself formed part of the crew of the _Vrouw Elisa_. But it is +unnecessary to recount to you our adventures on board that vessel." + +"They do not interest me." + +"I don't think you'd care to hear them," said Baptiste, showing his +white teeth with a grim smile. "Well, to proceed. When you were at the +consul's this morning, I entered a little drinking shop on the Mole, and +there I overheard some sailors speaking about their vessel, which I soon +made out to be the barque lying near us under Villegagnon, the one like +the _Vrouw Elisa_. Said one man to the other in French-- + +"'I suppose she's got the most valuable cargo on board of any vessel in +Rio.' + +"I pricked up my ears on hearing this. + +"'She'd be a fine prize for a pirate,' replied the other man. + +"'If there were pirates nowadays,' said the first. + +"Feeling interested, I made inquiries about this vessel--Waiter, stand +off another few yards. I am talking over some private business with +this gentleman." + +The negro, not unused to such commands, promptly removed himself. + +"I discovered that the barque comes from a little harbour down the +coast, near Santa Catharina. It seems that some prospectors have +discovered gold in the neighbouring mountains. The quartz is +exceptionally rich; the cost of importing the necessary machinery would +be great. They are consequently shipping a large quantity of this quarts +to Europe to be crushed. That barque, sailing under the French flag, is +bound for Swansea with a cargo of this: no ordinary auriferous quartz, +let me tell you, but containing a hitherto unexampled percentage of +gold. She has put in here for some slight repairs, and will sail in two +days. The barque is a new vessel, and is worth a lot of money; but the +value of the cargo is enormous. Now, my little plan is that we four, the +crew of the _Petrel_, seize this vessel and make our fortunes." + +Carew laughed scornfully. "Idiot!" he said; "is this your precious +scheme? I took you for too clever a man to talk such nonsense. Even if +we did succeed in seizing this vessel, what could we do with her? In +what port could we dispose of her cargo? Piracy is impossible in these +days. Don't you know that?" + +"Who talked of piracy? Surely, captain, you know me by this time. Am I +not a coward? Am I one to commit a risky crime? I would break no law +unless I felt that I was absolutely secure from detection; and when I do +feel that, upon my soul, I don't know what villainy I would shrink from; +for, as for conscience--bah! I have none. Now please follow the outlines +of my scheme. I will leave it to your ingenuity to fill up the details." + +Carew, in his present mood, felt a reluctant admiration for the cool and +cynical ruffian before him. + +"Piracy, in the ordinary sense of the term, is of course out of date," +continued the mate, as he sipped his fiery rum; "but the intelligent man +adapts his method to the age he lives in. I will now tell you a little +story. An English yacht, manned by four worthy fellows, sails out of Rio +one fine day. In the night, when she is some leagues from the land, a +dreadful accident of some kind happens--say she runs into a large +fragment of wreckage, and staves herself in. Anyhow, she founders. +Happily, her crew have time to lower the boat, and getting into it they +pull away, weeping to behold the vessel, that has been their home for so +long, go down. But they feel happier and dry their eyes when their brave +captain tells them that the yacht is well insured. Providence assists +them, for at daybreak they sight a French barque. They signal to her, +are seen, are soon taken on board, and the barque resumes her voyage to +Europe. After some days our four shipwrecked mariners, who have been +watching their opportunity, and who are well armed, surprise the crew, +take possession of the vessel, sail her into the nearest port, and claim +salvage for the derelict which they have had the luck to pick up; and +their lives for the future are happy, wealthy, and respectable. Do you +follow my story, captain? Hi! waiter, bring us some more rum and some +Bahia cigars." + +Carew sat quite motionless for some time, looking downwards, so that +Baptiste could not see the expression of his face. The black brought the +rum to the table and went away again. Then Carew raised his head. "I +follow your story," he said, in a low, husky voice; "but you did not +mention what became of the crew of the barque." + +"Ah, yes! What did become of them?" exclaimed the mate in an airy way. +"I forget. They were lost somehow, I imagine--were disposed of in some +convenient fashion--who knows? But that is a detail." + +Carew's face had turned fearfully white. "Thou devil!" he cried +passionately, between his set teeth. "Not that--not that! Speak no more +of this. It is impossible." + +"Understand me, captain," said the mate, abandoning his bantering tone +for one of serious determination. "You are not going to have everything +your own way. I must have money, and plenty of it. El Chico and El Toro +must have money. Join us in carrying out this scheme, and we will share +the spoil between the four of us. If you don't agree to this, I will +expose you at once, Mr. Carew, and you will know what a nasty hole a +Brazilian prison is. I am sorry to use this language, but business is +business, captain." + +Carew looked down again, and Baptiste, furtively watching him, saw that +his mouth was twitching and the perspiration breaking out on his +forehead. + +The wretched man endeavoured to think his way out of the terrible +dilemma before him. He had to choose between the commission of a crime +more atrocious than any he had ever conceived, and a disgrace and +punishment infinitely worse than death. He tried to realise his +position, but his brain seemed numbed. The two alternatives kept +crossing and recrossing his mind in rapid succession. He was conscious +of them, but he could not reason upon them. He was incapable of +consecutive thought for the time. + +Suddenly a discordant brass band in a low dancing saloon hard by burst +out into a triumphant march, as a prelude to the night's riot of drunken +sailors. It was a fragment of some French opera-bouffe, suggestive of +feverish joy heedless of the morrow, of mad and reckless orgie. The +sound was in accord with the man's distracted state. It at once awoke +his mind from its lethargy. A wild and fierce impulse rushed upon him. +Blindly he abandoned himself to what he considered to be his destiny, +and a tempter seemed to whisper to him, "Trust to your luck. See how +luck has been with you so far. Fortune will certainly find some way of +relieving you of the crew of the barque, so that it will not be +necessary for you to have their blood on your head. Arthur Allen stood +in your path. He was removed from it; yet you were not his murderer. So +will it be now. Trust to chance." + +Then Carew looked up. His features were calm and rigid, but had a +ghastly expression. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but appeared to +be unable to articulate. He poured himself out a quantity of the white +rum into a glass and swallowed it. "And the other two men?" he whispered +hoarsely. + +Baptiste understood his meaning. "El Chico and El Toro can be relied +upon for this business. I know them," he said. + +The eyes of the two men met. There was a long pause. Then Carew muttered +the two words-- + +"I consent!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Carew and the mate left the café, traversed the brilliantly lighted +city, and returned to the yacht. At an early hour on the following +morning, Carew, too restless to sleep, came on deck. The sky was +cloudless and the rising sun illumined the romantic scenery of the bay. +A cool breeze blew seaward from the wooded mountains, odorous of spices +and tropical blossoms. The sight of a world so glad and fair, so fresh +and ever-young, might well make the saddest soul feel the joy of mere +existence and look to life as a treasure worth the possessing. + +A few months before this Carew had contemplated suicide--had regarded +death as a welcome deliverance from his troubles. Now it was otherwise; +he set a value on his life. The causes of this change were commonplace +enough, as are most of the motives that decide the momentous crises of a +man's history. A healthy life in the open air at sea tends to develop +the instinct of self-preservation and banishes morbid meditations. +Again, the longer one has been contesting some keen game of chance and +skill, the more anxious one is to come off the victor. This man had been +playing a clever and desperate game for freedom--which for him meant +life--ever since he had left England. Fortune had favoured him so long +that he would not abandon hope and acknowledge defeat now. The ultimate +victory had become so dear to him that he was not likely to be very +squeamish as to the means he should employ to obtain it. + +So Carew had hardened his heart, or rather, having resolved on a course +of action, he closed the avenues of his mind to certain unpleasant +thoughts on the future. Not being as unscrupulous as his French +associate, he found it necessary to employ an immense amount of +self-deception. He allowed himself to drift, as it were, from one crime +to another, trying to believe that his fate was compelling him; but he +carefully avoided looking beyond the immediate present. He would not +think of the far greater iniquities to which he was committing himself +by the action he was now taking. He wilfully closed his eyes, and let +the morrow take care of itself. + +When Baptiste joined the captain on deck he was exceedingly surprised to +find him in a cheerful mood, and anxious to arrange as quickly as +possible the plan for the seizure of the barque. Carew found a relief in +the active employment of his brain, and he now exhibited considerable +ingenuity. He described his views in detail to the mate, who looked with +wonder at this inconsistent Englishman, whose complex nature he felt +that he was very far from understanding. With all his vacillation, when +Carew had made up his mind one way or the other, he acted promptly and +with energy. + +"Baptiste," he said, "in the first place, we ought to be armed. We all +have knives, but there is only one revolver on board. I want you to take +my watch and chain on shore, pawn or sell them, and buy three revolvers +and some ammunition. You can take charge of your weapon at once, but I +will keep those of the two men until the time comes." + +"That is right," said the mate; "those children are not to be trusted +with firearms. The first time they played at _monte_ they would be +scattering each other's brains over the cards. I know a slop shop where +there are generally some good six-shooters on sale. I will barter your +watch there." + +"Also ascertain the hour of the barque's departure," said Carew. "This +is what I suggest. You know that the south-east trade wind does not blow +home on this coast, but is deflected and becomes a north-east wind. In +consequence of this, all vessels bound for Europe from Rio are obliged +to take a long board of several hundreds of miles to the eastward +before they fall in with the true trade wind, and go about on the other +tack. Thus we know the exact course the barque will take. She will sail +away close-hauled on the port-tack. We will put to sea six hours before +her, and await her some ten leagues from the land. Do you understand?" + +"Perfectly. I see you know what you are about, sir." + +"Now call the crew aft," said Carew, "and let us learn at once what they +think of our proposal." + +Baptiste raised the hatch of the forecastle and roused the men. They +quickly tumbled on deck. + +"I am sorry to say, comrades, that you can't go on shore here," said the +mate in Spanish. + +They swore and grumbled in sonorous Castilian phrases that had best be +left untranslated. + +"Now no insubordination," continued Baptiste; "the captain would not +deprive you of a day's holiday after so long a voyage unless he had +urgent reasons for doing so." + +"Reasons indeed!" muttered El Toro. "He who wants reasons can always +find them." + +"Silence, you old calf! Listen! We shall most probably sail to-day, for +there is a treasure waiting for us outside." + +El Chico pricked up his ears. "What! another _Vrouw Elisa_?" he asked. + +"Something of the sort; but this is a safer scheme. Our necks will not +be in danger this time." + +"That's well for you, Baptiste," exclaimed El Toro, with his brutal +laugh; "for your neck must be the most precious on this ship if we may +judge from the value you set on it. Ha! ha! I never shall forget your +white face and your starting eyes in that Dutch law court." + +"My neck supports a head of brains and not a pig's head like thine, with +only three ideas in it--rum, grub, and tobacco," retorted the mate. "But +no more nonsense; listen to me, men." + +Then he briefly disclosed the plan. + +"Bravo!" grunted El Toro. "That sounds a likely bit of business. I will +go and sharpen my knife at once. And so our English milord is a +game-cock, after all, like the rest of us." + +"He is worth fifty of you," said Baptiste. "He has the clever brains +that can devise; and he is braver than you, El Toro." + +"I acknowledge him to be my superior, even in courage. I have not +forgotten how he defied the devil himself in the _terremoto_," replied +the Basque. + +Baptiste turned to Carew, and proceeded to speak in French. "The lads +are ready to follow you anywhere, sir." + +"They did not seem at all surprised, and received your communication in +a very matter-of-fact way," said Carew. + +"They are accustomed to strange jobs of this kind. But I don't think +they quite realise what a vast sum we are going to make. Idiots! It +would be a pity to give them too much. We must settle later on, captain, +how to divide the spoil." + +"Last night you said that it should be divided equally among us." + +"I spoke hastily. I don't think so now. You and I appreciate money and +know how to use it. These pigs would squander it. We will give them just +enough to keep their mouths shut. You and I will divide the bulk. If we +fill their hands with bright gold pieces, the ignorant wretches will +imagine that they have got an inexhaustible fortune, and they will go +away perfectly satisfied. I know the animals." + +The mate, taking Carew's watch and chain with him, rowed on shore in the +dinghy, and returned in an hour with three revolvers, some cartridges, +and a quantity of plantains, yams, and other vegetables. + +He leapt on deck. "Captain," he cried, "there is not much time to be +lost. I have learnt that _La Bonne Esperance_--that is the barque's +name--will sail without fail this evening as soon as the land breeze +springs up." + +"Then we will get under way immediately after breakfast," said Carew; +"for the wind seems to be light outside, and we shall not travel fast." + +The land breeze, which blows all night at Rio and refreshes the heated +atmosphere, died away before the necessary preparations had been made on +the yacht, and the usual calm succeeded it. So Carew had to remain at +anchor until midday, when the sea breeze, that prevails throughout the +hottest hours of the day, sprang up; and all sail being hoisted, the +_Petrel_ tacked out of the bay. + +The yacht sailed out to sea, close-hauled on the port-tack; but the wind +was very light, and she did not make more than two knots an hour. + +At sunset the land was still in sight, and Carew took cross-bearings, so +as to ascertain his exact position. Throughout the night the navigation +of the yacht was conducted with unusual care. The helmsman steered "full +and by" with as much nicety as if he had been sailing a race. + +Every few minutes the officer of the watch looked at the compass, in +order to detect the slightest change in the direction of the wind. +Without these precautions it would have been impossible on the morrow to +calculate with sufficient precision the track of the following barque. + +At daybreak Carew made out that he was about forty miles from the land. +"We have gone far enough, Baptiste," he said. "The next thing is to +calculate how much nearer this yacht sails to the wind than a clumsy, +square-rigged vessel like _La Bonne Esperance_." + +"Our steering has been so good," replied the mate, "that we must have +been sailing at least a point and a half closer than the barque." + +"About that, I should say. We will run down to leeward some ten miles, +and then, I think, we shall be lying right across her track." + +The sheets were eased off, and the vessel was steered at right angles to +her former course. As the wind was stronger, she covered the ten miles +in less than two hours. Then Carew gave the order to heave-to. + +While the yacht, her jib to windward, rose and fell on the ocean swell +without making any progress, everything was got ready for the carrying +out of their design. The dinghy was lowered; the men placed in it their +baggage and some of the more portable valuables belonging to the yacht. +Carew put into the sternsheets a portmanteau containing, among other +things, the ship's papers, Allen's diary and cheque-book, the revolvers, +and the drugs which he had purchased in Rotterdam. + +Carew himself undertook to scuttle the yacht. He cut away a portion of +the panelling in the main cabin; then, having bored a large hole with an +auger through the vessel's skin, he stopped it with a wooden plug. To +this plug he attached a piece of strong cord, which he led up on deck +through the skylight. + +The men stood by watching him. + +"You see, Baptiste," he explained, "I have but to pull this cord, out +comes the plug, and the vessel fills and sinks." + +"That is all very well so far," replied the mate; "but suppose you have +pulled out your plug, and your vessel is three parts full, and the +barque won't stop to pick us up,--anything is possible at sea; such +inhumanity among sailors is not unknown,--what will you do then? How are +you to get at that hole again to stop any more water coming in? A wise +general secures his retreat, captain." + +"I have thought of all that, Baptiste," said Carew; "you have not seen +half my arrangements yet. Follow me into the after-cabin." + +Baptiste obeyed. + +"Now take up the flooring," continued the captain. + +When the boards were raised a long piece of lead piping was disclosed, +which was connected with the end of one of the ship's two pumps. + +"Cut that piping off as close as you can to the pump, and bring it on +deck." + +This was done; then Carew, to the astonishment of his crew, proceeded to +bend the piping until it assumed the form of a lengthened U. Putting a +bung into one end of it he poured water into it from the other end until +it was full. Dipping the open end into the sea, he passed the other arm +through one of the ports, so that it depended into the cabin below the +level of the water-line. + +"Hah! I see now; it is a syphon," exclaimed Baptiste. + +"Exactly so. Now follow my plan. As soon as we sight the barque, I take +the bung out of the inner arm of the syphon and allow the sea to pour +in, until I bring the yacht down as near the water's edge as I safely +can. Then I haul my syphon on board again and so stop the flow. We hoist +signals of distress. If _La Bonne Esperance_ won't pay any attention to +us and sails by, all we have to do is to pump the water out of the +yacht, and try our luck elsewhere. If the barque replies to our signals, +and there can be no doubt about her intention to pick us up, I pull this +cord, out comes the plug, in rushes the sea again, we jump into the +dinghy, and as we are rowing off to the French vessel the old _Petrel_ +goes down. What do you think of that, Baptiste?" + +"Excellent--excellent!" exclaimed the mate. + +"And to avoid all chance of a hitch," continued Carew, who was +interested in his work, "I am going to scuttle the yacht in another +place, and lead another cord from the second plug on to the deck. Thus +we will be doubly certain; for one plug may get jammed and refuse to +come out, or a fish may get sucked into the hole and choke it. I have +heard of such things happening." + +"You are a very clever man, captain. When you do start on a job you +carry it out in a thorough manner. With your pluck and ingenuity you'd +make a splendid pirate, were it not for your unfortunate scruples;" and +the mate sighed regretfully when he thought of the useful talents wasted +on this Englishman. + +At midday Carew took the latitude, and found that he had not misjudged +his position. As the wind had not varied a quarter of a point since the +yacht had sailed from Rio, it was almost certain that the barque would +pass within a mile or so. + +El Chico, who had the keenest eyes of any on board, had been sent aloft +to keep a good lookout for vessels. He sat on the crosstrees, and in the +course of the day reported several craft, but none answered to the +description of the French barque. + +Much as Carew had shrunk from the enterprise, he was now carried away by +the excitement of the chase; and as the hours went by he became acutely +anxious. He feared that he had sailed too far out to sea, and that the +barque would pass him unobserved in the night. + +They waited in silence, staring eagerly across the expanse of glaring +water. + +At last, at three o'clock in the afternoon, El Chico called out-- + +"There is a barque yonder that looks something like her." + +"Where away?" said Baptiste. + +"She's coming up close-hauled on the port-tack." + +"Has she brown topsides and some bright green about her figure-head?" + +"I can't make any colour out yet." + +Then the mate went aloft with the binocular. After some minutes he +scrambled down the rigging again. "Hurrah!" he cried, with a triumphant +glitter in his eyes. "We have her safe! That is _La Belle Esperance_!" + +"If we run a mile more to leeward we'll be right in her track," shouted +El Chico from aloft. + +All was now bustle on board the yacht. Letting the foresheet draw, they +ran before the wind for about a quarter of an hour; then, heaving-to +again, the cork was taken out of the syphon, and the yacht began to fill +gradually. The barque was still more than three miles off, so there was +ample time to prepare everything. + +"Now for the signals of distress," cried Carew; "bring up the flags." + +The two flags of the international code--N and B--were hoisted to the +gaff end, which indicate that a vessel is in need of assistance. + +"They won't be able to see that for some time yet," said Baptiste. "Your +signal flags are too small." + +"Then rig up the long-distance signal," cried Carew. "It is a square +flag at the masthead with something like a ball beneath it. Hoist the +large ensign, and fasten the life-buoy to the mast; that will look like +a ball." + +The barque was now heading straight for the yacht. When she was about a +mile off Carew loaded the small brass signal gun and fired it. + +About a minute afterwards a wreath of smoke was seen to issue from the +barque's side. Then the report of a gun was heard. + +"We are safe now. They will pick us up," said Carew. "Hallo, there! +Inboard with that syphon at once, or the yacht will go down under our +feet." + +The men had been watching the approaching barque so intently that they +had not observed how low in the water their own vessel now was. The +cabin was three parts full, and all the movable articles in it were +afloat. The syphon was brought on board, and they waited yet a little +longer before taking the final step; for the wind had fallen light +again, and the barque was making but slow progress towards them. + +"Up goes some bunting yonder," said El Chico. + +Carew looked through the telescope, and saw that the vessel had hoisted +the signal H F, which signifies, "We are coming to your assistance." + +"Now, then, all hands tumble into the dinghy," said Carew, as, seizing +the cords, he pulled both plugs out of the yacht's side. "Good-bye, old +_Petrel_!" he cried, leaping into the boat after his men. "Now, pull +away, lads." + +Carew's experience in scuttling vessels was naturally limited, so he +had miscalculated the rapidity with which an already water-logged craft +will go down if two large auger-holes are opened in her sides. + +The men had not pulled a couple of strokes before the yacht's bow rose +suddenly, her stern dipped, and she sank with a gurgling sound. So near +was the dinghy that she narrowly escaped being sucked into the vortex. + +They rested on their oars and gazed silently at the spot where the smart +little yawl that had been their home for so long had floated but a +moment before. Then, as the water smoothed over her grave, they looked +over the side of the dinghy and beheld a strange sight. With all her +white sails set and her flags still flying, the _Petrel_ went slowly +down, with a gentle, oscillating movement, into the depths of that +marvellously pellucid sea. Two sharks accompanied her, swimming round +and round her; one thrust his evil snout for a moment into the cabin +hatchway, as if to see if there were men below. Lower and lower the +yacht descended into depths where the sharks could not support the +increasing pressure of the water, so, deserting her, swam upwards; still +lower, till she appeared no larger than a toy boat, and they could still +distinguish her; still lower, and at last she disappeared into the +blackness of the still, under ocean. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Carew gazed silently downwards into the clear, dark sea for some moments +after the yacht had sunk entirely out of sight; then, raising his head, +he looked towards the barque, and saw that she was lying hove-to, with +her mainyard laid aback, about a quarter of a mile distant. + +"Pull away, lads," he said. "Let us get on board the Frenchman, and +don't forget that we ran into a bit of wreckage last night and so sprang +a leak. Say as little more as you can help, and don't give conflicting +accounts of our accident." + +They soon came alongside the vessel, and clambered on to her deck by a +rope's end that was lowered to them. The captain of the barque gave the +order to sling the dinghy on deck and square away again. + +This being done, he turned to Carew and said in French, "I am very +happy, sir, that I was so near at hand when your vessel sank. She went +down very suddenly. Pray what was the cause?" + +Carew gave the very probable explanation of the mishap which had been +decided on. + +"You must have run into that bit of wreckage with considerable force," +said the captain. "What was it--a large spar?" + +"Something of the sort, I imagine," replied Carew; "but we could see +nothing. It must have been floating just below the level of the water." + +"It is a lucky thing for you that this happened so near to the Brazilian +coast and in the track of shipping, instead of in the middle of the +Atlantic. You should have under-girded the vessel when you found that +she had sprung so serious a leak." + +"So we did," broke in Baptiste. "We got a jib under her bows. But it was +no good. She was strained along her whole bilge. I wonder she did not +fall to pieces." + +"Let me introduce myself to you," said Carew. "My name is Allen. I was +the owner of the unfortunate little yacht which is now so far below us. +I think I recognise your vessel. Were you not lying near us under +Villegagnon?" + +"That is quite right, sir, and I recognised your yacht as soon as I saw +your signal of distress. My name is Captain Mourez, and this is the +French barque _La Bonne Esperance_, bound for Swansea. And now, sir, +what would you like me to do with you and your crew? I see smoke ahead, +which should come from some steamer bound for Rio. Shall I signal her +and put you on board, or do you feel inclined to come on with us to +Swansea?" + +Carew did not look in the captain's face, and his voice shook as he +replied, "I should esteem it a great favour, Captain Mourez, if you +would allow us to be your passengers as far as Swansea. I will of course +repay you for this when we reach England." + +"Say nothing about that at present," replied the captain proudly. "You +can do what you think proper when you reach port. A French sailor is +always glad to assist other sailors in distress without the inducement +of a reward for doing so." + +The boastful speech of the patriotic captain stated no more than the +truth. French sailors rarely hesitate to risk their lives at sea in +going to the rescue of their fellow-men; in this respect differing +considerably from the mariners of some other European nations, who have +acquired an unenviable notoriety for a selfish indifference to the +sufferings of others. + +The captain looked from Carew to Baptiste. He could distinguish from the +latter's accent and appearance that he was no common sailor. "This +gentleman is your friend, I suppose?" he said. + +"My friend, and the mate of the yacht," replied Carew. "I was my own +captain." + +"I see that you are a genuine English yachtsman. But surely this is a +French gentleman?" + +"No, Captain Mourez," broke in Baptiste quickly; "I am an English +subject, but I am a Creole of the Mauritius, and of French origin. +Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Baptiste Fortier." + +"Very well," said the captain. "We can find room for your two men in the +forecastle. You, Mr. Allen and Mr. Fortier, will occupy cabins aft. We +have plenty to spare. Come below and I will show you round." + +They entered the saloon--a spacious one for a vessel of her size. There +were four cabins on each side of it. Only two of these were occupied; +one by the captain and another by his mate. Two others were now placed +at the disposal of Carew and Baptiste. + +The captain made his two guests sit down with him at the saloon table, +and produced a bottle of Bordeaux for their refreshment. The mate of _La +Belle Esperance_ soon came below and joined the party. Though no +drunkard, he was never far away when there was a drawing of corks. His +name was Duval; he was a wiry, red-headed Norman, somewhat hot-tempered, +but very garrulous and merry. Captain Mourez was a tall, handsome man, +with black hair and beard, a Breton by birth, taciturn as a rule, but +very courteous in his manners. + +While these four were sitting in the saloon talking over the wreck of +the _Petrel_, there was suddenly heard the sound of something falling +heavily on the deck just overhead; then a cry and a scuffling of many +feet. + +Duval hurried on deck to learn what the noise signified. Shortly +afterwards he returned again. "It is that imbecile young apprentice, +Hallé, again. What an awkward cub it is! He has fallen from the mizzen +rigging this time; not from a great height, luckily. He has not hurt +himself seriously, but he seems rather sick and dizzy." + +The crew of the _Petrel_ were soon at home on their new vessel. El Toro +and El Chico were made much of by the kindly Frenchmen in the +forecastle. As luck would have it, none of the crew of the barque +understood Spanish; so the two Spaniards, who knew no French, had not to +reply to questions as to the details of the yacht's misadventure. El +Toro especially, whose dense head was entirely devoid of imagination, +would have been certain to come to grief in attempting to lie in an +ingenious and consistent manner. + +In the afternoon the loquacious Norman mate insisted on taking Carew and +Baptiste all over the vessel and showing them everything. He was +gratified by the keen interest the two passengers seemed to take in his +explanation. They listened attentively to all he said, for reasons of +their own. They learnt that the vessel's company, officers included, +numbered seventeen souls; that there was no second mate, but that the +boatswain took the port watch and lived with the carpenter in the small +deck-house. + +Duval also took them into the forecastle, where some of the watch off +duty were sleeping at the time. Among them was the young apprentice who +had fallen from the rigging. He was tossing about restlessly in his +bunk, and his face was very flushed. + +Baptiste as he passed by glanced casually at him, then scanned his face +earnestly for some time. "Come out of this," he said to Carew. "It is +too hot down here. Let us go on deck." + +That evening the wind freshened considerably, and the barque, with yards +braced up, was making good way through the water. Carew, unable to +sleep, came on deck shortly before midnight, and sat down in a dark, +quiet corner to meditate. Now that the excitement of the preliminary +preparations was over, he began to realise to the full what was before +him; and an intense abhorrence of the crime he had undertaken once more +oppressed his soul. He could not retreat now. He must be the cause of +the death of all these innocent men, who had come to the rescue of his +life. If he spared them he would be carried on to England to pay the +penalty of his offences. + +As he sat brooding thus miserably, a man walked towards him from the +fore part of the ship. Carew saw the red glow of his cigarette before +he could distinguish the man in the darkness, and he knew that it was +his evil genius. + +"Baptiste, is that you?" + +"Here I am, captain. A lovely night, is it not?" + +"Sit down here," said Carew, "and speak to me. No one can overhear us +here, I think." + +"No; it will be all right if we do not raise our voices," replied +Baptiste, looking round. + +"How is this going to end?" whispered Carew. + +"What do you mean, captain?" + +"How are we four to seize a vessel with a crew of seventeen strong men +on board?" + +"Strong men, indeed!" replied the Frenchman. "They will be as weak as +babies in a few days' time. By the way, I see that you did not omit to +bring your medicine chest on board with you." + +Carew shuddered. "Poison!" he whispered, in a terrified voice. "Do you +mean that?" + +"Why not, captain? It is a merciful and painless death if the right +stuff is used." + +Carew said nothing for some time. "Whatever is done must be done soon," +he muttered. + +"That is so, captain. This vessel must be ours while we are still in the +trades and within a few days' run of a South American port. It will be +difficult enough for four of us to work her, even in these calm waters. +We must not postpone action till we get into the region of rougher +weather." + +"Oh, that this dreadful thing were not necessary!" Carew groaned. + +"Ah, sir, don't allow those fatal scruples of yours to torment you. If I +had some of your courage, and you some of my philosophy, what a fine +couple we should be! But as it is at present, I am the more useful man +of the two, despite my physical cowardice. Believe me, Mr. Carew, the +ancient was right who said that to know oneself is the secret of +happiness. If a man has a conscience at all, it ought to be a stable one +that does not vary. You have got a set of moral principles of a sort, +but you have not the slightest idea of what they are. One day you will +commit an action with a light heart; on the morrow your remorse will +madden you. Such inconsistency means misery. Know thyself. If you will +have a code of ethics, know it and stick to it, and be happy. But now +that you have gone so far, I recommend you to abjure conscience and +moral principles, and substitute for them my beautifully simple code of +ethics, which is summed up in three words--fear of consequences." + +"I wish, indeed, that I could do so, Baptiste." + +"If you wish it, this satisfactory result will come in time. All changes +in the moral sense are arrived at by wishing. _Experto crede_, as they +taught me in the _lycée_ at Nimes." + +Neither spoke for some time; then Baptiste said-- + +"You were born under a lucky star, captain. I think that Providence has +found a way of sparing your sensitive conscience. She will do most of +the killing for you." + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed Carew. + +"Hush! not so loud. You remember that a young man fell from the mizzen +rigging while we were below drinking with the captain?" + +"Yes." + +"He is our unconscious ally. He will kill off a good many of his +comrades for us. But I will not mystify you any longer. Why did he fall +off the rigging--because he was awkward, as Duval said? Not a bit of it. +He fell because he was dizzy. Why was he dizzy? Because he was ill. This +afternoon, when I saw him first, I more than suspected that a fall could +not account for all his symptoms. I have just examined him again. I know +the signs well. He is in the first stage of _yellow fever_!" + +"Yellow fever?" + +"Yes, yellow fever has come to help us. The man has been very sick and +is now delirious. The stupid captain has seen him, and puts it all down +to his fall; says he must have injured his spine. How lucky for us was +that fall! Led off the scent by it, the idiots will not suspect what is +the matter with the man until the _vomito negro_ declares itself. They +have not separated him from the rest. He is now lying in his bunk in the +forecastle. All the watch below are sleeping round him. It is a small +forecastle, and the crew, imagining that fresh air is bad for a sick +man, have closed the ports. It is stifling down there at present. It is +a pest-house. All those men are breathing in contagion. Do you know that +it is the worst form of yellow fever that is now raging at Rio--very +contagious, very fatal? If it breaks out in a vessel like this it will +spread like wildfire. Man after man will fall sick and die." + +"Ourselves included," said Carew recklessly. + +"No, sir. We will take precautions in time. I have had the fever once, +and am not likely to have it again. I have hinted the truth to El Chico +and El Toro, and they have suddenly developed a hygienic craze for fresh +air, and insist on sleeping on deck to-night, to the amazement of the +French sailors. I would not like to insure the lives of the men who +sleep in that forecastle; most of them are doomed by this time." + +Carew felt his skin turn cold and tingle with horror as he listened to +the Frenchman's cold-blooded exultation in the dreadful prospect. + +"Good-night, captain. I am going to turn in now; and, by the way, let me +advise you to keep on deck in the cool wind as much as possible, and +smoke perpetually. Tobacco is a splendid disinfectant." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +On the day after the crew of the _Petrel_ had been taken on board the +barque the wind freshened and was so much to the south of east that the +vessel was enabled to sail in a north-easterly direction, a course which +would bring her to the vicinity of the Trinidad and Martin Vas +Archipelago. + +When Carew came on deck in the morning he found Baptiste there before +him. The Provençal walked up to him jauntily, twirling his long black +moustache, and looking jubilant. "I have seen young Hallé again," he +said, in a low voice. "He is very bad. The symptoms are unmistakable; +but no one suspects the truth so far. Two other men are complaining of +headache." + +"Let the accursed plague work its way," said Carew gloomily, "but tell +me nothing about it." + +"So be it, sir," said Baptiste, with a shrug of his shoulders. + +The springing up of so favourable a wind put the captain of _La Bonne +Esperance_ in a very contented frame of mind. In his delight he became +more talkative than was his wont, and at frequent intervals during the +day sought out Carew in order to converse with him. + +Carew, for his part, did his utmost--without appearing churlish--to +avoid the company of Captain Mourez; for he recognised him as being a +kind-hearted and an honest man. + +The captain observed his passenger's unsociable mood, and, attributing +this to his sorrow at the loss of his yacht, endeavoured to cheer him +with lively gossip, but produced the opposite result. + +Nothing noteworthy occurred during the day; the wind held steady, and +the vessel made good progress. At about ten o'clock that night, Carew +was sitting alone in the saloon, killing thought by reading a French +novel which the captain had lent him, when Mourez himself came in. His +face bore a very anxious expression. + +"Mr. Allen," he said, "I am seriously alarmed about that man Hallé. I +fear that he has the fever." + +"The yellow fever?" exclaimed Carew, not raising his eyes from his book. + +"It seems so to me; but I have never seen a case of yellow fever. Do you +mind coming with me to the forecastle and giving me your opinion?" + +"I will do so with pleasure," replied Carew, rising from his seat; "but +my opinion is not worth much." + +They entered the forecastle, which was dimly lighted by a small lantern. +Hallé was lying on his bunk, keeping up a constant delirious chatter. +The other men, instead of sleeping soundly through their watch below +after the manner of sailors, were sitting together in a group at the +corner of the forecastle farthest removed from the sick man, looking +scared and talking to each other in subdued voices. + +Carew stood by Hallé's bunk and looked at him. A change for the worse +had recently come on. His face wore an expression of intense anxiety. +His skin was wrinkled and of a dark yellow colour. + +The captain made a sign to Carew, and they went on deck again. "I have +never seen yellow fever," said the latter; "ask my mate, Baptiste +Fortier, what he thinks about it; he has had the fever himself." Thus +did this strange man trifle with his conscience as usual, and attempt to +shift the responsibility for the next step in the tragedy on to his +companion. + +Baptiste was found, and was sent into the forecastle. It would be quite +useless to lie about the facts now, so, returning to where Carew and +Mourez were standing, he said, "It is yellow fever. I am sure of it." + +On hearing this the captain began to pace up and down the deck in a +state of great agitation, wringing his hands. "Good heavens! this is a +terrible affair," he cried. "For thirty hours Hallé has been spreading +contagion in the forecastle. Who knows where this will end?" + +Then Captain Mourez stood still, and after pondering a little while +addressed Carew. "I must at once convert some portion of the vessel into +a hospital. The forecastle is no longer a fit place for the healthy men, +so we will give it up to the sick. Sir, we must pray for a fresh breeze +to carry us quickly into northern latitudes, where the cold will kill +the plague that has come to us." + +At that moment the boatswain came on to the quarter-deck, and Mourez +ordered him to call up the watch below. + +The men reached the deck with unusual promptitude. They were summoned +aft, and the captain in a few words explained to them how matters stood, +and exhorted them to be courageous as French sailors should be. He +ordered them to rig up a large awning forward, under which the crew were +to live so long as the vessel was in warm latitudes. He also instructed +the boatswain to ventilate the forecastle as thoroughly as was possible +by means of wind-sails, so that a cool temperature might be obtained for +the sick men. + +On the following day two other men fell ill, and were admitted into the +hospital. In the afternoon Hallé died, and his body was immediately +lowered into the sea. + +Before sunset the loom of land was visible over the ship's bows. It was +the desert island of Trinidad, situated near latitude 20 deg. south, +about six hundred miles from the coast of Brazil. + +And now a most unfortunate calamity befell the pestilence-stricken +vessel. The wind completely died away, and she lay motionless on a sea +of oily smoothness for three whole days. The vertical sun blazed down +upon her out of the cloudless sky, and the intense sultriness of the +atmosphere lowered the energies of those who were still in good health, +and predisposed them to contagion, while it hurried on the fatal +termination of the fever for the sick. A gloom fell on the ship's +company. The men looked into each other's faces with helpless terror, +for what could be done against this invisible foe? One after another +sickened, died, and was lowered over the side in shotted shroud. +Baptiste and the two Spaniards, though they considered themselves +acclimatised to the tropics, and almost proof against contagion, shared +the prevailing sense of terror. + +On the second day of the calm, the captain, who had doctored all the +sick men to the best of his ability, was himself attacked by the fever. + +Carew, who had some little knowledge of medicine, volunteered to take +his place, and as the mate gratefully complied with his request, +employed all his time in attending upon the patients in the forecastle +and the captain in his cabin. + +On the third day of the calm the contagion seemed to have spent itself. +No fresh cases were reported, and those who were lying sick became no +worse. + +Up to this date eight men out of the seventeen that composed the ship's +company had died. Among these were the boatswain and the ship's cook. It +was necessary to appoint some other man to take charge of the port +watch; so the mate, after consulting with Carew, gave this post to +Baptiste, as being the best educated man on board. The Provençal asked +that the two Spaniards should be put upon his watch. El Chico, acting +under Baptiste's orders, offered to undertake the duties of ship's cook. + +On this morning, being the fifth since the _Petrel's_ crew had been +received on board, the mate came up to Baptiste and made some remarks to +him which set the wily ruffian thinking. Duval had asked him whether he +did not think the fever showed signs of abating. + +"It is impossible to say yet," replied Baptiste. "Yellow fever always +comes in waves; it subsides and intensifies alternately." + +"You see, comrade," said Duval, "that even if we include you four, we +are now very short handed. If we lose a few more men, we cannot sail +this barque to Europe. I have decided to run back to Rio as soon as a +breeze springs up." + +When the mate left him, Baptiste went in search of Carew, and found him +in the captain's cabin, watching the sick man, who was now lying +insensible in the last stage of the fever. + +Baptiste looked into the pain-distorted face. "He will go soon," he +whispered to Carew. + +Carew nodded. + +"That was a clever idea of yours, sir," said the Frenchman. + +"What idea?" + +"To constitute yourself ship's doctor." + +Carew made no reply, but he understood what the remark signified. +Baptiste, however, had misjudged him. With his usual inconsistency in +crime, far from availing himself of his opportunities to poison the men, +he had, on the contrary, risked his life and done his utmost to save the +captain and the others under his charge. He was happier and was pleased +with himself while acting thus, though he was also glad to find that his +patients died despite his efforts. He seemed to imagine that he was +driving a bargain with avenging Heaven--that he could set off his +present righteous conduct against his other crimes. Men who reason with +the greatest clearness on all other matters, often become insanely +illogical when a guilty conscience asks for soothing casuistry. + +"How are you treating him?" asked Baptiste. + +"Not in the way you are thinking of," Carew replied, looking into the +other's eyes. + +Baptiste saw that he had been mistaken in his surmise, but said no more +on the subject. + +Carew's box of medicines was by his side. Baptiste looked into it, and +drew out a bottle. "This is not poison, is it?" he asked. + +"No; but if you took a good dose of it it would make you feel very ill." + +"What is a good dose of it?" + +"About ten drops; it is in a concentrated form." + +"That will answer my purpose, then," and Baptiste put the bottle in his +pocket. "And now, sir, I want some stuff that will prevent insomnia." + +The eyes of the two men met. Carew asked no questions, but merely said, +"Take this bottle, then. Half a teaspoonful is a large dose." + +"Let us go into your cabin for a few minutes," said Baptiste, glancing +at Mourez. "This man seems quite unconscious; but a man may hear as long +as he has breath in him. I will not trust him." + +They crossed the saloon to Carew's cabin. + +"Well, what is it?" + +"The fever and the hot calm have done our work well while we have been +standing by idle," said the Frenchman; "but now the time has come for +us to act. We must seize this vessel to-night. There is a look of wind +in the sky now, and Duval will set sail and make for Rio as soon as a +breeze springs up. We must wait no longer." + +"Let it be to-night, then." + +"Come on deck at ten o'clock this evening. Bring the revolvers with you. +Leave all the rest to me. You dislike details, so I will arrange +everything." + +Carew bowed his head in assent, but said nothing. + +"You have two sick men in the forecastle, I think," said Baptiste; "are +they strong enough to make any resistance?" + +Carew shook his head. + +"That is well. The captain will certainly not have much fight in him. So +that leaves us only six healthy men to deal with; one on my watch, five +on the other watch." + +The mate now went on deck, and Carew returned to the captain's cabin. He +found that brave sailor lying on his bed dead. + +"I am glad--for his sake and for mine," muttered the Englishman to +himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +It is no pleasant task to describe the events that now took place on the +French barque. This is no tale of daring buccaneers, of exciting +hand-to-hand combats of desperate men; but a narrative of cold-blooded +and dastardly crime. + +Now that the time for carrying out his devilish scheme had come, +Baptiste had taken the lead of the conspirators. Being a pacific person +who hated fighting and feared danger, he determined to omit no possible +precaution to obviate the risk of failure. His brain, fertile of +ingenious villainy, was not long in devising how to do this. + +In the first place, he instructed Carew on no account to leave his cabin +between eight and ten that evening. Then he called aside the two +Spaniards and explained his plan to them. He gave El Chico the first +bottle which he had taken from Carew's medicine chest, and directed him +to mix a certain quantity of the contents with the soup he was about to +make for the men's dinner--a quantity which he calculated would be +insufficient to produce a pronounced taste in the soup, but sufficient +to cause unpleasant sensations in those who partook of it. + +At eight bells that evening the port watch relieved the starboard. There +was absolutely nothing for the men to do, as it was still a flat calm, +and all the sails had been furled. Duval had taken this precaution on +the previous day, fearing that the fever might spread still further, and +that he would not have enough hands left to shorten sail were a strong +breeze to spring up suddenly. + +Duval, however, insisted upon the watches being set and the discipline +of the vessel being carried on as usual, more with the object of +employing the men's time and distracting their attention from the +horrors of the situation than for any other reason. + +When Baptiste came aft to relieve Duval, as officer of the watch, the +latter said, "Do you know if Mr. Allen is in his cabin, Fortier? I wish +to see him." + +"I think it would be better not to disturb him. He is quite worn out +from want of sleep. He has sat up with poor Mourez two nights in +succession; and now that the captain is dead, and the other two sick men +are getting better, he is having a long sleep." + +"Are the other men getting better?" + +"So Mr. Allen thinks," replied Baptiste. "With our brave captain's death +the fever seems to have expended itself. We have no fresh cases +to-day." + +"I am not sure of that," said Duval gloomily. "I wished to see Mr. Allen +in order to tell him that I, and no less than three of the other men, +have been feeling very unwell for the last half-hour." + +The drugged soup had done its work. + +"Indeed!" said Baptiste. "And, now that I look at you, your cheeks are +somewhat pale, sir. But we will not wake Mr. Allen; it is unnecessary. +He left a bottle of medicine with me this afternoon. It is a powerful +febrifuge, and he instructed me to give a dose to the sick men below, +and to any others who should feel in any way indisposed. I think it +would be a prudent course to serve some round to all hands. It can do no +harm." + +Duval approving of this measure, Baptiste went into his cabin and +brought out the bottle of opiate which Carew had given him, and served +out a very strong dose to Duval, and to each of the four men on his +watch. Duval then retired to his cabin, and the men lay under the awning +forward, all to sink, under the influence of the drug, into a heavy +slumber, from which it would not be easy to wake them; while Baptiste +was left in charge of the deck, with the two Spaniards and the remaining +Frenchman. + +"You feel all right, Léon, I hope?" said Baptiste to this man, a sturdy +Breton, who had not been affected by the drugged soup. + +"Yes, thank you, sir," he replied; "there's nothing the matter with me." + +"Won't you take a dose of the medicine as a precaution? Prevention is +better than cure." + +"Not for me the filth. Time enough for medicine when one is ill, and not +much good it does then if we may judge from the results on this unhappy +vessel." + +It was necessary for Baptiste's purpose to get this man out of the way +before anything could be done. First he thought of asking the Spaniards +to despatch him with their knives; but this might create a disturbance +and awake the sleepers; so the cautious Provençal waited until a safer +plan should suggest itself. + +An hour of the watch had passed, and it was now nine o'clock. The sky +became overcast, and a drizzling rain began to fall. + +"We shall have wind soon," said Léon. "Would it not be well to wake Mr. +Duval?" + +"Not for a few minutes," replied Baptiste. "Come, now; this damp is the +very thing to bring on fever. We ought to take something to keep the +enemy out. If you don't like medicine, what say you to a drop of genuine +old cognac? I have some in my cabin." + +"That is more in my line," said the Breton, smacking his lips; "a fig +for your doctor's stuff, I say." + +"Then follow me, but step quietly. Mr. Duval's cabin is next to mine. +If he finds you drinking brandy aft, though it is only for medicinal +purposes, you can guess what a row there will be." + +Baptiste led the way to his cabin, and produced a bottle of brandy. He +helped the man freely, but he did not attempt to drug the drink with the +opiate, for its taste was too unmistakable. + +The brandy was strong, and even the Breton's hard head soon succumbed to +it. He began to exhibit signs of intoxication, and was chattering in a +disconnected fashion, when Baptiste suddenly rose from his seat and +placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "Hush!" he whispered; "hush, you +idiot! I hear Mr. Duval moving in his cabin; your noise has roused him. +He will catch you if you don't hold your tongue. Remain here while I get +him out of the way, under some pretext or other. Then I will return for +you." + +Baptiste darted through the cabin door, and locked it on the man within, +who, after awaiting him for some time, helped himself to some more +brandy, and at last fell into a drunken sleep on the bed. + +Baptiste then entered Carew's cabin, and found him sitting up, reading +the French novel which Captain Mourez had lent him. + +"Come along, sir; the time has arrived," said the Provençal. "Bring the +revolvers with you, and first see that they are loaded. I don't suppose +we shall have to use them, but _Quien sabe?_ as the Spaniards say." + +Carew made no reply, but taking the pistols from the locker in which he +kept them, he followed his accomplice on to the deck. As they walked +towards the fore part of the vessel Baptiste described his preparations +for the _coup_. "The crew are at our mercy," he said; "Duval in his +cabin, and the four men of his watch under the awning forward, are +sleeping the heavy sleep of opium. Léon is a prisoner in my cabin, drunk +or nearly so, in the company of an open bottle of brandy, and you say +that the two sick men in the forecastle are too weak to move. Now, first +of all, we must deal with the four men under the awning, for they are +the most dangerous." + +Still Carew said not a word. + +The two Spaniards now joined them. Baptiste looked round the horizon. +"We shall have the wind down on us soon," he said; "we must do our work +quickly." + +The rain was falling more heavily than before. The night was very dark, +and there was not a star visible in the heavens. Though as yet there was +not a breath of wind, the ocean, as if in anticipation of its coming, +was heaving in a long, high swell, and the vessel rolled uneasily, her +spars groaning dismally aloft. + +Baptiste took two of the revolvers from Carew's hands and handed one to +each of the Spaniards. + +"Don't use them, lads, unless it is absolutely necessary; we don't want +noise. You have your knives," he whispered. + +"I have brought the bits of line you asked for," said El Chico, +producing several lengths of small-sized but very strong rope. + +"What do you intend to do, Baptiste?" inquired Carew, in a hoarse voice, +speaking for the first time. + +"Pinion those sleepers securely with these cords, fasten a weight to +each man's leg, and heave them overboard," replied Baptiste. + +"It would be easier to knife them as they lie there," muttered El Toro, +whose bloodthirsty instinct was up. + +"Yes," sneered Baptiste; "you love the sight of blood, you mad bull. You +would like to have a brutal fight now. But that plan will not suit me. I +am a man of peace; I hate unnecessary disturbance. Now to work." + +Then Carew spoke firmly, once more asserting his right to command. +"Secure those men with the cords, but do not kill them. Let them live +till to-morrow. Then I will decide what shall be done with them." + +"What absurd folly is this?" hissed the Provençal savagely. "Do you wish +to endanger all our lives? They may free themselves in the night and +retake the ship. No, they must die." + +"Silence! You shall know that I am still your master. These men shall +not die to-night," said Carew resolutely. + +"This is too much," cried Baptiste, with impatient fury. "I have +arranged everything so well, and now you interfere to spoil all. Curse +that intermittent conscience of yours. It is like a geyser spouting out +tepid water at intervals, and always at the most inopportune moment." + +"I will not discuss this with you," replied Carew doggedly; "but you +know me, you coward. If you kill one of these men without my orders, +except in self-defence, you will have to deal with me--you understand?" + +The Provençal did understand. He swore some horrible oaths to himself, +and said-- + +"There is no time to argue now. We will humour your fancy. Come on, El +Toro and El Chico. Let us tie those fellows up as quickly and as quietly +as we can." + +The three men crept noiselessly to the awning beneath which the French +sailors lay breathing stertorously under the stupefying influence of the +strong narcotic. + +Carew, meanwhile, stood outside under the rainy sky, motionless, taking +no part in the proceedings, and at that moment wishing that the fever +had seized him also and that he were dead and quit of it all. + +Baptiste and the Spaniards stooped over the sleeping men, and with the +skill of sailors bound their limbs in such a manner that it was +impossible for them to stir, far less to free themselves. In so complete +a state of coma were they that the tension of the tightly drawn cords +did not rouse them, though they murmured in their sleep. Carew almost +hoped that they would awake. If they defended themselves and were killed +in the heat of a mortal struggle, it would not have seemed so horrible +to him as this silent, passionless piece of villainy. + +When the men were all secured, Baptiste said, "If you will stand by here +and guard the prisoners, captain, we will go aft and see to the others." + +So leaving Carew behind, Baptiste and the two Spaniards went to the +other end of the vessel and entered the saloon. First they softly opened +the door of Baptiste's cabin, and there they found the Breton sailor +sleeping soundly, the half-empty brandy bottle by his side. + +The two Spaniards held him while Baptiste bound him firmly. It was not +till the operation was concluded that he awoke. He opened his eyes and +looked about him in a bewildered way for a few moments; then he tried to +raise himself and could not; and, perceiving the cords that restrained +him, he suddenly realised the situation, and called out at the top of +his voice, "To the rescue! A mutiny! A mutiny!" + +"Quick! away! leave him!" cried Baptiste rapidly. "To Duval's cabin, and +secure him before this fellow's row wakes him. Quick! Quick!" + +They ran across the saloon and burst into the mate's cabin, the two +Spaniards leading the way; for Baptiste, like a prudent general, gave +his orders from the rear. + +There was a lamp burning in the cabin. Duval, roused by the din, was +sitting up in his bed, half awake, still confused by the heavy dose of +opium that had been administered to him. Just as the men violently swung +the door open, Léon again raised the shout of "A mutiny! A mutiny! Mr. +Duval, defend yourself!" + +The Norman heard that terrible cry, and all his senses returned to him +in a moment. + +"Grapple with him at once," cried Baptiste. + +The two Spaniards precipitated themselves upon him; but though not a big +man, he was a strong and wiry one. Leaping from his bunk he thrust the +men aside, and seizing the only weapon within his reach, an iron +water-can, he swung it round and brought it down on Baptiste's skull. + +"Oh, you treacherous wretch, take that!" he cried. + +The Provençal's evil career would have been terminated there and then +had it not been for El Toro, who seized Duval's arm and broke the force +of the blow. As it was, the sharp edge of the can inflicted an ugly +wound, and Baptiste staggered back, the blood pouring all over his face. + +"Kill him!" he hissed, sick and faint with pain and fear, but mad with +rage. + +El Toro needed no second bidding. He thrust his long knife quickly +between the unfortunate man's ribs. Duval uttered one groan, and fell to +the ground dead. + +"That was deftly done," said the Basque, wiping the blade. "Ho! my +little Baptiste. How dost thou feel with that cracked pate of thine?" + +The Provençal was sitting on a chest, his head in his hands, trembling +with fear. "Look at my head, good El Toro, I beseech you," he cried. +"See if it is a dangerous wound." + +"A mere scratch," replied the Basque, after a cursory examination. "What +a timorous woman thou art!" + +His comrades washed the wound and bandaged his head; then Baptiste +recovered his presence of mind, and gave his orders. "Put the body over +the side at once, but first fasten a weight on to it. It must not float +about to tell tales to some passing vessel." + +When this had been done, he said, "Now carry that noisy Léon out of my +cabin. Take him forward to where the other prisoners are." + +The Spaniards raised the helpless Breton, who, understanding that there +was no one to whom he could give the alarm by crying out, now resigned +himself to his fate, and uttered not a word as they laid him by the side +of his four comrades. + +"The vessel is ours!" Baptiste called out in a loud voice when he +approached Carew. There was no further reason for the avoidance of +noise. "I salute you, captain of _La Bonne Esperance_!" + +"But where is Duval?" asked Carew. + +"Killed, captain; but in self-defence. Look at my unfortunate head: that +was his doing. Had it not been for our brave El Toro you would have lost +your trusty mate." + +Carew looked down at the five men lying on the deck. They were all awake +now, the pain caused by the tightness of their ligatures having at last +dispelled the lethargy of the drug. They realised all that had happened; +they knew that they were doomed to die at the hands of this treacherous +band. A lantern swung from the awning-pole above them, and by its dim +light Carew saw that their faces wore an expression of dogged +resolution, which changed suddenly to one of loathing and contempt when +their eyes met his. Thus they stared at him in silence. He hastily +turned his face away. + +"What next, captain? It must be done sooner or later. Why not at once?" +said Baptiste. + +"Take them into the forecastle for to-night. Secure the two sick men as +well," was the reply. + +"Just Heaven, what a cruel thing a British conscience is!" exclaimed +Baptiste, with a loud, scornful laugh. He was intoxicated with the +successful issue of his scheme. "I, the man without scruples, would have +mercifully killed these men outright. You, the man of conscience, shrink +from doing so, but are willing to shut them up in the pestilential hole +yonder, so that an agonising fever may kill them for you. Do you really +flatter yourself, oh, self-deceiver, that you in this way absolve your +soul from the guilt?" + +"Silence!" cried Carew angrily. The man's words had hit the mark. Some +such vain idea had indeed crossed the warped mind. Arguments of a like +sophistical nature were always now vaguely occurring to him, and he took +care not to reason them out, being conscious of the fallacy of them, yet +cherishing them. A form of moral insanity this, and not an uncommon one. + +El Chico, who was standing by, heard Carew's last words. "Do you want +us to die of the fever too, captain?" he grumbled. "Who's going to stand +sentry over the prisoners in that poisonous forecastle?" + +Carew saw the force of this objection. + +"Then put them in a row along the bulwark and lash each one to a +ring-bolt," he said. + +"That is a better plan," remarked Baptiste; "we can thus keep our eyes +on them without leaving the deck. El Chico, you keep watch for two +hours, while the rest of us sleep. We require rest after our exciting +day's work; and as for me, that cut over the head makes me feel rather +queer." + +"See, here comes the wind," cried Carew. + +The clouds towards the east had opened out, revealing a patch of starry +sky, and a light breeze had sprung up. + +"There won't be much of it," said Baptiste, after he had scanned the +heavens. "Let us shake out the spanker and lie-to under that for the +night. And to-morrow morning, captain, you must decide how you are going +to rid us of these men. We are too few to work the vessel, and cannot be +bothered with guarding prisoners to please you." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Her capture having been effected, the barque lay hove-to under her +spanker for the night. + +The south-east wind died away about midnight, and a light south-westerly +breeze sprang up. A strong ocean current must have been setting from the +same direction; for, though the islet of Trinidad had been so far +distant at sunset as to be barely visible, the sound of breakers roaring +on a beach could be plainly distinguished towards the end of the middle +watch. + +At daybreak Carew was left alone in charge of the vessel, his three men +being asleep under the awning. He paced the deck restlessly, his heart +aching with despairing misery. + +The five prisoners, who were lashed along the foot of the port bulwarks, +as if by one consent, observed a complete silence. They were too far +apart to hold any communication with each other, and they knew how +useless it would be to appeal to the mercy of the villains who had +surprised them; but they all remained awake, watching intently for what +they felt was not at all likely to occur--an opportunity to regain +their freedom and fight for their lives. + +The rain had ceased, the clouds had cleared away, and out of the calm +night gleamed the brilliant constellations of the southern hemisphere. +There was a transparency, a depth in the heavens, such as is not +apparent in northern latitudes. Through the nearer archipelagos of stars +one could perceive others farther back, and beyond these others; stars +behind stars up inconceivable distances into the depths of space; so +that they were so crowded together as to almost unite in forming one +continuous sheet of silver light, save in one spot, where, amid that +most luminous portion of the firmament known as Magellan's Cloud, there +opened out, like to a black pit, a starless void, an infinite abyss of +nothingness. + +There came a faint emerald light in the east, which quickly changed to +the pale blue of the turquoise, and the stars faded away before the +rapid dawn of the tropics. + +Then Carew saw, about ten miles off, standing out darkly between him and +the sunrise, in sharp outline against the clear sky, the desert island +of Trinidad. + +It seemed to consist of a confused mass of barren mountains, most +fantastic in their shape, falling everywhere precipitously into the +ocean, and terminating in huge pinnacles of rock, the loftiest of which +were crowned with wreaths of vapour. Elsewhere there were no clouds +visible in the heavens. As the sun rose higher, its rays illumined these +rugged summits, and they glowed as with the dull red of molten iron; for +this island is a burnt-out volcano, and a considerable portion of it has +been calcined into brittle cinders of a ruddy colour. + +It being now broad daylight, Baptiste woke up, and coming from under the +awning gave himself a shake by way of making his toilet, glanced down +the row of prisoners to satisfy himself that they were still safely +secured, and then turned his face towards the dreary coast. + +"Hallo!" he cried, "we have drifted a long way in the night. That is an +ugly-looking place yonder, captain. We must not get too near those black +rocks; so we had better wake up those sleepers, and get some canvas on +the barque at once. I suppose the next thing to be done is to make sail +for the nearest Brazilian port." + +"No, Baptiste, not yet," said Carew; "I shall come to an anchor under +that island, and wait there for a few days." + +"Indeed! What for?" + +"I have various reasons. To begin with, look at the sky. There is every +appearance of another long calm setting in. Remember that we have yellow +fever on board. If we land our prisoners to-day, we shall lessen our own +risks of catching it." + +Baptiste whistled softly to himself. + +Carew stood before him, and looking steadily into his face, said, +"Baptiste, I have determined that no more blood shall be shed on this +vessel. I intend to put these Frenchmen ashore; then we will sail for +Brazil." + +"Captain, we do not mind humouring your whims to a certain extent, but +we are not going to put our necks in the noose to please you." + +"It is quite useless for you to attempt to dissuade me from my purpose. +I have made up my mind," said Carew doggedly. + +Baptiste at once abandoned his threatening tone, and spoke in a +respectful manner. "You have been very lucky so far; but don't be rash. +Remember that luck assists him who assists himself. Consider how +recklessly imprudent it would be to leave these men on the island. They +would soon signal to a passing vessel, and be taken off; and pray, what +then would our poor heads be worth?" + +"Vessels constantly sight Trinidad," replied Carew, "but they never pass +very near it. For the other side of the island is fringed with dangerous +rocks far out to sea, as the chart will show you; and, since the +prevailing wind hereabouts is south-east, a ship would give this side +also a wide berth, for fear of being becalmed under the lee of the +mountains. How could the men signal to a vessel miles out at sea?" + +"Necessity finds a How. What is to prevent them from lighting a large +fire?" + +"We will not leave them the means of lighting a fire." + +"They would soon discover the means. Suppose, for instance, they picked +up some empty bottle that had been washed on shore, they could use the +bottom of it as a burning-glass. I have heard of such a thing being +done." + +"I will not argue the question with you. Those men shall be landed on +that island; they shall not die on board this vessel." + +"Even if I agreed to run so great a risk, I know that the other two +would not. You do not want a civil war on board, do you, captain?" + +"I do not fear one. You cannot do without me, and you all know it. If +you murdered me and took this vessel into port, do you imagine that the +salvage would be handed over to you without demur, as it would be to me +if I applied for it? Grave suspicions would be raised, and there would +be a minute investigation. Those two idiots would contradict each other +in their evidence. It would all end in one of you turning Queen's +evidence and the other two being hanged. Is not that right?" + +"I cannot deny that there is reason in your remarks," said Baptiste +coolly. "Now am I to understand that you wish these men to live?" + +"I repeat that they shall not die on board this vessel!" + +Baptiste's keen eyes scanned Carew's careworn face; then the Provençal +smiled, for he fancied that he now understood the working of the +Englishman's mind. "This clever idiot must be humoured," he said to +himself. "This is a new 'fixed idea' of his. He shrinks from bloodshed; +he will not sanction it. But if we take these men on shore for him, +knock them on the head there without consulting him, and then return to +him with some fine excuse about their having resisted us and so +compelled us to kill them in self-defence--why, he will pretend to +believe us; he will ask no questions, and be glad that the danger has +been removed. I understand this strange man now." + +Not exactly these ideas, but others somewhat similar to them, had indeed +crossed Carew's mind. He was quite aware that it would be the height of +folly to leave the prisoners alive on the island, but he wished to +postpone as long as possible the murder which he felt was inevitable, +hoping that yellow fever or some other interposition of Providence would +solve the difficulty for him in the meanwhile. + +Baptiste now roused the two Spaniards, and sail was made as quickly as +possible, so that an anchorage might be reached before the wind dropped, +for there were sure signs of calm in the sky. + +Being so few in number, they dared not put much sail on the vessel. As +Carew was unacquainted with the management of square-rigged craft, +Baptiste gave the orders. First the foretopmast staysail was set and the +sheets hauled aft so as to pay off before the wind. Then the two +Spaniards were sent aloft to loose the fore upper and lower topsails, +while Carew and Baptiste squared the yards. After this the maintopsail +was also set. + +"That will be enough canvas for her," said Baptiste. "Now, sir, if +you'll take the wheel, we will get her all ready for coming to an +anchor." + +So going forward the mate saw that an anchor was got over the bows and +that a sufficient length of cable was ranged in front of the windlass. + +The vessel sailed slowly towards the island until midday, when the +expected calm fell upon the sea. However, as the current was setting +straight on shore, the barque drifted on till four o'clock in the +afternoon, when she was about half a mile from the breakers, and the +anchor was let go in twenty fathoms of water. + +The scene that lay before them as they approached was appalling in its +grandeur. They could perceive no vegetation of any description on the +lofty mountains, which rose almost perpendicularly from the sea-foam +into a bank of dark clouds that had now gathered on the summit of the +island. The fire-consumed crags were often of strange metallic +colours,--red and green and coppery yellow,--which gave the scenery an +unearthly appearance, but most of the island was of a dismal coal-black. + +Some of the mountains seemed to have been shaken to pieces by the fires +and earthquakes of volcanic action; for they sloped to the sea in huge +landslips of black stones. Gigantic basaltic columns many hundreds of +feet in height descended into the waves along a considerable portion of +this savage coast, a formidable wall that defied the mariner to land. In +a few places only a narrow margin of shore divided the sea from the +inaccessible cliffs, and this was encumbered with sharp coral and great +boulders that had fallen from above. + +The barque was anchored off the entrance of a profound and most gloomy +ravine, from which a stream of water fell as a cascade into the sea. The +head of this ravine, high above, was lost in dense clouds. It looked +like the road to some mysterious and unknown world. + +Not only were the sights of this coast such as to terrify the +imagination, but so likewise were the sounds. Though this was the lee +side of the island, and was protected from the high swell which, raised +by the south-east trade wind, breaks so furiously on the back of +Trinidad, yet the sea rolled in very heavily with a stupendous roar +that was echoed with dismal, hollow reverberations among the rocky +ravines. After the breaking of a higher wave than usual, great masses of +water would be dashed up the sides of a cliff to a great height. Deep +fiords opened out in places; but even these afforded no shelter. Within +them the sea raged as furiously as it did outside. + +This remote and rarely visited island was evidently a favourite +breeding-place for several varieties of sea-birds. Vast numbers flew +through the rigging of the vessel, uttering savage cries. So +unaccustomed were they to the sight of man that they showed no timidity, +but rather indignation, at his invasion, and a disposition to drive him +off again. Many of them wheeled round the heads of the sailors with +angry shrieks, approaching so near that they could easily have been +caught with the hand. + +"I don't at all like the look of the island of Trinidad," said Baptiste. +"It is the most inhospitable place I have ever seen. I am not surprised +that no one cares to live here. How large is it?" + +"It is about fifteen miles round," Carew replied. "The Portuguese tried +centuries ago to establish a settlement here, but they soon abandoned +it. It is very barren, and so dangerous a surge breaks continually round +every part of it that it is often impossible to effect a landing for +weeks at a time." + +"It seems to me that it will be impossible to land to-day," said +Baptiste. + +Carew went up into the maintop with a telescope, and after having +closely examined the features of the shore, descended on deck again. "I +thought I was right, Baptiste. We are anchored off what the pilot-book +calls The Cascade, and I can see the landing-place described by former +visitors to the island." + +"I can see nothing but a mass of foam. I can see nothing like a +landing-place." + +"It is not visible from the deck. To the left of the cascade over there +a long black rock stretches far out to sea beyond the breakers, forming +a sort of natural pier. That is the easiest landing-place in the whole +island. We will lower a boat at once, and put the prisoners on shore." + +Baptiste again looked keenly into Carew's face as he put the question. +"Do you wish us to release them when we have landed them, and allow them +to run wild over those picturesque crags like a lot of goats--or what do +you wish?" + +"Let them have food before you take them off; and leave them, bound as +they are now, on the beach for this night. To-morrow I will decide what +is to be done with them." + +"It is always to-morrow with you, captain; but it matters not. We are +becalmed, and are, therefore, not wasting time by this ridiculous +trifling. It is a pity that there are no wild beasts on these desert +islands who would kindly eat up these men for us in the night. They are +becoming a nuisance." + +The Spaniards grumbled a good deal when they heard that they were to +take the prisoners alive on shore; but they did not dare to disobey +Carew. + +The two sick men, who were now recovering from the fever, were brought +on deck, and they, together with the other prisoners, were lowered into +one of the boats. All were still so securely bound that they could not +move a limb. + +Carew stayed on board the barque while his three men pulled off to the +island. + +They reached the projecting rock, and found that its sides were +perpendicular, so that the boat could be brought alongside. The +prisoners were not landed without considerable difficulty, and even +danger, for they had to be dragged quickly on shore at the moment when +the boat rising to a wave had her gunwale on a level with the summit of +this natural jetty, before she dropped down again into the trough +between the seas. + +At last the disembarkation was safely effected, and the painter having +been made fast to a large stone, the boat was left to tumble about +against the rough side of the jetty, in imminent danger of staving +herself in, while the prisoners were carried one by one up the rugged +shore. + +Then they laid the helpless men down. Even the brutal Spaniards, when +they looked around them, were impressed by the weirdness of the scene. +Whenever the sides of the ravine or of the mountains were not too steep +they were densely covered with trees, which had not been visible from +the vessel's deck. Now every one of these trees was dead; there was not +a live one among them. They were of all sizes. Some stood erect as they +had grown, some lay prone on the rocks; but all had been dead for long +ages. On all the skeleton branches of this forest of desolation were +sitting large sea-birds of foul appearance, who raised discordant cries, +as if to repel the intruders, and did not take to flight, but fought +savagely with any of the men who came near to them. There was no live +vegetation to be seen, with the exception of certain snake-like +creepers, which clung to the surface of the ground, and which bore large +seed-pods of vivid green--sinister and poisonous-looking plants, that +seemed well suited to this forlorn region. It was a scene appalling to +the imagination, and the whole of Trinidad is of a like gloomy +character. The same dead trees cover it throughout. It seems probable +that at some remote period a terrific volcanic eruption destroyed every +living thing on the island with its showers of poisonous ash; and where +once rose from the tropical ocean a fair land, green with pleasant +woods, is now a hideous wreck, more sterile than the desert itself. + +"It might be the gate of hell," said El Toro in an awed voice, looking +up the ravine. + +"Now, comrades," cried Baptiste, "there is no time to lose. I don't like +to leave the boat long where she is. As our merciful skipper objects to +bloodshed, we must lash our prisoners to these trees." + +"What are you going to do with us--kill us?" asked one of the captives +gruffly. + +"No; we are going to leave you here, tied up," replied Baptiste. + +"What! to starve to death?" + +"Indeed I don't know," said Baptiste, with a shrug of his shoulders. +"This is not my doing. Our captain is a cruel man. It seems that it +amuses him to play with you poor fellows as a cat does with a mouse. +This is his scheme, my children, not mine. I am merciful." + +The men were now secured to the dead trees, and the three villains were +moving off to their boat when one of the Frenchmen--the only one who did +not meet his fate with fortitude, and who showed signs of the most +abject terror--screamed out-- + +"Oh, Monsieur Baptiste, let me go--let me go! I will join you. I will +not betray you. I will help you work the ship. I will be your slave if +you spare me!" + +His comrades reviled him for his cowardice, but he still continued his +piteous entreaties. + +Baptiste turned round and gazed with a sardonic smile into the man's +white, fear-distorted face. He felt that this was very much the way he +would behave himself in similar circumstances, but he did not spare his +own faults in others; few men do. + +"So you would join us, would you? But how do I know if I can trust you, +my friend? You may betray us when we get into port. Will you give me a +proof of your fidelity?" + +"I will give you any proof you wish," cried the wretched man, writhing +in his bonds, but quite unable to move. + +"Now, if I see you commit a far greater crime than any that I and my +crew have committed, I shall know that you dare not tell tales. If I +release you and give you a knife, will you kill all your comrades for +me?" + +The man burst into hysterical tears. "Yes!" he shrieked--"yes! Anything +for my life." + +Baptiste laughed contemptuously. + +"Miserable man! Your answer is sufficient for me. We do not want such +cowardly traitors among our crew. You shall stay here and die by the +side of your braver comrades." + +Baptiste and the two Spaniards then hurried off to the boat, for the sun +was just setting. They pulled off to the barque, and the mate reported +to the captain what he had done. + +About an hour after their return--the night having settled down upon +the ocean--Carew was sitting by himself on the quarter-deck. The hollow +roar of the waves upon the beach sounded louder than in the daytime, and +the vessel rolled in the swell caused by the recoil of the distant +rollers. + +All manner of strange and frightful noises came from the direction of +the mysterious island. It seemed to Carew that he heard groans and wails +echoing among the ravines, but he put this down to his imagination--to +the now greatly unstrung condition of his nerves. + +Suddenly he started to his feet, his heart beating violently. What was +that he heard? Surely that last dreadful cry did not exist only in his +fancy. + +"Baptiste, come here!" he called out. + +The mate sauntered up. + +"Listen!" whispered Carew; "do you hear nothing?" + +"Nothing but the noise of the breakers." + +Once more arose that awful cry. It was as a shriek of unutterable +despair and agony; faint, but easily to be distinguished when the lull +came between one roller and another. + +"What is it?" + +Baptiste himself turned white at the sound. "I know not; it makes one's +blood run cold. See, they too have heard it." + +The Spaniards came up. + +"Oh, sir!" cried El Toro, his voice indistinct with terror, "let us make +sail at once and leave behind us this horrible place. Hark! that cry +again! It is as the shrieks of the doomed in hell. That island is the +abode of evil spirits who are mocking us." + +"We cannot set sail in a flat calm. We must wait," said Carew, in a low +voice. + +They stood on the deck and listened in silence. For half an hour or more +those appalling cries continued; then they died away, and nothing was +heard but the roaring of the ocean upon an iron-bound coast. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +On the following day the fiery sun again blazed down upon the guilty +ship out of a cloudless and windless sky. It seemed probable that one of +those oppressive calms that are so frequent on this portion of the ocean +would detain the barque for some days longer at her present anchorage. + +In the early morning, when the west side of the island was still plunged +in shade, Carew approached the mate, who was enjoying his matutinal cup +of coffee and cigarette on the quarter-deck. + +"Baptiste," he said, "I want a boat lowered; I am going on shore." + +"Good, sir. How many of us do you wish to accompany you?" + +"Thank you; I want none of you. Put the yacht's dinghy over the side. +She is the handiest boat on board; and I will pull off by myself." + +"That will not be safe," objected Baptiste; "there is no place to beach +a boat yonder, and she would smash up if you left her banging about +alongside that rocky landing-place; we nearly lost the cutter in that +way last night. If you desire to take a solitary promenade on that +cheerful island, I will pull you off there myself in the dinghy, leave +you, and return for you at any hour you mention." + +Carew assented to this proposal, and prepared himself for the journey by +placing his sheath-knife and loaded revolver in his belt. Baptiste +watched him curiously, and wondered whether this eccentric Englishman +had at last summoned up resolution, and was about to despatch the +prisoners outright, as being a more merciful proceeding than allowing +them to starve to death. Baptiste ventured no remark on the subject, for +he observed that his captain was in a taciturn and absent-minded mood; +and there was a peculiar, far-off look in his eyes that the Frenchman +could not understand, not knowing that Carew had been dosing himself for +the last few days with laudanum from his medicine chest, in the vain +hope that the drug might numb the tortures of his conscience. + +The dinghy was got overboard, and while Carew sat in the sternsheets, +Baptiste took the oars and pulled leisurely across the smooth ocean +swell. + +While they were yet half-way to the shore, the boat shot suddenly out of +the fervent sunshine into the cool dark shadow cast by the lofty +mountains. + +Baptiste, feeling the rapid change, rested on his oars, and looked +round towards the pile of barren hills. "Ugh, what a horrid place!" he +cried. "I have a sensation as if I were passing into the mouth of a +tomb. I should not like to explore that island alone." + +"Pull away!" said Carew impatiently. "Are you superstitious, like those +two Spanish brutes?" + +"Superstition is not one of my failings, captain," replied the +Provençal, as he rowed on again; "but those dreadful cries we heard last +night seem to be still ringing in my ears. I wonder what they could have +been?" + +"When you have put me on shore," said Carew, paying no heed to +Baptiste's words, "you can go back to the barque. I shall probably +remain on the island three or four hours. Then I will return to the +landing-place, and stand on the end of it till you come off for me. So +see that someone looks out for me with a telescope occasionally." + +"We won't keep you waiting, for I know that you will soon have had +enough of Trinidad. But perhaps monsieur has a scientific mind, and +desires to study the botany, zoology, geology, and so forth, of the +island?" + +Carew made no reply to this. They came alongside the promontory of black +coral, and found that the sea was not rolling in so heavily as on the +previous day. The Englishman landed without any difficulty. + +"Good-bye, sir," Baptiste called out. "You will find the prisoners +behind the first big boulder up the ravine." Then he pulled lazily back +to the vessel. + +Carew was now alone on the desert island with his captives. He looked to +his knife and pistol to see that they were ready to his hand, and +proceeded to clamber cautiously along the narrow, slippery ledge. + +At the farther end he found a loathsome monster standing in his way, +seemingly quite indifferent to his approach; for it did not budge, but +remained quite still, its ungainly form spread across the causeway, so +that he had to step over it to pass by. Carew had never before seen one +of the species; but he recognised this as a tropical land-crab--one of a +hideous race of crustacea that swarm on this island, sharing the +possession of Trinidad with the sea-birds and the snakes. In his present +nervous state, Carew was startled by the sight of this repulsive-looking +creature. It must have extended two feet across from claw to claw. Its +colour was a bright saffron, and its grotesque features, which were +turned towards the man, seemed to be fixed in a cynical grin. Its +cruel-looking yellow pincers, hard as steel, could have bitten through +an inch board, and between them was clutched--Carew sickened when he +saw it--a fragment of the flesh of some animal. + +Reaching the rugged shore, he found it covered with these land-crabs. +They crawled over the rocks and the dead trees, and the air was full of +a multitudinous crackling noise, produced by the small particles of +stone dislodged by their motion--a sound as of a distant bonfire, or as +of an army of locusts settling on a field of maize. + +On the evening before, when the men had landed, they had seen none of +these creatures; now there were thousands of them on the mountain-side. +But it is well known that land-crabs at certain periods of the year +migrate in immense hosts from one district to another. + +Even on the previous afternoon, when the coast was illumined by the full +glory of the setting sun, Baptiste and the two Spaniards had been +impressed by the desolate aspect before them. But now that a dark shadow +was thrown over the chaotic masses of volcanic rock, the scenery was +inexpressibly dreary and forbidding. Had there been no signs of life on +the land, it would have appeared less terrible than with that ghastly +vegetation of dead trees and snake-like creepers, and the teeming +generation of silent crabs and foul sea-birds perpetually raising their +hoarse cries. + +Carew looked round with the sense of vague terror that is experienced in +a nightmare. He felt all the influence of this stern nature so hostile +to the life of man. It seemed to him that at any moment some fearful +cataclysm of the earth, or some unexampled calamity of any sort, might +occur. It would not have appeared strange to him to behold a +fire-breathing dragon or gigantic snake--such as are supposed to live in +fable only--issue from that gloomy ravine. Nothing could have appeared +too strange to happen on this mysterious shore. + +The prisoners could not be seen from the landing-place, as the clump of +trees to which they had been lashed was some little way up the ravine, +and a huge boulder of black rock stood in front of it. Carew heard no +sound of voices as he approached. He considered it very unlikely that +the men had succeeded in freeing themselves from their bonds; but, +prepared for any emergency, he held his revolver in his hand and walked +round the corner of the rock. + +He looked towards the clump of dead brown trees. + +His hand relaxed its grasp, and the revolver fell with a ringing sound +on the rocks. He was struck motionless with a great horror. He stood +fascinated, staring before him with wide-open eyes, unwincing. He would +have given worlds to have closed his lids and shut out what he saw, but +he could not. It was as if some irresistible power was holding him +there, compelling him to look until every horrible detail of the scene +should be burnt into his brain for ever. + +It was only for a few seconds, and then the spell was broken. He covered +his face with his hands and staggered back. Then turning from the sight, +he rushed away, not caring whither, sobbing such sobs as the lost souls +in hell may sob in their despair--a dreadful sobbing, that told of a +hopeless agony too intense to be endured for long by weak human flesh. +Suddenly he stopped short, looked wildly round him, raised his hands +towards the skies, and, uttering shrill shriek upon shriek, threw +himself on the ground. He rolled down the steep incline for some way, +cutting his hands and face with the sharp rocks, and when at last a +projecting stone prevented his farther descent, he lay foaming at the +mouth and writhing convulsively in an epileptic fit. + + * * * * * + +The tragic spectacle the man had suddenly come upon might indeed well +have made him, the guilty cause of it, go mad with horror. The fearful +cries that had been heard from the vessel were now explained. The +voracious land-crabs had done his work. He had gazed upon his victims, +and he felt that his limbs were paralysed; but his brain was intensely, +unnaturally active. It seemed to him that a voice had said, "Look, and +grasp all that there is to see, and remember, before the relief of +madness is allowed to thee. Thou hast murdered sleep, and shalt never +know peace again. For ever, in the worlds to come, the picture of this +that thou hast done shall be branded on thy soul!" + +And he had been forced to look; not a detail of the horror was spared +him. The surroundings of the scene, the weird black rocks, the gaunt +dead trees, everything about the accursed spot entered into his brain. +He even noticed with what callous indifference Nature seemed to +contemplate the hideous evidences of the crime. Quite heedless, the huge +crabs dragged their clumsy bodies slowly over the stones. The sea-birds +fought noisily with each other for morsels of fish among the skeleton +branches of the trees, careless of those ghastly relics of poor humanity +beneath them. He felt how fitting a scene for such a tragedy was this +doleful corner of the earth, this island that a malevolent fiend might +have created, where Nature had no beauty, no love, no pity, and where, +like some foul witch, she could only conceive forms of life cruel and +repulsive, and become a mother of monsters. + + * * * * * + +The sun was low in the heaven, and Carew woke out of a profound slumber, +weak, parched with thirst, his mind dazed. He raised himself on his +elbow, and, looking round him, he found that he was lying on a beach of +beautiful golden sand that fringed an extensive bay. From the sands +there sloped up to a great height domes of loose stones of red volcanic +formation, of all shapes and sizes, the débris of shattered mountains, +and from the summits of these slopes there rose what the earthquakes had +still left of the solid hills--dark red pinnacles: some squared like +gigantic towers, others pointed like pyramids. The bay was enclosed by +two huge buttresses of rock that stretched as rugged promontories far +out into the ocean. There was no vegetation, not even a blade of grass, +visible anywhere on this savage coast. Looking seawards he saw that a +vast number of black rocks, among which raged a furious surf, bordered +the shore. Beyond these were the outer reefs on which the sea broke +heavily. And still farther out, on the horizon, rose three rocky islands +of considerable size, glowing red as the sun's rays fell full upon them. + +Carew could not imagine where he was and how he had reached this place. +He tried to think. By degrees he called to mind the dreadful sight he +had seen in the ravine; but he could remember nothing that had occurred +since then. As the sun was to the back of the hills, he fancied that it +was still early in the forenoon, and that he had wandered a short +distance only from South West Bay; though the presence of the distant +islands and the different character of the coast perplexed him. + +But he could think of nothing at that moment except the satisfaction of +the fearful thirst that was tormenting him. + +He rose to his feet, eager to reach the cascade as soon as possible. He +felt that he should die if he could not procure water soon. + +But in which direction had he to go--to the left or to the right? He +could not tell. + +Then he saw his footprints on the soft sand, showing the way that he had +come. He had but to follow them. + +Dizzy and faint, and often stumbling, he wearily retraced his steps. The +footprints led him along the shore to that extremity of the bay which +would have been on the left hand of one looking seaward. Reaching the +promontory of rock he clambered to the summit of it; and then, to his +dismay, he looked down upon another extensive bay, at the farther end of +which was a mountain of square shape falling perpendicularly into the +surf, and preventing all further progress in that direction. An ocean +current must be perpetually setting into this bay, for he perceived that +the shore was strewn with a prodigious quantity of wreckage. The spars +and barrels were heaped up together in places. There were vessels lying +crushed among the sharp rocks; others were sunk in the sand, their +skeleton ribs alone showing; there were vessels of all sizes, and some +of very antique construction--relics of disaster that had been +collecting gradually on this desert coast unvisited by man through all +the ages since European keels first clove the southern seas: a +melancholy record of much suffering and the loss of many gallant men. + +Then Carew began to suspect the truth, and a great dread fell on him. +Lying down he placed a small stone on the edge of a shadow cast by a +pointed rock, and watched it with a breathless suspense. + +Yes, it was as he had feared. _The shadow was slowly lengthening!_ He +laid his face on the ground and wept hysterically in his despair. + +The shadow was lengthening, therefore the sun was setting. It was +setting inland over the mountains, and thus the sea was to the east of +him. So--unconsciously, by what road he knew not--he must have traversed +the whole island, and he was now on the coast the most remote from South +West Bay. The cascade, the water he was dying for, was miles away, +beyond those great hills. He could never reach it in his present state. + +He was on the weather side of Trinidad. + +Those heavy breakers on the reefs were caused by the high swell of the +south-east trades, and there on the horizon were the three islands of +Martin Vas, twenty-five miles away. + +So he despaired and lay down on the rocks, and longed for the release of +death. Then he became delirious, and fancied that he was in Fleet +Street again, and was going into a tavern with some comrades to drink a +glass of wine. But once more the agony of thirst woke him to a +consciousness of his position. He staggered to his feet, and ran on +blindly a few yards; then he stumbled, and fell to his knees. + +Ah! what was that gleaming so temptingly before him?--an illusion only +to mock him into madness with its lying promise. He stretched his hand +to it--touched it. He plunged his face into it. + +It was water--fresh water; a small pool left in a hollow of a rock by +the last rains. It was nauseous to the taste, and heated by the tropical +sun; but it was water, and infinitely more precious to him at that +moment than all the gold quartz in his vessel's hold. He drank fiercely +and long, before his craving was assuaged; then his senses returned to +him, and, though still very weak, he felt capable of making an effort to +save his life. + +He descended the farther side of the buttress of rock that divides the +two bays, and again followed his footprints, which led him across the +wreck-strewn sands to the entrance of a ravine that clove the mountains, +and seemed to afford the only practicable pass across them. + +He looked upwards, and wondered how he could have possibly found his way +with safety down that perilous place; for he supposed that he must have +been in a trance-like condition when he made that journey, of which he +was now so entirely oblivious. + +With great pain and labour he accomplished the difficult ascent. This +ravine had the same character as most of those in Trinidad. The bottom +of it was encumbered with masses of fallen rock, among which stood the +mysterious dead trees. Here the foul sea-birds were very numerous. The +air stank with the fish on which they fed; and as it was now the +breeding season, the mothers were very fierce, and attacked Carew with +their wings and beaks as he advanced, so that he had to arm himself with +a piece of wood, and fight his way through them. + +After much weary climbing, often in places where a false step would have +meant death, he reached an elevated plateau covered with tree-ferns--the +only vegetation on the island which was fair to the eye. + +Crossing this plateau, he found himself on the summit of a precipitous +cliff, and he looked down upon the ocean into which the sun was just +setting. At his feet, far below, the barque lay at anchor. + +Proceeding along the edge of the precipice, he came to the head of a +ravine, which he knew must be the one from which the cascade falls into +the sea. After clambering down a little way, he reached the source of +the stream. The cool clear water rushed out with a pleasant sound from +a hole in the rocks. Here he lay down and drank greedily, for his throat +was again parched with fever. + +Feeling too exhausted to make any further exertion, and knowing that the +darkness would soon render it impossible to continue the descent down +those perilous slopes, he determined to pass the night where he was. + +Lying on a narrow ledge of rock he fell into a profound sleep. + +After a while he dreamt a frightful dream. He thought that his victims +had come to life again, and, having surprised him in his sleep, were +holding him by his arms with a grip of iron, and were about to put him +to the torture. + +He awoke with a start, and for a moment fancied that he saw their +skeleton forms leaning over him in the starlight. + +But was it all a dream? What was that sensation of pain in his right +arm, as if a vice were tightening upon it? + +He sprang to his feet, and with his arm dragged up a heavy weight that +was clinging to it. + +Shuddering with horror, he shook it violently from him, and a large +land-crab fell with a crash on the stones. + +The wretched man looked round, and could distinguish in the dim light +that the rocks were covered with the brutes. They had come out of their +holes at sunset, and were about to devour him alive. + +He seized a large stone, and hurled it at one of them. It broke through +the creature's armour and killed it. But the others paid no heed to the +death of their fellow, and crawled on with a deliberate slowness. He +pulled a branch off one of the dead trees, and with this he was able to +thrust them away as they approached. He was obliged to keep watch and +defend himself thus through all that long night. Once or twice he +dropped off asleep in sheer exhaustion, only to be awakened again a +moment afterwards by the closing of sharp pincers on some portion of his +body. It was a night the realities of which equalled in horror the worst +illusions of a nightmare. Several times he thought of throwing himself +off the cliffs and putting an end to his misery, but still he clung to +life, and fought for it, as men who value it the least always will when +in the presence of a merely physical danger. + +At daybreak Carew, his eyes bloodshot, his limbs shaking, having the +appearance of one who is recovering from an attack of delirium tremens, +descended the ravine as hastily as his weak condition permitted. He +turned his head aside as he passed the fatal clump of trees. He reached +the landing-place, and there found Baptiste and El Chico awaiting him +with the cutter. + +Carew stepped into the boat without saying a word. + +Baptiste glanced at the haggard face of the captain, but made no remark +on his altered appearance. He merely said, "We were anxious about you, +so have been off here since daybreak waiting for you." + +Carew looked inquiringly into the mate's face, but did not dare to utter +the question that was on his lips. + +Baptiste understood. "Yes, I have seen it," he said, in a low voice. +Even that callous villain had been awed by the sight at the foot of the +ravine. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +For two more days the barque lay becalmed off the desert island, but not +one of the crew ventured on land again. The two Spaniards shrunk with a +superstitious terror from further contact with that accursed shore--that +_costa maldita_, as they invariably spoke of it. + +Carew's experiences on Trinidad produced an ineffaceable impression on +his mind. His melancholy deepened into a dull despair. He passed most of +the day alone in his cabin, avoiding as much as possible even the sight +of his companions. By means of ever-increasing doses of laudanum, the +miserable man stupefied his brain into a lethargic condition, which was, +however, frequently broken by frightful dreams when he was asleep, and +by nervous seizures of acute and causeless terrors when he was awake. + +Baptiste, observing these symptoms, began to fear for Carew's reason, +and tried in various ways to rouse him, but in vain. + +At last one morning a fresh south-east wind sprang up. Carew did not +even seem to notice the change, and he gave no orders to get under way. +So Baptiste approached him-- + +"The sooner we have the anchor up and are off the better, captain." + +Carew assented in an apathetic way, and assisted the men in weighing the +anchor and setting the sails; but he worked with a sullen silence, +making no suggestions, leaving everything to Baptiste. + +After paying the vessel off before the wind with the foretopmast +staysail, they set the fore and main topsails, an amount of canvas which +the prudent mate considered sufficient for a barque so undermanned. + +As soon as the last yard had been squared, and there was no more for him +to do, Carew again went into his cabin. + +A few minutes later Baptiste followed him there. + +"Sorry to disturb you, captain," he said, seeing the expression of +annoyance on Carew's face, and also noticing the bottle of laudanum +standing on the table; "but now we are off, running merrily before the +wind, away from that accursed island. If you please, what is our +course--where are we bound for--and have you thought of a plausible +explanation of how we picked up this derelict? Rouse yourself, sir. +Think, act, and be a man again." + +Carew had drunk a quantity of laudanum that morning, and he replied in +a dreamy voice, as if he had lost all interest in life, and was heedless +of the future-- + +"Do what you like. I leave it all to you. I am unable to think." + +"Sir, this is cowardly of you!" cried Baptiste vehemently. "Everything +has gone so well with us thus far, and now you lose heart when an +immense fortune is almost in our hands. Remember what we have done for +you, and do not risk all our lives by neglecting your duties to us." + +"What do I care for your lives?" replied Carew with a bitter laugh, that +had an insane ring in it. "What is it to me where we go, even if it be +to the bottom? Leave me." + +"Good-bye, sir; I will take charge of the vessel until you come to your +senses." As he spoke, Baptiste contrived to slip the bottle of laudanum +into his pocket unperceived by Carew. + +The mate went on deck and threw the bottle into the sea. "That coward +will go mad if he drugs himself much longer," he said to himself. "When +he got on shore he would ruin us all in some silly fit of garrulous +remorse. He would disburden his conscience and hang us in his present +temper. He shall have no more laudanum. I must look after him and cure +him before we get into port. If I cannot do so, well, then, he must die. +A pity that; for he is useful, almost necessary, to us." + +Baptiste consulted the chart, and determined to run for the port of +Bahia, which is about seven hundred miles to the north-west of Trinidad. +Having quickly formed his plans, he carried them out with considerable +cleverness. + +He collected a quantity of combustible matter, and proceeded to set fire +to some of the storerooms and other portions of the vessel in such a way +that he could always keep the fires under control and extinguish them at +will. It was a hazardous undertaking, but he omitted no precaution; and +after the vessel had been three days at sea, and was still three hundred +miles from Bahia, the effect he desired was satisfactorily produced. She +appeared to have been ablaze almost from end to end, and so there was +manifest a sufficient reason for the desertion of the crew at sea. + +The last spark having been extinguished, Baptiste hove the vessel to +while he completed his preparations. He lowered two of the boats into +the sea and sank them. + +"And now," he asked himself, "what things are the crew likely to have +taken with them in the boats? For we must preserve the verisimilitude. +Our story must be above suspicion; every circumstance must corroborate +it." + +So he threw overboard a chronometer, a valuable sextant, a compass, and +other articles which a captain deserting his ship would most certainly +have carried away. The Spaniards ridiculed this excess of caution. +"Thoughtless children!" Baptiste explained; "it is most probable that +there are people on shore who know exactly how many chronometers, +compasses, and so on, were on board this vessel. These things will be +counted up, and if none are missing, the minds of men will be puzzled at +the strange conduct of the captain. Now I do not want to puzzle people; +very much otherwise, my imprudent children. For the same reason I am now +going to burn the ship's papers. No captain ever leaves those behind him +on a derelict." + +Carew had watched these preparations listlessly, assisting when asked to +do so, but still suggesting nothing. He never alluded to the loss of his +bottle of laudanum, and very probably he knew that Baptiste had taken it +away. + +Early on the sixth day of the voyage the Brazilian coast was sighted, +and the mate recognised the palm-clad hills that border the entrance to +the Reconcava of Bahia--a beautiful inland sea, as extensive as that of +Rio de Janeiro. + +And now Baptiste, feeling how great a risk would be incurred by entering +the port while the captain was in his present demented condition, dared +not sail into the bay; and, after a consultation with the men, braced up +the yards, and steered the vessel along the coast to the northward, with +the intention of making Pernambuco, which is nearly five hundred miles +distant from Bahia. By this a delay of about three days would be gained; +and should Carew not recover his senses in that time, he must be put out +of the way. There was no help for it. + +But Baptiste and the two Spaniards knew well that if they went into port +without the owner of the yacht, their tale would be received with +suspicion. It would be necessary to account for his absence. Their own +histories would be closely inquired into; the well-elaborated scheme +might end in failure after all. The gloom of the captain seemed to +communicate itself to the crew. The usual cheeriness of sailors was +altogether absent during the voyage. A vague foreboding of calamity +oppressed the men; and on board that guilty ship all went about their +work with dismal faces, never smiling, sullen and silent, suspicious of +each other. + +On the second day, the vessel was slowly sailing up the coast near +Alagoas Bay. Baptiste was sitting on deck, rolling up and smoking his +innumerable cigarettes as he contemplated the beautiful panorama that +opened out before him--a land of forest-clad mountains and fertile +valleys, down which broad rivers poured into the sea, while among the +cocoa-nut groves upon the sandy beaches were the numerous bamboo +villages of the negro fishermen. But Baptiste, though gazing at it, was +in no mood to admire beautiful scenery; he was looking forward with +alarm to the perils before him. + +At last, after pondering over it for some while, he determined on a +course of action. It was a desperate thing to do, but it would bring +matters to a crisis at once. + +He threw away his cigarette, loaded his revolver and placed it in his +breast, and then, with face pale with fear but determined in expression, +he entered Carew's cabin. + +The Englishman was reading a book, or pretending to do so. Baptiste took +a seat in front of him, and commenced abruptly-- + +"Do you wish to live, sir?" + +Carew looked up. "Why do you ask? If I wished to die, I could take away +my life at any moment." + +"You will probably be saved that trouble. I will be perfectly frank with +you, because I understand you. You see that we are afraid of going into +port in your company. We think you are losing your senses, and we cannot +allow a madman to rave our secrets in Pernambuco. We wish you to live, +because you might be very useful to us. But if, before we are in sight +of port, you don't satisfy us that you are sane, by ridding yourself of +your melancholia and taking an interest in this business, we shall be +under the painful necessity of despatching you for our own protection. +We will have to kill you, not in any ill-feeling, I assure you, but +with real regret." + +Baptiste had rightly imagined that this cool and almost ludicrously +matter-of-fact way of broaching the subject was the best in the +circumstances. + +Carew first appeared to be lost in astonishment; then he smiled sadly, +and said, "You are a strange man. You come here to tell me that I am +mad, and that I must become sane in two days or die--is that it?" + +"I don't think that you are exactly mad, but"-- + +"I know what you mean," interrupted Carew, "and you are right. I have +been ill for several days; but I am not mad, as you will soon discover. +I will allow that I might soon have become so had you not stolen my +laudanum." + +From that moment Carew changed his mode of life, and became much as he +had been before his visit to the desert island. Though melancholy in his +manner and miserable in his mind, he shook off his lethargy, bestirred +himself, took an interest once more in the working of the ship, and +exhibited all his old ingenuity in improving upon Baptiste's +preparations for deceiving the authorities as to the fate of the barque. + +"Talented and unfathomable being," exclaimed the Frenchman admiringly, +"what could we do without you?" + + * * * * * + +The voyage was over, and the _La Bonne Esperance_ was lying under the +Recife, that marvellous natural breakwater built by myriads of +diminutive coral insects, which, running in a parallel line to the +shore, forms the harbour of Pernambuco. In front of her stretched the +long and crowded quay, with its pleasant boulevard and lofty white +houses. + +The barque had been an object of great interest to the people of +Pernambuco ever since the tug had towed her in from outside. The +romantic story of the little English yacht that had foundered at sea, +and of her shipwrecked crew, who had been so fortunate as to come across +such a valuable prize, was on everybody's lips. The English residents +had been profuse in their offers of hospitality to Carew, but under the +pretext of ill-health he refused all these; and as soon as he had handed +over the barque to the proper authorities he hired a room in a French +hotel on the quay, and lived there as quietly as possible with Baptiste, +while the Spaniards were lodged in a neighbouring tavern. + +The torments of his accusing conscience having now subsided, life once +more appeared of value to this mutable-minded man, and his anxiety and +dread of discovery returned. It caused him great uneasiness to learn how +long a time must elapse before the settlement of the salvage would be +completed. He found that he might have to wait many months in +Pernambuco before receiving his share of the vessel's value. + +The barque had been in the Recife for about three weeks when one morning +a coasting steamer from Rio entered the harbour. Among her passengers +was an Englishman. When he stepped on shore he disregarded the +importunate crowd of hotel touts, and handing his portmanteau to a black +porter, said merely, "English Consulate!" The negro understood, and led +the way. + +The Englishman found the consul in his office, asked if he could speak +to him alone on urgent business, and was shown into a private room. + +He placed a letter in the consul's hands. "This," he said, "is from the +British Consul at Rio. It will serve to introduce me." + +It was a somewhat lengthy letter, and as he read it an expression of +extreme surprise came to the consul's face. "This is a most +extraordinary story!" he exclaimed. "Tell me what more you know of this +man." + +The interview was a long one. At its termination the consul said:--"Of +course I can do nothing until an extradition warrant arrives from +England. In the meanwhile, we must not rouse his suspicions. Let him +still consider himself safe. He applied to me for an advance of money +yesterday; I will let him have it if he does not ask for too much. But +he must not see you. I recommend you to go to Caxanga--a pretty +watering-place about half an hour from here by train. I will give you +the name of a good hotel there. Do not come into town unless I send for +you. Keep out of his way. I should like you to be here to-morrow morning +at ten; for, shortly after that hour, his crew are going to make some +depositions. I will conceal you in the next room in such a way that you +can see them; for it will be well for you to know these men by sight. Of +course you will pass under an assumed name while you are here." + +"I will call myself John Rudge," said the stranger. + +In spite of these precautions, the ever-watchful Baptiste soon came to +suspect that there was mischief brewing. One day that he accompanied +Carew to the Consulate he at once observed that the consul's manner had +undergone a change. There was a reserve and a lack of his usual +heartiness in his greeting of Carew. It was but a slight and involuntary +change, and it escaped Carew's notice. + +A few days after this, Baptiste was sent to the Consulate with a letter. +As he came to the door John Rudge was going out. The stranger seemed +startled at finding himself thus suddenly face to face with the +Frenchman, and walked hastily away. + +"A trifling circumstance," said Baptiste to himself; "but the lightest +trifles show best the direction of the wind. Why did that man start at +seeing me? Who is he?" + +A week passed, and Baptiste saw no more of the stranger; but at last he +came full upon him in front of the post-office. Again Rudge seemed as if +he wished to avoid being seen by the Frenchman, and turned his head +aside as he passed. + +But Baptiste was quick in resource. "Stay a moment, if you please, sir," +he called out in French; "I wish to speak to you." + +The Englishman stood still. + +"Pardon me for detaining you," continued Baptiste, "but you understand +French?" + +"I do." + +"Ah, sir, what chance! I know not a word of this horrid Portuguese +tongue, and I wish to inquire at the post-office if there is a letter +for me. Would you oblige me by interpreting for me?" + +"I don't know Portuguese myself; but the clerk in the post-office +understands French." + +"Thank you, sir. I am a stranger here, you see. I am one of the crew of +_La Bonne Esperance_, the derelict. No doubt you have heard our story?" + +"Oh yes, I know all about it. You were very fortunate. But excuse me, +my friend; I am in great haste," and he hurried off. + +Baptiste returned to the hotel and found Carew. "Captain," he asked, +"have you committed some peccadillo in England on account of which they +are likely to be hunting after you here?" + +"It is almost impossible that any enemies I may have can have traced me +here." + +"All dead, I suppose," remarked Baptiste coolly. Then he proceeded to +explain the reasons that had prompted his questions. + +"You are full of foolish fears, Baptiste. I see nothing in all this." + +"Ah, sir, I have lived for so many years in the midst of alarms that I +perceive the first indications of danger. When I told this Englishman +that I was one of your crew, he exhibited no interest. He did not +question me about our adventures, and make much of me, and take me into +a café to give me drinks, as all the other Englishmen in Pernambuco do +when they meet one of us heroes of the hour." + +"I do not see anything very alarming in his neglect to make a fuss over +you." + +"I do, because I understand human nature. I see dangers ahead, and I +intend to secure my retreat in case of disaster. I shall arrange how to +slip away if necessary. I advise you to do the same, captain." + +"I have done so, Baptiste." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +Carew had been nearly six weeks in Pernambuco, when a British mail +steamer happened to land an English passenger, who at once called on the +consul, and introduced himself to that functionary as Mr. Norton. He had +that to say which considerably astonished the consul, and the result was +that on the following morning a letter was brought to Carew as he was +sitting down to his breakfast at the hotel with Baptiste. It was from +the consul's clerk, and ran thus:--"_Sir, will you kindly call here +to-day? Your business is practically settled._" + +"Practically settled?" repeated Baptiste, when he heard the contents. +"Those words have an unpleasant ring somehow. I know not why, but I +cannot help fearing that something is wrong." + +"I too have my presentiments," said Carew, "but I am prepared." + +At the appointed hour Carew called at the Consulate. He found the consul +and Lloyd's agent awaiting him in a room adjoining the principal office. + +There was a constraint in their manner, which he, watchful for the +slightest suspicious indication, detected at once. They were as men who +anticipated some momentous event, but who endeavoured to conceal their +anxiety. + +The consul produced a document, and laid it on the desk. "Read this +over, please, Mr. Allen, and see that it is correct." + +Carew glanced down it quickly with an eye trained to legal forms. "It is +perfectly correct," he said. + +"I have a gentleman in the next room who will witness your signature to +this statement," proceeded the consul. He opened the door, and Mr. +Norton entered the room. + +The consciousness of impending peril came over Carew's guilty soul, but +he seized the pen, and in a firm hand wrote the signature, "Arthur +Allen, Barrister-at-law." + +Mr. Norton now approached the table. He took up the pen as if to sign +his name, glanced at the document, and then, raising his head, looked +Carew full in the face. "I cannot witness this signature," he said. "It +is a forgery!" + +There was a complete silence for a few moments; then Carew, whose face +was pale, but who betrayed no other signs of emotion, said quietly, +"Explain your strange words, sir." + +"It is no good; the game is up, Mr. Carew," replied Norton. "I have a +warrant for your arrest, and the police are at the door." + +"A trap has been laid for me, I see," said Carew, as quietly as before. +"This is one of the absurd mistakes you detectives so often make; but I +will soon clear it up. Of what am I accused?" Carew was astonished at +his own courage in the presence of this extreme disaster, or rather--for +it can scarcely be called courage--at his indifference to his fate. He +felt as if he were the spectator of a tragedy which was being played by +other men, and in which he was not himself an actor--a common state of +mind with men in utmost peril. + +"The charge with which I am immediately concerned," replied the +detective, "and on account of which an extradition warrant has been +issued, is the forgery of a client's name by the solicitor Henry Carew. +In the meanwhile, look at these," and he threw on the table two +photographs. Carew took them up. One, he saw, was a portrait of Arthur +Allen, his friend whom he left to drown in the North Sea; the other was +a photograph of himself which had been taken eight years back, when he +was another man, when his conscience was still clear, and before his +gambling losses had driven him from crime to crime; sin and suffering +had yet drawn no lines on the face, the brow was free from care. He +gazed gloomily at this presentment of what he had been and could never +be again, and his mind wandered back with despairing regret to memories +of guiltless days. + +"On the 15th of August last," continued the detective, "a solicitor, +Henry Carew, absconded, disappeared, leaving no trace. For some time I, +who was entrusted with the case, was altogether at fault; but at last, +as often happens, a coincidence threw me on the scent. I came across an +advertisement inserted in the papers by the relatives of a missing man, +Arthur Allen. He had left his chambers on the 15th of August, and had +not since been heard of. Carew and Allen thus disappeared from London on +the same day, mark you; but there was no very remarkable coincidence in +that fact. However, I happened to remember that, while searching the +papers of Carew to discover what were his habits, who were his +acquaintances, and so forth, I had come across the name of this Arthur +Allen, apparently a friend of Carew's. The clue was worth following up. +I soon ascertained that Allen had that day sailed from the Thames in his +yacht; that his last known port of call was Rotterdam. I went to +Rotterdam, and there, from a Mr. Hoogendyk and others, learnt that the +man who called himself Arthur Allen had conducted himself in a somewhat +curious manner for an English yachtsman, and had suddenly sailed from +that port, bound no one knew whither, with a crew of Spanish +desperadoes." + +The detective now took the two photographs from the hand of Carew, who +was still gazing at them in a dazed way, apparently not listening to the +words of his accuser. + +"I procured these," Norton went on. "I brought them to Mr. Hoogendyk. +First I showed him the portrait of Arthur Allen; he did not recognise +it. Then I gave him the portrait of Henry Carew. 'This, of course,' he +at once said, 'is the photograph of Mr. Allen, the Englishman who came +here with the little yacht.' Then I knew that I was on the right track. +Shortly afterwards, a paragraph which appeared in a London evening paper +brought me promptly here, armed with an extradition warrant. I have the +paragraph here. It is headed '_A Strange Story of the Sea._' I will read +it to you. '_A telegram from Pernambuco states that a French barque, +the_ La Bonne Esperance, _has been brought into that port a derelict. +She was picked up by the crew of an English yacht, the_ Petrel. _The_ +Petrel _had foundered in the South Atlantic. Mr. Allen, the owner, and +his three men took to the dinghy, and, after drifting for several days, +encountered the deserted barque, which they sailed into Pernambuco. The +salvage is likely to far more than compensate Mr. Allen for the loss of +his yacht._' That is all I need say at present." + +The consul spoke next. "There is a Mr. Rudge here, who has been in +Pernambuco for some weeks, who can also throw a light on this matter." +The consul touched the bell, and the man who had assumed the name of +Rudge was shown into the room. He closed the door behind him, and stood +with his back against it. + +"This gentleman," said the consul deliberately, "affirms that _he_ is +Arthur Allen, the barrister, the owner of the lost yacht." + +All in the room now turned their eyes upon Carew, to watch the effect +upon him of this sudden presence. + +Yes, it was indeed Allen, though pale and thin, as if he had but just +recovered from a sudden illness, that Carew saw before him. And now this +strange being, who had fallen into such depths of crime, and who yet +loathed crime so intensely, behaved in the manner that might have been +expected from him. The better man declared himself at last. On beholding +this accuser, who had risen thus suddenly from the dead, he displayed no +guilty terror. On the contrary, an expression of great relief, of joy, +almost of triumph, lit up his face, and the lines of care faded away +from it. + +They all watched him with wonder. + +Then he spoke quietly, in tones that carried conviction. No one could +doubt but that the words were from his heart. + +"Yes, I am Henry Carew. I am guilty of all that I am accused of, and of +more, and worse things. But I am glad, indeed glad--and little gladness +has been my lot of late--to see you, Arthur Allen, standing there alive +before me. There is one less crime on my soul. Yes, I am now happy; +happier than I deserve to be. I am quite ready to pay the penalty of my +sins." + +There was a nobility in his countenance as he stood up erect, with none +of the shrinking criminal about him. He felt as if he were out of the +world already; he was free from petty fears now. + +Then the consul, impressed by the man's manner, said, in an almost +respectful tone, "It is better that you should go on board the English +steamer at once. I have arranged everything." + +The detective whispered something into the consul's ear, and then +slipped out of the room quietly. + +Carew looked through the window at the fair tropical world without. He +could see the busy quay, with its green trees waving in the fresh trade +wind, and the breakers dashing upon the coral reef. Beyond that, between +the blue sea and the blue sky, there loomed a dark mass. Carew knew that +this was the vessel which was to be his prison, lying at anchor in the +outer roads. He shivered; then turning to the consul said-- + +"Grant me one last favour before I go: let me have paper and pen. I +wish to write a letter." + +The consul hesitated. + +"Give it to him," whispered Allen, who had been eyeing Carew intently; +and Carew rewarded him with a grateful look. + +The writing materials were put on the table. He sat before them with his +back to the spectators, and as he held the pen in his right hand, he +placed his left elbow upon the table, stooping over it, his face buried +in the open palm as if he were meditating deeply what he should write. +And so he remained for quite a minute without writing a word. Once a +slight tremor passed through his frame. After that he sat quite +motionless. + +The detective again entered the room, followed by two officers of +police. + +"Come, sir," he said, "we must go now," and he put his hand lightly on +Carew's shoulder. + +As the hand touched him, Carew's elbow slipped, his head dropped heavily +upon the table, face downwards, and from his left hand, which had been +over his mouth, there fell on the table, and rolled slowly across it, a +small empty bottle. + +He was quite dead! He had found a use at last for the poisonous drug +which the Rotterdam chemist had grudgingly sold him. + + * * * * * + +"The prisoner has slipped away from us," said the detective; "but, +after all, I am not sorry for it in a way, for there was good in the +man." + +And so ended the misspent life of Henry Carew--a man by nature probably +no worse than many of the most respectable-seeming among us. But he was +morally timid; and such a one, however benevolent be his disposition, +however opposed to vice be his inclinations, is the slave of +circumstances, and is quite as likely to develop into a villain as a +saint. A weak will is the devil's easiest prey. + +Arthur Allen's narrative will be given in his own words:-- + +"The last thing I remember, after Jim and myself were capsized, is that +I was holding on to the dinghy, and that I lashed myself to her with the +painter. Poor Jim must have gone down at once. I don't remember seeing +him after the boat turned over. The seas must have driven the sense out +of me. I came to, days afterwards, in the cabin of a German barque. She +had picked me up--still lashed to the dinghy--in an insensible +condition. The barque was bound from Hamburg to Rio. My long exposure in +the water brought on a serious and tedious illness. I was more dead than +alive when I landed at Rio, and was at once taken to the hospital. There +the English Consul called to see me, and behaved with great kindness. +When I told him my story, and who I was, he said, 'A man of your name +came here with a yacht a short time back--an eccentric man, for he only +stopped two days here and was off again; so I did not see him.' I asked +what the name of the yacht was. 'The _Petrel_,' he replied. Then, of +course, the whole truth dawned upon me, and I satisfied the consul that +someone had stolen my yacht and had assumed my name. The consul then +advanced to me the money I required. I was still lying in the hospital +when the news came to Rio that the _Petrel_ had been lost at sea, and +that her crew had found a derelict, and sailed her into Pernambuco. In +spite of the doctor's warnings, I left the hospital, and hurried here at +once. I was awaiting an extradition warrant from England, when Mr. +Norton anticipated my own action, and arrived with a warrant that had +been obtained on account of former felonies committed by Carew." + +The true story of the French barque and her crew was never known. +Baptiste and the two Spaniards took alarm and disappeared from +Pernambuco. Not that they were in danger, for they were not implicated +in the felonies which had been brought home to Carew. But the guilty +wretches knew not what would be discovered next, they so completely +distrusted each other, each knowing that he himself would readily +betray his comrades, either for a price or to secure his own safety. + +What ultimately happened to these three villains I do not know. Baptiste +being a criminal of the educated, cunning, and cowardly-cautious order, +possibly enriched himself by iniquity for many years more, and, escaping +his deserts in this world, may yet have died in his old age, a respected +citizen in his native land. + +The other two more vulgar scoundrels were no doubt hanged, or stabbed in +a brawl, or despatched in some such summary fashion sooner or later--a +penalty for their crimes which seems light indeed to men of this brutal +stamp, who consider a violent death as the most desirable and indeed +only legitimate termination to existence. + + +THE END + + +PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED, EDINBURGH + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS + +_The Express Series.--No. II._ + + +A GIRL OF GRIT + + +CHAPTER I + +MY AMERICAN MILLIONS + + +It was the middle of the night (as I thought) when Savory--my man, my +landlord, valet, and general factotum--came in and woke me. He gave me a +letter, saying simply, "The gentleman's a-waiting, sir," and I read it +twice, without understanding it in the very least. + +Could it be a hoax? To satisfy myself, I sat up in bed, rubbed my +astonished and still half-sleepy eyes, and read it again. It ran as +follows:-- + + "101, LINCOLN'S INN, _July 11, 189-_. + + "GRAY & QUINLAN, Solicitors. + + "DEAR SIR,--It is our pleasing duty to inform you, at the request + of our New York agents, Messrs. Smiddy & Dann, of 57, Chambers + Street, New York City, that they have now definitely and + conclusively established your claim as the sole surviving relative + and general heir-at-law of their late esteemed client, Mr. Aretas + M'Faught, of Church Place and Fifth Avenue, New York. + + "As the amount of your inheritance is very considerable, and is + estimated approximately at between fourteen and fifteen millions of + dollars, say three millions of sterling money, we have thought it + right to apprise you of your good fortune without delay. Our Mr. + Richard Quinlan will hand you this letter in person, and will be + pleased to take your instructions.--We are, sir, your obedient + servants, + + "GRAY & QUINLAN." + + "CAPTAIN WILLIAM ARETAS WOOD, D.S.O., + 21, Clarges Street, Piccadilly." + + +"Here, Savory! who brought this? Do you say he is waiting? I'll see him +in half a minute;" and, sluicing my head in cold water, I put on a +favourite old dressing-gown, and passed into the next room, followed by +Roy, my precious golden collie, who began at once to sniff suspiciously +at my visitor's legs. + +I found there a prim little old-young gentleman, who scanned me +curiously through his gold-rimmed pince-nez. Although, no doubt, greatly +surprised,--for he did not quite expect to see an arch-millionaire in an +old ulster with a ragged collar of catskin, with damp, unkempt locks, +and unshorn chin at that time of day,--he addressed me with much +formality and respect. + +"I must apologise for this intrusion, Captain Wood--you _are_ Captain +Wood?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"I am Mr. Quinlan, very much at your service. Pardon me--is this your +dog? Is he quite to be trusted?" + +"Perfectly, if you don't speak to him. Lie down, Roy. I fear I am very +late--a ball last night. Do you ever go to balls, Mr. Quinlan?" + +"Not often, Captain Wood. But if I have come too early, I can call later +on." + +"By no means. I am dying to hear more. But, first of all, this +letter--it's all _bonâ fide_, I suppose?" + +"Without question. It is from our firm. There can be no possible +mistake. We have made it our business to verify all the facts--indeed, +this is not the first we had heard of the affair, but we did not think +it right to speak to you too soon. This morning, however, the mail has +brought a full acknowledgment of your claims, so we came on at once to +see you." + +"How did you find me out, pray?" + +"We have had our eye on you for some time past, Captain Wood," said the +little lawyer smilingly. "While we were inquiring--you understand? We +were anxious to do the best for you"-- + +"I'm sure I'm infinitely obliged to you. But still, I can't believe it, +quite. I should like to be convinced of the reality of my good luck. You +see, I haven't thoroughly taken it in." + +"Read this letter from our New York agents, Captain Wood. It gives more +details," and he handed me a type-written communication on two quarto +sheets of tissue paper, also a number of cuttings from the New York +press. + +The early part of the letter referred to the search and discovery of the +heir-at-law (myself), and stated frankly that there could be no sort of +doubt that my case was clear, and that they would be pleased, when +called upon, to put me in full possession of my estate. + +From that they passed on to a brief enumeration of the assets, which +comprised real estate in town lots, lands, houses; stocks, shares, well- + + +_The Express Series--No. III._ + + +A DESPERATE VOYAGE + + +CHAPTER I + + +In Carey Street, Chancery Lane, on the ground floor of a huge block of +new buildings facing the Law Courts, were the offices of Messrs. Peters +and Carew, solicitors and perpetual commissioners of oaths. Such was the +title of the firm as inscribed on the side of the entrance door in the +middle of a long list of other names of solicitors, architects, and +companies, whose offices were within. But the firm was now represented +by Mr. Carew alone; for the senior partner, a steady-going old +gentleman, who had made the business what it was, had been despatched by +an attack of gout, two years back, to a land where there is no +litigation. + +Late one August evening Mr. Henry Carew entered his office. His face was +white and haggard, and he muttered to himself as he passed the door. He +had all the appearance of a man who has been drinking heavily to drown +some terrible worry. His clerks had gone; he went into his own private +room and locked the door. He lit the gas, brought a pile of papers and +letters out of a drawer, and, sitting down by the table, commenced to +peruse them. As he did so, the lines about his face seemed to deepen, +and beads of perspiration started to his forehead. It was for him an +hour of agony. His sins had found him out, and the day of reckoning had +arrived. + +One might have taken Henry Carew for a sailor, but he was very unlike +the typical solicitor. He was a big, hearty man of thirty-five, with all +a sailor's bluff manner and generous ways. His friends called him Honest +Hal, and said that he was one of the best fellows that ever lived. We +have it on the authority of that immortal adventuress, Becky Sharp, that +it is easy to be virtuous on five thousand a year. Had Mr. Carew enjoyed +such an income, he would most probably have lived a blameless life and +have acquired an estimable reputation; for he had no instinctive liking +for crime; on the contrary, he loathed it. + +But one slight moral flaw in a man's nature--so slight that his best +friends smile tolerantly at it--may, by force of circumstance, lead +ultimately to his complete moral ruin. It is an old story, and has been +the text of many a sermon. The trifling fault is often the germ of +terrible crimes. + +Carew's fault was one that is always easily condoned, so nearly akin is +it to a virtue; these respectably connected vices are ever the most +dangerous, like well-born swindlers. Carew was a spendthrift. He was +ostentatiously extravagant in many directions. He owned a smart +schooner, which he navigated himself, being an excellent sailor, and the +quantities of champagne consumed by his friends on board this vessel +were prodigious. + +When his steady old partner died, Carew began to neglect the business +for his pleasures. Soon his income was insufficient to meet his +expenses. Speculation on the Stock Exchange seemed to him to be a +quicker road to fortune than a slow-going profession. So this man, +morally weak though physically brave, not having the courage to curtail +his extravagances, hurried blindly to his destruction. He gambled and +lost all his own property; for ill-luck ever pursued him. Even then it +was not too late to redeem his position. But he was too great a coward +to look his difficulties in the face; therefore, having the temptation +to commit so terribly easy a crime ever before him in his office, he +began--first, timidly, to a small extent; then wildly, in panic, in +order to retrieve his losses--to speculate with the moneys entrusted to +him by his clients. He pawned their securities; he forged their names; +he plunged ever deeper into crime--and all in vain. + +When it was too late, he swore to himself, in the torments of his +remorse, that if he could but once win back sufficient to replace the +sums he had stolen, he would cut down all his expenses, forswear +gambling and dishonesty, and stick to his profession. + +At last it came to this. He sold his yacht and everything else he +possessed of value. He realised what remained of the securities under +his charge, and then placed the entire sum as cover on a certain stock, +the price of which, he was told, was certain to rise. It was the +gambler's last despairing throw of the dice. The stock suddenly fell; +settling day arrived, and his cover was swept away--he had lost all! + +So he sat in his office this night and faced the situation in an agony +of spirit that was more than fear. For this was no unscrupulous, +light-hearted villain. An accusing conscience was ever with him, and +every fresh descent in crime meant for him a worse present hell of +mental torture. + +He felt that it was idle to hope now, even for a short reprieve. Clients +were suspicious. In a day or two at most all must be known. Disgrace and +a felon's doom were staring him in the face. It would be impossible for +him to raise even sufficient funds to escape from England to some +country where extradition treaties were unknown. Carew realised all +this. He had forced himself to look through his + + +_Autumn 1898_ + + +LIST OF NEW & RECENT BOOKS +PUBLISHED BY JOHN MILNE AT +12 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON + + +The Express Series. + +This Series is designed to meet the taste of readers who desire a +swiftly-moving, well-written, dramatic tale, of moderate length, without +superfluous descriptive or other literary "padding," but with continuity +and action from the first page to the last. It contains only +specially-written and selected stories, mostly by well-known writers, +and each volume consists of about 224 pages, crown 8vo. The First +Edition, for the Library, is bound in red cloth, with gilt top, and +published at 2s. 6d. The Second and subsequent Editions are issued in +handy form for the Pocket or the Train, in stout cardboard covers, +illustrated in colours, at 1s. + + +_The following have been published:--_ + +I. THE ROME EXPRESS. By Major ARTHUR GRIFFITHS. [_Sixth Edition_ + + +II. A GIRL OF GRIT. By Major ARTHUR GRIFFITHS. [_Just published._ + + +III. A DESPERATE VOYAGE. By E. F. KNIGHT. [_Just published._ + + +_CURRENT LIST._ + +A Desperate Voyage. + +A Desperate Voyage. By E. F. KNIGHT, Author of "The Cruise of the +Falcon," "Where Three Empires Meet," etc. A novel by the well-known +_Times_ war-correspondent and author, describing the escape of an +absconding debtor from the river Thames in a twenty-eight ton yawl, and +his subsequent desperate experiences by sea and land in the South +Atlantic. 224 pages, crown 8vo, red cloth gilt, gilt top, uniform with +the above, 2s. 6d. + + +A Girl of Grit. + +A Girl of Grit. By Major ARTHUR GRIFFITHS, Author of "The Rome Express." +An Anglo-American story of a gigantic scheme of fraud and attempted +abduction. 217 pages, crown 8vo, red cloth gilt, gilt top, 2s. 6d. + + "If you wish for an exciting story--a story which will hold you + fascinated for three pleasurable hours by the intricacies of a + cleverly conceived plot, and the human interest of varied + character--read Major Arthur Griffiths' new book, 'A Girl of Grit.' + The whole story of the pursuit of the rascal Duke of Buona Mano and + the rescue of Captain Wood in mid-Atlantic carries you on with a + rush through a series of dramatic scenes and thrilling adventures + to a climax which is as novel as it is satisfactory. 'A Girl of + Grit' is a better told story than even 'The Rome Express,' which is + saying a good deal."--_Daily Mail._ + + +The Rome Express. + +The Rome Express. By Major ARTHUR GRIFFITHS. A notable Detective Story +of much ingenuity and interest. 215 pages, crown 8vo, red cloth gilt, +gilt top, Library Edition, 2s. 6d.; in coloured wrapper, Sixth Edition, +1s. + + "It is safe to say that the reader who glances at the first page of + Major Arthur Griffiths' detective story, 'The Rome Express,' will + certainly not skip one single word until he reaches the end. 'Who + could have done the deed?' is the question which absorbs the reader + from first to last, and in his eagerness to answer this question he + will start on at least four different scents, confident each time + that now he has the clue, but only to return baffled and bewildered + again and again. It is General Collingham whose shrewd wit first + hits upon the right track, and puts to confusion all the theories + and red-tapeism of the Quai de l'Horloge. But until the last + chapter we are as much in the dark as any one of them; the mystery + is inscrutable until it pleases the author to lift the veil and + inform us that one of the passengers was requested to continue his + journey in the direction of New Caledonia, and that another was + married at the British Embassy to Sabine, Contessa di + Castagneto."--_Daily Telegraph._ + + "Any reader who opens this book with the resolution that he will + read a chapter of it and then resume his ordinary occupations, is + likely to be surprised speedily out of such good intentions. The + story grips you like a vice. There is not a superfluous word in the + 215 pages."--_Sketch._ + + **_The next volume of The Express Series will be a + story from the pen of Mr. David Christie Murray, and others are in + preparation._ + + +The Evolution of a Wife. + +The Evolution of a Wife, a Romance in Six Parts, by ELIZABETH HOLLAND. +The life-story of Marie de Hauteville, a young girl of noble Swiss +family. It contains many charming pictures of Conventual and village +life in the Bernese Oberland, with a strong love interest of the +non-modern school. 398 pages, large crown 8vo, cloth, Second Edition, +6s. + + "There is an extraordinary genius in 'The Evolution of a Wife.' In + calm and masterful handling, searching insight, and bold + imaginative outlook, this romance ranks among the finest first + books of all the novelists. In the delicate manner of Flaubert, + without comment, and with a powerful massing of scenes, the + authoress advances to her climax; and one lays down the book + feeling that certain impressions will not efface + themselves."--_Yorkshire Post._ + + "Marie is delightful, with her many lovers and the pathetic little + vanities that make her innocence anything but insipid. She is + absolutely realisable; and not she alone. The little Swiss town and + its inhabitants live at once in the reader's eye."--_Saturday + Review._ + + "A remarkable story, alike in plot and character. It makes an + impression that here and there reminds us of the art and the + passion of Charlotte Brontë's works."--_Scotsman._ + + +The Passion for Romance. + +The Passion for Romance. By EDGAR JEPSON, Author of "Sibyl Falcon." +Describes the remarkable love affairs of Lord Lisdor, a young and +susceptible nobleman of wealth and leisure. 378 pages, large crown 8vo, +cloth, Second Edition, 6s. + + "'The Passion for Romance' is, at the least, recommended by that + air of novelty so welcome to all, but to none more than to the + professional novel-reader. The hero--the main feature of the story, + as he has a right to be--is treated from a refreshingly new + standpoint. He is a new sort of hero as well as a fresh specimen in + individuals: neither villain, saint, nor martyr, but simply a + possible human being with some strong characteristics. The vain + quest and the yearning for fulfilment are told with delicacy of + touch, some sense of humour, and absolutely without sickly + sentiment or morbid passion. Is not this enough to prove that we do + not speak of the novel of the common or British type?"--_Athenæum._ + + "It is a long time since we have had a new sensation in fiction. It + has come at last. The author of 'The Passion for Romance' is a + novelist with a style that is distinguished, and--rarissimus inter + raros--Mr. Edgar Jepson is also a writer who has something new to + say. Apart from the literary merit of the work, there is the story; + and to say that there is nothing in fiction with which that may be + compared is to acknowledge at once its originality."--_Morning._ + + +Saint Porth. + +Saint Porth. The Wooing of Dolly Pentreath. By J. HENRY HARRIS. A homely +tale of life and love in a Cornish village. 320 pages, crown 8vo, cloth +gilt, gilt top, 6s. + + "A Cornish tale of remarkable picturesqueness, altogether natural + and touching, full of quaint pictures of a marvellously decorative + people."--_Saturday Review._ + + "Written with singular sympathy, earnestness, and gentle humour. + The scene is laid on the Cornish coast, and Mr. Harris paints for + us the splendours of that gorgeous seascape in the manner of one + who feels to the full its peculiar fascination, and to whom the + character of the dwellers on its shore appeals with a familiar + charm. The delicate and precious aroma of romance perfumes every + page of 'Saint Porth,' and lends to this homely, unpretentious tale + a value and an interest that are too often lacking in novels of a + more ambitious scope."--_Speaker._ + + "Of the many efforts which writers have made during recent years to + portray various phases of Cornish life, this, to our mind, + represents one of the most successful."--_West Briton._ + + "However crowded the novel market may be, there is always room for + such refreshing little idylls as 'Saint Porth'--a simple tale, + simply told in delightfully breezy style."--_Birmingham Gazette._ + + +Paradise Row. + +Paradise Row, and some of its Inhabitants. By W. J. WINTLE. A series of +powerfully painted sketches of North Country life. 240 pages, crown 8vo, +cloth, gilt top, 3s. 6d. + + "To adequately express the power and the pathos of these simply + told sketches, is quite beyond the scope of a review, for they + rouse all that is best and all that is most sacred in our common + humanity, making us feel more than the grandest rhetoric could, the + brotherhood of man. Some of the characters are real heroes, and one + rises from the perusal of the book with a greater respect for the + men who devote their lives to Christian work in the noisome dens of + our populous places, and with a large hope for the ultimate + redemption of mankind."--_North British Daily Mail._ + + "This is a volume of sketches of North Country life, very + vigorously drawn, and full of pathos well relieved with humour. It + shows throughout a large power of sympathy and great breadth of + thought."--_Spectator._ + + "We commend this book as both literature and life. Those who wish + to know how the poor live and love cannot do better than read + 'Paradise Row.'"--_Methodist Times._ + + "The work of a deep thinker and a cultured writer."--_Black and + White._ + + +Butterfly Ballads. + +Butterfly Ballads and Stories in Rhyme. By HELEN ATTERIDGE. With +Sixty-five Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE, LOUIS WAIN, H. R. MILLAR, and +others. 142 pages, foolscap 4to, designed cover, cloth gilt, gilt edges, +3s. 6d. + + "These real ballads are very clever indeed; we feel sure 'Ethelinda + Gray' and 'The Boy that went to Sea' will live in the upper circles + of juvenility for many a long day. 'The Doll's Dance' ought to be + as widely read and as keenly appreciated as 'The Butterfly's Ball + and the Grasshopper's Feast,' which was the delight of the children + of fifty years ago. The illustrations are numerous and + admirable."--_World._ + + "A delightful collection of stories in verse for little ones. It is + exactly what it professes to be, and does not indulge in + metaphysics for infants, and every little one who has the good + fortune to have the volume given it will be happy for a long + time."--_St. James's Gazette._ + + "'Butterfly Ballads' are by no means inappropriately named. They + are light and bright, and go fluttering along easily. The + illustrations are specially clever; the dogs, the children, and the + old folks are all full of character and spirit."--_Times._ + + "Will speedily be learned by heart, and repeated in the firelight + to a breathless audience."--_Lady._ + + +The English Stage. + +The English Stage. Being an Account of the Victorian Drama, by AUGUSTIN +FILON. Translated from the French by FREDERIC WHYTE, with an +Introduction by HENRY ARTHUR JONES. 320 pages, demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d. + + "This large and painstaking volume will certainly interest all who + follow theatrical matters. We welcome it as an interesting and + valuable record."--_Times._ + + "That the writings of that acute French critic, M. Filon, on 'The + English Stage' have been creditably translated and published in + this country, is a subject of congratulation. The completeness with + which this observer in a foreign land has mastered his subject is + surprising, and adds much force to the penetrating and suggestive + criticisms with which the book abounds. Altogether the work, + written as it is in spirited and captivating style, is one that can + be perused with pleasure by all classes of readers."--_Morning + Post._ + + "One of the most entertaining, appreciative, discriminating, and + instructive of recent books upon the English stage."--_New York + Nation._ + + "No student of the theatre should miss reading 'The English Stage,' + and it should be bought, not borrowed from the library, for it is + essentially a book to dip into again and again. It is full of + interesting facts as to the recent history of the drama in this + country."--_Black and White._ + + +Verdi: Man and Musician. + +Verdi: Man and Musician. His Biography, with Especial Reference to his +English Experiences, by F. J. CROWEST, Author of "The Great Tone Poets." +With Photogravure Frontispiece of Verdi, and several full-page +Portraits. The only recent and authoritative English Biography of the +famous Composer. 320 pages, demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d. + + "As the author of this highly interesting volume rightly says, + Verdi bibliography, particularly that in England, is not extensive, + but he has made an important addition, a book that should be read + by all admirers of the Italian composer. It is enriched with + several well-executed portraits, and is fully + indexed."--_Athenæum._ + + "A most interesting work. Did space permit, we could quote at + length from this delightful book; but as it is, we must leave it to + the reader to pick and choose for himself."--_Weekly Sun._ + + "A book full of interest both to musicians and laymen, embellished + with a speaking likeness of Verdi as a frontispiece. A distinct and + valuable addition to the scant Verdi literature in this + country."--_Manchester Courier._ + + "An excellently-written and faithfully-compiled history of the rise + and progress of a great composer, studded with gems of anecdote, + and teeming with an appreciation that will find an echo in the + heart of every lover of opera who reads it."--_Birmingham Gazette._ + + +[Illustration: Logo] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Desperate Voyage, by Edward Frederick Knight + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DESPERATE VOYAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 39082-8.txt or 39082-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/0/8/39082/ + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/39082-8.zip b/39082-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..58fd3b5 --- /dev/null +++ b/39082-8.zip diff --git a/39082-h.zip b/39082-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..73c3452 --- /dev/null +++ b/39082-h.zip diff --git a/39082-h/39082-h.htm b/39082-h/39082-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0cea4ec --- /dev/null +++ b/39082-h/39082-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6757 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Desperate Voyage, by E. F. Knight. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + + p.bold {text-align: center; font-weight: bold;} + p.bold2 {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: 150%;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + h1 span, h2 span { display: block; text-align: center; } + #id1 { font-size: smaller } + + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + hr.smler { width: 10%; } + .mynote { background-color: #DDE; color: black; padding: .5em; margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; } /* colored box for notes at beginning of file */ + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; border-collapse:collapse; border: none; text-align: right;} + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0px; + } /* page numbers */ + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + .right {text-align: right;} + .left {text-align: left;} + .tbrk {margin-bottom: 2em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Desperate Voyage, by Edward Frederick Knight + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: A Desperate Voyage + +Author: Edward Frederick Knight + +Release Date: March 9, 2012 [EBook #39082] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DESPERATE VOYAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class = "mynote"><p class="center">Transcriber's Note:<br /><br /> +A Table of Contents has been added.<br /><br />The hanging hyphen, and the lack of punctuation, at the end<br /> +of two of the advertisement pages have been left as they occurred in the book.</p></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<p class="bold u"><i>MILNE'S EXPRESS SERIES</i></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold2">A DESPERATE VOYAGE</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/logo.jpg" width='100' height='148' alt="logo" /></div> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<p class="bold u"><i>THE EXPRESS SERIES</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>Uniform with this Volume</i></p> + +<p class="bold">I. THE ROME EXPRESS</p> + +<p class="center">BY</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Major</span> ARTHUR GRIFFITHS</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="center">BY THE SAME AUTHOR</p> + +<p class="bold">II. A GIRL OF GRIT</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="center">JOHN MILNE</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12 Norfolk Street, Strand, London</span></p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<h1><span>A DESPERATE<br />VOYAGE</span><br /><br /><span id="id1">BY</span> <span>E. F. KNIGHT</span></h1> + +<p class="center">AUTHOR OF "THE CRUISE OF THE FALCON"<br /> +"WHERE THREE EMPIRES MEET"<br />ETC. ETC.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center">JOHN MILNE</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">12 Norfolk Street, Strand, London</span><br />1898</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>All Rights Reserved</i></p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span>CONTENTS</span></h2> + +<table summary="CONTENTS"> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span></td> + <td> <span class="smcap">Page</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>I</td> + <td><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>II</td> + <td><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>III</td> + <td><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>IV</td> + <td><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>V</td> + <td><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VI</td> + <td><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VII</td> + <td><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VIII</td> + <td><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>IX</td> + <td><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>X</td> + <td><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XI</td> + <td><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XII</td> + <td><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XIII</td> + <td><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XIV</td> + <td><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XV</td> + <td><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XVI</td> + <td><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XVII</td> + <td><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>XVIII</td> + <td><a href="#Page_214">214</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#Page_225">ADVERTISEMENTS</a></td> + <td></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<p class="bold2">A DESPERATE VOYAGE</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER I</span></h2> + +<p>In Carey Street, Chancery Lane, on the ground floor of a huge block of +new buildings facing the Law Courts, were the offices of Messrs. Peters +and Carew, solicitors and perpetual commissioners of oaths. Such was the +title of the firm as inscribed on the side of the entrance door in the +middle of a long list of other names of solicitors, architects, and +companies, whose offices were within. But the firm was now represented +by Mr. Carew alone; for the senior partner, a steady-going old +gentleman, who had made the business what it was, had been despatched by +an attack of gout, two years back, to a land where there is no +litigation.</p> + +<p>Late one August evening Mr. Henry Carew entered his office. His face was +white and haggard, and he muttered to himself as he passed the door. He +had all the appearance of a man who has been drinking heavily to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> drown +some terrible worry. His clerks had gone; he went into his own private +room and locked the door. He lit the gas, brought a pile of papers and +letters out of a drawer, and, sitting down by the table, commenced to +peruse them. As he did so, the lines about his face seemed to deepen, +and beads of perspiration started to his forehead. It was for him an +hour of agony. His sins had found him out, and the day of reckoning had +arrived.</p> + +<p>One might have taken Henry Carew for a sailor, but he was very unlike +the typical solicitor. He was a big, hearty man of thirty-five, with all +a sailor's bluff manner and generous ways. His friends called him Honest +Hal, and said that he was one of the best fellows that ever lived. We +have it on the authority of that immortal adventuress, Becky Sharp, that +it is easy to be virtuous on five thousand a year. Had Mr. Carew enjoyed +such an income, he would most probably have lived a blameless life and +have acquired an estimable reputation; for he had no instinctive liking +for crime; on the contrary, he loathed it.</p> + +<p>But one slight moral flaw in a man's nature—so slight that his best +friends smile tolerantly at it—may, by force of circumstance, lead +ultimately to his complete moral ruin. It is an old story, and has been +the text of many a sermon. The trifling fault is often the germ of +terrible crimes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p><p>Carew's fault was one that is always easily condoned, so nearly akin is +it to a virtue; these respectably connected vices are ever the most +dangerous, like well-born swindlers. Carew was a spendthrift. He was +ostentatiously extravagant in many directions. He owned a smart +schooner, which he navigated himself, being an excellent sailor, and the +quantities of champagne consumed by his friends on board this vessel +were prodigious.</p> + +<p>When his steady old partner died, Carew began to neglect the business +for his pleasures. Soon his income was insufficient to meet his +expenses. Speculation on the Stock Exchange seemed to him to be a +quicker road to fortune than a slow-going profession. So this man, +morally weak though physically brave, not having the courage to curtail +his extravagances, hurried blindly to his destruction. He gambled and +lost all his own property; for ill-luck ever pursued him. Even then it +was not too late to redeem his position. But he was too great a coward +to look his difficulties in the face; therefore, having the temptation +to commit so terribly easy a crime ever before him in his office, he +began—first, timidly, to a small extent; then wildly, in panic, in +order to retrieve his losses—to speculate with the moneys entrusted to +him by his clients. He pawned their securities; he forged their names; +he plunged ever deeper into crime—and all in vain.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p><p>When it was too late, he swore to himself, in the torments of his +remorse, that if he could but once win back sufficient to replace the +sums he had stolen, he would cut down all his expenses, forswear +gambling and dishonesty, and stick to his profession.</p> + +<p>At last it came to this. He sold his yacht and everything else he +possessed of value. He realised what remained of the securities under +his charge, and then placed the entire sum as cover on a certain stock, +the price of which, he was told, was certain to rise. It was the +gambler's last despairing throw of the dice. The stock suddenly fell; +settling day arrived, and his cover was swept away—he had lost all!</p> + +<p>So he sat in his office this night and faced the situation in an agony +of spirit that was more than fear. For this was no unscrupulous, +light-hearted villain. An accusing conscience was ever with him, and +every fresh descent in crime meant for him a worse present hell of +mental torture.</p> + +<p>He felt that it was idle to hope now, even for a short reprieve. Clients +were suspicious. In a day or two at most all must be known. Disgrace and +a felon's doom were staring him in the face. It would be impossible for +him to raise even sufficient funds to escape from England to some +country where extradition treaties were unknown. Carew realised all +this. He had forced himself to look through his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> papers and discover the +total of his liabilities. It was a sum he could by no effort refund.</p> + +<p>He laughed aloud—a savage, discordant laugh, as might be that of some +lost soul.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is all over," he thought; "I throw up the cards. But I will not +endure the disgrace of a public trial, the ignominy of a convict's life; +and after that to come out of jail with my soul eaten out by long years +of penal servitude, with the brand of a felon on my name. Oh no—not +that! After all, a man has always one last privilege left him; he holds +in his own hands the power of terminating his own miserable existence. +Yes; I will kill myself, and have done with it all!"</p> + +<p>In the contemplation of suicide he became calmer. Now that he had +determined on death, his terrible anxiety left him, and the heroism of +despair supported him.</p> + +<p>"I feel a peace of mind at this moment such as has not come to me for +many wretched months," he said to himself. "There is almost a pleasure +in knowing that one has got to the bottom of one's cup of suffering, +that there can be nothing worse to come."</p> + +<p>He meditated quietly for some time as to how he should take away his +life. At last he came to a decision, and a strange smile lit up his +face. "Yes, that is an admirable plan; now for the means of carrying it +out. First, I must have a sovereign or so. I can pawn my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> watch. Now for +the ballast." He glanced round the room. "Yes, that will do." He rose +and collected several heavy leaden paperweights from the different desks +in the offices and put them into his pockets. "That will be sufficient. +Now I will go to Brighton. It is a glorious evening. I will smell the +sea-air once more. I will have a last dinner at an hotel; and then at +night, when the tide is high, I will throw myself off the pier; this +weight of lead will keep me down. And the next morning my creditors may +seize my body: they are welcome to it."</p> + +<p>At that moment a loud knock came at the outer door. He turned pale and +nearly fainted at the sound. Was he to be balked of those last few hours +of freedom which he had promised himself? Were these the officers of +justice who had come to apprehend him? Once more the dew of agony burst +out on his brow; he groaned aloud; then, summoning resolution, the +desperate man approached the door.</p> + +<p>But it was only the postman, after all. "Idiot that I am not to have +known the knock! but my brain swims to-night. A letter for me. What is +this?"</p> + +<p>He read the letter slowly through; then he put his hand to his forehead. +A revulsion of feeling had suddenly come to him that confused and +stunned him. "Oh, merciful Heaven!" he said, "is this but a cruel trick +of Fortune to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> tempt me with a vain hope? I had quite reconciled myself +to death—and now this comes. Perhaps it is but a short reprieve, and +its price will be all that agonising suspense again. No, let me die; and +yet"—he glanced at the letter again—"surely I have here a means of +escape. If I can but collect my scattered wits and recover my cunning, I +can save myself. I can live, but it will mean crime again—always crime! +Oh, is it worth it?"</p> + +<p>After a painful mental struggle, he came to a determination. "Yes, I +will live," he said.</p> + +<p>The letter was as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Carew</span>,—You have often promised to cruise with me in my boat. +I am off to-morrow for Holland. Can you join me? Come and look me +up to-night, and arrange it all.—Yours sincerely,</p> + +<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Arthur Allen</span>."</p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER II</span></h2> + +<p>Arthur Allen, barrister-at-law, was of about the same age as his friend +Carew; a man possessed of private means sufficient for his needs, into +whose chambers so few briefs found their way that he had for some years +dispensed with the services of a clerk. But, as one would have surmised +after glancing at the strong, intelligent face, he was a man by no means +lacking in energy, and not of idle disposition: as a matter of fact, a +scholar, and one who had taken high honours at his university, he still +maintained his studious habits, and, having practically abandoned a +profession that was uncongenial to him, he devoted himself to literary +pursuits; and his thoughtful articles in the reviews and in the +newspaper to which he was attached brought him in no insignificant +addition to his income.</p> + +<p>No mere bookworm, he had been an athlete in his youth; but now his one +outdoor form of amusement was the sailing of his little yacht, on which, +always acting as his own skipper, he had taken many a delightful cruise +in home<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> and distant waters. He was an enthusiastic lover of the sea. +This was the one taste he had in common with Carew. It was at some yacht +club, of which they were both members, that they had become acquainted.</p> + +<p>It was a lovely August evening. The windows of Allen's bachelor chambers +in the Temple were open, and through them could be seen that fair oasis +of London's desert of bricks and mortar, Fountain Court, with its +stately buildings, ancient trees, and quiet garden with splashing +fountains in its midst. Nor was the view confined; for, beyond the +chapel and the green, could be perceived the broad, gleaming Thames, and +the distant Surrey shore, glorified by a faint mist; a peaceful, +old-world spot, with a contemplative air about it, for it is haunted by +the memories of much departed greatness. Allen was reclining in a +comfortable arm-chair, drawn up to the open window, in whose recesses +geraniums bloomed, their vivid blossoms occasionally shaking beneath the +breath of the soft south wind that had come directly from the cool +river.</p> + +<p>He smoked his pipe as he looked out upon the sweet sunset scene, his +mind happily occupied in planning his coming cruise, when his +meditations were interrupted by a knock at the outer door. He rose to +admit his visitor, opened the door, and there stood before him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> Henry +Carew in serge suit and yachting cap, a small Gladstone bag in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, Carew, old man! you have not been long replying to my letter. I +was afraid you would have left the office before it reached you. Come +in."</p> + +<p>"Are you alone?" inquired Carew, in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, quite alone. I am smoking a pipe of peace by myself. You have just +come at the right time."</p> + +<p>They entered the room, and then, as the light of the sunset fell upon +the solicitor's face, Allen perceived its haggard expression.</p> + +<p>"How queer you look, Carew!" he exclaimed. "Are you ill?"</p> + +<p>"Ill—no, not at all; but worried—worried almost out of my life," +replied Carew wildly, throwing himself into a chair, and putting his +face between his hands.</p> + +<p>Allen sat in a chair opposite to him, refilled and lit his pipe, and, as +he smoked, gazed at his friend with feelings of perplexed compassion.</p> + +<p>"Have a pipe, old fellow; there is nothing like a pipe for worry."</p> + +<p>"A pipe?" cried Carew, with contemptuous bitterness. "No; but have you +some brandy? Give me some brandy."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Carew," and the barrister produced a spirit-case, some +glasses, and water.</p> + +<p>Carew poured a quantity of spirit into a glass<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> and drank it neat. He +was usually a temperate man.</p> + +<p>"That is not the way to clear one's brain for confronting one's +troubles," remarked Allen.</p> + +<p>"No, you are right. It is foolish of me. Allen, I have come to say that +I shall be very glad to accompany you on your cruise."</p> + +<p>"I am delighted to hear that. A good blow in the North Sea will do you +good, if your mind is so upset."</p> + +<p>"Allen," said Carew, pulling himself together and speaking with more +self-possession, "I wish I could speak to you of the business that is +troubling me, but I am not at liberty to do so. It concerns others."</p> + +<p>"I don't want to know anything about it, old man; but I am sure you will +soon get out of your trouble, whatever it is. With an easy conscience no +man is miserable for long. And now that I have secured you as a hand, I +have a sufficient crew. So we will start to-morrow morning. Will you be +ready by then?"</p> + +<p>"I am ready now. You see I have brought my baggage with me."</p> + +<p>"Then, as we have to catch an early train to-morrow, you had better +sleep to-night in my chambers; I can put you up. Our destination is the +Dutch coast, old man, and we should have a jolly time of it. You have +not yet seen my new boat, the <i>Petrel</i>—a yawl of twenty-eight tons, +yacht measurement; a splendid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> sea-boat. I would go anywhere in her. She +is now lying off Erith."</p> + +<p>Carew had been listening attentively. "What crew do you carry?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>"Ah, let me tell you that you will have lots of work to do. We shall be +but three all told. I have shipped one hand only—Jim, the fisherman, +who was with me last year. Another friend was coming with me, but he has +disappointed me."</p> + +<p>"For how long will you be away?"</p> + +<p>"About a fortnight. I have been a bit fagged of late, and want a +holiday. I only made up my mind to take this cruise this afternoon. Not +a soul but yourself knows we are going."</p> + +<p>On hearing this a sigh of relief escaped Carew. Yes, if he were once on +board the yacht all trace of him would be lost. He felt almost jubilant +as he thought of it; the recent acute tension of his mind had left a +sort of hysterical weakness behind, and he alternated easily between +exultant hope and profoundest despair.</p> + +<p>He reflected that if he could but contrive to reach Erith without being +observed by any who knew him, he was safe, at anyrate for some time. But +how to do so? It was possible that even already detectives had been set +to watch his movements. He must take his chance of that, use all his +wits, and incur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> no risk that could be avoided. Fearing to show himself +in the streets, more especially in the Strand or Fleet Street, where so +many would know him by sight at least, he suggested to Allen that they +should send to a neighbouring chop-house for their dinners, and remain +quietly in the chambers, instead of dining, as was their wont, at a +club. The barrister agreed to this, and therefore had no opportunity +that night of meeting any of his friends, and he communicated to no one +his intention of sailing on the morrow. He merely left a note for his +housekeeper on his table, informing her that he would be out of town for +a fortnight, and that his letters were not to be forwarded.</p> + +<p class="center">* * * * * *</p> + +<p>At an early hour on the following morning a cab was brought round to the +door of the barrister's chambers, and the two friends drove off to +Charing Cross Station, arriving there but a few minutes before their +train started. The chances of anyone who knew him recognising Carew on +the way were thus reduced to a minimum. At Erith Allen's man, Jim, was +awaiting them with the dinghy. He was a very broad-shouldered, +florid-faced man of forty, with a protuberance in one cheek indicating +the presence of a quid. He looked exactly what he was—a hardy, +North-Sea smackman.</p> + +<p>Jim pulled them off to the yacht, and when the solicitor, who was +thoroughly at home on a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> boat, a keen lover of the sea, with yachting as +his one innocent pleasure, stood on the white deck, and, looking around, +saw how glorious was that summer's day, beheld the river sparkling in +the sunshine, thronged with stately ships and picturesque barges tacking +up with the flood against the soft south-west wind, a delightful sense +of freedom rushed upon him.</p> + +<p>Oh, what a thing it was to have left behind him that accursed city, with +its weariness, its anxieties, the endless jangles of the law, the +feverish play, the guilt, the terrible dread of detection—to have left +it for ever!</p> + +<p>"Now, Jim, off we go!" cried the skipper. The dinghy was lifted on +board, the mainsail was hoisted, then the jib; the moorings were slipt, +up went the foresail, and the yacht shot out into the stream; then, +obedient to her rudder, bore away, and tore down the river before the +freshening breeze on the top of the strong ebb tide. Needless it is to +describe that pleasant summer day's sail. Allen was in the highest +spirits, and for him the happy hours flew rapidly by. Even Carew, +intoxicated with the pure air and sunshine, and the delightful sight of +dancing waters, forgot his sin and misery, and felt almost light-hearted +for the first time for months; and at last, when the yacht reached the +broader water, thinking over his position, he gave a sigh of infinite +relief.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> Now, indeed, he was safe. No fugitive had ever left so little +trace behind him.</p> + +<p>They were well outside the Thames, in the East Swin Channel, before +dark. The sun set in a golden haze, ominous of storm on the morrow, and +then the wind dropped. The yacht sailed very slowly down the English +coast during the night, the three men taking it in turn to steer and +sleep. At sunrise they were off the Naze, and the sky looked so stormy +and the glass fell so rapidly that there was some discussion as to +whether it would not be well to put in to Harwich. But Carew was so +earnestly opposed to this that the owner decided to push on, and the +vessel's head was turned seaward towards the mouth of the Maas. The +English coast loomed less and less distinct; but so light was the wind +that it was not till midday that they lost all sight of the land. Then +the wind began to pipe up suddenly, and seeing nothing but stormy clouds +and heaving water around him, Carew's spirits rose wonderfully; a +reaction of wild gaiety succeeded his anxiety.</p> + +<p>At four it was blowing so hard that they took two reefs in the mainsail +and shifted jibs. Shortly before sunset, Carew was taking his turn at +the tiller; the others were below. After a while the motion of the yacht +became so violent that the owner came on deck to have a look round.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p><p>"The wind has freshened a lot this last half-hour, and there's a nasty +sea getting up," he said. "It will be blowing a gale of wind before the +morning. Well, we have a good craft under our feet."</p> + +<p>"She steers wonderfully easily," replied the solicitor. "She's a +beautiful boat. I would not mind crossing the Atlantic in her."</p> + +<p>"I should think not," said the proud owner. "But look at that vessel +across your lee-bow, Carew. What the dickens are they up to on board of +her? She's yawing all over the place. First I thought she was on the +port-tack; then she seemed as if she was in stays; and now—ah, I see +it—she is hove-to."</p> + +<p>"She is a small brig," said Carew. "Get the glasses up and see what you +can make of her."</p> + +<p>Allen dived below, brought up the binoculars, and scanned the vessel. +"By Jove!" he cried, "she's in a nice mess. Her bowsprit is carried +away, her foretopmast too, and her jib's streaming away like a flag. +Hallo! and part of her stem and bulwarks have gone."</p> + +<p>"Collision." It was Jim's voice. He had just come on deck, and his quick +eye at once realised the brig's mishap. Then he looked at her intently +for some moments, and spoke again, in eager tones for him—</p> + +<p>"Derelict."</p> + +<p>"So she is," cried Allen. "We'll get out the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> boat and board her. Do you +think the sea is too high, Jim?"</p> + +<p>Jim said nothing. He was quite ready to risk his life in a cockle-shell +in a heavy sea, as all fishermen of the Doggerbank must be. He was not +the man to refuse to do what his employer wished, unless the danger were +very great indeed. He looked round at the sea, then nodded his head +affirmatively.</p> + +<p>"I don't think it's safe," said Carew. "In the first place, see how low +that brig is in the water; she may go down at any moment, and the sea is +very tricky to-day. I grant you it does not seem so very rough just now, +but every half-hour or so there have been some rather dangerous rollers. +One passed by us just before you came on deck."</p> + +<p>But Allen's spirit of adventure was up. "Oh, nonsense!" he cried; "I'm +going to see what she is. She may be worth standing by for salvage. Run +down a bit nearer to her—that's it. Now let's heave-to—so. Now +overboard with the dinghy, Jim. You stay behind and mind the yacht, +Carew."</p> + +<p>Jim and Allen waited for a "smooth," seized the dinghy, dexterously +launched her, and leaping in nimbly, pulled away from the yacht—a feat +that looks easy on paper, but requires nerve and skill to perform in a +heavy sea.</p> + +<p>"If you drift away too far, let draw your jib and sail up to us," +shouted Allen, as he went away.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p><p>Carew stood on the deck of the yacht, which now rose and fell on the +seas with the easy motion of a vessel that is hove-to, and watched the +tiny boat, so frail and yet so buoyant, so far safer than she seemed, as +she leapt from wave to wave.</p> + +<p>The dinghy was close to the brig. In another moment the men would have +boarded her, when Carew perceived, to his horror, a huge roller coming +up—a steep mass of water, with overhanging, breaking crest, such as are +met with on the edge of shallows. It reached the yacht and hurled her +high up; then dropped her again into the trough of the sea with a shock +almost as violent as if she had struck a rock. The giant wave thundered +by the sturdy little vessel without injuring her. But the dinghy—where +was she?</p> + +<p>Carew strained his eyes in her direction. First the boat was hidden from +him by the intervening wave; then he saw her for a moment floating on +the top of a sea, some forty yards away, bottom up. He thought, too, he +could distinguish a man's head in the water near her. The derelict had +disappeared. Waterlogged as she was, it had only needed that last great +sea to send her down bodily.</p> + +<p>But all this while his two companions were drowning. Why did Carew stand +there idle? He was sailor enough to know his duty. He could have sailed +the yacht close to the men, thrown<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> a life-buoy to them, and have +possibly succeeded in dragging them on board. He stood on the deck, as +if dazed. Had he lost his head for a time? He only hesitated for two or +three seconds, but they were invaluable—then it was too late!</p> + +<p>A sudden squall of wind and rain swept down upon the sea, and all was +obscured in a whirling smoke of spray and vapour. It was impossible to +see even a few yards through it; and when the squall had passed, there +were no men and no dinghy to be seen.</p> + +<p>The dark and stormy night settled down upon the waters, and Henry Carew +was left alone in the middle of the North Sea!</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER III</span></h2> + +<p>"Am I a murderer?"</p> + +<p>So asked of his conscience, in fear and trembling, Henry Carew, as he +stood alone upon the deck of the labouring vessel, surrounded by a waste +of tumultuous waters.</p> + +<p>"Not a murderer!" he cried aloud. "Oh no, not that!"</p> + +<p>Then he argued with himself. "Had I done all that a man could, I think I +should have been unable to save them. True, I lost my presence of mind. +I did not stir a hand to help them; but that is not murder. Poor Allen! +poor Allen! But no; this is a morbid fancy. At least I am innocent of +that crime."</p> + +<p>He looked round at the wild sea, invisible on that starless night save +for the white foam that hissed on the tops of the waves.</p> + +<p>"And now to make the best of my position. How fortune has turned! I, who +two days back was surrounded by dangers, have nothing to fear now."</p> + +<p>Then he broke into a wild laugh, not of merriment or exultation, but a +sort of hysterical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> effervescence that came of a mind that had long been +tasked beyond its strength by violent emotions.</p> + +<p>But he fully realised what a great advantage the loss of his two +companions signified for him. Yes, even at that moment when he beheld +them drowning before him, the profit their death would bring him had +flashed across his brain. Little wonder that he asked his conscience +that terrible question, "Am I a murderer?"</p> + +<p>How simple his course seemed now! It needed little thought to decide on +it. He knew that Allen was accustomed to undertake long cruises, and +therefore would not be missed for some time. Again, the barrister was +somewhat careless in his correspondence; so the fact of his neglecting +to write to his friends would surprise and alarm no one. How easy, then, +for Carew to impersonate him! He would sail the yacht into some Dutch +port—no very difficult task; and once there, he could rely on his wits +to make the most of the opportunities chance should throw in his way. +Most probably he would sell the yacht and take a passage on some vessel +bound for a South American harbour. Like most educated fugitives from +justice, he turned to the Argentine Republic as being the safest of +sanctuaries.</p> + +<p>Carew's eyes, accustomed to observe the signs of the weather, told him +that the wind was likely to freshen; so he set about making<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> himself as +comfortable as possible for the night. He lowered the foresail, and +still further reduced the mainsail by tricing up the tack. Then, with +jib-sheet hauled to windward and tiller lashed, the yacht lay hove-to. +After watching her for a few minutes, Carew saw that she was behaving +admirably, and that he could with safety stay below the whole night if +he chose, and leave the little vessel to take care of herself.</p> + +<p>"It will have to blow a good deal harder to hurt her," he thought; "it's +only collision I have to be afraid of now. Well, I can considerably +lessen the chances of that."</p> + +<p>So he went below, found the side-lamps, lit them, and fastened them to +the shrouds.</p> + +<p>So dark had become the night that nothing could be distinguished from +the yacht's deck, save when, as she rolled from side to side, the port +and starboard lights cast an alternate ruddy and sickly green glare on +the foaming water. To be out in the North Sea on so small a craft during +a gale is terrifying in the extreme to one not inured to the sea; the +roaring of the waves and the howling of the wind sound so much louder +than on a larger vessel, and the quick, violent motion often confuses +the brains even of sailors if they are accustomed only to big ships. But +Carew was, as Allen had said, a smart man on a fore-an-after. He felt +that, with this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> good boat under him, he was as safe as if he had been +on shore.</p> + +<p>"She's snug enough," he said. "I'll go below and try to make out from +the chart where I am; then I'll turn in and sleep—if I can."</p> + +<p>He looked at the chart, roughly calculated the distance the yacht had +run since Allen had taken his "departure" from the Naze, and found that +he was about half-way between the English and Dutch coasts. "That is +good," he thought; "I have no lee-shore near me; I have plenty of room. +I'll just stay where I am, hove-to, till the wind moderates, then make +sail for Rotterdam."</p> + +<p>He lay down in his bunk and tried to sleep, but all in vain. His brain +was too excited with thoughts of what had passed and what was still to +happen. Plans to secure his safety, and visions of possible accidents, +passed through his mind, weaving themselves in delirious manner into +long and complicated histories of his future life—some happy, some +terrible with retributive calamity. Unable to stay the feverish activity +of his brain, he came on deck at frequent intervals to see that all was +well.</p> + +<p>The vessel plunged and rolled throughout the night, her timbers +groaning, and the wind shrieking through her rigging. But towards +daybreak the gale began to moderate, and the glass rose slowly. Carew +saw that the bad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> weather was over and that the heavy sea would soon +subside. On the shallow German Ocean the sea rises quicker than +elsewhere, and with its steep and breaking rollers is more perilous than +can be experienced on any other of our home waters, as the fishermen of +the Doggerbank know to their cost. On the other hand, here it soon +becomes smooth again as the wind drops.</p> + +<p>An hour or so after dawn the sky was almost cloudless, and only a fresh +breeze was blowing. The waves, no longer dangerous, broke into white +foam that sparkled in the sunshine. It was a day to gladden a sailor's +heart.</p> + +<p>Carew stood on deck, and under the joyous influences of that bright +morning a calm fell on his soul, and his conscience ceased to trouble +him. There is a sort of magnetic relation between a man and his +surroundings. Out at sea, far away from land, with nothing but pure air +and pure water near, even a great villain is wont to forget that he +himself is not pure as well. In London, as he walked through the crowded +streets, Carew knew that he was constantly jostling against men as bad +as himself. In them he saw his own vices and crimes reflected as in a +mirror, so that he could never put his guilt out of his mind. Again, +fearful as he had been lately that those around him suspected him, he +was unable to feel, even for one delusive moment, the sense of +innocence.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p><p>But out here on the great sea, so far removed from human passion, with +nothing to remind him of his offences, it was, on the contrary, +difficult for him to realise what manner of man he was. He was conscious +of what he imagined were virtuous impulses. He began to flatter himself +that he was naturally a good man, that he was more sinned against than +sinning, and that it was foolish of him to allow a sensitive conscience +to torment him about occurrences, regrettable indeed, but the blame of +which was scarcely his. The fact was that he mistook the joyous feelings +inspired by a sunny day at sea for the reawakening of his better self—a +frequent mistake that. His soul was in complete harmony with the Nature +around him; and Nature, whatever her actions, knows nothing of crime or +remorse.</p> + +<p>So Henry Carew, in no unhappy frame of mind, began to consider what he +should do next; and as he pondered, all his pluck and energy returned to +him.</p> + +<p>"In an hour or so," he said to himself, "the sea will have gone down +still more; then I can get the vessel under way again. In the meantime, +I will make a thorough inspection, and discover what my resources are; +for I must have money, or the means of raising it."</p> + +<p>He went below, and after lighting a fire in the stove to boil some water +for coffee, he looked round the walls of the cabin. Among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> other +valuables were a rifle, a revolver, a clock, and an aneroid; and Allen's +gold watch and chain were hanging on a nail. "I can raise fifty pounds +on these to begin with," he thought; "and now to see what there is in +the lockers and cupboards." He rummaged everywhere; but, with the +exception of the sextant, there was no article of any value that could +be easily sold.</p> + +<p>At last, in a small drawer, he found the barrister's money and papers. +There were about twenty-five pounds in gold. There was also a +cheque-book; and on turning over its pages, Carew found that Allen had +made a note of the balance to his credit on the counterfoil of the last +cheque he had drawn, showing that he had the sum of fifty pounds at his +bank. Then the solicitor glanced at the yacht's Admiralty warrant, which +authorised Arthur Allen to fly the blue ensign of Her Majesty's fleet on +his yacht, the <i>Petrel</i>, of sixteen tons register; a most valuable +privilege, as Carew knew, which would serve him as passport into +whatever foreign port he should go.</p> + +<p>He was not altogether satisfied with the result of his search, and, as +he sat on the bunk sipping his coffee, the more he thought of his +prospects the more gloomy they appeared to him. He felt that it would be +very hazardous to attempt selling the yacht in Rotterdam. To do so would +require time; and as it was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> long vacation, and so many lawyers and +others who knew him were taking their holidays, his recognition by +someone in so favourite a haunt of tourists as the Dutch city would be a +highly probable event. He dared not risk that. He must not stay in +Holland a moment longer than was necessary. Then what could he do with +so small a fund at his disposal?</p> + +<p>His eye fell on the open drawer, and he rose to close it. He happened +then to notice the barrister's diary among the papers, and though he did +not imagine that there could be anything in it of the slightest interest +to himself, he took it up in a casual way and opened it at the first +page. Suddenly the indifferent look vanished, he started visibly, and +read with intense eagerness. "Oh!" he cried, "now it is all plain +sailing for me. I know what to do." A triumphant light came into his +eyes, and then, putting away the diary, he ran on deck, let the +foresheet draw, and as he steered the vessel on her course over the +dancing waves, the expression of his face indicated a happy confidence +in the future; all doubt and fear had fled.</p> + +<p>The first page of the diary was devoted to memoranda; and, among other +things, the barrister had here written a list of the investments from +which he derived his income. The bulk of these consisted of foreign +bonds and other easily negotiable securities, which Allen had deposited +with his banker.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p><p>It was the perusal of this list that had suggested to the quick and +ingenious mind of the solicitor a scheme not difficult of execution, the +very thought of which made his heart beat quick with anticipation. Carew +shrank from the peril of forging cheques or letters of instructions to +Allen's bankers; but now that he knew exactly how the barrister's +account stood, a simpler and safer method of appropriating to himself a +large proportion at least of the dead man's fortune occurred to him.</p> + +<p>Said this accomplished scoundrel to himself: "I have here a stout, +seaworthy boat, that can easily take me across the Atlantic. I will ship +a crew in Rotterdam, and sail for Buenos Ayres. By selling the watch and +chain and one or two other little things I shall have enough money to +buy stores and pay all other expenses of the voyage. Once in Buenos +Ayres, I will go to the agent of the —— Bank. There is sure to be one. +I will show him my papers. I will prove to his satisfaction that I am +Arthur Allen, barrister-at-law, owner of the yacht <i>Petrel</i>. I will +explain that I have run short of money, and require a considerable sum +at once. The agent will telegraph to the bank, learn that I have there +securities to a large amount, and then he will be ready to advance to me +as much as I want; and I will want a good deal. I will say that I am +about to buy land, or tell some such plausible tale, get my money, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +away. Oh, most excellent plan! Who on earth is likely to suspect that +the yachting barrister is no other than Henry Carew, the defaulting +solicitor?"</p> + +<p>He steered the vessel towards the Dutch coast, and soon the wind fell so +much that he was able to shake out all his reefs.</p> + +<p>At ten he passed through a large fleet of fishing boats that were riding +to their nets. He hailed an English smack, asking her skipper if he +could tell him his position.</p> + +<p>"You'll get hold of the land in an hour or so," shouted the man; "and, +as you are going now, you'll about fetch Goeree."</p> + +<p>Carew, after consulting the chart, steered in a more northerly +direction. At midday he saw the loom of the land ahead of him; so, as +the sky was clear, he brought up the sextant and took an observation of +the sun, thus ascertaining his exact position.</p> + +<p>"Lucky it is that I taught myself navigation," he thought; "it will come +in useful now."</p> + +<p>At last he could plainly distinguish the features of the coast, which +was low and flat, with white sand-hills here and there that gleamed like +snow in the sunshine.</p> + +<p>Then he saw a steeple, a lighthouse, and a group of cottages, with +bright red roofs, and he knew that he was off the village of +Scheveningen, which is a few miles to the north of the Maas. Sailing to +the southward,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> he soon reached the mouth of the river, and at once some +of the ever-watchful pilots pulled off to him in a small boat.</p> + +<p>Carew hove the yacht to, and waited for them. The boat was soon +alongside. Four little old men, all fat and rosy, were in her. One who +understood English well was the spokesman. Standing up in the stern he +shouted—</p> + +<p>"Captain, you want pilot, sar?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; how much do you want to take me to Rotterdam?"</p> + +<p>Carew felt how necessary it was to husband his funds, and he suspected +that Dutch pilots consider a yacht fair prey for extortion.</p> + +<p>The man named an exorbitant sum.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! Too much. I'll sail her in myself."</p> + +<p>"Right, captain," replied the Dutchman calmly; "that better for me and +my mates. You try and go in alone, you sure to run ashore. Then we help +you off, and you give us plenty money for salvage instead of small +pilot-fee."</p> + +<p>Carew felt that it might happen as the old man had said. The Maas is +encumbered with shoals, and the navigation is difficult for a stranger.</p> + +<p>"Now, how much you give me, captain?"</p> + +<p>The solicitor mentioned a moderate sum.</p> + +<p>"Ah, you rich man with yacht to be hard on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> poor pilot! Now, I pilot you +for the middle price."</p> + +<p>"Come on board, then," said Carew.</p> + +<p>The pilot leapt on to the yacht's deck, and the other three pulled away +in their boat.</p> + +<p>"Now, captain. Tide in river running strong, wind is light; so we want +all sail, or else we no move. Call up your hands and hoist topsail."</p> + +<p>"There are no hands below. I am alone," replied Carew.</p> + +<p>"Alone? What do you mean? You come from England all alone?" exclaimed +the man in great astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Yes; my crew got drunk and were insolent just before I sailed. They +thought I could not do without them, and they knew I was in a hurry. But +I put them all on shore without hesitation, and I have come across +alone."</p> + +<p>"You a very mad Englishman, but you a brave man. I never hear anything +like that."</p> + +<p>"Pilot," said Carew, later on, as they were sailing up the river, "I +don't want to be followed about Rotterdam as if I were a curiosity; so I +should like you not to mention the fact of my having sailed across the +sea alone."</p> + +<p>"All right, captain; my mouth close."</p> + +<p>"I shall want a crew of two or three good, honest Dutchmen, pilot. Can +you recommend me any men?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p><p>"This very night you shall have one—my cousin Willem—a very good boy, +captain."</p> + +<p>"And there is another thing, pilot. What sort of a berth are you going +to put me in in Rotterdam?"</p> + +<p>"I will moor you along the Boompjees; nice quays them. Plenty good +Schiedam shops on shore there. All yachts go there."</p> + +<p>"I thought so; that's why I asked. Now, pilot, I do not want to be +moored along the Boompjees. Take me to some quiet canal, out of the way; +you understand—a place where no yachts or foreign vessels go."</p> + +<p>"Ah, I know, captain, just the place: nothing but Holland schuyts there; +no yachts like it, no captains like it; I not think you will like it."</p> + +<p>"I will go there. But why don't you think I shall like it?"</p> + +<p>"You no have Dutch nose; and that canal plenty smellful, captain."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER IV</span></h2> + +<p>A narrow canal that pierces an out-of-the-way corner of old Rotterdam. +Mediæval houses—narrow, lofty, terminating in quaint, pointed +gables—overhang the sluggish waters. It is only frequented by the +picturesque native canal boats, with their lofty masts and varnished oak +sides, so marvellously clean, for all their dirty work. In this quiet +spot, with its old-world, decaying look, it is difficult to realise that +close at hand are the busy quays of the Boompjees, crowded with vessels +from all parts of the world, noisy with the haste of modern commerce.</p> + +<p>It is a bit of Rotterdam that does not change. The British tourist, +unless he has lost himself, never explores the narrow alleys that lead +down to the slimy water—a gloomy, dead quarter of the city, pervaded by +a smell that is ancient and fish-like and something worse.</p> + +<p>It was a sultry August midday. No breath of air stirred the water of the +canal, which seemed to be fermenting under the fierce sunshine, and foul +gases bubbled up on its surface.</p> + +<p>Only one of the many vessels moored along<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> the quay flew a foreign flag. +The blue ensign of Great Britain hung motionless from the mizzen of the +yacht <i>Petrel</i>.</p> + +<p>On the deck was a sturdy little man in baggy trousers, who, despite the +languid influence of the day, was employed in polishing the brass-work +on the vessel with an extraordinary energy. This was Willem, the pilot's +cousin, who had entered into Carew's service, and who had, with Dutch +diligence, set himself the task of scrubbing the yacht up to his high +standard of Dutch smartness as quickly as possible.</p> + +<p>The owner—by right of undisputed possession—was below, looking over +some charts of the South Atlantic, which he had just purchased. The +solicitor had been making all his preparations as rapidly but as quietly +as possible. But little now remained to be done. So far, honest Willem +was the only hand he had engaged; but he knew that he could easily ship +as many men as he needed at a moment's notice in so large a seaport as +Rotterdam. He told no one of his projected voyage across the Atlantic, +knowing that to do so would at once attract attention to him; and he +naturally dreaded that publicity should be given to his doings.</p> + +<p>He showed himself in the streets as little as possible, and he always +went forth to make his purchases in the early morning before English +tourists were likely to be out of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> beds. He had only been in port +two days, but he was almost ready for sea. He had some tanks fitted into +the cabin, so that he could carry sufficient water for a long voyage; he +had filled all the lockers and bunks with a large quantity of tinned +meats, biscuits, and other necessary stores; he had procured his charts; +and all this had been done in the least conspicuous manner possible.</p> + +<p>Though he had never before undertaken an ocean cruise of this magnitude, +he knew what was requisite, and forgot nothing. There was no chronometer +on board the yacht, and he could not afford to buy one; so, as his watch +was not to be depended upon, he saw that he would have to navigate his +vessel after the fashion of the good old days before chronometers were +known. The ancient navigators carried with them their astrolabes—rough +instruments, long since superseded by quadrants and sextants—which +enabled them to find their latitude accurately enough. But having no +timepieces, they were unable to ascertain their longitude by observation +of the heavenly bodies, and had to rely on dead reckoning alone. So the +mariner of old, after a long voyage across ocean currents of unknown +speed and direction, was possibly many hundreds of miles out of his +reckoning as regards longitude, though he knew his latitude to within a +few miles.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p><p>Thus, supposing, for instance, he was bound for Barbadoes, he would +sail boldly on until, according to his calculations, he was some few +days' journey to the eastward of his port. Then he would steer for the +exact latitude in which it lay, and follow that line of latitude till he +reached his destination; which he was, of course, bound to do sooner or +later. Moreover, it was his invariable custom to heave his vessel to +every night while running down the latitude; as otherwise he might pass +by the island without seeing it in the darkness, and lose himself +entirely.</p> + +<p>It was a slow method of navigation—not to say a risky one. But Carew +would not have to encounter so many difficulties as the sailors of old; +for ocean currents are better understood in these days, and the +opportunities of speaking vessels at sea and ascertaining the exact +longitude from them are very frequent.</p> + +<p>Carew had spent all the money he had found on board the yacht, and there +were still some necessary purchases to be made. The most expensive of +the articles yet to be bought was a dinghy, to replace the one that had +been lost. This very morning he had found his way to the Mont de Piété +and pawned everything he could well spare: Allen's watch and chain, the +rifle, and one of the two binocular glasses. With that easy +forgetfulness which was an attribute of his conscience, he had by this +time almost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> come to believe that the barrister's yacht and fortune were +rightfully his. The sum he thus raised was not a large one; but he +calculated that it would enable him to meet every expense, though he +would have to put to sea almost penniless, if not quite so.</p> + +<p>While Willem was still busy on deck a tall, good-looking gentleman, with +an honest but shrewd eye and tawny beard, came along the quay and stood +in front of the yacht, inspecting her critically for a few moments.</p> + +<p>"Is the owner on board?" he inquired of the sailor in Dutch.</p> + +<p>"The English captain is in his cabin, sir," replied the little man in a +solemn, nasal drawl.</p> + +<p>"I should like to see him. Will you give him my card?"</p> + +<p>Willem, taking the card, descended to the cabin. "Von man here for see +you, captain," he said in his broken English.</p> + +<p>Carew started. "A man to see me? What sort of man?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Him a gentleman man, for him has von tall black hat. Here was his +paper," and he handed Carew the card.</p> + +<p>The solicitor felt the blood forsake his heart. Some English +acquaintance had found him out. He looked at the card with dread; then a +sigh of relief escaped him; the name was certainly Dutch—Hoogendyk.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p><p>Carew went on deck and politely invited his visitor to come on board. +Mynheer Hoogendyk stepped down from the quay, and introduced himself in +excellent English.</p> + +<p>"I am a resident of Rotterdam," he said, "and I am a leading member of +our Yacht Club. I have come to inform you that, with your permission, we +shall be highly delighted to make our English <i>confrère</i> an honorary +member of the club during his stay in our city."</p> + +<p>"I am very grateful to the club for the honour they confer upon me, and +shall gladly avail myself of the privilege," replied the lawyer, who, as +he spoke, made a resolve never to put his foot inside the club premises, +but to ship his crew and sail from Rotterdam without delay. It was +dangerous for him to stay longer, now that his retreat had been +discovered.</p> + +<p>"I only heard of you by accident yesterday," said the visitor, who, +unlike most of his countrymen, was garrulous and inquisitive, though a +good fellow. "Why have you picked up a berth in this dirty, +out-of-the-way hole?"</p> + +<p>"It is picturesque and quiet."</p> + +<p>"And filthy and unhealthy. We must move you to a better spot. There is a +capital berth just in front of the English church. You'll see lots of +your countrymen there. How many hands have you on board? I see you have +shipped one Dutchman."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p><p>"My two men were drunken ruffians, and I discharged them."</p> + +<p>"I will undertake to get you a good crew of my countrymen if you like. I +suppose you are going to cruise about our coasts. Where are you going to +from here?"</p> + +<p>"To Amsterdam," replied Carew, who was on tenterhooks of impatience. He +felt how dangerous this man would be with his gossiping habits.</p> + +<p>"And now, sir," said Mynheer Hoogendyk, drawing out a pocket-book and +pencil, "I will take your name and enter it on the club books."</p> + +<p>"Here is my card." Carew handed to him one of the barrister's cards.</p> + +<p>"'Mr. Arthur Allen, Fountain Court, Temple!'" read the visitor. "Ah, you +live in the Temple! I know it well. Are you a lawyer by chance?"</p> + +<p>"I am a barrister."</p> + +<p>"Ah! How delightful! We are chips of the same block, Mr. Allen. I, too, +am a barrister, in practice in Rotterdam. Both yachtsmen, both +advocates, what a bond of friendship there should be between us! You +must come and see my yacht—such a pretty little schuyt—and also our +law courts."</p> + +<p>They sat together in the <i>Petrel's</i> cabin, and the Dutch advocate +commenced to question the solicitor on English law, comparing it with +that in force in his own country. Carew was hugely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> bored and weary of +his visitor's chatter, but did his best to be civil.</p> + +<p>"And, by the way," cried the Dutchman at last, "there is a trial now +proceeding which I am sure would be of the greatest interest to you; for +you say that the criminal law is your particular line."</p> + +<p>"What is it about?" asked the solicitor indifferently.</p> + +<p>"Piracy: the seizure of a vessel and the murder of her officers by the +crew."</p> + +<p>All Carew's indifference vanished now. He let the cigar he was smoking +drop from his fingers, and, turning his head, he looked at his visitor's +face with a steady, fierce look, as of some wild beast that awaits the +attack of another, and has strung all its nerves to resist its foe to +the death. The Dutchman, whose eyes were directed downwards at that +moment, did not observe that look.</p> + +<p>The slumbering conscience had been awakened again with a rude start by +those words. For a moment Carew lost his head and fancied that this +garrulous man was a police detective who knew everything and had been +playing with his prisoner all this while. Then he looked at his +visitor's face again, and felt reassured, realising the absurdity of +such a supposition.</p> + +<p>The advocate, quite unconscious of the perturbation he had caused, +continued—</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was a terrible story. Perhaps you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> remember reading in the +papers some months ago of an act of piracy in the Spanish Main. A vessel +trading from Curaçoa under the Dutch flag was seized by her crew—a lot +of Spanish and Mulatto cut-throats. They murdered the captain, the mate, +and a few honest Dutch sailors who stood by their officers. Then the +mutineers sailed for Puerto Cabello, where, as usual, there was a civil +war, with the intention of selling the vessel to the revolutionary +party, which was in need of transports. When they arrived there the +revolution was over; the Government seized the vessel, but the ruffians +contrived to escape up country."</p> + +<p>"I remember all that well," said Carew. "The story made a great noise at +the time."</p> + +<p>"Now it happens," said the advocate, "that three of these ruffians +shipped as sailors in a South American port on board of a vessel bound +for Rotterdam. One day a Dutch sailor from Curaçoa enters a drinking +shop on the Boompjees, and sees, sitting down at a table over a bottle +of schiedam, three men whom he recognises as part of the crew of the +ill-fated <i>Vrouw Elisa</i>. He calls in the police, and now these gentlemen +are being tried for their lives."</p> + +<p>"To be hanged if found guilty, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"I hope so; but I am afraid that they will be acquitted. Everyone is +morally sure of their guilt; but, unfortunately, the evidence for the +prosecution has been so confused and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>contradictory that their identity +has not been satisfactorily settled. The counsel for the defence is a +very able fellow too."</p> + +<p>"What countrymen are they?" inquired Carew.</p> + +<p>"Two are Spaniards and one is a Frenchman. I think the Frenchman was the +ringleader of the mutineers, for he looks a clever rascal. And now, Mr. +Allen, the trial will probably conclude this afternoon. The court is +very crowded, but I can get you in. Come along, and you will be able to +compare the Dutch and English criminal procedure."</p> + +<p>Carew would have preferred to decline the invitation, but in ordinary +politeness found it difficult to do so; and he accompanied the native +lawyer—who undoubtedly possessed the gift of the gab, if no other +qualifications for his profession—to the law courts.</p> + +<p>Carew felt anything but easy in his mind as he walked through the main +streets of the town, at this hour of the day crowded with a motley +throng, including not a few of his own countrymen, bent on pleasure or +business. Pretending to listen to his companion's unceasing gossip, the +solicitor looked anxiously about him as he went, fearing at each step to +see some well-known face from Fleet Street. The glaring sunshine had +rejoiced his soul when he was out on the lonely seas, but in the hives +of his fellow-men he shrank from the all-searching light, and +experienced guilt's instinct for safe obscurity.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></p><p>But he saw no one he knew on his way, and was much relieved when Mr. +Hoogendyk procured for him, after some difficulty, a seat in a remote +and dark corner of the court, where he could see and hear, himself +unseen.</p> + +<p>Carew soon became so interested in watching the faces of the three men +who were being tried for their lives that, in spite of the advocate's +whispered suggestions on the subject, he paid no attention to the +procedure, and did not endeavour to compare the Dutch and English legal +systems. He took no interest in law now; he was indeed heartily sick of +it, and hoped that he had washed his hands of it for ever.</p> + +<p>Of the three men only one had a really unprepossessing and murderous +countenance. A murderer looks much like any other man, though people who +take their ideas from waxwork shows think otherwise. That this should be +so is obvious enough. A few only of murderers have homicidal +proclivities as a part of their nature, and these indeed may betray +their character in their physiognomy. All the other passions and vices +of disposition can, under certain circumstances, compel the man who has +the greatest horror of bloodshed to kill a fellow-being. In the large +majority of cases, murder is not a tendency but the result of other +tendencies.</p> + +<p>But one of the three prisoners had indeed a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> villainous appearance. He +was a big, clumsily built Spaniard from the Basque countries, with a +heavy, animal face and an evil mouth, indicative of the stupid cruelty +of some savage beast.</p> + +<p>The other Spaniard was a short, stout man, with a jovial face and an +enormous black moustache, which he twirled occasionally with a complete +<i>nonchalance</i>. There was nothing of the murderer in his appearance.</p> + +<p>Neither of these two men exhibited any signs of fear. The first faced +death with the dogged pluck of an animal, the second with a somewhat +higher sort of courage.</p> + +<p>The third man alone, the Frenchman, showed that he was suffering the +agonies of acute terror. The little Spaniard, observing this, nodded to +him now and then, smiling maliciously, and the big man scowled at him +with surly contempt. The Frenchman's face was quite white, and the +perspiration poured down it in streams; his lips quivered, and, holding +on to the rail of the dock with hands tightly clenched, he listened with +intense attention to every word of judge or advocate.</p> + +<p>The features of this man, though distorted with fear, were delicate and +refined. His handsome face was more like that of a Provençal gentleman +than of a rough sailor. He was a well-knit man of about thirty, with the +blue-black hair of the South. Over his fine and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> expressive eyes were +bushy black brows, which almost met on his forehead, giving him a +somewhat sinister appearance.</p> + +<p>Carew found himself taking a strange, morbid interest in watching these +three faces. In some way he identified himself with the prisoners. Had +not they committed a crime only in degree differing from his own? The +day might come when he too would be tried for his life. He wondered +whether he would then look like the dogged Basque, the cowardly +Frenchman, or the other. He had always flattered himself that he did not +fear death; but how difficult to know how he would face it until his +time came!</p> + +<p>At last, amid complete silence, judgment was given. Carew could not +understand the words, but he knew their import—</p> + +<p>"Not guilty!"</p> + +<p>The spectators groaned and hissed when they heard this decision. The +Frenchman fell back fainting. The big Spaniard glanced boldly round the +court with a ferocious scowl, and he made an involuntary motion with his +right hand, as if he held his knife in it and was longing to rip up a +few of his enemies. The little man smiled, and bowed pleasantly to the +court, after the manner of an actor who is acknowledging his tribute of +applause.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER V</span></h2> + +<p>The attorney and Carew left the court, the former volubly indignant at +the miscarriage of justice, the latter moody and thoughtful.</p> + +<p>"And now," cried the Hollander, "here we are at the best café in +Rotterdam. Come in, and let us wash out the taste of crime with some +beer."</p> + +<p>They sat down at one of the little round tables, and two tall glasses +foaming at the brim were placed before them.</p> + +<p>"They have all the English papers here," said the advocate. "I will ask +the waiter to bring you one."</p> + +<p>Carew looked round the room, and suddenly his face paled, for he saw +sitting at a table at some distance off a fellow-countryman, whom he +recognised as a tobacconist in Fleet Street, a man who, no doubt, knew +Carew's name and profession well, for the solicitor had often made +purchases at his shop.</p> + +<p>Carew did not lose his presence of mind. The man was reading the +<i>Times</i>, and had, in all probability, not yet observed him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p><p>"Mynheer Hoogendyk," he said, "I am sorry that I must leave you now. I +hope you will excuse me. I have an engagement, and in your agreeable +company I had forgotten all about it."</p> + +<p>"You flatter me, sir," replied the advocate with a bow. "I trust that +you will honour me by dining with me to-morrow at eight, your English +hour, I believe, for that repast. My wife speaks English well, and will +be delighted to see you."</p> + +<p>"I accept your invitation with the greatest pleasure, mynheer."</p> + +<p>Then they rose to go, and Carew contrived to keep his lively companion +between him and the man from Fleet Street as they walked out of the +café.</p> + +<p>The solicitor felt ill at ease until he had left behind this bright and +crowded portion of the city, and was once again in the region of the +gloomy and malodorous slums where the yacht was lying.</p> + +<p>He saw how necessary it was that he should leave Rotterdam the next day +if possible. It was no place for him. His recognition by some one or +other must occur sooner or later if he stayed here. So, having dined in +a dingy little hostelry on the quay opposite to the yacht, he visited +some of the least-frequented streets, and purchased the few necessaries +for the cruise which he had not already procured. He came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> across a +fisherman on the canal who was willing to sell him a small, clumsy boat +which could serve him as dinghy. After some bargaining in pantomime—for +neither understood the other's tongue—Carew secured this for the sum of +three pounds.</p> + +<p>Passing an apothecary's shop, it occurred to him that it would be well +to take some of the more necessary medicines with him, seeing that he +might be some months at sea without calling at any port. He entered the +shop and proceeded to draw up a list of his requirements, to which, as +an afterthought, he added some drugs in less common use.</p> + +<p>"These last are poisons," said the chemist in broken English. "I cannot +supply you with these unless you are a doctor."</p> + +<p>Carew, with bold invention, explained that he was the captain of a +vessel, and as such was the ship's doctor, and had a right to any drugs +he might choose to ask for; and he produced his Admiralty warrant in +proof of his statement.</p> + +<p>The man was puzzled, perused the warrant without understanding it, and +at last, reluctantly waiving his scruples, gave the solicitor all that +he required.</p> + +<p>His vessel was now completely fitted out; nothing was wanting but a +crew, and here a difficulty presented itself. He felt that it was highly +important that no one in Rotterdam should know that he was sailing for +Buenos<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> Ayres, else the report that so small a yacht was about to +undertake so long a voyage would spread rapidly, and would soon appear +in the English papers. He wished it to be supposed that he was merely +taking a few weeks' cruise in Dutch waters.</p> + +<p>But then, how would his men take it were he only to divulge his +destination to them when they were well out at sea? The probability was +that they would refuse to obey his orders, and insist upon returning. +Professional sailors are not fond of ocean voyages in tiny craft.</p> + +<p>Evidently his only plan was to prowl about the docks that night, select +with care three likely-looking men for his purpose,—men without wives +or ties of any sort,—bring them on board the yacht, offer them good +pay, and at the last moment tell them where he was bound for. Then, if +they still consented to accompany him, he would sail away at once, +allowing them no opportunity of gossiping with their friends on shore. +Willem, he knew, was not the man for him. The honest Dutchman must be +discharged at once on some pretext or other.</p> + +<p>Carew sat on deck, pipe in mouth, meditating on these matters. He was +alone on the yacht, for Willem had gone off on leave for a few hours to +visit some of his relatives.</p> + +<p>The sun was setting into a bank of rosy vapour that promised a +continuance of fine weather. The hot day was closing with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> sultry eve. +On that quiet canal, and on the narrow quay beneath the lofty houses, +there was no sound or sign of life. It was almost as if he were in the +midst of some dead and long since deserted city.</p> + +<p>But of a sudden the peacefulness of that mediæval scene was rudely +disturbed. First was heard a confused noise in the distance, as of angry +human voices and the trampling of many wooden shoes. Louder, nearer was +the sound, and then Carew perceived a man rush out upon the quay from a +narrow alley, some hundred yards away, that led towards the principal +docks. The man, who seemed frantic with terror, stood still for one +brief moment, looked quickly around him, as if uncertain whither to +hurry next: whether to plunge into the canal, or run along the quay to +left or right.</p> + +<p>Then arose a loud yell of many voices behind him, as of hounds that at +last have caught a view of the hunted creature; and the man, hearing it, +darted off again at full speed along the canal bank in the direction of +the yacht.</p> + +<p>Immediately afterwards there poured out of the alley a crowd of nearly a +hundred men, women, and children, mostly of the lowest orders; denizens +of the slums, though some were of a more respectable class; a crowd of +Hollanders who had lost all their native phlegm for the nonce; a crowd +gesticulating, howling, execrating, thirsting for the blood of the man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +they were pursuing; mad and fierce as a mob of Paris in revolutionary +days when an aristocrat was scented by the sovereign people.</p> + +<p>The wretched man was hatless; his coat and half his shirt had been torn +from his back; the blood was trickling down his face from the wounds on +his head where the stones that had been hurled at him had hit.</p> + +<p>On he came, running wildly before them, his face livid, his mouth open, +his teeth set, eyes starting from his head with mortal terror, panting +as if his heart must burst, ready to fall with exhaustion, but still +hurrying on for his dear life's sake.</p> + +<p>When he was close to the yacht his strength failed him; he stretched out +his arms wildly, and staggered. With a yell of triumph the cruel crowd +was on him. A man struck him over the head with a stick. Then, with one +last despairing effort, he threw himself from the quay on to the yacht's +deck, and fell a helpless mass at Carew's feet, clutching him by the +legs, as if to implore his protection, but unable to speak or move.</p> + +<p>His pursuers stood on the quay above, muttering angrily to each other, +but hesitated a moment or so before they ventured to board the yacht, +each waiting for someone else to lead the way.</p> + +<p>Those few moments saved the hunted man.</p> + +<p>"Below there!" cried Carew, pointing to the cabin. "Quick, man, or you +will be lost."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p><p>Seeing that the poor wretch was too exhausted to rise by himself, he +seized him by the arm, thrust him down the cabin hatchway, closed the +cover over him, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. It was all +done in a few seconds, and then the solicitor turned round and stood +calmly facing the mob.</p> + +<p>The people had not realised at first that Carew was about to rob them of +their victim. Now that they did so, a howl of rage burst from them, and +some shouted to him, what were evidently commands to give the man up to +them, and menaces of what they would do if he refused, though he could +not understand the words.</p> + +<p>One man began to clamber down to the yacht; but Carew seized his leg and +threw him on the quay again, not over-gently. "Silence!" the solicitor +called out, leaping back on the hatchway; and the Dutchmen, impressed by +the Englishman's resolute bearing, paused and listened to what he had to +say.</p> + +<p>"Does anyone here understand English?" he asked.</p> + +<p>As might be expected from a crowd in a Dutch city, several men cried +out, "Yes, Englishman; yes, we know English."</p> + +<p>"Then, what is all this disturbance about? Are you all mad?"</p> + +<p>"We want dat man," replied a surly voice.</p> + +<p>"You can't have him."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p><p>"Den ve vill take him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, will you?" Carew drew from his pocket Allen's revolver, which he +always carried about with him now. "Look you here, my friends; I don't +want a row, but if any man tries to come on board my vessel without my +permission I will shoot him."</p> + +<p>They were awed by the quiet determination of his manner, and felt that +he would carry out his words.</p> + +<p>"Does you know who you has down dere below?" asked the man who had +spoken before.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, and I don't care; but he is not going to be murdered by +you cowards on board my vessel. If he has committed some crime, call the +police. I will deliver him over to them only."</p> + +<p>The passions of the mob had now cooled down considerably, and the men +began to light their pipes, and looked once more the staid Dutchmen they +naturally were.</p> + +<p>At this juncture five or six of the sturdy Rotterdam police arrived on +the spot, and commenced to disperse the crowd so effectually that in a +few minutes not a soul was left on the quay.</p> + +<p>One of the policemen, who understood a little English, came on board the +yacht and inquired from Carew how the disturbance had commenced.</p> + +<p>Carew told him all that had occurred.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p><p>"I should like to see the man," said the officer.</p> + +<p>They entered the cabin, and there, sitting in the corner of the bunk, +trembling, haggard, his face still quite white, save where it was +smeared with blood, was the French sailor who had that day been tried +for murder on the high seas, and been acquitted.</p> + +<p>"I thought so," said the policeman. "It is the accused, Baptiste Liais. +His case caused great excitement. The people are very bitter against +him, for they all believe he was guilty. He is not safe in Rotterdam. We +must find a way of getting him out of the country."</p> + +<p>"You can leave him here for the present," said Carew. "I will see that +the poor wretch is safe for the night."</p> + +<p>"It is very generous of you, sir," exclaimed the astonished policeman; +"but I think it is very unwise of you"—</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid of him," interrupted Carew, in peremptory tones. "Leave +him with me."</p> + +<p>The officer shrugged his shoulders. He had always been taught to believe +that Englishmen were eccentric creatures; so he went away and told his +comrades that the owner of the yacht was a splendid specimen of the mad +island race, and Carew and the Frenchman were left alone in the cabin +facing one another.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER VI</span></h2> + +<p>For some few moments Carew sat on the opposite bunk, watching the +sailor's face musingly. Then, rising, he addressed him in French. "I +will fetch you a glass of rum. It will do you good."</p> + +<p>"I thank you much, sir," said the man, in the same language; "I should +like it, for I still feel very faint."</p> + +<p>He drank a rather large dose of the spirit, and under its influence the +colour quickly returned to his cheek, and the scared look left his face.</p> + +<p>"You can now go into the forecastle and wash yourself," said Carew. "You +will find a jersey and a coat hanging up there; put them on." These had +belonged to the drowned sailor, Jim.</p> + +<p>When the Frenchman returned to the cabin cleansed of bloodstains and +decently clothed, the solicitor was surprised to see what a +respectable-looking fellow he was. He might well have been a gentleman +from his appearance, and his hands, though brown and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> roughened by work, +were small and finely shaped.</p> + +<p>"How do you feel now?"</p> + +<p>"Thanks to you, sir, I am now quite myself again."</p> + +<p>After a pause, Carew said, with a smile, "I never before saw such abject +terror in a man's face as there was in yours when you were running down +the quay."</p> + +<p>"That bloodthirsty <i>canaille</i> was enough to inspire terror. Ah, if I +could but get hold of that man who hit me with the stick! It was +horrible, to run down all those streets for life with that yelping pack +after me. I had no chance with them, though I am a good runner; for so +soon as the brutes wearied and lagged behind, fresh ones joined the +crowd at every corner. Ah, monsieur, I think you would have exhibited as +much terror yourself."</p> + +<p>"Not quite as much, I think," said Carew quietly.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not, monsieur. I am brave enough in some ways—braver, perhaps, +than you would be; but I have not that animal contempt for death that my +comrade, El Toro, for instance, possesses. Delicate fibres suffer the +most."</p> + +<p>"Then you are hardly a fit person to be a ringleader of mutineers. +Murderers should have no nerves."</p> + +<p>Baptiste Liais was a very calm person when he was not in fear, and he +had now entirely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> recovered his self-possession. He shrugged his +shoulders, and replied carelessly, "There are assassins and assassins, +monsieur. There is courage and courage. There is the blind bravery of +the soldier, who, shrinking not from bloodshed, risks his life in +battle; and there is the cool nerve of the educated man, who, in cold +blood, removes with poison those who stand in his way. I suppose you +allow that this last is also a species of courage?"</p> + +<p>"Is that your sort of courage?"</p> + +<p>The Frenchman shook his head in a deprecatory way, and exclaimed, in +tones of playful remonstrance, as if he were only rebutting a charge of +one of those offences which are tolerated, and even fashionable, "But, +monsieur, monsieur! you speak of me as if I had been proved to be an +assassin. You forget that I was acquitted."</p> + +<p>"You say that you are innocent?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. I am sure that I am a very inoffensive fellow." The man +spoke with the quiet ease of one gentleman to another. It was plain that +he had been used to decent society at some period of his life.</p> + +<p>"Were you never on board the <i>Vrouw Elisa</i>?"</p> + +<p>"I had never heard of the vessel till they arrested me here."</p> + +<p>"And your companions, the two Spaniards?"</p> + +<p>"As innocent as I am myself—no more, no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> less. But I see that you have +some of that excellent English tobacco on the table. Permit me to make +myself a cigarette."</p> + +<p>"You are a cool fellow, Baptiste Liais. I can see that you are a man of +education. You were not always a common sailor?"</p> + +<p>"Your perception flatters me. You have divined the truth," said the +Frenchman, bowing. "I am a gentleman by birth and education. My family +is one of the most ancient and respected of the Provençal aristocracy. I +need not tell you that the name I now go by is an assumed one. And +I—well I, to be candid, am the scapegrace of the family."</p> + +<p>He rolled himself up a cigarette, lit it, and, looking up, his eyes met +those of Carew in the frankest way possible. And yet the solicitor had +no doubt in his own mind that the man had committed the crimes imputed +to him; and the Frenchman, on his part, did not imagine for a moment +that Carew believed in his innocence.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you will now look out for another ship?" the solicitor said.</p> + +<p>"How can I do so in Rotterdam? My face is known here. I am +execrated—hunted down. No captain would ship me, no crew serve with +me."</p> + +<p>"Won't your consul assist you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so," replied the Frenchman drily.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p><p>Neither spoke for some time; then Carew said, "I realise your position, +and am sorry for you. Now supposing I were to ship you on board my +yacht, I imagine that it would be a matter of indifference to you to +what part of the world we sailed?"</p> + +<p>The Frenchman looked curiously and keenly at Carew out of the corners of +his eyes. "I don't care a rap where I go to so long as I get out of this +detestable Rotterdam," he replied.</p> + +<p>"And your friends—would they come too?"</p> + +<p>"Gladly. I will answer for them."</p> + +<p>"What sort of men are they?"</p> + +<p>"The little one, a Galician from Ferrol, is not at all a bad fellow, and +he is an excellent sailor; but the big Basque is a savage brute—one of +such is enough on a vessel. However, he can't do much harm by himself, +unless he makes the rest of your crew discontented. Are they +Englishmen?"</p> + +<p>"I am alone. I have discharged my crew; and there would only be you +three and myself on board."</p> + +<p>"That would be a sufficient number to navigate this little ship. Do you +really mean that you wish us to come with you?"</p> + +<p>"I do," replied Carew, after a slight hesitation; and the Frenchman eyed +him with a not unnatural astonishment.</p> + +<p>The solicitor had rapidly surveyed the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>situation in all its bearings, +and he had decided that it was his wisest and safest plan to engage +these ruffians as his crew. Morally weak, acutely fearful of disgrace, +and cowardly of conscience as he was, Carew had plenty of physical +courage. He was not the least daunted by the idea of venturing across +the wide ocean on a small yacht accompanied by these murderers.</p> + +<p>Here was a crew ready to sail with him at a moment's notice and ask no +questions. He felt that he ran but very little risk, after all; for +these ruffians would gain nothing by murdering him. Piracy, in the old +sense of the term, is almost impossible in these days. These men by +themselves could do nothing with the yacht; they could not take her into +any civilised port and dispose of her; neither of them could impersonate +an English barrister. The seizure of the <i>Vrouw Elisa</i> was a very +different matter; for the mutineers then knew that there was a +revolutionary party ready to purchase the vessel they had stolen.</p> + +<p>Again, he would make them acquainted with the fact that he was taking no +money with him on the yacht; and he would promise to pay them, on their +arrival at Buenos Ayres, a considerably larger sum than sailors ever +receive for such a voyage. Under these circumstances, it could not +possibly be to their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> interest to do away with him. On the contrary, it +would be to their manifest advantage to serve him faithfully. Unless the +men were absolute idiots, they would see all this; and he knew that the +Frenchman, at least, was far too intelligent a man to commit a senseless +crime that could do him no good.</p> + +<p>So argued the solicitor; and there was yet another more subtle motive +that urged him to engage these three men in preference to honest +sailors—a motive of which he himself was only dimly conscious. When a +man has a sentimental objection to being a villain, and yet is one, and +has no intention of reforming, he likes his surroundings not to be of a +sort to reproach him and remind him of his crimes. It is painful to him +to associate with good men. He prefers to be in the company of the bad; +in their presence he does not feel the shame of his wickedness. So this +man, with his strangely complex mind and conflicting instincts, was glad +to take unto himself men worse even than himself as his companions +across the ocean.</p> + +<p>"And to what port did you say you were sailing?" asked the Frenchman.</p> + +<p>"I will not tell you that until we are out at sea."</p> + +<p>"Oh, very well," said the man, again casting a keen glance at Carew's +face, and smiling, as one who should say, "Have you too your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +secret—have you too committed a crime? If so, there should at once be +an agreeable bond of sympathy between us."</p> + +<p>"How soon do you sail, sir?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"If you are all on board to-night we will sail at daybreak. I am ready +for sea. You need not trouble about getting an outfit, for I have plenty +of clothes in the yacht for the lot of you." Carew was thinking of the +effects of Allen and his man Jim.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is excellent!" cried the Frenchman. "And, excuse me, sir; what +pay will you give us?—not that I wish to chaffer with one who has come +to my rescue in so generous a manner."</p> + +<p>"And I do not wish to stint you," replied Carew. "You, as mate, shall +have seven pounds a month; your comrades five pounds a month each."</p> + +<p>"That will do very well; but I should like you not to let the others +know that I am receiving a higher pay than they. They might be +jealous—not to say dangerous," said the cunning fellow. "Ha! what is +that?" The Frenchman started, gripped Carew by the arm, and his cheeks +again became white with fear.</p> + +<p>There was a sound of footsteps on the deck, and the next moment the +tub-shaped Willem entered the cabin. When he saw who was sitting +opposite to his master he stood stock<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> still, his jaw dropped, and an +expression of extreme astonishment, which amounted to horror, settled on +his stupid, honest face.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter with you, Willem?" asked Carew, knowing well what +was about to happen. "This is the mate I have engaged for the yacht."</p> + +<p>"Dat—dat man!" cried the Dutchman, finding his voice with difficulty. +"You know who dat man is?"</p> + +<p>"I do. He has just left the court-house. He was unjustly accused of +murder, and has been found innocent."</p> + +<p>"Vat—you take dat man for mate! Oh, den I go—I go at vonce! I not stay +on board vid dat man."</p> + +<p>The usually stolid Dutchman trembled with excitement, and his broad face +was scarlet with indignation. After a few minutes, finding that Carew +was obdurate and would insist on engaging the most loathed man in all +Rotterdam as mate, Willem rolled up his scanty luggage into a bundle, +demanded and received the few guilders that were owing to him, and +hurried on shore, grumbling uncouth Dutch oaths to himself as he went.</p> + +<p>Then the Frenchman, who had been observing the scene with a cynical +smile, laughed bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Had I been the fiend himself that fat idiot could not have been much +more terrified at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> the sight of me. Ah, how they love me—these worthy +people of Rotterdam!"</p> + +<p>For a moment there was a troubled look upon Carew's face. With his usual +inconsistency he half regretted, when it was too late, that honest +Willem had left him. It seemed to him that he had now broken the last +tie between himself and the world of law-abiding men. He felt a vague +sense of something lost to him for ever; as if his guardian angel, +despairing of him, had forsaken him. But he quickly shook off the +feeling as a foolish fancy, and turned his attention to the business he +had on hand.</p> + +<p>"Now, Baptiste," he said, "we must find your two comrades. Do you know +where they are?"</p> + +<p>"I think I can find them. Anticipating a separation, we arranged a +rendezvous. But I dare not walk through the streets to look for them; I +should be recognised and murdered."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! we will soon disguise you. Shave off your moustache and put +on a suit of clothes that I will lend you, and your own mother would not +know you."</p> + +<p>The Frenchman obeyed these instructions, and was so satisfied with the +change effected in his appearance by a hairless lip and a suit of poor +Allen's clothes that he no longer hesitated to go forth in search of his +two shipmates.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p><p>Left alone, Carew pondered, with satisfaction, on his day's doings. All +was going on well so far. "Lucky it is for me," he thought, "that there +is an Admiralty warrant on the yacht. Provided with that useful +document, I sail under the blue ensign of Her Majesty's fleet, and can +do pretty well what I like. No authorities in any port will trouble me +in the least. I can avoid the formality of taking my crew before the +consul to sign articles, and I will dispense with a bill of health from +this port. I may get quarantine for a few days in consequence of this +last omission; but what is that to the peril of informing our consul +here of my destination? And, by the bye, I am engaged to dine with +Mynheer Hoogendyk to-morrow. I am afraid I shall keep him waiting, and +over the spoiling dinner his cook will lose her temper; for by that time +I ought to be well out in the North Sea."</p> + +<p>After about an hour's absence the Frenchman returned, accompanied by the +two Spaniards. They entered the cabin, the little Galician all smiles, +the big Basque awkward, vainly attempting not to scowl; but, do all he +could, he still looked the brutal ruffian he was.</p> + +<p>"I have been very lucky," said Liais. "I soon found our lost lambs."</p> + +<p>"Have you explained my proposal to them?" Carew asked.</p> + +<p>"I have, and they are quite content with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> pay you offer. They don't +care a straw where you take them to, so long as it is not to a Spanish +port. It seems that the lads are somewhat weary of their native land, +and they tell me that they have some officious acquaintances among the +Spanish police whom they would prefer not to meet."</p> + +<p>"I understand. I shall not call at any Spanish port; so they may set +their minds at ease. And now I will inscribe your names in this book, if +you please." He took Allen's diary out of the drawer. "First of all, +there is Baptiste Liais, mate."</p> + +<p>"No; put me down plain Baptiste. My name is so well known now that I +should like to leave half of it out."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Carew, as he wrote. "And who is this big fellow?"</p> + +<p>"His name is Juan Silvas. But he, too, would rather be called by any +other name, after the unpleasant publicity of the trial. His nickname +among us is El Toro—the bull—because of his goggle eyes, his bull-like +features and strength, and his blind, bovine rage. Put him down as Juan +Toro."</p> + +<p>"Good; it is done. And what is the other man's name?"</p> + +<p>"José Rodez, known among his intimates as El Chico, or the little one."</p> + +<p>"Then, following your system, I will inscribe him as José Chico. Will +that do?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p><p>"One name is as good as another," replied the Frenchman; "but oh, <i>mon +capitaine</i>, this has been a somewhat trying day for us, and we are all +very hungry."</p> + +<p>"There is plenty of food on board. I will show you where to find it. +Give the lads some supper; then turn in, all of you. The tide is early, +and we sail at daybreak."</p> + +<p>The next morning, just as the first slight murmuring sound arose from +the big city, telling that the giant was awaking to its restless life, +the canal lock was opened, and the yacht shot out into the tideway.</p> + +<p>Carew, who had taken mental notes of the navigation when sailing up the +Maas, refused the assistance of a pilot, and took his vessel safely down +the rapid river, across the shoals that encumber the estuary, and out +into the open sea. The weather was splendid, and the wind favoured him, +as it blew freshly from the south-east.</p> + +<p>Then Carew's pulse quickened; a wild exultation thrilled him, as the +yacht, leaning well over to the steady wind, all her canvas set, rushed +with pleasant sound through the smooth water. At that moment he felt +happy, even proud of himself. He was safe at last, free from all +anxiety. How Fortune had befriended him! That fatal superstition in luck +that comes to the criminal and the gambler possessed him. Whom the gods +wish to destroy they first make mad.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p><p>"Baptiste," he said, "I have heard it is a custom of Spain for the +captain of a vessel, as soon as she is well outside the harbour, to call +all hands aft and serve round grog, so that they can drink to the +prosperity of the voyage. Fetch up some rum, and give each a glass."</p> + +<p>The Frenchman obeyed the order. Carew was steering at the time, and the +men stood round him, glasses in hand, awaiting the toast. Then the +captain raised his glass in his disengaged hand, and called out in +French—</p> + +<p>"Comrades, here's to a prosperous voyage—<i>to Buenos Ayres</i>!"</p> + +<p>When the men heard their destination they seemed dumb with surprise for +a moment; then they raised a joyful shout. The prospect was evidently an +agreeable one to them.</p> + +<p>"To Buenos Ayres," said the Frenchman, bowing to Carew with a knowing +smile, "the land where there is no extradition."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER VII</span></h2> + +<p>It was mid-ocean, and no land was in sight. The glassily smooth surface +of the sea was not broken by the faintest ripple, but it rose and fell +slowly with the long, rhythmical swell of the Atlantic. Gentle now was +the massive heaving of the giant's bosom, showing that he was slumbering +only, and that the strong, fierce life was there, ready to be awakened +at any moment to its energy of cruel destruction.</p> + +<p>Though the swell must have been of considerable height, yet so gentle +was the undulation that no motion whatever would have been perceptible +to one on the deck of a vessel, unless he had observed how the horizon +was withdrawn from his sight at regular intervals by the intervening +hills of water, as the vessel softly glided down the easy slopes into +the broad valleys between. The wind was quite still. The sky above was +clear and of a deeper blue than is known in northern climes; but on the +eastern horizon lay a long, low bank of very dark cloud, seeming almost +black in contrast to the elsewhere dazzling glare.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p><p>The sea, to one looking across it, would have appeared of a beautiful +indigo tint; but if one gazed straight down into the water, it seemed +opaque in the purple blackness of its profundity, as if the perpetual +night that reigned in the mysterious depths below were sending its +shadow upwards to the surface. Yet so perfectly translucent was that +ink-like water that any bright object, such as a plate, thrown into it +would remain distinctly visible as it slowly descended—yes, even till +it was so far down that it seemed no larger than a small coin.</p> + +<p>The yacht <i>Petrel</i> lay becalmed on the tropical sea. All her canvas had +been lowered, and she floated idly, while the fierce, vertical sun was +blistering the paint on her sides, and the melting pitch oozed from the +seams of her decks.</p> + +<p>For thirteen days she had been drifting thus on a windless ocean, her +crew languid and irritable from the stifling heat, which it is +impossible to mitigate on a small craft, waiting for the breeze that +never came.</p> + +<p>For thirteen days of unbearable calm, broken only by occasional brief +squalls, accompanied by torrential downpour of rain, and thunder and +lightning of appalling grandeur—squalls which raised the flagging hopes +of the men for a space, and to which they hastily hoisted their canvas, +that they might be carried out of this dismal tract of the ocean; but +after they had been driven on their way a mile or two only,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> the wind +would suddenly drop again, the dark clouds would clear away, and the sun +would blaze down fiercer than ever out of the implacable sky.</p> + +<p>The <i>Petrel</i> had reached the region of the equatorial calms, the sultry +Doldrums dreaded by the sailor, that broad belt of sluggish sea that +divides the tract of the north-east trade wind from that of the +south-east. Here the aërial currents neutralise each other and are at +rest—a desolate, rainy ocean that lies under an almost stagnant +atmosphere of steaming heat, where vessels have lain becalmed for +wearisome week after week; even, in many cases, until the supply of +fresh water had been exhausted and the men perished of thirst. And yet +to the northward and to the southward the fresh trade winds blow +perpetually in one direction, across vast stretches of ever-tossing +waves.</p> + +<p>The voyage of the <i>Petrel</i> had been a very prosperous one up to this +point. She had met with fair winds for the most part until she reached +the limits of the north-east trades, which, blowing right aft, had +carried her on her way at the rate of nearly two hundred miles a day. +Carew had sighted Madeira and the westernmost islands of the Cape Verde +archipelago; but as the yacht was well provided with provisions, he had +not called at any port. After having been a little over a month at sea, +he had entered the calm region about the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> equator, and here, as I have +said, scarcely any progress was made for a fortnight.</p> + +<p>By this time the crew had settled down to the regular routine of +ship-life, and Carew was, on the whole, well satisfied with the men. The +savagery of the big Basque would occasionally assert itself, and he was +ever ready to pick a quarrel with his mates. The only one on board whom +El Toro respected and feared was Carew himself; for he felt that the +Englishman combined a physical courage, at least equal to his own, with +a superior education; and the man who possesses these two qualities can +always master a merely brute nature. El Toro did not conceal his +contempt for Baptiste, who excelled him in mental ability alone; and +again, he could not converse ten minutes with the little Galician +without an altercation arising; for the latter, who had all the pluck of +his big comrade, was fond of wagging his sharp tongue, and could not +refrain from malicious banter, despite the long sheath-knife which was +always so ready to the Basque's right hand.</p> + +<p>Carew, who had quickly gauged the character of his companions, took El +Toro on his own watch, leaving El Chico to the French mate. Thus, as +watch and watch was observed in the regular ship fashion—that is, one +watch relieving the other every four hours—the cantankerous Basque had +but few opportunities of associating with the other men.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p><p>But during the fortnight of calm the discipline of the yacht had been +relaxed. As there was no need for it, the usual watches had not been +set; and, after they had completed the small amount of necessary work +each day, the men were allowed to employ the rest of the time much as +they liked. A prolonged calm on the line is trying even to the most +amiable tempers; so that it is not to be wondered at that, on one +occasion, El Toro, being modest as to his own powers of repartee, +preferred to reply to a chaffing remark of El Chico's with a practical +retort in the shape of a vicious stab, which might easily have +diminished the ship's company by one had not the quick-eyed little man, +leaping nimbly backwards, escaped with a slight scratch on his arm.</p> + +<p>For this offence Carew, knowing his man and how best to punish him, +informed the Basque that a fine of a fortnight's pay had been entered +against his name in the log-book.</p> + +<p>It was nearly midday, and the heat of the still, moist air was intense. +The French mate lay reclined under an awning on the after-deck, rolling +up cigarette after cigarette, and smoking them with half-shut eyes as he +dreamily meditated.</p> + +<p>In the bows, under an awning extemporised out of an old sail, were +squatting the two Spaniards, playing at <i>monte</i> with a very dirty pack +of cards. Now and then would be heard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> the sonorous oaths of the Basque, +as he savagely reviled his bad luck, or the triumphant chuckle of El +Chico, whom fortune was favouring. These two had been gambling almost +incessantly during the calm, for the money they were to receive from +Carew on their arrival at Buenos Ayres. The Galician had already +succeeded in winning El Toro's pay for many weeks in advance. Neither of +the men could read or write, but they kept a tally of their debts of +honour—over which there was much wrangling—by cutting notches on a +beam in the forecastle.</p> + +<p>A few minutes before noon Carew came on deck, sextant in hand, and the +mate rose to his feet lazily. Carew's face was now bronzed by the +tropical sun, and was fuller than it had been two months back. The +haggard expression, the restless anxiety of his eye, had gone. He looked +like a man with the easiest of consciences.</p> + +<p>He glanced at the two card-players forward. "Have you taken the +precaution I ordered?" he asked the mate.</p> + +<p>"I have, captain; here they are," and Baptiste produced two formidable +knives from his pocket.</p> + +<p>Since the incident I have mentioned, Carew had instituted a rule, to the +effect that the men should not play at cards or dice unless they had +previously delivered their weapons to one of the two officers.</p> + +<p>El Chico overheard the mate's reply. "Ah,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> captain," he cried, "you'll +have to hand both knives over to me at the end of this game. I shall +have won everything El Toro possesses in the world if my luck holds as +it is doing now."</p> + +<p>"<i>Caramba!</i> it is too much; a plague on the cards!" cried the Basque +furiously, hurling the pack across the deck. "I'll have no more of them. +If I have no knife, I have these hands," and he opened them out with a +gesture of rage in front of the Galician. "I could circle your little +neck with these, and throttle you in half a minute, El Chico."</p> + +<p>El Chico said nothing, but shrugged his shoulders with a provoking +coolness.</p> + +<p>"El Toro, come aft," cried Carew, who had acquired enough Spanish to +give his orders in that tongue; "come aft, and set up that mizzen +rigging; it's as slack as possible."</p> + +<p>The wild beast acknowledged its master and proceeded to obey his orders +in a surly fashion, even as Caliban might have reluctantly carried out +some behest of the superior intelligence that had enslaved him.</p> + +<p>"This calm seems as if it would never end," said Carew to the mate. "It +looks black yonder. Another squall, I suppose. Just enough to entice us +to hoist our sails, and then to die away again."</p> + +<p>"I don't see anything like the trade-wind sky about," said Baptiste, who +had sailed the tropical seas before.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p><p>Carew took his midday observation of the sun; then, lowering his +sextant, called out, "Make it eight bells, Baptiste," and went below to +work out his position.</p> + +<p>He found that the <i>Petrel</i> had only travelled five miles in the last +twenty-four hours. He was seventy miles north of the equator, and his +longitude by dead-reckoning (he had, as has been explained, no +chronometer on board) was about 30° west, so that he was distant some +five hundred miles from Cape St. Roque, the most easterly point of the +New World.</p> + +<p>Soon after noon the dark bank of cloud rose rapidly from the horizon and +overspread the whole heavens; the rain began to pour down as it only can +in these equatorial regions, and a fresh breeze from the south-east +cooled the heated atmosphere.</p> + +<p>The sails were hoisted, and the yacht ran some two or three miles; then +the hopeless calm fell again, and there was not a cloud to be seen in +the blue vault above. The sails flapped to and fro with a loud noise as +the vessel rolled in the swell which the breeze had left behind it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this accursed calm!" cried Carew impatiently; "down with all your +canvas again."</p> + +<p>The men obeyed, grumbling at their ill-luck, and then resumed their game +of <i>monte</i>.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon the heat became more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> oppressive than ever, and it was +impossible to stay below; so all hands remained under the awnings on +deck.</p> + +<p>The mate, after pondering for some while, said to Carew, "We shall run +short of water if this continues much longer."</p> + +<p>"I have thought of that. We must serve out a smaller allowance."</p> + +<p>"Buenos Ayres is a long way off yet, captain. Would it not be well to +put into some Brazilian port for water and vegetables? This heat is very +trying on a small vessel like this. We shall have illness on board if we +are not careful."</p> + +<p>"I do not wish to break the voyage anywhere, unless it is absolutely +necessary," Carew replied.</p> + +<p>"I know these countries," Baptiste continued; "and there is one very +good reason why you should call at some port on the way."</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"You have no bill of health with you. Now in Buenos Ayres the +authorities are very afraid of yellow fever, and if you arrive there +with no papers to show where you are from, they will take it for granted +that you have come from some infected port, and that you have probably +lost some hands on the voyage and wish to conceal it. They would, +therefore, put you in quarantine for who knows how long. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> might, +under the suspicious circumstances, refuse even to give you pratique at +all, and send you off to sea again."</p> + +<p>"How will calling at a Brazilian port remedy that?"</p> + +<p>"Because in Brazil they are not afraid of yellow fever, as they always +have it there. At Rio they won't trouble you at all, and your consul +will give you a clean bill of health for Buenos Ayres. Then, being +satisfied that you have had no illness on board, the Buenos Ayres people +will grant you pratique after, let us say, a quarantine of four days, +even if yellow fever were raging at Rio."</p> + +<p>"A queer plan to avoid quarantine for Yellow Jack by calling at the +headquarters of the fever!" said Carew; "but I see that you are right. I +will put into Rio."</p> + +<p>After a pause the Frenchman said thoughtfully, "I shall be sorry to +leave this vessel, sir. I suppose you still think of selling her in the +River Plate. I should like to continue the cruise for another year."</p> + +<p>"So should I, but I can't afford it. Yachting is an expensive +amusement."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know that. A cruise may be made to pay its way even in +these days, especially if one carries a warrant from the Admiralty of +one's country like you do. The authorities are always civil to one who +sails under the Government blue ensign, and never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> trouble him with the +tedious formalities the common merchantman is subjected to."</p> + +<p>"I don't know what you mean," said Carew. "There is no money to be made +now by legitimate trade at sea. Besides, a yacht is not allowed to trade +at all."</p> + +<p>"I said nothing about legitimate trade," said the Frenchman quietly, as +he rolled himself another cigarette.</p> + +<p>The eyes of the two men met, and they understood each other.</p> + +<p>The mate had never let drop so broad a hint before; but he knew that he +was safe in doing so. There had existed for some time a sort of +freemasonry of crime between himself and Carew. They had been thrown +altogether upon each other's society of late. Both were educated men, +and gentlemen by birth; both were shrewd readers of character; and it is +so far easier for the bad than for the good man to recognise a kindred +nature.</p> + +<p>Carew did not exactly entertain a liking for his mate, but he found his +companionship far pleasanter than that of any other man could have been. +The Frenchman's tolerant way of looking at crime was peculiarly +gratifying to the ex-solicitor. It acted as a most soothing salve to his +conscience.</p> + +<p>He liked to hear the man's cynical talk—the superficial philosophy with +which he defended crime as being the least hypocritical way of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> obeying +nature's law of the struggle for existence. The very presence of this +villain seemed to exert a strange, magnetic influence on Carew's pliable +soul, lulling it into a fool's paradise.</p> + +<p>Such an affinity for evil between two men who are much together will +soon destroy any conscience that either of them may happen to possess.</p> + +<p>So Carew, having become accustomed to an atmosphere of crime, no longer +shrank from the thought of it, and, with an amused smile, replied to the +mate's remark, "What piece of villainy are you going to suggest now, +Baptiste?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think you ought to use that word villainy," protested the +Frenchman, with an air of comic indignation. "As a matter of fact, I was +not at that moment thinking of any one particular 'piece of villainy,' +but vaguely of a great number of feasible schemes I know of for +transferring the wickedly-earned riches of others into our own deserving +pockets."</p> + +<p>"This is highly interesting," said Carew, in a bantering tone. "Explain +one of these notable schemes of yours, Baptiste."</p> + +<p>But the Frenchman did not reply. He looked round the horizon with a +puzzled expression, and, putting his hand to his ear, appeared to be +listening intently.</p> + +<p>"Hark, captain! What is that?" he cried.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER VIII</span></h2> + +<p>Carew listened, and heard a low, rumbling sound like distant thunder.</p> + +<p>"Thunder out of a cloudless sky! That is strange."</p> + +<p>"That is no thunder, captain," said Baptiste, with a scared look, "but +what it is I know not."</p> + +<p>The sound became louder. It did not seem to be approaching from any +direction, but to be everywhere—around, below, above—filling all +space. Then it swelled to a great roar, as of the rolling of thousands +of drums. The air trembled at the sound, and the surface of the sea no +longer reflected the blue sky above, but, appearing like a mirror over +which one has breathed, vibrated into myriads of wrinkles and gyrating +rings. Soon the water began to be greatly disturbed, and raved and +foamed about the vessel as if she were floating in a boiling caldron. +Then occurred an appalling prodigy. First, louder than loudest thunder, +was heard a deafening explosion, and immediately the sea leapt up, not +in waves, but in steep pyramids of water, piling itself up in domes, as +if some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> mighty force were thrusting it up from below. The yacht pitched +wildly into the confused whirl till she was nigh to break up with the +violence of the shocks, and the water poured over her decks in masses, +threatening to swamp her. Hollow whirlpools opened out suddenly in front +of her, seeking to engulf her: a fearful spectacle to behold, which +might make even the bravest men go mad with fright. Then came another +explosion, and the superstitious Spaniards, holding on to the rigging +for dear life, shrieked with abject terror as they saw the limpid sea +suddenly thicken and change its colour to a dark, sulphurous yellow. +There was an odour of sulphur in the air, and the sun was shining +through a sickly yellow haze.</p> + +<p>The crew, who would have done their duty with cool courage in a +hurricane, were completely unnerved by this alarming portent. The two +men forward thought that the fiend himself had opened hell under them to +swallow up their sinful souls; they prayed and blasphemed in turns. The +French mate, white to his lips and trembling, clutched the rigging, with +his eyes closed. Carew alone, though his cheeks were pale, was calm. +Holding on to the bulwark to prevent himself from being thrown overboard +by the violent leaping of the yacht, he looked around him with a +resolute expression. He would fight bravely for his life, but he had no +fear of death.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p><p>In the midst of this turmoil a strong wind suddenly arose.</p> + +<p>"Hoist the foresail!" he shouted; but none of the terrified men obeyed +the order. "Cowardly idiots!" he cried, and scrambling forward as well +as he could to the mast, he seized the fore-halyards and set the sail. +Then he returned to the tiller, after having been nearly washed +overboard by a sea on the way, and steered the vessel dead before the +wind.</p> + +<p>In ten minutes he had sailed, not without danger, outside the circle of +raging water; and looking back he saw that the disturbance had already +commenced to subside, and the loud roaring had lessened to a distant +moaning.</p> + +<p>"<i>Locos!</i>" he cried; "madmen, cowards, hoist the mainsail! Are you women +to be so scared by a slight <i>terremoto</i>?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know that there were earthquakes in mid-ocean," said El Toro, +who was the first to recover somewhat from his fright. "But, captain, +you are a curious one. I knew you feared no man; but, <i>caramba!</i> it +seems you don't fear the devil himself."</p> + +<p>"Up mainsail," cried Carew again, "and don't jabber, thou great coward! +Hurry up. We have a fair wind."</p> + +<p>The mate was now himself again. "Aha! the <i>terremoto</i> has brought us +luck," he cried. "Look yonder, captain," and he pointed to the east, +where the sky had become suddenly covered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> with small fleecy clouds. "I +know that sign—that is the trade wind."</p> + +<p>They put all sail on the vessel, and were soon bowling along before the +ever-freshening wind. They had left behind them the dreary region of the +Doldrums, with its stifling heat, and the air above the dancing waves +was cool and bracing.</p> + +<p>The mate, who was steering, began to chaff his companions. "Say, El +Toro, you thought the authorities below had sent for you when you felt +that trembling of the sea."</p> + +<p>"Trembling?" replied the Basque gruffly. "There was more trembling of +thee than of the sea itself, thou white-gilled Frenchman."</p> + +<p>"So there was," drawled the sarcastic El Chico. "But let us remember +that our mate is a man of education—of soul. His nerves are in harmony +with Nature. When Nature is merry he is merry; when Nature trembles; he +trembles. But that is poetical sympathy, not fear, my friend El Toro."</p> + +<p>And so these three reviled each other's cowardice, until Carew, fearing +bloodshed, called out, "Now, then, stop that discussion, or all of you +bring me your knives here."</p> + +<p>Then this amiable crew smoked and sulked in silence for a while.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards, Carew was below studying a chart of the South +Atlantic. To him came down the mate, who looked over his shoulder and +asked, "How far are we now from Rio, sir?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p><p>"About sixteen hundred miles," was the reply. "That means a run of nine +or ten days at the outside with this wind."</p> + +<p>"You are a man of great nerve," said the mate, filled with a genuine +admiration. "I thought the bravest man would have lost his head in that +horrid earthquake."</p> + +<p>Carew laughed. "Mine was only the courage of science at the best, +Baptiste. You see, the phenomenon did not take me by surprise. I half +expected something of the sort."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is very simple. See here,"—he pointed to the chart,—"read +that." The words, "Volcanic region of the Atlantic," were printed across +a large tract of ocean in the vicinity of the equator. "Now, if you will +turn over the pages of the <i>South Atlantic Pilot Directory</i>, you will +read that this part of the Atlantic is peculiarly subject to volcanic +disturbance; so much so, that mariners are in this book warned on the +subject. There are no soundings hereabouts with two thousand fathoms of +line, and yet the disturbance is transmitted upwards through all those +miles of water; so you can imagine the violent forces that are at work +below us. It is rare that a vessel crosses this strange corner of the +sea without experiencing some manifestation or other of this nature. +Sometimes it may be only a discoloration of the water that is noticed; +sometimes a shock<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> is felt as if the vessel had struck a rock, or she +shivers till the masts are like to be thrown out of her. It is a region +terrible to superstitious sailors; but I believe it is rare that a +vessel has sustained any serious damage from these convulsions."</p> + +<p>"Even if I had known all that I should have lost my nerve; for, say what +you like, captain, our danger was a very real one. The <i>terremoto</i> has +done one good thing, anyhow: it has inspired El Chico and El Toro with +an immense respect for your courage. We won't tell them that you were +forewarned by the pilot book. You can do what you like with those men +after this, Captain Allen. For the future they are your obedient +slaves."</p> + +<p>The brave trade wind blew without intermission for ten days, and then +Carew, being in the latitude of Rio de Janeiro, steered due west for the +land, which, according to his dead-reckoning, was not two hundred miles +distant. It was night, and the wind having fallen light, the yacht made +little progress. At midnight Carew came on deck to relieve the mate.</p> + +<p>"Look over there," said Baptiste, pointing across the vessel's bows to +the westward. "Those are the lights of Rio."</p> + +<p>"What! so soon?" cried Carew; and turning his eyes in the indicated +direction he perceived, not indeed the gleam of a lighthouse or other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +ordinary sign of approaching land, but an appearance as of a stormy +dawn. High above the horizon hung masses of clouds whose lower surface +was of a faint red, as if they were reflecting some immense +conflagration too far away to be yet visible.</p> + +<p>"You cannot distinguish any other city in the world from such a +distance," said the mate. "When you are one hundred miles—yes, and more +than that—away, you can tell the position of Rio de Janeiro by the +glare that hangs over it at night. The gaslights there are innumerable. +I have heard that it is the best lighted city in the world, and I +believe it. At midnight the streets are illuminated as if for a fête; +and, what is more, all the roads and paths that lead out into the +country and up to the tops of the mountains are better lit than any of +the streets in your London. Ah, the capital of the Brazils is a +wonderful place!"</p> + +<p>As Carew discovered later on, Baptiste had not exaggerated the facts.</p> + +<p>At daybreak Carew was still on deck, being anxious to catch a first +glimpse of the New World after so many weeks upon the desert seas.</p> + +<p>When the sun rose the blue sky was cloudless, but the western horizon +was obscured by a white fog, which, Baptiste said, nearly always hovered +over this coast at early morning.</p> + +<p>Of a sudden the upper portion of the mist lifted, and high above them +there appeared,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> as if floating in mid-air, the summit of a huge +mountain. It was of cubical shape, with perpendicular sides of bare, +smooth stone, like the altar of some giant race—a marvellous sight to +thus burst suddenly upon men who had for so long seen nothing but sky +and water.</p> + +<p>"That is the Gavia Mountain," cried Baptiste; "it lies to the left of +the entrance of the Bay of Rio."</p> + +<p>Then the morning breeze came down upon the land, and, as by enchantment, +the mist vanished, and all the features of that wonderful coast were +revealed to them.</p> + +<p>Lofty mountains of the most fantastic forms rose sheer from the sea. +Some were great pyramids or peaks of ruddy granite gleaming like molten +gold in the sunshine; others, sloping more gently, were covered with +great forests of tropical vegetation. Along the whole shore extended a +white line of foam, where the Atlantic swell, piled up by the fresh +trade winds, perpetually thundered at the base of the cliffs. In places +the ravines terminated in beautiful bays, where on beaches of silver +sand the cocoa-nut trees waved their rustling branches. The tropical +seas wash no lovelier a land than this; and at that moment, with the sun +still low in the east, there were a softness and translucency in the +gorgeous colouring that gave an unreal and fairy-like aspect to the +scene. Close under the conical mountain known as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> the Sugar Loaf a gorge +opened out, and through this was seen the vast expanse of the Bay of +Rio, which the old navigators, in their admiration for its beauty, +likened unto the gates of heaven.</p> + +<p>The yacht crossed the tumbling waters on the bar, sailed through the +majestic gates, and floated on the still, pale green water of the inland +sea.</p> + +<p>The Bay of Rio is considered to be the fairest of all the harbours of +the earth, and one who has seen it can well believe that it is so. +Imagine a vast lake, some eighty miles in circumference, surrounded by +grand mountains, indented with many winding bays, and studded with +islands of all sizes, on whose shores are many towns and villages, chief +among which is the empire city of South America, the white Rio de +Janeiro. A luxuriant vegetation comes down to the very edge of the +water, even up to the streets of the city; the varied foliage of many +species of palms, the luscious blades of the bananas, the spreading +mangos, and bread-fruit trees giving a cool appearance to the torrid +land.</p> + +<p>About a mile from the city of Rio, at the entrance of the bay, is the +fortified island of Villegagnon. The yacht was sailing close under its +shore, the mate steering. Carew was gazing at the grand scenery around +him with deep emotion. Under the influence of this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> lovely nature, his +thoughts became tender and pure; his soul was strangely subdued, and his +mind sank into a happy reverie, such as good men who feel secure in +their innocence are supposed alone to enjoy.</p> + +<p>The mate was watching Carew's face; then he said, in a casual manner—</p> + +<p>"I know this port pretty well, Mr. Allen, though I have only been here +once before; and, by the way, I was sailing then in an English barque. +Let me see, what was the captain's name? Captain Grou—no, it was not +that—Garou—Carou—oh yes, that was it—Captain Carou."</p> + +<p>Carew started visibly and looked steadily into the mate's face, but he +could read nothing in those impassive features. "It is but a +coincidence," he said to himself. "It is impossible that Baptiste can +have discovered my real name. There are many Carews in the world, after +all." Nevertheless, the sound of the name he had put away from him for +ever disturbed him greatly. He was awakened from his pleasant reverie, +and the beautiful scenery had no more delights for him. All the evil +things which he had done and had yet to do were unpleasantly brought to +his mind. Now that he saw the great city before him, he shrank from the +idea of mixing once more with his fellow-men. He wished he were out on +the open sea again.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p><p>"Baptiste," he said, "I should like to bring up some way from the +quays; it will be quieter."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, captain. Let us bring up here under Villegagnon; it will be +cooler and healthier than farther in. Look yonder at the merchantman +anchorage. I see the yellow flag flying from at least a dozen foremasts. +The yellow fever is evidently playing mischief at present."</p> + +<p>Baptiste had not been unobservant of Carew's start and change of +expression at the mention of his name. The wily Frenchman had a game to +play: he had put down his first card with a result that satisfied him.</p> + +<p>The anchor was let go under Villegagnon and the sails were stowed; then +Baptiste, looking around him, happened to perceive a barque anchored +about half a mile off. "Ho, El Toro," he cried; "look at that barque. Is +she not the very sister to the old <i>Vrouw Elisa</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Baptiste," said Carew sternly, "you told me that you had never been on +board the <i>Vrouw Elisa</i>."</p> + +<p>The mate, not in the least disconcerted, laughed, and replied, "That +does not prevent my knowing her by sight, surely, Captain Carou—I +mean—how stupid of me!—Captain Allen."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER IX</span></h2> + +<p>Shortly after the <i>Petrel's</i> anchor had been let go, under the island of +Villegagnon, a galley, manned by brawny blacks, came off to the yacht; a +Brazilian gentleman in uniform leapt on deck and introduced himself as +the doctor of the port. On hearing that the vessel was an English yacht +sailing under an Admiralty flag he raised no difficulties, but granted +Carew pratique at once, despite the absence of a clean bill of health +from Rotterdam.</p> + +<p>When the health boat had gone off again, Carew ordered the dinghy to be +lowered. "I will go on shore at once, Baptiste," he said. "I will call +on the British consul, and ask him for a clean bill of health for Buenos +Ayres. We won't stay longer than is necessary in this unhealthy place."</p> + +<p>"May I suggest," replied the mate, "that you should give the lads a few +dollars of their pay, and allow them a run on shore to stretch their +legs after having been cooped up so long in this little craft?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p><p>Carew remembered the empty condition of the ship's treasury, and did +not see his way to paying his crew any portion of their wages at +present.</p> + +<p>"If they go on shore they will drink rum in the sun, and catch Yellow +Jack," he said.</p> + +<p>"Not they, sir. These are sober Spaniards, and they are too acclimatised +to run much risk of fever."</p> + +<p>"I'll think the matter over. But we'll leave the two men in charge this +afternoon. You come on shore with me, Baptiste. You know Rio, and can +show me the way about."</p> + +<p>So Carew and the mate got into the dinghy, and the latter, taking the +oars, pulled off towards the Mole. They landed on a quay bordered by a +negro market, where fish, fruit, rags, and all manner of odds and ends +were sold by very fat negresses in huge yellow turbans; a filthy and +malodorous spot. After leaving the dinghy in charge of a custom-house +officer, they hustled their way through the jabbering crowd of blacks, +and entered the chief streets of the city.</p> + +<p>Baptiste, who evidently knew his way well, brought Carew to the door of +the British Consulate. "I will leave you now, captain," he said, "to +transact your business. Let me have a dollar or so to amuse myself with, +and I will meet you in an hour's time at the corner of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> chief +street, the Rua Ovidor, in front of the big jeweller's shop."</p> + +<p>Carew gave him a ten-shilling piece—he only had two more in the world +now—and they separated.</p> + +<p>Having obtained a bill of health from the consul, Carew strolled through +the hot streets until the appointed time, when the mate, punctual to a +minute, met him at the corner of the Rua Ovidor.</p> + +<p>"Captain," said Baptiste, "it is stifling in these streets. Let us get +on a tram and drive out of the town to the Botanical Gardens. It will be +cooler there, and I wish to speak to you in a quiet place where there +are no eavesdroppers about. I have made an important discovery since I +left you."</p> + +<p>With a noise of jingling bells the mules carried them rapidly through +the suburbs of the city; past fairy-like villas that seemed to be built +of delicately tinted porcelain, surrounded by gardens that were +paradises of exquisite plants, with cool fountains splashing under the +feathery palms; past groves of marvellous trees that bore no leaves, but +were covered instead with blossoms of purple and vivid crimson, so that +the eye was pained by the excess of glory; past pleasant inlets of the +great bay, where the tiny waves dashed on the white sands under the +cocoa-nut trees; and around them rose the great amphitheatre of granite +peaks and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>forest-clad mountains glowing under the cloudless sky.</p> + +<p>They reached the gate of the Botanical Gardens, and the mate led Carew +to an avenue of oreodoxas—the most majestic of the family of palms. +These rose straight and smooth as marble columns to an immense height, +and far overhead their graceful leaves met in regular arches, forming a +great aisle as of a cathedral of giants. A solemn spot, fitted to exalt +the soul of man and inspire lofty thoughts, but which Baptiste, with an +unconscious irony, had selected as a safe place to discuss with Carew a +scheme of detestable crime which his lust for gold had suggested to him.</p> + +<p>They sat down on a bench under the polished trunk of one of the huge +palms. Carew was silent. He was impressed by the marvellous nature +around. Everything was so unfamiliar to his senses. The rich colouring +of the beautiful and sometimes grotesquely shaped vegetation, the birds +of brilliant plumage that flashed by him, the metallic lustre and +monstrous forms of the beetles and other insects, the shrieking of the +paroquets, and other noises of the intense and teeming tropical +life—all bewildered his brain. The very air, heavy with the pungent +odours of many flowers, seemed intoxicating. He could scarcely realise +that this was not all some fantastic dream.</p> + +<p>But Baptiste, who had important business on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> hand, cared little for the +wonders of Nature. He rolled himself a cigarette, lit it, then, +sprawling himself in a lazy fashion on the bench, commenced—</p> + +<p>"The other day, captain, we were engaged in an interesting conversation, +which was rather rudely disturbed by an earthquake. Have you forgotten +the subject of it?"</p> + +<p>"I remember that you were talking some nonsense about making yachting +pay its expenses by smuggling, or something of the sort."</p> + +<p>"I said nothing about smuggling, captain, and I was not talking +nonsense. I said that the master of a yacht sailing under Government +papers has many opportunities of putting gold into his pockets; that is, +if his liver be sound and he is not troubled with a morbid conscience. +Now, I only left you for one hour, captain, and in that time I picked up +all the news of the port by calling at one or two rum shops—old haunts +of mine; and, as luck would have it, I have discovered an easy way for +us all to make our fortunes."</p> + +<p>"Silence, man!" angrily ejaculated Carew. "I don't wish to hear your +rascally plans. You mistake me; I am not one to seek a fortune by +illicit methods."</p> + +<p>Carew meant all he said. He intended to commit one more crime only—to +telegraph in Allen's name to the bank for the bulk of Allen's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> property. +After that, sick of sin, he would live an exemplary life, and appease +conscience by good works in some far country. But he forgot that he who +once starts to run down a steep hill cannot stop himself exactly when he +wishes.</p> + +<p>"What virtue—what righteous indignation!" sneered the mate. "But, +captain, you will have to listen to me. Whether you wish it or no, you +<i>shall</i> make a fortune in the way I am going to suggest."</p> + +<p>There was a menace in the man's tone and a malicious twinkle in his +eyes.</p> + +<p>Carew looked at him. "Explain yourself, if you please," he said coldly.</p> + +<p>"So I will," cried Baptiste, with energy, abandoning his lazy drawl. +Then, throwing away his cigarette, he rose from his recumbent position +and stood before Carew, who still remained sitting on the bench.</p> + +<p>"Do you think that I am blind—that I am an idiot, captain? Do you +imagine that I don't know who you are and what you have done,—with all +your virtuous talk,—eh, Mr. Carew?"</p> + +<p>As he uttered these words rapidly the mate closely observed their effect +upon the Englishman, whose face turned ghastly white, and whose right +hand stole round to his back.</p> + +<p>"No shooting, if you please," cried the Frenchman, in a bantering tone. +"Don't draw that revolver. Remember that there's a fine for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> carrying +firearms in Rio. Coward though I may be, you don't frighten me here, +captain. I know you dare not kill me on shore. The inquiry afterwards +would be fatal to you. Besides, you are wise enough to grasp quickly the +fact that our interests are coincident. At sea it was otherwise. There I +held my tongue. I was aware that you would have thrown me overboard some +dark night had you guessed that I knew so much. Here on shore I am +safe."</p> + +<p>Carew felt that he was in the man's power, and saw the futility of +denial. "What do you know?" he asked, in a dry voice, bringing his hand +in front of him again.</p> + +<p>"That your name is not Allen, but Carew."</p> + +<p>"What else?"</p> + +<p>"That you are impersonating a man whose property you have stolen."</p> + +<p>Carew felt as if his heart had stopped; the tall palms swam around him. +He closed his eyes, and was only conscious of the cataract of sound +raised by the shrieking paroquets and the manifold hum of insects. It +was only for a moment; then he recovered himself, and, opening his eyes, +again saw before him the cynical face of the Frenchman. "What else?" he +asked, with a deep sigh.</p> + +<p>"Surely that is enough, captain. But, in short, understand that I know +all about you."</p> + +<p>"How have you learnt this?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p><p>"Suffice it that I know it. I don't wish to spoil your little game, +captain, but you must help me in mine. I will now sit down and silently +smoke a cigarette, so that you can ponder a while on what I have said. I +perceive that I have somewhat disturbed your mind. Now, as violent +emotions are very bad for the health in this hot climate, it will do you +good to rest for a few minutes; for I have more exciting news to +communicate."</p> + +<p>The Frenchman resumed his former lazy position, and proceeded to smoke, +as he smiled contentedly at his own reflections; while Carew sat with +knit brows, the perspiration streaming down his face, unable to collect +his thoughts, but terribly conscious in a vague way that he could never +extricate himself from the network of crime into which he had +voluntarily thrown himself; that for him there was no hope of putting +the past away; that one sin would lead irrevocably to another; that +Nemesis had made all his future life as one long chain of iniquity, even +to the unknown dreadful end of it.</p> + +<p>The Frenchman was very pleased with himself. He had succeeded beyond his +expectations in gaining a hold over Carew, whom he could now compel to +subserve his purposes. The mate had played a bold game of "bluff"; he +had made Carew believe that he was acquainted with his history, whereas +he knew nothing of it, possessed no proofs of what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> he had so boldly +asserted, and had merely made an ingenious guess at the truth.</p> + +<p>At a very early stage of the voyage, Baptiste had come to the conclusion +that the conscience of the Englishman was burdened with some crime, and +that he was a fugitive from justice.</p> + +<p>A variety of circumstances had led him to this belief. That Carew had +shipped three men who were known to be murderers, and had sailed away +with them across the ocean at a moment's notice, was in itself highly +suspicious. So the wily Frenchman, bethinking himself how useful it +often is to know another man's disagreeable secrets, set himself to +discover all he could of his employer's past.</p> + +<p>Many a night, when it was Carew's watch on deck, Baptiste employed +himself in rummaging the drawers and lockers of the saloon. For a long +time he discovered nothing to his purpose; but he was patient and minute +in his investigations, and at last he got on the right scent in the +following wise.</p> + +<p>He found that the handwriting in the ship's log-book and on the +agreements which the captain had drawn out for his crew was not in the +least like that in the diary and in the cheque-book, in which entries +had been inscribed at a date prior to the yacht's departure from +Rotterdam. Thus it seemed highly probable to Baptiste that his captain +was not the Mr. Allen whom he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>professed to be, and whose name was on +the ship's papers.</p> + +<p>If not Mr. Allen, then, who was he?</p> + +<p>Baptiste searched diligently night after night without finding any clue +to this; but at last one of those slight circumstances which seem to be +arranged by Providence to expose the crimes of the most clever and +cautious villains, led the persevering Frenchman to the knowledge he was +seeking.</p> + +<p>Baptiste was not a good English scholar; but he proceeded with infinite +labour little by little to decipher Allen's diary. A few days before +reaching Rio he came to the last page but one, and here he read the +following entry: "Wrote Carew, asking him to come with me to Holland." +On the next page, under the date of August the 8th, was the final entry: +"Sail for Holland with Carew."</p> + +<p>"It is just possible," said Baptiste to himself, "that this mysterious +captain of mine is Mr. Carew. I have no reason to suppose that he is so, +but the point is worth testing."</p> + +<p>The mate applied the test in the manner that has been described, when, +on entering Rio, he casually remarked that he had sailed into that +harbour before under an English captain called Carew.</p> + +<p>His employer's sudden start and evident perturbation on hearing this +name mentioned convinced Baptiste that he had hit the right nail on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> the +head. The deduction from what he had discovered was natural enough. "If +this is Carew," he reasoned, "he must have stolen Allen's yacht. He has +in all probability committed other crimes; but this is enough for my +purpose. I may be altogether wrong in my conjectures, but I think not. I +will tax him boldly with this. If I have guessed his secret, I have the +game in my own hands. If I prove to have been on the wrong scent, I +shall have made an idiot of myself, but no great harm will have been +done."</p> + +<p>So with a matchless effrontery the Frenchman opened his game under the +shade of the great palm trees with the success that has been seen.</p> + +<p>Having smoked several cigarettes with an expression of great enjoyment, +without speaking, Baptiste turned to Carew and said—</p> + +<p>"You are looking pale, <i>mon capitaine</i>. It is dangerous to walk about on +an empty stomach in this climate; the fever fiend is ever watching his +opportunity. Come with me. I will take you to a tavern I know +of,—rough, but cheap and good,—and we will have something to eat. It +is hours after our usual dinner-time. Afterwards I will expound to you +the excellent scheme that is in my head—a scheme that will make us all +rich men."</p> + +<p>Carew had by this time recovered his power for cool and rapid thought. +He had been in vain cudgelling his brain to explain to himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> in what +possible way the mate had contrived to discover his secret.</p> + +<p>"Baptiste," he said firmly, "before moving from here, I wish you to +clearly understand that you are not going to be my master because you +happen to know something about my affairs; so put aside at once that +insolent and familiar manner. If you presume too much on your knowledge +and make me desperate, it will be the worse for you. Now tell me how +have you acquired this knowledge?"</p> + +<p>The mate replied in his old respectful tones. "I know you too well to +seek to be your master. But I would rather not answer your question at +present, captain. I promise you, when you have helped me to carry out my +plan, that I will tell you everything."</p> + +<p>"Does anyone else know as much as yourself concerning me?"</p> + +<p>"Not a single individual. Have no fears on that score. No one suspects +that you are other than you represent yourself to be. You are as secure +from discovery as you were before I happened to learn the truth. I alone +know what you are, and the price of my silence is a mere bagatelle. All +I ask is that you benefit yourself and me by casting away from you some +of your foolish scruples. Where is the logic of going so far and no +farther? You have committed great crimes for a trifle. A large fortune +is now within your grasp; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> one little sin more, and you will be +rich. Then you can afford to be virtuous for the rest of your life. You +can endow churches; you can obtain absolution; you can—but I forget; +you are a Protestant, and so must patch your soul up in your own way."</p> + +<p>Carew shuddered, not in fear of the man before him, but at the thought +of the relentless fate that was pursuing him. It seemed to him that this +unscrupulous villain was the instrument of an offended Heaven, sent to +hasten his destruction. It was vain for him to strive after repentance.</p> + +<p>A wild despair, a feeling of angry revolt against the powers of good, +possessed him. What did it matter now? the man argued, in his reckless +mood. Destiny drove him to crime. Why resist in agony? Whatever new +wickedness he should have to do, not his the fault, but that of this +pitiless and unjust Fate.</p> + +<p>"Baptiste, what is this plan that you propose?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Let us dine before we talk business," replied the mate, rolling himself +another cigarette. "I am as thirsty as an Englishman and as hungry as a +German."</p> + +<p>They entered a tram and drove back towards the city; but while they were +yet in the suburbs, Baptiste made a sign to Carew to descend, and they +walked, the mate leading the way, down a narrow street of negro +shanties, each surrounded by its little provision ground of bananas, +yams,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> and cassava. Then they came to a very rough and disreputable +neighbourhood, abounding in low grog shops, in which European sailors +were courting Yellow Jack, by drinking poisonous rum. They reached a +street which skirted the shores of the bay; and here, on the very edge +of the water, there stood a stone house by itself.</p> + +<p>"That is the tavern I spoke of," said the mate. Then assuming his usual +bantering tone, "It is a queer place. It will interest you, as an +English milord travelling for his pleasure and instruction, to observe +the humours of the place. It is the resort of the greatest villains of +Rio—robbers, smugglers, and the like. The result is that it is an +exceedingly quiet and respectable house. They dare not have rows in +there; no drunkenness or thieving or kniving is allowed on those +premises. Men frequent this café when bent on business, not on +pleasure."</p> + +<p>The interior of the house did not seem to be used for purposes of +entertainment, for all the customers were congregated in a large arbour +that lay against one side of the building, and faced the sea.</p> + +<p>They entered this arbour, and sat down at one of the bare deal tables, +and the mate, calling one of the waiters, a very evil-looking mulatto +with one eye, selected some of the dishes out of the bill of fare.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p><p>The sun was setting, and the darkness came on with the suddenness of +tropical latitudes. Two negroes proceeded to light a number of Venetian +lanterns that festooned the café, and Carew, while he waited for his +dinner, gazed with amazement at the scene before him.</p> + +<p>A number of men were sitting at the tables, eating, drinking, and +smoking. There were negroes, whites, and mulattos. They appeared to be +of many nationalities. It would be almost impossible to see elsewhere a +collection of more villainous faces. They sat for the most part in +silence, as if avoiding each other's companionship; but at some of the +tables were small groups, and here conversations were carried on in a +low voice. There were no smiles to be seen; there was no noise; there +were no signs of hilarity in all this assemblage. An atmosphere of gloom +and fear seemed to pervade the place. Occasionally one of these taciturn +beings would glance suspiciously at the table where Carew and the mate +were sitting. Guilt, dread, and hopelessness could be read on many a +face. It might have been a supper of lost souls in the shades of Hades, +but then—and it was this that, by its mocking contrast, lent a strange +horror to the scene, as if it were some fantastic and dreadful +nightmare—the melancholy feast was taking place in a very paradise.</p> + +<p>The arbour was supported by lofty palms, and the sides of it were formed +of a network of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> the most beautiful creepers, heavy with sweet blossoms +and luscious fruits. The glittering sands of the seashore formed the +floor. Through the roof of feathery palm leaves the innumerable and +brilliant stars of the Southern Hemisphere could be seen glowing out of +the depths of night. A number of small tame birds of lovely red and +yellow plumage fluttered about the arbour, and alighted on the tables in +search of food. Glow-worms and fireflies gleamed like diamonds among the +foliage, and outside was heard the splashing of the tiny waves and the +shrill cry of the cicala. The lavish tropical nature had made of this a +fit palace for a fairy queen, and lo, it was a thieves' kitchen!</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER X</span></h2> + +<p>Having dined off some very greasy dishes served up with cassava or +lentils, and seasoned with hot peppers in the Brazilian fashion, Carew +and the mate lit their pipes, and the one-eyed negro brought them cups +of black coffee and glasses of white native rum. The table at which they +sat was at some distance from any other, so all risk of their +conversation being overheard was obviated.</p> + +<p>"All these men are thieves, you say?" said Carew, looking round at the +strange assembly, on whose faces the Venetian lanterns cast a ruddy +glow.</p> + +<p>"Yes, thieves and murderers, all of them," replied the mate, "but +well-behaved, quiet folk, as you see. One is safer here than in some of +the flash cafés in the main streets of Rio."</p> + +<p>"They carry their characters on their faces. I only see one in the whole +crowd whom I would not instinctively distrust. Who is that tall, +handsome old man with the long white hair and beard?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p><p>"That is our worthy host," said Baptiste. "He looks like a mild, +mediæval saint, but there is much blood on his hands. I must introduce +him to you, for he is a celebrated character in his way."</p> + +<p>Baptiste caught the old man's eye, and beckoned to him to approach the +table.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening to you, Father Luigi. I think you understand French?"</p> + +<p>The old man nodded an assent.</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose you remember me? I have not been here for a very long +time."</p> + +<p>"I never forget a face that I have seen in my café," replied the host in +French, with a strong Italian accent.</p> + +<p>"This, Luigi, is my present captain, an English milord, travelling in +his yacht; and this, captain, is the once well-known Roman brigand, +Luigi Querini. Oh, an awful cut-throat in his time, I assure you."</p> + +<p>Querini shook his head sadly. "But not so now, signor. I am getting old. +Heigh-ho, but those were grand days we had in the Abruzzi Mountains +before Victor Emmanuel's gendarmerie spoilt Italy."</p> + +<p>"Sit down and have a glass with us, Luigi," said the mate. "<i>Salud y +pesetas</i>—health and dollars to you; that's an old River Plate toast. +Luigi knows Buenos Ayres well, captain. He'll tell us all about it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know it too well," said the old man.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> "I was a soldier of the +Argentine Republic, and lived on mare's flesh on the Indian frontier for +four years."</p> + +<p>"What made you do that?" asked Carew.</p> + +<p>"I see you are a stranger to South America, sir. Understand, I was not a +volunteer. I had a misfortune, and therefore was pressed into the army +for punishment."</p> + +<p>"To have a misfortune is a Pampas euphemism for having murdered a man," +explained the mate.</p> + +<p>"There is, as you know, no capital punishment in the River Plate," +continued the Italian; "if a man kills another the penalty is so many +years' service in the army."</p> + +<p>"What a respectable army it must be," remarked Carew.</p> + +<p>"It is so," said Baptiste. "They are wise people, those Argentines. If a +man is addicted to homicide for his private ends, they turn him into a +wholesale homicide for the public good. That may be called the +homœopathic treatment of murder; like curing like."</p> + +<p>Carew laughed boisterously at the mate's witticism, and the silent men +at the tables round, hating the sound of merriment, turned their faces +towards him and scowled savagely.</p> + +<p>A species of intoxication had come to Carew. The strange sights and +strong emotions of the day, the grotesque contrast presented by this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +lovely bower of pure blossoms and the foul and evil men who sat beneath +it, confused his brain. His surroundings seemed so fantastically +inconsistent—so unreal—that he felt as if he were some irresponsible +being in a land of dreams, that it mattered not what he did. He was +filled with a reckless joviality.</p> + +<p>The mate had been watching him with his keen eyes. He knew what this +exaltation of spirits indicated, and divined that the moment was +opportune for the mooting of his diabolical scheme. In the present +condition of his mental faculties, the captain's obstructive conscience +would be partly paralysed, and he would be able to listen to the mate's +proposals without overmuch shrinking horror. So the shrewd Frenchman, +losing no more time, hinted to the host that his presence at the table +was no longer needed, and Querini took himself off to hobnob with +another acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Baptiste then stretched out his legs and said—</p> + +<p>"This is very comfortable after having been cramped up so long on board +that little boat of yours; but I hope, sir, to see you captain of a much +larger vessel in a week or so at the latest."</p> + +<p>"So we are coming to your wonderful scheme. Let me hear all about it."</p> + +<p>"You remember, sir, that as we sailed into the bay this morning I +pointed out a small<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> barque to El Toro, and remarked how much she +resembled the old <i>Vrouw Elisa</i>."</p> + +<p>"I remember your words perfectly. You betrayed yourself."</p> + +<p>"Intentionally, captain. We understand each other now; there are no +secrets between us. Away with hypocrisy! Of course El Toro, El Chico, +and myself formed part of the crew of the <i>Vrouw Elisa</i>. But it is +unnecessary to recount to you our adventures on board that vessel."</p> + +<p>"They do not interest me."</p> + +<p>"I don't think you'd care to hear them," said Baptiste, showing his +white teeth with a grim smile. "Well, to proceed. When you were at the +consul's this morning, I entered a little drinking shop on the Mole, and +there I overheard some sailors speaking about their vessel, which I soon +made out to be the barque lying near us under Villegagnon, the one like +the <i>Vrouw Elisa</i>. Said one man to the other in French—</p> + +<p>"'I suppose she's got the most valuable cargo on board of any vessel in +Rio.'</p> + +<p>"I pricked up my ears on hearing this.</p> + +<p>"'She'd be a fine prize for a pirate,' replied the other man.</p> + +<p>"'If there were pirates nowadays,' said the first.</p> + +<p>"Feeling interested, I made inquiries about this vessel—Waiter, stand +off another few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> yards. I am talking over some private business with +this gentleman."</p> + +<p>The negro, not unused to such commands, promptly removed himself.</p> + +<p>"I discovered that the barque comes from a little harbour down the +coast, near Santa Catharina. It seems that some prospectors have +discovered gold in the neighbouring mountains. The quartz is +exceptionally rich; the cost of importing the necessary machinery would +be great. They are consequently shipping a large quantity of this quarts +to Europe to be crushed. That barque, sailing under the French flag, is +bound for Swansea with a cargo of this: no ordinary auriferous quartz, +let me tell you, but containing a hitherto unexampled percentage of +gold. She has put in here for some slight repairs, and will sail in two +days. The barque is a new vessel, and is worth a lot of money; but the +value of the cargo is enormous. Now, my little plan is that we four, the +crew of the <i>Petrel</i>, seize this vessel and make our fortunes."</p> + +<p>Carew laughed scornfully. "Idiot!" he said; "is this your precious +scheme? I took you for too clever a man to talk such nonsense. Even if +we did succeed in seizing this vessel, what could we do with her? In +what port could we dispose of her cargo? Piracy is impossible in these +days. Don't you know that?"</p> + +<p>"Who talked of piracy? Surely, captain,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> you know me by this time. Am I +not a coward? Am I one to commit a risky crime? I would break no law +unless I felt that I was absolutely secure from detection; and when I do +feel that, upon my soul, I don't know what villainy I would shrink from; +for, as for conscience—bah! I have none. Now please follow the outlines +of my scheme. I will leave it to your ingenuity to fill up the details."</p> + +<p>Carew, in his present mood, felt a reluctant admiration for the cool and +cynical ruffian before him.</p> + +<p>"Piracy, in the ordinary sense of the term, is of course out of date," +continued the mate, as he sipped his fiery rum; "but the intelligent man +adapts his method to the age he lives in. I will now tell you a little +story. An English yacht, manned by four worthy fellows, sails out of Rio +one fine day. In the night, when she is some leagues from the land, a +dreadful accident of some kind happens—say she runs into a large +fragment of wreckage, and staves herself in. Anyhow, she founders. +Happily, her crew have time to lower the boat, and getting into it they +pull away, weeping to behold the vessel, that has been their home for so +long, go down. But they feel happier and dry their eyes when their brave +captain tells them that the yacht is well insured. Providence assists +them, for at daybreak they sight a French barque. They signal to her,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +are seen, are soon taken on board, and the barque resumes her voyage to +Europe. After some days our four shipwrecked mariners, who have been +watching their opportunity, and who are well armed, surprise the crew, +take possession of the vessel, sail her into the nearest port, and claim +salvage for the derelict which they have had the luck to pick up; and +their lives for the future are happy, wealthy, and respectable. Do you +follow my story, captain? Hi! waiter, bring us some more rum and some +Bahia cigars."</p> + +<p>Carew sat quite motionless for some time, looking downwards, so that +Baptiste could not see the expression of his face. The black brought the +rum to the table and went away again. Then Carew raised his head. "I +follow your story," he said, in a low, husky voice; "but you did not +mention what became of the crew of the barque."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes! What did become of them?" exclaimed the mate in an airy way. +"I forget. They were lost somehow, I imagine—were disposed of in some +convenient fashion—who knows? But that is a detail."</p> + +<p>Carew's face had turned fearfully white. "Thou devil!" he cried +passionately, between his set teeth. "Not that—not that! Speak no more +of this. It is impossible."</p> + +<p>"Understand me, captain," said the mate, abandoning his bantering tone +for one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> serious determination. "You are not going to have everything +your own way. I must have money, and plenty of it. El Chico and El Toro +must have money. Join us in carrying out this scheme, and we will share +the spoil between the four of us. If you don't agree to this, I will +expose you at once, Mr. Carew, and you will know what a nasty hole a +Brazilian prison is. I am sorry to use this language, but business is +business, captain."</p> + +<p>Carew looked down again, and Baptiste, furtively watching him, saw that +his mouth was twitching and the perspiration breaking out on his +forehead.</p> + +<p>The wretched man endeavoured to think his way out of the terrible +dilemma before him. He had to choose between the commission of a crime +more atrocious than any he had ever conceived, and a disgrace and +punishment infinitely worse than death. He tried to realise his +position, but his brain seemed numbed. The two alternatives kept +crossing and recrossing his mind in rapid succession. He was conscious +of them, but he could not reason upon them. He was incapable of +consecutive thought for the time.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a discordant brass band in a low dancing saloon hard by burst +out into a triumphant march, as a prelude to the night's riot of drunken +sailors. It was a fragment of some French opera-bouffe, suggestive of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +feverish joy heedless of the morrow, of mad and reckless orgie. The +sound was in accord with the man's distracted state. It at once awoke +his mind from its lethargy. A wild and fierce impulse rushed upon him. +Blindly he abandoned himself to what he considered to be his destiny, +and a tempter seemed to whisper to him, "Trust to your luck. See how +luck has been with you so far. Fortune will certainly find some way of +relieving you of the crew of the barque, so that it will not be +necessary for you to have their blood on your head. Arthur Allen stood +in your path. He was removed from it; yet you were not his murderer. So +will it be now. Trust to chance."</p> + +<p>Then Carew looked up. His features were calm and rigid, but had a +ghastly expression. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but appeared to +be unable to articulate. He poured himself out a quantity of the white +rum into a glass and swallowed it. "And the other two men?" he whispered +hoarsely.</p> + +<p>Baptiste understood his meaning. "El Chico and El Toro can be relied +upon for this business. I know them," he said.</p> + +<p>The eyes of the two men met. There was a long pause. Then Carew muttered +the two words—</p> + +<p>"I consent!"</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER XI</span></h2> + +<p>Carew and the mate left the café, traversed the brilliantly lighted +city, and returned to the yacht. At an early hour on the following +morning, Carew, too restless to sleep, came on deck. The sky was +cloudless and the rising sun illumined the romantic scenery of the bay. +A cool breeze blew seaward from the wooded mountains, odorous of spices +and tropical blossoms. The sight of a world so glad and fair, so fresh +and ever-young, might well make the saddest soul feel the joy of mere +existence and look to life as a treasure worth the possessing.</p> + +<p>A few months before this Carew had contemplated suicide—had regarded +death as a welcome deliverance from his troubles. Now it was otherwise; +he set a value on his life. The causes of this change were commonplace +enough, as are most of the motives that decide the momentous crises of a +man's history. A healthy life in the open air at sea tends to develop +the instinct of self-preservation and banishes morbid meditations. +Again, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> longer one has been contesting some keen game of chance and +skill, the more anxious one is to come off the victor. This man had been +playing a clever and desperate game for freedom—which for him meant +life—ever since he had left England. Fortune had favoured him so long +that he would not abandon hope and acknowledge defeat now. The ultimate +victory had become so dear to him that he was not likely to be very +squeamish as to the means he should employ to obtain it.</p> + +<p>So Carew had hardened his heart, or rather, having resolved on a course +of action, he closed the avenues of his mind to certain unpleasant +thoughts on the future. Not being as unscrupulous as his French +associate, he found it necessary to employ an immense amount of +self-deception. He allowed himself to drift, as it were, from one crime +to another, trying to believe that his fate was compelling him; but he +carefully avoided looking beyond the immediate present. He would not +think of the far greater iniquities to which he was committing himself +by the action he was now taking. He wilfully closed his eyes, and let +the morrow take care of itself.</p> + +<p>When Baptiste joined the captain on deck he was exceedingly surprised to +find him in a cheerful mood, and anxious to arrange as quickly as +possible the plan for the seizure of the barque. Carew found a relief in +the active<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> employment of his brain, and he now exhibited considerable +ingenuity. He described his views in detail to the mate, who looked with +wonder at this inconsistent Englishman, whose complex nature he felt +that he was very far from understanding. With all his vacillation, when +Carew had made up his mind one way or the other, he acted promptly and +with energy.</p> + +<p>"Baptiste," he said, "in the first place, we ought to be armed. We all +have knives, but there is only one revolver on board. I want you to take +my watch and chain on shore, pawn or sell them, and buy three revolvers +and some ammunition. You can take charge of your weapon at once, but I +will keep those of the two men until the time comes."</p> + +<p>"That is right," said the mate; "those children are not to be trusted +with firearms. The first time they played at <i>monte</i> they would be +scattering each other's brains over the cards. I know a slop shop where +there are generally some good six-shooters on sale. I will barter your +watch there."</p> + +<p>"Also ascertain the hour of the barque's departure," said Carew. "This +is what I suggest. You know that the south-east trade wind does not blow +home on this coast, but is deflected and becomes a north-east wind. In +consequence of this, all vessels bound for Europe from Rio are obliged +to take a long board of several hundreds of miles to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>eastward +before they fall in with the true trade wind, and go about on the other +tack. Thus we know the exact course the barque will take. She will sail +away close-hauled on the port-tack. We will put to sea six hours before +her, and await her some ten leagues from the land. Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly. I see you know what you are about, sir."</p> + +<p>"Now call the crew aft," said Carew, "and let us learn at once what they +think of our proposal."</p> + +<p>Baptiste raised the hatch of the forecastle and roused the men. They +quickly tumbled on deck.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to say, comrades, that you can't go on shore here," said the +mate in Spanish.</p> + +<p>They swore and grumbled in sonorous Castilian phrases that had best be +left untranslated.</p> + +<p>"Now no insubordination," continued Baptiste; "the captain would not +deprive you of a day's holiday after so long a voyage unless he had +urgent reasons for doing so."</p> + +<p>"Reasons indeed!" muttered El Toro. "He who wants reasons can always +find them."</p> + +<p>"Silence, you old calf! Listen! We shall most probably sail to-day, for +there is a treasure waiting for us outside."</p> + +<p>El Chico pricked up his ears. "What! another <i>Vrouw Elisa</i>?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Something of the sort; but this is a safer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> scheme. Our necks will not +be in danger this time."</p> + +<p>"That's well for you, Baptiste," exclaimed El Toro, with his brutal +laugh; "for your neck must be the most precious on this ship if we may +judge from the value you set on it. Ha! ha! I never shall forget your +white face and your starting eyes in that Dutch law court."</p> + +<p>"My neck supports a head of brains and not a pig's head like thine, with +only three ideas in it—rum, grub, and tobacco," retorted the mate. "But +no more nonsense; listen to me, men."</p> + +<p>Then he briefly disclosed the plan.</p> + +<p>"Bravo!" grunted El Toro. "That sounds a likely bit of business. I will +go and sharpen my knife at once. And so our English milord is a +game-cock, after all, like the rest of us."</p> + +<p>"He is worth fifty of you," said Baptiste. "He has the clever brains +that can devise; and he is braver than you, El Toro."</p> + +<p>"I acknowledge him to be my superior, even in courage. I have not +forgotten how he defied the devil himself in the <i>terremoto</i>," replied +the Basque.</p> + +<p>Baptiste turned to Carew, and proceeded to speak in French. "The lads +are ready to follow you anywhere, sir."</p> + +<p>"They did not seem at all surprised, and received your communication in +a very matter-of-fact way," said Carew.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p><p>"They are accustomed to strange jobs of this kind. But I don't think +they quite realise what a vast sum we are going to make. Idiots! It +would be a pity to give them too much. We must settle later on, captain, +how to divide the spoil."</p> + +<p>"Last night you said that it should be divided equally among us."</p> + +<p>"I spoke hastily. I don't think so now. You and I appreciate money and +know how to use it. These pigs would squander it. We will give them just +enough to keep their mouths shut. You and I will divide the bulk. If we +fill their hands with bright gold pieces, the ignorant wretches will +imagine that they have got an inexhaustible fortune, and they will go +away perfectly satisfied. I know the animals."</p> + +<p>The mate, taking Carew's watch and chain with him, rowed on shore in the +dinghy, and returned in an hour with three revolvers, some cartridges, +and a quantity of plantains, yams, and other vegetables.</p> + +<p>He leapt on deck. "Captain," he cried, "there is not much time to be +lost. I have learnt that <i>La Bonne Esperance</i>—that is the barque's +name—will sail without fail this evening as soon as the land breeze +springs up."</p> + +<p>"Then we will get under way immediately after breakfast," said Carew; +"for the wind seems to be light outside, and we shall not travel fast."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p><p>The land breeze, which blows all night at Rio and refreshes the heated +atmosphere, died away before the necessary preparations had been made on +the yacht, and the usual calm succeeded it. So Carew had to remain at +anchor until midday, when the sea breeze, that prevails throughout the +hottest hours of the day, sprang up; and all sail being hoisted, the +<i>Petrel</i> tacked out of the bay.</p> + +<p>The yacht sailed out to sea, close-hauled on the port-tack; but the wind +was very light, and she did not make more than two knots an hour.</p> + +<p>At sunset the land was still in sight, and Carew took cross-bearings, so +as to ascertain his exact position. Throughout the night the navigation +of the yacht was conducted with unusual care. The helmsman steered "full +and by" with as much nicety as if he had been sailing a race.</p> + +<p>Every few minutes the officer of the watch looked at the compass, in +order to detect the slightest change in the direction of the wind. +Without these precautions it would have been impossible on the morrow to +calculate with sufficient precision the track of the following barque.</p> + +<p>At daybreak Carew made out that he was about forty miles from the land. +"We have gone far enough, Baptiste," he said. "The next thing is to +calculate how much nearer this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> yacht sails to the wind than a clumsy, +square-rigged vessel like <i>La Bonne Esperance</i>."</p> + +<p>"Our steering has been so good," replied the mate, "that we must have +been sailing at least a point and a half closer than the barque."</p> + +<p>"About that, I should say. We will run down to leeward some ten miles, +and then, I think, we shall be lying right across her track."</p> + +<p>The sheets were eased off, and the vessel was steered at right angles to +her former course. As the wind was stronger, she covered the ten miles +in less than two hours. Then Carew gave the order to heave-to.</p> + +<p>While the yacht, her jib to windward, rose and fell on the ocean swell +without making any progress, everything was got ready for the carrying +out of their design. The dinghy was lowered; the men placed in it their +baggage and some of the more portable valuables belonging to the yacht. +Carew put into the sternsheets a portmanteau containing, among other +things, the ship's papers, Allen's diary and cheque-book, the revolvers, +and the drugs which he had purchased in Rotterdam.</p> + +<p>Carew himself undertook to scuttle the yacht. He cut away a portion of +the panelling in the main cabin; then, having bored a large hole with an +auger through the vessel's skin, he stopped it with a wooden plug. To +this plug he attached a piece of strong cord, which he led up on deck +through the skylight.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p><p>The men stood by watching him.</p> + +<p>"You see, Baptiste," he explained, "I have but to pull this cord, out +comes the plug, and the vessel fills and sinks."</p> + +<p>"That is all very well so far," replied the mate; "but suppose you have +pulled out your plug, and your vessel is three parts full, and the +barque won't stop to pick us up,—anything is possible at sea; such +inhumanity among sailors is not unknown,—what will you do then? How are +you to get at that hole again to stop any more water coming in? A wise +general secures his retreat, captain."</p> + +<p>"I have thought of all that, Baptiste," said Carew; "you have not seen +half my arrangements yet. Follow me into the after-cabin."</p> + +<p>Baptiste obeyed.</p> + +<p>"Now take up the flooring," continued the captain.</p> + +<p>When the boards were raised a long piece of lead piping was disclosed, +which was connected with the end of one of the ship's two pumps.</p> + +<p>"Cut that piping off as close as you can to the pump, and bring it on +deck."</p> + +<p>This was done; then Carew, to the astonishment of his crew, proceeded to +bend the piping until it assumed the form of a lengthened U. Putting a +bung into one end of it he poured water into it from the other end until +it was full. Dipping the open end into the sea, he passed the other arm +through one of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> ports, so that it depended into the cabin below the +level of the water-line.</p> + +<p>"Hah! I see now; it is a syphon," exclaimed Baptiste.</p> + +<p>"Exactly so. Now follow my plan. As soon as we sight the barque, I take +the bung out of the inner arm of the syphon and allow the sea to pour +in, until I bring the yacht down as near the water's edge as I safely +can. Then I haul my syphon on board again and so stop the flow. We hoist +signals of distress. If <i>La Bonne Esperance</i> won't pay any attention to +us and sails by, all we have to do is to pump the water out of the +yacht, and try our luck elsewhere. If the barque replies to our signals, +and there can be no doubt about her intention to pick us up, I pull this +cord, out comes the plug, in rushes the sea again, we jump into the +dinghy, and as we are rowing off to the French vessel the old <i>Petrel</i> +goes down. What do you think of that, Baptiste?"</p> + +<p>"Excellent—excellent!" exclaimed the mate.</p> + +<p>"And to avoid all chance of a hitch," continued Carew, who was +interested in his work, "I am going to scuttle the yacht in another +place, and lead another cord from the second plug on to the deck. Thus +we will be doubly certain; for one plug may get jammed and refuse to +come out, or a fish may get sucked into the hole and choke it. I have +heard of such things happening."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p><p>"You are a very clever man, captain. When you do start on a job you +carry it out in a thorough manner. With your pluck and ingenuity you'd +make a splendid pirate, were it not for your unfortunate scruples;" and +the mate sighed regretfully when he thought of the useful talents wasted +on this Englishman.</p> + +<p>At midday Carew took the latitude, and found that he had not misjudged +his position. As the wind had not varied a quarter of a point since the +yacht had sailed from Rio, it was almost certain that the barque would +pass within a mile or so.</p> + +<p>El Chico, who had the keenest eyes of any on board, had been sent aloft +to keep a good lookout for vessels. He sat on the crosstrees, and in the +course of the day reported several craft, but none answered to the +description of the French barque.</p> + +<p>Much as Carew had shrunk from the enterprise, he was now carried away by +the excitement of the chase; and as the hours went by he became acutely +anxious. He feared that he had sailed too far out to sea, and that the +barque would pass him unobserved in the night.</p> + +<p>They waited in silence, staring eagerly across the expanse of glaring +water.</p> + +<p>At last, at three o'clock in the afternoon, El Chico called out—</p> + +<p>"There is a barque yonder that looks something like her."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p><p>"Where away?" said Baptiste.</p> + +<p>"She's coming up close-hauled on the port-tack."</p> + +<p>"Has she brown topsides and some bright green about her figure-head?"</p> + +<p>"I can't make any colour out yet."</p> + +<p>Then the mate went aloft with the binocular. After some minutes he +scrambled down the rigging again. "Hurrah!" he cried, with a triumphant +glitter in his eyes. "We have her safe! That is <i>La Belle Esperance</i>!"</p> + +<p>"If we run a mile more to leeward we'll be right in her track," shouted +El Chico from aloft.</p> + +<p>All was now bustle on board the yacht. Letting the foresheet draw, they +ran before the wind for about a quarter of an hour; then, heaving-to +again, the cork was taken out of the syphon, and the yacht began to fill +gradually. The barque was still more than three miles off, so there was +ample time to prepare everything.</p> + +<p>"Now for the signals of distress," cried Carew; "bring up the flags."</p> + +<p>The two flags of the international code—N and B—were hoisted to the +gaff end, which indicate that a vessel is in need of assistance.</p> + +<p>"They won't be able to see that for some time yet," said Baptiste. "Your +signal flags are too small."</p> + +<p>"Then rig up the long-distance signal," cried Carew. "It is a square +flag at the masthead with something like a ball beneath it. Hoist the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +large ensign, and fasten the life-buoy to the mast; that will look like +a ball."</p> + +<p>The barque was now heading straight for the yacht. When she was about a +mile off Carew loaded the small brass signal gun and fired it.</p> + +<p>About a minute afterwards a wreath of smoke was seen to issue from the +barque's side. Then the report of a gun was heard.</p> + +<p>"We are safe now. They will pick us up," said Carew. "Hallo, there! +Inboard with that syphon at once, or the yacht will go down under our +feet."</p> + +<p>The men had been watching the approaching barque so intently that they +had not observed how low in the water their own vessel now was. The +cabin was three parts full, and all the movable articles in it were +afloat. The syphon was brought on board, and they waited yet a little +longer before taking the final step; for the wind had fallen light +again, and the barque was making but slow progress towards them.</p> + +<p>"Up goes some bunting yonder," said El Chico.</p> + +<p>Carew looked through the telescope, and saw that the vessel had hoisted +the signal H F, which signifies, "We are coming to your assistance."</p> + +<p>"Now, then, all hands tumble into the dinghy," said Carew, as, seizing +the cords, he pulled both plugs out of the yacht's side. "Good-bye, old +<i>Petrel</i>!" he cried, leaping into the boat after his men. "Now, pull +away, lads."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p><p>Carew's experience in scuttling vessels was naturally limited, so he +had miscalculated the rapidity with which an already water-logged craft +will go down if two large auger-holes are opened in her sides.</p> + +<p>The men had not pulled a couple of strokes before the yacht's bow rose +suddenly, her stern dipped, and she sank with a gurgling sound. So near +was the dinghy that she narrowly escaped being sucked into the vortex.</p> + +<p>They rested on their oars and gazed silently at the spot where the smart +little yawl that had been their home for so long had floated but a +moment before. Then, as the water smoothed over her grave, they looked +over the side of the dinghy and beheld a strange sight. With all her +white sails set and her flags still flying, the <i>Petrel</i> went slowly +down, with a gentle, oscillating movement, into the depths of that +marvellously pellucid sea. Two sharks accompanied her, swimming round +and round her; one thrust his evil snout for a moment into the cabin +hatchway, as if to see if there were men below. Lower and lower the +yacht descended into depths where the sharks could not support the +increasing pressure of the water, so, deserting her, swam upwards; still +lower, till she appeared no larger than a toy boat, and they could still +distinguish her; still lower, and at last she disappeared into the +blackness of the still, under ocean.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER XII</span></h2> + +<p>Carew gazed silently downwards into the clear, dark sea for some moments +after the yacht had sunk entirely out of sight; then, raising his head, +he looked towards the barque, and saw that she was lying hove-to, with +her mainyard laid aback, about a quarter of a mile distant.</p> + +<p>"Pull away, lads," he said. "Let us get on board the Frenchman, and +don't forget that we ran into a bit of wreckage last night and so sprang +a leak. Say as little more as you can help, and don't give conflicting +accounts of our accident."</p> + +<p>They soon came alongside the vessel, and clambered on to her deck by a +rope's end that was lowered to them. The captain of the barque gave the +order to sling the dinghy on deck and square away again.</p> + +<p>This being done, he turned to Carew and said in French, "I am very +happy, sir, that I was so near at hand when your vessel sank. She went +down very suddenly. Pray what was the cause?"</p> + +<p>Carew gave the very probable explanation of the mishap which had been +decided on.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p><p>"You must have run into that bit of wreckage with considerable force," +said the captain. "What was it—a large spar?"</p> + +<p>"Something of the sort, I imagine," replied Carew; "but we could see +nothing. It must have been floating just below the level of the water."</p> + +<p>"It is a lucky thing for you that this happened so near to the Brazilian +coast and in the track of shipping, instead of in the middle of the +Atlantic. You should have under-girded the vessel when you found that +she had sprung so serious a leak."</p> + +<p>"So we did," broke in Baptiste. "We got a jib under her bows. But it was +no good. She was strained along her whole bilge. I wonder she did not +fall to pieces."</p> + +<p>"Let me introduce myself to you," said Carew. "My name is Allen. I was +the owner of the unfortunate little yacht which is now so far below us. +I think I recognise your vessel. Were you not lying near us under +Villegagnon?"</p> + +<p>"That is quite right, sir, and I recognised your yacht as soon as I saw +your signal of distress. My name is Captain Mourez, and this is the +French barque <i>La Bonne Esperance</i>, bound for Swansea. And now, sir, +what would you like me to do with you and your crew? I see smoke ahead, +which should come from some steamer bound for Rio. Shall I signal her +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> put you on board, or do you feel inclined to come on with us to +Swansea?"</p> + +<p>Carew did not look in the captain's face, and his voice shook as he +replied, "I should esteem it a great favour, Captain Mourez, if you +would allow us to be your passengers as far as Swansea. I will of course +repay you for this when we reach England."</p> + +<p>"Say nothing about that at present," replied the captain proudly. "You +can do what you think proper when you reach port. A French sailor is +always glad to assist other sailors in distress without the inducement +of a reward for doing so."</p> + +<p>The boastful speech of the patriotic captain stated no more than the +truth. French sailors rarely hesitate to risk their lives at sea in +going to the rescue of their fellow-men; in this respect differing +considerably from the mariners of some other European nations, who have +acquired an unenviable notoriety for a selfish indifference to the +sufferings of others.</p> + +<p>The captain looked from Carew to Baptiste. He could distinguish from the +latter's accent and appearance that he was no common sailor. "This +gentleman is your friend, I suppose?" he said.</p> + +<p>"My friend, and the mate of the yacht," replied Carew. "I was my own +captain."</p> + +<p>"I see that you are a genuine English yachtsman. But surely this is a +French gentleman?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p><p>"No, Captain Mourez," broke in Baptiste quickly; "I am an English +subject, but I am a Creole of the Mauritius, and of French origin. +Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Baptiste Fortier."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the captain. "We can find room for your two men in the +forecastle. You, Mr. Allen and Mr. Fortier, will occupy cabins aft. We +have plenty to spare. Come below and I will show you round."</p> + +<p>They entered the saloon—a spacious one for a vessel of her size. There +were four cabins on each side of it. Only two of these were occupied; +one by the captain and another by his mate. Two others were now placed +at the disposal of Carew and Baptiste.</p> + +<p>The captain made his two guests sit down with him at the saloon table, +and produced a bottle of Bordeaux for their refreshment. The mate of <i>La +Belle Esperance</i> soon came below and joined the party. Though no +drunkard, he was never far away when there was a drawing of corks. His +name was Duval; he was a wiry, red-headed Norman, somewhat hot-tempered, +but very garrulous and merry. Captain Mourez was a tall, handsome man, +with black hair and beard, a Breton by birth, taciturn as a rule, but +very courteous in his manners.</p> + +<p>While these four were sitting in the saloon talking over the wreck of +the <i>Petrel</i>, there was suddenly heard the sound of something falling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +heavily on the deck just overhead; then a cry and a scuffling of many +feet.</p> + +<p>Duval hurried on deck to learn what the noise signified. Shortly +afterwards he returned again. "It is that imbecile young apprentice, +Hallé, again. What an awkward cub it is! He has fallen from the mizzen +rigging this time; not from a great height, luckily. He has not hurt +himself seriously, but he seems rather sick and dizzy."</p> + +<p>The crew of the <i>Petrel</i> were soon at home on their new vessel. El Toro +and El Chico were made much of by the kindly Frenchmen in the +forecastle. As luck would have it, none of the crew of the barque +understood Spanish; so the two Spaniards, who knew no French, had not to +reply to questions as to the details of the yacht's misadventure. El +Toro especially, whose dense head was entirely devoid of imagination, +would have been certain to come to grief in attempting to lie in an +ingenious and consistent manner.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon the loquacious Norman mate insisted on taking Carew and +Baptiste all over the vessel and showing them everything. He was +gratified by the keen interest the two passengers seemed to take in his +explanation. They listened attentively to all he said, for reasons of +their own. They learnt that the vessel's company, officers included, +numbered seventeen souls; that there was no second<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> mate, but that the +boatswain took the port watch and lived with the carpenter in the small +deck-house.</p> + +<p>Duval also took them into the forecastle, where some of the watch off +duty were sleeping at the time. Among them was the young apprentice who +had fallen from the rigging. He was tossing about restlessly in his +bunk, and his face was very flushed.</p> + +<p>Baptiste as he passed by glanced casually at him, then scanned his face +earnestly for some time. "Come out of this," he said to Carew. "It is +too hot down here. Let us go on deck."</p> + +<p>That evening the wind freshened considerably, and the barque, with yards +braced up, was making good way through the water. Carew, unable to +sleep, came on deck shortly before midnight, and sat down in a dark, +quiet corner to meditate. Now that the excitement of the preliminary +preparations was over, he began to realise to the full what was before +him; and an intense abhorrence of the crime he had undertaken once more +oppressed his soul. He could not retreat now. He must be the cause of +the death of all these innocent men, who had come to the rescue of his +life. If he spared them he would be carried on to England to pay the +penalty of his offences.</p> + +<p>As he sat brooding thus miserably, a man walked towards him from the +fore part of the ship. Carew saw the red glow of his cigarette<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> before +he could distinguish the man in the darkness, and he knew that it was +his evil genius.</p> + +<p>"Baptiste, is that you?"</p> + +<p>"Here I am, captain. A lovely night, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Sit down here," said Carew, "and speak to me. No one can overhear us +here, I think."</p> + +<p>"No; it will be all right if we do not raise our voices," replied +Baptiste, looking round.</p> + +<p>"How is this going to end?" whispered Carew.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, captain?"</p> + +<p>"How are we four to seize a vessel with a crew of seventeen strong men +on board?"</p> + +<p>"Strong men, indeed!" replied the Frenchman. "They will be as weak as +babies in a few days' time. By the way, I see that you did not omit to +bring your medicine chest on board with you."</p> + +<p>Carew shuddered. "Poison!" he whispered, in a terrified voice. "Do you +mean that?"</p> + +<p>"Why not, captain? It is a merciful and painless death if the right +stuff is used."</p> + +<p>Carew said nothing for some time. "Whatever is done must be done soon," +he muttered.</p> + +<p>"That is so, captain. This vessel must be ours while we are still in the +trades and within a few days' run of a South American port. It will be +difficult enough for four of us to work her, even in these calm waters. +We must not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> postpone action till we get into the region of rougher +weather."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that this dreadful thing were not necessary!" Carew groaned.</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir, don't allow those fatal scruples of yours to torment you. If I +had some of your courage, and you some of my philosophy, what a fine +couple we should be! But as it is at present, I am the more useful man +of the two, despite my physical cowardice. Believe me, Mr. Carew, the +ancient was right who said that to know oneself is the secret of +happiness. If a man has a conscience at all, it ought to be a stable one +that does not vary. You have got a set of moral principles of a sort, +but you have not the slightest idea of what they are. One day you will +commit an action with a light heart; on the morrow your remorse will +madden you. Such inconsistency means misery. Know thyself. If you will +have a code of ethics, know it and stick to it, and be happy. But now +that you have gone so far, I recommend you to abjure conscience and +moral principles, and substitute for them my beautifully simple code of +ethics, which is summed up in three words—fear of consequences."</p> + +<p>"I wish, indeed, that I could do so, Baptiste."</p> + +<p>"If you wish it, this satisfactory result will come in time. All changes +in the moral sense are arrived at by wishing. <i>Experto crede</i>, as they +taught me in the <i>lycée</i> at Nimes."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p><p>Neither spoke for some time; then Baptiste said—</p> + +<p>"You were born under a lucky star, captain. I think that Providence has +found a way of sparing your sensitive conscience. She will do most of +the killing for you."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" exclaimed Carew.</p> + +<p>"Hush! not so loud. You remember that a young man fell from the mizzen +rigging while we were below drinking with the captain?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"He is our unconscious ally. He will kill off a good many of his +comrades for us. But I will not mystify you any longer. Why did he fall +off the rigging—because he was awkward, as Duval said? Not a bit of it. +He fell because he was dizzy. Why was he dizzy? Because he was ill. This +afternoon, when I saw him first, I more than suspected that a fall could +not account for all his symptoms. I have just examined him again. I know +the signs well. He is in the first stage of <i>yellow fever</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Yellow fever?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yellow fever has come to help us. The man has been very sick and +is now delirious. The stupid captain has seen him, and puts it all down +to his fall; says he must have injured his spine. How lucky for us was +that fall! Led off the scent by it, the idiots will not suspect what is +the matter with the man until the <i>vomito negro</i> declares itself. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +have not separated him from the rest. He is now lying in his bunk in the +forecastle. All the watch below are sleeping round him. It is a small +forecastle, and the crew, imagining that fresh air is bad for a sick +man, have closed the ports. It is stifling down there at present. It is +a pest-house. All those men are breathing in contagion. Do you know that +it is the worst form of yellow fever that is now raging at Rio—very +contagious, very fatal? If it breaks out in a vessel like this it will +spread like wildfire. Man after man will fall sick and die."</p> + +<p>"Ourselves included," said Carew recklessly.</p> + +<p>"No, sir. We will take precautions in time. I have had the fever once, +and am not likely to have it again. I have hinted the truth to El Chico +and El Toro, and they have suddenly developed a hygienic craze for fresh +air, and insist on sleeping on deck to-night, to the amazement of the +French sailors. I would not like to insure the lives of the men who +sleep in that forecastle; most of them are doomed by this time."</p> + +<p>Carew felt his skin turn cold and tingle with horror as he listened to +the Frenchman's cold-blooded exultation in the dreadful prospect.</p> + +<p>"Good-night, captain. I am going to turn in now; and, by the way, let me +advise you to keep on deck in the cool wind as much as possible, and +smoke perpetually. Tobacco is a splendid disinfectant."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER XIII</span></h2> + +<p>On the day after the crew of the <i>Petrel</i> had been taken on board the +barque the wind freshened and was so much to the south of east that the +vessel was enabled to sail in a north-easterly direction, a course which +would bring her to the vicinity of the Trinidad and Martin Vas +Archipelago.</p> + +<p>When Carew came on deck in the morning he found Baptiste there before +him. The Provençal walked up to him jauntily, twirling his long black +moustache, and looking jubilant. "I have seen young Hallé again," he +said, in a low voice. "He is very bad. The symptoms are unmistakable; +but no one suspects the truth so far. Two other men are complaining of +headache."</p> + +<p>"Let the accursed plague work its way," said Carew gloomily, "but tell +me nothing about it."</p> + +<p>"So be it, sir," said Baptiste, with a shrug of his shoulders.</p> + +<p>The springing up of so favourable a wind put the captain of <i>La Bonne +Esperance</i> in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> very contented frame of mind. In his delight he became +more talkative than was his wont, and at frequent intervals during the +day sought out Carew in order to converse with him.</p> + +<p>Carew, for his part, did his utmost—without appearing churlish—to +avoid the company of Captain Mourez; for he recognised him as being a +kind-hearted and an honest man.</p> + +<p>The captain observed his passenger's unsociable mood, and, attributing +this to his sorrow at the loss of his yacht, endeavoured to cheer him +with lively gossip, but produced the opposite result.</p> + +<p>Nothing noteworthy occurred during the day; the wind held steady, and +the vessel made good progress. At about ten o'clock that night, Carew +was sitting alone in the saloon, killing thought by reading a French +novel which the captain had lent him, when Mourez himself came in. His +face bore a very anxious expression.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Allen," he said, "I am seriously alarmed about that man Hallé. I +fear that he has the fever."</p> + +<p>"The yellow fever?" exclaimed Carew, not raising his eyes from his book.</p> + +<p>"It seems so to me; but I have never seen a case of yellow fever. Do you +mind coming with me to the forecastle and giving me your opinion?"</p> + +<p>"I will do so with pleasure," replied Carew,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> rising from his seat; "but +my opinion is not worth much."</p> + +<p>They entered the forecastle, which was dimly lighted by a small lantern. +Hallé was lying on his bunk, keeping up a constant delirious chatter. +The other men, instead of sleeping soundly through their watch below +after the manner of sailors, were sitting together in a group at the +corner of the forecastle farthest removed from the sick man, looking +scared and talking to each other in subdued voices.</p> + +<p>Carew stood by Hallé's bunk and looked at him. A change for the worse +had recently come on. His face wore an expression of intense anxiety. +His skin was wrinkled and of a dark yellow colour.</p> + +<p>The captain made a sign to Carew, and they went on deck again. "I have +never seen yellow fever," said the latter; "ask my mate, Baptiste +Fortier, what he thinks about it; he has had the fever himself." Thus +did this strange man trifle with his conscience as usual, and attempt to +shift the responsibility for the next step in the tragedy on to his +companion.</p> + +<p>Baptiste was found, and was sent into the forecastle. It would be quite +useless to lie about the facts now, so, returning to where Carew and +Mourez were standing, he said, "It is yellow fever. I am sure of it."</p> + +<p>On hearing this the captain began to pace up and down the deck in a +state of great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> agitation, wringing his hands. "Good heavens! this is a +terrible affair," he cried. "For thirty hours Hallé has been spreading +contagion in the forecastle. Who knows where this will end?"</p> + +<p>Then Captain Mourez stood still, and after pondering a little while +addressed Carew. "I must at once convert some portion of the vessel into +a hospital. The forecastle is no longer a fit place for the healthy men, +so we will give it up to the sick. Sir, we must pray for a fresh breeze +to carry us quickly into northern latitudes, where the cold will kill +the plague that has come to us."</p> + +<p>At that moment the boatswain came on to the quarter-deck, and Mourez +ordered him to call up the watch below.</p> + +<p>The men reached the deck with unusual promptitude. They were summoned +aft, and the captain in a few words explained to them how matters stood, +and exhorted them to be courageous as French sailors should be. He +ordered them to rig up a large awning forward, under which the crew were +to live so long as the vessel was in warm latitudes. He also instructed +the boatswain to ventilate the forecastle as thoroughly as was possible +by means of wind-sails, so that a cool temperature might be obtained for +the sick men.</p> + +<p>On the following day two other men fell ill, and were admitted into the +hospital. In the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> afternoon Hallé died, and his body was immediately +lowered into the sea.</p> + +<p>Before sunset the loom of land was visible over the ship's bows. It was +the desert island of Trinidad, situated near latitude 20 deg. south, +about six hundred miles from the coast of Brazil.</p> + +<p>And now a most unfortunate calamity befell the pestilence-stricken +vessel. The wind completely died away, and she lay motionless on a sea +of oily smoothness for three whole days. The vertical sun blazed down +upon her out of the cloudless sky, and the intense sultriness of the +atmosphere lowered the energies of those who were still in good health, +and predisposed them to contagion, while it hurried on the fatal +termination of the fever for the sick. A gloom fell on the ship's +company. The men looked into each other's faces with helpless terror, +for what could be done against this invisible foe? One after another +sickened, died, and was lowered over the side in shotted shroud. +Baptiste and the two Spaniards, though they considered themselves +acclimatised to the tropics, and almost proof against contagion, shared +the prevailing sense of terror.</p> + +<p>On the second day of the calm, the captain, who had doctored all the +sick men to the best of his ability, was himself attacked by the fever.</p> + +<p>Carew, who had some little knowledge of medicine, volunteered to take +his place, and as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> the mate gratefully complied with his request, +employed all his time in attending upon the patients in the forecastle +and the captain in his cabin.</p> + +<p>On the third day of the calm the contagion seemed to have spent itself. +No fresh cases were reported, and those who were lying sick became no +worse.</p> + +<p>Up to this date eight men out of the seventeen that composed the ship's +company had died. Among these were the boatswain and the ship's cook. It +was necessary to appoint some other man to take charge of the port +watch; so the mate, after consulting with Carew, gave this post to +Baptiste, as being the best educated man on board. The Provençal asked +that the two Spaniards should be put upon his watch. El Chico, acting +under Baptiste's orders, offered to undertake the duties of ship's cook.</p> + +<p>On this morning, being the fifth since the <i>Petrel's</i> crew had been +received on board, the mate came up to Baptiste and made some remarks to +him which set the wily ruffian thinking. Duval had asked him whether he +did not think the fever showed signs of abating.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible to say yet," replied Baptiste. "Yellow fever always +comes in waves; it subsides and intensifies alternately."</p> + +<p>"You see, comrade," said Duval, "that even if we include you four, we +are now very short<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> handed. If we lose a few more men, we cannot sail +this barque to Europe. I have decided to run back to Rio as soon as a +breeze springs up."</p> + +<p>When the mate left him, Baptiste went in search of Carew, and found him +in the captain's cabin, watching the sick man, who was now lying +insensible in the last stage of the fever.</p> + +<p>Baptiste looked into the pain-distorted face. "He will go soon," he +whispered to Carew.</p> + +<p>Carew nodded.</p> + +<p>"That was a clever idea of yours, sir," said the Frenchman.</p> + +<p>"What idea?"</p> + +<p>"To constitute yourself ship's doctor."</p> + +<p>Carew made no reply, but he understood what the remark signified. +Baptiste, however, had misjudged him. With his usual inconsistency in +crime, far from availing himself of his opportunities to poison the men, +he had, on the contrary, risked his life and done his utmost to save the +captain and the others under his charge. He was happier and was pleased +with himself while acting thus, though he was also glad to find that his +patients died despite his efforts. He seemed to imagine that he was +driving a bargain with avenging Heaven—that he could set off his +present righteous conduct against his other crimes. Men who reason with +the greatest clearness on all other matters, often become insanely +illogical when a guilty conscience asks for soothing casuistry.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p><p>"How are you treating him?" asked Baptiste.</p> + +<p>"Not in the way you are thinking of," Carew replied, looking into the +other's eyes.</p> + +<p>Baptiste saw that he had been mistaken in his surmise, but said no more +on the subject.</p> + +<p>Carew's box of medicines was by his side. Baptiste looked into it, and +drew out a bottle. "This is not poison, is it?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No; but if you took a good dose of it it would make you feel very ill."</p> + +<p>"What is a good dose of it?"</p> + +<p>"About ten drops; it is in a concentrated form."</p> + +<p>"That will answer my purpose, then," and Baptiste put the bottle in his +pocket. "And now, sir, I want some stuff that will prevent insomnia."</p> + +<p>The eyes of the two men met. Carew asked no questions, but merely said, +"Take this bottle, then. Half a teaspoonful is a large dose."</p> + +<p>"Let us go into your cabin for a few minutes," said Baptiste, glancing +at Mourez. "This man seems quite unconscious; but a man may hear as long +as he has breath in him. I will not trust him."</p> + +<p>They crossed the saloon to Carew's cabin.</p> + +<p>"Well, what is it?"</p> + +<p>"The fever and the hot calm have done our work well while we have been +standing by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> idle," said the Frenchman; "but now the time has come for +us to act. We must seize this vessel to-night. There is a look of wind +in the sky now, and Duval will set sail and make for Rio as soon as a +breeze springs up. We must wait no longer."</p> + +<p>"Let it be to-night, then."</p> + +<p>"Come on deck at ten o'clock this evening. Bring the revolvers with you. +Leave all the rest to me. You dislike details, so I will arrange +everything."</p> + +<p>Carew bowed his head in assent, but said nothing.</p> + +<p>"You have two sick men in the forecastle, I think," said Baptiste; "are +they strong enough to make any resistance?"</p> + +<p>Carew shook his head.</p> + +<p>"That is well. The captain will certainly not have much fight in him. So +that leaves us only six healthy men to deal with; one on my watch, five +on the other watch."</p> + +<p>The mate now went on deck, and Carew returned to the captain's cabin. He +found that brave sailor lying on his bed dead.</p> + +<p>"I am glad—for his sake and for mine," muttered the Englishman to +himself.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER XIV</span></h2> + +<p>It is no pleasant task to describe the events that now took place on the +French barque. This is no tale of daring buccaneers, of exciting +hand-to-hand combats of desperate men; but a narrative of cold-blooded +and dastardly crime.</p> + +<p>Now that the time for carrying out his devilish scheme had come, +Baptiste had taken the lead of the conspirators. Being a pacific person +who hated fighting and feared danger, he determined to omit no possible +precaution to obviate the risk of failure. His brain, fertile of +ingenious villainy, was not long in devising how to do this.</p> + +<p>In the first place, he instructed Carew on no account to leave his cabin +between eight and ten that evening. Then he called aside the two +Spaniards and explained his plan to them. He gave El Chico the first +bottle which he had taken from Carew's medicine chest, and directed him +to mix a certain quantity of the contents with the soup he was about to +make for the men's dinner—a quantity which he calculated would be +insufficient to produce a pronounced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> taste in the soup, but sufficient +to cause unpleasant sensations in those who partook of it.</p> + +<p>At eight bells that evening the port watch relieved the starboard. There +was absolutely nothing for the men to do, as it was still a flat calm, +and all the sails had been furled. Duval had taken this precaution on +the previous day, fearing that the fever might spread still further, and +that he would not have enough hands left to shorten sail were a strong +breeze to spring up suddenly.</p> + +<p>Duval, however, insisted upon the watches being set and the discipline +of the vessel being carried on as usual, more with the object of +employing the men's time and distracting their attention from the +horrors of the situation than for any other reason.</p> + +<p>When Baptiste came aft to relieve Duval, as officer of the watch, the +latter said, "Do you know if Mr. Allen is in his cabin, Fortier? I wish +to see him."</p> + +<p>"I think it would be better not to disturb him. He is quite worn out +from want of sleep. He has sat up with poor Mourez two nights in +succession; and now that the captain is dead, and the other two sick men +are getting better, he is having a long sleep."</p> + +<p>"Are the other men getting better?"</p> + +<p>"So Mr. Allen thinks," replied Baptiste. "With our brave captain's death +the fever seems<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> to have expended itself. We have no fresh cases +to-day."</p> + +<p>"I am not sure of that," said Duval gloomily. "I wished to see Mr. Allen +in order to tell him that I, and no less than three of the other men, +have been feeling very unwell for the last half-hour."</p> + +<p>The drugged soup had done its work.</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said Baptiste. "And, now that I look at you, your cheeks are +somewhat pale, sir. But we will not wake Mr. Allen; it is unnecessary. +He left a bottle of medicine with me this afternoon. It is a powerful +febrifuge, and he instructed me to give a dose to the sick men below, +and to any others who should feel in any way indisposed. I think it +would be a prudent course to serve some round to all hands. It can do no +harm."</p> + +<p>Duval approving of this measure, Baptiste went into his cabin and +brought out the bottle of opiate which Carew had given him, and served +out a very strong dose to Duval, and to each of the four men on his +watch. Duval then retired to his cabin, and the men lay under the awning +forward, all to sink, under the influence of the drug, into a heavy +slumber, from which it would not be easy to wake them; while Baptiste +was left in charge of the deck, with the two Spaniards and the remaining +Frenchman.</p> + +<p>"You feel all right, Léon, I hope?" said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> Baptiste to this man, a sturdy +Breton, who had not been affected by the drugged soup.</p> + +<p>"Yes, thank you, sir," he replied; "there's nothing the matter with me."</p> + +<p>"Won't you take a dose of the medicine as a precaution? Prevention is +better than cure."</p> + +<p>"Not for me the filth. Time enough for medicine when one is ill, and not +much good it does then if we may judge from the results on this unhappy +vessel."</p> + +<p>It was necessary for Baptiste's purpose to get this man out of the way +before anything could be done. First he thought of asking the Spaniards +to despatch him with their knives; but this might create a disturbance +and awake the sleepers; so the cautious Provençal waited until a safer +plan should suggest itself.</p> + +<p>An hour of the watch had passed, and it was now nine o'clock. The sky +became overcast, and a drizzling rain began to fall.</p> + +<p>"We shall have wind soon," said Léon. "Would it not be well to wake Mr. +Duval?"</p> + +<p>"Not for a few minutes," replied Baptiste. "Come, now; this damp is the +very thing to bring on fever. We ought to take something to keep the +enemy out. If you don't like medicine, what say you to a drop of genuine +old cognac? I have some in my cabin."</p> + +<p>"That is more in my line," said the Breton, smacking his lips; "a fig +for your doctor's stuff, I say."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p><p>"Then follow me, but step quietly. Mr. Duval's cabin is next to mine. +If he finds you drinking brandy aft, though it is only for medicinal +purposes, you can guess what a row there will be."</p> + +<p>Baptiste led the way to his cabin, and produced a bottle of brandy. He +helped the man freely, but he did not attempt to drug the drink with the +opiate, for its taste was too unmistakable.</p> + +<p>The brandy was strong, and even the Breton's hard head soon succumbed to +it. He began to exhibit signs of intoxication, and was chattering in a +disconnected fashion, when Baptiste suddenly rose from his seat and +placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "Hush!" he whispered; "hush, you +idiot! I hear Mr. Duval moving in his cabin; your noise has roused him. +He will catch you if you don't hold your tongue. Remain here while I get +him out of the way, under some pretext or other. Then I will return for +you."</p> + +<p>Baptiste darted through the cabin door, and locked it on the man within, +who, after awaiting him for some time, helped himself to some more +brandy, and at last fell into a drunken sleep on the bed.</p> + +<p>Baptiste then entered Carew's cabin, and found him sitting up, reading +the French novel which Captain Mourez had lent him.</p> + +<p>"Come along, sir; the time has arrived," said the Provençal. "Bring the +revolvers with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> you, and first see that they are loaded. I don't suppose +we shall have to use them, but <i>Quien sabe?</i> as the Spaniards say."</p> + +<p>Carew made no reply, but taking the pistols from the locker in which he +kept them, he followed his accomplice on to the deck. As they walked +towards the fore part of the vessel Baptiste described his preparations +for the <i>coup</i>. "The crew are at our mercy," he said; "Duval in his +cabin, and the four men of his watch under the awning forward, are +sleeping the heavy sleep of opium. Léon is a prisoner in my cabin, drunk +or nearly so, in the company of an open bottle of brandy, and you say +that the two sick men in the forecastle are too weak to move. Now, first +of all, we must deal with the four men under the awning, for they are +the most dangerous."</p> + +<p>Still Carew said not a word.</p> + +<p>The two Spaniards now joined them. Baptiste looked round the horizon. +"We shall have the wind down on us soon," he said; "we must do our work +quickly."</p> + +<p>The rain was falling more heavily than before. The night was very dark, +and there was not a star visible in the heavens. Though as yet there was +not a breath of wind, the ocean, as if in anticipation of its coming, +was heaving in a long, high swell, and the vessel rolled uneasily, her +spars groaning dismally aloft.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span></p><p>Baptiste took two of the revolvers from Carew's hands and handed one to +each of the Spaniards.</p> + +<p>"Don't use them, lads, unless it is absolutely necessary; we don't want +noise. You have your knives," he whispered.</p> + +<p>"I have brought the bits of line you asked for," said El Chico, +producing several lengths of small-sized but very strong rope.</p> + +<p>"What do you intend to do, Baptiste?" inquired Carew, in a hoarse voice, +speaking for the first time.</p> + +<p>"Pinion those sleepers securely with these cords, fasten a weight to +each man's leg, and heave them overboard," replied Baptiste.</p> + +<p>"It would be easier to knife them as they lie there," muttered El Toro, +whose bloodthirsty instinct was up.</p> + +<p>"Yes," sneered Baptiste; "you love the sight of blood, you mad bull. You +would like to have a brutal fight now. But that plan will not suit me. I +am a man of peace; I hate unnecessary disturbance. Now to work."</p> + +<p>Then Carew spoke firmly, once more asserting his right to command. +"Secure those men with the cords, but do not kill them. Let them live +till to-morrow. Then I will decide what shall be done with them."</p> + +<p>"What absurd folly is this?" hissed the Provençal savagely. "Do you wish +to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>endanger all our lives? They may free themselves in the night and +retake the ship. No, they must die."</p> + +<p>"Silence! You shall know that I am still your master. These men shall +not die to-night," said Carew resolutely.</p> + +<p>"This is too much," cried Baptiste, with impatient fury. "I have +arranged everything so well, and now you interfere to spoil all. Curse +that intermittent conscience of yours. It is like a geyser spouting out +tepid water at intervals, and always at the most inopportune moment."</p> + +<p>"I will not discuss this with you," replied Carew doggedly; "but you +know me, you coward. If you kill one of these men without my orders, +except in self-defence, you will have to deal with me—you understand?"</p> + +<p>The Provençal did understand. He swore some horrible oaths to himself, +and said—</p> + +<p>"There is no time to argue now. We will humour your fancy. Come on, El +Toro and El Chico. Let us tie those fellows up as quickly and as quietly +as we can."</p> + +<p>The three men crept noiselessly to the awning beneath which the French +sailors lay breathing stertorously under the stupefying influence of the +strong narcotic.</p> + +<p>Carew, meanwhile, stood outside under the rainy sky, motionless, taking +no part in the proceedings, and at that moment wishing that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> the fever +had seized him also and that he were dead and quit of it all.</p> + +<p>Baptiste and the Spaniards stooped over the sleeping men, and with the +skill of sailors bound their limbs in such a manner that it was +impossible for them to stir, far less to free themselves. In so complete +a state of coma were they that the tension of the tightly drawn cords +did not rouse them, though they murmured in their sleep. Carew almost +hoped that they would awake. If they defended themselves and were killed +in the heat of a mortal struggle, it would not have seemed so horrible +to him as this silent, passionless piece of villainy.</p> + +<p>When the men were all secured, Baptiste said, "If you will stand by here +and guard the prisoners, captain, we will go aft and see to the others."</p> + +<p>So leaving Carew behind, Baptiste and the two Spaniards went to the +other end of the vessel and entered the saloon. First they softly opened +the door of Baptiste's cabin, and there they found the Breton sailor +sleeping soundly, the half-empty brandy bottle by his side.</p> + +<p>The two Spaniards held him while Baptiste bound him firmly. It was not +till the operation was concluded that he awoke. He opened his eyes and +looked about him in a bewildered way for a few moments; then he tried to +raise<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> himself and could not; and, perceiving the cords that restrained +him, he suddenly realised the situation, and called out at the top of +his voice, "To the rescue! A mutiny! A mutiny!"</p> + +<p>"Quick! away! leave him!" cried Baptiste rapidly. "To Duval's cabin, and +secure him before this fellow's row wakes him. Quick! Quick!"</p> + +<p>They ran across the saloon and burst into the mate's cabin, the two +Spaniards leading the way; for Baptiste, like a prudent general, gave +his orders from the rear.</p> + +<p>There was a lamp burning in the cabin. Duval, roused by the din, was +sitting up in his bed, half awake, still confused by the heavy dose of +opium that had been administered to him. Just as the men violently swung +the door open, Léon again raised the shout of "A mutiny! A mutiny! Mr. +Duval, defend yourself!"</p> + +<p>The Norman heard that terrible cry, and all his senses returned to him +in a moment.</p> + +<p>"Grapple with him at once," cried Baptiste.</p> + +<p>The two Spaniards precipitated themselves upon him; but though not a big +man, he was a strong and wiry one. Leaping from his bunk he thrust the +men aside, and seizing the only weapon within his reach, an iron +water-can, he swung it round and brought it down on Baptiste's skull.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></p><p>"Oh, you treacherous wretch, take that!" he cried.</p> + +<p>The Provençal's evil career would have been terminated there and then +had it not been for El Toro, who seized Duval's arm and broke the force +of the blow. As it was, the sharp edge of the can inflicted an ugly +wound, and Baptiste staggered back, the blood pouring all over his face.</p> + +<p>"Kill him!" he hissed, sick and faint with pain and fear, but mad with +rage.</p> + +<p>El Toro needed no second bidding. He thrust his long knife quickly +between the unfortunate man's ribs. Duval uttered one groan, and fell to +the ground dead.</p> + +<p>"That was deftly done," said the Basque, wiping the blade. "Ho! my +little Baptiste. How dost thou feel with that cracked pate of thine?"</p> + +<p>The Provençal was sitting on a chest, his head in his hands, trembling +with fear. "Look at my head, good El Toro, I beseech you," he cried. +"See if it is a dangerous wound."</p> + +<p>"A mere scratch," replied the Basque, after a cursory examination. "What +a timorous woman thou art!"</p> + +<p>His comrades washed the wound and bandaged his head; then Baptiste +recovered his presence of mind, and gave his orders. "Put the body over +the side at once, but first fasten a weight on to it. It must not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> float +about to tell tales to some passing vessel."</p> + +<p>When this had been done, he said, "Now carry that noisy Léon out of my +cabin. Take him forward to where the other prisoners are."</p> + +<p>The Spaniards raised the helpless Breton, who, understanding that there +was no one to whom he could give the alarm by crying out, now resigned +himself to his fate, and uttered not a word as they laid him by the side +of his four comrades.</p> + +<p>"The vessel is ours!" Baptiste called out in a loud voice when he +approached Carew. There was no further reason for the avoidance of +noise. "I salute you, captain of <i>La Bonne Esperance</i>!"</p> + +<p>"But where is Duval?" asked Carew.</p> + +<p>"Killed, captain; but in self-defence. Look at my unfortunate head: that +was his doing. Had it not been for our brave El Toro you would have lost +your trusty mate."</p> + +<p>Carew looked down at the five men lying on the deck. They were all awake +now, the pain caused by the tightness of their ligatures having at last +dispelled the lethargy of the drug. They realised all that had happened; +they knew that they were doomed to die at the hands of this treacherous +band. A lantern swung from the awning-pole above them, and by its dim +light Carew saw that their faces wore an expression of dogged +resolution, which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> changed suddenly to one of loathing and contempt when +their eyes met his. Thus they stared at him in silence. He hastily +turned his face away.</p> + +<p>"What next, captain? It must be done sooner or later. Why not at once?" +said Baptiste.</p> + +<p>"Take them into the forecastle for to-night. Secure the two sick men as +well," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Just Heaven, what a cruel thing a British conscience is!" exclaimed +Baptiste, with a loud, scornful laugh. He was intoxicated with the +successful issue of his scheme. "I, the man without scruples, would have +mercifully killed these men outright. You, the man of conscience, shrink +from doing so, but are willing to shut them up in the pestilential hole +yonder, so that an agonising fever may kill them for you. Do you really +flatter yourself, oh, self-deceiver, that you in this way absolve your +soul from the guilt?"</p> + +<p>"Silence!" cried Carew angrily. The man's words had hit the mark. Some +such vain idea had indeed crossed the warped mind. Arguments of a like +sophistical nature were always now vaguely occurring to him, and he took +care not to reason them out, being conscious of the fallacy of them, yet +cherishing them. A form of moral insanity this, and not an uncommon one.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p><p>El Chico, who was standing by, heard Carew's last words. "Do you want +us to die of the fever too, captain?" he grumbled. "Who's going to stand +sentry over the prisoners in that poisonous forecastle?"</p> + +<p>Carew saw the force of this objection.</p> + +<p>"Then put them in a row along the bulwark and lash each one to a +ring-bolt," he said.</p> + +<p>"That is a better plan," remarked Baptiste; "we can thus keep our eyes +on them without leaving the deck. El Chico, you keep watch for two +hours, while the rest of us sleep. We require rest after our exciting +day's work; and as for me, that cut over the head makes me feel rather +queer."</p> + +<p>"See, here comes the wind," cried Carew.</p> + +<p>The clouds towards the east had opened out, revealing a patch of starry +sky, and a light breeze had sprung up.</p> + +<p>"There won't be much of it," said Baptiste, after he had scanned the +heavens. "Let us shake out the spanker and lie-to under that for the +night. And to-morrow morning, captain, you must decide how you are going +to rid us of these men. We are too few to work the vessel, and cannot be +bothered with guarding prisoners to please you."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER XV</span></h2> + +<p>Her capture having been effected, the barque lay hove-to under her +spanker for the night.</p> + +<p>The south-east wind died away about midnight, and a light south-westerly +breeze sprang up. A strong ocean current must have been setting from the +same direction; for, though the islet of Trinidad had been so far +distant at sunset as to be barely visible, the sound of breakers roaring +on a beach could be plainly distinguished towards the end of the middle +watch.</p> + +<p>At daybreak Carew was left alone in charge of the vessel, his three men +being asleep under the awning. He paced the deck restlessly, his heart +aching with despairing misery.</p> + +<p>The five prisoners, who were lashed along the foot of the port bulwarks, +as if by one consent, observed a complete silence. They were too far +apart to hold any communication with each other, and they knew how +useless it would be to appeal to the mercy of the villains who had +surprised them; but they all remained awake, watching intently for what +they felt was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> not at all likely to occur—an opportunity to regain +their freedom and fight for their lives.</p> + +<p>The rain had ceased, the clouds had cleared away, and out of the calm +night gleamed the brilliant constellations of the southern hemisphere. +There was a transparency, a depth in the heavens, such as is not +apparent in northern latitudes. Through the nearer archipelagos of stars +one could perceive others farther back, and beyond these others; stars +behind stars up inconceivable distances into the depths of space; so +that they were so crowded together as to almost unite in forming one +continuous sheet of silver light, save in one spot, where, amid that +most luminous portion of the firmament known as Magellan's Cloud, there +opened out, like to a black pit, a starless void, an infinite abyss of +nothingness.</p> + +<p>There came a faint emerald light in the east, which quickly changed to +the pale blue of the turquoise, and the stars faded away before the +rapid dawn of the tropics.</p> + +<p>Then Carew saw, about ten miles off, standing out darkly between him and +the sunrise, in sharp outline against the clear sky, the desert island +of Trinidad.</p> + +<p>It seemed to consist of a confused mass of barren mountains, most +fantastic in their shape, falling everywhere precipitously into the +ocean, and terminating in huge pinnacles of rock, the loftiest of which +were crowned with wreaths of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> vapour. Elsewhere there were no clouds +visible in the heavens. As the sun rose higher, its rays illumined these +rugged summits, and they glowed as with the dull red of molten iron; for +this island is a burnt-out volcano, and a considerable portion of it has +been calcined into brittle cinders of a ruddy colour.</p> + +<p>It being now broad daylight, Baptiste woke up, and coming from under the +awning gave himself a shake by way of making his toilet, glanced down +the row of prisoners to satisfy himself that they were still safely +secured, and then turned his face towards the dreary coast.</p> + +<p>"Hallo!" he cried, "we have drifted a long way in the night. That is an +ugly-looking place yonder, captain. We must not get too near those black +rocks; so we had better wake up those sleepers, and get some canvas on +the barque at once. I suppose the next thing to be done is to make sail +for the nearest Brazilian port."</p> + +<p>"No, Baptiste, not yet," said Carew; "I shall come to an anchor under +that island, and wait there for a few days."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! What for?"</p> + +<p>"I have various reasons. To begin with, look at the sky. There is every +appearance of another long calm setting in. Remember that we have yellow +fever on board. If we land our prisoners to-day, we shall lessen our own +risks of catching it."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p><p>Baptiste whistled softly to himself.</p> + +<p>Carew stood before him, and looking steadily into his face, said, +"Baptiste, I have determined that no more blood shall be shed on this +vessel. I intend to put these Frenchmen ashore; then we will sail for +Brazil."</p> + +<p>"Captain, we do not mind humouring your whims to a certain extent, but +we are not going to put our necks in the noose to please you."</p> + +<p>"It is quite useless for you to attempt to dissuade me from my purpose. +I have made up my mind," said Carew doggedly.</p> + +<p>Baptiste at once abandoned his threatening tone, and spoke in a +respectful manner. "You have been very lucky so far; but don't be rash. +Remember that luck assists him who assists himself. Consider how +recklessly imprudent it would be to leave these men on the island. They +would soon signal to a passing vessel, and be taken off; and pray, what +then would our poor heads be worth?"</p> + +<p>"Vessels constantly sight Trinidad," replied Carew, "but they never pass +very near it. For the other side of the island is fringed with dangerous +rocks far out to sea, as the chart will show you; and, since the +prevailing wind hereabouts is south-east, a ship would give this side +also a wide berth, for fear of being becalmed under the lee of the +mountains. How could the men signal to a vessel miles out at sea?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p><p>"Necessity finds a How. What is to prevent them from lighting a large +fire?"</p> + +<p>"We will not leave them the means of lighting a fire."</p> + +<p>"They would soon discover the means. Suppose, for instance, they picked +up some empty bottle that had been washed on shore, they could use the +bottom of it as a burning-glass. I have heard of such a thing being +done."</p> + +<p>"I will not argue the question with you. Those men shall be landed on +that island; they shall not die on board this vessel."</p> + +<p>"Even if I agreed to run so great a risk, I know that the other two +would not. You do not want a civil war on board, do you, captain?"</p> + +<p>"I do not fear one. You cannot do without me, and you all know it. If +you murdered me and took this vessel into port, do you imagine that the +salvage would be handed over to you without demur, as it would be to me +if I applied for it? Grave suspicions would be raised, and there would +be a minute investigation. Those two idiots would contradict each other +in their evidence. It would all end in one of you turning Queen's +evidence and the other two being hanged. Is not that right?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot deny that there is reason in your remarks," said Baptiste +coolly. "Now am I to understand that you wish these men to live?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p><p>"I repeat that they shall not die on board this vessel!"</p> + +<p>Baptiste's keen eyes scanned Carew's careworn face; then the Provençal +smiled, for he fancied that he now understood the working of the +Englishman's mind. "This clever idiot must be humoured," he said to +himself. "This is a new 'fixed idea' of his. He shrinks from bloodshed; +he will not sanction it. But if we take these men on shore for him, +knock them on the head there without consulting him, and then return to +him with some fine excuse about their having resisted us and so +compelled us to kill them in self-defence—why, he will pretend to +believe us; he will ask no questions, and be glad that the danger has +been removed. I understand this strange man now."</p> + +<p>Not exactly these ideas, but others somewhat similar to them, had indeed +crossed Carew's mind. He was quite aware that it would be the height of +folly to leave the prisoners alive on the island, but he wished to +postpone as long as possible the murder which he felt was inevitable, +hoping that yellow fever or some other interposition of Providence would +solve the difficulty for him in the meanwhile.</p> + +<p>Baptiste now roused the two Spaniards, and sail was made as quickly as +possible, so that an anchorage might be reached before the wind dropped, +for there were sure signs of calm in the sky.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p><p>Being so few in number, they dared not put much sail on the vessel. As +Carew was unacquainted with the management of square-rigged craft, +Baptiste gave the orders. First the foretopmast staysail was set and the +sheets hauled aft so as to pay off before the wind. Then the two +Spaniards were sent aloft to loose the fore upper and lower topsails, +while Carew and Baptiste squared the yards. After this the maintopsail +was also set.</p> + +<p>"That will be enough canvas for her," said Baptiste. "Now, sir, if +you'll take the wheel, we will get her all ready for coming to an +anchor."</p> + +<p>So going forward the mate saw that an anchor was got over the bows and +that a sufficient length of cable was ranged in front of the windlass.</p> + +<p>The vessel sailed slowly towards the island until midday, when the +expected calm fell upon the sea. However, as the current was setting +straight on shore, the barque drifted on till four o'clock in the +afternoon, when she was about half a mile from the breakers, and the +anchor was let go in twenty fathoms of water.</p> + +<p>The scene that lay before them as they approached was appalling in its +grandeur. They could perceive no vegetation of any description on the +lofty mountains, which rose almost perpendicularly from the sea-foam +into a bank of dark clouds that had now gathered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> on the summit of the +island. The fire-consumed crags were often of strange metallic +colours,—red and green and coppery yellow,—which gave the scenery an +unearthly appearance, but most of the island was of a dismal coal-black.</p> + +<p>Some of the mountains seemed to have been shaken to pieces by the fires +and earthquakes of volcanic action; for they sloped to the sea in huge +landslips of black stones. Gigantic basaltic columns many hundreds of +feet in height descended into the waves along a considerable portion of +this savage coast, a formidable wall that defied the mariner to land. In +a few places only a narrow margin of shore divided the sea from the +inaccessible cliffs, and this was encumbered with sharp coral and great +boulders that had fallen from above.</p> + +<p>The barque was anchored off the entrance of a profound and most gloomy +ravine, from which a stream of water fell as a cascade into the sea. The +head of this ravine, high above, was lost in dense clouds. It looked +like the road to some mysterious and unknown world.</p> + +<p>Not only were the sights of this coast such as to terrify the +imagination, but so likewise were the sounds. Though this was the lee +side of the island, and was protected from the high swell which, raised +by the south-east trade wind, breaks so furiously on the back of +Trinidad, yet the sea rolled in very heavily with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> a stupendous roar +that was echoed with dismal, hollow reverberations among the rocky +ravines. After the breaking of a higher wave than usual, great masses of +water would be dashed up the sides of a cliff to a great height. Deep +fiords opened out in places; but even these afforded no shelter. Within +them the sea raged as furiously as it did outside.</p> + +<p>This remote and rarely visited island was evidently a favourite +breeding-place for several varieties of sea-birds. Vast numbers flew +through the rigging of the vessel, uttering savage cries. So +unaccustomed were they to the sight of man that they showed no timidity, +but rather indignation, at his invasion, and a disposition to drive him +off again. Many of them wheeled round the heads of the sailors with +angry shrieks, approaching so near that they could easily have been +caught with the hand.</p> + +<p>"I don't at all like the look of the island of Trinidad," said Baptiste. +"It is the most inhospitable place I have ever seen. I am not surprised +that no one cares to live here. How large is it?"</p> + +<p>"It is about fifteen miles round," Carew replied. "The Portuguese tried +centuries ago to establish a settlement here, but they soon abandoned +it. It is very barren, and so dangerous a surge breaks continually round +every part of it that it is often impossible to effect a landing for +weeks at a time."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p><p>"It seems to me that it will be impossible to land to-day," said +Baptiste.</p> + +<p>Carew went up into the maintop with a telescope, and after having +closely examined the features of the shore, descended on deck again. "I +thought I was right, Baptiste. We are anchored off what the pilot-book +calls The Cascade, and I can see the landing-place described by former +visitors to the island."</p> + +<p>"I can see nothing but a mass of foam. I can see nothing like a +landing-place."</p> + +<p>"It is not visible from the deck. To the left of the cascade over there +a long black rock stretches far out to sea beyond the breakers, forming +a sort of natural pier. That is the easiest landing-place in the whole +island. We will lower a boat at once, and put the prisoners on shore."</p> + +<p>Baptiste again looked keenly into Carew's face as he put the question. +"Do you wish us to release them when we have landed them, and allow them +to run wild over those picturesque crags like a lot of goats—or what do +you wish?"</p> + +<p>"Let them have food before you take them off; and leave them, bound as +they are now, on the beach for this night. To-morrow I will decide what +is to be done with them."</p> + +<p>"It is always to-morrow with you, captain; but it matters not. We are +becalmed, and are, therefore, not wasting time by this ridiculous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +trifling. It is a pity that there are no wild beasts on these desert +islands who would kindly eat up these men for us in the night. They are +becoming a nuisance."</p> + +<p>The Spaniards grumbled a good deal when they heard that they were to +take the prisoners alive on shore; but they did not dare to disobey +Carew.</p> + +<p>The two sick men, who were now recovering from the fever, were brought +on deck, and they, together with the other prisoners, were lowered into +one of the boats. All were still so securely bound that they could not +move a limb.</p> + +<p>Carew stayed on board the barque while his three men pulled off to the +island.</p> + +<p>They reached the projecting rock, and found that its sides were +perpendicular, so that the boat could be brought alongside. The +prisoners were not landed without considerable difficulty, and even +danger, for they had to be dragged quickly on shore at the moment when +the boat rising to a wave had her gunwale on a level with the summit of +this natural jetty, before she dropped down again into the trough +between the seas.</p> + +<p>At last the disembarkation was safely effected, and the painter having +been made fast to a large stone, the boat was left to tumble about +against the rough side of the jetty, in imminent danger of staving +herself in, while the prisoners were carried one by one up the rugged +shore.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p><p>Then they laid the helpless men down. Even the brutal Spaniards, when +they looked around them, were impressed by the weirdness of the scene. +Whenever the sides of the ravine or of the mountains were not too steep +they were densely covered with trees, which had not been visible from +the vessel's deck. Now every one of these trees was dead; there was not +a live one among them. They were of all sizes. Some stood erect as they +had grown, some lay prone on the rocks; but all had been dead for long +ages. On all the skeleton branches of this forest of desolation were +sitting large sea-birds of foul appearance, who raised discordant cries, +as if to repel the intruders, and did not take to flight, but fought +savagely with any of the men who came near to them. There was no live +vegetation to be seen, with the exception of certain snake-like +creepers, which clung to the surface of the ground, and which bore large +seed-pods of vivid green—sinister and poisonous-looking plants, that +seemed well suited to this forlorn region. It was a scene appalling to +the imagination, and the whole of Trinidad is of a like gloomy +character. The same dead trees cover it throughout. It seems probable +that at some remote period a terrific volcanic eruption destroyed every +living thing on the island with its showers of poisonous ash; and where +once rose from the tropical ocean a fair land, green with pleasant +woods, is now a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> hideous wreck, more sterile than the desert itself.</p> + +<p>"It might be the gate of hell," said El Toro in an awed voice, looking +up the ravine.</p> + +<p>"Now, comrades," cried Baptiste, "there is no time to lose. I don't like +to leave the boat long where she is. As our merciful skipper objects to +bloodshed, we must lash our prisoners to these trees."</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do with us—kill us?" asked one of the captives +gruffly.</p> + +<p>"No; we are going to leave you here, tied up," replied Baptiste.</p> + +<p>"What! to starve to death?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I don't know," said Baptiste, with a shrug of his shoulders. +"This is not my doing. Our captain is a cruel man. It seems that it +amuses him to play with you poor fellows as a cat does with a mouse. +This is his scheme, my children, not mine. I am merciful."</p> + +<p>The men were now secured to the dead trees, and the three villains were +moving off to their boat when one of the Frenchmen—the only one who did +not meet his fate with fortitude, and who showed signs of the most +abject terror—screamed out—</p> + +<p>"Oh, Monsieur Baptiste, let me go—let me go! I will join you. I will +not betray you. I will help you work the ship. I will be your slave if +you spare me!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p><p>His comrades reviled him for his cowardice, but he still continued his +piteous entreaties.</p> + +<p>Baptiste turned round and gazed with a sardonic smile into the man's +white, fear-distorted face. He felt that this was very much the way he +would behave himself in similar circumstances, but he did not spare his +own faults in others; few men do.</p> + +<p>"So you would join us, would you? But how do I know if I can trust you, +my friend? You may betray us when we get into port. Will you give me a +proof of your fidelity?"</p> + +<p>"I will give you any proof you wish," cried the wretched man, writhing +in his bonds, but quite unable to move.</p> + +<p>"Now, if I see you commit a far greater crime than any that I and my +crew have committed, I shall know that you dare not tell tales. If I +release you and give you a knife, will you kill all your comrades for +me?"</p> + +<p>The man burst into hysterical tears. "Yes!" he shrieked—"yes! Anything +for my life."</p> + +<p>Baptiste laughed contemptuously.</p> + +<p>"Miserable man! Your answer is sufficient for me. We do not want such +cowardly traitors among our crew. You shall stay here and die by the +side of your braver comrades."</p> + +<p>Baptiste and the two Spaniards then hurried off to the boat, for the sun +was just setting. They pulled off to the barque, and the mate reported +to the captain what he had done.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p><p>About an hour after their return—the night having settled down upon +the ocean—Carew was sitting by himself on the quarter-deck. The hollow +roar of the waves upon the beach sounded louder than in the daytime, and +the vessel rolled in the swell caused by the recoil of the distant +rollers.</p> + +<p>All manner of strange and frightful noises came from the direction of +the mysterious island. It seemed to Carew that he heard groans and wails +echoing among the ravines, but he put this down to his imagination—to +the now greatly unstrung condition of his nerves.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he started to his feet, his heart beating violently. What was +that he heard? Surely that last dreadful cry did not exist only in his +fancy.</p> + +<p>"Baptiste, come here!" he called out.</p> + +<p>The mate sauntered up.</p> + +<p>"Listen!" whispered Carew; "do you hear nothing?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing but the noise of the breakers."</p> + +<p>Once more arose that awful cry. It was as a shriek of unutterable +despair and agony; faint, but easily to be distinguished when the lull +came between one roller and another.</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>Baptiste himself turned white at the sound. "I know not; it makes one's +blood run cold. See, they too have heard it."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p><p>The Spaniards came up.</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir!" cried El Toro, his voice indistinct with terror, "let us make +sail at once and leave behind us this horrible place. Hark! that cry +again! It is as the shrieks of the doomed in hell. That island is the +abode of evil spirits who are mocking us."</p> + +<p>"We cannot set sail in a flat calm. We must wait," said Carew, in a low +voice.</p> + +<p>They stood on the deck and listened in silence. For half an hour or more +those appalling cries continued; then they died away, and nothing was +heard but the roaring of the ocean upon an iron-bound coast.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER XVI</span></h2> + +<p>On the following day the fiery sun again blazed down upon the guilty +ship out of a cloudless and windless sky. It seemed probable that one of +those oppressive calms that are so frequent on this portion of the ocean +would detain the barque for some days longer at her present anchorage.</p> + +<p>In the early morning, when the west side of the island was still plunged +in shade, Carew approached the mate, who was enjoying his matutinal cup +of coffee and cigarette on the quarter-deck.</p> + +<p>"Baptiste," he said, "I want a boat lowered; I am going on shore."</p> + +<p>"Good, sir. How many of us do you wish to accompany you?"</p> + +<p>"Thank you; I want none of you. Put the yacht's dinghy over the side. +She is the handiest boat on board; and I will pull off by myself."</p> + +<p>"That will not be safe," objected Baptiste; "there is no place to beach +a boat yonder, and she would smash up if you left her banging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> about +alongside that rocky landing-place; we nearly lost the cutter in that +way last night. If you desire to take a solitary promenade on that +cheerful island, I will pull you off there myself in the dinghy, leave +you, and return for you at any hour you mention."</p> + +<p>Carew assented to this proposal, and prepared himself for the journey by +placing his sheath-knife and loaded revolver in his belt. Baptiste +watched him curiously, and wondered whether this eccentric Englishman +had at last summoned up resolution, and was about to despatch the +prisoners outright, as being a more merciful proceeding than allowing +them to starve to death. Baptiste ventured no remark on the subject, for +he observed that his captain was in a taciturn and absent-minded mood; +and there was a peculiar, far-off look in his eyes that the Frenchman +could not understand, not knowing that Carew had been dosing himself for +the last few days with laudanum from his medicine chest, in the vain +hope that the drug might numb the tortures of his conscience.</p> + +<p>The dinghy was got overboard, and while Carew sat in the sternsheets, +Baptiste took the oars and pulled leisurely across the smooth ocean +swell.</p> + +<p>While they were yet half-way to the shore, the boat shot suddenly out of +the fervent sunshine into the cool dark shadow cast by the lofty +mountains.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p><p>Baptiste, feeling the rapid change, rested on his oars, and looked +round towards the pile of barren hills. "Ugh, what a horrid place!" he +cried. "I have a sensation as if I were passing into the mouth of a +tomb. I should not like to explore that island alone."</p> + +<p>"Pull away!" said Carew impatiently. "Are you superstitious, like those +two Spanish brutes?"</p> + +<p>"Superstition is not one of my failings, captain," replied the +Provençal, as he rowed on again; "but those dreadful cries we heard last +night seem to be still ringing in my ears. I wonder what they could have +been?"</p> + +<p>"When you have put me on shore," said Carew, paying no heed to +Baptiste's words, "you can go back to the barque. I shall probably +remain on the island three or four hours. Then I will return to the +landing-place, and stand on the end of it till you come off for me. So +see that someone looks out for me with a telescope occasionally."</p> + +<p>"We won't keep you waiting, for I know that you will soon have had +enough of Trinidad. But perhaps monsieur has a scientific mind, and +desires to study the botany, zoology, geology, and so forth, of the +island?"</p> + +<p>Carew made no reply to this. They came alongside the promontory of black +coral, and found that the sea was not rolling in so heavily<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> as on the +previous day. The Englishman landed without any difficulty.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, sir," Baptiste called out. "You will find the prisoners +behind the first big boulder up the ravine." Then he pulled lazily back +to the vessel.</p> + +<p>Carew was now alone on the desert island with his captives. He looked to +his knife and pistol to see that they were ready to his hand, and +proceeded to clamber cautiously along the narrow, slippery ledge.</p> + +<p>At the farther end he found a loathsome monster standing in his way, +seemingly quite indifferent to his approach; for it did not budge, but +remained quite still, its ungainly form spread across the causeway, so +that he had to step over it to pass by. Carew had never before seen one +of the species; but he recognised this as a tropical land-crab—one of a +hideous race of crustacea that swarm on this island, sharing the +possession of Trinidad with the sea-birds and the snakes. In his present +nervous state, Carew was startled by the sight of this repulsive-looking +creature. It must have extended two feet across from claw to claw. Its +colour was a bright saffron, and its grotesque features, which were +turned towards the man, seemed to be fixed in a cynical grin. Its +cruel-looking yellow pincers, hard as steel, could have bitten through +an inch board, and between them was clutched—Carew sickened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> when he +saw it—a fragment of the flesh of some animal.</p> + +<p>Reaching the rugged shore, he found it covered with these land-crabs. +They crawled over the rocks and the dead trees, and the air was full of +a multitudinous crackling noise, produced by the small particles of +stone dislodged by their motion—a sound as of a distant bonfire, or as +of an army of locusts settling on a field of maize.</p> + +<p>On the evening before, when the men had landed, they had seen none of +these creatures; now there were thousands of them on the mountain-side. +But it is well known that land-crabs at certain periods of the year +migrate in immense hosts from one district to another.</p> + +<p>Even on the previous afternoon, when the coast was illumined by the full +glory of the setting sun, Baptiste and the two Spaniards had been +impressed by the desolate aspect before them. But now that a dark shadow +was thrown over the chaotic masses of volcanic rock, the scenery was +inexpressibly dreary and forbidding. Had there been no signs of life on +the land, it would have appeared less terrible than with that ghastly +vegetation of dead trees and snake-like creepers, and the teeming +generation of silent crabs and foul sea-birds perpetually raising their +hoarse cries.</p> + +<p>Carew looked round with the sense of vague terror that is experienced in +a nightmare. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> felt all the influence of this stern nature so hostile +to the life of man. It seemed to him that at any moment some fearful +cataclysm of the earth, or some unexampled calamity of any sort, might +occur. It would not have appeared strange to him to behold a +fire-breathing dragon or gigantic snake—such as are supposed to live in +fable only—issue from that gloomy ravine. Nothing could have appeared +too strange to happen on this mysterious shore.</p> + +<p>The prisoners could not be seen from the landing-place, as the clump of +trees to which they had been lashed was some little way up the ravine, +and a huge boulder of black rock stood in front of it. Carew heard no +sound of voices as he approached. He considered it very unlikely that +the men had succeeded in freeing themselves from their bonds; but, +prepared for any emergency, he held his revolver in his hand and walked +round the corner of the rock.</p> + +<p>He looked towards the clump of dead brown trees.</p> + +<p>His hand relaxed its grasp, and the revolver fell with a ringing sound +on the rocks. He was struck motionless with a great horror. He stood +fascinated, staring before him with wide-open eyes, unwincing. He would +have given worlds to have closed his lids and shut out what he saw, but +he could not. It was as if some irresistible power was holding him +there,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> compelling him to look until every horrible detail of the scene +should be burnt into his brain for ever.</p> + +<p>It was only for a few seconds, and then the spell was broken. He covered +his face with his hands and staggered back. Then turning from the sight, +he rushed away, not caring whither, sobbing such sobs as the lost souls +in hell may sob in their despair—a dreadful sobbing, that told of a +hopeless agony too intense to be endured for long by weak human flesh. +Suddenly he stopped short, looked wildly round him, raised his hands +towards the skies, and, uttering shrill shriek upon shriek, threw +himself on the ground. He rolled down the steep incline for some way, +cutting his hands and face with the sharp rocks, and when at last a +projecting stone prevented his farther descent, he lay foaming at the +mouth and writhing convulsively in an epileptic fit.</p> + +<p class="center">* * * * * *</p> + +<p>The tragic spectacle the man had suddenly come upon might indeed well +have made him, the guilty cause of it, go mad with horror. The fearful +cries that had been heard from the vessel were now explained. The +voracious land-crabs had done his work. He had gazed upon his victims, +and he felt that his limbs were paralysed; but his brain was intensely, +unnaturally active. It seemed to him that a voice had said, "Look, and +grasp all that there is to see, and remember,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> before the relief of +madness is allowed to thee. Thou hast murdered sleep, and shalt never +know peace again. For ever, in the worlds to come, the picture of this +that thou hast done shall be branded on thy soul!"</p> + +<p>And he had been forced to look; not a detail of the horror was spared +him. The surroundings of the scene, the weird black rocks, the gaunt +dead trees, everything about the accursed spot entered into his brain. +He even noticed with what callous indifference Nature seemed to +contemplate the hideous evidences of the crime. Quite heedless, the huge +crabs dragged their clumsy bodies slowly over the stones. The sea-birds +fought noisily with each other for morsels of fish among the skeleton +branches of the trees, careless of those ghastly relics of poor humanity +beneath them. He felt how fitting a scene for such a tragedy was this +doleful corner of the earth, this island that a malevolent fiend might +have created, where Nature had no beauty, no love, no pity, and where, +like some foul witch, she could only conceive forms of life cruel and +repulsive, and become a mother of monsters.</p> + +<p class="center">* * * * * *</p> + +<p>The sun was low in the heaven, and Carew woke out of a profound slumber, +weak, parched with thirst, his mind dazed. He raised himself on his +elbow, and, looking round him, he found that he was lying on a beach of +beautiful golden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> sand that fringed an extensive bay. From the sands +there sloped up to a great height domes of loose stones of red volcanic +formation, of all shapes and sizes, the débris of shattered mountains, +and from the summits of these slopes there rose what the earthquakes had +still left of the solid hills—dark red pinnacles: some squared like +gigantic towers, others pointed like pyramids. The bay was enclosed by +two huge buttresses of rock that stretched as rugged promontories far +out into the ocean. There was no vegetation, not even a blade of grass, +visible anywhere on this savage coast. Looking seawards he saw that a +vast number of black rocks, among which raged a furious surf, bordered +the shore. Beyond these were the outer reefs on which the sea broke +heavily. And still farther out, on the horizon, rose three rocky islands +of considerable size, glowing red as the sun's rays fell full upon them.</p> + +<p>Carew could not imagine where he was and how he had reached this place. +He tried to think. By degrees he called to mind the dreadful sight he +had seen in the ravine; but he could remember nothing that had occurred +since then. As the sun was to the back of the hills, he fancied that it +was still early in the forenoon, and that he had wandered a short +distance only from South West Bay; though the presence of the distant +islands and the different character of the coast perplexed him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p><p>But he could think of nothing at that moment except the satisfaction of +the fearful thirst that was tormenting him.</p> + +<p>He rose to his feet, eager to reach the cascade as soon as possible. He +felt that he should die if he could not procure water soon.</p> + +<p>But in which direction had he to go—to the left or to the right? He +could not tell.</p> + +<p>Then he saw his footprints on the soft sand, showing the way that he had +come. He had but to follow them.</p> + +<p>Dizzy and faint, and often stumbling, he wearily retraced his steps. The +footprints led him along the shore to that extremity of the bay which +would have been on the left hand of one looking seaward. Reaching the +promontory of rock he clambered to the summit of it; and then, to his +dismay, he looked down upon another extensive bay, at the farther end of +which was a mountain of square shape falling perpendicularly into the +surf, and preventing all further progress in that direction. An ocean +current must be perpetually setting into this bay, for he perceived that +the shore was strewn with a prodigious quantity of wreckage. The spars +and barrels were heaped up together in places. There were vessels lying +crushed among the sharp rocks; others were sunk in the sand, their +skeleton ribs alone showing; there were vessels of all sizes, and some +of very antique construction—relics of disaster that had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> been +collecting gradually on this desert coast unvisited by man through all +the ages since European keels first clove the southern seas: a +melancholy record of much suffering and the loss of many gallant men.</p> + +<p>Then Carew began to suspect the truth, and a great dread fell on him. +Lying down he placed a small stone on the edge of a shadow cast by a +pointed rock, and watched it with a breathless suspense.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was as he had feared. <i>The shadow was slowly lengthening!</i> He +laid his face on the ground and wept hysterically in his despair.</p> + +<p>The shadow was lengthening, therefore the sun was setting. It was +setting inland over the mountains, and thus the sea was to the east of +him. So—unconsciously, by what road he knew not—he must have traversed +the whole island, and he was now on the coast the most remote from South +West Bay. The cascade, the water he was dying for, was miles away, +beyond those great hills. He could never reach it in his present state.</p> + +<p>He was on the weather side of Trinidad.</p> + +<p>Those heavy breakers on the reefs were caused by the high swell of the +south-east trades, and there on the horizon were the three islands of +Martin Vas, twenty-five miles away.</p> + +<p>So he despaired and lay down on the rocks, and longed for the release of +death. Then he became delirious, and fancied that he was in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> Fleet +Street again, and was going into a tavern with some comrades to drink a +glass of wine. But once more the agony of thirst woke him to a +consciousness of his position. He staggered to his feet, and ran on +blindly a few yards; then he stumbled, and fell to his knees.</p> + +<p>Ah! what was that gleaming so temptingly before him?—an illusion only +to mock him into madness with its lying promise. He stretched his hand +to it—touched it. He plunged his face into it.</p> + +<p>It was water—fresh water; a small pool left in a hollow of a rock by +the last rains. It was nauseous to the taste, and heated by the tropical +sun; but it was water, and infinitely more precious to him at that +moment than all the gold quartz in his vessel's hold. He drank fiercely +and long, before his craving was assuaged; then his senses returned to +him, and, though still very weak, he felt capable of making an effort to +save his life.</p> + +<p>He descended the farther side of the buttress of rock that divides the +two bays, and again followed his footprints, which led him across the +wreck-strewn sands to the entrance of a ravine that clove the mountains, +and seemed to afford the only practicable pass across them.</p> + +<p>He looked upwards, and wondered how he could have possibly found his way +with safety down that perilous place; for he supposed that he must have +been in a trance-like condition<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> when he made that journey, of which he +was now so entirely oblivious.</p> + +<p>With great pain and labour he accomplished the difficult ascent. This +ravine had the same character as most of those in Trinidad. The bottom +of it was encumbered with masses of fallen rock, among which stood the +mysterious dead trees. Here the foul sea-birds were very numerous. The +air stank with the fish on which they fed; and as it was now the +breeding season, the mothers were very fierce, and attacked Carew with +their wings and beaks as he advanced, so that he had to arm himself with +a piece of wood, and fight his way through them.</p> + +<p>After much weary climbing, often in places where a false step would have +meant death, he reached an elevated plateau covered with tree-ferns—the +only vegetation on the island which was fair to the eye.</p> + +<p>Crossing this plateau, he found himself on the summit of a precipitous +cliff, and he looked down upon the ocean into which the sun was just +setting. At his feet, far below, the barque lay at anchor.</p> + +<p>Proceeding along the edge of the precipice, he came to the head of a +ravine, which he knew must be the one from which the cascade falls into +the sea. After clambering down a little way, he reached the source of +the stream. The cool clear water rushed out with a pleasant sound<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> from +a hole in the rocks. Here he lay down and drank greedily, for his throat +was again parched with fever.</p> + +<p>Feeling too exhausted to make any further exertion, and knowing that the +darkness would soon render it impossible to continue the descent down +those perilous slopes, he determined to pass the night where he was.</p> + +<p>Lying on a narrow ledge of rock he fell into a profound sleep.</p> + +<p>After a while he dreamt a frightful dream. He thought that his victims +had come to life again, and, having surprised him in his sleep, were +holding him by his arms with a grip of iron, and were about to put him +to the torture.</p> + +<p>He awoke with a start, and for a moment fancied that he saw their +skeleton forms leaning over him in the starlight.</p> + +<p>But was it all a dream? What was that sensation of pain in his right +arm, as if a vice were tightening upon it?</p> + +<p>He sprang to his feet, and with his arm dragged up a heavy weight that +was clinging to it.</p> + +<p>Shuddering with horror, he shook it violently from him, and a large +land-crab fell with a crash on the stones.</p> + +<p>The wretched man looked round, and could distinguish in the dim light +that the rocks were covered with the brutes. They had come out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> of their +holes at sunset, and were about to devour him alive.</p> + +<p>He seized a large stone, and hurled it at one of them. It broke through +the creature's armour and killed it. But the others paid no heed to the +death of their fellow, and crawled on with a deliberate slowness. He +pulled a branch off one of the dead trees, and with this he was able to +thrust them away as they approached. He was obliged to keep watch and +defend himself thus through all that long night. Once or twice he +dropped off asleep in sheer exhaustion, only to be awakened again a +moment afterwards by the closing of sharp pincers on some portion of his +body. It was a night the realities of which equalled in horror the worst +illusions of a nightmare. Several times he thought of throwing himself +off the cliffs and putting an end to his misery, but still he clung to +life, and fought for it, as men who value it the least always will when +in the presence of a merely physical danger.</p> + +<p>At daybreak Carew, his eyes bloodshot, his limbs shaking, having the +appearance of one who is recovering from an attack of delirium tremens, +descended the ravine as hastily as his weak condition permitted. He +turned his head aside as he passed the fatal clump of trees. He reached +the landing-place, and there found Baptiste and El Chico awaiting him +with the cutter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p><p>Carew stepped into the boat without saying a word.</p> + +<p>Baptiste glanced at the haggard face of the captain, but made no remark +on his altered appearance. He merely said, "We were anxious about you, +so have been off here since daybreak waiting for you."</p> + +<p>Carew looked inquiringly into the mate's face, but did not dare to utter +the question that was on his lips.</p> + +<p>Baptiste understood. "Yes, I have seen it," he said, in a low voice. +Even that callous villain had been awed by the sight at the foot of the +ravine.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER XVII</span></h2> + +<p>For two more days the barque lay becalmed off the desert island, but not +one of the crew ventured on land again. The two Spaniards shrunk with a +superstitious terror from further contact with that accursed shore—that +<i>costa maldita</i>, as they invariably spoke of it.</p> + +<p>Carew's experiences on Trinidad produced an ineffaceable impression on +his mind. His melancholy deepened into a dull despair. He passed most of +the day alone in his cabin, avoiding as much as possible even the sight +of his companions. By means of ever-increasing doses of laudanum, the +miserable man stupefied his brain into a lethargic condition, which was, +however, frequently broken by frightful dreams when he was asleep, and +by nervous seizures of acute and causeless terrors when he was awake.</p> + +<p>Baptiste, observing these symptoms, began to fear for Carew's reason, +and tried in various ways to rouse him, but in vain.</p> + +<p>At last one morning a fresh south-east wind sprang up. Carew did not +even seem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> to notice the change, and he gave no orders to get under way. +So Baptiste approached him—</p> + +<p>"The sooner we have the anchor up and are off the better, captain."</p> + +<p>Carew assented in an apathetic way, and assisted the men in weighing the +anchor and setting the sails; but he worked with a sullen silence, +making no suggestions, leaving everything to Baptiste.</p> + +<p>After paying the vessel off before the wind with the foretopmast +staysail, they set the fore and main topsails, an amount of canvas which +the prudent mate considered sufficient for a barque so undermanned.</p> + +<p>As soon as the last yard had been squared, and there was no more for him +to do, Carew again went into his cabin.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later Baptiste followed him there.</p> + +<p>"Sorry to disturb you, captain," he said, seeing the expression of +annoyance on Carew's face, and also noticing the bottle of laudanum +standing on the table; "but now we are off, running merrily before the +wind, away from that accursed island. If you please, what is our +course—where are we bound for—and have you thought of a plausible +explanation of how we picked up this derelict? Rouse yourself, sir. +Think, act, and be a man again."</p> + +<p>Carew had drunk a quantity of laudanum<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> that morning, and he replied in +a dreamy voice, as if he had lost all interest in life, and was heedless +of the future—</p> + +<p>"Do what you like. I leave it all to you. I am unable to think."</p> + +<p>"Sir, this is cowardly of you!" cried Baptiste vehemently. "Everything +has gone so well with us thus far, and now you lose heart when an +immense fortune is almost in our hands. Remember what we have done for +you, and do not risk all our lives by neglecting your duties to us."</p> + +<p>"What do I care for your lives?" replied Carew with a bitter laugh, that +had an insane ring in it. "What is it to me where we go, even if it be +to the bottom? Leave me."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, sir; I will take charge of the vessel until you come to your +senses." As he spoke, Baptiste contrived to slip the bottle of laudanum +into his pocket unperceived by Carew.</p> + +<p>The mate went on deck and threw the bottle into the sea. "That coward +will go mad if he drugs himself much longer," he said to himself. "When +he got on shore he would ruin us all in some silly fit of garrulous +remorse. He would disburden his conscience and hang us in his present +temper. He shall have no more laudanum. I must look after him and cure +him before we get into port. If I cannot do so, well, then, he must die. +A pity that; for he is useful, almost necessary, to us."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p><p>Baptiste consulted the chart, and determined to run for the port of +Bahia, which is about seven hundred miles to the north-west of Trinidad. +Having quickly formed his plans, he carried them out with considerable +cleverness.</p> + +<p>He collected a quantity of combustible matter, and proceeded to set fire +to some of the storerooms and other portions of the vessel in such a way +that he could always keep the fires under control and extinguish them at +will. It was a hazardous undertaking, but he omitted no precaution; and +after the vessel had been three days at sea, and was still three hundred +miles from Bahia, the effect he desired was satisfactorily produced. She +appeared to have been ablaze almost from end to end, and so there was +manifest a sufficient reason for the desertion of the crew at sea.</p> + +<p>The last spark having been extinguished, Baptiste hove the vessel to +while he completed his preparations. He lowered two of the boats into +the sea and sank them.</p> + +<p>"And now," he asked himself, "what things are the crew likely to have +taken with them in the boats? For we must preserve the verisimilitude. +Our story must be above suspicion; every circumstance must corroborate +it."</p> + +<p>So he threw overboard a chronometer, a valuable sextant, a compass, and +other articles which a captain deserting his ship would most certainly +have carried away. The Spaniards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> ridiculed this excess of caution. +"Thoughtless children!" Baptiste explained; "it is most probable that +there are people on shore who know exactly how many chronometers, +compasses, and so on, were on board this vessel. These things will be +counted up, and if none are missing, the minds of men will be puzzled at +the strange conduct of the captain. Now I do not want to puzzle people; +very much otherwise, my imprudent children. For the same reason I am now +going to burn the ship's papers. No captain ever leaves those behind him +on a derelict."</p> + +<p>Carew had watched these preparations listlessly, assisting when asked to +do so, but still suggesting nothing. He never alluded to the loss of his +bottle of laudanum, and very probably he knew that Baptiste had taken it +away.</p> + +<p>Early on the sixth day of the voyage the Brazilian coast was sighted, +and the mate recognised the palm-clad hills that border the entrance to +the Reconcava of Bahia—a beautiful inland sea, as extensive as that of +Rio de Janeiro.</p> + +<p>And now Baptiste, feeling how great a risk would be incurred by entering +the port while the captain was in his present demented condition, dared +not sail into the bay; and, after a consultation with the men, braced up +the yards, and steered the vessel along the coast to the northward, with +the intention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> of making Pernambuco, which is nearly five hundred miles +distant from Bahia. By this a delay of about three days would be gained; +and should Carew not recover his senses in that time, he must be put out +of the way. There was no help for it.</p> + +<p>But Baptiste and the two Spaniards knew well that if they went into port +without the owner of the yacht, their tale would be received with +suspicion. It would be necessary to account for his absence. Their own +histories would be closely inquired into; the well-elaborated scheme +might end in failure after all. The gloom of the captain seemed to +communicate itself to the crew. The usual cheeriness of sailors was +altogether absent during the voyage. A vague foreboding of calamity +oppressed the men; and on board that guilty ship all went about their +work with dismal faces, never smiling, sullen and silent, suspicious of +each other.</p> + +<p>On the second day, the vessel was slowly sailing up the coast near +Alagoas Bay. Baptiste was sitting on deck, rolling up and smoking his +innumerable cigarettes as he contemplated the beautiful panorama that +opened out before him—a land of forest-clad mountains and fertile +valleys, down which broad rivers poured into the sea, while among the +cocoa-nut groves upon the sandy beaches were the numerous bamboo +villages of the negro fishermen. But Baptiste,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> though gazing at it, was +in no mood to admire beautiful scenery; he was looking forward with +alarm to the perils before him.</p> + +<p>At last, after pondering over it for some while, he determined on a +course of action. It was a desperate thing to do, but it would bring +matters to a crisis at once.</p> + +<p>He threw away his cigarette, loaded his revolver and placed it in his +breast, and then, with face pale with fear but determined in expression, +he entered Carew's cabin.</p> + +<p>The Englishman was reading a book, or pretending to do so. Baptiste took +a seat in front of him, and commenced abruptly—</p> + +<p>"Do you wish to live, sir?"</p> + +<p>Carew looked up. "Why do you ask? If I wished to die, I could take away +my life at any moment."</p> + +<p>"You will probably be saved that trouble. I will be perfectly frank with +you, because I understand you. You see that we are afraid of going into +port in your company. We think you are losing your senses, and we cannot +allow a madman to rave our secrets in Pernambuco. We wish you to live, +because you might be very useful to us. But if, before we are in sight +of port, you don't satisfy us that you are sane, by ridding yourself of +your melancholia and taking an interest in this business, we shall be +under the painful necessity of despatching you for our own protection. +We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> will have to kill you, not in any ill-feeling, I assure you, but +with real regret."</p> + +<p>Baptiste had rightly imagined that this cool and almost ludicrously +matter-of-fact way of broaching the subject was the best in the +circumstances.</p> + +<p>Carew first appeared to be lost in astonishment; then he smiled sadly, +and said, "You are a strange man. You come here to tell me that I am +mad, and that I must become sane in two days or die—is that it?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think that you are exactly mad, but"—</p> + +<p>"I know what you mean," interrupted Carew, "and you are right. I have +been ill for several days; but I am not mad, as you will soon discover. +I will allow that I might soon have become so had you not stolen my +laudanum."</p> + +<p>From that moment Carew changed his mode of life, and became much as he +had been before his visit to the desert island. Though melancholy in his +manner and miserable in his mind, he shook off his lethargy, bestirred +himself, took an interest once more in the working of the ship, and +exhibited all his old ingenuity in improving upon Baptiste's +preparations for deceiving the authorities as to the fate of the barque.</p> + +<p>"Talented and unfathomable being," exclaimed the Frenchman admiringly, +"what could we do without you?"</p> + +<p class="center">* * * * * *</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p><p>The voyage was over, and the <i>La Bonne Esperance</i> was lying under the +Recife, that marvellous natural breakwater built by myriads of +diminutive coral insects, which, running in a parallel line to the +shore, forms the harbour of Pernambuco. In front of her stretched the +long and crowded quay, with its pleasant boulevard and lofty white +houses.</p> + +<p>The barque had been an object of great interest to the people of +Pernambuco ever since the tug had towed her in from outside. The +romantic story of the little English yacht that had foundered at sea, +and of her shipwrecked crew, who had been so fortunate as to come across +such a valuable prize, was on everybody's lips. The English residents +had been profuse in their offers of hospitality to Carew, but under the +pretext of ill-health he refused all these; and as soon as he had handed +over the barque to the proper authorities he hired a room in a French +hotel on the quay, and lived there as quietly as possible with Baptiste, +while the Spaniards were lodged in a neighbouring tavern.</p> + +<p>The torments of his accusing conscience having now subsided, life once +more appeared of value to this mutable-minded man, and his anxiety and +dread of discovery returned. It caused him great uneasiness to learn how +long a time must elapse before the settlement of the salvage would be +completed. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> found that he might have to wait many months in +Pernambuco before receiving his share of the vessel's value.</p> + +<p>The barque had been in the Recife for about three weeks when one morning +a coasting steamer from Rio entered the harbour. Among her passengers +was an Englishman. When he stepped on shore he disregarded the +importunate crowd of hotel touts, and handing his portmanteau to a black +porter, said merely, "English Consulate!" The negro understood, and led +the way.</p> + +<p>The Englishman found the consul in his office, asked if he could speak +to him alone on urgent business, and was shown into a private room.</p> + +<p>He placed a letter in the consul's hands. "This," he said, "is from the +British Consul at Rio. It will serve to introduce me."</p> + +<p>It was a somewhat lengthy letter, and as he read it an expression of +extreme surprise came to the consul's face. "This is a most +extraordinary story!" he exclaimed. "Tell me what more you know of this +man."</p> + +<p>The interview was a long one. At its termination the consul said:—"Of +course I can do nothing until an extradition warrant arrives from +England. In the meanwhile, we must not rouse his suspicions. Let him +still consider himself safe. He applied to me for an advance of money +yesterday; I will let<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> him have it if he does not ask for too much. But +he must not see you. I recommend you to go to Caxanga—a pretty +watering-place about half an hour from here by train. I will give you +the name of a good hotel there. Do not come into town unless I send for +you. Keep out of his way. I should like you to be here to-morrow morning +at ten; for, shortly after that hour, his crew are going to make some +depositions. I will conceal you in the next room in such a way that you +can see them; for it will be well for you to know these men by sight. Of +course you will pass under an assumed name while you are here."</p> + +<p>"I will call myself John Rudge," said the stranger.</p> + +<p>In spite of these precautions, the ever-watchful Baptiste soon came to +suspect that there was mischief brewing. One day that he accompanied +Carew to the Consulate he at once observed that the consul's manner had +undergone a change. There was a reserve and a lack of his usual +heartiness in his greeting of Carew. It was but a slight and involuntary +change, and it escaped Carew's notice.</p> + +<p>A few days after this, Baptiste was sent to the Consulate with a letter. +As he came to the door John Rudge was going out. The stranger seemed +startled at finding himself thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> suddenly face to face with the +Frenchman, and walked hastily away.</p> + +<p>"A trifling circumstance," said Baptiste to himself; "but the lightest +trifles show best the direction of the wind. Why did that man start at +seeing me? Who is he?"</p> + +<p>A week passed, and Baptiste saw no more of the stranger; but at last he +came full upon him in front of the post-office. Again Rudge seemed as if +he wished to avoid being seen by the Frenchman, and turned his head +aside as he passed.</p> + +<p>But Baptiste was quick in resource. "Stay a moment, if you please, sir," +he called out in French; "I wish to speak to you."</p> + +<p>The Englishman stood still.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me for detaining you," continued Baptiste, "but you understand +French?"</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir, what chance! I know not a word of this horrid Portuguese +tongue, and I wish to inquire at the post-office if there is a letter +for me. Would you oblige me by interpreting for me?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know Portuguese myself; but the clerk in the post-office +understands French."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir. I am a stranger here, you see. I am one of the crew of +<i>La Bonne Esperance</i>, the derelict. No doubt you have heard our story?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, I know all about it. You were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> very fortunate. But excuse me, +my friend; I am in great haste," and he hurried off.</p> + +<p>Baptiste returned to the hotel and found Carew. "Captain," he asked, +"have you committed some peccadillo in England on account of which they +are likely to be hunting after you here?"</p> + +<p>"It is almost impossible that any enemies I may have can have traced me +here."</p> + +<p>"All dead, I suppose," remarked Baptiste coolly. Then he proceeded to +explain the reasons that had prompted his questions.</p> + +<p>"You are full of foolish fears, Baptiste. I see nothing in all this."</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir, I have lived for so many years in the midst of alarms that I +perceive the first indications of danger. When I told this Englishman +that I was one of your crew, he exhibited no interest. He did not +question me about our adventures, and make much of me, and take me into +a café to give me drinks, as all the other Englishmen in Pernambuco do +when they meet one of us heroes of the hour."</p> + +<p>"I do not see anything very alarming in his neglect to make a fuss over +you."</p> + +<p>"I do, because I understand human nature. I see dangers ahead, and I +intend to secure my retreat in case of disaster. I shall arrange how to +slip away if necessary. I advise you to do the same, captain."</p> + +<p>"I have done so, Baptiste."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CHAPTER XVIII</span></h2> + +<p>Carew had been nearly six weeks in Pernambuco, when a British mail +steamer happened to land an English passenger, who at once called on the +consul, and introduced himself to that functionary as Mr. Norton. He had +that to say which considerably astonished the consul, and the result was +that on the following morning a letter was brought to Carew as he was +sitting down to his breakfast at the hotel with Baptiste. It was from +the consul's clerk, and ran thus:—"<i>Sir, will you kindly call here +to-day? Your business is practically settled.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Practically settled?" repeated Baptiste, when he heard the contents. +"Those words have an unpleasant ring somehow. I know not why, but I +cannot help fearing that something is wrong."</p> + +<p>"I too have my presentiments," said Carew, "but I am prepared."</p> + +<p>At the appointed hour Carew called at the Consulate. He found the consul +and Lloyd's agent awaiting him in a room adjoining the principal office.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p><p>There was a constraint in their manner, which he, watchful for the +slightest suspicious indication, detected at once. They were as men who +anticipated some momentous event, but who endeavoured to conceal their +anxiety.</p> + +<p>The consul produced a document, and laid it on the desk. "Read this +over, please, Mr. Allen, and see that it is correct."</p> + +<p>Carew glanced down it quickly with an eye trained to legal forms. "It is +perfectly correct," he said.</p> + +<p>"I have a gentleman in the next room who will witness your signature to +this statement," proceeded the consul. He opened the door, and Mr. +Norton entered the room.</p> + +<p>The consciousness of impending peril came over Carew's guilty soul, but +he seized the pen, and in a firm hand wrote the signature, "Arthur +Allen, Barrister-at-law."</p> + +<p>Mr. Norton now approached the table. He took up the pen as if to sign +his name, glanced at the document, and then, raising his head, looked +Carew full in the face. "I cannot witness this signature," he said. "It +is a forgery!"</p> + +<p>There was a complete silence for a few moments; then Carew, whose face +was pale, but who betrayed no other signs of emotion, said quietly, +"Explain your strange words, sir."</p> + +<p>"It is no good; the game is up, Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> Carew," replied Norton. "I have a +warrant for your arrest, and the police are at the door."</p> + +<p>"A trap has been laid for me, I see," said Carew, as quietly as before. +"This is one of the absurd mistakes you detectives so often make; but I +will soon clear it up. Of what am I accused?" Carew was astonished at +his own courage in the presence of this extreme disaster, or rather—for +it can scarcely be called courage—at his indifference to his fate. He +felt as if he were the spectator of a tragedy which was being played by +other men, and in which he was not himself an actor—a common state of +mind with men in utmost peril.</p> + +<p>"The charge with which I am immediately concerned," replied the +detective, "and on account of which an extradition warrant has been +issued, is the forgery of a client's name by the solicitor Henry Carew. +In the meanwhile, look at these," and he threw on the table two +photographs. Carew took them up. One, he saw, was a portrait of Arthur +Allen, his friend whom he left to drown in the North Sea; the other was +a photograph of himself which had been taken eight years back, when he +was another man, when his conscience was still clear, and before his +gambling losses had driven him from crime to crime; sin and suffering +had yet drawn no lines on the face, the brow was free from care. He +gazed gloomily at this presentment of what he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> been and could never +be again, and his mind wandered back with despairing regret to memories +of guiltless days.</p> + +<p>"On the 15th of August last," continued the detective, "a solicitor, +Henry Carew, absconded, disappeared, leaving no trace. For some time I, +who was entrusted with the case, was altogether at fault; but at last, +as often happens, a coincidence threw me on the scent. I came across an +advertisement inserted in the papers by the relatives of a missing man, +Arthur Allen. He had left his chambers on the 15th of August, and had +not since been heard of. Carew and Allen thus disappeared from London on +the same day, mark you; but there was no very remarkable coincidence in +that fact. However, I happened to remember that, while searching the +papers of Carew to discover what were his habits, who were his +acquaintances, and so forth, I had come across the name of this Arthur +Allen, apparently a friend of Carew's. The clue was worth following up. +I soon ascertained that Allen had that day sailed from the Thames in his +yacht; that his last known port of call was Rotterdam. I went to +Rotterdam, and there, from a Mr. Hoogendyk and others, learnt that the +man who called himself Arthur Allen had conducted himself in a somewhat +curious manner for an English yachtsman, and had suddenly sailed from +that port, bound no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> one knew whither, with a crew of Spanish +desperadoes."</p> + +<p>The detective now took the two photographs from the hand of Carew, who +was still gazing at them in a dazed way, apparently not listening to the +words of his accuser.</p> + +<p>"I procured these," Norton went on. "I brought them to Mr. Hoogendyk. +First I showed him the portrait of Arthur Allen; he did not recognise +it. Then I gave him the portrait of Henry Carew. 'This, of course,' he +at once said, 'is the photograph of Mr. Allen, the Englishman who came +here with the little yacht.' Then I knew that I was on the right track. +Shortly afterwards, a paragraph which appeared in a London evening paper +brought me promptly here, armed with an extradition warrant. I have the +paragraph here. It is headed '<i>A Strange Story of the Sea.</i>' I will read +it to you. '<i>A telegram from Pernambuco states that a French barque, the</i> +La Bonne Esperance, <i>has been brought into that port a derelict. She was +picked up by the crew of an English yacht, the</i> Petrel. <i>The</i> Petrel +<i>had foundered in the South Atlantic. Mr. Allen, the owner, and his +three men took to the dinghy, and, after drifting for several days, +encountered the deserted barque, which they sailed into Pernambuco. The +salvage is likely to far more than compensate Mr. Allen for the loss of +his yacht.</i>' That is all I need say at present."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p><p>The consul spoke next. "There is a Mr. Rudge here, who has been in +Pernambuco for some weeks, who can also throw a light on this matter." +The consul touched the bell, and the man who had assumed the name of +Rudge was shown into the room. He closed the door behind him, and stood +with his back against it.</p> + +<p>"This gentleman," said the consul deliberately, "affirms that <i>he</i> is +Arthur Allen, the barrister, the owner of the lost yacht."</p> + +<p>All in the room now turned their eyes upon Carew, to watch the effect +upon him of this sudden presence.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was indeed Allen, though pale and thin, as if he had but just +recovered from a sudden illness, that Carew saw before him. And now this +strange being, who had fallen into such depths of crime, and who yet +loathed crime so intensely, behaved in the manner that might have been +expected from him. The better man declared himself at last. On beholding +this accuser, who had risen thus suddenly from the dead, he displayed no +guilty terror. On the contrary, an expression of great relief, of joy, +almost of triumph, lit up his face, and the lines of care faded away +from it.</p> + +<p>They all watched him with wonder.</p> + +<p>Then he spoke quietly, in tones that carried conviction. No one could +doubt but that the words were from his heart.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am Henry Carew. I am guilty of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> all that I am accused of, and of +more, and worse things. But I am glad, indeed glad—and little gladness +has been my lot of late—to see you, Arthur Allen, standing there alive +before me. There is one less crime on my soul. Yes, I am now happy; +happier than I deserve to be. I am quite ready to pay the penalty of my +sins."</p> + +<p>There was a nobility in his countenance as he stood up erect, with none +of the shrinking criminal about him. He felt as if he were out of the +world already; he was free from petty fears now.</p> + +<p>Then the consul, impressed by the man's manner, said, in an almost +respectful tone, "It is better that you should go on board the English +steamer at once. I have arranged everything."</p> + +<p>The detective whispered something into the consul's ear, and then +slipped out of the room quietly.</p> + +<p>Carew looked through the window at the fair tropical world without. He +could see the busy quay, with its green trees waving in the fresh trade +wind, and the breakers dashing upon the coral reef. Beyond that, between +the blue sea and the blue sky, there loomed a dark mass. Carew knew that +this was the vessel which was to be his prison, lying at anchor in the +outer roads. He shivered; then turning to the consul said—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p><p>"Grant me one last favour before I go: let me have paper and pen. I +wish to write a letter."</p> + +<p>The consul hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Give it to him," whispered Allen, who had been eyeing Carew intently; +and Carew rewarded him with a grateful look.</p> + +<p>The writing materials were put on the table. He sat before them with his +back to the spectators, and as he held the pen in his right hand, he +placed his left elbow upon the table, stooping over it, his face buried +in the open palm as if he were meditating deeply what he should write. +And so he remained for quite a minute without writing a word. Once a +slight tremor passed through his frame. After that he sat quite +motionless.</p> + +<p>The detective again entered the room, followed by two officers of +police.</p> + +<p>"Come, sir," he said, "we must go now," and he put his hand lightly on +Carew's shoulder.</p> + +<p>As the hand touched him, Carew's elbow slipped, his head dropped heavily +upon the table, face downwards, and from his left hand, which had been +over his mouth, there fell on the table, and rolled slowly across it, a +small empty bottle.</p> + +<p>He was quite dead! He had found a use at last for the poisonous drug +which the Rotterdam chemist had grudgingly sold him.</p> + +<p class="center">* * * * * *</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p><p>"The prisoner has slipped away from us," said the detective; "but, +after all, I am not sorry for it in a way, for there was good in the +man."</p> + +<p>And so ended the misspent life of Henry Carew—a man by nature probably +no worse than many of the most respectable-seeming among us. But he was +morally timid; and such a one, however benevolent be his disposition, +however opposed to vice be his inclinations, is the slave of +circumstances, and is quite as likely to develop into a villain as a +saint. A weak will is the devil's easiest prey.</p> + +<p>Arthur Allen's narrative will be given in his own words:—</p> + +<p>"The last thing I remember, after Jim and myself were capsized, is that +I was holding on to the dinghy, and that I lashed myself to her with the +painter. Poor Jim must have gone down at once. I don't remember seeing +him after the boat turned over. The seas must have driven the sense out +of me. I came to, days afterwards, in the cabin of a German barque. She +had picked me up—still lashed to the dinghy—in an insensible +condition. The barque was bound from Hamburg to Rio. My long exposure in +the water brought on a serious and tedious illness. I was more dead than +alive when I landed at Rio, and was at once taken to the hospital. There +the English<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> Consul called to see me, and behaved with great kindness. +When I told him my story, and who I was, he said, 'A man of your name +came here with a yacht a short time back—an eccentric man, for he only +stopped two days here and was off again; so I did not see him.' I asked +what the name of the yacht was. 'The <i>Petrel</i>,' he replied. Then, of +course, the whole truth dawned upon me, and I satisfied the consul that +someone had stolen my yacht and had assumed my name. The consul then +advanced to me the money I required. I was still lying in the hospital +when the news came to Rio that the <i>Petrel</i> had been lost at sea, and +that her crew had found a derelict, and sailed her into Pernambuco. In +spite of the doctor's warnings, I left the hospital, and hurried here at +once. I was awaiting an extradition warrant from England, when Mr. +Norton anticipated my own action, and arrived with a warrant that had +been obtained on account of former felonies committed by Carew."</p> + +<p>The true story of the French barque and her crew was never known. +Baptiste and the two Spaniards took alarm and disappeared from +Pernambuco. Not that they were in danger, for they were not implicated +in the felonies which had been brought home to Carew. But the guilty +wretches knew not what would be discovered next, they so completely +distrusted each other, each knowing that he himself would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> readily +betray his comrades, either for a price or to secure his own safety.</p> + +<p>What ultimately happened to these three villains I do not know. Baptiste +being a criminal of the educated, cunning, and cowardly-cautious order, +possibly enriched himself by iniquity for many years more, and, escaping +his deserts in this world, may yet have died in his old age, a respected +citizen in his native land.</p> + +<p>The other two more vulgar scoundrels were no doubt hanged, or stabbed in +a brawl, or despatched in some such summary fashion sooner or later—a +penalty for their crimes which seems light indeed to men of this brutal +stamp, who consider a violent death as the most desirable and indeed +only legitimate termination to existence.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center">THE END</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center">PRINTED BY<br />MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED, EDINBURGH</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a></span></p> + +<h2><span>ADVERTISEMENTS</span></h2> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold u"><i>The Express Series.—No. II.</i></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold2">A GIRL OF GRIT</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">CHAPTER I</p> + +<p class="bold">MY AMERICAN MILLIONS</p> + +<p>It was the middle of the night (as I thought) when Savory—my man, my +landlord, valet, and general factotum—came in and woke me. He gave me a +letter, saying simply, "The gentleman's a-waiting, sir," and I read it +twice, without understanding it in the very least.</p> + +<p>Could it be a hoax? To satisfy myself, I sat up in bed, rubbed my +astonished and still half-sleepy eyes, and read it again. It ran as +follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p class="right">"101, <span class="smcap">Lincoln's Inn</span>, <i>July 11, 189-</i>.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Gray & Quinlan</span>,<br /> Solicitors.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—It is our pleasing duty to inform you, at the request +of our New York agents, Messrs. Smiddy & Dann, of 57, Chambers +Street, New York City, that they have now definitely and +conclusively established your claim as the sole surviving relative +and general heir-at-law of their late esteemed client, Mr. Aretas +M'Faught, of Church Place and Fifth Avenue, New York.</p> + +<p>"As the amount of your inheritance is very considerable, and is +estimated approximately at between fourteen and fifteen millions of +dollars, say three millions of sterling money, we have thought it +right to apprise you of your good fortune without delay. Our Mr. +Richard Quinlan will hand you this letter in person, and will be +pleased to take your instructions.—We are, sir, your obedient +servants,</p> + +<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Gray & Quinlan.</span>"</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Captain William Aretas Wood</span>, D.S.O.,<br /> + 21, Clarges Street, Piccadilly."</p></blockquote> + +<p>"Here, Savory! who brought this? Do you say he is waiting? I'll see him +in half a minute;" and, sluicing my head in cold water, I put on a +favourite old dressing-gown, and passed into the next room, followed by +Roy, my precious golden collie, who began at once to sniff suspiciously +at my visitor's legs.</p> + +<p>I found there a prim little old-young gentleman, who scanned me +curiously through his gold-rimmed pince-nez. Although, no doubt, greatly +surprised,—for he did not quite expect to see an arch-millionaire in an +old ulster with a ragged collar of catskin, with damp, unkempt locks, +and unshorn chin at that time of day,—he addressed me with much +formality and respect.</p> + +<p>"I must apologise for this intrusion, Captain Wood—you <i>are</i> Captain +Wood?"</p> + +<p>"Undoubtedly."</p> + +<p>"I am Mr. Quinlan, very much at your service. Pardon me—is this your +dog? Is he quite to be trusted?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly, if you don't speak to him. Lie down, Roy. I fear I am very +late—a ball last night. Do you ever go to balls, Mr. Quinlan?"</p> + +<p>"Not often, Captain Wood. But if I have come too early, I can call later +on."</p> + +<p>"By no means. I am dying to hear more. But, first of all, this +letter—it's all <i>bonâ fide</i>, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Without question. It is from our firm. There can be no possible +mistake. We have made it our business to verify all the facts—indeed, +this is not the first we had heard of the affair, but we did not think +it right to speak to you too soon. This morning, however, the mail has +brought a full acknowledgment of your claims, so we came on at once to +see you."</p> + +<p>"How did you find me out, pray?"</p> + +<p>"We have had our eye on you for some time past, Captain Wood," said the +little lawyer smilingly. "While we were inquiring—you understand? We +were anxious to do the best for you"—</p> + +<p>"I'm sure I'm infinitely obliged to you. But still, I can't believe it, +quite. I should like to be convinced of the reality of my good luck. You +see, I haven't thoroughly taken it in."</p> + +<p>"Read this letter from our New York agents, Captain Wood. It gives more +details," and he handed me a type-written communication on two quarto +sheets of tissue paper, also a number of cuttings from the New York +press.</p> + +<p>The early part of the letter referred to the search and discovery of the +heir-at-law (myself), and stated frankly that there could be no sort of +doubt that my case was clear, and that they would be pleased, when +called upon, to put me in full possession of my estate.</p> + +<p>From that they passed on to a brief enumeration of the assets, which +comprised real estate in town lots, lands, houses; stocks, shares, well-</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold u"><i>The Express Series.—No. III.</i></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold2">A DESPERATE VOYAGE</p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">CHAPTER I</p> + +<p>In Carey Street, Chancery Lane, on the ground floor of a huge block of +new buildings facing the Law Courts, were the offices of Messrs. Peters +and Carew, solicitors and perpetual commissioners of oaths. Such was the +title of the firm as inscribed on the side of the entrance door in the +middle of a long list of other names of solicitors, architects, and +companies, whose offices were within. But the firm was now represented +by Mr. Carew alone; for the senior partner, a steady-going old +gentleman, who had made the business what it was, had been despatched by +an attack of gout, two years back, to a land where there is no +litigation.</p> + +<p>Late one August evening Mr. Henry Carew entered his office. His face was +white and haggard, and he muttered to himself as he passed the door. He +had all the appearance of a man who has been drinking heavily to drown +some terrible worry. His clerks had gone; he went into his own private +room and locked the door. He lit the gas, brought a pile of papers and +letters out of a drawer, and, sitting down by the table, commenced to +peruse them. As he did so, the lines about his face seemed to deepen, +and beads of perspiration started to his forehead. It was for him an +hour of agony. His sins had found him out, and the day of reckoning had +arrived.</p> + +<p>One might have taken Henry Carew for a sailor, but he was very unlike +the typical solicitor. He was a big, hearty man of thirty-five, with all +a sailor's bluff manner and generous ways. His friends called him Honest +Hal, and said that he was one of the best fellows that ever lived. We +have it on the authority of that immortal adventuress, Becky Sharp, that +it is easy to be virtuous on five thousand a year. Had Mr. Carew enjoyed +such an income, he would most probably have lived a blameless life and +have acquired an estimable reputation; for he had no instinctive liking +for crime; on the contrary, he loathed it.</p> + +<p>But one slight moral flaw in a man's nature—so slight that his best +friends smile tolerantly at it—may, by force of circumstance, lead +ultimately to his complete moral ruin. It is an old story, and has been +the text of many a sermon. The trifling fault is often the germ of +terrible crimes.</p> + +<p>Carew's fault was one that is always easily condoned, so nearly akin is +it to a virtue; these respectably connected vices are ever the most +dangerous, like well-born swindlers. Carew was a spendthrift. He was +ostentatiously extravagant in many directions. He owned a smart +schooner, which he navigated himself, being an excellent sailor, and the +quantities of champagne consumed by his friends on board this vessel +were prodigious.</p> + +<p>When his steady old partner died, Carew began to neglect the business +for his pleasures. Soon his income was insufficient to meet his +expenses. Speculation on the Stock Exchange seemed to him to be a +quicker road to fortune than a slow-going profession. So this man, +morally weak though physically brave, not having the courage to curtail +his extravagances, hurried blindly to his destruction. He gambled and +lost all his own property; for ill-luck ever pursued him. Even then it +was not too late to redeem his position. But he was too great a coward +to look his difficulties in the face; therefore, having the temptation +to commit so terribly easy a crime ever before him in his office, he +began—first, timidly, to a small extent; then wildly, in panic, in +order to retrieve his losses—to speculate with the moneys entrusted to +him by his clients. He pawned their securities; he forged their names; +he plunged ever deeper into crime—and all in vain.</p> + +<p>When it was too late, he swore to himself, in the torments of his +remorse, that if he could but once win back sufficient to replace the +sums he had stolen, he would cut down all his expenses, forswear +gambling and dishonesty, and stick to his profession.</p> + +<p>At last it came to this. He sold his yacht and everything else he +possessed of value. He realised what remained of the securities under +his charge, and then placed the entire sum as cover on a certain stock, +the price of which, he was told, was certain to rise. It was the +gambler's last despairing throw of the dice. The stock suddenly fell; +settling day arrived, and his cover was swept away—he had lost all!</p> + +<p>So he sat in his office this night and faced the situation in an agony +of spirit that was more than fear. For this was no unscrupulous, +light-hearted villain. An accusing conscience was ever with him, and +every fresh descent in crime meant for him a worse present hell of +mental torture.</p> + +<p>He felt that it was idle to hope now, even for a short reprieve. Clients +were suspicious. In a day or two at most all must be known. Disgrace and +a felon's doom were staring him in the face. It would be impossible for +him to raise even sufficient funds to escape from England to some +country where extradition treaties were unknown. Carew realised all +this. He had forced himself to look through his</p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold u"><i>Autumn 1898</i></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold2">LIST OF NEW<br />& RECENT BOOKS<br />PUBLISHED BY<br /> +JOHN MILNE AT<br />12 NORFOLK STREET<br />STRAND, LONDON<br /></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold u"><i><span class="smcap">Mr.</span> JOHN MILNE'S CURRENT LIST.</i></p> + +<p class="bold">The Express Series.</p> + +<p>This Series is designed to meet the taste of readers who desire a +swiftly-moving, well-written, dramatic tale, of moderate length, without +superfluous descriptive or other literary "padding," but with continuity +and action from the first page to the last. It contains only +specially-written and selected stories, mostly by well-known writers, +and each volume consists of about 224 pages, crown 8vo. The First +Edition, for the Library, is bound in red cloth, with gilt top, and +published at 2s. 6d. The Second and subsequent Editions are issued in +handy form for the Pocket or the Train, in stout cardboard covers, +illustrated in colours, at 1s.</p> + +<p><i>The following have been published:—</i></p> + +<p>I. THE ROME EXPRESS. By Major <span class="smcap">Arthur Griffiths</span>. [<i>Sixth Edition</i></p> + +<p>II. A GIRL OF GRIT. By Major <span class="smcap">Arthur Griffiths</span>. [<i>Just published.</i></p> + +<p>III. A DESPERATE VOYAGE. By <span class="smcap">E. F. Knight</span>. [<i>Just published.</i></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold">A Desperate Voyage.</p> + +<p>A Desperate Voyage. By <span class="smcap">E. F. Knight</span>, Author of "The Cruise of the +Falcon," "Where Three Empires Meet," etc. A novel by the well-known +<i>Times</i> war-correspondent and author, describing the escape of an +absconding debtor from the river Thames in a twenty-eight ton yawl, and +his subsequent desperate experiences by sea and land in the South +Atlantic. 224 pages, crown 8vo, red cloth gilt, gilt top, uniform with +the above, 2s. 6d.</p> + +<p class="bold">A Girl of Grit.</p> + +<p>A Girl of Grit. By Major <span class="smcap">Arthur Griffiths</span>, Author of "The Rome Express." +An Anglo-American story of a gigantic scheme of fraud and attempted +abduction. 217 pages, crown 8vo, red cloth gilt, gilt top, 2s. 6d.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"If you wish for an exciting story—a story which will hold you +fascinated for three pleasurable hours by the intricacies of a +cleverly conceived plot, and the human interest of varied +character—read Major Arthur Griffiths' new book, 'A Girl of Grit.' +The whole story of the pursuit of the rascal Duke of Buona Mano and +the rescue of Captain Wood in mid-Atlantic carries you on with a +rush through a series of dramatic scenes and thrilling adventures +to a climax which is as novel as it is satisfactory. 'A Girl of +Grit' is a better told story than even 'The Rome Express,' which is +saying a good deal."—<i>Daily Mail.</i></p></blockquote> + +<p class="bold">The Rome Express.</p> + +<p>The Rome Express. By Major <span class="smcap">Arthur Griffiths</span>. A notable Detective Story +of much ingenuity and interest. 215 pages, crown 8vo, red cloth gilt, +gilt top, Library Edition, 2s. 6d.; in coloured wrapper, Sixth Edition, +1s.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"It is safe to say that the reader who glances at the first page of +Major Arthur Griffiths' detective story, 'The Rome Express,' will +certainly not skip one single word until he reaches the end. 'Who +could have done the deed?' is the question which absorbs the reader +from first to last, and in his eagerness to answer this question he +will start on at least four different scents, confident each time +that now he has the clue, but only to return baffled and bewildered +again and again. It is General Collingham whose shrewd wit first +hits upon the right track, and puts to confusion all the theories +and red-tapeism of the Quai de l'Horloge. But until the last +chapter we are as much in the dark as any one of them; the mystery +is inscrutable until it pleases the author to lift the veil and +inform us that one of the passengers was requested to continue his +journey in the direction of New Caledonia, and that another was +married at the British Embassy to Sabine, Contessa di +Castagneto."—<i>Daily Telegraph.</i></p> + +<p>"Any reader who opens this book with the resolution that he will +read a chapter of it and then resume his ordinary occupations, is +likely to be surprised speedily out of such good intentions. The +story grips you like a vice. There is not a superfluous word in the +215 pages."—<i>Sketch.</i></p></blockquote> + +<blockquote><p><sup>*</sup>*<sup>*</sup> <i>The next volume of The Express Series will be a +story from the pen of Mr. David Christie Murray, and others are in preparation.</i></p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold">The Evolution of a Wife.</p> + +<p>The Evolution of a Wife, a Romance in Six Parts, by <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Holland</span>. +The life-story of Marie de Hauteville, a young girl of noble Swiss +family. It contains many charming pictures of Conventual and village +life in the Bernese Oberland, with a strong love interest of the +non-modern school. 398 pages, large crown 8vo, cloth, Second Edition, +6s.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"There is an extraordinary genius in 'The Evolution of a Wife.' In +calm and masterful handling, searching insight, and bold +imaginative outlook, this romance ranks among the finest first +books of all the novelists. In the delicate manner of Flaubert, +without comment, and with a powerful massing of scenes, the +authoress advances to her climax; and one lays down the book +feeling that certain impressions will not efface +themselves."—<i>Yorkshire Post.</i></p> + +<p>"Marie is delightful, with her many lovers and the pathetic little +vanities that make her innocence anything but insipid. She is +absolutely realisable; and not she alone. The little Swiss town and +its inhabitants live at once in the reader's eye."—<i>Saturday +Review.</i></p> + +<p>"A remarkable story, alike in plot and character. It makes an +impression that here and there reminds us of the art and the +passion of Charlotte Brontë's works."—<i>Scotsman.</i></p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold">The Passion for Romance.</p> + +<p>The Passion for Romance. By <span class="smcap">Edgar Jepson</span>, Author of "Sibyl Falcon." +Describes the remarkable love affairs of Lord Lisdor, a young and +susceptible nobleman of wealth and leisure. 378 pages, large crown 8vo, +cloth, Second Edition, 6s.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"'The Passion for Romance' is, at the least, recommended by that +air of novelty so welcome to all, but to none more than to the +professional novel-reader. The hero—the main feature of the story, +as he has a right to be—is treated from a refreshingly new +standpoint. He is a new sort of hero as well as a fresh specimen in +individuals: neither villain, saint, nor martyr, but simply a +possible human being with some strong characteristics. The vain +quest and the yearning for fulfilment are told with delicacy of +touch, some sense of humour, and absolutely without sickly +sentiment or morbid passion. Is not this enough to prove that we do +not speak of the novel of the common or British type?"—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p>"It is a long time since we have had a new sensation in fiction. It +has come at last. The author of 'The Passion for Romance' is a +novelist with a style that is distinguished, and—rarissimus inter +raros—Mr. Edgar Jepson is also a writer who has something new to +say. Apart from the literary merit of the work, there is the story; +and to say that there is nothing in fiction with which that may be +compared is to acknowledge at once its originality."—<i>Morning.</i></p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold">Saint Porth.</p> + +<p>Saint Porth. The Wooing of Dolly Pentreath. By <span class="smcap">J. Henry Harris</span>. A homely +tale of life and love in a Cornish village. 320 pages, crown 8vo, cloth +gilt, gilt top, 6s.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"A Cornish tale of remarkable picturesqueness, altogether natural +and touching, full of quaint pictures of a marvellously decorative +people."—<i>Saturday Review.</i></p> + +<p>"Written with singular sympathy, earnestness, and gentle humour. +The scene is laid on the Cornish coast, and Mr. Harris paints for +us the splendours of that gorgeous seascape in the manner of one +who feels to the full its peculiar fascination, and to whom the +character of the dwellers on its shore appeals with a familiar +charm. The delicate and precious aroma of romance perfumes every +page of 'Saint Porth,' and lends to this homely, unpretentious tale +a value and an interest that are too often lacking in novels of a +more ambitious scope."—<i>Speaker.</i></p> + +<p>"Of the many efforts which writers have made during recent years to +portray various phases of Cornish life, this, to our mind, +represents one of the most successful."—<i>West Briton.</i></p> + +<p>"However crowded the novel market may be, there is always room for +such refreshing little idylls as 'Saint Porth'—a simple tale, +simply told in delightfully breezy style."—<i>Birmingham Gazette.</i></p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold">Paradise Row.</p> + +<p>Paradise Row, and some of its Inhabitants. By <span class="smcap">W. J. Wintle</span>. A series of +powerfully painted sketches of North Country life. 240 pages, crown 8vo, +cloth, gilt top, 3s. 6d.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"To adequately express the power and the pathos of these simply +told sketches, is quite beyond the scope of a review, for they +rouse all that is best and all that is most sacred in our common +humanity, making us feel more than the grandest rhetoric could, the +brotherhood of man. Some of the characters are real heroes, and one +rises from the perusal of the book with a greater respect for the +men who devote their lives to Christian work in the noisome dens of +our populous places, and with a large hope for the ultimate +redemption of mankind."—<i>North British Daily Mail.</i></p> + +<p>"This is a volume of sketches of North Country life, very +vigorously drawn, and full of pathos well relieved with humour. It +shows throughout a large power of sympathy and great breadth of +thought."—<i>Spectator.</i></p> + +<p>"We commend this book as both literature and life. Those who wish +to know how the poor live and love cannot do better than read +'Paradise Row.'"—<i>Methodist Times.</i></p> + +<p>"The work of a deep thinker and a cultured writer."—<i>Black and +White.</i></p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold">Butterfly Ballads.</p> + +<p>Butterfly Ballads and Stories in Rhyme. By <span class="smcap">Helen Atteridge</span>. With +Sixty-five Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Gordon Browne</span>, <span class="smcap">Louis Wain</span>, <span class="smcap">H. R. Millar</span>, and +others. 142 pages, foolscap 4to, designed cover, cloth gilt, gilt edges, +3s. 6d.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"These real ballads are very clever indeed; we feel sure 'Ethelinda +Gray' and 'The Boy that went to Sea' will live in the upper circles +of juvenility for many a long day. 'The Doll's Dance' ought to be +as widely read and as keenly appreciated as 'The Butterfly's Ball +and the Grasshopper's Feast,' which was the delight of the children +of fifty years ago. The illustrations are numerous and +admirable."—<i>World.</i></p> + +<p>"A delightful collection of stories in verse for little ones. It is +exactly what it professes to be, and does not indulge in +metaphysics for infants, and every little one who has the good +fortune to have the volume given it will be happy for a long +time."—<i>St. James's Gazette.</i></p> + +<p>"'Butterfly Ballads' are by no means inappropriately named. They +are light and bright, and go fluttering along easily. The +illustrations are specially clever; the dogs, the children, and the +old folks are all full of character and spirit."—<i>Times.</i></p> + +<p>"Will speedily be learned by heart, and repeated in the firelight +to a breathless audience."—<i>Lady.</i></p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold">The English Stage.</p> + +<p>The English Stage. Being an Account of the Victorian Drama, by <span class="smcap">Augustin +Filon</span>. Translated from the French by <span class="smcap">Frederic Whyte</span>, with an +Introduction by <span class="smcap">Henry Arthur Jones</span>. 320 pages, demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"This large and painstaking volume will certainly interest all who +follow theatrical matters. We welcome it as an interesting and +valuable record."—<i>Times.</i></p> + +<p>"That the writings of that acute French critic, M. Filon, on 'The +English Stage' have been creditably translated and published in +this country, is a subject of congratulation. The completeness with +which this observer in a foreign land has mastered his subject is +surprising, and adds much force to the penetrating and suggestive +criticisms with which the book abounds. Altogether the work, +written as it is in spirited and captivating style, is one that can +be perused with pleasure by all classes of readers."—<i>Morning +Post.</i></p> + +<p>"One of the most entertaining, appreciative, discriminating, and +instructive of recent books upon the English stage."—<i>New York +Nation.</i></p> + +<p>"No student of the theatre should miss reading 'The English Stage,' +and it should be bought, not borrowed from the library, for it is +essentially a book to dip into again and again. It is full of +interesting facts as to the recent history of the drama in this +country."—<i>Black and White.</i></p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p class="bold">Verdi: Man and Musician.</p> + +<p>Verdi: Man and Musician. His Biography, with Especial Reference to his +English Experiences, by <span class="smcap">F. J. Crowest</span>, Author of "The Great Tone Poets." +With Photogravure Frontispiece of Verdi, and several full-page +Portraits. The only recent and authoritative English Biography of the +famous Composer. 320 pages, demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"As the author of this highly interesting volume rightly says, +Verdi bibliography, particularly that in England, is not extensive, +but he has made an important addition, a book that should be read +by all admirers of the Italian composer. It is enriched with +several well-executed portraits, and is fully +indexed."—<i>Athenæum.</i></p> + +<p>"A most interesting work. Did space permit, we could quote at +length from this delightful book; but as it is, we must leave it to +the reader to pick and choose for himself."—<i>Weekly Sun.</i></p> + +<p>"A book full of interest both to musicians and laymen, embellished +with a speaking likeness of Verdi as a frontispiece. A distinct and +valuable addition to the scant Verdi literature in this +country."—<i>Manchester Courier.</i></p> + +<p>"An excellently-written and faithfully-compiled history of the rise +and progress of a great composer, studded with gems of anecdote, +and teeming with an appreciation that will find an echo in the +heart of every lover of opera who reads it."—<i>Birmingham Gazette.</i></p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/logo.jpg" width='100' height='148' alt="logo" /></div> + +<hr /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Desperate Voyage, by Edward Frederick Knight + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DESPERATE VOYAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 39082-h.htm or 39082-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/0/8/39082/ + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/39082-h/images/logo.jpg b/39082-h/images/logo.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec5f63a --- /dev/null +++ b/39082-h/images/logo.jpg diff --git a/39082.txt b/39082.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a297852 --- /dev/null +++ b/39082.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6551 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Desperate Voyage, by Edward Frederick Knight + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: A Desperate Voyage + +Author: Edward Frederick Knight + +Release Date: March 9, 2012 [EBook #39082] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DESPERATE VOYAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +_MILNE'S EXPRESS SERIES_ + +A DESPERATE VOYAGE + +[Illustration: Logo] + + +_THE EXPRESS SERIES_ + +_Uniform with this Volume_ + + +I. THE ROME EXPRESS + +BY + +MAJOR ARTHUR GRIFFITHS + + +BY THE SAME AUTHOR + +II. A GIRL OF GRIT + +JOHN MILNE +12 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON + + + + +A DESPERATE VOYAGE + +BY + +E. F. KNIGHT + +AUTHOR OF "THE CRUISE OF THE FALCON" +"WHERE THREE EMPIRES MEET" +ETC. ETC. + +JOHN MILNE +12 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON +1898 + + +_All Rights Reserved_ + + +A DESPERATE VOYAGE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +In Carey Street, Chancery Lane, on the ground floor of a huge block of +new buildings facing the Law Courts, were the offices of Messrs. Peters +and Carew, solicitors and perpetual commissioners of oaths. Such was the +title of the firm as inscribed on the side of the entrance door in the +middle of a long list of other names of solicitors, architects, and +companies, whose offices were within. But the firm was now represented +by Mr. Carew alone; for the senior partner, a steady-going old +gentleman, who had made the business what it was, had been despatched by +an attack of gout, two years back, to a land where there is no +litigation. + +Late one August evening Mr. Henry Carew entered his office. His face was +white and haggard, and he muttered to himself as he passed the door. He +had all the appearance of a man who has been drinking heavily to drown +some terrible worry. His clerks had gone; he went into his own private +room and locked the door. He lit the gas, brought a pile of papers and +letters out of a drawer, and, sitting down by the table, commenced to +peruse them. As he did so, the lines about his face seemed to deepen, +and beads of perspiration started to his forehead. It was for him an +hour of agony. His sins had found him out, and the day of reckoning had +arrived. + +One might have taken Henry Carew for a sailor, but he was very unlike +the typical solicitor. He was a big, hearty man of thirty-five, with all +a sailor's bluff manner and generous ways. His friends called him Honest +Hal, and said that he was one of the best fellows that ever lived. We +have it on the authority of that immortal adventuress, Becky Sharp, that +it is easy to be virtuous on five thousand a year. Had Mr. Carew enjoyed +such an income, he would most probably have lived a blameless life and +have acquired an estimable reputation; for he had no instinctive liking +for crime; on the contrary, he loathed it. + +But one slight moral flaw in a man's nature--so slight that his best +friends smile tolerantly at it--may, by force of circumstance, lead +ultimately to his complete moral ruin. It is an old story, and has been +the text of many a sermon. The trifling fault is often the germ of +terrible crimes. + +Carew's fault was one that is always easily condoned, so nearly akin is +it to a virtue; these respectably connected vices are ever the most +dangerous, like well-born swindlers. Carew was a spendthrift. He was +ostentatiously extravagant in many directions. He owned a smart +schooner, which he navigated himself, being an excellent sailor, and the +quantities of champagne consumed by his friends on board this vessel +were prodigious. + +When his steady old partner died, Carew began to neglect the business +for his pleasures. Soon his income was insufficient to meet his +expenses. Speculation on the Stock Exchange seemed to him to be a +quicker road to fortune than a slow-going profession. So this man, +morally weak though physically brave, not having the courage to curtail +his extravagances, hurried blindly to his destruction. He gambled and +lost all his own property; for ill-luck ever pursued him. Even then it +was not too late to redeem his position. But he was too great a coward +to look his difficulties in the face; therefore, having the temptation +to commit so terribly easy a crime ever before him in his office, he +began--first, timidly, to a small extent; then wildly, in panic, in +order to retrieve his losses--to speculate with the moneys entrusted to +him by his clients. He pawned their securities; he forged their names; +he plunged ever deeper into crime--and all in vain. + +When it was too late, he swore to himself, in the torments of his +remorse, that if he could but once win back sufficient to replace the +sums he had stolen, he would cut down all his expenses, forswear +gambling and dishonesty, and stick to his profession. + +At last it came to this. He sold his yacht and everything else he +possessed of value. He realised what remained of the securities under +his charge, and then placed the entire sum as cover on a certain stock, +the price of which, he was told, was certain to rise. It was the +gambler's last despairing throw of the dice. The stock suddenly fell; +settling day arrived, and his cover was swept away--he had lost all! + +So he sat in his office this night and faced the situation in an agony +of spirit that was more than fear. For this was no unscrupulous, +light-hearted villain. An accusing conscience was ever with him, and +every fresh descent in crime meant for him a worse present hell of +mental torture. + +He felt that it was idle to hope now, even for a short reprieve. Clients +were suspicious. In a day or two at most all must be known. Disgrace and +a felon's doom were staring him in the face. It would be impossible for +him to raise even sufficient funds to escape from England to some +country where extradition treaties were unknown. Carew realised all +this. He had forced himself to look through his papers and discover the +total of his liabilities. It was a sum he could by no effort refund. + +He laughed aloud--a savage, discordant laugh, as might be that of some +lost soul. + +"Yes, it is all over," he thought; "I throw up the cards. But I will not +endure the disgrace of a public trial, the ignominy of a convict's life; +and after that to come out of jail with my soul eaten out by long years +of penal servitude, with the brand of a felon on my name. Oh no--not +that! After all, a man has always one last privilege left him; he holds +in his own hands the power of terminating his own miserable existence. +Yes; I will kill myself, and have done with it all!" + +In the contemplation of suicide he became calmer. Now that he had +determined on death, his terrible anxiety left him, and the heroism of +despair supported him. + +"I feel a peace of mind at this moment such as has not come to me for +many wretched months," he said to himself. "There is almost a pleasure +in knowing that one has got to the bottom of one's cup of suffering, +that there can be nothing worse to come." + +He meditated quietly for some time as to how he should take away his +life. At last he came to a decision, and a strange smile lit up his +face. "Yes, that is an admirable plan; now for the means of carrying it +out. First, I must have a sovereign or so. I can pawn my watch. Now for +the ballast." He glanced round the room. "Yes, that will do." He rose +and collected several heavy leaden paperweights from the different desks +in the offices and put them into his pockets. "That will be sufficient. +Now I will go to Brighton. It is a glorious evening. I will smell the +sea-air once more. I will have a last dinner at an hotel; and then at +night, when the tide is high, I will throw myself off the pier; this +weight of lead will keep me down. And the next morning my creditors may +seize my body: they are welcome to it." + +At that moment a loud knock came at the outer door. He turned pale and +nearly fainted at the sound. Was he to be balked of those last few hours +of freedom which he had promised himself? Were these the officers of +justice who had come to apprehend him? Once more the dew of agony burst +out on his brow; he groaned aloud; then, summoning resolution, the +desperate man approached the door. + +But it was only the postman, after all. "Idiot that I am not to have +known the knock! but my brain swims to-night. A letter for me. What is +this?" + +He read the letter slowly through; then he put his hand to his forehead. +A revulsion of feeling had suddenly come to him that confused and +stunned him. "Oh, merciful Heaven!" he said, "is this but a cruel trick +of Fortune to tempt me with a vain hope? I had quite reconciled myself +to death--and now this comes. Perhaps it is but a short reprieve, and +its price will be all that agonising suspense again. No, let me die; and +yet"--he glanced at the letter again--"surely I have here a means of +escape. If I can but collect my scattered wits and recover my cunning, I +can save myself. I can live, but it will mean crime again--always crime! +Oh, is it worth it?" + +After a painful mental struggle, he came to a determination. "Yes, I +will live," he said. + +The letter was as follows:-- + + "DEAR CAREW,--You have often promised to cruise with me in my boat. + I am off to-morrow for Holland. Can you join me? Come and look me + up to-night, and arrange it all.--Yours sincerely, + + "ARTHUR ALLEN." + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Arthur Allen, barrister-at-law, was of about the same age as his friend +Carew; a man possessed of private means sufficient for his needs, into +whose chambers so few briefs found their way that he had for some years +dispensed with the services of a clerk. But, as one would have surmised +after glancing at the strong, intelligent face, he was a man by no means +lacking in energy, and not of idle disposition: as a matter of fact, a +scholar, and one who had taken high honours at his university, he still +maintained his studious habits, and, having practically abandoned a +profession that was uncongenial to him, he devoted himself to literary +pursuits; and his thoughtful articles in the reviews and in the +newspaper to which he was attached brought him in no insignificant +addition to his income. + +No mere bookworm, he had been an athlete in his youth; but now his one +outdoor form of amusement was the sailing of his little yacht, on which, +always acting as his own skipper, he had taken many a delightful cruise +in home and distant waters. He was an enthusiastic lover of the sea. +This was the one taste he had in common with Carew. It was at some yacht +club, of which they were both members, that they had become acquainted. + +It was a lovely August evening. The windows of Allen's bachelor chambers +in the Temple were open, and through them could be seen that fair oasis +of London's desert of bricks and mortar, Fountain Court, with its +stately buildings, ancient trees, and quiet garden with splashing +fountains in its midst. Nor was the view confined; for, beyond the +chapel and the green, could be perceived the broad, gleaming Thames, and +the distant Surrey shore, glorified by a faint mist; a peaceful, +old-world spot, with a contemplative air about it, for it is haunted by +the memories of much departed greatness. Allen was reclining in a +comfortable arm-chair, drawn up to the open window, in whose recesses +geraniums bloomed, their vivid blossoms occasionally shaking beneath the +breath of the soft south wind that had come directly from the cool +river. + +He smoked his pipe as he looked out upon the sweet sunset scene, his +mind happily occupied in planning his coming cruise, when his +meditations were interrupted by a knock at the outer door. He rose to +admit his visitor, opened the door, and there stood before him Henry +Carew in serge suit and yachting cap, a small Gladstone bag in his hand. + +"Hallo, Carew, old man! you have not been long replying to my letter. I +was afraid you would have left the office before it reached you. Come +in." + +"Are you alone?" inquired Carew, in a low voice. + +"Yes, quite alone. I am smoking a pipe of peace by myself. You have just +come at the right time." + +They entered the room, and then, as the light of the sunset fell upon +the solicitor's face, Allen perceived its haggard expression. + +"How queer you look, Carew!" he exclaimed. "Are you ill?" + +"Ill--no, not at all; but worried--worried almost out of my life," +replied Carew wildly, throwing himself into a chair, and putting his +face between his hands. + +Allen sat in a chair opposite to him, refilled and lit his pipe, and, as +he smoked, gazed at his friend with feelings of perplexed compassion. + +"Have a pipe, old fellow; there is nothing like a pipe for worry." + +"A pipe?" cried Carew, with contemptuous bitterness. "No; but have you +some brandy? Give me some brandy." + +"Certainly, Carew," and the barrister produced a spirit-case, some +glasses, and water. + +Carew poured a quantity of spirit into a glass and drank it neat. He +was usually a temperate man. + +"That is not the way to clear one's brain for confronting one's +troubles," remarked Allen. + +"No, you are right. It is foolish of me. Allen, I have come to say that +I shall be very glad to accompany you on your cruise." + +"I am delighted to hear that. A good blow in the North Sea will do you +good, if your mind is so upset." + +"Allen," said Carew, pulling himself together and speaking with more +self-possession, "I wish I could speak to you of the business that is +troubling me, but I am not at liberty to do so. It concerns others." + +"I don't want to know anything about it, old man; but I am sure you will +soon get out of your trouble, whatever it is. With an easy conscience no +man is miserable for long. And now that I have secured you as a hand, I +have a sufficient crew. So we will start to-morrow morning. Will you be +ready by then?" + +"I am ready now. You see I have brought my baggage with me." + +"Then, as we have to catch an early train to-morrow, you had better +sleep to-night in my chambers; I can put you up. Our destination is the +Dutch coast, old man, and we should have a jolly time of it. You have +not yet seen my new boat, the _Petrel_--a yawl of twenty-eight tons, +yacht measurement; a splendid sea-boat. I would go anywhere in her. She +is now lying off Erith." + +Carew had been listening attentively. "What crew do you carry?" he +asked. + +"Ah, let me tell you that you will have lots of work to do. We shall be +but three all told. I have shipped one hand only--Jim, the fisherman, +who was with me last year. Another friend was coming with me, but he has +disappointed me." + +"For how long will you be away?" + +"About a fortnight. I have been a bit fagged of late, and want a +holiday. I only made up my mind to take this cruise this afternoon. Not +a soul but yourself knows we are going." + +On hearing this a sigh of relief escaped Carew. Yes, if he were once on +board the yacht all trace of him would be lost. He felt almost jubilant +as he thought of it; the recent acute tension of his mind had left a +sort of hysterical weakness behind, and he alternated easily between +exultant hope and profoundest despair. + +He reflected that if he could but contrive to reach Erith without being +observed by any who knew him, he was safe, at anyrate for some time. But +how to do so? It was possible that even already detectives had been set +to watch his movements. He must take his chance of that, use all his +wits, and incur no risk that could be avoided. Fearing to show himself +in the streets, more especially in the Strand or Fleet Street, where so +many would know him by sight at least, he suggested to Allen that they +should send to a neighbouring chop-house for their dinners, and remain +quietly in the chambers, instead of dining, as was their wont, at a +club. The barrister agreed to this, and therefore had no opportunity +that night of meeting any of his friends, and he communicated to no one +his intention of sailing on the morrow. He merely left a note for his +housekeeper on his table, informing her that he would be out of town for +a fortnight, and that his letters were not to be forwarded. + + * * * * * + +At an early hour on the following morning a cab was brought round to the +door of the barrister's chambers, and the two friends drove off to +Charing Cross Station, arriving there but a few minutes before their +train started. The chances of anyone who knew him recognising Carew on +the way were thus reduced to a minimum. At Erith Allen's man, Jim, was +awaiting them with the dinghy. He was a very broad-shouldered, +florid-faced man of forty, with a protuberance in one cheek indicating +the presence of a quid. He looked exactly what he was--a hardy, +North-Sea smackman. + +Jim pulled them off to the yacht, and when the solicitor, who was +thoroughly at home on a boat, a keen lover of the sea, with yachting as +his one innocent pleasure, stood on the white deck, and, looking around, +saw how glorious was that summer's day, beheld the river sparkling in +the sunshine, thronged with stately ships and picturesque barges tacking +up with the flood against the soft south-west wind, a delightful sense +of freedom rushed upon him. + +Oh, what a thing it was to have left behind him that accursed city, with +its weariness, its anxieties, the endless jangles of the law, the +feverish play, the guilt, the terrible dread of detection--to have left +it for ever! + +"Now, Jim, off we go!" cried the skipper. The dinghy was lifted on +board, the mainsail was hoisted, then the jib; the moorings were slipt, +up went the foresail, and the yacht shot out into the stream; then, +obedient to her rudder, bore away, and tore down the river before the +freshening breeze on the top of the strong ebb tide. Needless it is to +describe that pleasant summer day's sail. Allen was in the highest +spirits, and for him the happy hours flew rapidly by. Even Carew, +intoxicated with the pure air and sunshine, and the delightful sight of +dancing waters, forgot his sin and misery, and felt almost light-hearted +for the first time for months; and at last, when the yacht reached the +broader water, thinking over his position, he gave a sigh of infinite +relief. Now, indeed, he was safe. No fugitive had ever left so little +trace behind him. + +They were well outside the Thames, in the East Swin Channel, before +dark. The sun set in a golden haze, ominous of storm on the morrow, and +then the wind dropped. The yacht sailed very slowly down the English +coast during the night, the three men taking it in turn to steer and +sleep. At sunrise they were off the Naze, and the sky looked so stormy +and the glass fell so rapidly that there was some discussion as to +whether it would not be well to put in to Harwich. But Carew was so +earnestly opposed to this that the owner decided to push on, and the +vessel's head was turned seaward towards the mouth of the Maas. The +English coast loomed less and less distinct; but so light was the wind +that it was not till midday that they lost all sight of the land. Then +the wind began to pipe up suddenly, and seeing nothing but stormy clouds +and heaving water around him, Carew's spirits rose wonderfully; a +reaction of wild gaiety succeeded his anxiety. + +At four it was blowing so hard that they took two reefs in the mainsail +and shifted jibs. Shortly before sunset, Carew was taking his turn at +the tiller; the others were below. After a while the motion of the yacht +became so violent that the owner came on deck to have a look round. + +"The wind has freshened a lot this last half-hour, and there's a nasty +sea getting up," he said. "It will be blowing a gale of wind before the +morning. Well, we have a good craft under our feet." + +"She steers wonderfully easily," replied the solicitor. "She's a +beautiful boat. I would not mind crossing the Atlantic in her." + +"I should think not," said the proud owner. "But look at that vessel +across your lee-bow, Carew. What the dickens are they up to on board of +her? She's yawing all over the place. First I thought she was on the +port-tack; then she seemed as if she was in stays; and now--ah, I see +it--she is hove-to." + +"She is a small brig," said Carew. "Get the glasses up and see what you +can make of her." + +Allen dived below, brought up the binoculars, and scanned the vessel. +"By Jove!" he cried, "she's in a nice mess. Her bowsprit is carried +away, her foretopmast too, and her jib's streaming away like a flag. +Hallo! and part of her stem and bulwarks have gone." + +"Collision." It was Jim's voice. He had just come on deck, and his quick +eye at once realised the brig's mishap. Then he looked at her intently +for some moments, and spoke again, in eager tones for him-- + +"Derelict." + +"So she is," cried Allen. "We'll get out the boat and board her. Do you +think the sea is too high, Jim?" + +Jim said nothing. He was quite ready to risk his life in a cockle-shell +in a heavy sea, as all fishermen of the Doggerbank must be. He was not +the man to refuse to do what his employer wished, unless the danger were +very great indeed. He looked round at the sea, then nodded his head +affirmatively. + +"I don't think it's safe," said Carew. "In the first place, see how low +that brig is in the water; she may go down at any moment, and the sea is +very tricky to-day. I grant you it does not seem so very rough just now, +but every half-hour or so there have been some rather dangerous rollers. +One passed by us just before you came on deck." + +But Allen's spirit of adventure was up. "Oh, nonsense!" he cried; "I'm +going to see what she is. She may be worth standing by for salvage. Run +down a bit nearer to her--that's it. Now let's heave-to--so. Now +overboard with the dinghy, Jim. You stay behind and mind the yacht, +Carew." + +Jim and Allen waited for a "smooth," seized the dinghy, dexterously +launched her, and leaping in nimbly, pulled away from the yacht--a feat +that looks easy on paper, but requires nerve and skill to perform in a +heavy sea. + +"If you drift away too far, let draw your jib and sail up to us," +shouted Allen, as he went away. + +Carew stood on the deck of the yacht, which now rose and fell on the +seas with the easy motion of a vessel that is hove-to, and watched the +tiny boat, so frail and yet so buoyant, so far safer than she seemed, as +she leapt from wave to wave. + +The dinghy was close to the brig. In another moment the men would have +boarded her, when Carew perceived, to his horror, a huge roller coming +up--a steep mass of water, with overhanging, breaking crest, such as are +met with on the edge of shallows. It reached the yacht and hurled her +high up; then dropped her again into the trough of the sea with a shock +almost as violent as if she had struck a rock. The giant wave thundered +by the sturdy little vessel without injuring her. But the dinghy--where +was she? + +Carew strained his eyes in her direction. First the boat was hidden from +him by the intervening wave; then he saw her for a moment floating on +the top of a sea, some forty yards away, bottom up. He thought, too, he +could distinguish a man's head in the water near her. The derelict had +disappeared. Waterlogged as she was, it had only needed that last great +sea to send her down bodily. + +But all this while his two companions were drowning. Why did Carew stand +there idle? He was sailor enough to know his duty. He could have sailed +the yacht close to the men, thrown a life-buoy to them, and have +possibly succeeded in dragging them on board. He stood on the deck, as +if dazed. Had he lost his head for a time? He only hesitated for two or +three seconds, but they were invaluable--then it was too late! + +A sudden squall of wind and rain swept down upon the sea, and all was +obscured in a whirling smoke of spray and vapour. It was impossible to +see even a few yards through it; and when the squall had passed, there +were no men and no dinghy to be seen. + +The dark and stormy night settled down upon the waters, and Henry Carew +was left alone in the middle of the North Sea! + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +"Am I a murderer?" + +So asked of his conscience, in fear and trembling, Henry Carew, as he +stood alone upon the deck of the labouring vessel, surrounded by a waste +of tumultuous waters. + +"Not a murderer!" he cried aloud. "Oh no, not that!" + +Then he argued with himself. "Had I done all that a man could, I think I +should have been unable to save them. True, I lost my presence of mind. +I did not stir a hand to help them; but that is not murder. Poor Allen! +poor Allen! But no; this is a morbid fancy. At least I am innocent of +that crime." + +He looked round at the wild sea, invisible on that starless night save +for the white foam that hissed on the tops of the waves. + +"And now to make the best of my position. How fortune has turned! I, who +two days back was surrounded by dangers, have nothing to fear now." + +Then he broke into a wild laugh, not of merriment or exultation, but a +sort of hysterical effervescence that came of a mind that had long been +tasked beyond its strength by violent emotions. + +But he fully realised what a great advantage the loss of his two +companions signified for him. Yes, even at that moment when he beheld +them drowning before him, the profit their death would bring him had +flashed across his brain. Little wonder that he asked his conscience +that terrible question, "Am I a murderer?" + +How simple his course seemed now! It needed little thought to decide on +it. He knew that Allen was accustomed to undertake long cruises, and +therefore would not be missed for some time. Again, the barrister was +somewhat careless in his correspondence; so the fact of his neglecting +to write to his friends would surprise and alarm no one. How easy, then, +for Carew to impersonate him! He would sail the yacht into some Dutch +port--no very difficult task; and once there, he could rely on his wits +to make the most of the opportunities chance should throw in his way. +Most probably he would sell the yacht and take a passage on some vessel +bound for a South American harbour. Like most educated fugitives from +justice, he turned to the Argentine Republic as being the safest of +sanctuaries. + +Carew's eyes, accustomed to observe the signs of the weather, told him +that the wind was likely to freshen; so he set about making himself as +comfortable as possible for the night. He lowered the foresail, and +still further reduced the mainsail by tricing up the tack. Then, with +jib-sheet hauled to windward and tiller lashed, the yacht lay hove-to. +After watching her for a few minutes, Carew saw that she was behaving +admirably, and that he could with safety stay below the whole night if +he chose, and leave the little vessel to take care of herself. + +"It will have to blow a good deal harder to hurt her," he thought; "it's +only collision I have to be afraid of now. Well, I can considerably +lessen the chances of that." + +So he went below, found the side-lamps, lit them, and fastened them to +the shrouds. + +So dark had become the night that nothing could be distinguished from +the yacht's deck, save when, as she rolled from side to side, the port +and starboard lights cast an alternate ruddy and sickly green glare on +the foaming water. To be out in the North Sea on so small a craft during +a gale is terrifying in the extreme to one not inured to the sea; the +roaring of the waves and the howling of the wind sound so much louder +than on a larger vessel, and the quick, violent motion often confuses +the brains even of sailors if they are accustomed only to big ships. But +Carew was, as Allen had said, a smart man on a fore-an-after. He felt +that, with this good boat under him, he was as safe as if he had been +on shore. + +"She's snug enough," he said. "I'll go below and try to make out from +the chart where I am; then I'll turn in and sleep--if I can." + +He looked at the chart, roughly calculated the distance the yacht had +run since Allen had taken his "departure" from the Naze, and found that +he was about half-way between the English and Dutch coasts. "That is +good," he thought; "I have no lee-shore near me; I have plenty of room. +I'll just stay where I am, hove-to, till the wind moderates, then make +sail for Rotterdam." + +He lay down in his bunk and tried to sleep, but all in vain. His brain +was too excited with thoughts of what had passed and what was still to +happen. Plans to secure his safety, and visions of possible accidents, +passed through his mind, weaving themselves in delirious manner into +long and complicated histories of his future life--some happy, some +terrible with retributive calamity. Unable to stay the feverish activity +of his brain, he came on deck at frequent intervals to see that all was +well. + +The vessel plunged and rolled throughout the night, her timbers +groaning, and the wind shrieking through her rigging. But towards +daybreak the gale began to moderate, and the glass rose slowly. Carew +saw that the bad weather was over and that the heavy sea would soon +subside. On the shallow German Ocean the sea rises quicker than +elsewhere, and with its steep and breaking rollers is more perilous than +can be experienced on any other of our home waters, as the fishermen of +the Doggerbank know to their cost. On the other hand, here it soon +becomes smooth again as the wind drops. + +An hour or so after dawn the sky was almost cloudless, and only a fresh +breeze was blowing. The waves, no longer dangerous, broke into white +foam that sparkled in the sunshine. It was a day to gladden a sailor's +heart. + +Carew stood on deck, and under the joyous influences of that bright +morning a calm fell on his soul, and his conscience ceased to trouble +him. There is a sort of magnetic relation between a man and his +surroundings. Out at sea, far away from land, with nothing but pure air +and pure water near, even a great villain is wont to forget that he +himself is not pure as well. In London, as he walked through the crowded +streets, Carew knew that he was constantly jostling against men as bad +as himself. In them he saw his own vices and crimes reflected as in a +mirror, so that he could never put his guilt out of his mind. Again, +fearful as he had been lately that those around him suspected him, he +was unable to feel, even for one delusive moment, the sense of +innocence. + +But out here on the great sea, so far removed from human passion, with +nothing to remind him of his offences, it was, on the contrary, +difficult for him to realise what manner of man he was. He was conscious +of what he imagined were virtuous impulses. He began to flatter himself +that he was naturally a good man, that he was more sinned against than +sinning, and that it was foolish of him to allow a sensitive conscience +to torment him about occurrences, regrettable indeed, but the blame of +which was scarcely his. The fact was that he mistook the joyous feelings +inspired by a sunny day at sea for the reawakening of his better self--a +frequent mistake that. His soul was in complete harmony with the Nature +around him; and Nature, whatever her actions, knows nothing of crime or +remorse. + +So Henry Carew, in no unhappy frame of mind, began to consider what he +should do next; and as he pondered, all his pluck and energy returned to +him. + +"In an hour or so," he said to himself, "the sea will have gone down +still more; then I can get the vessel under way again. In the meantime, +I will make a thorough inspection, and discover what my resources are; +for I must have money, or the means of raising it." + +He went below, and after lighting a fire in the stove to boil some water +for coffee, he looked round the walls of the cabin. Among other +valuables were a rifle, a revolver, a clock, and an aneroid; and Allen's +gold watch and chain were hanging on a nail. "I can raise fifty pounds +on these to begin with," he thought; "and now to see what there is in +the lockers and cupboards." He rummaged everywhere; but, with the +exception of the sextant, there was no article of any value that could +be easily sold. + +At last, in a small drawer, he found the barrister's money and papers. +There were about twenty-five pounds in gold. There was also a +cheque-book; and on turning over its pages, Carew found that Allen had +made a note of the balance to his credit on the counterfoil of the last +cheque he had drawn, showing that he had the sum of fifty pounds at his +bank. Then the solicitor glanced at the yacht's Admiralty warrant, which +authorised Arthur Allen to fly the blue ensign of Her Majesty's fleet on +his yacht, the _Petrel_, of sixteen tons register; a most valuable +privilege, as Carew knew, which would serve him as passport into +whatever foreign port he should go. + +He was not altogether satisfied with the result of his search, and, as +he sat on the bunk sipping his coffee, the more he thought of his +prospects the more gloomy they appeared to him. He felt that it would be +very hazardous to attempt selling the yacht in Rotterdam. To do so would +require time; and as it was the long vacation, and so many lawyers and +others who knew him were taking their holidays, his recognition by +someone in so favourite a haunt of tourists as the Dutch city would be a +highly probable event. He dared not risk that. He must not stay in +Holland a moment longer than was necessary. Then what could he do with +so small a fund at his disposal? + +His eye fell on the open drawer, and he rose to close it. He happened +then to notice the barrister's diary among the papers, and though he did +not imagine that there could be anything in it of the slightest interest +to himself, he took it up in a casual way and opened it at the first +page. Suddenly the indifferent look vanished, he started visibly, and +read with intense eagerness. "Oh!" he cried, "now it is all plain +sailing for me. I know what to do." A triumphant light came into his +eyes, and then, putting away the diary, he ran on deck, let the +foresheet draw, and as he steered the vessel on her course over the +dancing waves, the expression of his face indicated a happy confidence +in the future; all doubt and fear had fled. + +The first page of the diary was devoted to memoranda; and, among other +things, the barrister had here written a list of the investments from +which he derived his income. The bulk of these consisted of foreign +bonds and other easily negotiable securities, which Allen had deposited +with his banker. + +It was the perusal of this list that had suggested to the quick and +ingenious mind of the solicitor a scheme not difficult of execution, the +very thought of which made his heart beat quick with anticipation. Carew +shrank from the peril of forging cheques or letters of instructions to +Allen's bankers; but now that he knew exactly how the barrister's +account stood, a simpler and safer method of appropriating to himself a +large proportion at least of the dead man's fortune occurred to him. + +Said this accomplished scoundrel to himself: "I have here a stout, +seaworthy boat, that can easily take me across the Atlantic. I will ship +a crew in Rotterdam, and sail for Buenos Ayres. By selling the watch and +chain and one or two other little things I shall have enough money to +buy stores and pay all other expenses of the voyage. Once in Buenos +Ayres, I will go to the agent of the ---- Bank. There is sure to be one. +I will show him my papers. I will prove to his satisfaction that I am +Arthur Allen, barrister-at-law, owner of the yacht _Petrel_. I will +explain that I have run short of money, and require a considerable sum +at once. The agent will telegraph to the bank, learn that I have there +securities to a large amount, and then he will be ready to advance to me +as much as I want; and I will want a good deal. I will say that I am +about to buy land, or tell some such plausible tale, get my money, and +away. Oh, most excellent plan! Who on earth is likely to suspect that +the yachting barrister is no other than Henry Carew, the defaulting +solicitor?" + +He steered the vessel towards the Dutch coast, and soon the wind fell so +much that he was able to shake out all his reefs. + +At ten he passed through a large fleet of fishing boats that were riding +to their nets. He hailed an English smack, asking her skipper if he +could tell him his position. + +"You'll get hold of the land in an hour or so," shouted the man; "and, +as you are going now, you'll about fetch Goeree." + +Carew, after consulting the chart, steered in a more northerly +direction. At midday he saw the loom of the land ahead of him; so, as +the sky was clear, he brought up the sextant and took an observation of +the sun, thus ascertaining his exact position. + +"Lucky it is that I taught myself navigation," he thought; "it will come +in useful now." + +At last he could plainly distinguish the features of the coast, which +was low and flat, with white sand-hills here and there that gleamed like +snow in the sunshine. + +Then he saw a steeple, a lighthouse, and a group of cottages, with +bright red roofs, and he knew that he was off the village of +Scheveningen, which is a few miles to the north of the Maas. Sailing to +the southward, he soon reached the mouth of the river, and at once some +of the ever-watchful pilots pulled off to him in a small boat. + +Carew hove the yacht to, and waited for them. The boat was soon +alongside. Four little old men, all fat and rosy, were in her. One who +understood English well was the spokesman. Standing up in the stern he +shouted-- + +"Captain, you want pilot, sar?" + +"Yes; how much do you want to take me to Rotterdam?" + +Carew felt how necessary it was to husband his funds, and he suspected +that Dutch pilots consider a yacht fair prey for extortion. + +The man named an exorbitant sum. + +"Nonsense! Too much. I'll sail her in myself." + +"Right, captain," replied the Dutchman calmly; "that better for me and +my mates. You try and go in alone, you sure to run ashore. Then we help +you off, and you give us plenty money for salvage instead of small +pilot-fee." + +Carew felt that it might happen as the old man had said. The Maas is +encumbered with shoals, and the navigation is difficult for a stranger. + +"Now, how much you give me, captain?" + +The solicitor mentioned a moderate sum. + +"Ah, you rich man with yacht to be hard on poor pilot! Now, I pilot you +for the middle price." + +"Come on board, then," said Carew. + +The pilot leapt on to the yacht's deck, and the other three pulled away +in their boat. + +"Now, captain. Tide in river running strong, wind is light; so we want +all sail, or else we no move. Call up your hands and hoist topsail." + +"There are no hands below. I am alone," replied Carew. + +"Alone? What do you mean? You come from England all alone?" exclaimed +the man in great astonishment. + +"Yes; my crew got drunk and were insolent just before I sailed. They +thought I could not do without them, and they knew I was in a hurry. But +I put them all on shore without hesitation, and I have come across +alone." + +"You a very mad Englishman, but you a brave man. I never hear anything +like that." + +"Pilot," said Carew, later on, as they were sailing up the river, "I +don't want to be followed about Rotterdam as if I were a curiosity; so I +should like you not to mention the fact of my having sailed across the +sea alone." + +"All right, captain; my mouth close." + +"I shall want a crew of two or three good, honest Dutchmen, pilot. Can +you recommend me any men?" + +"This very night you shall have one--my cousin Willem--a very good boy, +captain." + +"And there is another thing, pilot. What sort of a berth are you going +to put me in in Rotterdam?" + +"I will moor you along the Boompjees; nice quays them. Plenty good +Schiedam shops on shore there. All yachts go there." + +"I thought so; that's why I asked. Now, pilot, I do not want to be +moored along the Boompjees. Take me to some quiet canal, out of the way; +you understand--a place where no yachts or foreign vessels go." + +"Ah, I know, captain, just the place: nothing but Holland schuyts there; +no yachts like it, no captains like it; I not think you will like it." + +"I will go there. But why don't you think I shall like it?" + +"You no have Dutch nose; and that canal plenty smellful, captain." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +A narrow canal that pierces an out-of-the-way corner of old Rotterdam. +Mediaeval houses--narrow, lofty, terminating in quaint, pointed +gables--overhang the sluggish waters. It is only frequented by the +picturesque native canal boats, with their lofty masts and varnished oak +sides, so marvellously clean, for all their dirty work. In this quiet +spot, with its old-world, decaying look, it is difficult to realise that +close at hand are the busy quays of the Boompjees, crowded with vessels +from all parts of the world, noisy with the haste of modern commerce. + +It is a bit of Rotterdam that does not change. The British tourist, +unless he has lost himself, never explores the narrow alleys that lead +down to the slimy water--a gloomy, dead quarter of the city, pervaded by +a smell that is ancient and fish-like and something worse. + +It was a sultry August midday. No breath of air stirred the water of the +canal, which seemed to be fermenting under the fierce sunshine, and foul +gases bubbled up on its surface. + +Only one of the many vessels moored along the quay flew a foreign flag. +The blue ensign of Great Britain hung motionless from the mizzen of the +yacht _Petrel_. + +On the deck was a sturdy little man in baggy trousers, who, despite the +languid influence of the day, was employed in polishing the brass-work +on the vessel with an extraordinary energy. This was Willem, the pilot's +cousin, who had entered into Carew's service, and who had, with Dutch +diligence, set himself the task of scrubbing the yacht up to his high +standard of Dutch smartness as quickly as possible. + +The owner--by right of undisputed possession--was below, looking over +some charts of the South Atlantic, which he had just purchased. The +solicitor had been making all his preparations as rapidly but as quietly +as possible. But little now remained to be done. So far, honest Willem +was the only hand he had engaged; but he knew that he could easily ship +as many men as he needed at a moment's notice in so large a seaport as +Rotterdam. He told no one of his projected voyage across the Atlantic, +knowing that to do so would at once attract attention to him; and he +naturally dreaded that publicity should be given to his doings. + +He showed himself in the streets as little as possible, and he always +went forth to make his purchases in the early morning before English +tourists were likely to be out of their beds. He had only been in port +two days, but he was almost ready for sea. He had some tanks fitted into +the cabin, so that he could carry sufficient water for a long voyage; he +had filled all the lockers and bunks with a large quantity of tinned +meats, biscuits, and other necessary stores; he had procured his charts; +and all this had been done in the least conspicuous manner possible. + +Though he had never before undertaken an ocean cruise of this magnitude, +he knew what was requisite, and forgot nothing. There was no chronometer +on board the yacht, and he could not afford to buy one; so, as his watch +was not to be depended upon, he saw that he would have to navigate his +vessel after the fashion of the good old days before chronometers were +known. The ancient navigators carried with them their astrolabes--rough +instruments, long since superseded by quadrants and sextants--which +enabled them to find their latitude accurately enough. But having no +timepieces, they were unable to ascertain their longitude by observation +of the heavenly bodies, and had to rely on dead reckoning alone. So the +mariner of old, after a long voyage across ocean currents of unknown +speed and direction, was possibly many hundreds of miles out of his +reckoning as regards longitude, though he knew his latitude to within a +few miles. + +Thus, supposing, for instance, he was bound for Barbadoes, he would +sail boldly on until, according to his calculations, he was some few +days' journey to the eastward of his port. Then he would steer for the +exact latitude in which it lay, and follow that line of latitude till he +reached his destination; which he was, of course, bound to do sooner or +later. Moreover, it was his invariable custom to heave his vessel to +every night while running down the latitude; as otherwise he might pass +by the island without seeing it in the darkness, and lose himself +entirely. + +It was a slow method of navigation--not to say a risky one. But Carew +would not have to encounter so many difficulties as the sailors of old; +for ocean currents are better understood in these days, and the +opportunities of speaking vessels at sea and ascertaining the exact +longitude from them are very frequent. + +Carew had spent all the money he had found on board the yacht, and there +were still some necessary purchases to be made. The most expensive of +the articles yet to be bought was a dinghy, to replace the one that had +been lost. This very morning he had found his way to the Mont de Piete +and pawned everything he could well spare: Allen's watch and chain, the +rifle, and one of the two binocular glasses. With that easy +forgetfulness which was an attribute of his conscience, he had by this +time almost come to believe that the barrister's yacht and fortune were +rightfully his. The sum he thus raised was not a large one; but he +calculated that it would enable him to meet every expense, though he +would have to put to sea almost penniless, if not quite so. + +While Willem was still busy on deck a tall, good-looking gentleman, with +an honest but shrewd eye and tawny beard, came along the quay and stood +in front of the yacht, inspecting her critically for a few moments. + +"Is the owner on board?" he inquired of the sailor in Dutch. + +"The English captain is in his cabin, sir," replied the little man in a +solemn, nasal drawl. + +"I should like to see him. Will you give him my card?" + +Willem, taking the card, descended to the cabin. "Von man here for see +you, captain," he said in his broken English. + +Carew started. "A man to see me? What sort of man?" he asked. + +"Him a gentleman man, for him has von tall black hat. Here was his +paper," and he handed Carew the card. + +The solicitor felt the blood forsake his heart. Some English +acquaintance had found him out. He looked at the card with dread; then a +sigh of relief escaped him; the name was certainly Dutch--Hoogendyk. + +Carew went on deck and politely invited his visitor to come on board. +Mynheer Hoogendyk stepped down from the quay, and introduced himself in +excellent English. + +"I am a resident of Rotterdam," he said, "and I am a leading member of +our Yacht Club. I have come to inform you that, with your permission, we +shall be highly delighted to make our English _confrere_ an honorary +member of the club during his stay in our city." + +"I am very grateful to the club for the honour they confer upon me, and +shall gladly avail myself of the privilege," replied the lawyer, who, as +he spoke, made a resolve never to put his foot inside the club premises, +but to ship his crew and sail from Rotterdam without delay. It was +dangerous for him to stay longer, now that his retreat had been +discovered. + +"I only heard of you by accident yesterday," said the visitor, who, +unlike most of his countrymen, was garrulous and inquisitive, though a +good fellow. "Why have you picked up a berth in this dirty, +out-of-the-way hole?" + +"It is picturesque and quiet." + +"And filthy and unhealthy. We must move you to a better spot. There is a +capital berth just in front of the English church. You'll see lots of +your countrymen there. How many hands have you on board? I see you have +shipped one Dutchman." + +"My two men were drunken ruffians, and I discharged them." + +"I will undertake to get you a good crew of my countrymen if you like. I +suppose you are going to cruise about our coasts. Where are you going to +from here?" + +"To Amsterdam," replied Carew, who was on tenterhooks of impatience. He +felt how dangerous this man would be with his gossiping habits. + +"And now, sir," said Mynheer Hoogendyk, drawing out a pocket-book and +pencil, "I will take your name and enter it on the club books." + +"Here is my card." Carew handed to him one of the barrister's cards. + +"'Mr. Arthur Allen, Fountain Court, Temple!'" read the visitor. "Ah, you +live in the Temple! I know it well. Are you a lawyer by chance?" + +"I am a barrister." + +"Ah! How delightful! We are chips of the same block, Mr. Allen. I, too, +am a barrister, in practice in Rotterdam. Both yachtsmen, both +advocates, what a bond of friendship there should be between us! You +must come and see my yacht--such a pretty little schuyt--and also our +law courts." + +They sat together in the _Petrel's_ cabin, and the Dutch advocate +commenced to question the solicitor on English law, comparing it with +that in force in his own country. Carew was hugely bored and weary of +his visitor's chatter, but did his best to be civil. + +"And, by the way," cried the Dutchman at last, "there is a trial now +proceeding which I am sure would be of the greatest interest to you; for +you say that the criminal law is your particular line." + +"What is it about?" asked the solicitor indifferently. + +"Piracy: the seizure of a vessel and the murder of her officers by the +crew." + +All Carew's indifference vanished now. He let the cigar he was smoking +drop from his fingers, and, turning his head, he looked at his visitor's +face with a steady, fierce look, as of some wild beast that awaits the +attack of another, and has strung all its nerves to resist its foe to +the death. The Dutchman, whose eyes were directed downwards at that +moment, did not observe that look. + +The slumbering conscience had been awakened again with a rude start by +those words. For a moment Carew lost his head and fancied that this +garrulous man was a police detective who knew everything and had been +playing with his prisoner all this while. Then he looked at his +visitor's face again, and felt reassured, realising the absurdity of +such a supposition. + +The advocate, quite unconscious of the perturbation he had caused, +continued-- + +"Yes, it was a terrible story. Perhaps you remember reading in the +papers some months ago of an act of piracy in the Spanish Main. A vessel +trading from Curacoa under the Dutch flag was seized by her crew--a lot +of Spanish and Mulatto cut-throats. They murdered the captain, the mate, +and a few honest Dutch sailors who stood by their officers. Then the +mutineers sailed for Puerto Cabello, where, as usual, there was a civil +war, with the intention of selling the vessel to the revolutionary +party, which was in need of transports. When they arrived there the +revolution was over; the Government seized the vessel, but the ruffians +contrived to escape up country." + +"I remember all that well," said Carew. "The story made a great noise at +the time." + +"Now it happens," said the advocate, "that three of these ruffians +shipped as sailors in a South American port on board of a vessel bound +for Rotterdam. One day a Dutch sailor from Curacoa enters a drinking +shop on the Boompjees, and sees, sitting down at a table over a bottle +of schiedam, three men whom he recognises as part of the crew of the +ill-fated _Vrouw Elisa_. He calls in the police, and now these gentlemen +are being tried for their lives." + +"To be hanged if found guilty, I suppose?" + +"I hope so; but I am afraid that they will be acquitted. Everyone is +morally sure of their guilt; but, unfortunately, the evidence for the +prosecution has been so confused and contradictory that their identity +has not been satisfactorily settled. The counsel for the defence is a +very able fellow too." + +"What countrymen are they?" inquired Carew. + +"Two are Spaniards and one is a Frenchman. I think the Frenchman was the +ringleader of the mutineers, for he looks a clever rascal. And now, Mr. +Allen, the trial will probably conclude this afternoon. The court is +very crowded, but I can get you in. Come along, and you will be able to +compare the Dutch and English criminal procedure." + +Carew would have preferred to decline the invitation, but in ordinary +politeness found it difficult to do so; and he accompanied the native +lawyer--who undoubtedly possessed the gift of the gab, if no other +qualifications for his profession--to the law courts. + +Carew felt anything but easy in his mind as he walked through the main +streets of the town, at this hour of the day crowded with a motley +throng, including not a few of his own countrymen, bent on pleasure or +business. Pretending to listen to his companion's unceasing gossip, the +solicitor looked anxiously about him as he went, fearing at each step to +see some well-known face from Fleet Street. The glaring sunshine had +rejoiced his soul when he was out on the lonely seas, but in the hives +of his fellow-men he shrank from the all-searching light, and +experienced guilt's instinct for safe obscurity. + +But he saw no one he knew on his way, and was much relieved when Mr. +Hoogendyk procured for him, after some difficulty, a seat in a remote +and dark corner of the court, where he could see and hear, himself +unseen. + +Carew soon became so interested in watching the faces of the three men +who were being tried for their lives that, in spite of the advocate's +whispered suggestions on the subject, he paid no attention to the +procedure, and did not endeavour to compare the Dutch and English legal +systems. He took no interest in law now; he was indeed heartily sick of +it, and hoped that he had washed his hands of it for ever. + +Of the three men only one had a really unprepossessing and murderous +countenance. A murderer looks much like any other man, though people who +take their ideas from waxwork shows think otherwise. That this should be +so is obvious enough. A few only of murderers have homicidal +proclivities as a part of their nature, and these indeed may betray +their character in their physiognomy. All the other passions and vices +of disposition can, under certain circumstances, compel the man who has +the greatest horror of bloodshed to kill a fellow-being. In the large +majority of cases, murder is not a tendency but the result of other +tendencies. + +But one of the three prisoners had indeed a villainous appearance. He +was a big, clumsily built Spaniard from the Basque countries, with a +heavy, animal face and an evil mouth, indicative of the stupid cruelty +of some savage beast. + +The other Spaniard was a short, stout man, with a jovial face and an +enormous black moustache, which he twirled occasionally with a complete +_nonchalance_. There was nothing of the murderer in his appearance. + +Neither of these two men exhibited any signs of fear. The first faced +death with the dogged pluck of an animal, the second with a somewhat +higher sort of courage. + +The third man alone, the Frenchman, showed that he was suffering the +agonies of acute terror. The little Spaniard, observing this, nodded to +him now and then, smiling maliciously, and the big man scowled at him +with surly contempt. The Frenchman's face was quite white, and the +perspiration poured down it in streams; his lips quivered, and, holding +on to the rail of the dock with hands tightly clenched, he listened with +intense attention to every word of judge or advocate. + +The features of this man, though distorted with fear, were delicate and +refined. His handsome face was more like that of a Provencal gentleman +than of a rough sailor. He was a well-knit man of about thirty, with the +blue-black hair of the South. Over his fine and expressive eyes were +bushy black brows, which almost met on his forehead, giving him a +somewhat sinister appearance. + +Carew found himself taking a strange, morbid interest in watching these +three faces. In some way he identified himself with the prisoners. Had +not they committed a crime only in degree differing from his own? The +day might come when he too would be tried for his life. He wondered +whether he would then look like the dogged Basque, the cowardly +Frenchman, or the other. He had always flattered himself that he did not +fear death; but how difficult to know how he would face it until his +time came! + +At last, amid complete silence, judgment was given. Carew could not +understand the words, but he knew their import-- + +"Not guilty!" + +The spectators groaned and hissed when they heard this decision. The +Frenchman fell back fainting. The big Spaniard glanced boldly round the +court with a ferocious scowl, and he made an involuntary motion with his +right hand, as if he held his knife in it and was longing to rip up a +few of his enemies. The little man smiled, and bowed pleasantly to the +court, after the manner of an actor who is acknowledging his tribute of +applause. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The attorney and Carew left the court, the former volubly indignant at +the miscarriage of justice, the latter moody and thoughtful. + +"And now," cried the Hollander, "here we are at the best cafe in +Rotterdam. Come in, and let us wash out the taste of crime with some +beer." + +They sat down at one of the little round tables, and two tall glasses +foaming at the brim were placed before them. + +"They have all the English papers here," said the advocate. "I will ask +the waiter to bring you one." + +Carew looked round the room, and suddenly his face paled, for he saw +sitting at a table at some distance off a fellow-countryman, whom he +recognised as a tobacconist in Fleet Street, a man who, no doubt, knew +Carew's name and profession well, for the solicitor had often made +purchases at his shop. + +Carew did not lose his presence of mind. The man was reading the +_Times_, and had, in all probability, not yet observed him. + +"Mynheer Hoogendyk," he said, "I am sorry that I must leave you now. I +hope you will excuse me. I have an engagement, and in your agreeable +company I had forgotten all about it." + +"You flatter me, sir," replied the advocate with a bow. "I trust that +you will honour me by dining with me to-morrow at eight, your English +hour, I believe, for that repast. My wife speaks English well, and will +be delighted to see you." + +"I accept your invitation with the greatest pleasure, mynheer." + +Then they rose to go, and Carew contrived to keep his lively companion +between him and the man from Fleet Street as they walked out of the +cafe. + +The solicitor felt ill at ease until he had left behind this bright and +crowded portion of the city, and was once again in the region of the +gloomy and malodorous slums where the yacht was lying. + +He saw how necessary it was that he should leave Rotterdam the next day +if possible. It was no place for him. His recognition by some one or +other must occur sooner or later if he stayed here. So, having dined in +a dingy little hostelry on the quay opposite to the yacht, he visited +some of the least-frequented streets, and purchased the few necessaries +for the cruise which he had not already procured. He came across a +fisherman on the canal who was willing to sell him a small, clumsy boat +which could serve him as dinghy. After some bargaining in pantomime--for +neither understood the other's tongue--Carew secured this for the sum of +three pounds. + +Passing an apothecary's shop, it occurred to him that it would be well +to take some of the more necessary medicines with him, seeing that he +might be some months at sea without calling at any port. He entered the +shop and proceeded to draw up a list of his requirements, to which, as +an afterthought, he added some drugs in less common use. + +"These last are poisons," said the chemist in broken English. "I cannot +supply you with these unless you are a doctor." + +Carew, with bold invention, explained that he was the captain of a +vessel, and as such was the ship's doctor, and had a right to any drugs +he might choose to ask for; and he produced his Admiralty warrant in +proof of his statement. + +The man was puzzled, perused the warrant without understanding it, and +at last, reluctantly waiving his scruples, gave the solicitor all that +he required. + +His vessel was now completely fitted out; nothing was wanting but a +crew, and here a difficulty presented itself. He felt that it was highly +important that no one in Rotterdam should know that he was sailing for +Buenos Ayres, else the report that so small a yacht was about to +undertake so long a voyage would spread rapidly, and would soon appear +in the English papers. He wished it to be supposed that he was merely +taking a few weeks' cruise in Dutch waters. + +But then, how would his men take it were he only to divulge his +destination to them when they were well out at sea? The probability was +that they would refuse to obey his orders, and insist upon returning. +Professional sailors are not fond of ocean voyages in tiny craft. + +Evidently his only plan was to prowl about the docks that night, select +with care three likely-looking men for his purpose,--men without wives +or ties of any sort,--bring them on board the yacht, offer them good +pay, and at the last moment tell them where he was bound for. Then, if +they still consented to accompany him, he would sail away at once, +allowing them no opportunity of gossiping with their friends on shore. +Willem, he knew, was not the man for him. The honest Dutchman must be +discharged at once on some pretext or other. + +Carew sat on deck, pipe in mouth, meditating on these matters. He was +alone on the yacht, for Willem had gone off on leave for a few hours to +visit some of his relatives. + +The sun was setting into a bank of rosy vapour that promised a +continuance of fine weather. The hot day was closing with a sultry eve. +On that quiet canal, and on the narrow quay beneath the lofty houses, +there was no sound or sign of life. It was almost as if he were in the +midst of some dead and long since deserted city. + +But of a sudden the peacefulness of that mediaeval scene was rudely +disturbed. First was heard a confused noise in the distance, as of angry +human voices and the trampling of many wooden shoes. Louder, nearer was +the sound, and then Carew perceived a man rush out upon the quay from a +narrow alley, some hundred yards away, that led towards the principal +docks. The man, who seemed frantic with terror, stood still for one +brief moment, looked quickly around him, as if uncertain whither to +hurry next: whether to plunge into the canal, or run along the quay to +left or right. + +Then arose a loud yell of many voices behind him, as of hounds that at +last have caught a view of the hunted creature; and the man, hearing it, +darted off again at full speed along the canal bank in the direction of +the yacht. + +Immediately afterwards there poured out of the alley a crowd of nearly a +hundred men, women, and children, mostly of the lowest orders; denizens +of the slums, though some were of a more respectable class; a crowd of +Hollanders who had lost all their native phlegm for the nonce; a crowd +gesticulating, howling, execrating, thirsting for the blood of the man +they were pursuing; mad and fierce as a mob of Paris in revolutionary +days when an aristocrat was scented by the sovereign people. + +The wretched man was hatless; his coat and half his shirt had been torn +from his back; the blood was trickling down his face from the wounds on +his head where the stones that had been hurled at him had hit. + +On he came, running wildly before them, his face livid, his mouth open, +his teeth set, eyes starting from his head with mortal terror, panting +as if his heart must burst, ready to fall with exhaustion, but still +hurrying on for his dear life's sake. + +When he was close to the yacht his strength failed him; he stretched out +his arms wildly, and staggered. With a yell of triumph the cruel crowd +was on him. A man struck him over the head with a stick. Then, with one +last despairing effort, he threw himself from the quay on to the yacht's +deck, and fell a helpless mass at Carew's feet, clutching him by the +legs, as if to implore his protection, but unable to speak or move. + +His pursuers stood on the quay above, muttering angrily to each other, +but hesitated a moment or so before they ventured to board the yacht, +each waiting for someone else to lead the way. + +Those few moments saved the hunted man. + +"Below there!" cried Carew, pointing to the cabin. "Quick, man, or you +will be lost." + +Seeing that the poor wretch was too exhausted to rise by himself, he +seized him by the arm, thrust him down the cabin hatchway, closed the +cover over him, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. It was all +done in a few seconds, and then the solicitor turned round and stood +calmly facing the mob. + +The people had not realised at first that Carew was about to rob them of +their victim. Now that they did so, a howl of rage burst from them, and +some shouted to him, what were evidently commands to give the man up to +them, and menaces of what they would do if he refused, though he could +not understand the words. + +One man began to clamber down to the yacht; but Carew seized his leg and +threw him on the quay again, not over-gently. "Silence!" the solicitor +called out, leaping back on the hatchway; and the Dutchmen, impressed by +the Englishman's resolute bearing, paused and listened to what he had to +say. + +"Does anyone here understand English?" he asked. + +As might be expected from a crowd in a Dutch city, several men cried +out, "Yes, Englishman; yes, we know English." + +"Then, what is all this disturbance about? Are you all mad?" + +"We want dat man," replied a surly voice. + +"You can't have him." + +"Den ve vill take him." + +"Oh, will you?" Carew drew from his pocket Allen's revolver, which he +always carried about with him now. "Look you here, my friends; I don't +want a row, but if any man tries to come on board my vessel without my +permission I will shoot him." + +They were awed by the quiet determination of his manner, and felt that +he would carry out his words. + +"Does you know who you has down dere below?" asked the man who had +spoken before. + +"I don't know, and I don't care; but he is not going to be murdered by +you cowards on board my vessel. If he has committed some crime, call the +police. I will deliver him over to them only." + +The passions of the mob had now cooled down considerably, and the men +began to light their pipes, and looked once more the staid Dutchmen they +naturally were. + +At this juncture five or six of the sturdy Rotterdam police arrived on +the spot, and commenced to disperse the crowd so effectually that in a +few minutes not a soul was left on the quay. + +One of the policemen, who understood a little English, came on board the +yacht and inquired from Carew how the disturbance had commenced. + +Carew told him all that had occurred. + +"I should like to see the man," said the officer. + +They entered the cabin, and there, sitting in the corner of the bunk, +trembling, haggard, his face still quite white, save where it was +smeared with blood, was the French sailor who had that day been tried +for murder on the high seas, and been acquitted. + +"I thought so," said the policeman. "It is the accused, Baptiste Liais. +His case caused great excitement. The people are very bitter against +him, for they all believe he was guilty. He is not safe in Rotterdam. We +must find a way of getting him out of the country." + +"You can leave him here for the present," said Carew. "I will see that +the poor wretch is safe for the night." + +"It is very generous of you, sir," exclaimed the astonished policeman; +"but I think it is very unwise of you"-- + +"I am not afraid of him," interrupted Carew, in peremptory tones. "Leave +him with me." + +The officer shrugged his shoulders. He had always been taught to believe +that Englishmen were eccentric creatures; so he went away and told his +comrades that the owner of the yacht was a splendid specimen of the mad +island race, and Carew and the Frenchman were left alone in the cabin +facing one another. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +For some few moments Carew sat on the opposite bunk, watching the +sailor's face musingly. Then, rising, he addressed him in French. "I +will fetch you a glass of rum. It will do you good." + +"I thank you much, sir," said the man, in the same language; "I should +like it, for I still feel very faint." + +He drank a rather large dose of the spirit, and under its influence the +colour quickly returned to his cheek, and the scared look left his face. + +"You can now go into the forecastle and wash yourself," said Carew. "You +will find a jersey and a coat hanging up there; put them on." These had +belonged to the drowned sailor, Jim. + +When the Frenchman returned to the cabin cleansed of bloodstains and +decently clothed, the solicitor was surprised to see what a +respectable-looking fellow he was. He might well have been a gentleman +from his appearance, and his hands, though brown and roughened by work, +were small and finely shaped. + +"How do you feel now?" + +"Thanks to you, sir, I am now quite myself again." + +After a pause, Carew said, with a smile, "I never before saw such abject +terror in a man's face as there was in yours when you were running down +the quay." + +"That bloodthirsty _canaille_ was enough to inspire terror. Ah, if I +could but get hold of that man who hit me with the stick! It was +horrible, to run down all those streets for life with that yelping pack +after me. I had no chance with them, though I am a good runner; for so +soon as the brutes wearied and lagged behind, fresh ones joined the +crowd at every corner. Ah, monsieur, I think you would have exhibited as +much terror yourself." + +"Not quite as much, I think," said Carew quietly. + +"Perhaps not, monsieur. I am brave enough in some ways--braver, perhaps, +than you would be; but I have not that animal contempt for death that my +comrade, El Toro, for instance, possesses. Delicate fibres suffer the +most." + +"Then you are hardly a fit person to be a ringleader of mutineers. +Murderers should have no nerves." + +Baptiste Liais was a very calm person when he was not in fear, and he +had now entirely recovered his self-possession. He shrugged his +shoulders, and replied carelessly, "There are assassins and assassins, +monsieur. There is courage and courage. There is the blind bravery of +the soldier, who, shrinking not from bloodshed, risks his life in +battle; and there is the cool nerve of the educated man, who, in cold +blood, removes with poison those who stand in his way. I suppose you +allow that this last is also a species of courage?" + +"Is that your sort of courage?" + +The Frenchman shook his head in a deprecatory way, and exclaimed, in +tones of playful remonstrance, as if he were only rebutting a charge of +one of those offences which are tolerated, and even fashionable, "But, +monsieur, monsieur! you speak of me as if I had been proved to be an +assassin. You forget that I was acquitted." + +"You say that you are innocent?" + +"Certainly. I am sure that I am a very inoffensive fellow." The man +spoke with the quiet ease of one gentleman to another. It was plain that +he had been used to decent society at some period of his life. + +"Were you never on board the _Vrouw Elisa_?" + +"I had never heard of the vessel till they arrested me here." + +"And your companions, the two Spaniards?" + +"As innocent as I am myself--no more, no less. But I see that you have +some of that excellent English tobacco on the table. Permit me to make +myself a cigarette." + +"You are a cool fellow, Baptiste Liais. I can see that you are a man of +education. You were not always a common sailor?" + +"Your perception flatters me. You have divined the truth," said the +Frenchman, bowing. "I am a gentleman by birth and education. My family +is one of the most ancient and respected of the Provencal aristocracy. I +need not tell you that the name I now go by is an assumed one. And +I--well I, to be candid, am the scapegrace of the family." + +He rolled himself up a cigarette, lit it, and, looking up, his eyes met +those of Carew in the frankest way possible. And yet the solicitor had +no doubt in his own mind that the man had committed the crimes imputed +to him; and the Frenchman, on his part, did not imagine for a moment +that Carew believed in his innocence. + +"I suppose you will now look out for another ship?" the solicitor said. + +"How can I do so in Rotterdam? My face is known here. I am +execrated--hunted down. No captain would ship me, no crew serve with +me." + +"Won't your consul assist you?" + +"I don't think so," replied the Frenchman drily. + +Neither spoke for some time; then Carew said, "I realise your position, +and am sorry for you. Now supposing I were to ship you on board my +yacht, I imagine that it would be a matter of indifference to you to +what part of the world we sailed?" + +The Frenchman looked curiously and keenly at Carew out of the corners of +his eyes. "I don't care a rap where I go to so long as I get out of this +detestable Rotterdam," he replied. + +"And your friends--would they come too?" + +"Gladly. I will answer for them." + +"What sort of men are they?" + +"The little one, a Galician from Ferrol, is not at all a bad fellow, and +he is an excellent sailor; but the big Basque is a savage brute--one of +such is enough on a vessel. However, he can't do much harm by himself, +unless he makes the rest of your crew discontented. Are they +Englishmen?" + +"I am alone. I have discharged my crew; and there would only be you +three and myself on board." + +"That would be a sufficient number to navigate this little ship. Do you +really mean that you wish us to come with you?" + +"I do," replied Carew, after a slight hesitation; and the Frenchman eyed +him with a not unnatural astonishment. + +The solicitor had rapidly surveyed the situation in all its bearings, +and he had decided that it was his wisest and safest plan to engage +these ruffians as his crew. Morally weak, acutely fearful of disgrace, +and cowardly of conscience as he was, Carew had plenty of physical +courage. He was not the least daunted by the idea of venturing across +the wide ocean on a small yacht accompanied by these murderers. + +Here was a crew ready to sail with him at a moment's notice and ask no +questions. He felt that he ran but very little risk, after all; for +these ruffians would gain nothing by murdering him. Piracy, in the old +sense of the term, is almost impossible in these days. These men by +themselves could do nothing with the yacht; they could not take her into +any civilised port and dispose of her; neither of them could impersonate +an English barrister. The seizure of the _Vrouw Elisa_ was a very +different matter; for the mutineers then knew that there was a +revolutionary party ready to purchase the vessel they had stolen. + +Again, he would make them acquainted with the fact that he was taking no +money with him on the yacht; and he would promise to pay them, on their +arrival at Buenos Ayres, a considerably larger sum than sailors ever +receive for such a voyage. Under these circumstances, it could not +possibly be to their interest to do away with him. On the contrary, it +would be to their manifest advantage to serve him faithfully. Unless the +men were absolute idiots, they would see all this; and he knew that the +Frenchman, at least, was far too intelligent a man to commit a senseless +crime that could do him no good. + +So argued the solicitor; and there was yet another more subtle motive +that urged him to engage these three men in preference to honest +sailors--a motive of which he himself was only dimly conscious. When a +man has a sentimental objection to being a villain, and yet is one, and +has no intention of reforming, he likes his surroundings not to be of a +sort to reproach him and remind him of his crimes. It is painful to him +to associate with good men. He prefers to be in the company of the bad; +in their presence he does not feel the shame of his wickedness. So this +man, with his strangely complex mind and conflicting instincts, was glad +to take unto himself men worse even than himself as his companions +across the ocean. + +"And to what port did you say you were sailing?" asked the Frenchman. + +"I will not tell you that until we are out at sea." + +"Oh, very well," said the man, again casting a keen glance at Carew's +face, and smiling, as one who should say, "Have you too your +secret--have you too committed a crime? If so, there should at once be +an agreeable bond of sympathy between us." + +"How soon do you sail, sir?" he asked. + +"If you are all on board to-night we will sail at daybreak. I am ready +for sea. You need not trouble about getting an outfit, for I have plenty +of clothes in the yacht for the lot of you." Carew was thinking of the +effects of Allen and his man Jim. + +"Oh, that is excellent!" cried the Frenchman. "And, excuse me, sir; what +pay will you give us?--not that I wish to chaffer with one who has come +to my rescue in so generous a manner." + +"And I do not wish to stint you," replied Carew. "You, as mate, shall +have seven pounds a month; your comrades five pounds a month each." + +"That will do very well; but I should like you not to let the others +know that I am receiving a higher pay than they. They might be +jealous--not to say dangerous," said the cunning fellow. "Ha! what is +that?" The Frenchman started, gripped Carew by the arm, and his cheeks +again became white with fear. + +There was a sound of footsteps on the deck, and the next moment the +tub-shaped Willem entered the cabin. When he saw who was sitting +opposite to his master he stood stock still, his jaw dropped, and an +expression of extreme astonishment, which amounted to horror, settled on +his stupid, honest face. + +"What is the matter with you, Willem?" asked Carew, knowing well what +was about to happen. "This is the mate I have engaged for the yacht." + +"Dat--dat man!" cried the Dutchman, finding his voice with difficulty. +"You know who dat man is?" + +"I do. He has just left the court-house. He was unjustly accused of +murder, and has been found innocent." + +"Vat--you take dat man for mate! Oh, den I go--I go at vonce! I not stay +on board vid dat man." + +The usually stolid Dutchman trembled with excitement, and his broad face +was scarlet with indignation. After a few minutes, finding that Carew +was obdurate and would insist on engaging the most loathed man in all +Rotterdam as mate, Willem rolled up his scanty luggage into a bundle, +demanded and received the few guilders that were owing to him, and +hurried on shore, grumbling uncouth Dutch oaths to himself as he went. + +Then the Frenchman, who had been observing the scene with a cynical +smile, laughed bitterly. + +"Had I been the fiend himself that fat idiot could not have been much +more terrified at the sight of me. Ah, how they love me--these worthy +people of Rotterdam!" + +For a moment there was a troubled look upon Carew's face. With his usual +inconsistency he half regretted, when it was too late, that honest +Willem had left him. It seemed to him that he had now broken the last +tie between himself and the world of law-abiding men. He felt a vague +sense of something lost to him for ever; as if his guardian angel, +despairing of him, had forsaken him. But he quickly shook off the +feeling as a foolish fancy, and turned his attention to the business he +had on hand. + +"Now, Baptiste," he said, "we must find your two comrades. Do you know +where they are?" + +"I think I can find them. Anticipating a separation, we arranged a +rendezvous. But I dare not walk through the streets to look for them; I +should be recognised and murdered." + +"Nonsense! we will soon disguise you. Shave off your moustache and put +on a suit of clothes that I will lend you, and your own mother would not +know you." + +The Frenchman obeyed these instructions, and was so satisfied with the +change effected in his appearance by a hairless lip and a suit of poor +Allen's clothes that he no longer hesitated to go forth in search of his +two shipmates. + +Left alone, Carew pondered, with satisfaction, on his day's doings. All +was going on well so far. "Lucky it is for me," he thought, "that there +is an Admiralty warrant on the yacht. Provided with that useful +document, I sail under the blue ensign of Her Majesty's fleet, and can +do pretty well what I like. No authorities in any port will trouble me +in the least. I can avoid the formality of taking my crew before the +consul to sign articles, and I will dispense with a bill of health from +this port. I may get quarantine for a few days in consequence of this +last omission; but what is that to the peril of informing our consul +here of my destination? And, by the bye, I am engaged to dine with +Mynheer Hoogendyk to-morrow. I am afraid I shall keep him waiting, and +over the spoiling dinner his cook will lose her temper; for by that time +I ought to be well out in the North Sea." + +After about an hour's absence the Frenchman returned, accompanied by the +two Spaniards. They entered the cabin, the little Galician all smiles, +the big Basque awkward, vainly attempting not to scowl; but, do all he +could, he still looked the brutal ruffian he was. + +"I have been very lucky," said Liais. "I soon found our lost lambs." + +"Have you explained my proposal to them?" Carew asked. + +"I have, and they are quite content with the pay you offer. They don't +care a straw where you take them to, so long as it is not to a Spanish +port. It seems that the lads are somewhat weary of their native land, +and they tell me that they have some officious acquaintances among the +Spanish police whom they would prefer not to meet." + +"I understand. I shall not call at any Spanish port; so they may set +their minds at ease. And now I will inscribe your names in this book, if +you please." He took Allen's diary out of the drawer. "First of all, +there is Baptiste Liais, mate." + +"No; put me down plain Baptiste. My name is so well known now that I +should like to leave half of it out." + +"Very well," said Carew, as he wrote. "And who is this big fellow?" + +"His name is Juan Silvas. But he, too, would rather be called by any +other name, after the unpleasant publicity of the trial. His nickname +among us is El Toro--the bull--because of his goggle eyes, his bull-like +features and strength, and his blind, bovine rage. Put him down as Juan +Toro." + +"Good; it is done. And what is the other man's name?" + +"Jose Rodez, known among his intimates as El Chico, or the little one." + +"Then, following your system, I will inscribe him as Jose Chico. Will +that do?" + +"One name is as good as another," replied the Frenchman; "but oh, _mon +capitaine_, this has been a somewhat trying day for us, and we are all +very hungry." + +"There is plenty of food on board. I will show you where to find it. +Give the lads some supper; then turn in, all of you. The tide is early, +and we sail at daybreak." + +The next morning, just as the first slight murmuring sound arose from +the big city, telling that the giant was awaking to its restless life, +the canal lock was opened, and the yacht shot out into the tideway. + +Carew, who had taken mental notes of the navigation when sailing up the +Maas, refused the assistance of a pilot, and took his vessel safely down +the rapid river, across the shoals that encumber the estuary, and out +into the open sea. The weather was splendid, and the wind favoured him, +as it blew freshly from the south-east. + +Then Carew's pulse quickened; a wild exultation thrilled him, as the +yacht, leaning well over to the steady wind, all her canvas set, rushed +with pleasant sound through the smooth water. At that moment he felt +happy, even proud of himself. He was safe at last, free from all +anxiety. How Fortune had befriended him! That fatal superstition in luck +that comes to the criminal and the gambler possessed him. Whom the gods +wish to destroy they first make mad. + +"Baptiste," he said, "I have heard it is a custom of Spain for the +captain of a vessel, as soon as she is well outside the harbour, to call +all hands aft and serve round grog, so that they can drink to the +prosperity of the voyage. Fetch up some rum, and give each a glass." + +The Frenchman obeyed the order. Carew was steering at the time, and the +men stood round him, glasses in hand, awaiting the toast. Then the +captain raised his glass in his disengaged hand, and called out in +French-- + +"Comrades, here's to a prosperous voyage--_to Buenos Ayres_!" + +When the men heard their destination they seemed dumb with surprise for +a moment; then they raised a joyful shout. The prospect was evidently an +agreeable one to them. + +"To Buenos Ayres," said the Frenchman, bowing to Carew with a knowing +smile, "the land where there is no extradition." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +It was mid-ocean, and no land was in sight. The glassily smooth surface +of the sea was not broken by the faintest ripple, but it rose and fell +slowly with the long, rhythmical swell of the Atlantic. Gentle now was +the massive heaving of the giant's bosom, showing that he was slumbering +only, and that the strong, fierce life was there, ready to be awakened +at any moment to its energy of cruel destruction. + +Though the swell must have been of considerable height, yet so gentle +was the undulation that no motion whatever would have been perceptible +to one on the deck of a vessel, unless he had observed how the horizon +was withdrawn from his sight at regular intervals by the intervening +hills of water, as the vessel softly glided down the easy slopes into +the broad valleys between. The wind was quite still. The sky above was +clear and of a deeper blue than is known in northern climes; but on the +eastern horizon lay a long, low bank of very dark cloud, seeming almost +black in contrast to the elsewhere dazzling glare. + +The sea, to one looking across it, would have appeared of a beautiful +indigo tint; but if one gazed straight down into the water, it seemed +opaque in the purple blackness of its profundity, as if the perpetual +night that reigned in the mysterious depths below were sending its +shadow upwards to the surface. Yet so perfectly translucent was that +ink-like water that any bright object, such as a plate, thrown into it +would remain distinctly visible as it slowly descended--yes, even till +it was so far down that it seemed no larger than a small coin. + +The yacht _Petrel_ lay becalmed on the tropical sea. All her canvas had +been lowered, and she floated idly, while the fierce, vertical sun was +blistering the paint on her sides, and the melting pitch oozed from the +seams of her decks. + +For thirteen days she had been drifting thus on a windless ocean, her +crew languid and irritable from the stifling heat, which it is +impossible to mitigate on a small craft, waiting for the breeze that +never came. + +For thirteen days of unbearable calm, broken only by occasional brief +squalls, accompanied by torrential downpour of rain, and thunder and +lightning of appalling grandeur--squalls which raised the flagging hopes +of the men for a space, and to which they hastily hoisted their canvas, +that they might be carried out of this dismal tract of the ocean; but +after they had been driven on their way a mile or two only, the wind +would suddenly drop again, the dark clouds would clear away, and the sun +would blaze down fiercer than ever out of the implacable sky. + +The _Petrel_ had reached the region of the equatorial calms, the sultry +Doldrums dreaded by the sailor, that broad belt of sluggish sea that +divides the tract of the north-east trade wind from that of the +south-east. Here the aerial currents neutralise each other and are at +rest--a desolate, rainy ocean that lies under an almost stagnant +atmosphere of steaming heat, where vessels have lain becalmed for +wearisome week after week; even, in many cases, until the supply of +fresh water had been exhausted and the men perished of thirst. And yet +to the northward and to the southward the fresh trade winds blow +perpetually in one direction, across vast stretches of ever-tossing +waves. + +The voyage of the _Petrel_ had been a very prosperous one up to this +point. She had met with fair winds for the most part until she reached +the limits of the north-east trades, which, blowing right aft, had +carried her on her way at the rate of nearly two hundred miles a day. +Carew had sighted Madeira and the westernmost islands of the Cape Verde +archipelago; but as the yacht was well provided with provisions, he had +not called at any port. After having been a little over a month at sea, +he had entered the calm region about the equator, and here, as I have +said, scarcely any progress was made for a fortnight. + +By this time the crew had settled down to the regular routine of +ship-life, and Carew was, on the whole, well satisfied with the men. The +savagery of the big Basque would occasionally assert itself, and he was +ever ready to pick a quarrel with his mates. The only one on board whom +El Toro respected and feared was Carew himself; for he felt that the +Englishman combined a physical courage, at least equal to his own, with +a superior education; and the man who possesses these two qualities can +always master a merely brute nature. El Toro did not conceal his +contempt for Baptiste, who excelled him in mental ability alone; and +again, he could not converse ten minutes with the little Galician +without an altercation arising; for the latter, who had all the pluck of +his big comrade, was fond of wagging his sharp tongue, and could not +refrain from malicious banter, despite the long sheath-knife which was +always so ready to the Basque's right hand. + +Carew, who had quickly gauged the character of his companions, took El +Toro on his own watch, leaving El Chico to the French mate. Thus, as +watch and watch was observed in the regular ship fashion--that is, one +watch relieving the other every four hours--the cantankerous Basque had +but few opportunities of associating with the other men. + +But during the fortnight of calm the discipline of the yacht had been +relaxed. As there was no need for it, the usual watches had not been +set; and, after they had completed the small amount of necessary work +each day, the men were allowed to employ the rest of the time much as +they liked. A prolonged calm on the line is trying even to the most +amiable tempers; so that it is not to be wondered at that, on one +occasion, El Toro, being modest as to his own powers of repartee, +preferred to reply to a chaffing remark of El Chico's with a practical +retort in the shape of a vicious stab, which might easily have +diminished the ship's company by one had not the quick-eyed little man, +leaping nimbly backwards, escaped with a slight scratch on his arm. + +For this offence Carew, knowing his man and how best to punish him, +informed the Basque that a fine of a fortnight's pay had been entered +against his name in the log-book. + +It was nearly midday, and the heat of the still, moist air was intense. +The French mate lay reclined under an awning on the after-deck, rolling +up cigarette after cigarette, and smoking them with half-shut eyes as he +dreamily meditated. + +In the bows, under an awning extemporised out of an old sail, were +squatting the two Spaniards, playing at _monte_ with a very dirty pack +of cards. Now and then would be heard the sonorous oaths of the Basque, +as he savagely reviled his bad luck, or the triumphant chuckle of El +Chico, whom fortune was favouring. These two had been gambling almost +incessantly during the calm, for the money they were to receive from +Carew on their arrival at Buenos Ayres. The Galician had already +succeeded in winning El Toro's pay for many weeks in advance. Neither of +the men could read or write, but they kept a tally of their debts of +honour--over which there was much wrangling--by cutting notches on a +beam in the forecastle. + +A few minutes before noon Carew came on deck, sextant in hand, and the +mate rose to his feet lazily. Carew's face was now bronzed by the +tropical sun, and was fuller than it had been two months back. The +haggard expression, the restless anxiety of his eye, had gone. He looked +like a man with the easiest of consciences. + +He glanced at the two card-players forward. "Have you taken the +precaution I ordered?" he asked the mate. + +"I have, captain; here they are," and Baptiste produced two formidable +knives from his pocket. + +Since the incident I have mentioned, Carew had instituted a rule, to the +effect that the men should not play at cards or dice unless they had +previously delivered their weapons to one of the two officers. + +El Chico overheard the mate's reply. "Ah, captain," he cried, "you'll +have to hand both knives over to me at the end of this game. I shall +have won everything El Toro possesses in the world if my luck holds as +it is doing now." + +"_Caramba!_ it is too much; a plague on the cards!" cried the Basque +furiously, hurling the pack across the deck. "I'll have no more of them. +If I have no knife, I have these hands," and he opened them out with a +gesture of rage in front of the Galician. "I could circle your little +neck with these, and throttle you in half a minute, El Chico." + +El Chico said nothing, but shrugged his shoulders with a provoking +coolness. + +"El Toro, come aft," cried Carew, who had acquired enough Spanish to +give his orders in that tongue; "come aft, and set up that mizzen +rigging; it's as slack as possible." + +The wild beast acknowledged its master and proceeded to obey his orders +in a surly fashion, even as Caliban might have reluctantly carried out +some behest of the superior intelligence that had enslaved him. + +"This calm seems as if it would never end," said Carew to the mate. "It +looks black yonder. Another squall, I suppose. Just enough to entice us +to hoist our sails, and then to die away again." + +"I don't see anything like the trade-wind sky about," said Baptiste, who +had sailed the tropical seas before. + +Carew took his midday observation of the sun; then, lowering his +sextant, called out, "Make it eight bells, Baptiste," and went below to +work out his position. + +He found that the _Petrel_ had only travelled five miles in the last +twenty-four hours. He was seventy miles north of the equator, and his +longitude by dead-reckoning (he had, as has been explained, no +chronometer on board) was about 30 deg. west, so that he was distant some +five hundred miles from Cape St. Roque, the most easterly point of the +New World. + +Soon after noon the dark bank of cloud rose rapidly from the horizon and +overspread the whole heavens; the rain began to pour down as it only can +in these equatorial regions, and a fresh breeze from the south-east +cooled the heated atmosphere. + +The sails were hoisted, and the yacht ran some two or three miles; then +the hopeless calm fell again, and there was not a cloud to be seen in +the blue vault above. The sails flapped to and fro with a loud noise as +the vessel rolled in the swell which the breeze had left behind it. + +"Oh, this accursed calm!" cried Carew impatiently; "down with all your +canvas again." + +The men obeyed, grumbling at their ill-luck, and then resumed their game +of _monte_. + +In the afternoon the heat became more oppressive than ever, and it was +impossible to stay below; so all hands remained under the awnings on +deck. + +The mate, after pondering for some while, said to Carew, "We shall run +short of water if this continues much longer." + +"I have thought of that. We must serve out a smaller allowance." + +"Buenos Ayres is a long way off yet, captain. Would it not be well to +put into some Brazilian port for water and vegetables? This heat is very +trying on a small vessel like this. We shall have illness on board if we +are not careful." + +"I do not wish to break the voyage anywhere, unless it is absolutely +necessary," Carew replied. + +"I know these countries," Baptiste continued; "and there is one very +good reason why you should call at some port on the way." + +"What is it?" + +"You have no bill of health with you. Now in Buenos Ayres the +authorities are very afraid of yellow fever, and if you arrive there +with no papers to show where you are from, they will take it for granted +that you have come from some infected port, and that you have probably +lost some hands on the voyage and wish to conceal it. They would, +therefore, put you in quarantine for who knows how long. They might, +under the suspicious circumstances, refuse even to give you pratique at +all, and send you off to sea again." + +"How will calling at a Brazilian port remedy that?" + +"Because in Brazil they are not afraid of yellow fever, as they always +have it there. At Rio they won't trouble you at all, and your consul +will give you a clean bill of health for Buenos Ayres. Then, being +satisfied that you have had no illness on board, the Buenos Ayres people +will grant you pratique after, let us say, a quarantine of four days, +even if yellow fever were raging at Rio." + +"A queer plan to avoid quarantine for Yellow Jack by calling at the +headquarters of the fever!" said Carew; "but I see that you are right. I +will put into Rio." + +After a pause the Frenchman said thoughtfully, "I shall be sorry to +leave this vessel, sir. I suppose you still think of selling her in the +River Plate. I should like to continue the cruise for another year." + +"So should I, but I can't afford it. Yachting is an expensive +amusement." + +"Oh, I don't know that. A cruise may be made to pay its way even in +these days, especially if one carries a warrant from the Admiralty of +one's country like you do. The authorities are always civil to one who +sails under the Government blue ensign, and never trouble him with the +tedious formalities the common merchantman is subjected to." + +"I don't know what you mean," said Carew. "There is no money to be made +now by legitimate trade at sea. Besides, a yacht is not allowed to trade +at all." + +"I said nothing about legitimate trade," said the Frenchman quietly, as +he rolled himself another cigarette. + +The eyes of the two men met, and they understood each other. + +The mate had never let drop so broad a hint before; but he knew that he +was safe in doing so. There had existed for some time a sort of +freemasonry of crime between himself and Carew. They had been thrown +altogether upon each other's society of late. Both were educated men, +and gentlemen by birth; both were shrewd readers of character; and it is +so far easier for the bad than for the good man to recognise a kindred +nature. + +Carew did not exactly entertain a liking for his mate, but he found his +companionship far pleasanter than that of any other man could have been. +The Frenchman's tolerant way of looking at crime was peculiarly +gratifying to the ex-solicitor. It acted as a most soothing salve to his +conscience. + +He liked to hear the man's cynical talk--the superficial philosophy with +which he defended crime as being the least hypocritical way of obeying +nature's law of the struggle for existence. The very presence of this +villain seemed to exert a strange, magnetic influence on Carew's pliable +soul, lulling it into a fool's paradise. + +Such an affinity for evil between two men who are much together will +soon destroy any conscience that either of them may happen to possess. + +So Carew, having become accustomed to an atmosphere of crime, no longer +shrank from the thought of it, and, with an amused smile, replied to the +mate's remark, "What piece of villainy are you going to suggest now, +Baptiste?" + +"I don't think you ought to use that word villainy," protested the +Frenchman, with an air of comic indignation. "As a matter of fact, I was +not at that moment thinking of any one particular 'piece of villainy,' +but vaguely of a great number of feasible schemes I know of for +transferring the wickedly-earned riches of others into our own deserving +pockets." + +"This is highly interesting," said Carew, in a bantering tone. "Explain +one of these notable schemes of yours, Baptiste." + +But the Frenchman did not reply. He looked round the horizon with a +puzzled expression, and, putting his hand to his ear, appeared to be +listening intently. + +"Hark, captain! What is that?" he cried. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Carew listened, and heard a low, rumbling sound like distant thunder. + +"Thunder out of a cloudless sky! That is strange." + +"That is no thunder, captain," said Baptiste, with a scared look, "but +what it is I know not." + +The sound became louder. It did not seem to be approaching from any +direction, but to be everywhere--around, below, above--filling all +space. Then it swelled to a great roar, as of the rolling of thousands +of drums. The air trembled at the sound, and the surface of the sea no +longer reflected the blue sky above, but, appearing like a mirror over +which one has breathed, vibrated into myriads of wrinkles and gyrating +rings. Soon the water began to be greatly disturbed, and raved and +foamed about the vessel as if she were floating in a boiling caldron. +Then occurred an appalling prodigy. First, louder than loudest thunder, +was heard a deafening explosion, and immediately the sea leapt up, not +in waves, but in steep pyramids of water, piling itself up in domes, as +if some mighty force were thrusting it up from below. The yacht pitched +wildly into the confused whirl till she was nigh to break up with the +violence of the shocks, and the water poured over her decks in masses, +threatening to swamp her. Hollow whirlpools opened out suddenly in front +of her, seeking to engulf her: a fearful spectacle to behold, which +might make even the bravest men go mad with fright. Then came another +explosion, and the superstitious Spaniards, holding on to the rigging +for dear life, shrieked with abject terror as they saw the limpid sea +suddenly thicken and change its colour to a dark, sulphurous yellow. +There was an odour of sulphur in the air, and the sun was shining +through a sickly yellow haze. + +The crew, who would have done their duty with cool courage in a +hurricane, were completely unnerved by this alarming portent. The two +men forward thought that the fiend himself had opened hell under them to +swallow up their sinful souls; they prayed and blasphemed in turns. The +French mate, white to his lips and trembling, clutched the rigging, with +his eyes closed. Carew alone, though his cheeks were pale, was calm. +Holding on to the bulwark to prevent himself from being thrown overboard +by the violent leaping of the yacht, he looked around him with a +resolute expression. He would fight bravely for his life, but he had no +fear of death. + +In the midst of this turmoil a strong wind suddenly arose. + +"Hoist the foresail!" he shouted; but none of the terrified men obeyed +the order. "Cowardly idiots!" he cried, and scrambling forward as well +as he could to the mast, he seized the fore-halyards and set the sail. +Then he returned to the tiller, after having been nearly washed +overboard by a sea on the way, and steered the vessel dead before the +wind. + +In ten minutes he had sailed, not without danger, outside the circle of +raging water; and looking back he saw that the disturbance had already +commenced to subside, and the loud roaring had lessened to a distant +moaning. + +"_Locos!_" he cried; "madmen, cowards, hoist the mainsail! Are you women +to be so scared by a slight _terremoto_?" + +"I didn't know that there were earthquakes in mid-ocean," said El Toro, +who was the first to recover somewhat from his fright. "But, captain, +you are a curious one. I knew you feared no man; but, _caramba!_ it +seems you don't fear the devil himself." + +"Up mainsail," cried Carew again, "and don't jabber, thou great coward! +Hurry up. We have a fair wind." + +The mate was now himself again. "Aha! the _terremoto_ has brought us +luck," he cried. "Look yonder, captain," and he pointed to the east, +where the sky had become suddenly covered with small fleecy clouds. "I +know that sign--that is the trade wind." + +They put all sail on the vessel, and were soon bowling along before the +ever-freshening wind. They had left behind them the dreary region of the +Doldrums, with its stifling heat, and the air above the dancing waves +was cool and bracing. + +The mate, who was steering, began to chaff his companions. "Say, El +Toro, you thought the authorities below had sent for you when you felt +that trembling of the sea." + +"Trembling?" replied the Basque gruffly. "There was more trembling of +thee than of the sea itself, thou white-gilled Frenchman." + +"So there was," drawled the sarcastic El Chico. "But let us remember +that our mate is a man of education--of soul. His nerves are in harmony +with Nature. When Nature is merry he is merry; when Nature trembles; he +trembles. But that is poetical sympathy, not fear, my friend El Toro." + +And so these three reviled each other's cowardice, until Carew, fearing +bloodshed, called out, "Now, then, stop that discussion, or all of you +bring me your knives here." + +Then this amiable crew smoked and sulked in silence for a while. + +Shortly afterwards, Carew was below studying a chart of the South +Atlantic. To him came down the mate, who looked over his shoulder and +asked, "How far are we now from Rio, sir?" + +"About sixteen hundred miles," was the reply. "That means a run of nine +or ten days at the outside with this wind." + +"You are a man of great nerve," said the mate, filled with a genuine +admiration. "I thought the bravest man would have lost his head in that +horrid earthquake." + +Carew laughed. "Mine was only the courage of science at the best, +Baptiste. You see, the phenomenon did not take me by surprise. I half +expected something of the sort." + +"Indeed!" + +"Oh, it is very simple. See here,"--he pointed to the chart,--"read +that." The words, "Volcanic region of the Atlantic," were printed across +a large tract of ocean in the vicinity of the equator. "Now, if you will +turn over the pages of the _South Atlantic Pilot Directory_, you will +read that this part of the Atlantic is peculiarly subject to volcanic +disturbance; so much so, that mariners are in this book warned on the +subject. There are no soundings hereabouts with two thousand fathoms of +line, and yet the disturbance is transmitted upwards through all those +miles of water; so you can imagine the violent forces that are at work +below us. It is rare that a vessel crosses this strange corner of the +sea without experiencing some manifestation or other of this nature. +Sometimes it may be only a discoloration of the water that is noticed; +sometimes a shock is felt as if the vessel had struck a rock, or she +shivers till the masts are like to be thrown out of her. It is a region +terrible to superstitious sailors; but I believe it is rare that a +vessel has sustained any serious damage from these convulsions." + +"Even if I had known all that I should have lost my nerve; for, say what +you like, captain, our danger was a very real one. The _terremoto_ has +done one good thing, anyhow: it has inspired El Chico and El Toro with +an immense respect for your courage. We won't tell them that you were +forewarned by the pilot book. You can do what you like with those men +after this, Captain Allen. For the future they are your obedient +slaves." + +The brave trade wind blew without intermission for ten days, and then +Carew, being in the latitude of Rio de Janeiro, steered due west for the +land, which, according to his dead-reckoning, was not two hundred miles +distant. It was night, and the wind having fallen light, the yacht made +little progress. At midnight Carew came on deck to relieve the mate. + +"Look over there," said Baptiste, pointing across the vessel's bows to +the westward. "Those are the lights of Rio." + +"What! so soon?" cried Carew; and turning his eyes in the indicated +direction he perceived, not indeed the gleam of a lighthouse or other +ordinary sign of approaching land, but an appearance as of a stormy +dawn. High above the horizon hung masses of clouds whose lower surface +was of a faint red, as if they were reflecting some immense +conflagration too far away to be yet visible. + +"You cannot distinguish any other city in the world from such a +distance," said the mate. "When you are one hundred miles--yes, and more +than that--away, you can tell the position of Rio de Janeiro by the +glare that hangs over it at night. The gaslights there are innumerable. +I have heard that it is the best lighted city in the world, and I +believe it. At midnight the streets are illuminated as if for a fete; +and, what is more, all the roads and paths that lead out into the +country and up to the tops of the mountains are better lit than any of +the streets in your London. Ah, the capital of the Brazils is a +wonderful place!" + +As Carew discovered later on, Baptiste had not exaggerated the facts. + +At daybreak Carew was still on deck, being anxious to catch a first +glimpse of the New World after so many weeks upon the desert seas. + +When the sun rose the blue sky was cloudless, but the western horizon +was obscured by a white fog, which, Baptiste said, nearly always hovered +over this coast at early morning. + +Of a sudden the upper portion of the mist lifted, and high above them +there appeared, as if floating in mid-air, the summit of a huge +mountain. It was of cubical shape, with perpendicular sides of bare, +smooth stone, like the altar of some giant race--a marvellous sight to +thus burst suddenly upon men who had for so long seen nothing but sky +and water. + +"That is the Gavia Mountain," cried Baptiste; "it lies to the left of +the entrance of the Bay of Rio." + +Then the morning breeze came down upon the land, and, as by enchantment, +the mist vanished, and all the features of that wonderful coast were +revealed to them. + +Lofty mountains of the most fantastic forms rose sheer from the sea. +Some were great pyramids or peaks of ruddy granite gleaming like molten +gold in the sunshine; others, sloping more gently, were covered with +great forests of tropical vegetation. Along the whole shore extended a +white line of foam, where the Atlantic swell, piled up by the fresh +trade winds, perpetually thundered at the base of the cliffs. In places +the ravines terminated in beautiful bays, where on beaches of silver +sand the cocoa-nut trees waved their rustling branches. The tropical +seas wash no lovelier a land than this; and at that moment, with the sun +still low in the east, there were a softness and translucency in the +gorgeous colouring that gave an unreal and fairy-like aspect to the +scene. Close under the conical mountain known as the Sugar Loaf a gorge +opened out, and through this was seen the vast expanse of the Bay of +Rio, which the old navigators, in their admiration for its beauty, +likened unto the gates of heaven. + +The yacht crossed the tumbling waters on the bar, sailed through the +majestic gates, and floated on the still, pale green water of the inland +sea. + +The Bay of Rio is considered to be the fairest of all the harbours of +the earth, and one who has seen it can well believe that it is so. +Imagine a vast lake, some eighty miles in circumference, surrounded by +grand mountains, indented with many winding bays, and studded with +islands of all sizes, on whose shores are many towns and villages, chief +among which is the empire city of South America, the white Rio de +Janeiro. A luxuriant vegetation comes down to the very edge of the +water, even up to the streets of the city; the varied foliage of many +species of palms, the luscious blades of the bananas, the spreading +mangos, and bread-fruit trees giving a cool appearance to the torrid +land. + +About a mile from the city of Rio, at the entrance of the bay, is the +fortified island of Villegagnon. The yacht was sailing close under its +shore, the mate steering. Carew was gazing at the grand scenery around +him with deep emotion. Under the influence of this lovely nature, his +thoughts became tender and pure; his soul was strangely subdued, and his +mind sank into a happy reverie, such as good men who feel secure in +their innocence are supposed alone to enjoy. + +The mate was watching Carew's face; then he said, in a casual manner-- + +"I know this port pretty well, Mr. Allen, though I have only been here +once before; and, by the way, I was sailing then in an English barque. +Let me see, what was the captain's name? Captain Grou--no, it was not +that--Garou--Carou--oh yes, that was it--Captain Carou." + +Carew started visibly and looked steadily into the mate's face, but he +could read nothing in those impassive features. "It is but a +coincidence," he said to himself. "It is impossible that Baptiste can +have discovered my real name. There are many Carews in the world, after +all." Nevertheless, the sound of the name he had put away from him for +ever disturbed him greatly. He was awakened from his pleasant reverie, +and the beautiful scenery had no more delights for him. All the evil +things which he had done and had yet to do were unpleasantly brought to +his mind. Now that he saw the great city before him, he shrank from the +idea of mixing once more with his fellow-men. He wished he were out on +the open sea again. + +"Baptiste," he said, "I should like to bring up some way from the +quays; it will be quieter." + +"Certainly, captain. Let us bring up here under Villegagnon; it will be +cooler and healthier than farther in. Look yonder at the merchantman +anchorage. I see the yellow flag flying from at least a dozen foremasts. +The yellow fever is evidently playing mischief at present." + +Baptiste had not been unobservant of Carew's start and change of +expression at the mention of his name. The wily Frenchman had a game to +play: he had put down his first card with a result that satisfied him. + +The anchor was let go under Villegagnon and the sails were stowed; then +Baptiste, looking around him, happened to perceive a barque anchored +about half a mile off. "Ho, El Toro," he cried; "look at that barque. Is +she not the very sister to the old _Vrouw Elisa_?" + +"Baptiste," said Carew sternly, "you told me that you had never been on +board the _Vrouw Elisa_." + +The mate, not in the least disconcerted, laughed, and replied, "That +does not prevent my knowing her by sight, surely, Captain Carou--I +mean--how stupid of me!--Captain Allen." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Shortly after the _Petrel's_ anchor had been let go, under the island of +Villegagnon, a galley, manned by brawny blacks, came off to the yacht; a +Brazilian gentleman in uniform leapt on deck and introduced himself as +the doctor of the port. On hearing that the vessel was an English yacht +sailing under an Admiralty flag he raised no difficulties, but granted +Carew pratique at once, despite the absence of a clean bill of health +from Rotterdam. + +When the health boat had gone off again, Carew ordered the dinghy to be +lowered. "I will go on shore at once, Baptiste," he said. "I will call +on the British consul, and ask him for a clean bill of health for Buenos +Ayres. We won't stay longer than is necessary in this unhealthy place." + +"May I suggest," replied the mate, "that you should give the lads a few +dollars of their pay, and allow them a run on shore to stretch their +legs after having been cooped up so long in this little craft?" + +Carew remembered the empty condition of the ship's treasury, and did +not see his way to paying his crew any portion of their wages at +present. + +"If they go on shore they will drink rum in the sun, and catch Yellow +Jack," he said. + +"Not they, sir. These are sober Spaniards, and they are too acclimatised +to run much risk of fever." + +"I'll think the matter over. But we'll leave the two men in charge this +afternoon. You come on shore with me, Baptiste. You know Rio, and can +show me the way about." + +So Carew and the mate got into the dinghy, and the latter, taking the +oars, pulled off towards the Mole. They landed on a quay bordered by a +negro market, where fish, fruit, rags, and all manner of odds and ends +were sold by very fat negresses in huge yellow turbans; a filthy and +malodorous spot. After leaving the dinghy in charge of a custom-house +officer, they hustled their way through the jabbering crowd of blacks, +and entered the chief streets of the city. + +Baptiste, who evidently knew his way well, brought Carew to the door of +the British Consulate. "I will leave you now, captain," he said, "to +transact your business. Let me have a dollar or so to amuse myself with, +and I will meet you in an hour's time at the corner of the chief +street, the Rua Ovidor, in front of the big jeweller's shop." + +Carew gave him a ten-shilling piece--he only had two more in the world +now--and they separated. + +Having obtained a bill of health from the consul, Carew strolled through +the hot streets until the appointed time, when the mate, punctual to a +minute, met him at the corner of the Rua Ovidor. + +"Captain," said Baptiste, "it is stifling in these streets. Let us get +on a tram and drive out of the town to the Botanical Gardens. It will be +cooler there, and I wish to speak to you in a quiet place where there +are no eavesdroppers about. I have made an important discovery since I +left you." + +With a noise of jingling bells the mules carried them rapidly through +the suburbs of the city; past fairy-like villas that seemed to be built +of delicately tinted porcelain, surrounded by gardens that were +paradises of exquisite plants, with cool fountains splashing under the +feathery palms; past groves of marvellous trees that bore no leaves, but +were covered instead with blossoms of purple and vivid crimson, so that +the eye was pained by the excess of glory; past pleasant inlets of the +great bay, where the tiny waves dashed on the white sands under the +cocoa-nut trees; and around them rose the great amphitheatre of granite +peaks and forest-clad mountains glowing under the cloudless sky. + +They reached the gate of the Botanical Gardens, and the mate led Carew +to an avenue of oreodoxas--the most majestic of the family of palms. +These rose straight and smooth as marble columns to an immense height, +and far overhead their graceful leaves met in regular arches, forming a +great aisle as of a cathedral of giants. A solemn spot, fitted to exalt +the soul of man and inspire lofty thoughts, but which Baptiste, with an +unconscious irony, had selected as a safe place to discuss with Carew a +scheme of detestable crime which his lust for gold had suggested to him. + +They sat down on a bench under the polished trunk of one of the huge +palms. Carew was silent. He was impressed by the marvellous nature +around. Everything was so unfamiliar to his senses. The rich colouring +of the beautiful and sometimes grotesquely shaped vegetation, the birds +of brilliant plumage that flashed by him, the metallic lustre and +monstrous forms of the beetles and other insects, the shrieking of the +paroquets, and other noises of the intense and teeming tropical +life--all bewildered his brain. The very air, heavy with the pungent +odours of many flowers, seemed intoxicating. He could scarcely realise +that this was not all some fantastic dream. + +But Baptiste, who had important business on hand, cared little for the +wonders of Nature. He rolled himself a cigarette, lit it, then, +sprawling himself in a lazy fashion on the bench, commenced-- + +"The other day, captain, we were engaged in an interesting conversation, +which was rather rudely disturbed by an earthquake. Have you forgotten +the subject of it?" + +"I remember that you were talking some nonsense about making yachting +pay its expenses by smuggling, or something of the sort." + +"I said nothing about smuggling, captain, and I was not talking +nonsense. I said that the master of a yacht sailing under Government +papers has many opportunities of putting gold into his pockets; that is, +if his liver be sound and he is not troubled with a morbid conscience. +Now, I only left you for one hour, captain, and in that time I picked up +all the news of the port by calling at one or two rum shops--old haunts +of mine; and, as luck would have it, I have discovered an easy way for +us all to make our fortunes." + +"Silence, man!" angrily ejaculated Carew. "I don't wish to hear your +rascally plans. You mistake me; I am not one to seek a fortune by +illicit methods." + +Carew meant all he said. He intended to commit one more crime only--to +telegraph in Allen's name to the bank for the bulk of Allen's property. +After that, sick of sin, he would live an exemplary life, and appease +conscience by good works in some far country. But he forgot that he who +once starts to run down a steep hill cannot stop himself exactly when he +wishes. + +"What virtue--what righteous indignation!" sneered the mate. "But, +captain, you will have to listen to me. Whether you wish it or no, you +_shall_ make a fortune in the way I am going to suggest." + +There was a menace in the man's tone and a malicious twinkle in his +eyes. + +Carew looked at him. "Explain yourself, if you please," he said coldly. + +"So I will," cried Baptiste, with energy, abandoning his lazy drawl. +Then, throwing away his cigarette, he rose from his recumbent position +and stood before Carew, who still remained sitting on the bench. + +"Do you think that I am blind--that I am an idiot, captain? Do you +imagine that I don't know who you are and what you have done,--with all +your virtuous talk,--eh, Mr. Carew?" + +As he uttered these words rapidly the mate closely observed their effect +upon the Englishman, whose face turned ghastly white, and whose right +hand stole round to his back. + +"No shooting, if you please," cried the Frenchman, in a bantering tone. +"Don't draw that revolver. Remember that there's a fine for carrying +firearms in Rio. Coward though I may be, you don't frighten me here, +captain. I know you dare not kill me on shore. The inquiry afterwards +would be fatal to you. Besides, you are wise enough to grasp quickly the +fact that our interests are coincident. At sea it was otherwise. There I +held my tongue. I was aware that you would have thrown me overboard some +dark night had you guessed that I knew so much. Here on shore I am +safe." + +Carew felt that he was in the man's power, and saw the futility of +denial. "What do you know?" he asked, in a dry voice, bringing his hand +in front of him again. + +"That your name is not Allen, but Carew." + +"What else?" + +"That you are impersonating a man whose property you have stolen." + +Carew felt as if his heart had stopped; the tall palms swam around him. +He closed his eyes, and was only conscious of the cataract of sound +raised by the shrieking paroquets and the manifold hum of insects. It +was only for a moment; then he recovered himself, and, opening his eyes, +again saw before him the cynical face of the Frenchman. "What else?" he +asked, with a deep sigh. + +"Surely that is enough, captain. But, in short, understand that I know +all about you." + +"How have you learnt this?" + +"Suffice it that I know it. I don't wish to spoil your little game, +captain, but you must help me in mine. I will now sit down and silently +smoke a cigarette, so that you can ponder a while on what I have said. I +perceive that I have somewhat disturbed your mind. Now, as violent +emotions are very bad for the health in this hot climate, it will do you +good to rest for a few minutes; for I have more exciting news to +communicate." + +The Frenchman resumed his former lazy position, and proceeded to smoke, +as he smiled contentedly at his own reflections; while Carew sat with +knit brows, the perspiration streaming down his face, unable to collect +his thoughts, but terribly conscious in a vague way that he could never +extricate himself from the network of crime into which he had +voluntarily thrown himself; that for him there was no hope of putting +the past away; that one sin would lead irrevocably to another; that +Nemesis had made all his future life as one long chain of iniquity, even +to the unknown dreadful end of it. + +The Frenchman was very pleased with himself. He had succeeded beyond his +expectations in gaining a hold over Carew, whom he could now compel to +subserve his purposes. The mate had played a bold game of "bluff"; he +had made Carew believe that he was acquainted with his history, whereas +he knew nothing of it, possessed no proofs of what he had so boldly +asserted, and had merely made an ingenious guess at the truth. + +At a very early stage of the voyage, Baptiste had come to the conclusion +that the conscience of the Englishman was burdened with some crime, and +that he was a fugitive from justice. + +A variety of circumstances had led him to this belief. That Carew had +shipped three men who were known to be murderers, and had sailed away +with them across the ocean at a moment's notice, was in itself highly +suspicious. So the wily Frenchman, bethinking himself how useful it +often is to know another man's disagreeable secrets, set himself to +discover all he could of his employer's past. + +Many a night, when it was Carew's watch on deck, Baptiste employed +himself in rummaging the drawers and lockers of the saloon. For a long +time he discovered nothing to his purpose; but he was patient and minute +in his investigations, and at last he got on the right scent in the +following wise. + +He found that the handwriting in the ship's log-book and on the +agreements which the captain had drawn out for his crew was not in the +least like that in the diary and in the cheque-book, in which entries +had been inscribed at a date prior to the yacht's departure from +Rotterdam. Thus it seemed highly probable to Baptiste that his captain +was not the Mr. Allen whom he professed to be, and whose name was on +the ship's papers. + +If not Mr. Allen, then, who was he? + +Baptiste searched diligently night after night without finding any clue +to this; but at last one of those slight circumstances which seem to be +arranged by Providence to expose the crimes of the most clever and +cautious villains, led the persevering Frenchman to the knowledge he was +seeking. + +Baptiste was not a good English scholar; but he proceeded with infinite +labour little by little to decipher Allen's diary. A few days before +reaching Rio he came to the last page but one, and here he read the +following entry: "Wrote Carew, asking him to come with me to Holland." +On the next page, under the date of August the 8th, was the final entry: +"Sail for Holland with Carew." + +"It is just possible," said Baptiste to himself, "that this mysterious +captain of mine is Mr. Carew. I have no reason to suppose that he is so, +but the point is worth testing." + +The mate applied the test in the manner that has been described, when, +on entering Rio, he casually remarked that he had sailed into that +harbour before under an English captain called Carew. + +His employer's sudden start and evident perturbation on hearing this +name mentioned convinced Baptiste that he had hit the right nail on the +head. The deduction from what he had discovered was natural enough. "If +this is Carew," he reasoned, "he must have stolen Allen's yacht. He has +in all probability committed other crimes; but this is enough for my +purpose. I may be altogether wrong in my conjectures, but I think not. I +will tax him boldly with this. If I have guessed his secret, I have the +game in my own hands. If I prove to have been on the wrong scent, I +shall have made an idiot of myself, but no great harm will have been +done." + +So with a matchless effrontery the Frenchman opened his game under the +shade of the great palm trees with the success that has been seen. + +Having smoked several cigarettes with an expression of great enjoyment, +without speaking, Baptiste turned to Carew and said-- + +"You are looking pale, _mon capitaine_. It is dangerous to walk about on +an empty stomach in this climate; the fever fiend is ever watching his +opportunity. Come with me. I will take you to a tavern I know +of,--rough, but cheap and good,--and we will have something to eat. It +is hours after our usual dinner-time. Afterwards I will expound to you +the excellent scheme that is in my head--a scheme that will make us all +rich men." + +Carew had by this time recovered his power for cool and rapid thought. +He had been in vain cudgelling his brain to explain to himself in what +possible way the mate had contrived to discover his secret. + +"Baptiste," he said firmly, "before moving from here, I wish you to +clearly understand that you are not going to be my master because you +happen to know something about my affairs; so put aside at once that +insolent and familiar manner. If you presume too much on your knowledge +and make me desperate, it will be the worse for you. Now tell me how +have you acquired this knowledge?" + +The mate replied in his old respectful tones. "I know you too well to +seek to be your master. But I would rather not answer your question at +present, captain. I promise you, when you have helped me to carry out my +plan, that I will tell you everything." + +"Does anyone else know as much as yourself concerning me?" + +"Not a single individual. Have no fears on that score. No one suspects +that you are other than you represent yourself to be. You are as secure +from discovery as you were before I happened to learn the truth. I alone +know what you are, and the price of my silence is a mere bagatelle. All +I ask is that you benefit yourself and me by casting away from you some +of your foolish scruples. Where is the logic of going so far and no +farther? You have committed great crimes for a trifle. A large fortune +is now within your grasp; but one little sin more, and you will be +rich. Then you can afford to be virtuous for the rest of your life. You +can endow churches; you can obtain absolution; you can--but I forget; +you are a Protestant, and so must patch your soul up in your own way." + +Carew shuddered, not in fear of the man before him, but at the thought +of the relentless fate that was pursuing him. It seemed to him that this +unscrupulous villain was the instrument of an offended Heaven, sent to +hasten his destruction. It was vain for him to strive after repentance. + +A wild despair, a feeling of angry revolt against the powers of good, +possessed him. What did it matter now? the man argued, in his reckless +mood. Destiny drove him to crime. Why resist in agony? Whatever new +wickedness he should have to do, not his the fault, but that of this +pitiless and unjust Fate. + +"Baptiste, what is this plan that you propose?" he asked. + +"Let us dine before we talk business," replied the mate, rolling himself +another cigarette. "I am as thirsty as an Englishman and as hungry as a +German." + +They entered a tram and drove back towards the city; but while they were +yet in the suburbs, Baptiste made a sign to Carew to descend, and they +walked, the mate leading the way, down a narrow street of negro +shanties, each surrounded by its little provision ground of bananas, +yams, and cassava. Then they came to a very rough and disreputable +neighbourhood, abounding in low grog shops, in which European sailors +were courting Yellow Jack, by drinking poisonous rum. They reached a +street which skirted the shores of the bay; and here, on the very edge +of the water, there stood a stone house by itself. + +"That is the tavern I spoke of," said the mate. Then assuming his usual +bantering tone, "It is a queer place. It will interest you, as an +English milord travelling for his pleasure and instruction, to observe +the humours of the place. It is the resort of the greatest villains of +Rio--robbers, smugglers, and the like. The result is that it is an +exceedingly quiet and respectable house. They dare not have rows in +there; no drunkenness or thieving or kniving is allowed on those +premises. Men frequent this cafe when bent on business, not on +pleasure." + +The interior of the house did not seem to be used for purposes of +entertainment, for all the customers were congregated in a large arbour +that lay against one side of the building, and faced the sea. + +They entered this arbour, and sat down at one of the bare deal tables, +and the mate, calling one of the waiters, a very evil-looking mulatto +with one eye, selected some of the dishes out of the bill of fare. + +The sun was setting, and the darkness came on with the suddenness of +tropical latitudes. Two negroes proceeded to light a number of Venetian +lanterns that festooned the cafe, and Carew, while he waited for his +dinner, gazed with amazement at the scene before him. + +A number of men were sitting at the tables, eating, drinking, and +smoking. There were negroes, whites, and mulattos. They appeared to be +of many nationalities. It would be almost impossible to see elsewhere a +collection of more villainous faces. They sat for the most part in +silence, as if avoiding each other's companionship; but at some of the +tables were small groups, and here conversations were carried on in a +low voice. There were no smiles to be seen; there was no noise; there +were no signs of hilarity in all this assemblage. An atmosphere of gloom +and fear seemed to pervade the place. Occasionally one of these taciturn +beings would glance suspiciously at the table where Carew and the mate +were sitting. Guilt, dread, and hopelessness could be read on many a +face. It might have been a supper of lost souls in the shades of Hades, +but then--and it was this that, by its mocking contrast, lent a strange +horror to the scene, as if it were some fantastic and dreadful +nightmare--the melancholy feast was taking place in a very paradise. + +The arbour was supported by lofty palms, and the sides of it were formed +of a network of the most beautiful creepers, heavy with sweet blossoms +and luscious fruits. The glittering sands of the seashore formed the +floor. Through the roof of feathery palm leaves the innumerable and +brilliant stars of the Southern Hemisphere could be seen glowing out of +the depths of night. A number of small tame birds of lovely red and +yellow plumage fluttered about the arbour, and alighted on the tables in +search of food. Glow-worms and fireflies gleamed like diamonds among the +foliage, and outside was heard the splashing of the tiny waves and the +shrill cry of the cicala. The lavish tropical nature had made of this a +fit palace for a fairy queen, and lo, it was a thieves' kitchen! + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +Having dined off some very greasy dishes served up with cassava or +lentils, and seasoned with hot peppers in the Brazilian fashion, Carew +and the mate lit their pipes, and the one-eyed negro brought them cups +of black coffee and glasses of white native rum. The table at which they +sat was at some distance from any other, so all risk of their +conversation being overheard was obviated. + +"All these men are thieves, you say?" said Carew, looking round at the +strange assembly, on whose faces the Venetian lanterns cast a ruddy +glow. + +"Yes, thieves and murderers, all of them," replied the mate, "but +well-behaved, quiet folk, as you see. One is safer here than in some of +the flash cafes in the main streets of Rio." + +"They carry their characters on their faces. I only see one in the whole +crowd whom I would not instinctively distrust. Who is that tall, +handsome old man with the long white hair and beard?" + +"That is our worthy host," said Baptiste. "He looks like a mild, +mediaeval saint, but there is much blood on his hands. I must introduce +him to you, for he is a celebrated character in his way." + +Baptiste caught the old man's eye, and beckoned to him to approach the +table. + +"Good-evening to you, Father Luigi. I think you understand French?" + +The old man nodded an assent. + +"I don't suppose you remember me? I have not been here for a very long +time." + +"I never forget a face that I have seen in my cafe," replied the host in +French, with a strong Italian accent. + +"This, Luigi, is my present captain, an English milord, travelling in +his yacht; and this, captain, is the once well-known Roman brigand, +Luigi Querini. Oh, an awful cut-throat in his time, I assure you." + +Querini shook his head sadly. "But not so now, signor. I am getting old. +Heigh-ho, but those were grand days we had in the Abruzzi Mountains +before Victor Emmanuel's gendarmerie spoilt Italy." + +"Sit down and have a glass with us, Luigi," said the mate. "_Salud y +pesetas_--health and dollars to you; that's an old River Plate toast. +Luigi knows Buenos Ayres well, captain. He'll tell us all about it." + +"Yes, I know it too well," said the old man. "I was a soldier of the +Argentine Republic, and lived on mare's flesh on the Indian frontier for +four years." + +"What made you do that?" asked Carew. + +"I see you are a stranger to South America, sir. Understand, I was not a +volunteer. I had a misfortune, and therefore was pressed into the army +for punishment." + +"To have a misfortune is a Pampas euphemism for having murdered a man," +explained the mate. + +"There is, as you know, no capital punishment in the River Plate," +continued the Italian; "if a man kills another the penalty is so many +years' service in the army." + +"What a respectable army it must be," remarked Carew. + +"It is so," said Baptiste. "They are wise people, those Argentines. If a +man is addicted to homicide for his private ends, they turn him into a +wholesale homicide for the public good. That may be called the +homoeopathic treatment of murder; like curing like." + +Carew laughed boisterously at the mate's witticism, and the silent men +at the tables round, hating the sound of merriment, turned their faces +towards him and scowled savagely. + +A species of intoxication had come to Carew. The strange sights and +strong emotions of the day, the grotesque contrast presented by this +lovely bower of pure blossoms and the foul and evil men who sat beneath +it, confused his brain. His surroundings seemed so fantastically +inconsistent--so unreal--that he felt as if he were some irresponsible +being in a land of dreams, that it mattered not what he did. He was +filled with a reckless joviality. + +The mate had been watching him with his keen eyes. He knew what this +exaltation of spirits indicated, and divined that the moment was +opportune for the mooting of his diabolical scheme. In the present +condition of his mental faculties, the captain's obstructive conscience +would be partly paralysed, and he would be able to listen to the mate's +proposals without overmuch shrinking horror. So the shrewd Frenchman, +losing no more time, hinted to the host that his presence at the table +was no longer needed, and Querini took himself off to hobnob with +another acquaintance. + +Baptiste then stretched out his legs and said-- + +"This is very comfortable after having been cramped up so long on board +that little boat of yours; but I hope, sir, to see you captain of a much +larger vessel in a week or so at the latest." + +"So we are coming to your wonderful scheme. Let me hear all about it." + +"You remember, sir, that as we sailed into the bay this morning I +pointed out a small barque to El Toro, and remarked how much she +resembled the old _Vrouw Elisa_." + +"I remember your words perfectly. You betrayed yourself." + +"Intentionally, captain. We understand each other now; there are no +secrets between us. Away with hypocrisy! Of course El Toro, El Chico, +and myself formed part of the crew of the _Vrouw Elisa_. But it is +unnecessary to recount to you our adventures on board that vessel." + +"They do not interest me." + +"I don't think you'd care to hear them," said Baptiste, showing his +white teeth with a grim smile. "Well, to proceed. When you were at the +consul's this morning, I entered a little drinking shop on the Mole, and +there I overheard some sailors speaking about their vessel, which I soon +made out to be the barque lying near us under Villegagnon, the one like +the _Vrouw Elisa_. Said one man to the other in French-- + +"'I suppose she's got the most valuable cargo on board of any vessel in +Rio.' + +"I pricked up my ears on hearing this. + +"'She'd be a fine prize for a pirate,' replied the other man. + +"'If there were pirates nowadays,' said the first. + +"Feeling interested, I made inquiries about this vessel--Waiter, stand +off another few yards. I am talking over some private business with +this gentleman." + +The negro, not unused to such commands, promptly removed himself. + +"I discovered that the barque comes from a little harbour down the +coast, near Santa Catharina. It seems that some prospectors have +discovered gold in the neighbouring mountains. The quartz is +exceptionally rich; the cost of importing the necessary machinery would +be great. They are consequently shipping a large quantity of this quarts +to Europe to be crushed. That barque, sailing under the French flag, is +bound for Swansea with a cargo of this: no ordinary auriferous quartz, +let me tell you, but containing a hitherto unexampled percentage of +gold. She has put in here for some slight repairs, and will sail in two +days. The barque is a new vessel, and is worth a lot of money; but the +value of the cargo is enormous. Now, my little plan is that we four, the +crew of the _Petrel_, seize this vessel and make our fortunes." + +Carew laughed scornfully. "Idiot!" he said; "is this your precious +scheme? I took you for too clever a man to talk such nonsense. Even if +we did succeed in seizing this vessel, what could we do with her? In +what port could we dispose of her cargo? Piracy is impossible in these +days. Don't you know that?" + +"Who talked of piracy? Surely, captain, you know me by this time. Am I +not a coward? Am I one to commit a risky crime? I would break no law +unless I felt that I was absolutely secure from detection; and when I do +feel that, upon my soul, I don't know what villainy I would shrink from; +for, as for conscience--bah! I have none. Now please follow the outlines +of my scheme. I will leave it to your ingenuity to fill up the details." + +Carew, in his present mood, felt a reluctant admiration for the cool and +cynical ruffian before him. + +"Piracy, in the ordinary sense of the term, is of course out of date," +continued the mate, as he sipped his fiery rum; "but the intelligent man +adapts his method to the age he lives in. I will now tell you a little +story. An English yacht, manned by four worthy fellows, sails out of Rio +one fine day. In the night, when she is some leagues from the land, a +dreadful accident of some kind happens--say she runs into a large +fragment of wreckage, and staves herself in. Anyhow, she founders. +Happily, her crew have time to lower the boat, and getting into it they +pull away, weeping to behold the vessel, that has been their home for so +long, go down. But they feel happier and dry their eyes when their brave +captain tells them that the yacht is well insured. Providence assists +them, for at daybreak they sight a French barque. They signal to her, +are seen, are soon taken on board, and the barque resumes her voyage to +Europe. After some days our four shipwrecked mariners, who have been +watching their opportunity, and who are well armed, surprise the crew, +take possession of the vessel, sail her into the nearest port, and claim +salvage for the derelict which they have had the luck to pick up; and +their lives for the future are happy, wealthy, and respectable. Do you +follow my story, captain? Hi! waiter, bring us some more rum and some +Bahia cigars." + +Carew sat quite motionless for some time, looking downwards, so that +Baptiste could not see the expression of his face. The black brought the +rum to the table and went away again. Then Carew raised his head. "I +follow your story," he said, in a low, husky voice; "but you did not +mention what became of the crew of the barque." + +"Ah, yes! What did become of them?" exclaimed the mate in an airy way. +"I forget. They were lost somehow, I imagine--were disposed of in some +convenient fashion--who knows? But that is a detail." + +Carew's face had turned fearfully white. "Thou devil!" he cried +passionately, between his set teeth. "Not that--not that! Speak no more +of this. It is impossible." + +"Understand me, captain," said the mate, abandoning his bantering tone +for one of serious determination. "You are not going to have everything +your own way. I must have money, and plenty of it. El Chico and El Toro +must have money. Join us in carrying out this scheme, and we will share +the spoil between the four of us. If you don't agree to this, I will +expose you at once, Mr. Carew, and you will know what a nasty hole a +Brazilian prison is. I am sorry to use this language, but business is +business, captain." + +Carew looked down again, and Baptiste, furtively watching him, saw that +his mouth was twitching and the perspiration breaking out on his +forehead. + +The wretched man endeavoured to think his way out of the terrible +dilemma before him. He had to choose between the commission of a crime +more atrocious than any he had ever conceived, and a disgrace and +punishment infinitely worse than death. He tried to realise his +position, but his brain seemed numbed. The two alternatives kept +crossing and recrossing his mind in rapid succession. He was conscious +of them, but he could not reason upon them. He was incapable of +consecutive thought for the time. + +Suddenly a discordant brass band in a low dancing saloon hard by burst +out into a triumphant march, as a prelude to the night's riot of drunken +sailors. It was a fragment of some French opera-bouffe, suggestive of +feverish joy heedless of the morrow, of mad and reckless orgie. The +sound was in accord with the man's distracted state. It at once awoke +his mind from its lethargy. A wild and fierce impulse rushed upon him. +Blindly he abandoned himself to what he considered to be his destiny, +and a tempter seemed to whisper to him, "Trust to your luck. See how +luck has been with you so far. Fortune will certainly find some way of +relieving you of the crew of the barque, so that it will not be +necessary for you to have their blood on your head. Arthur Allen stood +in your path. He was removed from it; yet you were not his murderer. So +will it be now. Trust to chance." + +Then Carew looked up. His features were calm and rigid, but had a +ghastly expression. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but appeared to +be unable to articulate. He poured himself out a quantity of the white +rum into a glass and swallowed it. "And the other two men?" he whispered +hoarsely. + +Baptiste understood his meaning. "El Chico and El Toro can be relied +upon for this business. I know them," he said. + +The eyes of the two men met. There was a long pause. Then Carew muttered +the two words-- + +"I consent!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +Carew and the mate left the cafe, traversed the brilliantly lighted +city, and returned to the yacht. At an early hour on the following +morning, Carew, too restless to sleep, came on deck. The sky was +cloudless and the rising sun illumined the romantic scenery of the bay. +A cool breeze blew seaward from the wooded mountains, odorous of spices +and tropical blossoms. The sight of a world so glad and fair, so fresh +and ever-young, might well make the saddest soul feel the joy of mere +existence and look to life as a treasure worth the possessing. + +A few months before this Carew had contemplated suicide--had regarded +death as a welcome deliverance from his troubles. Now it was otherwise; +he set a value on his life. The causes of this change were commonplace +enough, as are most of the motives that decide the momentous crises of a +man's history. A healthy life in the open air at sea tends to develop +the instinct of self-preservation and banishes morbid meditations. +Again, the longer one has been contesting some keen game of chance and +skill, the more anxious one is to come off the victor. This man had been +playing a clever and desperate game for freedom--which for him meant +life--ever since he had left England. Fortune had favoured him so long +that he would not abandon hope and acknowledge defeat now. The ultimate +victory had become so dear to him that he was not likely to be very +squeamish as to the means he should employ to obtain it. + +So Carew had hardened his heart, or rather, having resolved on a course +of action, he closed the avenues of his mind to certain unpleasant +thoughts on the future. Not being as unscrupulous as his French +associate, he found it necessary to employ an immense amount of +self-deception. He allowed himself to drift, as it were, from one crime +to another, trying to believe that his fate was compelling him; but he +carefully avoided looking beyond the immediate present. He would not +think of the far greater iniquities to which he was committing himself +by the action he was now taking. He wilfully closed his eyes, and let +the morrow take care of itself. + +When Baptiste joined the captain on deck he was exceedingly surprised to +find him in a cheerful mood, and anxious to arrange as quickly as +possible the plan for the seizure of the barque. Carew found a relief in +the active employment of his brain, and he now exhibited considerable +ingenuity. He described his views in detail to the mate, who looked with +wonder at this inconsistent Englishman, whose complex nature he felt +that he was very far from understanding. With all his vacillation, when +Carew had made up his mind one way or the other, he acted promptly and +with energy. + +"Baptiste," he said, "in the first place, we ought to be armed. We all +have knives, but there is only one revolver on board. I want you to take +my watch and chain on shore, pawn or sell them, and buy three revolvers +and some ammunition. You can take charge of your weapon at once, but I +will keep those of the two men until the time comes." + +"That is right," said the mate; "those children are not to be trusted +with firearms. The first time they played at _monte_ they would be +scattering each other's brains over the cards. I know a slop shop where +there are generally some good six-shooters on sale. I will barter your +watch there." + +"Also ascertain the hour of the barque's departure," said Carew. "This +is what I suggest. You know that the south-east trade wind does not blow +home on this coast, but is deflected and becomes a north-east wind. In +consequence of this, all vessels bound for Europe from Rio are obliged +to take a long board of several hundreds of miles to the eastward +before they fall in with the true trade wind, and go about on the other +tack. Thus we know the exact course the barque will take. She will sail +away close-hauled on the port-tack. We will put to sea six hours before +her, and await her some ten leagues from the land. Do you understand?" + +"Perfectly. I see you know what you are about, sir." + +"Now call the crew aft," said Carew, "and let us learn at once what they +think of our proposal." + +Baptiste raised the hatch of the forecastle and roused the men. They +quickly tumbled on deck. + +"I am sorry to say, comrades, that you can't go on shore here," said the +mate in Spanish. + +They swore and grumbled in sonorous Castilian phrases that had best be +left untranslated. + +"Now no insubordination," continued Baptiste; "the captain would not +deprive you of a day's holiday after so long a voyage unless he had +urgent reasons for doing so." + +"Reasons indeed!" muttered El Toro. "He who wants reasons can always +find them." + +"Silence, you old calf! Listen! We shall most probably sail to-day, for +there is a treasure waiting for us outside." + +El Chico pricked up his ears. "What! another _Vrouw Elisa_?" he asked. + +"Something of the sort; but this is a safer scheme. Our necks will not +be in danger this time." + +"That's well for you, Baptiste," exclaimed El Toro, with his brutal +laugh; "for your neck must be the most precious on this ship if we may +judge from the value you set on it. Ha! ha! I never shall forget your +white face and your starting eyes in that Dutch law court." + +"My neck supports a head of brains and not a pig's head like thine, with +only three ideas in it--rum, grub, and tobacco," retorted the mate. "But +no more nonsense; listen to me, men." + +Then he briefly disclosed the plan. + +"Bravo!" grunted El Toro. "That sounds a likely bit of business. I will +go and sharpen my knife at once. And so our English milord is a +game-cock, after all, like the rest of us." + +"He is worth fifty of you," said Baptiste. "He has the clever brains +that can devise; and he is braver than you, El Toro." + +"I acknowledge him to be my superior, even in courage. I have not +forgotten how he defied the devil himself in the _terremoto_," replied +the Basque. + +Baptiste turned to Carew, and proceeded to speak in French. "The lads +are ready to follow you anywhere, sir." + +"They did not seem at all surprised, and received your communication in +a very matter-of-fact way," said Carew. + +"They are accustomed to strange jobs of this kind. But I don't think +they quite realise what a vast sum we are going to make. Idiots! It +would be a pity to give them too much. We must settle later on, captain, +how to divide the spoil." + +"Last night you said that it should be divided equally among us." + +"I spoke hastily. I don't think so now. You and I appreciate money and +know how to use it. These pigs would squander it. We will give them just +enough to keep their mouths shut. You and I will divide the bulk. If we +fill their hands with bright gold pieces, the ignorant wretches will +imagine that they have got an inexhaustible fortune, and they will go +away perfectly satisfied. I know the animals." + +The mate, taking Carew's watch and chain with him, rowed on shore in the +dinghy, and returned in an hour with three revolvers, some cartridges, +and a quantity of plantains, yams, and other vegetables. + +He leapt on deck. "Captain," he cried, "there is not much time to be +lost. I have learnt that _La Bonne Esperance_--that is the barque's +name--will sail without fail this evening as soon as the land breeze +springs up." + +"Then we will get under way immediately after breakfast," said Carew; +"for the wind seems to be light outside, and we shall not travel fast." + +The land breeze, which blows all night at Rio and refreshes the heated +atmosphere, died away before the necessary preparations had been made on +the yacht, and the usual calm succeeded it. So Carew had to remain at +anchor until midday, when the sea breeze, that prevails throughout the +hottest hours of the day, sprang up; and all sail being hoisted, the +_Petrel_ tacked out of the bay. + +The yacht sailed out to sea, close-hauled on the port-tack; but the wind +was very light, and she did not make more than two knots an hour. + +At sunset the land was still in sight, and Carew took cross-bearings, so +as to ascertain his exact position. Throughout the night the navigation +of the yacht was conducted with unusual care. The helmsman steered "full +and by" with as much nicety as if he had been sailing a race. + +Every few minutes the officer of the watch looked at the compass, in +order to detect the slightest change in the direction of the wind. +Without these precautions it would have been impossible on the morrow to +calculate with sufficient precision the track of the following barque. + +At daybreak Carew made out that he was about forty miles from the land. +"We have gone far enough, Baptiste," he said. "The next thing is to +calculate how much nearer this yacht sails to the wind than a clumsy, +square-rigged vessel like _La Bonne Esperance_." + +"Our steering has been so good," replied the mate, "that we must have +been sailing at least a point and a half closer than the barque." + +"About that, I should say. We will run down to leeward some ten miles, +and then, I think, we shall be lying right across her track." + +The sheets were eased off, and the vessel was steered at right angles to +her former course. As the wind was stronger, she covered the ten miles +in less than two hours. Then Carew gave the order to heave-to. + +While the yacht, her jib to windward, rose and fell on the ocean swell +without making any progress, everything was got ready for the carrying +out of their design. The dinghy was lowered; the men placed in it their +baggage and some of the more portable valuables belonging to the yacht. +Carew put into the sternsheets a portmanteau containing, among other +things, the ship's papers, Allen's diary and cheque-book, the revolvers, +and the drugs which he had purchased in Rotterdam. + +Carew himself undertook to scuttle the yacht. He cut away a portion of +the panelling in the main cabin; then, having bored a large hole with an +auger through the vessel's skin, he stopped it with a wooden plug. To +this plug he attached a piece of strong cord, which he led up on deck +through the skylight. + +The men stood by watching him. + +"You see, Baptiste," he explained, "I have but to pull this cord, out +comes the plug, and the vessel fills and sinks." + +"That is all very well so far," replied the mate; "but suppose you have +pulled out your plug, and your vessel is three parts full, and the +barque won't stop to pick us up,--anything is possible at sea; such +inhumanity among sailors is not unknown,--what will you do then? How are +you to get at that hole again to stop any more water coming in? A wise +general secures his retreat, captain." + +"I have thought of all that, Baptiste," said Carew; "you have not seen +half my arrangements yet. Follow me into the after-cabin." + +Baptiste obeyed. + +"Now take up the flooring," continued the captain. + +When the boards were raised a long piece of lead piping was disclosed, +which was connected with the end of one of the ship's two pumps. + +"Cut that piping off as close as you can to the pump, and bring it on +deck." + +This was done; then Carew, to the astonishment of his crew, proceeded to +bend the piping until it assumed the form of a lengthened U. Putting a +bung into one end of it he poured water into it from the other end until +it was full. Dipping the open end into the sea, he passed the other arm +through one of the ports, so that it depended into the cabin below the +level of the water-line. + +"Hah! I see now; it is a syphon," exclaimed Baptiste. + +"Exactly so. Now follow my plan. As soon as we sight the barque, I take +the bung out of the inner arm of the syphon and allow the sea to pour +in, until I bring the yacht down as near the water's edge as I safely +can. Then I haul my syphon on board again and so stop the flow. We hoist +signals of distress. If _La Bonne Esperance_ won't pay any attention to +us and sails by, all we have to do is to pump the water out of the +yacht, and try our luck elsewhere. If the barque replies to our signals, +and there can be no doubt about her intention to pick us up, I pull this +cord, out comes the plug, in rushes the sea again, we jump into the +dinghy, and as we are rowing off to the French vessel the old _Petrel_ +goes down. What do you think of that, Baptiste?" + +"Excellent--excellent!" exclaimed the mate. + +"And to avoid all chance of a hitch," continued Carew, who was +interested in his work, "I am going to scuttle the yacht in another +place, and lead another cord from the second plug on to the deck. Thus +we will be doubly certain; for one plug may get jammed and refuse to +come out, or a fish may get sucked into the hole and choke it. I have +heard of such things happening." + +"You are a very clever man, captain. When you do start on a job you +carry it out in a thorough manner. With your pluck and ingenuity you'd +make a splendid pirate, were it not for your unfortunate scruples;" and +the mate sighed regretfully when he thought of the useful talents wasted +on this Englishman. + +At midday Carew took the latitude, and found that he had not misjudged +his position. As the wind had not varied a quarter of a point since the +yacht had sailed from Rio, it was almost certain that the barque would +pass within a mile or so. + +El Chico, who had the keenest eyes of any on board, had been sent aloft +to keep a good lookout for vessels. He sat on the crosstrees, and in the +course of the day reported several craft, but none answered to the +description of the French barque. + +Much as Carew had shrunk from the enterprise, he was now carried away by +the excitement of the chase; and as the hours went by he became acutely +anxious. He feared that he had sailed too far out to sea, and that the +barque would pass him unobserved in the night. + +They waited in silence, staring eagerly across the expanse of glaring +water. + +At last, at three o'clock in the afternoon, El Chico called out-- + +"There is a barque yonder that looks something like her." + +"Where away?" said Baptiste. + +"She's coming up close-hauled on the port-tack." + +"Has she brown topsides and some bright green about her figure-head?" + +"I can't make any colour out yet." + +Then the mate went aloft with the binocular. After some minutes he +scrambled down the rigging again. "Hurrah!" he cried, with a triumphant +glitter in his eyes. "We have her safe! That is _La Belle Esperance_!" + +"If we run a mile more to leeward we'll be right in her track," shouted +El Chico from aloft. + +All was now bustle on board the yacht. Letting the foresheet draw, they +ran before the wind for about a quarter of an hour; then, heaving-to +again, the cork was taken out of the syphon, and the yacht began to fill +gradually. The barque was still more than three miles off, so there was +ample time to prepare everything. + +"Now for the signals of distress," cried Carew; "bring up the flags." + +The two flags of the international code--N and B--were hoisted to the +gaff end, which indicate that a vessel is in need of assistance. + +"They won't be able to see that for some time yet," said Baptiste. "Your +signal flags are too small." + +"Then rig up the long-distance signal," cried Carew. "It is a square +flag at the masthead with something like a ball beneath it. Hoist the +large ensign, and fasten the life-buoy to the mast; that will look like +a ball." + +The barque was now heading straight for the yacht. When she was about a +mile off Carew loaded the small brass signal gun and fired it. + +About a minute afterwards a wreath of smoke was seen to issue from the +barque's side. Then the report of a gun was heard. + +"We are safe now. They will pick us up," said Carew. "Hallo, there! +Inboard with that syphon at once, or the yacht will go down under our +feet." + +The men had been watching the approaching barque so intently that they +had not observed how low in the water their own vessel now was. The +cabin was three parts full, and all the movable articles in it were +afloat. The syphon was brought on board, and they waited yet a little +longer before taking the final step; for the wind had fallen light +again, and the barque was making but slow progress towards them. + +"Up goes some bunting yonder," said El Chico. + +Carew looked through the telescope, and saw that the vessel had hoisted +the signal H F, which signifies, "We are coming to your assistance." + +"Now, then, all hands tumble into the dinghy," said Carew, as, seizing +the cords, he pulled both plugs out of the yacht's side. "Good-bye, old +_Petrel_!" he cried, leaping into the boat after his men. "Now, pull +away, lads." + +Carew's experience in scuttling vessels was naturally limited, so he +had miscalculated the rapidity with which an already water-logged craft +will go down if two large auger-holes are opened in her sides. + +The men had not pulled a couple of strokes before the yacht's bow rose +suddenly, her stern dipped, and she sank with a gurgling sound. So near +was the dinghy that she narrowly escaped being sucked into the vortex. + +They rested on their oars and gazed silently at the spot where the smart +little yawl that had been their home for so long had floated but a +moment before. Then, as the water smoothed over her grave, they looked +over the side of the dinghy and beheld a strange sight. With all her +white sails set and her flags still flying, the _Petrel_ went slowly +down, with a gentle, oscillating movement, into the depths of that +marvellously pellucid sea. Two sharks accompanied her, swimming round +and round her; one thrust his evil snout for a moment into the cabin +hatchway, as if to see if there were men below. Lower and lower the +yacht descended into depths where the sharks could not support the +increasing pressure of the water, so, deserting her, swam upwards; still +lower, till she appeared no larger than a toy boat, and they could still +distinguish her; still lower, and at last she disappeared into the +blackness of the still, under ocean. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Carew gazed silently downwards into the clear, dark sea for some moments +after the yacht had sunk entirely out of sight; then, raising his head, +he looked towards the barque, and saw that she was lying hove-to, with +her mainyard laid aback, about a quarter of a mile distant. + +"Pull away, lads," he said. "Let us get on board the Frenchman, and +don't forget that we ran into a bit of wreckage last night and so sprang +a leak. Say as little more as you can help, and don't give conflicting +accounts of our accident." + +They soon came alongside the vessel, and clambered on to her deck by a +rope's end that was lowered to them. The captain of the barque gave the +order to sling the dinghy on deck and square away again. + +This being done, he turned to Carew and said in French, "I am very +happy, sir, that I was so near at hand when your vessel sank. She went +down very suddenly. Pray what was the cause?" + +Carew gave the very probable explanation of the mishap which had been +decided on. + +"You must have run into that bit of wreckage with considerable force," +said the captain. "What was it--a large spar?" + +"Something of the sort, I imagine," replied Carew; "but we could see +nothing. It must have been floating just below the level of the water." + +"It is a lucky thing for you that this happened so near to the Brazilian +coast and in the track of shipping, instead of in the middle of the +Atlantic. You should have under-girded the vessel when you found that +she had sprung so serious a leak." + +"So we did," broke in Baptiste. "We got a jib under her bows. But it was +no good. She was strained along her whole bilge. I wonder she did not +fall to pieces." + +"Let me introduce myself to you," said Carew. "My name is Allen. I was +the owner of the unfortunate little yacht which is now so far below us. +I think I recognise your vessel. Were you not lying near us under +Villegagnon?" + +"That is quite right, sir, and I recognised your yacht as soon as I saw +your signal of distress. My name is Captain Mourez, and this is the +French barque _La Bonne Esperance_, bound for Swansea. And now, sir, +what would you like me to do with you and your crew? I see smoke ahead, +which should come from some steamer bound for Rio. Shall I signal her +and put you on board, or do you feel inclined to come on with us to +Swansea?" + +Carew did not look in the captain's face, and his voice shook as he +replied, "I should esteem it a great favour, Captain Mourez, if you +would allow us to be your passengers as far as Swansea. I will of course +repay you for this when we reach England." + +"Say nothing about that at present," replied the captain proudly. "You +can do what you think proper when you reach port. A French sailor is +always glad to assist other sailors in distress without the inducement +of a reward for doing so." + +The boastful speech of the patriotic captain stated no more than the +truth. French sailors rarely hesitate to risk their lives at sea in +going to the rescue of their fellow-men; in this respect differing +considerably from the mariners of some other European nations, who have +acquired an unenviable notoriety for a selfish indifference to the +sufferings of others. + +The captain looked from Carew to Baptiste. He could distinguish from the +latter's accent and appearance that he was no common sailor. "This +gentleman is your friend, I suppose?" he said. + +"My friend, and the mate of the yacht," replied Carew. "I was my own +captain." + +"I see that you are a genuine English yachtsman. But surely this is a +French gentleman?" + +"No, Captain Mourez," broke in Baptiste quickly; "I am an English +subject, but I am a Creole of the Mauritius, and of French origin. +Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Baptiste Fortier." + +"Very well," said the captain. "We can find room for your two men in the +forecastle. You, Mr. Allen and Mr. Fortier, will occupy cabins aft. We +have plenty to spare. Come below and I will show you round." + +They entered the saloon--a spacious one for a vessel of her size. There +were four cabins on each side of it. Only two of these were occupied; +one by the captain and another by his mate. Two others were now placed +at the disposal of Carew and Baptiste. + +The captain made his two guests sit down with him at the saloon table, +and produced a bottle of Bordeaux for their refreshment. The mate of _La +Belle Esperance_ soon came below and joined the party. Though no +drunkard, he was never far away when there was a drawing of corks. His +name was Duval; he was a wiry, red-headed Norman, somewhat hot-tempered, +but very garrulous and merry. Captain Mourez was a tall, handsome man, +with black hair and beard, a Breton by birth, taciturn as a rule, but +very courteous in his manners. + +While these four were sitting in the saloon talking over the wreck of +the _Petrel_, there was suddenly heard the sound of something falling +heavily on the deck just overhead; then a cry and a scuffling of many +feet. + +Duval hurried on deck to learn what the noise signified. Shortly +afterwards he returned again. "It is that imbecile young apprentice, +Halle, again. What an awkward cub it is! He has fallen from the mizzen +rigging this time; not from a great height, luckily. He has not hurt +himself seriously, but he seems rather sick and dizzy." + +The crew of the _Petrel_ were soon at home on their new vessel. El Toro +and El Chico were made much of by the kindly Frenchmen in the +forecastle. As luck would have it, none of the crew of the barque +understood Spanish; so the two Spaniards, who knew no French, had not to +reply to questions as to the details of the yacht's misadventure. El +Toro especially, whose dense head was entirely devoid of imagination, +would have been certain to come to grief in attempting to lie in an +ingenious and consistent manner. + +In the afternoon the loquacious Norman mate insisted on taking Carew and +Baptiste all over the vessel and showing them everything. He was +gratified by the keen interest the two passengers seemed to take in his +explanation. They listened attentively to all he said, for reasons of +their own. They learnt that the vessel's company, officers included, +numbered seventeen souls; that there was no second mate, but that the +boatswain took the port watch and lived with the carpenter in the small +deck-house. + +Duval also took them into the forecastle, where some of the watch off +duty were sleeping at the time. Among them was the young apprentice who +had fallen from the rigging. He was tossing about restlessly in his +bunk, and his face was very flushed. + +Baptiste as he passed by glanced casually at him, then scanned his face +earnestly for some time. "Come out of this," he said to Carew. "It is +too hot down here. Let us go on deck." + +That evening the wind freshened considerably, and the barque, with yards +braced up, was making good way through the water. Carew, unable to +sleep, came on deck shortly before midnight, and sat down in a dark, +quiet corner to meditate. Now that the excitement of the preliminary +preparations was over, he began to realise to the full what was before +him; and an intense abhorrence of the crime he had undertaken once more +oppressed his soul. He could not retreat now. He must be the cause of +the death of all these innocent men, who had come to the rescue of his +life. If he spared them he would be carried on to England to pay the +penalty of his offences. + +As he sat brooding thus miserably, a man walked towards him from the +fore part of the ship. Carew saw the red glow of his cigarette before +he could distinguish the man in the darkness, and he knew that it was +his evil genius. + +"Baptiste, is that you?" + +"Here I am, captain. A lovely night, is it not?" + +"Sit down here," said Carew, "and speak to me. No one can overhear us +here, I think." + +"No; it will be all right if we do not raise our voices," replied +Baptiste, looking round. + +"How is this going to end?" whispered Carew. + +"What do you mean, captain?" + +"How are we four to seize a vessel with a crew of seventeen strong men +on board?" + +"Strong men, indeed!" replied the Frenchman. "They will be as weak as +babies in a few days' time. By the way, I see that you did not omit to +bring your medicine chest on board with you." + +Carew shuddered. "Poison!" he whispered, in a terrified voice. "Do you +mean that?" + +"Why not, captain? It is a merciful and painless death if the right +stuff is used." + +Carew said nothing for some time. "Whatever is done must be done soon," +he muttered. + +"That is so, captain. This vessel must be ours while we are still in the +trades and within a few days' run of a South American port. It will be +difficult enough for four of us to work her, even in these calm waters. +We must not postpone action till we get into the region of rougher +weather." + +"Oh, that this dreadful thing were not necessary!" Carew groaned. + +"Ah, sir, don't allow those fatal scruples of yours to torment you. If I +had some of your courage, and you some of my philosophy, what a fine +couple we should be! But as it is at present, I am the more useful man +of the two, despite my physical cowardice. Believe me, Mr. Carew, the +ancient was right who said that to know oneself is the secret of +happiness. If a man has a conscience at all, it ought to be a stable one +that does not vary. You have got a set of moral principles of a sort, +but you have not the slightest idea of what they are. One day you will +commit an action with a light heart; on the morrow your remorse will +madden you. Such inconsistency means misery. Know thyself. If you will +have a code of ethics, know it and stick to it, and be happy. But now +that you have gone so far, I recommend you to abjure conscience and +moral principles, and substitute for them my beautifully simple code of +ethics, which is summed up in three words--fear of consequences." + +"I wish, indeed, that I could do so, Baptiste." + +"If you wish it, this satisfactory result will come in time. All changes +in the moral sense are arrived at by wishing. _Experto crede_, as they +taught me in the _lycee_ at Nimes." + +Neither spoke for some time; then Baptiste said-- + +"You were born under a lucky star, captain. I think that Providence has +found a way of sparing your sensitive conscience. She will do most of +the killing for you." + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed Carew. + +"Hush! not so loud. You remember that a young man fell from the mizzen +rigging while we were below drinking with the captain?" + +"Yes." + +"He is our unconscious ally. He will kill off a good many of his +comrades for us. But I will not mystify you any longer. Why did he fall +off the rigging--because he was awkward, as Duval said? Not a bit of it. +He fell because he was dizzy. Why was he dizzy? Because he was ill. This +afternoon, when I saw him first, I more than suspected that a fall could +not account for all his symptoms. I have just examined him again. I know +the signs well. He is in the first stage of _yellow fever_!" + +"Yellow fever?" + +"Yes, yellow fever has come to help us. The man has been very sick and +is now delirious. The stupid captain has seen him, and puts it all down +to his fall; says he must have injured his spine. How lucky for us was +that fall! Led off the scent by it, the idiots will not suspect what is +the matter with the man until the _vomito negro_ declares itself. They +have not separated him from the rest. He is now lying in his bunk in the +forecastle. All the watch below are sleeping round him. It is a small +forecastle, and the crew, imagining that fresh air is bad for a sick +man, have closed the ports. It is stifling down there at present. It is +a pest-house. All those men are breathing in contagion. Do you know that +it is the worst form of yellow fever that is now raging at Rio--very +contagious, very fatal? If it breaks out in a vessel like this it will +spread like wildfire. Man after man will fall sick and die." + +"Ourselves included," said Carew recklessly. + +"No, sir. We will take precautions in time. I have had the fever once, +and am not likely to have it again. I have hinted the truth to El Chico +and El Toro, and they have suddenly developed a hygienic craze for fresh +air, and insist on sleeping on deck to-night, to the amazement of the +French sailors. I would not like to insure the lives of the men who +sleep in that forecastle; most of them are doomed by this time." + +Carew felt his skin turn cold and tingle with horror as he listened to +the Frenchman's cold-blooded exultation in the dreadful prospect. + +"Good-night, captain. I am going to turn in now; and, by the way, let me +advise you to keep on deck in the cool wind as much as possible, and +smoke perpetually. Tobacco is a splendid disinfectant." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +On the day after the crew of the _Petrel_ had been taken on board the +barque the wind freshened and was so much to the south of east that the +vessel was enabled to sail in a north-easterly direction, a course which +would bring her to the vicinity of the Trinidad and Martin Vas +Archipelago. + +When Carew came on deck in the morning he found Baptiste there before +him. The Provencal walked up to him jauntily, twirling his long black +moustache, and looking jubilant. "I have seen young Halle again," he +said, in a low voice. "He is very bad. The symptoms are unmistakable; +but no one suspects the truth so far. Two other men are complaining of +headache." + +"Let the accursed plague work its way," said Carew gloomily, "but tell +me nothing about it." + +"So be it, sir," said Baptiste, with a shrug of his shoulders. + +The springing up of so favourable a wind put the captain of _La Bonne +Esperance_ in a very contented frame of mind. In his delight he became +more talkative than was his wont, and at frequent intervals during the +day sought out Carew in order to converse with him. + +Carew, for his part, did his utmost--without appearing churlish--to +avoid the company of Captain Mourez; for he recognised him as being a +kind-hearted and an honest man. + +The captain observed his passenger's unsociable mood, and, attributing +this to his sorrow at the loss of his yacht, endeavoured to cheer him +with lively gossip, but produced the opposite result. + +Nothing noteworthy occurred during the day; the wind held steady, and +the vessel made good progress. At about ten o'clock that night, Carew +was sitting alone in the saloon, killing thought by reading a French +novel which the captain had lent him, when Mourez himself came in. His +face bore a very anxious expression. + +"Mr. Allen," he said, "I am seriously alarmed about that man Halle. I +fear that he has the fever." + +"The yellow fever?" exclaimed Carew, not raising his eyes from his book. + +"It seems so to me; but I have never seen a case of yellow fever. Do you +mind coming with me to the forecastle and giving me your opinion?" + +"I will do so with pleasure," replied Carew, rising from his seat; "but +my opinion is not worth much." + +They entered the forecastle, which was dimly lighted by a small lantern. +Halle was lying on his bunk, keeping up a constant delirious chatter. +The other men, instead of sleeping soundly through their watch below +after the manner of sailors, were sitting together in a group at the +corner of the forecastle farthest removed from the sick man, looking +scared and talking to each other in subdued voices. + +Carew stood by Halle's bunk and looked at him. A change for the worse +had recently come on. His face wore an expression of intense anxiety. +His skin was wrinkled and of a dark yellow colour. + +The captain made a sign to Carew, and they went on deck again. "I have +never seen yellow fever," said the latter; "ask my mate, Baptiste +Fortier, what he thinks about it; he has had the fever himself." Thus +did this strange man trifle with his conscience as usual, and attempt to +shift the responsibility for the next step in the tragedy on to his +companion. + +Baptiste was found, and was sent into the forecastle. It would be quite +useless to lie about the facts now, so, returning to where Carew and +Mourez were standing, he said, "It is yellow fever. I am sure of it." + +On hearing this the captain began to pace up and down the deck in a +state of great agitation, wringing his hands. "Good heavens! this is a +terrible affair," he cried. "For thirty hours Halle has been spreading +contagion in the forecastle. Who knows where this will end?" + +Then Captain Mourez stood still, and after pondering a little while +addressed Carew. "I must at once convert some portion of the vessel into +a hospital. The forecastle is no longer a fit place for the healthy men, +so we will give it up to the sick. Sir, we must pray for a fresh breeze +to carry us quickly into northern latitudes, where the cold will kill +the plague that has come to us." + +At that moment the boatswain came on to the quarter-deck, and Mourez +ordered him to call up the watch below. + +The men reached the deck with unusual promptitude. They were summoned +aft, and the captain in a few words explained to them how matters stood, +and exhorted them to be courageous as French sailors should be. He +ordered them to rig up a large awning forward, under which the crew were +to live so long as the vessel was in warm latitudes. He also instructed +the boatswain to ventilate the forecastle as thoroughly as was possible +by means of wind-sails, so that a cool temperature might be obtained for +the sick men. + +On the following day two other men fell ill, and were admitted into the +hospital. In the afternoon Halle died, and his body was immediately +lowered into the sea. + +Before sunset the loom of land was visible over the ship's bows. It was +the desert island of Trinidad, situated near latitude 20 deg. south, +about six hundred miles from the coast of Brazil. + +And now a most unfortunate calamity befell the pestilence-stricken +vessel. The wind completely died away, and she lay motionless on a sea +of oily smoothness for three whole days. The vertical sun blazed down +upon her out of the cloudless sky, and the intense sultriness of the +atmosphere lowered the energies of those who were still in good health, +and predisposed them to contagion, while it hurried on the fatal +termination of the fever for the sick. A gloom fell on the ship's +company. The men looked into each other's faces with helpless terror, +for what could be done against this invisible foe? One after another +sickened, died, and was lowered over the side in shotted shroud. +Baptiste and the two Spaniards, though they considered themselves +acclimatised to the tropics, and almost proof against contagion, shared +the prevailing sense of terror. + +On the second day of the calm, the captain, who had doctored all the +sick men to the best of his ability, was himself attacked by the fever. + +Carew, who had some little knowledge of medicine, volunteered to take +his place, and as the mate gratefully complied with his request, +employed all his time in attending upon the patients in the forecastle +and the captain in his cabin. + +On the third day of the calm the contagion seemed to have spent itself. +No fresh cases were reported, and those who were lying sick became no +worse. + +Up to this date eight men out of the seventeen that composed the ship's +company had died. Among these were the boatswain and the ship's cook. It +was necessary to appoint some other man to take charge of the port +watch; so the mate, after consulting with Carew, gave this post to +Baptiste, as being the best educated man on board. The Provencal asked +that the two Spaniards should be put upon his watch. El Chico, acting +under Baptiste's orders, offered to undertake the duties of ship's cook. + +On this morning, being the fifth since the _Petrel's_ crew had been +received on board, the mate came up to Baptiste and made some remarks to +him which set the wily ruffian thinking. Duval had asked him whether he +did not think the fever showed signs of abating. + +"It is impossible to say yet," replied Baptiste. "Yellow fever always +comes in waves; it subsides and intensifies alternately." + +"You see, comrade," said Duval, "that even if we include you four, we +are now very short handed. If we lose a few more men, we cannot sail +this barque to Europe. I have decided to run back to Rio as soon as a +breeze springs up." + +When the mate left him, Baptiste went in search of Carew, and found him +in the captain's cabin, watching the sick man, who was now lying +insensible in the last stage of the fever. + +Baptiste looked into the pain-distorted face. "He will go soon," he +whispered to Carew. + +Carew nodded. + +"That was a clever idea of yours, sir," said the Frenchman. + +"What idea?" + +"To constitute yourself ship's doctor." + +Carew made no reply, but he understood what the remark signified. +Baptiste, however, had misjudged him. With his usual inconsistency in +crime, far from availing himself of his opportunities to poison the men, +he had, on the contrary, risked his life and done his utmost to save the +captain and the others under his charge. He was happier and was pleased +with himself while acting thus, though he was also glad to find that his +patients died despite his efforts. He seemed to imagine that he was +driving a bargain with avenging Heaven--that he could set off his +present righteous conduct against his other crimes. Men who reason with +the greatest clearness on all other matters, often become insanely +illogical when a guilty conscience asks for soothing casuistry. + +"How are you treating him?" asked Baptiste. + +"Not in the way you are thinking of," Carew replied, looking into the +other's eyes. + +Baptiste saw that he had been mistaken in his surmise, but said no more +on the subject. + +Carew's box of medicines was by his side. Baptiste looked into it, and +drew out a bottle. "This is not poison, is it?" he asked. + +"No; but if you took a good dose of it it would make you feel very ill." + +"What is a good dose of it?" + +"About ten drops; it is in a concentrated form." + +"That will answer my purpose, then," and Baptiste put the bottle in his +pocket. "And now, sir, I want some stuff that will prevent insomnia." + +The eyes of the two men met. Carew asked no questions, but merely said, +"Take this bottle, then. Half a teaspoonful is a large dose." + +"Let us go into your cabin for a few minutes," said Baptiste, glancing +at Mourez. "This man seems quite unconscious; but a man may hear as long +as he has breath in him. I will not trust him." + +They crossed the saloon to Carew's cabin. + +"Well, what is it?" + +"The fever and the hot calm have done our work well while we have been +standing by idle," said the Frenchman; "but now the time has come for +us to act. We must seize this vessel to-night. There is a look of wind +in the sky now, and Duval will set sail and make for Rio as soon as a +breeze springs up. We must wait no longer." + +"Let it be to-night, then." + +"Come on deck at ten o'clock this evening. Bring the revolvers with you. +Leave all the rest to me. You dislike details, so I will arrange +everything." + +Carew bowed his head in assent, but said nothing. + +"You have two sick men in the forecastle, I think," said Baptiste; "are +they strong enough to make any resistance?" + +Carew shook his head. + +"That is well. The captain will certainly not have much fight in him. So +that leaves us only six healthy men to deal with; one on my watch, five +on the other watch." + +The mate now went on deck, and Carew returned to the captain's cabin. He +found that brave sailor lying on his bed dead. + +"I am glad--for his sake and for mine," muttered the Englishman to +himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +It is no pleasant task to describe the events that now took place on the +French barque. This is no tale of daring buccaneers, of exciting +hand-to-hand combats of desperate men; but a narrative of cold-blooded +and dastardly crime. + +Now that the time for carrying out his devilish scheme had come, +Baptiste had taken the lead of the conspirators. Being a pacific person +who hated fighting and feared danger, he determined to omit no possible +precaution to obviate the risk of failure. His brain, fertile of +ingenious villainy, was not long in devising how to do this. + +In the first place, he instructed Carew on no account to leave his cabin +between eight and ten that evening. Then he called aside the two +Spaniards and explained his plan to them. He gave El Chico the first +bottle which he had taken from Carew's medicine chest, and directed him +to mix a certain quantity of the contents with the soup he was about to +make for the men's dinner--a quantity which he calculated would be +insufficient to produce a pronounced taste in the soup, but sufficient +to cause unpleasant sensations in those who partook of it. + +At eight bells that evening the port watch relieved the starboard. There +was absolutely nothing for the men to do, as it was still a flat calm, +and all the sails had been furled. Duval had taken this precaution on +the previous day, fearing that the fever might spread still further, and +that he would not have enough hands left to shorten sail were a strong +breeze to spring up suddenly. + +Duval, however, insisted upon the watches being set and the discipline +of the vessel being carried on as usual, more with the object of +employing the men's time and distracting their attention from the +horrors of the situation than for any other reason. + +When Baptiste came aft to relieve Duval, as officer of the watch, the +latter said, "Do you know if Mr. Allen is in his cabin, Fortier? I wish +to see him." + +"I think it would be better not to disturb him. He is quite worn out +from want of sleep. He has sat up with poor Mourez two nights in +succession; and now that the captain is dead, and the other two sick men +are getting better, he is having a long sleep." + +"Are the other men getting better?" + +"So Mr. Allen thinks," replied Baptiste. "With our brave captain's death +the fever seems to have expended itself. We have no fresh cases +to-day." + +"I am not sure of that," said Duval gloomily. "I wished to see Mr. Allen +in order to tell him that I, and no less than three of the other men, +have been feeling very unwell for the last half-hour." + +The drugged soup had done its work. + +"Indeed!" said Baptiste. "And, now that I look at you, your cheeks are +somewhat pale, sir. But we will not wake Mr. Allen; it is unnecessary. +He left a bottle of medicine with me this afternoon. It is a powerful +febrifuge, and he instructed me to give a dose to the sick men below, +and to any others who should feel in any way indisposed. I think it +would be a prudent course to serve some round to all hands. It can do no +harm." + +Duval approving of this measure, Baptiste went into his cabin and +brought out the bottle of opiate which Carew had given him, and served +out a very strong dose to Duval, and to each of the four men on his +watch. Duval then retired to his cabin, and the men lay under the awning +forward, all to sink, under the influence of the drug, into a heavy +slumber, from which it would not be easy to wake them; while Baptiste +was left in charge of the deck, with the two Spaniards and the remaining +Frenchman. + +"You feel all right, Leon, I hope?" said Baptiste to this man, a sturdy +Breton, who had not been affected by the drugged soup. + +"Yes, thank you, sir," he replied; "there's nothing the matter with me." + +"Won't you take a dose of the medicine as a precaution? Prevention is +better than cure." + +"Not for me the filth. Time enough for medicine when one is ill, and not +much good it does then if we may judge from the results on this unhappy +vessel." + +It was necessary for Baptiste's purpose to get this man out of the way +before anything could be done. First he thought of asking the Spaniards +to despatch him with their knives; but this might create a disturbance +and awake the sleepers; so the cautious Provencal waited until a safer +plan should suggest itself. + +An hour of the watch had passed, and it was now nine o'clock. The sky +became overcast, and a drizzling rain began to fall. + +"We shall have wind soon," said Leon. "Would it not be well to wake Mr. +Duval?" + +"Not for a few minutes," replied Baptiste. "Come, now; this damp is the +very thing to bring on fever. We ought to take something to keep the +enemy out. If you don't like medicine, what say you to a drop of genuine +old cognac? I have some in my cabin." + +"That is more in my line," said the Breton, smacking his lips; "a fig +for your doctor's stuff, I say." + +"Then follow me, but step quietly. Mr. Duval's cabin is next to mine. +If he finds you drinking brandy aft, though it is only for medicinal +purposes, you can guess what a row there will be." + +Baptiste led the way to his cabin, and produced a bottle of brandy. He +helped the man freely, but he did not attempt to drug the drink with the +opiate, for its taste was too unmistakable. + +The brandy was strong, and even the Breton's hard head soon succumbed to +it. He began to exhibit signs of intoxication, and was chattering in a +disconnected fashion, when Baptiste suddenly rose from his seat and +placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "Hush!" he whispered; "hush, you +idiot! I hear Mr. Duval moving in his cabin; your noise has roused him. +He will catch you if you don't hold your tongue. Remain here while I get +him out of the way, under some pretext or other. Then I will return for +you." + +Baptiste darted through the cabin door, and locked it on the man within, +who, after awaiting him for some time, helped himself to some more +brandy, and at last fell into a drunken sleep on the bed. + +Baptiste then entered Carew's cabin, and found him sitting up, reading +the French novel which Captain Mourez had lent him. + +"Come along, sir; the time has arrived," said the Provencal. "Bring the +revolvers with you, and first see that they are loaded. I don't suppose +we shall have to use them, but _Quien sabe?_ as the Spaniards say." + +Carew made no reply, but taking the pistols from the locker in which he +kept them, he followed his accomplice on to the deck. As they walked +towards the fore part of the vessel Baptiste described his preparations +for the _coup_. "The crew are at our mercy," he said; "Duval in his +cabin, and the four men of his watch under the awning forward, are +sleeping the heavy sleep of opium. Leon is a prisoner in my cabin, drunk +or nearly so, in the company of an open bottle of brandy, and you say +that the two sick men in the forecastle are too weak to move. Now, first +of all, we must deal with the four men under the awning, for they are +the most dangerous." + +Still Carew said not a word. + +The two Spaniards now joined them. Baptiste looked round the horizon. +"We shall have the wind down on us soon," he said; "we must do our work +quickly." + +The rain was falling more heavily than before. The night was very dark, +and there was not a star visible in the heavens. Though as yet there was +not a breath of wind, the ocean, as if in anticipation of its coming, +was heaving in a long, high swell, and the vessel rolled uneasily, her +spars groaning dismally aloft. + +Baptiste took two of the revolvers from Carew's hands and handed one to +each of the Spaniards. + +"Don't use them, lads, unless it is absolutely necessary; we don't want +noise. You have your knives," he whispered. + +"I have brought the bits of line you asked for," said El Chico, +producing several lengths of small-sized but very strong rope. + +"What do you intend to do, Baptiste?" inquired Carew, in a hoarse voice, +speaking for the first time. + +"Pinion those sleepers securely with these cords, fasten a weight to +each man's leg, and heave them overboard," replied Baptiste. + +"It would be easier to knife them as they lie there," muttered El Toro, +whose bloodthirsty instinct was up. + +"Yes," sneered Baptiste; "you love the sight of blood, you mad bull. You +would like to have a brutal fight now. But that plan will not suit me. I +am a man of peace; I hate unnecessary disturbance. Now to work." + +Then Carew spoke firmly, once more asserting his right to command. +"Secure those men with the cords, but do not kill them. Let them live +till to-morrow. Then I will decide what shall be done with them." + +"What absurd folly is this?" hissed the Provencal savagely. "Do you wish +to endanger all our lives? They may free themselves in the night and +retake the ship. No, they must die." + +"Silence! You shall know that I am still your master. These men shall +not die to-night," said Carew resolutely. + +"This is too much," cried Baptiste, with impatient fury. "I have +arranged everything so well, and now you interfere to spoil all. Curse +that intermittent conscience of yours. It is like a geyser spouting out +tepid water at intervals, and always at the most inopportune moment." + +"I will not discuss this with you," replied Carew doggedly; "but you +know me, you coward. If you kill one of these men without my orders, +except in self-defence, you will have to deal with me--you understand?" + +The Provencal did understand. He swore some horrible oaths to himself, +and said-- + +"There is no time to argue now. We will humour your fancy. Come on, El +Toro and El Chico. Let us tie those fellows up as quickly and as quietly +as we can." + +The three men crept noiselessly to the awning beneath which the French +sailors lay breathing stertorously under the stupefying influence of the +strong narcotic. + +Carew, meanwhile, stood outside under the rainy sky, motionless, taking +no part in the proceedings, and at that moment wishing that the fever +had seized him also and that he were dead and quit of it all. + +Baptiste and the Spaniards stooped over the sleeping men, and with the +skill of sailors bound their limbs in such a manner that it was +impossible for them to stir, far less to free themselves. In so complete +a state of coma were they that the tension of the tightly drawn cords +did not rouse them, though they murmured in their sleep. Carew almost +hoped that they would awake. If they defended themselves and were killed +in the heat of a mortal struggle, it would not have seemed so horrible +to him as this silent, passionless piece of villainy. + +When the men were all secured, Baptiste said, "If you will stand by here +and guard the prisoners, captain, we will go aft and see to the others." + +So leaving Carew behind, Baptiste and the two Spaniards went to the +other end of the vessel and entered the saloon. First they softly opened +the door of Baptiste's cabin, and there they found the Breton sailor +sleeping soundly, the half-empty brandy bottle by his side. + +The two Spaniards held him while Baptiste bound him firmly. It was not +till the operation was concluded that he awoke. He opened his eyes and +looked about him in a bewildered way for a few moments; then he tried to +raise himself and could not; and, perceiving the cords that restrained +him, he suddenly realised the situation, and called out at the top of +his voice, "To the rescue! A mutiny! A mutiny!" + +"Quick! away! leave him!" cried Baptiste rapidly. "To Duval's cabin, and +secure him before this fellow's row wakes him. Quick! Quick!" + +They ran across the saloon and burst into the mate's cabin, the two +Spaniards leading the way; for Baptiste, like a prudent general, gave +his orders from the rear. + +There was a lamp burning in the cabin. Duval, roused by the din, was +sitting up in his bed, half awake, still confused by the heavy dose of +opium that had been administered to him. Just as the men violently swung +the door open, Leon again raised the shout of "A mutiny! A mutiny! Mr. +Duval, defend yourself!" + +The Norman heard that terrible cry, and all his senses returned to him +in a moment. + +"Grapple with him at once," cried Baptiste. + +The two Spaniards precipitated themselves upon him; but though not a big +man, he was a strong and wiry one. Leaping from his bunk he thrust the +men aside, and seizing the only weapon within his reach, an iron +water-can, he swung it round and brought it down on Baptiste's skull. + +"Oh, you treacherous wretch, take that!" he cried. + +The Provencal's evil career would have been terminated there and then +had it not been for El Toro, who seized Duval's arm and broke the force +of the blow. As it was, the sharp edge of the can inflicted an ugly +wound, and Baptiste staggered back, the blood pouring all over his face. + +"Kill him!" he hissed, sick and faint with pain and fear, but mad with +rage. + +El Toro needed no second bidding. He thrust his long knife quickly +between the unfortunate man's ribs. Duval uttered one groan, and fell to +the ground dead. + +"That was deftly done," said the Basque, wiping the blade. "Ho! my +little Baptiste. How dost thou feel with that cracked pate of thine?" + +The Provencal was sitting on a chest, his head in his hands, trembling +with fear. "Look at my head, good El Toro, I beseech you," he cried. +"See if it is a dangerous wound." + +"A mere scratch," replied the Basque, after a cursory examination. "What +a timorous woman thou art!" + +His comrades washed the wound and bandaged his head; then Baptiste +recovered his presence of mind, and gave his orders. "Put the body over +the side at once, but first fasten a weight on to it. It must not float +about to tell tales to some passing vessel." + +When this had been done, he said, "Now carry that noisy Leon out of my +cabin. Take him forward to where the other prisoners are." + +The Spaniards raised the helpless Breton, who, understanding that there +was no one to whom he could give the alarm by crying out, now resigned +himself to his fate, and uttered not a word as they laid him by the side +of his four comrades. + +"The vessel is ours!" Baptiste called out in a loud voice when he +approached Carew. There was no further reason for the avoidance of +noise. "I salute you, captain of _La Bonne Esperance_!" + +"But where is Duval?" asked Carew. + +"Killed, captain; but in self-defence. Look at my unfortunate head: that +was his doing. Had it not been for our brave El Toro you would have lost +your trusty mate." + +Carew looked down at the five men lying on the deck. They were all awake +now, the pain caused by the tightness of their ligatures having at last +dispelled the lethargy of the drug. They realised all that had happened; +they knew that they were doomed to die at the hands of this treacherous +band. A lantern swung from the awning-pole above them, and by its dim +light Carew saw that their faces wore an expression of dogged +resolution, which changed suddenly to one of loathing and contempt when +their eyes met his. Thus they stared at him in silence. He hastily +turned his face away. + +"What next, captain? It must be done sooner or later. Why not at once?" +said Baptiste. + +"Take them into the forecastle for to-night. Secure the two sick men as +well," was the reply. + +"Just Heaven, what a cruel thing a British conscience is!" exclaimed +Baptiste, with a loud, scornful laugh. He was intoxicated with the +successful issue of his scheme. "I, the man without scruples, would have +mercifully killed these men outright. You, the man of conscience, shrink +from doing so, but are willing to shut them up in the pestilential hole +yonder, so that an agonising fever may kill them for you. Do you really +flatter yourself, oh, self-deceiver, that you in this way absolve your +soul from the guilt?" + +"Silence!" cried Carew angrily. The man's words had hit the mark. Some +such vain idea had indeed crossed the warped mind. Arguments of a like +sophistical nature were always now vaguely occurring to him, and he took +care not to reason them out, being conscious of the fallacy of them, yet +cherishing them. A form of moral insanity this, and not an uncommon one. + +El Chico, who was standing by, heard Carew's last words. "Do you want +us to die of the fever too, captain?" he grumbled. "Who's going to stand +sentry over the prisoners in that poisonous forecastle?" + +Carew saw the force of this objection. + +"Then put them in a row along the bulwark and lash each one to a +ring-bolt," he said. + +"That is a better plan," remarked Baptiste; "we can thus keep our eyes +on them without leaving the deck. El Chico, you keep watch for two +hours, while the rest of us sleep. We require rest after our exciting +day's work; and as for me, that cut over the head makes me feel rather +queer." + +"See, here comes the wind," cried Carew. + +The clouds towards the east had opened out, revealing a patch of starry +sky, and a light breeze had sprung up. + +"There won't be much of it," said Baptiste, after he had scanned the +heavens. "Let us shake out the spanker and lie-to under that for the +night. And to-morrow morning, captain, you must decide how you are going +to rid us of these men. We are too few to work the vessel, and cannot be +bothered with guarding prisoners to please you." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +Her capture having been effected, the barque lay hove-to under her +spanker for the night. + +The south-east wind died away about midnight, and a light south-westerly +breeze sprang up. A strong ocean current must have been setting from the +same direction; for, though the islet of Trinidad had been so far +distant at sunset as to be barely visible, the sound of breakers roaring +on a beach could be plainly distinguished towards the end of the middle +watch. + +At daybreak Carew was left alone in charge of the vessel, his three men +being asleep under the awning. He paced the deck restlessly, his heart +aching with despairing misery. + +The five prisoners, who were lashed along the foot of the port bulwarks, +as if by one consent, observed a complete silence. They were too far +apart to hold any communication with each other, and they knew how +useless it would be to appeal to the mercy of the villains who had +surprised them; but they all remained awake, watching intently for what +they felt was not at all likely to occur--an opportunity to regain +their freedom and fight for their lives. + +The rain had ceased, the clouds had cleared away, and out of the calm +night gleamed the brilliant constellations of the southern hemisphere. +There was a transparency, a depth in the heavens, such as is not +apparent in northern latitudes. Through the nearer archipelagos of stars +one could perceive others farther back, and beyond these others; stars +behind stars up inconceivable distances into the depths of space; so +that they were so crowded together as to almost unite in forming one +continuous sheet of silver light, save in one spot, where, amid that +most luminous portion of the firmament known as Magellan's Cloud, there +opened out, like to a black pit, a starless void, an infinite abyss of +nothingness. + +There came a faint emerald light in the east, which quickly changed to +the pale blue of the turquoise, and the stars faded away before the +rapid dawn of the tropics. + +Then Carew saw, about ten miles off, standing out darkly between him and +the sunrise, in sharp outline against the clear sky, the desert island +of Trinidad. + +It seemed to consist of a confused mass of barren mountains, most +fantastic in their shape, falling everywhere precipitously into the +ocean, and terminating in huge pinnacles of rock, the loftiest of which +were crowned with wreaths of vapour. Elsewhere there were no clouds +visible in the heavens. As the sun rose higher, its rays illumined these +rugged summits, and they glowed as with the dull red of molten iron; for +this island is a burnt-out volcano, and a considerable portion of it has +been calcined into brittle cinders of a ruddy colour. + +It being now broad daylight, Baptiste woke up, and coming from under the +awning gave himself a shake by way of making his toilet, glanced down +the row of prisoners to satisfy himself that they were still safely +secured, and then turned his face towards the dreary coast. + +"Hallo!" he cried, "we have drifted a long way in the night. That is an +ugly-looking place yonder, captain. We must not get too near those black +rocks; so we had better wake up those sleepers, and get some canvas on +the barque at once. I suppose the next thing to be done is to make sail +for the nearest Brazilian port." + +"No, Baptiste, not yet," said Carew; "I shall come to an anchor under +that island, and wait there for a few days." + +"Indeed! What for?" + +"I have various reasons. To begin with, look at the sky. There is every +appearance of another long calm setting in. Remember that we have yellow +fever on board. If we land our prisoners to-day, we shall lessen our own +risks of catching it." + +Baptiste whistled softly to himself. + +Carew stood before him, and looking steadily into his face, said, +"Baptiste, I have determined that no more blood shall be shed on this +vessel. I intend to put these Frenchmen ashore; then we will sail for +Brazil." + +"Captain, we do not mind humouring your whims to a certain extent, but +we are not going to put our necks in the noose to please you." + +"It is quite useless for you to attempt to dissuade me from my purpose. +I have made up my mind," said Carew doggedly. + +Baptiste at once abandoned his threatening tone, and spoke in a +respectful manner. "You have been very lucky so far; but don't be rash. +Remember that luck assists him who assists himself. Consider how +recklessly imprudent it would be to leave these men on the island. They +would soon signal to a passing vessel, and be taken off; and pray, what +then would our poor heads be worth?" + +"Vessels constantly sight Trinidad," replied Carew, "but they never pass +very near it. For the other side of the island is fringed with dangerous +rocks far out to sea, as the chart will show you; and, since the +prevailing wind hereabouts is south-east, a ship would give this side +also a wide berth, for fear of being becalmed under the lee of the +mountains. How could the men signal to a vessel miles out at sea?" + +"Necessity finds a How. What is to prevent them from lighting a large +fire?" + +"We will not leave them the means of lighting a fire." + +"They would soon discover the means. Suppose, for instance, they picked +up some empty bottle that had been washed on shore, they could use the +bottom of it as a burning-glass. I have heard of such a thing being +done." + +"I will not argue the question with you. Those men shall be landed on +that island; they shall not die on board this vessel." + +"Even if I agreed to run so great a risk, I know that the other two +would not. You do not want a civil war on board, do you, captain?" + +"I do not fear one. You cannot do without me, and you all know it. If +you murdered me and took this vessel into port, do you imagine that the +salvage would be handed over to you without demur, as it would be to me +if I applied for it? Grave suspicions would be raised, and there would +be a minute investigation. Those two idiots would contradict each other +in their evidence. It would all end in one of you turning Queen's +evidence and the other two being hanged. Is not that right?" + +"I cannot deny that there is reason in your remarks," said Baptiste +coolly. "Now am I to understand that you wish these men to live?" + +"I repeat that they shall not die on board this vessel!" + +Baptiste's keen eyes scanned Carew's careworn face; then the Provencal +smiled, for he fancied that he now understood the working of the +Englishman's mind. "This clever idiot must be humoured," he said to +himself. "This is a new 'fixed idea' of his. He shrinks from bloodshed; +he will not sanction it. But if we take these men on shore for him, +knock them on the head there without consulting him, and then return to +him with some fine excuse about their having resisted us and so +compelled us to kill them in self-defence--why, he will pretend to +believe us; he will ask no questions, and be glad that the danger has +been removed. I understand this strange man now." + +Not exactly these ideas, but others somewhat similar to them, had indeed +crossed Carew's mind. He was quite aware that it would be the height of +folly to leave the prisoners alive on the island, but he wished to +postpone as long as possible the murder which he felt was inevitable, +hoping that yellow fever or some other interposition of Providence would +solve the difficulty for him in the meanwhile. + +Baptiste now roused the two Spaniards, and sail was made as quickly as +possible, so that an anchorage might be reached before the wind dropped, +for there were sure signs of calm in the sky. + +Being so few in number, they dared not put much sail on the vessel. As +Carew was unacquainted with the management of square-rigged craft, +Baptiste gave the orders. First the foretopmast staysail was set and the +sheets hauled aft so as to pay off before the wind. Then the two +Spaniards were sent aloft to loose the fore upper and lower topsails, +while Carew and Baptiste squared the yards. After this the maintopsail +was also set. + +"That will be enough canvas for her," said Baptiste. "Now, sir, if +you'll take the wheel, we will get her all ready for coming to an +anchor." + +So going forward the mate saw that an anchor was got over the bows and +that a sufficient length of cable was ranged in front of the windlass. + +The vessel sailed slowly towards the island until midday, when the +expected calm fell upon the sea. However, as the current was setting +straight on shore, the barque drifted on till four o'clock in the +afternoon, when she was about half a mile from the breakers, and the +anchor was let go in twenty fathoms of water. + +The scene that lay before them as they approached was appalling in its +grandeur. They could perceive no vegetation of any description on the +lofty mountains, which rose almost perpendicularly from the sea-foam +into a bank of dark clouds that had now gathered on the summit of the +island. The fire-consumed crags were often of strange metallic +colours,--red and green and coppery yellow,--which gave the scenery an +unearthly appearance, but most of the island was of a dismal coal-black. + +Some of the mountains seemed to have been shaken to pieces by the fires +and earthquakes of volcanic action; for they sloped to the sea in huge +landslips of black stones. Gigantic basaltic columns many hundreds of +feet in height descended into the waves along a considerable portion of +this savage coast, a formidable wall that defied the mariner to land. In +a few places only a narrow margin of shore divided the sea from the +inaccessible cliffs, and this was encumbered with sharp coral and great +boulders that had fallen from above. + +The barque was anchored off the entrance of a profound and most gloomy +ravine, from which a stream of water fell as a cascade into the sea. The +head of this ravine, high above, was lost in dense clouds. It looked +like the road to some mysterious and unknown world. + +Not only were the sights of this coast such as to terrify the +imagination, but so likewise were the sounds. Though this was the lee +side of the island, and was protected from the high swell which, raised +by the south-east trade wind, breaks so furiously on the back of +Trinidad, yet the sea rolled in very heavily with a stupendous roar +that was echoed with dismal, hollow reverberations among the rocky +ravines. After the breaking of a higher wave than usual, great masses of +water would be dashed up the sides of a cliff to a great height. Deep +fiords opened out in places; but even these afforded no shelter. Within +them the sea raged as furiously as it did outside. + +This remote and rarely visited island was evidently a favourite +breeding-place for several varieties of sea-birds. Vast numbers flew +through the rigging of the vessel, uttering savage cries. So +unaccustomed were they to the sight of man that they showed no timidity, +but rather indignation, at his invasion, and a disposition to drive him +off again. Many of them wheeled round the heads of the sailors with +angry shrieks, approaching so near that they could easily have been +caught with the hand. + +"I don't at all like the look of the island of Trinidad," said Baptiste. +"It is the most inhospitable place I have ever seen. I am not surprised +that no one cares to live here. How large is it?" + +"It is about fifteen miles round," Carew replied. "The Portuguese tried +centuries ago to establish a settlement here, but they soon abandoned +it. It is very barren, and so dangerous a surge breaks continually round +every part of it that it is often impossible to effect a landing for +weeks at a time." + +"It seems to me that it will be impossible to land to-day," said +Baptiste. + +Carew went up into the maintop with a telescope, and after having +closely examined the features of the shore, descended on deck again. "I +thought I was right, Baptiste. We are anchored off what the pilot-book +calls The Cascade, and I can see the landing-place described by former +visitors to the island." + +"I can see nothing but a mass of foam. I can see nothing like a +landing-place." + +"It is not visible from the deck. To the left of the cascade over there +a long black rock stretches far out to sea beyond the breakers, forming +a sort of natural pier. That is the easiest landing-place in the whole +island. We will lower a boat at once, and put the prisoners on shore." + +Baptiste again looked keenly into Carew's face as he put the question. +"Do you wish us to release them when we have landed them, and allow them +to run wild over those picturesque crags like a lot of goats--or what do +you wish?" + +"Let them have food before you take them off; and leave them, bound as +they are now, on the beach for this night. To-morrow I will decide what +is to be done with them." + +"It is always to-morrow with you, captain; but it matters not. We are +becalmed, and are, therefore, not wasting time by this ridiculous +trifling. It is a pity that there are no wild beasts on these desert +islands who would kindly eat up these men for us in the night. They are +becoming a nuisance." + +The Spaniards grumbled a good deal when they heard that they were to +take the prisoners alive on shore; but they did not dare to disobey +Carew. + +The two sick men, who were now recovering from the fever, were brought +on deck, and they, together with the other prisoners, were lowered into +one of the boats. All were still so securely bound that they could not +move a limb. + +Carew stayed on board the barque while his three men pulled off to the +island. + +They reached the projecting rock, and found that its sides were +perpendicular, so that the boat could be brought alongside. The +prisoners were not landed without considerable difficulty, and even +danger, for they had to be dragged quickly on shore at the moment when +the boat rising to a wave had her gunwale on a level with the summit of +this natural jetty, before she dropped down again into the trough +between the seas. + +At last the disembarkation was safely effected, and the painter having +been made fast to a large stone, the boat was left to tumble about +against the rough side of the jetty, in imminent danger of staving +herself in, while the prisoners were carried one by one up the rugged +shore. + +Then they laid the helpless men down. Even the brutal Spaniards, when +they looked around them, were impressed by the weirdness of the scene. +Whenever the sides of the ravine or of the mountains were not too steep +they were densely covered with trees, which had not been visible from +the vessel's deck. Now every one of these trees was dead; there was not +a live one among them. They were of all sizes. Some stood erect as they +had grown, some lay prone on the rocks; but all had been dead for long +ages. On all the skeleton branches of this forest of desolation were +sitting large sea-birds of foul appearance, who raised discordant cries, +as if to repel the intruders, and did not take to flight, but fought +savagely with any of the men who came near to them. There was no live +vegetation to be seen, with the exception of certain snake-like +creepers, which clung to the surface of the ground, and which bore large +seed-pods of vivid green--sinister and poisonous-looking plants, that +seemed well suited to this forlorn region. It was a scene appalling to +the imagination, and the whole of Trinidad is of a like gloomy +character. The same dead trees cover it throughout. It seems probable +that at some remote period a terrific volcanic eruption destroyed every +living thing on the island with its showers of poisonous ash; and where +once rose from the tropical ocean a fair land, green with pleasant +woods, is now a hideous wreck, more sterile than the desert itself. + +"It might be the gate of hell," said El Toro in an awed voice, looking +up the ravine. + +"Now, comrades," cried Baptiste, "there is no time to lose. I don't like +to leave the boat long where she is. As our merciful skipper objects to +bloodshed, we must lash our prisoners to these trees." + +"What are you going to do with us--kill us?" asked one of the captives +gruffly. + +"No; we are going to leave you here, tied up," replied Baptiste. + +"What! to starve to death?" + +"Indeed I don't know," said Baptiste, with a shrug of his shoulders. +"This is not my doing. Our captain is a cruel man. It seems that it +amuses him to play with you poor fellows as a cat does with a mouse. +This is his scheme, my children, not mine. I am merciful." + +The men were now secured to the dead trees, and the three villains were +moving off to their boat when one of the Frenchmen--the only one who did +not meet his fate with fortitude, and who showed signs of the most +abject terror--screamed out-- + +"Oh, Monsieur Baptiste, let me go--let me go! I will join you. I will +not betray you. I will help you work the ship. I will be your slave if +you spare me!" + +His comrades reviled him for his cowardice, but he still continued his +piteous entreaties. + +Baptiste turned round and gazed with a sardonic smile into the man's +white, fear-distorted face. He felt that this was very much the way he +would behave himself in similar circumstances, but he did not spare his +own faults in others; few men do. + +"So you would join us, would you? But how do I know if I can trust you, +my friend? You may betray us when we get into port. Will you give me a +proof of your fidelity?" + +"I will give you any proof you wish," cried the wretched man, writhing +in his bonds, but quite unable to move. + +"Now, if I see you commit a far greater crime than any that I and my +crew have committed, I shall know that you dare not tell tales. If I +release you and give you a knife, will you kill all your comrades for +me?" + +The man burst into hysterical tears. "Yes!" he shrieked--"yes! Anything +for my life." + +Baptiste laughed contemptuously. + +"Miserable man! Your answer is sufficient for me. We do not want such +cowardly traitors among our crew. You shall stay here and die by the +side of your braver comrades." + +Baptiste and the two Spaniards then hurried off to the boat, for the sun +was just setting. They pulled off to the barque, and the mate reported +to the captain what he had done. + +About an hour after their return--the night having settled down upon +the ocean--Carew was sitting by himself on the quarter-deck. The hollow +roar of the waves upon the beach sounded louder than in the daytime, and +the vessel rolled in the swell caused by the recoil of the distant +rollers. + +All manner of strange and frightful noises came from the direction of +the mysterious island. It seemed to Carew that he heard groans and wails +echoing among the ravines, but he put this down to his imagination--to +the now greatly unstrung condition of his nerves. + +Suddenly he started to his feet, his heart beating violently. What was +that he heard? Surely that last dreadful cry did not exist only in his +fancy. + +"Baptiste, come here!" he called out. + +The mate sauntered up. + +"Listen!" whispered Carew; "do you hear nothing?" + +"Nothing but the noise of the breakers." + +Once more arose that awful cry. It was as a shriek of unutterable +despair and agony; faint, but easily to be distinguished when the lull +came between one roller and another. + +"What is it?" + +Baptiste himself turned white at the sound. "I know not; it makes one's +blood run cold. See, they too have heard it." + +The Spaniards came up. + +"Oh, sir!" cried El Toro, his voice indistinct with terror, "let us make +sail at once and leave behind us this horrible place. Hark! that cry +again! It is as the shrieks of the doomed in hell. That island is the +abode of evil spirits who are mocking us." + +"We cannot set sail in a flat calm. We must wait," said Carew, in a low +voice. + +They stood on the deck and listened in silence. For half an hour or more +those appalling cries continued; then they died away, and nothing was +heard but the roaring of the ocean upon an iron-bound coast. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +On the following day the fiery sun again blazed down upon the guilty +ship out of a cloudless and windless sky. It seemed probable that one of +those oppressive calms that are so frequent on this portion of the ocean +would detain the barque for some days longer at her present anchorage. + +In the early morning, when the west side of the island was still plunged +in shade, Carew approached the mate, who was enjoying his matutinal cup +of coffee and cigarette on the quarter-deck. + +"Baptiste," he said, "I want a boat lowered; I am going on shore." + +"Good, sir. How many of us do you wish to accompany you?" + +"Thank you; I want none of you. Put the yacht's dinghy over the side. +She is the handiest boat on board; and I will pull off by myself." + +"That will not be safe," objected Baptiste; "there is no place to beach +a boat yonder, and she would smash up if you left her banging about +alongside that rocky landing-place; we nearly lost the cutter in that +way last night. If you desire to take a solitary promenade on that +cheerful island, I will pull you off there myself in the dinghy, leave +you, and return for you at any hour you mention." + +Carew assented to this proposal, and prepared himself for the journey by +placing his sheath-knife and loaded revolver in his belt. Baptiste +watched him curiously, and wondered whether this eccentric Englishman +had at last summoned up resolution, and was about to despatch the +prisoners outright, as being a more merciful proceeding than allowing +them to starve to death. Baptiste ventured no remark on the subject, for +he observed that his captain was in a taciturn and absent-minded mood; +and there was a peculiar, far-off look in his eyes that the Frenchman +could not understand, not knowing that Carew had been dosing himself for +the last few days with laudanum from his medicine chest, in the vain +hope that the drug might numb the tortures of his conscience. + +The dinghy was got overboard, and while Carew sat in the sternsheets, +Baptiste took the oars and pulled leisurely across the smooth ocean +swell. + +While they were yet half-way to the shore, the boat shot suddenly out of +the fervent sunshine into the cool dark shadow cast by the lofty +mountains. + +Baptiste, feeling the rapid change, rested on his oars, and looked +round towards the pile of barren hills. "Ugh, what a horrid place!" he +cried. "I have a sensation as if I were passing into the mouth of a +tomb. I should not like to explore that island alone." + +"Pull away!" said Carew impatiently. "Are you superstitious, like those +two Spanish brutes?" + +"Superstition is not one of my failings, captain," replied the +Provencal, as he rowed on again; "but those dreadful cries we heard last +night seem to be still ringing in my ears. I wonder what they could have +been?" + +"When you have put me on shore," said Carew, paying no heed to +Baptiste's words, "you can go back to the barque. I shall probably +remain on the island three or four hours. Then I will return to the +landing-place, and stand on the end of it till you come off for me. So +see that someone looks out for me with a telescope occasionally." + +"We won't keep you waiting, for I know that you will soon have had +enough of Trinidad. But perhaps monsieur has a scientific mind, and +desires to study the botany, zoology, geology, and so forth, of the +island?" + +Carew made no reply to this. They came alongside the promontory of black +coral, and found that the sea was not rolling in so heavily as on the +previous day. The Englishman landed without any difficulty. + +"Good-bye, sir," Baptiste called out. "You will find the prisoners +behind the first big boulder up the ravine." Then he pulled lazily back +to the vessel. + +Carew was now alone on the desert island with his captives. He looked to +his knife and pistol to see that they were ready to his hand, and +proceeded to clamber cautiously along the narrow, slippery ledge. + +At the farther end he found a loathsome monster standing in his way, +seemingly quite indifferent to his approach; for it did not budge, but +remained quite still, its ungainly form spread across the causeway, so +that he had to step over it to pass by. Carew had never before seen one +of the species; but he recognised this as a tropical land-crab--one of a +hideous race of crustacea that swarm on this island, sharing the +possession of Trinidad with the sea-birds and the snakes. In his present +nervous state, Carew was startled by the sight of this repulsive-looking +creature. It must have extended two feet across from claw to claw. Its +colour was a bright saffron, and its grotesque features, which were +turned towards the man, seemed to be fixed in a cynical grin. Its +cruel-looking yellow pincers, hard as steel, could have bitten through +an inch board, and between them was clutched--Carew sickened when he +saw it--a fragment of the flesh of some animal. + +Reaching the rugged shore, he found it covered with these land-crabs. +They crawled over the rocks and the dead trees, and the air was full of +a multitudinous crackling noise, produced by the small particles of +stone dislodged by their motion--a sound as of a distant bonfire, or as +of an army of locusts settling on a field of maize. + +On the evening before, when the men had landed, they had seen none of +these creatures; now there were thousands of them on the mountain-side. +But it is well known that land-crabs at certain periods of the year +migrate in immense hosts from one district to another. + +Even on the previous afternoon, when the coast was illumined by the full +glory of the setting sun, Baptiste and the two Spaniards had been +impressed by the desolate aspect before them. But now that a dark shadow +was thrown over the chaotic masses of volcanic rock, the scenery was +inexpressibly dreary and forbidding. Had there been no signs of life on +the land, it would have appeared less terrible than with that ghastly +vegetation of dead trees and snake-like creepers, and the teeming +generation of silent crabs and foul sea-birds perpetually raising their +hoarse cries. + +Carew looked round with the sense of vague terror that is experienced in +a nightmare. He felt all the influence of this stern nature so hostile +to the life of man. It seemed to him that at any moment some fearful +cataclysm of the earth, or some unexampled calamity of any sort, might +occur. It would not have appeared strange to him to behold a +fire-breathing dragon or gigantic snake--such as are supposed to live in +fable only--issue from that gloomy ravine. Nothing could have appeared +too strange to happen on this mysterious shore. + +The prisoners could not be seen from the landing-place, as the clump of +trees to which they had been lashed was some little way up the ravine, +and a huge boulder of black rock stood in front of it. Carew heard no +sound of voices as he approached. He considered it very unlikely that +the men had succeeded in freeing themselves from their bonds; but, +prepared for any emergency, he held his revolver in his hand and walked +round the corner of the rock. + +He looked towards the clump of dead brown trees. + +His hand relaxed its grasp, and the revolver fell with a ringing sound +on the rocks. He was struck motionless with a great horror. He stood +fascinated, staring before him with wide-open eyes, unwincing. He would +have given worlds to have closed his lids and shut out what he saw, but +he could not. It was as if some irresistible power was holding him +there, compelling him to look until every horrible detail of the scene +should be burnt into his brain for ever. + +It was only for a few seconds, and then the spell was broken. He covered +his face with his hands and staggered back. Then turning from the sight, +he rushed away, not caring whither, sobbing such sobs as the lost souls +in hell may sob in their despair--a dreadful sobbing, that told of a +hopeless agony too intense to be endured for long by weak human flesh. +Suddenly he stopped short, looked wildly round him, raised his hands +towards the skies, and, uttering shrill shriek upon shriek, threw +himself on the ground. He rolled down the steep incline for some way, +cutting his hands and face with the sharp rocks, and when at last a +projecting stone prevented his farther descent, he lay foaming at the +mouth and writhing convulsively in an epileptic fit. + + * * * * * + +The tragic spectacle the man had suddenly come upon might indeed well +have made him, the guilty cause of it, go mad with horror. The fearful +cries that had been heard from the vessel were now explained. The +voracious land-crabs had done his work. He had gazed upon his victims, +and he felt that his limbs were paralysed; but his brain was intensely, +unnaturally active. It seemed to him that a voice had said, "Look, and +grasp all that there is to see, and remember, before the relief of +madness is allowed to thee. Thou hast murdered sleep, and shalt never +know peace again. For ever, in the worlds to come, the picture of this +that thou hast done shall be branded on thy soul!" + +And he had been forced to look; not a detail of the horror was spared +him. The surroundings of the scene, the weird black rocks, the gaunt +dead trees, everything about the accursed spot entered into his brain. +He even noticed with what callous indifference Nature seemed to +contemplate the hideous evidences of the crime. Quite heedless, the huge +crabs dragged their clumsy bodies slowly over the stones. The sea-birds +fought noisily with each other for morsels of fish among the skeleton +branches of the trees, careless of those ghastly relics of poor humanity +beneath them. He felt how fitting a scene for such a tragedy was this +doleful corner of the earth, this island that a malevolent fiend might +have created, where Nature had no beauty, no love, no pity, and where, +like some foul witch, she could only conceive forms of life cruel and +repulsive, and become a mother of monsters. + + * * * * * + +The sun was low in the heaven, and Carew woke out of a profound slumber, +weak, parched with thirst, his mind dazed. He raised himself on his +elbow, and, looking round him, he found that he was lying on a beach of +beautiful golden sand that fringed an extensive bay. From the sands +there sloped up to a great height domes of loose stones of red volcanic +formation, of all shapes and sizes, the debris of shattered mountains, +and from the summits of these slopes there rose what the earthquakes had +still left of the solid hills--dark red pinnacles: some squared like +gigantic towers, others pointed like pyramids. The bay was enclosed by +two huge buttresses of rock that stretched as rugged promontories far +out into the ocean. There was no vegetation, not even a blade of grass, +visible anywhere on this savage coast. Looking seawards he saw that a +vast number of black rocks, among which raged a furious surf, bordered +the shore. Beyond these were the outer reefs on which the sea broke +heavily. And still farther out, on the horizon, rose three rocky islands +of considerable size, glowing red as the sun's rays fell full upon them. + +Carew could not imagine where he was and how he had reached this place. +He tried to think. By degrees he called to mind the dreadful sight he +had seen in the ravine; but he could remember nothing that had occurred +since then. As the sun was to the back of the hills, he fancied that it +was still early in the forenoon, and that he had wandered a short +distance only from South West Bay; though the presence of the distant +islands and the different character of the coast perplexed him. + +But he could think of nothing at that moment except the satisfaction of +the fearful thirst that was tormenting him. + +He rose to his feet, eager to reach the cascade as soon as possible. He +felt that he should die if he could not procure water soon. + +But in which direction had he to go--to the left or to the right? He +could not tell. + +Then he saw his footprints on the soft sand, showing the way that he had +come. He had but to follow them. + +Dizzy and faint, and often stumbling, he wearily retraced his steps. The +footprints led him along the shore to that extremity of the bay which +would have been on the left hand of one looking seaward. Reaching the +promontory of rock he clambered to the summit of it; and then, to his +dismay, he looked down upon another extensive bay, at the farther end of +which was a mountain of square shape falling perpendicularly into the +surf, and preventing all further progress in that direction. An ocean +current must be perpetually setting into this bay, for he perceived that +the shore was strewn with a prodigious quantity of wreckage. The spars +and barrels were heaped up together in places. There were vessels lying +crushed among the sharp rocks; others were sunk in the sand, their +skeleton ribs alone showing; there were vessels of all sizes, and some +of very antique construction--relics of disaster that had been +collecting gradually on this desert coast unvisited by man through all +the ages since European keels first clove the southern seas: a +melancholy record of much suffering and the loss of many gallant men. + +Then Carew began to suspect the truth, and a great dread fell on him. +Lying down he placed a small stone on the edge of a shadow cast by a +pointed rock, and watched it with a breathless suspense. + +Yes, it was as he had feared. _The shadow was slowly lengthening!_ He +laid his face on the ground and wept hysterically in his despair. + +The shadow was lengthening, therefore the sun was setting. It was +setting inland over the mountains, and thus the sea was to the east of +him. So--unconsciously, by what road he knew not--he must have traversed +the whole island, and he was now on the coast the most remote from South +West Bay. The cascade, the water he was dying for, was miles away, +beyond those great hills. He could never reach it in his present state. + +He was on the weather side of Trinidad. + +Those heavy breakers on the reefs were caused by the high swell of the +south-east trades, and there on the horizon were the three islands of +Martin Vas, twenty-five miles away. + +So he despaired and lay down on the rocks, and longed for the release of +death. Then he became delirious, and fancied that he was in Fleet +Street again, and was going into a tavern with some comrades to drink a +glass of wine. But once more the agony of thirst woke him to a +consciousness of his position. He staggered to his feet, and ran on +blindly a few yards; then he stumbled, and fell to his knees. + +Ah! what was that gleaming so temptingly before him?--an illusion only +to mock him into madness with its lying promise. He stretched his hand +to it--touched it. He plunged his face into it. + +It was water--fresh water; a small pool left in a hollow of a rock by +the last rains. It was nauseous to the taste, and heated by the tropical +sun; but it was water, and infinitely more precious to him at that +moment than all the gold quartz in his vessel's hold. He drank fiercely +and long, before his craving was assuaged; then his senses returned to +him, and, though still very weak, he felt capable of making an effort to +save his life. + +He descended the farther side of the buttress of rock that divides the +two bays, and again followed his footprints, which led him across the +wreck-strewn sands to the entrance of a ravine that clove the mountains, +and seemed to afford the only practicable pass across them. + +He looked upwards, and wondered how he could have possibly found his way +with safety down that perilous place; for he supposed that he must have +been in a trance-like condition when he made that journey, of which he +was now so entirely oblivious. + +With great pain and labour he accomplished the difficult ascent. This +ravine had the same character as most of those in Trinidad. The bottom +of it was encumbered with masses of fallen rock, among which stood the +mysterious dead trees. Here the foul sea-birds were very numerous. The +air stank with the fish on which they fed; and as it was now the +breeding season, the mothers were very fierce, and attacked Carew with +their wings and beaks as he advanced, so that he had to arm himself with +a piece of wood, and fight his way through them. + +After much weary climbing, often in places where a false step would have +meant death, he reached an elevated plateau covered with tree-ferns--the +only vegetation on the island which was fair to the eye. + +Crossing this plateau, he found himself on the summit of a precipitous +cliff, and he looked down upon the ocean into which the sun was just +setting. At his feet, far below, the barque lay at anchor. + +Proceeding along the edge of the precipice, he came to the head of a +ravine, which he knew must be the one from which the cascade falls into +the sea. After clambering down a little way, he reached the source of +the stream. The cool clear water rushed out with a pleasant sound from +a hole in the rocks. Here he lay down and drank greedily, for his throat +was again parched with fever. + +Feeling too exhausted to make any further exertion, and knowing that the +darkness would soon render it impossible to continue the descent down +those perilous slopes, he determined to pass the night where he was. + +Lying on a narrow ledge of rock he fell into a profound sleep. + +After a while he dreamt a frightful dream. He thought that his victims +had come to life again, and, having surprised him in his sleep, were +holding him by his arms with a grip of iron, and were about to put him +to the torture. + +He awoke with a start, and for a moment fancied that he saw their +skeleton forms leaning over him in the starlight. + +But was it all a dream? What was that sensation of pain in his right +arm, as if a vice were tightening upon it? + +He sprang to his feet, and with his arm dragged up a heavy weight that +was clinging to it. + +Shuddering with horror, he shook it violently from him, and a large +land-crab fell with a crash on the stones. + +The wretched man looked round, and could distinguish in the dim light +that the rocks were covered with the brutes. They had come out of their +holes at sunset, and were about to devour him alive. + +He seized a large stone, and hurled it at one of them. It broke through +the creature's armour and killed it. But the others paid no heed to the +death of their fellow, and crawled on with a deliberate slowness. He +pulled a branch off one of the dead trees, and with this he was able to +thrust them away as they approached. He was obliged to keep watch and +defend himself thus through all that long night. Once or twice he +dropped off asleep in sheer exhaustion, only to be awakened again a +moment afterwards by the closing of sharp pincers on some portion of his +body. It was a night the realities of which equalled in horror the worst +illusions of a nightmare. Several times he thought of throwing himself +off the cliffs and putting an end to his misery, but still he clung to +life, and fought for it, as men who value it the least always will when +in the presence of a merely physical danger. + +At daybreak Carew, his eyes bloodshot, his limbs shaking, having the +appearance of one who is recovering from an attack of delirium tremens, +descended the ravine as hastily as his weak condition permitted. He +turned his head aside as he passed the fatal clump of trees. He reached +the landing-place, and there found Baptiste and El Chico awaiting him +with the cutter. + +Carew stepped into the boat without saying a word. + +Baptiste glanced at the haggard face of the captain, but made no remark +on his altered appearance. He merely said, "We were anxious about you, +so have been off here since daybreak waiting for you." + +Carew looked inquiringly into the mate's face, but did not dare to utter +the question that was on his lips. + +Baptiste understood. "Yes, I have seen it," he said, in a low voice. +Even that callous villain had been awed by the sight at the foot of the +ravine. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +For two more days the barque lay becalmed off the desert island, but not +one of the crew ventured on land again. The two Spaniards shrunk with a +superstitious terror from further contact with that accursed shore--that +_costa maldita_, as they invariably spoke of it. + +Carew's experiences on Trinidad produced an ineffaceable impression on +his mind. His melancholy deepened into a dull despair. He passed most of +the day alone in his cabin, avoiding as much as possible even the sight +of his companions. By means of ever-increasing doses of laudanum, the +miserable man stupefied his brain into a lethargic condition, which was, +however, frequently broken by frightful dreams when he was asleep, and +by nervous seizures of acute and causeless terrors when he was awake. + +Baptiste, observing these symptoms, began to fear for Carew's reason, +and tried in various ways to rouse him, but in vain. + +At last one morning a fresh south-east wind sprang up. Carew did not +even seem to notice the change, and he gave no orders to get under way. +So Baptiste approached him-- + +"The sooner we have the anchor up and are off the better, captain." + +Carew assented in an apathetic way, and assisted the men in weighing the +anchor and setting the sails; but he worked with a sullen silence, +making no suggestions, leaving everything to Baptiste. + +After paying the vessel off before the wind with the foretopmast +staysail, they set the fore and main topsails, an amount of canvas which +the prudent mate considered sufficient for a barque so undermanned. + +As soon as the last yard had been squared, and there was no more for him +to do, Carew again went into his cabin. + +A few minutes later Baptiste followed him there. + +"Sorry to disturb you, captain," he said, seeing the expression of +annoyance on Carew's face, and also noticing the bottle of laudanum +standing on the table; "but now we are off, running merrily before the +wind, away from that accursed island. If you please, what is our +course--where are we bound for--and have you thought of a plausible +explanation of how we picked up this derelict? Rouse yourself, sir. +Think, act, and be a man again." + +Carew had drunk a quantity of laudanum that morning, and he replied in +a dreamy voice, as if he had lost all interest in life, and was heedless +of the future-- + +"Do what you like. I leave it all to you. I am unable to think." + +"Sir, this is cowardly of you!" cried Baptiste vehemently. "Everything +has gone so well with us thus far, and now you lose heart when an +immense fortune is almost in our hands. Remember what we have done for +you, and do not risk all our lives by neglecting your duties to us." + +"What do I care for your lives?" replied Carew with a bitter laugh, that +had an insane ring in it. "What is it to me where we go, even if it be +to the bottom? Leave me." + +"Good-bye, sir; I will take charge of the vessel until you come to your +senses." As he spoke, Baptiste contrived to slip the bottle of laudanum +into his pocket unperceived by Carew. + +The mate went on deck and threw the bottle into the sea. "That coward +will go mad if he drugs himself much longer," he said to himself. "When +he got on shore he would ruin us all in some silly fit of garrulous +remorse. He would disburden his conscience and hang us in his present +temper. He shall have no more laudanum. I must look after him and cure +him before we get into port. If I cannot do so, well, then, he must die. +A pity that; for he is useful, almost necessary, to us." + +Baptiste consulted the chart, and determined to run for the port of +Bahia, which is about seven hundred miles to the north-west of Trinidad. +Having quickly formed his plans, he carried them out with considerable +cleverness. + +He collected a quantity of combustible matter, and proceeded to set fire +to some of the storerooms and other portions of the vessel in such a way +that he could always keep the fires under control and extinguish them at +will. It was a hazardous undertaking, but he omitted no precaution; and +after the vessel had been three days at sea, and was still three hundred +miles from Bahia, the effect he desired was satisfactorily produced. She +appeared to have been ablaze almost from end to end, and so there was +manifest a sufficient reason for the desertion of the crew at sea. + +The last spark having been extinguished, Baptiste hove the vessel to +while he completed his preparations. He lowered two of the boats into +the sea and sank them. + +"And now," he asked himself, "what things are the crew likely to have +taken with them in the boats? For we must preserve the verisimilitude. +Our story must be above suspicion; every circumstance must corroborate +it." + +So he threw overboard a chronometer, a valuable sextant, a compass, and +other articles which a captain deserting his ship would most certainly +have carried away. The Spaniards ridiculed this excess of caution. +"Thoughtless children!" Baptiste explained; "it is most probable that +there are people on shore who know exactly how many chronometers, +compasses, and so on, were on board this vessel. These things will be +counted up, and if none are missing, the minds of men will be puzzled at +the strange conduct of the captain. Now I do not want to puzzle people; +very much otherwise, my imprudent children. For the same reason I am now +going to burn the ship's papers. No captain ever leaves those behind him +on a derelict." + +Carew had watched these preparations listlessly, assisting when asked to +do so, but still suggesting nothing. He never alluded to the loss of his +bottle of laudanum, and very probably he knew that Baptiste had taken it +away. + +Early on the sixth day of the voyage the Brazilian coast was sighted, +and the mate recognised the palm-clad hills that border the entrance to +the Reconcava of Bahia--a beautiful inland sea, as extensive as that of +Rio de Janeiro. + +And now Baptiste, feeling how great a risk would be incurred by entering +the port while the captain was in his present demented condition, dared +not sail into the bay; and, after a consultation with the men, braced up +the yards, and steered the vessel along the coast to the northward, with +the intention of making Pernambuco, which is nearly five hundred miles +distant from Bahia. By this a delay of about three days would be gained; +and should Carew not recover his senses in that time, he must be put out +of the way. There was no help for it. + +But Baptiste and the two Spaniards knew well that if they went into port +without the owner of the yacht, their tale would be received with +suspicion. It would be necessary to account for his absence. Their own +histories would be closely inquired into; the well-elaborated scheme +might end in failure after all. The gloom of the captain seemed to +communicate itself to the crew. The usual cheeriness of sailors was +altogether absent during the voyage. A vague foreboding of calamity +oppressed the men; and on board that guilty ship all went about their +work with dismal faces, never smiling, sullen and silent, suspicious of +each other. + +On the second day, the vessel was slowly sailing up the coast near +Alagoas Bay. Baptiste was sitting on deck, rolling up and smoking his +innumerable cigarettes as he contemplated the beautiful panorama that +opened out before him--a land of forest-clad mountains and fertile +valleys, down which broad rivers poured into the sea, while among the +cocoa-nut groves upon the sandy beaches were the numerous bamboo +villages of the negro fishermen. But Baptiste, though gazing at it, was +in no mood to admire beautiful scenery; he was looking forward with +alarm to the perils before him. + +At last, after pondering over it for some while, he determined on a +course of action. It was a desperate thing to do, but it would bring +matters to a crisis at once. + +He threw away his cigarette, loaded his revolver and placed it in his +breast, and then, with face pale with fear but determined in expression, +he entered Carew's cabin. + +The Englishman was reading a book, or pretending to do so. Baptiste took +a seat in front of him, and commenced abruptly-- + +"Do you wish to live, sir?" + +Carew looked up. "Why do you ask? If I wished to die, I could take away +my life at any moment." + +"You will probably be saved that trouble. I will be perfectly frank with +you, because I understand you. You see that we are afraid of going into +port in your company. We think you are losing your senses, and we cannot +allow a madman to rave our secrets in Pernambuco. We wish you to live, +because you might be very useful to us. But if, before we are in sight +of port, you don't satisfy us that you are sane, by ridding yourself of +your melancholia and taking an interest in this business, we shall be +under the painful necessity of despatching you for our own protection. +We will have to kill you, not in any ill-feeling, I assure you, but +with real regret." + +Baptiste had rightly imagined that this cool and almost ludicrously +matter-of-fact way of broaching the subject was the best in the +circumstances. + +Carew first appeared to be lost in astonishment; then he smiled sadly, +and said, "You are a strange man. You come here to tell me that I am +mad, and that I must become sane in two days or die--is that it?" + +"I don't think that you are exactly mad, but"-- + +"I know what you mean," interrupted Carew, "and you are right. I have +been ill for several days; but I am not mad, as you will soon discover. +I will allow that I might soon have become so had you not stolen my +laudanum." + +From that moment Carew changed his mode of life, and became much as he +had been before his visit to the desert island. Though melancholy in his +manner and miserable in his mind, he shook off his lethargy, bestirred +himself, took an interest once more in the working of the ship, and +exhibited all his old ingenuity in improving upon Baptiste's +preparations for deceiving the authorities as to the fate of the barque. + +"Talented and unfathomable being," exclaimed the Frenchman admiringly, +"what could we do without you?" + + * * * * * + +The voyage was over, and the _La Bonne Esperance_ was lying under the +Recife, that marvellous natural breakwater built by myriads of +diminutive coral insects, which, running in a parallel line to the +shore, forms the harbour of Pernambuco. In front of her stretched the +long and crowded quay, with its pleasant boulevard and lofty white +houses. + +The barque had been an object of great interest to the people of +Pernambuco ever since the tug had towed her in from outside. The +romantic story of the little English yacht that had foundered at sea, +and of her shipwrecked crew, who had been so fortunate as to come across +such a valuable prize, was on everybody's lips. The English residents +had been profuse in their offers of hospitality to Carew, but under the +pretext of ill-health he refused all these; and as soon as he had handed +over the barque to the proper authorities he hired a room in a French +hotel on the quay, and lived there as quietly as possible with Baptiste, +while the Spaniards were lodged in a neighbouring tavern. + +The torments of his accusing conscience having now subsided, life once +more appeared of value to this mutable-minded man, and his anxiety and +dread of discovery returned. It caused him great uneasiness to learn how +long a time must elapse before the settlement of the salvage would be +completed. He found that he might have to wait many months in +Pernambuco before receiving his share of the vessel's value. + +The barque had been in the Recife for about three weeks when one morning +a coasting steamer from Rio entered the harbour. Among her passengers +was an Englishman. When he stepped on shore he disregarded the +importunate crowd of hotel touts, and handing his portmanteau to a black +porter, said merely, "English Consulate!" The negro understood, and led +the way. + +The Englishman found the consul in his office, asked if he could speak +to him alone on urgent business, and was shown into a private room. + +He placed a letter in the consul's hands. "This," he said, "is from the +British Consul at Rio. It will serve to introduce me." + +It was a somewhat lengthy letter, and as he read it an expression of +extreme surprise came to the consul's face. "This is a most +extraordinary story!" he exclaimed. "Tell me what more you know of this +man." + +The interview was a long one. At its termination the consul said:--"Of +course I can do nothing until an extradition warrant arrives from +England. In the meanwhile, we must not rouse his suspicions. Let him +still consider himself safe. He applied to me for an advance of money +yesterday; I will let him have it if he does not ask for too much. But +he must not see you. I recommend you to go to Caxanga--a pretty +watering-place about half an hour from here by train. I will give you +the name of a good hotel there. Do not come into town unless I send for +you. Keep out of his way. I should like you to be here to-morrow morning +at ten; for, shortly after that hour, his crew are going to make some +depositions. I will conceal you in the next room in such a way that you +can see them; for it will be well for you to know these men by sight. Of +course you will pass under an assumed name while you are here." + +"I will call myself John Rudge," said the stranger. + +In spite of these precautions, the ever-watchful Baptiste soon came to +suspect that there was mischief brewing. One day that he accompanied +Carew to the Consulate he at once observed that the consul's manner had +undergone a change. There was a reserve and a lack of his usual +heartiness in his greeting of Carew. It was but a slight and involuntary +change, and it escaped Carew's notice. + +A few days after this, Baptiste was sent to the Consulate with a letter. +As he came to the door John Rudge was going out. The stranger seemed +startled at finding himself thus suddenly face to face with the +Frenchman, and walked hastily away. + +"A trifling circumstance," said Baptiste to himself; "but the lightest +trifles show best the direction of the wind. Why did that man start at +seeing me? Who is he?" + +A week passed, and Baptiste saw no more of the stranger; but at last he +came full upon him in front of the post-office. Again Rudge seemed as if +he wished to avoid being seen by the Frenchman, and turned his head +aside as he passed. + +But Baptiste was quick in resource. "Stay a moment, if you please, sir," +he called out in French; "I wish to speak to you." + +The Englishman stood still. + +"Pardon me for detaining you," continued Baptiste, "but you understand +French?" + +"I do." + +"Ah, sir, what chance! I know not a word of this horrid Portuguese +tongue, and I wish to inquire at the post-office if there is a letter +for me. Would you oblige me by interpreting for me?" + +"I don't know Portuguese myself; but the clerk in the post-office +understands French." + +"Thank you, sir. I am a stranger here, you see. I am one of the crew of +_La Bonne Esperance_, the derelict. No doubt you have heard our story?" + +"Oh yes, I know all about it. You were very fortunate. But excuse me, +my friend; I am in great haste," and he hurried off. + +Baptiste returned to the hotel and found Carew. "Captain," he asked, +"have you committed some peccadillo in England on account of which they +are likely to be hunting after you here?" + +"It is almost impossible that any enemies I may have can have traced me +here." + +"All dead, I suppose," remarked Baptiste coolly. Then he proceeded to +explain the reasons that had prompted his questions. + +"You are full of foolish fears, Baptiste. I see nothing in all this." + +"Ah, sir, I have lived for so many years in the midst of alarms that I +perceive the first indications of danger. When I told this Englishman +that I was one of your crew, he exhibited no interest. He did not +question me about our adventures, and make much of me, and take me into +a cafe to give me drinks, as all the other Englishmen in Pernambuco do +when they meet one of us heroes of the hour." + +"I do not see anything very alarming in his neglect to make a fuss over +you." + +"I do, because I understand human nature. I see dangers ahead, and I +intend to secure my retreat in case of disaster. I shall arrange how to +slip away if necessary. I advise you to do the same, captain." + +"I have done so, Baptiste." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +Carew had been nearly six weeks in Pernambuco, when a British mail +steamer happened to land an English passenger, who at once called on the +consul, and introduced himself to that functionary as Mr. Norton. He had +that to say which considerably astonished the consul, and the result was +that on the following morning a letter was brought to Carew as he was +sitting down to his breakfast at the hotel with Baptiste. It was from +the consul's clerk, and ran thus:--"_Sir, will you kindly call here +to-day? Your business is practically settled._" + +"Practically settled?" repeated Baptiste, when he heard the contents. +"Those words have an unpleasant ring somehow. I know not why, but I +cannot help fearing that something is wrong." + +"I too have my presentiments," said Carew, "but I am prepared." + +At the appointed hour Carew called at the Consulate. He found the consul +and Lloyd's agent awaiting him in a room adjoining the principal office. + +There was a constraint in their manner, which he, watchful for the +slightest suspicious indication, detected at once. They were as men who +anticipated some momentous event, but who endeavoured to conceal their +anxiety. + +The consul produced a document, and laid it on the desk. "Read this +over, please, Mr. Allen, and see that it is correct." + +Carew glanced down it quickly with an eye trained to legal forms. "It is +perfectly correct," he said. + +"I have a gentleman in the next room who will witness your signature to +this statement," proceeded the consul. He opened the door, and Mr. +Norton entered the room. + +The consciousness of impending peril came over Carew's guilty soul, but +he seized the pen, and in a firm hand wrote the signature, "Arthur +Allen, Barrister-at-law." + +Mr. Norton now approached the table. He took up the pen as if to sign +his name, glanced at the document, and then, raising his head, looked +Carew full in the face. "I cannot witness this signature," he said. "It +is a forgery!" + +There was a complete silence for a few moments; then Carew, whose face +was pale, but who betrayed no other signs of emotion, said quietly, +"Explain your strange words, sir." + +"It is no good; the game is up, Mr. Carew," replied Norton. "I have a +warrant for your arrest, and the police are at the door." + +"A trap has been laid for me, I see," said Carew, as quietly as before. +"This is one of the absurd mistakes you detectives so often make; but I +will soon clear it up. Of what am I accused?" Carew was astonished at +his own courage in the presence of this extreme disaster, or rather--for +it can scarcely be called courage--at his indifference to his fate. He +felt as if he were the spectator of a tragedy which was being played by +other men, and in which he was not himself an actor--a common state of +mind with men in utmost peril. + +"The charge with which I am immediately concerned," replied the +detective, "and on account of which an extradition warrant has been +issued, is the forgery of a client's name by the solicitor Henry Carew. +In the meanwhile, look at these," and he threw on the table two +photographs. Carew took them up. One, he saw, was a portrait of Arthur +Allen, his friend whom he left to drown in the North Sea; the other was +a photograph of himself which had been taken eight years back, when he +was another man, when his conscience was still clear, and before his +gambling losses had driven him from crime to crime; sin and suffering +had yet drawn no lines on the face, the brow was free from care. He +gazed gloomily at this presentment of what he had been and could never +be again, and his mind wandered back with despairing regret to memories +of guiltless days. + +"On the 15th of August last," continued the detective, "a solicitor, +Henry Carew, absconded, disappeared, leaving no trace. For some time I, +who was entrusted with the case, was altogether at fault; but at last, +as often happens, a coincidence threw me on the scent. I came across an +advertisement inserted in the papers by the relatives of a missing man, +Arthur Allen. He had left his chambers on the 15th of August, and had +not since been heard of. Carew and Allen thus disappeared from London on +the same day, mark you; but there was no very remarkable coincidence in +that fact. However, I happened to remember that, while searching the +papers of Carew to discover what were his habits, who were his +acquaintances, and so forth, I had come across the name of this Arthur +Allen, apparently a friend of Carew's. The clue was worth following up. +I soon ascertained that Allen had that day sailed from the Thames in his +yacht; that his last known port of call was Rotterdam. I went to +Rotterdam, and there, from a Mr. Hoogendyk and others, learnt that the +man who called himself Arthur Allen had conducted himself in a somewhat +curious manner for an English yachtsman, and had suddenly sailed from +that port, bound no one knew whither, with a crew of Spanish +desperadoes." + +The detective now took the two photographs from the hand of Carew, who +was still gazing at them in a dazed way, apparently not listening to the +words of his accuser. + +"I procured these," Norton went on. "I brought them to Mr. Hoogendyk. +First I showed him the portrait of Arthur Allen; he did not recognise +it. Then I gave him the portrait of Henry Carew. 'This, of course,' he +at once said, 'is the photograph of Mr. Allen, the Englishman who came +here with the little yacht.' Then I knew that I was on the right track. +Shortly afterwards, a paragraph which appeared in a London evening paper +brought me promptly here, armed with an extradition warrant. I have the +paragraph here. It is headed '_A Strange Story of the Sea._' I will read +it to you. '_A telegram from Pernambuco states that a French barque, +the_ La Bonne Esperance, _has been brought into that port a derelict. +She was picked up by the crew of an English yacht, the_ Petrel. _The_ +Petrel _had foundered in the South Atlantic. Mr. Allen, the owner, and +his three men took to the dinghy, and, after drifting for several days, +encountered the deserted barque, which they sailed into Pernambuco. The +salvage is likely to far more than compensate Mr. Allen for the loss of +his yacht._' That is all I need say at present." + +The consul spoke next. "There is a Mr. Rudge here, who has been in +Pernambuco for some weeks, who can also throw a light on this matter." +The consul touched the bell, and the man who had assumed the name of +Rudge was shown into the room. He closed the door behind him, and stood +with his back against it. + +"This gentleman," said the consul deliberately, "affirms that _he_ is +Arthur Allen, the barrister, the owner of the lost yacht." + +All in the room now turned their eyes upon Carew, to watch the effect +upon him of this sudden presence. + +Yes, it was indeed Allen, though pale and thin, as if he had but just +recovered from a sudden illness, that Carew saw before him. And now this +strange being, who had fallen into such depths of crime, and who yet +loathed crime so intensely, behaved in the manner that might have been +expected from him. The better man declared himself at last. On beholding +this accuser, who had risen thus suddenly from the dead, he displayed no +guilty terror. On the contrary, an expression of great relief, of joy, +almost of triumph, lit up his face, and the lines of care faded away +from it. + +They all watched him with wonder. + +Then he spoke quietly, in tones that carried conviction. No one could +doubt but that the words were from his heart. + +"Yes, I am Henry Carew. I am guilty of all that I am accused of, and of +more, and worse things. But I am glad, indeed glad--and little gladness +has been my lot of late--to see you, Arthur Allen, standing there alive +before me. There is one less crime on my soul. Yes, I am now happy; +happier than I deserve to be. I am quite ready to pay the penalty of my +sins." + +There was a nobility in his countenance as he stood up erect, with none +of the shrinking criminal about him. He felt as if he were out of the +world already; he was free from petty fears now. + +Then the consul, impressed by the man's manner, said, in an almost +respectful tone, "It is better that you should go on board the English +steamer at once. I have arranged everything." + +The detective whispered something into the consul's ear, and then +slipped out of the room quietly. + +Carew looked through the window at the fair tropical world without. He +could see the busy quay, with its green trees waving in the fresh trade +wind, and the breakers dashing upon the coral reef. Beyond that, between +the blue sea and the blue sky, there loomed a dark mass. Carew knew that +this was the vessel which was to be his prison, lying at anchor in the +outer roads. He shivered; then turning to the consul said-- + +"Grant me one last favour before I go: let me have paper and pen. I +wish to write a letter." + +The consul hesitated. + +"Give it to him," whispered Allen, who had been eyeing Carew intently; +and Carew rewarded him with a grateful look. + +The writing materials were put on the table. He sat before them with his +back to the spectators, and as he held the pen in his right hand, he +placed his left elbow upon the table, stooping over it, his face buried +in the open palm as if he were meditating deeply what he should write. +And so he remained for quite a minute without writing a word. Once a +slight tremor passed through his frame. After that he sat quite +motionless. + +The detective again entered the room, followed by two officers of +police. + +"Come, sir," he said, "we must go now," and he put his hand lightly on +Carew's shoulder. + +As the hand touched him, Carew's elbow slipped, his head dropped heavily +upon the table, face downwards, and from his left hand, which had been +over his mouth, there fell on the table, and rolled slowly across it, a +small empty bottle. + +He was quite dead! He had found a use at last for the poisonous drug +which the Rotterdam chemist had grudgingly sold him. + + * * * * * + +"The prisoner has slipped away from us," said the detective; "but, +after all, I am not sorry for it in a way, for there was good in the +man." + +And so ended the misspent life of Henry Carew--a man by nature probably +no worse than many of the most respectable-seeming among us. But he was +morally timid; and such a one, however benevolent be his disposition, +however opposed to vice be his inclinations, is the slave of +circumstances, and is quite as likely to develop into a villain as a +saint. A weak will is the devil's easiest prey. + +Arthur Allen's narrative will be given in his own words:-- + +"The last thing I remember, after Jim and myself were capsized, is that +I was holding on to the dinghy, and that I lashed myself to her with the +painter. Poor Jim must have gone down at once. I don't remember seeing +him after the boat turned over. The seas must have driven the sense out +of me. I came to, days afterwards, in the cabin of a German barque. She +had picked me up--still lashed to the dinghy--in an insensible +condition. The barque was bound from Hamburg to Rio. My long exposure in +the water brought on a serious and tedious illness. I was more dead than +alive when I landed at Rio, and was at once taken to the hospital. There +the English Consul called to see me, and behaved with great kindness. +When I told him my story, and who I was, he said, 'A man of your name +came here with a yacht a short time back--an eccentric man, for he only +stopped two days here and was off again; so I did not see him.' I asked +what the name of the yacht was. 'The _Petrel_,' he replied. Then, of +course, the whole truth dawned upon me, and I satisfied the consul that +someone had stolen my yacht and had assumed my name. The consul then +advanced to me the money I required. I was still lying in the hospital +when the news came to Rio that the _Petrel_ had been lost at sea, and +that her crew had found a derelict, and sailed her into Pernambuco. In +spite of the doctor's warnings, I left the hospital, and hurried here at +once. I was awaiting an extradition warrant from England, when Mr. +Norton anticipated my own action, and arrived with a warrant that had +been obtained on account of former felonies committed by Carew." + +The true story of the French barque and her crew was never known. +Baptiste and the two Spaniards took alarm and disappeared from +Pernambuco. Not that they were in danger, for they were not implicated +in the felonies which had been brought home to Carew. But the guilty +wretches knew not what would be discovered next, they so completely +distrusted each other, each knowing that he himself would readily +betray his comrades, either for a price or to secure his own safety. + +What ultimately happened to these three villains I do not know. Baptiste +being a criminal of the educated, cunning, and cowardly-cautious order, +possibly enriched himself by iniquity for many years more, and, escaping +his deserts in this world, may yet have died in his old age, a respected +citizen in his native land. + +The other two more vulgar scoundrels were no doubt hanged, or stabbed in +a brawl, or despatched in some such summary fashion sooner or later--a +penalty for their crimes which seems light indeed to men of this brutal +stamp, who consider a violent death as the most desirable and indeed +only legitimate termination to existence. + + +THE END + + +PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED, EDINBURGH + + + + +ADVERTISEMENTS + +_The Express Series.--No. II._ + + +A GIRL OF GRIT + + +CHAPTER I + +MY AMERICAN MILLIONS + + +It was the middle of the night (as I thought) when Savory--my man, my +landlord, valet, and general factotum--came in and woke me. He gave me a +letter, saying simply, "The gentleman's a-waiting, sir," and I read it +twice, without understanding it in the very least. + +Could it be a hoax? To satisfy myself, I sat up in bed, rubbed my +astonished and still half-sleepy eyes, and read it again. It ran as +follows:-- + + "101, LINCOLN'S INN, _July 11, 189-_. + + "GRAY & QUINLAN, Solicitors. + + "DEAR SIR,--It is our pleasing duty to inform you, at the request + of our New York agents, Messrs. Smiddy & Dann, of 57, Chambers + Street, New York City, that they have now definitely and + conclusively established your claim as the sole surviving relative + and general heir-at-law of their late esteemed client, Mr. Aretas + M'Faught, of Church Place and Fifth Avenue, New York. + + "As the amount of your inheritance is very considerable, and is + estimated approximately at between fourteen and fifteen millions of + dollars, say three millions of sterling money, we have thought it + right to apprise you of your good fortune without delay. Our Mr. + Richard Quinlan will hand you this letter in person, and will be + pleased to take your instructions.--We are, sir, your obedient + servants, + + "GRAY & QUINLAN." + + "CAPTAIN WILLIAM ARETAS WOOD, D.S.O., + 21, Clarges Street, Piccadilly." + + +"Here, Savory! who brought this? Do you say he is waiting? I'll see him +in half a minute;" and, sluicing my head in cold water, I put on a +favourite old dressing-gown, and passed into the next room, followed by +Roy, my precious golden collie, who began at once to sniff suspiciously +at my visitor's legs. + +I found there a prim little old-young gentleman, who scanned me +curiously through his gold-rimmed pince-nez. Although, no doubt, greatly +surprised,--for he did not quite expect to see an arch-millionaire in an +old ulster with a ragged collar of catskin, with damp, unkempt locks, +and unshorn chin at that time of day,--he addressed me with much +formality and respect. + +"I must apologise for this intrusion, Captain Wood--you _are_ Captain +Wood?" + +"Undoubtedly." + +"I am Mr. Quinlan, very much at your service. Pardon me--is this your +dog? Is he quite to be trusted?" + +"Perfectly, if you don't speak to him. Lie down, Roy. I fear I am very +late--a ball last night. Do you ever go to balls, Mr. Quinlan?" + +"Not often, Captain Wood. But if I have come too early, I can call later +on." + +"By no means. I am dying to hear more. But, first of all, this +letter--it's all _bona fide_, I suppose?" + +"Without question. It is from our firm. There can be no possible +mistake. We have made it our business to verify all the facts--indeed, +this is not the first we had heard of the affair, but we did not think +it right to speak to you too soon. This morning, however, the mail has +brought a full acknowledgment of your claims, so we came on at once to +see you." + +"How did you find me out, pray?" + +"We have had our eye on you for some time past, Captain Wood," said the +little lawyer smilingly. "While we were inquiring--you understand? We +were anxious to do the best for you"-- + +"I'm sure I'm infinitely obliged to you. But still, I can't believe it, +quite. I should like to be convinced of the reality of my good luck. You +see, I haven't thoroughly taken it in." + +"Read this letter from our New York agents, Captain Wood. It gives more +details," and he handed me a type-written communication on two quarto +sheets of tissue paper, also a number of cuttings from the New York +press. + +The early part of the letter referred to the search and discovery of the +heir-at-law (myself), and stated frankly that there could be no sort of +doubt that my case was clear, and that they would be pleased, when +called upon, to put me in full possession of my estate. + +From that they passed on to a brief enumeration of the assets, which +comprised real estate in town lots, lands, houses; stocks, shares, well- + + +_The Express Series--No. III._ + + +A DESPERATE VOYAGE + + +CHAPTER I + + +In Carey Street, Chancery Lane, on the ground floor of a huge block of +new buildings facing the Law Courts, were the offices of Messrs. Peters +and Carew, solicitors and perpetual commissioners of oaths. Such was the +title of the firm as inscribed on the side of the entrance door in the +middle of a long list of other names of solicitors, architects, and +companies, whose offices were within. But the firm was now represented +by Mr. Carew alone; for the senior partner, a steady-going old +gentleman, who had made the business what it was, had been despatched by +an attack of gout, two years back, to a land where there is no +litigation. + +Late one August evening Mr. Henry Carew entered his office. His face was +white and haggard, and he muttered to himself as he passed the door. He +had all the appearance of a man who has been drinking heavily to drown +some terrible worry. His clerks had gone; he went into his own private +room and locked the door. He lit the gas, brought a pile of papers and +letters out of a drawer, and, sitting down by the table, commenced to +peruse them. As he did so, the lines about his face seemed to deepen, +and beads of perspiration started to his forehead. It was for him an +hour of agony. His sins had found him out, and the day of reckoning had +arrived. + +One might have taken Henry Carew for a sailor, but he was very unlike +the typical solicitor. He was a big, hearty man of thirty-five, with all +a sailor's bluff manner and generous ways. His friends called him Honest +Hal, and said that he was one of the best fellows that ever lived. We +have it on the authority of that immortal adventuress, Becky Sharp, that +it is easy to be virtuous on five thousand a year. Had Mr. Carew enjoyed +such an income, he would most probably have lived a blameless life and +have acquired an estimable reputation; for he had no instinctive liking +for crime; on the contrary, he loathed it. + +But one slight moral flaw in a man's nature--so slight that his best +friends smile tolerantly at it--may, by force of circumstance, lead +ultimately to his complete moral ruin. It is an old story, and has been +the text of many a sermon. The trifling fault is often the germ of +terrible crimes. + +Carew's fault was one that is always easily condoned, so nearly akin is +it to a virtue; these respectably connected vices are ever the most +dangerous, like well-born swindlers. Carew was a spendthrift. He was +ostentatiously extravagant in many directions. He owned a smart +schooner, which he navigated himself, being an excellent sailor, and the +quantities of champagne consumed by his friends on board this vessel +were prodigious. + +When his steady old partner died, Carew began to neglect the business +for his pleasures. Soon his income was insufficient to meet his +expenses. Speculation on the Stock Exchange seemed to him to be a +quicker road to fortune than a slow-going profession. So this man, +morally weak though physically brave, not having the courage to curtail +his extravagances, hurried blindly to his destruction. He gambled and +lost all his own property; for ill-luck ever pursued him. Even then it +was not too late to redeem his position. But he was too great a coward +to look his difficulties in the face; therefore, having the temptation +to commit so terribly easy a crime ever before him in his office, he +began--first, timidly, to a small extent; then wildly, in panic, in +order to retrieve his losses--to speculate with the moneys entrusted to +him by his clients. He pawned their securities; he forged their names; +he plunged ever deeper into crime--and all in vain. + +When it was too late, he swore to himself, in the torments of his +remorse, that if he could but once win back sufficient to replace the +sums he had stolen, he would cut down all his expenses, forswear +gambling and dishonesty, and stick to his profession. + +At last it came to this. He sold his yacht and everything else he +possessed of value. He realised what remained of the securities under +his charge, and then placed the entire sum as cover on a certain stock, +the price of which, he was told, was certain to rise. It was the +gambler's last despairing throw of the dice. The stock suddenly fell; +settling day arrived, and his cover was swept away--he had lost all! + +So he sat in his office this night and faced the situation in an agony +of spirit that was more than fear. For this was no unscrupulous, +light-hearted villain. An accusing conscience was ever with him, and +every fresh descent in crime meant for him a worse present hell of +mental torture. + +He felt that it was idle to hope now, even for a short reprieve. Clients +were suspicious. In a day or two at most all must be known. Disgrace and +a felon's doom were staring him in the face. It would be impossible for +him to raise even sufficient funds to escape from England to some +country where extradition treaties were unknown. Carew realised all +this. He had forced himself to look through his + + +_Autumn 1898_ + + +LIST OF NEW & RECENT BOOKS +PUBLISHED BY JOHN MILNE AT +12 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON + + +The Express Series. + +This Series is designed to meet the taste of readers who desire a +swiftly-moving, well-written, dramatic tale, of moderate length, without +superfluous descriptive or other literary "padding," but with continuity +and action from the first page to the last. It contains only +specially-written and selected stories, mostly by well-known writers, +and each volume consists of about 224 pages, crown 8vo. The First +Edition, for the Library, is bound in red cloth, with gilt top, and +published at 2s. 6d. The Second and subsequent Editions are issued in +handy form for the Pocket or the Train, in stout cardboard covers, +illustrated in colours, at 1s. + + +_The following have been published:--_ + +I. THE ROME EXPRESS. By Major ARTHUR GRIFFITHS. [_Sixth Edition_ + + +II. A GIRL OF GRIT. By Major ARTHUR GRIFFITHS. [_Just published._ + + +III. A DESPERATE VOYAGE. By E. F. KNIGHT. [_Just published._ + + +_CURRENT LIST._ + +A Desperate Voyage. + +A Desperate Voyage. By E. F. KNIGHT, Author of "The Cruise of the +Falcon," "Where Three Empires Meet," etc. A novel by the well-known +_Times_ war-correspondent and author, describing the escape of an +absconding debtor from the river Thames in a twenty-eight ton yawl, and +his subsequent desperate experiences by sea and land in the South +Atlantic. 224 pages, crown 8vo, red cloth gilt, gilt top, uniform with +the above, 2s. 6d. + + +A Girl of Grit. + +A Girl of Grit. By Major ARTHUR GRIFFITHS, Author of "The Rome Express." +An Anglo-American story of a gigantic scheme of fraud and attempted +abduction. 217 pages, crown 8vo, red cloth gilt, gilt top, 2s. 6d. + + "If you wish for an exciting story--a story which will hold you + fascinated for three pleasurable hours by the intricacies of a + cleverly conceived plot, and the human interest of varied + character--read Major Arthur Griffiths' new book, 'A Girl of Grit.' + The whole story of the pursuit of the rascal Duke of Buona Mano and + the rescue of Captain Wood in mid-Atlantic carries you on with a + rush through a series of dramatic scenes and thrilling adventures + to a climax which is as novel as it is satisfactory. 'A Girl of + Grit' is a better told story than even 'The Rome Express,' which is + saying a good deal."--_Daily Mail._ + + +The Rome Express. + +The Rome Express. By Major ARTHUR GRIFFITHS. A notable Detective Story +of much ingenuity and interest. 215 pages, crown 8vo, red cloth gilt, +gilt top, Library Edition, 2s. 6d.; in coloured wrapper, Sixth Edition, +1s. + + "It is safe to say that the reader who glances at the first page of + Major Arthur Griffiths' detective story, 'The Rome Express,' will + certainly not skip one single word until he reaches the end. 'Who + could have done the deed?' is the question which absorbs the reader + from first to last, and in his eagerness to answer this question he + will start on at least four different scents, confident each time + that now he has the clue, but only to return baffled and bewildered + again and again. It is General Collingham whose shrewd wit first + hits upon the right track, and puts to confusion all the theories + and red-tapeism of the Quai de l'Horloge. But until the last + chapter we are as much in the dark as any one of them; the mystery + is inscrutable until it pleases the author to lift the veil and + inform us that one of the passengers was requested to continue his + journey in the direction of New Caledonia, and that another was + married at the British Embassy to Sabine, Contessa di + Castagneto."--_Daily Telegraph._ + + "Any reader who opens this book with the resolution that he will + read a chapter of it and then resume his ordinary occupations, is + likely to be surprised speedily out of such good intentions. The + story grips you like a vice. There is not a superfluous word in the + 215 pages."--_Sketch._ + + **_The next volume of The Express Series will be a + story from the pen of Mr. David Christie Murray, and others are in + preparation._ + + +The Evolution of a Wife. + +The Evolution of a Wife, a Romance in Six Parts, by ELIZABETH HOLLAND. +The life-story of Marie de Hauteville, a young girl of noble Swiss +family. It contains many charming pictures of Conventual and village +life in the Bernese Oberland, with a strong love interest of the +non-modern school. 398 pages, large crown 8vo, cloth, Second Edition, +6s. + + "There is an extraordinary genius in 'The Evolution of a Wife.' In + calm and masterful handling, searching insight, and bold + imaginative outlook, this romance ranks among the finest first + books of all the novelists. In the delicate manner of Flaubert, + without comment, and with a powerful massing of scenes, the + authoress advances to her climax; and one lays down the book + feeling that certain impressions will not efface + themselves."--_Yorkshire Post._ + + "Marie is delightful, with her many lovers and the pathetic little + vanities that make her innocence anything but insipid. She is + absolutely realisable; and not she alone. The little Swiss town and + its inhabitants live at once in the reader's eye."--_Saturday + Review._ + + "A remarkable story, alike in plot and character. It makes an + impression that here and there reminds us of the art and the + passion of Charlotte Bronte's works."--_Scotsman._ + + +The Passion for Romance. + +The Passion for Romance. By EDGAR JEPSON, Author of "Sibyl Falcon." +Describes the remarkable love affairs of Lord Lisdor, a young and +susceptible nobleman of wealth and leisure. 378 pages, large crown 8vo, +cloth, Second Edition, 6s. + + "'The Passion for Romance' is, at the least, recommended by that + air of novelty so welcome to all, but to none more than to the + professional novel-reader. The hero--the main feature of the story, + as he has a right to be--is treated from a refreshingly new + standpoint. He is a new sort of hero as well as a fresh specimen in + individuals: neither villain, saint, nor martyr, but simply a + possible human being with some strong characteristics. The vain + quest and the yearning for fulfilment are told with delicacy of + touch, some sense of humour, and absolutely without sickly + sentiment or morbid passion. Is not this enough to prove that we do + not speak of the novel of the common or British type?"--_Athenaeum._ + + "It is a long time since we have had a new sensation in fiction. It + has come at last. The author of 'The Passion for Romance' is a + novelist with a style that is distinguished, and--rarissimus inter + raros--Mr. Edgar Jepson is also a writer who has something new to + say. Apart from the literary merit of the work, there is the story; + and to say that there is nothing in fiction with which that may be + compared is to acknowledge at once its originality."--_Morning._ + + +Saint Porth. + +Saint Porth. The Wooing of Dolly Pentreath. By J. HENRY HARRIS. A homely +tale of life and love in a Cornish village. 320 pages, crown 8vo, cloth +gilt, gilt top, 6s. + + "A Cornish tale of remarkable picturesqueness, altogether natural + and touching, full of quaint pictures of a marvellously decorative + people."--_Saturday Review._ + + "Written with singular sympathy, earnestness, and gentle humour. + The scene is laid on the Cornish coast, and Mr. Harris paints for + us the splendours of that gorgeous seascape in the manner of one + who feels to the full its peculiar fascination, and to whom the + character of the dwellers on its shore appeals with a familiar + charm. The delicate and precious aroma of romance perfumes every + page of 'Saint Porth,' and lends to this homely, unpretentious tale + a value and an interest that are too often lacking in novels of a + more ambitious scope."--_Speaker._ + + "Of the many efforts which writers have made during recent years to + portray various phases of Cornish life, this, to our mind, + represents one of the most successful."--_West Briton._ + + "However crowded the novel market may be, there is always room for + such refreshing little idylls as 'Saint Porth'--a simple tale, + simply told in delightfully breezy style."--_Birmingham Gazette._ + + +Paradise Row. + +Paradise Row, and some of its Inhabitants. By W. J. WINTLE. A series of +powerfully painted sketches of North Country life. 240 pages, crown 8vo, +cloth, gilt top, 3s. 6d. + + "To adequately express the power and the pathos of these simply + told sketches, is quite beyond the scope of a review, for they + rouse all that is best and all that is most sacred in our common + humanity, making us feel more than the grandest rhetoric could, the + brotherhood of man. Some of the characters are real heroes, and one + rises from the perusal of the book with a greater respect for the + men who devote their lives to Christian work in the noisome dens of + our populous places, and with a large hope for the ultimate + redemption of mankind."--_North British Daily Mail._ + + "This is a volume of sketches of North Country life, very + vigorously drawn, and full of pathos well relieved with humour. It + shows throughout a large power of sympathy and great breadth of + thought."--_Spectator._ + + "We commend this book as both literature and life. Those who wish + to know how the poor live and love cannot do better than read + 'Paradise Row.'"--_Methodist Times._ + + "The work of a deep thinker and a cultured writer."--_Black and + White._ + + +Butterfly Ballads. + +Butterfly Ballads and Stories in Rhyme. By HELEN ATTERIDGE. With +Sixty-five Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE, LOUIS WAIN, H. R. MILLAR, and +others. 142 pages, foolscap 4to, designed cover, cloth gilt, gilt edges, +3s. 6d. + + "These real ballads are very clever indeed; we feel sure 'Ethelinda + Gray' and 'The Boy that went to Sea' will live in the upper circles + of juvenility for many a long day. 'The Doll's Dance' ought to be + as widely read and as keenly appreciated as 'The Butterfly's Ball + and the Grasshopper's Feast,' which was the delight of the children + of fifty years ago. The illustrations are numerous and + admirable."--_World._ + + "A delightful collection of stories in verse for little ones. It is + exactly what it professes to be, and does not indulge in + metaphysics for infants, and every little one who has the good + fortune to have the volume given it will be happy for a long + time."--_St. James's Gazette._ + + "'Butterfly Ballads' are by no means inappropriately named. They + are light and bright, and go fluttering along easily. The + illustrations are specially clever; the dogs, the children, and the + old folks are all full of character and spirit."--_Times._ + + "Will speedily be learned by heart, and repeated in the firelight + to a breathless audience."--_Lady._ + + +The English Stage. + +The English Stage. Being an Account of the Victorian Drama, by AUGUSTIN +FILON. Translated from the French by FREDERIC WHYTE, with an +Introduction by HENRY ARTHUR JONES. 320 pages, demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d. + + "This large and painstaking volume will certainly interest all who + follow theatrical matters. We welcome it as an interesting and + valuable record."--_Times._ + + "That the writings of that acute French critic, M. Filon, on 'The + English Stage' have been creditably translated and published in + this country, is a subject of congratulation. The completeness with + which this observer in a foreign land has mastered his subject is + surprising, and adds much force to the penetrating and suggestive + criticisms with which the book abounds. Altogether the work, + written as it is in spirited and captivating style, is one that can + be perused with pleasure by all classes of readers."--_Morning + Post._ + + "One of the most entertaining, appreciative, discriminating, and + instructive of recent books upon the English stage."--_New York + Nation._ + + "No student of the theatre should miss reading 'The English Stage,' + and it should be bought, not borrowed from the library, for it is + essentially a book to dip into again and again. It is full of + interesting facts as to the recent history of the drama in this + country."--_Black and White._ + + +Verdi: Man and Musician. + +Verdi: Man and Musician. His Biography, with Especial Reference to his +English Experiences, by F. J. CROWEST, Author of "The Great Tone Poets." +With Photogravure Frontispiece of Verdi, and several full-page +Portraits. The only recent and authoritative English Biography of the +famous Composer. 320 pages, demy 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d. + + "As the author of this highly interesting volume rightly says, + Verdi bibliography, particularly that in England, is not extensive, + but he has made an important addition, a book that should be read + by all admirers of the Italian composer. It is enriched with + several well-executed portraits, and is fully + indexed."--_Athenaeum._ + + "A most interesting work. Did space permit, we could quote at + length from this delightful book; but as it is, we must leave it to + the reader to pick and choose for himself."--_Weekly Sun._ + + "A book full of interest both to musicians and laymen, embellished + with a speaking likeness of Verdi as a frontispiece. A distinct and + valuable addition to the scant Verdi literature in this + country."--_Manchester Courier._ + + "An excellently-written and faithfully-compiled history of the rise + and progress of a great composer, studded with gems of anecdote, + and teeming with an appreciation that will find an echo in the + heart of every lover of opera who reads it."--_Birmingham Gazette._ + + +[Illustration: Logo] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Desperate Voyage, by Edward Frederick Knight + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DESPERATE VOYAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 39082.txt or 39082.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/0/8/39082/ + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Martin Pettit and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +book was produced from scanned images of public domain +material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/39082.zip b/39082.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..739d89c --- /dev/null +++ b/39082.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1af653e --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #39082 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39082) |
