CHAPTER XVIII
A FULL NIGHT
Boyle was very angry. It was a situation which demanded earnest words,and they were forthcoming. Elsie understood them to mean that she neednot be in such a purple hurry to disappear into the darkness withoutthe least explanation; thereupon she bade Suarez back the canoe alittle.
"I am sorry it is necessary to steal away in this fashion," she said,and the coolness of her tone was highly exasperating to a man who couldno more detain her than he could move the _Kansas_ unaided. "I have aplan which requires only a bit of good fortune to render itpracticable. I have two assistants--Suarez, whose aid I am compelling,and Joey, who is quite eager. There is no use in risking any morelives. If I do not return you may be sure the worst has happened."
"But what is your plan?" roared Boyle. "It may be just sheer nonsense.Tell me what it is, and I swear by the Nautical Almanac I shall notprevent you from carrying it out if it has any reason behind it."
"I am going to collect all the Indian canoes," was the amazing answer."I know it can be done, from what Suarez has said. Once we have thecanoes in mid channel, we can set most of them adrift, and bringCaptain Courtenay and the others back to the ship in four or five whichwe will tow to Guanaco Hill. And now, good-by again!"
"One moment, Miss Maxwell," broke in Gray's quiet voice from the upperdeck. "You can't engineer that scheme with a one-man crew, and he sickand unwilling. I am going with you. You must take me aboard, wet ordry."
"I am well armed, and shall admit of no interference," she cried.
"I promise to obey orders."
"If I wanted you, Mr. Gray, I should have sought your help."
"It is one thing or the other--a wriggle down a rope or a high divingact."
"You have no right to impose such an alternative on me."
"I hate it myself, and I can't dive worth a cent. You will hear abeastly flop when I strike the damp."
"Mr. Boyle--I call on you to hold him."
Boyle explained luridly that the American was doing a balancing act onthe rail eight feet above his head. Elsie, taking her eyes off Suarezfor an instant, discerned Gray's figure silhouetted against the sky.She yielded.
"There is a rope ladder fastened to the lowest rail, near where thecanoe was moored," she said.
"Is there to be any catch-as-catch-can business, Boyle?" demanded Gray.
"No. All this is d--d unfair to me."
"You have my sympathy, friend, but you can't leave the ship. Now, MissMaxwell, come alongside. Boyle is going to be good. He doesn't meanhalf he says, anyhow."
As the canoe slipped out of the dense gloom of the ship's shadow, Elsieheard the wrathful chief officer interviewing the Chilean sailors onwatch on the main deck fore and aft. That is to say, he stirred themup from the bridge with a ritual laid down for such extreme cases. Notyet had he realized the exceeding artifice which the girl displayed inthrowing him and all the others off their guard. She had maneuveredSuarez into the canoe with the fierce and silent strategy of a RedIndian.
The Argentine squatted on his knees in the bows, Gray placed himselfamidships, and Elsie sat aft, holding the revolver in her right handand the dog's collar in her left. The American groped for and found apaddle, which he plied vigorously.
"Guess you'd better discourse," said he over his shoulder, when thelight craft was well clear of the ship.
"You understand Spanish, I think?"
"Yes."
"Please tell Suarez to cease paddling and listen. Don't move. I cantrust you, but I may have to shoot him."
"Best hand me that pop-gun, Miss Maxwell. The gentleman in front seemsto have a wholesome respect for you already; anything you say goes,where he is concerned. I am taking your word for it his name isSuarez, but he looks, and smells, more like an Indian."
"I forced him to dress in his discarded clothes. He may be able now toscare any of the savages we come across. But why should I give you myweapon, Mr. Gray?"
"Because I can hit most things I aim at, whereas you are more likely tobore a hole through me as a preliminary. Moreover, you have the dogwith you, and even the wisest dog may bark at the wrong moment. Youmust have both hands at liberty to choke his enthusiasm."
"Do you pledge your word to go on with my scheme?"
"That is what I am here for."
"Take the revolver, then."
"Sure it's loaded?"
"Quite sure. I have fifteen extra cartridges, but, as I have practisedrefilling it in the dark, give it to me if you have occasion to emptyit."
"You seem to have thought this thing out pretty fully?"
"I intend to succeed. Now, please, I must explain what I want Suarezto do."
Speaking in Spanish, slow and clear, while the canoe drifted steadilyup the bay with the rising tide, Elsie unfolded her project. Behindthe guardian cliff of Otter Creek a ridge of rocks created a smallnatural harbor. It was the custom of the Alaculofs, when the weatherwas calm, and they meant to use their craft at daybreak, to anchor mostof their vessels in this sheltered break-water. At other times thecanoes were drawn ashore, but she reasoned that such a precaution wouldnot be taken during the present excitement. That was the first part ofher program--to capture the entire fleet, including the life-boat. Inany event, she intended to go next to the hidden cleft at the foot ofGuanaco Hill, trusting to the dog's sagacity to reveal the retreatwhere she believed that her lover and many of his men were hidden. Ifa squad of Indians mounted guard there, the reappearance of Suarez inhis war paint, backed by the alarm of a night attack from the sea,might mystify the enemy sufficiently to permit of a landing, while thefrequent reports of the revolver would certainly lead to a counterdemonstration by Courtenay. Suarez was the only man on the _Kansas_who could act as guide, and the penalty of his refusal would be instantdeath. She had provided a strong, sharp knife to cut the thongs whichfastened the canoes to their anchor-stones. For the rest, she trustedto the darkness. It was her fixed resolve to succeed or die.
Gray listened to the girl's cool statement with growing admiration.The plan began to look feasible. It came within the bounds of reason.The odds were against it, of course, but the law of probability isseldom in favor of a forlorn hope. Suarez, too, making the best of asituation which gave him no option, agreed that they had a fair chanceif once they got hold of the canoes. Nevertheless, he warned them thathe knew nothing of the surroundings of Guanaco Hill. He believed therewere no reefs on that side of the inlet, but he had never visited it.Their greatest peril lay amid the almost impenetrable trees which grewdown to the water's edge. On his advice, Gray unshipped the mast andthrew it overboard. Then silence became imperative. If aught weresaid, they must speak in the merest whisper.
The canoe darted forward again with stealthy haste. The night wasclear, though dark. The stars helped them to distinguish the outlinesof the shore now coming rapidly nearer. As they crept round thesouthern cheek of Point _Kansas_, the Argentine ceased paddling, andplaced a warning hand on Gray's arm. The cliff was so high and steepthat its shadow plunged into deepest gloom the water at its base.Suarez, however, had imbibed a good deal of savage lore during hisenforced residence on the island. He stretched well forward over thebows, held a paddle as far in front as possible, and thus not onlyguided the drifting canoe by an occasional dip of the blade, buttrusted to it for warning of any unseen rock.
There was a cold breeze on the surface of the bay, but the dog was theonly one who shivered, and his tremors arose from excitement. At lastthey felt a slight bump. The Argentine had found the reef he wassearching for; by watching a star it was easy enough to follow thesoutherly bend taken by the canoe in skirting this barrier, while theirears caught the murmur of the swift current amid the numerous tinychannels of the rocks. Suddenly this swirl and hum of fast-flowingwater ceased. Elsie and Gray became aware that Suarez was cautiouslydrawing himself inboard again. Then his paddle dipped with a noiselessstroke; the canoe was inside the Alaculof harbor.
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The midnight blackness was now something that had a sense of actualobstruction in it. It seemed that a hand put forth would encounter awall. The tide was here, but no perceptible current. For all theycould tell to the contrary, they might have been floating in Charon'sboat across some Stygian pool.
For a minute or two, Elsie's brave heart failed her. Here was adifficulty which desperate courage could not surmount. There might bedozens of canoes moored on all sides, but to discover them in thispitch darkness was so obviously impossible that she almost made up hermind to abandon this part of her enterprise. Yet the narrow-beamedFuegian craft she was in would hold only four more occupants, and thatwith a certain risk and unwieldiness. She was as determined as ever tocross the bay and endeavor to communicate with the imprisoned men. Butshe recognized the absurdity of the thought that Courtenay andTollemache would consent to escape in the canoe and leave the others totheir fate, even if such a thing were practicable. Oddly enough, theone person whose daring might reasonably be suspected, gave no signs ofthe pangs of doubt. Suarez pushed forward resolutely. He knew whatElsie had forgotten--that in each canoe used by the Indians there was acarefully preserved fire, whose charcoal embers retained some heat andglow all night. The first intimation of this fact was revealed by thepungent fumes which environed them. Elsie could not help uttering alittle gasp of relief. There was a slight movement in front. Grayleaned back and touched her hand.
"Suarez says," he whispered, "that you are to be ready with your towropes. As he secures each canoe he will pass it along to me. You willbe able to see its outlines by the dim glimmer of the fire. But howwill you manage about the dog? He may cause an alarm."
Much to Joey's disgust, he was forthwith muzzled with a piece of rope,not that this device would stop him effectually from barking, but Elsiethought he would so resent the indignity that he might pay less heed toouter circumstances. She needed no warning that Indians were near.The Argentine miner's description of the community which dwelt on OtterCreek made her understand that there were hundreds within hail.
A great joy leaped up in her when the first canoe came under her hand.It was quite easy to manipulate the painter-rope. The stem had anotched knob provided for this very purpose, and there was a stern-postagainst which a steersman might press a paddle and thus swerve thecanoe in any direction. But it was slow work. The craft were mooredwithout any semblance of order, yet Suarez was forced to secure them ina definite sequence, or a string of half-a-dozen would becomeunmanageable.
When the second canoe was made fast Gray bent towards the girl oncemore.
"I have been listening to the tick of my watch," he breathed againsther ear. "I reckon it has taken ten minutes to collect two dug-outs.Unless we mean to remain all night we must let up on the cutting adriftproposition."
"I agree," she murmured. "But we must have two more."
He told Suarez of the new development, which was essential, though itadded to the danger of the enterprise. By sheer good fortune, however,they blundered against the life-boat. A dog barked, and Elsie had athrilling struggle with Joey, who was furious that this unlooked-forinsolence should go unanswered. The sleepless cur who yelped ashorespeedily subsided, but it appeared to be an age before Suarez movedagain. He knew, better than his companions, how ready the Indians wereto note such sentinel challenges. Had the alarm continued, the wholevillage would have been aroused, and, if the attack on the canoes weresuspected, the water would swarm with vengeful savages.
Elsie found the painter of the life-boat coiled in its proper place.Soon she experienced a steady pull on the rope. Her little fleet wasin motion. Gray began to help in the paddling. Ere long they cameunder the influence of the tide, and she heard the ripple of the wateragainst the planks of the boat. Then Suarez called a halt and a parley.
It would be far better, he advised, to use the oars in the heavy boatthan attempt to tow it across the strong current from a canoe. Theywould gain time and be safer. So they climbed into the life-boat, butcontinued to tow the canoes.
And now they saw the mast-head light of the _Kansas_. Boyle had alsocaused the side lights to be slung to davits, and the white, red, andgreen lamps made a triangle in the obscurity, though its base seemed tobe strangely near sea level. Even a big vessel like the Kansas shrinksto small proportions when she is a mile or more distant at night. Shebecomes indivisible, a mere atom in the immensity of the black waters;it demands an effort of the imagination to credit her with wide decks,streets of cabins, and cavernous holds. In one respect the exhibitionof the port and starboard lights served them most excellently. GuanacoHill was directly astern of the ship; they had absolutely no trouble inmaintaining a straight line for their destination, all that wasnecessary being to keep the mast-head light in the exact center of thegreen and red points.
Suarez, somewhat weak from his knock on the head over night, was notequal to the strain of continued exertion, so Elsie and Gray took twooars each, and allowed their companion to rest. When, judging by thesurrounding hills, they were half way across the inlet, Gray stoopedlow in the boat, struck a match, and looked at his watch. It was longafter one o'clock! There could be no doubt whatever that the dawnwould find them far from the ship, no matter how fortunate they mightbe in their further adventures.
It was well for Elsie that she had learnt how to scull when in herteens, and that her muscles were in fair condition owing to her skillat tennis. Even so, she feared that she could never hold out againstthe sustained stress of that pull across the bay. The heavy boat,intended to be rowed by six men, had the added burthen of four canoes.It was back-breaking work; but she neither faltered nor sighed untilSuarez said:
"Let me take your place now, senorita. In ten minutes we shall be atthe mouth of the creek, though heaven only knows how we shall find it."
He did not exaggerate in thus expressing his fear. Time and again theyneared the shore, only to hear the tidal swell breaking heavily on therocks. The lights of the _Kansas_, fully three miles away, could onlytell them that they were in the neighborhood of the place whereCourtenay had last been seen in this identical boat. The leastdivergence from the line given by the position of the ship meant adifference of hundreds of yards at such a distance, and there was anominous lightening of the gloom, accompanied by a dimming of the stars,when Gray hit on the idea that the powerful current had probablycarried them a good deal southward of the point they were aiming at.He suggested that they should boldly pull a quarter of a mile or soagainst the tide and then try their luck. Their progress, of course,became slower than ever, and Elsie began to despair that they wouldever find the mouth of the stream which ran through the cleft in thehill, when she suddenly saw the luminous crescents which heralded thesunrise over the inner mountain range. They could not be visibleunless there was a break in the cliffs in that locality.
"Pull in now," she whispered tensely, and, with a little furthereffort, they found that the boat was traveling not against but with thetide, which was flooding a small offshoot of the main estuary.
Precaution became not only useless but impossible. They were all wornout. Nothing but the most inflexible determination on the part ofElsie and Gray, eked out by a certain desponding fear of both of themfelt by Suarez, had sustained them thus far. They went on, and on;they swept rapidly into the jaws of a precipitous defile, the loftycrests on either hand coming momentarily nearer against the brighteningsky. It did not seem credible that this sheer cut through the heart ofa gigantic hill could continue for more than a few yards, nor thatanything save a bird could find foothold on its steep sides. Yet thecurrent flowed smoothly onwards, through a wealth of vegetation whichclung precariously to every ledge and natural escarpment.
Joey, embarrassed by his gag, nevertheless managed to emit a warninggrowl. Then the boat crashed into a canoe, and a hoarse yell of alarmcame from beneath the lowermost trees, whose dense foliage flung a pallover the water. Gray was seized with an inspiration. He grasped thecanoe as it
bumped along the gunwale, and held it down on one sideuntil it filled and sank. He sent another, and yet a third, guzzlingto the bottom before the outburst of raucous cries from both banksshowed there were Indians here in some force.
Stones, too, began to hum around them; some struck the boat, but thegreater number whizzed unpleasantly close to the heads of the two menand the girl, proving conclusively that they were visible to the unseenenemy. Gray whipped forth the revolver and fired twice. The secondtime a shriek of pain told that he had hit one of their assailants.The two reports made a deafening din in that place of echoes. Theyappeared to stir the Indians into a perfect frenzy, and it was evident,by the sounds, that the islanders had not much liberty of movement onthe narrow strips of land they occupied on both sides of the gorge.
Elsie caught some significant splashing behind her.
"They are swimming towards the canoes," she screamed.
Telling Suarez to pull for all he was worth, Gray, clambered to thestern of the boat and emptied the revolver at what he took to be theblack heads of the swimmers.
"Quick! Load it again," he said, and Elsie obeyed with a nimblenessand certainty that were amazing.
The American fired three more shots before he was satisfied that thecanoes were untenanted and not cut adrift. They were now leaving thepandemonium behind, and Elsie, bethinking herself of the dog, freed himfrom that most objectionable muzzle. Joey forthwith awoke the welkinwith his uproar, but, although the girl strained her ears for someanswering hail, she could detect nothing beyond the bawling of Indiansat each other across the narrow creek, and the repeated echoes of thedog's barking.
About this time Gray began to suspect that the tide was bearing themonward at a remarkable rate. In the somber depths of the cleft orcanon it was difficult to discern stationary objects clearly enough toobtain a means of estimating the pace of the stream. But the rapiddying down of the hubbub among the savages gave him cause to think. Heasked Suarez to cease pulling. The canoes behind came crowding in onthe more solid boat, and an oar held out until it encountered someinvisible branch was rudely swept aside. In a word, they were beingimpelled towards an unknown destination with the silence and gatheringspeed of a mill-race.
An expert engineer, though his work may have little to do with sea orriver, cannot fail to accumulate a store of theoretical knowledge as tothe properties and limitations of water in motion. Gray knew that thequickened impulse of the stream arose from the tidal force exerted in achannel which gradually lessened its width. The boat was traveling atsea level. Therefore, there could be neither rapids nor cataract infront; but the steady rush of the current, now plainly audible, couldnot be accounted for simply by the effort of the tide to gain a passagethrough a mere by-way, as the boat was now nearly half a mile from theestuary, and the velocity of the current was increasing each moment.
"We must endeavor to reach the bank and hold on to the branches of atree," he shouted in Spanish. "Down with your heads until the boatstrikes, and then try to lay hold of something."
There was no time for explanation. He seized an oar; a powerful strokeswung the boat's nose round. By chance, he used the starboard oar.All unknowing he spun a coin for life or death, and life won. Theycrashed through some drooping foliage and ran into a crumbling bank.Gray unshipped the oar and jammed it straight down. It stuck betweenstones at a depth of three feet, and the life-boat was held fast forthe time. The canoes hurtled against each other, but were swept asideinstantly. When the noise ceased, they plainly heard the swirl of thewater. In their new environment, it had the uncanny and sinister hissof some monstrous snake.
"Everybody happy?" Gray demanded coolly.
"I am clinging to a tree trunk," answered Elsie.
"Bully for you. Make fast with a piece of rope. But be careful toprovide a slip-knot, in case we have to sheer off in a hurry. Can youmanage that?"
"Quite well."
Elsie was fully aware that the leadership of the expedition had gonefrom her. She was not sorry; it was in strong hands. Suarez, too,secured a stout branch, and passed a rope around it.
"Now, silence! and listen!" said Gray.
They soon detected a curiously subdued clamor from the inner recessesof the cleft. At first almost indistinguishable, it gradually assumedthe peculiar attribute of immense volumes of distant sound, and filledthe ear to the exclusion of all else. It was like nothing any of themhad heard before; now it recalled the roar of a mighty waterfall, andagain its strange melody brought memories of a river in flood. But thedominant note was the grinding noise of innumerable mill-stones. Itcowed them all. Even the dog was afraid.
"Guess we tied up just in time," exclaimed Gray, feeling the need ofspeech. A little sob answered him. Elsie was beginning to admit thesheer hopelessness of her undertaking.
"Now, cheer up, Miss Maxwell," said he. "All the water that is goingin must come out by the same road. At the worst, we can skate back theway we came and take our chance. But it will soon be broad daylight,and I'll answer for it that if Captain Courtenay is yet alive he is notbetween us and the mouth of the inlet, or he would have contrived somesort of racket to let us know his whereabouts. Now, I propose that ourfriend in the bows be asked to shin up the cliff and prospect a bit.He ought to know how to crawl through this undergrowth. Fifty feethigher he will be able to see some distance."
Elsie agreed miserably. She was crushed by the immensity of thedifficulties confronting them. Expedients which looked simplebeforehand were found lamentably deficient to cope with wild nature onthe stupendous scale of this gloomy land. Suarez, too, was veryreluctant to leave the boat, but the American adopted a short cut inthe argument, offering him the alternative of climbing ashore or ofbeing thrown overboard.
So the Argentine adopted the less hazardous method, and climbed to thebank. A splash, and a scramble, and a slight exclamation from Elsietold that the dog had followed. Soon the swish of leaves and thecrackling of rotten wood ceased. Suarez might be out of earshot ormerely hiding for a time, intending to return with news of animpassable precipice. There was a crumb of comfort in the absence ofthe terrier. Joey would either go on or come back to them at once.
Gray felt that the girl was too heart-broken to talk. He listened tothe rhythmical chorus of that witches' cauldron in the heart of thedefile, and watched the gray light slowly etching a path through thetrees, until it touched the fast-running water with a shimmer of silver.
Neither of them knew how long they remained there; at last, a strainingand creaking of the boat warned them that the water level was risingand the ropes needed readjusting. It was now possible to see thatElsie had made fast to a fallen tree; its branches were locked amongthe gnarled roots of the lowermost growth above high-water mark.Already there was a distinct lessening in the pace of the current, andGray fancied that the distant rumble was softer. It would not be manyminutes before the neighboring rocks were covered; high tide, he knew,was at 3.15 A.M. He forebore to look at his watch, lest the girlshould note his action. That would imply the utter abandonment of hope.
It might be that his mind was too taken up with the weird influences ofthe hour, or that Elsie's senses were strung to a superhuman pitch. Bethat as it may, it was she who sprang to her feet all a-quiver withagitation.
"Do you hear?" she whispered, and her hand clutched Gray's shoulderwith an energy which set his heart beating high. He did not answer.He had heard no unusual sound, but he was not without faith in her.
"There!" she panted again. "Some one is hailing. Some one cried'Elsie.' I am sure of it."
"Guess you'd better toot 'Arthur' on the off chance," said Gray.
Almost the last thing she remembered was the sound of her own wildscream. There came back to her a stronger shout, and the bark of adog. She had a blurred consciousness of a whole troupe of menscrambling down the choked ravine, of glad questions and joyousanswers, of a delirious dog leaping on board and yelping staccatoassurances that everything was all right
in a most wonderful world.Then she found herself in Courtenay's arms, and heard him say in arapture of delight:
"I owe my life to you, dear heart. That is the wonder of it. No needto tell me you ran away from the ship. I know. One kiss, Elsie; thenfull speed ahead for the _Kansas_. By the Lord, to think of it! Youhere! At the very gate of the Inferno! Well, one more kiss! Yes, itis I, none other, and fit as a fiddle. Never got a scratch. There,now; I really must see to the crew. We must be ready for the turn ofthe tide."
CHAPTER XIX
WHEREIN THE KANSAS RESUMES HER VOYAGE
The events of the next hour were shadowy as the dawn to Elsie. Sheknew that her lover placed men in each of the canoes, that thelife-boat itself was crowded, and that it began the seaward journeyafter the others had started. She followed his explanation that if oneof the lighter craft got into difficulties at the Indian barrier, thebig, heavy boat would be able to extricate it. But she feared neitherIndians nor sea. Had Courtenay proposed to sail away into the Pacificshe would have listened with placid approval. She was by his side;that sufficed. For the rest, they lived in the midst of adventures.What did it matter if they were called on to run the gauntlet of onemore ambuscade--or a dozen, if it came to that?
But they sped out of the twilight into the morning glory of the openbay, and never a savage hoot disturbed the echoes. Some of theAlaculofs had dragged a couple of canoes from beneath the trees andraced off toward the village; others had followed a coast path knownonly to them, while, if there were watchers by the side of thatmysterious river which flowed both ways with the tide, they kept asilent vigil, awed by the force arrayed against them.
As the life-boat emerged into the estuary under the vigorous sweep ofsix ash blades, Elsie's wondering glance rested on the brown plumpnessof a three-quarters naked girl who was gazing at Suarez with wistful,glistening eyes, much as Joey was regarding his master. In theintense, penetrating light of sunrise, the bedaubed and skin-clothedArgentine was the most unlovely object that ever captivated woman. Yethe satisfied the soul of this Fuegian maid, so what more was there tobe said?
Courtenay caught the happy little sigh, half laugh, half sob, withwhich Elsie announced her discovery of the idyl in the canoe.
"We owe a lot to that young person," he said. "None of us could makeout a word she uttered when first we saw her. She loses what smallamount of Spanish she can speak when she becomes excited, and it wassheer good fortune that some of the crew were with her when she swungherself down the side of the cliff to warn us of our danger; otherwiseshe might have been shot. I suppose Suarez told you what to expect?"
"You might as well be talking Alaculof yourself for all I can followwhat you are saying," murmured Elsie happily.
"Then how did _you_ know where to tie up? _We_ went too far. We lostthe boat that way, and my gun as well. We had to jump for it, and itwas only the boat's stout timbers which enabled her to live throughthat boiling pot in the volcano. The native girl said that noIndian-built craft ever came back."
"Excellent!" said Elsie. "When we reach the ship I shall write downeverything you tell me. After a time I shall begin to understand."
Whereupon, Courtenay took thought, and explained that the channel whichflowed through that amazing cut in the cliff led to the crater of anextinct volcano, into which the sea poured twenty feet of water eachtide. An almost everlasting maelstrom raged within, as the waterentered by a side-long channel, and sent a whirlpool spinning with thehands of the clock until the enormous cistern was full, and againstthem until it was empty. The sailors had taken refuge on a wide,sulphur-coated ledge high above the vortex, and the presence of severalskeletons showed that many an unfortunate had sought a last shelterthere against pursuit. Every Alaculof knew of this retreat, but fewdared approach it, as the roar of the water far below appalled them.There was only one path; when the hunters closed that their prey wassafe. The alternative to capture was death by starvation. TheChileans, and he himself during the past fourteen hours, had subsistedon a bag of dried berries stolen by the girl when she first led thesailors thither.
"Didn't you see how eager we all were to search the lockers?" he asked."But the rascals had cleared every scrap when the boat fell into theirhands again with the falling tide."
She nestled close to him.
"I saw nothing," she whispered. "My mind held but one thought--thatyou were alive, though, indeed, I was mourning you as dead. But now Iam restored to my senses. I think I can grasp what happened. Did Joeyfind you?"
"Yes. You can guess my bewilderment when he sprang on top of me. Iwas lying down; I heard our sentries shouting, but paid no heed. As amatter of fact, Elsie, I, too, had abandoned hope. I could see nochance of escape. Great Heaven! To think of your coming to my rescue!What made you do it?"
"Please go on. Tell me all. You shall hear my story afterwards."
"Well, I jumped up, and Joey nearly fell into the crater with delight.I was just in time to save Suarez from being shot. Luckily he was along way behind the dog, and I recognized his make-up. The guard, whobelonged to the original lot, naturally thought he was an Indian. Andyou ought to have seen that blessed girl skipping around when she seteyes on him. We must give her money enough to fix her up as his wifeif the _Kansas_ gets off."
"If--"
There was a world of belief in that one word. Could any one doubt theultimate hap of that thrice fortunate ship? Had not Mr. Boyle said hercaptain was a lucky man? Elsie laughed aloud in her joy, for the queernotion occurred to her that her grumpy friend would surely have someremarkable story of the one-legged skipper of the _Flower of the Ocean_brig, wherewith to point the moral and adorn the tale of the _Kansas_and her commander.
Though Courtenay did not allow ten seconds to pass without a glance atthe charming face by his side, he, nevertheless, had a sharp eye forevents elsewhere. He saw smoke rising from the funnel of the ship; aline of flags dancing from the foremast told him that Boyle haddiscovered them as soon as they were clear of the deep shadow ofGuanaco Hill. But there were anxious moments yet in store. A fleet ofcanoes put off from Otter Creek. There was every prospect of a fightbefore they reached their fortress. They had a long two miles totravel, and the Indians could attack them ere they covered half thedistance.
Gray and Tollemache were sitting together in the fore part of the boat.When they had met in the canon they had merely exchanged a hearty grip,and Gray's inquiry if his friend was O.K. had elicited the informationthat his general state was "Fair." But the sight of the sparkling bayhad unlocked even the Englishman's lips, for he was telling his friendsome of the adventures of the previous afternoon, when he viewed theblack dots darting forth from behind Point _Kansas_.
"Here they come again," he growled. "I never have seen such persistentrotters. And this time we're in a fix."
A long blare from the ship's siren thrilled their hearts, but theexcitement became frantic when three short, sharp blasts followed, andevery sailor knew that the chief officer had signalled: "My engines aregoing full speed astern."
That was a pardonable exaggeration, but the _Kansas_ was certainlymoving. They could see the white foam churned up by her propeller.With one accord they cheered madly, and the oars, double-handed now,tore the life-boat onward at a pace which outstripped even the shallowcanoes.
Then the Indians did a wise thing. They spared many of their ownlives, and, perchance others of greater value to the world, by ceasingto paddle. The unlooked-for interference of the great vessel was toomuch for them. They merely stared and cackled in amaze, while thesmall flotilla dashed towards the towering black hull, and Boylelowered the gangway in readiness to receive the captain, his brideelect, and a good half of the passengers and crew.
Courtenay lost not an instant of favoring tide and fine weather. WhenBoyle told him that Walker could work the engines under easy steam, hedashed up to the bridge three steps at a time. With his hand on thetelegraph, he superintended the hoisting on board of the l
ife-boat andtwo of the canoes, which he meant to carry away as trophies--be surethat Elsie's own special craft was one of them. Meanwhile, Boyle sawto the safe stowing in the remaining canoes of the wounded Indians inthe fore cabin, and a few furnace bars attached to a rope anchored themin mid channel, whence their friends could bring them to shore later.
At last, the captain of the _Kansas_ had the supreme satisfaction ofhearing the clang of the electric bell in the engine-room as he put thetelegraph lever successively to "Stand By," and "Slow Ahead."Gradually the ship crept north, gaining way as the engines increasedtheir stroke and the full body of the ebb tide made its volume felt.Round swung the _Kansas_ to the west, just as the sun cleared thehighest peak of the unknown mountains. Courtenay had not forgotten hisbearings. Although he had men using the lead constantly, he did notneed their help. Once clear of the reefs which he had seen when thevessel first ran into the inlet, he made straight for the pillar rock,and rather raised the hair of the man at the wheel, not to mention mostof the people on deck, by the nearness of his approach to that solitarybuoy set in the midst of a broken sea. How good it was to feel thesteady thrust of the pistons, the long roll of the ship over the swell!And then, when Elsie brought him his breakfast, and stood by his sideas he watched the set of the tide with unwavering eyes, what a joy thatwas, to listen to her story of the night's wanderings, and to knowthat, with God's help, their Odyssey was nearing its end!
For every sailor is a fatalist, and in the unwritten code of the seathe law runs that once a ship has undergone her supreme trial she hasthe freedom of the great highway for that voyage, though she girdle theearth ere the dock gates open.
But best of all was it to hear Elsie tell how Dr. Christobal had handedher a bulky packet, in which she found Courtenay's words of farewell,together with those wonderful letters which fate had held back from hertwice already. They were only glowing epistles from the hundreds ofpassengers on the _Florida_, but six of them were proposals fromenthusiastic ladies, all well dowered, and eager to give their charmsand their cash to the safe keeping of the man who had saved theirlives. It was with reference to some joking comment by Courtenay onthese missives that his sister wrote to congratulate him on havingescaped matrimony under such conditions. Elsie, brimful of highspirits, amused herself by teasing him with nice phrases culled fromeach of the six.
Long before noon the _Kansas_ cleared White Horse Island. There was aticklish hour while Courtenay and Boyle looked for the shoal. When itslong, low sandspit was revealed by the falling tide, the ship tookthought of her agony there, and traversed those treacherous waters withdue reverence. Thenceforth, the run was due south until eight bells,when, for the second time within a fortnight, the captain set thecourse "South-40-East."
A stiff breeze blowing from the south-west, and heavy clouds rolling upover the horizon, showed that the land of storms was repenting thephenomenal frivolity which had let it bask in sunshine for an unbrokenspell of ten days. But the gale which whistled into Good Hope Inletthat night carried with it no disabled and blood-stained ship. Mr.Malcolm, who got his diminished squad of stewards in hand as though thevessel had quitted port that day, served dinner promptly at two bellsin the second dog watch--by which no allusion is intended to an animalalready gorged to repletion--and wore a proper professional air ofannoyance because everybody was late, owing to the interesting factthat the half-minute fixed dashing light on Evangelistas Island hadjust been sighted.
Elsie noted that Count Edouard de Poincilit came with the rest, and satbeside Isobel. Courtenay put in an appearance later to partake of ahasty meal. He gave monsieur a black look, but, of course, catchingElsie's eye instantly, he meekly sat down and said nothing--nothing,that is, of an unpleasant nature. All good ladies will recognize suchbehavior as one of the points of a man likely to become a model husband.
Dr. Christobal and Gray were in great form, while Tollemache actuallytold a story. When the captain sent Boyle down from the bridge, Elsiemade Tollemache repeat it--a simple yarn, detailing an all-night searchfor a Devonshire village, which he could not find because some rotterhad deemed it funny to turn a sign-post the wrong way round.
"Huh, that's odd," said Boyle. "Reminds me of a thing that happened toa friend of mine, skipper of the _Flower of the Ocean_ brig. Brown hisname was, an' he had a wooden leg. The day his son an' heir was born,he dropped into a gin-mill to celebrate, an' his stump stuck in a ropemat. He swore a bit, but he chanced to see on one of the half doorsthe name 'Nosmo,' an', on the other, 'King.' 'Dash me,' says he,'them's two fine names for the kid--Nosmo King Brown'--a bit of allright, eh? So he goes home an' tells the missus. After thechristenin', he took a pal or two round to the same bar to stand treat.That time the two halves of the door were closed, an' any ass could seethat the letters stood for 'No Smoking.' Well, the other fellows toldme his language was so sultry that his prop caught fire."
So all was well with the _Kansas_.
* * * * * *
Crawling quietly into the Straits of Magellan at daybreak, the ship putforth her best efforts in the run through the narrows. Passing CapeSan Isidro, she signalled her name, and it was easy to see thecommotion created by her appearance. The real furore began when sheapproached Sandy Point. A steam launch puffed off hastily from theside of a Chilean warship, and the commander brought the news that hehad been sent specially from Coronel to search the western coast linethoroughly for the _Kansas_. He was about to return that day, toreport his failure to discover any trace of the missing vessel, and helistened in amaze while Christobal gave him a succinct history of theship's doings. At the end, Courtenay presented him with a photographof Elsie's chart, to which many additions had been made by her underher lover's directions. The position of the shoal, and of Pillar Rock,together with the set of the tidal current, were clearly shown, and itis probable that Good Hope Inlet, notwithstanding its dangerousapproach, will be thoroughly surveyed one of these days. Then,perhaps, more may be heard of those lumps of silver and copper orewhich the savages hurled at the _Kansas_.
The cruiser hurried away, under forced draft, to report from Coronel,the nearest cable-station. Thence she would go to Valparaiso, so shecarried a sheaf of letters, and one passenger, Frascuelo. Finding thathe could not execute the needed repairs at Sandy Point, Courtenaydecided to make for Montevideo, where he would be in telegraphiccommunication with Mr. Baring. He was fortunate in finding ashipwrecked crew on shore, awaiting transport to England. He secured afull complement of officers and engineers, and the _Kansas_ reached thechief port of Uruguay without any difficulty.
A sack-load of telegrams awaited the ship. The Chilean man-of-war putinto Valparaiso, after calling at Coronel, nearly three days before the_Kansas_ dropped anchor on the east coast. Hence, there was time forthings to happen, and they seized the opportunity. The copper markethad turned itself inside out; the firm of Baring, Thompson, Miguel &Co. had rebounded from comparative ruin to a stronger financial statethan ever, and Senor Pedro Ventana, after shooting a man named JoseAnacleto, had considerately shot himself. Evidently, Frascuelo lost notime when he went ashore; Mr. Baring, too, reported that the dynamitewrapper had been traced to Ventana's possession.
When Isobel Baring heard this final item she fainted so badly that Dr.Christobal thought it advisable she should be taken to a hotel whilethe ship remained in port. But she vetoed this proposal determinedlywhen she recovered her senses, and straightway confessed to Elsie thatVentana was her husband. She had foolishly agreed to marry himprivately, and Anacleto had witnessed the ceremony. Within a month,she regretted her choice; there were quarrels, and threats; ultimately,an agreement was made that they should separate. Her father knew andapproved of the arrangement. He could not afford to break openly withVentana, and it must have been a dreadful shock to him when he learnedthat the scoundrel had plotted not only to destroy the ship but tomurder his wife at the same time.
"So you see," she added with a wan smile, "I
did not give seriousthought to your troubles, Elsie. Ventana could never have married youwhile I was alive."
Elsie's cheeks reddened.
"I never told you he asked me to marry him," she said. "It would havebeen just the same had he done so. As it was, I feared the man. Nowyou know why I ran away from Chile. If I permitted another impressionto prevail, I acted for the best. But the unhappy man is dead; let usendeavor to forget him."
"His memory haunts me with an enduring curse," cried Isobel, bitterly."Among my papers I had some letters of his, the marriage certificate,and his written promise not to molest me. On that awful night when theship was disabled, I went to my cabin and secured them, or thought Idid. At any rate, I could not find them when we landed on White HorseIsland, and, from hints dropped by that wretched little adventurer, dePoincilit, I feel sure they have fallen into his hands. Believe me,Elsie, I was half mad when I helped him to steal the boat."
"Steal the boat! What boat?"
"Has not Captain Courtenay told you?"
"Not a word."
"Ah, he is a true gentleman. But you forget. You heard what he saidto de Poincilit before he went to the Guanaco canon?"
"Yes; I did not understand. Oh, my poor Isobel, how you must havesuffered, while I have been so happy."
"If only I could recover my papers--"
"May I ask Arthur to help?"
"He knows the worst of me already. One more shameful disclosure cannotadd to my degradation."
"Isobel, how little you know him!" Thus spoke Elsie, after fourteendays. Truly there is much enlightenment in a hug!
Monsieur le Comte Edouard de Poincilit, to his intense chagrin, foundthat a ship's captain has far-reaching powers when he chooses to exertthem. Rather than enter a Montevidean jail, where people have diedsuddenly of nasty fevers, he not only restored the missing documentsbut submitted to a close scrutiny of his own belongings, which resultedin the pleasing discovery that he was not a French count, but a denizenof Martinique--most probably a defaulting valet or clerk. No onetroubled to inquire further about him. His passage money was refundedand he was bundled ashore. Courtenay's view was that he had heard, bysome means, of Isobel's intended departure from Valparaiso, and deemedit a good chance of winning her approval of his countship, seeing thatsuch titles are not subjected to serious investigation in SouthAmerica. Suarez took his Fuegian bride up country, where Mr. Baringand Dr. Christobal established them on a small ranch.
Isobel renewed her voyage somewhat chastened in spirit. But hervolatile nature soon survived the shocks it had received. By the timethe _Kansas_ put her ashore at Tilbury, to be clasped in the arms of atimid and tearful aunt, she was ready as ever for the campaign of gloryshe had mapped out in London and Paris.
And she was a success, too. Her father's victory over the copper ring,her own adventures, which lost nothing in the telling, and hervivacious self-confidence, carried her into society with a whirl.Recently, her engagement to an impecunious peer was announced.
* * * * * *
Captain Courtenay, R.N., and his wife are not such distinguishedpersonages, but their romance had a sequel worthy of its unusualbeginning. They were married quietly a week after the _Kansas_ reachedLondon. There was some war scare in full blast at the moment, and aLord of the Admiralty who deigned to read the newspapers thought it wasa pity that a smart sailor should not risk his life for his countryrather than in behalf of base commerce. So he looked up Courtenay'srecord, and found that it was excellent, the young lieutenant's reasonfor resigning his commission being the necessity of supporting hismother when her estate was swept away by a bank failure. The Sea Lordsmade him a first-rate offer of reinstatement in the service, at ahigher rank, without any loss of seniority, and they went about thebusiness with such dignified leisure that Dr. Christobal had time tofind out, through men whom he could trust, that Elsie's small estate inChile contained one of the richest mines in the country. He secured abid of many thousands of pounds for it, and advised Mrs. Courtenay toaccept half in cash and half in shares of the exploiting company.
Hence, there was no need for Courtenay to decline a new career in themagnificent service which Mr. Boyle once sniffed at, and Elsie became aprominent figure in that very select circle which clusters around theports mostly favored by his Majesty's ships.
It was not unreasonable that Gray should go back to Chile to takecharge of Elsie's mine, nor that Mr. Boyle should become captain andWalker chief engineer, of the _Kansas_, but there was one whollyunexpected development which fairly took Elsie's breath away when sheheard of it.
She was with her husband in London. While passing the National Galleryone day, she remembered the picture by Claude which deals with theembarkation of Saint Ursula and her Eleven Thousand Virgins. A painterherself, Elsie had an artist's appreciation of the vanity which ledTurner to bequeath his finest canvasses to the nation with the provisothat they should be placed cheek by jowl with those of his great rival,the Lorrainer. So a fat fox-terrier was given in charge of a catalogueseller, and they passed up the steps.
It was a students' day, and the galleries were crowded with embryonicgeniuses. Courtenay waxed sarcastic anent the rig of Claude's ships;he was laughing at the careless grace with which several of the Baozanmaidens were standing in a boat just putting off from a wharf, when alady cried sharply:
"George, how careless of you! You are sitting on my mahl-stick."
"Sorry, my dear," said a tall thin man, rising from a camp-stool.
"Good gracious, it's Mr. Tollemache," whispered Elsie.
"Gad, so it is. Let's hail him."
Tollemache's solemn face brightened when he heard the hail. Heintroduced his wife, an eminently artistic being who answered to thename of Jennie. She at once enlisted Elsie in an argument as toatmospheres, but Tollemache drew Courtenay aside.
"Got married when I reached home that trip," he explained. "The wifecomes here every Thursday, an' I have to carry the kit. Rather rot,isn't it?"
"It is certainly a change from stoking the donkey-boiler, and bowlingover Alaculofs like nine-pins."
"That's what I tell her, but she says the Indians were Boeotian, andthe landscape, as I describe it, had the crude coloring of the Newlynschool, which she abominates. She thinks Turner might approve ofSuarez in his black and white stripes, but the Guanaco crater remindsher of Gustave Dore, who always exaggerated his tone values. I learnthat sort of gabble by heart. Jennie's a good sort, yet sometimes shetalks rot--"
"George," said Mrs. Tollemache, "pack up my portfolio. We are going tolunch with your friends. Mrs. Courtenay and I have so much to talkabout. We find we think alike on many points. I am delighted to havemet your wife, Captain Courtenay. My husband raves about her."
"So do I, ma'am," cried Courtenay, gallantly, yet with a subtle glanceat Elsie which told her he meant what he said.
THE END
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