CHAPTER NINE.
WE SIGHT A STRANGE SAIL.
Having secured possession of the brig, and succeeded in coercing me tobecome their navigator to some island in the Pacific, the locality ofwhich they had as yet kept secret, upon an errand the nature of whichthey had not seen fit to divulge to me, the crew at once wentindustriously to work, under O'Gorman, to put the vessel all atauntoonce more, by routing out and sending aloft spare topgallant-masts andyards, bending new sails, overhauling and making good the rigging, and,in short, repairing all damage of every description; and with suchgoodwill did they work that in ten days from the date of their seizureof the brig everything had been done that it was possible to do, and, sofar as the outward appearance of the craft was concerned, there wasnothing to show that anything had ever been wrong with her.
Meanwhile, during the progress of this renovating process, the stewardhad made it his business to give the lazarette a thorough stock-takingoverhaul, of the result of which I was kept ignorant. But I gatheredthat the examination was not altogether satisfactory; for when it wasover, and the steward had made his report to O'Gorman, the latter cameto me and anxiously demanded to know what our distance then was from theHorn. This was on the afternoon of the third day after the seizure ofthe brig, and upon carefully measuring off the distance from ourposition at noon on that day, I found that it amounted to three thousandseven hundred and some odd miles. The distance seemed to be a staggererto the fellow, and when, in reply to a further question, I informed himthat he might reckon upon the brig taking nearly or quite a month tocover it, he made no attempt to conceal his dismay. That something wasradically wrong at once became apparent, for there were long conclavesin the forecastle, the object of which, presumably, was to determine howto meet the emergency. I shrewdly suspected that this emergency aroseout of the unexpected discovery that the brig's stock of provisions, orwater, or both, was insufficient to carry us to our destination; and Ifervently hoped that my conjecture might prove correct, as in that casewe should be compelled to touch somewhere to renew our stock; and I feltthat if in such a case I failed to secure the arrest of the whole partyfor piracy I should richly deserve to remain their tool, exposed to thecountless vacillating and dangerous humours of a gang of ruffians whohad deliberately thrown off every restraint of law and order.
But, in speculating thus, I was reckoning without my hosts; I wascrediting O'Gorman and his satellites with scruples that they did notpossess. I had not yet fully gauged the villainy of which they werecapable.
Thus far, ever since we had borne up for the Horn, we had been favouredwith a fair wind, and plenty of it; but on the second day after theoccurrence of the above events the wind began to fail us, and by sunsetthat night it had dwindled away until the brig had barely steerage-way,while the surface of the ocean presented that streaky, oily appearancethat is usually the precursor of a flat calm. Meanwhile, during theafternoon, a sail had hove in sight in the north-western board, steeringsouth-east; and when the sun went down in a clear haze of ruddy gold,the sails of the stranger, reddened by the last beams of the luminary,glowed against the clear opal tints of the north-western sky at adistance of some eight miles, broad on our starboard bow.
The stranger was a barque-rigged vessel of some three hundred and fiftytons or so: quite an ordinary, everyday-looking craft, with nothingwhatever of an alarming character in her aspect; yet she had not longbeen in sight when it became quite apparent that O'Gorman and his crewwere greatly exercised at her appearance; and I was at first disposed toimagine that their emotion arose from the circumstance of their beingfully aware that, in seizing the brig, as they had done, they hadcommitted an act of piracy, and that they now feared detection and itsattendant unpleasant consequences. But by sunset I had found occasionto alter my opinion, for it had by then become evident that O'Gorman wasmanoeuvring, not to avoid but to close with the stranger in such amanner as to avoid arousing any suspicion as to his design!
No sooner did this intention of O'Gorman's become apparent than I beganto ask myself what could be his motive for such a course; and the onlysatisfactory reply that I could find to such a question was that hewished to ascertain whether her skipper had any provisions to spare,and, if so, to endeavour to treat with him for their purchase--I had bythis time seen enough of O'Gorman to recognise that he was quite acuteenough to discern the advantage and safety which such a transactionwould afford him over the alternative of being compelled to touch atsome port, and I had little doubt that my surmise as to his intentionswould prove correct. At all events, his determination to speak thebarque was evident, and I began to cast about for some means whereby theencounter might be utilised to the advantage of Miss Onslow and myself.
There were two or three ways in which we might possibly be benefited bythe incident, if only I could contrive to establish privatecommunication with the skipper of the stranger. In the first place, ifthe barque happened to be British--of which, however, I had my doubts--Imight make her skipper acquainted with all the circumstances relating tothe brig's seizure, and appeal to him to compel the Irishman and hisgang--by force, if necessary--to surrender Miss Onslow and myself. Or,if that should prove impossible, I might perhaps be able to secure MissOnslow's transfer to the stranger, when--her safety having beenassured--it would matter comparatively little what happened to myself.Or--in the event of both these schemes failing--I might possibly succeedin privately arranging with the skipper to acquaint the authorities withour predicament and request them to take the necessary steps to effectour rescue.
One or another of these plans I might perhaps succeed in putting intoeffect, provided that the Irishman should prove careless and neglectfulenough to permit of my communicating with the skipper of the barque.But would he be so? I very much doubted it. Yet I could but try; andif, as I anticipated, I should find it impossible to obtain privatespeech with the skipper of the barque, I might still be able tosurreptitiously convey to him a letter which would serve my purposequite as well.
Meditating thus, I made my way below to the brig's snug little cabin,with the intention of forthwith inditing my epistle, and there I foundMiss Onslow, seated upon one of the lockers, ostensibly engaged inreading, but with her beautiful eyes fixed upon the gently-swaying lampthat hung in the skylight, with a dreamy, absent look in them thatshowed her thoughts to be far away.
"Do you happen to know whether the steward is in his pantry, Miss.Onslow?" I asked, with a glance in the direction of the apartmentnamed, as I entered the cabin.
"No; he is not there; he went on deck nearly an hour ago," she replied."Do you want anything, Mr Conyers?"
"Nothing more at present than a few minutes' privacy and freedom fromespionage," I answered. "Listen, Miss Onslow," I continued, "I havebeen engaged for the last two hours in quietly observing the manoeuvresof O'Gorman, and I have come to the conclusion that he intends to closewith and speak the barque that has been in sight all the afternoon.Now, such a proceeding may, or may not, be to our advantage. If I cansucceed in effecting communication with her skipper, it may be possiblefor us to accomplish one of three things: First, we may, with theassistance of the barque's crew, be enabled to effect our escape fromthese people altogether. Or, if that should prove impracticable, we maypossibly be enabled to secure _your_ transfer to the barque. Or, _if_that attempt also should fail, we surely ought to be able, with the helpof the barque's people, to communicate with the authorities ashore, andclaim from them rescue from our present precarious and exceedinglyunpleasant situation."
"Y-e-es," my companion assented meditatively. Then, after a slightpause, she asked:
"Have you ever thought of what the end of this adventure is likely tobe, so far as we two are concerned, supposing that we should fail toeffect our escape from O'Gorman and his companions?"
"Certainly, the matter is never absent from my thoughts," I answered."We are bound--upon what I cannot help thinking a fool's errand--to someisland in the Pacific, upon which O'Gorman and his party expect to
finda certain treasure. This treasure they either will or will _not_ find;but in either case I anticipate that, so far as _we_ are concerned, theadventure will end in our being landed somewhere at a sufficientdistance from a town to permit of O'Gorman getting clear away with thebrig before we should have time to give the alarm and secure hiscapture."
"That, of course, is assuming that you carry out these men's wishes,without giving them any trouble," commented Miss Onslow. "But," shecontinued, "what, do you imagine, is likely to be the result--the effectupon us both--if you cause them trouble and anxiety by endeavouring toescape? They have made it perfectly evident to you that they _cannot_dispense with your services. Do you really think it worth our while toirritate and provoke them by attempting to escape? True, they areexceedingly unpleasant people to be brought into such close and constantcontact with, but there seems to be no great harm in them, provided thatthey are allowed to have their own way."
"Ah!" I exclaimed, "you evidently do not know of what a ship's crew maybecome capable when once they have committed so serious a crime aspiracy--for that is what they have done in taking this brig from me. Itis not what these men are, now, but what they may become in the future,of which I am thinking, especially so far as you are concerned. Irecognise possibilities in the future that may make this brig the sceneof hourly peril to you of a nature that I shudder to think of, and it is_your_ safety that I am concerned about; that assured, I could face therest with equanimity."
"Thank you. It is exceedingly good and kind of you to think so much forme, and so little for yourself," answered my companion. She spoke withher face turned away from me, so that I was unable to read itsexpression, and her voice had an intonation that I would have given muchto have been able to translate. Was it merely my imagination--I askedmyself--or was there really a recurrent shade of her former hauteur ofmanner, mingled with just the faintest suggestion of irony andimpatience? The fact is that I was at that moment as far from beingable to comprehend this lovely but inscrutable woman as when I met herfor the first time in the saloon of the _City of Cawnpore_: her moodswere as changeable as the weather: there were occasions when her mannertoward me was almost as warm and genial and sympathetic as even a lovercould require; while there were others when she appeared animated by aset purpose to impress upon me the conviction that our remarkableadventure together invested me with no claim whatever upon her beyondthat of the merest ordinary gratitude. As for me, if I have not alreadyallowed the fact to leak out, I may as well here make a clean breast ofit and confess that I loved her with all the ardent passion of which aman's heart is capable, and I was resolutely determined to win her lovein return; but up to the moment of which I am now speaking I seemed tohave made so little headway that I often doubted whether I had made anyat all. I had, however, come at length to recognise that the rebuffs Ioccasionally met with followed some speech or action of mine of whichthe young lady did not wholly approve; and so I soon found it to be inthe present instance. She remained silent for perhaps half a minuteafter speaking the words the recounting of which has extorted from methe above explanation, and then continued, with much greater cordiality:
"Believe me, Mr Conyers, I am sincerely grateful to you for yourperfectly evident anxiety on my account; but I am obliged to confessthat I do not regard our situation as nearly so desperate as you seem todo; I do not think that either of us will have anything to fear fromO'Gorman and his companions if you will but reconcile yourself to theperformance of the task that they have imposed upon you. What I _do_really fear is what may happen if you wilfully exasperate them by makingany attempt to thwart their plans by depriving them of your assistance--without which, I would remind you again, they can do nothing. Help themto carry through their undertaking--never mind whether or not it be afool's errand--and I have every confidence that they will treat us withthe utmost consideration, after their own rough fashion; but seriouslyprovoke them, and, I ask you, what are likely to be the consequences tous both? Of course if you can so contrive it that we can _both_ berescued by the ship in sight, I shall be more delighted than I can say;but as to your attempting to get _me_ transferred to her _alone_--youwill think it strange, unaccountable, perhaps, but I feel so very muchmore safe here, with you to protect me, than I should on board thestrange ship, _alone_, that if you are to remain here I would very muchrather remain with you."
Words calculated to send the blood of an ardent lover throbbing throughhis veins like quicksilver, are they not? Yet they excited not one atomof jubilation in me, for they were uttered in a tone of such coldnessand indifference that I felt as certain as I could be of anything thatit was wholly of herself, and not at all of me, that the speaker wasthinking.
"Very well," I answered, steeling myself to the adoption of an equallycold manner of speech; "I think I understand your wishes in this matter,and will endeavour to carry them out; if the strangers yonder can beinduced to take us _both_ out of the hands of these ruffians, well andgood; if not, I am to take no other steps?"
She bowed acquiescence, and turned to her book once more, with a mannerindicating that the discussion was at an end; and I, accepting the hint,retired at once to my cabin to prepare a letter addressed to the skipperof the stranger, to be conveyed to him if opportunity should permit.
But although I had yielded a seeming acquiescence to Miss Onslow'smisguided wish to share my captivity--should it be continued--aboard thebrig, it must not be supposed that I had any intention of lending myselfto so terribly dangerous and mistaken a proceeding. It was perfectlyclear to me that the high-spirited girl had, in some unaccountable way,completely missed the point of my remarks, and utterly failed tocomprehend the frightfully precarious and perilous character of herposition aboard the brig; moreover, her mere presence there servedO'Gorman as a lever and a menace powerful enough to constrain meirresistibly to the most abject submission to his will; so long as sheremained where she was, in the power of these ruffians, I could doabsolutely nothing, for fear of what they might inflict upon her by wayof revenge; but with her removed from their power, and placed in safety,I might possibly be able to bring every one of the wretches into thegrip of the law that they had so audaciously defied. And so, when Ibegan to pen my letter to the unknown skipper, I was careful--afterbriefly describing our peculiar situation--to appeal to him, aspowerfully as I could, to effect the rescue of the girl by any means athis command, regardless of what might become of me.
Having at length finished my letter, I folded it up into a suitablysmall and compact form, placed it by itself in one of my pockets, inreadiness to transfer it at the first favourable opportunity to theindividual for whom it was intended, and then, filling my pipe, made myway leisurely up on deck to take a look round and see in what directionmatters were trending.
It was a magnificently fine and brilliant moon-lit night, with only afew small, scattered shreds of light fleecy cloud floating overhead, anda soft, warm air breathing out from the north-east so gently that itscarcely stirred the oil-smooth surface of the ocean, which indeed itonly touched here and there in faint, evanescent cat's-paws that barelysufficed to give the brig steerage-way with squared yards and everypossible inch of canvas spread. As for the barque, she was now about apoint on the starboard bow, not more than a mile distant, and wasevidently not under command, as she had swung round head to wind, andlay there in the bright moonlight swaying with an almost imperceptibleswing over the long, low hummocks of glassy swell, with her canvas--gleaming softly and spectrally under the showering moonbeams. Allhands--O'Gorman included--except the man at the wheel, were on theforecastle-head, intently watching her, and talking eagerly together, soI had a good opportunity to take a leisurely survey of her, and draw myconclusions as to her nationality. I went to the companion, secured thenight-glass, and took a good look at her; with the result that Iconcluded her to be of French or Italian nationality--rather an awkwardand unexpected development for me, I having foolishly taken it forgranted that she would prove to be British and written my
letter inEnglish accordingly. And yet, perhaps, if my surmise should prove to becorrect, I might be afforded a better opportunity to make an effectiveappeal for assistance than if the craft were British, for I gravelydoubted whether O'Gorman or any of his people spoke French or Italian,and if that were the case they would probably require me to act asinterpreter for them, and thus afford me just such an opportunity as Idesired. On the other hand, I could not but feel that an appeal forhelp, made to a French or an Italian crew, was much less likely to meetwith a favourable response than if made to a crew of Britons.
These reflections passed through my mind as I stood peering through thetube at the becalmed barque; it did not need a very prolonged scrutinyto enable me to learn all that was possible of her at that distance, andpresently I replaced the glass in its beckets, and proceeded to saunterfore and aft the deck, from the wake of the main rigging to the wheelgrating, smoking meditatively the while.
By the time that I had smoked my pipe out we had neared the barque towithin less than half, a mile; and I was momentarily expecting to hearO'Gorman give the order to round-to and lower away the boat--wondering,meanwhile, how on earth I could possibly contrive to get my letterconveyed to the skipper--when the Irishman came shambling aft and,placing himself at my side, inquired:
"Well, misther, have you finished your shmoke?"
"Yes," I answered curtly. "Why do you ask the question, pray?"
"Because," he replied, "I'll have to ask ye to just step down below _andstay there for the rest of the night_!"
"To step down below--and stay there?" I repeated indignantly. "What doyou mean, man? Surely I am not to be sent to my bunk like a child,whether I wish to go or not?"
"Bedad, but ye are thin; so make no more bones about it!" he retorted,with quickly-rising anger.
"But, my good fellow, this is preposterous,"--I began, thoroughlyexasperated at such treatment, and keenly anxious not to lose even themost slender chance of communicating with the strangers. But the fellowwould permit no argument, his quick temper caught fire instantly at themerest suggestion of remonstrance on my part, and he cut me short byexclaiming furiously:
"Howly Sailor! Phwhat's the use av' talkin' about it? Ye've got to gobelow, and that's all there is about it. Will ye go p'aceably, or willI have to call some of the hands aft to _make_ ye go?"
Again did I feel that terrible, overpowering sensation of murderousanger grip at my heart, as it had already done once before in analtercation with this brutal ruffian, the blood again mounted to my headlike fire, and, reckless of all consequences, I was in the very act ofpulling myself together for a spring at his throat, when I felt a smallhand--the touch of which thrilled me, even at that moment--laid upon myarm, and Miss Onslow's voice--pitched in its most seductive tones--said:
"Will you please come with me at once--_at once_--Mr Conyers? I havesomething of the utmost importance to say to you!"
With an effort that caused me to turn sick and giddy, I mastered theimpulse that urged me to strike my enemy dead, there and then, and, mutewith the intensity of my feelings, permitted my companion to lead meaway. We descended the companion ladder in silence; and upon reachingthe cabin Miss Onslow--as upon a former occasion--led me to one of thesofa-lockers, upon which she seated herself, gently drawing me downbeside her. Then, looking anxiously into my face, she said:
"Mr Conyers, I could almost find it in my heart to be angry with you.Why--oh, _why_ will you persist in laying yourself open to such insultsfrom that great, coarse brute, by condescending to argue with him? Whatis the use of doing so? Surely you must realise, by this time, that youare quite powerless in the hands of these men, and that you cannotcontrol or influence them in any way. Then, why attempt to do it? Theonly result is that you are insulted, and at once become positively madwith anger, under the influence of which you will some day--unless youare very careful--do something that you will be exceedingly sorry for.For instance, what would have happened, had I not fortunately chanced tohave gone on deck the moment that I heard you and that Irish ruffian inconversation?"
"You are right--perfectly right," I answered; "and you make me feel veryheartily ashamed of myself for my lamentable want of self-control--ofwhich I will take especial care that henceforward there shall be norepetition. Of course I can see clearly enough, now, how positivelysuicidal it would have been for me to have yielded to the impulse thatanimated me at the moment when you so fortunately came upon the scene--suicidal for myself, and ruinously disastrous for _you_--whichcircumstance will, I assure you, amply suffice as an effectual checkupon me for the future. We are but two against sixteen, and commonsense tells me that, with such odds against us, violence is out of thequestion; we must depend upon craft and diplomacy to secure our ends."
"Oh! I am _so_ glad to find you taking a reasonable view of our mostunfortunate situation," exclaimed my companion, her eyes sparkling withpleasure. "Of course," she continued, "I can easily understand howterribly exasperating it must be to you--a naval officer, who has alwayshitherto been accustomed to the most implicit obedience on the part ofyour crew--to find yourself defied and insulted by these wretches, and Iam not at all surprised that, under such circumstances, you find theprovocation all but unendurable; but I am sure you are right inbelieving, as you say, that we must fight by diplomatic means ratherthan by a resort to brute force. I feel sure that the latter would be aterrible mistake on our part, and I will not attempt to deny that on thetwo occasions when you seemed about to resort to such means, I have beenmost horribly frightened."
"Yes," I exclaimed, with profound contrition, "I can quite understandthat you would be so; and I very humbly beg your pardon for having soterrified you. I have been contemptibly weak at the very moment when Imost needed to be strong; but have no further fear; you have effectuallycured me of my weakness. And, now, you may as well tell me what was theimportant matter upon which you so urgently desired to speak to me."
For a moment my companion gazed at me with a most bewitching expressionof perplexity in her glorious eyes; then her face lighted up with asmile of amusement, and she broke into a musical laugh.
"What!" she exclaimed. "Do you not yet understand? I only wanted tosay to you what I have just said--or, rather I wanted to get you awayfrom that Irishman before your impetuous temper had time to precipitatea disaster."
"I see," said I, "Well--"
I was interrupted by a sound of hailing that seemed to proceed, not fromour own forecastle but from some spot a little way ahead of us; and I atonce concluded that its source must be the strange barque, the existenceof which I had entirely forgotten in the interest of the discussionbetween myself and Miss Onslow. I listened for a reply from O'Gorman,but there was none; and presently the hailing was repeated--this timefrom a much nearer point--and immediately followed by an excitedshouting and jabbering, in which I believed I could distinguish a wordor two of French. I sprang to my feet, and was about to rush up ondeck, when Miss Onslow checked the movement by laying her hand upon myarm, and saying:
"_Please_ oblige me by staying here. If you were to go on deck, thatwretch would only insult you again; so why lay yourself open to suchtreatment, since you can do absolutely nothing? You _must_ schoolyourself to allow those men to have their own way, since neitherpersuasion nor force are of any avail with them."
"True," answered I. "But it is instinctive for a sailor--and especiallyan _officer_--to rush on deck when he hears such an outcry as that,"--asthe shouting and jabbering became momentarily nearer and more excited.
At that instant O'Gorman's voice shouted an order to "Stand by!"immediately followed by a command to the helmsman to "Hard a-starboard!"and presently there occurred a gentle shock--showing that the brig hadcollided with something apparently on the rounding of her starboardbow--accompanied by a most outrageous clamour, in which "S-a-c-r-es" andother French expletives plentifully abounded.
"Now, take a turn anywhere you can, and as often as you can," shoutedO'Gorman, "and then follow me.
And if they offer any resistance, knock'em down, or heave 'em overboard."
"Why, good Heavens! they have run the barque aboard, and are takingher!" I exclaimed, astonished and shocked beyond expression, as itdawned upon me that the wretches were committing a further act ofpiracy. And I made as though to spring to my feet. In an instant MissOnslow had seized my hand in hers, gripping me so firmly that I couldnot break away from her without exercising a certain measure ofviolence.
"And if they _are_?" said she, "can you do anything to prevent it?"
"No," answered I. "But I will tell you what I _can_ do. If you willsuffer me to go on deck I can see whether all hands have boarded thebarque. And, if they have, and there appears to be the slightestpossibility of our being able to effect our escape, I will cut the brigadrift, and make off with her!"
"Do you really think such a feat possible?" demanded my companion, withsparkling eyes.
"I scarcely know," answered I. "If the breeze has freshened at allwithin the last few minutes, it might be done; not otherwise; because inthe latter event they could lower the barque's boats and overhaul us ina very few minutes."
"At all events it is quite worth while to ascertain whether there is anychance of success. Let us go on deck and see!" exclaimed Miss Onslow,her features at once all aglow with excitement as she sprang to herfeet.
"Agreed!" cried I, overjoyed to find the young lady so unexpectedlyyielding approval to my rather desperate plan. "I will go on deckfirst, and ascertain the precise state of affairs; and if I find thatthere is a sufficiently fair prospect of success to justify us in theattempt I will call to you through the skylight as soon as I need yourhelp."
My companion regarded me somewhat doubtfully for a moment, and thenreseated herself, saying:
"Very well. I think I can trust you _now_. But please be very careful;and do not attempt anything unless you feel certain of success."
Meanwhile, the uproar that had prevailed for a few minutes prior to andfollowing upon the contact between the two craft had suddenly ceased;and as I emerged from the companion-way I saw that, even supposing therehad ever been a prospect of my plan proving successful--which there hadnot, the wind having died away to the merest breathing--I was now toolate. For the two vessels--their hulls prevented from grinding togetherby several cork fenders hung between them--were so securely lashedtogether that it would have cost me several minutes' hard work to cutthem adrift. Moreover, O'Gorman, followed by half a dozen of his gang,were just in the act of scrambling inboard again from the stranger. TheIrishman saw me upon the instant of my emerging from the companion, andimmediately shouted:
"Here, Misther Conyers, ye're just the man we want! Do you spakeFrinch?"
"Yes," answered I, believing that I saw my opportunity. "Why?"
"Becase," he replied, "the chaps aboard the barque don't seem to be ableto undershtand a worrud we say to thim; and bedad we're in the same fixwith regar-rd to thim. So we want an interpreter; and maybe you'll beable to act that same for us."
"Very well," said I; "what do you want me to do?"
"Whoy, we'll take it kindly of ye if you'll just be so obligin' as toshtep aboard the barque, and say what we want ye to say," answered thefellow. "But, mind," he added warningly, "don't ye attimpt to sayannything else, or by the Piper it'll be the worse for ye--and for theyoung woman down below. I can undershtand Frinch like a native--so Ishall know everything that you say--but begorra the Oirish brogue of memakes it difficult for thim froggies to undershtand me when I shpake tothim."
"All right," I answered, perfectly easy in my mind, "you can standalongside me, and hear everything that passes."
So saying, without further ado I leapt upon the brig's bulwarks, fromthence to those of the barque, and so down upon her deck, closelyfollowed by O'Gorman.