CHAPTER 12
A FUNERAL
How he lies in his rights of a man!Death has done all death can--_Browning_
We stood for a moment holding one another's hands; then Ratsey spoke.'John, these two months have changed thee from boy to man. Thou wast achild when I turned that morning as we went up Hoar Head with thepack-horses, and looked back on thee and Elzevir below, and Maskew lyingon the ground. 'Twas a sorry business, and has broken up the finest gangthat ever ran a cargo, besides driving thee and Elzevir to hide in cavesand dens of the earth. Thou shouldst have come with us that morn; nothave stayed behind. The work was too rough for boys: the skipper shouldhave piped the reefing-hands.'
It was true enough, or seemed to me true then, for I felt much cast down;but only said, 'Nay, Master Ratsey, where Master Block stays, there Imust stay too, and where he goes I follow.'
Then I sat down upon the bed in the corner, feeling my leg began to ache;and the storm, which had lulled for a few minutes, came up again all thefiercer with wilder gusts and showers of spray and rain driving into thecave from seaward. So I was scarce sat down when in came a roaring blast,filling even our corner with cold, wet air, that quenched the weaklingcandle flame.
'God save us, what a night!' Ratsey cried.
'God save poor souls at sea,' said I.
'Amen to that,' says he, 'and would that every Amen I have said had comeas truly from my heart. There will be sea enough on Moonfleet Beach thisnight to lift a schooner to the top of it, and launch her down into thefields behind. I had as lief be in the Mohune vault as in this fearsomeplace, and liefer too, if half the tales men tell are true of faces thatmay meet one here. For God's sake let us light a fire, for I caught sightof a store of driftwood before that sickly candle went out.'
It was some time before we got a fire alight, and even after the flamehad caught well hold, the rush of the wind would every now and again blowthe smoke into our eyes, or send a shower of sparks dancing through thecave. But by degrees the logs began to glow clear white, and such acheerful warmth came out, as was in itself a solace and remedy for man'safflictions.
'Ah!' said Ratsey, 'I was shrammed with wet and cold, and half-dead withthis baffling wind. It is a blessed thing a fire,' and he unbuttoned hispilot-coat, 'and needful now, if ever. My soul is very low, lad, forthis place has strange memories for me; and I recollect, forty years ago(when I was just a boy like thee), old lander Jordan's gang, and I amongthem, were in this very cave on such another night. I was new to thetrade then, as thou might be, and could not sleep for noise of wind andsea. And in the small hours of an autumn morning, as I lay here, justwhere we lie now, I heard such wailing cries above the storm, ay, andsuch shrieks of women, as made my blood run cold and have not yet forgotthem. And so I woke the gang who were all deep asleep as seasonedcontrabandiers should be; but though we knew that there werefellow-creatures fighting for their lives in the seething flood beneathus, we could not stir hand or foot to save them, for nothing could beseen for rain and spray, and 'twas not till next morning that we learnedthe _Florida_ had foundered just below with every soul on board. Ay,'tis a queer life, and you and Block are in a queer strait now, and thatis what I came to tell you. See here.' And he took out of his pocket anoblong strip of printed paper:
* * * * *
G.R.
WHITEHALL, 15 May 1758
Whereas it hath been humbly represented to the King that on Friday, thenight of the 16th of April last, THOMAS MASKEW, a Justice of the Peace,was most inhumanly murdered at Hoar Head, a lone place in the Parish ofChaldron, in the County of Dorset, by one ELZEVIR BLOCK and one JOHNTRENCHARD, both of the Parish of Moonfleet, in the aforesaid County: HisMajesty, for the better discovering and bringing to Justice thesePersons, is pleased to promise His Most Gracious PARDON to any of thePersons concerned therein, except the Persons who actually committed thesaid Murder; and, as a further Encouragement, a REWARD OF FIFTY POUNDS toany Person who shall furnish such INFORMATION as shall lead to theAPPREHENSION of the said ELZEVIR BLOCK, and a REWARD of TWENTY POUNDS toany Person who shall furnish such INFORMATION as shall lead to theAPPREHENSION of the said JOHN TRENCHARD. Such INFORMATION to be given toME, or to the GOVERNOUR of His MAJESTY'S GAOL in Dorchester.
HOLDERNESSE.
* * * * *
'There--that's the bill,' he said; 'and a vastly fine piece it is, andyet I wish that 'twas played with other actors. Now, in Moonfleet thereis none that know your hiding-place, and not a man, nor woman either,that would tell if they knew it ten times over. But fifty pounds forElzevir, and twenty pounds for an empty pumpkin-top like thine, is a fairround sum, and there are vagabonds about this countryside scurvy enoughto try to earn it. And some of these have set the Excisemen on _my_track, with tales of how it is I that know where you lie hid, and bringyou meat and drink. So it is that I cannot stir abroad now, no, not evento the church o' Sundays, without having some rogue lurking at my heelsto watch my movements. And that is why I chose such a night to comehither, knowing these knaves like dry skins, but never thinking that thewind would blow like this. I am come to tell Block that 'tis not safe forme to be so much in Purbeck, and that I dare no longer bring food or whatnot, or these man-hounds will scent you out. Your leg is sound again, and'tis best to be flitting while you may, and there's the _Eperon d'Or,_and Chauvelais to give you welcome on the other side.'
I told him how Elzevir was gone this very night to Poole to settle withthe _Bonaventure_, when she should come to take us off; and at thatRatsey seemed pleased. There were many things I wished to learn of him,and especially how Grace did, but felt a shyness, and durst not ask him.And he said no more for a minute, seeming low-hearted and crouching overthe fire. So we sat huddled in the corner by the glowing logs, the redlight flickering on the cave roof, and showing the lines on Ratsey'sface; while the steam rose from his drying clothes. The gale blew asfiercely as ever, but the tide had fallen, and there was not so muchspray coming into the cave. Then Ratsey spoke again--
'My heart is very heavy, John, tonight, to think how all the good oldtimes are gone, and how that Master Block can never again go back toMoonfleet. It was as fine a lander's crew as ever stood together, noteven excepting Captain Jordan's, and now must all be broken up; for thismess of Maskew's has made the place too hot to hold us, and 'twill bemany a long day before another cargo's run on Moonfleet Beach. But how toget the liquor out of Mohune's vault I know not; and that reminds me, Ihave something in my pouches for Elzevir an' thee'; and with that he drewforth either lapel a great wicker-bound flask. He put one to his lips,tilting it and drinking long and deep, and then passed it to me, with asigh of satisfaction. 'Ah, that has the right smack. Here, take it,child, and warm thy heart; 'tis the true milk of Ararat, and the lastthou'lt taste this side the Channel.'
Then I drank too, but lightly, for the good liquor was no stranger to me,though it was only so few months ago that I had tasted it for the firsttime in the Why Not? and in a minute it tingled in my fingertips. Soon agrateful sense of warmth and comfort stole over me, and our state seemednot so desperate, nor even the night so wild. Ratsey, too, wore a morecheerful air, and the lines in his face were not so deeply marked; thegolden, sparkling influence of the flask had loosed his tongue, and hewas talking now of what I most wanted to hear.
'Yes, yes, it is a sad break-up, and what will happen to the old Why Not?I cannot tell. None have passed the threshold since you left, only theDuchy men came and sealed the doors, making it felony to force them. Andeven these lawyer chaps know not where the right stands, for Maskew neverpaid a rent and died before he took possession; and Master Block's termis long expired, and now he is in hiding and an outlaw.
'But I am sorriest for Maskew's girl, who grows thin and pale as anylily. For when the soldiers brought the body back, the men stood at theirdoors and cursed the clay, and some of the fishwives spat at it; and oldMother Veitch, who kept house for him, swore he had never paid her apenny of wag
es, and that she was afear'd to stop under the same roof withsuch an evil corpse. So out she goes from the Manor House, leaving thatpoor child alone in it with her dead father; and there were not wantingsome to say it was all a judgement; and called to mind how Elzevir hadbeen once left alone with his dead son at the Why Not? But in the villagethere was not a man that doubted that 'twas Block had sent Maskew to hisaccount, nor did I doubt it either, till a tale got abroad that he waskilled by a stray shot fired by the Posse from the cliff. And when theytook the hue-and-cry papers to the Manor House for his lass, as next ofkin, to sign the requisition, she would not set her name to it, sayingthat Block had never lifted his hand against her father when they met atMoonfleet or on the road, and that she never would believe he was the manto let his anger sleep so long and then attack an enemy in cold blood.And as for thee, she knew thee for a trusty lad, who would not do suchthings himself, nor yet stand by whilst others did them.'
Now what Ratsey said was sweeter than any music in my ears, and I feltmyself a better man, as anyone must of whom a true woman speaks well, andthat I must live uprightly to deserve such praise. Then I resolved thatcome what might I would make my way once more to Moonfleet, before wefled from England, and see Grace; so that I might tell her all thathappened about her father's death, saving only that Elzevir had meanthimself to put Maskew away; for it was no use to tell her this when shehad said that he could never think to do such a thing, and besides, forall I knew, he never did mean to shoot, but only to frighten him. ThoughI thus resolved, I said nothing of it to Master Ratsey, but only nodded,and he went on--
'Well, seeing there was no one save this poor girl to look to puttingMaskew under ground, I must needs take it in hand myself; roughingtogether a sound coffin and digging as fair a grave for him as could bemade for any lord, except that lords have always vaults to sleep in. ThenI got Mother Nutting's fish-cart to carry the body down, for there wasnot a man in Moonfleet would lay hand to the coffin to bear it; and offwe started down the street, I leading the wall-eyed pony, and the coffinfollowing on the trolley. There was no mourner to see him home except hisdaughter, and she without a bit of black upon her, for she had no time toget her crapes; and yet she needed none, having grief writ plain enoughupon her face.
'When we got to the churchyard, a crowd was gathered there, men and womenand children, not only from Moonfleet but from Ringstave and Monkbury.They were not come to mourn, but to make gibes to show how much theyhated him, and many of the children had old pots and pans for roughmusic. Parson Glennie was waiting in the church, and there he waited, forthe cart could not pass the gate, and we had no bearers to lift thecoffin. Then I looked round to see if there was any that would help tolift, but when I tried to meet a man's eye he looked away, and all Icould see was the bitter scowling faces of the women. And all the whilethe girl stood by the trolley looking on the ground. She had a littlekerchief over her head that let the hair fall about her shoulders, andher face was very white, with eyes red and swollen through weeping. Butwhen she knew that all that crowd was there to mock her father, and thatthere was not a man would raise hand to lift him, she laid her head uponthe coffin, hiding her face in her hands, and sobbed bitterly.'
Ratsey stopped for a moment and drank again deep at the flask; and as forme, I still said nothing, feeling a great lump in my throat; andreflecting how hatred and passion have power to turn men to brutes.
'I am a rough man,' Ratsey resumed, 'but tender-like withal, and when Isaw her weep, I ran off to the church to tell the parson how it was, andbeg him to come out and try if we two could lift the coffin. So out hecame just as he was, with surplice on his back and book in hand. But whenthe men knew what he was come for, and looked upon that tall, fair girlbowed down over her father's coffin, their hearts were moved, and firstTom Tewkesbury stepped out with a sheepish air, and then Garrett, andthen four others. So now we had six fine bearers, and 'twas only womenthat could still look hard and scowling, and even they said no word, andnot a boy beat on his pan.
'Then Mr. Glennie, seeing he was not wanted for bearer, changed toparson, and strikes up with "I am the resurrection and the life". 'Tis agreat text, John, and though I've heard it scores and scores of times, itnever sounded sweeter than on that day. For 'twas a fine afternoon, andwhat with there being no wind, but the sun bright and the sea still andblue, there was a calm on everything that seemed to say "Rest in Peace,Rest in Peace". And was not the spring with us, and the whole landpreaching of resurrection, the birds singing, trees and flowers wakingfrom their winter sleep, and cowslips yellow on the very graves? Thensurely 'tis a fond thing to push our enmities beyond the grave, andperhaps even _he_ was not so bad as we held him, but might have trickedhimself into thinking he did right to hunt down the contraband. I knownot how it was, but something like this came into my mind, and didperhaps to others, for we got him under without a sign or word from anythat stood there. There was not one sound heard inside the church or out,except Mr. Glennie's reading and my amens, and now and then a sob fromthe poor child. But when 'twas all over, and the coffin safe lowered, upshe walks to Tom Tewkesbury saying, through her tears, "I thank you, sir,for your kindness," and holds out her hand. So he took it, looking askew,and afterwards the five other bearers; and then she walked away byherself, and no one moved till she had left the churchyard gate, lettingher pass out like a queen.'
'And so she is a queen,' I said, not being able to keep from speaking,for very pride to hear how she had borne herself, and because she hadalways shown kindness to me. 'So she is, and fairer than any queen to boot.'
Ratsey gave me a questioning look, and I could see a little smile uponhis face in the firelight. 'Ay, she is fair enough,' said he, as thoughreflecting to himself, 'but white and thin. Mayhap she would make a matchfor thee--if ye were man and woman, and not boy and girl; if she were notrich, and thou not poor and an outlaw; and--if she would have thee.'
It vexed me to hear his banter, and to think how I had let my secret out,so I did not answer, and we sat by the embers for a while withoutspeaking, while the wind still blew through the cave like a funnel.
Ratsey spoke first. 'John, pass me the flask; I can hear voices mountingthe cliff of those poor souls of the _Florida_.'
With that he took another heavy pull, and flung a log on the fire, tillsparks flew about as in a smithy, and the flame that had slumbered wokeagain and leapt out white, blue, and green from the salt wood. Now, asthe light danced and flickered I saw a piece of parchment lying atRatsey's feet: and this was none other than the writing out ofBlackbeard's locket, which I had been reading when I first heardfootsteps in the passage, and had dropped in my alarm of hostilevisitors. Ratsey saw it too, and stretched out his hand to pick it up. Iwould have concealed it if I could, because I had never told him how Ihad rifled Blackbeard's coffin, and did not want to be questioned as tohow I had come by the writing. But to try to stop him getting hold of itwould only have spurred his curiosity, and so I said nothing when he tookit in his hands.
'What is this, son?' asked he.
'It is only Scripture verses,' I answered, 'which I got some time ago.'Tis said they are a spell against Spirits of Evil, and I was readingthem to keep off the loneliness of this place, when you came in and mademe drop them.'
I was afraid lest he should ask whence I had got them, but he did not,thinking perhaps that my aunt had given them to me. The heat of theflames had curled the parchment a little, and he spread it out on hisknee, conning it in the firelight.
''Tis well written,' he said, 'and good verses enough, but he who putthem together for a spell knew little how to keep off evil spirits, forthis would not keep a flea from a black cat. I could do ten times bettermyself, being not without some little understanding of such things,' andhe nodded seriously; 'and though I never yet met any from the otherworld, they would not take me unprepared if they should come. For I havespent half my life in graveyard or church, and 'twould be as foolish tomove about such places and have no words to meet an evil visitor withal,as
to bear money on a lonely road without a pistol. So one day, afterParson Glennie had preached from Habakkuk, how that "the vision is for anappointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie: though ittarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry", Italked with him on these matters, and got from him three or four rousingtexts such as spectres fear more than a burned child does the fire. Iwill learn them all to thee some day, but for the moment take this Latinwhich I got by heart: "_Abite a me in ignem etenum qui paratus estdiabolo at angelis ejus."_ Englished it means: "Depart from me intoeternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels," but hath at leastdouble that power in Latin. So get that after me by heart, and use itfreely if thou art led to think that there are evil presences near, andin such lonely places as this cave.' I humoured him by doing as hedesired; and that the rather because I hoped his thoughts would thus beturned away from the writing; but as soon as I had the spell by rote heturned back to the parchment, saying, 'He was but a poor divine who wrotethis, for beside choosing ill-fitting verses, he cannot even give rightnumbers to them. For see here, "The days of our age are three-score yearsand ten; and though men be so strong that they come to four-score years,yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow, so soon passeth it awayand we are gone", and he writes Psalm 90,21. Now I have said that Psalmwith parson verse and verse about for every sleeper we have laid to restin churchyard mould for thirty years; and know it hath not twenty versesin it, all told, and this same verse is the clerk's verse and comethtenth, and yet he calls it twenty-first. I wish I had here a CommonPrayer, and I would prove my words.'
He stopped and flung me back the parchment scornfully; but I folded itand slipped it in my pocket, brooding all the while over a strangethought that his last words had brought to me. Nor did I tell him that Ihad by me my aunt's prayer-book, wishing to examine for myself moreclosely whether he was right, after he should have gone.
'I must be away,' he said at last, 'though loath to leave this good fireand liquor. I would fain wait till Elzevir was back, and fainer till thisgale was spent, but it may not be; the nights are short, and I must beout of Purbeck before sunrise. So tell Block what I say, that he and thoumust flit; and pass the flask, for I have fifteen miles to walk againstthe wind, and must keep off these midnight chills.'
He drank again, and then rose to his feet, shaking himself like a dog;and walking briskly across the cave twice or thrice to make sure, as Ithought, that the Ararat milk had not confused his steps. Then he shookmy hand warmly, and disappeared in the deep shadow of the passage-mouth.
The wind was blowing more fitfully than before, and there was some signof a lull between the gusts. I stood at the opening of the passage, andlistened till the echo of Ratsey's footsteps died away, and thenreturning to the corner, flung more wood on the fire, and lit the candle.After that I took out again the parchment, and also my aunt's redprayer-book, and sat down to study them. First I looked out in the bookthat text about the 'days of our life', and found that it was indeed inthe ninetieth Psalm, but the tenth verse, just as Ratsey said, and notthe twenty-first as it was writ on the parchment. And then I took thesecond text, and here again the Psalm was given correct, but the versewas two, and not six, as my scribe had it. It was just the same with theother three--the number of the Psalm was right but the verse wrong. Sohere was a discovery, for all was painfully written smooth and cleanwithout a blot, and yet in every verse an error. But if the second numberdid not stand for the verse, what else should it mean? I had scarceformed the question to myself before I had the answer, and knew that itmust be the number of the word chosen in each text to make a secretmeaning. I was in as great a fever and excitement now as when I found thelocket in the Mohune vault, and could scarce count with trembling fingersas far as twenty-one, in the first verse, for hurry and amaze. It was'fourscore' that the number fell on in the first text, 'feet' in thesecond, 'deep' in the third, 'well' in the fourth, 'north' in the fifth.
Fourscore--feet--deep--well--north.
There was the cipher read, and what an easy trick! and yet I had notlighted on it all this while, nor ever should have, but for Sexton Ratseyand his burial verse. It was a cunning plan of Blackbeard; but other folkwere quite as cunning as he, and here was all his treasure at our feet. Ichuckled over that to myself, rubbing my hands, and read it throughagain:
Fourscore--feet--deep--well--north.
'Twas all so simple, and the word in the fourth verse 'well' and not'vale' or 'pool' as I had stuck at so often in trying to unriddle it. Howwas it I had not guessed as much before? and here was something to tellElzevir when he came back, that the clue was found to the cipher, and thesecret out. I would not reveal it all at once, but tease him by makinghim guess, and at last tell him everything, and we would set to work atonce to make ourselves rich men. And then I thought once more of Grace,and how the laugh would be on my side now, for all Master Ratsey's banterabout her being rich and me being poor!
Fourscore--feet--deep--well--north.
I read it again, and somehow it was this time a little less clear, and Ifell to thinking what it was exactly that I should tell Elzevir, and howwe were to get to work to find the treasure. 'Twas hid in a _well_--thatwas plain enough, but in what well?--and what did 'north' mean? Was itthe _north well,_ or to _north of the well_--or, was it fourscore feet_north_ of the _deep well_? I stared at the verses as if the ink wouldchange colour and show some other sense, and then a veil seemed drawnacross the writing, and the meaning to slip away, and be as far as everfrom my grasp. _Fourscore--feet--deep--well--north_: and by degreesexulting gladness gave way to bewilderment and disquiet of spirit, andin the gusts of wind I heard Blackbeard himself laughing and mocking mefor thinking I had found his treasure. Still I read and re-read it,juggling with the words and turning them about to squeeze new meaningfrom them.
'Fourscore feet deep _in the north well_,'--'fourscore feet deep in thewell _to north_'--'fourscore feet _north of the deep well_,'--so thewords went round and round in my head, till I was tired and giddy, andfell unawares asleep.
It was daylight when I awoke, and the wind had fallen, though I couldstill hear the thunder of the swell against the rock-face down below. Thefire was yet burning, and by it sat Elzevir, cooking something in thepot. He looked fresh and keen, like a man risen from a long night'ssleep, rather than one who had spent the hours of darkness in strugglingagainst a gale, and must afterwards remain watching because, forsooth,the sentinel sleeps.
He spoke as soon as he saw that I was awake, laughing and saying: 'Howgoes the night, Watchman? This is the second time that I have caught theenapping, and didst sleep so sound it might have taken a cold pistol'slips against thy forehead to awake thee.'
I was too full of my story even to beg his pardon, but began at once totell him what had happened; and how, by following the hint that Ratseydropped, I had made out, as I thought, a secret meaning in these verses.Elzevir heard me patiently, and with more show of interest towards theend; and then took the parchment in his hands, reading it carefully, andchecking the errors of numbering by the help of the red prayer-book.
'I believe thou art right,' he said at length; 'for why should thefigures all be false if there is no hidden trickery in it? If't had beenone or two were wrong, I would have said some priest had copied them inerror; for priests are thriftless folk, and had as lief set a thing downwrong as right; but with all wrong there is no room for chance. So if hemeans it, let us see what 'tis he means. First he says 'tis in a well.But what well? and the depth he gives of fourscore feet is over-deep forany well near Moonfleet.'
I was for saying it must be the well at the Manor House, but before thewords left my mouth, remembered there was no well at the manor at all,for the house was watered by a runnel brook that broke out from the woodsabove, and jumping down from stone to stone ran through the manorgardens, and emptied itself into the Fleet below.
'And now I come to think on it,' Elzevir went on, ''tis more likely thatthe well he speaks of was not in these parts at a
ll. For see here, thisBlackbeard was a spendthrift, squandering all he had, and would mostsurely have squandered the jewel too, could he have laid his hands on it.And yet 'tis said he did not, therefore I think he must have stowed itsafe in some place where afterwards he could not get at it. For if't hadbeen near Moonfleet, he would have had it up a hundred times. But thouhast often talked of Blackbeard and his end with Parson Glennie; so speakup, lad, and let us hear all that thou know'st of these tales. Maybe'twill help us to come to some judgement.'
So I told him all that Mr. Glennie had told me, how that Colonel JohnMohune, whom men called Blackbeard, was a wastrel from his youth, andsquandered all his substance in riotous living. Thus being at his lastturn, he changed from royalist to rebel, and was set to guard the king inthe castle of Carisbrooke. But there he stooped to a bribe, and took fromhis royal prisoner a splendid diamond of the crown to let him go; then,with the jewel in his pocket, turned traitor again, and showed a file ofsoldiers into the room where the king was stuck between the window bars,escaping. But no one trusted Blackbeard after that, and so he lost hispost, and came back in his age, a broken man, to Moonfleet. There herusted out his life, but when he neared his end was filled with fear, andsent for a clergyman to give him consolation. And 'twas at the parson'sinstance that he made a will, and bequeathed the diamond, which was theonly thing he had left, to the Mohune almshouses at Moonfleet. These werethe very houses that he had robbed and let go to ruin, and they neverbenefited by his testament, for when it was opened there was the bequestplain enough, but not a word to say where was the jewel. Some said thatit was all a mockery, and that Blackbeard never had the jewel; othersthat the jewel was in his hand when he died, but carried off by some thatstood by. But most thought, and handed down the tale, that being takensuddenly, he died before he could reveal the safe place of the jewel; andthat in his last throes he struggled hard to speak as if he had somesecret to unburden.
All this I told Elzevir, and he listened close as though some of it wasnew to him. When I was speaking of Blackbeard being at Carisbrooke, hemade a little quick move as though to speak, but did not, waiting till Ihad finished the tale. Then he broke out with: 'John, the diamond is yetat Carisbrooke. I wonder I had not thought of Carisbrooke before youspoke; and there he can get fourscore feet, and twice and thricefourscore, if he list, and none to stop him. 'Tis Carisbrooke. I haveheard of that well from childhood, and once saw it when a boy. It is dugin the Castle Keep, and goes down fifty fathoms or more into the bowelsof the chalk below. It is so deep no man can draw the buckets on a winch,but they must have an ass inside a tread-wheel to hoist them up. Now,why this Colonel John Mohune, whom we call Blackbeard, should have chosena well at all to hide his jewel in, I cannot say; but given he chose awell, 'twas odds he would choose Carisbrooke. 'Tis a known place, and Ihave heard that people come as far as from London to see the castle andthis well.'
He spoke quick and with more fire than I had known him use before, and Ifelt he was right. It seemed indeed natural enough that if Blackbeard wasto hide the diamond in a well, it would be in the well of that verycastle where he had earned it so evilly.
'When he says the "well north",' continued Elzevir, ''tis clear he meansto take a compass and mark north by needle, and at eighty feet in thewell-side below that point will lie the treasure. I fixed yesterday withthe _Bonaventure's_ men that they should lie underneath this ledgetomorrow sennight, if the sea be smooth, and take us off on thespring-tide. At midnight is their hour, and I said eight days on, to givethy leg a week wherewith to strengthen. I thought to make for St. Malo,and leave thee at the _Eperon d'Or_ with old Chauvelais, where thoucouldst learn to patter French until these evil times have blown by. Butnow, if thou art set to hunt this treasure up, and hast a mind to run thyhead into a noose; why, I am not so old but that I too can play the fool,and we will let St. Malo be, and make for Carisbrooke. I know the castle;it is not two miles distant from Newport, and at Newport we can lie atthe Bugle, which is an inn addicted to the contraband. The king's writruns but lamely in the Channel Isles and Wight, and if we wear some otherkit than this, maybe we shall find Newport as safe as St. Malo.'
This was just what I wanted, and so we settled there and then that wewould get the _Bonaventure_ to land us in the Isle of Wight instead of atSt. Malo. Since man first walked upon this earth, a tale of buriedtreasure must have had a master-power to stir his blood, and mine washotly stirred. Even Elzevir, though he did not show it, was moved, Ithought, at heart; and we chafed in our cave prison, and those eight dayswent wearily enough. Yet 'twas not time lost, for every day my leg grewstronger; and like a wolf which I saw once in a cage at Dorchester Fair,I spent hours in marching round the cave to kill the time and put morevigour in my steps. Ratsey did not visit us again, but in spite of whathe said, met Elzevir more than once, and got money for him fromDorchester and many other things he needed. It was after meeting Ratseythat Elzevir came back one night, bringing a long whip in one hand, andin the other a bundle which held clothes to mask us in the next scene.There was a carter's smock for him, white and quilted over withneedlework, such as carters wear on the Down farms, and for me a smallerone, and hats and leather leggings all to match. We tried them on, andwere for all the world carter and carter's boy; and I laughed long to seeElzevir stand there and practise how to crack his whip and cry 'Who-ho'as carters do to horses. And for all he was so grave, there was a smileon his face too, and he showed me how to twist a wisp of straw out of thebed to bind above my ankles at the bottom of the leggings. He had cut offhis beard, and yet lost nothing of his looks; for his jaw and deep chinshowed firm and powerful. And as for me, we made a broth of young walnutleaves and twigs, and tanned my hands and face with it a ruddy brown, sothat I looked a different lad.