CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
ALARM AND DISASTER.
Lance's long and fatiguing watch beside the death-bed of the unfortunatearmourer of course delayed to some extent Captain Staunton's reply tothe suggestion which Dickinson had made on behalf of himself and certainof his comrades. But the skipper had, to save time, discussed thematter with the rest of the party, coming to the conclusion that theywould be quite justified, under the circumstances, in accepting theservices of these men; and on the morning following the armourer'sdeath--Lance having enjoyed a good night's rest--his opinion was takenupon the question, with the view of giving the men an answer forthwith.
Evelin listened attentively to everything that was said; and thenremarked--
"Well, gentlemen, I quite agree with you that the assistance which themen have it in their power to afford us would be most valuable; it wouldclear away a good many of our difficulties and would go a long waytoward ensuring success in our endeavour to escape--an endeavour which Imust confess I have always secretly regarded with a considerable amountof doubt and misgiving. It has always presented itself to me as anundertaking of a decidedly desperate character; and now it appears moreso than ever, having regard to the very disagreeable change in Ralli'streatment of us. The only question in my mind is one of duty--duty toour country and to the world at large. We must not forget that the menwho now come to us with offers of assistance are men who have, in thepast, outraged every law, human and divine; and justice demands thatthey shall be delivered up to punishment. Now, if we accept theirservices _we_ certainly cannot afterwards denounce them; it would berank treachery on our part. How do you propose to overcome thisdifficulty?"
"We have thought of that," replied Captain Staunton; "it is the onlyquestion which has bothered us; and, for my own part, I can only see onesolution of it. No word has, it is true, been said by them as to ourkeeping their secret, but I think there can be no doubt that such astipulation was intended to be understood; and in any case I fully agreewith you that we cannot justly avail ourselves of their assistance andafterwards hand them over to the authorities. My view of the case isthis. Here we are, in what is beyond all doubt a most desperate scrape.A chance--and a very slight chance it is--offers for our escape, andmost opportunely these men come forward with an offer of assistance. Ifwe let slip this slight chance it is extremely doubtful whether we shallever have another; and that, I imagine--taking into account the futurepossibilities of evil in store for the helpless women dependent uponus--counts for something, and justifies us is accepting help from almostany source. Then, as regards the men themselves. It is undoubtedlytrue that they have committed crimes which place them quite outside thepale of human mercy, _if justice alone_ is to be considered. But for myown part I believe that they have repented of their past misdeeds--atany rate they _say_ so, and we have no reason to doubt the truth oftheir assertion. They ask for an opportunity to reform; they desire achance of making amends, as far as possible, for the past evil of theirlives; and I have an idea, gentlemen, that though, in giving them such achance, we might not be acting in accordance with _man's_ idea of strictjustice, we should be following pretty closely upon God's idea of it.He breaks not the bruised reed nor quenches the smoking flax; and if Hethus declares his readiness to give even the most doubtful andunpromising of His creatures another trial, I really do not see that weare called upon to be more strict than He is. My proposal, therefore,is that we should accept these men's proffered assistance; that weshould do what we may be able to do for them in the way of giving themthe opportunity they desire; and if justice _is_ to overtake them--ifpunishment _is_ to follow their past misdeeds, let it be due to someother agencies than ours. If God intends them to suffer punishment atthe hands of their fellow-creatures, He will provide the instruments,never fear. But I think it far more likely He will give them anotherchance."
"I, too, believe He will," said Lance. "You take a view of the matterwhich I confess with shame had not presented itself to me, and I amconvinced. These men have committed crimes of exceptional enormity, itis true; but it is not for us to draw the line--to say to whom mercyshall be granted and from whom it shall be withheld; therefore let usaccept their offer, and leave the matter of their punishment in God'shands."
Thus, then, it was decided; and Bob--as the least likely to excitesuspicion if seen in conversation with any of the pirates--was deputedto inform Dickinson that his offer and that of his mates' had beenaccepted, and to request him to call--without exciting observation, ifpossible--at the cottage that evening.
When the gentlemen returned home at the close of the day's work, theyfound Blanche and Violet in a state of considerable nervous excitement,owing, they asserted, to their having been frightened that day while attheir work of gold-collecting in the cavern. On being asked for adetailed account of the circumstance which had alarmed them, Violetsaid--
"We had been at work about two hours, and had just reached the edge ofthe gulf with our second load, when we were startled by hearingsomewhere near us a sound like a deep long-drawn sigh, followed almostimmediately afterwards by a loud moan. I have no doubt you will thinkus dreadful cowards, but it is no use concealing the truth--we simplydropped the gold and flew back along the passage to the great cavern atour utmost speed. Arrived there, we sat down to recover ourselves, andat length succeeded so far that we were both inclined to believe we hadbeen victimised by our own imaginations--you know what an eerie place itis, and how likely to excite weird fancies in the minds of nervous timidwomen like ourselves. So we summoned up all our courage and went towork once more. We naturally felt somewhat reluctant to visit the sceneof our fright again; but we overcame the feeling and made our thirdjourney to the chasm without experiencing any further shock to ournerves. On our fourth journey, however, we had reached the place,deposited our load, and had just set out to return when the same soundswere repeated, much more loudly than at first, and accompanied this timeby a loud prolonged hiss such as I should imagine could proceed onlyfrom some gigantic serpent. We were thoroughly terrified this time, andfled once more, not only to the cavern but thence into the open air, andhome. I do not know how we may regard the matter in the morning; but atpresent I really do not feel as though I could ever venture into theplace again until the mystery has been solved and the cause of thoseterrifying sounds discovered."
"Of course not," said Captain Staunton. "None of you must attempt tovisit the cavern again until we have had an opportunity of investigatingthe matter. It is possible--though, mind you, I don't think it at allprobable--that a serpent or large reptile of some kind _may_ have madeits way into the gallery. And, at all events, it will never do for youladies to run the slightest risk. What do you think, Evelin?" he added,turning to Lance. "Is it likely that there may be a snake or somethingof the sort there?"
"Not _likely_, I should say," responded Lance; "we have neverencountered a reptile of any description, large or small, in the courseof our rambles about the island. But of course there is just the _barepossibility_--I cannot put it any stronger than that--of a snakedrifting here on an uprooted tree or large branch. I have heard ofsnakes being seen in the branches of trees drifting down rivers inflood-time, and there is no reason why, under such circumstances, theyshould not be carried clear out to sea. Whether, however, a serpentcould exist long enough to make the voyage from the mainland to thisisland is, in my opinion, exceedingly doubtful. Still, I quite agreewith you that the ladies ought not to make any further visits to thecavern until we have discovered the source of their alarm."
This singular circumstance gave rise to a considerable amount ofspeculation among the members of the party; and they were stilldiscussing the matter when a knocking was heard at the door, and, inobedience to Captain Staunton's stentorian "Come in," Dickinson entered.
"Sarvent, ladies," exclaimed the new-comer with an elaborate sea-scrape.Then, seating himself in the chair which Captain Staunton indicated, hecontinued, "Well, cap'n, and gentlemen all, I've just com
ed up, you see,in obedience to your commands of the forenoon sent through the younggentleman there"--pointing to Bob--"and to talk matters over as itwere."
"That's all right, Dickinson," answered Captain Staunton; "_we_ are veryglad to see you. Robert of course told you that we have decided toaccept the assistance of yourself and such of your shipmates as are tobe thoroughly relied upon?"
"He did, sir; and right glad and thankful I was to hear it," repliedDickinson. "Of course we knowed right well, sir, how much we was axingof you when we offered to chime in on your side. We was just axing thatyou'd take us upon trust as it were, and believe in the honesty andstraight-for'ard-ness of men as had proved theirselves to be rogues andworse. But you've took us, sir, and you sha'n't have no cause to repentit; we're yours, heart and soul; hence-for'ard we takes our orders from_you_, and we're ready to take any oath you like upon it."
"No oath is necessary, my good fellow," said Captain Staunton; "yourbare word is quite sufficient, for if you intend to be faithful to usyou will be so without swearing fidelity; and if you mean to betray usan oath would hardly stop you, I am afraid. But we do not doubt yourfidelity in the least; the only thing we have any fear about is your_prudence_."
"Ah, yes; there sir, we _may_ fail," said Dickinson with a mournfulshake of the head. "But you give your orders, sir, and we'll do ourbest to obey 'em. But afore you lays your plans I think you ought toknow how things is standing among us just now. I'm greatly afearedyou're like so many young bears--with all your troubles afore you. ThatGreek rascal, Ralli, has been doin' his best to stir up all hands of usagainst you--and particler against _you_, Mr Evelin--by saying as itwas all along of you as the poor armourer lost his life. He holds ashow you killed him by taking off his legs, and that you desarves to beseverely punished for doing of it; and there's some of the chaps as isfools enough to listen to what he says and to believe it too. Butthere's me and Tom Poole and two or three more--_we're_ going to holdout to it that you did the best you could for the poor chap; and that ifit hadn't ha' been for Ralli's own obstinacy the man wouldn't never havebeen hurt at all. And, however the thing goes, you may depend upon meto give you timely warning."
"Thank you, Dickinson," said Captain Staunton. "This information whichyou have just given us is most valuable, and renders it all the morenecessary that we should promptly mature our plans. Now, to show youhow thoroughly we trust you, I will explain those plans as far as wehave yet arranged them; you can then tell us what you think of them; andyou will also be better able to understand in what way you and yourshipmates can prove of most use to us."
"Well, if that don't beat all!" exclaimed Dickinson, after CaptainStaunton had stated their plans. "To think as you should go for toarrange to run away with the schooner herself! Why, I thought the mostyou'd do would be to provision and seize the launch, and go off to seain her, taking your chance of being picked up some time or another.Well, there ain't a soul amongst us, I knows, as has so much as theghost of a hidee about your taking the schooner. Some of the handsseems to have a kind of notion--I've found out since I spoke to yout'other day--that you _may_ try to slip off some day if you gets thechance; but they just laughs at it you know, and asks how you're tomanage, and how far you'd get in a boat afore the schooner'd bealongside of you, and that-like. But _your_ plan's the right one,cap'n--no mistake about that. And now, just say what you want us chapsto do, and we'll do it if it's any way possible."
"How many of you are there?" asked the skipper. "How many, I mean, uponwhom we can absolutely depend. Bear in mind that _no one_ who is not_thoroughly_ trustworthy is to be let into the secret."
"All right, sir; you trust me for that," answered Dickinson. "For myown sake--letting alone yours and the ladies'--you may depend on't Iwon't let out the secret to the wrong people. Well; let me just reckonup how many of us there'll be in all. Firstly there's eight of you,counting in Mr Bowles and Kit, and leaving out the ladies. Thenthere's the three other lads and the four men as was brought in withyou, that's seven--seven and eight's--"
"Fifteen," interjected the skipper.
"Thank'ee, sir, I ain't much of a hand at figgers myself, but in courseyou're right--fifteen it is," said Dickinson. "Then there's me and TomPoole--that's my pertickler mate--promoted he is to the armourer'sberth--and Dick Sullivan and Ned Masters--that's four more, makingfifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen--nineteen, ain't it,sir?"
"Quite right," answered Captain Staunton.
"Then there's the prisoners, as we calls 'em--men, you know, sir, as hasbeen took out of ships and wouldn't jine the `Brotherhood'--I won't saymuch about _them_ just yet, but there's about half a dozen very likelyhands among 'em that I think'll just jump at the chance of getting outof this. Tom and me'll sound 'em cautious like, and hear what they'vegot to say for theirselves."
"Very well," said Captain Staunton. "And in the meantime it seems thatthere are nineteen of us, all told, who are to be absolutely reliedupon--quite enough to handle the schooner if we can only manage to getaway with her. Now, what we have to do is this. The ballast and thewater-tanks are already fixed in their places, so that need not troubleus; but we must contrive to get the tanks filled as early as possible.Then, as soon as the decks are laid we must get conveyed on board allthe provisions we can possibly manage. Then we shall want arms andammunition; the guns too must be hoisted in, under the pretence offitting the slides properly. The spars are already commenced. They, orat least the lower-masts and bowsprit, must be stepped before the craftis launched; that can easily be managed, I think; the other spars alsoshould be finished and got on board as early as possible, and likewisethe sails. There are the stores of every kind also to be got on board--in short, I should like to have the craft in a state of readiness to goto sea directly she leaves the stocks. But I really don't see how it isto be managed; we shall never be able to do a quarter of what we wantwithout arousing Ralli's suspicions."
"Oh, bless you, sir! yes, you will," said Dickinson confidently."Ralli's taken a mortal dislike to you all, and 'specially to MrEvelin,--sorry I am to say so,--and he just _hates_ to be dictated to.Now, whatever you want, just let Mr Evelin tell him he ought to do theopposite of it, and, take my word for it, he'll just go and do exactlywhat he thinks you don't want him to; he'll do it out of sheercontrariness. But, whether or no, now that we knows what's wanted, we--that's me and my mates--we'll do as much of it as we can, and you'llhave to manage Ralli so's to get the rest."
"Very well, Dickinson," said the skipper, "we understand each otherfully now, so I will not detain you any longer. Do what you can toforward the plan, and let us know from time to time what success you aremeeting with."
"All right, sir, I will; thank'ee, sir. Good-night, ladies andgentlemen all."
And Dickinson, taking the hint, retired.
The gentlemen sat for an hour or two after that, talking over matters asthey smoked their pipes, and then Captain Staunton, Lance, and Bowlesrose and left the cottage to pay a visit to the cavern.
In due time they reached the place, proceeding at once to the chasm,where they forthwith commenced a vigorous but unsuccessful search forthe origin of the mysterious sounds which had disturbed the ladies.Finding nothing, they began their task of conveying the gold collectedthat day across to the heap on the other side of the gulf. This heapwas now assuming goodly proportions. There was more of it than anordinary ship's boat could take at a single trip, even in the calmest ofweather; and Lance was in the act of remarking to Captain Staunton thathe thought enough had now been collected to satisfy their every want,when a weird, unearthly moan smote upon their ears from the depths ofthe abyss. The sound, though not particularly loud, was so startling,echoing and reverberating, as it did, among the cavernous recesses farbelow, that the work was brought to a sudden standstill, and the threebewildered men felt their hair bristling as they listened.
"_What_, in Heaven's name, can it be?" ejaculated the skipper as heturned his startled gaze upon Lance.
"Impossible to say," answered the latter. "One thing, however, iscertain; no _human_ lungs could possibly give utterance to such a sound.And yet I don't know; the echoes of the place may have the property ofmagnifying and prolonging it. Hillo, there! is there anyone below?" hecontinued, raising his torch aloft and peering with craned neck downinto the black depths of the chasm.
There was no response. And the light of the torch was quite inadequateto the illumination of more than a few feet from the surface.
"It is possible that, if there _is_ anyone down there, he may be unableto hear me. Sound _rises_, you know. Here, Bowles, come across to thisside. We will unite our voices and see if that will evoke anyresponse," said Lance.
Bowles scrambled nimbly along the narrow and dangerous pathway, which,having traversed it so often, now had no terrors for any of them, andspeedily joined the others.
"Now," said Lance, "I will count three, and then we will all shouttogether, `Hillo!' One, two, three--Hillo!"
The cry went pealing away right and left of them along the dark gallery,the echoes taking it up and tossing it wildly from side to side, up anddown, until it seemed as though every rock in the vast cavern had founda voice with which to mock them; but no answering cry came from below.
"There is no one there," said Lance. "Indeed there _can_ be no onethere; nobody has been missed, and--"
"Hark! what was that?"
A long-drawn sobbing sigh, such as a child will utter after it has crieditself to sleep, but very much louder; and immediately afterwards a gustof hot air, which brought with it a distinct odour of sulphur, sweptpast them down the gallery.
"God of mercy! can it be possible?" ejaculated Lance. "Yes, it must be.Fly for your lives; we may not have a moment to lose."
"What is it?" gasped Captain Staunton, as the three started at a run upthe gallery in the direction of the great cavern.
"A _volcano_," answered Lance. "There are subterranean fires inactivity at no great depth beneath our feet, and they may break intoopen eruption at any moment."
This was enough; his companions wanted to hear no more. The few wordsthey had already heard lent wings to their feet, and in an incrediblyshort time they found themselves, panting and exhausted with theirunwonted exertions, once more in the open air.
"Now we are comparatively safe," said Lance as they walked rapidly downthe ravine. "What I chiefly feared was one of those earthquake shockssuch as sometimes precede a volcanic eruption. A comparativelyinsignificant one might have proved sufficient to cause the walls of thecavern to collapse and bury us. Of course the ladies must be cautionednot to venture near the place again; but I think perhaps it will bebetter not to tell them why. It will only alarm them--perhapsunnecessarily--and keep them on the tiptoe of nervous anxiousexpectancy. The better plan will be to say that we consider we have nowas much gold as we think it probable we shall be able to take away.Don't you think so, Staunton?"
"Assuredly I do," answered the skipper emphatically. "Why, I would notallow my wife to enter that cavern again for all the gold it contains."
They reached the cottage without further adventure; and on the followingmorning the ladies were told by Captain Staunton that, sufficient goldhaving now been collected, there would be no further necessity for themto continue their visits to the cavern, which, moreover, Mr Evelinconsidered unsafe, the peculiar noises which had startled them all beingin his opinion an indication of its liability to collapse at any moment.
After this a month passed away unmarked by anything worthy of record,except the ever-increasing insolence and tyranny of Ralli toward ourunfortunate friends.
The battery was by this time complete, the guns mounted, and theammunition stored in its magazine; whilst the schooner was also in avery forward state. She was fully planked, decks laid, the ballaststowed, bulwarks and hatchways completed, her bottom coppered up to theload water-line, her hull outside painted with a coat of priming, andthe carpenters, assisted by the handiest men they could pick out, werebusy finishing off the fittings of the cabin and forecastle. Lance hadbeen anxiously watching for a favourable opportunity to put intooperation Dickinson's suggestion as to the mode in which Ralli should beapproached in order to secure the completion of the work in the mannermost favourable to their own plans, but hitherto no such opportunity hadpresented itself. This was peculiarly unfortunate, as the work was nowin so forward a state that, whenever Ralli opened his mouth, he expectedto hear the dreaded order given for the preparation of the ways and theconstruction of the cradle for launching.
But at length the coveted opportunity came. It was about nine o'clockin the morning when Lance saw Ralli step out of his gig on to the rockyplatform at the lower end of the shipyard and walk straight toward theschooner. The Greek paused at a little distance from where Lance was atwork, taking up a position from which he could obtain a favourable viewof the vessel's beautifully modelled hull and gracefully sweeping lines;and then, with one eye shut, he began a critical scrutiny of her,shifting his position a few inches occasionally in order to test theperfection of the various curves.
"Now," Lance thought, "is my time. I must tackle him at once, whatevercomes of it; it will never do to defer the matter any further. Anotherhour's delay may upset all our plans."
So, throwing down his tools, he stepped up to Ralli and said--
"I want to speak to you about the launch. We have now done nearly allthat we _can_ do to the schooner whilst she remains on the stocks, andour next job will be to lay down the ways and--"
Ralli turned suddenly upon him with an evil gleam and glitter in hiseyes which spoke volumes as to the envy and hatred he bore to this man,who, though a prisoner and practically a slave, still revealed in everyword and gesture his vast and unmistakable superiority to every otherman on the island, its ruler included.
"Aha! mister soldier," he said--using the mode of address which, forsome reason known only to himself, he deemed most offensive to Lance--his lips curling into a sneering smile as he spoke, "what are you doingaway from your work? Go back to it at once, unless you wish me to startyou with a rope's-end as I would an unruly boy."
"I have no work to go back to," said Lance; "I am simply wasting my timeat present, and I wanted to learn your wishes as to what is to be donenext I presume you will have the craft launched forthwith, as she is nowready to take to the water; and I should be glad to know what timber weare to use for the ways."
"You presume I will have the craft launched at once," repeated Ralli,the spirit of opposition rising strong within him, and the sneer uponhis lips growing more bitter with every word he uttered. "Why shouldyou presume any such thing, eh, you sare?"
"Because it is the right and proper thing to do," answered Lance."Every lubber knows that a ship is launched before she is rigged.Besides, if you were to decide upon having the spars stepped and rigged,the stores stowed, and the guns hoisted in before she leaves the stocks,I should have a lot of extra trouble in calculating the properdistribution of the weights so as to ensure her being in proper trimwhen she takes to the water, and I want to avoid all that if possible."
The Greek grinned with vindictive delight as he listened to thisapparently inadvertent admission on Lance's part. It revealed to him,as he thought, a new and unexpected method of inflicting annoyance uponthis man whom he hated so thoroughly, and his eyes fairly sparkled withmalice as he answered--
"What do you suppose I care about your extra trouble, you lazy skulkinghound? I tell you this: I will have every spar stepped, rigged, and putin its place; the running rigging all rove; every sail bent; every gunmounted; the magazine stowed; the stores and water all put on board; andeverything ready for the schooner to go straight out to sea from thestocks, before she leaves them. Poole! Dickinson!"--to the two chumswho were working at no great distance--"come here and listen to what Isay. This stupid fellow--this soldier who thinks himself a sailor--saysthat the schooner ought to be launched at once. _I_ say that she shallbe finished ready for se
a before she leaves the stocks; and I place you,Dickinson, in charge of the work to see that my orders are obeyed. Thisfellow will no longer give any orders; he will be only a common workman;he will obey you in future, or you will freshen his way with a rope's-end. You understand?"
"Ay, ay," answered Dickinson, "I understands yer, Ralli, and I'll do ittoo, never fear,"--with a scowl at Lance for Ralli's benefit. "Why, theman must be a fool--a perfect fool--not to see as it'd be ever so mucheasier to get things aboard now than when she's afloat. Now, you"--turning to Lance--"you just top your boom and git away back to your workat once, and don't let me see no more skulking or you'd better lookout."
Lance simply shrugged his shoulders, as was his habit whenever hereceived any insolence from the members of the "Brotherhood," and,turning on his heel, walked back to his work, secretly exulting in thecomplete success of his manoeuvre.
Dickinson looked after him contemptuously for a moment or two, and then,his face clouding, he remarked--
"Arter all, I wish I hadn't spoke quite so rough to him; the chap's gothis head screwed on the right way; he knows a mortal sight of things asI don't understand, and I'd ha' been glad to ha' had his help and adwicelike in many a little job, as I'm afeared we'll make a bit of a bungleof without him."
"That is all right," said Ralli. "You shall be able to talk him over,Dickinson. Be a bit civil to him and he will tell you all that you willwant to know. Leave the--what you call?--the bullying to me; I shalltake the care that he enough has of that."
And now--on that same morning, and only an hour or two after theconversation just recorded--there occurred an unfortunate incident whichcompletely dissipated Lance's exultation, filling him with the direstand most anxious forebodings, and threatening to utterly upset thesuccess of all their carefully arranged plans.
It happened thus. Some timber was required by the carpenters on boardthe schooner; and Dickinson, eager to properly play his part in thepresence of the Greek--who was standing close by--ordered Lance andCaptain Staunton to bring up a large and heavy plank which he pointedout. They accordingly shouldered it, and, staggering under the load,proceeded upon their way, which led them close past the spot where Rallistood. As they were passing him it unfortunately happened that Lancestepped upon a small spar, which, rolling under his feet, caused him tostagger in such a way that the plank struck Ralli full in the mouth,knocking away three or four teeth and cutting open both lips. Thefellow reeled backwards with the severity of the blow, but, recoveringhimself, whipped out his long knife, and, pale as death with passion,rushed upon Lance. Captain Staunton saw what was about to happen, andshouted in warning, "Look out, Evelin!" flinging the plank to the groundat the same instant in such a way as to momentarily check the rush ofthe Greek. Lance at the call turned round, and was just in time to savehimself from an ugly blow by catching Ralli's uplifted arm in his lefthand. The pirate, lithe and supple as a serpent, writhed and twisted inLance's grasp in his efforts to get free, but it was all in vain; he washelpless as a child in the iron grasp of the stalwart soldier, and hewas at length compelled to fling his knife to the ground and own himselfvanquished.
But no sooner was he once more free than, calling to his aid a dozen ofthe most ruffianly of his band, he ordered them to seize Lance and theskipper, and to lash them hand and foot until the irons could be broughtand riveted on.
This was done; and an hour afterwards, to the grief and consternation ofall concerned in the plan of escape, the two to whom they chiefly lookedfor its success were marched off to the "Black Hole," each man's anklesbeing connected together by a couple of close-fitting iron bands and twolong fetter-links.