CHAPTER TWELVE.
NARROW ESCAPES OF THE CASTAWAYS--THE SQUADRON HEAVES IN SIGHT AGAIN.
The seamen needed no second bidding. From Roger's description it couldbe none other than the pirate vessel, and both knew what their fatewould be if they were so unfortunate as to be discovered by the pirates.Rapidly throwing on their clothes, they came out of the hut, and anexamination of the vessel over the top of the bank convinced them thatRoger's statement was only too true.
"How about the flag though, sir?" said Bevan. "If they have seen that--and it is almost certain that they have--they will think there areothers here, and will search. It will be no use hiding then; for ifthey believe anybody else to be here, they will search till they findus."
"I think we need not greatly trouble about the flag," responded Roger."They will imagine that poor Evans set up the staff and flag before hedied, in the hope of attracting attention; they will hardly trouble toexamine it closely enough to discover that it is made of two red shirts.Besides, for aught that they know, Evans might have taken two redshirts ashore with him in his chest when he was marooned. No, itmatters not if the flag has been seen. But come along, men; everymoment lost now only increases our danger."
They forthwith set to work in grim earnest, labouring for their lives.The casks were rolled out of the store, and holes were scooped in thesand for their reception. To bury them was not a long job. They tookcare, however, to set aside some provisions and water for their usewhile in hiding. Next came the job of burying their simple utensils,such as they were, and also the shell of the turtle. Then there was thegruesome task of digging up the body of poor Evans. It had to be done,and the sooner the better, as Roger said; so all three went to theunpleasant duty. The mound of sand was removed, the tilling taken out,and they presently came upon the body. The sand was brushed from thehair and clothing of the corpse, and it was then carried to the hut,placed in its previous position, and covered with the blanket in whichit had been buried.
This completed their preparations for the pirates' landing--for it wascertain that they would land; otherwise why should they have returned tothe island? Their work had lasted longer than they thought, and away tothe east the first sign of dawn was apparent by the time they hadfinished. They knew the marvellous rapidity with which the day comesand goes in those regions, and recognised the need for haste if theywere to gain their proposed place of concealment unperceived; for therewould certainly be sharp eyes on board the pirate, looking for the firstsign of the marooned man. They therefore took, each man, his share ofthe provisions, and, keeping carefully below the concealing top of thesand-bank, started to run at their utmost speed for the ledge of rockswhich was to be their refuge.
Meanwhile daylight was coming with terrible rapidity. The shoreextremity of the ledge of rocks was reached after what seemed aneternity, and they began their passage out along it as fast as theycould go. It was dangerous going among the rocks, but danger, frightfuldanger, spurred them on. Looking seaward they could make out the hullof the pirate vessel quite distinctly, and they all prayed that theymight not be so easily perceived. At last they reached the hollow amongthe rocks, which was to be their haven of refuge, and tumbled over oneanother into it.
Having at length got their breath, Jake Irwin put forward the sensiblesuggestion that they should take their morning meal at once; and theyproceeded to do so, all, however, with a very unpleasant feeling that itmight quite possibly be their last. They finished with a hearty draughtof brandy-and-water, to put some spirit into them after their toilsomenight's work, Bevan and Irwin having taken especial care to bring a goodquantity of the liquor along. Then they scrambled cautiously up and hada look at the schooner, taking care to remain well hidden themselves.They were, in their present position, much nearer to the pirate vesselthan when they first saw her, and, as the sun got up and shone on herstern, they could, with some little difficulty, make out her name--the_Black Pearl_,--which was painted in large red letters across hercounter. Presently signs of returning life were apparent on board, andsoon afterwards a boat was filled with men and lowered. It pushed offas soon as it touched the water, and made for the shore.
How fortunate was it, thought Roger, and how much like a specialdispensation of Providence for their safety, that they had forgotten toreplenish the fire on the night before! Had it been burning, thepirates would have known that living beings were on the island, forEvans's body gave evidence that it had been dead too long for them tosuppose that a fire lit by him would still be burning. The remains ofit they certainly would see, but they would doubtless believe that Evanshad made it, and that it had gone out after his death, little dreamingthat at the moment when they let go their anchor the ashes could havebeen scarcely cold.
While these thoughts were passing through Roger's mind, the boat landed,and her people got out and proceeded quickly up the beach. A shoutpresently announced that they had caught sight of the new hut, towardwhich all hands at once wended their way. For some time nothing wasseen or heard of the pirates; but eventually three of them went down tothe beach again, and, entering the boat, pulled off to the ship.
"Going to inform Leirya that the victim of his cruelty is dead,"whispered Roger to Bevan; and the latter nodded.
After the boat had remained some few minutes alongside the _BlackPearl_, a man of enormous size was seen to descend the ship's side andenter her, when she again pushed off, and was pulled shorewards oncemore.
"I'll stake my allowance of grog for the day," whispered Jake Irwin tothe two others, "that that man in the stern-sheets there, handlin' thetiller, is Jose Leirya hisself, comin' ashore to make sure that the manis really dead, and to secure they there papers what Evans said he stolefrom the cabin; that's what's brought him back, I'll warrant. It's apity you didn't remember, sir, to take 'em from the body. Evans saidthey was vallyble."
Roger, according to his promise, did not inform Jake that he had thepapers in his possession at that moment.
"Ss--sh!" whispered Jake, suddenly withdrawing his head from its pointof lookout, "here they come! God in heaven! why don't they go back tothe ship now they see as Evans is dead? What more do they want?Surely, sir, we didn't leave nothin' about that'd show 'em we was here,did we? I thought we cleared away all our traces."
"So we did," replied Roger, "so far as I can remember, that is. It isperhaps only by chance that they are coming this way."
The men came nearer and nearer, and ventured out a little way along therocks. Presently they heard a voice at some distance away shout inSpanish: "Ha, you, Gomez, go out to the end of that ledge and see if thewater is deep enough for boats to lie alongside the rocks."
A voice replied: "Ay, ay, Captain!" from a point so close to them thatits owner must have come almost to their hiding-place without thefugitives either seeing or hearing him.
The three looked at one another, and then, as if the same thought hadcome to each of them at the same moment, they with one accord advancedcautiously and stationed themselves behind a rock by which the man mustpass to reach the edge of the ledge. Here, where they now were,everything that might transpire would be screened from the others,unless some of them were following Gomez out along the ledge. But theymust risk that. Crouching low, and as silent as watching cats, theywaited for the man Gomez.
In a moment or two they heard his footsteps on the rocks, and his heavybreathing. Nearer and nearer he came, and now he was almost on them!Then with a spring they had him, and he was down among the rocks beforehe could utter a sound. Quick as lightning Jake pushed a handful ofsand and sea-weed into the Spaniard's mouth, and clapped his hand overit to prevent its ejection, Roger and Bevan at the same instant seizingthe man's arms and legs. The eyes of Gomez were staring and startingout of his head with mortal terror at this utterly unexpected attack.Jake drew his knife. Roger shook his head violently in dissent, butJake whispered hastily: "It must be, sir; we can't help it; it is hislife or ours!"
Roger turned his head aw
ay, and the next moment he heard a horriblechoke and gurgle, while the body writhed violently as he held the arms.A flood of something hot rushed over his hands and arms, and he feltquite sick.
"Now, sir, quick!" said Jake. "It's our only chance. There's anoverhanging ledge of rock here. We must take the provisions, and this'ere corpse, and git into the water, floatin' under the ledge until theygoes; for when this chap Gomez is found to be missin', they'll searchand find us if we don't do as I say. We must risk the sharks!"
There was clearly nothing else for it; so they slipped in, taking thecorpse with them, and all got under the ledge--which quite concealedthem--and supported the dead body, that it might not float away andbetray them.
The proceeding was fraught with danger, as sharks swarmed in thosewaters, and the blood that was oozing from the Spaniard's body would bealmost certain to attract those monsters of the sea,--their scent forblood being very keen. The flesh of the fugitives crept, and theknowledge that one of them might be seized kept them in a state ofperfectly agonising suspense. They had been in for some time, and theposition was becoming unendurable when: "Gomez, Gomez, where are you?Hasten, man; we do not want to wait here all day!" came from the veryledge underneath which they were floating, and holding, meanwhile, thecorpse of the man who was then being called by name.
"Where can he be, curse him?" growled the same voice. "What has becomeof the lazy hound? Carrajo, I will flog him when we get on board!Gomez!"
There was, of course, no reply.
"He may have fallen in and been drowned, or taken by a shark,perchance," suggested another voice.
More oaths followed, together with a lengthy dissertation on Gomez'sancestors, both immediate and remote. At this moment Bevan gave vent toa suppressed gasp, and, following his gaze, the others saw the dorsalfins of several sharks which had evidently scented the blood stilldraining from the body of the slain man, and were now searching fortheir prey. Then the concealed listeners heard--from someone who hadevidently been to the edge of the ledge to search for the missing man--
"I have looked, Captain, and Gomez is nowhere to be found."
There were more awful oaths from Jose--for it was indeed that renownedand most notorious scoundrel,--and then he again spoke:
"He must have fallen in and been drowned--curses on him for a clumsyfool! Yes; and there are the sharks that have taken his worthlesscarcass. Come, you; we will return to the schooner. It is useless tosearch further for him, for he will never come back."
Meanwhile the sharks were coming ever closer and closer still, while thefootsteps of the pirate and his companions were heard retreating. Theminds of the hiding trio _were_ much relieved at the departure of JoseLeirya and his villains, and particularly at Jose's mention of hisintention to return to the vessel; but the suspense of waiting for themto retire, while the sharks were edging ever nearer and nearer, wasawful. The triangular fins of these terrible monsters were now dartingrapidly hither and thither, and at every dart the voracious fish camenearer than before. Momentarily they expected to see one or more of thefins disappear below the surface, and they knew that when that happenedthey might anticipate seizure by the shark a few seconds later. But asyet the fins remained visible on the surface of the water.
Poor Roger was nearly fainting with anxiety and apprehension, whileBevan was rapidly becoming exhausted. At length the strain on theirnerves became unendurable, and Jake Irwin said: "I don't think thosefellows'll hear us now, even if we splash; and if we don't splash, theysharks'll be at us in a few minutes. Anyhow, I'm a-goin' to risk it!"
Forthwith they all began to splash vigorously, although as yet theydared not shout. The sudden commotion of the water, coming after thedead silence that had previously reigned, startled the great fish, andthe fins instantly scattered in all directions, to the great relief ofthe fugitives. But, as Jake said: "That won't keep 'em off very long;they've smelled blood, and they'll be around again directly."
He then swam a stroke or two, very cautiously, out from under the ledge,in order to have a peep at the pirates and ascertain whether they werestill in sight. They were, but if they pushed on without stopping theywould be out of sight in a few moments. But the question was--wouldthey be able to keep the sharks at bay for that short time? It wasdoubtful, to say the least of it, yet they dared not move out of theirhiding-place just then, or the pirates would be certain to see themmaking the attempt. The inaction was beginning--nay, had long sincebegun--to tell on their nerves, and poor Roger felt as though he couldscarcely refrain from shrieking aloud, so great was the tension. Andthose terrible fins were again gathering about them! One by one theycame edging back, ever nearer and nearer. At last the fugitives couldendure it no longer, and, taking the corpse by the shoulders and turningit into a more favourable position for his purpose, Bevan said: "They'llwait no longer. Now, when I push this 'ere dead body off, jump for yourlives back on to the ledge. We must risk being seen; for they sharksdon't mean to be denied."
He then gave the corpse a violent push seaward, and the three made asimultaneous scramble for the safety of the ledge. Jake was up first,and extended his hand to Roger, while behind them they heard theclashing and snapping of jaws, and the sudden rushing wash of water, asthe body of Gomez was torn to pieces by the hungry monsters.
The commotion in the water was terrible, and horribly suggestive, as thesharks snapped and struggled and fought for their share of the prey; andthey thought that surely the pirates must hear, and, hearing, return tosee what all the noise was about. Roger was out now, and only Bevanremained in the water. Jake and Roger stretched out their hands, Bevangrasped them with his own, and, with a simultaneous pull, out he came,landing on his knees on the rock. But only just in time; for even as heleft the water a huge shark, of at least twenty-five feet in length,came dashing at him with such furious determination that he ran hisgreat snout, with its rows of shining saw-edged teeth, right up on theledge, so close as actually to graze Bevan's body. The man, however,hastily sprang aside, capsizing Irwin and Roger, and the three fellpell-mell into the hollow in the rocks which had served as their formerhiding-place.
Safe at last; but what a narrow and providential escape! And now todiscover whether the pirates had seen them. Jake climbed up to hisformer coign of vantage, and as soon as he clapped his eye to thepeep-hole he held up his hand in warning. Roger shuddered. "Afterall," thought he, "after those hairbreadth escapes, have they seen us,and are they coming back to take us?"
Jake now came creeping cautiously down, and whispered that the pirateshad not gone off as far as they had anticipated; indeed they were notvery far away even now. They had evidently not seen the fugitives leavethe water, but they were all standing in a group, looking back towardthe hiding-place, and, so far as Jake could judge, they seemed to belistening. Bevan now crawled up and had a look, and then beckoned tothe rest. They climbed up alongside him, and, through the peep-hole,saw that the pirates had now relaxed their attitude of attention, andwere once more walking slowly away, ever and anon taking a backwardglance over their shoulders. Presently they disappeared from sightbehind the rocks, and the fugitives breathed more freely.
Roger said: "If now they but go straight off to their ship we are saved.I trust they will not chance to stumble upon any of our buriedprovision-barrels, or they will at once suspect our presence and searchuntil they find us; for I can see that they are not altogether easy intheir minds over the strange disappearance of Gomez."
"I don't think that's so, Master Trevose," replied Bevan. "'Tis onlyour fancy. For my part, I'm convinced that they believe Gomez havefallen off the rocks and been taken by a shark. But how pale you dolook sir! better have a drop of brandy."
But, alas! there was no brandy. In their haste to escape from the jawsof the sharks both brandy and their small store of food had beendropped, and were both now, without doubt, safe in the maw of one of themonsters. Roger turned still more pale, and Bevan put his arm round hisshoulder to support him.
Presently his head fell back, and he went offin a dead swoon. The experiences of the last few hours had been toomuch for the poor lad, and overstrained nature would bear no more.
"He'll soon come round, Jake," said Bevan. "Get a drop of water, if youcan without being seen. Bring it in your hat and slop it on his face;that'll soon bring him to."
Jake accepted the suggestion, and presently returned without having seenanything of the pirates. They soused Roger's head and shoulders withsea-water, and the boy soon recovered, feeling a little ashamed of hisweakness.
"Don't you worry yourself about that, Master Roger," replied Jake."I've seen men stronger and older than you faint for less than whatwe've just gone through."
Roger was soon himself again. They took another look round, and thistime they saw Jose Leirya and his crew down on the beach, preparing toget into their boat.
"We'd better not leave this here spot until we see 'em up-anchor and getwell away," advised Jake. "For all we know they may come ashore again,and if they was to do that a'ter we'd left our hidin'-place, 'twould beall up with us."
The others agreed to this proposal, and watched the boat pulling away tothe ship. She soon got there, and was forthwith hoisted inboard, andpresently the watchers saw her sails fall from the yards, while up camethe anchor, the schooner canted, the sails filled, the vessel graduallygathered way--and she was off! The three felt strongly inclined to givea hearty cheer; but prudence prevailed, and they remained silent.Presently, however, they got out of the hole in which they werecrouching, and made their way cautiously along the ledge, taking theutmost care to keep always out of sight of the schooner; and by and bythey reached the beach, and over the top of the near-most rock saw the_Black Pearl_ rapidly growing smaller in the distance. By crawling andcreeping and dodging behind anything big enough to conceal them, theyfinally gained the back beach, and then, having the ridge between thepirate vessel and themselves, they set off at a brisk pace for the hut.When at length they reached it they found that nothing had beendisturbed, but the body of Evans had evidently been searched, and wasnow lying upon the sand, instead of where they had left it, on itsimprovised couch. Their first act was to unearth the cask of brandy andtake a good draught apiece, feeling that they both needed and deservedit after what they had gone through that morning.
Then Evans received his second burial. Poor fellow! his inanimate bodyhad been put to a strange use; but they felt that, could he know, hewould not in the least object.
The provisions were next got up and re-stored, and then they found timeto take a look at the retreating pirate vessel. Yes, there she stillwas, now very small to their view, yet hardly as far off as they hadexpected her to be.
They continued to gaze for a few moments longer, and were just about toturn away, with relief and thankfulness in their hearts, when they sawthe pirate vessel hurriedly setting some additional canvas; thensuddenly she bore up and went off on the other tack, presenting her portside instead of her stern to the island.
"Now, what's the matter?" queried Jake; "he's headin' away south for LaGuayra way! But what's he in such a tearin' hurry for?"
"Can't make it out at all," answered Bevan.
They felt their sleeves plucked, and, turning round, beheld Rogerpointing, but unable to speak, toward the horizon on the side of theisland opposite to the pirate ship. And there, at last, they perceivedthe fleet, hull-up above the horizon, in plain sight, with every sailset, carrying on after the pirate at their utmost speed.