CHAPTER TEN.
SENOR JOSE GARCIA.
Meanwhile, my wounded shoulder had been giving me a great deal oftrouble, becoming very inflamed, and refusing to heal; so that upon myarrival in Port Royal I was compelled to at once go into the hospital,where for a whole week it remained an open question whether it would notbe necessary to amputate the arm. Fortunately for me, the headsurgeon--Sandy McAlister--was a wonderfully clever fellow, of infinitepatience and inflexible determination; and, having expressed the opinionthat the limb could be saved, he brought all the skill and knowledge ofwhich he was possessed to the task of saving it, with the result that,in the end, he was successful. But it meant for me three weeks in thehospital, at the end of which time I was discharged, not as cured, butas in a fair way to be, provided that I took the utmost care of myselfand strictly adhered to the regimen which the worthy McAlisterprescribed for me.
By the time that I was free of the hospital the saucy little _Tern_ wasbeginning, under the hands of the repairers, to look something like herold self again, and I was kept busy from morning to night attending to ahundred and one details connected with her refit. Nevertheless I foundtime to present myself for examination, and, having passed with flyingcolours, next day found myself a full-fledged lieutenant, thanks to thevery kindly interest taken in me by my genial old friend the admiral.To that same kindly interest I was also indebted for the friendlyovertures made by, and the hospitable invitations without numberreceived from, the planters and other persons of importance belonging tothe island; but I had my duty to attend to and my wound to think of, andI therefore very sparingly accepted the invitations that came pouring inupon me. Nevertheless I made many new friends, and enjoyed my shortspell ashore amazingly.
The admiral was, as I have already said, particularly kind to me inevery way, and in nothing more so than in the unstinting commendationwhich he bestowed upon my conduct during my first brief cruise in the_Tern_. Yet, despite all this, it was not difficult for me to perceivethat the reflection that Morillo and his gang were still at largegreatly nettled him, and that I could not find a surer way to hiscontinued favour than by finding and capturing or destroying theaudacious pirate.
Accordingly I made what inquiries I could relating to the whereabouts ofthe fellow's headquarters, and also instructed Black Peter to try hisluck in the same direction; but, up to within twenty-four hours of thetime when the schooner would again be ready for sea, neither of us hadmet with the slightest success. When, however, the twenty-four hourshad dwindled down to ten, I received the welcome intimation that BlackPeter had at length contrived to get upon Morillo's trail. Theinformation was brought to me by Black Peter himself, who, havingsecured an afternoon's liberty, which he broke by coming aboard aboutten-thirty instead of at six o'clock p.m., presented himself--considerably the worse for liquor, I regret to say--at my cabin door,beaming hilariously all over his sable countenance as he stuttered--
"We-e-ll, M-mistah Cour'-nay, I g-got him a' las', sah!"
"Got who, you black rascal? And what do you mean, sir, by breaking yourleave, and then presenting yourself in this disgraceful condition? Youare drunk, sir; too drunk to stand steadily, too drunk to speak plainly;and I should only be giving you your deserts if I were to turn you overto the master-at-arms. What have you to say for yourself, eh, sir?" Ifiercely demanded.
"Wha' have I to s-s-say for 'shelf, Mistah C-Cour'-nay? Ha! ha! I hasp-plenty to s-s-shay. Why, sah, I--I--I've _g-got_ him, sah!"
"Got who, you villain? Got who?" I reiterated.
"Why--why--M-M- Mor--the pirate!" blurted Peter, finding himself unableto successfully pronounce Morillo's name.
"Do you mean to say that you have succeeded in obtaining news ofMorillo, Peter?" I demanded eagerly, my anger at the fellow's conditionat once giving way to the keenest curiosity.
"I--just dat, sah; no less," answered Peter, nodding his head as heleered at me with a drunken look of preternatural smartness.
"Then," said I, "go and get somebody to pump cold water upon your headuntil you are sober, after which you may come back here and tell me allabout it. And if you fail to give a good account of yourself, standclear, my man! I fancy a taste of the cat will do you no harm."
Peter regarded me with horror for a moment as the sinister meaning ofthis threat dawned upon his muddled senses; then he drew himself up tohis full height, saluted with drunken gravity, and vanished into theouter darkness, as he stumblingly made his way up the companion ladderand for'ard.
About a quarter of an hour later he returned, comparatively sober, and,saluting again, stood in the doorway, waiting for me to question him.
"So there you are again, eh?" remarked I. "Very well. Now, Peter, ifyou are sober enough to speak plainly, I should like to know what youmeant by saying that you have `got' Morillo, the pirate. Do you meanthat you have actually found and _captured_ the fellow?"
"Well, no, Mistah Courtenay, I don't dissactly mean that; no such luck,sah! But I'se got de next best t'ing, sah; I'se got a man who says heknows where Morillo's to be foun'," answered Peter.
"Um! well that is better than nothing--if your friend is to be trusted,"said I. "Who is he, and where did you run athwart him?"
"He ain't no friend ob mine," answered Peter, virtuously indignant at soinsulting an insinuation; "he's jus' a yaller man--a half-breed--dat Imet at a rum shop up in Kingston. I heard him mention Morillo's name,so I jined him in a bottle ob rum,--_which I paid for out ob my ownpocket_, Mistah Courtenay,--and axed him some questions. He wouldn'tsay much, but he kep' on boastin' dat he knew where Morillo could befound any time--excep' when he was at sea. So I made him drunk wid myrum, Mistah Courtenay, and den brought him aboard here instead obputtin' him aboard his own footy little felucca in Kingston harbour."
"I see. And where is the fellow now, Peter?" inquired I.
"Where is he now, sah?" repeated Peter. "Why, sah, he is on deck,comfortably asleep between two ob de guns, where I put him when I comeaboard."
"Very good, Peter; I begin to think you were not so very drunk afterall," answered I, well pleased. "But it will not do to leave him ondeck all night," I continued; "he will get sober, and give us the slip.So, to make quite sure of him, stow him away down below, and have a setof irons clapped on him. When we are fairly at sea to-morrow, I willhave him up on deck, and see what can be made of him. Meanwhile, Peter,he is your prisoner, remember, and I shall hold you responsible for him.Now go and turn in, and beware how you appear before me drunk again."
Early next morning I presented myself at the admiral's office, timingmyself so as to catch the old gentleman immediately upon his arrivalfrom Kingston, when, having reported the _Tern_ as ready for sea, Ireceived my orders to sail forthwith, and also written instructions inreference to the especial object of my cruise. These, I was by no meanssurprised to find, indicated that, while doing my utmost to harass theenemy, I was to devote myself especially to the task of hunting down andcutting short the career of Morillo the pirate and his gang of cut-throats.
We weighed shortly before noon, beating out against a sea breeze thatroared through our rigging with the strength of half a gale; and when wewere fairly clear of the shoals I gave orders for Black Peter's prisonerof the previous night to be brought on deck. A minute or two later thefellow--a half-caste Spanish negro--stood before me; and when I beheldwhat manner of man he was, I could readily believe him to be on terms offriendly intimacy not only with Morillo but with all the human scum ofthe Caribbean. The rascal presented a not altogether unpicturesquefigure, as he stood in the brilliant sunlight, poising himself with thecareless, easy grace of the practised seaman upon the heaving, lurchingdeck of the plunging schooner; for he was attired in a white shirt, withbroad falling collar loosely confined at the neck by a black silkhandkerchief, blue dungaree trousers rolled up to the knee and securedround the waist by a knotted crimson silk sash, and his head wasenfolded in a similar sash, the fringed ends of which drooped upon hisleft shoulder.
But it was the fellow's countenance that riveted myattention despite myself; it was of itself ugly enough to have commandedattention anywhere, but to its natural ugliness there was added thefurther repulsiveness of expression that bespoke a character notablealike for low, unscrupulous cunning and the most ferocious cruelty. Butfor the fact that he had been encountered upon ground whereon neitherMorillo nor any of his gang would have dared to show themselves, I couldreadily have believed that he not only had a pretty intimate knowledgeof the movements and haunts of the pirates, but that he was probably adistinguished member of the gang.
"Well, my fine fellow, pray what may your name be?" I demanded inEnglish, as he was led up and halted before me.
"Too mosh me no speakee Anglish!" he promptly replied, shrugging hisshoulders until they touched the great gold rings that adorned the lobesof his ears, and spreading out his hands, palms upward, toward me.
"What _do_ you speak, then?" I demanded, still in English, for somehowI did not for a moment believe the rascal's statement.
"Me Espanol," he answered, with another shrug and flourish of his hands.
"Good, then!" remarked I, in Spanish; "I will endeavour to converse withyou in your own tongue. What is your name?"
"I am called Jose Garcia, senor," he answered.
"And you were born--?" I continued interrogatively.
"In the city of Havana, thirty-two years ago, senor," was the reply.
"Then if you are a Spaniard--and consequently an enemy of GreatBritain--what were you doing in Kingston?" I demanded.
"Ah no, senor," he exclaimed protestingly; "I am no enemy of GreatBritain, although born a Spaniard. I have lived in Jamaica for the lastfifteen years, earning my living as a fisherman."
"Fifteen years!" I repeated. "Strange that you should have lived solong among English-speaking people without acquiring some knowledge oftheir language; and still more strange that you should have spokenEnglish last night in the grog shop in the presence and hearing of mysteward! How do you account for so very singular a circumstance asthat?"
The fellow was so completely taken aback that for a few seconds he couldfind no reply. Then, seemingly convinced that further deception wasuseless, he suddenly gave in, exclaiming, in excellent English--
"Ah, sir, forgive me; I have been lying to you!"
"With what purpose?" I demanded. "Instinct, perhaps," he answered,with a short, uneasy laugh. "The moment I was brought on deck Irecognised that I was aboard a British ship-of-war, and I smelt danger."
"Ah," I remarked, "you afford another illustration of the adage that `aguilty conscience needs no accuser.' What have you been doing that youshould `smell' danger upon finding yourself aboard a British man-o'-war?"
"I have been doing nothing; but I feared that you intended to impressme," answered the fellow.
"So I am," returned I, "but not for long, if you behave yourself. Andwhen you have rendered the service which I require of you, you shall berichly rewarded, according as you serve me faithfully or otherwise."
"And--and--what is this service, sir?" demanded he, with some slightuneasiness of manner.
"You last night boasted that you could at anytime find Morillo--unlesshe happened to be at sea," I said. "Now, I want to find Morillo. Tellme where I may meet with him, and you shall receive fifty pounds withinan hour of the moment when I shall have carried his ship a prize intoPort Royal harbour."
"Morillo? who is Morillo?" he demanded, trying unsuccessfully to assumean air of ignorance and indifference at the mention of the name.
"He is the pirate of whom you were speaking last night," I answeredsharply, for I suspected that he was about to attempt further deceptionwith me.
"I must have been drunk indeed to talk about a man of whom I have neverheard," he exclaimed, with a hollow pretence at a laugh.
"Do you mean to tell me that you do not know Morillo, or anything abouthim?" I demanded angrily. "Now, take time to consider your answer. Iwant the truth, and the truth I am determined to have by one means oranother. You have attempted to deceive me once, beware how you makesuch an attempt a second time. Now, what do you know of Morillo thepirate?"
"Nothing!" the fellow answered sullenly. But there was a shrinking ofhimself together, and a sudden grey pallor of the lips, that told howsevere a tax upon his courage it was--under the circumstances--to utterthe lie.
"Think again!" I said, pulling out my watch. "I will give you fiveminutes in which to overhaul your memory. If by the end of that timeyou fail I must endeavour to find means to refresh it."
"What will you do?" demanded the fellow, with a scowl that entirelyfailed to conceal the trepidation which my remark had caused him.
I made no reply whatever, but rose, walked to the binnacle, took asquint at the compass, and then a long look aloft as I turned over in mymind the idea that had suggested itself to me, asking myself whether Ishould be justified in carrying it into action. I believed I now prettywell understood the kind of man I had to deal with; I took him to be atreacherous, unscrupulous, lying scoundrel, and a coward withal,--asindeed such people generally are,--and it was his cowardice that Iproposed to play upon in order to extort from him the information Idesired to obtain. In a word, my plan was to seize him up and threatento flog him if he refused to speak. My only difficulty arose from adoubt as to how I ought to proceed in the event of my threat failing toeffect the desired result. Should I be justified in actually carryingmy threat into execution? For, after all, the fellow really might _not_know anything about Morillo; his remarks to Black Peter on the previousnight might be nothing more than boastful lies. And if they were, allthe flogging I might give him could not make him tell that of which hehad no knowledge. But somehow I had a conviction that he _could_ tellme a great deal that I should be glad to know, if he only chose; so Ifinally decided that if he continued contumacious I would risk givinghim a stroke or two, being guided in my after conduct by his behaviourunder the lash.
By the time that I had fully arrived at this resolution the fiveminutes' grace had expired, and I returned to where the fellow stillstood, guarded by a Jack with drawn cutlass.
"Well," I demanded, "which is it to be? Will you speak freely, or mustI compel you?"
"I have nothing to say; and I demand to know by what authority I havebeen kidnapped and brought aboard this accursed schooner?" was thereply.
"Did I not tell you a few minutes ago that you are impressed?" Ianswered. "You have been brought aboard here in order that you mayrender me a service, which I am convinced you _can_ render if you will.When that service has been faithfully performed, I will not only set youfree again but I will also handsomely reward you. You know what theservice is that I require of you. Once more, will you or will you notrender it?"
"I repeat that I have nothing to say. Put me in irons again if youchoose; you cannot make a man tell that which he does not know,"answered Garcia; and as he spoke he turned away, seeming to considerthat the dialogue was at an end.
"Here, not so fast, my joker," interrupted the seaman who had the fellowin charge, seizing Garcia unceremoniously by the back of the neck andtwisting him round until he faced me again, "it ain't good manners,sonny, to turn your back upon your superiors until they tells you thatthey've done with you, and that you can go."
The half-breed turned upon his custodian with a snarl, and a drawingback of his upper lip that exposed a whole row of yellow fangs, whilehis hand went, as from long habit, to his girdle, as though in quest ofa knife; but the look of contemptuous amusement with which the sailorregarded him cowed the fellow, and he again faced me, meekly enough.
"Now," said I, "your little fit of petulance being over, let me ask youonce more, and for the last time, will you or will you not afford me theinformation I require?"
"No, Senor Englishman, I will _not_! I am a Spaniard and Morillo is aSpaniard, and nothing you can do shall induce me to betray a fellow-countryman! Is that plain enough for you?"
"Quite," I answered
, "and almost as satisfactory as though you hadreplied to my question. You have as good as admitted that you can, ifyou choose, tell me what I want to know; now it remains for me to seewhether there are any means of compelling you to speak. Take him awayfor'ard, and keep a sharp eye upon him," I continued, to the sailor whohad him in charge. "And as you go pass the word for the carpenter torig the grating. Perhaps a taste of the cat may loosen this gentleman'stongue."
"The cat?" exclaimed the half-breed, wheeling suddenly round as he wasbeing led away; "do you mean that you are going to flog me?"
"Certainly, unless you choose to speak of your own free will," answeredI.
"Very well, then, I _will_ speak; and your blood be on your own head!"he hissed through his clenched teeth. "I will direct you how to findMorillo, and when you have found him he will amply avenge your insult tome, and your audacity in seeking him; he will make your life such anunendurable torment to you that you will pray him, with tears of blood,to put you out of your misery. And I shall be there to see you suffer,and to laugh in your face as he refuses to grant you the boon of aspeedy death."
"That is all right," I answered cheerfully, "I must take the risk of thefate you have so powerfully suggested. And now, that matter beingdisposed of, I shall be glad to hear from you how I am to find yourfriend."
The fellow regarded me in stupid surprise for a moment, as though hecould not understand his failure to terrify me by his vaguely awfulthreat; then, with a gesture that I interpreted as indicative of hisfinal abandonment of me to the destruction that I seemed determined tocourt, he said--
"Do you know anything of the Grenadines, senor?"
"No," I answered, "nothing, except that they exist, and that they form apractically unbroken chain of islets stretching between the islands ofSaint Vincent and Grenada."
"That is so," he assented. "One of the most important of these isletsis situate about thirteen miles to the northward of Grenada, and iscalled Cariacou. It is supposed to be uninhabited, but it is nothing ofthe kind; Morillo has taken possession of it, and established quite alittle settlement upon it. There is a snug harbour at its south-westernextremity, affording perfect shelter and concealment for his brigantine,and all round the shore of the harbour he has built storehouses andresidences for himself and his people. I pray only that he may be athome to give you a fitting reception."
"I am much obliged for your kind wish," I replied drily. "And now, justone question more--is this harbour of which you speak difficult ofaccess? Are there any rocks or shoals at its entrance or inside?"
"No, none whatever; it can safely be entered on the darkest night," wasthe answer.
"Good," I returned; "that will do for the present, Senor Garcia, andmany thanks for your information. You will observe that I have acceptedas true every word that you have spoken; but I should like you to thinkeverything over again, and satisfy yourself that you have made nomistake. Because I warn you that if you _have you will be shot on theinstant_. You may go!"
He was forthwith marched away and placed in close confinement below,--for my interview with him had convinced me that the fellow was asmalignantly spiteful as a snake, and would willingly destroy the shipand all hands if an opportunity were afforded him,--after which Iretired to my cabin, got out the chart, and set the course for theisland of Cariacou, a course which we could just comfortably lay withyards braced taut against the lee rigging and all sheets well flattenedin. The trade wind was blowing fresh enough to compel us to furl ourtopgallant sail, but it was steady, and under a whole topsail andmainsail the little hooker drove ahead over the long, regular ridges ofswell at a good, honest, nine-knot pace hour after hour, as steadily asthe chronometer itself. We sighted the island, some sixteen milesdistant, on the evening of our fourth day out, and I at once shortenedsail and hove-to, in order that I might carry out a little plan which Ihad concocted during our run across.