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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:27 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:27 -0700 |
| commit | 9dc820e4d2bf8bb44aecfb97c5b6ff3a6037874c (patch) | |
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| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12639-0.txt b/12639-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..53b13ea --- /dev/null +++ b/12639-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7024 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12639 *** + +SPANISH DOUBLOONS + + +BY CAMILLA KENYON + + + + +WITH FRONTISPIECE BY + +LOUIS ROGERS + + + +1919 + + + + +To L. T. + +In recognition of her faith in me. + + + + +CONTENTS + + I AN AUNT ERRANT + II APOLLO AND SOME OTHERS + III I ENGAGE THE ENEMY + IV THE ISLE OF FORTUNE + V THE CAPTAIN'S LEGACY + VI THE CAVE WITH TWO MOUTHS + VII A RABBIT'S FOOT + VIII AN EXCURSION AND AN ALARM + IX "LASSIE, LASSIE . . ." + X WHAT CRUSOE AND I FOUND + XI MISS BROWNE HAS A VISION + XII THE ISLAND QUEEN'S FREIGHT + XIII I BRING TO LIGHT A CLUE + XIV MR. TUBBS INTERRUPTS + XV SOME SECRET DIPLOMACY + XVI LIKE A CHAPTER FROM THE PAST + XVII FROM DEAD HANDS + XVIII OF WHICH COOKIE IS THE HERO + XIX THE YOUNG PERSON SCORES + XX 'TWIXT CUP AND LIP + XXI THE BISHOP'S CHEST + + + + +Spanish Doubloons + + +I + +AN AUNT ERRANT + +Never had life seemed more fair and smiling than at the moment when +Aunt Jane's letter descended upon me like a bolt from the blue. +The fact is, I was taking a vacation from Aunt Jane. Being an +orphan, I was supposed to be under Aunt Jane's wing, but this was +the merest polite fiction, and I am sure that no hen with one +chicken worries about it more than I did about Aunt Jane. I had +spent the last three years, since Aunt Susan died and left Aunt +Jane with all that money and no one to look after her but me, in +snatching her from the brink of disaster. Her most recent and +narrow escape was from a velvet-tongued person of half her years +who turned out to be a convict on parole. She had her hand-bag +packed for the elopement when I confronted her with this unpleasant +fact. When she came to she was bitter instead of grateful, and +went about for weeks presenting a spectacle of blighted affections +which was too much for the most self-approving conscience. So it +ended with my packing her off to New York, where I wrote to her +frequently and kindly, urging her not to mind me but to stay as +long as she liked. + +Meanwhile I came up to the ranch for a long holiday with Bess and +the baby, a holiday which had already stretched itself out to +Thanksgiving, and threatened to last until Christmas. People wrote +alluringly from town, but what had town to offer compared with a +saddle-horse to yourself, and a litter of collie pups to play with, +and a baby just learning to walk? I even began to consider +ranching as a career, and to picture myself striding over my broad +acres in top-boots and corduroys. + +As to Aunt Jane, my state of mind was fatuously calm. She was +staying with cousins, who live in a suburb and are frightfully +respectable. I was sure they numbered no convicts among their +acquaintance, or indeed any one from whom Aunt Jane was likely to +require rescuing. And if it came to a retired missionary I was +perfectly willing. + +But the cousins and their respectability are of the passive order, +whereas to manage Aunt Jane demands aggressive and continuous +action. Hence the bolt from the blue above alluded to. + +I was swinging tranquilly in the hammock, I remember, when Bess +brought my letters and then hurried away because the baby had +fallen down-stairs. Unwarned by the slightest premonitory thrill, +I kept Aunt Jane's letter till the last and skimmed through all the +others. I should be thankful, I suppose, that the peace soon to be +so rudely shattered was prolonged for those few moments. I +recalled afterward, but dimly, as though a gulf of ages yawned +between, that I had been quite interested in six pages of prattle +about the Patterson dance. + +At last I came to Aunt Jane. I ripped open the envelope and drew +out the letter--a fat one, but then Aunt Jane's letters are always +fat. She says herself that she is of those whose souls flow freely +forth in ink but are frozen by the cold eye of an unsympathetic +listener. Nevertheless, as I spread out the close-filled pages I +felt a mild wonder. Writing so large, so black, so staggering, so +madly underlined, must indicate something above, even Aunt Jane's +usual emotional level. Perhaps in sober truth there _was_ a +missionary-experiment to "Find Capital after , or ;" +Twenty minutes later I staggered into Bess's room. + +"Hush!" she said. "Don't wake the baby!" + +"Baby or no baby," I whispered savagely, "I've got to have a +time-table. I leave for the city tonight to catch the first +steamer for Panama!" + +Later, while the baby slumbered and I packed experiment to "Find +Period in middle" explained. This was difficult; not that Bess is +as a general thing obtuse, but because the picture of Aunt Jane +embarking for some wild, lone isle of the Pacific as the head of a +treasure-seeking expedition was enough to shake the strongest +intellect. And yet, amid the welter of ink and eloquence which +filled those fateful pages, there was the cold hard fact +confronting you. Aunt Jane was going to look for buried treasure, +in company with one Violet Higglesby-Browne, whom she sprung on you +without the slightest explanation, as though alluding to the Queen +of Sheba or the Siamese twins. By beginning at the end and reading +backward--Aunt Jane's letters are usually most intelligible that +way--you managed to piece together some explanation of this Miss +Higglesby-Browne and her place in the scheme of things. It was +through Miss Browne, whom she had met at a lecture upon +Soul-Development, that Aunt Jane had come to realize her claims as +an Individual upon the Cosmos, also to discover that she was by +nature a woman of affairs with a talent for directing large +enterprises, although _adverse influences_ had hitherto kept her +from recognizing her powers. There was a dark significance in these +italics, though whether they meant me or the family lawyer I was +not sure. + +Miss Higglesby-Browne, however, had assisted Aunt Jane to find +herself, and as a consequence Aunt Jane, for the comparatively +trifling outlay needful to finance the Harding-Browne expedition, +would shortly be the richer by one-fourth of a vast treasure of +Spanish doubloons. The knowledge of this hoard was Miss +Higglesby-Browne's alone. It had been revealed to her by a dying +sailor in a London hospital, whither she had gone on a mission of +kindness--you gathered that Miss Browne was precisely the sort to +take advantage when people were helpless and unable to fly from +her. Why the dying sailor chose to make Miss Browne the repository +of his secret, I don't know--this still remains for me the unsolved +mystery. But when the sailor closed his eyes the secret and the +map--of course there was a map--had become Miss Higglesby-Browne's. + +Miss Browne now had clear before her the road to fortune, but +unfortunately it led across the sea and quite out of the route of +steamer travel. Capital in excess of Miss Browne's resources was +required. London proving cold before its great opportunity, Miss +Browne had shaken off its dust and come to New York, where a +mysteriously potent influence had guided her to Aunt Jane. Through +Miss Browne's great organizing abilities, not to speak of those +newly brought to light in Aunt Jane, a party of staunch comrades +had been assembled, a steamer engaged to meet them at Panama, and +it was ho, for the island in the blue Pacific main! + +With this lyrical outburst Aunt Jane concluded the body of her +letter. A small cramped post-script informed me that it was +against Miss H.-B.'s wishes that she revealed their plans to any +one, but that she did want to hear from me before they sailed from +Panama, where a letter might reach her if I was prompt. However, +if it did not she would try not to worry, for Miss Browne was very +psychic, and she felt sure that any strong vibration from me would +reach her via Miss B., and she was my always loving Jane Harding. + +"And of course," I explained to Bess as I hurled things into my +bags, "if a letter can reach her so can I. At least I must +take the chance of it. What those people are up to I don't +know--probably they mean to hold her for ransom and murder her +outright if it is not forthcoming. Or perhaps some of them will +marry her and share the spoils with Miss Higglesby-Browne. Anyway, +I must get to Panama in time to save her." + +"Or you might go along to the island," suggested Bess. + +I paused to glare at her. + +"Bess! And let them murder me too?" + +"Or marry you--" cooed Bess. + +One month later I was climbing out of a lumbering hack before the +Tivoli hotel, which rises square and white and imposing on the low +green height above the old Spanish city of Panama. In spite of the +melting tropical heat there was a chill fear at my heart, the fear +that Aunt Jane and her band of treasure-seekers had already +departed on their quest. In that case I foresaw that whatever +narrow margin of faith my fellow-voyagers on the _City of Quito_ +had had in me would shrink to nothingness. I had been obliged to +be so queer and clam-like about the whole extraordinary +rendezvous--for how could I expose Aunt Jane's madness to the +multitude?--that I felt it would take the actual bodily presence of +my aunt to convince them that she was not a myth, or at least of +the wrong sex for aunts. To have traveled so far in the desperate +hope of heading off Aunt Jane, only to be frustrated and to lose my +character besides! It would be a stroke too much from fate, I told +myself rebelliously, as I crossed the broad gallery and plunged +into the cool dimness of the lobby in the wake of the bellboys who, +discerning a helpless prey, had swooped en masse upon my bags. + +"Miss Jane Harding?" repeated the clerk, and at the cool negation +of his tone my heart gave a sickening downward swoop. "Miss Jane +Harding and party have left the hotel!" + +"For--for the island?" I gasped. + +He raised his eyebrows. "Can't say, I'm sure." He gave me an +appraising stare. Perhaps the woe in my face touched him, for he +descended from the eminence of the hotel clerk where he dwelt apart +sufficiently to add, "Is it important that you should see her?" + +"I am her niece. I have come all the way from San Francisco +expecting to join her here." + +The clerk meditated, his shrewd eyes piercing the very secrets of +my soul. + +"She knew nothing about it," I hastened to add. "I intended it for +a surprise." + +This candor helped my cause. "Well," he said, "that explains her +not leaving any word. As you are her niece, I suppose it will do +no harm to tell you that Miss Harding and her party embarked this +morning on the freighter _Rufus Smith_, and I think it very likely +that the steamer has not left port. If you like I will send a man +to the water-front with you and you may be able to go on board and +have a talk with your aunt." + +Did I thank him? I have often wondered when I waked up in the +night. I have a vision of myself dashing out of the hotel, and +then the hack that brought me is bearing me away. Bellboys hurled +my bags in after me, and I threw them largess recklessly. Some +arch-bellboy or other potentate had mounted to the seat beside the +driver. Madly we clattered over cobbled ways. Out on the smooth +waters of the roadstead lay ships great and small, ships with +stripped masts and smokeless funnels, others with faint gray +spirals wreathing upward from their stacks. Was one of these the +_Rufus Smith_, and would I reach her--or him--before the thin gray +feather became a thick black plume? I thought of my aunt at the +mercy of these unknown adventurers with whom she had set forth, +helpless as a little fat pigeon among hawks, and I felt, +desperately, that I must reach her, must save her from them and +bring her safe back to shore. How I was to do this at the eleventh +hour plus about fifty-seven minutes as at present I hadn't +considered. But experience had taught me that once in my clutches +Aunt Jane would offer about as much resistance as a slightly melted +wax doll. She gets so soft that you are almost afraid to touch her +for fear of leaving dents. + +So to get there, get there, get there, was the one prayer of my +soul. + +I got there, in a boat hastily commandeered by the hotel clerk's +deputy. I suppose he thought me a belated passenger for the Rufus +Smith, for my baggage followed me into the boat. "_Pronto_!" he +shouted to the native boatman as we put off. "_Pronto_!" I urged +at intervals, my eyes upon the funnels of the _Rufus Smith_, where +the outpouring smoke was thickening alarmingly. We brought up +under the side of the little steamer, and the wide surprised face +of a Swedish deckhand stared down at us. + +"Let me aboard! I must come aboard!" I cried. + +Other faces appeared, then a rope-ladder. Somehow I was mounting +it--a dizzy feat to which only the tumult of my emotions made me +indifferent. Bare brawny arms of sailors clutched at me and drew +me to the deck. There at once I was the center of a circle of +speechless and astonished persons, all men but one. + +"Well?" demanded a large breezy voice. "What's this mean? What do +you want aboard my ship?" + +I looked up at a red-faced man in a large straw hat. + +"I want my aunt," I explained. + +"Your aunt?" he roared. "Why the devil should you think I've got +your aunt?" + +"You have got her," I replied with firmness. "I don't see her, but +she's here somewhere." + +The captain of the _Rufus Smith_ shook two large red fists above +his head. + +"Another lunatic!" he shouted. "I'd as soon have a white horse and +a minister aboard as to go to sea in a floating bedlam!" + +As the captain's angry thunder died away came the small anxious +voice of Aunt Jane. + +"What's the matter? Oh, please tell me what's the matter!" she was +saying as she edged her way into the group. In her severely cut +khaki suit she looked like a plump little dumpling that had got +into a sausage wrapping by mistake. Her eyes, round, pale, +blinking a little in the tropical glare, roved over the circle +until they lit on me. Right where she stood Aunt Jane petrified. +She endeavored to shriek, but achieved instead only a strangled +wheeze. Her poor little chin dropped until it disappeared +altogether in the folds of her plump neck, and she remained +speechless, stricken, immobile as a wax figure in an exhibition. + +"Aunt Jane," I said, "you must come right back to shore with me." +I spoke calmly, for unless you are perfectly calm with Aunt Jane +you fluster her. + +She replied only by a slight gobbling in her throat, but the other +woman spoke in a loud voice, addressed not to me but to the +universe in general. + +"The Young Person is mad!" It was an unmistakably British +intonation. + +This then was Miss Violet Higglesby-Browne, I saw a grim, bony, +stocky shape, in a companion costume to my aunt's. Around the +edges of her cork helmet her short iron-gray hair visibly bristled. +She had a massive head, and a seamed and rugged countenance which +did its best to live down the humiliation of a ridiculous little +nose with no bridge. By what prophetic irony she had been named +Violet is the secret of those powers which seem to love a laugh at +mankind's expense. + +But what riveted my eyes was the deadly glare with which hers were +turned on me. I saw that not only was she as certain of my +identity as though she had guided me from my first tottering steps, +but that in a flash she had grasped my motives, aims and purposes, +and meant once for all to face, out-general and defeat me with +great slaughter. + +So she announced to the company with deliberation, "The Young +Person is mad!" + +It nettled me extremely. + +"Mad!" I flung back at her. "Because I wish to save my poor aunt +from such a situation as this? It would be charitable to infer +madness in those who have led her into it!" When I reviewed +this speech afterward I realized that it was not, under the +circumstances, the best calculated to win me friends. + +"Jane!" said Miss Higglesby-Browne in deep and awful tones, "the +time has come to prove your strength!" + +Aunt Jane proved it by uttering a shrill yelp, and clutching her +hair with a reckless disregard of its having originally been that +of a total stranger. So severe were her shrieks and struggles that +it was with difficulty that she was borne below in the arms of two +strong men. + +I had seen Aunt Jane in hysterics before--she had them that time +about the convict. I was not frightened, but I hurried after +her--neck and neck with Miss Browne. It was fifteen minutes before +Aunt Jane came to, and then she would only moan. I bathed her +head, and held her hand, and did all the regulation things, under +the baleful eye of Miss Browne, who steadfastly refused to go away, +but sat glaring like a gorgon who sees her prey about to be +snatched from her. + +In the midst of my ministrations I awoke suddenly to a rhythmic +heave and throb which pervaded the ship. Dropping Aunt Jane's hand +I rushed on deck. There lay the various pieces of my baggage, and +in the distance the boat with the two brown rowers was skipping +shoreward over the ripples. + +As for the _Rufus Smith_, she was under weigh, and heading out of +the roadstead for the open sea. + +I dashed aft to the captain, who stood issuing orders in the voice +of an aggrieved fog-horn. + +"Captain!" I cried, "wait; turn around! You must put my aunt and +me ashore!" + +He whirled on me, showing a crimson angry face. "Turn around, is +it, turn around ?" he shouted. "Do you suppose I can loaf about +the harbor here a-waitin' on your aunt's fits? You come aboard +without me askin'. Now you can go along with the rest. This here +ship has got her course set for Frisco, pickin' up Leeward Island +on the way, and anybody that ain't goin' in that direction is +welcome to jump overboard." + +That is how I happened to go to Leeward Island. + + + + +II + +APOLLO AND SOME OTHERS + +The _Rufus Smith_, tramp freighter, had been chartered to convey +the Harding-Browne expedition to Leeward Island, which lies about +three hundred miles west of Panama, and could be picked up by the +freighter in her course. She was a little dingy boat with such +small accommodation that I can not imagine where the majority of +her passengers stowed themselves away. My aunt and Miss Browne had +a stateroom between them the size of a packing-box, and somebody +turned out and resigned another to me. I retired there to dress +for dinner after several dismal hours spent in attendance on Aunt +Jane, who had passed from great imaginary suffering into the quite +genuine anguish of seasickness. In the haste of my departure from +San Francisco I had not brought a trunk, so the best I was able to +produce in the way of a crusher for Miss Higglesby-Browne and her +fellow-passengers was a cool little white gown, which would shine +at least by contrast with Miss Browne's severely utilitarian +costume. White is becoming to my hair, which narrow-minded persons +term red, but which has been known to cause the more discriminating +to draw heavily on the dictionary for adjectives. My face is small +and heart-shaped, with features strictly for use and not for +ornament, but fortunately inconspicuous. As for my eyes, I think +tawny quite the nicest word, though Aunt Jane calls them hazel and +I have even heard whispers of green. + +Five minutes after the gong sounded I walked into the cabin. Miss +Browne, Captain Watkins of the freighter, and half a dozen men were +already at the table. I slid unobtrusively into the one vacant +place, fortunately remote from the captain, who glared at me +savagely, as though still embittered by the recollection of my +aunt's fits. + +"Gentlemen," said Miss Browne in icy tones, "Miss Virginia Harding." + +Two of the men rose, the others stared and ducked. Except for Miss +Browne and the captain, I had received on coming aboard only the +most blurred impression of my fellow-voyagers. I remembered them +merely as a composite of khaki and cork helmets and astounded +staring faces. But I felt that as the abetters of Miss Browne a +hostile and sinister atmosphere enveloped them all. + +Being thus in the camp of the enemy, I sat down in silence and +devoted myself to my soup. The majority of my companions did +likewise--audibly. But presently I heard a voice at my left: + +"I say, what a jolly good sailor you seem to be--pity your aunt's +not!" + +I looked up and saw Apollo sitting beside me. Or rather, shall I +say a young man who might have walked straight out of an +advertisement for a ready-made clothing house, so ideal and +impossible was his beauty. He was very tall--I had to tilt my chin +quite painfully to look up at him--and from the loose collar of his +silk shirt his throat rose like a column. His skin was a beautiful +clear pink and white just tinged with tan--like a meringue that has +been in the oven for two minutes exactly. He had a straight, +chiseled profile and his hair was thick and chestnut and wavy and +he had clear sea-gray eyes. To give him at once his full name and +titles, he was the Honorable Cuthbert Patrick Ruthmore Vane, of +High Staunton Manor, Kent, England. But as I was ignorant of this, +I can truthfully say that his looks stunned me purely on their own +merits. + +Outwardly calm, I replied, "Yes, its too bad, but then who ever +dreamed that Aunt Jane would go adventuring at her time of life? I +thought nobody over the age of thirteen, and then boys, ever went +treasure-hunting." + +"Ah, but lads of thirteen couldn't well come such a distance on +their own, you know," returned Apollo, with the kindest air of +making allowance for the female intellect. + +I hurriedly turned the subject. + +"I really can't imagine Aunt Jane on a desert island. You should +see her behave on the mere suspicion of a mouse! What will she do +if she meets a cannibal and he tries to eat her?" + +"Oh, really, now," argued the paragon earnestly, "I'm quite sure +there's no danger of that, don't you know? I believe there are no +natives at all on the island, or else quite tame ones, I forget +which, and here are four of us chaps, with no end of revolvers and +things--shooting-irons, as you call them in America. Mr. +Shaw--sitting opposite Miss Browne, you know--is rather running +things, so if you feel nervous you should talk to him. Was with +the South Polar Expedition and all that--knows no end about this +sort of thing--wouldn't for a moment think of letting ladies run +the risk of being eaten. Really I hope you aren't in a funk about +the cannibals--especially as with so many missionary Johnnies about +they are most likely all converted." + +"It's so comforting to think of it in that light!" I said +fervently. At the same time I peeped around Apollo for a +glimpse of the experienced Mr. Shaw. I saw a strong-featured, +weather-beaten profile, the face of a man somewhere in his +thirties, and looking, from this side view at least, not only stern +but grim. He was talking quietly to the captain, whose manner +toward him was almost civil. + +I made up my mind at once that the backbone of the party, and +inevitably the leader in its projected villainies, whatever they +might be, was this rugged-looking Mr. Shaw. You couldn't fancy him +as the misled follower of anybody, even the terrific Violet. + +As it seemed an unpropitious moment for taking counsel with Mr. +Shaw about cannibals, I tried another tack with the beautiful youth +at my side. + +"How did you like Panama? I fancy the old town is very +picturesque." + +"Oh, rather!" assented Mr. Vane. "At least, that is what those +painter chaps call it--met a couple of 'em at the hotel. Beastly +little narrow streets and houses in a shocking state and all that. +I like to see property kept up, myself." + +"I am afraid," I said severely, "that you are a philistine!" + +He blinked a little. "Ah--quite so!" he murmured, recovering +himself gallantly. "One of those chaps that backed Goliath against +David, what?" + +From this conversational impasse we were rescued by the +interposition of the gentleman opposite, whose small twinkling eyes +had been taking me in with intentness. + +"I did some flittin' about that little old burg on my own hook," he +informed us, "and what I got to say is, it needs wakin' up. Yes, +sir, a bunch of live ones from the U.S.A. would shake up that +little old graveyard so you wouldn't know it. I might have took a +hand in it myself, if I hadn't have met up with Miss Browne and +your a'nt. Yes, sir, I had a slick little proposition or two up my +sleeve. Backed by some of the biggest capital in the U.S.A.--in +fact, there's a bunch of fellers up there in God's country that's +pretty sore on old H.H. for passin' things up this way. Kep' the +wires hummin' for two-three days, till they seen I wasn't to be +switched, and then the Old Man himself--no use mentionin' names, +but I guess you know who I mean--Wall Street would, quick enough, +anyway--the Old Man himself threatened to put his yacht in +commission and come down to find out what sort of little game H. H. +was playin' on him. But I done like Br'er Rabbit--jes lay low. +Hamilton H. Tubbs knows a good thing when he sees it about as quick +as the next one--and he knows enough to keep mum about it too!" + +"None can appreciate more profoundly than myself your ability to +maintain that reserve so necessary to the success of this +expedition," remarked Miss Browne weightily from the far end of the +table. "It is to be wished that other members of our party, though +tenderly esteemed, and never more than now when weakness of body +temporarily overpowers strength of soul, had shared your powers of +secrecy!" + +This shaft was aimed quite obviously at me, and as at the moment I +could think of nothing in reply short of hurling a plate I sank +into a silence which seemed to be contagious, for it spread +throughout the table. Three or four rough-looking men, of whom +one, a certain Captain Magnus, belonged to our party and the rest +to the ship, continued vigorously to hack their way through the +meal with clattering knives and forks. Of other sounds there was +none. Such gloom weighed heavily on the genial spirit of Mr. +Tubbs, and he lightened it by rising to propose a toast. + +"Ladies and gentlemen, to her now unfortunately laid low by the +pangs of _mal de mer_--our friend and bony dear, Miss Harding!" + +This was bewildering, for neither by friend nor foe could Aunt Jane +be called bony. Later, in the light of Mr. Tubbs's passion for +classical allusion, I decided to translate it _bona dea_, and +consider the family complimented. At the moment I sat stunned, but +Miss Browne, with greater self-possession, majestically inclined +her head and said: + +"In the name of our absent friend, I thank you." In spite of +wistful looks from the beautiful youth as we rose from the table, +and the allurement of a tropic moon, I remained constant to duty +and Aunt Jane, and immured myself in her stateroom, where I passed +an enlivening evening listening to her moans. She showed a faint +returning spark of life when I mentioned Cuthbert Vane, and raised +her head to murmur that he was Honorable and she understood though +not the heir still likely to inherit and perhaps after all +Providence-- + +The unspoken end of Aunt Jane's sentence pursued me into dreams in +which an unknown gentleman obligingly broke his neck riding to +hounds and left Apollo heir to the title and estates. + + + + +III + +I ENGAGE THE ENEMY + +It was fortunate that I slept well in my narrow berth on board the +Rufus Smith, for the next day was one of trial. Aunt Jane had +recovered what Mr. Tubbs, with deprecating coughs behind his hand, +alluded to as her sea-legs, and staggered forth wanly, leaning on +the arm of Miss Higglesby-Browne. Yes, of Miss Browne, while I, +Aunt Jane's own niece, trotted meekly in the rear with a cushion. +Already I had begun to realize how fatally I had underrated the +lady of the hyphen, in imagining I had only to come and see and +conquer Aunt Jane. The grim and bony one had made hay while the +sun shone--while I was idling in California, and those criminally +supine cousins were allowing Aunt Jane to run about New York at her +own wild will. Miss Higglesby-Browne had her own collar and tag on +Aunt Jane now, while she, so complete was her perversion, fairly +hugged her slavery and called it freedom. Yes, she talked about +her Emancipation and her Soul-force and her Individuality, +prattling away like a child that has learned its lesson well. + +"Mercy, aunty, what long words!" I cried gaily, sitting down beside +her and patting her hand. Usually I can do anything with her when +I pet her up a bit. But the eye of Miss Higglesby-Browne was on +her--and Aunt Jane actually drew a little away. + +"Really, Virginia," she said, feebly endeavoring to rise to the +occasion as she knew Miss Browne would have her rise, "really, +while it's very nice to see you and all that, still I hope you +realize that I have had a--a deep Soul-experience, and that I am no +longer to be--trifled with and--and treated as if I were--amusing. +I am really at a loss to imagine why you came. I wrote you that I +was in the company of _trusted friends_." + +"Friends?" I echoed aggrievedly. "Friends are all very well, of +course, but when you and I have just each other, aunty, I think it +is unkind of you to expect me to stay thousands of miles away from +you all by myself." + +"But it was you who sent me to New York, and insisted on my staying +there!" she cried. Evidently she had been living over her wrongs. + +"Yes--but how different!" I interrupted hastily. "There were the +cousins--of course I have to spare you sometimes to the rest of the +family!" Aunt Jane is strong on family feeling, and frequently +reproaches me with my lack of it. + +But in expecting Aunt Jane to soften at this I reckoned without +Miss Higglesby-Browne. A dart from the cold gray eyes galvanized +my aunt into a sudden rigid erectness. + +"My dear Virginia," she said with quavering severity, "let me +remind you that there are ties even dearer than those of +blood--soul-affinities, you know, and--and, in short, in my dear +friend Miss Higglesby-Browne I have met for the first time in my +life with a--a Sympathetic Intelligence that understands Me!" + +So that was Violet's line! I surveyed the Sympathetic Intelligence +with a smiling interest. + +"Really, how nice! And of course you feel quite sure that on your +side you thoroughly understand--Miss Higglesby-Browne?" + +Miss Browne's hair was rather like a clothesbrush in her mildest +moods. In her rising wrath it seemed to quiver like a lion's mane. + +"Miss Harding," she said, in the chest-tones she reserved for +critical moments, "has a nature impossible to deceive, because +itself incapable of deception. Miss Harding and I first met--on +this present plane--in an atmosphere unusually favorable to +soul-revelation. I knew at once that here was the appointed +comrade, while in Miss Harding there was the immediate recognition +of a complementary spiritual force." + +"It's perfectly true, Virginia," exclaimed Aunt Jane, beginning to +cry. "You and Susan and everybody have always treated me as if I +were a child and didn't know what I wanted, when the fact is I +always have known _perfectly well_!" The last words issued in a +wail from the depths of her handkerchief. + +"You mean, I suppose," I exploded, "that what you have always +wanted was to go off on this perfectly crazy chase after imaginary +treasure!" There, now I had gone and done it. Of course it was my +red hair. + +"Jane," uttered Miss Higglesby-Browne in deep and awful tones, "do +you or do you not realize how strangely prophetic were the warnings +I gave you from the first--that if you revealed our plans malignant +Influences would be brought to bear? Be strong, Jane--cling to the +Dynamic Thought!" + +"I'm clinging!" sniffed Aunt Jane, dabbing away her tears. I never +saw any one get so pink about the eyes and nose at the smallest +sign of weeping, and yet she is always doing it. "Really, +Virginia," she broke out in a whimper, "it is not kind to say, I +suppose, but I would just as soon you hadn't come! Just when I was +learning to expand my individuality--and then you come and somehow +make it seem so much more difficult!" + +I rose. "Very well, Aunt Jane," I said coldly. "Expand all you +like. When you get to the bursting point I'll do my best to save +the pieces. For the present I suppose I had better leave you to +company so much more favorable to your soul development!" And I +walked away with my head in the air. + +It was so much in the air, and the deck of the _Rufus Smith_ was so +unstable, that I fell over a coil of rope and fetched up in the +arms of the Honorable Cuthbert Vane. Fortunately this occurred +around the corner of the deck-house, out of sight of my aunt and +Miss Browne, so the latter was unable to shed the lurid light on +the episode which she doubtless would if she had seen it. Mr. Vane +stood the shock well and promptly set me on my feet. + +"I say!" he exclaimed sympathetically, "not hurt, are you? Beastly +nuisance, you know, these ropes lying about--regular man-traps, I +call 'em." + +"Thanks, I'm quite all right," I said, and as I spoke two large +genuine tears welled up into my eyes. I hadn't realized till I +felt them smarting on my eyelids how deeply hurt I was at the +unnatural behavior of Aunt Jane. + +"Ah--I'm afraid you are really not quite all right!" returned the +Honorable Cuthbert with profound concern. "Tell me what's the +matter--please do!" + +I shook my head. "It's nothing--you couldn't help me. It's +just--Aunt Jane." + +"Your aunt? Has she been kicking-up a bit? I thought she looked +rather a mild sort." + +"Oh--mild! That's just it--so mild that she has let this awful +Higglesby-Browne person get possession of her body and soul." + +"Oh, I say, aren't you a bit rough on Miss Browne? Thought she was +a rather remarkable old party--goes in strong for intellect and all +that, you know." + +"That's just what fooled Aunt Jane so--but, I thought a man would +know better." My feathers were ruffled again. + +"Well, fact is, I'm not so much up in that sort of thing myself," +he admitted modestly. "Rather took her word for it and all that, +you know. There's Shaw, though--cleverest chap going, I assure +you. I rather fancy Miss Browne couldn't pull the wool over _his_ +eyes much." + +"She evidently did, though," I said snappishly, "since he's let her +rope him in for such a wild goose chase as this!" In my heart I +felt convinced that the clever Mr. Shaw was merely Miss Browne's +partner in imposture. + +"Oh, really, now. Miss Harding, you don't think it's that--that +the thing's all moonshine?" He stared at me in grieved surprise. + +"Why, what else can it be?" I demanded, driven by my wrongs to the +cruelty of shattering his illusions. "Who ever heard of a pirate's +treasure that wasn't moonshine? The moment I had read Aunt Jane's +letter telling of the perfectly absurd business she was setting out +on I rushed down by the first boat. Of course I meant to take her +back with me, to put a stop to all this madness; but I was too +late--and you're glad of it, I dare say!" + +"I can't help being glad, you know," he replied, the color rising +to his ingenuous cheeks. "It's so frightfully jolly having you +along. Only I'm sorry you came against your will. Rather fancy +you had it in your head that we were a band of cutthroats, eh? +Well, the fact is I don't know much about the two chaps Miss Browne +picked up, though I suspect they are a very decent sort. That odd +fish, Captain Magnus, now--he was quite Miss Browne's own find, I +assure you. And as to old H. H.--Tubbs, you know--Miss Browne met +up with him on the boat coming down. The rum old chap got on her +soft side somehow, and first thing she had appointed him secretary +and treasurer--as though we were a meeting of something. Shaw was +quite a bit upset about it. He and I were a week later in +arriving--came straight on from England with the supplies, while +Miss Browne fixed things up with the little black-and-tan country +that owns the island. I say, Miss Harding, you're bound to like +Shaw no end when you know him--he's such a wonderfully clever chap!" + +I had no wish to blight his faith in the superlative Mr. Shaw, and +said nothing. This evidently pained him, and as we stood leaning +on the rail in the shadow of the deck-house, watching the blue +water slide by, he continued to sound the praises of his idol. It +seemed that as soon as Miss Browne had beguiled Aunt Jane into +financing her scheme--a feat equivalent to robbing an infant-class +scholar of his Sunday-school nickel--she had cast about for a +worthy leader for the forthcoming Harding-Browne expedition. All +the winds of fame were bearing abroad just then the name of a +certain young explorer who had lately added another continent or +two to the British Empire. Linked with his were other names, those +of his fellow adventurers, which shone only less brightly than that +of their chief. One Dugald Shaw had been among the great man's +most trusted lieutenants, but now, on the organizing of the second +expedition, he was left behind in London, only half recovered of a +wound received in the Antarctic. The hook of a block and tackle +had caught him, ripped his forehead open from cheek to temple, and +for a time threatened the sight of the eye. Slowly, under the care +of the London surgeons, he had recovered, and the eye was saved. +Meanwhile his old companions had taken again the path of glory, and +were far on their way back to the ice-fields of the South Pole. +Only Dugald Shaw was left behind. + +"And so," the even voice flowed on, "when I ran on to him in London +he was feeling fearfully low, I do assure you. A chap of his sort +naturally hates to think he's on the shelf. I had known him since +I was a little 'un, when we used to go to Scotland for our +holidays, and he would be home from sea and staying with his cousin +at the manse. He'd make us boats and spin all sorts of yarns, and +we thought him a bigger man than the admiral of the fleet. + +"Well, old Shaw was fancying there was nothing for it but to go +back to his place with the P. & O., which seemed a bit flat after +what he'd been having, and meant he would never get beyond being +the captain of a liner, and not that for a good many years to come, +when a cable came from this Miss Higglesby-Brown offering him +command of this expedition. As neither of us had ever heard of +Miss Higglesby-Browne, we were both a bit floored for a time. But +Shaw smoked a pipe on it, and then he said, 'Old chap, if they'll +give me my figure, I'm their man.' And I said, 'Quite so, old +chap, and I'll go along, too.' + +"I had to argue quite a bit, but in the end the dear old boy let me +come--after wiring the pater and what not. And I do assure you, +Miss Harding, it strikes me as no end of a lark--besides expecting +it to put old Shaw on his feet and give us hatfuls of money all +round." + +Well, it was a plausible story, and I had no doubt, so far as the +Honorable Cuthbert was concerned, an absolutely truthful one. The +beautiful youth was manifestly as guileless as a small boy playing +pirate with a wooden sword. But as to Mr. Shaw, who could tell +that it hadn't after all been a trumped-up affair between Miss +Browne and him--that his surprise at the message was not assumed to +throw dust in the eyes of his young and trusting friend? Are even +the most valiant adventurers invariably honest? Left behind by his +companions because of his injury, his chance of an enduring fame +cut off, with no prospects but those of an officer on an ocean +liner, might he not lend a ready ear to a scheme for plucking a fat +and willing pigeon? So great was my faith in Aunt Jane's +gullibility, so dark my distrust of Miss Browne, that all connected +with the enterprise lay under the cloud of my suspicion. The +Honorable Mr. Vane I had already so far exculpated as to wonder if +he were not in some way being victimized too; but Mr. Shaw, after +even a casual glimpse of him, one couldn't picture as a victim. I +felt that he must have gone into the enterprise with his eyes open +to its absurdity, and fully aware that the only gold to be won by +anybody must come out of the pocket of Aunt Jane. + +As these reflections passed through my mind I looked up and saw the +subject of them approaching. He lifted his helmet, but met my eyes +unsmilingly, with a sort of sober scrutiny. He had the tanned skin +of a sailor, and brown hair cropped close and showing a trace of +gray. This and a certain dour grim look he had made me at first +consider him quite middle-aged, though I knew later that he was not +yet thirty-five. As to the grimness, perhaps, I unwillingly +conceded, part of it was due to the scar which seamed the right +temple to the eyebrow, in a straight livid line. But it was a grim +face anyway, strong-jawed, with piercing steel-blue eyes. + +He was welcomed by Mr. Vane with a joyous thump on the +shoulder-blade. "I say, old man, Miss Harding has turned out to be +the most fearful doubting Thomas--thinks the whole scheme quite mad +and all that sort of thing. I'm far too great a duffer to convert +her, but perhaps you might, don't you know?" + +Mr. Shaw looked at me steadily. His eyes were the kind that seem +to see all and reveal nothing. I felt a hot spark of defiance +rising in my own. + +"And indeed it is too bad," he said coolly, "that the trip should +not be more to Miss Harding's liking." The rough edges of his +Scotch burr had been smoothed down by much wandering, but you knew +at once on which side of the Solway he had seen the light. + +"It is not a question of my liking," I retorted, trying to preserve +an unmoved and lofty demeanor, though my heart was beating rather +quickly at finding myself actually crossing swords with the +redoubtable adventurer, this man who had often faced death, I could +not refuse to believe, as steadily as he was facing me now. + +"It is not at all a question of my liking or not liking the trip, +but of the trip itself being--quite the wildest thing ever heard of +out of a story-book." Harsher terms had sprung first to my lips, +but had somehow failed to get beyond them. + +"Ah--yet the world would be the poorer if certain wild trips had +not been taken. I seem to remember one Christopher Columbus, for +instance." + +By a vivid lightning-flash of wrath I felt that this adventurer was +laughing at me a little under his sober exterior--even stirring me +up as one does an angry kitten. + +"Yes," I flared out, "but Columbus did not inveigle a confiding old +lady to go along with him!" Of course Aunt Jane is not, properly +speaking, an old lady, but it was much more effective to pose her +as one for the moment. + +It was certainly effective, to judge by the sudden firm setting of +his mouth. + +"Lad," he said quietly, "lend a hand below, will you? They are +overhauling some of our stuff 'tween decks." + +He waited until the Honorable Cuthbert, looking rather dazed, had +retired. We stood facing each other, my breath coming rather +hurriedly. There was a kind of still force about this mastered +anger of the dour Scot, like the brooding of black clouds that at +any moment may send forth their devastating fire. Yet I myself was +not endowed with red hair for nothing. + +"Miss Harding," he said slowly, "that was a bitter word you said." + +My head went up. + +"Bitter, perhaps," I flung back, "but is it not true? It is for you +to answer." + +"No, it is not for me to answer, because it is not for you to ask. +But since you talk of inveigling, let me give the history of my +connection with the expedition. You will understand then that I +had nothing to do with organizing it, but was merely engaged to do +my best to carry it through to success." + +"I have already heard a version of the matter from Mr. Vane." + +"And you think he is in the conspiracy too?" "Certainly not," I +replied hastily. "I mean--of course, I know he told me exactly +what he believes himself." + +"Yes, you would take the lad's word, of course." This with a slight +but significant emphasis of which he was perhaps unconscious. +"Then I suppose you consider that he was inveigled too?" + +"I am not required to consider Mr. Vane's status at all," I replied +with dignity. "It is my aunt whom I wish to protect." And +suddenly to my dismay my voice grew husky. I had to turn my head +aside and blink hard at the sea. I seemed to be encountering +fearful and unexpected odds in my endeavor to rescue Aunt Jane. + +He stood looking down at me--he was a big man, though of lesser +height than the superb Cuthbert--in a way I couldn't quite +understand. And what I don't understand always makes me +uncomfortable. + +"Very well," he said after a pause. "Maybe your opportunity will +come. It would be a pity indeed if Miss Harding were to require no +protecting and a young lady here with such a good will to it. But +if you will take the suggestion of a man of rather broader +experience than your own, you will wait until the occasion arises. +It is bad generalship, really, to waste your ammunition like this." + +"I dare say I am not a master of strategy," I cried, furious at +myself for my moment of weakness and at him for the softening tone +which had crept into his voice. "I am merely--honest. And when I +see Aunt Jane hypnotized--by this Violet person--" + +"And indeed I have seen no reason to think that Miss +Higglesby-Browne is not a most excellent lady," interrupted Mr. +Shaw stiffly. "And let me say this, Miss Harding: here we are all +together, whether we wish to be or no, and for six weeks or more on +the island we shall see no faces but our own. Are we to be divided +from the beginning by quarrels? Are maybe even the men of us to be +set by the ears through the bickering of women?" + +Like the nick of a whip came the certainty that he was thinking of +the Honorable Cuthbert, and that I was the rock on which their +David-and-Jonathan friendship might split. Otherwise I suppose +Miss Higglesby-Browne and I might have clawed each other forever +without interference from him. + +"Really," I said with--I hope--well-simulated scorn, "since I am +quite alone against half a dozen of you, I should think you could +count on putting down any rebellion on my part very easily. I +repeat, I had no other object in coming along--though I was really +_kidnaped_ along--than to look after my aunt. The affairs of the +party otherwise--or its personnel---do not interest me at all. As +to the treasure, of course I know perfectly well that there isn't +any." + +And I turned my back and looked steadily out to sea. After a +moment or two I heard him turn on his heel and go away. It was +none too soon, for I had already begun to feel unostentatiously for +my handkerchief. Any way, I had had the last word-- + +The rest of my day was lonely, for the beautiful youth, probably by +malevolent design, was kept busy between decks. Mr. Tubbs danced +attendance on Aunt Jane and Miss Browne, so assiduously that I +already began to see some of my worst fears realized. There was +nothing for me to do but to retire to my berth and peruse a +tattered copy of _Huckleberry Finn_ which I found in the cabin. + +At dinner, having the Honorable Cuthbert at my elbow, it was easier +than not to ignore every one else. The small keen eyes of Mr. +Tubbs, under his lofty and polished dome of thought, watched us +knowingly. You saw that he was getting ready to assume a +bless-you-my-children attitude and even to take credit somehow as +match-maker. He related anecdotes, in which, as an emissary of +Cupid, he played a benevolent and leading role. One detected, too, +a grin, ugly and unmirthful, on the unprepossessing countenance of +Captain Magnus. I was indifferent. The man my gaiety was intended +for sat at the far end of the table. I had to wipe out the memory +of my wet eyes that afternoon. + +Directly dinner was at an end, remorselessly he led the Honorable +Cuthbert away. I retired to Huckleberry Finn. But a face with a +scar running to the eyebrow looked up at me from the pages, and I +held colloquies with it in which I said all the brilliant and +cutting things which had occurred to me too late. + +I was thus engaged when a cry rang through the ship: "Land ho!" + + + + +IV + +THE ISLE OF FORTUNE + +I dropped my book and ran on deck. Every one else was already +there. I joined the row at the rail, indifferent, for the moment, +to the fact that to display so much interest in their ridiculous +island involved a descent from my pinnacle. Indeed, the chill +altitude of pinnacles never agrees with me for long at a time, so +that I am obliged to descend at intervals to breathe the air on the +common level. + +The great gleaming orb of the tropic moon was blinding as the sun. +Away to the faint translucent line of the horizon rolled an +infinity of shining sea. Straight ahead rose a dark conical mass. +It was the mountainous shape of Leeward Island. + +Everybody was craning to get a clearer view. "Hail, isle of +Fortune!" exclaimed Miss Browne. I think my aunt would not have +been surprised if it had begun to rain doubloons upon the deck. + +"I bet we don't put it over some on them original Argonaut fellers, +hey?" cried Mr. Tubbs. + +Higher and higher across the sky-line cut the dark crest of the +island as the freighter steamed valiantly ahead. She had a manner +all her own of progressing by a series of headlong lunges, followed +by a nerve-racking pause before she found her equilibrium again. +But she managed to wallow forward at a good gait, and the island +grew clearer momently. Sheer and formidable from the sea rose a +line of black cliffs, and above them a single peak threw its shadow +far across the water. Faintly we made out the white line of the +breakers foaming at the foot of the cliffs. + +We coasted slowly along, looking for the mouth of the little bay. +Meanwhile we had collected our belongings, and stood grouped about +the deck, ready for the first thrilling plunge into adventure. My +aunt and Miss Browne had tied huge green veils over their cork +helmets, and were clumping about in tremendous hobnailed boots. I +could not hope to rival this severely military get-up, but I had a +blue linen skirt and a white middy, and trusted that my small stock +of similar garments would last out our time on the island. All the +luggage I was allowed to take was in a traveling bag and a +gunny-sack, obligingly donated by the cook. Speaking of cooks, I +found we had one of our own along, a coal-black negro with grizzled +wool, an unctuous voice, and the manners of an old-school family +retainer. So far as I know, his name was Cookie. I suppose he had +received another once from his sponsors in baptism, but if so, it +was buried in oblivion. + +Now a narrow gleaming gap appeared in the wall of cliffs, and the +freighter whistled and lay to. There began a bustle at the davits, +and shouts of "Lower away!" and for the first time it swept over me +that we were to be put ashore in boats. Simultaneously this fact +swept over Aunt Jane, and I think also over Miss Browne, for I saw +her fling one wild glance around, as though in search of some +impossible means of retreat. But she took the blow in a grim +silence, while Aunt Jane burst out in lamentation. She would not, +could not go in a boat. She had heard all her life that small +boats were most unsafe. A little girl had been drowned in a lake +near where she was visiting once through going in a boat. Why +didn't the captain sail right up to the island as she had expected +and put us ashore? Even at Panama with only a little way to go she +had felt it suicidal--here it was not to be thought of. + +But the preparations for this desperate step went on apace, and no +one heeded Aunt Jane but Mr. Tubbs, who had hastened to succor +beauty in distress, and mingled broken exhortations to courage with +hints that if his opinion had been attended to all would be well. + +Then Aunt Jane clutched at Mr. Shaw's coat lapel as he went by, and +he stopped long enough to explain patiently that vessels of the +freighter's size could not enter the bay, and that there really was +no danger, and that Aunt Jane might wait if she liked till the last +boat, as it would take several trips to transfer us and our +baggage. I supposed of course that this would include me, and +stood leaning on the rail, watching the first boat with Mr. Shaw, +Captain Magnus and the cook, fade to a dark speck on the water, +when Mr. Vane appeared at my elbow. + +"Ready, Miss Harding? You are to go in the next boat, with me. I +asked especially." + +"Oh, thanks!" I cried fervently. He would be much nicer than Mr. +Tubbs to cling to as I went down--indeed, he was so tall that if it +were at all a shallow place I might use him as a stepping-stone and +survive. I hoped drowning men didn't gurgle very much--meanwhile +Mr. Vane had disappeared over the side, and a sailor was lifting me +and setting my reluctant feet on the strands of the ladder. + +"Good-by, auntie !" I cried, as I began the descent. "Don't blame +yourself too much. Everybody has to go some time, you know, and +they say drowning's easy." + +With a stifled cry Aunt Jane forsook Mr. Tubbs and flew to the +rail. I was already out of reach. + +"Oh, Virginia!" she wailed. "Oh, my dear child! If it should be +the last parting!" + +"Give my jewelry and things to Bess's baby!" I found strength to +call back. What with the wallowing of the steamer and the natural +instability of rope-ladders I seemed a mere atom tossed about in a +swaying, reeling universe. _What will Aunt Jane do_? flashed +through my mind, and I wished I had waited to see. Then the arms +of the Honorable Mr. Vane received me. The strong rowers bent +their backs, and the boat shot out over the mile or two of bright +water between us and the island. Great slow swells lifted us. We +dipped with a soothing, cradle-like motion. I forgot to be afraid, +in the delight of the warm wind that fanned our cheeks, of the +moonbeams that on the crest of every ripple were splintered +to a thousand dancing lights. I forgot fear, forgot Miss +Higglesby-Browne, forgot the harshness of the Scotch character. + +"Oh, glorious, glorious!" I cried to Cuthbert Vane. + +"Not so dusty, eh?" he came back in their ridiculous English slang. +Now an American would have said _some little old moon that_! We +certainly have our points of superiority. + +All around the island white charging lines of breakers foamed on +ragged half-seen reefs. You saw the flash of foam leaping half the +height of the black cliffs. The thunder of the surf was in our +ears, now rising to wild clamor, fierce, hungry, menacing, now +dying to a vast broken mutter. Now our boat felt the lift of the +great shoreward rollers, and sprang forward like a living thing. +The other boat, empty of all but the rowers and returning from the +island to the ship, passed us with a hail. We steered warily away +from a wild welter of foam at the end of a long point, and shot +beyond it on the heave of a great swell into quiet water. We were +in the little bay under the shadow of the frowning cliff's. + +At the head of the bay, a quarter of a mile away, lay a broad white +beach shining under the moon. At the edge of dark woods beyond a +fire burned redly. It threw into relief the black moving shapes of +men upon the sand. The waters of the cove broke upon the beach in +a white lacework of foam. + +Straight for the sand the sailors drove the boat. She struck it +with a jar, grinding forward heavily. The men sprang overboard, +wading half-way to the waist. And the arms of the Honorable +Cuthbert Vane had snatched me up and were bearing me safe and dry +to shore. + +The sailors hauled on the boat, dragging it up the beach, and I saw +the Scotchman lending them a hand. The hard dry sand was crunching +under the heels of Mr. Vane. I wriggled a little and Apollo, who +had grown absent-minded apparently, set me down. + +Mr. Shaw approached and the two men greeted each other in their +offhand British way. As we couldn't well, under the circumstances, +maintain a fiction of mutual invisibility, Mr. Shaw, with a certain +obvious hesitation, turned to me. + +"Only lady passenger, eh? Hope you're not wet through. Cookie's +making coffee over yonder." + +"I say, Shaw," cried the beautiful youth enthusiastically, "Miss +Harding's the most ripping sport, you know! Not the least nervous +about the trip, I assure you." + +"I was," I announced, moved to defiance by the neighborhood of Mr. +Shaw. "Before we started I was so afraid that if you had listened +you might have heard my teeth chattering. But I had at least the +comforting thought that if I did go to my end it would not be +simply in pursuit of sordid gain!" + +"And indeed that was almost a waste of noble sentiment under the +circumstances," answered the dour Scot, with the fleeting shadow of +an enraging smile. "Such disappointingly calm weather as it is! +See that Miss Harding has some coffee, Bert." + +I promised myself, as I went with Mr. Vane toward the fire, that +some day I would find the weapon that would penetrate the +Scotchman's armor--and would use it mercilessly. + +Cookie, in his white attire, and with his black shining face and +ivory teeth gleaming in the ruddy firelight, looked like a +converted cannibal--perhaps won from his errors by one of Mr. +Vane's missionary Johnnies. He received us with unctuous warmth. + +"Well, now, 'clar to goodness if it ain't the li'le lady! How come +you git ashore all dry lak you is? Yes, sah, Cookie'll git you-all +some'n hot immejusly." He wafted me with stately gestures to a +seat on an overturned iron kettle, and served my coffee with an air +appropriate to mahogany and plate. It was something to see him +wait on Cuthbert Vane. As Cookie told me later, in the course of +our rapidly developing friendship, "dat young gemmun am sure one ob +de quality." To indicate the certainty of Cookie's instinct, Miss +Higglesby-Browne was never more to him than "dat pusson." and the +cold aloofness of his manner toward her, which yet never sank to +impertinence, would have done credit to a duke. + +On the beach Mr. Shaw, Captain Magnus and the sailors were toiling, +unloading and piling up stores. Rather laggingly, Apollo joined +them. I was glad, for a heavy fatigue was stealing over me. +Cookie, taking note of my sagging head, brought me somebody's +dunnage bag for a pillow. I felt him drawing a tarpaulin over me +as I sank into bottomless depths of sleep. + +I opened my eyes to the dying stars. The moon had set. Black +shapes of tree and boulder loomed portentous through the ashen +dimness that precedes the dawn. I heard men shouting, "Here she +comes!" "Stand by to lend a hand!" In haste I scrambled up and +tore for the beach. I must witness the landing of Aunt Jane. + +"Where are they, where are they?" I demanded, rubbing my sleepy +eyes. + +"Why didn't you stay by the fire and have your nap out?" asked Mr. +Shaw, in a tone which seemed to have forgotten for the moment to be +frigid--perhaps because I hadn't yet waked up enough to have my +quills in good pricking order. + +"Nap? Do you think that for all the treasure ever buried by a +pirate I would miss the spectacle of Aunt Jane and Miss Browne +arriving? I expect it to compensate me for all I have suffered on +this trip so far." + +"See what it is, Bert," exclaimed the Scotchman, "to have a truly +gentle and forgiving nature--how it brings its own reward. I'm +afraid you and I miss a great deal in life, lad." + +The beautiful youth pondered this. + +"I don't know," he replied, "what you say sounds quite fit and +proper for the parson, and all that, of course, but I fancy you are +a bit out in supposing that Miss Harding is so forgiving, old man." + +"I didn't know that _you_ thought so badly of me, too!" I said +timidly. I couldn't help it--the temptation was too great. + +"I? Oh, really, now, you can't think that!" Through the dusk I saw +that he was flushing hotly. + +"Lad," said the Scotchman in a suddenly harsh voice, "lend a hand +with this rope, will you?" And in the dusk I turned away to hide +my triumphant smiles. I had found the weak spot of my foe--as Mr. +Tubbs might have said, I was wise to Achilles's heel. + +And now through the dawn-twilight that lay upon the cove the boat +drew near that bore Mr. Tubbs and his fair charges. I saw the +three cork helmets grouped together in the stern. Then the foaming +fringe of wavelets caught the boat, hurled it forward, seemed all +but to engulf it out leaped the sailors. Out leaped Mr. Tubbs, and +disappeared at once beneath the waves. Shrill and prolonged rose +the shrieks of my aunt and Miss Higglesby-Browne. Valiantly Mr. +Shaw and Cuthbert Vane had rushed into the deep. Each now appeared +staggering up the steep, foam-swept strand under a struggling +burden. Even after they were safely deposited on the sand. Miss +Browne and my aunt continued to shriek. + +"Save, save Mr. Tubbs!" implored Aunt Jane. But Mr. Tubbs, +overlooked by all but this thoughtful friend, had cannily saved +himself. He advanced upon us dripping. + +"A close call!" he sang out cheerfully. "Thought one time old Nep +had got a strangle-hold all right. Thinks I, I guess there'll be +something doing when Wall Street gets this news--that old H. H. is +food for the finny denizens of the deep!" + +"Such an event, Mr. Tubbs," pronounced Violet, who had recovered +her form with surprising swiftness, "might well have sent its +vibrations through the financial arteries of the world!" + +"It would have been most--most shocking!" quavered poor Aunt Jane +with feeling. She was piteously striving to extricate herself from +the folds of the green veil. + +I came to her assistance. The poor plump little woman was +trembling from head to foot. + +"It was a most--unusual experience," she told me as I unwound her. +"Probably extremely--unifying to the soul-forces and all that, as +Miss Browne says, but for the moment--unsettling. Is my helmet on +straight, dear? I think it is a little severe for my type of face, +don't you? There was a sweet little hat in a Fifth Avenue +shop--simple and yet so chic. I thought it just the thing, but +Miss Browne said no, helmets were always worn--Coffee? Oh, my dear +child, how thankful I shall be!" + +And Aunt Jane clung to me as of yore as I led her up the beach. + + + + +V + +THE CAPTAIN'S LEGACY + +When in my tender years I was taken to the matinee, usually the +most thrilling feature of the spectacle to me was the scene +depicted on the drop-curtain. I know not why only the decorators +of drop-curtains are inspired to create landscapes of such strange +enchantment, of a beauty which not alone beguiles the senses--I +speak from the standpoint of the ten-year-old--but throws wide to +fancy the gate of dreams. Directly I was seated--in the body--and +had had my hat taken off and been told not to wriggle, I vaulted +airily over the unconscious audience, over an orchestra engaged in +tuning up, and was lost in the marvelous landscape of the +drop-curtain. The adventures which I had there put to shame any +which the raising of the curtain permitted to be seen upon the +stage. + +I had never hoped to recover in this prosaic world my long-lost +paradise of the drop-curtain, but morning revealed it to me here on +Leeward Island. Here was the feathery foliage, the gushing +springs, the gorgeous flowers of that enchanted land. And here +were the soft and intoxicating perfumes that I had imagined in my +curtain landscape. + +Leeward Island measures roughly four miles across from east to west +by three from north to south. The core of the island is the peak, +rising to a height of nearly three thousand feet. At its base on +three sides lies a plateau, its edges gnawed away by the sea to the +underlying rocky skeleton. On the southeastern quarter the peak +drops by a series of great precipices straight into the sea. + +Back from the cove stretches a little hollow, its floor rising +gently to the level of the plateau. Innumerable clear springs +which burst from the mountain converge to a limpid stream, which +winds through the hollow to fall into the little bay. All the +plateau and much of the peak are clothed with woods, a beautiful +bright green against the sapphire of sea and sky. High above all +other growth wave the feathery tops of the cocoa-palms, which +flourish here luxuriantly. You saw them in their thousands, +slender and swaying, tossing all together in the light sea-wind +their crowns of nodding plumes. + +The palms were nowhere more abundant than in the hollow by the cove +where our camp was made, and their size and the regularity of their +order spoke of cultivation. Guavas, oranges and lemons grew here, +too, and many beautiful banana-palms. The rank forest growth had +been so thoroughly cleared out that it had not yet returned, except +stealthily in the shape of brilliant-flowered creepers which wound +their sinuous way from tree to tree, like fair Delilahs striving to +overcome arboreal Samsons by their wiles. They were rankest beside +the stream, which ran at one edge of the hollow under the rise of +the plateau. + +At the side of the clearing toward the stream stood a hut, built of +cocoa-palm logs. Its roof of palm-thatch had been scattered by +storms. Nearer the stream on a bench were an old decaying wash-tub +and a board. A broken frying-pan and a rusty axe-head lay in the +grass. + +In the hut itself were a rude bedstead, a small table, and a +cupboard made of boxes. I was excited at first, and fancied we had +come upon the dwelling of a marooned pirate. Without taking the +trouble to combat this opinion, Mr. Shaw explained to Cuthbert Vane +that a copra gatherer had once lived here, and that the place must +have yielded such a profit that he was only surprised to find it +deserted now. Behind this cool, unemphatic speech I sensed an +ironic zest in the destruction of my pirate. + +After their thrilling experience of being ferried from the _Rufus +Smith_ to the island, my aunt and Miss Browne had been easily +persuaded to dispose themselves for naps. Aunt Jane, however, +could not be at rest until Mr. Tubbs had been restored by a cordial +which she extracted with much effort from the depths of her +hand-bag. He partook with gravity and the rolled up eyes of +gratitude, and retired grimacing to comfort himself from a private +bottle of his own. + +The boats of the _Rufus Smith_ had departed from the island, and +our relations with humanity were severed. The thought of our +isolation awed and fascinated me as I sat meditatively upon a keg +of nails watching the miracle of the tropic dawn. The men were +hard at work with bales and boxes, except Mr. Tubbs, who gave +advice. It must have been valuable advice, for he assured +everybody that a word from his lips had invariably been enough to +make Wall Street sit up and take notice. But it is a far cry from +Wall Street to Leeward Island. Mr. Tubbs, ignored, sought refuge +with me at last, and pointed out the beauties of Aroarer as she +rose from the embrace of Neptune. + +"Aroarer Borealis, to be accurate," he explained, "but they didn't +use parties' surnames much in classic times." + +The glad cry of breakfast put an end to Mr. Tubbs's exposition of +mythology. + +So does dull reality clog the feet of dreams that it proved +impossible to begin the day by digging up the treasure. Camp had +to be arranged, for folk must eat and sleep even with the wealth of +the Indies to be had for the turning of a sod. The cabin was +reroofed and set apart as the bower of Aunt Jane and Miss Browne. +I declined to make a third in this sanctuary. You could tell by +looking at her that Violet was the sort of person who would +inevitably sleep out loud. + +"Hang me up in a tree or anywhere," I insisted, and it ended by my +having a tarpaulin shelter rigged up in a group of cocoa-palms. + +Among our earliest discoveries on the island was one regrettable +from the point of view of romance, though rich in practical +advantages; the woods were the abode of numerous wild pigs. This +is not to write a new chapter on the geographical distribution of +the pig, for they were of the humdrum domestic variety, and had +doubtless appertained to the copra gatherer's establishment. But +you should have seen how clean, how seemly, how self-respecting +were our Leeward Island pigs to realize how profoundly the pig of +Christian lands is a debased and slandered animal. These +quadrupeds would have strengthened Jean Jacques's belief in the +primitive virtue of man before civilization debauched him. And I +shall always paraphrase the familiar line to read: "When wild in +woods the noble porker ran." + +Aunt Jane had been dreadfully alarmed by the pigs, and wanted to +keep me immured in the cabin o' nights so that I should not be +eaten. But nothing less than a Bengal tiger would have driven me +to such extremity. + +"Though if a pig should eat me," I suggested, "you might mark him +to avoid becoming a cannibal at second hand. I should hate to +think of you, Aunt Jane, as the family tomb!" + +"Virginia, you are most unfeeling," said Aunt Jane, getting pink +about the eyelids. + +"Ah, I didn't know you Americans went in much for family tombs?" +remarked the beautiful youth interestedly. + +"No, we do our best to keep out of them," I assured him, and he +walked off meditatively revolving this. + +If the beautiful youth had been beautiful on shipboard, in the +informal costume he affected on the island he was more splendid +still. His white cotton shirt and trousers showed him lithe and +lean and muscular. His bared arms and chest were like cream +solidified to flesh. Instead of his nose peeling like common noses +in the hot salt air, every kiss of the sun only gave his skin a +warmer, richer glow. With his striped silk sash of red and blue +about his waist, and his crown of ambrosial chestnut curls--a +development due to the absence of a barber--the Honorable Cuthbert +would certainly have been hailed by the natives, if there had been +any, as the island's god. + +Camp was made in the early hours of the day. Then came luncheon, +prepared with skill by Cookie, and eaten from a table of +packing-cases laid in the shade. Afterward every one, hot and +weary, retired for a siesta. It was now the cool as well as the +dry season on the island, yet the heat of the sun at midday was +terrific. But the temperature brought us neither illness nor even +any great degree of lassitude. Always around the island blew the +faint cooling breath of the sea. No marsh or stagnant water bred +insect pests or fever. Every day while we were there the men +worked hard, and grew lean and sun-browned, and thrived on it. +Every afternoon with unfailing regularity a light shower fell, but +in twenty minutes it was over and the sun shone again, greedily +lapping up the moisture that glittered on the leaves. And forever +the sea sang a low muttering bass to the faint threnody of the wind +in the palms. + +On this first day we gathered in the cool of the afternoon about +our table of packing-boxes for an event which even I, whose role +was that of skeptic, found exciting. Miss Browne was at last to +produce her map and reveal the secret of the island. So far, +except in general terms, she had imparted it to no one. Everybody, +in coming along, had been buying a pig in a poke--though to be sure +Aunt Jane had paid for it. The Scotchman, Cuthbert Vane had told +me incidentally, had insured himself against loss by demanding a +retaining fee beforehand. Somehow my opinion, both of his honesty +and of his intelligence, had risen since I knew this. As to +Cuthbert Vane, he had come purely in a spirit of adventure, and had +paid his own expenses from the start. + +However, now the great moment was at hand. But before it comes, I +will here set down the treasure-story of Leeward Island, as I +gathered it later, a little here and there, and pieced it together +into a coherent whole through many dreaming hours. + +In 1820, the city of Lima, in Peru, being threatened by the +revolutionaries under Bolivar and San Martin, cautious folk began +to take thought for their possessions. To send them out upon the +high seas under a foreign flag seemed to offer the best hope of +safety, and soon there was more gold afloat on the Pacific than at +any time since the sailing of the great plate-galleons of the +seventeenth century. Captain Sampson, of the brig _Bonny Lass_, +found himself with a passenger for nowhere in particular in the +shape of a certain Spanish merchant of great wealth, reputed +custodian of the private funds of the bishop of Lima. This +gentleman brought with him, besides some scanty personal +baggage--for he took ship in haste--a great iron-bound chest. Four +stout sailors of the _Bonny Lass_ staggered under the weight of it. + +The _Bonny Lass_ cruised north along the coast, the passenger +desiring to put in at Panama in the hope that word might reach him +there of quieter times at home. But somewhere off Ecuador +on a dark and starless night the merchant of Lima vanished +overboard--"and what could you expect," asked Captain Sampson in +effect, "when a lubber like him would stay on deck in a gale?" +Strange to say, the merchant's body-servant met the fate of the +heedless also. + +Shrugging his shoulders at the carelessness of passengers, Captain +Sampson bore away to Leeward Island, perhaps from curiosity to see +this old refuge of the buccaneers, where the spoils of the sack of +Guayaquil were said to have been buried. Who knows but that he, +too, was bent on treasure-seeking? Be that as it may, the little +brig found her way into the bay on the northeast side of the +island, where she anchored. Water was needed, and there is +refreshment in tropic fruits after a diet of salt horse and +hardtack. So all hands had a holiday ashore, where the captain did +not disdain to join them. Only he went apart, and had other +occupation than swarming up the palms for cocoanuts. + +One fancies, then, a moonless night, a crew sleeping off double +grog, generously allowed them by the captain; a boat putting off +from the _Bonny Lass_, in which were captain, mate, and one Bill +Halliwell, able seaman, a man of mighty muscle; and as freight an +object large, angular and ponderous, so that the boat lagged +heavily beneath the rowers' strokes. + +Later, Bill, the simple seaman, grows presumptuous on the strength +of this excursion with his betters. It is a word and a blow with +the captain of the _Bonny Lass_, and Bill is conveniently disposed +of. Dead, as well as living, he serves the purpose of the captain, +but of that later. + +Away sailed the _Bonny Lass_, sailing once for all out of the +story. As for Captain Sampson, there is a long gap in his history, +hazily filled by the story of his having been lieutenant to Benito +Bonito, and one of the two survivors when Bonito's black flag was +brought down by the British frigate _Espiegle_. But sober history +knows nothing of him until he reappears years later, an aged and +broken man, in a back street of Bristol. Here was living a certain +Hopperdown, who had been boatswain on the _Bonny Lass_ at the time +that she so regrettably lost her passengers overboard. He too had +been at Leeward Island, and may have somewhat wondered and +questioned as to the happenings during the brig's brief stay there. +He saw and recognized his old skipper hobbling along the Bristol +quays, and perhaps from pity took the shabby creature home with +him. Hopperdown dealt in sailors' slops, and had a snug room or +two behind the shop. Here for a while the former Captain Sampson +dwelt, and after a swift illness here he died. With the hand of +death upon him, his grim lips at last gave up their secret. With +stiffening fingers he traced a rough map, to refresh Hopperdown's +memory after the lapse of time since either had seen the +wave-beaten cliffs of Leeward Island. For Captain Sampson had +never been able to return to claim the treasure which he had left +to Bill Halliwell's silent guardianship. Somehow he had lost his +own vessel, and there would be rumors about, no doubt, which would +make it difficult for him to get another. If he had, indeed, +sailed with Bonito, he had kept his secret from his formidable +commander. Even as he had dealt with Bill Halliwell, so might +Bonito deal by him--or at least the lion's share must be yielded +to the pirate captain. And the passion of Captain Sampson's life +had come to be his gold--his hidden hoard on far-off Leeward +Island. It was his, now, all his. The only other who knew its +hiding-place, his former mate, had been killed in Havana in a +tavern brawl. The secret of the bright unattainable treasure was +all the captain's own. He dreamed of the doubloons, gloated over +them, longed for them with a ceaseless gnawing passion of desire. +And in the end he died, in Hopperdown's little shop in the narrow +Bristol by-street. + +Hopperdown, an aging man himself, and in his humble way contented, +fell straightway victim to the gold-virus. He sold all he had, and +bought passage in a sailing ship for Valparaiso, trusting that once +so far on the way he would find means to accomplish the rest. But +the raging of the fever in his thin old blood brought him to his +bed, and the ship sailed without him. Before she was midway in the +Atlantic Hopperdown was dead. + +The old man died in the house of a niece, to whom by way of legacy +he left his map. For the satisfaction of his anxious mind, still +poring on the treasure, she wrote down what she could grasp of his +instructions, and then, being an unimaginative woman, gave the +matter little further heed. For years the map lay among other +papers in a drawer, and here it was at length discovered by her +son, himself a sailor. He learned from her its history, and having +been in the Pacific, and heard the tales and rumors that cling +about Leeward Island like the everlasting surf of its encompassing +seas, this grand-nephew of old Hopperdown's, by name David Jenkins, +became for the rest of his days a follower of the _ignis fatuus_. +An untaught, suspicious, grasping man, he rejected, or knew not how +to set about, the one course which offered the least hope, which +was to trade his secret for the means of profiting by it. AH his +restless, hungry life he spent in wandering up and down the seas, +ever on the watch for some dimly imagined chance by which he might +come at the treasure. And so at last he wandered into the London +hospital where he died. + +And to me the wildest feature of the whole wild tale was that at +the last he should have parted with the cherished secret of a +lifetime to Miss Higglesby-Browne. + +In a general way, every one of us knew this history. Even I had +had an outline of it from Cuthbert Vane. But so far nobody had +seen the map. And now we were to see it; the time that intervened +before that great event had already dwindled to minutes, to +seconds-- + +But no; for Miss Browne arose and began to make a speech. The +beginning of it dealt in a large and generalizing manner with +comradeship and loyalty, and the necessity of the proper mental +attitude in approaching the business we had in hand. I did not +listen closely. The truth is, I wanted to see that map. Under the +spell of the island, I had almost begun to believe in the chest of +doubloons. + +Suddenly I awoke with a start to the fact that Miss Browne was +talking about me. Yes, I, indubitably, was the Young Person whose +motives in attaching herself to the party were so at variance with +the amity and mutual confidence which filled all other breasts. It +was I who had sought to deprive the party of the presence, counsel +and support of a member lacking whom it would have been but a body +without a soul. It was I who had uttered words which were painful +and astounding to one conscious of unimpugnable motives. In the +days of toil to come, we were reminded, the Young Person, to wit, +myself, would have no share. She would be but skeptic, critic, +drone in the busy hive. Thus it was obvious that the Young Person +could not with any trace of justice claim part or lot in the +treasure. Were it not well, then, that the Young Person be +required to make formal and written renunciation of all interest in +the golden hoard soon to reward the faith and enterprise of the +Harding-Browne expedition? Miss Browne requested the sense of the +meeting on the matter. + +Under the fire of this arraignment I sat hot-cheeked and +incredulous, while a general wave of agitation seemed to stir the +drowsy atmosphere. Aunt Jane was quivering, her round eyes fixed +on Miss Higglesby-Browne like a fascinated rabbit's on a serpent. +Mr. Hamilton H. Tubbs had pursed his lips to an inaudible whistle, +and alternately regarded the summits of the palms and stole swift +ferret-glances at the faces of the company. Captain Magnus had +taken a sheath-knife from his belt and was balancing it on one +finger, casting about him now and then a furtive, crooked, +roving look, to meet which made you feel like a party to some +hidden crime. Mr. Vane had remained for some time in happy +unconsciousness of the significance of Miss Browne's oration. It +was something to see it gradually penetrate to his perceptions, +vexing the alabaster brow with a faint wrinkle of perplexity, then +suffusing his cheeks with agonized and indignant blushes. "Oh, I +say, really, you know!" hovered in unspoken protest on his tongue. +He threw imploring looks at Mr. Shaw, who alone of all the party +sat imperturbable, except for a viciously bitten lip. + + +Miss Higglesby-Browne had drawn a deep breath, preparatory to +resuming her verbal ramble, but I sprang to my feet. + +"Miss Browne," I said, in tones less coldly calm than I could have +wished, "if you have thought it necessary to--to orate at this +length merely to tell me that I am to have no share in this +ridiculous treasure of yours, you have wasted a great deal of +energy. In the first place, I don't believe in your treasure." +(Which, of course, despite my temporary lapse, I really didn't.) +"I think you are--sillier than any grown-up people I ever saw. In +the second place, anything you do find you are welcome to keep. Do +you think I came along with people who didn't want me, and have +turned my own aunt against me, for the sake of filthy lucre? Did I +come intentionally at all, or because I was shanghaied and couldn't +help myself? Aunt Jane!" I demanded, turning to my stricken +relative, who was gazing in anguish and doubt from Miss Browne to +me, "haven't you one spark left of family pride--I don't talk of +affection any longer--that you sit still and hear me made speeches +at in this fashion? Have you grown so sordid and grasping that you +can think of nothing but this blood-stained pirate gold?" + +Aunt Jane burst into tears. + +"Good gracious, Virginia," she wailed, "how shocking of you to say +such things! I am sure we all got along very pleasantly until you +came--and in that dreadfully sudden way. You might at least have +been considerate enough to wire beforehand. As to blood-stains, +there was a preparation your Aunt Susan had that got them out +beautifully--I remember the time the little boy's nose bled on the +drawing-room rug. But I should think just washing the gold would +do very well!" + +It was impossible to feel that these remarks helped greatly to +clear the situation. I opened my mouth, but Miss Browne was +beforehand with me. + +"Miss Virginia Harding has herself admitted that she has no just or +equitable claim to participate in the profits of this expedition--I +believe I give the gist of your words, Miss Harding?" + +"Have it your own way," I said, shrugging. + +"I move, then, Mr. Secretary"--Miss Browne inclined her head in a +stately manner toward Mr. Tubbs--"that you offer for Miss Virginia +Harding's signature the document prepared by you." + +"Oh, I say!" broke out Mr. Vane suddenly, "I call this rotten, you +know!" + +"In case of objection by any person," said Miss Browne loftily, +"the matter may be put to a vote. All those in favor say aye!" + +An irregular fire of ayes followed. Mr. Tubbs gave his with a +cough meant so far as possible to neutralize its effect--with a +view to some future turning of the tables. Captain Magnus +responded with a sudden bellow, which caused him to drop the +gleaming knife within an inch of Aunt Jane's toe. Mr. Shaw said +briefly, "I think the distribution of the treasure, if any is +recovered, should be that agreed upon by the original members of +the party. Aye!" + +Aunt Jane's assenting voice issued from the depths of her +handkerchief, which was rapidly becoming so briny and inadequate +that I passed her mine. From Cuthbert Vane alone there came a +steadfast no--and the Scotchman put a hand on the boy's shoulder +with a smile which was like sudden sunlight in a bleak sky. + +Mr. Tubbs then produced a legal-looking document which I took to be +the original agreement of the members of the expedition. Beneath +their signatures he had inscribed a sort of codicil, by which I +relinquished all claim on any treasure recovered by the party. Mr. +Tubbs took evident pride in the numerous aforesaids and thereofs +and other rolling legal phrases of his composition, and Miss Browne +listened with satisfaction as he read it off, as though each word +had been a nail in the coffin of my hopes. I signed the clause in +a bold and defiant hand, under the attentive eyes of the company. +A sort of sigh went round, as though something of vast moment had +been concluded. And indeed it had, for now the way was clear for +Violet's map. + +I suppose that with a due regard for my dignity I should have risen +and departed. I had been so definitely relegated to the position +of outsider that to remain to witness the unveiling of the great +mystery seemed indecently intrusive. Let it be granted, then, that +I ought to have got up with stately grace and gone away. Only, I +did nothing of the sort. In spite of my exclusion from all its +material benefits, I had an amateur's appreciation of that map. I +felt that I should gloat over it. Perhaps of all those present I +alone, free from sordid hopes, would get the true romantic zest and +essence of it-- + +Covertly I watched the faces around me. Mr. Tubbs's eyes had grown +bright; he licked his dry lips. His nose, tip-tilted and slightly +bulbous, took on a more than usually roseate hue. Captain Magnus, +who was of a restless and jerky habit at the best of times, was +like a leashed animal scenting blood. Beneath his open shirt you +saw the quick rise and fall of his hairy chest. His lips, drawn +back wolfishly, displayed yellow, fang-like teeth. Under the +raw crude greed of the man you seemed to glimpse something +indescribably vulpine and ferocious. + +The face of Dugald Shaw was controlled, but there was a slight +rigidity in its quiet. A pulse beat rapidly in his cheek. All +worldly good, all hope of place, power, independence, hung for him +on the contents of the small flat package, wrapped in oil-silk, +which Miss Browne was at this moment withdrawing from her pocket. + +Only Cuthbert Vane, seated next to me, maintained without effort +his serenity. For him the whole affair belonged in the category +known as sporting, where a gentleman played his stake and accepted +with equanimity the issue. + +As Miss Browne undid the oil-silk package everybody held his +breath, except poor Aunt Jane, who most inopportunely swallowed a +gnat and choked. + +The dead sailor's legacy consisted of a single sheet of +time-stained paper. Two-thirds of the sheet was covered by a +roughly-drawn sketch in faded ink, giving the outline of the island +shores as we had seen them from the _Rufus Smith_. Here was the +cove, with the name it bears in the Admiralty charts--Lantern +Bay--written in, and a dotted line indicating the channel. North +of the bay the shore line was carried for only a little distance. +On the south was shown the long tongue of land which protects the +anchorage, and which ends in some detached rocks or islets. At a +point on the seaward side of the tongue of land, about on a line +with the head of the bay, the sketch ended in a swift backward +stroke of the pen which gave something the effect of a cross. + +To all appearance the map was merely to give Hopperdown his +directions for entering the cove. There was absolutely no mark +upon it to show where the treasure had been buried. + +Now for the writing on the sheet below the map. It was in another +hand than that which had written _Lantern Bay_ across the face of +the cove, and which, though labored, was precise and clear. This +other was an uneven, wavering scrawl: + + +_He sed it is in a Cave with 2 mouths near by the grave of Bill +Halliwell wich was cut down for he new to much. He sed you can +bring a boat to the cave at the half Tide but beware the turn for +the pull is strong. He sed to find the Grave again look for the +stone at the head marked B. H. and a Cross Bones. In the Chist is +gold Dubloons, a vast lot, also a silver Cross wich he sed leve for +the Grave for he sed Bill walks and thats unlucky_. + + +That was all. A fairly clear direction for any friend who had +attended the obsequies of Bill and knew where to look for the stone +marked B. H. and a cross-bones, but to perfect strangers it was +vague. + +A blank look crept into the intent faces about the table. + +"It--it don't happen to say in more deetail jest precisely where +that cave might be looked for?" inquired Mr. Tubbs hopefully. + +"In more detail?" repeated Miss Browne challengingly. "Pray, Mr. +Tubbs, what further detail could be required?" + +"A good deal more, I am afraid," remarked the Scotchman grimly. + +Miss Browne whirled upon him. In her cold eye a spark had kindled. +And suddenly I had a new vision of her. I saw her no longer as the +deluder of Aunt Jane, but as herself the deluded. Her belief in +the treasure was an obsession. This map was her talisman, her way +of escape from an existence which had been drab and dull enough, I +dare say. + +"Mr. Shaw, we are given not one, but several infallible landmarks. +The cave has two mouths, it can be approached by sea, it is IN the +immediate neighborhood of the grave of William Halliwell, which is +to be recognized by its headstone. As the area of our search is +circumscribed by the narrow limits of this island, I fail to see +what further marks of identification can be required." + +"A grave ninety years old and hidden beneath a tropical jungle is +not an easy thing to find, Miss Browne. As to caves, I doubt but +they are numerous. The formation here makes it more than likely. +And there'll be more than one with two mouths, I'm thinking." + +"Mr. Shaw"--Miss Browne gave the effect of drawing herself up in +line of battle--"I feel that I must give expression to the thought +which comes to me at this moment. It is this--that if the members +of this party are to be chilled by carping doubts, the wave of +enthusiasm which has floated us thus far must inevitably recede, +leaving us flotsam on a barren shore. What can one weak +woman--pardon, my unfaltering Jane!--two women, achieve against the +thought of failure firmly held by him to whom, we looked to lead us +boldly in our forward dash? Mr. Shaw, this is no time for crawling +earthworm tactics. It is with the bold and sweeping glance of the +eagle that we must survey this island, until, the proper point +discerned, we swoop with majestic flight upon our predestined goal!" + +Miss Browne was somewhat exhausted by this effort, and paused for +breath, whereupon Mr. Tubbs, anxious to retrieve his recent +blunder, seized with dexterity this opportunity. + +"I get you. Miss Browne, I get you," said Mr. Tubbs with +conviction. "Victory ain't within the grasp of any individual that +carries a heart like a cold pancake in his bosom. What this party +needs is pep, and if them that was calculated on to supply it +don't, why there's others which is not given to blowin' their own +horn, but which might at a pinch dash forward like Arnold--no +relation to Benedict--among the spears. I may be rather a man or +thought than action, ma'am, and at present far from my native +heath, which is the financial centers of the country, but if I +remember right it was Ulysses done the dome-work for the Greeks, +while certain persons that was depended on sulked in their tents. +Miss Higglesby-Browne, you can count--count, I say--on old H. H.!" + +"I thank you, Mr. Tubbs, I thank you!" replied Miss Browne with +emotion. As for Aunt Jane, she gazed upon the noble countenance of +Mr. Tubbs with such ecstatic admiration that her little nose +quivered like a guinea-pig's. + + + + +VI + +THE CAVE WITH TWO MOUTHS + +Obscure as were the directions which Hopperdown's niece had +taken from his dying lips, one point at least was clear--the +treasure-cave opened on the sea. This seemed an immense +simplification of the problem, until you discovered that the great +wall of cliffs was honeycombed with fissures. The limestone rock +of which the island was composed was porous as a sponge. You could +stand on the edge of the cliffs and watch the green water slide in +and out of unseen caverns at your feet, and hear the sullen thunder +of the waves that broke far in under the land. + +One of the boats which had conveyed us from the _Rufus Smith_ had +been left with us, and in it Mr. Shaw, with the Honorable Cuthbert +and Captain Magnus, made a preliminary voyage of discovery. This +yielded the information above set down, plus, however, the +thrilling and significant fact that a cave seemingly predestined to +be the hiding-place of treasure, and moreover a cave with the +specified two openings, ran under the point which protected the +anchorage on the south, connecting the cove with the sea. + +Although in their survey of the coast the voyagers had covered only +a little distance on either side of the entrance to the bay, the +discovery of this great double-doored sea-chamber under the point +turned all thoughts from further explorations. Only the Scotchman +remained exasperatingly calm and declined to admit that the +treasure was as good as found. He refused to be swept off his feet +even by Mr. Tubbs's undertaking to double everybody's money within +a year, through the favor of certain financial parties with whom he +was intimate. + +"I'll wait till I see the color of my money before I reckon the +interest on it," he remarked. "It's true the cave would be a +likely and convenient place for hiding the chest; the question is: +Wouldn't it be too likely and convenient? Sampson would maybe not +choose the spot of all others where the first comer who had got +wind of the story would be certain to look." + +Miss Browne, at this, exchanged darkly significant glances with her +two main supporters, and Mr. Tubbs came to the fore with an offer +to clinch matters by discovering the grave of Bill Halliwell, with +its marked stone, on the point above the cave within twenty-four +hours. + +"Look for it if you like," replied Mr. Shaw impatiently. "But +don't forget that your tombstone is neither more nor less than such +a boulder as there are thousands of on the island, and buried under +the tropic growth of ninety years besides." + +Miss Browne murmured to Aunt Jane, in a loud aside, that she well +understood now why the eminent explorer had _not_ discovered the +South Pole, and Aunt Jane murmured back that to her there had +always been something so sacred about a tombstone that she couldn't +help wondering if Mr. Shaw's attitude were really quite reverential. + +"Well, friends," remarked Mr. Tubbs, "there's them that sees +nothin' but the hole in the doughnut, and there's them that see the +doughnut that's around the hole. I ain't ashamed to say that old +H. H. is in the doughnut class. Why, the Old Man himself used to +remark--I guess it ain't news to some here about me bein' on the +inside with most of the leadin' financial lights of the country--he +used to remark, 'Tubbs has it in him to bull the market on a Black +Friday.' Ladies, I ain't one that's inclined to boast, but I jest +want to warn you not to be _too_ astonished when H. H. makes +acquaintance with that tombstone, which I'm willin' to lay he does +yet." + +"Well, good luck to you," said the grim Scot, "and let me likewise +warn all hands not to be too astonished if we find that the +treasure is not in the cave. But I'll admit it is as good a place +as any for beginning the search, and there will be none gladder +than I if it turns out that I was no judge of the workings of +Captain Sampson's mind." + +The cave which was now the center of our hopes--I say our, because +somehow or other I found myself hoping and fearing along with the +rest, though carefully concealing it--ran under the point at its +farther end. The sea-mouth of the cave was protected from the full +swell of the ocean by some huge detached rocks rising a little way +offshore, which caught and broke the waves. The distance was about +sixty feet from mouth to mouth, and back of this transverse passage +a great vaulted chamber stretched far under the land. The walls of +the chamber rose sheer to a height of fifteen feet or more, when a +broad ledge broke their smoothness. From this ledge opened cracks +and fissures under the roof, suggesting in the dim light infinite +possibilities in the way of hiding-places. Besides these, a wide +stretch of sand at the upper end of the chamber, which was bare at +low tide, invited exploration. At high water the sea flooded the +cavern to its farthest extremity and beat upon the walls. Then +there was a great surge and roar of waters through the passage from +mouth to mouth, and at turn of tide--in hopeful agreement with the +legend--the suck and commotion of a whirlpool, almost, as the sea +drew back its waves. Now and again, it was to prove, even the +water-worn pavement between the two archways was left bare, and one +could walk dry-shod along the rocks under the high land of the +point from the beach to the cave. But this was at the very bottom +of the ebb. Mostly the lower end of the cave was flooded, and the +explorers went back and forth in the boat. + +A certain drawback to boating in our island waters was the presence +of hungry hordes of sharks. You might forget them for a moment and +sit happily trailing your fingers overboard, and then a huge moving +shadow would darken the water, and you saw the ripple cut by a +darting fin and the flash of a livid belly as the monster rolled +over, ready for his mouthful. I could not but admire the +thoughtfulness of Mr. Tubbs, who since his submergence on the +occasion of arriving had been as delicate about water as a cat, in +committing himself to strictly land operations in the search for +Bill Halliwell's tombstone. + +Owing, I suppose, to the stoniness of the soil, the woods upon the +point were less dense than elsewhere, and made an agreeable parade +ground for Mr. Tubbs and his two companions--for he was accompanied +in these daring explorations with unswerving fidelity by Aunt Jane +and Miss Higglesby-Browne. Each of the three carried an umbrella, +and they went solemnly in single file, Mr. Tubbs in the lead to +ward off peril in the shape of snakes or jungle beasts. + +"To think of what that man exposes himself to for our sakes!" Aunt +Jane said to me with emotion. "With no protection but his own +bravery in case anything were to spring out!" + +But nothing ever did spring out but an angry old sow with a litter +of piglets, before which the three umbrellas beat a rapid retreat. + +The routine of life on the island was now established for every one +but me, who belonged neither to the land nor sea divisions, but +dangled forlornly between them like Mahomet's coffin. Aunt Jane +had made a magnanimous effort to attach me to the umbrella +contingent, and I had felt almost disposed to accept, in order to +witness the resultant delight of Miss Higglesby-Browne. But on +second thoughts I declined, even though Aunt Jane was thus left +unguarded to the blandishments of Mr. Tubbs, preferring, like the +little bird in the play, to flock all alone, except when the +Honorable Cuthbert could escape from his toil in the cave. + +What with the genius of Cookie and the fruitfulness of our island, +not to speak of supplies from the Army and Navy Stores, we lived +like sybarites, There were fish from stream and sea, cocoanuts and +bananas and oranges from the trees in the clearing. I had hopes of +yams and breadfruit also, but if they grew on Leeward none of us +had a speaking acquaintance with them. Cookie did wonders with the +pigs that were shot and brought in to him, though I never could sit +down with appetite to a massacred infant served up on a platter, +which is just what little pigs look like, + +"Jes' yo' cas' yo' eye on dis yere innahcent," Cookie would +request, as he placed the suckling before Mr. Tubbs. "Tendah as a +new-bo'n babe, he am. Jes' lak he been tucked up to sleep by his +mammy. Sho' now, how yo' got de heart to stick de knife in him, +Mistah Tubbs?" + +It was significant that Mr. Tubbs, after occupying for a day or two +an undistinguished middle place at the board, had somehow slid into +the carver's post at the head of the table. Flanking him were the +two ladies, so that the Land Forces formed a solid and imposing +phalanx. Everybody else had a sense of sitting in outer darkness, +particularly I, whom fate had placed opposite Captain Magnus. +Since landing on the island, Captain Magnus had forsworn the +effeminacy of forks. Loaded to the hilt, his knife would approach +his cavernous mouth and disappear in it. Yet when it emerged +Captain Magnus was alive. Where did it go? This was a question +that agitated me daily. + +The history of Captain Magnus was obscure. It was certain that he +had his captain's papers, though how he had mastered the science of +navigation sufficiently to obtain them was a problem. Though he +held a British navigator's license, he did not appear to be an +Englishman. None of us ever knew, I think, from what country he +originally came. His rough, mumbling, unready speech might have +been picked up in any of the seaports of the English-speaking +world. His manners smacked of the forecastle, and he was +altogether so difficult to classify that I used to toy with the +theory that he had murdered the real Captain Magnus for his papers +and was masquerading in his character. + +The captain, as Mr. Vane had remarked, was Miss Browne's own find. +Before the objections of Mr. Shaw--evidently a Negative Influence +from the beginning--had caused her to abandon the scheme. Miss +Browne had planned to charter a vessel in New York and sail around +the Horn to the island. While nursing this project she had formed +an extensive acquaintance with persons frequenting the New York +water-front, among whom was Captain Magnus. As I heard her remark, +he was the one nautical character whom she found sympathetic, by +which I judge that the others were skeptical and rude. Being +sympathetic, Captain Magnus found it an easy matter to attach +himself to the expedition--or perhaps it was Violet who annexed +him. I don't know which. + +Mr. Vane used to view the remarkable gastronomic feats of Captain +Magnus with the innocent and quite unscornful curiosity of a little +boy watching the bears in the zoo. Evidently he felt that a +horizon hitherto bounded mainly by High Staunton Manor was being +greatly enlarged. I knew now that the Honorable Cuthbert's father +was a baron, and that he was the younger of two sons, and that the +elder was an invalid, so that the beautiful youth was quite certain +in the long run to be Lord Grasmere. I had remained stolid under +this information, feelingly imparted by Aunt Jane. I had refused +to ask questions about High Staunton Manor. For already there was +a vast amount of superfluous chaperoning being done. I couldn't +speak to the b. y.--which is short for beautiful youth--without +Violet's cold gray eye being trained upon us. And Aunt Jane grew +flustered directly, and I could see her planning an embroidery +design of coronets, or whatever is the proper headgear of barons, +for my trousseau. Mr. Tubbs had essayed to be facetious on the +matter, but I had coldly quenched him. + +But Mr. Shaw was much the worst. My most innocent remark to the +beautiful youth appeared to rouse suspicion in his self-constituted +guardian. If he did not say in so many words, _Beware, dear lad, +she's stringing you_! or whatever the English of that is, it was +because nobody could so wound the faith in the b. y.'s candid eyes. +But to see the fluttering, anxious wing the Scotchman tried to +spread over that babe of six-feet-two you would have thought me a +man-eating tigress. And I laughed, and flaunted my indifference in +his sober face, and went away with bitten lips to the hammock they +had swung for me among the palms-- + +The Honorable Cuthbert had a voice, a big, rich, ringing baritone +like floods of golden honey. He had also a ridiculous little +ukulele, on which he accompanied himself with a rhythmic strumming. +When, like the sudden falling of a curtain, dusky, velvet, +star-spangled, the wonderful tropic night came down, we used to +build a little fire upon the beach and sit around it. Then +Cuthbert Vane would sing. Of all his repertory, made up of +music-hall ditties, American ragtime, and sweet old half-forgotten +ballads, we liked best a certain wild rollicking song, picked up I +don't know where, but wonderfully effective on that island where +Davis, and Benito Bonito, and many another of the roving +gentry--not to mention that less picturesque villain, Captain +Sampson of the _Bonny Lass_--had resorted between their flings with +fortune. + + + Oh, who's, who's with me for the free life of a rover? + Oh, who's, who's with me for to sail the broad seas over? + In every port we have gold to fling, + And what care we though the end is to swing? + Sing ho, sing hey, this life's but a day, + So live it free as a rover may. + + Oh, who's, who's with me at Fortune's call to wander? + Then, lads, to sea--and ashore with gold to squander! + We'll set our course for the Spanish Main + Where the great plate-galleons steer for Spain. + Sing ho, sing hey, this life's but a day, + Then live it free as a rover may. + + Then leave toil and cold to the lubbers that will bear it. + The world's fat with gold, and we're the lads to share it. + What though swift death is the rover's lot? + We've played the game and we'll pay the shot. + Sing ho, sing hey, this life's but a day, + Then live it free as a rover may. + +"Sing ho, sing hey!" echoed the audience in a loud discordant roar. +Cookie over his dishpan flinging it back in a tremendous basso. +Cookie was the noble youth's only musical rival, and when he had +finished his work we would invite him to join us at the fire and +regale us with plantation melodies and camp-meeting hymns. The +negro's melodious thunder mingled with the murmur of wind and wave +like a kindred note, and the strange plaintive rhythm of his +artless songs took one back and back, far up the stream of life, +until a fire upon a beach seemed one's ancestral hearth and home. + +I realized that life on Leeward Island might rapidly become a +process of reversion. + + + + +VII + +A RABBIT'S FOOT + +It was fortunate that Cookie knew nothing of the solitary grave +somewhere on the island, with its stone marked with B. H. and a +cross-bones, nor that the inhabitant thereof was supposed to walk. +If he had, I think the strange spectacle of a lone negro in a small +boat rowing lustily for the American continent might soon have been +witnessed on the Pacific by any eyes that were there to see. And +we could ill have spared either boat or cook. + +Yet even though unvexed by this gruesome knowledge, after two or +three days I noticed that Cookie was ill at ease. As the leisure +member of the party, I enjoyed more of Cookie's society than the +rest. On this occasion while the morning was still in its early +freshness he was permitting me to make fudge. But his usual +joviality was gone. I saw that he glanced over his shoulder at +intervals, muttering darkly to himself. Also that a rabbit's foot +was slung conspicuously about his neck. + +Having made my fudge and set the pan on a stone in the stream to +cool, I was about to retire with a view to conducting a limited +exploring expedition of my own. The immunity of the umbrellas and +the assurances of Mr. Shaw--not personally directed to me, of +course; the armed truce under which we lived did not permit of +that--had convinced me that I had not to dread anything more +ferocious than the pigs, and the wildest of them would retire +before a stick or stone. Besides, I boasted a little automatic, +which I carried strapped about my waist in a businesslike manner. +Mr. Vane had almost got me to the point where I could shoot it off +without shutting my eyes. + +Thus equipped, I was about to set off into the woods. Secretly I +had been rehearsing a dramatic scene, with myself in the leading +role: + +_Treasure-seekers assembled, including a cold and cynical Scot. +Enter Virginia Harding. She wears an expression elaborately +casual, but there is a light of concealed triumph in her eye_. + +_Aunt Jane_: You thoughtless child, where have you been? Really, +my state of mind about you--etc., etc. + +_V. H._: Only for a stroll, dear aunt. And by the way, in case +it's of interest to any one, I might mention that during my walk I +fell over a boulder which happened to be marked with the letters B. +H. and a cross-bones. + +_Immense commotion and excitement. Every gaze turned to V. H. +(including that of cynical Scot) while on every cheek is the blush +of shame at remembering that this is the same Young Person whom +Miss Higglesby-Browne was permitted to cut off by treaty from the +ranks of the authorised treasure-seekers_. + +Lured by this pleasing vision I had turned my back on Cookie and +the camp, when I was arrested by an exclamation: + +"Miss Jinny!" + +I turned to, find Cookie gazing after me with an expression which, +in the familiar phrase of fiction, I could not interpret, though +among its ingredients were doubt and anguish. Cookie, too, looked +pale. I don't in the least know how he managed it, but that was +the impression he conveyed, dusky as he was. + +"Miss Jinny, it mos' look lak yo' 'bout to go perambulatin' in dese +yere woods?" + +"I am, Cookie," I admitted. + +The whites of Cookie's eyes became alarmingly conspicuous. Drawing +near in a stealthy manner he whispered: + +"Yo' bettah not, Miss Jinny!" + +"Better not?" I repeated, staring. + +He answered with a portentous head-shake. + +"Oh, nonsense, Cookie!" I said impatiently, "There's not a thing on +the island but the pigs!" + +"Miss Jinny," he solemnly replied, "dey's pigs and pigs." + +"Yes, but pigs _is_ pigs, you know," I answered, laughing. I was +about to walk on, but once more Cookie intervened. + +"Dey's pigs and pigs, chile--live ones and--dead ones. + +"Dead ones? Of course--haven't we been eating them?" + +"Yo' won't neveh eat dis yere kind o' dead pig, Miss Jinny. +It's--it's a ha'nt!" + +The murder was out. Cookie leaned against a cocoa-palm and wiped +his ebon brow. + +Persistently questioned, he told at last how, today and yesterday, +arising in the dim dawn to build his fire before the camp was +stirring, he had seen lurking at the edge of the clearing a white +four-footed shape. It was a pig, yet not a pig; its ghostly hue, +its noiseless movements, divided it from all proper mundane porkers +by the dreadful gulf which divides the living from the dead. The +first morning Cookie, doubtful of his senses, had flung a stone and +the spectral Thing had vanished like a shadow. On its second +appearance, having had a day and a night for meditation, he had +known better than to commit such an outrage upon the possessor of +ghostly powers, and had resorted to prayer instead. This had +answered quite as well, for the phantom pig had dissolved like the +morning mists. While the sun blazed, what with his devotions and +his rabbit's foot and a cross of twigs nailed to a tree. Cookie +felt a fair degree of security. But his teeth chattered in his +head at the thought of approaching night. Meanwhile he could not +in conscience permit me to venture forth into the path of this +horror, which might, for all we knew, be lurking in the jungle +shadows even through the daylight hours. Also, though he did not +avow this motive, I believe he found my company very reassuring. +It is immensely easier to face a ghost in the sustaining presence +of other flesh and blood. + +"Cookie," said I sternly, "you've been drinking too much +cocoanut-milk and it has gone to your head. What you saw was just +a plain ordinary pig." + +Cookie disputed this, citing the pale hue of the apparition as +against the fact that all our island pigs were black. + +"Then there happens to be a blond pig among them that we haven't +seen," I assured him. + +But the pig of flesh, Cookie reminded me, was a heavy lumbering +creature. This Shape was silent as a moonbeam. There was also +about it a dreadful appearance of stealth and secrecy--Cookie's +eyes bulged at the recollection. Nothing living but a witch's cat +could have disappeared from Cookie's vision as did the ghostly pig. + +For a moment I wavered in my determination. What if the island had +its wild creatures after all? But neither lynx nor panther nor any +other beast of prey is white, except a polar bear, and it would be +unusual to meet one on a tropical island. + +I decided that Cookie's pig was after all a pig, though still in +the flesh. I thought I remembered having seen quite fair pigs, +which would pass for white with a frightened negro in the dim light +of dawn. So far only black pigs had been visible, but perhaps the +light ones were shyer and kept to the remote parts of the island. +I consoled Cookie as best I could by promising to cross my fingers +if I heard or saw anything suspicious, and struck out into the +woods, + +For all my brave words to Cookie, I had no intention of going very +far afield. From the shore of the cove I had observed that the +ground behind the clearing rose to the summit of a low ridge, +perhaps four hundred feet in height, which jutted from the base of +the peak. From this ridge I thought I might see something more of +the island than the limited environment of Lantern Bay. + +As the woods shut out the last glimpse of the white tents in the +clearing, as even the familiar sound of the surf died down to a +faint, half-imagined whisper mingling with the rustling of the +palms overhead, I experienced a certain discomfort, which persons +given to harsh and unqualified terms might have called fear. It +seemed to me as if a very strong cord at the rear of my belt were +jerking me back toward the inglorious safety of camp. Fortunately +there came to me a vision of the three umbrellas and of Mr. Tubbs +heroically exposing his devoted bosom to non-existent perils, and I +resolved that the superior smiles with which I had greeted Aunt +Jane's recital should not rise up to shame me now. I fingered my +automatic and marched on up the hill, trying not to gasp when a +leaf rustled or a cocoanut dropped in the woods. + +There was little undergrowth between the crowding trunks of the +cocoa-palms. Far overhead their fronds mingled in a green thatch, +through which a soft light filtered down. Here and there the close +ranks of the palms were broken by an outcropping of rock, glaring +up hot and sunbeaten at a distant patch of the sky. The air of the +forest was still and languid, its heat tempered like that of a room +with drawn blinds. + +I gained the summit of the ridge, and stood upon a bare rock +platform, scantily sheltered by a few trees, large shrubs rather, +with a smooth waxy leaf of vivid green. On the left rose the great +mass of the peak. From far above among its crags a beautiful foamy +waterfall came hurtling down. Before me the ground fell away to +the level of the low plateau, or mesa, as we say in California, +which made up the greater part of the island. Cutting into the +green of this was the gleaming curve of a little bay, which in Mr. +Shaw's chart of the island showed slightly larger than our cove. +Part of it was hidden by the shoulder of the peak, but enough was +visible to give a beautiful variety to the picture, which was set +in a silver frame of sea. + +I had not dreamed of getting a view so glorious from the little +eminence of the ridge. Here was an item of news to take back to +camp. Having with great originality christened the place Lookout, +I turned to go. And as I turned I saw a shape vanish into the +woods. + +It was an animal, not a human shape. And it was light-footed and +swift and noiseless--and it was white. It had, indeed, every +distinguishing trait of Cookie's phantom pig. Only it was not a +pig. My brief shadowy glimpse of it had told me that. I knew what +it was not, but what it was I could not, as I stood there rooted, +even guess, + +Would it attack me, or should I only die of fright? I wondered if +my heart were weak, and hoped it was, so that I should not live to +feel the teeth of the unknown Thing sink in my flesh. I thought of +my revolver and after an infinity of time managed to draw it from +the case. My fingers seemed at once nervelessly limp and woodenly +rigid. This was not at all the dauntless front with which I had +dreamed of meeting danger. I had fancied myself with my automatic +making a rather pretty picture as a young Amazon--but I had now a +dreadful fear that my revolver might spasmodically go off and wound +the Thing, and then even if it had meditated letting me go it would +certainly attack me. Nevertheless I clung to my revolver as to my +last hope. + +I began to edge away crab-wise into the wood. Like a metronome I +said to myself over and over monotonously, _don't run, don't run_! +Dim legends about the power of the human eye floated through my +brain. But how quell the creature with my eye when I could not see +it? As for the hopeless expedient of screaming, I hadn't courage +for it. I was silent, as I would fain have been invisible. Only +my dry lips kept muttering soundlessly, _don't run, don't run_! + +I did not run. Instead, I stepped on a smooth surface of rock and +slid downhill like a human toboggan until I fetched up against a +dead log. I discovered it to be a dead log after a confused +interval during which I vaguely believed myself to have been +swallowed by an alligator. While the alligator illusion endured I +must have lain comatose and immovable. Indeed, when my senses +began to come back I was still quite inert. I experienced that +curious tranquillity which is said to visit those who are actually +within the jaws of death. There I lay prone, absolutely at the +mercy of the mysterious white prowler of the forest--and I did not +care. The whole petty business of living seemed a long way behind +me now. + +Languidly at last I opened my eyes. Within three yards of me, in +the open rock-paved glade where I had fallen, stood the Thing. + +As softly as I had opened my eyes I shut them. I had an annoyed +conviction that they were deceiving me--a very unworthy thing for +eyes to do that were soon to be closed in death. Again I lifted my +lids. Yes, there it was--only now it had put an ear back and was +sniffing at me with a mingling of interest and apprehension.. + +The strange beast of the jungle was a white bull-terrier. + +Abruptly I sat up. The terrier gave a startled sidewise bound, but +paused again and stood regarding me. + +"Here, pup! Here, pup! Nice, nice doggums!" I said in soothing +accents. + +The dog gave a low whine and stood shivering, eager but afraid. I +continued my blandishments. Little by little the forlorn creature +drew nearer, until I put out a cautious hand and stroked his ears. +He dodged affrightedly, but presently crept back again. Soon his +head was against my knee, and he was devouring my hand with avid +caresses. Some time, before his abandonment on the island, he had +been a well-brought-up and petted animal. Months or years of wild +life had estranged him from humanity, yet at the human touch the +old devotion woke again. + +The thing now was to lure him back to camp and restore him to the +happy service of his gods. I rose and picked up my pistol, which +had regained my confidence by not going off when I dropped it. +With another alluring, "Here, doggums!" I started on my way. He +shrank, trembled, hesitated, then was after me with a bound. So we +went on through the forest. As we neared the camp the four-footed +castaway's diffidence increased. I had to pet and coax. But at +last I brought him triumphantly across the Rubicon of the little +stream, and marched him into camp under the astounded eyes of +Cookie. + +At sight of the negro the dog growled softly and crouched against +my skirt. Cookie stood like an effigy of amazement done in black +and white. + +"Fo' de Lawd's sake, Miss Jinny," he burst out at last, "am dat de +ghos'-pig?" + +"It was, Cookie, but I changed him into a live dog by crossing my +fingers. Mind your rabbit's foot. He might eat it, and then very +likely we'd have a ghost on our hands again. But I think he'll +stay a dog for the present." + +"Yo' go 'long, Miss Jinny," said Cookie valiantly. "Yo' think I +scared of any ghos' what lower hissel to be a live white mong'ol +dog? Yere, yo' ki-yi, yo' bettah mek friends with ol' Cookie, +'cause he got charge o' de grub. Yere's a li'le fat ma'ow bone +what mebbe come off'n yo' own grandchile, but yo' ain' goin' to +mind dat now yo' is trans formulated dis yere way." And evidently +the reincarnated ghost-pig did not. + +With the midday reunion my hour of distinction arrived. The tale +of the ghost-pig was told from the beginning by Cookie, with high +tributes to my courage in sallying forth in pursuit of the phantom. +Even those holding other views of the genesis of the white dog were +amazed at his presence on the island. In spite of Cookie's +aspersions, the creature was no mongrel, but a thoroughbred of +points. Not by any means a dog which some little South American +coaster might have abandoned here when it put in for water. The +most reasonable hypothesis seemed to be that he had belonged to the +copra gatherer, and was for some reason left behind on his master's +departure. But who that had loved a dog enough to make it the +companion of his solitude would go away and leave it? The thing +seemed to me incredible. Yet here, otherwise unaccounted for, was +the corporeal presence of the dog. + +I had named the terrier in the first ten minutes of our +acquaintance. Crusoe was the designation by which he was presented +to his new associates. It was good to see how swiftly the habits +of civilization returned to him. Soon he was getting under foot +and courting caresses as eagerly as though all his life he had +lived on human bounty, instead of bringing down his own game in +royal freedom. Yet with all his well-bred geniality there was no +wandering of his allegiance. I was his undisputed queen and lady +paramount. + +Crusoe, then, became a member of the party in good and regular +standing--much more so than his mistress. Mr. Tubbs compared him +not unfavorably with a remarkable animal of his own, for which the +New York Kennel Club had bidden him name his own price, only to be +refused with scorn. Violet tolerated him. Aunt Jane called him a +dear weenty pettums love. Captain Magnus kicked him when he +thought I was not looking, Cuthbert Vane chummed with him in +frankest comradeship, and Mr. Shaw softened toward him to an extent +which made me mainly murmur _Love me, love my dog_--only reversed. +Not that I _in the least_ wanted to be loved, only you feel it an +impertinence in a person who so palpably does not love you to +endeavor to engage the affections of your bull-terrier. + +As to Cookie, he magnanimously consented to overlook Crusoe's +dubious past as a ghost-pig, and fed him so liberally that the +terrier's lean and graceful form threatened to assume the contours +of a beer-keg. + + + + +VIII + +AN EXCURSION AND AN ALARM + +As the only person who had yet discovered anything on the island, I +was now invested with a certain importance. Also, I had a +playfellow and companion for future walks, in lieu of Cuthbert +Vane, held down tight to the thankless toil of treasure-hunting by +his stem taskmaster. But at the same time I was provided with an +annoying, because unanswerable, question which had lodged at the +back of my mind like a crumb in the throat: + +By what strange chance had the copra gatherer gone away and left +Crusoe on the island? + +Since the discovery of Crusoe the former inhabitant of the cabin in +the clearing had been much in my thoughts. I had been dissatisfied +with him from the beginning, first, because he was not a pirate, +and also because he had left behind no relic more fitting than a +washtub. Not a locket, not a journal, not his own wasted form +stretched upon a pallet-- + +I had expressed these sentiments to Cuthbert Vane, who replied that +in view of the washtub it was certain that the hermit of the island +had not been a pirate, as he understood they never washed. I said +neither did any orthodox hermit, to which Mr. Vane rejoined that he +probably was not orthodox but a Dissenter. He said Dissenters were +so apt to be peculiar, don't you know? + +One morning, instead of starting directly after breakfast for the +cave, Mr. Shaw busied himself in front of the supply tent with +certain explosives which were to be used in the digging operations +later. The neighborhood of these explosives was a great trial to +Aunt Jane, who was constantly expecting them to go off. I rather +expected it too, and used to shudder at the thought that if we all +went soaring heavenward together we might come down inextricably +mixed. Then when the Rufus Smith returned and they tried to sort +us out before interment, I might have portions of Violet, for +instance, attributed to me. In that case I felt that, like Bill +Halliwell, I should walk. + +Having inquired of the Honorable Cuthbert and found that for an +hour or two the boat would not be in requisition, I permitted the +beautiful youth to understand that I would not decline an +invitation to be rowed about the cove. Mr. Shaw had left his +marine glasses lying about, and I had been doing some exploring +with them. Under the great cliffs on the north shore of the bay I +had seen an object that excited my curiosity. It seemed to be the +hull of a small vessel, lying on the narrow strip of rocks and sand +under the cliff. Now wreckage anywhere fills me with sad and +romantic thoughts, but on the shore of a desolate island even a +barrel-hoop seems to suffer a sea-change into something rich and +strange. I therefore commanded the b. y. to row me over to the +spot where the derelict lay. + +I lay back idly in the stern as the boat skimmed over the smooth +water beneath the strokes of my splendid oarsman. More than ever +he looked like the island god. Every day he grew more brown and +brawny, more superb in his physical vigor. But his hands, once so +beautiful, were getting rough and hard with toil. There was a +great raw bruise on his arm. I exclaimed pityingly. + +"Oh, it's nothing. We get knocked about a bit by the sea in the +cave now and then." + +"You mean you are risking your lives every day for the sake of this +legendary treasure that you have no _reasonable_ reason to suppose +is there." + +"Perhaps not," he admitted, "but then it's such good fun looking, +you know." + +"That's according to one's idea of fun," I said ironically. + +"Oh, well, a chap can't spend his days on flowery beds of ease, of +course. Really, I find this story-book kind of thing we're doing +is _warm stuff_, as you Americans say. And then there's +Shaw--think of the difference it will make to the dear old chap if +we find the gold--buy a ship of his own and snap his fingers at the +P. & O." + +"And you'll go along as cabin-boy or something?" "'Fraid not," he +said quite simply. "A chap has his bit to do at home, you know." + +The cliffs on the north shore of the cove were considerably higher +than on the other side. The wreck lay close in, driven high upon +the narrow shelf of rocks and sand at the base of the sheer ascent. +Sand had heaped up around her hull and flung itself across her deck +like a white winding-sheet. Surprisingly, the vessel was a very +small one, a little sloop, indeed, much like the fragile +pleasure-boats that cluster under the Sausalito shore at home. The +single mast had been broken off short, and the stump of the +bowsprit was visible, like a finger beckoning for rescue from the +crawling sand. She was embedded most deeply at the stem, and +forward of the sand-heaped cockpit the roof of the small cabin was +still clear. + +"Poor forlorn little boat!" I said. "What in the world do you +suppose brought such a mite of a thing to this unheard-of spot?" + +"Perhaps she belonged to the copra chap. One man could handle her." + +"What would he want with her? A small boat like this is better for +fishing and rowing about the cove." + +"Perhaps she brought him here from Panama, though he couldn't have +counted on taking back a very bulky cargo." + +"Then why leave her strewn about on the rocks? And besides"--here +the puzzle of Crusoe recurred to me and seemed to link itself with +this--"then how did he get away himself?" + +But my oarsman was much more at home on the solid ground of fact +than on the uncharted waters of the hypothetical. + +"Don't know, I'm sure," he returned uninterestedly. Evidently the +hermit had got away, so why concern one's self about the method? I +am sure the Light Brigade must have been made up of Cuthbert Vanes. +"Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do or die--" + +We rowed in close under the port bow of the sloop, and on the rail +I made out a string of faded letters. I began excitedly to spell +them out. + +"I--s--l--oh, _Island Queen_! You see she did belong here. +Probably she brought the original porcine Adam and Eve to the +island." + +"Luckily forgot the snake, though!" remarked the Honorable Bertie +with unlooked-for vivacity. For so far Aunt Jane's trembling +anticipations had been unfulfilled by the sight of a single snake, +a fact laid by me to the credit of St. Patrick and by Cookie to +that of the pigs. + +"Snakes 'd jes' be oysters on de half shell to dem pigs," declared +Cookie. + +As we rowed away from the melancholy little derelict I saw that +near by a narrow gully gave access to the top of the cliff, and I +resolved that I would avail myself of this path to visit the +_Island Queen_ again. My mind continued to dwell upon the unknown +figure of the copra gatherer. Perhaps the loss of his sloop had +condemned him to weary months or years of solitude upon the island, +before the rare glimmer of a sail or the trail of a steamer's smoke +upon the horizon gladdened his longing eyes. Hadn't he grown very +tired of pork, and didn't his soul to this day revolt at a ham +sandwich? What would he say if he ever discovered that he might +have brought away a harvest of gold instead of copra from the +island? Last but not least, did not his heart and conscience, if +he by chance possessed them, ache horribly at the thought of the +forsaken Crusoe? + +Suddenly I turned to Cuthbert Vane. + +"How do you know, really, that he ever did leave the island?" I +demanded. + +"Who--the copra chap? Well, why else was the cabin cleared out so +carefully--no clothes left about or anything?" + +"That's true," I acknowledged. The last occupant of the hut had +evidently made a very deliberate and orderly business of packing up +to go. + +We drifted about the cove for a while, then steered into the dim +murmuring shadow of the treasure-cavern. It was filled with +dark-green, lisping water, and a continual resonant whispering in +which you seemed to catch half-framed words, and the low ripple of +laughter. Mr. Vane indicated the point at which they had arrived +in their exploration among the fissures opening from the ledge. + +The place held me with its fascination, but we dared not linger +long, for as the tide turned one man would have much ado to manage +the boat. So we slid through the archway into the bright sunshine +of the cove, and headed for the camp. + +As we neared the beach we saw a figure pacing it. I knew that free +stride. It was Dugald Shaw. And quite unexpectedly my heart began +to beat with staccato quickness. Dugald Shaw, who didn't like me +and never looked at me--except just sometimes, when he was +perfectly sure I didn't know it. Dugald Shaw, the silent, +unboastful man who had striven and starved and frozen on the +dreadful southern ice-fields, who had shared the Viking deeds of +the heroes--whom just to think of warmed my heart with a safe, +cuddled, little-girl feeling that I had never known since I was a +child on my father's knee. There he was, waiting for us, and +splashing into the foam to help Cuthbert beach the boat--he for +whom a thousand years ago the skalds would have made a saga-- + +The b. y. hailed him cheerfully as we sprang out upon the sand. +But the Scotchman was unsmiling. + +"Make haste after your tools, lad," he ordered. "We'll have fine +work now to get inside the cave before the turn." + +Those were his words; his tone and his grim look meant, _So in +spite of all my care you are being beguiled by a minx_-- + +It was his tone that I answered. + +"Oh, don't scold Mr. Vane!" I implored. "Every paradise has its +serpent, and as there are no others here I suppose I am it. Of +course all lady serpents who know their business have red hair. +Don't blame Mr. Vane for what was naturally all my fault." + +Not a line of his face changed. Indeed, before my most vicious +stabs it never did change. Though of course it would have been +much more civil of him, and far less maddening, to show himself a +little bit annoyed. + +"To be sure it seems unreasonable to blame the lad," he agreed +soberly, "but then he happens to be under my authority." + +"Meaning, I suppose, that you would much prefer to blame _me_," I +choked. + +"There's logic, no doubt, in striking at the root of the trouble," +he admitted, with an air of calm detachment. + +"Then strike," I said furiously, "strike, why don't you, and not +beat about the bush so!" Because then he would be quite hopelessly +in the wrong, and I could adopt any of several roles--the coldly +haughty, the wounded but forgiving, etc., with great enjoyment. + +But without a change in his glacial manner he quite casually +remarked: + +"It would seem I had struck--home." + +I walked away wishing the dynamite would go off, even if I had to +be mixed with Violet till the last trump. + +Fortunately nobody undertook to exercise any guardianship over +Crusoe, and the little white dog bore me faithful company in my +rambles. Mostly these were confined to the neighborhood of the +cove. I never ventured beyond Lookout ridge, but there I went +often with Crusoe, and we would sit upon a rock and talk to each +other about our first encounter there, and the fright he had given +me. Everybody else had gone, gazed and admired. But the only +constant pilgrim, besides myself, was, of all people, Captain +Magnus. Soon between us we had worn a path through the woods to +the top of the ridge. The captain's unexpected ardor for scenery +carried him thither whenever he had half an hour to spare from the +work in the cave. Needless to say, Crusoe and I timed our visits +so as not to conflict with his. A less discreet beast than Crusoe +would long ere this have sampled the captain's calves, for the +sailor missed no sly chance to exasperate the animal. But the wise +dog contented himself with such manifestations as a lifted lip and +twitching ears, for he had his own code of behavior, and was not to +be goaded into departing from it. + +One day, as Crusoe and I came down from the ridge, we met Captain +Magnus ascending. I had in my hand a small metal-backed mirror, +which I had found, surprisingly, lying in a mossy cleft between the +rocks. It was a thing such as a man might carry in his pocket, +though on the island it seemed unlikely that any one would do' so. +I at once attributed the mirror to Captain Magnus, for I knew that +no one else had been to the ridge for days. I was wondering as I +walked along whether by some sublime law of compensation the +captain really thought himself beautiful, and sought this retired +spot to admire not the view but his own physiognomy. + +When the captain saw me he stopped full in the path. There was a +growth of fern on either side. I approached slowly, and, as he did +not move, paused, and held out the mirror. + +"I think you must have dropped this, Captain Magnus. I found it on +the rocks." + +For an instant his face changed. His evasive eyes were turned to +me searchingly and sharply. He took the glass from my hand and +slipped it into his pocket. I made a movement to pass on, then +stopped, with a faint dawning of discomfort. For the heavy figure +of the captain still blocked the path.. + +A dark flush had come into the man's face. His yellow teeth showed +between his parted lips. His eyes had a swimming brightness. + +"What's your hurry?" he remarked, with a certain insinuating +emphasis. + +I began to tremble. + +"I am on my way back to camp, Captain Magnus. Please let me pass." + +"It won't do no harm if you're a little late. There ain't no one +there keepin' tab. Ain't you always a-strayin' off with the +Honorable? I ain't so pretty, but--" + +"You are impertinent. Let me pass." + +"Oh, I'm impert'nent, am I? That means fresh, maybe. I'm a plain +man and don't use frills on my langwidge. Well, when I meets a +little skirt that takes my eyes there ain't no harm in lettin' her +know it, is there? Maybe the Honorable could say it nicer--" + +With a forward stride he laid a hand upon my arm. I shook him off +and stepped back. Fear clutched my throat. I had left my revolver +in my quarters. Oh, the dreadful denseness of these woods, the +certainty that no wildest cry of mine could pierce them! + +And then Crusoe, who had been waiting quietly behind me in the +path, slipped in between us. Every hair on his neck was bristling. +The lifted upper lip snarled unmistakably. He gave me a swift +glance which said, _Shall I spring_? + +Quite suddenly the gorilla blandishments of Captain Magnus came to +an end. + +"Say," he said harshly, "hold back that dog, will you? I don't +want to kill the cur." + +"You had better not," I returned coldly. "I should have to explain +how it happened, you know. As it is I shall say nothing. But I +shall not forget my revolver again when I go to walk." + +And Crusoe and I went swiftly down the path which the captain no +longer disputed. + + + + +IX + +"LASSIE, LASSIE. . ." + +Two or three days later occurred a painful episode. The small +unsuspected germ of it had lain ambushed in a discourse of Mr. +Shaw's, delivered shortly after our arrival on the island, on the +multifarious uses of the cocoa-palm. He told how the juice from +the unexpanded flower-spathes is drawn off to form a potent toddy, +so that where every prospect pleases man may still be vile. +Cookie, experimentally disposed, set to work. Mr. Vane, also +experimentally, sampled the results of Cookie's efforts. The +liquor had merely been allowed to ferment, whereas a complicated +process is necessary for the manufacture of the true arrack, but +enough had been achieved to bring about dire consequences for +Cuthbert Vane, who had found the liquid cool and refreshing, and +was skeptical about its potency. + +Aunt Jane took the matter very hard, and rebuked the ribald mirth +of Mr. Tubbs. He had to shed tears over a devastating poem called +"The Drunkard's Home," before she would forgive him. Cookie made +his peace by engaging to vote the prohibition ticket at the next +election. My own excuses for the unfortunate were taken in very +ill part. My aunt said she had always understood that life in the +tropics was very relaxing to the moral fiber, and mine was +certainly affected--and besides she wasn't certain that barons wore +coronets anyhow. + +Mr. Shaw was disturbed over Cuthbert, who was not at all bad, only +queer and sleepy, and had to be led away to slumber in retirement. +Also, it was an exceptionally low tide and Mr. Shaw had counted on +taking advantage of it to work in the cave. Now Cuthbert was laid +up-- + +"You and I will have to manage by ourselves, Magnus." + +"Nothing doing--boat got to be patched up--go out there without it +and get caught!" growled the captain. + +"Well, lend a hand, then. We can be ready with the boat inside an +hour." + +The captain hesitated queerly. His wandering eyes seemed to be +searching in every quarter for something they did not find. At +last he mumbled that he thought he felt a touch of the sun, and had +decided to lay off for the afternoon and make his way across the +island. He said he wanted to shoot water-fowl and that they had +all been frightened away from the cove, but that with the glass he +had seen them from Lookout thickly about the other bay. + +"Very well," said the Scotchman coldly. "I suppose you must suit +yourself. I can get the boat in shape without help, I dare say." +I saw him presently looking in an annoyed and puzzled fashion after +the vanishing figure of the sailor. + +Mr. Tubbs and the umbrellas soon disappeared into the woods. I +believe the search for Bill Halliwell's tombstone was no longer +very actively pursued, and that the trio spent their time ensconced +in a snug little nook with hammocks and cushions, where Mr. Tubbs +beguiled the time with reading aloud--Aunt Jane and Violet both +being provided with literature--and relating anecdotes of his rise +to greatness in the financial centers of the country. I more than +suspected Mr. Tubbs of feeling that such a bird in the hand as Aunt +Jane was worth many doubloons in the bush. But in spite of +uneasiness about the future, for the present I rested secure in the +certainty that they could not elope from the island, and that there +was no one on it with authority to metamorphose Aunt Jane into Mrs. +Hamilton H. Tubbs. + +The waters of the cove had receded until a fringe of rocks under +the high land of the point, usually covered, had been left bare. I +had watched the emergence of their black jagged surfaces for some +time before it occurred to me that they offered a means of access +to the cave. The cave--place of fascination and mystery! Here was +the opportunity of all others to explore it, unhampered by any one, +just Crusoe and I alone, in the fashion that left me freest to +indulge my dreams. + +I waited until the Scotchman's back was safely turned, because if +he saw me setting forth on this excursion he was quite certain to +command me to return, and I had no intention of submitting to his +dictatorial ways and yet was not sure how I was successfully to +defy him. I believed him capable of haling me lack by force, while +tears or even swoons left him unmoved. Of course he would take the +absurd ground that the cave was dangerous, in the face of the +glaring fact that a girl who had come to this island solely to +protect Aunt Jane ought certainly to be able to protect herself. +Besides, what right had he to care if I was drowned, anyhow? + +But of course I was not going to be. + +The retreating tide had left deep pools behind, each a little +cosmos of fairy seaweeds and tiny scuttling crabs and rich and +wonderful forms of life which were strange to me. Crusoe and I +were very much interested, and lingered a good deal on the way. +But at last we reached the great archway, and passed with a +suddenness which was like a plunge into cool water from the hot +glare of the tropic sunshine into the green shadow of the cavern. + +At the lower end, between the two arches, a black, water-worn rock +paving rang under one's feet. Further in under the point the floor +of the cave was covered with white sand. All the great shadowy +place was murmuring like a vast sea-shell. Beyond the southern +archway spread the limitless heaving plain of the Pacific. Near at +hand bare black rocks rose from the surges, like skeletons of the +land that the sea had devoured. And after a while these walls that +supported the cavern roof would be nibbled away, and the roof would +fall, and the waves roar victorious over the ruins. + +I wished I could visit the place in darkness. It would be thrice +as mysterious, filled with its hollow whispering echoes, as in the +day. I dreamed of it as it might have been when a boat from the +_Bonny Lass_ crept in, and the faint winking eye of a lantern +struck a gleam from the dark waters and showed nothing all around +but blackness, and more blackness. + +From the ledge far above my head led off those narrow, teasing +crevices in which the three explorers did their unrewarded +burrowing. I could see the strands of a rope ladder lying coiled +at the edge of the shelf, where it was secured by spikes. The men +dragged down the ladder with a boat-hook when they wanted to +ascend. I looked about with a hope that perhaps they had left the +boat-hook somewhere. + +I found no boat-hook but instead a spade, which had been driven +deep into the sand and left, too firmly imbedded for the tide to +bear away. At once a burning hope that I, alone and unassisted, +might bring to light the treasure of the Bonny Lass seethed in my +veins. I jerked the spade loose and fell to. + +I now discovered the great truth that digging for treasure is the +most thrilling and absorbing occupation known to man. Time ceased +to be, and the weight of the damp and close-packed sand seemed, +that of feathers. This temporary state of exaltation passed, to be +sure, and the sand got very heavy, and my back ached, but still I +dug. Crusoe watched proceedings interestedly at first, then +wandered off on business of his own. Presently he returned and +began to fuss about and bark. He was a restless little beast, +wanting to be always on the move. He came and tugged at my skirt, +uttering an uneasy whine. + +"Be quiet, Crusoe!" I commanded, threatening him with my spade. +The madness of the treasure-lust possessed me. I was panting now, +and my hands began to feel like baseball mitts, but still I dug. +Crusoe had ceased to importune me; vaguely I was aware that he had +got tired and run off. I toiled on, pausing now and then for +breath. I was leaning on my spade, rather dejectedly considering +the modest excavation I had achieved, when I felt a little cool +splash at my feet. Dropping my spade I whirled around--and a +shriek echoed through the cave as I saw pouring into it the dark +insidious torrent of the returning tide. + +How had I forgotten it, that deadly thing, muttering to itself out +there, ready to spring back like an unleashed beast? Crusoe had +warned me--and then he had forsaken me, and I was alone. + +And yet at first, wild as my terror was, I had no thought but that +somehow I could escape. That these waters were for me the very +face of death, sure and relentless, terrible and slow, did not at +once seize hold upon my heart. + +Frantically I sprang for the entrance on the cove. The floor of +the cave was sloping, and the water deepened swiftly as I advanced. +Soon I was floundering to my knees, and on the instant a great wave +rushed in, drenching me to the waist, dazing me with its spray and +uproar, and driving me back to the far end of the cave. + +With a dreadful hollow sucking sound the surge retreated. I +staggered again toward the archway that was my only door to life. +The water was deeper now, and swiftly came another fierce inrush of +the sea that drove me back. Between the two archways a terrible +current was setting. It poured along with the rush of a mountain +river, wild, dark, tumultuous. + +I had fled to the far end of the cave, but the sea pursued me. +Swiftly the water climbed--it flung me against the wall, then +dragged me back. I clutched at the naked rock with bleeding +fingers. + +Again, after a paroxysm during which I had seemed to stand a great +way off and listen to my own shrieks, there came to me a moment of +calm. I knew that my one tenuous thread of hope lay in launching +myself into that wild flood that was tearing through into the cove. +I was not a strong swimmer, but a buoyant one. I might find refuge +on some half-submerged rock on the shores of the cove--at least I +should perish in the open, in the sunlight, not trapped like a +desperate rat. And I began to fight my way toward the opening. + +And then a dreadful vision flashed across my mind, weighed down my +feet like lead, choked back even the cry from my frozen lips. +Sharks! The black cutting fin, the livid belly, the dreadful jaws +opening--no, no, better to die here, better the clean embrace of +the waters--_if indeed the sharks did not come into the cave_. + +And then I think I went quite mad. I remember trying to climb up +to the ledge which hung beetling fifteen feet above. Afterward my +poor hands showed how desperately. And I remember that once I +slipped and went clear under, and how I choked and strangled in the +salt water. For my mouth was always open, screaming, screaming +continually. + +And when I saw the boat fighting its way inch by inch into the cave +I was sure that it was a vision, and that only my own wild +beseeching of him to save me had made the face of Dugald Shaw arise +before my dying eyes. Dugald Shaw was still mending the boat on +the shore of the cove, and this was a mocking phantom. + +Only the warm human clasp of the arms that drew me into the boat +made me believe in him. + +The boat bobbed quietly in the eddy at the far end of the cave, +while a wet, sobbing, choking heap clung to Dugald Shaw. I clasped +him about the neck and would not let him go, for fear that I should +find myself alone again, perishing in the dark water. My head was +on his breast, and he was pressing back my wet hair with strong and +tender hands. + +What was this he was saying? "My lassie, my little, little lassie!" + +And no less incredible than this it was to feel his cheek pressed, +very gently, against my hair-- + +After a little my self-control came back to me. I stopped my +senseless childish crying, lifted my head and tried to speak. I +could only whisper, "You came, you came!" + +"Of course I came!" he said huskily. "There, don't tremble so--you +are safe--safe in my arms!" + +After a while he lifted me into the stern and began to maneuver the +boat out of the cave. I suppose at another time I should have +realized the peril of it. The fierce flow through the archway all +but swamped us, the current threatened to hurl us against the +rocks, but I felt no fear. He had come to save me, and he would. +All at once the dreadful shadow of the cavern was left behind, and +the sunshine immersed my chilled body like a draught of wine. I +lay huddled in the stern, my cheek upon my hand, as he rowed +swiftly across the cove and drove the boat upon the beach. + +Everybody but Captain Magnus was assembled there, including Crusoe. +Crusoe it was who had given warning of my danger. Like a wise +little dog, when I ignored his admonitions he had run home. At +first his uneasiness and troubled barking had got no notice. Once +or twice the Scotchman, worried by his fretfulness, had ordered him +away. Then across his preoccupied mind there flashed a doubt. He +laid down his tools and spoke to the animal. Instantly Crusoe +dashed for the rocks, barking and crying with eagerness. But the +path was closed, the tide was hurrying in, and Crusoe whined +pitiably as he crept back and crouched against the man who of +course knew better than a little dog what must be done. + +Then Mr. Shaw understood. He snatched the painter of the boat and +dragged it down the beach. He was shoving off as Cookie, roused by +Crusoe's barking, appeared from the seclusion of his afternoon +siesta. To him were borne the Scotchman's parting words: + +"Virginia Harding--in the cave--hot blankets--may be drowning--" + +"And at dat," said Cookie, relating his part in the near-tragedy +with unction, "I jes' natchully plumped right down on mah ma'ah +bones and wrestled with de Lawd in prayah." + +This unique proceeding on Cookie's part necessarily awoke the +interest both of the recovered Cuthbert Vane, just emerging after +his prolonged slumbers, and of the trio who had that moment +returned from the woods. Importuned for an explanation, Cookie +arose from his devotional posture and put the portentous query: + +"Mistah Vane, sah, be dey any propah coffin-wood on dis yere +island?" + +Instantly connecting my absence with this terrible question, Aunt +Jane shrieked and fell into the arms of Mr. Tubbs. I got the story +from Cuthbert Vane, and I must say I was unpleasantly struck by the +facility with which my aunt seemed to have fallen into Mr. Tubbs's +embrace--as if with the ease of habit. Mr. Tubbs, it appeared, had +staggered a little under his fair burden, which was not to be +wondered at, for Aunt Jane is of an overflowing style of figure and +Mr. Tubbs more remarkable for brain than brawn. Violet, however, +had remained admirably calm, and exhorted Aunt Jane to remember +that whatever happened it was all for the best. + +"Poor Violet," I commented. "To think that after all it didn't +happen!" + +A slow flush rose to the cheeks of the beautiful youth. He +was sitting beside the hammock, where I was supposed to be +recuperating. Of course it was to please Aunt Jane that I had to +be an invalid, and she had insisted on mounting guard and reading +aloud from one of Miss Browne's books about Psycho-evolution or +something until Cuthbert Vane came along and relieved her--and me. + +"It would have happened, though," said the Honorable Cuthbert +solemnly, "if it hadn't been for old Shaw. I can't get over it, +Vir--Miss Virginia, that I wasn't on deck myself, you know. Here's +old Dugald been doing the heroic all his life, and now he gets his +chance again while I'm sleeping off those bally cocoanuts. It's +hard on a chap. I--I wish it had been me." + +However dubious his grammar, there was no mistaking the look that +brightened like the dawn in the depths of his clear eyes. My +breath went from me suddenly. + +"Oh," I cried excitedly, "isn't that---yes, I _thought_ it was the +dinner gong!" + +For as if in response to my dire need, the clang of Cookie's gong +echoed through the island silences. + + + + +X + +WHAT CRUSOE AND I FOUND + +When after those poignant moments in the boat I met Dugald Shaw in +commonplace fashion at the table, a sudden, queer, altogether +unprecedented shyness seized me. I sat looking down at my plate +with the gaucherie of a silly child. + +The episode of the afternoon provided Mr. Tubbs with ammunition for +a perfect fusillade of wit. He warned Mr. Shaw that hereafter he +might expect Neptune to have a grudge against him for having robbed +the sea-god of his beauteous prey. I said I thought most likely it +was not Neptune that was robbed but sharks, but sharks not being +classic, Mr. Tubbs would have none of them. He said he believed +that if Mr. Shaw had not inopportunely arrived, Neptune with his +tripod would soon have up-reared upon the wave. + +"Oh--_tripod_, Mr. Tubbs?" I said inquiringly. + +"Yes, sure," he returned undaunted. "Them camera supports is named +for it, you know. But of course this gay gink of a Sandy had to +come buttin' in. Too bad the Honorable Bertie had partook so free. +He'd have looked the part all right when it come to rescuin' beauty +in distress. But Fortune bein' a lady and naturally capricious, +she hands the stunt over to old Sobersides here." + +Just then old Sobersides cut across the flow of Mr. Tubbs's +sprightly conversation and with a certain harshness of tone asked +Captain Magnus if he had had good sport on the other side of the +island. Captain Magnus, as usual, had seemed to feel that time +consecrated to eating was wasted in conversation. At this +point-blank question he started confusedly, stuttered, and finally +explained that though he had taken a rifle he had carried along +pistol cartridges, so had come home with an empty bag. + +At this moment I happened to be looking at Cookie, who was setting +down a dish before Mr. Tubbs. The negro started visibly, and +rolled his eyes at Captain Magnus with astonishment depicted in +every dusky feature. He said nothing, although wont to take part +in our conversation as it suited him, but I saw him shake his great +grizzled head in a disturbed and puzzled fashion as he turned away. + +After this a chill settled on the table. You felt a disturbance in +the air, as though wireless currents were crossing and recrossing +in general confusion. Mr. Tubbs began again on the topic of my +rescue, and said it was too bad Mr. Shaw's name wasn't Paul, +because then we'd be Paul and Virginia, he, he! My aunt said +encouragingly, how true! because they had lived on an island, +hadn't they? She had read the book many years ago, and had mostly +forgotten it, not having Mr. Tubbs's marvelous memory, but she +believed there was something quite sad about the end, though very +sweet. She agreed with Mr. Tubbs that Mr. Vane would have looked +most picturesque going to the rescue on account of his sash, and it +was too bad he had not been able, but never mind, it was most kind +of Mr. Shaw, and she was sure her niece appreciated it though she +was afraid she hadn't thanked Mr. Shaw properly. + +By this time it was perfectly clear that Mr. Shaw had been most +inconsiderate in dashing out after me in that thoughtless manner. +He should have waked Cuthbert Vane and helped him to array himself +becomingly in the sash and then sent for a moving-picture man to go +out in another boat and immortalize the touching scene. All this +came seething to my lips, but I managed to suppress it. It was +only on Cuthbert Vane's account. As for my aunt and Mr. Tubbs, I +could have bumped their heads together as remorselessly as two +cocoanuts. I understood Aunt Jane, of course. In spite of the +Honorable Cuthbert's recent lapse, her imagination still played +about certain little cards which should announce to an envious +world my engagement to the Honorable Cuthbert Patrick Ruthmore +Vane, of High Staunton Manor, Kent. So such a _faux pas_ as my +rescue from drowning by a penniless Scotch seaman couldn't but +figure in her mind as a grievance. + +I stole a glance at the recipient of these sorry thanks. His face +was set and--once I should have called it grim, but I knew better +now. There was nothing I could say or do. Any words of mine would +have sounded forced and puerile. What he had done was so far +beyond thanks that spoken gratitude belittled it. And yet, suppose +he thought that like the rest I had wished another in his place? +Did he think that--could he, with the memory of my arms about his +neck? + +I only knew that because of the foolish hateful words that had been +said, the gulf between us was wider than before. + +I sat dumb, consumed with misery and hoping that perhaps I might +meet his glance and so tell him silently all that words would only +mar. But he never looked at me. And then the first bitterness, +which had made even Cuthbert seem disloyal in wishing himself in +his friend's place, passed, and gave way to dreary doubt. Cuthbert +knew, of course, that he himself would have prized--what to Dugald +Shaw was a matter of indifference. Yes, that was it, and the worst +that Dugald Shaw was suffering now was boredom at hearing the +affair so everlastingly discussed. + +So I began talking very fast to Mr. Vane and we were very gay and +he tied his own necktie on Crusoe on consideration that he be held +hereafter jointly. And--because I saw that Dugald Shaw was looking +now--I smiled lingeringly into the eyes of the beautiful youth and +said all right, perhaps we needn't quarrel over our mutual dog, and +then skipped off lightsomely, feeling exactly like a scorpion that +has been wounding itself with its own sting. + +As I passed Cookie at his dishpan a sudden thought struck me. + +"Cookie," I remarked, "you had a frightfully queer look just now +when Captain Magnus told about having taken the wrong cartridges. +What was the matter?" + +Cookie took his hands out of the water and wiped off the suds, +casting about stealthy and mysterious glances. Then he rolled a +dubious eye at me. + +"What was it, Cookie?" I urged. + +"War am Cap'n now?" + +"Down on the beach; he can't possibly hear you." + +"You won't say nothin' to git Cookie in a rumpus?" + +"Cross my heart to die, Cookie." + +"Well, den"--Cookie spoke in a hoarse whisper--"Cap'n say he forgit +to take his gun ca'tridges. Miss Jinny, when he come back, I see +him empty his gun ca'tridges out'n his belt and put back his pistol +cartridges. So dere now!" + +I turned from Cookie, too surprised to speak. Why had Captain +Magnus been at pains to invent a lie about so trivial a matter? I +recalled, too, that Mr. Shaw's question had confused him, that he +had hesitated and stammered before answering it. Why? Was he a +bad shot and ashamed of it? Had he preferred to say that he had +taken the wrong ammunition rather than admit that he could get no +bag? That must be the explanation, because there was no other. +Certainly no imaginable errand but the one assigned could have +taken the captain to the other side of the island. + +Several days went by, and still the treasure was unfound. Of +course, as the unexplored space in the cave contracted, so daily +the probability grew stronger that Fortune would shed her golden +smile upon us before night. Nevertheless, it seemed to me that the +optimistic spirits of most were beginning to flag a little. Only +Mr. Shaw, though banned as a confirmed doubter and pessimist, +now by the exercise of will kept the others to their task. It +took all Cuthbert Vane's loyalty, plus an indisposition to be +called a slacker, to strive against the temptation to renounce +treasure-hunting in favor of roaming with Crusoe and me. As for +Captain Magnus, his restlessness was manifest. Several times he +had suggested blowing the lid off the island with dynamite, as the +shortest method of getting at the gold. He was always vanishing on +solitary excursions inland. + +Mr. Tubbs remarked, scornfully, that a man with a nose for money +ought to have smelted out the chest before this, but if his own +nasal powers were of that character he did not offer to employ them +in the service of the expedition. Miss Higglesby-Browne, however, +had taken to retiring to the hut for long private sessions with +herself. My aunt reverentially explained their purpose. The +hiding-place of the chest being of course known to the Universal +Wisdom, all Violet had to do was to put herself in harmony and the +knowledge would be hers. The difficulty was that you had first to +overcome your Mundane Consciousness. To accomplish this Violet was +struggling in the solitude of the hut. + +Meanwhile Mr. Tubbs sat at the feet of Aunt Jane, reading aloud +from a volume entitled _Paeans of Passion_, by a celebrated lady +lyric poet of our own land. + +After my meeting with Captain Magnus in the forest, Lookout Ridge +was barred to me. Crusoe and I must do our rambling in other +directions. This being so, I bethought me again of the wrecked +sloop lying under the cliffs on the north shore of the cove. I +remembered that there had seemed to be a way down the cliffs. I +resolved to visit the sloop again. The terrible practicality of +the beautiful youth made it difficult to indulge in romantic +musings in his presence. And to me a derelict brings a keener tang +of romance than any other relic of man's multitudinous and futile +strivings. + +The descent of the gully proved an easy matter, and soon I was on +the sand beside the derelict. Sand had heaped up around her hull, +and filled her cockpit level with the rail, and drifted down the +companion, stuffing the little cabin nearly to the roof, Only the +bow rose free from the white smother of sand. Whatever wounds +there were in her buried sides were hidden. You felt that some +wild caprice of the storm had lifted her and set her down here, not +too roughly, then whirled away and left her to the sand. + +Crusoe slipped into the narrow space under the roof of the cabin, +and I leaned idly down to watch him through a warped seam between +the planks. Then I found that I was looking, not at Crusoe, but +into a little dim enclosure like a locker, in which some small +object faintly caught the light. With a revived hope of finding +relics I got out my knife--a present from Cuthbert Vane--and set +briskly to work widening the seam. + +I penetrated finally into a small locker or cubby-hole, set in the +angle under the roof of the cabin, and, as subsequent investigation +showed, so placed as to attract no notice from the casual eye. I +ascertained this by lying down and wriggling my head and shoulders +into the cabin. In other words, I had happened on a little private +depository, in which the owner of the sloop might stow away certain +small matters that concerned him intimately. Yet the contents of +the locker at first seemed trifling. They were an old-fashioned +chased silver shoe-buckle, and a brown-covered manuscript book. + +The book had suffered much from dampness, whether of rains or the +wash of the sea. The imitation leather cover was flaking off, and +the leaves were stuck together. I seated myself on the cabin roof, +extracted a hairpin, and began carefully separating the +close-written pages. The first three or four were quite illegible, +the ink having run. Then the writing became clearer. I made out a +word here and there: + + . . . . directions vague . . . . my grandfather . . . . + man a ruffian but . . . . no motive . . . . police of + Havana . . . . frightful den . . . . grandfather made + sure . . . . registry . . . . _Bonny Lass_ . . . . + +And at that I gave a small excited shriek which brought Crusoe to +me in a hurry. What had he to do, the writer of this journal, what +had he to do with the _Bonny Lass_? + +Breathlessly I read on: + + . . . . thought captain still living but not + sure . . . . lost . . . . Benito Bon . . . . + +I closed the book. Now, while the coast was clear, I must get back +to camp. It would take hours, perhaps days, to decipher the +journal which had suddenly become of such supreme importance. I +must smuggle it unobserved into my own quarters, where I could read +at my leisure. As I set out I dropped the silver shoe-buckle into +my pocket, smiling to think that it was I who had discovered the +first bit of precious metal on the island. Yet the book in my +hand, I felt instinctively, was of more value than many +shoe-buckles. + +Safely in my hammock, with a pillow under which I could slip the +book in case of interruption, I resumed the reading. From this +point on, although the writing was somewhat faded, it was all, with +a little effort, legible. + + +THE DIARY + +If Sampson did live to tell his secret, then any day there may be a +sail in the offing. And still I can not find it! Oh, if my +grandfather had been more worldly wise! If he hadn't been too +intent on the eternal welfare of the man he rescued from the Havana +tavern brawl to question him about his story. A cave on Leeward +Island--near by a stone marked with the letters B. H. and a +cross-bones--_I told the captain_, said the poor dying wretch, _we +wouldn't have no luck after playing it that low down on Bill_! So +I presume Bill lies under the stone. + +Well, all I have is in this venture. The old farm paid for the +_Island Queen_--or will, if I don't get back in time to prevent +foreclosure. All my staid New England relatives think me mad. A +copra gatherer! A fine career for a minister's son! Think how +your father scrimped to send you to college--Aunt Sarah reproached +me. Well, when I get home with my Spanish doubloons there will be +another story to tell. I won't be poor crazy Peter then. And +Helen--oh, how often I wish I had told her everything! It was too +much to ask her to trust me blindly as I did. But from the moment +I came across the story in grandfather's old, half-forgotten +diary--by the way, the diary habit seems to run in the family--a +very passion of secrecy has possessed me. If I had told Helen, I +should have had to dread that even in her sweet sleep she might +whisper something to put that ferret, her stepmother, on the scent. +Oh, Helen, trust me, trust me! + +December 25. I have a calendar with me, so I am not reduced to +notching a stick to keep track of the days. I mark each off +carefully in the calendar. If I were to forget to do this, even +for a day or two, I believe I should quite lose track. The days +are so terribly alike! + +My predecessor here in the copra-gathering business, old Heintz, +really left me a very snug establishment. It was odd that I should +have run across him at Panama that way. I sounded him on the +question of treasure. He said placidly that of course the island +had been the resort of Edward Davis and Benito Bonito and others of +the black flag gentry, and he thought it very likely they had left +some of their spoils behind them, but though he had done a little +investigating as he had time he had come on nothing but a ship's +lantern, a large iron kettle, and the golden setting of a bracelet +from which the jewels had been removed. He had already disposed of +the bracelet. The kettle I found here, and sank in the spring to +keep the water clear. (Where it still is. V. H.) Evidently old +Heintz knew nothing of the _Bonny Lass_. This was an immense +satisfaction, as it proves that the story can not have been noised +about. + +Christmas Day! I wonder what they are all doing at home? December +28. Of course the cave under the point is the logical place. I +have been unable to find any stone marked B. H. on the ground above +it, but I fear that a search after Bill's tombstone would be +hopeless. Although the formation of the island is of the sort to +contain numerous caves, still they must be considerably less +plentiful than possible tombstones. Under circumstances such +as those of the mate's story, it seems to me that all the +probabilities point to their concealing the chest in the cave with +an opening on the bay. It must have been necessary for them to act +as quickly as possible, that their absence from the ship might go +unnoticed--though I believe the three conspirators had made the +crew drunk. Then to get the boat, laden with the heavy chest, +through the surf to any of the other caves--if the various cracks +and fissures I have seen are indeed properly to be called +caves--would be stiff work for three men. Yes, everything +indicates the cavern under the point. The only question is, isn't +it indicated too clearly? Would a smooth old scoundrel such as +this Captain Sampson must have been have hidden his treasure in the +very place certain to be ransacked if the secret ever got out? +Unless it was deeply buried, which it could have been only at +certain stages of the tide, even old Heintz would have been apt to +come across it in the course of his desultory researches for the +riches of the buccaneers. And I am certain placid old Heintz did +not mislead me. Besides, at Panama, he was making arrangements to +go with some other Germans on a small business venture to Samoa, +which he would not have been likely to do if he had just unearthed +a vast fortune in buried treasure. Still, I shall explore the cave +thoroughly, though with little hope. + +Oh, Helen, if I could watch these tropic stars with you to-night! + +January 6. I think I am through with the cave under the point--the +Cavern of the Two Arches, I have named it. It is a dangerous place +to work in alone, and my little skiff has been badly battered +several times. But I peered into every crevice in the walls, and +sounded the sands with a drill. I suppose I would have made a more +thorough job of it if I had not been convinced from the first that +the chest was not there. It was not reason that told me so--I know +I may well be attributing too much subtlety of mind to Captain +Sampson--but that strange guiding instinct--to put it in its lowest +terms--which I know in my heart I must follow if I would succeed. +Shall I ever forget the feeling that stirred me when first I turned +the pages of my grandfather's diary and saw there, in his faded +writing, the story of the mate of the _Bonny Lass_, who died in +Havana in my grandfather's arms? My grandfather had gone as +supercargo in his own ship, and while he did a good stroke of +business in Havana--trust his shrewd Yankee instincts for that--he +managed to combine the service of God with that of Mammon. Many a +poor drunken sailor, taking his fling ashore in the bright, +treacherous, plague-ridden city, found in him a friend, as did the +mate of the _Bonny Lass_ in his dying hour. Oh, if my good +grandfather had but made sure from the man's own lips exactly where +the treasure lay! It is enough to make one fancy that the unknown +Bill, who paid for too much knowledge with his life, has his own +fashion of guarding the hoard. But I ramble. I was going to say, +that from the moment when I learned from my grandfather's diary of +the existence of the treasure, I have been driven by an impulse +more overmastering than anything I have ever experienced in my +life. It was, I believe, what old-fashioned pious folk would call +a _leading_. The impetus seemed somehow to come from outside my +own organism. All my life I had been irresolute, the sport of +circumstances, trifling with this and that, unable to set my face +steadfastly toward any goal. Yet never, since I have trodden this +path, have I looked to right or left. I have defied both human +opinion and the obstacles which an unfriendly fate has thrown in my +way. All alone, I, a sailor hitherto of pleasure-craft among the +bays and islands of the New England coast, put forth in my little +sloop for a voyage of three hundred miles on the loneliest wastes +of the Pacific. All alone, did I say? No, there was Benjy the +faithful. His head is at my knee as I write. He knows, I think, +that his master's mood is sad to-night. Oh, Helen, if you ever see +these lines, will you realize how I have longed for you--how it +sometimes seems that my soul must tear itself loose from my body +and speed to you across half a world? + +February 1. Since my last record my time has been well filled. In +the _Island Queen_ I have been surveying the coasts of my domain, +sailing as close in as I dared, and taking note of every crevice +that might be the mouth of a cave. Then, either in the rowboat or +by scrambling down the cliffs, I visit the indicated point. It is +bitterly hard labor, but it has its compensations. I am growing +hale and strong, brown and muscular. Aunt Sarah won't offer me any +more of her miserable decoctions when I go home. Heading first +toward the north, I am systematically making the rounds of the +island, for, after all, how do I know for certain that Captain +Sampson buried his treasure near the east anchorage? For greater +security he may have chosen the other side, where there is another +bay, I should judge deeper and freer of rocks than this one, though +more open to storms. + +So far I have discovered half a dozen caves, most of them quite +small. Any one of them seemed such a likely place that at first I +was quite hopeful. But I have found nothing. Usually, the floor +of the cave beneath a few inches of sand is rock. Only in the +great cave under the point have I found sand to any depth. The +formation in some cases is little more than a hardened clay, but to +excavate it would require long toil, probably blasting--and I have +no explosives. And I go always on the principle that Captain +Sampson and his two assistants had not time for any elaborate work +of concealment. Most likely they laid the chest in some natural +niche. Sailors are unskilled in the use of such implements as +spades, and besides, the very heart of the undertaking was haste +and secrecy. They must have worked at night and between two tides, +for few of the caves can be reached except at the ebb. And I take +it as certain that the cave must have opened directly on the sea. +For three men to transport such a weight and bulk by land would be +sheer impossibility. + +February 10. To-day a strange, strange thing happened--so strange, +so wonderful and glorious that it ought to be recorded in luminous +ink. And I owe it all to Benjy! Little dog, you shall go in a +golden collar and eat lamb-chops every day! This morning-- + +Across my absorption in the diary cut the unwelcome clangor of +Cookie's gong. Right on the breathless edge of discovery I was +summoned, with my thrilling secret in my breast, to join my +unsuspecting companions. I hid the book carefully in my cot. Not +until the light of to-morrow morning could I return to its perusal. +How I was to survive the interval I did not know. But on one point +my mind was made up--no one should dream of the existence of the +diary until I knew all that it had to impart. + + + + +XI + +MISS BROWNE HAS A VISION + +Perhaps because of the secret excitement under which I was +laboring, I seemed that evening unusually aware of the emotional +fluctuations of those about me. Violet looked grimmer than ever, +so that I judged her struggles with her mundane consciousness to +have been exceptionally severe. Captain Magnus seemed even beyond +his wont restless, loose-jointed and wandering-eyed, and performed +extraordinary feats of sword-swallowing. Mr. Shaw was very silent, +and his forehead knitted now and then into a reflective frown. As +for myself, I had much ado to hide my abstraction, and turned cold +from head to foot with alarm when I heard my own voice addressing +Crusoe as Benjy. + +A faint ripple of surprise passed round the table. + +"Named your dog over again, Miss Jinny?" inquired Mr. Tubbs. Mr. +Tubbs had adopted a facetiously paternal manner toward me. I knew +in anticipation of the moment when he would invite me to call him +Uncle Ham. + +"I say, you know," expostulated Cuthbert Vane, "I thought Crusoe +rather a nice name. Never heard of any chap named Benjy that lived +on an island." + +"When I was a little girl, Virginia," remarked Aunt Jane, with the +air of immense age and wisdom which she occasionally assumed, "my +grandmother--your great-grandmother, of course, my love--would +never allow me to name my dolls a second time. She did not approve +of changeableness. And I am sure it must be partly due to your +great-grandmother's teaching that I always know my own mind +directly about everything. She was quite a remarkable woman, and +very firm. Firmness has been considered a family trait with us. +When her husband died--your great-grandfather, you know, dear--she +rose above her grief and made him take some very disagreeable +medicine to the very last, long after the doctors had given up +hope. As some relation or other said, I think your Great-Aunt +Susan's father-in-law, anybody else would have allowed poor John +Harding to die in peace, but trust Eliza to be firm to the end." + +Under cover of this bit of family history I tried to rally from my +confusion, but I knew my cheeks were burning. Looks of deepening +surprise greeted the scarlet emblems of discomfiture that I hung +out. + +"By heck, bet there's a feller at home named Benjy!" cackled Mr. +Tubbs shrilly, and for once I blessed him. + +Aunt Jane turned upon him her round innocent eyes. + +"Oh, no, Mr. Tubbs," she assured him, "I don't think a single one +of them was named Benjy!" + +The laughter which followed this gave me time to get myself in hand +again. + +"Crusoe it is and will be," I asserted. "Like Great-Grandmother +Harding, I don't approve of changeableness. It happens that a girl +I know at home has a dog named Benjy." Which happened fortunately +to be true, for otherwise I should have been obliged to invent it. +But the girl is a cat, and the dog a miserable little high-bred +something, all shivers and no hair. I should never have thought of +him in the same breath with Crusoe. + +That evening Mr. Shaw addressed the gathering at the +camp-fire--which we made small and bright, and then sat well away +from because of the heat--and in a few words gave it as his opinion +that any further search in the cave under the point was useless. +(If he had known the strange confirmatory echo which this awoke in +my mind!) He proposed that the shore of the island to a reasonable +distance on either side of the bay-entrance should be surveyed, +with a view to discover whether some other cave did not exist which +would answer the description given by the dying Hopperdown as well +as that first explored. + +Mr. Shaw's words were addressed to the ladies, the organizer and +financier, respectively, of the expedition, to the very deliberate +exclusion of Mr. Tubbs. But he might as well have made up his mind +to recognize the triumvirate. Enthroned on a camp-chair sat Aunt +Jane, like a little goddess of the Dollar Sign, and on one hand Mr. +Tubbs smiled blandly, and on the other Violet gloomed. You saw +that in secret council Mr. Shaw's announcement had been foreseen +and deliberated upon. + +Mr. Tubbs, who understood very well the role of power behind the +throne, left it to Violet to reply. And Miss Browne, who carried +an invisible rostrum with her wherever she went, now alertly +mounted it. + +"My friends," she began, "those dwelling on a plane where the +Material is all may fail to grasp the thought which I shall put +before you this evening. They may not understand that if a +different psychic atmosphere had existed on this island from the +first we should not now be gazing into a blank wall of Doubt. My +friends, this expedition was, so to speak, called from the Void by +Thought. Thought it was, as realized in steamships and other +ephemeral forms, which bore us thither over rolling seas. How then +can it be otherwise than that Thought should influence our +fortunes--that success should be unable to materialize before a +persistent attitude of Negation? My friends, you will perceive +that there is no break in this sequence of ideas; all is +remorseless logic. + +"In order to withdraw myself from this atmosphere of Negation, for +these several days past I have sought seclusion. There in silence +I have asserted the power of Positive over Negative Thought, gazing +meanwhile into the profound depths of the All. My friends, an +answer has been vouchsafed us; I have had a vision of that for +which we seek. Now at last, in a spirit of glad confidence, we may +advance. For, my friends, the chest is buried--in sand." + +With this triumphant announcement Miss Higglesby-Browne sat down. +A heavy silence succeeded. It was broken by a murmur from Mr. +Tubbs. + +"Wonderful--that's what I call wonderful! Talk about the eloquence +of the ancients--I believe, by gum, this is on a par with +Congressional oratory!" + +"A vision, Miss Browne," said Mr. Shaw gravely, "must be an +interesting thing. I have never seen one myself, having no talents +that way, but in the little Scotch town of Dumbiedykes where I was +born there was an old lady with a remarkable gift of the second +sight. Simple folk, not being acquainted with the proper terms to +fit the case, called her the Wise Woman. Well, one day my aunt had +been to the neighboring town of Micklestane, five miles off, and on +the way back to Dumbiedykes she lost her purse. It had three +sovereigns in it--a great sum to my aunt. In her trouble of mind +she hurried to the Wise Woman--a thing to make her pious father +turn in his grave. The Wise Woman--gazed into the All, I suppose, +and told my aunt not to fret herself, for she had had a vision of +the purse and _it lay somewhere on the food between Micklestane and +Dumbiedykes_. + +"Now, Miss Browne, I'll take the liberty of drawing a moral from +this Story to fit the present instance: _where on the road between +Micklestane and Dumbiedykes is the chest_?" + +Though startled at the audacity of Mr. Shaw, I was unprepared for +the spasm of absolute fury that convulsed Miss Browne's countenance. + +"Mr. Shaw," she thundered, "if you intend to draw a parallel +between me and an ignorant Scotch peasant--!" + +"Not at all," said Mr. Shaw calmly, "forebye the Wise Woman was a +most respectable person and had a grandson in the kirk. The point +is, can you indicate with any degree of exactness the whereabouts +of the chest? For there is a good deal of sand on the shores of +this island." + +"Oh, but Mr. Shaw!" interposed Aunt Jane tremulously. "In the +sand--why, I am sure that is such a helpful thought! It shows +quite plainly that the chest is not buried in--in a rock, you +know." She gave the effect of a person trying to deflect a +thunderstorm with a palm-leaf fan. + +"Dynamite---dynamite--blow the lid off the island!" mumbled Captain +Magnus. + +"If any one has a definite plan to propose," said Mr. Shaw, "I am +very ready to consider it. I have understood myself from the first +to be acting under the directions of the ladies who planned this +expedition. As a mere matter of honesty to my employers, I should +feel bound to spare no effort to find the treasure, even if my own +interests were not so vitally concerned. Considering its +importance to myself, no one can well suppose that I am not doing +all in my power to bring the chest to light. Tomorrow, if the sea +is favorable, it is my intention to set out in the boat to +determine the character of such other caves as exist on the island. +I'll want you with me, lad, and you too, Magnus." + +Captain Magnus looked more ill at ease than usual. "Did you think +o' rowin' the whole way round the dinged chunk o' rock?" he +inquired. + +"Certainly not," said Mr. Shaw with an impatient frown. So the +man, in addition to his other unattractive qualities, was turning +out a shirk! Hitherto, with his strength and feverish if +intermittent energy, plus an almost uncanny skill with boats, he +had been of value. "Certainly not. We are going to make a careful +survey of the cliffs, and explore every likely opening as +thoroughly as possible. It will be slow work and hard. As to +circumnavigating the island, I see no point in it, for I don't +believe the chest can have been carried any great distance from the +cove." + +"Oh--all right," said Captain Magnus. + +Mr. Tubbs, who had been whispering with Aunt Jane and Miss Browne, +now with a very made-to-order casualness proposed to the two ladies +that they take a stroll on the beach. This meant that the +triumvirate were to withdraw for discussion, and amounted to notice +that henceforth the counsels of the company would be divided. + +Captain Magnus, after an uneasy wriggle or two, said he guessed +he'd turn in. Cookie's snores were already audible between +splashes of the waves on the sands. The Scotchman, Cuthbert Vane +and I continued to sit by the dying fire. Mr. Shaw had got out his +pipe and sat silently puffing at it. He might have been sitting in +solitude on the topmost crag of the island, so remote seemed that +impassive presence. Was it possible that ever, except in the sweet +madness of a dream, I had been in his arms, pillowed and cherished +there, that he had called me _lassie_-- + +I lifted my eyes to the kind honest gaze of Cuthbert Vane. It was +as faithful as Crusoe's and no more embarrassing. A great impulse +of affection moved me. I was near putting out a hand to pat his +splendid head. Oh, how easy, comfortable, and calm would be a life +with Cuthbert Vane! I wasn't thinking about the title +now--Cuthbert would be quite worth while for himself. For a moment +I almost saw with Aunt Jane's eyes. _Fancy trotting him out before +the girls_! stole insidiously into my mind. How much more dazzling +than a plain Scotch sailor-- + +I turned in bitterness and yearning from the silent figure by the +fire. + +I think in an earlier lifetime I must have been a huntress and +loved to pursue the game that fled. + + + + +XII + +THE ISLAND QUEEN'S FREIGHT + +I woke next morning with a great thrill of exhilaration. Perhaps +before the sun went down again I should know the secret of the +island. + +The two divisions of our party, which were designated by me +privately the Land and Sea Forces, went their separate ways +directly after breakfast, which we ate in the cool of earliest +morning, I could retire to the perusal of the journal which I had +recovered from the wrecked sloop without fear of interruption. + +I resumed my reading with the entry of February 10. + + +This morning, having grown very tired of fish, of which I get +plenty every time I go out in the boat by dragging a line behind, I +decided to stay ashore and hunt pig. I set out across the base of +the point, nearly due south--whereas I had been working along the +coast to the north of the cove. On my right the slope of the +mountain rose steeply, and as I approached the south shore the rise +of the peak became more abrupt, and great jutting crags leaned out +over the tree-tops below. + +I reached the edge of the cliffs and found that on my right hand +the mountain dropped in a sheer precipice from hundreds of feet +above me straight into the sea. I considered, and made up my mind +that by striking back some distance one might by a very rough climb +gain the top of the precipice, and so swing around the shoulder of +the mountain. I did not feel inclined to attempt it. The cliffs +at this point offered no means of descent, and the few yards of +sand which the receding tide had left bare at their foot led +nowhere. + +So far I had seen no pig, and I began to think they must all be +feeding on the other side of the island. I turned to go back, and +at that moment I heard an outcry in the bushes and Benjy came +tearing out at the heels of a fine young porker. I threw up my gun +to fire, but the evolutions of Benjy and the pig were such that I +was as likely to hit one as the other. The pig, of course, made +desperate efforts to escape from the cul-de-sac in which he found +himself. His only hope was to get back into the woods on the +point. Benjy kept him headed off successfully, and I began to edge +up, watching my chance for a shot. Suddenly the pig came dashing +straight toward me--oblivious, I suppose, to everything but the +white snapping terror at his heels. Taken by surprise, I +fired--and missed. The pig shot between my knees, Benjy after him. +I withstood the shock of the pig, but not of Benjy. I fell, +clawing wildly, into a matted mass of creepers that covered the +ground beside me. + +I got to my feet quickly, dragging the whole mass of vines up with +me. Then I saw that they had covered a curiously regular little +patch of ground, outlined at intervals with small stones. At one +end was a larger stone. + +The patch was narrow, about six feet long--instantly suggestive of +a grave. But swift beyond all process of reason was the certainty +that flashed into my mind. I fell on my knees beside the stone at +the head and pulled away the torn vine-tendrils. I saw the letters +B. H. and an attempt at cross-bones rudely cut into the surface of +the stone. + +I closed my eyes and tried to steady myself. I thought, I am +seeing things. _This is the mere projection of the vision which +has been in my mind so long_. + +I opened my eyes, and lo, the fantasy, if fantasy it were, +remained. I smote with my fist upon the stone. The stone was +solid--it bruised the flesh. And as I saw the blood run, I +screamed aloud like a madman, "_It's real, real, real_!" + +Under the stone lay the guardian of the treasure of the _Bonny +Lass_--And his secret was within my grasp. + +I don't know how long I crouched beside the stone, as drunk with +joy as any hasheesh toper with his drug. I roused at last to find +Benjy at my shoulder, thrusting his cool nose against my feverish +cheek. I suppose he didn't understand my ignoring him so, or +thought I scorned him for losing out in his race with the pig. Yet +when I think of what I owe that pig I could swear never to taste +pork again. + +Brought back to earth and sanity, I rose and began to consider my +surroundings. Somewhere close at hand was the mouth of the +cave--but where? The cliffs, as I have already said, were too +steep for descent. Nothing but a fly could have crawled down them. +I turned to the craggy face of the mountain. There, surely, must +be the entrance to the cave! For hours I clambered among the +rocks, risking mangled limbs and sunstroke--and found no cave. I +came back at last, wearily, to the grave. There lay the dust of +the brain that had known all--and a wild impulse came to me to tear +away the earth with my bare hands, to dig deep, deep--and then with +listening ear wait for a whispered word. + +I put the delirious fancy from me and moved away to the edge of the +cliffs. Looking down, I saw a narrow sloping shelf which dropped +from the brink to a distance of ten or twelve feet below, where it +met a slight projection of the rock. I had seen it before, of +course, but it had carried no significance for my mind. Now I +stepped down upon the ledge and followed it to its end in the angle +of the rock. + +Snugly hidden in the angle was a low doorway leading into blackness. + +Now of course I ought in prudence to have gone back to the hut and +got matches and a lantern and a rope before I set foot in the +darkness of that unknown place. But what had I to do to-day with +prudence--Fortune had me by the hand! In I went boldly, Benjy at +my heels. The passage turned sharply, and for a little way we +walked in blackness. Then it veered again, and a faint and far-off +light seemed to filter its way to us through a web woven of the +very stuff of night. The floor sloped a little downward. I felt +my way with my feet, and came to a step--another. I was going +along a descending passage, cut at its steepest into rough, +irregular stairs. With either hand I could touch the walls. All +the while the light grew clearer. Presently, by another sharp +turn, I found myself in a cave, some thirty feet in depth by +eighteen across, with an opening on the narrow strip of beach I had +seen from the top of the cliffs. + +The roof is high, with an effect of Gothic arches. Near the mouth +is a tiny spring of ice-cold water, which has worn a clean +rock-channel for itself to the sea. Otherwise the cave is +perfectly dry. The shining white sand of its floor is above the +highest watermark on the cliffs outside. There is no doubt in my +mind that in the great buccaneering days of the seventeenth +century, and probably much later, the place was the haunt of +pirates. One fancies that Captain Sampson of the _Bonny Lass_ may +have known of it before he brought the treasure to the island. +There were queer folk to be met with in those days in the Western +Ocean! The cave is cool at blazing midday, and secret, I fancy, +even from the sea, because of the droop of great rock-eaves above +its mouth. Either for the keeping of stores or as a hiding-place +for men or treasure it would be admirable. Yes, the cave has seen +many a fierce, sea-tanned face and tarry pigtail, and echoed to +strange oaths and wild sea-songs. Men had carved those steps in +the passage--thirty-two of them. In the sand of the floor, as I +kicked it up with my feet, hoping rather childishly to strike the +corner of the chest, I found the hilt and part of the blade of a +rusty cutlass, and a chased silver shoe-buckle. I shall take the +buckle home to Helen--and yet how trivial it will seem, with all +else that I have to offer her! Nevertheless she will prize it as +my gift, and because it comes from the place to which some kind +angel led me for her sake. + +I left the cave and hurried back to the cabin for a spade, walking +on air, breaking with snatches of song the terrible stillness of +the woods, where one hears only the high fitful sighing of the +wind, or the eternal mutter of the sea. As I came out of the hut +with the spade over my shoulder I waved my hand to the _Island +Queen_ riding at anchor. + +"You'll soon be showing a clean pair of heels to Leeward, old +girl!" I cried. Back in the cave, I set to work feverishly, making +the light sand fly. I began at the rear of the cavern, reasoning +that there the sand would lie at greater depth, also that it would +be above the wash of the heaviest storms. At the end of half an +hour, at a point close to the angle of the wall my spade struck a +hard surface. It lay, I should judge, under about two feet of +sand. Soon I had laid bare a patch of dark wood which rang under +my knuckles almost like iron. A little more, and I had cleared +away the sand from the top of a large chest with a convex lid, +heavily bound in brass. + +Furiously I flung the sand aside until the chest stood free for +half its depth--which is roughly three feet. It has handles at the +ends, great hand-wrought loops of metal. I tugged my hardest, but +the chest seemed fast in its place as the native rock. I laughed +exultantly. The weight meant gold--gold! I had hammer and chisel +with me, and with these I forced the massive ancient locks. There +were three of them, one for each strip of brass which bound the +chest. Then I flung up the lid. + +No glittering treasure dazzled me. I saw only a surface of stained +canvas, tucked in carefully around the edges. This I tore off and +flung aside--eclipsing poor Benjy, who was a most interested +spectator of my strange proceedings. Still no gleam of gold, +merely demure rows of plump brown bags. With both hands I reached +for them. Oh, to grasp them all! I had to be content with two, +because they were so heavy, so blessedly heavy! + +I spread the square of canvas on the sand, cut the strings from the +bags, and poured out--gold, gold! All fair shining golden coins +they were, not a paltry silver piece among them! And they made a +soft golden music as they fell in a glorious yellow heap. + +I don't know how long I sat there, playing with my gold, running it +through my fingers, clinking the coins together in my palm. Benjy +came and sniffed at them indifferently, unable to understand his +master's preoccupation. He thrust his nose into my face and +barked, and said as clearly as with words, _Come, hunt pig_! + +"Benjy," I said, "we'll leave the pork alone just now. We have +work enough to count our money. We're rich, old boy, rich, rich!" + +Of course, I don't yet know exactly what the value of the treasure +is. I have counted the bags in the chest; there are one hundred +and forty-eight. Each, so far as I have determined, contains one +thousand doubloons, which makes a total of one hundred and +forty-eight thousand. Estimating each coin, for the sake of even +figures, at a value of seven dollars--a safe minimum--you get one +million, thirty-six thousand dollars. And as many of the coins are +ancient, I ought to reap a harvest from collectors. + +Besides the coin, I found, rather surprisingly, laid between the +upper layers of bags, a silver crucifix about nine inches long. It +is of very quaint old workmanship, and badly tarnished. Its money +value must be very trifling, compared to the same bulk of golden +coins. I think it must have had some special character of +sacredness which led to its preservation here. It is strange to +find such a relic among a treasure so stained by blood and crime. + +And now I have to think about moving the gold. First of all I must +get the chest itself aboard the _Island Queen_. This means that I +shall have to empty it and leave the gold in the cave, while I get +the chest out by sea. When the chest is safely in the cabin of the +sloop--where it won't leave much room for Benjy and his master, I'm +afraid--I will take the bags of coin out by the land entrance. I +can't think of risking my precious doubloons in the voyage around +the point. + +Of course I should have liked to get to the task to-day, but after +the first mad thrill of the great event was over, I found myself as +weak and unnerved as a woman. So by a great effort I came away and +left my glorious golden hoard. Now I dream and gloat, playing with +the idea that to-morrow I shall find it all a fantasy. The +pleasure of this is, of course, that all the while I _know_ this +wildest of all Arabian fairy tales to be as real as the most drab +and sober fact of my hitherto colorless life. + +After all, on the way back from the cave Benjy brought down a pig. +So he is as well pleased with the day as I am. Now I am sitting in +the doorway of my cabin, writing up my journal, and trying to calm +down enough to go to bed. If it were not for the swift fading of +daylight, I would go back to the cave for another peep into the +chest. But all round the island the sea is moaning with that +peculiarly melancholy note that comes with the falling of night. +The sea-birds have risen from the cove and gone wheeling off in +troops to their nests on the cliffs. Somehow a curious dislike, +almost fear, of this wild, sea-girt, solitary place has come over +me. I long for the sound of human voices, the touch of human +hands. I think of the dead man lying there at the door of the +cave, its silent guardian for so long. I suppose he brooded once +on the thought of the gold as I do--perhaps he has been brooding so +these ninety years! I wonder if he is pleased that I, a stranger, +have come into possession of his secret hoard at last? + +Oh, Helen, turn your heavenly face on me--be my refuge from these +shuddering unwholesome thoughts! The gold is for you--for you! +Surely that must cleanse it of its stains, must loose the clutch of +the dead hands that strive to hold it! + + +February 11. This morning I was early at the cave. Yes, there it +was, the same wonder-chest that I had dreamed of all night long. +It was absurd how the tightness in my breast relaxed. + +I began at once the work of removing the bags from the chest and +stacking them in the corner of the cave. It was a fatiguing job, I +had to stoop so. At the bottom of the chest I found a small +portfolio of very fine leather containing documents in Spanish. +They bear an official seal. Although I should be interested to +know their meaning, I think I shall destroy them. They weaken my +feeling of ownership; I suppose there is a slight flavor of +lawlessness in my carrying off the gold from the island like this. +Very likely the little Spanish-American state which has some claim +to overlordship here would dispute my right to the treasure-trove. + +I spent so much time unloading the chest and poring over the +papers, trying, by means of my ill-remembered Latin, to make out +the sense of the kindred Spanish, that before I was ready to go for +my boat the tide was up and pounding on the rocks below the cave. +I find that only at certain stages of the tide is the cave +approachable by sea. At the turn after high water, for instance, +there is such a terrific undertow that it sets up a small maelstrom +among the reefs lying off the island. At low tide is the time to +come. + + +February 12. Got the chest out of the cave, though it was a +difficult job. I don't know of what wood the thing is built--some +South American hardwood, I fancy--but it weighs like metal. The +heavy brass clampings count for something, of course. Luckily +there was no sea, and I had a smooth passage around the point, I +laughed rather ruefully as I passed the Cave of the Two Arches. To +think of the toil I wasted there! I wish Benjy had encountered the +fateful pig a little sooner. + +Got the chest aboard the _Island Queen_ and stowed in the cabin. +Not room left to swing a kitten. Contrived an elaborate +arrangement of ropes and spikes to keep it in place in a heavy sea. + +In the afternoon began moving the gold. It's the deuce of a job. + + +February 15. Been hard at it for three days. Most of the gold +moved. Have to think too of provisions and water for the trip. I +am making rather a liberal allowance, in case of being blown out of +my course by a tropical gale. + + +February 16. On board the _Island Queen_. Have moved my traps +from the hut and am sleeping on the sloop. Want to be near the +gold. "Where the treasure is, there will the heart be also," and +in this case the body as well. To-morrow I have only to bring the +last of the gold aboard--a trifling matter--and then go out with +the ebb. I would have got all the bags on board to-day, but I +noticed a worn stretch in the cable holding the sloop and stopped +to repair it. I can't have the sloop going on the rocks in case a +blow comes up to-night. There are only about a load and a half of +bags left in the cave. + +A queer notion seized me to-day about the crucifix, when I was +bringing it from the cave. It seemed to float into my brain--I +can't say from what quarter--_that I had better leave the crucifix +for Bill_. It wasn't more than he had a right to, really--and +there is no virtue in a cross-bones to make a man sleep well. + +Of course I put the absurd idea from me, and brought the crucifix +aboard along with the rest of the gold. I shall be glad when I +know that the vines have again covered that lonely-looking +gravestone from sight. I can't help feeling my own glorious good +fortune to be somehow an affront to poor unlucky Bill. + +To-morrow one last trip to the cave, and then hey, for home and +Helen! + + +The diary ended here. + +I closed the book, and stared with unseeing eyes into the green +shadows of the encompassing woods. What happened to the writer of +the diary on that last trip to the cave? For he had never left the +island. Crusoe was here to prove it, as well as the wreck of the +Island Queen. And, in all human probability, under the sand which +choked the cabin of the derelict was the long-sought chest of +Spanish doubloons. + +But what was the mysterious fate of Peter? Had he fallen, +overboard from the sloop and been drowned? Had he returned to the +cave--and was he there still? It was all a mystery--but a mystery +which I burned to solve. + +Of course I might have solved it, very quickly, merely by +communicating the extraordinary knowledge which had come to me to +my companions. But for the present at least I meant to keep this +astounding secret for my own. Somehow or other, by guile or lucky +circumstance, I must bring it about that the document I had signed +at Miss Browne's behest was canceled. Was I, who all unaided had +discovered, or as good as discovered, the vainly-sought-for +treasure, to disclose its whereabouts to those who would deny me +the smallest claim upon its contents? Was I to see all those +"fair, shining golden coins," parceled out between Miss Browne, and +Mr. Tubbs, and Captain Magnus (the three who loomed large in my +indignant thoughts), and not possess a single one myself? Or +perhaps accept a little stingy present of a few? I really wasn't +very covetous about the money, taken just as money; but considered +as buried treasure it made my mouth water. + +Then besides, while I kept my secret I had power; everybody's +destiny was in my hands. This was a sweet thought. I felt that I +should enjoy going about with a deceptive meekness, and taking the +severest snubs from Miss Browne, knowing that at any moment I could +blossom forth into the most exalted and thrilling importance. +Also, not only did I want a share in the treasure myself, but I +wanted, if possible, to divide it up on a different basis from the +present. I wanted Cuthbert Vane to have a lot of it--and I should +have been much better pleased not to let Mr. Tubbs or Captain +Magnus have any. I did not crave to enrich Violet, and I thought +Aunt Jane had already more money than was good for her. Give her +another half-million, and Mr. Tubbs would commit bigamy, if +necessary, for her sake. + +And then there was Dugald Shaw, who had saved my life, and who +seemed to have forgotten it, and that I had ever had my arms about +his neck--and who was poor--and brave-- + +Yes, decidedly, I should keep my secret yet while, till I saw how +the cards were going to fall. + + + + +XIII + +I BRING TO LIGHT A CLUE + +My first and all but overpowering impulse was to possess myself of +a spade and dash for the wreck of the _Island Queen_. Sober second +thought restrained me. Merely to get there and back would consume +much time, for the descent of the cliffs, and still more the climb +up again, was a toilsome affair. Also, reflection showed me that +to dig through the damp close-packed sand of the cabin would be no +trifling task, for I should be hampered by the need of throwing out +the excavated sand behind me through the narrow companionway. I +could achieve my end, no doubt, by patient burrowing, but it would +require much more time than I had at my command before the noon-day +sounding of Cookie's gong. I must not be seen departing or +returning with a spade, but make off with the implement in a +stealthy and burglarious manner. Above all, I must not risk +betraying my secret through impatience. + +But there was nothing to forbid an immediate pilgrimage to the +much-sought gravestone with its sinister symbol. The account in +Peter's diary of his adventure with the pig placed the grave with +such exactness that I had no doubt of finding it easily. That +done, I would know very nearly where to look for the cave--and in +order to bid defiance to a certain chill sense of reluctance which +beset me at the thought of the cave I started out at once, skirting +the clearing with much circumspection, for it seemed to me that +even the sight of my vanishing back must shout of mystery to Cookie +droning hymns among his pots and pans. Crusoe, of course, came +with me, happily unconscious of his own strange relation to our +quest. + +Following in the steps of Peter, who seemed in an airy and +uncomfortable fashion to be bearing me company, I struck across the +point, at the base of the rough slope which marks the first rise of +the peak. As I neared the sea on the other side great crags began +to overhang the path, which was, of course, no path, but merely the +line of least resistance through the woods. Soon the noise of the +sea, of which one was never altogether free on the island, though +it reaches the recesses of the forest only as a vast nameless +murmur, broke in heightened clamor on my ears. I heard the waves +roaring and dashing on rocks far below--and then I stood at the +dizzy edge of the plateau looking out over the illimitable gleaming +reaches of the sea. + +Somewhere in this angle between the ragged margin of the cliffs and +the abrupt rise of the craggy mountainside, according to Peter's +journal, lay the grave. I began systematically to poke with a +stick I carried into every low-growing mass of vines or bushes. +Because of the comparatively rocky, sterile soil the woods were +thinner here, and the undergrowth was greater. Only the very +definite localization of the grave by the accommodating diarist +gave any hope of finding it. + +And then, quite suddenly, I found it. My proddings had displaced a +matted mass of ground-creeper. Beneath, looking raw and naked +without its leafy covering, was the "curiously regular little +patch of ground, outlined at intervals with small stones." +Panic-stricken beetles scuttled for refuge. A great green slug +undulated painfully across his suddenly denuded pasture, A whole +small world found itself hurled back to chaos. + +At the head of the grave lay a large, smoothly-rounded stone. +I knelt and brushed away some obstinate vine-tendrils, and +the letters "B. H." revealed themselves, cut deeply and +irregularly into the sloping face of the stone. Below was the +half-intelligible symbol of the crossed bones. + +There was something in the utter loneliness of the place that +caught my breath sharply. At once I had the feeling of a marauder. +Here slept the guardian of the treasure--and yet in defiance of him +I meant to have it. So, too, had Peter--and I didn't know yet what +he had managed to do to Peter--but I guessed from his journal that +Peter had been a slightly morbid person. He had let the wild +solitude of the island frighten him. He had indulged foolish +fancies about crucifixes. He had in fact let the defenses of his +will be undermined ever so little--and then of course there was no +telling what They could do to you. + +With an impatient shiver I got up quickly from my knees. What +abominable nonsense I had been talking--was there a miasma about +that old grave that affected one? I whistled to Crusoe, who was +trotting busily about on mysterious intelligence conveyed to him by +his nose. He ran to me joyfully, and I stooped and patted his warm +vigorous body. + +"Let Bill walk, Crusoe," I remarked, "let him! He needn't be a dog +in the manger about the treasure, anyhow." + +Now came the moment which I had been trying not to think about. I +had to find the entrance to the cave, and then go into it or part +with my own esteem forever. I went and peered over the cliff. I +had an unacknowledged hope that the shelf of which Peter had +written had been rent off by some cataclysm and that I could not +possibly get down to the doorway in the rock. My hope was vain. +The ledge was there--not an inviting ledge, nor one on which the +unacrobatically inclined would have any impulse to saunter, but a +perfectly good ledge, on which I had not the slightest excuse for +declining to venture. Seventy feet below I saw a narrow strip of +sand, from which the tide was receding. It ran along under the +great precipice which rose on my right, forming the face of the +mountain on the south side. On that strip of sand the old +hiding-place of the-pirates opened. I thought I saw the +overhanging eaves of rock of which the diary had spoken. + +There was truly nothing dangerous about the ledge. It was nearly +three feet wide, and had an easy downward trend. Yet you heard the +hungry roar of the surf below, and try as you would not to, caught +glimpses of the white swirl of it. I moved cautiously, keeping +close to the face of the cliff. Crusoe, to my annoyance, sprang +down upon the ledge after me. I had a feeling that he must +certainly trip me as I picked my way gingerly along. + +An angle in the rock--a low dark entrance-way--it was all as Peter +had described it. I peered in--nothing but impenetrable blackness. +I took a hesitating step. The passage veered sharply, as the diary +had recorded. Once around the corner, there would be nothing but +darkness anywhere. One would go stumbling on, feeling with feet +and hands--hands cold with the dread of what they might be going to +touch. For, suddenly portentous and overwhelming, there rose +before me the unanswered question of what had become of Peter on +that last visit to the cave. Unanswered--and unanswerable except +in one way: by going in to see. + +But if by any strange chance--where all chances were strange--he +were still there, I did not want to see. I did not like to +contemplate his possible neighborhood. Indeed, he grew enormously +more real to me with every instant I stood there, and whereas I had +so far thought principally about the treasure, I now began to think +with intensity of Peter. What ironic stroke of fate had cut him +down in the very moment of his triumph? Had he ever reached the +cave to bring away the last of the doubloons? Were they +still waiting there unclaimed? Had he fallen victim to some +extraordinary mischance on the way back to the _Island Queen_? Had +a storm come up on that last night, and the weakened cable parted, +and the _Island Queen_ gone on the rocks, drowning Peter in the +cabin with his gold? Then how had Crusoe got away, Crusoe, who +feared the waves so, and would bark at them and then turn tail and +run? + +Speaking of Crusoe, where was he? I realized that a moment ago he +had plunged into the passage. I heard the patter of his feet--a +pause. A queer, dismal little whine echoed along the passage. I +heard Crusoe returning--but before his nose appeared around the +angle of the tunnel, his mistress had reached the top of the cliff +at a bound and was vanishing at a brisk pace into the woods. + +With bitterness, as I pursued my way to camp, I realized that I was +not a heroine. Here was a mystery--it was the business of a +heroine to solve it. Now that I was safely away from the cave, I +began to feel the itch of a torturing curiosity. How, without +going into the terrifying place alone, should I find out what was +there? Should I pretend to have accidentally discovered the grave, +lead the party to it, and then--again accidentally--discover the +tunnel? This plan had its merits--but I discarded it, for fear +that something would be found in the cave to direct attention to +the _Island Queen_. Then I reflected that very likely the +explorers would work round the island far enough to find the +sea-mouth of the cave. This would take matters entirely out of my +hands. I should perhaps be enlightened as to the fate of Peter and +the last remaining bags of doubloons, but might also have to share +the secret of the derelict with the rest. And then all my dreams +of playing fairy godmother and showering down on certain +heads--like coals of fire--torrents of beautiful golden doubloons, +would be over. + +On the whole I could not tell whether I burned with impatience to +have the cave discovered, or was cold with the fear of it. + +And then, so vigorous is the instinct to see one's self in heroic +postures, I found I was trying to cheat myself with the pretense +that I meant presently to abstract Aunt Jane's electric torch and +returning to the tunnel-mouth plunge in dauntlessly. + + + + +XIV + +MR. TUBBS INTERRUPTS + +I had determined as an offset to my pusillanimous behavior about +the cave to show a dogged industry in the matter of the _Island +Queen_. It would take me a long while to get down through the sand +to the chest, but I resolved to accomplish it, and borrowed of +Cookie, without his knowledge, a large iron spoon which I thought I +could wield more easily than a heavy spade. Besides, Cookie would +be less sleuth-like in getting on the trail of his missing property +than Mr. Shaw--though there would be a certain piquancy in having +that martinet hale me before him for stealing a spade. + +But that afternoon I was tired and hot--it really called for a +grimmer resolve than mine to shovel sand through the languor of a +Leeward Island afternoon. Instead, I slept in my hammock, and +dreamed that I was queen of a cannibal island, draped in necklaces +made of the doubloons now hidden under the sand in the cabin of the +derelict. + +Later, the wailing of Cookie was heard in the land, and I had to +restore the spoon to free Crusoe of the charge of having stolen it. +I said I had wanted it to dig with. But of course it occurred to +no one that it was the treasure I had expected to dig up with +Cookie's spoon. It was touching to see the universal faith in the +trivial nature of my employments, to know that every one imagined +themselves to be seriously occupied, while I was merely a +girl--there is no common denominator for the qualifying +adjective--who roamed about idly with a dog, and that no one +dreamed that we had thus come to be potentially among the richest +dogs and girls in these latitudes. + +A more serious obstacle to my explorations on the _Island Queen_ +presented itself next day. Instead of putting to sea, Mr. Shaw and +Captain Magnus hauled the boat up on the beach and set to work to +repair it. The wild work of exploring the coast had left the boat +with leaky seams and a damaged gunwale. The preceding day had been +filled with hardship and danger--so much so that my heart sank a +little at the recountal of it. You saw the little boat threading +its way among the reefs, tossed like seaweed by the white teeth of +gnawing waves, screamed at by angry gulls whose homes were those +clefts and caves which the boat invaded. And all this, poor little +boat, on a hopeless quest--for no reward but peril and wounds. +Captain Magnus had a bruised and bleeding wrist, but refused to +have it dressed, vaunting his hardihood with a savage pride. +Cuthbert Vane, however, had a sprained thumb which could not be +ignored, and on the strength of which he was dismissed from the +boat-repairing contingent, and thrown on my hands to entertain. So +of course I had to renounce all thoughts of visiting the sloop. I +should not have dared to go there anyway, with Mr. Shaw and the +captain able more or less to overlook my motions from the beach, +for I was quite morbidly afraid of attracting attention to the +derelict. It seemed to me a happy miracle that no one but myself +had taken any interest in her, or been inspired to ask by what +chance so small a boat had come to be wrecked upon these desolate +shores. Fortunately in her position in the shadow of the cliff she +was inconspicuous, so that she might easily have been taken for the +half of a large boat instead of the whole of a small one, or she +must before this have drawn the questioning notice of the +Scotchman. As to the captain, his attention was all set on the +effort to discover the cave, and his intelligence was not lively +enough to start on an entirely new tack by itself. And the +Honorable Cuthbert viewed derelicts as he viewed the planetary +bodies; somehow in the course of nature they happened. + +So, dissembling my excitements and anxieties, I swung placidly in +my hammock, and near by sat the beautiful youth with his thumb +carried tenderly in a bandage. In my preoccupied state of mind, to +entertain him might have seemed by no means an idle pastime, if he +hadn't unexpectedly developed a talkative streak himself. Was it +merely my being so distrait, or was it quite another reason, that +led him to open up so suddenly about his Kentish home? Strange to +say, instead of panting for the title, Cuthbert wanted his brother +to go on living, though there was something queer about his spine, +poor fellow, and the doctors said he couldn't possibly-- Of course +I was surprised at Cuthbert's views, for I had always thought that +if there were a title in your family your sentiments toward those +who kept you out of it were necessarily murderous, and your tears +crocodile when you pretended to weep over their biers. But +Cuthbert's feelings were so human that I mentally apologized to the +nobility. As to High Staunton Manor, I adored it. It is mostly +Jacobean, but with an ancient Tudor wing, and it has a chapel and a +ghost and a secret staircase and a frightfully beautiful and wicked +ancestress hanging in the hall--I mean a portrait of her--and +quantities of oak paneling quite black with age, and silver that +was hidden in the family tombs when Cromwell's soldiers came, and a +chamber where Elizabeth once slept, and other romantic details too +numerous to mention. It is all a little bit run down and shabby, +for lack of money to keep it up, and of course on that account all +the more entrancing. Naturally the less money the more +aristocracy, for it meant that the family had never descended to +marrying coal miners and brewers--which comment is my own, for +Cuthbert was quite destitute of swank. + +The present Lord Grasmere lived up to his position so completely +that he had the gout and sat with his foot on a cushion exactly +like all the elderly aristocrats you ever heard of, only when I +inquired if his lordship cursed his valet and flung plates at the +footmen when his foot hurt him his son was much shocked and pained. +He did not realize so well as I--from an extensive course of +novel-reading--that such is the usual behavior of titled persons. + +It was delightful, there in the hot stillness of the island, with +the palms rustling faintly overhead, to hear of that cool, mossy, +ancient place. I asked eager questions--I repeated gloatingly +fragments of description--I wondered enviously what it would be +like to have anything so old and proud and beautiful in your very +blood--when suddenly I realized that, misled by my enthusiasm, +Cuthbert was saying something which must not be said--that he was +about to offer the shelter of that ancient roof to me. To me, +whose heart could never nest there, but must be ever on the wing, a +wild bird of passage in the track of a ship-- + +I sat up with a galvanic start. "Oh--listen--didn't you hear +something?" I desperately broke in. For somehow I must stop him. +I didn't want our nice jolly friendship spoiled--and besides, fancy +being cooped up on an island with a man you have refused! +Especially when all the while you'd be wanting so to pet and +console him! + +But with his calm doggedness Cuthbert began again--"I was a bit +afraid the old place would have seemed too quiet and dull to you--" +when the day was saved and my interruption strangely justified by a +shrill outcry from the camp. + +I knew that high falsetto tone. It was the voice of Mr. Tubbs, but +pitched in a key of quite insane excitement. I sprang up and ran, +Crusoe and the Honorable Cuthbert at my heels. There in the midst +of the camp Mr. Tubbs stood, the center of a group who were +regarding him with astonished looks. Mr. Shaw and the captain had +left their tinkering, Cookie his saucepans, and Aunt Jane and +Violet had come hurrying from the hut. Among us all stood Mr. +Tubbs with folded arms, looking round upon the company with an +extraordinary air of complacency and triumph. + +"What is it, oh, what is it, Mr. Tubbs?" cried Aunt Jane, +fluttering with the consciousness of her proprietorship. + +But Mr. Tubbs glanced at her as indifferently as a sated +turkey-buzzard at a morsel which has ceased to tempt him. + +"Mr. Tubbs," commanded Violet, "speak--explain yourself!" + +"Come, out with it, Tubbs," advised Mr. Shaw. + +Then the lips of Mr. Tubbs parted, and from them issued this +solitary word: + +"Eureka!" + +"What?" screamed Miss Higglesby-Browne. "_You have found it_?" + +Solemnly Mr. Tubbs inclined his head. + +"Eureka!" he repeated. "I have found it!" + +Amidst the exclamations, the questions, the general commotion which +ensued, I had room for only one thought--that Mr. Tubbs had somehow +discovered the treasure in the cabin of the _Island Queen_. +Indeed, I should have shrieked the words aloud, but for a +providential dumbness that fell upon me. Meanwhile Mr. Tubbs had +unfolded his arms from their Napoleonic posture on his bosom long +enough to wave his hand for silence. + +"Friends," he began, "it has been known from the start that there +was a landmark on this little old island that would give any party +discovering the same a line on that chest of money right away. +There's been some that was too high up in the exploring business to +waste time looking for landmarks. They had ruther do more fancy +stunts, where what with surf, and sharks, and bangin' up the boat, +they could make a good show of gettin' busy. But old Ham Tubbs, he +don't let on to be a hero. Jest a plain man o' business--that's +old H. H. Consequence is, he leaves the other fellers have the +brass band, while he sets out on the q. t. to run a certain little +clue to earth. And, ladies and gentlemen, he's run it!" + +"You have found--you have found the treasure!" shrilled Aunt Jane. + +Contrary to his bland custom, Mr. Tubbs frowned at her darkly. + +"I said I found the _clue_," he corrected. "Of course, it's the +same thing. Ladies and gentlemen, not to appear to be a hot-air +artist, I will tell you in a word, that I have located the +tombstone of one William Halliwell, deceased!" + +Of course. Not once had I thought of it. Bare, stark, glaring up +at the sun, lay the stone carved with the letters and the +cross-bones. Forgetting in the haste of my departure to replace +the vines upon the grave, I had left the stone to shout its secret +to the first comer. And that had happened to be Mr. Tubbs. +Happened, I say, for I knew that he had not had the slightest +notion where to look for the grave of Bill Halliwell. This running +to earth of clues was purely an affair of his own picturesque +imagination. + +I wondered uneasily what he had made of the uprooted vines--but he +would lay them to the pigs, no doubt. In the countenance of Mr. +Tubbs, flushed and exultant, there was no suspicion that the secret +was not all his own. + +Miss Higglesby-Browne had been settling her helmet more firmly upon +her wiry locks. She had a closed umbrella beneath her arm, and she +drew and brandished it like a saber as she took a long stride +forward. + +"Mr. Tubbs," she commanded, "lead on!" + +But Mr. Tubbs did not lead on. He stood quite still, regarding +Miss Browne with a smile of infinite slyness. + +"Oh, no indeed!" he said. "Old H. H. wasn't born yesterday. It +may have struck you that to possess the sole and exclusive +knowledge of the whereabouts of a million or two--ratin' it low--is +some considerable of an asset. And it's one I ain't got the least +idee of partin' with unless for inducements held out." + +Aunt Jane gave a faint shriek. I had been silently debating what +my own course should be in the face of this unexpected development. +Suddenly I saw my way quite clear. I would say nothing. Mr. Tubbs +should reveal his own perfidy. And the curtain should ring down +upon the play, leaving Mr. Tubbs foiled all around, bereft both of +the treasure and of Aunt Jane. Oh, how I would enjoy the farce as +it was played by the unconscious actors! How I would step in at +the end to reward virtue and punish guilt! And how I would point +the moral, later, very gently to Aunt Jane, an Aunt Jane all +penitence and docility! + +Little I dreamed what surprises ensuing acts of the play were to +hold for me, or of their astounding contrast with the farce of my +joyous imagination. + +I took no part in the storm that raged round Mr. Tubbs. It is said +that in the heart of the tempest there is calm, and this great +truth of natural philosophy Mr. Tubbs exemplified. His face +adorned by a seraphic, buttery smile, he stood unmoved, while Miss +Higglesby-Browne uttered cyclonic exhortations and reproaches, +while Aunt Jane sobbed and said, "_Oh, Mr. Tubbs_!" while Mr. Shaw +strove to make himself heard above the din. He did at least +succeed in extracting from the traitor a definite statement of +terms. These were nothing less than fifty per cent. of the +treasure, secured to him by a document signed, sealed and delivered +into his own hands. To a suggestion that as he had discovered the +all-important tombstone so might some one else, he replied with +tranquillity that he thought not, as he had taken precautions +against such an eventuality. In other words, as I was later to +discover, the wily Mr. Tubbs had contrived to raise the boulder +from its bed and push it over the cliff into the sea, afterward +replacing the mass of vines upon the grave. + +As to the entrance to the tunnel, it was apparent to me that Mr. +Tubbs had not yet discovered it. Even if he had, I am certain that +he would have been no more heroic than myself about exploring it, +though there was no missing Peter to haunt his imagination. But +with the grave as a starting-point, there could be no question as +to the ultimate discovery of the cave. + +I was so eager myself to see the inside of the cave, and to know +whatever it had to reveal of the fate of Peter, that I was inclined +to wish Mr. Tubbs success in driving his hard bargain, especially +as it would profit him nothing in the end. But this sentiment was +exclusively my own. On all hands indignation greeted the rigorous +demands of Mr. Tubbs. With a righteous joy, I saw the fabric of +Aunt Jane's illusions shaken by the rude blast of reality. Would +it be riven quite in twain? I was dubious, for Aunt Jane's +illusions have a toughness in striking contrast to the uncertain +nature of her ideas in general. Darker and darker disclosures of +Mr. Tubbs's perfidy would be required. But judging from his +present recklessness, they would be forthcoming. For where was the +Tubbs of yesterday--the honey-tongued, the suave, the anxiously +obsequious Tubbs? Gone, quite gone. Instead, here was a Tubbs who +cocked his helmet rakishly, and leered round upon the company, deaf +to the claims of loyalty, the pleas of friendship, the voice of +tenderness--Aunt Jane's. + +Manfully Miss Higglesby-Browne stormed up and down the beach. She +demanded of Mr. Shaw, of Cuthbert Vane, of Captain Magnus, each and +severally, that Mr. Tubbs be compelled to disgorge his secret. You +saw that she would not have shrunk from a regimen of racks and +thumbscrews. But there were no racks or thumbscrews on the island. +Of course we could have invented various instruments of torture--I +felt I could have developed some ingenuity that way myself--but too +fatally well Mr. Tubbs knew the civilized prejudices of those with +whom he had to deal. With perfect impunity he could strut about +the camp, sure that no weapons worse than words would be brought to +bear upon him, that he would not even be turned away from the +general board to browse on cocoanuts in solitude. + +Long ago Mr. Shaw had left the field to Violet and with a curt +shrug had turned his back and stood looking out over the cove, +stroking his chin reflectively. Miss Browne's eloquence had risen +to amazing flights, and she already had Mr. Tubbs inextricably +mixed with. Ananias and Sapphira, when the Scotchman broke in upon +her ruthlessly. + +"Friends," he said, "so far as I can see we have been put a good +bit ahead by this morning's work. First, we know that the grave +which should be our landmark has not been entirely obliterated by +the jungle, as I had thought most likely. Second, we know that it +is on this side of the island, for the reason that this chap Tubbs +hasn't nerve to go much beyond shouting distance by himself. +Third, as Tubbs has tried this hold-up business I believe we should +consider the agreement by which he was to receive a sixteenth share +null and void, and decide here and now that he gets nothing +whatever. Fourth, the boat is now pretty well to rights, and as +soon as we have a snack Bert and Magnus and I will set out, in +twice as good heart as before, having had the story that brought us +here confirmed for the first time. So Tubbs and his tombstone can +go to thunder." + +"I can, can I?" cried Mr. Tubbs. "Say, are you a human iceberg, to +talk that cool before a man's own face? Say, I'll--" + +But Cuthbert Vane broke in. + +"Three rousing cheers, old boy!" he cried to the Scotchman +enthusiastically. "Always did think the chap a frightful bounder, +don't you know? We'll stand by old Shaw, won't we, Magnus?" Which +comradely outbreak showed the excess of the beautiful youth's +emotions, for usually he turned a large cold shoulder on the +captain, though managing in some mysterious manner to be perfectly +civil all the time. Perhaps you have to be born at High Staunton +Manor or its equivalent to possess the art of relegating people to +immense distances without seeming to administer even the gentlest +shove. + +But unfortunately the effect of the Honorable Cuthbert's cordiality +was lost, so far as the object of it was concerned, because of the +surprising fact, only now remarked by any one, that Captain Magnus +had disappeared. + + + + +XV + +SOME SECRET DIPLOMACY + +The evanishment of Captain Magnus, though quite unlooked for at so +critical a moment, was too much in keeping with his eccentric and +unsocial ways to arouse much comment. Everybody looked about with +mild ejaculations of surprise, and then forgot about the matter. + +Whistling a Scotch tune, Dugald Shaw set to work again on the boat. +In the face of difficulty or opposition he always grew more brisk +and cheerful. I used to wonder whether in the event of a tornado +he would not warm into positive geniality. Perhaps it would not +have needed a tornado, if I had not begun by suspecting him of +conspiring against Aunt Jane's pocket, or if the Triumvirate, +inspired by Mr. Tubbs, had not sat in gloomy judgment on his every +movement. Or if he hadn't been reproached so for saving me from +the cave, instead of leaving it to Cuthbert Vane-- + +But now under the stimulus of speaking his mind about Mr. Tubbs the +Scotchman whistled as he worked, and slapped the noble youth +affectionately on the back when he came and got in the way with +anxious industry. + +As I wanted to observe developments--a very necessary thing when +you are playing Providence--I chose a central position in the shade +and pulled out some very smudgy tatting, a sort of Penelope's web +which there was no prospect of my ever completing, but which served +admirably to give me an appearance of occupation at critical +moments. + +Mr. Tubbs also had sought a shady spot and was fanning himself with +his helmet. From time to time he hummed, in a manner determinedly +gay. However he might disguise it from himself, this time Mr. +Tubbs had overshot his mark. In the first thrill of his great +discovery he had thought the game was in his hands. He had looked +for an instant capitulation. + +The truth was, since our arrival on the island Mr. Tubbs had felt +himself the spoiled child of fortune. Aunt Jane and Miss +Higglesby-Browne were the joint commanders of the expedition, and +he commanded them. The Scotchman's theoretical rank as leader had +involved merely the acceptance of all the responsibility and blame, +while authority rested with the petticoat government dominated by +the bland and wily Tubbs. + +Had Mr. Tubbs but continued bland and wily, had he taken his fair +confederates into his counsels, who knows how fat a share of the +treasure they might have voted him. But he had abandoned his safe +nook behind the throne, and sought to come out into the open as +dictator. _Sic semper tyrannis_. So had the mighty fallen. + +Faced with the failure of his _coup d'etat_, Mr. Tubbs's situation +was, to say the least, awkward. He had risked all, and lost it. +But he maintained an air of jaunty self-confidence, slightly tinged +with irony. It was all very well, he seemed to imply, for us to +try to get along without H. H. We would discover the impossibility +of it soon enough. + +Aunt Jane, drooping, had been led away to the cabin by Miss +Higglesby-Browne. You now heard the voice of Violet in +exhortation, mingled with Aunt Jane's sobs. I seemed to see that +an ear of Mr. Tubbs was cocked attentively in that direction, He +had indeed erred in the very wantonness of triumph, for a single +glance would have kept Aunt Jane loyal and prodigal of excuses for +him in the face of any treachery. Not even Violet could have +clapped the lid on the up-welling fount of sentiment in Aunt Jane's +heart. Only the cold condemning eye of H. H. himself had congealed +that tepid flood. + +The morning wore on with ever-increasing heat, and as nothing +happened I began to find my watchful waiting dull. Crusoe, worn +out perhaps by some private nocturnal pig-hunt, slept heavily where +the drip of the spring over the brim of old Heintz's kettle cooled +the air. Aunt Jane's sobs had ceased, and only a low murmur of +voices came from the cabin. I began to consider whether it would +not be well to take a walk with Cuthbert Vane and discover the +tombstone all over again. I knew nothing, of course, of Mr. +Tubbs's drastic measures with the celebrated landmark. As to +Cuthbert's interrupted courtship, I depended on the vast excitement +of discovering the cave to distract his mind from it. For that was +the idea, of course--Cuthbert Vane and I would explore the cave, +and then whenever I liked I could prick the bubble of Mr. Tubbs's +ambitions, without relating the whole strange story of the diary +and the _Island Queen_. I was immensely pleased already by the +elimination of Mr. Tubbs from the number of those who need have a +finger in the golden pie. I thought that perhaps with time and +patience I might coax events to play still further into my hand. + +But meanwhile the cave drew me like a magnet. I jealously desired +to be the first to see it, to snatch from Mr. Tubbs the honors of +discovery. And I wanted to know about poor Peter--and, the +doubloons that he had gone back to fetch. + +But already Captain Magnus had forsaken the post of duty and +departed on an unknown errand. Could I ask Cuthbert Vane to do it, +too? And then I smiled a smile that was half proud. I might ask +him--but he would refuse me. In Cuthbert's simple code, certain +things were "done," certain others not. Among the nots was to fail +in standing by a friend. And just now Cuthbert was standing by +Dugald Shaw. Therefore nods and becks and wreathed smiles were +vain. In Cuthbert's quiet, easy-mannered, thick-headed way he +could turn his back calmly on the face of love and follow the harsh +call of duty even to death. It would not occur to him not to. And +he never would suspect himself of being a hero--that would be quite +the nicest part of it. + +And yet I knew poor Cuthbert was an exploded superstition, an +anachronism, part of a vanishing order of things, and that the +ideal which was replacing him was a boiler-plated monster with +clock-work heart and brain, named Efficiency. And that Cuthbert +must go, along with his Jacobean manor and his family ghost, and +the oaks in the park, and everything else that couldn't prove its +right to live except by being fine and lovely and full of garnered +sweetness of the past-- + +At this point in my meditations the door of the cabin opened and +Miss Browne came out, looking sternly resolute. Aunt Jane +followed, very pink about the eyes and nose. She threw an anxious +fluttering glance at Mr. Tubbs, who sat up briskly, and in a +nervous manner polished with a large bandana that barren zone, his +cranium, which looked torrid enough to scorch the very feet of the +flies that walked on it. It was clear that on the lips of Miss +Browne there hovered some important announcement, which might well +be vital to the fortunes of Mr. Tubbs. + +With a commanding gesture Miss Browne signaled the rest to +approach. Mr. Tubbs bounced up with alacrity. Mr. Shaw and +Cuthbert obeyed less promptly, but they obeyed. Meanwhile Violet +waited, looking implacable as fate. + +"And where is Captain Magnus?" she demanded, glancing about her. + +But no one knew what had become of Captain Magnus. + +As for myself, I continued to sit in the shade and tat. But I +could hear with ease all that was said. + +"Mr. Tubbs," began Miss Browne, "your recent claims have been +matter of prolonged consideration between Miss Harding and myself. +We feel--we can not but feel--that there was a harshness in your +announcement of them, an apparent concentration on your own +interests, ill befitting a member of this expedition. Also, that +in actual substance, they were excessive. Not half, Mr. Tubbs; oh, +no, not half! But one-quarter, Miss Harding and myself, as the +joint heads of the Harding-Browne expedition, are inclined to think +no more than the reward which is your due. We suggest, therefore, +a simple way out of the difficulty, Mr. Dugald Shaw was engaged on +liberal terms to find the treasure. He has not found the treasure. +He has not found the slightest clue to its present whereabouts. +Mr. Tubbs, on the contrary, has found a clue. It is a clue of the +first importance. It is equivalent almost to the actual discovery +of the chest. Therefore let Mr. Shaw, convinced I am sure by this +calm presentation of the matter of the justice of such a course, +resign his claim to a fourth share of the treasure in favor of Mr. +Hamilton H. Tubbs, and agree to receive instead the former +allotment of Mr. Tubbs, namely, one-sixteenth." + +Having offered this remarkable suggestion, Miss Browne folded her +arms and waited for it to bear fruit. + +It did--in the enthusiastic response of Mr. Tubbs. Having already +played his highest trump and missed the trick, he now found himself +with an entirely fresh hand dealt to him by the obliging Miss +Higglesby-Browne. The care in his countenance yielded to beaming +smiles. + +"Well, well!" he exclaimed. "To think of your takin' old H. H. +that literal! O' course, havin' formed my habits in the financial +centers of the country, I named a stiff price at first--a stiff +price, I won't deny. But that's jest the leetle way of a man used +to handlin' large affairs--nothin' else to it, I do assure you. +The Old Man himself used to say, 'There's old H. H.--you'd think +he'd eat the paint off a house, he'll show up that graspin' in a +deal. And all the time it's jest love of the game. Let him know +he's goin' to win out, and bless you, old H. H. will swing right +round and fair force the profits on the other party. H. H. is +slicker than soap to handle, if only you handle him right.' Can I +say without hard feelin's that jest now H. H. was not handled +right? Instead o' bein' joshed with, as he looked for, he was took +up short, and even them which he might have expected to show +confidence"--here Mr. Tubbs cast a reproachful eye at Aunt +Jane--"run off with the notion that he meant jest what he said. +All he'd done for this expedition, his loyalty and faith to same, +was forgotten, and he was thought of as a self-seeker and Voracious +Shark!" The pain of these recollections dammed the torrent of Mr. +Tubbs's speech. + +"Oh, Mr. Tubbs!" breathed Aunt Jane heart-brokenly, and of course a +tear trickled gently down her nose, following the path of many +previous tears which had already left their saline traces. + +Mr. Tubbs managed in some impossible fashion to roll one eye +tenderly at Aunt Jane, while keeping the other fastened shrewdly on +the remainder of his audience. + +"Miss Higglesby-Browne and Miss Jane Harding," he resumed, "I +accept. It would astonish them as has only known H. H. on his +financial side to see him agree to a reduction of profits like this +without a kick. But I'm a man of impulse, I am. Get me on my soft +side and a kitten ain't more impulsive than old H. H. And o' +course the business of this expedition ain't jest business to me. +It's--er--friendship, and--er--sentiment--in short, there's +feelin's that is more than worth their weight in gold!" + +At these significant words the agitation of Aunt Jane was extreme. +Was it possible that Mr. Tubbs was declaring himself in the +presence of others--and was a response demanded from herself--would +his sensitive nature, so lately wounded by cruel suspicion, +interpret her silence as fatal to his hopes? But while she +struggled between maiden shyness and the fear of crushing Mr. Tubbs +the conversation had swept on. + +"Mr. Shaw," said Miss Browne, "you have heard Mr. Tubbs, in the +interest of the expedition, liberally consent to reduce his claim +by one-half. Doubtless, if only in a spirit of emulation, you will +attempt to match this conduct by canceling our present agreement +and consenting to another crediting you with the former sixteenth +share of Mr. Tubbs." + +"Don't do it, Shaw--hold the fort, old boy!" broke in Cuthbert +Vane. "I say, Miss Browne, this is a bally shame!" + +Miss Browne had always treated the prospective Lord Grasmere with +distinguished politeness. Even now her air was mild though lofty. + +"Mr. Vane, I must beg leave to remind you that the object of this +expedition was yet unattained when Mr. Tubbs, by following clues +ignored by others, brought success within our reach. Mr. Dugald +Shaw having conspicuously failed--" + +"Failed!" repeated Cuthbert, with unprecedented energy. "Failed! +I say, that's too bad of you, Miss Browne. Wasn't everybody here a +lot keener than old Shaw about mucking in that silly cave where +those Johnnies would have had hard work to bury anything unless +they were mermaids? Didn't the old chap risk his neck a dozen +times a day while this Christopher Columbus stayed high and dry +ashore? Suppose he did find the tombstone by stubbing his silly +toes on it--so far he hasn't found the cave, much less the box of +guineas or whatever those foreign chaps call their money. Let Mr. +Tubbs go sit on the tombstone if he likes. Shaw and I can find the +cave quite on our own, can't we, Shaw?" + +"Mr. Vane," replied the still deferential Violet, "as a member of +the British aristocracy, it is not to be supposed that you would +view financial matters with the same eye as those of us of the +Middle Classes, who, unhappily perhaps for our finer feelings, have +been obliged to experience the harsh contacts of common life. Your +devotion to Mr. Shaw has a romantic ardor which I can not but +admire. But permit us also our enthusiasm for the perspicacity of +Mr. Tubbs, to which we owe the wealth now within our grasp." + +Mr. Shaw now spoke for the first time. + +"Miss Browne, I do not recognize the justice of your standpoint in +this matter. I have done and am still prepared to do my best in +this business of the treasure. If Mr. Tubbs will not give his +information except for a bribe, I say--let him keep it. We are no +worse off without it than we were before, and you were then +confident of success. My intention, ma'am, is to hold you to our +original agreement. I shall continue the search for the treasure +on the same lines as at present." + +"One moment," said Miss Browne haughtily. She had never spoken +otherwise than haughtily to Mr. Shaw since the episode of the Wise +Woman of Dumbiedykes. "One moment, Jane--and you, Mr. Tubbs--" + +She drew them aside, and they moved off out of earshot, where they +stood with their backs to us and their heads together. + +It was my opportunity. Violet herself had proposed that the +original agreement--the agreement which bound me to ask for no +share of the treasure--should be canceled. Nothing now was +necessary to the ripening of my hopes but to induce Dugald Shaw to +immolate himself. Would he do so--on my bare word? There was no +time to explain anything--he must trust me. + +I sprang up and dashed over to the pair who stood looking gloomily +out to sea. They turned in surprise and stared down, the two big +men, into my flushed up-tilted face. + +"Mr. Shaw," I whispered quickly, "you must do as Miss Browne +wishes." In my earnestness I laid a hand upon his arm. He +regarded me bewilderedly. + +"You must--you must!" I urged. "You'll spoil everything if you +refuse!" + +The surprise in his face yielded to a look composed of many +elements, but which was mainly hard and bitter. + +"And still I shall refuse," he said sardonically. + +"Oh, no, no," I implored, "you don't understand! I--oh, if you +would only believe that I am your friend!" + +His face changed subtly. It was still questioning and guarded, but +with a softening in it, too. + +"Why don't you believe it?" I whispered unsteadily. "Do you forget +that I owe you my life?" + +And at the recollection of that day in the sea-cave the scarlet +burned in my cheeks and my head drooped. But I saw how the lines +about his mouth relaxed. "Surely you must know that I would repay +you if I could!" I hurried on. "And not by--treachery." + +He laughed suddenly. "Treachery? No! I think you would always be +an open foe." + +"Indeed I would!" I answered with a flash of wrath. Then, as I +remembered the need of haste, I spoke in an intense quick whisper. +"Listen--I can't explain, there isn't time. I can only ask you to +trust me--to agree to what Miss Browne wishes. Everything--you +don't dream how much--depends on it!" For I felt that I would let +the treasure lie hidden in the _Island Queen_ forever rather than +that Mr. Tubbs should, under the original contract, claim a share +of it. + +The doubt had quite left his face. + +"I do trust you, little Virginia," he said gently. "Yes, I trust +in your honesty, heaven knows, child. But permit me to question +your wisdom in desiring to enrich our friend Tubbs." + +"Enrich him--enrich _him_! The best I wish him is unlimited gruel +in an almshouse somewhere. No! What I want is to get that +wretched paper of Miss Browne's nullified. Afterward we can divide +things up as we like--" + +Bewilderment, shot with a gleam of half-incredulous understanding, +seemed to transfix him. We stood a long moment, our eyes +challenging each other, exchanging their countersign of faith and +steadfastness. Then slowly he held out his hand. I laid mine in +it--we stood hand in hand, comrades at last. Without more words he +turned away and strode over to the council of three. + +I now became aware of Cuthbert Vane, whom perplexity had carried +far beyond the bounds of speech and imprisoned in a sort of torpor. +He was showing faint symptoms of revival, and had got as far as "I +say--?" uttered in the tone of one who finds himself moving about +in worlds not realized, when the near-by group dissolved and moved +rapidly toward us. Miss Browne, exultant, beaming, was in the van. +She set her substantial feet down like a charger pawing the earth. +You might almost have said that Violet pranced. Aunt Jane was +round-eyed and twittering. Mr. Tubbs wore a look of suppressed +astonishment, almost of perturbation. _What's his game_? was the +question in the sophisticated eye of Mr. Tubbs. But the Scotchman +had when he chose a perfect poker face. The great game of bluff +would have suited him to a nicety. Mr. Tubbs interrogated that +inexpressive countenance in vain. + +Miss Browne advanced on Cuthbert Vane and seized both his hands in +an ardent clasp. + +"Mr. Vane," she said with solemnity, "I thank you--in the name of +this expedition I thank you--for the influence you have exerted +upon your friend!" + +And this seemed to be to the noble youth the most stunning of all +the shocks of that eventful morning. + +Now came the matter of drawing up the new agreement. It was a +canny Scot indeed who, acting on the hint I had just given him, +finally settled its terms. In the first place, the previous +agreement was declared null and void. In the second, Mr. Tubbs was +to have his fourth only if the treasure were discovered through his +direct agency. And it was under this condition and no other that +Dugald Shaw bound himself to relinquish his original claim. +Virginia Harding signed a new renunciatory clause, but it bore only +on treasure _discovered by Mr. Tubbs_. Indeed, the entire contract +was of force only if Mr. Tubbs fulfilled his part of it, and fell +to pieces if he did not. Which was exactly what I wanted. + +Miss Browne and Mr. Tubbs demurred a little at the wording on which +Mr. Shaw insisted, but Mr. Tubbs's confidence in the infallibility +of the tombstone was so great that no real objection was +interposed. No difficulty was made of the absence of Captain +Magnus, as his interests were unaffected by the change. Space was +left for his signature. Mine came last of all, as that of a mere +interloper and hanger-on. I added it and handed the paper demurely +across to Violet, who consigned it to an apparently bottomless +pocket. Copies were to be made after lunch. + +My demonstrations of joy at this happy issue of my hopes had to be +confined to a smile--in which for a startled instant Violet had +seemed to sense the triumph. It was still on my lips as with a +general movement we rose from the table about which we had been +grouped during the absorbing business of drawing up the contract. +Cookie had been clamoring for us to leave, that he might spread the +table for lunch. I had opened my mouth to call to him, "All right, +Cookie!" when a shrill volley of barks from Crusoe shattered the +stillness of the drowsy air. In the same instant the voice of +Cookie, raised to a sharp note of alarm, rang through the camp: + +"_My Gawd, what all dis yere mean_?" + +I turned, to look into the muzzle of a rifle. + + + + +XVI + +LIKE A CHAPTER FROM THE PAST + +Five men had emerged from the woods behind the clearing, so quietly +that they were in the center of the camp before Crusoe's shrill +bark, or the outcry of the cook, warned us of their presence. By +that time they had us covered. Three of them carried rifles, the +other two revolvers. One of these was Captain Magnus. + +Advancing a step or two before the others he ordered us to throw up +our hands. Perhaps he meant only the men--but my hands and Aunt +Jane's and Miss Higglesby-Browne's also went up with celerity. He +grinned into our astounded faces with a wolfish baring of his +yellow teeth. + +"Never guessed I wasn't here jest to do the shovel work, but might +have my own little side-show to bring off, hey?" he inquired of no +one in particular. "Here, Slinker, help me truss 'em up." + +The man addressed thrust his pistol in his belt and came forward, +and with his help the hands of the Scotchman, Cuthbert Vane and Mr. +Tubbs were securely tied. They were searched for arms, and the +sheath-knives which Mr. Shaw and Cuthbert carried at their belts +were taken away. The three prisoners were then ordered to seat +themselves in a row on the trunk of a prostrate palm. + +The whole thing had happened in the strangest silence. Except for +a feeble moaning from Aunt Jane, like the bleating of a sheep, +which broke forth at intervals, nobody spoke or made a sound. The +three riflemen in the background, standing like images with their +weapons raised, looked like a well-trained chorus in an opera. + +And indeed it was all extraordinarily like something on a stage. +Slinker, for instance. He had a prowling, sidelong fashion of +moving about, and enormous yellow mustaches like a Viking. Surely +some artist in the make-up line had invented Slinker! And the +burly fellow in the background, with the black whiskers--too bad +he'd forgotten his earrings--- + +But I awoke to the horrid reality of it all as Captain Magnus, +smiling his wolfish smile, turned and approached me. + +"Well, boys," he remarked to his followers, who had now lowered +their weapons and were standing about at ease, "here's the little +pippin I was tellin' of. 'Fraid we give her a little scare bustin' +in so sudden, so she ain't quite so bright and smilin' as I like to +see. Its all right, girlie; you'll soon cheer up when you find out +you're go'in' to be the little queen o' this camp. Things will be +all your way now--so long as you treat me right." And the +abominable creature thrust forth a hairy paw and deliberately +chucked me under the chin. + +I heard a roar from the log--and coincidently from Captain Magnus. +For with the instant response of an automaton--consciously I had +nothing at all to do with it--I had reached up and briskly boxed +the captain's ears. + +Furiously he caught my wrist. "Ah, you red-headed little devil, +you'll pay for this! I ain't pretty, oh, no! I ain't a handsome +mooncalf like the Honorable; I ain't got a title, nor girly pink +cheeks, nor fine gentleman ways. No walks with the likes o' me, no +tatey-tates in the woods--oh, no! Well, it's goin' to be another +story now, girlie. I guess you can learn to like my looks, with a +little help from my fist now and then, jest as well as you done the +Honorable's. I guess it won't be long before I have you crawlin' +on your knees to me for a word o' kindness. I guess--" + +"Aw, stow that soft stuff, Magnus," advised Slinker. "You can do +your spoonin' with the gal later on. We're here to git that gold, +and don't you forget it. Plenty o' time afterwards to spark the +wimmen." + +"That's the talk," chimed in Blackbeard. "Don't run us on a lee +shore for the sake of a skirt. Skirts is thicker'n herring in +every port, ain't they?" + +"I got a score to settle with this one," growled Magnus sullenly, +but his grasp loosened on my arm, and I slipped from him and fled +to Aunt Jane--yes, to Aunt Jane--and clung to her convulsively. +The poor little woman was crying, of course, making a low +inarticulate whimper like a frightened child. Miss +Higglesby-Browne seemed to have petrified. Her skin had a withered +look, and a fine network of lines showed on it, suddenly clear, +like a tracery on parchment. Beyond her I saw the face of Dugald +Shaw, gray with a steely wrath. A gun had been trained anew on him +and Cuthbert, and the bearer thereof was arguing with them +profanely. I suppose the prisoners had threatened outbreak at the +spectacle of the chin-chucking. + +No one had bothered to secure Cookie, and he knelt among the pots +and pans of his open-air kitchen, pouring forth petitions in a +steady stream. Blackboard, who seemed a jovial brute, burst into a +loud guffaw. + +"Ha, ha! Look at old Soot-and-Cinders gittin' hisself ready for +glory!" He approached the negro and aimed at him a kick which +Cookie, arising with unexpected nimbleness, contrived to dodge. +"Looky here, darky, git busy dishin' up the grub, will you? I +could stand one good feed after the forecastle slops we been livin' +on." + +Blackbeard, whom his companions addressed indiscriminately as +"Captain," or "Tony," seemed to exercise a certain authority. He +went over to the prisoners on the log and inspected their bonds. + +"You'll do; can't git loose nohow," he announced. Then, with a +savage frown, "But no monkey business. First o' that I see, its a +dose o' cold lead for youse, savvy?" + +He turned to us women. + +"Well, chickabiddies, we ain't treated you harsh, I hope? Now I +don't care about tyin' youse up, in case we can help it, so jest be +good girls, and I'll let youse run around loose for a while." + +But Magnus struck in with an oath. + +"Loose? You're turnin' soft, I say. The future Mrs. M. +there--which I mean to make her if she behaves right--she's a +handful, she is. There ain't no low trick she won't play on us if +she gets the chance. Better tie her up, I say." + +"Magnus," responded Tony with severity, "it'd make a person think +to hear you talk that you wasn't no gentleman. If you can't keep +little Red-top in order without you tie her, why, then hand her +over to a guy what can. I bet I wouldn't have a speck o' trouble +with her--her and me would git along as sweet as two turtle-doves." + +"You dry up, Tony," said Magnus, lowering. "I'll look after my own +affairs of the heart. Anyway, here's them two old hens what have +been makin' me sick with their jabber and nonsense all these weeks. +Ain't I goin' to have a chance to get square?" + +"Here, youse!" struck in Slinker, "quit your jawin'! Here's a feed +we ain't seen the like of in weeks." + +Tony thereupon ordered the women to sit down on the ground in the +shade and not move under penalty of "gettin' a wing clipped." We +obeyed in silence and looked on while the pirates with wolfish +voracity devoured the meal which had been meant for us. They had +pocket-flasks with them, and as they attacked them with frequency +the talk grew louder and wilder. By degrees it was possible to +comprehend the extraordinary disaster which had befallen us, at +least in a sketchy outline of which the detail was filled in later. +Tony, it appeared, was the master of a small power-schooner which +had been fitting out in San Francisco for a filibustering trip to +the Mexican coast. His three companions were the crew. None was +of the old hearty breed of sailors, but wharf-rats pure and simple, +city-dregs whom chance had led to follow the sea. Tony, in whom +one detected a certain rough force and ability, was an Italian, an +outlaw specimen of the breed which mans the fishing fleet putting +forth from the harbor of San Francisco. When and where he and +Magnus had been friends I do not know. But no sooner had the +wisdom of Miss Browne imparted the great secret to her chance +acquaintance of the New York wharves, than he had communicated with +his old pal Tony. The power-schooner with her unlawful cargo stole +out through the gate, made her delivery in the Mexican port, took +on fresh supplies, and stood away for Leeward Island. The western +anchorage had received and snugly hidden her. Captain Magnus, +meanwhile, by means of a mirror flashed from Lookout, had +maintained communication with his friends, and even visited them +under cover of the supposed shooting expedition. And now, while we +had been striving to overcome the recalcitrancy of Mr. Tubbs, +Captain Magnus had taken a short cut to the same end. You felt +that the secret of Mr. Tubbs would be extracted, if need be, by no +delicate methods. + +But Mr. Tubbs's character possessed none of that unreasonable +obstinacy which would make harsh measures necessary under such +conditions. His countenance, as the illuminating conversation of +the pirates had proceeded, lost the speckled appearance which had +characterized it at the height of his terrors. Something like his +normal hue returned. He sat up straighter, moistened his dry lips, +and looked around upon us, yes, even upon Aunt Jane and Miss +Higglesby-Browne, with whom he had been so lately and so tenderly +reconciled, with a sidelong, calculating glance. After the pirates +had eaten, the prisoners on the log were covered with a rifle and +their hands untied, while Cookie, in a lugubrious silence made +eloquent by his rolling eyes, passed around among us the remnants +of the food. No one can be said to have eaten with appetite except +Mr. Tubbs, who received his portion with wordy gratitude and +devoured it with seeming gusto. The pirates, full-fed, with pipes +in mouths, were inclined to be affable and jocular. "Feeding the +animals," as Slinker called it, seemed to afford them much +agreeable diversion. Even Magnus had lost in a degree his usual +sullenness, and was wreathed in simian smiles. The intense terror +and revulsion which he inspired in me kept my unwilling eyes +constantly wandering in his direction. Yet under all the terror +was a bedrock confidence that there was, there must be somehow in +the essence of things, an eternal rightness which would keep me +safe from Captain Magnus. And as I looked across at Dugald Shaw +and met for an instant his steady watchful eyes, I managed a swift +little smile--a rather wan smile, I dare say, but still a smile. + +Cuthbert Vane caught, so to speak, the tail of it, and was +electrified. I saw his lips form at Mr. Shaw's ear the words, +_Wonderful little sport, by jove_! For some time after our capture +by the pirates Cuthbert's state had been one of settled +incredulity. Even when they tied his hands he had continued to +contemplate the invaders as illusions. It was, this remarkable +episode, altogether a thing without precedent--and what was that +but another name for the impossible? And then slowly, by painful +degrees--you saw them reflected in his candid face--it grew upon +him that it was precisely the impossible, the unprecedented, that +was happening. + +A curious stiffening came over Cuthbert Vane. For the first time +in my knowledge of him he showed the consciousness--instead of only +the sub-consciousness--of the difference between Norman blood and +the ordinary sanguine fluid. His shoulders squared; he lost his +habitual easy lounge and sat erect and tall. Something stern and +aquiline showed through the smooth beauty of his face, so that you +thought of effigies of crusading knights stretched on their ancient +tombs in High Staunton church. He was their true descendant after +all, this slow, calm, gentle-mannered Cuthbert. It was a young +lion that I had been playing with, and the claws were there, strong +and terrible in their velvet sheath. + +Captain Tony, having finished his pipe, knocked the ashes out +against the heel of his boot and put the pipe in his pocket. + +"Well," he said, stretching, "I'd ruther have a nap, but business +is business, so let's get down to it. Which o' them guys has the +line on the stuff, Magnus?" + +"Old Baldy, here," returned Magnus, with a nod at Mr. Tubbs. "Old +Washtubs I call him generally, ha, ha!" + +"Then looky here, Washtubs," said Tony, addressing Mr. Tubbs with +sudden sternness, "maybe you could bluff these here soft guys, but +we're a different breed o' cats, we are. Whatever you know, you'll +come through with it and come quick, or it'll be the worse for your +hide, see?" + +Mr. Tubbs rose from the log with promptness. + +"Captain," he said earnestly, "from long experience in the +financial centers of the country, I have got to be a man what +understands human nature. The minute I looked at you, I seen it in +your eye that there wasn't no use in tryin' to bluff you. What's +more, I don't want to. Once he gets with a congenial crowd, there +ain't a feller anywheres that will do more in the cause o' +friendship than old Hamilton H. Tubbs. And you are a congenial +crowd, you boys--gosh, but you do look good to me after the bunch +o' stiffs I been playin' up to here! All I ask is, to let me in on +it with you, and I'll be glad to put you wise to the best tricks of +a sly old fox who ain't ever been caught yet without two holes to +his burrow. I won't ask no half, nor no quarter, either, though I +jest signed up for that amount with the old girl here. But give me +freedom, and a bunch o' live wires like you boys! I've near froze +into a plaster figure o' Virtue, what with talkin' like a +Sunday-school class, and sparkin' one old maid, and makin' out like +I wouldn't melt butter with the other. So H. H. will ship along of +you, mates, and we'll off to the China coast somewheres where the +spendin' is good and the police not too nosy, and try how far a +trunkful of doubloons will go!" + +With a choky little gurgle in her throat Aunt Jane fell limply +against me. It was too much. All day long she had been tossed +back and forth like a shuttlecock by the battledore of emotion. +She had borne the shock of Mr. Tubbs's sordid greed for gold, his +disloyalty to the expedition, his coldness to herself; she had been +shaken by the tender stress of the reconciliation, had been +captured by pirates, and now suffered the supreme blow of this +final revelation of the treachery of Tubbs. To hear her romance +described as the sparking of an old maid--and by the sparker! From +Miss Higglesby-Browne had come a snort of fury, but she said +nothing, having apparently no confidence in the effect of oratory +on pirates. She did not even exhort Aunt Jane, but left it to me +to sustain my drooping aunt as best I could. + +As Mr. Tubbs made his whole-hearted and magnanimous proposal +Captain Tony opened his small black eyes and contemplated him with +attention. At the conclusion he appeared to meditate. Then he +glanced round upon his fellows. + +"What say, boys? Shall we ship old Washtubs on the schooner and +let him have his fling along with us? Eh?" And as Captain Tony +uttered these words the lid of his left eye eclipsed for an instant +that intelligent optic. + +From the pirates came a scattering volley of assents. "All +right--hooray for old Washtubs--sure, close the deal." + +"All right, Washtubs, the boys are willing. So I guess, though +this island is the very lid of the hot place, and when I come again +it's going to be with an iceberg in tow to keep the air cooled off, +I guess we better be moving toward that chest of doubloons." + +It was arranged that Slinker and a cross-eyed man named Horny +should remain at the camp on guard. As a measure of precaution +Cookie, too, was bound, and Aunt Jane, Miss Browne and I ordered +into the cabin. The three remaining pirates, armed with our spades +and picks and dispensing a great deal of jocular profanity, set out +for the cave under the guidance of Mr. Tubbs. + +Thankful as I was for the departure of Captain Magnus, I underwent +torments in the stifling interior of the cabin. Aunt Jane wept +piteously. I had almost a fellow-feeling with Miss +Higglesby-Browne when she relapsed from her rigidity for a moment +and turning on Aunt Jane fiercely ordered her to be still. This +completed the wreck of Aunt Jane's universe. Its two main props +had now fallen, and she was left sitting solitary amid the ruins. +She subsided into a lachrymose heap in the corner of the cabin, +where I let her remain for the time, it was really such a comfort +to have her out of the way. At last I heard a faint moan: + +"Virginia!" + +I went to her. "Yes, auntie?" + +"Virginia," she murmured weakly, "I think I shall not live to leave +the island, even if I am not--not executed. In fact, I have a +feeling now as though the end were approaching. I have always +known that my heart was not strong, even if your Aunt Susan _did_ +call it indigestion. But oh, my dear child, it is not my +digestion, it is my heart that has been wounded! To have reposed +such confidence in a Serpent! To realize that I might have been +impaled upon its fangs! Oh, my dear, faithful child, what would I +have done if you had not clung to me although I permitted Serpents +to turn me from you! But I am cruelly punished. All I ask is that +some day--when you are married and happy, dear--you will remove +from this desolate spot the poor remains of her who--of her who--" +Sobs choked Aunt Jane's utterance. + +"Jane--" began Miss Higglesby-Browne. + +"I was speaking to my niece," replied Aunt Jane with unutterable +dignity from her corner. Her small features had all but +disappeared in her swollen face, and her hair had slipped down at a +rakish angle over one eye. But, of course, being Aunt Jane, she +must choose this moment to be queenly. + +"There, there, auntie," I said soothingly, "of course you are not +going to leave your bones on this island. If you did, you know, +you and Bill Halliwell might ha'nt around together--think how cozy! +(Here Aunt Jane gave a convulsive shudder.) As to my being +married, if you were betting just now on anybody's chances they +would have to be Captain Magnus's, wouldn't they ?" + +"Good gracious, Virginia!" shrieked Aunt Jane faintly. But I went +on relentlessly, determined to distract her mind from thoughts of +her approaching end. + +"All things considered, I suppose I really ought to ask you to put +my affairs in order when you get back. If I am carried off by the +pirates, naturally I shall have to jump overboard at once, though I +dislike the idea of drowning, and especially of being eaten by +sharks. Would you mind putting up a little headstone--it needn't +cost much--in the family plot, with just 'Virginia' on it? And +anything of mine that you don't want yourself I'd like Bess to have +for the baby, please. Ask her when the little duck is old enough +to tell her my sad story--" + +By this time Aunt Jane was sobbing loudly and waving her little +hands about in wild beseeching. + +"Oh, my precious girl, a _headstone_! My love, would I grudge you +a _monument_--all white marble--little angels--'From her +heart-broken aunt'? Oh, why, why are we not safe at home together? +Why was I lured away to wander about the world with perfect +strangers? Why--" + +"Jane!" broke in Miss Browne again in awful tones. But at that +moment the door of the cabin opened and the face of Slinker peered +in. + +"Say," he remarked, "there ain't no sense in you girls stayin' +cooped up here that I see. I guess me and Horny can stand you off +if you try to rush us. Come out and cool off a little." + +The great heat of the day was over and the sun already dropping +behind the peak of the island. Mr. Shaw and Cuthbert had been +allowed to sit in the shade, and I thought their wrists were not +too tightly bound for comfort. Cookie had been released, and under +the eye of Horny was getting supper. Crusoe had earlier in the day +received a kick in the ribs from Captain Magnus, fortunately too +much occupied with the prisoners to pursue his vengeance further, +and had fled precipitately, to my enormous relief. The dog was +quite wise enough to know that he would help me best by keeping out +of the clutches of our common foe. I hoped he had gone back to his +solitary pig-chasing, though I thought I had caught a glimpse of +him once at the edge of the wood. But at least he knew better than +to venture into the clearing. + +I tried to pass in a casual manner close to Mr. Shaw and +Cuthbert--who looked more of a crusading Norman than ever--in hopes +of a whispered word, but was impeded by Aunt Jane, who clung to me +tottering. So I led her to a seat and deposited her, with the +sympathetic assistance of Slinker. + +"Now, now, old girl, cheer up!" he admonished her. "Between you +and me, old Washtubs ain't worth crying over. Sooner or later he'd +of give you the slip, no matter how tight a rein you kep' on him." + +As Slinker turned away after this effort at consolation he came +face to face with Miss Higglesby-Browne. I suppose in the stress +of surprising and capturing the camp he had not been struck with +her peculiarities. Just now, between the indignity of her captive +state and the insubordination of Aunt Jane, Miss Browne's aspect +was considerably grimmer than usual. Slinker favored her with a +stare, followed by a prolonged whistle. + +"Say," he remarked to me in a confidential undertone, though +pitched quite loud enough for Miss Browne's ears, "is it real? +Would it have bendable j'ints, now, same as you and me?" + +Miss Browne whirled upon him. + +"'Old your tongue, you 'orrid brute!" she shrieked. + +So, in the twinkling of an eye, Miss Higglesby-Browne, fallen +forever from her high estate, was strewn in metaphorical fragments +at our feet. I turned away, feeling it time to draw the veil of +charity upon the scene. Not so Slinker. He looked about him +carefully on the ground. + +"Lady drop anything?" he inquired solicitously. + +What might have transpired, had Miss Higglesby-Browne had time to +gather breath, I dare not think, but just then there came from the +woods the sound of footsteps and voices, and the three pirates and +Mr. Tubbs entered the clearing. A thrill ran through the camp. +Captors and captives forgot all else but the great, the burning +question--had the treasure been discovered? And I am sure that no +one was so thrilled as I, although in my mind the question took +another form. + +For now I was going to know what had been waiting for me there in +the cave, when I stood yesterday at its black entrance, afraid to +go in. + + + + +XVII + +FROM DEAD HANDS + +At the head of the file, Captain Tony advanced through the +clearing, and what with his flowing black beard, his portly form, +and a certain dramatic swagger which he possessed, he looked so +entirely Italian and operatic that you expected to hear him at any +moment burst out in a sonorous basso. With a sweeping gesture he +flung down upon the table two brown canvas bags, which opened and +discharged from gaping mouths a flood of golden coins. + +His histrionic instinct equal to the high demands of the moment, +Captain Tony stood with folded arms and gazed upon us with a +haughty and exultant smile. + +Slinker and the cross-eyed man shouted aloud. They ran and +clutched at the coins with a savage greed. + +"Gold, gold--the real stuff! It's the doubloons all right--where's +the rest of 'em?" These cries broke from Slinker and Horny +confusedly as the gold slid jingling between their eager fingers. + +"The rest of 'em is--where they is," pronounced Tony oracularly. +"Somewheres in the sand of the cave, of course. We'll dig 'em up +to-morrow morning. + +"What was the point in not digging 'em all up while you was about +it?" demanded Slinker, lowering. "What was the good o' digging up +jest these here couple o' bag's and quitting?" + +"Because we didn't dig 'em up," responded Tony darkly. "Because +these was all ready and waiting. Because all we had to do was to +say 'Thankee,' to the feller that handed 'em out." + +"I say," interposed one of the party nervously, "what's the good of +that kind of talk? They ain't any sense in hunting trouble, that +ever I heard of!" He glanced over his shoulder uneasily. + +The rest burst out in a guffaw. + +"Chris is scared. He's been a-going along looking behind him ever +since. Chris will have bad dreams to-night--he'll yell if a owl +hoots." But I thought there was a false note in the laughter of +more than one. + +"Oh, of course," remarked Slinker with indignant irony, "me and +Horny ain't interested in this at all. We jest stayed bumming +round camp here 'cause we was tired. When you're through with this +sort of bunk and feel like getting down to business, why jest +mention it, and maybe if we ain't got nothing better to do we'll +listen to you." + +"I was jest telling you, wasn't I?" demanded Tony. "Only that fool +Chris had to butt in. We got these here bags of doubloons, as I +says, without havin' to dig for 'em--oncet we had found the cave, +which it's no thanks to old Washtubs we ain't looking for it yet. +We got these here bags right out of the fists of a skeleton. Most +of him was under a rock, which had fell from the roof and pinned +him down amidships. Must of squashed him like a beetle, I guess. +But he'd still kep' his hold on the bags." I turned aside, for +fear that any one should see how white I was. Much too white to be +accounted for even by this grisly story. To the rest, these poor +bones might indeed bear mute witness to a tragedy, but a tragedy +lacking outlines, vague, impersonal, without poignancy. To me, +they told with dreadful clearness the last sad chapter of the tale +of Peter, Peter who had made me so intimately his confidante, whose +love and hopes and solitary strivings I knew all about. Struck +down in the moment of his triumph by a great stupid lump of +soulless stone, by a blind, relentless mechanism which had been at +work from the beginning, timing that rock to fall--just then. Not +the moment before, not the moment after, out of an eternity of +moments, but at that one instant when Peter stooped for the last of +his brown bags--and then I rejected this, and knew that there was +nothing stupid or blind about it--and wondered whether it were +instead malicious, and whether all might have been well with Peter +if he had obeyed the voice that bade him leave the crucifix for +Bill-- + +Vaguely I heard around me a babble of exclamations and conjectures. +Murmurs of interest rose even from our captive band. Then came +Slinker's voice, loud with sudden fear: + +"Say, you don't suppose the--the Bones would of got away with the +rest of the coin somehow, do you?" he demanded. + +"Got away with it?" Tony contemptuously thrust aside the +possibility. "Got away with it how? He sure didn't leave the +island with it, did he? Would he of dug it up from one place jest +to bury it in another? Huh! Must of wanted to work if he did! +Now my notion is that this happened to one of the guys that was +burying the gold, and that the rest jest left him there for a sort +of scarecrow to keep other people out of the cave." + +"But the gold?" protested Slinker. "They wouldn't leave that for a +scarecrow, would they?" + +"Maybe not," admitted Tony, "but suppose that feller died awful +slow, and went on hollering and clutching at the bags? And they +couldn't of got that rock off'n him without a block and tackle, or +done much to make things easy for him if they had, him being jest a +smear, as you may say. Well, that cave wouldn't be a pleasant +place to stay in, would it? And no one would have the nerve to +snatch them bags away to bury 'em, 'cause a dying man, especially +when he dies hard, can have an awful grip. So what they done was +just to shovel the sand in on the gold they'd stowed away and light +out quick. And what we got to do to-morrow is to go there and dig +it up." + +If the ingenuity of this reasoning was more remarkable than its +logic, the pirates were not the men to find fault with it. Indeed, +how many human hopes have been bolstered up with arguments no +sounder? Desire is the most eloquent of advocates, and the five +ruffians had only to listen to its voice to enjoy in anticipation +all the fruits of their iniquitous schemes. The sight of the +golden coins intoxicated them. They played with the doubloons like +children, jingling them in their calloused palms, guessing at +weight and value, calculating their equivalent in the joy of +living. Laughter and oaths resounded. Mr. Tubbs, with a somewhat +anxious air, endeavored to keep himself well to the fore, claiming +a share in the triumph with the rest. There was only the thinnest +veil of concealment over the pirates' mockery. "Old Washtubs" was +ironically encouraged in his role of boon companion. His air of +swaggering recklessness, of elderly dare-deviltry, provoked +uproarious amusement. When they sat down to supper Mr. Tubbs was +installed at the head of the table. They hailed him as the +discoverer who had made their fortunes. From their talk it was +clear that there had been much difficulty about finding the cave, +and that for a time Mr. Tubbs's position had been precarious. +Finally Captain Magnus had stumbled upon the entrance. + +"Jest in time," as he grimly reminded Mr. Tubbs, "to save you a +header over the cliff." + +"Ha, ha!" cackled Mr. Tubbs hysterically, "you boys will have your +little joke, eh? Knew well enough you couldn't get along without +the old man, didn't you? Knew you was goin' to need an old +financial head to square things in certain quarters--a head what +understands how to slip a little coin into the scales o' justice to +make 'em tilt the right way. Oh, you can't fool the old man, he, +he!" + +While the marauders enjoyed their supper, the women prisoners were +bidden to "set down and stay sot," within sweep of Captain Tony's +eye. Mr. Shaw and Cuthbert Vane still held the position they had +occupied all afternoon, with their backs propped against a palm +tree. Occasionally they exchanged a whisper, but for the most part +were silent, their cork helmets jammed low over their watchful +eyes. I was deeply curious to know what Mr. Shaw had made of the +strange story of the skeleton in the cave. He could hardly have +accepted Captain Tony's explanation of it, which displayed, indeed, +an imperfect knowledge of the legend of the _Bonny Lass_. Might +not the Scotchman, by linking this extraordinary discovery with my +unexplained request of him this morning, have arrived already at +some glimmering of the truth? I hoped so, and longed to impart to +him my own sure knowledge that the confident expectations of the +freebooters for the morrow were doomed to disappointment. There +seemed a measure of comfort in this assurance, for our moment of +greatest peril well might be that in which the pirates, with the +gold in their possession and on the point of fleeing from the +island, recalled the respectable because so truthful maxim that +dead men tell no tales. Therefore in the postponement of the +crucial moment lay our best hope of rescue or escape. + +On the other hand, I fancied them returning from the cave surly and +disappointed, ready to vent their wrath on us. All, except the +unspeakable Magnus, had shown so far a rough good nature, even +amusement at our plight, but you felt the snarl at the corner of +the grinning lips. You knew they would be undependable as savages +or vicious children, who find pleasure in inflicting pain. And +then there was always my own hideous danger as the favored of the +wolfish captain-- + +And I wondered, desperately, if I might buy safety for us all at +the price of the secret of the _Island Queen_, if a promise from +the five scoundrels around the table would have more meaning than +their wild boasts and shoutings now? + +And now the night that I unutterably dreaded was upon us. But the +pirates still thought of nothing but the gold. They had exhausted +their own portable supplies of liquor, and were loud in their +denunciations of our bone-dry camp, as they termed it. Mr. Tubbs +enlarged upon the annoyance which Mr. Shaw's restrictions in this +matter had been to him, and regretted that he had long ago +exhausted the small amount of spirituous refreshment which he had +been able to smuggle in. Tony, however, was of another mind. "And +a good thing, too," he declared, "that you guys can't booze +yourselves blind before morning, or there wouldn't be much gold +took out of that there cave to-morrow. Once we make port +somewheres with that chest of treasure aboard you can pour down +enough to irrigate the Mojave Desert if you like." + +It was Tony, too, who intercepted a tentative movement of Captain +Magnus in my direction, and ordered me into the cabin with my aunt +and Miss Browne. Through the walls of the hut we heard loud and +eager talk of the morrow and its certain golden harvest as the +pirates made their dispositions for the night. Then the voices +trailed off sleepily and silence succeeded, broken only by the +ceaseless murmur of the waves around the island. + + + + +XVIII + +OF WHICH COOKIE IS THE HERO + +Next morning I came out of the hut in time to see Mr. Shaw and his +companion in duress led forth from the sleeping quarters which they +had shared with their captors. They were moored as before to a +palm tree, by a rope having a play of two or three feet, and their +hands unbound while they made a hasty breakfast under the eye of a +watchful sentinel. Then their wrists were tied again, not +painfully, but with a firmness which made any slipping of their +bonds impossible. + +While the pirates were breakfasting a spirited dispute took place +among them as to who should go to the treasure cave and who stay in +camp to guard the prisoners. Slinker and Horny urged with justice +that as they had missed all the excitement of the preceding day it +was their turn to visit the cave. There not only the probable +rapture of exhuming the chest awaited them, but the certain +privilege of inspecting "the Bones." This ghastly relic seemed to +exercise an immense fascination upon their imaginations, a +fascination not unmingled with superstitious dread. The right to +see the Bones, then, Slinker and Horny passionately claimed. Tony +supported them, and it ended with Chris and Captain Magnus being +told off as our guards for the morning. + +At this Chris raised a feeble lamentation, but he was evidently a +person whose objections nobody was accustomed to heed. Captain +Magnus, who might with plausibility have urged claims superior to +those of all the rest, assented to the arrangement with a +willingness which filled me with boding. I had caught his restless +furtive eye fixed gloatingly upon me more than once. I saw that he +was aware of my terror, and exulted in it, and took a feline +pleasure in playing me, as it were, and letting me realize by slow +degrees what his power over me would be when he chose finally to +exert it. My best hope for the present, once the merciful or +prudent Tony was out of sight, lay in this disposition of +my tormentor to sit quiescent and anticipate the future. +Nevertheless, in leaving the cabin I had slipped into my blouse a +small penknife which I had found in Aunt Jane's bag. It was quite +new, and I satisfied myself that the blades were keen. My own +large sheath-knife and my revolver I had been deprived of at the +suggestion of the thoughtful Magnus. I had surrendered them +unprotestingly, fearful of all things that my possessions might be +ransacked and Peter's diary, though hidden with much art at the +bottom of a bag, be brought to light. For I might yet sell the +secret of the Island Queen at a price which should redeem us all. + +Unobtrusively clutching for comfort at the penknife in my blouse, I +watched the departure of the pirates, including my protector Tony. +They had taken Mr. Tubbs with them, although he had magnanimously +offered to remain behind and help guard the camp. Evidently his +experience of the previous day had not filled him with confidence +in his new friends. It might be quite possible that he intended, +if left behind, to turn his coat again and assist us in a break for +liberty. If so, he was defeated by the perspicacious Tony, who +observed that when he found a pal that suited him as well as +Washtubs he liked to keep him under his own eye. With a spade over +his reluctant shoulder, and many a dubious backward glance, Mr. +Tubbs followed the file into the woods. + +Aunt Jane had a bad headache, and as nobody objected she had +remained in the cabin. Miss Browne and I had been informed by Tony +that we might do as we liked so long as we did not attempt to leave +the clearing. Already Violet had betaken herself to a camp-chair +in the shade and was reading a work entitled _Thoughts on the +Involute Spirality of the Immaterial_. Except for the prisoners +tied to the palm tree, the camp presented superficially a scene of +peace. Cookie busied himself with a great show of briskness in his +kitchen. Because of the immense circumspection of his behavior he +was being allowed a considerable degree of freedom. He served his +new masters apparently as zealously as he had served us, but +enveloped in a portentous silence. "Yes, sah--no, sah," were the +only words which Cookie in captivity had been heard to utter. Yet +from time to time I had caught a glance of dark significance from +Cookie's rolling eye, and I felt that he was loyal, and that this +enforced servitude to the unkempt fraternity of pirates was a +degradation which touched him to the quick. + +I had followed the example of Miss Higglesby-Browne as regards the +camp-chair and the book. What the book was I have not the least +idea, but I perused it with an appearance of profound abstraction +which I hoped might discourage advances on the part of Captain +Magnus. Also I made sure that the penknife was within instant +reach. Meanwhile my ears, and at cautious intervals my eyes, kept +me informed of the movements of our guards. + +For a considerable time the two ruffians, lethargic after an +enormous breakfast, lay about idly in the shade and smoked. As I +listened to their lazy, fragmentary conversation vast gulfs of +mental vacuity seemed to open before me. I wondered whether after +all wicked people were just stupid people--and then I thought of +Aunt Jane--who was certainly not wicked-- + +As the heat increased a voice of lamentation broke from Chris. He +was dry--dry enough to drink up the condemned ocean. No, he didn't +want spring water, which Cookie obsequiously tendered him; he +wanted a _drink_--wouldn't anybody but a fool nigger know that? +There was plenty of the real stuff aboard the schooner, on the +other side of the--adjective--island. Why had they, with +incredible lack of forethought, brought along nothing but their +pocket flasks? Why hadn't they sent the adjective nigger back for +more? Where was the bottle or two that had been rooted out last +night from the medical stores? Empty? Every last drop gone down +somebody's greedy gullet? The adjectives came thick and fast as +Chris hurled the bottle into the bay, where it swam bobbingly upon +the ripples. Captain Magnus agreed with the gist of Chris's +remarks, but deprecated, in a truly philosophical spirit, their +unprofitable heat. There wasn't any liquor, so what was the good +of making an adjective row? Hadn't he endured the equivalent of +Chris's present sufferings for weeks? He was biding his time, he +was. Plenty of drink by and by, plenty of all that makes life soft +and easy. He bet there wouldn't many hit any higher spots than +him. He bet there was one little girl that would be looked on as +lucky, in case she was a good little girl and encouraged him to +show his natural kindness. And I was favored with a blood-curdling +leer from across the camp, of which I had put as much as possible +between myself and the object of my dread. + +But now, like a huge black Ganymede, appeared Cookie, bearing cups +and a large stone crock. + +"It suhtinly am a fact, Mistah Chris, sah," said Cookie, "dat dey +is a mighty unspirituous fluidity 'bout dis yere spring watah. +Down war I is come from no pussons of de Four Hund'ed ain't eveh +'customed to partake of such. But the sassiety I has been in +lately round dis yere camp ain't of de convivulous ordah; ole +Cookie had to keep it dark dat he got his li'le drop o' comfort on +de side. Dis yere's only home-made stuff, sah. 'Tain't what I +could offah to a gennelmun if so be I is got the makin's of a +genuwine old-style julep what is de beverage of de fust fam'lies. +But bein' as it is, it am mighty coolin', sah, and it got a li'le +kick to it--not much, but jes' 'bout enough to make a gennelmun +feel lak he is one." + +Cookie's tones dripped humility and propitiation. He offered the +brimming cup cringingly to the pale-eyed, red-nosed Chris, who +reached for it with alacrity, drank deep, smacked his lips +meditatively, and after a moment passed the cup back. + +"'Tain't so worse," he said approvingly. "Anyhow, it's _drink_!" + +Magnus suddenly began to laugh. + +"S'elp me, it's the same dope what laid out the Honorable!" he +chortled. "Here, darky, let's have a swig of it!" + +Cookie complied, joining respectfully in the captain's mirth. + +"I guess you-all is got stronger haids den dat young gennelmun!" he +remarked. "Dis yere ole niggah has help hissef mighty freely and +dat Prohibititionist Miss Harding ain't eveh found it out. Fac' +is, it am puffeckly harmless 'cept when de haid is weak." + +False, false Cookie! Black brother in perfidy to Mr. Tubbs! One +friend the less to be depended on if a chance for freedom ever came +to us! A hot flush of surprise and anger dyed my cheeks, and I +felt the indignant pang of faith betrayed. I had been as sure of +Cookie's devotion as of Crusoe's--which reminded me that the little +dog had not returned to camp since he fled before the onslaught of +the vengeful captain. + +Cookie refilled the pirates' cups, and set the crock beside them on +the ground. + +"In case you gennelmun feels yo'selfs a li'le thursty later on," he +remarked. He was retiring, when Captain Magnus called to him. + +"Blackie, this ain't bad. It's coolin', but thin--a real nice +ladylike sort of drink, I should say. Suppose you take a swig over +to Miss Jinny there with my compliments--I'm one to always treat a +lady generous if she gives me half a chance." + +Obediently Cookie hastened for another cup, set it on a tray, and +approached me with his old-time ornate manner. I faced him with a +withering look, but, unmindful, he bowed, presenting me the cup, +and interposing his bulky person between me and the deeply-quaffing +pirates. At the same time his voice reached me, pitched in a low +and anxious key. + +"Fo' de Lawd's sake, Miss Jinny, spill it out! It am mighty +powerful dope--it done fumented twice as long as befo'--it am boun' +to give dat trash de blind-staggahs sho'tly!" + +Instantly I understood, and a thrill of relief and of hope +inexpressible shot through me. I raised to the troubled black face +a glance which I trust was eloquent--it must needs have been to +express the thankfulness I felt. Cookie responded with a solemn +and convulsive wink--and I put the cup to my lips and after a brief +parade of drinking passed it back to Cookie, spilling the contents +on the ground en route. + +Cookie retired with his tray in his most impressive cake-walk +fashion, and in passing announced to Captain Magnus that "Miss +Jinny say she mos' suhtinly am obligated to de gennelmun to' de +refreshment of dis yere acidulous beverage." Which bare-faced +mendacity provoked a loud roar of amusement from the sentinels, who +were still sampling the cooling contents of the stone crock. + +"Learning to like what I do already, hey?" guffawed the captain, +and he called on Chris to drain another cup with him to the lady of +his choice. + +I have believed since that dragging, interminable time which I now +lived through, that complete despair, where you rest quite finally +on bedrock and have nothing to dread in the way of further tumbles, +must be a much happier state than the dreadful one of oscillating +between hope and fear. For a leaden-footed eternity, it seemed to +me, I oscillated, longing for, yet dreading, the signs that +Cookie's powerful dope had begun to work upon our guards--for might +not the first symptoms be quite different from the anticipated +blind staggers? Fancy a murderous maniac pair reeling about the +clearing, with death-vomiting revolvers and gleaming knives! + +And then suddenly time, which had dragged so slowly, appeared to +gallop, and the morning to be fleeing past, so that every wave that +broke upon the beach was the footfalls of the returning pirates. +Long, long before that thirsty, garrulous pair grew still and +torpid their companions must return-- + +And I saw Cookie, his stratagem discovered, dangling from a +convenient tree. + +Gradually the rough disjointed talk of the sailors began to +languish. Covertly watching, I saw that Chris's head had begun to +droop. His body, propped comfortably against a tree, sagged a +little. The hand that held the cup was lifted, stretched out in +the direction of the enticing jar, then forgetting its errand fell +heavily. After a few spasmodic twitchings of the eyelids and +uneasy grunts, Chris slumbered. + +Captain Magnus was of tougher fiber. But he, too, grew silent and +there was a certain meal-sack limpness about his attitude. His +dulled eyes stared dreamily. All at once with a jerk he roused +himself, turned over, and administered to the sleeping Chris a prod +with his large boot. + +"Hey, there, wake up! What right you got to be asleep at the +switch?" But Chris only breathed more heavily. + +Captain Magnus himself heaved a tremendous yawn, settled back in +greater comfort against his sustaining tree, and closed his eyes. +I waited, counting the seconds by the beating of the blood in my +ears. In the background Cookie hovered apprehensively. Plainly he +would go on hovering unless loud snores from the pirates gave him +assurance. For myself, I sat fingering my penknife, wondering +whether I ought to rush over and plunge it into the sleepers' +throats. This would be heroic and practical, but unpleasant. If, +on the other hand, I merely tried to free the prisoners and Captain +Magnus woke, what then? The palm where they were tied was a dozen +yards from me, much nearer to the guards, and within range of even +their most languid glance. Beyond the prisoners was Miss Browne, +glaring uncomprehendingly over the edge of her book. There was no +help in Miss Browne. + +I left my seat and stole on feet which seemed to stir every leaf +and twig to loud complaint toward the captive pair. Tense, +motionless, with burning eyes, they waited. There was a movement +from Captain Magnus; he yawned, turned and muttered. I stood +stricken, my heart beating with loud thumps against my ribs. But +the captain's eyes remained closed. + +"Virginia--quick, Virginia!" Dugald Shaw was stretching out his +bound hands to me, and I had dropped on my knees before him and +begun to cut at the knotted cords. They were tough strong cords, +and I was hacking at them feverishly when something bounded across +the clearing and flung itself upon me. Crusoe, of course!--and +wild with the joy of reunion. I strangled a cry of dismay, and +with one hand tried to thrust him off while I cut through the rope +with the other. + +"Down, Crusoe!" I kept desperately whispering. But Crusoe was +unused to whispered orders. He kept bounding up on me, intent to +fulfil an unachieved ambition of licking my ear. Cuthbert Vane +tried, under his breath, to lure him away. But Crusoe's emotions +were all for me, and swiftly becoming uncontrollable they burst +forth in a volley of shrill yelps. + +A loud cry answered them. It came from Captain Magnus, who had +scrambled to his feet and was staggering across the clearing. One +hand was groping at his belt--it was flourished in the air with the +gleam of a knife in it--and staggering and shouting the captain +came on. + +"Ah, you would, would you? I'll teach you--but first I settle +_him_, the porridge-eatin' Scotch swine--" + +The reeling figure with the knife was right above me. I sprang up, +in my hand the little two-inch weapon which was all I had for my +defense--and Dugald Shaw's. There were loud noises in my ears, the +shouting of men, and a shrill continuous note which I have since +realized came from the lungs of Miss Higglesby-Browne. Magnus made +a lunge forward--the arm with the knife descended. I caught +it--wrenched at it frantically--striving blindly to wield my little +penknife, whether or not with deadly intent I don't know to this +day. He turned on me savagely, and the penknife was whirled from +my hand as he caught my wrist in a terrible clutch. + +All I remember after that is the terrible steely grip of the +captain's arms and a face, flushed, wild-eyed, horrible, that was +close to mine and inevitably coming closer, though I fought and +tore at it--of hot feverish lips whose touch I knew would scorch me +to the soul--and then I was suddenly free, and falling, falling, a +long way through darkness. + + + + +XIX + +THE YOUNG PERSON SCORES + +My first memory is of voices, and after that I was shot swiftly out +of a tunnel from an immense distance and opened my eyes upon the +same world which I had left at some indefinite period in the past. +Faces, at first very large, by and by adjusted themselves in a +proper perspective and became quite recognizable and familiar. +There was Aunt Jane's, very tearful, and Miss Higglesby-Browne's, +very glum, and the Honorable Cuthbert's, very anxious and a little +dazed, and Cookie's, very, very black. The face of Dugald Shaw I +did not see, for the quite intelligible reason that I was lying +with my head upon his shoulder. + +As soon as I realized this I sat up suddenly, while every one +exclaimed at once, "There, she's quite all right--see how her color +is coming back!" + +People kept Aunt Jane from flinging herself upon me and soothed her +into calm while I found out what had happened. The penknife that I +had lost in my struggle with Captain Magnus had fallen at the +Scotchman's feet. Wrenching himself free of his all but severed +bonds he had seized the knife, slashed through the rope that held +him to the tree, and flung himself on Captain Magnus. It was a +brief struggle--a fist neatly planted on the ruffian's jaw had +ended it, and the captain, half dazed from his potations, went down +limply. + +Meanwhile Cookie had appeared upon the scene flourishing a kitchen +knife, though intending it for no more bloody purpose than the +setting free of Cuthbert Vane. Throughout the fray Chris slumbered +undisturbed, and he and the unconscious Magnus were now reposing +side by side, until they should awake to find themselves neatly +trussed up with Cookie's clothes-lines. + +But my poor brave Crusoe dragged a broken leg, from a kick bestowed +on him by Captain Magnus, at whom he had flown valiantly in my +defense. + +So far so good; we had signally defeated our two guards, and the +camp was ours. But what about the pirates who were still in the +cave and would shortly be returning from it? They were three armed +and sturdy ruffians, not to include Mr. Tubbs, whose habits were +strictly non-combative. It would mean a battle to the death. + +Our best hope would be to wait in ambush behind the trees of the +clearing--I mean for Dugald Shaw and Cuthbert Vane to do it--and +shoot down the unsuspecting pirates as they returned. This +desperate plan, which so unpleasantly resembled murder, cast gloom +on every brow. + +"It's the women, lad," said the Scotchman in a low voice to +Cuthbert. "It's--it's Virginia." And Cuthbert heavily assented. + +Seeing myself as the motif of such slaughter shocked my mind +suddenly back to clearness. + +"Oh," I cried, "not that! Why not surprise them in the cave, and +make them stay there? One man could guard the entrance easily--and +afterward we could build it up with logs or something." + +Everybody stared. + +"A remarkably neat scheme," said Mr. Shaw, "but impossible of +application, I'm afraid, because none of us knows where to find the +cave." + +I shook my head. + +"I know!" + +There was a lengthy silence. People looked at one another, and +their eyes said, _This has been too much for her_! + +"I _know_," I impatiently repeated. "I can take you straight +there. I found the tombstone before Mr. Tubbs did, and the cave +too. Come, let's not waste time. We must hurry--they'll be +getting back!" + +Amazement, still more than half incredulous, surged round me. Then +Mr. Shaw said rapidly: + +"You're right. Of course, if you have found the cave, the best +thing we can do is to keep them shut up in it. But we must move +fast--perhaps we're too late already. If they have found the chest +they may by now be starting for camp with the first load of +doubloons." + +Again I shook my head. + +"They haven't found the gold," I assured him. + +The astonished faces grew more anxious. "It sho' have told on +li'le Miss Jinny's brain," muttered Cookie to himself. + +"They haven't found the gold," I reiterated with emphasis, "because +the gold is not in the cave. Don't ask me how I know, because +there isn't time to tell you. There was no gold there but the two +bags that the pirates brought back last night. The--the skeleton +moved it all out." + +"My Lawd!" groaned Cookie, staggering backward. + +"Virginia! I had no idea you were superstitious!" quavered Aunt +Jane. + +"I say, do take some sleeping tablets or something and quiet your +nerves!" implored Cuthbert with the tenderest solicitude. + +In my exasperation I stamped my foot. + +"And while we are arguing here the pirates may be starting back to +camp! And then we'll have to kill them and go home and give +ourselves up to be hanged! Please, please, come with me and let me +show you that I know!" I lifted my eyes to the intent face of +Dugald Shaw. + +"All right," he said tersely. "I think you do know. How and what, +we'll find out later." Rapidly he made his plan, got together the +things needful for its execution, looked to the bonds of the still +dazed and drowsy prisoners, posted Cookie in their neighborhood +with a pair of pistols, and commanded Aunt Jane to dry her tears +and look after Miss Higglesby-Browne, who had dismayed every one by +most inopportunely toppling over in a perfectly genuine swoon. + +Then the Scotchman, Cuthbert Vane and I set off through the woods. +The men were heavily armed, and I had recovered my own little +revolver and restored it to my belt. Mr. Shaw had seen to this, +and had said to me, very quietly: + +"You know, Virginia, if things don't go our way, it may be +necessary for you to use it--on yourself." + +And I nodded assentingly. + +We went in silence through the green hush of the woods, moving in +single file. My place as guide was in the van, but Mr. Shaw +deposed me from it and went ahead himself, while Cuthbert Vane +brought up the rear. No one spoke, even to whisper. I guided +Dugald Shaw, when needful, by a light touch upon the arm. Our +enterprise was one of utmost danger. At any moment we might hear +the steps and voices of the returning pirates. Thus fore-warned, +we might of course retreat into the woods and let them pass, +ourselves unseen. But then, what of those whom we had left in +camp? Could we leave them undefended to the vengeance of Captain +Magnus? No, if we met the pirates it was their lives or ours--and +I recall with incredulity my resolution to imbed five of my six +bullets in a pirate before I turned the sixth upon myself. I +reflected with satisfaction that five bullets should be a fatal +dose to any pirate unless an exceptionally tough one. And I hoped +he would not be tough-- + +But I tell myself with shudders that it was not I, but some +extraordinary recrudescence of a primitive self, that indulged +these lethal gloatings. + +No steps but our own, no voices but of birds, broke the stillness +of the woods. We moved onward swiftly, and presently the noise of +the sea came to us with the sudden loudness that I remembered. I +paused, signaled caution to my companions, and crept on. + +We passed the grave, and I saw that the vines had been torn aside +again, and that the tombstone was gone. We came to the brink of +the cliff, and I pointed silently downward along the ledge to the +angle in which lay the mouth of the cave. My breath came quickly, +for at any instant a head might be thrust forth from the opening. +Already the sun was mounting toward the zenith. The noontide heat +and stillness was casting its drowsy spell upon the island. The +air seemed thicker, the breeze more languid. And all this meant +meal-time--and the thoughts of hungry pirates turning toward camp. + +My hope was that they were still preoccupied with the fruitless +search in the cave. + +Mr. Shaw and Cuthbert dropped down upon the ledge. Though under +whispered orders to retreat I could not, but hung over the edge of +the cliff, eager and breathless. Then with a bound the men were +beside me. Mr. Shaw caught my hand, and we rushed together into +the woods. + +A quake, a roar, a shower of flying rocks. It was over--the +dynamite had done its work, whether successfully or not remained to +be seen. After a little the Scotchman ventured back. He returned +to us where we waited in the woods--Cuthbert to mount guard over +me--with a cleared face. + +"It's all right," he said. "The entrance is completely blocked. I +set the charge six feet inside, but the roof is down clear to the +mouth. Poor wretches--they have all come pouring out upon the +sand--" + +All three of us went back to the edge of the cliff. Seventy feet +below, on the narrow strip of sand before the sea-mouth of the +cave, we saw the figures of four men, who ran wildly about and +sought for a foothold on the sheer face of the cliff. As we stood +watching them, with, on my part, at least, unexpected qualms of +pity and a cold interior sensation very unlike triumph, they +discovered us. Then for the first time, I suppose, they understood +the nature of their disaster. We could not hear their cries, but +we saw arms stretched out to us, fists frantically shaken, hands +lifted in prayer. We saw Mr. Tubbs flop down upon his unaccustomed +knees--it was all rather horrible. + +I drew back, shivering. "It won't be for long, of course," I said +uncertainly, "just till the steamer comes--and we'll give them lots +to eat--but I suppose they think--they will soon be just a lot more +skeletons--" And here I was threatened with a moist anticlimax to +my late Amazonian mood. + +Why should the frequent and natural phenomena of tears produce such +panic in the male breast? At a mere April dewiness about my lashes +these two strong men quaked. + +"Don't--don't cry!" implored Cuthbert earnestly. + +"It's been too much for her!" exclaimed the once dour Scot in tones +of anguish. "Hurry, lad--we must find her some water--" + +"Nonsense," I interposed, winking rapidly. "Just think of some way +to calm those creatures, so that I shan't see them in my dreams, +begging and beseeching--" For I had not forgotten the immensity of +my debt to Tony. + +So a note was written on a leaf torn from a pocketbook and thrown +over the cliff weighted with a stone. The captives swooped upon +it. Followed then a vivid pantomime by Tony, expressive of eased +if unrepentant minds, while Mr. Tubbs, by gestures, indicated that +though sadly misunderstood, old H. H. was still our friend and +benefactor. + +It was an attentive group to which on our return to camp I related +the circumstances which had made possible our late exploit of +imprisoning the pirates in the cave. The tale of my achievements, +though recounted with due modesty, seemed to put the finishing +touch to the extinction of Violet, for she wilted finally and +forever, and was henceforth even bullied by Aunt Jane. The diary +of Peter was produced, and passed about with awe from hand to hand. +Yesterday's discovery in the cave had rounded out the history of +Peter to a melancholy completion. But though we knew the end we +guessed in vain at the beginning, at Peter's name, at that of the +old grandfather whose thrifty piety had brought him to Havana and +to the acquaintance of the dying mate of the _Bonny Lass_, at the +whereabouts of the old New England farm which had been mortgaged to +buy the _Island Queen_, at the identity of Helen, who waited still, +perhaps, for the lover who never would return. + +But even our regrets for Peter did not chill the exultation with +which we thought of the treasure-chest waiting there under the sand +in the cabin of the _Island Queen_. + +All afternoon we talked of it. That, for the present, was all we +could do. There were the two prisoners in camp to be guarded--and +they had presently awakened and made remarks of a strongly personal +and unpleasant trend on discovering their situation. There was +Crusoe invalided, and needing petting, and getting it from +everybody on the score of his romantic past as _Benjy_ as well as +of his present virtues. The broken leg had been cleverly set by +Dugald--somehow in the late upheaval _Miss_ and _Mister_ had +dropped quite out of our vocabularies--with Cuthbert as surgeon's +assistant and me holding the chloroform to the patient's nose. +There was the fatigue and reaction from excitement which everybody +felt, and Peter's diary to be read, and golden dreams to be +indulged. And there was the delicate question to be discussed, of +how the treasure should be divided. + +"Why, it all belongs to Virginia, of course," said Cuthbert, +opening his eyes at the thought of any other view being taken but +this obvious one. + +"Nonsense!" I hastily interposed. "My finding the diary was just +an accident; I'll take a share of it--no more." + +Here Miss Browne murmured something half inaudible about +"--confined to members of the Expedition--" but subsided for lack +of encouragement. + +"I suggest," said Dugald, "that our numbers having most fortunately +diminished and there being, on the basis of Peter's calculations, +enough to enrich us all, that we should share and share alike." +And this proposal was received with acclamations, as was a second +from the same source, devoting a certain percentage of each share +to Cookie, to whom the news of his good fortune was to come later +as a great surprise. + +As an earnest of our riches, we had the two bags of doubloons which +the pirates had recovered from the fleshless fingers of the dead +man. They were old worn coins, most of them, many dating from the +seventeenth century, and bearing the effigies of successive kings +of Spain. Each disk of rich, yellow Peruvian gold, dug from the +earth by wretched sweating slaves and bearing the name of a narrow +rigid tyrant, had a history, doubtless, more wild and bloody than +even that we knew. The merchant of Lima and his servant, Bill +Halliwell, and afterward poor Peter had died for them. For their +sake we had been captives in fear of death, and for their sake now +four wretched beings were prisoners in the treasure-cave and two +more cursed, fate and their bonds within hearing of our outraged +ears. And who knew how much more of crime and blood and violence +we should send forth into the world with the long-buried treasure? +Who knew--and, ah, me, who cared? So riotous was the gold-lust in +my veins that I think if I had known the chest to be another +Pandora's box I should still have cried out to open it. + +Shortly before sundown Cuthbert and Cookie were despatched by +Dugald Shaw to the cliff above the cave with supplies for the +inhumed pirates. These were let down by rope. A note was brought +up on the rope, signed by Mr. Tubbs, and containing strangely +jumbled exhortations, prayers and threats. A second descent of the +rope elicited another missive, neatly folded and addressed in the +same hand to Miss Jane Harding. Cuthbert gave this privately to +me, but its contents must forever be unknown, for it went, unread, +into Cookie's fire. I had no mind to find Aunt Jane, with her +umbrella as a parachute, vanishing over the cliffs to seek the arms +of a repentant Tubbs. + +The fly in the ointment of our satisfaction, and the one remaining +obstacle to our possession of the treasure, was the presence of the +two pirates in our midst. They were not nice pirates. They were +quite the least choice of the collection. Chris, when he was not +swearing, wept moistly, and so touched the heart of Aunt Jane that +we lived in fear of her letting him go if she got the opportunity. +He told her that he had lost an aunt in his tender youth, of whom +she reminded him in the most striking way, and that if this +long-mourned relative had lived he felt he should have been a +better man and not led away against his higher nature by the chance +of falling in with bad companions. Aunt Jane thought her +resemblance to Chris's aunt a remarkable coincidence and an +opportunity for appealing to his better self which should be +improved. She wanted to improve it by untying his hands, because +he had sprained his wrist in his childhood and it was sensitive. +He had sprained it in rescuing a little companion from drowning, +the child of a drunkard who had unfeelingly thrown his offspring +down a well. This episode had been an example to Chris which had +kept him from drinking all his life, until he had fallen into his +present rough company. + +Aunt Jane took it very hard that the Scotchman seemed quite +unfeeling about Chris's wrist. She said it seemed very strange to +her in a man who had so recently known the sorrows of captivity +himself. She said she supposed even suffering would not soften +some natures. + +As to Magnus, his state of sullen fury made him indifferent even to +threats of punishment. He swore with a determination and fluency +worthy of a better cause. For myself, I could not endure his +neighborhood. It seemed to me I could not live through the days +that must intervene before the arrival of the _Rufus Smith_ in the +constant presence of this wretch. + +More than all, it made Dugald and Cuthbert unwilling to leave the +camp together. There was always the possibility that the two +ruffians might find means to free themselves, and, with none but +Cookie and the women present, to obtain control of the firearms and +the camp. For the negro, once the men were free, could not surely +be depended on to face them. Loyal he was, and valiant in his +fashion, but old and with the habit of submission. One did not see +him standing up for long before two berserker-mad ruffians. + +What to do with the pirates continued for a day and a night a +knotty problem. + +It was Cuthbert Vane who solved it, and with the simplicity of +genius. + +"Why not send 'em down to their chums the way we do the eats?" he +asked. + +It seemed at first incredibly fantastic, but the more you thought +of it the more practical it grew. It was characteristic of +Cuthbert not to see it as fantastic. For him the sharp edges of +fact were never shaded off into the dim and nebulous. Cuthbert, +when he saw things at all, saw them steadily and whole. He would +let down the writhing, swearing Magnus over the cliff as tranquilly +as he let down loaves of bread, aware merely of its needing more +muscular effort. Only he would take immense care not to hurt him. + +Dire outcries greeted the decision. Aunt Jane wept, and Chris +wept, and said this never could have happened to him if his aunt +had lived. Oaths flowed from Captain Magnus in a turgid stream. +Nevertheless the twain were led away, firmly bound, and guarded by +Dugald, Cuthbert and the negro. And the remarkable program +proposed by Cuthbert Vane was triumphantly carried out. Six +prisoners now occupied the old cave of the buccaneers. + +With the camp freed from the presence of the pirates all need of +watchfulness was over. The prisoners in the cave were provided +with no implements but spades, whereas dynamite and crowbars would +be necessary to force a way through the debris which choked the +mouth of the tunnel. A looking over of the ground at the daily +feeding time would be enough. + +To-morrow's sun would see our hopes crowned and all our toil +rewarded by the recovery of the treasure from the _Island Queen_. + + + + +XX + +'TWIXT CUP AND LIP + +Next morning an event occurred sufficiently astonishing to divert +our thoughts from even the all-important topic of the _Island +Queen_. Cookie, who had been up on the high land of the point +gathering firewood, came rushing back to announce that a steamer +had appeared in the offing. All the party dropped their +occupations and ran to look. That the _Rufus Smith_ had returned +at an unexpectedly early date was of course the natural explanation +of the appearance of a vessel in these lonely seas. But through +the glass the new arrival turned out to be not the tubby freighter +but a stranger of clean-cut, rakish build, lying low in the water +and designed for speed rather than carrying capacity. + +A mile offshore she lay to, and a boat left her side. Wondering +and disquieted, we returned to the beach to await her coming. Was +it another pirate? What possible errand could bring a steamer to +this remote, unvisited, all but forgotten little island? Had +somebody else heard the story of the _Bonny Lass_ and come after +the doubloons, unknowing that we were beforehand with them? If so, +must we do battle for our rights? + +The boat shot in between the points and skimmed swiftly over the +rippling surface of the cove, under the rhythmic strokes of half a +dozen flashing oars. The rowers wore a trim white uniform, and in +the stern a tall figure, likewise white-clad, turned toward us a +dark face under a pith helmet. + +As the oarsmen drove the boat upon the beach the man in the stern +sprang agilely ashore. Dugald Shaw stepped forward, and the +stranger approached, doffing his helmet courteously. + +"You are the American and English party who landed here some weeks +ago from the _Rufus Smith_?" + +His English was easy and correct, though spoken with a pronounced +Spanish accent. His dark high-featured face was the face of a +Spaniard. And his grace was the grace of a Spaniard, as he bowed +sweepingly and handed Mr. Shaw a card. + +"Senor Don Enrique Gonzales," said Dugald, bowing in his +stiff-necked fashion, "I am very happy to meet you. But as you +represent His Excellency the President of the Republic of Santa +Marina I suppose you come on business, Senior Gonzales?" + +"Precisely. I am enchanted that you apprehend the fact without the +tiresomeness of explanations. For business is a cold, usually a +disagreeable affair, is it not so? That being the case, let us get +it over." + +"First do us the honor to be seated, Senor Gonzales." + +Comfortably bestowed in a camp-chair in the shade, the Spaniard +resumed: + +"My friend, this island belongs, as of course you are aware, to the +republic of which I have the honor to be a citizen. All rights and +privileges, such as harvesting the copra crop, are strictly +conserved by the republic. All persons desiring such are required +to negotiate with the Minister of State of the Republic. And how +much more, when it is a question of treasure--of a very large +treasure, Senor?" + +The Scotchman's face was dark. + +"I had understood," he replied, without looking in the direction of +Miss Higglesby-Browne, who seemed in the last few moments to have +undergone some mysterious shrinking process, "that negotiations in +the proper quarter had been undertaken and brought to a successful +conclusion--that in short we were here with the express permission +of the government of Santa Marina." + +This was a challenge which Miss Browne could not but meet. + +"I had," she said hoarsely, "I had the assurance of a--a person +high in the financial circles of the United States, that through +his--his influence with the government of Santa Marina it would not +be necessary--in short, that he could _fix_ the President--I employ +his own terms--for a considerable sum, which I--which my friend +Miss Harding gave him." + +"And the name of this influential person?" inquired the Santa +Marinan, suavely. + +"Hamilton H. Tubbs," croaked Miss Browne. + +Senor Gonzales smiled. + +"I remember the name well, madam. It is that of the pretended +holder of a concession from our government, who a few years ago +induced a number of American school-teachers and clergymen and +other financially innocent persons to invest in imaginary coffee +plantations. He had in some doubtful fashion become possessed of a +little entirely worthless land, which formed the basis of his +transactions. His frauds were discovered while he was in our +country, and he was obliged to leave between two days, according to +your so picturesque idiom. Needless to say his application for +permission to visit Leeward Island for any purpose would instantly +have been refused, but as a matter of fact it was never made." + +In a benumbed silence we met the blow. The riches that had seemed +within our grasp would never be ours. We had no claim upon them, +for all our toil and peril; no right even to be here upon the +island. Suddenly I began to laugh; faces wearing various shades of +shocked surprise were turned on me. Still I laughed. + +"Don't you see," I cried, "how ridiculous it all is? All the time +it is we who have been pirates!" + +The Spaniard gave me a smile made brilliant by the gleam of +smoldering black eyes and the shine of white teeth. + +"Senorita, with all regret, I must agree." + +"Miss Virginia Harding," said Miss Browne with all her old +severity, rejuvenated apparently by this opportunity to put me in +my place, "would do well to consult her dictionary, before applying +opprobrious terms to persons of respectability. A pirate is one +who commits robbery upon the high seas. If such a crime lies at +the door of any member of this expedition I am unaware of it." + +"What's in a name?" remarked Dugald Shaw, shrugging. "We were +after other people's property, anyway. I am very sorry about it, +Senor Gonzales, but I would like to ask, if you don't mind telling, +how you happened to learn of our being here, so long as it was not +through the authentic channels. On general principles, I tried to +keep the matter quiet." + +"We learned in a manner somewhat--what do you say?--curious," +returned the Spaniard, who, having presented the men with cigars +and by permission lighted one himself, was making himself extremely +at home and appeared to have no immediate intention of haling us +away to captivity in Santa Marinan dungeons. "But before I go +further, kindly tell me whether you have had any--ah--visitors +during your stay on the island?" + +"We have," Mr. Shaw replied, "very troublesome ones." + +The Spaniard smiled. + +"Then answer your own question. These men, while unloading a +contraband cargo in a port of Mexico near the southern border, grew +too merry in a wineshop, and let it be known where they were bound +when again they put to sea. The news, after some delay, found its +way to our capital. At once the navy of the republic was +despatched to investigate the matter. It is the navy of Santa +Marina, ladies and gentlemen, which at this moment guards the +entrance of the bay." And Senor Gonzales waved an ironic hand in +the direction of the little steamer lying off the island, + +"On the way here I put in at Panama, where certain inquiries were +satisfactorily answered. There were those in that port who had +made a shrewd guess at the destination of the party which had +shipped on the _Rufus Smith_. I then pursued my course to Leeward. +But admit, my friends, that I have not by my arrival, caused you +any material loss. Except that I have unfortunately been compelled +to present you to yourselves in the character of--as says the young +lady--pirates--madam, I speak under correction--I have done you no +injury, eh? And that for the simple reason that you have not +discovered what you sought, and hence can not be required to +surrender it." + +We looked at one another doubtfully. The ambiguous words of the +Spaniard, the something humorous and mocking which lay behind his +courtly manner, put us quite in the dark. + +"Senor Gonzales," replied the Scotchman, after a moment's +hesitation, "it is true that so far only a negligible amount of +what we came to find has rewarded us. But I can not in honesty +conceal from you that we know where to look for the rest of it, and +that we had certainly expected to leave the island with it in our +possession." + +The dark indolent eyes of our visitor grew suddenly keen. +Half-veiled by the heavy lashes, they searched the face of Dugald +Shaw. It seemed that what they found in that bold and open +countenance satisfied them. His own face cleared again. + +"I think we speak at cross-purposes, Mr. Shaw," he said +courteously, "and that we may better understand each other, I am +going to tell you a little story. At about this season, two years +ago, the navy of Santa Marina, the same which now lies off the +island, was making a voyage of inspection along the coast of the +republic. It was decided to include Leeward in the cruise, as it +had been unvisited for a considerable time. I hold no naval +rank--indeed, we are not a seafaring people, and the captain of _La +Golondrina_ is a person from Massachusetts, Jeremiah Bowles by +name, but as the representative of His Excellency I accompanied _La +Golondrina_. On our arrival at Leeward I came ashore in the boat, +and found to my surprise a small sloop at anchor in the cove. +About the clearing were the signs of recent habitation, yet I knew +that the old German who had had the copra concession here had been +gone for some time. There were no personal trifles left in the +hut, however, and indeed it was plain that weeks had passed since +there had been any one about. No one responded to our shouts and +calls. + +"I turned my attention to the sloop. In the cabin, besides a few +clothes, I found something that interested me very much--a large +brass-bound chest, of an antique type such as is common enough in +my own country. + +"Of course I had heard of the many legends of treasure buried on +Leeward Island. Consequently I was somewhat prepared to find in +the chest, what in fact I did find there, over a million dollars in +old Spanish coins. + +"These coins, which were packed in strong canvas bags, were, as you +may fancy, very quickly transferred to the cutter. We did not +trouble ourselves with the unwieldy chest, and it remains, I +suppose, in the cabin of the sloop, which I observed as we crossed +the cove to have been washed up upon the rocks. + +"As my curiosity was extremely piqued regarding the owner of the +sloop, the manner in which he had discovered the treasure, and +still more his extraordinary disappearance, I should have wished to +make a thorough search of the island. But the season for storms +was shortly to begin, and already the weather signs were so +threatening that Captain Bowles was reluctant to remain longer in +the neighborhood of the island, which has a bad name for dangerous +shoals and reefs. For the same reason it was thought unwise to +risk a man or two aboard the sloop to sail her to the mainland. +Indeed, we ourselves were glad to get safely home with our +doubloons in the teeth of a tropical gale." + +"This is a very interesting story, Senor Gonzales," said Dugald +Shaw quietly, "and as you say, your visit here deprives us of +nothing, but merely saves us further unprofitable labor. We are +grateful to you." + +The Spaniard bowed. + +"You do me too much honor. But as you remark, the story is +interesting. It has also the element of mystery. For there +remains the question of what became of the owner of the sloop. His +final preparations for leaving the island had evidently been made, +his possessions removed from the hut, provisions for the voyage +brought on board the sloop--and then he had vanished. What had +befallen him? Did the gold carry with it some deadly influence? +One plays, as it were, with this idea, imagining the so melancholy +and bloody history of these old doubloons. How, in the first +place, had he found them? Through chance--by following some +authentic clue? And then, in the moment of success, he +disappears--pouf!" And Senor Gonzales disposed of the unknown by +blowing him airily from the tips of his fingers. + +"However, we have the treasure--the main point, is it not? But I +have often wondered--" + +"If you would like to hear the rest of the story," said Mr. Shaw, +"we are in a position to enlighten you. That we are so, is due +entirely to this young lady, Miss Virginia Harding." + +The Spaniard rose, and made obeisance profoundly. He resumed his +seat, prepared to listen--no longer the government official, but +the cordial and interested guest and friend. + +The story, of course, was a long one. Everybody took a hand in the +telling, even Cookie, who was summoned from his retirement in the +kitchen to receive the glory due him as a successful strategist. +The journal of Peter was produced, and the bags of doubloons handed +over to the representative of the little republic. I even offered +to resign the silver shoe-buckle which I had found in the secret +locker on the Island Queen, but this excess of honesty received its +due reward. + +"The doubloons being now in the possession of the Santa Marinan +nation, I beg that you will consider as your own the Island Queen +and all it may contain," said Don Enrique to me with as magnificent +an air as though the sand-filled hulk of a wrecked sloop were +really a choice gift to bestow on a young woman. + +Plans were discussed for transferring the pirates from the cave to +the cutter, for they were to be taken to Santa Marina to meet +whatever punishment was thought fit for their rather indefinite +ill-doing. They had not murdered us, they had robbed us of nothing +but the provisions they had eaten, they had, after all, as much +right on the island as ourselves. Yet there remained their +high-handed conduct in invading our camp and treating us as +prisoners, with the threat of darker possibilities. I fancy that +Santa Marinan justice works mainly by rule of thumb, and that the +courts do not embarrass themselves much with precedents. Only I +hope they did not shoot the picturesque Tony against a wall.[*] + +The power-schooner, manned by a crew from the cutter, was to be +taken to Santa Marina also. Senor Gonzales remained with us for +the day as our guest, and on the next the boats from the cutter +took off the pirates from the cave. We did not see them again. +Through the convenient elasticity of Santa Marinan procedure, Mr. +Tubbs was herded along with the rest, although he might plausibly, +if hypocritically, have pleaded that he had complied with the will +of the invaders under duress. Aunt Jane wept very much, and handed +me _Paeans of Passion_ with the request that she might never see it +again. + +We parted from Senor Gonzales not without regrets. It was an +impressive leave-taking--indeed, Senor, Gonzales in his least word +and gesture was impressive. Also, he managed subtly and +respectfully to impart to me the knowledge that he shared Titian's +tastes in the matter of hair. On his departure he made a pretty +little speech, full of compliments and floral specimens, and +bestowed upon me--as being mine by right, he earnestly +protested--the two bags of Spanish doubloons. + + +[*]Since the above was written, Mr. Shaw has run across Tony on the +San Francisco water-front. Tony tells him that they got off with +three months' imprisonment. The American consul interested himself +and the schooner was restored to her owners, who were Tony's +relations and hence did not prosecute. Before the discharged +prisoners left the republic Captain Magnus was stabbed over a card +game by a native. Mr. Tubbs married a wealthy half-caste woman, +the owner of a fine plantation, but a perfectly genuine Mrs. Tubbs +from Peoria turned up later, and the too much married H. H. was +obliged to achieve one of his over-night flittings. + + + + +XXI + +THE BISHOP'S CHEST + +W3 waited nine days for the coming of the _Rufus Smith_. During +that time an episode occurred as a result of which I sat one +morning by myself on the rocks beside the sloop, on which such +ardent hopes had been centered, only like the derelict itself to be +wrecked at last. It was a lonely spot and I wanted to be alone. I +felt abused, and sad, and sore. I realized that I was destined to +do nothing but harm in this world, and to hurt people I was fond +of, and be misunderstood by every one, and to live on--if I wasn't +lucky enough to meet with a premature and sudden end--into a sour, +lonely, crabbed old age, when I would wish to goodness I had +married anybody, and might even finish by applying to a Matrimonial +Agency. + +As I sat nursing these melancholy thoughts I heard a footstep. I +did not look up--for I knew the footstep. I should have known it +if it had trodden over my grave. + +"I take it you are not wanting company, you have come so far out of +the way of it," said Dugald Shaw. + +Still I did not look up. + +"Nobody seemed to want _me_," I remarked sulkily, after a pause. +He made no reply, but seated himself upon the rocks. For a little +there was silence. + +"Virginia," he said abruptly, "I'm thinking you have hurt the lad." + +"Oh," I burst out, "that is all you think of--the lad, the lad! +How about me? Don't you suppose it hurt me too?" + +"No," he made deliberate answer. "I was not sure of that. I +thought maybe you liked having men at your feet." + +"Liked it? Liked to wound Cuthbert--_Cuthbert_? Oh, if only it +had not happened, if we could have gone on being friends! It was +all my fault for going with him into the cave. It was after you +had buried the skeleton, and I wanted to see poor Peter's +resting-place. And we spoke of Helen, and it was all frightfully +melancholy and tender, and all at once he--he said it. And I meant +he never should!" In the soreness of my heart I began to weep. + +"There, lassie, there, don't cry!" he said gently. "The boy didn't +speak of it, of course. But I knew how it must be. It has hit him +hard, I am afraid." + +"I suppose," I wept, "you would have had me marry him whether I +wanted to or not, just to keep from hurting him." + +"No," he answered quickly. "I did not say that--I did not say that +I would have had you marry him. No, lass, I did not say that." + +"Then why are you scolding me?" I asked in a choked whisper. + +"Scolding you? I was not. It was only that--that I love the +lad--and I wish you both so well--I thought perhaps there was some +mistake, and--it would not matter about me, if I could see you both +happy." + +"There is a mistake," I said clearly. "It is a great mistake, +Dugald Shaw, that you should come to me and court me--for some one +else." + +There was silence for a while, the kind of silence when you hear +your heartbeats. + +When he spoke his voice was unsteady. + +"But the boy has everything to offer you--his ancient name, his +splendid unstained youth, a heart that is all loyalty. He is +strong and brave and beautiful. Virginia, why couldn't you love +him?" + +"I could not love him," I replied, very low, "because my love was +not mine any more to give. It belongs to--some one else. Is his +name ancient? I don't know. It is his, and he ennobles it. +Cuthbert has youth, but youth is only promise. In the man I love I +find fulfilment. And he is loyal and brave and honest--I am afraid +he isn't beautiful, but I love him the better for his scars--" + +After that I sat quite still, and I knew it depended on the next +half minute whether I went all the days of my life crowned and +glorious with happiness, or buried my shame and heartbreak under +the waters of the cove. + +And then Dugald Shaw took me in his arms. + +By and by he said huskily: + +"Beloved, I had no right to ask you to share such a life as mine +must be--the life of a poor sailor." + +At this I raised my head from its nestling-place and laughed. + +"Ask me? Silly, I asked you! Of course you could have refused me, +but I depended on your not having the courage." + +"And indeed that is a charge I'll not allow--that I am so little of +a man as to let my courting be done for me. No, no, it was my love +compelling you that made you speak the words you did--the love of a +selfish man who should have thought only of shielding you from the +hardships of such a wandering, homeless life as mine." + +"Well, Heaven reward you for your selfishness," I said earnestly. +"I am thankful you were not so noble as to let me throw myself at +your head in vain. I have been doing it for ever so long, in fact, +but it is such a thick Scotch head that I dare say I made no +impression." + +"Sweet imp! You'll pay for that--oh, Virginia, if I had only +something to offer you!" + +"You can offer me something that I want very much, if you will, and +at no cost but to your strong right arm." + +"It is an arm which is at your service for life--but what am I to +do with it now? And indeed I think it is very well employed at +this moment." + +"But it must be employed much more strenuously," I remarked, moving +a little away, "if you are to get me what I want. Before you came, +I was meditating possible ways of getting it for myself. I wanted +it for a melancholy relic--a sort of mausoleum in which all my +hopes were buried. Now its purpose is quite different; it is to be +my bride's chest and hold the dowry which I shall bring to one +Dugald Shaw." + +"You mean _the_ chest--the chest that held the Spanish +doubloons--that lies under the sand in the sloop?" + +"Exactly. And now I shall know whether you are the true prince or +not, because he always succeeds in the tasks he undertakes to win +the princess." + +It was low tide, such a tide as had all but lured me to my death in +the cave. One could go and come from the beach along the rocks, +without climbing the steep path up the cliff. It was not long +before Dugald was back again with spade and pick. He tore off the +shrunken, sun-dried boards from the cabin roof, and fell to work. + +It was not, after all, a labor of Hercules. The cabin was small +and the chest large. I watched with the pride of proprietorship +the swift ease with which the steel-sinewed arms of the Scot made +the caked sand fly. Then the spade struck something which sent +back a dull metallic sound through the muffling sand. + +I gave a little shriek of excitement. Hardly could I have been +more thrilled if I had believed the chest still to contain the +treasure of which it had been ravished. It was filled to its +brass-bound lid with romance, if not with gold. + +A little more and it lay clear to our view, a convex surface of +dark smoky brown, crossed by three massive strips of tarnished +brass. Dugald dug down until the chest stood free to half its +height; then by its handles--I recognized the "great hand-wrought +loops of metal," of the diary--we dragged it from its bed, and drew +it forth into the cockpit. + +For a little while we sat before it in happy contemplation. It was +indeed for its own sake quite well worth having, that sturdy old +chest. Even in an antique shop I should have succumbed to it at +once; how much more when we had dug it up ourselves from a wrecked +sloop on a desert island, and knew all its bloody and delightful +history. + +At length, kneeling before it, I raised with an effort the heavy +lid. + +"Empty, of course--no more brown bags. But oh, Dugald, had ever a +girl such a wonderful bride's chest as this? O--oh!" + +"What's wrong?" + +"Nothing, only there is a crack in the bottom, running all the way +along where it joins the side." + +"Warped a bit, I suppose. No matter, it can be easily +repaired--crack? I say, lassie, look here!" + +Under the pressure of Dugald's fingers the floor of the chest was +swinging upward on an invisible hinge. Between it and the true +bottom was a space of about three inches in depth. It seemed to be +filled with a layer of yellowed cotton-wool. + +For a long moment we held our breath, gazing at each other with +eyes which asked the same question. Then Dugald lifted a corner of +the sheet of cotton and plucked it away. + +At once all the hues of the rainbow seemed to be flashing and +sparkling before us. Rubies were there like great drops of the +blood that the chest and its treasure had wrung from the hearts of +men; sapphires, mirroring the blue of the tropic sky; emeralds, +green as the island verdure; pearls, white as the milk of the +cocoanuts and softly luminous as the phosphorescent foam which +broke on the beach in the darkness. And there were diamonds that +caught gleams of all the others' beauty, and then mocked them with +a matchless splendor. + +Some of the stones lay loose upon their bed of cotton; others were +in massive settings of curious old-time workmanship. Every gem was +of exceptional size and beauty, the pearls, I knew at once, were +the rarest I had ever looked upon. They were strung in a necklace, +and had a very beautiful pendant of mingled pearls and diamonds. + +There were nine heavy bracelets, all jewel-set; twenty-three rings, +eight of them for the hand of a man. Some of these rings contained +the finest of the diamonds, except for three splendid unset stones. +There were numbers of elaborate old-fashioned earrings, two +rope-like chains of gold adorned with jewels at intervals, and +several jeweled lockets. There was a solid gold snuff-box, +engraved with a coat of arms and ornamented with seventeen fine +emeralds. There were, besides the three diamonds, eighty-two unset +stones, among them, wrapped by itself in cotton, a ruby of +extraordinary size and luster. And there was a sort of coronet or +tiara, sown all over with clear white brilliants. + +There is the inventory, not entirely complete, of the treasure +which we found hidden under the false bottom of the chest, a +treasure whose existence none of those who had striven and slain +and perished for the sake of the Spanish doubloons can have +suspected. The secret of it died with the first guardian of the +chest, the merchant of Lima who went overboard from the _Bonny +Lass_ on that stormy night ninety years ago. Now sea and sun and +sand had done their work and warped the wood of the chest enough to +make us masters of its mystery. And we sat in the sand-heaped +cock-pit of the wrecked sloop, playing like children with our +sparkling toys. + +Ours? Yes, for whether or not there were an infection of piracy in +the very air of the island, so that to seize with the high hand, to +hold with the iron grasp, seemed the law of life, we decided +without a qualm against the surrender of our treasure-trove to its +technical owners. Technical only; for one felt that, in essence, +all talk of ownership by this man or that had long ago become idle. +Fate had held the treasure in fee to give or to withhold. Senor +Gonzales had had his chance at the chest, and he had missed the +secret of the hidden hoard, had left it to lie forgotten under the +sand until in some tropic storm it should be engulfed by the waters +of the cove. More than this, had he not most specifically made +over to me the _Island Queen_ and all that it contained? This was +a title clear enough to satisfy the most exacting formalist. And +we were not formalists, nor inclined in any quibbling spirit to +question the decrees of Fortune. As treasure-hunters, we had been +her devotees too long. + +So after all it was not my scornful skepticism but the high faith +of Miss Higglesby-Browne which was justified by the event, and the +Harding-Browne expedition left the island well repaid for its toils +and perils. Plus the two bags of doubloons, which were added to +the spoils, the treasure brought us a sum so goodly that I dare not +name it, for fear of the apparition of Senor Gonzales and the Santa +Marinan navy looming up to demand restitution. Like true comrades, +we divided share and share alike, and be sure that no one grudged +Cookie the percentage Which each was taxed for his benefit. + +Certain of the rarest; jewels were not sold, but found their way to +me as gifts of the Expedition severally and collectively. The +brightest of the diamonds now shines in my engagement ring. +Cuthbert, by the way, showed up so splendidly when I explained to +him about the engagement--that the responsibility was entirely +mine, not Dugald's--that I earnestly wished I were twins so that +one of me could have married the beautiful youth--which indeed I +had wished a little all the time. + +And now I come to the purpose of this story--for though well +concealed it has had one from the beginning. It is to let Helen, +whoever and wherever she may be, if still of this world, know of +the fate of Peter, and to tell her that when she asks for them she +is to have my most cherished relics of the island, Peter's journal +and the silver shoe-buckle which he found in the sand of the +treasure-cave and was taking home to her. + +Only, she must let me keep Crusoe, please. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Spanish Doubloons, by Camilla Kenyon + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12639 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f92ba33 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12639 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12639) diff --git a/old/12639.txt b/old/12639.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4836b5e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12639.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7410 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Spanish Doubloons, by Camilla Kenyon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Spanish Doubloons + +Author: Camilla Kenyon + +Release Date: June 17, 2004 [EBook #12639] +Last updated: April 22, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPANISH DOUBLOONS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +SPANISH DOUBLOONS + + +BY CAMILLA KENYON + + + + +WITH FRONTISPIECE BY + +LOUIS ROGERS + + + +1919 + + + + +To L. T. + +In recognition of her faith in me. + + + + +CONTENTS + + I AN AUNT ERRANT + II APOLLO AND SOME OTHERS + III I ENGAGE THE ENEMY + IV THE ISLE OF FORTUNE + V THE CAPTAIN'S LEGACY + VI THE CAVE WITH TWO MOUTHS + VII A RABBIT'S FOOT + VIII AN EXCURSION AND AN ALARM + IX "LASSIE, LASSIE . . ." + X WHAT CRUSOE AND I FOUND + XI MISS BROWNE HAS A VISION + XII THE ISLAND QUEEN'S FREIGHT + XIII I BRING TO LIGHT A CLUE + XIV MR. TUBBS INTERRUPTS + XV SOME SECRET DIPLOMACY + XVI LIKE A CHAPTER FROM THE PAST + XVII FROM DEAD HANDS + XVIII OF WHICH COOKIE IS THE HERO + XIX THE YOUNG PERSON SCORES + XX 'TWIXT CUP AND LIP + XXI THE BISHOP'S CHEST + + + + +Spanish Doubloons + + +I + +AN AUNT ERRANT + +Never had life seemed more fair and smiling than at the moment when +Aunt Jane's letter descended upon me like a bolt from the blue. +The fact is, I was taking a vacation from Aunt Jane. Being an +orphan, I was supposed to be under Aunt Jane's wing, but this was +the merest polite fiction, and I am sure that no hen with one +chicken worries about it more than I did about Aunt Jane. I had +spent the last three years, since Aunt Susan died and left Aunt +Jane with all that money and no one to look after her but me, in +snatching her from the brink of disaster. Her most recent and +narrow escape was from a velvet-tongued person of half her years +who turned out to be a convict on parole. She had her hand-bag +packed for the elopement when I confronted her with this unpleasant +fact. When she came to she was bitter instead of grateful, and +went about for weeks presenting a spectacle of blighted affections +which was too much for the most self-approving conscience. So it +ended with my packing her off to New York, where I wrote to her +frequently and kindly, urging her not to mind me but to stay as +long as she liked. + +Meanwhile I came up to the ranch for a long holiday with Bess and +the baby, a holiday which had already stretched itself out to +Thanksgiving, and threatened to last until Christmas. People wrote +alluringly from town, but what had town to offer compared with a +saddle-horse to yourself, and a litter of collie pups to play with, +and a baby just learning to walk? I even began to consider +ranching as a career, and to picture myself striding over my broad +acres in top-boots and corduroys. + +As to Aunt Jane, my state of mind was fatuously calm. She was +staying with cousins, who live in a suburb and are frightfully +respectable. I was sure they numbered no convicts among their +acquaintance, or indeed any one from whom Aunt Jane was likely to +require rescuing. And if it came to a retired missionary I was +perfectly willing. + +But the cousins and their respectability are of the passive order, +whereas to manage Aunt Jane demands aggressive and continuous +action. Hence the bolt from the blue above alluded to. + +I was swinging tranquilly in the hammock, I remember, when Bess +brought my letters and then hurried away because the baby had +fallen down-stairs. Unwarned by the slightest premonitory thrill, +I kept Aunt Jane's letter till the last and skimmed through all the +others. I should be thankful, I suppose, that the peace soon to be +so rudely shattered was prolonged for those few moments. I +recalled afterward, but dimly, as though a gulf of ages yawned +between, that I had been quite interested in six pages of prattle +about the Patterson dance. + +At last I came to Aunt Jane. I ripped open the envelope and drew +out the letter--a fat one, but then Aunt Jane's letters are always +fat. She says herself that she is of those whose souls flow freely +forth in ink but are frozen by the cold eye of an unsympathetic +listener. Nevertheless, as I spread out the close-filled pages I +felt a mild wonder. Writing so large, so black, so staggering, so +madly underlined, must indicate something above, even Aunt Jane's +usual emotional level. Perhaps in sober truth there _was_ a +missionary-experiment to "Find Capital after , or ;" +Twenty minutes later I staggered into Bess's room. + +"Hush!" she said. "Don't wake the baby!" + +"Baby or no baby," I whispered savagely, "I've got to have a +time-table. I leave for the city tonight to catch the first +steamer for Panama!" + +Later, while the baby slumbered and I packed experiment to "Find +Period in middle" explained. This was difficult; not that Bess is +as a general thing obtuse, but because the picture of Aunt Jane +embarking for some wild, lone isle of the Pacific as the head of a +treasure-seeking expedition was enough to shake the strongest +intellect. And yet, amid the welter of ink and eloquence which +filled those fateful pages, there was the cold hard fact +confronting you. Aunt Jane was going to look for buried treasure, +in company with one Violet Higglesby-Browne, whom she sprung on you +without the slightest explanation, as though alluding to the Queen +of Sheba or the Siamese twins. By beginning at the end and reading +backward--Aunt Jane's letters are usually most intelligible that +way--you managed to piece together some explanation of this Miss +Higglesby-Browne and her place in the scheme of things. It was +through Miss Browne, whom she had met at a lecture upon +Soul-Development, that Aunt Jane had come to realize her claims as +an Individual upon the Cosmos, also to discover that she was by +nature a woman of affairs with a talent for directing large +enterprises, although _adverse influences_ had hitherto kept her +from recognizing her powers. There was a dark significance in these +italics, though whether they meant me or the family lawyer I was +not sure. + +Miss Higglesby-Browne, however, had assisted Aunt Jane to find +herself, and as a consequence Aunt Jane, for the comparatively +trifling outlay needful to finance the Harding-Browne expedition, +would shortly be the richer by one-fourth of a vast treasure of +Spanish doubloons. The knowledge of this hoard was Miss +Higglesby-Browne's alone. It had been revealed to her by a dying +sailor in a London hospital, whither she had gone on a mission of +kindness--you gathered that Miss Browne was precisely the sort to +take advantage when people were helpless and unable to fly from +her. Why the dying sailor chose to make Miss Browne the repository +of his secret, I don't know--this still remains for me the unsolved +mystery. But when the sailor closed his eyes the secret and the +map--of course there was a map--had become Miss Higglesby-Browne's. + +Miss Browne now had clear before her the road to fortune, but +unfortunately it led across the sea and quite out of the route of +steamer travel. Capital in excess of Miss Browne's resources was +required. London proving cold before its great opportunity, Miss +Browne had shaken off its dust and come to New York, where a +mysteriously potent influence had guided her to Aunt Jane. Through +Miss Browne's great organizing abilities, not to speak of those +newly brought to light in Aunt Jane, a party of staunch comrades +had been assembled, a steamer engaged to meet them at Panama, and +it was ho, for the island in the blue Pacific main! + +With this lyrical outburst Aunt Jane concluded the body of her +letter. A small cramped post-script informed me that it was +against Miss H.-B.'s wishes that she revealed their plans to any +one, but that she did want to hear from me before they sailed from +Panama, where a letter might reach her if I was prompt. However, +if it did not she would try not to worry, for Miss Browne was very +psychic, and she felt sure that any strong vibration from me would +reach her via Miss B., and she was my always loving Jane Harding. + +"And of course," I explained to Bess as I hurled things into my +bags, "if a letter can reach her so can I. At least I must +take the chance of it. What those people are up to I don't +know--probably they mean to hold her for ransom and murder her +outright if it is not forthcoming. Or perhaps some of them will +marry her and share the spoils with Miss Higglesby-Browne. Anyway, +I must get to Panama in time to save her." + +"Or you might go along to the island," suggested Bess. + +I paused to glare at her. + +"Bess! And let them murder me too?" + +"Or marry you--" cooed Bess. + +One month later I was climbing out of a lumbering hack before the +Tivoli hotel, which rises square and white and imposing on the low +green height above the old Spanish city of Panama. In spite of the +melting tropical heat there was a chill fear at my heart, the fear +that Aunt Jane and her band of treasure-seekers had already +departed on their quest. In that case I foresaw that whatever +narrow margin of faith my fellow-voyagers on the _City of Quito_ +had had in me would shrink to nothingness. I had been obliged to +be so queer and clam-like about the whole extraordinary +rendezvous--for how could I expose Aunt Jane's madness to the +multitude?--that I felt it would take the actual bodily presence of +my aunt to convince them that she was not a myth, or at least of +the wrong sex for aunts. To have traveled so far in the desperate +hope of heading off Aunt Jane, only to be frustrated and to lose my +character besides! It would be a stroke too much from fate, I told +myself rebelliously, as I crossed the broad gallery and plunged +into the cool dimness of the lobby in the wake of the bellboys who, +discerning a helpless prey, had swooped en masse upon my bags. + +"Miss Jane Harding?" repeated the clerk, and at the cool negation +of his tone my heart gave a sickening downward swoop. "Miss Jane +Harding and party have left the hotel!" + +"For--for the island?" I gasped. + +He raised his eyebrows. "Can't say, I'm sure." He gave me an +appraising stare. Perhaps the woe in my face touched him, for he +descended from the eminence of the hotel clerk where he dwelt apart +sufficiently to add, "Is it important that you should see her?" + +"I am her niece. I have come all the way from San Francisco +expecting to join her here." + +The clerk meditated, his shrewd eyes piercing the very secrets of +my soul. + +"She knew nothing about it," I hastened to add. "I intended it for +a surprise." + +This candor helped my cause. "Well," he said, "that explains her +not leaving any word. As you are her niece, I suppose it will do +no harm to tell you that Miss Harding and her party embarked this +morning on the freighter _Rufus Smith_, and I think it very likely +that the steamer has not left port. If you like I will send a man +to the water-front with you and you may be able to go on board and +have a talk with your aunt." + +Did I thank him? I have often wondered when I waked up in the +night. I have a vision of myself dashing out of the hotel, and +then the hack that brought me is bearing me away. Bellboys hurled +my bags in after me, and I threw them largess recklessly. Some +arch-bellboy or other potentate had mounted to the seat beside the +driver. Madly we clattered over cobbled ways. Out on the smooth +waters of the roadstead lay ships great and small, ships with +stripped masts and smokeless funnels, others with faint gray +spirals wreathing upward from their stacks. Was one of these the +_Rufus Smith_, and would I reach her--or him--before the thin gray +feather became a thick black plume? I thought of my aunt at the +mercy of these unknown adventurers with whom she had set forth, +helpless as a little fat pigeon among hawks, and I felt, +desperately, that I must reach her, must save her from them and +bring her safe back to shore. How I was to do this at the eleventh +hour plus about fifty-seven minutes as at present I hadn't +considered. But experience had taught me that once in my clutches +Aunt Jane would offer about as much resistance as a slightly melted +wax doll. She gets so soft that you are almost afraid to touch her +for fear of leaving dents. + +So to get there, get there, get there, was the one prayer of my +soul. + +I got there, in a boat hastily commandeered by the hotel clerk's +deputy. I suppose he thought me a belated passenger for the Rufus +Smith, for my baggage followed me into the boat. "_Pronto_!" he +shouted to the native boatman as we put off. "_Pronto_!" I urged +at intervals, my eyes upon the funnels of the _Rufus Smith_, where +the outpouring smoke was thickening alarmingly. We brought up +under the side of the little steamer, and the wide surprised face +of a Swedish deckhand stared down at us. + +"Let me aboard! I must come aboard!" I cried. + +Other faces appeared, then a rope-ladder. Somehow I was mounting +it--a dizzy feat to which only the tumult of my emotions made me +indifferent. Bare brawny arms of sailors clutched at me and drew +me to the deck. There at once I was the center of a circle of +speechless and astonished persons, all men but one. + +"Well?" demanded a large breezy voice. "What's this mean? What do +you want aboard my ship?" + +I looked up at a red-faced man in a large straw hat. + +"I want my aunt," I explained. + +"Your aunt?" he roared. "Why the devil should you think I've got +your aunt?" + +"You have got her," I replied with firmness. "I don't see her, but +she's here somewhere." + +The captain of the _Rufus Smith_ shook two large red fists above +his head. + +"Another lunatic!" he shouted. "I'd as soon have a white horse and +a minister aboard as to go to sea in a floating bedlam!" + +As the captain's angry thunder died away came the small anxious +voice of Aunt Jane. + +"What's the matter? Oh, please tell me what's the matter!" she was +saying as she edged her way into the group. In her severely cut +khaki suit she looked like a plump little dumpling that had got +into a sausage wrapping by mistake. Her eyes, round, pale, +blinking a little in the tropical glare, roved over the circle +until they lit on me. Right where she stood Aunt Jane petrified. +She endeavored to shriek, but achieved instead only a strangled +wheeze. Her poor little chin dropped until it disappeared +altogether in the folds of her plump neck, and she remained +speechless, stricken, immobile as a wax figure in an exhibition. + +"Aunt Jane," I said, "you must come right back to shore with me." +I spoke calmly, for unless you are perfectly calm with Aunt Jane +you fluster her. + +She replied only by a slight gobbling in her throat, but the other +woman spoke in a loud voice, addressed not to me but to the +universe in general. + +"The Young Person is mad!" It was an unmistakably British +intonation. + +This then was Miss Violet Higglesby-Browne, I saw a grim, bony, +stocky shape, in a companion costume to my aunt's. Around the +edges of her cork helmet her short iron-gray hair visibly bristled. +She had a massive head, and a seamed and rugged countenance which +did its best to live down the humiliation of a ridiculous little +nose with no bridge. By what prophetic irony she had been named +Violet is the secret of those powers which seem to love a laugh at +mankind's expense. + +But what riveted my eyes was the deadly glare with which hers were +turned on me. I saw that not only was she as certain of my +identity as though she had guided me from my first tottering steps, +but that in a flash she had grasped my motives, aims and purposes, +and meant once for all to face, out-general and defeat me with +great slaughter. + +So she announced to the company with deliberation, "The Young +Person is mad!" + +It nettled me extremely. + +"Mad!" I flung back at her. "Because I wish to save my poor aunt +from such a situation as this? It would be charitable to infer +madness in those who have led her into it!" When I reviewed +this speech afterward I realized that it was not, under the +circumstances, the best calculated to win me friends. + +"Jane!" said Miss Higglesby-Browne in deep and awful tones, "the +time has come to prove your strength!" + +Aunt Jane proved it by uttering a shrill yelp, and clutching her +hair with a reckless disregard of its having originally been that +of a total stranger. So severe were her shrieks and struggles that +it was with difficulty that she was borne below in the arms of two +strong men. + +I had seen Aunt Jane in hysterics before--she had them that time +about the convict. I was not frightened, but I hurried after +her--neck and neck with Miss Browne. It was fifteen minutes before +Aunt Jane came to, and then she would only moan. I bathed her +head, and held her hand, and did all the regulation things, under +the baleful eye of Miss Browne, who steadfastly refused to go away, +but sat glaring like a gorgon who sees her prey about to be +snatched from her. + +In the midst of my ministrations I awoke suddenly to a rhythmic +heave and throb which pervaded the ship. Dropping Aunt Jane's hand +I rushed on deck. There lay the various pieces of my baggage, and +in the distance the boat with the two brown rowers was skipping +shoreward over the ripples. + +As for the _Rufus Smith_, she was under weigh, and heading out of +the roadstead for the open sea. + +I dashed aft to the captain, who stood issuing orders in the voice +of an aggrieved fog-horn. + +"Captain!" I cried, "wait; turn around! You must put my aunt and +me ashore!" + +He whirled on me, showing a crimson angry face. "Turn around, is +it, turn around ?" he shouted. "Do you suppose I can loaf about +the harbor here a-waitin' on your aunt's fits? You come aboard +without me askin'. Now you can go along with the rest. This here +ship has got her course set for Frisco, pickin' up Leeward Island +on the way, and anybody that ain't goin' in that direction is +welcome to jump overboard." + +That is how I happened to go to Leeward Island. + + + + +II + +APOLLO AND SOME OTHERS + +The _Rufus Smith_, tramp freighter, had been chartered to convey +the Harding-Browne expedition to Leeward Island, which lies about +three hundred miles west of Panama, and could be picked up by the +freighter in her course. She was a little dingy boat with such +small accommodation that I can not imagine where the majority of +her passengers stowed themselves away. My aunt and Miss Browne had +a stateroom between them the size of a packing-box, and somebody +turned out and resigned another to me. I retired there to dress +for dinner after several dismal hours spent in attendance on Aunt +Jane, who had passed from great imaginary suffering into the quite +genuine anguish of seasickness. In the haste of my departure from +San Francisco I had not brought a trunk, so the best I was able to +produce in the way of a crusher for Miss Higglesby-Browne and her +fellow-passengers was a cool little white gown, which would shine +at least by contrast with Miss Browne's severely utilitarian +costume. White is becoming to my hair, which narrow-minded persons +term red, but which has been known to cause the more discriminating +to draw heavily on the dictionary for adjectives. My face is small +and heart-shaped, with features strictly for use and not for +ornament, but fortunately inconspicuous. As for my eyes, I think +tawny quite the nicest word, though Aunt Jane calls them hazel and +I have even heard whispers of green. + +Five minutes after the gong sounded I walked into the cabin. Miss +Browne, Captain Watkins of the freighter, and half a dozen men were +already at the table. I slid unobtrusively into the one vacant +place, fortunately remote from the captain, who glared at me +savagely, as though still embittered by the recollection of my +aunt's fits. + +"Gentlemen," said Miss Browne in icy tones, "Miss Virginia Harding." + +Two of the men rose, the others stared and ducked. Except for Miss +Browne and the captain, I had received on coming aboard only the +most blurred impression of my fellow-voyagers. I remembered them +merely as a composite of khaki and cork helmets and astounded +staring faces. But I felt that as the abetters of Miss Browne a +hostile and sinister atmosphere enveloped them all. + +Being thus in the camp of the enemy, I sat down in silence and +devoted myself to my soup. The majority of my companions did +likewise--audibly. But presently I heard a voice at my left: + +"I say, what a jolly good sailor you seem to be--pity your aunt's +not!" + +I looked up and saw Apollo sitting beside me. Or rather, shall I +say a young man who might have walked straight out of an +advertisement for a ready-made clothing house, so ideal and +impossible was his beauty. He was very tall--I had to tilt my chin +quite painfully to look up at him--and from the loose collar of his +silk shirt his throat rose like a column. His skin was a beautiful +clear pink and white just tinged with tan--like a meringue that has +been in the oven for two minutes exactly. He had a straight, +chiseled profile and his hair was thick and chestnut and wavy and +he had clear sea-gray eyes. To give him at once his full name and +titles, he was the Honorable Cuthbert Patrick Ruthmore Vane, of +High Staunton Manor, Kent, England. But as I was ignorant of this, +I can truthfully say that his looks stunned me purely on their own +merits. + +Outwardly calm, I replied, "Yes, its too bad, but then who ever +dreamed that Aunt Jane would go adventuring at her time of life? I +thought nobody over the age of thirteen, and then boys, ever went +treasure-hunting." + +"Ah, but lads of thirteen couldn't well come such a distance on +their own, you know," returned Apollo, with the kindest air of +making allowance for the female intellect. + +I hurriedly turned the subject. + +"I really can't imagine Aunt Jane on a desert island. You should +see her behave on the mere suspicion of a mouse! What will she do +if she meets a cannibal and he tries to eat her?" + +"Oh, really, now," argued the paragon earnestly, "I'm quite sure +there's no danger of that, don't you know? I believe there are no +natives at all on the island, or else quite tame ones, I forget +which, and here are four of us chaps, with no end of revolvers and +things--shooting-irons, as you call them in America. Mr. +Shaw--sitting opposite Miss Browne, you know--is rather running +things, so if you feel nervous you should talk to him. Was with +the South Polar Expedition and all that--knows no end about this +sort of thing--wouldn't for a moment think of letting ladies run +the risk of being eaten. Really I hope you aren't in a funk about +the cannibals--especially as with so many missionary Johnnies about +they are most likely all converted." + +"It's so comforting to think of it in that light!" I said +fervently. At the same time I peeped around Apollo for a +glimpse of the experienced Mr. Shaw. I saw a strong-featured, +weather-beaten profile, the face of a man somewhere in his +thirties, and looking, from this side view at least, not only stern +but grim. He was talking quietly to the captain, whose manner +toward him was almost civil. + +I made up my mind at once that the backbone of the party, and +inevitably the leader in its projected villainies, whatever they +might be, was this rugged-looking Mr. Shaw. You couldn't fancy him +as the misled follower of anybody, even the terrific Violet. + +As it seemed an unpropitious moment for taking counsel with Mr. +Shaw about cannibals, I tried another tack with the beautiful youth +at my side. + +"How did you like Panama? I fancy the old town is very +picturesque." + +"Oh, rather!" assented Mr. Vane. "At least, that is what those +painter chaps call it--met a couple of 'em at the hotel. Beastly +little narrow streets and houses in a shocking state and all that. +I like to see property kept up, myself." + +"I am afraid," I said severely, "that you are a philistine!" + +He blinked a little. "Ah--quite so!" he murmured, recovering +himself gallantly. "One of those chaps that backed Goliath against +David, what?" + +From this conversational impasse we were rescued by the +interposition of the gentleman opposite, whose small twinkling eyes +had been taking me in with intentness. + +"I did some flittin' about that little old burg on my own hook," he +informed us, "and what I got to say is, it needs wakin' up. Yes, +sir, a bunch of live ones from the U.S.A. would shake up that +little old graveyard so you wouldn't know it. I might have took a +hand in it myself, if I hadn't have met up with Miss Browne and +your a'nt. Yes, sir, I had a slick little proposition or two up my +sleeve. Backed by some of the biggest capital in the U.S.A.--in +fact, there's a bunch of fellers up there in God's country that's +pretty sore on old H.H. for passin' things up this way. Kep' the +wires hummin' for two-three days, till they seen I wasn't to be +switched, and then the Old Man himself--no use mentionin' names, +but I guess you know who I mean--Wall Street would, quick enough, +anyway--the Old Man himself threatened to put his yacht in +commission and come down to find out what sort of little game H. H. +was playin' on him. But I done like Br'er Rabbit--jes lay low. +Hamilton H. Tubbs knows a good thing when he sees it about as quick +as the next one--and he knows enough to keep mum about it too!" + +"None can appreciate more profoundly than myself your ability to +maintain that reserve so necessary to the success of this +expedition," remarked Miss Browne weightily from the far end of the +table. "It is to be wished that other members of our party, though +tenderly esteemed, and never more than now when weakness of body +temporarily overpowers strength of soul, had shared your powers of +secrecy!" + +This shaft was aimed quite obviously at me, and as at the moment I +could think of nothing in reply short of hurling a plate I sank +into a silence which seemed to be contagious, for it spread +throughout the table. Three or four rough-looking men, of whom +one, a certain Captain Magnus, belonged to our party and the rest +to the ship, continued vigorously to hack their way through the +meal with clattering knives and forks. Of other sounds there was +none. Such gloom weighed heavily on the genial spirit of Mr. +Tubbs, and he lightened it by rising to propose a toast. + +"Ladies and gentlemen, to her now unfortunately laid low by the +pangs of _mal de mer_--our friend and bony dear, Miss Harding!" + +This was bewildering, for neither by friend nor foe could Aunt Jane +be called bony. Later, in the light of Mr. Tubbs's passion for +classical allusion, I decided to translate it _bona dea_, and +consider the family complimented. At the moment I sat stunned, but +Miss Browne, with greater self-possession, majestically inclined +her head and said: + +"In the name of our absent friend, I thank you." In spite of +wistful looks from the beautiful youth as we rose from the table, +and the allurement of a tropic moon, I remained constant to duty +and Aunt Jane, and immured myself in her stateroom, where I passed +an enlivening evening listening to her moans. She showed a faint +returning spark of life when I mentioned Cuthbert Vane, and raised +her head to murmur that he was Honorable and she understood though +not the heir still likely to inherit and perhaps after all +Providence-- + +The unspoken end of Aunt Jane's sentence pursued me into dreams in +which an unknown gentleman obligingly broke his neck riding to +hounds and left Apollo heir to the title and estates. + + + + +III + +I ENGAGE THE ENEMY + +It was fortunate that I slept well in my narrow berth on board the +Rufus Smith, for the next day was one of trial. Aunt Jane had +recovered what Mr. Tubbs, with deprecating coughs behind his hand, +alluded to as her sea-legs, and staggered forth wanly, leaning on +the arm of Miss Higglesby-Browne. Yes, of Miss Browne, while I, +Aunt Jane's own niece, trotted meekly in the rear with a cushion. +Already I had begun to realize how fatally I had underrated the +lady of the hyphen, in imagining I had only to come and see and +conquer Aunt Jane. The grim and bony one had made hay while the +sun shone--while I was idling in California, and those criminally +supine cousins were allowing Aunt Jane to run about New York at her +own wild will. Miss Higglesby-Browne had her own collar and tag on +Aunt Jane now, while she, so complete was her perversion, fairly +hugged her slavery and called it freedom. Yes, she talked about +her Emancipation and her Soul-force and her Individuality, +prattling away like a child that has learned its lesson well. + +"Mercy, aunty, what long words!" I cried gaily, sitting down beside +her and patting her hand. Usually I can do anything with her when +I pet her up a bit. But the eye of Miss Higglesby-Browne was on +her--and Aunt Jane actually drew a little away. + +"Really, Virginia," she said, feebly endeavoring to rise to the +occasion as she knew Miss Browne would have her rise, "really, +while it's very nice to see you and all that, still I hope you +realize that I have had a--a deep Soul-experience, and that I am no +longer to be--trifled with and--and treated as if I were--amusing. +I am really at a loss to imagine why you came. I wrote you that I +was in the company of _trusted friends_." + +"Friends?" I echoed aggrievedly. "Friends are all very well, of +course, but when you and I have just each other, aunty, I think it +is unkind of you to expect me to stay thousands of miles away from +you all by myself." + +"But it was you who sent me to New York, and insisted on my staying +there!" she cried. Evidently she had been living over her wrongs. + +"Yes--but how different!" I interrupted hastily. "There were the +cousins--of course I have to spare you sometimes to the rest of the +family!" Aunt Jane is strong on family feeling, and frequently +reproaches me with my lack of it. + +But in expecting Aunt Jane to soften at this I reckoned without +Miss Higglesby-Browne. A dart from the cold gray eyes galvanized +my aunt into a sudden rigid erectness. + +"My dear Virginia," she said with quavering severity, "let me +remind you that there are ties even dearer than those of +blood--soul-affinities, you know, and--and, in short, in my dear +friend Miss Higglesby-Browne I have met for the first time in my +life with a--a Sympathetic Intelligence that understands Me!" + +So that was Violet's line! I surveyed the Sympathetic Intelligence +with a smiling interest. + +"Really, how nice! And of course you feel quite sure that on your +side you thoroughly understand--Miss Higglesby-Browne?" + +Miss Browne's hair was rather like a clothesbrush in her mildest +moods. In her rising wrath it seemed to quiver like a lion's mane. + +"Miss Harding," she said, in the chest-tones she reserved for +critical moments, "has a nature impossible to deceive, because +itself incapable of deception. Miss Harding and I first met--on +this present plane--in an atmosphere unusually favorable to +soul-revelation. I knew at once that here was the appointed +comrade, while in Miss Harding there was the immediate recognition +of a complementary spiritual force." + +"It's perfectly true, Virginia," exclaimed Aunt Jane, beginning to +cry. "You and Susan and everybody have always treated me as if I +were a child and didn't know what I wanted, when the fact is I +always have known _perfectly well_!" The last words issued in a +wail from the depths of her handkerchief. + +"You mean, I suppose," I exploded, "that what you have always +wanted was to go off on this perfectly crazy chase after imaginary +treasure!" There, now I had gone and done it. Of course it was my +red hair. + +"Jane," uttered Miss Higglesby-Browne in deep and awful tones, "do +you or do you not realize how strangely prophetic were the warnings +I gave you from the first--that if you revealed our plans malignant +Influences would be brought to bear? Be strong, Jane--cling to the +Dynamic Thought!" + +"I'm clinging!" sniffed Aunt Jane, dabbing away her tears. I never +saw any one get so pink about the eyes and nose at the smallest +sign of weeping, and yet she is always doing it. "Really, +Virginia," she broke out in a whimper, "it is not kind to say, I +suppose, but I would just as soon you hadn't come! Just when I was +learning to expand my individuality--and then you come and somehow +make it seem so much more difficult!" + +I rose. "Very well, Aunt Jane," I said coldly. "Expand all you +like. When you get to the bursting point I'll do my best to save +the pieces. For the present I suppose I had better leave you to +company so much more favorable to your soul development!" And I +walked away with my head in the air. + +It was so much in the air, and the deck of the _Rufus Smith_ was so +unstable, that I fell over a coil of rope and fetched up in the +arms of the Honorable Cuthbert Vane. Fortunately this occurred +around the corner of the deck-house, out of sight of my aunt and +Miss Browne, so the latter was unable to shed the lurid light on +the episode which she doubtless would if she had seen it. Mr. Vane +stood the shock well and promptly set me on my feet. + +"I say!" he exclaimed sympathetically, "not hurt, are you? Beastly +nuisance, you know, these ropes lying about--regular man-traps, I +call 'em." + +"Thanks, I'm quite all right," I said, and as I spoke two large +genuine tears welled up into my eyes. I hadn't realized till I +felt them smarting on my eyelids how deeply hurt I was at the +unnatural behavior of Aunt Jane. + +"Ah--I'm afraid you are really not quite all right!" returned the +Honorable Cuthbert with profound concern. "Tell me what's the +matter--please do!" + +I shook my head. "It's nothing--you couldn't help me. It's +just--Aunt Jane." + +"Your aunt? Has she been kicking-up a bit? I thought she looked +rather a mild sort." + +"Oh--mild! That's just it--so mild that she has let this awful +Higglesby-Browne person get possession of her body and soul." + +"Oh, I say, aren't you a bit rough on Miss Browne? Thought she was +a rather remarkable old party--goes in strong for intellect and all +that, you know." + +"That's just what fooled Aunt Jane so--but, I thought a man would +know better." My feathers were ruffled again. + +"Well, fact is, I'm not so much up in that sort of thing myself," +he admitted modestly. "Rather took her word for it and all that, +you know. There's Shaw, though--cleverest chap going, I assure +you. I rather fancy Miss Browne couldn't pull the wool over _his_ +eyes much." + +"She evidently did, though," I said snappishly, "since he's let her +rope him in for such a wild goose chase as this!" In my heart I +felt convinced that the clever Mr. Shaw was merely Miss Browne's +partner in imposture. + +"Oh, really, now. Miss Harding, you don't think it's that--that +the thing's all moonshine?" He stared at me in grieved surprise. + +"Why, what else can it be?" I demanded, driven by my wrongs to the +cruelty of shattering his illusions. "Who ever heard of a pirate's +treasure that wasn't moonshine? The moment I had read Aunt Jane's +letter telling of the perfectly absurd business she was setting out +on I rushed down by the first boat. Of course I meant to take her +back with me, to put a stop to all this madness; but I was too +late--and you're glad of it, I dare say!" + +"I can't help being glad, you know," he replied, the color rising +to his ingenuous cheeks. "It's so frightfully jolly having you +along. Only I'm sorry you came against your will. Rather fancy +you had it in your head that we were a band of cutthroats, eh? +Well, the fact is I don't know much about the two chaps Miss Browne +picked up, though I suspect they are a very decent sort. That odd +fish, Captain Magnus, now--he was quite Miss Browne's own find, I +assure you. And as to old H. H.--Tubbs, you know--Miss Browne met +up with him on the boat coming down. The rum old chap got on her +soft side somehow, and first thing she had appointed him secretary +and treasurer--as though we were a meeting of something. Shaw was +quite a bit upset about it. He and I were a week later in +arriving--came straight on from England with the supplies, while +Miss Browne fixed things up with the little black-and-tan country +that owns the island. I say, Miss Harding, you're bound to like +Shaw no end when you know him--he's such a wonderfully clever chap!" + +I had no wish to blight his faith in the superlative Mr. Shaw, and +said nothing. This evidently pained him, and as we stood leaning +on the rail in the shadow of the deck-house, watching the blue +water slide by, he continued to sound the praises of his idol. It +seemed that as soon as Miss Browne had beguiled Aunt Jane into +financing her scheme--a feat equivalent to robbing an infant-class +scholar of his Sunday-school nickel--she had cast about for a +worthy leader for the forthcoming Harding-Browne expedition. All +the winds of fame were bearing abroad just then the name of a +certain young explorer who had lately added another continent or +two to the British Empire. Linked with his were other names, those +of his fellow adventurers, which shone only less brightly than that +of their chief. One Dugald Shaw had been among the great man's +most trusted lieutenants, but now, on the organizing of the second +expedition, he was left behind in London, only half recovered of a +wound received in the Antarctic. The hook of a block and tackle +had caught him, ripped his forehead open from cheek to temple, and +for a time threatened the sight of the eye. Slowly, under the care +of the London surgeons, he had recovered, and the eye was saved. +Meanwhile his old companions had taken again the path of glory, and +were far on their way back to the ice-fields of the South Pole. +Only Dugald Shaw was left behind. + +"And so," the even voice flowed on, "when I ran on to him in London +he was feeling fearfully low, I do assure you. A chap of his sort +naturally hates to think he's on the shelf. I had known him since +I was a little 'un, when we used to go to Scotland for our +holidays, and he would be home from sea and staying with his cousin +at the manse. He'd make us boats and spin all sorts of yarns, and +we thought him a bigger man than the admiral of the fleet. + +"Well, old Shaw was fancying there was nothing for it but to go +back to his place with the P. & O., which seemed a bit flat after +what he'd been having, and meant he would never get beyond being +the captain of a liner, and not that for a good many years to come, +when a cable came from this Miss Higglesby-Brown offering him +command of this expedition. As neither of us had ever heard of +Miss Higglesby-Browne, we were both a bit floored for a time. But +Shaw smoked a pipe on it, and then he said, 'Old chap, if they'll +give me my figure, I'm their man.' And I said, 'Quite so, old +chap, and I'll go along, too.' + +"I had to argue quite a bit, but in the end the dear old boy let me +come--after wiring the pater and what not. And I do assure you, +Miss Harding, it strikes me as no end of a lark--besides expecting +it to put old Shaw on his feet and give us hatfuls of money all +round." + +Well, it was a plausible story, and I had no doubt, so far as the +Honorable Cuthbert was concerned, an absolutely truthful one. The +beautiful youth was manifestly as guileless as a small boy playing +pirate with a wooden sword. But as to Mr. Shaw, who could tell +that it hadn't after all been a trumped-up affair between Miss +Browne and him--that his surprise at the message was not assumed to +throw dust in the eyes of his young and trusting friend? Are even +the most valiant adventurers invariably honest? Left behind by his +companions because of his injury, his chance of an enduring fame +cut off, with no prospects but those of an officer on an ocean +liner, might he not lend a ready ear to a scheme for plucking a fat +and willing pigeon? So great was my faith in Aunt Jane's +gullibility, so dark my distrust of Miss Browne, that all connected +with the enterprise lay under the cloud of my suspicion. The +Honorable Mr. Vane I had already so far exculpated as to wonder if +he were not in some way being victimized too; but Mr. Shaw, after +even a casual glimpse of him, one couldn't picture as a victim. I +felt that he must have gone into the enterprise with his eyes open +to its absurdity, and fully aware that the only gold to be won by +anybody must come out of the pocket of Aunt Jane. + +As these reflections passed through my mind I looked up and saw the +subject of them approaching. He lifted his helmet, but met my eyes +unsmilingly, with a sort of sober scrutiny. He had the tanned skin +of a sailor, and brown hair cropped close and showing a trace of +gray. This and a certain dour grim look he had made me at first +consider him quite middle-aged, though I knew later that he was not +yet thirty-five. As to the grimness, perhaps, I unwillingly +conceded, part of it was due to the scar which seamed the right +temple to the eyebrow, in a straight livid line. But it was a grim +face anyway, strong-jawed, with piercing steel-blue eyes. + +He was welcomed by Mr. Vane with a joyous thump on the +shoulder-blade. "I say, old man, Miss Harding has turned out to be +the most fearful doubting Thomas--thinks the whole scheme quite mad +and all that sort of thing. I'm far too great a duffer to convert +her, but perhaps you might, don't you know?" + +Mr. Shaw looked at me steadily. His eyes were the kind that seem +to see all and reveal nothing. I felt a hot spark of defiance +rising in my own. + +"And indeed it is too bad," he said coolly, "that the trip should +not be more to Miss Harding's liking." The rough edges of his +Scotch burr had been smoothed down by much wandering, but you knew +at once on which side of the Solway he had seen the light. + +"It is not a question of my liking," I retorted, trying to preserve +an unmoved and lofty demeanor, though my heart was beating rather +quickly at finding myself actually crossing swords with the +redoubtable adventurer, this man who had often faced death, I could +not refuse to believe, as steadily as he was facing me now. + +"It is not at all a question of my liking or not liking the trip, +but of the trip itself being--quite the wildest thing ever heard of +out of a story-book." Harsher terms had sprung first to my lips, +but had somehow failed to get beyond them. + +"Ah--yet the world would be the poorer if certain wild trips had +not been taken. I seem to remember one Christopher Columbus, for +instance." + +By a vivid lightning-flash of wrath I felt that this adventurer was +laughing at me a little under his sober exterior--even stirring me +up as one does an angry kitten. + +"Yes," I flared out, "but Columbus did not inveigle a confiding old +lady to go along with him!" Of course Aunt Jane is not, properly +speaking, an old lady, but it was much more effective to pose her +as one for the moment. + +It was certainly effective, to judge by the sudden firm setting of +his mouth. + +"Lad," he said quietly, "lend a hand below, will you? They are +overhauling some of our stuff 'tween decks." + +He waited until the Honorable Cuthbert, looking rather dazed, had +retired. We stood facing each other, my breath coming rather +hurriedly. There was a kind of still force about this mastered +anger of the dour Scot, like the brooding of black clouds that at +any moment may send forth their devastating fire. Yet I myself was +not endowed with red hair for nothing. + +"Miss Harding," he said slowly, "that was a bitter word you said." + +My head went up. + +"Bitter, perhaps," I flung back, "but is it not true? It is for you +to answer." + +"No, it is not for me to answer, because it is not for you to ask. +But since you talk of inveigling, let me give the history of my +connection with the expedition. You will understand then that I +had nothing to do with organizing it, but was merely engaged to do +my best to carry it through to success." + +"I have already heard a version of the matter from Mr. Vane." + +"And you think he is in the conspiracy too?" "Certainly not," I +replied hastily. "I mean--of course, I know he told me exactly +what he believes himself." + +"Yes, you would take the lad's word, of course." This with a slight +but significant emphasis of which he was perhaps unconscious. +"Then I suppose you consider that he was inveigled too?" + +"I am not required to consider Mr. Vane's status at all," I replied +with dignity. "It is my aunt whom I wish to protect." And +suddenly to my dismay my voice grew husky. I had to turn my head +aside and blink hard at the sea. I seemed to be encountering +fearful and unexpected odds in my endeavor to rescue Aunt Jane. + +He stood looking down at me--he was a big man, though of lesser +height than the superb Cuthbert--in a way I couldn't quite +understand. And what I don't understand always makes me +uncomfortable. + +"Very well," he said after a pause. "Maybe your opportunity will +come. It would be a pity indeed if Miss Harding were to require no +protecting and a young lady here with such a good will to it. But +if you will take the suggestion of a man of rather broader +experience than your own, you will wait until the occasion arises. +It is bad generalship, really, to waste your ammunition like this." + +"I dare say I am not a master of strategy," I cried, furious at +myself for my moment of weakness and at him for the softening tone +which had crept into his voice. "I am merely--honest. And when I +see Aunt Jane hypnotized--by this Violet person--" + +"And indeed I have seen no reason to think that Miss +Higglesby-Browne is not a most excellent lady," interrupted Mr. +Shaw stiffly. "And let me say this, Miss Harding: here we are all +together, whether we wish to be or no, and for six weeks or more on +the island we shall see no faces but our own. Are we to be divided +from the beginning by quarrels? Are maybe even the men of us to be +set by the ears through the bickering of women?" + +Like the nick of a whip came the certainty that he was thinking of +the Honorable Cuthbert, and that I was the rock on which their +David-and-Jonathan friendship might split. Otherwise I suppose +Miss Higglesby-Browne and I might have clawed each other forever +without interference from him. + +"Really," I said with--I hope--well-simulated scorn, "since I am +quite alone against half a dozen of you, I should think you could +count on putting down any rebellion on my part very easily. I +repeat, I had no other object in coming along--though I was really +_kidnaped_ along--than to look after my aunt. The affairs of the +party otherwise--or its personnel---do not interest me at all. As +to the treasure, of course I know perfectly well that there isn't +any." + +And I turned my back and looked steadily out to sea. After a +moment or two I heard him turn on his heel and go away. It was +none too soon, for I had already begun to feel unostentatiously for +my handkerchief. Any way, I had had the last word-- + +The rest of my day was lonely, for the beautiful youth, probably by +malevolent design, was kept busy between decks. Mr. Tubbs danced +attendance on Aunt Jane and Miss Browne, so assiduously that I +already began to see some of my worst fears realized. There was +nothing for me to do but to retire to my berth and peruse a +tattered copy of _Huckleberry Finn_ which I found in the cabin. + +At dinner, having the Honorable Cuthbert at my elbow, it was easier +than not to ignore every one else. The small keen eyes of Mr. +Tubbs, under his lofty and polished dome of thought, watched us +knowingly. You saw that he was getting ready to assume a +bless-you-my-children attitude and even to take credit somehow as +match-maker. He related anecdotes, in which, as an emissary of +Cupid, he played a benevolent and leading role. One detected, too, +a grin, ugly and unmirthful, on the unprepossessing countenance of +Captain Magnus. I was indifferent. The man my gaiety was intended +for sat at the far end of the table. I had to wipe out the memory +of my wet eyes that afternoon. + +Directly dinner was at an end, remorselessly he led the Honorable +Cuthbert away. I retired to Huckleberry Finn. But a face with a +scar running to the eyebrow looked up at me from the pages, and I +held colloquies with it in which I said all the brilliant and +cutting things which had occurred to me too late. + +I was thus engaged when a cry rang through the ship: "Land ho!" + + + + +IV + +THE ISLE OF FORTUNE + +I dropped my book and ran on deck. Every one else was already +there. I joined the row at the rail, indifferent, for the moment, +to the fact that to display so much interest in their ridiculous +island involved a descent from my pinnacle. Indeed, the chill +altitude of pinnacles never agrees with me for long at a time, so +that I am obliged to descend at intervals to breathe the air on the +common level. + +The great gleaming orb of the tropic moon was blinding as the sun. +Away to the faint translucent line of the horizon rolled an +infinity of shining sea. Straight ahead rose a dark conical mass. +It was the mountainous shape of Leeward Island. + +Everybody was craning to get a clearer view. "Hail, isle of +Fortune!" exclaimed Miss Browne. I think my aunt would not have +been surprised if it had begun to rain doubloons upon the deck. + +"I bet we don't put it over some on them original Argonaut fellers, +hey?" cried Mr. Tubbs. + +Higher and higher across the sky-line cut the dark crest of the +island as the freighter steamed valiantly ahead. She had a manner +all her own of progressing by a series of headlong lunges, followed +by a nerve-racking pause before she found her equilibrium again. +But she managed to wallow forward at a good gait, and the island +grew clearer momently. Sheer and formidable from the sea rose a +line of black cliffs, and above them a single peak threw its shadow +far across the water. Faintly we made out the white line of the +breakers foaming at the foot of the cliffs. + +We coasted slowly along, looking for the mouth of the little bay. +Meanwhile we had collected our belongings, and stood grouped about +the deck, ready for the first thrilling plunge into adventure. My +aunt and Miss Browne had tied huge green veils over their cork +helmets, and were clumping about in tremendous hobnailed boots. I +could not hope to rival this severely military get-up, but I had a +blue linen skirt and a white middy, and trusted that my small stock +of similar garments would last out our time on the island. All the +luggage I was allowed to take was in a traveling bag and a +gunny-sack, obligingly donated by the cook. Speaking of cooks, I +found we had one of our own along, a coal-black negro with grizzled +wool, an unctuous voice, and the manners of an old-school family +retainer. So far as I know, his name was Cookie. I suppose he had +received another once from his sponsors in baptism, but if so, it +was buried in oblivion. + +Now a narrow gleaming gap appeared in the wall of cliffs, and the +freighter whistled and lay to. There began a bustle at the davits, +and shouts of "Lower away!" and for the first time it swept over me +that we were to be put ashore in boats. Simultaneously this fact +swept over Aunt Jane, and I think also over Miss Browne, for I saw +her fling one wild glance around, as though in search of some +impossible means of retreat. But she took the blow in a grim +silence, while Aunt Jane burst out in lamentation. She would not, +could not go in a boat. She had heard all her life that small +boats were most unsafe. A little girl had been drowned in a lake +near where she was visiting once through going in a boat. Why +didn't the captain sail right up to the island as she had expected +and put us ashore? Even at Panama with only a little way to go she +had felt it suicidal--here it was not to be thought of. + +But the preparations for this desperate step went on apace, and no +one heeded Aunt Jane but Mr. Tubbs, who had hastened to succor +beauty in distress, and mingled broken exhortations to courage with +hints that if his opinion had been attended to all would be well. + +Then Aunt Jane clutched at Mr. Shaw's coat lapel as he went by, and +he stopped long enough to explain patiently that vessels of the +freighter's size could not enter the bay, and that there really was +no danger, and that Aunt Jane might wait if she liked till the last +boat, as it would take several trips to transfer us and our +baggage. I supposed of course that this would include me, and +stood leaning on the rail, watching the first boat with Mr. Shaw, +Captain Magnus and the cook, fade to a dark speck on the water, +when Mr. Vane appeared at my elbow. + +"Ready, Miss Harding? You are to go in the next boat, with me. I +asked especially." + +"Oh, thanks!" I cried fervently. He would be much nicer than Mr. +Tubbs to cling to as I went down--indeed, he was so tall that if it +were at all a shallow place I might use him as a stepping-stone and +survive. I hoped drowning men didn't gurgle very much--meanwhile +Mr. Vane had disappeared over the side, and a sailor was lifting me +and setting my reluctant feet on the strands of the ladder. + +"Good-by, auntie !" I cried, as I began the descent. "Don't blame +yourself too much. Everybody has to go some time, you know, and +they say drowning's easy." + +With a stifled cry Aunt Jane forsook Mr. Tubbs and flew to the +rail. I was already out of reach. + +"Oh, Virginia!" she wailed. "Oh, my dear child! If it should be +the last parting!" + +"Give my jewelry and things to Bess's baby!" I found strength to +call back. What with the wallowing of the steamer and the natural +instability of rope-ladders I seemed a mere atom tossed about in a +swaying, reeling universe. _What will Aunt Jane do_? flashed +through my mind, and I wished I had waited to see. Then the arms +of the Honorable Mr. Vane received me. The strong rowers bent +their backs, and the boat shot out over the mile or two of bright +water between us and the island. Great slow swells lifted us. We +dipped with a soothing, cradle-like motion. I forgot to be afraid, +in the delight of the warm wind that fanned our cheeks, of the +moonbeams that on the crest of every ripple were splintered +to a thousand dancing lights. I forgot fear, forgot Miss +Higglesby-Browne, forgot the harshness of the Scotch character. + +"Oh, glorious, glorious!" I cried to Cuthbert Vane. + +"Not so dusty, eh?" he came back in their ridiculous English slang. +Now an American would have said _some little old moon that_! We +certainly have our points of superiority. + +All around the island white charging lines of breakers foamed on +ragged half-seen reefs. You saw the flash of foam leaping half the +height of the black cliffs. The thunder of the surf was in our +ears, now rising to wild clamor, fierce, hungry, menacing, now +dying to a vast broken mutter. Now our boat felt the lift of the +great shoreward rollers, and sprang forward like a living thing. +The other boat, empty of all but the rowers and returning from the +island to the ship, passed us with a hail. We steered warily away +from a wild welter of foam at the end of a long point, and shot +beyond it on the heave of a great swell into quiet water. We were +in the little bay under the shadow of the frowning cliff's. + +At the head of the bay, a quarter of a mile away, lay a broad white +beach shining under the moon. At the edge of dark woods beyond a +fire burned redly. It threw into relief the black moving shapes of +men upon the sand. The waters of the cove broke upon the beach in +a white lacework of foam. + +Straight for the sand the sailors drove the boat. She struck it +with a jar, grinding forward heavily. The men sprang overboard, +wading half-way to the waist. And the arms of the Honorable +Cuthbert Vane had snatched me up and were bearing me safe and dry +to shore. + +The sailors hauled on the boat, dragging it up the beach, and I saw +the Scotchman lending them a hand. The hard dry sand was crunching +under the heels of Mr. Vane. I wriggled a little and Apollo, who +had grown absent-minded apparently, set me down. + +Mr. Shaw approached and the two men greeted each other in their +offhand British way. As we couldn't well, under the circumstances, +maintain a fiction of mutual invisibility, Mr. Shaw, with a certain +obvious hesitation, turned to me. + +"Only lady passenger, eh? Hope you're not wet through. Cookie's +making coffee over yonder." + +"I say, Shaw," cried the beautiful youth enthusiastically, "Miss +Harding's the most ripping sport, you know! Not the least nervous +about the trip, I assure you." + +"I was," I announced, moved to defiance by the neighborhood of Mr. +Shaw. "Before we started I was so afraid that if you had listened +you might have heard my teeth chattering. But I had at least the +comforting thought that if I did go to my end it would not be +simply in pursuit of sordid gain!" + +"And indeed that was almost a waste of noble sentiment under the +circumstances," answered the dour Scot, with the fleeting shadow of +an enraging smile. "Such disappointingly calm weather as it is! +See that Miss Harding has some coffee, Bert." + +I promised myself, as I went with Mr. Vane toward the fire, that +some day I would find the weapon that would penetrate the +Scotchman's armor--and would use it mercilessly. + +Cookie, in his white attire, and with his black shining face and +ivory teeth gleaming in the ruddy firelight, looked like a +converted cannibal--perhaps won from his errors by one of Mr. +Vane's missionary Johnnies. He received us with unctuous warmth. + +"Well, now, 'clar to goodness if it ain't the li'le lady! How come +you git ashore all dry lak you is? Yes, sah, Cookie'll git you-all +some'n hot immejusly." He wafted me with stately gestures to a +seat on an overturned iron kettle, and served my coffee with an air +appropriate to mahogany and plate. It was something to see him +wait on Cuthbert Vane. As Cookie told me later, in the course of +our rapidly developing friendship, "dat young gemmun am sure one ob +de quality." To indicate the certainty of Cookie's instinct, Miss +Higglesby-Browne was never more to him than "dat pusson." and the +cold aloofness of his manner toward her, which yet never sank to +impertinence, would have done credit to a duke. + +On the beach Mr. Shaw, Captain Magnus and the sailors were toiling, +unloading and piling up stores. Rather laggingly, Apollo joined +them. I was glad, for a heavy fatigue was stealing over me. +Cookie, taking note of my sagging head, brought me somebody's +dunnage bag for a pillow. I felt him drawing a tarpaulin over me +as I sank into bottomless depths of sleep. + +I opened my eyes to the dying stars. The moon had set. Black +shapes of tree and boulder loomed portentous through the ashen +dimness that precedes the dawn. I heard men shouting, "Here she +comes!" "Stand by to lend a hand!" In haste I scrambled up and +tore for the beach. I must witness the landing of Aunt Jane. + +"Where are they, where are they?" I demanded, rubbing my sleepy +eyes. + +"Why didn't you stay by the fire and have your nap out?" asked Mr. +Shaw, in a tone which seemed to have forgotten for the moment to be +frigid--perhaps because I hadn't yet waked up enough to have my +quills in good pricking order. + +"Nap? Do you think that for all the treasure ever buried by a +pirate I would miss the spectacle of Aunt Jane and Miss Browne +arriving? I expect it to compensate me for all I have suffered on +this trip so far." + +"See what it is, Bert," exclaimed the Scotchman, "to have a truly +gentle and forgiving nature--how it brings its own reward. I'm +afraid you and I miss a great deal in life, lad." + +The beautiful youth pondered this. + +"I don't know," he replied, "what you say sounds quite fit and +proper for the parson, and all that, of course, but I fancy you are +a bit out in supposing that Miss Harding is so forgiving, old man." + +"I didn't know that _you_ thought so badly of me, too!" I said +timidly. I couldn't help it--the temptation was too great. + +"I? Oh, really, now, you can't think that!" Through the dusk I saw +that he was flushing hotly. + +"Lad," said the Scotchman in a suddenly harsh voice, "lend a hand +with this rope, will you?" And in the dusk I turned away to hide +my triumphant smiles. I had found the weak spot of my foe--as Mr. +Tubbs might have said, I was wise to Achilles's heel. + +And now through the dawn-twilight that lay upon the cove the boat +drew near that bore Mr. Tubbs and his fair charges. I saw the +three cork helmets grouped together in the stern. Then the foaming +fringe of wavelets caught the boat, hurled it forward, seemed all +but to engulf it out leaped the sailors. Out leaped Mr. Tubbs, and +disappeared at once beneath the waves. Shrill and prolonged rose +the shrieks of my aunt and Miss Higglesby-Browne. Valiantly Mr. +Shaw and Cuthbert Vane had rushed into the deep. Each now appeared +staggering up the steep, foam-swept strand under a struggling +burden. Even after they were safely deposited on the sand. Miss +Browne and my aunt continued to shriek. + +"Save, save Mr. Tubbs!" implored Aunt Jane. But Mr. Tubbs, +overlooked by all but this thoughtful friend, had cannily saved +himself. He advanced upon us dripping. + +"A close call!" he sang out cheerfully. "Thought one time old Nep +had got a strangle-hold all right. Thinks I, I guess there'll be +something doing when Wall Street gets this news--that old H. H. is +food for the finny denizens of the deep!" + +"Such an event, Mr. Tubbs," pronounced Violet, who had recovered +her form with surprising swiftness, "might well have sent its +vibrations through the financial arteries of the world!" + +"It would have been most--most shocking!" quavered poor Aunt Jane +with feeling. She was piteously striving to extricate herself from +the folds of the green veil. + +I came to her assistance. The poor plump little woman was +trembling from head to foot. + +"It was a most--unusual experience," she told me as I unwound her. +"Probably extremely--unifying to the soul-forces and all that, as +Miss Browne says, but for the moment--unsettling. Is my helmet on +straight, dear? I think it is a little severe for my type of face, +don't you? There was a sweet little hat in a Fifth Avenue +shop--simple and yet so chic. I thought it just the thing, but +Miss Browne said no, helmets were always worn--Coffee? Oh, my dear +child, how thankful I shall be!" + +And Aunt Jane clung to me as of yore as I led her up the beach. + + + + +V + +THE CAPTAIN'S LEGACY + +When in my tender years I was taken to the matinee, usually the +most thrilling feature of the spectacle to me was the scene +depicted on the drop-curtain. I know not why only the decorators +of drop-curtains are inspired to create landscapes of such strange +enchantment, of a beauty which not alone beguiles the senses--I +speak from the standpoint of the ten-year-old--but throws wide to +fancy the gate of dreams. Directly I was seated--in the body--and +had had my hat taken off and been told not to wriggle, I vaulted +airily over the unconscious audience, over an orchestra engaged in +tuning up, and was lost in the marvelous landscape of the +drop-curtain. The adventures which I had there put to shame any +which the raising of the curtain permitted to be seen upon the +stage. + +I had never hoped to recover in this prosaic world my long-lost +paradise of the drop-curtain, but morning revealed it to me here on +Leeward Island. Here was the feathery foliage, the gushing +springs, the gorgeous flowers of that enchanted land. And here +were the soft and intoxicating perfumes that I had imagined in my +curtain landscape. + +Leeward Island measures roughly four miles across from east to west +by three from north to south. The core of the island is the peak, +rising to a height of nearly three thousand feet. At its base on +three sides lies a plateau, its edges gnawed away by the sea to the +underlying rocky skeleton. On the southeastern quarter the peak +drops by a series of great precipices straight into the sea. + +Back from the cove stretches a little hollow, its floor rising +gently to the level of the plateau. Innumerable clear springs +which burst from the mountain converge to a limpid stream, which +winds through the hollow to fall into the little bay. All the +plateau and much of the peak are clothed with woods, a beautiful +bright green against the sapphire of sea and sky. High above all +other growth wave the feathery tops of the cocoa-palms, which +flourish here luxuriantly. You saw them in their thousands, +slender and swaying, tossing all together in the light sea-wind +their crowns of nodding plumes. + +The palms were nowhere more abundant than in the hollow by the cove +where our camp was made, and their size and the regularity of their +order spoke of cultivation. Guavas, oranges and lemons grew here, +too, and many beautiful banana-palms. The rank forest growth had +been so thoroughly cleared out that it had not yet returned, except +stealthily in the shape of brilliant-flowered creepers which wound +their sinuous way from tree to tree, like fair Delilahs striving to +overcome arboreal Samsons by their wiles. They were rankest beside +the stream, which ran at one edge of the hollow under the rise of +the plateau. + +At the side of the clearing toward the stream stood a hut, built of +cocoa-palm logs. Its roof of palm-thatch had been scattered by +storms. Nearer the stream on a bench were an old decaying wash-tub +and a board. A broken frying-pan and a rusty axe-head lay in the +grass. + +In the hut itself were a rude bedstead, a small table, and a +cupboard made of boxes. I was excited at first, and fancied we had +come upon the dwelling of a marooned pirate. Without taking the +trouble to combat this opinion, Mr. Shaw explained to Cuthbert Vane +that a copra gatherer had once lived here, and that the place must +have yielded such a profit that he was only surprised to find it +deserted now. Behind this cool, unemphatic speech I sensed an +ironic zest in the destruction of my pirate. + +After their thrilling experience of being ferried from the _Rufus +Smith_ to the island, my aunt and Miss Browne had been easily +persuaded to dispose themselves for naps. Aunt Jane, however, +could not be at rest until Mr. Tubbs had been restored by a cordial +which she extracted with much effort from the depths of her +hand-bag. He partook with gravity and the rolled up eyes of +gratitude, and retired grimacing to comfort himself from a private +bottle of his own. + +The boats of the _Rufus Smith_ had departed from the island, and +our relations with humanity were severed. The thought of our +isolation awed and fascinated me as I sat meditatively upon a keg +of nails watching the miracle of the tropic dawn. The men were +hard at work with bales and boxes, except Mr. Tubbs, who gave +advice. It must have been valuable advice, for he assured +everybody that a word from his lips had invariably been enough to +make Wall Street sit up and take notice. But it is a far cry from +Wall Street to Leeward Island. Mr. Tubbs, ignored, sought refuge +with me at last, and pointed out the beauties of Aroarer as she +rose from the embrace of Neptune. + +"Aroarer Borealis, to be accurate," he explained, "but they didn't +use parties' surnames much in classic times." + +The glad cry of breakfast put an end to Mr. Tubbs's exposition of +mythology. + +So does dull reality clog the feet of dreams that it proved +impossible to begin the day by digging up the treasure. Camp had +to be arranged, for folk must eat and sleep even with the wealth of +the Indies to be had for the turning of a sod. The cabin was +reroofed and set apart as the bower of Aunt Jane and Miss Browne. +I declined to make a third in this sanctuary. You could tell by +looking at her that Violet was the sort of person who would +inevitably sleep out loud. + +"Hang me up in a tree or anywhere," I insisted, and it ended by my +having a tarpaulin shelter rigged up in a group of cocoa-palms. + +Among our earliest discoveries on the island was one regrettable +from the point of view of romance, though rich in practical +advantages; the woods were the abode of numerous wild pigs. This +is not to write a new chapter on the geographical distribution of +the pig, for they were of the humdrum domestic variety, and had +doubtless appertained to the copra gatherer's establishment. But +you should have seen how clean, how seemly, how self-respecting +were our Leeward Island pigs to realize how profoundly the pig of +Christian lands is a debased and slandered animal. These +quadrupeds would have strengthened Jean Jacques's belief in the +primitive virtue of man before civilization debauched him. And I +shall always paraphrase the familiar line to read: "When wild in +woods the noble porker ran." + +Aunt Jane had been dreadfully alarmed by the pigs, and wanted to +keep me immured in the cabin o' nights so that I should not be +eaten. But nothing less than a Bengal tiger would have driven me +to such extremity. + +"Though if a pig should eat me," I suggested, "you might mark him +to avoid becoming a cannibal at second hand. I should hate to +think of you, Aunt Jane, as the family tomb!" + +"Virginia, you are most unfeeling," said Aunt Jane, getting pink +about the eyelids. + +"Ah, I didn't know you Americans went in much for family tombs?" +remarked the beautiful youth interestedly. + +"No, we do our best to keep out of them," I assured him, and he +walked off meditatively revolving this. + +If the beautiful youth had been beautiful on shipboard, in the +informal costume he affected on the island he was more splendid +still. His white cotton shirt and trousers showed him lithe and +lean and muscular. His bared arms and chest were like cream +solidified to flesh. Instead of his nose peeling like common noses +in the hot salt air, every kiss of the sun only gave his skin a +warmer, richer glow. With his striped silk sash of red and blue +about his waist, and his crown of ambrosial chestnut curls--a +development due to the absence of a barber--the Honorable Cuthbert +would certainly have been hailed by the natives, if there had been +any, as the island's god. + +Camp was made in the early hours of the day. Then came luncheon, +prepared with skill by Cookie, and eaten from a table of +packing-cases laid in the shade. Afterward every one, hot and +weary, retired for a siesta. It was now the cool as well as the +dry season on the island, yet the heat of the sun at midday was +terrific. But the temperature brought us neither illness nor even +any great degree of lassitude. Always around the island blew the +faint cooling breath of the sea. No marsh or stagnant water bred +insect pests or fever. Every day while we were there the men +worked hard, and grew lean and sun-browned, and thrived on it. +Every afternoon with unfailing regularity a light shower fell, but +in twenty minutes it was over and the sun shone again, greedily +lapping up the moisture that glittered on the leaves. And forever +the sea sang a low muttering bass to the faint threnody of the wind +in the palms. + +On this first day we gathered in the cool of the afternoon about +our table of packing-boxes for an event which even I, whose role +was that of skeptic, found exciting. Miss Browne was at last to +produce her map and reveal the secret of the island. So far, +except in general terms, she had imparted it to no one. Everybody, +in coming along, had been buying a pig in a poke--though to be sure +Aunt Jane had paid for it. The Scotchman, Cuthbert Vane had told +me incidentally, had insured himself against loss by demanding a +retaining fee beforehand. Somehow my opinion, both of his honesty +and of his intelligence, had risen since I knew this. As to +Cuthbert Vane, he had come purely in a spirit of adventure, and had +paid his own expenses from the start. + +However, now the great moment was at hand. But before it comes, I +will here set down the treasure-story of Leeward Island, as I +gathered it later, a little here and there, and pieced it together +into a coherent whole through many dreaming hours. + +In 1820, the city of Lima, in Peru, being threatened by the +revolutionaries under Bolivar and San Martin, cautious folk began +to take thought for their possessions. To send them out upon the +high seas under a foreign flag seemed to offer the best hope of +safety, and soon there was more gold afloat on the Pacific than at +any time since the sailing of the great plate-galleons of the +seventeenth century. Captain Sampson, of the brig _Bonny Lass_, +found himself with a passenger for nowhere in particular in the +shape of a certain Spanish merchant of great wealth, reputed +custodian of the private funds of the bishop of Lima. This +gentleman brought with him, besides some scanty personal +baggage--for he took ship in haste--a great iron-bound chest. Four +stout sailors of the _Bonny Lass_ staggered under the weight of it. + +The _Bonny Lass_ cruised north along the coast, the passenger +desiring to put in at Panama in the hope that word might reach him +there of quieter times at home. But somewhere off Ecuador +on a dark and starless night the merchant of Lima vanished +overboard--"and what could you expect," asked Captain Sampson in +effect, "when a lubber like him would stay on deck in a gale?" +Strange to say, the merchant's body-servant met the fate of the +heedless also. + +Shrugging his shoulders at the carelessness of passengers, Captain +Sampson bore away to Leeward Island, perhaps from curiosity to see +this old refuge of the buccaneers, where the spoils of the sack of +Guayaquil were said to have been buried. Who knows but that he, +too, was bent on treasure-seeking? Be that as it may, the little +brig found her way into the bay on the northeast side of the +island, where she anchored. Water was needed, and there is +refreshment in tropic fruits after a diet of salt horse and +hardtack. So all hands had a holiday ashore, where the captain did +not disdain to join them. Only he went apart, and had other +occupation than swarming up the palms for cocoanuts. + +One fancies, then, a moonless night, a crew sleeping off double +grog, generously allowed them by the captain; a boat putting off +from the _Bonny Lass_, in which were captain, mate, and one Bill +Halliwell, able seaman, a man of mighty muscle; and as freight an +object large, angular and ponderous, so that the boat lagged +heavily beneath the rowers' strokes. + +Later, Bill, the simple seaman, grows presumptuous on the strength +of this excursion with his betters. It is a word and a blow with +the captain of the _Bonny Lass_, and Bill is conveniently disposed +of. Dead, as well as living, he serves the purpose of the captain, +but of that later. + +Away sailed the _Bonny Lass_, sailing once for all out of the +story. As for Captain Sampson, there is a long gap in his history, +hazily filled by the story of his having been lieutenant to Benito +Bonito, and one of the two survivors when Bonito's black flag was +brought down by the British frigate _Espiegle_. But sober history +knows nothing of him until he reappears years later, an aged and +broken man, in a back street of Bristol. Here was living a certain +Hopperdown, who had been boatswain on the _Bonny Lass_ at the time +that she so regrettably lost her passengers overboard. He too had +been at Leeward Island, and may have somewhat wondered and +questioned as to the happenings during the brig's brief stay there. +He saw and recognized his old skipper hobbling along the Bristol +quays, and perhaps from pity took the shabby creature home with +him. Hopperdown dealt in sailors' slops, and had a snug room or +two behind the shop. Here for a while the former Captain Sampson +dwelt, and after a swift illness here he died. With the hand of +death upon him, his grim lips at last gave up their secret. With +stiffening fingers he traced a rough map, to refresh Hopperdown's +memory after the lapse of time since either had seen the +wave-beaten cliffs of Leeward Island. For Captain Sampson had +never been able to return to claim the treasure which he had left +to Bill Halliwell's silent guardianship. Somehow he had lost his +own vessel, and there would be rumors about, no doubt, which would +make it difficult for him to get another. If he had, indeed, +sailed with Bonito, he had kept his secret from his formidable +commander. Even as he had dealt with Bill Halliwell, so might +Bonito deal by him--or at least the lion's share must be yielded +to the pirate captain. And the passion of Captain Sampson's life +had come to be his gold--his hidden hoard on far-off Leeward +Island. It was his, now, all his. The only other who knew its +hiding-place, his former mate, had been killed in Havana in a +tavern brawl. The secret of the bright unattainable treasure was +all the captain's own. He dreamed of the doubloons, gloated over +them, longed for them with a ceaseless gnawing passion of desire. +And in the end he died, in Hopperdown's little shop in the narrow +Bristol by-street. + +Hopperdown, an aging man himself, and in his humble way contented, +fell straightway victim to the gold-virus. He sold all he had, and +bought passage in a sailing ship for Valparaiso, trusting that once +so far on the way he would find means to accomplish the rest. But +the raging of the fever in his thin old blood brought him to his +bed, and the ship sailed without him. Before she was midway in the +Atlantic Hopperdown was dead. + +The old man died in the house of a niece, to whom by way of legacy +he left his map. For the satisfaction of his anxious mind, still +poring on the treasure, she wrote down what she could grasp of his +instructions, and then, being an unimaginative woman, gave the +matter little further heed. For years the map lay among other +papers in a drawer, and here it was at length discovered by her +son, himself a sailor. He learned from her its history, and having +been in the Pacific, and heard the tales and rumors that cling +about Leeward Island like the everlasting surf of its encompassing +seas, this grand-nephew of old Hopperdown's, by name David Jenkins, +became for the rest of his days a follower of the _ignis fatuus_. +An untaught, suspicious, grasping man, he rejected, or knew not how +to set about, the one course which offered the least hope, which +was to trade his secret for the means of profiting by it. AH his +restless, hungry life he spent in wandering up and down the seas, +ever on the watch for some dimly imagined chance by which he might +come at the treasure. And so at last he wandered into the London +hospital where he died. + +And to me the wildest feature of the whole wild tale was that at +the last he should have parted with the cherished secret of a +lifetime to Miss Higglesby-Browne. + +In a general way, every one of us knew this history. Even I had +had an outline of it from Cuthbert Vane. But so far nobody had +seen the map. And now we were to see it; the time that intervened +before that great event had already dwindled to minutes, to +seconds-- + +But no; for Miss Browne arose and began to make a speech. The +beginning of it dealt in a large and generalizing manner with +comradeship and loyalty, and the necessity of the proper mental +attitude in approaching the business we had in hand. I did not +listen closely. The truth is, I wanted to see that map. Under the +spell of the island, I had almost begun to believe in the chest of +doubloons. + +Suddenly I awoke with a start to the fact that Miss Browne was +talking about me. Yes, I, indubitably, was the Young Person whose +motives in attaching herself to the party were so at variance with +the amity and mutual confidence which filled all other breasts. It +was I who had sought to deprive the party of the presence, counsel +and support of a member lacking whom it would have been but a body +without a soul. It was I who had uttered words which were painful +and astounding to one conscious of unimpugnable motives. In the +days of toil to come, we were reminded, the Young Person, to wit, +myself, would have no share. She would be but skeptic, critic, +drone in the busy hive. Thus it was obvious that the Young Person +could not with any trace of justice claim part or lot in the +treasure. Were it not well, then, that the Young Person be +required to make formal and written renunciation of all interest in +the golden hoard soon to reward the faith and enterprise of the +Harding-Browne expedition? Miss Browne requested the sense of the +meeting on the matter. + +Under the fire of this arraignment I sat hot-cheeked and +incredulous, while a general wave of agitation seemed to stir the +drowsy atmosphere. Aunt Jane was quivering, her round eyes fixed +on Miss Higglesby-Browne like a fascinated rabbit's on a serpent. +Mr. Hamilton H. Tubbs had pursed his lips to an inaudible whistle, +and alternately regarded the summits of the palms and stole swift +ferret-glances at the faces of the company. Captain Magnus had +taken a sheath-knife from his belt and was balancing it on one +finger, casting about him now and then a furtive, crooked, +roving look, to meet which made you feel like a party to some +hidden crime. Mr. Vane had remained for some time in happy +unconsciousness of the significance of Miss Browne's oration. It +was something to see it gradually penetrate to his perceptions, +vexing the alabaster brow with a faint wrinkle of perplexity, then +suffusing his cheeks with agonized and indignant blushes. "Oh, I +say, really, you know!" hovered in unspoken protest on his tongue. +He threw imploring looks at Mr. Shaw, who alone of all the party +sat imperturbable, except for a viciously bitten lip. + + +Miss Higglesby-Browne had drawn a deep breath, preparatory to +resuming her verbal ramble, but I sprang to my feet. + +"Miss Browne," I said, in tones less coldly calm than I could have +wished, "if you have thought it necessary to--to orate at this +length merely to tell me that I am to have no share in this +ridiculous treasure of yours, you have wasted a great deal of +energy. In the first place, I don't believe in your treasure." +(Which, of course, despite my temporary lapse, I really didn't.) +"I think you are--sillier than any grown-up people I ever saw. In +the second place, anything you do find you are welcome to keep. Do +you think I came along with people who didn't want me, and have +turned my own aunt against me, for the sake of filthy lucre? Did I +come intentionally at all, or because I was shanghaied and couldn't +help myself? Aunt Jane!" I demanded, turning to my stricken +relative, who was gazing in anguish and doubt from Miss Browne to +me, "haven't you one spark left of family pride--I don't talk of +affection any longer--that you sit still and hear me made speeches +at in this fashion? Have you grown so sordid and grasping that you +can think of nothing but this blood-stained pirate gold?" + +Aunt Jane burst into tears. + +"Good gracious, Virginia," she wailed, "how shocking of you to say +such things! I am sure we all got along very pleasantly until you +came--and in that dreadfully sudden way. You might at least have +been considerate enough to wire beforehand. As to blood-stains, +there was a preparation your Aunt Susan had that got them out +beautifully--I remember the time the little boy's nose bled on the +drawing-room rug. But I should think just washing the gold would +do very well!" + +It was impossible to feel that these remarks helped greatly to +clear the situation. I opened my mouth, but Miss Browne was +beforehand with me. + +"Miss Virginia Harding has herself admitted that she has no just or +equitable claim to participate in the profits of this expedition--I +believe I give the gist of your words, Miss Harding?" + +"Have it your own way," I said, shrugging. + +"I move, then, Mr. Secretary"--Miss Browne inclined her head in a +stately manner toward Mr. Tubbs--"that you offer for Miss Virginia +Harding's signature the document prepared by you." + +"Oh, I say!" broke out Mr. Vane suddenly, "I call this rotten, you +know!" + +"In case of objection by any person," said Miss Browne loftily, +"the matter may be put to a vote. All those in favor say aye!" + +An irregular fire of ayes followed. Mr. Tubbs gave his with a +cough meant so far as possible to neutralize its effect--with a +view to some future turning of the tables. Captain Magnus +responded with a sudden bellow, which caused him to drop the +gleaming knife within an inch of Aunt Jane's toe. Mr. Shaw said +briefly, "I think the distribution of the treasure, if any is +recovered, should be that agreed upon by the original members of +the party. Aye!" + +Aunt Jane's assenting voice issued from the depths of her +handkerchief, which was rapidly becoming so briny and inadequate +that I passed her mine. From Cuthbert Vane alone there came a +steadfast no--and the Scotchman put a hand on the boy's shoulder +with a smile which was like sudden sunlight in a bleak sky. + +Mr. Tubbs then produced a legal-looking document which I took to be +the original agreement of the members of the expedition. Beneath +their signatures he had inscribed a sort of codicil, by which I +relinquished all claim on any treasure recovered by the party. Mr. +Tubbs took evident pride in the numerous aforesaids and thereofs +and other rolling legal phrases of his composition, and Miss Browne +listened with satisfaction as he read it off, as though each word +had been a nail in the coffin of my hopes. I signed the clause in +a bold and defiant hand, under the attentive eyes of the company. +A sort of sigh went round, as though something of vast moment had +been concluded. And indeed it had, for now the way was clear for +Violet's map. + +I suppose that with a due regard for my dignity I should have risen +and departed. I had been so definitely relegated to the position +of outsider that to remain to witness the unveiling of the great +mystery seemed indecently intrusive. Let it be granted, then, that +I ought to have got up with stately grace and gone away. Only, I +did nothing of the sort. In spite of my exclusion from all its +material benefits, I had an amateur's appreciation of that map. I +felt that I should gloat over it. Perhaps of all those present I +alone, free from sordid hopes, would get the true romantic zest and +essence of it-- + +Covertly I watched the faces around me. Mr. Tubbs's eyes had grown +bright; he licked his dry lips. His nose, tip-tilted and slightly +bulbous, took on a more than usually roseate hue. Captain Magnus, +who was of a restless and jerky habit at the best of times, was +like a leashed animal scenting blood. Beneath his open shirt you +saw the quick rise and fall of his hairy chest. His lips, drawn +back wolfishly, displayed yellow, fang-like teeth. Under the +raw crude greed of the man you seemed to glimpse something +indescribably vulpine and ferocious. + +The face of Dugald Shaw was controlled, but there was a slight +rigidity in its quiet. A pulse beat rapidly in his cheek. All +worldly good, all hope of place, power, independence, hung for him +on the contents of the small flat package, wrapped in oil-silk, +which Miss Browne was at this moment withdrawing from her pocket. + +Only Cuthbert Vane, seated next to me, maintained without effort +his serenity. For him the whole affair belonged in the category +known as sporting, where a gentleman played his stake and accepted +with equanimity the issue. + +As Miss Browne undid the oil-silk package everybody held his +breath, except poor Aunt Jane, who most inopportunely swallowed a +gnat and choked. + +The dead sailor's legacy consisted of a single sheet of +time-stained paper. Two-thirds of the sheet was covered by a +roughly-drawn sketch in faded ink, giving the outline of the island +shores as we had seen them from the _Rufus Smith_. Here was the +cove, with the name it bears in the Admiralty charts--Lantern +Bay--written in, and a dotted line indicating the channel. North +of the bay the shore line was carried for only a little distance. +On the south was shown the long tongue of land which protects the +anchorage, and which ends in some detached rocks or islets. At a +point on the seaward side of the tongue of land, about on a line +with the head of the bay, the sketch ended in a swift backward +stroke of the pen which gave something the effect of a cross. + +To all appearance the map was merely to give Hopperdown his +directions for entering the cove. There was absolutely no mark +upon it to show where the treasure had been buried. + +Now for the writing on the sheet below the map. It was in another +hand than that which had written _Lantern Bay_ across the face of +the cove, and which, though labored, was precise and clear. This +other was an uneven, wavering scrawl: + + +_He sed it is in a Cave with 2 mouths near by the grave of Bill +Halliwell wich was cut down for he new to much. He sed you can +bring a boat to the cave at the half Tide but beware the turn for +the pull is strong. He sed to find the Grave again look for the +stone at the head marked B. H. and a Cross Bones. In the Chist is +gold Dubloons, a vast lot, also a silver Cross wich he sed leve for +the Grave for he sed Bill walks and thats unlucky_. + + +That was all. A fairly clear direction for any friend who had +attended the obsequies of Bill and knew where to look for the stone +marked B. H. and a cross-bones, but to perfect strangers it was +vague. + +A blank look crept into the intent faces about the table. + +"It--it don't happen to say in more deetail jest precisely where +that cave might be looked for?" inquired Mr. Tubbs hopefully. + +"In more detail?" repeated Miss Browne challengingly. "Pray, Mr. +Tubbs, what further detail could be required?" + +"A good deal more, I am afraid," remarked the Scotchman grimly. + +Miss Browne whirled upon him. In her cold eye a spark had kindled. +And suddenly I had a new vision of her. I saw her no longer as the +deluder of Aunt Jane, but as herself the deluded. Her belief in +the treasure was an obsession. This map was her talisman, her way +of escape from an existence which had been drab and dull enough, I +dare say. + +"Mr. Shaw, we are given not one, but several infallible landmarks. +The cave has two mouths, it can be approached by sea, it is IN the +immediate neighborhood of the grave of William Halliwell, which is +to be recognized by its headstone. As the area of our search is +circumscribed by the narrow limits of this island, I fail to see +what further marks of identification can be required." + +"A grave ninety years old and hidden beneath a tropical jungle is +not an easy thing to find, Miss Browne. As to caves, I doubt but +they are numerous. The formation here makes it more than likely. +And there'll be more than one with two mouths, I'm thinking." + +"Mr. Shaw"--Miss Browne gave the effect of drawing herself up in +line of battle--"I feel that I must give expression to the thought +which comes to me at this moment. It is this--that if the members +of this party are to be chilled by carping doubts, the wave of +enthusiasm which has floated us thus far must inevitably recede, +leaving us flotsam on a barren shore. What can one weak +woman--pardon, my unfaltering Jane!--two women, achieve against the +thought of failure firmly held by him to whom, we looked to lead us +boldly in our forward dash? Mr. Shaw, this is no time for crawling +earthworm tactics. It is with the bold and sweeping glance of the +eagle that we must survey this island, until, the proper point +discerned, we swoop with majestic flight upon our predestined goal!" + +Miss Browne was somewhat exhausted by this effort, and paused for +breath, whereupon Mr. Tubbs, anxious to retrieve his recent +blunder, seized with dexterity this opportunity. + +"I get you. Miss Browne, I get you," said Mr. Tubbs with +conviction. "Victory ain't within the grasp of any individual that +carries a heart like a cold pancake in his bosom. What this party +needs is pep, and if them that was calculated on to supply it +don't, why there's others which is not given to blowin' their own +horn, but which might at a pinch dash forward like Arnold--no +relation to Benedict--among the spears. I may be rather a man or +thought than action, ma'am, and at present far from my native +heath, which is the financial centers of the country, but if I +remember right it was Ulysses done the dome-work for the Greeks, +while certain persons that was depended on sulked in their tents. +Miss Higglesby-Browne, you can count--count, I say--on old H. H.!" + +"I thank you, Mr. Tubbs, I thank you!" replied Miss Browne with +emotion. As for Aunt Jane, she gazed upon the noble countenance of +Mr. Tubbs with such ecstatic admiration that her little nose +quivered like a guinea-pig's. + + + + +VI + +THE CAVE WITH TWO MOUTHS + +Obscure as were the directions which Hopperdown's niece had +taken from his dying lips, one point at least was clear--the +treasure-cave opened on the sea. This seemed an immense +simplification of the problem, until you discovered that the great +wall of cliffs was honeycombed with fissures. The limestone rock +of which the island was composed was porous as a sponge. You could +stand on the edge of the cliffs and watch the green water slide in +and out of unseen caverns at your feet, and hear the sullen thunder +of the waves that broke far in under the land. + +One of the boats which had conveyed us from the _Rufus Smith_ had +been left with us, and in it Mr. Shaw, with the Honorable Cuthbert +and Captain Magnus, made a preliminary voyage of discovery. This +yielded the information above set down, plus, however, the +thrilling and significant fact that a cave seemingly predestined to +be the hiding-place of treasure, and moreover a cave with the +specified two openings, ran under the point which protected the +anchorage on the south, connecting the cove with the sea. + +Although in their survey of the coast the voyagers had covered only +a little distance on either side of the entrance to the bay, the +discovery of this great double-doored sea-chamber under the point +turned all thoughts from further explorations. Only the Scotchman +remained exasperatingly calm and declined to admit that the +treasure was as good as found. He refused to be swept off his feet +even by Mr. Tubbs's undertaking to double everybody's money within +a year, through the favor of certain financial parties with whom he +was intimate. + +"I'll wait till I see the color of my money before I reckon the +interest on it," he remarked. "It's true the cave would be a +likely and convenient place for hiding the chest; the question is: +Wouldn't it be too likely and convenient? Sampson would maybe not +choose the spot of all others where the first comer who had got +wind of the story would be certain to look." + +Miss Browne, at this, exchanged darkly significant glances with her +two main supporters, and Mr. Tubbs came to the fore with an offer +to clinch matters by discovering the grave of Bill Halliwell, with +its marked stone, on the point above the cave within twenty-four +hours. + +"Look for it if you like," replied Mr. Shaw impatiently. "But +don't forget that your tombstone is neither more nor less than such +a boulder as there are thousands of on the island, and buried under +the tropic growth of ninety years besides." + +Miss Browne murmured to Aunt Jane, in a loud aside, that she well +understood now why the eminent explorer had _not_ discovered the +South Pole, and Aunt Jane murmured back that to her there had +always been something so sacred about a tombstone that she couldn't +help wondering if Mr. Shaw's attitude were really quite reverential. + +"Well, friends," remarked Mr. Tubbs, "there's them that sees +nothin' but the hole in the doughnut, and there's them that see the +doughnut that's around the hole. I ain't ashamed to say that old +H. H. is in the doughnut class. Why, the Old Man himself used to +remark--I guess it ain't news to some here about me bein' on the +inside with most of the leadin' financial lights of the country--he +used to remark, 'Tubbs has it in him to bull the market on a Black +Friday.' Ladies, I ain't one that's inclined to boast, but I jest +want to warn you not to be _too_ astonished when H. H. makes +acquaintance with that tombstone, which I'm willin' to lay he does +yet." + +"Well, good luck to you," said the grim Scot, "and let me likewise +warn all hands not to be too astonished if we find that the +treasure is not in the cave. But I'll admit it is as good a place +as any for beginning the search, and there will be none gladder +than I if it turns out that I was no judge of the workings of +Captain Sampson's mind." + +The cave which was now the center of our hopes--I say our, because +somehow or other I found myself hoping and fearing along with the +rest, though carefully concealing it--ran under the point at its +farther end. The sea-mouth of the cave was protected from the full +swell of the ocean by some huge detached rocks rising a little way +offshore, which caught and broke the waves. The distance was about +sixty feet from mouth to mouth, and back of this transverse passage +a great vaulted chamber stretched far under the land. The walls of +the chamber rose sheer to a height of fifteen feet or more, when a +broad ledge broke their smoothness. From this ledge opened cracks +and fissures under the roof, suggesting in the dim light infinite +possibilities in the way of hiding-places. Besides these, a wide +stretch of sand at the upper end of the chamber, which was bare at +low tide, invited exploration. At high water the sea flooded the +cavern to its farthest extremity and beat upon the walls. Then +there was a great surge and roar of waters through the passage from +mouth to mouth, and at turn of tide--in hopeful agreement with the +legend--the suck and commotion of a whirlpool, almost, as the sea +drew back its waves. Now and again, it was to prove, even the +water-worn pavement between the two archways was left bare, and one +could walk dry-shod along the rocks under the high land of the +point from the beach to the cave. But this was at the very bottom +of the ebb. Mostly the lower end of the cave was flooded, and the +explorers went back and forth in the boat. + +A certain drawback to boating in our island waters was the presence +of hungry hordes of sharks. You might forget them for a moment and +sit happily trailing your fingers overboard, and then a huge moving +shadow would darken the water, and you saw the ripple cut by a +darting fin and the flash of a livid belly as the monster rolled +over, ready for his mouthful. I could not but admire the +thoughtfulness of Mr. Tubbs, who since his submergence on the +occasion of arriving had been as delicate about water as a cat, in +committing himself to strictly land operations in the search for +Bill Halliwell's tombstone. + +Owing, I suppose, to the stoniness of the soil, the woods upon the +point were less dense than elsewhere, and made an agreeable parade +ground for Mr. Tubbs and his two companions--for he was accompanied +in these daring explorations with unswerving fidelity by Aunt Jane +and Miss Higglesby-Browne. Each of the three carried an umbrella, +and they went solemnly in single file, Mr. Tubbs in the lead to +ward off peril in the shape of snakes or jungle beasts. + +"To think of what that man exposes himself to for our sakes!" Aunt +Jane said to me with emotion. "With no protection but his own +bravery in case anything were to spring out!" + +But nothing ever did spring out but an angry old sow with a litter +of piglets, before which the three umbrellas beat a rapid retreat. + +The routine of life on the island was now established for every one +but me, who belonged neither to the land nor sea divisions, but +dangled forlornly between them like Mahomet's coffin. Aunt Jane +had made a magnanimous effort to attach me to the umbrella +contingent, and I had felt almost disposed to accept, in order to +witness the resultant delight of Miss Higglesby-Browne. But on +second thoughts I declined, even though Aunt Jane was thus left +unguarded to the blandishments of Mr. Tubbs, preferring, like the +little bird in the play, to flock all alone, except when the +Honorable Cuthbert could escape from his toil in the cave. + +What with the genius of Cookie and the fruitfulness of our island, +not to speak of supplies from the Army and Navy Stores, we lived +like sybarites, There were fish from stream and sea, cocoanuts and +bananas and oranges from the trees in the clearing. I had hopes of +yams and breadfruit also, but if they grew on Leeward none of us +had a speaking acquaintance with them. Cookie did wonders with the +pigs that were shot and brought in to him, though I never could sit +down with appetite to a massacred infant served up on a platter, +which is just what little pigs look like, + +"Jes' yo' cas' yo' eye on dis yere innahcent," Cookie would +request, as he placed the suckling before Mr. Tubbs. "Tendah as a +new-bo'n babe, he am. Jes' lak he been tucked up to sleep by his +mammy. Sho' now, how yo' got de heart to stick de knife in him, +Mistah Tubbs?" + +It was significant that Mr. Tubbs, after occupying for a day or two +an undistinguished middle place at the board, had somehow slid into +the carver's post at the head of the table. Flanking him were the +two ladies, so that the Land Forces formed a solid and imposing +phalanx. Everybody else had a sense of sitting in outer darkness, +particularly I, whom fate had placed opposite Captain Magnus. +Since landing on the island, Captain Magnus had forsworn the +effeminacy of forks. Loaded to the hilt, his knife would approach +his cavernous mouth and disappear in it. Yet when it emerged +Captain Magnus was alive. Where did it go? This was a question +that agitated me daily. + +The history of Captain Magnus was obscure. It was certain that he +had his captain's papers, though how he had mastered the science of +navigation sufficiently to obtain them was a problem. Though he +held a British navigator's license, he did not appear to be an +Englishman. None of us ever knew, I think, from what country he +originally came. His rough, mumbling, unready speech might have +been picked up in any of the seaports of the English-speaking +world. His manners smacked of the forecastle, and he was +altogether so difficult to classify that I used to toy with the +theory that he had murdered the real Captain Magnus for his papers +and was masquerading in his character. + +The captain, as Mr. Vane had remarked, was Miss Browne's own find. +Before the objections of Mr. Shaw--evidently a Negative Influence +from the beginning--had caused her to abandon the scheme. Miss +Browne had planned to charter a vessel in New York and sail around +the Horn to the island. While nursing this project she had formed +an extensive acquaintance with persons frequenting the New York +water-front, among whom was Captain Magnus. As I heard her remark, +he was the one nautical character whom she found sympathetic, by +which I judge that the others were skeptical and rude. Being +sympathetic, Captain Magnus found it an easy matter to attach +himself to the expedition--or perhaps it was Violet who annexed +him. I don't know which. + +Mr. Vane used to view the remarkable gastronomic feats of Captain +Magnus with the innocent and quite unscornful curiosity of a little +boy watching the bears in the zoo. Evidently he felt that a +horizon hitherto bounded mainly by High Staunton Manor was being +greatly enlarged. I knew now that the Honorable Cuthbert's father +was a baron, and that he was the younger of two sons, and that the +elder was an invalid, so that the beautiful youth was quite certain +in the long run to be Lord Grasmere. I had remained stolid under +this information, feelingly imparted by Aunt Jane. I had refused +to ask questions about High Staunton Manor. For already there was +a vast amount of superfluous chaperoning being done. I couldn't +speak to the b. y.--which is short for beautiful youth--without +Violet's cold gray eye being trained upon us. And Aunt Jane grew +flustered directly, and I could see her planning an embroidery +design of coronets, or whatever is the proper headgear of barons, +for my trousseau. Mr. Tubbs had essayed to be facetious on the +matter, but I had coldly quenched him. + +But Mr. Shaw was much the worst. My most innocent remark to the +beautiful youth appeared to rouse suspicion in his self-constituted +guardian. If he did not say in so many words, _Beware, dear lad, +she's stringing you_! or whatever the English of that is, it was +because nobody could so wound the faith in the b. y.'s candid eyes. +But to see the fluttering, anxious wing the Scotchman tried to +spread over that babe of six-feet-two you would have thought me a +man-eating tigress. And I laughed, and flaunted my indifference in +his sober face, and went away with bitten lips to the hammock they +had swung for me among the palms-- + +The Honorable Cuthbert had a voice, a big, rich, ringing baritone +like floods of golden honey. He had also a ridiculous little +ukulele, on which he accompanied himself with a rhythmic strumming. +When, like the sudden falling of a curtain, dusky, velvet, +star-spangled, the wonderful tropic night came down, we used to +build a little fire upon the beach and sit around it. Then +Cuthbert Vane would sing. Of all his repertory, made up of +music-hall ditties, American ragtime, and sweet old half-forgotten +ballads, we liked best a certain wild rollicking song, picked up I +don't know where, but wonderfully effective on that island where +Davis, and Benito Bonito, and many another of the roving +gentry--not to mention that less picturesque villain, Captain +Sampson of the _Bonny Lass_--had resorted between their flings with +fortune. + + + Oh, who's, who's with me for the free life of a rover? + Oh, who's, who's with me for to sail the broad seas over? + In every port we have gold to fling, + And what care we though the end is to swing? + Sing ho, sing hey, this life's but a day, + So live it free as a rover may. + + Oh, who's, who's with me at Fortune's call to wander? + Then, lads, to sea--and ashore with gold to squander! + We'll set our course for the Spanish Main + Where the great plate-galleons steer for Spain. + Sing ho, sing hey, this life's but a day, + Then live it free as a rover may. + + Then leave toil and cold to the lubbers that will bear it. + The world's fat with gold, and we're the lads to share it. + What though swift death is the rover's lot? + We've played the game and we'll pay the shot. + Sing ho, sing hey, this life's but a day, + Then live it free as a rover may. + +"Sing ho, sing hey!" echoed the audience in a loud discordant roar. +Cookie over his dishpan flinging it back in a tremendous basso. +Cookie was the noble youth's only musical rival, and when he had +finished his work we would invite him to join us at the fire and +regale us with plantation melodies and camp-meeting hymns. The +negro's melodious thunder mingled with the murmur of wind and wave +like a kindred note, and the strange plaintive rhythm of his +artless songs took one back and back, far up the stream of life, +until a fire upon a beach seemed one's ancestral hearth and home. + +I realized that life on Leeward Island might rapidly become a +process of reversion. + + + + +VII + +A RABBIT'S FOOT + +It was fortunate that Cookie knew nothing of the solitary grave +somewhere on the island, with its stone marked with B. H. and a +cross-bones, nor that the inhabitant thereof was supposed to walk. +If he had, I think the strange spectacle of a lone negro in a small +boat rowing lustily for the American continent might soon have been +witnessed on the Pacific by any eyes that were there to see. And +we could ill have spared either boat or cook. + +Yet even though unvexed by this gruesome knowledge, after two or +three days I noticed that Cookie was ill at ease. As the leisure +member of the party, I enjoyed more of Cookie's society than the +rest. On this occasion while the morning was still in its early +freshness he was permitting me to make fudge. But his usual +joviality was gone. I saw that he glanced over his shoulder at +intervals, muttering darkly to himself. Also that a rabbit's foot +was slung conspicuously about his neck. + +Having made my fudge and set the pan on a stone in the stream to +cool, I was about to retire with a view to conducting a limited +exploring expedition of my own. The immunity of the umbrellas and +the assurances of Mr. Shaw--not personally directed to me, of +course; the armed truce under which we lived did not permit of +that--had convinced me that I had not to dread anything more +ferocious than the pigs, and the wildest of them would retire +before a stick or stone. Besides, I boasted a little automatic, +which I carried strapped about my waist in a businesslike manner. +Mr. Vane had almost got me to the point where I could shoot it off +without shutting my eyes. + +Thus equipped, I was about to set off into the woods. Secretly I +had been rehearsing a dramatic scene, with myself in the leading +role: + +_Treasure-seekers assembled, including a cold and cynical Scot. +Enter Virginia Harding. She wears an expression elaborately +casual, but there is a light of concealed triumph in her eye_. + +_Aunt Jane_: You thoughtless child, where have you been? Really, +my state of mind about you--etc., etc. + +_V. H._: Only for a stroll, dear aunt. And by the way, in case +it's of interest to any one, I might mention that during my walk I +fell over a boulder which happened to be marked with the letters B. +H. and a cross-bones. + +_Immense commotion and excitement. Every gaze turned to V. H. +(including that of cynical Scot) while on every cheek is the blush +of shame at remembering that this is the same Young Person whom +Miss Higglesby-Browne was permitted to cut off by treaty from the +ranks of the authorised treasure-seekers_. + +Lured by this pleasing vision I had turned my back on Cookie and +the camp, when I was arrested by an exclamation: + +"Miss Jinny!" + +I turned to, find Cookie gazing after me with an expression which, +in the familiar phrase of fiction, I could not interpret, though +among its ingredients were doubt and anguish. Cookie, too, looked +pale. I don't in the least know how he managed it, but that was +the impression he conveyed, dusky as he was. + +"Miss Jinny, it mos' look lak yo' 'bout to go perambulatin' in dese +yere woods?" + +"I am, Cookie," I admitted. + +The whites of Cookie's eyes became alarmingly conspicuous. Drawing +near in a stealthy manner he whispered: + +"Yo' bettah not, Miss Jinny!" + +"Better not?" I repeated, staring. + +He answered with a portentous head-shake. + +"Oh, nonsense, Cookie!" I said impatiently, "There's not a thing on +the island but the pigs!" + +"Miss Jinny," he solemnly replied, "dey's pigs and pigs." + +"Yes, but pigs _is_ pigs, you know," I answered, laughing. I was +about to walk on, but once more Cookie intervened. + +"Dey's pigs and pigs, chile--live ones and--dead ones. + +"Dead ones? Of course--haven't we been eating them?" + +"Yo' won't neveh eat dis yere kind o' dead pig, Miss Jinny. +It's--it's a ha'nt!" + +The murder was out. Cookie leaned against a cocoa-palm and wiped +his ebon brow. + +Persistently questioned, he told at last how, today and yesterday, +arising in the dim dawn to build his fire before the camp was +stirring, he had seen lurking at the edge of the clearing a white +four-footed shape. It was a pig, yet not a pig; its ghostly hue, +its noiseless movements, divided it from all proper mundane porkers +by the dreadful gulf which divides the living from the dead. The +first morning Cookie, doubtful of his senses, had flung a stone and +the spectral Thing had vanished like a shadow. On its second +appearance, having had a day and a night for meditation, he had +known better than to commit such an outrage upon the possessor of +ghostly powers, and had resorted to prayer instead. This had +answered quite as well, for the phantom pig had dissolved like the +morning mists. While the sun blazed, what with his devotions and +his rabbit's foot and a cross of twigs nailed to a tree. Cookie +felt a fair degree of security. But his teeth chattered in his +head at the thought of approaching night. Meanwhile he could not +in conscience permit me to venture forth into the path of this +horror, which might, for all we knew, be lurking in the jungle +shadows even through the daylight hours. Also, though he did not +avow this motive, I believe he found my company very reassuring. +It is immensely easier to face a ghost in the sustaining presence +of other flesh and blood. + +"Cookie," said I sternly, "you've been drinking too much +cocoanut-milk and it has gone to your head. What you saw was just +a plain ordinary pig." + +Cookie disputed this, citing the pale hue of the apparition as +against the fact that all our island pigs were black. + +"Then there happens to be a blond pig among them that we haven't +seen," I assured him. + +But the pig of flesh, Cookie reminded me, was a heavy lumbering +creature. This Shape was silent as a moonbeam. There was also +about it a dreadful appearance of stealth and secrecy--Cookie's +eyes bulged at the recollection. Nothing living but a witch's cat +could have disappeared from Cookie's vision as did the ghostly pig. + +For a moment I wavered in my determination. What if the island had +its wild creatures after all? But neither lynx nor panther nor any +other beast of prey is white, except a polar bear, and it would be +unusual to meet one on a tropical island. + +I decided that Cookie's pig was after all a pig, though still in +the flesh. I thought I remembered having seen quite fair pigs, +which would pass for white with a frightened negro in the dim light +of dawn. So far only black pigs had been visible, but perhaps the +light ones were shyer and kept to the remote parts of the island. +I consoled Cookie as best I could by promising to cross my fingers +if I heard or saw anything suspicious, and struck out into the +woods, + +For all my brave words to Cookie, I had no intention of going very +far afield. From the shore of the cove I had observed that the +ground behind the clearing rose to the summit of a low ridge, +perhaps four hundred feet in height, which jutted from the base of +the peak. From this ridge I thought I might see something more of +the island than the limited environment of Lantern Bay. + +As the woods shut out the last glimpse of the white tents in the +clearing, as even the familiar sound of the surf died down to a +faint, half-imagined whisper mingling with the rustling of the +palms overhead, I experienced a certain discomfort, which persons +given to harsh and unqualified terms might have called fear. It +seemed to me as if a very strong cord at the rear of my belt were +jerking me back toward the inglorious safety of camp. Fortunately +there came to me a vision of the three umbrellas and of Mr. Tubbs +heroically exposing his devoted bosom to non-existent perils, and I +resolved that the superior smiles with which I had greeted Aunt +Jane's recital should not rise up to shame me now. I fingered my +automatic and marched on up the hill, trying not to gasp when a +leaf rustled or a cocoanut dropped in the woods. + +There was little undergrowth between the crowding trunks of the +cocoa-palms. Far overhead their fronds mingled in a green thatch, +through which a soft light filtered down. Here and there the close +ranks of the palms were broken by an outcropping of rock, glaring +up hot and sunbeaten at a distant patch of the sky. The air of the +forest was still and languid, its heat tempered like that of a room +with drawn blinds. + +I gained the summit of the ridge, and stood upon a bare rock +platform, scantily sheltered by a few trees, large shrubs rather, +with a smooth waxy leaf of vivid green. On the left rose the great +mass of the peak. From far above among its crags a beautiful foamy +waterfall came hurtling down. Before me the ground fell away to +the level of the low plateau, or mesa, as we say in California, +which made up the greater part of the island. Cutting into the +green of this was the gleaming curve of a little bay, which in Mr. +Shaw's chart of the island showed slightly larger than our cove. +Part of it was hidden by the shoulder of the peak, but enough was +visible to give a beautiful variety to the picture, which was set +in a silver frame of sea. + +I had not dreamed of getting a view so glorious from the little +eminence of the ridge. Here was an item of news to take back to +camp. Having with great originality christened the place Lookout, +I turned to go. And as I turned I saw a shape vanish into the +woods. + +It was an animal, not a human shape. And it was light-footed and +swift and noiseless--and it was white. It had, indeed, every +distinguishing trait of Cookie's phantom pig. Only it was not a +pig. My brief shadowy glimpse of it had told me that. I knew what +it was not, but what it was I could not, as I stood there rooted, +even guess, + +Would it attack me, or should I only die of fright? I wondered if +my heart were weak, and hoped it was, so that I should not live to +feel the teeth of the unknown Thing sink in my flesh. I thought of +my revolver and after an infinity of time managed to draw it from +the case. My fingers seemed at once nervelessly limp and woodenly +rigid. This was not at all the dauntless front with which I had +dreamed of meeting danger. I had fancied myself with my automatic +making a rather pretty picture as a young Amazon--but I had now a +dreadful fear that my revolver might spasmodically go off and wound +the Thing, and then even if it had meditated letting me go it would +certainly attack me. Nevertheless I clung to my revolver as to my +last hope. + +I began to edge away crab-wise into the wood. Like a metronome I +said to myself over and over monotonously, _don't run, don't run_! +Dim legends about the power of the human eye floated through my +brain. But how quell the creature with my eye when I could not see +it? As for the hopeless expedient of screaming, I hadn't courage +for it. I was silent, as I would fain have been invisible. Only +my dry lips kept muttering soundlessly, _don't run, don't run_! + +I did not run. Instead, I stepped on a smooth surface of rock and +slid downhill like a human toboggan until I fetched up against a +dead log. I discovered it to be a dead log after a confused +interval during which I vaguely believed myself to have been +swallowed by an alligator. While the alligator illusion endured I +must have lain comatose and immovable. Indeed, when my senses +began to come back I was still quite inert. I experienced that +curious tranquillity which is said to visit those who are actually +within the jaws of death. There I lay prone, absolutely at the +mercy of the mysterious white prowler of the forest--and I did not +care. The whole petty business of living seemed a long way behind +me now. + +Languidly at last I opened my eyes. Within three yards of me, in +the open rock-paved glade where I had fallen, stood the Thing. + +As softly as I had opened my eyes I shut them. I had an annoyed +conviction that they were deceiving me--a very unworthy thing for +eyes to do that were soon to be closed in death. Again I lifted my +lids. Yes, there it was--only now it had put an ear back and was +sniffing at me with a mingling of interest and apprehension.. + +The strange beast of the jungle was a white bull-terrier. + +Abruptly I sat up. The terrier gave a startled sidewise bound, but +paused again and stood regarding me. + +"Here, pup! Here, pup! Nice, nice doggums!" I said in soothing +accents. + +The dog gave a low whine and stood shivering, eager but afraid. I +continued my blandishments. Little by little the forlorn creature +drew nearer, until I put out a cautious hand and stroked his ears. +He dodged affrightedly, but presently crept back again. Soon his +head was against my knee, and he was devouring my hand with avid +caresses. Some time, before his abandonment on the island, he had +been a well-brought-up and petted animal. Months or years of wild +life had estranged him from humanity, yet at the human touch the +old devotion woke again. + +The thing now was to lure him back to camp and restore him to the +happy service of his gods. I rose and picked up my pistol, which +had regained my confidence by not going off when I dropped it. +With another alluring, "Here, doggums!" I started on my way. He +shrank, trembled, hesitated, then was after me with a bound. So we +went on through the forest. As we neared the camp the four-footed +castaway's diffidence increased. I had to pet and coax. But at +last I brought him triumphantly across the Rubicon of the little +stream, and marched him into camp under the astounded eyes of +Cookie. + +At sight of the negro the dog growled softly and crouched against +my skirt. Cookie stood like an effigy of amazement done in black +and white. + +"Fo' de Lawd's sake, Miss Jinny," he burst out at last, "am dat de +ghos'-pig?" + +"It was, Cookie, but I changed him into a live dog by crossing my +fingers. Mind your rabbit's foot. He might eat it, and then very +likely we'd have a ghost on our hands again. But I think he'll +stay a dog for the present." + +"Yo' go 'long, Miss Jinny," said Cookie valiantly. "Yo' think I +scared of any ghos' what lower hissel to be a live white mong'ol +dog? Yere, yo' ki-yi, yo' bettah mek friends with ol' Cookie, +'cause he got charge o' de grub. Yere's a li'le fat ma'ow bone +what mebbe come off'n yo' own grandchile, but yo' ain' goin' to +mind dat now yo' is trans formulated dis yere way." And evidently +the reincarnated ghost-pig did not. + +With the midday reunion my hour of distinction arrived. The tale +of the ghost-pig was told from the beginning by Cookie, with high +tributes to my courage in sallying forth in pursuit of the phantom. +Even those holding other views of the genesis of the white dog were +amazed at his presence on the island. In spite of Cookie's +aspersions, the creature was no mongrel, but a thoroughbred of +points. Not by any means a dog which some little South American +coaster might have abandoned here when it put in for water. The +most reasonable hypothesis seemed to be that he had belonged to the +copra gatherer, and was for some reason left behind on his master's +departure. But who that had loved a dog enough to make it the +companion of his solitude would go away and leave it? The thing +seemed to me incredible. Yet here, otherwise unaccounted for, was +the corporeal presence of the dog. + +I had named the terrier in the first ten minutes of our +acquaintance. Crusoe was the designation by which he was presented +to his new associates. It was good to see how swiftly the habits +of civilization returned to him. Soon he was getting under foot +and courting caresses as eagerly as though all his life he had +lived on human bounty, instead of bringing down his own game in +royal freedom. Yet with all his well-bred geniality there was no +wandering of his allegiance. I was his undisputed queen and lady +paramount. + +Crusoe, then, became a member of the party in good and regular +standing--much more so than his mistress. Mr. Tubbs compared him +not unfavorably with a remarkable animal of his own, for which the +New York Kennel Club had bidden him name his own price, only to be +refused with scorn. Violet tolerated him. Aunt Jane called him a +dear weenty pettums love. Captain Magnus kicked him when he +thought I was not looking, Cuthbert Vane chummed with him in +frankest comradeship, and Mr. Shaw softened toward him to an extent +which made me mainly murmur _Love me, love my dog_--only reversed. +Not that I _in the least_ wanted to be loved, only you feel it an +impertinence in a person who so palpably does not love you to +endeavor to engage the affections of your bull-terrier. + +As to Cookie, he magnanimously consented to overlook Crusoe's +dubious past as a ghost-pig, and fed him so liberally that the +terrier's lean and graceful form threatened to assume the contours +of a beer-keg. + + + + +VIII + +AN EXCURSION AND AN ALARM + +As the only person who had yet discovered anything on the island, I +was now invested with a certain importance. Also, I had a +playfellow and companion for future walks, in lieu of Cuthbert +Vane, held down tight to the thankless toil of treasure-hunting by +his stem taskmaster. But at the same time I was provided with an +annoying, because unanswerable, question which had lodged at the +back of my mind like a crumb in the throat: + +By what strange chance had the copra gatherer gone away and left +Crusoe on the island? + +Since the discovery of Crusoe the former inhabitant of the cabin in +the clearing had been much in my thoughts. I had been dissatisfied +with him from the beginning, first, because he was not a pirate, +and also because he had left behind no relic more fitting than a +washtub. Not a locket, not a journal, not his own wasted form +stretched upon a pallet-- + +I had expressed these sentiments to Cuthbert Vane, who replied that +in view of the washtub it was certain that the hermit of the island +had not been a pirate, as he understood they never washed. I said +neither did any orthodox hermit, to which Mr. Vane rejoined that he +probably was not orthodox but a Dissenter. He said Dissenters were +so apt to be peculiar, don't you know? + +One morning, instead of starting directly after breakfast for the +cave, Mr. Shaw busied himself in front of the supply tent with +certain explosives which were to be used in the digging operations +later. The neighborhood of these explosives was a great trial to +Aunt Jane, who was constantly expecting them to go off. I rather +expected it too, and used to shudder at the thought that if we all +went soaring heavenward together we might come down inextricably +mixed. Then when the Rufus Smith returned and they tried to sort +us out before interment, I might have portions of Violet, for +instance, attributed to me. In that case I felt that, like Bill +Halliwell, I should walk. + +Having inquired of the Honorable Cuthbert and found that for an +hour or two the boat would not be in requisition, I permitted the +beautiful youth to understand that I would not decline an +invitation to be rowed about the cove. Mr. Shaw had left his +marine glasses lying about, and I had been doing some exploring +with them. Under the great cliffs on the north shore of the bay I +had seen an object that excited my curiosity. It seemed to be the +hull of a small vessel, lying on the narrow strip of rocks and sand +under the cliff. Now wreckage anywhere fills me with sad and +romantic thoughts, but on the shore of a desolate island even a +barrel-hoop seems to suffer a sea-change into something rich and +strange. I therefore commanded the b. y. to row me over to the +spot where the derelict lay. + +I lay back idly in the stern as the boat skimmed over the smooth +water beneath the strokes of my splendid oarsman. More than ever +he looked like the island god. Every day he grew more brown and +brawny, more superb in his physical vigor. But his hands, once so +beautiful, were getting rough and hard with toil. There was a +great raw bruise on his arm. I exclaimed pityingly. + +"Oh, it's nothing. We get knocked about a bit by the sea in the +cave now and then." + +"You mean you are risking your lives every day for the sake of this +legendary treasure that you have no _reasonable_ reason to suppose +is there." + +"Perhaps not," he admitted, "but then it's such good fun looking, +you know." + +"That's according to one's idea of fun," I said ironically. + +"Oh, well, a chap can't spend his days on flowery beds of ease, of +course. Really, I find this story-book kind of thing we're doing +is _warm stuff_, as you Americans say. And then there's +Shaw--think of the difference it will make to the dear old chap if +we find the gold--buy a ship of his own and snap his fingers at the +P. & O." + +"And you'll go along as cabin-boy or something?" "'Fraid not," he +said quite simply. "A chap has his bit to do at home, you know." + +The cliffs on the north shore of the cove were considerably higher +than on the other side. The wreck lay close in, driven high upon +the narrow shelf of rocks and sand at the base of the sheer ascent. +Sand had heaped up around her hull and flung itself across her deck +like a white winding-sheet. Surprisingly, the vessel was a very +small one, a little sloop, indeed, much like the fragile +pleasure-boats that cluster under the Sausalito shore at home. The +single mast had been broken off short, and the stump of the +bowsprit was visible, like a finger beckoning for rescue from the +crawling sand. She was embedded most deeply at the stem, and +forward of the sand-heaped cockpit the roof of the small cabin was +still clear. + +"Poor forlorn little boat!" I said. "What in the world do you +suppose brought such a mite of a thing to this unheard-of spot?" + +"Perhaps she belonged to the copra chap. One man could handle her." + +"What would he want with her? A small boat like this is better for +fishing and rowing about the cove." + +"Perhaps she brought him here from Panama, though he couldn't have +counted on taking back a very bulky cargo." + +"Then why leave her strewn about on the rocks? And besides"--here +the puzzle of Crusoe recurred to me and seemed to link itself with +this--"then how did he get away himself?" + +But my oarsman was much more at home on the solid ground of fact +than on the uncharted waters of the hypothetical. + +"Don't know, I'm sure," he returned uninterestedly. Evidently the +hermit had got away, so why concern one's self about the method? I +am sure the Light Brigade must have been made up of Cuthbert Vanes. +"Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do or die--" + +We rowed in close under the port bow of the sloop, and on the rail +I made out a string of faded letters. I began excitedly to spell +them out. + +"I--s--l--oh, _Island Queen_! You see she did belong here. +Probably she brought the original porcine Adam and Eve to the +island." + +"Luckily forgot the snake, though!" remarked the Honorable Bertie +with unlooked-for vivacity. For so far Aunt Jane's trembling +anticipations had been unfulfilled by the sight of a single snake, +a fact laid by me to the credit of St. Patrick and by Cookie to +that of the pigs. + +"Snakes 'd jes' be oysters on de half shell to dem pigs," declared +Cookie. + +As we rowed away from the melancholy little derelict I saw that +near by a narrow gully gave access to the top of the cliff, and I +resolved that I would avail myself of this path to visit the +_Island Queen_ again. My mind continued to dwell upon the unknown +figure of the copra gatherer. Perhaps the loss of his sloop had +condemned him to weary months or years of solitude upon the island, +before the rare glimmer of a sail or the trail of a steamer's smoke +upon the horizon gladdened his longing eyes. Hadn't he grown very +tired of pork, and didn't his soul to this day revolt at a ham +sandwich? What would he say if he ever discovered that he might +have brought away a harvest of gold instead of copra from the +island? Last but not least, did not his heart and conscience, if +he by chance possessed them, ache horribly at the thought of the +forsaken Crusoe? + +Suddenly I turned to Cuthbert Vane. + +"How do you know, really, that he ever did leave the island?" I +demanded. + +"Who--the copra chap? Well, why else was the cabin cleared out so +carefully--no clothes left about or anything?" + +"That's true," I acknowledged. The last occupant of the hut had +evidently made a very deliberate and orderly business of packing up +to go. + +We drifted about the cove for a while, then steered into the dim +murmuring shadow of the treasure-cavern. It was filled with +dark-green, lisping water, and a continual resonant whispering in +which you seemed to catch half-framed words, and the low ripple of +laughter. Mr. Vane indicated the point at which they had arrived +in their exploration among the fissures opening from the ledge. + +The place held me with its fascination, but we dared not linger +long, for as the tide turned one man would have much ado to manage +the boat. So we slid through the archway into the bright sunshine +of the cove, and headed for the camp. + +As we neared the beach we saw a figure pacing it. I knew that free +stride. It was Dugald Shaw. And quite unexpectedly my heart began +to beat with staccato quickness. Dugald Shaw, who didn't like me +and never looked at me--except just sometimes, when he was +perfectly sure I didn't know it. Dugald Shaw, the silent, +unboastful man who had striven and starved and frozen on the +dreadful southern ice-fields, who had shared the Viking deeds of +the heroes--whom just to think of warmed my heart with a safe, +cuddled, little-girl feeling that I had never known since I was a +child on my father's knee. There he was, waiting for us, and +splashing into the foam to help Cuthbert beach the boat--he for +whom a thousand years ago the skalds would have made a saga-- + +The b. y. hailed him cheerfully as we sprang out upon the sand. +But the Scotchman was unsmiling. + +"Make haste after your tools, lad," he ordered. "We'll have fine +work now to get inside the cave before the turn." + +Those were his words; his tone and his grim look meant, _So in +spite of all my care you are being beguiled by a minx_-- + +It was his tone that I answered. + +"Oh, don't scold Mr. Vane!" I implored. "Every paradise has its +serpent, and as there are no others here I suppose I am it. Of +course all lady serpents who know their business have red hair. +Don't blame Mr. Vane for what was naturally all my fault." + +Not a line of his face changed. Indeed, before my most vicious +stabs it never did change. Though of course it would have been +much more civil of him, and far less maddening, to show himself a +little bit annoyed. + +"To be sure it seems unreasonable to blame the lad," he agreed +soberly, "but then he happens to be under my authority." + +"Meaning, I suppose, that you would much prefer to blame _me_," I +choked. + +"There's logic, no doubt, in striking at the root of the trouble," +he admitted, with an air of calm detachment. + +"Then strike," I said furiously, "strike, why don't you, and not +beat about the bush so!" Because then he would be quite hopelessly +in the wrong, and I could adopt any of several roles--the coldly +haughty, the wounded but forgiving, etc., with great enjoyment. + +But without a change in his glacial manner he quite casually +remarked: + +"It would seem I had struck--home." + +I walked away wishing the dynamite would go off, even if I had to +be mixed with Violet till the last trump. + +Fortunately nobody undertook to exercise any guardianship over +Crusoe, and the little white dog bore me faithful company in my +rambles. Mostly these were confined to the neighborhood of the +cove. I never ventured beyond Lookout ridge, but there I went +often with Crusoe, and we would sit upon a rock and talk to each +other about our first encounter there, and the fright he had given +me. Everybody else had gone, gazed and admired. But the only +constant pilgrim, besides myself, was, of all people, Captain +Magnus. Soon between us we had worn a path through the woods to +the top of the ridge. The captain's unexpected ardor for scenery +carried him thither whenever he had half an hour to spare from the +work in the cave. Needless to say, Crusoe and I timed our visits +so as not to conflict with his. A less discreet beast than Crusoe +would long ere this have sampled the captain's calves, for the +sailor missed no sly chance to exasperate the animal. But the wise +dog contented himself with such manifestations as a lifted lip and +twitching ears, for he had his own code of behavior, and was not to +be goaded into departing from it. + +One day, as Crusoe and I came down from the ridge, we met Captain +Magnus ascending. I had in my hand a small metal-backed mirror, +which I had found, surprisingly, lying in a mossy cleft between the +rocks. It was a thing such as a man might carry in his pocket, +though on the island it seemed unlikely that any one would do' so. +I at once attributed the mirror to Captain Magnus, for I knew that +no one else had been to the ridge for days. I was wondering as I +walked along whether by some sublime law of compensation the +captain really thought himself beautiful, and sought this retired +spot to admire not the view but his own physiognomy. + +When the captain saw me he stopped full in the path. There was a +growth of fern on either side. I approached slowly, and, as he did +not move, paused, and held out the mirror. + +"I think you must have dropped this, Captain Magnus. I found it on +the rocks." + +For an instant his face changed. His evasive eyes were turned to +me searchingly and sharply. He took the glass from my hand and +slipped it into his pocket. I made a movement to pass on, then +stopped, with a faint dawning of discomfort. For the heavy figure +of the captain still blocked the path.. + +A dark flush had come into the man's face. His yellow teeth showed +between his parted lips. His eyes had a swimming brightness. + +"What's your hurry?" he remarked, with a certain insinuating +emphasis. + +I began to tremble. + +"I am on my way back to camp, Captain Magnus. Please let me pass." + +"It won't do no harm if you're a little late. There ain't no one +there keepin' tab. Ain't you always a-strayin' off with the +Honorable? I ain't so pretty, but--" + +"You are impertinent. Let me pass." + +"Oh, I'm impert'nent, am I? That means fresh, maybe. I'm a plain +man and don't use frills on my langwidge. Well, when I meets a +little skirt that takes my eyes there ain't no harm in lettin' her +know it, is there? Maybe the Honorable could say it nicer--" + +With a forward stride he laid a hand upon my arm. I shook him off +and stepped back. Fear clutched my throat. I had left my revolver +in my quarters. Oh, the dreadful denseness of these woods, the +certainty that no wildest cry of mine could pierce them! + +And then Crusoe, who had been waiting quietly behind me in the +path, slipped in between us. Every hair on his neck was bristling. +The lifted upper lip snarled unmistakably. He gave me a swift +glance which said, _Shall I spring_? + +Quite suddenly the gorilla blandishments of Captain Magnus came to +an end. + +"Say," he said harshly, "hold back that dog, will you? I don't +want to kill the cur." + +"You had better not," I returned coldly. "I should have to explain +how it happened, you know. As it is I shall say nothing. But I +shall not forget my revolver again when I go to walk." + +And Crusoe and I went swiftly down the path which the captain no +longer disputed. + + + + +IX + +"LASSIE, LASSIE. . ." + +Two or three days later occurred a painful episode. The small +unsuspected germ of it had lain ambushed in a discourse of Mr. +Shaw's, delivered shortly after our arrival on the island, on the +multifarious uses of the cocoa-palm. He told how the juice from +the unexpanded flower-spathes is drawn off to form a potent toddy, +so that where every prospect pleases man may still be vile. +Cookie, experimentally disposed, set to work. Mr. Vane, also +experimentally, sampled the results of Cookie's efforts. The +liquor had merely been allowed to ferment, whereas a complicated +process is necessary for the manufacture of the true arrack, but +enough had been achieved to bring about dire consequences for +Cuthbert Vane, who had found the liquid cool and refreshing, and +was skeptical about its potency. + +Aunt Jane took the matter very hard, and rebuked the ribald mirth +of Mr. Tubbs. He had to shed tears over a devastating poem called +"The Drunkard's Home," before she would forgive him. Cookie made +his peace by engaging to vote the prohibition ticket at the next +election. My own excuses for the unfortunate were taken in very +ill part. My aunt said she had always understood that life in the +tropics was very relaxing to the moral fiber, and mine was +certainly affected--and besides she wasn't certain that barons wore +coronets anyhow. + +Mr. Shaw was disturbed over Cuthbert, who was not at all bad, only +queer and sleepy, and had to be led away to slumber in retirement. +Also, it was an exceptionally low tide and Mr. Shaw had counted on +taking advantage of it to work in the cave. Now Cuthbert was laid +up-- + +"You and I will have to manage by ourselves, Magnus." + +"Nothing doing--boat got to be patched up--go out there without it +and get caught!" growled the captain. + +"Well, lend a hand, then. We can be ready with the boat inside an +hour." + +The captain hesitated queerly. His wandering eyes seemed to be +searching in every quarter for something they did not find. At +last he mumbled that he thought he felt a touch of the sun, and had +decided to lay off for the afternoon and make his way across the +island. He said he wanted to shoot water-fowl and that they had +all been frightened away from the cove, but that with the glass he +had seen them from Lookout thickly about the other bay. + +"Very well," said the Scotchman coldly. "I suppose you must suit +yourself. I can get the boat in shape without help, I dare say." +I saw him presently looking in an annoyed and puzzled fashion after +the vanishing figure of the sailor. + +Mr. Tubbs and the umbrellas soon disappeared into the woods. I +believe the search for Bill Halliwell's tombstone was no longer +very actively pursued, and that the trio spent their time ensconced +in a snug little nook with hammocks and cushions, where Mr. Tubbs +beguiled the time with reading aloud--Aunt Jane and Violet both +being provided with literature--and relating anecdotes of his rise +to greatness in the financial centers of the country. I more than +suspected Mr. Tubbs of feeling that such a bird in the hand as Aunt +Jane was worth many doubloons in the bush. But in spite of +uneasiness about the future, for the present I rested secure in the +certainty that they could not elope from the island, and that there +was no one on it with authority to metamorphose Aunt Jane into Mrs. +Hamilton H. Tubbs. + +The waters of the cove had receded until a fringe of rocks under +the high land of the point, usually covered, had been left bare. I +had watched the emergence of their black jagged surfaces for some +time before it occurred to me that they offered a means of access +to the cave. The cave--place of fascination and mystery! Here was +the opportunity of all others to explore it, unhampered by any one, +just Crusoe and I alone, in the fashion that left me freest to +indulge my dreams. + +I waited until the Scotchman's back was safely turned, because if +he saw me setting forth on this excursion he was quite certain to +command me to return, and I had no intention of submitting to his +dictatorial ways and yet was not sure how I was successfully to +defy him. I believed him capable of haling me lack by force, while +tears or even swoons left him unmoved. Of course he would take the +absurd ground that the cave was dangerous, in the face of the +glaring fact that a girl who had come to this island solely to +protect Aunt Jane ought certainly to be able to protect herself. +Besides, what right had he to care if I was drowned, anyhow? + +But of course I was not going to be. + +The retreating tide had left deep pools behind, each a little +cosmos of fairy seaweeds and tiny scuttling crabs and rich and +wonderful forms of life which were strange to me. Crusoe and I +were very much interested, and lingered a good deal on the way. +But at last we reached the great archway, and passed with a +suddenness which was like a plunge into cool water from the hot +glare of the tropic sunshine into the green shadow of the cavern. + +At the lower end, between the two arches, a black, water-worn rock +paving rang under one's feet. Further in under the point the floor +of the cave was covered with white sand. All the great shadowy +place was murmuring like a vast sea-shell. Beyond the southern +archway spread the limitless heaving plain of the Pacific. Near at +hand bare black rocks rose from the surges, like skeletons of the +land that the sea had devoured. And after a while these walls that +supported the cavern roof would be nibbled away, and the roof would +fall, and the waves roar victorious over the ruins. + +I wished I could visit the place in darkness. It would be thrice +as mysterious, filled with its hollow whispering echoes, as in the +day. I dreamed of it as it might have been when a boat from the +_Bonny Lass_ crept in, and the faint winking eye of a lantern +struck a gleam from the dark waters and showed nothing all around +but blackness, and more blackness. + +From the ledge far above my head led off those narrow, teasing +crevices in which the three explorers did their unrewarded +burrowing. I could see the strands of a rope ladder lying coiled +at the edge of the shelf, where it was secured by spikes. The men +dragged down the ladder with a boat-hook when they wanted to +ascend. I looked about with a hope that perhaps they had left the +boat-hook somewhere. + +I found no boat-hook but instead a spade, which had been driven +deep into the sand and left, too firmly imbedded for the tide to +bear away. At once a burning hope that I, alone and unassisted, +might bring to light the treasure of the Bonny Lass seethed in my +veins. I jerked the spade loose and fell to. + +I now discovered the great truth that digging for treasure is the +most thrilling and absorbing occupation known to man. Time ceased +to be, and the weight of the damp and close-packed sand seemed, +that of feathers. This temporary state of exaltation passed, to be +sure, and the sand got very heavy, and my back ached, but still I +dug. Crusoe watched proceedings interestedly at first, then +wandered off on business of his own. Presently he returned and +began to fuss about and bark. He was a restless little beast, +wanting to be always on the move. He came and tugged at my skirt, +uttering an uneasy whine. + +"Be quiet, Crusoe!" I commanded, threatening him with my spade. +The madness of the treasure-lust possessed me. I was panting now, +and my hands began to feel like baseball mitts, but still I dug. +Crusoe had ceased to importune me; vaguely I was aware that he had +got tired and run off. I toiled on, pausing now and then for +breath. I was leaning on my spade, rather dejectedly considering +the modest excavation I had achieved, when I felt a little cool +splash at my feet. Dropping my spade I whirled around--and a +shriek echoed through the cave as I saw pouring into it the dark +insidious torrent of the returning tide. + +How had I forgotten it, that deadly thing, muttering to itself out +there, ready to spring back like an unleashed beast? Crusoe had +warned me--and then he had forsaken me, and I was alone. + +And yet at first, wild as my terror was, I had no thought but that +somehow I could escape. That these waters were for me the very +face of death, sure and relentless, terrible and slow, did not at +once seize hold upon my heart. + +Frantically I sprang for the entrance on the cove. The floor of +the cave was sloping, and the water deepened swiftly as I advanced. +Soon I was floundering to my knees, and on the instant a great wave +rushed in, drenching me to the waist, dazing me with its spray and +uproar, and driving me back to the far end of the cave. + +With a dreadful hollow sucking sound the surge retreated. I +staggered again toward the archway that was my only door to life. +The water was deeper now, and swiftly came another fierce inrush of +the sea that drove me back. Between the two archways a terrible +current was setting. It poured along with the rush of a mountain +river, wild, dark, tumultuous. + +I had fled to the far end of the cave, but the sea pursued me. +Swiftly the water climbed--it flung me against the wall, then +dragged me back. I clutched at the naked rock with bleeding +fingers. + +Again, after a paroxysm during which I had seemed to stand a great +way off and listen to my own shrieks, there came to me a moment of +calm. I knew that my one tenuous thread of hope lay in launching +myself into that wild flood that was tearing through into the cove. +I was not a strong swimmer, but a buoyant one. I might find refuge +on some half-submerged rock on the shores of the cove--at least I +should perish in the open, in the sunlight, not trapped like a +desperate rat. And I began to fight my way toward the opening. + +And then a dreadful vision flashed across my mind, weighed down my +feet like lead, choked back even the cry from my frozen lips. +Sharks! The black cutting fin, the livid belly, the dreadful jaws +opening--no, no, better to die here, better the clean embrace of +the waters--_if indeed the sharks did not come into the cave_. + +And then I think I went quite mad. I remember trying to climb up +to the ledge which hung beetling fifteen feet above. Afterward my +poor hands showed how desperately. And I remember that once I +slipped and went clear under, and how I choked and strangled in the +salt water. For my mouth was always open, screaming, screaming +continually. + +And when I saw the boat fighting its way inch by inch into the cave +I was sure that it was a vision, and that only my own wild +beseeching of him to save me had made the face of Dugald Shaw arise +before my dying eyes. Dugald Shaw was still mending the boat on +the shore of the cove, and this was a mocking phantom. + +Only the warm human clasp of the arms that drew me into the boat +made me believe in him. + +The boat bobbed quietly in the eddy at the far end of the cave, +while a wet, sobbing, choking heap clung to Dugald Shaw. I clasped +him about the neck and would not let him go, for fear that I should +find myself alone again, perishing in the dark water. My head was +on his breast, and he was pressing back my wet hair with strong and +tender hands. + +What was this he was saying? "My lassie, my little, little lassie!" + +And no less incredible than this it was to feel his cheek pressed, +very gently, against my hair-- + +After a little my self-control came back to me. I stopped my +senseless childish crying, lifted my head and tried to speak. I +could only whisper, "You came, you came!" + +"Of course I came!" he said huskily. "There, don't tremble so--you +are safe--safe in my arms!" + +After a while he lifted me into the stern and began to maneuver the +boat out of the cave. I suppose at another time I should have +realized the peril of it. The fierce flow through the archway all +but swamped us, the current threatened to hurl us against the +rocks, but I felt no fear. He had come to save me, and he would. +All at once the dreadful shadow of the cavern was left behind, and +the sunshine immersed my chilled body like a draught of wine. I +lay huddled in the stern, my cheek upon my hand, as he rowed +swiftly across the cove and drove the boat upon the beach. + +Everybody but Captain Magnus was assembled there, including Crusoe. +Crusoe it was who had given warning of my danger. Like a wise +little dog, when I ignored his admonitions he had run home. At +first his uneasiness and troubled barking had got no notice. Once +or twice the Scotchman, worried by his fretfulness, had ordered him +away. Then across his preoccupied mind there flashed a doubt. He +laid down his tools and spoke to the animal. Instantly Crusoe +dashed for the rocks, barking and crying with eagerness. But the +path was closed, the tide was hurrying in, and Crusoe whined +pitiably as he crept back and crouched against the man who of +course knew better than a little dog what must be done. + +Then Mr. Shaw understood. He snatched the painter of the boat and +dragged it down the beach. He was shoving off as Cookie, roused by +Crusoe's barking, appeared from the seclusion of his afternoon +siesta. To him were borne the Scotchman's parting words: + +"Virginia Harding--in the cave--hot blankets--may be drowning--" + +"And at dat," said Cookie, relating his part in the near-tragedy +with unction, "I jes' natchully plumped right down on mah ma'ah +bones and wrestled with de Lawd in prayah." + +This unique proceeding on Cookie's part necessarily awoke the +interest both of the recovered Cuthbert Vane, just emerging after +his prolonged slumbers, and of the trio who had that moment +returned from the woods. Importuned for an explanation, Cookie +arose from his devotional posture and put the portentous query: + +"Mistah Vane, sah, be dey any propah coffin-wood on dis yere +island?" + +Instantly connecting my absence with this terrible question, Aunt +Jane shrieked and fell into the arms of Mr. Tubbs. I got the story +from Cuthbert Vane, and I must say I was unpleasantly struck by the +facility with which my aunt seemed to have fallen into Mr. Tubbs's +embrace--as if with the ease of habit. Mr. Tubbs, it appeared, had +staggered a little under his fair burden, which was not to be +wondered at, for Aunt Jane is of an overflowing style of figure and +Mr. Tubbs more remarkable for brain than brawn. Violet, however, +had remained admirably calm, and exhorted Aunt Jane to remember +that whatever happened it was all for the best. + +"Poor Violet," I commented. "To think that after all it didn't +happen!" + +A slow flush rose to the cheeks of the beautiful youth. He +was sitting beside the hammock, where I was supposed to be +recuperating. Of course it was to please Aunt Jane that I had to +be an invalid, and she had insisted on mounting guard and reading +aloud from one of Miss Browne's books about Psycho-evolution or +something until Cuthbert Vane came along and relieved her--and me. + +"It would have happened, though," said the Honorable Cuthbert +solemnly, "if it hadn't been for old Shaw. I can't get over it, +Vir--Miss Virginia, that I wasn't on deck myself, you know. Here's +old Dugald been doing the heroic all his life, and now he gets his +chance again while I'm sleeping off those bally cocoanuts. It's +hard on a chap. I--I wish it had been me." + +However dubious his grammar, there was no mistaking the look that +brightened like the dawn in the depths of his clear eyes. My +breath went from me suddenly. + +"Oh," I cried excitedly, "isn't that---yes, I _thought_ it was the +dinner gong!" + +For as if in response to my dire need, the clang of Cookie's gong +echoed through the island silences. + + + + +X + +WHAT CRUSOE AND I FOUND + +When after those poignant moments in the boat I met Dugald Shaw in +commonplace fashion at the table, a sudden, queer, altogether +unprecedented shyness seized me. I sat looking down at my plate +with the gaucherie of a silly child. + +The episode of the afternoon provided Mr. Tubbs with ammunition for +a perfect fusillade of wit. He warned Mr. Shaw that hereafter he +might expect Neptune to have a grudge against him for having robbed +the sea-god of his beauteous prey. I said I thought most likely it +was not Neptune that was robbed but sharks, but sharks not being +classic, Mr. Tubbs would have none of them. He said he believed +that if Mr. Shaw had not inopportunely arrived, Neptune with his +tripod would soon have up-reared upon the wave. + +"Oh--_tripod_, Mr. Tubbs?" I said inquiringly. + +"Yes, sure," he returned undaunted. "Them camera supports is named +for it, you know. But of course this gay gink of a Sandy had to +come buttin' in. Too bad the Honorable Bertie had partook so free. +He'd have looked the part all right when it come to rescuin' beauty +in distress. But Fortune bein' a lady and naturally capricious, +she hands the stunt over to old Sobersides here." + +Just then old Sobersides cut across the flow of Mr. Tubbs's +sprightly conversation and with a certain harshness of tone asked +Captain Magnus if he had had good sport on the other side of the +island. Captain Magnus, as usual, had seemed to feel that time +consecrated to eating was wasted in conversation. At this +point-blank question he started confusedly, stuttered, and finally +explained that though he had taken a rifle he had carried along +pistol cartridges, so had come home with an empty bag. + +At this moment I happened to be looking at Cookie, who was setting +down a dish before Mr. Tubbs. The negro started visibly, and +rolled his eyes at Captain Magnus with astonishment depicted in +every dusky feature. He said nothing, although wont to take part +in our conversation as it suited him, but I saw him shake his great +grizzled head in a disturbed and puzzled fashion as he turned away. + +After this a chill settled on the table. You felt a disturbance in +the air, as though wireless currents were crossing and recrossing +in general confusion. Mr. Tubbs began again on the topic of my +rescue, and said it was too bad Mr. Shaw's name wasn't Paul, +because then we'd be Paul and Virginia, he, he! My aunt said +encouragingly, how true! because they had lived on an island, +hadn't they? She had read the book many years ago, and had mostly +forgotten it, not having Mr. Tubbs's marvelous memory, but she +believed there was something quite sad about the end, though very +sweet. She agreed with Mr. Tubbs that Mr. Vane would have looked +most picturesque going to the rescue on account of his sash, and it +was too bad he had not been able, but never mind, it was most kind +of Mr. Shaw, and she was sure her niece appreciated it though she +was afraid she hadn't thanked Mr. Shaw properly. + +By this time it was perfectly clear that Mr. Shaw had been most +inconsiderate in dashing out after me in that thoughtless manner. +He should have waked Cuthbert Vane and helped him to array himself +becomingly in the sash and then sent for a moving-picture man to go +out in another boat and immortalize the touching scene. All this +came seething to my lips, but I managed to suppress it. It was +only on Cuthbert Vane's account. As for my aunt and Mr. Tubbs, I +could have bumped their heads together as remorselessly as two +cocoanuts. I understood Aunt Jane, of course. In spite of the +Honorable Cuthbert's recent lapse, her imagination still played +about certain little cards which should announce to an envious +world my engagement to the Honorable Cuthbert Patrick Ruthmore +Vane, of High Staunton Manor, Kent. So such a _faux pas_ as my +rescue from drowning by a penniless Scotch seaman couldn't but +figure in her mind as a grievance. + +I stole a glance at the recipient of these sorry thanks. His face +was set and--once I should have called it grim, but I knew better +now. There was nothing I could say or do. Any words of mine would +have sounded forced and puerile. What he had done was so far +beyond thanks that spoken gratitude belittled it. And yet, suppose +he thought that like the rest I had wished another in his place? +Did he think that--could he, with the memory of my arms about his +neck? + +I only knew that because of the foolish hateful words that had been +said, the gulf between us was wider than before. + +I sat dumb, consumed with misery and hoping that perhaps I might +meet his glance and so tell him silently all that words would only +mar. But he never looked at me. And then the first bitterness, +which had made even Cuthbert seem disloyal in wishing himself in +his friend's place, passed, and gave way to dreary doubt. Cuthbert +knew, of course, that he himself would have prized--what to Dugald +Shaw was a matter of indifference. Yes, that was it, and the worst +that Dugald Shaw was suffering now was boredom at hearing the +affair so everlastingly discussed. + +So I began talking very fast to Mr. Vane and we were very gay and +he tied his own necktie on Crusoe on consideration that he be held +hereafter jointly. And--because I saw that Dugald Shaw was looking +now--I smiled lingeringly into the eyes of the beautiful youth and +said all right, perhaps we needn't quarrel over our mutual dog, and +then skipped off lightsomely, feeling exactly like a scorpion that +has been wounding itself with its own sting. + +As I passed Cookie at his dishpan a sudden thought struck me. + +"Cookie," I remarked, "you had a frightfully queer look just now +when Captain Magnus told about having taken the wrong cartridges. +What was the matter?" + +Cookie took his hands out of the water and wiped off the suds, +casting about stealthy and mysterious glances. Then he rolled a +dubious eye at me. + +"What was it, Cookie?" I urged. + +"War am Cap'n now?" + +"Down on the beach; he can't possibly hear you." + +"You won't say nothin' to git Cookie in a rumpus?" + +"Cross my heart to die, Cookie." + +"Well, den"--Cookie spoke in a hoarse whisper--"Cap'n say he forgit +to take his gun ca'tridges. Miss Jinny, when he come back, I see +him empty his gun ca'tridges out'n his belt and put back his pistol +cartridges. So dere now!" + +I turned from Cookie, too surprised to speak. Why had Captain +Magnus been at pains to invent a lie about so trivial a matter? I +recalled, too, that Mr. Shaw's question had confused him, that he +had hesitated and stammered before answering it. Why? Was he a +bad shot and ashamed of it? Had he preferred to say that he had +taken the wrong ammunition rather than admit that he could get no +bag? That must be the explanation, because there was no other. +Certainly no imaginable errand but the one assigned could have +taken the captain to the other side of the island. + +Several days went by, and still the treasure was unfound. Of +course, as the unexplored space in the cave contracted, so daily +the probability grew stronger that Fortune would shed her golden +smile upon us before night. Nevertheless, it seemed to me that the +optimistic spirits of most were beginning to flag a little. Only +Mr. Shaw, though banned as a confirmed doubter and pessimist, +now by the exercise of will kept the others to their task. It +took all Cuthbert Vane's loyalty, plus an indisposition to be +called a slacker, to strive against the temptation to renounce +treasure-hunting in favor of roaming with Crusoe and me. As for +Captain Magnus, his restlessness was manifest. Several times he +had suggested blowing the lid off the island with dynamite, as the +shortest method of getting at the gold. He was always vanishing on +solitary excursions inland. + +Mr. Tubbs remarked, scornfully, that a man with a nose for money +ought to have smelted out the chest before this, but if his own +nasal powers were of that character he did not offer to employ them +in the service of the expedition. Miss Higglesby-Browne, however, +had taken to retiring to the hut for long private sessions with +herself. My aunt reverentially explained their purpose. The +hiding-place of the chest being of course known to the Universal +Wisdom, all Violet had to do was to put herself in harmony and the +knowledge would be hers. The difficulty was that you had first to +overcome your Mundane Consciousness. To accomplish this Violet was +struggling in the solitude of the hut. + +Meanwhile Mr. Tubbs sat at the feet of Aunt Jane, reading aloud +from a volume entitled _Paeans of Passion_, by a celebrated lady +lyric poet of our own land. + +After my meeting with Captain Magnus in the forest, Lookout Ridge +was barred to me. Crusoe and I must do our rambling in other +directions. This being so, I bethought me again of the wrecked +sloop lying under the cliffs on the north shore of the cove. I +remembered that there had seemed to be a way down the cliffs. I +resolved to visit the sloop again. The terrible practicality of +the beautiful youth made it difficult to indulge in romantic +musings in his presence. And to me a derelict brings a keener tang +of romance than any other relic of man's multitudinous and futile +strivings. + +The descent of the gully proved an easy matter, and soon I was on +the sand beside the derelict. Sand had heaped up around her hull, +and filled her cockpit level with the rail, and drifted down the +companion, stuffing the little cabin nearly to the roof, Only the +bow rose free from the white smother of sand. Whatever wounds +there were in her buried sides were hidden. You felt that some +wild caprice of the storm had lifted her and set her down here, not +too roughly, then whirled away and left her to the sand. + +Crusoe slipped into the narrow space under the roof of the cabin, +and I leaned idly down to watch him through a warped seam between +the planks. Then I found that I was looking, not at Crusoe, but +into a little dim enclosure like a locker, in which some small +object faintly caught the light. With a revived hope of finding +relics I got out my knife--a present from Cuthbert Vane--and set +briskly to work widening the seam. + +I penetrated finally into a small locker or cubby-hole, set in the +angle under the roof of the cabin, and, as subsequent investigation +showed, so placed as to attract no notice from the casual eye. I +ascertained this by lying down and wriggling my head and shoulders +into the cabin. In other words, I had happened on a little private +depository, in which the owner of the sloop might stow away certain +small matters that concerned him intimately. Yet the contents of +the locker at first seemed trifling. They were an old-fashioned +chased silver shoe-buckle, and a brown-covered manuscript book. + +The book had suffered much from dampness, whether of rains or the +wash of the sea. The imitation leather cover was flaking off, and +the leaves were stuck together. I seated myself on the cabin roof, +extracted a hairpin, and began carefully separating the +close-written pages. The first three or four were quite illegible, +the ink having run. Then the writing became clearer. I made out a +word here and there: + + . . . . directions vague . . . . my grandfather . . . . + man a ruffian but . . . . no motive . . . . police of + Havana . . . . frightful den . . . . grandfather made + sure . . . . registry . . . . _Bonny Lass_ . . . . + +And at that I gave a small excited shriek which brought Crusoe to +me in a hurry. What had he to do, the writer of this journal, what +had he to do with the _Bonny Lass_? + +Breathlessly I read on: + + . . . . thought captain still living but not + sure . . . . lost . . . . Benito Bon . . . . + +I closed the book. Now, while the coast was clear, I must get back +to camp. It would take hours, perhaps days, to decipher the +journal which had suddenly become of such supreme importance. I +must smuggle it unobserved into my own quarters, where I could read +at my leisure. As I set out I dropped the silver shoe-buckle into +my pocket, smiling to think that it was I who had discovered the +first bit of precious metal on the island. Yet the book in my +hand, I felt instinctively, was of more value than many +shoe-buckles. + +Safely in my hammock, with a pillow under which I could slip the +book in case of interruption, I resumed the reading. From this +point on, although the writing was somewhat faded, it was all, with +a little effort, legible. + + +THE DIARY + +If Sampson did live to tell his secret, then any day there may be a +sail in the offing. And still I can not find it! Oh, if my +grandfather had been more worldly wise! If he hadn't been too +intent on the eternal welfare of the man he rescued from the Havana +tavern brawl to question him about his story. A cave on Leeward +Island--near by a stone marked with the letters B. H. and a +cross-bones--_I told the captain_, said the poor dying wretch, _we +wouldn't have no luck after playing it that low down on Bill_! So +I presume Bill lies under the stone. + +Well, all I have is in this venture. The old farm paid for the +_Island Queen_--or will, if I don't get back in time to prevent +foreclosure. All my staid New England relatives think me mad. A +copra gatherer! A fine career for a minister's son! Think how +your father scrimped to send you to college--Aunt Sarah reproached +me. Well, when I get home with my Spanish doubloons there will be +another story to tell. I won't be poor crazy Peter then. And +Helen--oh, how often I wish I had told her everything! It was too +much to ask her to trust me blindly as I did. But from the moment +I came across the story in grandfather's old, half-forgotten +diary--by the way, the diary habit seems to run in the family--a +very passion of secrecy has possessed me. If I had told Helen, I +should have had to dread that even in her sweet sleep she might +whisper something to put that ferret, her stepmother, on the scent. +Oh, Helen, trust me, trust me! + +December 25. I have a calendar with me, so I am not reduced to +notching a stick to keep track of the days. I mark each off +carefully in the calendar. If I were to forget to do this, even +for a day or two, I believe I should quite lose track. The days +are so terribly alike! + +My predecessor here in the copra-gathering business, old Heintz, +really left me a very snug establishment. It was odd that I should +have run across him at Panama that way. I sounded him on the +question of treasure. He said placidly that of course the island +had been the resort of Edward Davis and Benito Bonito and others of +the black flag gentry, and he thought it very likely they had left +some of their spoils behind them, but though he had done a little +investigating as he had time he had come on nothing but a ship's +lantern, a large iron kettle, and the golden setting of a bracelet +from which the jewels had been removed. He had already disposed of +the bracelet. The kettle I found here, and sank in the spring to +keep the water clear. (Where it still is. V. H.) Evidently old +Heintz knew nothing of the _Bonny Lass_. This was an immense +satisfaction, as it proves that the story can not have been noised +about. + +Christmas Day! I wonder what they are all doing at home? December +28. Of course the cave under the point is the logical place. I +have been unable to find any stone marked B. H. on the ground above +it, but I fear that a search after Bill's tombstone would be +hopeless. Although the formation of the island is of the sort to +contain numerous caves, still they must be considerably less +plentiful than possible tombstones. Under circumstances such +as those of the mate's story, it seems to me that all the +probabilities point to their concealing the chest in the cave with +an opening on the bay. It must have been necessary for them to act +as quickly as possible, that their absence from the ship might go +unnoticed--though I believe the three conspirators had made the +crew drunk. Then to get the boat, laden with the heavy chest, +through the surf to any of the other caves--if the various cracks +and fissures I have seen are indeed properly to be called +caves--would be stiff work for three men. Yes, everything +indicates the cavern under the point. The only question is, isn't +it indicated too clearly? Would a smooth old scoundrel such as +this Captain Sampson must have been have hidden his treasure in the +very place certain to be ransacked if the secret ever got out? +Unless it was deeply buried, which it could have been only at +certain stages of the tide, even old Heintz would have been apt to +come across it in the course of his desultory researches for the +riches of the buccaneers. And I am certain placid old Heintz did +not mislead me. Besides, at Panama, he was making arrangements to +go with some other Germans on a small business venture to Samoa, +which he would not have been likely to do if he had just unearthed +a vast fortune in buried treasure. Still, I shall explore the cave +thoroughly, though with little hope. + +Oh, Helen, if I could watch these tropic stars with you to-night! + +January 6. I think I am through with the cave under the point--the +Cavern of the Two Arches, I have named it. It is a dangerous place +to work in alone, and my little skiff has been badly battered +several times. But I peered into every crevice in the walls, and +sounded the sands with a drill. I suppose I would have made a more +thorough job of it if I had not been convinced from the first that +the chest was not there. It was not reason that told me so--I know +I may well be attributing too much subtlety of mind to Captain +Sampson--but that strange guiding instinct--to put it in its lowest +terms--which I know in my heart I must follow if I would succeed. +Shall I ever forget the feeling that stirred me when first I turned +the pages of my grandfather's diary and saw there, in his faded +writing, the story of the mate of the _Bonny Lass_, who died in +Havana in my grandfather's arms? My grandfather had gone as +supercargo in his own ship, and while he did a good stroke of +business in Havana--trust his shrewd Yankee instincts for that--he +managed to combine the service of God with that of Mammon. Many a +poor drunken sailor, taking his fling ashore in the bright, +treacherous, plague-ridden city, found in him a friend, as did the +mate of the _Bonny Lass_ in his dying hour. Oh, if my good +grandfather had but made sure from the man's own lips exactly where +the treasure lay! It is enough to make one fancy that the unknown +Bill, who paid for too much knowledge with his life, has his own +fashion of guarding the hoard. But I ramble. I was going to say, +that from the moment when I learned from my grandfather's diary of +the existence of the treasure, I have been driven by an impulse +more overmastering than anything I have ever experienced in my +life. It was, I believe, what old-fashioned pious folk would call +a _leading_. The impetus seemed somehow to come from outside my +own organism. All my life I had been irresolute, the sport of +circumstances, trifling with this and that, unable to set my face +steadfastly toward any goal. Yet never, since I have trodden this +path, have I looked to right or left. I have defied both human +opinion and the obstacles which an unfriendly fate has thrown in my +way. All alone, I, a sailor hitherto of pleasure-craft among the +bays and islands of the New England coast, put forth in my little +sloop for a voyage of three hundred miles on the loneliest wastes +of the Pacific. All alone, did I say? No, there was Benjy the +faithful. His head is at my knee as I write. He knows, I think, +that his master's mood is sad to-night. Oh, Helen, if you ever see +these lines, will you realize how I have longed for you--how it +sometimes seems that my soul must tear itself loose from my body +and speed to you across half a world? + +February 1. Since my last record my time has been well filled. In +the _Island Queen_ I have been surveying the coasts of my domain, +sailing as close in as I dared, and taking note of every crevice +that might be the mouth of a cave. Then, either in the rowboat or +by scrambling down the cliffs, I visit the indicated point. It is +bitterly hard labor, but it has its compensations. I am growing +hale and strong, brown and muscular. Aunt Sarah won't offer me any +more of her miserable decoctions when I go home. Heading first +toward the north, I am systematically making the rounds of the +island, for, after all, how do I know for certain that Captain +Sampson buried his treasure near the east anchorage? For greater +security he may have chosen the other side, where there is another +bay, I should judge deeper and freer of rocks than this one, though +more open to storms. + +So far I have discovered half a dozen caves, most of them quite +small. Any one of them seemed such a likely place that at first I +was quite hopeful. But I have found nothing. Usually, the floor +of the cave beneath a few inches of sand is rock. Only in the +great cave under the point have I found sand to any depth. The +formation in some cases is little more than a hardened clay, but to +excavate it would require long toil, probably blasting--and I have +no explosives. And I go always on the principle that Captain +Sampson and his two assistants had not time for any elaborate work +of concealment. Most likely they laid the chest in some natural +niche. Sailors are unskilled in the use of such implements as +spades, and besides, the very heart of the undertaking was haste +and secrecy. They must have worked at night and between two tides, +for few of the caves can be reached except at the ebb. And I take +it as certain that the cave must have opened directly on the sea. +For three men to transport such a weight and bulk by land would be +sheer impossibility. + +February 10. To-day a strange, strange thing happened--so strange, +so wonderful and glorious that it ought to be recorded in luminous +ink. And I owe it all to Benjy! Little dog, you shall go in a +golden collar and eat lamb-chops every day! This morning-- + +Across my absorption in the diary cut the unwelcome clangor of +Cookie's gong. Right on the breathless edge of discovery I was +summoned, with my thrilling secret in my breast, to join my +unsuspecting companions. I hid the book carefully in my cot. Not +until the light of to-morrow morning could I return to its perusal. +How I was to survive the interval I did not know. But on one point +my mind was made up--no one should dream of the existence of the +diary until I knew all that it had to impart. + + + + +XI + +MISS BROWNE HAS A VISION + +Perhaps because of the secret excitement under which I was +laboring, I seemed that evening unusually aware of the emotional +fluctuations of those about me. Violet looked grimmer than ever, +so that I judged her struggles with her mundane consciousness to +have been exceptionally severe. Captain Magnus seemed even beyond +his wont restless, loose-jointed and wandering-eyed, and performed +extraordinary feats of sword-swallowing. Mr. Shaw was very silent, +and his forehead knitted now and then into a reflective frown. As +for myself, I had much ado to hide my abstraction, and turned cold +from head to foot with alarm when I heard my own voice addressing +Crusoe as Benjy. + +A faint ripple of surprise passed round the table. + +"Named your dog over again, Miss Jinny?" inquired Mr. Tubbs. Mr. +Tubbs had adopted a facetiously paternal manner toward me. I knew +in anticipation of the moment when he would invite me to call him +Uncle Ham. + +"I say, you know," expostulated Cuthbert Vane, "I thought Crusoe +rather a nice name. Never heard of any chap named Benjy that lived +on an island." + +"When I was a little girl, Virginia," remarked Aunt Jane, with the +air of immense age and wisdom which she occasionally assumed, "my +grandmother--your great-grandmother, of course, my love--would +never allow me to name my dolls a second time. She did not approve +of changeableness. And I am sure it must be partly due to your +great-grandmother's teaching that I always know my own mind +directly about everything. She was quite a remarkable woman, and +very firm. Firmness has been considered a family trait with us. +When her husband died--your great-grandfather, you know, dear--she +rose above her grief and made him take some very disagreeable +medicine to the very last, long after the doctors had given up +hope. As some relation or other said, I think your Great-Aunt +Susan's father-in-law, anybody else would have allowed poor John +Harding to die in peace, but trust Eliza to be firm to the end." + +Under cover of this bit of family history I tried to rally from my +confusion, but I knew my cheeks were burning. Looks of deepening +surprise greeted the scarlet emblems of discomfiture that I hung +out. + +"By heck, bet there's a feller at home named Benjy!" cackled Mr. +Tubbs shrilly, and for once I blessed him. + +Aunt Jane turned upon him her round innocent eyes. + +"Oh, no, Mr. Tubbs," she assured him, "I don't think a single one +of them was named Benjy!" + +The laughter which followed this gave me time to get myself in hand +again. + +"Crusoe it is and will be," I asserted. "Like Great-Grandmother +Harding, I don't approve of changeableness. It happens that a girl +I know at home has a dog named Benjy." Which happened fortunately +to be true, for otherwise I should have been obliged to invent it. +But the girl is a cat, and the dog a miserable little high-bred +something, all shivers and no hair. I should never have thought of +him in the same breath with Crusoe. + +That evening Mr. Shaw addressed the gathering at the +camp-fire--which we made small and bright, and then sat well away +from because of the heat--and in a few words gave it as his opinion +that any further search in the cave under the point was useless. +(If he had known the strange confirmatory echo which this awoke in +my mind!) He proposed that the shore of the island to a reasonable +distance on either side of the bay-entrance should be surveyed, +with a view to discover whether some other cave did not exist which +would answer the description given by the dying Hopperdown as well +as that first explored. + +Mr. Shaw's words were addressed to the ladies, the organizer and +financier, respectively, of the expedition, to the very deliberate +exclusion of Mr. Tubbs. But he might as well have made up his mind +to recognize the triumvirate. Enthroned on a camp-chair sat Aunt +Jane, like a little goddess of the Dollar Sign, and on one hand Mr. +Tubbs smiled blandly, and on the other Violet gloomed. You saw +that in secret council Mr. Shaw's announcement had been foreseen +and deliberated upon. + +Mr. Tubbs, who understood very well the role of power behind the +throne, left it to Violet to reply. And Miss Browne, who carried +an invisible rostrum with her wherever she went, now alertly +mounted it. + +"My friends," she began, "those dwelling on a plane where the +Material is all may fail to grasp the thought which I shall put +before you this evening. They may not understand that if a +different psychic atmosphere had existed on this island from the +first we should not now be gazing into a blank wall of Doubt. My +friends, this expedition was, so to speak, called from the Void by +Thought. Thought it was, as realized in steamships and other +ephemeral forms, which bore us thither over rolling seas. How then +can it be otherwise than that Thought should influence our +fortunes--that success should be unable to materialize before a +persistent attitude of Negation? My friends, you will perceive +that there is no break in this sequence of ideas; all is +remorseless logic. + +"In order to withdraw myself from this atmosphere of Negation, for +these several days past I have sought seclusion. There in silence +I have asserted the power of Positive over Negative Thought, gazing +meanwhile into the profound depths of the All. My friends, an +answer has been vouchsafed us; I have had a vision of that for +which we seek. Now at last, in a spirit of glad confidence, we may +advance. For, my friends, the chest is buried--in sand." + +With this triumphant announcement Miss Higglesby-Browne sat down. +A heavy silence succeeded. It was broken by a murmur from Mr. +Tubbs. + +"Wonderful--that's what I call wonderful! Talk about the eloquence +of the ancients--I believe, by gum, this is on a par with +Congressional oratory!" + +"A vision, Miss Browne," said Mr. Shaw gravely, "must be an +interesting thing. I have never seen one myself, having no talents +that way, but in the little Scotch town of Dumbiedykes where I was +born there was an old lady with a remarkable gift of the second +sight. Simple folk, not being acquainted with the proper terms to +fit the case, called her the Wise Woman. Well, one day my aunt had +been to the neighboring town of Micklestane, five miles off, and on +the way back to Dumbiedykes she lost her purse. It had three +sovereigns in it--a great sum to my aunt. In her trouble of mind +she hurried to the Wise Woman--a thing to make her pious father +turn in his grave. The Wise Woman--gazed into the All, I suppose, +and told my aunt not to fret herself, for she had had a vision of +the purse and _it lay somewhere on the food between Micklestane and +Dumbiedykes_. + +"Now, Miss Browne, I'll take the liberty of drawing a moral from +this Story to fit the present instance: _where on the road between +Micklestane and Dumbiedykes is the chest_?" + +Though startled at the audacity of Mr. Shaw, I was unprepared for +the spasm of absolute fury that convulsed Miss Browne's countenance. + +"Mr. Shaw," she thundered, "if you intend to draw a parallel +between me and an ignorant Scotch peasant--!" + +"Not at all," said Mr. Shaw calmly, "forebye the Wise Woman was a +most respectable person and had a grandson in the kirk. The point +is, can you indicate with any degree of exactness the whereabouts +of the chest? For there is a good deal of sand on the shores of +this island." + +"Oh, but Mr. Shaw!" interposed Aunt Jane tremulously. "In the +sand--why, I am sure that is such a helpful thought! It shows +quite plainly that the chest is not buried in--in a rock, you +know." She gave the effect of a person trying to deflect a +thunderstorm with a palm-leaf fan. + +"Dynamite---dynamite--blow the lid off the island!" mumbled Captain +Magnus. + +"If any one has a definite plan to propose," said Mr. Shaw, "I am +very ready to consider it. I have understood myself from the first +to be acting under the directions of the ladies who planned this +expedition. As a mere matter of honesty to my employers, I should +feel bound to spare no effort to find the treasure, even if my own +interests were not so vitally concerned. Considering its +importance to myself, no one can well suppose that I am not doing +all in my power to bring the chest to light. Tomorrow, if the sea +is favorable, it is my intention to set out in the boat to +determine the character of such other caves as exist on the island. +I'll want you with me, lad, and you too, Magnus." + +Captain Magnus looked more ill at ease than usual. "Did you think +o' rowin' the whole way round the dinged chunk o' rock?" he +inquired. + +"Certainly not," said Mr. Shaw with an impatient frown. So the +man, in addition to his other unattractive qualities, was turning +out a shirk! Hitherto, with his strength and feverish if +intermittent energy, plus an almost uncanny skill with boats, he +had been of value. "Certainly not. We are going to make a careful +survey of the cliffs, and explore every likely opening as +thoroughly as possible. It will be slow work and hard. As to +circumnavigating the island, I see no point in it, for I don't +believe the chest can have been carried any great distance from the +cove." + +"Oh--all right," said Captain Magnus. + +Mr. Tubbs, who had been whispering with Aunt Jane and Miss Browne, +now with a very made-to-order casualness proposed to the two ladies +that they take a stroll on the beach. This meant that the +triumvirate were to withdraw for discussion, and amounted to notice +that henceforth the counsels of the company would be divided. + +Captain Magnus, after an uneasy wriggle or two, said he guessed +he'd turn in. Cookie's snores were already audible between +splashes of the waves on the sands. The Scotchman, Cuthbert Vane +and I continued to sit by the dying fire. Mr. Shaw had got out his +pipe and sat silently puffing at it. He might have been sitting in +solitude on the topmost crag of the island, so remote seemed that +impassive presence. Was it possible that ever, except in the sweet +madness of a dream, I had been in his arms, pillowed and cherished +there, that he had called me _lassie_-- + +I lifted my eyes to the kind honest gaze of Cuthbert Vane. It was +as faithful as Crusoe's and no more embarrassing. A great impulse +of affection moved me. I was near putting out a hand to pat his +splendid head. Oh, how easy, comfortable, and calm would be a life +with Cuthbert Vane! I wasn't thinking about the title +now--Cuthbert would be quite worth while for himself. For a moment +I almost saw with Aunt Jane's eyes. _Fancy trotting him out before +the girls_! stole insidiously into my mind. How much more dazzling +than a plain Scotch sailor-- + +I turned in bitterness and yearning from the silent figure by the +fire. + +I think in an earlier lifetime I must have been a huntress and +loved to pursue the game that fled. + + + + +XII + +THE ISLAND QUEEN'S FREIGHT + +I woke next morning with a great thrill of exhilaration. Perhaps +before the sun went down again I should know the secret of the +island. + +The two divisions of our party, which were designated by me +privately the Land and Sea Forces, went their separate ways +directly after breakfast, which we ate in the cool of earliest +morning, I could retire to the perusal of the journal which I had +recovered from the wrecked sloop without fear of interruption. + +I resumed my reading with the entry of February 10. + + +This morning, having grown very tired of fish, of which I get +plenty every time I go out in the boat by dragging a line behind, I +decided to stay ashore and hunt pig. I set out across the base of +the point, nearly due south--whereas I had been working along the +coast to the north of the cove. On my right the slope of the +mountain rose steeply, and as I approached the south shore the rise +of the peak became more abrupt, and great jutting crags leaned out +over the tree-tops below. + +I reached the edge of the cliffs and found that on my right hand +the mountain dropped in a sheer precipice from hundreds of feet +above me straight into the sea. I considered, and made up my mind +that by striking back some distance one might by a very rough climb +gain the top of the precipice, and so swing around the shoulder of +the mountain. I did not feel inclined to attempt it. The cliffs +at this point offered no means of descent, and the few yards of +sand which the receding tide had left bare at their foot led +nowhere. + +So far I had seen no pig, and I began to think they must all be +feeding on the other side of the island. I turned to go back, and +at that moment I heard an outcry in the bushes and Benjy came +tearing out at the heels of a fine young porker. I threw up my gun +to fire, but the evolutions of Benjy and the pig were such that I +was as likely to hit one as the other. The pig, of course, made +desperate efforts to escape from the cul-de-sac in which he found +himself. His only hope was to get back into the woods on the +point. Benjy kept him headed off successfully, and I began to edge +up, watching my chance for a shot. Suddenly the pig came dashing +straight toward me--oblivious, I suppose, to everything but the +white snapping terror at his heels. Taken by surprise, I +fired--and missed. The pig shot between my knees, Benjy after him. +I withstood the shock of the pig, but not of Benjy. I fell, +clawing wildly, into a matted mass of creepers that covered the +ground beside me. + +I got to my feet quickly, dragging the whole mass of vines up with +me. Then I saw that they had covered a curiously regular little +patch of ground, outlined at intervals with small stones. At one +end was a larger stone. + +The patch was narrow, about six feet long--instantly suggestive of +a grave. But swift beyond all process of reason was the certainty +that flashed into my mind. I fell on my knees beside the stone at +the head and pulled away the torn vine-tendrils. I saw the letters +B. H. and an attempt at cross-bones rudely cut into the surface of +the stone. + +I closed my eyes and tried to steady myself. I thought, I am +seeing things. _This is the mere projection of the vision which +has been in my mind so long_. + +I opened my eyes, and lo, the fantasy, if fantasy it were, +remained. I smote with my fist upon the stone. The stone was +solid--it bruised the flesh. And as I saw the blood run, I +screamed aloud like a madman, "_It's real, real, real_!" + +Under the stone lay the guardian of the treasure of the _Bonny +Lass_--And his secret was within my grasp. + +I don't know how long I crouched beside the stone, as drunk with +joy as any hasheesh toper with his drug. I roused at last to find +Benjy at my shoulder, thrusting his cool nose against my feverish +cheek. I suppose he didn't understand my ignoring him so, or +thought I scorned him for losing out in his race with the pig. Yet +when I think of what I owe that pig I could swear never to taste +pork again. + +Brought back to earth and sanity, I rose and began to consider my +surroundings. Somewhere close at hand was the mouth of the +cave--but where? The cliffs, as I have already said, were too +steep for descent. Nothing but a fly could have crawled down them. +I turned to the craggy face of the mountain. There, surely, must +be the entrance to the cave! For hours I clambered among the +rocks, risking mangled limbs and sunstroke--and found no cave. I +came back at last, wearily, to the grave. There lay the dust of +the brain that had known all--and a wild impulse came to me to tear +away the earth with my bare hands, to dig deep, deep--and then with +listening ear wait for a whispered word. + +I put the delirious fancy from me and moved away to the edge of the +cliffs. Looking down, I saw a narrow sloping shelf which dropped +from the brink to a distance of ten or twelve feet below, where it +met a slight projection of the rock. I had seen it before, of +course, but it had carried no significance for my mind. Now I +stepped down upon the ledge and followed it to its end in the angle +of the rock. + +Snugly hidden in the angle was a low doorway leading into blackness. + +Now of course I ought in prudence to have gone back to the hut and +got matches and a lantern and a rope before I set foot in the +darkness of that unknown place. But what had I to do to-day with +prudence--Fortune had me by the hand! In I went boldly, Benjy at +my heels. The passage turned sharply, and for a little way we +walked in blackness. Then it veered again, and a faint and far-off +light seemed to filter its way to us through a web woven of the +very stuff of night. The floor sloped a little downward. I felt +my way with my feet, and came to a step--another. I was going +along a descending passage, cut at its steepest into rough, +irregular stairs. With either hand I could touch the walls. All +the while the light grew clearer. Presently, by another sharp +turn, I found myself in a cave, some thirty feet in depth by +eighteen across, with an opening on the narrow strip of beach I had +seen from the top of the cliffs. + +The roof is high, with an effect of Gothic arches. Near the mouth +is a tiny spring of ice-cold water, which has worn a clean +rock-channel for itself to the sea. Otherwise the cave is +perfectly dry. The shining white sand of its floor is above the +highest watermark on the cliffs outside. There is no doubt in my +mind that in the great buccaneering days of the seventeenth +century, and probably much later, the place was the haunt of +pirates. One fancies that Captain Sampson of the _Bonny Lass_ may +have known of it before he brought the treasure to the island. +There were queer folk to be met with in those days in the Western +Ocean! The cave is cool at blazing midday, and secret, I fancy, +even from the sea, because of the droop of great rock-eaves above +its mouth. Either for the keeping of stores or as a hiding-place +for men or treasure it would be admirable. Yes, the cave has seen +many a fierce, sea-tanned face and tarry pigtail, and echoed to +strange oaths and wild sea-songs. Men had carved those steps in +the passage--thirty-two of them. In the sand of the floor, as I +kicked it up with my feet, hoping rather childishly to strike the +corner of the chest, I found the hilt and part of the blade of a +rusty cutlass, and a chased silver shoe-buckle. I shall take the +buckle home to Helen--and yet how trivial it will seem, with all +else that I have to offer her! Nevertheless she will prize it as +my gift, and because it comes from the place to which some kind +angel led me for her sake. + +I left the cave and hurried back to the cabin for a spade, walking +on air, breaking with snatches of song the terrible stillness of +the woods, where one hears only the high fitful sighing of the +wind, or the eternal mutter of the sea. As I came out of the hut +with the spade over my shoulder I waved my hand to the _Island +Queen_ riding at anchor. + +"You'll soon be showing a clean pair of heels to Leeward, old +girl!" I cried. Back in the cave, I set to work feverishly, making +the light sand fly. I began at the rear of the cavern, reasoning +that there the sand would lie at greater depth, also that it would +be above the wash of the heaviest storms. At the end of half an +hour, at a point close to the angle of the wall my spade struck a +hard surface. It lay, I should judge, under about two feet of +sand. Soon I had laid bare a patch of dark wood which rang under +my knuckles almost like iron. A little more, and I had cleared +away the sand from the top of a large chest with a convex lid, +heavily bound in brass. + +Furiously I flung the sand aside until the chest stood free for +half its depth--which is roughly three feet. It has handles at the +ends, great hand-wrought loops of metal. I tugged my hardest, but +the chest seemed fast in its place as the native rock. I laughed +exultantly. The weight meant gold--gold! I had hammer and chisel +with me, and with these I forced the massive ancient locks. There +were three of them, one for each strip of brass which bound the +chest. Then I flung up the lid. + +No glittering treasure dazzled me. I saw only a surface of stained +canvas, tucked in carefully around the edges. This I tore off and +flung aside--eclipsing poor Benjy, who was a most interested +spectator of my strange proceedings. Still no gleam of gold, +merely demure rows of plump brown bags. With both hands I reached +for them. Oh, to grasp them all! I had to be content with two, +because they were so heavy, so blessedly heavy! + +I spread the square of canvas on the sand, cut the strings from the +bags, and poured out--gold, gold! All fair shining golden coins +they were, not a paltry silver piece among them! And they made a +soft golden music as they fell in a glorious yellow heap. + +I don't know how long I sat there, playing with my gold, running it +through my fingers, clinking the coins together in my palm. Benjy +came and sniffed at them indifferently, unable to understand his +master's preoccupation. He thrust his nose into my face and +barked, and said as clearly as with words, _Come, hunt pig_! + +"Benjy," I said, "we'll leave the pork alone just now. We have +work enough to count our money. We're rich, old boy, rich, rich!" + +Of course, I don't yet know exactly what the value of the treasure +is. I have counted the bags in the chest; there are one hundred +and forty-eight. Each, so far as I have determined, contains one +thousand doubloons, which makes a total of one hundred and +forty-eight thousand. Estimating each coin, for the sake of even +figures, at a value of seven dollars--a safe minimum--you get one +million, thirty-six thousand dollars. And as many of the coins are +ancient, I ought to reap a harvest from collectors. + +Besides the coin, I found, rather surprisingly, laid between the +upper layers of bags, a silver crucifix about nine inches long. It +is of very quaint old workmanship, and badly tarnished. Its money +value must be very trifling, compared to the same bulk of golden +coins. I think it must have had some special character of +sacredness which led to its preservation here. It is strange to +find such a relic among a treasure so stained by blood and crime. + +And now I have to think about moving the gold. First of all I must +get the chest itself aboard the _Island Queen_. This means that I +shall have to empty it and leave the gold in the cave, while I get +the chest out by sea. When the chest is safely in the cabin of the +sloop--where it won't leave much room for Benjy and his master, I'm +afraid--I will take the bags of coin out by the land entrance. I +can't think of risking my precious doubloons in the voyage around +the point. + +Of course I should have liked to get to the task to-day, but after +the first mad thrill of the great event was over, I found myself as +weak and unnerved as a woman. So by a great effort I came away and +left my glorious golden hoard. Now I dream and gloat, playing with +the idea that to-morrow I shall find it all a fantasy. The +pleasure of this is, of course, that all the while I _know_ this +wildest of all Arabian fairy tales to be as real as the most drab +and sober fact of my hitherto colorless life. + +After all, on the way back from the cave Benjy brought down a pig. +So he is as well pleased with the day as I am. Now I am sitting in +the doorway of my cabin, writing up my journal, and trying to calm +down enough to go to bed. If it were not for the swift fading of +daylight, I would go back to the cave for another peep into the +chest. But all round the island the sea is moaning with that +peculiarly melancholy note that comes with the falling of night. +The sea-birds have risen from the cove and gone wheeling off in +troops to their nests on the cliffs. Somehow a curious dislike, +almost fear, of this wild, sea-girt, solitary place has come over +me. I long for the sound of human voices, the touch of human +hands. I think of the dead man lying there at the door of the +cave, its silent guardian for so long. I suppose he brooded once +on the thought of the gold as I do--perhaps he has been brooding so +these ninety years! I wonder if he is pleased that I, a stranger, +have come into possession of his secret hoard at last? + +Oh, Helen, turn your heavenly face on me--be my refuge from these +shuddering unwholesome thoughts! The gold is for you--for you! +Surely that must cleanse it of its stains, must loose the clutch of +the dead hands that strive to hold it! + + +February 11. This morning I was early at the cave. Yes, there it +was, the same wonder-chest that I had dreamed of all night long. +It was absurd how the tightness in my breast relaxed. + +I began at once the work of removing the bags from the chest and +stacking them in the corner of the cave. It was a fatiguing job, I +had to stoop so. At the bottom of the chest I found a small +portfolio of very fine leather containing documents in Spanish. +They bear an official seal. Although I should be interested to +know their meaning, I think I shall destroy them. They weaken my +feeling of ownership; I suppose there is a slight flavor of +lawlessness in my carrying off the gold from the island like this. +Very likely the little Spanish-American state which has some claim +to overlordship here would dispute my right to the treasure-trove. + +I spent so much time unloading the chest and poring over the +papers, trying, by means of my ill-remembered Latin, to make out +the sense of the kindred Spanish, that before I was ready to go for +my boat the tide was up and pounding on the rocks below the cave. +I find that only at certain stages of the tide is the cave +approachable by sea. At the turn after high water, for instance, +there is such a terrific undertow that it sets up a small maelstrom +among the reefs lying off the island. At low tide is the time to +come. + + +February 12. Got the chest out of the cave, though it was a +difficult job. I don't know of what wood the thing is built--some +South American hardwood, I fancy--but it weighs like metal. The +heavy brass clampings count for something, of course. Luckily +there was no sea, and I had a smooth passage around the point, I +laughed rather ruefully as I passed the Cave of the Two Arches. To +think of the toil I wasted there! I wish Benjy had encountered the +fateful pig a little sooner. + +Got the chest aboard the _Island Queen_ and stowed in the cabin. +Not room left to swing a kitten. Contrived an elaborate +arrangement of ropes and spikes to keep it in place in a heavy sea. + +In the afternoon began moving the gold. It's the deuce of a job. + + +February 15. Been hard at it for three days. Most of the gold +moved. Have to think too of provisions and water for the trip. I +am making rather a liberal allowance, in case of being blown out of +my course by a tropical gale. + + +February 16. On board the _Island Queen_. Have moved my traps +from the hut and am sleeping on the sloop. Want to be near the +gold. "Where the treasure is, there will the heart be also," and +in this case the body as well. To-morrow I have only to bring the +last of the gold aboard--a trifling matter--and then go out with +the ebb. I would have got all the bags on board to-day, but I +noticed a worn stretch in the cable holding the sloop and stopped +to repair it. I can't have the sloop going on the rocks in case a +blow comes up to-night. There are only about a load and a half of +bags left in the cave. + +A queer notion seized me to-day about the crucifix, when I was +bringing it from the cave. It seemed to float into my brain--I +can't say from what quarter--_that I had better leave the crucifix +for Bill_. It wasn't more than he had a right to, really--and +there is no virtue in a cross-bones to make a man sleep well. + +Of course I put the absurd idea from me, and brought the crucifix +aboard along with the rest of the gold. I shall be glad when I +know that the vines have again covered that lonely-looking +gravestone from sight. I can't help feeling my own glorious good +fortune to be somehow an affront to poor unlucky Bill. + +To-morrow one last trip to the cave, and then hey, for home and +Helen! + + +The diary ended here. + +I closed the book, and stared with unseeing eyes into the green +shadows of the encompassing woods. What happened to the writer of +the diary on that last trip to the cave? For he had never left the +island. Crusoe was here to prove it, as well as the wreck of the +Island Queen. And, in all human probability, under the sand which +choked the cabin of the derelict was the long-sought chest of +Spanish doubloons. + +But what was the mysterious fate of Peter? Had he fallen, +overboard from the sloop and been drowned? Had he returned to the +cave--and was he there still? It was all a mystery--but a mystery +which I burned to solve. + +Of course I might have solved it, very quickly, merely by +communicating the extraordinary knowledge which had come to me to +my companions. But for the present at least I meant to keep this +astounding secret for my own. Somehow or other, by guile or lucky +circumstance, I must bring it about that the document I had signed +at Miss Browne's behest was canceled. Was I, who all unaided had +discovered, or as good as discovered, the vainly-sought-for +treasure, to disclose its whereabouts to those who would deny me +the smallest claim upon its contents? Was I to see all those +"fair, shining golden coins," parceled out between Miss Browne, and +Mr. Tubbs, and Captain Magnus (the three who loomed large in my +indignant thoughts), and not possess a single one myself? Or +perhaps accept a little stingy present of a few? I really wasn't +very covetous about the money, taken just as money; but considered +as buried treasure it made my mouth water. + +Then besides, while I kept my secret I had power; everybody's +destiny was in my hands. This was a sweet thought. I felt that I +should enjoy going about with a deceptive meekness, and taking the +severest snubs from Miss Browne, knowing that at any moment I could +blossom forth into the most exalted and thrilling importance. +Also, not only did I want a share in the treasure myself, but I +wanted, if possible, to divide it up on a different basis from the +present. I wanted Cuthbert Vane to have a lot of it--and I should +have been much better pleased not to let Mr. Tubbs or Captain +Magnus have any. I did not crave to enrich Violet, and I thought +Aunt Jane had already more money than was good for her. Give her +another half-million, and Mr. Tubbs would commit bigamy, if +necessary, for her sake. + +And then there was Dugald Shaw, who had saved my life, and who +seemed to have forgotten it, and that I had ever had my arms about +his neck--and who was poor--and brave-- + +Yes, decidedly, I should keep my secret yet while, till I saw how +the cards were going to fall. + + + + +XIII + +I BRING TO LIGHT A CLUE + +My first and all but overpowering impulse was to possess myself of +a spade and dash for the wreck of the _Island Queen_. Sober second +thought restrained me. Merely to get there and back would consume +much time, for the descent of the cliffs, and still more the climb +up again, was a toilsome affair. Also, reflection showed me that +to dig through the damp close-packed sand of the cabin would be no +trifling task, for I should be hampered by the need of throwing out +the excavated sand behind me through the narrow companionway. I +could achieve my end, no doubt, by patient burrowing, but it would +require much more time than I had at my command before the noon-day +sounding of Cookie's gong. I must not be seen departing or +returning with a spade, but make off with the implement in a +stealthy and burglarious manner. Above all, I must not risk +betraying my secret through impatience. + +But there was nothing to forbid an immediate pilgrimage to the +much-sought gravestone with its sinister symbol. The account in +Peter's diary of his adventure with the pig placed the grave with +such exactness that I had no doubt of finding it easily. That +done, I would know very nearly where to look for the cave--and in +order to bid defiance to a certain chill sense of reluctance which +beset me at the thought of the cave I started out at once, skirting +the clearing with much circumspection, for it seemed to me that +even the sight of my vanishing back must shout of mystery to Cookie +droning hymns among his pots and pans. Crusoe, of course, came +with me, happily unconscious of his own strange relation to our +quest. + +Following in the steps of Peter, who seemed in an airy and +uncomfortable fashion to be bearing me company, I struck across the +point, at the base of the rough slope which marks the first rise of +the peak. As I neared the sea on the other side great crags began +to overhang the path, which was, of course, no path, but merely the +line of least resistance through the woods. Soon the noise of the +sea, of which one was never altogether free on the island, though +it reaches the recesses of the forest only as a vast nameless +murmur, broke in heightened clamor on my ears. I heard the waves +roaring and dashing on rocks far below--and then I stood at the +dizzy edge of the plateau looking out over the illimitable gleaming +reaches of the sea. + +Somewhere in this angle between the ragged margin of the cliffs and +the abrupt rise of the craggy mountainside, according to Peter's +journal, lay the grave. I began systematically to poke with a +stick I carried into every low-growing mass of vines or bushes. +Because of the comparatively rocky, sterile soil the woods were +thinner here, and the undergrowth was greater. Only the very +definite localization of the grave by the accommodating diarist +gave any hope of finding it. + +And then, quite suddenly, I found it. My proddings had displaced a +matted mass of ground-creeper. Beneath, looking raw and naked +without its leafy covering, was the "curiously regular little +patch of ground, outlined at intervals with small stones." +Panic-stricken beetles scuttled for refuge. A great green slug +undulated painfully across his suddenly denuded pasture, A whole +small world found itself hurled back to chaos. + +At the head of the grave lay a large, smoothly-rounded stone. +I knelt and brushed away some obstinate vine-tendrils, and +the letters "B. H." revealed themselves, cut deeply and +irregularly into the sloping face of the stone. Below was the +half-intelligible symbol of the crossed bones. + +There was something in the utter loneliness of the place that +caught my breath sharply. At once I had the feeling of a marauder. +Here slept the guardian of the treasure--and yet in defiance of him +I meant to have it. So, too, had Peter--and I didn't know yet what +he had managed to do to Peter--but I guessed from his journal that +Peter had been a slightly morbid person. He had let the wild +solitude of the island frighten him. He had indulged foolish +fancies about crucifixes. He had in fact let the defenses of his +will be undermined ever so little--and then of course there was no +telling what They could do to you. + +With an impatient shiver I got up quickly from my knees. What +abominable nonsense I had been talking--was there a miasma about +that old grave that affected one? I whistled to Crusoe, who was +trotting busily about on mysterious intelligence conveyed to him by +his nose. He ran to me joyfully, and I stooped and patted his warm +vigorous body. + +"Let Bill walk, Crusoe," I remarked, "let him! He needn't be a dog +in the manger about the treasure, anyhow." + +Now came the moment which I had been trying not to think about. I +had to find the entrance to the cave, and then go into it or part +with my own esteem forever. I went and peered over the cliff. I +had an unacknowledged hope that the shelf of which Peter had +written had been rent off by some cataclysm and that I could not +possibly get down to the doorway in the rock. My hope was vain. +The ledge was there--not an inviting ledge, nor one on which the +unacrobatically inclined would have any impulse to saunter, but a +perfectly good ledge, on which I had not the slightest excuse for +declining to venture. Seventy feet below I saw a narrow strip of +sand, from which the tide was receding. It ran along under the +great precipice which rose on my right, forming the face of the +mountain on the south side. On that strip of sand the old +hiding-place of the-pirates opened. I thought I saw the +overhanging eaves of rock of which the diary had spoken. + +There was truly nothing dangerous about the ledge. It was nearly +three feet wide, and had an easy downward trend. Yet you heard the +hungry roar of the surf below, and try as you would not to, caught +glimpses of the white swirl of it. I moved cautiously, keeping +close to the face of the cliff. Crusoe, to my annoyance, sprang +down upon the ledge after me. I had a feeling that he must +certainly trip me as I picked my way gingerly along. + +An angle in the rock--a low dark entrance-way--it was all as Peter +had described it. I peered in--nothing but impenetrable blackness. +I took a hesitating step. The passage veered sharply, as the diary +had recorded. Once around the corner, there would be nothing but +darkness anywhere. One would go stumbling on, feeling with feet +and hands--hands cold with the dread of what they might be going to +touch. For, suddenly portentous and overwhelming, there rose +before me the unanswered question of what had become of Peter on +that last visit to the cave. Unanswered--and unanswerable except +in one way: by going in to see. + +But if by any strange chance--where all chances were strange--he +were still there, I did not want to see. I did not like to +contemplate his possible neighborhood. Indeed, he grew enormously +more real to me with every instant I stood there, and whereas I had +so far thought principally about the treasure, I now began to think +with intensity of Peter. What ironic stroke of fate had cut him +down in the very moment of his triumph? Had he ever reached the +cave to bring away the last of the doubloons? Were they +still waiting there unclaimed? Had he fallen victim to some +extraordinary mischance on the way back to the _Island Queen_? Had +a storm come up on that last night, and the weakened cable parted, +and the _Island Queen_ gone on the rocks, drowning Peter in the +cabin with his gold? Then how had Crusoe got away, Crusoe, who +feared the waves so, and would bark at them and then turn tail and +run? + +Speaking of Crusoe, where was he? I realized that a moment ago he +had plunged into the passage. I heard the patter of his feet--a +pause. A queer, dismal little whine echoed along the passage. I +heard Crusoe returning--but before his nose appeared around the +angle of the tunnel, his mistress had reached the top of the cliff +at a bound and was vanishing at a brisk pace into the woods. + +With bitterness, as I pursued my way to camp, I realized that I was +not a heroine. Here was a mystery--it was the business of a +heroine to solve it. Now that I was safely away from the cave, I +began to feel the itch of a torturing curiosity. How, without +going into the terrifying place alone, should I find out what was +there? Should I pretend to have accidentally discovered the grave, +lead the party to it, and then--again accidentally--discover the +tunnel? This plan had its merits--but I discarded it, for fear +that something would be found in the cave to direct attention to +the _Island Queen_. Then I reflected that very likely the +explorers would work round the island far enough to find the +sea-mouth of the cave. This would take matters entirely out of my +hands. I should perhaps be enlightened as to the fate of Peter and +the last remaining bags of doubloons, but might also have to share +the secret of the derelict with the rest. And then all my dreams +of playing fairy godmother and showering down on certain +heads--like coals of fire--torrents of beautiful golden doubloons, +would be over. + +On the whole I could not tell whether I burned with impatience to +have the cave discovered, or was cold with the fear of it. + +And then, so vigorous is the instinct to see one's self in heroic +postures, I found I was trying to cheat myself with the pretense +that I meant presently to abstract Aunt Jane's electric torch and +returning to the tunnel-mouth plunge in dauntlessly. + + + + +XIV + +MR. TUBBS INTERRUPTS + +I had determined as an offset to my pusillanimous behavior about +the cave to show a dogged industry in the matter of the _Island +Queen_. It would take me a long while to get down through the sand +to the chest, but I resolved to accomplish it, and borrowed of +Cookie, without his knowledge, a large iron spoon which I thought I +could wield more easily than a heavy spade. Besides, Cookie would +be less sleuth-like in getting on the trail of his missing property +than Mr. Shaw--though there would be a certain piquancy in having +that martinet hale me before him for stealing a spade. + +But that afternoon I was tired and hot--it really called for a +grimmer resolve than mine to shovel sand through the languor of a +Leeward Island afternoon. Instead, I slept in my hammock, and +dreamed that I was queen of a cannibal island, draped in necklaces +made of the doubloons now hidden under the sand in the cabin of the +derelict. + +Later, the wailing of Cookie was heard in the land, and I had to +restore the spoon to free Crusoe of the charge of having stolen it. +I said I had wanted it to dig with. But of course it occurred to +no one that it was the treasure I had expected to dig up with +Cookie's spoon. It was touching to see the universal faith in the +trivial nature of my employments, to know that every one imagined +themselves to be seriously occupied, while I was merely a +girl--there is no common denominator for the qualifying +adjective--who roamed about idly with a dog, and that no one +dreamed that we had thus come to be potentially among the richest +dogs and girls in these latitudes. + +A more serious obstacle to my explorations on the _Island Queen_ +presented itself next day. Instead of putting to sea, Mr. Shaw and +Captain Magnus hauled the boat up on the beach and set to work to +repair it. The wild work of exploring the coast had left the boat +with leaky seams and a damaged gunwale. The preceding day had been +filled with hardship and danger--so much so that my heart sank a +little at the recountal of it. You saw the little boat threading +its way among the reefs, tossed like seaweed by the white teeth of +gnawing waves, screamed at by angry gulls whose homes were those +clefts and caves which the boat invaded. And all this, poor little +boat, on a hopeless quest--for no reward but peril and wounds. +Captain Magnus had a bruised and bleeding wrist, but refused to +have it dressed, vaunting his hardihood with a savage pride. +Cuthbert Vane, however, had a sprained thumb which could not be +ignored, and on the strength of which he was dismissed from the +boat-repairing contingent, and thrown on my hands to entertain. So +of course I had to renounce all thoughts of visiting the sloop. I +should not have dared to go there anyway, with Mr. Shaw and the +captain able more or less to overlook my motions from the beach, +for I was quite morbidly afraid of attracting attention to the +derelict. It seemed to me a happy miracle that no one but myself +had taken any interest in her, or been inspired to ask by what +chance so small a boat had come to be wrecked upon these desolate +shores. Fortunately in her position in the shadow of the cliff she +was inconspicuous, so that she might easily have been taken for the +half of a large boat instead of the whole of a small one, or she +must before this have drawn the questioning notice of the +Scotchman. As to the captain, his attention was all set on the +effort to discover the cave, and his intelligence was not lively +enough to start on an entirely new tack by itself. And the +Honorable Cuthbert viewed derelicts as he viewed the planetary +bodies; somehow in the course of nature they happened. + +So, dissembling my excitements and anxieties, I swung placidly in +my hammock, and near by sat the beautiful youth with his thumb +carried tenderly in a bandage. In my preoccupied state of mind, to +entertain him might have seemed by no means an idle pastime, if he +hadn't unexpectedly developed a talkative streak himself. Was it +merely my being so distrait, or was it quite another reason, that +led him to open up so suddenly about his Kentish home? Strange to +say, instead of panting for the title, Cuthbert wanted his brother +to go on living, though there was something queer about his spine, +poor fellow, and the doctors said he couldn't possibly-- Of course +I was surprised at Cuthbert's views, for I had always thought that +if there were a title in your family your sentiments toward those +who kept you out of it were necessarily murderous, and your tears +crocodile when you pretended to weep over their biers. But +Cuthbert's feelings were so human that I mentally apologized to the +nobility. As to High Staunton Manor, I adored it. It is mostly +Jacobean, but with an ancient Tudor wing, and it has a chapel and a +ghost and a secret staircase and a frightfully beautiful and wicked +ancestress hanging in the hall--I mean a portrait of her--and +quantities of oak paneling quite black with age, and silver that +was hidden in the family tombs when Cromwell's soldiers came, and a +chamber where Elizabeth once slept, and other romantic details too +numerous to mention. It is all a little bit run down and shabby, +for lack of money to keep it up, and of course on that account all +the more entrancing. Naturally the less money the more +aristocracy, for it meant that the family had never descended to +marrying coal miners and brewers--which comment is my own, for +Cuthbert was quite destitute of swank. + +The present Lord Grasmere lived up to his position so completely +that he had the gout and sat with his foot on a cushion exactly +like all the elderly aristocrats you ever heard of, only when I +inquired if his lordship cursed his valet and flung plates at the +footmen when his foot hurt him his son was much shocked and pained. +He did not realize so well as I--from an extensive course of +novel-reading--that such is the usual behavior of titled persons. + +It was delightful, there in the hot stillness of the island, with +the palms rustling faintly overhead, to hear of that cool, mossy, +ancient place. I asked eager questions--I repeated gloatingly +fragments of description--I wondered enviously what it would be +like to have anything so old and proud and beautiful in your very +blood--when suddenly I realized that, misled by my enthusiasm, +Cuthbert was saying something which must not be said--that he was +about to offer the shelter of that ancient roof to me. To me, +whose heart could never nest there, but must be ever on the wing, a +wild bird of passage in the track of a ship-- + +I sat up with a galvanic start. "Oh--listen--didn't you hear +something?" I desperately broke in. For somehow I must stop him. +I didn't want our nice jolly friendship spoiled--and besides, fancy +being cooped up on an island with a man you have refused! +Especially when all the while you'd be wanting so to pet and +console him! + +But with his calm doggedness Cuthbert began again--"I was a bit +afraid the old place would have seemed too quiet and dull to you--" +when the day was saved and my interruption strangely justified by a +shrill outcry from the camp. + +I knew that high falsetto tone. It was the voice of Mr. Tubbs, but +pitched in a key of quite insane excitement. I sprang up and ran, +Crusoe and the Honorable Cuthbert at my heels. There in the midst +of the camp Mr. Tubbs stood, the center of a group who were +regarding him with astonished looks. Mr. Shaw and the captain had +left their tinkering, Cookie his saucepans, and Aunt Jane and +Violet had come hurrying from the hut. Among us all stood Mr. +Tubbs with folded arms, looking round upon the company with an +extraordinary air of complacency and triumph. + +"What is it, oh, what is it, Mr. Tubbs?" cried Aunt Jane, +fluttering with the consciousness of her proprietorship. + +But Mr. Tubbs glanced at her as indifferently as a sated +turkey-buzzard at a morsel which has ceased to tempt him. + +"Mr. Tubbs," commanded Violet, "speak--explain yourself!" + +"Come, out with it, Tubbs," advised Mr. Shaw. + +Then the lips of Mr. Tubbs parted, and from them issued this +solitary word: + +"Eureka!" + +"What?" screamed Miss Higglesby-Browne. "_You have found it_?" + +Solemnly Mr. Tubbs inclined his head. + +"Eureka!" he repeated. "I have found it!" + +Amidst the exclamations, the questions, the general commotion which +ensued, I had room for only one thought--that Mr. Tubbs had somehow +discovered the treasure in the cabin of the _Island Queen_. +Indeed, I should have shrieked the words aloud, but for a +providential dumbness that fell upon me. Meanwhile Mr. Tubbs had +unfolded his arms from their Napoleonic posture on his bosom long +enough to wave his hand for silence. + +"Friends," he began, "it has been known from the start that there +was a landmark on this little old island that would give any party +discovering the same a line on that chest of money right away. +There's been some that was too high up in the exploring business to +waste time looking for landmarks. They had ruther do more fancy +stunts, where what with surf, and sharks, and bangin' up the boat, +they could make a good show of gettin' busy. But old Ham Tubbs, he +don't let on to be a hero. Jest a plain man o' business--that's +old H. H. Consequence is, he leaves the other fellers have the +brass band, while he sets out on the q. t. to run a certain little +clue to earth. And, ladies and gentlemen, he's run it!" + +"You have found--you have found the treasure!" shrilled Aunt Jane. + +Contrary to his bland custom, Mr. Tubbs frowned at her darkly. + +"I said I found the _clue_," he corrected. "Of course, it's the +same thing. Ladies and gentlemen, not to appear to be a hot-air +artist, I will tell you in a word, that I have located the +tombstone of one William Halliwell, deceased!" + +Of course. Not once had I thought of it. Bare, stark, glaring up +at the sun, lay the stone carved with the letters and the +cross-bones. Forgetting in the haste of my departure to replace +the vines upon the grave, I had left the stone to shout its secret +to the first comer. And that had happened to be Mr. Tubbs. +Happened, I say, for I knew that he had not had the slightest +notion where to look for the grave of Bill Halliwell. This running +to earth of clues was purely an affair of his own picturesque +imagination. + +I wondered uneasily what he had made of the uprooted vines--but he +would lay them to the pigs, no doubt. In the countenance of Mr. +Tubbs, flushed and exultant, there was no suspicion that the secret +was not all his own. + +Miss Higglesby-Browne had been settling her helmet more firmly upon +her wiry locks. She had a closed umbrella beneath her arm, and she +drew and brandished it like a saber as she took a long stride +forward. + +"Mr. Tubbs," she commanded, "lead on!" + +But Mr. Tubbs did not lead on. He stood quite still, regarding +Miss Browne with a smile of infinite slyness. + +"Oh, no indeed!" he said. "Old H. H. wasn't born yesterday. It +may have struck you that to possess the sole and exclusive +knowledge of the whereabouts of a million or two--ratin' it low--is +some considerable of an asset. And it's one I ain't got the least +idee of partin' with unless for inducements held out." + +Aunt Jane gave a faint shriek. I had been silently debating what +my own course should be in the face of this unexpected development. +Suddenly I saw my way quite clear. I would say nothing. Mr. Tubbs +should reveal his own perfidy. And the curtain should ring down +upon the play, leaving Mr. Tubbs foiled all around, bereft both of +the treasure and of Aunt Jane. Oh, how I would enjoy the farce as +it was played by the unconscious actors! How I would step in at +the end to reward virtue and punish guilt! And how I would point +the moral, later, very gently to Aunt Jane, an Aunt Jane all +penitence and docility! + +Little I dreamed what surprises ensuing acts of the play were to +hold for me, or of their astounding contrast with the farce of my +joyous imagination. + +I took no part in the storm that raged round Mr. Tubbs. It is said +that in the heart of the tempest there is calm, and this great +truth of natural philosophy Mr. Tubbs exemplified. His face +adorned by a seraphic, buttery smile, he stood unmoved, while Miss +Higglesby-Browne uttered cyclonic exhortations and reproaches, +while Aunt Jane sobbed and said, "_Oh, Mr. Tubbs_!" while Mr. Shaw +strove to make himself heard above the din. He did at least +succeed in extracting from the traitor a definite statement of +terms. These were nothing less than fifty per cent. of the +treasure, secured to him by a document signed, sealed and delivered +into his own hands. To a suggestion that as he had discovered the +all-important tombstone so might some one else, he replied with +tranquillity that he thought not, as he had taken precautions +against such an eventuality. In other words, as I was later to +discover, the wily Mr. Tubbs had contrived to raise the boulder +from its bed and push it over the cliff into the sea, afterward +replacing the mass of vines upon the grave. + +As to the entrance to the tunnel, it was apparent to me that Mr. +Tubbs had not yet discovered it. Even if he had, I am certain that +he would have been no more heroic than myself about exploring it, +though there was no missing Peter to haunt his imagination. But +with the grave as a starting-point, there could be no question as +to the ultimate discovery of the cave. + +I was so eager myself to see the inside of the cave, and to know +whatever it had to reveal of the fate of Peter, that I was inclined +to wish Mr. Tubbs success in driving his hard bargain, especially +as it would profit him nothing in the end. But this sentiment was +exclusively my own. On all hands indignation greeted the rigorous +demands of Mr. Tubbs. With a righteous joy, I saw the fabric of +Aunt Jane's illusions shaken by the rude blast of reality. Would +it be riven quite in twain? I was dubious, for Aunt Jane's +illusions have a toughness in striking contrast to the uncertain +nature of her ideas in general. Darker and darker disclosures of +Mr. Tubbs's perfidy would be required. But judging from his +present recklessness, they would be forthcoming. For where was the +Tubbs of yesterday--the honey-tongued, the suave, the anxiously +obsequious Tubbs? Gone, quite gone. Instead, here was a Tubbs who +cocked his helmet rakishly, and leered round upon the company, deaf +to the claims of loyalty, the pleas of friendship, the voice of +tenderness--Aunt Jane's. + +Manfully Miss Higglesby-Browne stormed up and down the beach. She +demanded of Mr. Shaw, of Cuthbert Vane, of Captain Magnus, each and +severally, that Mr. Tubbs be compelled to disgorge his secret. You +saw that she would not have shrunk from a regimen of racks and +thumbscrews. But there were no racks or thumbscrews on the island. +Of course we could have invented various instruments of torture--I +felt I could have developed some ingenuity that way myself--but too +fatally well Mr. Tubbs knew the civilized prejudices of those with +whom he had to deal. With perfect impunity he could strut about +the camp, sure that no weapons worse than words would be brought to +bear upon him, that he would not even be turned away from the +general board to browse on cocoanuts in solitude. + +Long ago Mr. Shaw had left the field to Violet and with a curt +shrug had turned his back and stood looking out over the cove, +stroking his chin reflectively. Miss Browne's eloquence had risen +to amazing flights, and she already had Mr. Tubbs inextricably +mixed with. Ananias and Sapphira, when the Scotchman broke in upon +her ruthlessly. + +"Friends," he said, "so far as I can see we have been put a good +bit ahead by this morning's work. First, we know that the grave +which should be our landmark has not been entirely obliterated by +the jungle, as I had thought most likely. Second, we know that it +is on this side of the island, for the reason that this chap Tubbs +hasn't nerve to go much beyond shouting distance by himself. +Third, as Tubbs has tried this hold-up business I believe we should +consider the agreement by which he was to receive a sixteenth share +null and void, and decide here and now that he gets nothing +whatever. Fourth, the boat is now pretty well to rights, and as +soon as we have a snack Bert and Magnus and I will set out, in +twice as good heart as before, having had the story that brought us +here confirmed for the first time. So Tubbs and his tombstone can +go to thunder." + +"I can, can I?" cried Mr. Tubbs. "Say, are you a human iceberg, to +talk that cool before a man's own face? Say, I'll--" + +But Cuthbert Vane broke in. + +"Three rousing cheers, old boy!" he cried to the Scotchman +enthusiastically. "Always did think the chap a frightful bounder, +don't you know? We'll stand by old Shaw, won't we, Magnus?" Which +comradely outbreak showed the excess of the beautiful youth's +emotions, for usually he turned a large cold shoulder on the +captain, though managing in some mysterious manner to be perfectly +civil all the time. Perhaps you have to be born at High Staunton +Manor or its equivalent to possess the art of relegating people to +immense distances without seeming to administer even the gentlest +shove. + +But unfortunately the effect of the Honorable Cuthbert's cordiality +was lost, so far as the object of it was concerned, because of the +surprising fact, only now remarked by any one, that Captain Magnus +had disappeared. + + + + +XV + +SOME SECRET DIPLOMACY + +The evanishment of Captain Magnus, though quite unlooked for at so +critical a moment, was too much in keeping with his eccentric and +unsocial ways to arouse much comment. Everybody looked about with +mild ejaculations of surprise, and then forgot about the matter. + +Whistling a Scotch tune, Dugald Shaw set to work again on the boat. +In the face of difficulty or opposition he always grew more brisk +and cheerful. I used to wonder whether in the event of a tornado +he would not warm into positive geniality. Perhaps it would not +have needed a tornado, if I had not begun by suspecting him of +conspiring against Aunt Jane's pocket, or if the Triumvirate, +inspired by Mr. Tubbs, had not sat in gloomy judgment on his every +movement. Or if he hadn't been reproached so for saving me from +the cave, instead of leaving it to Cuthbert Vane-- + +But now under the stimulus of speaking his mind about Mr. Tubbs the +Scotchman whistled as he worked, and slapped the noble youth +affectionately on the back when he came and got in the way with +anxious industry. + +As I wanted to observe developments--a very necessary thing when +you are playing Providence--I chose a central position in the shade +and pulled out some very smudgy tatting, a sort of Penelope's web +which there was no prospect of my ever completing, but which served +admirably to give me an appearance of occupation at critical +moments. + +Mr. Tubbs also had sought a shady spot and was fanning himself with +his helmet. From time to time he hummed, in a manner determinedly +gay. However he might disguise it from himself, this time Mr. +Tubbs had overshot his mark. In the first thrill of his great +discovery he had thought the game was in his hands. He had looked +for an instant capitulation. + +The truth was, since our arrival on the island Mr. Tubbs had felt +himself the spoiled child of fortune. Aunt Jane and Miss +Higglesby-Browne were the joint commanders of the expedition, and +he commanded them. The Scotchman's theoretical rank as leader had +involved merely the acceptance of all the responsibility and blame, +while authority rested with the petticoat government dominated by +the bland and wily Tubbs. + +Had Mr. Tubbs but continued bland and wily, had he taken his fair +confederates into his counsels, who knows how fat a share of the +treasure they might have voted him. But he had abandoned his safe +nook behind the throne, and sought to come out into the open as +dictator. _Sic semper tyrannis_. So had the mighty fallen. + +Faced with the failure of his _coup d'etat_, Mr. Tubbs's situation +was, to say the least, awkward. He had risked all, and lost it. +But he maintained an air of jaunty self-confidence, slightly tinged +with irony. It was all very well, he seemed to imply, for us to +try to get along without H. H. We would discover the impossibility +of it soon enough. + +Aunt Jane, drooping, had been led away to the cabin by Miss +Higglesby-Browne. You now heard the voice of Violet in +exhortation, mingled with Aunt Jane's sobs. I seemed to see that +an ear of Mr. Tubbs was cocked attentively in that direction, He +had indeed erred in the very wantonness of triumph, for a single +glance would have kept Aunt Jane loyal and prodigal of excuses for +him in the face of any treachery. Not even Violet could have +clapped the lid on the up-welling fount of sentiment in Aunt Jane's +heart. Only the cold condemning eye of H. H. himself had congealed +that tepid flood. + +The morning wore on with ever-increasing heat, and as nothing +happened I began to find my watchful waiting dull. Crusoe, worn +out perhaps by some private nocturnal pig-hunt, slept heavily where +the drip of the spring over the brim of old Heintz's kettle cooled +the air. Aunt Jane's sobs had ceased, and only a low murmur of +voices came from the cabin. I began to consider whether it would +not be well to take a walk with Cuthbert Vane and discover the +tombstone all over again. I knew nothing, of course, of Mr. +Tubbs's drastic measures with the celebrated landmark. As to +Cuthbert's interrupted courtship, I depended on the vast excitement +of discovering the cave to distract his mind from it. For that was +the idea, of course--Cuthbert Vane and I would explore the cave, +and then whenever I liked I could prick the bubble of Mr. Tubbs's +ambitions, without relating the whole strange story of the diary +and the _Island Queen_. I was immensely pleased already by the +elimination of Mr. Tubbs from the number of those who need have a +finger in the golden pie. I thought that perhaps with time and +patience I might coax events to play still further into my hand. + +But meanwhile the cave drew me like a magnet. I jealously desired +to be the first to see it, to snatch from Mr. Tubbs the honors of +discovery. And I wanted to know about poor Peter--and, the +doubloons that he had gone back to fetch. + +But already Captain Magnus had forsaken the post of duty and +departed on an unknown errand. Could I ask Cuthbert Vane to do it, +too? And then I smiled a smile that was half proud. I might ask +him--but he would refuse me. In Cuthbert's simple code, certain +things were "done," certain others not. Among the nots was to fail +in standing by a friend. And just now Cuthbert was standing by +Dugald Shaw. Therefore nods and becks and wreathed smiles were +vain. In Cuthbert's quiet, easy-mannered, thick-headed way he +could turn his back calmly on the face of love and follow the harsh +call of duty even to death. It would not occur to him not to. And +he never would suspect himself of being a hero--that would be quite +the nicest part of it. + +And yet I knew poor Cuthbert was an exploded superstition, an +anachronism, part of a vanishing order of things, and that the +ideal which was replacing him was a boiler-plated monster with +clock-work heart and brain, named Efficiency. And that Cuthbert +must go, along with his Jacobean manor and his family ghost, and +the oaks in the park, and everything else that couldn't prove its +right to live except by being fine and lovely and full of garnered +sweetness of the past-- + +At this point in my meditations the door of the cabin opened and +Miss Browne came out, looking sternly resolute. Aunt Jane +followed, very pink about the eyes and nose. She threw an anxious +fluttering glance at Mr. Tubbs, who sat up briskly, and in a +nervous manner polished with a large bandana that barren zone, his +cranium, which looked torrid enough to scorch the very feet of the +flies that walked on it. It was clear that on the lips of Miss +Browne there hovered some important announcement, which might well +be vital to the fortunes of Mr. Tubbs. + +With a commanding gesture Miss Browne signaled the rest to +approach. Mr. Tubbs bounced up with alacrity. Mr. Shaw and +Cuthbert obeyed less promptly, but they obeyed. Meanwhile Violet +waited, looking implacable as fate. + +"And where is Captain Magnus?" she demanded, glancing about her. + +But no one knew what had become of Captain Magnus. + +As for myself, I continued to sit in the shade and tat. But I +could hear with ease all that was said. + +"Mr. Tubbs," began Miss Browne, "your recent claims have been +matter of prolonged consideration between Miss Harding and myself. +We feel--we can not but feel--that there was a harshness in your +announcement of them, an apparent concentration on your own +interests, ill befitting a member of this expedition. Also, that +in actual substance, they were excessive. Not half, Mr. Tubbs; oh, +no, not half! But one-quarter, Miss Harding and myself, as the +joint heads of the Harding-Browne expedition, are inclined to think +no more than the reward which is your due. We suggest, therefore, +a simple way out of the difficulty, Mr. Dugald Shaw was engaged on +liberal terms to find the treasure. He has not found the treasure. +He has not found the slightest clue to its present whereabouts. +Mr. Tubbs, on the contrary, has found a clue. It is a clue of the +first importance. It is equivalent almost to the actual discovery +of the chest. Therefore let Mr. Shaw, convinced I am sure by this +calm presentation of the matter of the justice of such a course, +resign his claim to a fourth share of the treasure in favor of Mr. +Hamilton H. Tubbs, and agree to receive instead the former +allotment of Mr. Tubbs, namely, one-sixteenth." + +Having offered this remarkable suggestion, Miss Browne folded her +arms and waited for it to bear fruit. + +It did--in the enthusiastic response of Mr. Tubbs. Having already +played his highest trump and missed the trick, he now found himself +with an entirely fresh hand dealt to him by the obliging Miss +Higglesby-Browne. The care in his countenance yielded to beaming +smiles. + +"Well, well!" he exclaimed. "To think of your takin' old H. H. +that literal! O' course, havin' formed my habits in the financial +centers of the country, I named a stiff price at first--a stiff +price, I won't deny. But that's jest the leetle way of a man used +to handlin' large affairs--nothin' else to it, I do assure you. +The Old Man himself used to say, 'There's old H. H.--you'd think +he'd eat the paint off a house, he'll show up that graspin' in a +deal. And all the time it's jest love of the game. Let him know +he's goin' to win out, and bless you, old H. H. will swing right +round and fair force the profits on the other party. H. H. is +slicker than soap to handle, if only you handle him right.' Can I +say without hard feelin's that jest now H. H. was not handled +right? Instead o' bein' joshed with, as he looked for, he was took +up short, and even them which he might have expected to show +confidence"--here Mr. Tubbs cast a reproachful eye at Aunt +Jane--"run off with the notion that he meant jest what he said. +All he'd done for this expedition, his loyalty and faith to same, +was forgotten, and he was thought of as a self-seeker and Voracious +Shark!" The pain of these recollections dammed the torrent of Mr. +Tubbs's speech. + +"Oh, Mr. Tubbs!" breathed Aunt Jane heart-brokenly, and of course a +tear trickled gently down her nose, following the path of many +previous tears which had already left their saline traces. + +Mr. Tubbs managed in some impossible fashion to roll one eye +tenderly at Aunt Jane, while keeping the other fastened shrewdly on +the remainder of his audience. + +"Miss Higglesby-Browne and Miss Jane Harding," he resumed, "I +accept. It would astonish them as has only known H. H. on his +financial side to see him agree to a reduction of profits like this +without a kick. But I'm a man of impulse, I am. Get me on my soft +side and a kitten ain't more impulsive than old H. H. And o' +course the business of this expedition ain't jest business to me. +It's--er--friendship, and--er--sentiment--in short, there's +feelin's that is more than worth their weight in gold!" + +At these significant words the agitation of Aunt Jane was extreme. +Was it possible that Mr. Tubbs was declaring himself in the +presence of others--and was a response demanded from herself--would +his sensitive nature, so lately wounded by cruel suspicion, +interpret her silence as fatal to his hopes? But while she +struggled between maiden shyness and the fear of crushing Mr. Tubbs +the conversation had swept on. + +"Mr. Shaw," said Miss Browne, "you have heard Mr. Tubbs, in the +interest of the expedition, liberally consent to reduce his claim +by one-half. Doubtless, if only in a spirit of emulation, you will +attempt to match this conduct by canceling our present agreement +and consenting to another crediting you with the former sixteenth +share of Mr. Tubbs." + +"Don't do it, Shaw--hold the fort, old boy!" broke in Cuthbert +Vane. "I say, Miss Browne, this is a bally shame!" + +Miss Browne had always treated the prospective Lord Grasmere with +distinguished politeness. Even now her air was mild though lofty. + +"Mr. Vane, I must beg leave to remind you that the object of this +expedition was yet unattained when Mr. Tubbs, by following clues +ignored by others, brought success within our reach. Mr. Dugald +Shaw having conspicuously failed--" + +"Failed!" repeated Cuthbert, with unprecedented energy. "Failed! +I say, that's too bad of you, Miss Browne. Wasn't everybody here a +lot keener than old Shaw about mucking in that silly cave where +those Johnnies would have had hard work to bury anything unless +they were mermaids? Didn't the old chap risk his neck a dozen +times a day while this Christopher Columbus stayed high and dry +ashore? Suppose he did find the tombstone by stubbing his silly +toes on it--so far he hasn't found the cave, much less the box of +guineas or whatever those foreign chaps call their money. Let Mr. +Tubbs go sit on the tombstone if he likes. Shaw and I can find the +cave quite on our own, can't we, Shaw?" + +"Mr. Vane," replied the still deferential Violet, "as a member of +the British aristocracy, it is not to be supposed that you would +view financial matters with the same eye as those of us of the +Middle Classes, who, unhappily perhaps for our finer feelings, have +been obliged to experience the harsh contacts of common life. Your +devotion to Mr. Shaw has a romantic ardor which I can not but +admire. But permit us also our enthusiasm for the perspicacity of +Mr. Tubbs, to which we owe the wealth now within our grasp." + +Mr. Shaw now spoke for the first time. + +"Miss Browne, I do not recognize the justice of your standpoint in +this matter. I have done and am still prepared to do my best in +this business of the treasure. If Mr. Tubbs will not give his +information except for a bribe, I say--let him keep it. We are no +worse off without it than we were before, and you were then +confident of success. My intention, ma'am, is to hold you to our +original agreement. I shall continue the search for the treasure +on the same lines as at present." + +"One moment," said Miss Browne haughtily. She had never spoken +otherwise than haughtily to Mr. Shaw since the episode of the Wise +Woman of Dumbiedykes. "One moment, Jane--and you, Mr. Tubbs--" + +She drew them aside, and they moved off out of earshot, where they +stood with their backs to us and their heads together. + +It was my opportunity. Violet herself had proposed that the +original agreement--the agreement which bound me to ask for no +share of the treasure--should be canceled. Nothing now was +necessary to the ripening of my hopes but to induce Dugald Shaw to +immolate himself. Would he do so--on my bare word? There was no +time to explain anything--he must trust me. + +I sprang up and dashed over to the pair who stood looking gloomily +out to sea. They turned in surprise and stared down, the two big +men, into my flushed up-tilted face. + +"Mr. Shaw," I whispered quickly, "you must do as Miss Browne +wishes." In my earnestness I laid a hand upon his arm. He +regarded me bewilderedly. + +"You must--you must!" I urged. "You'll spoil everything if you +refuse!" + +The surprise in his face yielded to a look composed of many +elements, but which was mainly hard and bitter. + +"And still I shall refuse," he said sardonically. + +"Oh, no, no," I implored, "you don't understand! I--oh, if you +would only believe that I am your friend!" + +His face changed subtly. It was still questioning and guarded, but +with a softening in it, too. + +"Why don't you believe it?" I whispered unsteadily. "Do you forget +that I owe you my life?" + +And at the recollection of that day in the sea-cave the scarlet +burned in my cheeks and my head drooped. But I saw how the lines +about his mouth relaxed. "Surely you must know that I would repay +you if I could!" I hurried on. "And not by--treachery." + +He laughed suddenly. "Treachery? No! I think you would always be +an open foe." + +"Indeed I would!" I answered with a flash of wrath. Then, as I +remembered the need of haste, I spoke in an intense quick whisper. +"Listen--I can't explain, there isn't time. I can only ask you to +trust me--to agree to what Miss Browne wishes. Everything--you +don't dream how much--depends on it!" For I felt that I would let +the treasure lie hidden in the _Island Queen_ forever rather than +that Mr. Tubbs should, under the original contract, claim a share +of it. + +The doubt had quite left his face. + +"I do trust you, little Virginia," he said gently. "Yes, I trust +in your honesty, heaven knows, child. But permit me to question +your wisdom in desiring to enrich our friend Tubbs." + +"Enrich him--enrich _him_! The best I wish him is unlimited gruel +in an almshouse somewhere. No! What I want is to get that +wretched paper of Miss Browne's nullified. Afterward we can divide +things up as we like--" + +Bewilderment, shot with a gleam of half-incredulous understanding, +seemed to transfix him. We stood a long moment, our eyes +challenging each other, exchanging their countersign of faith and +steadfastness. Then slowly he held out his hand. I laid mine in +it--we stood hand in hand, comrades at last. Without more words he +turned away and strode over to the council of three. + +I now became aware of Cuthbert Vane, whom perplexity had carried +far beyond the bounds of speech and imprisoned in a sort of torpor. +He was showing faint symptoms of revival, and had got as far as "I +say--?" uttered in the tone of one who finds himself moving about +in worlds not realized, when the near-by group dissolved and moved +rapidly toward us. Miss Browne, exultant, beaming, was in the van. +She set her substantial feet down like a charger pawing the earth. +You might almost have said that Violet pranced. Aunt Jane was +round-eyed and twittering. Mr. Tubbs wore a look of suppressed +astonishment, almost of perturbation. _What's his game_? was the +question in the sophisticated eye of Mr. Tubbs. But the Scotchman +had when he chose a perfect poker face. The great game of bluff +would have suited him to a nicety. Mr. Tubbs interrogated that +inexpressive countenance in vain. + +Miss Browne advanced on Cuthbert Vane and seized both his hands in +an ardent clasp. + +"Mr. Vane," she said with solemnity, "I thank you--in the name of +this expedition I thank you--for the influence you have exerted +upon your friend!" + +And this seemed to be to the noble youth the most stunning of all +the shocks of that eventful morning. + +Now came the matter of drawing up the new agreement. It was a +canny Scot indeed who, acting on the hint I had just given him, +finally settled its terms. In the first place, the previous +agreement was declared null and void. In the second, Mr. Tubbs was +to have his fourth only if the treasure were discovered through his +direct agency. And it was under this condition and no other that +Dugald Shaw bound himself to relinquish his original claim. +Virginia Harding signed a new renunciatory clause, but it bore only +on treasure _discovered by Mr. Tubbs_. Indeed, the entire contract +was of force only if Mr. Tubbs fulfilled his part of it, and fell +to pieces if he did not. Which was exactly what I wanted. + +Miss Browne and Mr. Tubbs demurred a little at the wording on which +Mr. Shaw insisted, but Mr. Tubbs's confidence in the infallibility +of the tombstone was so great that no real objection was +interposed. No difficulty was made of the absence of Captain +Magnus, as his interests were unaffected by the change. Space was +left for his signature. Mine came last of all, as that of a mere +interloper and hanger-on. I added it and handed the paper demurely +across to Violet, who consigned it to an apparently bottomless +pocket. Copies were to be made after lunch. + +My demonstrations of joy at this happy issue of my hopes had to be +confined to a smile--in which for a startled instant Violet had +seemed to sense the triumph. It was still on my lips as with a +general movement we rose from the table about which we had been +grouped during the absorbing business of drawing up the contract. +Cookie had been clamoring for us to leave, that he might spread the +table for lunch. I had opened my mouth to call to him, "All right, +Cookie!" when a shrill volley of barks from Crusoe shattered the +stillness of the drowsy air. In the same instant the voice of +Cookie, raised to a sharp note of alarm, rang through the camp: + +"_My Gawd, what all dis yere mean_?" + +I turned, to look into the muzzle of a rifle. + + + + +XVI + +LIKE A CHAPTER FROM THE PAST + +Five men had emerged from the woods behind the clearing, so quietly +that they were in the center of the camp before Crusoe's shrill +bark, or the outcry of the cook, warned us of their presence. By +that time they had us covered. Three of them carried rifles, the +other two revolvers. One of these was Captain Magnus. + +Advancing a step or two before the others he ordered us to throw up +our hands. Perhaps he meant only the men--but my hands and Aunt +Jane's and Miss Higglesby-Browne's also went up with celerity. He +grinned into our astounded faces with a wolfish baring of his +yellow teeth. + +"Never guessed I wasn't here jest to do the shovel work, but might +have my own little side-show to bring off, hey?" he inquired of no +one in particular. "Here, Slinker, help me truss 'em up." + +The man addressed thrust his pistol in his belt and came forward, +and with his help the hands of the Scotchman, Cuthbert Vane and Mr. +Tubbs were securely tied. They were searched for arms, and the +sheath-knives which Mr. Shaw and Cuthbert carried at their belts +were taken away. The three prisoners were then ordered to seat +themselves in a row on the trunk of a prostrate palm. + +The whole thing had happened in the strangest silence. Except for +a feeble moaning from Aunt Jane, like the bleating of a sheep, +which broke forth at intervals, nobody spoke or made a sound. The +three riflemen in the background, standing like images with their +weapons raised, looked like a well-trained chorus in an opera. + +And indeed it was all extraordinarily like something on a stage. +Slinker, for instance. He had a prowling, sidelong fashion of +moving about, and enormous yellow mustaches like a Viking. Surely +some artist in the make-up line had invented Slinker! And the +burly fellow in the background, with the black whiskers--too bad +he'd forgotten his earrings--- + +But I awoke to the horrid reality of it all as Captain Magnus, +smiling his wolfish smile, turned and approached me. + +"Well, boys," he remarked to his followers, who had now lowered +their weapons and were standing about at ease, "here's the little +pippin I was tellin' of. 'Fraid we give her a little scare bustin' +in so sudden, so she ain't quite so bright and smilin' as I like to +see. Its all right, girlie; you'll soon cheer up when you find out +you're go'in' to be the little queen o' this camp. Things will be +all your way now--so long as you treat me right." And the +abominable creature thrust forth a hairy paw and deliberately +chucked me under the chin. + +I heard a roar from the log--and coincidently from Captain Magnus. +For with the instant response of an automaton--consciously I had +nothing at all to do with it--I had reached up and briskly boxed +the captain's ears. + +Furiously he caught my wrist. "Ah, you red-headed little devil, +you'll pay for this! I ain't pretty, oh, no! I ain't a handsome +mooncalf like the Honorable; I ain't got a title, nor girly pink +cheeks, nor fine gentleman ways. No walks with the likes o' me, no +tatey-tates in the woods--oh, no! Well, it's goin' to be another +story now, girlie. I guess you can learn to like my looks, with a +little help from my fist now and then, jest as well as you done the +Honorable's. I guess it won't be long before I have you crawlin' +on your knees to me for a word o' kindness. I guess--" + +"Aw, stow that soft stuff, Magnus," advised Slinker. "You can do +your spoonin' with the gal later on. We're here to git that gold, +and don't you forget it. Plenty o' time afterwards to spark the +wimmen." + +"That's the talk," chimed in Blackbeard. "Don't run us on a lee +shore for the sake of a skirt. Skirts is thicker'n herring in +every port, ain't they?" + +"I got a score to settle with this one," growled Magnus sullenly, +but his grasp loosened on my arm, and I slipped from him and fled +to Aunt Jane--yes, to Aunt Jane--and clung to her convulsively. +The poor little woman was crying, of course, making a low +inarticulate whimper like a frightened child. Miss +Higglesby-Browne seemed to have petrified. Her skin had a withered +look, and a fine network of lines showed on it, suddenly clear, +like a tracery on parchment. Beyond her I saw the face of Dugald +Shaw, gray with a steely wrath. A gun had been trained anew on him +and Cuthbert, and the bearer thereof was arguing with them +profanely. I suppose the prisoners had threatened outbreak at the +spectacle of the chin-chucking. + +No one had bothered to secure Cookie, and he knelt among the pots +and pans of his open-air kitchen, pouring forth petitions in a +steady stream. Blackboard, who seemed a jovial brute, burst into a +loud guffaw. + +"Ha, ha! Look at old Soot-and-Cinders gittin' hisself ready for +glory!" He approached the negro and aimed at him a kick which +Cookie, arising with unexpected nimbleness, contrived to dodge. +"Looky here, darky, git busy dishin' up the grub, will you? I +could stand one good feed after the forecastle slops we been livin' +on." + +Blackbeard, whom his companions addressed indiscriminately as +"Captain," or "Tony," seemed to exercise a certain authority. He +went over to the prisoners on the log and inspected their bonds. + +"You'll do; can't git loose nohow," he announced. Then, with a +savage frown, "But no monkey business. First o' that I see, its a +dose o' cold lead for youse, savvy?" + +He turned to us women. + +"Well, chickabiddies, we ain't treated you harsh, I hope? Now I +don't care about tyin' youse up, in case we can help it, so jest be +good girls, and I'll let youse run around loose for a while." + +But Magnus struck in with an oath. + +"Loose? You're turnin' soft, I say. The future Mrs. M. +there--which I mean to make her if she behaves right--she's a +handful, she is. There ain't no low trick she won't play on us if +she gets the chance. Better tie her up, I say." + +"Magnus," responded Tony with severity, "it'd make a person think +to hear you talk that you wasn't no gentleman. If you can't keep +little Red-top in order without you tie her, why, then hand her +over to a guy what can. I bet I wouldn't have a speck o' trouble +with her--her and me would git along as sweet as two turtle-doves." + +"You dry up, Tony," said Magnus, lowering. "I'll look after my own +affairs of the heart. Anyway, here's them two old hens what have +been makin' me sick with their jabber and nonsense all these weeks. +Ain't I goin' to have a chance to get square?" + +"Here, youse!" struck in Slinker, "quit your jawin'! Here's a feed +we ain't seen the like of in weeks." + +Tony thereupon ordered the women to sit down on the ground in the +shade and not move under penalty of "gettin' a wing clipped." We +obeyed in silence and looked on while the pirates with wolfish +voracity devoured the meal which had been meant for us. They had +pocket-flasks with them, and as they attacked them with frequency +the talk grew louder and wilder. By degrees it was possible to +comprehend the extraordinary disaster which had befallen us, at +least in a sketchy outline of which the detail was filled in later. +Tony, it appeared, was the master of a small power-schooner which +had been fitting out in San Francisco for a filibustering trip to +the Mexican coast. His three companions were the crew. None was +of the old hearty breed of sailors, but wharf-rats pure and simple, +city-dregs whom chance had led to follow the sea. Tony, in whom +one detected a certain rough force and ability, was an Italian, an +outlaw specimen of the breed which mans the fishing fleet putting +forth from the harbor of San Francisco. When and where he and +Magnus had been friends I do not know. But no sooner had the +wisdom of Miss Browne imparted the great secret to her chance +acquaintance of the New York wharves, than he had communicated with +his old pal Tony. The power-schooner with her unlawful cargo stole +out through the gate, made her delivery in the Mexican port, took +on fresh supplies, and stood away for Leeward Island. The western +anchorage had received and snugly hidden her. Captain Magnus, +meanwhile, by means of a mirror flashed from Lookout, had +maintained communication with his friends, and even visited them +under cover of the supposed shooting expedition. And now, while we +had been striving to overcome the recalcitrancy of Mr. Tubbs, +Captain Magnus had taken a short cut to the same end. You felt +that the secret of Mr. Tubbs would be extracted, if need be, by no +delicate methods. + +But Mr. Tubbs's character possessed none of that unreasonable +obstinacy which would make harsh measures necessary under such +conditions. His countenance, as the illuminating conversation of +the pirates had proceeded, lost the speckled appearance which had +characterized it at the height of his terrors. Something like his +normal hue returned. He sat up straighter, moistened his dry lips, +and looked around upon us, yes, even upon Aunt Jane and Miss +Higglesby-Browne, with whom he had been so lately and so tenderly +reconciled, with a sidelong, calculating glance. After the pirates +had eaten, the prisoners on the log were covered with a rifle and +their hands untied, while Cookie, in a lugubrious silence made +eloquent by his rolling eyes, passed around among us the remnants +of the food. No one can be said to have eaten with appetite except +Mr. Tubbs, who received his portion with wordy gratitude and +devoured it with seeming gusto. The pirates, full-fed, with pipes +in mouths, were inclined to be affable and jocular. "Feeding the +animals," as Slinker called it, seemed to afford them much +agreeable diversion. Even Magnus had lost in a degree his usual +sullenness, and was wreathed in simian smiles. The intense terror +and revulsion which he inspired in me kept my unwilling eyes +constantly wandering in his direction. Yet under all the terror +was a bedrock confidence that there was, there must be somehow in +the essence of things, an eternal rightness which would keep me +safe from Captain Magnus. And as I looked across at Dugald Shaw +and met for an instant his steady watchful eyes, I managed a swift +little smile--a rather wan smile, I dare say, but still a smile. + +Cuthbert Vane caught, so to speak, the tail of it, and was +electrified. I saw his lips form at Mr. Shaw's ear the words, +_Wonderful little sport, by jove_! For some time after our capture +by the pirates Cuthbert's state had been one of settled +incredulity. Even when they tied his hands he had continued to +contemplate the invaders as illusions. It was, this remarkable +episode, altogether a thing without precedent--and what was that +but another name for the impossible? And then slowly, by painful +degrees--you saw them reflected in his candid face--it grew upon +him that it was precisely the impossible, the unprecedented, that +was happening. + +A curious stiffening came over Cuthbert Vane. For the first time +in my knowledge of him he showed the consciousness--instead of only +the sub-consciousness--of the difference between Norman blood and +the ordinary sanguine fluid. His shoulders squared; he lost his +habitual easy lounge and sat erect and tall. Something stern and +aquiline showed through the smooth beauty of his face, so that you +thought of effigies of crusading knights stretched on their ancient +tombs in High Staunton church. He was their true descendant after +all, this slow, calm, gentle-mannered Cuthbert. It was a young +lion that I had been playing with, and the claws were there, strong +and terrible in their velvet sheath. + +Captain Tony, having finished his pipe, knocked the ashes out +against the heel of his boot and put the pipe in his pocket. + +"Well," he said, stretching, "I'd ruther have a nap, but business +is business, so let's get down to it. Which o' them guys has the +line on the stuff, Magnus?" + +"Old Baldy, here," returned Magnus, with a nod at Mr. Tubbs. "Old +Washtubs I call him generally, ha, ha!" + +"Then looky here, Washtubs," said Tony, addressing Mr. Tubbs with +sudden sternness, "maybe you could bluff these here soft guys, but +we're a different breed o' cats, we are. Whatever you know, you'll +come through with it and come quick, or it'll be the worse for your +hide, see?" + +Mr. Tubbs rose from the log with promptness. + +"Captain," he said earnestly, "from long experience in the +financial centers of the country, I have got to be a man what +understands human nature. The minute I looked at you, I seen it in +your eye that there wasn't no use in tryin' to bluff you. What's +more, I don't want to. Once he gets with a congenial crowd, there +ain't a feller anywheres that will do more in the cause o' +friendship than old Hamilton H. Tubbs. And you are a congenial +crowd, you boys--gosh, but you do look good to me after the bunch +o' stiffs I been playin' up to here! All I ask is, to let me in on +it with you, and I'll be glad to put you wise to the best tricks of +a sly old fox who ain't ever been caught yet without two holes to +his burrow. I won't ask no half, nor no quarter, either, though I +jest signed up for that amount with the old girl here. But give me +freedom, and a bunch o' live wires like you boys! I've near froze +into a plaster figure o' Virtue, what with talkin' like a +Sunday-school class, and sparkin' one old maid, and makin' out like +I wouldn't melt butter with the other. So H. H. will ship along of +you, mates, and we'll off to the China coast somewheres where the +spendin' is good and the police not too nosy, and try how far a +trunkful of doubloons will go!" + +With a choky little gurgle in her throat Aunt Jane fell limply +against me. It was too much. All day long she had been tossed +back and forth like a shuttlecock by the battledore of emotion. +She had borne the shock of Mr. Tubbs's sordid greed for gold, his +disloyalty to the expedition, his coldness to herself; she had been +shaken by the tender stress of the reconciliation, had been +captured by pirates, and now suffered the supreme blow of this +final revelation of the treachery of Tubbs. To hear her romance +described as the sparking of an old maid--and by the sparker! From +Miss Higglesby-Browne had come a snort of fury, but she said +nothing, having apparently no confidence in the effect of oratory +on pirates. She did not even exhort Aunt Jane, but left it to me +to sustain my drooping aunt as best I could. + +As Mr. Tubbs made his whole-hearted and magnanimous proposal +Captain Tony opened his small black eyes and contemplated him with +attention. At the conclusion he appeared to meditate. Then he +glanced round upon his fellows. + +"What say, boys? Shall we ship old Washtubs on the schooner and +let him have his fling along with us? Eh?" And as Captain Tony +uttered these words the lid of his left eye eclipsed for an instant +that intelligent optic. + +From the pirates came a scattering volley of assents. "All +right--hooray for old Washtubs--sure, close the deal." + +"All right, Washtubs, the boys are willing. So I guess, though +this island is the very lid of the hot place, and when I come again +it's going to be with an iceberg in tow to keep the air cooled off, +I guess we better be moving toward that chest of doubloons." + +It was arranged that Slinker and a cross-eyed man named Horny +should remain at the camp on guard. As a measure of precaution +Cookie, too, was bound, and Aunt Jane, Miss Browne and I ordered +into the cabin. The three remaining pirates, armed with our spades +and picks and dispensing a great deal of jocular profanity, set out +for the cave under the guidance of Mr. Tubbs. + +Thankful as I was for the departure of Captain Magnus, I underwent +torments in the stifling interior of the cabin. Aunt Jane wept +piteously. I had almost a fellow-feeling with Miss +Higglesby-Browne when she relapsed from her rigidity for a moment +and turning on Aunt Jane fiercely ordered her to be still. This +completed the wreck of Aunt Jane's universe. Its two main props +had now fallen, and she was left sitting solitary amid the ruins. +She subsided into a lachrymose heap in the corner of the cabin, +where I let her remain for the time, it was really such a comfort +to have her out of the way. At last I heard a faint moan: + +"Virginia!" + +I went to her. "Yes, auntie?" + +"Virginia," she murmured weakly, "I think I shall not live to leave +the island, even if I am not--not executed. In fact, I have a +feeling now as though the end were approaching. I have always +known that my heart was not strong, even if your Aunt Susan _did_ +call it indigestion. But oh, my dear child, it is not my +digestion, it is my heart that has been wounded! To have reposed +such confidence in a Serpent! To realize that I might have been +impaled upon its fangs! Oh, my dear, faithful child, what would I +have done if you had not clung to me although I permitted Serpents +to turn me from you! But I am cruelly punished. All I ask is that +some day--when you are married and happy, dear--you will remove +from this desolate spot the poor remains of her who--of her who--" +Sobs choked Aunt Jane's utterance. + +"Jane--" began Miss Higglesby-Browne. + +"I was speaking to my niece," replied Aunt Jane with unutterable +dignity from her corner. Her small features had all but +disappeared in her swollen face, and her hair had slipped down at a +rakish angle over one eye. But, of course, being Aunt Jane, she +must choose this moment to be queenly. + +"There, there, auntie," I said soothingly, "of course you are not +going to leave your bones on this island. If you did, you know, +you and Bill Halliwell might ha'nt around together--think how cozy! +(Here Aunt Jane gave a convulsive shudder.) As to my being +married, if you were betting just now on anybody's chances they +would have to be Captain Magnus's, wouldn't they ?" + +"Good gracious, Virginia!" shrieked Aunt Jane faintly. But I went +on relentlessly, determined to distract her mind from thoughts of +her approaching end. + +"All things considered, I suppose I really ought to ask you to put +my affairs in order when you get back. If I am carried off by the +pirates, naturally I shall have to jump overboard at once, though I +dislike the idea of drowning, and especially of being eaten by +sharks. Would you mind putting up a little headstone--it needn't +cost much--in the family plot, with just 'Virginia' on it? And +anything of mine that you don't want yourself I'd like Bess to have +for the baby, please. Ask her when the little duck is old enough +to tell her my sad story--" + +By this time Aunt Jane was sobbing loudly and waving her little +hands about in wild beseeching. + +"Oh, my precious girl, a _headstone_! My love, would I grudge you +a _monument_--all white marble--little angels--'From her +heart-broken aunt'? Oh, why, why are we not safe at home together? +Why was I lured away to wander about the world with perfect +strangers? Why--" + +"Jane!" broke in Miss Browne again in awful tones. But at that +moment the door of the cabin opened and the face of Slinker peered +in. + +"Say," he remarked, "there ain't no sense in you girls stayin' +cooped up here that I see. I guess me and Horny can stand you off +if you try to rush us. Come out and cool off a little." + +The great heat of the day was over and the sun already dropping +behind the peak of the island. Mr. Shaw and Cuthbert had been +allowed to sit in the shade, and I thought their wrists were not +too tightly bound for comfort. Cookie had been released, and under +the eye of Horny was getting supper. Crusoe had earlier in the day +received a kick in the ribs from Captain Magnus, fortunately too +much occupied with the prisoners to pursue his vengeance further, +and had fled precipitately, to my enormous relief. The dog was +quite wise enough to know that he would help me best by keeping out +of the clutches of our common foe. I hoped he had gone back to his +solitary pig-chasing, though I thought I had caught a glimpse of +him once at the edge of the wood. But at least he knew better than +to venture into the clearing. + +I tried to pass in a casual manner close to Mr. Shaw and +Cuthbert--who looked more of a crusading Norman than ever--in hopes +of a whispered word, but was impeded by Aunt Jane, who clung to me +tottering. So I led her to a seat and deposited her, with the +sympathetic assistance of Slinker. + +"Now, now, old girl, cheer up!" he admonished her. "Between you +and me, old Washtubs ain't worth crying over. Sooner or later he'd +of give you the slip, no matter how tight a rein you kep' on him." + +As Slinker turned away after this effort at consolation he came +face to face with Miss Higglesby-Browne. I suppose in the stress +of surprising and capturing the camp he had not been struck with +her peculiarities. Just now, between the indignity of her captive +state and the insubordination of Aunt Jane, Miss Browne's aspect +was considerably grimmer than usual. Slinker favored her with a +stare, followed by a prolonged whistle. + +"Say," he remarked to me in a confidential undertone, though +pitched quite loud enough for Miss Browne's ears, "is it real? +Would it have bendable j'ints, now, same as you and me?" + +Miss Browne whirled upon him. + +"'Old your tongue, you 'orrid brute!" she shrieked. + +So, in the twinkling of an eye, Miss Higglesby-Browne, fallen +forever from her high estate, was strewn in metaphorical fragments +at our feet. I turned away, feeling it time to draw the veil of +charity upon the scene. Not so Slinker. He looked about him +carefully on the ground. + +"Lady drop anything?" he inquired solicitously. + +What might have transpired, had Miss Higglesby-Browne had time to +gather breath, I dare not think, but just then there came from the +woods the sound of footsteps and voices, and the three pirates and +Mr. Tubbs entered the clearing. A thrill ran through the camp. +Captors and captives forgot all else but the great, the burning +question--had the treasure been discovered? And I am sure that no +one was so thrilled as I, although in my mind the question took +another form. + +For now I was going to know what had been waiting for me there in +the cave, when I stood yesterday at its black entrance, afraid to +go in. + + + + +XVII + +FROM DEAD HANDS + +At the head of the file, Captain Tony advanced through the +clearing, and what with his flowing black beard, his portly form, +and a certain dramatic swagger which he possessed, he looked so +entirely Italian and operatic that you expected to hear him at any +moment burst out in a sonorous basso. With a sweeping gesture he +flung down upon the table two brown canvas bags, which opened and +discharged from gaping mouths a flood of golden coins. + +His histrionic instinct equal to the high demands of the moment, +Captain Tony stood with folded arms and gazed upon us with a +haughty and exultant smile. + +Slinker and the cross-eyed man shouted aloud. They ran and +clutched at the coins with a savage greed. + +"Gold, gold--the real stuff! It's the doubloons all right--where's +the rest of 'em?" These cries broke from Slinker and Horny +confusedly as the gold slid jingling between their eager fingers. + +"The rest of 'em is--where they is," pronounced Tony oracularly. +"Somewheres in the sand of the cave, of course. We'll dig 'em up +to-morrow morning. + +"What was the point in not digging 'em all up while you was about +it?" demanded Slinker, lowering. "What was the good o' digging up +jest these here couple o' bag's and quitting?" + +"Because we didn't dig 'em up," responded Tony darkly. "Because +these was all ready and waiting. Because all we had to do was to +say 'Thankee,' to the feller that handed 'em out." + +"I say," interposed one of the party nervously, "what's the good of +that kind of talk? They ain't any sense in hunting trouble, that +ever I heard of!" He glanced over his shoulder uneasily. + +The rest burst out in a guffaw. + +"Chris is scared. He's been a-going along looking behind him ever +since. Chris will have bad dreams to-night--he'll yell if a owl +hoots." But I thought there was a false note in the laughter of +more than one. + +"Oh, of course," remarked Slinker with indignant irony, "me and +Horny ain't interested in this at all. We jest stayed bumming +round camp here 'cause we was tired. When you're through with this +sort of bunk and feel like getting down to business, why jest +mention it, and maybe if we ain't got nothing better to do we'll +listen to you." + +"I was jest telling you, wasn't I?" demanded Tony. "Only that fool +Chris had to butt in. We got these here bags of doubloons, as I +says, without havin' to dig for 'em--oncet we had found the cave, +which it's no thanks to old Washtubs we ain't looking for it yet. +We got these here bags right out of the fists of a skeleton. Most +of him was under a rock, which had fell from the roof and pinned +him down amidships. Must of squashed him like a beetle, I guess. +But he'd still kep' his hold on the bags." I turned aside, for +fear that any one should see how white I was. Much too white to be +accounted for even by this grisly story. To the rest, these poor +bones might indeed bear mute witness to a tragedy, but a tragedy +lacking outlines, vague, impersonal, without poignancy. To me, +they told with dreadful clearness the last sad chapter of the tale +of Peter, Peter who had made me so intimately his confidante, whose +love and hopes and solitary strivings I knew all about. Struck +down in the moment of his triumph by a great stupid lump of +soulless stone, by a blind, relentless mechanism which had been at +work from the beginning, timing that rock to fall--just then. Not +the moment before, not the moment after, out of an eternity of +moments, but at that one instant when Peter stooped for the last of +his brown bags--and then I rejected this, and knew that there was +nothing stupid or blind about it--and wondered whether it were +instead malicious, and whether all might have been well with Peter +if he had obeyed the voice that bade him leave the crucifix for +Bill-- + +Vaguely I heard around me a babble of exclamations and conjectures. +Murmurs of interest rose even from our captive band. Then came +Slinker's voice, loud with sudden fear: + +"Say, you don't suppose the--the Bones would of got away with the +rest of the coin somehow, do you?" he demanded. + +"Got away with it?" Tony contemptuously thrust aside the +possibility. "Got away with it how? He sure didn't leave the +island with it, did he? Would he of dug it up from one place jest +to bury it in another? Huh! Must of wanted to work if he did! +Now my notion is that this happened to one of the guys that was +burying the gold, and that the rest jest left him there for a sort +of scarecrow to keep other people out of the cave." + +"But the gold?" protested Slinker. "They wouldn't leave that for a +scarecrow, would they?" + +"Maybe not," admitted Tony, "but suppose that feller died awful +slow, and went on hollering and clutching at the bags? And they +couldn't of got that rock off'n him without a block and tackle, or +done much to make things easy for him if they had, him being jest a +smear, as you may say. Well, that cave wouldn't be a pleasant +place to stay in, would it? And no one would have the nerve to +snatch them bags away to bury 'em, 'cause a dying man, especially +when he dies hard, can have an awful grip. So what they done was +just to shovel the sand in on the gold they'd stowed away and light +out quick. And what we got to do to-morrow is to go there and dig +it up." + +If the ingenuity of this reasoning was more remarkable than its +logic, the pirates were not the men to find fault with it. Indeed, +how many human hopes have been bolstered up with arguments no +sounder? Desire is the most eloquent of advocates, and the five +ruffians had only to listen to its voice to enjoy in anticipation +all the fruits of their iniquitous schemes. The sight of the +golden coins intoxicated them. They played with the doubloons like +children, jingling them in their calloused palms, guessing at +weight and value, calculating their equivalent in the joy of +living. Laughter and oaths resounded. Mr. Tubbs, with a somewhat +anxious air, endeavored to keep himself well to the fore, claiming +a share in the triumph with the rest. There was only the thinnest +veil of concealment over the pirates' mockery. "Old Washtubs" was +ironically encouraged in his role of boon companion. His air of +swaggering recklessness, of elderly dare-deviltry, provoked +uproarious amusement. When they sat down to supper Mr. Tubbs was +installed at the head of the table. They hailed him as the +discoverer who had made their fortunes. From their talk it was +clear that there had been much difficulty about finding the cave, +and that for a time Mr. Tubbs's position had been precarious. +Finally Captain Magnus had stumbled upon the entrance. + +"Jest in time," as he grimly reminded Mr. Tubbs, "to save you a +header over the cliff." + +"Ha, ha!" cackled Mr. Tubbs hysterically, "you boys will have your +little joke, eh? Knew well enough you couldn't get along without +the old man, didn't you? Knew you was goin' to need an old +financial head to square things in certain quarters--a head what +understands how to slip a little coin into the scales o' justice to +make 'em tilt the right way. Oh, you can't fool the old man, he, +he!" + +While the marauders enjoyed their supper, the women prisoners were +bidden to "set down and stay sot," within sweep of Captain Tony's +eye. Mr. Shaw and Cuthbert Vane still held the position they had +occupied all afternoon, with their backs propped against a palm +tree. Occasionally they exchanged a whisper, but for the most part +were silent, their cork helmets jammed low over their watchful +eyes. I was deeply curious to know what Mr. Shaw had made of the +strange story of the skeleton in the cave. He could hardly have +accepted Captain Tony's explanation of it, which displayed, indeed, +an imperfect knowledge of the legend of the _Bonny Lass_. Might +not the Scotchman, by linking this extraordinary discovery with my +unexplained request of him this morning, have arrived already at +some glimmering of the truth? I hoped so, and longed to impart to +him my own sure knowledge that the confident expectations of the +freebooters for the morrow were doomed to disappointment. There +seemed a measure of comfort in this assurance, for our moment of +greatest peril well might be that in which the pirates, with the +gold in their possession and on the point of fleeing from the +island, recalled the respectable because so truthful maxim that +dead men tell no tales. Therefore in the postponement of the +crucial moment lay our best hope of rescue or escape. + +On the other hand, I fancied them returning from the cave surly and +disappointed, ready to vent their wrath on us. All, except the +unspeakable Magnus, had shown so far a rough good nature, even +amusement at our plight, but you felt the snarl at the corner of +the grinning lips. You knew they would be undependable as savages +or vicious children, who find pleasure in inflicting pain. And +then there was always my own hideous danger as the favored of the +wolfish captain-- + +And I wondered, desperately, if I might buy safety for us all at +the price of the secret of the _Island Queen_, if a promise from +the five scoundrels around the table would have more meaning than +their wild boasts and shoutings now? + +And now the night that I unutterably dreaded was upon us. But the +pirates still thought of nothing but the gold. They had exhausted +their own portable supplies of liquor, and were loud in their +denunciations of our bone-dry camp, as they termed it. Mr. Tubbs +enlarged upon the annoyance which Mr. Shaw's restrictions in this +matter had been to him, and regretted that he had long ago +exhausted the small amount of spirituous refreshment which he had +been able to smuggle in. Tony, however, was of another mind. "And +a good thing, too," he declared, "that you guys can't booze +yourselves blind before morning, or there wouldn't be much gold +took out of that there cave to-morrow. Once we make port +somewheres with that chest of treasure aboard you can pour down +enough to irrigate the Mojave Desert if you like." + +It was Tony, too, who intercepted a tentative movement of Captain +Magnus in my direction, and ordered me into the cabin with my aunt +and Miss Browne. Through the walls of the hut we heard loud and +eager talk of the morrow and its certain golden harvest as the +pirates made their dispositions for the night. Then the voices +trailed off sleepily and silence succeeded, broken only by the +ceaseless murmur of the waves around the island. + + + + +XVIII + +OF WHICH COOKIE IS THE HERO + +Next morning I came out of the hut in time to see Mr. Shaw and his +companion in duress led forth from the sleeping quarters which they +had shared with their captors. They were moored as before to a +palm tree, by a rope having a play of two or three feet, and their +hands unbound while they made a hasty breakfast under the eye of a +watchful sentinel. Then their wrists were tied again, not +painfully, but with a firmness which made any slipping of their +bonds impossible. + +While the pirates were breakfasting a spirited dispute took place +among them as to who should go to the treasure cave and who stay in +camp to guard the prisoners. Slinker and Horny urged with justice +that as they had missed all the excitement of the preceding day it +was their turn to visit the cave. There not only the probable +rapture of exhuming the chest awaited them, but the certain +privilege of inspecting "the Bones." This ghastly relic seemed to +exercise an immense fascination upon their imaginations, a +fascination not unmingled with superstitious dread. The right to +see the Bones, then, Slinker and Horny passionately claimed. Tony +supported them, and it ended with Chris and Captain Magnus being +told off as our guards for the morning. + +At this Chris raised a feeble lamentation, but he was evidently a +person whose objections nobody was accustomed to heed. Captain +Magnus, who might with plausibility have urged claims superior to +those of all the rest, assented to the arrangement with a +willingness which filled me with boding. I had caught his restless +furtive eye fixed gloatingly upon me more than once. I saw that he +was aware of my terror, and exulted in it, and took a feline +pleasure in playing me, as it were, and letting me realize by slow +degrees what his power over me would be when he chose finally to +exert it. My best hope for the present, once the merciful or +prudent Tony was out of sight, lay in this disposition of +my tormentor to sit quiescent and anticipate the future. +Nevertheless, in leaving the cabin I had slipped into my blouse a +small penknife which I had found in Aunt Jane's bag. It was quite +new, and I satisfied myself that the blades were keen. My own +large sheath-knife and my revolver I had been deprived of at the +suggestion of the thoughtful Magnus. I had surrendered them +unprotestingly, fearful of all things that my possessions might be +ransacked and Peter's diary, though hidden with much art at the +bottom of a bag, be brought to light. For I might yet sell the +secret of the Island Queen at a price which should redeem us all. + +Unobtrusively clutching for comfort at the penknife in my blouse, I +watched the departure of the pirates, including my protector Tony. +They had taken Mr. Tubbs with them, although he had magnanimously +offered to remain behind and help guard the camp. Evidently his +experience of the previous day had not filled him with confidence +in his new friends. It might be quite possible that he intended, +if left behind, to turn his coat again and assist us in a break for +liberty. If so, he was defeated by the perspicacious Tony, who +observed that when he found a pal that suited him as well as +Washtubs he liked to keep him under his own eye. With a spade over +his reluctant shoulder, and many a dubious backward glance, Mr. +Tubbs followed the file into the woods. + +Aunt Jane had a bad headache, and as nobody objected she had +remained in the cabin. Miss Browne and I had been informed by Tony +that we might do as we liked so long as we did not attempt to leave +the clearing. Already Violet had betaken herself to a camp-chair +in the shade and was reading a work entitled _Thoughts on the +Involute Spirality of the Immaterial_. Except for the prisoners +tied to the palm tree, the camp presented superficially a scene of +peace. Cookie busied himself with a great show of briskness in his +kitchen. Because of the immense circumspection of his behavior he +was being allowed a considerable degree of freedom. He served his +new masters apparently as zealously as he had served us, but +enveloped in a portentous silence. "Yes, sah--no, sah," were the +only words which Cookie in captivity had been heard to utter. Yet +from time to time I had caught a glance of dark significance from +Cookie's rolling eye, and I felt that he was loyal, and that this +enforced servitude to the unkempt fraternity of pirates was a +degradation which touched him to the quick. + +I had followed the example of Miss Higglesby-Browne as regards the +camp-chair and the book. What the book was I have not the least +idea, but I perused it with an appearance of profound abstraction +which I hoped might discourage advances on the part of Captain +Magnus. Also I made sure that the penknife was within instant +reach. Meanwhile my ears, and at cautious intervals my eyes, kept +me informed of the movements of our guards. + +For a considerable time the two ruffians, lethargic after an +enormous breakfast, lay about idly in the shade and smoked. As I +listened to their lazy, fragmentary conversation vast gulfs of +mental vacuity seemed to open before me. I wondered whether after +all wicked people were just stupid people--and then I thought of +Aunt Jane--who was certainly not wicked-- + +As the heat increased a voice of lamentation broke from Chris. He +was dry--dry enough to drink up the condemned ocean. No, he didn't +want spring water, which Cookie obsequiously tendered him; he +wanted a _drink_--wouldn't anybody but a fool nigger know that? +There was plenty of the real stuff aboard the schooner, on the +other side of the--adjective--island. Why had they, with +incredible lack of forethought, brought along nothing but their +pocket flasks? Why hadn't they sent the adjective nigger back for +more? Where was the bottle or two that had been rooted out last +night from the medical stores? Empty? Every last drop gone down +somebody's greedy gullet? The adjectives came thick and fast as +Chris hurled the bottle into the bay, where it swam bobbingly upon +the ripples. Captain Magnus agreed with the gist of Chris's +remarks, but deprecated, in a truly philosophical spirit, their +unprofitable heat. There wasn't any liquor, so what was the good +of making an adjective row? Hadn't he endured the equivalent of +Chris's present sufferings for weeks? He was biding his time, he +was. Plenty of drink by and by, plenty of all that makes life soft +and easy. He bet there wouldn't many hit any higher spots than +him. He bet there was one little girl that would be looked on as +lucky, in case she was a good little girl and encouraged him to +show his natural kindness. And I was favored with a blood-curdling +leer from across the camp, of which I had put as much as possible +between myself and the object of my dread. + +But now, like a huge black Ganymede, appeared Cookie, bearing cups +and a large stone crock. + +"It suhtinly am a fact, Mistah Chris, sah," said Cookie, "dat dey +is a mighty unspirituous fluidity 'bout dis yere spring watah. +Down war I is come from no pussons of de Four Hund'ed ain't eveh +'customed to partake of such. But the sassiety I has been in +lately round dis yere camp ain't of de convivulous ordah; ole +Cookie had to keep it dark dat he got his li'le drop o' comfort on +de side. Dis yere's only home-made stuff, sah. 'Tain't what I +could offah to a gennelmun if so be I is got the makin's of a +genuwine old-style julep what is de beverage of de fust fam'lies. +But bein' as it is, it am mighty coolin', sah, and it got a li'le +kick to it--not much, but jes' 'bout enough to make a gennelmun +feel lak he is one." + +Cookie's tones dripped humility and propitiation. He offered the +brimming cup cringingly to the pale-eyed, red-nosed Chris, who +reached for it with alacrity, drank deep, smacked his lips +meditatively, and after a moment passed the cup back. + +"'Tain't so worse," he said approvingly. "Anyhow, it's _drink_!" + +Magnus suddenly began to laugh. + +"S'elp me, it's the same dope what laid out the Honorable!" he +chortled. "Here, darky, let's have a swig of it!" + +Cookie complied, joining respectfully in the captain's mirth. + +"I guess you-all is got stronger haids den dat young gennelmun!" he +remarked. "Dis yere ole niggah has help hissef mighty freely and +dat Prohibititionist Miss Harding ain't eveh found it out. Fac' +is, it am puffeckly harmless 'cept when de haid is weak." + +False, false Cookie! Black brother in perfidy to Mr. Tubbs! One +friend the less to be depended on if a chance for freedom ever came +to us! A hot flush of surprise and anger dyed my cheeks, and I +felt the indignant pang of faith betrayed. I had been as sure of +Cookie's devotion as of Crusoe's--which reminded me that the little +dog had not returned to camp since he fled before the onslaught of +the vengeful captain. + +Cookie refilled the pirates' cups, and set the crock beside them on +the ground. + +"In case you gennelmun feels yo'selfs a li'le thursty later on," he +remarked. He was retiring, when Captain Magnus called to him. + +"Blackie, this ain't bad. It's coolin', but thin--a real nice +ladylike sort of drink, I should say. Suppose you take a swig over +to Miss Jinny there with my compliments--I'm one to always treat a +lady generous if she gives me half a chance." + +Obediently Cookie hastened for another cup, set it on a tray, and +approached me with his old-time ornate manner. I faced him with a +withering look, but, unmindful, he bowed, presenting me the cup, +and interposing his bulky person between me and the deeply-quaffing +pirates. At the same time his voice reached me, pitched in a low +and anxious key. + +"Fo' de Lawd's sake, Miss Jinny, spill it out! It am mighty +powerful dope--it done fumented twice as long as befo'--it am boun' +to give dat trash de blind-staggahs sho'tly!" + +Instantly I understood, and a thrill of relief and of hope +inexpressible shot through me. I raised to the troubled black face +a glance which I trust was eloquent--it must needs have been to +express the thankfulness I felt. Cookie responded with a solemn +and convulsive wink--and I put the cup to my lips and after a brief +parade of drinking passed it back to Cookie, spilling the contents +on the ground en route. + +Cookie retired with his tray in his most impressive cake-walk +fashion, and in passing announced to Captain Magnus that "Miss +Jinny say she mos' suhtinly am obligated to de gennelmun to' de +refreshment of dis yere acidulous beverage." Which bare-faced +mendacity provoked a loud roar of amusement from the sentinels, who +were still sampling the cooling contents of the stone crock. + +"Learning to like what I do already, hey?" guffawed the captain, +and he called on Chris to drain another cup with him to the lady of +his choice. + +I have believed since that dragging, interminable time which I now +lived through, that complete despair, where you rest quite finally +on bedrock and have nothing to dread in the way of further tumbles, +must be a much happier state than the dreadful one of oscillating +between hope and fear. For a leaden-footed eternity, it seemed to +me, I oscillated, longing for, yet dreading, the signs that +Cookie's powerful dope had begun to work upon our guards--for might +not the first symptoms be quite different from the anticipated +blind staggers? Fancy a murderous maniac pair reeling about the +clearing, with death-vomiting revolvers and gleaming knives! + +And then suddenly time, which had dragged so slowly, appeared to +gallop, and the morning to be fleeing past, so that every wave that +broke upon the beach was the footfalls of the returning pirates. +Long, long before that thirsty, garrulous pair grew still and +torpid their companions must return-- + +And I saw Cookie, his stratagem discovered, dangling from a +convenient tree. + +Gradually the rough disjointed talk of the sailors began to +languish. Covertly watching, I saw that Chris's head had begun to +droop. His body, propped comfortably against a tree, sagged a +little. The hand that held the cup was lifted, stretched out in +the direction of the enticing jar, then forgetting its errand fell +heavily. After a few spasmodic twitchings of the eyelids and +uneasy grunts, Chris slumbered. + +Captain Magnus was of tougher fiber. But he, too, grew silent and +there was a certain meal-sack limpness about his attitude. His +dulled eyes stared dreamily. All at once with a jerk he roused +himself, turned over, and administered to the sleeping Chris a prod +with his large boot. + +"Hey, there, wake up! What right you got to be asleep at the +switch?" But Chris only breathed more heavily. + +Captain Magnus himself heaved a tremendous yawn, settled back in +greater comfort against his sustaining tree, and closed his eyes. +I waited, counting the seconds by the beating of the blood in my +ears. In the background Cookie hovered apprehensively. Plainly he +would go on hovering unless loud snores from the pirates gave him +assurance. For myself, I sat fingering my penknife, wondering +whether I ought to rush over and plunge it into the sleepers' +throats. This would be heroic and practical, but unpleasant. If, +on the other hand, I merely tried to free the prisoners and Captain +Magnus woke, what then? The palm where they were tied was a dozen +yards from me, much nearer to the guards, and within range of even +their most languid glance. Beyond the prisoners was Miss Browne, +glaring uncomprehendingly over the edge of her book. There was no +help in Miss Browne. + +I left my seat and stole on feet which seemed to stir every leaf +and twig to loud complaint toward the captive pair. Tense, +motionless, with burning eyes, they waited. There was a movement +from Captain Magnus; he yawned, turned and muttered. I stood +stricken, my heart beating with loud thumps against my ribs. But +the captain's eyes remained closed. + +"Virginia--quick, Virginia!" Dugald Shaw was stretching out his +bound hands to me, and I had dropped on my knees before him and +begun to cut at the knotted cords. They were tough strong cords, +and I was hacking at them feverishly when something bounded across +the clearing and flung itself upon me. Crusoe, of course!--and +wild with the joy of reunion. I strangled a cry of dismay, and +with one hand tried to thrust him off while I cut through the rope +with the other. + +"Down, Crusoe!" I kept desperately whispering. But Crusoe was +unused to whispered orders. He kept bounding up on me, intent to +fulfil an unachieved ambition of licking my ear. Cuthbert Vane +tried, under his breath, to lure him away. But Crusoe's emotions +were all for me, and swiftly becoming uncontrollable they burst +forth in a volley of shrill yelps. + +A loud cry answered them. It came from Captain Magnus, who had +scrambled to his feet and was staggering across the clearing. One +hand was groping at his belt--it was flourished in the air with the +gleam of a knife in it--and staggering and shouting the captain +came on. + +"Ah, you would, would you? I'll teach you--but first I settle +_him_, the porridge-eatin' Scotch swine--" + +The reeling figure with the knife was right above me. I sprang up, +in my hand the little two-inch weapon which was all I had for my +defense--and Dugald Shaw's. There were loud noises in my ears, the +shouting of men, and a shrill continuous note which I have since +realized came from the lungs of Miss Higglesby-Browne. Magnus made +a lunge forward--the arm with the knife descended. I caught +it--wrenched at it frantically--striving blindly to wield my little +penknife, whether or not with deadly intent I don't know to this +day. He turned on me savagely, and the penknife was whirled from +my hand as he caught my wrist in a terrible clutch. + +All I remember after that is the terrible steely grip of the +captain's arms and a face, flushed, wild-eyed, horrible, that was +close to mine and inevitably coming closer, though I fought and +tore at it--of hot feverish lips whose touch I knew would scorch me +to the soul--and then I was suddenly free, and falling, falling, a +long way through darkness. + + + + +XIX + +THE YOUNG PERSON SCORES + +My first memory is of voices, and after that I was shot swiftly out +of a tunnel from an immense distance and opened my eyes upon the +same world which I had left at some indefinite period in the past. +Faces, at first very large, by and by adjusted themselves in a +proper perspective and became quite recognizable and familiar. +There was Aunt Jane's, very tearful, and Miss Higglesby-Browne's, +very glum, and the Honorable Cuthbert's, very anxious and a little +dazed, and Cookie's, very, very black. The face of Dugald Shaw I +did not see, for the quite intelligible reason that I was lying +with my head upon his shoulder. + +As soon as I realized this I sat up suddenly, while every one +exclaimed at once, "There, she's quite all right--see how her color +is coming back!" + +People kept Aunt Jane from flinging herself upon me and soothed her +into calm while I found out what had happened. The penknife that I +had lost in my struggle with Captain Magnus had fallen at the +Scotchman's feet. Wrenching himself free of his all but severed +bonds he had seized the knife, slashed through the rope that held +him to the tree, and flung himself on Captain Magnus. It was a +brief struggle--a fist neatly planted on the ruffian's jaw had +ended it, and the captain, half dazed from his potations, went down +limply. + +Meanwhile Cookie had appeared upon the scene flourishing a kitchen +knife, though intending it for no more bloody purpose than the +setting free of Cuthbert Vane. Throughout the fray Chris slumbered +undisturbed, and he and the unconscious Magnus were now reposing +side by side, until they should awake to find themselves neatly +trussed up with Cookie's clothes-lines. + +But my poor brave Crusoe dragged a broken leg, from a kick bestowed +on him by Captain Magnus, at whom he had flown valiantly in my +defense. + +So far so good; we had signally defeated our two guards, and the +camp was ours. But what about the pirates who were still in the +cave and would shortly be returning from it? They were three armed +and sturdy ruffians, not to include Mr. Tubbs, whose habits were +strictly non-combative. It would mean a battle to the death. + +Our best hope would be to wait in ambush behind the trees of the +clearing--I mean for Dugald Shaw and Cuthbert Vane to do it--and +shoot down the unsuspecting pirates as they returned. This +desperate plan, which so unpleasantly resembled murder, cast gloom +on every brow. + +"It's the women, lad," said the Scotchman in a low voice to +Cuthbert. "It's--it's Virginia." And Cuthbert heavily assented. + +Seeing myself as the motif of such slaughter shocked my mind +suddenly back to clearness. + +"Oh," I cried, "not that! Why not surprise them in the cave, and +make them stay there? One man could guard the entrance easily--and +afterward we could build it up with logs or something." + +Everybody stared. + +"A remarkably neat scheme," said Mr. Shaw, "but impossible of +application, I'm afraid, because none of us knows where to find the +cave." + +I shook my head. + +"I know!" + +There was a lengthy silence. People looked at one another, and +their eyes said, _This has been too much for her_! + +"I _know_," I impatiently repeated. "I can take you straight +there. I found the tombstone before Mr. Tubbs did, and the cave +too. Come, let's not waste time. We must hurry--they'll be +getting back!" + +Amazement, still more than half incredulous, surged round me. Then +Mr. Shaw said rapidly: + +"You're right. Of course, if you have found the cave, the best +thing we can do is to keep them shut up in it. But we must move +fast--perhaps we're too late already. If they have found the chest +they may by now be starting for camp with the first load of +doubloons." + +Again I shook my head. + +"They haven't found the gold," I assured him. + +The astonished faces grew more anxious. "It sho' have told on +li'le Miss Jinny's brain," muttered Cookie to himself. + +"They haven't found the gold," I reiterated with emphasis, "because +the gold is not in the cave. Don't ask me how I know, because +there isn't time to tell you. There was no gold there but the two +bags that the pirates brought back last night. The--the skeleton +moved it all out." + +"My Lawd!" groaned Cookie, staggering backward. + +"Virginia! I had no idea you were superstitious!" quavered Aunt +Jane. + +"I say, do take some sleeping tablets or something and quiet your +nerves!" implored Cuthbert with the tenderest solicitude. + +In my exasperation I stamped my foot. + +"And while we are arguing here the pirates may be starting back to +camp! And then we'll have to kill them and go home and give +ourselves up to be hanged! Please, please, come with me and let me +show you that I know!" I lifted my eyes to the intent face of +Dugald Shaw. + +"All right," he said tersely. "I think you do know. How and what, +we'll find out later." Rapidly he made his plan, got together the +things needful for its execution, looked to the bonds of the still +dazed and drowsy prisoners, posted Cookie in their neighborhood +with a pair of pistols, and commanded Aunt Jane to dry her tears +and look after Miss Higglesby-Browne, who had dismayed every one by +most inopportunely toppling over in a perfectly genuine swoon. + +Then the Scotchman, Cuthbert Vane and I set off through the woods. +The men were heavily armed, and I had recovered my own little +revolver and restored it to my belt. Mr. Shaw had seen to this, +and had said to me, very quietly: + +"You know, Virginia, if things don't go our way, it may be +necessary for you to use it--on yourself." + +And I nodded assentingly. + +We went in silence through the green hush of the woods, moving in +single file. My place as guide was in the van, but Mr. Shaw +deposed me from it and went ahead himself, while Cuthbert Vane +brought up the rear. No one spoke, even to whisper. I guided +Dugald Shaw, when needful, by a light touch upon the arm. Our +enterprise was one of utmost danger. At any moment we might hear +the steps and voices of the returning pirates. Thus fore-warned, +we might of course retreat into the woods and let them pass, +ourselves unseen. But then, what of those whom we had left in +camp? Could we leave them undefended to the vengeance of Captain +Magnus? No, if we met the pirates it was their lives or ours--and +I recall with incredulity my resolution to imbed five of my six +bullets in a pirate before I turned the sixth upon myself. I +reflected with satisfaction that five bullets should be a fatal +dose to any pirate unless an exceptionally tough one. And I hoped +he would not be tough-- + +But I tell myself with shudders that it was not I, but some +extraordinary recrudescence of a primitive self, that indulged +these lethal gloatings. + +No steps but our own, no voices but of birds, broke the stillness +of the woods. We moved onward swiftly, and presently the noise of +the sea came to us with the sudden loudness that I remembered. I +paused, signaled caution to my companions, and crept on. + +We passed the grave, and I saw that the vines had been torn aside +again, and that the tombstone was gone. We came to the brink of +the cliff, and I pointed silently downward along the ledge to the +angle in which lay the mouth of the cave. My breath came quickly, +for at any instant a head might be thrust forth from the opening. +Already the sun was mounting toward the zenith. The noontide heat +and stillness was casting its drowsy spell upon the island. The +air seemed thicker, the breeze more languid. And all this meant +meal-time--and the thoughts of hungry pirates turning toward camp. + +My hope was that they were still preoccupied with the fruitless +search in the cave. + +Mr. Shaw and Cuthbert dropped down upon the ledge. Though under +whispered orders to retreat I could not, but hung over the edge of +the cliff, eager and breathless. Then with a bound the men were +beside me. Mr. Shaw caught my hand, and we rushed together into +the woods. + +A quake, a roar, a shower of flying rocks. It was over--the +dynamite had done its work, whether successfully or not remained to +be seen. After a little the Scotchman ventured back. He returned +to us where we waited in the woods--Cuthbert to mount guard over +me--with a cleared face. + +"It's all right," he said. "The entrance is completely blocked. I +set the charge six feet inside, but the roof is down clear to the +mouth. Poor wretches--they have all come pouring out upon the +sand--" + +All three of us went back to the edge of the cliff. Seventy feet +below, on the narrow strip of sand before the sea-mouth of the +cave, we saw the figures of four men, who ran wildly about and +sought for a foothold on the sheer face of the cliff. As we stood +watching them, with, on my part, at least, unexpected qualms of +pity and a cold interior sensation very unlike triumph, they +discovered us. Then for the first time, I suppose, they understood +the nature of their disaster. We could not hear their cries, but +we saw arms stretched out to us, fists frantically shaken, hands +lifted in prayer. We saw Mr. Tubbs flop down upon his unaccustomed +knees--it was all rather horrible. + +I drew back, shivering. "It won't be for long, of course," I said +uncertainly, "just till the steamer comes--and we'll give them lots +to eat--but I suppose they think--they will soon be just a lot more +skeletons--" And here I was threatened with a moist anticlimax to +my late Amazonian mood. + +Why should the frequent and natural phenomena of tears produce such +panic in the male breast? At a mere April dewiness about my lashes +these two strong men quaked. + +"Don't--don't cry!" implored Cuthbert earnestly. + +"It's been too much for her!" exclaimed the once dour Scot in tones +of anguish. "Hurry, lad--we must find her some water--" + +"Nonsense," I interposed, winking rapidly. "Just think of some way +to calm those creatures, so that I shan't see them in my dreams, +begging and beseeching--" For I had not forgotten the immensity of +my debt to Tony. + +So a note was written on a leaf torn from a pocketbook and thrown +over the cliff weighted with a stone. The captives swooped upon +it. Followed then a vivid pantomime by Tony, expressive of eased +if unrepentant minds, while Mr. Tubbs, by gestures, indicated that +though sadly misunderstood, old H. H. was still our friend and +benefactor. + +It was an attentive group to which on our return to camp I related +the circumstances which had made possible our late exploit of +imprisoning the pirates in the cave. The tale of my achievements, +though recounted with due modesty, seemed to put the finishing +touch to the extinction of Violet, for she wilted finally and +forever, and was henceforth even bullied by Aunt Jane. The diary +of Peter was produced, and passed about with awe from hand to hand. +Yesterday's discovery in the cave had rounded out the history of +Peter to a melancholy completion. But though we knew the end we +guessed in vain at the beginning, at Peter's name, at that of the +old grandfather whose thrifty piety had brought him to Havana and +to the acquaintance of the dying mate of the _Bonny Lass_, at the +whereabouts of the old New England farm which had been mortgaged to +buy the _Island Queen_, at the identity of Helen, who waited still, +perhaps, for the lover who never would return. + +But even our regrets for Peter did not chill the exultation with +which we thought of the treasure-chest waiting there under the sand +in the cabin of the _Island Queen_. + +All afternoon we talked of it. That, for the present, was all we +could do. There were the two prisoners in camp to be guarded--and +they had presently awakened and made remarks of a strongly personal +and unpleasant trend on discovering their situation. There was +Crusoe invalided, and needing petting, and getting it from +everybody on the score of his romantic past as _Benjy_ as well as +of his present virtues. The broken leg had been cleverly set by +Dugald--somehow in the late upheaval _Miss_ and _Mister_ had +dropped quite out of our vocabularies--with Cuthbert as surgeon's +assistant and me holding the chloroform to the patient's nose. +There was the fatigue and reaction from excitement which everybody +felt, and Peter's diary to be read, and golden dreams to be +indulged. And there was the delicate question to be discussed, of +how the treasure should be divided. + +"Why, it all belongs to Virginia, of course," said Cuthbert, +opening his eyes at the thought of any other view being taken but +this obvious one. + +"Nonsense!" I hastily interposed. "My finding the diary was just +an accident; I'll take a share of it--no more." + +Here Miss Browne murmured something half inaudible about +"--confined to members of the Expedition--" but subsided for lack +of encouragement. + +"I suggest," said Dugald, "that our numbers having most fortunately +diminished and there being, on the basis of Peter's calculations, +enough to enrich us all, that we should share and share alike." +And this proposal was received with acclamations, as was a second +from the same source, devoting a certain percentage of each share +to Cookie, to whom the news of his good fortune was to come later +as a great surprise. + +As an earnest of our riches, we had the two bags of doubloons which +the pirates had recovered from the fleshless fingers of the dead +man. They were old worn coins, most of them, many dating from the +seventeenth century, and bearing the effigies of successive kings +of Spain. Each disk of rich, yellow Peruvian gold, dug from the +earth by wretched sweating slaves and bearing the name of a narrow +rigid tyrant, had a history, doubtless, more wild and bloody than +even that we knew. The merchant of Lima and his servant, Bill +Halliwell, and afterward poor Peter had died for them. For their +sake we had been captives in fear of death, and for their sake now +four wretched beings were prisoners in the treasure-cave and two +more cursed, fate and their bonds within hearing of our outraged +ears. And who knew how much more of crime and blood and violence +we should send forth into the world with the long-buried treasure? +Who knew--and, ah, me, who cared? So riotous was the gold-lust in +my veins that I think if I had known the chest to be another +Pandora's box I should still have cried out to open it. + +Shortly before sundown Cuthbert and Cookie were despatched by +Dugald Shaw to the cliff above the cave with supplies for the +inhumed pirates. These were let down by rope. A note was brought +up on the rope, signed by Mr. Tubbs, and containing strangely +jumbled exhortations, prayers and threats. A second descent of the +rope elicited another missive, neatly folded and addressed in the +same hand to Miss Jane Harding. Cuthbert gave this privately to +me, but its contents must forever be unknown, for it went, unread, +into Cookie's fire. I had no mind to find Aunt Jane, with her +umbrella as a parachute, vanishing over the cliffs to seek the arms +of a repentant Tubbs. + +The fly in the ointment of our satisfaction, and the one remaining +obstacle to our possession of the treasure, was the presence of the +two pirates in our midst. They were not nice pirates. They were +quite the least choice of the collection. Chris, when he was not +swearing, wept moistly, and so touched the heart of Aunt Jane that +we lived in fear of her letting him go if she got the opportunity. +He told her that he had lost an aunt in his tender youth, of whom +she reminded him in the most striking way, and that if this +long-mourned relative had lived he felt he should have been a +better man and not led away against his higher nature by the chance +of falling in with bad companions. Aunt Jane thought her +resemblance to Chris's aunt a remarkable coincidence and an +opportunity for appealing to his better self which should be +improved. She wanted to improve it by untying his hands, because +he had sprained his wrist in his childhood and it was sensitive. +He had sprained it in rescuing a little companion from drowning, +the child of a drunkard who had unfeelingly thrown his offspring +down a well. This episode had been an example to Chris which had +kept him from drinking all his life, until he had fallen into his +present rough company. + +Aunt Jane took it very hard that the Scotchman seemed quite +unfeeling about Chris's wrist. She said it seemed very strange to +her in a man who had so recently known the sorrows of captivity +himself. She said she supposed even suffering would not soften +some natures. + +As to Magnus, his state of sullen fury made him indifferent even to +threats of punishment. He swore with a determination and fluency +worthy of a better cause. For myself, I could not endure his +neighborhood. It seemed to me I could not live through the days +that must intervene before the arrival of the _Rufus Smith_ in the +constant presence of this wretch. + +More than all, it made Dugald and Cuthbert unwilling to leave the +camp together. There was always the possibility that the two +ruffians might find means to free themselves, and, with none but +Cookie and the women present, to obtain control of the firearms and +the camp. For the negro, once the men were free, could not surely +be depended on to face them. Loyal he was, and valiant in his +fashion, but old and with the habit of submission. One did not see +him standing up for long before two berserker-mad ruffians. + +What to do with the pirates continued for a day and a night a +knotty problem. + +It was Cuthbert Vane who solved it, and with the simplicity of +genius. + +"Why not send 'em down to their chums the way we do the eats?" he +asked. + +It seemed at first incredibly fantastic, but the more you thought +of it the more practical it grew. It was characteristic of +Cuthbert not to see it as fantastic. For him the sharp edges of +fact were never shaded off into the dim and nebulous. Cuthbert, +when he saw things at all, saw them steadily and whole. He would +let down the writhing, swearing Magnus over the cliff as tranquilly +as he let down loaves of bread, aware merely of its needing more +muscular effort. Only he would take immense care not to hurt him. + +Dire outcries greeted the decision. Aunt Jane wept, and Chris +wept, and said this never could have happened to him if his aunt +had lived. Oaths flowed from Captain Magnus in a turgid stream. +Nevertheless the twain were led away, firmly bound, and guarded by +Dugald, Cuthbert and the negro. And the remarkable program +proposed by Cuthbert Vane was triumphantly carried out. Six +prisoners now occupied the old cave of the buccaneers. + +With the camp freed from the presence of the pirates all need of +watchfulness was over. The prisoners in the cave were provided +with no implements but spades, whereas dynamite and crowbars would +be necessary to force a way through the debris which choked the +mouth of the tunnel. A looking over of the ground at the daily +feeding time would be enough. + +To-morrow's sun would see our hopes crowned and all our toil +rewarded by the recovery of the treasure from the _Island Queen_. + + + + +XX + +'TWIXT CUP AND LIP + +Next morning an event occurred sufficiently astonishing to divert +our thoughts from even the all-important topic of the _Island +Queen_. Cookie, who had been up on the high land of the point +gathering firewood, came rushing back to announce that a steamer +had appeared in the offing. All the party dropped their +occupations and ran to look. That the _Rufus Smith_ had returned +at an unexpectedly early date was of course the natural explanation +of the appearance of a vessel in these lonely seas. But through +the glass the new arrival turned out to be not the tubby freighter +but a stranger of clean-cut, rakish build, lying low in the water +and designed for speed rather than carrying capacity. + +A mile offshore she lay to, and a boat left her side. Wondering +and disquieted, we returned to the beach to await her coming. Was +it another pirate? What possible errand could bring a steamer to +this remote, unvisited, all but forgotten little island? Had +somebody else heard the story of the _Bonny Lass_ and come after +the doubloons, unknowing that we were beforehand with them? If so, +must we do battle for our rights? + +The boat shot in between the points and skimmed swiftly over the +rippling surface of the cove, under the rhythmic strokes of half a +dozen flashing oars. The rowers wore a trim white uniform, and in +the stern a tall figure, likewise white-clad, turned toward us a +dark face under a pith helmet. + +As the oarsmen drove the boat upon the beach the man in the stern +sprang agilely ashore. Dugald Shaw stepped forward, and the +stranger approached, doffing his helmet courteously. + +"You are the American and English party who landed here some weeks +ago from the _Rufus Smith_?" + +His English was easy and correct, though spoken with a pronounced +Spanish accent. His dark high-featured face was the face of a +Spaniard. And his grace was the grace of a Spaniard, as he bowed +sweepingly and handed Mr. Shaw a card. + +"Senor Don Enrique Gonzales," said Dugald, bowing in his +stiff-necked fashion, "I am very happy to meet you. But as you +represent His Excellency the President of the Republic of Santa +Marina I suppose you come on business, Senior Gonzales?" + +"Precisely. I am enchanted that you apprehend the fact without the +tiresomeness of explanations. For business is a cold, usually a +disagreeable affair, is it not so? That being the case, let us get +it over." + +"First do us the honor to be seated, Senor Gonzales." + +Comfortably bestowed in a camp-chair in the shade, the Spaniard +resumed: + +"My friend, this island belongs, as of course you are aware, to the +republic of which I have the honor to be a citizen. All rights and +privileges, such as harvesting the copra crop, are strictly +conserved by the republic. All persons desiring such are required +to negotiate with the Minister of State of the Republic. And how +much more, when it is a question of treasure--of a very large +treasure, Senor?" + +The Scotchman's face was dark. + +"I had understood," he replied, without looking in the direction of +Miss Higglesby-Browne, who seemed in the last few moments to have +undergone some mysterious shrinking process, "that negotiations in +the proper quarter had been undertaken and brought to a successful +conclusion--that in short we were here with the express permission +of the government of Santa Marina." + +This was a challenge which Miss Browne could not but meet. + +"I had," she said hoarsely, "I had the assurance of a--a person +high in the financial circles of the United States, that through +his--his influence with the government of Santa Marina it would not +be necessary--in short, that he could _fix_ the President--I employ +his own terms--for a considerable sum, which I--which my friend +Miss Harding gave him." + +"And the name of this influential person?" inquired the Santa +Marinan, suavely. + +"Hamilton H. Tubbs," croaked Miss Browne. + +Senor Gonzales smiled. + +"I remember the name well, madam. It is that of the pretended +holder of a concession from our government, who a few years ago +induced a number of American school-teachers and clergymen and +other financially innocent persons to invest in imaginary coffee +plantations. He had in some doubtful fashion become possessed of a +little entirely worthless land, which formed the basis of his +transactions. His frauds were discovered while he was in our +country, and he was obliged to leave between two days, according to +your so picturesque idiom. Needless to say his application for +permission to visit Leeward Island for any purpose would instantly +have been refused, but as a matter of fact it was never made." + +In a benumbed silence we met the blow. The riches that had seemed +within our grasp would never be ours. We had no claim upon them, +for all our toil and peril; no right even to be here upon the +island. Suddenly I began to laugh; faces wearing various shades of +shocked surprise were turned on me. Still I laughed. + +"Don't you see," I cried, "how ridiculous it all is? All the time +it is we who have been pirates!" + +The Spaniard gave me a smile made brilliant by the gleam of +smoldering black eyes and the shine of white teeth. + +"Senorita, with all regret, I must agree." + +"Miss Virginia Harding," said Miss Browne with all her old +severity, rejuvenated apparently by this opportunity to put me in +my place, "would do well to consult her dictionary, before applying +opprobrious terms to persons of respectability. A pirate is one +who commits robbery upon the high seas. If such a crime lies at +the door of any member of this expedition I am unaware of it." + +"What's in a name?" remarked Dugald Shaw, shrugging. "We were +after other people's property, anyway. I am very sorry about it, +Senor Gonzales, but I would like to ask, if you don't mind telling, +how you happened to learn of our being here, so long as it was not +through the authentic channels. On general principles, I tried to +keep the matter quiet." + +"We learned in a manner somewhat--what do you say?--curious," +returned the Spaniard, who, having presented the men with cigars +and by permission lighted one himself, was making himself extremely +at home and appeared to have no immediate intention of haling us +away to captivity in Santa Marinan dungeons. "But before I go +further, kindly tell me whether you have had any--ah--visitors +during your stay on the island?" + +"We have," Mr. Shaw replied, "very troublesome ones." + +The Spaniard smiled. + +"Then answer your own question. These men, while unloading a +contraband cargo in a port of Mexico near the southern border, grew +too merry in a wineshop, and let it be known where they were bound +when again they put to sea. The news, after some delay, found its +way to our capital. At once the navy of the republic was +despatched to investigate the matter. It is the navy of Santa +Marina, ladies and gentlemen, which at this moment guards the +entrance of the bay." And Senor Gonzales waved an ironic hand in +the direction of the little steamer lying off the island, + +"On the way here I put in at Panama, where certain inquiries were +satisfactorily answered. There were those in that port who had +made a shrewd guess at the destination of the party which had +shipped on the _Rufus Smith_. I then pursued my course to Leeward. +But admit, my friends, that I have not by my arrival, caused you +any material loss. Except that I have unfortunately been compelled +to present you to yourselves in the character of--as says the young +lady--pirates--madam, I speak under correction--I have done you no +injury, eh? And that for the simple reason that you have not +discovered what you sought, and hence can not be required to +surrender it." + +We looked at one another doubtfully. The ambiguous words of the +Spaniard, the something humorous and mocking which lay behind his +courtly manner, put us quite in the dark. + +"Senor Gonzales," replied the Scotchman, after a moment's +hesitation, "it is true that so far only a negligible amount of +what we came to find has rewarded us. But I can not in honesty +conceal from you that we know where to look for the rest of it, and +that we had certainly expected to leave the island with it in our +possession." + +The dark indolent eyes of our visitor grew suddenly keen. +Half-veiled by the heavy lashes, they searched the face of Dugald +Shaw. It seemed that what they found in that bold and open +countenance satisfied them. His own face cleared again. + +"I think we speak at cross-purposes, Mr. Shaw," he said +courteously, "and that we may better understand each other, I am +going to tell you a little story. At about this season, two years +ago, the navy of Santa Marina, the same which now lies off the +island, was making a voyage of inspection along the coast of the +republic. It was decided to include Leeward in the cruise, as it +had been unvisited for a considerable time. I hold no naval +rank--indeed, we are not a seafaring people, and the captain of _La +Golondrina_ is a person from Massachusetts, Jeremiah Bowles by +name, but as the representative of His Excellency I accompanied _La +Golondrina_. On our arrival at Leeward I came ashore in the boat, +and found to my surprise a small sloop at anchor in the cove. +About the clearing were the signs of recent habitation, yet I knew +that the old German who had had the copra concession here had been +gone for some time. There were no personal trifles left in the +hut, however, and indeed it was plain that weeks had passed since +there had been any one about. No one responded to our shouts and +calls. + +"I turned my attention to the sloop. In the cabin, besides a few +clothes, I found something that interested me very much--a large +brass-bound chest, of an antique type such as is common enough in +my own country. + +"Of course I had heard of the many legends of treasure buried on +Leeward Island. Consequently I was somewhat prepared to find in +the chest, what in fact I did find there, over a million dollars in +old Spanish coins. + +"These coins, which were packed in strong canvas bags, were, as you +may fancy, very quickly transferred to the cutter. We did not +trouble ourselves with the unwieldy chest, and it remains, I +suppose, in the cabin of the sloop, which I observed as we crossed +the cove to have been washed up upon the rocks. + +"As my curiosity was extremely piqued regarding the owner of the +sloop, the manner in which he had discovered the treasure, and +still more his extraordinary disappearance, I should have wished to +make a thorough search of the island. But the season for storms +was shortly to begin, and already the weather signs were so +threatening that Captain Bowles was reluctant to remain longer in +the neighborhood of the island, which has a bad name for dangerous +shoals and reefs. For the same reason it was thought unwise to +risk a man or two aboard the sloop to sail her to the mainland. +Indeed, we ourselves were glad to get safely home with our +doubloons in the teeth of a tropical gale." + +"This is a very interesting story, Senor Gonzales," said Dugald +Shaw quietly, "and as you say, your visit here deprives us of +nothing, but merely saves us further unprofitable labor. We are +grateful to you." + +The Spaniard bowed. + +"You do me too much honor. But as you remark, the story is +interesting. It has also the element of mystery. For there +remains the question of what became of the owner of the sloop. His +final preparations for leaving the island had evidently been made, +his possessions removed from the hut, provisions for the voyage +brought on board the sloop--and then he had vanished. What had +befallen him? Did the gold carry with it some deadly influence? +One plays, as it were, with this idea, imagining the so melancholy +and bloody history of these old doubloons. How, in the first +place, had he found them? Through chance--by following some +authentic clue? And then, in the moment of success, he +disappears--pouf!" And Senor Gonzales disposed of the unknown by +blowing him airily from the tips of his fingers. + +"However, we have the treasure--the main point, is it not? But I +have often wondered--" + +"If you would like to hear the rest of the story," said Mr. Shaw, +"we are in a position to enlighten you. That we are so, is due +entirely to this young lady, Miss Virginia Harding." + +The Spaniard rose, and made obeisance profoundly. He resumed his +seat, prepared to listen--no longer the government official, but +the cordial and interested guest and friend. + +The story, of course, was a long one. Everybody took a hand in the +telling, even Cookie, who was summoned from his retirement in the +kitchen to receive the glory due him as a successful strategist. +The journal of Peter was produced, and the bags of doubloons handed +over to the representative of the little republic. I even offered +to resign the silver shoe-buckle which I had found in the secret +locker on the Island Queen, but this excess of honesty received its +due reward. + +"The doubloons being now in the possession of the Santa Marinan +nation, I beg that you will consider as your own the Island Queen +and all it may contain," said Don Enrique to me with as magnificent +an air as though the sand-filled hulk of a wrecked sloop were +really a choice gift to bestow on a young woman. + +Plans were discussed for transferring the pirates from the cave to +the cutter, for they were to be taken to Santa Marina to meet +whatever punishment was thought fit for their rather indefinite +ill-doing. They had not murdered us, they had robbed us of nothing +but the provisions they had eaten, they had, after all, as much +right on the island as ourselves. Yet there remained their +high-handed conduct in invading our camp and treating us as +prisoners, with the threat of darker possibilities. I fancy that +Santa Marinan justice works mainly by rule of thumb, and that the +courts do not embarrass themselves much with precedents. Only I +hope they did not shoot the picturesque Tony against a wall.[*] + +The power-schooner, manned by a crew from the cutter, was to be +taken to Santa Marina also. Senor Gonzales remained with us for +the day as our guest, and on the next the boats from the cutter +took off the pirates from the cave. We did not see them again. +Through the convenient elasticity of Santa Marinan procedure, Mr. +Tubbs was herded along with the rest, although he might plausibly, +if hypocritically, have pleaded that he had complied with the will +of the invaders under duress. Aunt Jane wept very much, and handed +me _Paeans of Passion_ with the request that she might never see it +again. + +We parted from Senor Gonzales not without regrets. It was an +impressive leave-taking--indeed, Senor, Gonzales in his least word +and gesture was impressive. Also, he managed subtly and +respectfully to impart to me the knowledge that he shared Titian's +tastes in the matter of hair. On his departure he made a pretty +little speech, full of compliments and floral specimens, and +bestowed upon me--as being mine by right, he earnestly +protested--the two bags of Spanish doubloons. + + +[*]Since the above was written, Mr. Shaw has run across Tony on the +San Francisco water-front. Tony tells him that they got off with +three months' imprisonment. The American consul interested himself +and the schooner was restored to her owners, who were Tony's +relations and hence did not prosecute. Before the discharged +prisoners left the republic Captain Magnus was stabbed over a card +game by a native. Mr. Tubbs married a wealthy half-caste woman, +the owner of a fine plantation, but a perfectly genuine Mrs. Tubbs +from Peoria turned up later, and the too much married H. H. was +obliged to achieve one of his over-night flittings. + + + + +XXI + +THE BISHOP'S CHEST + +W3 waited nine days for the coming of the _Rufus Smith_. During +that time an episode occurred as a result of which I sat one +morning by myself on the rocks beside the sloop, on which such +ardent hopes had been centered, only like the derelict itself to be +wrecked at last. It was a lonely spot and I wanted to be alone. I +felt abused, and sad, and sore. I realized that I was destined to +do nothing but harm in this world, and to hurt people I was fond +of, and be misunderstood by every one, and to live on--if I wasn't +lucky enough to meet with a premature and sudden end--into a sour, +lonely, crabbed old age, when I would wish to goodness I had +married anybody, and might even finish by applying to a Matrimonial +Agency. + +As I sat nursing these melancholy thoughts I heard a footstep. I +did not look up--for I knew the footstep. I should have known it +if it had trodden over my grave. + +"I take it you are not wanting company, you have come so far out of +the way of it," said Dugald Shaw. + +Still I did not look up. + +"Nobody seemed to want _me_," I remarked sulkily, after a pause. +He made no reply, but seated himself upon the rocks. For a little +there was silence. + +"Virginia," he said abruptly, "I'm thinking you have hurt the lad." + +"Oh," I burst out, "that is all you think of--the lad, the lad! +How about me? Don't you suppose it hurt me too?" + +"No," he made deliberate answer. "I was not sure of that. I +thought maybe you liked having men at your feet." + +"Liked it? Liked to wound Cuthbert--_Cuthbert_? Oh, if only it +had not happened, if we could have gone on being friends! It was +all my fault for going with him into the cave. It was after you +had buried the skeleton, and I wanted to see poor Peter's +resting-place. And we spoke of Helen, and it was all frightfully +melancholy and tender, and all at once he--he said it. And I meant +he never should!" In the soreness of my heart I began to weep. + +"There, lassie, there, don't cry!" he said gently. "The boy didn't +speak of it, of course. But I knew how it must be. It has hit him +hard, I am afraid." + +"I suppose," I wept, "you would have had me marry him whether I +wanted to or not, just to keep from hurting him." + +"No," he answered quickly. "I did not say that--I did not say that +I would have had you marry him. No, lass, I did not say that." + +"Then why are you scolding me?" I asked in a choked whisper. + +"Scolding you? I was not. It was only that--that I love the +lad--and I wish you both so well--I thought perhaps there was some +mistake, and--it would not matter about me, if I could see you both +happy." + +"There is a mistake," I said clearly. "It is a great mistake, +Dugald Shaw, that you should come to me and court me--for some one +else." + +There was silence for a while, the kind of silence when you hear +your heartbeats. + +When he spoke his voice was unsteady. + +"But the boy has everything to offer you--his ancient name, his +splendid unstained youth, a heart that is all loyalty. He is +strong and brave and beautiful. Virginia, why couldn't you love +him?" + +"I could not love him," I replied, very low, "because my love was +not mine any more to give. It belongs to--some one else. Is his +name ancient? I don't know. It is his, and he ennobles it. +Cuthbert has youth, but youth is only promise. In the man I love I +find fulfilment. And he is loyal and brave and honest--I am afraid +he isn't beautiful, but I love him the better for his scars--" + +After that I sat quite still, and I knew it depended on the next +half minute whether I went all the days of my life crowned and +glorious with happiness, or buried my shame and heartbreak under +the waters of the cove. + +And then Dugald Shaw took me in his arms. + +By and by he said huskily: + +"Beloved, I had no right to ask you to share such a life as mine +must be--the life of a poor sailor." + +At this I raised my head from its nestling-place and laughed. + +"Ask me? Silly, I asked you! Of course you could have refused me, +but I depended on your not having the courage." + +"And indeed that is a charge I'll not allow--that I am so little of +a man as to let my courting be done for me. No, no, it was my love +compelling you that made you speak the words you did--the love of a +selfish man who should have thought only of shielding you from the +hardships of such a wandering, homeless life as mine." + +"Well, Heaven reward you for your selfishness," I said earnestly. +"I am thankful you were not so noble as to let me throw myself at +your head in vain. I have been doing it for ever so long, in fact, +but it is such a thick Scotch head that I dare say I made no +impression." + +"Sweet imp! You'll pay for that--oh, Virginia, if I had only +something to offer you!" + +"You can offer me something that I want very much, if you will, and +at no cost but to your strong right arm." + +"It is an arm which is at your service for life--but what am I to +do with it now? And indeed I think it is very well employed at +this moment." + +"But it must be employed much more strenuously," I remarked, moving +a little away, "if you are to get me what I want. Before you came, +I was meditating possible ways of getting it for myself. I wanted +it for a melancholy relic--a sort of mausoleum in which all my +hopes were buried. Now its purpose is quite different; it is to be +my bride's chest and hold the dowry which I shall bring to one +Dugald Shaw." + +"You mean _the_ chest--the chest that held the Spanish +doubloons--that lies under the sand in the sloop?" + +"Exactly. And now I shall know whether you are the true prince or +not, because he always succeeds in the tasks he undertakes to win +the princess." + +It was low tide, such a tide as had all but lured me to my death in +the cave. One could go and come from the beach along the rocks, +without climbing the steep path up the cliff. It was not long +before Dugald was back again with spade and pick. He tore off the +shrunken, sun-dried boards from the cabin roof, and fell to work. + +It was not, after all, a labor of Hercules. The cabin was small +and the chest large. I watched with the pride of proprietorship +the swift ease with which the steel-sinewed arms of the Scot made +the caked sand fly. Then the spade struck something which sent +back a dull metallic sound through the muffling sand. + +I gave a little shriek of excitement. Hardly could I have been +more thrilled if I had believed the chest still to contain the +treasure of which it had been ravished. It was filled to its +brass-bound lid with romance, if not with gold. + +A little more and it lay clear to our view, a convex surface of +dark smoky brown, crossed by three massive strips of tarnished +brass. Dugald dug down until the chest stood free to half its +height; then by its handles--I recognized the "great hand-wrought +loops of metal," of the diary--we dragged it from its bed, and drew +it forth into the cockpit. + +For a little while we sat before it in happy contemplation. It was +indeed for its own sake quite well worth having, that sturdy old +chest. Even in an antique shop I should have succumbed to it at +once; how much more when we had dug it up ourselves from a wrecked +sloop on a desert island, and knew all its bloody and delightful +history. + +At length, kneeling before it, I raised with an effort the heavy +lid. + +"Empty, of course--no more brown bags. But oh, Dugald, had ever a +girl such a wonderful bride's chest as this? O--oh!" + +"What's wrong?" + +"Nothing, only there is a crack in the bottom, running all the way +along where it joins the side." + +"Warped a bit, I suppose. No matter, it can be easily +repaired--crack? I say, lassie, look here!" + +Under the pressure of Dugald's fingers the floor of the chest was +swinging upward on an invisible hinge. Between it and the true +bottom was a space of about three inches in depth. It seemed to be +filled with a layer of yellowed cotton-wool. + +For a long moment we held our breath, gazing at each other with +eyes which asked the same question. Then Dugald lifted a corner of +the sheet of cotton and plucked it away. + +At once all the hues of the rainbow seemed to be flashing and +sparkling before us. Rubies were there like great drops of the +blood that the chest and its treasure had wrung from the hearts of +men; sapphires, mirroring the blue of the tropic sky; emeralds, +green as the island verdure; pearls, white as the milk of the +cocoanuts and softly luminous as the phosphorescent foam which +broke on the beach in the darkness. And there were diamonds that +caught gleams of all the others' beauty, and then mocked them with +a matchless splendor. + +Some of the stones lay loose upon their bed of cotton; others were +in massive settings of curious old-time workmanship. Every gem was +of exceptional size and beauty, the pearls, I knew at once, were +the rarest I had ever looked upon. They were strung in a necklace, +and had a very beautiful pendant of mingled pearls and diamonds. + +There were nine heavy bracelets, all jewel-set; twenty-three rings, +eight of them for the hand of a man. Some of these rings contained +the finest of the diamonds, except for three splendid unset stones. +There were numbers of elaborate old-fashioned earrings, two +rope-like chains of gold adorned with jewels at intervals, and +several jeweled lockets. There was a solid gold snuff-box, +engraved with a coat of arms and ornamented with seventeen fine +emeralds. There were, besides the three diamonds, eighty-two unset +stones, among them, wrapped by itself in cotton, a ruby of +extraordinary size and luster. And there was a sort of coronet or +tiara, sown all over with clear white brilliants. + +There is the inventory, not entirely complete, of the treasure +which we found hidden under the false bottom of the chest, a +treasure whose existence none of those who had striven and slain +and perished for the sake of the Spanish doubloons can have +suspected. The secret of it died with the first guardian of the +chest, the merchant of Lima who went overboard from the _Bonny +Lass_ on that stormy night ninety years ago. Now sea and sun and +sand had done their work and warped the wood of the chest enough to +make us masters of its mystery. And we sat in the sand-heaped +cock-pit of the wrecked sloop, playing like children with our +sparkling toys. + +Ours? Yes, for whether or not there were an infection of piracy in +the very air of the island, so that to seize with the high hand, to +hold with the iron grasp, seemed the law of life, we decided +without a qualm against the surrender of our treasure-trove to its +technical owners. Technical only; for one felt that, in essence, +all talk of ownership by this man or that had long ago become idle. +Fate had held the treasure in fee to give or to withhold. Senor +Gonzales had had his chance at the chest, and he had missed the +secret of the hidden hoard, had left it to lie forgotten under the +sand until in some tropic storm it should be engulfed by the waters +of the cove. More than this, had he not most specifically made +over to me the _Island Queen_ and all that it contained? This was +a title clear enough to satisfy the most exacting formalist. And +we were not formalists, nor inclined in any quibbling spirit to +question the decrees of Fortune. As treasure-hunters, we had been +her devotees too long. + +So after all it was not my scornful skepticism but the high faith +of Miss Higglesby-Browne which was justified by the event, and the +Harding-Browne expedition left the island well repaid for its toils +and perils. Plus the two bags of doubloons, which were added to +the spoils, the treasure brought us a sum so goodly that I dare not +name it, for fear of the apparition of Senor Gonzales and the Santa +Marinan navy looming up to demand restitution. Like true comrades, +we divided share and share alike, and be sure that no one grudged +Cookie the percentage Which each was taxed for his benefit. + +Certain of the rarest; jewels were not sold, but found their way to +me as gifts of the Expedition severally and collectively. The +brightest of the diamonds now shines in my engagement ring. +Cuthbert, by the way, showed up so splendidly when I explained to +him about the engagement--that the responsibility was entirely +mine, not Dugald's--that I earnestly wished I were twins so that +one of me could have married the beautiful youth--which indeed I +had wished a little all the time. + +And now I come to the purpose of this story--for though well +concealed it has had one from the beginning. It is to let Helen, +whoever and wherever she may be, if still of this world, know of +the fate of Peter, and to tell her that when she asks for them she +is to have my most cherished relics of the island, Peter's journal +and the silver shoe-buckle which he found in the sand of the +treasure-cave and was taking home to her. + +Only, she must let me keep Crusoe, please. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Spanish Doubloons, by Camilla Kenyon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPANISH DOUBLOONS *** + +***** This file should be named 12639.txt or 12639.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/6/3/12639/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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