*IV*
The _Bonaventura_ having thus become ours, we made haste to bring to hersuch useful stores as the _San Felipe_ contained, and the chests holdingthe treasure. I went with Captain Q into the cabin, and observed withwhat pangs he saw his chests in the hands of our men. He stood on watchwhen they were set on a cradle for slinging on deck; and followed everymovement with a jealous eye until the chests were bestowed in the cabinof the _Bonaventura_. They were three in number, two large and onesmall, and when the two former had been removed, Captain Q appearedcontent, and was for leaving the third behind. I remembered that I hadnever seen this one open, and knowing what delight he took incontemplating and fingering the contents of the others, I could not butsuppose that the smallest chest held things of little worth. Seeingthat the Captain appeared in a mind to leave it, I asked him whetherthat was his intent, and he replied that it held nought but old papers,accounts, and bills of lading, and such-like things, and told me verycourteously that I might have it for my own. 'Twas not a gift I greatlyvalued, but I would not vex him by refusing it, and so I made one of themen convey it to the _Bonaventura_.
While the mariners were busied about transferring the things from theone vessel to the other, Hilary took counsel with his friends astouching the disposal of the Spanish prisoners now huddled in the hold.I spoke for carrying them with us, and putting them ashore either onsome island we should pass on our homeward voyage, or on the coast ofSpain when we had crossed the ocean. But Tom Hawke cried out verystoutly against this.
"Why should we burden ourselves with them?" he said. "The ship willsail the lighter without them; and bethink ye what a monstrous deal offood they will consume! Let us batten them down in the hold of the _SanFelipe_ and so leave them."
"As I live, a right good notion!" said Hilary. "Be sure they will befound when the other vessels come up, and 'twould please me mightily anI could see the meeting. 'Twill be a cause of delay also, for they willassuredly tell what has befallen them, and every minute thus filled willbetter our chances of escape."
"But they will increase our enemies' force, and, moreover, we shall loseas many minutes in carrying them from this vessel to the _San Felipe_,"said I.
"Which we shall gain by the lightening of our freight," replied Hilary."And we will e'en set about it at once, while the men are still bringingthe goods aboard."
Whereupon the Spaniards were brought up in small parties and conveyed tothe _San Felipe_. And then, all things being ready, the _Bonaventura_cast off and made sail, beating up against the wind as she retraced thecourse we had followed before.
The sun was rising as she came out into the open sea beyond thesouth-eastern corner of the island. 'Twas Hilary's design to set astraight course for England.
"There is treasure enough aboard," he said, "and did we essay to gainmore we might lose what we have. Remember the dog in the fable; let usnot lose the substance by grasping at the shadow."
"I fear me we shall have trouble with Captain Q," I said. "His mind isset on taking up his old trade of corsair, and he will not readily quitthese haunts of the sea-rovers."
"Then he will e'en be a Jonah, and we had best cast him at onceoverboard," cried Tom Hawke.
"Nay, let us leave him to Kitt," said Hilary. "Mind ye how Kitt wroughtupon us with his tongue when we discovered him in the hold? Kitt shallbe our ambassador."
As we made the north-eastern corner of the island we espied, far away tothe west, two Spanish galleons making what speed they could against thewind, and, we doubted not, coming in chase of us. At sight of themCaptain Q was beset by a great excitement, and called upon our master toheave-to and await the villain Dons.
"Ay, ay, sir," was the ready reply. But seeing that the moment was nowcome when I must employ my best arts to bring him to accord with us(and, for all that Hilary had said, I had no great faith in my tongue'spersuasiveness), I led him apart, and by degrees brought him to anunderstanding of the resolution to which we had come. 'Twas for sometime a question whether the Captain's passion for fight or his avaricewould get the better of it in his unstable mind, but the balance turnedin our favour when I took him down into the cabin, and, pointing to thetreasure-chests, asked him whether he could endure to risk the loss ofthings so precious. He stood in deep thought for a while; then, heavinga great sigh, he yielded.
All that day the Spaniards continued to hold us in chase, and when withthe veering of the wind they gained somewhat upon us, I marked how theeyes of Captain Q lit up as it seemed that we must fight in our owndespite. But they dropped away again, and at nightfall were hull downupon the sea-line, and when next morning's sun arose they were nowhereto be seen.
From that time the Captain fell into a settled melancholy. 'Twould seemthat the sudden changes that were come about in his life, after elevenyears of solitude, had put a strain upon his already enfeebled intellect'twas unable to bear. He sat for long hours on deck, gazing towards theshores he would never see again, silent, taking no heed of us or ofaught that happened around him. Nay, he ceased to watch over histreasure with the same jealousy, and when Hilary and the otheradventurers could no longer curb their impatience, but demanded to seethe wealth which they were to share, he consented, with a wan and feeblesmile. We opened the chests in his presence, only Hilary, Tom Hawke,and I being there with him.
WE OPENED THE CHESTS IN HIS PRESENCE]
My report had prepared my friends to see gold and jewels of great price,but they were none the less amazed beyond measure when the contents ofthe chests were displayed before them. One, the property of Don Alfonsode Silva de Marabona (his name was writ in full upon the cover), heldenough to make us all rich beyond our dreams. The other, consigned tohis Catholic Majesty King Philip himself, was filled with rare gems, thevalue whereof we could not so much as guess. "By my beard, Kitt," criedHilary, "'twas a rarely kind fate that sent thee as slave to thy AdmiralMarrow-bones. We might have roved the seas full ten years withoutgetting a tithe of this treasure."
"And it vexes me sorely to think that my friend Antonio can profitnothing by it," said I.
"Reck nothing of him," cried Tom Hawke. "What does that little chest ofthine contain? Let us see, old lad."
"'Tis only papers, as Captain Q told me," said I, looking forconfirmation at the Captain, who, however, sat listless and inattentivein his chair.
"Well, let us see them," said Hilary. "Maybe they will give us the truevalue of this store of gems."
We opened the chest, and Tom Hawke sniffed and hemmed when he saw thatit held indeed nought but a few documents, somewhat mildewed and yellow.They were all writ in the Spanish tongue, not one of us could read them;and though Richard Ball had some skill in speaking the language, heconfessed when I asked him that he could not even read his own nativeEnglish, and so was not like to be of service here. We laid theparchments again in the chest, I promising myself that when we came toport I would have them overlooked by some one who was well acquaintedwith the language of Castile.
The _Bonaventura_ made quick sailing, and we had fair weather until wecame off the Azores, where we suffered a heavy buffeting from a storm.Somewhat battered, our galleon sailed into Southampton Water one day inMarch of 1588. Captain Q had aged ten years in his aspect during thetwo months' voyage. He rarely broke his silence, yielded with a patientsmile to my least suggestion, and seemed even to have forgotten thetreasure which had once been so dear to him. When it came to bedivided, a tenth share was set apart by general consent for the poorwitless gentleman, and being well placed through the offices of anattorney of our town, the Captain might live in his own house and enjoygreat comfort for the rest of his days. One-third was apportioned amongthe mariners, every man of them becoming possessor of means sufficientto keep him luxuriously for his rank and condition. An eighth wasallotted to me, and the remainder parted out among Hilary and hisfellow-adventurers.
As soon as might be I placed the documents from my chest in the hands ofa man well skilled i
n the Spanish tongue. And then to my great joy'twas proved that one of them had a vast importance for my friendAntonio. The story told him by the admiral, his uncle, was false. DonAntonio, so far from having sold his estates in Hispaniola to hisbrother, had in fact purchased the admiral's estates; the document inquestion was a conveyance drawn up in due form according to the law ofSpain. Having learnt this, I was hot set to have the document conveyedto Antonio, so that the wrong he had suffered might be undone. It maywell be conceived that, in that year when the great Armada was beingfitted out against us, there was no communication between us and Spain,and if I had waited until the two nations were reconciled, 'tis likethat the admiral would have enjoyed his ill-got wealth for long yearsundisturbed. But I found means, through some excellent friends, todispatch the document to Don Antonio's lawyers in Madrid (their namebeing writ upon it) by way of Paris; and many years afterwards, when Ihad a humble place at her Majesty's court, I learnt through the Spanishambassador that right had been done.
Eighteen years ago, when I journeyed to Madrid for behoof of PrinceCharles, there seeking a bride, ('twas on my return that King James mademe a knight), I found my old friend Antonio a grandee of Spain, and avery stout and (I must own) pompous gentleman. He did not recognise me:indeed, 'twas not to be expected that he should, seeing that when he hadknown me my cheeks were as smooth as the palm of your hand, and the hairof my head thick and strong; whereas now I am bearded like the pard (asWill Shakespeare says), and my locks, alas! are sparse and grizzled.But when I made myself known to him he clipped me by the hand, andthanked me with exceeding warmth for what I had been able to do for hisgood. Moreover, he told me that his own uncle Don Alfonso had beenaboard the foremost galleon of those two that stood in chase of us whenwe sailed away that day from Tortuga. The noble admiral was cast into awondrous amazement when he came upon the _San Felipe_, the which hadbeen so long lost, and lived ever after in a constant dread lest hisill-doing should be brought to light. This wrought so heavily upon hismind that it became disordered, and when the full tale of his crime wasbrought in due time from Spain he sank into a dotage and shortly afterdied. Don Antonio was pleased to give me, in remembrance of our ancientfriendship, a signet ring which had been his father's, and I have it inmy cabinet, not caring overmuch to wear such gauds.
As for Captain Q, he dwelt for many a year in the house we bought forhim at Bitterne, across the river. I saw him often; his wits were quitegone, poor gentleman! and he remembered nothing of the strangehappenings that brought us together. 'Tis forty years and more since Imade a journey to the little village of Quimperle in Brittany, in hopethat I might discover somewhat of the family of one who must have been anotable figure there in his youth. 'Twas a bootless quest. Some of themore ancient inhabitants remembered a young Huguenot named Marcel deMonteray who had fought in the wars of religion, and had been, 'twassaid, a captain in the army of Conde; but he had never returned to hisnative place, and all his kinsfolk were long since dead. Whether Marcelde Monteray and Captain Q were the same person I do not know, and nevershall. When I spoke the name in the Captain's hearing it broughtnothing to his remembrance. To all Southampton, as to me, he was ever amysterious personage. As Captain Q he lived, and when his time came todie (and he was then of a very great age), as Captain Q he was buried.
tailpiece to First Part]