STORY ONE, CHAPTER NINE.
'POLLO'S EVIDENCE.
"What?" shrieked the Cuban, rushing forward, with outstretched hands,but only to control himself directly and smile contemptuously.
"I says as I'll clap this here schooner right over two or three spotswhere old ships went down, and also off the coast where one on 'em liesburied in the sand, all but her ribs and a few planks," said the oldsailor, Sam Oakum.
"He's a liar--a cheat. Bah!" exclaimed the Cuban with contempt.
"I wouldn't adwise you to say them sorter things, gov'nor," said Oakum,quietly. "I knowd a chap as rubbed the skin off the bridge of his nosewunst and blacked both his eyes agin my fist for saying less than that."
"Bah!" said the Cuban, snapping his fingers.
"And do you know, Oakum?" exclaimed Mr Parkley, eagerly. "Can youprove it?"
"If anybody would pass a man a bit o' 'bacco, I could, I dessay," saidthe old fellow quietly. "Thanky, mate. Just pass the word for 'Polloto come aft, will you? He's in the galley."
A sailor who had given Oakum the tobacco ran forward, while all waitedin breathless attention--the Cuban standing like a statue, with foldedarms, but, in spite of his apparent composure, smoking furiously, like avolcano preparing for an eruption.
The sailor came back directly.
"Says he's cooking the passengers' dinner, and can't leave it, sir,"said the sailor.
"Tell the cook to come here directly. I want him," exclaimed thecaptain, sternly; and the sailor ran off, returning with 'Pollo, theblack cook, rubbing his shiny face.
"I speck, sah, if de rose meat burn himself all up, you no blame decook, sah," he said.
"No, no, 'Pollo; only answer a question or two."
"Yes, sah; d'reckly, sah."
"Look ye here, 'Pollo, old mate," said Oakum; "you and I have had somerum voyages in our time, old nigger."
"You call me ole mate, sah," said 'Pollo, angrily, "I answer hundredtousan queshtum. You call me nigger, sah, I dam if I say noder word."
"It's all right, 'Pollo, I won't any more. You're a coloured gentleman;and, though I chaff you sometimes, I know that I can always depend onyou, fair weather or foul."
The black nodded, showed his white teeth, and his eyes twinkled.
"Now look here, 'Pollo, old man; do you remember being in the littlebrig off Caraccas, when we had the gold?"
"Yes, sah, I membah well; and membah when we had do tree hundred lillywomen aboard de big ship, and de big horse alligator woman. Yah, yah,yah!"
"So do I, 'Pollo; but what did we do when we were in the brig?"
"Catch de fish," said 'Pollo.
"To be sure we did; but what did we find lying down fathoms deep in theclear water?"
"You mean de ole 'Panish gold ship, sah?"
"There!" said Sam Oakum, turning round with a grim smile on his mahoganyface; "Ain't that there corroborative evidence, sir?"
"We find two ole ship, sah, and one on de shore," said 'Pollo, volubly,"and I dibe down, sah."
"Did you find anything?" said Mr Parkley, eagerly.
"No, sah, him too deep down, but I membah perfect well, sah, all about'em. All 'Panish ship, sah."
"That will do, 'Pollo," said Mr Parkley. "Now go and see to thedinner. By-the-way, 'Pollo, will you come into the cabin after dinner,and join Mr Oakum in drinking a glass of wine to the success of ourvoyage?"
"I hab great pleasure, sah," said the black, with his eyes twinkling;and as he went away bowing and smiling, Mr Parkley turned to the Cuban.
"Now, Mr Lorry, or Laure, or whatever your name is, will you have thegoodness to step ashore? This is my ship, and this expedition belongsto me and my partner. You have refused to carry out your contractbefore twenty witnesses, and now you see that I can do without you."
"But," said Laure, "the man is mad. He cannot take you; but I will notcarry my revenge so far. Make me a good concession and I will consentto go."
"I thank you, Senor Laure, for endorsing the statement of our oldfriend, Oakum, and the ship's cook, and since you are so kind, I willmake you a concession."
"You consent," said the Cuban, more eagerly than he intended.
"Yes," said Mr Parkley. "You shall be allowed to walk off the shipinstead of being kicked off. Captain Studwick, see that man off thisdeck."
A look that was almost demoniacal overspread the Cuban's face, andshaking his fist menacingly, he stepped on to the wharf and disappearedthrough the crowd.
"Now, then," said Mr Parkley, triumphantly, "we are ready. CaptainStudwick, westward ho! Hallo, what now? What is it, Rasp?" as thatindividual came panting up.
"Are you sure as you've got all your company aboard?" said Rasp.
"Yes, I think so. Eh, captain?"
"My crew is all right, certainly," said the captain. "I don't knowanything about yours."
"To be sure, I did not think to look after them as they had promised tobe aboard in good time. Where are John Tolly and James Morrison?"
"What, them?" said Oakum. "Oh, they came aboard at nine this morning."
"Yes," said one of the sailors, "but they went ashore again about ten; Isaw 'em go."
"There," said Rasp, "where would you have been without me? I see JohnTolly go by the orfice half-an-hour ago, so drunk he could hardly walk,and Morrison as well, and--"
"Tut, tut, tut! we must have them," exclaimed Mr Parkley. "Thescoundrels! to deceive us like this. Pugh, come ashore, we must get thepolice to help us."
"Then we shall not sail to-day," said the captain, with a shrug. "Nevermind, we shall have the more time for getting ship-shape."
"Nonsense!" said Mr Parkley eagerly; "we shall soon be back."
The captain shook his head, for he knew better; and night had fallen,and no more had been seen of the two divers on whom so much depended.
As the day wore on, Mr Parkley and Dutch returned to the ship two orthree times to report progress, if such it could be called, for nothingwas heard of the two divers.
"Dutch Pugh," said Mr Parkley, on one of these meetings, "I shall neverforgive myself. Here am I, as I thought, such a business-like man, andwhat do I do but go and forget to look after the very mainspring of myworks. I fit all my wheels together, and then when I want to wind upthere's no springs. What should we have done without divers?"
Night closed in without success, and a little party assembled in thecabin, for as the ship might sail at any time, those who occupied theplace of passengers felt that it was hardly worth while to returnashore. Mr Parkley kept a bright face on the matter, but it wasevident that he was a good deal dispirited, though he chatted merrilyenough, and talked to John Studwick and his sister of the beauties ofthe land they were about to visit.
"If we get off, Mr Parkley," said John Studwick, quietly.
"Get off, sir; why of course we shall. These two scoundrels will comeoff to-morrow morning, penniless, and with sick headaches. Therascals!"
Mr Parkley was reckoning without his host, for at that moment the twodivers, each with twenty pounds in his pocket above the advance pay hehad drawn, were on their way to London, and the man who had given themoney was now forward in the darkest part of the deck, crouching beneaththe high bulwarks of the large three-masted schooner, whispering withone of the men.
Their discussion seemed to take a long time, but it ended in the otherman of the watch joining them, and the conversation still went on.
It was interrupted by the coming on deck of Captain Studwick, andsilence ensued, while the captain took a turn round the deck, and gavean eye to the riding lights, for, as evening had come on, the vessel hadbeen warped out of dock, and lay a couple of hundred yards out in thegreat estuary, fast to one of the buoys.
"We might have some of the lads taking a fancy to go on shore," he hadsaid to Mr Parkley, when he complained of having to take a boat to comeoff; "and we shall be all the more ready to drop down with the tide. Idon't want to find my crew like yours to-morrow morning--missing."
&nb
sp; Finding all apparently quite right, and the lanterns burning, brightly,Captain Studwick took another turn round the deck, peeped down into theforecastle, where the men were talking and smoking, then went rightforward and looked over at the hawser fast to the buoy, said a word ortwo of warning to the men, and went below.
It was now ten o'clock, and excessively dark--so dark that it wasimpossible to see across the deck, and the lights hoisted up in therigging seemed like great stars. The buzz of conversation in theforecastle had grown much more subdued, and then suddenly ceased, thougha dull buzzing murmur could be heard from the deckhouse, where the dimlight of a smoky lantern, hung from the roof, shone upon the brightcooking apparatus with which the place was furnished, and upon theglistening teeth of 'Pollo, the black cook, and Oakum, the old sailor,both smoking, and in earnest converse.
"Yes, 'Pollo," said Oakum, "it seemed to bring up old times, and some ofour vyges, so I thought I'd come and have a palaver before we turnedin."
"I glad to see you, Mass' Sam Oakum, sah, and I hope you often gin me depleasure ob your company during de voyage. I 'spect you, Mass' Oakum,and you always 'spect colour genlum, sah, dough we use quarrel sometime."
"Only chaff, 'Pollo."
"Course it was, sah, only chaff, and nuffum at all. And now I tink obit, sah, I hav 'plendid 'rangement here, and supply for de cooking; andwhen, by an' by, you find de beef too salt, and de biscuit too hard,juss you drop in here, sah, after dark, and 'Pollo most likely findlilly bit ob somefin nice leff from de cabin dinner."
"Thanky, 'Pollo, thanky," said Oakum. "But what do you say, ehship-mate? I think we can find the old galleons again?"
"I quite 'tent, sah, to put dis ship in de hands ob such speriencednavigator as Mass' Sam Oakum, who know all ober de world quite perfeck.You tink we sail in de morning?"
"If they catch them two skulking scoundrels of divers, 'Pollo. I'd justlike to ropesend that Mr John Tolly. Gets three times the pay o' theother men, and is ten times as saucy."
"'Top!"
"Eh?" said Oakum.
"What dat, Mass' Oakum, sah?" said the black, whose eyes were rollingand ears twitching.
Oakum listened attentively for a few moments, and then went on.
"Nothing at all, my lad, that I could hear."
"I sure I hear somefin, sah. Let's go and see."
They both stepped out on to the deck, and stood and listened, for it wasimpossible for them to see, though the light from the deckhouse madethem stand out plainly in view if anyone else was on the watch.
They saw nothing, for as they stepped out, a man, who was stealing aft,dropped softly down and crouched under the bulwarks.
The hawsers creaked softly as they swung in the tide, and a faint lightshone up from the forecastle hatch, while from aft there was a tolerablybright glow from the cabin skylight. Here and there the riding lightsof other vessels rose and fell as they were swayed by the hurryingwaters, while the lights of the shore twinkled like stars on a blackbackground, but, saving the rippling noise of the tide against the greatschooner's side, all was perfectly still.
"False alarm, 'Pollo," said Oakum, leading the way back.
"No, sah," said 'Pollo, reseating himself, cross-legged, beneath thelantern. "I sure I hear somefin, sah, dough I no say what it was."
"I've often wished for you as a mate in a dark watch, 'Pollo," saidOakum, hewing off a quid of tobacco, and thrusting it into one cheek."You would not go to sleep."
"Not ob a night, sah," said 'Pollo, complacently, "but I no so sure boutdat if de sun shine hot; I go sleep den fass enough."
They had hardly resumed their conversation when the man who had droppeddown under the bulwarks rose, and went softly by the deckhouse, walkingrapidly aft to the side, where he climbed over, after running his handalong and finding a rope, slid down, and took his place in a large boatalready half-full.
A few moments later and another man crept softly along the deck, wentover the side, and slid into the boat.
Another and another followed, and then one man who had been waiting bythe forecastle hatch, instead of going aft, opened a sharp knife andcrept forward to where the stout coir hawser was made fast to the buoy.It was drawn very tight, for the tide was running in fast, and a fewsharp cuts would have divided the strands, with the result that theschooner would have drifted up with the current, and, if it had notfouled, and perhaps sunk some smaller vessel in its course, have runashore.
The man listened attentively but all was still, and raising his knife hebegan to saw through the strands, when, rising, he shut the knife with asnap and exclaimed:
"No, hang it all, I won't. It's too bad; and there's a woman aboard.Bad enough as it is."
Then following the example of those who had gone before, he went softlyaft, feeling his way along the bulwarks till his hand came in contactwith the rope, and he, too, slid down into the boat.
"Well, did you cut the great rope?" whispered a voice.
"Yes, gov'nor, all right. But not deep," added the man to himself.
"Quick then, quick then," whispered the former speaker, "undo thislittle rope and let the boat float away."
The boat's painter was loosened--but not without rattling the iron ringthrough which it was run--dropped over the side with a splash, and justfaintly grating against the vessel's side the boat glided away,appearing for a few moments in the faint glow cast from the sternwindows, and then seeming to pass into a bank of utter darkness.
"I no care what you say, Mass' Oakum, sah," said 'Pollo a few momentsbefore; and his great black ears seemed to start forward like those of ahare, "I sure I hear de rattle ob a rope; and you see if dare isn't aboat under de side."
He leaped softly up, and ran on deck, followed by Oakum.
"Dere, I sure I right," whispered the black, pointing astern. "Boatfull ob men."
"I can't see nowt," growled Sam. "Let's go forward and ask the look-outif they heerd anything. Hear a boat touch the side, mates?" he saidaloud.
There was no answer.
"The lubbers are asleep," he cried, angrily; and hurrying to where themen should have been, he found that they were missing, and ran to thehatchway. "Below there!" he shouted. "On deck here, some of yer!"
All silent, and he lowered himself down to find a lantern burning, butnot a soul there even in the bunks, the men's kits being also gone.
"Deserted, by jingo!" cried Oakum, slapping his thigh, as he began toascend the ladder. "Here, 'Pollo, run and call the skipper."
"What's wrong?" cried Captain Studwick, from out of the darkness.
"Not a blessed man, sir, left aboard;" and the captain brought his footdown with a savage stamp upon deck.