CHAPTER XVII
THE THIRD ATTACK
Holgate had given us till eight o'clock, but it was of course,uncertain if he would adhere to this hour. If I were right in mysuppositions (and I could see no flaw in my reasoning), he wouldpresent himself at that time and carry out the farce. It was due to hismen, to the other scoundrels of the pack whom he was cheating. And whatwould happen when we maintained that we had no knowledge of thetreasure? It was clear that the men would insist on an assault. And ifso, what chance had we against the infuriated ruffians? On the otherhand, we had nothing to hope for from a compromise with such men.Altogether, the outlook was very black and lowering. When the Princeand all that remained with him were swept away, and were as if they hadnever been, Holgate would be free to deal with the mutineers accordingto his tender mercies; and then, with such confederates as he mighthave in the original plot, come into possession of the plunder forwhich so many innocent lives and so many guilty ones would have beensacrificed.
By now the wind had sprung into a gale, and the _Sea Queen_ was runningunder bare sticks. The water rolled heavily from the southwest, and theyacht groaned under the buffets. It became difficult to stand--atleast, for a landsman. We had hitherto experienced such equable, fineweather that I think we had taken for granted that it must continue.But now we were undeceived. The yacht pitched uneasily and rolled toher scuppers, and it was as much as we could do to keep our legs.Holgate, too, must have been occupied by the duties of his position,for he was a good mariner, which was, perhaps, as well for us. Chancedecides according to her fancy, and the most trivial accidents areimportant in the scheme of destiny. Mademoiselle had an attack of _malde mer_ and had recourse to me. Nothing in the world mattered save hersensations, which were probably very unpleasant, I admit. But the yachtmight go to the bottom, and Holgate might storm the state-rooms at thehead of his mutineers--it was all one to the lady who was groaning overher symptoms on her bed. She kept me an unconscionable time, and when Iat length got away to what I regarded as more important duties I wasfollowed by her maid. This girl, Juliette, was a trim, sensible, andpractical woman, who had grown accustomed to her mistress's vagaries,took them with philosophy, and showed few signs of emotion. But now acertain fear flowed in her eye.
Would Monsieur tell her if there were any danger? Monsieur looked up,balanced himself neatly against the wall, as the yacht reared, anddeclared that he had gone through much worse gales. She shook her headwith some energy.
"No, no, it was not that. There were the sailors--those demons. Was ittrue that they had offered to put us all ashore?"
"Yes," said I, "if we give them what we have not got. That is what theypromise, Juliette. But would you like to trust them?"
She considered a moment, her plain, capable face in thought. "No." Sheshook her head. "Mademoiselle would do well to beware of them. Yes,yes," and with a nod she left me.
Now what did that mean? I asked myself, and I could only jump to theconclusion that Mademoiselle had thoughts of making a bargain withHolgate on her own account. I knew she was capable of yielding to anycaprice or impulse. If there had not been tragedy in the air it wouldhave amused me to ponder the possibilities of that conflict of wits andbrains between Holgate and the lady. But she was a victim tosea-sickness, and our hour drew near. Indeed, it was then but two hoursto eight o'clock.
It was necessary to take such precautions as we might in case Holgatekept his word. But it was possible that in that wind and sea he wouldnot. However, to be prepared for the worst, we had a council. Therewere now but the Prince, Barraclough, Lane and myself available, forEllison was in a bad way. The spareness of our forces was thus betrayedby this meeting, which was in effect a council of despair. We made ourarrangements as speedily as possible, and then I asked:
"The ladies? We must have some definite plan."
The Prince nodded. "They must be locked in the _boudoir_," he said. "Ithas entrances from both their cabins."
"The last stand, then, is there?" I remarked casually.
He echoed the word "there."
I had my duties in addition to those imposed by our dispositions, and Iwas not going to fail--I knew I should not fail. Outside in thecorridor we sat and nursed our weapons silently. I don't think that anyone was disposed to talk; but presently the Prince rose and retired tohis room. He returned presently with a magnum of champagne, andBarraclough drew the cork, while Lane obtained some glasses.
"Let's have a wet. That's a good idea," said the purser.
The Prince ceremoniously lifted his glass to us and took our eyes.
Lane quaffed his, emitting his usual gag hoarsely.
"Fortune!"
How amazingly odd it sounded, like the ironic exclamation of someonlooking demon of sarcasm.
"Fortune!"
I drank my wine at a gulp. "To a good end, if may be," I said. "Torest, at least."
Barraclough held his glass coolly and examined it critically.
"It's Pommery, isn't it, sir?" he asked.
I do not think the Prince answered. Barraclough sipped.
"I'll swear it is," said he. "Let's look at the bottle, Lane."
He solved his doubts, and drank and looked at his watch. "If they'recoming, they should be here now."
"The weather's not going to save us," I observed bitterly; "she goessmoother."
It was true enough. The wind and the sea had both moderated.Barraclough examined the chambers of his revolver.
"Sir John Barraclough!"
A voice hailed us loudly from the deck. Sir John moved slowly to thedoor and turned back to look at us. In its way it was an invitation. Hedid not speak, but I think he invoked our aid, or at least our support,in that look. We followed.
"Yes," he called back, "I'm here."
"We've come for the answer," said the voice. "You've had plenty of timeto turn it over. So what's it to be--the terms offered or war?"
"Is it Holgate?" said Lane in a whisper.
"Oh, it's Holgate, no doubt. Steady! Remember who has the treasure,Barraclough."
"The treasure is not in our possession," sang out Barraclough. "But webelieve it to be in the possession of Holgate--one of yourselves."
"Oh, come, that won't do--that game won't play," said a familiar wheezyvoice from behind us, and we all fell back in alarm and amazement.
The boards had fallen loose from one of the windows, and Holgate's headprotruded into the corridor. In a flash the Prince's fingers went tohis revolver, and a report echoed from the walls, the louder for thatconfined space. Holgate had disappeared. Barraclough ran to the windowand peered out. He looked round.
"That opens it," he said deliberately, and stood with a look ofperplexity and doubt on his face.
"Since you have chosen war and begun the offensive we have no option,"shouted Holgate through the boarding.
"All right, drive ahead," growled Lane, and sucked his teeth.
Crash came an iron bar on the door. Barraclough inserted his revolverthrough the open window and fired. "One," said he.
"Two, by thunder!" said Lane, discharging through one of the holespierced in the door.
"They'll play us the same trick as before," said I, and dashed acrossto the entrance from the music-room.
Noises arose from below. I tested the locks and bars, and then runninghastily into one of the cabins brought forth a table and used it tostrengthen the barricade. Prince Frederic, observing this, nodded andgave instructions to Lane, who went on a similar errand on behalf ofthe other door.
Crash fell the axe on my door, and the wood splintered. Lane and PrinceFrederic were busy firing through the loopholes, with what result Icould not guess, and probably they themselves knew little more.Barraclough stood at his peephole and fired now and then, and I did thesame through the holes drilled in my door. But it must have been easyfor any one on the outside to avoid the line of fire if he werecareful. I was reminded that two could play at this game by a bulletwhich sang past my face and buried itself in the woodwork
behind me.The light was now failing fast, and we fought in a gloaming withinthose walls, though without the mutineers must have seen better. Theaxe fell again and again, and the door was giving in several places.Once there was a respite following on a cry, and I rejoiced that one ofmy shots had gone home. But the work was resumed presently withincreased vigour.
And now of a sudden an outcry on my left startled me. I turned, and sawPrince Frederic in combat with a man, and beyond in the twilight someother figures. The door to the deck had fallen. Leaving my own door totake care of itself, I hastened to what was the immediate seat ofdanger, and shot one fellow through the body. He fell like a bullock,and then the Prince gave way and struck against me. His left arm haddropped to his side, but in his right hand he now held a sword, and,recovering, he thrust viciously and with agility before him. Beforethat gallant assault two more went down, and as Lane and Barracloughseemed to be holding their own, it seemed almost as if we should getthe better of the attack. But just then I heard rather than saw thesecond door yielding, and with shouts the enemy clambered over thetable and were upon us from that quarter also. Beneath this combinedattack we slowly gave way and retreated down the corridor, fightingsavagely. The mutineers must have come to the end of their ammunition,for they did not use revolvers, but knives and axes. One ruffian, whomin the uncertain light I could not identify, bore a huge axe, which heswung over his head, and aimed at me with terrific force. As I dodgedit missed me and crashed into the woodwork of the cabins, from which noeffort could withdraw it. I had stepped aside, and, although taking aknife wound in my thigh, slipped a blade through the fellow. But stillthey bore us back, and I knew in my inmost mind, where instinct ratherthan thought moved now, that it was time to think of the _boudoir_ andmy promise. We were being driven in that direction, and if I could onlyreach the handle I had resolved what to do.
But now it seemed again that I must be doomed to break my word, for howwas it possible to resist that onset? There were, so far as I couldguess, a dozen of the mutineers, but it was that fact possibly thathelped us a little, as, owing to their numbers, they impeded oneanother. Prince Frederic was a marvellous swordsman, and he swept apassage clear before him; but at last his blade snapped in the middle,and he was left defenceless. I saw some one rush at him, and, the lightgleaming on his face, I recognised Pierce. With my left hand I hurledmy revolver into it with all the power of my muscles. It struck himfull in the mouth, that ugly, lipless mouth which I abhorred. Heuttered a cry of pain and paused for a moment. But in that moment,abstracted from my own difficulties, I had given a chance to one of myopponents, whose uplifted knife menaced me. I had no time to draw back,and if I ducked I felt I should go under and be trodden upon by thefeet of the infuriated enemy. Once down, I should never rise again. Itseemed all over for me as well as for the Prince, and in far less timethan it takes to relate this the thought had flashed into myhead--flashed together with that other thought that the Princess wouldwait, and wait for me in vain. Ah, but would she wait? If I knew herfine-tempered spirit she would not hesitate. She had the means of hersalvation; she carried it in her bosom, and feared not. No, I could notbe afraid for her.
As I have said, these reflections were almost instantaneous, and theyhad scarcely passed in a blaze of wonder through my brain when theyacht lurched heavily, the deck slipped away from us, and the wholebody of fighting, struggling men was precipitated with a crash againstthe opposite wall. Some had fallen to the floor, and others crawledagainst the woodwork, shouting oaths and crying for assistance. I hadfallen with the rest, and lay against a big fellow whose back wastowards me. I struggled from him and was climbing the slope of thedeck, when she righted herself and rolled sharply over on the otherside. This caused an incontinent rush of bodies across the corridoragain, and for a moment all thought of renewing the conflict wasabandoned. I recognised Prince Frederic as the man by me, and Iwhispered loudly in his ears, so that my voice carried through theclamour and the noises of the wind that roared outside round thestate-rooms.
"Better make our last stand here. I mean the ladies...." He nodded.
"It will be better," he answered harshly. "Yes ... better."
He turned about, with his hand on the door-knob behind him, and now Isaw that we had reached the entrance to the _boudoir_.
"Alix! ... Yvonne!" he called loudly through the keyhole. "You knowwhat to do, beloved. Farewell!"
I had refilled my revolver in the pause and, with a fast-beating heart,turned now to that horrid cockpit once more. The first person my eyeslighted on was Holgate, broad, clean-faced, and grinning like a demon.
"He shall die, at any rate," said Prince Frederic, and lifted hisrevolver which he had reloaded. It missed fire; the second shot grazedHolgate's arm and felled a man behind him.
"No luck, Prince," said the fellow in his mocking voice, and in histurn raised a weapon of his own. But he did not fire. Instead, heturned swiftly round and made a dash towards the other end of thecorridor.
"To me, men; this way! By heaven and thunder!"
His voice, fat as it was, pierced the din, and acted as a rallying cry.Several of the mutineers, now confronting us again, turned and followedhim, and there was the noise of a struggle issuing from the darkness ofthe top end of the corridor.
"What the deuce is this?" screamed Barraclough in my ear.
"I don't know. Let's fall on. There's an alarm. They're----! Now, bythe Lord, it's Legrand, thank God! Legrand, Legrand!"
"Bully for Legrand!" cried Barraclough, wiping some blood from hisface, and he set upon the mutineers from the rear. Those left to faceus had scarcely recovered from their astonishment at the alarm when thePrince shot two, and a third went down to me. The others retreatedtowards their companions, and the three of us followed them up. I saythe three, for I could not see Lane anywhere, and I feared that he hadfallen.
The conflict thus renewed upon more equal terms found, nevertheless,most of the participants worn and exhausted. At least I can answer formyself, and I am sure that my companions were in a like case. Thetwilight that reigned disguised the scene of the struggle, so that eachman saw but little beyond his own part in the affair; yet I wasconscious that the mutineers were being pushed back towards the deckdoor. They had been caught between the two parties as it appeared, andLegrand's unexpected onset from the music-saloon entrance had thrownthem into confusion. It was obvious that Legrand and his men werearmed, for I heard a shot or two issuing from the _melee_, and abovethe noise of the oaths and thuds and thumpings was the clash of steel.Presently my man, who had engaged me over-long, dropped, and before mewas a little vacancy of space, at the end of which, hard by the door, Idiscerned the bulky form of Holgate. He was leaning against the wall,as if faint, and a revolver dropped from his fingers.
"By God, doctor, if I'd had any idea of this I'd have crucified 'emall," he said to me savagely; "but I'll get square yet. First you, andnow Legrand! I'll be square yet."
As he spoke, panting, he heaved himself higher against the wall andlevelled his revolver. In a flash my arm descended and knocked theweapon to the floor. I could see his grin even in the dim light.
"Well, it was empty, anyway, man," he said, "but I'll give you best forthe present. I've my ship to look after."
I could have struck him down then and there, and I raised my point todo so; but he seized my arm. "Don't be a fool, my lad. She'll be gonein this wind, if I don't take charge. Have your fling if you want it,"he screamed in my face above the clamour. For the noise of the wind wasnow increased and grown into a roar. It sounded as a menace in theears, and I involuntarily paused and looked out of the doorway. Theheavens were black, the waters ran white to the gunwale, and the _SeaQueen_ staggered like a drunkard on her course. Holgate's practisedeye had taken in the situation, and he had seen that he was necessaryto the navigation of the yacht. And yet I marvelled at his coolness, atthe strength of will and heroic resolution which could turn him of asudden from one filled with the lust of blood and greed and battle intothe patient sail
or with his ship to save. These thoughts ran through myhead as I paused. It was only a brief pause, so brief that it was notime ere I rejoined my companions in their attack on the failingmutineers; but in it I had a glimpse deep into the chief mutineer'snature.
I let him go. His argument came home to me. I do not know that I couldbe said to have considered; rather his individuality dominated me inthis appeal to something beyond our immediate quarrel, to a moreultimate good. Perhaps his very assurance, which was almostcontemptuous in its expression, helped to dissuade me. I dropped my armand he went. Outside, as I turned back, I saw him stay a moment andlook upon us, that pack of desperate wolves and watch-dogs. Almost Icould think he lifted his lips in a grin over his fancy. Then hedisappeared into the gathering gloom, and, as I say, I returned to theattack. A few minutes later the mutineers broke and scattered. Theirresistance was at an end, and they fled out into the night, leaving ourparty breathless, wounded, but secure and triumphant.
I say secure, but alas, the price of that security had been heavy!Legrand with two of his men had escaped unhurt, but two were dead andtwo seriously wounded. Lane had his face cut open; Barraclough had comeoff with a nasty stab in the ribs, and Prince Frederic was not to befound. We hunted in that scene of carnage, and I discovered him at lastunder the body of a dead mutineer. When we had got him forth he wasstill unconscious, but breathed heavily, and I found traces of internalinjuries. I administered what was necessary, including a restorative,and he came to presently.
"Well, sir," said he weakly, "what's the report?"
"By heaven, sir, we've licked them," I cried. "Good news, sir. The dogshave run."
"They shall be hanged in due course," said he in a loud voice. "My luckholds, doctor." He waved his hand weakly down the corridor. "Tell theladies. Acquaint--her Royal Highness."
It was the first time he had given his sister her proper style, and ina way this might be taken by those who look for omens as auspicious.Did his luck indeed hold, as he said?
I took the office on myself. The _Sea Queen_ was galloping like aracer, and plunged as she ran. Two steps took me to the _boudoir_door, before which lay the body of one of our enemies. As the shiprolled it slipped away and began to creep down the corridor. The yachtreared before she dipped again, and a cascade of spray streamed overthe side and entered by the broken door. I rapped loudly and calledloudly; and in a trice the door opened, and the Princess Alix stoodbefore me, glimmering like a ghost in the darkness.
"They are gone," I shouted. "We have won."
"Thank God! He has heard us," she exclaimed. "I could hear nothing forthe sound of the sea and the wind. But oh, the suspense was terrible!My hair should be white!"
"Mademoiselle?" I asked.
"Mademoiselle sleeps," said she, and I thought there was somethingsignificant in her voice.
It was well that Mademoiselle slept. I left her and went back to thePrince, for more than he needed my care, and as I reached the group theroll of the yacht sent me flying. Legrand caught me.
"We can't spare you yet, doctor," he shouted.
"Thank God for you," I answered fervently. "You came in the nick oftime."
"I thought we might have cut our way out last night, but I found wecouldn't," he explained. "You see, we only had one knife, and it hasbeen a tough job to get through the heavy wood of the partition."
"Thank God," I repeated, and clutched at him again as the floor roseup. "I'm not accustomed to this," I said with a laugh. "It's worse thanthe mutineers."
He answered nothing, for his gaze was directed towards the door.
"We must take charge," he shouted. "Good Lord, there's no time tolose."
"Holgate's there," I screamed back. "He went to look after the ship."
We stood holding on to each other, and Barraclough, Lane and the Princewere holding on by the brass rods on the cabin doors. She rolled andkicked and stood up at an angle of 45 deg.
"What is it?" I screamed.
Legrand pointed to the blackness without. "We'll get it in a little. Ihope to God it will be no worse than this. She can't stand on her headwith safety."
Suddenly the roar swelled louder, and dismal shrieks and whistlingssounded in the ears. The _Sea Queen_ sank, and a whole tide of searushed over the bulwarks and flooded the state-rooms. The water ranknee-deep and set the bodies of the dead awash. One struck against mein the whirlpool. It was a ghastly scene, set in that gathereddarkness.
"Nothing can be done. We've got to hold on," said Legrand. "He's a goodseaman; I'll say that for him. But how many's he got with him? He'sundermanned. It's all on the engine-room now."
We were silent again, mainly because it was almost impossible to hearanything through that tempest of wind and volcanic sea. She came rightfor a moment, and our grip of each other relaxed.
"I'm going, Legrand," I called to him.
"Don't be a fool," said he.
"Oh, I'm all right. I've forgotten something," I shouted. "I'll see tomyself"; and I cut myself adrift from him.
I crossed the corridor successfully, and then the yacht heeled and Iwas almost precipitated to the other end of it. She was being knockedabout like a tin pot in a gale. I seized a door-handle and hung on, andwhen the vessel recovered somewhat I twisted it, but it did not give.The _boudoir_ must be farther on.
I crept on by means of the brass railing and at last reached a doorwhich gave. I opened it and called out:
"Princess! Princess!"
Blackness filled the room. I could hear and see nothing human. Ientered, and the door swung to behind with a clang.
"Princess!" I shouted, but I could hear no answer.
I groped in the darkness with both hands, and then I touched an arm! Iseized it, and drew the owner to me gently.
"Princess!" I called, and this time an answer reached me through theraging elements:
"It is I."
"Thank God, you're safe. Do not be alarmed," I said, speaking into herear. "The yacht's caught in a hurricane, but----"
There fell at that instant a resounding crash far above the noise ofthe storm, and we were thrown headlong against the outer wall of the_boudoir_. I knew that only, and then I knew no more.